Cinder

33 - The Coalescence

"This is Fallon to Green-1, come in Buck!"

Using EV's jets, he boosted up and vaulted over the cargo containers he was taking cover behind to land with a loud metallic CRUNCH atop the Ion who'd been on the opposite side. "This is Buck, go ahead Dean-"

"Blue-1 and the Cinder have been compromised!"

His mental systems stopped for a full second. "Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"KT's fragmentation kicked in again- I found her fighting Four in the forest. She killed KN and took Four with her on a dropship that came to pick them up ... I couldn't engage."

The signature roar of an engine above them suddenly became quite noticeable, and Buck looked at the sky with a sinking feeling as he watched an enemy Goblin streak by with two gunship escorts away from the battle.

"... Acknowledged. Get back to help Blue-Team, I'll ... I'll contact Gates about the situation."

"Understood."

The signal dropped, and Buck felt a number of emotions and anxieties surface- he could have formulated an essay with the plethora of words that came to mind, but only one made it past his vocal processors.

"... Fuck."

...

Nothing came into focus at first- it was just a single mass of grey and shadows obstructing his vision as voices that he couldn't quite make out seemed to be conversing.

As the seconds turned into minutes from his awakening, however, the the mass began to refine itself. Shadows became corners of a darkened room, grey turned into blotches of concrete and hazy, blinding lights above him.

Groggily, he lifted his head up from its position where it had been hanging inanimately. His action triggered a response that caused him to freeze instantly, recognizing the cold monotony of the voice that spoke.

"You are awake."

It was not phrased as a question, nor even as a simple explanation or statement. It was merely an observation, a fact that was incorporated into the artificial mind of his captor and analyzed for how best to incorporate the new input into a positive result. There was no emotion, no evil ... just empty coldness.

Narrowing his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision, he growled.

"Spyglass."

"Admiral Tobias Four of the Embers' Operations; former Lieutenant Pilot for the frontier Militia, and a Pilot-certified rifleman for the IMC prior to that," the voice replied in kind. "You've developed a habit of 'switching sides', so to speak."

"It's a big galaxy," Tobias coughed out, still trying to shake off the vestigial feelings of unconsciousness. "The enemy's always changing."

"In a limited perspective, yes- for you especially. The Militia, the IMC, the Amalgamation, and New Humanity have all shared your hatred at one time or another. But you seem to forget one common denominator that each conflict shared ..."

As the AI spoke, Tobias eyesight finally focused and he was able to witness just what he was facing against.

"... humanity."

The chamber they were in was rather large, though visibility was limited to his 180 degree scope of view. He couldn't hear any explosions- he honestly couldn't really hear anything. Wherever they were, it must have been very secure to have been remained separate from the interference of Regis' assault.