"The Heart of Hatred"

"This all seems a bit too easy if you ask me," An I.M.C. grunt said, "It's like the Militia don't even want to put up a fight." The now routine missions of cleaning out terrorist holdings had grown monotonous in less than a week's time around Dagon. Of course, in a strategic sense it was a great thing to happen in war as the minimal losses kept command happy and the troops' morale high, but such 'safe' battles made I.M.C. forces a bit too relaxed. One major example came from the crew of the Arcadia who, due to their laxed state, had reported losing over half of their deployed forces in a single battle at a sight close to the equator; a battle that was still ongoing. Funnily enough it would be the Pilots and troops of the Solaris who were currently en route to back them up and if the carelessness of the stranded forces spread to other ships then the next real battle would be their last.

"I don't know about you but I could fight these battles every day." Another grunt said, "Besides, the Arcadia practically begged for help!" He laughed.

Katherine, sitting opposite of Alan, hummed to herself while watching the bright sun's rays start to slowly distance themselves favor the grey clouds and drops of salty rain. "Dammit, and here I was thinking it be a clear day!" She yelled over the others' chatter.

"What can't handle a little rain?" Alan asked.

"Well the salt is a bi-"

"Twenty seconds out from Point Rain," The pilot called out, interrupting the woman, "Stand by for hot-zone deployment!" Someone else muttered how fitting the name was before the squad checked their gear one last time. Unstrapping themselves from their seats the passengers of the Goblin transport had readied themselves on every exit. The Pilots prepared to jump from the back, and two grunts on each side door. This was just another day on the job for them.

Alan and Katherine landed boots first in the water and now pouring rain, drawing their respective weapons while the dropships started to take fire upon its escape. From the sound of things, it appeared as if the Militia banked their fortification on heavy weapons seeing as they already fended off one wave of I.M.C. forces which should have been more than enough to deal with such a small garrison. "Don't try anything to reckless, we're here to support our troops not join the bodies." Alan noted to Katherine who was already itching to get into the fight.

"Gotcha'!" She replied, "But no need to worry about me, you can hardly keep up when I get going."

"Don't push it."

"Bet ya' I'll get a higher count. Terms back home!" She yelled, sprinting toward the giant concrete building that was a research center. Alan could only chase after her while the grunts and additional forces had to scale the walls and stairs once again. The interior was too heavily fortified to consider a deployment zone, but being surrounded by high walls certainly didn't help Militia defenders much. The two Pilots had climbed over the walls just fine and found themselves on a pretty barren roof. Grunts soon followed packing demolition charges to burst through the ceiling. Without much cover the best most of the soldiers could do was stand back, cover their eyes, and shield their heads.

"Detonating!" A demolition expert shouted to the troops with them. He clicked a button on the detonator in hand and with an explosion followed by a rumble and smoke, a hole had been made. The Pilots were first to dive into the chaos that was supposed to be a section of the 'Munitions Testing' and armory. Both Alan and Katherine rook a few Militia grunts by surprise before multiple squads started to surround them however, additional troops started rappelling through the hole in the roof via cables all while firing their weapons haphazardly into their unsuspecting enemies. The two Pilots charged the Militia with guns in hand, Alan in particular always picking up a new rifle every so often as to not find himself without ammo. Katherine just sprayed her weapon which had more than enough per magazine to keep the terrified grunts from returning in kind, eventually right over their heads to take free shots. Over the few minutes of non-stop gunfire and dying gasps the R&D for weapons and the like had been secured by the small task force.

"Alpha, find and regroup with Iota-6. Their last transmission was in Hydroponics so let's get a move on it!" Shouted the Captain to his subordinates.

"Gamma Team, follow that Pilot and support him however you can!" Another squad leader ordered, pointing to Alan.

"Any other warning you want to give Alan?" Katherine asked playfully, walking away from the eight bodies on her side and up to the taller man.

"We're the only Pilots Solaris was able to provide with permission from the Vice Admiral. I don't expect every deployed Pilot from the Arcadia to be dead but don't expect them to come save you; so, watch your six and keep your eyes peeled for cloaked hostiles." The man warned as Gamma Team had caught up to him.

"You are always so serious, still though, catch you later then!" She said before joining Alpha and their task to get to Hydroponics.

With Alan and his team on a 'search and destroy' mission, there wasn't a specific objective to take and hold which made their next course of action the most difficult: choosing where to go first. They had to start somewhere so after deciding on the containment cells first the group began their crusade against the terrorist holdouts. Alan and the squad found themselves at the end of a long narrow corridor fit with an observation window on their right that stretched from one end to the other. A number of lights were already destroyed while bullet casings and impact marks littered the floor and covered walls indicated a previous battle, but other than that and the sound of gunfire faintly echoing throughout the halls there hadn't been a single sign of life. The rain pattered against the window which put the I.M.C. squad on edge as they travelled down the coverless hall. Alan would have figured the Militia would be all over the place, spread out and defending it until their last breath. Alan was about to comment on how relatively quiet it was until a voice boomed from around the corner.

"R&D just went dark, Captain Wolfe is pissed, and-" A Militia grunt said just as the two groups ran into each other. For a brief moment there was peace, neither side so much as said another word even if only due to surprise. It was the one of the Militia that moved first.

"Enemy Pilot, an enemy Pilot!" One of the terrorists yelled, pulling up his weapon only to shot down by Alan. Another was killed by one of the other I.M.C. grunts while the last two ducked behind the corner again.

"Captain, we have another enemy Pilot, requesting-" Before the other man could get another word out, the two surviving Militia were killed by the friendly grunts.

"Sir, our eyes in the sky are reporting a Titan at the testing fields!" The squad leader reported, his team taking point and watching the now secured corridor, "It's tearing our people and Spectres apart!"

"A Titan?" Alan questioned, sure that he misheard. The Militia, as desperate as they were for an edge in the fight, would never waste a valuable Titan on such an unstable place such as Dagon. Perhaps they were getting desperate again.

"Affirmative, it's fortified itself on the testing grounds and our Phantoms can't get a clear shot on it without being shot down." The squad leader confirmed. Of course, there would be a problem like this, it was just Alan's luck to run into yet another Titan fight on foot. Still, it was what he was trained for and on the bright side it would make another story or two.

"Continue to the containment cells, I'll see what I can do."

"Roger sir, best of luck to ya'."

The Pilot made his run toward the Testing Grounds, leaving the squad behind to finish their original job. The facility was vast so Alan wasn't too surprised that there was such a place made for Titans even on this useless moon. He had not run into any resistance yet and still found it curious to him but from what he could tell- thanks to the enemy squad they ran into- the Militia grouped up in defendable locations throughout the facility. Clever at keeping the firepower high but ultimately it left the terrorists to be starved out or killed in a bunch at once. What mattered now was dealing with the Militia Pilot, he was likely the only one left alive as the rest either died in the fighting; not that the holdouts had many Pilots still around to begin with.

Following the signs and directions still readable, Alan eventually found himself at the observation deck above the Titan Testing Grounds. It had plenty of I.M.C. bodies still on the ground, fresh ones at that. The squad probably tried to find a way to forcibly shut down the Titan to get a chance at killing the Pilot however slim it may have been. Apparently, the Militia had been aware of this fact too seeing as the glass was non-existent save a few shards and the consoles had been completely demolished by explosives and heavy caliber guns. As expected the field itself was covered in a thin layer of water but had plenty of mock buildings serving as terrain and cover for training purposes. Though there were two turrets on the field, only one was still useful once it could come online. It was his best chance at destroying the Titan without trouble so he went for it.

Alan dropped from the broken window and landed on the ground below with a splash. The Titan at the center of the training grounds looked to be a regular Atlas-class with a Triple-Threat launcher. Worrying enough with the explosives but it meant Alan had a chance to attack it head on assuming he wasn't crushed by its fist in the process. Either way it was busy blowing chunks out of the facility which gave the I.M.C. Pilot plenty of time run to the Turret. After the quick sprint and short climb to the top of the ruined building, the Pilot took his data-knife and stabbed it into the Turret's port, watching his fancy knife do all the computer work typical of a coder or hacker. Only the best of the best for the best, that's the I.M.C. for you. It didn't take long for the Turret to come back online and immediately begin raining down shells on the Atlas. Making his escape, Alan had dropped to the watery floor and jumped right back up to a wall which he ran across. He could see the Atlas shield itself with its left arm as best it could but it wasn't enough to thwart the incoming damage. The Titan launched its grenades at the Turret, giving Alan ample opportunity to scale the back of the giant mech. He could feel the vibrations of the bullets impacting against the Titan and saw bits of armor plating shed like dead skin but eventually the explosive grenades proved too much for the already wounded Turret to handle. Pulling off the protective hatch, Alan emptied his rifle into the Titan's interior, eventually stunning it to the point of being doomed. The I.M.C. Pilot jumped to the front and kicked off its torso, landing right back into the water as the Titan fell to the ground with a splash following it. That guy from the ship was right this was getting a little too easy-

The top hatch ejected and a Militia Pilot came flying at Alan. The enemy Pilot purposely had his Titan fall to get a shot like this with plenty of time to spare. Alan fell to his back, watching the ejecting Pilot zoom over him and skid to a halt in the shallow water, "Out of my way." He said with a rough voice, drawing his pistol, Alan did the same only he fired first and shot the gun out of the man's hands. The Militia Pilot swore, grabbing his hand before pulling his knife and throwing it in return, slicing Alan across the back of his hand which caused him to drop his pistol as well. "Guess I'll just add you to the list until I find Stassov, you wouldn't know him, would you?" He said calmly.

"Depends who's asking." Alan replied.

"Erik Wolfe, tell 'em he has to pay for the Washington. That I'll kill him when I find him."

"Well," Alan stretched out his arms, "Here I am."

"You..." 'Erik' started, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes after taking off his helmet while Alan nodded to confirm it, "You god damn murderer!" He yelled, charging toward Alan whom readied himself in a guard stance. The I.M.C. Pilot swung his right fist into the other man's side, but the Militia Pilot tackled him to the ground, hands around his neck. Alan had a hand on clawing at the left side of Erik's face while his other grabbed the man's wrist just barely giving him enough time to breath. "You fight for money, I fight for vengeance." He growled.

"That- Makes-" Alan choked out, grabbing his knife and stabbing the Militia Pilot in the ribs causing Erik to yelp in pain before jumping off of the Pilot and grabbed his bleeding side, "Two of us." He gasped, taking the chance to catch his breath.

"You wouldn't know pain, Hound. You wouldn't know what it's like to see everything you care about stolen from you."

"I beg to differ, terrorist." Alan said, grabbing an incoming punch and throwing it to the side. Alan sliced across the other man's shoulder, going for a stab to the back but had his wrist grabbed and his knife dropped to the shallow water at their feet. The I.M.C. Pilot kneed his opponent in the stomach, kicking him to his back before picking up his knife again. He lunged at the terrorist but Erik had dived out of the way and rolled behind Alan, grabbing his own knife from the ground as well.

"You destroyed a ship with civilians on board, yet I'm the terrorist?" Erik questioned, grabbing Alan's attack and punching him in the jaw. Thankfully his helmet saved it from dislocating but it was still a painful hit to take. "That's for my wife." He said slamming his fist into Alan's tightened stomach, "That's for my daughter, and this," He raised the knife overhead, "Is just for me." Alan took the opening and stabbed the man in the gut, picking himself up and grabbing the other man's armed hand before it could drop down on him.

"That's for my mother." Alan spat with venom in his voice, the anger and pain of the past now spilling out. He pulled the knife out to stab the man's stomach again, "My father," He pulled the knife again, this time stabbing the Militia Pilot through the throat, "And all of those killed in the Militia's bombing campaigns." Gurgling on his blood and falling back into the salty water that no doubt made the pain sting, the Militia could do nothing but look at Alan as if his intense gaze alone could kill him. "The Militia isn't innocent," Alan began, pulling his knife from the man's throat, "And until they've paid for them in blood I will kill them wherever I find them." Looking down on the body, Alan found the man had already died midway through his declaration. He wiped the blood of his knife off in the salted water and found his Hammond lying not too far from where they were. The Pilot could tell the fight put him in a bad mood and as far as he could tell there was only one way to ease his nerves.

A.N.: The milestone of 10, it's not even half way done either.

As always, enjoy!

~Firetoast312