Now aboard the Pelican, Yang takes a look around it and discovers a M41 SPNKR rocket launcher on the ground. Yang hunches over and picks it up. Upon doing so a new reticule appears on her HUD.
Yang darts her head around looking in the dimly lit Pelican, and sees the cockpit door. She slams the side of her fist into the door, causing a large dent.
The Pelican experiences turbulence. The cockpit door slides open, and w voice is heard saying "stand down! Whats with that?
Yang pops her head into the cockpit and asks, where am I going?
The pilot does a very surprised double take. He sees Yang, clad in MJOLNIR with a M41 hunkered on her shoulder, and exclaims, a Spartan?! Really? They're sending you? Look, we're almost there. I'm not told of my passengers.
Yang, expressing confusion behind her helmet, says, uh who?
The pilot ignores her question and says, we're here. I'll set the bird down in the middle of this road. Downtown Vale.
The hatch opens, and Yang reactively looks behind her to see the daylight.
The pilot says cheerfully, End of the line, Spartan. This is your stop.
Yang slowly walks towards the exit and looks down at the ground.
The pilot says, hey! I got to fly. Get going.
Yang casually hops outta the Pelican, and it flys off. Yang scours her surrounding. She sees Tukson's Book Trade just up ahead.
Yang lowers her rocket launcher and cradles it.
Yang slowly walks towards Tukson's Book Trade and starts asking aloud, hello? Is anyone there? Where is everyone?
Yang overhears a aggressive sounding, low volume voice.
Yang notices an alley way in between Tukson's Book Trade and another building, and hesitantly heads toward the alley in hopes of locating the voice she heard.
Yang shouts out, hey! Someone there?
Yang stops in her tracks, and crouches slightly. Yang's gaze shifts to her motion tracker, and sees a quadrant light up at the one o'clock position.
The voice more pronounced, angrily grunts out, shut up! Get in here.
Yang darts her head around and scuttles to the alley way, and notices her motion tracker lighting up again at the 10 o'clock position. A synthesized voice in her helmet says, threat detected.
Yang slams her back against the inner part of the alley. She hears a somewhat familiar voice say, what're you? You here for these things?
Yang's helmet emits a static, and a garbled voice says, I'm having trouble establishing the feed. One moment.
The static clears and the voice resumes clearly and says, ah...much better. I am Fleet Admiral Ryan Schneider. And you are...?
The man in the alley demands, hey, you here to help? Or are you trying to get us all killed?
Yang frantically says, hang on! Alright.
Yang says, admiral is it? What's going on? Why has nobody contacted me since?
The admiral says, look...we wouldn't have gained your trust if you knew the whole story. All you need to know at the moment is that...you're surrounded. Atlas has...made a mistake. And you, and your team were selected as a small squad of vanguards to assess and quell the threat. And for my contacting of you...your armor's sensors picked up their signature. We can confirm the presence in Vale.
Yang abruptly drops her rocket launcher and begins to pace up and down the dark alley. The mysterious man avoids her.
Yang says, what do you mean? Threat? Presence? Surrounded? None of this makes sense. Why am I here? Where is my team?
The Admiral says, we're getting the rest of your team ready. But there are some complications with their equipment. They're armor is being further modifier. Please hold out. Schneider out.
Yang flails her arms down, saying hello?! Answer me?! Damnit!
Yang quickly pops her head out of the alley to look around. Her motion tracker's six o'clock quadrant lights up. Yang raises her fists and jumps around and says, what do you want? Who are you?
The mysterious person raises his hands and says, relax. I'm Tukson. I'm the owner of this here store. I assumed you Atlas guys are here to fix this.
Yang drops her stance, and snaps with, I'm not Atlas. And I have no idea what's going on. So tell me everything you know.
Tukson says, look. Some sort of machine. Well, machines showed up and started trying to round us up. Some fled, some panicked. And I hid. They look like Atlas tech. I'm not sure. They...open fired on a few people who resisted. We've been stranded here, and well...hoping for someway out. Can you do that? Can you get us out? No I'm sorry...op many of scattered around this area. Wait. You're armed? That's why you're here right?
Yang, very exhaustingly says, yes. I suppose that's what I'm here for. Do you know what they look like?
Tukson retrieves his scroll and display a photo and says, this is what's stalking the streets in the dozens. They're at least three meters tall.
Yang objects and says, alright, alright! Hang on...my armor...it's doing something.
Yang's HUD fades from red to blue and the armor's VI says, Promethean Knight. Threat assessment: moderate. Exercise caution. Bi-pedal, artificial construct. Brace for impact.
Yang's HUD returns to nominal blue, and the center quadrant lights up.
Yang is disturbed by the ominous assessment, and says to Tukson, get to the back, now please.
Tukson alarmingly retreats.
There is an ominous silence. Yang's armor VI says, incoming.
Yang looks up, and sees a Promethean Knight latched onto the corner of the building looking into the alley.
Yang staring directly at it in awe and fear, snaps out of this trance as it unlatched from the building and descended on top of her.
Yang, now on the ground, is dazed as to what she just saw.
Yang looks up to confirm her awe. A massive machine towering her.
The Promethean Knight slams it's foot down on Yang's left arm, and aims it's light rifle at Yang.
The Promethean Knight says, U.N.S.C. personal detained. Submit...
Yang, angrily screams, like hell!
Yang swiftly moves her legs above her head, and using the full power of the augmented armor to kick the Knight off of her. Doing little more than staggering it back, Yang rolls backwards, and then onto her feet.
The Promethean Knight brings its rifle back up and opens up a burst of fire at Yang, only to have Yang stand her ground and sustain the burst only while covering her head with her arms.
The automatic fire stops, and Yang hears it take a step closer. Yang quick draws her M7 Caseless submachine guns, and while firing at the hip unleashes a volley of automatic fire at its torso, emptying her magazines.
Reacting to every hit, the Knight falls to one knee, and at that moment Yang closes the gap by charging, only to be met by the Knight joltingly catching her by her neck.
The Knight stands up, and effortlessly lifts Yang off of her feet, and slams her into the side of the building, collapsing the wall burying her in rubble.
Through the cracks in the rubble, Yang can see the Knight standing there imperturbably.
Torrents of electrical discharge surge off of the bullet ridden Knight.
A metallic sound is heard at the back of they alley. The Knight pivots and fires blindly into the dead end, followed by the sound of something dropping.
The Knight moves out of sight, and Yang hears it retreating. After a moment of silence, Yang says in her helmet with a breaking voice, hey! Help! Please help. Someone? Answer. Send my team. Send Ruby? Blake?
The radio returns, and Schneider says, excellent Ms. Xiao Long. We've monitored your progress through your suits sensors. Alright. We know what we're up against.
Yang, to the point of losing her cool, says with disgust, what...is this a game to you? It killed someone. And could of killed me. Get me out of here.
Schneider says, no can do. We're not exfiltrating you until you can destroy at least one. Now on your feet, Spartan.
Yang barks back, Spartan? Why do people keep calling me that?
Schneider, exhaustingly says, it means you're elite. You are equipped. Now get off your ass. We're going to be sending Weiss Schnee down there soon. She's in her armor. Though she's having...issues involving operations. Just stay alive, see what you can learn.
Yang stands up from under the rubble, rolls her neck and says, yeah. Sure. Got my coordinates? I'll be staying put in this book store.
Schneider says, very well. Schneider out.
Yang enters the book store through the newly made backdoor, and drags her feet inside, and leans against a bookshelf cracking the shelves from her armor's mass. Yang slides her back down it to sit down, ripping the shelves down and raining down books.
Yang grabs her helmet and removes it, setting it besides her. She picks up a book, exhales and mumbles, guess I'll be here a while.