Even with Adis being held up by Archimedean Itzam, she can't help but hear his voice: "How late the we??"
Very. Probably. Even with all the field work she and Adis were sent out on, they were both still expected to keep up with their studies. She'd grumbled about it once that even Tenno need ample rest but was reminded that hers and Adis' bond and teamwork was a shining point of the academy. That they were proof this all worked.
A yawn escaped her as she scrambled down a hall only to come to a halt as she spotted a Grineer. Not an odd sight at Tauron but his armor was the wrong color. And not even wrong in that it looked like Anarch armor, just... out of place.
Kahl took a strange mission. Found a secret Orokin machine, made doors into the Void, let Corrupted get through. Let Narmer capture the Corrupted. Change their veils, so they'd follow Narmer. Kahl tried Veilbreaking them, but there was no face under the veil parts. Made Kahl angry. Good thing the center of the secret Narmer base was shielded, so Blue Girl couldn't see in with Kahl. Kahl wasn't good at speaking when he got angry.
Narmer had been made by Orokin. Orokin made Grineer, used them bad, made them wrong, so their genes got rot. That was what the Grineer Empire told Grineer, anyway. Looking at Corrupted, Kahl could see how it could be true.
Kahl finished mission. Broke the Orokin machine, broke it bad enough that it would never work again. Blue Girl had told Kahl how, when she found the data in the computers. Blue Girl had been worried about Kahl going where transmission couldn't reach. But Kahl knew, if the mission didn't end right, then Narmer would realize Kahl had been there. Narmer would change the base, and Kahl wouldn't get in again.
And then Kahl couldn't get out. Kahl tried, but the Void storms started, and they were all wrong. Kahl had seen big Void storms over Earth before, far away gold glittering and lightning-flashes at night. This wasn't gold. This was like black oil, but full of metal shine. It didn't snap like lightning, it moved like an animal. It grabbed Kahl.
Kahl fell through. Fell far. No jetpack, no way to slow down. Through a gray city-place, or cliffs, Kahl not know. Kahl thought he saw a face, grinning bad at him. Looked like him.
You're not done here, a voice said, and it sounded like that bad look. Say hello to the kiddo for me.
A door opened, all bright through it, and the light slowed Kahl down.
Kahl still landed hard, rolled. Hit a wall. Orokin white and gold. Was Kahl back in the base?
No. There was a flower behind seriglass. Glowing blue. Kahl would have remembered blue flowers. Kahl would have brought one back for Blue Girl.
Kahl picked himself up, wincing, head throbbing. Corrupted had hit him already. Maybe head hit worse than Kahl thought. Kahl thought he heard--
"Tenno?" That was the Tenno. Wearing white and gold, but still the Tenno. Kahl laughed. "Kahl glad to see." If Kahl saw right. "Kahl finish mission okay. Blue Girl need to know."
There was a moment where she couldn't help but freeze. The familiarity wasn't that strange but there was more warmth to it than she might get from Valdur or anyone else. Was he from one of her field missions? There were so many soldiers, it was sometimes hard to remember all the names but 'Kahl' was a unique one. She was sure she'd remember it.
"Blue Girl?" Plenty of Orokin has a blue tint to their skin but she never heard any called like that.
She had so many questions but he looked pretty roughed up already. Definitely not the time for questions and-
well, she could be excused for being so tardy with this. Did that make her the bad influence on Adis? Or were they equally bad influences on each other?
"Do you need a medic? I can help you there. No sense in leaving a good soldier so beat up, right? We can get your armor repaired and replaced too, probably too compromised now to be useful against the Anarchs."
"Kahl break secret base," he explained. "Shields stop transmission. Blue Girl worry." Blue Girl wouldn't say she worried, but she worried. Kahl had tried to make sure to explain to Blue Girl in a way that made sense to her, even if it didn't entirely make sense to Kahl. He could explain it to her his way now.
But Kahl couldn't find the connection. He frowned, flipping through channels in his augments. "Medic good idea," Kahl agreed. "Augments not find Blue Girl signal. Maybe need reset." He could do that himself, but usually it wasn't necessary. The augments were sturdy. Maybe they got hit too. Something didn't feel right.
No. Not augments. Tone was wrong. Words were wrong. The Tenno was acting like she didn't know Kahl. Talking about new things like they were old.
The memory of that not-Kahl came back. Maybe this wasn't the Tenno. Maybe it was a not-Tenno, just like the not-Kahl.
Kahl played dumb. Like when he first met Blue Girl, back on the Murex. "Kahl thank. ...But Kahl not know way on this deck. Not remember, maybe. Tenno tell Kahl?"
So a head injury, not too surprising. Explosives were used often enough in some battles that she wanted to try pushing for more effective headgear for ground troops but there was just never time between missions and classes. Especially with the Anarch's hitting so hard.
"Sure thing, I'll show you the way. Between you and me, I'm already late for class anyway."
There was a relaxed smile, almost devious with the confession, for him before she started leading him along one of the halls. Enough time here, and growing up with the Orokin's pompous decorations, and it was second nature now.
"Are you newly assigned to the academy? I don't think I've seen your kind of armor before."
This place was very Orokin. Nothing broken either. Even in the Narmer base, there had been pieces missing, Narmer tech shoved into Orokin tech. This looked like what Orokin stories sounded like. Smelled clean. Even through Kahl's mask.
"Kahl very new," Kahl said, watching everything around him through his mask. Recording things. His augments were making a map now, that was working. He could find his way back here if he needed. "Did mission with Tenno once. That why Kahl here now, maybe." The voice mentioned kiddo. The Tenno looked like a human kid. Maybe Kahl wasn't lying.
He fell quiet as he saw brothers here. All in weird armor. Not any unit Kahl had ever seen. The colors were wrong. Almost like Corrupted, but they didn't move like Corrupted. They were standing guard, relaxed enough to not-quite hide their turning heads as they looked at Kahl and the Tenno. Or maybe just Kahl.
Something felt even more wrong. Up above. Kahl looked, up toward one of the big statues, and saw a face he knew. He'd seen that face, looking at him over and over again in the veil, until one day it was replaced. Now it was back, not looking at him. That was Ballas. This was Narmer.
Kahl took a deep, painful breath, trying not to show what he'd just figured out. "Kahl not know much," he said.
There was a pause along one hall and she stopped to check back on Kahl, then looked up at the statue they were passing. Ballas
A sour taste caught in the back of her throat and she couldn't help a scowl. No matter how loyal she was meant to be to the Executor's and the Emperor's, she'd never stop hating Ballas. If it wasn't for his hologram in the main hall, she'd be able to mostly ignore signs of him that littered the academy.
"You'll find statues of every Executor around the halls, but Executor Ballas has the most authority here at Tauron Academy. Him and Archimedean Magulis, but mostly him." If she tried hard enough, it was almost enough to convince people she properly respected him.
Almost.
Adis had picked up on her disdain pretty easily.
"Anyway, sorry I don't remember the mission we shared. First class students like me and Adis get sent down to Perita all the time to deal with Galastra's attacks."
After one more glance at the statue, and a quick but immature face being made towards it, she nodded her head along the hall.
"Medbay is just a few doors down. I'll comm Valdur for a new set of armor for you."
"It okay," Kahl lied to the Tenno's apology, because today was not okay. "There lot of Grineer." Lots of them, standing guard over statues. This was normal for them. They were relaxed. But Kahl saw the Tenno make a face about Ballas.
Ballas would never let anybody not love him. Even more than the Queens. The veil made everyone love Ballas. There was a part of Kahl that still had those reflexes of what Narmer told him was right and wrong, and this was wrong. Things were bad here, but they were complicated bad.
It got even more complicated. Around a curve in the hall, shapes emerged. Worms. Kahl couldn't stop from tensing up this time, but nothing happened. Grineer brothers still looked at Kahl, not the worms. Kahl was the thing they thought was strange.
One had her mask off, and Kahl almost didn't recognize her face. It was fixed. No rot on her at all. She looked like a human, with a Grineer face.
It was so right, it felt wrong. Narmer wouldn't care about Grineer genes, they never collected gene tags. Never made things better. Kahl had always suspected Ballas wanted everybody to feel bad, even while they loved Ballas.
The worms were moving wrong, and it pulled Kahl's attention back. Not the way they moved around Murex. They were wandering. Heads moving like they were talking together.
Did worms talk? Kahl never realized. Only Pazuul had talked, and Pazuul was a dead worm, stuck together with a big crystal. Maybe Narmer worms needed freedom too, but Kahl didn't know the way.
Kahl wasn't sure again. This couldn't be Narmer. But it was still a bad thing. Bad things had to be stopped. Brothers needed to be free. And maybe, Tenno would help. Whether Kahl told her or not. He hoped he would. But not here. "Kahl need more gear too," he said. "Grenades. And lost one gun. Got chewed up like Kahl." He still had his grakata, and he hadn't had another with him. But no reason to say that, when she didn't know. Kahl wanted to find out more about the rifles the other grineer had.
And Kahl wanted to find out about his brothers. He'd have time for that. And there were a lot of them. Maybe too many to help all at once. But Kahl would try. Worms too, if Kahl could figure out how.
It didn't surprise her that he probably lost some weapons but they were armed pretty well luckily. They didn't even need to salvage the weapons from Perita, but it was useful all the same.
"That's easy, I'll show you to the armory after." The medbay was just ahead and she paused outside the door to let him go in first. Especially since she might get a lecture for skipping class, and that was already a guarantee from Itzam and Valdur.
"I'll give you your privacy and let Valdur know you're here." Maybe Valdur wouldn't lecture her. She was helping a soldier, after all. And from how roughed up he seemed but still going? A void damn good one.
"Kahl thank," he said again, thinking. Valdur. Name sounded Grineer, maybe, but not a tube-name Kahl knew. Still, a place to start.
But there were other things Kahl needed to plan for. "Kahl see something on mission. Tenno should know." He gestured to the hall around them, holding his other hand over some of the worst damage on his armor, like it was hurting him more. "Classified thing. Not tell here."
It was true. Whatever the Void-thing was, it took him here. Tenno knew Void stuff. Kahl could figure out how to get out, maybe with brothers.
And not telling the Tenno now would also make sure the Tenno came back.
Classified? Was she authorized to hear this? Graduation was around the corner and she was a first class student. If not her then who? If she had to, she could report it to an archimedean later.
"Got it. Adis and I have a few places that are secure, I can show you after you're all patched up." It was hard not to be curious, to want to find somewhere private now, but she couldn't deny his need for medical care. Maybe the Orokin didn't care as much, but she fought alongside them, heard them, she couldn't not care.
Did he know something about Galastra? About how she kept her forces from depleting? Maybe something about the Ascaris...
Wondering wouldn't do her any good but patience was hard.
At least a quick call the Valdur served a distraction, filling him in on Kahl and his condition, his armor, and loss of weapons. He'd be resupplied easily enough but he'd probably have to meet with Valdur first.
Medic was annoyed his armor was different, ports for medicine didn't fit right. Scans looked all wrong to them too. Kahl shrugged. Different batch, he said. And lots of war. When they took off his mask and saw his face, it was almost funny. Medic was still annoyed, but suddenly unsure what to be annoyed at.
Kahl had to drink medicine instead of plug it in. Tasted bad. Probably good medicine, then.
Valdur came in as well, and the Medic decided to be annoyed at him instead, but quietly. Valdur had a clean face too. A Captain. That was obvious. But... not a bad one. Seemed to care, maybe. Kahl had to be careful though. Not tell everything.
Valdur still had hands and feet. Didn't look curled up or weak at all. Kahl didn't, though, and that was the thing that caught the most attention, along with the eye. A scrapper who won't quit. Heh. Kahl not know how.
Boots and gloves wouldn't help Kahl, and armor was fit for those. Kahl admitted he didn't know if his augments would work with them anyway. He could figure it out though--just give him tools that fit to armor. Kahl started working on that while they talked.
Kahl told the truth. Part of it, because it was easier than guessing what sounded correct here. He was fighting Corrupted. Not on Per-i-ta. Someone was collecting them, trying to mess with them. That worried Valdur, and Kahl agreed. But Valdur started talking carefully around the idea of Corrupted. Orokin made them. Couldn't say bad things about them. Like not saying bad things about Queens.
So Kahl said a few bad things instead, talking the way soldiers could complain about the Grineer Empire. He didn't like Corrupted. Kahl saw bits of head blown open. Bad things in there. But, Kahl said, these people messing with Corrupted worse.
And because he said that, it was okay. Soldier angry at enemy. Everybody felt that. Especially when brothers died. Valdur thought Kahl lost his squad to bad Corrupted. Kahl didn't want to lie about that. Kahl only one got inside base, he said. Kahl finish mission for brothers.
The armor started talking to his augments. Felt like strong stuff. Good. Would need it, especially on thinner back plates. Kahl would get new arms and legs, he was told. New eyepatch. Fix him up before sending him back. ...And that meant questions about where he came from. Which Orokin.
Tenno know Orokin for Kahl, Kahl said. She help send message. That let him ask about the Tenno instead.
The Tenno was young. Training with worms. Big important thing for treaty. Kahl not understand everything, but listen close. Worms were trying to not fight. To be friends. Kahl understood that part. If worms not hurt brothers, can become brothers too.
Worms was bad word for treaty. Kahl had trouble saying Sen-ti-ent, but would practice.
Valdur left, and Kahl eventually got his new parts, with new suit too. Arms and legs almost fit right. Or Kahl was a little wrong.
Kahl fixed. Took data and tools from old armor. Grumbled when new pockets were in wrong places. He'd have to fix that too.
Kahl used Veilbreaker to fry old armor. Just in case someone tried to be sneakier than Kahl. Then he left it. Found a grineer outside, waiting to bring him to Tenno.
Kahl talked a little, but grineer not talk much. Eventually asked if Kahl was a hundred years old. Kahl laughed. Just war, he said. Make Kahl look old. Try to keep brothers safe. Then everyone can live long enough to look as old as Kahl.
He'd be led towards an office where the Tenno was getting an earful from a bespectacled Sentient. Irresponsible and neglecting studies got mentioned but some small praise for helping a fellow soldier as well. She took it in stride, standing at attention, giving a few apologies here and there before getting dismissed.
Stepping out and seeing Kahl and one of the other Grineer waiting for her, she let out of heavy sigh.
"Extra training." She gave a stretch and then grinned at him. "You're looking way better, Kahl."
A quick salute to the other Grineer dismissed him as well and she could give Kahl her attention. It didn't take more than a moment for him to leave to return to his post, and once she was sure it was just the two of them and Itzam had gone off to another lecture or meeting, she gestured for him to follow her.
"This way. I know a couple of places here that aren't monitored properly. Can't go to one of my usually places unless we want them tracking my 'frame." Because she doesn't doubt for a moment that they don't track Excalibur Prime and Adis when they aren't at the academy.
It's several halls to where she leads him then vent that would lead into an old storage room that seemed to have been forgotten when they were building the academy.
"It's nothing impressive but it works when you want to get away from prying eyes."
"Kahl feel better." A lot better. The medicine was really good. But Kahl was still getting used to the new eyepatch. Old patch and augments helped Kahl track things his eye couldn't see. Wasn't seeing, but Kahl knew where things were. Hard to explain in words. New eyepatch was like eye. Could see now. Felt weird under mask.
Kahl followed the Tenno, into storage. Good enough. Would work for Kahl.
"Kahl go on strange mission," he said, following words he'd figured out for himself, put in his HUD so he could remember them. "Not on Per-i-ta. Place had secret Void portal. Take Corrupted from Orokin. Make even worse." He'd already practiced this by telling Valdur. The harder bit was new.
"Kahl break portal. See strange Void-thing. Kahl think Tenno know." He'd checked his recordings. They were all scrambled. But there were bits of the bad voice in them, saying words Kahl didn't understand. "Saw Dark thing. All black, cold and shiny like metal. It grab Kahl." He paused, waiting to see if the Tenno recognized it.
There were signs of someone trying to make the storage space comfortable, something resembling string lights, a few mismatched cushions, a few haphazardly placed data tablets, and throw blankets. If he'd ever heard about or been able to see her Zariman, it wouldn't be unlike the little nooks the children had made for themselves to hide while trapped in the Void.
Once settled, she focused on Kahl's report, a cold chill seeming to start from ehr heart and spreading out. A void-thing, black and cold and shiny, words he didn't understand. That no one would understand.
"Voidtongue." She mumbled. "Did it borrow your face?"
The voice that still haunted her, even now. Itzam was always keeping track of the voice that would invade her mind, tracking her somatic input for signs that there was something more wrong with her than most Tenno.
That chill ran down her spine now, like ice. Like it felt when she shook the hand of the creature that wore her own face. Sometimes, she felt it again whenever he whispered in her mind.
'I'm always watching, kiddo.' flows across her thoughts, getting met with a teeth-gritting "shut up" before taking a breath to watch Kahl.
"I don't know what to call him. Or it." Tapping her fingers on her thigh as she gave it some thought. How much to mention? She'd never spoken with anyone, even the other Tenno, about the experience.
"I met him on the Zariman. He wore my face then, promised to help me save the other kids from the adults that went insane and I agreed." And she still didn't know what exactly she had agreed to give in return.
Different after? If she hadn't been working with Adis for so long, it might have taken a bit for her to catch on, but she did and she couldn't help but gape at him for a moment. Considering the incredible power the Zariman's children had acquired, she shouldn't have been so surprised that thing could do even more but-
"The future?"
What could that even be like? Her head swam with questions and ideas but at the same time, that responsible part of her brain told her not to question too much.
"Void..." Another moment, she chewed her lip in thought. "Then you need a full rundown, huh? Or you can ask me whatever you need. Whenever, I'll make sure my comms are always open for you."
The Tenno understood. Kahl smiled, feeling a little relieved. "Hah. That sound like Tenno Kahl know." This was good. Kahl wasn't completely alone here.
"Kahl need to know lots. But Kahl know things too." Bad things. Things that shouldn't wait. He'd practiced saying these parts too. He needed to, otherwise the words might not come out at all.
"Ballas, huh? He's one of the Seven Executors to the Emperors, and he has the most authority here at Tauron Academy along with Archimedean Margulis. Right now, he's holding the fate of the Academy in his hands." A deep breath, a sigh.
"He's here at the academy now. Galastra tried to kill him, she's found a way to revert the Sentients. So it's the best way to try breaking the treaty."
Did she want the treaty broken? No, not at all. Ballas dying though? That would be a dream come true.
Kahl had to hope that the face he saw the Tenno make was a good sign. Because he was going to tell them a lot. And Kahl had no idea how much of it would sound like things that could happen at all. "Orokin have everything now," he started. If this was before, if this was the Orokin Empire, then they had everything. "That not enough for Ballas." This part was going to be difficult.
"Kahl not know when. Maybe Ballas not know yet either." He didn't know much about history. Only what the Empire told him, and what his brothers said. What Blue Girl said. "Ballas use Sentients. Make war happen again. Make veil-things, like Corrupted. Put on everyone. Ostron, Solaris, Corpus. Grineer. Make everyone Narmer." Remembering it all was bad. Being here made it worse. Every Grineer here was already a slave to Ballas. It made Kahl angry. But Kahl had to focus on telling the Tenno this one thing first.
"Kahl had veil. Kahl know. Made Kahl love Ballas. Then veil break. Kahl escape." Blue Girl helped. Blue Girl hadn't meant to help a Grineer, but she still helped. Started understanding more. If Orokin could understand, Tenno should understand too.
How could that not be enough for Ballas? He basically owned Tauron Academy, he was probably the most powerful of the Executors, he'd almost been able to wipe out the Tenno right after they were rescued.
And using the Sentients? She thought of Adis and Archimedean Itzam, even if they did annoy him a lot, all the Dactolysts and Conculysts that helped them out in the field. They would never give up this peace for him to use them.
The Ostron and Solaris, she may not know them but it sounded like enslavement, the way Kahl described the veils. It was disgusting. That an Executor would stoop so low-
No, it made sense. Full of themselves as they were. Especially Ballas. She'd tolerate Tuvul better but not by much.
You could kill him, kiddo.
She shook her head. Shut up!
"We can't let another war happen. We've worked too hard to make this treaty work, we've made so much progress." That voice wasn't wrong, much as she hated to admit it.
"Right now, Ballas is the deciding vote on the Academy and the treaty. If we could remove him as an Executor or change one of their minds to support it, we could throw a wrench in his plans."
Kahl paused, but nodded. "Kahl know even Orokin can change. Kahl watch Blue Girl change." Orokin don't have to all be wrong, they can learn. "All Orokin here keep Grineer slaves. That wrong. Need to change too."
Would it change everything? maybe. Kahl didn't know how time worked. Kahl was made by the Grineer Empire. If the Grineer were free, the Empire would never happen. No Empire, no Kahl. But this was important. And had done a lot of things he thought were important, and just tried not to die while doing them. That didn't need to change.
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timeasmymeasure
To Tauron Academyyyyy~
Date: 2026-01-05 02:06 am (UTC)Very. Probably. Even with all the field work she and Adis were sent out on, they were both still expected to keep up with their studies. She'd grumbled about it once that even Tenno need ample rest but was reminded that hers and Adis' bond and teamwork was a shining point of the academy. That they were proof this all worked.
A yawn escaped her as she scrambled down a hall only to come to a halt as she spotted a Grineer. Not an odd sight at Tauron but his armor was the wrong color. And not even wrong in that it looked like Anarch armor, just... out of place.
"Hey, uh... you good there?"
eeeeeeee
Date: 2026-01-05 03:03 am (UTC)Narmer had been made by Orokin. Orokin made Grineer, used them bad, made them wrong, so their genes got rot. That was what the Grineer Empire told Grineer, anyway. Looking at Corrupted, Kahl could see how it could be true.
Kahl finished mission. Broke the Orokin machine, broke it bad enough that it would never work again. Blue Girl had told Kahl how, when she found the data in the computers. Blue Girl had been worried about Kahl going where transmission couldn't reach. But Kahl knew, if the mission didn't end right, then Narmer would realize Kahl had been there. Narmer would change the base, and Kahl wouldn't get in again.
And then Kahl couldn't get out. Kahl tried, but the Void storms started, and they were all wrong. Kahl had seen big Void storms over Earth before, far away gold glittering and lightning-flashes at night. This wasn't gold. This was like black oil, but full of metal shine. It didn't snap like lightning, it moved like an animal. It grabbed Kahl.
Kahl fell through. Fell far. No jetpack, no way to slow down. Through a gray city-place, or cliffs, Kahl not know. Kahl thought he saw a face, grinning bad at him. Looked like him.
You're not done here, a voice said, and it sounded like that bad look. Say hello to the kiddo for me.
A door opened, all bright through it, and the light slowed Kahl down.
Kahl still landed hard, rolled. Hit a wall. Orokin white and gold. Was Kahl back in the base?
No. There was a flower behind seriglass. Glowing blue. Kahl would have remembered blue flowers. Kahl would have brought one back for Blue Girl.
Kahl picked himself up, wincing, head throbbing. Corrupted had hit him already. Maybe head hit worse than Kahl thought. Kahl thought he heard--
"Tenno?" That was the Tenno. Wearing white and gold, but still the Tenno. Kahl laughed. "Kahl glad to see." If Kahl saw right. "Kahl finish mission okay. Blue Girl need to know."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 03:20 am (UTC)"Blue Girl?" Plenty of Orokin has a blue tint to their skin but she never heard any called like that.
She had so many questions but he looked pretty roughed up already. Definitely not the time for questions and-
well, she could be excused for being so tardy with this. Did that make her the bad influence on Adis? Or were they equally bad influences on each other?
"Do you need a medic? I can help you there. No sense in leaving a good soldier so beat up, right? We can get your armor repaired and replaced too, probably too compromised now to be useful against the Anarchs."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 03:50 am (UTC)But Kahl couldn't find the connection. He frowned, flipping through channels in his augments. "Medic good idea," Kahl agreed. "Augments not find Blue Girl signal. Maybe need reset." He could do that himself, but usually it wasn't necessary. The augments were sturdy. Maybe they got hit too. Something didn't feel right.
No. Not augments. Tone was wrong. Words were wrong. The Tenno was acting like she didn't know Kahl. Talking about new things like they were old.
The memory of that not-Kahl came back. Maybe this wasn't the Tenno. Maybe it was a not-Tenno, just like the not-Kahl.
Kahl played dumb. Like when he first met Blue Girl, back on the Murex. "Kahl thank. ...But Kahl not know way on this deck. Not remember, maybe. Tenno tell Kahl?"
no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 03:59 am (UTC)"Sure thing, I'll show you the way. Between you and me, I'm already late for class anyway."
There was a relaxed smile, almost devious with the confession, for him before she started leading him along one of the halls. Enough time here, and growing up with the Orokin's pompous decorations, and it was second nature now.
"Are you newly assigned to the academy? I don't think I've seen your kind of armor before."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 04:42 am (UTC)"Kahl very new," Kahl said, watching everything around him through his mask. Recording things. His augments were making a map now, that was working. He could find his way back here if he needed. "Did mission with Tenno once. That why Kahl here now, maybe." The voice mentioned kiddo. The Tenno looked like a human kid. Maybe Kahl wasn't lying.
He fell quiet as he saw brothers here. All in weird armor. Not any unit Kahl had ever seen. The colors were wrong. Almost like Corrupted, but they didn't move like Corrupted. They were standing guard, relaxed enough to not-quite hide their turning heads as they looked at Kahl and the Tenno. Or maybe just Kahl.
Something felt even more wrong. Up above. Kahl looked, up toward one of the big statues, and saw a face he knew. He'd seen that face, looking at him over and over again in the veil, until one day it was replaced. Now it was back, not looking at him. That was Ballas. This was Narmer.
Kahl took a deep, painful breath, trying not to show what he'd just figured out. "Kahl not know much," he said.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 04:56 am (UTC)A sour taste caught in the back of her throat and she couldn't help a scowl. No matter how loyal she was meant to be to the Executor's and the Emperor's, she'd never stop hating Ballas. If it wasn't for his hologram in the main hall, she'd be able to mostly ignore signs of him that littered the academy.
"You'll find statues of every Executor around the halls, but Executor Ballas has the most authority here at Tauron Academy. Him and Archimedean Magulis, but mostly him." If she tried hard enough, it was almost enough to convince people she properly respected him.
Almost.
Adis had picked up on her disdain pretty easily.
"Anyway, sorry I don't remember the mission we shared. First class students like me and Adis get sent down to Perita all the time to deal with Galastra's attacks."
After one more glance at the statue, and a quick but immature face being made towards it, she nodded her head along the hall.
"Medbay is just a few doors down. I'll comm Valdur for a new set of armor for you."
no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 01:09 pm (UTC)Ballas would never let anybody not love him. Even more than the Queens. The veil made everyone love Ballas. There was a part of Kahl that still had those reflexes of what Narmer told him was right and wrong, and this was wrong. Things were bad here, but they were complicated bad.
It got even more complicated. Around a curve in the hall, shapes emerged. Worms. Kahl couldn't stop from tensing up this time, but nothing happened. Grineer brothers still looked at Kahl, not the worms. Kahl was the thing they thought was strange.
One had her mask off, and Kahl almost didn't recognize her face. It was fixed. No rot on her at all. She looked like a human, with a Grineer face.
It was so right, it felt wrong. Narmer wouldn't care about Grineer genes, they never collected gene tags. Never made things better. Kahl had always suspected Ballas wanted everybody to feel bad, even while they loved Ballas.
The worms were moving wrong, and it pulled Kahl's attention back. Not the way they moved around Murex. They were wandering. Heads moving like they were talking together.
Did worms talk? Kahl never realized. Only Pazuul had talked, and Pazuul was a dead worm, stuck together with a big crystal. Maybe Narmer worms needed freedom too, but Kahl didn't know the way.
Kahl wasn't sure again. This couldn't be Narmer. But it was still a bad thing. Bad things had to be stopped. Brothers needed to be free. And maybe, Tenno would help. Whether Kahl told her or not. He hoped he would. But not here. "Kahl need more gear too," he said. "Grenades. And lost one gun. Got chewed up like Kahl." He still had his grakata, and he hadn't had another with him. But no reason to say that, when she didn't know. Kahl wanted to find out more about the rifles the other grineer had.
And Kahl wanted to find out about his brothers. He'd have time for that. And there were a lot of them. Maybe too many to help all at once. But Kahl would try. Worms too, if Kahl could figure out how.
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Date: 2026-01-05 05:14 pm (UTC)"That's easy, I'll show you to the armory after." The medbay was just ahead and she paused outside the door to let him go in first. Especially since she might get a lecture for skipping class, and that was already a guarantee from Itzam and Valdur.
"I'll give you your privacy and let Valdur know you're here." Maybe Valdur wouldn't lecture her. She was helping a soldier, after all. And from how roughed up he seemed but still going? A void damn good one.
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Date: 2026-01-05 05:59 pm (UTC)But there were other things Kahl needed to plan for. "Kahl see something on mission. Tenno should know." He gestured to the hall around them, holding his other hand over some of the worst damage on his armor, like it was hurting him more. "Classified thing. Not tell here."
It was true. Whatever the Void-thing was, it took him here. Tenno knew Void stuff. Kahl could figure out how to get out, maybe with brothers.
And not telling the Tenno now would also make sure the Tenno came back.
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Date: 2026-01-05 06:38 pm (UTC)"Got it. Adis and I have a few places that are secure, I can show you after you're all patched up." It was hard not to be curious, to want to find somewhere private now, but she couldn't deny his need for medical care. Maybe the Orokin didn't care as much, but she fought alongside them, heard them, she couldn't not care.
Did he know something about Galastra? About how she kept her forces from depleting? Maybe something about the Ascaris...
Wondering wouldn't do her any good but patience was hard.
At least a quick call the Valdur served a distraction, filling him in on Kahl and his condition, his armor, and loss of weapons. He'd be resupplied easily enough but he'd probably have to meet with Valdur first.
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Date: 2026-01-05 08:59 pm (UTC)Kahl had to drink medicine instead of plug it in. Tasted bad. Probably good medicine, then.
Valdur came in as well, and the Medic decided to be annoyed at him instead, but quietly. Valdur had a clean face too. A Captain. That was obvious. But... not a bad one. Seemed to care, maybe. Kahl had to be careful though. Not tell everything.
Valdur still had hands and feet. Didn't look curled up or weak at all. Kahl didn't, though, and that was the thing that caught the most attention, along with the eye. A scrapper who won't quit. Heh. Kahl not know how.
Boots and gloves wouldn't help Kahl, and armor was fit for those. Kahl admitted he didn't know if his augments would work with them anyway. He could figure it out though--just give him tools that fit to armor. Kahl started working on that while they talked.
Kahl told the truth. Part of it, because it was easier than guessing what sounded correct here. He was fighting Corrupted. Not on Per-i-ta. Someone was collecting them, trying to mess with them. That worried Valdur, and Kahl agreed. But Valdur started talking carefully around the idea of Corrupted. Orokin made them. Couldn't say bad things about them. Like not saying bad things about Queens.
So Kahl said a few bad things instead, talking the way soldiers could complain about the Grineer Empire. He didn't like Corrupted. Kahl saw bits of head blown open. Bad things in there. But, Kahl said, these people messing with Corrupted worse.
And because he said that, it was okay. Soldier angry at enemy. Everybody felt that. Especially when brothers died. Valdur thought Kahl lost his squad to bad Corrupted. Kahl didn't want to lie about that. Kahl only one got inside base, he said. Kahl finish mission for brothers.
The armor started talking to his augments. Felt like strong stuff. Good. Would need it, especially on thinner back plates. Kahl would get new arms and legs, he was told. New eyepatch. Fix him up before sending him back. ...And that meant questions about where he came from. Which Orokin.
Tenno know Orokin for Kahl, Kahl said. She help send message. That let him ask about the Tenno instead.
The Tenno was young. Training with worms. Big important thing for treaty. Kahl not understand everything, but listen close. Worms were trying to not fight. To be friends. Kahl understood that part. If worms not hurt brothers, can become brothers too.
Worms was bad word for treaty. Kahl had trouble saying Sen-ti-ent, but would practice.
Valdur left, and Kahl eventually got his new parts, with new suit too. Arms and legs almost fit right. Or Kahl was a little wrong.
Kahl fixed. Took data and tools from old armor. Grumbled when new pockets were in wrong places. He'd have to fix that too.
Kahl used Veilbreaker to fry old armor. Just in case someone tried to be sneakier than Kahl. Then he left it. Found a grineer outside, waiting to bring him to Tenno.
Kahl talked a little, but grineer not talk much. Eventually asked if Kahl was a hundred years old. Kahl laughed. Just war, he said. Make Kahl look old. Try to keep brothers safe. Then everyone can live long enough to look as old as Kahl.
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Date: 2026-01-05 09:54 pm (UTC)Stepping out and seeing Kahl and one of the other Grineer waiting for her, she let out of heavy sigh.
"Extra training." She gave a stretch and then grinned at him. "You're looking way better, Kahl."
A quick salute to the other Grineer dismissed him as well and she could give Kahl her attention. It didn't take more than a moment for him to leave to return to his post, and once she was sure it was just the two of them and Itzam had gone off to another lecture or meeting, she gestured for him to follow her.
"This way. I know a couple of places here that aren't monitored properly. Can't go to one of my usually places unless we want them tracking my 'frame." Because she doesn't doubt for a moment that they don't track Excalibur Prime and Adis when they aren't at the academy.
It's several halls to where she leads him then vent that would lead into an old storage room that seemed to have been forgotten when they were building the academy.
"It's nothing impressive but it works when you want to get away from prying eyes."
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Date: 2026-01-05 10:14 pm (UTC)Kahl followed the Tenno, into storage. Good enough. Would work for Kahl.
"Kahl go on strange mission," he said, following words he'd figured out for himself, put in his HUD so he could remember them. "Not on Per-i-ta. Place had secret Void portal. Take Corrupted from Orokin. Make even worse." He'd already practiced this by telling Valdur. The harder bit was new.
"Kahl break portal. See strange Void-thing. Kahl think Tenno know." He'd checked his recordings. They were all scrambled. But there were bits of the bad voice in them, saying words Kahl didn't understand. "Saw Dark thing. All black, cold and shiny like metal. It grab Kahl." He paused, waiting to see if the Tenno recognized it.
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Date: 2026-01-05 11:09 pm (UTC)Once settled, she focused on Kahl's report, a cold chill seeming to start from ehr heart and spreading out. A void-thing, black and cold and shiny, words he didn't understand. That no one would understand.
"Voidtongue." She mumbled. "Did it borrow your face?"
The voice that still haunted her, even now. Itzam was always keeping track of the voice that would invade her mind, tracking her somatic input for signs that there was something more wrong with her than most Tenno.
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Date: 2026-01-05 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 11:27 pm (UTC)'I'm always watching, kiddo.' flows across her thoughts, getting met with a teeth-gritting "shut up" before taking a breath to watch Kahl.
"I don't know what to call him. Or it." Tapping her fingers on her thigh as she gave it some thought. How much to mention? She'd never spoken with anyone, even the other Tenno, about the experience.
"I met him on the Zariman. He wore my face then, promised to help me save the other kids from the adults that went insane and I agreed." And she still didn't know what exactly she had agreed to give in return.
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Date: 2026-01-06 05:26 am (UTC)"Face-stealer take Kahl," he finally says. "Kahl fall through from different place. Different after. Lots changed." He doesn't have good words for it.
He hesitated for a moment, then took off his new mask. "Kahl want to help. Make better, maybe. Kahl have to try."
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Date: 2026-01-06 04:47 pm (UTC)"The future?"
What could that even be like? Her head swam with questions and ideas but at the same time, that responsible part of her brain told her not to question too much.
"Void..." Another moment, she chewed her lip in thought. "Then you need a full rundown, huh? Or you can ask me whatever you need. Whenever, I'll make sure my comms are always open for you."
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Date: 2026-01-06 05:27 pm (UTC)"Kahl need to know lots. But Kahl know things too." Bad things. Things that shouldn't wait. He'd practiced saying these parts too. He needed to, otherwise the words might not come out at all.
"What Tenno know about Ballas?"
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Date: 2026-01-06 06:08 pm (UTC)"He's here at the academy now. Galastra tried to kill him, she's found a way to revert the Sentients. So it's the best way to try breaking the treaty."
Did she want the treaty broken? No, not at all. Ballas dying though? That would be a dream come true.
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Date: 2026-01-11 02:17 pm (UTC)"Kahl not know when. Maybe Ballas not know yet either." He didn't know much about history. Only what the Empire told him, and what his brothers said. What Blue Girl said. "Ballas use Sentients. Make war happen again. Make veil-things, like Corrupted. Put on everyone. Ostron, Solaris, Corpus. Grineer. Make everyone Narmer." Remembering it all was bad. Being here made it worse. Every Grineer here was already a slave to Ballas. It made Kahl angry. But Kahl had to focus on telling the Tenno this one thing first.
"Kahl had veil. Kahl know. Made Kahl love Ballas. Then veil break. Kahl escape." Blue Girl helped. Blue Girl hadn't meant to help a Grineer, but she still helped. Started understanding more. If Orokin could understand, Tenno should understand too.
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Date: 2026-01-19 04:25 pm (UTC)And using the Sentients? She thought of Adis and Archimedean Itzam, even if they did annoy him a lot, all the Dactolysts and Conculysts that helped them out in the field. They would never give up this peace for him to use them.
The Ostron and Solaris, she may not know them but it sounded like enslavement, the way Kahl described the veils. It was disgusting. That an Executor would stoop so low-
No, it made sense. Full of themselves as they were. Especially Ballas. She'd tolerate Tuvul better but not by much.
You could kill him, kiddo.
She shook her head. Shut up!
"We can't let another war happen. We've worked too hard to make this treaty work, we've made so much progress." That voice wasn't wrong, much as she hated to admit it.
"Right now, Ballas is the deciding vote on the Academy and the treaty. If we could remove him as an Executor or change one of their minds to support it, we could throw a wrench in his plans."
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Date: 2026-02-06 07:56 pm (UTC)Would it change everything? maybe. Kahl didn't know how time worked. Kahl was made by the Grineer Empire. If the Grineer were free, the Empire would never happen. No Empire, no Kahl. But this was important. And had done a lot of things he thought were important, and just tried not to die while doing them. That didn't need to change.