Shit. This wasn't good.

Tobias couldn't make himself look away, and so was rewarded with a view of the blossoming explosion that once was the extraction ship. He cringed a bit as he saw chunks of both metal and bodies fly in every which way, a combination of snow and ash now drifting through the air. With a loud crunch, the skeleton of the ship landed in a heap upon the rocky ground near the edge of the cliff, and slowly fell over the precipice. Not that it mattered; anyone who'd been on that craft was surely dead.

This was supposed to just be a routine op. Rumors had sprung up of potential Militia activity on Nedar, and so several pilots and squads of grunts had been sent to investigate a sector of the planet. The incident at Demeter had been an unbelievable blow to the IMC; the fueling station was completely destroyed, crippling travel from the frontier to the inner colonies, and Admiral Graves had turned traitor. Not to mention how many buddies he'd lost there. The point was the IMC had been hit, and they wanted to hit the Militia right back.

As it turned out, the rumors had been right; there was definitely a Militia presence stationed here, and they were not happy with the intrusion of the IMC. It had been like kicking a beehive. Pilots and grunts had swarmed the landscape, and soon it become an all out battle with Titans and humans alike.

Regardless, they'd managed to clean house pretty well; they'd effectively wiped out every Militia soldier, pilot, and spectre in the area. The order had been received for everyone to head back to the cliffside for extraction. He'd been a bit further than the others from where the LZ was, and so he'd started making his way back.

It was when he was only a few hundred meters away that he saw the massive lone Titan barreling out of cover from the trees that surrounded the clearing on the cliff. Some distraught Titan that had apparently lost its pilot, and decided to take revenge by self-detonating its nuclear core right next to the drop-ship. Poor bastards didn't stand a chance.

And so it came to be that Tobias was now stuck here, alone in this god-forsaken winter landscape with nothing but dead trees and snow around him. He knew what this meant; he was a goner. He wasn't a pilot yet, only a trainee. Maybe higher ranking than a grunt, but they wouldn't go out of their way for someone like him. Besides, they were likely under the impression that there were no survivors considering the drop ship had exploded with nearly everyone in it. No, the IMC would consider the operation a success with all hands lost, and forget about it.

He didn't trust either the IMC or the Militia. The IMC had a reputation for being unbearably imposing on the frontier worlds, and the Militia were known as nothing more than terrorists. Rebels maybe, but terrorists all the same. He hadn't been involved with the Militia, but after two years or so of being a grunt for the IMC and only recently training to be a pilot, he could definitely say that their reputation was deserved. But that didn't make them worse than a faction that was just escalating a situation to heights it didn't need to be. He fought the militia not because he believed the IMC was right, but because he thought it was the quickest way to peace. But that line of thinking was certainly coming back to bite him in the ass now.

He looked every which way for some sign of shelter that he could take cover in. Obviously, the Militia had some kind of outpost out here. They hadn't come across it, but these fighters hadn't just popped out of thin air. He had to find that outpost, and take refuge. His pilot suit could only compensate for so much; if he was out here still by nightfall, the temperatures would kill him. Looking to his right, he noticed tracks. There were several; Titans and humans alike, but some of them appeared to come from a central direction. That could be towards the outpost.

Slowly, he trudged through the snow to the only glimmer of hope he had. No longer did he have the energy to jump around and run; temperatures were dropping, and the deaths of his teammates were weighing just a bit heavily on his heart. He felt numb inside, and it wasn't from the snow.

One foot after the other. One foot after the other. That was all he had to focus on right now- was all he could focus on right now.

Suddenly, he heard the whir of machinery nearby. He stopped moving, hoping his whitish armor would help him camouflage against the snow.

Nothing happened.

Very slowly, he swiveled his head to the right towards the noise he'd heard. He spotted nothing for a moment; then he spied a very small bit of movement beyond the trees in front of him; large and grey. A Titan? It didn't seem to be going anywhere.

He analyzed his options. He could continue to trek ahead, and have a very small chance of finding the outpost; or he could announce himself to the Titan, and assuming it was IMC, it could help him and give him potentially a guarantee of survival. That is, if he beat the 50/50 odds first of it being Militia.

Screw it. 50/50 was still better than the ten percent chance he had of making it on his own.

He changed direction, and began to move towards the trees. Upon reaching them, he pushed past them until he stood in a snowy clearing. A Titan of dark blue-gray color was kneeling in the snow, its back turned to him. He couldn't see what class it was, but it seemed to be one of the more average sized varieties.

His boot suddenly made a crunching noise against the snow. He froze, preparing for the Titan to whip around and attack him. But if it took notice of him, it did not show it.

Curious, he began to make his way around the side of it, so that he could see the front. It was revealed to be an Ion class, and he soon saw why it was kneeling.

A single pilot was laid out on the ground in front of it. Garbed in Militia colors, he couldn't help but feel a bit of unease as he came to a stop. His white armor was easily visible; but the Titan seemed completely engrossed with the pilot on the ground, watching over him in a protective position.

Tobias couldn't say what compelled him to inch forward; but he did. Soon, he was standing over the fallen pilot, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he struggled to breathe. Blood stained the snow around him, casting one spot of imperfection among the pure white that was undisturbed everywhere else.

The pilot turned towards him, and seemed to stiffen slightly upon seeing the IMC armor he was wearing. Then, he slightly relaxed when he recognized that Tobias wasn't the officer that had shot him. He went back to his labored breathing, and beckoned to Tobias with one hand.

He was still less than comfortable with his current position, but something drove him to obey. Kneeling down, he gave the pilot one of his hands. Shakily, the pilot pulled Tobias' arm towards his chest where he was wounded. In an instant, the palm of his glove was slick with blood.

Tobias understood what the pilot was saying; you may not have dealt the killing blow, but you still fought with the ones who did.

Then the pilot did something unexpected; he grabbed Tobias' hand again, and this time gripped it with his remaining strength like one would a friend; he held Tobias as an ally for a moment.

This time, Tobias was shocked at what he understood. Still, we are both human; and if we can act as friends rather than foes, perhaps there is still a chance for peace.

Tobias nodded his understanding. Both of them had lost friends in this battle, but the pilot was willing to put that aside, despite being the only one of the two actually dying. He continued to hold the hand of the pilot as his grip slowly became weaker… and weaker…

Finally, the strength faded from the pilot's hand, and Tobias felt it go limp in his own. Gently, he placed the man's hand over his chest, a respectful position of death. He was still for a moment, and then he glanced up.

The Titan was staring right at him.

Upon the reality of the situation hitting him like train, he began to back away slowly. It followed his movements until he was roughly three meters away, and then turned back to the dead pilot. Its dead pilot, he thought finally making the connection.

Which meant that the Titan was Militia too, and probably was in a much better position to kill Tobias then the other pilot was.

Well… shit. He certainly couldn't outrun a Titan, and it'd probably just shoot him down from a distance if he startled it and tried to run anyway. There was no way out of this situation; he was stuck in the snow with a dead Militia pilot, and whose Titan probably wanted revenge.

Instead of wasting time running, Tobias sat in the snow where he stood, and began to try and come to terms with his inevitable death soon.

They both sat there in the cold powder, silence but for the howl of the wind and snowfall. Man and machine waited for the other.

"Why don't you run?"

Tobias looked up at the metal being. It had spoken with a mechanized feminine voice, one that sounded young but experienced. The question had not been phrased as a suggestion, but more like a passing curiosity that needed answering. He shrugged.

"There's no way I can beat you, and there's no way I can outrun you. Why die tired?"

The Titan did not speak. He waited for a few seconds before returning to staring at the snow and trying to remain warm.

"Why would you die?"

He looked back up again. "Why wouldn't I? If I stay here, I freeze to death. If I leave, you kill me. There's no way out here."

She nodded slightly, as if contemplating his answer. "What would make me kill you?"

He tilted his head in confusion. "Well, your pilot's dead. So there's already motivation for revenge, not to mention that I'm the enemy." he said, gesturing at himself. "Most Titans would have already gone after me."

She was silent before turning back to the pilot's body. "I'm not most Titans."

Another pause. The snowfall was beginning to pick up, a sign of an incoming storm.

"He was your enemy too. Most humans would have attempted to finish him off, yet you showed him respect in death. Why?"

He shrugged. "I'm not most humans."

During each of those silences that followed their dialogue, they did nothing but simply stare at the other, sizing each other up. Despite what they'd both said, each expected the other to turn on them at any moment.

Eventually, the Titan decided to concede. "If you continue along the path you were going, you will find shelter. But you must hurry before nightfall." Then, she returned to mourning her pilot.

Tobias couldn't believe it, the Titan was letting him go? He wasn't about to waste that opportunity. He stood up quickly, brushing snow off of his armor as he did so, and began to head back towards the clearing. But a thought struck his mind, and made him hesitate.

"Aren't you gonna get out of the storm too?"

She kept her back to him. "No."

"Why not?"

"My systems don't have enough power."

He looked over her form, and noticed several smoking components on her back and joints. A gash could be seen near the top; a sign of a damaged battery. There was no way that she was gonna be going anywhere soon with a broken case like that, and her circuits and servos would freeze if she remained out here.

He debated with himself over what to do. Realistically speaking, he had no obligation to help her. She was the enemy, and he hadn't been the one to kill the pilot; he didn't owe her anything. But she had let him go, even if part of it was because neither could win over the other; he had no way to best a Titan, and she had no way of chasing after him if he ran. They had been at an impasse until she'd given up. Some part of him wanted to honor that.

Instead of making his way towards where he'd been going before, he began to head back towards the scarred battlefield. He stepped carefully, looking through the remnants of what had once been a pretty winter woodland. Broken trees and scorch marks were scattered around, a testament to the battle that had just occurred shortly before.

He spotted something of potential value. Increasing his speed, he came across the carcass of a fallen Titan. IMC. He recognized it as Sergeant Jospert's, CO-4057. Obviously, neither Jospert nor CO-4057 would be needing what he was after.

Making his way to the back of the dead Titan, he pulled out his data-knife, and began to pry open the battery casing. After a few tries of bending the weakened metal, the cover popped off and allowed access to the battery within.

Score; the battery wasn't damaged. The Titan's circuits and everything else had been obliterated, but at least the power supply had survived. Hefting the heavy green cylinder in his left hand, he turned around and headed back the way he came.

When he arrived, the Titan was still there, though she was sitting now instead of kneeling over the body. She had probably accepted her fate already.

He walked forward with confidence this time, and she plainly heard him approach. "Why are you back?"

"I had something I needed to take care of first."

Instead of sounding intrigued like he predicted, the Titan just sat there without looking at him. When she spoke, not much had changed but there was a hint of sad resignation in her voice.

"If you must. I will not resist."

He realized that the Titan thought he was back to kill her. He shook his head, but didn't reveal his true intentions yet. She allowed him to climb up her back, up to where the damaged battery was located. He would only have a few seconds to swap out the batteries before the reserve power failed. Her casing opened easily enough, and the damaged battery slid out easily. He could already feel her body beginning to slump over, and he hurriedly pushed the new battery in.

The reaction was immediate. The Titan jolted back into motion, and the movement threw Tobias off. Startled, the Titan looked at her arms, testing out her newfound mobility. She nudged her legs, responsive and ready. She swung her body around to stare at him.

"What did you do?" she asked confusedly; she had been expecting him to destroy her.

He stood back up, and dusted snow off of him. "I found another battery from one of our dead Titans. You gave me a chance to live, I figured I'd do the same."

She stared at him blankly. She clearly had not thought that the enemy would go so far as to spare her, let alone help her.

He felt a bit put off by the scrutiny. "Look, I mean… even if I make it to shelter, I've got no way to contact my allies. And they're definitely not gonna come back for me. So, if I'm stuck here, it might be good to have at least someone around to talk to, huh?"

She shifted a bit from one foot to the other. "That would be a good idea, yes. But I doubt that you'll be stuck here for long."

"Why's that?"

"It's Militia procedure to go back and check for survivors even after evacuations… or losses."

Tobias remembered hearing about that somewhere; it was one of the few things that made him question if the Militia had some compassion somewhere in their purpose. "Well, they're not gonna be too thrilled when they get here."

"They will find two survivors."

He froze.

He looked back up at her. "Oh, no. No. That's not happening. I may not be like most of my colleagues, but I'm still IMC, remember? How do you think they'd react to that?"

She spoke seriously. "With open arms. More and more IMC desert and join the Militia every day. And you've already proven you're of reasonable intentions by what you've demonstrated to me."

He crossed his arms. "Why do you want me to do this?"

"I don't care." There wasn't anything in her voice to say she was lying either. "As you said, you're IMC; you've still killed Militia, and if it weren't for your attack, Captain Shears would still be alive." She gestured towards her dead pilot on the ground. Tobias felt another pang of regret.

"I'm simply offering you a way out; I saw something in you, and I'm trying to acknowledge it. It's up to you to accept that."

He felt unsure of himself. He'd thought the Militia were close to terrorists, a faction of stubborn rebels with no empathy towards anyone unaffiliated with their cause. But this Titan was painting him a different picture.

She made one final statement; "It's your only chance to survive and get off this planet."

He sighed.

"Well, do we want to find somewhere warm to wait for them?"