"You're entering the East Wing, Tenno," The Lotus communicated to the Tenno aboard the Corpus ship. "If Darvo's intel serves us well, you should be approaching the R&D room," The Tenno looked down the metallic, boxy hallway, noting every detail. The four-man squad of Tenno, comprised of a Rhino, Excalibur, Ash, and Frost, then heeded the Lotus' words, and split up to search for the Research and Development room.
Frost, who chose to split off into a hallway to the left of the squad, entered a small square room where was greeted by three MOAs. Unsheathing his Scindo, he swung it mightily in front of him in a wide arc. The machines were reduced to scrap metal before they were able to process him as a threat.
"Not there," said the Lotus, "Keep looking." Frost began to exit the room, but was interrupted by another announcement from the Lotus. "Wait, we've found it, head to Ash's position," the three other Tenno followed their orders, converging on Ash. "Approach with caution, the guards know you're there.
Upon peering out from the tributary hallways, the three Tenno observed Ash's situation. Ash's presence was holding the large door to the Research and Development room open, while he hid behind the door frame. An array of Corpus troops and heavy combat machinery waited inside, weapons fixed on the door, but didn't dare step forward.
If machines could feel fear, they would fear the Tenno as the Corpus did, but they were simply holding their ground because their masters were. The Tenno; The solar system's harbingers of retribution through blood. Many sinful souls feel regret for the first time in their life upon learning of the presence of these magnificent warriors of the future. This was one of those times.
The tension in the room was palpable. The Corpus began to shiver and sweat in their suits, knowing they would offer no resistance against the cruel justice of a Tenno's blade. The four signaled to each other with nods and hand gestures. Excalibur counted down on his fingers from five, and when there were none left - his hand making a fist - the squad moved in.
All four Tenno charged into the room, drawing their weapons; Frost with his Scindo, Ash with the Glaive, Excalibur wielding his Exalted Blade, and Rhino charging in with a Magnus and Tigris. The four warriors then proceeded to borderline execute the helpless Corpus, shattering, slicing, and dismembering metal, bone and flesh alike in a sporadic dance of death.
The Corpus and their machines frantically tried to fend off the advancing Tenno, their lasers bouncing ineffectually off the gleaming blue over-shields of each. One Corpus tried to flee from the room, but was dismembered in a spray of blood by a blast from Rhino's Tigris.
Another attempted to bludgeon Excalibur with the butt of his gun, using the weapon's barrel as a handle, but was cut short when Excalibur severed the armament's barrel, followed by his attacker's head in a stunning display of grace, the blood of the crewman producing the fleeting form of a tail on the end of his Blade.
Ash had sheathed his Glaive, and was now teleporting from person to person in the room, severing limbs and puncturing organs with the sharp blades contained within the wrists of his Warframe, showering the area in gore and smoldering metal fragments.
The slaughter ended as fast as it had started. As much bloodshed as there had been, the carnage only reached a small fraction of the enormous room the Tenno now stood in, the coppery smell of blood drifting through the air.
The Tenno loosened their bodies and observed the room they were now standing in. Ahead of them against the back wall of the dimly lit room was a gargantuan machine. It appeared to be a portal of some sorts; Perhaps the Corpus were attempting to reverse-engineer Orokin portal technology.
The machine stood high, nearly touching the ceiling of the large room. It appeared to be active, for there was a large circular manifestation of blue energy, suspended by branches of jittery electricity, emitted from prongs jutting from the machine's body. It was reminiscent of Void portals, but the Tenno could not see what was on the other side.
The Lotus chimed in. "This is new, Tenno," she said, "I've never seen anything like this, especially not in possession of the Corpus." The Lotus paused for a moment, pondering her next words. "Okay, Tenno," she said "I'll bring a Liset around, you-" before she could finish, the machine erupted in a bright blue flash and a sound that caused the Tennos' Warframes to rattle and their shields to glow and quiver from the vibration.
A few moments of chaos, a great flash of light, and the Tenno were gone. The room went quiet. As the machine died down, The Lotus frantically tried to reach the Tenno, but to no avail. "Tenno! What happened? Tenno, can you hear me?!" The Lotus shouted from her chambers, but the Tenno were no longer there. The Tenno were no longer anywhere. In fact, from what The Lotus could see, the Tenno simply... weren't.
This scared the Lotus. Then it saddened her. Then, it infuriated her. The scourge of the solar system has taken yet another four from her arms.
*
When the four Tenno awoke, they were no longer in the ship. In fact, from their perspective, they were no longer anywhere. For a few moments following the event, all four Tenno were utterly blind. As their vision slowly returned, they drowsily rolled their heads from side to side on the ground, confused and dazed.
This was a place like no other they had ever seen. It was like earth, but much brighter, much cleaner, and most noticeably, no Grineer. Not a speck of metal anywhere. As they sat up, they could see strange wooden structures that appeared to be... well, they had no idea. A Tenno's acute senses are adept at gathering information on their surroundings, but without knowing what these structures even were, there was no way to make assumptions as to where they could be.
Then, something even stranger happened. As they slowly rose to their feet, they noticed strange, large-eyed, brightly colored creatures emerging from these structures. All their eyes were wide open, all fixed on the Tenno. They seemed to be just as confused as the Tenno were, as well as infinitely more afraid.
The Tenno, now on their feet, didn't bother to ready or reach for their weapons. They could tell that these creatures were afraid of them, and they all looked completely harmless. That is, except for the purple one with the rather sharp protrusion on its head that was now ambling towards them.
The four Tenno turned their heads to face this brave little creature. It came to a stop but a few feet from Ash, who was now closest to the creature. "Hello?" it spoke in an inquisitive tone. If the Tenno had eyes behind those helmets of theirs, they would be wide open with surprise, but preserving their professionalism, and their unwavering silence, they stood tall, still, and quiet.
But the curious little creature continued to press, "Do you..." the creature paused, and lifted its hoofed right foreleg from the ground before continuing, "...understand me?" The creature's voice was high-pitched and soft. That of a female. Ash gave a single, slow nod of recognition. The creature slowly lowered its hoof to the ground, and spoke once more, "Can you speak?" it asked. Ash, ever the master of non-verbal communication, slowly shook his head.
Just then, the voice of the Lotus once again greeted the Tennos' ears. If they have ears... "Tenno, I can't see where you four are in the universe. This could mean three things," The Lotus paused, as if thinking over her statement before making it, "That you are now in a part of the universe that is still currently expanding, my monitors are malfunctioning, which has never happened, or..." The Lotus trailed off. Ash crossed his arms, eagerly awaiting the third possibility. "Or... you're no longer in this universe," at that, The Lotus took a long pause.
In the silence, the Tenno looked to the sky to see a group of white figures travelling towards them in the distance at a mildly threatening rate. The Tenno put their hands on their weapons, causing the purple creature to rear back cautiously, but as the objects came closer, they eased. The figures approaching them were more of the creatures. "Okay, Tenno," The Lotus was again addressing them, "I've been picking up audio from your Warframes, and I just managed to establish a visual connection. Let me handle this."
Moments after finishing her sentence, the creatures landed, walking up close to get a look at the Tenno. All were mostly white, with the exception of one. In front were two that were larger than the others, the one on the right was a dark blue, and the one on the left was white, and larger still. The Tenno identified the substance on every creature's head and behind as hair, and these two had more than any other. The blue one had dark-blue and sparkling hair, and the white, a striped, pastel-colored mane, the hair of both long and flowing as if blowing in the wind.
The white one spoke in a deep and strong female voice, "Identify yourselves," it said this with confidence, a confrontational expression upon its elongated face. Ash held out his hand, palm facing the sky as the large white creature watched it cautiously. An image of The Lotus appeared from his palm, and spoke aloud.
"Hello," she said, "I am The Lotus. The four you see before you are known as Tenno. You should know we had no intentions of intruding on your world," The Lotus was trying hard to appear professional to this strange creature in this very strange situation,"If you have any means of doing so, we would ask that you assist us in returning to whence we came," The magnificent creature, as tall as the Tenno, stepped forward more, fearless.
"That," she said in an almost threatening tone, pausing as her face neared the Lotus' image, her angry expression intensifying, "Is exactly what I was going to suggest."
