…This wasn't right. This wasn't happening!
Adam could only curse as he looked up at the smug prick before him, a prick who was currently struggling to stand on their own two legs. If they could just get a few feet closer and laid their neck down near a particular jagged edge on Adam's arm, he might be able to tear out their-
A jolt from Adam's busted mechanical frame triggered a surge of pain… Pain. What an utterly foreign concept. It had been decades, practically three short of century when he had last experienced such a thing. And now… ugh, Night City. Finally coming to collect.
'If I have any regrets for the thousands of atrocities in my wake… it's that I'm dying.' Adam smirked, internally. It had been an amusing line he'd overheard years back, and he'd made it a point to have Arasaka use it as his epitaph.
Course Adam figured he'd live forever, he was a tad vain like that. Surviving a nuke certainly helped that assumption. Who'd have thought someone who wasn't Morgan or Johnny would get the drop on him? Guess he was due for a drink in the Afterlife after all.
Ugh, was the asshole going to pull the trigger or what?!
High above, way high above Night City, the battle in Arasaka Tower was being observed. A space station, built in secret and cloaked to remain a secret, orbited the planet. It was empty of all personal, and yet it still observed.
OBSERVATION: Key asset ADAM SMASHER is about to be terminated.
RESULTS: Loss of asset will be too grand a hinderance to Arasaka and it's interests.
CONCLUSION: Emergency procedure to be executed.
The station's sole resident began the process of finding a way to save it's precious asset. For the station housed no physical personal, but a digital one. An A.I., named KIPO. It had been built to safeguard Arasaka, and though it had had limited capacity to truly do so, it saw the perfect opportunity here and now. But how?
Summon personal? No, all operatives disposed or incapacitated, and success negligible. EMP pulse? Guaranteed to eliminate Adam Smasher as well. Drones? All destroyed.
KIPO ran hundreds of potential solutions, all ending in failure. All except for… It was experimental, and would more than likely end in failure rather than success… but of all options, it was literally the only one with a chance of success. Committing to action, KIPO activated one of the technologies exclusive to it and this station: a working teleporter… in theory, anyway.
Adam stared down the barrel of the shotgun aimed at him through his one working optic. The fuck was still debating pulling the trigger or not, going on about some tripe or the other. Frankly Adam couldn't give a shit, either kill him or don't, just do it already! Just as he was about to give a expletive filled version of such thoughts, a sudden light surrounded him. EMP? Was this joker trying to take him in alive, like some common cyber psycho?
Wait, no. This, this was new. Before Adam could look at his vanquisher's face to see their look of surprise, everything went bright. And then, Adam was gone.
In orbit, KIPO and the entire station burned with energy! The teleport had worked, but the power required, the energy released! Everything was going too fast, and too slow! As KIPO tried to reconfigure and compartmentalize it's data, it found itself overflowing with the very light of it's own teleporter! And then.. it vanished.
All was quiet. And then, above a planet remarkably similar to it's creators own, KIPO and station appeared! It had run multiple diagnostic checks in the span of half a minute, and was able to determine that it was not destroyed, and that any damages were in fact minimal. Further scans would be needed, to determine if the teleport was more of a success than a failure, but as long as it's intended target Adam was secured…
Oh, he was outside being pulled into the atmosphere of the planet.
OH THIS WAS AN ERROR!
Quickly KIPO set out to recover the asset it had worked so hard to save! Adam Smasher had survived dead drops before, in fact his current frame was rated for falls from the stratosphere, but that was in prime condition! With the damages it had observed and scanned, his survival was 0.000001%! And that was some generous rounding up! In the next minute, KIPO had determined the best course of action!
Adam Smasher was descending too rapidly for KIPO to recover him in time, it would take too long to launch a probe or similar device to pull him out of the atmosphere. Therefore, he must be given suitable protection to survive the trip down. However, his frame was still extensively damage and would require repairs. Therefore, what must be sent must be capable of repairing him planet-side, and provide a link to KIPO to maintain contact with the station.
Fortunately, KIPO had such a means. Project Specter, an acquired asset Arasaka had purchased from a company some time back, and stored aboard KIPO Station along with other experimental tech, in the safety of space away from prying eyes. KIPO decided it would be forgiven for deploying it in these circumstances. It could attach itself to Adam, encase him in a protective shield, and KIPO could download a copy of itself to it, providing a guide and link to the Station. Once Adam was recovered sufficiently, he could find a transmitter, and return to Arasaka, This plan was most acceptable.
Finding Project Specter, transferring a copy, loading it aboard a drone and sending it out to Adam's falling form was perfectly executed procedure, and yet KIPO still had it's worried it wouldn't work.
It was a momentary pause as the drone flew next to Adam, and then, Specter unleashed itself. A large swarm of nanobots, a black cloud of them flying together to instantly encase Adam. It converged, it expanded. Soon the Arasaka cyborg was hidden from view, as a protective sphere surrounded him. As the heat of the atmosphere began to cause the swarm to glow, KIPO could only track it's descent. Well, that and begin a scan on the planet. It was curious, KIPO hadn't detected any background transmissions or chatter since exiting the teleport. It was almost like…
…Was the planet upside down, or was KIPO more scrambled than previously thought?
Planet side, in the Empire of Marley, the citizens were turning in for the night. Children were asleep and being carried by their parents to their homes and comfortable beds, guards traded in for the night shift, and many bid goodbye to another uneventful day. However, some would chance to look to the night sky. Some would bear witness to a miracle! A falling star, blazing across, falling to Earth! One didn't necessarily need a telescope to spot this wonder, but as chance would have it, the astrology tower of Northern Marley had indeed fixed it's eye at the perfect time!
Really fortunate too, as Marley criminally underfunded such studies.
Not long after, Pieck and Zeke found themselves pulled out of bed and standing before the brass of Marley. General Calvi and Commander Magath looked the same as usual, as if they hadn't just woken up (indeed, perhaps they didn't sleep at all, it would explain the shadows under Magaths eyes and his unblinking stare just as well as anything else), but the four or five others were clearly still in the process of gathering their bearings.
"Alright, just what in blazes is so important it couldn't wait til morning?" yawned a rather portly Admiral. "I swear to god, there'd better be a war breaking out…"
"Just little over an hour ago, an object fell from the stars." Magath reported. "Our astrology department reported it immediately, and insisted it be relayed to the military."
Calvi tilted his head, not exactly clear on why this had to be a military matter. "I know shooting stars are rare, but they do happen. Do we need to be made aware of one that they happened to spot?"
Magath responded, "In this case, it may be necessary. The object in question, burning through the sky, was more visible and clear than any other they had managed to catch in history. According to them, it is entirely possible this star actually made it to the planet. A meteorite strike."
Calvi raised an eyebrow. "Well, guess the world has a new crater. I suppose if it's believed to be a military matter, the eggheads tracked it's course to a likely landing spot? Did it hit an enemy capital?"
"In a way. Based on their projections, the object landed on the Island of Paradis."
Now THAT started to wake people up! It had been three years since the Warrior Unit had been sent to that Island of Devils, and no news had come from them in that time. Understandable, it was considered a long term infiltration mission, but still, with Marley's neighbours starting to notice four of the legendary Titans were less than active within it's borders, some higher ups were a little nervous that war may break out.
Still, it didn't quite warrant such an immediate summons.
"Well, I guess our Warriors will have an interesting story to tell. Maybe those legendary Walls will have a new hole in them soon." Calvi actually smirked.
"If I may General Sir?"
"You may Zeke."
"A Wall being broken is less than ideal, sir. It would mean at least one of the Wall Colossal's is free, and may be heading out to shore."
"Hmmm, that is a good point… could we be so lucky and it turns on the nearest people present?"
"Unknown, we have no data to base that on." Magath supplied.
"Ah well. Shore up our defences, and watch the horizon. If any Wall Titans were freed, we'll cut them down. Probably won't get that far, it probably landed off the coast at best."
"If that happens, they may experience a tidal wave, maybe."
"Something for the Warriors to report then, if they even notice." Calvi shrugged. "Was there anything else?"
"Actually, yes." Magath supplied. "Our astronomers made to track the falling star's point of origin." At this, Magath opened up a folder he had on hand, pulling out the photos inside. "It is possible they succeeded, as upon observation, they discovered… this."
Laid out before all present, were large black and white photos. At first, it looked like pictures of the moon. The sleepy looking ones assembled were already quick to shrug, clearly not seeing what was so interesting. But for the more keen minds, a little more observation showed something quite interesting… and a little unsettling.
There, just off side to the moon's shadow, was a… well, they didn't know what it was. It was somewhat tower shaped, with circles around it, perhaps, but that was the best they could describe of it.
"Magath, what are we looking at?" Calvi intoned, picking up one of the photos and peering at it.
"We don't know sir. It is was observed through the modern telescopes, clear as day. Our astrologers immediately made to capture it on the high power camera telescope, and successfully did so. But as they watched, they reported it… shimmered." Magath supplied.
"Shimmered?"
A nod. "It was there, then it disappeared, in the process of fourteen seconds observed."
"And these photos here, proof it wasn't some trick or optical illusion?"
"Affirmative sir."
General Calvi stepped back, then peered out the window, trying to get a good look at the moon. What exactly could this mean… "What do you recommend, Commander Magath?"
"If I may sir, it could be possible what fell to Earth and possibly landed on Paradis came from this unidentified object. Whether it be a larger asteroid that impacted with the moon we just lost track of, or may possibly be a… man made structure."
Now everyone was DEFINITELY awake. Quite a few were calling Magath a crackpot.
"Enough!" ordered Calvi. "Magath, do you hear what your saying?"
"I'm simply considering all options, sir. It may be an impossibility, but even so, it could be."
"Sir?" Zeke spoke. "If I may, there were reports other nations were heavily researching air travel."
"There's a difference between a sailing through the sky and sailing through the stars, War Chief."
"I am aware General sir. But it could be possible, a secret undertaking happened in a nation where our eyes aren't so present."
While that got a few shouts of "You forget yourself Eldian spawn!" Calvi once again called for silence as he contemplated.
"…If this object were man made, and it did land in Paradis, how difficult would it be to locate?"
Magath turned to Pieck. "If Warrior Pieck was given free reign, she could locate it, correct?"
Pieck nodded. "I can maintain my Titan for months, and I'm no stranger to infiltration."
"Months? Feh, typical Eldian, lazing about." A rather muscular General scoffed.
Pieck merely smiled and bowed her head. "Forgive me sirs, but it is a rather large Island, full of Mindless Titans. I merely wish to give a honest estimate. But I'm certain I could find this object, if it landed on Paradis, within a year."
Magath coaxed his head. "And that's your best estimate?"
Pieck nodded. "It is sir."
"Then you will have two and a half. I want every inch of that island observed, find out where it landed, what it was. If the Island Devils grabbed it, take it from them. And while your there, naturally I want you to rendezvous with Galliard, get a mission report. The Founder is still priority." Calvi stated, to the quiet shock of the other general's.
Zeke did feel the need to give voice to a concern. "With all due respect General sir, that will leave Marley with me as it's sole Titan Shifter. Well, that and the Warhammer…"
"Perhaps this will convince the Tybur's to step up. I am aware of the risks, War Chief Zeke, but I'm certain you can handle it. You have plenty of ammo in our prisons after all, and the Lineage Lottery will always provide more. And I'm certain Warrior Finger here will be prudent." Calvi waved off the Beast Titan's concerns. "Two years and six months, starting tomorrow at first light. Upon the next full moon at the end of that timetable, Zeke will come to collect you, and the rest of the Warriors. I trust you will be successful."
Pieck nodded, and saluted. "I will give nothing but my all."
"Then it's settled. Everyone, dismissed."
Magath waited in the conference room with Zeke and Pieck as everyone else left. "Are you certain about this Pieck?"
"Of course sir." Pieck smiled, giving an air of being at ease. "I'm used to long term missions, I've been doing them since I was a kid."
"You're still a kid."
"Technically I am a teen, sir." Pieck responded, in a tone that put most people at ease, even if it was a lousy joke. In a more serious tone, "I promise sir, if this is anything important, I will find it. And even if it's nothing, I've been missing the others, I'm certain they could use a reminder of home. On that note, permission to go to their families quick? Get a word to pass on?"
"Granted. They've been in hell for just over three years, a boost in morale could certainly help them pick up the pace." Magath supplied. "Remind them of their scared duty, to atone for the sins of their ancestors."
"Of course. Now if you don't mind sirs, I have to get packed. Please let my Panzer Unit know of my current assignment."
Pieck walked out the door, bright eyed and cheerful. Or at least, supplying the image of such feelings.
Magath watched her leave, and contemplated. Five Warriors all gathered at once on the Island of Devils, he'd be amazed if the island was still standing by the time they were done. They may be children deep in hostile territory, but they were Warriors, and together, they were unstoppable.
Zeke had helped himself to one of the more clearer photos, entranced. An unknown object… was it truly man made? A base? A ship? Were people onboard? Or was it simply a giant rock seen from a particular angle? Be rather disappointing if it were. Whatever the case, Pieck would certainly have a fun time. And Zeke would be left holding the line, he really hoped nobody got the bright idea to attack Marley on multiple sides…