Twelve bipedal figures were moving around, each one the same basic form but different in looks. Six were male, six were female, and each wore a set of armor, colored as they saw fit, and carried weapons. On their backs, a long weapon, a firearm of some sort, and a weapon for close up, daggers, a hammer, or as most had, a sword. They were inside a storage room of some sorts, and were retrieving objects and weapons from closets around them. In a few moments, every single one of them had stopped moving, and they looked towards one. He was the same from earlier, his helmet was smooth, with grooves arching around his head, and a spire protruded out of the front of it, raising nearly a foot into the air above his head. As he finished packing his weapons, he turned around to face the other eleven, and he raised a hand in gesture. Momentarily, the groups split into pairs, each set moving for a different side of the heptagonal storage room. At each side, there was a two-person pod, designed for short-range flight. The pairs entered the vehicles, and as the doors sealed, six muffled thumps were heard from the pods as each launched off into the blackness of space, a planet and it's moon growing ever nearer in the viewport on the seventh wall.
The six pods began a descent onto the moon, triangulating and targeting the signal from before. Landing in a hexagon around a spire of rock, each pod opened up and two stepped out.
From the first, two bipeds, a male and a female, stepped out. The male was of medium build, and his helmet had three thin green wires protruding out from the back and a brown tail, curving down. Next to him, the female's helmet was triangular, the point down, and on top, it seemed to have a sort of bulb.
From the second pod, another set of male and female stepped out. The male was the same as the one from the dark room, and his helmet was the same. The female's helmet had a lit up cross on the front and a halo-like projection behind it.
From the third pod, a male stepped out, his helmet shaped with a central head and a protrusion where his mouth would be. On the sides, slight portions projected out into a shape like a hammerhead. The female behind him had a far less detailed helmet, it was shaped like a lightbulb with a central 'eye'.
Out of the fourth pod, another pair of bipeds appeared. The male's helmet was shaped like that of a hammerhead shark with a bump in the center, and the female's helmet was shaped strangely, like a fin, with a point on her forehead.
The male of the fifth had to squeeze his way out of of it, his helmet a pair of triangular protrusions wrapping around his head to his forehead, and the female's seemed very insect-like, a whimsical tail curving all the way over her head.
Out of the last pod, another large male stepped out, his helmet reminiscent of the northern lights, a flat top and a large halo around him. Beside him, a thin female stepped out, her helmet like tongues of flame.
The twelve bipeds slowly stepped towards the monolithic structure between them. It was an obelisk, like those of ancient Egypt, and engraved upon it were thousands of tiny pictures, each one depicting a different scene.
"Well, it took you guys long enough. Now, there's not much more to say. The enemy is everywhere, their leader needs to die. I'd fight my way to her if you want to live. By the way, in the exact center of each face of the obelisk is a weak point. Hit that to open it."
A look passed between the group, and one of the bipeds stepped forwards. The one with the triangular protrusions, Rhino, reached behind himself and pulled a massive hammer from his back. He turned on his heel as his foot hit the ground, and the hammer swung around him, building up speed. As Rhino completed the turn, the hammer's head smashed into the side of the obelisk. The stone monument shattered with the impact, and shards of stone burst around the twelve, who simply stood and watched. Their personal energy shields flared, catching the stone pieces and deflecting them.
As the dust in the low-gravity cleared, a figure emerged from the ruins of the obelisk. He was a congregation of a multitude of animals, a wing from a bat, a leg from a goat, an arm from an eagle, the head of a horse, and more. He began to speak.
"Hello, Tenno." Each of the Tenno tensed up, their hands falling to the handles of their weapons. "It's been a while, hasn't it? I was born of the chaos of Earth, you know. I was created back when the humans forged their first swords. I was so proud of them. But I digress, as I am your new ally. Once upon a time, I used to be the mischief-maker of this forsaken planet, and I had my fun. But then I made a mistake. I played with the mind of one of the most powerful creatures on that planet, and I went too far. She abandoned the values of their time, and turned the society into what it is today. I'm sorry, but that was much longer ago. Anyways, I am Discord, and I would like to welcome you to the dystopia that is Equestria." Discord stepped to the side and waved his hand, pointing at the dull planet behind him.
Author's Note
Ash-Saryn
Excalibur-Trinity
Volt-Mag
Loki-Banshee
Rhino-Nyx
Frost-Ember
These are the names of each, male followed by female in each pod, in order.
Capture Alert: The Badlands (Part 1, Infiltration)
Your first mission is a capture mission. One of my acquaintances was banished from the 'great' land of Equestria and has taken to living in the Badlands. He is a reptilian biped by the name of Spike, and he was once one of the most trusted assistants to Queen Sparkle. He can provide us with information, and I've already contacted him about this. All he wants is a safe place on one of your hidden settlements. He is being held under a form of 'house arrest' by pony guards, and it would be preferable if we were to extract him stealthily.
Nearly a day had passed since the Tenno had broken Discord out of his obelisk. They had received their fair share of rest, and now was the time for action. The unmarred surface of Equus' moon was no longer perfect. Now, the movement of twelve humanoids setting up a base of operations erased the once-untouched moon's face.
Four Tenno, however, were not assisting with the preparations for war. They were gearing up in the armory, anticipating a brand new foe. In addition to the need for rescue and stealth, they were also facing an entirely new foe, the likes of which have never been seen before. They needed to be careful.
The Loki turned to the three alongside him, the Ash, the Banshee, and the Trinity, having just strapped a pair of stilettos to his back. He loaded a pair of silenced pistols, the magazines clicking into place. The other three around him were in the process of loading and checking various weapons, preparing everything from a glaive underneath an arm to an electromagnetically charged bow. The one thing in common, however, was the silent nature of all the weapons being equipped. Each warframe was preparing for the mission, in order to remain silent. Not only this, but not a single word was spoken. Silence is the way of the Tenno, and they'd have it no other way, for when things grow from their deadly silence, a beauty exists in the music of war, and for the Tenno to truly be, they must bask in the symphonies and allow the music to fill their hearts. For such is the way of the Tenno, the soldiers of gun and blade, wrapped in their frames of war.
Moments later, the four were ready for their mission. Not a single movement was made without purpose, each stride of the Warframes betraying the grace of the Tenno within, their minds peaceful and focused. They were Tenno, and this was their duty, their path, and their way of life. It was their way.
Their path led them to a series of indentations on the wall, each shaped like a Tenno. With a nod, they stepped forwards, turning around, into the niches, and grasped a pair of handles, control sticks, in their armored hands. With a jerk, a series of folding doors covered the indentations, and after a moment, they separated from the ship, a home away form home, and turned towards the cloudy pearl of the planet above. A rumble shook the base, and four stingray shaped spacecrafts lanced into the void of space, breaking out of the moon's gravitational field, aimed for a speck of brown among the rest.
There is a city, an outpost next to the Badlands on the border, and it has no real name. It's stuck inside a box canyon, and there are only two main structures, both looking quite similar. One is a guard post, with barracks, a mess hall, a training room, and an observation post. The other is a mansion-esque building, a home for a dragon. It's master bedroom and kitchen mostly mirror the observation post's, and it's tower houses a telescope. The dragon inside was currently pacing back and forth across his room, wearing a groove into the ground.
They were supposed to be here by now...
Under the cover of night, four arrowhead shaped objects hovered to a halt above the outskirts of a nearly abandoned town. Four figures dropped out of them, one each and landed on their feet, armor taking the brunt of the fall. The lead one, the Loki, turned to his companions and nodded, his silent gesture betraying far more than what met the eye. They were Tenno; silence was their way.
The town was organized in a very simple manner. A pair of streets crossed over each other, forming a single main intersection in the very center. Along these two roads, metallic and concrete buildings rose, two, three stories up into the air. Apparently, the ground was empty, so the ponies built sideways. Buildings were concentrated around that central square, mostly of commercial nature, and as it expanded outwards, it became more residential. The entire city hardly spanned more than three-fourths of a mile from end to end.
The four figures moved silently, shades flitting from darkness to darkness. Not a minute later, they began approaching the center of the town, heading towards their objective. A few ponies milled about. These, however, were no ordinary ponies. These were the foul spawn of technology, cloning, and delusion. Parts of their bodies were replaced with cold, hard, steel, and much of them were augmented. They all appeared of the same color, a bright white, and the main differences lay in their armor colors. They had weapons, automatic rifles, mounted on their shoulders, and weighted horse-shoes. Their augmentations shone in the dim light of the street-lights, and as one turned to face the unseen Tenno, his metallic eye gleamed, a tainted relic of the pony empire.
One Tenno, the Ash, turned to his allies. He jerked his head upwards, and then after a nod from the rest, he took off. Faster than the eye could follow, he leapt up between the two buildings of their alley and kicked off the sides, grappling windowsills and pushing off the very chinks in the bricks. Within moments, he had vaulted onto the top of the three-story building overlooking the central square. Staring out into the open, he glanced at the three buildings opposite of him. On top of the one directly across from him, a white stallion stood, a long rifle on his shoulder. A sentry.
White lines of energy crossed along his arm. He blinked out of existence, a cloud of smoke where he once was, and crossed the gap between him and the sniper in an instant. A pair of translucent blades flashed out from behind his back as he flipped behind the pony, smoke blinding it, and the blades tore through the armor and neck of the pony, swung with vicious accuracy and force. The body fell, silent, and behind it stood the Ash, his bone-white face plate gleaming in the dark.
He stared across the gap at his allies, who gazed upon him in return. A silent understanding passed between them, and then the Banshee stepped forwards, emitting a hyper-sonic scream, the sound-waves bouncing off of the nearby buildings and enemies, their locations and the weak points in their armor now evident to all. The Trinity nocked an arrow on her bow, and she drew it back, sighting down the shaft. The Loki's body began to shimmer, and after a moment, it was lost from sight as he stepped forwards into the light, invisible. A few quick steps took him to a position behind a pony, and then, the Tenno cell, in unison, acted.
As the arrow slipped from the fingers of the Trinity, it lanced towards a pony. At the same time, the Ash flickered out of existence in a burst of smoke, repeating his earlier movement, landing behind another.The Loki, as the Ash blinked behind the second pony, drew a stiletto and brought it backwards. As the arrow entered to skull of the pony with the mechanical eye straight through his eye socket, the Ash slid underneath the second pony, tearing his daggers through the barrel-chested abomination, rending it's heart from it's tainted body. The Loki's arm snaked around the head of the last pony and brought it backwards with a jerk as his stiletto was dragged across the neck of the pony, slicing it's throat ear-to-ear.
As the bodies hit the floor, blood pooling underneath them, all was silent. Thus was the way of the Tenno.
A silent glance passed between the cell, and they shuffled forwards, under the guise of the darkness. Their silent steps drew them ever closer to their target, the dragon in his home. They were halfway there, not a quarter mile away from their target.
As they approached their objective, a large mansion at the end of the main road, they began to slow. A huge, cubical concrete building stood in front of them, it's grays and whites illuminated by the harsh glare of spotlights. Ponies patrolled the grounds, and at the front of the mansion, a pair of guards stood, heavy armor plating raising them nearly a foot above the others. One wore bone-white armor, and upon his shoulder, a large, streamlined tube sat. The other was much more thinner, but it's legs were replaced with mechanical replacements. On it's shoulder, a similarly large weapon sat, but a roll of ammunition, heavy rounds, each a full centimeter in diameter. These enemies were not to be messed with.
At each corner of the complex, a guard tower sat, with two ponies each and lights patrolling the grounds, in addition to a set group of ponies on the ground, randomly patrolling. They were too aware of their surroundings, there was no apparent alternate route. However, it seemed as if, of all the places, the center aisle, directly to the front door, was neither lit nor guarded, save for the two next to the door. Perhaps they had some sort of night vision. It seems as if this must be done the hard way...
The Banshee crawled forwards, careful to stick to the shadows. The other three, slightly behind her, followed, prepared for her abilities. She finally reached the entrance to the complex, and then began channeling energy. With a silent *puff* of air, the entire area seemed to grow quiet... too quiet...
The Loki dashed forwards, his body vanishing out of sight as he dashed into the complex. He quickly tore across the walkway, heading straight for the guards at the front. He stepped between them, and then stepped onto the wall. Moving quickly, he ran directly up it, and then as he lost his initial momentum, he flipped off of it and also began channeling his own warframe's energy. With a flash as he hit the ground, a burst of energy was released, and a shockwave along with it. He became visible, but as the shockwave impacted the pair of heavy guards, their weapons were blasted off of their mounts. They pair stumbled backwards, and as the hit the wall, a flash of smoke appeared in front of one. As the Ash sprung into existence in front of them, another wave of hypersonic energy exploded around them, enemy positions and more importantly, weak spots, uncovered. The Banshee's sonar vibrated through the square, silenced by her silence. The Ash swung his daggers, their razor-sharp edges rending open the heavy's armor. He twisted in place, and slammed a ball down into the ground, just as the pair of heavies were recovering from the shockwave. As he moved, a blue blur lanced past him, impaling the heavy in his weak point, devoid of armor. The Trinity nocked her second arrow as the Banshee sprung forwards. The Loki moved, sliding past the second heavy, slashing at his legs as he stumbled. The heavy hit the wall next to the front door and stumbled forwards, off balance. As he fell forwards, the Ash spun past him, his daggers rending the front part of his armor plating and tearing it off. The Banshee sprung up from in front of the heavy, having just charged to him, and she drew a long, diamond shaped dark blade. Twisting around, she slammed the blade into the chest of the pony, under her arm and upwards. She did not move, however, as a second blue blur, an arrow, buried itself in the face of the pony, wrenching it backwards off of her sword and into the wall behind it. Not a full four seconds had passed since the beginning usage of silence, and within the next second, the Tenno cell were once again hidden in the darkness, the smoke from the Ash's smoke bomb just fading away, and the oppressive silence returning to the original silence of the norm.
Not a single pony had been alerted. Through the silence of the Banshee, they could hear nothing. Through the darkness, they could see nothing. All was silent, as was the way of the Tenno.
The door opened in front of them, and they stepped into the house, empty of life, save for the four suited humanoids and the dragon within.
Author's Note
I was going to write the entire thing at once, but then I realized that this would help me with my own morale.
