Ashleigh "Ash" Reid

Ash
Biographical Information
Real Name	Ash
Status	Operational (Injured, uploaded, destroyed, rebuilt by Vinson Dynamics)
Cause of Death	Unknown (Human) Jack Cooper and BT (Simulacrum)
Occupation	Mercenary
Affiliation(s)	Vinson Dynamics Apex Predators (formerly) Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (Contracted mercenary) ARES Division (Contracted mercenary)
Weapons Used	Ronin-class Titan
Physical Description
Species	Simulacrum Human (Formerly)
Gender	Female
Game Information
Appears in	Titanfall 2, Titanfall Assault
Voiced by	Anna Campbell

“

Am I not allowed to enjoy myself while I work? — Ash

”

Ash is a Simulacrum Pilot and a supporting antagonist in the single-player campaign of Titanfall 2. Once an elite Pilot, she was severely injured, and her mind was transferred to a robot body. She was subsequently hired by Kuben Blisk and joined the Apex Predators. As one of Blisk's lieutenants, Ash was given command of an IMC battalion stationed at the IMC Dynamic Testing Facility on Typhon. After her defeat on Typhon, she was rebuilt by Vinson Dynamics to serve their interests; no longer with the Apex Predators, she serves as the corporation's field commander and primary liaison for mercenary Pilots in Titanfall 2's multiplayer. She claims to have business with the Remnant Fleet, as she believes they may have insight to her existence and purpose.

Defeating Ash in the mission Into The Abyss unlocks the Dust to Dust achievement.

Biography

Early life

Not much is known about Ash's history prior to her becoming a Simulacrum. However, the Remnant Fleet is known to hold information about Ash's past in their databanks.

Typhon

By the time of the Battle of Typhon, Ash was a successful mercenary Pilot in the Apex Predators, piloting a customised Ronin-class Titan. Following the initial assault by the 9th Militia Fleet, Ash would deploy with the Predators into battle. Eventually, the group would come across the Vanguard-class Titan BT-7274, Piloted by Tai Lastimosa. Ash would use her Titan's Phase Dash to sneak up on BT, ripping several Batteries out and causing the Vanguard to be severely damaged. Believing the threat taken care of, Ash would then retreat to the Dynamic Testing Facility.

Ash's personalised Ronin.

The following day, BT-7274, now piloted by Jack Cooper, would arrive in the facility after having defeated Kane. Ash would soon capture BT in the claws of a manipulation arm used for construction. As Cooper pursued the Titan, Ash would proceed to taunt the Pilot, while often commemorating his dedication compared to those of the troopers placed under her command.

Eventually, Ash would lead Cooper into a simulation dome, wanting to test the Pilot's skills against the newly-constructed Reaper. However, against Ash's expectations, Cooper would survive and escape the confines of the Dome. This would lead to Blisk berating Ash for wasting time instead of simply killing the Militia Pilot, leading to Ash activating the facility's self-destruct. However, Ash would confront Cooper and BT to prevent the duo's escape, resulting in a fierce battle. Ultimately, Ash would be 'killed', and Cooper would escape the facility.

Vinson Dynamics

Following her supposed death at the hands of Jack Cooper, Ash would be rebuilt by arms manufacturer Vinson Dynamics, and contracted to lead their own military force. It is unknown as to whether Ash and Vinson Dynamics were familiar before the events on Typhon, or whether Vinson Dynamics was able to retrieve what remained of her body and 'brain' before the planet's destruction. Likewise, it is unknown as to whether her memory loss stems from conversion to Simulacrum form and/ or Regeneration prior to the events of Titanfall 2, or whether the reconstruction by Vinson Dynamics caused this amnesia. In any case, Ash continues to believe that the truth of her existance can be found with the Remnant Fleet, and so she leads field ops on behalf of Vinson Dynamics in hopes of discovering the truth about her.

Personality and Traits

Cold and calculating with a relatively monotone voice, Ash rarely exhibits empathy for her enemies, seeing them merely as playthings to be used in experimentation and testing. When not on assignment for Blisk, she spent the majority of her time at the IMC Dynamic Testing Facility creating new combat simulations, often using captured Militia soldiers as test subjects. Despite this, she is shown to have at least some sense of honour, sticking to her word when promising she would not kill Jack Cooper before his testing.

Like all Apex Predators, Ash often laments the (lack of) motivation in the IMC security forces given to her command, and often comments on their ineffectiveness. She is shown to have no qualms with killing hundreds or thousands of IMC personnel, and destroying billions of dollars' worth of assets when scuttling entire bases just to kill one enemy Pilot.

As a field commander for Vinson Dynamics, Ash maintains her cold and calculating presence, but she is much more generous and appreciative towards those Pilots under her guidance, noting their performance in the field with her thoughtful commentary. She is quick to remind that she and her Pilots work on behalf of Vinson Dynamics, whom she assures are "grateful" for their effort. She speaks matter-of-factly and moves with mechanical precision.

Titanfall: Assault

Ash
Type	Pilot
Rarity	Legendary
Roles	Crowd Control Pilot, Robotic
Supply	4
Unlock Level	Gold I

Ash was added to Titanfall: Assault as a deployable Pilot in the 2.1.1 patch. As a Simulacrum, Ash uses a modified Vortex Shield that both blocks incoming damage and takes control of enemy Robotics (Spectres, Reapers, Stalkers, sentries, drones). Killing Ash releases her control over enemies.

Ash' Vortex Shield prevents all damage from enemies targetting her from the front, but it does nothing to stop attacks from behind her or damage from AoE effects that do not target her. Periodically, she will briefly drop her shield to fire an energy bolt, then resume protecting herself.

Ash's attack hits all targets, flying and grounded, in a modest area. All targets struck are momentarily stunned; however, all robotic targets struck (except for Titans and Pilots but including Drones and Depots) are instantly hacked and will proceed to fight on Ash's side until destroyed (that is, they are or she is). They behave like normal units of their type, just, for the other side.

Trivia

• Ash's mask is based off porcelain "death masks", taken as a cast of the deceased's face in some cultures around the world. As artist Joel Emslie describes, "We were thinking she wears a death mask from her past human self on her current robot body."
• Ash appears to practice martial arts or yoga, even as a simulacrum. One of her multiplayer introductions is giving a Chinese palm-to-fist salute and bow to the Pilots on her dropship, while another shows her performing the tree pose (Vrikshasana) or the "invisible chair" exercise before opening the dropship's hatch.
• When taking her down with an execution at the end of the fight against her at the end of the mission Into The Abyss in Titanfall 2, she will be crushed by in BT's hand and what appears to blood will be sent flying out. This could possibly be some red colored lubricant to keep her systems from overheating.

Gallery

Ash's callsign card.

"Ashes to Ashes" Banner.

"Dust to Dust" achievement.

A render of Ash, extracted from game files.

Concept art of Ash for Titanfall: Assault