Jade Shadows
Struggling to understand the oldest and deepest secret from his past, Stalker finds himself allied with sworn enemies on the troubling road toward uncovering the truth… and averting an incalculable loss.
Starting the quest
The Jade Shadows quest is available after the completion of The New War, and can be started in the Codex. Upon beginning the quest, the player is immediately transitioned to a new location. The loading screen features the Stalker's Landing Craft, Terror, instead of the Tenno's. The quest then begins with a cutscene. Names in brackets indicate that the speaker is not identified in the scene, but their identity is revealed or inferred later.
[Hunhow's murky form can be seen through a dim window, distorted by water reflections.]
Hunhow: "All your dread-long life you have lived with despair. Anguish. Hatred."
[The Stalker, wearing the Low Guardian chest plate, is seen kneeling in submission, holding his scythe Hate. An Excalibur warframe stands over him, Skana held to his throat. The two are in a Tenno facility, with bodies lying dead all around.]
Hunhow: "But none of these compare to your guilt."
[A Jade warframe appears behind the Stalker, floating protectively above him, her Harmony scythe pointed at Excalibur.]
Hunhow: "Of all the gods and kings and golden lords… why was it you she saved?"
[The cutscene transitions to show the Stalker, hanging upside down like a bat, arms crossed over his chest, apparently sleeping. He twitches and turns his head as if haunted by a dream. A curved feather from Jade's angelic wings twirls around him, floating in front of his face, and the Stalker wakes to look at it. It slips away, and the Stalker dismounts from his perch, flipping through the air to land on the ground. The camera moves over Stalker's shoulder, and the player is given control of the Stalker as the cutscene ends.]
The Stalker stands in his lair, a forgotten corner of the caves below Uranus' oceans. A set of Grineer catwalks and platforms criss-crosses the space, and abandoned Grineer machinery can be seen all around, as well as a few Sentient artefacts. A trail of Jade's feathers is laid out, each one floating in place. There is no UI except a minimap and an objective, which instructs the Stalker to "follow the feathers". As he approaches the first one, a voice can be heard whispering.
[Jade]: "Sorren…."
The trail of feathers leads past a large Grineer mainframe computer and an alcove where the Stalker has placed the heads of various warframes on pikes: Excalibur, Saryn, Equinox, Rhino, Volt, Nova, Wisp, and Loki.
The trail then leads to a short corridor, and at the end, a bed, padded with blankets, upon which Jade is lying supine, her hands folded, and her wings closed over her lower body. Jade's breathing is slow, and she pulses with a green glow. Repurposed Grineer medical equipment hangs near the bed, beeping intermittently.
Hunhow: "Her light is dying, her life almost spent. And you will never learn why this unknown slaughterer chose to spare you."
The Stalker is prompted to "comfort her". Interacting with her will cause the Stalker to sit on her bedside, looking down at her.
Hunhow: "You know whose help she needs. Will you let her drown in your despair? Or will you sheathe your hate and ask them?"
The Stalker stands up.
Stalker: "Never."
The Stalker is waypointed to his ship Terror, mounted on a landing pad. Boarding it will transition the Stalker to the next mission. Before the loading screen starts, a portrait titled "Alone" will be shown, depicting the Stalker and his Hate.
First mission: Anything But That (Phobos)
The mission is a Spy mission on a Corpus Ship, with Juno Corpus enemies. There are 4 vaults to hack, instead of the normal 3. The Stalker has his normal weapon loadout: Dread, Despair, and Hate. His abilities are the same as in Duviri: Teleport, Marked, Smoke Screen, and Punishment. The Stalker's Parazon also has an upgraded Auto Breach mod that bypasses every hack he does.
Hunhow: "Still you delay? You doom the only one you ever wished to save, through your own stubbornness!"
(upon hacking the first vault) Captain Xeto: "How did we just lose a significant percentage of our bioplasma reserves? Well? Hello? Any techs care to run a diagnostic?"
(if the Stalker fails a vault hack) Captain Xeto: "A failed breach? What is going on? Is anyone on this ship capable of giving me a straight answer?"
(upon hacking the second vault) Captain Xeto: "That's no system fault. We've got an intruder. [angry sigh] Triple robotic security on all vaults!"
(upon hacking the first vault) Captain Xeto: "There. Camera five. What is that thing? Tenno? No… doesn't fight like a Tenno. Troops: monitor. But keep your distance. [clears throat] (voice echoing throughout ship) Am I on? Intruder! This is Captain Xeto of The Ardent, in service to mighty Parvos. Whoever you are, stand down. Your actions will not be tolerated!"
(upon hacking the first vault) Captain Xeto: [laughs] "Well done, whatever you are. It seems you have what you came for. But why?"
The Stalker is prompted to extract.
Captain Xeto: "He's a what? Read me that entry again, ensign. But what use would the Tenno-hunter have for medical-grade bioplasma? Track him."
[in Stalker's Lair]
The Stalker must go to Jade's bed and interact with her. Stalker will hold out his hand over Jade's chest and deliver the bioplasma in a manner like Tenno revive gas. Jade will lurch upwards, feathers unfurling from her head as she screams, causing Stalker to cover his ears. She will then collapse back to the bed in her resting position.
Hunhow: "You see? Futile. Only one can help her now."
Stalker: "Tenno…."
Hunhow: "Beard the beast in its den. You know the path of old."
The Stalker must go to his ship, but as he leaves the corridor, an alarm sounds, and a number of Juno Corpus Moas and Ospreys will invade the Lair. Stalker must kill them all.
(upon killing all the intruders) Corpus Commander: "Ah, damn it. [sigh] Signal lost."
Afterwards, the Stalker must board his ship.
Second mission: Reluctance
The Stalker will appear on the Tenno's Landing Craft, kneeling at Navigation.
Ordis: "Operator? Did you disable the security grid?"
The Stalker must go down the ramp to the Orbiter. Ordis will be floating around near the Arsenal in his Sentinel form. The Stalker must evade his vision, which is outlined as a cone in front of him. Stalker will not use his weapons or abilities for this segment. The Stalker is waypointed to enter the Somatic Link chamber, but the door will only open when Ordis is near. Stalker must sneak near Ordis while still staying out of his vision.
(variant) Ordis: "Ordis assuredly heard something just now."
(variant) Ordis: "Who's there? Operator? Umbra? …Helminth?"
(variant) Ordis: "Whoever is there, step into the light!"
(if Ordis spots the Stalker) Ordis: [gasp] "You! You will NOT harm my Operator! OUT!"
As the Tenno enters the Somatic Link chamber, a cutscene will begin.
[The Somatic Link opens to reveal the Tenno, who gets up from the chair. The Stalker immediately holds Hate to their throat.]
Tenno: "Woah, woah, woah woah woah woah."
[The Tenno slowly sits back in the chair and holds up their hands.]
Tenno: "Last guy who tried sticking me with a blade? Things didn't go so well for him."
[Ordis zips into the room and hovers by Stalker's shoulder.]
Ordis: "Stay calm, Operator! PURGING!"
[Ordis' eyes turn red and an alarm blares through the ship.]
Tenno: "Wait, Ordis. [alarms stop] I don't think he's here for a fight. Are you?"
[The Stalker reaches behind him and produces one of Jade's feathers. Holding it out to the Tenno, he lowers Hate. The feather slowly floats over to the Tenno.]
Ordis: "That feather— processing— it is from a warframe! One who went missing around the time of the Orokin— SLAUGHTER— fall, but documentation is scarce. Almost… redacted."
[The Tenno holds the feather in their hands.]
Tenno: "You're here… for help? For a warframe? Why? You hate warframes."
[The Stalker holsters Hate on his back and turns away.]
Tenno: "Unless… is this one… like you?"
Ordis: "Ordis doubts anything is left of their sanity at this point."
[The Stalker shakes his head and walks away.]
Tenno: [sigh] "All right. I'll help. For them. Whoever they are."
[The Tenno concentrates on the feather and closes their eyes. With the sound of Transference, they vanish.]
[The view changes to show two figures from behind in a rocky landscape. A woman, wearing an Archimedian uniform, holds hands with a man. The woman lets go of the other's hand and holds her hand up to his face.]
[Jade]: "Sorren…."
[The Tenno appears back in the Somatic Link. Stalker is standing next to it, his arms crossed.]
Ordis: "Strange. A warframe's power should last forever, but some additional factor is draining hers. I am unable to determine what."
Tenno: "We can't let her die."
Ordis: "To restore a depleted warframe, Ordis suggests you turn to the base matter of which warframes are made."
Tenno: "The Infestation. Go."
The cutscene ends and the Stalker is prompted to leave. Approaching Navigation will automatically transition the Stalker to the next mission.
Third mission: The Ancestor (Eris)
The mission takes place on an Infested Ship, with Infested enemies.
Tenno: "If you're serious about saving her, you need to spill a lot of Infested blood. She needs Cortichrome… and that has to be harvested directly from a Juggernaut."
The Stalker is waypointed to find a Juggernaut Behemoth.
Captain Xeto: "He's on a derelict. One of the old Corpus hulks off Eris. Find me the cargo manifest. I want to know what he's searching for."
When the Stalker finds the Juggernaut's pod, it will hatch, and the Stalker must fight and kill it.
Captain Xeto: "He's woken a Juggernaut! Clumsy. Unless he meant to? But… why?"
After killing the Juggernaut, the Stalker must collect the Cortichrome it drops.
Tenno: "Don't just stand there, go. The longer we wait, the less of a chance we have of saving her."
Captain Xeto: "Wait. Bioplasma… now Cortichrome… [gasp] could it be he's playing doctor? There's a warframe at the bottom of all this, I'm sure of it. Alert the Sisterhood. No – alert Vala herself. I want to deliver this asset to her personally."
The Stalker is waypointed to extraction.
[in Stalker's Lair]
As the Stalker approaches Jade again, a cutscene will play.
Tenno: "She's worse. We can buy her a few more minutes, but she's not gonna make it through this."
Stalker: "TRY."
Tenno: "You don't understand. Whatever's been draining her… it's speeding up. And she's not fighting it."
Stalker: "TRY!"
[The sound of Transference is heard. Stalker approaches the bed, and as he does, Jade's feathers unfurl to reveal her gravid abdomen, holding a translucent pod with an orb of green energy within. The Tenno, in the Somatic link, concentrates hard through Transference, turning their head back and forth. Stalker holds his hand out to Jade, and the Operator suddenly opens their eyes, glowing with bright green energy. The feathers on Jade's helmet open as she screams, and she lurches upward, grabbing Stalker's arm.]
[The scene from earlier repeats, with the couple holding hands before a rocky landscape.]
[Jade]: "Sorren…."
[Sorren]: "Jade…."
A short quicktime event plays over a closeup of Jade's abdomen, with Jade's hands on either side. A waveform plays over the scene, and the player must press a key in time with certain notes. Upon each successful note, the orb of energy within Jade's uterus glows brighter until the event concludes.
[Jade, now holding Stalker's hand, begins to emit motes of green light. The Stalker presses his forehead to their clasped hands. An emerald sheen flows over Jade's skin, and she slips her hand from his grasp to gently touch his face. As she does so, the green glow covers her completely, and she disintegrates. The Stalker hangs his head, then looks at the bed. He picks something up and holds it in his arms, swaddling it in one of the blankets from the bed. He stands up, revealing an infant that Jade had left behind. He holds it to his chest and strokes its back. Then he hears commotion from outside, and takes the child to cradle it in the crook of his left arm. The child starts to produce green motes, which cover the Stalker much as they did Jade, empowering him and outlining his face in glowing green. With his right hand, Stalker picks up Hate from the side of the bed, and brandishes it, whereupon it is transformed into the Enlightened Hate.]
The cutscene ends and the player is given control of the Stalker. His lair has been invaded by Corpus troops and robots, and he must fight them off with his Hate (his other weapons are unavailable as his left hand is occupied with the infant). The Enlightened Hate now sends out waves of green energy with each swing.
Corpus Commander: "We've secured his ship. He's not going anywhere."
With his ship not present on the platform, the Stalker must make his way to the large Grineer elevator at the end of his lair. Upon boarding it, it will start to ascend.
Captain Xeto: "He's coming up! Get security in position. Do not screw this up for me. The Sisterhood doesn't give second chances."
Vala Glarios: "Candidate? Brother Parvos is watching."
As the elevator ascends, the Stalker will have to defend against Corpus troops at each level.
Corpus Commander: "Uh… Captain? There's no warframe down there. Just… traces."
Captain Xeto: "He took something. Rip it from his dead hands."
When the elevator reaches the top, Stalker will have to fight through one more group of Corpus before exiting out to the surface. When he does, a cutscene will play.
[Stalker emerges onto the surface level of the Grineer facility, his infant still held in his arm. He comes to a sudden halt as he sees a line of Corpus Crewmen facing off against him. Behind them is his ship Terror, and farther in the background is a Corpus Stanchion ship. The Corpus shout among themselves, parting ranks to reveal a cart-mounted repeating machine gun turret. Captain Xeto, standing next to it, raises her fist as a Crewman sets the gun into position, then she lowers her hand to point at the Stalker – the signal to fire. The turret begins laying down a stream of concentrated fire at the Stalker, and the Crewmen on each side join in with their Supras. Stalker holds out his Hate and twirls it in front of him, deflecting each shot with the spinning blade.]
The player is given control of the Stalker, but they can only move forward, slowly, one step at a time, as the Stalker continues to deflect the hail of bullets continually directed at him. Once the Stalker starts to come near the line of Corpus, the cutscene begins again.
[The Stalker continues to slowly advance towards his ship and the Crewmen in front of it, only a few metres away. Suddenly, one of the bullets hits him in the wrist, drawing blood. He pauses, still attempting to deflect the shots, but two more bullets hit him in the knee and leg, and he goes down on the knee with a heavy grunt. The child in his arm gurgles and babbles at the motion, and Captain Xeto is overcome with shock and concern.]
Captain Xeto: "All crews cease fire, cease fire! Stop firing!"
[Xeto physically berates her crew to stop them shooting. The Corpus lower their weapons and Xeto steps out from behind the turret, looking on in consternation. The Stalker stops spinning his scythe and instead plants it on the ground, leaning upon it as he catches his breath. Eventually, he stands up, slowly and painfully. The child he holds babbles again, its eyes glowing green like its mother.]
The cutscene ends, and the player is given control of the Stalker. The Stalker can only limp forward slowly to his ship. The Corpus are all lined up in front of him, and as he approaches each one, they will step aside, either to the right or the left, to let him and the child pass. The Stalker must slowly proceed forward, favouring his injured right leg, past the turret and Captain Xeto, who clasps her hands behind her back as she allows Stalker to board his ship and depart.
Fourth mission: In Memoriam (Lua)
The final mission takes place on Lua. There are no enemies and the Stalker is unarmed, still holding the infant in his left arm. The Stalker must traverse the ruined Orokin halls, past a Reservoir, until he comes to a balcony with a vista over the basalt landscape. As the Stalker moves through the map, voices can be heard.
Jade: "You're going to be a father, Sorren."
Sorren: "But… the Legems! If the Lords found out—"
Jade: "You'll take care of us, always, won't you?"
When the Stalker reaches the balcony, a short cutscene will play, showing the Stalker looking down at the gurgling infant. Then the player will be prompted to choose a name for the child, with "Sirius" glowing green, or "Orion" glowing red. Unlike most similar choices, this does not appear to impact the Tenno's alignment dial.
(when the name is chosen) Stalker: "Sirius / Orion…."
At this, the card titled "Protector" will appear, showing Stalker and Jade both watching over their child. The quest will then be marked complete, with its description changing to the following:
The heart is a labyrinth, none darker than Stalker's. At the centre lay answers, loss… and life. One life lost, for another life gained: life never before seen in the Origin System. An impossible life that, in turn, brought with it more questions than answers.
The player will return to the Tenno's ship to find an inbox message from Hunhow.
Inbox message:
Unfinished BusinessTenno.
The Shadow has fled. His lair is silent and empty. He will not return.
Understand: She haunts this place. Her might has marred the earth. She whispers in the sleeping machines. Through the disintegration of her flesh, she lives on.
In honour of my barren, Void-scarred womb, I entrust Jade to you.
He would not have wished this. But she would.
I remain: the great and terrible Hunhow.
The message contains the Jade blueprint, Stalker's Lair Captura scene, the "Alone" and "Protector" portraits, and another portrait titled "United".
After the quest, the Tenno has access to the new Ascension game mode on Brutus, Uranus, where they can obtain Jade's components.
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