Frames of War

by Starscribe

Chapter 13: Champion

Catlin did not make it far with this new frame. But she couldn't stand to remain in the presence of this half-broken Sentient, slowly rotting in their own decaying sanity. She needed to get up into the castle proper, where at least things made more sense.

The frame was not so strange as the first time she took on a non-humanoid form. But this one was leaner and more graceful, the sort of frame Catlin preferred. It reminded her a little of her beloved Titania Prime, without the tiny fairy wings, or bizarre connection to the natural world.

The other Warframe followed her—one of the strangest things she had ever seen. It would redefine warfare in the Origin system, if a Tenno could bring a whole arsenal of Warframes to fight at once.

Despite the praise the Architect had heaped on this beautiful machine, she sensed almost nothing from it. If it had any of its own desires, she could not feel them at all. But it obeyed, and didn't assault her mind with strange memories as the Excalibur Umbra had once done. Maybe that was a mercy.

"Equestria is not happy with this... trust," Celestia said, finally emerging from the ancient chamber. "If we're wrong, every survivor in Canterlot will die, and the infestation might spread."

Catlin separated from the frame in a burst of void-light. It settled delicately to the ground behind her, sitting on its haunches the way she expected from most frames. It waited silent and still for her return. Though if she watched carefully, she might catch it adjusting the feathers on its metal wings, stretching them after a long time in storage.

She didn't watch now, though. Instead she faced down the princess of Equestria, as bravely as she could. Just because the trial had gone her way didn't mean that Celestia was any less dangerous for her. The Alicorn could end this conversation with brutal rapidity, if she wanted to.

But you won't, not in front of your sister. "I know how deep the Orokin wounded, Celestia. You heard stories of their cruelty—I lived under it. They killed my mother, they brainwashed my brothers and sisters. The Tenno were never your enemy, or your oppressors. Let me prove it."

They stood in silence in the broken prison, with only the steady drip of water to interrupt it. At least until light flashed from ahead of them, and another creature appeared in the open space.

It was easily the most precise teleport Catlin had ever seen, with so little bleed of void-energy that she could not tell what direction she came from. The creature was roughly at Catlin's own height, with a full set of purple wings and a long horn to match. Compared to either of the other two ponies, she was much easier to look at, and less terrifying.

"Princess Celestia! I finished the spell! I'm ready to cast it whenever you think I should! It will burn away any infestation left out there, sterilizing Equestria and the land under it."

She froze, finally noticing Catlin. She looked between her, and the two frames at her side. The unicorn retreated from her, hiding behind Catlin as best she could. The other was as still as a metal statue.

Despite all the horrors of the night, a grin spread on the creature's face. "What's this? I've never seen any creature dress so strangely before! What kind of magic is that?" Something tugged at Catlin's hand, lifting it and the Amp up towards the newcomer.

She responded with a little burst of power, wrapping her fingers around it and disrupting the current that tugged her. She squeezed her hand into a fist, keeping the Amp close. She would need it soon.

"This hero saved our archeological team," Luna said. "And held the gates at my side. She had spent lifetimes in martial servitude, fighting monsters like these."

"And worse," Catlin said. "Usually much worse. The Infested would not be a serious threat with the right air support." As she said it, the strangeness of her situation came crashing back. She wasn't in the Origin System anymore. The Sentients should have their own civilization here, shouldn’t they? Were they as factionalized and divided as the cultures back home? Or had the entire population gone to war, so there was no one left to fight?

"You cannot cast your spell yet, Twilight." Celestia seemed to recover most of her composure, stalking past Catlin and over to the watching unicorn. She patted her lightly on the shoulder. "Always you exceed expectations. Yet you must wait a little longer. Conserve your power until the right moment."

"Wait for what?" She trotted nervously after Celestia, seeming to forget about Catlin and the frames just as quickly as she began. "Nopony will tell me how things are going in the city, but I can guess. If there are any other survivors out there, they can't afford to wait!"

Catlin followed just behind them. She stayed a few steps away, keeping out of the aura of power that followed them. She was used to fighting alongside other Tenno now—but as they were the only beings with void-powers in the Origin system, she had never needed to learn any other kind.

"The Infestation is a mind now. It will resist your void-attack. Even if you are stronger, its power will conceal scraps of the infection. Some individuals with spores festering within them may escape. Or else it will blind you to the blight deeper underground. Your world is so full of life—it will make for irresistible food, if you don't stop the infestation completely."

Twilight stopped, turning her attention back on Catlin. "Are you sure about that? I've never known a disease to have magic before."

"We trust her," Princess Luna said. "She claims to know where the fel mind will shelter. I intend to follow her there, fight beside her, and slay it. Then it will be safe to purge the city."

"My sister is right, unfortunately," Celestia said. "I would accompany you, but... I fear I have exhausted my strength. If I go, I might fail to resist the infection. That can't happen. The consequences to Equestria are too dire to imagine."

But Catlin could. By simply saying those words, she imagined what horrors might be unleashed when a being with such incredible void-powers became infected. It would require her to be weakened incredibly first, but she already was.

Maybe that's the Infestation's plan all along. If it can take one of these Alicorns, it will be impossible to cure. It could escape into orbit, and return to blight the system a thousand times over.

"Those ponies behind you..." Twilight continued. "What are they wearing? It looks like metal, covering their faces. Who are you ponies, anyway?"

"That is no easy answer to give," Luna said. "Not proper ponies, anymore. They live, yet they do not. They think, yet they do not dream. It is a strangeness that cannot be explained. Our scholars will study them when this conflict is over."

Catlin stepped back, resting one hand on the unicorn-frame's shoulder. Or maybe she should think of her as Ruby. She knew her name, after all. "They are Warframes. This one is called Ruby. With their help, we're going to save Canterlot."

The frame recoiled from before the princess. But at Catlin's words, it stood a little straighter, a little taller.

But even while she wasn't using the frame, Catlin could also see uncertainty in the way it looked at the other frame. She could practically hear it asking, “Why would you need me?"

"Then you must hurry," Celestia said. Her voice was finally defeated, utterly exhausted. "I do not know when the infestation will strike against us again. But I am certain that Canterlot Castle's defenders will not be mighty enough to survive it. Twilight and I will prepare for the spell. When you're ready, signal it, sister. We will purify the city."

---

Catlin could not fly her lander to the site of battle to deploy these frames, ready to fight for their city. That was probably for the best, since she had never used it to deploy more than a single frame at once before.

The strange new pegasus was not able to move on its own, or at least hadn't revealed that capacity to her yet. That meant she had to pilot it herself, and trust Ruby to follow behind her.

At least in that respect it proved itself no less capable than the Excalibur. They galloped together across the castle drawbridge, flanking Princess Luna like a set of strange bodyguards.

The Alicorn had more pony armor, along with a gleaming sword she levitated before her with voidlight. Catlin and the frames each carried weapons taken from the wall—blades, spears, pikes, slung over the unicorn's back.

They crept in silence through the city, shielded by the night-princess's magic. Catlin had seen its like before, on Loki or Ash or a few others. Even some Tenno could do it, though it was not a power she had ever mastered herself.

Catlin could see the utility in it now, remaining unseen as they ran between gathering hordes of the infected. There were still so many of them, tens of thousands or even more. They moved with no urgency, wandering aimlessly through the streets of the lower city.

Catlin had seen this too—with no goal, the infestation's individuals did not live their own lives. They wandered uselessly, distributing in no configuration. It didn't matter that they would probably throw their lives against the castle walls in a few hours, or even less. There was no preparation they could make.

Eventually they reached the center of the rot.

Even before the infestation got here, it had clearly not been a particularly desirable part of the city. But now the old warehouses and teetering buildings were overwhelmed with a gigantic, pulsating boil.

Princess Luna led them to a rooftop one level higher, about fifty feet above its awful surface. Still close enough that Catlin could smell the otherworldly rot that billowed around it like a cloud.

The princess crouched low, her horn still glowing faintly with the power of her magic.

"I have fought many enemies in my lifetime, Tenno Catlin. But I am not certain I have the practice or training to fight something like this. It seems undefended, but its flesh is vast. How do we destroy it?"

Without a radio, she still had no choice but to manifest there on the roof. She kept herself crouched low, not sure of where the limits of Luna's magic really were.

"I have fought its like before, on another world. We must poison it first. That will trigger peristalsis—it will react with any agents it controls, and fight back. But last time this happened, I had a potent poison I delivered directly to its center. Do you have anything like that here?"

Princess Luna rose suddenly, spreading her wings to both sides. "No, but we have gravity. If physically destroying this boil is enough, leave that to me. Meanwhile, the infestation will be yours to overcome. Keep them off me."

"We can do that." Catlin took one step closer to the two frames, considering which would be most useful for the task. If only Ruby knew how to fight like the day warrior that had become Excalibur! Then they could fight alongside. She would only be able to use one here.

But I should keep the other close, for when I need it.

She vanished, returning to pilot the unicorn frame. She could feel its relief. It wanted to help, but didn't think it had the skill to do anything on its own.

I'll show you how. It's time to save this city.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

"Equestria is not happy with this... trust," Celestia said, finally emerging from the ancient chamber.

No, you aren't. You are not the state, Celestia. You're not even Louis XIV.

This will be definitely be a tricky fight. We'll see just how it goes... and whether that bit about corrupted alicorns was just cause for concern or outright foreshadowing.

[Raistlin]

11507240

I find her even more unsympathetic after finding out Celestia didn't personally experience the war against the Orokin: she was just spooked with Solaris' tales.

[captainwolf]

11507246
Its no different from a child being told by a parent someone is a bad person. Celestia was presumably raised from birth by the Sentients, of course she would be wary of people the Sentients said were bad.

[minibox]

11507324
To see that parent entrust the "bad person" with one of their tools... no doubt there's a little jealousy mixed in as well.

[ponepony]

The other Warframe followed her—one of the strangest things she had ever seen. It would redefine warfare in the Origin system, if a Tenno could bring a whole arsenal of Warframes to fight at once.

Cute.

[Raistlin]

11507324
11507540

So Celly is just acting like a brat. How old is she again?

[orpheus talos]

there are more than just the infested on a derelict mission. did all the Kavat die off or were they hiding and stalking their new prey?

[Warrior Kitten]

11512343
No. Comments are for commenting. I will comment how I like (within reason).

[Bugsydor]

11507240
Heh. The Sun King.