A/N: No Wednesday Chapter this week, since I will be busy getting vibe checked by whatever happens in the YoRHa Raid tomorrow. Until the weekend, please enjoy this XXL chapter.
Report on Events Surrounding the Appearance of Demons in the South-Central Region of the Night Kingdom
Following an unexpected reaction between a living human (hereinafter designated as "Subject V") and old-world magical processes sourced from celebrant technology, a rift appeared in the Kingdom of Night on 23 November 11946. Unknown lifeforms began to appear within the hour; identified as demons and/or devils by YoRHa Support Unit Pod 042 and by a devil designated "Griffon" who had been tamed by Subject V at an unknown point prior to first contact. YoRHa Unit 8E, who had previously co-attended V, was lost. This collection of events will hereinafter be designated as "Event Zero".
Opening engagement proceeded with a combined effort from Pod 042, Griffon, myself, and Legacy Unit Scheherazade, with minor aerial support from local dragon weapons. Combat proceeded for approximately 103 minutes before Subject V regained consciousness and prioritized rift closure. However, this required him to proceed through to the other side. These standing orders were left behind:
(1) No one is to go through this gate in my wake.
(2) I must have a place to return to if this will be corrected. […] Make something happen.
In light of these orders, the absence of Subject V as a defense priority, and the departure of Support Units Griffon and Pod 042, a tactical withdrawal to the nearest node of [REDACTED] was mounted by Scheherazade and myself.
Due to the inaccessibility of trans-kingdom communications, the initial assistance request was submitted only to Night Kingdom Operational Satellites Lizhin and Iztac. Both were able to supply an immediate response via an alteration to the signal managing the dragon weapons, which caused them to gather at ground zero and allowed for effective invasion containment within a 3 km radius around the remains of the Roswell Alien Lifeform Research Center.
Android reinforcements initially arrived on a trickle-in basis according to proximity to ground zero. Focus on combat was minimized to focus on entrenchment at the eastern edge of the perimeter and the establishment of early scouting and situational report detail.
During this period, the bodies of celebrant units Jorinde and Jorindel were identified, retrieved, and provided with repair services. Owing to their ability to disaggregate and direct magic, these units served as the final defense of the initial force in combination with unit Scheherazade. At the preliminary point of organized engagement, android forces served primarily as concentrated fire to support the dragon weapons in order to minimize casualties against enemy forces that presented a high level of unknowns.
YoRHa Unit 9S arrived on site at 26 November 11946; three days after Event Zero. Using an old-world weapon, he had gained signal control over one of the dragon weapons and come in search of Subject V. Unit 9S also claimed he had made contact with an unknown supporter at the lunar server. With consideration for the circumstances, penalization for hijacking specialty Night Kingdom equipment was not enacted and no inquiry about his affiliation with any parties on the moon was pursued.
It has been brought to my attention that many of my decisions regarding Subject V have been deemed insubordinate. The submission of the backup request sent directly to the lunar server, in particular, has been questioned as an act of active mutiny. However, I would like to establish that no response was received from command regarding a proposal to contact Horizon-2 during its equatorial fly-by. The satellite is by definition the Night Kingdom's primary means of interaction with the Day Kingdom. In the absence of a response in the positive or negative, it was deemed necessary to act in whatever means would communicate the situation to all potential sources of aid.
To date, no clarity has been provided about this delay.
1 December 11946: 30 Days Before New Year's Eve
The light of a halo that only 9S could see guided him forward to the one dragon that would allow him to control it. He darted up the tail and down its back, dragging its horns to direct its attention toward a group of armored demons scuttling like bugs to their left. Its chest expanded out like a frog's and the wet chemical stink of flame belched across the field.
These demons were a lot more tenacious than the possessed bodies he'd experienced before. Fire damaged them and slowed them down but never seemed to finish them off.
He dismounted with his weapon drawn only to have his feet pulled from beneath him. A flaming scythe sliced by him, narrowly missing his head. Shadow erupted from under him, guillotining through his would-be assailant, and piercing another that was still fully on fire.
A hand grabbed his arm and yanked him back to his feet. "Stay alert."
Urgent sub-routines shot through him, a booming crunch answering as he swung Iron Will into the neon-lined head of a half-serpent demon. "You too."
Theta gave a distracted dip of her head. It was as much of a thanks as he would get while she was scanning the field.
Working with her so closely was a strange experience after he'd spent months evading her. The dragons and the demons were both going all out at this point, but the squad of androids they had to work with was still small. Less than a hundred units, none of whom had any experience with demons. The celebrants were doing a good job keeping the casualties down when demons made it to the outer perimeter, but that wouldn't last forever. They needed intel.
Theta volunteered to get it as the only unit that had experience. As long as she was in command, she didn't want the few lives she had at her disposal to be wasted even if that meant she went past the inner perimeter alone.
9S couldn't let her do that, of course. Not when scouting and intelligence were what he was built for in the first place.
"You think this is how humans must've felt?" he called as swiped through another still-flaming demon. "Minding their own business then the sky suddenly fell on them?"
"It's assumable." Her weaponry sizzled through a dead demon's body. She had internalized back in the city that even parts might get up, so she took the time to make it as difficult as possible if they did. "Androids likely had a similar when the aliens first attacked."
An unexpected dread gripped him at the thought. Nothing ever happens just once, does it…
He frowned and shook himself. "The last manta demon fell just to the southwest of us. We should only have a quarter of a kilometer left."
"Just be ready. Not everything might have exited the body."
Together they pressed deeper into enemy territory, as 9S had so many times before.
Frontline Report (con't): The 245th Descent Operation
Standard descent processes could not be risked given the known aggressiveness of dragon weapons toward aerial apparatuses of any kind. As a result, Army forces arrived together with Resistance forces via a land route stemming from the gulf coast area on 10 December 11946.
An additional reinforcement force arrived three days later. Word had spread out from local night kingdom outposts, and fully provisioned forces had worked their way back inland to Roswell as a fully operational combat-ready convoy.
As a result of several thousand years of previous experience with the appearance of unknown enemy forces, androids with wide-ranging specializations arrived on site.
Resource acquisition teams capable of salvaging demonic components. R&D androids who began examining and repurposing those components to allow androids active participation in combat. Repair specialists who quickly organized and erected several field repair stations. Information officers who expanded the intel range to cover the largely un-addressed western perimeter. Supply chain officers who were able to take the responsibility over and manage the needs of the force better than I was able to. Scouting and communications specialists that kept all necessary parties in contact and apprised of changes to the battlefield. Several weathervane units, a night kingdom staple, also arrived to keep us apprised of storms that might change our situation.
Entrenchment along the 3km perimeter was expanded in full and separated into eight sections, Octant 1 being the east-facing section where the preliminary line formed, proceeding clockwise to Octant 8.
At this point that the holding of the line against Event Zero ceased and the Battle of Roswell commenced.
The final count of forces at that time was approximately forty-five hundred Resistance forces and twenty-five hundred new descent forces. This represented 9.7% of the estimated remaining ground population of androids, and likely all that remained of stand-by forces from orbit.
11 December 11946: 20 Days Before New Year's Eve
9S couldn't say the battle was fun, exactly, but the state of mind it induced was similar.
Active combat energized him and induced a sort of flow state that left little time for questions or uncertainty. He knew where he was, who he was, what he was capable of, and that there was a never-ending list of tasks that needed doing and units that needed his support. Which he provided it, however he could.
With aerial-to-ground support from his dragon. With his middling personnel clearance at the field repair stations. With his ability to quickly formulate entry and escape vectors for scouts. Many times (and fine, this part was kind of fun) his material analysis capabilities were called on by the R&D teams to help them construct new defensive and offensive objects from scythes and saws and pieces of demon scraps retrieved by the scavenging teams.
It was war. Nowhere he hadn't been before, and everywhere he knew exactly what his part was. He even accepted the boring parts like laying in the repair station and trying to sleep when he had been active too long.
Shadow was never far from him. Every time his fingers brushed her short, sleek fur and she was solid and strong beneath his touch, it soothed him. The atmosphere shedding from the rift seemed to be keeping her healthy, and as long as she was alright, he could assume that V must be as well.
In the distance, the rift shone against the night like a bonfire frozen in time.
Scheherazade stalked in and took the first open cot available. She didn't talk much, but 9S liked her well enough knowing what she was.
The slow, careful way she formed her words when she indulged his questions gave him the impression she was processing through all the thousands of years she must've been wandering the Earth. And she was the only android he'd ever met who had any idea what V meant when he talked about gods. Time didn't feel real when she was nearby. Not when she fought, or talked, or just stood and observed. Or at least it felt like it wasn't as important as it always seemed to be to him.
9S had been accused of behaving like he was running out of time, but Scheherazade gave off the opposite impression. Like whether the sky fell tomorrow, or the sun exploded a million years from now, she would still have all the time in the world.
"How much more, do you think," she asked, gazing off at the light, the same as he had.
"Couldn't say," he admitted, hopeful despite the edge of uncertainty sneaking into his tone. "All he ever told me was that time works funny in hell."
"Can he survive this?"
"V wouldn't go in if he didn't believe he could get back out." His fingers tightened against Shadow. No one had asked him, and he didn't intend to say, but with Fern gone, it wasn't a mystery why V had gone through. "I think. He can get sort of reckless."
Scheherazade said nothing else, and 9S wondered in silence, not for the first time, how exactly V was intending to close a gate this big.
Frontline Report (con't): A compiled report on demon physiology
Observations and rudimentary classifications of demons were compiled in an early intel report and shared as soon as possible. This data is sourced from investigative efforts, units who survived encounters, as well as any intact memory components of those who did not. [With thanks to YoRHa Unit 9S for the retrieval of said data]. A copy of this report follows:
Scythe-Equipped Biped Devil, Variant A and Variant B
(1) Variant A makes up the majority of the enemy forces on the battlefield. Similar in danger level to small or medium bipedal machine lifeforms.
(2) Variant B seems to function as a sort of Command Unit. It is possible for them to attack by themselves, but they are also capable of ordering Variant A. Any organized groups should be dealt with by removing Variant B first.
(3) A pitchfork carrying variant has occasionally been spotted, but these do not seem to belong to the same species. Alternatively, they may be the same creatures manifesting without armor.
(4) Tactical Recommendation: They are not especially susceptible to munitions, but hand-to-hand weaponry works well. When dealing with either variant, care should be taken regarding the reach of their weapons, and [if possible] said weapons should be retrieved. The unknown alloy that forms the blades seems to come from the demons' bodies and can cut through them much more easily than the weaponry used by standard androids*. Swarming behavior and speed are the primary dangers of these types.
*It has been observed that some restored old-world weapons are also particularly effective. However, supplies of said weapons are limited.
Goliath Tank-class Devil, Variant Red and Variant Blue
(1) Similar in danger level to reinforced goliath-class machines.
(2) Per initial experiences with demonic forces 'possessing' scrap parts to use for corporeal bodies, it was initially unclear whether these demons were generating themselves from machine lifeforms. However, during subsequent study and repurposing of their armor into barricades and shields in addition to offensive installations made from their saws, it became clear that there was little overlap beyond the surface similarities.
(3) Important Notice: The red variant is capable of bursting into flame of unusual and highly lethal intensity, which will refuse to be extinguished long after target neutralization.
(4) Tactical Recommendation: Focus should be on restricting movement. Do not attempt short-range combat. The celebrants are the quickest and safest means of eliminating these demons. If one of the three are not available, the saws salvaged from previously defeated units are able to cut through the armor and deal significant damage. Due to the weight of these demons, and of their components, motor stabilization aids are suggested if close-range combat becomes necessary. Impact bracers are available if needed.
Goliath Serpentine Devil [Also Designated 'Thorn-type Devil']
(1) Extremely dangerous and highly aggressive.
(2) Despite the size of this demon, visibility may be difficult owing to subdued coloration compared to other types. Scout units should be aware of concentric neon patterns appearing on the field and/or large forward curving twin scythes made of the same brightly colored alloy present on the scythe-types.
(3) Tactical Recommendation: It has been observed that these units tend to pick a specific target and will ignore anything else that is not immediately in its way. Coordinated rear attacks that focus on severance of tail and sword arm should be the primary means of engagement. The attacks on the arm should from a long range, as the sword has been observed extending into a whip long enough to deal fatal damage to a dragon at mid-altitude. This demon is damage-resistant, but speed is low compared to the tank-class devils. Units are advised to equip any speed-enhancement chips that can be tolerated by their build and/or make use of available speed salve supplies.
(4) Repeat: Do NOT attempt frontal engagement or extermination before restricting mobility and disarming. The tenacity of this demon cannot be understated.
Goliath Flying Manta Devil [Also Designated 'APC-type Devil']
(1) Observable as blue and/or violet manta with skull-faced undersides, usually limited to the inner (1km) perimeter.
(2) These demons appear to be indifferent to ground forces and can be left entirely to dragon weapons.
(3) Tactical Recommendation: The primary threat of this type is that they contain other demons within a vast space inside their bodies. Scouts should focus on communicating the number of said demons that emerge, whether or not they are damaged by fire or impact, and which octant they proceed toward.
Small Flying Lizard-Bat Devil
(1)Appear in swarms at sixteen to twenty-hour intervals, usually at low altitudes.
(2) Low threat level; usually observed cannibalizing on already-dead demons.
(3) Tactical Recommendation: Susceptible to standard munitions fire. Do not engage in groups of less than twenty units and focus on the eye that becomes visible when their mouths are opened. Alternatively, blacklight tagging may be used to draw the attention of a dragon to a swarm. Due to their small size, this class is easily exterminated by dragon fire.
(4) Note: They are capable of emitting a sound that has been observed to cause control and aural abnormalities in androids. Teams that engage are advised to do so after prophylactic curative injections.
Special Note: There is a special demon on the field in the company of YoRHa Unit 9S, designation "Shadow". It is another tamed demon affiliated with Subject V and should not be engaged with. If any local forces encounter a creature that appears to be a panther and/or a fluid black shape in the middle of transformation processes, register as friendly and hold fire. The Shadow unit is not concerned with androids but will defend itself if attacked. Units should also not expect more than coincidental assistance from said unit. Its primary concern appears to be the defense of unit 9S.
28 December 11946: 3 Days Before New Year's Eve
Nothing gave.
V wasn't back.
The gate wasn't closed.
The demons just kept coming endlessly.
Time seemed shorter than ever. 9S hadn't promised he would be back. But that didn't make him feel any less that with every second that situation remaining unchanged, he was closer to breaking an important oath. Killing demons and watching androids and dragons all around him be killed by demons—all of it was background noise to the omnipresence of his internal clock soundlessly ticking away the seconds.
"—cy broadcast!"
He halted and tilted his head to better hear whatever was so urgent that Pod 153 was relaying it without orders.
"A manta-type bearing an abnormal load has crashed on-site 100 meters from ground zero! I repeat: A manta-type demon bearing an abnormal load has crashed without being engaged by android forces! This is an emergency announcement! Please brace for a large wave!"
A manta-type heavy enough to just crash right out of the gate?
He and Theta had ventured into the remains of one of those devils. They were living caverns and all evidence suggested that they spent their time in hell eating other demons. For one to eat something that weighed it down that much it would have had to swallow something it could barely get its mouth around.
He whistled sharply. Shadow darted up to him, slipping beneath his sleeves and encircling his chest as he vaulted onto his dragon's back and flatted himself up against its neck. There weren't many manta-types around, but clouds of lizard-bat types darkened the sky. They burned like gnats, so he paid them little attention as he headed for ground zero.
"Pod, connect me with the nearest comms team."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"This is YoRHa unit 9S," he called over the wind. "I'm approaching ground zero and the crashed manta-type. Can anybody connect to my visual feed?"
"Confirmed, unit 9S," an officious, operator-like voice answered. "We're connecting to visual now. Proceed with caution."
"Roger that."
Tugging the dragon's horn gently, they circled in slow arcs about a hundred meters back from the crashed devil. Far enough away from it and the gate if any surprises popped out of either one. The manta-type pulsed and throbbed like a living boil, half-buried in the mud. A grating, high-pitched scream reached him. Even when they were burned alive, they never made a sound like that.
"I have visual," he announced distractedly. "I think something is trying to burst out of it!"
Giddy visions of Nightmare sparked across his mind. It was the exact kind of entrance V would make in a situation like this. Those same sparks died the longer and more brutal the heaving became. The more urgently the manta-type shrieked.
The scream ended with a small, wet gurgle.
The body ruptured in a gush of fluids that appeared black against the bright light of the rift. The thing inside pushed through, spreading wings so vast it seemed impossible they had ever been contained by anything. It had a lion's face. A mane of black horns just like the fanning protrusions from the heads of the dragons. Three sets of red eyes glinted above bared fangs that graded from blood red to radiant orange of molten metal. 9S could hear them sizzling as they cooled back to deep red-violet.
Its roar simultaneously blew 9S back and rattled his internal frame so intensely that his UI blinked a hardware warning at him.
The dragons took the sound as a challenge, and he watched them descend with a sinking feeling. The manta devils were already nearly three times the size of the dragons and this new demon was at least twice as big as that. Their fire annoyed it more than hurt it, and it responded by soaring up to meet them and tearing them apart with its bare teeth. It took him a few times watching it use its claws before he realized its arms both ended in additional mouths just as packed with teeth as the one on its face.
"Unit 9S!" Theta's voice snapped him out of it. "Pull back! Do not attempt to engage! All unit be aware a titan-class devil has appeared on the field! Repeat: A titan-class demon has appeared at ground zero!"
He'd had no intention and gladly whipped the dragon around and back toward the outer perimeter. "What are we going to do about that thing?!"
A pause longer than he would have liked answered him. "…We don't have anything big enough to take out a demon of that size anywhere on our perimeter. We need to try and lure it toward Octant 3."
"What's at Octant 3?"
"The designated coordinates for an orbital laser satellite we've been granted permissions to use. Even with cancellers, we can't organize strikes on moving targets in this environment. So, if we want a hit, it's necessary to bring the target where we want it. Scheherazade has the necessary protocols to personally control a dragon weapon and has volunteered to act as the lure. I'd like you to provide backup. Two targets will be harder for it to keep up with."
He didn't relish the idea, but he could tell where the demon was by the pieces of dragons that rained from the sky when he looked over his shoulder. Scheherazade was invaluable on the ground. If he could make her chances even a little better, he'd do it.
She met him at the inner perimeter marker of Octant 1, already seated on her dragon's neck with her axe at the ready, as if she was accustomed to what she was about to do.
9S didn't think any amount of war or any number of years hunting down gods could have left anyone prepared for the next two hours.
The unmanned dragons took most of its attention until the 2km perimeter of Octant 2. There, their number thinned, and it finally turned its focus on 9S and Scheherazade. The titan-class demon was horribly fast for a creature of its size. It was their luck that it appeared to have no projectiles, but one bite would be enough to end them if their dragons were not guided with keen attention to the full breadth of the demon's body. A difficult task with the light no longer at its back.
Flares from below helped to guide them and keep the demon in sight.
Scheherazade took them to a low altitude and erected shield after shield against too-close swipes and attempted bites, defending them both with old-world magic that must have had unimaginable defensive power to not break. But much like the machines, the demon recognized this pattern after too many times slamming uselessly against a wall. It swooped, and the moment she raised her shield, it dropped past her, and its tail drove up directly through her dragon.
It shrieked once, and both it and Scheherazade were whipped off into the air.
9S shot after her without thinking. He'd just barely caught her and managed to right them before the demon bore down on them. Scheherazade erected a shield, but even he could tell it was weak. There wasn't enough time. Three pairs of jaws collided with the barrier and cracked it. Rank and steaming breath rolled over 9S, and he was transfixed by the long violet tongue mere inches from his face.
A tight grip seized his collar, and the next thing he knew he was in open air. He bounced, then rolled through the mud to a filthy but forgivingly soft stop. The titan-class demon landed with the dragon still trapped beneath its bulk. A wet, tinny crunch accompanied the impact, and the halo that had become a constant in 9S' visual field vanished.
A pang of loss got him back to his feet, but he lacked the ability to do anything more about it, or the luxury of time to process that emotion. Scheherazade was already pulling him along, throwing everything she possibly could to keep the devil's attention while they ducked and darted and pushed deeper into Octant 3.
Androids materialized to provide distractions and cover fire for them. Nearly all of them were reduced to abrupt screams splashed across 9S' aural sensors. He didn't dare look back.
"Here!"
He skidded and slipped. The designated area was mud-covered in demon parts, like everywhere else. He'd expected something. A flag or a hazard warning. But there was none and all he could trust was Scheherazade's word and the way she was holding her axe out and the glimpses of words he couldn't read on her arms.
A final shield formed in front of her, the color strobing from violet toward scorching white. "Go."
His legs almost obeyed. It was the rest of him that couldn't yield to the request. Not when he still had those fangs that were the size of his entire body printed fresh on the front of his mind. A burned-in afterimage of death itself. Not with it charging directly at her again despite already knowing how her shield worked.
Exec_A060!
Pod's shield was weaker than her weakest shield, but it held up just long enough for him to raise Iron Will over both their heads and catch the creature's tail as it speared down. The impact hammered through his arms, damaging joints that had already been strained during his entry into the night kingdom and forcing him down into the swampy mud left by a solid month of heat and slush and spilled blood. Shadow coiled up from his hands to reinforce him, but even she began to break down under the assault of a demon so many magnitudes larger than either of them.
Then the light came.
The clouds parted and everything but the demon's head dissolved. Scheherazade's shield carried them through most of the initial output, but it could not shield either of them from the aftershock. The wind kicked up in a pulse and they both were blown off their feet.
9S lost visual, but not full consciousness. He could feel—mud on his skin, in his mouth. The taste of oil and demon blood flowing together in watered-down puddles. Motion. His head bumped against something, and for a moment, he saw Scheherazade. She was dragging him. Probably because she was missing an arm and hobbling in a way that suggested severe motor damage. Androids yelled in the distance. Cover fire popped like muffled fireworks.
There was no sign of pain on Scheherazade's face. There was no sign of anything but the dogged determination to get them wherever she was trying to go.
His vision flicked off again and he sank quietly into the dark, with only a single thought.
2B…
Frontline Report (con't): Report on the Titan-class Devil
28 December 11946, 1900 hours. The appearance of a Titan-Class Devil designated 'The Manticore' after its similar appearance to a mythological creature in the archive.
28 December 11946, 2130 hours. The Manticore is confirmed destroyed via the use of orbital laser satellite L4356.
Summarized Casualty Report:
219 android units deceased, 508 injured. 44 dragon weapons destroyed, including the one in use by unit 9S. Substantial damage to enemy and friendly forces Total loss of Octant 3's middle (2km) perimeter
The necessary personnel to rebuild and cover this gap were put in place immediately. Repair stations quickly reached capacity, and [REDACTED] opened Node #13 as a fallback repair site. YoRHa Unit 9S and Legacy Unit Scheherazade sustained heavy physical damage and were transported to the site in order to complete extensive hardware repairs.
Note: The celebrant units began showing signs of agitation after the death of the Manticore. Given the personalities of units Jorinde and Jorindel, this report marks only the comment of Legacy Unit Scheherazade upon her re-initialization:
'A grotesque heart beats.'
7 January 11947: 358 Days to New Year's Eve
The date registered before anything else. Before the glare of bright fluorescent lights and the scents of staunching gel and heated metal and before full awareness of his own motor control. The palms that pressed against his eyes and the weak laugh that left his mouth barely felt his own. The stinging was his. The resigned yet bitter lump that lodged low in his throat.
"I'm late…"
"Better to be grateful that you're awake, hm?"
He didn't recognize anything about the female model speaking to him except her tan and gray clothes. One of Theta's, then, but he hadn't met her before. She was a slender unit. Slumped and ambiguously smiling with eyes that were a hint too bright under messy bangs. She approached his cot, and Shadow growled at her, startling 9S half-upright.
"Sorry," she said, holding her hands up placidly. "Been working with R&D a lot. Maybe I smell like a demon."
9S and Theta had been splashed in so much demon gore he couldn't have calculated the volume anymore. Shadow had never growled. Was it just because this was a stranger? He swung himself fully upright and tested his limbs. There were other androids around him, in varying states of damaged.
"I'm Tau," she offered pleasantly.
"…9S."
"I know."
Long time since his reputation preceded him like that, but it was natural she would know if she was one of Theta's. He sat a hand on Shadow, half to calm her and half to steady himself. "A repair station…?"
"A temporary one set up about twelve kilometers from Octant 8. The manticore devil left a lot of casualties."
"Manticore…" His head snapped up and he slid clumsily off the cot and onto his feet. "It's dead?"
"To our great relief."
By themselves the words were fine but there was something about them. Some (lack of) inflection that made him squint at her to see if she was taking this as seriously as she should. Only a lazy, semi-vacant smile answered. Were all of Theta's repair officers so strange?
He reached over his shoulder. "Where's Pod?"
A faint frown tugged her whole face down and made his temperature spike. But she sighed something under her breath about not wanting to walk and gestured for him to follow her with the kind of put-upon slouch that let him know she clearly thought it was a chore. "It ran out of power after assisting in some of the more specialized aspects of your repair. Quite a loyal little contraption."
She took him to a small glass case under a yellow-hued light. "What's this?"
"A UV lamp. …Maybe." Definitely a weird one, just like Iota. "The design document said they run primarily on solar energy so this was the best we could come up with to try and charge it."
"Is it working?"
"You'd be the one to know, I haven't tried." She tilted her head and in the shift of her hair, 9S thought he saw a metal earring shaped like a rose. "You may not need it though. They're finally going to close the gate."
All the signals in his body crashed at once. Information overload ticked by, with him safely in a stop-state until he'd fully processed what was said. "V is back?"
"Hm? Oh… no, I don't think he is. An android's apparently going to do it. You wouldn't have heard, but things have gotten worse out there."
"What? What happened? Who's closing the gate?!"
"No idea. You're supposed to be a scanner right? I'm sure you can get the details if you go looking for them." She smiled. Very pleasantly. "Exit's on the south side."
The words made his skin crawl, but he didn't have time to worry about that. He bolted to the south and out the door, barely taking in that it was another of those strange plateaus he'd passed the storm in. Unease gathered like sediment in his stomach as he remembered what he'd found under the last one. But right then all that mattered was that he was awake, repaired, and someone was about to close off V's way back.
It wasn't hard to figure out who; Accord was hard to miss.
He'd dug up everything he could about her after V specified she was the one who advised him to find the dragon. Where her drones delivered to. Day kingdom sightings that happened maybe once every two hundred years. And of course, he'd watched Pod 042's audiovisual records. Everything from her appearance to the way she looked at him like she knew exactly who he was and what he was about to do made her recognizable to him.
"You can't close it; he's still in there!"
Theta snagged him by the arm, but he didn't pay her any mind. They couldn't—they couldn't— It might have been only days in hell as far as any of them knew and if it was anything like the last month had been, of course it would take him a long time to make it back. But if they closed the gate, V would be stuck there. Even as Vergil he hadn't been able to survive hell forever. The toll it took was part of the reason V had been born to begin with.
"9S," Theta said tiredly. "The inner perimeters have already been cleared out. This is going to happen with or without us, and I've already ordered cooperation."
"Closing him in there is the same as killing him!"
"And leaving this gate open is the same as killing us." Her grip tightened. "Androids, machines, dragons. All of it."
He looked back at her, bewildered by her certainty and on the edge of panic at the deep lines under her eyes. She didn't like it either. Why didn't she just say so? She was in command; she could order whatever she wanted.
"Accord—!" he shouted. "Don't do this!"
"I did try to hold off," she said, her voice gentle but prim as she lowered the antennae on her phone and hooked it back on the side of her suitcase. "But the threat has reached the point where intervention can't be delayed any longer."
A thin blue beam descended over ground zero. After the overwhelming orbital strike, it seemed as thin and harmless as a thread and a perverse hope that it would fail fluttered briefly in 9S' chest only to fall stillborn out of its nest.
The rift cracked. A dozen silvery lines coursed through it, and then it was gone in a brief green-blue flash. No boom. No wind. Nothing. Only the sudden dark and a hundred spotlights rushing to illuminate the plentiful devils that still roamed the perimeter.
9S screamed.
Frontline Report (con't): New Developments
Machine lifeforms became involved approximately 60 hours after the defeat of the Titan-class Manticore devil, on 1 January 11947. The reasons remain unclear as to why they had not participated up to that point, nor why they suddenly descended on the site as if attracted.
After 39 consecutive days of combat with devils, machines were not considered a substantial increase in threat level, with the exception of areas in which they surfaced outside the 3km perimeter and defenses had to be quickly turned outward to prevent a high-casualty rear attack. Other than these cases, the machines and devils were as apt to fight each other as they were us. Observed type breakdown cited a force comprised of 50% Linked-sphere types, 25% Drill-equipped small sphere types, 10% Reverse-jointed goliaths, and a remainder of assorted small flyers.
The first evidence that something was not as it seemed came from a scout in Octant 7, who reported the two parties 'cannibalizing' on one another for lack of a better term.
There have been previous reports of machine lifeforms devouring androids and even one another in one case preceding the end of the 14th Machine War. However, devils had not shown any inclination toward ingestion of androids at all.
The results of this cannibalizing manifested in ways that could not have come from even the most rapid machine evolution. Linked-spheres with bright, thorny scythe augmentations appeared. The goliaths began showing partial coatings of red and blue armor. Devils were observed in all octants devouring machine cores whole.
To my knowledge, no explanation has yet been agreed upon, despite theories.
While there were no signs of devils adapting any of the offensive capabilities of machines, their ingestion of machine cores resulted in at least five distinct observances of spontaneous fusion reactions. Here meaning 'combination' rather than 'explosion'.
This immediately fanned concerns among myself and older resistance forces that the battle was about to become another Guadalcanal. This time without the support of a standing YoRHa force to provide advanced combat support.
The concern may or may not have been warranted. I must express my gratitude that we did not have to find out.
7 January 1!947: 358 Days t0 New Year's Eve
"You can't close it; he's still in there!"
Theta snagged him by the arm, but he didn't pay her any mind. They couldn't—they couldn't— It might have been only days in hell as far as any of them knew and if it was anything like the last month had been, of course it would take him a long time to make it back. But if they closed the gate, V would be stuck there. Even as Vergil he hadn't been able to survive hell alone.
"9S," Theta said tiredly. "The inner perimeters have already been cleared out. This is going to happen with or without us, and I've already ordered cooperation."
"Closing him in there is the same as killing him!"
"And leaving this gate open is the same as killing us." Her grip tightened. "Androids, machines, dragons. All of it."
How could she possibly think that mattered to him?
He wrenched free of her grip and snatched the phone from Accord's ear, crushing it beneath his boot, and ran. Strained his body to the edges of its capabilities to reach the portal before Accord could find a way to finish her phone call to whatever or whoever or whenever was on the other side. He'd made the decision to stay, and if it was already too late to keep his word to 801S and 2B, he could at least keep his word to himself. They could close it after him if they needed to.
V had always appeared when 9S needed help. He couldn't stand by and not do the same.
He passed through perimeters that were empty safe crawling demons, skidding and dodging, his overclock functions triggering again and again until he smelled metal and his head buzzed with the processing load. But the rift was right there, it was right in front of him and he shot a glance at the sky above it (what was he looking for?) but it was empty.
He passed through the portal and—
…
…
…
{CONSTRUCTION TERMINATED. NO DATA REGARDING HELL AVAILABLE.}
Frontline Report (con't): The Closing of the Gate
Accord appeared on 7 January 11947 at 0900 hours. By 1800 hours the same day, the gate was closed.
…
Additional details can be provided; however, it is…difficult to convey the exact nature of what it meant to meet Accord in the state she appeared in. Accord's initial development took place at the same time as the dragon weapons. In light of the vast amounts of information being lost as a result of destruction or simply entropy, she was created as an opposite type to my and Hamelin's historical model status. Accord's design document specified a very simple archival unit, but sometime after the aliens vanished, she did as well.
The Accord who reappeared restoring and reselling old-world weapons was not the same Accord.
The Accord who reappeared at Roswell was not the Accord that Briar Rose designed.
She behaved as if she was, right down to the confirmation that she was a Recorder, but the similarities ended there. A number of very dry details were provided to me initially, but when Scheherazade was introduced to the situation, Accord spoke at slightly more length with slightly more depth. Some of the fine details escaped me (this was likely the cause for the initial minimalist explanation), but my understanding of the situation is summarized as follows:
Due to critical atmospheric saturation of unknown magic over the local area, a number of dangerous mutations were occurring. If left alone, these mutations would invariably cause a dimensional disturbance of unretractable magnitude.
When asked to quantify what 'unretractable magnitude' meant in this scenario, Accord answered simply: 'Do you ever wonder what might have happened if the white giant had been the one who destroyed the red dragon?'
I did not. No present party wanted to consider that.
It should be noted that although I gave the order to pull back, Scheherazade was the one who made the final call. Despite my base of knowledge, old-world matters involving magic are not my field of expertise. I deferred to her as the last android who had come face to face with the consequences of the last 'dimensional disturbance' this world had suffered and had been present for the failure of the Gestalt Project.
Her claim was that we could not sacrifice our entire world for one human who did not belong there to begin with. I agreed.
Accord put in a call and the gate was closed without significant fanfare. It resembled an orbital strike. When the light cleared, the gate was gone.
Androids remain on-site to deal with a demonic force that is still thousands strong and machines that continue to mutate. They have not been made aware of the situation yet, but I imagine at the time of this report's finalization and acceptance, that will have changed.
This was not the outcome any of us desired, but V also wanted this world to be free of demons.
I have opted to believe he wouldn't blame us for our choice.
7 Januarv 11947: 3S8 Days to New Year's E^e
"Closing him in there is the same as killing him!"
"And leaving this gate open is the same as killing us." Her grip tightened. "Androids, machines, dragons. All of it."
"Then I'll go!" He wrenched free of her grip and snatched the phone from Accord's ear. "I'm not leaving him alone!"
Leaving her calling out after him more in flustered shock than anger, he ran. Strained his body to the edges of its capabilities to reach the portal before Theta could find some way to stop him. He'd made the decision to stay, and if it was already too late to keep his word to 801S and 2B, he could at least keep his word to himself. They could close it after him if they needed to.
A flash caught his eye. Lightning?
Shadow flowed down from beneath his clothes, her solid black shape speeding ahead of him through the mud. 9S' pulse jumped. Hope seemed stupid at this point but he couldn't help it. He checked the sky (for what, again…?) and his race to the portal's base seemed to turn into flight.
He was back, he was back, he was back; of course at the final goddamn moment he'd decided to show up, and 9S couldn't tell if he wanted to laugh or push V into the mud, but he was there. A spindly, crooked human shape with an eagle perched on his shoulder, standing with his back to the world and a hand raised to the portal.
"VONIL DAZI NANAMA SOV NIMAN."
The rift cracked. A dozen silvery lines coursed through it, and then it was gone in a brief green-blue flash. No boom. No wind. Nothing. Only the dark and 9S' eyes rushing to compensate with the starlight shining down from the clear, crisp sky.
He slowed to a stop, and V turned to look at him. A complicated, almost distracted frown was on his face. The silence around him was subdued as oil pooling under a body. The very same kind that had left 9S on the edge of panic in a ferris wheel car a little under a year ago. Only this time he did not have to guess at what that silence contained.
Fern was nowhere to be seen.
"...I'm sorry," he said stiffly.
9S opened his mouth and found nothing to say. The Fern that he remembered didn't care about dying, but she'd also loudly claimed she would enjoy having V to herself when 9S was gone. He'd told her too boldly that she could change her mind and now he hoped more than anything she hadn't. He hoped she had died with the same open arms and ecstatic thrill he'd seen in her circuits when she fought with V. The alternative was…
He didn't want to think about it.
V spared him this by lurching and collapsing backward. 9S darted immediately to his side and when he lifted him, he found his tattoos and hair both starkly white. A crack had formed across his face. Spread down over this throat. His hands shed silver dust, and 9S barely had the time to panic.
The portal.
The last time V closed a portal it had nearly killed him. He'd fallen to hell and come back starved of magic for just a little thing. This one—
"No," he hissed. "You can't. You're part demon, aren't you! You should be able to recover just like Shadow!"
A thin, apologetic smile and a flex of his empty tattoos were the most V could manage. One of his fingers crumbled away, and something inside 9S crumbled in kind.
"You bastard, you can't... You can't do this to me twice...!"
"Nines…" V whispered, with as much care as seemed to exist in his failing body. "Don't die."
The weight of his body became nothing. He dissolved to fine dust and slipped away like sand between 9S fingers, and for a long time, 9S could not make himself move even to look away as V's remains dissolved into the sludgy terrain and disappeared.
V had told him once that a devil's name had power. When it was spoken, it would appear.
In his mind, he conjured the monster he'd seen in combat with Fern. Its patchy feathers and black scales; it's gold-ringed eyes and single golden-red horn.
"V…"
He understood then why humans threw away what made them so sacred so easily to avoid death. The summon vanished into the cold air, but nothing appeared.
Frontline Report (con't): Closing Remarks
YoRHa Unit 9S has remained in a lock state since the closure of the gate. Scheherazade was able to subdue him, but I have no doubt he would have destroyed one or more androids, myself among them if she were not present. I believe it should be clear given V's identity, the length of time they were together, 9S' preoccupation with individuals he sees himself as close to, and the nature of YoRHa's design details re: humanity, that his highly emotional reaction, while dangerous, is normal.
Unit Shadow has disappeared. V's associated demons were described to a few curious R&D units as his 'familiars'. If the archived definitions hold true, it is possible that its existence was linked to V by some means and that closing the gate has also closed off its access to V. Potentially resulting in its dissolution.
Whatever the case, Shadow would not have left 9S unless something happened to it. It is likely relaying that information will result in a second round of psychological strain and heightened emotion. Caution is recommended. If possible, Support Unit Pod 153 should be allowed to relay the news. My understanding is that there is an ongoing attempt to charge it at the nearest node.
That leaves only the matter of my own actions.
I remain firm that my decision to escort V away from Briar Rose was the correct one. The alternative was to let him and Unit 8E proceed alone into the night kingdom. Every action I have undertaken has been to preserve order in a situation that continued to breed chaos until the very end. I regard and accept my final sentence with the same state of mind.
All responsibility for the events that preceded Event Zero will be taken up by me. I will also accept responsibility for the death of Subject V that will be reported after the last demon and machine are eradicated from the perimeter and full victory is declared.
I would like it noted in this final report that I disagree with this fabrication. However, I also understand why it is a preferable release as opposed to the truth and I have no intention of undermining or otherwise contradicting command on the subject. The story that V returned and closed the gate at the cost of his own life is somehow a triumphant one.
It is my hope that such a legacy, even if it is a lie, will leave android kind something to live up to.
The demons have grown weaker and easier to kill since the gate was closed. There are more signs of possession rather than fusion, and they have eaten the cores out of every machine they have been able to find.
My decommission will be scheduled soon, I imagine.
Briar has promised to take care of 9S. This is a natural assurance that he will survive, but as my final recommendation, I would propose that Briar Rose be examined closely for any side effects or signs of mutation given the proximity of the nearest node to this ground zero. It can be safely assumed from Subject V's time in this world and celebrant ability to manipulate demonic magic that a certain amount of compatibility exists between the two forms of magic, and it is already well studied that dragon magic and maso have similar properties.
Briar does not possess the emotional matrix for humor, but I was able to confirm that I heard it laughing.
Command Unit Theta
Report Completed 1 February 11947
1 February 11947 - 32 Days After New Year's Eve
A door opened and quietly clicked shut. Footsteps tapped on concrete. An android 9S didn't recognize sat in the one chair that occupied the room. The only thing, aside from 9S' cot. He didn't recognize her. Nor did he try to.
"A report came in from a certain Officer Gamma," she said coolly. "A large number of YoRHa suddenly came online back out in the city ruins area. Would you know anything about that?"
9S didn't respond. A memory of warmth and sunlight and belonging fluttered through him and disappeared into nothingness. It didn't feel real. Very little did.
"An active signal for Unit 2B was identified."
9S swallowed. Facts processed sluggishly in a mind that doesn't want to process anything at all.
It was after New Year's.
801S must have arrived on the planet.
2B was alive.
2B was alive.
2B was alive.
And V…wasn't.
The other android watched him with an unreadable, unpleasant sort of smirk. The kind V used to show when he wanted to be amicable while still reminding 9S that they were strangers and that he was only ever going to be as close as V decided was useful for him.
"Do you want to see her?" 9S jolted, and the smirk widened into a smile that was almost genuine. "Easy, easy. It's not like she's here right now. But I can arrange for her to be delivered with all due care to the night kingdom. Considering the ill feelings other androids might have toward a YoRHa after V's death and all that chaos in Sector H, it might be the safest way for them to reunite."
A sense of danger briefly swooped through 9S like an owl in the dark. Quiet, but felt.
"What do you want," he croaked, his voice as bruised as it was staticky with disuse. "My data, still…?"
She laughed and smoothed back her sleek, black hair. "That's Theta's interest. I don't have any reason to want your data." Again, she smiled in a way that reached her eyes but left no warmth there.
"It's enough that you exist."