Standby for Titanfall

[MikDaTv]

"Militia forces have occupied an abandoned IMC mine on Delrithia. They're using the facilities there to refine ore to be used in their ships and construct their Titan's. Pilots, we're deploying you to the west of the facility. Your mission is to retake the primary ore refinery and route any Militia forces you encounter."

The briefing was like most every other briefing the pilots had received since they'd gotten to the frontier. Reinforcements from the core worlds were relatively quick to arrive after the Militia had destroyed Demeter and cut off the IMC's way back to the core worlds. The IMC had sent a fleet of ships to restore order to the region and this operation was one of the battles that the higher ups had deemed necessary in order to accomplish that goal.

"No Militia ships have been detected but they could be hiding anywhere in Delrithia's rings. Until Militia ships move into position though, you can expect no Militia reinforcements or Titans to drop in. A company of infantry and a Specter platoon will be deployed with you. Pilots, report to your dropships and good luck."

[Zilfer]

“Alright recruits this is a training exercise, and as usual we will be using life fire rounds. You’ve probably heard this a thousand times but most requires don’t make it through training and those that do we need to make sure aren’t slacking. So I want to see battlefield control, and I don’t mean calling in your titan as soon as you’ve obtained enough credit to call it in,” said the voice over their comms. Darien shook his head as he held his submachine gun at the ready. The other pilots around him were standing like him waiting for the drop off. The militia had been training them to fight the IMC constantly drilling them over and over, it was a wonder they could remember anything else but the battlefield.

“Today’s training exercise is going to be against a batch of specters we managed to obtain from the IMC, so they are programmed to shoot and kill. We don’t have time to reprogram them to not put you full of bullets the first chance they get,” said the commander’s voice.

Yadayadayada. Any day now… thought Darien as he felt the drop ship slowing down. It wouldn’t be long before words didn’t hold meaning, it was just reactionary. While the commander spoke in the background some more giving what must have been “inspiring talk” he checked his jump kit making sure it was in place for the fifth time. It wasn’t a pretty sight when one of those things failed you.

“Alright go go go!”

That snapped Darien back into reality proceeding off the drop ship to the ground right after the other pilots. He hit the ground at a sprint but as usual he wasn’t the first one in the lead racing across the battlefield for cover. Rachel was in the lead with her sniper rifle already wall running for a higher vantage point. Darien didn’t know how she managed to pull point with that large rifle being lugged around. Activating his cloak after counting to twenty he rushed forward across the field. Most of the time Specters didn’t track the light distortions of the cloak though a few could identify the jump kit’s red thrusters so he relied on staying grounded for now.

The cloak fell almost immediately upon entering in a half destroyed building. Terminal’s scattered along the wall, he figured this had once been an arrival center for ships to land and unload passengers. It provided him numerous cover spots and he felt the ground shake as he moved towards the back of the building. Multiple… had titan’s already been called? It felt…. Deeper for some reason.

Approaching a window, the gun shots were starting off in the background, and Darien managed to peek out the open window and saw that shots were being fired both ways. He snapped out to pick off a few of the stragglers from his flanking position, and saw Rachel’s handiwork in action as three spectre’s dropped in rapid succession to sniper fire.

“Leave some for us Rachel,” said Darien over the com rushing to stop some specters from flanking a pilot who was too far into enemy territory.

“I’m sorry my bullet’s just love enemies Darien. Maybe you should get faster,” came Rachel’s voice over com.
“Funny that’s not what women usually say,” Darien responded before jumping out a window to snake across open ground. A titan had already hit the field and was lighting up the specters. Though it was taking a lot of heat and the only thing saving it was the team picking off them, and possibly the warp shield, it had on.

“Titan Ready” a voice pipped on Darien’s comm. He decided against calling it in proceeded across the open.

“Rachel cover my back, 2 o clock from you. I’m crossing open ground to find out what the rumbling was earlier!”

Darien entered the next building as some specters opened fire on a titan walking his way. Cursing he moved out of the way, and down into a basement. The rumbling had gotten closer! He was sure it wasn’t the titan outside either because it had stopped just outside the door he had slipped through. An odd light filtered out of the room ahead and he proceeded checking for spectres. The field exercise was getting close to being over, he was sure they didn’t have very much more specters from the stolen shipment to train on. That’s when he rounded the corner and he could have sworn he had just heard something…..

Darien came forward and saw a terminal open and transmitting something but no one was at the station. Going forward he checked the screen and as he finished reading his suit warned of an enemy lock on his position. He turned darting and hit his jump kit to give him extra speed in his dive. It didn’t matter to the smart gun but it had distrupted the lock long enough for none of the bullets to be lethal. He cursed and kept running as he felt warm blood running down his side. Reaching the exit he called loudly on comms.

“IMC FROM BELOW! They HID---“ started Darien however he was interrupted as a Titan burst through the ground below him sending him up with the titan. As he came down he tried to orient but the titan grabbed him looking at him and squeezed before tossing him aside.

Darien’s sides hurt like hell, and blackness was coming swiftly but he felt much lighter flying through the air. His brain almost didn’t register how bad it would be to hit the ground, and he hit his jump kit just in time to avoid smashing into a tree. He landed winded, hitting his comlink a few times but words wouldn’t come out. He thought he heard something over his com but he noticed IMC walking his way and hit his cloak in time to turn invisible as they walked past.

“I’m not leaving someone behind!” came Rachel’s voice over the Comm.

“That’s an ORDER!” came the last command before Radio Silence. Darien forced himself to get up and move getting around a corner and holding his sub machine gun close. Adrenaline was pumping and he tried to calm himself as he examined his wounds. Two bullets through the side nothing fatal but blood loss could get him if he wasn’t careful. Smart guns were nasty especially since the user hardly had to aim just be within proximity. He should have been alert even if this was a training exercise… and now this seemed to be going south quickly…. He still had his titan on call but that would alert everyone to his position immediately.

[MikDaTv]

Captain Hernandez glanced at the clock hanging on the bulkhead of the bridge of the IMC Chicago and then down at the orbital course they had laid out.  The ship would be in position to deploy troops within 90 seconds.  "Drop status?"  She said from his command chair in the center of the bridge.

"Infantry pods are full and loaded in the tubes, standing by for drop position.  Shuttles are buttoned up and awaiting launch orders.  Titan manufacturing facilities are at 100% with Titan's ready to drop."  Came the report from the ships XO, Commander Delany who stood next to the forward viewport.

Captain Hernandez kept her eye on the clock. "Status of the fleet?"

"Macbeth and Valley Forge are nearly in deployment position right beside us." Came the report.

"Ok." Said the Captain. "60 seconds to drop. Once we're empty take up position at…."

"Captain, new contacts coming at us from the planet's rings. IFF identifies them as Milita. Coming at us from our right flank." came a shout from the sensor officer.

Captain Hernandez shifted her gaze from the front viewport to the sensor readouts detailing the new ships. If they had been able to hide in the planet's rings then they had mapped them out and that meant they had been on this planet longer than IMC Intel had suggested.

"Militia ships are engaging the Macbeth. She's taking serious damage." the Sensor officer reported.

"40 seconds to drop." The Captain continued. "All starboard guns, focus on those Militia ships"

"Macbeth's shields are down. Her hull is taking a pounding under focused firepower. She's off course. She won't make orbit for the drop. She's…. she's breaking off under her own power and charging the Militia."

The captain looked at the readouts "She can't make the drop so she's sacrificing herself to buy us time. Lets not waste it. 20 seconds to drop."

"10 seconds to drop"

"Drop"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jack Marshal grabbed ahold of the handled bars above his head as the shuttle pilot flipped on the red light in the passenger bay. He always got the shakes during a drop. He'd seen the doc about it before and the doc said there was nothing wrong with him. It wasn't nerves or fear, it was just the adrenalin before a fight.

The dropship lurched and he looked out the window as it launched from the Chicago's launch bay. The Chicago had two dropships, each carried six pilots. His stomach churned as the shuttle made a few twists and turns to orient itself towards the ground and engage it's engines.

Through the window he saw drop pods begin their launch sequence from the Chicago. The infantry would hit the ground in their pods first, then the pilots would come in behind and fortify the lines. The Specter platoon would then deploy to shore up their front.

The view outside the window warped, stretching itself out of shape until he could barely make anything out and then there was a flash and suddenly the dropship was over ground. The Specter crew chief in front of them waved the pilots forward and they all lined up to jump. The pilot turned the green light on and the rear door dropped. The specter waved them forward and the pilots jumped.

Jack hit the ground running. No pilot ever won a war standing still. He could already hear fighting in the distance so he triggered his stim and booked it, taking off towards the battle to come, carbine in hand.

[Damocles]

Johnny rushed to the drop ships when it was time to go, he had been anticipating this for a while now, it was his first drop. He had been getting rookie from a lot of the other pilots and he was ready to prove his worth to the IMC, he figured if he made it through this, racked up a few kills and even took out a Titan that would earn him his respect. Of course that was a lot to ask for a first drop. Actually he'd be happy if he didn't get shot in the face as soon as the drop ship opened. Johnny grabbed his carbine as he got the ships. He looked around at the other soldiers getting to their ships.

"Rico over here" a voice called out Johnny turned around and saw his friend Carmine, he ran over to him. "You ready for this buddy?" Carmine asked Rico smirked as he put on his helmet "Never more ready for anything in my life." he said as they climbed onto the ship. They watched as their ship warped putting them on the planet "That made my stomach turn" Johnny said feeling like he was going to throw up in his helmet. "You'll get used to it" Carmine replied as the back o the ship opened.

The spectre waved them out and Carmine went first jumping off the vessel his jet pack activating as he hit the ground Johnny landed not a few seconds later both their guns out. They noticed the rest of the squad moving up and the drop ships coming full of grunts. Carmine pointed to a structure "I'll head up there to snipe give you cover, you try to get the objective" he said. Johnny nodded "On it..." he said as he ran towards the nearest building and jumped up it.

Looking around Johnny could see and hear several of the grunts being ripped apart by the Militia "Great" Johnny said landing and climbing through a window he looked around making sure no enemy pilots were in the room with him.

[MikDaTv]

"That's it, we're empty."  The dropmaster reported as the shuttles and last of the drop pods were launched from the Chicago.

"Helm, fire ventral thrusters, pull us away from the planet and bring us about!  Status of the Militia fleet?"  The Captain shouted.

The Sensor officer examined his console and turned in his chair to face the Captain.  "Ma'am, Macbeth is dead.  Militia forces have broken her back and I'm reading a radiation leak from her primary reactor.  She has no power and no life support.  Multiple hull breaches and her coms are dead.  She did significant damage to a Militia destroyer but minimal damage to the rest of their fleet."

The Captain thought about her options.  The Chicago was a troop frigate.  She had enough guns to deal with smaller threats or to act in support of larger vessels but her primary roll was hauling troops from one planet to another planet.  "Where is the Valley Forge?"

"Finishing the last of her drops below us ma'am"

"Inform her Captain that the Macbeth is OOC, her Captain presumed dead and I am assuming command of the operation.  Then proceed to order them to finish their drop and join us.  Once she acknowledges, contact IMC 3rd fleet and inform them of the situation and request aid."  Hernandez ordered.  There was no way two troop frigates could take on a Militia fleet all by themselves.

"Course Ma'am?"  The helmsman asked.

"Put us in high geosynchronous orbit.  We'll hold position and take on the Militia.  When Valley Forge rejoins us swap positions with them to give us a rest and let them take the heat for a while then swap back.  We can't win that way but we can support ground operations and drag this fight out long enough for help to arrive."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Pilot, your Titan will be ready in 5 minutes."

Five minutes!  Jack thought to himself.  What, did they have to mill the steel before building it?  Five minutes is an eternity.

"Watch your HUD Pilot, your approaching objective bravo.  Capture the point so I can access the console and hack into the environmental systems for the facility."

Jack snapped his attention back to what he was doing.  The ore refinery had a number of systems that the IMC needed to take control of in order to force the Militia out.  Jack had landed closest to the power station but figured most of the other pilots would be heading that way so he decided to head for the next objective to see if he could sneak in and snag it before the Militia realized he was there.  The environmental systems building controlled the living conditions within the facility.  All jack had to do was hook a remote access device to the console and protect it so the nerds on the Chicago could hack it.

A gaggle of Militia grunts stormed out of the building upon seeing the IMC pilot running towards them.  Jack didn't waste any time.  He jumped, triggered his jump pack and threw an arc grenade.  The height gave his throw distance and before they even knew it the grunts were being blasted with electricity.

Jack hit the ground running again and opened up with his carbine, putting rounds into the grunts that still moved after being zapped.

[Zilfer]

Darien hide as a number of IMC passed by. The blood had stopped flowing as much after he had pulled a few medical supplies and popped an emergency stim but that was only temporary. If he made it out of this still alive he would have to have some down time for sure. He saw the IMC were starting to storm and what had been a simple training exercise had blown full into war. Time hadn't always been on their side when expecting the IMC but fraggin hell! Where did they come from?

He jumped aside as an arc grenade came flying into the building he had wandered into. He cursed as he hadn't realized they had begun to secure the building. So he decided to hole up and set up a trap of his own, placing down an explosive pack in two different door ways. He hoped to hell they collapsed when the charges went off. He kept his submachine gun pointed at the third entry way.... the roof. Pilots learned early to not always be concerned only with what was on the ground but to look UP. Death from above had multiple meanings around here.

[Damocles]

Johnny turned a corner and saw several Militia grunts firing on the IMC grunts, he opened fired cutting through the militia "Sons a bitches" he said to himself the grunts turned to him "Thanks for the help!" they said nodding as they went about their business. "2 minutes to titanfall pilot" Johnny heard through his com "Great two minutes..." he mumbled to himself. "Johnny" Carmine came in on the other "What is it?" Johnny questioned as he started to run towards a building. He ran up the wall and leapt through the window of the blew out building he quickly bounced off a wall and landed.

"Enemy titan on the field, be careful out there" Carmine called out "Fuck me" Johnny said as he turned around he tossed out a frag grenade as an enemy pilot ran at him, it exploded making the pilot hesitate, Johnny opened fire hitting the enemy pilot killing him. That's when he heard someone scream. Running to the window Johnny saw an enemy titan step on a grunt. Johnny pulled out his rpg and locked on to the enemy Atlas and fired at it. Direct hit the Atlas took some damage but turned around to see who was firing at it but Johnny was already gone.

"One minute till your titan is ready" Johnny heard he would just have to hold out until then, the enemy titan was still looking for him in the area, he was hoping that the rest of the IMC soldiers were holding their own as well.

[MikDaTv]

Jack surveyed the grunts, making sure each one of them was dead. He was an IMC Pilot, it wouldn't do for him to die by grunt infantry and he wasn't going to let any of them trick him into getting a shot at his back.

He glanced up at his radar and saw friendly markers coming in behind him. He glanced back and saw a trio of Specters leap down from a neighboring building. As they approached their systems linked with Jack's HUD. He gestured towards the door, ordering them to advance. The three specters ran by him and through the front door. They would spread out inside and clear it room by room. Jack gave them a moment to clear the first room before stepping through himself.

[Zilfer]

The ground rocked hard as three spectres were taken out in a well timed blast. They weren't the smartest of things, but they could be deadly just the same. He had hoped the explosion was going to cave in the entrances but it only succeeded in making the entrances look worse than they already were. He jumped up activating his jump pack but his initial jump didn't push him far enough and he barely caught the ledge with his extended hand. Someone had probably heard the explosion so he had to keep moving no matter the pain in his side.

Pulling hard he managed to lift himself to the ledge and roll over onto his back. In the sky he could see a few more titan's being called in from the sky, and the battle had yet to die off. He silently cursed, this battlefield was getting worse and worse. His hud beeped that there was an enemy pilot in the area, he had to keep moving.... he forced himself back on his feet and looked around the roof for his next move....