A/N
As promised, here is the chapter for today, with the next one slated to arrive next Sunday.
Unfortunately, I had some difficulties lengthening this chapter. The issue with this story (and me as an author) is that I don't like cramming in too many details, scenes, or ideas. I find that a lot of stories with ultra-long chapters just feel horrifically bloated after a while, and I don't want Tigress to become like that; each chapter focuses on it's own specific scene or idea, and I really like writing this story for that exact reason.
The good news is, I only have a tiny fraction of my RWBY story left to write, so once that's all done I plan to focus on this one for a while.
Without further ado...
Chapter 6…
"So? Ready to meet the man of your dreams?" Blisk repeated himself, casually ambling a few feet in front of Ashley.
"I don't know, Blisk," Ashley muttered in return, taking uneven steps as she followed her employer. Her throbbing headache had calmed down to a dull throb, but it still felt as if someone was repeatedly kicking her forehead.
That was the last time she would be using a virtual reality pod… fiddling around with your own brain had it's risks.
"Don't know?" Blisk chuckled, looking over his shoulder to make sure Ashley was still behind him. "Feeling nervous? Bubbles of anticipation? Second guessing what you decided to wear?"
Ashley mumbled "fuck you" under her breath and stopped abruptly. She leaned against a nearby bulkhead for support and used her fingers to gently massage her temples. "Definitely not the last one, Blisk… pretty sure we all wear the same thing around here…"
Blisk shrugged and clicked his tongue. "Suppose so… but all jokes aside are you ready?"
"Ready for what? I'm going to go 'meet' my titan, big deal," Ashley scoffed. "Why are you making such a big deal about this anyways? It's a giant robot with a dumb AI… this isn't the first titan I've had…"
"Hmmph," Blisk chortled with a small smirk. "Did you forget what I told you when we first got on this ship, eh?"
"Care to remind me?"
"I hope you're listening a little closer during briefings," Blisk grumbled. "As much as I hate to repeat myself… I told you that titan AI isn't as dumb as it used to be."
"So?" Ashley muttered, getting off the bulkhead she was leaning on to follow behind Blisk. "How smart are they now?"
"Well they're computers, so much smarter than you," Blisk reasoned as he led Ashley down the hall. "They still act like machines… but they can learn now. You can't just hop in them anymore either, you need to link to them"
"Link?" Ashley questioned. "What do you mean? Do I have to talk to it or something? Because the old titan AI was dumber than a bag of bricks…"
"No," Blisk shook his head. He spun around to face Ashley and tapped his temple with his finger, his familiar smirk climbing up the side of his face. "You need to link up with them now… were going to daisy-chain your brain to a computer…"
"What?" Ashley snarled, feeling her stomach drop and her headache worsen. "Fifteen minutes ago that idiot technician nearly turned my brain into soup… now you're telling me I have to undergo another neuro-link?"
"You don't have to do it right now," Blisk shrugged. "It's just a good idea for you to meet your new partner, right?"
"Great!" Ashley huffed, brushing past Blisk and walking to the end of the hallway, where a massive door sat. "Another asshole to deal with…"
"You're all heart, Ishikara," Blisk chuckled, moving up to Ashley's side and reaching towards the doors control panel. "You ready to meet him?"
"Let's just get this over with…"
Blisk tapped his fingers against the door control panel and the mechanism hissed, both halves of the metal door sliding to the sides to reveal the titan bay. Ashley walked in first and Blisk followed, the South African quickly speeding up to lead Ashley to their destination.
Ashley peered around the bay as she followed behind Blisk, keeping her dark eyes narrowed to avoid the room's bright lights. Her attention was immediately captured by the hulking form of an Ogre class titan, which was suspended in the air by several massive chains.
"That's a Scorch class," Blisk called over his shoulder, seemingly reading Ashley's mind.
"Scorch?"
"Uses incendiary weapons," Blisk explained as he continued to walk forwards. "Kain used to like 'em… up until he died that is…"
"He always was a freak," Ashley muttered, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "Incendiaries…"
"He was a mercenary just like you," Blisk countered in a low tone. "Don't speak ill of the dead… especially when the dead man in question was a half-decent employee."
Ashley waved her hand dismissively. "If you're going to kill someone then you should at least have the decency to make it quick… burning people alive seems a little fucking unnecessary…"
"Killing is killing," Blisk muttered in response. "Frankly I don't care as long as I get paid…"
Ashley hummed under her breath but said nothing further.
"There he is…" Blisk smiled, turning to face Ashley and lifting his arm to point at her new titan. Ashley's eyes followed Blisk's arm and widened at what they saw.
Her new titan was a Stryder class, a classification of titan she had always favored for their nimbleness and low weight. The vulnerable circuitry of it's thin arms and legs was now covered with titanium plating, which was already a step up from the Stryder titans she used to frequent. The entire machine was coloured midnight blue, a pleasing neutral tone that Ashley instantly approved of.
What instantly caught Ashley's though attention was the bus-length metal sword that was hanging from a nearby rack. The dull grey metal shone in the cold light of the hangar, revealing the service numbers that had been stamped near the hilt.
"You weren't lying about him having a big sword…" Ashley mused with an appreciative hum. "I have a question though…"
"Shoot…" Blisk gruffed.
Ashley blinked. "Why…?"
"Why what?"
"Wouldn't a gun be a better weapon?" Ashley furrowed her eyebrows. "Swords are a little… situational…"
"Well lucky for you there's no need to choose…" Blisk chuckled. The mercenary pointed to the same rack the sword was resting on, gesturing to a large metal monstrosity that sat next to it. "That's the gun…"
"What is it?"
"A shotgun," Blisk explained, clapping his hands together. "You point the barrel at the enemy and then pull the trigger-"
"I-"
"-do you have any more dumb questions?" Blisk raised an eyebrow and tapped his wrist mounted data-pad. "Because we have a mission starting in two days and I need to give you and the rest of the bloody idiots a briefing soon…"
Ashley wrinkled her nose again and glared. "Well when you put it that way…"
"Good," Blisk clapped his hands together. He spun around to face the dark blue titan and pointed his finger up at it's red optic. "Oi, machine! Open up so you can meet your new pilot!"
The Ronin was silent for a long moment before it began to whir and shudder. The cockpit door opened up to reveal the interior seat and the entire machine bent down to allow for easy entry.
Ashley watched as one of the titan's arms moved to rest on the ground, providing her with a step to reach the cockpit.
"Not a talkative one, this one…" Blisk grumbled, his fingers tapping against his thigh mounted pistol holster.
"Something tells me that won't be a problem," Ashley huffed back, stepping onto the robot's outstretched hand and grabbing the support handles. With a grunt she hefted herself up into the cockpit of the massive machine and settled into the leather seat.
Ashley's dark eyes focused on Blisk, who was patiently waiting outside the cockpit. "Are you going to hang around?"
"Might as well," Blisk shrugged, an impassive look on his face. Blisk's eyes suddenly widened and he held up his hands. "Wait a moment…"
"What?" Ashley deadpanned, watching in curiosity as Blisk walked out of view. "What is it?"
"Just wait a bloody moment…" Blisk's accented voice called out.
The mercenary wandered back into view a few seconds later. Dangling from his right hand was a pilot helmet that was coloured a jarring black and yellow. "Catch!"
Blisk tossed the helmet into the cockpit of the Ronin and Ashley fumbled it as she caught it. The dark haired woman peered into the "X" coloured visor with a look of confusion on her face. "This isn't mine… is it?"
"You don't like yellow and black?"
"Not when the uniform is red and white…"
"Then get it repainted," Blisk shrugged. "It's yours… and you're going to need it for the linking process."
Ashley blinked in confusion and shook her head. She turned the black and yellow helmet in her hands and pulled it over her head, taking a moment to shift it around so her hair wouldn't get caught in the seals.
As soon as she placed the helmet on her head the visor activated. Ashley waited and watched as the new helmet ran through it's diagnostics and calibrations.
"Oh-kay," Ashley clicked her tongue, turning her attention down to the familiar controls she remembered. "How do I begin the link?"
Ashley yelped in surprise when the machine moved on it's own and the hatch began to close, cutting off Blisk from view.
"Don't worry, Ashley!" Blisk grinned. "The machine will do it for yo-"
The hatch closed with a thud, leaving Ashley in darkness.
"You are pilot, Ashley Ishikara, please confirm," a grating and unfamiliar voice rumbled, the noise bouncing around in the enclosed space of the cockpit.
"Yes," Ashley spoke back, her gloved fingers nervously tapping the control panel. "You are?"
"My designation is CN-8749, I have been assigned as your titan for the foreseeable future," the voice rumbled again. There was something unsettling about its tone, like nails on a chalkboard or a knife scraping against stone. "Is this acceptable?"
"Affirmative," Ashley nodded, her fingers still tapping against the control board. "Look… I'm not much for talking and you seem the same way… any chance we can get this 'link' thing over with?"
"Affirmative… beginning the linking process…"
Ashley's headache re-ignited when several green lights flared up inside the pod, burning her eyes; the tinted visor of her new helmet only offered her only minor relief. The dark haired woman felt a fuzzy, almost staticy feeling around the back of her head.
"Protocol one… link to pilot…" CN-8749 rumbled.
Ashley grit her teeth and seethed when a sharp pain manifested behind her eyes, as if someone had driven a spike between them. Her vision flashed white for a brief moment as the fuzzy feeling in the back of her head grew in intensity.
"Protocol two… uphold the mission," CN-8749 continued. "There are no standing orders at the present time."
Ashley grit her teeth and pressed the back of her head into the soft headrest of her seat. The fuzzy feeling had now moved from the back of her head to behind her eyes.
"Protocol three… protect the pilot. Recognizing Pilot Ashley Ishikara as the standing pilot at present time."
Ashley's eyelids began to flutter as the fuzzy feeling behind her eyes became nearly unbearable. She tried to slow her breathing as much as possible to avoid hyperventilation.
In a moment everything, including the pain, came to an abrupt halt.
Ashley gingerly lifted her head in confusion, staring around at the shadowy interior of the titan cockpit.
"Link is successful," CN-8749's grating voice sounded, not from inside the cockpit speakers, but from inside Ashley's head. "Pilot Ashley Ishiskara, are you alright?"
"Yes," Ashley rubbed her sore temples before snapping up in surprise. "Wait… are you?"
"The link has been established," CN-8749's voice sounded again, ringing around inside Ashley's head. "Please confirm, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Ashley huffed. The dark haired woman relaxed into her seat and began taking deep breaths to slow her pounding heart. "It was intense… but I'm alright."
"Bodily scans show elevated heart rate, dilated pupils and uncontrolled muscle movements. Hypothesis, you are in shock…"
"I'm fine," Ashley growled again. "And if you want this partnership to be a good one then you won't bring it up again…"
"Affirmative…" CN-8749 responded quickly, staying silent for a long moment. "Do you have a preferred designation, Pilot Ashley Ishikara?"
"Just… call me Ashley," the dark haired woman mumbled, still busying herself by rubbing her temples. "What about you? Is 'CN-8749' fine? It's a bit of a mouthful…"
"Would you prefer to call me by a different designation?"
Ashley thought to herself, mumbling the titan's name under her breath as she mused. "C and N… what about Cain?" The dark haired woman frowned and felt a hasty retraction rear up on her tongue the moment the familiar name left her lips. "Actua-"
"Cain?" The machine rumbled, Ashley could feel the cockpit shift. "Definition: 'Cain' is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis, the son of Adam and Eve and brother to Abel. Cain is regarded as the first murde-"
"Look, just don't read into it!" Ashley growled. "Look, mayb-"
"I find that designation appropriate, I would like to be called 'Cain'..."
Ashley paused for a moment, a confused look taking hold of her features. "You would 'like' to be called Cain? You're a machine…" Ashley shook her head gently and sighed. "Ah, fuck it, 'Cain' it is."
The titan rumbled and shifted again. "Affirmative, setting new self-designation as 'Cain'..."
"Good to meet you," Ashley rotated her neck to lessen her headache. "Now let me out…"
"Objection," Cain's chassis shifted and rumbled. "There are still several diagnostic reports to review regarding the link. We must also complete several necessary calibrations-"
"First thing tomorrow!" Ashley shouted, silencing the machine. "I have a briefing to attend… tomorrow at thirteen-hundred hours, is that acceptable?"
"Affirmative…"
The cockpit opened with a hiss and bright light streamed in through the crack.
"Thanks…" Ashley mumbled as she lifted herself off the seat, her head still spinning slightly. Her first few steps to the edge of the cockpit nearly ended in disaster when she tripped, yelping as she teetered out of the cockpit.
The dark haired woman's cries of surprise were cut short when a massive metal hand snatched her out of the air, gently turning her to place her onto the ground feet first. Ashley caught her breath once she was touching the ground and turned to peer upwards curiously at her new titan.
"Thank you, Cain," Ashley mumbled in the machine's direction, using her hands to smooth out her jumpsuit.
"You're welcome, Ashley," Cain's grating voice sounded inside her head, making the dark haired woman shiver. "I will remain here and begin reviewing your service records. I will also perform any necessary system tests in preparation for tomorrow's meeting."
"I'll be ready tomorrow," Ashley nodded, wiggling her nose and turning her head in thought. "Thirteen hundred hours, sharp."
"Affirmative."
"So?" An accented voice sounded, prompting Ashley to whip around and find Blisk. The mercenary had a curious look on his face and in his eyes. "I take it your brain hasn't melted into a puddle?"
"We're linked," Ashley shrugged, turning her dark gaze to stare up at the dark blue titan. The woman moved her gloved hands up to twist and pull off her helmet, moving it down to dangle from her left hand.
"You're one step closer to being a pilot again…"
Ashley peered down and shifted the helmet in her hands so the visor was staring back up at her. The "X" shaped visor was coloured a dark red and stared at her accusingly…
… now that she thought about it. Yellow and black as a colour scheme wasn't all that bad.
"Hey Blisk?" Ashley muttered out the side of her mouth.
"What is it?"
"Do you have a problem with me modifying my gear?"
