A/N

Today's chapter is a little shorter, but it leads into the next - which is probably going to be quite long, given that it will be a battle chapter. I was planning to make this chapter the battle chapter... but I just ran out of time and had to slice it into two chapters. Don't blame me, blame my hectic work schedule and bouts of writer's block.

Anyways...

Chapter 50…

Ashley wasn't ready to be behind the controls of Big Ivan again… and she knew it…

Every movement, every jolt, every minor vibration and rattle from the clamps sent a wave of pain coursing through the woman's battered body. Her shoulder was the absolute worst - the extremely sensitive welt pulsing with pain in a steady rhythm.

But the pain didn't matter - not in the present moment, at least. There were far bigger things for Ashley to worry about than her own discomfort. She had lost contact with the town after heading for the mill and she needed to know what the situation there was like...

Big Ivan was ordinarily not that fast; but that was only because Ashley was paying attention to safety protocols. The dark haired woman was ignoring the ground anchors in the mech's feet, instead breaking the first-gen titan into a lopsided "run" at the fastest speed she could muster.

Cresting the top of a hill, Ashley finally got a good look at the small town of Okraina. Several buildings were on fire; and from the distance she was standing Ashley could spot the town's residents rushing around like ants trying to douse the flames. Thankfully, the sound of gunfire had subsided - which gave Ashley a little bit of hope.

Pushing Big Ivan back into a jog, the dark haired woman continued her trip back into the town.

With every footstep, Ashley's newly looted pilot gear shook. The dark haired woman had fastened on all of the armor pieces that she could; including, of course, the all-important jumpkit that her new ensemble was based around.

The armor was big on her; big enough that Ashley had to quickly re-fasten all of the straps so that they were tight fitting. Her new combat boots had plenty of space for her toes; and her shoulder pads were big enough to leave a few inches of space between the top of her shoulder and her lower shoulder blades.

But still… armor was armor; and this new armor at least slightly increased Ashley's chances of survival in a gunfight.

The only piece of armor Ashley wasn't currently wearing was the helmet. Out of concern, the dark haired woman had left the white headgear on her lap. The helmet was essential for connecting to the jumpkit - but Ashley didn't want to run the risk of a friendly fire incident occurring, so she left it off for the time being.

A minute ago she had been overlooking the town, now she was standing in the middle of the main street. Okraina's citizens scattered as Big Ivan kicked up the mud and dirt of the main street. From what Ashley could see through the plexiglass hatch, the majority of citizens now appeared to be armed.

The crowds parted as Ashley brought Big Ivan to a stop in front of Dema's bar. With a quick voice command, the plexiglass hatch snapped open and Ashley jumped free - her new helmet dangling from one of her hands.

There were whispers and the feeling of eyes on her back, but Ashley ignored it and clambered up the steps to the bar's porch. She tucked her helmet under the crook of her arm and smashed her way through the doors of the establishment.

In her absence, the bar had been converted into a makeshift infirmary. Although, to use the word "infirmary" was rather generous. The injured had been draped out across tables and the floor. There was seemingly little in the way of medical supplies, indicated by the alcohol soaked rags draped over the wounds of the injured.

The entire bar stank of a fine mixture of alcohol and blood. It was a miasma that made Ashley's stomach flop…

"You…" Dema blinked. The man was behind the bar, two cheap bottles of booze clenched in his hands. On the bar in front of him was a large pile of rags, which he was presumably about to soak.

"Me," Ashley set down her helmet and placed her hands on the bar for support. "My radio was destroyed. What's the situation here?"

Dema blinked his tiny eyes and set down the bottles in his hands. He wrung his meaty hands together for a moment before settling an intense glare on Ashley's smaller form.

"What are you wearing?" The man spat, his tone accusatory.

"What does it look like I'm wearing?"

"How interesting. A simple machine operator who knows how to use a jumpkit-"

"Look, I'm not going to bother bullshitting you anymore," Ashley narrowed her eyes. "I'm former IMC… but you already knew that, didn't you?"

Dema looked like he was trying to swallow you unpleasant. He matched Ashley by setting his hands down on the bar and leering forwards in her direction.

"I had my suspicions… but it seems that they were correct…" Dema spat. "The first time we met I knew something was wrong about you… that familiar IMC stink was in the air the moment you walked into this bar-"

"What is the situation here?" Ashley spoke through gritted teeth. "I need to know."

Dema's face twitched for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, Ashley could see the man's right hand slowly sliding off of the bar…

In a quick motion, Ashley thrust her right hand downwards to her pistol holster. Her eyes did not leave the man in front of her, and within the span of a few milliseconds Ashley had one of her pistols drawn.

It was a newer Hammond P2016 - looted off of one of the men torturing Anatoly. The far rarer, far more expensive SMART pistol had been slipped into the belt loops of Ashley's new breastplate.

There was a soft click as Ashley brought the pistol to her hip, it's barrel pointed at the man behind the bar. Dema was frozen where he stood, his small eyes focused on the deadly weapon in Ashley's right hand.

"Put your hand back on the bar…" Ashley spat. "I'm not going to tell you again…"

Slowly, begrudgingly… Dema followed Ashley's request…

"I suppose I should also tell you that I'm the one that stole your gun…" Ashley frowned.

"Why?"

"I needed it… and that's all you need to know…" Ashley cocked her head and frowned.

In an unexpected motion, Ashley set her Hammond P2016 down on the bar and slid it in Dema's direction. The man tentatively accepted the weapon, and turned it in his hands so that his fingers were on the grip.

"I would like to know more-"

"And I would like to know what the situation here is like…" Ashley grumbled.

"You just handed me a loaded gun-"

"Consider it a replacement for the one I stole," Ashley replied. "This one is a newer model anyways. Now… what's the situation here?"

Once again, Dema looked like he was trying to swallow something unpleasant. However, the man made no attempt to raise his new pistol at Ashley - which the dark haired woman took as a good sign.

"We are sweeping the town and going to the different houses to check on everyone," Dema spoke carefully. The man lifted one hand to sweep it out in gesture to the bar. "But there are wounded. The mill?"

"Cleared out… and the titan's outside," Ashley frowned. "They tortured Anatoly…"

"Did they kill him?"

"No, I intervened," Ashley shook her head. "But he's in bad shape-"

"Like everyone else!" Dema scoffed. The man used his teeth to uncork a bottle of booze and then doused the pile of rags sitting atop the bar. "The good news is that we called the Militia for help…"

Dema looked up, giving Ashley an unreadable look. "That is good news, is it not?"

Ashley sighed and shrugged. "Yes… yes it is. When are they going to get here?"

"Who knows? They need to mobilize," Dema set down the now half-full bottle. "All we can do is wait."

"Sure… but there's one more thing," Ashley leaned over the bar. "The guy I took this armor off of? He was their leader. I managed to interrogate the location of their camp out of him - it's a few kilometers North."

"Good work… I will let the Militia know this…"

Ashley blinked. "That's it?"

"What?' Dema scoffed. "Are you saying that we should go on the attack? Listen to yourself…"

"They took the doctor-"

"And several weeks worth of food and water," Dema added. "But that does not make an attack worth it. The Militia will come, the Militia will save the doctor and the supplies-"

"Assuming that they get there in time-"

"They would not be so foolish as to kill Fedorov!" Dema spat. "Don't be daft! They took the doctor for a reason-"

"But the doctor is needed here," Ashley argued. "Look at all of the wounded in this room! Anatoly took a bullet to the shoulder when I saved him; he's stable and hiding out at the mill… but he needs Fedorov's help-"

"And trying to mount an attack now would spell doom!" Dema slammed a fist down on the bar. "We have no men to spare! And only a scant few of the people in this town have used a gun before! So no! We wait for the Militia!"

"Fuck you!" Ashley spat. "If you won't help, then I'll save the doctor myself!"

"Yes, yes…" Dema mocked. "Go off and play hero, IMC liar…"

Ashley shot a glare in the man's direction before marching off.


Perhaps Dema had a point…

After marching out of the bar, Ashley hopped into Big Ivan's chassis and set off. Once again she disregarded safety protocols, breaking the titan into a job to cover as much ground as she possibly could.

By the time she reached the encampment, the top of the morning sun had crawled over the horizon. It was still very dim; but in perhaps an hour Ashley would lose the cover of darkness - one of the few advantages she had.

Having parked Big Ivan on a hill, Ashley crouched down and observed the bandit encampment from her new vantage point.

What Jameson had said was true, the encampment had been built atop the ruins of an old IMC outpost. Rising out of the low valley were four large walls, enclosed in a square formation. The walls were cracked and weathered from age and exposure, but were sturdy enough to stay standing; there was a large fissure in the western wall, but it was partially blocked by a row of parked trucks.

Using her new helmet's magnification function, Ashley zoomed in her visor to get a better look at the inside of the complex.

Behind the walls, the small forms of bandits congregated around several parked trucks - each truck loaded with whatever spoils they had seized from Okraina. In the complex's far right corner sat a cluster of barracks; a vehicle depot sat in the far right; and dominating the western half of the compound was a large, several story building.

That would be Ashley's ultimate target… it seemed like the perfect place to hold a hostage.

Satisfied with her reconnaissance, Ashley reduced the magnification on her helmet's visor. Raising her hands up to either side of the headgear, Ashley twisted off the helmet and let it fall to the ground…

… the woman went with it.

In an instant, Ashley's knees buckled and the woman collapsed. She landed somewhat painfully on the grass below, her back flaring up with agony as her tired muscles absorbed the shock of the impact.

Each breath the woman took was quick… and sounded awfully shallow…

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

No matter how much Ashley breathed or concentrated, the pain would not cease. Sharp stabbing pains coursed through every inch of her body - as if knives were being jabbed into her skin. The woman sloppily raised her hand to her pocket and pulled out her bottle of painkillers; the bottle was uncapped, two pills were placed in her hand… and those two pills were swallowed dry…

After a few more minutes of agony, the medication finally kicked in. Ashley's world spun as the worst of the painkiller's side effects toyed with her vision.

In a mixture of pain and exhaustion, Ashley propped herself up against Big Ivan's leg to feel the breeze on her skin. She felt like she was going to vomit - and knew that she probably would if she moved too quickly...

What was she doing? What was she thinking? Doctor Fedorov had told her the day before to avoid strenuous actions… but in the past few hours she had pulled just about every muscle in her body. The dark haired woman would not be surprised if she found new welts adorning her skin...

Every single joint was screaming in pain… but Ashley had one last push. Far down below, in the valley, was the man that had saved her life. Despite all the wrong she had done in her life… Ashley was determined to do something right by saving him…

But how?

In less than an hour the sun would be high enough to where Ashley wouldn't be able to blend into the shadows; and even then, the rocket flare of her jumpkit exhaust would give away her position.

She was outnumbered and outgunned - a challenge for her even if she wasn't in extreme pain and fatigued.

What she was about to do was a death sentence… and she damn well knew it…

There was a mechanical creaking, and Ashley's attention was captured by Big Ivan. She was still leaning against the titan's curled up leg.

There was Big Ivan… but Ashley doubted that the titan would be much help. He was slow and unwieldy; and his chassis hadn't been designed with the armor necessary to absorb bullets.

Ashley craned her vision back down at the encampment below. Seeing the cracks and fissures in the wall gave her an idea - a longshot to be sure, but still an idea…

Looking down, Ashley snatched two small radio's off of her belt - two more things she had looted off of Jameson's corpse…

It was a crazy idea… but it was the only one she had...