A/N

Hey everyone! Slightly shorter chapter today, but considering that the next two to three chapters will be battle chapters, I think that I'm off the hook here.

Chapter 27…

Ashley drew in a sharp breath of air and held it in the back of her throat.

'One, two, three, four'

Ashley pursed her lips and slowly blew out all of the air in her mouth.

'One, two, three, four'

After four seconds of delay, Ashley repeated the first motion; she drew in a sharp breath and felt the cool air tickle her throat.

'One, two, three, four'

Ashley pursed her lips and blew out all the air again. She could feel her lungs flexing in her chest - they felt prickly, but in a good way.

'One, two, three, four'

The dark haired woman continued her very careful breathing exercises. It was a refreshing cycle of inhaling and exhaling that served the dual purpose of oxygenating her brain and calming her bubbling nerves.

Ashley's helmet felt comfortably snug around her head. She hadn't yet activated her helmet's visor, she would do so when it was necessary.

For now, in the few moments of quiet she had left, Ashley was content to bask in the silence of Cain's cockpit. She had planted herself in the pilot seat and had crossed her legs one on top of the other; other than her breathing exercises, she was keeping herself busy by gently wringing her hands in her lap.

"Ashley?"

Ashley released a long breath and counted to four in her head. "Yes Cain?"

"The Medusa's onboard computers have calculated all necessary factors for a titan drop," Cain rumbled, his voice echoing in the cockpit. "The calculations for planetary curvature, atmospheric wind speed, and individual titan masses have all been finalized. The drop is set to commence in t-minus two minutes."

"That's good," Ashley continued to inhale and exhale. "Are you ready, Cain?"

"All systems are reading green."

"No, Cain…" Ashley drew in a steady intake of breath. "I wasn't asking for a system check…"

Cain was silent for a long moment.

"Requesting clarification."

"I-" Ashley started but didn't finish. "Nevermind, I don't really know if I can phrase it in a way that makes sense. You and I are quite different, you don't feel fear…"

Cain was silent again.

"Do you feel fear in the present moment?"

"What?" Ashley chortled. "Can't you figure that out by scanning my vital signs?"

"You have made it very clear in the past that you do not appreciate my remote monitoring," Cain replied.

"That's true," Ashley shrugged her shoulders. "I really don't…"

"You have not answered my original question. Are you feeling fearful at the present moment?"

"Of course I feel fear…" Ashley leaned her helmeted head back so it was against the headrest. "Pilot training is something that can never be forgotten… but I was never a fan of in-titan drops."

"High altitude drops can place great strain on the human body," Cain replied in his usual low tone. "Your fear is justified."

Ashley chuckled. "I never knew that I needed 'justification' to feel what I feel."

The cockpit was silent. Ashley pursed her lips and continued with her breathing exercises.

"Cain," Ashley muttered gently. "Have you ever heard of the expression 'digging your own grave?'."

"It is an idiom," Cain answered. "Meaning to cause one's own ruin or downfall."

"That's correct," Ashley nodded. "It's also a very popular phase amongst pilots…"

"Clarify."

"I'm sure that you know what the exact chances are, being a supercomputer and all…" Asher tapped her fingers on the armrests of her seat. "There's always a small, infinitesimal chance that something could go wrong with an in-titan drop… right?"

"Percentage calculations of this chance may vary," Cain answered. "In optimal conditions, the chances of catastrophic failure are less than zero-point-zero-one percent."

"Really?" Ashley perked up. "Not bad…"

Ashley settled back into the seat. "But going back to what I was saying, on the tiny chance that something goes wrong, the titan will crash into the ground in an uncontrolled fall..."

"Correct."

"And chances are that the pilot inside will be killed on impact," Ashley muttered. "Digging your own grave, Cain. I've never liked in-titan drops because of the possibility…"

"In your own words, an 'infinitesimal' chance."

"But still a chance…" Ashley muttered back. "And it's not zero…"

There was a loud ringing noise from outside of Cain's cockpit. Ashley recognized it as the redundant safety latches being disengaged. It was a clear sign that Cain was about to be released from his holding bay.

"Ashley, the drop is set to commence in… t-minus ten seconds," Cain reported.

Ashley abandoned her slower breathing exercises in favor of her faster ones. She inhaled and exhaled deep breaths, not bothering to count the four seconds in-between.

"Seven seconds."

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

"Three seconds till drop…"

Ashley planted both of her feet against the floor of Cain's chassis. She raised a hand to quickly tug her safety restraints, just to remind herself that she was still strapped in. With a second left to spare, Ashley wrapped her hands around her seat's armrests and curled her fingers into the hard fabric.

"Drop is commencing, hold on…"

The metal railings that held Cain's chassis screeched and rattled as he was released from his restraints; the horrific screeching rasp of metal against metal continued until he was finally free from his holding bay and falling in-air.

Ashley's stomach leapt into her throat, she could feel the churning sensation of free-fall in her gut.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

The most important thing to do in the present moment was to breathe - it was one of the first lessons Ashley had learned during her pilot training. A well-oxygenated brain could handle a titan drop far better than an oxygen deprived one.

After a few moments, the shock of entering a sudden freefall began to wane. Ashley cracked open her eyes.

Outside the window was a majestic view of the planet Antheia. Ashley could spot a blue, far-reaching ocean that stretched around the curvature of the planet. From her altitude she could also make out groupings of fluffy looking white clouds.

From her point of view in Cain's cockpit, Ashley could also spot several of the other titans on the mission with her. They too were in free-fall, their individual chassis shrouded by the red flames that came with entering planetary atmosphere.

"Ashley," Cain's voice rang around inside Ashley's head. It drowned out the steady rumble of the falling chassis. "I would suggest activating your helmet radio, you neglected to do so beforehand."

Ashley lifted her right hand up off the armrest with a great amount of struggle; if she hadn't strapped herself into her seat she would be pressed against the ceiling of Cain's cockpit.

The black and yellow clad pilot succeeded in her effort and flicked on her helmet's switch before allowing her hand to fall back down. As her visor activated, Ashley was met with a garbled mess of crackling radio chatter.

"All titan's still on course, over."

"Ease up on the speed, Donald. You're outpacing us…"

"The calculations were good… titans are set to approach their insertion points…"

Cain's chassis rumbled and tilted. The source was the air brakes, which had been installed on the top of his chassis. Cain was using them to slowly and carefully adjust his course, and would eject them off of his chassis once their altitude was low enough.

Outside Cain's viewscreen, the surface of Antheia was becoming steadily more clear. Ashley could now make out the silhouettes of mountains and larger rivers.

The dark haired pilot closed her eyes and once again squeezed the armrests on her seat.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

It was all about the breathing now… Cain could handle the rest…

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

Ashley kept her eyes squeezed shut and focused all of her attention on her breathing.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

Cain's chassis continued to rumble and jostle; Ashley could feel her stomach doing flip-flops around in her gut.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

Finally… after what seemed like hours…

"Ashley," Cain rumbled in Ashley's head. "The drop is entering its final stages, I would suggest that you brace for impact."

Ashley opened up her eyes again and glared out of Cain's viewscreen. Her lungs felt light and airy and her head felt clear. Individual trees could now be discerned from the landscape…

As could their objectives…

The anti-air gun was massive, it was almost indescribably giant and far larger than Ashley had ever expected it to be. It's swiveling head was mounted upon a massive tower, it's base ringed by a walled-in complex and security gate. The swiveling head and missile rack was almost as large as the Medusa; Ashley could only assume that the ammunition it fired was the size of small cars - more than enough firepower to annihilate the IMC cruisers in orbit.

Her objective was situated on top of a small mountain, which gave it complete authority over the nearby airspace. Below this mountain sat the massive Militia complex that Marder had briefed them on. It was walled and defended, and surrounded by… a city?

Ashley peered closer…

It wasn't a city, a town was perhaps a better classification. Around the high walls of the Militia complex were neatly laid out grids of houses and three story buildings - complete with paved roads.

"Touching down now…" Cain rumbled.

There was a rattling sensation as the air brakes that had been installed on Cain's chassis were torn off - not because of the stress, but because they were redundant and designed to detach.

Cain stretched out his legs and stuck out his massive metal arms to create air resistance. He impacted the ground with a massive crash, bending his legs to mitigate the extreme force of the landing.

"Drop successful, transferring control to pilot," Cain muttered. The titan swept his Leadwall of his back and straightened himself into a standing position. "Are you alright, Ashley?"

"Yeah," Ashley grit her teeth. It was the truth, she felt energized and ready for what was to come.

All around her dust and grass was kicked up as the dozens of other titans on the mission made their own landings. At the front of this pack was a massive Legion titan, it's imposing chain-gun clenched in its metallic claws.

The Legion turned to face the massive horde of titans and it's cockpit cracked open. Blisk stepped out and planted his boot on the rim of the cockpit, extending both of his arms out on either side of his body.

"You all have your orders!" Blisk simultaneously roared into his radio and out to the titans. "Those of you attacking the base, get down there! Everyone else, on me!"

Blisk hopped back into his cockpit and the hatch closed. Hefting the chain-gun up, Blisk's Legion led the charge up the hill to the anti-air gun.

And in a shifting mass of metal and bravado… all of the other titans followed him.