Chapter 7: And Repeat

"Hold on dammit you need to stay awake you hear me?" Alistar said looking in her eyes continuing to check her "W-why?" Gates stammered trying to laydown "You have a concussion and if you go to sleep its only going to make what's wrong with you worse" He said pulling her back up this time hooking her into the seat she was in. She didn't say anything but nodded and it looked like she was trying to stay awake now "Pilot how long till we land!?" Alistar shouted up to the cockpit, the pilot shouted back "Ninety seconds" He held on to her tightly and kept her talking as they descended. The pilot dropped the ramp as he touched down and a medical team rushed in, Alistar quickly explained what happened as they walked to the infirmary and a nurse wrote it down as they went. Making it inside he saw that the doctor on duty was Sam Alistar called out "Sam! Need your help" He came running over but before they could get ready a rifleman came up to Alistar saying "Sir Commander Bear is requesting your presents at the forward command center the 64 has established in the town" Alistar turned to Sam and asked "Can you handle this?" Sam didn't pause "Ya I got this" "Take good care of her wile I'm gone" Alistar said as he left for the airfield Sam nodded and then went into the OR.

The dropship was filled with five other pilots along with Alistar dropped in above the town, circling the town turned FOB stopping at the south side near what looked like a gate in the wall around the town the waist door opened and they all jumped out falling twenty or thirty feet landing safely with help from there jumpkits. Alistar landed in front of Storm and looked up Storm looked down at him and said "Bear's this way" and started walking. Alistar followed Storm and asked "What's the situation?" "Better than before now that reinforcements have arrived, Bear can tell you more" Storm finished as they walked up to the building they were in before. He stepped up the ramp into the command center and saw Bear leaning over a man at a radio calling air support, walking over he heard that not many fighter craft could break through the IMC's own air defenses. Bear straitened up and looked at him "Good having you back, how's Gates?" Bear said shifting his weight "She'll be fine the docs can handle it we got her there fast enough" He replied "Good, I'm sure you can hear that we have no air cover so I need every body I can get my hands on to hold off the IMC" "What's the problem?" "Well the majority of the IMC's troops have pulled back and up to a ridge that leads up to the old ship but the big issue is the IMC is dropping auto titans in waves trying to out number us so I need you and a few other pilots to help take out these titans before they breach our perimeter. These titans aren't good by any means but there are a lot of them so I've called an old friend or two to help, The Last Resort faction they usually do extractor op's but I think that we can make an exception this time" "So just hold and don't die, think I can do that" "I hope your damn good at it the Militia dumped a lot a troops here to help and if you get overrun we're all doomed" "Got it, Storm and I will work North and help there anything else?" "No" With that Alistar left the building at a jog and mounted up in Storm and worked his way to the North end of town, arriving there he saw the five other pilots he jumped in with already in postion and waiting "Alright Storm you ready for a slog?" "Sure I wasn't doing anything important anyway" And with that he could hear the sound of titans beginning there drop from orbit "Here goes nothing"

Ducking under the rocket salvo fired at him and firing some rounds of his own he asked Storm "We've been at this for two days now haw many titans are they willing to lose before they stop?" Storm thought for a second and said "Intel says two enemy ships in orbit one too damaged from friendly ships to launch titans so one dropping them in so maybe another day or two before they run out of materials to build more titans" "At least I know how long we have to hold for" Alistar and the other five pilots continued killing titans as they came finaly the wave ended and it gave them a chance to rest. After the five minuets that was usual between waves they got ready to go but nothing happened for a minuet then two finaly the radio came to life in his ear "Ground troops this is MCS Rutledge both enemy ships are crippled and running no more IMC reinforcements will be landing" Alistar relaxed "Finaly I might be able to get some sleep" "A few hours would do you some good Al" Storm said "Ya, maybe Bear has some news on Gat-" And Alistar seized up and was only held in place by the cockpit controls. Storm took over control so his forty ton body didn't start thrashing around, and then checked on his pilot "Al are you ok?" No response, Storm checked through there neural link and what he found surprised him. Helping Alistar out of his seizure he came round "I really hate that" He said taking off his helmet to take a sip of water "These aren't seizures, there is somebody trying to hack your neural lace" Storm said sharing the surprise he had found "Well isn't that interesting" He said taking another sip of water, after a moment he said "I think its this Dr. Tanoge I saw more of him this time, maybe this hack he's doing is going both ways which would explain why I see him" "Most likely, but I think we should get back to Bear and see what happens next" Storm said giving control back to him "Agreed, and some sleep I have a headache now" With that Alistar and Storm returned to camp and rested.

Alistar stepped into the command center and could see Bear and another man standing over a table with a map on it discussing something he couldn't hear, he started to walk over and could hear what they were saying as he got closer "We made it no more then five or six hundred feet once we crested the ridge" Said the man and Alistar looked at him seeing that he was a Captain in the rifleman corr of the Militia "We had to try getting the IMC off that ridge they have a range advantage on us with there artillery, ah Cambel good to see you've decided to start working again" Bear said taking notice of him as he walked up "Cambel this is Captain Emmerson of the fifth assault group, Captain this is Alistar Cambel" Bear introduced them and they shook hands "I agree with you it was worth the try but there were to many IMC and they dug in to deep for the troops we had" Emmerson said pointing at the map showing the line drawn a little ways from the ridge line "I take it you tried to push the IMC back away from the ridge" Alistar asked wondering what had happened wile he was asleep. Emmerson looked back at the map and said "Yes we did we tried to push them off of there artillery here and here" He pointed to two spots on the map "But the defenses they have are too much and to well entrenched, they even have counter attack troops it's a perfect defensive line. They hit us so hard we pulled out as fast as possible and we have to many MIA, some of our medics said they could hear men calling for help but we had to leave" Alistar stood silent for several seconds before turning around and walking out, Bear looked at the Captain and then followed. Bear caught up with him in the medical tent and could see him taking off his spare mags for his rifle and placing them in a sack with his rifle and a few other things he had on his tacvest. "What are you doing?" Bear asked walking up next to him "I don't think you'll like the answer" He replied grabbing several combat medic bags off of the wall and began attaching them to his gear "You're right I don't and let me guess you're going alone?" Bear said handing him a bag "Ya I don't want to ask anybody to risk that much" "But you are totally fine doing it your self!" "I know the risks, not saying that the others don't but they're needed here I'm expendable" "No your not you know as well as I-" "But I am, I've got no defined loyalty's not yet and if I go down its not as big a deal as if a full Militia pilot goes. I'm a no lose bet right now, Bear just let me go" "Are you doing this to prove a point because if so Gates will kick your ass and I'll help her" "No not really, I've been left behind myself and if I can save these men I'll do all I can and if doing that helps the higher ups decide if I'm trustworthy then so be it" "Fine I see that I can't convince you otherwise, you know from what I've read on you and what you've told me you're a little messed up" "Well there's the understatement of the decade. Bear have medical teams on standby at the bottom of the ridge" "Sure I'll do that, anything else?" "How's Gates?" "She's out of surgery and she will be fine in a month or two" "Thanks again Bear" "No problem, hey don't die eh" "I would prefer that" And with that he took off toward the base of the ridge.

She was going to go insane laying here day in and day out, its been five days since Alistar brought her back to Harmony to help save her but Bear had asked him to go back. The infirmary was a bit fuller now than three days ago and she was wondering how the fight was going, she looked over to her left seeing a rifleman next to her he was awake and she asked him "Hey rifleman what happened back there?" The man turned his head to look at her then said "Well after Commander Gates was hit the IMC started sending waves of auto titans to get rid of us wile there troops dug in on the ridge North of town, I heard that five pilots from The Last Resort and that one pilot that the commander brought held them off for two days until the Rutledge drove off the enemy ships" The man didn't seam to know who he was talking to, one of the advantages of wearing a helmet all the time "Then what happened after the ships left?" She asked wondering how Bear and Alistar were doing "Well after the titans stopped the Captain of my unit and Bear decided that the IMC couldn't hold the ridge and use the better artillery postion over us, so we went up the cliff to take the ridge it was a disaster we barely made it the six hundred feet that we did and for a day and a half we tried to hold what little ground we had. After that day and a half in hell the Captain began to pull off the ridge I got hit on the way to the rope ladder and couldn't make it, the medics were busy with other men and I and some others got left behind" Gates was stunned at how bad it had gotten since she left, then a new question came to her "How did you get out? Did they take the ridge?" The man seamed to come alive as he began "No we didn't that pilot that the commander brought came up the cliff after hearing that some of us were still up there wounded. He went around helping all that he could, he would find one of us patch us up and move us to the cliff then lower us down to waiting med teams, he did that for three days last I know he is still up there. He found me this morning saved my life." "Thanks" Was all she said as she processed all the information she had just gotten, she called for an orderly and asked for a commanders pad to over see the battle reports as they came in to see haw things were going now. It took another day to track down a commanders pad for her to look at, most of the reports were Bear's and they were just what she was looking for '18:00 hours Pilots from The Last Resort and Pilot Cambel have successfully defended the town with 450 out of 1500 titans dropped confirmed killed by Last Resort Pilots the remaining titan kills going to Pilot Cambel' She scrolled through the next reports of wounded and then the failed attempt to take the ridge and then the report of the wounded from the ridge '15:00 hours new count of wounded from the push on the ridge reaches 500 out of two divisions of 1700 each, 358 of these were recovered over the last three days by Pilot Cambel who went up the cliff on a lone op to recover these lost men' There was one more report that was only fifteen minuets old '13:00 hours we pushed up the ridge again and with help from Pilot Cambel we found several tunnels that the IMC were using to move troops, he had discovered these tunnels over the curse of the three days he spent recovering the wounded. Additionally Pilot Cambel held off two of some new IMC unit a titan assault teams consisting of eight titans and four teams of Stalkers armed with anti titan weapons for ten minuets wile we planted charges on the IMC artillery giving us the chance needed to save the op. In conclusion I can confirm the IMC Odyssey an surrounding territory is back in Militia control and I would back any move to adopt Pilot Cambel into any branch of the Militia once he has finneshed recovering' Gates let the pad drop to her lap shocked at the amount that he had done just to help. As she sat there she heard over the PA 'Group one cleared to land' She looked out the window of the infirmary to the landing strip to see a multitude of ships landing, one of the ships she knew as the 64's and wile she looked at it she saw Bear and Alistar walk out and begin heading to the base. After a few minuets they walked in and started her way she waved them on and they made it over "So still in one piece?" Bear asked "For now and no thanks to the stubborn hero here" She said tossing a pillow at Alistar, he caught it and tossed it back saying "I'm no hero" "Really? Because there are some in her that would disagree" She replied gesturing around, he said nothing and continued to stand at the foot of her bed with Bear "Well I've got work to do since you seam to have found a way to pass it off" Bear said starting to walk off "You could use the practice" She called after him and Alistar chuckled to himself. They sat there for a minuet not saying anything, they Gates said "I see what you mean I can't tell what you are thinking with your helmet on" He smirked and pulled his helmet off and moved to sit in the chair next to her like she had for him. "Better?" He asked sitting down "Much" "I've seen your medical reports your doing well another week maybe week and a half bed rest then light duty" "Two days ago I wouldn't like hearing that, but now" "Now you don't mind" "Yes" "Well Bear and the rest of the 64 are back so you don't have to worry" "You left your self out of the that some how, your part of the 64 remember" "I didn't want to get you in trouble for saying some thing wrong that's all" "No your fine, the 64 may be part of the Militia but personnel choices are mine" "I see" He said looking down at his helmet, after a moment Gates began to say something stopped then started again "Alistar about my condition when you brought me here" "What? Your doing better what's wrong?" His voice both comforting and worried "Well its actually about my name, you see nobody really knows my first name and-" "Oh, um I sorry I didn't mean-" "No its ok, I just wanted to tell you so that some thing didn't happen" "Ok I see, if you don't mind me asking what things?" "Not now, not here" "That's fine" Another pause but this time they both just sat looking at each other, after a wile Alistar said "I think we've both saved each others life now" "Oh really, when did I save yours?" "Well you could pick one of two when you found me you stopped the IMC from using me as a machine of war, or when you held me down during my first seizure" "Ya I guess those count, wait first? You've had others?" "Just one, it was after we held off the titans in the town. Storm found out they aren't actually seizures its somebody trying to hack into the computer in my brain" "You should tell-" "Tell who? Nobody could help" "I see your point" She looked down at the sheets on her bed and was silent for a wile. "When was the last time you got some sleep?" She asked remembering Bear's report "I think it was four days ago" He said after a moment "Well you should get some then" "As you wish" He said with a slight bow as he stood and started to walk out "Alistar" "Yes Elizabeth" His use of her first name surprised her "Come visit me again it gets boring in here" "I will" He said and walked away.