Author's Note

May Contain Some Spoilers for the 8th Mission of Titanfall on the IMC Side if you don't have the game and/or haven't gotten to the campaign mode yet. Read a majority of the prologue at your own risk.

Demeter Falls

The Eve of the Battle of Demeter

"Attention all Pilots, this is your commanding officer Vice Admiral Graves, please standby from your employer Mr. Hammond."

Groaning while in my bunk I heard my boss talk over the intercom system, and when his voice starts talking it means that it is time for me to roll out and stamp out another group of Militia for yet another fat paycheck that I can't even use.

"Are you receiving me Graves?"

Grabbing my combat fatigues I slipped right on in after grumbling in my helmet about it being too damn earlier for another mission since I was one of the first of many pilots to be on the ground at the airbase that held many of the ships that would have offered more defense to Demeter and me an extra few hours of sleep but nope, they got mostly crushed by the Leviathans and Dragons that broke through the Dog Whistle Towers after they came crashing down from the bloody Militia incursion.

"Yes sir, proceed."

Shuffling to the door I punched the 'open' button and stormed out, my mind slightly reeling from the effects of the mind scrub Spyglass put me through, said that by becoming a 'Fourth Generation Pilot' I would be more fearsome and lethal on the battlefield but I just think that he wants a blank slate to use at his beck and call like a good little drone like those Spectre's he has running around.

Reaching the loading bay armory I went up to the weapon rack and grabbed the Spitfire Light Machine Gun that I had modified to include a modified holographic sights and an improved bullet slammer to make sure that one your on top of an enemy Titan that they will fall down harder then Barker did on free-booze night back in Angel City. Shuffling the overly large weapon of war to my back I grabbed as much ammunition and ammo clips as I can before moving over to the pistol rack and grabbing my favored sidearm since I joined the IMC, the B3 Wingman and I do love my an old classic six-shooter that is heavy enough to be used as a club whenever it runs out of ammo in its cylinder. Grabbing twelve spare speed loaders and its corresponding aiming laser I stormed straight to the staging point where I was to meet Sergeant Blisk and the two other pilots that were going to drop with me planetside on Demeter.

"All loyal members of the IMC, I have been informed of the recent lose of our air support responsible for the security over Demeter. Rest assured I am presently fueling reinforcements to be dispatched from the core systems for the long jump to the Frontier. You will hold the port of Demeter this day. You will crush the terrorists last ditch attempt at disrupting our civilization and you will find yourselves relieved and reward, tomorrow. Vice Admiral Graves, our world is in your hands."

Hefting my Spitfire in my hands I can feel the stamped metal and molded plastic shift in my hands a bit, the odd feeling of having my mind scrubbed was starting to wear off but the feeling of it happening and fully knowing that I had made the decision to remove my memories not once but three times. That lone errant thought of me reluctantly and if not eagerly allowing my past experiences to be removed at the flip of a switch is probably going to be haunting me for the rest of my life.

"Yes sir, all pilots, prepare for battle."

As soon as the transmission ended between the two I grabbed my helmet off the rack and slipped it on, twisting it tightly as to prevent any air from leaking out and anything from slipping in, my HUD activating in the process as my visor blinked on with its traditional bright sky blue color as the antenna on the side of my helmet fully extends outward acting as a radio beacon and also as my only means of calling down my titan when it gets built, it needs to be re-built after it got stepped on by a Leviathan mere moments after I ejected out of it.

Damn thing is flat as a pancake when I last saw it.

Planet: Demeter

"Graves to all personnel, Demeter is the gateway to the Frontier, by attacking our largest refueling depot the Militia think they can shut the door on us. You will correct that perspective, Graves out."

As soon as Vice Admiral Graves started to talk I stepped onto the elevator platform alongside with Blisk and two other pilots, one of them was a female wearing a slick uniform meant to help blend in with her surroundings and was holding the Mk 5 Smart Pistol, I never liked that weapon much since it required time to lock on and kill when you can just point, squeeze and shoot, none of that fancy science and mathematical equations before squeezing down on the trigger to blow somebodies head clean off. The man to my right was wearing a modified grunt's uniform and in his hands was a EVA-8 Shotgun, the ammo drum on it was larger then normal so it was a clear indication that he went with the larger ammo capacity upgrade, good cause that thing makes a bloody mess of things when those shells make contact with the human body. Strapped to him was a few satchel charges, a RE-45 Autopistol with extra ammo mags and a love Sidewinder on his back for those pesky Militia Titans that will be falling down from orbit to assist the enemy in taking out Demeter.

Looking out the windows I saw that the battle for Demeter was clearly underway, I saw both Frontier Militia and IMC ships firing at each other, a few were even at point-blank range, the turrets on deck were firing as a group at a passing by Militia ship and in the distance a Militia ship explodes after taking damage to her superstructure. The elevator lift we were on started its decent to the drop pod area of the ship, the mere thought of climbing into those falling metal coffins still fills me with absolute dread since the only thing between myself and the cold vacuum of space along with the atmospheric shift upon re-entry is a glass window and two inch thick steel latch.

"Pilots, defend the hardpoints at all costs, if the Militia overload the reactor core its all over. Strap in."

Staring at Graves I saw that he was staring out into the battlefield beyond the blast windows, the pods behind him opened up to reveal the empty space within and with that the four of us charged in, climbed into our seats and pulled down the safety bar over our head and tightly on our chest, a bit tighter to Pilot Miko, that girl's chest is big enough to cause her enough discomfort when the bar was pulled down onto those chesticles of hers.

"Alpha One is a go. Anvil Two standing by. Bravo Three is good to go. Anvil Four is a go, I hate this part. Cut the chatter initiating drop sequence."

"I swear to god if I die down there please don't let my body get stepped on, I like my body to be intact and not crushed when they ship me home in a pine-wood box." the other pilot, Andy, said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, I never did like the British bastard much, always full of himself and taking other peoples credit when it was never his own. I had a bullet with his name on it, and a knife, and a Charge blast just for him.

"Oh shut it Andy, your bad enough to deal with in the barracks or in the field so just this once, in this pod, will you just shut the fuck up?" Miko quipped, underneath that hood was a girl that was after my heart and my hand cannon, in more ways than one. This girl was always trying to get into my pants since she believes in the whole 'destined lovers' bullshit and I am not into crazy, that is one rule in my life that I follow and I follow it to the letter, 'Don't stick your dick in crazy', that is something you never do and if you do then you might as well hold on tight and brace yourself cause you will be in for one wild ride.

And speaking of wild rides, the hatch to this pod just closed and we were quickly moved out of the way till all we saw was a metal wall and ourselves.

"I think I am about to shit myself." Andy said as I was about to tell him to hold it in, the smell of shit in a small pod would be excuse enough for me to blow his brains all over the inside of this cramped metal deathtrap.

"Separation, Confirmed."

"Andy, if you do shit yourself then your life expectancy rate would be at its end and I would have to explain to your parents why I murdered you in front of the Sergeant and a fellow pilot. Now please, shut your trap before I shut it for you." I said with a deep growl, being born from a long line of soldiers and pirates has given me the innate ability to not give any fucks about what people say about me, after all being called ruthless and cold is just one of my many perks and charms.

"Standby, Approaching Shock Layer."

Our metal cage rattled as we entered Demeter's atmosphere, the sudden shift from black space to searing hot white was near-instantaneous but it quickly passed as it went to a bright orange, the sky light showing through as I saw for a mere moment another drop pod close to ours.

"Impact in Three. Two. One. Mark."

Shutting my eyes I tightened my grip on the rubber handles keeping me in place and as soon as we made contact with the ground I pushed the bars over my head, grabbed my Spitfire and stormed out of the drop pod before anything could drop on top of us or the very pod exploding for no other reason other then it hating us with a fiery hatred with the intensity of a thousand suns.

"Get your asses out of here and get inside! Do not let the Militia get a bead on you unless you like seeing your own blood paint the ground!" I shouted over the sounds of drop pods pounding into the ground, the grunts yelling at each other to move out and to stay together and of course the repeating blasts of the base's defense turrets opening fire on the oncoming Militia.

Running past all the other pilots and grunts I hauled ass to the nearest structure that was open and ran inside before ducking behind a large piece of machinery, the device was humming quite loudly and I was lucky enough to get inside because once I went past the threshold of the door I heard a noise that immediately disheartened me to the point where this battle might actually be lost. That sound was the loud tearing of the thick metal barrier on the far side of the compound told me that the defensive wall has been breached.

Breathing deeply I looked up to the second floor of the building I am in and my eyes catch the sight of the hardpoint terminal and with a sigh of relief I ran at the wall and jumped at it, my right hand holding the entire weight of my Spitfire as my left hand grazed the wall long enough for me to effectively run along the grain of the metal before I leapt off the wall, activated my jump-jet and shifted my legs over the rails and landed with grace next to the terminal.

"Pilots, I am taking over operations for Sergeant Blisk. This is a Hardpoint Battle, hold the hardpoints so we can shut off the reactor core before the Militia can trigger a meltdown. If they succeed the resulting chain reaction will destroy Demeter and result in the IMC being unable to reach the Frontier for years." the voice of Spyglass said as he entered everyone's communications link, his voice was nice to hear even when we got screams of dying grunts and pilots throughout the battlefield.

Standing by the terminal I checked the progress I was making as I heard footsteps behind me and with years of combat training and being a Fourth Gen. Pilot I immediately spun around and dropped to my knees as I raised my Spitfire into a firing position, and just before I could get a round off I saw it was Miko and Andy coming from the rear, the barrel of my Spitfire was poking Miko's thigh.

"Jesus Christ Gordon! Keep your instincts in check before you blew your friends legs off! Mainly Miko's leg since that bloody barrel is practically stabbing it." Andy yelled as I stood back up and positioned myself facing an undamaged window and past it was a large chunk of metal, an easy path for wall running.

"My name is Ramsey not Gordon, get it right Andy, you will do your best next time to remember that. And you two shouldn't be trying to sneak up behind me, I am beyond the two of you in field experience and I will not be hindered by the both of you getting shot by me or yourselves. Do you understand me pilots?"

"Ramsey my ass you cocksucker, I bet you fucking made up that name you piece of sh-" his words didn't get far as I shifted my right hand off the grip of my LMG, grabbed my Wingman and shot him in the left leg above the kneecap before calmly putting my revolver back in its holster and my hand back on the LMG pistol grip.

"You fucking shot me!"

"Talk back to me again and the next round is in your head. Now stay here and secure the perimeter, I will not have the Militia reduce this planet to a smoldering pile of glass, I want to be off-world and a glass of whisky in my hand when this is over with." I said with a low tone, being born from a long line of Irish blood and a bit of pissed off French.

Ignoring his stare to the back of my head I waited a few more seconds before the confirmation from Spyglass told me that the hardpoint was secure and that I should move on to the other two and stop the Militia from sending the reactor into a nuclear meltdown.

Like a linchpin being pulled I sprinted to the window and jumped through it and ran across the metal plate hanging in the air by a crane I moved swiftly across the plate metal before leaping off its smooth surface, my heavy leather and metal boots clanging loudly across the grates, my body automatically correcting itself as I rolled back into a standing posture with my Spitfire aimed at the face of a Militia Grunt, the look of surprise on his face lasted only a second before the LMG in my hands opened fire, tearing his head, and the bodies of the three other grunts behind him apart in a matter of seconds.

"Pilot, you are approaching a hardpoint terminal, capture it so I can reduce the pressure on the reactor."

Upon entering the small square room of the central reactor I saw that it was devoid of life with the exception of crates and the eviscerated corpses of the enemy, the blood pools gave this room some life since the dull grey and silver of the room finally had some color added to it with the splotches of red.

Storming the next room I saw what my objective was and past that was Miko, she was hanging above the large entrance leading to the massive breach in the wall and her Mk. 5 was in her left hand, her right was busy holding onto a knife that was embedded into the wall, her plan it seems is to way for an unsuspecting enemy titan to come under the doorway, she drops down and takes care of it rodeo style.

'Smart lass.'

It was when I was about to drop down to enter the central section of the reactor when I saw Andy limp his way to it and right before I can shout at him to get back he threw a large brown satchel into the hollowed section before pulling out a detonation device, squeezed the trigger and a large explosion erupted from within, sending three pilot bodies out of it, all three missing limbs and their weapons are warped from the superheated air and pressure from the room explosion.

"Damn it Andy I told you to stay put! If you hadn't thrown a satchel charge in there you would have walked in blind and get shot all to hell!" I yelled over the now raging firefight, Andy was in the middle of it as he took another round but to his other leg, effectively crippling him and sending him to the floor, his EVA-8 still in his hands as he dragged himself to the central area, using the hardened fuel containers as a shield before sitting inside. Leaning against one of the containers Andy sat there breathing heavily, he was bleeding out and will die soon enough but I didn't care, he was a threat to me and he was an IMC Pilot that was losing heart and faith for our cause.

Resting my Spitfire on the rails on the second floor I put my head near the stock and looked down the sights, waiting for Militia to run out in the open for me to mow down, it would be like shooting fish in the barrel with the exception that these fish can shoot back and they always scream in pain when you pierce through them with a heavy round.

"Militia is fifty percent of the way to overloading the reactor core. Pilots, your vaporization is inevitable should you fail to maintain of the hardpoints."

Hearing that the enemy was close to achieving their goal I had to pick up the pace with the slaughtering of all Militia forces within the vicinity and that was a tall order to fill on my own.

Rushing over to a nearby large metal crate I leaned against the cold unyielding surface before turning the corner and dropping to my knee before opening fire on a small group of Militia grunts and spectres, the heavy rounds tearing through the weak body armor adorned by the Militia soldiers, a few of them having their limbs torn off as blood and synthetic fuel spills all over the ground, the screams of the dying quickly followed before I put a single bullet into their heads from a lone trigger pull from my B3-Wingman.

Rat-at-tat-tat-tat-tat-at-tat came from behind me as I saw a friendly IMC Pilot, his name was Jonathon Quake and this guy had some big balls to be sprinting to cover while loosely firing his R-97 Compact Submachine Gun and with the luck this guy had, his bullets found their mark as a wallrunning pilot took nine out of fifty rounds as I watched the body tumble into the air before rolling into the red dirt and staining it a dark crimson with his blood.

It was as soon as he made it to the next batch of heavy crates did I get the signal from Spyglass.

"Titan Online, signal when ready."

With a green light from Spyglass I looked around for a good place to drop my Atlas down onto the battlefield and with a grin I saw a Militia Ogre laying down suppressing fire for a group of grunts and a pilot and with a locater given I looked up to see my titan fall from the sky before disappearing and immediately warping above the Ogre, and crushing it underneath its body from the speed of the impact and the sheer weight that came with the drop from orbit.

Running over to my baby I leapt up into the air before activating my jumpjet only to be snatched out from the breeze and gently placed into the chassis and as soon as the hatch closed I made my Atlas stand up, heft the chaingun into its proper firing position and stormed straight to Hardpoint A to help relieve it from the wave of Spectre's and Pilots heading right towards it.

Sprinting in the titan quickly helped me cover some lost ground as I watched from the safety of my armored coffin as small arms fire bounced off the bodyshields protecting me from actual harm and soon enough I saw a pilot running towards A, and he almost made it inside if it wasn't for my heavy ass foot coming down and crushing his body into paste.

"You get to wash that off." I heard Blisk say, how he knew about that I would never know but he is right, if me and my titan survive this mess I would be the one to hose off the blood and guts from the toes of this giant machine.

"Vice Admiral Graves, MacAllan has destabilized the core, shutting down the reactor now will cause a reverse-pulse detonation will result in the destruction of Demeter, the situation is untenable."

Hunkering down behind my Atlas who was standing by in Guard Mode I hide behind one of its legs to use as a mobile shield, bullets coming in from the front and side made my Atlas rotate on its central axis, the torso section shifting with the XOTBR-16 Chaingun in its hands as I heard the reports of gunfire echo from its barrel, the 20mm rounds sailing across open air as the lethal barrage of lead seeks out their targets.

Behind me was Miko, her Ogre was holding the Arc Cannon was putting it to good use while piloting it. She is pretty good at using that weapon as it can easily fry and destroy oncoming rockets if she can hit the lead one but the thing I dislike about that weapon is that it lacks the weight behind each arc to actually put a dent in a rival titan's armor, all does in my eyes is just zaps em and gives them a reason to put you down for messing up their vision.

Firing my Spitfire over the foot of my Atlas I breathed deeply before popping out of cover long enough to sprint to Hardpoint C, the building had a few racks of Spectre's hanging in there and was close enough to my titan to know that I am safe as long as it is standing watch and not being blown to hell.

As soon as I entered the structure a hail of bullets slammed into the wall overhead and around me forcing me to duck behind a crate and a passing robot, said machine took the machine gun sandwich like a champ but sadly fell apart into a pile of scrap metal. Slowly poking my head over the crate I saw a Militia pilot giving orders to a group of grunts and a two Spectre's, one of them looked like shit, the chest region was riddled with bullets and was just barely holding it together while the other was missing the right arm and was one arming it with a C.A.R. SMG, how one of them managed to pick that thing up from a fallen pilot only makes me worry about how many of us IMC Pilots are left alive.

What I didn't see coming was the orange ball being thrown at me by one of the grunts, a fragmentation grenade and I was fucked six ways to sunday with no other options at hand, I had the innate choice of being shot up by seven soldiers, being blown all to hell by the grenade or both.

Closing my eyes shut I brace myself for the inevitable end by grenade, the orange ball skipping across the crate, bouncing over my head and landing right in front of me by the wall, the orange orb glowed brightly for a second before detonating, sending shrapnel and searing hot metal fragments in every direction but most of all many of them went in my direction as I felt the hot metal colliding with my armor, the fragments easily bouncing off the metal plates on the exterior but a few managed to find their way around it, hitting the soft fabric that allowed complete mobility but sadly, moving was out of the question as I feel a particular piece of metal pierce through the bulk weave and jam itself into my left hand, smack dab in the middle of it.

"Oh that is going to leave a mark when this is over." I said with a snarl before grabbing the piece of shrapnel with my right hand, tossed it aside, grabbed my own frag grenade, pulled the pin and counted to three before tossing it over my head, the sounds of them screaming to get out was soon cut off by a loud thump that was followed by nothing, except for the sounds of battle going on outside.

Ignoring the obvious pain in my body from having a grenade explode next to me I hobbled over to the terminal, tapped in the command to shut down the reactor and once I pushed that lovely enter key I felt the ground rumble harshly and before I could get a good hold on the terminal I stumbled to the window facing a nearby Spectre holding facility and was face-to-barrel with an Arc Cannon. Staring at the four pronged barrel of the large cannon I felt myself have the urge to void my bowels before being reduced to a pile of ashes and melted metal but when I saw the four prongs pull backwards and the titan outside got down on a knee I saw that it was an Ogre and that the occupant had opened up the canopy to reveal Miko, and boy did she look excited, and maybe a bit happy to see me.

"You should have seen the look on your face! I may have not seen it but boy I bet you almost crapped yourself!" Miko said with glee as I gave her the middle finger in disgust, I knew that girl had a sadistic side to her but I never knew she would do such a thing in the middle of a battlefield.

Hiding back behind the wall I wait patiently for any sign of hostile movement or a friendly body to walk through the doorway and windows, knowing full well that if an enemy walks by they will end up painting the wall red and if its a friend, well a bullet to the arm or leg would remind them to signal to on the broadband but whatever floats these pilots boats.

Another rumble filled the room as the terminal turned on and was now flashing the IMC logo holographically, the reactor losing some pressure but the rumbling continued as the reactor continued to go into a critical state, said state was obviously known as my suit's environmental controls told me that it has detected a radiation spike.

Running out of the building I saw my Atlas on standby, its camera rotating to look at me and when I heard in my ear that my titan is now engaging enemy infantry I kept on running before leaping and activating my jump jet towards the titan, its left hand reaching out to grab me, the cockpit opening up before pushing me inside the safety zone as it seals itself up to block oncoming bullets and a single rocket.

As soon as my screen turned on I immediately set my attention on the grunts that has opened fire on me, their petty barrage of small arms fire was quickly put down by a barrage of my chaingun spitting out a hail of 20mm slugs, tearing them up and giving me the satisfaction that I am now no longer in arms way. Moving back I went to regroup with Miko, Andy was hanging onto her back trying to stay on as the wounds in his legs start to heal, the medical foam holding his blood inside his suit for now but he will need to have those bullets removed and stitched up.

"Pilots the core is going critical, I am sending evac ships near your location, were going to get you out of there."

"Oh thank god, Miko, get your sexy ass over here with your Ogre and defend the evac zone, we are going home!" I shouted over the radio, my Atlas doing its best to stay low behind a small bundle of crates, dodging a salvo of unguided missiles as they sail overhead and collide with the side of a building. Rising back up I raised my chaingun over the crates and unleashed a stream of hot lead at the opposing Atlas as its shields collapse from the persistent barrage of bullets before finally the pilot inside being forced to eject out, and right into the path of my bullets. His torn up body sailing pretty high up into the air before falling back down face first into the dirt.

"Negative, Command Override, All Evacuation Dropships, cancelled."

When Miko and I heard that, along with every other pilot on the planet, we all stopped what we were doing for a few seconds before scrambling for a means to survive the coming doom. The Militia pilots must have been thinking the same thing because not once during our mad dash to the fringes of the defensive line did we see a single Goblin Dropship fall from orbit to pick up their comrades. Everyone on the surface of Demeter that day was going to die just so the fleet can get away. Both sides just traded a large amount of lives for nothing.

"Damn it Spyglass what the hell do you think your doing!"

"Miko, get your Ogre over here and follow me, we can try to get away from the main fuel lines and escape the worst of the blast." I said through our com lines, a few other pilots from both sides heard it because I had just used the open air frequency, if anyone was going to survive this then it might as well be us pilots in our titans and those rodeo-ing on back.

"All Capital Ships, Autopilot engaged, forcing jump to minimum safe distance."

"Locke, friend, if we don't survive this, I just want you to know, that I hate you, I hate you so much."

"I know Miko, I know."

"I also love you, don't forget."

"You love me? Ha, I'll believe that when Spyglass gets that stick out his arse."

"Marcus, you told me fifteen years ago onboard the Odysse to take the ship, now I'm giving you the same choice. They'll follow you Marcus, just lead them. They can forgive a former IMC, look at me....."

Fifteen seconds till detonation.

"He really believes he can turn you sir?"

Five seconds till detonation. I looked behind me to see Miko and several other Pilots following close behind us, and looking back even further I saw the reactor and the large sparks of electricity arcing around it.

"It's up to you now my friend."

Three seconds till detonation. I made my peace with my god, hoping that in my death I can be redeemed and if not at least forgiven for the heinous acts I have committed over the years against other fellow humans.

"Take the ship."

The loud rumbling from beneath the grounds surface soon turned into a deafening roar as the reactor behind went critical and finally meltdown, the resulting explosion vaporized everything within a mile radius and everything past it was thrown with hurricane force winds, debris from the explosion going everywhere as the vaporizing heat wave rapidly approached us from behind.

I didn't even bother to look behind me, I knew this course of action was a long shot of actually working but at least we all tried to escape with our lives.

"Fuck you Spyglass!" was the last thing to grace my lips before the vaporizing wave made the world around me a blazing white wall of death before everything faded away into nothing.

Gap Between Dimensions

The feeling of soft fabric on my skin and the heavy weight of metal on my body brought me out of my unwaking daze, my eyes slowly blinking open as I felt my lungs clench tightly before the feeling of air rushed in, the air was stale and weak but it was air the same. Knowing that I can feel told my brain that I was still alive which I thanked the gods for sparing my life but when I opened my eyes I saw that my Atlas was inactive and that I couldn't see outside.

'Are my camera's covered by dirt and debris? Is the reactor damaged or has it been overloaded? Am I dead and this is purgatory?'

These were the thoughts running in my head as I started to stretch in the chassis, my arms popping as my blood went from its slow pace and return to its original rushing flow. My legs didn't move for a while but as soon as my blood touched the augmented veins I felt the energy pulse down and back up, the metal limbs turning on.

'Can't believe a Stryder crushed my bloody legs...that pilot might as well tore me in half for that little stunt.'

Bumbling around inside the cockpit I found the handle and yanked on it, the hatch opening up manually and what I saw waiting for me outside was both breath taking and scary as hell.

Outside was a prismatic array of colors, I saw things that would make the best of men coward away in fear and many other things that would make the same men scratch their head in confusion.

'Man, I wish I had a camera for this...I could make several hundred thousand credits for shit like this.'

I saw clocks of varying sizes, orientation, color, design and use fly on by, I saw comets moving along alien trajectories, hell I even saw what I think was an old british payphone box twirl on by before I saw a second one appear, and both opened up to reveal a tall lithe looking human wearing a swanky looking suit and bowtie, his skin looked pasty white and his hair was brown, I do not know why he is inside a payphone box let alone in the middle of what I can only guess is the edge of the universe but what came out of the second box made me wish I had a camera even more so then ever.

Standing there in the blue doorway of the other phone booth was an equine, a horse, and it was wearing a bowtie just like the man standing across from him. The horse standing in the doorway had a chestnut brown coat of fur, an equally brown mane and from the distance between us I think it had blue eyes, I can't tell on the gender from how far apart we are but what I can tell from this distance is that its jaws are going up and down and the lips on it are moving in such a way that it entails intelligence on a far higher bar then the standard horse, so in other words a talking horse with a tacky bowtie talking to an equally tacky suit wearing man.

Staring at the two beings talking to one another I nearly forgot that I was halfway out of my Atlas barely holding onto the hatch before quickly regaining my bearings, holding onto the metal bar for dear life as the prismatic colors around me started to move at a faster rate and that was my only warning as I looked down to see that there is an end at the edge of the supposed universe, it was rapidly approaching and it was a giant wall of white.

Closing the hatch before me I sat back down in the cockpit and held onto the hatch bar, praying to god that it stays closed and I don't get sucked out like a man suckling from a water packet through a straw.

The feeling of low gravity was soon taken away from me as I felt the full strength of a planet's gravitational field take hold on my Atlas and myself, it was similar to every other planet I have been on and yet this one feels somewhat strange to all the others. I can't quite put my finger on it but for some ungodly reason it makes me want to punt an innocent puppy and laugh evilly while doing so.

"Atlas Online, IMC Pilot, Please Standby. Standby. All Functions are working at 100% Capacity. Alert other Titans are within the vicinity, five IMC Titans and four Frontier Militia Titans. Warning, Titan is falling on an unknown world. Standby for Titanfall."

'Only ten of us made it out of Demeter Alive? Only ten...so many lives lost, all because neither side wanted to enter a hot zone to pick up their men. The Militia have the advantage now that they have destroyed the gateway into the frontier, the IMC will most likely rely heavily on the Spectre's to fight back. An army of robots, just waiting to be hacked into to turn on their masters.'

Unknown World, Apparent Time: Early Dusk

"Atlas Online, IMC Pilot, Please Standby. Standby. All Functions are working at 100% Capacity. Alert other Titans are within the vicinity, five IMC Titans and four Frontier Militia Titans. Warning, Titan is falling on an unknown world. Standby for Titanfall."

Looking at my screen I can see that this planet is verdant and full of life if I can trust what the cameras are showing me but what caught my eyes was that I saw little dots of what appears to be towns of some sort, maybe this is a frontier colony and they just never bothered to tell anyone that they found an empty planet? Whoever lives here must be happy since I don't see a single tower keeping any indigenous beasts at bay so this place must be safe from the local wildlife.

"Titanfall in Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Mark." the Titan OS said through the speakers and with a loud thud I impacted the ground first and behind me I heard and felt nine other thuds, all of them varying in weight based on the titan that dropped with me.

As soon as I made contact with ground, the hatch to my Atlas opened up immediately as if it was empty and was waiting for its pilot to jump and drive it like he stole it, which is odd since I am still inside and the OS didn't seem to notice me. Yet.

Slamming a fist to the side of the hull the Atlas immediately sealed itself shut and accepted me as its operator, and as my first course of action as the operator I want to see what awaited me outside. Tapping a button the hatch opened itself up again and what awaited me has simply astounded me, I saw trees as far as the eye, the dirt here was healthy and alive, there was birds flying all around us, looking at us in wonder as to what we are, and of course there was scorched earth around where our titans have made impact.

Bracing myself for what I will see behind me I grabbed the emergency R-101C Carbine and pulled out its only extended mag before slamming it back into place, every titan comes with one in the event the operator is weaponless at the time or is dropped straight from orbit and their titan is in a doomed state and is ejected out to survive the blast, this weapon though is like all the others, except it has my name carved into it, and the stock has a small pair of dice chained to it. Pulling back the chamber I slotted a round into firing position and gave myself a three second grace period before sliding out from my life saver and looked around through the sights of my carbine before slowly moving around my Atlas to see the other nine titans, all of them not moving or for that matter turned on.

"Hello? Anyone out there?" I said without using my intercom, I was talking like a normal person and like any other living being I was expecting a response of some kind, the one I got was silence and bird calls.

Going over to Miko's Ogre Titan I walked slowly up to it, still thinking that there might be some sort of hostile indigenous life just waiting for me to let my guard down to dig into an easy meal. Once I was within spitting distance I brushed my hand along the smooth and warm metal surface for the barest of four seconds before rapping my knuckles on its unyielding surface in hopes of a response but this time there was one, albeit it lasted only a second and it was a thud then an actual response in words.

"Miko?" I said in a hesitant tone, this is the first time in twenty three years that I sounded scared. "Miko!?" I said again but this time I shouted it out, and yet there still wasn't a response. "MIKO!" I yelled out and this time her Ogre opened up and out fell the girl I have been calling for, but in every way that I didn't want it to be.

"No. No no no no. No, damn it Miko no, you can not die on me now." I shouted at my friend, her body was barely moving and I knew that her time was running out, her breathing was practically at its end along with her ability to move under her own power.

"Hello! Is anyone out there! Anybody!" I shouted on all frequencies, open and closed for anyone to listen in and help me, but there was nothing but static and white noise.

"This is IMC Pilot Ramsey to any available IMC forces within the sector, I need medical evacuation immediately! I got an injured IMC Pilot who is suffering from radiation poisoning. Does anybody hear me! Anyone! ANYBODY!"

Far from the resting titans and away from me, the feeling of being watched wasn't apparent to me as I sat there grieving over the body of a fallen friend, my only friend that I had since I first became a pilot for the IMC. Far in the bushes away from me, a pair of blue eyes was watching me, just watching me hold Miko before they flashed green and quickly scurrying off to parts unknown.

Unknown Planet, Location: Cave, Time: Night

"This is Day 1 on an uncharted world, this is IMC Pilot Ramsey Oppenheimer, Fourth Generation Pilot, and the only survivor of the Demeter reactor core meltdown. At the time of the reactor detonation myself, Pilot Miko, Pilot Andy, and nine other pilots tried to escape the imminent blast that has no doubt completely destroyed Demeter and everything on its surface. We have made the decision to leave the raging battle behind to attempt to survive the explosion that has ravaged the planet's surface but sadly it seems it was all for nothing. It seems I am the only survivor of Demeter and this uncharted world so far has proven to have unknown indigenous population that needs to be added to the Dog Whistle Towers list of beasts to keep out. This is Ramsey, signing off." turning off the data recorder I shuffle back before sitting down on a rock, my helmet laying beside me as I look at my bandaged left hand and the bandages covering parts of my arms are held tightly in place.

Staring at the roaring fire within the cave I look at the orange flames, seeing nothing but the burning sticks and branches as the weather outside turns to absolute shit, the corpses of nine brave pilots lie in the ground, their graves made by the hand of an Atlas, their rifles, pistols, explosives and anything useful I could pry from their bodies are piled together. Miko's body was buried with her closest to the cave entrance, the only sign of respect I could give her. The titan's of the eight other pilots are shut down and are kneeling in a crude circle far from the cave entrance, a silent marker to any who would find us.

Canterlot Castle, Night

Sitting by the edge of the balcony was a lone figure, a tall, imposing being that stood watch over the realm of the night, looking out onto the country side but what has captured her undivided attention was the forest below the mountain she was looking over. Far to the south of her castle was where she saw the collection of ten meteors fall to the ground in a circle and it was not of her doing this time. She believed that somepony else was trying to mess with her duties as the night warden but when she reached out to find the source of the disturbance she found that there is indeed something out there, something foreign, something new. Her curiosity got the best of the night warden and as for her duties she must ensure that the foreign objects would not prove a threat to her little ponies.

The night princess took a deep breath before leaping over the balcony and taking flight, her large wings spreading open as the wind lifts her up and takes to the skies in search of the fallen meteors. Her search was a rather easy one as all she needed to do was look for the small wisps of smoke rising from the crash site.

What she did not expect to find was ten large constructs kneeling in a crude circle, all of them of different designs but all had signs of damage and decay, the freshest of the constructs had little if not any sign of damage to it, the designs on it appear to be fresh and with the tap of her hoof it was made of metal, something that has peeked her interest in the strange objects increased.

"We must tell my sister of this in the morning, for now these statues will stay here, whoever these warriors represent they must be important enough to be immortalized in metal instead of stone." and with that her wings opened back up and she returned back home, her mind filled with unanswered questions and new ones added to her already raised stack.

Unknown World, Location: Cave, Time: Night

The fire is dead now, my hands holding my carbine as I hear the sounds of howling in the distance, no matter what planet I am on there will always be wolves, my cold, dead gaze looking at the mouth of the cave as I pointed the weapon at the entrance and before long I saw the lone silhouette of a wolf like body in the moonlight. Raising my carbine I looked down the holographic sight and squeezed the trigger once to watch the head of the wolf explode into a shower of gore, its body fell over and twitched once before it stopped moving. The howling stopped for a few seconds before the howling intensifies and the silhouettes of four more wolves fill the cave mouth, their shadows easily entering the cave as one shadow was large enough to reach my feet.

Staring at the wolves I squeezed the trigger again, the muzzle flashing revealing my angry and dead face to the wolves before they exploded out, their bodies torn to bits as their howls turned into wails of pain and soon enough my rifle clicked empty with smoke steaming from the barrel with my eyes staring at the abyss that is the outside world and the graves beyond it.

Now I am truly, and utterly, alone.