Mass Effect:

The Warframe Crisis

Chapter 1

Awaken old ones,

the Lotus calls you to war.

Your time comes again.

-first recorded transmission of the Lotus upon reactivation, 634 P.C.-

Location: Local Cluster, Origin System, Solar Periphery, Clan Alecto Dojo, Gathering Hall

Date: September 23, 643 P.C.

The Gathering Hall was a seldom used part of Clan Alecto's Dojo. It was only when the Lotus called that it was opened up. Made to seat over five-hundred Tenno, the mere thirty present seemed out of place in the vast circular chamber. At its center was a large holographic podium, from which the Lotus could project her avatar or any related data to the briefings she routinely gave to those she was charged with managing. The Dojo was one of many springing up all over Origin as the Tenno awakened from their sleep of ages. Reborn without memories into a world of darkness, they were building outposts from which to restore the balance of power and perhaps rekindle the light of civilization which had inexplicably vanished in their absence.

At present, only the unoccupied members of Clan Alecto were in attendance, and given they were not being observed by those who were not Tenno, they were chatting amongst themselves, sharing what they had learned about 'the Long Night', as it had come to be called, a period of six-hundred years in which the mighty Orokin Empire they had served had been supplanted by chaos and corrupt opportunists. In addition to this, there was considerable discussion about the series of slave revolts and rebellions they had helped foment all across Mercury.

"-never believe what it's like down there. Worst working conditions I've ever seen, not to mention shoddy construction. The clone bastards didn't even have the decency to install some proper lighting. Their loss, really…" The speaker of this particular pearl of wisdom was Nathan Durandul, Alecto's best swordsman a and wearer of the Excalibur Warframe, counted among the unofficial inner circle that answered chiefly to the Clan Warlord, Haigen Montoya. The mine he was speaking of was just one of thousands that they had liberated from the Grineer, freeing those within and taking whatever resources and supplies they could strip from the place. His friend, Follower-of-the-Path, an old soldier in a Rhino Warframe who had trampled many a Grineer face into the dust of Mercury since he had awoken, chuckled.

"Taught 'em to fear the dark, didja?"

"Oh you should've seen the looks on their faces when I opened up their commander's throat while he was bellowing out orders." the Tenno chuckled. The Grineer, as a species, were a race of copies which had degraded into near-barbarism. Savage and brutal to all they encountered, their behavior had long since eroded any ideas of mercy the Tenno had held towards them. These days most of them were quite cavalier when it came to talk of killing, maiming, or otherwise inflicting bodily or psychological harm on the Grineer.

"Fear the dark? You should have made them fear the light." another one of the Tenno, a Volt-wearer opined. "Make them piss their armor wherever they are."

Nathan burst out laughing, and was joined by several others who had been listening in.

"And where would be the fun in that, Nikola? Its better when they think they're safe! And then-" He finished by drawing a finger across his throat.

Follower shook his head.

"That's hardly sporting!" he snorted, "What's hilarious is when you just stand there taking everything and the looks on their faces once they run out of ammo."

Nathan snickered.

"We don't all have your iron skin, my friend." he responded, before the sound of metal against metal drew everyone's attention to the center of the chamber, where Haigen Montoya, the head of Clan Alecto's inner circle was standing in his Frost Prime Warframe, patiently tapping his Reaper Prime scythe on the floor. Everyone grew silent.

Haigen, as head of Clan Alecto, commanded the utmost respect from his clan-mates. He was one of the few to wield Prime equipment and weapons, hand-crafted creations of the Orokin armorers of old. They were designed to be superior to their successors in every way, which gave him an edge on the battlefield few could match. As the silence grew, he looked around the assembled warrior solemnly. No one was presently wearing their helmets, so everyone could see the grim expression he wore.

Follower stood and gave a slow salute.

"Greetings, sir..." he began, but trailed off in the face of the, pardon the pun, icy stare he received in response. Everyone could feel the sweat starting to bead on their faces. Haigen had a reputation of being virtually bipolar. One moment he could be incredibly relaxed and easy-going and the next was a hard-ass comparable to drill sergeants of old Earth. He also did not like wasting time with niceties. He was always a very down-to-business person, and had a tendency to explode at time-wasters.

"We, uh...didn't realize you had returned sir. We were expecting…" Follower almost finished, but again trailed off. Haigen just held his calm, cool stare, as frosty as the suit he wore, belying the fizzing fuse that was no doubt burning underneath. Follower must've heard it because it sent him sinking back into his seat. When he was seated, Haigen turned back to the crowd.

"Brothers and sisters, the Lotus has dire news...but also a great plan, one that she is entrusting to us to see through. If we succeed, we will shatter the Grineers' hold on Mercury...and perhaps more." The holographic projector at the center of the room flickered to life while the lights dimmed. The Lotus manifested in the midst of the warriors, tall and regal in her purple raiment and robes, her flower-like mask concealing an attractive female visage. The Tenno immediately all rose and bowed.

While the Lotus was appeared as a simple woman in purple, she was, in fact, a vastly powerful AI connected to an information-gathering network and assisted by some of the most efficient quantum computers ever built. She managed their affairs and provided them with information on where they were needed and when. However, Clan Alecto respected anyone who was willing to give their life for the cause, and that was exactly what the Lotus had done. Once she had been human, until the Orokin asked her to take up the role of guide and guardian of the Tenno. In exchange for her services she would be granted digital immortality, itself, both a gift and a curse. She had accepted, and despite the trials of the ages, had never wavered in her services to them. To be Lotus was to be like a Tenno, after a fashion. For both, only in death did duty end. Now she was speaking to their Clan personally. Such things did not happen often. With a wave of her hand, the Lotus conjured up an image of a Grineer Galleon.

"Greetings, Clan Alecto." she said, her voice slightly distorted, betraying her pseudo-synthetic nature. "An opportunity has arisen to shatter Grineer control of this region. As you know, Captain Vor left his fortress three months ago, on orders from the Twin Queens to conduct probing raids on the edge of Corpus territory in the vicinity of the Outer Terminus. He now returns in response to the uprisings you have helped to incite."

The fortress the Lotus had mentioned was one the Tenno had attempted to assault before. Three cells had been sent to infiltrate it, deployed by the largest Mountain Clans currently in operation to find and assassinate the Grineer Captain. Their bodies had been found gracing the walls, impaled like grisly warnings and stripped of their Warframes. The memory of the sight still evoked rage in those Tenno who had seen it.

"We have a chance here, Tenno. The death of Captain Vor will result in chaos in the Grineer command network in the region of Mercury, ensuring the revolts continue unabated. The Corpus will achieve some breathing space in the meantime, and we shall reap the benefits of relative balance once more. As you know, we need time for the other Tenno to be found and awakened if we are to reclaim the glory of old...and it is also on that subject that I have contacted you specifically." She waved her hand again and on the Galleon, several regions were highlighted. "Three days ago, a distress beacon was transmitted from within Vor's vessel. It was quickly neutralized, but agents aligned to our cause forwarded me the information and it revealed a startling discovery. Another Tenno has been found, one of your own. And Vor has him."

There was no shouting, no cries of anger and disdain. Tenno weren't the most vocal about their rage, but the air in the room seemed to drop several degrees in temperature as cold fury filled them. The ugly walking corpse had cost those present friends who were like family, and now he DARED in his arrogance to hold one of their own prisoner...there could be only one answer for such a crime: retribution.

Haigen knelt before the Lotus.

"If I may ask, do we know the name of this lost brother of ours?" he inquired. The Lotus nodded.

"He is Atton Ikatel."

It was hard to hear, but to anyone with a Tenno's hearing, it was easy to discern the sound of sixty pairs of hands clenching into fists. Despite missing vast chunks of their memories, many of those present knew the name of Atton Ikatel, for he had been among the founding members of Clan Alecto. He had trained a good portion of the Tenno in the room himself. For him to be in the clutches of the Grineer was an affront to their honor, and they would not tolerate it.

The Lotus paused before continuing.

"Warlord Haigen, choose from your best warriors for this mission. I am calling upon warriors from Clans Shinto and Gallente to supplement your forces. They will attack the ship's vital systems. It is your task to rescue your fellow Tenno. Furthermore, if you can prevent him escaping, you have full authority as dictated by the old code and my personal blessing to bring Vor to justice and see that he is punished for his crimes...by any means you see fit."

Nathan and Follower smiled cruel smiles, as did many of the others present. Such a blessing was like a blanket pardon for whatever they might choose to do Vor. If they had their way, they'd make an example of him and post videos of the results of his punishment on the Corpus-run Civil Information Network that spanned the Origin System.

Rising to his feet, Haigen bowed.

"As you will, milady." he said. With a nod of acknowledgment, the holo-form of the Lotus faded and disappeared. As the lights in the room grew to their normal luminescence, Haigen pointed at Nathan and Follower.

"You two will be on rescue duty. Our brother has returned to us and it is our duty to ensure he comes home safely. Kasumi will be accompanying you, along with Zaeed. Baldur, Gloern and deMarco will be accompanying me. Together we will force the scum out of his hole, and when he attempts to flee with his prize, you will be there to stop him." he commanded, his eyes narrowed, "Together we will make sure Vor does not leave that ship alive."

"Yes, Warlord Haigen." said Nathan and Follower together, slamming their fists to their Warframes' chest-plates and bowing as Clan tradition dictated. Then Haigen stamped his Reaper Prime on the floor.

"This meeting is adjourned." With those orders, the Tenno he had called out moved for the armory, each intent on claiming their helmets and arms for the coming mission. The rest dispersed, returning to their own separate duties.

Follower and Nathan progressed at a leisurely pace, allowing most of their fellow Tenno warriors to move ahead of them. However, a few hung back to form groups, so as to discuss the new information the Lotus had imparted. Many of these broke off on different routes until Follower and Nathan were alone.

"I can't believe it took this long to finally get a window to assassinate that upright corpse." Follower growled. He had been in charge of a number of slave-liberation operations on Elion, one of Mercury's satellite colonies. What he had seen had filled him with such rage and bile that he had turned over the remaining Grineer to the slaves instead of executing them as was dictated by the Tenno code. The Bitch Queens, as many Tenno referred to the twin monarchs of the Grineer Empire, cared little for those they ruled, seeking only further conquest, as if war was the only thing that mattered. Those humans under their rule deemed 'too weak' to add to their polluted, overextended gene-pool for cloning, along with any aliens, were treated as little better than slaves, made to work in munitions plants and mines until they died of hunger, thirst, disease, or for the twisted amusement of their overseers, their blood oiling the Grineer war machine.

"The bastard has Atton on his ship. There's no fucking way he's getting out this alive." This time, one could easily hear the gauntlets of the Rhino Warframe creak under the pressure as the Tenno tightened his fists.

"He's going to pay my friend. With every ounce of what passes for blood in his veins and every remaining pound of flesh on his bones, he will pay for this insult. However, I can't help but wonder how he managed to find Atton. Our last records, despite the fact that they're filled with holes, put him in the vicinity of Jupiter, not the Outer Termin-"he was cut off as they descended some steps only for Nathan to become entangled in what appeared to be an enormous spider-web.

Follower put his hand to his face at the sight, muttering, "Seriously, why now?"

Nathan just laughed. A slim figure in a Nyx Warframe bounded out from behind a nearby pillar and pirouetted in front of Nathan. Kasumi Goto, known as 'the Kitsune' to her friends, walked a pair of fingers up Nathan's chest.

"Gotcha!" she giggled. He shrugged. The massive spider-web dissolved into nothing more than pure thought. Kasumi might be a master of mental illusions, but Nathan had the uncanny ability to cut through them with the same ease he cut through Grineer Lancers.

"You had me convinced there…" Nathan chuckled, "…for all of six seconds. That's a new record Kassie."

The Nyx-clad assassin draped her arms around her amour's neck.

"You're no fun when you play hard to get." she pouted.

"Would you have me any other way?" he asked, grinning. She kissed him.

"Can you two love-birds do this later?" Follower grumbled. Nathan straightened up.

"You're right of course, Folls. We have a lost comrade to retrieve." He said, suddenly all business.

There was a loud whistle from the far end of the hall, causing the three to look over at a tall Vauban-clad man with one blind eye and a grizzled beard.

"Oi! Didn't you hear the purple lady!? Let's move!" The three rolled their eyes. Zaeed Massani was as grizzled as they came, beard not withstanding, and liked to think of himself as the only one in any cell he was assigned to with some tactical sense. That and he loved to blow things up. Follower tapped his friend's shoulder.

"Remind me, why do we have to bring along this old geezer?" he asked, feigning a whisper, "I mean, he's only going to slow us down."

Zaeed's snorted with derision.

"You want to spend the rest of your days staring at a locked door, be my guest."

Follower grinned. He and Zaeed were old hands at the business of banter. They'd worked together a great deal in the days since they had reawakened.

"Dunno, I could always try busting through them with my fists." he suggested.

"Good luck with that." Zaieed chuckled.

"Broke into your room pretty easily didn't I?" Follower retorted.

"Enough of this gay banter, let us make hither to the armory..." Nathan said in a faux-British accent, which earned him a smack from Follower.

"Stop imitating that ancient lingo." he growled as Nathan rubbed the back of his head, "I won't say it again."

"It's your own fault. You should never have let him bring that archeological material back." Kasumi giggled. Nathan looked like he was about to protest, so Follower raised his again. "Do you want another slap? I WILL hurt you." Nathan opened his mouth. He shut it, then opened it, then shut it again and finally shrugged.

"Everyone's a critic." he mumbled.

Location: Local Cluster, Origin System, Solar Periphery, Clan Alecto Dojo, Communal Armory

The armory was a rather large chamber, made up of a short corridor with twenty alleys to each side. These alleys were separated by thick walls, with five half-cylindrical indentations along each wall on either side. Each one had a name inscribed along it's inner curve on the floor in High Orokin, marking which Clan member it belonged. Though it didn't look it, each indentation was in essence a locker, stocked with the weapons its proscribed Tenno had procured, purchased, built or stolen.

At the far end of the primary corridor was Haigen's niche, where he now knelt on a glowing pad as his weapons were 'retrieved' from storage. His tools of choice were a Latron Prime designated marksman rifle and a Lato Prime pistol to compliment his Reaper Prime scythe.

Upon entry, the chosen Tenno separated and entered their personal niches. The weapons were stored as energy patterns in a molecular buffer, much like the way a Tenno could store a captive for transport in the matrices of their own Warframe. One only needed to select and prepare the weapon they desired and it would be reconstituted, ready for use. Such technology was rare, if not unheard of in this post-Orokin environment they found themselves in, and they all thanked whatever divinity was listening that it was. If the Corpus or the Grineer were ever to unlock the secrets of such science, they would be able to bolster their numbers and power to such an extent that they would have no need for tactics...they would only need to drown their enemies in sheer firepower.

For Kasumi, there was a Boltor rifle, a pair of Bolto pistols and last but not least, a Glaive, the very symbol of the Tenno order. Nathan had had it made as a gift for her when they had regained their memories of love for each other a while ago. The weapon was modeled after the one wielded by the immortal hero who had inspired the creation of the Tenno as an order, Hayden Tenno. His glaive had been said to be crafted from his very flesh, the only flesh in history to not just resist the corruption of the Technocyte Plague, but the first to successfully bond with it, in a fashion that even the Orokin, for all their wisdom, could not replicate.

Kasumi's weapon was, by comparison, a bit more demure, and was composed of morphics, nano spores and alloy plating. All the same, it took years to master its use, and very few ever achieved the honor of wielding it in combat. Kasumi had mastered it in under a week, and had, on one occasion, proudly used it to slice through an entire unfortunate column of Grineer Lancers in one throw.

Nathan, on the other hand, chose a pair of Grineer Gremlins, brutish in design and vicious in application, like all their weapons, which was precisely what he sought on this mission. They were accompanied by a weapon he'd stolen from a Grineer lab on Caloris, along with the blueprints of the Gremlins. It was a burst-fire rifle that worked on the same principles as the Gremlins, plus Detonite-infused tips on its projectiles, earning it the moniker of 'Goblin'. So far, copies of it had yet to turn up on the battlefield, making it a valuable and unique instrument of death.

The same was somewhat true for his melee weapon, a Nikana, and not just any Nikana, but a Dragon Nikana. The Orokin-designed katana was a weapon of a master swordsman, and those that existed were held largely by those Tenno who had progressed beyond their eighth promotion. Nathan of course was several ranks above that, but unlike other Nikanas, he had had had his inscribed with the Babylonian Questions, a the cornerstones of a famous philosophical text from his home, the Babylon Colony, which he had last seen over six-hundred years ago. For him, the sword was more than just a weapon, it was a totem, one of several which had helped him reclaim portions of his memory, a fact that made it the envy of many of his friends.

As he finished arming himself, he looked over his shoulder at his companions, distracted briefly by Kasumi as she put her weapons in their places before glancing at Follower.

"So, are you going to singe our eyebrows by bringing along your Heat Sword again?"

Instead of answering, the blue Rhino-clad warrior conjured up a Soma assault rifle, a deadly Tenno weapon that was famously almost always loaded with hollow-point rounds capable of inflicting gruesome and lingering wounds. The duo of heavy Lex hand-cannons he then produced added to his firepower. As he clipped them to his thighs with his Warframe's magnetic holsters and attached the rifle on his back with the same system, his melee weapon appeared, a pole with long, elegantly curved blades affixed to either end, facing opposite directions.

"No, not today." he responded, taking hold of the weapon's shaft, "Today we're going to make a bigger mess."

The staff was known as an Orthos, a weapon both deadly and precise, yet requiring decades to master. Follower didn't often take it out, but when he did, it was because he was in the mood for some sensational slaughter. Nathan eyed the weapon. He couldn't blame Follower for the need to create some mayhem and satisfy his urge to reap revenge for Vor's crimes. He felt much the same as a matter of fact.

"Just try not to get too much blood on me when you use that thing." he warned. Follower snorted.

"This from the man who I've seen cut five Grineer Lancers into eighty pieces in the space of a heartbeat." he retorted.

"You all ready?" Zaeed asked, swaggering over from his own armory station. Always the fastest when it came to picking the right tools for the right job, he had chosen to a pair of outmoded, but still relatively-effective Corpus Alta plasma pistols and a Corpus Dera rifle, both of which rated well when used against Grineer armor. He topped off his assets with a Prova shock-stick, the favored melee tool of the Corpus Security Guild's Prod Crewmen. Zaieed fought dirty with the thing, first electrocuting his foes with its arcing length before smacking them over the head, or just dancing around them and tormenting them with it, half to irritate them and half to drive them into a rage (always an effective means of breaking their concentration). It also made an effective battlefield interrogation tool. When there wasn't time or a reason for bringing someone back to base for a more thorough 'extraction' session, the Prova was a handy means of getting knowledge without muss (though usually there was a bit of fuss).

He wasn't above using it on people who annoyed him either. Its variable charge meant he could safely use it to give his friends a casual zap when he felt slighted. It was all in good humor, especially when Follower punched his lights out for doing it to him, earning a laugh from those watching.

"More than ready." Kasumi replied, "Let's roll."

With their weapons equipped, the quartet of warriors emerged from their storage stations. Haigen raised his hand in salute as they passed.

"Go with courage, Tenno. Bring our brother home safely." They bowed and made their way to the hangar, where their rides were waiting.

Location: Horse Head Nebula, Noveria, Corpus Terraforming Outpost C-315F

Date: June 19. 672 P.C.

The day had not gone well for Cadmus Vakarian. As a Spectre, he was used to plans going awry and this was no exception...but out of all the missions he'd been on, none had ever gone quite this badly. STG intelligence had said that the Corpus were setting up a base in this sector. With the Council being pushed back on all fronts by this new enemy, it was decided a Spectre should investigate the situation. It was supposed to be an intelligence-gathering operation.

Unfortunately, the Corpus had detected their reentry vector and anti-aircraft fire had brought them down. Those not killed in the crash had scattered across landscape, doing their best to survive and find a place to regroup. Noveria, as the Corpus called it, was an ice-ball, with low temperatures, but that suited the Corpus fine. Patterns showed that they set up shop on similar worlds wherever possible. The few that lived through the first freezing night gathered at an unmanned terraforming station. The only occupants had been a few MOAs, set to patrol the perimeter, easy to slip past. Thankfully, the interior was well-heated, mostly because one of the chief components of the station was a network of fusion-powered thermal heaters designed to help raise the planetary temperature.

It must have been the soothing warmth that made Cadmus drop his guard after a night in the chilling wastelands outside. They had stayed one night, planning to use the station's equipment to try and find a way off the planet. That was all it had taken for a Corpus Security Guild transport carrying a force of MOAs, a few Crewmen and four Techs to arrive, apparently to conduct a routine maintenance check. Their tampering with certain systems had been discovered shortly after and a vicious game of varren and pyjak had started as the Corpus soldiers and their machines began to track down and eliminate his remaining team members one by one.

Now only he and four others remained. He'd taken refuge with two of them in this service bay. The place was little more than a pit, illuminated by the dull, indirect blue lighting the Corpus favored, a rectangular room about the size of a small shuttle bay. MOAs were programmed to come here every night for a systems checkup, to make sure the ice and snow was not interfering with their functions. The chamber wasn't much of a choke point, but he was hoping that if he could lure some of his enemies in here, he could take out enough of them to perhaps even the odds just a tiny bit. Now, back pressed to the railing that ran along the catwalk encircling the chamber one level up, he tried to relax as he heard the sound of the pneumatic door systems under him hiss. The clomping of heavy boots mixed with clanking sounds and the nearly inaudible whine of servos told him it was one of the Techs, with an escort force of MOAs. Two more sets of boots became clear in the midst of the sounds, their footsteps smaller, indicating Crewmen.

He took a deep breath and rose from cover, centering his rifle's sights on the back of the Corpus Tech, aiming for the left part of the chest. He had long since ceased to aim for their helmets, and shooting them in the back was only marginally easier because they had a utility pack there to get in the way. The polymer composite they were made of was all but immune to mass accelerator fire. The only time he had ever seen one destroyed was from a Krogan's Graal Spike-Thrower, fired three times at point-blank range. Thankfully they didn't have full suits made out of the stuff. The Corpus as a whole relied heavily on their exotic energy shields to protect them. While this would normally be good news, the design of the shields meant they were far more resistant to gunfire than even the best kinetic barriers. He released his breath and feathered the trigger of his Armax Punisher sniper rifle. The weapon, for all its penetrating power, needed at least two shots to punch through Corpus shielding.

The Tech reeled, and instantly the troupe of MOAs escorting him spread out, seeking a target. Cadmus ducked back behind cover. He heard the whine of a capacitor charging and seconds later a hail of plasma bolts burned through the air where he had been. He growled with anger. That was another advantage the Blockheads had over Council forces. Their helmets, in addition to being virtually impenetrable, contained a complex set of sensor and control systems that allowed the user to command any of the robotic proxy-units the Corpus favored in addition to possessing heat- and night-vision, plus a built-in zoom function that could link them directly to their weapon's scope. It made them incredibly difficult to ambush. It was why he had chosen to attack from behind and above. It was their biggest blind spot, and the best chance he had of scoring a lucky kill. Unfortunately, luck did not appear to be with him now any more than it had when he had landed.

He stuck to cover until he heard the sound of another mass accelerator firing twice. The Tech screamed as the super-sonic projectiles punched through his heart. The ground trembled a little as the eight-foot tall warrior collapsed. Immediately, the MOAs around him fell back to basic programming and tried to beat an orderly retreat while the two Crewmen raced for whatever cover they could find.

"Now!" Cadmus hissed into his helmet's radio. Instantly the doors around the chamber slammed shut, their status lights turning red, magnetic locks slamming into place. He allowed himself the Turian equivalent of a grin. Rael had come through. The Corpus' heavy use of robotics had meant that ever since the start of the war, Quarians had become high in demand, particularly those good with computers. The Corpus systems were deviously complex, and very few other beings than Quarians had necessary skills to crack them.

Undeterred, the MOAs tried to regroup. Cadmus didn't let them. In synch, he and his compatriot, Xenari Severus, popped out of cover and began to fire on the slender-legged machines. They managed to down five out of the ten present before the machines got organized and laid down suppressing fire. Supported by their organic overseers, they poured plasma into his cover. Cadmus ground his mandibles and tried to seek cover, moving in a crouch to the right towards a group of stacked cargo crates. The rails surrounding the catwalk were affixed with metal plates, which gave him shelter. They also had gaps too though, which meant he got singed when two bright blue-white bolts made it through one of the openings, nearly taking his arm off. He was almost to the stack when one of the doors on his level of the room opened, the one right in front of him and on the side opposite his new cover, disgorging a fresh group of MOAs, two of which were orange and taller than their companions. He shifted himself up against the railing to get the crates between himself and the machines while the plates covering his left side warded off any plasma bolts from below.

The orange MOAs let out awful electronic shrieks and charged towards him, stopping just short of him to raise one foot. Cadmus swore under his breath and tried to scrabble away without breaking cover, which was technically impossible since to escape what was coming he'd need to-

Too late.

The feet came down and the ground shook as they unleashed two expanding orange rings of force that blew him off his feet and sent him rolling across the deck. He HATED Shockwave MOAs. His head rang as he tried to recover from the pulse wave and rolled aside to avoid an untimely vaporization, getting the large green-black crates back between himself and his foes. He dropped his rifle and pulled out his Brawler pistol, firing with the precision of a veteran. The shots bounced off the MOAs' shields, they lost their targeting lock long enough for him to escape to the cover of the crates. He opened a channel to the rest of his team.

"Rael!" he shouted furiously, "How, in the name of the Titans, did they crack your lockout?!"

"What do you mean?" the Quarian asked, baffled, "My Omni-Tool says the room's secure!"

"Well they managed to get MOAs onto the upper level and I'm pinned down!" he shouted. The whine of plasma bolts made it hard to be heard. He peeked out long enough to down another MOA.

"Oh...oh, this bosh'tet piece of varren-shit. I used the fire-suppression system to lock the room down!" he responded, voice filled with self-critical anger.

"So!?" Cadmus cried, trying his hand at taking out one of the two Crewmen below. He barely missed a stream of plasma aimed at this head as he ducked back into cover. He'd gotten the bastard's shields down, but he'd managed to track the source of the incoming fire faster than Cadmus had expected and stopped him from finishing him with a double-tap to the heart.

"So, it's only programmed to keep out organics. MOAs and Ospreys are allowed in to deal with the fire." Rael explained. Cadmus swore again, longer this time, and louder. He tried to peek out and get a bead on the Crewman again, only to see the Blockhead arming a plasma grenade. He swore again. He was trapped on his right and moving backwards or to the left would open him up to the MOAs, which were keeping him pinned down. The Crewman drew back his arm to throw the device...just before Xenari unleashed a biotic singularity. Cadmus was astonished. Xenari had been running on empty up until now. He hadn't the faintest idea where she had gotten the strength for such an attack...but he wasn't about to waste it.

Dragged upwards by the distorted gravity of an intense mass effect field, the Corpus soldier tried to throw the grenade, before Cadmus shot him in the helmet, throwing off his aim. The device went off in his hand and the alien soldier fell to the ground, smoking and very, very dead, along with two MOAs that had been too close to him. He saw Xenari out of cover. He couldn't see her face behind her mask, but he could imagine the awful strain of holding up the biotic ability. He checked his equipment and found he had one last frag grenade, plus three plasma grenades he'd looted from some dead Crewmen. He pulled each, one at a time, armed them, and then tossed them into the largest groups of MOAs he could see.

The explosions took out three MOAs each, but much to Cadmus' rage and despair, more arrived to replace them soon after. He heard Rael's voice distantly as he continued to fight, shouting something about the lockdown being overidden. He never saw the boot coming as the Crewman kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. He tried to rise, just in time to see Xenari beaten down by shock prod-wielding Corpus troops in green vac-suits before a current of pain flowed through his nerves and he collapsed, writhing in agony. He heard the Corpus shouting in their alien language, and as the darkness took him, thought of his wife Carissa and their children, who would never know how their father died. Then a fresh jolt of pain filled his body and he knew no more.

O' mighty tyrants, tremble,

shaken to your cores.

From an age you thought forgotten,

the Tenno stride to war.

-first transmission from Clan Eidolon Dojo, first to reawaken, 634 P.C.-

A/N: This is a test chapter for our rewrite of The Warframe Effect. As you will note, the second section takes place thirty years after the first. This is because it is in fact a 'flash-forward'. We will be incorporating large chunks of the original work in addition to new material until we catch up to where we were before. The problem faced by the old story was that it was attempting to introduce elements of a fixed universe (the ME series is not receiving new content right now) to a universe in motion (the Warframe universe is still under construction). The only answer was to jump ahead and create a more fixed and unmoving version of the WF universe, in such a way that we could still add new content as it appears without compromising story structure, and get more into the ME side of things. I'm thinking about working on the timeline some more and fixing up Codex entries for the new races that will inevitably be introduced (don't worry, there won't be many, at most...four active, but as many as we want when it comes to extinct ones). That will come later though. For now, relax, and enjoy the majesty of high-quality storytelling...nope, couldn't say it with a straight face. XD

P.S. If anyone has something they want to see a codex entry on, post the request in reviews. Also 'P.C' stands for Post-Collapse.