She felt it upon waking, a cool breeze blowing gently on her face. This was new, different. It wasn't dry like the world outside the city or stale like the air recirculated within The Bunker. It almost reminded 2B of the way the forest looked and smelled when it rained, a time she would never forget no matter what fate may befall her. The sound of Pod's gentle thrum as it floated above her caused 2B to reluctantly open her eyes. Fluttering behind her visor, they struggled to adjust to the bright sun.
Her hand trembled as it touched her forehead, the rest of her body slowly regaining sensation after what seemed like eons of slumber. For just a moment she let herself revel in the fact that it felt good to be awake again and nothing was hurting, but something was nagging at her subconscious...
"YoRHa unit, 2B, fully operational after one hour and eight minutes of suspended activity," she heard the monotonous tone of Pod 042, "All movement and reaction systems are running smoothly."
Gripping the grass around her with her fingertips, she noted how green everything was. Shades and hues of the most vibrant tones covered the expansive grassy fields that surrounded her. It was a much-appreciated sight compared to all of the rust and red hues of the ruins she often fought in. Laying among the wildflowers, 2B shook her head as she realized she should not be admiring such simple things right now. How foolish, she scolded herself, that the mission could be in jeopardy if her systems were damaged from such a long period of suspension, and she was off evaluating the color of flora.
Rubbing her hands over her face and through her hair, she thought to herself that surely her logical side would not falter like this under normal circumstances. If 9S is somewhere nearby she would never hear the end of it. Speaking of which...
"Pod, what's 9S' current position?" She asked.
"...No data received," it chimed.
Sitting up and holding her legs in her arms, her brow furrowed as she turned to the floating object, "What? Haven't you connected with Pod 153?"
"Negative. All transmissions between units 9S and 153, as well as all communication frequencies, are out of range of the current pod's transmission capabilities."
Looking forward 2B paused. Her mouth opened as if to say something, but quickly shut as she tried to piece together her thoughts.
"All attempts to contact YoRHa units around the area have been unsuccessful, all data transfer lines connecting this pod to The Bunker are inactive, and the satellites orbiting the Earth show no signal from nearby androids that are not in YoRHa possession."
Standing abruptly, 2B was sure something was wrong, but why wasn't she receiving a call to HQ for further instruction? Surely an operator would be present at Command to help her process whatever situation was going on.
"Try to contact Operator 6O and the Commander."
"No connections found for both parties," it said, a little too unemotionally for 2B's liking at the moment, "I repeat, No connections found for either party. Multiple attempts were made prior to your reactivation."
"That can't be right," her thoughts became more jumbled by the second. Something, no...everything was wrong, so very wrong.
"Maybe-," her words faltered as she gazed up into the sky, the sight catching her off guard and taking the breath straight out of her lungs.
A curve? The sky curved into a ring? she wondered as she backed away from the sight before her. Never before had she seen anything like this. Never once did she even think to question if this was something even possible, the curve of a ring, the entire ground beneath her feet seemingly inside...this...object.
It made her feel small. Helpless. No. She wasn't supposed to feel any of those things. Feelings weren't an option. It was forbidden for an android to experience any emotion. Yet the panic welling in her chest betrayed her current train of thought.
Turning around, she paced across the field back and forth as her mind raced."P-Pod. Where is this place?"
"Unknown location."
"Unknown!?"
"Yes. Unknown."
She stopped dead in her tracks, her lips parted to speak but nothing came out. No...that...no, no, no! It had to be somewhere, had to be a mistake. "Take a guess!" 2B exclaimed, her hands balling up tightly into fists, eyes wide. "You're a tactical support module, damn it!"
She could hear the low, static hum from her Pod as it considered her words, its processes audibly ticking away until it could respond again. "Proposal: It is possible to assume, based on visual analysis, that this is an artificial structure somewhere beyond human control. Judging by its immense scale, I surmise it is possibly constructed and or supported by forces that are not presently on the current Pod's hard drive."
2B rubbed a hand across her eyes. There was a lingering tightness to her throat, like something was pushing down against her vocal box, something that made each subsequent swallow that much rougher, that much harder to breathe.
She hated this, this awful, crushing uncertainty. An android was only supposed to feel what they were programmed to, and certainly, uncertainty didn't come standard. If a situation wasn't predefined by her programs, or by mission orders from Command, then how was she supposed to handle it? What was she supposed to do with it? How was she supposed to make it go away?
Her breath quickening, she forced a sigh from her chest. She didn't like this...not at all. "Check for 9S' signal again, maybe you overlooked something," she barked.
"That action has already been done on previous attempts. Asking a redundant question will not provide any change to the current status."
"Just do it!"
"..."
"..."
The Pod tilted back and forth gently, processing her request as it scanned. And scanned, and scanned. Seconds passed, turning into minutes. Finally, just as 2B thought her circuits would fry, Pod spoke.
"Confirmed. No data available. Unit 9S cannot be located."
Straightening her stance and rolling her shoulders back, 2B bit her lip in annoyance. This couldn't be right. Eyes squeezing shut, her mind wandered to what had last transpired prior to her suspension.
Hacking. An underground base. There was some kind of signal,machine life forms were overtaking it...then, what? Everything went white. The whole place was illuminated in a brilliant white. That light engulfed everything and then...nothingness. What happened to her and 9S? Why had they awoken in a completely new area? Why was she, her alone, on an alien terrain orbiting a large alien planet?
"This must be a joke." Her voice sounded dull in the absence of any other life besides her own, and she found she did not care for it at all. "Continue trying to reach someone, and update me of any new developments. I'll...look around." She said to the silent Pod, almost mouthing the words rather than saying them.
2B's long boots tramped down the field of flowers with purpose, her eyes darting around in search of any clue that might tell her where she was. Perhaps this was some cruel ruse played by an infected machine life form, and this was just a dream. As long as the enemy was busy playing this game with her, perhaps 9S was safe. Maybe he's just elsewhere, also looking for the others and the Pods. Maybe if he called her, 2B would be able to find him if she tried just a little harder, and looked just a little longer.
And it was those thoughts, and that hope, that kept her moving, as she headed to the horizon, where the flower fields abruptly gave way to deep forests.
Beasts and plants alike were unfamiliar to her, none were present in the archives for the records of their previous earth explorations. Of course, it made sense, to a point, that there would be wildlife no YoRHa android ever encountered, because...it appeared they were indeed on a...well, 2B didn't exactly want to think about it, much less accept it.
Eventually, she found a cliff that overlooked a valley below, a metal structure of unknown nature looming in the distance. What it was made of, and what its purpose could possibly be, were questions she wanted to avoid contemplating for the moment.
A blue ball of...light, shot into the sky from the platform, seemingly traveling to the other side of the ring world. 2B would have questioned how it traveled through the vacuum of space like that if only she still had the capacity to care.
"Is there even a way off this damned place?" Her brow pinched together as she continued staring straight into the sky, "If only I can find a way back to YoRHa, and Earth."
It felt impossible. Who could do that, when she didn't even know what all the possible pieces on the board were? She breathed out, trying her best to put that doubt and insecurities out of her head. It didn't matter. Whatever the case may be, 2B would not yield. She would always come up with a plan, and would never run from a fight. They've made it past death countless times before; what could a weird, ring-shaped world really throw at her?
"Attention."
2B sighed. What now? "Yeah?"
"Multiple anomalies are detected entering the ring's atmosphere," the monotonous drone of 042 announced, "Estimated to land approximately 4828 meters east from the current coordinates."
"Huh?" looking up into the sky again, her eyes followed what were clearly multiple blazing orange trails leading from somewhere outside the ring's atmosphere, inside...towards where she and Pod happened to awake.
"Pod, what could they be? Do we know their origin?"
The pod clicked and whirred, "We do not. Proposal: Determine the origin, and possible threats that may occur after, during, or before the objects land."
"...Fine. Where did you say they would fall from again? East from here?..." 2B picked up her pace once again and started heading down into the thick forestry below her.
Whatever was happening right now, and wherever she was... she would find a way. She'd find 9S, and she'd get back to YoRHa and Earth. Maybe then, things would make sense again.
"Whatever it takes," she muttered.
"Repeat?" The Pod said as it tried to catch up to her, but the sound of its engine drowned under the crunch of the dead leaves beneath her feet.
"Nothing." She had started jogging now. Nothing was making sense, but at the least, a distraction would serve her better right now. And something about these anomalous falling...whatever they felt important. Maybe not Earth-important, but worth checking out nonetheless.
She heard the crash before anything, a low rumble akin to thunder that rattled the trees. Finding a few large rocks in front of the grove of trees, 2B easily climbed up the stonework until she was perched on the tallest one.
Looking towards the direction of the noise, there seemed to be some smoke billowing up in the air.
"Any details or information regarding whatever landed there, Pod?"
"Scanning complete, readings confirm multiple objects landed here approximately ten seconds ago, although I cannot establish their origin."
2B pondered that, stepping away from the rock and entering a small thicket of bushes and fallen branches.
"Answers aren't as easy as you thought it'd be, huh?" She remarked dryly, thinking of her current circumstance, though the words were more so for her own benefit rather than Pod's, and were of course only answered with silence.
Stuck wandering in the darkness, with no goal in sight. 2B let her gaze linger across the expanse of open fields and dark mountains beyond. Is 9S somewhere out here? Maybe he's already gotten himself into trouble, knowing him.
Her gaze fell back on the small plume of black smoke. A gray cocoon structure was half-buried in the earth, cracks, and scorch marks littering the surface, while wisps of flame continued to lap around its base. She hadn't seen anything like it.
"Proposal: We should investigate the fallen object and the environment surrounding it." The Pod's voice stirred her to attention.
"Shh, it's opening," she said, quickly pulling back the leaves to see better.
Metal hatch-like panels began to pry open, clamping down against the sides of the structure, revealing...
It was a person. A normal, bipedal person, an android maybe. She was not sure of the proper words to describe exactly who they were, as she stared with baited breath. Her chest constricted at the sight and her arms trembled and the strangest, unfamiliar feeling surged through her at the sight of him, of this stranger, standing there, blinking up into the sky, perfectly awake.
With gray fatigues and brownish armor plating his body, and a strange rifle gripped tight to his chest, this 'person' or alien, or whatever...secured the area in a tense standoff for a moment, before waving his hand at the hatch behind him. Three other beings, of different body types and colors, emerged, climbing free from the shell with an astounding amount of caution.
2B leaned forward, keeping herself well covered in the bushes. Could this person, alien, or thing be an enemy? They were obviously capable of space travel, not an android at least...so their allegiance could easily be uncertain. Two other beings jumped out from the ship, walking about the wreckage and observing the surrounding environment. These two wore jumpsuits one red and the other blue, while the first four looked like soldiers of a sort. These two must be technicians, judging from their appearance 2B deduced to herself.
Watching for any sudden movements, the strange group of beings stood atop the landing site surveying everything, speaking, almost in an arguing manner back and forth in hushed tones to each other, until one of the jumpsuits pointed at the metal structure a few meters away.
Their leader gave a curt nod and motioned for the group to proceed in formation. 2B watched as they kept a solid guard around the blue and red jumpsuits as they went to inspect the structure, the four armored troops sweeping the surrounding area.
Crouching forward she maneuvered her way down the side of her observation, clinging low to the earth to avoid being spotted, "Pod." She whispered, "What about the other objects that fell from the sky?"
"The nearest object that has landed is approximately fifteen meters in the opposite direction of the party of lifeforms in front of us. It's possible they too will be investigating that structure, depending on the target's intentions on the current site."
2B surveyed the area around her, wondering if it was a good idea to follow the group to the metal structure and learn more about what was happening. "Did you manage to scan them or gather any information on their origins?" She asked the machine.
"...Processing..." Pod replied, its voice carrying a strange note to it that she couldn't quite discern.
"Barely? Even with our limited technological resources, surely this should've been easy enough for you Pod."
"Multiple attempts have already been made in this Pod's process," 042 whizzed up the machine hovering closer to 2B who kept her gaze still on the party of beings before her, "However findings seem to be... inconclusive. Information and data gathered has led to illogical errors."
"What are you talking about?" She said under her breath.
"The beings we have located, the lifeforms standing a mere two-hundred and three meters, eighty-eight point nine centimeters in front of the both of us right now, share ninety-nine percent similarity to humans."
"...That...can't be...humanity is on the moon, Earth is..."
The small hovering Pod made a strange noise. A low thrum of mechanics clicking and a hard drive spinning, as the tiny mechanical voice echoed through the silence around them.
"To provide more reliable support, further scanning will be necessary. "
"Are you sure they aren't just an Android variant?" 2B knew that even with what they had experienced together over the time she had been alive, she and her Pod still had so much to learn. Especially of what lay beyond Earth and their planet's Moon. There was no saying what might lay dormant beyond even that.
"Unknown. Would unit 2B like me to establish communication with the lifeforms ahead?" Pod asked.
"Absolutely not," 2B glanced back towards the six people making their way away from the damaged object that lay burning in the distance, "We'll follow them. Seems the structure emitting that blue energy is their next location."
"Affirmative."
Slowly following after the group, she crept over the rocks, ducking low in the underbrush to keep from attracting the attention of her targets. Humans? She had never actually seen one up close in person before. Hadn't even considered such a possibility before today. How many had there been on the moon again?...How many were left alive, anyway?
Keeping an adequate, but not conspicuously distant, tail, 2B did her best to keep an eye on the humans. It wasn't long until they arrived, their commander placing a fist in his opposite palm to show authority. A gesture 2B often saw in YoRHa command, and 9S himself whenever the boy had a suggestion he wanted to make heard. She wondered if this man's posture mimicked theirs, or vice versa.
From a small mound of soil a bit a ways away from the structure, another group emerged. Seven more... humans, a mix of soldiers and technicians by the looks of it, clambered out to meet with their fellow soldiers, voices chattering off with no clear, unified direction.
"Hey!" one voice, presumably from a darker-skinned member of the newly formed group, called out to the newcomers, "Stop acting like you all don't know how to set up a fucking perimeter. This isn't a goddamn orientation."
"R-Right sarge," the higher-pitched voice from one of the soldiers quivered, "Sorry about that. Things just... didn't go smoothly on the way down, you know? "
"Oh, well let me get you some tea and crumpets and put a medal on your chest, since that shit must've been tough for you."
2B leaned forward. So they are all part of an army, by the sound of it. A good number of them, by the looks of their formation and their uniforms. If only 9S we're here to analyze them properly. She could get by if pressed, but 9S was the true analyst in her eyes. A good thing, too; as the soldiers kept talking, she wasn't sure she even knew where to start.
"Alert. Incoming transmissions intercepted," Pod announced, causing 2B to start. "Highlighting multiple unknown transmission sources around the current vicinity."
"More 'Humans'?" 2B muttered.
Pod made a noise like a hrm, deep in its gears and processors. It took a few seconds before it could respond."Negative. The signal is not human, nor are they machines. This signal frequency is...different. Irregular."
Just as 2B was about to inquire more, one of the 'Humans' shouted as he pointed upwards into the sky. "Covenant dropships coming in hot! Six o'clock, Sarge!"
Covenant? 2B's brows pinched together, looking up from her cover into the air. Three purple tuning fork-shaped vessels were fastly descending in formation, two of them veering left towards the hillsides, while one flew straight at the humans.
As the strange ships opened fire, the humans took cover around the metal structure, returning fire and setting up defensive formations. What ensued was the sound of rapid gunfire and laser blasts, filling the once-silent hillsides with an array of destruction as the fight broke loose.
"What the hell," she muttered, hiding behind the safety of the rocks.
"Proper analysis suggests these unidentified aircraft do not belong to any known military division nor affiliation of humanity," said Pod, "There is a fifty-three point twelve percent chance of a non-terrestrial faction, perhaps some form of alien lifeform, in possession of those crafts."
"Those...ships," she managed, trying to remember something, anything, from her previous engagements on the battlefield. But there was no entry, nothing like this on record anywhere in her database, not even when 9S spoke endlessly of Earth history, or any other similar facts or trivias that he could recall. These ships and this technology were completely unknown to her. Nothing like she or any Android had ever encountered.
Ending its descent a few hundred meters away from the hillside, one of the strange dropships kicked up the debris around it as its side hatch slid down, releasing a whole party of strange-looking creatures. These aliens were armored and unlike anything 2B had ever encountered before, bipedal, varying sizes and colors. All of them were armed.
A large alien in blue armor shouted something, its distorted voice deep and guttural. The strange group ran past her, moving with purpose as they made their way towards the metal platform the humans had set their attention to.
As the other drop ships also discharged their passengers, the group of 'Humans' found themselves surrounded by the swarm of creatures, 2B taking note that they must outnumber their opposition three-to-one or more.This was war, 2B thought to herself as the group of aliens opened fire upon the 'Humans' hidden behind the structures.
"Unit 2B, should this unit engage the opposing hostile lifeforms ?" Pod inquired, the whirling gears in its mainframe softly humming in anticipation.
"No," 2B held a hand out to the floating object, watching in wonder as the humans were forced out of their positions behind the pillars, "We're not doing anything, we aren't even supposed to be here. This has nothing to do with the Bunker. ...Or us," she finished, feeling the word trail from her lips like lead.
The two groups traded volleys back and forth, the strange-looking beings using a form of weapons, unlike anything 2B or The Bunker knew of. Those she assumed were technicians were left dead on the ground as one of the blue aliens barreled right at their positions, blasting them away and using his shoulder as a weapon against their frames.
Another alien, this one stubby with a large pack on its back, and some type of mask on its face, unleashed some type of blue explosives in the air which landed not too far from an unsuspecting member of the 'Humans 'who had taken to reloading his weapon. In a brilliant blue and white light, 2B witnessed as the force of the explosion sent the poor man hurtling through the air a great distance away from his position, crashing near her position into the ground with a bone-crunching sound.
Stunned, 2B stepped back. Her eyes darted across the body to see his legs, or whatever was left, contorted, one ankle dislocated. His skin was still burning, the smoke that billowed up from his legs mixed with the sickening smell of charred flesh.
Pod didn't hesitate, scanning him quickly. As it processed his anatomy, the sounds of the battle continued around them. 2B crouched, half listening to the analysis, and half attentively surveying her surroundings.
"Conclusion reached: ninety-nine percent possibility of this lifeform being a human, is now one hundred percent certain."
Flying directly in front of 2B, 042 spun itself to meet its android eye to eye, its servos letting out a high-pitched whine as it changed its configuration."Unit 2B, the next course of action is clear. Without direct orders from YoRHa Command, this unit's current logical procedure would be to assist the humans on the battlefield."
"The next logical course of action, huh?" 2B grumbled.
"It is this unit's primary objective to aid any humans with their endeavors, however futile or meaningless."
2B rose. Pod was right, YoRHa's ultimate goal had always been to preserve humanity and assist them at any opportunity. She didn't know how the humans ended up so far from their origin planet, Earth, and what these things attacking them were. The fact of the matter remained, however, that they were still humans and they needed her help.
As 2B stood, readjusting the visor above her eyes, she felt her senses sharpen. There was a numb feeling running through her legs as her pulse quickened. A feeling of helplessness, no, anxiousness, crawled its way through her throat as she grabbed her Virtuous Contract off her back and positioned her stance, staring off into the fighting occurring a mere seventy meters from her, with the Pod already picking the closest hostile life-sign, waiting for its execution order.
"Very well," her monotonous tone lingered for a moment as her fingers danced across the weapon, "Initiate target elimination."
With a burst of motion Android and Pod lunged forwards through the bushes, vaulting over rocks and under deadfall, closing in on the target 2B had mentally picked out. In the corner of her vision, her pod let out a stream of information, ranging from air temperature, trajectory, and the distance and size of the hostile body, everything calculated and broken down for her convenience in real-time.
Blade raised high, her mission to save and preserve humans became her primary function. All else would have to come later.