//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Fortress // Story: Frames of War // by Starscribe //------------------------------// The rickety lift finally ground to a stop. Catlin's instincts demanded that she retreat into the back corners of the car, letting these creatures take the brunt of whatever was waiting. But her frame wouldn't let her do that—she needed to protect these creatures, even if that meant a little more risk. What could they do, other than put their bodies in the line of fire? Besides, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't eager to see where they'd ended up. There was a whole system to hide this strange colony of intelligent animals, where had it been stashed away? She felt proper gravity here, none of the slight distortion that came from an artificial projector. Were they on a space station somewhere, maybe in orbit of a small planetoid? Was this some Orokin tower out in the void? Yet if so, how could such a large population of creatures keep their sanity? The void was not kind to visitors. Yet she saw no immediate answer, just a small room with ancient mechanical lift equipment. They stepped out, past simple electric bulbs. Not terribly recent technology, with a steady growing and dimming of their light as she watched. That had to make the electricity here truly primitive. Were they still running nuclear power, or maybe even combustion? The stone building was nothing as graceful and flowing as the cavern they'd just left—this was simple construction, straightforward blocks and pillars. Signs hung prominently on each one read, in simple letters "CAVERN ACCESS: EXTREME DANGER" Yet this was enough to make Catlin stop and stare while the other creatures kept filing past her. Text that she could... read? She practically squealed in excitement as she went over each one, trying to inspect the details. What language was this? That alone would give her all the detail she needed about the location of this colony. Yet when she stared at the letters, they blurred and distorted, shifting into a meaningless blend of slashes and harsh cuts, vaguely reminiscent of cuneiform. She shook her head once, looked away—and the text returned. This is your doing, isn't it? she thought, to her mysterious passenger. You're letting me read this. Come to think of it, Catlin had understood the creatures here from the very beginning—should she? She might fool herself into thinking she was clever, but she was nothing compared to real scholars. She'd heard a thousand Grineer use words like 'clem' and still didn't know what they meant. She felt confusion from the Warframe in response, or thought she did. The strange presence was with her again, as eager to see their current location as Catlin was to discover it for the first time. "Are you coming?" asked a voice—the professor, from near an open doorway. Light shone from outside, the orange of a sunny afternoon. She nodded, then hurried to catch up. Only a few more steps, and she was out the door, and got her first look at a city by something not even remotely human. It might've been beautiful—ancient palisades of white marble and red porcelain tile, broken by wide avenues and boulevards paved with cobblestone. Might've been beautiful, if it wasn't currently under attack. Catlin had seen war like this, seen it a dozen times before. She knew the fires, the shouts of soldiers and screams of the innocent as they died. Even worse, there could be no mystery in her mind about what had attacked. Nothing else could leave a pulsing biofilm that covered the streets and nearby buildings, with fronds of gently-swaying fungus. It spread in a thick, pulsating mass across the cement. It didn't actually start near the elevator, but several feet away. "Celestia protect us," said Dust Brush, collapsing to the ground just beside her. "How? All of Canterlot... is this our fault?" The street just beside them would've been quite nice, if only the lower level of its buildings weren't covered in infestation. "We can't know that," Silver whispered. "We need to focus on... focus on... stars above, what do we do?" Glass was shattered, buildings overturned, though mercifully there were no bodies. Whoever had died in this fight would now have been thoroughly consumed by the infestation. It would try to consume everything else, and everyone else. Until there was nothing left for it to eat. The frame no longer had any presence in her mind—it had retreated again, fleeing this horrific sight. She couldn't blame it. Part of Catlin felt like curling up to cry herself, and just wait for the end. But it was a small part, one the Orokin had thoroughly beaten out of her. Giving up here was simply not within the realm of possibility. Catlin galloped a few steps away from her companions, hopping up onto a nearby cart. This city wasn't flat, but built into the side of an incredibly-steep mountain. So which way did they have to go to find safety? That answer was obvious just by listening. The shouts of defiance, where people kept fighting and weapons still clanged against flesh and bone—those came from above. She turned, and found what seemed to be a structure—a gigantic dome of solid purple... glass? It wrapped around the entire peak of the mountain, including several palace-looking structures and the surrounding buildings. Many people moved about inside, though she couldn't get a good look at them from here. Survivors. If they're going to have any chance of fighting this off, they need my help.  She hopped down, making her way back over to the three stunned civilians. They hadn't moved from where she left them, basically overcome with their despair. Yet as she approached, the professor turned, watching her. "Is this your doing, baleful spirit? Have you taken vengeance against us?" Didn't you defend me earlier? Catlin shook her head vigorously, then pointed at the dome. She gestured several times, until finally the creatures realized what she was doing. It was Alidade who saw it first. "The princess must be protecting everypony. Her shield... it's like the wedding!" Probably not everyone, Catlin thought. This growth didn't come from nowhere. But she had no way of telling him that, not without a radio. Maybe whoever lived in that castle would have one. "We'll never make it," Alidade continued. "We're doomed. This is where we give up. They'll find us, and eat us, and we'll die with the rest." Catlin smacked him across the face. Not hard—her metal body could probably break a neck if she wasn't careful. But hard enough to silence him. He toppled backward, like someone who'd never been punched in their life. But she ignored his screams of protest, storming past them.  She made it a few steps further, over to the toppled cart. She braced against one side, then shoved, yanking it free of the infestation. There was only wood underneath—one of the slower materials the infestation could consume. It would be enough to get them there.  Unfortunately, she didn't find drive controls. There was a strap and harness assembly, waiting for a receptive pony. How did they decide which of their kind would do menial labor when they were all horses? She didn't secure the harness, just grabbed it in her teeth and dragged it over to the group. Then she pointed several times—first to the professor, then the back of the wooden cart. Then to Alidade, and the straps. Finally, to the dome. It wasn't much for communication, but she saw recognition instantly.  "What about you?" Alidade asked, spitting a mouthful of blood and slime at her hooves. "Shouldn't you be doing something?" "Of course they are, Alidade," said Dust, helping Silver towards the back. "They’re protecting us. You want to fight while they pull?" Alidade fell silent after that. Now that they had a purpose, the group sprung into motion again. Catlin didn't waste the time. While they loaded into the cart, she searched the nearby ground. If there had been a fight nearby, there would be weapons. Sure enough, she found a fallen spear near a broken building, along with some overgrown armor. From the residue of biofilm inside that armor, it had probably been worn at the time it fell. But there was nothing she could do for the poor pony now. She ripped the spear free of the infestation's tendrils, scraping it against the ground until the blade shone. It floated along beside her, as easily as she carried the Burston.  It's a good thing more of my enemies can't do this. How could she possibly win a duel against an enemy who could swing weapons without arms? Finally they were moving. Catlin walked just beside Alidade, keeping her weapon in the air at all times. Never before had she wished harder for Davros to offer her some trash-tier weapon for some platinum. Hell, she'd trade one of her prized Riven mods to get her hooves on a self-recharging Fulmin right about now. They walked without interruption for several minutes, the sound of hooves and wheels muffled against the organic mat that covered the ground. Any moment overwhelming odds might emerge from the floor, or the ceiling, or who knew where. People walking alone through the city would make for easy targets. The ponies did not move quickly. Every few feet it seemed they slowed to a stop, muttering to one another about some building that was overgrown or the signs of a battle in the street. Catlin listened with sympathy, but ultimately had to urge them forward each time. This was defection missions all over again, with similarly dismal outlook for reward. "Your pain over lost friends won't save you!" she wanted to shout, every time. But she didn't even have eyes. They wouldn't even see her face. If she wasn't wandering through an infested wasteland, she might've tried using transference, leaving the Warframe behind to talk to them with her real body. But she didn't even know that she had a real body anymore. And even if she did, this wasn't the sort of place she wanted to be walking around in it. Though she kept alert for all danger, Catlin kept a little of her attention on the sky. She watched for every passing ship, every sign of an orbital station—anything that could tell her where in the system she'd ended up. But what she saw didn't even make sense. A bright blue sky, a comfortable yellow star. Perfectly Earthlike, except for the infestation. She couldn't even smell the toxic smog that came from Grineer-dominated parts of the planet. But then they approached the wall, and Catlin discovered in an instant why they hadn't been attacked on the way up. She hadn't been attacked, because every infested creature in the city was bashing itself to pieces trying to get into the dome. She held out one hoof to the ponies, waited until they stopped, then hurried ahead a few steps. Hopefully they would scream if they needed her help. At the end of a narrow alley, she could see the edge of the dome, meeting the ground directly in the middle of the street. In places it had even cut through buildings. More like it was put here after the attack. The city could never run with this in the way. Surrounding it was a mob, all pressing, flying, and bashing up against the barrier. There were thousands of them here, along with many other creatures. Wispy things attacked from the air, flying with malformed wings. Beside them, great brutes of armor plates and bone tore up the ground with every step, bashing into the barrier with blows that rattled Catlin to her core. Nothing can keep this out forever. The attackers were so zealous to get inside that some literally mashed themselves to pulp against the barrier, crushed by the weight of infested bodies behind them. But as soon as one fell, others took its place. Just past their current street, she could see high walls of stone, and figures watching from atop them. Figures in bright metal armor, carrying spears like the one she'd found. They didn’t seem to see her group, at least not yet. The infested did. More than one creature turned to glance back at her. But just as swiftly, they lost interest. That's not good. It meant the infestation was reaching critical mass, enough to develop intelligence. Long-term goals like "get to the food inside that shell" could take the place of the direct actions like "get a few more people to infest." Unfortunately for Catlin, she also needed to get through the shell.