Inferno

9 - A Sinking Feeling

Now, she was trying to hold off wave after wave of IMC coming up the lift to take back control of the top of the Kraken. The Militia were definitely fighting hard, but they'd already lost several Pilots despite Tyra, Vale, and KT's best efforts.

"You're doing great, ladies!" she heard one of them say over the comms.

Vale's voice spoke from Skids' speakers, "Davis, your mouth is supposed to be shut if I recall correctly."

KT spoke over the comms, "6-4; you are much more experienced than the other Pilots. We would appreciate your support in assisting up front."

"Not a problem." Dimitri rallied the freelance Pilots forward, "Come on!"

Dimitri, Bear, and Jax all ran up to the frontline to help the friendly Titans. Over on the right, Tyra and CH were fighting the Atlas. As it stepped slightly too close, the Scorch Titan reached out an arm and hooked it around the enemy. Then with its other hand, it produced a fiery shield that burned away its defenses and began to melt the casing of the Atlas.

"If you can't take the heat, then get the hell out!" she heard Tyra yell through CH's speakers, and they promptly threw the now helpless Titan off the roof and into the depths of the ocean below.

She decided to try and raise Four. "Pilot, where are you?" She wanted to patch into his helmet's video feed, but she was too busy concentrating on the current battle at hand to multi-task.

"We're in a maintenance shaft, moving towards the bridge. We're both safe."

She quickly held up a hand and used a vortex shield to catch a burst of shrapnel that the Legion had shot at her. Refocusing her aim, she directed it back at some riflemen who were standing near the lift. Several of them flew back many meters from the impact, while other simply fell into pieces where they stood, sliced apart by the metal.

"Understood. Protocol two: uphold the mission."

"That's right. I know we planned for twelve of us to be down here, but with only the firepower of two, we had to improvise and go for a more stealthy approach. I'll update you when we get to the bridge."

She looked back in time to see Skids phase shift right through the Legion, and appear behind it. As it looked around, Vale and Skids drew their sword, impaled the Titan from behind, and then dragged it upwards to cut through the cockpit. Its carcass fell to the ground, completely dead.

"Get the extraction team here quickly with a large enough dropship, so that you and the other Titans can make it out of here. Get those Pilots to safety, they're not doing much besides die up there."

"Understood, Pilot."

It was only another moment before the lift came back up, this time with a Tone and a North Star. She quickly waved the other Pilots back. "Call down the extraction team! You need to evacuate!"

She looked back as the Titans took aim at her, Skids, and Cee. "I hope you hurry, Pilot."

Suddenly, the ship lurched a bit, and she looked off to the side to see what was going on.

"This isn't good."

...

Tobias and Gates peered into the bridge from the vent above, looking at who to target. This was a strong point of Gates'.

"Alright, so we hit those two on the left while those three are stunned from the smoke, and then we can move on the computer. I'm surprised that it's not more heavily guarded."

He shook his head. "Any available units must be working on the cargo lift and trying to retake the top of the ship. I don't think that they know our plan yet."