Chapter 60: Rebirth of the Network
Through sheer luck, none of the tunnels the group had traveled through earlier had collapsed due to their slightly reckless use of explosives to perform emergency excavation.
That was the only good news, though. The pits filled with broken and non-functional Neo-Machines had been filled with newly restored units, all of them with glowing purple eyes as they crawled out of their own mass graves. They clogged the tunnels, forcing the retreating YoRHa soldiers to destroy them to pass through. Not that their destruction lasted very long, only a few seconds or so before Purple Athena's Network repaired them again.
Still, even with an army of zombie robots pursuing them, the five YoRHa units made it back unharmed and in good time, running into the path back to the Node, only to come to a screeching halt when they reached the tunnel exit leading out to the POD settlement.
"10E… 51B," 3E uttered, aghast as she knelt besides the ravaged bodies of the two gynoids they'd left behind to guard the rear.
The heavy weapon they'd been stationed at was ruined, broken apart by lasers, judging from the damage done to it. Just as 10E and 51B's own bodies had been.
The walls and floor were littered with scorch marks from energy weapons, but also shredded by deep wounds left behind by blades and ordinary bullets. The two had put up a tremendous fight, but had eventually been overwhelmed. And despite no traces of enemy machine parts lying about, there was no doubt many Neo-Machines had fallen to the duo from all the spent ammunition casing littering their feet.
"They fought well," A2 said solemnly.
'And died well,' went unsaid, but it was a sentiment they all echoed in their minds.
Hearing that, 3E straightened back up, and though none of them could see her eyes through the black, standard issue YoRHa blindfold-visor, but they all knew her gaze had turned steely.
"We have to keep moving," she declared. "The Node needs protecting."
Everyone nodded, and they moved on, hurrying through into the POD settlement. What greeted them was a scene of horror.
The Node was filled with hundreds of metallic insects, each one about the same size as a POD. Appearance wise, they looked like a horrific fusion of moths and scorpions. They possessed moth-like 'wings' that were actually a pair of twin-linked hover units that allowed it to stay aloft, while also having a short scorpion-like tail that pointed down instead of up. Said tail had a maso cannon built into it that was able to fire bursts of purple tinged maso bullets as well as some more powerful spells, like the PODs' laser beams or shields.
Explosions erupted throughout the cavern while thick smoke choked the air. PODs fought back against the Neo-Machine scorpion-moths. The two sides seemed to be even in strength, though that could change in a heartbeat as more Neo-Machines poured in from other tunnels.
Worse was that every so often, an enemy unit would be struck down, only for purple maso to crackle across it and, in an instant, repair it, allowing it to return to the fight. Not every Neo-Machine had this blessing, but enough did that their numbers never decreased enough to truly matter.
"Flying units! Of course!" 9S uttered, realizing the genius of Purple Athena's plan with a grimace. "The seismic sensors would only detect tremors, such as those of footsteps, and up till now, all of the Neo-Machine deployed into the tunnels were ground-bound infantry!"
"Damn it! A small enough unit with an anti-grav repulsion system would be able to travel the tunnels without being detected!" A2 exclaimed.
"The drill-snake was a fake out!" 3E snarled, before turning to her companions. "Everyone, move out! Protect the Node!"
The team exploded into action, darting into the town to aide the PODs defend their home.
The first group they encountered was a dozen PODs desperately trying to hold off the enemies. They fired off numerous lasers, but the scorpion-moths were just as numerous and relentless.
"Protect the PODs!" 3E ordered as she leapt into the fray.
The PODs whirled and danced, emoting joy as the YoRHa units tore into the Neo-Machines. Unfortunately, they were running into the exact same problem as the PODs.
"There's no end to them!" 12E exclaimed in exasperation as one of the Neo-Machine's she'd bisected immediately recovered, purple lightning stitching its 'wounds' back together in mere moments.
"Why do some stay dead but others don't?!" 30B wondered, angrily stomping on a Neo-Machine. It simply continued to reform, though, no matter how many times she crushed it under her stiletto heels.
"We shall help!" one of the PODs intoned. "Buy us time!"
"You have ten seconds!" A2 informed them.
"Yes, my Queen!" a different POD cheered. "Activating Overcharge Beam!"
All twelve PODs linked up their spell programs, creating a massive, oversized laser beam magic circle that they aimed at the swarm of insect-like enemies.
Five seconds passed… then ten… and when it finally finished charging, the huge amount of maso being gathered for the spell caused the air to ripple and distort around the PODs.
"OH, SHIT!" 9S exclaimed as when fired, sending a wave of pure destruction through the air. It utterly vaporized the Neo-Machines, destroying them until the only pieces left were too small and scattered to repair themselves.
"Huh, didn't know PODs could do that," A2 muttered, impressed.
"They can't," 30B said, eventually picking her jaw off the floor.
"Oh. Must be a new trick," the Assault model gynoid said with a shrug.
"That's cool and all, but why did they call you 'queen?'" 12E asked, glancing at A2.
"No!" the A-type spluttered. "Your ears must have been malfunction!"
One of the PODs floated over to them at that.
"Queen A2, I have scanned Unit 12E, and I have detected no issues with her auditory functions," the POD stated, causing A2 to groan.
"Just… just go and protect the Node," she muttered, and they all bobbed in the air before zooming off.
"We need to regroup with the androids we came here with," 3E decided after a brief moment of awkward silence. "Even though the broadcasting relay is likely not going to be useful at this point, the Node's data-banks and information must be recovered. Purple Athena cannot be allowed to get her hands on the Logic Virus data."
"Agreed," A2 said.
"We should also seek out Emil and 42," 9S suggested. "They… they might be able to help."
"We'll split up, then," 3E declared. "9S, A2, you two need to head to where they might be. Inform them of our decision."
"Are we truly going to evacuate the Node?" A2 inquired, and 3E nodded sharply.
"Yes. The servers are the top priority, however."
"Right," A2 confirmed, nodding back at the Executioner.
There was nothing more to be said, and the group broke into two smaller parties, 9S and A2 heading for the center of the Node while the others ran towards the place where the other YoRHa units had been building relay device and guarding the servers.
On their way there, dozens of dangerous Neo-Machines swarmed them, trying to keep them away, but they managed to escape, destroying them and then retreating while they regenerated.
A minute later, 9S and A2 could see the center of the Node just up ahead. However, before they could go any further, a solitary scorpion-moth Neo-Machine fluttered past, trying to find something to attack. Before it noticed them, A2 ran towards it, ready to attack.
"Wait, A2!" 9S abruptly called out. "Don't destroy it!"
"The hell do you mean by that?!" she demanded. Still, she complied, and simply pierced the scorpion-moth through one of its wings, pinning it to the ground.
"I want to examine it, and I won't get a better chance than this," 9S said, getting on his hands and knees to examine the newest tool of Purple Athena.
"Ugh, fine, but hurry up!" A2 grumbled, planting one foot onto the Neo-Machine to keep it pinned in place, while her other foot stomped onto its tail-cannon, ensuring it couldn't shoot at the S-type while he was investigating.
"Hmmm… fascinating!" 9S muttered to himself as he scanned the moth-shaped Neo-Machine. "Simple design, but very effective. Reminds me of experimental drones humanity once used…"
"Quit geeking out and find this damn thing's weakness," A2 growled.
"Just give me a moment," 9S shot back. A minute later, he stood up, and raised his sword above the squirming scorpion-moth.
"Okay! A2, I need you to stab your blade into this spot right here," the Scanner informed her, making an X-shaped scratch into the metal on its back. "Meanwhile, I will have to stab it in the head at the exact same time. Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Great! On three… One… two… THREE!" 9S uttered, plunging Cruel Oath into the head of the Neo-Machine while A2 stabbed at its torso with Faith.
The two blades pierced the body and head simultaneously, and there was a loud, static-filled shriek from the scorpion-moth before the entire frame cracked apart and shattered.
"It worked," 9S breathed out, surprised he'd even managed to do it.
"How the hell did you do that?" A2 asked, kicking the hunk of junk.
"These Neo-Machines possess a secondary core that generates maso energy to fuel it. Not unlike the Black Boxes us androids use. I figured without any maso, it couldn't repair itself," 9S explained. "Same with the head. I destroyed it so the connection device to the Network couldn't send a warning out to other Neo-Machines nearby."
"I see… now that you mention it, the Neo-Machines that didn't repair themselves were all either completely destroyed, had damaged chests, or were missing heads," A2 mused. "Though the latter were dragged off to be repaired by other, functional Neo-Machines."
"We need to pass this information on," 9S said grimly.
"Obviously," A2 scoffed. "How, though? There's a jammer blocking communications."
"We escape," 9S replied after looking around. "The Node… the Node is done for."
A2 sighed, but didn't disagree with that assessment. "Let's find POD 42 or Emil, first," she suggested.
The two then shot off through the streets towards the 'throne room' of the settlement. That was where some of the fiercest fighting was occurring, and it was the likeliest place to locate one of the two individuals they were searching for.
"DIE!" Emil shouted, unleashing a barrage of energy beams that cleaved Neo-Machines apart, vaporizing huge chunks of them. Yet far too many enemies managed to recover.
Stepping in to help, the pair of YoRHa units darted in, chopping off heads to prevent their auto-repair functions. In moments the Neo-Machines were stopped, allowing the defending PODs to catch their breathes. Metaphorically, at least.
"9S! A2! You're both okay!" Emil exclaimed joyfully as he saw them.
"No puny Machines could stop me," A2 snorted.
"Emil, glad to see you're fine as well. Do you know what's happening with the Neo-Machines?" 9S asked urgently. and the ancient weapon of humanity nodded grimly.
"Hundreds of them attacked us shortly after you left! They set up jammers in several areas and managed to attack the servers where the remnants of the original Machine Network code was stored, overwhelming the YoRHa units guarding them. They then used it to repair Purple Athena's jury-rigged system. The Neo-Machines are all connected to Purple Athena in real-time now!" he revealed. "She managed to finish creating and upgrading her Network with all the data she stole!"
"Damn it!" 9S swore.
"And how does that explain what's happening?!" A2 demanded.
"Purple Athena is transferring maso through the Network to every unit under its aegis! That means that, no matter how many times you break them, the Neo-Machines can just be sent a repair spell that fixes them right up!" Emil explained.
"She can't do that infinitely, right?" 9S asked nervously, while trying to not think of all the advantages this sort of technology could provide. Sending spells or raw maso through the internet or radio could revolutionize how YoRHa and humanity did things in the future!
'But, for now, it's being used to endlessly resurrect every foe we put down,' he thought grimly. 'We have to find a way to stop whatever is going on!'
"I don't know! The amount of maso a person can use is based on how much maso they possess within their body, and how much they can channel through said body. But this… this is beyond anything I've ever seen or heard of!" Emil replied.
"She might be using maso generators to produce the necessary amount of energy, like what YoRHa uses," 9S suggested.
"Then that means she won't run out of juice any time soon," A2 said.
"But can we afford to just beat up every enemy until that happens?" 9S wondered worriedly.
"Even if she can only do it to a small number of her units at a time, it's still a game changer," Emil warned. "Especially since we have no way to negate it, save for utterly destroying the target so there is nothing to recover!"
"Then do you have any ideas on how we could prevent the healing itself from happening in the first place?" 9S inquired hopefully.
"It might be possible to stop the Neo-Machines from repairing if we interfere with the maso being used itself," Emil mused. "Or perhaps we create a counter-spell or hacking program to negate the healing effect? Though, there is one way we might be able to destroy a unit permanently."
"And how is that?" A2 demanded urgently.
"Destroy the connection between the Neo-Machine and the Network," Emil said firmly. "That's how Purple Athena is repairing them, after all."
"I might be able to help out a bit more on that front. According to the intel we've recovered, the Neo-Machines possess a Network adapter within their cranial region," 9S said as he pulled up some schematics data on their enemy. "Their maso-generating cores are located in their chest, where a human's heart is, but their central processor and the device that lets them access the Network lies within their heads."
"So, what you're saying is we've got robot-zombies on our hands, and we have to aim for the head and destroy the brain?" Emil asked.
"Well, no… but, technically, yes," 9S replied.
"Great! We know how to defeat them, now," A2 said, cracking her knuckles menacingly. "Time to get out there and fuck shit up."
"Agreed, we have to retreat and find a way past the jamming field," 9S said.
"But what about the Node?" Emil asked.
"We can't leave the PODs here for Purple Athena to abuse," 9S sighed. "And the Anti-Logic Virus codes are all stored down here as well. Without them, Purple Athena can attack our minds! We have to destroy it. All of it."
Emil winced, but nodded. "I understand," he muttered. He didn't like it, but in order to deny the enemy access to vital intel, it had to be done.
9S then turned to A2. "It's all up to you," he declared.
"The hell you talking about?" she demanded.
"You're the fastest and strongest out of all of us. You're the only one who could fight her way past the Neo-Machines and make her way to the surface," 9S informed her. "You have to get out of here and tell White what's going on! They need to be warned!"
"Damn it!" A2 growled angrily. But she couldn't deny his words. He was right. She was the only person who could escape the trap Purple Athena had sprung on them. And YoRHa had to learn about this new development!
"And what about the rest of you?" A2 asked.
"I'll stay here with Emil and oversee the destruction of the Node," 9S replied. "We'll evacuate once that is done."
"Fine," she spat out. "Don't you dare die!"
"Heh, no way that's going to happen anytime soon," 9S assured her.
She nodded sharply, then took off at a sprint, running through the streets towards one of the tunnels to get back to the surface.
9S didn't bother to watch her leave, fully trusting her to be able to accomplish her mission. Instead, he turned to Emil.
"Where's POD 42?" he asked, and the skeleton boy somberly pointed behind him. 9S turned, and saw the melted remains of the pink plastic castle POD 42 had claimed as his palace.
"No… 42 is… dead?" 9S gasped, voice hitching in his throat.
"He went down fighting," Emil said softly. "When the signal jamming started, he immediately started to prepare the defenses, setting us on high alert. It was probably the only reason we were able to react and retaliate in time. But the Neo-Machines… they went after him first. And he willingly drew the enemy's attention to try and save as much of the Node as possible."
"I can't believe it," the Scanner whispered to himself. "2B is… she and A2 are going to be devastated."
"I know," Emil muttered in agreement. "But we can't let his death be in vain. We must fight back and extract and salvage what we can!"
"Right… right!" 9S nodded, taking a deep breath. "We can mourn later. Right now, we have to survive this mess."
Emil nodded, and together, the two made their way to the Node's server farm, it's entrance located nearby.
Said entrance was a blast door built like a hatch into the floor of the cavern near where POD 42 had once overseen the Node. It had been broken apart, revealing a long, dark tunnel that led to a chilly, dimly lit vault.
Enormous black monoliths covered in a rainbow's worth of blinking lights filled the cavernous vault. Cool mist coiled around the stacks, and the hum of electricity filled the air.
It was not all in one piece, unfortunately. Several servers had been damaged by the brutal and careless manner the Neo-Machines had entered, the data-banks closest to the tunnel having been riddled with lasers and shrapnel. Other servers had been gutted and treated harshly in order for the data within to be retrieved. And far too many YoRHa units lay dead amongst the stacks.
Plenty of servers were still left intact, but that just made it worse, in 9S's opinion. If the server farm had suffered more damage, then it'd have been easier to extract the vital information because there would have been much less to grab.
But there were too many data-banks, and that meant the S-type had to pick and choose what data he could download in order to keep it safe.
"42 initiated a compression of all the data files when the attack began," Emil revealed as he inspected a server. "They should be easier to transfer, although decrypting them may be more difficult."
"At least we'll have it in our possession," 9S replied. "That's the important bit."
"Agreed. So, let's see…" Emil began to mutter to himself as he looked over the directory for the files, selecting the most important data and downloading it into a spare core. 9S did the same, transferring what he could to his personal storage units.
The wasn't much time to do so however, thanks to the legions of scorpion-moths bearing down on them.
"I have the counter-data for the Logic Virus!" Emil suddenly exclaimed, and 9S felt a wave of relief wash over him. The Neo-Machines had not managed to destroy that, at least. Even if everything else in the Node was lost, as long as they had that, YoRHa had a chance against Purple Athena.
"Is that everything?" 9S asked as he received a notice that he'd reached his limit for data storage already.
"As much as possible, yeah," Emil confirmed.
"Then let's get out of here!"
"Wait one moment," Emil pleaded, and 9S shifted from foot to foot anxiously, watching and waiting as the ancient weapon cast spell after spell upon the server vault.
"Okay. Now we can go," he confirmed, and they rushed out.
Behind them, there was a rumble of earth, and without warning the ceiling collapsed, caving in the vault and burying the servers.
9S stared at Emil, and he simply stared back blankly. "It had to be done," he said, and after a moment 9S nodded grimly.
"Yes. Better to destroy it than let Purple Athena have it," 9S agreed. He'd known it might have to happen, but the deliberate destruction of all that knowledge…!
It hurt, and the android had to pretend it didn't as they rushed out of the tunnel and back into the Node.
The duo found 3E and the other survivors of the YoRHa team already gathered near the hatch, surrounded by a cloud of PODs. Hundreds of the little robots hovered protectively around them, while also beeping mournfully at the pink slag that had once been their king's castle.
"We need to leave," 3E stated. "Did you get what you needed?"
"Yes," 9S nodded. "I sent A2 ahead to try and get word back to the Bunker."
"Good thinking," the E-type praised. "Alright, let's go! To the surface!"
Near the exit out of the Node's tunnel network that led into the canyon, A2 paced back and forth nervously, glancing into the dark depths every so often. She had only just recently gotten out, and tried to send a message to White as soon as she had.
The enemy's signal jammers had extended far beyond the canyon, however, and she'd been forced to scale the cliffs to reach the top of the divide before she was able to alert YoRHa.
Once she had, however, A2 had leapt right back down, hacking apart every Neo-Machine that approached.
For the moment, there was a lull in the battle, as the Neo-Machines gathered their forces for a second assault on the tunnel entrance.
"You don't give up, do you?" she grumbled, glaring up at the dozens of Neo-Machines assembling around the edge of the canyon, peering down at her with glowing purple eyes.
"DIE! DIE! EVERYONE MUST DIE!" the Neo-Machines chanted back. "FOR THE GLORY OF THE GODDESS!"
A2 just spat on the ground in challenge, and the enemies screeched before charging down at her. The leapt, tumbled, and floated down into the canyon, landing amidst the broken remains of their allies, but showed not an ounce of hesitation to charge at her.
With a grunt, A2 threw herself into the fray. The Neo-Machines were frustrating to fight, as while they hadn't received any combat upgrades, their ability to recover from practically any wound forced the A-type to focus on head shots and impaling their chests. Which wasn't exactly easy in a swirling melee.
Often, she was forced to hack apart an enemy simply to give herself some space, and while it regenerated, turn her attention to something else.
But little by little she began to whittle down their numbers.
"Come on, is that all you've got, little shits?!" A2 snarled, wiping a bit of coolant-blood away from a cut over her right eye. A centaur Neo-Machine screamed out some nonsense about honoring their 'goddess' before charging her.
A2 jinked to the side while Faith lashed out in response, hacking its front legs off and causing it to stumble and fall. She then decapitated it as it landed, the centaur going still as it was unable to auto-repair without a head.
"Who's next?!" she snarled, glaring around.
In response, a large Neo-Machine shaped like a bipedal lizard stepped forward, letting out a shrill, static laced scream in challenge.
"Ha! You look like a challenge!" A2 sneered. "Bring it on!"
The Raptor charged, trying to stomp A2 into the dirt, but she flickered away, evading it with ease. As she ran, its mouth opened up, and a beam of maso was fired off, forcing A2 to dodge once more. The attack melted a hole into the canyon wall, and A2 hissed in frustration.
The Raptor then began to rapid-fire a number of small, dangerously fast bolts of searing hot maso that fell like rain onto the area.
A2 grunted as she tanked a few of the smaller energy pellets, her outfit and snyth-skin sizzling a bit as the corrosive maso burned her.
Yet as she prepared to leap up and deliver an attack to the Raptor's head, her feet slipped as the ground beneath her broke apart, causing her to lose her footing.
Stumbling, A2 glanced down and hissed in annoyance as she saw that the floor of the canyon had been turned to glass by the heat of the Raptor's scatterbeam attack, and was now too brittle to properly use.
A second barrage of lasers further vitrified the ground, and A2 was momentarily stuck as it turned gooey and molten from the Raptor's attack.
"Clever bitch," she hissed at the Neo-Machine shaped like an ancient beast from Earth's distant past reared its head back, the glow of yet another ravening beam of death burning in the back of its throat.
Yet before A2 could to react, a beam lanced out from the darkness of the tunnel, piercing the chest of the charging Raptor and causing its maso core to explode violently.
"Huh. Took your sweet time to get here," she said, eyeing the hovering figure that emerged from behind her.
"Sorry," Emil apologized. "There were more Neo-Machines clogging the tunnels than expected."
"Yeah, didn't have time to destroy them all, so I just ran past most of 'em," A2 replied as she yanked her feet out of the cooling ground. "The others coming?"
"Yes," the ancient weapon replied, before raising his hands and unleashing a hail of lasers that sliced and diced the surrounding Neo-Machines.
"Not bad," A2 whistled in appreciation. Soon, the rest of the androids and PODs emerged, 9S leading them. He waved at her, and she gave a curt nod back.
However, as her eyes darted over the PODs, she failed to spot POD 42 and his silly fake crown amongst the group.
"Where's 42?" she asked, "9S, I don't see POD 42? Is he guarding the rear?"
"A2… he…" 9S trailed off, and looked off to the side, unable to finish.
"9S?" A2 demanded, feeling a jolt of unease run through her. "What happened?"
Before he could say anything, one of the PODs broke ranks, and floated over to A2. It was POD 153, and in her hands was a charred little crown.
With trembling hands, A2 took the crown from 153, and stared at it. As she did so, she almost missed the whirring sound of an airbus approaching. The large aerial transport was currently hovering above the canyon with its hatch open, waiting for them to board.
"A2, we have to go," Emil said gently, shaking her shoulder.
She angrily shook him off, before vigorously wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. A2 refused to allow anyone to see her cry.
After solemnly climbing up the sides of the canyon and boarding the YoRHa transport, A2 glared at the ruined forms of the Neo-Machines littering the ground, making a vow to take down Purple Athena no matter what it took.
'I will not lose anyone else!' she declared in the privacy of her mind. 'Never again!'
Purple Athena had just made a grave mistake. She'd pissed off A2. Now, she was about to find out how much chaos the person who'd taken down her predecessors could cause when on the warpath.
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Author's Note
Hello, everyone! Please enjoy a chapter in celebration of the Leap Year!
Also, as always, don't forget to check out Akashicrecordstrue over on my Patty-ron for early chapters and to support the stories!