Hi everyone! First off, let me say I'm really sorry for how late this chapter is. Truth be told, I had finished it prior to June but I just wasn't happy with where it was and did a complete rewrite and then a few major edits after that. I'm happier with where it is now then what it was before. Let me know how you guys are liking the story so far and I hope to have the next one out much sooner. Cheers!
"Stranded"
Unknown System
Unknown Planet
December 2nd, 2698
Noughton felt that he had been traveling inside the pipe for an eternity. It had been used heavily at one point but now laid dormant. Watermarks and stains showed where the water level had been. He didn't understand why the IMC would need a pipe of this size and what purpose it would have served but for now he felt safer inside than out.
He decided to try the comms again. See if anyone in his squad was receiving or broadcasting. White noise still filled the channel for minutes on end before he tried sending out another signal. Still no reply. Either his team wasn't sending or the tunnel was too thick to penetrate. Dejected, Noughton flipped through some of the open channels.
"Hello?" A woman's voice came through his comms.
Noughton quickly halted Rex. That definitely wasn't Dom's voice. Was it someone in the IMC trying to contact him? He somehow didn't think so.
"Yeah you, Militia Pilot!" She said noticing that he had stopped.
Noughton quickly spun around Rex's globe cam to identify where they were were. He finally spotted a camera on the wall. Quickly, he leveled Rex's XO at it ready to spike it full of lead.
"Wait! We're not IMC!" The declaration was enough to give Noughton pause and he lowered his Titan's gun a little.
"Who are you?" Noughton demanded.
"Uh-uh, not over an open channel. Listen, I think we might be able to help each other. Two kilometers ahead is a substation that redirects the water in this area. We'll contact you again there."
Before Noughton could reply the comm-channel audibly dropped. After a moment of needless reflexion, Noughton decided he'd follow along for now. It wasn't like he had much choice anyways, he was in a tunnel after all.
Just like the woman said, the substation was just within two kilometers. Noughton crouched his Titan and zoomed in on the scope of the XO trying to determine if he was about to walk into an ambush or not. The square entry way was too low for him to get a good look inside and his Titan couldn't crouch low enough to see too far up. Reluctantly, Noughton had to leave his Titan.
He popped the hatch and dropped out into the thin stream of running water. The splash echoed around the hall with a wet splat. Even through the helmet, Noughton could smell the swampy water as he slowly made his way forward. He raised his Hemlock and looked through the holosight at the room beyond. Even with it's double magnification, Noughton had a hard time finding anything at all. So, he crept closer.
Nearly at the entrance of the vast room. Above him was a control room with three sides of glass windows overlooking the T-junction as well as a dock. The dock was positioned around 15 feet off the deck with various crates stacked in piles. From his vantage point, Noughton could make out the IMC logo as well as some marked with a large green V. Then it clicked, the green and gray V was the logo of Vinson Dynamics. It looked like the intel had paid off. As he continued surveying the room, he saw the other crates had different logos from across the Frontier. Werneck, Brockhaurd Manufacturing, even Kodai. Unless Noughton wasn't seeing this right; the Remnant Fleet had been stealing from just about everybody.
That didn't add up. Spyglass was in charge of the IMC, anything it needed it should be able to get. Seeing that many assorted crates was more at home in a Militia hanger than the leader of the IMC. It didn't make any sense to him at all.
A door opening above him broke Noughton out of his thoughts and he crouched lower to the ground. He heard the sounds of footfalls against the metal steps, slow lazy ones. Noughton's gut tightened. He was out in the open but as the Sarge would tell him often, you have to start thinking like a Pilot. The T-junction had several tall long walls, perfect for wallrunning.
After another moment of listening, the footfalls were alone. Noughton gently boosted so that he could grab onto the edge of the cement. Waited another few seconds, then pulled himself up enough to look over the edge. A single IMC Marine was walking towards the far edge of the railing overlooking the center of the room. Carefully, Noughton hoisted himself over the railing and behind the crates.
"Nah, there's no Titan here." He heard the guard call out. "That tin can must be off."
So when am I supposed to take this guy down? Noughton asked himself. He'd done simulated matches with the team multiple times. This was entirely different. Despite the training, he was entirely on his own and if he messed up, he was going to die that way too.
"Yeah, right. Can't tell him that though. He's Apex mate." Another one called back.
"Fuck!" Noughton hissed quietly. There's two of them.
"He – it – whatever, gives me the creeps. All that next-gen synthetic biology work." The one by the dock said.
"Be careful saying that around the drones." The other cautioned. "You remember what he can do right?"
"That's why it's creepy."
"Won't have to worry about it too much longer. Now that the Militia are here, Spyglass will have to accelerate the timetable on Phoenix."
"I hope so. Just tell the Specialist the Militia hasn't come through here yet." The one by the dock slowly made his way back to the control room.
Now was his chance. As the first Marine approached the control room, Noughton crept behind him on the metallic flooring. Newg placed the Hemlock on his back and pulled out his Hammond pistol. At the entry way, Noughton drew a breath then charged the IMC Marine's back forcing him into the room. His compatriot inside made a startled yell as his friend and Noughton charged into the room. As soon as Noughton had smashed the first Marine into the wall, his pistol found the other.
"Weapons, drop them now!" He demanded, a little unsure.
The second Marine had his hands at mid level, finger fully flexed out. It didn't seem very cooperative, so Noughton raised his pistol higher at the man's head. He still seemed reluctant to disarm. Noughton took a quick look at the man at the wall to ensure he was still firmly pinned. In that split-second the second Marine went for his rifle.
"Shit!" Noughton pushed off the wall, instinctively seeking cover like used to as a Grunt. It was only as he was off the wall, did he realize his mistake. He snapped off four shots with his pistol. There wasn't time to check how well he'd fired because his next focus was the Marine turning around on the wall. The first Marine was turning around going for his sidearm, so Noughton dropped three more shots before his legs firmly hit the ground again. He pivoted his body to pull the weight off his back leg and checked the room. Each IMC Marine was down. He exhaled and holstered his pistol.
He recalled his Titan to meet him inside the substation. Next, he took in the room in detail searching for anything that might give him away. He spotted another camera and withdrew his gun again and fired into it. The IMC might notice something's up but hopefully not too quickly either.
The control room was exactly that. From this substation they controlled the water flow to two major areas labeled "Site-B" and "Site-C." Noughton saw a topographical map on a far side above a complex console and tried to piece out where he was. Finding the substation took a while but once he found it, he was able to trace where he had entered. It was point simply called "Drainage Basin". To the north west the pipes led to a large flat valley area and to the north east a water collection and treatment plant.
"I take it you destroyed the camera?" The woman's voice interrupted him.
"That's right." Noughton confirmed.
"Right, fair enough. I'm Cyrene. One of the Landstrom Ventures survivors."
"Pleasure. Tell me, what the hell's going on here?"
"Where to start?" She sounded taken aback.
"How 'bout this," Noughton said checking the windows for any IMC troops, "I've been on this planet, maybe an hour, and it's already crazier than most planets under IMC control. They're even shooting down their own drones."
"Ah," Then she paused, "listen, Pilot, we'll tell you everything we know but it's not safe to meet yet. Ever since you landed on this planet the IMC has been out in force looking for all of us. Once it's clear, we'll come out."
"Once it's clear?" Noughton said incredulously towards the console.
"You might want to get back to your Titan." Cyrene said before cutting off the connection.
As if to punctuate her statement, the roof of the substation began to pop with the sounds of breaching charges. Noughton sprinted back to his Titan as rubble fell and rays of light burst through. He could hear several indistinct voices shouting back and forth as the IMC Marines prepared to rappel into the substation.
Rex welcomed him back as Noughton quickly turned over the system to manual control. By the time, he was in control IMC troops were touching down on the deck. Noughton lit up the closest with his XO and was queasy from the sight of red smear. A feeling he should've gotten over a long time ago but it kept resurfacing at start of combat.
A missile warning flared up on his dash. Above him in the breached ceiling was a Anti-Titan crew loading a pair of Archers. Noughton raised his Titan's XO and fired three bursts creating bursts of concrete dust and debris. Small arms fire peppered his shields quickly draining one block on his display. In the back of his mind, he knew he had to be careful with his ammunition but the intensity of the gunfire spooked him and he sprayed the rest of the drum clearing the T-junction.
Quickly, he went to reload the XO-16 when an explosion nearly kicked out Rex's legs from under him. Noughton put Rex into a spin then a dash away from it in time to see another square block fall and blow up above the ground. Satchel charges. Noughton quickly aimed a rocket barrage towards the ceiling but hesitated. Blowing the top off the substation would make a pretty visible hole that could give them more of an advantage. Yet, they already knew he was here so what was the difference? As he was making up his mind a soldier's head popped out and Noughton on instinct let off the barrage.
The detonations rocked the angular walls of the substation as rocks and dust swirled around the vortex while light streamed through in broken rays. When the dust settled, Noughton could see blue sky from the hole in ceiling. When enough time had past, he pivoted towards the control room. There weren't any civilians on the dock awaiting him. He half-expected there would be.
Moving Rex over her jumped out of the cockpit and made his way over to the speaker again. He checked the hallway beyond first before looking up and the camera. "Okay, it's clear. Let's go!"
No response. Noughton shot a look back at his Titan that was idling inside the junction. He turned back and still no one was coming. What was taking them so long? Noughton got an itch in the back of his mind that something had gone wrong. Scenarios ran through his head on whether they were caught or they weren't Landstrom Ventures at all. He checked his wrist-comm's clock. Half a minute had gone by. Wherever those IMC had come from, there had to be more.
"Hey! Hurry up! There's bound to be more IMC!" Noughton shouted impatiently.
Still nothing but silence and no sound of footsteps coming from the hall. Angrily, he stormed back to his Titan and climbed back inside. "If they were coming, they'd have come." He told himself.
Rex gripped the gun as Noughton decided on which path to take. His ammo was going to deplete if he kept at these fire fights, better to hide. Going towards a swampy valley seemed like the better option than going towards a populated water treatment plant.
Checking the docks and control room once more for civilians, Noughton turned and began marching down another length of tunnel. If the IMC had already found him this quickly and were willing to damage their installations to do it. Discretion was the better part of valor if he hoped to stay alive.
He turned back around to make sure the IMC weren't following him. There running along the edges were two people running waving their hands. For nearly half a second, Noughton thought they were Spectres running towards him. It was when he saw that one of the people running had a wild beard and the woman next to him had hair to match. They had made it after all and Noughton realized that the planet had put him on edge.
"Hey-ayyyyyy!" The man shouted, his voice faintly recognizable.
Noughton increased the magnification on his XO to get a better look at the pair, looking for anything that might be suspicious. Their clothes were stained and shreaded. A worn and broken LV was emblazoned on their clothes. Landstrom Ventures! Noughton pulled out of the magnification in time to see more IMC troops amassing inside the T-junction.
"Get down!" He commanded them and let rip his XO into the mass of IMC infantry.
The two civilians sunk to their knees and covered their ears as the roar of the gun thundered overhead. IMC Marines dove and ran for cover as Noughtons rounds poured into them. As his rounds made contact, he saw some of their helmets pop off as rifles were spun wildly in place. When he finished firing, Noughton dropped Rex to one knee.
"Are you hurt?" Noughton asked loudly. The man with the beard shook his head still clutching his ears, the woman also did the same. "Good! Climb on!"
Noughton presented one of Rex's unfolded hands for them to climb on to. The pair were reluctant at first but when IMC shots rang past, they quickly scrambled on. Noughton carefully lifted them onto Rex's shoulders where they would still be inside the Titan's body shield then deployed his Vortex shield to stop incoming rounds. A good amount collected on the shield and Noughton let it snap back towards the redeploying infantry.
"Hold on tight, we're gonna have to move fast!" Noughton told them before turning Rex back around and made a steady jog down the tunnel.
"Holy shit!" the woman screamed as rounds bounced off Rex's shields. The fire died down when they had travelled a good distance away. Noughton slowed Rex enough but kept the Titan moving. They had put a buffer between him and the IMC but this tunnel had to end and so there wasn't much in way of an escape.
"So," Noughton said at last, "who are you guys?"
"I'm... Jack Barnaby," the ragged man introduced himself, "I'm the one who sent you guys the SOS months ago."
It clicked, that's why the man had sounded familiar. Sarge had played the SOS call for them during the initial briefing.
"And I'm Cyrene." The woman added. "It's about time you Militia types showed up." Noughton recognized her as the voice over the cameras.
"Yeah, we came as soon as we got the distress call." Noughton answered.
"I sent that thing like three months ago man!" Jack cried.
"I'm sorry, but we're here now."
"I hope so," Jack said loudly, "listen things have changed since I sent that. We need to know if you guys can handle it."
"What do you mean – changed?" Noughton stopped his Titan.
Jack took this to mean he could talk straight to the cockpit. Noughton watched as he leaned over Rex's shoulders. "The IMC found something in the swamp. Some sort of ruin! From what we overheard, they're looking to utilize it somehow."
That couldn't be good. Noughton opened the cockpit and stepped out, one hand braced against the top. "What kind of ruin?"
"Very old," Cyrene said from the other shoulder, "and not human in origin."
"Not human?" He barely asked before Jack cut him off.
"Yes and very very weird. It does something to time."
IMC? Aliens? Time? Maybe in another life time, Noughton wouldn't have believed him but after Demeter and Columbia. The IMC might be desperate enough to try anything to stop them. It made him wish the Sarge was here. He would know if this was possible or not.
"Okay," Noughton calmly declared, "we have to keep moving and by chance we're already headed towards this swamp. So tell me everything you know."
For the long five kilometer trek through near darkness, Noughton heard everything that had happened to the pair while they were trapped here. Apparently, Landstrom was losing money and needed something to turn it's fortunes around. Michael, their boss, had poured everything into this one last venture to strike it rich. They were all excited when their seismic surveys detected a huge pockets of unrefined oil under the swamp. When the IMC hit, they at first thought it was to sweep for Militia, then steal their claim. Terrified, many of the LV settlers hid but slowly one by one they were found. Slowly, as the months drew on, Jack and Cyrene were part of a group of twelve left when a man contacted them. He was very Core by his accent and offered them a chance for rescue. It was a risk but half of them decided it was a risk worth taking and so they gave it a try.
The plan was for them to sneak in during a shift change on one the less patrolled beacons and send a message out to the Militia. Jack had been part of that group and the mystery man had been true to his word. Once the message had been sent all hell broke loose. Of the six that struck out, only Jack made it back alive. For days after, they heard their old friends and coworkers on open PA's calling for them to surrender and when they didn't leave their hiding places. Their friends stopped coming on the PA's. It was every bit as evil as Noughton expected of the IMC. Knowing that the same happened in Angel City during the riots.
Cyrene finished up the story from there as Jack became silent. She had stayed behind and worked on splicing into the IMC electrical systems. Slowly, he was able to break into their camera systems and learned of Bifron. The IMC project in the swamp centering around the alien ruins and the disappearance of a man named Jenkins. Jenkins was what kick started everything about the planet, which the IMC referred to as Athena, suddenly the swamp was drained further and whatever the Landstrom Ventures had started the IMC continued and began working on studying these ruins.
"So explain to me how," Noughton began trying to parse all the information being given him, "how this connects back to aliens and time?"
"Jenkins came back." Cyrene answered then when Noughton didn't say anything she continued. "That man kept being seen all over the base and the ones who were the most freaked out by it were transferred to our substation. They were told that something about the ruins had altered the fabric of space making a decaying time-loop."
"How does that even happen?" Noughton sighed.
"Don't know, I'm just an electrician." Cyrene answered. "But those are words I don't like being used by the IMC."
"True." Noughton agreed. He pulled out his wrist-comm and checked the tunnel data. "Looks like we're about to come to the end of the line."
He maneuvered Rex to let Cyrene and Jack down then proceeded checking the way forward. Each loud thump of Rex's Atlas feet made Noughton tighten his grip nervously. If there were any IMC out here, they'd be able to hear him coming miles away.
The tunnel exit looked clean. Noughton couldn't see any visible threats but that didn't mean there weren't any. Another step. Noughton's eyes rapidly scanned over every rock, every reed of grass for anything out of the ordinary. Something caught his eye. As the water dipped, something like a root appeared. He saw it again but more clearly this time. It looked like a hatch handle. Noughton increased the magnification on his XO to get a better look. The water dipped again and he saw a second one. Two handles in one place wasn't normal. Those were...
The mines exploded spraying mud all over the tunnel walls and his cameras. Noughton instinctively backpedaled his Titan and deployed his Vortex shield. Just in time too, as the jungle began opening up with small arms fire.
"Stay down!" He ordered Cyrene and Jack.
After a few seconds, he released his Vortex shield sending the projectiles back along their trajectories. The gunfire paused but was soon reignited as more Spectres appeared from the Jungle. Noughton targeted the oncoming drones and ripped into them with his Titan's gun. The drones were dashed about, their parts strewn about in disarray. Then a stillness settled over the area. Noughton waited for more another moment. Then another. Then another. Until he was sure that was all of them, then he began feeding a new drum into his XO-16.
A Styrder burst from the jungle. Noughton then saw the elongated head and recognized it as the one from the river. It had tracked him somehow. The Specialist. In it's Titan's hands was a Triple Threat. A three barreled grenade launcher that was deadly in close range. Inside the tunnel, he'd have no where to move but his Atlas could easily overpower the weaker Stryder.
"Get back! Get back!" He yelled over the intercom, hoping that Jack and Cyrene could hear him. The Stryder still pressed forward threatening to close the distance. Quickly, Noughton fired off his rocket barrage hoping to score a direct hit, at the same time he initiated the reload of his XO.
The IMC Stryder twisted it's leg and pulled a pirouette using the wheel on the back of it's foot. All but one of the rockets missed, doing minimal damage to the Stryder's body shield. Just after the enemy Titan completed it's dodge, it boosted forward. Noughton's Titan just finished the reload in time to unload a few rounds into the Stryder. The nimble Titan couldn't evade the rounds at point blank, he just had to catch him.
Noughton popped electrical smoke just as the Stryder was about to reach him. The smoke temporarily blinding the enemy pilot and doing minor damage to his electrical systems and body shield. The Stryder was fast and would be able to clear the smoke quickly but an Atlas had the advantage in strength. Noughton threw all of Rex's power behind his fist. He heard the crash of steel before he saw it. By luck, Rex's fist had collided with the Specialist's Triple Threat. Wasn't what he wanted exactly but now that the Styrder couldn't dominate close range, it was his chance to attack.
He ripped off his XO-16 into the Styrder scoring a few hits before the Titan deployed it's shield wall. Soon after, it twisted and ran nearly skating on the wheels of it's feet. Noughton, relieved but still wary waved with his Titan's hand for Cyrene and Jack to move forward. Rex and him burst out the end of the tunnel into the riverbed beyond.
It looked clear until Noughton heard the whine of turbines. Through the canopy he couldn't see them but he knew IMC jets were inbound. The Specialist wasn't running from him he was running from being sealed in!
"Run! Get out of the tunnel now!" Noughton ordered the Civvies.
Cyrene and Jack were too far away from the entrance, they'd never make it. Noughton turned and faced the tops of the treeline. The jets were nearly overhead but he couldn't see them. Multiple detonations crackled and Noughton frantically searched the trees for what it was. Just above where he was looking several white objects were streaming for him. He caught one, then two, then five, then fifteen missiles in his vortex shield. The strain was quickly draining his shield so he Noughton hefted the missiles back towards the trees. Some them exploded in the trees but most flew back into the air sailing across the sky.
As the tops of the trees fell and the leaves cleared, Noughton could see the two Goblins coming around for another pass. Rex gripped it's XO and fired away at the incoming aircraft. The tracer rounds falling short as he tried to raise his gun in time. About 200 yards away the Goblins fired off their rockets again. After another moment of firing, Noughton deployed his vortex shield again collecting the barrage. Another moment later he tried to fling the missiles back at the IMC jets. He missed but another trail of missiles did. One of the Goblins detonated spinning out of control.
"You still alive Newg?" Dom's voice came over the comms.
Noughton had never been so happy to hear another person's voice. "Hell yeah!"
"Looks like I'm paying you back for the bar!" Her Titan emerged from treeline kicking a tree sending it into the riverbed. Her Titan 40mm swung towards the last oncoming Goblin and sent 40 mil burst right into it's drop bay.
The Goblin dropped altitude but kept flying towards Noughton, who raised his XO one more time and sunk in a stream of rounds right into it's cockpit. When he finally hit the pilot the jet snapped up towards the sky into a loop and then crashing back down into the riverbed.
"Hot shit that was good!" Dom laughed as she marched her Titan down the side of the riverbed.
"It's good to see you Dom." Noughton heaved his XO onto his Titan's shoulder. "You heard from anyone else?"
She paused. "Just Zuda before the IMC found him." Noughton noticed she didn't sound too beat up about it.
"Damn," Noughton grimaced. Then he turned towards Cyrene and Jack, "These are some Landstrom folks I found on the way. Uh, Serene and James."
"Cyrene," Cyrene corrected him and gestured towards Jack, "and this is Jack."
"Howdy, y'all picked one hell of a vacation spot." Dom joked dryly.
Cyrene chuckled dryly in return, "Tell me about it. Hey we were just telling your friend here about the IMC's dig site not too far from here."
"Oh yeah, why's that?" Dom asked.
Cyrene made a nervous face. "Because the IMC have found a way to experiment with time."
Noughton waited for Dom to laugh or to disregard Cyrene's warning but instead she surprised him by saying, "Yeah that doesn't surprise me. So what's the plan? We try to take it out while they try to take us out first?"
"I... I uh, guess so." Cyrene cocked her head.
"Well then what're we waitin' for? Let's go."
"Dom wait," Noughton said over the team comm-channel, "you're okay with this? Zuda's dead and we could die too."
"Noughton," Dom said with a patient tone, "I've spent the better part of a day running and fighting and this is the first thing that's made sense to me."
"You too?" Noughton leaned forward in his seat. "Dom, I saw supplies from both factions back where I found these two. This guy in the Titan I fought earlier, who had been chasing me since I landed, shot down his own team's search drones! There's something off here."
"You think that's weird. A guy vanished before my eyes."
"What?"
"Yeah. One second he was running and then zap, he was gone. Like he just fell out of reality."
"Man," Noughton said leaning back and putting a hand on his helmet, "I really wish you hadn't told me that."
"Sorry," she shrugged off his concern, "but if those two understand what's goin' on, I'll listen to 'em."
"Thanks Dom." Then to Cyrene and Jack, "Okay, get on! We got a ruin to investigate."