Chapter 40

My beams connected yet they only did as much damage as if I'd fired just one. The Will had manifested enough wind to become invisible and avoid the brunt of the attack, but she hadn't managed to avoid the single Thunderer shot from my Typhoon Magnum. It'd managed to pierce her chest again and allow me to see what was inside.

Evatech Ichigata was very powerful, but it wasn't the AT Field Autonomous Reactive System or the AT Propulsion that made that formidable. It was the fact that it was an EVA converted into rider armor. Not shrunk, converted. Right now, I had the optics that allowed an 80-meter cyborg to land a shot on the dark side of the moon. And especially now, I had a couple others to help me.

"Correlating visuals with Jackrise-extracted data… Infinity Corridor Located! Cores, Found! Quantity… 1?"

"She could do all this while using just two cores? Terrifying this one is."

"Come on, we gotta warp this up so we can waste those Kaiju!"

"Thinking of leaving, Irregular?" The Will appeared suddenly behind me and kicked me hard enough to make me see spots. "Think again."

"Shit! Was she holding back on us?"

"Seems that way… we banked a lot on this fight being against a common Herrscher, but going up against the ending boss with just the mid-season upgrade…"

"Wait… what the fuck are we doing? We're not the only Riders in the field!"

"Getting caught up in her pace? Nothing strange for us, is it…"

"Killing god now, self-hatred later! What have you got!"

"We're running at half capacity, aren't we? There is enough space here for five, not just three…"

"Bring back the AI? But we do that, and we leave the others with no access to the Nano forges!"

"

Wait, what did you say?"

"The Nano forges? I mean, those things pumping out hardware non-stop ever since this started?"

"Oh, Oh! I get it! We don't need to be there in person!"

"We only have tried this with the EVA, but the whole network?"

"You already did this once, but why don't we call in for help?"

"Open priority channel! Get a Sat right on top of us and prepare for transmission!"

Irregular channels once again reached through the network, and it set aside a part of its subroutines to attend to them while monitoring the situation.

Core ARK and Core ZEA forwarded all the data in their damaged platforms for review, the incidents in Washington, New York and Miami progressed well into the projected parameters. Human Forces were suffering 8.92% casualties against Objective Kraken-1 and Kraken-2, 5 TSFs had been lost thanks to newly displayed abilities by Objective Kraken-3 and one Avenger had lost 50% functionality due to actuator overload.

Analysis on the Objectives' barrier was 89% complete and the LS3s were moving in position for immediate ground support, even restricted by nearby allies as they were. Orbital… New designation received. Executing.

Orbital Nano Forges received new orders. A Semi-biological Inorganic compound had been requested and the Orbital platforms complied. Platform [Arsenal City] finished its ninth expansion to production capacity and began producing the newly requested items. Blueprints were extrapolated from the Cores' databanks and using the Cores' main competition platforms results were achieved.

The newest request was cleared for manufacture, but the mass was something that would take time to create. Power was diverted from land facilities and sent to the Forges.

Two items were ready. Clear area for Beam transport.

Washington and New York were a disaster zone, building ruined by the projectiles thrown into it and the shells bouncing off Krakens 1 and 2 landing all around them.

The tanks formerly defending the cities were now fighting for their lives, as Beasts coming out of the bottom of the Krakens swarmed their positions. A scene from Nagazora repeated itself, as a lot of tank companies were swallowed by the hordes before even knowing they were being attacked directly.

The roar of machines reached them form above, and suddenly, all zombies near them suffered a catastrophic body malfunction, seeing as their upper body blew up in a gory mist. Those with lucky survivors turned to the air to see the one responsible for their continued earthy life.
27 15mm railguns roared again in tandem, destroying a thousand more undead in under a minute, the accompanying thunder of a 120mm broadside and its meaner 8-inch (203mm) brother. The triple mounted turrets began tearing into the ranks of beasts and undead. The appropriated Insight Helicarriers began their task of long-range support. But then, each Kraken they were about to engage had its attention taken by two different foes.

Spoiler: Insight Helicarrier

In Washington, a dark blue humanoid giant, crisscrossed by bright orange and neon blue lines used a similarly colored jetpack to land. In New York a series of thrusters allowed a similarly sized beast to arrive safely. Both turned to their respective objectives and roared in challenge.
Their names? Evangelion Mugouki (Unit Null) and Anti-G Special Decisive Weapon – Shiryu.

Near the Carriers in Florida, new ordinance was received and sent towards the forces in the field. YoRHa infantry watched at the rocket-assisted capsules landed near them. They rushed to them, takin the handles and pulling the device off the ground. They opened their arms and brought the devices close to their chests.

Frames unfolded over them, carrying plates of armor and other devices to various locations over their bodies. Thrusters and Control Surfaces began their quick testing, and the new sensor suites connected to the Operatives CPU's. Software linked the two and a new YoRHa class was born:

Strike Assault: Mk 1.

The newly converted platforms fired their thrusters and took off towards Dobbins AFB.

"Hold them off!"

"I need ammo!"

"Taki, here! Last mag!"

"Minigun at 200 rounds!"

"Down to pistol! 5 mags remaining!"

"Kaslana! Get your ass on the left flank!"

"Sir! Incoming heavies!"

"Affix Rifle grenades!"

"They're rockets!"

"Don't care! Fire at my signal!"

"Rockets ready!"

"Fire!"

A series of booms later, they looked over the remaining hordes, still kept at bay by the remaining soldiers. Those from Fire Moth's Recon-1 still alive took cautiously took off their helmets and breathed heavily.

"Fucking hell, how long has this going for?"

"According to the suits… 9 hours and change…"

"Shit… how are we on ammo?"

"Scraps for the wonder weapons, plenty of ammo for the normal rifles, but that'll go up in smoke with how many we need to take down one of those heavies.

"And the rest of Kaslana's family?"

"They're not…"

"Dead."

"Wait, what?"

"Saw it with the suit's optics, kids put up a hell of a fight but got overwhelmed by sheer numbers, that's when we saw the giant robots level the insides of the base, no friendlies in the area…"

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure you can't survive being chopped into pieces by the floating lawnmowers."

"Damn…"

"So the Locust guys got killed already?"

"Pretty sure only those inside the buildings made it."

"Incoming transmission, short range."

"Figures, nothing else is getting through."

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is Doctor Mei Tachibana. I repeat, Mayday! Mayday! Dobbins AFB is lost! Excessive Casualties! I repeat! Excessive Casualties! Remaining forces inside Steel locust CIC! Mayday!"

"Oh crap. Mei!"

"…Mayday!" Mei finished shouting over the microphone. She turned towards her companions. "Will this get through the jamming?"

"I'm juicing up this transmitter so much I'm sure it shouldhave burned out already, keep taking!" Tesla was arms deep inside the terminals, having figure out the cabling and rerouting every power source to a single transmitter. Einstein was doing her best to send their message across every frequency possible.

The door shook once more, the sounds of the nearby firearms had died out a while ago and even with how think the walls were, they could hear the moans of the undead on the other side of the wall. Sometimes being smart was a curse, as in the back of their minds, they could calculate how many of the dead had to be around for the sounds to reach them this clearly. And they knew that in this enclosed space, they would stand no chance against a horde that big.

They hadn't managed to hear from anyone since White's message. They'd heard a couple of horrible crunches and what they thought were tanks shooting, but then, silence. Until the moans picked right up right outside the blast door. They had nothing but the Shotrisers, their clothes and whatever they could cobble from the technology they had inside.

But they knew. They knew that didn't have enough for the horde pounding at the door. Mei looked at the gun in her right hand, and the ring in her left, as the room was filled by her companions' gradually louder string of curses, she didn't know what she could do.

All she ever wanted to do was to research, to lose herself in the world of science. Discovering new was to create the future. That had been her dream, to take humanity to a beautiful future where science was used only for the betterment of mankind.

The small Core of Reason in her finger shone, and her world went white.

The place was nowhere, and there was nothing in there but for rising strings of letters she couldn't make sense of. A pure state that she found herself growing curious about, until she saw the other appear person in front of her.

The woman looked old, not old-old, but rather worn and tired. Mei went closer to see if she needed anything just as the woman raised her head. "Ah, taunting me once again with my failures? You're running out of material, oh most holy one." She let out that sarcastic voice in the end with no venom.

Just acceptance.

Mei didn't know what the woman had been through, but she felt… what would the commander do? "Ah… Ma'am? Are you ok? Do you need help?" Mei searched around her pockets, looking for anything that might help. She had her survival kit still strapped to her hips and left thigh, but from the way the older woman moved, she knew that giving her even a dose of pain killers might be lethal.

She hated this feeling, not being able to help those se wanted to. Back before the war started, she wanted to use science to make everyone happy. Now so far she hadn't been able to help but in the most obvious observations that anyone could have made.

The woman looked at Mei and her attire, and Mei got a full look at her face. She felt the air grow thin. "Mom?"

The woman snorted. "The only one that can call me that is safely inside a bunker. You'll have to try again if you want me to live my last moments in any more despair."

"No… why? Why did it come to this?" Mei knew that face, a mirror. Once upon a time she'd tried one of those apps that tell you how you'll look in ten years, and this… this was too close to home.

"…That's new. You never got to imitating humans correctly, Honkai. Your best could only be sleepers and your Herrschers belonged in an asylum, the lot of them." The older woman looked like she tried to rise from her slumped position, but her body gave up half way. Her whole body shook like she had a fever. "You went through the effort of fixing my eyesight for this? What a waste…"

"No… my name is Mei Tachibana… I… my people need help. Monsters called Honkai are attacking our base and I need something to escape…"

"Right… nice try. Let me go along with the ruse. Which Herrscher is attacking you? Domination? Devouring? Sentience?" the woman looked frail yet defiant, and that sight for some reason gave Mei the chills.

"…Major Yinsen called it the Herrscher of Wind. She caused a mega hurricane and is destroying everything off the east coast of America…"

"…That never happened… who are you?"

"I told you, my name is Mei Tachibana, I am part of Task Force Ste… Fire Moth, my friends and I are trapped in our base and we need help-"

"Part of Fire Moth? Not leader?"

"Well, technically I'm the most senior researcher on Honkai even though no one but the guys from the other task force listen to me…"

"So you haven't taken charge of the Task Force…"

"They might as well dissolve it, Steel Locust has been taking charge during this attack… I wouldn't blame them, there is just… not enough time."

"Time… no. You still have time! Listen! There is so much we could have done!"

"It looks like you still have it you, doesn't it? Your will to fight." Another person joined the two women. He looked young, with an almost childlike voice but his eyes told he had lived longer than they did. He gave a nod towards the ill woman and then turned to Mei.

Spoiler: The new person

"Who…?"

"Hm… but it seems like you're not quite there yet."

"…are you?"

"You friend over there is fighting for his dream, can you see it?" And in a projection, they all saw the battle between Rider and God, Monster and Man. Scenes from around the continent of soldiers and people fighting back against the unending tide.

"It's Mister Yinsen!" Mei pointed at the man in curious armor currently engaged in a flying fistfight against the abomination. The old woman looked wide-eyed at that scene.

"That is… the 4th Herrscher? How? How did she become so strong?" She managed to rise her body more, almost managing to lift herself out of the chair before almost falling before Mei caught her.

"Can you see? There are a lot of people who need you out there." The man watched the two with a condescending smirk, but his eyes told he was enjoying this more than he let on.

"But what can I do?" Mei helped the older woman, who looked shocked at her words. She grabbed the teenage girl by the lab coat and brought her face to eye level.

"Everything you can. There has to be a way…"

"Perhaps this would help?" The man came closer and gave the older woman a card. It was the same kind of card that Steel Locust used. "Think very hard about what you would like to tell her." The older woman grabbed the key with all her strength and soon the card was loaded with something. It turned the color of fire and it read: Chasing Moth. Ability: Flame

The older woman looked at the technological marvel in her hands before the man took it and gave it to the girl. She almost fumbled with it but managed to secure it in her pocket. "Thank you but… the moment I go back I will likely die…"

"Ah, that?" the man opened his coat and then Mei noticed the belt in his waist. It looked nothing like the ones he'd seen people from Steel Locust use, but something told her that it was just as powerful as them. "Don't worry. You'll know what to do."

"Wait! There is so much I have to…" The old woman shouted before the world around Mei faded once again.

Mei woke up again, inside the CIC. Tesla and Einstein were looking for anything they could use, so they barely noticed her as she rose. The jewel on the ring she'd been given shone like a miniature sun.

"…we can use this as an improvised railgun to buy us some time…"

"Milka, look."

"Sure, what…? Mei?"

"Einstein… Tesla… just leave it to me." Mei rose her hand and from the Mirage of Reason came forth power. Bright blue cubes grew from it into Mei's hand, taking a black, red and silver shape. She put the device into her waist and a little beep confirmed it was active.

"That belt… don't tell me…?"

"Another version? But there was nothing in the database about it!"

Mei felt something settle in her hands, and she brought it to her eyes. A red bottle and a blue bottle shone with something inside. Memories that didn't exist guided her and she shook both for a bit and then inserted them in her belt Driver.

Spoiler: Sounds

"RABBIT!"

"TANK!"

"BEST MATCH!

"Shall we start the experiment?" Mei spun the Driver's crank, being rewarded with a noise that told her…

Everything would be all right.

She stopped as the Driver spoke once more.

"ARE YOU READY?"

"Henshin!"

"THE STEELY MOONSSAULT! RABBITTANK!"

"YAAAAY!"

Mei felt the powr fill her body, was this what the others felt everytime they fought? It didn't matter. "Kamen Rider Build… going forth!"