"The Final Pair"

The first shots rang out. This time, it was more than just another battle to be played out by both sides, it was a fight for survival, their survival. If the Militia failed, they would be wiped out to the last man and Titan, if even a single detachment of the I.M.C.'s forces failed, their daring troops deployed behind enemy lines would be surrounded and slaughtered by the very enemy they tried to encircle.

The air was thick with darkening clouds and smoke, anti-air guns and missiles deafened boomed back and forth against each other while metal crushed against metal as the first signs of mother nature's weeping fell onto mech and man alike. Overhead, Militia Hornets desperately tried to break the air superiority of the I.M.C.'s own Phantoms, but there were too few fighters for the insurgents to spare. One by one their air defenses were picked off by small strike teams, targeted by the Phantoms, or simply caught in the I.M.C. advance and turned on their former Militia owners.

"Incoming wave, they're in standard breakthrough formation: Titans at the center, infantry at their flanks! We'll leave those mechs to you, Pilots, over and out!" A grunt hailed over comms as the defenders on what was left of the walls opened up a wall of lead from any gun they could put up. Any defensive turret that could have been put to use were already worn out and empty of ammunition, rendering them useless, but that did not deter the infantry of the I.M.C. Marine Corp. from firing on the merciless Titans with what few heavy weapons they had available. Fortunately for them, they were not left alone to face the hulking, terrifying, and menacing Titans that showed no remorse for simple infantry forces. From the belly of the outpost ruins, six Titans bearing I.M.C. colors and insignias stood strong and at the ready against whatever the zealous Militia hordes were willing to throw at them.

"Copy that, McCoy get on our northern flank, Terrell, on our south, let no one get through," Their commanding officer, Captain Schnell, ordered Edwin and Barry, each in their Tones, respectively, "Ferguson," He pointed to Mary's Ion Titan, "You're with me at the front. Stassov, Goodwin," He looked to Alan and Katie's Titans, "I want artillery and sniper support, if any enemy Titan gets through, prioritize them. Get moving people, we've got a war to win!" The Captain finished.

The other Atlas-class Titans quickly left the confines of the outpost's crumbled walls leaving only Alan's Brute, and Katie's Northstar to help bolster the internal defenses. They were the smallest chassis of the group, so it was to be expected for them to hang back, but that did not make the job any less troubling. Alan wasn't sure about Katie's aim and abilities in close range combat, especially with a Northstar, but either way it would have to be him to do a bulk of the fighting should an enemy breach the compound. Now had it been before his transfer to ARES from the now wrecked I.M.S. Solaris, and if it was Sasha with him…

"I know Ed's all heated up about working with you, but personally I don't see what's so special about you." Katie said to Alan over comms.

"You and me both." Alan replied, "From what I've been told and heard, the Militia have me on a 'Wanted' list, and I also removed a 'major thorn' in the I.M.C.'s side, a thorn that was an invaluable Militia Pilot."

"Hah, I doubt they were that tough, just do me a favor and don't block my shot!" Katie joked, showing off her long-ranged railgun.

Alan ignored the slightly aggravating comment, "Doubt you'd hit much anyways. I worked with woman who was the best shot in our whole fleet!" Alan said, remembering Sasha and her usually aloof and uncaring nature. He wondered where she got reassigned.

"Meh, never heard of her, bet I could probably top her best." Katie gloated.

"Well, she did get 9 for 10, care to try 10 for 10?" Alan smirked from inside his Titan, half from reminiscing once again about the old days and the semi-drunken antics the other Pilots and grunts got into, half to egg Katie on with friendly banter.

"…I'll take on that bet. When I win, you'll owe me!"

"If you win." Alan retorted before setting up his Titan for artillery support.

"Alan, Katie, this is Miss Fortune, I will try and get spotters and have the others coordinate to highlight targets for the both of you, but be advised we are having some difficulties and even then, targets are only rough estimates. Caution is advised, careful not to hit friendlies down there!" Naomi alerted the two support Titans.

"Copy, any intel on enemy counter-offensive?" Alan asked the woman as Katie charged up her weapon and rested it upon a wall for some additional stability.

"Negative, so far we expect only enemy Pilots and Titans that were held in reserve, fortunately we are slowly advancing across most of our lines. Careful out there, over and out!" She finished informing the two before cutting the comms.

By now, the rain began to heavily pour down on everyone below, the flames from devastating warfare were being extinguished, but now visibility dropped significantly, hindering the usual range capabilities of both sides, but for Alan, he simply angled his weapon in accordance to his map, and fired away after making some minor adjustments. Militia drop ships tried to break through the fighter screen of aggressive Phantom pilots, but none availed. They all went down one at a time and crashed into the ground some distance away leaving nothing but a smoldering wreck while the Militia forces trapped within the encirclement slowly saw their options scratched out one at a time.

"Heads up, you've got a pair of Titans that slipped past us. Headed to outpost, over!" Captain Schnell quickly informed over comms. From the sound of crunching metal and grunts, the Captain seemed to be fighting with every trick and tool he had to keep a bulwark of the Militia onslaught at bay.

Katie was first to spot the two approaching silhouettes of Titans, one small, the other medium. She took the first shot, and in an instant, there was a clean hole through the larger of the two and it went down. "That one's yours." She said to Alan.

The smaller Titan came into view: a Ronin with dull green and orange paint with its shotgun in hand. Alan took up his weapon and fired a rocket, and another, and another, and another. The first three were swiftly evaded, and the fourth one was two, but only by a shimmering of light and phasing out of Alan's sight. Seconds later, the Ronin reappeared and made a quick swipe with its sword, but Alan narrowly evaded the attack with a dash backwards. He locked on with two missiles and fired hitting the Stryder-variant, but in only pulled up its shotgun and open fired in four quick trigger pulls. Alan's shields were immediately brought down which forced him to go on the offensive. Kicking off the ground, Alan punched the Ronin and sent it stumbling back but it caught its balance. Unrelenting in his attack, Alan pressed forward once more but this time brought his own weapon up and fired a little too close that he expected, but the dangerously close rockets were enough to outright destroy the enemy Titan.

"Hmph, fair enough." Katie commented after what was left of the Ronin's wreckage collapsed to the ground.

"Remember, those were just the scraps that got through." Alan reminded as Katie took another shot.

"Be advised, we're detecting some major activity converging on your location. Looks like the Militia are trying to consolidate forces to put more pressure on you, over and out." Naomi cautioned the two over comms again.

"Looks like we'll be seeing some more action, neat." Katie said to herself.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Alan warned, "Keep in mind, there's only six of us and we're already spread thin, we're up against dozens if not more still out there. If one of us goes down, its permanent, but for them, the at the very least have spares and reinforcements."

"Oh, let them come, that just means we can go all out!"

"That's what I'm worried about…" Alan muttered. He'd better keep some munitions in reserve just in case things get too out of hand…

Another pair got through, but this time Katie took care of one, damaged the other, and the grunts brought down the badly damaged Titan. "That makes four-" She fired another shot, "Scratch that, make that five!"

Alan continued his artillery barrage with what missiles he could spare, but he as watched the number dwindled in front of him one digit at a time, he grew increasingly worried as there was no sign of stopping. "I'm empty, I can't provide any more support, over!" Alan broadcasted over friendly comms. He hoped it would be over by now, but the Militia just kept coming, Katie was having a hard time keeping the stragglers at bay, but the trickle eventually turned into a flood. "Christ, they just keep coming!" She yelled.

"Alan!" The Pilot heard his name called out over comms, but it was not Naomi, nor was it anyone from the team, it was Vanessa, "Northern- falli- hold- Being jam-"

"Miss Fortune, do you copy? You're breaking up." Alan hailed, adjusting a few settings to try to boost comms.

"Stassov- Off me!" The Captain struggled to say, "You're in charge! Regroup! Sent Mary up north! Don't let them through! Come here you self-righteous son of-" The line was cut, but in the distant was a sizeable explosion from an overloaded reactor. Panic started to besiege Alan's otherwise hardened mind and will on all sides as the comms and warning lights went off all around him. The lights, the alarms, the deafening thunder, the comms in chaos, when the noise hit him, it hit hard. Alan could barely think to himself as the horrified reports and chatter among the other posts and ground forces came in.

"I'm picking up half a dozen new Titans signatures!"

"Are you reading this right? We'll be surrounded in minutes!"

"We're getting overwhelmed here!"

"I'm out of rounds, where's our damn support!?"

"Shit, they're coming in full force forward!"

"Alan, they're right on top of you!" He heard Vanessa's voice from among the chaos.

"It's all coming apart…" Alan whispered to himself.

"Alan, what do we do?" Katie's Northstar looked to Alan with an optic full of fear as the Militia approached on mass. He checked his munitions and looked at the force in front of him, it was clear that he had little left to fight them with, but he had to. No reinforcements, no heavy support, no evac being sent down, all that was left were the number of Phantoms and their dwindling air-to-ground weaponry. "Alan!" Katie yelled.

Alan shook himself out of his dumbstruck daze and took a shaky breath to ease his nerves, "We hold the line." He ordered, "Alpha, Echo, reposition yourselves inside the buildings and pack as many explosives and ammo as you can, Delta, take all the A.T. weaponry you can and get a vantage point. All other ground forces, dig in, hunker down, but- Do. Not. Waver. Foxtrot-4, Barry, what's your status?"

"Southern flank can hold for now, I'm rendezvousing with the others up north, Edwin hasn't responded to any calls…"

"Fine, ensure that line holds and don't take any chances. Kate, make every shot count. I am officially declaring an 'Emergency Status'." Alan said, he gritted his teeth, and prepared himself as the from the thick rain came shadows.

"How are we supposed to do this?" Said a devastated Katie already wanting to call it quits, "Neither of our Titans can go toe to toe with a full strike team!"

"Maybe not, but I will go."

"Alone?!"

"Overwhelming odds? An operation going sour? Facing an imminent fate possibly worse death? Nothing new there." Alan said as he began forcing himself forward. Here he goes again, putting his life in the way of defeat, "I don't know who trained you mercenaries, but where I trained," His mind ran through the memories of harsh days of non-stop work, punishments for even the slightest mistake, and his fellow Pilots like his old friend Katherine that graduated with him, "You weren't really considered anyone special until you could defeat four Titans on your own. Even then, you would just be labeled 'average'."

"You're saying you've done that?"

"No, I have not. Not yet." Alan finished.

So, without another word, he marched on into the thick haze of rain where half a dozen dark silhouettes were fast approaching. There would be no retreat for him, he made up his mind already even if Vanessa could get a ship to retrieve him. If nothing else, his aim was just to buy time for the rest of the I.M.C. forces to hold the line, and annihilate the Militia invasion force.

"Evi, override every safety feature you have." Alan instructed.

"Warning! This unit may become unstable! Please repeat?" Her programming kicked in to warn him about the dangers he could face: joints could snap from the torque, the rear engines could last longer but would melt under extra use, the reactor could overload and kill him right then and there, but would it be worth it? Only one way to find out.

"Override every safety feature you have." Alan repeated, this time slightly slower and with more emphasis behind each word.

"Authorization approved, override successful. Warning no offensive or defensive core ability installed! Continue?"

"Proceed."

"It has been a pleasure working with you, Pilot."

The first to arrive were two Ronins with swords at the ready. Alan kept his fingers, his arms, legs loose as his Titan did the same, he controlled his Titan just as he would his own body and kicked off the muddied ground to dash to the side. He swept the leg out from the Ronin on his right, but ignored it and charged forward to slam a punch straight into the second Ronin. Alan tore the sword out of the second Ronin's hands returned to impale the first enemy Titan through its arm, he was shot twice but the third and fourth times were picked from the air with his vortex shield and reflected back at their owner. He locked on with two missiles and fired.

"Warning: Six missiles remaining!" Evi told Alan as he kept silent for the fight in front of him. The Pilot grabbed the stolen sword from being stabbed through the ground and used it to swing against the still standing Ronin to great effect.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alan saw something glow and instinctively went to grab it with his vortex shield before immediately turning around and slamming the projectile into the Ronin in front of him. Alan didn't take the time watch the canopy of the orange and dull-green Ronin melt away from the thermite and kill the Pilot inside as he now had to turn to the first Ronin that had gotten up and a Scorch that was slowly approaching. Fortunately for the I.M.C. Pilot, the Ronin was now missing an arm, severely hindering its ability to fight which have Alan a chance to recover.

The Ronin went for a punch with its last arm but that was expertly caught and he used his knee to smash the bottom of the Ronin's canopy and force it open. Alan let Evi grab a few shots fired from a newly arrived Tone, but held them as Alan quickly left the safety of Evi's interior, pulled his pistol to shoot the exposed enemy Pilot, and enter the Ronin with the plan to tear a battery right out from the interior of the enemy Titan itself. His Brute Titan could not hold for long though and before long she was forced to shoot back the captured cannon rounds and leave herself all but defenseless. She pulled the Ronin in front of the incoming fire, making sure Alan had a clean and safe escape to return to her and install the stolen battery. Just as his Titan registered the renewed shields, half of it was depleted by fire from an Ion and the continued onslaught of both the Scorch and Tone. A railgun shot zoomed past Alan as he dodged to the side initially to close some distance and get around the Tone's shield wall it had just put down, and then an Ion had arrived to overwhelm the I.M.C. Pilot, but now it was a true four against one. The Scorch's Pilot got greedy and got in the way of it Tone ally by unleashing a 'shield' of intense flames that incinerated the Tone's shells when they tried to get through it. The ion closed the distance and tried to pincer Alan between itself and the Scorch, but Alan could see their plan. Alan hovered int the air as the Atlas and Ogre Titans enclosed on him, but he did not move out of the way, instead, he landed right on top of the Ion, but the Scorch shoved him off while the Tone got in a few hits on him

"Warning: Hull integrity at 50%. Outnumbered four to one!" Evi told Alan who ignored her warning. As Alan turned, he watched the Scorch get hit in the side and stumble from a charged railgun shot coming from the outpost still in sight of the bunch of Titans. The Scorch returned the favor by firing another thermite round while the Tone fired a string of missiles from a safe distance. Alan was almost grateful for the tracking missiles as he dashed out of the way of the Scorch that took another railgun round to its chassis. The Vortex Shield easily plucked a number of the missiles, but a handful had to be let trough. "Warning: Hull integrity at 36%. Retreat is an option!" Evi announced as her programming instructed her to, but of course this was ignored once again. With the missiles in hand, and the thermite dodged, Alan rushed over to the Ion that was still picking itself up and flung the redirected missiles straight at the unsuspecting Militia Titan.

It wasn't enough.

Alan delivered a heavy punch to the same area hit by the missiles before firing three of his own. "Warning: Three missiles remaining!" She said as Alan pushed the Titan back to the ground with the aid of the already unsteady, muddy ground. With one final punch, he burst open the Ion's canopy and ordered Evi to throw the struggling Militia Pilot toward the Scorch while he ripped the battery from the fallen Titan. He couldn't see it, but from the scream and flames, and momentary pause of combat, Alan could only guess the Scorch saw it as another 'projectile' and defended itself. He couldn't imagine the horrified look on their faces, nor would he want to grant a death so agonizing, but it was them, or him and Alan refused to let himself be another casualty on this Frontier. After seeing his shields charged, Alan found himself with the opportunity to tear open the stunned Scorch's hatch, so he did by giving it a punch that crumpled its interior and killed the dazed Pilot inside, but now, Alan had a valuable chunk of metal to slide around in the mud and that's exactly what he did. The thick armor plating hindered his speed, but for the sake of protection, it was worth it, but eventually it would run its course and collapse leaving Alan exposed to a still wandering Tone and Northstar, the former of which looked to have taken a round or two from Katie's own Northstar.

Alan had to withdraw, but the two remaining Militia Titans pursued with rage filled optics and a longing to avenge their fallen comrades. That was when the Militia riflemen began their assault. From the mud emerged dozens of foot soldiers making a mad charge toward the outpost after the sight of Alan retreating. He was hit by the railgun which once again depleted his shields, then came the Tone's rockets which he could barely defend against as he stopped just outside the outpost's walls.

"Warning: Hull integrity at 21%!" Evi warned, but when the two Militia Tians and the hordes of infantry approached, they were met with a ferocious fire of lead and a few rockets all from the nooks and crannies of the rubble all around them. Alan fired his last three rockets at the Tone, severely damaging it enough for Katie to finish it off, but when Alan took another step back and inside the compound, he felt almost like a sharp pain in his leg. Evi's limbs were starting to give out and he was starting to feel every bit of it with as he had strained his muscles to fight such a battle. He fell to a knee but the Militia Northstar wouldn't let up and smashed into Alan's Titan, crashing it against a wall with enough force to bring the crumbling concrete and rebar down. Evi tried to retaliate in Alan's stead by throwing a punch with her left arm, but that was grabbed and torn off in rage as the Militia Northstar beat down Alan's worn out Titan with it.

"Hull integrity at: 16%, 12%, 8%." Evi called out, but Alan could do nothing right now as he tried to deal with the pain and stress his body endured with his Titan. Luckily, the end of a charged railgun rested on the shoulder of the Militia Northstar and as soon as the Titan turned its attention over to it, a shot rang out. The enemy Northstar had a clean hole through its spherical chassis and collapsed to the ground. "Warning: Hull integrity at 7%. No enemy threat detected, safety override disabled, automatic shut-down initiated, ejecting Pilot canopy." Evi said as she achieved all these things with what little amount of energy she had to spare.

When the Titan's interior went dark and the protective canopy's emergency eject opened, rain trickled into the steaming hot interior of the Titan. The small but numerous droplets all but sizzled on contact with metal from the intense heat inside, but now without power and being drenched in rain, the steaming Titan began to cool. Alan breathed a sigh of relief as he sunk into his seat however, his moment of respite was just as quickly stolen from him as a fleet of vessels appeared on radar. They weren't friendly either…

Crawling out of his wrecked Titan, Alan fell to the wet concrete ground below him and looked to the sky. As the rain pecked and pattered against his body and visor, he could see a fleet of rescue ships on approach with no one to contest them anymore. Behind them, a brand-new ship design large in size and spewing out additional fighter support. "What… is that?" He asked to no one in particular.

"That, is a MacAllan-Class Carrier." He heard Naomi chime in from his comms.

"Any word from our northern flank?" Alan asked, not forgetting the part of the defensive line that faltered.

"Negative, its gone dark. Commander wants an immediately evac of all available forces in the area, she's calling it on this one."

"No." Alan denied, he'd make sure

"Pardon? That's an order from the Commander, Pilot." The woman reminded.

"Pack a ship with two teams of Spectres and then come pick me up." Alan ordered, checking his equipment and ammo to be sure he was ready for whoever got in his way.

"That sounds like you're disobeying orders."

He hesitated before answering again, "Aye command, standing down." He lied, cutting the channel between them before calling Katie over to him. "Kate, I need you to take me North, just the two of us.

"We're supposed to sit and wait for evac!" She exclaimed.

"Listen, we don't know each other and personally I don't really care about staying to fight, but unless you want to go home and sit at an empty table for the rest of the war, we go North." Alan spoke from experience. Lately his days have been… 'lonesome' to put it bluntly as no one- save one- on the Miss Fortune knew him except as 'that resident Pilot' of the ship. Either way, he would not let the unknown go unchecked, especially since this one had the Militia involved in something that could threaten allied forces.

Reluctantly, Katie agreed and picked Alan up from the ground, "What exactly is going on?" She asked through private comms.

"Nothing good." Alan replied, keeping an eye out for any Militia threats. Hostile dropships were already making their landings at a few points around the defensive line, fortunately there weren't too many.

It wasn't long before the Northstar and its additional passenger arrived to the last known location of the rest of their team, but things looked grim. Bodies of I.M.C. and Militia forces littered the bombed-out grounds and filled in short and shallow trenches that were used as makeshift cover. There were dozens, if not hundreds of bodies and wrecks of fallen Militia dropships still burning in the rain. There was not a single sign of life from either side, but the worst of it came when they saw the blackened and charred chassis of an Atlas Titan resting its back against one of the fallen dropships. Then came another, half buried in mud, and another torn in two, but of the three Titans, only one dead Pilot was present. "My god…" Katie whispered through comms, hastily disembarking from her Titan to check on the Tone resting first fallen Tone. Inside was the torn, bloodied, and battered body of Barry, his visor cracked half open, his armor stripped from his body, his uniform torn and holding on by threads and mud.

Alan took command of the Northstar, dropping to the ground and ordering the Titan to keep its last railgun shot charged and ready should they be ambushed while its owner mourned a loss. He couldn't particularly see it, but luckily, or unluckily, for the other Pilot, Barry showed signs of life by taking one long, careful look at his friend and comrade before he fell back into his seat permanently this time. He ignored the wails and denial, letting the other Pilot have as much time as she needed because she would really need it. Alan himself hadn't ever had the time to mourn properly between the constant deployments and exhausted state of both himself and those he served alongside, but he had always been quiet about it, silently taking in the heavy price paid for being a Pilot which was nothing more than another Priority Target for either side.

Their moment was cut short though as a Militia dropship in the far distance was spinning up its jump drive and about to fly over them, but the Northstar's programming was already taking aim. In a single shot, one of the dropship's engines went up in flames and the ship violently spun out of control before crashing to the ground and skidding straight toward them. Alan drew his sidearm, knowing that there was even the slightest possibility of someone surviving and approached the fallen ship.

From the wreckage emerged two scathed and bruised traitors clutching their wounds. Had it been any regular Militia Pilot, he would have granted a quick, but honorable death, but these two… These two would not be given such a mercy… Betrayal was a wound that was still fresh, a wound Alan would never forget nor forgive. Since entering the Frontier, he had seen and personally felt betrayal after betrayal, from former allies, once respected officers, his own former friends and squadmates, now it just made him sick.

The first of the two looked up at him, "Impossible…" He panted, "There were six of them! Six against two small and pitiful fodder… So, what now, you gonna' shoot me?"

"No, you aren't worth it." Alan spat back, holstering his pistol as an insult. This infuriated the younger Pilot who did his best to make a mad charge against Alan, but the attempt was futile. Alan easily sidestepped the incoming charge, and rammed a fist into his attacker's stomach, "You threw away comradery." He stated. The traitor quickly recovered and tried to tackle Alan but Alan grabbed his opponent by the wrist and arm and threw him over his shoulders and slammed him into the ground and hammered the fallen Pilot's chest with his forearm, "They trusted, cared about you, and still, you betray your own friends, have you no honor, no shame?" he said, looking at the other woman whom stood back and looked away in disgrace. The man got up again and threw a weak punch, but of course this did nothing. Alan was almost willing to forgive his old team for turning against him, they did it because they felt the I.M.C. was wrong, but this man here? What was it? Money? Power? Vengeance? It wouldn't matter, Alan wouldn't forgive it either way.

In one swift strike, Alan struck at the other man's elbow with all the strength he had, backed up by small traces of anger that he let loose after being mostly bottled up for so long and broke the traitor's arm. Alan wouldn't kill him himself, so he pulled out his old Hammond and shot first both legs, then the other man's side, and finally taking aim at the beaten Pilot's right lung, but of course, he was stopped by a rocket streaming from the air and hitting the Northstar behind Alan. His attention was diverted as h saw the impact, but when he turned back, an electric smoke grenade landed between him and the other Pilot before bursting open and releasing a cloud of smoke to hide either side from view. On his right, in the air, another Militia Crow made a quick stop behind the wall of smoke. Alan couldn't do much else but seethe with anger and watch his enemy escape only seconds later.

Katie came from behind him and tried firing her automatic-pistol in vain at the ship but in her fury, she failed to realize she ran out of ammo but kept firing as if her very glares would put more bullets in her sidearm and somehow bring down the escaping dropship.

With was clear that it was over once the Militia carrier begun its departure from the atmosphere and in one sudden jump it was gone, just like that. After the sounds of combat were finally silenced, Alan made a direct hail to the Miss Fortune, "Command- Vanessa, I need another dropship at my position, I missed the initial extraction." He half-lied. He wasn't so sure how well the operation performed, but to him, it was another failure and as he looked to Katie, to her, it was nothing less than a nightmare.


A.N.:

As always, enjoy!

~Firetoast312