CHAPTER 25

For just a second, as the flight unit lifted off, everything was completely weightless, and it felt like freedom.

Then the moment is shattered as a plosive force rammed into their ship from behind, almost shaking them out of the air.

Immediately, 9S was all business. In a realm 2B couldn't see, he was integrating with the ship's systems. He narrated aloud, "There are at least three ships on our tail. More incoming, probably. Engaging evasive protocol!"

Almost without thinking, 2B reflexively reached for the controls; 9S was facing her chest and couldn't reach them from that angle. She could tell from the monitoring systems that 9S was digitally controlling the thrusters, so she found the joystick for the guns and started leveling cover fire. The automatic targeting system wouldn't lock onto the fellow YoRHa suits, so she disabled it and aimed manually instead.

The shots mostly missed, but it was enough to force the pursuers to dodge and bought them a small lead. Any space they could gain was precious. The flight unit began to shake once more, but this time she recognized it not as an aftershock from a weapon, but the turbulence of entering atmosphere. The friction from the air shook their unit and created hot, fiery trails behind them.

Whatever 9S was doing with the steering, it seemed to be working. At the current rate, they should be able to land on the planet before they were surrounded or shot out of the sky. And then… she'd think about what came next after.

In some removed part of her brain, 2B felt a thrill of pleasure at how seamlessly they were copiloting in a unit that was never designed for copilots. She anticipated and responded to 9S's maneuvers as if they were of one mind. It made her feel warm all the way to her core.

…Or maybe that was just the atmosphere, still trying to burn their ship out of the sky.

The ground became visible below them, and then they were rushing towards it at amazing speed. For just a moment, in spite of herself, 2B was fearful that they'd crash, but even as she worried so the unit tilted upward, swooping in parallel to the ground and sailing perhaps a hundred feet above the ground.

"I'm going to aim for the forest area, see if we can lose them in the trees and ruins," said 9S. Right now they were somewhere in the desert, which offered minimal cover.

The flight unit was fast, and in just moments they were out of the desert and into the grasslands. It was there that she felt a jolt, and suddenly they weren't flying – they were falling.

"Shit, they got one of our jets, we're going down, prepare for impact–"

Her teeth rattled from the force of the ship colliding with the ground. Several internal system monitors were blaring at her, protesting structural damage. It was the kind of thing that would certainly have killed an organic life form, but she should be able to walk it off. She hadn't lost any of her major systems.

Of course, this meant that they're now marooned on Earth, in the middle of an empty ruin, without a functional flight suit. She reached for the manual eject button to open the cockpit; at this point, staying in the ship would only make them sitting ducks. She pushed 9S lightly. To her relief, he responded, groaning slightly. He didn't seem severely damaged, either.

"Come on," she urged, "We have to go."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just. Give me a minute."

An electric voice chirped. "You have approximately 34 seconds before other YoRHa units arrive at this location," his pod informed.

"Nevermind then," he said with a sigh. Then both the androids were scurrying out of the cockpit and into the surrounding grasslands.

34 seconds might have been a generous estimate, because across the field 2B could see several flight units landing on rooftops. The firm concrete made for smoother landings and takeoffs, she knew, but it wouldn't take any time at all for the YoRHa soldiers to close in on them from the higher ground.

She looked around desperately for a way out, only to find that in the brief few moments it took to emerge, they'd already been surrounded.

This wasn't good. She drew her sword, prepared to deflect any blasts, but the soldiers seemed content to hold their fire as they waited for the trailing ships to land, increasing their already overwhelming numbers.

She couldn't see a way out. Her analysis engine has always, always been able to find a way out of any situation. It was what her model was known for, what had made them an overwhelming success. But this – she couldn't see a way past this. Was this really as far as her rebellion would go?

No. No, she wouldn't allow this to be for nothing.

We're screwed, thought 9S eloquently as he took in the situation at hand. He'd half expected things to go horribly wrong for a while now. Maybe not like this specifically, but he'd had a general sense of doom ever since that Tower had appeared. He'd tried to set up some contingency plans, but they weren't ready and now they never would be. Shit, this was it. They were totally gonna die.

He looked to 2B for some form of assurance. Her expression was grim, and something in his stomach dropped.

"9S, when you see an opening, you need to run," said 2B in an urgent whisper.

"What about you?"

"I'll stay back and hold them off." Saying so, she assumed a battle stance, lowering her center of gravity and drawing her short blade.

"2B, no! I'm not abandoning you to die!" 9S protested loudly.

2B met his gaze, her eyes deadly serious. "9S. I don't intend to die here." It's an assurance, but not enough of one. "But you're not designed for close-quarters fights. You'd only be a liability."

And that hurt. It hurt because it was true, but also because it wasn't fair – 9S regularly participated in combat against machines, often killing larger threats with his hacking in half the time it would take 2B with her sword. He might not be a combat model, but he could fight.

Under her breath, barely a whisper, 2B added, "And if I die, at least it means something if you survive."

And suddenly 9S wasn't conflicted anymore – he was angry. "No. No way, 2B. How do you think I'd feel if I find out you died because I ran away? How long do you think I'd even last on my own, afterwards? I need you, 2B. I can't," he let out a hysterical laugh, bubbling up from all of the emotion he hadn't had time to process, "I can't do this without you. And… and I think you need me too. So I'm not leaving." He felt bold, in a way that he was probably going to be horribly embarrassed about when he had time to process later. But he also felt right.

2B, for her part, still looked conflicted. Her eyes were watering conspicuously, and she looked so sad and desperate and afraid. Afraid for him, maybe, he dared to wonder.

(Was she always this expressive, under the blindfold? What all had it kept him from seeing?)

2B opened her mouth to say something, possibly another plea for him to go, but before a sound came out, the earth shook under them.

At first, 9S thought it was another bombardment, but it didn't stop shaking. Instead, the rumbling grew and grew in intensity and volume. Was this an earthquake? Was there even a fault line here?

And then there was a high pitched, deafening screech of metal on metal, and the Goliath – the rusted statue that had become a centerpiece for the city ruins – stood up.

Oh shit, 9S thought, we're so dead.

Faintly, he hears a shout from one of the YoRHa androids on the rooftops. There's a burst of motion as those soldiers who had gotten out hastily returned to their ships. 9S knew from experience that the Flight Units were one of the only known ways to defeat a machine Goliath.

He exchanged a worried glance with 2B. Their Flight Unit was still at the other end of the clearing, and in no condition to fight even if they could reach it.

At least, he rationalized, this meant their pursuers were distracted. Maybe if he was lucky, he and 2B could slip out before the Goliath noticed them.

Through all this, the earth continued to rumble as the Goliath shook off the dirt and debris and took its first shaky step forward.

With all this, it took him longer than it should have to notice what else was happening in the clearing.

The other machines in the ruins – easily forgettable thanks to their propensity to only attack when provoked – were also moving. At first, it was barely noticeable, just a bit of twitching and spasming from a nearby cluster. But then it spreads like a wave, and the phenomenon manifests to other machine groups in the area. 9S felt something go cold in his chest with the crushing realization that he had seen this before.

He knew what was about to happen just a second in advance when, as one, the eyes of every machine in the clearing glowed a deep, terrifying red.

Ending Y: Goodbye [Y]oRHa