Dust
He moved through the night, a deadly mobile piece of shadow. His form was indistinct even in the best of light, due to the dark colors that his warframe had been coated with. Not black, that actually stood out in many more situations that it hid. Dark browns, dark grays, dark reds in some places to keep the silhouette from being recognizable, to lessen shine and break up the outline. Even during the day it would take most beings two or more looks to see his humanoid shape. The ancient art of camouflage was not lost on Tenno. Indeed, they kept many ancient arts alive.
Tenno were not ninja despite some people's claims. They had some similarity to ancient Earth spies and assassins, but little in common with the shinobi of ancient Japan. Whereas the shinobi tried very hard never to be seen, using disguises, misdirection and every other possible trick to keep their enemies guessing, Tenno did not bother for the most part. Oh, they stayed out of sight until it was time to strike, no question. But where an ancient shinobi would steal a uniform to walk through enemy lines unremarked, a Tenno would either sneak through or blow a hole through the same lines depending on personal preference. Also, when historical shinobi were discovered, if they found themselves in a straight fight with large numbers of their enemies, they were generally doomed. Tenno? Not even close.
He paused in his stalk, his heightened awareness of his surroundings notifying him of an enemy even before his warframe sensors did. Reflexively, he checked his weapons. Some might call his Braton Mk-1 rifle, Lato pistol and Skana sword simple, or even mediocre. But they did not understand. He had other, more powerful weapons in his personal arsenal. An Ogris rocket launcher could make a mess of virtually any enemy he had encountered, but it was…inelegant. A Glaive could –and did- render enemies down to parts but it was not controllable in flight. At least not by him. An Acrid could –depending on which poison was used- make an enemy sicken and die slowly, or kill them quickly. Any of these might be more powerful than the basic weapons that he carried for this mission. But he was an artist, not a butcher no matter how some might paint him. He also wasn't stupid. His gear might look basic, but the mods that his gear was equipped with were anything but.
His rifle was in hand as he waited for the enemy to show themselves. He didn't have to wait long. Mars had been terraformed long, long ago. Habitats existed on its surface that held plants transplanted form Earth after the first wave of colonization. Civilization had flourished on this, the fourth planet out from the Sun that given light to humanity. But then… The Collapse. The massive greenhouse he waited in now had become overgrown with plants of all kinds, some of the trees rubbing the ceiling fifty meters up.
He didn't remember a lot. Injuries had taken their toll on his mortal form and his warframe had struggled to keep him standing, other needs –such as long term memory- had fallen by the wayside. He had flashes at times of things that he almost remembered. Bit and pieces. Faces. But with no context, he had no way of ever finding out what –or who- he had been. It didn't really matter now. Since he had woken from cryo-sleep and been rushed into battle almost right out of the pod, he had heard a name used for him. Dust.
He wore an Ash warframe, so he guessed that was as good a name as any. He fought hard and well against the enemies who fought him. His missions were endless, but this was what he did. He had no family that he knew of. He had no other purpose. He was a weapon. He had been given a target. And unless he very much missed his guess… His target was coming.
His rifle was up and ready as a pair of hideous shapes loped out of the green shadows and nosed about. Infested Chargers. These were unfortunate souls who had been transformed by the Technocyte virus into cannon fodder for the Infested horde. Chargers were fast and mobile, allowing them to come to grips with enemies quickly. Unfortunately for them, that left little protection on their misshapen frames. Dust's Braton could easily sweep both away, but they were not his target. Between his immobility and his camouflage, the Chargers did not detect him. If they had, he could use one of his powers to evade or attack. But it would be much better if…
There! A huge form shambled into view from the side. Dust wasn't sure why these Infested were called Ancients. If he had ever known, he had forgotten. Most of them seemed to be on the verge of rotting away or falling apart. But they were tougher than they looked, he knew that. He also knew that the green mist around the Ancient that was his target was a particularly vile corrosive poison. If he tried to get close to the Ancient, his warframe could not protect him from the effects. But he didn't have to, the mods on his Braton MK-1 would…
WHAM!
Dust found himself, to his complete shock, lying on the ground in front of the Ancient, staring at the long metal rod that had impaled his arm and spun him out of his cover. An arrow. Stalker!
Why didn't the crazy kinslayer taunt me?
Dust immediately spun into motion, his Invisibility activating as he darted for higher ground. Another arrow pinned the ground where he had been. The only thing that saved him was that the Infested seemed to be just as shocked by his sudden appearance as he had been. He pulled the arrow out and paused. This wasn't one of Stalker's blade headed arrows! This was… a Tenno arrow. He dodged to the side, throwing the arrow away as the Infested behind him started to scream as they pursued him. The pain in his arm faded as his warframe repaired the damage but he was angry now.
I am going to find whoever fired that arrow and I am going to hurt them. Kin or not. But first…
The Chargers tore out of the undergrowth to meet two quick shots. Neither even saw what killed them as Dust reactivated his Invisibility and waited. But then, something changed and he jerked to the side. Another arrow passed through where he had been. His scans of the area were… There! He spotted a flash of movement in the trees and a hurrying figure. About ten meters up in a tree. He keyed for a teleport, his rifle coming up to point at the face of… A human girl? Maybe twenty years old. The Tenno froze as his quarry did. The bow in her hands was… It was a Cernos. Tenno in origin, but it looked as if it had seen hard use. She wore an odd garment that seemed to be alive. It went from her neck to her feet and covered her hands, allowing her to manipulate the energy string of the bow. She snarled and pulled an arrow out of her quiver, only to freeze again as Dust took a hand from his Braton and grabbed the long metal piece out of her hand! She snarled again, this time swinging at him with the bow. He blocked it with ease. But… This was… Something was very wrong. She knew what he was. She had to, right? So why was she…?
The tree the two were in suddenly jerked and Dust looked down to see the Ancient, stymied from a direct attack, slam the trunk of the tree again with its not inconsiderable mass. The girl, not as sure of her balance as he was in his warframe, slipped and fell. She caught hold of the branch that they had been standing on, the bow falling. Dust dropped the arrow and grabbed for her. She snarled at him again and… let go!
"No!" Dust's frantic denial jerked past his ironclad control as the girl fell towards the ground ten meters below and the waiting Ancient. But, instead of either letting her hit the ground or hitting her in flight, the Ancient seemed to arc. It's green miasma faded as the girl fell and Dust's eyes went wide under his helmet as the girl slid down the Ancient's length to land on her feet, snarling up at the Tenno. The Ancient moved away as the girl picked up the bow that had landed nearby, drew another arrow and aimed. Dust dodged and the arrow cleaved the tree trunk where he had been standing. He could kill her fairly easily. But… She wasn't his target. Instead, he took aim at the Ancient as it tried to batter the tree down again and opened fire. Each shot hammered into the Ancient with deadly effect, forcing it back until it fell. Arrow after arrow came sizzling up at him, but he dodged them with ease.
Good work, Tenno. The Lotus congratulated him. He won't be bothering us anymore. Get to extraction.
But Dust didn't move. A keen split the air. The human girl had dropped her bow and was kneeling beside the still Ancient, tears falling. The Ancient's tentacle seemed to move, just a little and the girl cradled it to her chest, her scream of rage and pain was loud as it went still. She was…grieving?
This is… not right… Dust said to himself. A human grieving for an Infested? Then he jerked. Howls had started all around. Other infested were coming. He came to a quick decision and keyed for a teleport again. The girl shrieked in fear as he appeared beside her, but a quick careful blow sent her sprawling. She snarled at him, no intelligence in her eyes as he raised his hand.
Something seemed to twist inside Dust as his warframe systems digitized the girl, her drawn out scream of agony seeming to last forever. But then, it was gone. The Tenno swept up the bow as well and took to his heels as the first new Infested Runners and Chargers leapt at him.
This time, speed was his ally, not stealth. He ran through the habitat, through greenhouses like the one the Infested target had been in. He ran through empty landing bays bright with the red dust that pervaded Mars. Then, he paused. A huge form had appeared in the near distance in front of him.
Aw no…
Dust altered his path, cloaking himself again as Phorid moved to pursue. Other Infested were hemming him in now, all kinds of infested. Despite his invisibility he knew he was detectable. But… why wasn't Phorid screaming? The massive Infested's sonic attack could draw even invisible Tenno close enough for the huge monster to pounce on. So why was it… pacing him? It knew where he was, that was obvious. Why wasn't it attacking?
Then he saw them striding towards him. Humans, half a dozen of them, all with weapons. Rifles, pistols, a couple of shotguns. The Infested, instead of attacking, made way for them! Dust's eyes narrowed as he realized that they all wore the same kind of odd garments that the girl had.
What the FU-…?
"Tenno." One of the humans, an older male, said sharply. "Give me my daughter!"
The ring around Dust was closing. The Infested with Phorid anchoring one side were closing in in a semi-circle. The humans held the other part of the ring, their weapons steady. Could they see him too? He scooped up a rock and tossed it. Two of the humans pointed their weapons at where it landed and he had his answer. No. But Phorid could, the massive Infested did not change course. Either it could see through Dust's Invisibility or sense him another way. Somehow.
"You are not leaving with her." The human said in a hard voice. "We will kill you if you try."
You will kill me either way. Dust thought sarcastically. But then…something new entered the mix.
"…" The speech, or lack of it, was not audible. But from the Infested's reaction, they all felt it.
"No!" The human shouted, "Take cover!" He screamed as a recognizable form jumped from a high perch to land in the middle of the circle, its sensors fixed on Dust. The Corpus scum called it Zanuka. The Tenno called it Harvester or horror almost beyond imagining. It…didn't seem to see the Infested. Oops.
"This is for your own good, Tenno. Help me, help you." That was all its master Alad V managed to say before Phorid slammed into it from behind and pinned the Corpus robot to the ground. Pieces of bot went flying as the Zanuka machine tried to fight back, but other Infested closed in and the mechanical monstrosity was quickly overwhelmed by biological ones.
While everyone's attention was on the Corpus bot, Dust saw a distant figure and teleported to it. The human wore a similar garment as the others and his eye was on the bulky scope of his sniper rifle. He never even saw the Tenno appear in a puff of smoke behind him. Before he could even realize that Dust was there, the human was unconscious and Dust lowered him back down to the ground gently. He did not kill humans. Not if he could help it
A scream of tortured metal came from below, and Dust looked down to see Phorid toss the shattered remnants of the Zanuka proxy away. All eyes were looking up at him.
You will not take what is ours.
The inhuman voice was nowhere and everywhere. Power surrounded Dust and pulled him towards the ledge, but he fought back with every fiber of his being. He was Tenno, not some horrid mix of warframe and robotics like that poor benighted proxy had been. He would not submit. He jerked forward until he found a door. As soon as he passed the door, it closed, the sonic barrage cut off and he ran again. He could hear Infested behind him as he darted up, then over. Then he was slammed to the ground by something. He rolled and the Leaper gave a cry as his Skana came up. The cry cut off, but something else hit him. His initial response of removing his second attacker's head with his Skana like the first was shelved as he saw a wild eyed human woman trying to beat her way into his warframe.
"Give me back my daughter!" She screamed as she hit him with her bare hands.
He didn't want to hurt her and he could hear pursuit closing behind him, so he hit his Invisibility again and jumped over her, sheathing his Skana again. She did not pursue. Instead, she gave a shrill cry and knelt, crying. The sound…hurt him more than Phorid's sonic attack had, but he had to get away. He had to report this!
This is wrong. Dust thought to himself as he saw the landing grid ahead where his ship would meet him. Humans, fighting besideInfested? This is wrong!
Behind him, he could hear more and more pursuit, but he jumped up and grabbed hold of one of the large power lines that ran between the landing pads. As long as he did not ground himself on anything, he was fine using it as an improvised zipline. If he did, well, he wouldn't feel a thing. He would be dead before he could feel anything. But he had used such improvised ziplines hundreds if not thousands of times. He released his grip on the line at just the right time and landed easily on the open pad. His small ship rose up to meet him, the alcove that served as an airlock to its interior facing him. He turned around and stepped backwards into it. As he did, he saw humans and Infested on the landing pad above.
It was too far even to shout, but one of the humans made a throat cutting gesture at Dust that the others mimicked. But then the voice of Phorid came again.
You will not keep what is ours.
Dust did not reply and his ship quickly boosted for the sky, leaving him time to ponder as the airlock pulled closed and he was settled into his ship, his home. His one true refuge from everything. But suddenly, it felt cold, dark and alone. He checked his passenger, but she slept in her electronic limbo. Getting her out would not be fun. But for now, she was safe.
But why had she shot at him? Why had that ancient saved her when she fell? Why did those other humans act as they had? None of this made any sense to the veteran Tenno. Protecting humans was what he did. What the Tenno who followed the Lotus tried to do. So… He shook his head.
I need to call this in. Dust told himself with a sigh. I hope my warframes recorders worked right or I might wind up in a small padded room beside this girl. I can't do the padded room…again… Against his will, he shivered.
Somehow, he didn't think it was insanity. It couldn't be anything so simple or benign. Not if Infested were involved…
