Chapter 7 Operation Wallclimber
Her Handler seemed a bit more excited today as he announced her next mission.
"This request comes straight from Arquebus headquarters." Handler Walter reported. "They want you to assist with a mission the corporations are calling 'Operation Wallclimber.'"
Operation Wallclimber – Arquebus / Reward 330,000 COAM
"This is V. II Snail, leader of the Vespers' second squad. I will chair the briefing for this mission." The Arquebus representative announced. "This is an operation of my own design, consider it a privilege to be called to participate. You will be attacking The Wall, a key trading outpost fortified by the Rubicon Liberation Front. The rabble have formed a defensive line comprised of artillery and MT squads. Break through the line, then make your way to the top of The Wall. There you shall find the Juggernaut, a mobile heavy artillery platform. Destroy it. V. IV will also be participating in this mission, infiltrating through a separate route." The briefing showed another AC, callsign "V. IV Rusty" using an AC he called "Steel Haze". "However, be aware that Balam has also taken a crack at The Wall, only for their vainglorious hopes to be dashed." There was footage then, showing the tank AC of G4 Volta, destroyed and torn apart within the streets of The Wall. "Do try not to die like a dog out there."
"…" 621 decided to change her missile launcher back to the eight-cell VLS launcher. Other than that it seemed a good enough load out to take on The Wall. With that settled she entered her AC, and initiated the launch procedure.
"Your objective is the take the Liberation Front fortress, The Wall. Show them you're worth the script, 621." Handler Walter advised.
Operation Wallclimber – Arquebus / The Wall – RLF Fortress City – Central Belius / Saturday, Tiberius 10th
/MAIN SYSTEM: ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE
"Commence mission." Handler Walter announced as 621 landed on a plateau overlooking The Wall. "We'll start by clearing the way for Arquebus. Take out the gatling cannons protecting the city and BAWS tetrapod MT further in."
Boosting forward to the edge of the plateau, the battle was already underway. A dozen Arquebus MTs were advancing under heavy fire, into the heavy artillery guns of the RLF. A transport helicopter with a full squad of MTs was shot down by distant heavy artillery, wiping the squad out before they had even fired a shot.
"There's heavy fire coming from up top." Handler Walter warned. "621, keep an eye out for cover."
"You'll never climb The Wall, corporation dogs!" The RLF declared on an open channel. "Coral, abide with Rubicon!"
Staying on the ridgeline to the left of the fortress, 621 stayed in cover until she could jump out across the forward wall, and started targeting the artillery turrets. Since this part of the fortress was still under construction, the artillery turrets were neither large enough nor fast enough to be a concern for her. What was a concern was that the Juggernaut had spotted her, and started raining 1000mm high explosive shells on her position, forcing her to dodge every few seconds.
Crossing across the forward defense line, 621 jumped out on top of the gatling cannon turrets. She fired her dual-mortars into the furthest one, knocking it out, and fired her shotgun point blank into the one directly below herself, taking it out as well. Landing at the front of the city, she turned her sights on a lone MT, and cut it in half with her blade.
"Gatling cannons destroyed. The friendly MT squad will take care of the city." Handler Walter noted. "You take care of the BAWS tetrapod MT, 621."
"…" 621 boosted between the buildings of the city, staying in cover from the numerous coilgun cannons guarding the rear wall. She opportunistically hunted MTs squads when they crossed her path.
"We're under attack! They're in the city!" A female RLF soldier warned.
"It's just one AC…?! Arquebus…they're mocking us?!" Another commented in disbelief.
"…"
The battle had come without warning, tearing into the city with fury and thunder.
Keeping their heads low, J and N were trying to make it to the well defended rear of the city, when they saw the Tarnished Armored Core destroy the gatling cannons at the front.
"J! It's that AC! The one that kills drones!" N shouted out.
"Yeah! I see it!" J sneered.
"We have to go back for Uzi and V!" N deployed his wings frantically, only for J to grab him and force him to the ground.
"Stay down, idiot!" J ordered with actual concern. "This city is a war zone now! Taking off and flying with no IFF is a good way to get shot down by either side!"
"S-So what do we do!?"
"We…we stick to the original plan. Stay close to the ground and hope those coilgun turrets can force the corporate forces back!"
They hadn't taken more than a few steps when a RLF MT was suddenly flung carelessly into the building in front of them, laid out on it's back. The Tarnished AC pounced on it, thrusting it's laser blade through the cockpit block.
It then turned and looked down at them, regarding them.
"…" A pair of Jenson model androids, 621 passively noted. Disassembly Drone type, if she remembered correctly. Even rarer than the Worker type. One male, wearing a trench coat and pilot's cap; and one female, wearing a business suit with her long silver hair tied in pigtails.
"…" Non-mission targets, 621 dismissed before her Handler could chastise again. Leaving the two androids who seemed terribly frightened of her, she boosted forward and wiped out another squad of MTs.
She noticed the wreck of G4 Volta, torn apart and shot-up from coilgun fire, sitting at the edge of the city. Curious, she tapped into his black box, pulling up a video message sent right before he died.
/BEGIN PLAYBACK
"Iguazu, I'm telling you, man, you gotta give Michigan a chance. He's different from the suits at HQ."
"[DATA LOST]"
"Look, I know he's an asshole, but he's looking out for us, you know? Almost like we got a family here, heh."
"[DATA LOST]"
"Man, if there's anyone who deserves punching out, it's the freaks who sent us on this suicide mission. You picked a good day to go AWOL…Wish I…"
/END OF MESSAGE
"…" So, G5 Iguazu had gone rogue? Her Handler would certainly appreciate this information. She knew he liked to moonlight as a data broker.
Regardless, she had targets to eliminate. Arquebus was actually paying her by the kill this time around, so it was worth the effort to kill every valid target. Next on her list were the defense coilgun turrets on the rear wall. Staying low in the cover of the city, she quickly boosted under their guns, then flew up to their level. They weren't able to turn around to defend themselves, so she had no trouble taking her time in wiping out these enemies, and earning her pay.
The Tarnished AC had gone after the rear line of coilgun artillery, slowly destroying them at close range.
"Oh crap!" Uzi approximately cursed. "It's wiping out the artillery!"
"That's bad, right?" V would never admit it, but largescale strategic thinking wasn't part of her programming.
"It means there's going to be little to nothing left defending this city!" Uzi quickly explained. "And it will fall into the hands of the corporates we were warned to stay away from!"
"…That is bad." V agreed. "We'll need to get out of the city…try and find J and N."
"Right, fine." Uzi reluctantly agreed. "Let's stay low and get across to the other side of the city, that's where your squad went."
As they ran, the Tarnished AC finished wiping out the rear line of artillery, and pounced on a heavily armed tetrapod mech more than twice as large as it.
"Forged in ash, we stand as one!" The BAWS tetrapod pilot exclaimed, even as 621 dove on him, firing first with her artillery and missiles. "Die, mercenary!"
"…" This was a different variant of tetrapod, armed with two heavy gatling cannons and a nine-cell rocket launcher on it's back. 621 stayed close to this enemy, outpacing it's weapons. She shot it in the side with her shotgun, causing it to stagger, and roughly kicked it, forcing it back into a corner. It tried to recover, desperately firing back at her, but she fired another pair of artillery rounds at it, and swooped in for a blade attack. Swinging the blade wide, she spun, hitting it twice with super-heated plasma, and cut it in half.
"Corporate…scum!" The RLF pilot cursed as they died.
"BAWS tetrapod MT eliminated. That significantly reduces the threat in the city." Handler Walter noted. "Access the bulkhead and break into The Wall."
"…" 621 complied, taking an indoor path to the roof of the megastructure.
"Frack! That was the last defender down here! The corporates are going to move in next!" Uzi realized.
"Hey, look!" V pointed up the side of The Wall. "I see N and J flying! Looks like they're going for the roof!"
"What?!" Uzi shouted back. "No no! That's where the last artillery cannons are placed! If anything that's exactly where that Tarnished AC is going! They're heading right into another battle!"
"Then we need to warn them!" V deployed her wings. "Climb on!"
"…" Uzi considered this bizarre circumstance. All through the past few weeks, she'd been at the mercy of V, held in her clutches and always a mere moment from death should the taller drone desire it. Now, V was letting her on her back, in a position that left her much more vulnerable if Uzi were to try something.
It was just another fact of how twisted Rubicon was. V was swift and deadly; while Uzi was intelligent, crafty, and an emergency source of food. They didn't have to like each other to understand they needed each other, just to survive. Predator and prey, forced to work together.
Uzi bared her teeth in frustration, as she jumped onto V's back. She then yelped as V flew quickly, up the side of The Wall.
Having scaled The Wall from the inside, and wiping out several more squads of MTs within it, 621 came to a stop as a heavy door to the roof slowly opened, rising a foot at a time.
A dark blue Armored Core, a light weight Nachtreiher model, with a thin, aerodynamic frame and a pointed head with a wide-angle sensor strip, landed in front of her, skidding to a stop.
It was armed with a laser slicer, a two-pronged laser blade that spun like a saw for devastating close-range attacks; and a two-shot burst handgun. On it's back was a VLS plasma missile launcher, and a burst rifle that it could switch out for it's laser blade for long range attacks.
"You must be Raven." V. IV Rusty greeted her. "…One of the infamous Handler Walter's hounds." He turned towards their target.
A five-thousand-ton, fifty-meter-tall mobile fortress on tracks backed away from it's firing position on The Wall. It was armed with four 250mm autocannons, two twelve-cell guided missile launchers, three 1000mm artillery cannons offset on it's right side, and a mine dispenser on the rear. It was also equipped with large thrusters on it's back, allowing it to charge down enemies and crush them. It turned it's large, heavily armored turret into the direction of the two ACs.
"Interesting." Rusty added. 621 wasn't sure if he meant her, or the Juggernaut. "You ready to climb The Wall?"
"…"
The Juggernaut charged them, forcing 621 and Rusty to boost away from each other as it passed at high speed.
"That frontal armor is tough. I wouldn't recommend taking it head on." Rusty advised. "It won't be able to keep up with Steel Haze. I'll distract it while you hit its blind spot."
"…" 621 answered by flanking it, discharging her mortars into it's back. While it's attention was on V. IV, she closed in and hammered it with her arsenal, doing good damage to it's exposed and vulnerable rear.
"That's the stuff!" Rusty praised her, as he continued to antagonize the mobile fortress. "Walter knows how to pick 'em."
"…" 621 kept the pressure up, continuously firing from her mortars, shotgun, and missiles whenever they reloaded and she had a shot, but the Juggernaut would not go down easy. Temporarily disabled, she and Rusty both rushed in, using their blades to do terrible damage to it's rear. The Juggernaut recovered, using it's large thrusters to create distance to try and protect it's weak spot, but 621 and Rusty kept flanking it.
"…This is V. IV. Understood." Rusty was apparently on another radio channel. "Raven, I just got an update from Snail at Command…hmm? What are those?"
"…?" 621 broke off her attack from the Juggernaut to see what Rusty had spotted.
They'd come up over the side of The Wall to see a great battle taking place. The Tarnished AC and a dark blue AC fighting a terrible mountain of steel, a heavily armored mobile artillery platform.
On one side of the roof, sitting above the battle, they could see N and J watching it unfold keeping their heads down with terrified expressions on their faces.
"Over there!" Uzi shouted.
"I see them." V answered. "Just a-ah crap."
V suddenly went limp, and dove headfirst for the roof of The Wall, right into the middle of the battle.
"What the-! V!" Uzi shouted in terror. She grabbed V by the head and pulled back, trying to soften their crash. She'd managed to glide V down to a rough but manageable landing, but was thrown from her back and rolled several feet away.
"Ack! What the heck!? V!?" Uzi pushed herself up, and ran back towards the Murder Drone. V wasn't moving much.
"Ah heh." V gave a pathetic laugh. "Didn't recover enough. Pushed myself a little harder getting up here. Oops."
"Ah crap V!" Uzi lifted the taller girl up, letting V stand on her own legs. Her wings hung low, dragging on the ground behind her. She wouldn't be flying again soon. "We need to move! We're in a really bad spot!"
"…" V stared down at the little Worker carrying her. She felt strange admiration for the purple eyed girl, former prey and current reluctant ally. Looking up, she could see that mountain of steel turning their way, trying to escape the two ACs hounding it. "Just…go Uzi. Get out of here. I'm…just slowing you down."
"Screw that! We're getting off this roof! Then off this rock!" Uzi shouted back. She looked up and saw the situation they were in though, and bared her teeth in a worried, frightened expression. She stopped, seeing as they wouldn't escape the path of the weapons platform.
"Sorry…" V uttered despondently.
"…" With nowhere to go and no hope to be found, Uzi buried her head in V's chest, and held her close. Some tiny bit of comfort as five-thousand tons of metal came barreling down on them at hundreds of miles an hour.
Rusty had apparently spotted two Jenson model androids that had accidentally found themselves in the middle of their battle. Oddly, she recognized the shorter, purple one from when she had felled the Strider.
The taller one was another Disassembly Drone model. Female. With short silver hair and wearing a crop jacket. In fact, it sort of looked just like…
621's beath hitched in dreaded recognition. An impossible coincidence that continued to burn and grow uncontrolled in her mind. Her biometrics alerted her to the irregularities in her own body, how her heart beat faster and faster until it burned painfully in her chest.
Rage and resentment and anguish all coursed through her body, causing her to tremble and ache. She bared her teeth painfully, threatening to snap them from the pressure she was exerting on them.
She saw the Juggernaut move, firing it's thrusters in an attempt to escape and protect its fragile rear. It's direction put it on top of the two little androids, the small purple one, and the one she couldn't stop staring at with unblinkingly wide eyes filling with tears.
For the first time in so long, 621 spoke. Shouted. Prayed. Cursed. Begged. Raged. She let her fury be known, and she moved, acting without thinking, doing the only thing she could.
"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HER!"
There was a terrible crash and a sudden, burning hiss. There was a scream of metal scraping and hydraulics pumping under too much pressure, straining painfully. It was not what being crushed to death sounded or felt like, so Uzi and V looked up.
Standing in the way of the thundering metal mountain, was the Tarnished Armored Core. It's rear thrusters were open wide, shooting white hot jets of plasma as it did the impossible. It didn't just stop the giant machine; it was pushing it back, saving them.
With movements that emphasized rage, the Tarnished AC reached up high with it's right arm, and shoved a massive shotgun into a gap in the mountains armor, between it's base and it's turret, and fired. Once, twice, three times. It staggered the giant, but lost it's weapon as the turret rotated slightly, and crushed the shotgun.
Then the dark blue AC swooped in behind it, and grabbed Uzi and V in it's large left hand. It flew up to the nearest roof, the one opposite N and J, and gently dropped them, safely away from the metal mountain that almost crushed them, and their unexpected savior.
"621, what are you doing!?" Handler Walter shouted.
"…!" 621 couldn't hear him. She only heard her own screaming. She could only see red as she lost all reason. The only thing she wanted to do was to tear this metal abomination apart with her own two hands.
"Raven…" Rusty called out. "I have to go. Enemy reinforcements are inbound, and I have to stop them. But I grabbed those two androids you saved, they're up on this roof. Win this battle now, I know you will." He then disengaged, jumping off The Wall.
"…" She heard enough of what he said as she refocused on her enemy. But there was still rage and resentment flowing through her, and she'd see it spent before she was through. She'd stupidly lost her shotgun, but that was fine. She wanted to take her time tearing this thing apart.
The Juggernaut backed off, creating distance so that it could use it's whole arsenal against her. It fired on her with a volley of artillery cannons mixed with missiles, and 621 charged, between the artillery rounds and through the missiles. She engaged her blade, and thrust it into one of the "arms" of the large machine, removing two of it's large secondary cannons.
It tried to keep it's front to her, to protect it's back. 621 boosted up to it's top, reached down, and grabbed it by one of it's 1000mm cannons.
"What are you planning, 621…?" Handler Walter questioned. He did not fail to notice her out of control biometrics, how unnaturally tense she had become. Let alone what she had said. It had been a very long time since he'd heard her speak.
"…" 621 pulled, using all the strength her Armored Core possessed to tear one of the cannons off the roof of the Juggernaut. She tossed the cannon onto the roof of The Wall, seemingly haphazardly. Jumping off, she fired her mortars and missiles at the back of it, continuing to add up the damage.
Shooting dozens of mines in it's wake, the Juggernaut attempted to protect itself as it struggled against her. But she was swift and terrible in her desire, and would not allow this enemy to escape. Catching one of it's mines before it hit the ground, 621 flung it back at the Juggernauts cockpit, temporarily disorienting the pilot long enough to close the distance again, and use her blade to cut off the other arm with it's secondary cannons.
Landing a distance away from the heavily armored enemy, 621 lined herself up near the edge of the roof and large cannon she had torn off before. In desperation, the Juggernaut tried to run her over at top speed.
Lifting the long, discarded cannon at an angle, 621 forced the Juggernaut to spear itself through the cockpit block. Engaging her own forward thrusters, she used the cannon lodged through it to spin it while it continued to thrust forward, controlling it's direction so that it would drive off the edge of the roof. Letting go of the cannon, 621 turned around, and watched it go over the edge.
It seemed for a split second like the Juggernaut might fly away, it's rear thrusters still burning. Gravity caught up with it quickly enough, and the Juggernaut plowed into the fog filled valley to the rear of The Wall, and disappeared. Nearly a full fifteen seconds later, there was a distant explosion as the Juggernaut hit the ground.
"…Confirmed. Juggernaut destroyed." Handler Walter had been speechless for a moment. "Operation Wallclimber is a success."
"…" 621 breathed heavily, exhausted after exerting herself so much.
"That was risky, 621…don't do that again…" Handler Walter almost sounded worried. "Replacing you and that AC would be more trouble than it's worth. I need you alive, 621."
"…" 621 spared a glance at those two androids she had saved. More specifically, the one that looked like…that had a passing familiarity to…
"…" That's right. It was just a machine. It wasn't her. That wasn't possible. Fucking Laconian scrap…
"Head back to base, 621." Handler Walter ordered. "Rest up. Repair. And please remember to eat something."
"…" 621 obeyed, turning her back on the little machines.
That fight had been incredible. The strength and tenacity of that AC pilot, and their rage and brutality. Their will to stand against the massive machine, to tear it apart and cast it into the abyss…
Uzi had still been holding onto V, and she could feel her hands around herself. Their lives had been forfeit in the face of that beast…and yet it was the Tarnished AC who had come to their aid. The same machine that had cut down so many of her people…
There seemed to be a lot of that going around lately.
Uzi stood with a tired sigh. She couldn't dwell on that too long. She'd lose herself in grief otherwise.
"R-Right…" Uzi considered V, still too exhausted and strained to move. "You need to get your strength back. Here…" Uzi put her arm in front of V's face.
"W-Why are you helping me?!" V accused, uncertain and uncomfortable, as she flinched back from Uzi's offered arm.
Because they were stuck on this death world together. Because she needed her help. Because she could tell that V was honestly a decent and kind drone underneath that weaponized platform that she was. Because N would be sad if his crush died.
Uzi couldn't say any of that, and N had specifically asked to keep that last one a secret, though she doubted V wasn't aware of it anyway. She found another, more selfish reason, that seemed reasonable enough.
"Because if it's not you, then J's going to keep an eye on me, and I have a feeling she'll be more inclined to take whole bites out of me."
"…" V accepted that answer with half disappointment. She didn't want to say it, but Uzi was interesting enough to want to avoid killing. Reluctantly and gently as she could, she took Uzi's arm into her mouth, and bit down, spilling the smaller drone's oil. She kept her eyes closed, avoiding looking at the purple drone.
Uzi winced in pain, but not as much as when she had forced V to take her oil before. With V in control, she was slightly more careful and more mindful with how hard she bit, and how much she took.
They heard N and J fly over and land near them. V stopped drinking and took the time to lick Uzi's wound, using her saliva…yes, these machines also had saliva…to heal the wound. It was another odd detail about the Jenson model androids.
"So, you're not quite dead yet, huh V?" J questioned smugly. "And I see you're enjoying a little snack~"
"…" V stood up, a quiet growl escaping as her eyes twitched in annoyance.
"V!" N shouted, embracing her in a tight hug.
"…" V rolled her eyes in less angry annoyance. After a few seconds, she pushed him off, into Uzi's direction.
"Uzi! I'm so glad you guys are okay!" N hugged her too.
"Yeah! Hey! Maybe let go big guy!?" Uzi begged, kicking at air.
"Oh, sorry…" N sheepishly backed up.
"It's fine…so…what do we do now?" Uzi asked. "We can't come back to this city now that it's under corporate control. There's still a lot of valuable tech at the ship breaking yards. So…should we go back and pick up some of that before we try and find some other place to trade at?"
"Uh…yeah…about that..." N turned his attention to J.
"…" J sighed. "We…don't have the oil reserves to make it back to the ship breaking yards." She admitted.
"Are you kidding me?!" Uzi shouted. "This is all your fault! If we hadn't dragged your useless gold for freaking days and just taken some salvage, then you guys would have had plenty of reserves left and been rolling in money to boot!"
"Well…then it's a good thing we have an emergency reserve~" J purred, baring her fangs. "And since V's already had her fill, I think it's a good time we put you to use-"
"We are not draining Uzi." V stepped forward in front of the smaller drone, towards J. "And I didn't 'fill up' on her, I just took a bit off the top to get moving again."
"…" Uzi had been terribly frightened when J showed her teeth, but V stepping up had been a surprising comfort. Plus, it was the second time she'd used her name.
"R-Right!" N was surprised to be in agreement with the normally vicious V, but agreed that he didn't want to hurt Uzi.
"…Tsk." J hissed in annoyed surprise. Having both of her squad mates against her was new, and not something she appreciated. She considered using her EMP to disable them and just kill the disruptive Worker Drone, but she knew that V was right. It was better to keep it around as an emergency reserve. Plus, she still had some cards to play.
"Fine." J crossed her arms with a huff. "Since we basically have no oil and no money…"
"…" V opened her mouth to say something. She then looked down at Uzi, and reconsidered it, closing her mouth. Uzi did notice that timing, however.
"…there is still one more chance to hit it big. While me and N were hidin-I mean scouting an escape, we overheard some RLF soldiers talking about a place called the BAWS Arsenal No.2 that was recently abandoned."
"Okay…what's so special about this Arsenal?" V wondered.
"Because not only did they buy most of their weapons from BAWS, but that particular Arsenal had a secret agreement selling the RLF Coral." J explained smugly.
It was something they still barely even understood, but now they were suddenly swayed by J's seductive suggestion with that one word. V and Uzi turned to N, looking to confirm if J's statement was accurate, or simply too good to be true.
"…" N quietly nodded his head.
It was enough, and, reluctantly, V and Uzi nodded to her.
"Alright then!" J announced. "Now! To conserve energy, we'll have to walk most of the way there. It's a week to Northern Belius, I expect us to keep a tight schedule!"
Independent Mercenary Hangars – Central Belius
It had been a decently paying job. 400,000 COAM after adding all her kills to the payment. But replacing the shotgun and repairing the AC had been particularly expensive, especially after she had tried to take the Juggernaut head-on and tear it apart piece-by-piece. So she'd only made about 100,000 COAM after expenditures.
That wasn't why 621 was upset though.
"621…" Handler Walter called, listening to his Hound rage in the privacy of her own hangar. He heard the near animalistic, primal rage as she shouted and screamed and pounded her fists into every surface she could find.
"621…" He heard her throw something heavy, the echo of metal resonating in the large, thirty meter by hundred meter tunnel she was alone in.
"621…" He had half a mind to go down there and speak to her sternly, the sight of her Handler might be enough to distract her from her distress. Unfortunately, he was on a spin-station just over a tenth of a light second away, and travel down to Rubicon was illegal by order of the PCA anyway.
"…" 621 remembered something about her deal with her Handler, and found the two buttons he had personally placed on her control collar. Pressing down on them with her thumb and index finger cooled her head, filling it with sweet, blissful nothing. Her body still ached with adrenaline and pain, but at least she could think straight without her emotions getting the better of her. Without any emotion at all.
"…" She looked like shit, Handler Walter noted. Bloodshot and empty eyes filled with tears that had just barely stopped spilling, and one of her fists seeping with her own blood. Her hair was a mess, especially where she'd been grasping at her own head. Undignified given her former rank and former name, but considering the circumstances, he understood. He kept his comments to himself. "We got a message, 621."
/ONE NEW MESSAGE
/SENDER: V. IV Rusty
"We're war buddies now. I think I should tell you something. During Operation Wallclimber…Arquebus was planning to sacrifice you. The plan was to use independent mercenaries to clear the way so that the Vespers could step in and take over. But instead…you took The Wall. The higher-ups are going to remember you now, that's for sure. And…seeing you take the Juggernaut head-on, saving those two little machines that wandered into that battle…I'm going to remember that. Good hunting, Raven."
/END OF MESSAGE
"…" 621 tried not to think about those little machines. Especially the one that looked just like…
"Got a job for you, 621." Hander Walter distracted her, putting her to use like the Hound she was supposed to be. That she wanted to be. "Let's get to work."
Author's Note: Things are changing. Slowly, but there's something different this time around. It's not that 621 can't speak, she just hasn't had a reason to speak. Until now.
With chapter 13 of this story now finished, it's time to get back to DBB. Chapter 18 will probably be the last chapter that I find difficult, but I know for the most part what events will play out. Then...chapter 14 of this story will be something...different. Can't wait to share!
Anyhow, stay tuned mi beratnas, and remember, abide with Rubicon!
EDIT: For some reason, "V. IV", Rusty's number, doesn't save here in FFN if there is no space. Oops.
To undead3: Hey there! If you've gotten to this point, it should be obvious that JCJenson is gone. The how and why will eventually come about, but it has something to do with Laconia. As for chapter two, yeah, Khan probably wasn't the best choice for that compared to Doll, but for the purposes of this story, we don't know much of anything about Doll yet. Plus, my parents read this story, so they don't know about Murder Drones, and introducing Khan as a dick was more important at this time than introducing Doll as a threat. Plus, you've yet to see certain things that might change the dynamics of this story drastically compared to the canon of AC6 or MD. I do hope you'll stick with it and be entertained though. See you then!