“I got one!” Sonata Dusk cheered as she reloaded her grinlok rifle, looking at the dead body of a Grineer lancer, lying near a large piece of debris that had dropped from the school’s roof. She didn’t know if she could handle a firearm, but Loki walked her through. She wasn’t all too bad at it.
Earlier, she had lost her glaive when she had tossed it at a Grineer manic. It had teleported away and her disc had whisked off into the sky, never to be seen again. She didn’t know what happened to it and Aria and made a lot of noise about it, but at least Loki managed to get her a new weapon, stolen from one of the other Grineer around, before Adagio had cut him down with her nami skyla cutlasses.
“Good job, but make sure you continue to keep it in your hands, yes, Sonata Dusk?” Loki told her, taking control for a few seconds to fire upon three Grineer lancers, taking them down with headshots.
“Got it. I’ll keep this rifle in my hands at all times.”
Aria, who was nearby, scoffed. “Even you can figure out some way to mess that up.”
“No I won’t!” Sonata stomped a foot.
“Trust me, you will.”
“I won’t!”
“Please, will you girls stop your time wasting?” Saryn, Aria’s Tenno interrupted them and turned Aria around. “The enemy is there. Let us fight them instead.”
“Fine…” Aria sighed and ran off, heading towards Flash Sentry to help.
“Come, Sonata Dusk. We shall proceed elsewhere. This fight is far from over.”
Just then, more Grineer pods fell from the sky, landing around the Wondercolt statue, somehow avoiding damaging it at all. The doors hissed open with puffs of steam as more Grineer soldiers exited, brandishing their firearms. One Grineer, however, looking different from the rest, lifted a large hammer in his hands. He had a longer helmet with more ‘eye holes’ on its surface and two tubes leading from his helmet to a tank on his back, where a gorgon rifle was slung.
“Lieutenant Lech Kril…” Loki said with disgust. “A dangerous one, Sonata Dusk. It looks like the Grineer cloned him again.”
“Let’s get him!” Sonata pointed her grinlok rifle at him and fired.
Somehow, the bullet pinged off the lieutenant’s armor, not even putting a dent in it.
Lech Kril pointed a finger at her and mumbled something, sending the Grineer forces after Sonata and Loki.
“Uh oh…” Sonata, unsure of what to do, turned and ran.
“Where are you going, Sonata Dusk? The fight is that way.”
Loki took over, spinning Sonata around into a crouch, her gun already leveled at the nearest Grineer’s chest and firing. One Grineer went down, then another before the rest got close enough. Channeling energy, Loki used an invisibility ability, cloaking himself and the siren. The Grineer looked around, confused, before Loki moved around, taking each one down with several gunshots, spinning and turning all around them. However, before he could finish them all off, Lech Kril had swung his hammer, knocking Loki square in the chest, launching him and Sonata away, falling into a bush, crushing its branches.
“Ouchie…” Sonata rubbed her chest. That had hurt and if not for the Warframe shielding, perhaps it would’ve been worse.
“Pathetic Tenno and humans…” Lech Kril placed his hammer over one shoulder and removed his gun. “Do you think you can win? By now, the Queens and the Balor Fomorian will already be close, getting ready to annihilate you from the universe. You cannot win.”
Just then, watery tentacles sprouted from the ground, wrapping around several Grineer and lifted them up into the air. Lech Kril smashed apart a tentacle as it attempted to grab him, spraying water across the lawn.
“You do not hit my sister, you alien freaks!” Adagio walked over, her nami skyla in her hands.
With a hiss of steam, Lech Kril smashed his hammer down on the ground, spreading a wave of ice forward, freezing Adagio’s tentacles and forcing her to leap out of the way.
“No. I do what I please.” Then he ran for Adagio, holding the hammer high.
Loki took over and flipped Sonata back up, reloading her rifle at the same time. Her chest still hurt, but she didn’t know what else she could do while the battle was going on, but she did know that she had to do something to help her sister. Everyone here was counting on her contribution today, even the others back home.
While Lech Kril tried to hammer down Adagio, Loki took aim and fired the grinlok at him. Sonata watched as the bullets pinged off the Grineer’s armor, flying off in different directions.
“This weapon isn’t working!” she wailed as Loki reloaded again. “Don’t you know of a weak point or something?”
“This armor he has is new…” Loki told her. “Before, all he had was a fragor, gorgon and weak armor.”
“Well, we better find one, or we’re going to be in big trouble here.”
“Sonata, stop blabbering all over the radio.” Aria’s face suddenly appeared in her vision. “If you want to talk, turn it off.”
“I don’t know how, Aria, and besides, Dagi and I are in trouble. Where are you?”
“I’m helping out in the gym. There’s some nasty Grineer in here and they keep teleporting around. I hate this… I hate this so much.”
“Hey, you girls.” Another face appeared on Sonata’s visor. It was Trixie’s. “Could you please stop arguing and start doing something? Trixie is tired of listening to you.”
“She’s right, you know?” Loki said. “You’re wasting a lot of time. Let’s just get back in the fight. Are you okay, Sonata Dusk?”
“I’m better…” Sonata rubbed her chest. “Come on, I’m ready. I’ll help out.”
“Then let us join the fray, Sonata Dusk.”
When Sonata joined the battle again, Lech Kril had already chased Adagio to the other side of school, wildly swinging his hammer at her. Every now and then, Adagio and Hydroid would just melt into a puddle of water and avoid the blow, but quickly reformed and jumped away before the Grineer lieutenant could freeze her.
From the left, Sonata lifted a hand and shot out a decoy, positioning it between her sister and the Grineer. The regular Grineer troops immediately began firing on it, but Lech Kril ignored the decoy, continuing after Adagio.
“This one is smarter than the rest,” Loki observed. “The decoy should have fooled him.”
“Well, he’s a high tier Grineer,” another voice answered. Then a picture of a Warframe with a yellow head that looked like it was wrapped, appeared on screen. “They don’t get distracted easily, nor do they fall easily. We’ve gotta work harder and find weaknesses in these cretins.”
“Who’re you?” Sonata asked, curious.
“Mesa’s the name,” the Tenno replied. “And we’re here to help, are we not, Derpy?”
Then the girl with the funny eyes appeared on Sonata’s visor, smiling. “Yeah. Here to help!”
“Well, whatever help we can get is good,” Adagio said as she ducked under on of Lech Kril’s swings and sliced at his armor, leaving no significant damage. “What is he wearing? It doesn’t even dent!”
“My armor is too strong for your puny weapons, Tenno!”
The lieutenant swung his hammer again, but Hydroid took over and dashed back. Sonata huffed out and ran for Lech Kril, firing her grinlok at him as she got closer. The Grineer turned his hammer to her, but just then, Mesa popped up from above, firing down twin pistols at the Grineer’s head. The bullets all pinged off uselessly, but suddenly, one hit one of the tubes running around to his back, spreading ice up into the air, freezing the Grineer solid.
Sonata lifted her grinlok barrel to the air, but in too short of a time, the lieutenant began to thaw, moving his arms and legs, breaking chunks of ice off and shattering his frozen cocoon.
“You dare?” he growled, then swapped out for his gorgon rifle, firing a burst of bullets at them.
Sonata ran for cover as the first bullets smashed against her shields, threatening to take them down. Loki quickly took over and jumped and somersaulted out of the way, retreating behind a pile of bricks, fallen from the school wall.
“Weak points!” Sonata screamed into the radio. “That guy has weak points!”
“No need to be so loud, dweeb!” Aria yelled back.
“But that is good,” Flash Sentry’s face appeared next to the siren’s. “We can win this. Trixie and I will be over shortly.”
“Don’t forget about me,” Rarity, one of the Rainbooms said as well. “I shall lend aid to this battle.”
“Looks like the cavalry’s coming.” Loki took control and reloaded the grinlok again. “And now we know what we’re looking for. Let’s finish this, Sonata Dusk.”
“Yup!”
Rushing back out, Loki kept the grinlok leveled at another of Lech Kril’s tubes, firing three shots at it before switching places with an unsuspecting Grineer with a switch teleport. The Grineer was quickly cut down by Flash Sentry and Volt, who dropped from above, shearing the alien in half before sprinting for the lieutenant. Sonata stopped herself from throwing up as Loki continued after the Grineer lieutenant, who kept his front turned to them now, firing his gorgon back at them.
Loki rolled under the gunfire and fired as much as he could before using an invisibility to get himself and Sonata out of danger. More Grineer approached them from the left, but suddenly, the all fell flat on their faces like they had been pulled forward, dropping their guns.
Rarity leapt over one of them and fired an arrow at a Grineer manic by the side. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, before reappearing next to Adagio, but the poofy haired girl was capable enough to beat it, slashing away with both cutlasses as she spun in a semi-circle around the manic, which soon dropped down dead.
“Destroy them all!” Lech Kril pointed at the Warframes and reloaded his gorgon rifle.
“Remember,” Volt reminded them all. “He’s got one tube left. Let’s destroy it and take him down.”
Flash Sentry was the first in, arriving in front of the lieutenant in a flash of electricity, slashing at his legs with his nikana. The Grineer swung his hammer sideways, but the boy had slid away, avoiding the blow. Sonata and Adagio approached from the left, trying to get behind him. Lech Kril swapped his focus from Flash to them, but from nowhere, Aria seemed to drop from above, bursting a cloud of miasma around Lech Kril. The lieutenant flailed around, trying to smash them with his hammer at the same time, but otherwise, he was unaffected.
“Keep him busy!” Flash said as he dashed circles around the Grineer lieutenant, cutting down as many other Grineer as he could while trying to find an opening to strike.
Lifting his hammer, Lech Kril pounded it down on the ground, releasing a wave of ice spikes running from his feet towards everyone. Flash and Aria had to throw themselves backwards to avoid being skewered.
Seeing a chance, Sonata switch teleported with a Grineer butcher that had been close to the lieutenant, using the sudden surprise to fire up at the lieutenant’s last tube.
“Gah!” Lech Kril stumbled back, his tube flailing around behind him spewing up frost into the air, slowly freezing his armor starting from the tube.
“That’s right, you big meanie!” Sonata hopped back a step to avoid him as he reached an arm out towards her, which was slowly turning to ice as well.
As quickly as it had started, the frost from the tube stopped, a sculpture of the Grineer lieutenant now standing before them. The other Grineer continued to run about, unsure what to do now, only to be picked off by Derpy and Mesa as she slid through the lawn, firing her pistols in multiple directions.
“Looks like we’ve gotten this under control,” Adagio spun her right cutlass in her hand and put the other on her hip. She sidestepped and cut a Grineer butcher across the midsection.
“Fantastic work, Adagio Dazzle,” Hydroid said. “Keep it up and you can be the first mate of this Warframe!”
“Did we win already?” Adagio wore a smug look on her face.
“Doesn’t look like it…” Trixie lifted a hand and pointed to the frozen statue of Lieutenant Lech Kril.
Sonata stared at the frozen Grineer for a long time. At first, she didn’t see what Trixie was seeing, but eventually, she noticed the tremble across the ice, before it began steaming.
“What’s going on?” Aria folded her arms and sighed.
Then without warning, the lieutenant burst into bright orange flames, melting all the ice and allowing him to move again.
“How is he still alive?” Loki wasted no time and took control, firing the grinlok at Lech Kril.
The bullets, this time, penetrated his armor, but the Grineer lieutenant showed no signs of pain as he readied his hammer once more.
“Tenno. Die!” he yelled and charged forward with his hammer raised.
Sonata and Loki continued to shoot at him, along with some of the other Tenno and pilots, but the lieutenant suddenly brought up a barrier of flame, nullifying their attacks as he neared them with his hammer.
“Look out!” Trixie yelled and cast a skill on herself, turning her white and glowing with radiating energy. Lech Kril’s hammer smashed down on her, but it passed right through, almost like she was a ghost.
“Cool!” Sonata said before firing on the Grineer lieutenant again.
Two shield lancers approached her from the left, firing at her with their firearms, but Loki took over and used a radial disarm, rending them weaponless.
“We can do that?” Sonata turned the rifle and fired it at the shield lancers.
“We can do plenty, Sonata Dusk,” Loki told her. “My Warframe specializes in stealth and confusion. When we trade places with them or when we disarm them, that is.”
“Meh, whatever works, Loki.” Sonata reloaded the gun.
Lieutenant Lech Kril gave up trying to attack Trixie and Limbo, turning his attention to Flash Sentry and Volt, who were racing around him in a blur of electricity, trying to cut him down with their nikana. Hopping back, the lieutenant brought his hammer down, shooting out a wave of fire from the ground, sending Flash sprawling back and away to avoid it.
“Look out!” Derpy came flying in, shooting her pistols at Lech Kril’s helmeted head.
Raising an arm, the lieutenant grunted a few times, then brought his hammer up with one hand, hitting Derpy and Mesa in the side, launching them across the school grounds and into the side of the bleachers.
“You dreadful creature!” Rarity fired an arrow at his arm, lodging it through the armor and out the other side.
“Well at least we can hit him now, right?” Sonata tried to look on the bright side and kept firing.
“Yes, he can’t have much more in him.” Adagio readied her weapons. “Keep it up.”
Rushing back in Sonata fired her grinlok, aiming for his head and chest. When Lech Kril’s hammer came back around, Loki bent back, dropping to his knees, allowing him and Sonata to dodge the blow, then sprung up on both hands, kicking the lieutenant in the chest.
“Grah, you insolent Tenno!” Lech Kril yelled, bringing up another barrier of fire to chase Sonata away. “You will all die for my Queens! Everything you know will be destroyed!”
Sonata found herself beside Trixie, firing her gun at the lieutenant again in hopes of taking down his barrier. With another wave of fire, Sonata and Loki were down, their shields depleted, but otherwise unharmed. Trixie rushed over to help, but she was knocked aside as Lech Kril stood over them, raising his hammer high.
“This is the end…”
And then Flash Sentry was back, impaling the lieutenant through the back with his nikana, pushing it in deep until it came out through his front.
“No!” The Grineer struggled to free himself, swinging his hammer around wildly.
Eventually, the hammer dropped from his hand as it fell down by his side. Flash lowered his weapon and pulled it back out in one swift and florid motion.
“Thanks,” Sonata said as Loki got them back up on their feet.
“Hey, we’re all in this together, like it or not,” Flash shrugged. “So we’ve got each other’s backs.” Then he was off to fight more Grineer.
“Man, there’s no end to these guys, is there…?” Sonata took a pause to scratch her head.
“We must cut them off at the source.” Loki pointed up to the sky where a towering spacecraft could faintly be seen, well away from their planet.
“And it’s already being worked on,” Rarity said, stopping by Sonata Dusk, wiping dirt from her pale cheeks. “For now, we must hold our home. Stop the enemy from getting any further.”
“Are you sure you Rainbooms can handle it all on your own up there?” Adagio reformed from a puddle close to them.
“We’ll do it,” Rarity nodded and pulled another arrow from her quiver. Sonata wondered if it was possible to run out of arrows. “I believe in my friends. They can do this.”