Ko-lee, Ella, Caz-V and I all make our way down the hallway, with Rease leading the pack. "Now, if I had to rate the different places I ate at, I wouldn't put this one at the top of the list, but it's definitely up there," he says, his hands gesticulating as he talks. I give Ella a cheeky grin, before leaning in conspiratorially. "He's enthusiastic, isn't he?" I say, nodding my head towards the broad shouldered recruit in front of us. She looks at him momentarily with an exasperated expression, before giving me a soft smile. "I was sitting with him for 30 minutes before you showed up. Before he was informing me on the specifics of steak, he was talking about how to repair an engine. In. Excruciating. Detail," she says, scrunching up her nose at the memory. "Cute," I think, but out loud I just chuckle. I give him a look as he chatters to Ko-lee, before turning my attention back to Ella. "An engine for what?" I ask, and she just gives me a shrug.

  "No idea," she says. "Honestly, a lot of it went over my head." It only takes a few minutes more before we all find ourselves in what I would be generous to call a restaurant. "Do any of you have any money," asks Caz-V from behind, causing me to flinch. I turn to see a smug look on his face, and I just roll my eyes at him. "It's not a power play to be a loner you dip." Next to me, Ella nods her head. "I believe we should've all gotten a stipend as of this morning," she says, drawing the attention of Ko-lee. "How do you know that?" Ko-lee asks, her gaze locked on Ella. "Uhm," says Ella, looking a touch flustered under Ko-lee's intense gaze, "I made a friend who started basic training before we did. They uh... sort of convinced me to join." A touch of color hits her cheeks, seemingly embarrassed by the explanation.

  We all make our way to the table, and the moment we seat ourselves, Rease begins to give us a thorough dissection of the menu, explaining what he considers the best options available. "Woah, he likes the three meat surprise? That's so crazy, I never would've guessed that," I think bemusedly, while I half listen to him as I scan the menu. My eyes scroll down the list, before stopping on what seems to be some sort of pasta like dish I've not heard of before. I set my menu down, and listen as everyone eventually make their own choices. Ko-lee decides to order one of Rease's recommendations, while Ella gets something healthy sounding. After a shockingly effective application of puppy dog eyes from Rease, she also gets a side of some sort of stuffed vegetable. Caz-V gets what sounds like alcohol and a greasy breakfast meal.

  The orders are entered into a pad attached to the table, and after we finish, I turn to Caz-V, quirking an eyebrow. "It's a little early to be drinking, isn't it?" I say. He just rolls his eyes and gives me an unimpressed look. "What are you, the fun police?" he says, his words dripping with sarcasm. I scoff. "ACAB," I say in English, but he just looks at me with confusion on his face. "No, man," I follow up in Origin. "Not a cop." I hear a small noise, and both mine and Caz-V's attention shift over to Ella. "Well... we might not be a local security force, but as Tenno, we'll be protecting the system. That sort of does make us police, doesn't it?" Rease gives a wide grin, and gives a fist pump. "Haha, that's awesome!" he exclaims, bumping his shoulder against Ella, nearly knocking her to the floor. "Well, not yet we aren't," says Ko-lee, looking at Ella. Her arm is outstretched, not quite touching the girl, but it's clear Ko-lee had moved to prevent her from toppling to the floor. "We still have to get through training."

  "More like, if we get through training," Caz-V mutters. "What, you don't think we will?" I ask, and he rolls his eyes. "Who knows, but Captain Hardass didn't seem to have a lot of faith in us. I'd imagine he has a better idea of the success rate than we do." I shake my head at his words. "First of all," I say, doing my best to keep a grin off my face, "it's Primark Hardass. Or Second Primark Hardass. He was very clear about that." I watch as Caz-V tries and fails to not smile at my dumb joke. "Nah, I think he did it on purpose," I continue. "It's supposed to be an intimidation tactic. It's meant to weed out those who aren't committed." Rease's eyebrows are scrunched, the question clear on his face. "How would you know something like that?" he asks. "Like, from movies?" I say, giving Ko-lee a covert glance. "Movies are a thing, right?" I try to ask with my eyebrows. It takes her a moment to translate my look, but eventually she gives me a subtle nod of the head. "Hmm, I'm not sure what movies you've seen," says Ella, looking thoughtful, "but I've never heard of anything like that."

  "What, your parents never shown you the classics?" I say. I notice the energy shift immediately. Everyone is dead silent, and before I have the option to backpedal to try to salvage the situation, our food arrives. We all remove the lower portions of our mask, and dig into our respective meals. For a few minutes, there's nothing but the sound of chewing, before Ko-lee speaks up. "It was the Grineer for me. I'm... I was part of an Ostron clan. Sharip. We had... an understanding, of sorts, with the previous Grineer. Major Ferrah. But she got promoted, and the new guy... he was a little more hot headed." All meals are fully ignored at this point. Everyone else in the squad is fully engaged, listening to her tell the story, but my focus is on her. "She's remarkably steady. It would be asinine to say she's healed from the trauma, but... she's come a long way from the dugouts," I think, as I look at my girlfriend.

  "I was the daughter of the Chief," she says, looking around the table. "I tried to tell him that we needed to be more... proactive. Even tried to get him to hire a warframe." She gives a bitter smile, before continuing. "He didn't agree with me. Me and Antimony are alive because we were in the forest at the time, training." The only sounds are the ones of the restaurant, the noise of the kitchen and of the other patrons around us. Nobody is speaking, and I desperately wrack my brain to come up with a way to shift the topic, before Ella sighs. "I get it," she says. "They... they're assholes." The expression of anger on her face looks misplaced, as though the muscles aren't used to forming such a shape. She takes a deep breath, clearly trying to form her words before speaking. "My parents were part of a Corpus debt colony, but they ended up fleeing to a New Loka settlement."

  I catch Caz-V shifting uncomfortably at her words, but he doesn't say anything, and Ella doesn't seem to notice. "My parents loved the whole 'low technology' thing we had going on," she says. "It was never really for me, even having been raised in it. So... well, I was off in a cave when it happened. It was just a little spot I found years ago as a kid. I had some scraps there I'd tinker with and... I guess they didn't know the colony was there? Or maybe they just didn't care." Her gaze turns down towards the table, and I have to strain slightly to be able to hear her words. "They were burning the forest. I think they were trying to clear space, or something. But they... they flew over in one of their ships. Dropped some sort of sticky chemicals on the trees. It was..." she takes in a shuddering breath, as she relives the moment. "It was so hot. It didn't just burn the trees, it melted the stone. I couldn't leave the cave. If it weren't for the pool of water near the back, I think I might've died from the heat."

  She sighs, her eyes coming up from the table to look at each of us in turn, before ending with Ko-lee. "Anyways. After a day and a half, I was able to make my way out. I headed towards the closest Ostron colony... and that's that." I look at Ko-lee to see gears turning in her head. "Do you remember the name of the colony?" she asks, and Ella nods. "Yea, it was Hotas." Ko-lee hums to herself for a moment before responding. "That's... not that far from where Sharip was, actually. Maybe... 60 miles to the west?" says Ko-lee, before her expression sharpens. "That shouldn't have been part of his territory, but I wouldn't put it past Colonel Jar to have overstepped his bounds." Ella's face shows a mixture of empathy and frustration at the information. "I will kill him, Ella," says Ko-lee, her voice cold and hard. "I know it won't fix things, for you or for me. But I will kill him. And I will make it hurt."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  There's a quiet intake of breath from Ella. "I mean, who doesn't think about vengeance after a tragedy. But she didn't have a target before, and now Ko-lee is giving her one. This... it can't be healthy. But also, who am I to tell someone not to seek revenge?" There's a brief moment as I feel a thought surface to the top of my mind. "And honestly, I want to hurt him too. God how I wish I could just..." my thoughts come to a halt, or more realistically, a collision, as my id and superego collide. I'm aware of the logic that violence simply begets more violence; that to encourage this behavior is to engage in the othering of the Grineer. "It doesn't solve anything! They're humans, people! They need medical care and deprogramming, not systematic slaughter!" And yet... I feel the heat of the fire of Sharip, smell the ash, hear the bang the thud the screams-

  A deep voice rings out across the table, interrupting my mental spiral. "Being stuck... not knowing if they lived. That's probably the worst part," says Rease, his usual jovial tone missing as he gives Ella a look of deep, painful understanding. "Me and my parents, we... well, I guess it doesn't matter now. We were rail agents," he says, to a variety of reactions. Ella gasps quietly, and Caz-V raises his eyebrows at the claim. Ko-lee, on the other hand, just looks focused, likely trying to determine the meaning of the term from context clues. "Same same," I think, turning my attention back to the big man. "I know some tractor jockeys are real assholes... but we weren't like that. Mom is... mom was always saying that we needed to put more light in the universe than we soak up. We never moved weapons or anything dangerous, and we only ever charged enough for the next trip." His expression darkens.

  "I told her, I told Dad that we needed to get a better lifeboat. That the bucket we had could only fit one person. He just kept telling me that we'd squeeze in if it came to that. He didn't even try," Rease says, growling out the last word through clenched teeth. He's squeezing his utensils in a death grip, his hands shaking from the force. "Hey," I say, keeping my voice calm and light. "We get it. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." He shakes his head, small frantic movements causing his top knot to bob back and forth, before taking a deep breath. "Nah, I'm good, I'm good. There was some spat up near Centauri between the Corpus and the Grineer. We were just bugs caught in the crossfire. I doubt they even knew we were there, and I definitely have no idea what they were fighting about," says Rease. I interject before he can continue. "Sorry, Centauri? Like Alpha Centauri?" I ask, and he gives me a confused look.

  "No, as in Centauri Junction. The Solar Rail between Venus and Earth," he explains. "Oh... what? They definitely didn't have names in game," I think, as Rease continues talking. "Anyways, that's where a Tenno operative found me. In the lifeboat, nestled against the Rail, where I had been for the last three days. I can't really be sure that they're dead but... they would've been able to follow the distress signal. They would've found me," he says, with heart wrenching conviction. The table falls silent after Rease finishes telling his story, and one by one, our attentions all shift to Caz-V. "What?" he says, his eyes narrowing. "I wasn't aware it was a requirement to spill our guts to each other to pass basic." Ella looks at him, her expression soft. "It builds camaraderie," she says. Caz-V scoffs. "Yea, well, my Dad's still alive, he's just a moron," he says with a dismissive roll of his eyes.

  "And your mom?" asks Ko-lee, her words firm but kind. "Dead. Hopefully," Caz-V responds with a lazy tone. The table is left completely silent, and so I decide to pivot the conversation. "Your tattoo's are cool. Are they Corpus?" I ask. Caz-V is in the middle of a drink, and so we all watch as he takes his time to finish. "Beecloud Robotics, Principle Solutions Data Associate, Macro Engineering," he says, a hint of pride in his words. I see Rease's expression tighten, but Caz-V is too busy looking at me to notice. "I was actually about to hit Advisor in a few months. My parents were both Senior Engagement Officers, so..."

  "Literally no idea what that means bud," I think, before taking a random stab in the dark. "So, did you guys get attacked by the Grineer?" He barks a short laugh. "Yeah right! Our MOA's are best in class. Axio base, magnetic propulsion systems, Muon batteries powering high capacity shields. If it was those tuberats, we would've squashed them like bugs," Caz-V says, almost wistfully. "Well, what the fuck else could it be? Inter Corpus drama maybe? There's only three-" It hits me like a ton of bricks. "Oh fuck," I say, the words slipping of my mouth in English. He gives me a wan smile, picking up on the meaning, despite the language barrier. "How can you fight something like that?" he croaks. "They corrupted our systems, turned our meat crews against us." He tilts his head to the ceiling, placing his hands behind his head in a facsimile of nonchalance. "We got hazard pay, you know. About six hundred thousand of us managed to get off board without any issues."

  "That's not too bad," I say. He just chuckles. "Yea, well, an Auron-class ship usually holds a crew size of three to five million, so you do the math." "Fuck me, 2.4 million dead on the low end? 4.4 on the high?" I think. The numbers are too massive for me to visualize, and so all I manage to say in response is, "Oh." He nods his head, his eyes closed. "Oh is right. I'm one of the lucky ones. Me and my Dad. We were working together, about as far from the epicenter as we could have been. Mom... wasn't. Still, I've heard the warframes are immune. So I guess one day I might be able to bury what's left of her." It's clear that he's finished explaining, and so I watch as Rease leans over to Ella, whispering. "Wait, what is he talking about?" "Infested," says Ella, whispering back. Rease's face grows a shade paler. "Oh," he says, in a moment near identical to mine. "Neato, we're all damaged OC's," I think sarcastically.

  "I think this is the right place for us," says Ella, breaking the silence. We all give her odd looks, but to her credit, she forges on regardless. "Well, what I mean is, we all got here through rough paths. But... being a part of the Tenno? I think... well, I know we can make the system better. All of us, together." Nobody immediately responds, and her face starts to grow red, so I swoop in to rescue her. "Together," I say, giving her a genuine smile. Rease's face splits into a grin. "Hell yeah! Together!" he follows up, a touch too enthusiastically. We get a couple odd looks from some of the other patrons in the restaurant, but they don't manage to dampen the mood. "Together," says Ko-lee, with a simple nod. "Sure," says Caz-V, offhandedly. "Yea, that's probably the best we're going to get from him," I think, mentally rolling my eyes.

  "Awesome!" I say, the mood brighter than it was mere minutes ago. "And on that note, we should probably head off to class." I stand up from the chair, and everyone else follows. "Oh, uh, do we have to do anything to actually pay?" I ask Ella, the moment before I start to walk off. "Nope, we already paid for it," she says brightly. "Great! Let's delta," I say, and we all filter out of the restaurant and into the hall. "We should come up with a team name," says Rease, to varying levels of enthusiasm, as we start to follow the line to our next destination. "I think we should call it Ella and friends," he says, causing her face to regain it's color from only a few minutes ago. The idea is shot down, with a grateful look from Ella, but we bounce ideas back and forth all the way to class, and we even manage to get Caz-V to chime in once or twice.