Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pst, hey kid. The handle's Old Gruff, or at least that's how me mates call me. Down there in Fortuna you don't exactly get handles unless you're the real deal. Which I mean I am now, well kinda... but I wasn't back then, yknow? You probably already know this, but I was a smuggler. Heh, we'd like to think of ourselves as those big wig gangster types, but in reality we were pretty small scale. Some damaged Orokin tech, contraband mats, the works. Probably why I even got 'ere in the first place, eh? Honestly shoulda seen it comin, ya taxmen are smarter than ya look, I'll give ya that. But I gotta say, these shackles are pretty mucking uncomfortable, honestly if you
wanna keep me mates locked up, ya really should...
As I continued to babble away,I took a gander at the clove forced to listen to me. Despite having a helmet, I could tell this one was probably fresh blood, especially since most veteran Taxmen wouldn't settle on a small time gig on a scrapper vessel. He was obviously confused, but hey, what other distractions did either of us have?
-"Um...Why are you telling me...any of this?", he asked.
-"Well, y'know, figured id pass the time 'till they do something with me. And with whom better to share my life's tale than with some new blood like you, kid?
-"Look, no offense, but I really do not need to know this...", he explained before turning tail.
-" Wait, wait, wait! I gotta ask ya somethin'. Who knows, maybe we could even strike up a bargain?", I offered.
-"A...bargain?", the Taxman responded, turning around.
Heh, the second you mention money you always get their attention.
-"Yea, yea. See that console over there?", I asked, pointing at it (or at least as much as I could), "All you gotta do is release Old Gruff, and he'll use his knowledge of Taxmen tech to 'port himself outta this place...
-"Whoa, whoa, whoa! In article 17 of my contract, under the clause 'dealing with indentured labour', it clearly states that except in the event of your expiration or orders from my superiors, I am not to release you!".
Typical Taxmen, with their lawyer-like mumbo jumbo. Thankfully, I picked up some of their tricks. Ya tend to do that when you're dealing with 'em business types for some time.
-"Ya didn't let me finish, kid. In exchange for releasin' me, I can find ya some nice Orokin scrap so you can make a pretty crown under the counter. Guarantee it'll make ya more silver stamps than an entire half-decade on this deadhead! So, whaddya say?"
-"And how am I supposed to believe you?", the kid asked, definitely skeptical.
-"Simple. Ya go to Fortuna an' ask for me. Old Gruff's me handle in case ya forgot. First thing they tell ya? 'Ol' Gruff always pays his debts'. Bank on it!"
-"Hmmm...", he thought, looking at my profile on his tablet. Heh, like that was gonna help him.
"Fine, we have a deal. But if you end up scamming me, I will be mad!"
And with that, the taxman released me. Ok, boot up the recall, punch in some coords and..Bingo!
-"Haha! Thanks, kid. Before I go though, what's ya handle? I can't repay ya if I don't know ya".
-"It's Tise", he explained, a nice tinge of distrust in his voice, or at least that's what I made out.
-"Got it. Keep the shiny side up, mate!", I shouted, hitting the recall button.
And with that, I was back at Fortuna.

Chapter Text

Y'know, living in Fortuna ain't so bad. Sure, you got em Taxmen comin' in every few hours to repo some poor soul, but aside from that, it's all pretty relaxed. Every now an' again I'll get a Tenno lookin' to get some under the counter relics from Ol' Gruff, but that's not so common. Specially not these days with rumors circlin' about a certain Zariman reappearin'. But, oh well, we make do with what we got down here.

-"Ey, Boss! We got a new shipment!", Jimbo, one of my luggers, shouted, hauling a nice cart full of Orokin goodies. Just lookin' at the damn thing I knew we were about to earn a nice few silver stamps.
-"Thanks, mate. I'll eyeball it"

And sure enough, the thing was bundled out with pilfered orokin artifacts! Relics, weapon components, trinkets...You name it, this thing has it! Though, rummaging through that bucket of gold, I did notice something...rare. Soon as the thing got into my hands, I realized. I was holding a pristine Orokin codex! This thing must've been worth twice as much as the rest of the cart combined! Honestly, I could've sold it right then and there to some Tenno historian. Void knows they'd pay a fortune for whatever secrets are in this thing. But for whatever reason, I felt a tinge of...guilt, I guess you could call it, at the idea of keeping the money for myself. For the life of me, I couldn't think of why for the longest time (that being a few seconds, of course) before it hit me...Tise! Now, to be completely honest, I never intended to pay the kid back. Thought he'd disappear to some far away outpost 'fore I could find something to repay him with. And yet here I was, holding something that could pay off that half-decade I promised him and then some! Hmm, I guess the kid did deserve it. After all, were it not for him, Ol' Gruff here would've prolly had to waste away his life in some asteroid hab.
-"Jevick, got your ears on?", I said over comms. And sure enough-
-"Hey, boss. Wotsit?", he responded. Jevick was a nice mate. Worked with the Taxmen as an accountant, but always made sure to mask any rail agents coming his way. More importantly, though, if you ever wanted to know the location of any merk-merk in the system, he had your
back.

-"I need you to find me a certain Taxmen. Got an Orokin Codex with his name on it."
-"Smoke the brakes! You wanna send an artifact, let alone a codex...to a taxman?"
-"Relax, Jev, i'm simply...repayin' a favor to an old mate".
-"Oh...Then I suppose that's alright. Who d'you wanna send it to?"
-"Only know his handle was Tise. And from what I could make out, he shouldn't've gone far. Think you can find him?"
-"Hmm, lemme check.... I got a singular Tise-V, new recruit working guard duty on an obelisk at the Vesper Straight. This him?"
-"Oughta be. I'll hand it to ya next cycle. Just be sure it gets to him, ok?"
-"Don't sweat it, boss. Your mate'll get his codex. Bank on it."
-"Great! Thanks, and keep the shiny side up, Jev".

After that little convo, I took one more look at the Codex itself. Though it was a simple Orokin handheld, I still decided not to try turning it on so I don't damage it or something. Still, a Solaris's gotta wonder what secrets this thing has. What if it speaks of an Orokin vault, filled with priceless treasure? Heh, ok Gruff, that's enough daydreaming for today.

Chapter Text

A few weeks later, lifes goin good. Sales 're stable, plenty of work to keep my place here, the works. That day was lookin' to be more of the same. Was simply drinkin some good ol' caffeine in the break room when suddenly, a merk-merk comes right outta nowhere! For a moment I thought i was 'boutta explode then and there (which the caffeine was not making better, I'll tell you that much), but that's when I noticed something odd. The taxman was alone. Now, I know you ain't exactly from Fortuna, but when the Taxmen come a knockin' for your organs, they tend to do it in groups. They don't want you even thinking you could fight back or anything like that, y'know? And yet here was this taxman fella, all alone.

"Gruff! Thank Profit you're alive! I was beginning to think you got repossessed or something!", he said. Don't think I was ever as confused as I was back then. Though, that's probably just cause we Solaris don't exactly have to deal with any legal mumbo jumbo that often, but still.
Don't think I actually said anything in response, just remember staring at him with my rig-eyes, dumbfounded.

"Oh, right.", he realized, taking off his helmet. And would you believe it! The Kid himself, Tise, down here in Fortuna! Needless to say I was more shocked than that time Jimbo almost lost us a priceless shipment of warframe parts!
"Tise, kid, what in the actual-", I began, although I was quickly, and rudely if I do say so myself, cut off.
"It's about the codex you sent me.", he explained.

If there's one thing I know about that day, it's that this didn't make Old Gruff any less confused.

"Oh, well, what about it?"
"Well, while tinkering around with it, I actually found out something incredible! Something that could really turn both our lives right around!"

Eh, I wasn't looking for much of a lifestyle change then, but since the kid seemed excited, I decided to let him talk.

"Specifically, after pulling back some boring bureaucratic nonsense, I found records of an Orokin noble who really liked his possessions....and the coordinates to the vaults that contain them!"
"Wait, so what you're suggesting is-", I asked, only to be interrupted once again...
"We engage in some grave robbing? Precisely, my Solaris friend!", he respond, with that excitement ya only see when a ventkid gets a new board, "And, according to my estimates, the cummulative value of that vault will be enough not only to afford myself fairly high luxury until the end of my life, but also to pay off your debt and that of a few of your close friends! I...What was that term you people use when you're sure of something?"
"Uh...bank on it?", I responded.
"Yes! I'll bank on it!".

I'll be fair with ya, I wasn't exactly rushing to get out of Fortuna. Sure, it was tough, but with a few mates by my side and some nice maprico juice, all the worries tend to fade away. Though...there were few offworlders I knew back then who really didn't seem to like this place. Apparently, they were helpin' some tenno or something, but down here it don't matter how ya got here, only if you're an offworlder or a true Solaris. But not to me. To Old Gruff, it don't matter if you were born in a slum or if ya forgot to read the fine print, you're just as much family as everyone else. So I thought "Muck it, I'm in, even if it's just for 'em". However, there was a question still buzzin' around in my mind since I recognized Tise, and something in me really wanted an answer.

"I'm in. Just uh, one thing: Aren't you merc-mercs the greedy types? Don't see why you'd figure to bring me along with ya."
"Oh, well, given our earlier interactions and your sheer generosity without which I would not have even known of this vault, I thought it would be unfair for you not to come along. However...There is also a practical reason...", he admitted.
"Ha! Ain't that the truth with ya Taxmen", I laughed, "What'd ya need?"
"A ship and a few souls just as crazy as we are, Gruff. Specifics don't really matter, although I would appreciate you looking for the best instances you can find of both. You think you can manage?"

Now, something you should know about Old Gruff. He ain't exactly a leader like Eudi, but you come down here and ask for his name? Chances are, they ain't telling ya anything bad bout him. I'm good at making pals with folks is what I'm saying. Even managed to tame a Stover one time when me and a few mates got trapped by a cave in. Ah, good times. But, as i was sayin', findin' a good crew and a space worthy ship wouldn't be a problem for Gruff.

"Don't ya worry about me, old mate. I'll get you a ship worthy of hauling the loot and a crew more loyal than a merc-merc on a payroll. Bank on it!", I explained.

The kid seemed pleased enough, pretty sure I caught him murmuring "Oh, so that's how you say it" to himself though.

"Alright, I trust you. Anyway, I got a shift to get back to 'topside', as you call it, so send me a messenger or something once we're ready to do this.", he explained 'fore walking away.
"Alright. Keep the shiny side up, kid!"

Hmph, gotta say, the moment after he left, I could hardly believe any of that actually happened, and that I didn't just inhale a bit too many vent fumes into my bio-face. But oh well, we got a job to do, and by my repossessed organics were we gonna do it. Now all I gotta do is call up Jevik...