A frustrated sigh left the Captain as she stared out the front window. Past the Irenix fleet was the monolith, a towering structure which pierced through the clouds and was the size of a small country. Projecting from it were the warp tunnels which allowed vessels with FTL engines to reach neighboring star systems in as little as a few hours, rather than a few decades. This particular lane however was now projecting into Irenix territory, providing them an easy flow of communication, supplies, and reinforcements.

“Comms, get me a line to the Luhman flagship.” Eve said, with one of the buttons on her console blinking, indicating it had been done. “Tacitus to Reshin, we have got to disable that monolith before retreating. If we leave it open that’ll leave the Irenix the momentum to keep this offensive going.”

“You don’t think I don’t know that Tacitus?” An older, prickly voice responded. She was all too familiar with the type. “We can’t just throw ships at the problem and expect them to break.”

“That Irenix fleet would love nothing more than for us to stay passive to buy time for reinforcements.” Eve shot back.

“Even if we broke through their lines, what would be the point? Our ships don’t have the firepower needed to even damage it enough to disable the warp tunnel.” 

The faintest of smirks appeared on her face. “I have a team on the ground, we’ll escort them from orbit and provide air cover. They’ve probably landed troops at the base of the monolith but they’ll break through and we’ll shield them from orbital fire.”

A scoff sounded on the line. “Would this team happen to have portable nukes or a canister of anti-matter? Because that’s what it’ll take to bring that thing down.”

“They’ll get the job done.” She said in a firmer tone. “Now are you going to help ensure that they do so?” Eve looked at the screen displaying the comms line, as if staring directly at the Reshin’s captain.

“...I’ll rally what’s left of both fleets.” The comms line was cut from the otherside, and Eve let out a faint exhale. Rather than let out a few remarks that would be considered unbecoming of an officer.

Her eyes drifted to the communications officer again as they turned around. “Incoming comms line request, Pacer, hauler class.”

“Put them through.” Eve accessed the controls for the display windows, moving the view to the assembling ships nearby. She spotted the blockier hull of the modified cargo vessel. It was more or less a commercial ship with heavier armor and plasma cannons welded to the exterior. “Pacer, how can we be of assistance?”

The hauler class ship moved to a parallel position to their ship. “Tacitus, you have boots on the ground, yes?”

“That’s correct, they’ve linked up with what’s left of the 6th mobile infantry unit.  We'll be coordinating with them to assault the monolith.” Eve replied.

“We carry their supplies but got separated from their troop transport during the initial fight. Since then we haven’t been able to land and resupply them.” Her head turned towards the screen view, gaze directed at the Pacer. “We’ve been informed you have a… Unique, orbit to surface delivery system.”

She tapped at the console in front of her, accessing the ship inventory. They still had three drop pods remaining. Eve highlighted all three to be moved to the hangars. “You’ve been informed correctly Pacer, start offloading the supplies to our hangars and we’ll take care of the rest.”

Eve cut the comms line, with Geren turning his head towards her. “How exactly is Katherine going to bring down the monolith? No one on that fire team, not even the engineers know how to operate those systems.”

“They don’t know yet.” She corrected. “Start pulling files and instruction manuals, we’ll have to guide them once they push through.”

The ground team had managed to meet up with more members from the scattered 6th mobile infantry division, nearing closer and closer to an actual battalion rather than a company. The combined forces had pushed forward to the downed transport ship without much resistance. During this, they had spotted several smaller aircraft taking off and heading towards the monolith some distance away.

Her ear buzzed as the comm link to the Tacitus was activated. “Katherine, I’ve got supplies coming down. ETA one minute.”

“Copy princess whadya have for us?” She asked, a grin forming at the noticeable pause that followed her response.

“Boost packs along with a standard supply of ammo and equipment.” Eve’s tone contained a slight edge. “You also have new tasking.”

Katherine looked up as three consecutive booms echoed miles above them. “Alright, what shit storm are you sending us to next?” She waved at the combat engineers in the convoy and pointed to the area where the pods would be landing, with them starting to jog over.

“You’ll be heading to the control room of the monolith, I don’t think I need to point you in the right direction.” She looked over at the towering construct of metal over the horizon, which pierced through the clouds. “As long as the monolith keeps that warp tunnel open, the Irenix can deploy as many reinforcements as they want. If left open, it could be enough momentum for them to take more than just this system.”

“So, bad thing?” Katherine held no shame in condensing the finer language and explanation.

“Very bad thing.” Eve hated it but learned that it was a non-negotiable when it came to her ground forces counterpart.

“Heard that, just keep us covered while we get there.” Her hair blew back as the pods impacted the ground, with the tops opening and the lower floors beginning to rise. Katherine killed the comms line and motioned for everyone to join the engineers in taking the supplies.

She on the other hand didn’t join them quite yet, moving through the crowd and specifically picking out Cap. “You got transport craft on this ship?” Katherine nodded to the wrecked hangars.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how many survived the crash.” She replied, following her into the ship. 

“Hopefully enough.” Katherine said, ducking her head below a piece of debris. Inside the hangars were several transport craft. Two of which were tall enough to fit the four titans at their disposal. That thought directed her gaze to Cap. “So what’s the deal with Gray? I thought there was only one titan program.”

The two began making their way to the larger of the transports. “The program Gray was a part of had a different goal in mind than the one your squad comes from.” She explained. “But that’s about all I know, I was only absorbed into his unit after the attack on the Sirius system was repelled.”

Katharine let out a breath, looking over at her. “That’s where you were when this all started?”

“Yup.” Cap replied with a short and bitter laugh. “Stuck on the ground while Roz Manufacturing rained down their newest metal walking assholes. Siege unit, just my fucken luck.” She glanced at Katharine’s metallic limbs. “Would’ve loved to get those but all I got was,” Tapping her finger on the side of her head, it returned a dull metallic thunk. “Great at keeping me alive and shooting, but memories from that time are kinda fuzzy.”

The two got close enough to begin examining the condition of the transports, checking the engines and exterior for any damage. “What about the both of you?” Katharine asked, while holding up her metal arm as if to check the time. She tapped the wrist, which projected a small holographic screen. From there, she sent a message to the company to join her in the hangar once done resupplying.

Even while doing that, Cap had not yet answered. She stopped at the end of the aircraft. “I’m not sure.” 

Katherine walked over to the end of the transport she was checking, poking her head past the tail end. “Not sure of what?”

“I mean… I don’t know.” She walked past to the next one, inadvertently skipping it. “When what was left of our unit was absorbed into the titan program, he scared the hell out of me. Still kind of does actually.” Cap stopped and looked back at Katherine. “We’re you ever scared of them? The titans in your unit?”

She leaned up against the transport, a faint smile forming. “Not really. My old man, he led the garrison at the facility where they were being developed. You can’t just experiment on a person all day so the titans there got a lot of free time to just roam about and live. He was good friends with all three of them so I saw them a lot. Practically grew up with them.” Katherine was quiet for a minute, silently savoring the memories. “But you don’t seem that afraid of him? I mean you’re the only one who approached him after he quite literally turned a guy into paste.”

“He still has his moments, like that one.” Cap replied. “But I don’t know, it's just hard not to avoid him. In between combat we end up talking, and in a way it feels familiar.” She was quiet for a few moments. “I think he feels the same way, sort of? I’m not too great at words to really say more than that’s the vibe I get.” A deep exhale left her, and they were interrupted as the twisted hangar doors started to slowly open.

The two left the transports to see Jackal and Gray pushing the doors open. The taller of the titans finished first, walking over to them. “What do we have?” He addressed Katherine, much to her surprise.

“Two heavy cargo haulers, they’ll fit you guys just fine.” She said, looking down the lane of other assorted aircraft. “The rest should be good, just need our pilots to start em up.” Gray nodded, unceremoniously scooping up Cap and walking off. She turned around to see them heading to the bigger transports, an amused smile on her face as Jackal finally caught up with them. “How come you don’t do that for me?”

The now second tallest titan let out a scoff. “You usually beat me to it.” She gave him a grin before aiming her mechanical arm at his shoulder. Jackal hardly moved as she jumped to the side while reeling in the cable. The arc landed Katherine at the opposite shoulder.

“Forgot about that.” Out of habit she tapped the ‘ground’ beneath her to get Jackal moving. He walked over to the transport containing Angel and Adler. However he noticed a slight issue.

“Oh…” Adler said with a smug tone, looking at the lack of space. “Looks like you’ll have to take the other one.”

Jackal leveled a sharp glare at him before turning around and entering the other aircraft. He stood next to Gray, who gave him a blank side eye.

The doors on each side slid shut and the overhead lights blinked on. A small shudder rocked the transport as the engines turned on and began propelling them upwards a few feet off the ground. Much like a wave of cars attempting to leave a parking lot all at the same time, each aircraft slowly began lining up into the lanes leading to the doors.

It took some time and a bit of yelling due to the lack of space thanks to debris and collapsed sections, but eventually each transport left the hangar. They joined together in a rough formation above the clouds heading to an obvious target looming over the horizon. Katherine tapped her ear to access the comm line to the Tacitus. “Hey you, see us?” She asked.

“I have visual, were matching your speed and will keep you covered from orbital fire. I’ll have one of our ships send a squadron for escort.” Eve responded. “We’re sending instructions to your engineering section of the company, you’ll have to get them to the control room of the monolith for manual shutdown and sabotage.”

“Alright, then what?” She asked, side stepping to Jackal’s neck and sitting down.

“Immediate extraction for a full retreat.” Eve’s response kept her quiet for a minute, the usual excitement present on her face wilting slightly.

“Really?” Was all she could say.

“Even if reinforcements somehow arrived, we’re too close to the frontline. We can’t risk losing the titans under your command or my ship until our primary objective is completed.” Eve reminded her.

Katherine let out a sigh. “Feels like we're on the benches waiting while everyone else is doing the real work, dying for it.”

“...On the benches? What do you mean?” Eve asked.

Katherine snorted, and a bit of a smile returned. “Right, posh academy. Sidelined, it feels like we’ve been sidelined.” She clarified.

“It’s not just a feeling, we are effectively sidelined until an opening is given to us.” Eve responded with a sigh.

Their conversation could’ve continued had it not been for the abrupt eruption of explosions which rocked their transport. Katherine pressed a hand against Jackal’s neck to keep herself steady and checked outside the window.

Tracer fire and puffs of black smoke filled the air between the aircraft of their formation, with fighters streaking in and out of view. “Thought you were keeping us covered Eve.” She said while standing.

“Against other ships, yes, smaller craft will be on your escorts.” She responded back. Katherine gave an annoyed huff and hopped off of Jackal. She landed on her metallic leg and stepped forward, jogging over to the cockpit.

“How bad is it?” Katherine asked as she entered. In front of them the formation was starting to break up as transports weaved in different directions to avoid the incoming fire. Several flares flew past along with tricked missiles veering from their original target.

The pilot didn’t immediately respond, pressing a flashing red button above. A series of muffled pops sounded at the rear of the transport, followed by two distinct explosions. “We’re getting pounded, no casualties so far but there won’t be much of a landing force at the monolith if we keep this up.”

“Shit.” Katherine muttered. “Where the hell are they coming?”

He looked down to the right and tapped a screen. It was a small local map of the immediate area with dots representing all nearby aircraft. Notably, there was just one in the very center that was hardly moving. “Some kind of small cruiser, likely an escort class. But if that’s the case our fighters won’t be able to touch it. Those vessels have point defense designed specifically for that purpose.”

“Of course.” She sarcastically responded. “You hear that princess? I got a cruiser above us and I’d greatly appreciate it if it wasn’t there anymore.”

“Any of our ventral cannons will pierce right through that cruiser and potentially hit one of you. I’m not firing that close.” Eve said, with Katherine giving a long frustrated groan. 

“Okay fine I’ll take care of it myself.” She tapped her ear to kill the comm channel and went back to the rear hold. From there, Katherine slammed the side of her fist on one of the buttons on the wall. This opened the side door, with everyone looking at her in confusion. Especially when she stepped up to the edge, despite the harsh winds and the tracer fire being flung about.

Gray kept staring at her and turned his head towards Jackal slightly. “What’s she doing?” He muttered.

“Something stupid.” He replied. Katherine braced her metallic leg and a faint mechanical whir sounded from the prosthetic hand. “Something incredibly stupid.” Jackal let out a long sigh.

“You’re not going to stop her?” Gray said with a raised brow.

She jumped out, much to the shock of everyone except her titan counterpart. While airborne, Katherine held her metallic arm out and fired it. The hand and attached cable sailed through the air. The event happened within three seconds. The first, a fighter happened to cross her path. The second, her hand managed to magnetically attach to the hull. The Third and final second, she simply turned into a blur and vanished.

Cap stared blankly out the side opening, watching the ongoing battle outside. There was another fighter lining up their sights on a transport, taking a predictable path. Without much thought to it, she climbed forward and braced her feet on Gray. Before he could so much as question her, the jets on the mobility pack flared. Much like Katherine, she disappeared into a blur while grabbing onto the passing aircraft.

“I gave up on trying to stop mine a long while ago.” Jackal said, patting the taller titan’s shoulder out of spite. “You probably should too.”

Amongst the rushing wind and roar of engines, Cap’s scream was drowned out as she held onto the side of the fighter. Twists, turns, and heavy maneuvers either crushed her against the jet or threatened to fling her off. The first barrel roll that the aircraft pulled and she already cemented in her head that this was a stupidly dangerous idea.

The magnetic gloves still held, along with the magnetic implants in her boots. At relatively calmer periods where the aircraft slowed down and took gentler curves, Cap crawled forward. Only halted at more aggressive maneuvers.

At two steps to the cockpit, she looked forward as gunshots erupted from the front.

Her grip tightened as the fighter locked on to one of their escorts. The hail of fire punctured the engine and several other key components resulting in an explosion of fire and metal. Rather than take a path to avoid it, the aircraft simply flew through.

“Shit!” Cap ducked her head and pressed close to the hull of the aircraft. Still, the heat nearly burned the skin and several small shards of metal punctured her shoulder.

With an annoyed growl, she crawled forward another step. Pausing just before getting to the cockpit. Her eyes wandered the body of the fighter before finding a small panel located just behind the canopy. Placing her hand on the panel she lifted it up, revealing a handle. Cap grabbed it and pulled back.

The time wasn’t right though, and she waited. Holding tightly to the handle and the body of the fighter. Until eventually she heard the firing mechanism of the aircraft's gun, but no actual shots leaving wing mounted guns. Sure enough, it pulled up away from the fight, piercing through the clouds.

In view was the cruiser that had been harassing the formation, it was about a quarter the size of a typical vessel like the Tacitus. Now that the fighter was on a smooth path to one of the hangars, Cap twisted the handle.

The emergency eject handle existed for the purpose of safe extraction of pilots if they were to crash in friendly territory and crews could assist. There was always the possibility of a pilot being knocked out and unable to either open the canopy or eject. Instead, crews could initiate the ejection on their own. This however did provide an incredibly rare downside for if the pilot so happened to have a soldier crazy enough to have latched themself onto the aircraft.

The canopy popped open and was flung backwards. Before the pilot could register what was happening, she grabbed her sidearm and fired into the cockpit. Cap got the indication that the pilot was dead when his body slumped forward and pressed against the flight stick. Putting them into a steep dive. “Fuuuuuck!” 

Wind roared passed, nearly deafening her as she scrambled forward. Cap grabbed the flight stick and pulled back to level them out. She then reached over to undue the seat belts along with grabbing his helmet to put on. Once nothing was keeping the former pilot down, Cap turned the stick to the side. The fighter rotated and essentially dumped the pilot out once they were upside down.

With a free seat and now level, she quickly hopped inside. The heads up display on the console  indicated that the aircraft had run out of ammo, and it highlighted a path back to the cruiser. “It’s been a minute.” She muttered, looking at all of the screens, buttons, and switches. For now Cap just needed direction, so she simply adjusted the flight stick to guide the aircraft along the suggested flight path.

This soon brought her back to the cruiser, and she saw that one of the hangars was partially on fire. There also seemed to be gunshots coming from the inside, and she had a guess as to who was responsible.

Cap tried to turn the flight stick to direct the aircraft to the other hangar, however it was now stiff and unresponsive. “The hell?” She muttered, still attempting to yank it to the right.

While she did, the fighter slowed down and soon they entered. Though it looked less a hangar and more a factory line with multiple cranes and mechanical arms. The aircraft automatically docked at a space and hovered idly as ammo boxes were swapped out from the bottom. She looked over to the side to see fresh munitions be loaded by two mechanical arms. Once inside, the fighter turned around without any input from her. A polite chime sounded.

“Okay…?” Cap hesitantly pushed the throttle forward and sure enough, she’d been granted control again. Turning it around, she maneuvered into the next door hangar.

Inside was a wrecked fighter of the same model, still on fire. From the doors and halls leading further into the cruiser were soldiers holding position and shooting at a stack of crates. Behind of which was Katherine, wielding a rifle that didn’t have a magazine, surrounded by empty ones.

Cap killed the thrust and hovered in the middle of the hangar. She immediately pulled the trigger, only for it to barely budge. “What?” She pulled again and again but that still only resulted in the fighter awkwardly hanging in the air with soldiers staring up at what was supposed to be one of their friendly aircraft. Upon seeing the open cockpit and someone very much not in the correct uniform, the bullets started flying.

With a yelp she ducked down as they attempted to shoot into the cockpit. Out of panic Cap tilted the stick to the left, resulting in the fighter moving to the left and bumping its wing against the wall. She started pressing buttons in hopes of somehow getting the guns on the aircraft to do their job. The landing gear came out, random panels opened and the flaps engaged much to the confusion of her attackers. At some point, powerful lights meant to cut through the darkest of environments flashed on.

A collective shout of pain emanated from the soldiers as they covered their eyes and sought cover. “Not exactly what I wanted but I’ll take it.” Cap muttered, eyes darting around the console. She finally found a prompt that read ‘prime’. Pressing it, a resounding click came from the guns. “Fucking finally.”

Grabbing the flight stick she aimed the fighter at the nearest group and held down the trigger.

Bullets with explosive charges hosed out of the wing mounted guns, the rapid successive shots producing what was akin to constant thunder. The group was shredded into indiscernible pieces and she slowly tilted the stick side to side, essentially sweeping the entire back area of the hangar.

By the time a few passes were made, Cap was both out of ammo and out of targets to shoot.

She positioned the fighter in the middle of the hangar and slowly pulled the throttle back, resulting in a soft landing. From there Cap slumped back into her seat with a gasp, breathing heavily. 

“You landed way better than I did.” Katherine commented, walking up.

Cap looked over at the charred wreckage. “That is not a landing.” She pushed herself off and jumped back to the ground, relieved to be on something stable. Still not quite recovered from being flung through the air, she sat down against one of the crates. “I’ll just be a minute.” There wasn’t initially a response from Katherine, only her shadow falling on Cap as she walked up.

“Here, let me get that for you.” She turned the forearm of her prosthetic where a panel opened up. Katherine fished out a small cylinder containing a white liquid, inserting it into a slot inside the arm.

Cap was confused for a moment before looking to her own shoulders, where blood had dried around the metal fragments that peppered her skin. “Shit, I got it.” 

As her hand moved, it was gripped by Katherine’s still good hand. The grip wasn’t too tight, but firm enough to suggest that she not try against it.

She watched as Katherine plucked a shard out from her shoulder, wincing from the sharp pain at each exit. Following each removal, a metallic finger would press against the wound. A small amount of white substance flowed through a tiny nozzle at the pad. It soaked up the blood and filled the gap. After a few seconds the substance turned into a gel which blocked any further blood from escaping along with remaining fluid enough to not tear at bodily movement.

The two were silent amongst the distant explosions and gunfire below. Even as Katherine finished up. “Still breathing?” She asked, offering her metallic hand.

Cap let out a breath, taking the hand and nearly being yanked up from its strength. “Yeah, I’ve had worse.”

Katherine nodded and jogged over to the doors leading into the cruiser, with Cap in tow just behind. She went to the control panel of the door and peeled off the screen. From there she jabbed her index finger into the mesh of wires and circuits.

“What are you doing?” Cap asked with a raised brow.

“Alright, eyes up, look alive.” She said, pulling up a holographic screen containing the dozen or so checklists they’d have to perform upon exiting the warp tunnel.

As the stars around them came back into focus, so did the fiery wreck of a consulate ship being split apart. With how close the vessel was near the warp gate, a piece of it tore a sizable gash through the side of the Tacitus.

A cloud of metal debris and several unfortunate crew members flew out the wound, with Eve stumbling as the ship shuddered from the impact. “Sitrep!” She yelled, grabbing the console to stand back up. “Section fourteen and seventeen hull pierced, sealing breached areas.” 

“Fourth Centauri and Luhman home fleet engaged with two Irenix fleets.”

Eve tapped the center console and brought up a holographic map which displayed ship positions and information as it was made available to them. It only took a second of actually viewing the map to make the first decision. “Divert power from weapons to shields, get us a drop course over the planet.”

She moved her hand back to the console and opened the comms line. “Katherine-”

“Already on it princess don’t have to tell me.” 

Alarms blared throughout the hangar, with the overhead lights being switched to a red hue. Five apartment sized drop pods had been moved to the center courtesy of the rail and magnet system above. Two of them had ramps acting as their doors where troops and armored vehicles were entering. When the bottom was filled, the floor would ascend to the top layer like an elevator, and an empty one would take its place.

Three of the pods were reserved for one titan soldier each, with them loading their usual loadouts and accompanying ammunition. Below them on the ground, other crew were loading supplies into their armor. Given the size and thickness, there were a number of small spaces that could be used to store magazines, medical supplies, anything needed for the mission ahead. A few of the braver crew actually climbed up the armor using strategically placed pegs and dips. 

“Five minutes to drop point.” The PA system blared. 

The crew quickly loaded the last few pieces of equipment and cleared the three titans. Once the stragglers had jumped off, they quickly entered the tight spaces of their pods. The doors closed, sealing them inside.

The bottom door of the fifth pod slid down. With all of them prepped and ready, the rail system carried them deeper into the ship. The interior of the top floor was almost designed like an amusement park ride. Rows of stands with straps attached surrounded a projection table, where Katherine stood at the helm and the other soldiers silently observed.

“Alright people hot drop time, only got a rough destination and no orders. Only to help where we can.” She swiped her hand at the holographic planet above the table, switching to a different continent. Opening up her hand, it zoomed into a region on the West coast. Making the motion again, the map locked onto a city that was in the path of the ship. “This is where we’ll be ending up, or at least should be. Knock on wood.”

The soldiers around her looked at each other and then the surrounding room. Completely made of metal. “...Bad omen.” Katherine muttered. “Just strap in, it’s gonna be a rough ride.”

She and the others selected a stand, looping their arms and securing themselves. 

Shudders and metallic groans echoed through the room as the pod was moved again. A resounding clunk signaled everyone to brace themselves, with most of the soldiers’ posture stiffening. Not Katherine though, who relaxed into the stand with a deep breath.

A thunderous roar preceded their launch as they were fired from the ship’s belly into the planet’s atmosphere. From the outside, the pod didn’t look all too different from a bullet as it tore through the sky.

The inside was a rumbling rocking ride for five minutes, with one question inevitably rattling in some soldiers' heads. Would they make it?

They were answered by a gentle shudder as the pods impacted the ground. The subsequent explosion of dirt and debris contrasted against the relative quiet inside as the shock absorbers and internal dampers softened the blow.

A quiet mechanical whir sounded as the first floor was pushed up. Katherine quickly unfastened the straps and jogged over to the projection table again, which turned on as she approached.

It automatically displayed several camera feeds which showed their surroundings. Since they weren’t being shot at, Katherine initiated the opening sequence.

A short alarm blared and the overhead lights turned green as the doors slid up. The others followed suit and undid the straps to get off. They quickly made their way to the broken street, with the lights inside beginning to flash.

When everyone had gotten off, the lights flashed red. The floor rose revealing another layer. While this process repeated, Katherine’s head turned down the street where one of the titan pods had landed. It was Jackal, their frontline specialist. Sporting the heaviest armor of the three and unsurprisingly the tallest at thirty five feet tall.

On the other side was Angel, their medic. To the front was Adler, anti-armor specialist.

The three titans began converging on their pod which was still offloading soldiers, their combined set of steps producing a slight tremor.

By the time they got there, the last few floors were unloading tanks and APCs. “Where to?” Jackal asked.

“No idea yet.” Katherine said, looking down each street to see if there was an indication of where they would be needed. She turned around and looked past the street behind him. A few dozen blocks away, a crashed ship had leveled an entire section of city. “Let’s start there.”

It was silent agreement with everyone and they began heading towards the ruins to check for survivors. The company of soldiers formed into a convoy, Jackal and Adler took up the front of the convoy followed by their armored vehicles. Everyone else along with Angel stuck to the rear.

Katherine eyed the radio operator and motioned for him to join her closer to the front of the formation. He caught sight of her and quickly followed behind. “Yes ma’am?”

“I need to know what exactly is ahead of us.” The request was immediately followed up by the operator. He had a pda attached to his wrist and flicked it up. It took a few minutes of interacting with the interface for him to produce an answer.

“Trident class troop carrier, it was downed half an hour ago. Survivors were scattered after Irenix ground forces landed nearby to finish the job.” He explained.

“Then we’ll link up with them. Past that, we can figure out later.” Katherine said as they continued down the street. The column started to split into two separate groups, thanks to the indented footprints that Jackal was leaving behind.

“There’s one more thing about this carrier, there was a titan on board.” The radio operator said.

This drew a confused raised brow from her. “I thought ours were the only ones?”

“Apparently not, they’re from a separate research division. He serves with their mobile infantry unit, specializing in rapid insertion and response.” He said, reading from a basic file. “Must’ve been why they were singled out and hunted like this”

Katherine nodded. “They’ll have to be our priority.” Her eyes drifted past the column of soldiers, counting the buildings to see how close they were getting. “I doubt they’d still be at the crash site, likely at least a few blocks away.” The convoy at the moment was only ten blocks from the ship.

“Their comm lines should still be active, I might be able to trace them.” The radio operator said, tapping away at the pda.

Her brow furrowed and she stopped walking. The soldier just behind nearly bumped into her. “Jackal, stop here.” She called out.

The lead titan looked back. “How come? We’re nearly there.”

“Just dig in-” Katherine never managed to finish her sentence as a wall of bullets slammed into the front of the convoy. Jackal and the tanks up front took on most of the blows, shielding everyone else behind. “Take cover and form up a perimeter, we hold here!” She yelled, pushing past while the others dispersed.

Their armored vehicles moved to form a wall facing the street in which dozens of Irenix soldiers had poured out to engage. With their sides turned, Jackal knelt down and began firing single shots at different clusters of enemy soldiers.

It would be an understatement to call what he was firing ‘bullets’, even though he was wielding what amounted to a machine gun scaled up to his size. They were borderline tank shells, and Jackal didn’t need to spray down the street like a human sized traditional gunner would. He simply tapped the trigger at a group or a piece of cover and everything there turned into a crater.

With the support of the tanks and troops behind him, the initial group they were firing was quickly cleared. However, that was replaced by an actual battalion. Equipped with armored vehicles and mechanized units to match.

As soon as the similarly sized mechs stomped onto the street, it evened the playing field. And they were standing out in the open practically begging to be shot. “Get to the sides, go!” Jackal’s order echoed off the streets as he stood up.

Standing even taller than the mechs, he proved to be an attractive target as rounds began shattering against his armor. Jackal held up a hand to his face as he blindly pulled the trigger and let the machine gun loose. 

While the street in front of them became obscured from dust, falling building parts, and the occasional spurt of red mist, everyone else used the opportunity to head for the alleys and side streets. Angel had moved in front of the retreating troops, acting as a shield for those who were wounded in the initial barrage. Adler had rushed forward to the intersection and took cover behind a convenience store. 

Once the battalion was more or less in a better position, Jackal moved to the same intersection. “Five mechanized armor, and at least a dozen tanks.” He said, dropping the drum magazine which cracked the tarmac below.

Adler simply nodded and moved his shoulder closer to the edge of the building. His spotter had been perched just behind his neck, and slowly stepped over to peak around the corner. He used a high powered scope to see past the smoke, taking note of enemy positions. “Jackal, give the left side of the street a burst. Adler, I’ve got a walking armor alllllll the way in the back. Betting on AP munitions.”

“Not for long.” The titan muttered, changing to a crouched position. When he held his breath, the spotter rushed back closer to his head. Adler rounded the corner and brought up his rifle, which held still despite its weight.

The spotter locked on to the invisible laser being shone from the barrel, which currently was off target. “Right more, about a car’s length.” He grabbed a fistful of hair to keep himself steady as the titan adjusted his aim. “Tiniest bit upward…” A pause. “Hit em.”

Even with the springs built into the butt-stock, the shockwave still shoved at the spotter’s chest. Though hundreds of shots had taught him the best foot placement and conditioned his limbs to hold on tight.

There was the initial ear tearing gunshot, followed by a distant metallic ‘thunk’ as the mech fell over. “Anti armor down.” Adler called out.

The vehicles that had taken to the alley ways drove out and joined Jackal in laying down a blanket of fire past the debris smoke which began to clear. Other soldiers began to follow as well, with a few staying back to tend to the wounded and manage communications with the ship.

Above their heads, a metallic hand attached to a winch flew by. It impacted Jackal’s shoulder and he stood still upon hearing it.

A few seconds later, Katherine rocketed along the path of the metal wire. She braced her leg out in front, with it absorbing the other wise bone shattering force upon landing. From there, she kicked a small lever left of his lower back.

A fifty cal machine gun popped out of a hidden socket embedded into the armor, flipping out and facing forward. Katherine grinned while climbing up higher and manning the weapon. Together, Jackal focused on demolishing vehicles and potential cover, and she swept the playing field with crayon sized bullets to catch stragglers.

The combined amount of gunfire had masked the approach of several of the mechanized units flanking their left side. A few blocks down, one had taken up position at the corner of an intersection. It was using a long range rifle similar to what Adler had packed. She barely noticed it out of the corner of her eye.

“Fuck!” Katherine tried to turn the gun but its turning radius was limited. “Jackal, left flank!” 

“What?” He said, lowering his weapon and looking at her.

Within the time span of the warning she was trying to give, the mech had time to acquire target and fire. And of course the target would be the largest one there, Jackal.

However, one thing preceded the subsequent shot.

A streak of blue light flashed from the top floor of the office building to their right side. This was followed by both an electronic pulse emanating from the source weapon and a small orange glowing hole in the mech’s shoulder. 

The barrel of the opposing rifle, once perfectly aimed for Jackal’s head, had veered wildly to the left. Out of instinct the trigger was still pulled, firing a shell into the lower floors of the office.

“I got him!” Adler called out. With how close they were, he simply aimed down the scope for center mass and fired.

The round punched straight through the chest, tearing apart the power core and sending it falling backwards. That wasn’t the only one though, and the others began peeking around the corners of the building they’d selected for cover to begin returning fire.

This forced the battalion to reposition, not leaving much in the leeway of matching the firepower being thrown at them. “Who was that shot from?” Katherine called while Jackal jogged over to a corner store, leaning against its front.

Adler’s spotter again gripped the titan’s hair as they moved around. He waited for another body shattering shot to be fired before looking down his scope up at the office building. His eyes glanced over the myriad of broken windows, stopping at one which had a faint glow. He focused the scope, seeing a woman wielding what appeared to be a smaller version of the rail cannons attached to warships. 

She seemingly spotted him, giving a short wave, and a grin accompanied with a wink. From there, he was able to make out the symbol on the bluesleeved uniform she was wearing. “Rapid response unit ma’am, definitely with us.”

“Good, we can use the extra hand.” Katherine said. “Jackal, they’ve got our flank, focus on our front.” With the momentary dip of firepower being flung down the street, the main force they were fighting began to creep back up to re-establish a foothold. Soldiers took cover in craters and the few remaining armored vehicles began to push out from their hiding spots.

Thanks to certain features, their new ally’s position became incredibly obvious. The blue streaks of light and electronic pulses from the higher floors of the office building near them presented a clear target. One of the walking armors who wasn’t taking enough fire to be occupied aimed at the floor. Katherine’s eyes widened, not needing to look back to trace where the shot would be hit. “Oh shit-”

What occurred was barely even audible, the singular shot and explosion was hardly noticed over the chorus of the conflict boiling around them. She looked back to see a fiery hole where the floors used to be, and the occupant dangling from a sagging metal beam. They were wearing a jetpack but the engines had smoke emitting from several holes.

“Jackal, throw, now!” She yelled, moving off the machine gun. He sidestepped into cover with a confused look.

“Where?” Katherine simply pointed up at the burning floors. Seeing his target, he nodded and offered a flat palm to her.

She climbed up the shoulder and hopped onto the hand. Katherine crouched down as the fingers curled up around her. Holding their pads, she hunched a bit, trying to make herself as small as possible. Jackal had dropped his gun, holding his free hand out towards the burning floors. 

The metal beam that the rapid response soldier was hanging onto was seeming to grow impatient, and it shuddered and dropped slightly.

“No, lower than that.” Katherine said, with Jackal aiming two floors lower. “Go!”

The grip she had on Jackal’s fingers tightened as her cupped platform wound back. Everything blurred and her stomach twisted as she went from stationary to flying through the air.

As Katherine had predicted, the beam snapped. The rapid response soldier dropped for a few seconds before something or rather someone impacted them.

She did her best to orient herself upward and grab the soldier’s waist. “Hang on!” Katherine yelled, slamming her metal arm onto the passing windows and tightly gripping. While there was nothing to stop their fall, the friction of metal fingers against reinforced glass began to slow them down.

Aiming her prosthetic foot down, the tarmac cracked under the force of their landing. Katherine’s still good foot still hurt but the remaining force that wasn’t absorbed didn’t result in anything permanent.

Breathing heavily, she put the soldier down in front of her and aimed a toothy grin down. “Still breathing?” The rapid response member simply looked up with wide eyes, nearly stumbling. “...Hello?” Katherine lightly waved in her face.

It took them a moment. “Y-Yeah, all good.” She quickly said. “Thanks for the save.” Her eyes darted over Katherine, particularly at the arm and leg. They met their eyes and quickly averted.

“Good.” She looked down the street, letting out a sigh. Only a few more stragglers who seemed to be retreating. Most of the fighting was still coming from their flank, but with Jackal joining the others, it seemed the fight was quieting down. “Looks like we get a few moments to breathe,” Katherine checked the name badge, which read, “Carol-”

“Just call me Cap.” The rapid response soldier interrupted.

“Noted?” She said with a confused smile. “We’re the same rank but it’s whatever.” Katherine began walking up the convoy line towards Jackal and the others. “I’m guessing you’re from the downed troop transport. They had a titan stationed with them, any idea of their whereabouts?”

“We got separated during an ambush, but that wasn’t too far away. With all this noise he should be here soon.” Cap said. As they got closer to the intersection where the titans were positioned, she grabbed the rifle holstered to her back. It was a weapon designed for heavy damage at long range, but that was where the similarities to a traditional sniper rifle ended.

The barrel was thicker, with multiple vents lining the structure. The weapon almost seemed to hum with energy as she loaded in two separate magazines. One into the buttstock itself and another under the rifle where one would expect it to go.

“I don’t know what that thing is but that is not standard issue.” Katherine said, looking at the weapon.

“RnD got a hold of some of the more exotic weapons the Irenix have cooked up. It’s basically a wieldable rail gun.” The two took up position next to Adler, though they were a bit late as the last few shots sounded off. What remained was one last walking armor still hiding around the corner of an intersection a block away.

The titan next to them was scoped in, barrel trained at the store corner. “Either fuck off or try your luck, get on with it.” Adler grumbled, firing a round that grazed the building. Still, it didn’t compel them to make a decision.

As he pulled the bolt to rack another round, a few tremors shook the ground. “Maybe this fight isn’t completely over yet.” Katherine said, running to Jackal. She shot her hand at his shoulder and grappled back to her usual position on the mounted gun.

Looking over to the side, she was confused to see Cap lower their weapon. “Trust me , that ain’t more armor coming in.”

Katherine tilted her head, still not quite understanding. A metallic crash and faint yell drew her attention back to the street they were holding. Everyone's eyes were at the intersection as the walking armor was pushed out of cover, a serrated knife jabbed into the left center of the chest. It just barely missed the pilot as its arms pushed against the hand that had it caught.

A new figure made itself known as it stepped past the building, wearing a darker set of armor. A mask covered the bottom of his face and a dark visor did the same for the top half.

He stopped at the middle of the intersection and pushed down harder, forcing the mech onto the ground. From there, the titan punched downwards, easily accessing the inner workings. Everyone watched in morbid curiosity as the faint yelling ceased, drowned out by crunching metal and exploding parts as the titan simply closed their hand. When it came out, the mixture contained a black liquid, and a dark red which dripped down to paint the tarmac.

When they stood up, Jackal's eyes narrowed. Especially as Adler side eyed him. “Thought you were the tallest-”

“Shut the fuck up.” He muttered as the new titan began walking towards him.

“If you’re feeling insecure about certain things you can talk to Angel, he knows a thing or two being the shortest-” Katherine never got to finish her remark as he placed the pad of his index finger on her mouth.