Intro post for fun and to foster/motivate my artistic abilities as they have faltered the past few months. In pursuit of others with similar interests to be potential mutuals.
Social handle originates from the scientific name Bathynomus giganteus. Call me Bathy or Frog if you want. I am a masc-presenting cisgender female residing in Eastern Canada. She/her preferred, though I am comfortable with they/them.
My interests fluctuate greatly; no consistency guaranteed. I am most engaged with Titanfall, Dead Space, robots, extinct/extant fauna, frogs and music. I primarily listen to 90's/00's death, prog, doom, and thrash metal. Big fan of Gojira.
Hobbies—excluding art—include reading and creative writing. I haven't been given the opportunity to exercise these due to a lack of motivation and engagement with community. I'm socially inept and very hesitant to exchange ideas (as much as I'd love to), so my skills remain stagnant. I simply enjoy talking about my characters and making half-assed attempts to translate scenarios in my head into words.
Blog will consist of the occasional character posting, sketches of prehistoric fauna, frogs and my beloved Takeo—my comfort character of all time.
Other socials: Instagram(inactive?), Art Fight, Toyhouse(OC storage, character descriptions outdated/under construction.)
SPP-3536 “Starling” and Maxine first met when the Titan was still using a Stryder chassis and the 12 years old girl wandered into the Titan bay one day. Starling’s Pilot and engineer , Francesco, noticed her and took her under his wing, becoming the only reliable parental figure in Maxine’s life. Thus, the three of them spent a lot of time together. Maxine and Starling pretty much grew up together as the young woman came of age while the Titan’s OS kept learning and improving to the point of sentience, especially after being transferred to a Northstar chassis
When Maxine decided to ran away from her garrison and her home, Starling followed, breaking her neural link with Francesco. Maxine has been her Pilot ever since and the two moved to Naga and joined the Militia.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Vanguard Titans have very powerful AI which has lead them to develop distinct personality, traits, likes and dislikes. If you were to ask what MOB-1316, the biggest dislikes of hers is being bored. But luckily, MOB had found ways to handle her boredom.
This fic was inspired by h4mptr on Ao3. Check out their fic!
MOB was bored.
Correction.
MOB was bored out of her systems. It was a miracle she hadn’t shut down due to the lack of stimulation. With the morning still very early, most of the base was asleep. Thus, the Titan bay was almost completely dark except for the few lights leading to the emergency exits. Even the MRVN went to recharge, leaving the place literally with nobody. MOB really wanted to have company, but all the other Titans were in recharge mode, and her Pilot Sarah has turned off her coms. In MOB’s opinion, calling her at 0136, 0246 and 0356 wasn’t excessive given the intensity of her boredom, but Sarah got really pissed off by the third time so MOB dropped it. That it didn’t erase the issue of her boredom however.
Then an idea clicked.
Titans weren’t exactly known for their stealth. So, MOB wondered how many guns she could steal from her fellow Titans before anyone noticed.
The easiest target was the Vanguard on her right, SVD-678. She just had to lean to side and snatch his treasured Leadwall. BT-7274 on her left was also an easy target as she swiftly collected his Chaingun. Her next target, FS-1041 was a couple of meters away, meaning MOB had to walk up to her to get her Predator Canon. So carefully, oh so carefully, she put one foot in front of the other, trying to attenuate the still audible clang of metal against metal. But FS must have turned off all of her sensors for the night, so getting her gun was rather easy. Now the most difficult: AV-9090. She’s always been the most alert and paranoid of all the Titans, constantly scanning her environments.
MOB slowly made her way to the Titan. AV didn’t react at all as MOB got closer and closer. She probably felt safe enough in the Titan bay of the Militia’s Harmony base to slow down her tracking systems. MOB managed to pluck AV’s Splitter Rifle when she heard the sound of someone tapping their foot behind her.
MOB slowly turned around to face Sarah, still in her pyjamas, her lower left eyelid twitching.
“…Hello Commander. What are you doing here?”
“I got some intel that you are stealing shit. Again.”
MOB looked up, scanning the other Titans, until she noticed SVD’s optic was turned on.
MOB-1316 to SDV-678: Snitch
SDV-678 to MOB-1316: Stop stealing and I’ll stop snitching
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sarah let out a long sigh and pinched her nose.
“Just give all the guns back and I won’t put you in time out.”
“Fine.”
—
MOB stood next to the other Titans as the Commander was giving a speech and prepping the soldiers in front of her. They were stationed on a rather remote planet in order to support the allied faction there. MOB would not recommend the place, since it consisted of rainstorms followed by snowstorms, which were followed by hailstorms. But luckily for the Marauders, the weather finally cleared and the team went outside to run some drills. Or more exactly, waiting for Sarah to finish talking and start the drills. The Vanguard really loved her Pilot as she is an excellent Commander: fierce, dedicated, loyal and hard working. But one aspect that makes her want to roll her optics is how long she can take when giving directions before deployment, or when she’s in a really good mood, an almost endless speech.
Scanning the units around her, MOB clearly noted many people were also getting tired of waiting. Cooper was definitely not listening, Fukuda and Kumar were discreetly playing rock paper scissors, FS was staring at a flyer in the distance and AV kept scanning around for enemies while Grenier was definitely watching a movie through his helmet.
Only SVD and BT were focused on Sarah’s word. The green and orange Vanguard has the reputation of being really patient, which came in handy when he had to basically train his current Pilot back on Typhon. Now he even let Pilots-in-training drive him during simulations.
MOB wondered how far that patience ran.
She knocked BT’s arm with her elbow. The other Titan only gave her a side glance before turning his attention back to the Commander. She tried a few more times before BT reached through their inner chat.
BT-7274 to MOB-1316: What’s the issue?
MOB-1316 to BT-7274: Nothing.
BT-7274 to MOB-1316: Then stop bothering me.
MOB stayed still for a few seconds before knocking her elbow again. This time, BT smacked her arm away. MOB waited, and then decided to poke BT’s ocular casing.
“Commander, MOB is being distracting. And nobody except me and BT are listening to you,” SVD-678 suddenly declared.
“You snitch!” everyone but BT shouted.
“MOB, go stand against that wall,” Sarah said while pinching her nose.
“But…”
“Now.”
Conclusion, BT has a lot of patience. Much more than the snitching SVD.
—
The snow fell slowly from the grey sky. The SRS have landed on an icy planet to investigate an IMC outpost. For some reason, the enemy faction decided to abandon the place, so the SRS only had to recon the place and make sure the IMC didn’t leave anything dangerous behind.
MOB and AV were guarding the southern entrance and waiting for their Pilots to come fetch them. AV was regularly scanning the area, her optics and hands twitching nervously. MOB just enjoyed the scenery since she rarely had the opportunity so far to enjoy the snow, with Harmony being a warmer planet. A few meters below, a small lake had frozen. The Vanguard knew that humans would often go ice skating on frozen bodies of water if the ice was thick enough. Having nothing else to do, she went down to the lake to check if it would support her weight.
“MOB, what are you doing?” AV asked.
“Checking something.”
The Vanguard carefully set a foot on the ice and put weight on it.
“You shouldn’t be doing that! What if it breaks?” AV insisted.
“That’s what I’m trying to know.”
“Do you really have to test it?”
“It’s not like I have much else to do.”
The ice didn’t crack. MOB put her second foot and was happy to see the ice still holding strong. The lake must be almost entirely frozen to be able to withstand the 40 tons of chassis. Then, MOB started pushing on her legs, mimicking the skating motion she saw kids doing in a video footage Sarah had shown her from a rare winter where a lake froze on Harmony. She skidded smoothly for a few seconds, and feeling emboldened, activated her thrusters to give herself extra speed. Her left foot suddenly slipped and MOB landed harshly on the ice.
“MOB!”
“I’m fine!”
MOB tried to get up, but then her right leg jerked to the side.
“Should I call the Commander?” AV asked.
“I’d rather not, I can make it to the shore before anyone else notices.”
“It’s too late for that,” Sarah’s voice suddenly echoed in the frigid air.
MOB looked up to see her Pilot staring at her with an exhausted expression, nose red from the cold. Next to her, Kumar was biting his lower lip, trying not to laugh.
“Santiago, I need you and FS’ help on the southern side. You need to bring a couple of strong ropes,” Sarah called through the comms.
“I don’t need help, I can make it back to land by myself!”
“No you can’t, BT tried for an entire hour when he got stuck last year and failed.”
By the time FS arrived, all the Titans and their Pilots have gathered to witness MOB’s humiliation as FS tossed her the ropes and reeled the Vanguard back to shore. At last, she stood up on solid non-slippery land and dust off the snow of her chassis. MOB squared her shoulders and did her best to look dignified during her walk of shame back to the transport ship.
—
MOB picked up a large rubble and started to carry it towards the growing pile near a building. The Marauder Corps stayed on Naga in order to help clean up the small base of their allies. They managed to chase off the IMC from the sector rather easily, but the place suffered some heavy damages. The rocks would later be used to rebuilt some of the infrastructures, and all the Titans who were still operational were send to collect them.
Having finished cleaning her spot, MOB looked around to see what she could do, but it seemed everything was almost done. So she stood there, already feeling boredom creeping in her systems. A couple a meters away, FS was carrying the last few large boulders towards the pile, showing off the extra strength built into her chassis since she favours the Legion loadout the most. An idea popped in MOB’s systems, and she grabbed a small rock before tossing it at the other Vanguard.
FS whipped her chassis around. MOB pretended to still be busy by digging the ground until FS turned away. She grabbed another rock and threw it harder at the Vanguard. FS looked around confused before her eye stopped on MOB.
FS-1041 to MOB-1316: Stop throwing rocks at me.
MOB-1316 to FS-1041: I didn’t do anything.
FS stared at her for a few seconds, narrowing her shutters until her optic was only the size of a penny, before turning around.
MOB threw one more rock and went back to digging.
A huge boulder hit her chassis and made her face plant in the ground.
MOB immediately got back up and charged at FS. The other Vanguard planted her feet firmly in the ground and grabbed MOB by the arms, taking the blow effortlessly. Then FS spun around and threw MOB down hard.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” Santiago, FS’s Pilot, shouted as she ran with Sarah behind her.
“She started it Pilot,” FS said while pointing a finger at MOB.
“Santiago! Handle your Titan!” Sarah ordered. “MOB, get your ass here!”
MOB scrambled to her feet and followed her to one of the carrier ship.
“I expected better from you than fighting with your own teammates,” Sarah said with disappointment clear in her voice.
“I’m sorry Pilot.”
The Commander took a deep breath and pointed to the ship.
“You get in there and stay until further notice.”
“Understood.”
—
The sun was getting low, casting a soft orange glow through the large windows of the Titan bay. MOB watched the Pilots gathered around to enjoy the sun: some were playing cards, others sleeping, reading books or doing some work on their devices. It was nice to see everyone relaxed and not worrying about the next battle, but it also meant MOB didn’t have much to do and was slowly getting annoyed by boredom.
After a while, MOB saw Fukuda get up to go to the bathroom, leaving his tablet unattended. The Vanguard barely even had the time to lean down when Sarah’s voice suddenly cut her.
“Don’t even think about it,” the Commander said without taking her eyes off her laptop.
“Think about what?”
“You know it.”
The Pilots around them chuckled.
“I’m bored,” MOB complained
“I know. I’m almost finished here, we can do something right after.”
The chuckles grew louder.
“Can’t we do it now?”
“I’m almost there, just be patient.”
MOB waited. After ten seconds, she decided she had waited long enough and crouched down to close Sarah’s laptop before snatching it.
“What the- MOB!”
For good measures, MOB also took Fukuda’s tablet and sprinted away. Behind her, Sarah was yelling and swearing at the Vanguard to come back, her voice almost drowned out by the other Pilots laughing at their Commander getting her stuff stolen by her own Titan.
MOB reached the large doors of the Titan bay and turned around the corner before colliding with BT coming back from a patrol shift. The two Vanguards fell to the ground, Cooper’s swearing audible from his Titan’s speaker.
“MOB I FUCKING SWEAR-” Sarah yelled as she caught up to the Titan.
MOB brandished the devices she managed to keep intact even while falling. Sarah let out a long frustrated sigh.
“You’re a lucky bastard they aren’t broken. But I’m still putting you on time out!”
—
MOB caught the sword of the Ronin in front her with both hands. Her joints whined as they absorbed the shock. She tried to rip the weapon away from the Stryder class, but the Ronin managed to kick her leg, almost making the Vanguard fall.
It was bad, really bad. MOB got too distracted by finishing an enemy Ion to notice the Ronin sneaking behind her. Two shots of his Leadwall completely destroyed her Acolyte Pods, so MOB had only her Chaingun, Vortex Shield and one E-smoke.
But the worst part was that Sarah was still a hundred meters away.
“Commander, what’s your status?”
“Making my way out, don’t worry about me and focus on that Ro- ARGH!”
A loud bang echoed in the coms.
PROTOCOL 3: PROTECT THE PILOT.
MOB punched, scratched and kicked the Ronin until he back off. She dropped her smoke and diverted all her power into her thrusters, dashing repeatedly while ignoring the overheating warnings. MOB finally saw Sarah stumbling out of a building, her left side completely soaked in blood.
“What happened?”
“One fucking bastard with a Mastiff.”
Sarah was pale, way too pale, and her hands were shaking. Still, the Commander bit her lips and forced a stony expression on her face. The Vanguard opened her cockpit and extended her arm to let Sarah climb up her chassis. The gunshot wound slowed her down badly, and her breath grew ragged. But the Commander managed to sit down before MOB closed the hatch and sprinted away.
Through the inner cameras, MOB watched Sarah grab the medical kit from under the seat and try to open it. But with the Titan’s uneven movements and the Pilot’s shaky hands, she struggled to get the case open. MOB turn around a corner and stopped.
“What are you doing? Keep walking MOB!”
“Negative, your bleeding is too extensive, you need to stop it before we can proceed. Me sprinting and rocking the cockpit is preventing that.”
“That Ronin is gonna catch up to us,” Sarah grumbled as she finally managed to open the medical kit.
“I put enough distance,” MOB lied.
Sarah grabbed one of the painkillers and jabbed the needle in her thigh before disinfecting the wound. Just as she was finished wrapping her side in gauze, the coms cracked to life.
“Hey Briggs, if you wanna get the hell out of here you need to get to the evac point now!” Robert Taub’s voice echoed in the cockpit.
“We’re on our way!”
Suddenly a shotgun blow landed on MOB’s back. The Vanguard just had enough time to turn around and put up her Vortex Shield to reflect the rest of the Leadwall shots from the enemy Ronin. He phased to dodge them, then came back and unleashed his Sword Core.
“MOB, let me pilot!” Sarah shouted.
“I can’t, you’re not well enough.”
“I’m not gonna sit there and do nothing! Give me the controls, we’ll have a better chance if we fight together!”
With reluctance, MOB engaged Pilot mode. As one, her and the Commander dodged the initial strikes of the Ronin. Then with the side of the Vanguard’s arm, they diverted the sword and managed to shoot a few bullets onto the Ronin. MOB’s systems protested, warning about the exhausted thrusters, open wires on her back and broken Pods. The Stryder class dashed backward, allowing the duo to load and unleash a Burst core. The enemy was forced to retreat, wasting the rest of his core.
Taking their cue, MOB and Sarah turned around and made a break towards the evac point.
“Shit!”
Looking through the inner cameras, the Titan saw her Pilot clutching her side while panting heavily. The Commander was fading fast and MOB did not like the readings of her heartbeat she got from the helmet. That, and her head was now tilting to the side.
“Please Sarah, stay awake. Just a little bit longer.”
“I’m fine… just… don’t worry about me and focus on getting us out of there…” her friend said with a sluggish voice.
Behind her, MOB noted the sound of the Ronin dashing towards them. The bastard was dead set on hunting them down. Luckily, the Vanguard was still out of his effective range. And finally, the evac ship appeared in the distance. MOB has never been so relieved to see the two friendly Legions waiting for them. They immediately opened fire on the Ronin tailing the Vanguard, who then heard her favourite sound: an enemy Titan exploding.
MOB’s euphoria was cut short by Sarah’s heart stopping.
—
MOB paced back and forth with stiff motions. Worry plagued her systems as Sarah has been admitted hours ago in the medical bay of the base currently hosting the Marauders. The Titan hasn’t been given any news on her friend’s condition, and the feeling of uselessness kept getting stronger by the minute.
“Shouldn’t you get your chassis checked?” Hakim suddenly asked.
“The damages aren’t critical, I can wait.”
The rest of Corps, Titans and Pilots alike, were just as nervous and worried. Sarah was a pillar of not only their team but also the whole Militia. Losing the commander would create a major whole in the organisation, as well as in MOB’s heart. She went over the last fight multiples times, blaming herself for all the mistakes she did that lead to the current situation.
An alert popped in MOB’s systems, warning that she needed to recharge and repair immediately. The Titan ignored it and kept walking in circle until a voice snapped her out of the downward spiral of her thoughts.
“Watch where you going!” Grenier yelled, barely dodging MOB’s foot.
“Sorry.”
The Vanguard stopped pacing, now opting to play with her fingers instead of pacing.
“She’s gonna make it right?” Fukuda asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Of course,” Barker answered. “She’s the toughest SoB I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Although the man had a rather positive tone in his voice, MOB noticed his alcohol flask was nowhere to be seen. Barker himself looked sober, which usually meant things went badly enough he decided to clean up his act, at least momentarily.
“I mean, you, Cooper and her were that close to the Fold Weapon’s explosion and still survived, that’s got to count for something,” Hakim added.
Barker shrugged while Cooper gave a half-hearted nod. The room fell silent again. After a while, MOB received a message through a private channel.
SDV-678 to MOB-1316: Do you want to run battle simulations against me? It might help distract you in a less destructive way.
MOB looked down at her hands, noticing now she started to peel the outer rubber protective layer.
MOB-1316 to SDV-678: It would be an adequate distraction.
SVD pinged her Pilot that the two were heading for the training grounds. Once they arrived there, the two Vanguards grabbed the cords connecting to the sim pods and loaded into a virtual world.
MOB appeared in a sunny field with cascades and fountains around her. There were many floating rocks, perfect for Pilots to wall run and for Titans to take cover. The place has been inspired by the more remote parts of Harmony, where life and peace bloomed instead of war and metal. Sarah and MOB often talked about going to visit those area, but the Commander’s schedules always blocked the project. Now… it might never happen. MOB let out a puff through her vents, promising herself to convince Sarah to take that trip if… no, when she gets out of the medical bay.
SVD appeared further away. He acknowledged MOB before using his Acoylte Pods to bring his Leadwall in his hands and taking a fighting stance, signalling he was ready. MOB equipped a Scorch loadout and initiated the fight.
They kept fighting for a certain amount of time MOB didn’t bother to track. The Vanguard admitted it was really a welcomed distraction, and a good outlet for her worried systems. She’ll have to thank SVD, and maybe apologise for always calling him a snitch. The two Titans were easing into a routine, and MOB, being caught up in the simulation, didn’t realised she deployed her Acolyte Pods and thrusters in the real world.
A loud bang echoed around her. Or maybe from her.
MOB immediately exited the simulated world and found the real SVD in front of her.
“Are you alright?”
Red alarms were blaring inside MOB. She really needed to go the repair bay, but the tech teams will immediately turn her off to work on her. The Vanguard needed to know Sarah’s condition before that.
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?”
A message pooped up in the Titans common channel.
BT-7274 to MOB-1316 and SVD-678: The head of the medical team just arrived.
MOB hurried towards the spot where the rest of the Marauders have gathered, almost going into a full sprint.
“Hey seriously, you better watch your feet!” Grenier said as he saw her approaching.
MOB slowed down and stood next to BT, SVD quickly joining them.
The Pilots were hounding an older man in a white coat holding a tablet. Dr. Stevenson was his name, if MOB was correct. He motioned the Pilots to step back and adjusted his glasses.
“Alright, goods news everyone: the Commander will live.”
Cheers of relief erupted among the Pilots. Even the Titans let out puffs of satisfaction at the good news. MOB’s springs in her legs almost gave out with the happiness flowing through her systems. The Vanguard managed to stay upright and turned to BT, who gave her a thumb up. SDV clapped a hand on her shoulder.
“She won’t be able to perform her duties until she’s fully healed. But there’s not gonna be any lasting damages that will prevent her from being Commander.”
“The toughest SoB around, I told you!” Barker laughed as he turned to MOB.
His smile immediately disappeared.
“MOB, is that smoke coming from your back?”
The Vanguard finally allowed herself to check the emergency notification of her chassis.
The amount of warnings and alarms made her malfunction and collapse on the floor.
—
Sarah was looking at the systems report of MOB’s chassis on a large tablet and winced at the extensive damages. Even though her head was spinning and her injuries were sore and painful, she insisted on being wheeled down to the Titan bay as soon as she woke up and learned MOB had to be taken for intensive repair.
The Commander looked up at her friend, meeting the steely yet warm blue light of her optic. Behind the Vanguard, large clamps were holding her upright as Marvins were running final diagnostics and starting the repairs.
“You should have immediately went to get repaired MOB,” Sarah said, her voice raspy due to her dry throat.
“Protocol 3, I needed to be sure you were going to be ok.”
Sarah bit the inside of her cheek.
“How did it get that bad without anyone else noticing?”
“A few noticed the damages, but I… might have brushed them off and told them not to worry.”
“Tsk…Of all the traits you could have picked up from me, it had to be the one about masking injuries.”
The Commander was always keeping a brave face in front of her soldiers, even when a Kraber had grazed her leg deep enough to burn like hell but not enough to stop her from walking. She was well aware that so many riflemen and Pilots look up to her, turning to her for instructions and reassurance in the most dire of situations. She couldn’t let them see her pain in order to keep them hopeful. And she especially couldn’t let the enemies know when she was at her weakest.
Being in the Militia has exasperated that side of her, but she’s been carrying for a long time: as a kid, she sometimes had the luck to end up with a nice foster families who genuinely cared about her wellbeing. But when that luck ran out, she had landed in cruel places where showing any signs of weakness would result in being beaten up by the other kids, and even the adults.
“Maybe that is something we should be both working on,” MOB said as her shutters narrowed, amused.
“Definitely,” Sarah nodded before setting a hand on MOB’s knee plate. “You know how I feel about death reports, please be careful next time so you’re not the next one the list.”
“Then don’t end up on the list either, Sarah.”
The Commander chuckled before the pain in her side made wince.
“Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“I’m bored.”
The Commander hid her face, not wanting MOB to give her the satisfaction of seeing her grin.
Omggg this was an amazing read! There is nothing I love more than Titan/Titan interaction(especially if given behavior akin to animals), and further exploration of a Titan/Vanguard's sentience and how they manage boredom. MOB prodding at BT solely for stimulation was so silly. We fr need more Titan/Titan interaction in fics!
