Nier: Revengeance - ch 2.1

Big Human on Earth (1)

The androids are stunned, frozen in place as their processing is overloaded by the sight of a human in front of them.

The newly revealed human smiles at the assembled androids and introduces himself. “Hello, my name is Jack S. Wily. I am your new General of the Army of the Army of Humanity, dispatched by the Commander-in-Chief to stabilize the war between the Androids and the Machine Lifeforms.”

The androids finally acknowledge Jack’s words and they all form a line and stand at attention. “Glory to Mankind!”

Jack nods at the quick reaction of the androids. “At ease, soldiers.”

As one they stand in a relaxed pose following the protocol programmed into the circuits and trained on the simulators. The first to break the military discipline is 9S when he asks a question. “Uh, sir? Why are you here, instead of the moon? Did we… do something wrong?”

Jack takes a deep breath, and he notices the androids tracking the movement of his chest as he breathes. “There was a problem with the chain of command regarding the human side, but we eventually sorted it out. When we realized that the androids were struggling to keep up with the Machine Liforms, they sent their best man to deal with the issue.”

The androids listen to Jack's words with focus, none of them daring to move or make a sound.

Jack takes this as a signal to continue. “My job is to win this war against the Machine Lifeforms and to do that I will require your assistance. My first objective is to rally the android ground force together at the resistance camp to establish a proper groundside base. Are you willing to help me with my mission?”

They all respond in unison, their voices echoing on top of the captured factory. “Sir, Yes sir!”

Jack is pleased by their response and straightens himself up. “Does anybody have any questions?"

9S calls Jack once more. "Sire, won't it be easier if I bring you to camp first?"

Jack shakes his head. “No, the other androids require specialized assistance and they only trust my word. I also have a transport prepared outside the factory. We must reach the vehicle first before we can go to the rebel camp.”

9S nods back at his commanding officer. "I understand sir."

Jack slaps his chest and his armor covers his body once more."Good. 9S, scout the path ahead while the rest of the team will follow me to the wounded androids."

They all answer in unison. "Glory to Mankind!”

Jack watches 9S fly ahead, before pointing out to where the androids he rescued are hiding. “Move out, soldiers!”

The androids form a protective cordon around Jack, and they do their best to match the pace of their human leader, however, their robotic bodies can barely keep up with Jack. They see their leader run with lightning on his feet as he runs slightly ahead of everyone without stopping.

Jack points downwards before jumping. “Follow me.”

The androids watch their charge seemingly jump to his doom and quickly rush after him to break his fall, but they all observe the man's feet stick to the wall with static energy and from the inertia of his fast running speed. Eventually, the group reaches an improvised camp where other androids are waiting.

The human General's heart hurts upon seeing the sorry state of the androids on the ground. “sorry for keeping you waiting.  had to deal with the Engels Goliath-Class machine lifeform and help the YorHa androids.” Jack turns to his escort, “Please help them into the vehicle.”

The androids glance around, trying to find the mentioned vehicle, when a large armored car materializes on the ground next to them. They don’t ask any questions for the moment and focus on helping the damaged and half-destroyed androids into the vehicle.

The armored car has a spacious area where the androids can rest, while those in worse condition have their cores extracted and placed on special server farms to ease the burden on their bodies, while their destroyed bodies are placed inside cushioned boxes for later repairs. There aren’t many androids, to begin with, but the armored vehicle has a claustrophobic feel due to its cramped space.

Jack sits in the driver's seat, starting the ignition before he calls the group in the passenger area. “2B, come and ride with me.”

The combat model android silently enters the other door to sit in the passenger seat, neatly folding her hands under her lap.

Jack's lips twitch at the sight. “Don’t forget the seat belt.”

She nods, without looking at the General, and puts the seat belt over her chest, before resuming her earlier position. The car starts and the group moves towards the resistance camp, the Armored Vehicle dodging obstacles with ease.

Jack glances at 2B when the road ahead becomes easier to navigate. “You can relax, it’s going to be a long journey.”

She slowly nods but doesn’t answer otherwise, remaining silent and staring straight ahead, giving a simple answer to compensate. “Feelings are forbidden.”

Jack doesn’t hesitate and pats 2B on her hands. “We will see about that in the future. For now, you can stare at me all you want. Consider it a reward for making it this far on your own.”

2B's cheeks gain a pink hue while she slowly nods. Throughout the rest of the trip, she steals glances at Jack’s face and even reaches with her hand to touch him on the shoulder with her finger.

Jack smiled at the girl's antics while he drove to the rebel camp.

A gruff voice cracks from Jack's private communications. “You are enjoying this way too much.”

Jack feels 2B touching him once more and he doesn’t stop grinning like a loon. ‘I told you that I would enjoy this to the best I can, Doctor. There was too much suffering here anyway.’

The Doctor responds with a deep sigh, “The savior of humanity, ladies and gentlemen.”

Mark feels amused at the remark, laughing at the inside joke he shares with the Doctor.

2B flinches from the human’s laugh, refraining from further touching him and instead alternating between watching the road and staring at Jack, using her goggles to record the experience.

The new General suddenly realizes something, and asks the Doctor with urgency, ‘What about him? After he liberated the local network node, where did he go?’

“He went back to the servers at Motherbase, he’s resting for now. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of energy and resources for him to rest until you come and fetch us.”

Relief washes over Jack, as he realizes that his friend is still here. ‘I will make sure to bring you guys to the base, once I make it into a fortress.’

The Doctor replies with a calm, measured tone. “Don’t forget that there’s a reason the androids didn’t build a stronger base. Despite their knowledge about war being lacking, they still have the manufacturing capabilities and expertise necessary to build the Bunker and other factories.”

The General also is aware of that, nodding to himself. ‘It’s a good thing I spent extra time going through the various “simulations”, then isn’t it?’

The Doctor doesn’t answer. The rest of the journey is silent save for the sounds of the machinery and the bumpy ride along the destroyed road. Eventually, 2B calls out, “The resistance camp is in view.”

Jack nods, opening a small latch window to show the androids inside the transport. “We’re about to reach the resistance camp. Prepare yourselves, girls.”

“Yes, sir!” They all answer at the same time. The vehicle drives for a few more minutes until its speed lowers to better navigate the terrain.

The human soldier is disappointed at what he sees, cataloging some of the blatant mistakes the rebel camp has. “They don’t even have a proper checkpoint.”

The Rebel Army has the appearance of a guerrilla camp meant to be fast to set up and dismantle at a moment’s notice, yet there are visible markings that show the base became a permanent fixture in the local area, making the base design inadequate for its intended or practical function.

Two guards near the entrance of the base camp stop the vehicle's approach. “Halt! Identify yourselves!”

Jack turns to 2B, giving her a card key, “Tell them that the Council of Humanity sent a direct representative to take command of the Army of Humanity on the Earth side. When they ask for credentials, give them this card.”

“Yes sir,” she replies promptly, brushing her fingers on Jack’s gloved hand. She doesn’t linger for long, exiting the vehicle and talking with them.

The two soldiers look confused and are unable to decide, until one of them cautiously approaches the vehicle to see the driver’s face, meeting face-to-face with Jack.

Jack stared impassively for a moment before flashing the android a smile. “Is there any problems, soldier?”

The android visibly shivers at the attention given to her, stammering a response. “No, no, no problem, sir! Let them in, let  them in!”

The vehicle slowly moves around the base, showing the various old buildings used to house the equipment and acting as improvised barracks.

Jack feels admiration for the area they choose as a base, re-evaluating his previous statement. ‘With magic reinforcement, this place can be a tough nut to crack, and it can also hide its nature from an aerial view. Though it has the disadvantage of being an obvious place to choose as a base.’

As the vehicles pass through the small road, the nearby android of the resistance camp takes notice of the car. “Human on the base, human on the base!”

The General sees one of the androids guarding the entrance running to the command tent, alerting to the presence of their new guest. The base erupts in activity as everyone moves with greater energy, some of them rushing to the vehicle to stare at the human, forcing 2B to guard the vehicle against the overzealous resistance soldiers. The armored car eventually stops allowing its occupants to exit, and the current base commander approaches with angry steps towards the vehicle.

“What is this commotion all about…” Her words trail off when she sees Jack standing in front of her.

“Are you the base commander?

The android slowly nods, her facial expression slowly changing from shock, fear, and admiration, until it settles into cold professionalism. “Yes, yes, yes! I am the resistance army's current commander. My name is Anemone, sir.”

The man extends his hands to the commander. “My name is Jack S. Wily, and I am the newly appointed General of the Army sent to reinforce the Earth side soldiers. Is there anywhere we can discuss things privately?”

“Yes sir, I can show you my office. This way, please.”

Jack quickly orders the other YorHa soldiers to send the rescued androids to the infirmary before following Anemone.

The commander's office is simple, with equipment all around the area, a large table with a big map of the nearby theater of war, and other knick knacks displaying the personality of the commanding officer.

Jack takes out the returned keycard and shows it to Anemone. “This is my identification. You can look it up on your systems to verify my claims.”

“Yes, sir!” Anemone looks at the keycard, using her internal systems to check for any valid markings, then places the card on a nearby reader gathering dust. After several minutes Anemone finds a match. “Those are very old codes. They still show the late United Nations logo on them, however, those codes are still valid.”

Jack acknowledges the point, “There’s a reason for it. Are you going to question my authority?”

The reply comes instantly. “Never! Even if the codes didn’t match, as a human on Earth you have supreme authority over all androids by default!”

The general smiles. “Thank you for the vote of confidence, however, I want those under my command to follow me by acknowledging my abilities instead of only out of duty since one of my missions is to overhaul the war efforts of the Army of Humanity.”

A spark of realization flashes on Anemone’s face, and her expression turns somber. “Yes, I understand. Some androids would feel depressed if a human came down and told them they’re doing a bad job.”

The reply surprises Jack, not being what he expects, but he restrains himself from reacting to pass it off as common sense. “Indeed. Now, I am officially taking control of the base and soon I will make a formal statement for the rest of the soldiers. Are there any objections?”

Anemone answers with joy. “No sir!”

Jack takes the enthusiasm with grace, filling any questions he might have for later. “Very well. Come on, Anemone, we have a job to do.”