Insert TITANFALL GIFS/PICS here - Most likes wins š(A/N: Only TWO Entrees Per Person!) Winner(s) will be announced in the next chapter.
Previous Winner: YungMastuh
Prize: š
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*Third Person POV: Aspen*
The total number of mechs to be used in this skirmish would only be 63. Takeshi's forces would consist of a total of 21 mechs with his very own included, Takara's forces were a total of 16 mechs, and the secondary strike force led by Ghost was a total of 25 mechs. The last mech was obviously Nyx.
Aspen and Nyx were far above in the skies with the optical camouflage activated and overseeing the deployment of all three strike groups. Two groups were already in position and the only ones missing were the main distractionary strike force which comprised some of Takeshi's forces.
While waiting for Takeshi's group to get in position, Aspen scanned the movements in the base below. Surprisingly, the patrols were heavier than they had been before. The previous data suggested that only 20 mechs were active during the night.Ā
Aspen ordered Nyx to dive into the FOB's database with strict orders to not touch anything so as to not raise any alarms. Nyx found the answer to Aspen's query within a few seconds.Ā
"Sir, it seems like they were running some tests on 2 new Vanguards along with some simulated attacks to strengthen battle coordination. The reports indicate that the forces hadn't seen any action in about a month, with some mistakes having been made in their latest battle which was a night-time ambush."
"Hmm," Aspen absorbed the information before relaying it back to his forces. "Keep your eyes peeled, they have more forces than usual and most of them are itching for a fight. Try to make as few mistakes as possible."
After a few more minutes of observation and relaying information to his troops, Aspen got the ready-to-go signal from Takeshi's forces. "Sir, we are in position. We will begin our strike in 3 minutes, at 3 AM on the dot."
Hearing this, Aspen started a slow descent from his 10,000-meter vantage point. When he was about 2000 meters from the ground, the show started and Nyx's optics zoomed in on the action below.Ā
Takara's forces destroyed a reactor that was providing power to the base. This plunged the base into a momentary darkness that Takeshi took advantage of. Takeshi was leading his forces at the forefront in his Apostle of Death and wasted no time in taking down a mech in seconds while his forces, in the Apostles of Life concentrated their fire on different mechs.Ā
At the same time, Ghost's forces struck from the back, causing even more mayhem. All of this gave Takara's forces the needed diversion to continue destroying other key points. Takara's forces destroyed the long-range relays on the base to stop all communication from going out and then destroyed the ammo depot, causing a huge shockway to rip through the base.
Some of the buildings collapsed as both men and women the like could be seen frantically running. Then more enemy mechs joined the fray which only resulted in a one-sided slaughter of the enemy forces.Ā
As the minutes went by, more and more enemy mechs fell. "What the fuck kind of circus clown car bullshit is in this base. For every single mech my forces are destroying, two more seem to take its place."
"Sir, it seems like just recently with the departure of one Victor Volkov, more forces were assigned to this FOB, increasing their total mechs from 150 to 450."
Aspen couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Bullshit, we were keeping an eye on this base, and not once did any additional forces arrive."
"Sir, this seems to be my folly. Information about multiple secret tunnels connecting this base to multiple other Volkov FOBs on the planet. All information about this was in what seemed like miscellaneous information folders that I did not go through."
"Great," Aspen said in an exacerbated sigh. "Attention all Captains, prepare your forces to fight for hours on end. New intel on the enemy indicates that this base holds a new total of 450 mechs and is connected to other bases. Takara, I'm sending you the schematics right now. There are 3 tunnels and their destruction just rose to the top of your priority list of targets. Get to it."
"Yes, Sir," Takara's voice came through the comms immediately after the orders were given.
'Looks like I'm going to have to get my hands dirty much earlier than I expected,' thought Aspen as he spotted a Vanguard blast out of one of the hangars and start opening fire on his forces. The firepower of the Vanguard was no joke. Even though it was a Tier 3 mech, its rifle started to slowly chip away at the shields of one of the Tier 4 Apostles of Life.
*3rd Person POV: Valina
Valina had just taken off and immediately took her rifle out. She aimed in on one of the mechs attacking her base and her mech's AI immediately threw up red and orange warning signals. The Vanguard had an extremely advanced AI and detection system and could even identify a Ghost class mech from 20km away.
It would point out all the weak points of the mechs and even assess the threat level of a mech. Right now, her HUD was telling her that this was an unknown mech and an extremely dangerous enemy. Her survival rating was at 30% if going head-to-head against one, let alone however many were attacking.
She pushed her surprise away and started opening fire on one of the mechs below. The enemy she opened fire on stopped its advance and glanced up, staring directly at her mech. When SHe thought that the mech was going to open fire, it stopped with its rifle half-raised.
Then a voice cut through the open comms:
"Attention, the enemy seems to have a Vanguard in their midst. I know you can easily take it, but I feel the need to step in and retrieve these precious items from their handsā¦. Reaper income. All friendlies, prepare for Titanfall."
'Titanfall? What the fuck is that?' Valina thought to herself. She then noticed that the enemies stopped firing momentarily and took to the air.Ā
"No fucking way they all are airborne mechs." She continued firing on the unknown assailants when her HUD suddenly turned completely bright red with bold letters that read "Imminent Threat, DODGE."
She obliged and pushed her mech to retreat. Below her were 5 Tier 2 mechs who maintained fire on the enemy when suddenly-
*WHOOSH*
*SCREEEAAACH*
*KA-BOOM*
Out of nowhere, a black figure fell from the sky down the path she was just at. Below her, the 5 Tier 2 mechs were squashed like bugs, and a plume of smoke and fire rose and expanded outward before a shockwave hit the compound.Ā
Ajax, who was momentarily taken aback by the sight of destroyed mechs everywhere, was caught off-guard and the shockwave caused his mech to get thrown about 30 meters from where it stood.
"What in the fuck is that?" Valina asked out loud, prompting her mech to attempt to scan the mech that had just fallen like a warhead from the sky.
What she saw left her reeling in her seat. Unlike the other mechs, this mech displayed information that was even more descriptive than any other mech her Vanguard had scanned.
"Mech Class: TIER 5 MONARCH
Autonomous Mech AI: NYX AETERNUM
Height: 19 METERS
Weight: 35 TONS
Mech Pilot: ASPEN DEL SANTOĀ
Mech Pilot Alias: Reaper
Survival Rating: 0% You may attempt to FLEE or RUN, but you will get nowhere. YOU! WILL! DIE!"
Valina's throat seemed to run dry as she read the details that popped up in her HUD. "A-a-a-an Alpha tier pilot. With-with-with an Autonomous Mech AI?"
*3rd Person POV: Ajax*
Ajax's Vanguard was starting to stand up when heard Valina's words over the comms. He felt his blood drain and his face turned white.Ā
What was an Alpha Tier pilot? Only the best the best. What every single pilot wished they could be. They were usually commanders and pilots who, when joining the fray of a battle, dominated and mercilessly destroyed their enemies.
What was an Alpha Tier Pilot? If facing an Omega Tier Pilot was akin to facing Death itself, then facing an Alpha Tier pilot was akin to facing the Scythe that Death wielded. They could be overwhelmed, sure, but only by over 50 Beta Tier pilots in Tier 4 mechs.Ā
And that was just a regular Alpha Tier Pilot. Now an Alpha tier working with an Autonomous Mech AI, well that's just even worse. At least 200 Tier 4 mechs were needed to face a Tier 5 with an Autonomous Mech AI. Or just 5 Alpha pilots in Tier 5 mechs, 2 in Tier 6 mechs, or just 1 in a Tier 7 mech.
This base housed 450 mechs, with only 4 of them being Tier 4 and the vast majority at Tier 2. As if that wasn't enough, what Valina said next over the comms caused Ajax to freeze in his step.
"A-Aspen? Its pilot is Aspen Del Santo?"
Ajax's worldview was turned upside down. "No, that can't be right, he's only an Epsilon Tier pilot. At most, he could have reached Delta tier, but there is no way he's a fucking Alpha Tier pilot."
Ajax's hands trembled as he gripped the controls of his mech. In a mad fury, Ajax dashed through the air to the location where this Tier 5 mech was supposed to have landed. It only took him about 20 seconds to get to the location where he saw a behemoth of a mech slowly standing up from a kneeling position.Ā
Below it was a bunch of bent steel in a heap of blue fire of what were once 5 mechs. Ajax used his mech's scan and the same information that Valina's mech displayed popped up on his HUD.
"It really is Aspen," Ajax said to himself once he read the Pilot's name. "But why is the HUD displaying such detailed information? It never did so. It's almost as if the mech's system is recognizing its owneā¦. Oh shit."
A sudden realization dawned on Ajax as the dots connected. 'Azrael Fallcrest didn't only look like Aspen Del Santo, he WAS Aspen. Azrael is the name of the angel of Death, does he mean to say that by surviving death, he became it?'
Ajax immediately went to divulge this information to every single pilot and personnel within the base in hopes that they could get a message out to the other bases about who Azrael Fallcrest was and what he was doing. But as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he noticed the Monarch dash and disappear from his line of sight.
An impact from the right side sent Ajax's Vanguard to the ground and almost knocked Ajax unconscious. His vision blurred as it normalized and alerts started popping up by the dozen on his HUD.
"Damage to Left shoulder.
Damage to left shoulder joint.
Left arm severely damaged.
Damage to left leg. Damage to left knee joint.Ā
Damage to left hip joint.
Left leg severely damaged.
Right Optics damaged.
Movement diminished by 80%
Mech integrity: 100% -- 43%."
Aspen had piloted the mech to Ajax's right and gave his Vanguard a single punch on the head. The power behind the punch was so high that it planted it to the ground with so much force that the 20-ton frame bounced as if it were a basketball. A single hit from the Monarch brought down the mech's integrity by 57%
Ajax heard Aspen's voice from within his cockpit as his vision regained clarity. "Stay down, I'll deal with you later."Ā
*Third Person POV: Aspen*
After an obvious display of overwhelming power and speed, Aspen looked up at Valina's mech. He then gave the orders for his forces to continue their slaughter. As soon as he did, instead of coming back down to the ground, his forces stayed airborne, choosing to do boom and zoom tactics on the remaining foes.
"I bet you're wondering how I'm still alive," Aspen said to Valina through the comms. "After all, my body was split in half by none other than your very own spear."
As he was speaking he was controlling Nyx, slowly moving forward to the shell-shocked Valina. "Now that I think about it, that did hurt quite a bit. It was quite a neat trick. Relocating his mech's cockpit, I mean."
Every single word Aspen said felt like a crushing blow to Valina. She was flying in the air and he was on the ground, yet she felt like he was gripping her by the neck and holding her up.Ā
"You should know that I took great delight in killing Elara first, crippling Kai and watching him squirm at the door of his MRAP." Every word Aspen said felt like a piercing needle in Valina's heart.
"Don't you dare say their names," She responded.Ā
But Aspen just ignored her as he continued, "We had a nice little talk before one of my captains blew the fucker's head off. Ooh, I guess it must've been a sight to see when you got the report-"
As those words left Aspen's mouth and entered Valina's ears, all sense of reasoning left her and only rage and pain were left.Ā
"RAAAHHH," Valina's Vanguard dashed down to Aspen's Monarch as she ignored all of the warnings her HUD was giving her. She slashed down with her sword in an attempt to attack Aspen.
Her crazed smile grew as she noticed that Aspen's mech didn't have the thin layer of shielding the Vanguards had nor did it have a shield that activated to stop her attack. Her smile, however, faltered when she noticed her sword go through Aspen's mech with no resistance.
A cold shiver ran down her spine when she heard Aspen's voice, not from the comms, but from behind her.Ā
"It is rude to interrupt people while they're talking," Aspen said through Nyx's exterior speakers. He then gave Valina's mech a shove which almost sent her sprawling to the ground.
"Now, what was I saying," Aspen said. "Right, now, you should've been there, his head disappeared in a split second. And Elara? Ha, the bitch choked on her own blood, what a goofball. Should've just swallowed-"
Aspen's words were once again interrupted by an upward swing from Valina's sword which he just sidestepped. Then he grabbed the sword by the blade and yanked it free from her mech's hand. "You're quite the rude one, aren't you?"
Aspen then grabbed the Tier 3 Vanguard by the neck, which Valina counteracted by turning on her thrusters and trying to escape. Needless to say, it was futile. She managed to get 20 meters away from Aspen before his mech's frame caught up and grabbed her mech's foot.Ā
Aspen then equipped his rifle and shot the head of the vanguard, blinding Valina. Her mech squirmed under the grasp of Aspen's as the two fought mid-air. Valina's mech flailed like a toddler waving their arms as their parent carried them.
Ā Aspen then shot each of the thrusters with his rifle, careful not to hit the cockpit. Valina felt her mech's acceleration stop before increasing as she plummeted down to the ground.Ā
*POOF*
Valina's mech sent out a cloud of dust as it crashed and lay sprawled on the ground. Her consciousness was starting to slip from the damage of the fall as she felt her mech shake and heard Aspen say, "You and I are going to have one lengthy conversation, and it won't be a fun oneā¦ But first, I have to eradicate this base and take any valuable intel I can find."
Word Count: 2625 Words š
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