Nier Automata (Re)Birth Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Gun-Grave

Crouched on a roof overlooking a dazzling scenery of dancing holograms and neon signs, two YoRHa androids and one POD closely observed as hundreds of Neo-Machines scurried around the base of a massive gun, the barrel aimed westwards and to the stars.

It was a massive construction project that had taken up the near entirety of the center of the City of Dreams, or as it had once been known, Las Vegas, and had only recently been finished. The finishing touches were still being placed, but it was more than capable of firing already.

“Ready?” A2 asked, and nearby, 9S nodded.

“Ready.”

POD 153 beeped in affirmation.

Nothing else had to be said. Together, the trio leapt off the building and plummeted towards the ground.

As they fell, there was a thunderous explosion in the distance, to the north of the city, and the Neo-Machines at the cannon twitched and immediately began to charge off in that direction, eager to challenge that threat.

What were the two of them doing, plummeting towards the weapon? It was a mission, obviously.

Back in LA, the rocket containing the last of the items from the Hollywood Vault was ready to launch. However, there was a lot of danger surrounding it. Every time there’d been a launch from the Observatory, the Neo-Machines had tried to stop it.

Flying Neo-Machines had swarmed one of them, and actually destroyed the rocket, rendering the data unsalvageable. Numerous AA guns were built to defend the site afterwards. Then, the Neo-Machines tried to shell the launch pad and Observatory. G and F-types had managed to destroy the enemy artillery before it could fire a second time. Electromagnetic energy shields were then built around the site to prevent a second attempt.

Purple Athena’s most recent attempt to destroy part of humanity’s cultural knowledge and heritage was the construction of a massive AA gun within Las Vegas that, if fired, could easily strike the rocket as it launched from Hollywood and flew upwards out of the atmosphere, when it was most vulnerable.

That enormous cannon was the reason A2 and 9S were currently there in the first place. Their orders were to stop it from firing while the launch took place, foiling the Neo-Machines plot.

All of the digital contents of the vault had already been copied and sent up to the Moon Base, leaving just the physical memorabilia.

The loss of another fragment of human civilization would affect morale, and YoRHa could not allow that to happen. Things were already tense enough with the pressure from all sides baring down on them.

And that was why A2 and 9S were there. To save the rocket. And to keep a weapon of mass destruction out of the hands of the enemy.

The pair landed on the barrel of the giant gun, their arrival unnoticed for the moment thanks to the distraction going on elsewhere. But the element of surprise was fickle and quick to fade, and they had to move fast.

As they ran along the enormous barrel, 9S took a moment to scan it as he ran. The giant gun was shaped like a giant old western revolver, as if they’d taken a six-shooter and just scaled it up. Instead of bullets, though, the cannon was made to fire concentrated lasers, not unlike the orbital artillery the Bunker and other YoRHa satellites wielded.

‘A single shot at half power would be enough to reach and take down the Bunker itself if it were still in it’s old position above the Earth,’ 9S thought to himself, worried. If YoRHa’s HQ had still been in space, 9S would have been very concerned about this cannon being able to shoot the Bunker in orbit.

The fact that this massive weapon had only been built in Las Vegas, and for the sole purpose of shooting down a rocket that contained only memorabilia and physical copies of ancient human books and movies, boggled the mind for how utterly stupid and wasteful it was. Surely Purple Athena could have thought of a better way to destroy the rocket?

But if she had conceived of other methods to do so, the demented AI had decided to ignore them, and instead chose to bring to life an idea so ridiculous, that when construction on it had first been reported back to the Bunker, it had initially been deemed as a joke, or just a distraction from the real plot, and dismissed and forgotten about.

‘And now we have egg on our face and a short window of opportunity to stop this damned weapon from firing,’ 9S griped to himself. The gun couldn’t be taken out with a well-placed orbital strike due to the powerful electromagnetic barriers protecting it, and it was further protected with numerous advanced maso-based energy shields. Thus, this crazy plan to infiltrate it mere minutes before it could fire, which was the only time the various defenses would be lowered enough for a small team to get in and out.

“I see a hatch,” A2 said, her voice low as she pointed to an emergency door that led into an observatory-like room up above where the hammer of a gun would normally be.

“Looks like a good place to go in,” 9S said. “We can probably shut the cannon down from within, assuming it leads to the primary firing solution and control system.”

“One can only hope,” A2 grunted. Reaching the door, 9S quickly hacked the hatch, popping it open for them to pass through.

The interior was stark white and smooth, not a speck of dust to be seen. It made them wonder if the door had ever been used at all since it was installed.

A short corridor led to a command center, which had a door leading deeper into the facility.

“There, up ahead!” 9S said happily. “That’s the main control console!”

The room was filled with beeping monitors and terminals, with rows of computers being tended to by several Neo-Machines, who were typing away at keyboards and keeping their eyes on the status of the giant weapon.

‘Yet another design flaw Purple Athena has introduced into her operations,’ 9S noted as he looked at the lack of security in the room. No cameras could be detected, and there weren’t even any armed guards. It would be child’s play to disable the command center.

Without hesitating, A2 lunged at the Neo-Machines, whose backs were turned to the intruders.

The first two were cleaved in half before the rest of the room had noticed, and then three more Neo-Machines were obliterated before they could react. Soon, only five more were left, but they were dispatched by 9S.

Meanwhile, POD 153 had unleashed signal jammers at the same time as the sneak attack had begun, preventing the servants of Purple Athena stationed elsewhere from noticing.

“Get hacking,” A2 ordered her companion, glaring at the downed enemies.

“I know, I know!” 9S replied, waving a hand at her words. He walked over to a nearby console and placed a hand on it, sending his consciousness into the terminal’s systems.

For a few long minutes, the S-type was off in his own world, but all of a sudden loud, blaring sirens began to ring out, and 9S staggered back, a hand on his head and sparks spewing from the console he’d been trying to hack.

“Damn it!” 9S exclaimed, slamming a fist furiously onto the control panel in frustration.

“What? What’s wrong?” A2 demanded, eyes darting around the control room as many of the computers within started to shut down.

“They’ve locked me out of the cannon’s firing system and triggered the alarms! There’s no way to turn either of them off from here!” he informed her, and she scowled.

“Well, how do we stop it from shooting down the rocket, then?!” she asked.

“We’ll have to destroy the power generators!” 9S replied after thinking over it.

“And where would those be?” A2 asked. He placed his hand on a nearby console, trying to hack it once more before it was completely locked down.

“Checking schematics… damn! They’ve blocked me from accessing those as well!” 9S grunted. “Their firewalls and security is better than expected!”

“Then how do we find a way to shut this damn thing off?”

“Give me a couple seconds!” 9S told her, concentrating on the device in front of him. Unfortunately, a group of Neo-Machines appeared in the doorway.

“We don’t have that much time!” A2 warned as she slashed them to pieces before they could take a step inside the room. But more were already coming down the corridor towards them.

9S ignored her, focusing instead on pushing through Purple Athena’s digital defenses.

“153, you’re with me!” A2 instructed the POD, who bobbed in the air.

“Request confirmed. Moving to protect 9S with the assistance of A2,” the POD beeped, opening firing with a barrage of energy bullets. They weren’t very effective, but they slowed the Neo-Machines down somewhat as they tried to take cover.

In the end, the enemy kept pushing forward, using the destroyed remains of their companions as shields against the POD’s attacks.

Well, until 153 fired off a massive laser that pierced through the corpses of the Neo-Machines and struck the ones cowering behind them.

Explosions rocked the corridor, and A2 whistled.

“You PODs sure know how to wreck stuff,” she complimented. 153 had no face with which to express herself, but she somehow managed to radiate a smug aura in response to A2’s praise.

“Statement: It is only natural,” 153 said proudly, before beeping. “Alert! More enemies approaching.”

“Yeah, no shit,” A2 grunted, spying another column of Neo-Machines marching forward, two abreast. However, these ones looked better prepared, being equipped with energy shields that they were holding in front of themselves.

“Think another laser of yours would get through?” A2 wondered, and POD swung back and forth in the air.

“Negative. There is a high chance that maso weapons will be ineffective against those energy barriers,” POD 153 warned.

“Well, good thing we have things other than maso,” A2 smirked, before darting forward with her sword.

The Faith model sword passed through the energy field as if it wasn’t even there, piercing through the head of the Neo-Machine behind the shield. She then violently ripped the blade out, twisting it to the side so it sliced through the neck of the Neo-Machine next to her.

They staggered, and the shields flickered and died. A2 then jumped back and ducked as 153 unleashed a second beam over her head. With the barriers down, the Neo-Machines crowding the hallway were obliterated with ease.

“That was easy,” she grunted. “Now to wait for the nerd to finish.”

“I’ve got it!” 9S suddenly exclaimed.

“Finally! Took you long enough,” A2 grunted. “Where are the generators?”

“Since the firewalls were keeping me out, I had to check the flow of power going through the gun,” 9S explained. “And the generators are located below the gun itself, according to where all the energy is coming from.”

“I don’t care about that! How do we stop the damn thing?!” A2 demanded.

“We disable the generators, and it won’t be able to charge up to fire,” 9S explained succinctly. “And maybe it’ll blow the whole thing up if we do it right.”

“Great, that’s what I like to hear!” A2 said, grinning savagely. “Where do we go?”

9S raised a hand, palm pointed upwards to the ceiling, and a holographic layout of the gun appeared in the air.

“We’re here,” he said, and a point near where the ‘hammer’ of a regular gun would be lit up with three blue dots. “And the generators are down here.”

A section beneath the massive cannon flashed green. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of Neo-Machines between here and there.”

This time, purple dots appeared throughout the gun, and outside it too.

“Who cares? I’ve faced worse odds before,” A2 scoffed. “Just point the way and I’ll clear it.”

“Alright, then,” 9S shrugged, and a blue line appeared, tracing a path through the giant gun’s internal workings. It zigged and zagged all over the place, and it looked like they’d have to pass through most of the purple dots.

However, A2 didn’t appear worried at all. If anything, the grin on her face only grew. “What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go!”

She then grabbed 9S by the arm and dragged him off, POD 153 floating behind them.

“Die! Die! DIE!” A2 cackled madly, her sword a blur as she carved a path through the gun towards the generators. Neo-Machines tried but failed to stop her, the berserker YoRHa unstoppable in the narrow confines of the cannon’s maintenance shafts, corridors, and walkways.

“W-we’re half-way there,” 9S panted as they came to a stop in front of a giant elevator door. He took his arm back from A2, wincing a bit. “I think you dislocated it!”

“Quit being a baby,” A2 scoffed, before punching him in the shoulder.

“OW!” 9S cried out. Still, her action managed to pop his arm back into place, and he was left to grumble under his breath as he hacked the elevator console.

“Come on, we don’t have a lot of time left!” A2 muttered, tapping her foot impatiently.

“Calm down, I’m going as fast as I can!” 9S retorted.

“Not fast enough!” A2 declared, before grabbing the doors and prying them open, revealing the elevator shaft. “How deep down is it?”

“All the way at the bottom,” 9S replied, rolling his eyes behind his blindfold-like visor at her brute force approach to solving problems.

“Great!” she said cheerfully. “And there’s even a maintenance ladder!”

A2 grabbed on and began to descend, climbing down the interior of the elevator shaft towards the bottom. Sighing to himself, 9S had no choice but to follow, and 153 beeped in amusement before following along as well, floating down with them.

As they clambered down, 9S winced as he detected vibrations running through the rungs.

“Look out! The elevator’s coming up!” 9S exclaimed, looking down at the large metal box that was shooting up towards them from below. And from the signals he was detecting, there were some powerful Neo-Machines inside it!

“153, get rid of it,” A2 said, uncaring of the danger, and the POD tilted downwards before firing a laser straight down into the elevator. It exploded violently, shaking the walls of the elevator shaft, while the Neo-Machines within were blown apart and sent tumbling back down.

“There, problem solved,” the A-type replied before continuing to climb down.

9S shared a look with 153, and android and POD both shook their heads at A2’s antics.

The trio soon reached the bottom of the elevator shaft, climbing over the twisted wreckage of the elevator and its contents that’d been shot down earlier, before prying open the doors.

On the other side, they found themselves in a long, dimly lit corridor with several large blast door bulkheads arranged along the path.

9S hacked them all with ease, opening them up for the group to pass through, and they soon came to a room filled with whirring machinery.

“Is this the generator?” A2 asked curiously, looking up at the towering mass of pipes, wires, cables, and metal scaffolding before them.

“Part of it,” 9S replied. He pointed towards a large device in the middle of the room suspended by numerous wires and cables and protected behind a shielded containment shell made of thick metal. “That is the, I suppose you could it the battery, where all the power is being stored. When it’s built up enough, it’ll be ready to fire.”

“And how long until then?” A2 asked.

“Calculating. Based on current energy draw, you have two minutes before the weapon reaches the minimum amount of power necessary to strike down the rocket,” 153 informed.

“And that’s exactly when the rocket is set to launch,” 9S grimaced. He strode towards a terminal and began to hack it, only to frown at what he found.

“Not good, this is gonna take some time,” he muttered.

“Well, hurry up,” A2 ordered. She then glanced up at the ceiling. “And while you’re at it, I’ll deal with this bozo.”

“Huh?” 9S asked, confused, glancing back at her, then following her gaze. “Oh.”

Above, a dangerous looking Neo-Machine was hanging from the ceiling and staring down at them, eyes a baleful purple.

“You’re new,” A2 noted, eyes narrowing as she took in the Neo-Machine.

While it was bipedal and humanoid in appearance, it was also tall, around seven feet, with four arms. The top two large and bulky like a gorilla’s with hands large enough to crush an android’s head with a single squeeze, while the lower pair possessed sharp, sword-like blades in place of hands.

“For the Goddess!” the Neo-Machine screamed as it hurled itself down at A2.

“Heh! At last, a challenge!” the last of the A-types laughed darkly, gleefully clashing with the Neo-Machine.

They exchanged a flurry of blows, the sword-arms being deflected with deft strikes of her own sword, while she dodged the pulverizing punches.

While that went on, 9S quickly began to try and find a way to disable the generator. POD 153 was acting as a defender, blocking stray shots and debris with a reinforced bubble-shaped energy shield.

A2’s clash with the four-armed enemy was starting to damage its surroundings,

It reared its upper-left arm back, and a purple glow suffused its fist. A2 raised an eye at that, and readied herself to resist, but when the punch came towards her, an explosion of purple energy struck her, sending the gynoid flying. She flipped through the air, landing on her feet, her outfit burnt in places.

“Huh, you can use spells?” she muttered, intrigued.

“It probably has a small maso-battery within it to power them!” 9S called over to her. “But it doesn’t seem to be as efficient as the ones used by PODs, who can also absorb maso from the atmosphere. It can probably only cast a few more spells!”

“Good to know,” A2 replied.

She then raised her blade, and a white shimmer covered the sword. “I can do the same thing too!”

Training against her son had let her learn quite a few new tricks, including how to fight against someone using maso energy. And doing so had gotten her curious as to whether she could do the same. As an artificial being, she wasn’t really able to do so naturally, but if PODs could do it, why not her?

And so she’d discreetly gotten an upgrade from POD 42 that let her manipulate the maso particles in the air. At most, she could coat her weapons in maso energy, or boost her physical abilities, but that was enough for A2. She’d defeated far stronger enemies with just a sword before. This was just going to be a training exercise to see how well her control over maso was in a combat situation.

White met purple, and shockwaves erupted from the clash, forcing both A2 and the Neo-Machine to jump back and assess each other.

“Huh, you’re kinda strong,” A2 admitted.

“For the Goddess!” it screamed back at her and sent a spear of purple energy flying at her face. She countered it, and the battle was resumed.

As they clashed, 9S was growing more frustrated with his hacking attempts.

“What’s the hold up?!” A2 demanded as she blocked a flurry of purple energy darts. The ones that missed her pierced through the floor up to an inch! She didn’t want to get hit by those!

“Damn it!” 9S snarled. “There’s too many redundancies in this system! Every time I try to shut down the power generator, it reactivates! And whenever I try to overload it, it reroutes the flow elsewhere!”

“Then what can you do?!” A2 demanded.

“I, uh, I can open the containment cell for the battery, and then you can destroy it directly,” 9S suggested after a moment.

“Do that, then!” A2 replied. She then shot a glare at her opponent.

“As for you… Die!” A2 roared, slashing across the Neo-Machine’s chest, one of its sword-arms getting sliced off as it tried to block her strike.

“Heh, that’ll teach you not to mess with… huh?” A2 exclaimed, staring in disbelief as the jagged wound in its body glowed purple, and the damaged section rapidly repaired itself!

“They can heal now?!” she exclaimed. Even its arm was back in one piece, the broken pieces floating back onto its body as if time was moving in reverse all of a sudden!

“Blessed be the Goddess!” the Neo-Machine declared, and A2 could swear it was mocking her with its tone!

Nearby, 9S cheered as he managed to hack the containment unit. With a grinding whir, the artillery platform’s battery became exposed.

“And with less than a minute to spare!” he laughed in relief. “Hurry, A2!”

She nodded, and blitzed forward towards it, but the Neo-Machine jumped in front of her, sending out a shockwave from its body that forced her back.

Frowning, she tried to do so again, but found that it was able to block all of her attempts.

“It’s keeping me from getting close to the power source!” A2 shouted angrily as the Neo-Machine knocked her away again.

“I have to keep the security systems from blocking me and closing the shutters again! You have to do it!” 9S shot back, POD 153 protecting him while he hacked the system.

“Argh! MOVE!” she roared, but the Neo-Machine just laughed.

“Rocket launch in forty seconds!” 9S called out, fear tinging his voice.

“I’m working on it!” A2 growled as she flung herself back at the four-armed Neo-Machine who barred her path.

“Thirty seconds!” the S-type warned her frantically.

“Shut up!” the A-type snarled as she tried to get past her opponent.

“Twenty!”

“Just shut up and let me concentrate!”

“TEN!” 9S screamed in fear.

“ARGH!” A2 roared, engaging Berserker mode. She shot forward faster than before, her body and sword wreathed in a crackling field of red-tinted, maso-enhanced electricity, and slammed into the Neo-Machine blocking her with her shoulder, carrying it with her towards her target. A2 then thrust her blade forward and pinned the Neo-Machine into the side of the generator’s battery.

Channeling all of her rage and Berserker granted strength, she then ripped Faith upwards, splitting the Neo-Machine in half while also gouging out a massive chunk of the battery.

Enormous bolts of electricity and maso-tinted flames began to erupt from the rupture point, and the room quickly became extremely dangerous to be hanging around in.

“SHIELD!” A2 screamed as she ran back towards 9S and POD 153, grabbing them both as she booked it for the exit.

153 knew what to do, and just as the generator’s battery exploded, the little POD raised as powerful a maso barrier as she could make, wrapping all three of them in a shimmering white bubble of protection.

The blast was still massive, however, and it threw them down the corridor, bouncing them off the walls, floor, and ceiling until they came to a halt by slamming into a blast-door that’d lowered to contain the blast.

The several inches of reinforced metal didn’t manage to hold up to the fury of the nuclear inferno that was unleashed for long, however, and it melted around the bubble shield.

POD 153 began to emit sparks as it struggled to keep the shield around them intact, and it took 9S pumping dozens of healing codes into the robot to prevent it from shutting down.

But as fast and furious as the explosion was, it was also over very quick. When they finally came to a stop after being thrown out from the gun itself, they slammed into a building over a mile away from the epicenter of the blast.

“W-we did it!!” 9S cheered, pumping a fist as he staggered out of the rubble.

“Huh, we didn’t die,” A2 muttered. “Thought for sure we’d end up goners.”

“Good work, 153!” 9S praised the hardworking robot, only to frown as he saw the damage it’d suffered. It’s casing was melted almost completely away, and many electronics had burst from the strain.

“Damn, look at the damage,” A2 muttered, glancing around at the damage done to the city. The blast had been somewhat contained due to being underground, but there was enough destruction that’d overflowed that a huge part of the city had been toppled. Buildings were broken and strewn about, with the remains of Neo-Machines littered about, crushed beneath rubble or shattered by the shockwave.

“There it goes,” 9S murmured softly, watching as the faint speck of light that was the rocket’s thrusters burned faintly in the sky, like stars as it ascended into space.

A2 snorted, not all that impressed. Still, she was glad it had launched safely and was on its was to the Moon Base. It meant her job was finally done. No more reason to stick around in LA.

She was itching to get into a fight, not play guard duty. The sabotage of the giant cannon had been nice, but it wasn’t enough.

“We’re returning to the Observatory,” she told 9S, who nodded.

“Got it. 153, can you inform the rest that the job is done?”

“If they missed the exploding giant weapon then they need their eyes replaced,” A2 grunted as the POD beeped and transmitted the info, letting the other androids know they could retreat from the distraction they’d been making.

The trio moved through the streets, making their way to the rendezvous point outside of Las Vegas where the Terran Army had said they’d be waiting.

There, a dozen trucks and ground-bound vehicles awaited them, idling with the engines on in case they needed to make a quick get away. Several Terran Army members were already there, nursing wounds, while a couple YoRHa were nearby as well.

“Yo! A2! 9S! Damn good work out there!” a cheerful F-type said, waving at them as they approached the camp.

“6F. I see you survived,” A2 noted.

“Course I did! Couple of clankers can’t get rid of me that easily!” he laughed. “Have to say, though, I’m jealous! I’ve never been able to make such a big explosion like you two did!”

“And for that, we’re all grateful for White’s restraint and common sense,” 9S said.

The demolitions expert snorted at that. “Bah! It’s not like we can’t rebuild when the war is over! What’s a demolished city or two if it means the Machine Menace is defeated for good?”

“He’s got a point,” A2 agreed, causing 9S to splutter.

“No he does not!” 9S uttered indignantly.

6F and A2 shared a look with each other, smirking.

“No kill quite like overkill,” they said in unison, causing 9S to groan in despair.

“There’s two of them! Just wonderful!” he grumbled.

“Hey, one of me was enough to win the 14th Machine War, so in my opinion there needs to be quite a few more androids out there like me,” A2 declared, arms folded.

“I was there too,” 9S muttered petulantly.

A2 just smiled condescending at the S-type until he gave up, walking away in a huff.

“Are we departing soon?” he asked a driver.

“When the rest get back, we will,” the android replied.

“Who are we still waiting on?” 9S inquired.

“Glimmer Squad is the only group from the distraction not back yet,” was the response 9S got.

“I see. Inform me when they return,” 9S requested.

A bit more time passed, but the last squad still did not return, and 9S was getting antsy.

“No response,” he said aloud after failing to contact them.

“Then they’ve likely fallen in battle,” 6F assumed with a grimace.

“We can’t keep waiting forever,” A2 said. “Ten more minutes is all we can spare. If they’re not back by then… we must return without them.”

“Damn it,” 9S sighed. “I was hoping we could pull this operation off without any casualties.”

“A nice dream, if an unlikely one,” a Resistance model commented.

The minutes ticked away, feeling like hours with how they seemed to stretch on. 9S

When the ten minutes were finally up, A2 sighed heavily, and gestured to the androids milling about.

“Pack it up, and prepare to return to base,” she ordered solemnly, and the soldiers of the Terran Army obeyed, gathering up supplies and piling into the transports.

The teams sent to ensure the destruction of the giant cannon drove back to LA in silence, the lose of their companions in Glimmer Squad bringing the mood down considerably.

“Now what?” somebody asked, breaking the silence.

“We return, and receive a new mission,” A2 said. “We continue to fight until we win.”

Androids nodded solemnly in agreement at that. There really wasn’t any other option, in the end.

“I hate this,” another android muttered. “We finally had peace! Why did this bitch have to fight us?”

“Because she’s insane,” A2 replied. “Now shut up and stop whining. You want this to be over? Then help stop Purple Athena. And you won’t be able to do that by asking politely.”

Grimaces and mumbles answered her that time, but they were stronger and less pessimistic compared to before. 9S hummed to himself as he listened in.

A2 wasn’t the most personable individual. She didn’t really get along with anybody, and her attitude was a big part of that. But at least she was good at motivating people, even if it was just to spite the prickly A-type.

A bit later, the trucks crossed over into ruins of LA, and headed to the basecamp set up around the Griffith Observatory.

A lot of firepower had been deployed to ensure the mission was a success. It wasn’t just the teams of saboteurs sent off to Las Vegas, it was battalions of artillery, numerous aircraft to keep the skies clear, and thousands of androids armed to the teach to repulse any assaults.

And as they got closer, it soon became clear that the Neo-Machines had tried to attack the rocket before it launched. Thousands of metallic bodies – android and Machine alike – lay in the roads and amongst great piles of rubble. Buildings that had previously been standing had been toppled, and spent ammunition casing lay strewn about the place alongside craters and bullet holes.

It was worrying, but the fact that the flag of humanity still flew above the base made them all quite relieved.

“Teams Shatter, Absalom, Winter, and Worm, reporting for duty,” 9S said, saluting the guards at the gate. “Mission success.”

“We saw the blast from here,” one of the soldiers admitted. “Good work.”

He said nothing about the missing squad that should have been with them, well aware of the costs of war. Instead, he just opened the gate and allowed them to enter the base.

The trucks returned to the motor pool while the androids wandered off to unwind before the next mission.

Sadly, while 9S would have liked to join them, he and A2 were expected to debrief, and went looking for the command center. Which, in this case, was a large tent that housed all the communications equipment.

Several days ago, enemy Flickers had managed to infiltrate the old command post and blow it up. Hence why they had to use a tent set up in the middle of the compound.

“A2, 9S, welcome back. Commander White wishes to speak with you,” one of the few T-types out in the field informed them as they approached the command tent. 4T had been assigned to the Observatory in order to conduct maintenance on the rocket and launch site equipment. Now that the final rocket had departed, she’d be leaving for another posting soon.

“Thanks, 4T,” 9S said.

“Wonder what the bitch wants?” A2 mused as 4T nodded and walked off, a curious look on the violent gynoid’s face.

“Please don’t call her that,” 9S pleaded. “Or at the very least, not to her face?”

“No promises,” A2 smirked.

Into the tent they went, frowns on their faces, and approached a blocky holographic projector. When they stopped in front of it, blue lights lit up, and White’s upper torso appeared before them, floating in a blue haze.

“There you are. I heard that the rocket launched successfully. It’s on its way to the moon without incident,” White said, expression as stern as ever. “And I’ve received reports that the cannon was completely destroyed. Well done.”

Before either 9S or A2 could feel pride at her words, White then glared at them. “However, the damage done to the city itself was… extensive. Explain yourselves."

“They were using an experimental maso-generator to power the weapon,” 9S replied. “The explosion was… considerably greater than we expected.”

“There’s a lot of dangerous Neo-Machines that will no longer be a threat to us,” A2 scoffed. “And your precious rocket didn’t get blown out of the sky. I call that a good deal in exchange for one measly city we haven’t fully controlled since the 8th Machine War.”

“That is not your decision to make,” White grit out.

“But it’s the one we had to make in the heat of the moment. Out here, we gotta do what we gotta do,” A2 retorted.

9S sighed heavily, and cast his eyes longingly towards the tent flap. When the two started getting snippy with each other, they could go at it for a long time.

Before it could devolve any further, 9S coughed loudly to get their attention.

“Do you have new orders for us? Perhaps something of the scouting variety. Specifically scouting out the location of a certain traitor?” 9S inquired when the two looked over towards him.

“No, 9S. Stop asking,” White ordered, exasperated.

“I still can’t believe we’re not going after 13R,” 9S griped, clenching his fists. Hearing that 2B had been attacked by a rogue unit working for Purple Athena in the supposed safety of the Bunker itself had infuriated him. He’d wanted nothing more than to rush on back to comfort 2B, and then confront 13R, but he couldn’t. White had forbidden it.

And, to everyone’s surprise, A2 had also restrained 9S. She was furious as well, but she knew they had to do what they could where they were. Running off when the event was already long over would help no one.

It’d been several days since then, and the trail was likely cold by now. As such, he’d just have to wait for 13R to show her face again some other time so he could butcher her for the insult.

“Until we find out how she was able to take over one of our unit’s bodies, there will be no searching for 13R,” White replied firmly.

“Fine,” 9S whined petulantly.

“And, to be perfectly honest, neither YoRHa nor the Terran Army can afford to go looking for her right now,” the commander admitted bitterly.

“What do you mean?” 9S asked, concern coloring his voice.

“Every battlefield without any YoRHa units ends up being pushed to the brink, or outright destroyed. And our selection of units is growing thin as we take casualties of our own,” White replied calmly, though the tightening of her grip around her riding crop revealed just how furious she actually was.

“Then what do you expect us to do?” A2 demanded, glaring at the commander.

“I want you to do what you do best; ruin someone’s day. Preferably Purple Athena’s this time, not mine,” White replied. “To that end, you are being redeployed to a new theater.”

“Finally!” A2 grunted. “Where are we going?”

“Osaka,” White informed her. “There’s a high chance that it will become the main staging ground for an assault on Tokyo in the future, and other sites are at risk, including New Babylon.”

“So, you want us to help the Terran Army clear out the city, huh?” A2 guessed.

“That is correct,” White informed her. “A transport will come and pick you up soon. Be ready!”

“Got it,” 9S said, and A2 grunted in acceptance.

“For the Glory of Mankind,” White said. 9S and A2 saluted.

The war waited for no one.