Futuristic Titanfall: Final Push of the Frontier (Open)

[ThrashMetallix]

MCS REDWALL, Hangar 18
August 23rd, 2216
05:44

The Hangar was bustling with activity as Militia personnel rushed to get ready for the oncoming operation. Mechanics were getting dropships ready, soldiers were preparing their weapons and gear, the large chassis hulks of various titans were getting worked on by other mechanics, and a messy figure was sitting on a workbench, polishing a blade which hummed to the touch. Next to him, a rather old device played an an even older song through some rough speakers as he worked. He finished polishing his blade, before picking up a nearby data pad, and swiping through the names of the people he was to be expecting.

What a lot.

An ex-IMC soldier, a couple younger pilots, and one he wasn’t entirely sure how to read. He swiped through each, skimming through their backgrounds, particular skills, and how long they’d been fighting, and just let out a brief sigh. Why had Command given him a new squad? He was perfectly happy with his older squad. They had a fair share of experience, got jobs done, and this quick switch had been pulled rather swiftly. Wayde didn’t know any of these other Pilots. Michael Whitton? Clark Clements? Haile Murat? Riley Oobs...Oost... Oobsterdeeny? Wayde gave up trying to pronounce the last name. He just gave another sigh and dropped the pad next to him He guessed he’d find out soon enough just what these guys were worth... if they didn’t keep him waiting at least.

(Have fun guys! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!)

 

[Unchosen]

The sound of the entrance doors opening and closing behind Riley blended into the clattering of machinery in Hangar 18. The fit young man entered wearing his Pilot suit, but left his helmet to rest against his side with one hand gripping it for support. Quickly he observed his surrounding before spotting Wayde. He held a hand up with greetings as he approached.

"Hey! You must be lieutenant Wayde." He spoke loudly in hopes of speaking over the banging and welding that surrounded them. Riley's features became more prevelent now face to face with Wayde. His hazel eyes and shaggy brown hair distinguished him better than his thinned pilot suit. "My name is Riley and I'll be your field medic for this operation!"

 

[ThrashMetallix]

The noise in the hangar made hearing the first Pilot a bit difficult, but Wayde looked up from polishing his hacking blade to see a rather young face before him. Wayde recognized the face from the data pad, and heard the introduction as Riley. ‘Great,’ Wayde thought to himself, ‘first guy I meet is the guy whose last name I can’t pronounce.’

Wayde pushed that thought out of his mind and replied, “I certainly hope we won’t need your services as a field medic, Mr. Riley.” Wayde responded giving the young pilot’s hand a quick shake. “Command must like your... unusual approach to the Pilot role.” Wayde picked up the data pad again, and swiped to Riley’s file, watching a few of the provided videos in the file of Riley using the grapple technique to pull wounded Militia to him, where most pilots used the grapple technique to scale massive structures, or even zoom towards enemies themselves for a quick kill. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed myself.”

 

[Unchosen]

Riley smiled, happy to hear his superior pleased by his history as a pilot. "It's nothing really. I'm just here to save lives is all." He took another look around the hangar and studied the titans under repair and the soldiers readying their weapons. "So I hear we're headed to investigate some sort of anomalous energy source. Sounds pretty important considering the team we're sending."

 

[ThrashMetallix]

“We’re being sent to Valinor III, because the IMC has taken an interest in the planet.” Wayde said rather unsparingly. That wasn’t to say that there weren’t rumors as to why the IMC had taken such an interest in the sad excuse of a planet, Wayde had heard plenty of theories. Anomalous energy sources, another alien superweapon, undiscovered resources, he’d heard plenty, but truth be told, he didn’t exactly know why the IMC was suddenly taking such a huge interest in the planet.

“I’ll be happy to brief you on the situation, should the rest of the team get here soon. What all do you know about Valinor III?” Wayde asked, sticking his hacking blade, and pulse blades into their appropriate sheaths, before standing up and walking towards a nearby armory box, which was full of ordinance weaponry.

 

[Unchosen]

Riley walked with Wayde and peared inside the armory box but never took anything from it. "My brief said it was supposedly 50° below zero on the surface. I'm worried grunts won't be able to fight in the harsh conditions." As he spoke, he fastened each of his medicinal pouches with bandages, anti-biotics, and other supplies. "I remember fighting alongside the boys years ago, but we never fought through whether like this before."

 

[ThrashMetallix]

“It can get even colder on a really bad day.” Wayde said, grabbing a few gravity stars, and fragment grenades, sticking them to his belt. “And the grunts better dress warmly, because in order for our plan to work, they’re gonna need to keep the IMC’s attention. No one wants to be here anymore than anyone else, there’s a reason the early settlers of the Frontier packed up and left in those early years, but frigid temperatures, ice, and snow aren’t driving away the IMC.”

Wayde sighed, because he really didn’t want to have to repeat any of this, and Riley was the only one here, and it was almost 06:00. He really hoped command didn’t assign him a bunch of over sleepers for this new squad of his.

( Rusty of Shackleford , ONI , Shindoku , I hope you didn’t by chance miss this getting posted up)

 

[Shindoku]

Clark walked into hangar 8 and stretched, he wasn't sure what to expect from his new job, but he wasn't about to miss the chance to put a blade into someone's back. He walks over to the lieutenant, gives a nod to the other pilot and then gives a salute "Clark Clements reporting for duty sir" he dropped his hand to his side and sat down on a crate of supplies "so, this all of us or..."

 

[ThrashMetallix]

As if on cue, another pilot appeared, introducing himself as Clark Clements. The ex-IMC pilot. Wayde nodded as he gave a standard salute that Wayde never really knew how to take, and said "Pilot Clements, former IMC Ronin pilot, you are the first pilot I've led that has piloted such a titan, and I'm eager to see what you're capable of, especially since your previous squad leader has praised a particular skill with a blade."

Wayde flipped through the Pilot's profile on his pad and says, "I see Command has mentioned a capability for aggressive behavior, and while I'm certain it helps you on the field of battle, this mission requires a cool head, and cautious approach. I trust you will be able to keep such an approach?"

 

[Shindoku]

Clark nods "Gotcha, not sure why it says aggressive" he shrugs "maybe its because i prefer pushing forward to fight close up, dont worry, i ain't gonna take a fight i can't win, ill generally avoid legions, but beyond that ill close the gap and force them to fight in situations they dont understand."

 

[ThrashMetallix]

"I didn't write the profile, it was just given to me." Wayde said unapologetically, "Regardless, I'm glad we have an understanding."

Wayde turned to Riley, and said to Clark, "This is our Pilot Medic, Riley, I can't pronounce his last name. You may wish to get acquainted. As to answer your previous question, I am still waiting on a Pilot Haile Murat, and Michael Whitton. I'd like them to join us, before I brief everyone on what our mission is. You haven't by chance seem either of them?"

 

[Unchosen]

Riley listened patiently before being introduced to the attending pilot. He smiled and stood his hand out for a shake. "Riley Oobsterdene. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, refusing to comment on the new face being associated with the IMC; clueless as to how a former enemy could achive pilot status. "I hope Wayde is right about you being a skilled and loyal pilot."

 

[Shindoku]

Clark took Riley's hand and shook it "Ill prove myself on the battlefield, hope your good at keeping us alive" Clark chuckled and smiled "i haven't seen them though, but ill go gear up, id like to ship out ASAP" With that Clark went and started putting on his full suit and grabbing his weapons

 

[ONI]

Short notice re-assignments were the bane of Murat's existence. Then again they tended to be the majority of his went deployments, going wherever was deemed even remotely important. He shrugged his shoulders banishing the thought as he ran a hand over his face, absentmindedly massaging it as he walked across one of the suspended gangways in Hanger 18 and hitched a ride down a floor. Sliding down onto the platform of a high tonnage lift beside a pair of inactive Titans. Stepping off he took in the contrast, upstairs was pretty scarcely populated but down here there was a near endless stream of movement. Formations of infantry rushing to their staging areas and titans pushing massive loads, it always did well to remind him how small he was in the grand scheme of things.

The veteran pilot made on through the high traffic zone at a jog, moving with haste towards the meet point. Haile came to a halt, tucking his helmet under arm and saluting before speaking up "Lieutenant Liander?" he waited a moment "Sorry I'm late, sir. Murat, SRS Infiltration Troop. Just flew in from the Iroquis.", after introducing himself he gave the other two pilots respectful nods. Why a solo operator like him was being grouped up he didn't care to ask, the mission called for it, but what he did care for was that barely touched container of food in his duffle bag. Haile dropped to a knee, lowering the bag before tugging out said container and tucking in as he came to straighten out again.

 

[ThrashMetallix]

While Clark and Riley got acquainted with each other, a third voice came from behind Wayde, and the voice of Haile Murat formally introduced himself. Formally indeed. For a moment, Wayde forgot he was just a Lieutenant in this, and had half a mind to tell Murat to settle down, but pushed that thought out of his mind. Apparently, Wayde’s comfort level with he casual approach to missions his older squads had was rubbing off on him too much.

“Pilot Haile Murat, Infiltration Troop.” Wayde echoed the introduction before reaching for the pad once again, and pulling up his information. “Heard plenty of glory stories from Infiltration Troop,” Wayde said as he pulled up Haile’s profile, and swiped through to get a look at what he was capable of. “I certainly hope the reputation speaks for itself.”

Wayde gazed at the profile, and offered a confusing frown. ‘Oh... this guy.’

This was the member of the team whose profile seemed rather... hazy. Little was on the record about this guy. Apparently, he’d entered the Militia fairly recently, and had been in multiple squads. But his skills as a pilot were unprecedented, as he passed Militia Pilot Training with flying colors. There was obviously an untold story here that nobody was getting. Wayde didn’t need to glance at the man’s prosthetic arm to know that. He guessed it wasn’t really important, but it just made Wayde wonder just where the Militia found these guys.

“I see you’re one of the few pilots who can take phase shifting...” Wayde said. Phase Shifting sat wrong with Wayde on almost every single level. It didn’t matter if it was the mere thought of transporting between dimensions at will, or one of the many freak accident videos he’d been forced to watch on the subject that would have turned any sane individual off to the thought of ever wanting to do such a feat ever again, it just made Wayde almost physically nauseous. Wayde beckoned to the prosthetic arm. “That how you got that?”

 

[Unchosen]

Riley awaited the last pilot patiently, reviewing the contents of the hangar a few times over before studying the other pilots. He overheard the lieutenant speaking with a questionably on-time pilot. Riley didn't know what to make of these former IMC pilots, but he knew a phase shifter threatened him more than just another IMC hardass. Hopefully Wayde's wishes to avoid medical treatment on the battlefield would be for the better; both for the squad and Riley's personal dilemma. "Sheesh." He grumbled to himelf, unsure about how to feel about the operation under these circumstances.

 

[Rusty of Shackleford]

Michael soon reported to the hangar, his custom Volt slung on his right shoulder, and his helmet under his arm. He walked up to Strider, saying, "It's okay, buddy. I'll be back soon. Don't worry." He then went to find rhe Lieutenant, saying, "Lieutenant Liander? Lance Corporal Michael Whitton, reporting for duty, Sir!" He saluted, before sitting down on a nearby crate to make sure his Volt was in good shape. Due to how the gun worked, he found that he often had to make sure the energy modules were up at running, though the cold could help those work, actually. Regardless, he did his normal weapons check, along with his P2016.

(Really sorry! Been busy!)

 

[ThrashMetallix]

Before Wayde could get an answer, the fourth and final pilot acknowledged his presence in joining the group. Wayde gazed up at a nearby clock which now read 06:03, and Wayde had half a mind to ask the young Pilot what time he had been asked to report, but fought the urge. Wayde just took a deep breath in, and swiped the pad and brought up Whitton’s profile, to see what the young Pilot was exactly capable of. “Pilot Whitton... another shifter.”

Wayde couldn’t help but trail off for a second, and just ask himself why some willingly volunteered to train for such an ability. Was it useful? Sure. It was a nice quick way to potentially walk through walls, get the drop on enemies, it was a whole new dimension of combat that no one could have predicted possible. But to Wayde, the risk involved was just too much. Whatever... apparently for others, the risk was worth it all.

Wayde looked to both Haile and Michael and said “I’m not going to question your control over your abilities here... just make sure that if you do end up using it, return to my squad in one piece.”

Wayde then shut the chest he was supplying up from. “Listen up!” he spoke up, before shutting off his player, which was playing a song about how a living thing was a terrible thing to lose.

“I wish we could all spend the day getting to know each other, and be one big happy family here, but we are pressed for time, so let’s just get on with it. As your reports probably exclaimed, we’re going to a nice cozy planet called Valinor III. The IMC has been spending a nice bit of time on the planet’s surface now engaged in some mining operation, and whatever they’ve found has been important enough for them to call in an entire fleet of defense over.

“I don’t know what they’ve found, but the last time the IMC was mining like this, the Militia had to deal with a superweapon that could destroy planets. With the amount of effort the IMC is going through to defend this ice ball, the Militia is not taking any chances in letting go whatever the IMC has found. If the IMC has found something, it’s our job to find out what it is, and if necessary, to neutralize it.”

Wayde tossed his pad on a nearby table, and with a few presses of the screen, a holographic map was brought up of an area of the planet. Wayde highlighted a certain area of the map. “For this mission to work, the IMC needs to be fully distracted. So thankfully, at this moment, the Militia is launching an assault on the front door of the IMC Mining Operation here. What we’re going to do, is find a nice little back entrance to help ourselves in, and see if we can find out what all is happening down here.”

Another section of the map was highlighted. “We’re going to be dropping into the remains of a ghost town lef there by old Frontier Settlers. The Militia isn’t aware of any IMC activity in this area, but there are routine patrols that go through. Hopefully with the battle going on, the IMC will be too distracted for the patrols, but it is recommended to expect light resistance. If you gotta take out any IMC, do it quickly, and without drawing too much attention, because once we go in, we’re on our own. We will not have Titan support for the first half of this mission.”

Wayde shut the map off, and grabbed his pilot helmet eyeballing the other pilots. “We go in, see what the IMC has up its sleeves, if we have to intervene, we do, we get the hell out, and support the rest of the Militia as we get out of Valinor. No one wants to be here longer than they have to. Surface temperatures right now are a nice balmy -54˚ C. Pilot armor is designed for environments like this, but as we all know, nothing ever works as good as it should. I hope you all dressed for the occasion, because we won’t be getting much warmer. Any questions?”

(No worries man, I certainly get the busy days can be a hassle)

 

[Unchosen]

Riley's attention jolted from his squadmates to Wayde, and he listened intently as he gave his brief on the mission. Happy to hear the team would be avoiding the deadly fight with the main IMC Defense Front, Riley had but one question. "How will we be entering the atmosphere and touching the surface without alerting the IMC?"

 

[ONI]

Forking up food into his mouth Murat almost chuckled. Liander's comment amused him, people usually didn't say much before putting his type to work. It was refreshing to get a some small talk before being dropped into a brewing storm. "Nah mate, ain't much glory in it." Murat glanced over towards the pair of younger pilots for a brief second and quietly cleared his throat "Just another job 'entit really" he said, shrugging his shoulder lazily.

An eyebrow raised for the briefest of moments as the officer before Murat frowned. It was something he'd barely caught but it definitely caused him to ponder the other man's possible train of thought. For a minute he felt scrutinised. They didn't look all too much older than himself and barely ranked over him so what made them better than him? Murat wasn't all too concerned by which misconduct files read, more so worried the man might pull try to measure dicks 'Oh boy... here we go.' in what could be considered preemptive in fashion Haile fixed his expression to something more presentable, a moment before Wayde made eye contact once again. The somewhat curious facial expression returning to it's usual mundane stoicism.

The air which had very shortly been soured by Haile's own mind was quickly cleared up, 'Huh.. guy seems cool enough' he thought, lowering his defence. Haile glanced over to his arm as it came into question. Subconsciously he rotated the wrist of his military grade, metallic appendage and flexed each digit individually. It'd been forever since he'd thought about how he got it. A quiet hum escaped him. Come to think about it, he couldn't recall how it occured in the first place, and for a moment longer he allowed his eyes to stare at it.

Pilot Murat had opened his mouth to speak but swiftly shut it as other pilots chimed in. Murat didn't mind people, he just preferred to let other people do their talking before he gave his two cents worth. For the mean time the pilot shut up, listened to what was to be said and continued to consume a much needed breakfast. Rather quietly he shuffled through their small group, extending his free hand for a shake to the other's he'd yet to acquaint himself with, "Fuckin' brekka-like. Shit's right cold.. eh?"

 

[ThrashMetallix]

Wayde almost wanted to feel somewhat annoyed by Murat’s eating while he was briefing everyone one this mission, but the guy was paying attention, so he paid no heed. The man even chimed in on the weather down below, which only assured Wayde of that. And it wasn’t like Wayde could just chastise him for eating. It was early, they were all grumpy, Wayde almost wished he himself had snuck a bite to eat on the way to the hangar. A nice bowl of hot soup sounded lovely with the weather they were about to jump into.

At Riley’s question, Wayde looked to the soldier, and said, “An excellent question, Pilot Riley, seeing as how flying headfirst into enemy territory, landing, and dropping us off doesn’t exactly scream ‘subtle approach’.” With another button press, a holographic simulation appeared before them. “We will be making our entrance by way of HALO jump. It’s a risky maneuver, but it’s all we got. All goes well, our dropship should be hidden well enough by the early morning, and cloud cover, that one ship won’t turn any heads while the IMC is dealing with the Militia Assault.”

The holographic simulation began playing out. “We’ll be jumping at an altitude of about 28,000 feet. In this weather, the cold is undoubtedly going to make this jump incredibly difficult. Don’t count on high visibility, the wind chill will likely cut through your pilot armor, and other layers you might have on, but keep your cool, and this should be as routine as it was in basic training. I don’t know if any of you have had to experience a jump like this before, but Command obviously thinks you’re all more than capable of this.”

 

[ONI]

Food barely a degree or two over cold lined his stomach enough to quash hunger. Haile knew he'd be eating a big one later, but for now this was good enough. With the quick meal over the pilot put away the now stained container and utensil. Shoving them back into his duffle bag. Once he came to stand Murat finally slipped on his helmet and sealed it. An air supply tube protruded from the left chin side, running over his shoulder and into a durable oxygen tank, almost streamline against his back and jump system. Oxygen would be something they'd be hard pressed for, -50 was a damned harsh temperature zone to be operating in, never mind the below -60 heights they'd be inserted at or resistance making things feel so cold they eventually felt hot. To say things would get a bit chilly-willy would be a gross understatement. Murat was definitely glad he doubled down for this.

After fastening his rifle against his chest rig, Haile gestured to a certain vector on the projection and spoke up, looking to expand upon one of Liander's points "Serious risk of properly bleckin' out at about... uhhh this'eya point." Haile allowed himself a brief pause before picking up again "Especially at the start of the dive. A lengthy headlong dive and shit breathin'll put you inna real naff spot in these conditions, boet. Watch them monitors, ay?"

 

[ThrashMetallix]

"What the big guy said." Wayde said, shutting off the projection, and turning around to grab his Hemlok rifle. He turned back to the pilots. "I know this sounds dangerous, and it is. I can't say I know everybody's experience here on the field, and I know everybody's reassignment here was sudden, and unexpected..."

'Believe me, I didn't ask for it...' Wayde thought, stopping himself from blurting it out loud.

"...but treat this assignment like you would any other assignment, and you'll return to fight another day, as you always have." Wayde grabbed a few pulse blades, and synchronized them to his helmet.

"Once we're in the air, I will have the dropship launch a few of these into the ground below. They should provide enough data to get a clear reading of the terrain, and about possible enemy forces within the area. I will project what I see into your own helmets, so you won't be completely blind. Refrain from utilizing your jump kit to slow your descent until you're about 500 meters from the surface, followed by another few bursts once you pass 300 to 200."

Wayde grabbed the old music player, pressed a button, and ejected a small data chip that he immediately stored into a pocket on his armor, before looking back up to the squad. "Are we clear on what we're doing? Remember, once we're down there, we're on our own until we finish our objective."

 

[Shindoku]

Clark grabbed his knife and locked it in its sheath then locked his weapons in place "we are pilots sir, if it ain't dangerous we aren't doing our job" he laughs "we have all probably seen worse, so let's do this"

 

[Unchosen]

Riley took a long look at the squad, noting the details and skills of each pilot that had been described to him, as well as the conversations he had overheard before the brief. Simply put, he was worried. Wayde had high expectations for this squad and it getting hard to see the synergy. Who knows what could happen down there.

Riley locked his thoughts away and nodded, mustering a sense of confidence before he spoke. "Absolutely Lieutenant. Let's get this show on the road." He checked his pistol holsters and various medical pouches for security and awaited Wayde's command. His anxiousness crawled up and down his back, but he refused to show it.