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Sniper Canyon ( rose_and_raven and wiki234 )

rose_and_raven

rose_and_raven

Star
Joined
Oct 14, 2016
One deep breath, then another, and Kanoni emerged into consciousness like a drowning person breaking the surface of a turbulent river. Every gasp of air made her stomach churn and head throb with each beat of her heart. Slowly she became aware of the chilly stone pressing against her back and the sticky mat of blood that soaked hair as well as the fact she wasn't wearing her helmet but couldn't remember taking it off.

Her eyes fluttered open, light danced across her vision, piercing her skull with its brilliance forcing her to close them again. After a few moments she opened her eyes again. Clouds formed with every breath that passed her lips, and the only warmth was the steady trickle of blood seeping down the side of her face.

What had happened? Where was she?

Hazy memories crystallized into diamond-sharp focus: a pair of dark shapes leaping down from the canyon rim; an ambush; a dead end canyon and the soft crack of something smashing into her helmet with a strength born of utter hate then utter darkness.

As Kanoni tried to pull herself upright, a sudden wave of dizziness engulfed her and the strength drained from her arms. Then she found herself flat in her back again. The dark ceiling began to swim in a nauseating manner. Squeezing her eyes shut again she waited until the waves of oily nausea stop then opened them again, this time the darkness above her remained still.

A shiver trembled over her skin, and sweat turned frigid across her forehead as she squinted at the distant ceiling. It looked like she was in a natural cave of some sort though she couldn't recall crawling into it. The blood that had pooled under her head and matted her suggest she'd been laying on the cave floor for some time.

"Uso?" she called out, the single word rasped between her parched lips. No answer, and already her mind was reeling with gruesome scenarios. The Militia was never kind to downed Titans of an enemy faction and their salvage teams were known for dismantling Titans while they were still alive. She wasn't even sure how badly the Ronin had been damaged or if he had escaped the larger Titans. If he had, then they likely crippled him one way or another so they could return latter to steal data from his data recorder or worse. The link was silent meaning the Ronin was either unconscious or purposely blocking his end.

She lifted one arm and gingerly probed at the side of her head, wincing at the sharp stab of pain then let her hand drop back down to the cold stone floor. There was a high powered LED flashlight in her pack that would allow her to see into the darker spots of the cave for any trace of the Ronin but the light would act like a beacon in the dark for any near by enemy forces or scavengers.

Kanoni slowly sat up again, ignoring the dull flare of pain in her shoulder. Far as she could tell she had no broken bones but she was a mess of bruises and no doubt had a few cracked ribs if the flare of pain in her chest was anything to go by. Head throbbing she closed her eyes and leaned back on her arms, slowly breathing the cold dry desert air.

A few more hours until the sun was up and shed enough light for her to see so she could scavenge what she could from the battlefield near the mouth of the canyon then retreat back to the safety of the cave before the temperature climbed.

A few hours until dawn. She could hold out till then.
 
Haruki took deep breaths as she woke up, leaning against one of the canyon walls she had now found herself in. Everything happened so sudden and her head hurt though it seemed she didn't have a lot of injuries than lots of scratches. As she tried to move she fell back, sitting back down uselessly as she looked around before deciding to call out herself with an echoing voice to her titan. The surrounding rocks as she observed would at least keep her safe for a while in case something horrible would happen...the only thing now is to think and find out where she was and how to get out of there.

-------------

Soon as if a computer screen had just booted up, a single eye began to glow brightly in the darkness, " optical sensors online...." as a fallen warrior he had found himself somewhat damaged on the ground, not even able to process anything from his data log from now to see what had even happened to them seeing that after a few moments of looking around he had discovered that some kind of force maybe even a blast or explosion would have something to do with separating him from his pilot.

As he slowly rose Uso picked up his weapons and standing up, slowly made his way way out of the end of a cave to the outside deciding to patch himself through to his pilot. " pilot.....p-pilot..." with that Uso hoped he could find her fast before things really would turn out bad for not just her but for the both of them.
 
Kanoni shrugged her pack off then stripped the coyote tan and sand yellow armor off with a wince before unzipping the torn tan jumpsuit open to her midsection, the tan shirt joined the armor on the cave floor. A shiver trembled over her skin when the cold air hit, and sweat turned frigid across her forehead.

She pulled the bulky pack closer and pulled out the medkit out. Not for the first time she was glad she had forced herself to memorize the location of everything in the pack and kit so there was no need to risk using a light source. She pulled out a thick athletic wrap then wrapped it around her chest, hissing softly. Pain flared through the left side of her chest as she pulled the wrap tight.

Pinning her short black hair back with one hand she wrapped gauze around her head with the other. The laceration was no doubt deep given the alarming amount of dried blood in her hair and on the cold stone floor and needed stitches but the gauze would have to do.

She used the discarded shirt to scrub the dried blood from her face, the high cheekbones, narrow chin and almond shaped eyes showing her mixed oriental heritage. Discarding the shirt again Kanoni pulled the spare Smart Pistol from the pack, checked the clip then put it into the empty holster where the other one had been, likely stolen while she was unconscious. The spare clips were tucked into one of the many pouches on her tactical vest that was laying on the floor near her armor.

Only when the chill began to bite into her exposed skin did she zip the jumpsuit back up while mentally going over a check list. Find her Titan, her missing helmet and a water source.

'Uso.' She called out through the link, breath fogging. Their link was still active so he wasn't dead or unconscious.

-------------

Every step sent waves of white hot pain through his neural net but sitting down and waiting for potential rescue was a luxury he could ill afford. The makeshift splint of rebar and cables tied to his badly broken leg was the best he could do for the moment. He paused at the mouth of the massive canyon, leaning heavily on the Leadwall that was being used as a crutch, intakes hitching while oily black hydraulic streaked down the damaged leg. The massive weapon wasn't good for anything else since he had long since run out of ammo.

He supposed he should count himself lucky that the worst the larger Titans had done was break his leg and dislocate his knee after he lead them away from his injured pilot.

Haruki Tiz forced himself forward, leaning heavily on the makeshift crutch, external LED's glowing softly in the darkness. She couldn't be that far away.
 
Continuing on slowly, he had managed to stand up with the support of the cave walls as well as his sword and now empty weapon at his side, picking it up as he kept it on his back trying his effort to walk normally only to collapse on the floor with a loud mechanical thud. He was a lucky titan to assess that most of his damage was mostly internal than external which didn't impose anymore immediate danger of trouble to him for now.

Slowly Uso again used his sword this time and and the wall to prop himself up, leaning against it as he used it like a cane to find his way through obstacles that he was not focusing on as well as move him forward at a steady pace but not helping as every few steps he was collapsing mostly having to do with his visual systems shutting down a few times randomly and the new found problem of his audio systems taking alot of damage as well. "P-p-pilot d-do you copy...." a familiar voice called out again, " Do you h-have a tra-tracker so I can try and get your lo-location....."

------

As haruki now tried to move a little bit she could feel a fast hard wave of aching sore pain shoot through her whole body, as if she were covered in hard concrete and was trying to move her body at all with waves of pain after even just a tiny amount of movement from her fingers. "Fuuuuck!!!" She cursed out as she took a deep breath to try and get up managing to lift herself up completely on shaky legs before collapsing back down on the floor again. " are you....there.....please...." calling through her own link with a shaky,worried, and scared tone.
 
Stay put pilot. I will find you. A miss step sent a wave of blazing pain through the damaged leg causing to falter, vents hitching. A sound behind him had him pausing, one external optic swiveling to look behind him. There was a probability, a low one, that the Titans that injured him had allowed him to escape so they could follow him back to his pilot. With his scanners down to 30% it wouldn't' be too hard for the Titans to trail behind him. The obvious trail of dark splatters on the rock and sand he left with every step would be very easy for any pursuers to follow.

Hobbling along the canyon he continued to search for his pilot.

Picking up life signs he moved towards them, carefully picking his way through the large boulders and log jams caused by floods, every missed step jarring the injured limb.

"Haruki?" He edged around a boulder, large optic swiveling in its housing to look down at her while leaning heavily on the Leadwall.

-------------------------------------

With shaking fingers she pressed the tracker on her wrist mounted computer. 'I'm in a natural cave....I'm not sure how far I am from your location.' She couldn't even recall how she had gotten into the cave other then dragging herself into it while semi conscious.

Her hand drifted to the side of her chest when the pain flared up, gaze drifting to the backpack. There were powerful pain relievers in the front pocket but the meds would render her unconscious for a few hours and that wasn't something she could risk with an injured Titan and potential attackers paroling the canyon searching for them so they could take their Intel.
 
She coughed, freezing as she heard the familiar sound of moving metallic feet on the loose sand and rocks around her, freezing and closing her eyes hoping she would die so fast maybe captured not knowing if it was a salvage team or even her only friend around there. " Ti-z please let that be you...." she begged looking away for a moment before quickly looking and seeing it was him through her hazy vision. Again haruki let out a fit of coughs as she tried to sit up again with, another wave of pain hitting her whole body.

------

Uso again fell with a loud thud, getting up as he still continued on. " global tracker link activated....pilot location marked....." soon after a while longer he finally had made his way to the cave, a loud thud for the continuing time alerting his nearby pilot to a a new mechanical entity nearby. Uso shoved his sword to the ground with a loud crack as he lifted himself up again, "visual range reduced by 40% due to optical failure, system recharge and reboot protocol recommended...." Slowly he made his way a bit deeper finally clearly reading an energy signature. " pilot....we are leaving here now....." he kneels in front of her holding his hand out enough to where she could reach it easily...
 
A quick scan confirmed his concern she might have broken ribs. "My mobility is limited and you are injured, I suggest we leave this area and find cover else where." With a wince he knelt on his uninjured leg, hand extended while leaning heavily on the Leadwall.

If he was being followed then they needed to find some place considerably safer. He could stand guard despite the damaged limb while his pilot recovered.

"We need to hurry."
------
Fear surged through her at the loud thump that came from outside the cave, hands tightening on the Smart Pistol. Swallowing hard she crept to the edge of the cave and peered out. The weapon was near useless against a Titan unless she aimed for its optic and even then it would likely only enrage the Titan instead of injure it.

Fear rapidly turned to worry once she realized the large mass of shadow cloaked plating was Uso. Holstering the weapon she darted forward ignoring the sharp pain in her side. The Titans self repair systems would take care of the vital damage but the rest, she would have to repair but that would have to wait until she set up a camp some where sheltered.

With out hesitating she climbed into the offered hand. "How bad is the damage."
 
"Wonder why they didn't kill you....." she thought with a calm sigh as she looked up at him with a small smile. " I wish you weren't looking as terrible as me...." she replied taking a deep breath as she pushed herself forward landing on her stomach in his hand. " your leg is still in tact? You can still move it without having to feel so much pain so maybe if I find some parts then this could work....." slowly she sat up a bit in his hand, " well I'll take you being injured than not having my titan at all, lets go then...." with that haruki waited as they started to head off away from the canyons and to a safer place.

------

He looked at her for a moment before his optics started to blink then black out as he lay there for a few minutes before suddenly he lifted himself back up again with his free hand. " battle efficiency rating under 25% optical systems and motor systems severely damaged. Power level almost at critical, back up systems heavily but not severely damaged. " with that he grabbed his sword and lifted himself up, opening his cockpit and letting her crawl inside, closing it again. " override pilot systems, autopilot engaged...." now that they were back together he turned and slowly limped outside holding his sword. " scan-ning.... system activation interruption due to significant damage to sensors...cannot acquire range of 100 meters maximum range heavily reduced to a distance of 27 meters....with my current state I am prone for my systems to not respond as fast or at all as well as a high chance of random system failures...." with that Uso continued on hoping to find a better place for them.
 
With a wince he shifted his weight a bit more onto the uninjured limb. "The tibia strut is badly fractured and my knee is dislocated though the limb is still intact. It's very difficult for me to move without being in a considerable amount of pain. All my vital systems are operating at maximum efficacy." he was silent for a moment, optic shutters closing then opening in a slow blink. "I suspect they want the Intel I carrying. If they damage any of my vital ssytems or destroy me, the probability the enemy has to recover that Intel drops significantly." he held her close to his chest and began to channel more heat to chassis to help keep her warm.

There was an old mining barge some where up the canyon, he recalled seeing it on one of their shorter scouting trips while searching out enemy encampments.


------

"The mining barge....half a mile from the Uva Mining Complex..." Kanoni leaned back in the pilots chair, eyes squeezed shut, hand pressed against her aching ribs. The old rusted wreck would provide plenty of cover from the blazing sun and from enemy troops.

She tried to push the pain down and focus om something else, making a mental check list of the Titan's damage and what she could and couldn't repair in the field.

"its still dark, chances of the IMC searching for us is pretty low. You should be able to reach the barge before sun rise." she frowned at the long list of damage, worry chewing at the back of her mind. Uso was tough, he would survive this. Still her concern bleed through the link.
 
She sighed, " can't you turn off your pain sensors though?" She asked wondering if titans were built like humans to experience pain as well like her. " I don't think I can walk much either but I know there had to be something there to help you...I feel bad for saying this but could you try to push for us to get there as fast as we can?" She frowned a bit though had a small idea, " what about just dashing there, if your thrusters work we could maybe get that to work easier than putting more strain on your leg then?" Smiling a bit feeling like she had a pretty good idea for the moment at least.

----

"Orders confirmed transferring power to tracking and mobility systems....tracking increase slightly to 32 meters....." with that he shoved his sword on the ground to keep himself up as he started to move slowly through the darkness, his lights and optics lighting the way through the new path for them. " visual data will be harder for me to track easily so I will be relying on you for hidden obstacles and other things....." Uso now started to drag his sword behind him, stopping a few times as he would collapse and pick himself up then continue slowly.
 
"Unsure, if I did it would leave me unable to to register any additional damage to that limb should I miss step or shift my weight on it in a way that that causes unneeded stress on my knee. " As much as he did not like pain he viewed it as a necessity in this case since it prevented him from doing more damage. "You shouldn't concern yourself so much, its nothing I can not withstand." the tip of his thumb lightly rubbed her back in attempt to comfort her.

Tiz paused, rapidly going over the calculations. It would put minor strain on his systems and he would have to pause frequently to cool down least he pass out from overheating. "There is a probability that may work. Good idea Pilot." he praised her before leaning heavily on his good leg, ready to fire up the small back-mounted thrusters only to have nothing happen. Puzzled he ran a quick system scan.

Thrusters: Offline.

Phase generator: Offline.

Like pieces of a puzzle the memories began to fit together. The ambush in the canyon, a powerful electrical surge that rendered semi conscious and had knocked many of his non vital systems off line. He could recall hearing voices though he could not remember what they said.

"They hacked me...while I incapacitated." He felt violated. At least they didn't break the encryption surrounding anything vital or important.

He was beyond certain now that the mercenaries that had attacked him had only crippled him on purpose to slow him down to make it easier to follow him.

That meant he would have to keep his guard up.

One external optic swiveled around to keep watch on the canyon behind them while he hobbled forward, pushing the pain down while silently counting down the distance between them and the rusted out wreckage.
---------------------------

Every stumble, every fall only worried her more. Her hands griped the rests of the pilots chair in a death grip, knuckles gone white under the gloves. The dull throb in her side became easier to ignore with Uso's condition taking up the forefront o her thoughts.

Find something else to concentrate on, he'll be fine she kept telling herself. It wasn't as if this was the first time he had suffered damage but all the previous times it had not only never been so bad he was stumbling they were not in stranded on a hostile planet. Pushing the thick worry down she tried to focus on the view screens relaying the location and size of any obstacle through the link.
 
"Dammit dammit dammit dammit!!!" She repeated as she slammed her fist against his finger like a small kid who didn't get something they wanted. " though they seem stupid, there's really no point to do that. I would just kill them or bait out the pilot..." Haruki now tried to sit up a bit as she felt waves of pain through her even his moving her arm or hand a few inches. " I can't really do anything like this....well we really need to go now then. " sitting there and wondering what to do.

-----

"Power capacity down to 15%" still continuing on as he continued to fall and get up they would be able to see it in the distance but of course leaving him not knowing that himself yet. Eventually he could detect a small bit of it as he was closer, " detected anomaly unknown debris...." going off his sensors and moving slower from having less power and being cautious now.
 
Tiz stopped, surprised by his pilots outburst.

"Pilot Haruki, please stop. Getting upset now will not help either of us." he suspected the mercenaries were after more then Intel though he didn't dare mention it to his pilot since it would only upset her further.

Sensing that she had calmed down he began to move forward again, focusing on the task at hand. He picked his way through the narrow canyon, ever careful not to fall or trip.

Out of the early morning darkness it loomed, a massive rusting hulk of machinery. The dark hull marred by scorch marks and countless rust eaten holes. The mining barge was firmly wedged in the entrance of a box canyon. Tiz hobbled towards it, pausing to ensure that they were not being followed before stepping into the shadow filled cool interior of the barge.

He sat down near the bulkhead, propping the injured leg up on a cargo container. "We will persevere and survive."

---------------------------
"Twenty yards ahead, to the right." she almost cried at the welcoming sight of the wreckage. It would offer them both cover and protection from the sun and from the IMC. And it owuld give her a chance to preform much needed repairs on Uso.
 
She sighed as she just looked up at him, moving through to a safer place. As after a while they had finally made it, looking around at her new surroundings and taking everything in so she could think of a plan of what they could she could than just sit and wait. " hey...." she called to get his attention, " I guess it's just one of those desperate times again where I'm too scared to think about everything going wrong like that, I'm sorry about that..." Haruki continued softly completely calming herself down. " I know we will but with every mission if we come back and whether you have some injury or not I'm always worried...."

-------

"Confirmed....we made it...." Uso replies as he stops to look around and take in the scenery in front of him before slowly starting to move closer toward the barge. After walking a yards they had finally made it to a large open entrance of the wreckage, finding a good place to hide away from anything that could immediately see them as he sat down setting his sword down and leaning back a bit. " we...are safe for now and more important back together, I'm glad to see you very much pilot....."
 
The large optic swiveled in its housing to look down at her. "Its normal to be concerned about me. But you should not allow that concern to cloud your judgment and jeopardize our mission. Doing so could potentially put us both in danger of being captured or worse." he pointed out.

There was a first aid kit in the cockpit, of that he was certain but before he could mention it his audios caught the sound of voices. Sitting up a bit he listened, catching bits of a conversation coming from the other side of the massive bulk head. There was a 50% chance that they were allies. Still he did not call out in case they were mercenaries.

-------

Leaning back she closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. "I'm glad you escaped them Uso."

Hitting the emergency release to the cockpit Kanoni grabbed the repair kit then jumped out. The moment her feet touched the ground she turned to her injured Titan. The worry she had forced down earlier came back full force at the sight of her Titan. Most his plating was dented or scorched and some was even missing.

"Shit, they did a number on you." she froze when she head a voice emitting from some where behind them she slowly set the heavy repair kit on the packed sand ground then turned, pulling the pistol from its holster.

Moving quickly in the darkness, weapon at the ready, she made her way to the massive bulk head which was missing most the middle-scrapers likely-and peered into the darkness on the other side. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness she could make out the shadow cloaked form of a Titan sitting against the wall.

'We have company.'
 
Haruki looked around, still sitting in his hand with crossed legs, " and that's what I hate about myself too....I ask that too, I shouldn't be worried about you at all, because I know you won't go down that easily." She replied as she slowly climbed off his hand and onto the ground slowly standing up and holding her side then looking back to him. " I bet you know that someone also survived...." with that she slowly reached behind pulling out her pistol and turning to the way they came seeing that there was another big gap and another entrance as haruki slowly made her way through and stopping a few feet toward the other entrance, finding somethinc to hide behind but not going too far ahead of course.

------

Uso opened his hatch letting her out as it closed behind her. " I rather have internal injuries than be more physically broken than I already am...." replying as he pulled himself up a bit to sit up watching her leave already. " sensor range not enough to pick up, how many can you see? We must stay hidden until I am fully functional again, I do not advise contact whether they be an ally or the enemy...."
 
'I always have you to ensure I will not be badly damaged.' Even if he did become badly damaged, he trusted in his pilots abilities to repair his non critical systems and assist him when he needed it.

'Be careful. We don't know what faction they are or if they are mercenaries.' even with one usable leg he was still very capable of fighting. 'If the Titan attacks us, aim for the optic. That will always be a weakness. You may not do much harm to it but it will stagger back and take measures to protect that part of its anatomy. That will give me just enough time to grab you and escape.'

------------------------------------------

'Two. One Titan, light class by the looks of it and a pilot. Faction unknown.'

There was no arguing with Uso's logic. She could easily take the pilot but not the Titan, not with out a much heavier weapon. 'Those internal injuries are more difficult to repair compared to anything more external.' She rocked back on her heels before moving quietly back to her injured Titan, light-foot falls barely making a sound.

'Don't worry, I'm not contacting either of them even if they are Militia. Our own faction abandoned us here. she picked the repair kit back up, wincing at the sharp stab of pain in her side. Most the damage couldn't be repaired in the field, Uso's self repair systems would have to take care of the critical damage while she repaired what she could.
 
Haruki slowly stood up as she felt her own pain to her side, slowly getting on her knees then standing up. "Well it is a pair of them so that makes it hard..." not wanting to go against both at the same time, stopping as she leaned against the wall and waited.

-------

" light class, Northstar or ronin...." he warns, "advise falling back now and try to repair while they do not take action on us. They know we are here and I do not think they are mercenaries as the case would stand they would have already moved completely toward us without stopping..." he explained looking around and still waiting.
 
They know we are here. It is only a matter of time before they make a move. It was a little odd they had yet to attack. He was hoping the other Titan was so damaged it couldn't fight.

He shifted a bit then winced, free hand going to his ruined knee. His self repair system would take care of the worst of the damage but it would take days. That was time they didn't have. Maybe if they found some secure place that had resources but not while trapped with a potential enemy

-------

Their Titan may be too damaged to fight. If so then that gives us the advantage. But not by much. They were trapped with a potential enemy. The faster Uso was up and moving the better. Repair kit in hand she clambered over the Titan's legs and to his side, nimble fingers easily fingering the hidden hatch that would allow access to some of his innards. Nothing was smoking or sparking much to her relief.

They could be ICM. she reached in pushing a few wires delicately to the side, frowning when she felt something wet and warm brush against her fingers. Squinting in the darkness she tried to find the source of the wetness, blindly feeling around with her fingers until she found a minor hydraulic line that had ruptured. A faint sigh of relief left her lips before moving on, pulling a few components that damaged while making a mental note to salvage replacements latter.

Try rerouting some power so it by passes any severely damaged components.
 
" I really wanna see and please hope that they are with us..." she told him through the link though of course not wanting to do it yet but debating hard on it. With that haruki move in a bit more though not much as she sat down against the wall wondering what to do. Already knowing they were here didn't change anything and it seemed it wouldn't matter either whether she did it or not though deciding to, as she stood up and sighed before calling out, " you know that we're too and we're both screwed, I don't think fighting is even gonna work...." with that she leaned back waiting for a reply.

-------

Uso heard the voice as well, "female pilot....." looking back down at her he sat up a bit more, " not enough power to support all systems at once....my condition won't change until there are new parts and more power for the systems....its risky to take out anymore power to the systems I already have, it would be at risk of a glitch or the system would shut down wasting more power. My current state is fine for now, I can move even if it slow...." he warned holding his sword a bit tighter looking over to the direction of the voice again...."
 
"Shit." Kanoni closed the hatch. Uso was right and she hated it. They were vulnerable and the ones responsible to crippling the Ronin were still out there looking for them. She would have to risk going to the battlefield and find the parts she needed off the dead Titans. It felt a bit like grave-robbing but she needed those parts and the dead didn't have a use for them.

Kanoni spun around, pulling the pistol from its holster and pointing it in the direction of the voice. "I'm not the one who is screwed. Since when does the IMC approach the Militia for any reason other then to take them prisnor?" her finger rested on the trigger.

She saw the movement out of the corner of her eye and threw herself to the side, rolling when she hit the ground and getting to her feet an instant latter, gun up. Not that it would do any good against the Ronin looming above her. It was leaning heavily on the bulkhead, large optic focused on her.


-------

Tiz leaned heavily on the rusted bulkhead, large optic watching the enemy pilot. He had seen her pull the pistol and point it at his pilot, ignoring the pain he got to his feet and moving faster then something his size should have been able to he moved to put himself between his pilot and the enemy.

The other Titan was badly damaged and likely not able to fight so he wasn't too concerned about it. If he had to he could grab his pilot and run, well limp for the entrance and take cover else where.
 
Uso looked over, he didn't trust the other pilot very well either mostly with the fact he also had a reason not to. " rerouting power to visual systems, " I advise you not put anymore distance toward them, stay behind the rock walls near me..." he warned sitting up but only managing by just an inch.

--------

" well we're both screwed and besides I used to be a part of them now....im leaving them behind..." she dropped her pistol and also dropping to her knees as it seemed like she was gonna cry. " fuck them!!!" She yelled taking back her pistol and putting it away, " would it make you feel better to know you'll be the only two here then?" She seemed to suddenly give up but she was also just so afraid that something drastic like this would be happening. " what does it take to convince you then?" With that haruki sat down leaning against the wall just looking at her gun. "Death, fighting, war. That's the only thing they train you to be..." she chuckled, " I never knew it could be this bad so fast..."
 
Her forehead crinkled in confusion. For a moment she wondered if it was just an act but the longer she watched the more she realized it wasn't. This....this child was what the IMC called a pilot now? The other was an adult in terms of age but her attitude was one that she would expect from a child.

No wonder why were switching off to modded Specters as pilots. Cold, efficient, merciless.

"You are screwed, I am not." against her better judgment she holstered her weapon. She doubted the other could find the trigger much-less hit a target. "I'm a scout, not a soldier. I don't fight on the front lines, I spend extended amounts of time in places like this locating enemy camps, compounds and the like. I only fight when I need to." she groaned and ran a hand through her hair, wincing when the movement pulled on the wound. "Oh god, don't you dare cry....." she wasn't sure she could resist the urge to slap some sense into the other pilot if she started to cry.

The Maze was no place for a young unprepared soldier. It was a place that would eat those who were not able to deal with the searing heat and lack of water alive.

--------
The large glowing optic swiveled from the injured Titan to his pilot then back again, unsure of what to do. He could simply grab his pilot and go but he wouldn't get far on a broken leg. The ones responsible were likely still in the area and waiting for the opportunity to capture him and his pilot.
 
The girl looked up still not seeing that the other pilot would come to her as there was still no trust between them, wiping her face and slowly getting up. " if you don't-" there was a thud as haruki got down on her hands and knees with heavy breaths feeling her body could give out soon, " if you don't want to try to survive....together....maybe...." her tone softer now pulling herself " I'll...find a way if it kills me...." with that the girl slowly stood leaning against the wall wanting to hear the other before deciding she would leave or not.

-----

The other titan still sat back waiting deciding to observe what was around them clearly so he would be able to help her later, letting her do everything else for now. There were more caves around them as well as what he would think for a moment an actual building in the distance, sitting up a bit to try and get a better look. " 5489 feet to an unknown location of interest."
 
The front had gathered its energy in gulf of Seld- a shallow sea that was so polluted from mine run off that it no longer supported life- then moved northwest, striking the cost line. Once over land, the front was forced to rise above the mountains. By the time it descended into the vast open desert all the moisture had been wrung from it. The front was now bone dry. No clouds or rain marked its arrival. All that remained of the front was an enormous energy differential between the hundred -degree air mass over the desert and the sixty-five degree air mass of the front.

All this energy manifested itself into wind.

As it sped along the desert the front became visible as a mile-high wall of orange-yellow dust. It bore down across the land with the speed of an express train, carrying shredded tumble-weeds, rusted barbed wire, silt and powdered salt it had picked up from a salt pan as well as cutting shards of gravel, small stones and sand.

Such storms were rare enough to occur only once every few years, had all the power to blow off roofs, strip the paint from a Titan, and suffocate anything unfortunate enough to be caught in it as well as bury small structures.

The storm slammed into the mouth of the canyon then continued down it, scouring everything in its path.


"How do you plan on surviving out there. Your Titan is a cripple and you know nothing about the Maze or were water is located or anything. You wont stand a chance." Kanoni ground out. She ran one hand over her face, tried. The girl wouldn't stand a chance. In good conscious she couldn't allow the other wander the desert and become another dried out corpse among the many that littered the massive desert.

"Something tells me that I am going to regret this latter." ignoring the dull throb in her chest she walked to the other pilot. Keeping a close eye on the injured Ronin she knelt and pulled a large hypo from a pouch attached to her thigh then jabbed it into the other pilots leg. "Don't make me regret it kid."

The sound drew her away from the young pilot, a low dull roar of whispers that grew louder by the moment. The second she realized what it was fear sized her chest, constricting it. Small dust storms were common and rarely did much damage, the large ones were thankfully very rare and she had encountered one only once in the year plus she had been visiting the planet. It had caught them in the open while being chased by a pair of heavy Titans. Uso, being lighter, easily outdistanced them and the sand storm and had taken cover behind some rusted ruins of what may have been a drop ship.

The other two Titans hadn't been so lucky. Once the storm had cleared and Uso was preoccupied with getting the fine dust and sand out of his vents, she had ventured out into the open. The area had been scoured clean of any plant life. The two Titans had been half buried by the sand. Likely suffocated by all the sand and dust that had been pulled into their vents.

She stood abruptly and looked through the large hole in hull. A massive wall of yellow swirling sand sped by the opening forcing her to throw an arm up to protect herself from the fine grit and sand as she stepped away from the hole.

"Looks like we are stuck in here for a while."
 
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