Author's note 1: Sorry for the short chapter; I have tons of content ready to proof-read. Expect constant updates over the next few days.

Author's note 2: Skip this if you don't give a shit about planet names.

My naming conventions for planets is starting to fall to pieces, so I want to clarify some things.

My convention is as follows:

Sol-(systemname) names a star (Solyuma refers to the star in the Yuma solar system, for example.)

(Systemname)-number names a planet. 1 for the closest planet to the star. (Venice 3 is the third planet from the star Solvenice.)

Unfortunately, this doesn't work with the official Titanfall lore – for example, the planet "Leviathan" is in the "Badlands" system. Under my convention, Leviathan should be named "Badlands 2" or something similar.

So I want to clarify some names.

You all know the Venice system; its had most of the action so far. I have referenced Venice 3, a trading planet, and Venice 7, home to Kodai industries, also known as Sorian (because I screwed up my own naming conventions). The IMS Austraeus / TKY Shikinami is currently in orbit above Venice 3, as is the MCOR Retaliator. I will refer to Venice 3 as Venice 3 and Venice 7 as Venice 7.

Next up is the Carlyle system. It has a gas giant, called Carlyle. Orbiting Carlyle is a fuel refinery, but as ships can purchase fuel from the refinery, most people refer to the refinery as the "Carlyle refueling station". The station is protected by 32 orbital railguns. Jenni, Sophia and Bonerhead are currently in a shuttle orbiting the planet Carlyle. I will refer to Carlyle as Carlyle.

The Yuma system is home to Yuma 5 (my name), also known as Victor (Titanfall lore name), and Yuma 6 (my name), also known as Oceanus (I screwed up my conventions and named this planet twice). Oceanus is home to maps "Overlook", "Smuggler's cove", and your favorite, "Lagoon" (this is not stated in the lore, but as all three of these maps have an ocean theme I assume they are all located on the same planet). I will refer to Victor as Victor – not Yuma 5 – and Oceanus as Oceanus – not Yuma 6.

The Nexus system is home to Nexus. The map "Nexus" is located on the planet Nexus. I will refer to Nexus as Nexus – a number is not necessary as Nexus is the only planet in the system.

Carlyle, Yuma and Nexus form a sort of triangle of systems all circling slowly around Venice. (Please don't ask me to explain how this orbital arrangement came about, I don't have the heart.) Venice's centrality is what makes it such a good system for trading.

Then there is the Badlands system, home to Badlands 2 (my name), aka Leviathan (Titanfall lore name). "Boneyard" takes place here. I think it is highly likely that "Rise" is also located on Leviathan. I will refer to Leviathan as Leviathan – not Badlands 2.

The Hephaestus system is home to Hephaestus 1. The planet is home to the map "corporate". I will refer to Hephaestus 1 as Hephaestus, as it is the only planet in the system.

The Haven system is home to the planet Haven 9, which I have not referenced yet. I have tried to imply that it is home to the map "Angel city". I will refer to Haven 9 as Haven 9.

Badlands, Hephaestus and Haven all kinda orbit Venice, like Carlyle, Yuma and Nexus – but much further away.

The Sticez system is home to Sticez 2. Outpost 207 is a mountainous moon orbiting Sticez 2. The Sticez system is far away from the other systems I have mentioned. I will continue to refer to Outpost 207 as Outpost 207, but know that it orbits Sticez 2 and is in the Sticez system.

Now, on with the show.

"And that," yelled Danniek over the noise of the shuttle's rockets, "is when the flier swooped down -" he motioned with his hand, struggling to hold it up against the intense acceleration the shuttle's rockets produced - "and nicked his rifle!"

"What?!" roared Nathan, seated on the other side of Aisling. "We're talking about the little guy, right?!"

"Yeah! So he takes the kraber, yeah, in his mouth, like this, and all of a sudden, the kraber fires!"

"You're kidding!"

"Nah! It's completely true! An' the bullet narrowly misses the big flier! So, the little flier shits himself, thinking, 'what the hell have I just picked up,' and the big flier shits himself too, thinking, 'jeez, since when did the runt have such a loud roar!"

"Wait – no way!"

"Yeah! The big flier takes off, having been bested in the roaring competition, an' the little flier is alpha male of the roost! An' he's got no idea how he got to be the alpha, just that he is!"

"What happened next?!"

"Well, only the alpha male gets to mate with the females! So all the females flock to the tiny little king flier, right, and try to mate with him, but the poor bastard's too small for them to mate properly! So he's sittin' there, right, flapping around on the ground, while the females pile on top and wonder why he isn't holding the weight!"

"All cos Jaggerjack dropped his kraber?!"

"IT WASN'T MY KRABER!" roared Jaggerjack. "I USE A DMR- Wait, hold on. SHUT UP, EVERYONE!"

"Halfway point reached," displayed Overwatch's monitor. "Acceleration ceasing in three,"

"ACCELERATION CEASING IN THREE!" Jaggerjack shouted. "WOOOO HOO! ONE! MARK!"

The shuttle began to drift (rather than actively push its occupants into their seats) and the drone of the shuttle's thrusters subsided to be replaced by groans of relief through both shuttles. Aisling knew that the soldiers in Rimjob's shuttle would be thinking the same thing as her.

Thank fuck that's over.

"Jump drives offline," displayed the monitor.

A high pitched whine that had been emanating from the rear of the shuttle began to subside. Outside the stars exploded outwards, their light no longer distorted by the shuttle's jump drive.

Aisling unbuckled her seat belt and pushed off her seat, now feeling completely weightless. Rotated in place, grinning at – to her – an upside-down Nathan and Danniek. Stretched her legs.

"I'm flying, Jack!"

"What?" asked Jaggerjack.

"Nothing," she giggled. "Just a line from an old movie."

"Titanic, yeah?"

"Wha- how did you know?"

"Pilots have to complete a history course as part of their training," explained Jaggerjack, "and many trainees choose to write a thesis on James Cameron's documentary."

"Oh."

"Brace for rotational acceleration in three," displayed Overwatch's display."

Danniek reached upwards, grabbed Aisling's ankle and hauled her back into her seat and she buckled her seatbelt again, nodded a 'thank you'.

The shuttle's auxiliary engines fired, putting the shuttle into a slow turn.

"Brace for rotational acceleration in three, two, one, mark."

The shuttle's rockets now accelerated the shuttle in the other direction, slowing its rotation so that its main rockets now pointed in the opposite direction - towards Venice 7.

"Jump drives online."

The whine began once again. Outside, even the stars made way for the shuttle.

"Brace for acceleration in three, two, one, mark."

With a snarl at the pain at the growing cramp in her bottom, Aisling found herself pushed back into her seat again.

"Continuing with Jump to Venice 7," displayed the monitor. "ETA 9 hours and 49 minutes."

Sophia tugged at Bonerhead's shoulder.

"Yeh? Wot is' it, Soph?"

"Umm… I've been thinking about this for a while now… but, does Carlyle seem like it's too low?"

He frowned at her. "Wot 'chu mean, 'too low'?"

"Well… its going really fast… so shouldn't it be, umm, in a higher orbit?"

"Yeh' know, it's funny yeh said that. Cos' I've been thinkin' the same thing. Oi, Jenni. Can we use Overwatch fo' somethin'?"

"What is it, Bones?" asked Jenni.

"Soph' an' I have been thinkin'. An we reckon that Carlyle's orbi'al refuelin' station's a bit too low. Could we use some o' the sensors?"

Jenni turned to Overwatch's monitor. "Overwatch we want to use some of your processing power to analyze the station's orbit. Can we do that without compromising the safety of the shuttle?"

"Affirmative. Analysis will be placed on hold when necessary."

"Okay," confirmed Jenni. "Overwatch is fine with that."

"Then," said Bonerhead, speaking to Overwatch, "with respect to the gravitational pull of Carlyle at the refueling station's height, please calculate the speed at which Carlyle should be orbiting in order to remain in a circular orbit."

"Analysis in progress. Attention: We are now at a lower orbital height than all orbital railguns. Attention: enemy orbital railguns have distorted their orbits due to recoil from firing, and may have to correct their orbits before being able to fire again. ECoS: 92%."

"That's more like it!" grinned Jenni.

"ETA to orbit under Carlyle's surface: two minutes."

"Sir? The shuttle is at the cloud layer. Our optical sensors can't target it any more."

There was a brief silence.

"Sir?"

"Notify our investors in the Haven system that we have been compromised and require reinforcements," said Jim, head in his hands.

"Yes, Sir."

"Yeah, hold on Snake. Plus, engage the autopilot. Yeah, what were you saying Snake?" asked Zeta, tugging off her jeans.

"I'm saying, can it wait? I'm, uhh, kinda busy right now."

"Not really… one of my, uhh, friends has been jailed. And I want to bust them out."

There was a pause.

"What?"

"You heard me. Well, they're not in jail yet, they're on trial. But they're going to be labeled as guilty."

"Why?"

"Menelaus thinks they're from the IMC. So, he'll have them on trial for 'conspiring against the peace' or some shit like that, and try put them through court while the rest of the senate is eating lunch."

"Ah. One of those trials."

"Yeah. Where Menelaus picks the judge and is the jury."

"Shit. So, what do you want me to do about it?"

"I'm headed there now," said Zeta, pulling on a spare pair of under armor leggings she always kept in the hoverbuggy for situations like this. "By the time I get there the trial will probably be over, with my friends in the custody below the senate building. I'm going to show up – aw FUCK!"

"What?"

"I won't be able to cloak," she muttered. "I've only got my under-armor with me."

"Are… are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I'll be fine. It just means that the distraction I need you to make with that missile is extra important."

She began to pull her sweatshirt over her head, noted the stares of pedestrians through her wind shield.

"Oookay…" mumbled Snake. "Well, I've got the missile pointed out my window now. NO, MRS MORRIS, IT'S NOT AIMED AT YOUR CAT! Sorry, neighbors. Anyway, where do you want it to hit?"

"Well… the best way to raid the senate's underground prison would be to go through the back."

Zeta grabbed a bottle of Stim from the glovebox; attached thin plastic tube and allowed some of the clear liquid Stim to run along the length of the tube, stopping after a single drip had fallen. Next she felt around her left armpit; found a small plastic nub surgically embedded into her skin. Unscrewed the cap, exposing a valve. She connected the plastic tube to the valve, screwed it in tight and winced.

The valve was the beginning of a thin tube running from her skin to the subclavian artery within her armpit. In a moments' notice, she could inject the Stim directly into her artery.

"Zeta? You there?"

"Ugh, yeah. Just connecting my stim tube."

"Oh. So, you want to go through the back?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"The back entrances of the Senate would be the best way to break in. Which is why I want the missile to hit the back of the senate building and provide a distraction while I go through the front."

"Uhh..."

"Look, I've got this in the bag. I think."

Zeta slipped into her spare under-armor shirt and activated the leggings and shirt. Felt the electromagnetic fibres begin to harden and soften over her body. If she were shot these fibres would connect together and harden to stop the bullet and transfer its inertia over a wide area of her skin - bruising, instead of puncturing.

"Oooohhh that feels weird," she groaned. "Sorry, reactive armor booting up. Anyway. These friends I'm busting out? They can handle themselves. Once I bust them out, we're golden. I think one of them might even be as experienced as I am."

"Wait, what?"

"He's a merc. Of some kind. I think."

IMC, huh?

Hey, he's probably a pilot.

"Well," said Snake. "If he's looking for a job-"

"He's probably going to be busy," said Zeta, and her heart sank slightly. "But, I'll let him know."

"Okay… well, just let him know that Snake helped save him.

"Will do." She strapped her electric katana to her back, pulled her EDF generator onto her arm and covered her under-armor with the jeans and sweatshirt she'd been wearing. Next came on a tiny earpiece – for communicating with Plus, who currently resided within the computer on hip – a pair of glasses with a HUD build into the lenses, and finally, her pulse boots.

"How long will the missile take to fly from your place to the Senate?" she asked.

"Two minutes," replied Snake.

"I'll tell you when to fire."

"Analysis complete. Carlyle refueling station is, for its speed, two close to Carlyle."

"Well," muttered Bonerhead, "That is weird."

"Jenni," whispered Sophia, "Can we get a picture of the cable that's dangling below Carlyle?"

"Overwatch," said Jenni, "think you can do that?"

"Capturing image. Displaying image. Picture quality may be compromised by hydrogen, helium, water and ammonium clouds."

The first thing Sophia noticed was the horizon. Back on Helios the curvature of the small planet and her own height meant that the horizon always appeared to be very close. In the Austraeus there was no horizon. On Venice 3, the horizon was still close, but further away than Helios's. Here, the Horizon was ages away, hidden amidst clouds of gas and crystal. One couldn't be sure exactly how far away the refueling station was without the familiar reference point, but one thing was sure – here, she felt small and insignificant.

The next thing she noticed was the station itself, orbiting high – and yet, somehow not high enough – above the planet, a dark steel parasite daring to suck blood from the behemoth that was Carlyle. Enormous steel girders held even more enormous fuel tanks together, like grapes on a very symmetrical, artificial grapevine. In some places, flat platforms of metal connected the girders – bridges preventing their occupants from falling upwards into a higher orbit.

Somehow, this station is in an orbit too low, thought Sophia. Which means they'll have a kind of artificial gravity up there. The whole station is acting like a giant centrifuge.

So how is it staying so low?!

"Overwatch, can you zoom in – wait, no. Could you please take a close-up of the gas pipeline?" she whispered.

"Capturing image. Displaying image."

"Overwatch, in what direction is the station orbiting?"

"From the West to the East."

That pipe isn't dangling, it's pulled taught! And it's dangling westward…

"Overwatch… could there be something pulling it down?"

"Proposal is possible."

"Hmm," mused Bonerhead. "Unless they're burnin' fuel to keep themselves low, that's the only possible explanation."

"Wait, hold on," said Jenni, hand massaging her temples. "You're saying that there's something else underneath the cloud layer?"

"Yeh," answered Bonerhead. "Orbitin' slower than it should be. It should be fallin' to a lower orbit, while the station should be fallin' upwards to a higher orbit. An' that pipeline is holdin' them together."

"Pipeline?"

"The gas pipeline," whispered Sophia. "It's probably made out of carbon nanotubes. Strong enough to hold the while station."

"So… what's pulling the station down?" asked Jenni, dumbfounded.

"We don't know," murmured Bonerhead. "Nobody does."

"But," whispered Sophia, "In order to counteract the refueling station while remaining above the Carlyle's metallic gas layer, it would have to be big."

And then, Sophia remembered something.