The Architect Codex

KT was not happy.

First off, she was going into battle without her Pilot. It was necessary, yes, but that didn't make it feel any less unpleasant. For the duration of the mission, she'd likely be concerned for his safety, analyzing chances of his survivability, and generally be slightly more inefficient than she would be if her processors were completely focused on the task at hand.

Now, she was trying to hold off wave after wave of IMC coming up the lift to take back control of the top of the Kraken. The Militia were fighting valiantly, but they'd already lost several Pilots despite her and the other Titans' best efforts.

"You're doing great, ladies!" a voice said over the comms, prompting Vale to turn Skids around and face the Pilots while blocking with the Ronin's enormous sword.

"Davis, your mouth is supposed to be shut if I recall correctly!"

"6-4, you're far more experienced than the other Pilots," KT said over the comms, catching a burst of gunfire with her vortex shield as she did so. "We would appreciate your support in assisting up front!"

"Not a problem," Dimitri responded, turning and rallying the other freelancers forward. "Come on!"

Dimitri, Bear, and Jax all ran up to the frontline with Anti-Titan weapons equipped. Over on the right, Tyra and CH were fighting the Atlas. As it stepped slightly too close, the Scorch lunged and hooked an arm around the enemy's shoulder. Then with its other hand, it produced a fiery shield that burned away its shielding and melted the protective casing of the Atlas' chassis.

"If you can't take the heat, then get the hell out!" Tyra feistily yelled through her Titan's speakers, and promptly threw the now helpless Titan off the side of the Kraken and into the depths of the ocean below.

KT decided to try and raise Four. "Pilot, where are you?" She would have patched herself into his helmet's video feed, but there was already too much to concentrate on for her to risk such a divide in attention.

"Gates and I are in a maintenance shaft and moving slowly towards the bridge. We're both safe."

Spinning around quickly, she held her vortex shield out as the Legion fired a blast of shrapnel at her. Running out of energy in her system's pool, she refocused her aim and released the shield, directing everything she'd collected back at some riflemen who were standing near the lift. Several of them flew back many meters from the impact while others simply exploded into pieces where they stood, sliced apart by the metal.

"Understood. Protocol two: uphold the mission."

"That's right. I know it's not what we originally planned, but we've had to improvise and go for a more stealthy approach. I'll update you when we get to the bridge."

She looked back in time to see Vale phase shift right through the Legion, and appear behind it. As it searched around for her in bewilderment, Vale drew her sword, impaled the Titan from behind, and then dragged it upwards to cut through the cockpit. The Legion's carcass fell lifelessly to the ground, no longer a threat.

"Call the extraction team quickly, and request a few Widows- you and the other Titans should be able to make it out of here on those. Then get the rest of the Pilots to safety, they're not doing much besides dying up there."

"Understood, Pilot."

He cut the link just before the cargo lift came back up, this time with a Tone and a Northstar. She quickly waved the other Pilots back, and held her vortex shield out again. "Call down the extraction team! You need to evacuate!"

She looked back as the new Titans took aim at her and the rest of Foxtrot-Three, now preparing to defend the extraction point with their lives. "I hope you hurry, pilot."