Chapter 3: Crash Site.
Under the morning sun, a Titan, and a Pilot march side by side on this desolate highway. Where millions of rusty cars, buses and trucks alike are embedded in traffic along with the molds, and grass consumes every gravel, and concrete. Telling tales that millions of people were left behind in these ruins that used to be a great achievement of human civilization.
"Pilot?" EV asks with concern while they pass by the yellow bus filled with skeletons that hang out from the mossy windows.
"Yeah?" Ian answers with his L-star raise as he scans his surroundings.
"How many cities have survived in this world?"
"None" The Titan stops, and blinks in daze from his response. While the Pilot stares at his giant partner. Wondering from its odd reaction towards his answer. Then, he leans on the rusty hood of the car as he takes a deep breath before he continues. " You see that building over there?" The Titan gazed upon the ruined city with a tallest tower cleanly, cut in half. "Papa told me that the tower over there used to be the crown jewel of this city…*sigh* all that changed when the Rapture invaded from nowhere, and decimated every city like this throughout the globe. Killing every last human on the surface without discrimination."
"What is this Alien machine's objective?" EV blink as she ponders programming of her adversary.
"Nobody knows, EV…Nobody knows." Ian let out a weary sigh as he looked beyond his horizon. "All we know is that they are all hell bent at wiping us out from this world."
"Yet, some survived."
"Barely.." Ian chuckled grimly. "If it wasn't for the Nikke…the Goddess squad. Humanity would have been extinct a long time ago."
"Nikke?"
"The only people who are capable of fighting the Rapture. The Goddess of Victory…Nikke." Ian answers as the faces of his squad resurface from his memories. Making his chest tight in pain.
"Pilot, your heart rate is accelerating. Are you in distress?"
"It's nothing….just remembering unpleasant memories." Ian answered with a glum voice.
"Should I be concerned?"
"Nah, no need, EV..thanks, anyway…" Ian waves it off, and quickly shifts the subject. "Back to the topic. As you can see. In the early Rapture invasion we discovered that our conventional weapons were not effective against them which led to catastrophic loss of the majority of the army around the globe, and soon…total defeat."
"How did your people manage to survive against such an indestructible foe?"
"Goddessium."
The Ion Titan pauses, and blink its eyeball in wonder.
"The only alloy that can hurt this son of bitches. The Goddessium is what we used for every weapon, bullet, and armor we made. The problem is though that no humans are capable to use this weapon due to how heavy they are, and nasty their recoil is. So, we invented Nikke. Brave females who volunteer themselves to transplant their brain into their mechanical bodies. Bodies that are capable of using this special weapon, and abilities that could defeat a Rapture. The heroines that save humanity from extinction, Goddess of victory. Nikke."
"Intriguing!" EV exclaimed with its eyeball sparkling like stars. "This Nikke is somewhat the same as Simulacrum yet your response left me with more questions than answers. Such as their appearance, the origin of Goddessium, and the data of a prototype Nikke, and their first successful Nikkes. Additionally, I wonder why only females can volunteer to become a Nikke. Are there any male Nikke? Are male compatible with this 'Brain transfer' tech you mention? What is the correlation between two genders when it comes to compatibility with this 'brain transplant' technology?"
"I am afraid the question you asked is beyond my common knowledge, EV. You better ask the egghead in the ark. I am sure they are more capable to answer you than I." Ian replies as he raises both his hands in defeat.
"Then this made our mission become of utmost importance than ever before. We must reach the Ark immediately, Pilot."
"That I agreed…but" the pilot jumped out from the hood as he dust himself off. While the Ion titan tilts its eyeball in wonder when her pilot looks at her straight to her eye. "Now it's my turn to ask a question."
The Titan blinks in wonder as it straightens up its body. "Ask away, Pilot."
"Who really are you, guys?" Ian asks which made the Titan blink its mystified eyeball. "Look I haven't got a chance to ask this question for a month due to how eventful those weeks I spent with you all. Now when I think about it. I realize that you guys got more answers from me than from you."
"I don't understand your inquiry, Pilot?"
"O don't play dumb EV, I know that you guys are hiding something. After all, is it strange that you guys have no common knowledge of what happens to this world nor even know the name of the alien you are fighting against? These questions you asked made me believe that you guys are not from here nor even belong here. So, I ask again where you guys really come from?"
"That's classified, pilot. You have no authority to access this information."
Ian gasps in disbelief, and bewilder from her response. "Y-you don't trust me."
"False!" EV replies as she lumber over her small pilot. "Our neural-link, and the 6-4 patch on your shoulder is the proof of our trust to you. However, my former pilot thought that you are not worthy to know these secrets. Only Gen 2 pilots are authorized to access this data."
"Gen 2…" Ian mutters in wonder until his bewildered pupils grow wide when he realizes what she meant. "You are saying that I still have to prove myself enough to become worthy of becoming a Gen 2 pilot."
"Affirmative." EV nods its eyeball, and a proud stance. "If we survive after two years, I will analyze all the data that I gather from any combat, and non-combat scenario. From these data, I will analyze whether you qualify for your next regeneration."
"Hah, I see." Ian let out a heavy sigh as he double jumped to reach the shoulder of his Titan, and sat on it. "Looks like I still have a long way to go."
"I apologize on behalf of my former pilot. I hope this unfortunate news I shared did not sway your trust with us." EV said while her pilot replied with a gentle pat on her chassis.
"Nothing to worry about, EV. I understand…I still have a long way to go to become a stronger pilot. And that my friend is a worthy goal to achieve. Now, let's go. To the Ark!"
[ 2 hour later]
"Damn that VTOL got hit pretty hard. EV any idea where it goes?" Ian jumps into his Titan cockpit, and takes manual control over her.
"According to my calculations, that VTOL crashed North East, 2 kilometers away from our position." EV answers as she stands before the cliff, and points on the smoke in the middle of the ruins below her.
"Then let us go quickly before the Rapture gets ahead of us first."
No hesitation, the titan jumped off from the cliff. Then, it let out a brief thruster from its back giving the Titan a momentum to safely land on a broken highway. After that, it madly dashing across the ruins, and knocking every street pole that blocks its way.
"Pilot, judging from the explosion, and its impact….there is high probability that we will found n-"
"I know EV….let's hope that it will not come to that." Ian cuts her off as he focuses his attention on that smoke, and his legs running.
"Prepare for the worst, pilot."
[Meanwhile]
Through fire, and smoke, a fair maiden Nikke drags her bloody commander to safety along with her fear, and adrenaline rushing through her body until the weight of her commander catches up to her weary mind.
"Hold on commander…I am calling for help." The Nikke in an attendant uniform gently put the body down just under the shade of the broken wing. "IF THERE IS STILL ANYONE ALIVE, SOUND OFF!?"
No response from every Nikke that lay all over the crash site. Made her realize she is all alone. However, she is not defeated yet. Not now, for her commander needs her evermore, and she cannot afford to lose him. So, she searched around until she found a dead Soldier OW Nikke carrying a radio backpack. Then, she immediately reached for it, and shouted at it with all her might.
"BA-01 DOWN! BA-01 DOWN! PLEASE RESPOND! WE'VE BEEN SHUTDOWN! BA-01 DOWN, BA-01…! USELESS PIECE OFF!"
Before she can throw the radio, she notices something off on his commander's body. So, she used her eyes to scan him until she found something that made her pupils grow wide.
"No! You are going into cardiac arrest."
She quickly rummages through her emergency aid kit in panic until she finds the thing she needs for this situation.
"A..AED!...AED!...Charging…Clear!"
The body is still, and cold….no, response.
"Another…..Clear!"
No response, no heartbeat….it can't be.
"Commander wake up, Please wake up."
Nikke slaps the commander's cheeks, and shakes him off as she desperately tries to wake him up. To no avail, the commander responded in silence. Thus, this fair maiden Nikke breaks her desperation into tears. "No…No, No, No! Commander don't give u-"
*BOOM*
Out of nowhere, an explosion erupts near her. Causing her to flutter away from the commander's body, and roll through the mud. For a while, she lay still until a broken voice woke her.
"…..Ia….Last…..mosa….Titan Pilot of the 6-4….On my way…..Stay alive-bzzt!"
The Nikke crawls her way towards the radio yet she pauses when she notices a Rapture loom over the body of the commander.
"No stay away from him!" The Nikke burst with outrage as she unholster her bullpup S.M.G, and charged towards it with no hesitation.
*WRIIIIIIIIII!*
The spider-like Rapture fired up its mounted machine gun at its intended target however the Nikke swiftly dodge it, and reply with burst shots from her S.M.G causing the Rapture fall to its demise. Although, before she reached the commander. A bullet caught her leg causing her to fall to the earth as she dropped her gun away from her.
"N-No!" Nikke cries for plea as she tries to reach out for her commander while another Rapture lumbers towards her with its maw ready to claim another life.
"Rapture hostile acquired!"
Abruptly, she watches the Rapture in front of her suddenly erupt itself into its fiery death. Then, out of nowhere a 20 feet tall exoskeleton mech jumps in between her, and another pair of Rapture as if this golem like mech is trying to protect her.
*WRIIIIIIIII!*
Pair of minion rapture fired all of its offensive capabilities. However, the Titan tanks their attacks with its energy shield as it leaps towards them. Then, the Titan crashes the rapture under its foot, and melts the other with a burst shot from its splitter rifle.
"All hostile eliminated."
The Titan speaks, and looks back at the survivor. Which made the Nikke startled due to its intimidating size, and its brutal capabilities that it displayed before her.
However, The Nikke fear thaws away when the mech splits its body apart, and reveals a human pilot wearing a bulky helmet with a blue hue gleam from the visor. After the revelation, the pilot gracefully jumps out from the cockpit, and walks toward the survivor who is still stupefied from the strange individual that appears before her.
"Are you Ba-01?" The pilot asks the Nikke on the ground while he scans his surroundings with his L-Star raise in the air.
"W-What?"
The Pilot lowered his gun, and placed his palm on her trembling shoulder. Trying soothe her which surprisingly does make her calm her nerves
"You are safe now." The pilot gave his reassurance nod. "Now I ask again, who are you?"
"I-I am Marian. A machine gunner from the Silver gun squad."
"Are there any more survivors?"
"Commander…." Marian mutters with a worried glance. At the same time, the pilot notices the direction of her eyes, and follows it till he notices a man in a Khaki military uniform lying under the shade of the broken wing.
"Stay here."
The Pilot went beside the commander, and checked his cold neck. Upon inspection, he found no signs of pulse. He can tell that this man is no longer with the living. Which leaves him wondering how the hell he is going to tell her the news…..
The Pilot shakes his head in defeat, and returns to Marian side. Then, he crouches beside her, and hesitates to open his lips for a bit until she breaks the silence between them.
"He is dead….*sob*...is he?...truly dead..*sob*" Marian burst out crying as she desperately tried to wipe off the mourning tears from her eyes. "I-I…..It's my duty as a Nikke to protect my commander…yet, I failed to save him….*sob*...what a failure I am..I don't deserve to be a Nikke…."
"Hey, hey don't say that." The kind Pilot tries to console her by placing his palm on her shoulder, and rubbing it to relieve her from her guilt. "Hey, don't blame yourself, okay. I am sure you did your best to keep him alive…"
"Did I ... .Did I really do my best?"
Marian asks back with her teary eyes stare at his soul. Thanks to her, she reminds the Pilot of the failure from his past…his own Nikke squad.
"well…I…."
"Pilot!"
The Pilot shakes off the distraction, and shifts his attention to his Ion Titan.
"Yes?"
"Pilot, hostile alien inbound, Minion class Raptures."
The Ion Titan warns him as it scans the battlefield. At same time, it raises its Splitter rifle and its shoulder pods to prepare itself for another engagement.
"Copy that, EV!" The Pilot stands up with his rifle raised, and orders the wounded Nikke. "More Raptures. Stay down, Marian. We got this!"
"Wait!"
The Pilot briefly pauses, and looks back to Marian.
"Who are you?"
"We are the 6-4, and we are here to kick some Rapture ass."
Marian watches the pilot depart with a brief salute, and gracefully leap higher to mid-air which made her gasp in surprise because humans are not capable of jumping that high except for Nikke. What made it more jaw dropping for her is that the Titan caught him like a ball, and put him back inside the cockpit. She never knew that there were such advanced mechs capable of catching humans without causing any accidents until now, of course.
"Transferring Controls to Pilot" EV announce while she brings back the visual hud online in her cockpit. "Pilot, Sonar detecting a Platoon of Raptures rapidly approaching our position. Updating Protocol 2. Pilot, we will have to fight our way to safety. Get ready."
"Great. Just gotta kill a few bad guys, eh." Ian said as he controlled his Titan to duck behind the rubble, and peek to scan his horizon.
"A positive attitude can only improve our situation."
EV left a remark as they waited for the Rapture to come. Not for long, the Titan warns her pilot when her scanner detects a large force of Rapture emerging from the ruins beyond them.
"Pilot, incoming Raptures. 12 o clock!"
"Engaging!"
To be Continued-
Up next Chapter 4: Reunion.