The Long March
Somewhere on the Plains of Eidolon
Twelve miles of relatively flat terrain revealed another village, its homes burnt to the ground and inhabitants killed. Comparing a discarded shell casing from the previous village, ASRU-001 concluded that it was the work of the same assailants. Matching wounds. Matching ammunition.
In addition to this, ASRU-001 encountered large tread marks in the soil. The assailants had ground vehicular capabilities, which explained the close proximity of the attacks. The motives? Resource acquisition was highly unlikely. The two villages were far from, if any, resource deposits. They had nothing of value that might catch the interest of thieves and looters, or a well organized group.
Resources.
ASRU-001 had collected various samples for study. The many unknown trace metals and minerals could provide valuable insight into later excavation operations. Materials were in short supply when the unit departed on its mission. If ASRU-001 was able to locate suitable source, production might be able to restart. If the unit could locate a source. Its sensor equipment was basic and crude by contemporary standards. To locate a large enough source..
Pressing the front frame of the drill against rock, ARSU-001 arm barely twitched as the sharpened bit twisted itself into the stone. Bits and pieces flew from the entry point, ricocheting harmlessly off of the unit. Seconds in, the drill changed direction, reversing out. The unit pulled the drill bit out in a single precise motion. The fourteenth sample was collected, this one being of an unidentified red mineral. It went to its own little storage compartment, plopping in, never to see the light of day again.
Geological sampling was a tedious procedure, for the drill bit. The grooves on the bit were nearly completely worn down. A click was heard as the bit popped out. A new piece quickly replaced the old, slotting into place.
This area was now surveyed, its slopes and geographical features logged as single set of numbers. There was nothing here left of note.
The water lapped languidly at the edges of the lake, glimmering with pale light from the sky. ARSU-001's legs splashed loudly as they pushed through the shallow depths, reaching land on the edge of the lake. The savannah was well illuminated tonight, contrary to meteorological predictions.
As the unit locked onto a new path to travel, pushing apart the grass, it took in the atmosphere. The ecosystem seemed to change radically with the night. Animals vocalized loudly in the darkness, calling out to each other in brazen confidence. One animal stood out, with its piercing vocal call echoing for miles all around. The ground shook with seismic activity following each of these calls. Another phenomena of possible interest.
Tonight, the local inhabitants were overactive in their communication. Many calls were exchanged in rapid succession.
And the explosion. A concussive blast of sizable magnitude brought the plains to a still hush. Everything seemed to be judging the severity of the threat. Another detonation sounded, this one louder than the last.
ASRU-001 quickly estimated the distance. The explosion was approximately four miles north. Less than three hours if the unit moved at standard pace. At an accelerated pace…
The risks were weighed.
Prolonged maximum acceleration could have an adverse wearing on joints and servos, and with no nearby rear areas. Mechanical failure was unacceptable. The unit should be avoiding damage. Its purpose was to survey, not rush towards potential hostile areas whilst unarmed. And even while being armed, it was an unnecessary risk.
Could it be a necessary risk?
It was to survey, observe.
It could observe the hostile actions, analyze troop movements and weapon performance. Enemy combat data was a hundred times more important than a few drill samples. This wasn't an unnecessary risk, after all. This was an opportunity, one that ASRU-001 was logically unwilling to give up.
Now to reach the location before the enemy could disengage..
The unit launched into a dead sprint, joints creaking with duress. The mapped terrain in the area was detailed enough to allow ASRU-001 to dash ahead without any danger of collision. Concealment was abandoned in favor of mobility. Anything with the slightest of hearing could pick up the thudding of metal against dirt, or the way the grasses parted as something bulldozed through them.
Fire on the horizon was the first to be seen. The fighting came second.
One half of the village was burning, riddled with craters and skewed debris. The other half was not too far off from joining its neighbor in being destroyed. Bright tracer fire shot across homes, piercing walls and bouncing off the ground. Tall contacts in bulky armor were running from place to place, firing at an unseen target. Shouting and screaming came from below.
Perched on an overlooking cliff, ASRU-001 watched the pandemonium unfold.
The contacts wore faded cyan armor and shared a similar weapon. A ballistic weapon. They seemed to have had training, as their rough formations and crude tactics showed. Training, that was quickly falling apart against an unknown enemy. One tripped over a fallen body, sprawling face first on the ground. Another fired their weapon haphazardly, nearly striking their own. Of this entire engagement, no civilians, living or dead, were seen.
ASRU-001 was not created to feel disappointment, not that it would want to. But it was more than capable at recognizing what was essentially sheer incompetence. The contacts were fit only to attack unarmed civilians. Confronted with a professional opponent, they would be quickly destroyed. Which was likely what was going on.
Poor coordination. Poor tactics. Poor performance overall.
An estimated forty eight contacts were in the village. Nearly a quarter were incapacitated or deceased. The rest were caught in between continuing their attack or retreating.
The defenders were nowhere to be seen, but picked off the contacts in a surprisingly short time. This wasn't an assault, this was a kill zone, and the attackers were being slaughtered.
The overwhelming thermal signatures of explosives forced ASRU-001 to switch off its enhanced imaging. The village was displayed in its full glory, becoming an impromptu light show in the deep night. Massive bonfires burned from piles of scrap was not long until the attacker's strength was all but gone. Except for a few survivors, the fighting was dying down.
The sky dotted with light.
Fiery streaks fell from above at immense speeds. Like a meteor shower, the blazing dots slammed into the earth. Plumes of dust puffed outwards, revealing.. reinforcements? ASRU-001 focused on the sudden explosion of movement from the impact site. New attackers in brownish yellow armor ran to join the fight, shooting as soon as the dust settled.
It didn't take long for the attentive unit to understand what had happened. Drop pods. These reinforcements had dropped from space. The pods they arrived in were still glowing from reentry.
Orbital troop deployment was barely out of the infant stage of conceptualization. The prohibitive costs of developing the necessary technology had killed the project before it could even begin..
ASRU-001 raised its threat level report.
These reinforcements were competent, unlike their blue painted brethren. They moved in tight formations, fanning out as they reached the fringes of the village. Well disciplined, it seemed that they would have a better chance at turning the tide of the battle. And the defenders revealed themselves.
The defender revealed itself.
Charging forward at speeds that blurred even in ASRU-001's optics, a single humanoid ran through the reinforcements. Cover or not, suppressing fire or none, the unlucky were dismembered. Blood and limb flew. The survivors tore from their cover and tried to put more distance between them and the ensuing death. They too, became nothing but pieces of gore.
A few bullets were fired in vain, the projectiles sparking harmlessly off of the humanoid.
As ASRU-001 was left attempting to process this chaotic influx of information, another wave of drop pods arrived. This time they were.. close. Too late, the unit turned to look up.. and was sent flying as a pod landed nearly right on it. Tumbling, ASRU-001 came to a rolling stop, making a shallow ditch in the process.
ASRU-001 was already getting to its feet when it detected movement. The second wave was on the move and ASRU-001 was in their path. Once again, the unit met the ground, hiding itself as best as it could. It was unarmed, completely.
The contacts were close enough for ASRU-001 to pick up their voices. The ground thumped as they ran by, wholly unaware to the unit's presence. They were shouting in an incomprehensible language, orders possibly? ASRU-001 was more concerned with evading detection than linguistics.
That and determine if anything critical had been damaged in the shockwave.
Nothing critical was damaged, nothing that could be found with a short diagnostic. Movement was unhindered, mostly.
A heavy object impacted the ASRU-001's side, throwing up integrity warnings. An audible grunt of surprise was heard, the culprit falling to the ground. Any chance of escape without detection was gone now.
A proper response was to be given.
Lunging up, ASRU-001 needed only a bare second to find the target, still getting to their feet. The target was covered entirely from head to toe in cumbersome armor, wearing a full faced helmet. Their hands were scrambling for a discarded rifle which rested on the ground. Should the target successfully rearm themselves, they would most likely attack ASRU-001 at first sight.
ASRU-001, however, had a moment of opportunity unlike the target who was still in the midst of recovering.
There was a 58% chance of failure if the ASRU-001 went for the weapon first. The target, with its considerably heavier bulk, could overpower the unit. ASRU-001 would have to disable or stun the target before taking the weapon. Add in a few seconds to determine proper operation..
The target had to be disabled first.
Seizing the initiative, ASRU-001 threw itself onto the target. Both fell to the ground in a struggle. One grunted and shouted in a coarse tongue while the other whined in the language of machinery. The target was stronger, noticeably. So ASRU-001 attacked the most apparent weak point: the head.
ASRU-001's body and limbs were a nightmarish synthesis of incompatible components made compatible. Its arms and chassis were sourced from various frontline support units. The heavy ordinance mounted on the salvaged arms had necessitated powerful hydraulics to maneuver and aim, hydraulics that were now at ASRU-001's disposal.
The unit made full use of them, smashing into the target's helmet with a powerful hammering strike. Metal creaked and the target jolted at the impact. No physical change. ASRU-001 struck its target again. A large dent appeared.
The helmet was giving away under the onslaught.
A third and final hit was delivered, presumably knocking out the target.
Untangling from the limp form, ASRU-001 approached the weapon. It was a drum magazine fed assault rifle, and from what ASRU-001 had seen, capable of automatic fire. The weapon shared features with contemporary designs, a poor derivative?
The bolt was easily located and the unit cycled the weapon. An unfired round popped out.. and lodged itself in the ejector port. A flawed design in unison with poor quality components had caused the failure. ASRU-001 pried the round out, inspecting it before turning to the target.
As ASRU-001 brought its newly found weapon to bear on its fallen target, a disagreement conjunction took place. Protocol dictated that it was not allowed to execute a surrendered combatant. Was this one a surrendered combatant?
The unit, through the entire confrontation, had been unable to properly identify the target with any recognizable insignia or IFF signature. Under established protocol, this one and the others would be unlawful combatants.
Unlawful combatants, unrecognized by any established organization, would be entirely exempt from any possibility of a prisoner of war classification. This one was also presumably related to the earlier massacre which left summary execution.
Without further deliberation, ASRU-001's metal digit closed in on the trigger in a sharp motion, letting loose a single round into the target's head. The shot rang out for the briefest of moments, a loud crack to be swallowed up in the cacophony of explosions and death.
ASRU-001 spared a glance at the village. The engagement was losing intensity, the prowess of the defender turning most into chunks of metal covered gore. The contacts were all but on the run, their reinforcements reduced to nothing.
This was a beneficial encounter.
Valuable data had been obtained and apart from the physical engagement, a plausible enemy had emerged. A well organized enemy up to par with a militia..
Or a military.
With the battle concluded, all that remained was to return to signaling range and deliver its gathered data.
Although.. the victorious defenders were likely to be a detriment to that objective. Crouching down and reducing its silhouette, the unit allowed its shrouded form to fade with the foliage. It watched for movement beyond its position and began to slowly inch its way towards safety, the mildly crisp grass crunching beneath its careful footfalls.
Blood flowed freely from the stilled bodies, crawling and twisting through the grooves in the metal studded dirt. What remained of the invaders was.. well.. not much.
"Ai yo.. what a mess.." One of the survivors, an elderly woman, grumbled at the dismembered pieces of Grineer scattered across the smoking remains of the village. She seemed more frustrated than fearful, a rather common trait amongst the Ostron who had been witness to the violence before.
The children on the other hand.. their mothers and fathers were inconspicuously covering their eyes in a poor attempt to spare them from the carnage.
"I want to se-" A child cried out, only to be hushed.
"You want to see nothing! This.. destruction will only leave a.."
The father's voice died off into silence, their eyes wide at not the carnage, but at the fire illuminated form approaching them.
A Tenno..
Legends to the Ostron for their inexplicable power.. and their.. helpful nature in ridding the Plains of the Grineer. It had been a while since anyone had heard of them.
Sheathing its blade, the Tenno came to a stop before the gathered villagers, entirely unaffected by the smoke that sifted around them. It waited.
And someone spoke up, taking charge of the wordless inquiry..
"We're fine! Mostly!" A raspy voice made itself physical in the form of a weary young man. It seemed that the 'young man' was more of a teenager but nobody was willing to point that it. They were lost between exhaustion and fear.
Fear at having almost lost their lives to the Grineer.. and to this mystical being.
The impromptu leader stumbled to the front, wiping his eyes.
"We're glad for your assistance.." The young man started, watching the Tenno warily. When no response came, he took it as a sign to continue. "It's been a while since anyone's heard of you.."
He trailed off, swallowing hard. Any confidence given through sheer adrenaline was beginning to drain away.
"He means that you're slacking off!" Someone shouted from the back.
"Wait wha- no!" His face turned red. "Its just.. really good to see a Tenno!"
The Tenno stared at him with an impregnable gaze.. and nodded slightly as if in acknowledgment. It turned its head sharply to look at something off in the distance, already reaching for its blade. It relented, hand gradually falling back to its side. What ever the threat, it was judged to be insignificant.
"Uh.." The Tenno turned back to face him.
"…Never mind."
The young man started to push his way back into the gathering, quickly disappearing.
With the last dredges of the threat seeping out of them, the villagers fanned out to salvage whatever survived the attack. The Tenno stood guard, of course, watching over them from a vantage point. Their savior, armored in bronze metal and true to its legend, stood vigilant.
For the first time since the nightmare began, the people were able to breathe freely without threat of death, albeit with the smoke nearly choking some of them. A miracle long thought to be a rumor come true.. perhaps not all was lost as previously thought.