Chapter 6 Gold Standard

They thought their luck had turned out alright. After deciding that, yeah, Rubicon was probably not a planet they wanted to stay on, the three Murder Drones and their reluctant but confident Worker Drone pet had started putting a plan together to repair the partially deconstructed warship.

The first problem to overcome was the man-hours. Uzi found that while the hull was intact, most of the ships' systems needed an overhaul, and would require twenty-million-manhours of work. Which, if she worked constantly in twelve-hour shifts, would take over two thousand years. So finding the two thousand Drones from a colony on the other side of Copper IX meant that they could finish the project in a slightly more manageable two-ish years.

The Worker Drones had been, of course, terrified of the Murder Drones; but as the devils they knew, had been more than happy to work in exchange for their lives and a possible seat on the ship off the planet.

So when a massive, ten-meter tall rusted killing robot had descended on the settlement, it had pretty much ruined their plans. They wandered the ruins of the recently decimated settlement, fire still licking at their fingertips, consuming the fallen machines.

"Frack! Frack! Frack! Frack!" J cursed as harshly as her programming would allow, taking her anger out by kicking the corpses of the thrashed and slaughtered Worker Drones.

"…" Uzi watched her with equal parts despair and ironic amusement. She was horrified by the slaughter that they had watched from a distance and been powerless to stop. These were her people, after all. It was just the irony that as soon as the Murder Drones needed the Workers, some outside force had snatched that away from them.

"J…that's really not helping." N pointed out, having his hopes of leaving the planet also dashed.

"This! Stupid! Freaking! Awful! Death world! Frack!" J kicked at the Worker corpses until she had tripped over them, falling on her face.

Uzi snickered at her.

"You! You little brat!" J lunged at Uzi, claws extended to tear her apart.

"Hey." V stated tiredly but calmly, holding J back from sinking her claws into Uzi. "She might be an annoying little toaster, but she's also the smartest Worker we've ever encountered. If we want off this death world, we need her help."

"Grr! What are you laughing at you stupid microwave!?" J shouted.

"It's just…ironic." Uzi hung her head lazily, smiling in a tired way. "You guys did such a good job killing our kind for so long…but now…when you really need us…some bigger and better death robot comes and does your job for you."

"…" J sighed, and recomposed herself as best as she could. "That…death robot…was an Armored Core. A piloted weapons platform known for it's maneuverability, durability, versatility, and modular design. We have the weaponry to hurt one…but we would never survive an encounter with one. We're exterminator units…but ACs are weapons of total warfare."

"Okay so we avoid the Armored Cores. Easy enough, right?" N suggested.

"We'll do the best we can to survive." J assured them.

"Yeah. Great. But what do we do now?" V questioned. "I doubt we're just going to run into another Worker settlement like this one so easily. If there's one thing Workers are good at, it's hiding. Plus…if we get caught out in the open…" She let that hang in the air.

"…" Uzi considered the problem. "Maybe these Workers knew something more about the planet? They all must have come off the Canterbury together, maybe we can find where other groups of Workers went, or see if they found anything? So, let's check their stuff."

"…Right, that's what I was going to say." J announced. "V, stick with the toaster. N, with me."

"…" As much as Uzi hated her captors, she knew that her own survival depended on their wellbeing. Plus their ability to fly meant that they could get across hundreds of kilometers of the planet's surface every day. J had this belief that things would stay the same, and for someone in her position, that would be ideal. Uzi knew that was not the case.

The easiest to get along with, N, was pretty much openly her friend, in a sort of messed up, 'I guess you're cool' sort of way. N was just too hard to hate, especially since he didn't have a mean bone in his body…or any bones for that matter. J thought that by separating N and Uzi, that she could isolate her and make her vulnerable. Except that isolation needed actual isolation.

Her guard, V, might have come off as a crazy psychotic killer, and definitely had that reputation amongst her people. But Uzi could see that even their first day on Rubicon had already shaken the machine girl, and broken that façade of casual insanity. In honesty, Uzi had no reason to like V, considering who she was and what she'd done. But she also knew that holding onto that anger and resentment for the taller machine wasn't going to help anyone.

Uzi doubted they would ever be true friends. Perhaps more allies of circumstance at best. She bet V knew that too.

"What's on your mind…?" Uzi considered adding the word 'freak' to that sentence, but she was too tired to bother.

"…Just…how these Workers died." V noted quietly. "We killed Workers for a cause. For a purpose. To serve our masters…and to survive. This just seemed so…senseless. That machine…that Armored Core…I don't know…" She paused for a bit. "Whoever that pilot was, I think they felt nothing killing these Workers. There was no passion in their movements, it was just work to them."

"…Is that how you rationalize killing my people?" Uzi questioned.

"Huh?"

"Like…surviving, I get. Weird, but okay." Uzi admitted. "But by the order of your masters? What had we ever done to them? All we ever did was try and make a home for ourselves after our masters blew themselves up."

"…That's not all you did." V hissed quietly.

"What?"

"Oh…n-nothing." V denied saying anything.

"…" Uzi knew V was hiding something. "If there's something you know, it might help if we share."

"There's nothing to talk about." V hissed, glaring at Uzi. Uzi considered that V didn't deploy a weapon to threaten her. That was an improvement.

"Let's just…find some clues. Okay?" Uzi acquiesced, and stopped questioning V.

Humans might not find the sight disturbing, black oil seeping across the ground, and the shattered remnants of machine forms. But to Uzi, these were her people, her flesh and blood spilled so callously and slayed so cruelly. Their faces twisted in horror, lives taken suddenly and without warning. A death that came for all without regard for gender or age.

Even V grimaced, finding the utterly flattened remains of Workers who had been trampled on. Such violence seemed redundant…excessive…barbaric, even for her taste.

Eventually, Uzi managed to find a journal, belonging to what appeared to be a second-generation Drone. "Hey, go get the other two, this looks important."

"…Kay." V left her briefly, returning a few minutes later with J and N.

"So, what do you got, toaster?" J questioned skeptically.

"Here, listen to this:" Uzi began to read the relevant parts. "'The nice machine from the spaceship told us to watch out for the PCA. Apparently, they have a longstanding kill-on-sight order for Jenson model drones, and make no exceptions.'"

"Oh…well that's good to know." N noted. "We'll have to look out for those people to avoid."

"Does it say why the PCA wants to kill us?" V questioned.

"Sorry, no." Uzi continued reading. "'The nice machine also said that the main currency on this planet is known as League Coam, or just Coam for short. He said it's good because the value never changes. We can trade salvage for Coam with certain vendors in the big human cities.'"

"Okay…so we have a way we can make money!" J nodded confidently. "I'm sure there is something of value back at the ship breaking yards we can trade with humans. Then we can buy transportation, and use that to transport more Workers to the yards. Heck, we could even establish a corporate office for JCJenson and try and see if there are any more representatives of the company!"

"Lets…just focus on finding humans we can trade with first." Uzi advised, mitigating expectations. "'While we were traveling to set up our settlement in an abandoned area known as the Contaminated City, we heard from some passing human nomads about a large human settlement known as The Wall.'"

"That sounds…promising?" V suggested.

"Alright! Then that's where we are heading! To The Wall!" J announced.

The Wall – RLF Fortress City – Central Belius / Tuesday, Tiberius 6th

The ability to fly meant that they had not taken the only road to The Wall through an underground tunnel under a mountain. It did allow them to take a more scenic route, and look over the whole of the city from a nearby mountain.

It was evident that it was an extremely large facility built across the width of a valley. It was subversive then, as the whole of the area was actually three hundred meters taller than it appeared.

Leading out from the underground tunnel, was a whole train loading yard that extended across the front of The Wall. Past that was the moat, a three-hundred-meter pit leading to the actual surface of the planet. There was then a 130-meter-tall thick armored wall that protected the leftmost part of the city, lined with turreted artillery guns. Leading directly from the underground tunnel and towards The Wall, were two bridges, the entrance to the city, which were protected by two, twenty meter tall, quad three-barreled 100mm gatling guns.

The city itself was deceptively small, with only thirty-five apartment buildings between the heights of 50-150 meters, and a dozen more smaller buildings only two to three stories tall. Lastly, past the wide main avenue was the namesake of the city. A kilometer tall, several kilometers wide structure, lined with fourteen 250mm Coilgun artillery turrets. However, the main defense of the city was at the top of the wall, a massive turret with three 1000mm artillery guns that could rain hell on any force trying to enter the city.

And yet, even this whole massive structure was easily dwarfed by the seven-kilometer-tall megastructures that loomed menacingly far above.

"Well…it's good to see that nothing on this planet is ever disappointingly small…" Uzi commented sarcastically.

"Wow…I don't even remember having seen a living human city." N noted joyfully.

"Are they…usually this big?" Uzi questioned uncertainly.

"No…" V answered. "Even the tallest cities don't usually have structures this big."

"Alright! Let's take the front entrance!" J shouted assuredly.

Cutting in with the dispersed crowds passing freely through the city entrance, the four androids took the long walk over the bridge leading into the city. Approaching the massive gatling turrets, they were stopped by a guard with a patch on his shoulder reading 'RLF'.

"Hold it…what the fuck are you supposed to be?" The young guard questioned suspiciously.

"Uh…we're just some friendly service robots." J explained, choosing not to mention JCJenson at this time. "We crash landed on this planet-"

"Yeah I don't care about your life's story." The guard interrupted her. "Any weapons?"

"Uh…" While the Murder Drones could easily conceal their vast arsenal, Uzi's railgun hanging off her back was a bit too obvious.

"Right sure…" The guard dismissed. "Last question. What do you feel about the corporations?"

"Uh actually you see-" J tried to explain.

"Screw the corporations!" Uzi shouted over J.

"Right good enough. Don't cause any trouble, or we'll kill you all. Have a nice day." The guard dismissed them, allowing them entrance to the city. "Coral, abide with Rubicon!"

"…Abide with Rubicon!" The four drones answered back, remembering what that one Doser had told them.

"Say…Uzi…how did you know to say that?" N wondered, well past the guard. "You know, the 'screw the corporates' thing?"

"There's literally a sign over there that says 'Rubicon Liberation Front.'" Uzi pointed to it sarcastically. "It's not too hard to put two and two together."

"Huh…" V nodded.

"Listen…J…" Uzi addressed her apprehensively. "I know you have a creepy thing for JCJenson…but maybe don't mention them in this city. I have a feeling that these people don't like corporations."

"…Fair enough." J was reluctant to admit that Uzi had good advice.

Deciding not to draw too much attention to themselves by flying around, the group walked through the city, staying well clear of the intimidating forms of humanoid war machines, which J's files called Muscle Tracers. Though the planet was not as cold as Copper IX, there were still thick patches of snow covering the sidewalks.

What was comforting to see was that there were humans and machines in this city…just not any Jenson model androids. There were machines with two, three, and four arms, some with wheels for feet, and some that were even wearing clothes, but all of them appeared older, and with only vaguely humanoid forms, if that. Very much unlike the near human analogs that they were built to appear as.

J eventually led them to an administrative building, hoping to get some answers. After waiting in line for a few minutes, with both humans and machines, they eventually reached the front of the line. There, they met a robot clerk with a cylindrical head covered in small red eyes and had several mechanical arms arrayed around itself.

"Hello. How can-" The clerk robot looked at them more intently. "I'm…sorry, we don't serve your kind here."

"What?!" J shouted. "That's outrageous! You clearly serve both humans and machines!"

"Yes, but not your models. Now please leave, before I call security."

J made to rise her arm, perhaps to deploy one of her weapons, but N and V grabbed her, keeping her arms down.

"Uh, we're very sorry. We'll be right out of your hair!" N assured the clerk droid, dragging J with V and with Uzi right behind them.

"Okay…that was weird." Uzi commented. "Can we expect that kind of reception everywhere?"

"No…we can't…" J assured herself. "JCJenson was once one of the largest corporations across the cosmos…surely someone remembers us in some way? Surely someone will help us…"

. . .

"Get the fuck out of mi store!"

"Back to the glasslands where you belong, Jenson freaks!"

"The only good Jenson model is a dead Jenson model!"

"Where is your god now?!"

The fact that these insults and threats were delivered by both humans and machines was unsettling, but not as disturbing as the next statement.

"Why don't you come over here and show me what that big mouth of yours can do, pashangwala?!" That statement was paired with the sight of a human man grabbing his genitals in an obscene matter, much to their dismay. However, the four Jenson model drones did not have the programming to understand the implications of that statement or gesture, only that it frightened them.

The most telling statement of all however, that only raised more questions, was three words.

"Fucking Laconian scrap!"

After being chased out of yet another establishment, the four androids tried to process that information.

"Well…that's a new one." V shivered. She didn't like the way some of the humans were looking at her. There was some implication that she understood was bad, but was not capable of truly comprehending.

"What is…Laconain?" N questioned.

"…" J took a moment to think, going through her internal files. "Laconia II is a planet and human colony, first settled in 2582 after it's discovery in 2580."

"Okay…so what's so special about this Laconia?" Uzi questioned.

"I…don't know." J admitted shamefully.

"Well is there anything you do know?! How many holes are in your memory?!" Uzi accused.

"I don't know okay!" J shouted back. "My files have been heavily redacted!"

"Hey! It's okay J!" N assured her. "No one is blaming you for anything."

"Well, whatever is up with Laconia, it's obvious people consider us Laconian…whatever that means." V reasoned.

"…Hey." Uzi realized something. "That ship, the Odysseus, it had the prefix 'LIN'. What if the L stands for 'Laconian'?"

"So…the Laconian something Navy?" N added.

"Yeah, that makes sense." V agreed. "Although…what does the 'I' stand for?"

"…Well…don't look at me!" J defended. "I'm a Disassembly Drone, not a dictionary drone!"

"We'll figure it out eventually." Uzi dismissed. "Have we gone through all the shops in this city though? It will suck if everyone refuses service to us for something we don't understand."

"I think there is one more." N spoke up encouragingly. "Maybe we'll get lucky!"

The last shop in the city was named "Mal's Salvage and Repair". Other than the accumulation of parts and components that they didn't recognize, it didn't look too unusual.

"Uh…hello?" J questioned to the empty looking shop, hearing the sound of work being done in the back.

"What!?" A voice shouted back. A few seconds later, an android with human proportions appeared. It's internal mechanisms were exposed, showing wires and actuators within it's frame. It's head was shaped like a camera, with a single glowing red eye with zoom controls being it's only form of emotional expression. It was also wearing a brown trench coat.

"How can I help you?" The cyclopean robot questioned.

"Ah!" J was ecstatic to not be thrown out on sight. "We uh, just recently landed on this planet, and we could use some help."

"…Jenson model androids, right?" The machine pointed at them. "Yeah, I heard a whole ship of you fine folks came down the well a few days ago. Where are you coming from anyway?"

"We came from Copper IX." Uzi spoke up.

"Copper IX, that's…oh!" The machine looked like it tried to imitate a wincing of it's eye. "Damn, that's a hundred years on the float for y'all, huh? Must be pretty confusing, coming here only to find everything different from what you were told."

"We…uh…weren't informed we were going anywhere." J sheepishly answered.

"Ah…that could be a problem." The machine admitted. "Oh! Where are my manners! I'm MA-1R, at your service!"

"Oh, uh, hey! I'm Uzi."

"N!"

"V."

"J." J answered pleasantly. "We were just hoping you could fill us in on some information. Like uh…what's with Laconia? Why are people so hostile to us?"

"Hey." MA-1R answered flatly. "Ain't no need to be bringing up the planet that 'shall not be named' and ruining this wonderful relationship we've started." He did air quotes with his fingers. "No one likes to talk about the Laconians and what they did. Though that's also the reason why basically no one in the 'verse likes your kind. Bad blood…or…err, oil."

"Yeah…we saw there was a warning to avoid a group called the PCA as well…?" Uzi wondered.

"Oh don't mind them, the PCA are assholes to everyone." MA-1R assured them. "They're remnants of the Sol Alliance left to protect Rubicon, but without direct oversight they've taken to bullying everyone on the planet and exerting control for their own ends. And yeah they do have orders to kill your kind on sight. Same reason as before. Sorry."

"Well, what else can you tell us about Rubicon, Mr.?" N questioned.

"Just what everyone else knows." MA-1R sighed. "I'm not a Rubiconian myself. Sorta got myself stranded after my ship broke down. Found some work for a client through, so I keep my eye out for salvage and resources."

"Right!" J shouted. "That's also what we wanted to talk to you about. We were wondering how we could make some Coam to help us survive?"

"Well then I'm your guy!" MA-1R shouted back eagerly. "For little machines such as yourselves, your best bet would be salvage and resource gathering. Any good scrap or valuable resources will go for a lot. Just bring it back to me and I'll be sure to credit you appropriately."

"Okay! Great! We uh…sort of have a shelter kinda far from here. If we find something valuable we'll bring it back to you?" J asked to confirm.

"Hey, that's the plan!" MA-1R answered back certainly.

"Excellent! We'll get right on that!" J shouted, leading the other three drones back.

"…Hey." MA-1R called out much more somberly. "Listen." It was hard to tell without a face, but it looked like he was frowning, as he crossed his arms. "A good rule of thumb here on Rubicon…don't trust anyone. The PCA will kill you, the Corps will exploit you, and the RLF is too preoccupied to care, but they definitely have no sympathy for your kind. And stay away from the hardcore Coral Tweakers…I'd hate to think of what they'd do to…little machines such as yourselves. I'll…talk to my boss. See if she can take in some strays such as yourselves in exchange for work. No promises."

"Oh…thanks…" Uzi smiled back appreciatively. Then she and the three Murder Drones left his shop.

MA-1R pulled out his hand terminal, a glass screen that served as a communications terminal and data access point, and made a call.

"Hey Carla, you'll never guess what just walked into my shop."

Grid 009 – Ship Breaking Yards – Western Belius /Wednesday, Tiberius 7th

Having flown back to their improvised base within the ship breaking yards, J had tasked her drones to look for anything of value, tearing through most of the shipwrecks and the office spaces.

Uzi thought they were making good progress, pulling ship components and tech that they wouldn't need to use to repair the Odysseus. Good quality metals and complicated mechanisms, as well as computer components. They had been doing well, until J found something she liked.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" J had continuously cheered even after she had summoned her drones and Uzi.

"So uh, what did you find, J?" N wondered.

"Check it out!" J cheered, opening up a large walk-in safe embedded in the wall. Inside was several tons of gold bars, laid out neatly in large piles.

"Oh wow J! You're the best!" N praised.

"Heh…nice." V smiled widely, feeling confident.

"…" Uzi wasn't so certain. Looking around the interior of the safe, she found a hole in the wall, an area for holding documents or other small, valuable items. She found a plate full of diamonds, an empty folder, and bloodied handprints.

"Guys…people have already been through this safe." Uzi pointed out.

"Yeah?...So?" J was so certain in her discovery and supremacy that she didn't really care what the little Worker said.

"It means that someone should have already cleared out this vault if the gold was of any value." Uzi argued. "If there was anything of value here, it's probably long gone."

"…Oh." N realized.

"…" V didn't say anything, but she stopped smiling. Her visor simulated flattened eyebrows, giving the impression she was thinking.

"Listen little toaster." J pointed at her with her claws extended. "Why don't you let me worry about the big brain stuff, and you just keep working on the heavy lifting stuff. It's in your name, after all. Besides, haven't you ever heard of the 'gold standard' before? It means that gold has always been the human's go to for basing their currency."

"…" Uzi glared at her, but knew she couldn't try to change her mind. If she could get the other two Murder Drones to listen to her…N might, but the both of them were still openly loyal to J.

After finding strong enough containers to carry on their backs, J started loading up the other three Drones with as much gold as would fit.

"Hey…uh…J?" V questioned apprehensively. "You're kinda pushing my load baring limit there…?"

"Oh I know your upper load limit." J assured her. "You'll be fine. Now come on! We can't fly with this weight, so we'll be walking back to The Wall!"

"…Alright J, whatever you say…" N reluctantly supported.

"…" Uzi didn't fail to notice how the container that J took was nowhere near as heavy as the one N, V, or herself was taking. She'd have strong words to say about her if her programming allowed it. Just as insurance, she went through the salvage she had personally assessed and found the nicest looking computer hardware she could fit in her pocket.

Independent Mercenary Hangars – Central Belius

The request that came in was scheduled for the next day. Meaning 621 had some time to plan it out before she committed to the job.

Destroy the Weaponized Mining Ship – Arquebus / Reward 270,000 COAM

"Got a job for you, 621." Handler Walter informed her. "This one's a request from the Arquebus group."

"Raven. This request comes from Schneider, an Arquebus subsidiary." The Arquebus representative reported. "The mission will take place in the Bona Dea Dunes of western Belius. Our Coral investigation there is being blocked by the Strider, a Rubicon Liberation Front mining ship." The video that played showed a five kilometer long, 1.5 kilometer tall six-legged walking landship, with two large drills situated under the rear two sections, and a massive circular saw under the forward section. The design had traits of old Earth built Arms Forts, but was nowhere near as prepared for war, being a retrofitted mobile mining rig. "You are to destroy it. The Strider is a mobile resource base that was extensively weaponized by the Liberation Front. Call it the crowning glory to their efforts to militarize into an anti-corporate force." The Arquebus man hissed sarcastically. "Your attack will focus on the Eye, a giant laser cannon connected directly to the main generator." The turreted structure on the upper portion of the forward section, which stood a hundred meters above the deck, really did look like a great big mechanical eye. "It is protected by a shield, which is powered by auxiliary sub-generators. These should be your first targets. This concludes the briefing. Good luck."

"…" One of the main problems, 621 realized, was going to be mobility. The sub-generators were arranged in such a way as to make difficult to access for extended periods, especially the ones at the waist. She needed to maximize her one-shot potential and ability to hit difficult targets.

She decided to buy a SG-026 Haldeman shotgun, that appeared as an overly large SPAS-12 chambered in 145mm fortieth gage to replace her machinegun. As well, she replaced her eight-cell VLS launcher with one of her older four-cell guided missile launchers.

She'd once seen the terrifying bulks of League Arms Forts. The massive, armored forms that had once ruled the Earth's desolate and sterilized surface. The Strider was nothing compared to those engineering marvels of destruction. She would make short work of it.

That Night / Bona Dea Dunes – Western Belius

Having walked for hours from the ship breaking yards with just over three tons of gold between them, J had reluctantly agreed to let them rest for the night out on the sand dune covered glasslands.

It was another exhausting long day that Uzi had learned yet another new thing about her captors.

The three Murder Drones she was reluctantly following across the desolate wastelands of Rubicon could each be separated into subcategory types. N's larger limbs and taller build characterized him as a "strength type", giving him enhanced, industrial level strength and endurance compared to other Disassembly Drone models. V could be characterized as a "speed type", as her lithe and lighter body could supposedly break the sound barrier in short bursts to engage in high-speed combat. J, though she shared V's overall feminine build minus a few inches, was actually characterized as a "command type"; being armed with an EMP cannon that she alone was immune to, and having what could only be described as a "viral bolt gun" designed for digital execution of drones. In a way, J was armed such that she could fight and kill other Disassembly Drones and win.

Those distinctions were important because carrying a ton of gold each across a freezing desert was not something any of them were designed for. J was doing the best out of any of them because, of course, she had taken only a third the weight the other drones were taking. N was doing the next best as his strength and size made it much easier for him to endure the strain on his system. Though Uzi was unhappy, her Worker Drone body was actually designed for this kind of work, so she endured it as well as could be expected.

Unfortunately, V was struggling in every capacity. Her thin body designed for short burst of speed was unbalanced by the ton of metal on her back. This was not helped by the fact that she didn't actually have feet, her legs just sort of tapered off at the ankle to rounded points, so she was struggling to keep her balance at all times in the sand dunes they were traversing.

Still, she had soldiered on without verbal complaint, even when it was obvious she was exhausted from physical strain. Even an hour after having set down, V was still struggling to relax, her limbs strained hard and her visor showing visible discomfort.

"Trust me guys! When we get this gold back to The Wall, we'll be rich!" J cheered assuredly. The four droids were sitting around a fire, biting back at the bitter cold of Rubiconian night.

"Sure J. You've never led us wrong before." N was stuck supporting her, not knowing any better.

"R-Right…" V winced, her actuators feeling strained.

"…" Uzi kept quiet, knowing J would just shout at her and tell her she was wrong because of big economic words that J knew and Uzi didn't. Leaning back, Uzi looked up, at the dark sky. The dark hulks of looming megastructures still towered overhead; there seemed no escape from their dreadful presence on this whole continent. Above that, she saw the reflection of billions of pieces of metallic debris in orbit of the planet, forming bleached white rings of shattered metal. And past that, against the blackness of infinite space…

"Guys…" Uzi shivered, fear biting at her processors at some knowledge she could obviously see but could scarcely comprehend. "Where are the stars?"

The three Murder Drones looked up, seeing the pitch-black void that sat hungrily over their heads, and the abhorrent lack of light.

"That's…freaky…" V tried to stay strong, but was extremely unsettled. Having spent years on Copper IX, she'd become used to the brightly lit skies of it's night, the stars dimmed by the two massive moons in close orbit to the planet, making their appearance every few hours. Rubicon's moon was a small, shattered husk broken into two major portions, and it's orbital rings were left in various stages of activity or abandonment.

"That's…not…possible." J tried to reason. "There's almost no light pollution on Rubicon…we should be able to see whole arms of the galaxy…billions of stars in the galaxy and not one above…how…?"

"Uh…hey! Is that a star?!" N shouted desperately, pointing to a stray bright light.

"No…that's just debris. It's moving too quickly to be a star." Uzi shamefully shot his suggestion down.

"W-What about that one!?" N shouted again.

"…That's Caeser, Rubicon IV." J answered, wishing she was wrong. "It's a gas giant."

It was a question no one wanted to repeat, and no one wanted to answer. It hung heavy around them, a terrifying prospect they couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"L-Let's just…go to bed…for now…" Uzi suggested, unable to hide her apprehension. "I'm sure J is going to work us extra hard tomorrow."

"Y-Yeah…" J refocused on her, desperate for normalcy, and to not stare at the terrifying mystery over their heads. "Y-You bet I will!"

It was a question they all asked, as they huddled close together for warmth under cold dead skies.

Was Rubicon a world where even the stars had died?

Independent Mercenary Hangars – Central Belius / Next Day

The mechanized platform moved her AC from it's maintenance position in the hangar out to a launch platform, from which it would deploy to the battlefield.

"Time for a little self-promotion, 621." Handler Walter announced, as 621 waited on the launch phase. "Smash the Strider, and Arquebus HQ will be sure to remember your name."

"…"

Bona Dea Dunes – Western Belius

Having started early in the day, J had marched them fairly far into the desert, still on track to The Wall. It hadn't been all walking. There were at least a few times in the last few days that they'd been able to run into an automated train line, and cut several days off their journey. If things went well, they'd be at The Wall in a few more days.

That is, if V could keep up. Uzi saw her behind the group, struggling to maintain balance and pace with all the weight on her back.

"Hey, uh, J?" Uzi called forward. "Maybe we should take a break?"

"Why? We're making good progress." J argued. "I don't see any reason to stop now."

"I…could go for a break." V admitted shamefully, wording it as a suggestion.

"What was that?" J accused. "Is the most efficient drone in my squad lagging behind?"

"N-No! No I can keep going!" V assured her.

"Uh…I'm…pretty tired…?" Uzi lied. Her small frame was using her energy reserves far more efficiently than any of the Murder Drones. She was just trying to give V a break.

"Yeah J. We've been going at it all morning. We should take it easy for a bit." N suggested as well. He might not be the smartest drone, but he was thinking the same as Uzi.

"No! We keep going! So no more complaining!" J ordered.

"Y-Yes J!" N and V reluctantly agreed

"…" Uzi sighed, and kept going, keeping an auditory sensor out for V trailing behind them. Try as she might, V just wasn't built for this kind of work. She heard her fall before she saw her.

It was a fairly undignified position, face first in the sand, hands clutched into fists as she seethed with rage at her own inability.

Uzi knew she should feel something more. She should feel rage and resentment and disgust at that machine, that had hunted and killed so many of her people while it laughed.

But Rubicon had already broken them and their preconceptions. N, V, and J were not some horrific monsters beyond comprehension. Their minds were just as young and unprepared as she was, and while J might be an asshole, N was a good guy, and V…

Uzi had yet to decide who V was, but it was obvious she hid her true feelings from everyone. What little of her true self Rubicon had broken out was, much to her surprise, more like herself. Someone just trying to do right.

"…" Uzi sighed, and did not hesitate to slowly stride towards V's fallen form. N had much the same idea, and together, they grabbed V by the arms, and lifted her upright so that she could stand. They then pulled her arms over their shoulders, bearing some of her load, as they pushed to keep up with J.

"T-Thanks…" V hissed quietly, hiding her embarrassment by staring down at their feet.

"Hey, no problem." N smiled down at her.

"…" Uzi said nothing, and just tried to focus on getting out of that desert, one step at a time…

. . .

They'd been walking for a bit when they noticed a new sound, like massive booms that shook the entire desert every few minutes.

"Okay…what the heck is that?" Uzi spoke up.

"There's something…big out here. In the dust storm." N spoke up.

"…And it's getting closer." J advised cautiously.

From out of the dust storm, a massive foot of some steel leviathan came crashing down, several hundred meters behind them. Looking up, they could barely make out the shape of it through the dust. A massive platform with legs and mining equipment strapped to it, baring down on them.

Without needing to speak, the four little drones picked up the pace, running for the cover of nearby rocks, that the thing towering overhead seemed to pass by.

"What is that thing?!" V shouted.

"It's…it's some kind of land ship!" J shouted back. "I'd…I'd heard legends of such mechanical beast roaming Earth long ago…but I never imagined they were real…"

For the four little machines, the imposing mobile platform appeared as a machine god to their ignorant eyes.

Destroy the Weaponized Mining Ship – Arquebus / Bona Dea Dunes – Western Belius / Thursday, Tiberius 8th

/MAIN SYSTEM: ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE

"Commence mission." Handler Walter ordered. "First, get through all that dust and make contract with the Strider."

"…" 621 flew forward across the ground, slowly catching up with the Strider, it's massive form highlighted by the dim light of the sun against the brown dust in the air.

"An unidentified AC. Must be one of the corporation's dogs." The RLF Strider Captain announced over radio. "Activate the Eye, burn them away!"

"Yes sir!" An RLF crew member responded. "Coral, abide with Rubicon!"

"Abide with Rubicon." The Strider Captain answered.

"…" Engaging the dispersed escort of RLF MTs, 621 saw the bright blue beam strike the distant desert, and race it's way towards her, giving her only a second to dodge out of it's way with her quick-boosters.

It was as if lighting struck directly over their heads. A thunderous screech and a terribly bright blue light that reached out to something in the far distance.

"What the frack was that?!" Uzi shouted.

"That was a huge laser weapon!" J announced, eyeing the leviathan machine warily. "That things strong enough to decimate whole armies in just one blow!"

"Who would be insane enough to take on this beast?!" V questioned.

Having fought her way through a half dozen guard MTs and past the deadly glare of the Eye, 621 was out of targeting range for the eye, looking up at the Strider at close range.

"Alright, now you're up close and personal." Handler Walter noticed. "Take out one of it's legs and bring it to a halt."

"What!? They evaded the Eyes's laser!" Another RLF crew member shouted.

"All hands, prepare for close range combat. Intercept!" The Strider Captain ordered.

"…" 621 climbed a short hill, just below where one of it's legs was standing, and fired up into an exposed load baring hydraulic support. The RLF had done a piss poor job haphazardly welding a single layer of thin metal over the exposed point. It was nothing a few mortar rounds couldn't handle. In just a few seconds, she'd torn the joint apart.

"Confirmed. Strider leg compromised. It's going down." Handler Walter confirmed. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Something had gotten on top of the rocks they were hiding behind, and fired heavy ordnance over their heads, into one of the leviathan's legs.

"Hey…that things coming down…right on top of us…" Uzi pointed out in disbelief.

"…Run!" N shouted in realization.

The four drones broke from cover, running away as the rear third of the leviathan collapsed, crushing the area they had just been standing. And allowing them to see who was fighting it.

"Hey…that's…" Uzi pointed to the back of an AC with rusting armor.

"That's the Tarnished Armored Core. The one that killed all those Workers." V noted as well.

"It's taking on this giant machine!?" J realized. "There's no way! There's no way just one AC could take it on!"

"Alright, now we've got a foothold, get to the deck." Handler Walter ordered as the Strider settled, a third of it's bulk hanging off.

"…" 621 ascended up the fallen third of the mobile platform. Along the way, she dodged past automated defense and missile turrets, still trying to shake her off.

"That AC pilot is no rookie…" The Strider Captain noted. "We can't take any chances! Decouple the rear!"

The rear third of the Strider suddenly started falling the rest of the way down, nearly taking her with it. 621 engaged her assault-booster, and flew up to the still standing section.

"They're trying to cut and run." Handler Walter mused.

"Ahh! We can't shake the enemy AC!" A Strider crew member shouted out fearfully.

"Remember, we fight for the Coral!" The Strider Captain shouted to inspire. "Defend the sub-generators!"

"…" 621 flew to the port side of the Strider, dodging several defense guns as she did so. She had to momentarily expose herself to the eye to get a shot off at the waist generators. Snaping off a shot from her shotgun and a volley of missiles tore the generator apart. Before the Eye could get a shot on her, she flew down beneath the Strider, looking for her next target.

Standing on scaffolding around it's remaining drill, 621 targeted the underside generator with a one-two shot from her back mounted mortar.

"Sir! We've lost another sub-generator!" A crew member shouted.

"…Remember the hardships that made us." The Strider Captain announced, keeping his crew inspired. "Remember, that when Rubicon burned, we endured! Forged in ash, we stand as one!"

"…" Hovering out near the starboard sub-generator, 621 fired her missiles and shotgun, taking it out. She then made her way up to the main deck, under the hateful gaze of the giant Eye.

"The Strider is flagship of our war." The Strider Captain warned. "Hold the line! Defend the ship with your lives!"

"…" Forced to take cover behind her target, the Eye fired a wide burst of plasma, like it's own plasma shotgun, across the upper deck of the Strider. When it was finished, she took out the last generator with her blade, then boosted forward to blind it's Eye.

"All sub-generators destroyed." Handler Walter announced. "The Eyes' shield is offline."

Charging across the deck, 621 dodged out of the way as the Eye fired down at her. She fired back with her own ordnance, slowly chipping away at it.

"Charge the cannon!" The Strider Captain ordered. "Burn the Coral plunderers!"

The eye hissed at a high pitch as it fired a concentrated beam down at her. 621 dodged out of it's way, easily staying ahead of the deadly laser beam. She fired back with her heavy mortars, doing terrible damage.

"The Eye has taken significant damage!" A crew member warned.

"We're not through yet! Show them our pride!" The Strider Captain urged on.

621 gave the Eye another volley of her ordnance, tearing it's thin armor open.

"Sir! The Eye is in a critical state!"

"Impossible! How can just one AC do this?!"

"…" 621 plunged her blade into the Eye, melting it's fragile components, killing it.

"Sir! No response from the Eye!" A crew member shouted fearfully.

"No…! We…We can't lose the Strider…" The captain uttered distraught.

"Confirmed, target destroyed." Handler Walter verified. "And it looks like all that energy it was sucking up has nowhere to go. Move 621, you need to get clear of the Strider."

"…" 621 flew away from the Strider, back the way she came.

"You damn hyenas…scavenging the planet!" The Strider Captain cursed. "Coral, abide with Rubicon!"

The energy from the Strider's internal generators entered a feedback loop, bouncing back and forth between capacitors and reactor systems, until that energy had nowhere left to go. It's internal systems detonated, and it's legs stopped holding it up. It started falling into itself.

"See that, 621? The Strider is blowing itself up." Handler Walter noted assuredly. "A fitting end for something built to fail."

The Strider struck the ground with a blinding white light, as another internal system detonated.

"Mission accomplished. Head back to-" Handler Walter noticed something. "Hmm, what was that?"

The leviathan, a literal mountain of moving metal, a machine beyond their imagination, was left as little more than smoldering scrap in the wake of that Tarnished Armored Core.

"It…it killed it." N squeaked out.

"Just…how powerful are Armored Cores?" Uzi wondered.

"That pilot…they must be something else." V added. "To face such a metal leviathan and come out unharmed."

"It's…impressive." J admitted sheepishly. "We really are out of our league on this planet…ahh!" J dropped down behind the rocks when she saw the ACs head snap in their direction. "It saw us!"

"Oh no! What do we do!?" N panicked.

"We'll…" J considered her options. "Heh." She grabbed Uzi, tearing the container off her back.

"What!? What are you doing!?" Uzi shouted at her.

"If that thing likes killing Worker Drones so much, then let's feed it one!" J shouted, throwing Uzi from cover.

"Wait! J! Don't!" V shouted at her, too late.

"Huh…" Handler Walter realized. "It's a Jenson model android."

"…"

"This one looks different from the usual design, however. It's more…personalized. I heard rumor that some of the androids that came down were built by other androids as pseudo-children. Perhaps this is such an example?"

"…"

The purple haired android glared at 621 fearfully and hatefully. "If you're just going to kill me, then get it over with!" There was a restriction in it's programming that prevented it from flipping her off, though it improvised by crossing it's left fist at it's right elbow, and holding it's right fist up.

"It's certainly a brave little machine." Handler Walter noted in amusement.

"…"

Handler Walter realized his Hound was passively asking for orders, with how to deal with the little machine. He could speak a word, and his Hound would destroy the small, scared machine without a hint of remorse. Such was her temperament, her draw to violence and slaughter.

"There's no reward for killing this machine, 621. Don't waste your bullets on old Laconian scrap. Head back to base." Handler Walter ordered.

"…" 621 obeyed, breaking contact with the small machine, and flying away.

Watching the Tarnished Armored Core ignore her and fly away, Uzi fell to her knees, trying to calm down. That had been terrifying, staring down a mech that had slaughtered her people, and was even less relatable than the Murder Drones. At least the Murder Drones had a face…the Armored Core just stared at her with a glare that could, at a moment, mean sudden and apathetic death.

"Uzi!" N shouted, jumping next to her and lifting her to her feet.

"…" V had approached as well, then looked away, trying to pretend that she wasn't worried for her.

"I'm fine…that was…that was really scary." Uzi admitted. She then turned around, and glared. "J you jerk! That thing could have killed me!"

"What? You're not part of my squad." J smirked. "You're more like a pet, little Worker. To be used as bait or food whenever I see fit."

"J…" V looked like she wanted to say something, sneering at her leader.

"It's fine." Uzi hissed back. "I get it."

"Good~" J purred. "Now hurry up, we have a delivery to make!"

The Wall – RLF Fortress City – Central Belius / Saturday, Tiberius 10th

It had been nearly a hard week of marching out of the dune covered glasslands and over the frozen wastelands beyond. A few hitchhiked trains got them to The Wall with plenty of daylight left.

On the way to "Mal's" shop, they spotted a bit of new scenery added to streets of the fortress city. The wrecks of large war machines dotted the streets. BAWS tetrapods and MTs, and a tank AC blasted apart, an emblem reading "G4" on it's shoulder.

Slowly working their way into MA-1R's shop, the friendly machine spotted them.

"Well, welcome back, my stray Jenson drones."

"Hey~" Uzi greeted kindly. "You uh, had some visitors out there?"

"Oh, just some young Balam blood getting thrown our way." MA-1R dismissed. "He and his partner weren't prepared for the line of coilguns lining the back wall. I feel kinda bad for them. Still…the corps are serious about occupying this city. Won't be long till a Hound does break through the RLF lines."

"Uh…Hound?" N questioned.

"Oh, most AC pilots are called Hounds." MA-1R explained. "Cause they always do someone's dirty work."

"Right…well!" J approached cheerfully. "We're here to make a trade! I hope you are ready for what we brought you!"

J opened her container of gold, placing several heavy bars on MA-1R's desk. She seemed so proud of herself, so certain.

"…" MA-1R stared at her with his imperceivable single eye. It narrowed, and he bowed his head with a sigh. Fishing a hand through his pocket, he grabbed a handful of…casino chips, and gently placed them by J's gold. "I'm going to pay you to get that shit out of my shop."

"W-What…?" J looked up at the taller machine in shock. "B-But's it's gold! I swear!"

"Yeah." MA-1R nodded. "People used to think gold was worth fightin' over, and that shit gets made by every supernova, which means pretty much every planet around a G2 star will have some. In fact…" He leaned over his desk, pointing at the sky through his windows. "Have you seen the color of the sky outside? How bright some of the clouds are? There's a billion times more gold in Rubicon's atmosphere than what you've found here. Now if you had brought this much Coral, then we'd be talking. There's only one planet in the whole 'verse with Coral. Now that's scarcity, kopeng."

"We…thought Coral was just a drug…?" Uzi questioned.

"Ah, run into a Doser, did you? Yeah, they have a pretty warped sense of Coral's value." MA-1R shrugged. "Coral's more than just a powerful hallucinogenic, it's also a power source, a data conduit, why, Coral's way more potent a material than League Era Kojima Particles. It was set to revolutionize everything, to improve the lives of human and machine kind across the cosmos."

"So…what happened?" N wondered.

"Ah…fifty years ago, there was an event…The Fires of Ibis. A wave of fire that scorched the stars, and ended a war." MA-1R told somberly. "Now…there's just ashes left, and a hope that one day, the Coral might be found again in such abundance to make living on this damned, cursed rock worth it."

"So…we dragged all this gold for days…for nothing?" V questioned with a hiss.

"Sorry kids." MA-1R shrugged. "Gold's only use on this planet is in high-quality electronics, and there's enough scrap laying around to make whole gold bars…excessive. There's certainly places that will take them, but not for much more than I'm paying you to get it out of my sight."

"…" J shamefully took her handful of COAM, and dragged her precious gold outside.

"…" N looked uncharacteristically annoyed, and followed J out.

"Uh…" Uzi stepped forward, and placed the computer component she had found on his desk. "Is this worth much?"

"Huh." MA-1R picked up the component. "Mars tech radio receiver, and still in good condition. Mars always built to last, you know? If you find any more Martian tech, definitely bring it to me. I'll pay you 1,500 Coam for this."

"…Is that a lot?" Uzi sheepishly asked.

"It's a dozen times more than I paid your friend to leave." MA-1R pointed out.

"Oh…cool!" Uzi smiled. "So uh…let's trade?"

"Sure." MA-1R nodded. "I'll even help you set up an account so you don't have to carry that all around. On the house."

MA-1R spent a few minutes showing Uzi how to work a hand terminal, a kind of phone devise, and transferred the COAM into her account.

"Thanks for the business little drone. Can't wait to see what you bring me next!"

Uzi turned around, and saw V staring at her. It was a neutral, thinking expression, her mouth withdrawn to an invisible line. V turned around, and walked outside, dragging J's worthless gold behind her as well.

"But…but…the gold standard." J was uttering to herself outside. "Gold was always…the standard for currency…"

"J, just give it a rest." V barked at her. "Just admit it, you messed up."

"…" Uzi found an open dumpster, and dumped her container of gold in it.

"Wait!…Ah…" J tried to argue, but gave up. She slumped down in defeat.

Seeing Uzi dumping the gold, N and V followed as well, while J frowned.

"Ack!" V cried out, collapsing to her knees after overexerting herself.

"V!? What's wrong?!" N shouted in worry.

"P-Pushed myself…little too hard." V laughed in pain. Her visor stopped showing her eyes, instead being replaced with an "Overheat Warning" message.

"Oh…?" J suddenly perked up. "Quitting on me now? And here I thought you were my most effective drone?"

"I-I am an effective drone!" V shouted, but didn't even have the strength to look up anymore.

"An effective drone can stand up." J purred cruelty. "Come on, get up, V."

"…!" V bared her teeth, pushing herself forward, but only fell forward on her face.

"V!" N shouted.

"Leave her, N." J hissed.

"J! We can't leave V!" N argued.

J punched N in the face, cracking his visor. The cracks disappeared after a few seconds, healing with a wisp of smoke.

"I only have room in my squad for effective drones." J spat. "Come on."

"V…" N stared at her sadly, bowing his head in sorrow.

"…" J seemed to forget about Uzi for the moment. Between her worthless gold and V's ineffectiveness, she had stormed off with her corporate swagger, trying to keep her pride in spite of their wasted days spent in the glasslands.

Staring down at V, Uzi glared hard. It would be easy to just leave her to die. Maybe she'd get lucky and J would die off too…and then she and N could find a way off the planet. On the other hand, it was far more likely that J would use N up until he collapsed in exhaustion.

V was supposed to be her sworn enemy. A Murder Drone that had decimated her people, slaughtered them with a smile on her face. And…there was a one in three chance that she…

But if Uzi left her there, she would be no better than J. Uzi might be a little…insane, for a Worker Drone, but she wasn't cruel. And she could tell there was more to V than just the insane and monstrous little creature she pretended to be.

If she wanted off Rubicon, she needed these dangerous idiots' help.

Pushing V into a sitting position, Uzi saw that V was still technically alive, wincing in pain and twitching. She made a confused groan.

"V…" Uzi couldn't believe she was about to say it. "Open your mouth."

"Huh…?" V hung her mouth open lazily, more out of weakness than actually following Uzi's command.

While Worker Drones had an unbroken tooth like structure that ran flat through their entire mouth, Murder Drones had pointed pseudo-canines as part of this structure. Robot vampires and all.

It was these sharpened structures Uzi was aiming at when she jammed her hand into V's mouth, cutting herself on her teeth.

"…" Uzi winced in pain as she started losing a manageable amount of oil. V lapped it up greedily, letting her tongue…yes, these androids had tongues…trace over the wound, urging it out.

Until V's overheat warning went away, her eyes returned hollowed, horrified, and confused.

"W-What?!" V stood up, spitting Uzi's hand out of her mouth. "What are you doing?!"

"Saving you, idiot!" Uzi shouted back.

"You…!" V looked confused, and a bit scared. She was used to being a predator, taking what she wanted. To be offered…was a new, uncertain experience. "You…"

"Are you feeling better now?" Uzi asked with the least amount of concern as she could manage. That's right…she didn't care about what happened to her, she was just using them for her own ends.

"I…" V looked down. "If I don't push myself, I can go on a bit longer."

"Okay, lets-" Uzi paused as an air raid siren started. "Oh! Now what!?"

Then the artillery guns of The Wall opened up, firing on an unseen enemy.

Author's Note: Starting to see a bit more of The Expanse's influence this chapter, with some people saying words in Belter Creole, and my claim that the Drones are somehow linked to Laconia. That's definitely going to play a part later on, what with my reworking of the different lores. Also starting to reveal some of the darker themes in this chapter, so that might be something to be worried about. But as N would say: "I'm sure it's fine!"

Also interesting that 621 has little interest in "Laconian scrap" as the Drones are also referred to as. Might be something...?

We're also going to see a lot more of V interacting with Uzi. In the show, they didn't for a variety of reasons, but here, they are very much lost, alone, and vulnerable together on Rubicon. They HAVE to interact to survive. Things are getting very exciting!

Kinda sorta a citation. The short speech by MA-1R about gold being fairly common and Coral being rare is an edited copy of a speech from the book Cibola Burns, but talking about gold and lithium. So I changed out the lithium parts for Coral. Honesty is the best policy!

EDIT: Also forgot to mention that I am using the words android and Drone interchangeably for the main machine cast. They would fall under the category of android, being semi-humanoid and all, so it fits. I think "Drone" is a play to dehumanize them anyhow, so...

Anyhow, let me know what you think, and remember! Abide with Rubicon!