Restoring Mankind (NieR Automata) Chapter 7 preview. Part 4/4 (Patreon)

+++

It was then 313 began to ring loudly. 

Alarmed, White pulled away from the embrace first. The stern image she had cultivated since her ascension returned. "Pod. What is it?" 

313 opened up, projecting a screen. The face of 2B appeared. "Commander, this is 2B. We are under attack. Machine units are assaulting the main gate as we speak," reported the android. In the background, the sounds of gunfire and explosions, as well as Resistance androids yelling expletives registered into Smith's ears. 

"What?" White said in shock before she recovered. "Drive all units to the main gate. Not a single machine will touch this bunker! Drive them back to the sands!" 

2B nodded and cut off the connection. A sense of serenity returned to the overseer's office. A stark contrast to what was happening outside the bunker. Smith pulled away from the embrace he was giving to the girls to sit behind the overseer's desk. Typing away, his computer screen pulled up images of what was happening outside. Thanks to hidden cameras positioned at certain spots, he was given a live image of the violence happening outside. 

For the first time, he had a good look at the machines that was gripping the earth in their iron grip. The first thing that he could think of was that they looked like the mascot for an old technology company. They had an assortment of designs, his eyes registered. Most numerous were these little cans with noodle legs. Others hopping on stubby some running into the Resistance line of fire with crude looking blades. Then there were those bigger tin cans running like a man yet moving stiffly and robotically which Smith guessed was the point. 

"Ugly bastards," Smith commented as the sands outside erupted into flashes of bright orange-yellow light as the machines stepped on the mines places by the androids. Behind sandbags, the Resistance androids opened fire with their weapons, dousing the incoming machine hordes in a a sea of firepower. His eyes registered a pair of androids rushing into a particular sandbag, something heavy on their shoulders. A part of him whistled as they hurriedly set up a heavy machine gun that looked way too much like a .50 cal. Slapping a bag of ammunition onto it and cocking it, the android grinned as he pushed the trigger. Loud staccato booms echoed in the air as the machine gun tore through metal and iron. 

Smith approved of their efficiency. They knew how to fight. 

But if he was impressed then...he blinked when he saw dark figures rushing into the horde.

White smiled. 

With speeds that would be impossible, 2B and her fellow YoRHa units rushed into the incoming machine horde, blades glinting under the oppressive desert sun. Machine units carrying blocky looking boxes saw them approach and lifted up what they were carrying. Blobs of malevolent red energy spouted forth from the boxes, a sea of red that would no doubt damage an android if it found its mark. 

But these weren't ordinary resistance androids that would struggle to move and dart around. 

These were YoRHa ones and 2B was one of the best. 

Virtuous Treaty slashed and heaved, cutting the blobs into nothingness. She leaped, her blade finding a nearby Machine unit. Her weapon cleaved the machine in two, a super hot glow left behind her attack. As the machine's body fell on the sand, it erupted in a fiery explosion. Light flashed against 2B's blindfold as she turned, finding another machine. She went towards it in a flash and the machine unit, seeing her run towards it, fired blobs upon blobs to stop 2B. But the YoRHa android did not stop. She was on it in a second and with supernatural grace, she bisected the machine without a second's glance. 

"Goddamn!" whistled Smith, watching it all happen. So immersed was he that he actually stood up, pushing back the chair he was sitting on. A slow smile appeared on his face as YoRHa and Resistance androids cleaned up the incoming horde. Eventually, the battlefield was cleared of all machines and left only behind a smoking ruin, victorious YoRHa and Resistance units standing victoriously. 

But Smith's smile vanished when the sands erupted once more, kicking up great pillars of sand. It erupted not from android placed mines but from numerous machine units rising from the sand, killer intent in their eyes. Again, 2B and her fellow androids charged without hesitation. 

"How did the machines find us?" Devola asked, peering over Smith's shoulder. 

"While they face difficulties in traversing the desert as much as we do, the Machines are interested in certain areas here. Strategic resources to fuel their war effort. If I remember correctly, there is a oil well somewhere over here," Popola offered her theory. "They probably assumed that the Resistance and YoRHa build-up here was to contest that." 

"Let them keep on thinking that. The less they know about the humans here, the better," White asserted. If the Machines learned that their creators were here, buried underneath sand and asleep in ice, who knows what they might do to them? Smith however took a breath and pulled back his chair to sit back down. 

There was a slight buzzing in Devola's pocket. The redhead reached into it and pulled out her communicator. She pressed into it and Anemone's voice came through. "Devola! I need to speak with the Colonel!" 

"I am here, Anemone." Smith announced himself. Devola strode over and offered the device to Smith. 

Anemone wasted no time. "Sir, we are under attack! Sorry, sir, but your speech is going to have to wait...." She sounded apologetic about it. Anemone was given a task by a human, her first actual task from a human mouth and she failed. 

Smith shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Shit happens. Get to the front gate. We will be joining you shortly," 

"Understood, sir. We-....Wait. You will be joining us?" Anemone's voice was rife with apprehension. Around him, Smith felt the stares of the Twins and White dig into his back.

"You'll see," Smith said before clicking the communicator off to Anemone's protests. As soon as he did so, a barrage of voices registered into his ears. 

"You aren't actually going upstairs are you?" Popola laughed nervously. Her face faltered when she saw the serious look on his face. "You are actually planning to...?" 

"Absolutely not! These machines are dangerous!" Devola protested, her face contorted in irritation. "You are absolutely not going to go and get yourself killed out there!" 

If White's glare could kill, Smith would have been dead. "Sir. With all due respect, YoRHa and the Resistance are giving their all in protecting this place. There is no need to go and endanger yourself. not while we are handling everything." 

Smith gave them a look. "I am the Commander of this facility. I must defend it," his voice was stern. 

"But YoRHa and the Resistance is already doing that!" Devola nearly yelled in frustration. "Let them do their jobs!" 

"Colonel...please," Popola all but begged, her eyes slightly watery in a attempt to move the Colonel. She had noticed that he was pliable when she would water her eyes a little. Perhaps this could work again? 

"Ladies, listen. I understand your concern but this is my facility. My outpost. My responsibility," Smith explained his reasoning. Standing to his full height, he made sure to glance at each and everyone of them in the eye. "I am not going to sit back and relax while you all fight. You androids have been fighting for thousands of years in our name. It is prime time for humanity to pick up the slack. Humanity will fight with you, not sit back." A grin born not from arrogance but experience decorated his features. "And besides...my men and I have fought the Legion. An unending horde of relentless monsters? That's exactly our skillset." 

White did not know how to feel. Utter frustration that Smith was a stubborn prat who not only is endangering himself but other humans or absolute happiness that Smith wanted to fight and bleed alongside her and her soldiers. 

Devola just wanted to slap him. 

Popola simply swore to herself to work on her crying skills next time. 

With a sigh, White slumped her shoulders. "If....If this is what you want, sir....then very well. But you must promise us, promise me that you and your men will be careful." 

Devola rounded on Smith, her hands on her hips as she looked up at the silver-haired man. "I swear, if you come back with even a slight scratch on you, I will be the first one to tell you I told you so!" Her feisty glare softened slightly as Smith planted his hand on her fluffy red hair. "I-If you t-think this w-will sway me...!" 

"I won't. I promise," Smith smiled, looking down at Devola. Her cherry red lips quivered. Suddenly, Smith felt a presence at his side. Turning, he found Popola, White, and 313 coming up to him, expectant looks on their faces. His hand also found their hair and for 313's case, his chassis. 

"I'll be alright. Now...time to wake up my men." 

Deep within the cryo chambers, there was a hiss as the box opened up. 

Damian's eyes opened. 

+++

A/N: To battle!