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Chapter 7: Infancy Mission (Branch A)
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"So, this is where your contact lives?" A2 asked incredulously.
"What, were you expecting him to live on a Resistance base or the Bunker?" Hatchet asked, looking over his shoulder at the trailing gynoid.
"Yes, actually," she admitted, looking over the area. Garbage as far as the eye could see filled the landscape. Here and there cyclopean towers belched smoke as old pieces and parts were recycled for use in newer ones. Moving about were shrouded androids and a few squat forms in cloaks who could only be machines.
The Graveyard. The sole junkyard and recycling facility for YoRHa. Everything had to be recycled on Earth now. There just was not enough manpower to staff and defend new mining and factory sites. Plus, YoRHa had always endeavored to make sure the Earth was habitable for humans once more, and that meant more than just killing the alien's machines. It meant keeping the biomes intact, Greenhouse Gas Emissions low, and toxic substances to a minimum. As the old humans would have said, the androids were Green and eco-friendly.
Though it was officially under YoRHa's command and staffed by the Resistance, the people who were assigned to work at the Graveyard were invalids who could no longer fight or operate in the field and lacked the finer skills for more sensitive work like programming or data management.
Oddballs and misfits called this place home. For some reason A2 felt a connection with the place and its people.
"Come on," he said, leading the way. "Guss is down here. Operates Recycler 17, which usually gets all the mostly intact android bodies. If he doesn't have the Chip we need, he'll know where to find it."
"Will we need to avoid security?" A2 asked, glancing around warily. Hatchet shook his head.
"Nah, YoRHa only dumps their trash. They never stick around to guard it. Instead they leave that to the Resistance."
The mountains of rubble and trash grew larger as they approached, and Hatchet's face grew more relaxed. At least until a pair of YoRHa Flight Suits shot overhead.
"I thought you said they never stayed around for guard duty," A2 accused as she crawled up out of the pile of junk she'd dove into to avoid detection and the Resistance deserter nodded dumbly.
"They don't! In and out, that's YoRHa's motto when dealing with matters on Earth," Hatchet claimed.
"Things have changed. Or have you forgotten the Bunker is now a floating city and the Server, the sole purpose for YoRHa's existence, has been revealed to be a pack of lies?"
Hatchet's expression darkened. "I had, actually. The world seems so much simpler and innocent around Alexander. Enough to make you forget we're in the midst of a social revolution."
A2 nodded solemnly and they proceeded to sneak into the Graveyard, managing to do so undetected. There was a current of annoyance inside of her at how slow they were going, though. Her baby was waiting for her.
"Ok, this way," the bio-mechanic said as they reached one of the massive recycling facilities. "And let me do the talking."
He rapped three times on the solid steel door that lead to one of the gargantuan facilities, then rapped again three more times in a different pattern. After a minute a slow tapping came back, and Hatchet replied with a rapid-fire tap of his own.
"Thought you were dead," a weathered old android said, half of his body damaged to the point his chassis and mechanical skeleton were exposed to the open.
"We need something, Guss," Hatchet said.
"Get inside before the patrols see you," the man said, ushering them into the building. Heat stung them as the two androids entered the plant. Large blast furnaces were going, melting down metals to be recast. In another part a workbench covered in bits and pieces was rather noticeable due to the mortician-style slabs next to it containing a number of broken YoRHa bodies.
"What happened here? Why are YoRHa Flight Suits in the Graveyard's airspace?" Hatchet asked as the decrepit android hobbled back to his work station.
"The Bunker fell is what happened," the android said with a sigh. "Astonishing that it survived at all. Should have completely blown itself to pieces when the self-destruct order came through, but somehow Commander managed to jettison the virus infected reactors. The blast threw it out of orbit and sent it crashing down into the Atlantic."
"I'd wondered how it had endured," A2 commented idly. "I could have sworn 2B and 9S said they saw it get destroyed."
"Who's the broad?" Guss demanded, seemingly noticing A2 for the first time. He quickly backed off when she glared back, resting a hand on her weapon's hilt.
"This is A2, the reason I'm here," Hatchet revealed. "Look, you were saying something about the Bunker, and why YoRHa is here?"
"Oh, right, yeah," Guss said sheepishly, coughing awkwardly. "Sorry, processors aren't what they used to be. Too much smoke and grit in the air, makes 'em run funny."
He smacked the side of his head, and a faint whir could be heard from within his skull. He then continued his explanation.
"YoRHa needs materials to repair the Bunker so they come to us for that. Worse, though, is that there is glut of Feral machines trying to break in constantly now. Ever since that Tower appeared any Networked machine life form has been trying to steal parts to repair themselves. It's gotten pretty bad, and the two YoRHa soldiers are barely enough to drive them off."
Guss shook his head. "But that's not your problem. What do you need?"
"An Auto-Scan +15 OS Plug-in Chip," Hatchet said and the recycler whistled.
"That is some heavy-duty hardware you want, friend," Guss exclaimed. "I thought you finished repairing your son? And were done with Resistance work?"
His eyes drifted to the ragged gynoid at Hatchet's side. The bio-mechanic quickly shook his head.
"No, no, Sebastian is fine. And this is a companion of mine. She's here to make sure no Ferals attack me."
"Why does a rogue YoRHa want such a high-grade Plug-in? From the looks of things she's an A-Model, and an early one at that. She doesn't need a +15 anything chip, all her gear is +20 minimum," Guss pointed out.
"You can tell just by looking at me?" A2 asked, surprised.
"Of course. I've seen plenty of androids come through here, and I've recycled my share. You A-Models always have a stiffness to you. You hold yourselves too straight. Not nearly as flexible as other androids. Which makes sense, seeing as you were the Prototype model the best of the YoRHa units are based off."
Guss sighed. "Haven't seen a specimen as impressive since the E-Models, but they were a special case. Based directly off of you A's, correct?"
"Yes. Just like the S's," A2 said tersely. The battered android wisely caught on and turned to Hatchet.
"Back to business. I had what you were looking for. Sadly, the machines stole it in the last raid."
"Then we take it from the machines," A2 declared.
"Ok then. They're based a few miles off in an old quarry. Kick their asses for me."
"Wait, you're not going to tell her not to fight?" Hatchet asked, shocked.
"Of course not!" Guss laughed. "She's an A. They're known as the Assault Type for a reason. And they were the frontline for centuries. Not even the hundred or so machines that are at the mine have a chance against her."
"Good to see someone understands my talents," A2 said proudly. Guss waved her off.
"Go on, git! And take the south side gate, the YoRHa won't be there this time of day."
The androids thanked him before sneaking out.
"He seemed nice," A2 claimed. Hatchet nodded.
"Good man. Knows a lot about androids too. Helped me with fixing Sebastian as well."
The two shared no further words as they blitzed off into the distance, hunting down machines.
"What exactly do these two components you required do? How will they help Alexander?" A2 inquired as they headed towards the rogue machine lifeform base.
"Well, the item we're after, an Auto-Scan +15 OS Plug-in Chip, is installed in top of the line Scanner models and PODS for use when they have to study, decrypt, and a slew of other processes done on a microscopic level," Hatchet revealed.
"With that chip, it's possible to fully analyze items less than a micron in size in seconds, or pick-up and analyze traces of magic. Emil said that Alex is immune to White Chlorination Syndrome, but I don't want to take any risks, and need this particular chip to make sure none of Alex's food is contaminated with too much magical energy or other extra-dimensional issues."
"I see, that's good thinking, A2 praised. "What about the other one?"
"Ah, yes, the Hydro-Carbon Fluid Filtration Capacitor. An impressive bit of alien tech, that one. It's a combination filtration system and energy storage unit. It's what a machine uses to move and direct the energy from their core to the rest of their body. And is what makes them able to process and convert all manners of things into energy they can use," Hatchet said. "Did you know that machines can photo-synthesize like plants, but also consume oil, petroleum, and electricity for fuel?"
"Interesting," A2 admitted. "But what will it be used for?"
"Humans need all kinds of vitamins and minerals in order to function. Sadly, many of those are no longer possible to obtain," Hatchet said sadly. "Extinction events around the world have wiped out many plants and animals which contained the necessary materials for a body to grow. However, if we use the Hydro-Carbon Fluid Filtration Capacitor, it is possible to synthesize artificial ones he can use by using its conversion feature. Some of Jackass's research into Alex has shown us which substances are the most vital for him, and with her data we can feed him what he needs."
That's good to know. I'm glad I can count on you and Sebastian to help Alexander," A2 said warmly.
Further conversation was put on hold as they arrived at the abandoned mine. The two androids stared down in shock at the seething mass of machine lifeforms that littered the area. Many were bouncing madly around for no particular reason, others were chanting scripts of binary and words they had picked up, while a select few were fashioning crude weapons out of scrap.
The mine itself was a lot larger than they'd expected. It was a strip mine, with a single road coiling around the massive pit. Rusted husks of buildings and scaffolding dotted the area, creating paths between some of the more damaged areas, and only a single mineshaft seemed to be open; the rest were caved in and blocked by rubble. Most of the machines were at the bottom, but a few patrolled the walkways.
"That's a lot of them," Hatchet said quietly. He'd hadn't seen so many machines in one place in years! It would take at least a full battalion of Resistance soldiers to take care of this many enemies, and even then, it would be a costly fight. No wonder YoRHa had dispatched Flight Units to protect the Graveyard!
"Which one of them would have the chip?" A2 asked, undaunted by the numbers. Alexander was counting on her, and she'd faced worse odds in her life.
Hatchet gulped and fingered his weapons; a combat rifle and a rocket launcher, both Resistance issue but with minor tweaks and upgrades. He looked around the milling horde with a handheld device and pointed to where a number of android bodies had been impaled on spikes around the weaponsmiths, which were set up in the very center of the pit.
"There, see that android with the blue hair? That's a Scanner model. And based on the feedback of this remote analyzer, it has the chip we need still installed!"
"So, I need to bring back her head, then," A2 said as she drew her katana.
"Yes, but I advise caution; the chip could be damaged if you try to fight down there. I suggest we draw them away from the area before engaging them."
A2 nodded at the bio-mechanic's assessment and they snuck around to a spot where they could attract the machine's attention and lure them into a killing field.
The spot they chose was an old stretch of highway that led to the mine's main access road. The mine's entrance was narrow, with a high cliffside on one side and a deep fall into the open pit on the other. There we only a few flight capable machine units, so the machines would have to charge up the road which wound up towards them, and there was only enough room for three stubbies to stand side-by-side at a time. Hatchet could snipe the fliers while A2 could hold the road indefinitely at the chokepoint.
Hatchet took the first shot by firing one of his rockets into a hovering flier. The rocket detonated, and took down the machine in a single hit. Immediately though it attracted attention from the dozens of machines still around. As one, the charged, focused on him and the figure of A2 who leapt into the fray, every swing of her sword sending parts flying.
Hatchet reloaded the rocket launcher, aimed, and downed another flier before it could target A2. He repeated this process five more times before the flyers were all gone, ruined and smashed and burning.
He clambered up the rocks to get a better view of the battlefield and whistled in awe as A2 tore into the machines.
"As expected of one of the first generation Assault Units," the engineer muttered as the platinum hair gynoid split a Goliath in half from head to groin. She used the momentum of her attack to piercing a Buzzsaw wielding stubby and used its corpse as a shield to block a few energy blobs.
Not to be outdone, Hatchet began to fire his remaining rockets in any ranged units he could spot, crippling them and preventing their dangerous yet slow moving projectiles from harming A2.
With an elegant twirl, A2 landed in front of an Elite Stubby, her katana slicing its head off. She swung her blade in a lazy arc, the yellowish-green ooze that was the oily blood of the machine lifeforms flying off of its edge.
"We're done here," she muttered, looking around the battlefield. Not a single machine was left standing. All had been put to the sword or blown to bits. Calmly, she approached the impaled body of the Scanner Unit and pried their chest open, seeking out the OS chip they needed. After some rummaging she found what they needed and turned away.
"Let us return home. I want to be with Alexander," A2 said. Hatchet nodded in agreement.
"Sure. We can install the part when we get there. Assuming 2B and 9S get their part, we should be good," he said.
A2 hummed thoughtfully. "They will not fail. I have faith in them."
Hatchet chuckled. "Yeah. I know. They're pretty awesome."
The ran off across the landscape back towards the ruined domicile that had become more of a home to them than any other place.
All the while, and unbeknownst to either, a YoRHa flight-unit observed them from a distance, silently transmitting data back to the Bunker.