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The theme of the speakermen calmly plays in the background. Its echoes can be heard almost two floors above the bunker of the alliance’s main base, singing its familiar tune throughout. No one really minds the song’s constant loop anymore. It’s become soothing to the receivers, with the war and alliance now in its later stages, the alliance members have become more accustomed to each other’s presence.
It’s to the point where things feel natural, and they begin acting unconsciously.
Regular members can be found loitering around the lab or medbay, watching the scientists and medics work without causing interference. Occasionally, they ask questions or strike up a chat. Anyone who's just about the place knows it’s best to not bother them, but company has become a welcoming de-stresser.
Others joke and talk in the main terminal. Tvmen and Speakermen alike have either learned sign language or morse code to communicate with the cameramen. Many have learned both, and alternate freely between the two. Speakers especially have been eager to socialise with their allies, as they have begun to repeat certain reversed phrases back at Tvmen. Tvmen themselves have mixed feelings about the idea, but are slowly getting used to it.
Even their larger variants seem to hang out with each other more often, as seen by a large trio resting in one of the main halls. A large speakerman has both his shoulders occupied. A large tvman on one and a large cameraman resting on the other, both peacefully asleep in recharge. The large speakerman in between, continues to read unbothered.
Even down in the bunkers of the building, where a few speakermen hang out to be with their titan, a couple cameramen are there among the group. A single Tvman is also present, but he has clearly fallen asleep standing up. Leaning on the red titan’s heel, the speakerman and cameraman next to him make sure he’s not accidentally bumped into or stirred awake.
The rest of the group idles, with the walls of the wide space adding slight reverb to the chorus.
It's a comforting effect for the speakers to feel on their sensors, and the silent hum basically only they feel eases them into an easily casual state. It’s also pleasant on their heightened audio receivers. Definitely much better for their processor than the toxic noise of explosions and skibidis, which they hear on a daily basis outside.
The cameramen on the other hand don’t notice the difference. They’re occupied with their own interactions, bonding with their allies in arms and doing things they probably never thought they’d do before the alliance. A cameraman silently laughs at a joke a speakerman told him in sign.
Titan Speakerman, meanwhile, watches this happen with wonder and confusion as the speakerman holds up a literal road sign.
When his faction member was able to get his hands on it is anyone’s guess.
Besides observing the other members, the red titan sits in content as the song that stretches its tune throughout the base, plays from his own speakers. Knees up, hands close to his core. It may look like an awkward position, but to the smallest titan, it’s quite comfortable to be even smaller. It’s hard being the biggest member of one’s faction sometimes.
His own troubles don’t stop him though, from admiring the comradery, a force that has blossomed thanks to the alliance. Had it not been for them, his whole faction may have crumbled. With what has happened to the speakers during their worst days, it makes him sick and upset. Especially the days where he lost himself.
Titan Speakerman is tempted to look at his hands, but a pair of speakermen are sleeping in the crook of one of his elbows. He looks at them, and chooses against it. That sole act is enough to remind him that he’s not that mind controlled monster anymore, and he can choose to be merciful of his own free will.
The same applies to being merciless towards those who caused their suffering.
A hiss and his attention is brought away from his thoughts, as the smaller gates that lead into the base from the bunker, suddenly slide open. The titan looks over to see two cameramen emerge from it. They each carry a large box of colourful assortment, mostly craft materials that they salvaged from abandoned stores or raided malls. It’s not like the people who sold them will need them anymore. Things like ribbons, a variety of coloured paper, glitter glue, and such material things wouldn’t have much use besides poor survival supplies and aesthetics.
A Speakerman from atop the titan’s knee waves them over happily.
Since the little group of theirs sits not too far from the small-to-titans gates, the speakerman who waved them over slides down to meet them near the titan’s foot. The action is albeit a little ticklish to Titan Speakerman. As still as he can be— and professional but who cares— a small shiver escapes him and the music lightly distorts for the briefest second. If this were any regular sized member, the consequences would be practically nonexistent.
Unfortunately, this is a titan, and titans not only have their size amplified, but the results and reactions of those around them too.
The sleeping tvman leaning on the titan’s heel falls over, abruptly waking up. The joking speakerman’s road sign, which he had placed down next to himself in all its metallic glory, slips and clatters on the ground. The loud clang jumpscares a large Speakerman who throws his book in the air. The book lands on the head of one of the two speakermen sleeping in the crook of the titans elbow, and the titan catches them before they fall and hit the floor.
All while the Speakerman who caused the shiver, turns around oblivious.
Titan Speakerman takes a moment to cool his circuits and cycle his processor of mild replies before chirring in slight displeasure.
The speakerman shrugs in response, still clueless.
They take a moment to readjust, with Titan Speakerman changing position to side sit with his legs folded over one another. Just as he settles, he hears another pair of footsteps. This time, he doesn’t look at the gates that the pair of cameramen came from, instead, he looks over to the main gates that nearly reach the bunker’s ceiling, save for a few metres. It obviously leads to the outside.
When the gates ultimately open, one of the other two titans wanders in from their patrol, and just as the evening falls it looks like. Titan Speakerman waves to Titan Cameraman as the gates close behind him. The other members pause what they’re doing to greet him as well, most notably the cameramen, who are glad he is back safe and sound.
Titan Camerman whirrs gently at the welcome, and he waves back with his free hand.
Once greetings have been reciprocated, the blue titan walks over to the area beside the main gate to put his hammer away. There’s no need to lug it around all the time. He intends to take this time to rest before tomorrow’s big day, and he’d rather not have another extra weight on him while recharging.
It’s unfortunate that there's no proper placement installed in the bunker for the weapon yet. Titan Cameraman has to simply lean it on a wall and hope it doesn’t fall on a poor soul wandering past.
That’s only— nearly — happened once.
Luckily it was a tvman, who teleported out of there at the last second and just before the handle had the chance to crush him. He had been a little shaken afterwards, yet, he was physically uninjured. No one got hurt and his hammer was undamaged, but Titan Tvman had been very upset that the accident happened at all. He gave Titan Cameraman a really long talkin’ to.
It’s one of those interactions that Titan Cameraman hopes to never experience again, so he carefully props the hammer up with a dull clunk against the wall. Making sure it won’t slip, before he leaves it be. He turns, examining the group within the bunker for a few seconds, before deciding to approach and maybe interact.
Titan Speakerman and a few others look up when the large shadow looms over them. The titan of the speakerman tilting his head curiously, as he peers up at the other titan standing in front of them. Titan Cameraman just stares back. To any other, the expressions would look intimidating or aloof, but to the alliance members who know their titans, it just comes off as unsure about what to do.
Titan Speakerman draws a note in the music briefly, as a question.
The blue titan takes a moment to think, but ultimately he doesn’t know why and simply shrugs in response.
Titan Speakerman isn’t too bothered by the shade. He thinks it’s a nice interruption from the bunker’s near constant fluorescence lights that begin to shine early in the morning, and late into the evening. It’s always good to take a break from certain surroundings. Especially for someone who didn’t have sight to begin with, that’s why his optic function is always one he can turn off if he needs to.
A sound alerts both titans from their unintentional staring contest, which looked more like a mutual caught-up-in-thoughts moment than challenging looks. They both are pretty tired like any good soldier at the end of the day. Plus, the other members don’t know if any private communications are taking place between them.
The titans have definitely been using that function a lot, with how little privacy they have nowadays.
Looking towards the spot in between and below them both, a speakerman hisses politely for Titan Cameraman to move.
It is yet again, the same Speakerman to cause trouble.
This time, he has his arms deep within a box and looks up at an odd angle, but manages to look like he’s glaring at the blue titan from where he is kneeled over. The two cameramen next to him are also looking up at their titan. They don’t look with glares, instead they dawn mildly apologetic looks as they try to sign something to the speakerman. The speakerman refuses to falter.
It’s not hard to guess that the pair had been looking through the boxes as well, and Titan Cameraman understands why the Speakerman is so insistent.
He’s clearly blocking the light, so he obliges and steps to the side.
Titan Speakerman, who had been wordlessly watching the entire exchange, whirrs with amusement after Titan Cameraman does so akwardly. Titan Cameraman then looks at him unamused. Titan Speakerman has to suppress the urge to laugh any further, because the smaller members on him are starting to look a little annoyed with how much he’s shaking where they sit. The music also returns to normal as he calms.
The blue titan’s predicament remains though, with standing in front is doing him no favours and it just proves to be an inconvenient place for him to be.
He ponders, then notices the red titan’s side is vacant. The moment he walked into the bunker, he saw that each group of legged tech had been snug under a tarp for the night. In their usual placements next to the repair wing doors. That means the speakers wouldn’t pile at the red titan’s side, because if they were, he’d find them all cuddled up against their titan along with the other members right now.
It serves as a reminder to how finding Titan Speakerman alone is a rare sight in itself.
Ever since Titan Speakerman had been cured, it’s obvious that his faction would be protective and want nothing more than to spend time with him in their own free time. For the better or for worse, they’d be there for him. Even since the start of the Alliance, it’s been obvious that the speakers share a foolishly strong bond with one another. That is a very clear and consistent fact.
In this case, it’s definitely a good thing that prevents most of the bad thoughts— one’s that Titan Cameraman knows the other has been having from the incident— from festering. It’s also not surprising that speakermen weren’t the only ones to show support as time went on. Really going to show that as the Alliance fought and spent more time together, they gradually cared more about each other and to those that extended.
Personally, Titan Cameraman doesn’t mind the uptick in company every so often. Since their workload has definitely increased as the war goes on, he’s found it’s nice to have those who openly look out for him besides his own faction. To have those you can mentally and physically relax around, even for a brief moment. Another reminder that those allies are the same alliance members that he should be careful of while moving his feet in such close proximity.
They are much easier to avoid when they aren’t frantically scurrying around, comes a passing thought.
Thankfully, overthinking is just overthinking, and a simple stride over is all it takes to claim the spot, where he leans lightly on the wall while internally sighing in relief. The hard part is over. Though it’s not the most comfortable thing to stand while you recharge, and in all honesty he’d rather sit than hope his foot won’t go numb. He knows in the long run this will only be a mild inconvenience.
Leaning too heavily on his flight systems for too long might crush them, and the other cameraman would kill him over having to go in for repairs yet again. Then, there's tomorrow’s big plan. He can’t exactly take off his jetpack now since he and Titan Speakerman have to leave before dawn to make it there on time. He’ll have to wake up even earlier so he can put it back on. The third concern is attempting to sit and going out with scrapped wings, from the ground of all things. He knows that is just a dumb move entirely.
So, he settles with what the best and only option he can think of as he rests to recharge for the night. It’s not so bad when tomorrow’s end may change for the better. A shift in the war the titans can hope to provide so this nightmare may be over.
He listens to the song that emits from the speakermen. Titan Cameraman takes one last look at the other alliance members beside him before gradually turning off his lens. Titan Speakerman looks up at him as he does, but he doesn’t pay that much mind.
A few minutes after his initial recharge, his receivers pick up shuffling, followed by movement that is most likely Titan Speakerman standing up for whatever reason. He doesn’t think it’s related to him, so there’s no need to see what’s going on. It isn’t until he feels tiny hands sticking stuff to his face, that it convinces him to turn his lens back on to see what they are up to.
As his sight flicks back on, the first thing he sees is Titan Speakerman holding a trio up to his face. It’s the same trio who were looking through the boxes, with the speakerman who hissed at him, now as cheery the pair of cameramen he’s with. The red titan finds enjoyment in the blue titan’s confuzzlement. It’s clear as he poorly attempts to hide his laughter, with how his shoulders shake loosely and the music’s tune distorting briefly.
The trio themselves look focused with their self given tasks. one of the cameramen and the speakermen place what feels like stickers on his face wherever they can reach. They also discuss which sticker they should place where with each other.
The other cameraman wanders a little away from the other two, holding up a rich blue bow with long flowy ribbons, one that looks ridiculously large in his hands. He attaches it carefully, tying it around a piece of gear that sticks out. When he manages to get it to stay successfully, he turns back to look at Titan Cameraman with a happy nod.
Titan Cameraman sighs fondly. His own shoulders let up, relaxing with a reminder of what he’s fighting for, and he reverberates his thanks to the clueless cameraman. He answers swiftly and casually, before returning to his friends.
With that curiosity satiated, Titan Cameraman allows the trio and red titan to go about their shenanigans, as he finally shuts his lens off for the night.
Suddenly, all the music scratches to a stop.
The familiar grey walls of the bunker and its mildly blinding fluorescent lights, are replaced by the darkened veil of the midnight sky. Dimly lit by the flames that litter the wreckage. The fires that highlight broken cars and tattered clothes of fallen allies, brings an orange hue that reminds some of sunsets.
Explosions sound around them, as large cameramen launch their rocket launchers into the fight. The crackle of what burns around them isn’t the only sound to ping their audio recievers, as a device’s muted vibration alerts its user to a new message. Two cameraman who ducked behind the remains of a car for cover, look at each other among the fray. One peeks out with his weapon to shoot at couple more porcelain enemies, hoping that they may hold off for a moment to see what command has sent them.
The other takes the tablet out, only to stare at its screen. The words that flash on it, blaring in red, coats the air of the battlefield into something else, and warps it.
Their bodies feel nothing, to all at once.
This wasn’t meant to happen, and it all feels wrong.
The technology ends up slipping from the cameraman’s grasp, and it clatters to the ground without a care. He slowly looks up, and his fellow cameraman knows. Even though the first hasn’t communicated a single word, he doesn’t need to when that reaction shows all that they feared. The shred of hope that this would change the course of the war. It’s effectively ripped from the alliance’s hands, their hands, and they were so sure it would work.
The news makes all this feel too real in the ways it shouldn’t, causing the burning sensation that wells in their cores to collectively grow. Along with many others, these two consume the silent grief. The thoughts that fill their heads of all they worked towards, all they’ve done, all they’ve accomplished and lost only to find themselves here just before the end?
It cannot end like this.
The second cameraman throws his gun to the ground despite knowing it still has plenty of ammo in it, but he doesn’t need it anymore, not with what he’s about to do. The first shares his sentiment. He stands up, trembling in the same wave of emotions and the need to let it out before it kills him. Error warnings pop up as his hands ball into fists. The first turns, swiftly throwing his body straight over the front of the car that he had been hiding behind, and landing with ease on the other side.
Somewhere in the wreckage of the airport, the first cameraman knows there’s a blue bow. Discarded on the ground if not blown to smithereens, probably dirty and dusty and covered in soot, rather than its clean rich blue that he first found it in. In the image shown, he could not see the bow. He can only assume how his titan lost it, and he can only hope that the titan knows he’ll never forgive those who removed it.
Anger is not to be taken lightly.