Of Steel and Stardust - Chapter 27 - Precursor (2024)

Chapter Text

PART I: Freedom Cry

eiled light glinted off BT’s chaingun, signaling to the native lands of Typhon that they were being invaded. It passed through the trees, littering the earth with black shapes with leaves for edges. The shadows it cast darkened in deep-seeded tire tracks; footprints left by their prey.
“Big treads. Heavy trucks. Armored. They come through here a lot.”
Jack glared at guardrails lined with yellow and black lines, warning against an upcoming sharp turn.
Everything was far too established.
“They’ve been here for a while…”
They’d taken this planet in silence. Stayed under the radar. And when the Militia came, they were ready.
“Pilot, the IMC will continue to search for us. Our only chance of survival is to rendezvous with Major Anderson 60 klicks from our current location.”
Jack swiped his nose and rubbed his shoulder.
“Hopefully we make it there in one piece…”
Winging it had never been his first choice when dealing with tactical operations. He always had a superior to point where he needed to shoot. He wasn’t confident in flying blind.
“We will have to improvise and adapt if we wish to survive.”
BT reminded him that nothing about this op had him feeling confident.
“Right.”
The path they followed snaked along a shallow inlet, flowing towards the crash site they left behind. It gave life to lush vegetation, framed by rocky ledges covered with moss and vines.
The edges of BT's panels were like barriers between worlds; seams where one ended and another began. A splintered reality, akin to the one they lived in now.
“This is the real thing, son…”
Jack’s mind and soul were numbed only by the aching in his muscles. The journey had taken a very real toll.
He needed something to bring him forward. A dose of normalcy, something to cling on to prove this was real, that this was happening. More than that, he needed something that seemed impossible to have.
His family.
Tai. Liera.
Something else without a name.
The feeling of belonging he found within the Militia as a whole, with his brothers and sisters in arms that fought shoulder to shoulder against enemies designed to kill hundreds like them with a flick of the wrist.
Troy O’Connor. Mike Nelson. The two men he’d been through hell and back with since Basic. That Lasky kid who revered him like a god.
His friends.
Missing in action. Dead. He wasn’t sure.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Stop thinking about it.”
The mute switch in his head was worn, and its function well-practiced.
“This is…Alpha Company...3-2…Marauder Corps…”
A crackle waned and faded. He jumped from the sudden interruption of silence.
“…Alpha Company?”
The fireteam of Marauders that was now without a Captain.
Liera’s friends.
“Yes. I believe that was Pilot Miller. Cleaning up transmission.”
As the trail began to narrow, the trees grew barren like a gradient from life to death. A fortress sat atop a towering mountain in an endless spiral of steel and cement, crowned with a flaming exhaust stream that mixed poisonous gas with the clouds. A massive storm drain was carved underneath, spewing waste from its vents; brown and red like blood and rust.
“We’re taking a beating down here! Any Militia forces, please assist!”
Pillars of smoke marked the transmission source, and a loud burst rattled the ground.
“That’s definitely Liam…”
Jack’s hands cupped around the ends of his armrests and he straightened himself. BT’s braces armed his limbs. They wordlessly prepared themselves to enter the fray, unwilling to let the distress call go unanswered.
They were greeted by a chasm; land torn asunder by a flaming carrier ship, having left flattened wildlife and patches of fire in its wake. A labyrinth of sludge rolled through rocky passages under a haze of peat and ember. It pooled at the bottom of a trench, clear-cut in the mountainous terrain. Each side bordered a ramp leading up to the facility’s belly.
The stretch of road was dotted with guard posts and receiving depots. Trucks and other heavy machinery rested between them.
They’d found the wolves’ den, and a battlefield awaited.
A trio of familiar Titans were outnumbered, holding an invisible line with their backs against the steep cliff that served as Jack’s vantage point.
“Enemy Titanfall detected.”
Panic fought with his resolve, but even he knew this wasn’t the time to freeze up. He had to help them, and the undeniable M-COR brandings on their Titans were enough for him to ignore his fear.
“Let’s go, BT.”
He would not let another Marauder die.
“Engaging hostiles.”
BT’s chassis broke through branches hanging high above the ground, their splintered ends snapping back and scraping the metal. His thrusters pushed them over the cliff, and Jack’s stomach rose to his throat. Time seemed to crawl asthe conflict drew nearer.
Jack had seen war up close. He’d been below the feet of Titans as they fought, praying he wouldn’t be their next victim. He thought he’d feel safer being in one the next time he found himself engaging in combat.
He didn’t. The horrors weren’t lessened by the co*ckpit doors that shielded him…
Now, he just had a better view.
The ground came first. BT’s hand disappeared into the mixture of sludge and mud, and he pushed himself to his feet. His chaingun swung to his front.
The landing shook Jack, and he found himself in a daze like when his lifeboat impaled Typhon itself. And just like then, the IMC wasted no time bringing him into the fray.
“We’ve got a friendly Vanguard-class Titan!” Sage’s picture popped up on his screen, her heart-warming voice a momentary distraction.
An IMC Brute jumped, it’s VTOL Hover keeping it suspended above the combat zone. BT peppered the enemy co*ckpit with shells larger than his fingers, dotting it with bright flares of contact.
The Brute’s vents exhausted its injury in the form of flames, attempting to recover. Jack released a fatal rocket barrage, and the Brute exploded with a loud crack. Parts of it clanked against BT as he reloaded his weapon.
“Enemy Titan down.”
They crouched behind a boulder just big enough to cover them.
“Is that BT?!” Chris called from his co*ckpit, his Ion leading a shot with her Splitter Rifle.
Akane flanked a group with her Ronin, his broadsword swiping at the legs of an enemy, “Good to see you, Captain. We could use some help.”
Footsteps clanked overhead. Jack arched his neck at the top hatch, ready to shoot.
“Friendly Pilot on the hull.”
Liam waved at the camera mounted on BT’s shoulder, “Remind me to never poke fun at you for using that old Expedition loadout again, boss man.”
They didn’t know. How could they?
“Should we…tell them?”
BT opened a vortex shield, sending enemy fire back at the infantry who delivered it.
“Negative.”
They side-stepped a quad-rocket barrage, nearly colliding with Sage’s Scorch Titan.
A fresh IMC carrier shook the ground with its engines as it soared overhead, releasing 5 pops in its jet stream. One by one, a new enemy Titan landed, their domes covering them as their hubs lit up.
They barred the entrance to the Reclamation Facility.
“How we doin’ this, Cap?” Chris asked.
The domes around the enemy Titans dissipated. They took their guns off their backs, staring Jack and the Marauders down.
“Vanguard-class Titans spotted. Moving to engage.” One of them threatened.
Jack flexed his fingers around BT’s trigger-decorated handles.
“Captain?” Sage sounded worried.
He wasn’t their Captain, but he didn’t need to be to know his new comrades had to focus on the sh*t odds they now faced rather than the fact that Tai Lastimosa was KIA.
“Pilot Miller on ground support,” BT answered for him, “Pilot Talon will take point while Pilot Grenier and I hold the flanks. Pilot Mayumi, you are cleared to roam.”
Jack rendered a long, drawn out breath as the team charged. The sadness and despair of their current situation was pushed aside by a tinge of excitement.
He was fighting alongside the Marauders.
The emergency button of the Militia. The best of the best, most of which he’d ranked higher than in his Gauntlet run. And even so, this was an opportunity. An honor. One bestowed by his father.
And he wasn’t prepared to let them down…
Especially not Tai.

…

Sage and her Scorch ran headfirst into the conflict, firing thermite barrels into the front lines before sparking them ablaze. The incendiary traps formed a barrier between the Militia and the enemy, preventing the IMC’s approach.
Jack ejected BT’s acolyte pods and painted the closest Titan with markers. The Brute ducked behind a guard post, and BT dashed to the right. Jack aimed their tracking missiles upwards, sending the winding rockets high above before arching down below.
“Target hit. Nice shooting, Pilot.”
There was almost a smile in his compliment.
“He’s suppressed. Moving in for the kill.”
Akane flanked the enemy, Broadsword drawn, moving much quicker than the others were able. The Brute took to the sky, its jets firing a blue stream below its slim chassis. She fired at it with her Ronin’s Leadwall shotgun, but the IMC Pilot swayed and dodged her bullet spray with ease.
“Damn it! Grenier?”
“Way ahead of you.”
Chris shot at the flying Titan with targeting lasers, and Jack helped him with his locked-on acolyte missiles.
“Watch your flank!” Liam warned, a laser shot coming just from out of Jack’s view.
BT’s chaingun fired at the Brute and remained focused while Jack yanked him to the right, avoiding a shot taken by a Sniper Titan.
“This Brute’s lucky I don’t have AJ,” Liam grunted, reloading his Anti-Titan Charge Rifle, “Woulda’ shot him right outta’ the sky.”
“We know, Miller, we know.” Sage and her Scorch dashed in front of them with a thermal shield, melting incoming fire from a squad of scattering Grunts.
“Sniper Titan marked at 12 o’clock,” Liam warned, a new red dot flashing on Jack’s HUD, “sh*t, Talon! Pull back!”
A blue particle shield sprang up at the end of the corridor, shielding the Sniper and Tone behind it.
“Amped shots at the choke are gonna be a problem.”
“Miller, think you can distract the Sniper?” Akane asked.
“What?” Chris shouted as he dodged the Brute, “That’s suicide!”
“I’m on it!”
“Miller, don’t-“
A notification flashed, “Friendly Pilot has left the hull,” and Liam took to the walls.
“Damn it.”
Liam let his charged laser loose, taking to a guard post’s roof and sliding to cover.
“BT, let’s cover him.”
Jack switched targets, letting Chris focus on the near-death Brute.
“Affirmative.”
“They’ve got me pinned down!” Sage and ICE peaked a corner.
They quickly withdrew back behind a building that lost a chunk of cement from an amplified Sniper round.
The Marauders were losing the ground they’d gained.
“That Sniper needs to go…”
Jack and BT ran to the side of the building, leaving Sage defenseless.
“Captain?!” She screeched.
A row of towers covered their left. The side of a cliff marked their right. They were in the right lane of the battlefield, the Sniper and Tone combo still locking down the middle.
Liam was up ahead, and jumped from one side of the corridor to the other. He yelled, slamming his chest against the smooth surface of another rooftop, his hands clawing for purchase.
“BT, TURN AROUND-”
Rapid fire burned into the guard tower, blocking the rest of his transmission with splintering debris. The enemy rounded the corner, large and hulking. A smaller particle shield was centered at the barrel of its Predator Cannon, smoke spiraling from where the shots heated the metal red.
“Enemy Legion spotted.” BT announced, “We are outnumbered.”
Exiting the lane meant getting sniped into oblivion. Remaining where he was, face to face with a Legion and a cannon that could unleash more rounds per second than Jack cared to count, he realized he’d made a mistake.
An explosion from behind rippled the waste drainage that coated the ground. Splashes of the brown liquid wiped the rust off the enemy’s feet.
“Right behind you, Captain!” Grenier called, having eliminated the flying Brute, “I’ve got you covered!”
“Mayumi, I’m on the Sniper-“ Liam’s voice was ragged, as if rodeoing an enemy Titan was exhausting or something, “Whatever you’re gonna do, you need to do it now!”
The Legion’s cannon began to spin, and BT’s vortex shield caught the first of the focused fire before the rippling wave turned orange.
“Vortex Shield at 20%,” BT warned.
The bullets turned sharply, taking aim at the enemy. They fired, and the Legion’s shield flickered as each of them hit.
“Firing Zero Trip-Wire!” Chris called out.
Three small devices arched from overhead, two landing perfectly on either side of the corridor while one landed in the middle. An orange line connected them, and they detonated as the Legion carelessly stepped through it.
“Gun Shield can’t block that, HAH!”
“Shut your trap, Grenier!” Liam scolded.
The Legion began to retreat, but it’s rotary cannon spun again. BT’s shield wasn’t recharged. They were defenseless.
“To the left, Cap! We’re gonna have to risk it!”
Grenier, still at the end of the lane, dashed out of sight. BT slipped between the gaps of the outposts, now challenged with the Tone and the bucking Sniper behind it.
“Tone Sonar locked. Taking evasive action.”
Smoke dispersed around them, and an electric current rippled through. The IMC Tone fired a cluster of misguided rockets, destroying a guard tower instead of inflicting harm.
Crunching metal ached. Sparks flew from the other side of the cloud. A pop of blue erupted, and a chunk of Titan plating rolled out of the cloud, skittering down the ramp before hitting BT’s feet with a dull “clank.”
He studied it momentarily, and found an IMC brand painted on the side.
“Sniper down.” The danger in Akane’s voice made Jack’s skin crawl.
“Couldn’t ever figure out how she was so stealthy with a TITAN.”
Sage jumped ahead of Chris and Jack, and the three of them pushed the middle choke together. Jack peaked around her Scorch just long enough to see Akane rip her sword out of the Sniper’s chassis. Never missing a beat, she launched an arc wave at the Tone.
“Never saw you miss with one of those.”
“I wasn’t aiming for the Titan, Miller...”
Even though the Tone had taken cover, Akane’s discharged, trailing wall of electricity collided with the abandoned particle shield. It disappeared, and the lane was clear.
“They’re spreading out…” She seemed suspicious.
Chris’s Ion looked around, “Weren’t there 5 when they landed?”
A hollowed burst shook the trees in the distance, and a whistling, plummeting sound came from above. A large shell collided with the ramp just in front of Sage, and the three of them scattered.
“There’s a Mortar Titan somewhere!” She growled.
“Leave it to me!” Liam bounced from one roof to another, just barely dodging a stream of bullets from the Legion Titan.
“Enough with your lone-ranger Homestead bullsh*t, Miller!” Chris yelled.
Liam double-jumped up and over the left cliff of the trench and disappeared in the brush.
“They took AJ from me,” His voice was pained as it came through, “They can stick it where the-“
A charged shot shook the communications channel, and an explosion muted his feed.
“Miller?!”
“Focus on what you’re doing, Grenier!” Akane yelled, taking a hit to the leg as she tried to regroup with the rest of them.
“sh*t.”
Sage broke formation and sprinted to her side, covering her Ronin while he recovered.
“Moving quick is not going to save you.” The Legion taunted through its loudspeaker.
A mortar shell hit next to them, sending shrapnel into Sage’s Scorch.
“Containing and destroying enemy infantry.” ICE pulled ahead, slow in his movements, leaving the others behind.
“What are they doing?!” Jack shouted.
“Previously observed behaviors indicate that Pilot Talon is activating ICE’s Flame Core.”
The irony of her Titan’s service tag and his abilities was never lost upon him.
“Go to Hell!” Sage roared as ICE’s fists raised above his shoulders before slamming down, sending a wave of fire along the corridor’s path.
She launched two thermite barrels into the inferno, and they spread the trap as they exploded on impact.
“NICE ONE, TALON!” Chris yelled, cutting off the Tone that tried to flee through a space in the left set of buildings, “And just where do you think you’re going?”
One charged laser shot reduced the IMC Titan to a heap of salvage.
“Woo! 5 Titans for the Marauders!”
“Make that 6.” Liam sneered, another fiery burst echoing in the distance, “Need some help with evac, they’ve got Spectres up here!”
“You got it! Marking your HUD for interception!”
“Solid copy, Grenier. En route to rendezvous.”
Chris broke from the group, and took off towards Liam’s last mark.
“Has anyone heard from the Captain yet?” Akane asked, her Ronin blocking shots from the Legion with his sword.
“Negative. BT, what’s going on?” Sage held up her thermal shield to give her cover.
“Radio silence recommended. Engaging with Legion.” BT answered.
A notification scrolled across the top of Jack’s HUD.
“Burst Core ready.”
Jack shook his head, irritated at the sweat building up under his helmet’s padding, “Burst Core?”
“This ability fires arc rounds to tear a Titan’s shields down and increase damage output. It may give us a tactical advantage.”
He snickered, “I think somebody’s in love.”
“A human’s concept of love requires admiration, attraction, devotion, and respect. Conclusion: I am 50% in love.”
“And I am 100% ready to put this asshole down.”
They placed themselves behind the distracted Legion, still focused on Sage and Akane. His negligence would be his downfall.
Jack pulled the lever, and BT’s chaingun sizzled with blue electricity.
“Burst Core: Activated.”
His magazine dumped into the reinforced IMC chassis. The bullets were charged; amped like when fired through a friendly particle wall. The Legion’s battery well chipped away, the door popping off the hinges and spiraling down.
The ghostly, green light became his new target.
There weren’t any IMC threats after that.

…

Even as the dust settled, danger yet loomed. It came as alarms echoing from the bowels of the Reclamation Facility. Crisp, crackling fires sizzled mute as they met the waste near the bottom of the entrance ramp. It was painted on the faces of the downtrodden Marauders, who had regrouped and remained silent.
Chris had his hands on his hips, looking at his feet. Liam sat on the leg of AJ’s burnt chassis, her core in one hand, his helmet in the other. Akane worked on repairing URI’s leg, angry and glaring with a manual balanced on her knee.
And Sage…
She walked towards BT, slowly unbuckling her helmet to reveal a dirt-smudged face that still filled Jack with completeness every time he saw it.
He stepped out of the co*ckpit, his heart heavier than Tai’s Kevlar vest that protected it. His Pilot-outfitted boots made a growingly familiar crunch as he met her in the middle.
He expected a hug. A smile. A kiss on the side of his helmet for the gratefulness of being reunited. She stopped just short of him, and broke into a salute.
“Thanks for the assist, sir. We’ll secure this area. Glad to see you up and…”
Her eyes dropped to Jack’s arm. Her eyebrows pinched, and she took a sharp breath. Her shaky hand reached out, her thumb tracing the red and black ink needled on his skin.
His breathing shook. Sweat dropped from his brow, down to his lip. He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t say it.
“…Jack?” She whimpered, both happy and sad all at once.
His fingers curled into a fist, and his name on her lips broke his steely resolve. It was as if she could see through his visor, or smell the pain that echoed at her revelation.
“…They got him, Sage.” Jack pushed a hot breath through his nose.
It’s all he could muster, all he could get through the barricade of grit teeth and clenched jaw muscles. Her hands found their way to the magnetic ring under his chin, and she clicked the release. His helmet was lifted from his head, and he couldn’t bring himself to look at her.
“But you…you made it.” The joy that pushed her cheeks to the rim of her eyes confused him.
“He died saving me.”
He bit back a shout, feeling the need to clarify how Tai’s blood stained his hands and everything he wore. He wanted her to yell, to parrot the self-deprecation that came in screams from the darkest corners of his consciousness.
“Then it wasn’t for nothing…” She shuddered, her words coming between bursts of inhales and choked back tears.
Her helmet bounced off the marred surface of Typhon as it left her hands. She threw her arms around his neck, and his own found the curves of her waist.
Having Sage felt good, it felt right.
Something to bring him forward.
This was real. She, was real. Another person to protect amidst the evil tucked away in the IMC’s fortified castle in the mountains.
Jack’s eyes peeled open, looking at the others from over her shoulder.
“Oh sh*t, man…” Chris squeezed his head, “They got Cap…f*ck, man. sh*t…f*ck-“
“Pull it together, Grenier.” Akane hissed, pointing her wrench at him, “You can’t fall apart. Not here. Not now.”
The coldness in her order snuffed the warmth from Jack’s chest.
Chris threw his hands out to his sides, “First it was Ryan, then they sent Liera to EARTH…now Tai?!”
“None of that matters, son.” Liam butted in, “Only thing that does is that we get the rest of those damn AOD turrets offline before Command shows up.”
“THEY’RE NOT COMING FOR US! I thought maybe losing AJ would-“
Liam’s neck cranked towards his comrade, and he pulled at Chris’s shemagh with one, over-sized arm, “Better think twice before finishin’ that sentence, boy.”
“The f*ck man?!”
“Easy, easy,” Sage tried to squeeze between them, but Liam shoved her off.
“Stay outta’ this, Talon.”
“ENOUGH!” Jack screeched.
He swallowed hard, and faced the bickering group.
“Command is coming. But if you guys don’t get your acts together, you won’t be alive long enough to see it happen!”
He wasn’t sure if he believed it himself, but for their sakes, he had to. He had to keep them together. Had to keep himself together.
“I need to know what’s going on. What is Special Operation 217?”
The group exchanged looks, seemingly unsure how to answer.
“Pilot, Special Operation 217 is a classified operation only to be discussed with deployed affiliates.” BT announced through his speaker.
Jack turned to him, and his brows pinched, “Oh, I…”
Chris marched to BT, “Are you telling me Captain Lastimosa was deployed on a spec ops other than Operation: Broadsword?”
“I cannot answer that question, Pilot Grenier.”
“BT-7274,” GZ, Chris’s Titan, addressed him directly, “If Captain Lastimosa was killed in action, would that not mean there are no further deployed affiliates to carry on this Special Operation?”
“Negative. Pilot Lastimosa transferred all operating permissions to Pilot Cooper. All I am able to share is that we must rendezvous with Major Anderson.”
Sage perked up, “You’ve heard from him?”
“No…Have you?” Jack asked.
“Nope.” Liam growled, “We lost contact with him shortly after we crash-landed. Only orders we have now are to meet up with Captain Cole at the coordinates he relayed over the radio.”
“And to get the AOD offline so our ships can pull in.” Chris sighed, “Hopefully.”
“How have you guys been taking down the turrets?”
Chris rolled his eyes, “We stuck C4 on them.”
“Real funny.”
“Grenier’s been hacking into them with the Icepick. Don’t know how or why he has that tech built into Giz over there, but I ain’t gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.” Liam stretched, “Cloaked AOD…Goddamn Apex scumbags only chasin’ a paycheck…”
“Can’t believe that trick worked.” Chris ran a hand down his face, “We should’ve…I should’ve…”
“It’s not your fault.” Akane cut him off, “It’s not anyone’s fault but the IMC and the mercenaries they hired.”
“You’d know a thing or two about mercs, wouldn’t you?” Liam snickered.
“Look, Miller, I know you’re upset, but…can you just,” Jack sighed, “Can you just not pick fights with everyone right now?”
“You might be wearin’ your daddy’s uniform, but you don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“I’m telling you, you’re being unreasonable.”
Liam walked towards him, finger pointed, “I have half a mind to Pilot BT myself. That co*ckpit deserves a qualified Pilot, and you ain’t it.”
His fingers pinched around the Velcro strip across his vest that read, “LASTIMOSA.”
Jack cupped Liam’s wrist, and he held it firm.
“Over my cold f*cking corpse.”
Liam paused. He was taller than Jack. Probably had 100 pounds more muscle, too. But he wasn’t going to defile Tai’s last wish.
“BT’s saved my ass more times than I have fingers. If you’re gonna be his Pilot, you better take care of him.”
Tai’s words echoed in his request.
“I will.” He tossed Liam’s hand away, and frowned at the core dangling on his belt, “Sorry about AJ.”
“She’ll be fine.” Liam spit on the ground, “Just gotta get her a new chassis. Maybe an upgraded Vanguard III like EV.”
“We need to make it off this sh*thole planet alive, first…” Chris snickered, “Sooo…You gonna spill the beans, or what?”
“Look, even if I thought BT would let me break protocol, I don’t even know what Special Operation 217 is…”
A collective sigh ripped through the group, and Liam shook his head.
“BT probably doesn’t even know…No point in pressin’ this on. He tell you anything ‘bout Broadsword?”
“We didn’t exactly have time…”
“Grenier, if he’s linked with BT, he’s got SRS clearance. Catch him up.”
“Who put you in charge?”
“Grenier.” Sage barked.
“Okay, okay…” He stretched his fingers, and cleared his throat, “See, a year and a half ago, Alpha Company was sent to help Barker and his pals during Operation: Grizzly, a salvage op based in a location designated as the ‘Swamplands.’ Sketchy place on the edge of Sector Bravo-217. Found some Pre-History ruins there, and intel on the thing we’re chasing now. 6 months of deep reconnaissance later, we found Planet Typhon.”
“We didn’t find Typhon.” Sage interrupted, “We received anonymous intelligence about Typhon.”
“ANYWAY,” Chris sneered, “We mapped a bunch of facilities with covert satellites but couldn’t really tell what they were. Whoever our buddy in the IMC was told us to focus on a facility held up not far from where we are. Problem is, we couldn’t find a proper insertion point. So, they sent the Marauders down to scope out the place shortly after they deployed your sister.”
“The facility was labeled the ‘World Foundry.’ We couldn’t get close enough to see what exactly they’re doing in there, and Command didn’t want us hanging out here any longer than we had to.” Sage continued, “All moot points now, I suppose…”
“Why is that?”
“Command opted to blitz the whole damn place.” Liam put his hands on his hips, “Somethin’ spooked ‘em. Then Typhon’s moon blew up. Now we’re here.”
“You still have orders, don’t you?”
“Yes. To infiltrate the World Foundry.” Akane growled, “But my Company doesn’t agree that we should carry out that mission.”
“And like I explained multiple times,” Chris shot her a glare, “Without Command or Anderson to give us our next set of orders, Captain Cole’s all we got.”
Chris pulled a map from his pocket, and unfolded it on a rock. It was decorated with gridlines and question marks, x’s and red circles.
“A paper map?” Jack grinned, “That’s unlike you.”
“You can burn a paper trail. Digital map behind enemy lines? Not so much.”
“Forgot how paranoid you are.”
“Obviously, I had good reasons to be.”
His finger traced the shape of a river, barely identifiable on the spotty satellite images.
“We’re here.” He tapped a cluster of buildings before continuing, “Based on Cole’s last relay, he should be…Here, hunkered down with survivors. The only intel we have on him is that he’s at an IMC beacon at map grid 772-981 near some satellite array that could help us get in contact with HQ. We figured we’d take down the turrets on our way.”
“Originally, we thought to find Major Anderson,” Sage started, “This unknown facility was his last known position. However, our pre-deployment scans showed mixed results…We don’t know what’s up there.”
The location she pointed to was high in the mountains, far away from the other facilities. Deep in the jungle. Perfect for operating on something that they didn’t want people to know about.
“I heard some things.” Jack mumbled, tapping on the map, “They said ‘all that matters is that thing in the mountains goes online as scheduled.’ This place is definitely ‘in the mountains.’”
“What thing?” Akane asked.
“Don’t know. Some Grunts mentioned it was bad for the Militia. Overheard IMC radio chatter about something called the ‘Ark’ being transferred for recasting, though.”
The group paused and looked at him like he’d said something offensive.
“Did you just say the Ark?” Chris choked.
Liam went pale. Sage grew rigid. Akane, as emotionless as she was, held a certain tension.
“Anyone want to tell me what’s going on?”
“At the Swamplands ruins, we got a lot of visual interference when we got close to them. Maps went offline, communications were dark…but the confusion allowed us to intercept IMC relays, talking about the ‘Ark,’ and how they needed something from those ruins to utilize it.” Chris turned to Akane, “You think that’s why the satellites couldn’t get a read on the mountain complex?”
“More than likely. The two are obviously related, if what Cooper says is true.”
Jack crossed his arms, “Well, whatever it is, it must be a pretty big deal if we sent an entire fleet after it.”
“Maybe Anderson is near that complex…it could be why he hasn’t reached out to us. Maybe he can’t. Maybe we should-“
“We’re not going in there blind, Grenier.” Liam glowered, “That’s how we got into this mess in the first place.”
“No.” Jack swiped his hand, “No, that’s not what we’re gonna do. As for right now, we’re gonna plow through this Reclamation Facility, and you’re all going to help me save the soldiers trapped inside.”
He waited for Liam to assert himself again. Expected the others to protest, to remind him that he wasn’t in charge and that he wasn’t actually a Pilot.
“There are soldiers trapped inside?” Sage whispered.
“Nelson and O’Connor. Lasky. The rest of my battalion…We got split up after Blisk and his team landed. After they…”
He looked over his shoulder at BT. It didn’t seem too long ago him and Tai came barreling through Typhon’s narrow passageways to save him.
“We can’t delay our mission over a couple Riflemen. We have more at stake here.” Akane’s eyes narrowed.
“They aren’t just a ‘couple Riflemen.’” Jack growled, “Those are our men in there.”
“And they know what they signed up for. We have turrets to take down. Turrets that brought the MCS James MacAllan and its entire fleet planetside.”
“Tai responded to our call. He didn’t leave us for dead, and we were just a ‘couple Riflemen.’”
“Yeah, and look how that ended for him.”
Jack’s fists balled at his side. His upper lip curled, and his nostrils flared. He wanted to bash her face against the rock and stain the map with her blood so they didn’t have a choice but to come with him.
“Fine.” He turned, and flipped his helmet in his hands, “I’ll go by myself, then.”
“HEY!” Liam barked.
Jack stopped, and licked his lips before looking up at BT.
“Please step on him.”
He turned around, “What?”
Liam swallowed, and put his hands on his hips, “You said Troy’s in there?”
“Heard Nelson come through a beached droppod radio. He told everyone not to come here. Warned everyone to stay away while he was being shot at.” Jack bit the inside of his cheek, “Troy and Lasky were with him, unless they got separated. Which, knowing Nelson, is doubtful.”
Liam turned to the others.
“We’re Marauders. We’re their last resort…” He frowned at AJ’s lifeless chassis, “We’re better than this.”
There was a long pause between the group. Jack’s heart pulsed in his throat, ready to get moving and go save the remaining Militia forces that were hopefully still alive.
“We may fight with steel, but we do not rust.”
Chris’s neck snapped towards Liam, surprised at his words.
“For we are vessels, forged from stardust.” Sage continued.
Jack had heard the Prayer of the Refugee before. Probably should have said it before he left his dad buried in a burial cairn.
“Thus when you die, and your blood runs dry…” Akane reluctantly recited the next line.
“To the heavens we’ll aim,” Chris pumped an IMC shotgun in his hands, “Our freedom cry.”
It might not have been the direct answer he wanted. But Liam was right.
They were better than the state Jack found them in.
And there was irony in how it took a Rifleman to remind them.

...

The tunnel leading in was just barely wide enough for BT to fit through. They led the expedition, ducking under a drainage pipe as his feet kicked sludge up on the walls. A destroyed Titan chassis lay in a pile of broken, mechanical bones against a rust-stained wall. Its paint was burned from its parts, unidentifiable after being rendered useless. Frayed wires dangled above it, sending sparks down and defiling the corpse.
“I am sorry for the loss of your former Pilot, BT.” Akane’s Titan, URI, mumbled as they pressed on.
“Thank you for your condolences.”
“The late Captain Lastimosa assisted Pilot Talon in my construction.” ICE added, “I have fond memories of him stored in my Archive.”
“As do I.” GZ looked up at a ventilation fan twirling above, sending flashes of light over her chrome chassis, “It is a shame that AJ could not be here to witness your return.”
Their conversation ended there, and Jack felt a pang in his heart. While he’d been focused on the loss of Tai and the safety of the rest of the Marauders, he hadn’t taken into account how the Titans felt about their current situation. Their range of emotions wasn’t unheard of, but feeling what BT, a battlemech, felt…that was new to him. And then he imagined how Liam was dealing with it.
“How you holding up, Miller?”
“I’ll live.”
Liam shifted behind them, attached to URI’s chassis. He’d taken damage in the conflict, for being able to move as swiftly as a Ronin can comes with the sacrifice of the same levels of protection as the others.
“Wanna talk about it?” Chris offered.
“Nope. Like I said before, if EV can make a comeback, so can AJ.”
Jack cringed at the memory.
Liera, half alive. EV’s distress beacon flashing amidst the chaos. Ryan and CON holding the line, making sure no one got to her.
He wondered what Liam and AJ’s last conversation was before he ejected…then reminded himself it was none of his business.
“The IMC is well-equipped with advanced Titan weaponry.” BT began, “Moving as a unit will be most beneficial to our success.”
Jack nodded, almost appreciative at the timely encouragement. He shouldn’t have been surprised. BT knew how he felt, too.
“Speaking of EV…sh*t timing on a rogue mission to the IMC’s origin point.” Chris snickered.
“You don’t say.” Liam agreed.
“We don’t need a Top Gun Pilot to make it out of this alive.” Akane huffed.
“We need a full squad.” Sage tried to diffuse the potential argument, “Liera’s ‘replacement’ didn’t last two seconds after we landed.”
“What was his name again?”
“Pilot Frank, Miller…”
“Right, right.”
Jack failed to share the detachment in their discussion of their missing Pilot. Lasky was a new addition to his battalion, but that didn’t make him any less valuable. Not to him, at least.
“Maybe I’m too invested in my people.”
He remembered how quickly the Marauders fell apart after Ryan’s death, how they chased out the woman who was supposed to fill his spot, and how things hadn’t been the same after that.
“Or maybe this is just a front until they get home.”
A pipe was leaking a stream of brown as BT moved under it, the trickle tapping on his shoulder. The tube-shaped tunnel they walked through emptied out into a larger room, the floor lost under a foot of stained water. An observation deck that was high out of reach towered over clusters of smaller platforms, lined with barriers at waist-level.
“You seeing these readings? Looks like a water Reclamation Facility…” Chris looked around, his Ion’s co*ckpit rotating, “How long have they been here…?”
“Longer than they should’ve.” Sage knelt, andICE scooped a handful of the sludge, “Don’t touch this.”
“What’s in it?” Akane asked.
“Do you really want to know?”
She paused, “No. Not really.”
Alarms blared, their screeches bouncing off the metal walls of the room.
“Hazardous waste pumps, now filtering. Automated testing facility. Zone 1.”
Two Titans came from around the pumps that now hummed to life, and another stormed out, perching on the deck above. A small line of Grunts lined either side, their bouncing laser sights reflecting off the Marauders.
Sage sighed, “Maybe one day we’ll be able to walk a kilometer off Harmony without IMC Titans shooting at us.”
“Don’t say that,” Liam clicked his cloaking device and ran along the wall, climbing pipes and jumping over ventilation fans, “I love my job!”
“Retirement does sound rather dull.” Akane’s Ronin drew his sword, ready to impale the approaching Titans.
“Cooper, have BT take out these Grunts so I can focus on the Sniper!” Liam ordered.
Sage, Chris, and Akane ran past him, engaging in the two lowermost Titans.
“On it.”
Jack used BT’s Multi-Target Missile System, and 6 orange circles claimed the Grunts along the railing. He flipped the cover off the button and sent the seeking missiles flying.
“Nice shootin’, Coop!” Liam’s cloak discharged, and Jack saw him on top of the Sniper’s chassis.
Unlike the previous Sniper, this IMC Pilot didn’t panic. Its arm reached behind it, nearly grabbing Liam in its grasp.
“Careful, Miller!” Jack yelled.
Liam shot his Grapple at the Titan’s chassis.
“What is he doing?!”
Seeing the others had the bottom situation under control, he wasn’t sure what to do. He knew he had to help Liam, but didn’t know. The Sniper took a shot.
It punctured the wall in front of him, and Liam fell.
“Ah, hell…”
He sounded injured, and the enemy Titan aimed his rifle downwards.
“BT, get me on that Titan!”
He unbuckled his harness, and leaped through the opening co*ckpit doors before BT’s hand was even in view. He knew he’d be there, knew he’d catch him. Felt his chassis move by his mind’s own summoning. He’d seen Liera and EV do a throw more than once, and only hoped BT’s aim was as good.
It wasn’t until he was hurling in the air at another Titan, thrown by a Titan, that he thought about his course of action.
“Oh f*ck, what-am-I-doing-why-did-I-do-this-“
Jack’s landing wasn’t quite as smooth as his sister’s as his fingers barely caught the enemy Sniper Titan’s battery cover. His hand slipped under the handle, and the Titan jerked.
“COOPER?!” Liam screeched, backed in a corner with little-to-no cover.
Jack twisted the cylinder of the Sniper’s battery, using his jump kit to eject as he pulled it out. His foot slipped, and he tumbled backwards.
“MILLER!”
The pond of sludge came closer as he fell, the green lights of the battery twinkling in a pool that would pull his skin from his bones.
Footsteps slid to a halt, and a strong grip grabbed him by his vest’s shoulder straps. Liam’s wall-hang arm dug in the side of the wall, and tattooed limbs held Jack secure above certain death.
“Just like your goddamn sister, you know that?”
Jack gave him a nervous grin that he couldn’t see, “You’re one to talk.”
They were surrounded by a thick cloud, and an electric hum snapped them out of their moment of mutual respect.
“Electric smoke!” Liam shouted, swinging Jack towards the wall.
His feet found purchase, and he wall ran out of the cloud, securing the battery to his hip.
“Miller, watch out!”
Chris’s Ion charged, 5 red lines scattering from her optical hub.
“Oh, no…” Akane groaned.
“GET THEM, GRENIER!” Sage cheered.
The lines came into contact, and formed one, thick red beam. Liam’s Grapple pulled him out of harm’s way just in time for Chris’s Laser Core to sweep the deck, burning a hole straight through the Sniper.
“Enemy Titan down.” GZ confirmed.
“WOOOOOO! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”
Jack shook his head, hunched over and panting.
He stared at a pair of sliding doors that opened a tunnel lined with hazmat suits.
The PA chimed, and a message followed:
“Caution, hazardous materials may cause severe injury or death. Wearing of a hazmat suit is required at all times in this facility.”
Akane snickered, “So, Talon…about what’s in this sludge…”
“I found some hazmat suits.” Jack opened his visor to wipe his face, still catching his breath, “Think we should put them on?”
“I say we ought to.” Sage paused, “Ignoring safety regulations in a place like this could prove fatal.”
“This isn’t one of your bioweapon labs, Talon.” Liam made Jack jump as he fell from a wall, landing right next to him, “We can’t afford to stash our gear for ‘safety regulations.’ Just stay outta the brown sh*t.”
He rolled his shoulders and walked past the suits.
“Pilot, our path through this facility is blocked by a Flow Regulation Gate. There should be a control interface nearby.”
Jack closed his visor and scurried to catch up with Liam.
“BT says there should be a control interface somewhere on the other side of this observation deck.”
Liam stopped, and turned his head over his shoulder, “You take point, then. I was just lookin’ for ammo for my pistol.”
His Smart Pistol glimmered in the light, having been pulled from AJ’s SERE kit.
“Right.”
“Where are you two headed?” Chris asked.
“Looking for a way ahead. Following BT’s mark.”
“Rodger dodger.”
Jack smirked, but it faded as he and Liam entered an empty locker room. There were numbers on the panels, and the area was better maintained than the others.
“To think, they’ve been here the whole damn time.” Liam mumbled, “Just waitin’ for us to get co*cky.”
“No one’s at fault here…This is just what they do.”
Liam’s hand shot out, and he pressed his back to a wall on the side of an exit tunnel. Jack followed, and crouched as he signaled to take cover.
“Kane, we have enemy Titans near the south storm drains. Requesting support!”
Liam looked back to Jack, his peculiar Sniper-Optimized helmet casting a narrow glow from its visor, “Keep following BT’s mark. I’ll handle them.”
Jack gave him a nod, and clicked his cloaking device. Liam rounded the corner with his shoulder, Smart Pistol ready to lock its targets.
“Squad 14! Hostile Pilot spotted!”
“Would you stop all that hollerin’?” Liam pulled the trigger, killing two Grunts before getting in cover.
Jack traced a pipe as BT gave him directions, and tried not to slip on the wet metal. He ran along a wall marked, “Turbine, 104 – 105.”
“This place is huge…”
A marker on his HUD helped him navigate towards the flashing panel, sliding and jumping to dodge enemy fire. He slipped through a duct, and found a red outpost in the distance. The top of it was open, and he fell through the ceiling.
A U-shaped control panel lined the room underneath grime-coated observation windows.
“Cooper, where are you going?” Akane asked.
“To open this damn gate!”
He pressed the button BT highlighted, and the same automated woman’s voice filled the chamber.
“Maintenance override engaged. Opening Flow Regulation Gate. Warning: Toxic fumes dispersing in main chamber. Activating control room safety airlock procedures.”
The hatch he’d slipped through began to close, and Liam had barely slid in before the panels squeezed tight.
“Pilot, the safety airlock has sealed you in the control room. You must find another way out. We have no choice but to split up.”
“Split up?” Jack frowned, “Sounds risky.”
“Given our dire circ*mstances, this is a risk worth taking.”
He sighed, and checked for another exit.
“Looks like there’s a service tunnel over here.” Liam co*cked his chin towards a door, and pulled out his Data Knife.
The other 3 remained in their Titans, safe from the fumes and sludge that worked its way in the chamber.
“Way to go,” Chris laughed, “First op with the Marauders and you get yourself and Miller trapped in a control room.”
“Hey, at least I got the door open for you guys.”
His heart sank a little as the Titans disappeared under the now-raised hatch, BT among them.
“Watch your backs out there.” Akane advised.
“You too, guys.”
Jack watched BT until he disappeared, wishing he hadn’t followed instructions. The service tunnel’s panel blinked, and the door slid open.
“Data Knife couldn’t get past the airlock encryption, but we’ve got our way out.” Liam nodded, “You comin’?”
He shifted his focus, and took point as they proceeded down the tunnel.
“’Once more unto the Breach,’ as they say…”

PART II: Once More Unto the Breach

aving to crawl through air ducts hadn’t been an option during Jack’s previous deployments, but it didn’t necessarily bother him. Neither did constantly having to use wet pipes as bridges. What irritated him the most about this place was the smell.
The fog of metal shavings and stale machinery, like any deep breath would cut his lungs and lather the wounds in oil.
He shivered, and pushed the foul air from his nose.
“Pilot, I am tracking your location. Recommend you seek an exit.” BT’s picture popped up, and the reminder that he had a Titan watching his back soothed his nerves.
“Tracking me?” He chuckled, “That’s kinda creepy, BT.”
“I have no wish to incite fear. That is reserved for our enemies.”
“Copy that.”
The hunger in BT’s voice was renewed. He’d had enough of the IMC’s sh*t, too.
“Well, I’ll be.” Liam walked down a small flight of stairs, entering a room that looked a lot like a barracks, “IMC scum’s been snug as a bug in a rug here on Typhon.”
Rows of lockers were in a less-than-homely room, while bunkbeds lined the walls.
“Sure as hell beats a bivouac…” Jack pursed his lips at the empty mattresses.
Liam chuckled, “That’s for damn sure.”
They took advantage of the moment of peace and monotonously pillaged through the lockers. He found it curious how they started at the same time without verbal agreement.
“We’ve both been through this before to some degree, I guess.”
An uncharacteristic giggle came from the other side of the lockers, and Liam poked his head around the corner. He had a picture of a woman pinched between his fingers.
“Someone’s got quite the lady.” He grinned, “Think he’d mind if I gave her a ring?”
“Hmph…” Jack returned to sifting through the military duffels, stashing away MREs and anything else he deemed useful, “Since when did you become such a ladies’ man?”
“I ain’t.” Liam shut a locker on his side and opened another, “Probably could’ve kept your sister around longer if I was.”
“…Excuse me?”
“That came out bad…I meant if I knew to treat a lady, she might’a gave me a real shot.”
Jack’s nose twitched, and he sucked his teeth, “Won’t argue that.”
“Eh…We weren’t good for each other. Thought a year was long enough for her to get over losing Ryan, and me to get over losing…well…”
Everyone.
He’d lost his family when the IMC shot down Homestead’s evac ship.
“All water under the bridge now.” Jack gave him an out, and moved on to the next locker.
“Yeah…” Liam lost the strong-headed tone that usually came with his remarks, “Miss her, though. Missed her even when she was here. We all did…Do.”
Liera withdrew from everyone after Demeter, himself included. Weeks went by where she barely uttered a word. He had to force her to eat. Briggs put her on military leave. Tai helped her funnel her pain by helping her build EV’s new chassis, the first Vanguard III to be taken out of prototype stages.
And still, she was the glue that held Alpha Company together. Without her, the team’s dynamic took a turn for the worst.
The Liera he knew had just started to resurface before she was sent away on a mission unlike any the Militia had planned before…From what he knew of, anyway.
“She’s come a long way since then. And she better be okay…” Jack shut the locker, and his hand slid down the front, “After dad, I can’t…I won’t…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. The two of them ceased their looting, and stood in silence on their respective sides of the row of lockers.
Jack started to understand the anger that drove Miller so hard. The rage that had him profiled as an asshole; a co*cky, arrogant f*ck who did nothing but talk down on other people. Like him, he started to feel like the IMC was taking everything away…and like him, his sadness started to twist and turn into something dark and cancerous.
“Come on, Coop. Let’s get going.”
Jack swallowed the lump in his throat, and blinked himself out of the pit he almost fell in.
“Yeah.”

…

Jack rolled a dead IMC Grunt on his back, grunting at the stupid expression on his face. Liam slung his sniper rifle to his front, and looked at the questionable route before them:
Drain 05.
They stood on a grated bridge above a downwards ramp, trickling with filtered water that was clear over the dingy steel underneath. The hatch at the bottom was raised just enough for them to slip through.
“How you two holding up?” Chris asked.
“Counting how many poor life decisions I’ve made to put me where I am right now.”
Liam hacked and spit in the flowing water, “Too many.”
“That’s reassuring.” Sage snickered.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m takin’ care of your little boy toy.”
Jack stiffened, and his face flushed.
“Uh…”
“Oh, come on. You guys think you could keep it a secret for 6 years?”
“Miller, can you just, like…” Jack winced.
“’Not?’”
Jack nodded.
“No can do.” Liam patted him on the back.
The overhead speakers screeched, and the voice that followed made his blood boil.
“Listen up! This is Kane. What we have here my IMC and Militia friends, is a failure…To…Communicate! And that’s okay…That’s okay. That’s all good…”
His disconnected manner of speech made Jack uneasy. He responded to the fear with anger, perhaps not at who was speaking, but how he let his threat sink through his skin.
“Who the f*ck is Kane?” Jack looked up at the speaker mounted on the wall.
“Accessing Archive…Kane. A mercenary commonly affiliated with the Apex Predators. A well-known narcotics user and supplier.”
“He doesn’t sound stable.” Sage huffed.
“Agreed.” BT said, “Scans indicate the source is somewhere in this facility. We should not waste time here.”
“Or perhaps we should hunt him down so I can reduce him to the same sludge we traverse through, now.”
He imagined Sage and ICE throwing their pits of fire all over the Apex Predators, and the thought warmed his belly.
“Got a firecracker on your hands…No pun intended.” Liam snorted, co*cking his chin at the water ramping down into a dark well of blackness, “So, slide to the end, jump and wallrun?”
“Right...” Jack groaned, swinging the Titan battery in front of him, “See you on the other side, I guess.”
“That battery’s gonna swing. Make sure you counter the weight.”
“Why don’t you take it?”
“You gotta learn somehow.” Liam winked, “I’ll catch you if you fall.”
“Great.”
He sat down, putting the heels of his boots in the shallow stream. It was surprisingly warm as it seeped through the flaps of his pant legs. He took a deep breath, gulping at the-more-than-50-foot-drop.
“We ain’t got all day, Coop!”
A strong leg pushed his back, and his hands landed in the water.
“GODDAMN IT MILLER!”
He picked up speed as the current ramped downwards.
“Pilot, are you in distress?”
Jack’s HUD bounced from left to right as he tried to steer himself with the rolling battery attached to his utility belt.
“Yes!”
“Is Pilot Miller responsible?”
“YES!”
He bent his knees, angling himself to the right. The edge was approaching faster than he wanted. At the last second, he sent his strength to his feet and pushed off.
The battery swung backwards, and like an emergency brake pulled in the air, Jack fell short of his mark.
“sh*t-“
The ceiling rotated into view just before he broke into freefall.
“sh*t-sh*t-sh*t-“
Water dripped from Liam as he wall ran along the steel panels that Jack previously missed. A Grapple shot from him, and landed square on his vest. Jack wrapped his hands around the tether, scared it would tear his armor off.
He expected a pull, a yank, something to course-correct his plummet to death. But Liam kept running.
“MILLER?”
“Quit whining!”
Liam jumped, grabbing a steel bar that hovered just above an overhang. The tether snapped taut, and nearly knocked the breath out of him. The halted momentum swung him forward as Liam guided it with his free hand. The arc lead him towards another grated bridge, and the tether disconnected.
“Uhhh-“
Jack’s jump kit fired, slowing him down just before contact. His ankle rolled, and he flipped on his back in the fumble.
The Titan battery swung on his hip, landing square between the legs.
“Oomph-…Oh…God-“
A MRVN unit looked at him, pausing its sweeping. It was built like a Spectre, but had an LED smiley face for a stomach and a less menacing frame. It co*cked its camera-head, and the smiley face turned into a blue frown.
“You know what we really need? A pet Marvin.”
The memory of Lasky, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, made him smile through the stars he saw in his crushing pain.
A single shot fired from Liam’s pistol, and sparks littered the bridge. The MRVN twitched and fell, it’s head rolling into the abyss below.
“Come on, man…” Jack tried to catch his breath, “He was just a happy little Marvin…”
“An IMC Marvin…”
Liam offered a hand, and pulled Jack to his feet. He limped in place, struggling to shake the stinging pinch from below his belt.
“You gotta keep the battery parallel with your leg. Hold the handle before you jump. Keep it strapped opposite of your dominate hand. You can still shoot that way if you need to.”
“Woulda been nice to know…”
Liam shrugged, “Bet you won’t ever forget this way, eh?”
He huffed.
“Definitely dad’s way of teaching things.”
“You okay to move?”
Jack nodded, and shook his hands.
“Good thing you had your guard on…”
Liam co*cked his chin at the wall, and started running alongside it.
“This is gonna hurt…”
Jack followed his lead, jumping to the other wall to dodge a waterfall of corrosive sludge. When another blocked their path, they switched sides. They repeated this zig-zagging motion until they found a balcony at the end of the tunnel, glimmering in the dim light.
An IMC Grunt at his back turned, and Liam held position on a pipe just above. Jack paused, crouched next to him. They watched the patrolling squad, ready to pounce.
“Hey, what’s up with Kane? That merc’s got to be hopped up on something.”
“Best to just stay away from him, mate. Kane’s bloody unpredictable.”
“Rodger. That twitchy Merc doesn’t care who he kills.”
Jack pursed his lips, “Doesn’t seem like the Apex Predators are too loyal to the IMC.”
“Mercenaries aren’t loyal to anyone but themselves.” Akane grunted, “Credits can buy loyalty.”
“You learn that during your stay with the Night Stalkers?”
“What do you think?”
Liam pulled his knife out, and waved it at Jack. He did the same, and counted to 3 with his fingers.
They silently fell on each of the IMC Grunts. In a simultaneous motion, their throats were cut and their bodies were rolled off the side.
“Might leave a tang in their water supply.” Liam wiped his knife on his pant leg.
“Some may call it spicy, even.”
“Pfft-“
Liam’s shoulders bounced as he held in a laugh, and they continued down a hall. It was lined with red-stained pipes for walls, and steel hatches for doors. A light shone from a doorway, highlighting the grime and sheen on the metal coated with mist. Jack and Liam pressed their sides on either side of the doorway as footsteps approached.
Liam pointed to himself, and Jack stood down.
An IMC Grunt walked through, and was yanked to Liam. He punched him in the face, and stabbed him in the chest. More importantly, he pulled the sniper rifle from his hands before his body dropped.
“Got myself a new Kraber,” There was a smile to his words, “Must mean there’re outposts out there.”
“I think they need lessons from the Marauders’ best marksman.”
Liam’s visor painted him in orange light, “You know, Coop, that might’ve been the smartest thing you’ve said since we found you.”
“Uh, excuse me? I found you guys.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
“Can you guys get going?” Gunfire followed Sage’s transmission, “The sooner we regroup, the better!”
Jack swallowed, and let Liam go first.
The doorway led to a huge, outdoor cement trench that stretched for miles. It was a crossroads of sorts, where all the sludge vents emptied into a river below. Multiple dams were marked in designated spots, all topped with maintenance ladders and walkways. “DRAIN RUN-OFF 05,” was etched into a gigantic yellow strip that spanned the entire wall.
“You guys seein’ this…?” Liam whispered, walking to the railing of the balcony.
The sheer size of the convergence point brought a better question to mind.
“Makes you wonder what they’re building that’s producing so much waste.”
Liam looked at him over his shoulder, “Manufacturing.”
“But what?” Jack adjusted his rifle’s sling, “What are they manufacturing?”
IMC Grunts patrolled the opposing catwalks, armed to the teeth and in overwhelming numbers.
“They sure as hell don’t want us to find out.”
“So we should definitely find out, right?” Jack grinned.
“One way or another, yeah. We should.”
The PA screeched, and they took cover behind a stack of piled crates.
“To any Militia left in the facility, just so you know… This is Kane’s place. You’re welcome to stay as long as it takes to kill you, which, by the way, will not be long!”
Jack peaked his head up and over the crate, pulling down a munitions case. He opened it, and gifted Liam the stacks of sniper ammunition.
“Hmph,” Liam picked up a pack of shells, “This ain’t your place anymore, bud.”
He mounted the Kraber on the stack, and rotated it to the right.
“More West.” Jack squinted his eyes next to him, letting BT tag as many enemies as he could, “160 degrees.”
He corrected his aim, “Been awhile since I had a spotter.”
Liam squeezed the trigger, and a pop against the distant chamber caused shouts and panic from the ambushed IMC troops.
“Hit.” Jack smiled.
“Bet your ass it did.”

…

Jack and Liam stood in front of a sign, heads co*cked and covered in the sweet smell of gun powder.

“! WARNING !
// STAY OUT //
This is a secured quadrant.
Orbitally surveilled.
Patrolled by contractors.
Violators will be prosecuted.”

Jack huffed, “They did a sh*t job, eh?”
“Mhm.”
They turned towards the end of a long walkway that gave them nowhere to go but a vent labeled, “07,” on the opposite side of the trench.
“Pilot, I’m detecting friendly Militia forces along your path. They may need assistance.”
He perked up at BT’s announcement, and looked at Liam. They nodded at each other, and Jack took point.
“Please be there.”
Nelson, the guy who coached him through boot camp. O’Connor, the smart ass who almost got court marshalled for the dumbest sh*t. Lasky, the greenhorn he felt responsible for.
Jack ran along a pipe attached to the wall, his fingers gliding along the wet cement.
“This is Sergeant Eszo of the 2^nd Militia Fusiliers, 9^th Militia Fleet! We’re held up in the Reclamation Facility! The IMC have some new mechanized infantry! We’re trapped!”
“This is…” Pilot, Rifleman, he didn’t know what to call himself anymore, “Jack Cooper responding!”
He jumped to another drainage pipe, shooting a drone that threatened to cut him off.
“Nice shootin’,” Liam praised from behind, “Mid-air to boot.”
“I’ve had some practice.”
“’The IMC have some new mechanized infantry!’ Heard that before…” Chris sighed, “Looks like you found your boys, Cooper. Let’s hope these new robots are friendlier than the Spectres were when we first met them.”
“Let’s ‘hope’ we’re not running into another G21 incident.” Akane was quiet.
The others didn’t have anything to add, as was the way whenever Colony G21 was brought up in conversation.
Jack left the wall, and landed on a maze of pipes leading into a circular tunnel. He dodged the seams, their bolts threatening to trip him and the steam escaping their gaps wanting to burn him. He squinted through the condensation build-up on the outside of his visor as the faint glow of lights turned it into an orange veil.
“Wasn’t exactly built for humans to come through here.”
He was happy to come out on the other side, despite the pond of rusty waste that separated him from a makeshift base.
“Sergeant, I see something moving by the pipes. Eyes up!” A soldier shouted.
“It’s a friendly Pilot! Sarge, we got a friendly Militia Pilot!”
“Hold your fire!” Eszo put his hand on a soldier’s rifle, lowering it, “He’s SRS! Look at his helmet!”
4 Militia soldiers were stationed on the balcony, one overlooking the edge with a grenade launcher in his hands. Shells dotted the floor, a carpet of emptied firepower sprawled around a portable turret undergoing operation. Metal frames of Spectres, red in color, lay side by side next to fallen Militia personnel.
As insensitive as it was, Jack scanned their faces, praying he wouldn’t see any of the men he was looking for.
“Bodies confirmed. Results: Negative.” BT confirmed, writing on his HUD.
He released the breath he hadn’t realize he held hostage.
“Good to see some friendly Pilots, sir. Our squad has taken a beating. They could use some help up ahead-“ Sergeant Eszo paused, “Lastimosa?”
Sergeant Eszo, one of the only 3 Ground Troop Sergeants in the Militia to undergo SERE training. The man in charge of the 2^nd Militia Fusiliers, the soldiers who remained with him, now. The man he’d have to disappoint.
“Negative, Sergeant.” Jack took his helmet off, ignoring the shock on his face and breaking into a salute, “Rifleman Cooper reporting, sir.”
One of the pacing soldiers froze in place. The wrench behind the turret stopped cranking, it’s wielder’s focus shifting. The soldier on lookout turned around.
Among the boots on the ground, Jack Cooper was a name to be recognized. He may have not known the Fusiliers, but they definitely knew him.
“Holy sh*t, Cooper…” Eszo’s face twisted, “Damn it, Tai…”
“What’s our status, Sergeant?” Liam clicked his visor open, and leaned the barrel of his sniper on his shoulder.
Eszo shook his head, as if waking himself up from a bad dream, “We, uh…We rallied here after receiving Cole’s transmission. He’s-“
“We know.” Liam cut him off.
“Right. SRS. Of course.” He cleared his throat, “They’ve got some newly modified Spectres. They’re stronger, can take a beating, and they’re rigged with explosives. We call them Stalkers.”
Eszo looked at his fallen men, “If you shoot the packs on their backs, they explode. If they get too close to you, they explode.”
“I’m sorry for the loss of your men, Sergeant.”
He gave him a quick nod, and co*cked his chin at the soldier near the turret.
“Rifleman Gartner, how’s the turret coming along?”
“I think I got it but these servos keep seizing up…” He kept cranking at the device, “Come on, baby. I know you’ve got one more fight in you…”
Jack frowned, surveying the mess.
“Eszo,” Liam almost barked, “You see any others from the 41^st around here?”
Jack froze, his muscles tensing.
“Lots of ‘em. You’re standing next to one.” He co*cked his chin at a body.
“Troy O’Conner ring a bell?”
Eszo snorted, “Well, an SRS Pilot knows one of us by name, boys.”
A muted wave of laughter ripped through the men.
“Hey, I knew Cooper when he was a Rifleman, too.” Liam tried to lighten the mood.
“Was a Rifleman.”
Jack wasn’t sure how he felt about the remark.
Pilots and Riflemen weren’t really on good terms with each other when off the battlefield. Whether it came from envy of a Pilot’s abilities or the lack of personality from Pilots to Riflemen was a popular debate.
“Troy was the first refugee I met in Newdrift after my family and I evacuated from the Spire.” Liam sighed, “He talked me into joining. Sack’o bones, back then, but he had spirit…”
The men looked at him, and their grins faded.
“So…have you seen him, or the others?” Jack asked.
Eszo looked at him, “Don’t know every face in the 41^st, Coop. You’ll have to be more specific than that.”
“Nelson. O’Conner. Lasky.”
His face grimaced, and he looked back to his men.
“They went up ahead when the stalkers hit. Haven’t seen or heard from them since.”
“They made it.” A man coughed, “There was a Pilot. They scared her off with a rocket launcher and chased her.”
“They chased a Pilot?”
“Y-yeah…Don’t know if she was IMC or with these APEX clowns…”
His lips pulled into a grin, shaking his head.
“Idiots…”
“Got it.” The man working on the turret closed the service panel, “This ought to take care of those Stalker bastards.”
“Well, now you’ve got a turret and two Pilots on your team.” Liam pulled his Smart Pistol out of its holster, “Said somethin’ about a squad up ahead?”
“Yes, sir.” Eszo pointed at the opened door, “We got split up after the ambush. They still need help.”
Liam chuckled, and rolled his neck towards Jack, “Still want me to ‘not pick fights with everyone?’”
“No, Miller.” Jack co*cked his rifle, “Please do.”

…

…

Five Militia soldiers hid behind columns on the edge of a wide entryway. The IMC had the high ground, shooting from an elevated platform labeled “GATE 03,” on the other side of a brown pond of corrosive waste. The lights from their trucks blinded Jack for all but a moment, and a singing bullet impaled the wall to his right.
“Reinforcements, on your six!” Eszo yelled.
“About time!”
They might have not been the particular soldiers he was looking for, but that didn’t change how they needed their help.
“Alright boys, shoot ‘em dead!” Liam called, beckoning Eszo’s squad.
Jack hit his cloaking device, and ran along a wall. He double-jumped across the gap, thankful he’d mastered the skill instead of falling to the acidic death below.
“Need to find a way to get the others across. I wonder how deep this is…”
He landed behind an IMC Grunt, still shooting at the Militia firing squad. He kicked him off the ledge, sending him into the sludge.
His hollers ripped through the rest of the gunfire and exploding Stalkers that shook the chamber.
“8 inches, give or take.”
His skin peeled away from the rest of him, and his cries for help died out into small squeals of dying IMC scum.
Jack fired at a squad coming from around one of the large trucks, cursing their overwhelming numbers. He slammed his back against the column, reloading his weapon.
“Those trucks are pretty big…”
He had an idea. A stupid one.
“Grenier, think you can get me into this deployment truck’s control panel?”
“Think?” He chuckled, “If there’s one thing I learned from my time with the IMC, it’s that they don’t invest enough money in their software. Get your Data Knife in that console, and I got you.”
“What wild hair you got up your ass this time, Coop?” Liam growled as he shot an IMC Grunt, his head popping next to Jack.
“Just…Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Jack rolled his shoulder off the column and used his jump kit to slide to the open driver-side door. He pulled himself in and slammed it shut, shoving his face in the passenger’s seat to dodge a bullet.
A small crack formed in the windshield, but the bullet-proof glass took the hit.
“Kane! Come in! We have a group of Vanguards near the control room! I think they’re SRS, requesting support!”
The panicked IMC Grunt’s message came through the truck’s radio.
“You think it’s SRS? ALL Vanguards are SRS, you idiot!” Kane sucked in a shuddering breath, “If you can’t handle the job, I will. Just leave it to good ol’ Kane to clean up your mess! IMC deadweight…”
Jack smiled to himself.
“Come down then, mother f*cker.”
He pulled his Data Knife from its sheath and used the blade to lift the cover of the control panel, starting at the left and working his way right with small, upward pulls. He lifted it and pressed the button, jamming it in a socket in the middle.
“That you in the truck?” Liam asked.
Jack looked up, spotting his orange light from across the way.
“Sure is. Keep them off me!”
“BT’s patching me in. Working on the decryption lock.” Grenier confirmed.
The numbers spun on the LED handle of the Data Knife.
“Come on…get a lock, get a lock-“
A green light flickered on his sleeve. His brow furrowed and he hooked his chin on his bicep.
“What the-“
His knife was blinking. Not the serrated survival knife he recovered from Tai’s body. Not the Militia-issued Data Knife that was failing to do its job. But the dull, pointless artifact he kept on his person. The IMC relic left by his father.
Jack pulled the blade from his shoulder, and eyed it carefully. It matched a blinking light under the truck’s steering wheel, almost like an ignition.
“Might not be necessary.”
“How come?”
An explosion rocked the truck, rattling him in his seat.
“f*ck this…”
He jammed the blinking knife in the socket, and turned it towards the front like the arrow painted on the frame said to.
Sure enough, the truck started.
“How did you-“
“Everyone, get back!” Jack cut Chris off, and dropped the truck in reverse.
He put his hand behind the seat next to him, turning his head to look out of the rear windshield.
An IMC soldier had a rocket launcher aimed at him.
“And f*ck you, too.”
The wheels screeched as his foot hit the accelerator. He hit the Grunt- hard, and crashed the back of the truck into the wall.
The collision bounced his head against the steering wheel, filling the room with a loud honk.
“Ow…” He groaned, ignoring the gunfire pellets that bounced off the hood.

“Well ‘beep,’ to you too,” Liam poked his head out from around cover, down below with the rest of the Militia soldiers, “Are you about to do what I think you’re about to do?”
“Sure am. And before you tell me not to…” He smirked, and pushed the transmission to 4-wheel drive, “’No can do.’”
The truck’s 6 wheels spun in place, and he counter steered to keep it straight. The lights brightened the lower wall as he got closer. The front two tires slipped off the edge, hooking on the exterior wall and whining as they failed to find traction.
The windshield pointed at the ground. Blood rushed to the back of his head as the rear pointed at the ceiling. He pulled his knives from their sockets, and quickly stuffed them back where they belonged.
“TIM-BER!” He kicked the door open, and jumped out just in time to run along the face of the platform, barely above the sludge pool.
The top of the truck slammed down, crushing two Stalkers with it’s weight. The engine whined, its belts slipping from their tracks and choking as they came to a full stop.
The flipped truck formed a bridge.
“Hot damn!” Liam called, running to the end and dropping a Pilot-sized particle shield, “ALL ABOARD!”
“That was some quick thinking, Pilot!” Sergeant Eszo climbed a crate, and jumped to the edge of the truck, “Let’s go, Fusiliers!”
The IMC that Liam didn’t pick off pushed back behind the last remaining truck, taking shots at the Militia squad.
Jack climbed back on the platform, providing cover fire for their flank.
Liam had them suppressed from the front.
He had them pinned from the right.
Without any Stalkers left to push the line, the IMC Grunts were forced to hold position.
“Friendly rocket going out hot!” A Rifleman pointed his rocket launcher, and a trail of smoke went spiraling towards the mob of IMC forces.
“BRACE FOR CONTACT!”
It hit the back end of the truck, and blood splattered the walls behind it.
“PUSH FORWARD!” Liam shifted his shield to block the debris, and the soldiers listened.
In orderly fashion they jumped from the underbelly of the truck to the platform.
Jack walked to the fiery mess of dead IMC, and saw a body squirming on its stomach.
One of them had survived.
He drew his pistol, and let it dangle at his side as he approached. The soldier heard his footsteps, and flipped over on his back.
“Please, no-“ He held his hands out, “I have a family!”
His sights found his head, but he hesitated on the trigger.
This man had a family. Probably a wife and kid. Some house off-planet with a yard. Maybe a dog.
A happy little family…
An IMC family.
Jack pulled the trigger.
“A family with one less member…”
The man’s crying stopped.
“…Just like mine.”
And much like the MRVN Liam shot, the man’s body was left without a head.

…

Jack spun the gauze wrap around a soldier’s arm, covering the widening red dot on the white fabric. He pulled tighter, and moved faster. Once he was finished, Liam handed him a piece of medical tape.
“Your time at Newdrift teach you how to do all this?” Liam turned his head towards his previously treated patients.
“Mostly.” Jack patted the soldier on the shoulder, and stood up, “That and getting shot more than once. Keeps you on your toes.”
Liam grinned, his helmet on his hip, “Guess so.”
Jack co*cked his head, “Where’s AJ’s core?”
He ran his fingers through his beard, his fingerless gloves disappearing through the thick strands of hair, “Left it with Talon. Can’t risk losing it out here. Not with you flipping trucks and whatnot.”
Liam reloaded his Smart Pistol MK6, fully equipped with a multi-targeting auto-lock mechanism. Point, wait for the targets to be acquired, and shoot. 5 targets at a time, all headshots if you’re good.
“Why don’t Pilots use those all the time?”
Liam put his hands on his hips, and spit on the ground.
“Ever wonder why they’re in SERE kits next to a Vanguard core?”
A SERE kit.
A sharpened knife, a Smart Pistol, and a Titan GPU. All exclusive to Vanguards.
“Because…If you’re behind enemy lines without a Titan, you’re f*cked?”
“That. Sure.” Liam flipped his helmet over his head, “And, no matter what, these cores can NEVER fall into the hands of the IMC…and neither can Smart Pistols. What better protection for a core and a Smart Pistol than stuffed on top of a Titan.”
He latched his collar, “If a Titan fails to do the job, it’s up to the Pilot to see it through.”
It was something he hadn’t thought about.
Vanguards won the Titan Wars for the Militia. They were smarter than the mass-produced IMC Titans. They could swap abilities and modify themselves on the go.
“Evelyn designed those cores, you know.” Sage murmured.
“I remember…Tai had this grand idea for the Vanguard I chassis. He needed a program sophisticated enough to handle the processing commands for the Core Swap.”
“Right. They used the funding from Lastimosa’s Armory to design it…” Her voice trailed off.
“And…?”
“BT was the first Vanguard ever put in service. He’s more sentient than most Titans. He’s special, Jack…If you bond with him like your father did, I think you’ll be surprised what you find. I know I was when I got to know ICE better.”
Getting to know a Titan…The concept was still mind-boggling.
“Any idea what makes the Vanguards tick?”
Jack scrunched his nose at the following silence.
“Remember that time Grenier got locked up for a week?” Akane asked.
“How did I know this was gonna come up…” Chris whined.
“Because you’re an idiot.”
Jack shrugged, “Yeah, I remember. No one could tell me why.”
“He plugged GZ’s core into his laptop and tried to find the answer to the question you just asked. Best not think about it.”
Somehow, her warning made his stomach churn, even with her glowering features at a distance.
“Interesting, to say the least…”
The rest of the Militia forces started to get restless, and they began gearing themselves up for travel. Sergeant Eszo took to his side, and saluted Liam, “Thanks for the assist, sir. We’ll take it from here. You go on ahead.”
Liam looked at him, and thought for a moment.
He extended his hand, and opened his visor, “Any time.”
Jack watched the handshake in front of him. The unity he’d sought for. The acknowledgement of each other as human beings. Even how Liam opened his visor before addressing Eszo made his heart warm.
And then the rest of his mind caught up.
“Wait, what?” He turned to Liam, who walked away, “We can’t just…”
He lowered his voice, and jogged to him, “We can't just leave them here.”
“They’d slow us down, Cooper.” He put his hand on Jack’s shoulder, and forced him to turn around.
The soldiers stood in formation, their weapons at the ready.
“Those are 10 lives that didn’t end today, thanks to you. We’ve done all we can for them.”
Jack shrugged his hand off, “No, we haven’t. They’re not with Cole yet.”
“Cooper…”
“It’s just like the refugees on Harmony. Saving them isn’t enough. It never is. We’re responsible for them now…”
He wasn’t breaking through.
“Alright.”
Or maybe he was.
“I’ll go with them.”
Jack whipped around, “Huh?”
“I’ll get them through the halls, and I’ll regroup with the Marauders. And then we’ll escort them the rest of the way.” Liam jabbed a finger at his chest, “But you have to go on ahead.”
He co*cked his chin at a vent high off the ground, “Now.”
“Uh…Okay.” Jack nodded excitedly, “Yeah, okay. I can do that.”
“And Cooper,” Liam stood strong, not giddy like himself, “I got somethin’ to say to you. So keep your mouth shut and listen to me for a sec.”
He opened his mouth, and then thought against it.
“I’m real sorry. About earlier.” He over his shoulder, “Been so focused on survival and getting home that I forgot about something. It’s our job to make sure there’s a Militia to be a part of by the time this war is over…Every life counts out here.”
Jack swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Thanks, Miller.”
But his voice cracked like he wasa teenager again.
“Wow, embarrassing…”
Liam nodded to him, and slapped his shoulder.
“Stay safe out there, Pilot.”
And then he made him emotional all over again.
“’Pilot…’”
A Marauder just called him a Pilot.
“Y-you too, Miller.”
He stood there, stunned, as the Militia soldiers cheered on Miller’s approach.
Even Sergeant Eszo looked behind him at Jack while the others rejoiced, giving him a thumbs up.
Jack could hardly feel his hand lift as he returned the gesture.
“Maybe he’s not so bad, after all.”

…

Jack kicked the cover off the exit vent, and slid out of the air duct. He was greeted by a circular room with a thick waterfall of waste encompassing the middle. The only way was up.
“What could possibly go wrong?”
Wall running in a circle…dancing with a substance that could eat through everything he wore.
He looked at the battery still dangling from his waist, and wondered if it was worth it.
“Yeah, it’s worth it. Because if BT runs into trouble, you’ll have a backup.”
“Pilot, exercise caution.”
BT’s unexpected comment made him jump.
He huffed, “You can say that again.”
“Pilot, exercise caution.”
“Goddamn it…”
Jack snorted, “You too, BT. Where are you?”
“We are following the stream of sludge. The current is strong up ahead, suggesting an exit. Keep moving forward.”
“Yeah, yeah…” He stretched a cramp in his legs, “Feels like I’ve been walking for days…”
“You have been. However, your vitals appear to be stable. Do you require rest?”
“Would be nice, if I’m being honest.”
“There is no time for rest. We must uphold the mission.”
Jack snickered, “Smart ass Titan, aren’t you?”
“I have been told.”
He gathered his courage, and made his way to the ledge. He jumped to the right, running parallel to the corrosive liquid. He landed on a pipe, stopping only long enough to adjust his direction. He repeated the run and break motion, pausing on any fixture he could.
“No one ever tells you how creative Pilots have to be.”
The radio overhead screeched, and the echo in the chamber made his teeth grit.
“So, I got word there’s some Vanguard-class Titans and SRS Pilots taking out my IMC support. Whoever you guys are…” Kane clapped slowly, “Not bad. Not bad at all, my friends. I just hope you’re better than the last Pilot I killed…”
Jack landed on an extended bridge, his fingers curling into a fist as he straightened himself up.
“This the guy who killed Cap?” Chris sounded nervous to ask.
Or maybe he was hopeful the answer was “yes.”
“No…” Jack bit the inside of his cheek, “It was Blisk.”
“Who do you think Kane got, then?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Akane sounded more angry than usual, “He needs to die.”

“Agreed.” Sage’s helmet popped up under hers.
“Count me in.” And then Chris’s.
Jack cracked his neck, and kept moving.
“Taunting any SRS Pilot is dangerous…But this guy has no idea he’s talking to a group of Marauders.”

PART III: Evolve or Die

Whatever data he was hoping to retrieve, it wasn’t nearly as complicated as what he received. He froze, watching the cursor blink at the end of the request.
“Nathan…Black?”
The Pilot on the document found in Tai’s room. The apparent owner of the IMC blade he’d kept with him since he was a child.
“My…”
His jaw shook, and his fists tightened. He opened his visor, and ripped the knife out of the console. He marched to the opening, pointing the blade at BT.
“YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS!” He shouted, jamming the Data Knife its holster, “When I asked you before, about knowing who Nathan was-“
“Pilot-“
“YOU KNEW!”
He gripped the bars that prevented him from progressing. BT was on the other side, watching him from afar.
“What are you gonna do, punch him?” His teeth locked together, “No. No, just keep yelling.”
“Pilot Cooper.” BT remained calm, “I believe we should discuss this in private.”
“Coop, what are you yelling about?” Chris’s Ion shifted towards him.
“How long did he know?” Jack growled.
BT remained quiet.
“Who else knew?”
And still, he didn’t answer him.
“Jack?” Sage asked, ICE peeking out from over GZ’s shoulder, “Knew what?”
He ignored them. Didn’t want to hear anything from anyone except the lying Titan in front of him.
“We will discuss this at a later time. We must continue.” BT turned away, and marched down a hall.
“BT!” Jack squeezed the bars tighter, his cheeks cold from pressing against them, “B-T-!”
“The controls to deactivate the sludge flow are in the next chamber. Marking your HUD.”
The Titan that was supposed to be his partner disappeared behind a concrete wall. The others looked at each other, and back to Jack.
“Where’s Miller?” Akane asked.
“With the…Mil…troops-“ Liam fired his gun, “Comi…”
His transmission went mute. Chris and Akane hounded him for letting Liam run off on his own again. Sage tried to shut them up.
But their words were lost in translation while his mind tried to decode the discovery.
The file he found was covered in black lines. He’d gone through all he could.
Nathan Black. A sleeper agent for the Militia, planted in the IMC. Involved in Operation: Persephone, some spec ops that revolved around the Demeter Campaign. A hand-written note talking about a kid named Shaun Black. His kid.
Him…
Maybe.
“Most of that file was redacted. That means only higher-level security personnel would be briefed on the intel…Like a Captain in the SRS. Like Tai Lastimosa.”
Jack had been successful in tuning out the insurmountable f*ckery that marked Liera’s deployment. The MCS James MacAllan being brought down. The haunting thoughts of Tai’s death. How his friends might be dead.
But this? He couldn’t quiet it.
“Personnel like Eli Anderson…”
A message window appeared on his screen, “Incoming transmission from Pilot Grenier. Closed channel.”
Chris’s feed opened live-time.
“Hey, Grenier…What’s up?”
He co*cked his head, “We gonna talk about how you ended up with a Gen-1 IMC Data Knife?”
Jack swallowed, “It…It was my dad’s.”
“Why did Tai have that relic on him?”
“Not Tai.”
“…Oh. Oh.”
“Yeah.”
He’d been told Sarah Cooper left it for him. Gave it to him as Angel City fell.
He wasn’t so sure he believed that story anymore.
“Still…That thing’s old. Like, was decommissioned before you and I were even born, kind of old.”
“Really, now?”
“Yep. When I was IMC side, they had some of those in display cases back on Training Ground Whitehead. History of the IMC, blah blah blah.”
“Hm…Interesting.”
Chris cracked his neck, “Mhm. Alright, well…I’ll leave you to it. Reach out of you need to talk about…whatever that was.”
“Thanks.”
His face disappeared, and the channel closed.
“When all this is over…” Jack growled, “We’ve got a lot to talk about, BT.”
“…Agreed.”

…

Jack entered what seemed like a storage depot. It was cluttered with opened weapon cases, abandoned duffle bags- empty, of course. He was on auto-pilot, not focused on the task at hand. If he hadn’t been, maybe he would’ve been upset.
“Hazardous waste pump now draining automated testing facility – Zone 3.”
A door slammed shut, out of view, sounding like it came from the chamber to his left.
“sh*t…” A heavy thump echoed from the other side of the wall, “Coop, we’re cut off. You’re gonna have to get to the control panel BT was talking about on your own.” Chris sounded less than enthused.
“There’s 20 or so IMC personnel in that room. We’ll have to find a way around.” Sage argued.
“He can handle it. Right, Cooper?” Akane challenged him in her own sort of way.
“Whatever.” He closed his visor, and waited for BT’s sonar scans to report back.
The outside chamber was set up almost exactly like the first one they’d entered. The only difference was the ceiling had circular hatches built in to it, as if the IMC needed to transport things vertically.
Tons of orange outlines took to the form of humans, lazily patrolling the area.
Jack hit his cloaking device, and stuck to the perimeter.
“I believe I have found an alternative route.” BT announced, “Follow me.”
“See?” Sage clapped happily, “Hang tight, Jack.”
“Too late.” He ran along the wall, landing on top of a Grunt standing outside the marked control box.
He cut his throat, and stormed towards the console inside. A large touch pad was labeled, “ACTIVATE.”
Once he pressed it, an alarm rose in volume from a low, growling pitch.
“Overriding pump filter systems. Emergency shutdown initiated.”
Jack pulled the hammer back on his rifle, “That’ll get their attention.”
“There’s a mass of IMC soldiers heading to your location…” Sage whispered.
“Good…” He hit his cloak again, “Good.”
A team of 6 stormed the control room.
“Lost sight of target-“ The Grunt in command pointed his weapon at the corners in the room, “Where are they?”
Jack bit the pin out of his grenade, and tossed it in front of him, “Here.”
He closed the hatch, and jumped on the roof before it was blown off the hinges.
The plate of metal screeched along the grate, flattening another enemy against the wall. Both sides were dripping with red by the time it leveled out.
“We need reinforcements in the pump room, NOW!” Another squad took shots at him and he stepped off a platform.
“Drop in the Ticks! Flush him out!”
“Lambda Four Airborne, releasing Ticks!”
He took to high ground, running along a curved pipe.
“What are ticks?”
“They’re spider-like drones that actively seek out enemies before self-detonation.” Sage explained, “Please, be careful…You’re stuck in there with a bunch of homicidal maniacs.”
“I’m not stuck in here with them.”
Jack landed in the middle of a squad, gripping a soldier in a choke hold before firing his pistol in his back.
“They’re stuck in here with me.”
He shifted his shield towards the group, putting his back to the wall. He shot two of the squad members before ejecting an empty mag and sliding the gun along a fresh one on his belt. He pressed it against the dead soldier’s shoulder and used his fingers to co*ck it back.
“Pump shutdown sequence at 20%.”
A light scurrying sound came from his right, and he threw his corpse-shield at a mob of Ticks. They were red bulbs on 4 legs, and the circles on top of them glowed orange as the IMC body came into contact. Jack double-jumped and fled before detonation.
“Stalkers…Ticks…IMC is all about suicidal robots nowadays.”
Deployment lines rippled from the hatches in the ceiling.
“Lambda Five Ground rappelling now!”
“Lambda Five Airborne on station, releasing Ticks!”
The IMC bodies came sliding down, followed by a sprinkle of more robotic bombs.
“More Spicy Boys on the way, watch out!” Chris called.
“What did you just call them?”
“He means ticks!” Akane clarified.
“Jesus Chr-“
He saw the Marauders climbing up a set of stairs, opposite from where he was and behind a clear panel. BT’s pods extended, but the support he expected to follow never came.
“Can you reach anyone?!”
BT turned to face him, “The sludge falls contain a high concentration of heavy metals. They are interfering with my targeting systems.”
Jack slid behind a column to dodge enemy fire, unable to rest due to the army of “Spicy Boys,” chasing him.
“How hard can it be?! Just shoot!
“Blind firing into my Pilot’s combat zone would be a violation of Protocol 3.”
“Is lying to your Pilot a violation of Protocol 3?”
Jack shot at the Ticks, and they detonated prematurely.
“Like a 16-year-old on prom night.”
“Pump shutdown sequence at 40%.”
He turned a corner and paused to catch his breath.
“BACK UP!” An IMC soldier yelled, “Call for back up!”
Jack opened his visor to wipe his forehead, and turned around to see more Ticks chasing him.
“Goddamn it…”
The Grunts followed the stream of scurrying robots, and Jack was on the run again.
“Be advised, Tau Five Airborne releasing Ticks!”
“Tau Four Ground rappelling in!”
He aimed at the squad dropping from the lines, and his rifle clicked.
“f*ck.”
He switched to his pistol, and hit the ground running.
“Jack, we can’t get through!” Sage cried out, “You have to get this hatch open!”
He looked over his shoulder to see a small Pilot banging on the missile-proof shield.
“I’M WORKIN’ ON IT!”
“Pump shutdown sequence at 60%.”
The alarm tripled in speed. It almost matched his footsteps as his cramping legs kept moving him forward.
The cement burst in front of him. A sniper shot crackled the air.
A running figure flickered, charging him head on.
“Another f*cking Pilot.”
He jumped, and hit his cloak.
“End of the line, Militia.”
He elbowed Jack in the back of the head, and he fell from the wall to the floor.
“Fu-“ He pushed himself up, and hit the barrel of his sniper away with his forearm.
It fired in the opposite direction, sparking the wall of the control room.
Jack took three shots, and his pistol jammed.
“What is with these guns all of a sudd-“
He ducked to dodge a blow, and jumped to avoid being swept off his feet. The Pilot’s jump kit pushed him forward. He glimmered in the dim light, composed of wires and twisted bars.
“A Simulacrum?”
The IMC Pilot missed his punch, and his fist cracked the concrete wall.
“Wonderful.”
Jack put his knife away, realizing it wouldn’t be effective.
“Pump shutdown sequence at 80%.”
Every time Jack struck him, his knuckles ached. Every time he blocked his attack, a bruise was left swelling on his skin. He needed to get out of this.
A crack met the side of his helmet. His tactical flashlight flew across the pavement, bouncing and tapping against the wall. His vision flickered, and his senses were dulled.
He landed on something. Cylinder in shape, impaling his side. A green thing that he wished pillowed his landing, but instead, made it so much worse.
“The Titan battery…”
The Pilot walked towards him slowly, his feet clanking against the metal grates on the floor.
“And here I thought the SRS were the best the Militia had to offer…What a shame.”
Jack’s hand slid under his hip, and detached the battery from his waist. His fingers slid around the handle, and he jammed it into the ground, using it as a crutch to stand himself up.
“Your Titan friend can’t save you, Militia dog.”
The sensors in his helmet spazzed, and he opened his visor to give himself a clear picture. He spit a mouthful of blood on the ground, “I don’t need him to kick your ass.”
The Simulacrum swung at him, and Jack ducked low. The battery came around, anchored on his hands, the weight of it lagging behind his swing.
The case hit his head first. Sparks flew from his chassis.
The battery bounced off the floor, and Jack used both of his hands to swing it back, hitting the other side of the Pilot’s face.
“Holy sh*t Coop,” Chris laughed, “You just bitch-slapped that Sim into the next dimension!”
The Pilot stumbled on the edge of the platform, and Jack sent him down to the sludge with a strong kick.
“Pump shutdown sequence: Complete.”
The barrier keeping out the rest of the Marauders shuddered, and began sliding into the walls. BT shoved his hands between them, forcing them apart and shoving his chassis through. The lens on his ocular hub narrowed.
“Visual contact reestablished with Pilot. Commencing support fire. Danger close.”
His acolyte pods deployed, and missiles flew into a rappelling squad.
“I am engaging hostile infantry.”
Jack ran on the wall, his knees threatening to break.
“Get to BT.”
“Kane, COME IN!” An angry shout came from an IMC Grunt on the ground, “There are Vanguard Titans in here with us! We’re going to be slaughtered!”
“After this.”
Jack’s feet met the man’s back, and he pinned him to the ground.
“What was it your buddy said?” He pulled the Grunt’s pistol out of the holster, and aimed it at his head, “’Your Titan friend can’t save you?’”
A bullet fractured the back of the soldier’s helmet, and he grabbed extra ammunition clips before continuing.
“IMC security forces…” Kane sighed, “I guess that’s why they pay me the big bucks. You want something done right? You do it yourself…Alright scrubs, enough’s enough, I’m coming down!”
A larger hatch opened in the ceiling, and the entire room seemed to hold its breath as an orange Titan fell through.
It was huge and rounded, with a gruesome, toothy smile painted over the co*ckpit.
“You were not invited to Kane’s party…” Kane was holding a Militia soldier in his Titan’s hand, “And that’s why you’re dead!”
He squeezed, and bloody confetti sprang from his hand. Red streaks ran between his Titan’s knuckles, and it turned his sickening face towards the rest of them.
“Let’s get this party started, scrubs!”

…

Sage narrowed her eyes at the taunting fool in front of her.
“Well, well, more runaway heroes! With SRS Vanguard-class Titans…” Kane brought his Titan weapon to the front.
It was long, with chambers on the side and a peculiar barrel.
“That’s…That’s a thermite launcher…”
She was upset. Her words came as barely a whisper…
“You bloody f*cking git!”
Until she lost her temper.
“Pilot Talon, it appears the IMC has reverse-engineered our T-203 Termite Launcher VMK. How shall we proceed?” ICE asked.
“Melt him.”
“Affirmative. Thermal systems: Functional. co*ckpit cooling: Activated.”
ICE charged forward, the gunshots from the smaller Grunts on the battlefield clanking on his chassis. He dashed to the right, dodging Kane’s thermite barrel. He ignited it, but the flames failed to reach them.
“If you’re going to copy my life’s work,” Sage countered with her own wall of flames, “At least use it CORRECTLY!”
It spiraled towards the enemy Scorch, leaving a scorching trail behind the red wall.
Kane clapped in the microphone, “Woo! Now we’re talking! Bringing a knife to a knife fight…”
His grizzly Titan turned to her, and fired a grenade out of the chamber. She melted it with ICE’s thermal shield, and kept going.
“I know you’re angry, but don’t overextend yourself,” Akane warned, “You’re pushing too far ahead.”
“He needs to beput down.”
3 pops boomed from the ceiling, and the domes of IMC Titans surrounded her.
“Damn it.”
“Told you.”
An alert flashed on her HUD, and ICE’s deep, hungry voice filled the co*ckpit, “Multiple Titans attacking. Tactical option: Incendiary Traps.”
Sage didn’t argue with him. She fired two barrels to either side of Kane, and lit them ablaze with well-placed shots.
Fire engulfed the domes, inflicting damage as soon as they fell. The IMC Titans barely escaped before her flames ate the paint from their armor.
“Outnumbered two-to-one. Keep them in your sight to avoid flanking.”
“To our right, ICE!”
The co*ckpit shuddered as the heavy Titan shifted, barely dodging a charged beam shot.
“Enemy Ion spotted.” BT announced, “Engaging hostile Titan.”
It was strange hearing him again, knowing Tai wasn’t his Pilot. But the man who was…
“I won’t allow this Apex Prick to get him, too.”
ICE turned to Kane, who smiled at them with his ghastly nose art.
“Is this the best the SRS has to offer?!”
She ignored the fights around her, tunnel focused on killing the imposter.
“You haven’t seen a thing, you f*cking TWAT!”

…

Akane growled under her breath.
“I tried to warn her…”
“Be aware, Pilot.”
URI’s advice came as a soft growl, his murderous voice tinted with his signature accent. Akane nulled her temper, taking in the sensory data fed to her.
“Is that an enemy Ronin I see?”
“That is correct.”
Her eyebrows pinched together, “There can only be one…”
War raged around them, but their target was solidified.
The enemy drew his own, modified blade.
“Pilot Control initiated…” URI studied his opponent, waiting for Akane to make their first move, “Focus. Plan. Attack.”
“Go.”
They charged the enemy Titan, Leadwall shotgun in hand.
Their first shot was blocked by the enemy’s sword, but with a swift dash to the left, they had them at their flank.
“Too slow.” She pulled the trigger, and the Titan’s chassis was dented.
The hilt of the Ronin’s sword came down, and slammed against her co*ckpit.
Akane’s teeth clenched, and she found a red eye staring back at her.
“Dispersing electric smoke,” She flipped the switch, and pressed the button, “Disengage.”
URI jumped backwards, his hand sliding on the ground to slow himself.
The enemy Ronin was stunted, and Akane took another shot. Two shots. Three shots.
“Smart moves, Pilot.” URI fired the last shot in his clip, “Reloading Leadwall.”
A Brute jumped above the electric cloud and hovered, sending a rocket barrage at them.
“Our threat condition has grown…Multiple Titans attacking. Do not lose sight of hostiles.”
Akane holstered their shotgun, and pulled her own Broadsword to their front, blocking the incoming rockets.
“Grenier?! COOPER?”
“ON IT!” Chris answered, “I got you!”

…

Chris looked to the top of his co*ckpit, “Cooper, you good?!”
“Yeah, yeah! Go help her!”
A notification flickered on his HUD, “Friendly Pilot has detached.”
Jack ran against the wall, his figure shimmering in the heat of battle.
“Sage, coming to you!”
He jumped at BT, and disappeared in his co*ckpit.
“Ballsy for a rookie Pilot.”
GZ turned towards the Brute raining missiles at Akane and URI, her rifle aimed, “Splitter rifle on target.”
“Shoot ‘em, Gizzy!”
The shot knocked the flying Titan off balance, and he slammed into the wall.
“HAH!”
“Nice shot, Grenier.” Akane’s helmet shot up from the minimized window of his co*ckpit.
Jack’s came up next, “Grenier-watch-your-3-o’clo-“
A laser hit GZ’s shoulder, and she stumbled backwards.
“Critical Damage: Advise cover.” GZ sounded panicked.
“Come on, girl. We can’t let them do us like that.”
The co*ckpit flickered, the sensors damaged. GZ regained her balance, and her vortex shield deployed to catch the Brute’s suppressing fire.
“Multiple Titans are engaging you. I recommend targeting the closest enemy first.”
“Grrr…Why can’t they just focus on the Titan in front-…”
Chris grinned, and aimed the caught ammunition at the approaching Ion.
“’Closest enemy first,’ you say?”
The large shells pointed at his target, and covered the co*ckpit in a barrage of “f*ck you.”
“Yeah, how you like that?!” Chris yelled.
“Keep talking, Pilot!” The enemy shouted, “Keep talking!”
“Take notes, BITCH!”
Chris pulled a lever above him, and dodged another laser.
“Powering up primary weapon systems,” GZ was almost excited, “Splitter rifle on full spread.”
They shot a slew of amped shots at the Ion who couldn’t find cover in time to protect himself.
“Damn Militia!”
“That’s right,” Chris shouted, pushing up farther, “Don’t you f*cking forget it!”
“SOMEONE GET THAT GODDAMN BRUTE!” Akane hollered, “For f*ck’s sake, I’m trying to concentrate!”
“SOLID COPY!” Jack answered the call, and BT broke away from a literal fire-fight with Kane.

…

Jack held the button and the Brute was covered in locked circles, and the rockets left trails in their wake as they flew. They wound around the corner, hitting the Titan that tried to hover behind a column on the ceiling.
An arrow flashed on his HUD, pointing to the right.
“Pilot, stay out of Kane’s thermite residue. It causes heavy damage.”
BT stepped out of the trap they almost succumbed to. The co*ckpit was hot, and a temperature warning made his eyes twitch. He pulled on the collar of his jumpsuit, trying to air himself out.
“Leave him to me, Jack…” Sage growled, and ICE punched forward with his large fists.
Kane jumped backwards, almost colliding with the injured Brute that hid behind him.
“Don’t even think about it!” Kane shouted, his Scorch knock-off pushing the Brute forward, “We’ve got work to do!”
Jack’s nose twitched, and he fired at the Brute who was now defenseless. Leaving Sage to fight Kane alone wasn’t his preferred course of action, but with so many Titans in such a small space, he was out of options.
“Walk away, scrub, just walk away. Only a matter of time before I rip you outta that co*ckpit, anyway.”
“WHO EVEN SAYS SCRUB ANYMORE?!” Jack yelled, firing at him with BT’s chaingun.
“FOCUS, COOPER!” Akane shouted, dodging a swing from a Ronin’s blade, “Get the Brute!”
“You can keep fighting, but just know, Kane doesn’t let people die quickly!”
“Neither does Jack!”
BT fired a salvo of rockets, and the Brute’s exhaust vents flared.
“Did he just refer to himself in third person? …Did I just-”
The Brute charged him, and BT jumped out of the way.
“I think it’s time we put him down, BT.”
“Affirmative.”
Jack guided his metal arm, bringing down the stock of his chaingun on the Titan’s co*ckpit.
“AGHHH!”
The enemy Pilot screeched, and BT popped the co*ckpit’s door open with a punch. His pronged hand gripped the IMC enemy, and ripped him from his bracers. He held him high in the air behind his shoulder, not even bothering to look at him.
“NO-“
BT squeezed his hand, and the Pilot’s innards rained on his own Titan’s chassis.
“Enemy Pilot down.”
He grabbed the handle of his chaingun, bringing his foot to the stumbling, flaming Brute in front of him. He kicked it, and it fell backwards before exploding.
Jack blinked. Took in a sharp breath.
“Jesus Christ, BT…”
“What is the matter, Pilot?”
“That was…I don’t even know.”
“Legendary. Tai would have called it legendary.”
Jack smiled to himself, “Yeah, he would have.”
“And he would’ve called this, ‘brutal…’”

…

Akane sent an arc wave from URI’s sword, pushing the Ronin back from the close-range combat they found themselves locked in.
“Sword Core, ready…” URI snarled, the activation lock blinking on his screen.
The Ronin tried to sweep their legs, and URI jumped to avoid being tripped.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you?” The Ronin’s sword crackled with electricity, “I am so going to enjoy taking that Titan away from you.”
Akane smirked, and pulled a trigger, “I dare you to try.”
“Sword Core, activated.” URI took the Broadsword from his back, it’s blade glistening from Sage’s fire, “The sword is yours, Pilot.”
The agonizing will to destroy in his voice made her skin prickle.
“Jesus Christ, BT…”
And then Jack’s annoying radio chatter interrupted it.
“What is the matter, Pilot?”
“That was…I don’t even know.”
“Legendary. Tai would have called it legendary.”
“Yeah, he would have.”
The anger of her Captain’s murder was renewed. Any joy in the fight was taken from her, and she locked on to the IMC Ronin kicking off the wall. His Broadsword glimmered in the chaos, the light running edge to tip.
“And he would’ve called this, ‘brutal…’”
Akane raised URI’s sword, swinging it down.
The sharp blade caught between the enemy Ronin’s shoulder and co*ckpit, severing the limb with a screeching, metal whine. Sparks only matched by URI’s electric blade flew from the mess of exposed wires, not stopping at a mere arm. It cut the Titan, and getting stuck on its hip.
The disconnected chassis jerked backwards, and URI charged the lower half with his shoulder. The force was strong enough to split it in two, crushing the enemy’s legs against the wall.
“Hostile Pilot KIA.” URI turned to the rest of them, his blade hovering just above the sludge pool, “Enemy Titan down…”

…

A notification tore Chris’s focus away from the engaged Ion in front of him.
“Incoming debris-“
He turned in time to see a chunk of Titan spiraling towards them.
“What-“
The Ion fired a shot, and he grabbed the hurling Titan’s arm. GZ swung it around, like a weapon of its own. The co*ckpit collided with the Ion, and its own doors flew open.
“Hey, Grenier. What’s better than one Broadsword?” Akane cackled over sprinting Titan footsteps.
He aimed his rifle at the Pilot reaching for their eject button.
“I dunno, two Broa- AH!”
URI landed in front of him, pouncing on the downed Ion like a Prowler on its prey. A hilt took up both of his hands, each connected to a blade that cut into the opened co*ckpit underneath him.
“Two Broadswords.”
Chris tried not to be mad. After all, it was pretty badass.
“GODDAMN IT, MAYUMI!” He slammed a fist on his dashboard, “That was my kill!”
URI pulled each of his blades out of the metal corpse on the ground, “Consider this payback for stealing mine at Zone 18.”
“That was like, a year ago!”
“We Remember, Grenier. A Pilot never forgets.”
“Well, you two seemed to have forgotten about the Apex Predator in the room!” Sage chided.
ICE’s vents opening to exhaust themselves while BT danced through pits of fire.
“sh*t. That’s not good.”

…

While the others had been engaging in their usual antics, Sage and Jack had been busy keeping one of Kuben Blisk’s mercenaries at bay.
“Warning: Potential reactor overload. Battery required.”
She bit her lip, swiping away a layer of sweat with the back of her hand. It dripped from her eyelashes, and coated her neck.
“Incoming!”
A loud clank hit the top of her co*ckpit.
“Friendly Pilot on the hull.”
The thick thermal plating on ICE allowed him to escape an incendiary trap laid by Kane, and she fired her own.
“Jack?” Sage looked up, “What are you doing?”
“Giving you this battery that punched me in the nuts.”
An empty chamber warning flickered on her HUD, and the rest of them funneled power to the empty socket.
“Are you mad?” She yelled at him, “There’s an Apex Predator out there!”
Akane and Chris distracted Kane during ICE’s temporary disadvantage.
“We’ve got you covered!”
ICE’s shields came back online, and his systems were pushed from critical to below average.
“See?” She heard him pat the top of ICE, “All better.”
“Better than before, I suppose…” Sage snickered, “Now get back in BT before-“
An explosion interrupted her. GZ was trapped, one of her arms stuck in Kane’s grip.
“GET OFF HER!” Chris yelled, trying to break free.
“End of the line, scrub!” Kane roared.
“Hardly.” Akane sliced his arm off, URI wielding two blades on his person.
BT charged, grabbing Kane’s Scorch by the shoulders and shoving him off.
Kane regained balanced, and launched a barrel at his feet.
“Go ahead, go ahead! Kane can take a few hits…” He let loose a maniacal laugh, “I can keep going all day, and ALL NIGHT! But you…” He shot the barrel, and BT was surrounded by fire, “You gotta sleep sometime!”

…