"I am the hunter, you are the prey! That's how this works!"

"Shit!" Ray cursed, rolling into cover behind a pillar as the Kuva Lich appeared, spraying gunfire into the room from his Kohm and causing flames to erupt from the ground. Nearby, Iris fell into cover behind a metal crate with a small thud and reloaded her Braton Prime. Ray checked his own ammo reserves on his Boar; he was running low, and judging by the look the Mesa Prime gave him as he looked over at her, she was in the same boat. Most people were unable to see a warframe's facial expressions, but with enough practice and experience it was possible for the Tenno to read each other's expressions behind their transference.

"Where's our freakin' backup!?" Iris shouted over the sounds of battle as she fired around her cover, the bullets ricocheting harmlessly off of the Lich's shields.

"Hell if I know!" Ray shouted back, firing his own weapon at the powerful Grineer warrior, only to have his shots bounce off as well. He sighed in frustration; this was meant to be an easy extermination assignment against the Corpus on Venus, but this Lich had taken control of the planet. Not only had they been forced to fight through legions of high-level Grineer units, killing several Kuva Thralls along the way, but the appearance of the Kuva Lich himself was certainly not making things any better.

Just then, in his radio, Ray heard a man say, "Sorry I'm late," A moment later, Ray felt strength surge through his body as his HUD told him that he was being bolstered by the elemental ward of a Chroma. His radio spoke again, "Cavalry's here, kids." The blast of a large rifle cut through the gunfire, followed by a large slug buzzing through the air and hitting the Lich in the chest, exploding on impact. From above, a man shouted, "Next one goes in your head, Cordiss!" He looked up to see a familiar Chroma Prime standing on a balcony, his signature Kuva Chakkhurr pointed at the now-staggered Kuva Lich. The larger frame dropped down to the ground, focused solely on killing his target, who was now back on his feet and back on the offensive.

The Excalibur Umbra surged with power as he brought his hands together, his exalted blade materializing as he pulled his hands apart, channelling his energy to bring the powerful sword to life. If this Lich was going to pick a fight with them, Ray thought determinedly, then they were going to show him what the Shadow Caste was made of! He charged, dodging the pillars of flame and shotgun fire as he swung his blade in graceful arcs, sending waves of lethal energy at the Lich. Ray grinned to himself as he saw his enemy's shields begin to drop with each impact.

From the back, Iris used her twin Regulators to pound the Lich and any lesser enemies who dared poke their heads out from cover with a stream of rapid-fire, high-damage rounds. She never missed a single shot, hitting each target perfectly as she danced around their return fire without ever leaving her spot.

Black gave a short roar as he shed his adorned hide, the armor sprouting wings of energy and breathing fire at any nearby opponents; the effigy ability. The Chroma Prime sneered as he shouted, "Hey, big, dumb, and ugly! Stop wasting your time with those losers and fight me like a man!"

The Lich, Cordiss, turned to address the taunt, unleashing a torrent of flame and gunfire. He teleported behind Black, picking him up before he could react and slamming the warframe down on his knee. Black let out a pained grunt as his spine felt about ready to break. The next thing he knew, he was being thrown across the room and into a wall. His ribs cracked and broke on impact, the sound of breaking bone resounding through the room. Black dropped limply to the ground, fighting to remain conscious as his effigy ended. Weakly, he looked up to see Cordiss approaching with murder in his eyes. Perhaps taunting him had not been the best plan.

Cordiss turned suddenly as he was pelted with gunfire from Iris. She walked forward steadily, steely determination on her face. Fearlessly, Iris stood her ground as the Lich began to charge her. He only made it a few steps, though, before Ray leapt at him from the side, swinging his Skiajati into his gut, cleaving through the armor as the corrosive modifications took effect. Cordiss batted him aside, continuing toward Iris as the acid ate away at him.

Black saw the ghost of a smile cross Ray's face as the Lich's health deteriorated. Suddenly, the sound of Iris's rifle ceased. They both looked over to see the look of sheer terror on her face; she was out of ammunition! Cordiss grabbed her by the throat, lifting the Mesa Prime into the air and snarling, "Any last words?'

"I prefer to let my actions speak for me," she spat, drawing her Lex Prime and placing the muzzle against the Lich's forehead. There was a moment where time seemed to freeze, then everything happened at once. Iris fired, the bullet meeting flesh rather than shields or armor, and Cordiss screamed in pain as he slammed her into the ground hard enough to kill her instantly.

But she kept breathing, much to Cordiss's surprise as well as her own. Iris looked at her HUD to see that she was actually in relatively good shape, all things considered. She also noticed the icon of the elemental ward increasing her maximum vitality. Ray rammed his Skiajati into the Lich's back, the corrosive blade stabbing through the armor as if it were butter. He pulled down like a lever, forcing Cordiss to stand as he shrieked in pain. With perfect timing, Ray pulled his sword out and spun away as Black leapt onto the Lich's back, sliding the sharpened edge of his Parazon across his neck.

Jahu…

The requiem mod activated, and Cordiss coughed up blood as his wound refused to heal like it normally would. He spun around, seeking to face his rival, only to see Black's armored fist just moments before it impacted against his face, sending him staggering backwards. Cordiss held down the trigger on his Kohm, sending an increasing number of bolts at Black. Before he could get so much as two shots off, however, Iris returned the favor with her own slew of shots from her sidearm while Ray activated his radial javelin, killing several enemies as they tried to flank the group and harming the Lich even further before entering melee combat with him, cutting through his armor with each slice. Quickly, Cordiss was weakened and stunned to the point where Black was able to lunge forward and stab his Parazon into his chest. He then pulled the device back out before simply swiping it across the Lich's face.

Jahu… Vome…

In a last-ditch effort to kill his assailants, Cordiss sent a wave of flame outward, throwing all three Tenno back several meters. Black responded first by leaping backwards and away from the wall of fire, then leaving his warframe, using his transference to appear on the battlefield in his human, or operator form. He void dashed forward, piercing through the attack before re-entering his warframe, the Chroma Prime teleporting to his position on the other side of the fire.

Cordiss's eyes widened, taking a step back as he activated his flame pillars once again, the gouts of fire seeking out the warframe and burning him. The Chroma Prime activated his vex armor and walked forward as the fire depleted his shields. When his shields hit zero, his now-quadrupled armor absorbed almost all of the damage, the cost being that the vex armor amplified the pain.

This was no problem, as the pain brought fury, and with fury came the ability to do far greater damage. Cordiss fired desperately at the steadily advancing frame, but it had little effect other than making him stronger. "Harder daddy," Black taunted sadistically as he felt himself getting ready to unleash Hell. As the Chroma Prime reached his opponent, his expression broke into a wicked smile before he let loose with a string of punches that depleted what shields Cordiss had regenerated before smacking against armor and flesh. The sound of bones fracturing with each hit only served to push Black further, delivering harder and harder blows. The pain in his hands increased with each punch; there was a reason that the Tenno never used their bare hands. But the pain brought fury, and the fury brought even greater damage to Cordiss.

Within a dozen blows, the Lich was weak enough for Black to use his Parazon, something which he savored after so many previous failed attempts; now he knew he had the right combination. With a twisted sort of pleasure, Black slashed across Cordiss's chest, taking sick satisfaction in his scream of pain. He spun into another sweeping strike, this time aimed at the Lich's face, watching for a moment as kuva-infused blood stained his face. Black then stabbed him in the neck, lifting him into the air and twisting around, tossing him back to the floor a few meters away.

Jahu… Vome… Lohk!

For a few seconds, the room fell silent as the Kuva Lich was finally defeated. Then gunfire erupted once again as the remaining Grineer forces tried to continue the fight. Iris and Ray retaliated, and Ray urged his friend, "C'mon, Black! There are bound to be more on the way!"

Black smiled as he stared his Lich in the eye. "Cordiss Egg," he snickered at his last name, "You are hereby," he paused for a moment as he raised his Parazon for a stab, shouting triumphantly "Vanquished!" He lunged forward, driving the blade into his enemy. Cordiss attempted to struggle, but he was too weak to put up a fight against the strength of the warframe as he writhed beneath the Chroma Prime's grip. Black grabbed his head from behind, pulling it back before plunging his Parazon into the Kuva Lich's throat, finally ending his miserable life.

He just sat there and breathed for a moment, basking in the sensation of defeating a Lich. This was his fifth one, with the first one having been converted to fight for the Tenno cause. His fourth time killing a Kuva Lich, and it was still just as liberating. Black then shook himself out of his thoughts, sending Cordiss's weapon to his orbiter via dematerialization, then drawing his own powerful gun to help finish the mission. "Man, those guys are annoying," he muttered as he opened fire.

"Then why do you keep creating them?" Iris asked.

Black grinned, gesturing to his Chakkhurr, "Why, to get absolute beasts like this big guy here. Never said it wasn't worth it, did I? I just said they were annoying."

The Chakkhurr was a true powerhouse, especially with the modification chips that Black had installed. Nine out of ten shots fired two projectiles, every hit did critical damage, also making each shot explode on impact, and the viral damage made it extremely effective against Grineer. Black was somewhat obsessed with filling his codex with entries about his enemies, studying their weaknesses to optimize his weapons.

"I wish I had brought my Chakkhurr," Iris commented ruefully as she glared at her Braton Prime, "This thing can't do any damage."

Black shrugged, "You'll get your mastery points out of it, at least. Besides, it could be worse; you could be using the old Mk-1 Braton instead."

Iris sighed as she drained another magazine into a Grineer Trooper, "Still wish I brought my Chakkhurr."

"Hey," Ray interjected as he smoothly decapitated a Lancer, "Be glad you even have one. I've gotten one Lich thus far, and he had a stupid rocket-hammer."

Black laughed, "Behold, the reason why I create so many Liches!"

Iris chuckled along with him, "We need to get you one of these."

"Chonk Rifle," Black said humorously as he blasted away several more enemies. He and Iris referred to their massive flintlock kuva rifles as "Chonk Rifles" because of their size, power, and slow rate of fire. Black had actually coined the term, and Iris had picked it up because she found it mildly funny, just as it was meant to be. It was harder for it to get old that way, since they sometimes just referred to it as the Chonk Rifle offhandedly, having gotten used to calling it that since it was also easier to say.

Ray, to vent his frustration, proceeded to stab a Butcher so hard that he was split in half. "I don't need it as much," he quipped, "I can do plenty of damage with my melee weapons."

"True dat," Black agreed with a laugh. Ray had crushed him in a duel with his intense corrosive damage, so he was intimately aware of how powerful it was. They cleaned house, then headed to extraction where their respective landing craft were waiting. Two Lisets and a Xiphos. Black boarded the latter, while the other two boarded the former.

During the flight back, Ray commented over comms, "You certainly took your sweet time getting here, Black."

"I guess the Xiphos is a bit slower," Black joked back, "Or maybe it's just mine. Either way, we all got out alive, so no big deal, right?"

Iris interjected, "Yes, but it would be nice if you could get there sooner. We almost didn't make it out."

"Yeah, but maybe next time you'll bring your own Chonk Rifle, and then we won't have that little problem," Black winked, then turned serious, "But real talk: I really appreciate the help with Cordiss back there. I know that you were expecting some low-level Corpus, but I had been hoping to rendezvous earlier that I did. I owe you one; both of you."

Ray shrugged, "It's whatever. Meet at the dojo for lunch? I'm starving!"

"That converted Lich of yours isn't good for much, Black," Iris laughed, "but he does do a mean job grilling!"

"I'll see what I can do," Black chuckled, "You may have to make do with my flame-breath. If Cobb is available, I'll pick something up from him and meet you guys there."

A/N: Yup, I play Warframe as well. This story will work a bit differently than my other works, the main differences being that each chapter will be its own mini-story within a larger timeline (arranged in chronological order). This means that the stories will not be entirely consecutive, with gaps of time between them. The other difference is that this story is interactive, but not by conventional means.

That's right: you, reader, will shape the course of this story by actually playing Warframe with us! You will become a character of your own based on your in-game gear, and your actions while playing alongside your fellow Shadow Caste members will be reflected in the story. Of course, this will usually be limited to what I'm around to witness, but I'm online quite frequently when not writing, so it won't be too hard!

Of course, all in-game events will be exaggerated and dramatized a bit to make it more fun to read, but if you're in the chapter then you get some power over what your character does, says, and the like. Because this is an MMORPG, it is OC friendly, and because it's a fanfiction, I can add characters/things that wouldn't normally exist in the game; I did that in this chapter a few times (minorly, but this is more of an introduction and proof-of-concept anyway).

I would also like to mention that this will be on the PC version of the game, since it isn't cross-platform (Sorry, console players!). Additionally, this is not sponsored by Digital Extremes in any way, meaning that there will be nothing that would come with such an arrangement. However, we do like to give in-game incentives to new members from our own stores.

Finally, I would like to make clear that this is my first attempt at something like this, so saying that this might have a rocky start is probably an understatement. My game-to-story system may very well have to change with time, but I'm looking forward to playing with you anyway, and I hope you are too.

If you want to get in on this, PM me and I'll get you situated to play with us. I hope to see you there, Tenno!

-VV (aka BlackGr0wth, Warlord and Archivist of the Shadow Caste)