"Growing Embers"
Alan pushed through the thick branches and other vegetation that got in his way on his mission to scout out the occupied communications beacon. Slowly the plant life had been giving way to more rock and sand however, it wasn't ending soon enough. After quietly taking out a few other foot patrols- as 'quietly' as one could in a Titan even of Evi's size- the Pilot was all but certain that the Militia's officers would be alerted to his presence on the outskirts of their newly conquered territory and he believed an interception force would be both inevitable and imminent, but until then, Alan just kept moving forward.
Of course, the I.M.C. Pilot wasn't blind to the few carriers hovering stationary over his intended destination, but so far, he could only see a handful of Militia dropships ferrying back and forth between the surface and the space-worthy vessels.
"Evi, what's your operational status?" Alan asked his slightly broken Titan. Perhaps he shouldn't have shut off the safety limits in the first place, but there was nothing he could do about that now. Hopefully it was necessary, but for now he focused on the mission at hand.
"Operational status: Unknown- W-Welcome back, Pilot. Scanning terrain…" She said, once more showing her broken OS, "Vantage point located for max- most efficient combat effective-iveness. Recommend tactical withd- offensive."
"Right!" Alan said with a sarcastic tone and a roll of his eyes, "Good to see you're mentally sound."
"Pilot!" She exclaimed, pausing for a moment as it had caught Alan off guard. The two stood quietly, the Pilot expecting to be told something, but not receiving word from Evi.
"…You gonna-" Alan began before immediately being interrupted.
"No results found."
"Whatever, just try not to act up when we get back into combat."
"Negat- Affirmative, Pilot- User Identified: Alan Stassov."
The aforementioned man shook his head and continued the trek onward. Alan wasn't quite sure where he was going without directions from anyone above, but as the terrain slowly grew rockier and the massive pillars started to rise, he began to regret all the choices that led him here. Assuming his map was correct, the only way for him to reach his destination now was to climb and that was a risk he did not want to take, especially with a Titan that he felt could give out on him at any moment. "Miss Fortune, I may need a lift to get to the Beacon, how copy?"
"W-Warning, hostile Titanfall detected! Caution!" Evi alerted Alan whose sights were immediately set to the more or less empty sky above him. Nothing? It was nothing. The Militia carrier had been shielded from Alan's view by the rocks, but either way he didn't see any scorching meteor of metal headed toward him.
"You are not helping!" Alan shouted at Evi before immediately being tackled to one of the cliff-faces by a furious looking Tone.
"This is for my team." A woman said over comms, metal fist pulled back for a punch. Alan was quick to duck out of the way as the punch crushed the rock where his Titan's center would have been and chunks of rock scattered about from the heavy impact. As Alan made his escape and bought distance, he fired a few missiles that locked on to the newly arrived Titan which hit their mark with ease.
"Alright, I'm tired of this, who the hell is it this time?" Alan, now a little annoyed, asked, still keeping his distance and seeking cover from the deadly cannon the Tone carried with it.
"I am Iva Cole, a Pilot of the Militia, and I will not let you claim anymore lives!" She boldly claimed, firing chaotic shots wherever she thought she could scratch Alan's Titan.
"Can't say I've heard of you." Alan half-mocked, not really sure who this woman was and what she was rambling about, but she was an enemy and that was all he needed to know right now.
"You don't remember that frozen hellhole called a planet? Well then, don't worry, you won't have to after I'm done here." 'Iva' finished before both the Pilots started their battle.
Ducking between pillars and rocks, Alan was fortunate enough to keep from being hit directly, but his shields were starting to waver in the face of the explosive ammunition, so, Alan planned his next move. Evi wasn't in the best of shape, and there was no telling when he would be resupplied, so his best choice of action was to use his weaponry sparingly with the bulk of the work being a dangerous melee and using his vortex shield to redirect the projectiles.
As he was thinking, the cannon fire stopped and, in its place, came the slowly increasing frequency of footsteps shaking the ground it walked. Now, Alan had to predict which side it was on, but before he could come up with a clear answer, the Tone smashed through the rock column he was using for cover and both Titans skid across the ground. Evi acted out on her own, igniting her jets and pulling away from the Tone with the aid of a great kick to the Atlas's chest. Up went a shield wall and then a barrage of missiles that were immediately caught and sent back at their owner before Alan and his Titan were up on their feet again.
"Come on, quit runnin'!" The Militia Pilot yelled.
"If you insist." Alan replied. He charged forward, dropping his weapon at his side as to not let it get in the way. The Pilot and his evasive Titan easily were able to dodge the incoming fire and close the distance as the Tone slowly backed away. He held a number of missiles and cannon rounds with his vortex shield and as soon as he passed the decaying shield wall, he unleased the stolen firepower right back at the Tone who had little choice other than to take the brunt of the hit even after trying to side-step a number of the projectiles.
Following up his offensive, Alan then shoved the Tone to the ground where he had almost free reign over it, but he was then thrown over and onto his back. Both Titans were on the ground, racing to get up first, and as expected, Alan would be the first to get back on the move while the Tone was just barely getting its balance back. Taking advantage of the disoriented enemy, Alan threw two punches then a swift sweep of his legs to trip the Tone to the ground again. "You bastard!" The woman yelled, as her Tone's right arm was pulled back and she was pinned to the ground with a foot to her back. Not letting the opportunity go to waste, Alan departed his Titan and rushed to claim another battery for himself as the mad woman went on a rant, "Don't you dare!" She exclaimed as the battery was pulled out and the arm was torn off. The armless Tone twisted in an attempt to crush Alan underneath it, but he had jumped out of the way just in time, "If not me, then the others! The others will hunt you!" She stated as her spare arm was swatted aside by Evi, "They will find you!" She continued as Evi put a foot on the flailing arm and a leg before pulling a closed fist back, "And they'll kill-" Her claim was cut short by Evi punching right through the Titan's hatch and crushing the woman inside.
"Your voice is tiresome for my Pilot and I." Evi said, the first half in a rather menacing tone.
"I'm not even going to ask." Alan said as he climbed back inside Evi.
"W-Welcome back Pilot, do- do enjoy your stay." She greeted her user as the man installed the spare battery. He had to admit, this fight was rather easy, though he was not going to fool himself into thinking any future conflict would be the same. Still, there was one more problem: Scaling the cliff.
"Evi, structural status on your limbs." The Pilot asked as he approached the rockface. It was a fairly steep climb even if he were to do it on foot, but he needed his Titan up there for the worst-case scenario.
"One hundred percent, Pilot. You can use this-s units hover capabilities to aid in your cli-climb."
"Are you sure?" Alan questioned the stuttering machine, but got no reply. With a heavy sigh and a hand to the face of his helmet, Alan trusted in his Titan and slowly began the ascent upward, "The sooner we get through this mission, the sooner we can get you fixed."
"Pilot. Hull integrity holding strong at '55%'." The Titan reported.
"Yeah, good to know." He said.
After several minutes of climbing, both the Titan and Pilot made it to flat ground once again. The surrounding view was thick with a cloud-like cover with only man-made sires and communication dishes sticking up into the air. Continuing down the path to investigate the lost garrison, Alan only found half a number of ruined Titans and parts scattered about, all blackened and burned with signs of heavy combat. He looked around for anyone, anyone at all, but no one was left at the beacon. However, above him, the roar of engines picked up and he could see the Militia carriers were already departing for a new target.
"Miss Fortune, come in, we've got a problem. We're too late and the Militia are on the move!" Alan reported as he rushed over to scavenge what he could. There was going to be some big battle soon, the Pilot could almost feel it, "I need a pick up for both myself and my Titan."
"The must be after the package…" He heard Vanessa mutter over comms, "Roger, Alan, but I don't have a transport big enough to carry your Titan, I'll get one rerouted to your position as quick as I can, but that may take some time." She told the Pilot. There was the mention of it again.
"Hold on, just what exactly am I doing?" Alan questioned his commander, but the woman ignored him and gave him new orders.
"New orders for you, Pilot, you'll be transported to the I.M.S. Thermopylae. Your new objectives are two-fold: defend all I.M.C. assets, and crush these terrorists. Over, and out."
"Aye, Commander." Alan reluctantly acknowledged. Now he was just suspicious of what exactly the I.M.C. needed protected so badly, he didn't particularly care what it was, he doubted it'd be anything serious. New model Titan? New weaponry? New technology? Whatever it was, he'd get an answer one way or another, but until then, he'd comply with orders.
A.N.:
As always, enjoy!
~Firetoast312
