Chapter one
036
Author's note:
Hello everyone, chief's here.
Just happened to play an old game on the depths of my storage called Total Annihilation. And from there, you can already guess what happened up to this point, a fair warning for you readers that I wouldn't describe existing unit in details (such as AK and Big Bertha) unless it was an original design of mine or came from mods made by the honored community. Hope you enjoy the story and happy reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own Darling the Franxx and Total Annihilation, they belonged to their respective owner and company.
-CORE prime-
The war is finally over.
After four thousand years of chaos and conflict, the war between the CORE empire and the ARM rebellion has finally reached it's conclusion.
Although the ARM rebellion had lost most of it's military might, resources and every single commander unit at their disposal, the rogue CORE commander unit managed to rally the remaining ARM automatons, and took the fight to the CORE prime itself. Ending the regime of the CORE empire once and for all.
Although calling it simply a CORE unit, "it" consider that to be quite an inaccurate statement.
The rogue CORE commander, which is also the last active Commander-type unit left after the great war is traversing the harsh metal terrain of CORE prime. Extracting as many metal leftovers from the final battle.
It stood over thirty meters tall, with a distinctive humanoid body consist of a head, a reversed triangular pyramid shaped torso, abdomen, with two limbs of arms and legs each. Every single part of its body is made of metal, the head had a bit of combination of dome top and diagonally aligned square shaped face plate feature with two blue glowing lenses where the eyes were supposed to be, and two large yellow tubes attached to his back.
On it's left hand, which glow with green energy as it suck the wreckage into it's hole is the Nanolathe. A groundbreaking technology discovered four millenia ago, giving mankind the ability to construct anything starting from Nano-based cells. Coupled with a mounted laser gun attached to it.
On it's right hand is the single most powerful weapon to ever exist, the Disintegrator gun or D-gun for shorts. A powerful energy weapon capable of instantly wiping out anything that is unfortunate enough to be caught in it's line of fire.
"And that, makes the last of them", a synthetic, yet identifiably young masculine voice came out from the machine vocal system.
"I really hope that the CORE central consciousness is gone for good. Since I have deleted the main system in CORE prime, I won't have to worry that they would resurface using any remaining contingency technology anytime soon", it said as it continue to trot the scrap wasteland.
"Although I do find some interesting news, it seems the central had already recovered the missing documents of technology level 4 all the way to 9 however, due to the continuous war against the ARM and the constant undercover acts of sabotage by the rebels has rendered the CORE effort to revive these lost tech futile. It was a good fortune that they never managed to finish this projects", the unit visual monitor, showed several feeds that is tagged LEVEL-00.
"I have also obtained a series of old blueprints compiled to a single database tagged; LEVEL-00. According to the reports, this blueprints is a series of a very old technology that was removed due to their outdated models and use. With a simple tweak in these structures, I might be able to recreate them with better system and more broad purpose",it said as it display an image of repeating codes before suddenly a panel with the word INFORMATION DISCLOSED' appeared.
"Unfortunately, most information and details about the later technology is disclosed. The only unit who had the full information is CORCOM-182, CORCOM-183 and CORCOM-161 which are the leaders of the research group on Planet WW-111, Atioc System. Hopefully, the warp gate still has the coordinate to that location", it said as it departed towards the gate.
-WW-111, Atioc system-
The machine reappeared on an arid wasteland, filled with sand and desert as far as the eyes can see.
"WW-111, according to the database this planet is a hostile region unsuitable for living organism. A perfect location to carry out weapon test, perfect. According to the coordinates, the location of the base shouldn't be too far from here".
Twenty miles to the north later, it discovered an abandoned military complex belonged to the CORE empire. The ruins and wreckage of both machines and buildings is evident of a great battle that occurred here in the past.
"It seems the ARM rebellion have assaulted this base in full force, there's not a single trace of active machine or circuits, let alone a lifeform", it continued to walk deep into the underground base.
"It was a surprise attack, the CORE soldiers are unprepared", it said as it replay scenes from some of the remaining wreckage memory drive as it extract the remains.
"The ARM rebellion decision in attacking this location was a good call, most of the lost technology is reaching the final stage of their development. If they were late even for a moment, then the CORE empire would've had the upper hand and destroyed the remaining resistance in Empyrrean relatively sooner than the schedule", it soon discovered a distinctive Kbot-esque unit's head lying on the ground.
"CORCOM-183…it seems that the memory drive is still intact", a small cable tube flew out from the left hand underneath the laser and attached itself on the head of the fallen Commander unit.
"Good, the memory is still undamaged. I have received all the necessary data for the Technology level 4, 5 and 6 plus the records of their re-development. This can prove to be useful in the future", it soon left the remains and move on to the next target.
"Here's another one, CORCOM-182. In charge with the development of Tech level 7 and 8, it would seems that some of his record is a bit corrupted. But fortunately the main knowledge is still intact, it's still better than nothing I suppose".
The machine went deeper into the abandoned complex, until it reached an isolated location sealed with double doors made of strong multi-layered metal.
"The security system is long disabled. It would be impossible to open the doors using normal method, luckily I have the right tool for the job", the D-gun began to charge up and was aimed towards the door. With a small red energy manifested on the tip it was released into a deadly red energy bullet and destroyed the gate.
"As the humans said it, 'Big gun's, all problem solved'. or so they say", at this moment, the Commander noticed a half destroyed Core Commander unit lying next to what seems to be two pillars.
"CORCOM-161, and it seems it was responsible with the development of the level 9 tech 'Warp Gate'. Yes, it has been two millenia since we lost the access to this technology. The only remaining knowledge that we had, is to only operate it", as he continue to absorb the last feeds inside the memory.
Suddenly, the Commander's sensors flared and barely dodged a rush from something. "What in the-?", the 'thing' was quadrupedal with no sign of organic life detected despite it near perfect replication of a moving living animal. It was covered in a black skin with blue accent, the shape is nearing that to a dog (although it's size was in comparison with a Kbot unit).
"There are no written record about this unit. Was it perhaps a test run made by the CORE scientists?", the 'thing' charged again, but was quickly put down with a laser shot through it's body.
The commander unit started to scan this "unit" for any sign of identifiable object.
"Fascinating, these are foreign technology and materials unknown on any recorded database. Was it perhaps alien technology? As far as the record goes, the human civilization never encountered any intergalactic sentient species beside the occasional local wildlife, natives on those planets. I wonder where does this thing comes from", the commander then reverted back to unit 161 memory feeds.
"Ah, the Core Commander unit were attempting to operate the Warp Gate whilst trying to escape with severe damage due to the ARM's raid. Unfortunately, the coordinates he set malfunctioned and resulted with this thing coming out from the other side, and took out what little remain of this unit durability. It was a miracle that this unit didn't self destruct, I wonder why", the Commander then turned his attention to the warp gate.
"However, as it turns out all possibilities of wherever this unidentified unit came from is no doubt from beyond that warp gate. Perhaps we are not the only sentient species after all", the Commander walked towards the gate before charging it with energy and activating it.
"If per chance that they're hostile just as this unit does, then I'll take proper measure to exterminate them first before they can touch humanity on this side of the universe. We don't need another galactic scale war and let history repeat itself once again", the warp gate started to reboot it's system, before long the machine begin to power up and the coordinates were set.
"Wait a minute, this coordinates is similar, yet at the same time completely differ from the supposed destination which is CORE prime. 161 miscalculated and add several digits which made a wrong coordinate input in it's system", the Commander began tampering with the coordinates to control the damage that is imminent.
"Which means that this warp gate would lead to another location and even dimension entirely altogether, if it's just simply location then it might be more probable and stable but with the current technology, altering dimensions can cause a malfunction resulting the energy to went disarray, and that would lead to-", the gate suddenly imploded, and a bright burst of energy took it's place.
"-Ah scraps. I should have watch all the feeds and read the report properly", the commander's body were engulfed by the light, and just as quick it manifest it disappeared along with the last Commander unit on the galaxy.
-Somewhere across the multiverse-
The planet Earth has changed rapidly over the recent decades.
Through the use of ultra deep excavation, humanity succeeded in obtaining "Magmatic Fuel", that possessed extraordinary energy efficiency. Thus laying waste to the Earth's surface through environmental destruction and deformation of the Earth's crust.
After that, humanity celebrated the construction of a large "plantation" without any vegetation, known as the GARDEN.
However…..
Something suddenly appeared. Mysterious lifeforms began to attack the cities one after another.
They were called: "Klaxosaurs"
APE, a group of scientific geniuses developed a humanoid robot weapons known as: "FRANXX".
Thus, a group of special individuals were tasked with the mission to protect humanity by piloting them known as, "Parasites". These children or Parasites, are those who are capable to pilot FRANXX.
Ever since they were born, they were given code numbers assigned to them and were raised in the Garden. Garden itself, was an establishment created for the sake of nurturing "Parasites" until they developed great adaptive skills.
In order to protect humanity – the adults. And fighting Klaxosaurs, was the parasites only purpose in life.
-Earth's orbit-
A small ripple occured on the blank space near planet Earth's orbit. The originally still and unbending surface of the void, began to show unnatural symptoms until it finally shatter with a burst of explosive light from the core.
After the light fades away, the Commander unit appeared as well.
"That is one very interesting trip. However, I'm surprised that my "body" didn't suffered catastrophic damage from all that inter-dimensional pressure", then it's attention turned towards the nearest planet he could see.
"Ah, a planet. splendid, this could serve as a rendezvous point for me to get back to CORE system", his scanners began trace any record about the planet and the surrounding space and system, however the feeds he received surprised even his patterned mind.
SCANNING ….
ERROR!
ERROR!
COORDINATES UNIDENTIFIED. FULL PLANETARY SCAN [RECOMMENDED]
COMMENCE SCAN? (Y/N)
[YES]
SCANNING…. 0%
SCANNING…. 14%
SCANNING…. 61%
SCANNING…. 97%
SCAN: SUCCESSFUL
UNKNOWN PLANET IDENTIFIED
COMPARE RESULTS WITH AVAILABLE DATABASE? (Y/N)
[YES]
DOWNLOADING DATABASE ….
COMPARING RESULTS …
MATCHING….. 23%
MATCHING …. 58%
MATCHING …. 76%
MATCH: SUCCESSFUL
INITIATING RESULTS …..
STATUS REPORT:
PLANET: EARTH
SYSTEM: 001-SOLAR SYSTEM
GALAXY: MILKY WAY
DOMINATING SPECIES: HUMAN, UNIDENTIFIED LIFEFORM TYPE-02, UNIDENTIFIED LIFEFORM TYPE-09 UNIDENTIFIED LIFEFORM TYPE-?
"This is an interesting development. According to the database, Earth was supposed to be destroyed and annihilated 6000 years ago due to the civil war that occurred between human governments. Did the warp gate perhaps sent me to the past? Although a possibility, I hardly doubt that's that was the case", the unit began to conduct various scans and analysis. To determine the status and liability of the matching report.
"I knew it, the various scans and report about this place is different than the last known record of planet Earth. To start of the coordinates. Although it is similar at first glance, there are some differences which is the crucial code and dimensional records. Secondly, the planet is slightly different than the last report with most of the vegetation on earth rapidly decreasing and the earth crust also suffered a deformation", the unit then noticed a passing by satellite.
"That satellite could give me the much needed information about this planet. If what I presumed to be Humans already had one of these, then I can assume that they've reached quite a high level of technology", the unit latched on to the satellite and draw out a large needle from it's left wrist. Then he proceed to stab the satellite's main system without inflicting any excessive damage.
SATELLITE STATUS: DECOMMISSIONED
REBOOT? [Y/N]
[YES]
REBOOTING…
REBOOT COMPLETE.
WARNING!
FOREIGN SATELLITE DETECTED. OVERRIDE SATELLITE SYSTEM? [Y/N]
[YES]
OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS…
OVERRIDE COMPLETE.
ENCRYPTED DATA IN STORE. DO YOU WISH TO DOWNLOAD THIS DATA? [Y/N]
[YES]
DECRYPTING CODE …
5%…..…...11%…...….34%…...62%….78%…..95%…...100%
DECRYPTION COMPLETE
DOWNLOADING DATA….
[ERROR] SEVERAL DATA CORRUPTED, PROCEED?
[YES]
LOADING…..
DOWNLOAD COMPLETE
"APE….. Klaxosaur…. Garden…. Plantation… parasites…. FRANXX. Interesting, the human from this "earth" differ from my recorded data. It seems, that the unidentified lifeform type 2 matched with this so-called Parasites species. While the Klaxosaurs fell into the category 9 lifeform. No recorded intel about the unidentified type yet, so I might've to investigate on a later date", The commander unit let go of the satellite and began to repair the object with his nanolathe.
"There we go, good as new", before he left and dive directly to earth general direction.
"Initiate orbital drop protocol".
INITIATE PROTOCOL OD-002. NO DROP-POD USAGE DETECTED.
15% CHANCE UNIT SUFFERED OVERHEAT DUE TO ORBITAL PENETRATION .
4% CHANCE UNIT SUFFERED EXTERNAL INJURY ON LANDING.
INITIATE PROTOCOL?
[YES]
INITIATING ORBITAL DROP PROCEDURE
"Here we go".
-Unknown location, nighttime 01:20-
Far away from plantation sites all over the world. A shooting star dropped from the sky and descent into an untamed wasteland. Emerging from the crater, the Commander unit ascend, and scanned his surrounding.
"Start Recording, Comm-36 New Save File 2: Log#1;I've arrived in an alternate Planet Earth on another dimension, which from now on will be referred to as D-02 or Dimension 2. According to the previous data received from a local satellite system, With the natural environment destroyed and the Earth's crust deformed, the Earth's natural flora and fauna would cease to exist at a rapid pace", the Commander began scanning the soil and dirt.
"If this continues, all lifeforms on Earth would be lost, and the Earth's criteria would be changed from a Continental World, into an Arid World. Until further development and notice, a strong foothold must be established firsthand before attempting any contact with the Humans.
Objectives: Construct a base of operation, Commence Handshake Protocol with the Natives, Restore and Preserve the Planet. Comm-36 Reporting, over and out; End Log", it finished as the Commander unit began to tinker with the recently hijacked satellite orbiting the planet.
ACTIVATING SATELLITE OFFLINE SYSTEM…
SATELLITE DETECTION SYSTEM: ONLINE
SATELLITE ORBITAL MOVEMENT: ONLINE
SATELLITE CONNECTION: ONLINE. CURRENT USER (NONE)
SATELLITE SECURITY SYSTEM: ONLINE
PAIRING AVAILABLE. CONNECT SERVER WITH SATELLITE? [Y/N]
[YES]
PROCESSING….
"With a little bit of reprogramming, I can use this abandoned satellite as my orbital vision support. Let's finish this up with adding a small mini-map of the current satellite on my interface, and done. Ladies and gentleman, we officially had our eyes on the sky", it said to itself.
PROCESS COMPLETE.
SATELLITE SYSTEM PAIRED. COMMENCING SHARED LIVE-VISUAL FOOTAGE.
"That should do it. Now let's begin, according to the coordinates my location is somewhere in the western hemisphere, wherever that is. For now, let's construct a forward base here-"
ALERT!
MULTIPLE HOSTILE LIFEFORMS DETECTED!
CONTACT IMMINENT!
"And here I was thinking it would be that easy", several automatons similar to the previous one on WW-111 appeared. With the lighting given by the moon, the unit can clearly see that these units are more similar to a lizard- no a dinosaur-esque species.
"Initiate analysis on subject, category Klaxosaurs", it started to scan the machination as it blast the beast with it's laser mounted gun.
SCANNING.
SCAN COMPLETE.
One Klaxosaur drove blindly into the commander unit, before it shoot the Klaxosaur directly between the eye. Another jumped straight into the unit, but it immediately smashed it's cranium with the unit's right hand.
FOREIGN OBJECT IDENTIFIED.
TYPE #9 SPECIES. CLASSIFICATION: KLAXOSAURS. CONRAD CLASS
Several feeds and info regarding the class, gathered by the humans flow into the main system. "So it's basically a swarm type huh? Although it's combine features is quite dangerous I think I can take them on at this pace", suddenly, all of the Klaxosaurs retreated and started to pile on a single Conrad.
"….. Me and my vocal cord system", the Commander unit began another scan on this new type of Klaxosaur.
SCANNING.
SCAN COMPLETE.
FOREIGN OBJECT IDENTIFIED.
TYPE#9 SPECIES. CLASSIFICATION: KLAXOSAUR. MOHOROVICIC CLASS
The grotesque pile of Klaxosaur erupted into a larger being, larger than the Commander unit with a more defining feature of a Triceratops.
"That's a new one, as far as the record goes no Moho-class Klaxos are supposed to looked like a Triceratops. Is this perhaps a new testing unit?", the Klaxosaur roared, before it charged towards the Commander.
"As much as I would like to research, you're obstructing my objectives. Please be kind enough to leave", the Klaxosaur remains adamant in it's charge. Not slowing down even for a single second.
"Or alternatively, I could move you away myself. Unfortunately for you, there's a high probability that you wouldn't survive the procedure. Would you perhaps be so kind to reconsider?", as if it's preposition fallen to deaf ears, the Klaxosaur roared in defiance. The Commander began charging his D-Gun.
"As you wish, have it your way", before the point of contact, the Commander fired a single powerful bullet that instantly disintegrate the Klaxosaur.
"I suspect this area is more prone to Klaxosaur's raid compared to the eastern part of the world. Report stated that these machines came from beneath the ground just when humans started to obtain Magma fuel and most countries on the west contributed far more than the rest of the world, so my theory suggest that the more exposure of Magma fuel to the region, the closer I am to these Foreign entities", the Commander started to trod towards west.
"Maybe I'll set up a forward base somewhere across the sea, this place had too many uncontrollable factors and compromise to settle in. At the very least, I can secure a staging ground closer to one of the plantations. Although I would prefer if I am remain incognito to the rest of the world, no lifeforms would ignore a notable presence of a military base coming out of nowhere. My experience in DQ-029 proved that", little did the Commander knew, that its journey to the setting sun marks only the beginning of another grueling war across the cosmos for years to come.
And there you go, hope you enjoy the story. If by chance I made some errors with it, please be kind enough to leave a review or two.
Until next time, Chief's out.
