Joe POV:

"That was awesome!" Yelled Rainbow Dash, flying alongside me as we raced through the forest towards the Ruined castle. "Where'd you learn to do that?" She asked me incredulously. I looked back to her, huffing slightly at the strain of carrying one battery in each hand and a third on my back.

"The SRS taught me the tactics, but the years have taught me the finesse." I replied, looking back towards our destination. "We need to stash these batteries somewhere safe, somewhere away from our current base." I said.

When the eight of us got into the clearing around the ruined castle, I stopped halfway across, dropping the batteries.

"This is a good spot. Got any shovels?" I asked the seven mares. Sunset looked at me and nodded.

Two Hours Later

After digging a six ft. deep hole, we lined up the batteries and buried them, as the ground should hide their signatures from orbit.

"Alright, that's one thing off the checklist." I said, twirling my data knife in my hands. I looked over to see the seven were panting and sweaty. "You all look like you could use a break, why don't you head home? I'll still be here when you get back." I said, they huddled up and whispered amongst themselves.

When they were done they looked at me, and six of them walked out into the woods. Leaving Sunset Shimmer behind. Grand.

"I'm going to stay with you to make sure you stay at the ruins." She said, I laughed semi-loudly, stopping when I saw the determined look in her eye.

"You're serious?" I asked, she nodded. I looked up at the sky asking one question. "Why is it always me?" I looked back down at her, and the stare she was giving me. I sighed and asked one thing. "How much do you know about Pilots?"

Aaron POV:

After a few hours of sifting through cam footage, we managed to get a glimpse of the attacker. The lens was unfocused and he was moving too damn fast, but we could see the basic shape. Looked human, but then again so did most things on this planet. Cinder looked over at me, shrugging at my questioning glance. He didn't seem like anyone important, until he did one thing no local on this planet knew how to do.

He killed a Titan.

"He grabbed multiple Batteries." Cinder said, looking at the Green blurs in his possession. I glanced over at the woods, knowing my quarry was somewhere in there.

"Tell me, are there any structures in these woods that could provide shelter from the weather?" I asked Cinder, she looked over at a nearby Holo-Map, scanning it for any and all places I had just described.

"Just one. A ruined castle in a clearing around ten klicks from here." She said. "But, you already knew that didn't you?" She asked me. I turned to look at her, giving her a glimpse of my dark smirk.

"Tell Blisk I've got a lead on the ones who hit the Station. I'll wrap this up in less than an hour." I said walking away.

Joe POV:

"And that's why the Pilot is better than the Titan." I finished, Sunset held a confused look on her face.

"But one of those reasons was that the Pilot could call down a Titan. How does that make the Pilot better?" She asked.

"Sure, a Pilot can call down a Titan, but I can't tell you how many Titans I've seen get destroyed or replaced because of damages. But I can tell you the amount of SRS Pilots I've seen KIA." I said, looking out to the rising sun.

"How many?" She asked. I took off my helmet and handed it to her, pointing to the left side of it. She turned it over and gasped. Almost dominating the left side of the helmet were just north of a hundred tally marks. Small enough to not see at a distance but big enough to count up close.

"Yeah, a lot of good Pilots died on Typhon, even more in the Battle for Poseidon. I was just a rookie back then, but as my old CO used to say, "no one's a Rookie today." I turned to her, "Because all the rookies were dead except me." I looked back to the sun. "So many dead, but so many saved too." I said.

"What do you mean?" she asked. I pulled out two small pictures. I handed one to her, on the back said Before the battle. and the picture depicted smog in she sky, IMC Titans watching over a forced labor installation, and a boy lying on the ground covered in dirt and soot. I then handed Sunset another picture.

On the back of this picture said After the battle. and the picture had a light grey sky, and hundreds of refugees getting food from a nearby shelter. There were faint smiles on the faces of the civilians.

"Last I heard, the skies are almost blue again, and the water almost clear. But the best news I'd ever gotten from Poseidon, was that my old CO was starting a life there. She's got a wife and two adopted kids now. I said looking out over the forest. "I guess if she can start a new life, I could eventually settle down too." I said "But tha-" I didn't finish me sentence before I saw a red optic in the shadows of the forest. "Get inside, slowly and calmly." I said to Sunset, she looked at me in confusion.

"There is an IMC Titan hidden in the forest, he doesn't know I saw him. Walk. Inside. Now." I said, my low voice clearly showing the seriousness of the situation. She nodded and made to walk inside. I stood up, and walked towards a demolished section of the castle. Plenty of wall running surfaces and space to double jump.

I heard the Tone step out into the clearing. Bang! went it's 40mm Tracker Cannon, a round whizzed by my head. I sprinted to a wall, jumping onto it. I ran, jumping from wall to broken wall, praying the Tone doesn't kill me instantly. The Tone kept firing off it's cannon, the rounds flew by me, nearly ending my life. I felt as though I encountered this pilot before. Eventually, time appeared to slow down as I saw the Apex Predator insignia on the Hull of the Titan. But that's not what told me who he was.

It was the voice that came from it.

"So, you finally show your face. I've been waiting for this moment for a whole year Joe." Said the Pilot inside the hulking mass of metal and circuits he called a Titan. "I've learned a few new tricks since our last meeting." Said Aaron, the Apex Predator who betrayed the 6-4 and by extension, me.

"So have I Aaron!" I shouted, jumping over the Titan, throwing a satchel charge. "I trust you enhanced your Auto-Titan?" I hollered, ducking through various holes in the walls, hidden from him. He fired off a Sonar Ping, easily spotting me.

"You're Goddamn right you Scottish sonuvabitch!" He yelled. "I told you about Apex! I wanted us to join them TOGETHER! But you just had to tell Gates!" He yelled at me, firing off a round, piercing my left shoulder with shrapnel from the blast. I groaned in pain as I ripped the shard of metal from my flesh.

"Well, at least I didn't betray all I stood for." I groaned out to myself, applying what I could to stop the bleeding. I heard the Titan walk by where I was hiding. I ran out and leapt up on the Titan, pulling a battery out. I heard the Titan open up, letting Aaron out. Apparently he didn't learn much. I leapt off the Titan with my new battery when I felt an explosion of pain hit my waist. Time slowed down as I fell, I saw Aaron leaping over his Titan to get a better shot. I pulled a trigger twice in rapid succession. Aaron was consumed in the explosion, his body flew off the chassis of the Titan, landing three ft. from me.

I looked to the Titan to see the Titan it moving less like it was being driven, and more like it was driving itself. Great.

The Titan was emanating flames from vents on it's back, signifying it's health was near critical. At last some luck! I thought to myself before seeing the Titan activate it's Salvo Core.

"SHIT!" I yelped as I slid behind cover, feeling the earth shake as the rockets collide with the world around me, destroying the walls and ground in front of my cover. "How the fuck am I even alive?!" I yelled aloud before remembering the hostile Titan. I grabbed my Charge Rifle, aiming at it's optic, and unloaded five rounds into it. I ran up to the Titan, sliding under its massive fist, and fired a round into its groin. The Tone was now Doomed. As I stood up behind it, I threw a satchel at its legs, blowing them out from under it. It managed to turn around, only to see me standing, holding a my rifle fully charged.

"I hate Tones." I said before blasting the Titan into oblivion. As it exploded, I turned away, saying one thing to myself. "6-4 evermore."

I made my way to Aaron's body to find he's still breathing. I knelt down next to him and took his helmet off. He watched as I took my helmet off as well.

"What t-the hell are *cough* you doing?" Aaron asked me, coughing up blood. I looked at him, my face an emotionless mask. I took his helmet's external radio and placed it on my helmet, as the helmet decrypted the radio I looked over to see a discarded pistol one foot away from us. I looked back at him.

"Keeping a promise." I said before pulling out my R-97. "You know, the one I made to Gates? I told her I'd find you. And if we ever got into a situation like this, I'd execute you." I said whilst standing up, raising the barrel to his chest.

"Y-you think that killing me will bring them back?" He asked hoarsely. "It won't change a thing." He said. I looked down at the gun in my hand thinking about my next action. "You won't kill me Joey." Aaron said, staring me in the eye. I locked eyes with him. "Then again, everyone thought I wouldn't kill Em-" He didn't finish as I unloaded all forty rounds from the magazine into his chest. I saw the life fade from his eyes before putting an entire magazine in his head and detonated the corpse with a satchel charge for good measure.

I walked into the ruins to see Sunset Shimmer looking worried as I collapsed in front of her. I looked at my clothes to see blood dominate my arm and chest. The shrapnel must've hit an artery. Was the last thing I thought before passing out.

Author's Note

Here it is! another chapter in the story, and another in the works!

Just so you know, a klick is a military term used to denote a distance of one kilometer.

I included the anthro tag, but the actual appearance is like when the Main 7 Pony Up in EqG, but for everyone all the time, and with pony hooves.

I did this so their heads can fit into Pilot helmets easier.

Also, I'm thinking of giving him Dice Roll as a boost, with his Smart Pistol as a sidearm.

Let me know what you think of the story in the comment section below.