When the Titans Fall

Teamwork

"Where are we going?" asked Echo. Alpha, without turning, held up four fingers, then three, then two.
"The rest of the squad?"
He nodded. They emerged from the long corridor into a large junction, where bullets were flying from both sides. A large amount of orange stalkers strode from the left, interspersed by the red bodies of ticks and the grey of spectres. Reapers gathered at the backline, occasionally firing missiles or more ticks into the fray. The other side was a small force of five human grunts, one blue eyed stalker and the other three members of the Wolfpack. Three stood at the back, aiming down the scope of a giant Kraber sniper rifle. Every time she fired, several explosions in a line ensued, damaging the other troops. B stood at the front of the line, chewing through the front line enemies with a Mastiff shotgun and a Wingman Elite revolver. Every time a stalker charged or a tick got too close, he would aim nonchalantly with the pistol and destroy it. Dee was nowhere to be seen, but flashes of blue in the opponent's ranks were frequent. Neither side was gaining or losing ground, but the onrush was getting heavier. And then the rest of the Wolfpack joined the fray. Bravo was the first to spot them and yelled in joy, even as two stalkers broke rank and charged. Alpha leaped forward, kicking one of them into the wall. The wall cracked. The robot came off worse. The other was point blanked in the face by B, who yelled
"Dee! Fall back, they're here!"
A flash of light heralded Dee's appearance from thin air, the glove like device she was wearing actually smoking from overuse, but still clutching an Alternator SMG in each hand.
"Glad you didn't miss the fun!" She shouted, playfully pushing Echo's chest.
"Not now Sunshine, we've got killing to do! Come on newbies, time to see your mettle!" Yelled Three from the back. Echo growled and moved in front of Dee as she retreated behind the line of grunts, pulling a fully automatic pistol from his belt to lay covering fire for Fox. Alpha stood next to Bravo, a nearly endless amount of bullets raining from his Spitfire and chewing through the robots. Then Echo and Fox reached the grunt wall, and all hell broke loose. Three said something in a taunting tone and Echo yelled, anger without words, pulling his grenade launcher off his back and firing into the choke point until his gun was empty, before discarding it behind him, and dropping his hands to his belt, seizing the explosives there. His hands almost blurred as he threw grenades of all types, primed so quickly Fox couldn't follow.  Electricity and arc energy mixed with thermite and gravity stars, wreaking absolute mayhem in the enemy ranks as half the opponents were slowed, dragged backwards and blown to pieces. Fox started firing in short bursts, controlling the recoil on her gun and preventing another overheat. Alpha launched a grapple line to the highest point possible, then slung a single Firestar into the Reaper back line, before running along the wall and disappearing in a blue haze of energy that followed a phase shift. He reappeared a few seconds later, on top of a Reaper's head and jammed the barrel of his gun into it's eyes and fired for a couple of moments before backflipping off as the white robot exploded. Even without much knowledge, Fox knew that this was a pilot in a league of his own. And then, a shadow fell over the ground that the Wolfpack was gaining.
"Titan!" Dee yelled, but it was too late. Twenty five tonnes of metal dropped on Bravo and the grunts, the dome shield around it blocking all hopes of progression. B was down. Alpha was separated from the squad, surrounded and vastly outnumbered. The dome shield didn't affect the opposing units advance, but blocked Three's shots from hitting their marks until they were almost too close. Slowly, the squadron was pushed back. Then the dome shield dropped and the Titan stood up. It was about twenty feet tall, bulky and equipped with a collosal chain gun. Then, miraculously, a grenade hit it in the back, exploding into blue energy that crackled along the chassis. Alpha charged in, completely unscathed from his impossible battle against the six reapers and opened fire on the ground troops, reducing them to nothing, before leaping straight up onto the Legion titan's back. The Legion finally stopped staggering from the grenade, but Echo started firing grenades from his reloaded Softball, sticking them into the metal behemoth's weak spots. His firing was punctuated by the loud crack from Three's Kraber discharging, and after a few seconds stunned staring, Fox joined in. Alpha drew a green canister from the titan, then dropped a grenade into the socket and leaped back, just in time for the grenade to go off, blowing the Legion to pieces. Fox cheered. Then there was a gunshot. She looked around and saw a single stalker, sliced in half at the waist, gun still smoking, before Alpha brought his boot down on it's head. Then Echo slumped to the floor. A red star of blood blossomed on his chest. He coughed once. Then he dissolved into blue pixels. Fox dropped to her knees
"What... What happens to them?" She whispered.
Three punched her shoulder.
"Toughen up newbie, this is practice. They're in the real world, waiting for us to die so we can join them. Then have lunch."
Dee swatted Three's arm.
"Don't be so harsh. It's her first time. Isn't it?" Her voice turned softer. "Actually, I didn't ask you this before but... Is this you're first time watching someone die?"
Fox couldn't help it. She started to cry.