And now, a joyous proclamation from the author: *ahem* Yay, 'n shit. That's the joyous part. But I am quite hype! I'm eager to bring about the rest of my plans for this story and see what you guys think of it! Also, this is probably my longest chapter yet! When I checked the word count, it clocked in at over 4,000. Can I go longer? (ha! Innuendo) SHOULD I go longer? Maybe. We'll see. I was actually going to make it even longer until I did a word count. On the plus side, that means I've already gotten a head start on the next chapter effectively! Recycling, bitch! Anyways, we finally get to see what the big lazy bastard everyone's been fighting over is capable of when it wakes up. As always, I hope you guys enjoy, apologies if it seems incoherent, jagged or poorly paced at places due to my 'spur of the moment' method of writing and don't hesitate to provide feedback on possible improvements or even just to let me know what I'm doing right so I can keep doing it. I'll hopefully have chapter 30 for you guys soon :)
Disclaimer: Destructicus Industries is not responsible for any damage or injuries inflicted by improper use of this fan fiction. That's on you, genius.
Chapter 29: The Big Unfriendly Giant
My landing wasn't as severe as I was expecting; there was a significant shudder and the sudden stop threw me around a bit in my seat, but both myself and the Stalker were still perfectly fine and functional. Did I land on something? Does the SSV have some fall-dampening feature they didn't mention? Unless…
In a panic, I contacted Ryoko and Yuki A. The thought occurred to me my fall may have been softened only because I landed on top of one of them. "Ryoko! Nagato! Are you two alright? What's your condition?"
"I'm ok…" groaned Ryoko A. "They dropped me on a building, so it was able to take some of the impact when I fell through. One of the legs is damaged though…might slow me down a bit."
Well, I haven't crushed Ryoko; that's a start. "Nagato, what about you?"
"Significant damage," she answered in her typical calm and monotone voice, though I could pick up some traces of disorientation from the undoubtedly hard landing she endured. Her communications were slightly distorted as well. "My machine is no longer in operable condition. I was unable to shield its landing and yours at the same time." Shield mine? Does that mean she softened my impact? Is that why it wasn't as severe?
Getting my SSV back on its feet, I scanned around for the others. Ryoko's Stalker was slowly emerging from the building it crashed into, the front right leg dragging slightly and barely able to lift itself as it moved. But when I saw Nagato's Stalker, it was far worse. Her machine had landed on its back, destroying both of the lightning guns. The force of landing had also dislodged one of the rear legs and broken the front left limb off at the first joint. It didn't look it would be getting up again.
With great haste, I advanced my SSV towards hers. "Nagato, get out of there," I commanded. "Transfer into my vehicle and we'll regroup with the others."
She didn't say a word. Instead, the 'head' section of her SSV extends forwards, exposing the cockpit. Nagato A manages to exit with little trouble, despite being upside down. As she approaches my SSV, I ask Ryoko A to keep an eye out in case the flying Stalkers return for us before opening up my own cockpit. Once Nagato A has climbed in, I close it up again. It's a bit of a cramped fit due to the SSV being a single occupant vehicle, but after riding in my counterpart's Stalker with both Ryoko and I squeezed in there, I'm a little used to it. Nagato A is able to set herself beside my seat to my right.
"You alright?" I ask.
"Humanoid Data Interfaces such as myself are less susceptible to damage than humans," she explains. "I have only sustained minimal injury and my processes are already beginning to repair the damage. However, I do appreciate your concern." She says the last part with the faintest trace of a smile on her face. I wonder if the Nagato from my world will ever reach that level of emoting…
No time to wonder ifs though. We're still in the midst of battle. "SSV team to any allied forces," I call out, over the frequency. "Does anyone read me?"
"Kyon?!" exclaimed Tsuruya, nearly taking out my ear. "We thought we'd lost you! We were going to make our way to where we thought you landed, but it looks like they were keeping some of their guys in reserve! They've got us engaged, so we'll have to take them out before we can get to you!"
"I understand," I respond. "Nagato's SSV is trashed. She's in my machine. Ryoko's has a damaged leg that's impeding mobility slightly. What's the word on those airborne Stalkers?"
"SOS 2 here," answered my counterpart. "They're harassing our forces with strafing runs. Look a little too quick to target effectively, but if you can divert their attention I might be able to down. MIGHT." He put extra emphasis on the last word. Didn't take a genius to figure out what it meant: results not guaranteed.
"Understood, SOS 2," replied Haruhi. I saw one of the flying mechs return up high. It looked like it was about to attack us again, but I saw bullets streak past it and watched the machine begin to strafe and dodge. It was just about to break off when it nearly split in two as a ball of fire erupted from its midsection. The Stalker began to plummet to the ground.
"Scratch one," uttered my counterpart. Did he just railgun that thing out of the sky? That must be some crazy accurate aiming his ride has. Either that or the me in this world is a crackshot. Whatever the case, very impressive. But there'll be time to admire such feats after we're done here.
"Power surge detected," alerted Nagato A, with a degree of urgency in her tone. No sooner had she said that than a loud noise similar to a 'thunk' came from the giant beside us. Lines and canals between his plating filled with brilliant white light as though they were rivers being replenished with water after a long dry season.
"That can't be good!" exclaimed Ryoko A. She was right: the right leg of this behemoth raised itself slightly, bending the knee upwards and planting its foot down flat on the ground. The right arm mirrored this action, the hand splaying its digits to bear the massive weight of this titan.
"NOW would be a very good time to fall back!" suggested Ryoko B.
"Agreed!" Haruhi concurred. "All units, fall back!" She didn't have to tell me twice. I was already backing my SSV away from the figure. Ryoko A was doing the same. Propped on its arms, the massive entity before us began to sit its torso upright. Two bright circles of light shone from its otherwise featureless visage. Probably safe to say those were its 'eyes'.
As we retreated, we noticed our foes didn't try to stop us. They were all backing away themselves, seemingly mesmerised by what was occurring. Even the two remaining airborne units had taken up a hovering position, observing the rise of this giant. I was tempted to ask my counterpart to take the shot at them while they were distracted, but figured he was too busy keeping an eye on this thing in case it did something hostile.
All we could do was watch this massive being slowly rise, raising itself from lying down into a crouched position before finally rearing up to its full stature. And I thought it looked big lying down…the Teddybot I fought in the MG world was nothing compared to this. Rather amusingly, if this figure were the size of an average person, then Teddybot would probably be equivalent in size to a teddy bear. Of course, any shred of amusement I may have felt at the thought was overshadowed by the dread that consumed me, shuddering at the thought of the terrible power this giant could unleash.
Unexpectedly, one of the airborne mechs flew towards its head, forcing the other to follow close as an escort. This caused the machine to turn its head towards the flyer. The pilot began to broadcast out loud on all frequencies, including external loudspeakers, to communicate to this machine. The voice we heard was none other than Asahina's…the OTHER Asahina, not Asahina B.
"Attention, Destroyer!" her voice echoed, commanding and firm, quite unlike Mikuru's usual tone. "I am Commander Asahina, leader of the War's End force! You have been assigned under my command by our benefactor in order to aid us in putting an end to the global conflict of this world through eradication of all armed forces across the planet! Do you acknowledge?"
There were a few seconds of silence as the so-called 'Destroyer' regarded its 'commander'. Then it did something no one expected: it laughed. An eerily human laugh, though slightly distorted by its thunderous voice.
"I'm sorry, what?" it half-chuckled. "YOU actually think YOU'RE going to command ME?" The 'Destroyer' even did exaggerated pointing and hand gestures as it spoke. "Clearly you forgot to read the instruction manual before you woke me up, darling. You see, I only listen to one thing: me. Or to be more precise, my programming. And my programming clearly states that I am to eradicate certain species. Species that get too big for their boots. Species that abuse their power. Species that have proven themselves unworthy of world governorship. And judging by the data I gleaned from your records, you guys have the biggest LIST of strikes against your name!"
There was another pause…which, after having something called the 'Destroyer', rather nonchalantly and somewhat amusedly explain it's here to kill you, is kind of understandable.
"…this wasn't part of the deal," responded the 'Target' Asahina (hereafter referred to as Mikuru C). "You're supposed to obey my orders and assist me in eliminating all armed forces, barring my own! I followed your activation procedure to the damned letter! What the hell am I missing here?!"
"Lemme run down a couple of things from the list," the Destroyer offered. "Development and use of nuclear weapons. Not cool, dawg, not cool at all. Rampant disregard for the environment. Definitely not one of the hallmarks of a responsible people. And one of my personal favourites…drum roll, please." It began to simulate a drumroll, making this entire situation weirder and weirder. And you know me; I'm well versed in the ways of weird by this point, so this is saying something. It continued. "Acquirement and abuse of extradimensional technology! Didn't your mothers teach you not to touch other people's things? Ah well, they'll probably be dead soon…and you too of course."
Mikuru C stammered for a bit in frustration. "Really? You're going to use yourself as an example? We just woke you up! And you're not even obeying my orders! Hell, I'M extradimensional! Why am I even arguing this with you?!" A good question; I wouldn't argue with something that claims it's capable of genocide and looks the part too.
"Oh, I'm not talking about me you little biatch," it answered. Biatch? "I'm talking about those little tin cans you like to blow each other up in. Whaddya calm them? Stalkers or some shit? Whatever. I'll break your little toys easily enough. Like this!"
Immediately after making its proclamation, the Destroyer began charging energy through its body, increasing the intensity of the lights coursing along it. I saw Mikuru C's Stalker fly at it, as if to make some futile attack, but it was obvious to all that it was doomed to fail. The great machine flexed and a blast of energy erupted outwards from it, sending a strong shockwave that swatted Mikuru C's Stalker away with ease and sent her escort plummeting. Mikuru C desperately tried to regain control of her machine, but only succeeded in making a somewhat controlled crash landing, its legs and one of its arms scraping off as they desperately tried to slow it down.
"You may open your eyes now."
Nagato A's soft voice prompted me to do so. When the Destroyer took down Mikuru C's Stalker, its 'landing' path was headed directly for us. Naturally, I expected it would plough right into our SSV so I braced myself. Turns out, what I should've braced for was that shockwave the big bastard sent out; I remember tumbling, which couldn't have been good for our ride. Nagato A must've directed all her efforts towards slowing Mikuru C's landing.
Running a diagnostic, I frowned at the display. Both the legs on the left side were trashed. We weren't going anywhere in this thing anymore. I opened up the comm channels. "Ryoko, you alright?"
"Didn't you already ask me that not long ago?" she groaned. "Besides the fact I'm upside down and a little shook up, I'm fine. But my machine's definitely had it by now."
"Yeah, ours too," I answer. "I'm going to check on the others and then we'll come get you." Ryoko A gave a tired affirmative. Before I could check on the others, Haruhi beat me to it.
"Everyone, report in!" she barked. "Our team is intact, the buildings sheltered us from the shockwave, but Yuki's Stalker was damaged. What's everyone else's status?"
"This is Delta…half our strength was incapacitated by that shockwave."
"SOS 2 here. Epsilon is out of commission. I'm still good though; my position shielded me from the blast."
"SSVs disabled," I chime in. "We also have what we believe to be Target Alpha's incapacitated Stalker nearby. What should we do, Haruhi?"
There was a bit of silence as Haruhi contemplated what to do. Before she could give a response, the current focus of our dismay let out a disappointed grunt.
"Oh, come on! That was supposed to kill all of you!" it groaned. "Stupid weapon systems must not be at full power yet. I'm going to need more energy…" Gunfire began to strike the machine as the base defenders took exception to their own 'toy' trying to kill them like that. Unfortunately for them, it took exception to their exception. "Hey…stop that…no seriously, stop that…it's really annoying…guys…guys, stop…would you just-grrrrr, I SAID CUT IT OUT, DAMN IT!" Pointing it's middle and index fingers with the thumb raised in a mock imitation of a gun, it lanced out a powerful beam of energy at a target out of my sight which I imagined, even though not at full power, was enough to obliterate the poor sod. The Destroyer began to systematically target each of the offending Stalkers individually, eliminating them one by one.
"Ok, that's it!" yelled Haruhi. "Anyone who's still operational, FALL BACK! Our reinforcements are closing in on the location and without them, we're not going to have the firepower to deal with this threat! Anyone who's out of commission, there are underground sections to the base that the reinforcements were emerging from! Get in there for shelter and wait for the all-clear!"
Would we really be safe underground? I'm sure this thing could easily wipe out this entire base given time. Then again, it's not exactly like we could make a run for it. That'd just leave us as rather obvious targets running around in the open and it left us vulnerable to collateral damage caused by that thing's rampant destructive tendencies. I turned to Nagato A. "What do you think, Yuki?"
"Suzumiya's strategy will provide us the best possible defence at this time. I believe it is our best course of action," she responded. "Additionally, we may find assets that could prove useful, if not in combating the current threat, then in providing a means of escape."
Sounded good to me. "Ryoko, did you get all that?"
"Yeah, I heard," Ryoko A acknowledged. "I'm hesitant to leave the relative safety of my machine to make a mad dash across open ground, but I'd probably feel safer underground anyway. I think I see an entrance down there not far from us anyway. You, uh…may need to help me out though. Upside down, remember?"
"Don't worry, we'll get you," I assure. I opened the cockpit and let Nagato A exit first before following her. We quickly made our way over to Ryoko's SSV while the Destroyer was still occupied with…well, destroying. Ryoko A's cockpit was already open by the time we got there. Positioning ourselves on either side of her, we each held onto one of her shoulders while she unbuckled herself from the seat. Once free, Nagato A and I helped ease her onto her feet. The underground entrance was only several metres from our position, consisting of a broad, downward sloping ramp with doors large enough for at least two Stalkers to pass through. We were just about to make our way over there when were stopped by a gun being pointed at us.
"You're not going anywhere unless I tell you to." It was Mikuru C. We were so occupied getting Ryoko out and distracted by the sounds of one-sided battle, none of us had noticed her exiting her ruined Stalker and approaching our group. In her hand was a pistol aimed towards us. Her face had the look of someone you wouldn't want to try the patience of and her voice was stern and cold. "I don't know WHAT you did to that thing, but-"
One of the Destroyer's beams hit a structure near our position. We could hear it shout "HOLD STILL, DAMN IT!" as the noise from the impact died down.
"Shit! Follow me if you want to live!" shouted Mikuru C, gesturing with her gun towards the underground entrance we were looking at earlier. None of us disobeyed her; we all ran after her as she pressed a button, opening the doors. "Everybody in!" Mikuru C ushered us into the passage before closing the door behind her.
Once we were all safely (sorta) inside the underground complex, Mikuru C decided to pick up where she left off and held us all at gunpoint yet again. This is, what, the third time it's happened in this world and the fourth for me over all? Man, I'll be a bloody professional at hostage situations at this rate. Just listen to the guys with the guns and no one gets hurt. Simple enough.
Undeterred by the rumbling from above, Mikuru C began to interrogate us. "What did you do to it?"
"What did we do? The hell did YOU do?" asked Ryoko A.
"I'M the one asking questions here," our captor hissed. "When you were on its chest earlier, you were doing something. Did you rewrite its programming? It's supposed to obey ME. That was part of the deal."
"We were trying to kill it," I answer. No point trying to question her about what the hell's going on…not while she has that gun. "Unfortunately, our weapons were piss weak. We have no idea how the hell that thing works or where it even came from. So I don't see how you think we hacked it or whatever."
Mikuru C's stoic visage faltered into one of contemplation, then confusion. "But then…why would it go rogue like that? Unless…" She went into deep thought for a moment before a sudden realisation hit her. "That bastard betrayed me! He KNEW this would happen!" she growled angrily, lowering her pistol.
"Listen," Ryoko A spoke, gently. "We don't know what's happening here exactly, but the fact of the matter is that thing is going to destroy everything it can if we can't stop it. I understand we don't have a lot of reason to trust each other, but please, if there's anything you can tell us about that thing, anything that might be able to stop it, please tell us. Will you help us, Asahina-san?"
Mikuru C looked at Ryoko A for a bit, scrutinising her. Eventually, she holstered her pistol and sighed. "You probably heard when I was trying to get through to it earlier, but I'm not from this world," she explained. "My…'benefactor' originally aided me and my resistance force in overthrowing our despotic leader…Haruhi Suzumiya." Ok, I know Haruhi can be bossy, but a full blown tyrant? That seems excessive even for her. No wonder this Mikuru is so radically different. "In return, he asked I do a favour for him. He gave me that thing, the 'Destroyer' as he referred to it, and a canister of some strange energy which he said to insert into its power core. Round about where the 'heart' would be on a person as a matter of fact…the same place you three were targeting."
"Why did you think we hacked it if we were at the core anyway?" I ask.
"Admittedly, that was a wild conclusion I jumped to," she answered, frowning at how she handled the situation earlier. "Once you mentioned your intentions, I thought about it and realised that the core doesn't seem like the place you'd hack a machine from. Anyways…" Mikuru C got back on track. "He told me there were other worlds under the iron rule of Haruhi Suzumiya, and directed me to this one, telling me to use the Destroyer to end the global war and crush the various warring factions to halt Haruhi's war mongering. Instead…well, you've all seen the results. That son of a bitch lied to me, set me up to be killed by the very thing I helped awaken and at the same time doom this world for whatever reason he desired. What I don't get is why he'd do all this?"
It seemed the more I learned about just who stole the fragment from me, the more dangerous he became. Why would he want to eradicate human civilisation from this world? Why would he set up Mikuru C like this? Why help her overthrow Haruhi to begin with? None of his motives appeared to make any sense. In fact, was there even any motive at all?
There was one important question I had to ask Mikuru C. She'd dealt with this guy directly, so she had some seriously important intel. "Asahina-san…there's one thing I need to know," I began. "This 'benefactor'…who is he? Have you seen his face? Heard his voice?"
Mikuru C sighed again. "Everytime I met him, he was heavily shrouded in robes and other pieces of clothing and kit. Also seemed to speak through some kind of voice filter, so…don't think I can help you there." She looked at me curiously. "You think he's someone we know? Or at least some version of someone we know? You all seem to know me. And you ARE Kyon, right?"
"Yeah, I'm Kyon." It's almost replaced my real name at this point. At least I'm used to it though. "The three of us are also from other dimensions. Ryoko and Nagato there come from one and I'm from another."
"Interesting…" mused Mikuru C. "So obviously you have some means of interdimensional travel, unless you came here by other means?"
"Well, I'm a slider," I explain. "Ryoko wound up in my universe after being forced to flee hers. Same with Nagato, except she wound up here."
The Destroyer's booming yet muffled voice from above broke up our conversation. "Is anyone still alive down there? Anyone? How about underground?" Mikuru C gestured to keep quiet. "If you're still alive, could you please come up here so I can kill you? Just line up in an orderly fashion, I promise I'll make it quick. Please? My power levels still need to build up some more so I can level this place properly! Bloody hell, this is why I should operate in a team! How the hell am I supposed to wipe out the human race on my own? I'm going to need more power…or steal one of them nuclear weapons you guys have and drop it on you. Ok, you guys stay here! I'm going to come back and kill you later. Feel free to, you know, kill yourselves to save me the trouble. Don't bother running, I'm just going to kill you eventually." Who the hell programmed this thing's personality? Seems awful carefree for a genocidal death machine. "I think there's a good source of power over there. Maybe I can speed things up a little and get my weapon systems to a more lethal level sooner. I swear, what the hell was that bitch thinking giving me that weird can of energy? Seems pretty shitty if you ask me…"
Its voice and the reverberations of its footsteps receded after a while.
"Analysis of its trajectory indicates it is on an intercept course for the nearest population centre," Nagato A alerted us. "Advise immediate action."
"Wow, you're just as much of a robotic automaton as the one I know," quipped Mikuru C. "Hopefully you're not just Haruhi's puppet like she was." She spoke the last part with a modicum of disgust.
Ryoko A looked a bit annoyed by that last remark. I can't blame her; I wouldn't want anyone talking about my friends like that either. "Look, if we're going to work together, you need to drop this bias you have of people based on the versions you knew from your world," she sternly told Mikuru. "Quite frankly, you're nothing like any of the Mikurus we know, and from the sounds of it neither is the Haruhi from your world. Just because someone's less than ideal in one world doesn't mean it carries true for all others."
Mikuru C shot Ryoko an icy cold glare and slowly approached her. Standing right up in front of her, she looked Ryoko dead in the eye and simply uttered "We'll see about that, Asakura."
"Hey, can we do this right and wrong contest later?" I interrupt. "Giant death machine headed for population centre? Remember? Kind of needs urgent attention."
Mikuru broke off from her glaring contest with Ryoko. "Follow me. I've got a contingency."
