Chapter 8 - The Wildlands
/_\
"You ready?" Amora asked her partner quietly.
"I doubt anyone could be ready to embark on a mission to save humanity in a single afternoon." Roman countered with a look toward his partner, as he gave his gear a final once over.
Amora rolled her eyes, "Har, Har. You know what I meant." She turned to Roman to look him in the eye, "Seriously though, you doing alright?"
Roman's brows furrowed in thought. "Honestly, I don't know. Maybe?" Amora's expression shifted to one of concern, "It's fine Amora, I'm fine." He sighed, "It just seems like such a monumental task, you know? I'm more than willing to do this, it's just me wondering if I'll be able to do it."
The way Cid has explained it, this mission was insanely dangerous since it involved technology that could quite literally allow someone to travel forward in time. Many others had died attempting to get this cure, or at least working on the steps leading to the cure.
Wasn't that something to wrap your head around?
His first mission was to finish repairing the Matter Wave Projector inside the depths of facility X-343, Deep Reach. From there, he was to do whatever was required to activate the facility housing the Quantum Accelerator so that he could make his jump through time, and find the cure, or samples of it, and bring it to the appropriate doctors.
Simple, right?
"Knowing you, you'll pull it off in the stupidest way possible."
Roman huffed a laugh, his doubts quickly dispersing to the furthest corners of his mind for the time being. The soldier turned to see his partner looking at him with a sly grin.
"Thanks, I needed those words of encouragement." Amora just shrugged the playful thanks off.
Roman took his helmet and put it on, "Alright, let's make it happen." Double checking his weapons were safely attached to him, the soldier was ready to sneak out the camp.
"Remember the plan," Amora began as the two huddled near an opening in the camp's perimeter, ready for Roman to make a move. "Make your move when you see the opening, and keep to the undergrowth, low and fast."
Roman nodded toward his partner, "I'll be back soon, hopefully."
"Good luck, Roman," Amora patted him on the shoulder, "I'll see you when you get back." With that last bit of encouragement, his partner returned back to camp to do her part in the plan.
The soldier could appreciate the sentiment, he once again counted himself lucky that he had Amora with him. Someone he could trust with his life. If his partner had been anyone else, any random stranger, then he wouldn't have been nearly as confident in their abilities as he was in Amora's.
She could handle herself and the camp, even if she didn't want to, so he could mostly focus on the mission. Devola and Popola were there to help her, as he had instructed the twins to look after her.
For several minutes, Roman waited. Watching from the opening in the perimeter two different sentries. YoRHa androids, in groups of three, located along either end of this section of the camp, watched with a consistent vigilance that could rival a dedicated security system.
Above, flight units hovered over the area, watching from the sky for any threats in the distance that the sentries couldn't see.
"All this for a single, small, section of the camp's perimeter." Roman thought as he kept a keen eye on the androids, waiting for the opportunity he knew was coming.
Roman and Amora had deduced the guard rotation of the two sentries, and while one of them was problematic the other lined up perfectly with the flight units patrol pattern above.
One of the sentry groups moved away from the perimeter for about ten seconds before their replacement showed up, and during that time the flight units above moved away from this sector of the perimeter at just the right time.
That would leave only one sentry looking over the area for ten seconds, fifteen at the tops.
The problem was the last sentry on duty. They still had vigilance over the area, if Roman tried to make a move here he'd be seen and draw attention to himself in the process.
However, they could work around this problem.
Roman watched through his visor as the group to the left moved from their position, signifying the sentry rotation, at that same instance the flight units above hovered away from their position to somewhere else on the camp.
With two of the problems out of the way, Roman watched the second sentry turn away from the perimeter.
Roman smiled under his helmet as he caught a glimpse of what, or who, had distracted them.
"Perfect timing Amora," Roman mumbled as he made a break across the cover away from the camp.
The soldier bolted across the area, safely crossing the opening. He practically dove for cover on the other side away from the camp. There was no way to tell if he made it undetected, but he didn't hear a reaction from any android.
It might be preemptive, but Roman was going to say he'd made it out the camp unseen.
However, that wasn't the end of the escape. Roman and Amora had learned of the YoRHa sentries and patrols outside the camp. The androids had the area on lock apparently, which Roman would well believe given what he'd seen of the androids thus far.
"Step one, done," Roman thought to himself as he made his way through some undergrowth leading toward a series of buildings, "Step two through ten, here I come."
Next step, make it out past the rest of the YoRHa patrols around the city.
Easy!
/_\
A2 was growing more and more frustrated by the hour. Although she might have had plenty of time on her hands, she wasn't exactly keen on waiting for the rest of her life to find one person.
The assault android had decided to take up a new perch far enough away from the camp that she could watch several angles of the perimeter. The distance was far enough away for her to somewhat comfortably observe the camp without being outright seen by any YoRHa scouts or flight units.
But it was nearly impossible to make out anything going on inside the camp, it was all just a blur. Motion and movements that couldn't be made out.
A2 hated to admit it but a part of her yearned to meet the humans in the camp, but she knew she couldn't. YoRHa, the source of all her problems, was the reason she couldn't go and meet their creators; they'd never allow a wanted fugitive near a human if they could help it.
"It's always fucking YoRHa…" She grumbled quietly, her eyes narrowing in on the camp.
If she so much as took one step into that camp she was certain White would have her head. Even if nearly every part of A2 wanted to help the humans, White would argue against it.
A2 clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I'm getting nowhere with this!"
As frustrating as it was for the assault android, she wasn't exactly able to do much about it. What could she do? Wait for one of the humans being escorted out of the camp by a dozen YoRHa androids so she could confront them?
That would be a disaster.
For a brief moment, A2 wondered if any of the humans would have been informed of her and her status. Would White see fit to inform humans, their creators, that one of their androids had gone rogue?
No, YoRHa would want to keep that under wraps.
That means there was a chance she could defend herself if given the opportunity. As unlikely as it was to happen.
The assault android's internal ramblings came to a halt when she noticed the faintest of movement nearby. Her eyes track down toward a figure in the distance, darting from building to building.
"Who the hell is that?" The android thought with a sense of idle curiosity.
Whoever it was, they had seemingly left the human camp judging by the direction the person had come from. The suspicious aspect of this person though was how they went about moving.
A2 watched as the lone figure ducked and weaved through the buildings, foliage, and the like as cover. Seeming to time their movements and paths with the patrols of the flight units and other such sentries in the area. The very same way she had avoided detection.
"That's not suspicious at all." The android huffed to herself, eyes locked onto the person's every move.
With little else she could do here, she may as well see what this individual was doing. The assault android leapt from her perch in pursuit of the suspicious person dodging YoRHa, for now she would watch them from afar and see what they were up to.
And if whatever it was involved harming humans in any way, she'd deal with it herself.
/_\
Popola flipped through her clipboard, scanning over the first three pages, making sure each instruction on the pages had been followed and completed. It had been a busy day so far for the android, something she would freely admit was actually quite nice despite it being considered work.
It was an enjoyable kind of work, one she could bring a sense of passion to. It made life more exciting having a purpose and a reason to do what one did, and managing the human camp was about as great a purpose as one could hope for.
A sentiment shared with many androids in fact.
The red haired android couldn't help a satisfied sigh escape her lips.
"You seem to be in a good mood." A familiar voice spoke, drawing Popola's gaze to her approaching sister. A smile crept onto the android's face.
"You're much the same, sister," Popola replied, turning fully to her sister, "I've not seen you so chipper during our time in the resistance camp."
Devola shrugged her off, "Our time here has been short, but much more positive and lively than the resistance camp." The red haired android smiled, "This is way better."
Popola hummed, "The resistance camp wasn't that bad."
Devola merely gave her sister a flat look, with a hand on her hip. A look that asked incredulously really?
After a few seconds under that look, Popola caved. "Alright, so it wasn't great but it was better than being exiled to some unknown wasteland, left to fall apart and be forgotten."
"A single step up, two at most," Devola countered before gesturing to the camp around them, "But this? This is leagues better! I feel welcome here, the people, the humans, appreciate us, and our work is valued again!" The redhead's words getting more and more lively as she spoke, "And it feels good to have our boss in our corner for a change."
Popola couldn't help but smile in agreement.
"Anyway," Devola began, deciding to change the topic of conversation, "Have you finished your workload for the day?"
"I have," Popola nodded, glancing back at her clipboard, "I was just double-checking my list before reporting to Roman and Amora."
"Same, I was going to head back to report in with the boss. Just wanted to check in with you first, sister." Devola gestured in the direction of the command tent. "Let's go report in, there might be more Roman needs us to do."
Honestly, Popola hoped there was more to do. As her sister said, it made her feel appreciated and valued again, Roman certainly praised their efforts more than anyone else since they worked directly for him, basically. Something that Popola wouldn't admit out loud was how much she enjoyed the praise, it was a joyous change from the harassment and scorn she and her sister usually got.
The guilt chewed away at her, ever-present, but she quickly pushed it down.
Funnily enough, Popola completely missed how Devola only mentioned Roman and not Amora.
Or perhaps, the red-haired android unconsciously agreed that she wanted Roman to be the one to issue their orders.
Either way, the sisters went on their way, ready to report the day's tasks as done.
/_\
Roman jumped from the third-story window of one building to land on the roof of a second-story roof of another, the soldier landed with a roll which ended in a crouch.
"That should be far enough," Roman muttered to himself, his head swiveling back in the camp's direction. In the distance, he could only make out several dots floating in the sky, the flight units. "They shouldn't be able to see me from here."
The soldier had been extra cautious to avoid open areas when escaping the camp, having gone the extra mile dipping and dodging between cover and the inside of buildings to better avoid detection.
He hadn't been informed of the flight unit's visual detection capabilities but given they hadn't come after him it was safe-ish to say he hadn't been seen.
And with no sign of any androids following, which he figured would catch up to him relatively easily, it would seem as though he'd made it.
Although his tactical evasion of YoRHa went well, that was only the start.
"Off to save the world then," Roman mumbled to himself as he continued his march onward. Climbing up and over another wall, the soldier hauled himself into another building.
Roman glanced down at his tac-pad, the display showed a rough, and apparently old, map of the area with his current position marked with his coordinates. He taped a compass in the top right of the screen to bring up the coordinates Cid had supplied him.
It was quite the distance to travel by foot… unfortunately.
Roman sighed, "Seems like I'm going to be gone for at least a day, minimum."
The soldier could only hope his presence wasn't missed, if there were any problems in this facility he could be gone for two whole days. That would be much harder to explain away, for both Amora and himself.
"Devola and Popola might notice first," Roman thought to himself as he cautiously scanned the area ahead of himself, "Best case scenario those two are the only ones that find out." Although, he did tell them to report to Amora if they couldn't find him. Maybe they wouldn't question it too much.
Worst case, YoRHa finds out. His bodyguards were likely going to be the first to notice out of any member of YoRHa, except for maybe White if she tried to reach him for whatever reason. The Commander had plenty of reasons to speak to him honestly, but she could be diverted to Amora without raising too much suspicion.
His personal guards, however, were a different story.
"If even one of them went looking for me in the camp…" The soldier thought for a moment. If they found no sign of him, they would kick up a shit storm for him and Amora to deal with.
Finding a human had been an ordeal, but if one went missing?
"Focus!" Roman shook his head, pushing those thoughts from his mind, "No use getting worried over something that hasn't happened yet."
Pushing on, Roman marched on through the deserted buildings. He'd been lucky so far as he was yet to encounter any machines blocking his path. There had been a few around him, or off to the side of his path, but nothing he had to personally contend with.
Which was for the better, might he had.
Needlessly slaughtering every machine in his path wasn't a part of his mission, it would draw unwanted attention to himself and achieve nothing.
But the lack of any dramatic action also gave Roman time to take in his surroundings more. Seeing the state the city, and the world for that matter, was in was a reminder as to what had truly happened. The total collapse of humanity and its near extinction.
Cities and homes left barren, devoid of life and a sense of purpose. The world was a hollow shell of its former glory. The androids didn't see it, he'd heard as much from androids in the camp talking about what life was like nowadays. But to humans? Ones like himself who had come from a time long before this?
It was a jarring reminder that the world they once knew is dead and gone and that it was up to them to rebuild it.
With that in mind, the soldier pushed on toward his destination with a renewed sense of resolve.
"This is going to be a long walk…" He sighed, "But a worthwhile one nonetheless."
/_\
A2 couldn't believe it.
The person she was following was a fucking human being! It didn't make any sense! Why was there a human away from the camp all alone?! The assault android had watched as the human, covered in body armor and a helmet she noted, evaded numerous machine patrols and groups with the ease of a trained soldier.
A2, at several instances, had been ready to throw herself at whatever machine this human happened to get close to. The only reason she hadn't was because the human clearly wished to avoid being seen.
She also reasoned that if she engaged the machines in any way, she might lose track of him in the conflict. The android wouldn't risk getting involved in a timely battle and risk losing the human.
"They can't afford to die…" The android said to herself in a quiet tone.
She had been tempted to confront the human, face to face, and find out exactly what they were doing so far from the camp with no escort. Hell, this was the opportunity she had been waiting for and a part of her was screaming at her to take the chance she now had.
But the more reasonable part of her told her to observe for a while longer. There was a reason this person was out so far from the camp, they had tried to avoid both YoRHa and the machines for a purpose.
A2 couldn't fathom why, but she didn't care.
A human was out wandering the wasteland, and although they weren't in any immediate danger there was always a chance something would unexpectedly ambush them. That would be when she'd make her move, jump in and protect the human from harm.
She had a purpose again, as silly as that might sound.
For so long she's been without a purpose in her life, but now she'd found one.
Silently watch over this human, and protect them when the time came.
For now, the assault android was content to protect her newfound charge.
C8: End.
A (short) chapter down for the count.
And we're off! About time the main events start kicking off. If people are wondering what kind of shit Roman and Amora are gonna have to deal with, rest assured that there will be an original storyline for them to face as well as the antagonists from Nier. We'll be getting problems derived from the game, and then my own bullshit created in the deepest pits of my mind.
A real shame Roman dodged all of YoRHa just to be caught out by a certain android nobody knew was there. It's always the ones you don't see, ain't it?
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Review Response(s):
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Glad you enjoyed that little intro, we'll see more of the campsite in the future but for now we'll be following Roman and Amora most often. It's time to kick start the "Cure Storyline".
Gwynx: Soon, very soon.
Arclight001: Just for you, I'll add a scene like that later. Likely in another "Campsite Life" chapter, or maybe Roman is the one to do it for maximum drama.
Guest 1: I'll use that character concept, add more to the character if you like!
Harisnorw: Indeed, they will be soon.
Wellingtonlucas282: Thank you kindly for the continued support, my friend!
Nexus95: Thank you, hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter.
Gonsmoss: You know what, you're goddamn right! Commander White deserves love (and lewd thoughts) too. I'll have Roman comment on that hot android ass at some point. White and 2B/9S will have their parts to play, we're just mainly focusing on the two main human characters for the time being. Rest assured, they'll be around.
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Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Till then, I wish you the best. Thanks for reading.
AlcatrazDGold - Signing off!