Fanfiction - The Lephantis Strain

[Destro6677]

Hello everyone,

 

I used to write actively on the forums but gave up due to real life duty. It's been a long time since my last piece and I hope you enjoy this one.

 

The timeline for this story takes place in the declining phase of Mars, before the disaster that forced the Tenno to go into cold sleep. Although not much of this is official canon, I've been carrying this version of the Warframe universe around in my head for a long time, and have yet to finish it. If any of you really liked reading this and want to read more, do look at 'Things Best Left Forgotten'.

 

To old forum friends, no, I am not done yet, and if I can find the time, I will write more. 

 

Cheers,

Destro

Edited October 19, 2014 by Destro6677

[Destro6677]

Part 1

 

Yumar shielded his eyes against the glow of the setting sun, and shifted his gaze to the space battle going on a few hundred kilometers to the West. A Grineer cruiser was locked in battle with two smaller Martian corvettes. Lances of plasma fire and arcing missiles exploded among the clouds of Mars upper atmosphere, causing chains of bright lights in the sky.

 

'It's beautiful, isn't it. I wish the Lunar Festivals could continue.'

 

'No point in getting sentimental Yumar. We have a job to do.'

 

Yumar turned to his cellmate, Jinna, clad in a black Mag warframe. Yumar towered over her in his Oberon. Yumar's black horned helmet always felt heavy before an assignment. With a grunt, he put it on, and felt a wealth of information flood his senses. Grudgingly, he took his time checking the Boar, Aklatos and Silva sword that made up his arsenal, then strapped the Aegis to his forearm.

 

'I'm ready. How's our new recruit holding up?'

 

'He's still in a funk. Ever since he washed out of the admissions exams to Katai Academy, he's basically sat around doing nothing but weapons checks and ammo loading. An android would be more useful to us.' whispered Jinna venomously over the private comm.

 

'Give him a chance, Jinna. The boy's had one of the greatest opportunities of his life stifled by a High Clan. You can't fault him for shutting down like that.'

 

'I will not put myself in harm's way to defend a spoiled brat like him. Opportunities come and go. We have to make the best of any bad situation. If he slips up today, you can pull his &#! out of the fire, because I won't.'

 

'Jinna', rumbled Yumar. 'Remember what happened to Robehr'

 

'That's exactly why I won't move a finger! It's my fault Robehr's gone. I can't let it happen again. Not for someone as arrogant as this child!'

 

'Jinna, please.'

 

'No, Yumar! Please yourself! I will not be put in this situation again!'

 

'You can't deny the past. It catches up to you. And when it does, it takes a bite out of your rear end.'

 

'Not today. I owed Robehr my life, and I didn't return the favor.'

 

Jinna stalked away to berate their new recruit. Yumar sighed and got up slowly from the chunk of rubble he had been sitting on. It was going to be a long night.

 

'Shoten! Get up boy! We don't have all day! Do you have a reading on the target yet?'

 

'I have had about enough of you Jinna! Remember who you are speaking to!' snarled the Nyx. 'My father could have your head on a platter if I asked him to.'

 

'Right. Your father is going to censure me, a member of a special task force, on the word of his son who failed to enter the best mental warfare academy on Mars. I'm shocked', retorted Jinna.

 

'Nazai Academy is right up there! I'm sure by the end of this war, we will surpass Katai!', Shoten lashed out defensively.

 

Jinna leaned in toward Shoten and whispered 'Still second best.'

 

Shoten lunged at Jinna, a powerful roundhouse punch that sent him hurtling forwards. Jinna dodged it easily and tripped him. Shoten's feet flailed on air, and he dropped in the red dust. He scrambled back up, itching for a fight.

 

'Stop it, both of you!' roared Yumar, putting his big body in between the combatants. 'I'm not sure either of you realize how much trouble we are in! Stop fighting and work together, or we might all be dead by this time tomorrow!'

 

'I spit at your feet, Jinna. When this is over, we will settle this in the dojo' spoke Shoten in cold fury.

 

'Always welcome, child. Come taste my skana any day. I'll be happy to relieve you of your less useful appendages. After all, a telepath like yourself only needs his head to be useful.'

 

Yumar struggled to hold back the raging youth.

 

'Jinna, go check our entry point.'

 

As Shoten raged at Jinna's retreating back, Yumar pulled him aside.

 

'Shoten. Calm down. Look at me boy!', Yumar shook the black armored Nyx roughly. 'That's better. Now, you were chosen for this mission for your unique talents. I am hoping to make you part of our team. I can't do that if you are always fighting Jinna.'

 

Shoten looked Yumar in the face silently for a few moments.

 

'Make no mistake about it, young blood. If i catch you disrespecting your senior officer one more time, I will personally make you regret it. Your father has put me in charge of you, and I intend to bring you home safely. You will obey my orders without question. Do you understand?'

 

Shoten's shoulders stiffened, and then relaxed. 'Yes sir'.

 

'Have you seen the last member of our cell?'

 

'She's been waiting around the corner for thirty chronocycles.'

[zavienh5]

cheers

[Destro6677]

Part 2

 

Yumar sighed and stepped around the wall of a long-demolished storage shed to face the orange-patterned Ember waiting there.

 

'Kouran Inoue?'

 

'Yes. Yumar Hassad?'

 

'The same. Come meet the team.'

 

After a brief greeting to Shoten, Kouran walked with him and Yumar toward a massive access hatch set in a collapsed wall. Jinna was already there, keying orders into a dataslate.

 

'I know this might be hard for you, but my cell needs to know what they'll be up against.' spoke Yumar.

 

'I understand, sir.' replied Kouran, shouldering her Ignis.

 

'The hatch is safe.' said Jinna as the three Tenno drew closer.

 

'Good job Jinna. Kouran has something to tell you. Shoten, listen up!'

 

'I know you don't know me well, brothers, sister. But when I found out you were being assigned to track down Baskov, I knew that I had to join you.'

 

Yumar could see that Jinna was about to say something, and cut her off with a wave of his hand. Shoten was fidgeting.

 

'Baskov has always been a dear friend. He and I fought together on Landing Day. I'm sure you know why he means so much to me.'

 

The Tenno nodded, remembering that terrible day when a shield generator had fallen, paving the way for a drop pod assault of elite grineer into the capital. That had given the Grineer a foothold on Mars, one that had enabled them to push back the Martian forces, and eventually destroy the Tower of the Lotus.

 

'Just a galactic week ago, we were cut off from our cell by a regiment of Grineer. Baskov told me to run, but I would not leave him to die. He charged the Grineer regiment, and leveled an entire city block by himself. I'd never seen anything like it.

 

Kouran paused, struggling to find the right words for what she wanted to express. Yumar gently motioned for her to continue.

 

'Baskov had not been the same for a long time since we fought on Landing Day. He only seemed truly happy when he was fighting. When he returned from the slaughter of the Grineer regiment, he did not speak to us. When we woke in the morning, he was gone, along with his warframe and weapons.'

 

'Kouran is along on this mission because she has a stake in it, and she may be our best chance of getting Baskov back unharmed.' spoke Yumar.

 

'Thank you for agreeing to take me along, Sergeant Hassad.'

 

Yumar merely nodded his agreement.

 

'Alright, listen up. I want this done clean and by the books. For Kouran's benefit, I will repeat the mission briefing. Baskov is somewhere nearby, underground. We will be travelling in the maintanence tunnels. Simply put, expect the unexpected. I will lead, Shoten will be behind me. After him goes Kouran. Jinna, you're on rear guard duty. No one shoots unless we have a confirmed contact. That said, watch each others backs in there. We have all kinds of things down there. Homeless, mutants, maybe some wildlife, and possibly Ronin. Any questions?'

 

'Sir, what if we do have a confirmed contact?' asked Shoten.

 

'Shoot to kill.'

 

'What of Baskov, sir?' asked Kouran.

 

'Baskov may have gone rougue. We will only hold fire if Shoten confirms it is him.'

 

'But Shoten doesn't know Baskov like I do. How will he know it's him?'

 

'Shoten has a unique telepathic gift. I can't say much more. It's classified.' replied Yumar. 'Alright, infrared scanners active, weapons hot. We're going in.'

[Destro6677]

Part 3

 

As the final rays of the setting sun beamed through a slit of the closing access hatch, Jinna turned to watch it sink below the horizon. It was her private ritual every time the cell took to the field, so that if she were to die in the darkness, she would at least keep the beauty of pure light as her last living thought. As she walked away, the hatch slammed shut with a booming clang, with all the finality of a mausoleum gate.

 

The cell walked for hundreds of chronocycles in the darkness. Guided by Shoten's telepathy, they avoided nests of mutant beasts, gangs of homeless Martians, displaced by the war, and even once came to a complete stop as a silent presence glided past on the other side of a vertical drop. Yumar identified it as a Ronin sentry, and the cell made even less noise as they took a detour.

 

The tunnel walls were lined with pipes, carrying water and energy to various parts of Mars. The walls were by turn cool and hot to the touch. Some had luminous fungi growing on them. Chitinous life forms scuttled in and out of sight, sometimes pausing to observe the cell with multifaceted eyes. Once, the cell passed beneath a bar of some sort, and the walls shook to the beat of heavy music. Another time, they heard gunfire.

 

Yumar ordered the cell to pick up the pace when Shoten told the squad that Baskov was moving. As they followed Shoten's directions, the tunnels became so narrow that sometimes they were forced to shut off their shields and scrape noisily by on bare armor. Abruptly, the single tunnel they had been following branched out in two separate directions. Yumar and Jinna began to argue over which way to go.

 

'Quiet!', yelled Shoten over the intercom.

 

Yumar and Jinna stopped immediately.

 

'It's coming this way' muttered Shoten.

 

'What's coming this way?' questioned Kouran.

 

Then, a great rumbling roar echoed up from the tunnels, and their world exploded in a shower of rubble and dust. Through the falling debris, Yumar glimpsed a massive figure, twisted beyond recognition, smash through the intersection corridor, leaving a huge hole in its wake. Yumar barely had time to get his Aegis up before he was lifted off his feet.The blow flung Yumar twenty feet backwards where he landed heavily on the tunnel floor. Praising the Orokin, Yumar pressed his palm to the floor and laid down a burning strip of Void energy.

 

'Shoten!' Yumar roared, unholstering his Boar and charging back to the front line.

 

A high pitched screech came in response. Shoten was being dragged feet first into a large crack in the wall of the tunnel. Kouran, standing on the end of the Void energy, was barely able to keep him from sliding further with her arms wrapped around his waist.

 

'Do you trust me?' yelled Jinna, who was firing into the crack with her Boltor.

 

Shoten screamed back 'Get me out of here!'

 

'Kouran, let go!'

 

'You *@##$!'

 

Shoten's swearing was cut off by a whimper of pain as he was yanked from the crack by Jinna's pull. Yumar caught Shoten with a full body tackle, and gently laid him on the floor. The roar of Jinna's Boltor filled the air as she emptied an entire clip into the crack.

 

When the dust from the ceiling and the smell of burnt propellant had subsided, Yumar took stock of their situation. Jinna was enraged that she had let the enemy get the drop on her, Shoten was in shock, and Kouran was aggressively silent.

 

'I can't feel my legs' said Shoten.

 

'You've just dislocated them. Be happy you're still alive', spoke Yumar quietly.

 

Jinna marched towards Yumar, her gait quick and angry. 'We can't let it get that close again', came her remark.

 

'We won't. We'll be slowed down, but it knows we're here. We can't fight in these corridors though. Not with Shoten injured like this.  Can you stand, Shoten?'

 

Shoten made a supreme effort to stand, but had to be helped up by Yumar.

 

'Nyx should compensate for me', Shoten's breath came in ragged gasps. 'We need to catch it, before it gets to the surface.'

Part 4

 

'You owe me some answers.' spoke Kouran indignantly from the shadows.

 

'I'll tell you everything once this is over', rumbled Yumar in a tone of voice that said he was not going to argue the point.

 

'You'll tell me now, or I won't go further with you!' Kouran had ignited a fireball in one hand.

 

'Don't you even think of attacking my Sergeant', Jinna menaced, cocking her Boltor and aiming it squarely at Kouran.

 

'Tell me what's going on now, or I'll fill this tunnel with so much flame it'll vent to the surface'.

 

'Silence!' roared Yumar.

 

A trickle of dust fell from the ceiling.

 

'Very well. I'll tell you the truth Kouran. We think that Baskov's gone rogue, and that was Baskov.'

 

'Why would Baskov try to kill us?' asked Kouran.

 

'It's Rhino battle madness. The old Rhino families have a history of berserking, and it seems that Baskov has gone into a blood rage. Our only chance of breaking him out of it without killing him was you.' spoke Yumar.

 

'Give me a good reason why I should believe you.'

 

'You don't have a choice'.

 

'Alright Yumar. I'll play along with you. But lie to me again, and you're a dead man. My cellmate's life is on the line, and I know Baskov. He wouldn't turn against his own.'

 

Kouran walked away from Yumar and looked into the crack. 'Looks like an old cargo loading center. We'll have more space down there'.

 

Without waiting for a reply, Kouran dropped into the crack, and was gone from view.

 

'You didn't tell her the whole truth.' spoke Jinna over a private comm channel.

 

'That would break her. We need her strong, at least until Baskov shows himself. When that time comes, it's down to the both of us'.

Part 5

 

Yumar touched Shoten gently and the green glow of healing energy filled the tunnel and distorted his infrared vision.

 

'Can you walk?'

 

Shoten moaned and got to his feet unsteadily. Yumar noticed that his Nyx was tightening around his hips. With a dull crack, something reset itself. Shoten fell against the wall, his thin figure wracked with pain.

 

'Easy, easy there' spoke Yumar gently.

 

Shoten pushed off the wall, and using his Soma as a crutch, hobbled over to Jinna, who was checking her Boltor.

 

'Jinna, I owe you my life. Thank you.'

 

Jinna whirled towards Shoten, and Yumar knew that behind her helmet, she had one eyebrow raised to her hairline.

 

'Don't let yourself get grabbed by big scary monsters that often. I won't always be around to save you, kid.' she replied with uncharacteristic gruffness.

 

Yumar, helped Shoten hobble down through the slope of gravel on the other side of the crack while Jinna kept watch. Once there, they linked up with Kouran, who had scouted further into the cargo bay. The gray shapes of cargo loaders and stacked crates loomed in the gloom, every shadow large enough to hide their enemy.

 

'Sergeant, I sense something. Over there', said Shoten.

 

The cell approached the wrecked cargo bay door with apprehension. Something had forced the doors apart, with massive strength. The doors themselves had been pummeled out of shape, and there were scalloped edges in the seam. On the floor was a massive footprint etched into the metal.

 

'That damned stench' spat Jinna.

 

'Filters and lights on, cell. We're going in there', replied Yumar.

 

Kouran recoiled in disgust at what she saw once the squad had passed the broken doors. The interior of the cargo bay was a charnel house. The broken bodies of Grineer and Martians were strewn about the room. Many were missing limbs, or had their guts or necks torn open. Heavy armor plating and weapons were strewn about the floor like debris. Yet more corpses were suspended from the ceiling in hideous parody of natural cave formations, some still dangling intestines that dripped blood on to the floor. Fungi glowing in noxious shades of green and purple sprouted from some of the corpses.

 

'What is going on here?' spoke Kouran menacingly.

 

And then a corpse near her twitched. It was a Grineer trooper, his chest a mass of crushed flesh and bone splinters. The entire left side of his face was a glowing mass of purple fungi. He hacked up a great glob of phlegm mixed with blood, and spoke in a wet rattle.

 

'Please, end it. I beg you, Tenno. End me.'

 

The Grineer's body began to spasm. Bones cracked as they twisted and rearranged themselves. New limbs pushed free of the corpse's ribcage, and grew before Kouran's eyes. Spurts of blood erupted from the corpse, soaking Kouran's Ember. A tumor exploded, showering her with ichor. But the gruesome transformation would not be completed. As life left the Grineer's eyes, Kouran drew her heat sword and bisected the squirming mass of flesh.

 

'No!'

 

The shout came too late from Yumar. An inhuman scream issued from the corpse, which released a cloud of burning spores as it shuddered and died. Around the room, luminous clouds of purple and green tinged spores rose from their fungi and hovered around the cell.

 

'Torch them all!' ordered Yumar.

 

Kouran gladly complied, scorching thousands of the spores mid-flight. More of the corpses began to twist, wracked by some internal mutation. Kouran allowed herself a moment of intense hatred as she allowed her Ember to fill the room with liquid fire. When the blaze had run its course, she saw Yumar, Shoten and Jinna huddled inside a shield bubble of Jinna's creation.

 

'You really could have done it', remarked Jinna, dropping the shield.

 

All around the cargo hold, blackened corpses were sagging and turning to ash. The cell was turning to leave, when they heard the rumble of heavy footsteps.

 

'I'll hold it off!' yelled Kouran as she ran for the doors.

 

'She'll be killed out there!' exclaimed Jinna.

 

'Not if we're with her!' rumbled Yumar, unsheathing his Silva. 

[Destro6677]

Part 6

 

Yumar gently laid Shoten on the floor, and turned back for a quick reminder.

 

Pressing a Lato into Shoten's hands, Yumar said 'Keep your suit sealed. If we don't come back for you, know that I have failed my mission. You know what to do if that happens.'

 

Shoten nodded gravely and gave Yumar an archaic gesture, a fist curled with his thumb stuck straight up.

 

Yumar and Jinna boiled out of the cargo bay and into the center chamber. There, squatting amongst the containers in the chamber, was the monstrous figure from before. Yumar recognized the telltale signs of technocyte corruption. Its body was massively swollen at a height of twelve feet, and it had a chitinous hide. Worse, it was thrumming with Void energy. Kouran was cautiously approaching it, Ignis drawn and ready.

 

Yumar signalled a battle plan to Jinna. He ran along the side of a cargo container, aiming to drop on the creature's neck and hit it in the spinal cord. However, as he anticipated, it was not going to work out. As Jinna pummeled the creature with bolt rounds from some fifty meters away, Yumar made the jump, and was swatted away by the beast at the last second.

 

'Baskov, Baskov, if you're in there, stop! We came to help you!' shouted Kouran.

 

Her plea did not affect the creature in the slightest. It rounded on Yumar, and swung its heavy fists at him. Yumar's Aegis cracked under the blow and he somersaulted sideways. The creature charged past him on all fours, bellowing for blood.

 

'That's not Baskov! Take it out, before it kills Yumar!' yelled Jinna into Kouran's ear.

 

Kouran reacted by turning her Ignis on the creature, which continued to chase Yumar. As the intensity of the flame built, Kouran noticed that its chitin was flaking off, and used a burst of Void energy to augment the flames of her Ignis. She turned her head as a blur sped past her. It was Jinna, who was still peppering the creature with bolts.

 

As the creature's chitin evaporated, Kouran was surprised to notice that the bolts were striking a shield. The creature suddenly reared up and lifted one pillar-like leg. Kouran was about to shout a warning, when she saw the creature visibly strain to bring its leg down. Shoten had joined the fight, and was hobbling towards them, head held high in concentration. Jinna had finished casting her power, and a sudden pop of displaced air and the smell of ozone meant the creature's shields had dissipated.

 

'Now, Yumar! Do it!' screamed Jinna.

 

Yumar raised his arms wide, and the creature was airborne. Then, he brought them down, and the creature was smashed into the floor with a sickening crunch. Roaring in rage, Yumar leapt on to the creature, and sliced it open from throat to groin. A shriek of pain escaped it's throat, and then, deafening silence.

 

Shoten swayed for a moment, and collapsed in a heap on the floor. Jinna ran to him, while Yumar wiped his Silva on the creature's hide. Kouran walked up to the creature, and angled her head towards Yumar.

 

'What was this thing, and why didn't it attack me?'

 

Yumar did not have time to answer. A crackling noise came from the corpse, and the charred line down its body split apart in a burst of ichor. Yumar was impaled by two razor tipped tentacles that speared through his shoulders. Grunting in pain, he was thrown against a cargo container and slid to the floor. The creature that emerged from the carcass was quicker than Kouran could see, but she instinctively struck out at it with her heat sword. Before it could reach Yumar, its legs and tentacles had been severed from its body. The tentacle stumps writhed for a moment, then withdrew into its back. And Kouran came face to face with the creature.

 

It was all hard edges and spines, a predatory profile on spindly legs. A perfect killer. Its glimmering bioluminescence was like a sea of stars. Its jet black chitin was as burnished as a warframe. And stretched tightly across its skull were the features of Baskov.

 

Kouran sank to her knees and cradled the creature in her arms.

 

'Baskov, Baskov, why?'

 

The creature rasped, a dying breath. And in its guttural snarls, it spoke a human language.

 

'Power. Godlike. Baskov kill Grineer. Kill bad men. Make Mars safe. Baskov love war. Love Rhino. Rhino told Baskov to always fight. Then Baskov strong. Baskov make new friends. No hurt Kouran.'

 

Kouran stroked the deformed creature and held it until it stopped struggling.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Destro6677

[Destro6677]

Epilogue

 

The acolyte stepped through the door, and respectfully closed it behind him. The room was in total darkness, and he could not see his master, who was seated in a great throne behind a vast desk of polished wood. Both were made from the wood of Orokin forests on Terra, a testament to their owner’s wealth.

 

The great Tenno did not stir. But his slow whispering voice carried to the acolyte just the same.

 

'What was the outcome of the test?'

 

'Over 450 casualties within three standard galactic days, my lord'

 

'Excellent. Leave me.'

 

The acolyte hastened to exit the room, his gold-and-black robes swirling around him.

 

The Tenno waited a few moments after the door had shut, then activated a holo-display on his desk. He typed orders into a data handler and then sat back to wait. A beeping noise issued from the display, and then the face of another Tenno came up on the display.

 

This elderly Tenno had stern and merciless features, a mouth like a grim slash, with jagged cropped and sculpted hair.

 

'Yes?'

 

'The technocyte strain may be more effective than initial testing suggested. One of our test subjects has caused considerable damage to Grineer forces.'

 

'And Martian civilians, I might add. This was not part of the plan. Neither were we supposed to have a Tenno go rogue.'

 

'It does not matter. The weapon is almost ready for deployment. As for Tenno going rogue, well, it does happen occasionally. That's what your soldiers are for.'

 

'Do not be so hasty to throw the lives of my soldiers away. I am the only thing standing between you and Clan Katai. Never forget that.'

 

The Tenno in the darkened room laughed.

 

'Katashi, you know as well as I do that the Lotus must accept my offers in light of current troop losses. You know what sort of plans she has in mind for our primitive enemies. The Lephantis Strain will be the final nail in their coffin.'