When the Titans Fall

The Alpha

Dee looked in shock at Fox, who's body shook with sobs as she knelt on the floor.
"I-I'm so sorry." Dee said.
Alpha gently placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. The message was clear: you couldn't have known. Then his body went rigid and his hands started moving incredibly fast, making words in sign language almost too fast to see. Three swore.
"There's another wave incoming. C'mon newbie, cry later, kill now."
"Three!" Delta exclaimed, but Fox cut her off.
"No... No, she's right. Right now we have to fight." She looked at Alpha, who nodded, then launched his grapple into the wall and swung, flinging himself out of sight. Three followed, and Dee took after them on foot, keeping close to Fox. Alpha was in the thick of it when they arrived, moving forward relentlessly and gunning down every foe he could see.
Three kept sniping reapers as they fell, their white chassis exploding and raining debris over the other troops.
A dropship flew in low overhead and four grunts, highlighted in blue, slid down on zip lines before opening fire on the enemies.
"You okay now?" Asked Dee.
"Y-yeah. Sorry for breaking down I just..." Fox trailed off.
"Don't worry. You don't have to tell anyone. And now's not really the time anyway."
Then Dee pressed the button on her left gauntlet and vanished in a blue fizzle. A few moments later she was also ripping into hostiles. Fox took a deep breath, forcing the memories to the back of her mind, raised the gun to her shoulder, and fired.

After the combat ended, with no additional fatalities, everything went dark, then the inside of the pod became disable again and opened, letting Fox back out. Apparently she had been doing all the actions in real life, because she was covered in sweat. Three, Alpha and B each stepped out of their pods, Alpha still wearing his pilot gear, but the other two girls dressed casually. B and Echo were waiting for them on the outside, having gotten changed into clean clothes without sweat marks. B clapped her on the shoulder.
"Good work rookie! You'll be a fantastic pilot before you know it!"
"Yeah, good job" said Echo, quietly.
"I didn't think you'd last so long. Looks like you're at least better than these two idiots." Chimed in Three.
"Three!" Exclaimed Delta in exasperation "but you did really well. All of you." She added, looking at Echo and Bravo.
"What's Alpha doing?" Asked Fox
The leader of the Wolfpack hadn't joined the five of them and was signing to Sarah Briggs, who was talking back quietly.
"Oh, he's probably going in for another run. Standard for him" replied B, patting Fox on the shoulder.
"Anyway, time for lunch!"

Lunch was surprisingly mundane, regular food served on a plate, like a café but with long tables. The five members of the Wolfpack settled at a table near the edge of the hall.
"About Alpha..." Began Fox
"You don't think he likes you?" Guessed B.
"W-well, yeah."
"Don't take it personally" chipped in Dee "Everyone feels like that at first."
"Let me guess, Boss not speaking unnerved you a bit?" Said Three.
"Yeah. Is it a thing he does to intimidate people?"
B shook his head
"We're actually not supposed to know why, and we didn't know for the longest time. I'll tell you in the dorm."
A big pilot Fox hadn't met swaggered over.
"Well, if it isn't a new member of the 'elites'. Where'd you pick this one up, Harmony? She looks like she's never even pulled a trigger before." He drawled
Bravo stood up sharply
"Back off Harvey. The girl's none of your business."
"Or what? You know the rules. You throw a punch, not even that freak you have as a squad leader could save your ass from being kicked out."
B's fists clenched and Harvey smiled
"Go on big guy. Do it. Maybe they'll get in another kid to replace you."
The hall was quiet. Then Three spoke.
"B. He's not worth it."
Harvey laughed
"Letting your girlfriend fight your battles?"
"Speaking of girlfriends, how's the single life treating you?" Shot back Three.
"You wanna talk smack in front of the kids?"
"You wanna lose your teeth down your throat?" Snarled Echo.
Everyone stared at him.
"I'm not a kid. So what I'm young! But keep talking shit about my squad, my friends, and you'll find a 'nade rammed so far up your ass you'll taste it. Now piss off."
Echo slumped back down into his seat.
"Y'know what kid? You aren't half bad. When, and I mean when, those friends let you down? Come join First Squad. We could use your...fire."
Harvey walked back to his table and conversation slowly returned to the hall.
"What? I hate bullies." Said Echo, noticing everyone was still looking at him.
"Still, Harvey's in the First Squadron. That means in terms of skill, he's only slightly behind us." Said B.
"Why did he seem so intent on pissing you off?" Asked Fox
Bravo's face hardened
"We used to be friends. It's hard to believe now, the way things are."

They went back to the dorm after lunch.
"So, about Alpha..." Started Fox
"He doesn't speak because he can't" said Dee.
"So he's a mute?"
"Not exactly" replied B.
"Ever heard of the Militia Human Experimentation Project?" Chipped in Three.
"No. That's a thing?"
"It was. One of the higher ups decided that the regeneration cradles could be modified to boost a human above their own peak performance. The best pilot in the Militia was selected to do the preliminary run. It malfunctioned and killed him. At least that's what everyone was told. What happened to him was debatably worse."
"He can't speak because of what happened?"
"The cradle shattered from strain and the technology severely damaged his brain tissue. Most of his brain matter degenerated. He can't speak because he physically doesn't know how to. But other parts of him were advanced as intended. His combat skills are totally unparalleled and he developed a literal killer instinct. But the cost was too high. He was declared legally dead due to the damage to his brain, but his combat efficiency meant he couldn't go to waste. So they made a new name for him, and squadron above attainable for most pilots. That's us."
Fox didn't say anything. There was nothing to say.
"I know it's a lot to take in, but we all have to deal with it. It's not like he's the worse squad commander either." Said Dee.
Silence held between the five of them.
"Well, it's about time for more training now." Interrupted Three. "Newbie, now's when you get to pilot your first Titan. Try not to get slaughtered."