Warframe - Chapter 7 - The Last Petal

Warframe - Chapter 7 - The Last Petal

Prologue

Derald Vidar, now called Alad V, went to his bedchamber for the night. Well, technically it was not night yet in his Gas City, but Alad V had been worn out from his recent activities. He had been expanding the Gas City zealously over the years, promising the Board of exponential levels of profits. Finally giving instructions earlier to his engineers to attach the finishing touches on his esteemed creation, Alad V had retired for the time being.

Removing his suit proved to be a tiresome task. A meddlesome task he undertook daily to prolong his life. He had once gambled on stealing the heart of a Tenno Council member, and now, his body now suffers the aftereffects of his success.

Upon the removal of his suit, aided by automaton servants, he painfully strains his own body to move. The suit itself had been his body, while his own body was just a frozen corpse he reanimated from time to time. He had reverse-engineered the Tenno cryopod technology and had incorporated it into a suit. The Technocyte virus embedded in the Tenno DNA was no longer contagious, but having a physical relationship with a Tenno would have varying results.

Finally, freed from his walking coffin, Alad V tries to walk to his bed with his withered and aged body. Having been alive for more than a century, Alad V has lived out his long life as a Corpus Executive, holding the position for the longest time in Corpus history. As he almost falls, his devoted automaton canine companion helps him to his feet as he finally comes to the edge of his bed and finally sits down.

He catches his breath and finally looks out the fiery horizon outside his windows. The orange tinged clouds of his Gas City reminded him severely of his pains; his pains that no profit can dull. He pats the head of his canine as he stares blankly at the orange clouds, reminding himself of his only remaining pain.

“Vidar Orzhov Rephaite”, Agni declared while clinging to Derald’s side. She then scowls at Derald’s face as she points out her disdain for Corpus naming conventions. Derald then complains about the Tenno tradition of putting the family name first before the given name. The couple had been laughingly arguing over baby names as they lay in bed.

After a moment, Agni finally decides to give up and embraces his side. Derald thinks to himself that the beautiful woman at her side can exude emotions even while her eyes are closed. He runs his fingers on the woman’s back, gently admiring the soft yellow porcelain like plates that lined her spine. She had explained earlier that her mother, Lotus, had the same features, only in a purple metallic hue. Still, Derald smiles as he prefers the ones on his woman. But then, an ominous thought hinges on his mind.

He had betrayed his cause. He has fallen for daughter of Tenno Mikado, The Hero of the Great War, the destroyer of Dubai, and the murderer of his family. Yet, Derald cannot avert himself from taking a liking to the Tenno Council member. The woman had proposed to burn him alive at their first meeting, but now the same woman was now in his arms, cuddling his chest.

The serene silence of the room was broken with an alert tone on Derald’s personal communicator device. Derald merely dreaded answering the call with a realization at the back of his mind. The Energy Siphoning and Compaction project he ran with Agni’s brother Vadjura was finally complete and had a working prototype. His customers and sponsors were now demanding results.

The alert tone faded away, and he drew a sharp sigh of relief. Agni begrudgingly looks up to him why he had ignored his summons. He merely replies that he was enjoying her company at the time. He runs his fingers again at the intricate designs on Agni’s back and heard her sigh.

He jokingly inquires if his friend and research partner Vadjura inherited anything at all from Agni’s mother. Agni laughs at the joke and answers that Vadjura actually took after their father Mikado, and that Vadjura was more of a geek than a Tenno. Derald bursts out in laughter and warns Agni that he will tell on his brother.

While they were laughing heartily, alarms suddenly blare in Derald’s room and the red lights flood in. Derald knew what it meant and closed his eyes. He then got up and asked Agni to return to her quarters before Psyche searched for her. Agni again begrudgingly addressed Derald while she got dressed. She pointed out that when the two of them got married, he would not be able to hide his ‘business secrets’ from her anymore. Derald merely smiled at the sentiment and watched as Agni made her way to the door. It still perplexed Derald how Agni maneuvers herself perfectly though she is perfectly blind.

Derald was about to answer his communicator when Agni suddenly stopped at his doorway. Agni then reminded Derald that Tenno children were often born as twins, and that he would have to come up with another name.

Section 1

The void travel was extraneous and took its toll on the travellers. While some were eventually lost to the vast energies smashing against them inside the void, Lotus held on to the hope that she would see her family once more. Void travel without the aid of shuttle crafts or towers were dangerous as the volatile energies within could easily rip a Tenno apart.

After what seemed to be several minutes of mentally draining travel within the limitless void, Lotus and a few survivors finally came upon a void gate. After re--materializing in the physical world, Lotus felt nauseous and was hobbled up to her feet. After realizing that they were in a biosphere and that the artificial atmosphere was breathable, Lotus rescinded her frame and took big long breaths.

After a few moments, Bilshan, the squad leader of the Excalibur Prime Royal Guards that had survived with them, approaches Lotus and bows. Still bowing, he asks for forgiveness for having failed to protect them at the assault on Outer Terminus. Lotus, remembering his husband Mikado’s friend and her own savior Mordecai, dismisses the apologies of the Tenno officer. She comments that he is much like his twin brother, Rhino Prime Rigby, a squad leader of Mikado’s own regiment.

The Tenno officer expresses his gratitude at her compliments and asks instead for orders. Lotus asks for assistance in standing up as she is still wobbling from their experience. Bilshan rushed to her side to comply and helps Lotus up. Lotus pulls out her communicator and frowns as it fails to connect. She then suddenly takes notice of their surroundings, shocked in realizing that they are in Terminus, Mercury instead.

After the horrible realization, Lotus pulls up a device and measures the star maps. She sinks back to the ground as she reads the output on the device. It has been more than a millennia since the attack on Outer Terminus, and that their Void travel had put them aside for that long time.

She suddenly cries aloud in pain, and several other Tenno around her cannot help but join her. She let out a wail for her loss. She wails for her family. She cries for her husband. She shouts out aloud the names of her children. She simply shouts.

After giving the grieving mother a few moments to herself, Bilshan wearily approaches her again to help her up and calm her down. After seating the sobbing Tenno on a jutting rock, he kneels down again, asking for her orders, as she is now the highest ranking Council member left.

Lotus stifles her sobs and bites her lips, then remarks they need to awaken their leader, The First. She presses herself for all the self-control she can muster and swallows hard. Wiping her face clean, she stands up again and faces the officer. She orders that the Royal Guards divide into two teams; one team to make a perimeter and one team to assist and take count of all the survivors. Once all required initial medical aid and preparations are done, they are to scout for a safe location for them to regroup.

Once Lotus was finishing up on her orders, the able Royal Guards suddenly stand up in attention and suddenly take arms. Bilshan suddenly steps behind Lotus and covers her while pulling out his Paris Prime. Lotus, alarmed by the sudden action of the Royal Guards, turns around to see what the commotion is about.

From afar, a lone figure was walking slowly. At first unnoticeable, the figure seems to be holding his arms up while slowly approaching the group. Once the pale but human person comes within earshot, Bilshan motions his men to take a semi-circle formation against the interloper with hand signals.

The stranger just laughs and shakes his head. His continued laughter deters some of the civilians and Lotus takes heed. Lotus, ignoring Bilshan’s warnings, approaches the stranger to converse. As she approaches the stranger, a familiar feeling comes flowing down her metallic spine. She then comes several feet of the stranger and she locks eyes with him.

The stranger suddenly lowers his hands, and then bows in the old Tenno tradition. He then mentions that his name is Darvo La Jutus, and that he cannot but notice the predicament the old Council member is in. Lotus then vehemently asks how the stranger knows of her. Darvo merely grins and says aloud that nobody does not know about the great Lotus; the wife of Mikado, Hero of the Great War, and the mother of the Council of Three.

Lotus suddenly understands Darvo’s sentiment at the moment he mentioned her children. Though thousands of years have passed, she senses that Darvo is a Trade Union Executive by his demeanor and way of speech. Darvo merely acknowledges the fact that he is in the employ of the Trade Union, informing her at the same time that it is now called Commericio Unione Corpus, or simply Corpus. He also states that he is no executive, noting at his lack of entourage. Lotus eyes the man and orders her men to stand down. She then turns to the man and eyes him from head to toe, and then asks what he offers. Darvo compliments the great leader upon her intuition and says that he merely offers his services to the Tenno.

Lotus voices out her doubt upon his words, but she must take it for now due to their situation. Lotus then states Darvo shall be rewarded at a later date since she has to access their hidden Orokin Vaults and asks him if it sits well with him. Darvo bows again, this time in acceptance of the offer. Lotus then offers a handshake to commensurate the bargain, and Darvo hesitatingly takes the hand. Lotus takes notice of the hesitant handshake, then turns to order the Royal Guards to accompany Darvo.

Section 2

What Lotus beheld was a large hall after the lift doors opened. Darvo led the way into the vast expanse of his “Dojo for sale”. True to his nature, Darvo explains the various amenities and function rooms of the dojo. Lotus asks him how he came to “own” such a large facility, built exactly underneath an Empire settlement in Mercury.

Darvo smilingly explains that this was once a Tenno Dojo belonging to a large “Moon” clan that he had done business with recently. Darvo points out that for now, only he knows the whereabouts of the Dojo since all of the previous members are gone. The whole clan had unanimously agreed and joined in an assault when they had a mission alert from one of their spies. Needless to say, they were wiped out. Darvo then corrects Lotus politely that the Empire is now more known as the “Grineer”.

Lotus then inquires as to what the clan system is. Darvo merely states that, without a unifying body like the Tenno Council like before, the remaining Tenno have banded together into small groups scattered hidden throughout the Origin system.

Lotus bitterly nods at the fact then takes interest in a particular room. Darvo scrambles to keep up with the Tenno leader and stops only when the two of them were inside a small room. Darvo then explains to her that it is a Duelling Room, where Tenno would test their mettle against each other in private. Lotus, without hesitation, proceeds to the center of the room and beckons for Darvo to follow suit.

Perplexed at the request, Darvo obliges his customer and proceeds. She then orders the Royal Guards to leave her here and to map and secure the whole Dojo Structure. Bilshan vehemently argues in outrage but Lotus insists on being left alone with the Corpus merchant. She counter argues that a mere merchant cannot possibly offer any risk to her.

All the while, Darvo still standing in the center of the room, Lotus proceeds to activate the room locks when she senses that they are alone. Lotus then proceeds to the front of Darvo and then begins to take off her heavy vestments. Darvo’s eyes widen at the gesture, but is then caught unaware of Lotus’ energized attack.

After a few moments, Lotus notes to herself that the room is really built for duels. Having hit the floor and the walls with energized attacks, any regular material would have crumbled already, but the room is still in good condition with only minor scratches.

Her supposed opponent, Darvo, is slumped bleeding on the farside wall but still conscious. She then slowly walks toward the bleeding man, and compliments him for surviving her attacks even though he was a “normal” human. She then bursts into tears, falls to her knees and then hugs the man. Darvo thinks to himself that his disguise is blown.

After a moment, lotus composes herself a bit and asks what had happened to her the man bleeding in front of her, “Lotus Vadjura” her son. “Darvo La Jutus” merely states, that her son is now dead and that he is merely a shell of his former self. He has been defeated, no, betrayed and now he and his siblings are now separated.

Crying again, Lotus then begs Darvo about any information about her other children. Darvo merely shakes his head. Lotus tries to beg further for anything about their family, but then, Darvo finally succumbs to his wounds and falls unconscious.

Section 3

A month has passed, and Darvo comes into the briefing room of the Dojo while on a hover chair. Though the fact that he is the previous Vadjura, the son of Mikado, the Hero of the Great War, he is now stripped of his frame, siphoned of his energies, and has been given a new face, he still wonders how Lotus has managed to see under his disguise as he enters the room, but then Lotus dismisses her officers out to their respective tasks.

As soon as the room is left empty besides the two of them, Lotus checks Darvo’s status just as a mother would. Darvo rolls his eyes and remarks that Lotus did not have to beat him up. Lotus, while checking a bandage on his arm, merely retorts that she just wanted to make sure. Darvo then asks Lotus how she was sure that it was him. Lotus merely says that when they first shook hands, Vadjura zapped him and felt that there was still some residual Tenno energy in him. It was an energy signature that she knew all too well.

Darvo merely shakes his head and corrects her by telling her to call him Darvo. As of the moment, only three people know of his true identity; Darvo himself, Lotus and the Corpus High Executive Alad V.

Lotus breaks the awkward silence that followed Darvo’s last word. She had been meaning to ask about what happened since she was last around, but all she knows that they are dwindling in numbers and that her husband is still not back. Lotus tries to stop crying, stands up after finishing checking up on her son, and takes a seat.

Darvo senses that Lotus already wants some answers. He sighs, Lotus takes notice of this and reminds her of her husband, and then Darvo pulls out a small datamass from his locket. He inserts the datamass into the holographic projector facing Lotus and plays the media contained within. Darvo then moves aside to tell a story with the aide of the machine.

Lotus was unable to control herself. Though her Mag Prime suit had been torn off from her, she still had some of its affinity in her. That affinity manifested right now as she screamed in anger at what had happened to her children. All the electronics in the briefing room was now malfunctioning and Darvo was now on the floor as his hover chair failed.

The structural damage has alerted the Royal Guards and they had successfully bypassed the security locks to the room. Bilshan was expecting to shoot the Corpus merchant upon entering, but was surprised to see Darvo asking for help as Lotus was going berserk.

Suddenly, some of his men were pulled away with big jerk and were sent flying across the room. Lotus was out of control from rage and an old Tenno Prime like her had lots of energy reserves, even without a frame. Bilshan, thinking for a moment, readied his Paris Prime and shot Lotus. Lotus merely stopped the bolt mid-air, but Bilshan was expecting that. Bilshan suddenly use a Radial Blind while Lotus was fixated on the arrow bolt and stunned her. He then used Slash Dash, using only the blunt back of his sword and put the Tenno leader unconscious.

Darvo gave a breath of relief as the tremors ceased. But as soon as Bilshan gave Lotus’ unconscious body to the medics, he then roughly picked up the disabled Corpus merchant from the floor and demanded information as to what had happened.

Knowing that Lotus had destroyed his datamass, Darvo merely states that he told Lotus what had become of her children. Omitting several parts, he paints the general story of the events to Bilshan. Bilshan throws him down, asks for another medic for the Corpus Merchant then assigns guards to monitor him. Darvo merely shakes his head, as he remembers that Bilshan and his twin Rigby had been his roommates in the old Tenno Military Academy.

Section 4

Almost a year has passed since Lotus learned of what happened to her children, but the mere thought of it still makes her tear up. She wipes her eyes again as she gazes out her window. They had finally been able to secure another Dojo in the periphery of the Origin system and are now safer for it. Darvo had been very helpful in their recovery while maintaining his guise as a merchant. He merely “sells” his wares to his “patrons” at a discount as he told in his reports to his auditors.

Darvo himself enters the room as soon as she finishes the thought. Darvo, now completely healed, walks in only to bring several new information he “bought” from his network. Before he speaks, Lotus begs him again to rejoin the Tenno and be with his kind again. Darvo looks down sadly and refuses again. He mentions that even though he does not age, he is now powerless and cannot serve their race. He further adds that he can be of better use this way as a supplier to the Tenno cause.

Lotus sadly nods and asks for what news Darvo brings. Darvo shakes off his sadness and asks if Lotus wants the bad news first or later. With a displeased look Lotus remarks that she had just lost Bilshan and was not up for games. Darvo’s eyes widen and he asks how Bilshan was lost. Lotus recounts that only days before, Bilshan had led two teams into a Security Tier 3 Void tower. Bilshan and three more served as distractions while the other team tried to secure data locked in the tower.

The tower could not be reclaimed, but the important data had been regained. But the cost was that Bilshan held off as long as he could so that everyone else could extract themselves. Lotus tears up again as she remembers Bilshan’s father Mordecai, who had unselfishly saved her as well. Knowing full well that Bilshan was an old friend of Vadjura, Lotus only nods at the sad face of Darvo.

After a moment, Darvo resumed his report. And it was a pertinent one. He had explained to Lotus that the information only circulated in limited channels but was secure and reliable due to repeated instances. Lotus merely waived off the details impatiently and asked for the point of the report. Darvo then mentions slowly that Baphomet has resurfaced.

Expecting shock from Lotus, Darvo is surprised to see Lotus smile instead. Lotus explains that the data Bilshan fought hard to regain was relevant to Baphomet, as the data itself were the blueprints for an advanced frame that was designed explicitly to decimate the Infested. It was a frame that used controlled electric feeds into manipulated magnetic fields. It was a frame she had designed to replace her own Mag Prime since the new frame also used magnetic fields itself. Darvo asked what the magnetic fields for and Lotus answered that she had found a way to indefinitely contain antimatter using magnetic fields. 

She called the new frame Nova, and now she can finally put it to good use. Lotus explains that the new frame is now in its production phase since the designs were already complete were supposed to be used in the Great War. But now, they may have some new use.

Lotus paces around the room to explain the frame. With a broken voice, Lotus tells that upon her battle and loss with Baphomet at Tower thirty five, she had found that magnetism was ineffective with the Infested since they were half biological. She then had the idea to decay and destroy the Infested system by use of Antimatter. It was by pure coincidence that the Infested’s system made use of Hydrogen in large amounts, and that the easiest antimatter to produce was its counterpart Antihydrogen.

The Nova system not only made the Infested explode, but it also hindered its movement. Deploying Antimatter around a subject would counterbalance the inertia and the kinetic forces in a subject, leading it to have lessened movement. It was the perfect system to combat Baphomet’s fast and damaging propensity for battle.

Lotus, noticing that she had been talking by herself for a long time, apologizes and asks Darvo for the rest of his report, mentioning that she had heard him mention some good news. Darvo smiles, remarks again that Dahaka is accounted for, but through his information network, he has found out that Agni was still alive.

Section 5

Agni was being held in a colossal prototype ship made to be the counterpart of the Tenno Ark. Called the “Fomorian” named after its late engineer Fomoria Vay Hek; it was now in line to be the flagship of the Grineer Empire. But for now, it held the office of Vladymir Oskar Rasputin, and most of his test subjects.

After her capture at the hands of the former Derald Vida, now called Alad V, Agni was sent to the Gradivus base on Mars for processing. Right there and then, after the drop ship had landed on the base docks, she was further siphoned off of her energies, stripping her of her frame affinities. She was then stripped naked and continually probed by everyone she met.

After her decontamination procedure, which included the thorough cleansing of every cavity possible, she was then strapped to a table and vivisected immediately. She was given a full hysterectomy and then hurriedly closed up and sent to her cell. She merely screamed while she knew that the still forming fetus in her womb would be discarded. She would cry for weeks later after the operation.

Weeks later still, she was transferred from one Empire laboratory to another, after each Empire clan had petitioned to experiment with her. Though she knew that her reproductive system was now with Psyche’s remains with Rasputin, she was passed around like some toy within the Empire.

After centuries of being frozen in stasis, reanimation, vivisection, rape, and torture, she merely became a mindless doll. The last time she held consciousness was when the Regor clan had her in custody for genetic sampling and experimentation. The Regors were unsuccessful in their endeavour to copy the life lengthening effects of the Tenno DNA, and had resigned to have the doll passed on to the last interested part, the Ruk clan.

She heard the conversation between the old leader of the Regor clan and his clone son, but did not take heed as she was already being prepared for cryostasis again. The next thing she knew, she senses a young man had been sitting guard beside her, while she lay in bed.

She was surprised to be on a bed. For an immeasurable time she had only experienced cruelty and pain at the hands of the Empire, but for now, she was comfortable and unchained. For the first time in centuries, she thought, she was not hanging by some chain or suspension device, but was spending a warm afternoon being fed.

She was being fed manually, for she had lost all of her limbs. It was a long time ago and she does not remember who did it, but her limbs were cut off while she was conscious. She does not know where her limbs are now, but all she knows is that she is merely a torso with head now. After some time, when she had regained strength, the young man who always stayed near addressed her and introduced himself as Captain Sargas Ruk.

Section 6

The Ruk clan, much like the Tenno of old, held honor above all else and treated their prisoners of wars fairly, young Sargas Ruk told Agni. The young officer also started briefing Agni of her status and past experiments, apologizing along the way for the behaviour of his brethren.

Agni, stunned after centuries of pain, kept her tears at bay while the young man spoke. Though the young man spoke without malice, he had trouble speaking the Common Language. The young man laughed softly as he noticed Agni’s difficulty at understanding him, but explains again in a slower pace that the Empire has now evolved to be called the Grineer Empire and has created its own “superior” language.

Agni, still doubtful of the young man, only nods in acknowledgment of the fact. The young man laughs heartily this time, slowly speaking and remarking at the noticeable doubt on Agni’s face. Agni suddenly becomes conscious of her face for the first time in centuries. She had assumed that the Grineer had destroyed it, but Ruk explains that his clan has mended all of her injuries as much as possible. Ruk further explains that due to the research of the Regor clan, healing skin perfectly was now fully in their capacity and that she has nothing to be embarrassed about her face. Seeing the displeased look on Agni’s blind eyes, Ruk then hesitates as he realized that the process came from experimenting on Agni herself.

Ruk then tries to change the subject as he states that he had been anxiously awaiting Agni’s arrival. Clan Ruk had been waiting to do its experiments he says. Agni, at the mention of the experiment, faces away in disappointment. Ruk again panics and tries to correct himself, merely saying that the Ruk clan specializes in body augmentations and that he plans to give her limbs again. He tried to explain himself, but Agni did not turn his way again for the day. The young man then excused himself with a sigh and left the room as the nurses were going to wash Agni’s body. Agni secretly smiled by herself at the kindness of the young man.

Though the Ruk clan were really honourable and fair as the young officer stated, they needed Agni’s cooperation for their experiments. They were interested in the unique Central Nervous System that Agni possessed. There were only two Tennos that had the unique bodily structure, but Lotus was unaccounted for. Therefore, the Ruk clan petitioned to work with Agni for their experiments especially since their work centered on bodily augmentations and replacements.

The Ruk clan was hoping to improve the mobility of the body augmentations of the Grineer by studying how Agni’s unique Central Nervous System worked. Though they hypothesized that her spine structure was somehow different with her mother’s, mainly because Lotus’ spine was metallic and Agni’s were ceramic in nature, the Ruk clan was thoroughly exited when the young prospect of their clan had claimed the consent of the former Tenno after weeks of slowly encouraging her.

They needed her consent since she had to cooperate in operating the artificial limbs that they planned to place on her. Although the young Ruk knew of this, he still maintained a friendly and civil line of communications with the former Tenno mainly due to his pride and honor.

When the first incident of the experiment took place, Agni was given the latest in Grineer limb replacements and optical sensors, and then was monitored for neural feedbacks. While a technician was finishing up with the test and was to calibrate an arm, Agni suddenly clutched the technician and flung him far. She then broke free of her restraints and made for escape. Donning the latest in Grineer technology and having combat training herself, she was halfway through the Ruk clan base when an elite corps of soldiers came up and cornered her.

She was desperately fighting back for her freedom when she noticed that the volley of bullets stopped coming. She went to check the situation and only saw the young officer Sargas walking towards her unarmed. Sargas merely came up to her and stared her down while she pointed an arm mounted rifle to his face. She spoke for the first time in centuries and felt that her throat was dry. Still, she managed to tell Sargas to stand aside and let her through. Sargas merely looked at her directly and shook his head. Though he was very tall even for a Grineer human, Agni’s artificial limbs put her on equal footing with the young officer.

Agni cocked her rifle and asked once more, but the young Grineer would not even talk anymore. A gunshot was then heard, and the soldiers snapped into place for an attack. All they saw was Sargas struggling with the former Tenno to not shoot herself. Agni had chosen instead to shoot her temple, but Sargas had stopped the bullet in time with his right arm.

Sargas’ right arm had been destroyed and was heavily bleeding when the soldiers came to his aid in subduing Agni, but Agni still tried to kill herself, all the while crying and screaming aloud. After the soldiers finally restrained her and disconnected her power cells, she was screaming at Sargas for him to kill her finally. She kept on screaming at Sargas as she was being dragged away by soldiers. Sargas, even though being questioned by medics while still standing, ignored the pain in his destroyed arm and felt something run down his cheek.

Section 7

After the incident, a failsafe switch was installed on Agni’s artificial limbs as a safeguard for future escape attempts. But the technicians at the time were facing another problem; Agni was again unresponsive and merely had a blank stare on her face. As a result, tests were postponed indefinitely while she was expected to recover.

A week later, Sargas visited her again in her room. He was now donning a mechanical right arm much like her own when she was doing her tests. She tried hard not to notice his arrival, but she merely turned away her face. Sargas merely sat on a stool and laughed heartily just as he usually did. He remarks that he likes warriors and their fighting spirit. He then further boasts that he only commands under him the fiercest of warriors. He spent the whole day and the next few weeks recounting his battles with his fierce elite unit as long as he was around.

After the third week, Agni was now looking at Sargas as he told his battle stories. He was telling a story about a recent Infested incursion into Lua on Earth, and how his fierce unit had driven them away. He had now lost his legs due to the encounter but was laughing at his new legs as they looked like the legs of the extinct species of chicken. Agni stifled a laugh.

Ruk noticed the gesture, and there was an awkward silence in the room. Breaking the silence, Ruk suddenly stood up with a serious face and stood in front of Agni’s bed. Surprisingly, he suddenly made a tapping dance using his new artificial legs. Agni was taken by surprise and was not able to contain her laughter.

After hearing her laughter, Sargas Ruk then stopped to regain his composure and looked around if there were anyone who had heard him dance. He then motions a nod to Agni’s direction as she stopped herself from laughing. He tries to leave the room only to stop at the doorway and offer Agni a position in his unit. Agni still confused about herself and her condition, was suddenly taken aback at the offer. She tried to speak but again felt her throat was dry. She looked down, swallowed hard and tried to respond, but Sargas was no longer by the door when she looked again.

Years pass, and the Ruk clan was successful in creating a device that emulates the processes of the synapse connections in Agni’s unique spine. They had found out finally that Agni’s spine was not actually ceramic in nature, but was condensed silicon crystal constructs that were structured to become semiconductors. Since Agni was formerly an ember, her spine not only was resistant to high heat, it became more active as a semiconductor when her thermal abilities where activated.

The Ruk clan had found a way to emulate this process by building a device they called a Neurode, and placing it inside Grineer body modifications and augmentations. The resultant Neurode not only vented heat from mechanical parts just like a heat sink, but also facilitated more complex electrical signals to be sent from the recipient’s brain into the machine. The best part that Ruk clan boasted about it was that the more heat that the Neurode absorbed, since it is based on silicon semiconductor with a negative temperature coefficient of resistance, the more its performance improved.

The Ruk clan had given the Grineer Empire’s augmented troops more agility and speed, gaining them favour from the royal court and providing them promotions for their officers. By now, Sargas Ruk had become a Colonel and was absorbed in a meeting with the esteemed officers of the Grineer in the Fomorian ship.

Beside him in the conference room was Lech Krill, the veteran hero who had won the Infested war on Ceres and pushed back the Infested to Jupiter. Aside Krill, was Captain Vor, the Twin Queen’s lapdog and Rasputin’s favoured clone. Vor had the unfortunately contracted a condition where he aged prematurely, gaining him the nick name of “Old Man” Vor. This nickname did not sit well with Vor’s actual age, as he is actually was younger than Ruk himself. Only the people in this room knew the fact that he was grown using Agni’s womb, resulting in his premature aging, except for two other people.

Those two other people included the Corpus Executive across him on the table, Alad V himself, together with one of his merchants, Vadro as he remembered. It mattered not what the name of the merchant was, his eyes were fixated on Alad V, remembering what he did to Agni. He only smiled to himself as he knew that he held the former Tenno Agni in cryostasis in his docked ship inside the Fomorian.

Their topic for today was brought up by the Prime Minister of the Grineer Empire himself, Vladymir Oskar Rasputin. He had thought up of creating a council within the Origin system that would facilitate dealings within the different human factions. After millennia of bickering and incursions of Infested, resources on the Origin system were growing limited by the minute, and Rasputin pointed out that Outer Terminus was still non-operational.

Alad V then shot out a comment that the Grineer should put a hold on breeding more dogs to feed. Vor, Krill and Ruk was suddenly put to their feet, as the new Tyl Regor and Fomorian Vay Hek’s son aptly named Councilor remained shouting in their seats. The Corpus merchant merely stayed quiet and Alad V laughed haughtily. Rasputin then shouted at the Grineer officers to sit down and then coughed hard. Alad V was keen to notice that Rasputin had coughed up blood.

The Grineer Party sat down but their ocular augmentations glared with energy as they looked at Alad V. Ruk himself was itching to use his right arm to roast the impertinent Corpus, but he cannot disobey Rasputin’s orders. Ruk’s armor had been standing out in color as contrasted to the colors that his peers donned. With the exception of the bright blue of the eccentric Regor clan, most of the Grineer are clad in dark toned gray or green hued armors. But Ruk himself was wearing an orange armor, a color unusual with the Grineer. In truth, he had adopted the energy color of Agni into the color of his armor and his elite unit, so that she can blend in. Though Agni still had safeguards on her augmentations, she had served well under him and was content.

As he controlled his anger while patiently hearing out the ramblings of the old Prime Minister, an alarm sounded off. A petty officer of Rasputin’s suddenly comes in and whispers something in his ear. Rasputin’s eyes widen and he dismisses the soldier. He then announces that the meeting is now postponed and everybody in the room is hereby ordered to vacate the ship.

Before Alad V could object to being ordered around by a Grineer, Rasputin announces that the Infested has unknowingly breached the ship and is flooding the Fomorian too fast for the soldiers to keep up. Since the meeting was meant to take place in a hidden place for the safety of the differing parties present, reinforcements will take too long to come and they have abandon the ship. Rasputin then asks Alad V if he is willing to meet Baphomet himself.

Section 8

Lotus had been riding on the information that Darvo provided, and they were in fact correct. There was a colossal ship hiding between Sedna and Pluto’s orbit, and that it was to be attacked by the Infested at the exact time there would be a meeting of the high officers in the Origin system. Though she knew her son was quite ingenious like his father, she was still confounded by the fact that Darvo had exactly predicted that the Infested would attack on time as if Darvo himself had scheduled it.

But questions to his information gathering methods would have to be put aside as she was here to rescue her daughter Agni. She was donning her new Nova frame, and her unit of other Nova frames were able to slip through the security without being noticed. They used silent antimatter motes and coordinated placements of wormholes to traverse the insides of the colossal ship unnoticed.

Darvo had insisted that Lotus infiltrate the ship from below, near its massive thrusters. Seeing from afar, while on the way to the ship, Lotus noticed that the Infested had commandeered a carrier class Corpus cargo ship and slammed it directly onto the front section of the Fomorian. She remembers the same maneuver that Baphomet made on the thirty fifth Orokin tower, but shrugs off the thought and reminds herself that she is here for her daughter and not Baphomet.

She then issues hand signals to her Nova elite to split up as per plan, so that they can blow up the three reactor engines on the Fomorian simultaneously as she herself extracts Agni. She then reminds them first to meet up in the docking bay in the middle of the Fomorian as the extraction ship will pick them up from there, since the thrusters will become unstable once they blow up the reactors. She bids them luck and they go their own ways.

Darvo had been looking at his time piece when the alarms blared and he smiled to himself. A soldier comes in to report to Rasputin and the old man orders an evacuation. Before Alad V could complain, the old man had already told him off and he merely grunted. He then motioned for his servants to escort him and Darvo followed suit.

As the conference room was designed to be near the docks and the escape hatches, Alad V and Darvo managed to reach their ship earlier than expected. Darvo had expected this also and timed himself to separate from the group when the ship suddenly suffered heavy turbulence. Darvo had expected Lotus’ soldiers to blow up the Fomorian’s reactors, and that he planned to separate from Alad V in the commotion. Looking at the Corpus party from afar and sensing his absence had been overlooked, he departs to proceed with his plan.

Though the Corpus representative party came in a middle sized but fast drop ship, Darvo had pretended to be late and arrived on his own personal ship. He had brought merchandise in his smaller ship, to hide the fact that he was carrying some equipment for Lotus. He boards his small ship and activates the equipment that Lotus told him to bring.

A week ago, Darvo came to Lotus with some very important information. Darvo had informed Lotus that Agni was alive a month earlier, and now he had information that there was a chance that they could rescue her. He had caught working on a frame, and after delivering his news, he had questioned Lotus as he thought that the Nova frame was already complete.

Lotus commented that Nova frame was indeed complete, and further pointed out that due to his shipment of the new Grineer Neurodes, Lotus even able to improve its mobility further. She then resumes her work on what seems to be another exoskeleton and asks nonchalantly what his information was. Having established a civil relationship with Lotus, Darvo explains that there will be a summit of the top leaders of the different factions on a colossal ship within a week.

Agni will be brought there as the Ruk clan that holds her will also attend with all their assets. Lotus stops what she was doing and looks at Darvo in the eyes. She had accepted that Vadjura was already lost and the man in front of him was merely a Tenno supporter, but she could not help but inform him of her aching for children. She then proceeds to reveal another suit beside the one she was working on.

She explains that through reverse engineering the Neurode technology, she had successfully created a new frame system that would integrate itself successfully into a recipient’s Central Nervous System and not corrode the mind of the user. Going back to the basics, she melded what was known of Project Vivian and its three products that used nanotechnology. She now held the technology to make any person don a suit that would practically give the recipient the powers of a Tenno. Although using countless Orokin cells in the process, the energy output would rival any Prime Tenno in combat.

She had already finished work on a prototype suit that specializes in sensing, monitoring and communication. It had a lotus figure for a helmet and had several root like wires jutting from its back. Lotus touched it and activated it for a moment, and mechanical fireflies suddenly began materializing around the frame. Lotus explains that the fireflies are remotely controlled by the frame and can deliver high explosive charges when detonated.

Darvo then remarks if he can sell the new frame. Lotus laughs at the question and deactivates the frame. She then says that the two frames are exclusive and not for sale. She had planned for three unique frames like before, but it seems Agni was now a priority. Darvo only raises a brow as he follows Lotus out of the laboratory.

Section 9

The Grinner party cursed in their rough language as they passed through numerous halls into the opposite side of the docking bay. The docking bay had two platforms separated by a wide chasm, and their ships were docked on the east side of the area while the Corpus was docked on the other side.

Ruk was cursing to himself for not being able to show off to the spoiled Corpus High Executive that she had Agni with him. After experiencing several aftershocks and reports from the soldiers stationed at the top section of the ship that the Infested were now working their way down, Ruk informs Rasputin that they should hurry. Although Ruk had said such a thing, he was actually wishing he could stay and fight but they had the old man as a burden.

Finally reaching the last set of blast doors to their ships, the party stops as a lone Tenno drops down in front of them as the doors slid open. The Tenno was donning an unfamiliar frame but nonetheless looked unthreatening as it was small and had only smooth features.

The Elite Lancers readied their weapons, while Ruk noticed that on the other side, the Corpus was already boarding their ships. The lancers prepared to fire at the lone Tenno when it suddenly slams the ground with its hands. They initially thought that the flashing light was only a diversionary tactic, but when they saw that the Tenno was still standing in the same place, they started to shoot.

Unfortunately, they were surprised that they found it hard to move, much less attack at all. The Tenno suddenly materializes a small round object and throws it like a bullet to one of the lancers, making him explode. Suddenly, the hallway was abound with chain explosions, with each dying soldier exploding and killing the one next to him, restarting the process.

Ruk and the other officers suddenly try to cover Rasputin, but as they turn to him, he was already being held by Tenno who had apparently teleported. Teleporting back outside the hallway into the east docks, the Tenno held Rasputin by the throat and suddenly screamed. The Tenno berated the old man and demanded where Agni, her daughter, to be returned to her. At first confused while choking, the old man then laughed as he realized that it was Lotus, the Tenno Council member, who had mysteriously vanished more than a millennia ago.

Rasputin remarks that he would like to chat with the esteemed guest, and that had he known that she had returned, he would have invited her to the meeting. The old man coughs up blood from his illness, and tells Lotus that Agni herself has been passed around the Grineer Empire, and that even he has lost track of where she is. After shaking his head when Lotus another question as to where Agni was, Lotus then primed the old man himself and opened a wormhole to the other side of the docks with the Corpus ships.

She threw the old man into the energy doorway and saw the old man materialize amongst surprised Corpus crewmen. What Lotus was late to notice was that Sargas Ruk was rushing behind her and she braced herself, but the heavy Grineer officer enters the doorway instead before it closes. Ruk materializes on the wesr docks and slices the old man cleanly in half while throwing away the primed half into the chasm. Ruk saved many important lives as the explosion occurred beneath them in the chasm.

Rasputin himself had been placed on the floor, coughing up blood and still alive. He sees Alad V in the crowd and motions him to come closer. The old man beckons Alad V to listen to his last words as he is the last genuine clone of Rasputin, the last one carrying Rasputin’s memories, teachings and knowledge. He whispered something into the ear of Alad V and then motioned for him to take the small pendant he wore. Upon closer examination, Alad V notices it is a datamass and hurriedly hides it in his person. The man looks at him with a smile and closes his eyes.

Lotus was impressed by the actions of the Grineer officer. She had planned to blow up the escape route of the Grineer while blowing up the Corpus as well, knowing that Darvo will not be among them. She was to jump into the chasm for their extraction point when suddenly; a stringed blade pierces through her abdomen. She thanks the metallic nature of her spine, keeping her still mobile and her spine intact. The blade retracts and she turns around to see a heavily armored Grineer that bore resemblance to the Grineer officer earlier.

She then notices that it is a female as it screams under its mask and tries to evade its attacks. Though wounded and the Grineer woman highly capable of combat, Lotus easily manages to blow away each weapon the woman released from its body. After a tiring fight, and Lotus heavily bleeding, Lotus finally slams the ground again and blows up the Grineer woman completely. She slumps as she tries to contact Darvo, but then a slim form of a woman suddenly jumps out of the smoke and attacks her with blades.

After regaining footing and as the smoke from the explosion recedes, with a horrified look, she sees Agni herself donning Grineer appendages and armor. She had survived the explosion by discarding the heavy armor earlier while it exploded. She was now fighting Lotus with only her artificial limbs and a blade. Agni was unable to bear to see the angered and pained face of her daughter while most of her body parts were now replaced. She cried aloud with anguish and pity at the sorry state of her daughter.

Section 10

Agni, still in a state of bloodlust, starts to attack again with her blade, but the Tenno does nothing to dodge the fatal attack. The blade pierces her chest in the middle and gets lodged in her metallic spine. As Agni tries to pull out the blade, she is stunned to notice that the Tenno embraces her and tries to console her. She then recognizes the voice and tears up herself.

The Tenno, finally losing energy due to the attack, accidentally rescinds her frame and reveals herself to be Lotus. Agni then stops at the horror of what she had done. Although she had become accustomed to killing Tenno in the field as she has accepted that the Tenno has abandoned her, she cannot believe that she had struck her own mother.

As Lotus drops down, Agni assists her and lays her down to sit on some rubble. Lotus smiles as she caresses the cheeks of her daughter. Agni repeatedly apologizes and bursts out in tears at her act. Lotus hushes her daughter and tells her everything will be fine. Sensing her mother’s imminent death, Agni screams further, activating the failsafe in her body. With her last energies, Lotus blasts away all of Agni’s artificial body parts while sending her down into the chasm below.

Ruk and Alad V witness everything from the other side of the docking bay. Alad V clenches his fists in secret as she witnesses Agni come to life and fall down to her death in a single moment. Sargas Ruk, feeling something running down his cheeks again, is disgusted with the Tenno for being able to fight dirty and killing their own children. He vows to never trust anything not Grineer anymore and will do everything to conquer the whole system.

He dreams that one day, Clan Ruk will replace the Twin Queens and that Agni and Sargas’s adopted clone child will be king instead. He then receives a report that the Officers are safe and en route to the west docks where he is. He wipes his face, fires his flamethrower in the air, stops firing and blinds himself with the hot metal in remembrance of Agni.

Agni was stunned by her mother’s last action of throwing her to her death in the chasm. But then, she thought that death was now welcome after all the things she had gone through. Suddenly, she lands on something soft and wonders what was happening since she was now blind again. Suddenly, she hears a buzzing sound that begins to multiply. From nowhere, wires and machines emerge beside her and she becomes afraid.

A voice then calls out that she should be fine, considering the sacrifice their mother made just for her to return to the Tenno. The man introduces herself as Darvo, the Corpus merchant, but then tells her that it would be better for him to introduce himself by touching her forehead. Agni was baffled by the sentiment, but then remembers that Vadjura often held her forehead as a child as he had the odd ability to channel memories. He remembers Vadjura tells her that he inherited an evolved form of their father’s ability, and having a Volt affinity, he can transfer memories to anyone he touches. Darvo then proceeds to touch her forehead and memories flood her.

After a moment, she screams in emotional pain as she regrets blaming their mother for abandoning them. She had learned from Darvo, now known to her as Vadjura depowered, that Lotus had intended to save them using the last Void key, but the Void key malfunctioned and sent Lotus into the future instead. She cries as she remembers attacking Lotus, at all the regrets and mistakes that she made. This emotional stress triggers the last residual Tenno energy in her and the machine she was in activates.

While still crying, Agni asks Vadjura what was happening, but Darvo merely tells her to call him by his Corpus name and relax as Darvo and Lotus had prepared a surprise for her return. The machine then propped her up and suddenly injected her with nanomachine and painkillers. The machine then fully activates as Darvo lets a firefly rest on his index finger.

Lotus was dying. She was content though that she had saved Agni and Darvo would be outside now, installing her back into the Tenno fold.  The ships from the other side of the docks have now left and the Infested were banging on the collapsed door.

After a few moments, the Infested finally pour in and rush to her place. She had prepared herself to die painfully but then the Infested stop and order themselves around her. Some of the creatures make way and Baphomet arrives riding on his new mount.

Lotus painfully laughs as the moment from more than a thousand years before repeats itself. Baphomet dismounts and begins walking towards Lotus, and Lotus tells him that he is too late to savor anything anymore. Baphomet merely stands above her for a moment silently and the act confuses Lotus.

Baphomet rescinded his frame only to reveal a well formed and well-dressed man. Lotus is surprised to see the man and cries again. She only gives a nod while tears ran down her cheek. Baphomet raises his sword and ends Lotus’ pain. The Infested seem to bow at her death and then proceed to flee the exploding ship. Baphomet activates his frame again and calls his mount. His mount also bows at the body of Lotus and accepts his master. Baphomet rides to herd his Infested off the ship, but stops for one last look at the smiling face of Lotus.

Epilogue

While still looking out his window, Alad V snaps out of his long daydream and senses something amiss. Though not a Tenno, his predisposition for foresight had gained him several successes. Looking around, the serenity of his room is disrupted by the flickering of the lights. Initially dismissing its first instance, Alad V shifts his seating position once the lights kept on flickering.

His canine automaton getting agitated, Alad V motions it to stand down. The automaton companion lowers its guard but stays near its master. Alad V then S#&$s his attention to the open space in his room. He had heard of the rumors of a rogue Tenno that had gained the nickname of “Stalker”, apparently visiting and assassinating those who it deems guilty of some crime.

For Alad V, with his aching and withering body and personal regrets, he would welcome such a visit. He put on a smile as the rumoured trademark smoke slowly materialized as the lights flickered for the last time.

Suddenly, a dark hued Tenno materialized within the smoke, sitting on its knees, facing him directly. Alad V makes neither remark nor action as waits for the visitor to take action. His automaton companion, clearly anxious, asks permission to engage the visitor. Alad V relents and the canine rushes to the visitor.

The Stalker merely stays his sitting pose, yet unsheathes his weapons. But instead of defending itself, the Tenno places his weapons to his left side and rescinds his frame. The young man then greets the canine and pats its head just like Alad V did.

Alad V motions the automaton to stop bothering his guest and the automaton complies with a whimper. Alad V, with his ragged body, painfully leans forward towards his guest. The guest bows in acknowledgement and awaits instructions.

Alad V sighs and asks about the task he gave the young Tenno. The young man merely reported that he had successfully eliminated reinforcements that were en route to the cryostasis chamber to support Captain Vor. Afterwards, he had to stay a good distance and watch from afar as the extraction team assisted and escorted the newly awoken Tenno from the Void Cryopod. He states that he took this precaution as the rescue team had included a Nyx in their ranks and he wanted to remain hidden at the time.

The Corpus Executive merely nodded in approval at the mission results. He was planning all along to stir up the Grineer by awakening Him. Alad V commends his young guest but then merely complains about the young man’s strict adherence to Tenno tradition, asks him if he would like some tea. As the guest declines, he settles himself more comfortable and finally asked the young man what other news he had, addressing him only as “…Orzhov, my son”.

To be continued...