A/N: Here is the second chapter of the day. The story only has 3 chapters and an epilogue left after this one. That being said, I do still plan on writing some Warframe oneshots using the characters from this story so if there is anything you'd like me to write for one of the oneshots please let me know! I'd be happy to try it out.
As always, thanks for reading! Questions, comments, suggestions, and corrections are still welcome! Enjoy!
The next few days were relatively uneventful for the small group. They were assigned to a few easy missions to keep them from becoming bored but most of the time was spent resting and preparing for their next big mission. In their spare time, the members of the squad tended to seek out their significant partners.
Falken and Nyx had quickly finished Watership Down together and were frequently seen walking around the dojo while engaging in general conversation. Hayden and Saryn were just as active as normal but had actually been seen less often than normal for reasons the other Tenno could only infer. Spud and Nova were often seen together as they enjoyed each other's company, even if nothing was being said. Lonewolf checked up on Valkyr daily and often stayed for a good deal of time to continue to help her. Valkyr was slowly getting better and everybody knew that the main reason was the Ash that was constantly by her side.
The group didn't ever get too comfortable though. They were all just waiting for the Lotus to tell them it was time to get Alad V. She had told them that they needed to wait for the opportunity to attack so they just waited for the inevitable call.
"So how is Valkyr doing today?" Lonewolf asked with a smile as he entered Valkyr's room. He was so happy with her progress that asking had started to be a habit that always ended well. She had finally been able to take off the restraints so her wrists were now almost completely healed and she was doing some friendly duels to get back into fighting which helped a lot.
"I am doing really well actually," Valkyr said with a wide smile towards the Ash. "I got even more sleep last night than I did the night before so it is progress."
"Good," Lonewolf said as he walked over and gave her a quick hug before taking a seat next to her bed. "So, I heard you've been thinking about which warframe to take again," he said casually while trying not to look at the attachments on Valkyr's body which still could not be removed.
"I have," she responded slowly while looking down.
"What have you been thinking?" the Ash queried.
"Well," she started slowly before lifting her head to look Lonewolf in the eyes. "I've been thinking about keeping these," she said indicating the attachments on her arms. "I've just found them useful. I've never really found a warframe that I really enjoyed the sound of and right now these thing are, well, me."
Lonewolf watched her carefully to make sure she wasn't joking around. He never would have thought she would be able to accept those "things" on her so he was surprised to say the least.
"What have you found them able to do?" Lonewolf asked after a bit.
"Actually quite a bit," Valkyr said. "I can make a zipline of sorts and use it to pull myself towards an area. I actually caught Nekros with one once and pulled him too," she added with a small laugh. "I've also been experimenting a bit and with enough power I can release an energy area to make allies more effective at fighting, launch a powerful force of energy to make enemies lose balance, and even make these things grow claws which I can attack with."
"With enough energy?" Lonewolf asked.
"Yeah," Valkyr said. "It is quite tiring when I use those but Nekros thinks that I might be able to harness all my withheld anger. 'Use rage as your power source' or something like that. I intend to try it when I'm in a mission since I can't really get my rage up when I am just fighting Tenno. At least not yet," she said with a smirk.
"Sounds like it might work out," Lonewolf said. "I bet it might be possible to emulate the tech and all that so you could be the start of a new warframe."
"That would be really cool," Valkyr said with a smile. "But I think we need to test it a lit-"
Suddenly, the screen in the room turned on and showed the face of Alad V but something was off. On one side of his body infested flesh could easily be seen and his face looked drained of color. Lonewolf glanced at Valkyr who was staring at the screen looking like she was ready to break it but quickly looked back as the man started talking.
"Hello inhabitants of the Origin System!" he started. "It is my singular pleasure to announce that today is the first day of a new empire! An empire populated not by Corpus, not by Grineer, and certainly not by the Tenno."
Lonewolf slowly stood up and watched intently while also keeping a tab on the clearly angry Valkyr about three feet away from him.
"No," Alad V continued, "the Mutalist Empire will be populated by you! A glorious new you, baptized by Mutalist flesh."
Lonewolf's eyes widened. Alad V was going to try to make the galaxy completely infested and he honestly had a pretty good start.
"You've called this a disease? An Infestation?" Alad V asked. " Well, I call it unity! One army under me! Welcome to your new species!" he finished with a laugh before the transmission ended.
"Well that doesn't sound good," Valkyr said after she had finally settled herself down. "I'm guessing that means that it is time for you to track him down?" she asked Lonewolf.
At that moment, the screen came to life again but showing the Lotus this time.
"Ash, get to the room for mission briefing," she said. "Your squad has already been contacted."
"I guess so," Lonewolf said as the screen turned off once again. He gave Valkyr one more hug and then ran out the door.
When Lonewolf made it to the room, everybody was waiting so he quickly sat down and the Lotus instantly started talking.
"Alad V has launched a full scale invasion into all sectors of the system," she said. "We're working on fighting back but we need to take this fight to the source. We need to find Alad V and stop him."
"What do you mean he has launched a full scale invasion?" Spud asked trying to get as much information as possible.
"Alad V's infested ships are slamming into populated centers all around the system. He's using these ships like spore pods to spread his Mutalist plague," she responded. "Equally concerning are the new strains of Infested he's using in this attack."
Hayden shivered slightly as she remembered the infested they ran into during their first mission destroying the hives.
"So what is the plan?" Falken asked quickly.
"There are two courses of action," the Lotus said. "First, we must extinguish each Infestation at its source. I will be issuing bounties, so that we can cut down as many of these new Infested as possible," she continued as the others nodded in agreement. "Secondly, we need you to deal with the source of the problem. You will locate and destroy Alad V's lab."
"How do we find his lab?" Lonewolf asked.
"The Corpus have been tracking Alad V for months," the Lotus explained. "His attacks on their ships have been nearly as devastating as those of the Grineer's Fomorians. You will go to a Corpus outpost and steal their intelligence. We will then use that information to find his lab and hopefully him."
"Seems like a good plan," Spud mused.
"Left unchecked, this plague will spread out of control," the Lotus said. "You must start immediately, there is no time to waste."
The squad of four silently dropped into the Corpus outpost. Since the mission was of the highest priority, they had discussed their plan on the way to the outpost. The plan was simple. They decided that the best idea would be to run the mission silently. Once again, Spud had brought his silent pistols and would take care of the cameras while the others focused on Corpus soldiers who happened to be in their way. The mission was the data and that was it so they decided to only kill who had to be killed if possible.
Spud was also given the job of running the vaults. As per his interest in gaining knowledge about everything, he had gone on multiple spy missions and talked with others about them to the point that he knew a way through all of them. His success rate was high so the others determined it would be okay for him to go alone while they watched the door.
With the plan in place and no time to waste, the squad set off instantly. Their stealth approach worked perfectly. Lonewolf, Hayden, and Falken easily took out soldiers while Spud took clear shots at a few enemies with his pistols. If a few were close together, Lonewolf would go invisible and would synchronize with another to take them out at the same time. In no time they approached the first vault.
Spud opened the door and looked around to quickly identify which vault he was dealing with and ran in quickly. The vault was an easy one with only moving laser to dodge and no enemies within. Spud shot one camera and then jumped, slid, and flipped his way gracefully through the vault and quickly acquired the data for analysis by the Lotus while the squad moved on.
Their plan never faltered and they quickly reached the next vault. This vault started with an elevator and one quick glance told Spud everything he needed to know. He would have to work his way to the top of the glass case in the middle of the room and then jump down it while dodging lasers. As the elevator went down he noticed an open vent grate and jumped in. He patiently waited for the one enemy to pass him before quickly running in and attacking the soldier from behind and killing him with a swift cut to the throat. He then launched himself upwards to get on top of the case and then dropped in. There were platforms on each level and lasers sliding horizontally to dodge but with careful jumping he was quickly getting the data and riding back up the elevator shortly after.
As soon as the group started moving, they stopped as a transmission broke through onto their HUDs again. Once again they saw the clearly sick Alad V.
"I took a disease and turned it into a life-altering gift," he said. "Someday you may learn to appreciate what I'm giving this system. Until then, all you can do is rage against the inevitable." And the transmission ended.
Instantly they heard the sound of gunfire accompanied with the sounds of infested on the other side of the next door. The group quickly ran forward equipping their primary weapons along the way. As the door opened, they saw exactly what they expected: Corpus getting attacked by Alad V's infested force. With a quick communication, the squad decided they would no longer be stealthy but wouldn't attack unless they got attacked themselves.
They all quickly ran through the chaos in front of them, only slowing to take a few shots at the infested who decided to attack them instead of the Corpus soldiers farther away. In order to finish the mission quicker, Spud activated his speed power and the four of them sprinted to the last vault. They reached the vault with little difficulty and Spud instantly ran in to find the data hidden in vault.
Once again, the vault was one he knew. There were lasers aiming at the floor and they moved back and forth directly in his path with only a few safe spots in the walls for him to utilize. After waiting for the correct time, Spud sprinted forward and slid into one of the safe spots just barely missing the laser that was in the section. After waiting a bit for the next laser to be going in the correct direction he turned the corner and ran into another slot in the wall directly under a camera which he shot quickly. He then ran into a little room nearby and pressed the control panel to turn off the lasers in the room. He then quickly ran to the other side to enter a vent and get in from above. He shot the very camera, grabbed the data, and quickly left the room as gunfire erupted from outside.
Activating his speed once again, Spud ran past his squad meleeing the enemies they were fighting along the way signaling the others to follow. They ran through the chaos, which was still going on at the base, and quickly made it to extraction without having to do much more than take out a few problem enemies which happened to slow them down. As the got into their lisets, a transmission came through from the Lotus.
"Tenno," she said quickly. "This goes deeper than I thought. Alad V has gotten his hands on another Warframe." The group instantly froze. "If he can infest it like he did with the Corpus…" she said slowly, "we have to move quickly."
When they arrived back at the dojo, the Lotus instantly led them to their room to give them an update on the situation and to give them new mission details.
"We've narrowed down Alad V's location to a cluster of infested Corpus vessels," she said not wasting any time. "This is his breeding ground. You will raid one of these ships while I try to pinpoint the source of Alad V's signal. I'll need three signals to triangulate his whereabouts, so I will be sending two other squads to two other ships to acquire the signal more quickly."
Spud began to ask a question but was waved off by the Lotus. "We have to move fast," she said forcefully. "Alad V cannot be allowed to bring a Warframe to life using his Mutalist Infestation."