Grimsley gripped his controls tightly, his knuckles going white as his barrel lined up to take a shot at the mutant monstrosity known as Major Orellia that was slowly approached the Goliath-killer tank. The pilot's teeth started to chatter as Orellia continued his advance, a smile spreading on the Jahari's face as he drew closer to his prey. Infantry troops had opened fire but the bullets often deflected off the Major's tough, muscular skin and any projectiles that did break through were quickly absorbed and the wound healed. Theo and Carla had joined in as well, manoeuvring their vehicles to stay out of Orellia's reach while maintaining and steady stream of machine gun fire, the ends of their tanks' guns glowing red hot as they spat out their ballistics.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that only something with a significant, heavy impact could make any difference, such as what Grimsley's tank or a Goliath could produce. Grimsley knew this. Theo and Carla and every other soldier knew this. Orellia knew it too. It was an issue.

Orellia's oversized right hand grabbed a car parked on the street and tossed it towards a rather annoying cluster of soldiers that were getting in his way. Most were crushed by the flying vehicle and others were trapped beneath it or sent flying. The Jahari snatched up the next closest soldier he could find and hurled them at the three tanks, trying to disrupt their fire and distract from Grimsley's focus.

Ronald popped up from behind Grimsley to observe the screen and tried to grab the steering away from Grimsley and guide the tank out of the way of the approaching person. The two tussled a moment before Grimsley finally grabbed a wrench on the floor and smacked the old man on the head, knocking him out cold. "Thank god he's finally quiet. Time to be a hero." Grimsley rounded his cannon at Orellia and squeezed the trigger.

And missed.

Orellia was shockingly fast, regardless of his deformities and bizarre size disproportions, and had dodged the bullet in a blur of movement. "Grimsley, you idiot!" Carla shouted over the communication network. "We need to pin him down before you can finish him. Let us set up supporting fire on the flanks before you can take any sort of shot and if you do it might be to knock an object onto this thing, not hit him. It's not always about shooting things in the head you know!"

"Y-yes Carla," he answered. Not shooting? Pinning movements? Being a hero hadn't involved planning and strategy before had it? Grimsley had always imagined you just aimed and took the shot and then you got the medals and the girls. Another tossed soldier flew past Grimsley as Orellia tore into a unit of infantry. Lives were being lost during this delay. Real lives. Grimsley hadn't watched people dying since the transport ship had crashed and it had torn a part of his heart away. Now he was seeing it again and Grimsley's eyes grew dark and clouded, greying over of his soul.

Ronald was holding his head and groggily getting back into his seat behind Grimsley. "Oh boy, you took quite a bit out of me, didn'cha?"

"Not now Ronald, we have a beast to slay." Grimsley's voice had become abnormally serious, commanding the attention of the elder mechanic who immediately sat up straight and began examining the components of the vehicle. "I need you to listen carefully and do something for me please."

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now find the engine's fuel injection regulator by opening a panel labelled 'Engine Q' that should be to your left." Grimsley thought of Gretta up in the academy in the stars, of when she had shown him the trick function their father's tank could perform. Setting it into overdrive.

Theo screamed as his tank was overturned by Orellia, who was moving too fast for anyone to keep up with, jumping from one squad to another and then to any vehicles in between, such as Theo's. After a moment of silence on the comm network, of Clara and Grimsley holding their breath and waiting for something, and finally Theo coughed and gave them confirmation that he was fine, just pulling himself out of the wreckage of his machine.

"I think I got it," Ronald mumbled as his hands worked within the interior of the tank.

"I'll need you to grab a small silver knob in there and start unscrewing it. No matter what you get sprayed with or which sounds come out, don't stop turning it!" Grimsley rolled the tank back, trying to keep some soldiers between himself and Orellia for the moment. Clara had begun circling the Jahari, unleashing a torrent of bullets at the mutant to slow him down. She wasn't entirely sure what Grimsley was doing in his vehicle but she didn't have much choice but to trust him. There were some terrible things happening to these soldiers around them and it was her responsibility to see them saved, but she had no strategy left except to watch Grimsley and hope that someone sent a Goliath to help them.

"It's moving Grimsley but the fuel line is rupturing. Leaking out now." Ronald was holding a hand in front of his face to block a spray of synthetic oil but he didn't stop turning the knob.

"That's fine Ronald, that's what it should do." Grimsley watched the gauges for his engine begin to rise as the machinery started to work beyond its limitations. The treads under the tank started to speed up and Grimsley shot forwards as the vehicle took off in reverse. The cannon barrel swivelled at speeds never before seen by a regular tank and even by most Goliaths, and the different gears moving the weapon glowed red as the metal heated up under the increased friction.

Orellia had grabbed Clara's tank and shoved it aside, sending it crashing into a building and burying itself in it. That left only Grimsley standing to fight the major, with a lot of hope and pressure riding upon the young man. "Ronald, brace yourself." Grimsley pulled the trigger on the cannon, unloading another one of his Goliath-killing bullets. Once more it was dodged by Orellia, but Grimsley's cannon followed every step Orellia took and fired again, already having reloaded and prepped itself.

The Jahari was caught off guard for a moment before spinning away from the projectile, and yet another bullet was fired off. And another. Grimsley's weapon had almost turned into a machine gun with its rate of fire. Smoke was rising from the different joints of the tank, where two parts of metal rubbed each other at these ridiculous speeds but Grimsley couldn't stop now.

Finally, a bullet grazed Orellia, tearing a gash across his right arm as it burned through the tough skin it passed by. The monster roared in pain and a new ferocity took hold of its eyes. Playtime seemed to be over. Before the Jahari could make another move, a bullet brushed past its left leg and a third one came flying straight for the chest, homing in on piercing through the mutated heart beating inside Orellia.

The projectile stopped though, caught in the major's deformed right hand, and Orellia slid back on the road a bit as his body dealt with the momentum of the ballistic. He crushed the bullet in his hand and tossed it aside, unleashing a feral growl as his advance started on the tank. Grimsley tried to fire again but the gun was stuck and overheated, steaming above his head as he and Ronald were sweating in the blazing hot cockpit. Overdrive had its costs.

The communication network fizzled and crackled as Clara tried to give orders before it completely died, unable to function in the heat. The viewscreens had died as well as the rest of the tank started to fall offline, leaving Grimsley blind and helpless. He looked back over his shoulder at Ronald and the two exchanged a glance of terror and panic.

Above the pilot's head, the cannon barrel was tearing, and the light from the moon outside poured in through the new rifts that were opening. Suddenly, the entire weapon was ripped off, stripping the tank of its top and exposing the cockpit within. Grimsley looked up, finally seeing the monster Orellia up close in person and it scared him to see such a creature. There was orange blood dripping down the major's arm as it held up the cannon and threw it aside, its body marked with numerous cuts and scratches, but the ones left by Grimsley were unable to quickly seal and heal, the skin bubbling and melting instead of congealing.

Grimsley watched with a sinking feeling of despair as Orellia raised his arm above his head, ready to bring it down and finish off the tank forever. The tank. Grimsley's tank. His father's tank. His father.

Ronald reached in and snatched Grimsley out of his seat, dragging him away as the Jahari's arm came down and crushed the tank, nearly splitting it in two. Its pilot watched over his shoulder with tears in his eyes. That vehicle had been the last fragment of Grimsley's father, the only remains of his memory. Making it work again was like bringing him back to life, bringing him back to Gretta and Grimsley so that he could protect and save them. Where was he now? Now he was dead, his spirit released by such an abomination as Orellia.

The feelings with Grimsley were suddenly sucked away into a vacuum, an all-consuming black hole that was deep within him; the same one that had appeared back after the ship's crash. Grimsley didn't feel anything anymore. He murmured apologies to Gretta for letting their father slip through his fingers yet again, but he would avenge him this time. The first time he had been taken from them it was by the cruel hand of war; this time the blame belonged to the Jahari. And Grimsley would kill the Jahari.

The young man pulled away from his older engineer, turning back to face major Orellia. A cold night wind blew through the streets of Narrius and wrapped itself around Grimsley's icy heart, a final farewell hug from his father that whisked away the last of Grimsley's tears. And so the teen from Easley withdrew his pistol, the one he had never used to take a life but had held so close to himself and preserved with loving care. It would be the instrument of Orellia's death.

In a clash of anger the two combatants collided with one another, and Grimsley deftly rolled to avoid being crushed by his larger foe, shooting bullets up into his opponent's chest and gut. At such a close range they had more bite to them than the other soldiers but still weren't enough to bring such a beast down. Orellia swatted Grimsley aside, catching the pilot's left shoulder and sending him spiralling back a few feet.

Grimsley winced as he stood back up. He used his right arm to shoot so he would be fine but he couldn't stabilize or aim his weapon quite the same way without his left arm. Orellia closed the new gap in an instant but Grimsley ducked under his strike. The teen's face remained blank during this, only focused on the singular goal of slaughtering whoever it was who took his father from him.

In this trance-like state, Grimsley could see every movement, every little twitch, in slow motion, his body taken over by an ethereal calm yet pumped full of adrenaline. He would become the ultimate warrior now, the only one capable of taking down such a monster. With the help of his father, in his loving memory, with burning revenge, this creature would die.

Grimsley stepped to the side, taking aim at the open wound on Orellia's arm and firing. The Jahari screamed with the impact of the bullets on the raw, exposed flesh and his arm went flailing in response. Capitalizing on the moment of weakness, Grimsley went left, shooting for the injured leg of Orellia. One of the bullets pierced into the skin and drove into the knee joint. In response, the major wobbled and fell forward onto the damaged knee, coming down closer to Grimsley's level.

The young soldier leapt up off Orellia's right arm, using it as a stepping stone to get close his enemy's head. Grimsley took the side of his pistol and cracked it against the Jahari's skull, continuously beating the mutant on the neck, shoulders, and face while maintaining a foothold on the monster. Orellia finally got a grip on Grimsley's foot and pulled the pilot off himself, throwing the teen to the ground before stumbling back a little to recover from the blows he had received.

As though he were a cat, Grimsley twisted to land neatly on his feet and teetered a little before regaining his balance. He spun his pistol around his finger like a gunslinger from the old West and then wiped off the orange blood and grime from it. Orellia was beginning to charge again, much slower and wobblier this time, his face covered in bruises and open wounds oozing out more of his discoloured blood. He was an inhuman horror.

Orellia built up speed again but his attacks were certainly growing sluggish. Grimsley countered with his own head-on assault, dashing at a full tilt run. Suddenly, Grimsley fell to his knees and leaned back, sliding under the mutated major's lumbering form. The pilot pointed his pistol at the leg again to the left and fired. Orellia toppled forward, his unchanged leg finally broken and useless and the beast collapsed onto its stomach.

Grimsley stood back up and the empty clip dropped from his gun. He turned slowly, his cold, grey eyes devoid of emotions, stealing away the life from anyone who looked within them. "You killed those soldiers," he whispered to Orellia, knowing the mutant could hear him. "You nearly killed my friends." Grimsley loaded in a new clip as he approached his downed foe, snapping it into place and letting the next bullet slip into the chamber. "You destroyed my tank." Grimsley's voice was rising as he got closer to Orellia, who was looking over his shoulder and struggling to get up. The wounds the Jahari had received were finally catching up to him as they seeped out more of his precious blood onto the ground. His muscles were reducing, his form starting to return to its old, more human-looking shape.

The emotionless pilot stood above a normal-sized Orellia and placed his foot on his enemy's back. The pistol was pointed down towards the back of the major's head and didn't waver for a moment. "Please," Major Orellia begged. "Spare me. I have valuable information for you! About the enemy! About the Jahari! I can tell you all of it! Everything you need to know!" The gun didn't move. Grimsley's eyes didn't flinch. "One of you, listen to me! Stop him! Ask your superiors!" Orellia had given up reasoning with his executioner now and was pleading his case to all those surrounding.

Clara had stumbled out of her tank and was watching Grimsley with shock. For such a bumbling, foolish kid to be at this kind of level was astonishing. Her wonder was cut off though by a buzzing in her ear as she was contacted by one of her commanders through her personal communicator. "Clara, that information is important to us; you must stop the Private from killing Orellia."

"Yes sir." Clara looked up at the pilot and set off towards him. She didn't know if it was even possible to stop him at this point. "Grimsley! Private Grimsley! By order of the Enian Federation we are to take Major Orellia in for questioning. Drop your weapon."

"Listen to her boy, follow your orders." Orellia grinned in victory, momentarily assured of his life.

"You took my father from me," Grimsley said softly, and pulled the trigger.

* * * * *

"Private Grimsley," the officer spoke harshly, surveying the young man in the chair before him. Grimsley had been called in for debriefing, with Clara and Theo standing to the side and Ronald behind him. "This is one of the few times I have the honour of granting a medal to an outstanding soldier and then stripping him of his rank."

Grimsley kept his gaze averted, his eye flickering between emotion and void, pistol tucked into his holster, still smeared with Orellia's orange Jahari blood. He hadn't spoken a word since he had shot the major on the ground, no matter what anyone had said to him.

"We are aware that you were incredibly brave," the officer continued, "and went above and beyond the call of duty in taking down such a monster. But all of us must find a way to control ourselves if orders change; it is the nature of the military. Unfortunately you also lost your tank in the combat and so we no longer have any position for you here in the army. You are being honourably discharged for disobeying orders but for saving lives in the process, and are given one night's rest here in the barracks before you are to return to Easley. What remains of your tank have already been shipped there and we have no need for the scrap metal of something so old."

The officer walked past Grimsley on his way out the door, pausing beside the pilot. "I understand it's hard," he said, placing a hand on the youth's shoulder. "Terrible things have happened to all of us. You've done some great things here while you were around, we won't forget it. Thank you Grimsley." The officer continued to the doorway and stopped again. "Oh and you can take your friend with you." He pointed his thumb at Ronald before exiting.

Grimsley left silently then and went to his room, locking the door behind him and falling onto his bed for the evening. The next day he awoke and stepped out to find Ronald waiting for him with a couple bags in hand. "Let's go then," Grimsley muttered without intonation.

"Yes sir, but might I suggest a detour first?"

"I don't really know if I'm in the mood Ronald," Grimsley answered as they walked down the hall to the elevator.

"I think it will help elevate your feelings a bit. Come along now." Grimsley shrugged and complied, much of his spirit still drained away by the hole inside of him, and so he went with Ronald to a remote section of Narrius, filled with different warehouses and storage units in varying states of disrepair.

"What are we going to find here exactly Ronald?" Grimsley asked, a pang of sadness ringing through his voice as he thought about leaving the army a failure, without his father's tank.

"Over the years I collected parts and bits and bobbles from all the old Goliaths coming through town, as well as the excess from the factories." The two stepped inside one of the buildings, one that looked like a farmer's silo that shot up into the skyline of Narrius. "And I had a friend of mine help me to put them together." Ronald flicked on a switch and lights came to life above, shining down on a Goliath standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by scaffolding and support beams to keep it upright.

"Ronald this..."

"Of course it was always missing a couple of pieces. It just never felt right. So I had the army send the remains of your tank here. It gave me an idea." Ronald brought Grimsley closer to the Goliath. It was made up of a conglomerate of different components, welded together to make something that almost seemed functional. Bulkier than the average Exo-class battlesuit, made to be balanced yet sturdy, it was composed of various shades of silvers, and beiges, and jungle greens. On its shoulders were two shark fins sticking up into the air that were just being finished off in the welding process. They were the same faded green as Grimsley's tank.

"Were those from..."

"Yes, I thought it would help it look better and stabilize it whenever it made jumps. Of course it never had the right kind of firepower, so I had to borrow from you." Grimsley followed Ronald's gaze towards the Goliath's arms. In its left hand it gripped a battle-axe that was as large as the Goliath itself, a wicked close combat device meant to severe anything that got near. On the right wrist, something familiar was being sealed onto the metal: the cannon from the Goliath-killer tank. "Once we finish hard-wiring it, the cannon will be fully operational as a weapon. Just point and fire."

"Ronald this is...it's unbelievable." Grimsley blinked and colour seeped into his eyes, along with tears. Was this a resurrection of his father? Back from the dead? His undying memory now ready to serve once more? "What are you going to do with it?"

"Well I always planned to run it into war when I was ready to finally die but after what I saw yesterday I mean....well there's never quite been a pilot like that I've ever come across, and I used to serve in the war back when Goliaths were first comin' round boy! So I thought to myself why not let the boy use it?"

"You're giving me your Goliath Ronald? I couldn't! You spent your life building it only to give it away like this?"

"Give it away? Ha! Check the cockpit for yourself, there's two seats ma'boy! You're gonna need an engineer out there, especially if you want'a do that overdrive thingy-majig again." Ronald winked at Grimsley before being swept up in a giant hug from the teenager. Grimsley wiped away some of his tears on Ronald's clothes and thought about what Gretta would think when she saw it.

And on the chest of the Goliath the symbol of the Enian Federation, torn from Grimsley's tank, was being put into place.

A/N: An unbelievable end to Grimsley's adventures! But now he enters a whole new world as a Goliath pilot. What lies waiting for the comical duo in the world? You'll have to wait to find out!