This one is back up. Y'all know the drill, once again written by me.

"Sergeant Booth! Do you copy?" Havoc had no idea how long the commander had been trying to raise them on the comm. link, but he sounded like he was getting very fed up with the lack of response. He grabbed the receiver and placed a hand over the other ear so he could hear what the commander was saying and responded. "Status report, sergeant!" the commander shouted.

"Lance Corporal Havoc here, sir, Sergeant Booth is down and we're taking heavy casualties!" Corporal Havoc shouted back, "I don't know how much longer we can hold out sir, we're being overrun!"

"Hold your position," the commander ordered, "Wait for further instructions."

"What about the tenno?" Havoc questioned.

"Order the tenno to retreat," the commander said.

"But sir—!"

"You have your orders, marine!" the commander snarled. The comm. went dead and Havoc threw the receiver with a shout of frustration.

"Havoc?" Simmons asked nervously, having just finished helping Stock fill yet another glowing bomb with rifle fire.

"Are we getting reinforcements?" Stock asked, dropping down behind the barricade beside them.

"No," Havoc replied.

"What?!" Anya demanded.

"No reinforcements, tenno!" Havoc spat, "Your orders specifically are to retreat back to the command center. Just do your fucking job!"

"Yeah, I'll do my fucking job alright," Anya growled, then she vaulted the barrier and took off running as she ordered, "Cover me!"

"Anya, wait!" Stock hollered.

"Just do what I told you!" she shouted back, "Cover me and don't get shot!"

"Where do you think you're going?!" Havoc roared, "Get back to command!"

"Too late, man, she's gone," Simmons observed.

"Thanks, genius, I couldn't see that for myself!" snapped Havoc, "I sure hope she knows what she's fucking doing… Marines! Cover the tenno, do not, I repeat, do not let anything happen to her! She might be the only way we'll get out of this!"

"Instructions unclear, man, shot the tenno in the back," Simmons couldn't help himself, then at Havoc's furious glare he burst into laughter.

"Not funny, Simmons," Stock growled and punched his giggling friend hard in the shoulder, then he looked at Havoc. "We'll protect her or die trying," he said.

"Good, go," Havoc ordered.

Anya headed straight for the rebel lines, easy enough to find because they were practically surrounding the marines. She didn't know what she was planning to do, the only thought in her head at the moment was that the regiment had been denied reinforcements and that pretty much meant a death sentence for all of them. She didn't feel as if her life was worth all of theirs.

There were so many rebels and they had so many heavy weapons that the only thing she could do was also the most dangerous thing she could do. She was committed now though, it was the only way out for either herself or her unit and she slid to a stop just short of the rebel lines. There was a split second of indecision on the rebels' side which Anya used to clear her mind and focus completely on what she wanted, then as they resumed firing she sprang into motion.

With her mind wholly focused on keeping the marines and Stock in particular alive, she expelled a surge of energy into her left hand, made a fist, then threw a punch toward the ground, opening her hand at the last instant and letting the energy detonate. A wave of supercharged energy erupted from under her hand and radiated outward, rolling in all directions and charging every organic thing in range with antimatter.

There was a loud pop, and she felt the circuits in her frame begin to overload, the joints in the armor fusing and making movement impossible as the electronics fried. When it was over she could barely hear anything outside her helm, but she was able to tell that the fire from the rebel side of the field had been significantly slowed while the marines seemed to be just fine. She finally allowed herself to breathe, then gasped as she suddenly realized just how much she hurt.

The bolts digging into her were hot and they burned, the joints had frozen into an awkward position which was making her muscles cramp, and the circuits in the arms of her warframe had burned clear through the sleeves of her body suit to her skin. The worst part was that she could barely feel anything below her lower back and she knew that she probably wouldn't walk out of here, assuming she could even get out of the warframe. She really hoped someone would come and help her out of the thing soon…

Stock motioned for Simmons to follow him, then he and the other marine moved to a better position and began firing on the rebels. He had no idea what Anya had planned, or even if there was a plan, but he did know that he and the rest of the marines needed to keep her alive. If she died then their squad, and likely the whole unit, would be sent to the firing squad. Despite how most of the marines treated her, Stock knew she wouldn't want that for any of them.

The two of them continued to lay down suppressing fire as Anya made it to the rebel lines and then stopped. The next thing they knew she seemed to explode in a cloud of vibrant pink energy and Simmons grabbed onto Stock before he could go after her and dragged both of them to the ground as the shockwave hit their position.

"Get off me," Stock ordered as he scrambled back to his feet.

"Hey, it was all I had time for!" Simmons retorted.

"You're right," Stock forced himself to give in, "Wait a minute, does that sound… off, to you?"

"The rebels aren't firing as much," Simmons agreed, "Come on, let's check it out!"

"Wait, damn it!" Stock shouted, but Simmons had already jumped over the barricade and headed toward where they had last seen Anya.

"Hey, Stock, whatever she did slowed them way down, they can't hit shit!" Simmons turned around to shout at him, "Come take a look!"

Stock didn't even get the chance to respond, apparently all the rebels had needed was for the marine to stand still. A single gunshot rang out and Simmons dropped like a marionette with its strings cut. Stock immediately returned fire, along with every other marine who was able, and the battlefield lit up once again in a blaze of pink light. When the glow died down for the second time Stock vaulted the barricade and first checked his fellow marine.

"Aw, Simmons, what the fuck were you thinking?" Stock sighed as he inspected the wound.

"Don't know," Simmons choked, "Don't waste time on me, go rescue your tenno… I'm not going to make it, but you… you still have a chance. You make it through this fucking war, and you change this fucked up world!"

"Shut up," Stock ordered, "You're going home with honors."

"Ha! Guys like me don't get honors," Simmons managed a harsh laugh, "Just save the tenno, you bastard."

"You're an ass, Simmons," Stock whispered.

"Yeah, fuck you too," Simmons coughed.

"I'll be back," Stock promised him.

"Sure," Simmons chuckled.

Stock gripped his friend's hand, then stood and ran to where the warframe had been ever since the bizarre explosion. It was split open all the way up the back, but not enough for Anya to fit through apparently. Even if the split had been wide enough, a closer inspection revealed that she wouldn't have been able to get through it without help anyway. The joints had all melted to slag and fused into place as they were and there was a smell of burnt electronics, plastics, and flesh.

"Anya?" he asked, circling the frame.

"Stock? Is… Is that you?" she panted, her voice muffled.

"Yeah, it's me," he assured her, "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I… I think so, for now. I feel a little lightheaded and I can't see," she replied breathlessly, "I don't think this frame was meant for what I did…"

"Alright, hang on, I'm going to get you out of there," he replied, "Is there a bolt or something, a lever I can't see?"

"If there was it's probably melted," she told him, "Just break it."

"Not yet," Havoc interrupted as he came to where they were and offered Stock a radio receiver and a toolbox, "The guy who built the thing is on the line, he asked us not to destroy it if we could help it."

"I think it's already pretty much destroyed," Stock informed him, "I can barely hear her and I think she's having trouble breathing."

"Well, he didn't want it ripped apart. He does have instructions for getting it open though," Havoc said, "Congrats, looks like you'll be the first to see her face in close to a year."

"Five!" Anya spat, "Get me out of this fucking thing!"

"Maybe we should wait for her to pass out," Havoc said cautiously. There was a sound of metal twisting and a plate fell off one arm to land smoldering on the ground.

"Yeah, I think that's a no," Stock said, accepting the receiver and toolbox as he said, "Private Woodstock, Third Marine infantry regiment, Third Squad, you asked for me, sir?"

"Yes," a wheezing, elderly sounding voice responded, "I understand you're the only one who's willing to go near my tenno."

"I wouldn't know, sir, I only do what I'm told," Stock said carefully.

"Yes, yes, you and every other ham-handed, thick-witted marine out there," the man grumbled, "Wouldn't know a work of art if it was painted on your face."

"I apologize, sir," Stock said, not sure what else he could say.

"Alright, just shut up and pay attention," the scientist snapped, suddenly all business, "You said you think she's having trouble breathing?"

"Yes, sir," Stock confirmed, "And her voice is muffled, almost can't hear her."

"Alright, what you want to do first is take the helmet off," the scientist instructed, "Gently, you hear? That frame wasn't cheap and we need enough of it left intact to study so we can figure out why it blew up."

"Got it, sir," Stock said.

"Good," the man said, "Now, look it over, there should be two bolts, one on each side, plus two latches on the back and on the front. Remove the bolts, then flip the latches open."

"The bolts are fused, sir, I can't budge them," Stock told him, "The latches are completely gone, melted off I guess."

"What have you marines been doing to my tenno?!" the scientist demanded.

"Nothing, sir," Stock replied, "Is there another way to get this off?"

"No, that was how the helmet worked," the scientist told him, "It's really too bad, she was good, really good. Still, she isn't the only tenno of her type that we have. If you can't get the helm off it's no giant catastrophe. We'll just lose one tenno and have to start over again."

"Sir, you can't expect me to just—"

"Leave it," the scientist ordered, "We'll pick it up when we have the chance." The line went dead and Stock stood there thinking for several seconds.

"Stock…" Anya didn't sound like she was doing very well at all.

"It's alright, Anya, I'm going to get you out of there," he soothed, "Stay with me, alright? You've got this." He handed the receiver back to Havoc and went to trying to pry the helm apart.

"You heard what he said," Havoc protested.

"Yeah, he expects me to let her suffocate," Stock said, "I'm not going to let her die like this."

"Alright, but it's your ass in the sling if this goes to hell," Havoc growled.

"I can't just walk away, Havoc, you know that," Stock told him.

"Yeah, I do," Havoc said, "Get her out if you can. Maybe she's not out of miracles for you today." Havoc walked away and Stock pulled a crowbar out of the tool box.

"Ok, this might be a little loud," he warned her. He wedged the crowbar under the lip where the rim of the helm met the neck of the armor and started to pull. The metal groaned and squeaked, but at first it wouldn't budge. He tried applying more pressure and at first it seemed to work, but then it gave and Anya let out a yelp, causing him to drop the crowbar. "What happened?" he asked.

"It's bending," she whimpered, "Stock, it hurts…"

"Ok, I won't do that again, calm down," he said softly, "Try not to panic, you'll only run out of air faster."

"I'm scared," she panted.

"I know, just try to relax," he soothed, "I know that isn't easy, I'm scared too. Just hold on, alright?"

"Please don't leave me," she begged.

"I promise I won't leave you," he assured her.

He inspected the dent he'd made in the neck of the armor and discovered that he might be able to fit a pair of bolt cutters into the space, and if he could just get it started it wouldn't take more than a few seconds to get the helm off. He started digging through the tool box looking for bolt cutters, but found a plasma cutter instead. Well he could work with that, but he would have to be extremely careful so as to avoid hitting Anya with the beam. He dialed it down to the lowest effective setting then placed a hand on the helm.

"Ok, I think I have a plan," he told her, "I need you to tell me immediately if you feel uncomfortable, got it?"

"O…o…ok," she sounded like she was barely conscious at this point.

He started up the plasma cutter and ran the beam around the edge of the helm two or three times, finally managing to get through the metal on the fourth time around. He took his time, making sure not to hit Anya with the beam from the plasma cutter, and finally the helm popped off. She gasped, then sat there panting for several minutes before she finally managed to get her breathing under control.

"You're alright now, Anya, just breathe," he said softly, "Just breathe."

"I… I… I can… Oh, Stock…" she whimpered, "It hurts, please get it off…"

"I know, Anya, I'm sorry, just try to hang on for a little bit longer," he said, "Hang on, I'm getting it off."

He gently ran a hand over her cheek then applied the plasma cutter to the collar of the frame and finally cut it off. He then brushed her hair out of the way so he could see her neck. The bent collar had given her a pretty bad bruise, he just hoped that it wouldn't do any permanent harm to her. She seemed to be breathing easier at any rate, and as he began cutting away the back plates of the warframe she visibly relaxed, although he did notice that her muscles were still trembling slightly.

Once he had a wide enough opening for her body to fit through he began working out how to get the rest of the armor opened up so he could free her limbs without injuring her. He decided to get her right arm free first, since it was the one currently most likely to be causing her discomfort. It had frozen right in the middle of her motion to detonate the explosion that had won them the battle. Her hand was fused around her rifle and her whole arm was twisted up behind her at an awkward angle. The individual parts of the rifle had all melted together so he was forced to cut it apart.

It wasn't until he pried the metal glove away from her hand that he discovered the reason for the smell of burnt skin. He tried to be as gentle as possible but she was still sobbing by the time he'd finished pealing the plates away from her. Her right arm was badly burned all the way up past her elbow and when he started on her left he found it was equally badly injured. The end of the process proved to be the most tricky, he ended up having her lean against him while he pried the legs of the frame open and then carefully extricated her own legs from it. Her feet and calves were burned almost as badly as her hands and arms, but she didn't react at all when he finally pulled her completely free of the wrecked warframe.

"Anya, I need you to tell me something," he said.

"W-what?" she asked.

"Can you feel this? What I'm doing right now?" he asked, carefully placing a hand on one of her feet.

"Only that you're touching me," she said, her voice trembling, "What I can feel just hurts…"

"Alright, Anya, I'm going to pick you up and carry you back," he told her, wrapping an arm around her and holding her to support her weight, "Now, are you ready?"

She nodded then rested her head against his shoulder. He picked her up bridal style, gently cradling her against him as he carefully began picking his way across the bomb-cratered battlefield, and now he finally had the time to properly look at her.

"You glow," he voiced the surprise he'd been holding in since finally getting her helmet off, then he mentally kicked himself. Maybe she didn't want to be told that.

"Y-yeah," she replied, "It's because…because I'm a tenno…"

"You're…" he stopped. He had been going to tell her she was beautiful, and to him right now she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, but she was already upset and he didn't want to make her feel worse.

"I'm what..?" she prodded, then her voice went almost silent as she suggested, "A monster..?"

"No! Never that," he shook his head and he couldn't help tightening his grip slightly, "You are not a monster, Anya. Never think that…"

"Then…what?" she finally ventured. She was slightly taken aback by his emphatic denial that she was a monster. She had expected him to just shrug and say nothing.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable," he told her after a fairly long silence.

"I can't get more uncomfortable than I already am," she mumbled, "Everything hurts and I can't even walk…"

"I'm sorry," he said as he slightly averted his eyes. Smooth, Woodstock, he thought to himself, She's already feeling miserable, and here you are, not helping. He took a deep breath then hesitantly began, "I just meant… Anya, you're my friend. I don't want anything to ruin that."

Anya was silent for a long moment while she thought that over. She decided that, if he was that concerned, then she didn't need to know what he was about to say. She was just glad that he'd cared enough to rescue her.

"Thank you," she said, her voice still quiet.

"You're welcome," he told her, and she caught the barest hint of a smile before he turned his attention to where he was putting his feet.

He was so absorbed with the effort to avoid hurting her more that it took him nearly thirty minutes to get her back to the base. The entire regiment had made it back before him, and when he finally came onto the parade ground carrying Anya he found himself facing not just the unit commander but Anya's handler and a man who could only be the scientist he'd spoken with over the comm. link. Well this didn't look good.

"What is this?!" the commander demanded, "Why have you disobeyed your orders, marine?!"

"I had to, sir," Stock said, desperately trying to hide his nervousness.

"What have you done with my warframe?" snapped the scientist.

"Still on the field, sir," Stock answered.

"Commander, I protest this gross dereliction of duty!" the scientist yelled, "This man should be punished to the full extent of the law, made to work off the cost of equipment destroyed, tarred and feathered!"

"The standard penalty for disobeying a direct order is death by firing squad," the commander growled, "Officer, take this man and Corporal Havoc away, then round up the rest of the squad. I'm disappointed in you, private."

"Wait, sir, you can't just kill them!" Anya protested, and her hold on Stock tightened that much more.

"That's the law, tenno," the commander replied testily.

"But I would be dead without them," Anya told him.

"You wouldn't have been in any danger at all if orders had been delivered properly!" the commander turned to glare at Havoc as he said this.

"But he gave me the orders!" Anya finally raised her voice above a whisper, "I just ignored them! It's not his fault, please don't punish the marines for what I did…"

"Is this true, corporal?" the commander snapped, rounding on Havoc.

"Y-yes, sir," Corporal Havoc stammered, quite frankly surprised the commander had addressed him at all.

"Commander…" Anya's voice had dropped again to a labored whisper, but he still heard her. When the commander turned back to face her she begged, "Please don't punish them…"

The commander was about to respond angrily, and Anya's handler was looking mildly annoyed himself, but finally the scientist spoke up.

"This young man did manage to rescue my tenno, and therefore I won't be forced to start completely over, despite the fact that my warframe is now lying in bits on a torn up battlefield," he said thoughtfully as he circled the two of them and came to stand directly in front of Stock, "Are you worth her faith in you marine?"

"I hope so, sir," Stock replied.

"Well then, I suppose that is all I can really ask for," he said dismissively, gesturing for his aides to bring a bio-bed to where Stock stood holding Anya. Stock started to set her down, but she refused to let go of him.

"Promise me nothing will happen to them," she insisted, staring around at the commanders and others who were standing there, "I want you to log it into the records that you won't punish them!"

"It is a simple request, commander, is it not? You can manage that, yes?" the scientist questioned, looking the regiment commander straight in the eye.

"Of course," he said grudgingly. He took a data pad from one of his own aides, made a note on it, then handed it back to the man after copying it to a blank holo-disk and handing the disk to the scientist as he said, "For the record, Dr. Slater, this is highly irregular. I cannot guarantee this sort of special treatment for every offense."

"It is not necessary for every offense," Dr. Slater huffed dismissively, "Only for this one. Now, marine, if you would?"

He motioned for Stock to set Anya down again, and this time she didn't resist. She simply didn't have the energy any longer. She somehow managed to get across to him that she intended to see him again, but he felt it was safer to not hope, only to wait and see what would happen. He would have been lying though if he had said he wasn't hoping that somehow she would come back to their unit.