Equestria Girls Alter: Warframe

by TheFoolOfTheNoon

When Sunset Shimmer steals the crown and escapes into an alternate world, all of Equestria is put at risk. Twilight is given the task to retrieve the Crown and confront Sunset, but she doesn't have to do it alone. In addition with Spike the rest of her friends are joining her in this quest as they plunge into a violent new world where conflict is common and peace is sparse.

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Strategy

Author note:

Here you go another chapter for your enjoyment. To be honest, I'm surprise how fast I made this chapter within the few days but I guess that's good news for you readers huh? Anyway, back to talking this time around but you know one thing I notice as I typed this chapter? I have been pushing the Mane six into the background slowly and surely. In my eyes, this is a crime since they're main characters as well. So for the next chapter, expect to see more of a focus on the girls and Spike rather than Hayden. Also Sunset's little adventure will be feature as well due to her playing a part in the next chapter. Anyway, that's enough out of me, I hope you enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review to tell what you think of the chapter. This is TheFoolOfTheNoon signing off.

/

Location: Hayden's Ship (In the middle of nowhere)

Time: 8:21 P.M. / Two days left

"So…this is what you really look like?" Pinkie asked for the umpteenth time.

"For the last time…YES! This is what I look like without my Warframe." Hayden responded harshly and with great annoyance. The moment he reveal his true body to the girls he was bombarded with countless comments and questions, with the latter mostly coming from Twilight herself. Thankfully, the commotion calmed down and Hayden was able to get the entire situation under control. "Alright, from the top,…girls as you already saw things have taken a turn for the worst. Regor has managed to make a successful prototype and from personal experience it was tough to take down. So just imagine, should he managed to mass produce those Tenno knock offs then the entire universe will be at the mercy of the Grineer Empire. Times are going to get desperate and no doubt Regor is already making his move so I'm going to have to accelerate your training girls. If one prototype is enough to give me trouble then I'm going to need a squad to help me take this entire operation down."

"Right, we get that part kid but we're going to need something to protect ourselves with or else we are just going to be filled up with holes." Rainbow Dash said with a mix of wit and worry.

"Don't call me a kid!" Hayden snapped causing everyone to take a small step back. The Tenno took a moment to realize he shouted and recomposed himself before talking again, "Anyway…the lotus has already thought ahead and already started working on making armor for you girls so you're going have to sit on that until it comes around. Before it does, I going to make you all at least decent warriors so we can stand a chance against our enemies. So saying that…and dropping the formalities…get your rears into the training room asap!" The Tenno yelled in a commanding voice, however nobody moved. Instead the young man was met with some disapproving stares, "What?!"

"You know there is a nicer way to tell all of us to move our flanks to yer training room." Applejack said earning a mumbled groan of anger from Hayden. The other girls agreed to this with Twilight adding even further that if they're going to be partners in this mission then they must treat each other much more kindly.

With a defeated sigh Hayden took a deep breath, "Okay, Okay…fine…would you please get to the training room so I can prepare you for the battles ahead?"

"That's much better." Applejack said with a smile as she walked past the Tenno with others following along. Twilight was the last to walk past the Tenno but stopped before placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I know you been fighting for all of your life but you need to ease up a bit. We're neither soldiers nor warriors...but we'll do all we can to protect everyone back home like they would and we are willing cooperate as long as your being reasonable okay?" she said with a gentle tone in her voice.

"I know…I know…it's just I mostly did all my missions alone for a good reason. That reason being that a majority of my fellow Tenno has a tendency to rush in head first into enemy territory and a chunk of the time I have to cover their sorry as-er butts and pull their weight for them. I have seldom seen competent Tenno in my line of work with some making me feel like the weakest link, but I rather have that feeling then deal with a bunch of morons who get the rest of us killed."

Twilight blinked a couple of times in surprise, "Oh…um…thanks for sharing."

"Yeah…it's nice to vent every once in a while, however we still have a universe to save and a little chit chat is wasting what precious time we have."

"Right, I'll join up with the others while you do what you need to do." With this said, the transformed mare followed after her friends leaving Hayden with his thoughts. He never said it to Twilight or her friends but the Tenno never wished to put what he considers civilians in harm's way yet they will gladly join the danger for the sake of their home.

"Operator? Oridis wonders…what are you thinking about?" The Cephalon said with a slight worried tone in his voice.

"Nothing much…just trying to remember the last time I had friends."

"Aren't I your friend operator?"

"Oridis…you are the closest thing I have to a best friend in this god forsaken void."

/

Location: Tyl Regor's Ship

Time: 8:56 P.M.

"Get in there." Regor said coldly as he tossed Sunset Shimmer into a cell; complete with a less than comfortable bed and barely used toilet. "You will be staying here until we reach the base on Saturn. You best take this chance to rest Tenno as you will never experience such comforts again." He walked away laughing as the door closed and locked, leaving the girl in her isolation.

The once proud mare sighed in defeat as she checked her arms and lightly examined all the bandaging and stitches the vile Grineer gave her in order to keep her alive. The wounds themselves are still recent and she can still feel the pain the metal man delivered as he cut into her flesh. There was hatred and malice behind his cuts and he made sure that she felt every single searing sting of pain that came from it. This isn't the life she has envisioned for herself when she stole the Element of Magic but it would seem karma payed her back in full for her selfishness. Now…she really wished the ponies that Celestia sent to find her would really find her and get her out of this situation. It didn't help that the crown which held the element is with Tyl Regor for examination as he found the jewel to be interesting.

"Well…if Celestia was here then she would have reprimanded me for my actions before saving me. Oh how I would rather be yelled at than be used as a science project by that freak." She said to herself as she began to examine her surroundings. There was nothing spectacular about the prison cell she was in though the air vents on the ground below her shows some promise for a possible escape but the lack of knowledge on the layout of the ship will make it hard for her to find a way out of the ship entirely. In addition, she can't leave the Element behind as she fears what can happen if that manic discovers its power. "Well it doesn't hurt to try…" she mumbled to herself as she got off her bed and made her way to the grating covering the vent.

Upon closer inspection, she discovered that some of the screws keeping the grate in place are loose and with a small smile she went to work on the other screws, "Maybe my luck hasn't run out just yet…" she said in a low voice as she finally unscrewed the last of the loose screws with her fingers. With this done she pulled out and pushed to the side the metal grate before looking into it, the fall into the passageway didn't look too deep so she could probably make her way down without making a sound. As soon as she made contact with the ground she went to work and places the grating back in its original position. "Not that it matters if this is back in place since tin man is going to freak once he notices I'm gone."

Silently and quietly Sunset made her way through the maze like vents. No doubt the vents covered the entire ship but where she would end up is anyone's guess. She spent a few minutes slowly walking through the vents until she heard Regor's voice. The next grate in sight must have led into one of his rooms but which one she's unaware of.

"Ahhh…nothing feels better than killing a pesky Tenno and have all my research back on track." He said while unaware of the girl's presence. "Yesss…my neo tubeman project is going smoothly and this new batch will far surpass the prototype." The clinking of his metal feet signaled that he was moving over to something and basing off the context of his words it must have been a clone tube. Sunset felt sick to her stomach by the thought that these monsters are a byproduct of her D.N.A. "Though, my D.N.A. pool is only limited to her and because of it I can only make my Salamander models. The body of the dead Tenno yielded no results as the innards are completely…different…and is unusable because of it. It's frustrating but I'll have to make do with what I have. Persevering some of her skin samples will help making her last in the long run as being the only source of usable D.N.A. makes her valuable and I can't afford to lose her because of an infection. Until I can get my hands on more Tenno D.N.A. this is what I'm stuck with."

More clinking of metal feet was heard before the sound of a soft groan was heard along with the sound of something straining, "And of course I have you…" Sunset's eyes widen as she began to listen closely, "Err…whatever you are? I found you with the Tenno so you must have some importance to her, hmmm…" The girl couldn't help but feel nervous as this is the exact scenario she feared would happen. She could do nothing but listen in anticipation as she heard the metal man turning over the priceless object and fumbling around with it. Thankfully, the next thing she heard from him nearly caused her to faint from relief, "Bah, it's just some Tenno treasure. I was hoping that there will be something more to this trinket but I suppose the Tenno herself is treasure enough."

("Whew…")

"I'll probably have it melted down for material, save for the gem; I perhaps can reap some credits for its unique design."

("And…it got worse.")

"I'll get it all sorted out once I land at the nearest stronghold. Saturn may not be the most ideal place to continue my research but knowing the Tenno who attacked my base it's the only move I can make to throw him off my trail. Hopefully the rabble will have accommodations ready when I get there. Until then…it would be best that I sleep as a tired intellect is a wasted intellect." With a yawn he stood up and left the room while leaving the element on the table in the room. Seeing her chance, Sunset climbed up to the grate and attempted to move it but it wouldn't budge; the screws are too well tightened. The girl growled in frustration as she gave up on trying getting the element back and dropped back to her original position.

"I need to find another way around to get the element back. Nothing left to do but to keep exploring until I find another loose grate." She said to herself as she continued to walk through the original set path. While a fire ball no doubt could blast the grate off its hinges, she knew that would be a very bad idea since it would get Regor's attention and put her back at square one with the exception that she would be beaten and battered. The girl spent another five minutes wandering around the vents until finding another loose grate. Repeating the same routine in her cell, she unscrewed the remaining screws and slowly moved the grate out of the way.

She pulled herself up and returned the grate back to its original place before looking around. She found herself inside a rather large room with some very big containers, she could only assume that this is the cargo hold and inside the containers is Regor's lab equipment. Seeing a nearby door she carefully walked her way near it as it opened in response to her presence. She mentally thanked Celestia despite being in this predicament due to a disagreement with her; she ignored the irony and continues onward into the devil's den. The hallways/ corridors of the ship seem to match those she found back on other ship she was on and the base back on Uranus. This means that she's most likely going to get lost and perhaps stumble upon something that can get her into trouble.

"Okay, I need to find the room that has the element of magic, lay in wait for the ship to land at the stronghold and sneak my way out before that metal monster notices I'm gone. It's not the perfect plan but it's the best I can muster right now." Now with a crudely made plan she made her way through the halls while examining nearby rooms she came across. She found nothing special save for what most likely important parts for propelling the ship forward, why would there be so many rooms for this is beyond her but not something worth thinking over. More time passed and eventually Sunset stumbled upon a spilt pathway and upon looking at her options, with one path leading to a door being guarded by a strange security system that involves an odd light going up and down no doubt scanning for anybody that wasn't Grineer. The girl had a feeling what she was looking for is behind that door but she had no way of getting pass that security so the other path was her only real choice. Taking the longer corridor she found herself in a familiar path as she found the large doors that lead to her prison cell.

"Here and back again…which also means Regor shouldn't be too far away. If he's taking a snooze then this ship must be on auto pilot like in those science fiction novels back at home. *Sigh* my options are limited here…maybe there's a radio I can use or something? There have to be much friendlier faces these metal heads flying around in space. Ergh…I hate to admit it but if I managed to make contact with my pursuers from my world then no doubt they will find a way to save my sorry flank. Where am I going to find a radio/ communications device on this rust bucket…it's going to be in cockpit isn't it? I mean where else it's going to be?"

After taking a quick look around she continued to move forward. Despite being one of two occupants on this ship Sunset couldn't help but feel a tinge of paranoia as the Grineer researcher has left quite an impression on her and some of the corridors made it feel like he could pop out of nowhere. A growling stomach reminded her that she needed to eat also but considering that this metal manic wears a mask twenty four- seven she doubted that he would have any locker worth looting for a quick meal. Carefully, going around a corner she noticed a large double door in the middle of the corridor. Seeing this filled her with hope that she managed to find what she was looking for. Heading towards it, it opened like all the other normal doors she seen before as she stepped inside to see a rather expansive room with a single seat with numerous controls and a window in front of it. There seem to be many more various doodads that she couldn't make sense of but the large planet she saw through the window told her that she was running out of time. Giving the room a thorough examination she didn't see anything that would count as a radio. She sighed in defeat as she leaned on a nearby wall; only to accidently activate a small machine that created a small orange orb that seemed to vibrate with a small noise. Curious at her new discovery she closely looked at the machine only to see six buttons on it including a knob. Trying the knob first, she quickly found out that it's the volume control when the noise became more pronounced and she could understand what was being said…well kinda.

"We as Grineer must come together and fight hard against the Tenno menace and their accursed Lotus! We must not let them*brzzt*"

And like that she found the buttons that changed the channels, "Well that was obnoxious…I wonder what kind of blowhard these metal heads use to make this propaganda?" Sunset asked herself as she sifted through the channels but found nothing noticeable or helpful. Looking at the other buttons she found a single red one, which upon being pushed suddenly caused the entire radio to go silent. For a moment she thought she pressed the power button, so she released her finger in order to press it again but to her surprise the radio went back to playing the channel again. The girl, from noticing this, concluded that the button she pressed was the record button or something similar. Either way, she has found what she needs to get her message out. Pressing the button again she decided to speak into the silence, "Hello, is anyone out there? I need help! This Grineer metal head named Tyl Regor has me trapped on his ship and we are heading towards the planet Saturn. I don't know where in the planet is he taking me but he said it was some kind of stronghold. Please, if there is anyone who can help me send help! I'm not sure how long I can last under these conditions but the sooner the better! Please, I need help!" Finishing her message she released the button and pressed the only labeled button on the machine which said 'SEND' in white letters.

"I sure hope somebody heard that message." Sunset said with some form of relief as she now looked back to the door and remembering that she still needed to find a place in the ship to stay low until the ship landed. Turning the radio off she exited the room and thought about her choices before settling on the cargo hold as it gives her many places to hide in including the vent she used to get in there in the first place. With that being her best plan she started making the trip back while doing her best to remember which path led her back to her destination. Like her original trip to find the cockpit, it took her nearly ten minutes to find the cargo bay again. Looking around she decided on hiding in the vents as it would take a while for the metal man to find her when he notices her disappearance from her cell. Moving away the grate and jumping into the vents she can only hope that her message reached somebody that can help her.

/

Meanwhile…at the Strata Relay

"…Please, I need help!"

"Clem?"

"Yeah that's a distress call alright Clem. Sounds bad too…to be stuck with Tyl Regor of all people."

"Clem! Clem!"

"Yes, this definitely sounds like a job for the Tenno, and Steel Meridian. So…should we contact the Tenno or should we let Steel Meridian do it first?"

"Clem…"

"Or the Lotus as she seems to intercept most of these emergency transmissions."

"Clem"

"Okay, Okay…I just hope that we don't fill up the Tenno's mailbox trying to help this poor soul."

"Clem, Clem."

/

Location: Hayden's ship (Training Room)

Time: 9:30 P.M.

The girls fell to the floor, both defeated and exhausted at the near hour long training session with Hayden. Since having being told prior that it would be a while before he could use Excalibur again, he would use another Warframe as a substitute. What they didn't expect was him to bring out the frame known as Volt for training. At first the exercises were standard weapon training and firearm training at a target, most of them had a hard time using said weapons either due to weight or general skill. The Tenno had to step in a couple of times to correct their posture and stance with the weapons. It was brief but helpful as at least some of them can now use the firearms with more skill and accuracy than they previously had. Once the basic weapon training was done Hayden decided to put what they learned to the test and started a sparring session.

It was a long and drawn out fight but ultimately the girls were defeated by Hayden despite their best efforts to beat him with teamwork. But their attempt ended with them smoking and being filled with non lethal doses of electricity.

"Alright, that's enough training for the night girls. Though your teamwork is superb as you managed to catch me off guard with a few tactics but in the end you still lacked the power to actually hurt me even with the powers you are given."

"Well it doesn't help that you have more combat experience than we do." Twilight said before slowly getting up from the ground. "But then again, with everything in this world trying to kill us it would be considered normal to know how to fight."

"Oh how I wish that was true. But you wouldn't believe the number of innocents that still don't know how to fight and suffer because of it. The Grineer don't know the meaning of mercy and won't hesitate to kill should you cross their crosshairs and this applies to their prisoners as well."

"Yikes, those guys really don't mess around do they?" Rainbow Dash said as she stretched out some of the pain in her limbs.

"Doesn't sound like it…" Applejack added before cracking her spine.

"What about Clem though?" Twilight said as she recalled the friendly yet odd Grineer trooper, "He's not like the other Grineer, so is there a chance that they're more Grineer like him?"

"More like Clem? Eh…no but you're right Twilight, there is more Grineer that turn traitor on the queens and fight the good fight. You probably saw them on the strata relay; they're called the Steel Meridian faction. They're a group that fights for the innocent and weak while making up for the sins of their past fighting for the queens. They're good people and honestly they're the only friendly Grineer you'll find in this system."

"Well that's a relief. It's good to know that there are still reasonable people among those violent people. Do you think that they're willing to help us in fighting Tyl Regor?"

"No doubt about it. They hate the sickos that make up the Grineer chain of command and would do anything to be a thorn in the side of the Grineer Empire. Hmm…I should contact them to see if they are willing to lend some men in our fight. Anyway, you girls should go get yourselves cleaned up and get ready for bed…and that includes you Spike as well."

The in pain dragon turned Kubrow groaned a bit in pain until Ordis spoke up, "Why don't you let me take care of filthy creature operator? I'll make sure-they never find the body." Spike made a whimper in response to hearing the Cephalon glitch into the more threatening voice.

"Sure why not? I only got one shower on this ship and I really don't want animal hair in it so go ahead."

"Right away operator! Now come here you filthy creature!" Ordis said with unusual entuhamism as a robotic claw hand popped out of the wall and grabbed Spike who cried in panic as he was dragged into the wall and disappeared behind the opening as it closed."

"Oh my…is Ordis going to be gentle with him?" Fluttershy asked with worry.

"Eh he'll be fine. I'm more worried about you girls so chop chop!" The girls looked at each other with unsure faces before walking off through the door or in some cases limping. The girls though beaten began to converse with each other after leaving the room. Hayden could only smirk before he opened his menu screen to do some checks on the ship until suddenly getting three notices on his screen, "Huh? What's this?" Opening up his mailbox he saw he received three importance mails from Darvo, Steel Meridian, and The Lotus. "Oh boy…this is going to both be good and bad isn't it?" Opening the messages up he could easily sum up what the messages are saying to him as they pretty much had the same message, "Yeah…I'll tell the girls about this later."

/

Many showers later the girls were given sustenance in the terms of food and water. Ordis did his best to make them as comfortable as possible despite not having any blankets or cushions. As a matter of fact there weren't any seats as well, which is something the Cephalon remembered to tell the group, he resorted to using some large cloth and even flags as some kind of blanket for the girls.

"I'm sorry but this is the best I can do…" Ordis said dejectedly.

"It's quite alright Ordis, knowing Hayden I kinda figured that he wouldn't own any comforts." Twilight consoled as she attempted to make herself comfortable.

"Well the Tenno never really had any down time…or at least to my knowledge. The operator sleeps by meditating in the cockpit so he never really needs a bed or a chair for that matter."

"Well we don't really know anything about the Tenno either pal. But apparently their way of training new recruits is intense!" Rainbow Dash added as she lay on her back.

"Weed out the-er…formal Tenno training is a mystery to me as I do not have any record of it. The operator possibly had training before going into a deep sleep but how rigorous it could be can be up to debate. However, what Ordis does know is that even after being awakened from a deep slumber the operator's-killing efficiently-never faded. It was like second nature to him and honestly that does scare me a bit."

Applejack whistled upon hearing this, "Yikes, ah' knew a few times Granny Smith would put me and Mac through the wringer if we didn't listen to her. It sound this training was drilled into their heads from the day they were born!"

"That is a possibility…a very scary possibility…" Twilight shuddered as she recalled how young Hayden looked and how killing and ending lives is no longer an issue with him. She could only wonder what kind of people who use people at a young age as weapons to kill.

"Do Tenno's even have birthdays? Did Hayden ever even have a surprise party? Aah! Just thinking about it is killing me!" Pinkie shouted as she stared at the ceiling.

"Pinkie, I believe that's because this world is in a constant state of conflict. With all these ruffians attacking and maiming each other I doubt there is time of luxuries such as birthdays, fashion, or even comfort for that matter. The contrast with our world is quite jarring actually."

"*Gasp* you mean he never had a birthday?! That's a crime! It's a crime against birthday celebrations everywhere! This must be corrected…tomorrow because *yawn* I'm tired." Shortly after saying this, the fluffy haired girl fell asleep leaving the rest of her friends confounded on how fast she fell into a deep slumber.

"Well that happened."

"Well Pinkie is Pinkie, so it's best not to think about it too much on how she works. Trust me…" Twilight said to the cephalon with an unusually serious tone in her voice.

"Noted."

"Hey Ordis!" Spike shouted and calling attention to himself, "I know I was transformed into something you hate but did you really have to scrub so hard? I still feel physically violated from that forced bath."

"Silence you little-sorry about that it's just I really hate and I emphasize the word hate on this, all furry creatures that shed and defecate inside of me. While you are a special case as you are intelligent enough to speak and think like a human being I must warn you that the moment you go one or two anywhere but the toilet and the operator steps in it. I will gladly shoot you out the airlock without a single thought or care in the world. Are we clear?"

Spike blinked a couple of times at the surprising threat coming from the normal voice of the Cephalon, "Uh…crystal."

"Good, now will you excuse me the operator needs me, so good night!" With this said the Cephalon left the group leaving them together to dwell on their thoughts together.

"I never thought I would say this but now I'm afraid of a talking cube…" Spike said as he took a comfortable position on the floor near Rarity.

"I never thought I would meet somebody who would threaten to shoot an animal from an airlock. That's just cruel!" Fluttershy said as found her voice to speak.

"I hear you Fluttershy, he may sound like a nice guy but boy…I never thought hearing his normal voice when he made that threat would be so chilling." Rainbow Dash added as the conversation shifted over to Twilight in order to change the subject.

"Well considering he's the ship let's just assume that he'll make good on his promise, so…changing the subject we need a plan for tomorrow."

"For what darling?"

"For the challenges ahead, I mean we only have tomorrow and the day after that to complete our mission and return home before the portal closes and trap us in this world before the portal can open again. We need to adapt to this worlds rules and become stronger in order to survive, and I believe to accomplish we need to train more with our new powers." Twilight said as she gazed over to her friends, "According to Hayden our powers are similar to some of the Warframes used by him. So far we have the basics down as I was able to fire out magic like projectiles but I have no idea what the first ability does as it doesn't work on Hayden."

"Well sugar cube…we'll figure it out soon enough. I mean like you said, we need to adapt to this strange world and that Tyl Regor varmit is proof that it takes no prisoners…er kinda."

"Eh, compared to Discord and Queen Chrysalis he's not so tough."

"You do realize that we barely made it out of those problems by the skin of our teeth right Rainbow Dash?"

"Uh…well…never mind."

Twilight could only sigh at the quick shut down, "Well regardless…since there is a chance we might run into Tyl Regor in a future mission we need to plan around how he fights. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and I have seen how some of the normal troopers fight and they fight as well as most trained soldiers would. However, there are some that charge recklessly into battle with just a melee weapon. Despite how suicidal that is it, it can quickly catch an unexpecting enemy off guard. Since we can't take hits as well as Hayden, it would be our best in our best interest to find cover before counter attacking should we find ourselves in a fire fight. If the armor the lotus is making for us is as good as the Warframes then we should be well protected from major harm but that doesn't make us invincible, so avoid constant enemy fire when possible."

"That's a given darling, let be aware of that horrid Regor as he took Sunset and is using her to make those disturbing clones. If he sees us no doubt he would try and foalnap us and use us for the same experiments."

"Good point, from little what we saw of his capabilities we know he is much tougher than the others and considering that he managed to cut Hayden's Excalibur Warframe head off he is most likely a close combat fighter. However, since we don't know the full extent of his capabilities it would be best to avoid him at all cost and let Hayden take care of him while we provide support fire."

"Sounds like a plan…*yawn* maybe Hayden has some pointers for us tomorrow." Rainbow said while showings signs of sleepiness.

"I agree…though the thought of fighting scares me." Fluttershy added before yawning as well. The girls began to laugh a bit before deciding they should follow Pinkie's example and go to sleep as well. They all said their goodnights before attempting to go to sleep, thought Rarity took a small whiff of Spike's odor.

"Oh Spikey, say what you want on how rough he washed you but you smell great!"

Spike felt conflicted by the comment due to experiencing the washing horror at the metal hands of Ordis, "Uh…thanks? I guess…"

/

As the girls slept, Hayden stayed awake in the cockpit as he finally finished the last email sent to him, "So Saturn huh? Well the recording didn't say where on Saturn they were heading but there is only one place on Saturn that holds a solid stronghold…but that would mean dealing with one of the most annoying mother effer I have met in the Grineer army. Ugh, you really like buying time for yourself don't you Reggy?"

"Is there a problem operator?"

"Oh nooo…no problem at all. It's just that I most likely have to deal with freaken Sargus Ruk in addition to Regor. I mean I dealt with them before but unlike Regor, Ruk cannot be harmed until he reveals his weak point; his armor is that good."

"I see…that is very troubling. Especially, since the next operation you plan to execute will involve all the girls and Steel Meridian. It's basically all out war you're waging here-I like it…"

"Indeed, other powerful Tenno are being called for this by The Lotus's order as mass production of these Grineer-Tenno knockoffs would spell disaster for the rest of the system. Though I must admit…if it wasn't for Sunset's broadcast for help then we wouldn't have known where Regor was heading after the failed rescue mission. I should head to the Strata relay and talk to Steel Meridian for further planning since they see this as a chance to hit the Grineer Empire where it hurts."

"What about the girls?"

"I'll have them stay close to me...I rather use myself as a meat shield then let innocent people from another world get hurt or worse. Hopefully, the armor The Lotus is sending is strong enough to protect them because we'll be diving into the deep end once the plan starts. No floaties or safeguards, they'll have to learn and adapt on the fly."

"I see…"

"Ordis, take this ship to the Strata Relay and leave it parked. I'm going to sleep and once early space morning hits I'm going to disembark and meet up with Steel Meridian."

"Alright, I will do that operator, have a nice rest and-don't let the infested bite."

"Good night to you too Ordis." The Tenno said as he took a seat on the ground before taking a meditative pose and began floating in the air. The ship fell silent as Ordis did as he was told to do and headed towards the Strata Relay. Before actually drifting off to sleep Hayden thoughts drifted to the girls and the world they came from. Noting from his experience with them so far it was plain as day that they don't have any formal combat training but he assumed that it is natural they don't know how to truly fight since their world according to Twilight is much more peaceful. "Peace…" He thought silently, the word itself held great meaning but was also a goal for him and all others Tenno to achieve. Though a part of him reveled in the violence and destruction of his enemies, another part wants to help and support others. These conflicting ideas in his mind reminded him that he is still thinking and sentient being, and not a weapon of war.

This drive to make sure they get back home is all he needs to see this mission to the end. They have families to go back to, friends and loved ones who will miss them should they die or go missing. There are many things in his world that can do that and he felt that he is the only thing protecting them from that fate. As for him, he didn't have many true friends aside from Ordis, Clem, Darvo, and The Lotus. Every other Tenno he met was mostly touch and go, and less said about the incompetent ones the better. Perhaps it's time for him to increase his range of friends…he knows the Lotus would agree with the idea.

/

Location: Strata Relay

Time: 6:27 A.M. / One Day left

Hayden was the first to wake up as he broke out of his meditation stance by slowly opening his legs and stepping onto the floor. There was a time when the Tenno discovered that he was sleeping for a good chuck of his life upon his 'awakening' at the hands of Captain Vor. It was a shock but he figured something was off when he was able to switch between male and female Warframes. This caused him to question his own identity at one point but eventually he ignored it for the sake of his duty to the innocent. When he finally saw who he really was, he wasn't too surprised that he wasn't what he thought he was but it also caused many questions to arise about his existence. Hayden has long since found some answers to these questions or dropped the question entirely from simply not caring, he is a Tenno and whatever he did in the past is already done and set in stone. He'll continue to fight the good fight, which is why he's meeting up with Steel Meridian today.

/

Stepping out of his ship and began walking toward the meeting place of the syndicate. Having since associated himself to their cause before, it didn't take long for him to find them in the relay. Walking through the marked door he was greeted by Clem who immediately lead him to the leader of the syndicate; Cressa Tal.

"Tenno! Good of you to join us!" The female Grineer called out, with her recognizable white armor a symbol of their difference to the regular soldiers of the Grineer Empire.

"Well considering the entire problem found me, I suppose it's only natural that we'll be working together again." Hayden responded professionally as he entered the circle of Grineer defectors, "Well I don't need to explain why we're here for. But what I can do is elaborate on the details, as we are all aware a girl has been taken by Tyl Regor and has been taken to Saturn. However, what you guys don't know is that this girl's name is Sunset Shimmer. A few days ago a group of girls along with a purple Kubrow appeared before me during one of my missions to the void from a portal. These girls are named Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, the Kubrow's name is Spike. They say they're from another world and Sunset is a thief from their world who has taken a crown with a special jewel call an Element of Harmony. I know this sounds ridiculous and made up but I'm serious here with the names but I digress. Anyway, Sunset has been taken by Tyl Regor for reason of experimentation and harvesting of her D.N.A. Her D.N.A is similar to a Tenno's and thanks to this Regor is able to create a new deadly batch of Tubemen with Tenno abilities."

Multiple gasps were heard from the forces as they now know the seriousness of the situation, "I see now…so this isn't simply a rescue mission. If that's the case then we need to make a plan to both rescue this Sunset girl and smash any progress Regor has on his new Tubemen project. That we can settle on but do you have any idea where on Saturn they were heading?" Cressa said with intrigue and mild excitement in her voice.

"While I don't know exactly where they were headed, I do suspect that he is heading towards Tethys. While only a possibility I have every reason to believe that Tyl Regor will seek the help of Sargas Ruk to keep us at bay while he gains more time to perfect his Tubemen."

"That makes sense Tenno, but it still grasping straws. I need to know exactly where this girl is before I can send in troops for support. I'm not wasting good men by sending them on a possibility."

"That's what the extra Tenno are for. It looks like they couldn't make it but I assume it's because the Lotus is giving them a mission already as we speak. Anyway, let's make an actual plan that we can use once we find out the location for sure."

"Now that we can agree on. You see I been thinking that you and a couple of my men will take the sneaky route via the pipes while a small portion of our fleet will lay in wait for a surprise attack once you trip the alarm."

"When I trip the alarm? Uh…may I ask why?"

"Tenno…let's be honest. You and I both know that you are terrible at stealth but at least make it to Tyl Regor before getting the alarm raised okay? That moment you hit them in the heart of his operations every Grineer in the stronghold will be alerted to your presence, but they won't be expecting us. So when the alarm goes off we will attack and confuse the enemy forces while another strike force will land in another part of the stronghold and attack the base's essentials in order to cripple future operations."

"Huh, Ordis was right it's like waging all out war." Hayden commented as he mulled over the presented plan. "Anyway…overall I agree with your presented plan of attack but I would like to change your soldier escort to the girls I been training recently. They may be new at this but I assure you they can pull this off."

"So…instead of letting some experienced soldiers follow you into battle, you want to let six rookies with no real battle experience what so ever to fight Tyl Regor of all people!? Tenno I know you done some crazy things in the past, some of which you did for us but this seems suicidal for both you and the rookies."

"Don't worry I been training them, they should be able to fight competently. Anyway it doesn't matter if I chose to bring them or not, they want to fight and save her despite what she has done. There is nothing I can do to convince them out of it."

Cressa gave a defeated sigh, "Fine but watch over them Tenno. While I do encourage those to fight the good fight there is a fine line between bravery and recklessness."

"You don't have to tell me to do my job twice. Also I will be taking Clem." The named Grineer upon hearing this perked up and looked at the Tenno with curious eyes.

"Clem? Grakkata?"

"Yes Clem, you get to shoot people with your Grakkatas"

The Grineer seemed to be holding back his happiness as Cressa is the only one that can allow him to join the Tenno, "Ergh…I don't know Tenno. Clem isn't exactly the quietest person for a stealth mission."

"I'll make it work; besides when shit hits the fan I'm going to need extra pair of guns helping me watch over the girls."

"Clem! Clem!"

"Alright, Clem is cleared to join you for this mission. But be careful, this is a major operation and I don't want to lose this chance to cause a major blow to the Grineer Empire."

"You have my word."

"Alright, any disagreements anyone?" Everybody listening simply said no and saluted, "Great, once we get the location of the stronghold we will put the operation in action, so until then prepare yourselves for the battle ahead. They all grunted in dauntless resolution until they spread off to do their own thing. Cressa herself walked over to Hayden before lightly punching him in the chest in a friendly manner, "You're nuts you know that right?"

"Well considering that I like to plunge myself into danger on a daily basis I would like to think I'm not sane since no normal person would consider fighting a guy who just killed them before."

"Whatever, but make sure those girls are battle ready because I don't want to hear or see you crying over one of their dead bodies; alright?"

"It's a promise I have already made with myself and I don't plan on breaking anytime soon." Hayden finished as he turned to leave while Cressa looked at the Tenno with a smile while shaking her head.

"Heh, a blockhead as always."

Hayden after leaving the room headed back to his ship while playing multiple scenarios in his head how it would all play out. However, the thoughts remained incomplete as he had no idea where the battle is going to take place. It didn't help that he may have to lighten up training a bit so they can be ready for the battle once the other Tenno came back with information. A large scale battle is going to take place and Hayden wonders if he and the girls are ready for it. These thoughts continue to haunt him as he step back into his ship as it disengaged from the docks and flew back into the void in order to stay hidden from prying eyes. He deeply sighed as he made his way to meet up or wake up the girls but instead was stopped in his tracks as he heard the sounds of blasting, grunting, and smack talk coming from the training room. Opening the door leading into the room he was met with the near chaos of the girls using their powers on hologram targets recreated from the data he scanned over the years.

As the soon the girls notice his presence they stopped and greeted the Tenno before the Tenno pulled out his Hek and blasted a Grineer target that was charging at one of them, "Great, you girls really do need my guidance in training. Alright, let's try this again but this time…the right way."