It's not an original title, but I think it fits the story.
This is my last Vocaloid oneshot before I begin work on my long Miku/Luka writing project. It's set in a universe which I would call alternate if Vocaloid had a universe to begin with, one that I found interesting. I don't know if I'll ever revisit it, but yuri against a backdrop of robot battles can't be wrong, can it?
So this is how it went. It's just another facet of Miku/Luka. I hope you enjoy it, and please tell me what you think in a review.
The gray landscape was violently disturbed as a chain of explosions ran along it, sending clouds of dust and fragments of rock spiraling into the air, where they were instantly whipped away by the wind. Eventually, the blasts ceased, and slowly the wasteland returned to its initial state of silent ugliness. Moments later the pattern was repeated, with another contour of the land laid to waste. The silence was further interspersed with eruptions, on and off, each lull brought to an end when a new area was targeted.
The bolts that caused the explosions were coming in volleys from a ridge overlooking the wasteland, where a mechanized army stood. Facets of cold steel formed automated artillery, mortars, even infantry. These robots ranged from mobile racks of missiles to actual humanoids, their bodies something of a gender-neutral sketch rendering of the human form. On some order relayed through the machines, another round of shelling began, the rockets' flares throwing the androids' blank faces into relief in the gradually gathering evening darkness.
Crack.
At some time, seeming so long ago now, these were the machines of the future, meant to protect humanity. But that promise was empty from the start, for what were they to protect humans from besides other humans?
Crack. Another patch of land was thrown pitifully upward in fragments.
Eventually, the humans' designs got away from them. In the height of their fanatical conquest, one nation set its army loose on the world to purify it. And it did so, starting with its creators and spreading across the globe to kill everything it contacted.
Crack. There was nothing left in the wasteland to destroy even before the shelling began.
The few survivors banded together, and hid in a place far from the machine armies. With their directive of destroying the world as known at the time complete, the armies no longer pursued the humans, but if any attempts were made to rebuild, they would swiftly wipe out the survivors. The only hope for humanity was to engage and destroy the metal weapons of war…but there was no hope for victory.
Crack. Even the untouched land looked dead and destroyed while the eruptions continued around it.
Taking what technology remained to them, the humans created what would serve as their final hope for salvation: Weapons, converted from anything and everything, to attack the ancient mechanical army. Imparted with the knowledge of soldiers and military leaders, programmed with the intelligence of scientists, they were still nothing more than what they were originally… Mechanics, farmers, singers. Even the singing androids called Vocaloids, pop idols of a bygone age, were sent into battle.
And it was two such beings who huddled together behind a rocky outcropping while the mechanical nightmares bombarded the terrain all around.
The first, the smaller of the two, whose long, twintail hair was hued a turquoise color, looked out around their shelter just a fraction. The machines would be scanning, but they had countermeasures installed that could hide them to some extent. "They're farther off now," she murmured to her companion. "If they don't make another sweep, we can easily get them while they're retreating."
The second looked older, her pink hair a contrast to her bright blue eyes. She didn't appear hopeful. "They will. Miku…"
Miku shivered in spite of herself. It was cold. "What?"
"If they make another sweep, they'll hit us. They'll—" Miku started to protest, but she forced onward. "They'll kill us, and you know it. So if they make another sweep, we'll have to move."
"It's a whole battalion," said Miku, deflated. "Luka, we can't take on that many." The explosions continued, each set quieter as the target area grew further away.
They had had successes before—many. But the more machines they and the others destroyed, the smarter the enemy became, and the more they massed together. This battalion wasn't the biggest; though the army's numbers were dwindling, they couldn't take the risk of engaging more than a pair of the "survivor" androids—it was a common joke to read the word as either "savior" or "survivor," depending on the mood—at a time. With such a combined assault out of the question, the odds were always stacked against them.
"I know," Luka said, eyes downcast. "That's why…we'll have to split up." She didn't look at Miku. "I'll go first and attack, to create a distraction. You move to their rear, and destroy them. With the new weapons, you'll be able to. And they should only have intel that there's one of us, so you won't be in danger. If—"
She stopped, looking up in surprise, as Miku abruptly took her hand, gripping tightly. "We stick together. Right?" Her gaze was locked with Luka's. "That's what we promised, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry," Luka said quietly. "We can't just both attack head-on. This is the only way."
"I won't let you," replied Miku fiercely. "I won't let you go out there all by yourself…" She swallowed back tears. "It's not right."
Luka put a hand to her cheek, hushing her gently. "Don't worry, Miku. I'm fast enough. They won't hurt me, I promise."
"Luka…" Miku looked at her, admiration and affection and fear all swirled together in her sapphire irises. Then she kissed her, hard, as though she could hold her in place that way. One hand she ran from Luka's shoulder over her chest, slender fingers caressing her.
Luka let herself melt into the kiss for just one moment, losing herself in the feel of Miku. She remembered happier times, before the world ended, but their promise was to never be apart, and nothing could change that, apocalypse or no. After this many years, though…that promise was about to be broken. She knew she couldn't survive while Miku made her move. As long as Miku believed her, though; for even above their promise, she had sworn to herself it was Miku's life she would protect. If she died and they were separated—as was about to happen—that was how it would be.
"You're going to be mad at me," said Miku as she pulled away. "I'm sorry."
Luka wanted to say, Sorry for what?, but she suddenly found she couldn't move. What? What's going…
Then she saw her chest out of the corner of her eye. A wire was exposed there, pulled slightly away from where it should have rested. She felt her insides freeze with sick dread. Oh God, Miku. No.
"You're so stupid." Tears began to run down Miku's face as she stood, still hidden by the rock formation. "Did you really think I'd believe that? If you went out there…you would die. You can't pretend…"
Luka stared at her, because she couldn't look anywhere else. No! No! No! Miku, don't do this!
"You tried to leave me!" Miku shouted with a sob. "If I'd have listened to you, and gone to attack from behind… When I got back, I'd have found you, dead! Dead! Just…just lying there…or I wouldn't have found you, because you'd have been blown apart…" She gritted her teeth. "But that's not going to happen."
She already knew what Miku was going to say. Luka willed her useless body to move, but it would not. She wanted to scream. She couldn't.
The sounds of the explosions were growing louder—the machines had started their second sweep. "In a few minutes, you'll be able to move again," said Miku, as steadily as she could. "Before then, I'll run out and do just what you said you were going to do. I'll draw their fire and do what damage I can. At the time when you can move, you have to go behind and destroy them all. If you try to follow me, I'll…" A sob hitched in her throat. "I'll shoot myself."
Tears pooled at the corners of Luka's frozen eyes and ran in glistening tracks down her cheeks.
"You've always protected me, Luka." Miku knelt and brushed the teardrops away, though it didn't help. "Now, I'm going to protect you." The blasts were very close, and she looked up as the latest volley landed. "It's almost time…" Her own eyes were dry now. "I'm counting on you to get all of them." She stroked Luka's hair softly. "I'm sorry." With those words, she pushed the wire back into place and closed the panel she'd opened as they kissed.
Immediately Luka began to make jerky motions, her arm twitching as if to reach out and grab hold of Miku, but of course she couldn't. It was a testament to her strength that she could move even that much, but it would be minutes until she had full control of her body. She tried to speak, finding herself still unable to make a sound. Unable to call Miku's name. Unable to beg her to stop. Not that she would listen.
Miku sat beside her, taking the risk of entwining her fingers with Luka's one last time. "So it's not you who broke our promise, Luka," she murmured. "It's me."
That's not true. Luka continued to cry silently. My promise to myself… I failed. I can't protect you now.
They stayed that way for a time all too brief, until finally Miku stood, her fingers slipping from Luka's, and turned to go. Luka felt her heart wrench in agony as her love turned her back. For a moment, Miku was lit by the pale sunlight glinting over the horizon, her hair flowing in the wind. She turned back, one last time, over her shoulder.
"Luka," she said. "Don't look for me."
She was gone the next moment, a single stride carrying her far out across the wasteland so the machines' first assault would not land where Luka was. Already Luka could hear the rhythmic clanks of the machinery as their armaments swiveled on ratchets to target Miku. She heard the sharp report of Miku's weapons, and explosions that told her she was scoring hits—but not enough. Within seconds, the shelling began, the blasts receding rapidly as, Luka knew, the machines tried to track Miku's fast-moving form. She was faster than Luka, Luka thought with bitterness. But that didn't make this the right choice. No, no, no. Never.
Her arm finally moved, immediately clasping her chest, where her heart hurt so. She got shakily to her feet, but she couldn't bring herself to look out at Miku.
Softer bangs reached her ears as Miku switched to successively smaller weapons, and Luka couldn't hear the sound of her main cannon anymore. That meant more fire was concentrated on her, and she had to move faster… And with more and more of the machines moving in to engage, firepower was something she couldn't afford to sacrifice.
Sacrifice.
With a shout, Luka leapt from her hiding place and ran at the ridge, moving at a speed leagues faster than a human could achieve. None of the machines were facing her now, and she knew all their scanners were focused elsewhere; they were analyzing Miku's movements, her weapons, her structure. Trying to find the best way to kill her. To kill Luka's Miku.
She sped up, though it was futile. She couldn't save Miku no matter how fast she ran.
Finally, she reached the ridge, arriving behind the machines. With one tremendous leap, she soared all the way to the top, and she was shooting before she landed. From within her arms unfolded a rack of missiles, two mounted machine guns, and a grenade launcher, and she fired them all on her way down. Her first shots went into the most concentrated flank of infantry—androids like she was once, before being outfitted with more human features—the heavy automatic fire bowling them over on its way to one of the largest mortar-artillery combination units. The machine exploded spectacularly, but even before her first round hit it, Luka was aiming elsewhere. The missiles she unloaded at the heavily armored, golem-like infantry tanks, destroying most, while the grenades she fired indiscriminately into the midst of them all.
Her second round of fire began while the quickest of the machines were still turning to face her.
The machine guns retracted and the other weapons discarded, the parts of a Gatling gun folded out from Luka's frame and assembled themselves in her hands. Holding the heavy weapon perfectly parallel to the ground with incredible strength, Luka opened fire—the gun's split-second warm-up rotation was the slowest phase of the assault. A thick stream of bullets tore into the machine ranks, all but erasing the infantry units, and rupturing the larger ones in so many places that operation ceased immediately. She kept shooting until the weapon was spent, its innumerable shells littering the ground at her feet.
Her third attack faced only the few infantry and one machine gun unit that still stood.
Disengaging the Gatling gun, Luka leapt out of the way as the machines returned fire, and even their advanced tracking systems couldn't find her before her final weapon had assembled. Find her they did; while Luka could not dodge bullets, it didn't matter. The cannon mounted where her forearm would have been decimated the machine gun mech, and the ammunition fired by the infantry could only dent her skin at full integrity. Even just enough of that same infantry could have killed her given the chance, but so few remained that she held the upper hand. One by one, she targeted the remaining units and obliterated them.
Then, finally, all was still.
This time, the stillness did not end in an explosive blast.
It just...stayed.
o – o – o
She looked for Miku until the sun had set and until it had risen again.
She simply walked in a straight line from where she was, down the ridge and onto the expanse of wasteland. There she began a grid search pattern, walking tirelessly back and forth across the rocky terrain, slowly working her way in the direction Miku had gone.
Eventually a team arrived—recovery, repair. Humans and androids. Some climbed the ridge to salvage weapons and scrap, and some she saw searching as she was, off in the distance. And then she saw them gathering.
She didn't go over. Miku had been right to tell her not to look, for she knew what she would find. One of them came over to her—she didn't look up, but she recognized Meiko's voice—and told her gently that they were taking "her" back with them, and that she, Luka, could decide what was to be done later. So there was enough of her left to take...
Luka sat there on the ugly gray landscape, silent and still, as the sun passed overhead a number of times she did not count. Then she rose and began the long walk back to the refuge.
o – o – o
Meiko came and found her some time later, while she lay in her room—hers and Miku's, before—moving between tears and quiet grief. She told her the repair team had taken another look at Miku's remains, and thought they could preserve her mind. They wanted to combine the working pieces of her with the engineering team's latest superweapon project, codename "BRS." Meiko had all the details.
So for a few weeks, Luka had false hope like that.
It was again Meiko who came to her door. She told her that the attempts to save Miku were a complete failure. She told her Miku's mind was lost completely. Her eyes were red, but this time, Luka didn't cry. She simply left.
Luka wandered the empty world until she found a place that still looked almost beautiful, a grassy plateau with a view out over the ocean, and she sat there.
She hadn't run away. They were aware of her location, she knew, and eventually they would send a replacement partner to her. The struggle was not over, and with this new partner, she would continue to fight the machines. That was the permanent reality of this endless war.
A week later, she heard approaching footsteps. The person stopped behind her and waited, so she spoke first without turning. "What's your name?"
"They call me Black Rock Shooter."
It might have surprised Luka to be partnered with the new superweapon if she felt anything any longer. "My name is Luka Megurine." The other woman didn't respond, so Luka just let the silence stretch.
She was shocked to feel Black Rock Shooter's arms wrapping around her waist, and long, black twintails brushing against the back of her neck as the android leaned into her. Luka turned, opening her mouth to say something, but her words were lost as she caught sight of brilliant sapphire eyes.
"I'm back, Luka."
A/N: I'm not sure about having included another "happy ending," since I set out to create a story where, quite simply, Miku dies to save Luka. I didn't have an ending in mind, and when I was writing, this is how it turned out. At least I've got this disclaimer to salvage some shred of my original intent.