Under Dead Light

by Blackout42

Displaced to the forge world of Rubicon III, Worker and Disassembly Drones alike find strife, war, and suffering beyond their limited imagination. As well as a Raven who sold her name, who hides her pain and rage behind a number. (Sequel to Obligation To Keep) WARNING: Rated M for extremely graphic violence and suggestive themes. Cover art by Waker608.

26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 The Ghost and the Darkness

Earth – New Babylon / January 17th, 2735 / Tenth Year of the Three Rebellions War

It could go either way at this point.

On the one hand, the arrival of a certain tier one asset of League origin had completely turned the war around. Every one of their combat sorties ended in critical success, wiping out legions of Foundation troops and dozens of their facilities. Within a few hours, The Foundation would be without their critical data centers, leaving whatever "copies" they had made as the only survivors of their command structure.

On the other hand, The Assembly just stopped issuing it's troops ammo. They were bone dry for the next several days. As such, all troops aligned under The Assembly were pulled back into tight defensive formations, trying to conserve what little ammo they had left.

Alternatively, The Foundation had abandoned any pretense of holding their own territory, and had commenced a full scale attack with everything they had left.

If that was all, it would have been fine. Razor-2 was used to overwhelming odds. Even if she had only one gun, a shield, and two melee weapons, she liked her chances.

What was a problem was the…morale…of some of her allies.

Migrants were one thing. Sometimes a bit stuck up, maybe a little greedy, but mostly good. Mostly they had their heads in the right place. The rest of the volunteer members of The Alliance knew what was up too. They'd fight, even in these shit conditions, because this was a good cause. Home and family and all that jazz.

What was the problem…was ORCA.

ORCA was not a regular military branch. They were not known for bravery, honor, or pride. ORCA was a terrorist organization created by The League to do their dirty work. The only problem was that The League never intended for ORCA to survive, let alone defeat them.

Instead of bravery, honor, or pride, ORCA was known for savagery, fanaticism, and suicidal insanity. And as the lapdogs of The Assembly, they were treated like the rabid animals that they were, and used to sow chaos on the battlefield.

"When we hunt, we kill!" Members of the 96th ORCA Infantry Division shouted into their radios, as the lead elements of The Foundation's troops made contact with the outer defenses of the city. "No one is safe! Nothing is sacred!"

ORCA did not recruit from the general population. They exclusively recruited criminals, rebels, and terrorist into their ranks. Broke their hearts and minds until there was nothing left but a desire to kill the enemy, even at the cost of their own lives. Terrible and dehumanizing and cruel…but surprisingly effective. It was why crime was so low in the areas controlled by The Assembly. Obey the law of the old machines…or be forcibly drafted into ORCA, a death sentence in all but name.

"We are ORCA! We are the last line of defense!"

"…" Razor-2 could only watch sickly as ORCA infantry attacked The Foundation's front line troops. Except that they didn't have rifles or guns, not that there was ammo to spare for them. The ORCA infantry attacked tanks using lunge mines, a literal bomb on a stick.

They were being cut down in droves, but some got through, and delivered their deadly weapons into the tracks of enemy tanks, or the joints of enemy Muscle Tracers.

"We will burn our own to hold the red line! It is the last line to ever hold!"

Even as the division was wiped out in minutes, they did their job, and crippled hundreds of Foundation vehicles.

"…" There was a time once, when Razor-2 wanted to join ORCA. She'd heard the stories, how valiant and brave ORCA had been to defeat The League, how it had come down to so very few. Thirteen soldiers of ORCA and The Assembly, and nine million screaming civilians, who made it past all the obstacles The League had placed in their way, and finally freed the world from ultimate tyranny and the insanity of Pax Economica.

Now though, watching men and women willing throw their lives away in such a cruel and savage way…

Razor-2 was thankful that her father had beaten that notion out of her.

---

Rubicon III – Landing Site - Central Ice Field / Thursday, Claudius 6th, 3175

/ALERT

/AMMO AT 30%

Once again, 621 held the line. Standing alone in an ice blasted wasteland as the enemy bore down on her.

Different planet. Same shit.

"By order of the PCA, with the authority mandated to us by The Sol Alliance, we demand that you stand down, mercenary, and allow us to carry out the execution of all Jenson model androids, immediately."

"…" Fuck that.

Unfortunately, the PCA had called two "Code 54D's" and one plain "Code 54." It didn't take too much imagination to figure out who they were talking about, but 621 was still surprised at how insistent the PCA were to carry out their legally justified execution of Stray Squad.

And no, she did not think that the objections of a former Admiral of Sol would change their minds.

As such, they were currently stuck in a stalemate. The PCA rightly recognized her as a threat, and were not willing to throw away men and resources carelessly to carry out their demands. But neither would they let a "Code 54" and two "Code 54D's" escape. So, she had four LCs cautiously glued to her ass, on a constant but reluctant advance just outside of her effective weapons range.

Fortunately, the PCA were busy invading both the Central Ice Fields and the Belius continent, so it seemed that this squad was all that could be spared to deal with her at the moment.

If she tried to attack them, then one of those LCs could slip away and wipe out Stray Squad. And if they attacked, then she might just kill them all. No one would get what they wanted. So she kept having to back up, giving ground for time, and currently without a fall back position to retreat towards, and with no backup to rely upon.

The only "base of operations" they had was the train car crashed in the middle of an ice sheet. While she held the line, she'd given her orders to Stray Squad about what to do.

Scorched Earth.

It was a completely indefensible position; in the middle of nowhere and crashed awkwardly nose first in the ice. Better to grab what they could and destroy it, leaving nothing for the PCA, than to attempt to make any use of it.

She just had to hope that Handler Walter pulled through and got them something, some base or fallback position, and the hope that they could be reinforced.

. . .

"Come on guys, hurry up!" Uzi begged as she rigged the reserve ammo into an improvised bomb. "Don't forget to grab some of my tools!"

"B-But Raven said to focus on the survival supplies!?" N shouted as he searched for the those said supplies and oil for himself and V.

"Yeah of course!" Uzi nodded furiously. "But if her AC breaks down, we'll have to do emergency repairs out in the field!"

"I got it Uzi!" V assured her. "Just keep rigging that bomb there!"

"Okay!" Uzi shouted back. "Walter, we really need that escape route!"

"…-a facility- -south of- -five hundred- '' Handler Walter was being cut off by heavy electronic warfare jamming the PCA were deploying.

"I don't understand! Please just send us a position before we lose connection!" Uzi demanded.

"Okay! We've got all that we can carry! Uzi! Let's go!" V demanded.

"Just a sec…there! All done! Setting a timer for two minutes!" Uzi announced. She ran after V and N, grabbing a heavy bag of supplies that they had thrown together, and exited the crashed train car.

621 was waiting for them in her AC, holding off the LCs with threat of violence alone.

"Code 54D sighted. Prepare to engage." The lead LC announced, slowly urging his squad forward. 621 discouraged them with a missile volley, getting them to pull back and hunker down, to avoid taking unnecessary damage.

"…-survive, 621." Handler Walter ordered as their line was cut by jamming.

Dammit. "Stray Squad, switch to laser comms, enemy ECM is disabling the radios. Maintain line-of-sight to stay in contact."

"C-Copy!" Stray Squad quickly switched their radios over to laser mode, allowing them uninterrupted communication in spite of the heavy jamming.

"Raven…do we have an objective?" Uzi requested worriedly. "Some place to go?"

"…" 621 almost gave Uzi bad news, when her map updated with a location. Some facility five hundred kilometers south across the ice. She had no idea what was there, but Handler Walter said march, so she went forth without question. "We're matching south, five hundred kilometers to a facility highlighted by Handler Walter. We'll await instructions from there."

"So, we're just going to march with a PCA death squad breathing down our necks?" V hesitantly asked.

"My directives are to follow Handler Walters orders, and protecting you three. I cannot confidently destroy the tailing PCA patrol with the munitions I have left, while keeping you all alive. Seems we'll be having unwelcome company for a while."

"Oh…oh…" N sighed. He picked Uzi up and together with V, sat on the forward slope of 621's AC, with the PCA still on their tail. The train car exploded, destroying most of their supplies that they had brought over from Grid 086.

---

After coasting across the desolate ice fields for an hour, the corpse sun started getting low on the horizon, the sky going from red, to dark.

"Stray Squad, dismount." 621 ordered. "We'll make camp here for the night."

"H-Here? With the PCA watching us?" Uzi hesitated, looking north up the ice hesitantly. The PCA squad was only a half kilometer away, staring them down.

"We all need sleep…Uzi." 621 advised calmly. "They're out here on their own the same as us. They're going to try and walk us to death, waiting until I falter before trying to kill you. But in order to do that, they'll have to rest as well."

"That just sounds like we're choosing a slow death." V complained. "I'd rather fight."

"Believe me, I would rather fight too." 621 agreed. "But right now, they don't know how low on ammo I am, that they could swoop right in right now and kill us all. Retreat…is our only option."

There was a very annoyed tone in 621's voice. Something about this situation that was more of an inconvenience for her, as opposed to the dire circumstance that it should have been.

"I'll take first watch. Get some sleep, Stray Squad." 621 advised. "Don't get too comfy, we may need to pack up quickly. It's going to be a long couple of days."

"Right…" N nodded weakly. He pulled out a sleeping bag and thermal pad from their supplies, and set it down in one of the footprints from 621's AC, the depression giving them some cover from the wind. V pulled out a container of oil, drinking some and making sure N got some too. They didn't pull out anything else at the time, since it was just the Drones who were sleeping at the moment.

"Raven…we'll be okay, right?" Uzi asked worriedly.

"…My current mission is to keep you three alive. I won't accept failure."

It was probably the best answer they were going to get out of 621.

V picked up Uzi, who kicked pathetically in her grasp as she was dragged into the sleeping bag, with N slipping in next to them, doing all they could to fight the bitter cold.

621's AC entered a low powered mode, conserving energy while she kept the sensors online and locked onto the distant PCA patrol. With the whine of her reactor going quiet, the sound of the wind picked up, howling it's empty and hollow song.

As the corpse sun dropped below the horizon, the red clouds lost their glow, as the hauntingly dark night loomed over their heads, with not a single star to shine down on them.

---

Central Ice Fields / Friday, Claudius 7th

They hadn't wanted to get up so damn early, not when it had been so warm in each other's arms.

As it was, the PCA patrol was up at the crack of dawn, and forced them to move as well, back on their escape route towards whatever it was Handler Walter had pointed out.

While Uzi held onto the forward slope of 621's AC, N kept one hand on her back, holding her steady, while he kept his eyes on 621's back, making sure the PCA patrol didn't get any bright ideas, and maintained their distance.

V was working hard, flying up high every few kilometers, getting a lay of the land, and making sure they didn't get trapped by a glacier. The careful and tedious path they took would take them another day before they made it to that mysterious location. Having plotted the next few kilometers they would take, V landed on the other slope of 621's AC, holding on as she conserved her own power.

"This can all end, mercenary." The LC leader announced on an open channel. "Just hand over the Drones and we'll let you live."

"…"

"What's your plan here, mercenary?" The LC leader wondered. "Wander the ice aimlessly for a few days, and hope we lose interest?"

"…"

"You are carrying priority subjects for termination. Two Code 54Ds and a Code 54. Sol demands their deaths for a good reason, mercenary."

"…"

"You cannot defy the PCA, mercenary. We are the rightful protectors of Rubicon, and it's only legitimate authority."

"…" 621's silence did little to ease Stray Squad's minds. While 621's word had proven to be reliable so far, there was still that question of which did she value more. The so called "honor" she felt to keep them safe, or the demands of her homeworld, to carry out "justice" as they saw fit.

Uzi hid herself flat across the forward slope of 621's AC, trying to hide from the four PCA mechs trying to kill them.

---

That Evening

621 stamped out another depression in the snow, some minimal shelter for Stray Squad to settle down in. The PCA squad also set up camp, just a half kilometer away. They'd made good progress, but were still a day away from the objective they were supposedly after.

Getting their sleep supplies and oil ration, N and V prepared to go to bed.

"Hey…Raven…?" Uzi looked up to the AC hesitantly. It was weird talking to the big machine. It was perhaps the longest she'd gone without seeing her master in weeks. "Thanks for letting me sleep in yesterday, but uh, I can take first watch if you need?"

"…What?" V looked at her oddly. "I thought…I thought you guys let me sleep in…?"

"Wait…Raven…?" N looked up at the AC worriedly. "Have you been awake this whole time?"

"…" 621 grunted.

"Raven!" Uzi shouted worriedly. "You need to rest! You're only human! So, like, you need sleep even more than us!"

"Shut the fuck up." 621 hissed back, probably more harshly than she intended. "Do you want the PCA to hear you?" She sighed, and spoke more softly. "There were times back in the Navy where we'd have to go on a hard burn for days at a time. Days that we were weighted down with five to ten Gs, pumped full of so much gravity drugs it made us sick. Pulling maneuvers so hard that some of us didn't make it…and we'd have to carry on, with our shipmates stroking out in the seat next to us, unable to do a god damn thing."

"R-Raven I-" Uzi wasn't sure how to respond. Hurt at being rebuffed so coldly, sympathetic to the shit 621 had gone through…or worried about what 621 was currently doing to herself.

"I know my limits. I'm fine." 621 stressed. She settled as comfortably as she could, staring down the distant PCA patrol while she protected her Strays.

V picked up Uzi and held her close, and the smaller machine was too tired to resist. They all hated 621's answer but were unable to do anything about it. She settled down with Uzi tucked in between herself and N.

V really hated that black, starless sky above their heads.

---

Saturday, Claudius 8th

Uzi thought she might start to lose her mind.

It was bad enough having to just sit around, with nothing to do but count innumerous glaciers and guess the scale of vast ice sheets. That was already tortuous for her hyperactive little head.

However, the constant threats from the PCA death squad tailing them was really driving her over the edge.

"We can do this all week, mercenary. We have the supplies to last us. Do you?"

It was one thing, getting hunted by Murder Drones on Copper IX. Arrogant and cruel, sure, but the Murder Drones at least had believable reasoning for their kills; culling rouge AI that no longer served their creators, and other than J, they didn't try debating them or convincing them that they needed to be killed. The PCA however, demanded the destruction of all Jenson model androids, Worker and Disassembly alike, as per the demands of distant Sol, and all because of a war they had no prior knowledge of.

"The will of Sol cannot be defied. The PCA have been entrusted to bring justice and order to Rubicon."

V was up on another scouting patrol, while N had his eyes glued on the PCA squad, and 621 was busy controlling the AC. Even with her friends nearby, there was nothing to do, nothing to distract Uzi from the mind-numbing boredom, or the constant death threats from the trailing enemy.

"Just abandon the drones, mercenary, and we will terminate them as efficiently as possible." The LC leader demanded. "You do not want to be responsible for another world going void, do you?"

"…?" What was he imply-

"Shut up!" Uzi stood up and shouted back, making herself seen and heard by the PCA squad. "Just shut up! I don't know why you're so obsessed with killing me or my friends, but we are not just objects to be disposed of! We're living, thinking machines! So fuck off and leave us alone!"

Uzi hadn't meant to activate her Solver, but she did, in a moment of frustration and annoyance, as she shook her fists above her head with her eyes closed. With no target to focus on, her power selected a random object in line-of-sight, and tore it apart.

Part of the glacier above the PCA squad exploded outward in a plume of ice shards. Unfortunately, the PCA squad was already on high alert, and quickly noticed the chunks of ice falling on them. They used the quick-boosters on their LCs to jump back and away from the avalanche.

"Woah…Raven…" N hadn't seen what Uzi had done, all he saw was the exploding glacier and the PCA retreat slightly.

"Raven, there was…an unusual energy surge…" Ayre reported confused. "Was that Uzi?"

"…" 621 stopped, and looked back. She also hadn't seen what Uzi had done, but she could see the PCA reassessing the situation, looking between the avalanche, and her…no…not her. The PCA were refocusing on Uzi.

"Uzi…what have you done…?" 621 demanded darkly.

"…Eh…?" Uzi squeaked meekly, hunching down in embarrassment and worry.

"…Code 54A, confirmed." The PCA squad leader announced hatefully and sternly. "All units, destroy that target at all costs."

The PCA squad took off, abandoning all pretense of trying to preserve even their own lives. The only thing that mattered to them was destroying the small purple-haired android girl, and rending her to oblivion.

"Ah…fuck…" 621 hissed. "N, get Uzi out of here! I'll try to hold them off!"

"R-Right!" N quickly dashed across the forward slope of 621's AC, and grabbed Uzi. As soon as he had hands on her, 621 took off, intercepting the PCA patrol.

"Raven!" Uzi cried worriedly. She watched from over N's shoulder as 621 intercepted some of the PCA unit.

"You two! Deal with the mercenary!" The LC leader demanded. "The destruction of that drone takes top priority!"

"Roger!" Two of the LCs broke off and attacked 621, while the leader and his wingman pursued N and Uzi.

"N! Uzi!" V dropped down near them while they were flying away. "What the fuck happened?!"

"I-I don't know!" N panicked. "The PCA just decided to try and kills us all!"

V and N had to dodge as the LC leader fired a heavy rifle between them, the whiz of high caliber rounds screamed by.

"V, you take Uzi!" N suggested desperately.

"W-What?! Why!?" V shouted back.

"Because you're much faster than me! I don't know why, but they're hunting Uzi specifically!" N explained quickly. "I'll try and draw off one of those LCs for you!"

"What! No N! Don't risk your life for me like that!" Uzi argued back.

"…Alright! Give her to me!" V agreed with N, and swooped in to snatch Uzi from him. Left without a choice in the matter, Uzi clung desperately to V.

"N! You come back to us alive, you hear me dammit!?" Uzi demanded.

"I will!" N assured them. He then separated from them, flying up high to allow the PCA squad to pass, before swooping back down and firing a missile at the trailing LC.

"Taking fire from a Disassembly Drone. Negligible damage sustained." The second LC pilot reported.

"Break off and pursue. Destroy the Laconian scrap." The PCA leader ordered. "I'll deal with the infected Drone myself."

With just the one LC riding her tail, V tried to evade, flapping her wings desperately for speed, and dodging around the corners of glaciers as tightly as she could. But the LC was just as swift and maneuverable, doing it's best to keep pace. Despite being a twenty-meter-tall war machine, the LC was designed for extended aerial engagements, so encountered little trouble.

Uzi winced as she heard the heavy rifle rounds passing by so closely to them. Large caliber rounds that would easily obliterate their fragile forms. She held on tightly to V, desperately hoping she could evade the LC.

Instead of aiming center of mass, the LC pilot took an easier shot, and nailed V in one of her wide wings, destroying several of her blade like feathers.

"Fuck!" V nearly lost control, and had to half retract her wings to maintain stability and not spin out. This unfortunately had the effect of losing most of her lift and maneuverability, and forced her to drop down and not crash uncontrolled.

Holding Uzi close to her chest, V glided down to a controlled landing on a wide ice sheet, her peg legs skidding to a stop. Behind them, the PCA LC also slowed down, landing on the ice as it loomed over the two android girls.

V glared up at the LC, as Uzi shook in her grasp. They looked up to the massive machine warily and hatefully.

"Time to die, Laconian scum."

---

/WARNING

/AMMO AT 10%

Hemorrhaging ammo just to survive, 621 held the line, distracting two of the PCA LCs. It had taken most of her remaining munitions just to wear down one of them.

She questioned her own impulsive purchases, choosing the "explosive thrower" over any kind of laser blade. It was certainly a powerful weapon, but it's ammo limit meant she only had four uses with it left.

Firing one of her few missile volleys left, 621 got close and finished the LC off with the third to last volley of her heavy machine gun burst.

"Dammit!" The LC pilot cried out before they died. "Finish the mission! Protect Rubicon!"

"You'll pay for that, mercenary." The other LC pilot promised darkly. "They'll be no escape for you now."

"…" 621 would have to get close, to make every shot count. Her machine gun loading it's second to last barrel, she charged in close, firing a missile volley along the way, flanking the LC in the opposite direction, getting the missiles to hit. She opened up with her machine gun, chewing up the LC's armor.

The LC pilot evaded, backing off to create distance. So 621 swung out with her left arm, flinging a wave of sub-munitions into the LC's face. Left staggered, the LC was vulnerable for a moment, so 621 fired at it her double mortar, leaving just two heavy shells left in that weapon.

"Tsk…" 621 hissed as the LC recovered, barely intact. It returned fire with it's own heavy rifle, which 621 barely dodged between, as she closed the distance.

Getting in close, she stunned it again with her explosive thrower, then kicked the LC to death for good measure.

"N-No! Mercenary! Listen to me!" The LC pilot begged as they exploded. "You cannot suffer the drones to live!"

"…" 621 hissed, ignoring the warning. She immediately took off, after her Strays, hoping they could fight back just long enough.

---

Just as the LC leader aimed down at her, V surged forward, under their gun. With one hand holding Uzi close to her, she popped out her laser cannon, and dove between the tall legs of the LC.

Doing anything to harm the LC, V fired into the LC's ankle joint with her laser, and even stabbed it with her tail for good measure. She had to keep moving though, as the LC lifted it's feet and tried to stomp her to death.

"Hold still! You damn dirty rat!" The LC leader cursed, and fired their heavy rifle at point blank range into the ice, trying to hit V and Uzi. The large cannon going off directly in their faces, even if it missed by a mile, was still terribly disorienting for them, and threw up shards of pulverized ice and snow that nearly blinded them.

"V! Look out!" Uzi warned, a moment too late. The LC kicked V clear of it's legs, where she rolled herself to protect Uzi.

"Ow, dammit!" V shook off the disorientation from being kicked, as the LC reacquired them. She felt that enough time had passed for her wing to have healed, so she spread them, prepared to fly again. "Hold on Uzi! I'll get us-" Then a terribly sharp pain shot up V's back, and caused her wings to seize up, unresponsive. "F-Fuck!" She cried.

"V!? What's wrong!?" Uzi shouted. "We need to move V!"

"…!" V bared her teeth painfully, and kept Uzi close as she hunched over the little machine girl. The LC lifted it's foot, and tried to crush them.

Even with her back burning in unfamiliar pain, V was still quick enough to leap away from the LC's foot, rolling to keep herself from landing on top of Uzi. She had to leap again as the LC came down on them with it's other foot.

V suspected, however, that the LC pilot wasn't going to let them get away with that a second time, and so had only jumped with half as much force. That saved her and Uzi's life as the LC pilot had lined up their heavy rifle, and shot the ground where he had expected V would jump towards.

Even not being stuck by the heavy caliber round, the muzzle blast from the ejected gasses still struck them hard, because of how close the gun had been to them when it fired. The force of this blast ended up sending V and Uzi several meters away from the LC, landing roughly and terribly disoriented.

Uzi's audio receptors were ringing, having been momentarily overwhelmed by having a cannon go off just feet from her head. She laid flat on her back for just a moment, seeing the LC turn it's head and glare down at her. She felt V pull her up into her lap, the bigger machine girl also disoriented and unsteady, fighting for every second of their continued existence. V tugged on Uzi desperately, trying to inch them away from the LC.

The LC pilot did not hesitate to raise their rifle, looking to take out both targets with a single shot-

"Don't touch my friends!"

N came screaming down on the head of the LC, and fired his pulse-wave laser directly into several of the beady red eyes of it's sensor suite, half blinding the machine. He then stabbed and tore at the exposed cables connecting it's head to it's chassis with his claws, trying desperately to decapitate the LC.

In response, the LC tried to shake him off, as it used it's free arm to grasp at him. N tried to shift away, higher on the LC's neck, but the LC snagged him by the leg.

N screamed as the massive mechanical fist crushed his leg, then flung him down to the ice, near Uzi and V.

"N!" Both android girls cried out as N slowly crawled towards them. He eyed the LC fearfully and wearily, knowing he and his friends were at their mercy, and knowing the PCA held no such kindness for them.

The LC that had been chasing N touched down and landed near the LC leader, and readied it's weapons.

"Finish off the Laconian scrap at once!" The LC leader demanded, as he and his partner locked on to Stray Squad.

Uzi reached out and grabbed her friends, certain that they would all die, out on this desolate ice sheet, under the guns of the PCA.

Something went wrong then. Something unexpected. Something far worse.

The ice sheet under them cracked loudly, buckling under the weight of the LCs. Then something burst from under the ice. Smaller than the LCs, but not by much, with a long and slender serpentine shape. It was covered in panels of thick armor, smooth and black.

The battle between the LCs and Stray Squad had awoken this ancient relic, this nightmare from a long-forgotten war.

It screamed, letting it's hunger be known.

"[XIXIXIXOXOXO]"

That loud and terrorizing scream, a mechanical wail of an unnatural predator, heralded the death of the second LC, as a large machine broke through the ice, and leapt towards it's prey with talons splayed open. The second LC was forced to the ground by the unknown predator.

"C-Commander-!" The LC pilot was killed as the machine predator grasped his cockpit block in it's claws, and crushed it.

"What!? C-Code 55!" The LC leader turned around in shock, trying to shoot the large machine off his slain ally. The rounds of his heavy rifle bounced off the sloped armor of the terrible machine, and doing so put his back to the hole in the ice…

"[XEXEXEXEXUXUXUXU]"

…And the second predator.

Another machine, just as large and insatiable as the first, jumped from the hole in the ice and pounced on the back of the LC leader, and dragged him to the ground. It seemed to know what it was doing, as it forced open the cockpit with it's talons, and violently wrenched the pilot from his seat.

In full view of the three little androids, the giant robot dinosaur slammed the PCA pilot against the ice, and stomped on them, grinding it's heel on their brutalized corpse.

"[XIXIXIXIXAXAXAXA]" The machine laughed, screaming so loud that Uzi, N, and V covered their audio receptors, clutching their heads in pain.

Then, the long snouts of both terrible machines turned to regard them, staring down at them with long rows of bright red eyes filled with hate and cruelty.

Scavengers.

The two Scavengers quickly surrounded Stray Squad, circling them hungrily. They lowered themselves to the ground, their dozens of eyes leveled with the little androids, staring them down. V and N could only stand up, trying to oppose the cruel machines, as they kept Uzi between them.

The primal terror the two Scavengers instilled in them caused V and N to behave like predators as well, as they spread their wings to make themselves look bigger, and bared their fangs in hate filled grimaces, as they matched the two circling Scavengers with their claws out.

"G-Guys…" Uzi stuttered, with a hand on both N and V's backs, keeping them close as those two massive machines glared down at them, laughing at them. For N and V, it was a complete reversal of their roles. Once the greatest predators of Copper IX, reduced to hapless playthings for these two terrible machines.

"[XUXUXUXUXAXAXAXAXA]" The Scavengers screamed down at Stray Squad, causing them to wince in pain. The sound seemed engineered to cause as much discomfort and distress when facing down these sleek and unnatural machine predators.

Done playing with their prey, one of the Scavengers reared back, and tried to stomp down on them.

"Look out!" Uzi shouted, then felt as N and V grabbed her, jumping away from the long talons that threatened to cut through them. The other Scavenger turned sharply, flinging it's razor sharp tail towards the trio.

"Get down!" V pushed N and Uzi down, ducking under the long, whip like tail lined in cutting blades.

"Let's go!" N suggested, as he grabbed Uzi and V, and spread his wings. He managed to get above the Scavengers, and would have gotten away…

If not for the plasma cannons in each "wing" of the large predator machines, which fired after N, and struck one of his wings.

"Oww! No no no!" N panicked as one of his wings was reduced to slag, and crash landed with V and Uzi. Behind them, the Scavengers slowly stalked their prey, ready to finish them off.

The sound of heavy machine gun fire caught their attention, as large caliber rounds pinged off the sides of the Scavengers, followed by a volley of missiles exploding across their backs. Surprised, the two Scavengers backed up, turning towards the source of the incoming fire while staying low, using their sloped armor to bounce the bullets off their bodies for minimal damage.

621 came down swiftly on Stray Squad in her AC, and scooped them all up in her left hand. With the three androids secured, she flung her arm out, and fired a wave of submunitions from her explosive thrower, further discouraging the Scavengers.

"Raven!" Stray Squad shouted hopefully, as they held on desperately to her large hand. However, instead of staying to engage the Scavengers, she fired several more shots at them to discourage them, ultimately ejecting her second to last barrel for the machine gun. Then she immediately turned around, back on track for that distant objective, trying to lose the Scavengers as quickly as possible with her assault-booster wide open.

"[XEXEXEXEXUXUXUXU]" The Scavengers growled in annoyance at loosing their prey, but were undeterred by the appearance of the AC. Instead, one of the Scavengers activated it's own thrusters, cautiously following the AC. Meanwhile, the other Scavenger started ripping into one of the LC wrecks, looking for something.

The hunt was on.

---

Abandoned Facility – Central Ice Fields

Considering everything they had seen on Rubicon up to this point, the abandoned facility was tiny. A couple of buildings of some work site, a few hundred meters away from a bunker-like complex in the side of a very small mountain. Actually, the front door wasn't much bigger than Uzi's colony back on Copper IX.

It was just big enough to accommodate the AC, as 621 came in for a landing along the long corridor leading further into the underground part of the facility.

"Raven!? Why are you stopping!?" Uzi questioned worriedly.

"…We're good for now." 621 assured them, even though they could still see a lone Scavenger standing with a hunched gait near the entrance of the bunker, staring them down. "Scavengers won't fight underground. They like wide open spaces and cover, not long corridors with nowhere to hide or flank. We're safe for now."

"So, that's a Scavenger…" N realized, looking back at the massive robot dinosaur swaying hypnotically outside, toying with them still.

"[XIXIXIXOXOXO]" The Scavenger screamed, but backed off. It slowly settled into a patrol, as it investigated the outside portions of the facility, but did not move far off, as it was unwilling to let it's prey escape.

V winced as the Scavenger screamed, and held her head in pain. "Why is it so loud!?"

"Psychological warfare." 621 explained briefly. "Scavengers are brutal predators that are designed to use fear and terror to break their enemies will, before they've even engaged them."

"Hateful machines." Ayre whispered, singing another of her sad songs. "Predators built for cruelty, with terrible animosity for all forms of life. Insatiable in their desire to spread suffering in all of it's forms. Made, perhaps, in his image…"

"But…you've fought them before, right?" Uzi suspected. "So you know how to kill them?"

"…It's not an easy thing, killing those things." 621 added. "Their armor is highly resistant to kinetic and explosive weapons. And given the depleted state of my ammo…let's just clear this facility for now. One thing at a time."

Further down the entrance corridor, dropping down to an underground section, it opened into a large garage storage area for construction vehicles. It also split off into several smaller rooms and corridors, meaning this was where 621 had to park the AC.

"…" 621 sighed as she deactivated the AC. It had been days since she'd started this combat sortie, and it took her a moment to stretch and get out of it. Lacking a proper hangar, she was forced to use a wire to lower herself to the ground. Even then, she almost stumbled after her first step, from a combination of exhaustion and stiffness.

"Whoa…Raven you uh…" Uzi hesitated. "You don't look so good."

"…" 621 grunted. She needed a shower. "Stack up Stray Squad, we're going to clear this facility, then assess our supplies."

"Copy!" Uzi, N, and V answered, getting behind 621 as she led them deeper into the underground area. There wasn't much to find, mostly a couple of empty rooms that had once stored something or another. One room had old welding supplies, and another had a hole in the roof, letting in the light of the setting sun and those bright, golden clouds. Lastly at the end of the facility, there was a large open doorway that led outside, to some lower level not currently occupied by a Scavenger.

That wasn't any particular help, since there was nowhere to go, and they couldn't leave the AC. Also, if they got out far enough and the Scavengers spotted them, then they'd pounce and tear them limb from limb anyway.

"Right, we'll make camp in here." 621 pointed to the room with a hole in the roof. "But first, show me what supplies you pulled."

Getting back to the garage, 621 had her Strays lay out what supplies they had taken days before, so that she could take inventory of what was available.

"…" 621 sighed loudly and slowly. That was Stray Squad's first indication that they had messed up. "So…I see you got sleeping pads and heating supplies, so at the very least we won't freeze to death, and you made sure to grab your own oil supplies, at least for another day or two. However, you managed to forget food and water for me, as well as any meds I might have needed."

"R-Raven…I'm sorry, I didn't think-" V started to apologize.

"No, I uh…I just grabbed the first thing I saw-" N added.

"Wait…I told them what they should be grabbing. I…kinda forgot that you're human." Uzi meekly bowed her head.

"Oh shut up." 621 rubbed her temples tiredly. "I still have some rations I can stretch. Another day or two. Just…" She trailed off, wincing. "…Uzi, go start maintaining the AC. Just fix what you can, I know we don't have spare parts or anything."

"Uh, copy." Uzi nodded along quietly.

"N, V, you two alternate between keeping an eye on those Scavengers, or helping Uzi."

"Yes ma'am." N and V answered sadly.

"I'm going to try and get some sleep. Get me if anything changes." 621 stormed off, silently agitated.

There was a reason for her annoyance with her little squad. It hurt when she peed.

---

Sunday, Claudius 9th

There was no position that had been comfortable enough to sleep well. Between her bladder and her stiff back, 621 slept restlessly, and woke up in pain.

Enough time had passed so that at least her head as no longer killing her, so 621 got up. Since the facility lacked a bathroom, she wandered over to an unused room and did her business.

"…Uhhh…." 621 groaned in pain. "…Ah…yep. That's blood." She grimaced, annoyed and disgusted.

Slowly and carefully making her way back to the garage, she found Uzi and N lingering near the AC, that had most of it's maintenance panels open and some hoses and wires pulled out.

"Oh, Raven." N quickly stepped over towards her. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Ehhh…." 621 groaned, shrugging. "Tell me what you got, Uzi."

"It could be a lot better." Uzi frowned. "Pretty much everything is much worse than I would have preferred, but not so much that we can't throw it out into another sortie. Still, I'd like to take care of a few things before I put it back together."

"Do it later." 621 demanded. "You've clearly been at that all night, and it's not like we are going anywhere with those two Scavengers stalking us. Get some rest while you can. I'm going to relieve V."

"Oh…alright. Thanks Raven." Uzi nodded tiredly towards the older woman.

"…Uh, Raven…?" N spoke up. "I was counting the munitions you have left, and it's not good. Forty 80mm rounds for the machine gun, two 200mm mortars, ten missiles, and a single volley of fifty submunitions for the explosive thrower. Is that enough ordnance to kill the Scavengers?"

"No." 621 answered simply. "Go get some rest."

"…Yes Raven." N walked away from the Hound, filled with conflicting emotions.

621 slowly made her way up along a smaller corridor parallel to the main entrance, finding V watching the front entrance to the facility from an open doorway, from inside what appeared to be a breakroom.

"Oh, Raven!" V greeted her anxiously. "Did you sleep well?"

"No." 621 answered with the same enthusiasm she'd given N. "How are our two stalkers?"

"Well, the Darkness eventually caught up to us during the night, then they both went to the edge of the facility, doing…something? It sounded like they were digging in the snow. I haven't seen them since. Is that good or bad?"

"…It means we're going to get a show." 621 answered with remarkable disinterest. Then she realized something odd that V had said. "The 'Darkness?'"

"Oh, I uh…" V blushed in embarrassment. Without blood, this was represented by short, wavy lines at the corners of her visor, beside her "eyes" and above her cheeks. "I sort of named them after the 'Man-eaters of Tsavo'. The Ghost and the Darkness."

"…Mmm." 621 sat down near V. "Where did you hear that story?"

"It was…something I read, a long time ago." V smiled sadly. "Back then, N and I used to enjoy reading cute books together. I just saw an interesting story about the 'big, fluffy lions'…I…didn't know about the concept of horror before that."

"And what did you think, setara mali?" 621 questioned.

"I…never finished it." V answered sheepishly. "I got too scared when I read the description of the…cave filled with bones…licked clean of flesh." She shivered fearfully, but was calmed when she felt 621 run her fingers through her silver hair. "How does the story end?"

"…The engineer sets a trap, and triumphs over the monsters in the dark. But not before even more men had been dragged screaming out into the tall grass, and cut down for mere sport." 621 explained.

"That's…not a true story, is it Raven?" V looked up hopefully at her master.

"…" 621 thought about it for a moment. "Though it was nearly thirteen hundred years ago, it is very well known that it was a true story. There really were man-eaters, stalking their prey by the shores of the Tsavo river."

"…" V frowned, but relaxed somewhat as 621 ruffled her hair.

"Go get some rest, setara mali. I need you and your squad in top shape when the time comes."

"Alright Raven. I guess I'll see you later." V nodded, as she went tiredly back down into the facility to sleep.

"…" 621 sighed, staring out the open doorway boredly.

"You seem to know what's going to happen next. You're not looking forward to it, but you aren't going to do anything either. Why?" Ayre wondered in 621's mind.

"Just something I've seen before…" 621 felt weird actually talking out loud to the voice in her head, but was too tired and in too much pain to care. "And, well, at least it will happen to my enemies this time instead."

---

Monday, Claudius 10th

The day had come and went and pretty much nothing had happened, except that their supplies were now dangerously low. 621 had helped Uzi with maintaining the AC, fixing it up as much as they could while lacking any actual supplies, and putting it back together.

621 was keeping a watch on that doorway, keeping an eye out for either of the now named Scavengers, and something else she expected. She heard it before she saw it, and called out to her team.

"Stray Squad, get up here!"

In just a few minutes, Uzi, N, and V climbed up to the breakroom, and 621 moved away from the door, allowing them to look outside.

"Keep an eye on things. It's…not going to be pretty." 621 sat down, facing a wall, looking rather disinterested in the current events.

Stray Squad leaned their heads towards the open door as far as they dared, listening as the sound of helicopter rotors spun in the air. In the distance, they could see two transports, with MTs dangling below, coming in for a landing.

"Raven…Raven those are PCA troops!" V warned her.

"I-I'll go get the AC warmed up!" Uzi had started to turn around.

"You'll do no such thing." 621 dismissed, continuing to sit down, undisturbed.

"W-What!? Why?!" N raised his voice. "What's going on Raven?!"

"Raven! There's a whole PCA unit coming down on us! What do we do!?" V was shaking the older woman, trying to get her into action.

"Nothing." 621 dismissed causally. "That's not an assault team. That's a rescue squad. And they're not coming for us."

"What does…that mean…?" Uzi questioned slowly.

"Just watch and find out." 621 shrugged, still refusing to look out the door. She turned her radio to an open frequency, managing to catch the chatter of the PCA unit coming in.

"Sparrow lead to ground team, be advised signal is coming from one of the buildings of this facility. Ready for deployment."

"Roger that Sparrow lead, initiating Combat Seach and Rescue."

Four PCA MTs touched down, followed by infantry repelling from the two transports. They closed in on the outer perimeter of the facility, towards one of the buildings.

Uzi, N, and V were in an unusual state of fearful confusion. An enemy that hated them was only a few hundred meters away, but their master appeared to show no sign of concern. But neither were the PCA looking for them, keeping the search focused on the above ground portions of the facility.

"We're close now, less than ten meters." The CSAR team announced, as they closed in on the signal they were following. "Where the hell are those pilots?"

Just as the CSAR team located the source of the transmission they were following, there was a disturbance, like an explosion of white, as the snow around them was violently dislodged by the long and terrible forms of two massive machines. The Scavengers.

"[XIXIXIXOXOXO]" The two Scavengers bellowed that haunting and insufferably loud war cry across the facility, as they pounced on unsuspecting prey.

"Oh god! Code 55!"

The Ghost immediately targeted one of the nearby MTs, jumping into the air so that it could land on the weaker unit, and ripped it's arms from their sockets with it's powerful claws, disarming that MT.

The Darkness swept it's long tail across the deployed infantry, cutting four of the men in half at the waist with the large blades embedded on it. It turned and opened fire with it's plasma cannons on another MT, melting the machine with powerful blue bolts of energy.

"S-Scavengers! Goddamn Scavengers!"

"I thought these demons were wiped out during the war!?"

"[XEXEXEXEXUXUXUXU]" The Ghost screamed, and focused on another MT. The scared PCA pilot struggled to get their laser rifle on target as the large predator strafed on it's thrusters, before it charged down the MT with it's talons extended, laser blades on it's ankles active. The MT was cut in half by the assault.

"R-Retreat! Get the hell out of there!" The PCA troops panicked, trying to get away from the two dangerous machine predators. The helicopters were already leaving.

Both Scavengers opened the missile ports on their wings, and shot down the PCA transports, reducing them to husks of shattered, ruined metal. They then turned and confronted the remaining MT, pouncing on it relentlessly.

"N-No! No! NO!" The last MT pilot screamed as their mech was torn asunder by the two large robot dinosaurs.

"…" Uzi, N, and V could only watch sickly as the two Scavengers slaughtered all the PCA soldiers with utterly sadistic cruelty, tearing their fragile forms apart and desecrating the corpses for amusement, as they laughed in an incomprehensible gurgle and ringing that hurt to listen to.

"…During the war…" 621 slowly recalled, ignoring the sounds of men being torn limb from limb over the radio. "Scavengers had this…really nasty habit of ripping the emergency transponder out of different units, then setting them up in an ambush position. So, when a CSAR team came around looking for survivors, the Scavengers would have easy prey. Sometimes, when they were feeling particularly cruel, they'd leave the pilot alive, just long enough to watch all their friends and allies be torn asunder."

As if to prove her point, a brutalized human torso was dropped outside the door, then flattened with a sickening crunch as one of the Scavengers stomped on it. It then lowered it's head to the ground, staring into the breakroom, and directly down at Uzi, N, and V with dozens of red eyes.

"[XUXUXUXUXAXAXAXAXA]" The Scavenger howled through the open door, laughing at the little androids as they winced in pain and fear.

"…Tsk." 621 also winced in pain, from the proximity the Scavenger had been when it screamed at them.

"H-How…how the hell are we supposed to fight those things!?" Uzi shouted. "Those…those m-machines are pure evil! They'll tear us apart!"

"Maybe." 621 shrugged. "I said it would be hard, I didn't say impossible. Come on, I got a lot of thinking to do." She pulled the little machines away from the breakroom, and the apex predator laughing at them.

---

That Evening

There were a couple of possibilities. It would take a couple of days of work, but 621 had the beginnings of a plan. There was just enough scrap and shit down in the garage to throw a desperate attempt together, and make a stand.

But it wasn't perfect. Too many variables left to uncertainty. No fallback plan of any kind. She didn't like it. She needed…something, just one more thing to make it work for certain.

Standing by the rear entrance of the underground garage, 621 stared out across the blank ice sheet before her. She had already sent the Strays to bed, leaving her alone while she contemplated her next step. She didn't have a lot of time either. She had, at most, a week, give or take a few days, before she died from dehydration. Ice and snow couldn't be melted into water, because it was so polluted with heavy metals she'd poison herself if she tried. Not to mention she was not sure how long N and V could go before they ran out of oil, and would then need start to slowly draining Uzi so that they might survive…if they went that route.

As she mulled over the problem, she noticed a glint of metal in the dark. Just a hundred meters or more across the ice sheet, standing vertically, was a small radio tower.

It was something. She could probably jury rig that tower to transmit a message up to Handler Walter, to let him know her situation. He wouldn't be able to answer back with the PCA jamming still in effect across continent, but she could get a request for help out, and her master would do his best.

The only problem was accessing that radio tower. It clearly connected to one of the buildings of the facility above, but that area was being patrolled by two Scavengers. So, she'd have to drag a cable out to that tower from the rear entrance, and also hope that the Scavengers weren't curious enough to keep the whole facility locked down, just the front entrance.

She should go get Stray Squad up for this little operation, but it seemed simple enough. So, she found a long enough coil of wire of the necessary type and slung that over her shoulder, and slowly and cautiously set out across the ice.

She was more than halfway there, taking things slowly and carefully, when-

"[XIXIXIXIXAXAXAXA]"

Fortunately, the scream of a Scavenger was distant enough away to be of no immediate concern. It came from somewhere above her, over a glacier plateau where the front of the main facility was. Just the neighbors shouting to remind her that they were still there, as it were.

It did, however, unsettle 621 enough, her memory long scared by what those terrible machines would do if they found her, that she stopped sharply, her foot slamming down just a bit harder than intended, and breaking through the ice.

"Nnn!" 621 winced in discomfort as freezing cold water filled her right boot, trying to drag her under the ice. Bracing herself with her three remaining limbs, she dragged her submerged limb up and out of the ice. "Tsk! Not good!" She whispered harshly to herself. "Stupid!"

"Raven!" Ayre was watching her, probably disapproving in her own way, but wasn't going to voice that opinion. "This isn't good. You need to go back and try and keep that limb warm and dry."

"…!" No, she was already too far out, the radio tower just a few meters ahead. Also, she couldn't be certain that she'd get an opportunity like this again. The Scavengers might end up finding this radio tower and destroying it, so she had to gain access to it now.

Climbing up a small mound covered in snow, 621 dropped the rest of the coil of wire she had, and immediately went to work, first by disconnecting the previous connection then splicing the appropriate wires with the cable she had brought. It was tedious and careful work, and she could not rush things. But all throughout, she could feel the biting cold tearing into her right foot, a numbing discomfort that caused her to start shaking, slowing her work even further.

Just as 621 finished splicing the new line into the radio tower…

"[XEXEXEXEXUXUXUXU]"

That was much closer, almost clear. 621 lowered her body flat against the ground as a Scavenger stepped up towards the edge of the glacier, staring down across the wide sheet of ice that she was trapped on. The main mass of the radio tower was between her and it, so she remained hidden, but couldn't more, or else she'd be quickly killed.

"Go away…" 621 hissed. "Go away…"

The Scavenger growled lowly, failing to spot her, but settled it's body low to the ground, sitting with a regal pose like a predatory feline. It kept watch over the glacier, it's dozens of red eyes shifting sharply every so often.

"…" 621 settled low, unmoving, as she waited for the Scavenger to grow bored and return to a patrol route around the facility. Her body pressed against the snow covered ground only exacerbating the problem that was her drenched and freezing right foot.

. . .

She wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed. All of it had been agonizing, but it had definitely been more than an hour. The Scavenger had finally grown bored of sitting, and scurried off back across the glacier, and away from 621.

Waiting only until she no longer heard it's distant footfalls in the snow, 621 quickly pushed herself off the ground, and started making her way back towards the rear door of the facility. She was freezing, and she could no longer feel her right foot.

There was, admittedly, a supreme arrogance borne of vast experience. She'd survived so long, war after war, and battle after battle, that this was no different, or so she thought. She forgot that she was a child of the black. Floating and vacuum, the nothing between worlds, had always been her true home. Her survival training planet-side was over four centuries untouched, and forgotten.

In her haste, 621 made a mistake. She'd been so desperate to get back, to be warm, and to tend to her right foot, that she came down the short slope too quickly, friction failing to stop her feet as they met the ice. Her feet continued to move forward, and her head had continued to move downward, such that she tripped, and fell hard on the back of her head.

"Raven!" Ayre shouted worriedly. The last thing 621 heard before she lost consciousness was the ice breaking beneath her.

---

"…"

"Raven! You have to wake up!"

"…"

"Please Raven! You're currently underwater, you're going to drown!"

"…"

"Raven! Wake up!"

Is. That. All?

"…"

"Wha-…y-you…you're…"

Is. That. All?

"…"

"P-Please…just leave her alone! Or do something dammit!"

Sloppy. Weak. Pathetic.

"…"

"Stop it! Stop mocking her and help her!"

Silence.

"Ah-!"

Is that all, little bird? Is that how you're going to die? Such a disappointment.

"…"

You're going to fail those little machines. You're going to let them down.

"…"

Just like you failed before.

"…!"

---

621's eyes snapped open, and she bared her teeth hatefully. She was currently underwater, faint light reflected from Rubicon's shattered moon shining gently against the ice over her head. She didn't know where the hole she had fallen through was.

She did not feel fear, and she did not hesitate. A problem was before her, so she did what she did best. She went through it.

Reaching down with her left hand, she grabbed the short-barreled revolver tucked away in her left boot, and swam up back towards the ice sheet. Sticking the barrel against the ice, she fired up, five times, in a somewhat circular pattern. Then, she reared back with her right arm, and shattered the ice with her prosthetic hand.

Her right arm burst up through the ice, and she brought it down, dragging herself up and out of the water. Drenched in a freezing cold, she gasped, lips drawn back as she exposed her teeth.

621 screamed.

Fear and pain and cold were concepts she couldn't even imagine then, because the mocking words the thing with too many eyes in it's teeth had whispered to her had sent her blood boiling, her skin scoldingly hot, and her heart on fire.

Rage. A terrible, drunken rage that kept her painfully hot even in the coldest depths of hell. 621 seethed and shouted and shook violently with barely contained rage. Her thoughts divided only by two concepts. Taking slow and steady steps forward, and three words.

How. Dare. He?!

The thing with too many eyes in it's teeth was with her then. It smiled mockingly down at her as it's claws grasped tightly around her left wrist, keeping the handgun with one bullet in the chamber annoyingly pointed downward.

How. Dare. He?!

Perhaps I was wrong. The thing with too many eyes in it's teeth mocked her relentlessly, stoking her rage as it refused to leave her alone. Perhaps you might still prove your worth, and save those you were supposed to protect. This time.

How. Dare. He?!

---

The single shot of a handgun rudely woke up Stray Squad. With a panicked shout they jumped from bed.

"Ahh! What was that!?" Uzi squeaked.

"A gunshot!? Are we under attack?!" N panicked slightly.

"Raven?! Where…oh…oh shit Raven!" V regarded 621 rather worriedly.

621 was not looking good. Soaking wet and deathly pale, she dropped her spent handgun, having fired it just to do something she never usually did.

She asked for help.

"I…f-f-fucked…up-p." There was shame in her eyes as she avoided looking at Stray Squad. Her moment of rage and strength drawn from her hate of the thing with too many eyes in it's teeth was all but spent. Biting, deadly cold had caught up with her, killing her slow like. She fell to her knees.

"Raven!" Those little machines shouted worriedly, quickly holding her up.

"Raven! What do we do!?" Uzi begged, uncertain of what to do.

Even freezing to death, 621's mind worked, knowing what to do next. "N-Need…m-meds…a-and…g-get these…w-wet clothes…off-f."

"N! Go grab Raven's medical supplies!" V demanded. "Uzi and I have to strip her wet clothes off!"

"Oh! Ah! Got it!" N quickly left the room, sparing him the embarrassment. Just his embarrassment. 621 was too proud to be embarrassed by something so asinine as showing a little skin.

It was nothing V hadn't seen before, though it did take a moment for Uzi to get over, but it didn't last long. While part of her mind was still a scared and emotionally immature teenager, another part was practical, a problem solver. Before her, her master was dying, and she had to do something.

"Fuck it!" Uzi took off her beanie, and shoved it into V's hands.

"Uzi?" V hesitated only for a moment, confused.

"Use it to dry her!" Uzi quickly explained, as she slipped out of her jacket to use it to wipe 621 down. She was still wearing a purple striped t-shirt underneath, so she was only slightly more exposed than usual. "We have to dry her off and get her warm quick!"

"Got it!" V nodded, and together with Uzi, got the freezing water off 621. After mostly stripping and drying her, V took off her own coat and wrapped it around 621. It didn't fit as well anymore, ending just above the knee.

"Okay, let's sit you down boss." Uzi helped guide 621 forward. "We have to get these wet boots off you."

"…" 621 grunted, expecting the worst.

Her left boot came off, and Uzi quickly dried off 621's foot. Then V removed her right boot.

"Oh…what the fuck?" V hesitated, seeing 621's right foot was an unnatural and unhealthy shade of black, and stiff as rock.

"Oh yeah. That's bad." 621 was remarkable calm, given the state she was in. Having dried off and warmed slightly, she was back to talking normally, albeit slowly and quietly.

"Okay! I'm back!" N announced as he entered the room. "I got the…what the heck is that?"

"…Expired meat." 621 joked, but no one laughed. "I need a tourniquet."

"Oh…okay, just ah…" N struggled as he set down 621's emergency medical supplies. She didn't have much, but she knew there was at least that there.

"Here!" Uzi went through the small box and grabbed a tourniquet, handing it over to 621. The human woman slowly and carefully slipped it up past her right foot, and loosely tightened it just above the point where her flesh turned to sickly dead black.

"N…I need you to keep tightening this. Really clamp it down. And if I start crying out in pain, just keep tightening it." 621 ordered, gesturing towards the tourniquet.

"Oh…y-yes ma'am." N was reluctant to purposely cause his master any harm, and Uzi had to place a hand on his arm to help assure him that it would be okay.

"Uzi, when we're done here, I'm going to need you working extra hard to build me some new weapons. Got it?"

"Uh…what?" Uzi didn't exactly know what she meant by that, and 621 wasn't in the mood to explain.

"V…come here." 621 requested softly. V leaned down close to her master, only to feel the Hound press a single finger against the side of her control collar while she opened her hand terminal.

"Raven? What are you-?" V questioned confused.

"I'm disabling the IFF fire control program on your control collar. That's the program that's supposed to keep you from intentionally killing me." 621 explained briefly. "There's something I-!" 621 winced as N finished tightening the tourniquet. "Something I need you to do."

"What is it, Raven?" V wondered, slightly worried.

"I need you to cut off my right foot." 621 answered rather calmly.

"…What!?" Uzi, V, and N screamed. But mostly V, because she was being asked.

"Preferably with your little inbuilt laser gun." 621 added. "That will help cauterize the wound."

"What the fuck Raven!?" V shouted, jumping back. "I-I can't just cut off your foot!"

"V, it's just dead flesh to me." 621 explained calmly. "If I don't get it off, it will rot and kill me. So please…"

"W-Why do I-?" V looked at Uzi and N. "Why can't…?"

"Uzi doesn't have a laser in her arm. N is too squeamish." 621 was concerningly quiet. "V…I need you."

"N-No! No I can't do that!" V shook her head violently, taking several steps back from where 621 was sitting.

"…" 621 sighed weakly, closing her eyes. "Okay…okay…" She breathed a little deeper, taking a few seconds to ready herself. "Then I'll just…do it myself."

Reaching for a knife, 621 pulled her right foot up into her lap. She hesitated, only because she was still experiencing hypothermia, and couldn't hold her left hand steady enough to actually start safely cutting. She sighed, knowing this was going to be a bad time and a slow process.

She pressed the blade to her skin-

V's hands held her own, stopping her for a moment. "Okay…It's…" V trailed off. "You're going to hurt yourself the way you are. I'll do it."

621 nodded, and put her knife away. "N, hold me down. Uzi, I need something to bite down on. This is going to hurt."

"R-Right!" N got behind 621 as she laid down, and pushed down on her shoulders. Uzi grabbed her beanie and shoved it in the woman's mouth. 621 nodded to them.

"…" V grabbed 621's leg with her left hand, her right hand changed out for her pulse-wave laser cannon. She cringed, hesitating as long as she dared, as she brought her laser arm up to the point where the flesh was still living and healthy, just below the tourniquet. Knowing she couldn't wait forever, that 621 would prefer that she worked quickly, V fired, a wide cutting laser slicing clean through the woman's leg, severing her dead foot.

621 screamed into Uzi's beanie, as she bit down on it. It was far from the most painful thing she'd ever experienced, but was still highly unpleasant. At least it was quick, and already over, the flesh of her new stump still boiling hot, burning, and the scent of it wafting through the air like burnt meat. It was an emotionally traumatic experience, not because she would miss that particular limb, but because she had once again lost a limb, and was left with a burnt stump.

621 pushed that thought out of her mind as V started to panic.

"Oh god…oh god…I-I…I'm sorry!" V shivered fearfully, having to hurt her master, that woman who had looked after her and made her feel safe. "I'm sorry!"

"Ah…" 621 was still breathing hard in pain, trying to force the words out. Even though she wasn't feeling good at all, she realized that V was also in a bad way. Even though she was still losing strength and life, she still had to work to keep these kids safe and sane. "Come here V…it's okay V…"

V reluctantly approached, barely holding it together, when 621 pulled with surprising strength, holding her close. She stroked her hair while the machine girl silently cried.

"You did good V…thank you…setara mali." Admittedly, 621 was getting weak, and fast. She closed her eyes, so ready to pass out…

"Raven…what do we do?" Uzi was desperate, scared and uncertain. N was right beside her, holding his head in his hands, feeling utterly overwhelmed and not knowing what to do.

Each of her little machines was scared and terrified. Alone and trapped with quickly dwindling supplies, hunted by two super predators, and their only protector dying in their arms, their hope must have been fading fast.

Even though it hurt to do so, 621 had to fight just a little harder, to give them hope.

"I got a…com line hooked up to a radio tower. Something to…get a message out to Handler Walter. He will hear us, but we won't hear him." 621 explained. "Uzi…I need a weapon. Something for the AC to fight the…Scavengers…N, you help her."

"What do you mean!?" Uzi begged her. "There's nothing here but old construction vehicles and scrap!"

"You're a smart…girl." 621 was starting to lose it. With her last ounce of fading strength and sanity, she whispered rather cryptically, "Even peasants can kill samurai…if you give them…a long enough spear…"

621 passed out, barely holding onto life.

"Raven? Raven!?" V shook the human woman. "She's unconscious…and freezing!"

"Guys…what do we do…?!" N was starting to panic, starting to lose hope.

"She said we can call Walter now, so I'm going to do that…after I figure out what she meant." Uzi announced calmly. "I'll need your help with that N. I…don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I'll figure it out. V, you need to keep her alive. She won't last much longer if we can't keep her temperature up."

"We only have a very basic heater that can maintain heat, that's not enough to get her warmth back. And we're just machines, we don't have the body heat…" V had an idea. "N! Drink my oil!"

"Huh!? Why!?"

"Because you need the strength to help Uzi build whatever she needs! And if you get me down to just below my overheat threshold, my body temperature will raise significantly! Come on N! Do it!" V turned her head to the side, presenting her neck.

"It's a good plan N, do it." Uzi agreed.

"O-Okay. Okay." N nodded as he carefully held V close, exposing his fangs. "I'm sorry V."

N sunk his fangs deep into V's neck, quickly drinking up her black blood. V held him close as she bared her own teeth in pain.

"Keep going N! Take more! More dammit!" V felt sick as multiple internal alarms alerted her to her rising temperature, and the damage at her neck that wasn't healing while N's fangs punctured her skin. She got herself down to just barely enough to oil to still operate, before she pushed N off. "Okay! That's it!"

V felt weak and uncomfortably warm, and stood with a hunched and tired gait. She spread her wings, and used them to wrap up 621's cold body, trying to transfer as much of her heat as she could.

"Go Uzi…" V demanded weakly. "We're counting on you…"

"Keep her alive V." Uzi ordered. "We won't last without her. Come on N, follow me."

---

Uzi still had no idea what 621's cryptic as hell message was supposed to mean, as she brought N back to the garage to look at what they had to work with.

"Ugh, what the fuck was she saying? 'Peasants killing samurai with long spears'? Why?" Uzi complained, kicking a bulldozer out of frustration.

"Uzi…? Is Raven going to be okay?" N wondered fearfully and hesitantly; his head hunched down in a defeated posture.

"I mean…probably?" Uzi shrugged. "She's strong, but…this is the most fucked up we've ever seen her. But either way, we can't give up. She gave us a mission, and I don't want to let her down."

"Okay, so what do we do?" N looked to Uzi expectantly.

"Tsk! You think I know? All she said was some bullshit before she passed out! How am I supposed to make a weapon out of this garbage?" Uzi gestured towards the construction vehicles.

"Well…she mentioned spears?" N guessed. "Maybe she wants us to use spears to kill the Scavengers?"

"How the fuck are we supposed to spear an eight-meter-tall robot dinosaur to death!? Let alone twice!" Uzi complained. "Does she just expect me to pull a giant stick out of my-?" She noticed something, something she hadn't thought of before. One of the vehicles in the garage looked like a crane with a long double boom arm. However, instead of extending up, the second arm pointed down vertically, as it was attached to a massive, industrial pile driver. She then looked at the bulldozer, and considered the large and heavy plow on the front. "N…I think I figured out her plan."

"Oh? That's great! I knew you could!" N cheered. "What do you need me to do?"

"Go bring V the rest of your guy's oil reserve and whatever other supplies she and Raven will need. Then come back and meet me here. I'm going to try and call Walter and let him know what's up. We have a lot of work to do."

"You got it!" N saluted, running off to take care of V and 621.

Uzi went to the rear entrance of the facility, and found the cable that 621 had connected to the radio tower. She dragged the rest of it back to the AC, and connected it to the radio in the cockpit. She turned on the radio, and switched it to the channel she knew Handler Walter operated on.

"Hey um, Walter sir. It's me, Uzi." She spoke into the radio. "Um, but you might know me better as Stray Three. I hope you're hearing this because…because we could really use some help." Uzi stopped transmitting, as she took a moment to force herself not to cry. "Um…so things aren't going well for us, as you can guess. Raven is alive, but she's not okay. I don't know what happened, but she fell into the ice and she got really bad frostbite and V had to cut off her foot…and we've been hunted non-stop since we last heard from you. First the PCA, then fucking Scavengers…yeah, those big scary robot dinosaurs Raven told us about. Two of them have been on our butts nonstop, mocking us. We're almost out of supplies, and things are looking bad. But 621 is still fighting. Before she passed out, she told me this insane plan in fewer words, to make her some improvised weapons, so while N and I work on that, V's keeping herself at a dangerously low oil level so she can keep Raven warm. Please Walter, if there's anything you can do, please help us. I don't want to die, and…and I don't want to lose Raven."

Uzi turned off the radio, knowing that Handler Walter wouldn't be able to answer through the PCA jamming. She wiped away the electric tears falling down her visor.

"Uzi, I'm back!" N returned to the garage, looking up at her expectantly.

"Right…" Uzi nodded down to him. She did the robot equivalent for popping her joints, stretching her arms and neck. "Let's get to work."

---

Spin Station – Geosynchronous Rubicon Orbit

"…" Handler Walter considered the message from Uzi. He took in all the information she had passed along. The Strays being hunted by Scavengers, the dangerous status of their supplies, and the injury his Hound had received.

Most notably, he noticed how scared Uzi sounded.

Rubicon was in a pretty bad way, what with the PCA invasion going on. All the mercenaries, corporate and independent, were tied up across the Belius continent, just holding ground while the PCA set up forward operating bases, reinforcing units of Subject Guard who had already been in control of a few points of interest. So reinforcements couldn't be counted on to rescue 621 and Stray Squad.

However, as more and more PCA troops made their way from the Central Ice Fields to Belius, that presented an opportunity to get supplies to the lost Hound. And he knew just the woman for the job.

Additionally, there was perhaps, exactly one mercenary on all of Rubicon who he could call, and who would be able to get through to his Hound and her Strays, to get them out of their situation.

Handler Walter had some calls to make.

---

Abandoned Facility – Central Ice Fields / Tuesday, Claudius 11th

It had been an uneventful day. At least, as far as it being their new normal.

Uzi was once again fulfilling her self-defined role as a Worker, as she had ripped the pile driver and the bulldozer apart to make two improvised weapons for 621 to use. N had been a huge help to her, as his Disassembly Drone body proved capable of moving tons of material.

621 had woken up and passed out a few times since then. They'd managed to get a few more bits and pieces of her insane and unhinged plan. They were all going to have to work together to take down those two Scavengers.

V was still glued to 621's side, nursing their meager and dwindling supply of oil to keep herself in a state of non-critical overheating, in order to keep the older woman warm.

It was the end of the day, the corpse sun long retreated below the horizon, leaving the sky an uncomfortable black. The howling winds that blew past the facility were occasionally interrupted by the shrill scream of the Scavengers, doing their rounds as they patrolled, reminding them all of exactly how trapped they were.

Worst of all, the Scavengers had eventually wised up, and destroyed the radio tower. They were completely alone out there, at the mercy of those machine predators.

Uzi stared at the black sky with growing resentment, hating how not one star shined from above over Rubicon's scorched damned skies. She turned away from it with a heavy sense of unease. She and N were taking a well-deserved break for the night, after a long day of working. N himself was sitting near V and 621, holding his arms in pain.

As for 621, they'd dried her clothes and put them back on her, giving her at least some decency. She still had that stump of a right leg to deal with, and Uzi realized she'd probably have to hobble together a shitty prosthetic foot so that the woman could move under her own power, at least until they could get out of here and get her a proper, high-tech prosthetic.

Even if they knew that high-quality robot limbs could be acquired fairly easily, lobing off 621's limbs was not something any of them ever wanted to experience again.

As Uzi sat near her master and friends, she wondered if the woman was asleep, or just quietly resting. She had another question on her mind, and despite knowing it would probably only lead to more despair, she so desperately wanted to hear 621 speak, to tell them another story.

"Raven…" Uzi spoke up quietly. "Where are the stars?"

It was not obvious at first if 621 had heard her, or if she even intended to answer. It took a long and uncomfortable minute for the Hound to begin speaking, and she did so softly, with a pained whisper. Her eyes remained closed.

"During the war…Sol and Laconia each deployed…planet killing weapons across the frontlines."

"Planet killing weapons?" N stared haunted as 621 spoke.

"Mmm." 621 hummed and nodded gently. "Sol had left-over weapons from The League. Kojima armed planet killing missiles, with warheads of one hundred teratons. Even so, they did not fire them first. Sol had no want to unleash such devastating weapons against their enemies. That was…until Laconia revealed what made their world so special."

"What did Laconia do?" V spoke up, staring fascinated at her Hound's story. "Why did they start that war?"

"…The reason the Admiral-turned-Emperor Duarte started the war, was because he and his closest allies within the Martian Navy discovered an alien megastructure, a shipyard capable of printing five-kilometer-long dreadnaughts out of a previously unknown, self-repairing, crystalline metal. However, the most dangerous thing they found was a weapon known as the USM."

"USM?" Uzi wondered, enticed by what she could only imagine would be another terrible tragedy.

"That is short for…the Ultra Strong Magnet."

"So it was just a big magnet in space?" N questioned, obviously confused.

"Mnn-Mnn." 621 shook her head, frowning. "As simple as that name sounds, it is one of the most terrifying weapons ever conceived." 621's voice raised in pitch slightly, emphasizing even her own fear. "This weapon…could strip the electrons off of atoms at a hundred thousand clicks, effectively turning those atoms into positively charged ions." She realized she might have over explained it to the three rather immature machines. "Effectively, it was an instant disintegration beam."

"Disintegration? So, whoever would be struck by this weapon…would be gone, wiped from existence?" Uzi realized sickly.

"Yes…" 621 whispered. "We lost far too many good men and women just trying to figure out how their new weapon worked. It…was not good, watching whole fleets be popped from existence, in the blink of an eye."

"How do you even fight something like that?" V questioned, also wondering how 621 could have overcome it.

"By sacrificing far too many lives." 621 admitted sickly. "It's why when I tell you to not call me Admiral…I mean it. It is not a title of honor and rank for me, but a burden, and reminder of every life I sacrificed in the name of Sol."

"…I'm sorry I asked then, Raven." Uzi frowned, averting her gaze.

"Mmm, I haven't even answered your question yet." 621 clarified. "See, against such superior firepower, Sol needed a way to destroy Laconian controlled worlds quickly and more reliably than firing a huge missile at a target. Something far more discrete, and working until it was too late. So, they modified a faster-than-light drive to fold space outward instead of inward, something they called the Gravity Wake Drive."

"So, what did that do?" N reluctantly requested.

"On it's own, nothing." 621 shrugged. "It was effectively a malfunctioning FTL drive that didn't make the vehicle it was mounted to any faster, it just disrupted the fabric of space-time a little bit. But, when it was flown around a planet, those gravity waves it was dragging would resonate off each other, and effectively cancel out the mass of a planet, and tear it asunder in a matter of minutes. That's how Laconia was destroyed."

"…Is that how Sol ended the war?" Uzi wondered, fascinated and horrified.

"…No, it only prolonged it." 621 shook her head sickly. "We don't exactly know what happened next. I wasn't there, as I was fighting in Sol. But we know that it started with Laconia, so we believe that it was either a new Laconian super weapon…or some other sin of Sol."

"What was it?" V questioned quietly. "What happened next?"

"After Laconia was destroyed, something in it's core folded back on itself, and became an unnatural, gentle singularity." 621 stated eerily. "Not a black hole, that's different, but something similar…and far worse."

"H-How was it…worse?" Uzi felt that she had to know. Needed to know. "What was it?"

"It was worse because it was infectious. It didn't stop at Laconia, it spread across their empire, turning worlds into…into something command called 'Void Hollows.'" 621 answered with a haunted tone.

"'Void Hollows?'" V cocked her head curiously.

"Just some terrible, terrible shit." 621 shook her head. "The problem with all these Void Hollows was that, as they spread across the cosmos, they started twisting up the fabric of space-time, stopping FTL drives from working safely."

"How does…that work?" N asked, easily confused.

"…Imagine driving down a highway at highspeed, only for an unexpected U-turn to force you to turn around so quickly, the car has to turn around inside of itself. Now imagine doing that at several times the speed of light. Really quick way to die."

"…That's why it took us a hundred years to get to Rubicon?" Uzi realized.

"Yes…the black space you see up there is called 'Void Sector.'" 621 answered. "It covers most of Laconia's old empire, and wraps around Rubicon, leaving us trapped. It's one of the reasons why Sol has expressed such little interest in the happenings of Rubicon. Too inconvenient to get to. So…those stars aren't gone, their light is simply being scattered and obscured, by dead, fucked up worlds."

---

Wednesday, Claudius 12th

They'd run out of water and oil. That was a bit of an issue.

So, with both 621 and the Murder Drones on a time crunch, Uzi was working even harder, trying to build the weapons needed to take on the Scavengers. She was mostly done with the improvised weapons for 621's AC, so now she was just building another desperate pile of crap for N and V to use.

Which was mostly just a bunch more spears, as it turned out.

It was towards the end of the day again, and Uzi wasn't sure there was much more she could do. It was going to come down to what 621 could do, how she would fight.

"…Uzi…"

"Hmm?" Uzi looked up from her work to see V slowly approaching, a low pained gait in her step. "You good V? Do you…need my oil?"

"N-No…not yet." V shook her head. "I need a favor Uzi. Can you…check my back?"

"Uh, yeah? What's wrong?" Uzi agreed, confused.

"It…it still hurts." V admitted sheepishly. "So just like…see if there is something wrong, please?"

"Sure V. Come here." Uzi got behind V, while the taller machine took off her new jacket. 621 still had her coat, using it as a blanket.

Uzi wasn't sure what she could do, let alone what she might find. She felt herself warm up a bit as she looked upon V's bare back, until she saw something that definitely didn't belong.

"What the-!" Uzi gasped in surprise. "V…you have a scar."

"What!?" V panicked somewhat, spinning about as if to look at her own back. "T-That's impossible!? I heal from every injury! How could I have a scar!?"

"H-Hey! Calm down V!" Uzi held V, giving her a brief hug, before she slowly guided herself back behind V, one hand on the taller girl's hip to keep her from running away. The scar on V's back ran across the white part of her shell, towards her left shoulder. It looked like a long, curved cut, and glowed an unnatural red. "I think…you got this when you protected me from that one Coral explosion, when Raven fought the Sea Spider. I…I'm sorry V."

"Don't be sorry, that wasn't your fault." V shook her head. "I thought that's what it was too. That hit burned like nothing else I'd ever felt, and it burned deep. Can you do something, Uzi?"

"I don't even know what I might do?!" Uzi shrugged. "This is completely outside of my experience. I don't understand your modified physiology, let alone how Coral would interact with it. Uh…" She considered what she could do. "Best I could do is spot weld it to keep it from pulling apart, but with the shit I've got now, it's not going to be a good job."

"Just do it!" V agreed. "You were saying you would be finished with our weapons tomorrow, so I can't afford to wait. Just do something to keep me going for a bit longer."

"Alright, but this is something we're going to be dealing with for a while. You let me know how you're feeling every day, and don't just say you're doing fine, got it?" Uzi demanded.

"Sure thing Uzi…and…thank you." V smiled back at the smaller girl. Uzi got an oxyacetylene torch and started filling in parts of V's scar with a filler metal, holding her back together. V winced in pain as metal was melted into her scar.

"This isn't a permanent solution." Uzi advised. "This metal is of a much lower quality than your own, so it's not going to bind correctly. These welds will probably pop out in just a few days time. When we get better supplies, I'll try something else. Otherwise, let's keep an eye on this, okay V? I don't want this scar spreading or getting worse."

"Alright Uzi." V nodded, smiling weakly. "And…thank you again."

---

Thursday, Claudius 13th

The last thing Uzi completed was a prosthetic leg for 621. It wasn't a pretty thing to look at, just enough metal and scrap that would fit to her stump and carry her weight.

"Raven…" Uzi uttered, whispering to the older woman. 621 wasn't looking too hot. Infection and days without eating and exasperating dehydration meant she looked sick and tired. Uzi wasn't even sure she was awake, or aware. "So uh…I finished building that leg for you. I don't know what to do. We need you Raven."

"…"

Given 621's silence, Uzi got close to her, and attached the prosthetic leg to her stump, strapping it in place.

It was only then that 621 surged with life. Burning orange eyes snapped open as she breathed deeply, slowly shifting her stiff limbs as she rolled into a sitting position. She stood up, most of her weight on her left foot, as she tested her weight on the bit of metal under her right stump. Very far from perfect, but good enough.

"Good job, Uzi." 621 rubbed Uzi's head softly, making sure the little machine understood that she appreciated her efforts. 621 started walking away, or at least trying to. Stepping forward with her right leg, 621 immediately stumbled, having to quickly get her left foot forward to catch herself.

"Hey!" Uzi quickly ran around to 621's right side. "You don't have to do everything alone. You have us too. Please." She stressed, holding out her left hand.

"…" 621 sighed. As much as she hated it, she knew Uzi was right. She also wasn't going to let Ayre tell her this time either. "Thank you, métexeng mali." She nodded down at the little drone, and took Uzi's left hand with her own. She placed her right hand on the little machine's shoulder, and let Uzi guide her along to the garage, one step at a time.

They found the AC armed up with it's heavy machine gun, and Uzi's weapons. It had both back mounted weapons removed and had it's explosive thrower remodeled into a heavy shield using the plow of a bulldozer. Mounted on it's right back mount, as an alternative to it's heavy machinegun, was the solid steel core of a pile driver, wielded as a ten meter long spear.

N and V were waiting for them, also armed up. They'd taken the missiles and submunitions from 621's other weapons and converted them into spears and bombs. The ten missiles and ten of the explosive thrower's submunitions were converted into spears for them to throw at the gaps in the Scavenger's armor. The two heavy mortar rounds and the remaining forty submunitions were made into six heavy bombs.

"You two still remember my plan?" 621 asked, still holding onto Uzi for support.

"You want us to distract the second Scavenger, keeping it's attention off of you while you fight the first." V answered back quietly.

"We are to focus on targeting their laser blades and thrusters first, before targeting their joints." N added.

"But most importantly, survive and be careful." 621 stressed. "Scavengers are damn smart, and often unpredictable. Do not settle into a pattern, or they'll expect it and go for the kill. You don't have the weight to kill them, so don't try and be brave."

"Yes ma'am." N and V nodded.

"Uzi, you be careful and keep an eye on them. Call them out if they're going to make a mistake."

"Yes ma'am." Uzi nodded. She would carry some of the spears for V and N, so that they could resupply without going all the way back to the garage.

"I'll also keep an eye on things, Raven." Ayre spoke up. "I want all of you to survive."

"…" 621 grunted appreciatively to the voice in her head. She turned to V and N to tell them something else. "One more thing, you two. Scavengers are weak to laser weapons. Those two little laser cannons of yours are our most powerful weapons. Hold them until the very end. Otherwise, you'll be marked as a priority target."

"Ah…we'll keep that in mind." N nodded.

"Raven…" V looked up at her worriedly. "Are you…okay? Are you able to fight?"

"Hmm?" 621 smiled. "Didn't I tell you, setara? Armored Cores are the great equalizer. Be they men or women, human or machine, or even ranked or irregulars, all are equal when piloting an AC."

---

Destroy the Scavengers – C4-621 / Central Ice Fields – Abandoned Facility / Thursday, Claudius 13th

/MAIN SYSTEM: ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE

They knew they were coming. The Scavengers felt the activation of the AC, the hum of it's reactor and the strain of it's hydraulics. Those two wretched machines stood a distance away from the entrance, allowing plenty of time for them to assess the situation.

621's AC strode out calmly, shield and spear held low, and heavy machine gun mounted in reserve. She refused to show fear as she presented herself to the Scavengers, walking to the middle of the facility.

In response, the Scavengers slowly started circling her, with the Ghost standing before her, and the Darkness coming around on her rear, cutting off any hope of escape.

"[XIXIXIXOXOXO]" It was almost like a greeting, an intimidation display, a challenge, and a death sentence all in one. 621 would meet them all smiling.

Before either Scavenger could pounce on their prey, V and N flew quickly up and out of the tunnel leading to the garage, with missile tipped spears primed. Arming them before they were thrown, they aimed for the main thruster assembly of the Darkness, damaging it's primary means of rapid locomotion.

The Darkness screamed and lashed out at V and N with it's tail, as they dodged and flew above the massive predator, making their own unspoken challenge.

Having delivered the first strike, 621 raised her shield, and charged the Ghost, her own rear thrusters burning hot. The Ghost dodged to the side easily, still in the mood to play with it's prey.

Meanwhile, N and V separated, as N tried to get behind the Darkness. The predator obviously objected to this, and turned it's head to keep eyes on both V and N. Given it's multi-banked sensor suite and wide placement of it's eyes, this was easy for it. Even so, it was not prepared for how fast Murder Drones could be.

N came down, over it's top for a perceived attack run, that the large machine turned into. It hadn't expected for V to so quickly swoop down behind it, and strap a 200mm shell to it's laser blade mounting. She quickly backed up and detonated the shell, destroying one of it's laser blades.

The huge explosion going off near it's ankle staggered the Darkness, and N took the opportunity to throw a smaller spear into one of it's side thrusters, further reducing it's maneuverability.

621 backed off from the Ghost, and came down for an attack on the Darkness. First she got it's attention with a ten round burst from her heavy machinegun, she thrust her spear downward, which the machine leapt back from, as it warily regarded her.

The Ghost made to follow her, but N threw a smaller spear into one of it's eyes, stopping it as it regarded him hatefully.

"[XEXEXEXEXUXUXUXU]" It screamed at N, and started to try and pounce on him, only for V to shove a missile spear up one of it's rear thrusters. It growled as it turned around, but V was faster and shoved another spear up another thrusters, cutting it's speed down.

All through this chaos, Uzi slipped out of the underground garage, and stayed at the edge of the battle, keeping an eye on things. She wished she could do more, but she didn't have any ammo left in her railgun, and she knew she wasn't fast enough to take the Scavengers head on.

The Darkness kept retreating from 621, firing it's plasma cannons on her to discourage her. Even without most of it's thruster assembly, it was still very strong and maneuverable. 621 kept her shield up, dodging between the bolts of plasma, and catching them in the bulldozer shield when she couldn't.

The Ghost was rather cross with V, and tried to crush her with it's tail. She backed off quickly and fired off one of her own internal missiles, saving the spears for hard targets. N was readying one of his bombs to plant on it's laser blade.

"Not yet N!" Uzi shouted into her radio, saving his life. The Ghost had lashed out, nearly cutting through N, except that he was far enough away to see the attack coming and dodge.

"Woah…thanks Uzi." N cautiously flew behind the Scavenger, waiting for an opportunity.

"Let V distract it for a moment. Only attack once it commits to an attack against her!" Uzi advised.

As Uzi strategized to keep one of the Scavengers occupied, 621 kept all the attention of the Darkness on herself. She thrust with her spear, only for the predator to turn into the strike, bouncing the tip of the spear off the armor of it's external weapon pod. Even though the armor held, she could see it dent and deform under the force of her strike. Not enough to break through, but enough to prove it was possible to win.

"Raven! Look out!" Uzi warned her, getting the Hound's attention as the Ghost lunged for her, talons spread and laser blades active.

"[XUXUXUXUXAXAXAXAXA]" Even without it's main thrusters, Scavengers were still swift and sudden in their movements, able to pounce and attack suddenly and without warning. 621 barely dodged away from it's lunge, some of her armor boiling away as it did so. Having barely survived that attack, 621 kept her guard up, readying her counter attack. Even so, Stray Squad weren't relaxing either, as N kept pace with the Ghost and placed a 200mm shell on it's laser blade mounting, detonating the shell to damage it's weapon. V swooped in beside it, and damaged one of it's side thrusters too.

"I've got it, deal with the other one!" 621 ordered, as she redeployed her machine gun, firing a quick five round burst on the damaged Scavenger to get it's attention off of Stray Squad. The Ghost regarded 621 hatefully, and accepted her challenge. Before the Darkness could try anything, V threw a missile into it's neck, and N threw a spear into one of it's side eyes. They were successful, and that machine ignored 621 in favor of trying to crush N and V.

Uzi watched as her allies did the best they could, wearing down the Scavengers bit by bit, killing them with a thousand cuts. Still, she worried about their rapidly diminishing supply of weapons. Plus there was the fact that those two terrible machines were still being cautious. However, if either of the predators tried their hardest, it would be simple for them to kill any of them, perhaps all of them.

Then, Uzi had an idea. She had her Solver power, and this was a perfect opportunity to put it to the test. Using it to levitate one of the missile-spears off her back, she then flicked her wrist, cloning the spear-

"Ugh…shhh." Uzi groaned and hissed as she suddenly felt tired and uncomfortably warm. Apparently, two-meter-long guided missiles were significantly more difficult to clone than kitchen knives and rebar poles. Who knew?

In any case, she had two missiles-on-a-spear floating over her head, and decided to put them to good use. Leaving the safety of cover, Uzi caught sight of the side of the Ghost, and flicked her wrist towards the massive machine, shooting one missile at one of it's side thrusters, and another at an eye.

She definitely did damage to the Scavenger, but at the cost of getting it's attention focused on her. Uzi had been so eager to contribute to the battle in a significant way, that she forgot that she was still a tiny and fragile Worker Drone.

"[XUXUXUXUXAXAXAXAXA]" The Ghost screamed down at Uzi, filling her with dread. It ignored 621, as it made long and rapid strides towards the little machine, intending to stomp her out under it's talons.

"Oh fuck!" Uzi shouted, running inside of one of the facility buildings for cover. But the Ghost had no intentions of letting her escape, and simply went through the thin walls of the building, breaking it down with it's mass and bulk alone.

Uzi nearly lost balance every time the Scavenger slammed it's feet down, and refused to look back to see how close it was. Though, judging by the red glare it was casting down on her with it's sensor banks, it was uncomfortably close.

Using her Solver to throw open the next door, Uzi had to roll through it as the walls collapsed around her. The Scavenger on her heels stood over her, as it shook off the debris of the building it had walked through. It glared down at her with hateful desire, intending to enjoy the sensation of stomping her to death.

A ten-meter-long steel spear pierced the side of the Scavenger, causing it to stagger back in pain. 621 slammed her AC into the large machine, knocking it away from Uzi. She then pulled her spear from it's side, and kicked it back further, before taking a defensive stance.

Maybe her optics were failing, or maybe her imagination had gone and ran off a little too far, but for a moment, Uzi did not see the Hound C4-621 piloting an Armored Core. She saw a Spartan, standing defiant with spear in hand, fighting fate at Thermopylae.

"[XIXIXIXIXAXAXAXA]" The injured Scavenger challenged 621, and she had every intention of meeting that challenge. She made the first move, and thrust forward with her spear. The Ghost dodged to the side, but noticeably slower than it had been before. 621 quick-boosted into the machine, catching it off guard as she slammed her shield into it's face.

Backing up from the hit, the Ghost tried to shoot her with it's plasma cannons, steadying it's stance to do so. It got off several bolts of plasma, that 621 blocked with her shield.

While 621 was occupied with defending herself, Uzi used her Solver power to levitate two of the improvised bombs she had, and threw them at the Scavenger. One bomb was placed on it's remaining laser blade, and the other directly in front of it's forward facing eyes. She detonated the bombs.

Staggered and now missing a third of it's eyes, the Ghost screamed in rage as it stumbled even further back. While 621 didn't see what Uzi had done to damage the Scavenger, she wouldn't waste the opportunity, and aimed straight at the heart of the sadistic machine.

"[XUXUXUXUXAXAXAXAXA]" The Ghost screamed out as the armor of it's belly was pierced, the steel spear starting to dig it's way through. Still, it fought back, and raised up one talon to try and crush 621. The Hound brought her shield up, blocking the long talons from sinking into her core. The Scavenger grabbed at what it could, fighting to say alive, and started crushing the shield in it's grasp. 621 had to eject the shield from her arm to not lose that part too.

However, with her left arm free, 621 used it to grab the spear, and shove it the rest of the way through the Scavenger, the point breaking through the back of the giant robot dinousar. With one more pain and hate filled cry, the Ghost fell on it's side, defeated.

But not before it snapped the spear in half.

"…Tsk." 621 hissed. Even in victory, that fight had cost her. She was so desperately tired already, and now without her melee weapons. And there was still one more Scavenger to kill.

"[XIXIXIXOXOXO]" The Darkness seemed to take particular issue with the death of it's ally. It looked a bit worse for wear, having taken a couple more spears to it's thrusters and eyes, courtesy of N and V. Still, they had been unable to penetrate it's armor, and so it was still more than strong enough to kill an unarmed AC.

All 621 could do was raise the fists of her AC, and desperately hope she could punch a super predator to death before it had her in it's claws.

"Uzi!" N had come around after following the Scavenger, seeing her out of cover while the Darkness bore down on 621, with V right by his side. "Oh, this is bad! What are we going to do?"

"Should we…use our lasers yet?" V suggested.

"Just hold off on that for now." Uzi shook her head. "You might be able to cut through that armor, but it's still a tall order to put these things down. You just don't have the weight or power output to do it."

"But Raven's all alone out there!" N argued. "And she doesn't have any weapons left to even hurt that thing!"

"Come on Uzi, what do we do?" V demanded. "If we don't do something, we're all going to die out here."

"Oh…! If we just had a little 'something!', then we could for sure win! But there's nothing left!" Uzi cried. "Nothing we have left will put that thing down!"

Then, most unexpectedly, came an answer.

"621. Stray Squad. This is a recording." The voice of Handler Walter lit them up on tight beam coms. "I've got a Sherpa inbound on your position with supplies and a few weapons. Had to throw it together in a hurry, so there are only two weapons, but they should be enough for dealing with Scavengers. Another thing, if you can last just a few minutes more, then help is coming. I'm ordering all of you to survive, just a bit longer."

"Oh Walter! Thank you!" Uzi cheered. "That Sherpa is not too far away!"

"Great…but…how do we separate 621 from the Scavenger, so she can resupply?" N wondered.

"…Looks like it's a job for me." V stepped up. "I'll distract that thing long enough for you two to help rearm Raven. What weapons do we have left?"

"Just…shit." Uzi counted. "Two bombs and four missile-spears."

"Then I'll take it all." V declared. "You two be quick about this, yeah?"

"V…don't do this. That thing will kill you." N warned.

"I just have to survive, and I'm fast enough for that." V assured him. "Go on, go wait for 621 at the Sherpa. Don't keep me waiting too long."

"You can count on us, V!" Uzi exclaimed.

"Alright V, don't die." N nodded, as he picked up Uzi and went to wait by the Sherpa.

V took off and maneuvered to the back of the Scavenger, as it kept trying to pounce on 621. Without her melee weapons, the Hound could only evade, and opportunistically punch it's thick armor, doing little more than pissing off the cruel machine.

"Raven!" V shouted on tight beam radio. "Walter sent you a Sherpa! Go rearm with Uzi and N while I hold this thing off!"

She didn't give her master a choice, not as she swooped down low and fired her pulse-wave laser across the Scavenger's back. She was surprised at how deeply her little yellow beam had cut into it's armor, leaving it molten and scared.

"[XIXIXIXIXAXAXAXA]" The Darkness screeched out painfully, recoiling in surprise as it disengaged 621, and turned to regard V hatefully and intently.

"…Survive, setara mali. That's an order." 621 demanded, as she disengaged from the Scavenger, off to find the Sherpa from her own master.

"…You can count on it." V smiled, daring the Scavenger before her, as she held one of her few remaining spears in hand, challenging a predator that dwarfed her hundreds of times over without fear or hesitation.

---

621 found Uzi and N waiting for her as they opened the Sherpa, read to assist in her rearming.

"Oh…wow that is definitely something from Carla." Uzi remarked in surprise as she found a WB-0010 Double Trouble chainsaw, a massive, ten-ton, twin-bladed demolition saw that Carla saw fit to repurpose as an Armored Core melee weapon.

"Oh, this is…wow." However, N found something even more useful in that moment. An Arquebus built VP-66LH laser handgun. It looked like a sci-fi revolver, but weighed in at three tons.

"…Don't worry about aiming calibration, just get me control and power into these weapons. Stray One is fighting a Scavenger alone, she won't last forever."

"Yes ma'am!" Uzi and N answered back quickly.

---

V had to be sure to keep all the attention of this predator on herself, while 621 was vulnerable with a rearm. She knew she was fast enough to evade the damaged Scavenger, but she still had to be careful. One wrong move and that's all it would take to kill her.

The Scavenger seemed to know that too, as it closed in slowly, it's head low to the ground as it stalked towards her, just waiting for the opportunity to pounce.

V wouldn't give it the satisfaction, and struck first. With her wings deployed, she twirled a spear about, keeping the Scavenger's forward eyes off her other hand, which transitioned into her own missile launcher, and fired into the larger machine's forward sensor bank.

The Scavenger shrugged off the hit, and rushed towards her, to which V went up and avoided it's main bulk. She then ducked back low, almost underneath the machine, as it swung it's tail towards her. She used the spear she was holding and threw it for an ankle joint, doing minimal damage, but still bleeding the machine a bit at a time.

"[XIXIXIXOXOXO]" The Darkness screamed at her, trying to stomp on her, but V just leapt away from it's strike, throwing another spear into it's ankle joint. Still, even at an obvious weak spot, the armor held and protected the giant robot dinosaur.

While she danced between it's legs, V fired up into it's belly with her laser cannon, cutting through the armor easily, and threatening to spill it's insides.

"[XIXIXIXIXAXAXAXA]" This time it was Scavenger that was on the defensive, as it jumped back and away from her, trying to protect it's wounded hide. An actual animal might have felt fear, and reconsidered what it had gotten itself into, but Scavengers could only feel rage, as it regarded the little machine with insatiable hatred, and a desire to destroy her entirely.

Even with the massive machine screaming so terribly loudly at her, even knowing the danger she was in, V couldn't help but smile, to be a predator herself once again, fighting worthy prey.

Both machine predators charged each other head on. The Darkness lunged out with it's talons spread to ensnare her, while it fired with it's plasma cannons. V simply threaded the gauntlet, and jumped up, landing on the long snout of the machine. She jumped off just long enough to avoid being shaken off by the erratic movements of the Scavenger, then continued running up the length of it's head.

Jumping up just a few meters short of it's forward sensor bank, V grabbed both of her remaining spears, and threw them down at the short length of eyes staring up at her in hateful red. She threw them both down, and followed just after them, with their explosions damaging several of the Scavenger's eyes.

Landing just in front of the forward sensor bank, V aimed carefully and fired again with her laser arm, and cut through all the forward placed eyes of the Scavenger, blinding it.

"[XUXUXUXUXAXAXAXAXA]" V jumped off it's head while the Darkness raged. Without it's forward eyes, it had to turn it's head to either side, to look with the sensor banks on either side of it's head.

"Fuck you too!" V shouted her own challenge back at the huge machine. Despite the incredible damage she'd done, she was no closer to killing it, and was starting to grow tired. Fortunately, she wouldn't have to fight much longer.

621 came charging in from behind, her heavy machinegun deployed as she emptied her last two dozen rounds from that weapon before discarding it. The 80mm rounds bounced off the thick armor of the Scavenger, and only enraged it further, as it turned to regard the new interloper.

That would be it's last mistake.

As the Darkness turned around, 621 had equipped the laser pistol, and opened fire. Multiple long, blue bolts of plasma screamed out of the small weapon, and impacted the armor of the Scavenger, melting it down quickly.

"[XIXIXIXIXAXAXAXA]" It was definitely screaming in a much higher pitch than before, as it rightfully recognized the terrible damage being done to it's outer shell. Before it could counter effectively, 621 reared back with the chainsaw, nearly dragging the two spinning blades across the ground, before slamming it forward into the right "wing" of the Scavenger. The cutting teeth of the chainsaws made quick work of the compromised armor, and tore clean through it in a shower of sparks and debris.

Thrown off balance by the loss of one of it's "wings", the Darkness tumbled onto it's side, as it kicked out in an attempt to stand up. 621 showed it no mercy, as she charged a full-powered shot from the laser pistol and fired it into it's neck. Then, she swung her chainsaw down into it's damaged neck, and decapitated the screaming machine.

"H-Holy shit…" Uzi, having been carried back by N, commented meekly. "That was insane."

"Yeah…let's not do this again." N agreed, sighing in exhaustion. It had taken all of his skill, patience, and resolve to fight the Scavengers.

"Whew, thanks for the assist, Raven." V steadied herself. She could barely believe that they'd been able to take on those terrors, those machines made for savagery beyond what she'd ever thought possible.

"It's sad to think…" Ayre announced in her songlike voice, almost crying for an enemy that had nearly wiped them out. "Such powerful and graceful machines…built only to destroy and bring suffering and insanity upon those who dared face them. An endless existence of battle and blood. How long they must have stoked their own rage, vying for the chance to sink claws into fragile forms, and tear them asunder…"

"…"

"There are days that you seem just like that though, drunk on the death and violence you inflict…"

"…"

"You need rest, Raven. You are sick and tired and at your wits end. Please." Ayre pleaded. "It looked like Walter sent you some supplies in that Sherpa. That should help you recover while you wait-Raven look out!"

"…!" As it turned out, even being stabbed though the chest and out the back with a big spear hadn't been enough to kill the Ghost. It had stayed quiet up until it pounced, and managed to knock 621's new laser pistol out of her right hand.

"[XI-XI-XI-XI-XA-XA-XA-XA]" The Ghost did not sound so good, it's war cry coming out slow and garbled. It bled it's own black fluids from the wound in it's chest, and sparks cracked loudly from severed connections. The way it had 621 pinned, it either intended to stab her through the cockpit block with it's long snout, or push her down to the ground and tear her apart with it's talons.

"…!" All 621 could do was hold on for dear life, using both hands to hold it at bay. She couldn't let go with either hand, or she would lose her grip and be utterly at the mercy of a machine that so desperately wanted her dead.

"Oh fuck no!" Uzi screamed.

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

"…Fuck this."

V was tired, and absolutely done dealing with these Scavengers that wanted them dead. While 621 was pinned by the giant robot dinosaur…she also had it locked down and completely committed. V used that opportunity to jump out, and land on the top of the Ghost's head.

Leaning down close with her in-built laser arm, V fired a long and precise beam directly into it's upper armor. The Ghost tried to throw her off, but between her own tight grip and 621 holding it by the snout, she wasn't going anywhere. Firing her laser until it melted off her arm, V sunk her claws into the armor she had cut through, and ripped the armor off the head of the machine.

With a big hole in it's head opened up, V took both of the improvised bombs she was still carrying, and shoved them inside of it's head. She jumped back before detonating the explosives. All of the eye holes of the Scavenger on it's five separate sensor banks exploded outward, as the bombs went off inside of it's head.

The Ghost died, going limp in 621's grasp. She pushed it away.

"Holy shit! That was amazing V!" Uzi cheered.

"Oh…oh thank you V." N breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh shit yeah…" V sat down, letting her damaged laser weapon heal. "I can see why you hate dinosaurs Raven…"

"…!" 621 wasn't calming down. Hateful scorn flowed through her painfully. V didn't know it, but the thing with too many eyes in it's teeth was leering over her, staring down at her with infinite curiosity.

Interesting.

"G-Get away from her…" 621 hissed weakly, her strength finally failing her. Too tired and too sick and in too much pain to keep fighting anymore, her consciousness quickly fading. "Get away from her…"

"Raven…we have inbound." Ayre warned.

"Wha-Raven! I see helicopters coming!" N warned. "I can't tell if they are PCA or not!"

"Oh come on! Do we still have to fight!?" Uzi complained.

"Oh shit…Raven…I don't know if I can keep going…and…I don't know if you can either." V realized.

"…!" 621 wasn't really thinking about any of that. All she cared was that that thing was still standing by V, smiling eagerly over her, with what she could only assume were terrible intentions.

"Hang on…we're being pinged with a tight beam, patching you through." Ayre announced as she opened their radios. And then a voice none of them expected came through the line.

"You still alive, buddy?"

---

Author's Note: Playing Armored Core 5 gives such whiplash. One minute you're shooting weak helicopters and MTs, when suddenly, "Is that a fucking robot dinosaur?" So you fight this thing and it's bigger than you, and faster than you, and is basically immune to kinetic weapons, and every time it lunges at you with it's leg mounted laser blades, it SCREAMS at you. So yeah, I was so traumatized that I decided to make a whole chapter just about the Scavengers from ACV and ACVD. Decided to make them especially cruel and evil to match their design. So I hoped you like this as my second longest chapter up to this point.

Also, technically, "The Ghost and the Darkness" is the name of the movie about the Man-Eaters of Tsavo. I just thought it was a good reference to make.

As for the lore dump in the middle of this chapter, I've actually had to nerf the Laconian ships pretty hard to give the Sol Alliance a chance during the war. That USM is ridiculously strong for a ship-mounted weapon. Just point and *whoosh*, everything in front of the weapon is gone. As far as what it looks like, 621 sort of described it, but to give another demonstration, it would appear like the disintegration that happens when someone is struck by the Combine energy ball from Half Life 2, but it takes less than a second to fully be disintegrated. Technically speaking, it's not a "true" disintegration beam, as only the electrons are removed from the atoms, which causes the atoms to turn into positively charged ion plasma that repels other like-charged ions, so on top of breaking the chemical bonds the material would immediately scatter. Since this kind of material doesn't naturally exist except in the cores of stars, it's going to spread far and persist as unstable positive ions until it can encounter free electrons. In any case, the object struck is going to be instantly destroyed and rendered to less than dust.

Oh, yeah, episode 8 of Murder Drones. I liked it. It was a bit rushed, but I liked how it went. I'm glad Uzi is alive and V is alive and Uzi and N are happy. I liked how Uzi and V are friends now. And yes, I am ignoring any negative implications the last few seconds had. Uzi is FINE and cute and happy! So it was a good ending! But don't worry, even through Murder Drones is over (for now, I cope), I'm still going to be here, struggling along as I come up with more deranged and insane situations for these cute characters to fight and struggle through. Just trust me when I say we ain't seen nothing yet!

Edit: Forgot to mention but the "quotes" from ORCA in the intro/flashback are spoken from the group Blackwatch from the game Prototype.

Edit 2: Also forgot to mention the name "Void Hollows" comes from a Stellaris mod, I believe Ancient Cache of Technology. Basically one of the super weapons could destroy solar systems and sometimes planets would turn into black holes, but named "Void Hollows" with the description of "Just some terrible, terrible shit." It's funny because there is something similar in Murder Drones AND The Expanse that I will use later for the naming scheme. So look out for that in...I don't know, a while?

I'm still a week away from finishing chapter 30, but I really wanted to share this with yall. Hope you enjoy! And stay tuned mi beratnas, and abide with Rubicon!

To magenta sketter: You'll just have to wait and see! Uzi's engineering abilities won't be ignored! And yeah I've seen a few of the AC6 mods, they look pretty cool. I can't install them though since I am occasionally using the game as source material, so I need stuff there in it's canonical version while writing this story.

To ChimaTigon: The show may have ended, but I'll still be here for a few more years!

To Lord of Moons: Thanks! I hope you like what I've done here! And we still have a long way to go!

To JackSilentShark: Oh I will! I'm so glad you've been liking it! Edit: Oh yeah, you commented on OTK to. I'm glad that you questioned who Strayed was enough to want to read that story. Yeah, Strayed/James are just a little fucked up. And even though 621 and the Drones are the main characters of this story, James is not done with us yet!

To PoofyOhio: This story still has a long way to go! That's all I can say for now!

To undead3: I will give a little more meaning to the Absolute Solver than we got from Murder Drones canon. Eventually. That's going to be fun. The PCA kinda got sidelined for this chapter, and we really won't see them again until chapter 29, but I promise they will be a fun enemy to oppose, especially given their animosity for the Drones that we kinda know but still has to be explained.