Sasha walked through the halls of the Baron towards the Ready Room to link up with the three Pilots that would comprise her new team, assigned to hunt down the three new IMC Titans. She shifted slightly in her Pilot Gear, knowing this would be her first squad, and her first time in combat outside the Simulators aboard the James MacAllan II. She opened the door, and saw two humans, and the Pilot Spectre Romero. The first pilot, wearing brown and grey with a yellow undershirt, walked up to her.

"You're Kelly's replacement?" he asked.

"Yes. Sasha Voryunov, Pilot, MCS James MacAllan II." she said, offering her hand, which the Pilot shook.

"That's Chase and Romero. I'm Daniel." the Pilot said. "I'm glad to have a new pilot with us, but I've been given your file. You haven't seen combat outside the sims. You'll need to prove yourself to me. You ready?"

"Always ready." Sasha said, with a determined voice. Daniel nodded and went back to cleaning his R201 carbine. Romero walked up and slapped her on the back.

"He's been in the dumps since Kelly hit the grave. Don't mind him."

"Fuck you." Daniel responded immediately, under his breath. Chase wisely decided to stay out of this fight. Sasha sighed and crossed her arms.

"Should we get going?" She asked.

"Let's." Daniel said angrily. Setting his R201 on his back, he walked out towards the Deployment Bay. Chase and Romero walked after him. Sasha was about to follow, but she looked over to see a Pilot's Helmet, with a Four-leaf clover painted on it in green, sitting on Daniel's bunk. She looked over to the tags lying beside it, which were stained with dried blood.

KELLY ANDERSON-PILOT-MCS BARON
AGE-21 SEX-FEMALE STATUS-KIA

She nodded to the tags, and rushed out to catch up with the other pilots.

==========

As the four Pilots boarded their Titans, Sasha shuddered in anticipation, knowing this was her first fight outside the Simulators.

"Pilot, your heart rate is accelerating." PL-3431, her Titan, said.

"I'm fine, Polar." she replied. "Just anxious."

"Better get ready, then." Chase said. "We're deploying now."

Sasha moved her Northstar out of the bay, following Chase's Legion, Romero's Tone, and Daniel's Vanguard. As they walked, Sasha looked around their path to see bodies strewn about from the initial IMC attack.

"Poor bastards." She said.

"Amen to that." Romero replied. "They were probably hit by that Recluse Titan."

"Most likely. Chemical signature of Sulfur Osilaphate detected." PL-3431 spoke. "Trace leads approximately 963.1 meters north-northeast."

"Let's go." Daniel said, as the Titans adjusted course to follow the trail.

===============

They eventually ended up in a forest clearing, where the bodies of several minotaurs lay strewn about.

"Who took them out?" Daniel asked.

"There are no records of IMC troops advancing this far." IN spoke.

"Then...WATCH OUT!" Sasha yelled as the Recluse Titan swept the legs out from under Chase's Legion, smashed into Romero's Tone, and pinned Daniel to the ground, before throwing the net, paralyzing Sasha.

"Time to die!" Venom called. Sasha then activated her Northstar's thrusters, burning the net and freeing her Titan. Hovering into the air, she fully charged her Plasma Railgun and fired. The shot slammed into the Recluse Titan just at the shoulder, giving Sasha the opening she needed. She dove into and tackled the Recluse, and front-flipped over it using some clever thruster movements. She then fired a Cluster Missile, which exploded right above the cockpit hatch. She then hovered again and stomped PL's foot into the cockpit itself, crushing and crippling the Titan. Sasha smiled in triumph.

"Night, night, motherfucker." she said. She disembarked and opened the bent cockpit door. Seeing Venom's still form, she bent to retrieve his radio. Then, his arm limply grabbed her shoulder.

"Not bad…" he coughed weakly. "Not bad at all, Pilot."

He gave her a weak nod before he went still. Sasha stood there in shock, then she nodded. She retrieved his Helmet Radio, then sent a Data Spike into the Recluse's datacore to recover it's technical data. After a few seconds, she ejected the spike and stood up. Leaping to the ground, she saw Daniel disembark and walk over.

"Congrats on your first kill." Daniel said, with approval in his voice. "We'll make a damn good Pilot out of you."

"Thank you, sir." Sasha said in reply. "Let's get moving. I've got his data and Radio."

"Good." Daniel said as they embarked and resumed the hunt.

================

"Venom's down." Tauros said to Archer, as they watched Venom's helmet feed.

"I knew it. Bastard was so cocky about killing that Ronin. We've still got a job to do, eh?" Archer replied.

"Yeah. Let's move, BL."

As the two of them embarked into their Titans to hunt down the Militia, the wind slowly picked up speed.

===================

"It's quiet." Romero said. True as it was, the forest clearing they were scouting was absent of wildlife or even the wind.

"Too quiet…" Daniel said. Then, a bright blue projectile shot past Sasha and PL-3431.

"Hostile Titans incoming!" Chase said as Archer and Tauros smashed through the treelines in their Ranger and Matador titans, ready for battle.

"You took out Venom. We'll make you pay for that, simple as it goes." Archer said.

"We'll see." Sasha said, starting to charge her Plasma Railgun. Chase readied his Predator Cannon, Daniel his Chaingun, and Romero his 40MM. Then, the Matador Titan made a feint for Daniel, and then slammed into Romero's Tone with brutal force. Romero's Titan fell to the ground, out for the count. Chase unleashed a volley of Predator Cannon shots, which hit but were nullified by the Matador's Buckler shield. Archer took this opportunity to fire some shots at Sasha who took to the skies to dodge them. Chase then engaged in a punch-out with the Ranger, as they struggled for the other pilot's primary weapon. Sasha landed and took cover behind a tree as Archer fired a Lightning shot, setting a few trees on fire.

"We've got a fire going!" Sasha said.

"Roger that!" Daniel said. He was currently occupied with struggling for Archer's Vortex Bow. Matador then reared back, using a boost, and then spoke.

"Slam Core ready."

He then barreled forward at high speed and smashed into Chase's Legion with a hammer-like punch combined with a tackle. Chase's Titan held, but was heavily damaged. RC-1039 spoke directly into Chase's comms.

"We are in danger, Pilot. Hull and Chassis integrity at 49 percent."

"I can see that." Chase said as he used the Predator Cannon as a brace against the Matador's heavily plated fists. Sasha then saw an opportunity. Leaping out of cover towards Archer, she boosted left and right and closed the gap. As the Ranger swung, she slipped under his punch and sent a fully charged Railgun shot straight through the Ranger's Chassis. Then, she pinned Archer's Titan with her leg, and placed her Railgun into a hull breach created by the shot.

"See ya." she said as she fired. The shot tore through the cockpit and blew out the door, sending scrap metal everywhere. She hastily took out her Railgun and fired again, distracting the Matador, who eased up for a second, giving Chase the upper hand. He activated his Gun Shield and swung the gun like a club, before unleashing a Close Range Powershot, sending the Titan to its knees. Chase stuffed the barrel into the cockpit from above and fired, gutting the Titan thoroughly. As it collapsed, Daniel helped Romero and KV-0617 up to their feet. As he and Sasha extracted the IMC Pilot's data, Daniel radioed Ellis.

"Ellis, this is McKenna. Ranger and Matador are down. What next?"

"Perfect timing. We've got reports the IMC are sending in a big push, with multiple force-conscripted units. We need all hands on deck to repel it." Ellis replied.

"Confirmed. On our way." Daniel said. As Sasha embarked into her Titan, Daniel nodded silently.

"I suggest we get moving towards our objective, Pilot. Protocol 2-Uphold the Mission." IN spoke.

Roger that." Daniel said. "Pilots, let's move!"

Author's Notes:

Update!

next chapter-The Big Push