From the bottom to the top (Titanfall x RWBY)

Chapter 14: The New and the Old

(Y/N)'s PoV:
As soon as the boat stopped and the bridge lowered, I got off with my two Titans and started to walk away from Mistral. Ion, unaware of where the Council sits, looked at me.
"PILOT, MISTRAL IS THAT WAY. WHY ARE WE GOING AWAY FROM OUR DESTINATION?"
I chuckled. "We're en route to our destination, don't worry. The Minstral Council doesn't meet in Mistral, it actually meets a ways off from the Kingdom. Thus, we're going straight there."
Snake drew his Leadwall. "TITAN DETECTED AT THREE O'CLOCK."
We all spun to face it, but there was only a massive stone wall before us.
"Snake? Is it behind the wall?"
"UNKNOWN. UNABLE TO PINPOINT EXACT LOCATION OF TITAN."
I rolled my eyes. "Really helpful, Snake."
Ion and Snake looked at me. "I DETECT SARCASM."
"OH COME ON! YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY THAT EVERY SINGLE TIME I'M BEING SARCASTIC!!!"
Letting out a puff of anger, I gazed at the wall and saw zero handholds to climb.
"Great, no handholds. And there is no way I could get a line all the way up there from down here. What to do, what to do..."
As I questioned what to do, I didn't notice Ion walk away and grab a useless telephone pole from ages past. Taking aim, she chucked it and I jumped when I saw it clear the wall and the line go taught.
"What the-?!?"
"HERE YOU GO, PILOT. BE CAREFUL." Ion drew her railgun and started patrolling the area.
Confused, I looked at Snake. "Snake?"
"GO AHEAD, PILOT. THE LINE IS PERFECTLY SAFE; THIS MANEUVER HAS WORKED DOZENS OF TIMES BEFORE."
Shaking my head in disbelief, I hooked up to the line and zipped up, clearing the wall. As I flew through the air, I noticed two burnt Titans below me, one looking akin to Snake and another looking like it was made to take as many hits as possible. Landing with grace, I walked up to the two Titans and the Snake look-alike activated, optics flashing between blue and red.
"... TITAN PROTOCOLS RESET.
PROTOCOL ONE: LINK WITH PILOT. PILOT NEEDED.
PROTOCOL TWO: UPHOLD THE MISSION; FIND A VALID PILOT.
PROTOCOL THREE: PROTECT THE PILOT."
It then saw me standing before it. Reading the serial code on its leg, I tried issuing a command. "Titan OL-64448, open up."
The Titan looked at me. "VALID PILOT FOUND. PLEASE EMBARK SO A NEURAL LINK MAY BE FORMED."
Leaping in, we formed a Link and the Titan stood up.
"STATUS READOUT:
MOTORS: WORKING.
OPTICS: FUNCTIONAL.
LATERAL THRUSTERS: READY.
VERTICAL THRUSTERS: ONLINE.
COMBAT SYSTEMS: DAMAGED. REPLACEMENT NECESSARY.
FLIGHT CORE: READY.
PILOT MODE ENGAGED."
I turned us to look at the Titan besides us. "OL, what Titan is this?"
"IT IS A LEGION-CLASS TITAN, PUT INTO SERVICE AT THE SAME TIME AS ME. WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR SUITABLE PILOTS EVER SINCE OUR ESCAPE FROM THE IMC."
I smirked. "Can the Titan move?"
"NEGATIVE. APEX PREDATOR ASH AMBUSHED US AND DISABLED US. SHE TOOK OUT MY WEAPONS SYSTEMS AND SHE DESTROYED MOST MOTOR FUNCTIONALITY THAT ST-329 POSSESSED. HE IS ALSO UNABLE TO FORM A NEURAL LINK AT THIS TIME."
I frowned. "Understood. Let's get you and your friend outta here. Ash may come back."
"A LIKELY POSSIBILITY. DURING THE FIGHT, WE HAD MANAGED TO SEND HER TITAN INTO A DOOMED STATE AND THUS, SHE WAS FORCED TO RETREAT BEFORE SALVAGING US."
Grabbing ST, I activated the Flight Core and we rose over the wall and glid down to a surprised Ronnin and Ion. Ion, clipping her railgun to her back, knelt before ST and scanned him.
"MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE HULL AND INNER WORKINGS FOUND. CORE TEMPERATURE IS STABLE. HE CAN STILL BE REPAIRED." Ion then scanned OL. "NFCS DAMAGED. ACOLYTE PODS FUNCTIONAL. SHE CAN STILL BE REPAIRED."
I tilted my head. "NFCS?"
"NEAR-FIELD CONTROL SYSTEM."
"Ah."
Looking around, we saw the setting sun and as such, Ion grabbed ST and with Snake in the front and OL in the back, we headed towards a nearby signpost.
Noticing one name struck out, I pointed at it. "Kuro-. Kuroyuri! There's gotta be something there we can use to fix our new friends, right?"
OL turned on her own towards Mistral. "NO. WE WILL FIND NOTHING THERE."
"OL? C'mon, we could try."
"NO! WE ARE NOT GOING TO KUROYURI!"
Snake and Ion looked at OL. Taking a step forwards, Snake gazed at OL's optics, which were flickering between purple and red.
"OL, WHAT'S WRONG? WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS?"
"WE ARE NOT GOING TO KUROYURI! THERE IS NOTHING THERE; THAT TOWN WAS DESTROYED LONG AGO!"
Grimacing, I forced OL to turn towards the road to Kuroyuri. "OL, I'm the Pilot here. Like it or not, we're going to Kuroyuri to find parts to restore ST to traveling condition. That is our mission, understood?"
OL was silent for a long time. With a sigh, she said, "PROTOCOL TWO: ... FIND PARTS TO REPAIR ST-329."
Quiet, we started to walk towards Kuroyuri and I gasped when I saw practically every building destroyed and arrows and swords littered around the town. Without my direction, OL walked right up to a certain destroyed house, drew her rifle, pressed its barrel into the ground and dropped to a knee, optics lowered. Trying to enter her mind, I was blocked by the walls she had set up. Frowning, I climbed out of OL and examined the house.
Why does this house cause OL to disobey my commands while Piloting her? What is so important to her here?
Noticing a mailbox laying on the ground, I knelt down and brushed it off, dropping it with a gasp. The name stamped on the box was "Ren"!
Spinning around, I looked at OL who was still kneeling. "OL, did you know the Rens?"
She looked at me. "YES. LI REN WAS MY PREVIOUS PILOT BEFORE HE TOLD ME TO RUN DURING A GRIMM ATTACK AGAINST KUROYURI. I TRIED TO RESIST, BE HE USED A VOICE COMMAND TO ORDER ME TO GO. I ONLY HOPE THAT HIS SON SURVIVED THE DESTRUCTION OF KUROYURI."
Wait, "son"? Does she mean... Lie Ren? Fourth member of Team JNPR?
Snake looked at the mourning Titan. "WHAT WAS HIS SON'S NAME?"
"HIS NAME WAS LIE REN. I STILL HAVE HIS BIODATA."
I snapped my head towards OL. "Wait, Lie Ren??? He's a student at Beacon!"
This caused OL to look at me. "REALLY?"
I nodded. "Yeah. He's a member of Team JNPR alongside Jaune Arc, Pyrrah Nikkos, and Nora Valkyrie."
OL stood up and her optics turned blue and a green ":)" hovered some inches before it. "I AM PLEASED TO HEAR THAT."
Suddenly, Snake drew his Leadwall and took aim. "GRIMM DETECTED. CLASS UNKNOWN. RECOMMEND DEFENCIVE FORMATION AROUND ST."
I nodded and embarked OL, glad we're on good terms again. Ion set the downed Legion on the stoney floor and we stood around him, weapons ready. Seeing what looked like a Nuckelavee round the corner, I prepared OL's Acolyte Pods.
"OH NO..." OL's voice was full of dread.
Snake focused his Leadwall on the Grimm. "OL?"
"WE CAN'T BEAT IT..."
I took a deep breath. "Yeah, if we don't try!"
And with that, we engaged. The barrage of rockets and shotgun pellets did nothing to the Grimm but tick it off. Turning towards me, the thing gazed blankly into OL's optics and Ion let off a max powered Laser Shot, causing the thing to shake its head, barely dazed. It then took several steps forwards and Snake got ready for some CQB, but the monster simply opened its mouth and screamed.
The scream was so loud, it bled through into OL's cockpit even when we cut off any audio input and it was still ear-piercing. Feeling blood trickle down the sides of my face, I pointed at Ion, then ST, then back the way we came. Given how loud the Grimm we were fighting was, there was no point in trying to talk. Grabbing ST, we upped and left, sighing with relief once we were free from that horrendous screeching. Deciding to take the long way through the mountains to Mistral, we were lucky enough to find an undocumented town along the road with a well-established mechanist. Thing was, the people of the town urged for me not to go to them, out of fear of "The Goliath's Wrath", whatever that was. However, getting OL and ST back into fighting shape meant more to me, so I found where the mechanist lived.
Walking up to the door, I gave it a knock. "Hello? Is anyone home?"
A weak voice came from inside. "Scram. I don't fix toys."
I glanced at the Titans standing behind me. "Uh, I wouldn't call these 'toys'."
"And I don't fix cars! Nor airships!"
I struggled not to growl. "What do you fix?"
"You wouldn't get it!"
"JUST TELL ME ALREADY!"
"Fine! I fix Titans! And don't go ask-"
"Perfect! I've got a pair of Titans that need fixing. One has her NFCS broken and the other has basically all of his motors destroyed."
There was a long pause before the person said something. "You... know what Titans are?"
"Yeah, I was raised by one."
The door before me unlocked and an old man opened the door. He wore some sort of uniform and looking on his right shoulder, I saw a patch that said "6-4". Looking at my Titans with a spark of longing in his eyes, he waved us inside.
"Come in, come in."
Ion looked at the door. "OUR CHASIS CAN NOT FIT THROUGH THAT OPENING, SIR."
He chuckled, then pressed something on his wrist. A large part of the wall opened up allowing my Titans through. Sitting me down on a couch, the old man left to grab something and I looked around the house. Noticing the various battle-damaged weapons on the walls, I pondered on who he was.
"Examining my life work, eh?"
My head spun around to see the man standing in a doorway, Pilot helmet under his arm. "Sir?"
He chuckled. "Just call me Goliath, m'kay?" I nodded. "Good. Now, I used to be a Pilot before getting shot in the chest. It almost killed me and after that, I called it quits and retired here. Since I was a Pilot for twenty-some years, I know how to fix a Titan. Hell, I was even known to work while it was Doomed!"
I nodded, then pointed at the various "6-4"s on his helmet and jumpsuit. "What's with all the 6-4s?"
He chuckled. "I used to be a merc affiliated with the 6-4, a band of brothers and sisters-in-arms who worked with honor. But enough about me, tell me which Titan's got its NFCS down. I can tell which one's immobile, given how that Ion's carrying that Legion."
I turned around to see Ion still carrying ST. "Right. Well, OL, step forwards."
She did as I said.
Goliath chuckled. "The Northstar, eh? All right, follow me you two. It'll be a while but you'll be back out there before you know it. Oh, and kid?"
I looked at him. "Yeah?"
"Take whatever weapons and ammo you want. I certainly don't need 'em anymore; our militia's more than enough for our security."
Nodding, I stood up and looked around his house. He had lots of sidearms, rifles, knives, even a pair of Data Picks! Not interested in any of the weapons, however, I walked into the garage and saw the man working away at OL.
"Jeeze, you're more busted up than I thought. What did this to ya?"
"APEX PREDATOR ASH AND HER RONNIN-CLASS TITAN."
The man growled. "Ash..."
ST weakly looked at him. "DO YOU KNOW ASH?"
"Like hell. She stole my Titan and used it to cut my legs off."
I took a step forward and removed my helmet. "Jeeze... I didn't know..."
Goliath glanced back at me. "I don't need your sympathy, kid. Just let me do my job, 'kay?"
I sighed. "Sorry. Anyways, what do I owe you?"
Goliath paused, looking down. "I'm told that Ash was hired by the mayor of Vale to frame a poor kid named (Y/N). My fee..." He looked at me, eyes burning. "Is that you send her back to hell. I don't care if you don't have a grudge with her, but the next time you cross paths, end her sorry life."
He paused and saw my shocked expression.
"What's up, kid?"
"I... was forced... to abandon my team... my friends..." my hand curled into a fist, "because of someone's damned ego?!?!"
Goliath stood up, eyebrow raised. "The hell are you going on about, kid?"
I clenched my hands so hard, they began to bleed. "And that Pilot did so without a thought about the lives she was ruining?!?!"
Goliath strode up to me. "Cut it out, kid. You're hurting yourself!"
I started to growl. "You can't begin to know how I feel." My voice was filled with darkness.
The retired Pilot backed up, reaching for a wrench. "Kid... I don't wanna do this..." His voice was full of warning.
Fire burning behind my eyes, I looked right at him. "Train me how to be the best Pilot there ever was."
He froze. "What?"
"You heard me. I want to be able to toy with Ash before ending her."
There was a long stretch of time where nothing happened before Goliath smirked and put his wrench down.
"I'll teach ya all I know, kid."
Putting my helmet back on, the purple visor gave the garage an eerie feel. "One last thing, Goliath. The name's Ether."
He paused, then nodded. "It's always good to have a name you use for jobs. Your training starts three in the morning."
Returning the nod, I went upstairs and found a guest room. Opening the squealing door, I saw that the room was covered in cobwebs. Not saying a word, I got to work cleaning out the room, the dust and cobwebs covering my helmet and jumpsuit like there was no tomorrow. After I got it to where dust and cobwebs were no longer clung to you, I worked on cleaning the bed and other pieces of furniture. As soon as I finished everything, I plonked down on the bed and looked around the room.
Ion: YOU CLEANED THAT ROOM IN THREE HOURS.
Wait, why were you timing me?
Ion: GOLIATH'S ORDERS.
Face-palming, I took off my helmet and jumpsuit and climbed into bed, closing my eyes for sleep. My dreams were about Rose, Locus, and Felix and it wasn't happy. I dreamt of Ash walking right up to my bleeding teammates and cut their heads off one by one, but Rose's execution made my heart ache even more, despite her execution being exactly the same as the others.
I hate being away from you guys, I really do. Perhaps, after this is over, we could be together again, as a family. Good night.

And that is that. So, how is it? The voice thing was just for fun, it isn't part of the plot or your character. Anyways, i have a doc to keep track of the Titans in this mess of a story. Funny, huh?

Welp, may your Light be your guiding key.