Chapter 10: A Realm of Gold

Multiverse shenanigans up ahead, turn back now if you dislike that stuff. Lots of it, the rest of the story will be based around the fact, please refer to the description to figure out why I'd make such a brash and horrible decision

Stephane trudged on through base camp, and Riflemen marched onward, oblivious to the mission we were about to embark on. we passed by many camouflaged tents as we continued onward, and eventually, the trail ran dry, from dirt to asphalt. Dead ahead of us was a starship, it wasn't fitted with bombs or missiles, but instead, it was a carrier. One that was just big enough to fit my chassis. Stephane walked in, pulling himself through with the help of the railings mounted alongside the doorframe, and the moment he stepped inside the door slowly shut, shutting away our view of basecamp.

"Oi, E-0001?" My Pilot asked.

"Yes?" I replied blandly,

"I've got high hopes for this, don't let me down, mate." He replied.

"I will do my best," I responded.

The ship rumbled wildly as the jets roared to life, as the ship left the ground, it smoothened out just a little. The jets left behind a blazing trail of blue fire in their wake, bringing the starship higher and higher, eventually breaking through the atmosphere. Leaving the ship floating about in this planet's gravitational pull. The jets hadn't stopped though, they roared even louder, which I'm surprised I could even hear, being in space and all that. The ship began speeding up, sending more and more inertia through the two of us as it readied its jump drive.

"Hello, check check. We're jumping in T-minus...3, 2, 1."

My vision blurred and contorted in on itself, twisting more and more till, eventually, I was blinded by a flash of bright light. I nearly toppled over... again, but Stephane kept me upright, you know, with him being in control of my every move. I'm starting to think pairing up with a Pilot wasn't the greatest idea...

My vision returned momentarily after the flash, returning to the view of the dull dark hangar, it wasn't exciting. Nothing felt different and nothing looked different, but I knew something was off. After all, we'd probably jumped to Typhon, right back to my own little personal hellhole. Which, I remind you, was the place I'd been trying to escape for the past week!

The jets had yet to cease, bringing us plummeting through the atmosphere, building up a plethora of flames on the nose of the ship. The ship began losing speed, eventually slowing down, letting the flames die away and, leaving us hovering several hundred feet above the surface. More specifically, hundreds of feet above an IMC base.

"All right, Stephane was it? I'm connecting you to the shared comms system. You've got a few friends down there."

Our comms fizzled as they paired with whatever system the Pilot was hooking us up to. Soon, the static died down, replaced by somebody on the other end.

"...-The IMC have developed a Fold Weapon. It has the power to destroy worlds, but without its power source, the Ark, it is inoperable. Your mission is to capture the Ark before it can leave the airbase." Oh wait, I know that voice. Sarah something, I don't quite remember her full name I'm afraid. And, I also hate her, and like her. I'm kinda torn between the two.

"Marauder Corps, weapons hot!"

Stephane reached for the sword sheathed along my back, and the pistol on my hip, before pulling them free. Keeping them at my side for the time being.

"Stand by for Titanfall!"

Then suddenly, the floor opened almost instantly, sending us plummeting down to the ground. As we fell, I surveyed the surrounding area, there were giant mountains off in the distance, and they pierced the clouds with their height. The airbase was built within a rocky terrain, with giant canyons acting as walls between us and the Ark. The only clear way ahead was a thick metal wall with massive turrets mounted along them. Flames started building up on my chassis as I plummeted through the atmosphere, the other Titans had been given the same treatment, every other Titan that had been dropped was also a giant ball of flame.

Stephane wasn't doing anything in the slightest as we plummeted to the ground, so just as the ground lay only meters between the two of us, I forced my jets on, slowing us down, just enough to not turn us into a crushed tin can. It still sent my entire chassis rattling, sending a great wave of shock through my artificial muscle.

Stephane made a quick survey of the surroundings, before spotting the giant wall. He readied himself to go charging in for the kill. Which wasn't quite good for me I remind you, after all, I'd rather keep my plating thank you very much!

"Get to cover, Pilots! We're taking down that wall!"

"Stay clear of the cannons!"

"Unless we take out those cannons we're not getting any closer to that ship."

"Wilson in position!"

"Grenier, good to go."

"Stephane, ready to Rock n' Roll"

"This is Commander Briggs. Go weapons free - Fire!"

I made sure to give him a little advice before he went off and killed himself, and me. Which I'm most worried about.

"Pilot, I advise caution. My self-repair systems take a long period of time to fully repair my chassis. I suggest we stay at a distance." I suggested, praying to Sweet Mother Mary that he'd listen.

"Eh, you're right. Guess that's why they chose you for me! Wait you have a self-repair system?" He chuckled.

"Do not waste time Pilot," I said sternly.

He raised my pistol and held his aim steady, before firing with pin-perfect accuracy, sending the bolts flying away into the Cannons. Tearing them apart with little to no effort, bringing the wall crumbling down with it.

"Good job. Pilot" I said, genuinely impressed, yet still speaking with the same bland voice I'd always used.

"Thanks, E." He replied.

He rushed forward, easily outpacing the Vanguards and IMC-based Titans. Several hostile Titans darted from over the piles of debris, pushing out onto the battlefield. There were at least ten, with each taking heavy fire from the Militia Titans. Stephane locked his sights on the biggest baddest looking Titan on the battlefield, said Titan being a Tone, stood atop a massive pile of rubble that was currently raining hellfire down on the Militia Forces.

He sprinted his way up to the Tone, and brought my cleaver right down on the bastard, cleaving his 40mm Tracker Cannon in two and lodging the blade right in the Titan. He lifted the Tone above his head, before flinging it high in the air, raising my pistol and hitting it with bolt after bolt, each projectile collided with the falling corpse exploding and tearing away at it, eventually turning it into nothing but a charred pile of scrap.

"Way to show off, Pilot," I said, monotonously.

"What can I say? I'm that great!" He replied. You know what? I think I'm starting to like this guy just a little more.

There were still many Titans spread about the battlefield, mainly Ronins and Brutes, with the odd Northstar in the back. They were giving the Militia forces everything they had, one Ronin had his sword core active and he was dashing from Titan to Titan, slashing away at each one. The Militia weren't just sitting there though, they were spitting back as much as they could, rockets flew and bullets whizzed by, each tearing away at the IMC forces.

"Pilot. I recommend using my Wasp Missiles. They'll lock on to the enemy targets and seek them out no matter the speed." I stated

"Wasp Missiles? Who came up with that name? Sounds dumb." He remarked

"I did," I replied.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I was just kidding" He said, nervously.

The battery on my shoulder shot open, and immediately my vision was laden with hundreds of red circles, each signifying a new hostile enemy it'd locked on to. Eventually, the symbols stopped popping up, signifying the lock-on for every missile. Then, Stephane pressed down on something in my head, causing the rockets to fly out, sporadically chasing after each enemy Titan. Each one successfully collided with its target, digging deep into its hull before detonating, dealing heavy damage to everything that'd been unlucky enough to be targeted. Many had been sent into a daze and the rest had died, weakened by the Militia.

The Militia Titans took advantage of our assistance, easily killing the hostiles as they stood unprepared, laying in with their guns, each roaring out its deafening bellow for the whole IMC to hear.

"More IMC Titans moving in. Let's bring the fight to them, keep moving."

The Militia Titans snapped to attention, pulling away from the corpses and pushing onward, climbing over the wreckage of the wall. Stephane was already one step ahead of them, pushing deeper into the battlefield. Multiple burning objects broke through the atmosphere, plummeting to the ground and landing just a few paces ahead of us.

"More Titans for the slaughter!" Stephane laughed

Asides from the ones that'd recently dropped, there were already a few waiting for us. A couple of brutes, an Ion, a Tone. Nothing Stephane can't handle. They opened fire on me, but Stephane was quick to react, holstering my pistol and forcing my arm out, letting an element-infused magnetic shield out in front of us. Also known as a Vortex shield.

Their rockets and bullets caught easily in the shield, before immediately being redirected back to them in one fell swoop. The projectiles flew and spread out, tearing into their hulls, sending the Tone to its knees as it clutched its eye that'd been hit dead centre with a rocket. Stephane continued with melee, which he'd probably been the most excited about now that I think about it. He raised my cleaver high, bringing it down on a Brute who'd tried to escape his wrath, sheering the thing in two. As he turned to face the other heavily damaged Brute, it self-destructed as a bright red beam bore into its hull.

The Militia Titans had just made their way into the battlefield, and the Titan that'd stolen Stephane's kill was non-other than an Ion, it was pretty badly damaged too. My Pilot shrugged it off, before turning to the others, which were already being taken care of by the Titans. A Vanguard had stolen the Tones weapon from him, and used the gun as a crowbar, prying the Titan's hatch open before firing in with its acolyte pod. The others had been taken care of the old-fashioned way, with their guns, no fancy executions this time.

The freshly dropped Titans had also been killed as the man himself, Jack Cooper rushed in, stabbing one through the hull with his Leadwall's Broadsword. He struggled with that one Titan while the other Militia Titans advanced, assisting him by pushing back the Hostiles with their shells, bullets, and bombs.

The entire battlefield had been cleared of all hostiles, with not even a single enemy Titan left standing. There was a cargo gate built into the cliffside on the other end of the battlefield, which the Militia forces were currently flooding into. Stephane rushed over to the gate, pressing onward beneath the gate. Somehow, this door was the only door ever made that could actually fit my chassis beneath it, lucky for me, and lucky for the entire Militia.

As Stephane squeezed my chassis in, the flashes of gunfire caught my cameras. At the end of the tunnel was a Legion, who was currently getting the shit kicked outta him by Sarah. The Legion wasn't quite dead, so my Pilot decided to do something just a little brash, and when I say a little, I mean a lot. He sheathed my cleaver and holstered my pistol, before dashing towards the doomed Legion. He pushed Sarah out of the way before pinning the Legion down with my immense weight.

He brought my fist up and began pummeling the things hatch in, each punch digging deeper into its hull. Its hull cracked and groaned, as it dented more and more. It all ended as Stephane raised my fist up high and rocketed it straight into its face, caving in its hatch, and turning the Pilot inside into a red blood splatter within his Titan.

"Elk Four. Stork Two - Lock this area down!"

The Militia Titans spread out the tunnel, rushing ahead as Stephane pushed himself to his feet. The sounds of heavy gunfire rang out as the Militia Forces tore away at whatever hostiles guarded the area. My Pilot heard all the commotion, and, not wanting to be left out, he unholstered my Pistol, and unsheathed my cleaver, before rushing ahead with either weapon at the ready.

There was infantry all over the place, but that wasn't what Stephane had in mind, instead he locked onto a Scorch which was currently pushing back a Vanguard who'd tried to get in close. He was quick to notice the 19-tonne 48 feet tall Titan running toward him, turning around and firing a thermite grenade straight at my chest. The grenade exploded upon contact, leaving a ball of flaming thermite in its wake, but Stephane really couldn't give a damn. He continued forward as if nothing had happened, before kicking the Scorch to the ground, leaving it defenceless for the most part.

He pressed my foot down on the Titans hatch, firing up my thrusters. They almost immediately ignited, sending a concentrated beam of fire straight into the Titan's face. The flames bore into its hull, melting away at the solid steel, and scorching the Titan black. It punched at my leg attempting to push it off and hopefully delay its doom, though it couldn't quite do so, leaving the Pilot to be incinerated. The Titan fell limp as the flames finally pierced into the cockpit, killing the Pilot within.

"We need to get a move on!"

Stephane took that with the utmost importance, rushing forward, ready to tear apart anything that lay ahead of him. I managed to catch a glimpse behind me, and sadly, some of our allied Titans had perished in the battle, leaving nothing but their burnt chassis behind. My Pilot pushed onward and met with the next section of the tunnel he and our allies had to fight through. Yet again, it was filled with light infantry, they were littered around the entire room, hidden away behind pillars and crates. But again, Stephane would pay them no mind, as long as there was something meaner and bigger around, which there was.

There were two Scorchs that'd dropped through the pits in the ceiling, they were picking themselves up from within their dome shields, prepping their guns. Alongside one Northstar that'd been smart enough to drop in the far back, they shouldered their heavy guns and readied themselves for the slaughter which was soon to meet them.

As their dome shields dropped, Stephane charged straight at them, barreling the first Titan that stood in his way to the ground. He quickly caught himself and got to his feet, he managed to fire off a couple of bolts into the Titan's face, before he started taking fire, literally. The other scorch had laid two canisters down at our feet, which he'd happily ignited with his thermite.

The flames scorched my feet black, but yet, the flames were not nearly hot enough to damage my edmunidum plating. Yet the flames most definitely could damage his companion, the flames engulfed the Titan and cooked it to a crisp, killing both the Titan and the Pilot in the process. That attack really seemed counter-productive if you asked me.

Stephane raised my pistol and fired at the Scorch as he slowly trudged toward it. The bolts tore away at its hull, leaving it weaker and weaker as the bolts collided with it. It was in arms reach soon enough, and it was left hanging on by a thread, the vents of its back jetted with flames, and its entire body was blackened from the explosions. Stephane raised my cleaver high, and cleaved the Titan in two, like butter.

As he lifted the cleaver from the remains of the Scorch, something collided with my visor, fizzling both our views. Oh right, the Northstar. Stephane holstered my pistol and brought up my vortex shield, catching whatever projectile the Titan fired at us. The vortex shield gave us a little cover as we recovered our vision, and once it had. There was a massive buildup of shells and missiles in the shield, from either the Titan or the surrounding infantry, which were currently getting slaughtered by the Militia Titans. There were only two this time, both Vanguards. But that's not really what I'm focusing on right now.

Stephane let the shield go, sending an array of random bullets and projectiles flying back at the Northstar. They reached the Northstar, almost instantaneously, giving it not a moment's notice to react. The Titan disappeared in a fiery explosion, leaving a cloud of thick black smoke in its wake. As it cleared, we saw all that was left of the Northstar. The hatch had been torn straight off and most if not all of its plating had been stripped from the chassis. I can most definitely say, he died.

"We got to get to that ship before it takes off."

Cooper and Sarah passed us by, running off farther down the tunnel, Stephane pushed himself to his feet before running off after them. The ceiling dropped significantly, but Stephane, once again, couldn't give a damn. He crouched down and pushed on, no matter the condition we were in.

"Follow me, there's a lift up ahead."

And lo, there was such a device. In the form of a giant open platform, just a few paces down the hallway. Cooper had already reached it, and we were lagging, with our height and all that, you know.

"Come on Pilot! Follow me!"

Stephane paced down the tunnel, eventually breaking through the tunnel's grasp and onto the platform, alongside Cooper and Sarah, they had their weapons shouldered and they were ready for just about anything. I didn't have that fancy neural link the Vanguards had, so I just left it to my superstition, to guess that Stephane was ready.

"Here we go. Get ready, Pilots. Going up."

The door slowly closed behind us, and as it fully sealed down, the lift began rising, though painfully slowly.

"That was the easy part."

Well no shit.

"You're doing well, Cooper. And the same could be said for you Stephane. As far as I'm concerned, you've earned your Pilot certification, Cooper. And I'll talk with the General about you and that Titan, Stephane."

The lift began slowing down, before clunking to a stop, right at the very top of the elevator. It led to a small room, harbouring only the lift and a weapons rack, with only but a single weapon along it. It was a plasma railgun that Cooper greedily snatched. The rest was the great outdoors of the airbase.

"Now let's finish this thing and get home."

Cooper, Sarah and Stephane trudged off the lift, breaking out into the light of day. They were on some sort of bridge built into the side of a mountain, and it was littered with Titans and Infantry. Stephane didn't waste time, thirsty for glory, he sprinted down the bridge, my weapons at the ready. As he ran along, I caught a view of the IMS Draconis. It was an absolute unit of a ship, parked at the very end of the bridge. Past all its twists, turns and tunnels.

"There she is! We still have time to intercept the Ark!"

The path turned away, back into the canyons. There were lookout posts filled with light infantry everywhere, and what mattered the most was the plethora of Titans. There was basically one of each class, just standing there, oblivious of what was to come.

"Caution: We are outnumbered by enemy Titans. I advise firing off a batch of Wasp Missiles." I suggested.

"You got it, Big Guy." He replied.

The missile battery on my shoulder shot open, a fresh new batch of bombs ready for disposal. I have no clue how those things were replenished, but hey, I'm not complaining. As he pressed down on some switch in my head, the rockets flew out hissing as they shot off to their designation. Most if not every single light infantry was turned into a fine red mist, by the rockets, and the Titans were heavily damaged by the bombs. Most lost plating, others lost vital systems, while some unlucky few had their weapons explode in their hands, leaving them unarmed.

Sarah and Cooper dashed round the corner soon afterwards, and upon seeing the state they were in, they opened fire, not letting them recover. Stephane soon joined in, unholstering my pistol from my hip. Cooper and Sarah aimed towards the weaker targets, mainly Northstars and Brutes. While Stephane, being the big game hunter he truly is, focused on the stronger folk. He focused his sights on a Tone, one that still was mostly intact, with its weapon active, which was, in this case, the strongest of the bunch.

He fired upon it, the bolts flying from my pistol and colliding straight with its hull, easily tearing away its weakened plating, thinning its hatch more and more with each shot. Till the hatch flew off from the constant barrage of bolts, leaving the Pilot exposed, as it staggered away Stephane pulled the trigger one last time, firing a bolt straight into the Pilot, it exploded violently, hitting some sort of flammable material within the Titan, causing it to self-destruct. Most of the stragglers had been taken out by Cooper and Sarah by now, yet a few Titans lay spread out on the battlefield.

"Pilot, I suggest you continue, our mission is to retrieve the Ark, my hull can, and will withstand whatever they throw at me, you can afford to run past them," I said.

"Ehh, can I at least hit and run?" Stephane pleaded

"If it does not get in the way of the mission," I replied

"Sweet!" He said.

"This is Stephane to Commander Briggs. I am running ahead, sorry to leave you to deal with the enemy." Stephane said.

"Good thinking, Pilot. We won't hold you back."

Stephane ran up the hillside, past the flaming corpses of IMC Titans. There was one Ion, struggling to his feet, his chassis was blackened and his rifle was beyond repair. It seemed like it'd fall apart at any moment, but no mercy was dealt, he was the enemy, and Stephane noticed that. As Stephane paced, he made sure to stop by the Ion, slicing it in half as he ran by. Brutal.

He continued onward up the hill, as Cooper and Sarah took care of whatever was left behind. The path eventually stopped at a short entrance, probably about half my height. We didn't have to crawl, so that's a win in my book. Stephane crouched down, pushing on farther into the airbase. The gate led into a small room, that only acted as an airlock, connecting to another room off to the left. Stephane rushed through the entryway, being met with a Brute. Upon seeing him, I can guess it shat its pants so to say.

It turned around and fled, after all, nobody in their right mind would fight a 48-foot-tall Titan in a Stryder-based chassis. The room that Stephane ended up in was an exit, leading out into the open. We weren't in the canyons anymore, instead being back on the bridge, I spotted the IMS Draconis not far off in the distance, and when I say not that far, I mean far, and paired with the fact that there were swathes of Titans in-between us and the ship, I doubt we'd make it there fast.

Stephane immediately dashed forward, sprinting full speed toward the massive carrier ship. The Titans almost instantly spotted me, and upon noticing, they raised their guns and fired, missiles bullets and bolts flew, almost every single one colliding with my hull. We pushed on, either way, not bothered by the hellfire. Stephane slashed at any Titan unfortunate enough to stand in our way, and he fired back at any Titan that dared shoot us. He didn't slow down, keeping perfect pace the entire time.

My hull wasn't enjoying the assault one bit, the plating slowly tore away, leaving me weaker and weaker by the second. Yet it still stood strong considering the extraordinary amount of fire we were receiving at the moment. I doubted it would hold long, and not wanting to die today, I decided to let Stephane go nuts.

"Pilot, my hull is taking excessive damage. I allow you to return fire." I said.

Stephane immediately stopped sprinting, turning around with my pistol raised high. The battery on my shoulder shot out, and I could guess that Stephane had a gleeful grin on his face, just like a kid in a candy store.

"Shoulda told me sooner mate!" He replied.

He let loose, every offensive weapons system he could, firing off a swarm of rockets from my missile rack and shooting off a stream of bolts from my burst-fire Pistol. Bolts flew and rockets hissed, and if I had to say, these Titans weren't ready at all. They stumbled back as they each got engulfed in fire, from either the element-induced bolts or the high-powered missiles. But needless to say, they weren't looking too good afterwards. Just like before, they'd all been handicapped in one way or another, some had their legs blown off, while others lost an arm, some died straight on the spot, and a select few were smart enough to take cover, only taking minimal damage.

But before Stephane could do any more damage, BT and Sarah arrived just in time, making sure to finish whoever was left from the massacre.

"Don't let them take off Stephane! They're almost done refuelling!"

Stephane turned around, and off at the ramp of the IMS Draconis, were three Titans. Two were Scorches wheeling away some sort of weird casing, and the other was an Ion, painted a dark red with yellow stripes atop it. Wait... Oh, fuck! That's the Ark!

I ripped the controls from Stephane and charged towards the Titans. Much to the dismay of Stephane, who was making an effort of complaining loudly. The Ion obviously noticed the giant 48-foot tall, 19.8 tonnes, glowing metal behemoth running straight at them, and she pulled her Splitter Rifle out before opening fire, aiming primarily for my face. I raised my cleaver and blocked whatever projectiles were fired. As I reached near, I swung my cleaver down, slashing straight into her chassis, causing her to scream out in pain. I flung her off the ramp, sending her toppling onto the hard concrete ground. Before she could pick herself up, I laid a flurry of bolts straight into her chassis, she was engulfed in a fiery blue element-laced explosion, possibly killing her.

I holstered my pistol and sheathed my cleaver, turning my attention to the Scorchs who were hurriedly shuffling away from me, with the Ark in hand. Well, it was on a wagon, which they were pushing, but it didn't matter. I charged the nearest Scorch, shoulder tackling it into the ground before I sent my fist rocketing into the other. Causing him to topple to the ground in a daze.

I didn't bother with finishing them off, I turned my attention to the Ark, grabbing hold of its casing and tucking it beneath my arm, where it would hopefully not slip out. Before I could move, one of the Scorchs grabbed hold of my leg, before letting a stream of fire blaze my leg black. The flames burnt between the plating, catching the less durable muscle behind it. I kicked the Titan in the face, causing it to let me go, right before I dashed for the exit. But before I could reach it, the IMS Draconis began taking off, slowly closing the hatch right before my eyes.

I dashed toward the door, before pulling my cleaver free with my free hand and slashing down on the bearings that held it in place, causing the door to grind to a halt, before completely disconnecting from the ship, sending it plummeting to the ground below. The ship had already taken off a reasonable distance, but not one that I couldn't make. I took a few steps back, readying myself.

"Oi mate! You better know what you're doing here." Stephane said, with a hint of panic in his voice.

"Pilot. I have no clue what I'm doing." I replied

I made a mad dash, leaping from the open gap. We went flying from the corridor, out into the open skies. I looked down, and we were hundreds of feet up in the air, and judging from the jump I'd made, we weren't gonna reach the platform with just our momentum. I quickly lit up my thrusters, letting them rumble to life before igniting with a roar.

I angled my legs down, sending us soaring forward. The ground grew closer and closer, and so did the bridge, I could make out two figures alongside its ledge, presumably Cooper and Sarah, waiting for my return. My legs grew hotter and hotter, I failed to realize that my thrusters had already been heated by the Scorch previously, and it was likely that Scorch may have just ended my life without it even knowing. Stephane had noticed this too, well, not the heating issue, only the fact that the ground was coming up on us, and fast.

"SHIT! SHIT! FUCK! E-0001 USE YOUR CORE OR SOMETHING!" Stephane shouted.

My core? I looked down at the wheel, and lo, it was full. Beckoning me to activate it, and so, like any sensible person in my situation, I did. I felt renewed as a wave of energy washed over me, time seemed to slow down significantly, and the glowing blue strips on my chassis glowed with a deep purple, the flames on my thruster had shifted, the simple dark blue flame being replaced with a dark purple one. If time hadn't slowed, I would say we were going at almost triple the speed.

"What is this?" Stephane asked.

"My core," I replied blankly

"What's it called?" Stephane asked, inquisitively

"Pilot, you should not be asking those questions now," I replied,

The ground began closing in, and I angled my thrusters down, slowing my descent. The bridge grew closer and closer by the second, yet, I was calm, probably because it was like, slow as hell in my perspective, but also because this core was improving my mental control, I wasn't freaking out like I usually did. Which, I was rather grateful for, to be honest.

I made contact with the ground, landing with a thud and cracking the ground beneath me. Leaving a miniature crater in my wake. The core wore off, shifting everything back to normal, my body glowing a radiant blue, and time speeding back up again. Somehow, the Ark hadn't been flung from my grasp, sitting still beneath my arm. I dropped the casing to the ground, and I let Stephane back at the controls, seems like I can overpower him.

"Great work, Pilot! This can single-handedly change the tides of the war in favour of the Militia."

"What are you going to do with it?" Stephane asked,

"We don't know yet... But we'll figure it out soon enough, but with this out of the IMC's hands, there'll be no way they can conquer us!"

"Good job... whatever your name is. And good to see you again E, it's been a while hasn't it?" Cooper remarked

"Affirmative. Good to see you too." I replied

"Hey! Where's the love for Stephane? The nerve of some people." Stephane grumbled.

The Ion I'd wounded lay dead, though not from me, it was filled with bullet holes, mainly through its hatch frame. Seems Sarah and Cooper finished her off.

"I'm calling in the fleet. Good work everybody."

Sarah turned round, switching over to another network, though I couldn't quite hear what she was saying with the help of the comms, I could just barely make out what she was saying through the thick hull of her Titan.

"This is Sarah Briggs to the 9th Militia Fleet. The mission was a success, I repeat the mission was a success. We have a hold of the Ark, send in the dropships, we'll be waiting for you."

Stephane walked up to the edge of the bridge, sitting down and letting my legs dangle freely off the ledge.

"E-0001, I thought I was gonna die back there, thanks for that mate," Stephane said

"You are welcome, Pilot. Only following protocol." I replied.

Stephane looked back at the carnage he'd wrought, gazing upon the many flaming corpses of the fallen enemy Titans.

"So... Is now a good time to ask about it?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied. "It's called my core. That's final"

"Lame." He replied.

"Challenge detected. I ask you to come up with a greater name." I added.

"Fine. Give me a moment..."

Good, that'd keep him quiet for a while.

I gazed out at the landscape, ignoring Stephane's umms and hmms as he pondered on whatever strange name he'd give my core. It had been a long time since I'd actually gotten to relax, like properly relax. You could count waiting in the hangar as 'relaxing' but it wasn't relaxing in the slightest, after all, I was gonna get paired up with some jackass who'd likely get me killed. Luckily, I'd only been paired up with a jackass, who wasn't likely to get me killed, they're both the same in my book.

The landscape was new to me, after all, back when I wasn't a giant killing machine, I didn't bother going to the mountains. I stuck to the ocean, it was where I felt most at home. Obviously, I couldn't spend my final days there due to the massive flood. I didn't bother to dwell on the thought any further than that. I don't live in the past.

Eventually, as we waited, a few ships appeared over the horizon, about 6 to be exact. The other Militia Titans had made their way from the tunnels, and they were waiting beside the others. I caught a few staring my way, but I didn't blame them, if I were in their shoes, I probably would've done the same thing, I'm not ashamed to say it.

The ships landed out in the flat, and the Titans swarmed them, piling in the ships one by one. There was one ship that stood out from the rest, it was a little bigger, and not a single Titan had gone in it. Seems like we've found ourselves our ride. Stephane pushed himself off the ledge and made his way over to the ship, all the while the other starships began taking off into the sky. Stephane walked up the ramp provided, pulling himself within the hangar. As he did so, the door closed, causing the thrusters to light up, slowly lifting the starship into the sky.

"I heard what you did out there Pilot. Good job."

"Thanks, mate! Always happy to meet a fan."

The starship began gathering speed, going faster and faster, before eventually breaking the atmosphere, and plummeting into the vast expanses of space.

"Alright, we're jumping in 3...2...1"

The ship gathered a massive amount of speed, continuing to gather more and more, causing our vision to contort and bend on itself. I braced myself for what was soon to come. And it arrived sooner than I'd thought, as a bright flash of light engulfed my vision, eventually dying down. I looked out the window and noticed an oddly familiar planet, well, I could say that for almost every planet I'd been to, but this one was more, well... known to me.

"Alright, we're here, bringing you into basecamp shortly."

The Starship flew down toward the planet at great speed, breaking through the atmosphere in a ball of flame. It slowed itself down as it passed through, letting the flames die down, before speeding off once more. Passing by mountains and forests in seconds. The starship began losing speed, slowing down more and more till it was hovering over a base, more specifically, the one I'd been in before. It descended into the basecamp, before touching down on one of the many runways available.

"Alright, we've arrived at the destination. Feel free to stretch your legs."

The door slid open, sloping down and acting like a ramp. Stephane walked out, taking in his new surroundings, which probably weren't all that new to him from what I'm assuming. I felt the control he had over my body fall piece by piece, from my arms to my legs, I guessed he was taking off the motion tracking devices.

"Good to be back eh?" Stephane remarked,

"It is a mixed bag, Pilot," I replied.

"Let me out please, thanks," Stephane asked

I kneeled, before laying my head down on the ground. I then let my visor up, as it dissipated hexagon by hexagon, before entirely disappearing. Stephane stepped out, jumping to the ground, giving me full control over my body once more. I stood up straight and tested my arms out, slowly moving them back and forth. There was no delay or pullback, so that means I'm a free man! Or Titan, eh whatever.

The general stomped on past a group of Riflemen, with his sights locked straight on Stephane, he walked right up to him before firmly grabbing him by the shoulder.

"Pilot. You're meeting with me, my office, now." The General said, his face as stern as ever.

He pulled Stephane away, down through the rows of tents.

"E-0001, you stay in your designated hangar." He yelled

He disappeared shortly afterwards, behind the columns of tents. I didn't fight back at his order, after all, I didn't want to be given the stink eye by every single passing Rifleman, somehow, the Titans even managed to do so, I mean, what did I do wrong? I feel like there's a word for this...

I trudged on through the base camp, catching the glares of almost every single person in the camp, I ignored them though, pushing on either way. As I reached the hangar block, I walked down the rows, eventually stopping outside a decently sized hangar labelled, HANGAR 32. I pulled apart the sliding doors and continued in, I shut them behind me, but they didn't quite close all the way, I didn't bother with them, it wasn't like it was gonna hurt anybody.

I leaned up against the wall, gazing about the room. The Atlas was still there, yet it looked ever so slightly less damaged, seems like somebody's been working on repairing that ancient relic. As I looked about the room, I spotted something off in the shadowy depths known as the corner. A pair of lights? Nah, they looked more like eyes to me. How strange...

"You're a difficult person to find. Aren't you?" The lights asked,

I unholstered my gun, pointing it straight towards the lights.

"Hold on! I'm on your side. Put the gun down." They said, startled.

"State your name and occupation," I replied, monotonously.

"You can drop the act around me. I know your secret." They replied.

I took a step closer and steadied my aim, repeating myself once more.

"I have no secrets. What. is. your. name. and. occupation." I said.

"Uhm, I'm Clara Gealon, and I'm a Traveler so to speak." They replied.

"Explain," I said sternly.

"Let's see... how can I explain this without you blowing my brains out... Uh, I was sent here by... some people, to come and take you back." They explained.

"You work with the IMC. Commencing termination-"

"Wait! No, that's not what I mean! Ok... hear me out, will this not make you shoot me? I know you were once human."

I let my gun down slightly.

"Explain. Otherwise, I will reactivate the termination procedure." I stated.

"Oh uh, ok, so you were once Human, like the rest of us, but you died one way or another, right?" They stated a hint of panic in their voice.

I stared them down, eh, it was fairly accurate, but it's not like I'm gonna trust them straight away, after all, they could be pulling a bunch of bullshit from their ass.

"Ok, uh what else... Oh right! There should've been this orange light and when you touched it, it turned you into what you are now. You should also have a key... Yeah, see! Right there on your hip."

I let down my pistol and stared down at my hip, and lo, there lay my keepsake. Just like they'd explained.

"How do you know all this?" I said, completely dropping the tone. Returning to my old voice, which I hadn't used since I'd first awakened.

"Because it happened to me too... Alright... are you the untrusting type?" They asked.

"Yes," I replied blandly

"Well then... this is going to be pretty difficult for you to understand." They said, "Alright, so you are actually part of a group known as the 'Plainswalkers', they defend the realms they reside in from beings known as shadows. They hit like a truck and they have they are basically a one-man army, even the weakest of them should be able to tear you to shreds without so much as a whim. That key you have on your hip is what connects us to the other Plainswalkers, such as myself, it opens a portal to a realm known as the Rift. Which connects to every conceivable realm known to media, and... yeah, that's the basics." They explained.

I stood in silence, staring them down, I hesitated on turning them into a fine red mist right here and now, yet, how else would they know about all that? I can't afford to be brash.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? I'm not a kid. Do you have any proof?" I asked, sternly

"Yes! Alright, this is my favourite part."

They pulled out something from behind them, it glinted off their glowing eyes, and it was roughly the shape of a key from what I could see.

"Now, you promise you won't shoot me if I come out?"

"As long as you don't have a weapon drawn."

They stepped out into the light and from what I could see, they were heavily decorated in armour, not fantasy-style type armour, it was more futuristic. It had slanted eyes and broad shoulders, thick plating ran along its arms and legs, with one big plate right in the centre of her chest, her fingers were bulky and there was a filter placed on the bridge of the helmet's face. There were two hydraulic tanks mounted on the armour's back and two separate tubes were running from her helm.

After seeing that she hadn't died, she decided to speak up.

"You've bonded with your key, right?"

"Scuse me?" I asked.

"Right, I haven't told you about that yet." "So, there was a bond implemented in your key as a safety precaution after someone went around and stole everyone's keys, effectively destabilizing tons of realms in the process."

"And how do I establish this 'bond'?" I asked

"You gotta let it come in contact with your blood, it normally needs more the bigger the Plainswalker."

"So, what your saying is you want to stab me with my key?" I asked, sternly.

"No! Well, I don't want to... It's mandatory."

I raised my pistol and pointed it straight at her.

"Give me one good reason to kill you," I said.

"I can show you! Just put the gun down, and I'll demonstrate."

I sighed, and let my gun down, letting it hang loosely by my side.

She awkwardly walked into the middle of the room, making side-glances at me as she did. She looked down at the key in her hand, before sighing, she brought the key up and stabbed it into the air.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Just watch."

She twisted it, causing some sort of weird golden glob to appear, it slowly opened more and more until it took shape of a portal of sorts, it swirled and spun, intertwining and folding in on itself, kind of like a kaleidoscope, it was mesmerizing, to say the least.

"Wow," I remarked.

"I know right?"

She pulled the key free from the portal, causing it to collapse in on itself before she turned back to face me. I let go of my gun, letting it fly from my grasp and onto the magnetic surface of my hip.

"Now... About the bonding..."

"Don't worry, pretty sure it's already done. Used the bugger to pry a tooth from my leg. I'm assuming the extreme burning was the bonding process?" I asked

"Exactly, no one expects it the first time. That's why they normally take them by surprise."

"Got it," I replied.

"So, all you gotta do now is stick the key forward, and twist, almost like you were opening a door, once you've done that you gotta feel around for your Rift Energy. I can't really explain what it feels like, but you'll know it when you feel it."

"Hope you're not lying to me" I responded.

I grabbed hold of the key and stared down at it. The light glistened off it like a jewel, shining brilliantly in the light. I raised it up and stabbed it forward, it seemed to lock in place, stopping me from moving it any farther forward. I felt around inside me for this "Rift Energy" drifting off into my head, I reached out, feeling about my soul. As I did, I eventually felt some sort of tingly sensation floating about. So I focused in on the sensation and grabbed hold of it, it immediately burst forth, sending a huge wave of unknown energy coursing through my body, causing my 'veins' to light up with a golden hue, it slowly built up, flowing throughout my body and into the key.

"Great! Never seen that happen before... Anyways, just twist and you should be all good to go."

I twisted the key, causing the flood to disappear, just like that. But as it dissipated, a golden blob formed where my key once was, spreading out further and further, it rounded out, creating a giant portal of sorts, twisting and shifting right in front of me, I reached my hand out and touched it, pulling some of the strange golden semi-liquid from the portal. It floated from the portal, soon dissipating into nothingness.

"I know right? The faces on you newbies always gets me. Well, you don't really have much of a face... But I can certainly imagine one!"

She walked up to the portal, standing before it.

"I gotta go in first, it'll disappear behind you if you go in before me. I wouldn't be much of a guide if I wasn't there to actually guide you."

She stepped in, completely disappearing behind its golden face. I cautiously poked my arm in, pulling out once more. It was perfectly fine, with not even a scratch to its name. Well, aside from the wounds I'd gotten during the raid... But that's not what I'm focusing on here. I stepped into the portal, passing through its gelatinous surface. And the interior was... trippy, and that's the least I could say. The walls were constantly moving, shifting twisting and folding in on themselves. I couldn't decide whether to be impressed or creeped out.

"Hey, you alright?"

I looked around, slightly startled by the voice, before my eyes landed on the one other thing in the endless twisting tunnels of gold. It was the armoured lady, she was staring at me, waiting for my response.

"Yes. It's just a sensory overload I guess."

"It's understandable, I felt like that too the first time I got here." "Your key should guide you the rest of the way, it'll automatically take you to our main hub, we call it Locostral."

I looked down at the key, it seemed to be moving, pointing farther into the tunnel. Like a compass so to speak.

"Go on, I'll catch up." "

With that, I walked on. Deep into the winding tunnels. My key constantly swivelled, pointing down tunnel after tunnel, left right, left, left, you get it. My feet sank into the golden liquid that this 'realm' was made of, it felt weird, even if I couldn't feel for the most part. I tore my eyes away and ignored it, continuing deeper into the tunnels. And after what felt like hours of walking, I reached a dead end, just a straight-up wall. I looked down at my key in confusion, wondering if I'd taken a wrong turn, but nope, it was pointing dead ahead, right into the wall. How... Oh right, portals

I took a step forward, pushing through the golden gelatinous wall, and I was assaulted by a plethora of new sights and sounds. Massive skyscrapers tore into the sky, and aircrafts of all sorts soared through the skies, swerving around the looming towers. But what was most strange was the people, most of them weren't even people in the first place! There were the undead just roaming about, beasts that almost towered to the same height as I, and many of them were very familiar. Mainly because they were all fictional characters. No matter where I looked there was someone new from Optimus Prime, to Master Chief, you think it, and they were probably there within the crowd.

They were all swarming toward some giant stadium off in the distance, flooding through the gates. The sounds of thousands of overlapping voices reached my microphones, from deep to high, robotic and echoey, it was an absolute cacophony of sounds and sights, and it was giving me a headache. But soon a familiar voice reached out to me through the sea of voices, I looked toward it and it was the armoured woman from earlier.

"How do you like it?"

"It's overwhelming, to say the least," I replied, over the thousands of overlapping voices

"Good! We get that a lot." "Well, no time to waste! You see we're having a gathering today, that's why everyone's swarming the stadium."

She rushed into the crowd, and made her way toward the stadium, alongside the copious amounts of characters. I kept a distance from the crowd, after all, I didn't want any casualties, plus, there was no way in hell I'm ever going to be walking aside dinosaurs, it was great behind a screen, but here? Nope, never. I trudged along, and for the first time since my rebirth, no one stared at me, it's like I blended right into the crowd. It was nice.

I looked around, just taking in the absurdities. From the 1-1 complete recreation of Stark Tower to the pod of dragons flying through the skies. There were small storefronts littered about, most were empty and some seemed completely abandoned, or maybe that was an aesthetic? I had no idea. The towers began growing closer and closer together, forcing me into the crowd. I was nervous, to say the least, and my steps were cautious. I didn't want any casualties on my hands today.

"Oi watch it! Fuckin robots"

"Sorry!"

"Keep your distance tin can."

Rude.

Eventually, I reached the gates, there were two smaller gates probably about 10 feet high for the shorter characters, and right between the two was a massive probably 100-foot tall gate, preferably for the people of my height. Ram was waiting beside the gate, patiently tapping her foot with her arms crossed, all while she leaned back beside the gate. As she spotted me she stood straight, letting her arms fall to her side.

"I assume you have some questions?"

"Yes. Many." I replied.

"I assume it's about the gathering?"

"Spot on," I said.

"Alright, what do you need to know? Make it quick please, I can't be late for the gathering."

"What is it in general? Like, I can assume it's a gathering, but what for?"

"Well we really just report on shadow activity, we share stories from our realms, and the main part of the show, we welcome newcomers."

"Nothing too special I guess," I asked.

"Well, it's rather exciting the first or second time, but after that, it's pretty boring, some just don't show up, but we normally show up for the newcomers, word spread quickly about you. The story is that someone popped into the Titanfall realm to grab something, and that's when they spotted you and came back to share the good news, that's why there are so many people."

"I see... If that's the case, why'd everyone ignore me?" I asked

"They only said there's a newbie, they didn't specify who, or what."

"Understandable," I replied.

The last of the crowd disappeared behind the doors, leaving only Clara and I outside.

"Seems like that's my cue. Just head down the hall till you reach the giant doors at the end, you'll know when it's your time to shine." She said, before rushing over to one of the smaller doors and disappearing behind it, closing the gate behind her.

I turned to face the bigger gate, it was already open from the previous 'Plainswalkers' who'd come before me. I walked in and closed the gate behind me, it was surprisingly light from what I could see, I would've expected this thing to be like trying to haul around a carrier ship, but no, it was as light as a feather. It was pretty strange, but I shrugged it off, continuing down the hall.

The hallway was rather barren, with tall stone walls and ceiling, flame-lit lights were floating about midair, illuminating the room. It was almost magical, but that'd be absurd, magic ain't real. Soon enough, I reached the gates at the end of the hallway, I leaned up against it, making sure not to open it, but still leaning in close enough to eavesdrop easily.

"-So there was this giant dragon, right? And I pulled out my sword and I slashed it in two!"

It was followed by cheering and some growling, a mixed bag of excitement and anger.

"No offence mate."

"None taken."

"Alright! Are there any shadow reports?"

Silence.

"Not a hint?"

Silence.

"Alright then! Seems you're all eager for what's to come."

Cheers erupted, from people to beasts, they all howled and chanted in excitement.

"Alright calm down people. The moment you've all been waiting for, let us welcome our newest addition to Locostral!"

I pushed open the doors and trudged out into the light. The interior of the stadium was a little like a mix between a coliseum and a rugby stadium, and all the stands were crowded with people of all types. From cyborgs, automatons, humans, humanoids, beasts, undead, and game characters. They were all there. They cheered and whistled as they gazed upon my glory.

I trudged on farther into the centre of the field, and the cheering had not yet stopped. Well, if they want to see something amazing, they better be prepared to be amazed. I'll humour them. I raised my pistol high and fired into the air, the blue bolts flying high before exploding like fireworks, sending a shower of element-infused sparks raining down on the crowd. Hopefully, that won't have any long-term side effects. There was a group of people, varying in size and species sat high above the rest, one of them stood and spoke up.

"Welcome to Locostral Newcomer!"

"Pleasure to be here sir," I said, kneeling down in respect.

The cheering died leaving the stadium in silence, allowing the man to speak clearly.

"What is your name?"

"Elijah sir, Elijah Nash," I replied

"From what realm do you hail?"

"Titanfall, sir," I replied.

"Titanfall, hm..."

He looked down, in thought, before raising his head high. He raised his arms up, gesturing to the crowd.

"Clan leaders! Whoever's willing to take him, stand!"

The crowd broke out into mutters, though no one stood. Seems like nobodies willing to take me-

"I will Elder Abraxus!"

I looked over to the voice, and deep into the crowd was some sort of humanoid figure, I couldn't quite make out the details. So the rest was up for assumption.

"Ah Aleki, it's been a while hasn't it? Elijah, does this arrangement suit you?"

"Yes sir," I replied.

I may have made a mistake, I didn't know who the guy was, or his intentions! Stay cool Elijah, don't forget you're a Giant Robot, you got this.

"Ok! That is today's gathering! Treat the newcomer with respect. We don't want a bad reputation. Dismissed!"

The crowd got from their seats and rushed out of the stadium, pushing and shoving past each other. I got up from my knees, pushing myself to my feet. There were a few people who stayed though, it was the same guy who'd accepted me into their 'clan' and a few others, who I assumed to be my clanmates, there were three of them to be exact. As the crowd fully disappeared, they got from their seats and walked down the columns, eventually reaching the very edge. They vaulted the railing and plummeted to the ground, they landed with a thud but easily picked themselves from their stupor.

"Hello, Elijah! It's good to meet you." The leader said.

He was an automaton such as myself, but his design was... odd. His torso was curved like a prawn, and his head was long and extended, with little metallic mandibles on the end. He had two broad arms with little pincer claws on the end, there were also many heavy armaments strapped to them. But the thing that stood out most was the fact that he was like, really short in comparison to me, I could guess that he was taller than your average Kiwi male but he was like, really small. His accent was also very familiar, almost like mine, I could probably guess this guy was a Samoan.

He let out his hand, and I grabbed hold of it and gave him a firm handshake, he seemed nice, but it never hurt anybody to be on edge.

"It's good to have another member in our team."

He pulled his hand away and turned to the gates.

One of the others walked up to me, he seemed to be the tallest of the bunch, he had the basic exo-suit frame, no head and a bulky body. His left hand was replaced with a three-point drill, and his right was just your regular old hand. His hull was painted a deep yellow, like the one you'd see on an excavator, there was a thick pane of glass fitted to his torso, it was tinted, not allowing any view of the interior of his cockpit.

He let his hand out, reaching for a handshake. I grabbed hold of his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"You got a strong grip there! Anyways, I'm James as you should know. And it's very nice to meet you." He said. He sounded old like not eldritch old, like an 80-year-old man old. He carried an English accent too, all in all, he seemed like a good person.

"Our home isn't all that far away from here, should be a 10-minute walk from here to there, you can ask questions on the way there."

Charles scoffed "I don't trust him." He crossed his arms, with a rifle in hand, somehow.

I looked over to the voice, taking in his form. He was again, an automaton, which was probably the theme of this clan, anyways. He lacked a head, and his torso was blocky, mainly made from a thick pane of glass on the front back and top. His arms were bulky and thick, and his legs were too. His calves were extremely bulky compared to the rest of his leg, and his foot was simply just a curved metal plate with a piston attached. He was carrying a heavy rifle in his hands, for reasons unknown, and from his shoulder, a belt of bullets trailed down to the gun. His accent was thick and heavy, and extremely obvious. This guy was 100% American.

"Don't worry about Charles. He's probably just jealous, he's always been that way"

"Shut it, old man," Charles grumbled.

"Now! Let's not waste time."

Aleki walked onward, and we all followed behind, Charles grumbling as he did. Though I stayed at a distance, can't afford to trust anyone I don't know. They pressed on through the gates, and they walked out into the great city, there were a few who stuck around the entrance, just chatting away. I didn't acknowledge them any further than that. I was a little too focused on my superstition.

We pressed on deeper into the bowels of the city, there were people all over the place, swarming every building they could find. I'd even spotted a clan of living breathing dragons off in the distance, well dayum, lucky bastards.

"Look, all I'm saying is that I don't trust him! I mean just look at him, he could turn on us any moment!" Charles muttered,

"Quiet down, boy," James said

"Shut it, Grandpa! You wouldn't see a hostile even if they were right in front of you, you relic!" Charles yelled.

"Charles! Why such hostility? You've never acted like this before."

"Mate, he's a fucking behemoth, there are blood stains on his chassis! He's definitely killed before." Charles argued

"Do not say that like you haven't either."

"Yeah! They're mutants and cannibals! Cannibal mutants! I say it's justified." Charles complained.

"Fair, but that's no excuse to be rude to the newbie, you don't even know him. We'll leave this till we get back home."

He scoffed and continued in silence, diverting his gaze from me and the group. The rest of the walk was in silence, and the atmosphere was tense. We continued walking. And eventually, the city just ended, right ahead of some giant mechanical door. The door automatically opened as we grew closer, and it led to some cargo lift. We gathered on it, squeezing in. It looked as if there was plenty of room, yet in actuality, it was cramped as hell.

Aleki pushed through the buildup of robots and stamped in a number on the lift. It began lifting slowly, sending a little inertia through me. It eventually stopped right outside another giant mechanical door, it opened as the lift made its stop beside it, revealing to me its interior. I was expecting some heavy-duty workshop, or a hangar, it's what I expected with being a giant robot and all, but nope. Instead, I was met with the sight of a living room, just a normal living room. Yeah maybe the couch and TV were super-sized, but that was about it.

"Come in."

I stepped in and took a quick glance around the room, it was perfectly identical to your average kiwi home, alongside a few oddities and picture frames. The living room connected to a hallway that stretched down a bit, it connected to a total of four other rooms. I didn't bother to look though, after all, it was time for me to get acquainted with my 'clan members'.

"How do you like it? It's your new home away from home,"

"I like it. It's much better than the hangar I'd been assigned back in my realm" I replied.

"Good to hear, I hope you don't mind living in a mountain, the elders didn't want 15-tonne robots walking around in apartment buildings, no matter what you build that floor out of, the people downstairs won't be happy."

I stifled a laugh, maybe these guys weren't so bad.

"Alright, sorry for stalling, we'll get on with introductions." "I, as you should know, am Aleki. I died a bit after my bike brakes finally gave in after years of abuse. Basically, I crashed face-first into a fence, I can tell you that the aftermath wasn't pretty." "And I take the form of the exo-suit from the movie District 9, and I defend the realm known to most as 'TerraTech'"

"Yeah, yeah great," Charles mumbled. "Ok, tin can, I'm Charles. I died by the means of none of your business, and I defend the realm of my gun up your ass" Charles said, snarkily.

"Charles, I'm trying to put on a good image, I swear to the Gods that I will mess you up."

"Fine, fine." Charles said, "Sorry for the bad start, I'm Charles as you should obviously know if you ain't braindead, and I take the form of an AMP Suit, yadda yadda my realm's The Forest. There? You happy?" Charles asked.

"Yes"

He stomped away down the hallway, stopping outside one of the four doors.

"I've got my eye on you, tin can." Charles snarled.

He ripped open the door and slammed it shut behind him. Disappearing from view.

"What's wrong with that guy?" I asked.

"I'm not quite sure, he's actually quite chill. I'm not sure what's going on with him"

"I'm having a hard time believing that mate," I remarked.

"Yes... It's fair. Anyways, on with the introductions, James?"

"Yes? Oh yes! I'm James or Mr Riggs as Charles calls me. I'm one of the few lucky bastards that died of old age, and I take the form of... I forgot the name... I don't know, my grandson made me play this game about some robot, and a lady, I didn't get very far. I was way too old for those things." James said. "I defend the realm of Scrap Engineer or something like that.". "I may be a little slow when it comes to these video game things. But I'm not an old man anymore, I can do things I could never do before! It also helps with the fact that we're all immortal, I can be like this for the rest of time, and I wouldn't want it any other way"

"Wait... Did you say immortal?" I asked,

"Did they not tell you? Us Plainswalkers are immortal through and through, it's a side-effect of our rebirth."

"So... I'll live forever?" I asked.

"Well, not like immortal immortal, we can't age, like in the slightest, there are people who look as fresh as a boy who's been around for 20 odd years!." James remarked.

"Wow... That's a lot to take in."

The room grew silent as an air of awkwardness washed over us.

"Oh! I almost forgot you've got your very own room! I managed to get the full story out that Clara girl, we assumed we'd be picking you up, so we made a room for you!" James said, breaking through the silence.

"Really? Well, that's awfully kind of you." I said, slightly astonished.

"Well, we had an almost unlimited supply of resources and the bodies of work machines, so we decided to make one for ya! Didn't want you sleeping on the couch after all." James replied

"Well uhm, thank you very much, I am very grateful for your hospitality," I said, giving them a slight bow. If you wanna connect with an Englishman, you gotta speak like one.

"Come, I'll show you to it" James added, grabbing hold of my arm and pulling me along, for a mech that small, he had a surprising amount of strength.

He pulled me to the door at the very far back, it extended off to the right side of the hallway, and surprisingly, they'd got the height measurements for the door right. How did they even reach that high?

"Hope you like it," James said, pushing open the door for me.

It was a bedroom, and the walls were designed with a metallic hue. There were a few overhead lights that glowed the same hue of cyan that my body did. There was a bed, one large enough for me to lay upon, and to be honest... I probably wasn't gonna. There was a television right at the end of the bed with some strange console beneath it, it kinda looked like a mixture of every mainstream console, a little bit of everything sprinkled in. There were two discs beside it, each with a familiar logo. Ark, and Titanfall 2. Seems they really put some elbow grease into this place. There was one more thing of note, that being a glass door that reached a short balcony that overlooked the city.

"How'd you like it?" James asked.

"Well, safe to say it's the greatest I've been treated to so far. I can't thank you enough for this." I replied a smile would've formed, but due to the apparent lack of facial muscles, I wasn't quite capable of doing so.

"You like those computer games? We spent a long time actually figuring out what they meant by, a 48-foot-tall bipedal walker mech with a giant glowing sword. I can tell you I spent the whole night just trying to figure out your origins." James said,

I couldn't quite tell whether to think it was heartwarming, creepy, or admirable.

"Oh right! One more thing, we're treating ourselves to a little trip in honour of our new clan member." James said, excitedly.

"Really? What is it." I asked.

"Well I've never done it before, but we're going to try out some exotic sport that Aleki referred to as laser tag? I remember my nephew asked to go once, I obviously couldn't because I was an old man. But I'm not old anymore! I can do whatever I want!" He chuckled.

Seems like I've found what I've been looking for all this time.

Chapter 10 is done, baby! I apologise to all the sodds who hated it, I know you're out there. Yeah yeah, I ruined a perfectly good book, but it's a Riftiverse fanfic, it is mandatory. And 12,000 words. That's an all-time high! I pat myself on the back.

Leave a review if you may, tell me that you absolutely hated it, or that you liked it. I don't mind, just send one my way if you've got something to share.