#tai lastimosa

[morning-st48]

portraits I did the other year I was gonna do more then just...forgot. I will add it to the to do list.

[best-titan-7274]

What do you think are BT and Cooper's favorite loadouts? And their least favorite?

Okay so obviously there had to be a default loadout so the player can shoot something right off the bat, game mechanics and all. But it's my headcanon that Expedition was what Lastimosa favoured! After two and a half years in combat, he knew what to do and how to do it most effectively for his combat style.

So that's BT's favourite too. Partly because it's what's familiar to him, partly because it's effective, and partly because it's a way that BT can remember Lastimosa and keep his memory. A keepsake, of sort, that also helps keep him and his new pilot safe.

Jack, on the other hand, favours Tone. The sonar lock gives him an upper hand in finding enemies who might not see him, which helps him form better strategies while on the move. The power shot knocks back enemies that are close, and it's easy to follow that up with a melee strike of some kind (or just good old-fashioned bullets) while the enemy is trying to regain their footing.

I can't remember if Pilots can switch loadouts on the fly in-universe, or if that's just a game mechanic. If they can, I also headcanon that Jack uses the Tone loadout when they're on the move and wants the tactical advantage of the sonar lock, and when they're in range of other Titans for close-quarters combat. In a shootout, he defaults to Expedition. The multi-target missile system is a huge help when the enemies have greater numbers, and the vortex shield is basically free bullets if you aim it right.

[is-there-a-filipino-legend-yet]

I just started playing Titanfall 2 and no one told me that Tai Lastimosa is apparently Filipino?

He has an Australian accent tho so I'm assuming his mother was Australian and his father was Filipino (where he got the last name)

But yeah, it feels off that he had to die to further Jack Cooper's story. No escaping the tired trope that POC have to die/suffer to further a white person's narrative...

Despite this, I do find the game enjoyable. I do hope that Lastimosa turns out to have left young children behind and they enter the Apex Games

[purpleturtle9000]

I absolutely could not resist writing this. Jack is in more trouble now than he ever was in canon.

update: all further Titanfall stuff is going to be on my new Titanfall sideblog! best-titan-7274

Of all the things that Jack expected, when he joined the SRS, it wasn’t paintball with Titans. 

He did expect the competitiveness. Pilots by nature are a headstrong group who stop at nothing to get what they want. He’s heard that ‘capture the flag’ was banned a few years ago, after an incident that nobody will explain, but everybody glares about. Apparently no-contact sports were the only way to move forward. 

And apparently Pilots like to shoot things as much as they can, even when they’re not in the middle of a war zone. And even though they’re not allowed to use their core systems. He’s pretty sure that’s a good idea. 

“All right, Cooper, you and me,” Briggs says. 

He grins, even though she can’t see it. She and Lastimosa were friends, she told him, and she’s taken on the mentor role. Only for Lastimosa’s memory, at first, she admitted – but since then, they’ve grown to become friends in their own right. 

“You and me,” he echoes. “BT, you ready?” 

“Affirmative.” 

They have other teammates, but Jack and Briggs are the two who have fought together the most, so they’re leading the run for the other team’s base. It’s halfway through the afternoon, and with both teams having lost people, they’ve decided that an assault on the enemy stronghold is their best move. 

Originally, Jack thought the whole thing about ‘enemy’ and ‘stronghold’ and ‘fuck those guys’ was an overreaction. And then he realised that there was no stronger bond, or hatred, than that formed over Titan paintball. 

Why, he doesn’t know, but he’s enjoying it. The best vacations are the ones where you can shoot at your friends to bother them. 

And he’s definitely shooting at people. The Titans have also been outfitted with paintball guns, an experience that was bizarre to watch. None of the Titans seemed to care about being disarmed. 

Why would they? And hell, Jack’s biased, sure – but he thinks he and BT could beat any of the other teams in hand-to-hand, if they had to. 

They don’t have to, because he and Briggs carry the attack on the stronghold and he gets a very satisfying shot right across an enemy Pilot’s visor. 

The Pilots gather at the middle of the playing field, some complaining about cheap shots and others preening over being the shooters of cheap shots. Jack’s trying not to be too proud of himself, but he did come through this whole thing unscathed. Half of that is because BT was watching his back when he and Briggs disembarked to get through the smaller doors of the stronghold. 

He’s not sure he would have done it if he had any other Titan, but he trusts BT even more than he trusts Briggs. 

“Cooper, you crazy son of a bitch,” Murakami laughs, throwing an arm over his shoulders. “I can’t believe that hit you landed on Taylor.” 

Honestly, he can’t believe it either, because half the reason was Taylor not paying attention at all to his surroundings – but he doesn’t have time to say any of that because BT is stomping over like he’s on some kind of warpath. 

“Apologise to Pilot Cooper,” BT demands. 

“Hey, easy, BT,” Jack says, trying not to laugh. “It’s a compliment.” 

“My records do not indicate that these words are used in a complimentary fashion.” 

“Aw, c’mon, BT, what are you gonna do? Shoot him?” 

BT is quiet. Whether he’s thinking about it, or finding some alternate idea… Jack decides that maybe it’s not the best idea to let him think about it too much. 

“Hey, listen, it’s all right,” Jack tells him, half because Murakami is starting to look a little nervous. “We’re friends. Sometimes people say things like that to friends. It’s not in the words, it’s in the tone.” 

“I used to call Tai a shit-stirring little fucker when we were in training,” Briggs offers, and squirts her water bottle at Ivanov. 

Jack has questions about that, because he always knew Lastimosa as a much steadier personality, but decides not to ask them right now. Apparently, whether it was because of Lastimosa’s even-keeled personality or his intimidating appearance, nobody called him anything like that while he was paired with BT. 

Or maybe, he can’t help thinking with a little smile, Lastimosa bitched out anyone who cursed around his Titan. That seems a little more likely right now. 

“So we good, BT?” he asks, giving a thumbs-up just to test what kind of reaction he gets. At his side, Murakami copies his behaviour, looking a little more nervous than Jack does. 

BT looks from Jack to Murakami, then pointedly only returns one gesture. 

Well, BT’s always liked the other Pilot before, so Jack’s not worried about this becoming a problem. They’ve always been good teammates on missions, even though it’s only been twice so far. BT gets protective, sure – but once the perceived danger passes, he settles down easily. 

“He’ll be fine,” Jack decides as the Titan leaves, and asks who has plans for lunch. 

Someone has the bright idea to bring back ‘capture the flag’, and someone else – he’s going to find out who it is – has the bright idea to elbow him in the face. 

They’re lucky that BT didn’t see that shit, because after the paintball incident, Jack’s pretty sure someone might have gotten drop-kicked by a twenty-foot-tall robot. 

“You know,” he says, “this isn’t nearly as bad as any of the shortcuts I’ve taken.” 

“Just sit still,” the medic tells him. 

He’s not very good at that, when he’s still full of adrenaline from the game, but he tries because moving makes him feel even dizzier. 

“You have a concussion,” the medic decides, which kind of sounds like bullshit. Who gets a concussion from capture the flag? 

“It wasn’t even that hard, I can finish the game,” he says. 

“No. Someone had to let your Titan know that you were hurt–” Oh for fuck’s sake. “– and I’m told he’s on his way.” 

Yeah, he definitely is. Somehow Jack has a feeling that he’s going to get a lecture or something. Can a Titan tell their Pilot that he’s grounded? He has a feeling he’s about to find out. 

There’s a rumble through the ground, and Jack appreciates that something’s blocked out the sun, because the light was really starting to get hard to deal with. He still squints up, though, because his head feels like someone pumped it full of air, and he’s really not sure what’s going to happen if he moves around too fast. 

Maybe he should let BT ground him after all. 

“Hey,” he rasps out, not really wanting to talk too loudly. 

BT, bless him, seems to figure out what’s going on and talks more quietly than he usually does. 

“How are you feeling, you son of a bitch?” 

Not great, but– did he just–

“Jack Cooper,” the medic scolds him, clearly appalled. 

“Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t teach him to swear!” 

“You taught me that those words could be used with positive connotation.” 

“BT, you bastard!” 

There’s a pause, and then,

“I do not believe those words are used with positive connotation. Noted.” 

The medic is looking steadily angrier with him, something he can tell even with a pounding headache, and he decides that discretion is the better part of valour, like Lastimosa once told him. 

“Lemme embark, BT,” he says, because right now, being stuck inside a peeved Titan is much safer than being in arm’s reach of the medic.

[lurantis-lura]

I got a model commission from https://x.com/AssaultMongrel?s=09 of T4-1 Tai Lastimosa

[sozosnipes]

BT, I don't think we landed on Typhon

Ft. Paladin (Pilot) Jack Cooper and his dream guardian Captain Tai Lastimosa

[ladytalon1]

Love and Other Drugs: A February Ficlet Challenge

[GotG] Yondu Udonta/OFC - Strange First Meeting

[Borderlands] Zed Blanco/Patricia Tannis - Forgotten What We Were Arguing About

[DCU] Arthur Light/Kimiyo Hoshi - What’s Up, Doc?

[Titanfall 2] Eli Anderson & Tai Lastimosa - Second Love

[Deus Ex: HR] Alejandra Vega & Faridah Malik/Garvin Quinn - Road-trip/Backpacking

[GotG] Yondu Udonta/OFC - Accidental Marriage

[Borderlands] Timothy Lawrence/Ned Blanco - Carnival/Amusement Park

[DCU] Arthur Light/Kimiyo Hoshi - This Is The Last Time I Bail You Out

[Titanfall 2] Lastimosa/Gates - Soulmate AU

[Deus Ex: HR] Faridah Malik/Garvin Quinn - Opposites

[GotG] Yondu Udonta/OFC - Why Are You Naked In My Bed?

[Borderlands] Jeffrey Blake/Helga Steele/Ted Blanco - First Snow

[DCU] Kimiyo Hoshi/Arthur Light - Fountain of Youth

[Deus Ex: HR] Faridah Malik/Garvin Quinn - Body Swap

[Titanfall 2] Gates/Lastimosa - Ice

[GotG] Yondu Udonta/OFC - Out to Sea

[Borderlands] Zed Blanco/Patricia Tannis - Skinny Dipping

[DCU] Kimiyo Hoshi/Arthur Light – Curses

[Titanfall 2] Gates/Lastimosa, et. al - Star

[Deus Ex: HR] Garvin Quinn/Faridah Malik - Silver Lining

[GotG] Yondu Udonta/OFC, Rhomann Dey, Irani Rael - Flood

[Borderlands] Jeffrey Blake/Ted Blanco - Holiday Celebration

[DCU] Kimiyo Hoshi/Arthur Light - Oasis

[Titanfall 2] Tai Lastimosa – Flotsam and Jetsam

[Deus Ex: HR] Faridah Malik/Garvin Quinn - Date Gone Wrong

[GotG] Yondu Udonta, Misc. Original Characters - What’s The Worst That Could Happen?

[Titanfall 2] Gates/Lastimosa - Foggy Day

[GotG] Yondu Udonta/OFC - Still Waters Run Deep

[legiongamerrd]

#Gamefemerides

Hace 8 años se lanzó Titanfall 2. Es un FPS desarrollado por Respawn Entertainment y publicado por Electronic Arts para PlayStation 4, Xbox One y Windows.. Es la secuela de Titanfall de 2014. En Titanfall 2, el jugador controla a un titán, exoesqueletos estilo mecha y sus pilotos, quienes están equipados con una variedad de habilidades que van desde correr por la pared, por su agilidad, a camuflaje. Sucede en un universo de ficción, la campaña para un solo jugador sigue la historia de Jack Cooper, un tirador de la Milicia Frontier, quien crea lazos con el titán BT-7274 de su mentor, luego que este último, Tai Lastimosa, muere en acción. Juntos se embarcan en una misión para detener a la Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC), de usar una súper arma para destruir a la base de Milicia en el planeta Harmony.

#LegionGamerRD #ElGamingnosune #Videojuegos #Gaming #RetroGaming #RetroGamer #CulturaGaming #CulturaGamer #GamingHistory #HistoriaGaming #GamerDominicano #GamingPodcast #Podcast #RespawnEntertainment #ElectronicArts #Titanfall2 #Titanfall #PlayStation #PS4 #Microsoft #Windows #Xbox #XboxOne #FPS #Multiplayer

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[screechthewriter]

you crazy-assed cosmonaut (remember your virtue) | a god of war/titanfall 2 crossover

part 3/6:

He couldn't keep much from Atreus.

Not because they were friends, though that was part of it. Cooper had never been good at lying, and he was even less good at it when it involved family and friends. But even more than that, Atreus (and he was still getting used to thinking of Arthur by that name) seemed to have an uncanny ability to hone in on when Cooper was trying to be sneaky about something. Usually he minded his business, but…

Well, Cooper was being (badly) sneakier than usual. It'd be enough to make anyone curious.

"You know you don't have to prove anything to anyone, right?"

"Huh?" Cooper scrambled to figure out where that comment might have come from. "I mean...I guess? What are you talking about?"

"All the extra workouts. You're in perfectly good shape and everyone knows you pull your weight."

Oh. The extra workouts. Right. "Yeah, I know, just...pushing myself a bit. No sense in staying stagnant." Atreus's face was, in that moment, deeply unreadable. It made Cooper nervous. "No one said anything to me, if that's what you're worried about."

"Good, because then I'd have to kill them." Cooper couldn't tell if Atreus was joking. He was pretty sure, comments like that were usually jokes, but Atreus was protective, and something about the way he said it told Cooper that there were instances where he'd be fine with killing someone over a slight. "But seriously, don't overdo it. You're healed up, right?"

"Oh, yeah, that was nothing. Mild tissue damage." Maybe that's what that was. Their last big engagement had ended with the camp in tatters and the two of them separated. He knew Atreus felt bad about not being there to help, no matter how many times Cooper reminded him that a Titan pilot had been there. Cooper couldn't deny that the extra help in that whole mess would've been nice, but he didn't blame Atreus for not being there or anything. "They cleared me ages ago."

“But are you actually feeling better, or is this a ‘we cleared you because we need guys’ kind of deal?”

“I’m okay.” The wounds to the leg and shoulder still hurt a little, but only when he poked them. Obvious answer was not to poke them, but he couldn’t help it sometimes. It was like repeatedly looking into the fridge to see if the food fairy had brought anything, except he was repeatedly, pointlessly checking to see if it had healed fully. “How are you holding up? And don’t give me that look. I know you hate long ship deployments.”

Atreus looked like he was considering arguing the point, but ultimately… “Yeah, okay, if I don’t get to see a plant soon, I might lose my mind a little,” he admitted. “When are we landing again?”

Before Cooper could respond, he heard a familiar voice down the hallway. It took every ounce of self-control to act like he didn’t immediately recognize the individual in question. That self-control was a lot harder when the figure walked by. “Cooper,” said Captain Lastimosa with a friendly but not too familiar nod.

“Captain, sir,” Cooper said.

“Captain,” Atreus echoed. He sounded pretty neutral at first, but the second Captain Lastimosa was out of earshot, he turned to face Cooper with an eager expression. “Was that him?”

“Who?”

“The pilot, the guy you saved!”

"Okay, first of all? He did most of the heavy lifting…"

"Jack, he was in a wheelchair after that fight. You can't tell me he did most of the heavy lifting when you were the only one walking on your own when you got back."

"He did most of the heavy lifting," Cooper insisted, feeling his ears start to go red. Atreus held up both hands, backing off but definitely not buying it. "But yeah, that's him. Captain Tai Lastimosa. He's nice."

He was really nice, actually, but saying that would mean going into the thing Cooper was keeping secret, so he tried his best to keep his mouth shut beyond that.

"Seems that way. Hey, maybe since you saved his ass, he can get you into the SRS after all."

Cooper felt the blush spread down into his face. He just hoped he looked more embarrassed than alarmed. How does he...no, he doesn't know, but he does��know you got turned down from the program and it would make sense to ask Captain Lastimosa for a reference…

"I don't know. Maybe." Change the subject, quick. "Why didn't you ever apply? They'd probably take you. You're one of the best fighters I've met." He wasn't saying that for the sake of flattery. It was the truth. Atreus had good aim, definitely some combat training outside of the Militia, endurance, strength...he was basically the complete package, as far as physical traits. Personality-wise, he was a bit irreverent sometimes, but they could work with that.

Despite that, Atreus shook his head. "Absolutely not. Even if people didn't think I was weird, have you seen how small those cockpits are?" Atreus gestured to himself. "I haven't been small enough to fit comfortably in there since I was a teenager."

Good point. There were taller pilots, but they were rare for that reason. Atreus had a good seven or eight inches on Cooper. It'd be a bit of a tight fit. "Fair point. I've gotta say, I can't really picture you ever being my height."

"Would you believe me if I said I was small for my age as a kid?"

"Yes, but only because that seems like a weird thing to lie about. Late bloomer?”

“Sick a lot. Sometimes I wonder if I would’ve ended up taller if I hadn’t been. Both my parents are pretty tall. Giant, even.”

He said it like it was an inside joke. Cooper thought about asking, but since the chances of Atreus explaining a family-based inside joke were roughly 50/50 (and even the explanations he did get were short), he decided to mind his own business this time. Especially since reciprocal business-minding might be the only thing keeping Cooper’s secret.

The thought was still there, though. Maybe I should tell him. Atreus certainly wasn't the only person he'd thought about confessing to, but he was the one Cooper saw the most frequently these days, which made the secret-keeping a lot harder. It wasn't like Atreus was going to rat him out or anything (he never would, definitely not), so technically there was nothing to worry about.

But it felt wrong expecting Atreus to keep a secret that big. And it didn't feel right to make that decision without consulting Captain Lastimosa (the guy who stood to lose a lot more if news of what he was doing reached the wrong ears). And since Cooper couldn't think of a good way to say hey, so, I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to keep a secret from this One Particular Person, so is it okay if I tell him, I promise he's solid, he just...kept his mouth shut. Kept the secret.

Right up until the point when he couldn't anymore.

It was, in short, one of those days. The long ship deployment had been getting to Cooper, too, making him a bit overstimulated and scatterbrained. That meant he wasn't watching where he was going or who might see him. That meant when he was slipping away from another training session that left him feeling more scatterbrained, his reaction to hearing someone approach was to freeze instead of even trying to hide.

Damn it. Damn it. No, no. Everyone knew this was the part of the ship where the pilots hung out...a rifleman, much less a random class-three like him hanging around would just attract questions...what should he say? What should he do?! What…

"Psst!"

The sharp hiss caught his attention. Cooper turned around in time to see Atreus standing behind him, as if he'd just materialized out of the ether. Cooper didn't respond verbally, just stared, but fortunately Atreus seemed to pick up the plea for help. Atreus stepped forward quickly, gesturing for Cooper to follow. He was walking towards the footsteps, but Cooper followed anyway because at least if there was two of them there was safety in numbers…

"Falið," Atreus breathed.

"What?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Atreus said, this time loud enough that Cooper could hear him without straining. That had nothing to do with what he'd just said, not as far as Cooper could tell...then again, maybe he'd just been swearing. Cooper wasn't immune to the urge to swear in a non-English language. "This part of the ship's not haunted, is it?"

"No, just…" Cooper swallowed hard as he caught sight of the other guy walking down the hall. He was pretty sure his name was Anderson, but he hadn't really learned the faces of the other pilots yet. "...surprised to see you here."

"Regular firing range is full. I figured they wouldn't mind if they borrowed theirs." Atreus walked past Anderson without acknowledging him—and, to Cooper's shock, Anderson did the same. He wasn't even shocked that they'd walked right past a major without any kind of respectful acknowledgment—the Militia wasn't so stuck up on rank that you had to constantly be saluting people. Regular-grade respect was fine. But not even a friendly hello? A casual Private, Major exchange? It was like Anderson hadn't seen them at all.

Not that Cooper was ungrateful, because damn, bullet dodged. But it was weird, weird in a way that made him wonder if he needed another coffee or a prolonged nap.

"...kind of mad that they get the fun moving targets, but whatever. So, uh, any reason you're back here?"

Cooper's entire face went red. "Uhm."

Atreus had a slightly gleeful look, the cat that caught the mouse smile that said maybe Cooper hadn't been as slick as he'd thought. "You don't have to say anything, just...confirm or deny, Lastimosa's been giving you a leg up?"

Damn it. He couldn't back out now. Omitting the truth was one kind of lying, but outright giving false information? Especially now? Not happening. So, Cooper nodded, despite the pang of terror that it gave him.

Atreus didn't look mad; in fact, he looked downright gleeful. "I knew it…"

"You can't tell anyone."

"I would never. And for what it's worth, I don't think anyone else has worked it out, or if they have, they don't care. I'm just exceptionally clever." He grinned at Cooper brightly. "Can I just say, I am deeply proud? My best friend, getting secret special ops training..."

"It's not that impressive."

"It is. Don't sell yourself short. Just promise you'll remember me when you're some kind of big hero."

As if that would ever happen. Even if he made SRS, Cooper wasn't sure he was hero material. "I don’t bail on friends,” Cooper said. “And besides, you’re one of the only people crazy enough to be friends with me.”

Atreus shook his head. “I wouldn’t say crazy. No one else knows what they’re missing.” He held out an arm questioningly, only turning the gesture into a one-armed hug when Cooper leaned into it. “You’re going to do great. I believe in you.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

It was good to hear. It really was.

Over time, Cooper came to realize that plenty of people knew about him and Lastimosa, but as long as he wasn’t actively disrupting anything, no one cared. It made things a little bit easier, and a little less stressful. He was still glad that Atreus was the first outsider to learn. It made things less strained between them—not that things had been especially strained, but even a small amount of strain was enough to make him feel uneasy.

Having everything back to normal felt good.

[fairy-of-rhine]

[fallintitan]

little 5+1 thing i’m gonna chip at. all about times bt has been told “Trust me” by others!!

[ao3 link]

[moss-sauce]

help girl i wrote more angst!! lmao

[ao3 link]

Not for the first time, he laments how lonesome his life has become.

    Retirement for Pilots is rare; returning to home even rarer, he understands. Still, milling around Militia bases with no real contribution chips away his resolve.

    You aren’t entirely useless! His mind offers. They can still suck whatever skill you still have out of you and throw it at the newer, more useful Pilots!

    To himself, he frowns. That isn’t true. Briggs isn’t simply wringing him dry for experience to spread. She has more respect than that.

    He’s jarred out of his sulking by the sound of a dropship returning--likely, he guesses, the one Cooper and BT were deployed on. It changes his mood somewhat: the kid is almost unnaturally light hearted and pure willed that it is hard to remain dwelling for long.

    Rising to his feet with a groan and perhaps a concerning number of pops and cracks from his joins, he plods out to the hangar.

---

    Nobody greets him. 

    Rather unusual, he decides. Usually, crew are practically scrabbling at the door to welcome him. They shove each other out of the way to get a front row position to see him.

    Now, it is eerily silent. Not devoid of life, however; the hangar is still plenty full of miscellaneous custodians and engineers, as well as the returning crew. He doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, yet.

    What he does notice is everyone is hanging their heads almost solemnly.  He grimaces to himself. A loss on the team is never hard to deal with, no matter how obscure the victim is. Moreso with a squad like the SRS, so tightly-knit as they are. For a moment, his heart stops-- they couldn’t be mourning Cooper, could they?

    Quietly, he walks up to the crowd. The others part without a word for him, giving him access.

    “Well?” he asks wearily. “What’s the news?”

    The SRS members feebly salute to him, though he can tell their minds are somewhere else. He almost stops in his tracks when Cooper fails to report, but sees him hobble out of the ship moments later.

    He looks positively worse for wear.

    The red of the Pilot suit is stained darker in patches. He leans heavily on one of the other squad members to stay upright. The helmet covers his face, but Tai can tell he’s grimacing under it.

    “Cooper?” The other Pilot refuses to acknowledge him. “What happened?”

    Anxiously, the rest mill about, shuffling feet and wringing their hands.

    “I’ll ask again,” he says with more bravado and force. “What has happened?”

    One of the SRS members speaks up weakly. “There was a KIA member, sir.”

    Lastimosa sighs. While the news is dreadful, it is unfortunately common. “Who was it?”

    Nobody speaks.

    They all pointedly look away from him. Cooper seems like he’s about to collapse to his knees, so Tai pads over to offer his shoulder for support. Cooper almost recoils from his touch, he notices with a pang of hurt.

    He looks around. The other SRS Titans are debarking the ship, and even they seem solemn. They at least grant him the honor of being glanced at, but their gazes do not stay long.

    “Is anybody going to tell me what happened?” he barks. Immediately, he feels guilt. He’s letting his nerves get to him.

    “It wasn’t a Pilot.”

    Someone says, though he can’t pinpoint where it came from. If not a Pilot, then it must be one of the Titans. Again, he scans the returning mechs with scrutinizing eyes. 

    There is one missing.

    His heart drops into his stomach. His joints lock up. His body goes cold. Desperately, he looks to Cooper, but the other still refuses to meet his eyes. He can hear someone sniffling nearby.

    For as proud and dutiful as Captain Tai Lastimosa thinks himself to be, he feels like an utterly lost child.

    His gaze falls to the concrete floor beneath their feet. “Right,” he breathes. His grip on Cooper shifts. He can feel him trembling. 

    Is he expecting an anger response?

    Pity?

    He does not know. His mind does not want to focus on that right now. When he finishes shuffling Cooper’s weight to himself, he nods to the other SRS member holding him up.

    “Rest up,” he states coldly, with a stone tone. “We’ll talk about this later.”

    As he hobbles Cooper towards the medical bay, he feels the trembling get worse. He’s obviously holding something in. 

    “You’re not at fault for this,” Tai says quietly. “Not in any way. Nor do I hold you accountable for it.”

    Cooper is silent still, but he can feel suppressed sobs wracking his weary body.

    “You made it out alive,” he states with finality. “That’s what he would have wanted.”

[bellygunnr]

Checksum

Chapter I: Before the Fall

BT-7274 MCS JAMES MACALLAN // TITAN BAY 4 EN ROUTE PLANET TYPHON, IMC-CONTROLLED SPACE

The Titan hangar was busy with pre-mission jitters. Pilots worked with their Titans to complete last-minute checks, ensuring that all systems and hardware were functional before their inevitable deployment. The spacious area reverberated with the sounds of heavy machinery and pilot banter, intermingling to create a pleasant, familiar ambience that told BT-7274 everything was… fine. The humans were comfortable. His fellow Titans— even if they weren’t Vanguard-class— were functional. And according to the Command frequency, the 9th Militia Fleet was making good time to their destination.

They had to make good time. They were too far from home, too deep within enemy territory, to risk anything but. Still, he was— in his pilot’s words— itching to be deployed and start working. Operation 217 had been attached to Protocol Two: Uphold the Mission for so long that its presence in his subroutines was frustrating. Worse, his pilot did not seem to share his frustration, or his singular focus on what they had ahead of them.

For that matter, no one seemed to be focused on the mission. BT-7274 allowed itself to sink down to the floor, legs and arms pulled tight to its chassis. He does not look at his pilot, instead lifting his ‘eye’ to watch the two other Titan-pilot pairs at the opposite end of the hangar. They were new to the Marauder Corps., but experienced in their own right…

When they weren’t goofing off.

BT willfully cycles a puff of air through its vents to synthesize a sigh. Lieutenant Shaver was lazily tossing a ball between himself, Lt. Freeborn, and their respective Titans, both of whom got inevitably tied up in passing it between themselves. He watches Shaver climb up the distinctive steel-blue hull of his Titan and shimmy across its bent arm, plucking the ball out from between her massive fingers.

“Careful, BT. Grumble any louder and I might think you want to play a round of catch.”

BT-7274 switches its gaze instantly to his pilot, Captain Tai Lastimosa.

“That would be irresponsible,” BT-7274 says. “Titan bays are not for playing in.”

Tai laughs. BT looks away again, now inspecting the ceiling and the various moving parts composing it.

“I know you’re bored, BT. Here— I’ll give you something to do. Can you find Jack Cooper for me? He was supposed to be here five minutes ago… and well, I think he’s lost,” Tai says. “These new carriers of the Militia are a mess to navigate.”

“That is a hazard of repurposing captured scrap,” BT-7274 says passively. “I will look.”

Not that he wanted to, necessarily. But Tai was invested in Jack Cooper, so he would support his pilot in all related endeavors, because the rules and protocols Tai was violating did not intersect BT’s hardwired regulations. Additionally, all personnel in the hangar currently knew of Jack Cooper’s existence.

“Captain Cole is bringing Cooper now,” BT-7274 says. “ETA one minute.”

Technically, BT was also not supposed to be accessing the ship’s surveillance systems, or the comm chatter, but no one had stopped him yet— and it directly benefited his pilot. He tracks Cpt. Cole and Cooper through the ship, noting that the latter looked anxious, maybe even uncomfortable. Curious.

“Don’t just sit there, BT. Help me get this simpod ready,” Tai calls.

BT-7274 picks his way across the hangar floor. Attached to the wall was a raised catwalk equipped with pilot gear, weapons, lockers, and exactly four simulation pods. All four were of IMC make, stolen years ago by the Militia and reprogrammed for pilot training. BT knew that Tai disliked them— because he couldn’t fit comfortably in them.

Tai snorts, looking up at him with a hand placed on his hip. Whatever he was going to say, however, is lost, as the massive powered gate leading to the rest of the ship starts to grind open. BT-7274 rocks back into a resting position and diverts all his focus into passive observation.

Through it, two people enter. The shorter of the two jogs ahead, climbing up the stairs to where Tai stood fiddling with the simulation pods. BT sympathizes with the older Cole as he shakes his head in good-natured exasperation.

“I got lost,” Jack says sheepishly.

“That means we have no time to waste,” Tai replies. “Into the pod, Coop.”

“You sure about this, sir?” Jack asks.

He’s nervous, BT can tell, but less so than the first time he and Tai had engaged in training. BT squints his optical array at him when they make eye contact, a short acknowledgment. Jack quickly diverts his gaze, then climbs into the cramped space of the pod. He looks small in it, like it could swallow him whole once the door closed.

Tai swears as he moves to power-cycle it and BT-7274 reluctantly accesses it to match their neural link with that of the pod’s. As soon as his pilot and Jack are loaded in, he retreats— it would be sometime before he was needed. Someone had to keep Tai upright while his mind was elsewhere, after all.

But that left BT open to play interference with the rest of the hangar’s occupants. Already, Shaver and Freeborn were approaching, expressions plain and curious.

“What do you think of the kid, BT?” Shaver asks. “Where’d Lastimosa even meet him?”

BT-7274 restrains himself from venting a sigh. Cooper is breezing through the pod’s initial lessons, despite Tai trying to show off his home planet. A brief search shows that Harmony is not where Jack Cooper was born.

“I heard it was boot camp,” Cole says. “Is that true?”

He snaps his optic to the Militia officer and says nothing. In his experience, if he was silent long enough, humans figured out how to entertain themselves among each other. At any rate, he did have other things to focus on, like keeping the modified sim stable. Jack was performing well enough to impress Tai. 

He would have to begrudgingly agree.

[cornerdreams-txt]

hear me out: lastimosa + anti-wolf collars

real anti-wolf collar pic, & more information on them below :]

reblogs encouraged ! reposts not allowed !

for ref, anti-wolf collars are used by farmers to keep their dogs from being killed by wolves. since wolves tend to go for the throat to kill their victims, anti-wolf collars are spiked, so wolves can't bite the neck of the cattle/farm dogs without getting hurt. and somehow: lastimosa fits that vibe due to I Say He Does

[five-by-five]

all done with the gauntlet?

[measlyfurball13]

Lastimosa: Jack, look up. See the stars? Tell me what that means.

Cooper: I don't know, sir. It could mean anything. I mean, why are we here? Who put us here? Do we even matter in the cosmic scale of the universe? Maybe it means that we're all just insignificant specks?

Lastimosa: No, son, it means somebody stole our Titan.