"You know what? I don't have time for this!"

"Yes well isn't that becoming the story of our relationship?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What it's supposed to mean? Maria, whenever one of us have a problem with the other it always ends with us "not having the time" to deal with it. So you know what? I'm done with this, we should have listened when our friends told us you and I were bad for each other, because right now I have no trouble believing them"

"Then leave! The door is right behind you and I won't stop you!"

I didn't bother responding to that, I turned around left through the door. I shut it silently behind me to spare Maria's neighbors the sound of a slamming door but I should have known after two years that Maria doesn't take being put off lightly. Sure enough the door is ripped open behind me not five seconds after I left

"Where do you think you are going?! Come back here!"

I heard her yell but I also knew that this scene had played out three times before in the past. I am not making the same mistake for a fourth time. Her yells eventually disappeared as I exited the entire apartment complex and all the sound I was left with was the wind blowing in the night.

In truth the relationship I had with Maria was always corrosive, we couldn't stay friendly with each other for very long and even then it would usually only be because either one of us wanted sex. We got together after a weeklong vacation trip with our friends to a beach house; we had gotten along all week and had shamelessly flirted with one another which culminated in us sleeping together on the last day of the trip.

Our friends all said that she and I getting together would end in disaster sine we were two completely different people, being the hormonal idiot I was at the time I didn't listen. Shows how smart I was at the time.

The streets were darker than usual today due to a blackout that occurred some four hours ago, something went really wrong and the majority of the street lights in my area were shut off so the nearby houses could have power. I came to an intersection and had to make a choice, to the left was my home and a bed, to my right was the bar I had begun frequenting with some of my friends. Truth be told a drink sounds a lot more pleasant than my bed right at this moment, so I took a right.

It was a small bar which could only seat around 20 people but me and my buddies loved it here, the bartender was awesome and always put up with our loud behavior and he even let us rent the place once for a birthday party. But as per usual when I straggle in there at 01:00 in the morning the place wasn't exactly full, they might be open until 04:00 but most people left by midnight.

"Two beers problem or do I have to pull out the good stuff?"

It was Roderick the bartender who asked once I stepped inside. Roderick is a great guy and always looks out for us when we are here and he is usually the one to listen to all our problems, regardless of what they are. He hates his name with a passion though, so we just call him Rick.

"No this is not worth the good stuff so yeah, two beers" I replied

I noticed the Russian sitting at his usual booth sleeping and drooling as per the norm. The Russian is an old war veteran who is always here and only drinks a cheap brand of vodka that no one else even touches, which is why we took to calling him the Russian. Once I was seated at the bar Rick put the glass in front of me and held up his own for a toast

"To a hopefully more healthy future relationship for you" said Rick

"And may you finally find a girl who will put up with you" I replied

We both took a large swig from the glass, me more so than Rick but I needed it. I didn't speak at first and merely stared into my drink while thinking, Rick was messing around with something behind the bar like he always was while waiting for anyone to speak.

"So you and Maria are through huh?" he asked when he ran out of patience

"Yup" I replied

"Finally got enough?"

"Yup"

"Not going to run back to her in a month like last time?"

"If I do you have my permission to shoot me"

"Wonderful, I have been dying to try my new hunting rifle"

"Asshole"

"No I do think that is Daniel's preference"

"Indeed"

"Want to tell me what finally tipped the scales?"

"She accused me of cheating on her with Clara, once the argument heated up she simply said she didn't have the time to deal with it and I realized that, that was the story of our relationship so I Ieft. End of the show, curtains, take a bow and enjoy the ovation"

"Now I know Clara is hot, but even you wouldn't go after your own cousin"

"Oh please, I have seen how she treats her boyfriends, I wouldn't go anywhere near that without wearing something akin to full plate armor even if she wasn't my cousin"

"Yeah… So what is your plan now?"

"Finish this drink, go back home and play a game or something then black out on my bed and wake up tomorrow hoping I don't feel the urge to go back to her. Then I will probably call up Philip and tell him he was right and then listen to him admonishing me for a few hours. Beyond that? No clue"

"So same procedure as the last three times, hopefully with a different end result this time?"

"Pretty much"

We fell back into silence as I finished my beer and paid. Right before stepping outside the bar I head Rick calling behind me

"Hey Marc! You sure you are okay?"

"Not really Rick, but it's time to move on"

I left the bar with a broken smile on my face. As you can figure out my name would be Marc, I am twenty years old and currently finishing up school. Ahead of me lies the same path I arrived to the bar at, sadly there is no little shortcut to be taken between my home and the bar so I have to go back to the intersection and then up again.

Taking a short turn I was finally on the path to my apartment, I could almost feel my bed sheets already. When I was a little more than halfway there I saw something off in the distance, it looked like a large metal construct was visible off in the distance, I blinked and it was gone. Now I'm not prone to hallucinating or anything else but that looked pretty fucking real to me. I shook my head violently hoping I was not going completely crazy.

That same construct kept appearing as I approached my home, the shape had become more pronounced and I vaguely recognized the shape. Something about the three drills on the front seemed familiar as did the very boxy body it had, but I couldn't place it no matter how hard I tried.

Stepping up to my apartment complex I opened the first door and took the stairs up two floors to my apartment at the second floor. Right before I opened the door I felt like someone struck me over the head with pan, I felt dizzy and an instant headache was present. This wasn't the first time this had happened, I have had episodes like that for three years now, each of varying intensity. I opened my door and tried to take a step inside but my legs felt like lead and before I knew it my vision darkened and the last thing I registered was the floor coming ever closer.

The darkness around me seemed endless and I knew I wasn't awake, at least not yet. I also felt like I was moving though I couldn't tell you in which direction I was currently going. A faint voice was in the distance and seemed to be saying something but I couldn't catch it. I felt myself slowing down in tact with the voice becoming clearer and just before everything came to a stop I heard one word "Impossible"

When my eyes would finally open again I almost wished they wouldn't. It had been a pretty nasty fall and I was quite sure I landed head first; I better not have a concussion or something from that. I managed to get up so I was on all four and then I tried to take a breath, only for the air I inhaled to taste metallic and artificial, something was definitely wrong here!

I forced my eyes to open and almost let out a yelp as I saw the giant machine in front of me. It was the same thing I had seen of in the distance, the three drills on the front and the large metallic body. The only difference was that being right here in front of it I could easily place it, only I didn't want to. I stood up and looked around and sure enough I recognized the giant square room I was in with the raised glass windows.

I heard a door hiss open and almost jumped forward to hide in front of the large machine, hoping that it would conceal me from whoever had just entered the room. The footsteps came closer and closer until I knew they would be on me in a second. In a last ditch effort I crawled beneath the actual machine and tried to make myself as small as possible. A bit difficult when you are 198cm tall and overweight but I had to try at least.

The footsteps stopped at the front of the machine and two voices began speaking in a language I sort of knew but didn't understand, mostly because it sounded like absolute gibberish to me. I kept listening and waiting, eventually their conversation did come to a halt and the two people left the room.

Crawling out of my hiding space I looked around for a way to run but I couldn't see any other than two doors. If my memory of this place matches then I know where both lead and I dislike both options. I chose the left one hoping it would lead somewhere I could hide and figure all this mess out, only when I stepped up to the door something deep inside my mind alerted me that I shouldn't go anywhere near that particular door.

For once I trusted my gut and walked over to the opposite door, when I didn't feel nauseous about it I walked through it and saw the stairs to my right. I walked up them carefully and kept looking around for any sign of life, I found none. The giant door in front of me was open and I saw it lead out into a set of corridors, it seemed as good as place as any to try and hide.

The corridors were all empty no matter where I went and it only made me more nervous, empty corridors were never a good sign. I came up to a door at the end of my current corridor and opened it, the sight I was met with made my stomach flip and I had to turn around from the sight as I emptied my stomach onto the floor. The room behind me was littered with bodies, just from one glance I noticed that they were all dismembered.

I ran down the corridor and took a left and just kept running. I wanted to get away from all this no matter what, even if some part of me knew that there was no escape. I managed to run through another open door before I stopped dead in my tracks and stared

"Space…"

Was the only word and thought on my mind as I gazed out of the windows on the side of the ship or station I was currently on. I could see the stars all around me and the planet below us, it was a beautiful sight without a doubt but even more so it was terrifying. I tried to look away as my mind began accepting where I was and what was going on but my eyes were glued to the vast dark beyond.

Had I not been so extremely focused on what was in front of me I might have heard the footsteps behind me, I might even have heard the heavy breathing of the man himself. But as it stood all I felt was a sharp pain at the back of my head before everything faded to black.

I opened my eyes but was met with only darkness once again, only this time I could actually feel something in front of my eyes. My hands were tied with something that I couldn't identify though my legs were free. I don't know how long I spent sitting in the dark waiting for something to happen, I don't think I have twirled my thumbs for a longer period of time.

I did end up hearing something stirring in the same room as me, after a while I recognized the voice of someone waking up. A loud gasp sounded a few moments later, presumably when that person looked at me. I tried turning my head in the direction of the voice but I really couldn't tell if I was staring up, right, left or down. After a few moments I felt a pair of hands at the side of my head before whoever was in the room with me lifted something away from my eyes.

After the initial flare of light subsided and returned my sight to me I was quite shocked by what I saw. Sitting across from me in a very skin tight suit was a woman; my problem however was with the logo on the woman's forehead.

"Lotus…" I breathed the word out almost silently

And that was when it actually sunk in completely, as if seeing this person made everything real. I don't know if I panicked or hyperventilated or what I did, but I certainly didn't speak for a good long while. I sat on my bed, or whatever you call this, with my legs up to my chest and was completely silent while turning everything around in my head.

The woman had tried on multiple occasions to grab my attention only it didn't really work, I mean I looked at her and then I would panic and look away again. I had however noticed how pale, what little of her skin that was actually showing, was.

Something akin to a few hours passed by before I began feeling tried, the woman must have seen my drowsiness because she smiled at me and pointed at my "bed". I however tried to ignore her until she took of that visor that covered her eyes, one it was gone a pair of striking green eyes was revealed that seemed to be almost drilling into your skull.

With one hell of a frown the woman stood up and went over to me before she latterly forced me to lie down, she then decided to apparently ensure that I didn't move an inch by sitting next to me while I was sleeping. After a few minutes I did however lose consciousness simply because I couldn't keep myself awake anymore.

I was awoken when someone shook me violently. My eyes were still heavy but I did manage to look up at the strange woman I shared a cell with, she was pointing franticly with her hands towards the door. I sat up and stared at it until the sounds finally reached my ears, gunfire. Someone was fighting outside and with the amount of energy the woman was displaying I was quite sure who it was out there, I just hoped I was right.

A few minutes later the gunfire died down and I began hearing doors open around us, whoever was opening these cells were looking for someone and wasn't having much luck. When our cell door finally shifted from red to green I gave a low smile. The door hissed open and I almost fell back down in shock, why? Because in front of me was what could best be described as a 3 meter tall bloody RHINO WARFRAME! And I am not joking about the "bloody" part, that thing was covered almost head to toe in blood.

The woman seemed ecstatic to finally be free and was happily accepting the gun that the Rhino Operator was handing her. When the Rhino however landed its gaze on me I froze in place, something about this Rhino just made me feel bad in general. The woman began speaking and from the gestures she was performing I was almost sure she was trying to advocate bringing me along. I swear each time that Rhino looked from her to me I tried to take a step back, only there wasn't more room for me to step back into!

After a few minutes of talking (What felt like hours to me) it was apparently decided I would be coming along with them, at least that is what I gathered when the Rhino left and the woman began hauling me after him. We went through a multitude of corridors and doors before entering a large room, only for me to be shoved back out of said room just in time to hear incredible amounts of gunfire. When I looked towards the sounds it was easy enough to see the Rhino popping out of cover to shoot with his weapon, something I recognized slightly to be a Soma.

Once that battle had been waged we continued on, we didn't encounter anymore resistance for a long while. When we reached the final corridor I saw the open door at the end leading into a room where it was quite visible that something had dug itself into the ship, I assumed it as the spacecraft of the Rhino. However as soon as we stepped into the room I suddenly felt a small pain in my stomach, when I looked down I just managed to catch the rapidly spreading red splotch on my shirt.

"It would seem I have been shot… unfortunate"

I crack jokes or attempt to at the worst possible times, it is my coping mechanism and right there I had just been shot and felt like coping was a very good thing to attempt. Didn't work mind you, since I still fell to the floor with a scream before the pain became so intense that I blacked out. I did manage to catch the Rhino speeding down the hallway towards the shooter before I completely lost consciousness.

Third Person Point of view

The Tenno piloting the Rhino Warframe had reacted instantly to the sound of gunfire behind them. A quick turn and a rapidly released Rhino Charge saw him standing face to face with the shooter, a simple Grineer grunt that had remained undetected from them. He was spouting all sort of nonsense that the Rhino was completely ignoring, he was more interested in the weapon that had just shot the Grineer he was bringing with him… or if you believe the Tenno he just saved, the human he was bringing with him.

The Rhino threw the Grineer against the wall and withdrew the Galantine blade hanging from his back and with a quick slice split the Grineer in two. Cleaning the blood of the weapon could wait to another day so the Rhino bent down and picked up the weapon that he identified quickly enough as a standard Grineer firearm, nothing dangerous about it in terms of poisons or the like. So the Rhino headed back to his ship and lifted the human off the ground as he walked.

Inside the ship the human was placed on a table where the Tenno he had just saved began treating his wounds. The Rhino needed to go inform HQ that the mission was a success and that he was bringing home a wounded person. Sitting down in the pilot seat he quickly punched in the code and began flying back towards HQ at the same time he made the call.

"Rhino-204 calling HQ"

"This is HQ, what is the matter Rhino-204?"

"I need a medical team on standby for when I return. I succeeded in rescuing the Tenno operative but she was sharing a cell with someone, the operative is claiming he is human"

"Surely she means one of the Grineer Empire's colony people?"

"No, she is quite adamant in him being "Human" and not part of the Grineer Empire. Anyway the human was shot before we could enter my ship; the operative is seeing to his wounds and can keep him stable until we return"

"Roger that Rhino-204 I will make sure that a team is ready. Do you want me to inform the Lotus as well?"

"Yes, she will most likely meet us at the docks then"

"Roger that, we will see you in a bit Rhino-204"

The com then shut off and the Rhino gave a loud sigh before he removed his helmet and placed it on the dashboard of his ship. He was getting tired, his sleep cycle was almost here so he shouldn't take another mission once he was back at HQ at least not before he had slept.

Standing up the Rhino turned around and walked back into the medical wing of his ship and looked over the supposed human. He didn't look well, his skin had become unnaturally pale from the blood loss and the operative could only do such much to stem the blood flow without knowing about his physiology.

"Do you think he will make it to HQ?" asked the Rhino

"I hope so, the chance to learn about humans is exiting" replied the operative

"You really think he is a human from the old times? We don't know what happened to those that didn't join the Grineer or Corpus after all"

"I'm almost sure of it; you weren't in the cell with us so you didn't see how he was reacting to it. He seemed to be completely at loss regarding everything… also he didn't understand a word I said, another indicator since most Colony Grineer understand us"

"If you are right then I fear what this one will tell us. Many speculations have been made about what happened before we all went into Cryo-sleep, perhaps now some of our worst fears might be realized or stopped"

"That is what I hope… What is your name by the way?"

"Rhino-204, Arck at your service"

"Former Volt-632 Chellia, thank you for saving me"

Arck shrugged "No need to thank me, you are one of us we would never leave you in the hands of the Grineer"

Chellia gave a small smile "Perhaps not, but I thank you none the less. How long until we arrive at HQ?"

"Within the hour"

"Good, I hope he will last that long" said Chellia while gently stroking the human's head.

When the ship docked at Tenno HQ Arck carried the human outside and handed him over to the medical team already standing ready for their arrival. He then noticed the Lotus out of the corner of his eye and immediately bowed to his leader when she arrived.

Lotus gave a smile and a small laugh when she saw how seriously Arck took his duty, she had on multiple occasions told him that he didn't need to kneel bow whenever she entered a room, he was simply too stubborn to listen to her.

"Arck, good to see you have returned" she then turned her gaze onto Chellia "And Chellia I'm happy you have been returned to us in good health"

Chellia gave a quick bow "Thank you Lotus, if you will have me excused I must report to the Medical Wing and receive my check up before I can be debriefed"

"Of course Chellia" replied Lotus

Chellia gave a smile and a wave before leaving. Arck at that point raised himself back up and was now staring down at the Lotus; she was a great deal shorter than him after all.

"The mission was a success Lotus, aside from the minor complication of the extra individual" said Arck

"Indeed I am most intrigued about him, do you really think he is a human?" asked Lotus

"I am not sure Lotus, I will not hold my breath but I cannot disagree completely with Chellia's assessment either. We will find out once he awakens I guess"

"That we will. Now go and get your own checkup and I will meet you for debriefing later"

"As you wish Lotus"

Arck gave another bow before leaving which only made the Lotus chuckle at his disappearing back, he took his missions way too seriously.

On his way towards the medical wing Arcks thoughts passed to the human once again. He was surprised to find him in that cell indeed; he was even more surprised when Chellia argued for his rescue. But above all else there was one thing Arck was quite sure about when it came to this new arrival, he would be the start of strange times for Tenno.

A/N: First chapter done, though we are staying inside the Warframe universe for one more chapter.