Hey guys, guess you who just finished another chapter? Me obliviously and not you. Haha-okay I'll stop...Lame jokes aside this chapter was been really interesting for me to write, like I said previously in chapter 9 there's some stuff I need to figure out for the future of this story. I have a somewhat written plan for this story but I need to think on how I want to go about it, which is why I'll take some time on chapter 11. Anyway this marks the 10th chapter of this story which is quite a feat for me since this is my first story, like I said I don't plan on abandoning this story ANY time soon. My ultimate goal for this story is make around 100 chapter, crazy right? Keep in my that its an estimate.
Anyways take care and I'll see you soon.
In the control room many operators were speaking back and forth through their microphone while rapidly typing on their keyboard, while other units were running in and out of the control room. Everyone was focused on doing their duty's. The commander white sighed as she was having a hard time managing every report that came to the bunker with every operator asking for her attention, they still hadn't received any updates on the squadron she had deployed hours ago which made her quite stressed. How was Yorha supposed to plan their next moves if they weren't updated on what was happening on earth?
The commander white frowned as she turned around and saw many Yorha soldiers in groups talking to each other's about their recent simulation experience, there must be around one hundred of them currently in the room including her. She knew they were training for these specific scenarios but the real question was if they were trained enough? Never would she had predicted that a powerful machine would just suddenly come out of nowhere and completely overpower most of her elite soldiers which made her worried about their future. These machines kept evolving with each passing day while Yorha soldiers kept regressing, at first she thought it might be just her imagination but after seeing their performance it wouldn't surprise her that they had slowly started to lose their resolve to carry on in this war. The commander white wasn't naive, she was aware that the androids on earth despite how much they would try to hide it had lost their will to carry on in this war many years ago. She knew it was only a matter of time before the people in the bunker also began to start losing their wills to fight despite the message they kept broadcasting with each passing day, however she wasn't expecting it to be so soon.
As the commander white kept contemplating their fates, the sound of alarm suddenly went off which was enough to snap her back to reality. She blinked a couple times before regaining her composure and instantly looked towards the giant screen ahead of her, as she was about to question what was happening 60 suddenly start informing her about the current situation.
''Commander! The signal that we intercepted in the city ruins about an hour ago has suddenly started to growth, it's like there's a massive spike in energy that has just been released. We've never had something like that before!'' 60 practically screamed while typing on her keyboard.
''Try to track the precise loca-''
''Commander! We've lost contact with all of our squadrons!'' 210 said with slightly panicked voice, usually she remained calm and collected in those situations compared to 60 but the fact that they had suddenly lost contact with thousands of units was unimaginable.
The commander white looked at the giant screen with disbelief all over her face, she couldn't recall when was the last time that she was overwhelmed by many reports.'what's...going on?' She thought while clutching her fist.
''Commander! What is your order!'' Another operator next to 60 said while raising her head from her screen before many other operators began joining her asking on what to do next. The blonde haired leader began breathing profusely as she was being to overwhelmed to respond, everyone was waiting for her orders, counted on her and she couldn't even keep herself together. Never had she felt that much pathetic for being unable to act as a true leader, the commander white kept cursing herself until a incoming call came up on display. Her eye widened as she recognised the location of the last person she would have ever thought of calling her out of nowhere. The commander white slowly looked up to 60 who was worryingly staring at her while still awaiting for her orders.
''60, answer the call and put me on the line.'' The Yorha leader ordered with a bit of uncertainty in her voice which thankfully went unnoticed by the blonde operator before putting her on the line.
''Commander? Can you hear me?!'' Anemone said while moving her head towards the screen. The desperation in her voice caught the commander White off guard before she finally answered back.
''Y-yes i can hear you, why did you contact me? What's happening?'' She said while stuttering a bit before composing herself.
''Listen to me It's important! We've just heard a massive explosion coming from the center of the city ruins! Furthermore there's 11B who just recently came here telling us about what's going on!'' Anemone said with a stressful expression on her face.
''Why is 11B with you? And where's 2B and 4S? Why aren't they there with her as well?'' The blonde haired women asked suspiciously, she hoped that they hadn't abandoned their mission however deep down she knew they would never unless they had a good reason. Before Anemone could reply back 11B suddenly came beside her and began speaking through the screen while bringing her head closer.
''Commander! They are still fighting in the city ruins and we still don't have any news about our squadron that was supposed to meet us!'' 11B said besides Anemone with a panicked tone.
''Fighting who exactly? What are you talking about?'' The blonde haired leader asked.
''Erebus!'' 11B practically yelled while having a hard time to calm herself, upon hearing this information the commander white widened her eyes. She couldn't fathom why Erebus was in the city ruins, they were supposed to fight the horse of machines that were coming and not this monster. Things were not as going as planned which means that they needed all the support that they could possibly get. After some thinking the commander white made her decision and began looking directly into Anemone eyes through her screen.
''...Anemone, as you've might guess Erebus is currently in the city ruins which means that he is here to kill anyone in his path. That includes you and everyone inside the resistance camp, which is why I'm asking your help.'' The commander white said while keeping an impassive face however upon hearing that Anemone couldn't help but to frown at her.
''Even if we are currently in danger here...tell me why should I help you? Whenever my people are in danger or are dying and we ask for help Yorha barely respond until it's to late.'' Anemone said with venom in her voice which was enough to make 11B flinch besides her.
Normally the commander white would immediately get frustrated by these types of remarks however she knew that she wasn't in any position to argue so she took the time to carefully think of her next words.
''I understand that your resentment towards me Anemone, however 2B and 4S need your help or else they won't survive much longer.'' Commander white said with a hint of desperation in her voice which didn't go unnoticed by 60 and 210 as they looked at each other's. Anemone kept staring at the blonde leader with hesitation before rubbing her temples.
''Very well, but i'm only doing this because 2B is currently fighting that machine, after all she has helped us more than i can remember unlike some people.'' Anemone said while staring at the commander with disappointment, however the commander face remained impassive upon hearing her reasons.
''I appreciate your cooperation, Yorha will do everything in order to help you deal with Erebus. But before you cut the communication could I please have a moment of privacy with my unit 11B?'' The Commander white said with a slight agitated tone, After hearing this Anemone raised a eyebrow while looking at 11B who only responded with a firm nod.
''All right, I'll start preparing my members for the upcoming battle.'' Anemone said before leaving the call to prepare herself, which 11B quickly put herself in front of the screen.
''Tell me what happened exactly, why is Erebus currently in the city ruins near the resistance camp?'' Commander white asked impatiently while looking at 11B which caused her to slightly flinch under her leader gaze.
''Our squad were following the signal that our pods intercepted while being in city ruins, we wasted no time and immediately made our way towards the signal but that's when we saw him strangling someone on the floor. It looked like a Yorha model from what i can recall, she had long white hair and her body was badly damaged.'' 11B said while debriefing the situation.
After hearing what her subordinate said The commander white began questioning if what she just heard was the truth, they weren't many long white haired Yorha models that fitted the description which made her conclude that the model in question was a certain deserter. 'She's talking about A2...' The commander white furiously thought while frowning as she tried to figure out why would someone like A2 be fighting Erebus, furthermore she couldn't comprehend why would she be in the city ruins. However what was truly shocking was that damn machine had apparently managed to overcome a model unit such as A2 which made her worried about 2B chances of surviving her encounter with him. The commander white knew Erebus was strong however she was starting to be worried of what else was he was capable of doing.
''Are you positively sure that it was A2 and not someone else?'' Commander white asked while frowning however 11B only titled her head before opening her mouth.
''A2? Who's that?'' 11B asked with a questioning gaze, the commander white silently cursed herself for letting that information slip out of her mouth. She didn't need anyone to pry any further in those confidential information.
''Forget about it, just tell me if there something more I should be aware off.'' Commander white said while dismissing her subordinate question, 11B looked at her leader skeptically before shrugging her shoulder and began thinking of what she might have missed to inform her leader.
''Well...when we arrived at the scene, there was blood everywhere along with two bodies lying around. There was a head on the floor who's body was missing while the other one was just drowning in his own blood.'' 11B finished describing the scenes while being quite perturbed by these memories. After hearing that many operators began whispering to each other's of what kind of machine would be able to do such atrocities.
The commander white was having a hard time digesting what she'd just heard, she knew that Erebus wasn't like anything they had ever faced before but she never expected to hear something this disturbing from a machine. However this information made her even more worried about what 2B was dealing with, this war wasn't looking good for them.
''Alright, now I want you to go with Anemone and prepare for the upcoming battle. Don't forget that on top of Erebus there's a unusual amount of machines coming towards the city ruins, meanwhile we will try to restore the connection with our squadrons that went missing'' The blonde leader said while looking towards the operator's floor with a nod which they all nodded back in return and began typing on their keyboards.
''Understood commander, glory to mankind!'' 11B said with determination while placing a hand on her chest.
''Glory to mankind!'' Commander white answered back before 11B cut the communication, after this the blonde leader turned back towards the group of Yorha soldiers who had ceased to talk and awaited for their leader's order. This war was about to get dangerous for them which is why they needed to be a step ahead of the enemy if they ever hope to survive through this. The commander white took a deep breath before giving each soldier a task to accomplish.
2B was petrified by what she was currently seeing, before her was a strange figure that seemed to be unmoving. She couldn't understand what she was supposed to be looking at, and more importantly were was Erebus? 2B squinted her eyes towards the mysterious figure while trying to figure out what it was however the more she stared at it, the more it became clear to her of what she was currently looking at.
A black flower.
So many thought run through her head as she tried to figure out would a flower be standing there, but what was even more absurd was it size. There were no reports or any datas on a giant black flower in their records, the flower's petals were close as it's body was hunch over. 2B immediately summoned her sword and got into her stance while being quite nervous of what they were about to face, all of these fights and interactions with this machine made her began wondering if she was still facing a machine at all.
''Ma'am...Are you seeing what I'm seeing?'' 4S said in a scared tone which caused 2B to snap her head at him, she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she forgot that 4S was besides her.
''Yes, a giant black flower. But where did it exactly came from?'' The white haired android asked as she looked at the flower, she didn't know what to do exactly in this situation. 11B was gone and the resistance members still haven't showed up and on top of that the squadrons that were supposed to come went missing, they desperately needed help or else they would surely die.
''What are we supposed to eve-'' 4S words were cut short as the mysterious flower slowly started to move which caused the duo to instantly get into a stance with their swords. The flower slowly started convulsing before suddenly stopping, after some moments of silence the flower slowly opened its petals and a figure slowly crawled out from it. 2B and 4S looked at the scene before them with fright and confusion before looking at each other's, never in their lives had they encounter something like that.
'What is this thing?' 2B thought while slowly taking a step towards the figure that had emerged however she suddenly stopped in her tracks when the mysterious figure began standing up before turning its body to face her. All Colours had drained from 2B face as she saw Erebus looking at her with a frightening expression on his face, she couldn't believe that he had survived the explosion and furthermore his appearance could only be described as otherworldly. His eyes pupils were red while his body was covered in blood, but what was even more unbelievable was that he had some kinds of rotten wings coming out of his back. 2B took a couple step back when her pod suddenly came besides her.
''Recommendation: Unit 2B shouldn't engage in battle and wait for the resistance to come.'' 2B's pod said while facing her, she wondered if her pod was currently joking. There was no way this machine would just stay still and wait for the reinforcements to come, the reality was that they were about to fight for their lives if their ever hoped to stay alive until 11B came back. As she was about to scold her pod 2B heard something that made her startle quiet a bit, she quickly looked at Erebus and saw him slowly approaching her while taking both of his swords in each hand. However that wasn't what made her startled, it was a strange noise coming from him or rather from his...mouth? She listened closely before hearing the same noise again but louder and clearer.
He was grunting.
2B unconsciously began backing away as she heard him grunting and hissing something incoherent under his breath, she examined his face and saw that he had remained the same expression as earlier. However 2B knew that something was clearly wrong with him, it was like his face was empty of life which disturbed her even more. Before 2B could do anything she saw Erebus had suddenly stop walking and slowly lifted his great sword, 2B looked at him for a moment before seeing something had move behind him. She looked past him and saw the black flower petals had suddenly start rotting and turn into dust before its body vanished into thin air, to say that she was confused would be an understatement.
''Ma'am watch out!'' 4S shouted while running towards them.
Before 2B could reply, Erebus instantly appeared in front of her and lifted his great sword to strike her down to which she rapidly blocked with her sword. 2B gritted her teeth as she tried to push him back but it was useless as he suddenly applied more strength in his arm while grunting at her, realising that she couldn't overpower him 2B kicked him into his stomach while they were still locked on each other's. This caused Erebus to stumble back before savagely assaulting her with both of his sword, 2B could only block every hit that came towards her while trying to not lose any of her limbs. His aggressive movements made her realise that he had clearly lost his mind, his hits weren't controlled and calculated like before but instead they were now violent and aggressive just like a beast. 2B was starting to feel tired as she blocked his hits from every angle, each impact took a toll on her body and she didn't know how much longer she could stand on her feet. After evading his smaller sword 2B saw an opening and cut his chest open, however she saw Erebus merely grunting before slashing her stomach.
''Shit!'' 2B cried out in pay while backing away, she immediately looked down at her stomach and saw a horizontal gash on her stomach. This only made her suspicious correct that they wouldn't survive much longer if they didn't get help immediately.
''Are you okay?!'' 4S worryingly asked while coming besides her, he was slowly starting to wonder if they would ever make it out alive.
As 2B was about to respond she violently pushed 4S out of her way and blocked another hit coming from Erebus, however this time she putted everything she got and managed to push him back and followed up with a spinning kick to his stomach which caused him to stumble back a couple feet away.
''Why won't you just DIE already!'' 2B screamed at him as her anger slowly took over her body. She awaited for Erebus to reply back however he only responded back by loudly snarling back to her face before running towards her, 2B had enough of this fight and began running towards him. Once's their swords collided against each other's, both of them started to trade and block hits.
4S was watching in shock as sparkling dust erupted from their blades, they were both strong in his eyes however he knew that Erebus obliviously had the advantage. A part of him wanted to rush to 2B and help her but he also knew that scanner's unit weren't the best suited for combat which made him think that he would only be a burden to 2B if he took part in this fight.
Anemone was currently looking at the small group she had gathered for their current mission, there was four of them in this group including her and 11B. The two others had volunteered themselves to participate in this excursion, she couldn't afford to risk bringing more people in case something terrible would happen. They had weapons and ammunition to protect themselves, the machine that they were supposed to deal with was anything but weak which is why they needed to be careful.
''So, are we ready to go?'' 11B asked impatiently due to her being forced to stay until they had everything needed for the upcoming battle, she desperately wanted to run back where both of her comrades were currently fighting however she knew better then going alone and especially against that powerful machine.
''Yes it's been quite a while now...'' a peach haired woman said, she was in charge of the medical attention in the resistance camp.
''I'm about to fall asleep if you guys take any longer'' another woman with a red cape said while tossing a knife between her hands.
''Yes we're ready now stop complaining and let's go'' Anemone said as the group followed behind her, just as she was about to walk out of the resistance camp a hand suddenly rested on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Jackass looking at her as if she had lost her mind, Anemone sighed before nodding towards the group ahead of her to continue walking which they reluctantly did before disappearing behind a building.
''What is it? I need to get going or else 2B and her friend will die.'' Anemone said while looking at her friend in the eyes however Jackass narrowed her eyes before crossing her arms.
''Yeah about that, I don't think it's a good idea that you go out. You're the leader here remember? I think it's best if you let me go instead'' Jackass said while hoping her friend would understand her reasoning.
''Sorry but I can't...I've got more experience on how to handle those situations and besides I'm not going out alone.'' Anemone said smiling lightly, the truth was that she preferred Jackass to be safe rather then facing a strong machine and possibly die.
''But what ab-''
''Jackass, while I'm going i want you to be in charge of the resistance camp. It's a task that i intrust you with so please do your best alright?'' Anemone said before slowly turning her body however Jackass quickly put herself in front of her with an angry expression on her face.
''No, no! You can't leave everyone behind like that just because some Yorha units came here crying for help! What have they ever done to help us? And what about me?'' Jackass said in a frustrated tone. Anemone could only stare at her with a blank expression before slowly realising what her friend was truly afraid of.
''I'm doing this for everyone at the camp, so that this machine don't come here and kill us all. I won't die.'' Anemone calmly explained.
''It's not worth it! If this machine comes here then we'll all be together to fight it back! If you go out there then you'll just die like all of my friends did!'' Jackass said as her voice slowly began to crack. Wasting no time Anemone quickly embraced her friend in her arms, before whispering in her ears.
''Listen, I know that you're worried and I understand however we own 2B a favour after all. She has helped us countless time, it's the least I can do. I know that you're also worried for me and I'm grateful to you but I need to do this, i promise that I won't die okay?'' Anemone said while releasing her friend from her arms.
''...You promise to come back right?'' Jackass asked while looking at Anemone with a serious expression on her face to which the green eyed woman nodded.
''I promise.'' Anemone said with certainty in her voice, upon hearing that Jackass slowly backed away and began walking back inside the resistance camp but not before sparing one last glance towards her friend.
Anemone watched her dearest friend disappearing behind a building walls before turning back and started to walk outside the resistance camp perimeters, she then saw her group talking between themselves as they awaited for her. Anemone couldn't remember when was the last time when she went on a mission like this, the view of the city ruins reminded her of the old times when she was once part of her captain group before that tragic day. There was so many things Anemone wished to say to her deceased friends however they weren't alive anymore, which is she needed to be strong enough for them so that their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain. Anemone continued walking until she saw her group in the horizon, everyone turned their head as they saw their leader approaching which 11B began leading them towards their destination, the peach haired women slowed her pace until she was walking besides Anemone.
''What did Jackass wanted to talk about with you?'' The peach haired nurse asked while looking ahead of her.
''Nothing that important, she just wanted to make sure that i watch out for all of us. She's right after all we are about to face a machine that even Yorha models couldn't even beat.'' Anemone said while looking at her surroundings.
''Then what's the point of us going there? What makes you certain that we'll be able to do anything against that machine if even three Yorha models couldn't even handle it?'' The nurse asked while looking at her leader with uncertainty.
''Well first off we are more prepared than them, and lastly because we have more fire power that this machine could possibly handle'' Anemone said while looking at her gun in her arms.
''And what if our guns have absolutely no effect on this machine? From what I heard from 11B, these machines have been evolving quicker than we expected these day. After all we're not talking about any machine here, we're talking about a powerful one that made quite the talk around the nearby resistance's camp and even in the Yorha bunker if what 11B told me is correct.'' The peachy haired nurse said like looking at her leader in the eyes. It took a moment for Anemone to process everything she's just heard and couldn't come up with a solid argument, she doubted that their weapons would be useless however if they turned out to be then what would they do?
''I...don't know, however that doesn't mean we should just sit back and do nothing. It's best that we figure out what we're dealing with and if it turns out that we don't have what it takes to defeat that machine then we can always retreat back to the resistance camp and better prepare ourselves for the future.'' Anemone said with determination in her voice, the peach haired women looked at her for a moment before smiling.
''That's good to hear, I just wanted to make sure to better understand our situation.'' The nurse said as she kept walking.
''Are you doubting our chances of survival?'' Anemone suspiciously asked.
''Well i'm not good with fighting, that goes for most of us here except you and 11B. We have no idea of what we are about to face, there's a chance that more of these machines suddenly start appearing in the city. And we both know that we're aren't many as we used to be in the resistance camp, most android that I've treated are dead. It's a dangerous world out there that not many people can survive unless they are part of a group or a community.'' The peach haired women said in sad tone.
''That's true but-''
''Anemone! We're almost there so let's start running before it's to late.'' 11B said while starting to run towards the road followed by the red caped women. Anemone and the nurse looked at each other's and nodded their heads before running right behind 11B.
