Friends in the Void

            The Void can be the strangest of places. As the saying goes, it is everywhere, and it is nowhere. The void, the dark and cold vastness between the worlds of the solar system is one thing. But the Void... the Void is the place where the mighty Orokin fled eons ago. This place being their final destination or a mere road to something else remains unknown, but something happened there.

            No one can tell what, except maybe the Lotus, but orokin ships are still out there. We call them towers, and they stand in the Void, waiting for us. From all those we have seen and stormed, they have been deserted. Not a living soul remains to be seen, but it doesn't mean the place is dead or abandoned. Quite the opposite, actually. The Lotus calls it the neural sentry, but that's all we know about it and she wouldn't tell us more. Is it an orokin defence system, an invisible guardian, some sort of a tower's own consciousness? Our ignorance lingers in the vast halls we walk, and maybe is it bliss for our conscience.

            Those neural sentries are able to scan our fresh memories, I think, or something of the like. Nevertheless, they generate ghosts of the enemies we encounter in the solar system. Be they Grineer, Corpus or Infested, backed with traps spitting lines of orange death. Orokin towers are definitely dangerous places not to be trifled with lightly. One can venture in alone, but is better be prepared.

            Many things can be found in those towers, markings I do not understand and relics from the past. But today shall I not speak of those. Once in a while, when venturing into the Void, I cross the path of fellow Tenno that do not take their way to power in a solitary path; their strength did not make them arrogant and mute, but made them likely to share what they have seen on the mundane worlds of the solar system.

            One night, I met three of those Tennos. Their names were Nihrain, Stoiba and Pyxroy. I lost count of the towers we stormed, wearing the skin of the Mag, the Nova and the Rhino. We stomped and blasted our way through the delicate halls and the marvels of the Towers. We often marched alone when we could afford it, but always paid status to our comrades, rushing towards them when they were in need. Enemies flew all over, were sent flying or torn to pieces by chain explosions. And, when the place was clear, we could walk unchallenged and imbued ourselves with the serenity of the Tower. An unspeakable beauty we came to disturb to satisfy our greed for schematics of old.

            But truly, coming back to normal space in the realms of the solar system is waking up from a dream of unparalleled delicacy and danger. Leaving the white corridors and vast halls to the grim reality is harder each time we come back. But if the Void is the dream, then there is also a nightmare lurking in the dark.

            There are orokin ships. I don't know how many, I don't even know if they can be numbered in any way that does not defy logic or reason. But they couldn't make it into the Void and were taken over by the Infested. What was once purity and beauty became a twisted shadow of its former self, a ghost of what was and so strong is the taint that it can never be restored again. Those are the derelict ships. I went to some before, and struggled to get through. But I heard of one... One whose coordinates could only be found in derelict ships. I never dared to venture there.

            But with those three I met... When we were walking the white halls, under the shadow of the albescent tree, we talked about it. We thought we were ready. We checked our equipment and our mods. I switched my Nova for the Trinity to be on the safer side. We kept a Rhino, but took a Volt and a Frost for a deadly mix of raw power. We activated the coordinates, and that's where we found him. We could feel the tension when he talked to us. We annihilated the endless hordes he sent us and found him. Lepanthis. Of this fight I shall not talk, but each Tenno should find one of those beast to test his might.

            Now that I have, I shall not forget the three who gave me the courage to face the monster. Now, thanks to them, I shall wear the skin of the Nekros and bring back the dead.