//------------------------------// // Chapter 39: You Shouldn't Have Come Here // Story: A Rift Between Worlds // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Velvet Breeze,” the newly awakened Tenno dusted at its armor and stretched its arms out. “So you will be the one piloting me. Do you have experience with stealth and assassination?” Velvet looked at the Warframe from top to bottom. She realized they all had faceless features, including the Warframes her friends had. This one had brown patterned arms and legs. “Nice to meet you too,” she replied. “Uh, and yeah, I’m pretty familiar with stealth and assassination.” “She’s joking, right?” Home Run nudged Rainbow Dash. “I’ll… I’ll tell you later, Home Run,” she pushed his arm away. “Oh, we are going to get along just nicely, Velvet Breeze and I,” Ash folded his arms. “Come. Let us head out to your world. I want to see what you can do.” “How about the others?” Nyx asked the mechanized unicorn. “The rest of our brothers and sisters can help.” Stardust looked at the pods and placed a hoof to her chin. “I don’t know, Nyx. Do you… think it’s something we can work with?” “Of course, Stardust,” Nyx answered confidently. The unicorn headed to her table and levitated a few parts with her magic. “Then Nyx and I will stay here to reawaken the others. The rest of you, go, save the princess and bring her back safely.” “You got it, Stardust!” Rainbow was the first to jet off as soon as her Warframe folded over her. “Wait, I haven’t… hmm…” Stardust watched as the athlete disappeared out the workshop door and vanished into the air. “I haven’t given you your new tools.” “Did ya say new tools?” The sentence took Applejack’s interest. “What kinda new tools?” “It’s a prototype of some old weapons I read up in Princess Celestia’s sanctum,” Stardust began, grabbing a roll of parchment from her workbench, floating it over for the others to see. “I have a feeling those Grineer are up above in space, so these might finally come in handy.” The cowgirl took the paper out of the unicorn’s magical grasp, looking it over at greater detail. The others gathered around, looking at what seemed to be a harness of some sort, with two wings sticking out the back. “What is it?” Home Run asked. “Looks like some kind of jetpack.” “That’s because it is some kind of jetpack,” Stardust chuckled. “With my heightened knowledge on space technology, I’ve been toying around with all kinds of new inventions, but I have to say, this one is definitely my best, and the only one I’ve gotten to work! Come, see.” The mechanized unicorn led the group of humans over to a section of her wall, which flipped to the side, opening a vast chamber with tubes and wires hanging all over the place. In one corner, there were a row of ‘jetpacks’, just like the ones on the parchment, sitting in mounts with tubes sticking out of them. “Woah!” Home Run went forward and touched one. “These are way cooler in the flesh. Er, or the metal, whichever one sounds better.” “They’re called archwings.” Stardust detached one from its mount, floating it over to the baseball player. “Try it. Vauban will know what to do.” “Very true, Stardust,” the Tenno said as he took over, attaching the harness to his back. “Just like that, aaand…” As soon as the pack was fully attached, there was a slight burst of energy as its wings unfolded themselves, immediately lifting Home Run and Vauban up into the air, hovering at least a meter off the ground. “Wowie!” Pinkie squealed and rushed for one. “Me next, me next!” The group began grabbing an archwing each, including Velvet’s new partner, Ash. “Oh, don’cha worry, Velvet.” Applejack patted her head. “You’ll get to use it soon enough.” “Yeah, looks cool,” the blue-skinned girl nodded her head. "I think I can figure this out." “It’s too bad Rainbow Dash isn’t here to see all this.” Rarity held back a laugh as she moved from left to right in the air. The archwings were so quiet, you almost couldn’t hear the engine or thrusters. “She would go nuts over these.” “Velvet Breeze,” Ash called to her, floating just above her head. “Let us exit to your world. I would like to see what you are capable of.” “I guess we’re all ready,” Fluttershy glided over to the workshop door. “Should we bring an extra for Rainbow Dash?” “No need,” Stardust tinkered with something on her table. “These things are remote controlled. I can move them for you. Observe.” Another archwing on the wall detached itself and moved about like a rock in space. “Excellent work, Stardust.” Rhino patted her on the back. “Never would I have expected to see an archwing again.” “Don’t thank me,” she blushed slightly. “Princess Celestia was the one who found the blueprints long ago. I simply recreated what I could from the old days.” “Then let us go save her!” Mag raised a fist and her paris bow. “Who knows what the Grineer must be doing with her.” “According to my scans, the Grineer have docked above your planet, Home Run.” Vauban’s visor filled itself with maps and lines. “Let us fly to the Lotus’ rescue.” “Couldn’t agree more, buddy,” Home Run smiled. “You girls ready?” “Sure am, Homey!” Pinkie somehow managed to bounce up and down without touching the floor. “Ready to kick some Grineer backside and save the princess!” “Then let’s not waste anymore time.” Sunset nodded and was the first out. “We’ll see you later, Stardust.” “Take care, all of you.” The unicorn waved as the Tenno and their partners made for the sky, blasting back towards the portal with as much speed as their new machines could handle. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about these cool things?” Rainbow Dash threw her hands up. “They’re awesome!” “Well, we would’ve if ya didn’t leave so quickly,” Applejack placed her hands on her hips. “It pays to be slow sometimes.” “Well, you brought me mine anyway,” Rainbow let Zephyr slip the archwing on their back. “So it didn’t matter, I guess.” A group of students from CHS had gathered by the front, watching the Rainbooms and Home Run with their archwings, some even taking photos of them. “So how do we do this? We just fly up to space?” Sunset asked them. “That’s the plan.” Ember pumped a fist, generating flame around it. “Just leave it to us,” Trinity said. “We’ll get you all safely up to the Grineer and rescue the Lotus.” “Right on, Trinity!” Mirage flew in circles above them all. “Let’s go party up high!” “Yeah, let’s not keep the princess waiting!” Rainbow flew up next to Pinkie. “Let’s go, Zephyr! To infinity and beyond!” “Hey, you can’t say that, Dashie,” Pinkie told her as she zoomed about in circles. “That’s from something else.” “Pssh. I can say what I like. It’s not like someone’s going to arrest me or something. Let’s go, Zephyr!” And she was the first off again, flying up to the sky already growing smaller and smaller as the rest of her friends watched on. “Well, I guess we better follow suit then...” Rarity shrugged and extended her archwing wings. “Velvet, dear, are you ready to go with us?” Velvet Breeze, who had been testing out Ash’s Warframe, stopped in her tracks and began making her way back to the portal, where everyone else was standing, flipping off the building like a trained acrobat and sprinting over. “You really look like you’ve done this before, Velvet,” Home Run told her. “I have.” she tilted her head to the side. “Didn’t Sunset and the others tell you about me?” “Oh, we did, Velvet,” Sunset quickly interrupted. “Just what he needed to know, that is.” “So-” “Oh boy, Rainbow Dash is getting pretty far ahead.” The fiery haired girl looked up and left the ground. “We better follow. Come on! We’ve gotta save the princess! We’ll tell you more another time, Home Run.” “It’s always another time…” Home Run mumbled as Vauban took over, flying up after the rest of his friends. “Cheer up, Home Run,” Vauban said in his helmet as they passed through a few clouds. “They’ll tell you when they’re ready. For now, how is your stomach? You are not afraid of heights, are you?” “Can’t say I am, Vauban,” the baseball player shook his head. “How’s Fluttershy doing? Yeah, why don’t I just ask her. Hey, Fluttershy, how’re you doing?” he asked over their comms channel. “I’m-I’m fine, Home Run, thanks for asking…” Fluttershy’s voice sounded shaky and nervous. “Trinity’s taking g-good care of me…” “Of course!” her Tenno said over the comms. “You’re my partner, Fluttershy. We look out for each other.” Then the girl and her partner were enveloped in a magical aura as her wings and ears sprouted from her body, along with her hair growing into a ponytail. “This ought to help,” Trinity said happily. “Come. Let us rescue the Lotus!” The group began climbing higher and higher, watching as the city below began growing smaller and smaller. Home Run felt the sound pop in his ears, but the Warframe suit really was something else. He doubted any normal human would be able to fly this high in seconds and not throw up. Slowly, the scenery below began to disappear, fading into black as they entered space, watching the planet grow smaller and smaller below. “Woah! Cool!” Home Run could hear Rainbow Dash’s voice over the comms. “We’re in space! I’ve never thought I’d ever get to go to space! This is just awesome!” “You got that right!” Pinkie cheered. “Come on, Mirage! Let’s go faster!” “Girls, remember, this ain’t no joy ride,” Applejack reminded them. “We’re here to save Princess Celestia from the Grineer, which are supposed to be up here somewhere?” “Right there…” Mag pointed a hand up, directing everyone’s attention. Just ahead, between the moon and earth, a group of Grineer galleons floated stationary in space. “That’s a whole lot of ships,” Home Run muttered, trying to count them. He gave up at sixteen. “Are you sure we can handle this?” “We only need to find the Lotus,” Vauban told him. “She will be in one of them. I think we should split up in twos and look through each one.” “Wait, seriously? That sounds like a bad idea.” “We can handle it, Home Run. With human and Tenno coordinating together, we shall take these Grineer head on.” Home Run swallowed hard. “If you say so.” “Pinkie and I will take the first one!” Rainbow yelled over their comms. “We’ll be there in a jiffy!” “Sure as a jiffy-liffy-diffy!” Pinkie added in. “Home Run, you’re with me.” Sunset flew alongside the baseball player and nodded. “We’ll take the one on the far right.” “Right.” “I want to go with Velvet!” Rarity yelled excitedly into their comms. “What? She knows what she’s doing. She knows it really well.” “Then you’re with me, Fluttershy,” Applejack whooped. “That’s real good. If Ah’m in a heap ‘a trouble, Ah’ve got ya and Trinity to cover my back.” “Well, it’s settled then.” Sunset increased her boosters and zoomed further through space. “We’ll see you girls later. Be careful. If you run into any trouble you can’t face, just run.” “Trouble? Psssh. We’re too awesome for trouble, right Pinkie?” “Got that right, Rainbow!” the pink haired girl added. “Just be careful,” Sunset said again. “Don’t get too confident. They managed to beat Nyx easily. We don’t want that happening with one of you inside the Warframes.” As everyone split up, Home Run and Vauban followed closely behind Sunset Shimmer, following in her trail as they headed for the one closest to the rear of the armada. They hovered just outside the galleon’s hull, watching as Ember took over and began burning her way in, melting through the metal in no time with her fireballs. Home Run watched the surface burn away like some kind of experiment they do in science class. “Wait, I thought fire doesn’t work in space?” Home Run asked Sunset. “You know, no oxygen.” Sunset looked at him and shrugged before going through the new hole. As their wings stowed themselves behind their Warframes, Sunset and Home Run already had their weapons out, warily looking out for patrolling Grineer. Burning a hole through their ship would’ve likely raised some alarms somewhere, so they had to move out from here and they had to do it fast. “This way,” Vauban took over and ran down a hallway. “I sense the Lotus. Her signature leads this way.” “Right on, buddy,” Home Run praised. A little blip appeared on his radar, signifying his objective. “I see it now. Let’s do this.” “I’ll follow behind you, Home Run,” Sunset hefted her glaxion. “I’ll deal with those you can’t.” The baseball player nodded as they broke into a sprint. “Gotcha. Let’s go.” Turning around the first corner, Home Run almost ran straight into two Grineer lancers, who were equally surprised to see them. Stepping back, the blue haired boy spun his hammer and swung hard at the first one’s chest, knocking him against his friend with a crack, before slamming down with his hammer, taking the second alien out. While he slowed, Sunset went ahead, taking the lead, tossing a fireball at another Grineer as she focused her glaxion on a squad ahead, freezing them in place. By now, most of the Grineer must’ve been aware of their presence and may have already be in the process of setting off the alarm, meaning they would have to pick up their pace. “Sunset, go high!” Home Run yelled as he tossed a bounce grenade in the next room, allowing Sunset a quick way up to the next floor, while he ran along a set of pipes, using the Warframe’s increased mobility to get across to the next floor. Sunset and Ember had already left five burning corpses in their wake, leaving only a single Grineer eviscerator for Home Run to take out. The baseball player threw himself to the side as the eviscerator shot a trio of razor sharp discs at him, at the same time, tossing two tesla grenades at the Grineer’s feet. Sparks arced across the eviscerator as Home Run sprinted past it, delivering a quick smash to its back with his jat kittag as he passed, knocking it face first into the side with a resounding clang. “Here, let me, Home Run, I shall help us catch up with Sunset Shimmer and Ember,” Vauban said as he took over, running faster than the boy had been. “Just keep an eye on the radar for me and watch our surroundings.” “Got it, buddy.” The Tenno spun and flew forward like a corkscrew, hitting the flat of his hammer against a Grineer lancer’s head, knocking him back into the ceiling as he slid past two more, tossing a tesla grenade back to distract them, if the electricity didn't kill them, that is. In the next room, four Grineer heavy gunners stood above on the second level, firing their heavy caliber guns down at the boy and Tenno, forcing Vauban to whip up a wind barrier with the jat kittag as Home Run readied a bastille grenade in their unoccupied hand. Throwing it up, the blue haired boy watched as the enemies were lifted in a projected prison of light, allowing Vauban to kick up to the second floor and smash them all with his weapon, downing the group. “Come on, Sunset’s this way.” Home Run took over and ran through a door on the left. “She shouldn’t be too far now.” “Yeah, we’re just in the next room, Home Run and Vauban.” Ember’s face appeared on their visor. “But it’s… strange. It feels different too.” “Oh?” Vauban asked. “How so?” “The Grineer have vanished. Just a second ago there were dozens. Now… Wait. There’s-” There was a wave of static on the other end, followed by an eerie voice. "You shouldn't have come here... Now, you will serve the queens." “What was that?” Home Run looked to the radar again, but Sunset’s position had vanished. Wasting no time, he picked up the hammer in both hands and ran on, looking for the next room. Then almost as quickly as Ember’s face had disappeared before, Sunset’s appeared for a second, worry scrawled across her brows. “Home Run! The-” Then she disappeared again, her signal lost. “We’re coming, Sunset!” he yelled, hoping she could hear them. And then he entered the next room, a vast open space with multiple platforms in the middle, only to be knocked down by a wave of electricity.