AN: Hello readers, and welcome to my first story on ! I've written stories before, and one could say that they're its passion of mine (Writing, that is) when I get struck with inspiration. Sadly, this is NOT a new story of mine, as it is taken from my story I often submitted on the Warframe forums with others, -the topic was Of Ash And Fire,if you're interested- though with a few tweaks. It was a one-man job –with some input from others on the forum-, and will continue to be so until I get a Beta or multiples of said people. Looking back on it, some things are a bit corny, and others just don't make sense. Read and Review my fine readers, I am open to criticism and discussion, and enjoy looking at things from another perspective. Though do take note that overly-scathing comments/reviews/flames will be used to fuel my forge with which I use to churn out my literary weapons to destroy mine enemies. Blood for the- Uh I mean-WHAT'S THAT OVER THERE!?
*A Piece of Paper idly floating by catches your leg. Picking up the Piece of Paper reveals hastily written scrawls in red ink with which you suspect was very low on said ink. It reads:
DISCLAIMER: If I had the rights to Warframe, I don't know what I'd do with 'em. Probably go about my day.
The Author has long vanished from sight. Perhaps running from Space Marines or the Adepta Sororitas. Most likely the Sisters of Battle followed very closely by very angry-looking people in suits.*
!WARNING! Use of Mature Language Ahead! You have been warned!
He could hear them closing in. Their heavy footfalls heard in his arduously trained ears over the constant and heavy staccato of blazing gunfire coming in through his Warframe's audio receptors. The man in the intricately patterned vermilion and black steel colored Excalibur had gone in alone when he received the details from The Lotus. He probably shouldn't have, but the fact that these tainted humans calling themselves The Grineer had somehow taken one of the few Tenno that made him allowed him to enjoy life with made him worried and angry, when he should have stayed calm. Nevertheless, it made him angry.
'Just when'- his thoughts were very rudely interrupted by the shockwave of an Ogris rocket colliding with the ship's floor next to him, knocking the man on his ass further behind the large cargo he was taking cover behind. He quickly rolled back into cover that hadn't yet been torn apart by flying blades, bullets, or rockets, and proceeded to answer back this insult with a few well-placed shots to the skull of several Grineer with his modified crimson colored Latron, the loud crack of his rifle resounded the death of several Grineer with his acid-tipped bullets. Ten fell, but more kept taking their places. A mature voice reverberated in the man's helmet, belonging to none other than the man himself, muttering a long string of curses quite loudly. Some of the people he knew would frown on his usage of words, but as of right then, they weren't there, so fuck them!
"Doctrine dammit! There's no damned end to them! If only"- His ranting was cut short by a familiar and welcomed singular beep. His energy pool had gone up to the necessary quantity needed to use the Frame's Slash Dash twice before needing to gather more energy. Such was the speed, breadth, and power of his tinkering. That was all well and good, but he either needed more firepower than what he had, or a damn miracle! Enough of the waiting, he'd create his own damned miracle!
Not hesitating for a moment, he quickly snapped out of the makeshift cover, shooting down several Grineer before activating the first Slash Dash to thin the numbers. Quickly proceeding to use his Dragon Nikana, using his swift and reactive style with it that the others claimed was 'cheating'. The man sliced through their entire front line, and power behind the momentum of the slash he needed to tear through the enemy in front of him. The sound of shearing metal and screams filled his audio receptors, not an uncommon sound to the man, making him grin at wiping out part of the zealous machine-fused-flesh monsters that plagued the universe. An ever-warring menace that could never get its fill of conflict, so deeply rooted is this notion, that they incorporate it into their lives when they weren't on the battlefield.
He back flipped down the stairs, swiping a box of ammo for his Latron during the acrobatic maneuver, just in time to avoid the hail of bullets attempting to tear through his insides behind his armor and shields. The sound of four spooling Gorgons came through his audio receptors from the doorway. Quickly reloading his Latron's magazine to its maximum –fifteen rounds of acid covered bullets specifically modified to punch through heavy armor, yet he wasn't fast enough to kill all of them before bullets tore through his shields- and topping his ammo reserves as well. Taking a look at his HUD, he saw that he had nine rounds left in his trusty Vasto, heavily modified to kill almost anything in a single shot. If it didn't die in a single shot, it was probably nearly dead, on its ass, or flying through the air, pumped full of the other eight bullets a second later.
Useful in close or mid-ranged fire fights, which he would most likely be engaging in. Didn't mean that it would punch through the extra-thick looking armor on those towering monstrosities. It would punch through their armor, yes. Send them flying? Yes. But kill them? At this distance? Hell no. It was going to take another miracle.
Breathing deeply and steadying his breathing and readying his body for something really dumb, he unsheathed his Dragon Nikana into his right hand, and readied his Vasto in his left. Using his Slash Dash to close the distance quickly and startle them, shoving his Vasto into the gut of the Heavy Gunner in front of him and pulling the trigger three times in less than a second. Said monstrosity of metal and flesh flew through the air in a mess of projectile parts and blood. Following this in a blur of motion, he sliced through the plated neck of the next one, and followed through with a rarely used Radial Blind. Swiftly finishing them off with gunplay interspersed with vicious swipes of his Dragon Nikana, quick enough to leave afterimages.
"Huh. Didn't expect that to work. Maybe miracles dohappen once in a while that may or may not have to do with my obscene amounts of luck." Whilst saying this, his Vasto was still hissing and smoking, as if pleased with lives it took.
Hiss… as if in agreement with this, quickly followed by nine simultaneous pings of empty shell casings hitting the deck, whilst cleaning his blade. Checking the nearby console, he delved through the information stored within the ship's systems. Yes, important Tenno cargo in the form of one Tenno, still in armor. He got that part already. That's why he was here dammit, now where was she!? There! In a heavily armored storage container on Deck Three, probably very, very, very, pissed.
Scheduled to leave in three minutes, no less. He was on the Fifth. The man quickly used her favorite word. "Fuck." Quickly, he synced up the departure time in his HUD while checking the map of the ship. Okay, the quickest way there was right below him. Through the floor, since Deck Five was right above Deck Three.
"How in the hell am I supposed to do that? Blow a hole in the damn-" He stopped himself short, with a wry grin. He could blow a hole in the damn floor! There were several Ogri lying about on the deck. The only problem was not blowing himself up in the process. Self-detonation! Of course! They were explosive for Doctrine's sake! Surely they had a timer! If not, he'd plant one in their routines and hopefully not blow himself up in an instant. Grabbing all the Ogri on the deck, he applied a paste so that they wouldn't go anywhere aside from outwards when they blew. He set the timer and saw the big numbers in his HUD. Three seconds. "FUCK ME!", he exclaimed as he immediately leapt away several meters backwards in an adrenaline filled jump.
An explosion loud enough to be heard from outside the ship, a massive shockwave tore into his shields and knocked him flat on his back knocking the breath from his lungs, and a fireball large enough to consume a bulbous Grineer Dropship blew open the floor leading to Deck three. Quickly jumping back onto his feet, he made his way to the jagged hole and peered down. Several Grineer were killed with the shrapnel that used to be the floor-ceiling, and were disoriented from the blast.
Silently thanking the fact his shields had somehow held to save his ass, he leapt down the hole and quickly dispatched the still recovering Grineer. The hangar clear of Grineer, for now at least, gave him enough time to search for the container he was looking for. He didn't have to hunt long. Walking a short distance with a bemused expression behind his helmet, he saw the container he was searching for. It had massive dents, and snarls and curses liable to make pirates blush were coming from within. There was no door to the container. Well, that is to say no operable door, as the one that was supposed to work was welded shut and had armor crisscrossing every which way. For safety reasons of course.
"What the fuck was that noise!? Oh, you better pray to whatever fucked up fucking god you retarded assclowns have that you just did not blast me out of the godsdamned airlock, or so fucking help me, I'll rip half of you shitdicks in half with my hands, and feed the rest of you your buttbuddies when I get out!"
He felt relief wash over him at the sound of her slew of vulgarities. Or perhaps that was the adrenaline finally working out of his system at fighting a full platoon, and nearly blowing himself up. Taking hold of a random part of the container, he pulled, ripping open a large hole in its side with a veritable unholy sounding screech of metal. Its inhabitant quickly pounced on the man, pinning him to the ground.
"Who the fuck are you!?", the onyx and cyan veneered Valkyr user roared at him. Yup, if he doubted it before –and he hadn't, he didn't now. The man cheekily grinned under his helmet, though she couldn't tell. "Who else would go it alone to save your sorry ass, Viviane?" The now named Viviane responded with the pinnacle of intelligence and polite vernacular.
"The fuck? Artorias?" Quickly, she peeled herself off of the now named Artorias and offered her hand to get the man off his ass. Taking it, he pulled himself to his feet. "Yeah, now let's get the fuck out of here, before another damn platoon shows up." Viviane responded quickly. An open and very forceful palm to the back of Artorias' head and a reprimand worthy of Captains when humans were exploring the seas and oceans on wooden boats on old Earth.
"Who the fuck taught you how to cuss like that, let alone put the retarded ass thought in your skull that you could take the lead when it's just you and me, fucker?" Artorias could only shake his head at that and resist the urge to tell her that only he and herself used her colorful language in the entire Clan. Also, to clear the cobwebs. Damn he was dizzy.
"That aside, we should really get the hell out of here. Come on, keep up!" Artorias quickly threw Viviane his Latron. To use as a rifle. If she ran out of ammo, she'd probably use it as a damn club. Again. They quickly made their way back to the ship he had borrowed from the Clan's resident Banshee user, Sylpheed.
"Hang on, Sylpheed let you fuckin' borrow her ship?", Viviane asked incredulously, as if such a thing happening was unlikely. Which was as likely as finding a Grineer picking flowers in a colorful field and petting a rabbit. "Who says I even told her?" To this, Viviane shook her head. "You cheeky ass… You know you're gonna get it when we get back, right?" He quickly responded with, "Don't care right now, shooting Grineer in the face, got a beautiful and dangerous woman behind me using a rifle as a club, and gave a massive middle finger to the Grineer. Things are looking damn good right now." "You will care though." "Probably will, Viviane. For now, enjoy the stress relief." "Oh yeah." When the pair were done with slaughtering the Grineer, and safely back on their way to the Dojo, they removed the helmets to their Warframes to properly breathe outside their confines.
Viviane's long golden hair cascaded from the confines of her helmet, matching the color of her eyes that burned with life and ferocity, and lending themselves very well to her extremely fair skin. Simultaneously, Artorias removed his helmet and let forth his almost blindingly snow white locks. This paired very well with his angular, almost wolf-like face, pale skin with an expertly shaven pointed goatee that further emulated the look of a wolf, and nebula blue eyes. Both took a moment to stare at each other and idly wonder how they didn't have armies of the opposite sex chasing after the other. To their knowledge at least.
And then Viviane laughed. Perhaps laugh is not the word one would use to describe it in this case, but loud guffawing. Tears pooling at the corners of her eyes and pointing, almost rolling off the seat she took when they got in the ship. "What's so funny? Is there a Grineer on a space butterfly out there or something?" "N-no! Hahahaha! It- it's your hair! Pfff-Hahahahahaha! Fuck, I can't stop laughing!"
"The hell do you mean my hai-" Artorias stopped midsentence the moment his hand touched his hair. It was standing almost completely up, some of it swept back. "Probably due to the blast, Viviane", he grumbled. "Wait, I thought some dumbshit tripped and dropped a crate full of Detonite or something. That was fucking you!?" "Yeah, the shortest way to you was down, so I slapped a bunch of Ogri together and put them on a synched detonation. Had three seconds to get away, and barely did. Probably would've died if my shield hadn't held."
Viviane shook her head. She felt like she had done that a lot today. "Damn, you're crazier than me sometimes. Have to step up my game. 'Sides, I kind of like it." Artorias cocked his head slightly to the side, an inquisitive look on his face. "Which one? The sheer stupidity and balls the size and toughness of a Dreadnought such an act requires, or my hair?" "Both actually.", Viviane responded with a neutral look on her face.
"I thought you liked hitting things, shooting things, and cussing, not necessarily in that order, Viviane." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips in response. Stretching back, she shot back. "Then you've yet to scratch the surface." "I'll find out one of these days you know. Got nothing but time." Artorias said with a blank look on his face as he stared in her eyes. Viviane gave a grin. "Maybe. We'll see."
It was going to be a long wait, so both decided to catch some sleep before having to endure the tempestuous rage of Sylpheed at having 'taken her baby for the good of the Clan'. In a voice barely heard above the gentle humming of the engines and VoidDrive, Viviane muttered to herself. "Stupid idiot. You've got some lousy manners, making a girl wait like this. Either that or you're dense… Fuckin' idiot…" The young woman slowly felt sleep claim her, like her partner. …She liked the sound of that.