Chapter 6 - Confrontations
/_\
A2 had expected the usual when it came to a YoRHa patrol, especially in the more remote regions like the forest. Two partners scouring regions for any signs of machine life or, if they were unfortunate enough, stumble upon her by accident as they search for their eternal enemy. Be it machines or their mythical creators.
Unfortunately, she hated to admit it, she wasn't expecting a YoRHa strike team like this to show up instead, consisting of five members. A2 took note of who exactly she was up against, and seeing the specifics of who they were she wasn't the least bit pleased.
The first two she noticed were two partners she'd heard mention of before. Units 2B and 9S.
A2 had heard of these two before, they were said to be some of the best YoRHa had to offer. Of all units within YoRHa, A2 had at least a minor interest in those two. The same can not be said for anyone else related to that organization. But the fact that she had to face them as a strike team wasn't exactly pleasing.
The two other female units didn't seem like anything special at all. If A2 was bothered to have guessed what type of units they were she would have guessed a Gunner and Healer unit. Nothing too troubling for the likes of her, she could easily best either of them. She'd bested better units before, there wouldn't be much of a difference now.
The final male of the group, one of the two who stood at the front of the squad alongside 2B, didn't seem like anything special either. A2 suspected that he was in charge in some way given he was front and center of this team, but she couldn't help but feel there was more to him than what appeared on a surface level. She would have to be cautious around that one.
Regardless, A2 was kinda annoyed by the situation she currently found herself in.
Although she was confident she could win this fight if she went all out, she wasn't in the mood to risk it when she had to defeat five units at once. She would have to escape if she wanted to survive. If it had been a pair or trio, maybe she would have taken her time with them, spoken to them, not that she believed anyone would care what she had to say. Next to none did.
As it stood, with the numbers and specific individuals present, she couldn't afford to waste time with words as she was certain they'd be lost on them when they were in such a unit. Together, they'd just keep reinforcing each other's loyalty and belief in YoRHa.
It was easy to change an individual, impossible to change the collective.
The assault android stilled when holographic screens appeared in front of each of the YoRHa units. That could only mean one thing in her eyes.
The squad was being informed of her by Commander White herself of her current status She couldn't help but allow a scowl to make its way across her face at the thought of YoRHas' Commander. She was certain their Glorious Leader was informing them of her betrayal, her crimes. She was their enemy, and that thought had to be reinforced into their heads.
She might be an android, but she had to be destroyed.
The whole thing pissed her off.
With a scowl seemingly permanently stuck on her face now, she waited for the Commander to finish her spieel. Once the hologram disappeared, every member of the unit shifted into a more combative stance.
"Tsk, always ends the same way." The assault android thought rather solemnly.
"Unit A2!" One of the males yelled as they stepped toward her, drawing their sword and shield before pointing the tip of its blade in her direction, "By order of Commander White, you are to be destroyed. Surrender now, do not resist!"
His words seemed to spur the others on as they too drew forth their weapons, two swords and a ranged gun from the other female. Only one android didn't immediately draw his weapon, and oddly enough, he seemed conflicted as he turned to look at each of his teammates for a moment.
She registered that sight for a single moment, nothing more.
A2 bit back a growl at his words before glaring toward that brave YoRHa fool, "Truly, you've convinced me," She scoffed, "Fight and die or lay down and die, is that how you see it?"
"There shall be no other alternative!" He exclaimed, readying his sword. Four of the five YoRHa units seemed ready to charge her down, with the fifth finally, reluctantly, drawing his sword.
A2s scowl softened for a brief moment before she drew forth her own heavy sword, holding her sword to her side at an angle, waiting for them to make the first move.
The melee fighters were about to pounce as their gunner unit spooled up her weapon, waiting for her to fire a barrage of shots before jumping the assault android.
The grip on her weapon tightened, her legs tensed, her weight shifted, ready to dodge whatever came her way.
Just as the gunner's weapon revved to its peak, a series of other shots rang out. The first two shots nailed the leading android in the head, knocking them to the ground with surprising force. A2 figured the android wasn't dead, but two shots directly to the head outta do some damage at the very least, maybe even put them out for a period of time. The other units seemed momentarily stunned as the second two shots landed on the gunner's hand that held the trigger to their weapon.
She yelled at the hit, twisting in some sort of pain, shaking her hand in an attempt to ease off the damage for a moment before dashing off to cover to avoid whoever had taken the shot. The other three unharmed units began to dash, and turn in an attempt to avoid the sniper.
A2 followed the sound of the shots and momentarily turned back to the hole she'd jumped through earlier when she left the throne room, she knew it could have only been one person that had come to her aid.
Her eyes briefly narrowed as she caught sight of the odd android, rifle to his shoulder, aimed at the other YoRHa units. Barely visible, keeping to the cover of the wall.
"Playing guardian angel, are we?" She thought before she turned back to the battlefield, just about to dash off into the fight herself as three units moved to intercept her. Just as the three androids joined close together, they were violently thrown from one another in random directions from the impact zone as what must have been a heavy, artillery round hit the ground below their feet.
Even A2 was thrown for a loop for a few moments. There was no way Raylan had been responsible for that shot, far too large a round for him to fire it from any weapon he could feasibly carry.
Another shot landed just as the YoRHa units regained their foot, forcing them to scatter in an attempt to avoid being shot again.
This time, A2 followed the shot back to its source and quickly focused her attention to the ramparts atop the castle wall.
And for a brief moment, A2, much to her immediate distaste, faltered for a second as she saw what looked to be a large machine form standing atop the ramparts, providing what she could only assume was covering fire for her.
She assumed, with a lot of caution and thought behind it, as much since she hadn't yet been fired upon, and judging by the fact the machine was solely focused on the other YoRHa units, it was likely meant to protect her.
"Was this Raylan's doing?" The assault android thought to herself. It was possible, even if it was absurd. Raylan appeared different to any other android she had encountered before, so it was entirely possible that he had allied himself with a… rogue machine.
A2 couldn't help but mentally scoff at the idea of it. A rogue android and rogue machine teaming up together? Now that was a thought.
It was also possible that Raylan had built the hulking machine form himself; she couldn't deny the possibility.
Either way, the machine seemed to be on Raylan's side and by extension hers.
Honestly, either scenario had its merits if one thought long and hard about them.
Her thoughts were swiftly, and rather rudely, interrupted as motion out the corner of her eye caught the assault android's attention. Reflexively, her sword came up and across to block an overhead swing.
The blades clashed, the sound of steel on steel echoed for the briefest of moments amongst the chaos of the battle around them. A pair of eyes met a black blindfold across from one another.
A2, using her superior strength, broke the deadlock and pushed her attacker back away from her. Not that her opponent would let up that easily. She was a combat model for a reason.
2B immediately struck again and blades clashed once again.
A flurry of blows of five blows were exchanged in the engagement before A2 forced 2B to dodge backward, having to avoid being cleaved by A2s larger, heavy sword.
Switching back to her light blade, with her heavy blade hovering on her back just in case, she stepped forward to attack before reflexively blocking another strike from a different opponent.
This came from the now recovered defender android, 2D, and his own sword.
He attempted to use his strength to overpower A2 in the deadlock, or at the very least lock her in place whilst 2B engaged her whilst she was preoccupied.
But a single moment after their swords clashed a bullet whizzed past A2 and struck the defender android in the head once again, followed by another two shots to the head. For a brief instant, it seemed as though A2 watched in slow motion as the third and final shot bore a hole right through the defender unit's eye socket, with bits of metal shrapnel bouncing away from the impact site.
The triple shot to the head, specifically the eye, was enough to not only knock the android back but drop him to the ground as well, as the unit fell backward onto his back as his sword clattered to the ground next to him.
A2 swiftly composed herself, having already known who had taken the shot to protect her, stepping back to a safer position in the process and swung her blade toward a rather surprised 2B, even if the battle android didn't break her defensive stance.
"2D!" A voice called out, coming from one of the female units. The gunner by how enraged their tone was. The other androids all turned from their positions, some behind cover in an attempt to hide from their mysterious ranged attackers.
2B broke from her stupor and dashd forward, thrusting her blade toward the assault android. A2 deflected the attack and countered. 2B was skilled enough to block the strike, even if the assault androids strike was stronger than she had anticipated.
The other androids all engaged immediately after, moving to assist both their Captains.
As 2B and A2 locked blades, 2B faltered for a moment as she caught sight of the barest of movements from within the castle fortress itself. Peeking through the rubble of a wall overlooking the courtyard.
That's when she saw it.
The barrel of a rifle.
And the unmistakable X-shaped visor staring directly at her.
Their Target.
2B dodged backward, avoiding a shot that whizzed right through the air where she'd been just standing. To 2B it seemed as though their target was protecting their fellow rogue android from harm judging by how they seemed to prioritize targets that engaged her.
A2 cartwheeled out of the way of a laser beam as it struck the castle wall behind her. 2B glanced toward the source of the beam to find it was her partners doing. 4G and 6H joined in as well, both firing upon A2 with their respective pods. Even if they had to avoid an artillery round every so often.
Even their target switched priority to the attacking androids that were after A2.
A2 continued her dashes and dodges in sporadic directions, occasionally blocking an attack when required, but still remaining mostly unharmed.
2Bs grasp on her sword tightened in mounting frustration. The battle android knew where their target was, and she was confident she could handle a single android, but could she leave the others to deal with A2?
"They won't have to for long." Her mind coming to its conclusion quickly.
"9S!" 2B called out to her partner, to which he turned her way, "Keep her busy, our target is inside. I'm going after them!" Without waiting for, or hearing his response, 2B dashed off into the castle's main door, beginning her scramble through the halls toward the throne room her target was most certainly in.
Her target was close, she could end this here and now.
All she had to do was reach them.
/_\
"2B! Wait!" 9S called out, reaching out with his arm as if to grab her despite the distance between them. As she disappeared through the castle doors he sighed. He turned to the other two androids who were currently engaged with the YoRHa rogue android they'd encountered. "2Bs after our target!" He called out to them, "I'm gonna go back her up!"
Just as he was about to move, however, he spotted a large shadow pass over him as he saw a machine drop down from the top of the castle's ramparts. The impact kicked up a large quantity of sand, dirt, and dust, even throwing everyone present off for a few moments as if to take in the sight.
It was the hulking machine that accompanied their target.
Without much need for encouragement, 4G unleashed a volley of shots at the massive machine.
9S expected the mass of metal to take the volley head-on but to his mild surprise, it did not. The machine dashed out of the line of fire, avoiding the majority of the damage as 4G was forced to fire after it as it dodged and weaved as best it could, using cover when available.
What surprised 9S the most was the fact it dodged just as they would. The sudden but precise evasion of an attack.
A machine that moved like they could… wasn't that a thought?
"9S!" A voice called out, pulling him from his thoughts. The scanner android turned to see it was 4G that had called to him. "Go help 6H! I'll do what I can here!" The gunner android going back to dodging the few rounds that the machine fired her way, whilst returning fire whenever she could.
9S glanced over to the other android that remained standing and found her to be engaging A2 in blade-to-blade combat. But judging by how easily A2 was dealing with her, it wasn't going well and was likely to get worse for her.
The scanner android's grip on his sword tightened, he glanced over to where his partner had disappeared to in frustration.
"Be careful 2B, please." With that thought, 9S went to join the fight with A2.
However, he paused when a deep, machine voice called out.
"A2." The voice began, 9S turned to the large machine as it continued to engage 4G as well as firing upon 6H nowl, who was forced to break away from the rogue android in order to evade getting hit. "Take this opportunity to retreat, we shall handle this for you."
From 9Ss position he could tell the rogue android narrowed her eyes at the machine, scoffing at its remark.
"Don't tell me what to do, machine." The rogue android bit back tersely, swaying her sword threateningly in its direction.
"Aren't they allies?" The scanner android thought awkwardly.
Despite that testy response, the rogue android took a moment's glance around the battlefield, watching as 4G and 6H were busy fighting the hulking machine, before finally settling on 9S.
9S readied himself in anticipation for a fight.
But he wouldn't get one.
The rogue android dashed off in the direction of the bridge they'd previously crossed to get here. With impressive speed, the unit climbed to the top of the bridge, just about to cross when she took one last glance at the castle.
9S watched as her eyes narrowed briefly before turning and disappearing from the battlefield.
The scanner model could have given chase, some might have said he should have, but he just couldn't bring himself to chase her down. Not because he was scared, but because he didn't see the reason to.
She was the one that chose to flee.
She wasn't the aggressor here, they were.
Before he could continue along this train of thought a voice called for his attention.
"9S!" A surprisingly soft voice called, the scanner turned to see 6H dodge back to narrowly avoid a melee swing from the mechanical lifeform. "Try hacking it, slow it down or take control!"
With no more hesitation, 9S joined in the fight prepared to do what any YoRHa unit had to do. Three androids versus a machine.
The scanner android held his palm out in an attempt to begin the hack, however, as his hack hit the machine there seemed to be a barrier that immediately blocked his access.
More than that, whatever had blocked his hack attempt created a feedback of the cyber attack and threw it back at 9S. The back-blast of data was enough to stagger the scanner android, dropping him to one knee in the process.
"What…?" 9S thought as he composed himself, looking back toward the machine he'd just attempted to hack. "How did it cancel my hack?"
"9S!" 6H called his name once again after witnessing her companion falter as he did. "Are you hurt?!"
9S quickly shook after whatever minior lasting effect his own reflected attack had done as he replied. "I'm fine but something is blocking my access to the machines system! It must has some kind of defense program preventing me from doing anything!"
"Great!" 4G halved growled and grunted as she sprinted around the machine, firing upon it as she did. "Can't even slow it down now! What the fuck else are we suppose to do?!"
Her question wasn't really one
"We'll have to engage as best as we can in close-quarters-combat, with sustained support fire." The scanner android dashed in to slash the machine but was forced to avoid a low leg sweep. "If we can hold out for 2B we can tip the scales!"
"Understood!" 6H chirped softly before following 9Ss lead, both attempting to advance on their opponent whilst also having their own pods fire upon its massive form.
Three androids vs one machine.
Surely they had the advantage.
Right?
/_\
Raylan surveyed the chaos briefly as he reloaded another magazine into his rifle. Whilst A2 and RO engaged the YoRHa soldiers, Raylan did a quick ammo count for his G2. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to keep up the engagement for much longer. He couldn't continue to waste anymore ammunition on a single battle like this. There would no doubt be more in the future, he had to think ahead with such limited resources.
"Never enough ammo in the world." Raylan couldn't help but think. Always too little ammo for the occasion during his missions, and it appeared as though he'd soon find himself in that situation again.
"Pilot," His titan said through his radio, "Be aware, one unit has made their way inside and is closing in on your position."
Raylan glanced at his mini-radar, checking to see how close his soon-to-be opponent was. Without a blip, he was sure he had some time before they arrived. He'd use that time well.
"Solid copy." Raylan responded, "Tell A2 to get outta here, we'll handle YoRHa ourselves. They're here for us, not her." Raylan readied his G2, swiftly checked his sidearm, and moved from his position back into the open throne room.
He needed to prepare for this YoRHa unit heading his way. Raylan couldn't underestimate his foe, not now.
A battle between pilot and android was soon to begin.
/_\
2B sprinted through the corridors with such speed and agility she was quick to reach the throne room. The room she last seen her target in. With one last turn of a corner she came face to face with the entranceway to the room she sought.
2B slowed slightly, blade by her side, and her pod hovering next to her.
The battle android entered the room, sharply examining the room for any trace or hint of her target. Now that she was here, 2B switched to a more methodical approach. Slowly examining the room, her pod doing the same as it scanned for a target.
Seconds pass, no sound, and no sight of their target.
It's as if her foe just vanished into thin air.
The battle android crept further into the room until she stood in its center, pod still by her side, still scanning for any signs of their rogue android.
"They knew we were coming." The battle android quickly surmised. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. The sounds of fighting still raged on outside, and 9S would have called her to inform her that their main target had joined the battle.
They hadn't.
Which meant their target was still here. Watching. Waiting. Somewhere.
"Evade!" Her pod commanded. She complied by dashing to her left, narrowly avoiding two shots fire past her. Their path being right where her head would have been moments ago.
2B followed the path of the bullets back to their source and found what she was looking for.
Her target stood atop a pillar, a unique rifle in his hands aimed directly at her. The android broke off into a dash and sprint toward her target. Sword in hand, pod right behind.
Her opponent fired his rifle, the first shot she deflected with a swing of her sword, the second he fired she evaded by sliding to the left, but the third and fourth shots?
The third nailed left shoulder, which did slow her for a second as her body involuntarily twisted in response to the high-impact, whilst the fourth ricocheted off her neck.
She could feel the neck shot had done more damage but chose to ignore it.
"He's a skilled marksman." The android conceded, even if it was a known factor after their reported engagement with YoRHa flight units. A normal android wouldn't be able to pull the trigger of a semi-auto rifle as quickly as her target, whilst maintaining pinpoint accuracy. She would have to be more careful of his shots than she was.
There was more to her target than originally thought.
2B closed the distance, lept at her target, and swung mid-air horizontally at her foes torso. To her surprise he dodged it but leaping over the strike but being propelled beyond the reach of her backswing.
They rolled across the floor and turned back on them, shouldered their rifle, and fired.
2B kicked off the pillar to follow her targets path avoiding the two shots from her opponent as she once again closed the distance to melee range.
The android swung overhead but her opponent used his rifle to push the attack offside. In close range the two fighters exchanged a few swings, with 2B swinging horizontally the pilot was forced to duck and twist under her first swing before blocking the backswing with his rifle's stock to catch the blade.
Although, she was strong enough to stagger him despite how well he caught her weapon.
"I have the superior strength between the two of us," The battle android noted as they weapons locked for a brief moment.
The two fighters pushed off one another, but 2B quickly turned it into a flurry of attacks. Attacks which forced her foe to retreat to avoid the tip of her sword. She kept on the pressure with her sword in hand.
It was clear her target was on the back foot, and that's exactly what she wanted.
Just as she was to cleave her target in half with a roundhouse swing, her opponent was pulled to safety, and out of range, with surprising speed.
2B gathered herself as she watched her opponent be pulled across the room by what must have been a grappling hook, as the metal cable attached to her target reeled him in.
Hooked onto a pillar near the top, 2B was immediately fired upon by his rifle. She deflected the first two shots before being hit by the third one, despite the fact the rogue android was aiming and firing with one arm.
"Pod! Destroy the pillar!" 2B commanded. Her pod opened up its frame revealing an assortment of arrays. Aimed at her target, her pod fired a single powerful beam.
The rogue android anticipated the attack once they'd seen the pod open up, he evaded the laser by leaping from one pillar to the next right as the one they'd just been attached to was partially obliterated into dust.
The battle androids opponent returned fire mid-jump, firing another two shots at the YoRHa soldier. 2B evaded both as she ordered her pod to fire another beam.
Her target dodged the attack by pushing off that pillar just as her pods attack destroyed that pillar as well. They landed with a combat roll back on the ground.
2B dashed across the room as her target was recovering from their landing, and thrusted her sword toward the center of his chest. They avoided her attack by dashing backwards themself, attempting to reload their rifle mid-dash.
The battle android crashed the distance her target had created, barely giving them time to react to her. 2B went with an overhead swing, aiming to bring her sword down through her opponents head and helmet.
However, her strike was intercepted by her opponent who used his freshly reloaded rifle to block the swing. Unfortunately though her strength shown through once again as the power behind the swing was enough to not only bend the barrel of the rifle but also cut into it, making the rifle completely useless now.
Using the opportunity, her target used their locked weapons as a way to maneuver her sword out from between them before they unholstered a pistol with their free hand.
2B staggered for a moment as a single shot hit her point-blank in the chest. She knew that one had done some damage, so she twisted herself from of their lock and dodged the second shot that likely would have done even worse damage.
At the end of her dodge though she spot a little… blur surrounding her opponent for a moment before everything returned to normal.
Ignoring it for the opportunity she had, 2B drove her blade forward. She thought for a moment that the rogue android would dodge her attack, but to her mild surprise, her blade pierced straight through his chest.
For a second she thought she'd done it but she was quickly proven wrong as the body she pierced shimmered for a second before digitally disintegrating into nothingness.
She'd just struck down a hologram.
But where was her target?
The android quickly switched to a defensive stance, with her pod circling just beside her. Android and pod examined the area around them, watching for any signs of movement.
Somehow she'd completely lost sight of her target, like they just vanished into thin air.
Again.
Ignoring that, the battle android readied herself for combat, awaiting her opponents next move.
/_\
Raylan flexed his fingers, opening and closing his hand, as he leaned against one of the many columns in the throne room. Hidden out of sight of his opponent for the moment, he took the opportunity to re-arm himself for round two.
Reloading his wingman first, he holstered it before swiftly cooling his L-Star. He didn't bother with his G2, considering its mangled barrel, it was useless for the time being. For a moment he considered tossing it. All it did right now was weigh him down, but he decided to hold onto it. Spare parts were always useful, in any case, but he'd consider modifying it to keep it useful despite the damage it had taken.
Down one of his primary weapons, Raylan readied his L-Star for his next engagement with the YoRHa android. He had contemplated using his Thunderbolt Launcher but decided against. That was some heavy-duty power for a single YoRHa soldier when he could face groups of them in the future.
Or something bigger.
"Raylan," The familiar voice of his partner called out to him through their comms, "Be quick, one of the androids has broken off to enter the castle. It won't be long before they reach you."
Raylan noted the second ping on his radar indicating that another android was likely making their way through the castle toward them.
"I've pushed back the remaining androids into the castle as well, however, they're remaining where they are to protect their fallen comrade." His partner explained, "Recommend finishing your fight now, disable them and their ability to track us before regrouping with me in the courtyard. I'll keep the area clear for your escape."
"Understood," Raylan replied through his radio, "Keep a spot warm for me on your frame, partner. I'll be back soon." His partner confirmed the order before going quiet again.
It seemed like he'd have his chance to escape once he took this android supermodel down. He knew he could make a break for it but that could still leave her able to follow. No. He had to take this one down here to buy himself time to escape.
Peering at his helmet radar, he found his target was sticking to the center of the room. Clearly on alert, judging by her indicator on the map, she was in a defensive stance although circling in a manner like she was searching the room for him.
"She mustn't have liked our earlier song and dance." The pilot thought to himself. She probably thought he would have been an easy kill given her superior android strength, but unfortunately for her he was the furthest thing from easy.
He was always known as the toughest son of a bitch to kill back home.
And that wasn't about to change any time soon.
Unfortunately though long-distance shooting would only do so much given his foes ability to both dodge, block and tank his shots. He was certain that enough sustained fire from his L-Star would do serious damage to the androids frame, possibly even lethal damage, but she wouldn't allow the focus fire, nor would her floating companion. The more range between them the less effective lower caliber rounds became, and he'd just lost his G2 rifle as well. His Wingman was all he had for penetration, but he wasn't going to be sniping with that any time soon.
If the pilot wanted to win this one he was gonna have to crash the distance to help create an opening to deal some real punishment. And he was gonna use the androids desire to kill him against her.
Raylan activated his cloak as he moved to strike. His camouflage had been effective against this android when he'd needed to evade her attacks, if she didn't have the same kind of vision as he did then he was completely invisible to her similarly to how he would be for a titan.
With that in mind, he jet-hopped across the room and crashed into his opponent with a fierce straight kick to her back. The combined force from his strength and jump boost was enough to throw the android across the room. She bounced across the floor once before cartwheeling back into a standing position, twisting mid-spin as she turned back to face him.
The two locks eyes, sorta, before Raylan fired upon her with his L-Star whilst 2Bs pod fired upon the pilot. Being forced to dodge, Raylan jet-jumped to the right to avoid the pods laser volley.
2B weaved out of the way of the L-Star shots before darting over to the pilot, blade low ready to thrust forward through Raylans chest. As the thrust came for him he used his L-Star to help deflect the attack off-side.
Raylan countered as the blade slide past by swinging an elbow toward his foes face, but she caught the hit with her off-hand, pushed back against the hit, which put a bit of space between their bodies before she slammed him across the chest with a backhand of her own.
Her enhanced strength, combined with the technique she used, was enough to throw Raylan off his feet. He twisted mid-air so that when he land he could roll into a crouched on one-knee stance.
His L-Star swung in the direction he'd been thrown from. Yet he didn't pull the trigger. The android was upon him a second later, blade by her hip. The battle android swung vertically, and would and probably cut him clean open from his gut through to his ribs if he hadn't thrown himself backward.
On his back, the android saw an opportunity to finish him off as she raised the sword above her head and drove it straight down. Raylan leaned just far enough to the side, the blade pierce the stone beneath him, but didn't touch him.
Twist back Raylan came face-to-face with his attacker. They could clearly see each other in that instant, their faces locked onto one another. A rather beautiful female android stared at him through a fierce scowl. Whilst all she saw was the faint glow of his helmet's visor.
Raylan reacted first by reaching out and grabbing the YoRHa android by her neck with his left hand, before he pulled her forward. His fist met her face with enough force to stun the android, which gave the pilot room to snake his arm lower toward his belt.
The battle android reacted by backhanding the arm that was grabbing her in order to free herself of his grasp. Once free, however, Raylan slammed something into the androids side before raising his leg between them and kicking her off him, and tossing her back.
Raylan twisted and spun his body to get himself off the ground just in time for him to stare down the YoRHa android once again.
At that moment though, the android felt something stuck to her lower back. Her hand went to the spot where the object was, a round object had been attached to her outfit. She didn't have the time to even consider what to do with it before it exploded into a small blast of electricity. She screamed in response to the attack, which kinda startled the pilot for a nanosecond.
She'd been stuck with an arc grenade when Raylan had been grappling with the android on the ground.
Although the blast didn't do any lasting physical damage, the rush of the electricity to the androids and pods systems was enough to stun them severely, with the android having to drop down to one knee just to keep herself from completely falling.
With such an opening Raylan had enough time to charge the android down, shooting the android twice on the way.
The two shots struck the YoRHa soldier in her chest with one of the shots piercing a previously made hole. She grunted through the damage, and the pain, as she attempted to force herself to her feet.
Raylan was upon her in an instant, but the android went for a desperate, yet powerful vertical up-swing. Anticipating the attack the pilot jet-boosted at the last second, crashing the remaining distance between the two.
Although he wasn't struck by the blade edge, his ribs and underside took the full brunt of a strike from the android as she was slammed by the hilt of the blade and the fists of the android that held it.
Pushing past it though, the pilot wrapped her arms up with his right arm, tying down her blade, whilst he palm struck her in the face.
As expected the palm strike didn't practically nothing to the android, but that wasn't the aim of it. Now with her weapon locked down, and a leverage point on her face, Raylan powered up his jump-jets to their absolute maximum as he twisted the androids body to face the wall that lead back into the castles hall.
His jets fired at maximum output, both the pilot and android flew through the air at immense speed, with the androids head being the tip of the spear.
It took only two seconds before they collided with the stone wall at high speed. The force of the impact was enough to rattle Raylan's bones, but he held on as the two burst through the wall. Debris flew across the hall as they flew from one side of it to the other where the android was once again slammed into the opposite wall headfirst.
Like being hit by a car, the android had been slammed through one stone wall, which both parties went through before she was slammed into the second one.
Raylan lost grip of the android as he fell to one knee, with his opponent slumping to the ground, unmoving. Her sword clattering to the ground next to her.
It took a moment for Raylan to gather himself before drawing his pistol. However, before he could he heard a voice call out.
"2B!" A male voice called out from around one of the corners.
Seemed like her backup was here.
Cutting his win off here, Raylan moved to stand. As he did his hand grasped the fallen androids sword. Instinctively he grabbed the blade, holding it close. He turned toward the hole in the stone wall they'd made and dashed through it, heading toward the outer hole in the wall that lead to the courtyard below.
As he ran he heard that same male voice call out the androids name again. 2B. Ignoring the voice, Raylan quickly dodged to the left mid-sprint to avoid a short laser burst from his opponents now fully recovered pod. Thing.
Luckily for Raylan the little pod seemed to prioritize returning to their android, although it keep facing him just in case he was to turn on it.
Seems like her safety was more important to it than he was dead.
"Something I could exploit in the future." The pilot noted as he neared the hole in the wall A2 had jumped through at the beginning of all this.
"Coming through, RO!" Raylan called out through their comms before he jet jumped out into the open air above the courtyard. He sailed through the air for a moment before being caught by his partner.
"Thanks for the lift," Raylan thanked his partner as he escaped his titans grasp to climb atop his frame. "Let's move!" He yelled as he turned to and sighted his L-Star at the hole above. Watching to see if they were followed as RO took off toward the bridge they used to get here.
When he saw nothing watching them or moving to follow them, Raylan moved to watch the path ahead of them. The pair would be back into the forest soon, hopefully evading any flight patrols if they were in the area, and eventually, they'd be back in the unknown city.
The pair had survived another battle, understood more about the world they'd found themselves on, but they were still far from achieving their mission.
Still far from home.
One step at a time though.
/_\
Anemone sighed warily to herself.
The resistance leader had just finished with her task. A task given by YoRHa, by Commander White specifically.
She had been informed of a rogue android that had appeared recently, one which was now being hunted by YoRHa agents as she stood here and now. Honestly, she had little faith in this poor souls survival after witnessing the squad that had been spent to hunt them.
Commander White had given her some information on the target, including images that were taken during their first engagement in the desert, during her meeting with Unit 2D earlier.
With this information on hand, she was told by Commander White to investigate the resistance camp to find out if they had originated from here, even if YoRHa believed they weren't, or has allies in the region within her own camp.
And so she did just that. Directly, and sometimes subtly if she found someone suspicious, questioning the members of the resistance on the target one by painstaking one. It didn't help that she had other duties to work on as well at this time but this was apparently a priority.
What made the task so tiring was the fact she was asked to do the initial investigation alone, as they didn't want unnecessary information on the investigation, any leads, and it's progress getting out to their target if they did indeed have allies in the camp. Keep their cards close to their chest so to speak. If that was even possible.
Hence why she was taking a small break. Taking time to not only gather her thoughts but to also mentally organise the information she had received thus far. The resistance leader would no doubt have to report her findings to her friend, White, once she believed she had finished.
In all honesty, she had nothing of note to report on. Everyone she questioned thus far had given her the same series of responses.
They had no clue who this android was.
And she believed them.
Not simply because she thought they were telling the truth but because she would know of an android like this. The weapons, equipment, appearance. Anemone would recognize this android, and she would know if anyone in her camp had been acting suspiciously recently.
Among the first things she did was check manifests, logs, and stocks of weapons, ammunition, and equipment. Once she'd confirmed nothing was missing, and that the information was indeed correct, she questioned those associated with specific jobs around the camp. From those meant to guard the camp, those sent out to scavenge parts, and her lookouts.
All of them came back with the same confused expressions when asked of YoRHas latest threat.
So, truly, she had nothing to report to White and likely wouldn't either by the end of it all.
"Only a few more to go, Anemone." The resistance leader reminded herself, "Won't be long until you're done with this." With a tiny bit of motivation restored within her after that little pick-me-up, Anemone moved to resume her mission with haste when a voice called out to her.
"Hey, Anemone!" The resistance leader turned in the direction of the voice and found two familiar twin androids approaching her.
Devola and Popola.
Anemone turned her body, fully facing them, before speaking, "Hello you two." She greeted the two with a slight nod of the head at each one of them, beginning with Devola since she'd been the one to call out to her.
Both androids responded in turn with a small bow of the head out of respect.
"We've overheard from other androids around the camp that you seem to be questioning members of the resistance about a specific unknown person." Popola explained on behalf of the pair. "If there is anything we can do to help, we'll do it." The sister offered for both of them.
The resistance leader mentally facepalmed herself at hearing that.
"A bunch of idiots speaking out loud about my line of questioning. Why not just announce the fact that I've been searching for something?!" Like a disappointed parent, Anemone quickly pushed thought to the back of her mind and had to fight back a sigh.
She hummed instead, "I am. Nearly finished though so there isn't much you can help with." She quickly dismissed it. "Not like I'm even allowed help anyway…" Honestly though, she wouldn't ask these two for help even if she was allowed. These two would likely be shut down at every opportunity if they started questioning resistance members.
"Ah," Devola squeaked before continuing, "Well, if that's the case then we can get our questioning over with at least."
"Indeed," Popola agreed with her sister, "Now that we're here you can at least get both of us off the list seeing as you haven't come to us yet."
A fair proposition. They needed to be questioned and now was the perfect opportunity.
"That is true," The resistance leader acknowledged, "Alright, let's get this done then." The android pulled a small notepad and pencil from her backside pocket with one hand, and a picture capturing the individual she wanted answers on.
"So, to start, have either of you noticed any strange or suspicious activity as of recent?" Anemone began, "With either members of the resistance or logs and stocks?"
The pair took a moment to think on their answer. But it did little, both coming to the same thought. "I haven't noticed anyone actually peculiar recently, no abnormal injuries came our way or anyone making strange requests when asking for supplies," Popola explained, turning to her sister in anticipation of her sister speaking.
"I haven't noticed anyone acting strange, everyone has seemed to stick to their respective groups and social circles. Nobody seemed to have spent extended periods of time outside the camp either." Devola added to her sister's statement.
"Figures…" Anemone mumbled to herself, jotting down notes on what the sisters had said. "This continues to reinforce what I already suspected." Anemone shifted her notepad out of the way and brought the image into view for both Popola and Devola. "Here's an image of the person of interest."
The two sisters both moved closer to inspect the image more thoroughly. At first, neither sister reacted but the longer they both stared the more their faces contorted into confusion.
Anemone took note of their expressions, brows furrowing in the process. "Recognize him?" The resistance camp's voice seemed to do the trick and broke them from their stupor.
"...no, I don't believe I do." Devola began, eyes remaining focused on the person in the picture as if… analyzing them. "They do look… strange though…" The red-haired android mumbled just loud enough for the others present to hear.
That was a fact. Anemone had acknowledged it earlier that this individual looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. That helmet they wore was something else.
Popola nodded in agreement with her sister, "...I don't recognize him either. I think I would remember them if I met someone like that." After the words left her mouth Popola couldn't help but pause for a brief moment, quickly shaking off what she was thinking about before continuing. "That armour is quite… unique though."
After that, the sisters went silent as they continued to analyze and inspect the image of this mysterious individual. Trying to glean more details from the single picture.
Anemone sighed but did nothing more. Honestly, what had she expected? Basically the same answer she's gotten throughout this whole investigation, merely worded differently. Not a single person recognized, knew of, or suspected anyone of knowing this individual.
As she had suspected that from the start.
She was the leader of the resistance, she was certain she would notice if something was off around the camp. None of her agents were acting any differently as of late, and the activity within the camp remained the same as always.
Returning to the twins, Anemone spoke. "I appreciate the answers, girls." Packing away the picture and note-pad as she addressed the two. "I'd like you two to not speak of this openly around others." Not like all those other idiots. Her mind tacked on.
"Of course," Popola bowed her head toward their leader. "We won't speak of this to anyone else." Devola would surely have agreed if she wasn't still deep in thought. Pondering the appearance of the rogue android.
"Then good da-"
"Anemone!" Another, more panicky, voice called out to her, "An urgent request has come in from YoRHa units in the field that requires your immediate attention!" A resistance android explained as they reached her, handing her a scrap of paper with something written on it. The resistance leaders' face contorted into one of concern before slipping back to a more neutral one.
Without hesitation, with no words, Anemone moved swiftly past the resistance android, as they turned to follow her.
Popola stared off after the two androids as they rapidly vanished from her line of sight.
"Must be quite important then." Popola thought to herself.
Popola turned to her sister and found her to still be staring off into space, her thoughts completely enthralling her attention.
She placed her dainty hand on her sister's shoulder, effectively drawing Devola from her thoughts as the sisters looked at each other.
"Are you okay, sister?" Popola asked, concern and worry dripping from her soft tone.
"Uh, yeah." Devola responded slowly, "I'm fine…" She paused again, "Just confused."
She hummed in response, "I see…" She began, speaking just as soft and slowly as her sister, "I think I know why you're so confused."
"You do?"
"Yes," Popola nodded, "You're thinking of the image Anemone showed us, correct? The android?"
"I am," Devola admitted as she shook her head slightly, "I don't know why but I just have this feeling like I know something about them as if I've met them before. It's like my feelings remember them but I can't seem to remember any details of them." The twin explained, brows creasing ever so slightly. "Just seeing them feels like-
"Like recalling a long-forgotten dream…" Popola finished on her behalf. "...I'm feeling the very same, sister."
Devola looked directly into her sister's eyes, "Then why can't I remember anything about them? I can only feel what it was like, not recall it from memory." Both sisters went quiet after that.
Unfortunately, neither sister really had an answer to that question.
Neither could seem to remember on their own just who this android was or how they even knew of him.
But, in the back of their minds they kept hearing a small whisper of a voice. Repeating one thing on loop, over and over again.
A name.
And neither sister could understand why the name Raylan appeared in their minds in the first place.
/_\
"No radar movement detected behind us." RO stated, slowing his speed slightly, "We aren't currently being pursued."
"But we will be followed eventually." Raylan countered as he gazed across the road ahead of them from his perch on his titans frame. "We're clearly a popular target, so we won't have long before they're on our trail again." He turned back, looking in the direction they'd just came from. "Reduce speed, and begin counter tracking measures. We've got a head start but they'll find the trail sooner or later, let's make it difficult for them. Speed isn't gonna help us all that much with their flight units about."
"Understood," RO replied, guns still at the ready just like his pilot. Raylan knew his partner would maintain watch over his radar and scanners even as they moved. They didn't need any nasty surprises. So, with that in mind, Raylan observed the path they walked. Checking for anything of significance, threats, alternate paths, important landmarks, and so on.
"Any signs of our lovely lady friend?" The pilot inquired, curious as to her location.
"Negative," RO responded before moving to explain, "I've been unable to locate her once she took her leave of the battle with the YoRHa androids. Something to note however is that my systems struggle to find her at times, if at all."
"Oh?" Raylan's brow raised inside his helmet, "That's new. You're usually very good at stalking people with your radar. What's different?"
Missing the jab, his partner continued, "A2s signal is drastically different to those of the machines, and even other YoRHa androids. I can quite easily track and monitor machines and I can detect YoRHa androids, A2 seems to be able to come and go off my radar."
The human hummed in thought, "Perhaps she's figured out a way to avoid being detected by scanners and radars in an attempt to be able to avoid YoRHa. That's one of the first things we'd do after all. Disable their ability to find us."
"That is my current theory, yes." RO agreed with his pilots' breakdown as to why their lady friend couldn't be found. "Until she decides to reveal herself to us we will be unlikely to find her again." That was unfortunate to think about. "We remain alone on this one, Raylan."
"That we do, RO," Raylan responded softly, "That we do."
As much help as it might have been to have this A2 on their side, it wasn't something they could control. Or even push for. A team-up between the two would take effort to get, and with half of the issue missing they wouldn't be handling this any time soon.
Something for later.
But for now, he had other issues to concern himself with.
Mainly where to set up camp for a couple of hours.
Raylan's earlier theory also seemed to ring through here, it seemed that the sun didn't set here. Hell, it seemed as though it hadn't even moved an inch since his initial arrival. The time definitely changed as both his helmet and ROs system indicated so, but the sun remained where it was.
RO hypothesized that it was the earth that was no longer rotating, nor its moon. Raylan was quick to agree on that, seeing as how the planet was the one to rotate the sun and not the other way around. That meant the planet they stood on was no longer in a rotational cycle around the solar system.
How that was possible, and how long it has been this way were questions neither of the pair could really answer. Nor were they likely to find the answers to those questions currently.
So they were questions for another time, but here and now Raylan needed a campsite. Somewhere to hunker down and rest for a few hours. A place big enough to hide not only himself but his partner as well.
Given the fact it was always broad daylight, they couldn't simply hide in the shadows either, despite their little trump card. Simply camouflaging their campsite into their surroundings wouldn't cut it if they were always stuck in a brightly lit area. They knew YoRHa had capable flight units at their disposal, the campsite could be spotted from above if they weren't careful. Meaning if they didn't want to be seen accidentally, they had to be indoors. Out of sight.
That limited their options to abandoned buildings or caves, and Raylan was no stranger to sleeping in either from his time on the Frontier behind enemy lines. He did have the option of sleeping in the treetops or hidden under a blanket of sand in the desert but that also meant they'd have to travel to and fro from their campsite whenever they went on the move.
No, they'd have to adapt on a day-to-day basis.
"Probably should attempt to locate a campsite soon," Raylan thought to himself, "Especially after the day we've had thus far."
Getting some rest and nutrients into him would do some good. The little nap he'd had when he first warped here hadn't really done anything to rest him properly, and he hadn't slept since he'd gotten here.
Nor had he eaten much either.
"Both would certainly help." The pilot admitted to himself before moving his left hand to his right side ribs. Gingerly, he pressed on them on certain areas with considerable force. Checking each rib in multiple areas. More than once did he grunt at the sharp pain that he got in response.
"Yep, definitely bruised at the very least," Raylan muttered to himself as he moved back to watching the path ahead of them. His ribs were bruised, badly. How badly he couldn't say, but it shouldn't remain a problem for too long. Pilots healed fast. He was certain it wouldn't be an issue come morning.
Or whatever the hell you wanted to call it since there were no more mornings or nights.
Still, the fact he got a set of bruised ribs from his fight with that YoRHa android was worrying. He didn't even take the full - lethal - blow from his foe either. Her strength really confirmed the fact she wasn't human. Avoiding the swing of the blade by stepping in, but being hit was the fist and pommel of the blade still left him bruised.
He had little doubt she could break through most of his armour with relative ease. Would have done possibly lethal damage if he'd stupidly decided to take a sword blade first.
Raylan flexed his right hand, remembering the initial punch he'd landed on his foe earlier in the fight. He'd expected to do more damage given both his own physical strength, enhancements, and training, but the YoRHa android took it better than he thought she would have.
It really did emphasize the difference between androids and some of the machines back home. That YoRHa android was stronger, tougher, and faster than any specters you'd come across, not to mention more skilled and absolutely more intelligent. Raylan had to admit that the only ones that would be able to take down these YoRHa androids would be Pilots with their tricks and their titans for their superior size and strength. Marines, specters, and Reapers likely wouldn't succeed in any single one-on-one confrontation, only in numbers. Still it spoke volumes for the androids.
Although armed with swords, that didn't seem to diminish their skills or battle effectiveness in any way. Something only pilots could match in terms of raw skill, their titans would likely be the thing that tips the odds in their favor most often in engagements.
Speaking off swords, Raylan glanced at his plundered prize. The very same sword that had bruised his ribs, and one of two swords the female android had been carrying in their fight.
A white katana.
Beautifully crafted too, he had to admit. Even if most people back home labeled it as a weeb stick. Oh how the mighty had fallen.
Regardless, he hadn't thought much of it. He'd just grabbed it on his way out because it was there. Although Raylan was sure he could put it to use, he was skilled with swords if only because of all the fighting and experience he had when it came to wielding a ronins blade in his titan. He could use all the same skills and techniques outside his titan as well.
So now he had a sword of his own to add to his arsenal.
Not bad.
It wasn't exactly a replacement for an actual firearm, but an extra weapon was an extra weapon. He'd have to ponder what to do with his mangled rifle, but that was something he would do once he found the tools to repair his equipment.
"Raylan," RO spoke through their comms, bringing them into a conversation "Detecting a break in machine patrols, if we slip through their patrols now my scans indicate that we might find a suitable place to set up camp."
Raylan hummed, "What's the place seem like by your scans?"
"Ample space to contain us both, covered partially by woodland canopy on one side of the building, and multiple exits." RO explained, "Strategically it might be the best we have for the time being."
"Sounds like a really classy five-star hotel," Raylan responded flatly, "If you think we can slip by any machine patrols to get there, do it. The sooner we set camp the better, we have a few things to go over."
"Affirmative." RO responded, "Watch our backs, pilot."
Raylan nodded, "Copy that, partner."
The pair moved on, covering their tracks as they did. Remaining to the best possible cover they could as they neared their chosen campsite. Avoiding nearly all eyes around them as they went.
All except for one pair of familiar eyes watching them from afar.
/_\
The command center was as busy and active as ever. Operator units all working tirelessly at their stations with their assigned tasks. To see YoRHa androids putting time and effort into their jobs, finding purpose in them.
It was a sight White liked to see.
This is what she fought to protect, what she strived to keep going. Admittedly it wasn't all selfless, but she wanted those around her to have purpose. Have goals. Have hope.
Hope.
The one thing every single thing on this planet needs. From their human creators, the aliens, and androids themselves, they all needed hope. A reason to go on. Without purpose they would surely fall into darkness. They'd give up, they'd die on the inside long before they did on the outside.
That could never come to pass.
It's why she fought so hard.
But it was also why she lied so hard as well…
The secrets she held, the lies she's told. They were all for the greater good, not just for herself but those around her. As much as she might hate the fake everything they had was built on a lie, it was something she clung to. For purpose, and comfort.
Perhaps it was selfish of her to do so, maybe that's why androids went rogue, but she couldn't care about that. She had to think of the bigger picture. The androids across the world.
It was truly a sad time when she was forced to eliminate their own when they went rogue. But it was all in the name of survival.
"Commander!" The voice of one of her operators called out from the left side of the room, breaking White from her slowly darkening thoughts. "We've got a report coming in from agents in the field, specifically from 6H on behalf of her squad!"
A report from her hunter team? Good. Let's hear of whatever progress or information they'd gathered. One thought did nag at her for a single moment. Why was it only 6H reporting and not the Captains she'd assigned? It matters little in the grand scheme of things as long as she was informed of the situation.
White nodded in acknowledgment to the operator, "Put her on-screen immediately." To which the unit in question swiftly went about doing.
Back to business it seems.
She had work to do, and secrets to protect.
/_\
"Why am I even here?!" A clearly frustrated voice complained. "There's nothing here! Never has been!" The voice, which was feminine in nature, growled out.
Unit 12S wasn't a happy bunny on her certain assignment.
She'd been tasked with investigating strange machine movements and signals in the area. Apparently, more than a few operators picked up strange signals coming from the area. But they've been unable to analyze them because as quickly as they appear, they disappear. Blink and you'll miss it kind of thing.
Or so she's heard.
Then the machines.
The machines…
According to eye-witness reports, and their own scans, there has been an influx of machines to the area. Mostly small hordes of the small ones but still an influx of them. Some seemed to be carrying buckets of scraps and parts, mostly from their own fallen kind.
Where exactly they were going was unknown since nobody followed them this far into the desert. Hence why 12S was sent to scout it out and report her findings to the Commander.
Some might have argued that her task was of great importance.
12S would have told them to shut their damn mouth.
Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury of choice on the matter. She'd been assigned this task by the Commander herself, and thusly couldn't refuse it.
She could sure as shit complain about it though.
Her heels clicked on some the rock she crossed, having to go through a small rocky archway, following her pods directions she soon came across what looked like a small mining station, rusted to hell and falling apart, alongside a mineshaft that looked just as dilapidated as the shack next to it.
"...what a dump." 12S thought as she gave the area a quick once over. "Really screams 'Important Machine Facility', doesn't it?"
"Superficial observations suggests you are correct," Her pod responded, "Recommendation: Examine the area in further detail for a more accurate report." The scanner model merely rolled her eyes at her pods response.
"Understood." Non-committal, and lacking all energy.
But she did as recommended, pushing further into the run-down dump that was her mission objective. The first thing the scanner noted were the tracks. Thousands of small machine footprints, blurring together to create lines in the sand. A trail they all seemed to follow.
All prints and lines lead to one place.
The mineshafts entrance.
"Whatever the hell these little shits are up to, it's inside the mines." The scanner concluded. Of course, it wasn't a very hard deduction to come to. The tracks lead that way, and according to the reports they'd gotten, the machines that went in didn't come back out.
So, if all the machines were truly in the mines somewhere, they were up to something down in the depths.
What that was the scanner didn't know, but it was going to be her job to find out.
12S waltzed over to the mine entrance, peered inside and was greeted by a sheer, empty, blackness. No sights, no sounds, nothing. The scanner couldn't see or hear a damn thing from the entryway.
It was actually… unnerving, in a way.
"Like a dark void where things come to die." The scanner model thought gloomily to herself, eyes still not leaving the dark void of the mineshaft. It's like there's something telling her to be wary of the darkness, like a deep instinct warning her of the unknown.
It was a… strange feeling.
New, in a way.
At least, she'd never felt like this solely because of a dark and scary mineshaft. It sounds silly, but that's just the way it was.
"Hey!" She scanner android yelled into the void, her voice echoing on into the depths of the mine to who knows where. Maybe the machines down there heard her?
"Warning: Unusual signals detected. Moving in our direction" The scanners pod chimed in. "It appears they heard you."
Well, that answered that question.
"Good," The scanner scoffed, "It'll make things simpler for-" The YoRHa android paused before looking toward the ground in confusion.
It was faint, but there.
She could feel the ground shaking. But not like an earthquake or rockslide, but in a semi-regular rhythm. Like something was… running? Whatever it was, it was big, and it was fast.
"Warning: Signal has disappeared. Be cautious." Her partner warned, much to her confusion. Signals didn't normally just vanish like that, especially if it was getting closer as stated previously.
12S turned back to face the darkness of the mines once again, except this time a faint red light in the distance caught her attention.
It was strange.
It flickered like a flame, different from how machines traditionally lit up.
"Hey, Pod," 12S called out to her little companion. "Shine a light over to that light down there!" She ordered, nodding in the direction of the little red light without turning away from it herself.
Her pod hovered over to her side, just above the androids shoulder, before blasting a flashlight down the entrance of the mineshaft.
And as soon as it did, 12S froze in fear.
The little flickering red light she'd thought was down in the depths of the mine, deep in the tunnel entrance, was actually right in front of her.
However, the light was within the jaws of a massive machine, jaws open wide, and the androids head was barely five inches away from the jagged teeth of the beast.
She screamed as she reared back alongside her pod, but it wasn't enough.
The jaws reached out from the darkness and snapped onto both the android and the pod at once, cutting the scream off in an instant. The sounds replaced by the brief crunching of metal as the head of the beastly machine retreated into the darkness with its silent victim pinned within its clutches.
A single roar echoed out of the mineshaft, before falling silent again. No movement, no noise, no signs of life.
As if nothing had happened in the first place.
C6 - End
Truly not my best work.
Honestly, I re-wrote certain parts of this multiple times (and, fuck me, do I mean multiple times. Guess how many!), and I'm still not completely (if at all) happy with it. It does what it needs to but… I feel as though I could have done better. Take a guess as to which parts I did multiple times. Sorry for the delays either way. I had a few other things to deal with. A promotion and training for the new position, you could say among many other personal life factors. Took up plenty of my time. Mainly writers' block with this chapter though.
There might also be quite a few errors I missed. If you spot them then by all means tell me, thanks.
Got a picture commissioned for this story, however, so that's cool! Raylan, RO, and A2 are in it. Look forward to that in the future hopefully.
Edited some lines from Raylan in the previous chapters. They're small, ignorable changes but they may or may not add a bit of character to him, mostly how he speaks to and about people. Still got that flat humor though.
Man, I need a beta-reader...
Also, Nier Replicant. Pretty fucking good, not gonna lie. Would people be interested in a spin-off story? Titanfall X Nier Replicant. I wouldn't mind that in the distant future.
Thank you everyone for the love and support this story is getting. I know some of you might be frustrated with its pacing and waiting for revelations of the MCs humanity to come about, but just bare with me. I will be time-skipping in the future, maybe a day or two at a time, which will help push us to the end faster, and thus the big reveal, and how everyone will deal with it.
Note: I'm sure people are gonna have complaints about this chapter but I'll answer any questions or complaints people have about this chapter and try to answer them in the next chapter (or PM if you prefer to talk to me that way in a more long-winded way).
Review Responses:
Infinity Unity 13: Appreciate the review, both the praise and critics! I'm trying to stick to each character's personality as best I can, whilst also giving them forms of character development my own way. I think A2 and 9S are pretty accurate portrayals to their game counterparts. And I've noted from a few people that I need to work more on Raylan (and ROs) and his character a bit more and make him more… lively. I'll be attempting to work on that in the future, especially once we get past the initial parts of the story.
Wolfblits: Like a deep-seeded protocol, the machines know what must be done with Titans. It's scary, indeed, just wait till the Titan Hunters actually show up. And yes, I said Hunters. Plural. As for the facilities? I can't spoil anything by answering that but you'll get your answer to that eventually.
Ruberforumfree: Sorry about that…
Prometheus-777: I really am stuck for words when it comes to your reviews… You bring more energy to fanfic reviews than most people bring to a rave. I can dig it. Anyway, I agree that 9S is really starting to edge closer to things he probably shouldn't. But that's 9S for you. Curious as always, it might just get him into a world of trouble. But it might also get him out of it. Glad to see 4G is being well received by some. I won't comment on any of the androids backstories and such as I do have ideas in mind as to how I'm gonna use them, can't spoil things obviously. Keep the theories coming though! 9S is a goodboi! Poor A2, but she's used to it! Hey, who said the little machines all had to be used as cannon fodder? I got creative! I think your fetish is showing with 6H, my friend. You'll see the Titan Hunters soon enough, don't you worry. You'll see what they're like. For a review like that, you can now have two snickers!
Moving-Target10019314: Yeah, the Commander isn't in a favorable position, is she?
All Smaller Reviews: Thank you for the praise and honest critics of my story! I do read my reviews, and I will try to take any advice to heart (with a pinch of salt). Thanks again for the continued support of this random little story!
Another chapter complete, this one took longer than expected (for reasons) so I apologize for that. I really need to stop promising to update stories semi-frequently when I have no way of keeping those promises. Sorry!
Alright, that's a wrap!
AlcatrazDGold - Peace!