Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I assure you, Sector 6638 reported in just a moment ago, AFTER our false alarm.”

There was a sigh from the other end of the comm. “Send a security team to check it out anyways. I know this system is new, but our work here is far too important to take any chances.”

“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Vanka conceded begrudgingly and cut the transmission. It annoyed him that his superiors seemed to question his every move or judgment. It also annoyed him that his thick, military-issue helmet did not permit him to scratch his chin. Corpus technology was virtually unsurpassed, but comfort was not a Profitable endeavor for its armed forces. Vanka rolled his shoulders uselessly as he manipulated his control panel. Several security teams with MOA support were near the source of the false alarm. Now just to dispatch-…

Vanka stared straight ahead, puzzled. He couldn’t breathe. His fingers wouldn’t move. Looking down, he glimpsed a sleek, elegantly curved blade sprouting from his chest just before it withdrew. The impaled Corpus captain collapsed, spurting fresh blood across the console as he fell. The last thing he saw was a pair of boots silently fading into the darkness that quickly overcame his vision.

The lone Tenno shook the excess blood from her Nikana and pressed on. No point in cleaning it completely. Its thirst was not quenched, nor was her own. Her name was Saryn. Or at least, it was now. She remembered little of her life before the Lotus brought her out of cryosleep, but Saryn she could never forget. A poison – an acid – a toxic plague before which her enemies would fall by the thousands. Whoever she had once been did not matter. Her new identity suited her just fine.

Saryn was drawn from her thoughts by the faint sound of approaching footsteps. She pressed her back against a wall and waited with her blade at the ready. Two crewmen and a MOA walker emerged from around the corner and paused. One crewman muttered something to the other in his own tongue, slowing his pace as he did so. The walker, sensing an obstruction in its path, turned right and came face to face with Saryn.

It hardly made a sound before the Tenno had cleaved its head in two, but it was enough noise to alert the crewmen. They cried out in unison and scrambled for their weapons. The first met his end with a quick slash across the throat. The second was quick enough to make a run for the nearest console. Saryn silently cursed and reached for her sidearm, but the crewman suddenly collapsed in mid-stride, dead.

“Trying your hand at stealth missions, Saryn?” said a female voice. A Trinity warframe strode out from behind a crate, holstering her silenced Lex pistol.

“Elena!” Saryn exclaimed in half surprise and half joy. Elena remembered as little as Saryn did, but she had felt the need to choose a name for herself – something to do with New Loka’s vision of “pure humanity,” she’d explained.

“It’s good to see you, but we must continue onward,” Elena said, her tone portraying the smile that her helmet hid.

“The Lotus said I would be on my own this mission,” Saryin said, airing the statement as a question. She began walking, Elena close behind as they resumed their task together.

“So it was,” Elena replied calmly “but my mind has been troubled as of late, and I grew restless. The Lotus suggested that you might appreciate the company on this mission.”

“I do,” came the answer, then a pause. “And what’s bothering you?” Saryn asked, as if she hadn’t already guessed. She could almost feel the Red Veil sigil blazing its bright crimson across her back for Elena to disapprovingly stare at it.

“It’s…” Elena hesitated. There was no point dancing around the topic. “Honestly, I requested a mission with you,” she uttered softly as the two Tenno held position to wait for a patrol to pass. “I’m worried about you.” Saryn glanced back at her friend curiously. “You’ve been so much more aggressive lately,” Elena continued, placing a hand on Saryn’s clenched fist around the hilt of her Nikana. Its grasp loosened slightly.

“The Red Veil isn’t turning me into any more of a killer than we both already are, Elena,” Saryn said evenly, turning back to peer around the corner before pressing forward.

“Hasn’t it?” Elena insisted. “You’ve gained a bloodlust these past few weeks that I’ve never seen in you before.”

“You know as well as I that the system will never be safe so long as the Corpus and Grineer wage their pointless war at the cost of anyone who gets in their way,” Saryn cut in. “My highest priority, as ever, is creating a lasting peace. New Loka ought to recognize that the most fertile soil is that which lies black with ash.”

“And what about who gets in your way?” Elena challenged. “You must not become the very monster you seek to destroy.”

“My duty is to the innocent, not to myself,” Saryn replied stiffly, hurt by the implied accusation. “I want only to protect. But to do so, the wicked must be punished.”

“Punished…” Elena repeated to herself. There was a pause. “You seek to burn the tree rather than prune the roots.” The Tenno stepped into an elevator and began their descent. “Do you not ally yourself with Steel Meridian?”

“Get to the point,” Saryn muttered as she readied her blade.

“They’re Grineer, aren’t they?”

"Grineer deserters,” the jade-armored Tenno corrected as the elevator doors slid open and the two crept ever closer to the ship’s reactor. “I’m perfectly happy to spare any Grineer or Corpus who will fight with us, but until those factions sign a peace treaty, or the Infestation is eradicated, and who knows, maybe Kubrows sprout wings, then I will remain dedicated to ending this futile war at any cost.”

“Even your own soul?”

The two Tenno exchanged a tense glance. Saryn began to speak, but stopped when the overhead lights flickered noticeably. The suited warriors checked their surroundings nervously, then wordlessly readied their rifles. Saryn wielded a Hek shotgun emblazoned with the insignia of Steel Meridian; Elena drew a Burston Prime. Only the presence of technology utilizing Void energy or significant damage to the ship would interfere with the hardened electronics of a Corpus ship, and the Tenno took measures to avoid such advertisement of their presence. Whatever was coming, it was neither friendly nor something to be underestimated.

A mechanical shriek echoed through the metal hallways. Saryn and Elena stood back-to-back, sensors searching for an imminent threat when a transmission came through each of their helmets. A familiar, painted face grinned at them maliciously. It was Alad V. “Hello there, Tenno! Wonderful to see you again. I have a little surprise for you. Zanuka! Welcome our new – hehe - ‘volunteers!’”

No sooner had the transmission ended than a ceiling panel crashed to the floor, followed immediately by a Corpus quad walker. The black and electric-blue machine was smaller and sleeker than any other walker the Tenno had encountered before. The bestial machine shrieked and bounded forwards with an erratic ferocity like none they had seen. A blast from Saryn’s shotgun and a few shots from Elena’s rifle sent sparks dancing across its shields, but failed to slow it. Each Tenno rolled away in opposite directions, narrowly evading Zanuka’s extended claws.

No words were needed among Tenno in battle. They knew what to do. A stream of emerald energy streamed from Elena’s outstretched hand, soon followed by pulses of the same color from the already recovered Corpus robot. Unfazed by the glowing energy or even the violet spores that began sprouting from its armor a moment later, Zanuka charged full force towards the Trinity warframe first.

Caught off guard by its speed and power, Elena crashed to the ground beneath the feral machine as it pounced. Sparks flew in all directions as the two skidded across the floor, then tumbled down a flight of stairs with Saryn not far behind. The sounds of metal on metal, shields surging in protest, and a shotgun barking angrily echoed throughout the hallways of the Corpus ship.

“Elena!” Saryn shouted as Zanuka tore at her friend’s Warframe viciously, blocking every attempt to escape with rapid swipes of its concealed claws. The robot finally took notice of Saryn’s presence when a shotgun pellet caused one of the spores on its shoulder to erupt. Its metallic shriek was half pain and half rage as it leapt away from the poison’s bite, even as its armor began to corrode.

Zanuka lowered itself to the ground as if to pounce, but instead a flurry of rockets leapt from its back, arcing towards its intended prey. There was no time to react – no choice to be made. Saryn leapt from the top of the stairs, firing off another round in midair, and dropped down over Elena’s bleeding warframe. A Trinity warframe would have been torn apart by such a barrage. Even with Saryn’s significantly greater shields and armor, she cried out in pain as the explosions erupted all around them. Only the electromagnets in Saryn’s armor and steely determination kept her in a defensive position over Elena as her warframe was partially engulfed in the flames. When the smoke cleared, Zanuka was already in motion again. Saryn had no time to recover. Elena did. With an expertly-placed shot from her pistol, she detonated a second spore on the side of Zanuka’s head and thus drove its charge just slightly too far to the right and into the adjacent wall.

Fueled by both rage and pain, Saryn forced herself to her feet, abandoning her shotgun and drawing her Nikana with unnecessary force as oozing violet liquid began to flow down its length. Gasping, Elena rose to one knee and began firing away with her Burston as quickly as she could pull the trigger. Zanuka turned to swipe at Saryn as she drew near, but was met with cruel, refined steel to its left optics.

The remaining spores on its back and underside detonated in unison, drawing out another shriek from the machine as its shields failed completely. The mechanical creature’s head twisted away from the bite of Elena’s bullets as they tore into its armor, but this only exposed its neck to Saryn’s fury. With a single twisting, underhanded strike, her Nikana cleaved Zanuka’s head completely from its body. Its body continued to screech and thrash, which gave Saryn the perfect excuse to continue cleaving away until there were no moving parts left and her Warframe was covered in grease.

Once it was clear the vile machine had finally been defeated, Elena allowed her rifle to clatter to the floor from her grasp. What the hell WAS that thing? After spending a few moments regaining her bearings, she lifted one handed into the air as green energy flowed outwards once more. The wounds and shredded armor of the two Tenno slowly melded back together, relieving both of them of their pain.

“Thank you, Saryn,” Elena said between breaths as she rose to her feet, much steadier now.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” Saryn replied as her rage began to subside. The soothing wisps of the Trinity warframe’s energy helped to calm her as well, it seemed. “Like I’d said… I just want the system to be rid of these evils,” she said softly as she sheathed her blade. “Otherwise who knows what they’ll come up with next,” she nodded to the pile of metal and circuits behind her.

“I understand,” Elena replied, surprising Saryn both with her reply and by leaning lightly against the taller warframe’s chest. “I just wanted to make sure you remembered… That though there is pain and despair, there is also hope, and love, and new life.”

“I… think I understand,” Saryn shifted uncomfortably for a moment, then gently wrapped her arms around Elena, hugging her against her chest. After only a few seconds, though it felt much longer to Saryn, she released her friend. “Come now, we still have a mission to complete.” The two tenno collected their weapons from where they had fallen and made their way deeper into the monochrome hallways of the Corpus vessel.