Waking

Cold…

It was cold. Everything was cold. He was cold. The cold was everything. He lay still, not fully aware. No damage was registering. No pain was felt. But the cold was so pervasive it was hard to tell where the cold ended and the body began. A signal came.

Tenno, you are needed.

The voice… struck something deep within him. It was female. He was male and the voice was female. He knew that. Did he know this person? He was not sure. He struggled against the cold and felt sudden pain erupt within him. But he was not a slave to pain. He was the master of his body. Of his warframe. He paused. Warframe? He felt the voice inside his mind again.

You are waking from cryo, Tenno.

Cryo. Cryogenics was the study of the production and behavior of materials at very low temperatures. He knew that. Somehow. He knew… It didn't come. What had happened? Where was he? What was going on? Nothing made any sense. Everything was cold. He was…

Something changed. He was moving. No, whatever he was in was moving. He was not sure what was happening. Or why. This was… odd. What was he doing in this place? He prodded his systems and they responded sluggishly. This was intolerable! HE was better than this. Far, far better than this. He was…

Who was he? He could not remember. He activated his sensors package and paused. He was inside a small chamber. The walls were made of glass lined with an odd but familiar gray metal. But it was the frost that covered every surface that he could ascertain without moving that made him wonder.

Cryo… Cold… He thought, his mental processes sluggish. He had been frozen? That… felt right, but he had no idea why.

Enemies are approaching, Tenno. The female voice spoke again. There are allies in the area, but they are…distracted. You must rouse yourself.

Familiar sounds came to his auditory sensors. Gunfire. Screams. Familiar screams! He knew those sounds! But from where? The pod shuddered to a halt and he felt it reorient until he was lying on his back inside it. He stared down at his hand, the golden bio-mechanical armor that covered it as familiar as his own heartbeat. After an eternity, perhaps five seconds, his fingers moved as he commanded them to. They clenched into a fist and he felt anticipation.

Waking should not be this slow. Where did that thought come from? As he fought to move what he could in the small confines of the pod, he cast out with his mind, called by instinct. Or need. What is happening?

Your pod was found deep in the catacombs of a derelict Orokin Tower, Tenno. The female voice was calmly. Until a very short time ago, we did not know you were there. The enemy are massing to destroy the pod.

Corrupted? He asked. What? What was that from? Somehow he knew what they were. Poor benighted souls who had run afoul of the Tower's neural sentry and been enslaved for it.

Yes. The calm voice in his head replied. We are sending an extraction team, but they have been delayed. The team that is supposed to be protecting your pod has run into difficulties. The pod will open shortly, but it will drop you into the middle of a battle.

Battle is what I do. The Tenno –the word felt very right- said just as calmly. His limbs were moving now and he reached up to his chest to grab the haft of his preferred weapon. Any estimate on enemy numbers?

They are feral and seem to have a breeding ground on the derelict. The female was still that maddening calm. But he found it… oddly soothing for some reason. Part of him found that wrong, but he began his prebattle mantra. He also checked all of his battle systems. Low power, but his armor was intact. His preferred weapon was at hand, but no others.

I am Tenno. He said in his mind. Warrior of the Orokin. I am Tenno. None can stand before me. I am Tenno and I am ready! He hit the side of the pod and paused as nothing happened. That is where the emergency release is. Why did it not open?

You have been asleep for long time, Tenno. Systems have…deteriorated. The female voice was quiet now. We did not know where you went, Tenno. Was she…sad now? We wanted to help but you fled before we could. That felt… right to the golden warrior. But he had bigger problems currently.

If you want to help, open the pod! The Tenno said sharply and then he recoiled as a hideous face appeared in his field of view. The Corrupted had once been Infested. That was clear from the misshapen forms. He drew back a powerful fist and slammed it into the glass. The Infested retreated a pace, but then slammed its tentacle into the pod before flying into the air. Despite the soundproofing of the pod, he could hear the scream of the monster as another Tenno –a Mag apparently- crushed it with her power. Enough! He thundered in his mind and slammed both hands into the pod cover. This time, the pod opened.

He took in the tactical scene at a glance. A Mag warframe was perched on a set of boxes nearby. Enemies were everywhere. The Mag's Burston Prime rifle sang and some of those enemies died, but he could tell just by looking at her that she had exhausted her power saving him. Two Infested, not a type he knew but four legged, ran towards the Mag from her blind side and he decided to return the favor. He reached down to where his preferred weapon had fallen when he had sat up and straightened in the pod. The golden Scindo flashed in the limited light of the Orokin derelict and he smiled grimly under his helmet as he rose to his full height. He did not have full power, but… the Rhino Prime had enough.

A mighty roar caromed off the walls in the distance and energy suffused every pore of the warfare and the being inside it. Then, he charged. Both of the Infested were slammed away from the boxes they were trying to climb and the Mag spun and stared down before nodding and returning to the fight. He barely had enough power for his defensive ability and cast it just as one of the huge forms slid a tentacle at him. He caught it with his Scindo and the monster gave a shrill scream as he deftly amputated the appendage with his axe. The enemy closed and he did as he always had. He put his feet down and harvested pieces.

Then it was all chaos and death, blood and screaming. Every so often and enemy would fall, pierced by a shot from the Mag. He was dimly aware that the other warframe was covering his flanks as he strode into the midst of the Infested, his Scindo flashing. The enemy came to meet him, baying their bestial battlecry. It made no difference. Some of the Corrupted Infested used powers that seemed kind of like Tenno abilities, but his defenses were strong. None of them survived more than two hits from the golden battle axe and suddenly, he was standing in a cleared area where the pod he had been in lay open like a wilted flower.

He shook the gore off his axe and nodded to the Mag who was climbing down from her box. Her hand gesture of 'Injuries?' showed concern in her body language and he shook his head. He returned it and she shook her own head. Good. He hated losing kin. He had… lost so much. That thought hit him like a Fragor hammer and he stood for a moment before he saw the Mag waving to him.

Well done, Tenno. The female voice in his mind was still calm. Transport is enroute.

The Mag nodded, but from her body language was distracted by something. The golden warrior paused and looked around, but saw nothing. The Mag shook her head violently and then started off, keeping her speed down. He kept up easily, and kept his guard up. He had fought Infested before. Many times. He remembered blurry images of battle, or desperate skirmishes. Some won, some lost. He went still as three more Tenno appeared out of the shadows. A Nova, an Ash and an Excalibur. The Mag… ignored them and kept right on moving even as the other three did double takes on seeing the newcomer. One of them –the Ash- made a gesture of inquiry, but the Mag ignored him and the golden warrior did likewise. He wasn't sure what was going on, but the other three seemed…furtive? Odd that.

No more Corrupted appeared as they approached a set of airlocks. He nodded. He knew –somehow- that each led to a Tenno spacecraft. The Mag waved him forward and he shrugged before placing himself in the humanoid shaped alcove. It felt… wrong to place himself in the ship, but… he didn't really have a choice. Even for Tenno, the Void was not a safe place to hang around. He was stunned when the Mag entered and started cursing.

"Bunch of flipping idiots." The Mag snapped as she moved to an alcove to divest herself of weapons. "Is it too much to ask for backup in defending the pod?" She undid her rifle and racked it, but left her pistol and sword in place as she turned back at the stunned warrior. "You okay?"

"Intact." The other replied. "You seem upset."

"I am." The Mag said with a sigh as she sat in the control chair and the ship hummed, taking the pair away from the Tower entrance. "I prefer to work with my clan. When I can't… I am often unpleasantly surprised by the antics of teammates." The other stared at her and she shrugged. "Our orders were to defend the pod until extraction could get here. You saw how many of the team were there." It wasn't a question.

"What were they doing?" He asked, dumbfounded. "If not for you, I would right now be biomass of the Infested or Corrupted."

"I don't know what they were doing." The Mag said sourly. "I don't really care. Some Tenno seem more interested in getting kills than accomplishing the mission." The golden warrior staggered and the Mag looked at him. "You okay?"

"I don't know." The other replied. "It just seems so far-fetched. How long did I sleep?"

"No one knows." The Mag said with a grunt. "Maybe the Lotus, but she isn't talking about that."

"The… Lotus?" The other asked slowly. "I… She was the voice in my head, yes?" The Mag nodded and he returned it. "I…see."

"Procedure is to take newly woken Tenno to a colony for a full medical check." The female Tenno said quietly. "It won't be a long flight."

"I am fine." The male replied. "If we are needed, I can be of use."

"You will need a ship of your own. The colony has them." The Mag said with another shrug. "If you violate procedure, they can get sticky." She froze as he did. "Problem?"

"I don't know. The word… 'procedure'." The man said slowly. "It… resonated in me. I am not sure if it was good or bad."

"They are going to want to look you over." The Mag commented. "We have had some… unpleasant surprises recently."

"Surprises by their very nature are rarely pleasant." The male Tenno replied with a hint of humor. "But if it were easy…" He paused as the Mag gave a chuckle.

"If it were easy, they wouldn't need us." The Mag had a grin in her voice now. "I am Karen."

"I do not remember my name." The other said slowly. "I remember a designation. RB-6."

"That won't work." Karen had a scowl in her voice now. "That sounds like something the Corpus would have."

"Corpus?" The male Tenno asked carefully. "What is that?"

"They…" She emphasized the word. "…are one of the enemies we are facing. Infested and the Grineer are the other main forces we are trying to keep from utterly devastating the remains of the solar system."

"I see." The male replied uneasily. "Infested I… remember. Some." Indeed, the memories were there, but fuzzy and indistinct. But what he did remember was awful. "Grineer?" He asked.

"Degenerate clones." Karen winced a bit. "They multiply faster than we can kill them. Their entire society is based on strength." The other looked at her and she shrugged. "The strong taking from the weak isn't necessarily a good thing, especially since they consider every single other form of life vermin to be exterminated. Humans and Tenno especially."

"Ick." He did not respond for a moment and then sighed. "So… What happened?"

"No one really knows." Karen looked at him. "You okay?" He realized he was shaking.

"Not sure." He replied. He focused on his body and it obeyed him after a moment. "I feel… odd."

"We need to get you checked out." Karen hit a set of controls. "Word of warning, they are very down on weapons inside the colony. There have been a few… incidents."

"Without my axe, I am nothing." The other said quickly and then paused. Where had that come from? Karen looked at him and he shrugged. "I… do not feel wrong, but something is."

"Should only take a couple of hours." Karen checked her screens again. "And no enemies on any trajectories that can detect us, so we won't have to evade." He looked at her and she shrugged again. "Secrecy and stealth keep us alive. All of the other enemies in system outnumber us manifold."

"Numbers do not win a war." The other said slowly.

"No, but they help." Karen's voice was sour. "Any Tenno may be a match for a thousand Grineer. But if there are three or four million of us, and ten billion of them?" She tilted her head and the other nodded reluctantly. "And their numbers grow daily."

"Then… We pick our fights." The male Tenno said calmly. "We strike and vanish."

"Exactly." Karen replied easily. "We may not be able to match them head to head, but we don't have to. The Grineer are big, strong and mean. But they are clumsy. The Corpus are fewer, but with higher technology. The problem with them is that they revere Orokin technology as religious artifacts." The other frankly stared at her and she shrugged yet again. "Crazy, I know. But since when do religious fanatics have to act smart?"

"They revere technology?" The male Tenno demanded, stunned. "That is… I have no words."

"It gets worse." Karen's voice was soft and filled with hate now. The other looked at her and she nodded slowly. "They apparently decided that any Orokin technology that they find belongs to them. They dismantle it and use it, despite the dangers." The male Tenno inhaled sharply and Karen nodded. "And if they find a warframe? They do the same thing." Now he gagged and she made a hateful noise. "Yeah."

"People have done horrors in the name of religion since the dawn of recorded history, but… geez…" The Rhino sounded like he wanted to be sick. "Tell me we are fighting them too!" He snapped.

"Oh yeah." Karen sounded more than bit smug now and the other relaxed. "They got their clocks cleaned a while back by the Grineer, but are starting to push back."

"And… Infested you said." The Rhino was shaking his head now. "I remember… they were suddenly everywhere." It still wasn't clear, but he could remember the sudden shock, the fear, the confusion.

"No one –except maybe the Lotus- knows all of what happened." Karen sounded sad now. "We lost a lot when Orokin collapsed."

"Collapsed?" The Rhino repeated slowly. "Completely?"

"Yeah." Karen's confirmation was flat. "A few human survivors managed to eke out meager existences in hard to find places around the solar system. The Corpus trade with all of them, and their focus is profit. Their religion is based on profit and technology."

"A bad combination." The Rhino mused and Karen nodded emphatically. "And then the Infested were not gone. They can't be eradicated."

"Nope." Karen exhaled slowly. "Not for lack of people trying, but finding every single breeding mass is… well, not impossible. But improbable in the extreme."

"Might as well be impossible then." The Rhino Prime had a hint of humor in his voice now. "And now… these Grineer. Clones…" He made a disgusted noise and Karen chuckled without humor.

"Oh, we all agree about that." Karen's voice was odd now. Not humorous, not angry. Somewhere in between. "The only good thing about them is that they are generally dumb."

"Good." The Rhino shook himself. "So… The docs will want to poke and prod me? Geez… I had enough of that before…" Indeed, he could see shadowy memories of forms on medical garb and gleaming instruments. Why did he suddenly feel fear? "I… Tenno Karen… This is…" He shook his head and Karen stared at him.

"Are you okay?" Her voice held genuine concern. He noted that her hand was on her pistol. Wise of her.

"I don't know." He admitted. "This is… nothing I remember feeling before."

"Okay." Karen shook her head. "We will get you to the colony, they can get you out of your warframe and…" She trailed off as the Rhino made a noise of shock. "What?"

"Get… me out…?" The Rhino demanded.

"Yeah." Karen sounded confused. "Get you out." She paused. "Why?"

"Tenno Karen." The Rhino said slowly. "I cannot leave my warframe."

"What?" Karen demanded. "Since when?"

"That is the way it has always been, Tenno Karen." Karen stared at him and then slumped in place.

"Oh… dear…"