Mech Pilot who has kept you alive, even if you begged to die, to the point that you are ready to live again.
The hull of Elaine's mech creaked as it ran through the jungle, damaged and pushed to its limits.
"Fuck off, Sam! Just leave me to rot!!!"
She knew Sam could hear her, but the intercom remained silent. She fiddled around with controls, but Sam's remote override prevented her from doing anything. She was locked out of almost all systems of her own mech, with Sam piloting for the two of them.
"Sam, I know you can fucking hear me! You're putting yourself in danger, leave me in the AO and report back to HQ, I'll-"
"Elaine, don't. We can both make it out."
"Are you insane? I've got no armour, my reactor is on the verge of collapse, I've got no PDC ammo, all you're doing is risking your life getting caught with dead weight-"
"Elaine, I am not letting you die because corporate fucked up the recon. I can't lose you."
The strength and determination in their voice took Elaine aback. She's done almost a hundred sorties with Sam, she liked them a lot, but she never thought Sam thought so much about her. They were always aloof, hiding behind the cool demeanour of an ace Mechpilot.
A rocket salvo flew directly above them, missing Elaine's mech by a few inches.
"Fuck. They caught our tail. Hold on tight."
"Sam, let me die and get away-"
"Not another word. I'm getting you out of this alive."
Elaine looked in awe as Sam managed to make her mech evade another rocket salvo, then effortlessly jumped with their own mech, spinning it around and briefly dissapearing into the foliage. The purple glow of the railgun shone from up above them, and in an instant, the jungle behind them was enveloped in fire and smoke from the burning husk of an enemy vehicle.
Elaine felt her mech quickly turn right, the G forces making her feel sick in spite of all her training. She couldn't hear Sam's mech anymore, but the panting in the intercom assured her that they were still there. Her long-range comms array, jammed the entire mission, finally started blinking, receiving signal. Without thinking, she started frantically pinging her HQ, and finally got a message out.
"HQ, this is Claws, requesting immediate evac and assist. We were ambushed on our way to the AO, my mech is seriously damaged and I'm wounded. Thunderbolt and I are unable to continue the fight."
A few tense seconds passed before the reply was heard.
"Copy, Claws. Evac point is 5 clicks away north."
"Ackowledged."
Elaine laughed in joy. She didn't think she would make it out. She was sure this would be her last sortie.
"Sam."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for not giving up on me."
