Titanfall: A Titan's Heart

Chapter 4: Bring It.

        I was the only female on this drop ship.

        That is the first thing I thought when I stepped inside the spacey passenger ship. All 14 pairs of eyes fell on me, and every single one of them looked at me as if I had three heads or something. I had sat down relatively quickly, and was actually lucky enough to stumble upon an empty seat towards the back. My plain grey duffel bag rested on the seat beside me. It kept all of the creepy guys from sitting next to me.

        Overall, none of them really seemed to care I was there. Most stared out their corresponding windows, though some talked like they had been friends for a while. I went with the first option, turning my head to look out the surprisingly clean glass. I brushed my bangs back and curled my knees up to my chest. Since we would probably be jumping soon, I took hold of the handle that was above me, on the window frame.

        I literally had to stretch my arms to their full extent to reach it. Curse me and my small size! I yelled inwardly to myself. I heard a robotic voice come into the intercom shortly after. "Prepare for jump. Please keep hold of all belongings and don't fall out. We will not save you if you do, or go back for any lost belongings."

        "Are you serious? If one of us falls out, they'll let us go splat on the ground?" I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes at the thought. I hope no one on this ship thinks they're cool enough not to use the handles. I guess it would be slightly entertaining to see them bounce around the cabin, though... The thought of seeing someone flying around the ship brought a smile to my face.

        The intercom came once more. "Preparing for jump sequence in three... two... one... Mark!"
 And then, the world was covered in light.

        At least, the world was covered in light for one second. If there had been no windows, I would have thought that we hadn't gone anywhere. However, the scenery outside of the drop ship had changed dramatically. The city view was gone, making way for a cement tunnel with deep cracks and flourescent lighting. Where in the galaxy is this? The tunnel seemed a bit... underwhelming as an I.M.C. traning facility.

        As if listening to my doubts, the mechanical voice came overhead once more. "Welcome to the New American I.M.C. Military Facility. Please do not exit the drop ship until we have landed at the loading bay. Thank you for choosing to bring peace to the Frontier."

        I heard laughter further up on the ship and peered over my seat to see a group of four or five guys talking. "Bring peace to the frontier? The only reason I applied is 'cause I wanna shoot stuff!" They all laughed like it was funny, but it just made me frown. These were the people she was going to be recruited with? No wonder titan pilots had high death rates. Idiots like these probably ruined the statistics.

        Suddenly the tunnel ended and sunlight filtered in. It caused me to clamp my eyes shut and turn away from the glass. I slowly cracked my eyes open, readjusting to the light before looking back out the window. A massive, concrete facility lay right before my eyes. A ton of massive facilities, actually. Rows of identical hangars lie perfectly aligned with each other, with ships and people flowing in and out of their gaping entrances. It was jaw-dropping.

        I spotted drop pods, spectres, even titans in the hangars. I wanted to get closer even though I knew I probably wouldn't for a long time. People in marching formations jogged along, sargeants yelling at trainees for falling behind or stepping out of line. Men in lab coats with clipboards walked quickly between hangars or talked with grease-covered engineers or high-ranking officials. That's what I observed, at least.

        The conrete walls returned in a flash, and instantly the wonderment of what I had seen dissipated. Turning back towards the front, I noticed a handful of the others in the ship turned their heads away from me. It's alright, just stare at the only girl in the ship. Maybe if you stare hard enough you'll get the courage to actually talk to her. I snorted at my inner monologue before noticing the passenger ship had started to slow down.

        "We will be arriving at the Pilot Testing Facility in T-Minus 30 seconds. Please gather all of your belongings and wait for the ship to come to a complete stop before exiting. Good luck!" The robotic monotone was enough to make me want to bang my head against the metal walls of the ship. However, I followed its wishes and threw the strap of my duffel bag across my shoulder. I looked out the window to see a docking station drawing nearer.

        The others talked while they gathered their things. I didn't talk because there was probably no one who wanted to talk to me. The ship started to make a low droning noise as it stopped at the dock, a low hiss eminating from below my feet as the doors opened. I waited patiently until it was my turn to walk down the aisleway and onto the platform.

        A large building towered above everyone. In chiseled letters, the words confirmed what the ship voice had already told me. I was about to get tested to find out if I had what it takes to be a pilot. As I walked through the door, the first words I had spoken since boarding the ship bubbled through my mouth in a small mutter, causing many to look over at me.

        "Bring it."