First of all, I want anyone reading to know that this is the first fanfiction or any form of proper writing I have ever done, so if there are any spelling or grammar errors, that's the reason. If you have the time, please write a review. Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!
Secondly, I own neither Titanfall nor Ratchet and Clank. All rights to both go to their respective holders.
With that out of the way, enjoy!
Darkness, pitch black. It was all Daniel could see. Was he dead? Was this black void the afterlife? He wasn't sure, he didn't remember how he got here. He heard distant voices, reminding him that he was still very much alive. His mind began to trickle memories back to him.
Hijacking the Malta.
Killing Viper.
Boarding the Draconis.
Securing the Ark.
BT using himself as a shield to protect him.
He began to stir, as he returned to the realm of consciousness. He heard voices again, much closer and clearer this time.
"Blisk your problems are not my concern. Once you have delivered the Ark, as per your contract, your payment will be transferred by the IMC." Daniel saw a bright blue light in front of him. His eyes took a moment to adjust, as he saw the hologram of IMC General Marder. He saw two other people standing near the hologram; Blisk and Slone.
"Just have my money ready. I'll get you your precious cargo, you useless naff." He assured the hologram as it disappeared.
Daniel looked to his right. He could see the shape of Slone's Ion class Titan, standing with its Splitter Rifle to the side, and its front hatch wide open. He looked to his left; there was what was left of the chassis of BT-7274, scorched and severely damaged from the crash on the IMS Draconis. Several tools laid strewn about on a tarp on the floor in front of him. A vain attempt to pry open the Titan's hatch to retrieve the Ark.
"Oi, Titan! You're going to open up and give me what I want!" Blisk ordered BT while pointing his knife towards the heavily damaged war machine.
"Voice command... not recognised." BT's monotone voice spoke, his single 'eye' flashing.
"Let me just rip it out of him." Slone told Blisk, emphasising with a raised fist.
"We can't risk it, the Ark's unstable." Blisk explained as he turned to and approached the kneeling Militia Pilot, then crouched down in front of him. "Listen hero, you have what's mine and I want it back." He pointed his knife in Daniel's face, "Go on, tell your Titan to open up."
"About what, his feelings?" Daniel jeered.
Blisk sighed, "Still trying to be a hero, eh?" He reckoned as he stood up and replaced his knife into the sheath on his shoulder. "I have a lot of dosh riding in this contract, my friend." He drew his Wingman as he continued, "So tell your Titan, if he doesn't open up, I will shoot you in the head." He threatened as he pointed the revolver towards Daniel.
"Pilot in jeopardy. Ocular systems...marginal. Cannot visually acquire Pilot." BT said as he looked up towards Blisk. Blisk looked at the Vanguard, then back to the Pilot.
"Ugh. Stand him up!" Blisk ordered as two Grunts grabbed Daniel from behind and forced him to stand. "Do you see him now?" Blisk asked as he gestured to the Grunts to bring the Pilot closer. "Right here! Right here! Yeah? You see him now!?"
"Functions...compromised by...severe...crash damage." The Vanguard Titan anwsered.
"I don't care how broken you are!" Blisk exclaimed. "I know deep down, some things...some things still work in there. Now open up – or I'm going to shoot your Pilot in the head." He threatened as he brought his Wingman up to Daniel's face.
"You still remember numbers, don't you?" He asked the Titan. "I'm going to count to three."
Daniel saw a window pop up on the left side of his helmet display, reading:
RECIEVING ENCRYPTED MESSAGE
BT-7274:
COOPER, TRUST ME.
"One, two, three—" Blisk flinched as he was suddenly blinded by an intense light, coming from behind him. He turned around and squinted his eyes to make out the lower half of the Vanguard's hatch lay open, with the Ark clearly visible within the cockpit.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" He turned back around to face the Pilot. "that's the problem with teams. If you don't win together, you die together." He suddenly heard a mechanical whirring behind him, as he turned around to investigate the noise, he caught a glimpse of the Militia Titan's hand ready to grab him.
As Daniel was thrown to the floor, Blisk dodged the arm by ducking underneath it, and ran out of the room. The two Grunts previously restraining Daniel were blindsided by the sudden attack by the Titan. One instinctively opened fire on the Vanguard, and promptly realised he might as well be blowing kisses at the titan. He went to help up his friend, who was knocked over by a stray barrel flung during the Titan's assault.
As they were making their getaway, they were swiftly blown to pieces by the Vanguard's Acolyte Pods. Unfortunately, the blast from the guided rockets caused one of the nearby barrels to explode. The explosion was nothing spectacular, but it did cause a chain reaction with the other barrels nearby, engulfing the room in flames.
Once Daniel was able to look up from the floor, he saw Slone's titan make it's way over to BT. It wound its arm back, then the Ion's hand slammed into him through the open hatch, then ripped it back out. Daniel could see the Ark held in the Ion Class Titan's hand.
As Slone was walking away, BT's right arm reached out towards her Titan in an attempt to reclaim the Ark. Her Titan turned back around halfway to face the Vanguard, before Slone responded using the Titan's PA system.
"Nice try, love." She jammed her Titan's Splitter Rifle into BT's cockpit, "Say goodnight."
She proceeded to unload the particle accelerator into BT. Bright flashes took over Daniel's vision. BT tried to pull the gun away from him, in vain. his arm fell limp, as Slone removed the rifle from the Vanguard.
"Get the Ark out of here! We're running out of time!" Blisk called out from the safety of the bordering room. Daniel blacked out briefly. When he woke up, he unlocked the cuffs using a pin hidden in the wrist of his glove. He approached the battered remains of BT-7274, as the Titan hung there, lifeless. Engulfed in flames like the surrounding room.
The heat beginning to become unbearable. He realised that needed to get out of there now, lest he end up like BT. He spotted a terminal at the far end of the room, next to a massive door; his only chance of survival. As he began walking towards it, he heard a familiar monotone voice call his name from behind him.
"Cooper... over here." Daniel quickly went back to BT's shredded chassis, inspecting it for any signs of life. "BT?"
"Cooper...I can no longer uphold the mission...but you still can. Take the SERE Kit..." The Titan remaining limb began to twitch, as it lift up, and grabbed onto his head. "It is your best...chance...for survival." BT advised Daniel, as he pried his head off, and held it towards him. The arm suddenly fell limp again, as his head dropped out of his giant metal hand and onto the floor.
Daniel kneeled down and grabbed onto it, facing BT's partially closed eye towards him. When he did that, the glowing cyan eye suddenly shot open as if it was responding to his touch. The sides of the Vanguard's head extended outwards, revealing storage compartments hidden within the Vanguard's head.
He reached into the right compartment, his hand felt something within and he grabbed it firmly before pulling it up with a tug and sliding it out. It was a pistol, but not just any pistol. His helmet display identified it; a Mark six Smart Pistol. Another window appeared on his display, with information regarding the high-tech sidearm:
Locks on to targets within range for guaranteed hits.
He stowed the pistol into the Universal Holster on his right thigh for now, and reached into the opposite compartment. This time he felt something more rounded than a pistol grip. He repeated the action of tugging and sliding the object out of its compartment, revealing a Data Knife. He already knew what one could do, briefly remembering how he used one to take control of the IMC's Battleship Malta. He twirled the knife around in his hand and sheathed it.
He grabbed onto the Titan's head again, both compartments slamming shut as BT's eye extended out towards him slightly. He grasped the eye and gave it a firm pull, removing from its slot. He inspected the eye, seeing the SRS Prowler logo on the side, with the inscription BT-7274 next to it.
Time to get out of here. Daniel thought as he stood up and ran towards the terminal again, tightly holding BT's Datacore in his left hand. He used his newly acquired knife to pry open the keyboard, flicking the switch on the side of the handle to extend the wings on either side of the blade and jamming it into the socket in the centre of the console.
The holographic display on the handle lit up, initially glowing orange and then glowing blue, indicating the advanced hacking tool had done its job as the door to his left opened. He sheathed his knife as he drew his newly acquired Smart Pistol. After running through the neighbouring room, he ran up a staircase as his helmet display informed him that his Jump Kit was back online.
"All callsigns fire at will! Captain, do have a fix on that signal?
"I've got something, but it's faint. Cannot confirm."
He reached the top of the stairs. An IMC Grunt appeared in front of him and ran down the large hallway towards another group of Grunts. The Smart Pistol locked on to all five; five red lines traveling from the gun's muzzle to each of the Grunt's heads. He squeezed the trigger once, and five shots barked out, as the entire squad dropped dead.
"Commander Briggs, I'm picking up a datacore, but it's a weak signal!"
"Are you sure you have the coordinates? Boost the signal! I need to get through to them!
Daniel ran forwards and jumped up and onto a wall. His Jump Kit fired to keep him attached to it, as he ran along it.
"Commander Briggs, I have a lock on Cooper's position!
He spotted some more Grunts emerge from an open door ahead of him. He jumped down from the wall, slid across the floor and gunned them down with ease. He quickly got back on his feet and jumped up the ledge ahead of him.
"He's pulled BT's datacore! He must have the SERE Kit!"
"BT! Cooper! What's your status? Cooper! How copy, over?
There was a large gap separating his floor from the one he needed to get to. He responded by running up along the wall on his right, bringing him across the bottomless gap to the platform on the other side. He gunned down several more IMC soldiers, reloaded his pistol and kept running through the hall.
"BT-7274! Cooper! How copy, over!"
He slid under a partially closed shutter door, and emerged outside. He observed the massive spinning rings of the full-scale Fold Weapon as a group of drones flew by.
"Cooper, is that you? I'm picking up BT's datacore." Daniel finally had a chance to focus on the voice that had been in his ear for that past couple of minutes.
"Commander Briggs, I had to pull BT's datacore! What do I do?" Daniel finally answered the SRS Commander as he shot two more drones that had deployed from their cache and opened fire on him.
"Cooper - get to the bridge one klick north of your position." Briggs ordered. "We've got one shot to turn this fight around and you're it."
"Ok, I'm on it!" Daniel replied as jumped forwards and attached the karabiner on his armoured vest to a zip line, and slid down it towards another squad of soldiers that were completely oblivious to his presence. In less than a second, the squad lay dead.
"Our fleets moving in on the Fold Weapon." Briggs informed Daniel. "We're coming, it's not over yet." Daniel detached from the zip line and slid under another shutter door. He used his Jump Kit to launch himself onto the top of a cargo truck and jumped in front of two Grunts. Like with the ones before, the Smart Pistol made quick work of them.
He ran down the hallway and shot two more Grunts at the corner of the hallway. More Grunts emerged from around another corner and he repeated the action. He turned the second corner and was met with an entire squad of Grunts, led by a Shield Captain.
"Shit!" Daniel exclaimed, as he ducked back behind the corner as the squad opened fire on him. He grabbed a grenade off the belt of one of the dead Grunts on the floor next to him. He pulled the pin and blind-threw the grenade around the corner. He could barely make out one them shouting 'grenade!' before he heard it go off and the deafening gunfire ceased, indicating he had hit his mark.
He continued running down the hall and rounded the corner, stepping over the mangled bodies of the soldiers. Their armour did little to protect them from the grenade's shrapnel at such close proximity.
"You're headed in the right direction, just keep moving!"
He seen that he was coming up on a massive cooling vent, much like the ones he had seen in the IMC's interstellar beacon power grid facility. He took down some more IMC soldiers attempting to stop him, and saw that there were two paths he could take; left and right.
"The anti-air defences are extremely heavy around the Fold Weapon! We're having trouble getting boots on the ground and we're running out of options."
He went left, jumping onto the wall and wall running down the vent. He spotted more soldiers ahead of him beyond the vent. As they spotted him and promptly opened fire, he leaped across to the other side of the vent to avoid their fire.
Now on the vent's right side, a wall obstructed him from the enemy soldier's view. He kept wall running down the vent as he destroyed two more drones that flew into it after him.
As he came to the end of the vent, jumped off the wall as high as he could. He shot the soldiers that he noticed earlier as he hit the ground with a loud thud, thankfully his Jump Kit took the brunt of the fall. He ran into the next room, going around a bend as the SRS Commander briefed him on her plan.
"We have one last Vanguard in the racks!" Daniel correctly guessed where she was going with that statement, "I'm pulling its datacore and preparing it for Titanfall!"
Daniel ran outside, now about to cross the aforementioned bridge. More Grunts took defensive positions across the bridge with turrets to take him down.
"You're going to have to try harder than that." He muttered to himself. His confidence skyrocketing thanks to his Smart Pistol. As he jumped down to the lower platform, he shot two soldiers on top of the bridge in front of him. He took cover behind the bridge's support beam, as turrets, drones and Grunts alike began firing down at his position.
He peaked around the right corner and popped off a few shots, he barely heard some drones explode and noticed the gunfire become slightly less deafening. He peaked again with the left corner and repeated the action of pointing his pistol towards the enemy, allowing it to lock on hit his targets.
Once he felt it was safe to do so, he ran up the ramp to the other side of the bridge, dodging more shots from the turrets set up in the windows above. He vaulted a railing and ran through another hallway, as Commander Briggs spoke to him through the radio again.
"Cooper, your Titan's standing by! Call it when ready!" The Commander informed him, as he ran outside. Once he confirmed the area was clear, he replied.
"Briggs, send it!" He said, as he looked upwards into the sky.
"Solid copy, stand by for Titanfall!"
He could see a flaming object come into view in the sky above him, anyone else would think that its a meteorite, or some sort of bomb. But he was a Pilot, and all Pilots – or any soldier in the Frontier, knew what a ball of fire falling from the heavens meant.
The Titan hit the ground with a crash, kicking up dust around it as Daniel ran towards the now motionless Vanguard. As he approached it, it leaned over and lowered it's head towards him as the slot for the datacore opened.
He grasped BT's datacore with his left hand, and inserted it into the slot, taking little force to do so. The datacore retreated into the Vanguard's head as the eye began to spin and blink, calibrating to the new chassis.
It stopped blinking, as the Titan looked up towards Daniel. "Hello, Daniel." A familiar monotone voice spoke, as the massive war machine slammed a fist into the ground and stood up, as Daniel himself backed up.
"New chassis, same Titan?" Daniel asked BT, relieved to see him back in one piece.
"Old paint, same datacore." The Vanguard answered, as he raised his right arm and began articulating the fingers on his right hand. He did the same with his left arm as he continued. "BT-7274 good to go." He produced a massive minigun from his back and gripped it with both hands, before lowering the barrels to the ground towards his Pilot.
BT's hatch shot open with a hiss. "It is time to complete our mission."
Daniel holstered his Smart Pistol, "Damn right it is!" He exclaimed as he ran up the barrel of the gun towards the cockpit. He gripped the sides of the hatch and swung himself into the seat as BT turned around and the hatch sealed.
The inside of the hatch slowly became transparent, revealing the outside world to the Pilot. Militia ships hovered in the distance, exchanging fire with the IMC's anti-orbital weaponry.
"Cooper, I'm throwing everything I've got at the IMC but it's not going to be enough to stop the Fold Weapon! I need you to get inside its control room! Commander Briggs told Daniel, as he sprinted down the slope to the bridge, stepping on and crushing some Spectres on the way.
"Commander Briggs to all battle stations, I want close fire support on Cooper and BT! Do whatever it takes to cover them!" Briggs ordered the fleet.
"Solid copy, wilco." A Militia Captain replied.
"Cooper, get up that hill. We'll cover you, move!"
"Copy that that Commander, I'm on it!" He revved up the Predator Cannon and began unloading it into an IMC Tone. It put up a Particle Wall in a vain attempt to stop the storm of armour-penetrating bullets coming its way. In about 3 seconds of continuous fire, the Titan exploded and fell dead, littered with bullet holes.
Daniel could see several more Titans up the hill. He knew it was far too many for him and BT to deal with at the same time. Fortunately, they didn't have to.
"Tracking targets -- firing, danger close!" Orange markers began appearing on top of the Titans ahead of them. Shots were fired from the Militia Battleships in the distance, they hit their mark, kicking up a cloud of dust as Daniel took cover behind a rock formation and took the time to reload his weapon.
When the Vanguard emerged and the dust settled, what little remained of the Titans were a few pieces of scorched metal, not even fit for scrap. He continued pushing BT up the hill, a Scorch began walking down the ramp ahead to confront him.
"Alright, how about we end this quickly?" The Pilot inside said to Cooper as he shot a thermite round at him.
Daniel quickly dashed to the left, "I can agree to that." he spat out. Revving up the gun again and deploying its energy shield, he began chewing through the Scorch's heavy armour bit by bit.
The Scorch responded by putting up its Flame Shield and tried to close the gap between the two Titans. Daniel charged up a Power Shot, loading a bullet into all eight barrels of the Predator Cannon and firing them at once. The force from the shot tore the Scorch off its feet, knocking it onto its back.
"Ugh! You're a bastard, you know that?" The Scorch then tried to get back up to continue the fight. Daniel ran towards the downed Titan and kicked it in the abdomen, then held the Scorch down with BT's foot. He rammed the cannon's barrel into the cockpit through a damaged spot in it's hull.
He emptied the rest of the drum into the machine, ignoring the screams from its Pilot as it exploded. "Enemy Titan down." BT informed blatantly.
Daniel looked up from the Scorch's remains to see three Titans and a Reaper closing in on him from the platform. "Alright BT, lets finish this!" He exclaimed, as he replaced the empty drum and revved up the Titan minigun to fire again.
After eliminating several more Titans, Reapers and infantry alike, Daniel and BT closed in on the Fold Weapon's control room. As they ran past some Titan batteries in storage pods, BT used his highly sophisticated Self-Repair Systems to siphon the energy out of the batteries in and repair his mildly damaged armour.
Now cradling a 40mm Tracker Cannon in BT's hands, Daniel walked down the ramp that led to the control room. The heavily reinforced blast door automatically opened, revealing a very spacious control room, with a massive railgun pointed downwards at an angle and two red IMC Titans standing beneath it. The smaller of the two was in the process of loading the Ark's case into a railgun.
"You have your money, Blisk. Now go. My forces will take over from here." Said another hologram of the IMC's General Marder
"About time they do something." Blisk's Titan's hatch slammed shut, then turned around to face the other Titan; an Ion. "I think our Militia Pilot's trying to be a hero. He's all yours, keep the salvage." His voice boomed through his Titan's PA system, as his Legion walked away down a tunnel at the opposite side of the room from Daniel.
"Who said anything about salvage? I'll do this one for free." Slone cracked her knuckles in her Titan's cockpit, and flashed a wicked grin at the Vanguard. The Ion class Titan grabbed its Splitter Rifle off its back as the hatch closed. "You know what I see when I look at you? A pile of easy money." Slone taunted through her Titan's PA system.
"Come and get your money, then!" Daniel challenged; his voice projected through BT's own PA system. He rushed forwards towards the Ion; intending to close the gap and end the fight quickly. Before he could reach Slone, a Brute Phased in front of him.
"Ark injector loaded. Spooling up stage one." The facility's AI informed. Bright orange lights activated, and began flying around the room's edges.
He chose to not cease his assault. Driving a foot into the front of the skinny Titan, he sent it into the wall behind hit. He ripped the Quad Rocket out of the Brute's hand and began firing it at the machine. That many rockets, at such close range, on a Titan with minimal armour, resulted in its swift demise. He tossed the weapon away, focusing his attention on Slone.
He spotted her on the other side of the platform above him. He ran up the ramp towards the Ion, peppering the Titan with his 40mm Cannon. Slone returned fire with her Titan's rifle, sending charged orange particles his way. In response, Cooper deployed a Particle Wall, stopping her Titan's shots in their tracks. He emptied the magazine into Slone's Titan, its body shields depleting with a visible and audible electronic pop.
"You can't outrun a Laser Core, you little bugger." Daniel didn't need her input to know what that meant, as the front of her Titan began to glow a bright red. He dashed to the right, as a massive red laser shot out towards where BT previously stood. The Particle Wall went down instantly, as he reloaded his 40mm, preparing himself to continue the assault after her Titan's core fizzled out.
Before the Vanguard could emerge, the red Ion quickly appeared from around the corner and fired a laser shot BT. "Oi! You ain't walking away that easy!"
Cooper let off a salvo of rockets, the barrage ready to cause severe damage to their target. Slone deployed her Titan's Vortex Shield, stopping the rockets in their tracks.
"Nice try love, but I'm no pushover!" Slone said to the Militia Pilot as she fired the salvo back at the Vanguard. The Vanguard dodged the returning volley, before quickly firing the 40mm Cannon again, preventing the Ion's body shields from regenerating.
"Well neither am I, bitch!" Daniel growled. One thought from the Pilot and BT's acolyte pods raised above and in front of the Vanguard, "Salvo Core activated." BT informed his Pilot. The Ammunition Fabrication Systems in both Acolyte Pods went into overdrive and unleashed a storm of guided rockets into Slone's Titan.
When the Salvo Core ceased, Slone's Titan was nowhere to be seen. Not even bits of charred metal were left behind to explain the Titan's fate.
"I've got to say, Pilot – this is more entertaining than I expected!" Slone admitted to Daniel through his radio. The Vanguard Pilot sighed, he knew it wouldn't be quick and easy.
"Get him, lads!" She ordered through the radio. Another Titan Phased into the room in front of him; a Scorch.
"Fold Weapon priming sequence passing stage two. Coordinates locked – Freeport System. Planetary designation: Harmony.
"So, you're the one causing all the trouble." The Scorch Pilot surmised.
"Yeah. From what I've heard, I've been quite a pain in the ass." The Vanguard Pilot replied. A wheel of sorts displayed in front of him in BT's cockpit, he looked at an icon featuring a sword. The icon glowed yellow, as BT's 40mm Cannon glowed a bright light blue. When the light ceased, it revealed a Ronin Class Titan's Leadwall shotgun.
"Come and get me, cunt!" Daniel challenged through BT's PA system, lifting BT's left hand and using two fingers and making a 'come here' gesture.
The IMC Pilot clearly didn't appreciate that, as the Scorch began running at the Vanguard while firing its Thermite Launcher. Cooper responded by joining the hostile Titan in its wish to close the gap by sprinting towards it and unloading all four shots from his Leadwall into the Scorch, dealing massive damage to its front portion. "Ugh! You think you're good, do you?"
"I'm clearly better than you." Daniel deadpanned. He saw the Scorch stow its weapon and raise both of its arms in the air. His eyes widened; he knew exactly what that meant; Flame Core.
He engaged the Ronin Titan's Phase Dash maneuver, all colour disappeared, as did the Scorch and the incoming Flame Core. He was launched forwards through 'the Void' as he heard some Pilots call it.
The colour returned; Daniel realised he must be behind the enemy Titan now. He turned around, seeing the Scorch franticly searching for him; completely oblivious to his presence. He reloaded the Titan shotgun and run up behind the Scorch, delivering a powerful kick to the back of the Titan's knee joint.
"Fold Weapon passing stage three. Calculating space-fold projection."
"Behind you, dumbass!" The Vanguard Pilot taunted. The Scorch didn't expect the sudden change in balance, and promptly fell onto its back. He ran around it, and emptied the Leadwall into the hatch, shredding it. Needless to say, the Scorch's hatch looked like Swiss cheese.
He didn't stop there. He drew his Broadsword and thrust it into the hatch, with the intention of piercing it and killing the Pilot inside.
"No, this can't be happening!" The Scorch Pilot panicked, grabbing onto the blade with both of his Titan's hands and tried to wrench it away. The Vanguard proved to be much stronger than it looked, as Daniel but BT's weight into the attack. With a final give, the Scorch went limp as the sword went straight through the Titan's cockpit, killing Pilot and Titan simultaneously.
Daniel yanked the sword back out from the deceased Titan's body, the tip of the blade coated in blood. In what was becoming standard for him, he had no time to take a breather as a Tone began firing upon him, with 40mm explosive shells from the back of the room.
He gripped the Broadsword with both hands. "Sword Core activated." BT informed. He felt the electricity travelling up BT's arms and into the sword, visually electrifying the blade. He charged at the Tone, as his adversary did everything in their power to slow him down.
The Tone Pilot panicked, and started backing up, firing everything his Titan had at the rapidly approaching Vanguard. 40mm explosive shells, guided and unguided rockets alike hit the Vanguard, depleting BT's body shields and doing some damage to the hull. However, the Titan's charge remained undaunted.
Daniel sliced the sword across the ground, performing an 'Arc Wave'. Electricity quickly travelled along the floor, hitting the Tone directly. The Tone's legs buckled beneath it, as the Pilot struggled to maintain his Titan's balance and ended up in a kneeling position.
The Vanguard Pilot reached the Tone, and knocked his target's weapon away with a swift kick. Daniel began hacking away at the Tone, stripping away armour as the Pilot inside brought his Titan's arms up in an attempt to save himself.
The charged Broadsword cut through the arms like they weren't even there. The Pilot, realising his death was imminent, reached between his legs and pulled the ejection lever with all his might.
Before he could be safely ejected however, the Vanguard's broadsword penetrated the hatch, now completely stripped of armour. The broadsword went straight through the entirety of his abdomen, killing him instantly.
Daniel kicked the still kneeling Titan to the ground, stowing his broadsword when BT informed him the core was offline. He reloaded his Leadwall, prepping himself for whatever Slone threw at him next.
"Lets see how you handle some Reapers!"
Three Reapers were subsequently Phased into the control room. They were only a minor threat to Titans in small numbers, and thus easily dispatched by the Vanguard.
"You're a tough little bugger, ain't you?" Slone reappeared, this time on the opposite side of the room from where the Vanguard had entered. "Alright, I'm ready for more!" The Ion deployed a Laser Tripwire and charged up another Laser Core. "Come on then, come on! Let's do this. You little berk." Daniel took cover behind some crates to avoid the powerful laser.
"Fold Weapon approaching stage four: Ring momentum at ninety seven percent." The control rooms AI informed.
"Oh Shit! That's not good." Daniel stated bluntly. If this is the least prep stage, then it meant the Ark was about to be injected into the Fold Weapon! "Cooper, we must stop the IMC from using the Fold Weapon at all costs. If we fail, the Militia planet of Harmony will be destroyed." BT reminded him. The Pilot knew he needed to end this fight quickly.
He pushed BT out from behind the crates and Phase Dashed towards the Ion, getting as close as possible to deliver maximum damage. Upon returning from the Void, he emptied the Leadwall into the Ion, disabling its shields.
"Come on you berk – what are these? Mosquito bites?" The Ion fired a laser shot at BT, bringing down his own shields. "I'm looking for a bloody fight, not an airy-fairy dance!"
The Vanguard responded by taking a swing at the Ion with the broadsword, knocking the Titan back. "Oh, is that so? I thought this was a warmup!" Daniel taunted.
Slone let out a frustrated growl, why couldn't this bastard just shut up and die already? She cooled herself off. He had already taken decent damage from the Titans and Reapers. All she had to do was keep her cool and keep luring the Vanguard away from cover until she could get a good hit on him with her Titan's Laser Core.
Speaking of which, her Ion's core was already fully charged and ready to go. She was glad Viper convinced her to get that black market core reactor her Titan, It made the Ion able to fire off core after core like it was nothing.
"Ugh, just die already." The Ion holstered its Splitter Rifle again, a tell tale sign for the Vanguard Pilot that Slone was about to fire another Laser Core. That wouldn't be a problem, as long as he's near cover. Unfortunately, there was a problem: He was nowhere near cover, and BT's Phase Dash was still recharging!
There was only one thing he could do to hopefully survive the onslaught.
"Sword Core activated." He brought the sword up in front of BT to block the attack. The powerful red laser hit BT dead centre, turning the cockpit a bright red. The blue segmented bar at the top of the screen slowly emptied, indicating the Vanguard Titan's hull integrity was dropping from the damage caused by the Ion's core.
"Excessive damage. Warning! Warning!" BT warned his Pilot, but Daniel stood his ground. The Laser Core would end in a few seconds. All he had to do was wait it out, and then strike when the core ended.
Like most Titans, the Ion was vulnerable immediately after using its core. Daniel knew this, and used this temporary advantage to end the fight by rushing the Ion with his charged sword. BT's Sword Core was at forty-five percent and falling; he had to do this quickly.
He swung at the Ion's shooting arm, cutting it off and disabling its primary weapon. A horizontal slice at the Titan's mid-section severed its legs, sending the Titan to the floor and immobilising it. He lifted the sword upwards, about to strike the killing blow, until suddenly...
"Sword Core offline."
"Oh, that's just perfect!" He slammed the sword against the Ion in a fit of anger. Great, now he was holding a glorified metal stick in his hands.
"All personnel must clear the chamber immediately." The facilities AI informed. "Disruption of electromechanical units, including Titans, will be severe." The facility's AI pulled him from his thoughts, reminding him he still had a job to do.
"I will not be destroyed by some pitiful excuse for a Pilot!" Slone angrily shouted at the Vanguard. Daniel looked down at the Ion, somehow it was still functional despite the damage it had sustained.
"Don't worry, I'll be back for you in a minute." Daniel reassured. He stowed the Broadsword, and made a beeline to the injector railgun, for he had a more pressing matter to attend to.
He holstered his Leadwall as he approached the loading gate, and latched both of BT's hands onto the left side of the gate. He struggled to open it, even with everything he and BT had, causing BT's servos and pistons to groan in protest. He failed to notice what was left of Slone's Ion slowly crawling down towards him.
After what felt like an eternity, the loading gate began to open bit by bit. He could feel the hinge in the loading gate fighting against him. If he slipped up and accidently let the thing go, it would close again, making his efforts null.
"I'll give you a hero's death, you deserve that much." He chose to ignore whatever Slone had said, instead focusing his efforts on getting this damn loading gate open.
Finally, with a large give, the loading gate opened fully. He must have broke the gate's hinge, as it was no longer fighting against him to close itself. Great, with the Ark out of the railgun, the hard part was over. Now all he had to do was finish off Slone and —
"Goodbye, you bastard!"
Slone's Laser Core shot out again, Daniel instinctively took cover behind the Ark's case. Slone's Titan must have had some sort of advanced targeting system, as the giant red laser followed him behind the Ark's case.
The laser penetrated the Ark's casing with ease, the beam hitting the Ark directly. However, it seemed to have no immediate effect.
"Warning. High electromagnetic interference detected. Emergency Fold Weapon shutdown initiated." The AI informed, with the control room's orange lights dying down to Daniel's relief.
"You fucking tosser!" Slone roared from within her heavily damaged Titan's cockpit. It seemed that the Ion was now starting to 'feel' the damaged it had sustained, and remained motionless on the ground.
Yes! He shut it down! He immediately got on his radio to the SRS Commander to give the good news. "Commander Briggs! We got the Ark out of the gun - the Fold Weapon's shutting down!"
"Solid copy! We're cleaning up hostiles as we speak, grab the Ark and get outside for evac! Briggs ordered.
"Copy that, on our way!" Daniel replied. He grabbed the casing surrounding the Ark and began to lift it out of the loading gate. It proved to be much heavier than it looked, as the Vanguard accidently dropped it onto the ground with a crash.
Subsequently, BT's internal display became slightly distorted, as bright blue light erupted from the hole in the Ark's case. The Vanguard began to slowly back away from it, the Pilot's gut telling him that whatever was happening inside that thing it was not good.
With a bright flash, the Ark's casing blew off, scattering pieces of it around the room. As a result of the blast, everything in its vicinity was sent flying. Unfortunately, the Vanguard-Class Titan was counted as being within said vicinity.
The Militia Pilot's Vanguard was sent across the room from the blast and ending up on the ground as BT's internal display flickered and shut off, enveloping Daniel in complete darkness. The only light was sparks coming from the Titan's damaged internal wiring.
"Cooper! BT! We just detected the Ark produce a massive energy pulse! What's going on in there!?" The SRS Commander asked Daniel. Dazed and confused from the blast, the Vanguard Pilot couldn't issue a reply.
"Cooper...the Ark's energy blast has overloaded my critical internal systems." BT said to his Pilot in a distorted, garbled tone. "Attempting to restore ocular systems."
A mechanical whirring was heard, as the internal display slowly came to life, though heavily distorted and flashing red. "Ocular systems restored."
"Cooper! BT! How copy? Over!" Sarah asked the Pilot again. "The planets core has destabilised; it's tearing itself apart! We need to get you out of there now!
"My analysis indicates the Ark has destabilised, and will detonate in T-minus: sixty seconds." BT stated bluntly, when in reality, it was despair. BT couldn't move, and he and his Pilot knew that a minute wouldn't be anywhere near enough time to get out of the facility, not including getting onto a ship and off-world.
"Briggs! Get yourself and the fleet out of here; the Ark's going to blow!" Daniel warned the Commander, however his warning seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"Stay where you are! We're sending a dropship to your position! Pull BT's datacore and get out of there now!
"Commander Briggs, my analysis indicates the ark will detonate in T-minus thirty seconds. Please evacuate the planet immediately." The Vanguard Titan said, almost pleading with her.
Sarah grit her teeth in anger. The Militia was about to lose yet another skilled Pilot. She reluctantly gave the order for the fleet to evacuate.
"It was an honour fighting alongside you, Cooper." She admitted.
"Likewise, Briggs. Whatever you and the Militia do next, I hope you rid the Frontier of the IMC."
"We will." Sarah promised softly. "If there's an afterlife, good luck wherever you go next." With that, the radio went dead.
Many of Daniel's recent memories began to flash before his eyes, as BT counted down the Ark's impending explosion:
"Detonation in ten, nine..."
The day he first joined the Militia.
"Eight, seven..."
The first time he was deployed into combat as a Rifleman.
"Six, five..."
When he first started his Pilot training with Lastimosa.
"Four..."
Being stationed on board the James MacAllan, headed towards Typhon.
"Three..."
Daniel closed his eyes, for what was going to be the final time he did. He gripped the armrests of the seat within BT's cockpit, bracing himself for the impending doom.
"Two..."
He hoped that Sarah was right; that there was a life after this one.
"One."
Even though Daniel's eyes were closed, they were still blinded by the bright light from the explosion. As quickly as the light came, it was gone, becoming complete darkness.
NEFARIOUS CITY,
CORSON V
11:30 PM LOCAL TIME
It was a stormy night in Nefarious City, Corson V. The once bustling metropolis had been subjugated by the self proclaimed Emperor Nefarious nearly a decade ago.
Due to the heavy rain, there was quite a bit of mist. Not a whole lot to make seeing difficult, but did make it far easier to slip by any of the empire's patrols.
Unfortunately, despite this, all the bots were going about their designated job, whether it be the aforementioned patrol, transporting something to one of the many drone factories in the city, or even making sure the emperor's many gold statues of himself around the city were as shiny as him.
Scratch that. Almost as shiny as him, the robotic tyrant would say.
Their pay was outrageously low for the immense amount of work they did. If they complained, however, they would be 'reprogrammed'. All bots were also required to worship their so-called, 'Emperor' like he was some kind of god or deity. As repeated constantly on the loudspeakers around the city; "Free time is time that you should be spending worshipping your almighty Emperor!"
Besides that, the Seekerpedes were flying around as usual, their presence in the skies reminding anyone who got the bright idea of trying to leaving the planet would only result in their swift demise.
With all this in mind, anyone who dared to stand up against the tyrannical regime would be considered by many to be either suicidal, or just plain stupid.
But to the Resistance, it was a just cause. The Resistance was a group of (mostly organic) freedom fighters that would be willing to lay down their lives in order to fell the empire.
Well, most of them would.
People who were sick and tired about how they were treated under the emperor, would travel from all across the known universe to join the other rebels and fight for the freedom of all.
Phantom was the codename of one such rebel. His job wasn't fighting, but hacking into various systems for the Resistance, espionage and designing and building technology that would help protect the lives of himself and his fellow rebels.
His most notable invention was his 'Phantom Dash' module for the Omniglove, another invention of his that combined multiple gadgets into one sleek glove. When used, the module would momentarily displace the user's molecules and make them untouchable, allowing them to pass-through solid matter and avoid bullets, explosions and all sorts of dangers.
While in the field, he was the Resistance's undercover specialist. Being a professional at sneaking into heavily guarded areas without being seen, any assignment that required anything besides taping down the trigger of your blaster was delegated to him.
That meant he often went in alone. He preferred that, usually. It meant that he wouldn't have to babysit somebody who wasn't good for anything else other than fighting and being bait. It's easier to sneak into somewhere on your own, after all.
Phantom was about to do just that. The green reptilian alien, known as a Rilgarian, wore his signature black and orange jumpsuit with his belt that had multiple pouches, along with his visor covering the top half of his head that had little wings on the sides.
He remained still, hiding in the shadows. He ducked back behind a dumpster when a Nefarious Trooper patrolled by, shining a light into the alley.
"Attention all Resistance members! Please report to the nearest intake facility for compulsory behavioural modification. We promise nothing nefarious shall befall you!" Said Trooper laughed. Phantom grimaced. He knew bits and pieces of what happened to people in those facilities, none of them good.
After the Trooper was long out of sight, he remerged from behind the dumpster. Reaching into one of the several pouches on his belt, he removed a small green oval-shaped device from one. He secured it onto his belt, before pressing a button in the centre.
A light began to shine up and down him, stopping after a few seconds. He checked his reflection in a nearby window. Yep, his Hologuise was working as intended; he now perfectly resembled a synthenoid robot that was common in Nefarious City.
He exited the alley, now disguised as a common bot. He was able to walk down the main pathway that was frequently patrolled by Nefarious Troopers. They didn't bat an eye at him. Perfect, he could put his plan into action.
He was headed to the main train station. If he reached it and managed to sneak aboard a cargo train, it would grant him access to one of the biggest factories in the city, due to the area around the factory being one of the most heavily guarded places on the planet. Once inside, he would destroy the factory by strategically placing bombs around it, to both conceal them from workers and security and to ensure they caused maximum damage.
He made his way to the main platform, making sure he didn't move too quickly or suddenly, or else his disguise would falter. He noticed a group of bots also heading towards the platform. He joined them, since travelling amongst a group of bots would be less conspicuous than travelling alone.
Like the Troopers, they didn't bat an eye at him. One even attempted to strike up conversation with him, to which he thought better to ignore. He and the bots were coming up on the station's security turnstiles.
Each bot split off from the group and swiped a key card on the scanner, before proceeding through a force field that Phantom recognised to be one that only allowed robots to pass through. If an organic tried to walk through it, it would solidify, stopping said organic from passing through it. Phantom knew that it was most likely alarmed, too.
Fortunately, his Phantom Dash module allowed organics to pass through these barriers.
He approached one of the security turnstiles. Making sure nobody was looking, he Phantom Dashed through it. His Hologuise flickered for a bit, before stabilising again. He had modified it to work with his Phantom Dash.
Double-checking that none of the Troopers had seen his true form, he was pleased to see that was indeed the case.
He opted against re-joining the group, as they made their way towards a passenger train.
Spotting the cargo train he intended to stowaway on, it was guarded by far more Troopers than he had anticipated. He'd have to improvise. No problem. Things not going to plan were to be expected, and improvising was a trait that all members of the Resistance had.
He slowly made his way to the other side of the station that the cargo train was on, as not to garner attention from the Troopers. He noticed the station's lights flicker for a moment, but he didn't think much of it.
He heard an electrical whining sound that made his heart stop. He knew what it meant; his Hologuise had deactivated. Looking down to confirm his fears, it had indeed deactivated.
"Damn it! I thought for sure I had it working properly this time!" Phantom thought. He had done rigorous testing on combined use of his Hologuise and Phantom Dash, after all. He took off running, hoping to escape the Troopers that were likely now chasing him.
He didn't hear any of them chasing him, which was odd. Normally whenever they spotted somebody, they would never give up chase unless their target either got out of their line of sight, or they were destroyed.
Phantom would normally chastise somebody for doing this, but he risked a peak over his shoulder to see what the fuss was. He saw all the Troopers and the other bots, laying motionless on the ground.
"Huh? What happened?" Phantom asked nobody in particular, as the lights in the station cut out. Whatever happened must've affected the whole city, as Phantom couldn't see any of the neon lights on the surrounding buildings. As quickly as the lights went out, they returned, revealing the world to him once again.
He saw the Troopers begin to reboot, and took that as his chance to escape. Chances were once the Troopers rebooted, they would lock down the station anyway and prevent all trains from leaving.
Phantom took off again, not looking over his shoulder this time. Whatever did that to the city must have been big. He needed to get somewhere safe, then get in contact with the other rebels.
UNKNOWN
Daniel woke with a jerk. He groaned, putting his hands up to his head, he had a splitting headache. "What I wouldn't do for a drink right now." He opened his eyes, inspecting where he was. He was still in BT's cockpit, the dials and screens within were all on; indicating that he was at least online.
Another sharp pain in his head. He groaned in pain again, why can't he ever just catch a break? He rapped his hand against the inner wall of the cockpit, "Hey BT, you there?"
"Affirmative, Pilot." Ok, that's one question answered; BT was alive. That still left several more unanswered, his memory was very fuzzy. What happened? Where were they? "BT, what happened?" He asked the Titan.
"My data recorder indicates that the Ark destabilised when we attempted to remove it from the injector system, resulting in a catastrophic explosion."
"Don't you think something that powerful blowing up would kill us, no?"
"Under normal circumstances, yes." BT continued before Daniel could ask him to elaborate, "When the Ark destabilised, it began producing spatial anomalies."
Daniel connected the dots, "So, you think the Ark might've teleported us somewhere? If so, then where are we?" The Pilot asked the Vanguard.
"Unknown." The Titan replied bluntly, "My mapping systems are currently offline, as are several other of my systems." There was a brief pause, as an electrical whirring was heard by the Pilot.
"I was able to absorb some of the energy produced by the Ark during the explosion. Self-repair system engaged." The whirring continued, as the internal display became transparent once again, revealing thick, black clouds in the sky above them. "Ocular systems restored. I will be fully operational in approximately fifteen minutes, Pilot."
Daniel took a moment to digest this information, before coming to a decision, "While you're doing that BT, open up the hatch; I want to see where we're at."
"Pilot, I advise against exiting the cockpit. My sensors are detecting high external temperatures." BT warned.
Daniel knew from experience it was a bad idea not following BT's advice, remembering how he was nearly killed when he stepped into the sludge near the IMC's reclamation facility.
"Well, I suppose in that case we'll have to sit here and wait." He surmised, getting himself comfortable by putting his hands behind his head. After a bit of waiting, staring at the black clouds above them and more waiting, BT finally had some good news for him.
"Motion Link restored – Auto Navigation Systems online."
The Vanguard rolled over, got up and stood on its two feet, taking in the surrounding area. It seemed both Pilot and Titan were surrounded by metal and concrete wreckage. A piece of wreckage sticking out of the ground with something underneath it, caught Cooper's eye.
Approaching it, he recognised it to be similar to the wreckage around the area. Lifting the heavy chunk of metal up and dragging it off of whatever it was resting on, revealed the crushed and scorched remains of Slone's Titan.
"Pilot, scans indicate the surrounding wreckage belongs to the Fold Weapon."
With that information in mind, BT's theory of the Ark transporting them somewhere became a little more prevalent. That's one question answered, at least. However, that did beg the question; where did the Ark send them?
Where they were, it didn't make it any easier to answer said question. "BT, can you find us a path out of this mess?" Daniel asked the Vanguard.
"Scanning. Exit located, marking your HUD." The Titan answered, as a holographic line appeared on the ground in front of BT, leading further into the wreckage.
After a decent walk, Pilot and Titan emerged on the other side of the wreckage, revealing the planet's landscape. It was dark and lifeless, the surrounding area seemed to be very flat, with an obvious volcano a couple klicks away.
Excluding the aforementioned geological features and lack of life, there wasn't much to be seen. Daniel knew for sure; they weren't on Typhon anymore.
"Mapping systems restored." BT informed, "Pilot, this planet's geology matches no known world in the Frontier. We are situated on a plateau with little geological activity, with an approximate area of thirty-thousand square kilometres."
"If we're not in the Frontier anymore, then where in the galaxy are we?" The Pilot thought. They were at least still in the same galaxy, right?
Pulling him from his thoughts, the Vanguard continued, "My scans have detected the wreckage of the MCS Stockton, seven-hundred metres north-east from our location."
Daniel looked north-east and sure enough, there was the Stockton – or, what was left of it. He remembered that it 'took a broadside' and went down when him and BT were making their way towards the Fold Weapon's control room.
The Stockton only vaguely looked like a ship now, in fact, it made the James MacAllan look like it got off easy. If the Militia somehow managed to recover it, Cooper didn't think it would be good for much else other than target practice.
"BT, you picking up any life signs?" He asked his Titan. From what he witnessed though, he already knew the answer.
"Scanning. No life signs detected." The Vanguard answered.
Daniel frowned. He didn't know what he should do. Sure, they were taught to link up with one another and find a way to send a distress signal, if they were stranded on a planet, like they did on Typhon. However, that implies you were even in the Frontier! He and BT don't know if they're in the same galaxy, let alone what planet they're on!
In his rambling, he forgot that he had a highly advanced self aware AI companion that could adapt to basically any situation imaginable.
"Cooper, I have a hypothesis: Since the Fold Weapon and MCS Stockton are present on this world, it is possible that the IMS Draconis and MCS Carter Braxton are also."
His Titan continued before Daniel could ask him to elaborate, "Survival routine T-Eight recommends that in the case of becoming stranded, you are to find other friendly survivors, acquire a safe shelter — and a means of sending a distress signal."
The Pilot could see where the Titan was going with this, "So we need to find either the Draconis, or the Braxton?" He asked.
"Yes." BT stated plainly. A projection of a map of some kind lit up on the internal display in front of Daniel.
"What's this you're showing me, BT?" Daniel asked the Vanguard.
"By analysing the locations of the remains of the Fold Weapon and the Stockton, cross-referencing them with the approximate locations the Draconis and Carter Braxton were both shot down," The Titan elaborated, as four locations were highlighted on said map. "I have determined the estimated locations of the Draconis and Braxton, on this planet."
The map on the display disappeared, as two icons appeared in its place. Both were headed south-west, the nearest one had a distance of twenty-five kilometres, the other about sixty kilometres, the latter situated within the previously mentioned distant mountains.
"Well BT, I don't think we'll accomplish much by just standing here." The Pilot surmised.
"Agreed. Protocol Two, mission update: Fulfill survival routine T-Eight — search for Militia survivors and suitable shelter." The Vanguard responded.
The Pilot and Vanguard-Class Titan set out to the first set of coordinates; the IMS Draconis. Travelling to it was easy enough, thanks to the planets fairly flat terrain. Upon arriving at said coordinates after a couple hours, the massive transport ship didn't seem to be present at first. A few pieces of scorched metal sticking out of the ground suggested otherwise.
Wherever the Draconis had crashed, must have left it submerged in something, perhaps sand. When the Ark transported it to this world, it remained submerged, this time in what seemed to be ash.
With the cargo ship submerged in said ash, there was no way to get inside for the time being. Their only chance now was to find the Carter Braxton.
Daniel recalled how the ship's engines were decimated by the Malta during the fight to take over the battleship, which caused it to nose-dive towards the ground. This made his hopes for the ship being even somewhat intact particularly low.
To make matters worse, BT warned him of an oncoming storm that would hit the plateau in approximately six hours.
Pilot and Titan set out again, making their way to the final set of coordinates located in the mountains, hoping to find shelter of any kind before the impending storm hit.
UNKNOWN WORLD,
NEAR THE CARTER BRAXTON'S ESTIMATED LOCATION
Several hours later and tons of hardship endured from climbing their way into the mountains, the Pilot and his Vanguard-Class Titan, now stood at a cliff edge, having finally arrived at the Carter Braxton's location.
Despite the low hopes for the ship being intact, Cooper was pleasantly surprised at the sight of the Militia carrier sitting in a wide valley. Surprisingly, there were no fires or extreme damage visible on the exterior of the ship, the Pilot surmised that the fires had burnt out several hours ago.
"Huh, seems like the crash wasn't as bad as it looked." Daniel surmised from atop BT's shoulder. Due to the higher altitudes in the mountains, the scorching heat that was considered normal across the plateau, was instead thankfully much more manageable.
"Pilot, I am not detecting any life signs within the Carter Braxton." BT informed his Pilot, "However, ninety-five percent of the lifeboats have been ejected, it is possible any survivors were evacuated from Typhon prior to the Ark's detonation."
Looks like we're really on our own this time. Daniel thought to himself.
"Pilot, the storm has arrived at the edge of the plateau." BT alerted his Pilot, as he began briskly walking towards a steep slope nearby. "It is recommended that we take shelter within the MCS Carter Braxton immediately."
Daniel felt wind start to pick up and heard thunder in the distance, a sudden change from the hot and dead atmosphere near the Fold Weapon and Draconis.
The Vanguard reached the slope, crouched down and began walking down it sideways, some small rocks loose and began rolling all the way down. BT kept his balance and slowly bit by bit, Pilot and Titan descended the slope. Upon reaching the bottom, the Titan stood up properly and continued to the Braxton.
"Pilot. I have identified an entrance, marking your HUD."
Cooper's HUD highlighted a large reinforced door on the middle of the ship's port side. BT climbed onto the ingress in front of the door, as Daniel jumped down off of the Titan's shoulder and began looking for a way to get the door open. It looked even tougher up close, meaning it would be unlikely BT could pry it open.
His helmet display began highlighting cables underneath the panels on the floor, leading to a reinforced junction box on the inside of the wall next to the large door.
For a lack of anything better to use, Cooper used his Data Knife to pry one of the damaged panels out of the way to get access to said junction box.
Once open, the wiring inside seemed relatively undamaged. Flicking the switch on the handle and jamming the tool into the wiring, he was glad to see the holographic display lighting up, indicating this part of the ship still had power.
When it was removed, Daniel felt vibrations beneath his feet and the hanger door to his left began to slowly open. Before it could open even a quarter of the way, it abruptly stopped with a bang. He could still walk underneath no problem, however the same could not be said for BT.
"What's happened, BT?" he asked his Titan.
"My sensors indicate the door is still receiving power, its hinge may be damaged or obstructed." The Vanguard replied.
"Guess I'm going in to fix it, then."
"Yes, that would be the best course of action." BT said in what would have sounded like sarcasm, if it weren't for his monotone voice.
Daniel nodded and walked in underneath the door quickly, weary that it would drop on top of him. He was greeted with almost complete darkness, his helmet display compensating for it subsequently, lighting up the room in a dull green.
It appeared to be a loading bay of some kind, as there were several crates scattered around the room. The majority of those that weren't secured by cables, were overturned and even some busted open, the contents of which was presumably scattered elsewhere.
"Pilot, the door's hinge is above you."
Cooper noticed a walkway going up to both hinges on either side of the door, with one of the hinges jammed with a piece of jagged metal. He fired his Jump Kit to propel himself up to one of the walkways, grabbing onto the railing and pulling himself up and over.
Him properly inspecting the hinge indicated that it took no real damage from the crash, meaning that the obstructing metal bar, was the only problem to deal with. Giving the obstruction in question a hard tug resulted in absolutely nothing.
Daniel got to thinking. If the door opened no problem for even a little bit, maybe if I close the door again, I'll be able to get bar out easier. He scanned for the door controls on his side, spotting a switch back down on the level below him. He jumped back down, his Jump Kit this time slowing his decent. He pulled the lever down, the door beginning to lower once again.
The door sealed itself shut without issue, as Daniel returned to the blocked hinge. It took a good bit of force, but the Pilot was able to remove the bar from the hinge.
Once he returned to the door controls and lifted the lever back up. The door began to rise up again, this time unimpeded, with BT standing by patiently.
"Well BT, that's one issue sorted." Daniel said, as BT walked into the dark loading bay. "What do we do now?"
"I recommend we proceed to the Braxton's aircraft hanger. From there, we can gain access to an officer's terminal and use it to send a distress signal." BT said as he began walking down a large hallway that seemed like it was designed for Titans to walk through.
Daniel followed close behind the Vanguard, as the two made their way to the Braxton's hanger.
Once Cooper and BT reached the Carter Braxton's aircraft hanger, one thing was apparent: There was no power in this part of the ship whatsoever. According to BT, the ships emergency reserve power was only for opening smaller doors and the like, meaning that this sections power supply needed to be repaired before they could even think about getting into an officer's computer.
Repairing the reactor was a breeze with BT walking him through the process. it was one of those 'cleaner' reactors, meaning radiation wasn't something Daniel had to worry about.
Once he had fixed the reactor, his section of the ship came back online. This was obviously a very good thing, as the lights came back on and him and BT could now get into a computer and send a distress signal to the Militia!
The only unfortunate part, was the ships AI detecting multiple fires across the ship, and engaging the Braxton's fire suppression system in response. This wouldn't have been much of a problem, if the system hadn't malfunctioned and sprayed water everywhere. This included areas in which there were no fires, like the hallway Cooper was walking down when the system engaged, drenching him in water.
Now thoroughly soaked, he was beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion take over.
"Cooper, your vitals indicate you are suffering from exhaustion. I recommend you find a safe place to rest for the night." BT informed him, "For your convenience, I have located an officer's quarters for you to take refuge in."
"Thanks, buddy." Daniel replied to the Titan, as a white holographic line appeared on the floor in front of him, leading the way to the officer's quarters BT mentioned.
On his way there, he passed through what seemed to be an armoury. There were weapons of all kinds there, some he recognised, others he didn't. Like the rest of the ship, there were a few crates scattered around the floor, of which he assumed to be ammo storage or the like.
On one of the walls, was what he assumed to be armour storage cases, each containing vastly different types of armour, from Scout gear like Lastimosa's, all the way up to an absurdly bulky set that looked like it could take a nuclear blast and survive.
What caught his eye, however was a particular set of black and orange armour. When he looked at it up close, he could see just how sleek it was. It looked like it was designed to cover its wearer head to toe, comprised of multiple segmented pieces that Daniel assumed to be for ease of movement. Next to it inside the case, was a folded-up exoskeleton. He assumed it went with the armour, as it looked like it would be fairly heavy.
His attempt to open the storage case resulted in failure, as it (unfortunately) required a key of some kind. Getting back on track, he continued his way to what he hoped to be and oh so wanted cushy officer's bed.
He entered an elevator, and started hoping and praying to God it wouldn't get stuck, as that would be something he just simply couldn't handle right now. To Daniel's delight, that didn't happen, as he emerged into yet another hallway.
Thankfully, what felt like a journey to him was nearing its end, as the line went down the hallway, towards a lone door with a sign displaying: OFFICER ADAMS
When he attempted to enter the next room, the keypad requested a pin number. Not feeling like putting up with anymore of this bullshit, Daniel used his Data Knife to override the door's controls, granting him entry.
He closed the door behind him for the feeling of security, even though he knew the odds of someone else being alive on the ship and wanting to harm him were billions-to-one. He noticed an active terminal at a desk on the side of the room, he decided it would be a good idea to get BT into it and let him do whatever he needs while he was asleep.
He used the Data Knife that was still in his hand, to hack into the terminal and get BT into it.
"BT, I've got into a terminal for you. You do whatever you need do, I'm ready to pass out here." Daniel informed the Titan, while taking off his equipment.
"Copy that, Pilot. I recommend you begin resting immediately." The Vanguard replied.
"Will do, BT." Cooper replied as he took off his helmet and set it on the desk. With the last of his gear removed, he picked up a loose pillow from the floor, set it onto the bed and climbed onto it, as he was too tired to attempt to find the sheets, then fell asleep almost instantly.
INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT,
NEFARIOUS CITY
1:00 AM LOCAL TIME
Upon arriving at his hideout on the outskirts of the city, Phantom certainly feltalot safer. He suspected some kind of EMP was what caused all the power to go out in the city, robots included.
Whatever the case, he needed to get to the bottom of it.
He walked underneath a bridge towards the hidden entrance of his abode. Ensuring that there was nobody around to see, he pulled a loose wall panel from its perch, revealing a keypad. When eh entered an eight-digit code, (you could never be too careful) another panel retreated into the wall and opened like a door.
After replacing the original wall panel, Phantom walked inside, hitting a big obvious button on the wall that closed the hidden door behind him. Walking down a tight corridor that would make it easy to defend from any potential invaders, revealing a modestly sized room with an open plan and a cramped walkway above overlooking the main room. It was definitely more practical than comfortable.
He walked over and took seat at a desk that had multiple monitors on top, each displaying a live-feed of an area around his hideout. He produced an orange communicator from one of the many pouches on his belt and switched it on. The small screen flashed up, revealing a contact list containing the names of his fellow rebels.
He selected several names on the list, and hit dial. These names included:
Captain Quantum
Clatchky
Rivet
Moydoy
While waiting for his compatriots to pick up, his eyes scanned over the security monitors on the desk.
Nothing out of the usual. Phantom observed. A click was heard, indicating that somebody had answered his call.
"Hello? What do you need, Phantom?" A strong, gruff voice answered. Phantom recognised the voice to be MoyDoy's, the Resistance's brawler.
"Hey MoyDoy. Look, something big happened in Nefarious City, I need to tell everyone right away!" Phantom replied urgently. He didn't think the EMP was Resistance tech, otherwise he'd know about it. Whether it was the Emperor or something else, he wasn't sure which one he preferred, the Resistance would likely be blamed for it anyway.
"It's that serious, huh? Tell me what happened, I'll let everyone know later when I can."
"Yes, it is that serious, and everyone needs to know, now." Phantom explained firmly.
Another click, another rebel answered the call.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Came the scratchy, high-pitched voice of Clatchky, the Resistance's tech guy. He was an expert at reprogramming robots and could even do it on the fly. Phantom remembered that one time he reprogrammed a few Troopers to attack their own after a set period of time, leading to every other trooper in the city to be very nervous of one another for a week or two afterwards.
"Hey Clatchky, Phantom here says he has something to tell us." The huge Agorian explained. "It was uh...what was it, Phantom?"
"Some kind of EMP went off in the city, fried all the lights and even the bots, including Nefarious'." Phantom stated bluntly. "That was what I wanted to ask you guys about."
Phantom heard two more clicks in quick succession, followed by two individuals saying 'hello?' at the same time, a deep masculine and a higher-pitched feminine voice.
Phantom recognised the male's as belonging to Captain Quantum, the resistance's unofficial leader. A charismatic and kind man who cared about the other rebels, and thought of them as family. Nothing big happened in the resistance without his say-so.
Then there was Rivet. The reckless and stubborn self described 'lone wolf' Lombax fighter that was known for her massive arsenal of weapons. She was also a very good engineer, she able to make complex machines out of scrap metal. She would be able fix whatever you wanted her to nine-times-out-of-ten. The only downside, was that she would often make her own 'modifications' to anything you wanted her to build or fix, which would have an equal chance of either improving the gadget ten-fold or rendering it useless.
Phantom continued, "Alright guys, tell me, did any of you experience a sudden power outage about an hour or two ago?" He heard a multitude of yeses, and explanations of events.
"Okay, one at a time please. Uh, Rivet you're up."
"I was helping the Morts fix a leaky pipe in their refinery." The white Lombax recounted, "We were drilling a hole for a new bolt to go into, then all of a sudden the lights started flickering and the drill just stopped, which was strange, because Mort only bought the thing recently and it was working just fine when she did."
Phantom thought for a moment before speaking, "I assume that was followed by the lights going out?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Rivet replied in surprise.
"Something similar happened to me in the city; first the lights started flickering, my Hologuise deactivated, then all the bots and troopers around me dropped like their power units just died." Phantom explained, "Then, every light around me went out and it was just pitch-black, couldn't see a damn thing."
"With that in mind," Quantum started, "Whatever caused it must have been quite big, since as you know, Sargasso is quite the distance from Corson V."
"Yeah, maybe we should all meet up somewhere, you know, to talk about this further." Clatchky suggested.
"That's a good idea Clatch', should we meet up at the usual place?" MoyDoy agreed and asked.
"Ok, we'll all meet at Zurkie's tomorrow at eleven AM Polaris-Standard-Time, agreed?" Phantom asked the other rebels.
"Agreed!" Everyone said in unison.
"Ok, see you guys then." Phantom said as he hung up the call. He checked the time and saw that it was one o' clock in the morning, which was unusually early for him. He thought that since there was nothing else for him to do other than wait for the meeting at Zurkie's, he could get a good nights rest and still be up at a reasonable time, a welcome change for him.
He got up from the desk and climbed a ladder to the upper walkway and into another room, with a small bed inside. He unclasped the buckle on his belt, letting it fall to the floor. He removed his visor, placing it on a dresser on the bed's right side and climbed onto the bed, leaving his jumpsuit and boots on, as it would be easier and faster for him to escape Zoni forbid his hideout was discovered.
He layed back, putting his hands behind his head for comfort as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
I hope you liked chapter 1 of Vanguard Of The Rift! As I said previously, this is the first Fanfiction I've ever writtem, so please give constructive criticism! I will greatly appreciate it!