Chapter 44…
Ashley's left arm began to numb up as the clamp vibrated. To counteract the unpleasant sensation, Ashley slowly twisted and turned her wrist to keep the blood flowing in her joints.
Big Ivan's cockpit wasn't soundproofed; but it did muffle enough noise so that Ashley's ears weren't ringing. The dark haired woman thought briefly about the nearby crowd of spectators - wondering if they were currently clamping their hands over their ears.
The reason for Ashley's discomfort, in both her arm and her ears, could be traced back to the massive pincer saw on Big Ivan's left hand. It was a terrifying attachment - a rusty "V" shaped pincer blade that rattled like a dying animal. Despite it's aged, jagged appearance it was extremely useful for cutting down trees.
Like the tree Ashley was currently bisecting…
Settling the pincer blades on either side of the stump, Ashley squeezed her palm on the hand controls. The result of this action was the pincer blades tightening like a massive scissor. Wood dust filled the air as the blades connected in the middle of the stump.
Ashley quickly retracted the blades by loosening her grip on the hand controls. The dark haired woman then pushed her left arm back; Big Ivan moved his arm in a mirror motion, removing the pincer blades from the tree stump.
Without anything anchoring it to the ground, the tree began to sway in the breeze.
Working quickly, Ashley pushed her right arm forwards - feeling the muscles in her shoulders ache from the metal clamp. Big Ivan once again mirrored the motion; the titan's right-arm surged forward and pushed against the teetering tree stump. The attachment on the right arm was nothing more than a flat wedge of metal - designed specifically for this purpose.
There was a sharp cracking noise as the tree fell forwards in a controlled fall. It smashed into the soft ground with a dull thudding noise and did not roll.
Ashley's ears picked up the sound of cheering.
"Titan!" Ashley called out sharply. "Disengage the ground anchors!"
Big Ivan's speakers hummed to life. "Acknowledged."
Ashley felt the pedals under her feet loosen as the ground anchors retracted. Now free to move, Ashley pushed her legs to the right to make Big Ivan turn.
Standing at a safe distance was a large crowd of spectators. They were Ashley's fellow mill workers - all dressed in patchwork jumpsuits and safety equipment. The small horde of men were standing around a tiny fleet of pickup trucks. Resting on the beds of the pickup trucks were an assortment of attachments for Big Ivan's arms.
Ashley pushed her legs forwards in the clamps - once again feeling her muscles begin to strain. The walk was incredibly slow; Ashley needed to stop and make sure that Big Ivan's leg was fully down before she could take another step. As the titan moved, several external warning lights on the titan's chassis began to flash; and a shallow warning siren filled the air.
After about thirty seconds of slow walking Ashley finally got close enough to the trucks. She sighed in contentment as she relaxed her aching legs.
"Titan!" Ashley ordered. "Re-engage the ground anchors!"
Big Ivan's legs rumbled as the ground anchors immobilized the titan. Now that Ashley did not have to worry about tipping Big Ivan over, she pushed both of her legs forwards at the same time to bend the titan down by it's waist.
Both of Big Ivan's hand attachments were now resting on the bed's of two individual pickup trucks. Ashley watched as her fellow workers rushed forwards to begin grabbing at the attachments. Ashley moved her fingers against the hand controls and found the release buttons; she clicked them simultaneously and watched as the hand attachments slumped off of the arms.
Everything else was handled by the workers. The men unscrewed and unblocked the redundant safety clamps and allowed the heavy attachments to fall onto the trucks - causing the suspensions of the vehicles to rattle.
Ashley pulled back her legs and arms to lift Big Ivan back up into an erect standing position. She disengaged the ground anchors and then stomped Big Ivan's chassis over to the other parked trucks. Once she was in position, Ashley re-engaged the anchors and bent Big Ivan at the waist again.
The two new attachments were pincer-like grabbing instruments - like two giant crab claws. As soon as the workers were done screwing on the attachments Ashley lifted Big Ivan up into a standing position.
Everything was ready to go...
Ashley maneuvered Big Ivan over to the freshly fallen tree. The dark haired woman squeezed her hands - watching as the two new pincer attachments squeezed together. Satisfied, she hooked the lower pincers underneath the log and tightened the grabbing implements around the log's girth.
There was another chorus of cheers as Ashley lifted the log off of the ground. She pulled back her arms and legs so that Big Ivan's chassis was leaning back - equally distributing the new weight to prevent the titan from tipping over.
The walk back to the mill was slow… and painful…
Big Ivan's chassis was archaic - nothing like the fluid, fast titans that Ashley had been used to. Every individual step took about ten seconds to accomplish; Ashley's legs were burning the entire time from the stress caused by the clamps.
Behind the titan, the workers had saddled up and were closely following in their trucks. Ashley felt like a commander leading her troops into battle…
Except a lot slower…
After an agonizing twenty minutes, the mill was in sight. Ashley kept pushing the titan forwards despite the flaring pain in her legs - even focusing on her breathing exercises to keep her head clear.
'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'
By the time Ashley and Big Ivan reached the mill, the woman could no longer feel her feet.
Next to the mill was a large pile of freshly cut logs - about six in total. A while ago, just one of the logs would have taken an entire workday to cut and transport. But with Big Ivan back in the field, cutting and transporting the six logs had only taken the better part of the morning.
Ashley dropped the newly acquired log, letting it fall from Big Ivan's claws and clatter onto the pile. There were the sounds of engines shutting off as the workers parked their trucks behind Big Ivan.
Sighing to herself, Ashley moved her head so that it was resting against the back of her seat.
"Titan!" Ashley called out. "Release the automated limb clamps!"
"Affirmative," Big Ivan's heavily modulated voice sounded. "Please exercise caution when exiting the cockpit…"
"Noted."
The clamps around Ashley's arms retracted and released with a metallic hiss. Ashley pulled her arms out of the open clamps - groaning in discomfort as the blood rushed back into the limbs. As soon as she could feel her fingers, Ashley bent down at the waist to begin loosening the manual clamps around her shins.
"Titan, open the hatch."
Big Ivan wordlessly completed Ashley's request. The transparent plexi-glass hatch popped open - allowing Ashley her exit.
The woman hopped out of the titan and landed in an unstable crouch; her legs flared up with pain as they absorbed the impact from the ground.
Come to think of it… everything was in pain. Her arms, her legs, even her neck and chest were feeling sore from the titan's control apparatuses.
There would be no moment of brief respite, however. The moment Ashley's feet touched the ground she was mobbed by her fellow workers. Ashley's ears rang as the large mob heaped verbal praises onto her. At least… Ashley hoped that it was praise, given that she didn't speak a word of Russian.
"Uh… thanks…" Ashley gently batted off the hand of a man who was patting her shoulder. "Really, I mean it…"
Ashley's cheeks felt warm. The woman could feel dozens of pairs of eyes focusing on her.
'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'
The last time she had been the center of attention was when she had returned from the botched mission with the data. Being under everyone's gaze - even if it was out of admiration, had been simply exhausting…
But… things felt a little bit different this time…
The people around Ashley weren't members of the IMC. They weren't soldiers or mercenaries either. They were just… people… hard-working civilians trying to keep their dying town alive.
Ashley was not being congratulated and thanked for her skill at destroying things. Rather, she was being congratulated and thanked for making their hard lives a little bit easier.
In a moment of realization, Ashley determined that the warmth in her cheeks was from pride… not embarrassment…
Ashley heard rustling from behind her and turned to face the commotion. A familiar face was making his way through the crowd towards her.
Anatoly yelled out something in Russian to the men. Ashley assumed it was something like "back down!", because the workers instantly stepped back to give Ashley some much needed space.
"Nice work!" Anatoly congratulated. The man reached out his hand for a quick shake. "This pile should keep us busy for the coming week!"
Ashley took the offered limb and wordlessly shook it. She peered upwards into her superior's eyes as she did. Although there was a smile on Anatoly's face… Ashley could easily spot the cool look in his eyes.
The dark haired woman could feel Dema's handgun tucked against her chest…
"You have no idea how important Big Ivan was to the mill!" Anatoly grinned. "This was a big help!"
Anatoly yelled something in Russian to the workers. Ashley had no clue what it was, but the cheer they gave in response told her everything she needed to know.
"The deal is still on, right?" Ashley narrowed her eyes cautiously. "I do expect extra pay for this…"
Anatoly chuckled and yelled to the men in Russian again. There was a laugh and a cheer in response.
"Of course!" Anatoly smiled. "I believe it was one hundred credits per tree?"
"And I count seven…"
"I'll get it for you," Anatoly nodded. "Just let-"
All of a sudden, one man's voice rose above the crowd. He was one of the workers; and he quickly yelled something out in Russian. Whatever he said, it was clearly popular. The other men whooped and cheered in support of their co-worker.
"What did he say?" Ashley asked.
"He said that we should go out for drinks to celebrate," Anatoly answered. "Well?"
"I-" Ashley hesitated. The dark haired woman had to stop herself from forming the word "no" with her lips. She spared a glance to the workers around her - seeing their smiling faces and nodding heads. Ashley then peered into the face of her superior.
Anatoly had a smile on his face, but his eyes still held a cooler quality.
"A wild woman dressed in tattered clothes is found curled up in a stump near our town. She claims to be fleeing from the attack on New Vladivostok - but her story and history are vague," Anatoly's voice echoed in her mind. "She decides to stay in our dying little town, despite there being much opportunity elsewhere? She does not talk to others, she drinks and lives alone…"
"You know what? Fuck it… sure…" Ashley forced a grin - which made the sides of her mouth ache. "I'll just need to stop at my home quickly…"
Anatoly offered the dark haired woman a smile and a nod before turning to address the workers. He parroted what Ashley said in Russian and the workers cheered.
A sudden thought entered Ashley's mind. The woman reached out and tugged Anatoly's jumpsuit to get his attention.
"Yes?" The man blinked in confusion.
"Tell them that I'm not paying…" Ashley deadpanned.
Anatoly shrugged and parroted what Ashley said to the workers.
There was a simultaneous dejected sigh from the crowd…
To her surprise… Ashley actually enjoyed herself…
Before heading to Dema's bar, the woman stopped at the room she was renting. She stashed the majority of her newfound wealth underneath a loose floorboard - along with Dema's stolen handgun.
The man himself had not accused her of stealing the weapon. But Ashley was perceptive enough to notice the side-eye that he occasionally gave her.
She had started the night with a few watered down beers, but quickly progressed to harder liquor. Things moved quickly in Dema's bar, and Ashley soon found herself so inebriated that her vision was spinning...
There had been a drinking contest at some point. Ashley wowed the crowd by outlasting a far larger man in what felt like dozens of rounds.
There had been singing too…
Ashley guessed that they were local folk songs and she had no clue what any of the men were saying; but the lyrics were catchy and memorable enough that Ashley (after several drinks) found herself singing along.
Had there been a fight too? Maybe… Ashley's hand was a little swollen the next day… but she couldn't say for sure…
At some point in the early morning Ashley stumbled out of Dema's bar… and then stumbled all the way back to her room in the inn. Years of being wasted drunk left her with impressive balance while inebriated; she only fell once on the way to her home.
As Ashley drunkenly stumbled into her room, she felt something in her chest that she hadn't felt in a long time.
It was a warm feeling... hard to describe...
The pride that came with a job well done…
A/N
Bet you people didn't expect an authors note at the end!
After missing last week's chapter, Tigress is back! I don't want to give away too much, but this story is now readily approaching it's next major arc. The setup is done, the town of Okraina is established... and I've got a stone in my hand - which I'm about to chuck at the tranquil pond's surface.