Hey everyone. Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. I'd meant to get it out much sooner, but these months have been super-shitty for me for me. One of my relatives passed away and I recently got knocked out with a beyond shitty sickness, all of which combined just left me in no mood to do any writing, and it's hard enough for me to write something that isn't hot garbage when I'm in a decent mood and condition. Still, took some time to write this out and rework chapter 2, but I nonetheless hope you enjoy seeing the further adventures of depressed robo-Kaine and the angry, mute, misanthropic sociopath.
(Additionally, regarding the original version of chapter 2, if you preferred that for any reason, then it's still up on the story's Spacebattles thread.)
Singularity [D]isplacement
"NONE OF YOU RELENT! SHOW NO MERCY AND MAKE SURE YOU SEND EVERY LAST ONE OF THESE EMPIRE JACKALS BACK TO HELL!"
Well… looks like they were back at it again…
Just as she assumed upon realizing that she still had Caim's memory data just sitting around in her skull with no way to access it, the data gradually revealed its contents to A2 over time, and just like she figured, there seemed to be no way to control it. In the days that passed since their meeting and traveling together, A2 discovered that occasionally, as she drifted into a restless slumber, she'd be bombarded with more images like this, allowing the white-haired android to learn more about her human charge's life via these memories.
"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHH!"
Though… A2 would readily admit claiming that she was seeing more of Caim's life through this was a bit of an overstatement with how all the bits and scraps of memories she'd seen since then was just more of this; a blood-splattered Caim brandishing his similarly bloody blade on a chaotic, corpse riddled battlefield, topped off by him killing a countless number of armored individuals single-handedly and with extreme antipathy.
"Those red eyes… They're familiar… way too fucking familiar for comfort…" However, despite how all these fragments of Caim's memories she'd seen so far consisting mainly of him engaging in bloody, brutal warfare, A2 nonetheless did manage to discern several things from these bloody memories; the first and most immediate thing was the disturbing sense of familiarity she felt towards these soldiers Caim despised with a burning passion. These 'Empire soldiers,' they fought nothing like Caim did, the blue and white clad soldiers that fought alongside him, or even androids such as herself; they frankly appeared to be borderline mindless, with whatever few words she heard any of them speak (before Caim brutally hacked them apart, that is) being drawled out, monotonous ramblings that made little sense.
These disturbing similarities did quite a good job quelling any horror A2 might've felt at seeing so many humans get slaughtered en masse by the unhinged prince. She wasn't blind to what all these memories of killing said about the human's damaged mental state, but between how there was something very clearly wrong with all these soldiers and how eerily they reminded her of the machines, she ultimately supposed there were far worse targets for him to take this murderous rage out on…
Another particular detail A2 had managed to glean from all these memories was what exactly Caim's life consisted of since the destruction of his home and livelihood, which subsequently gave her a basic understanding of this world's status and the conflict the unhinged prince threw himself into with such rage and fervor. To start off, these uncanny, red-eyed soldiers apparently represented some absurdly powerful Empire that was encroaching on this land -Midgard, it was called- that Caim lived in, with him being dead set in the belief that they were the masterminds behind the bloodbath that ended in his kingdom's destruction, in particular believing that the blond boy from before and his fiendish-looking, pointy-eared accomplice had been agents of them in some form.
A2 couldn't say for sure whether these assumptions Caim had were correct or not, having only seen the tail-end of such a bloody, horrific memory with no context, but regardless of the truth of matters, Caim was convinced that this Empire was responsible for the loss of his home and family -The flaring, venomous hatred she felt constantly pulsing through her during these memories of bloodshed made that obvious- leading to him adopting a lifestyle that eerily reminded her or her own; wandering from battlefield to battlefield as a mercenary, constantly feeling a bitter, emptiness in the pit of his stomach and spurred on to keep living by his need for vengeance. There were certainly differences, but the key similarity of being left with nothing but anger and vengeance after losing everything dear to her was all too familiar to A2.
This battlefield was like every other A2 had seen, both in and out of these memories; war-torn, chaotic, littered with bodies and their fluids stained upon the ground. Just like with every other battle A2 had seen Caim take part in within these memories, the Empire's soldiers swarmed down upon the prince and the Union soldiers relentlessly and with no regard to their own lives, this along with their unnatural strength causing them to either cut down their opposition mercilessly or leave them on the backfoot, with Caim being the sole exception to this. Despite barely even having a second to react after killing one Empire soldier before another tried to cut him down from a different angle, and despite their own unnatural levels of strength causing him to feel an unpleasant rattling in his bones with each block, and violent prince remained dead-focused, blocking, parrying, dodging when the situation called for it and always retaliating with brutal sword swings that sliced through both bone and plate armor like a hot knife through butter.
When it was clear that this memory wasn't going to hold anything of note that A2 hadn't learned already, she simply opted to relax in spite of the bloody carnage unfolding in front of her and watch the memory play out. Between her own experiences on the battlefield and having quickly grown used to these morbid images in the time since she started receiving them, the sight of Caim slaughtering his fellow man didn't phase her nearly as much as you would expect it to for an android.
From there, time simply blurred together for the android as she watched Caim block, parry, stab, and slash through his opposition with vicious abandon, heedless of the gradually increasing stinging aches in his muscles or just how long he'd even been fighting for. This continued for who knows how long, the sounds of warfare and weapons clashing gradually became quieter and quieter, until it faded away completely. When Caim's mind finally caught up with his aching, blood splattered body, he found himself up to his ankles in the armored corpses of both Empire and Union soldiers, though the greater abundance of the former was a clear indicator of the turnout of this battle.
When it was clear that the immediate battle was finally over, Caim quietly exhaled and allowed his tense posture to relax slightly before planting the tip of his sword into the ground. Without a word, the blood splattered prince began to scan the corpse-riddled battlefield around him, with his gaze coming to a sudden halt when he caught sight of slight movement amid all the dead bodies. With his gaze narrowing, Caim silently strode over to the source of the movement, a fatally wounded, but still-alive Empire soldier, before kicking him onto his back none too gently.
"Ah… seems as though I missed a few…" Caim mused aloud, glaring venomously into the soldier's wide and unblinking blood-red eyes. Planting his foot down onto the soldier's breastplate to prevent further movement, A2 felt Caim's grip on his sword tighten considerably before she felt a surge of venomous hatred surge through her being. "I suppose I'll have to fix that."
Without another word, Caim proceeded to intently and methodically hack off each of the soldier's limbs with his sword, the severing of each limb causing A2 to feel a rush of fiery, bitter satisfaction with each slice, eerily reminiscent of what she felt herself when killing the machines or YoRHa's executioners. When the soldier was reduced to a limbless torso -writhing about in agony the entire process, but disturbingly enough, never screaming even once- Caim then proceeded to stab his sword straight through the soldier's breastplate and into his chest.
*Stab*
And then he stabbed him again,
*Stab*
And again,
*Stab*
And again.
"L-Lord Caim…? L-Lord Caim!"
"What?" Caim spat, snapping his head towards the Union soldier addressing him just as he yanked his sword out of the Imperial soldier's now-mutilated body.
"T…The battle is over. W-We won…! With your assistance, we were able to successfully rout the Empire's forces!" The allied soldier explained, a timid and nervous tone in his voice as he looked towards the mutilated corpse Caim stood over. Uncaring of the soldier's clear disturbment towards his actions, the violent young man once again began to scan the battlefield for any sign of movement, only half-listening as the gormless Union soldier continued to fill him in on the current state of affairs. "With this victory, we've at least somewhat managed to impede the Empire's march towards the castle of the Goddess… though… with how their numbers seem to be endless, I can only wonder how much longer we can hold the line against them."
"...Yes. Yes, I can see that…" Caim muttered, casting one final look around the battlefield before turning back towards the soldier with a scowl. "...take me to General Oror. Now that the battle's over, I need to discuss my payment with him."
"O-Of course, my lord."
.
.
.
This is the story of a terrifying prince. A history of conflict in the long ago.
Obsessed with laying low his hated enemies, the prince indulges in his vengeance day after day after day.
Even when faced with foes who take heel, he chases them down and tears them apart from groin to gullet.
The carnage is so horrific, his fellow soldiers whisper tales of how they saw him mutilating bodies that are already long-dead.
Perhaps because no commander can control him, the prince is sent to an even harsher battle.
.
.
.
"!" With a sharp intake of breath, A2's eyes shot open and her head snapped upwards. After a split second of shock, her posture relaxed when she realized she was awake and in her own body again, still in the area where she and Caim chose to rest for the night.
'Christ, if him killing those red-eyed freaks is all these memories are gonna be, then I'm gonna regret touching that fucking sword even more than I already have...' The white-haired android groaned, the images of slaughter she bore witness to still fresh in her head. '...And here I was thinking these memories would at least give me a somewhat clearer picture of just what the hell his deal is. Most of what I've seen at this point is just reminding me of the obvious; that he's a bloodthirsty psychotic.'
As she continued to muse on the morbid memories of what was likely the last human in existence, A2's gaze unconsciously drifted over to where she recalled him situating himself for the night. The moment she laid eyes on him, however, she instinctively recoiled back slightly in surprise and disturbment, though her look of surprise quickly faded to a deadpan expression of annoyance and exasperation when her mind properly caught up with her and she recalled what exactly she was witnessing...
'Oh that is never not gonna be weird as fuck to see.'
To clarify, Caim was situated directly across from her in their impromptu campsite, which subsequently made the apparent sight of him just sitting back against a ruined building, eyes wide open and staring right at her rather unnerving, even for someone as hardened as herself. This immediately faded away, however, when A2 realized that he was still sleeping, because of course the weirdo human she chanced her way into partnering up with, on top of being violent, as stable as diarrhea, and having otherworldly abilities and strength, could sleep with his fucking eyes open.*
Seemed like every time A2 thought she finally had some sort of decent understanding of Caim, he'd find some new way to weird her the hell out literally without even trying.
***O***
He was starting to feel increasingly bored and dissatisfied as of late- that was the chief thought that went through Caim's head as he disinterestedly sliced another 'machine lifeform's' head in half.
To put things into context, several weeks had passed since Caim's marooning in this strange land, (At least, it felt like that long had passed. It was difficult to tell for certain when night seemingly just refused to come to this blasted land.) and his time here since then had been a mostly uneventful affair, all things considered. So far, the violent young man had spent his days here simply wandering these strange, towering ruins with his newfound guide and killing any and all of those machines along the way, all while the taciturn woman that accompanied him provided him with a basic understanding of this newfound world he found himself in.
What he'd heard from A2 thus far was certainly a surreal flow of information to take in, especially for a former resident of a land as primitive as Midgard; humanity in this world advancing so much more than the people of his own world technologically, to the point that they were apparently capable of producing honest to god homunculi to do their bidding, followed by creatures from beyond the stars launching a campaign of conquest on this entire world, using creations of their own to battle the apparent creations of humanity, to the possibility that he might very well be the last of humanity in this strange world… it was all a rather jarring shift in scale compared to what Caim was used to, even while factoring in the unnatural might the Empire possessed, the apocalyptic catastrophe that had been at stake, and the horrific forces that had been pulling the strings of the last war he fought in.
'Androids…' even among all the bizarre and surreal things A2 had told him regarding this world, that particular concept and everything surrounding it bemused him the most. The concept of one alone evoked the image of a homunculus to Caim -an artificial being brought to life via alchemy, magic, or some combination of the two- and the presence of his newfound company did nothing to assuage these mental images he'd built up; with everything he'd seen of A2 so far, the only difference he saw between an android and a hypothetical homunculus was their titles. A distinction that, if nothing else, helped give Caim a better way to grasp the situation he'd been thrust into with this new world.
Such as the information A2 elaborated on regarding this world's android populace, like how they were the ones spearheading the war between their kind and these machine lifeforms that had apparently been ongoing for over hundreds of years, how his white-haired guide was a former member of some elite machine-combat task force called 'YoRHa' -and he couldn't help but notice how she pointedly refused to go into why she separated from them, just that they didn't take kindly to her resignation and had sent hit squads out for her since- and, most notably, how the android population were designed in a manner that made most -if not all of them- regard the race that created them with pure reverence.
That final fact also had A2 pointing out to Caim that if he opted to reveal himself to the rest of this world's android population, they would likely regard and worship him akin to how a religious fanatic worshipped their god.
At this, Caim imagined that most people in his crocs would jump at the opportunity to have an entire race at their beck and call and worship the very ground they walked on, but between the misanthropic nature he adopted in the last half-decade and how A2 pointed out that these androids would be unbearably overbearing in trying to keep him safe -to the point that they'd make damn well sure he was as far from a battlefield as possible if they had their way- he frankly felt more inclined to keep his presence hidden from these people for as long as he could help it. Perhaps if all of this happened to him before the fall of his kingdom, he'd be less averse to such a prospect, but as it was now, interacting with these androids if they knew what he was sounded like an annoyance that Caim wanted to put off dealing with for as long as he could.
On the topic of annoyances, Caim would readily admit that the current predicament he'd been dealing with as of late was quite the large one in his book; and that, as already established, was just how increasingly bored he'd become as of late. While Caim had initially been able to derive some pleasure from combating and destroying these machines during his first few days here, it hadn't been long before the routine of wandering through these nature-overtaken ruins and picking fights with any clusters of machines they came across began to lose its luster.
*Stab!*
Caim was a warrior -he mused with dissatisfaction, all while ramming his sword through the metallic head of one machine and into the dirt- one that had spent the last several years throwing himself into battles with overwhelming waves of opposition, against an enemy he felt nothing but burning, murderous hatred towards, and against forces that generally speaking, bled. These factors allowed the prince to walk away from his countless battles against the Empire over the years bloodied and injured, but always with a sense of vindictive satisfaction nonetheless, and he could easily say these machines left him feeling wanting by comparison; they neither bled, came at him with the same overwhelming numbers the Empire's army did, and above all else, frankly didn't wrong him and utterly ruin his life like the Empire and the forces manipulating them did.
These machines were certainly annoying little pests -and again, their glowing red eyes filled Caim with no small amount of apprehension- but beyond that, Caim ultimately had no reason to absolutely loathe and cull every last one of them like he did the Empire, and without a considerable increase in both danger and opposition, he feared he wouldn't feel that familiar and addictive high he usually got from the heat of battle.
"...Alright, I'm gonna hazard a guess and say something's got you pissed off again," A2 suddenly stated in a blunt tone, watching as Caim roughly yanked his sword out of the machine's head before kicking its motionless body down a hill he stood at the top of. Clearly, his frustrated and dissatisfied demeanor must have got her attention. "and this time, I actually got an idea of what it is that has you so pissy."
Casting his gaze off the tumbling heap of rusted metal as it rolled down the hill, Caim cast a questioning scowl in A2's direction. Undeterred by his unwelcoming expression, she began to elaborate. "So at this point, I've seen enough of your memories to know you've been in your fair share of big, bloody, and intense battles," A2 explained, with the way Caim's posture stiffened up at the mention of his memories floating around in her head not going unnoticed by her. "and I'm guessing that comparatively speaking, just wandering around, fucking up every machine we see is starting to get real old for you, right?"
Ignoring the disconcerting feeling he got whenever he was reminded of his memories sitting around in another person's head, Caim nodded before waiting to see where exactly A2 was going with all this. In response, an uncharacteristic smirk began to creep onto A2's face before she continued. "Well, if your issue here is that you want to deal with some bigger opposition, I actually know just the place we should swing by today, assuming I got your attention…"
Raising a brow at her offer, Caim nonetheless nodded before gesturing for her to lead the way to wherever it was she was referring to. Hopefully, facing a stronger level of opposition from these machines -topped off by a potential change in scenery- would be just the thing Caim needed to alleviate this grating boredom.
"Okay, then just follow me. I know the quickest way to get to where we need to go." With nothing more to be said and with their plans settled, A2 set off for a location in this region she knew to be crawling with machines, personally itching for a fight and with an equally bloodthirsty prince in tow.
***O***
After a trip that proceeded in relative silence, the two of them crossed a half-destroyed bridge through a row of similarly ruined buildings into a seaside area that housed acres of something that stood out quite a bit compared to the ruined cityscape they were both well-accustomed to by this point; a series of colossal, spanning, almost labyrinthine in appearance metal buildings, which unlike the ruins Caim had seen up to that point, appeared to still be in active use, if the constant mist-like smoke billowing out of several metal chimneys was any indication.
"...If you ever wondered where these walking rust-buckets came from, then here's your answer… or at least one of many." A2 explained, allowing her 40 sword to warp into her grasp as she kept her gaze on the imposing metallic buildings before them. "All over the world, they've gone around and repurposed buildings like this weapons factory to produce more of themselves. It's how they've managed to keep this goddamn neverending war going for so many centuries." As she finished her explanation, she shot a sideways glance towards Caim with a ghost of the smirk from before on her face. "With all this in mind, if you're as in the mood to get an actual challenge out of these machines as I am, then going in here and causing some trouble seems like the best way to get that. I still got your interest?"
At hearing this final inquiry to make sure he was truly interested in this foray into the repurposed weapons factory, Caim gave the wide expanse of metallic buildings one last look over before turning back towards A2 with his scowl still clear on his face before unsheathing his sword hoisting it up towards the air between them, making his willingness to venture inside and bloodthirstiness all too clear to see, and A2 couldn't help but bark out a brief chuckle in response. "Heh! Okay, guess I'll take that as an enthusiastic yes."
With nothing more to be said, Caim wasted no time in striding towards the stairway that would lead up to the factory's main entrance, with A2 taking a moment to watch him go before walking after him. As the two of them made their way towards the front of the entrance, they both briefly took in the imposing, several-story tall building in front of them before Caim turned around, looking at the seemingly endless sea in front of him and the colossal metal bridge leading out to the sea and seemingly went even beyond the horizon.
"Uhh… last I heard, there's apparently another bunch of factories down that bridge, but… we can both see that'd be one long-ass walk to deal with, and you don't seriously wanna waste both our time when this one's right here… right?" A2 got her answer from Caim when he took another moment to examine the bridge connecting the two facilities before turning back towards the main entrance and continuing his stride. Without another word, A2 followed after him.
After being momentarily bemused at the foreign sight of an electronic door opening automatically in response to his presence, Caim stepped into the opening area of the factory -a large, cylindrical, several story tall building to be precise- before coming to a halt in the center of room. With his sword still drawn, Caim cast his narrowed gaze all around him, peering intently at the ledges that surrounded every level of the room and harbored thick shadows. Knowing what he was expecting to happen, A2 did the same, keeping her own weapon at the ready as well.
*BAM! BAM! BAM!*
And as they both expected, it wasn't long before hostile forces began flooding in from the darkened corners of the room and seemingly straight out of the metalwork. Flying in from the shelves were red-eyed flying machines that began to bombard them with those red energy blasts while various humanoid-proportioned machines flooded in from those same shelves and in from the doors leading in and out of the room. Immediately, Caim was quick to respond to this by launching a plume of magical fire, consuming several of the flying machines, before meeting the ones on the ground charging him head-on, easily hacking any that got too close apart with quick, vicious, and devastatingly powerful swings of his sword.
A2 was quick to spring to action at the sight of machines to kill as well, deftly dodging around any strikes or blasts that got too close to her and retaliating with graceful yet crushing blows. With each strike that landed -with an ensuing explosion that always came with the destruction of a machine accompanying it- A2 let out a small exhale as she allowed the bitter satisfaction to wash over her, smirking as she continued to slash through the machines. While never as visible about her enjoyment as Caim was, A2 would never deny the fleeting sense of vindication she felt when throwing herself against the forces that took her friends away. It would never bring them back, she knew this, but it was also frankly all she had for the last half-decade, and as such threw herself into the slaughter of the machines with the same viciousness Caim displayed in combat.
With her thoughts once again drifting towards the human and with their opposition in this room already mostly cleared out, A2 cast her gaze in Caim's direction just as he blocked a blade strike from one machine before responding with a flurry of blows that decimated the last cluster present. In just a moment, the last of the machines present in the room stopped moving, with Caim taking a moment to briefly look around his surroundings once more before heading towards the opposite doorway in the room.
If the previous encounter hadn't convinced Caim that he'd be getting a stimulating challenge out of this foray, his concerns were soon alleviated when the two of them came into the factory proper and were immediately greeted with dozens of machines of all shapes and sizes -considerably more so than the minor clusters the two had seen since they first met- , their glowing red eyes making their hostile intent clear as day.
Upon seeing that they were indeed in for a considerably greater challenge when compared to what they'd been dealing with for the past few weeks, a pleased, eager smirk began to creep onto Caim's face before he charged into the fray while brandishing his sword.
"Glad I'm not the only one who's already enjoying this." And with that dryly amused remark, A2 was quick to follow his lead, charging towards the hostile machines with the intent of killing as many as she could.
However, as the two bloodthirsty individuals threw themselves into battle, neither of them were aware of the fact that A2 was not the only YoRHa unit present within the weapons factory's grounds… or more importantly, the fact that Caim's presence here was causing something big and dangerous to stir much earlier than it should have…
***O***
*B….Broooother… Broooother…*
"Huh… I already read through the reports on this before deployment, but seeing it firsthand… those descriptions on the abnormal behavior some of the machines have taken up really don't do seeing the real thing justice…" YoRHa unit 9S mused aloud, he and his Pod watching from atop the metallic scaffolding he sat on as a stubby machine lifeform repeatedly nudged an inert, larger model lying on the ground.
As one would likely figure from the boyish YoRHa unit's spoken thoughts, this strange behavior was a new and bizarre occurrence android forces had seen in their normally emotionless, killing-machine opposition. All around the world, YoRHa had received more and more reports of the machines acting like this, apparently trying to emulate humanity as far as they could tell.
"Honestly, it's pretty creepy…"
9S frankly wasn't sure what else to think of this newfound activity from their enemies other than that he found it more than a bit unnerving as an android that had been brought into the world with the built-in knowledge that the machine lifeforms were his enemy and the enemies of mankind. It certainly made the sight of this stubby acting like one of its fellow models was its 'brother' in the same sense that humans regarded their siblings very strange, and more than a bit morbid with how that stubby was repeatedly and persistently trying to rouse its 'brother' model awake despite it clearly being inert and deactivated.
*Proposal: Unit 9S should prepare accordingly for mission assignment. Restating mission objectives and ensuring that on-field equipment is functioning properly would increase likelihood of success by 50 percent.*
"I already know my role in the descent mission and my flight unit was working just fine on the descent down to Earth." 9S groaned, his attention on the bizarre machine lifeform broken by the mechanical, feminine voice of his pod nagging at him. It was bad enough that his own operator frequently found some reason to chide or nag at him during their scheduled contacts, and the last thing he needed was 153 adding to all that. However, when another look back at the stubby he was observing showed no notable changes in his behavior, the boyish scanner unit let out a resigned sigh before bringing out a holographic interface. "Eh… well, not like there's much going on here…"
9S supposed he shouldn't have expected much regarding this bizarre behavior the machines were displaying. Afterall, they just appeared to be spouting out old world data on humanity without any real point…
As he used the interface to give his specs and flight unit a once over, 9S mentally went over his role in this descent mission; after making a solo-descent down to this weapon's factory to ensure that he'd go unnoticed by the machines' heavy anti-air artillery, 9S was to use his flight unit to navigate the facility's premises and deactivate its defenses upon seeing the descent squadron coming down from the Bunker, whereupon he was supposed to link up with unit 2B and the rest of the descent squadron to find and eliminate the Goliath-class machines that were apparently being manufactured here.
'It's funny though… even though Command received reports on how tons of Goliaths were being manufactured here, I didn't see anything that fit the description of one on the way in, and they're called 'Goliaths' for a reason. It's not like they're easy to hide.' True to 9S's thoughts, he hadn't seen anything that particularly stood out or gave away what sort of Goliath-class machines were being manufactured here, which was more than a bit strange. More often than not, Goliath-class machines didn't blend in easily; they usually stood out for one reason or another.
'Well, there is a whole 'nother facility on the other side of that bridge, and the map data of this place does make it clear that there's a pretty big and expansive basement area underneath. Maybe that's where they're being-'
*RUUUUUUUMBLE…!*
"H-Huh!? What the hell-WHOA!" Once again, however, 9S's thoughts were abruptly cut off when a sudden, earthquake-like rumbling began to occur all throughout the facility. This was so sudden and so unexpected that the scanner unit lost his footing and nearly fell straight off the scaffolding, only to be saved when his pod suddenly flew in close and used its frame to give him something to grab on to.
"Phew… too close. Good pod…" 9S breathed out, giving his pod a grateful pat and rub once he was certain he was no longer at risk of falling off the scaffolding. "Just what the hell is this rumbling though!? Agh, I better contact the Operator and let Command know what's happening…!"
Just as 9S told his pod to place him on a line with Operator 21O, however, he was once again rendered stunned and inert when he saw something very large begin to move in his peripheral vision.
"Is… is that building moving!?"
True to his shocked exclamation, one of the many buildings littered throughout the factory -a colossal, several-story thing littered with hooks, scaffolding, ladders, and even buzzsaws that, at the moment, looked just a bit too much like arms- suddenly began to stir and rise up, and as it stood up fully and proceeded to smash its colossal arm down on one of the nearby buildings, 9S suddenly realized that he hadn't seen any sign of the Goliath beforehand because it had been hiding in plain sight the entire time.
***O***
(Several minutes earlier…)
*Fwoom! BOOOOM!... Fwoom! BOOOOM!... Fwoom! BOOOOM!*
"You missed a few over there." A2 pointed out in a relaxed tone, a pleased smirk on her face as she leaned against the railing and watched Caim use his fire ability to reduce the countless assembly lines producing machines in front of them to flaming wreckages.
The two of them were unsure of just how long had passed since they entered the factory grounds and cut down every machine they came across. They just knew that they'd been at it for a while now, if the satisfying ache they both felt in their muscles was any indication.
Eventually, Caim and A2's fighting through the factory led them to this large, cylindrical room that plunged straight down into the Earth, where over a set of railing, they watched as the walls that lined the room produced and put together more of the machines they'd been killing together since first meeting. The moment A2 explained to Caim that this was how exactly the machines made their foot-soldiers, his immediate response was to raise his hand and silently and methodically start blowing up every important piece of manufacturing machinery he saw with explosive fire magic.
With no long-range options of her own to assist with this, A2 merely took this chance to stand back and enjoy the sight of Caim using that explosive magic of his to hopefully cripple this factory's machine production line. Similar to her own, there was a distinctly satisfied smirk on his face as he engulfed the production lines in powerful flames, reducing much of the equipment and the machines being manufactured with to molten hot slag.
All things considered, even with the constant rush of oppressive heat that bombarded her face with each fire blast, she found the sight to be quite relaxing and therapeutic.
So of course, it was only natural that just after that satisfied thought went through A2's head, the situation immediately went from 'relaxed' to 'absolutely dire.'
*RUUUUUUUMBLE!*
The both of them suddenly lost their footing -A2 only barely grabbing onto the railing she'd been leaning against- when a sudden shaking reverberated through the entire factory. Clutching onto the railing himself, Caim forced himself back onto his feet before looking all around him with a shocked, incredulous expression.
"What the shit!?" A2 exclaimed, an apprehensive grimace on her face as she allowed her weapon to warp into her hand. "Well… that's probably not good."
*CRAAAAASH!*
As if in response to that observation, the ceiling of the roof suddenly broke apart above them, sending stone and metallic debris raining down on them. Eyes widening in alarm, Caim reacted quickly to this by grabbing A2 by her waist and sprinting back the way they both came, towards the exit and outside this particular manufacturing facility. Caim didn't stop running with A2 in tow till they were well out of the range of the falling wreckage, furthermore allowing them both to see what exactly caused that collapse in the first place. **
"Ohhhh… fuck!" And what they saw was a colossal, building-sized machine with a constant stream of steam emitting from its body and two gigantic buzzsaws for arms. Judging by the very deliberate way it was smashing apart the building they were previously in, it was clear to see that this Goliath was reacting to their presence here at this factory and trying to eliminate them both, though fortunately, the fact that it was continuing to focus on destroying that building indicated that it was oblivious to their current position.
"Christ… didn't we pass that thing while it was dormant on the way in here…!?" A2 muttered in apprehension, recognizing the shape of that Goliath from when she and Caim ventured into the factory. Figures that out of all the possible Goliath-class machines being manufactured in this factory, it had to be the type that required heavy artillery to take down. A2 was no stranger to facing down and destroying Goliaths in the years since defecting from YoRHa, but one thing those Goliaths all had in common was that the only equipment she needed to bring them down were her blades and some smart use of her B-mode. A building-sized abomination like this would require something like a Flight Unit if A2 wanted to take it down, a luxury she didn't exactly have on-hand since YoRHa royally screwed her.
"Shit… alright, look. As much as I'd love to see that overlarge scrap heap go down, these type of machines need way more equipment and people to bring them down, two things we're seriously fucking lacking in at the moment. We're best off just quitting while we're ahead and getting out of here while that Goliath still doesn't know where we-"
*Fwoom!*
Immediately, A2's words were cut off and she felt an icy weight of dread settling into her stomach when she heard the now-very familiar sound of fire flaring to life. Forcing her gaze off of the rampaging Goliath, the rogue YoRHa android felt a combination of disbelief and panic when she saw Caim similarly gazing upon the towering goliath, an eager, bloodthirsty, and teeth-filled smirk on his face as he slowly began to stride towards it with his left hand lit aflame. "...Are you for fucking real-?" When Caim made no move to even acknowledge her or her incredulous question, her tone quickly changed to frustration and outrage. She quickly moved to Caim's front and continued to argue her point. "No. No no no! NO! Were you even fucking listening to what I was just saying less than a goddamn minute ago!? I get you think your hot shit and all cause you're freakily strong and can shoot fire out your hands, but that's not gonna be enough to bring that giant fucker down-!"
Caim finally responded to her frantic protests by simply shoving her out of the way before firing a colossal fireball straight at the unaware Goliath's back, exploding on contact. The magical attack didn't appear to cause any meaningful damage, but the force of the blow was nonetheless enough to send the Goliath stumbling forward. By the time the colossal machine began to recover and turn towards Caim and A2's direction, the former had broken into a full sprint before performing a several-story tall leap while the latter could only briefly stare at what was unfolding in utter disbelief.
"Oh you fucking DIPSHIT!" Upon recovering from her bout of disbelief, A2 was quick to swear in frustration before sprinting after him to make sure he didn't get himself killed.
Fortunately, while the Goliath had certainly taken notice of Caim at this point, it still seemed unaware of A2's exact presence. Something she could hopefully use to her advantage…
***O***
"U-Uh…! This is Unit 9S to Operator 21O! Please come in, 21O!" 9S stammered out into his communications feed, making sure to have his flight unit stay low and keep its distance to avoid attracting the rampaging Goliath's attention.
'Sheesh! Did that one machine wake up the wrong 'brother' or something?!' 9S thought, keeping a wary eye on the goliath's rampage just as the communications line finally came through and he was greeted with the impersonal gaze of his Operator, 21O.
"This is Operator 21O. Go ahead, 9S."
"R-Right, well… I'm not sure what exactly caused this, but…" Realizing that showing would be far more concise and effective than trying to explain, 9S had his pod send a visual feed of the chaos that was occurring over to his Operator's feed. As his operator took in what was going on down at the factory -with the only sign of her reaction being a subtle widening of her eyes- he couldn't help but elaborate. "I think I just found the Goliath that was being developed here."
"I don't know what caused it to start going absolutely nuts like this. It just suddenly rose out from its position and started tearing the entire factory apart."
"This is… certainly an unexpected development…" Was all 21O had to say before she began to type something into her terminal. A few moments later and a few muffled words on the other end of the line that 9S couldn't hear properly, he was soon given an update to his mission parameters. "Your orders are to remain the same, 9S. Use your flight unit to navigate the facility and shut down the enemy base's defense systems. After that, you're to link up with the descent squadron and assist in the extermination of the Goliath-class machines."
"Got it." Keeping that thought in the back of his head for now, 9S directed his flight unit in the direction of the factory's nearest defense terminal and was about to rocket off towards it when a peculiar sight caught his attention; from some unclear area at the ground-level of the factory, a giant plume of fire suddenly sped towards the unsuspecting back of the rampaging Goliath before exploding upon making contact with it, causing it to stumble forward, crashing through several buildings in the process "WHOA! Just what in the hell was-!?"
*Alert: Concentrated magical element detected.*
"...What…? Magical?"
***O***
(God Of War 3 OST: March Of Cronos)
Now this was what he was looking for, Caim thought, gleefully gripping his sword tightly with both hands as he lept bounds from building to building, all while blocking or dodging the barrage of red energy pellets being fired at him before eventually coming to a halt on the ruined rooftop this gigantic machine had torn through in an attempt to get to them. ***
Caim hadn't been deaf to A2's protests or reasonings on why they were better off not confronting this thing, and if they had been voiced to a version of Caim that hadn't spent the past five years gradually getting addicted to the thrill of facing down overwhelmingly bad odds and seemingly impossible challenges, then he might have been inclined to listen to her. However, after facing down near-endless armies of man and monster alike, having fought giant war-machines of the Empire very much like this aberration, and braving the divine horror of the gods' angels, all through sheer force of hatred and spite, Caim found the prospect of turning tail from this thing to be a laughable prospect, one that he wouldn't abide by.
Staring him down with a set of bright, glowing red eyes that were bigger than he was, Caim was immediately put on guard when the giant machine's face appeared to open up like it was some sort of flower, revealing the mechanical framework lying underneath its 'face' along with a gigantic, singular red 'eye' that was gradually growing brighter and brighter, all while it was gazing down at Caim's general direction. The image instantly evoked those gigantic cyclops the Empire created and the devastating blasts of energy that they were capable of unleashing, prompting Caim to react before he paid a fatal price for his inaction. Sprinting to his left as quickly as possible, the unhinged prince felt a burning surge of energy just behind him that propelled and sent him stumbling forward, and he only barely regained his footing before the Goliath's right buzzsaw arm began rotating rapidly and slammed it down before him, crashing into the roof of the building and missing him by just a few feet. Bringing his sword up to shield his face from the upended rubble the buzzsaw was creating, Caim was quick to retaliate the moment the buzzsaw's spinning began to slow down, hacking and stabbing away at the metal with powerful, crippling strikes.
If Caim didn't have his strength increased substantially from both his pact with Angelus and all of the non-stop fighting he took part in immediately after, then his attacks likely would have been insubstantial against this metal behemoth, even with his previous years of training and combat experience in mind. However, the fact that he did meant that his slashes and strikes were well within the strength-range of a YoRHa combat unit, and for all of A2's understandable apprehension regarding facing this Goliath without heavy-hitting backup like a flight unit or scanner, strikes within that strength-range were more than capable of damaging a machine of this caliber, to the point that a minor explosion rocked through the Goliath's arm in wake of all the damage Caim was piling up on the limb, prompting it to try and pull it out from the roof and away from the bloodthirsty human. Seeing this, Caim was quick to respond by leaping forward just before the arm was pulled out of reach and proceeded to stab his blade into the metal down to the hilt, causing the Goliath to accidentally bring him up into the air.
The Goliath immediately took note of Caim using his sword to stab and cling onto its 'hand' and responded by wildly shaking its arm back and forth in an effort to dislodge the human. However, in spite of its efforts, Caim maintained his grip on his embedded blade and was quick to retaliate the moment its shaking began to wane. With his free hand, the violent prince aimed towards the joints that connected the buzzsaw to the rest of the Goliath's arm and fired off a steady stream of white-hot fire. Within moments, the entire metallic joint began glowing like hot magma, and Caim could feel the buzzsaw's connection to the rest of the Goliath's body slowly began to loosen.
"!"
However, before Caim could completely melt away the joint connecting the buzzsaw to the Goliath's arm, the machine in question retaliated by firing another bombardment of red orbs at him, with several of them hitting their mark, causing an electric pain to course through his body and dislodging both himself and his sword from the buzzsaw. Maintaining his grip on his sword despite this, Caim was left to crash and tumble into the hard ground below, landing back on the ruined rooftop he was initially fighting the machine on. Ignoring the throbbing pain coursing through his body, Caim forced himself back to his feet and leveled a glare at the Goliath staring down at him.
Ready to act and counter as best he could for whatever it would dish out next, the prince watched as the Goliath proceeded to slam its left arm down on the rooftop and right on top of him, with him leaping out of the way at the last moment. Unlike the last instance of this, however, he was given no opportunity to latch onto the machine's limb and damage it further when the Goliath began to drag its still-spinning buzzsaw across the roof and straight towards him, giving Caim no choice but to go on the backfoot and start running, firing of several fire blasts behind him as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop with the whirring buzzsaw hot on his tail…
"HA!"
*SLICE!*
Fortunately, this chase was brought to a sudden end when a dark-red blur suddenly appeared out of nowhere and sliced through the still-glowing joint on the Goliath's right arm, subsequently throwing it off balance and bringing a sudden halt to its attempts to grind Caim into a bloody paste. The effects of the sudden sneak-attack began to show after a moment's delay, with the buzzsaw sliding off from the Goliath's arm and crashing into the factory below.
Landing on a rooftop adjacent to him, Caim was quick to realize that the red blur was none other than A2, her entire body swathed in a vivid red energy that he vaguely recalled her using against him during their first… encounter.
"WELL!?" She snapped at him as the red energy fizzled away from her body, annoyance and frustration clear in her tone. "IF YOU'RE ACTUALLY GONNA GO THROUGH WITH THIS SHIT, THEN DO SOMETHING THAT'LL TAKE IT THE FUCK DOWN!" This exclamation was topped off by the Goliath diverting its attention entirely towards the android that managed to hack off its softened limb with a single slice, bombarding A2 with a series of orb and laser blasts, all of which she nimbly dodged out of the way of.
Realizing that the white-haired android was deliberately making sure the Goliath's attention was focused on her alone, Caim took this opportunity to once again try and scale the colossal machine's body without getting interrupted. Sprinting towards the Goliath and the edge of the roof, Caim leapt forward and landed on the railed walk-way that circled the giant machine's waist like a belt. From what he was able to see, there seemed to be a pathway built around the machine that would allow the prince a fairly straightforward shot up to the giant machine's 'shoulders,' where he'd subsequently have easy access to its head, the most likely weak point this behemoth had, especially if it was even remotely similar to the cyclopses of the Empire that he fought against.
Unfortunately, while the Goliath was currently unaware of the bloodthirsty human scaling it with the intent to kill, it appeared that the other machines lurking in the factory were much less oblivious to his presence. Caim's ascent up the Goliath's body was brought to a halt when multiple flying machines -all of which were carrying armed ground models- began to fly toward and surround him. Caim was quick to use his fire magic to shoot down several of these flying machines and their carry-ons, many were still able to ultimately fly past his fiery assault and drop the humanoid machines they were carrying off on the path in front of and behind him, leaving him surrounded.
As you would likely expect, Caim's immediate response to this was to start hacking away with his sword. While his progress was slowed substantially, the mute human punctuated each step forward he took with mighty swings of his sword -making sure to block from behind whenever any of the machines behind him tried to stab his back (he had more than enough of those types of injuries after the siege at the castle of the Goddess)- contently hacking through his opposition with ease, his sword gaining a fresh coat of yellow machine fluid.
However, as much as Caim gladly would've taken his time to methodically hack and slash his way up to the top of the Goliath, a sidelong glance at A2 keeping the giant machine's attention and dodging its onslaught of attacks reminded the prince that he was working on his guide's time and however long she could hold off the Goliath for. Realizing that it would be for the best if he sped things along, he opted to grab the closest machine in front of him -a humanoid model that was slightly taller than him- by its waist before using it as a makeshift battering ram, charging forward and causing every machine unlucky enough to be in his way to be sent sprawling off the Goliath's walkway and down to their doom. Upon reaching the end of the catwalk and a ladder that would lead up to the Goliath's shoulders, Caim flung the hapless machine he'd been using as a makeshift ram off before making his way up.
Upon reaching the top of the Goliath, Caim's immediate plan had been to go for its head and pump every last bit of fire magic he had into it,
*SLAM!*
Though once again, this plan was put on-hold when eight of those flying machines suddenly flew up to the large platform that made up the top of the Goliath's body and proceeded to drop two Goliath bipeds onto it to confront him. Without skipping a beat, Caim simply opted to sprint forward, dodging one biped's attempt to crush him with its fist, before letting loose a horizontal slash that cut its legs clean off, subsequently causing it to collapse to the floor. He then proceeded to follow this up by ramming into the hapless biped with its shoulder as hard as he could, his unnatural strength combined with the unstable footing provided by a behemoth of a machine that was constantly moving about and trying to kill a certain rogue YoRHa android causing the biped to tumble off the front of the Goliath and down to its doom.
The remaining biped retaliated by bombarding him with another barrage of those red orbs, but Caim countered this by simply raising his blade and blocking the barrage, sprinting forward with it readied the moment there was a lull in the barrage. Again, the biped attempted to hit him with its arms, but Caim was quick to dodge and retaliate with a swing that severed the offending limb by the shoulder, following up with a slash across its waist the bisected the towering machine completely.
With all distractions now taken care of, Caim sprinted to the edge of the platform -and the Goliath's front- to better assess the situation. Judging by the way the buzzsaw on the Goliath's remaining arm looked considerably worse for ware and had bits of its teeth taken off, along with how the android herself didn't appear injured, it seemed as though that A2 had been holding her own against the Goliath quite well since Caim began his ascent up the giant machine.
With no more immediate interruptions, Caim had been about to jump and go with his plan of pumping every last bit of his fire magic into the machine's head that he could. However, just as Caim was about to leap off, he momentarily lost his footing when the Goliath suddenly jerked about in another -unsuccessful- attempt to strike down A2. The sudden shifting of what he was standing on almost caused Caim to fall off the edge, but he was ultimately able to balance himself before such a thing happened, and better yet, the sudden moving of the Goliath brought something to his immediate attention.
Just as Caim steadied himself, the sound of metal grinding against metal caught his attention, and upon turning around, he caught sight of one of the giant bipedal's equally large arms slowly sliding down towards the edge of the Goliath's body.
"...!" It only took one momentary look at the gigantic, severed machine arm and its hammer-like shape before an idea for maximum effectiveness and damage sprang to mind, subsequently causing a prominent smirk to creep onto Caim's face, one that promised nothing pleasant for his rampaging target.
***O***
"'Oh yeah, just follow me down to the abandoned weapons factory if you wanna get your kicks! It'll be fun! Then we'll get to fuck around with building-sized piece of shit machines pretending to be actual goddamn buildings!'" A2 swore and grumbled as she imitated her offer to bring Caim to this place, narrowly dodging the Goliath's energy pellets and buzzsaw attacks while retaliating whenever she could, all while angrily cussing out and cursing the sudden, life-threatening turn this day had taken. "Honestly, can't help but wonder if it's my own godawful, shitty luck that caused this or if it's the fact that I'm hanging out with a fucking human that seems to attract death like he's a fucking magnet!"
While A2 had ultimately been holding her own against the Goliath rather well, all things considered, her main issue here was that this fight was really a war of attrition that was very much stacked in the building-sized machine's favor if Caim didn't go and do something up there that would take it out. Sure, she could dodge and retaliate and put some damage on that remaining arm of it, but the fact of the matter was that from where A2 was standing, she ultimately had no way to meaningfully damage it in this sort of direct confrontation.
A2 was about to let loose another swear-filled tangent topped off by the loud demand that Caim speed things along when she caught sight of a small, humanoid shape peeking out from the top of the Goliath. Immediately, the haggard android recognized the shape as Caim. "Alright, guess he actually made it to the top. Just hope that whatever he does actually fucking works…" She thought aloud, waiting to see what exactly it was Caim was planning to do while still ready to react to the Goliath's attacks.
A2 wasn't sure to what to expect from Caim when she forced herself into what felt like another suicide mission -it was hard to tell what your present company was thinking when he was a mute psychotic with a level of bloodthirstiness that made even her pause- but was nonetheless left blindsided when that humanoid shape suddenly retreated back momentarily only to suddenly leap off the edge of the platform and towards the Goliath's head, all while brandishing a giant, metallic object that was several times bigger than him like it was a hammer.
*SLAM!* *CRUUUUNCH!*
"Ho shit!" A2 exclaimed, watching with wide-eyes as the force of the hammer-like object slamming into the Goliath's head caused it to visibly crack and indent. Her bafflement didn't stop there since immediately after this sneak-attack, Caim -who landed on the back of the Goliath's head after jumping- stomped up to the damaged area where he slammed the object down and raised his sword. Immediately, the blade became wreathed in flames that steadily grew brighter and more vivid with each passing second, and by the time he stabbed the blade down into the Goliath's head, A2 was left stumbling back in response to the gigantic, fiery explosion that ensued and engulfed the Goliath's head… as well as a majority of its shoulders and upper body.
When the smoke from the explosion cleared up, A2 was left stunned at the sight of the Goliath's head having been reduced to a brightly glowing, molten mess that was gradually melting away, topped off by the gigantic machine slowly stumbling to its side like a person that just got their head blown off, appropriately enough. "Holy shit…! he actually brought the fucking thing down!" A2 exclaimed, followed by pleased, disbelieving laughter at how, against every expectation she had going into this shitshow, the two of them actually managed to bring this big bastard down. However, A2 was unable to enjoy the full sight of the Goliath collapsing and her laughter quickly died in her throat when she caught sight of a familiar humanoid shape plummeting down to the ground in wake of the explosion. "Oh… Oh FUCK!"
Reacting as quickly as she could, the rogue YoRHa android activated her B-mode to give herself a boost of strength and speed before leaping several stories up from the ground and intercepting Caim's falling figure. Bracing herself as best she could, the two of them tumbled none-too-gently into the ground -near the same concrete bridge that connected the factory to the rest of the city ruins- with A2 coming to a halt on her back and Caim rolling off into the grass like a ragdoll.
When the adrenaline died down and she realized that neither of them were at immediate risk of dying, A2 did the first thing that came to mind…
"...You're a maniac. You are a goddamn insane, reckless, bloodthirsty maniac!" And that was to furiously chew the bloodthirsty human out for his recklessness. Unfortunately, judging by the pleased, victorious sneer that was on Caim's face as he slowly sat up, it seemed her scathing retort either didn't register to the mad prince or he simply didn't care in wake of the results he got.
Letting out an annoyed scoff at Caim's response, the two opted to sit there for a moment and catch their breaths… as well as enjoy the sight of the building-sized machine that rampaged through the entire factory to kill them motionless and collapsed atop the factory.
Another moment of quiet passed before Caim went to stand. He only managed to move two steps, however, before his legs buckled in and he collapsed to his knees, prompting a look of surprise from the prince once he regained his balance. "Out of juice, I take it?" A2 noted amid winded breaths for air, letting out something between a scoff and a chuckle at his expression. Seems like he wasn't used to feeling so drained, given the near-endless stamina he seemed to have for combat he'd displayed at every turn of knowing him. "Can't say I'm surprised with how you melted that thing's head into molten-hot slag. However you do that fire trick of yours, it's pretty obvious to me that you just drained your reserves, or… pushed youself to your limits, whatever you wanna call it."
Caim merely shot her a mix between a sidelong look and a glare before he brought his left hand up to eye-level and attempted to conjure some flame to his hands. He only managed a few spitters of flame for a few moments before nothing. Loathe as he was to admit it, A2 was correct; that last use of his sword's magical ability completely drained him of his energy. He could barely stand at the moment, let alone use his magic effectively. "Told ya. Maybe next time you'll actually listen to me instead of doing stupid shit like attacking the building-sized machine without the right goddamn firepower."
At her annoyed criticism, Caim gave the irritable android a pointed glare before using his sword to point towards the motionless goliath lying on a chunk of the factory, once again stabbing his blade back into the ground despite his fatigue, seemingly trying to get across to A2 that for all her complaints directed his way, his attacking the Goliath had ended with its death, and despite their fatigue, neither of them were ultimately all that worse for wear, "Okay, fine. I guess you did have the firepower… eh, and fuck it, as stress-inducing as all that was, I can't deny the payoff of seeing a piece-a-shit Goliath that big go down wasn't pretty nice…"
At the sound of all this, a victorious smirk made its way onto Caim's face before letting him fall back-first into the grass, opting to try and get a bit more comfortable while he regained his bearings.
At the unexpected sight of a pleased expression on Caim's face that wasn't completely warped in bloodlust and malice, A2 let out a breath that sounded a bit like a disbelieving chuckle before sitting back into a more comfortable position and continuing to enjoy the afterglow of such an unexpected victory while they had it.
*RUUUUUUUMBLEEEEEE…!*
Unfortunately, the peace and quiet of their victory was suddenly cut off when a sudden rumbling began to overtake the entire area, causing them both to tense up in alarm. Their alarm ended up being well-founded when only moments later, several more of those building-sized machines, all of them identical to the first. With glowing red eyes, ever single one of the colossal machines honed in on the general area where Caim and A2 landed, making their current objective clear as day.
*K….ILL…*
*KI….LL…*
*KILL…*
"But I'm guessing you don't have the energy to pull that same stunt again a couple dozen more times, huh!?" It was as A2 let out this exclamation that she turned towards Caim and planned to once again 'politely suggest' that they get the fuck out of dodge already. However, she didn't have the time to when the sudden sound of explosions filled her ears from behind. Explosions that sounded very familiar to A2; namely, the sounds of YoRHa flight unit artillery hitting its mark.
With her expression shifting into a look of deadpan annoyance, A2 let out a defeated sigh before turning around greeting what had to be the cherry on top to this entire shitshow. "Oh… great… YoRHa's finally making their entrance in this region too… Just when I thought this day couldn't get any better." She said before turning back to Caim, who had managed to stand back up before looking between her and the sudden active warzone the factory had become with something resembling a bemused expression. "Alright, we had our fun, now can we please just get the fuck out of here already!?"
Having already come to the realization that they should cut their losses and retreat while they could when all those giant machines rose out of the water, and not blind to the fact that he simply didn't have magic reserves to use his sword's fire spells, Caim silently nodded in agreement.
Having regained his balance and at least enough energy to keep up with A2, the two silently made their way towards the concrete bridge and sprinted back to the city ruins… oblivious to the observer watching them both flee high above the sky.
***O***
(A few moments earlier…)
"Heh, looks like the cavalry's arrived in the nick of time…!" 9S chuckled, relief flooding through his body upon seeing the descent squadron finally arrive and engage with the several Engels that had risen out from underneath the water. Despite all the chaos that had been going on outside, 9S stuck to his objective and managed to disable the factory's defense terminals one by one, ensuring the descent unit would get a mostly safe path down from the bunker into this region.
When he made it out of the factory's interior, the scanner had been left in silent disbelief when the first thing he caught sight of was that rampaging Goliath lying destroyed across the various manufacturing buildings, one of its buzzsaw arms having been sliced cleanly off and its head, or… what was left it having been reduced to melting, white-hot metal.
The scanner didn't even have a moment to speculate on what managed to bring the Goliath down when an earthquake-like rumbling resonated through the factory grounds and dozens more of the exact same model suddenly rose out of the water.
Once again, 9S immediately went from disbelief to utter horror at this sight, but even that suddenly changed to relief when the descent unit finally made it planetside and bombarded the Goliaths with the full brunt of their artillery.
Man… talk about whiplash.' The boyish-looking YoRHa unit had been about to go fly over and assist his fellow YoRHa units in fighting the Goliaths when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
"Huh? Who's…?" 9S muttered, briefly taking a moment to zoom his vision in to try and get a better look, before his pod reminded him of his immediate objective
It was after the success of this descent mission, where the mission footage of every participating YoRHa unit in this mission -whether they be alive, KIA, or presumed KIA- would be sent up to the Bunker and reviewed by the Operators, that the footage of a particularly infamous defector fleeing the mission site accompanied by an unknown individual would be brought to the Commander's attention.
At the realization that their most infamous and stubborn rogue's presence had been confirmed in the new region, the footage 9S captured was displayed prominently on the big-screen of the command center, the sight of it being Commander White's main focus.
"So this is where you've been hiding, Number 2…" The Commander mused quietly, keeping her narrowed gaze on the footage of the fleeing rogue prototype and her unknown associate for another moment before turning towards one of the Operators charged with organizing trooper descents to Earth. "42O!"
"Yes ma'am?"
"In addition to arranging the descent unit that is to establish contact with the resistance in this region, see to it that an E-unit squadron is prepared for the apprehension of unit A2."
"Understood, commander…" The Operator confirmed. However, another look at the footage and the 2nd person present in it brought a question to mind. "And do you have any specific instructions regarding the unknown android that appears to be accompanying her?"
"If that android intends to interfere with their mission, then the squadron is to eliminate him posthaste." White wasn't planning on leaving anything to chance this time. An opportunity to finally tie up the last loose end from Pearl Harbor had presented itself, and she was going to use the advantage of knowing her general location to finally tie it up.
.
.
.
To clarify in case it wasn't clear, A2's apprehension despite suggesting they go to the factory in the first place was because she wasn't expecting to be 'manufacturing multiple machines the size of buildings and have only been taken out previously by flight units or black box detonations' levels of bad. We never see an Engels get taken out without either of those, so I figured A2's apprehension about challenging one of them head-on would be warranted without the sort of heavy artillery YoRHa provides. I figured they're in the lesser category of Grun as 'giant-ass machines you don't fuck with without the right power and/or equipment.'
*So I believe some supplementary materials from Drakengard 2 said that Caim could sleep with his eyes open, and I just couldn't resist the opportunity to sneak that detail into the main story.
** Kind of like that cutscene where Caim grabs Verdelet and peaces the fuck out when Manah's turning into a several-story tall 6 year old.
***You might think Caim leaping around rooftops like that might be strange, and in response, I point you to Nier's post-timeskip intro and Caim himself jumping I think like two stories in-game whenever you have him mount Angelus.