Automata Salvation
Rise of the Machines: Chapter 10
By Icura and Vahn (Vahnhammer on Spacebattles)
~o~
Something was gently shaking him. With closed eyes and a mind dazed by sleep, John Connor was slow to respond. He didn't know what it was, but all he wanted at that moment was to go back to sleep. As if knowing of his addled thoughts, the shaking intensified.
"Mmrg…st…stop it…"
Just as suddenly, the shaking stopped. However, instead of falling back asleep, the lack of it left him with a sense that something was wrong, which jump-started his brain. Even then, having come out of a deep sleep, it took him a few more moments before he finally managed to open his eyes, and a couple more to realize that he had been sleeping in his seat in the transport. Only then did he notice the fact that the gazes of every android around him were focused solely on him.
It was like waking in a bedroom full of dolls.
"..were you trying to wake me up?" When he saw Captain Arnit nod, John asked, "Why did you stop?"
"Because you told me to," Captain Arnit replied as if it was plainly obvious.
Actually, now that he thought about it, it probably was.
"Right…" John sat up straighter before rolling his shoulders. "How long was I out for?"
"Out?"
"Four hours."
"That long?" John stretched his limbs as much as he could in his seat. He hadn't realized how tired he had been until he had closed his eyes with the intention of just resting his head for a minute. Of course, that minute had stretched into hours, showing just how much fatigue he had accumulated in the long run. On the bright side, he felt a lot better now, though he was still as bruised up as he was before.
"We had to make a few detours to avoid enemy patrols and blockades," Arnit replied, mistaking John's question. "We're entering the camp now."
John did not see any signs of said camp—just a dark desert—until their transport drove straight into an invisible wall that rippled like water on contact. From there, where there was once nothing but sand and withered trees, that scenery soon changed as a collection of semi-futuristic military buildings appeared. A bright collection of lamp posts and flood lights illuminated the area, such that it would have been impossible to miss from the outside if it weren't for whatever camouflage field they had in place.
Despite a number of gates and watchtowers—each manned by a collection of guards—none of them bothered to impede their progress into the base. Instead, they waved the vehicle in, as if they had done so many times before. In any case, it wasn't long before they were driving through the base itself.
There were various grounded planes on the airstrips with Resistance androids attending and doing maintenance on them. In the midst of all this, on paved roads were a variety of different armored vehicles moving throughout the base, loading and unloading supplies. It was obvious at a glance that this was a large forward operating base that had some importance. That was why their vehicle, noticeably different and more battered than the rest, was noticeable enough to cause many androids to glance at them, though no one bothered to do more than that.
In fact, they were able to go straight through unhindered to the center of the base. They soon came to a stop in front of a two-story tall military building with a collection of people already standing out in front. The moment that it was safe to do so, the doors of the vehicles were pushed open and the soldiers who were able to move properly came filing out first.
Only after the YorHa androids and pods came out, protectively scanning the area, was John finally allowed to disembark. The one who followed him out was A2 who—while not having her weapon out—was still tense.
The first one to step up and greet him was a little girl with blonde hair whom he had not noticed in the crowd beforehand, probably due to her height. She was dressed in an American-style military uniform, just miniaturized to fit her diminutive size. Glancing at the badges on her uniform, he knew that—despite how she looked—it ranked her as a colonel.
"John Connor, sir!" The blonde girl saluted firmly. "I am Colonel Tanya of Achilles Spear base. It's an honor to have you here with us!"
"The pleasure is mine, Colonel Tanya." John returned the salute. "Do you have the transport ship ready?"
"They have finished loading the weapons and armor onto the aircraft, but the escorts are still being prepped," Tanya replied eagerly. "It won't be long before the two squadrons of fighter jets are ready for duty, sir!"
"I don't remember requesting any escorts."
"It was me," A2 said, standing by John's side. "If we're going to go into another dangerous place, we might need them, especially with how reckless you are."
John's face twitched into a soft smile. "Thanks for thinking about me."
"It would be stranger to find an android who doesn't care," she replied bristly. "I knew that other androids would insist so I preempted their asking, thereby saving time."
"Of course, but…thanks anyway, A2."
John couldn't help but smile wider at the surprised and embarrassed look on her face. However, that was fleeting as she looked away from him. He was tempted to tease her further, but there were more important things to worry about at the moment.
Turning his attention back to Tanya, he asked, "How many squadrons will be left on the base?"
"None, sir."
"So we're taking all of your fighter jets?" John asked incredulously. "That's excessive. Don't you need them for your operations here?"
"Our campaign pales in comparison to your safety," Tanya replied in a milder tone. "We'll make do without them, sir."
"Still, I don't feel comfortable taking away so many."
"Sir, I insist." Tanya stared determinedly at him. "Every single one of my soldiers would say the same."
As if to emphasize her point, there were silent nods from the androids protectively surrounding them.
"...alright." John eventually relented, even if reluctantly. It was honestly hard to argue against them, especially since they had his best interests in mind. "Let's go see the transport."
"Sir." The little android saluted. She turned to the Special Forces leader. "Captain Arnit, excellent work. Get your soldiers some well-deserved rest. We'll take over the protection duty of the VIP from here on out."
"But ma'am, we can still—"
"Your team has taken casualties, and the remainder are barely fit to fight. Get your troop to the maintenance chamber for a full work-up this instant. Am I clear?"
"Crystal, ma'am." Captain Arnit saluted before beginning to walk away with her team.
"Wait!" John called out.
When Arnit and her team looked back, he walked over to them.
"Thank you, All of you. I won't forget what you all did for me and those we lost," John said before he stepped back and gave off his best salute to them. "It's been an honor serving beside you all."
"Sir…it's what we were made for." Despite saying that, Arnit had a proud look on her face. The other members of her team had similar smiles even though they were barely holding together. They took a moment to bask in the moment before turning to leave.
John watched them for a little as they walked away. However, soon enough, he turned his attention back to the colonel.
"Thank you for waiting."
"It isn't an issue," Tanya replied. "Shall we go?"
John nodded.
With that, the large group consisting of military androids and the YoRHa units began to move. Of course, John was stationed in the middle of that formation. Despite being such a large group, the other androids with her, similarly dressed in uniform, were oddly quiet. They were giving him glances every time they could, but they refrained from speaking, even to each other. That gave their trip an odd sort of silent atmosphere.
Though, they weren't the only ones staring. With such a large group, the surrounding soldiers and support workers—who were in a frenzy of activity in a way that reminded him of a prodded beehive—took notice of who exactly was inside that formation. Some of them were openly staring, their mouths agape, as they seemed to actually recognize just who he was. Others merely gave him a passing glance, but they were soon informed to the contrary by their friends and teammates. In some, it even spurred them to work even harder, as if to try to garner attention and praise from him.
By the time they reached the hangar, John was pretty sure that half the base knew that he was here. Not that he was trying to keep his presence a secret or anything, but after spending some time without being the center of attention, it really did take some getting used to.
The open hangar itself was one of the larger buildings on the base, dwarfing the aircraft inside. There were plenty of soldiers moving inside the hangar, preparing the airship for departure.
No matter how John looked at the transport, it looked like a C-5M Super Galaxy carrier plane. The plane model had been used by the old United States government back in its heyday to transport cargo and personnel around the globe, and now, it was right in front of him. At least, on the outside. The internals were probably, just like everything else, a whole lot more advanced.
"It looks like it's almost ready," John said. His gaze came back to the diminutive android. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Anything, sir," Tanya replied without hesitation.
"Why did they make an android your size?" John asked. However, he had not expected the girl's eyes to widen and begin to shake. "Wait, wait, I don't mean that as a bad thing. I just want to know since you don't seem to be built for direct combat."
The shimmer in the eye instantly went away as she understood his question. "I was part of an experimental strategic android initiative. Rather than have other androids focus on strategy, we would do the thinking of them and just direct them to where they needed to go."
"Oh…but why the smaller frame?" John asked.
"Command felt that it would be a waste of precious resources since we're on the backline," Tanya replied with a sigh. "Unfortunately, the machines had adapted by further limiting communication range over contested territory. Though…" At this, she glanced at the YoRHa units escorting him. "I have heard a certain organization has a way around this."
"When the situation at Hawaii is over, I'll make some inquiries," John replied. "But don't expect too much out of me."
"That's enough for me, sir."
Even though Tanya said that, John saw the little girl's crestfallen look. Without really thinking about it, he placed his palm on top of her head and stroked her soft, thin hair. The girl's eyes widened before a heavy blush came to her cheeks.
"Oh…um, sorry." John pulled his hand away.
"N-no, i-it's quit-quite alright, s-sir!" Tanya told him, red-faced.
"If it makes you uncomfortable, feel free to tell me."
"I-it's fine, sir!" Tanya was about to say something more when one of her aides in the group surrounding them came up to her and leaned down to whisper into her ear. After nodding, she turned back to John, though not without a moment of hesitation.
"Is something wrong?"
"No." Tanya shook her head. "My subordinate was just unsure if this was the correct course of action."
"Correct course?"
"You should know that...High Command had given us orders to keep you grounded, sir."
"They did?" John looked at all the preparation being done and then turned back to her. "You didn't follow their orders?"
"Well..." The little blonde android looked adorably to the side. "Your orders supersede theirs..."
Now, it made sense why there was such a rush of activity in the base. They had grounded their planes, but his order restarted their activity. There was only one thing he could say to that.
"Thank you." John shot the girl a look of gratitude.
"It… I was just following your orders, sir," the little android said in a flustered tone.
"My gratitude remains the same," he replied. "But if you can speed this process up, I would appreciate it. The sooner we leave, the better. Not that I don't enjoy your company, but I have to get there as soon as possible."
"We'll do our best, but sir…" She looked hesitant. "Will you really not reconsider? There's no need for you to personally go. Not to mention you'd be much safer with me, I mean us—"
The way she was looking at him was so childlike that he once again patted her head, stopping her mid-sentence. Giving her a smile, he said, "I appreciate the sentiment, but I have to go."
Tanya became flushed but nodded resignedly before turning to the surrounding androids. "You all better double-check everything or so help me, humanity, I will shove my boots so far up your ass that you'll be spitting out your bolts!" When they stopped moving due to her vulgar speech, she shouted, "Get moving!"
The androids around them scrambled all in all directions. Some, in their rush, were even going in the same direction. All the same, word would get around eventually.
"Please excuse me, sir," Tanya said hesitantly. "I need to take my leave to inform High Command of your decision."
"Alright. And sorry. " John brushed his fingers through his dusty hair. "It's been a long day."
"It's alright, sir," she said quietly before turning around. "I'll take my leave."
John watched Colonel Tanya walk away. It seemed no matter the continent, the androids were always eager to please. Still, he had to prove himself worthy of their unconditional trust.
He made his way into the hangar and went to the backside of the aircraft where the open cargo bay was. There were a few androids still loading the last crates into the cargo hold. However, unlike his YoRHa escorts, the android aides who were still shadowing him from Colonel Tanya's group didn't follow him when he walked up the boarding ramp.
"Sir!" Some of the android laborers finally noticed him and stopped whatever they were doing to salute him.
"At ease, soldiers." John returned the salute, stopping just at the mouth of the cargo bay. "Carry on."
"Sir!" The android workers resume their work, though with a noticeable pep in their steps.
"Not bad," A2 said as she looked at the flight frames that had been loaded into the cargo bay. "Almost reminds me of my old flight unit."
"It's outdated, and the maintenance is lacking," 2B chimed in. However, at A2's sharp gaze, she added to her statement. "But its firepower should be on par. It is adequate for our purposes."
Feeling anxious from doing nothing, John made his way to where the crates had been strapped down to the side. He wasn't quite sure what was inside, but that was why he was here. However, when he tried to lift the cover of one, it didn't budge. Not even an inch. Feeling a strain on his pride at the deceptively heavy lid, he tried again, straining his arms before 9S came over to him.
"Let me," 9S volunteered. He reached over and easily lifted the lid up.
"Thanks, 9S." John cleared his throat before peering inside. Almost Immediately, something grabbed his attention. He reached in and pulled it out.
It was infantry armor. The pieces didn't feel too heavy, no more than what a normal soldier could carry. After removing the full armor set, he saw several black bodysuits that had some type of mesh design. Taking it out, he held it against his body and saw that, while it didn't fit him perfectly, it was roughly his size.
"Sir!" A voice that did not belong to any of his androids spoke up.
John turned to see a tall male android in a World War 2 aviator uniform standing at attention.
"Our preflight checks are done, and there are no machine air units within sensor range," the aviator android informed him. "We're ready to leave when you are sir!"
"What's your name, soldier?" John asked.
"Captain Thorne, sir!" the android declares proudly. "I will be your pilot for this operation, sir! My co-pilot is in the cockpit, but you don't need to know the name of a boring idiot like him, sir!"
"I… I see. At ease, captain," John ordered, though he did give the captain a side glance. He then turned to look at the others. "Ready to leave?"
The YoRHa androids nodded while the two pods—minus Cameron—bobbed up and down in midair. Seeing that, he turned to the flight captain.
"Then let's depart, captain," John said. " Get us there as quickly as possible, but don't take any unnecessary risks."
"It'll be done, sir. You can count on me!" With that, the aviator android gave a final salute before leaving for the cockpit.
"John," Cameron said as she hovered over armor pieces that John had taken out. "You plan on wearing this infantry suit?"
"Yes?" John asked even as he felt the transport humming to life.
"It is not tailored specifically for you which could potentially interfere with your combat ability," Cameron stated matter-of-factly. Then without warning, several tools extended from her pod frame. "I will modify this suit to fit you perfectly."
Before he could answer her at all, she began to work on the suit. A little laser was used to slice off several bits of the suit, while other tools welded the separate parts together. Once again, Cameron had unilaterally acted as she wanted to without his inquiry. It was worrisome in a way, but now that she was no longer shackled, perhaps this was her true self all along.
The speakers flared to life with a loud whine.
"This is your captain speaking. Our escorts are in the air, and the tower has authorized our launch. We'll be commencing in ten, nine, eight…"
~o~
There was no way to hide such a large battlegroup so no effort was made to do so. On the way from California to Hawaii, across the vast oceans of the Pacific, there were several machine swarms that came to investigate, but with the assistance of 9S's platform, Cameron was able to hack them and disable them before the two squadrons that were escorting his transport plane could do any work. Besides that, for anything that would have gotten through—not that any did—it seemed that the pilots who were flying the fighter jets were actually the most veteran ones under Tanya's command, and that meant a lot from a battlefront that was always under assault.
In that way, it was a smooth ride without much turbulence, both literally and figuratively. During this time, Cameron had finished modifying his infantry armor so he had taken to wearing it to get used to it. Another reason that he kept it on was that he couldn't be sure if they would be shot out of the air again. If that happened, he definitely wouldn't be able to put it on in time.
The YoRHa units and pods were doing repairs on themselves and each other using the materials that the soldiers had loaded into the cargo hold. With this material stockpile available, they were able to replace even the damaged parts that they had to make do with before. To put it simply, they were in better condition now than before. This was especially apparent with A2 who hadn't even gotten a proper repair done in years.
As for John, his own personal maintenance was pretty simple. Basically, he took a shower and got some food to eat. Since there wasn't any proper bathroom except for a toilet, he had to make do with bottled water and some towels for a makeshift cleaning. It was scuffed, to be sure, but he had been trained by his mother for far worse. As for the food, it was mainly dried rations that reminded him of military MREs except tastier.
Looking out the window, John saw daylight. Since the world was tidal-locked, the fact that he was seeing sunshine meant that they were fast approaching their destination.
"The Army of Humanity's network is within range," Pod 042 suddenly announced, breaking the silence. "Attempting to connect."
The role to connect—after some discussion—was solely given to Pod 042. The reason for this was that it was not guaranteed to be safe, especially over this long of a range.
"Connection established. Login authentication complete. Accessing database."
Normally, it wouldn't have been this simple to get into the server, but High Command already knew that he was coming due to communications with Colonel Tanya. In addition to that, the colonel had also given them the encrypted codes to login without triggering the numerous defenses that the system had.
"Displaying map."
From Pod 042's projector, a holographic map of the Pacific Ocean appeared in the air in front of them. At the center of the map were the islands of Hawaii. Their own plane's position was at the far right, at the edge of the map. However, what was more important was the large red dot on the left side of the map that was steadily approaching the islands despite being swarmed by many blue dots.
Or rather, the enemy machine lifeform was moving at this speed since there were so many allied troop deployments hindering its advance.
John was about to say something when a section of those blue dots vanished. Unfortunately, there was only one reason why they would disappear from the map. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow.
What was worse was that after that mass disappearance, the red dot was speeding up.
"We have to intercept that thing before it reaches Hawaii." Even now, more blue dots were being sent out from the islands to reinforce the troops that were battling the red dot. "Can we make it in time?"
"Yes," Cameron answered. "Our current flight speed is sufficient."
"2B, inform the pilots to keep our heading steady. Also, see if they can go faster," he said. "As long as we get within range, Cameron can do her thing."
2B nodded before heading toward the front half of the aircraft. In the meanwhile, Cameron floated over to 9S. The reason for that was simple. If they wanted Cameron to have the farthest range possible, she needed to be connected physically by wire to 9S to utilize his advanced long-range hacking capabilities.
It didn't take long before the piercing sound of the intercom cut through the cargo bay. "We are now on approach to Grun."
John could hear the fear in the pilot's voice. It was time he saw this so-called monstrosity with his own eyes. "Pod 042, do you have a live feed?"
"Connecting to an Army of Humanity vessel's cameras," Pod 042 said. A moment later, the tactical map was pushed to the background as a new screen popped up.
Initially, John just saw a spot of metallic gray, but quickly, the view began to adjust and pan out. That was when he realized that he was actually looking at the machine lifeform itself. It looked like a massive submarine. On its front was a bulbous face with three huge red eyes with tons of smaller eyes dotting its body. On the top of its back half, there was what seemed to be a steam factory with exhaust chimneys belching out flames and smoke. Between the crevices of its hull, bursts of yellow light pulsed out periodically like solar flares, as if it could not contain the energy. Not only that, but across the entirety of its hall, there was an amber sheen that occasionally flickered into sight while streaks of similar colored electricity danced across it.
There were fighter jets and YoRHa flight units swarming around it, but they were like flies in comparison to its behemoth size. The camera panned out enough to show the naval fleets—containing ships that ranged in aesthetics from the World Wars to the modern era—unleashing their payload of shells upon the creature's hull. However, energy beams fired out from the various small red eyes on its hull, blasting lines through the barrage and the swarming jets.
"My god…" John swallowed.
One of the escort ships was overwhelmed by an energy beam, collapsing into itself before exploding. Grun, rushing up, opened its jaws wide before chomping down on a battleship. It exploded inside the machine lifeform's mouth, but that did little to stop the creature from crunching through the remains of the ship thoroughly.
"Operational range approaching," Cameron announced.
"Cameron, 9S, are you ready?" John asked in a grim tone.
"As ready as I'll ever be," 9S muttered.
"Yes," Cameron simply stated as a wire extended from her body. The wire plugged into the port in 9S's neck, eliciting a sharp intake from the YoRHa android. "Connection established."
"Then do it." John stared at the fierce battle occurring on the screen.
"Searching for local machine network."
John watched on as 9S's eyes began to flicker and flash.
"Searching…"
The moments became a minute, the minute became two, and as time continued to elapse, John began to worry.
"Cameron…" John began.
"Network found. Attempting connection," Cameron announced. However, it wasn't long before 9S bent over in his seat, his mouth open in a wordless scream. In response, Cameron broke the attempt and detached her wire from 9S, freeing the YoRHa unit from his ordeal. "Connection cannot be established. Too much electromagnetic interference."
"Can we try again?"
"Any further attempt is not recommended," Cameron said, hovering over to him.
"John…" 9S, recovering somewhat, looked up at John, even while gasping. Even knowing that, for the android, breathing was optional, it didn't diminish John's worries. "I don't believe it's currently in communication with their machine network. Too much interference. If it was, it would have to have been before the attack."
"I have connected to the base's network. The first and last recorded sighting of Grun was from 320 years ago," Pod 153 chimed in. "Upon reaching land, the unit unleashed a devastating electromagnetic wave attack. All Resistance fighters in the vicinity were annihilated."
"Only one incident?" John asked.
"Affirmative."
"That doesn't make sense." A weapon that was this effective in destroying the androids should have been used over and over again. The fact that it hadn't either meant that there was no need to or something went wrong. Otherwise, the androids wouldn't have gained so many footholds on Earth. Why did it only appear now? What changed?
Well, John supposed that he himself was the catalyst for that. He was obviously the main target. Was it because they had dealt with Eve? Maybe, maybe not. He was hoping that they wouldn't catch on so fast, but he probably shouldn't be expecting a machine network to work slower than human beings.
"Once it reaches Hawaii, it'll probably do the same thing as before," John commented after observing the tactical map. "How far was the recorded range of the wave attack?"
"145—"
"Relatively," John quickly said to cut off Pod 153. "Use a comparison to give me a quick idea. Actually, just give me a percentage of landmass it will affect, round to the nearest whole number."
"37% of the Hawaiian islands."
"So it intends to breach the defenses and cause as much damage as it can before landing ground troops," John frowned. "Then we need to get to Hawaii and join in the defen—"
"That is incorrect, John Connor," Pod 042 cut in. "Statement: There are no sightings or indication of any mass conglomeration of machine life form detected within sensor range in the Pacific Ocean."
"Then what's that?" John pointed to the mass of very faint green dots that were all around the map.
Pod 042 was silent for a second before it answered. "Aquatic sea life."
"What?" Some of those dots were bigger than others. "What kind of aquatic sea life?"
"Vertebrata, subphylum, commonly referred to by humans as fishes, genus—"
"Just the most basic categorization, pod," John cut in.
"Fishes, dolphins, sharks, whales, octopus—"
"Thank you," John interrupted as he looked at the map. "Why is the map showing sea life? Wait, actually, why is Grun ignoring them?"
John didn't expect an answer but when there was it came from the most unlikely of places.
"Based on the data presented," Cameron floated over to his side. "It probably doesn't view organic life as a threat."
"It doesn't view…" John's eyes widened as the implication hit him. He turned to 9S. "You said the machine network can't communicate with those pulses active, right?"
"Yes…" 9S answered, though he looked confused. "Grun wouldn't be able to receive anything due to its strong electromagnetic pulse field."
"The army of machines is not outside," John concluded, his mind racing. "It makes no sense that it would just blow up a part of the islands and not follow up on that, but any forces that are too close would be affected by the EMP field. However, that machine is big enough; it can carry that army inside of itself and unload them after wiping out all the androids in the vicinity. That means we have to stop it before it reaches its destination."
"In case you've forgotten, we can't even get close to it," A2 retorted. "Those electromagnetic pulses would fry us before we can even touch it."
"But I can." A crazy gamble unfolded in his mind. "The EMP field won't affect me."
"You can't be sure of that!"
"What else can we do? If that thing reaches Hawaii, that's it. The end," John delivered the fatalistic scenario. "If they scatter the Resistance now, life as we know it will be over. The line must be drawn here!"
"The risk is too great," 2B replied weakly, a frown pulling at her lips.
"This thing is optimized to fight androids, not humans. I can get inside."
"And once you get inside, what can you even do? There's still the machine lifeforms inside to contend with!"
"That's what Cameron is for," John replied. "If I can carry her inside some kind of Faraday cage, I can bring her inside. From there, she can disable the machine's invasion force and stop Grun."
"Suggestion: Return to the Californian base," Pod 042 said.
"Even if we leave, there's still Adam. We don't know how many of his model types he will have with him so pulling off the same trick we did with Eve is not going to cut it." John glanced at each of them with steel in his eyes. "If we do nothing, we lose. I don't know about you, but I'd rather go down fighting."
"You're crazy," A2 muttered. "This is insane. Absolutely insane."
"...look, our choices are either to die here or to die later," John said somberly. "At least here, we'll have a chance of getting out alive. A small chance, but that's better than zero."
"The Council of Humanity won't allow this," 2B muttered weakly.
"I know," he replied. "That's why I'm ordering this as an executive decision."
The room was silent with the YoRHa androids looking at each other as if they were expecting the other to pull up a magical plan that would solve all of their troubles out of thin air. However, no such plan materialized after a couple dozen excruciatingly long seconds.
"So…" John began. "Are we in agreement?"
"Do we have a choice?" A2 asked sarcastically.
"There's always a choice," he responded. "Just not very good ones."
"Well, can this little thing really put a stop to that monster?" A2 asked, pointing her finger at the pod in question.
"Her name is Cameron." John turned his gaze to the pod as well. "Can you?"
John belatedly realized that he was assuming a lot in regard to Cameron and her abilities. While he may have built her, she had already long surpassed her original design.
"From what I have seen of the machine lifeform's infrastructure from Eve's database," Cameron began. "If I cannot halt its operating system, I am still confident in disrupting its processes significantly at the minimum."
"Good enough."
"Good enough?!" A2—as if having had enough keeping it all in—exploded in an outburst. "You're going to risk your life getting shot out of the air by a stray beam just for 'good enough'?!"
"Well, that's where you guys come in," John calmly replied. "Even if it's not targeting me directly, there's still a chance that I'll get hit. To prevent that, I'll need a distraction to divert fire away when I approach with my…" He paused, glancing over to Cameron. "Parachute? Glider?"
"Parachute," Cameron answered. "Even reducing my load, my weight will be too heavy for any glider we can create with our limited resources."
"...and will I actually be able to lug you around?"
"For a short amount of time, your muscles will suffice. I cannot use my anti-gravity features until you enter the machine."
"Great," John said with a sigh. "Just great."
It was going to be hard work, but that wasn't something that was unfamiliar to him. Probably would be like his stint with the special forces, even though it had been a long time since he had done that. Well, muscle soreness—or even torn muscles—was a very small price to pay for survival.
"Okay, the question now is how to distract Grun."
"An electromagnetic generator has been detected and recorded on the network," Pod 153 chimed in. A holographic image of Grun soon appeared in the air. It rotated until it showed its backside where a protruding rod was sticking out of it. "Two assaults on the generator had been repelled by heavy turret defenses."
"I don't need you to destroy it. Just flying around the vicinity should be enough of a distraction," John said. "I can't imagine it ignoring that, especially around something so important."
"So you want us to distract it with our flight units by assaulting its generator while you parachute in," 9S summarized. "Once you find a way in—if you find a way in—then you will let Cameron out of the Faraday cage so that she can attempt to stop the machine lifeform?"
"That's the plan."
"There are so many spots where this can go wrong."
"Correction: An entrance had been spotted." Pod 042 displayed a view of the topside of Grun where its steam chimneys were. In the middle of a cluster, there was a hatch, complete with a door locking wheel. It was odd that it even had a hatch, but it wasn't out of place since those rustic-looking chimneys shouldn't exist on a giant submarine in the first place.
"Then," John said as he eyed the spot. "That's our entry point."
~o~
Authors' Notes:
Icura: Writing was done for a while, but editing was hit by holiday laziness. Laziness galore.
Vahn: What is this? John going into the battlefield? This is madness! Hope you guys enjoy this ? Thanks for reading!
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