Chapter 8: No Quarter
Author Notes:
Battle chapter up ahead hoo yah! This time it's a team up with Tyl Regor and Sargas Ruk with some help on the side from the salamanders. Honestly, this would be one hell of a boss fight if it existed but sadly it doesn't so we have to settle for this instead. I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter and let me tell you it wasn't easy getting everyone involve in the battle. I had to look up moves from the bosses and to be fair I'm still not sure I did it one hundred percent correctly. Anyway I actually fought these bosses in the game itself and well I find Tyl Regor to be much easier to kill than Sargas Ruk as with the latter I had no idea you needed to shoot certain parts of his body. I only managed to beat him on accident while I simply destroyed Regor with Excalibur's exalted blade. Still…they're nothing compared to Raptor…that boss can go screw itself with a Boltor. Remember to tell me what you think of the chapter and if you want the story itself. This is TheFoolOfTheNoon signing off.
/
Location: Tethys (Docking Bay of the Warship)
Time: 2:09 P.M./ One day left
Hayden and Tyl Regor continued to stare each other down as they circled each other; they dared not take their eyes off each other. Hatred was high between the two men before Tyl Regor suddenly teleported out of sight which in turn caused Hayden to narrow his eyes before suddenly rolling to avoid an axe strike from the grineer as he appeared behind him. After dodging the Tenno retaliated by firing some shells at the metal man but Regor simply brought his shield up to block the attack but to his surprise the shells exploded and pushed him back. Continuing the explosive assault Hayden fired off a few more shots before Regor teleported again but this time in front of the Tenno and bashing him to the side with his shield.
Hayden quickly recovered just to avoid a thrown axe courtesy of his opponent. The tenno attempted to face his opponent but was quickly blindsided by another shield strike to the back of his head after the grineer did another teleport to throw off Hayden while trying to retrieve his axe. The Tenno rubbed his head in pain while trying to remember how he beat the mad man the first time. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a not so subtle 'die tenno!' from Regor which spurred him to draw out his own melee weapon, the Nikana, and stop the incoming axe strike.
"A new sword tenno?"
"Just had it made, and right now it's looking for blood." Hayden then kicked the metal man away from him in order to get some more space and stand back up, "Oh yeah that reminds me…if memory serves me correctly I kicked your metal tin can just by hitting you over and over again with my swords."
The two immediately clashed again as Regor started burning holes into Hayden's head, "Don't remind me…"
Their battle began to pick up as the two began the clash over and over again as blades clanged against each other. It was almost a dance between two different styles of fighting with Regor representing a more brutal method of combat and Hayden being more controlled and efficient with precise strikes. The two managed to harm each other in their assault as they took serious hits from each other as blood and sparks fly everywhere. Despite the impressive display Hayden was having a hard time getting past the metal man's shield. Deciding that he needed to get some distance the Tenno planted his foot on Regor's shield and pushed in order to put some space between them.
"You're not getting away!" The grineer shouted as he did another teleport in order to close the distance, however, Hayden already stuck up his sword into the air and created a flash of light that immediately blinded everyone who saw it; that included Sargus Ruk and the salamanders as screams of pain can be heard.
"Gah! I always detested that stupid ability of yours!" Regor shouted in annoyance as he waited for his vision to return. Meanwhile Hayden took full advantage of this as he delivered a hard kick into his head that knocked him onto the ground hard. Hayden attempted to follow up with a downward stab but Regor quickly reacted and deflected the attack with his shield and impaled Hayden with his axe before lifting him into the air and slamming him into the ground. "Try again Tenno!" he shouted before kicking Hayden to the curb.
"Ergh…I plan to." The Tenno said before standing back up and checking the wound that slowly healed before his eyes. He then grunted with anger as he did his quick slash ability to quickly close the distance between him and Regor which took the Grineer off guard as it made a deep cut into his armor.
"Grah! You wretched cur!"
"Oh please that's just a flesh wound compared to the axe you ran through me!" Hayden shouted as the two clashed once again into blade fueled frenzy. Their blades continue to spark against each other until one equally strength blow from each other sent both skidding away from each other before they ran straight at each other and clashed into a deadlock, "You're ambition dies here Regor!"
"Something will certainly die today Tenno."
The two attempted to overpower each other with their own strength and by the looks of it none of them seemed to be winning the battle of physical strength. This kept up for a minute until suddenly a voice shouted out, "Watch out!"
Both Hayden and Regor looked in the direction of the shout only to see a missile heading straight towards them. Both the Tenno and Grineer looked at each other with some form of common agreement but it was too late as they were both blasted by the stray rocket and sent tumbling out of the docks much to the panic and shock of the girls and Spike as both men are now floating in space and still fighting each other to the death.
"Hayden!" Twilight shouted before quickly dodging an incoming strike from a salamander.
"You should be more worried for yourself than your ally Tenno!" Sargus Ruk taunted as he released a torrent of fire from his flamethrower. The girls quickly evaded the stream of flames only to run into the salamanders. The moment the battle begins the girls had a hard time keeping tabs on all their enemies as two of the girls were needed to hold off just one salamander. It didn't help that Sargus Ruk's armor proved to be nigh impenetrable and his weaponry is as formidable as its crude. Rockets and flamethrowers are just the tip of the iceberg with this grineer despite being quite slow in movement, although, the salamanders themselves proved just as dangerous with their fire abilities and feral attacks. Everyone was doing their best to stay alive from the various attacks that came from all sides with the teachings given to them by Hayden with the exception of Sunset as she simply did her best to avoid everything while trying to find an opening to counter attack with her own fire.
"These guys are tough!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she narrowly avoided a crimson fireball and retaliated with gunfire.
"Now ah can see why one nearly took a lot out him. These maniacs don't hold their punches!" Applejack shouted as she tanked a couple of blows with her iron skin ability before ramming into the same salamander as it was distracted from Rainbow Dash's gunfire.
"Then it's a good thing two of them are already weakened." Twilight said as she fired psychic bolts at one of the slower salamanders. The homing projectiles hit home on the creature as it shrieked in pain before glowing red and lunging at Twilight.
"Twilight look out!" Shouted Sunset as she shot out a much stronger fireball at the fake tenno and blasted it to the side before it reaches the girl.
While she didn't expect the salamander to suddenly lunge at her Twilight was more surprised by Sunset's response to help her, "Thanks for the assist!"
"Don't mention it. Just pay more attention to enemies next time!" she shouted as the salamander screamed in rage.
"Aaahhh!" Screamed Fluttershy as she ran across area with two salamanders chasing her down in a animalistic frenzy.
"Don't worry darling! We got your back!" Rarity shouted as she used her magnetic pull ability to pull away one of the salamanders, "Spike now!"
"Got it!" the dragon turned Kubrow shouted as he jumped into the air and kicked the pulled salamander in the head before it was grabbed by the legs as a metallic looking whip shot out and slammed the monster onto the ground. Spike then followed up with a pounce and started clawing at the creature before it pushed him off and broke away from Rarity's grasp.
As this was happening the second weaken salamander joined the other in chasing Fluttershy but their chase was interrupted Pinkie appeared and fired a much weaker version payload of the modified orgis. Cake batter and confetti splattered her friend's pursuers as they struggled against the sticky bonds that held them in place. They attempted to escape by heating up their bodies but to their surprise and annoyance the batter started to cook and rise; trapping them in the soft yet sticky cake. "That was a special recipe of mine I hope you two enjoy it!" Pinkie said with a smile as left the two to struggle against their delicious bonds.
"Thanks for the help Pinkie I don't would have been able to take on both of them."
"No problem!"
"Then take me on Tenno!" roared Sargus Ruk as a section of his armor opened up and fired a missile at the two girls causing them to go wide eye and dodge the attack. "Your pathetic weapons cannot penetrate my armor! What hope do you have in beating me!"
"Pinkie did you see that?"
"Yeah his armor opened up."
"If we can't penetrate his armor maybe we can attack those exposed parts when he attacks."
"I don't see why not let's do it!"
Sargus scoffed at their attempts to be brave and readied another missile that opened up his arm. Seeing their chance Fluttershy brought out her Cernos bow and fired it at the open space made by the projectile. The blunt arrow tapped the warhead causing it to explode in the grineer's arm and causing him to shout in anger as he switched to his flame thrower. Pinkie saw her chance and fired another low power cake grenade into the exposed exhaust port on his left shoulder. The party filled grenade circled into the port before exploding and gumming up the inner works of Ruk's body.
"What the?! Is this some kind trick Tenno? I thought you were warriors!" he shouted before attempting to use his flame thrower only for it to jam as cake bread slowly expanded out of the gaps. "What is this substance?! Some new compound you Tenno have been developing?!"
"It's call cake. And maybe you wouldn't be so angry all time if you had some every once in a while okay?" Pinkie said with a rarely seen serious expression on her face.
"Had some…? You mean it's edible?"
"Eeyup!"
"Stop messing with me Tenno!" The metal grineer shouted as he readied another rocket but this time he was prepared for Fluttershy's arrow as he quickly side stepped before firing. Seeing the incoming projectile the two rolled in separate directions as the missile exploded between them and sent them both flying in separate directions. With a smirk he prepared another missile and was about to fire until something hit him hard in the back and throw off his aim which caused him to accidently fire the missile in the direction of the trapped salamanders which caused cake pieces to fly everywhere as the fake Tenno fell to the ground with a hard thud. "Who dares?!"
His question was answered with a hard kick to the face by none other than Applejack, "I dare you walking tin can!" The country girl shouted as she delivered another kick into Ruk's face before he shoved her away to get some distance away from her.
"Grrr…I had enough of you Tenno!" he roared as his chest plate opened up as a ball of fire gathered in his right arm before slamming it into the ground and creating a shockwave of fire that hurt both friend and enemy alike. Applejack braced herself as she resisted the blast but everyone else wasn't as lucky as they got knocked down by the wall of flames. Once the fire subsided Applejack was the only one to remain standing with the exception of Ruk as he gathered another ball of fire in his hand, "Endure this!" he shouted as he slammed it again.
"Erk…ah didn't think he had this up his sleeve!" Applejack shouted as she was caught in the fire wave.
"Applejack!" Pinkie shouted, "Hit him in the chest! It opens up when he's about to attack!"
The country girl looked at the chest plate in question and noticed what her friends noticed earlier than her, "Got it!" she said as she charged at the metal man just as he was readying another fire slam. Her charge thankfully interrupted his attack and capitalizing on his stunned condition she released a fury of strong punches and kicks before ending it with a strong haymaker. The blow damaged the inner chest core but wasn't enough to completely destroy it. However, it did allow her friends to recover from the previous assault as they slowly got up and shaking off the slight amount of soot that covered their bodies.
"Argh…curse you Tenno!" He screamed as sparks peeked out of the gaps in his chest plate.
"Not so tough when we know where to hit you!" Applejack taunted as she crashed her fists together.
"It's not over yet!" he shouted as he got ready for another slam. Applejack attempted to stop him but was quickly tackled by three salamanders to the ground. Thinking fast the remaining girls opened fired on the chest reactor. The two remaining salamanders attempted to block some of the bullets with their bodies while throwing fireballs at them. However, this was in vain when Twilight aimed carefully and fired one last shot that passed both of them and straight into the reactor. The non-lethal bullet was strong enough to finally break the core and instead of the fire working like it's supposed too. It instead exploded and sent the grineer flying back as he hit the ground hard. However, he wasn't down for long as he quickly got back up and was even madder than ever, "I will burn you all to ashes!"
/
Location: Outside in space
Time: Shortly after Hayden and Regor got sent into space.
Hayden felt his lungs choke as air became limited the moment he entered cold void with his enemy, "What's the manner Tenno? Running out breath?" The mad metal man shouted as a giant metal fist punched Hayden away from him.
"Operator! Operator! Are you okay?!"
"Running out of air here! Send out the Odonata ASAP!"
"You got it operator!"
With help on the way all the Tenno had to do was just conserve air until it arrives. In his mind at least Regor couldn't fight him anymore; boy was he wrong. No sooner that thought passed his mind the grineer in question appeared before him and punched him again hard in the stomach causing Hayden to lose all of his air in his lungs, "Surprised Tenno? After our last battle in flooded waters of my base I knew I had to adapt to my environment. So I had rockets installed in order to grant me flight in heartless void along with oxygen tanks." Hayden couldn't respond as his lungs desperately cried out for air as seen with him physically writhing in pain. "Oh what's the matter Tenno? You look like you need something…well what is it? You can tell me…" If Hayden was able to talk his only response to the Grineer would be an 'f-bomb' to his face, "Aw…do I have to force it out of you? If you insist!"
With no restraint the vile Grineer savagely punched the Tenno in the stomach as he was sent flying further into the void of space. Hayden couldn't do anything as he starts to choke from the lack of air. His lungs burn as he writhe in pain as another punch came from the mercilessness grineer. This repeated a couple of times until Regor delivered one more punch that sent the Tenno flying into the void. Regor smiled as the Tenno began to stop moving while flying towards oblivion; the grineer was about to turn away from the body until suddenly a ship unknown to him appeared and launched a small package at the presumed dead body. The package attached itself to the lower back of the Tenno before opening up into large wing-like appendages. Regor stared in confusion as he seen those contraptions before but they were only out for a mere second before disappearing. However, his confusion was replaced with surprise when the unmoving body of the Tenno suddenly spring to life with a flash of light.
"Argh…thanks Ordis…though a little earlier on that delivery would be nice." Hayden said as he pulled out a sword that expanded into a ridiculously large telescopic great sword; this was Veritux.
"Stop complaining and kill the f-scum operator!" Ordis shouted with righteous anger.
"No need to tell me twice!" The Tenno shouted as he pointed his blade as Tyl Regor, "Hey Tyl Fisto let's try this again, but this time I'm going to rip your metal fist out of its socket and ram it into your stomach so I can rip out your metal spine!"
"That's a nasty threat coming from you Tenno. Here I thought you Tenno are more honorable than that and wouldn't resort to threats?"
"Oooh…a threat? No…I don't make threats…I make promises, and just to add to the fun I promise that every time you hit me I will hit back twice as hard."
"I'm shivering in my armor Tenno." Regor mocked as he slams his fists together, "However, it matters not because you'll be just another piece of space debris when I'm done with you."
"Okay enough tough talk, let's just do this."
"Agreed."
Both fighters gave out a war cry as they charged at each other in the dark void of space with the large grineer ship in the background acting as a backdrop. Before they knew it they clashed once more and went into a rapid barrage of attacks. It was quite a spectacle to behold as each successful hit made on each other separated the two briefly before they went back at it again. The speed of their attacks was near blinding as the weightlessness of space made their impractical weapons as light as a feather.
"Heh, I must admit Tenno, this is kinda invigorating!" Regor managed to say during the rapid clash before scoring a punch to Hayden's head which caused him to back flip at incredibly fast speeds. However, the Tenno countered by sticking his blade out and hitting the grineer on the upward swing. This sent Regor flying upwards until he stopped himself with the jets in his armor, "However, your refusal to die is souring the mood."
Hayden corrected himself as well before responding, "I just live to ruin your fun Regor." Hayden said with an unseen smile before firing a volley of rockets out of the arch wings that locked onto the grineer.
"What the?! Just how many tricks do your toys have Tenno?!" Regor shouted in surprise as he attempted to punch away the missiles only successful on hitting three before the rest swarmed him and blow him away. Each impact increased his velocity as he was sent careening towards the side of the large battleship before crashing and denting the large military weapon.
"More than you're willing to figure out." Hayden taunted as he sped up and charged towards the grineer. Tyl Regor shook off the dizzying impact and noticed the Tenno coming at him fast but when he tried to move he found himself stuck in the dent he made.
"Drat, I won't be able to free my entire body in time!" Thinking fast Regor decided to only focus his mechanical strength on pulling one of his arms free. It was a desperate maneuver on his part but it was well worth it when he finally wrenched his right arm free and pointed his fist at the Tenno just as he came within range. Hayden couldn't react fast enough when the metal man fired his fist straight into Hayden's face. Everything went in slow motion for the two as Hayden's vision immediately went red as the snaps of neck bones were muffled by the soundless void of space. The Tenno's body crumpled from being a physical representation of the phrase 'an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.' Regor had to take a double take just to make sure that he wasn't imagining what just happened as his desperate attack actually paid off by knocking the Tenno out cold. "Yes! Now I have the advantage!" Regor mentally shouted as he freed himself from the self-made dent. Recalling the fist back to his arm the grineer noticed that the Tenno's body was twitching and regenerating. "Oh you got to be kidding me! Is there anything these Tenno don't come back from?"
His complaint is warranted as the Tenno he was fighting is quite tenacious and stubborn. Regor only wished that he had his D.N.A. so he can make an even stronger variant of Tenno-Grineer tubemen hybrids. However, he could not sample any usable material from the fallen Tenno's body. It was unfortunate but those were the facts, however, at least to him there will be nothing lost should he utterly destroy the Tenno's body. Opening his large metal fist, he grabbed hold of the Tenno and began flying towards one of the firing cannon's of the ship. During their intense battle the two seem to have forgotten the battle happening outside, so this opened the opportunity of using the large cannons to blast Hayden's body to smithereens. Even if his body does survive the blast it would also send his body at alarming speeds across space.
"It was fun while it lasted Tenno but it ends here. I don't know if this will be enough to put you down for good but at least you'll be out of my hair. No doubt the combination of my Salamanders and the power of General Sargus Ruk are already tiring your fellow Tenno. Their situation is only going to get worse once I drop in. Their D.N.A. will make me numerous new tubemen each inheriting a power from you Tenno and once the Grineer Empire take over this entire system I will personally knock down the door your beloved Lotus is hiding behind and kill her slowly with my own two hands." The vile grineer researcher was about to toss the body of the down Tenno until suddenly the Tenno's arms gripped his arm much to his surprise. "What?!"
"That…hurted…asshole…" Hayden was finally able to spit out as his archwing roared to life and emitted a large pulse that blasted Regor away from him. The grineer flew a fair distance away while cursing at the Tenno much to his amusement. "Ah…ow…didn't expect him to launch one of those freakin metal fists at me. Shhhh…yeah I'm going to feel that for a week." Hayden complained as the warframe continued to repair the broken parts of its body. Unfortunately for Hayden, he didn't get much time to recover before Regor charged at him again with renewed anger and rage.
"Die Tenno!" he roared as he launched one of his fists at Hayden while still charging in with his other fist.
"Oh for the love of…" Was all Hayden said he deftly dodged the metal projectile before planting himself on Regor's chest while grabbing his remaining arm, "I just had enough of you pal, so let's just skip to the climax!" Pulling with all his might Hayden attempted to pull off cybernetic arm while Regor quickly recalled his fired arm and started punching the Tenno.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Regor screamed as he continuously punched Hayden over and over again in a desperate attempt to remove the Tenno off his arm but unknown to him he was unintentionally helping the Tenno, "Let go of my arm!"
"Sorry but I'm afraid I've grown attached." Hayden said jokingly among the sea of ows' for each punch that hit home. After a few minutes of pulling and punching Hayden finally ripped out the mechanical limb as sparks quickly died in the airless space.
"Argh! You little worm! Leech! Lizard! Parasite!" The grineer roared in anger as he fired his remaining fist at Hayden.
"Go to hell tin man!" Quickly messing with a few wires Hayden fired the fist on the arm he stolen straight at Regor. After that he fired another volley of missiles not at Regor but at the fist. Each successive missile hit the back end of the fist and propelled it faster at him. The Grineer found himself staring wide eyed as the fist's speed was faster than he can maneuver. Within that moment the evil researcher only smiled behind his mask as his own fist punched a hole through what was left of his own stomach and out his back; taking a piece of his spine with it. "Knowing how valuable you are to the remaining queen. There is no doubt you'll come back again but when you do I'll make sure to bury you again with the rest of your scrapped bodies."
"Heh heh heh kek ack!"
"What are you laughing about?"
"*Breathes* You'll find out in time…*breathes* Tenno…savor your victory while you can…as it will be me who will have…*breathes* the last laugh…" with a final weak fit of laughter the Grineer researcher Tyl Regor finally died.
"Shit…it's never good when the bad guy laughs. But what was he talking about?" Hayden pondered about this for a bit until he remembered the ship that left the docks before the battle started. "What did you do Regor?" The Tenno asked himself angrily before his thoughts drifted towards his team, "Oh shit Spike and the girls need my help. Hopefully they're holding on while I was fighting Regor." With this said, Hayden flew towards the docks hoping that his new friends are holding their own.
/
Location: Docking Area
Time: 2:28 P.M.
"Waah!"
"Aah!"
Cries of pain and panic were screamed out as it would seem Armageddon itself consumed the area as pillars of fire erupted everywhere while being shot in various directions. Spike and the girls did their best to avoid the roaring flames but thanks to the wall of fire the amount of space they have to run is limited. Needless to say the enemy has turn the tide when the salamanders all activated the ability 'world on fire' on the group along with Sargas Ruk's fire pillar attack. Twilight looked for an opening but each time she stood still another volcanic eruption would occur at her feet. Her shields thankfully protected her from the worst the fires had to offer but it won't protect her forever. To make things worse her HUD told her that her friends' vitals took a hit from a powerful fire blast.
"This isn't good! We can't keep going on like this!" The girl said to herself before dodging a fire ball that was aimed at her.
"You got that right!" Sunset shouted as she ran to Twilight's side before counter attacking with her own fire, "We're going to need a plan Twilight because I might as well be throwing air at them at this point." The girl shouted before pushing to the side as another mini volcano erupted beneath them.
"I'm trying! But according to Pinkie and Fluttershy the only way we can damage Sargas is hitting the open parts of his armor when he attacks but there isn't any more places we can hit him! To make things worse the salamanders are becoming more aggressive and seem to be grouping around him for organized attacks."
Sunset cursed under her breath as more fire came their way and the two were forced to move, "Twilight, I think we may already found the answer to the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"Well it's just a hunch but what if those salamanders are grouping up with him not just because their combined attacks are more powerful but because they are aware of Ruk's desperation?"
Twilight absorbed Sunset's words carefully and after thinking about it she may be right. The salamanders must have become more aggressive for a reason and by the looks of it they don't seem keen on leaving Ruk's side. It didn't take long for the girl to come to a theory, "I think you're on to something Sunset. By the way they're sticking close to him I think his last weak spot is on his back."
"Sounds about right, I mean how else is he venting all that heat he creates? But, if the weak point is on his back then we need to do something about those salamanders." Sunset looked over to the vile creatures born from her D.N.A. and noticed three looked to be weaker than the other with two of them far tipsier than the sole third. "I think I found our weakest links in that formation." The fire haired girl said with smile before turning back to Twilight, "Twilight how good is your aim?"
"It's a work in progress but its far better when I first started using this gun."
"Good enough, anyway I need you to nail those three over there by shooting them in the head. They're much weaker than the other two and if I'm right a well placed shot to the dome should put them out of commission for good."
"Sounds like a plan but I'll need some cover because as soon as I take aim at them they'll focus fire on me."
"You leave that to me; just focus on aiming on the weaker salamanders."
"Got it."
"Alright here I go." Quickly facing the horrid creatures Sunset fired off a few fireballs that did little damage to the salamanders but it did get their attention. As they opened fired on the brave thief that now fight's by the mane six's side. Given the opening she needed Twilight brought up her rifle and took aim. Quickly scoping out the weaker salamanders Twilight open fired and hit one of them in the head; which immediately knocked it out. The other two salamanders quickly noticed their downed sister and immediately opened fired on Twilight who already had her sight on the other weaker sister and fired. The purple girl quickly jumped out of the way when the fireballs came her way and managed to avoid them completely, but unfortunately for the salamander she aimed at they couldn't avoid her shot and in turn was knocked out like her clone sister before her.
The remaining three salamanders shrieked in rage much to the annoyance to Ruk who simply fired another pillar of fire at the offending girl, "Not good not good!" Twilight shouted in a panic as she began to run away from the incoming wave of flames.
"Get behind me Twilight!" Shouted Applejack as she ran past Twilight and reactivated her iron skin ability. Twilight agreeing with the idea got behind Applejack as the large wave of fire passed through them. The purple girl let out a sigh of relief before thanking her friend for the assist, "You're welcome Twi but we can pat each other's backs later. We still got some ornery salamanders to deal with."
Twilight nodded in agreement as she resumed her attack and opened fire on the salamanders once again. She managed to fire off a few more shots that downed the last of weakened creatures that left only two salamanders and Ruk to deal with. The firepower was cut in two but what remained was still consistent. However, thanks to the focus fire on Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were finally able to counter attack as they fire their weapons at the remaining salamanders. Fluttershy activated her energy vampire ability and drained the energy from the monsters and adding them to her friends. Slowly but surely the Grineer-Tenno hybrids fire began to fade until finally running out. The creatures panicked as they noticed their fire power was gone due to the lack of energy available in their bodies. With the tide turning in their favor Rainbow Dash unleashed a swarm of tornados that scattered and snuffed out the flames that remained; including the wall that locked them in.
Ruk locked himself to the ground to avoid being sucked up by the tornados, but the salamanders weren't as lucky as all of them were dragged by the fierce winds and let vulnerable to attack. Rarity and Pinkie capitalized on this as the former used her magnetic abilities to magnetize the group and locked them together while the latter charged up a bigger shot from her weapon before firing. The payload exploded upon contact and covered the defeated monsters in cake batter, candy, and various party decorations. Once the winds subsided the group gathered around the lone Sargus Ruk. The Grineer general gritted his teeth as he prepared one last fire pillar attack which in turn opened the armor on his back. The group saw this and almost immediately Pinkie fired another payload into the exposed back and gummed up the works.
"Graah!" Sargus shouted in pain as his armor sputtered and exploded internally as the flames had nowhere to go. Smoke and the smell of burnt clone flesh emitted from the gaps of his armor as the girls took a step back in surprise as the Grineer fell to the ground dead as flames began to leak through his armor no doubt using his body for fuel.
"Whoops…eh…I think we shouldn't have covered all of his venting ports." Pinkie said sheepishly while trying to ignore the fact she just killed a man.
"Well that takes care of him I guess…but what do we do with them?" Rainbow Dash said as she pointed to the trapped salamanders.
"They're abominations created from my D.N.A. I think they should be destroyed." Sunset suggested as she herself has a personal issue with the creatures existence.
Despite the logic behind the suggestion Twilight was still hesitant as none of them had it in them to end the life of another, "Hayden probably would have said the same thing, but…"
"But what? Don't tell me you guys don't have it in you to kill something even if it deserves it?" Sunset said with utter surprise as the girls nodded.
"It's not how we operate. We never intentionally kill our enemies' heck we haven't really killed anypony up until Mr. Armor pants went up in flames." Rainbow Dash said while given Sunset a stern look.
"Then how did any of you managed to survive in this world?!"
"It's because they had my help." Sunset nearly jumped from the calm voice of Hayden as the Tenno walked towards the group, "I'm guessing from the tone of your voice Sunset you have blood on your hands." Some of the girls gasped at the accusation but Sunset didn't flinch as she stared at the Tenno with mixed emotions.
"I…I did to survive okay?! It was me or them and there is no way in Tarterus I was going to let them kill me!"
"Hey I'm not judging. Heck when push comes to shove you do what you need to do in order overcome the odds. But…these girls and dragon turned Kubrow aren't killers; that was made clear when I first met them. It's jarring to say the least to meet people that won't kill people who are trying to kill them and it was annoying to modify my own weapons to fit their nature. Honestly, it would've been easier to just leave them in my ship and for me to do all the hard work."
"But you didn't because…what?"
"They're driven, like me to see a mission through to the end. You of all people should appreciate that as even though you stole the element of magic they were worried about you when they learned that Regor was using you for his research." Hayden took out his Nikana and raised the blade over the knocked out salamanders, "They're good people who are unwilling to end another person's life and honestly I respect that. You all came from a world far more peaceful than my own and thus have more freedom to choose how many of your battles end, but for me I can't fully remember my childhood or birth for that matter. All I knew was conflict and at times a weapon of war until The Lotus saved me from that fate. Blood will always stain my hands and weapons but at least now I do it for a more righteous cause. I'll have you know Sunset that once you end another beings life…it becomes easier to end another. I didn't want these girls to stain their hands if there was a way to avoid it all together."
"Wow…you're a really compromising person are you?"
"I'm more than a warrior and a bringer of death; I'm also a peacekeeper. Perhaps you should think about who you are in the grand scheme of things." In one quick swift motion and with no emotion behind it the Tenno cleanly sliced through the necks of all the salamanders and ending their artificial lives. The cut was so clean that none of the decapitated heads moved from their spots as blood leaked from their necks, "Let's go, your ticket home comes tomorrow and we have some time to burn."
*Growwlll…*
The sound of numerous stomachs growling filled the area as the girls looked at each other in embarrassment, "Yeah that's our cue to leave. Ordis! Come pick us up!"
"I hear you loud and clear operator!" Suddenly the Tenno's ship flew into the docks and after landing opened up to reveal a way inside.
"Heh, ladies first?" Hayden said with an unseen smile as everybody headed towards the ship. Once everyone was inside the shipped closed the boarding platform and rose into the air before shooting out of the docks at high speeds which also disturbed the perfectly set heads of the salamanders and caused them to fall off.
On their way out of the system they got a call from Steel Meridian with thanks and the overall mission report. Of course the mission was a success and with Tyl Regor and Sargus Ruk dead again along with the serious damage to the battleship itself it was also a victory for Steel Meridian. With the conflict finally behind them the group decided it was a time for celebration.
/
Location: Somewhere flying through space.
Time: 3:45 P.M.
Sometime after the large scale battle; Tyl Regor's personal ship still flew through the void of space heading towards his place of control. However, the ship was no longer on auto-pilot and was now being hand steered and controlled by non mechanical hands. In the driver seat was a naked muscular male figure still covered by the liquid he was born from. Nothing was notable about the man except for his hair which was grown to reach the back of his neck. His hair was colored black but streaks of red, orange, and yellow highlighted one side of his head. His cold calculating amber eyes stared at his computer screen before smiling to himself.
"Let's see what this new body can do…" the figure said with a chillingly sinister voice before breaking out into laughter. A new evil has been born into the world.
