Special Kinda Garbage.

[pretty.in.plague]

hello!

I'm not entirely certain this is the best place to put this, but I finally caved and wrote a short bit in an hour or two for Warframe! It's been my favorite game for years on years, and I thought I should finally give something back. This is my first attempt, please do enjoy!

(Comments are welcome.)

-

 

The sound of metal against metal pounded the corridor, a yellow tint bleeding over odd curves of gray, piping above her head hissing with steam and an assortment of fluids she didn't want to think about at the moment. Footsteps followed, shouting chasing after her, nipping at her feet as her eyes flickered about, the pervasive glow of gentle blue over her gaze helping calm her. A pipe there, a gap there, a nook here… The frame looked down at the weapon in their hands, racking the slide. It hissed at her with a tired gasp, empty. So were her pockets. She slipped it over her shoulder, feeling it lock into place. Her gaze trailed up as she sprinted, glancing over her shoulder toward the end of the corridor. Still nobody, but the sounds of pursuit were growing louder. 

With a hitch of her breath, she jumped, body tingling with energy as the void filled her with its breath, running down her limbs to singe her fingertips and arc along the eloquent swoop of cloth along her hip. It grew, coming to a crescendo as her hands made contact, clinging to a pipe as she spun upwards, feeling the power resting like a spring coiled as tight as it would go, before she prodded it, and the frame responded happily. 

&

"Rregre Tenno? Ggrunr metad brnes fogr quueen." It spat in a hoarse voice, coming to a stop in the hallway. The sound of the traitor's footsteps had come to a standstill, gone like it had vanished into thin atmosphere. The Grineer stood, stumped as it glanced back and forth, it had to be hiding. Its squad followed closely, all coming to a noisy stop, gear and metal boots and cybernetics all jostling about with a fervor. The largest of the five stood at the back, vulkar perpetually raised as it scanned back and forth. Perhaps the Tenno would try to escape under their superior noses? If so, it would sniff them out, fill them with lead. Their squad's honor would be great, taking down this monster. 

The commander scratched at the metal coating over their head, the hallway appeared clean. It turned, eyes surveying the cluttered architecture, brushing over the one doorway, a storage closet. It waved to the others, grunting instructions as it walked to the door, pausing for a moment as it racked its viper, raising it to eye level as it stepped towards the door, watching the green circle on it spin before the door hissed, cracking open and pulling apart. A flurry of… Air cycling hit the Grineer in the face as it flinched before gazing in. Empty. It took a step further in, eyes trailing over every inch, even looking up to the mess of pipes above it. One could easily grab onto those if as acrobatic as the Tenno after a-

It hadn't checked the ceiling. 

This thought burned through all the others even as it spun around, frantic to warn it's squad as it watched a shape draped in a cloud of stars and flame drop from the ceiling, everything slowing down as it watched the shroud melt away, revealing pale armor tipped with salmony pinks, a disgustingly beautiful web of an indescribable material strung between the bones of a skirt and running along it's head like the jellyfish that floated about the Uranus outposts. Its eye was cold, a glowing circle hewn roughly into a smooth face plate, blank even as it reached forwards, sharp metal fingers finding purchase on the ballistae's neck. 

The commander yelled, bringing the viper up to try and discourage the Tenno, but it didn't matter. It was too late. In milliseconds, the Tenno's fingers curled, one tearing a pipe from its neck, the other crushing bone and metal like tissue, crumpling the comrade's neck like a can before letting go, dropping the now lifeless corpse to the side. It reached over its shoulder as the commander pulled the trigger, bullets shattering and exploding in a cloud of sparks as its skin glowed a harsh, cold blue wherever the bullets hit, the demon ignoring the quarter of a clip it managed to spit before the Tenno's grip tightened. 

It ripped a blade of red and steel from it's back, sweeping it down as it slashed through the viper, ripping it in half even as the commander held it, the weapon misfiring and popping as the commander dropped it, hand boiling with an odd burn, watching in horror as the rest of it's squad all pulled away, guns raising and trigger fingers pulling.

&

Her sword came down, glittering with a poisonous fog that bled from it, sparking as its tip ripped the weapon in the Grineer's hand into shreds, the other Grineer around her in the room all backing away and raising their guns to fire. One of them fumbled even as the screams left their mouths. A thin grimace pulled itself along her lips as she twisted the sword, leg tensing before shoving off the ground, pushing her into a spin as she pulled the sword up, watching with a gruesome satisfaction as the sword bit into steel and flesh, eating easily through the mesh flex plates that the Grineer to her side wore, ripping through it, tearing flesh and bone apart like butter before the blade exploded out the other side. She watched, forcing herself to stare even as life left the Grineer's eyes, its mouth faltering as it sputtered to pull a breath in, body shutting down as its torso peeled apart, dumping its top half toward the ground. It didn't even hit the mesh grating under their feet before the sword tore into another. The two went down easily as she hopped back, ducking beneath a spray of bullets as she felt that energy course through her veins, pushing itself into her hands as the air shimmered, her back hitting the ground as she slid, a bow of pure light and void unfolding itself, perfectly fitted to her hands as her finger tensed, latching onto the arrow and pulling back. She let go, sliding back still, watching the Grineer scramble for the door she'd just hopped out of, the arrow splitting into a diagonal fan that hit the two in the doorway, throwing them back like they’d been flicked away by some deity’s hand, arrows nailing each of them to the wall on either side of the commander, who fumbled with a knife on it’s waist, ripping it from it’s sheath to brandish it, backing away slowly, pressing itself further into the room. The frame bounced up from its slide, the bow melting away into a sigh of mist as she crouched down, picking up her sword, flicking it to the side to spray the blood from its edge against the floor before taking slow steps towards the last Grineer. Witnesses could not be allowed, not on this mission. The Tenno had nothing to do with this ship, it must’ve been the bucketheads. 

&

It backed away, knife grasped in white knuckles as it kept shuffling away, back soon hitting the wall as it glanced to each side, a body, the other, another body, each hanging from arrows punched through their chests and necks. It looked ahead, watching as the Tenno flicked it’s blade, the blood of it’s brothers spattering against the floor before it set the blade over its shoulder, walking casually toward him, the light from the corridor growing dimmer as it blocked it out with its frame, even with its comparatively narrow build it still towered over them, golden crest brushing the door’s top as it stepped in towards the commander.

It could’ve sworn the Warframe had smiled as it took the last step toward them, easily catching the swing it threw, cold hand grasping it’s wrist like an adult stopping a child, bending its wrist backwards as the Tenno pressed closer, arm pulling back, fingers coming out to lock straight, the clawed nails humming with a foreign energy in the cold air before the tension in its body snapped, the fingers coming to burrow into the commander’s stomach as it looked down, blood pouring out of itself, coating the Tenno’s hand and wrist as it twisted, face still blank, empty, a demon in the cold carapace of metal flesh.

Its last breath left it as the Tenno seemed to cradle it, taking the commander in its arms, setting it down gently as it poured blood and coolant, choking on itself as it faded away, watching with steadily darkening vision as the Tenno straightened up, giving it a nod before turning away, sprinting from its limited range of view. It looked up, staring at the pipes of the ceiling. 

At least it died with honor, blade in hand as it served its queen.