Titanfall 2 Stories

You, too, Buddy.

Jack Cooper shrieked as his Titan, BT-7274, fell into the void created by the Arc, hitting rocks as he fell. Jack vaguely felt hands pulling him back from the edge and comforting words in his ears, but his world was in a haze of grief. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, every inch of his body shaking.

"Cooper. Cooper. Jack Cooper, look at me!" Commander Sarah Briggs slapped the grieving Pilot across the face after wrenching his helmet off.

"Ow! The hell was that for?" Jack glared at the Commander, and she rolled her eyes.

"Your new Titan-"

"What?" Jack stared at the Commander, not fully registering her words. "I- no. We can't replace BT."

"Cooper, you are a Pilot. Your new Titan will be arriving in five minutes." Commander Briggs walked away, jamming the helmet back on Cooper's head. All Jack could do was sit there with his head in his hands.

"BT," Jack whispered into his comm, knowing fully well that no response would come. Static crackled in his helmet, and he scrunched up his face, trying not to cry.

"New helmet, your Titan will be here soon." Sarah Briggs tossed Jack a helmet. He caught it, sighing. He took off his old, damaged helmet, putting on the new one. It didn't feel the same; it hadn't molded to his head the same the other one had, and the voice that came through wasn't as warm and welcoming as BT's.

"Pilot Cooper, please embark." The new Titan landed with a loud metallic bang, startling Jack. Oh, how he already hated this new Titan. His heartbeat was fast, angrily beating against his chest. He knew that BT would've mentioned it, and asked if he was okay. Jack knew it was dumb to be longing for his old giant death robot, but BT was his giant death robot. His best friend.

"What should I call you?" Jack asked the Titan bitterly as the giant hand lifted him and stuffed him into the cockpit.

"I am LF-8356." The door to the cockpit closed, and Jack looked at the controls. He knew how they all worked, but he knew that it wouldn't be the same as BT. When he began moving around with the new Titan, he found it clunky and much slower than BT. He hated it already.

"Cooper, follow me." Commander Briggs was in her Titan, and the giant war machine waved an arm welcomingly. Jack sighed, moving LF to follow. His Link with BT was much stronger, and the sense with this new Titan would never match the feeling of throwing an enemy a hundred feet to their death. Tears attacked Jack's eyes when the word never came into his mind. He wiped them away, remembering the times with BT where they'd destroyed so many enemies, trying in vain to save Planet Typhon.

We must uphold the mission. BT's words echoed in Jack's mind. It was Protocol Two, and BT had always reminded Jack of the second and third protocols. 

"Behind you!" The Commander's voice boomed in Jack's helmet, wrenching him out of his thoughts. Jack whirled around, and LF punched the Titan behind them. 

"Nice job," Jack said to the Titan, hating the fact that he didn't hate it so much anymore.

"Thank you; it is my sole purpose to do a good job on the battlefield."

"Let's keep going." Jack sighed. He remembered BT's humor; just the right words and literal perception to make Jack smile on even the worst of battlefields. His breath stopped when he saw the Titan he and the Commander were to be fighting next. It was huge, with the Legion loadout. The most powerful loadout, and Jack found that LF was only equipped with the Expedition. 

"Cooper, sorry about your loadout situation, we did this on a few minutes' warning." Commander Briggs' voice reassured Jack, and he remembered that she at least had a Scorcher. Jack, LF, the Commander, and her Titan fought ruthlessly, maybe a bit recklessly, and Jack found LF to be an easy target for the Titan. It was nearly destroyed in a few minutes.

"I suggest you disembark, Pilot." LF said as it kept shooting, severely weakened.

"No." Jack focused on trying to find a battery to strengthen the Titan.

"Protocol Three: Protect the Pilot." In a few seconds, Jack found himself laying facedown in the dirt, fifteen feet from the battle. He stood, breathing raggedly, shaking with anger and grief.

"I'M NOT LOSING ANOTHER TITAN," Jack roared, sprinting back to the battle.

"Not so fast, Pilot." A deep voice echoed over the battlefield. BT-7274 scooped Jack up in his massive hand, and Jack found a familiar helmet there, too. He looked up at the Titan, grinning despite his previous situation, and ripped LF's helmet off of his head and pulled BT's on.

"BT, how-"

"No time." BT carefully placed Jack in the cockpit. Jack relished the warmth and familiarity of the controls.

"Cooper! No!" Commander Briggs' voice alerted Jack that LF must've gone down.

"Do not worry, Commander. Get to safety." BT sprinted toward the battle. "Transferring control to Pilot." 

"Good to have you back, Buddy." 

"Good to be back, Pilot." BT was equipped with the Legion loadout, so Jack pulled it out, shooting the enemy Titan down. BT's fist slammed into the optical kit of the Titan, destroying almost all of the information. 

"NO!" The Pilot inside shrieked. 

"BT, it that really you?" Commander Briggs walked over in her Titan.

"Yeah, it is." Jack grinned from inside of the Titan. "You look pretty beat up." 

"I've had better days." The Commander began walking back to the ship. "We're headed back to Harmony."

Jack wordlessly followed, glad to be back in his Titan. Planet Harmony was the home of many Pilots, including Jack's own teacher, Tai Lastimosa, who had originally piloted BT.

"Your heartrate is alarmingly high, Pilot. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, BT. Just happy to be back." Once they got to the ship, neither Jack nor the Commander disembarked. They silently flew back to Harmony. When the door of the ship opened, Commander Briggs immediately disembarked, leaping out of her Titan and sprinting to a man standing, waiting for her return. She leapt into his arms, pressing her lips to his. BT took Jack out of the cockpit, holding him in his hands, close to his chest. There was something... almost charming about being tenderly held by a giant war machine that could easily crush him with a split second's movement.

"Pilot, what is the Commander doing?" BT stood, watching the pair.

"She's kissing him." Jack smiled. He had never thought of the Commander as anyone with a boyfriend or husband. She'd always been the battle-hardened, serious Commander. It was weird to see the Sarah Briggs part of her, with actual emotions.

"What's a kiss like?" BT asked as the two split apart, the Commander clearly crying. Jack felt himself getting lifted up a few feet so that he was at BT's eye level, close enough to touch the SERE kit. Memories of BT's near death filled his head, and he quickly shook them out.

"Well, it's warm... if it's with the right person, it's comforting, and... it would be easier to show you." Jack leaned forward, planting a small, sweet kiss next to the Titan's optics.

"I once said that I was fifty percent in love-"

"With a new loadout, yeah." Jack smirked.

"Yes, and now I think I am one hundred percent in love."

"With who- oh." Jack smiled, scrambling up to sit comfortably on BT's shoulder. "I love you, too, Buddy."