A/N

This chapter was supposed to go around noon but Fanfiction was acting up for me, tons and tons of "503" errors. Anyways, seems stable enough right now so I'll take my chance to throw this chapter up.

Chapter 19…

After a few moments where it was nothing but a small blip on the horizon, the Widow-class dropship grew in size and familiarity. Ashley's helmet scanner indicated that it was moving at a relatively slow pace; perhaps the pilots were being cautious…

Ashley couldn't find fault in their caution, this was an enemy-held territory after all.

With her scan of the area complete and bubbles of elation beginning to rise in her chest; Ashley turned on her heel and retraced her steps to the control room. The smile on her face was hidden by her helmet as she yanked open the door and stepped into the cramped space.

Her hostages were resting where she had left them. Both Jeremiah and Edwards had tucked themselves away underneath the master control board. Cain was still dutifully watching them, the red glow of his ocular piece illuminating the dark shadows of the room.

"So…" Ashley muttered as she observed the two men. "I'm leaving…"

There was silence for a long moment.

"Leaving?" Jeremiah grumbled, the slightest edge of hope in his voice. "T- they're here…?"

"Not yet," Ashley clicked her tongue. "But my ride is incoming…"

The black and yellow clad pilot carefully measured her next few words.

"Thank you…"

"Me?" Jeremiah blinked.

"Yeah, you," Ashley sighed. She relaxed her left knee and opted to lean against the doorframe. "I couldn't have sent my message without your help…"

"Oh," Jeremiah audibly gulped. "Well… you're welcome then? And thanks for not k-killing us?"

"Yet," Edwards growled from where he was sitting; his brown eyes glittered in the low light of the room. "We need to wait for her to leave first…"

Ashley held up her hands in a peaceful gesture. "I'm keeping my word-"

"But?" Edwards growled again. "There is a 'but' isn't there?"

"Well, yes," Ashley nodded. "I'll keep my promise… but I can't say for certain that my allies will." The woman lifted herself from where she was leaning on the doorframe and rested her hands on her hips. "Both of you… get out of here…"

"Us?" Jeremiah mumbled, his fearful gaze flicking between Cain and Ashley. "Why?"

"Because my titan sniffed this place out," Ashley forked a thumb in Cain's direction. "And he could read your heat signatures… if the incoming ship has a titan escort and I can almost guarantee that it will… you two might get killed."

"I-" Jeremiah stuttered. "Alright…"

Both Jeremiah and Edwards extracted themselves from underneath the control panel and straightened themselves into standing positions.

"Take that door and hide in the brush, it'll be harder for them to detect you," Ashley instructed, gesturing with her hand to the room's other door. "Go! Shoo!"

The two men slowly and carefully exited through the door and left her field of vision. The female pilot backtracked through her own door and found herself back on the Western catwalk. She watched from her vantage point as the technician and the soldier descended down the catwalk staircase; Ashley's last view of the two was them scampering into the brush to hide.

With a sigh, Ashley turned away from their direction and peered West. The Widow dropship was very clearly visible now and rapidly descending from the sky; perhaps the pilots inside were more motivated and less cautious now because they had spotted Cain.

"Ashley."

Speak of the titan…

"What is it Cain?" Ashley asked aloud. "Problem?"

"A suggestion."

"Speak…"

"I have reservations about allowing those two men to escape," Cain grumbled. The titan had left his spot by the window and was approaching the catwalk. His feet shook the ground and rattled the catwalk every time he took a step. "I would suggest neutralizing both of them."

Ashley loudy huffed; she could feel her nostrils flare. "No…"

"Objection-"

"For the second time, no…" Ashley scowled underneath her helmet. "I told them that I would let them live if Jeremiah got the station running. I'm going to keep my word on that…"

Cain was silent for a moment, his chassis whirring. The titan pressed close to the catwalk and Ashley clambered atop his chassis. She took a seat next to his battery port, where she had rested for most of the day before.

"Logic dictates that they are enemy combatants and pose a significant threat; they should be neutralized," Cain argued as Ashley got comfortable. "There is a high probability that both men will immediately contact their superior officers after our exfil and give reports."

"So what?" Ashley scoffed. She tilted her head back and looked skywards at the descending Widow. It was close enough that its engines were disturbing the leaves of the nearby trees. "Even if they do it won't matter. We'll be off this rock and the mission will be a success… done and done."

The Widow touched down perhaps twenty feet from their position. It squashed a field of wildflowers and tore up branches as its engines powered down.

"That being said," Ashley rapped her fist against Cain's hull. "You're not going to say a word about either of them…"

"Objection," Cain grumbled. "I am incapable of lying…"

"Then let me do the talking…" Ashley trailed off. Twenty feet from them the Widow finally powered down and it's cargo door began to open. "You just stay quiet…"

Cain's chassis whirred and shifted for a moment.

"Affirmative…"

The wide door of the Widow opened fully to reveal it's contents. Almost immediately a Tone-class titan stepped out; it's 40mm cannon held up at the ready. The titan was painted in a clashing colour scheme of white and red, signifying that the pilot inside belonged to the Apex Predators.

Ashley leaned forwards expectantly.

The Tone took a few cautious steps forwards. It's red ocular piece wildly snapped around in it's socket; no doubt surveying the area for any hidden threats. Finally, the Tone's ocular piece relaxed and the cockpit hatch opened with hiss.

A familiar arachnid-like helmet poked out from the cockpit. The several bug-like scanners that adorned it's faceplate turned to lock onto Ashley and Cain.

"That you, Tigress?" Templeton spoke quickly, his voice garbled by his headgear.

"Who else could it be, Templeton?" Ashley scoffed and raised her hands. She planted her hands on either side of her helmet and pulled up upwards; this action fully revealed her face. "Happy?"

Templeton shrugged and relaxed back into the cockpit of his titan. "Can never be too sure! Do you have it?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Ashley snapped. The female pilot reached upwards to pat the sheath where her data-knife rested. "It's right here…"

"Thank God," Templeton huffed. The pilot was cut off when the hatch of his Tone titan closed. The Tone turned on it's heel and gestured at the Widow with it's metal arm.

Ashley wordlessly slid down Cain's chassis, grunting when the titan snatched her out of the air and settled her into his cockpit. With full control of her titan Ashley wordlessly brushed past Templeton and his Tone; she maneuvered Cain into the cargo bay of the Widow.

Templeton followed Ashley into the ship. Once he was settled in his Tone raised it's metal arm to slap the inside of the ship three times; it was clearly the signal to take off, as the cargo doors closed only moments after the action was completed.

There was a momentary feeling of weightlessness as the ship lifted up into the air…

Although she didn't outwardly show it… Ashley was satisfied… she was finally free…

"Cain, let me out," Ashley instructed. The titan wordlessly cracked open the hatch, allowing Ashley to jump out and land on the floor with a crouch. Once she was steady Ashley took a moment to gently pat Cain's leg. "Thanks."

Cain's chassis whirred but he did not properly answer her. Ashley thought this to be a little bit strange…

The inside of the widow was fairly dull. There were four grey walls and enough space to fit a few titans; other than that there were few comforts…

The hatch of Templeton's opened with a hiss and the male pilot leapt out. He too landed on the floor in a neat crouch.

"Lemme say," Templeton suddenly interjected, surprising Ashley. He had taken off his helmet to reveal his pointy face. "Nice fucking work…!"

Ashley felt a retort creeping up on her tongue; she took a moment to whip off her helmet before letting it loose. "Me!? If you assholes had waited around for ten minutes we could have avoided this fucking mess!"

"Oh," Templeton blinked and reared back. "Sorry… maybe that came out wrong. I meant that genuinely, you did a great job…"

"Oh…" Ashley muttered back. "I- thanks?"

"Hey no problem!" Templeton grinned. "You should've seen how fucking pissed Blisk was! You know how he is…"

"Yeah," Ashley scoffed and shifted where she stood to lean against Cain's leg. "Did he complain about losing the paycheck?"

"Oh yeah! Marder wasn't all that happy either…" Templeton leaned against the cargo door of the Widow. "The old bastard kept going on and on about how we 'jeopardized humanity's future on the frontier'," Templton scoffed. "Asshole…"

"Well," Ashley patted her sheath again. "The paycheck is coming…"

"And I'm buying you a drink tonight!" Templeton spoke firmly. "We're all getting a nice fat cheque because of you! Least I can do after… well, leaving you behind..."

Ashley sighed and weakly shrugged. "One drink couldn't hurt… but just one."

"Alright," Templeton winked. "Just one drink… sure…"

Ashley's nostrils flared in irritation but she did her best to squash down any feelings of anger. Although she found Templeton quite… irritating at times… his invitation for drinks were seemingly made with good intentions.

"So..." Templeton traced his gloved finger against the cargo door. "How'd you do it?"

"Do what…?"

"What else?" Templeton's eyes shone with curiosity. "How'd you get away from the Militia and find that dish? Did you send the message on your own?"

Ashley narrowed her eyes, "if you're looking for a riveting story… this isn't one…"

"Indulge me…"

"Fine," Ashley sighed. "Cain and I took down the Ion that fried Smith… we continued North for a day or so and stumbled upon the dish," Ashley paused for a moment to measure her words carefully. "The place was abandoned… Cain helped me scrape together the parts to fix it… and that's that…"

"That's… that?" Templeton blinked. The man visibly deflated and a troubled look came over his face. "Really?"

"Really," Ashley frowned. "Told you so…"

Templeton frowned and looked down at Ashley's feet for a moment. Suddenly, his gaze snapped back up.

"That won't do…" The man mumbled.

"What?"

"People are going to ask you the exact same question I did…" Templeton crossed his arms and huffed. "Are you going to give them the same boring response?"

"Yes?" Ashley's eyebrows furrowed. "If you're telling me that I should spin this into a ridiculous tal-"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you to do," Templeton jabbed his finger in her direction.

Ashley released a long breath. "Do I have to?"

"It'll be awhile before we reach the Medusa," Templeton straightened his back. "Do you have anything better to do?"

Ashley smirked. "As a matter of fact… I do… Cain?"

The titan wordlessly reached down and grasped Ashley around her waist. His metal arm lifted her off the ground and gently tucked her into his cockpit. Ashley waited a moment before closing the hatch, watching in slight amusement as Templeton gawked at her.

"I'm taking a nap," Ashley called from the cockpit. "See you in a few…"

"Okay, fine!" Templeton pleaded, his eyes wide. "But at least try to think up a better story!"

Ashley smirked and wordlessly closed the hatch.