Content Warning

-abuse

-fascist imagery

-holocaust imagery

-cursing

-torture

-Racism

Let me take you somewhere else.

Back on the Northern ship, The Captain and the crew were moving quickly. The ship was leaving the battlefield at a fast pace. The bubble surrounding the battlefield was not fully formed and they had to go.

“TAKE US TO OUR LEADER!” a Warrior argued with the captain.

“THAT’S SUICIDE! LOOK OUT THERE YOU SAVAGE! IF WE DON’T BOW OUT NOW WE’LL ALL DIE!”

Their argument continued for some time. As the ship moved its course, the bubble started to freeze.

“(Look),” Tetora called out in a quiet voice.

The silence cut through the ship. One by one, they all stopped and looked outside the ship.

They saw Tempestas’s ship come crashing down into the Dead Ocean. Many more ships had fallen as well. They each fed the black waters.

It was then that the bubble started to be filled. The pulse of the ship was skipping beats, sweat sticking to its skin.

Something within the water shook. The pulse began to speed up.

A massive crystular structure devoured the water wall in the distance. It rapidly sped towards them.

The ship’s pulse became a speeding engine.

“EVERYONE MOVE!” The Captain yelled.

Everyone rushed like they were in a marathon. They needed to get away. The space in their bubble was becoming smaller and smaller, ignoring their personal space.

The outside world was getting further and further by the minute. They eventually reached the edge of the bubble.

 The space was small. Crystular formations growing and making it even smaller. They could hear the SCREEEECH of the ship against it as they tried to go through.

There was a thump!

“WHAT IS IT!?” the Captain yelled.

“THE PIPES BURST! THE TAIL HAS BEEN BROKEN! WE WON’T BE ABLE TO-!” one of the Guards exclaimed.

A crystular blade impaled the guard. It was the end of a tail that reached a slender, crystular creature with sharp, red eyes that bled into cracks around its face.

“CORRUPTED BEASTS! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!” the captain yelled.

Chapter VII

Beneath Talons

[“The Drescher aren't soldiers, they're predators, beasts. Remember that when passing through their lands,”].

“Z38! Up and at ‘em!” a metallic voice announced.

A machine awoke.

It was humanoid, with heavy armour that vaguely resembled a military uniform. It had a heavy helmet like a soldier, and its feet were designed to appear like boots. Those feet, however, looked as though they were compressed together pieces of metal, not claws like the retractable ones in its hands, but something else. Its scared face was a small screen with yellow energy acting as eyes and mouth.

On its arm was a large, white stripe that featured a symbol. A smiling queen with a crown of horns.

“Z38S647 reporting for duty!” It announced, standing up and clawing at the air with one hand.

“Keep it quiet, Z38! There are Drescher still charging!” the opposing mech called out.

It looked just like Z38. However, its yellow eyes were sharper and it didn’t have a helmet. Instead, it had a closable visor that replicated the appearance of a General’s hat.

“(yes, Sargent A54S647-),” Z38 exclaimed, clawing at the air again.

“Just A54 will be good for this one Z38, come on,” It responded, patting it on the shoulder and walking off.

“(Yes, A54),”

Z38 followed A42 through a long, cramped hallway. Around them, many more machines rested, plugged in with yellow energy being transferred into their bodies. They could hear water running beneath them and footsteps high above them.

“Let’s take a shortcut through the pens. That'll help break the ice,” A54 commented.

They veered off into a different hallway. It led them through a series of pens containing humans of many kinds in rags.

“Are you excited, Z38?” A54 asked excitedly.

“Excited for what, A54?” Z38 questioned, looking nervous around the humans.

There were children in there, staring at them in terror. Amongst them was Tetora.

“You only came online recently, and your already being asked to help with big work,” A54 laughed.

Many of them looked poorly fed. There was a trough in each pen, but a lot of them were dry as a bone in the sun.

“I just get nervous in here,” Z38 stated, shaking its head.

“Suck it up. Aeternum fodder are nothing but worthless human shields. Nothing to wet yourself over,” A54 gloated in a slight threatening tone.

“Yes, A54,”

They reached a heavy door. A54 inserted its retractable claws like a key into a hole.

They entered a room FILLED with colossus  computers and a massive CRTV in the back. There were multiple other mechs like them, lined up. They all glanced their way.

In front of them all, sitting on a computer with her legs crossed, was a woman with bleached blonde hair in a ponytail, caucasian skin, and blue eyes. She wore a white lab coat with an armband that featured the same symbol as them. Beneath her lab coat was a green suit shirt with a black suit skirt over leggings and green heels. Her other arm had a long, mechanical glove with claws.

“Heil Adlernest, Heil the Mondgreif,” she called out, clawing at the air.

The machines repeated the call, clawing at the air. Z38 did its call awkwardly.

“Z38S647,” the woman called out.

“Yes, Dr. E,” Z38 exclaimed.

“You need to work on your reaction time and moxy when responding. The Mondgreif only wants ‘strong men’ in her pack,” she ordered.

The other mechs glared at Z38. Z38 nervously clawed at the air again.

“HEIL ADLERNEST, HEIL THE MONDGREIF!”

“Good, good,” Dr. E approved, nodding her head and gesturing to the screen. “On to today’s agenda,”

The lights dimmed. On the big screen, static footage appeared. It revealed the dead ocean and a solid sphere of black ice in the middle.

“20 hours ago, our intelligence picked up footage of what appears to be a newly forming Corruption Gate in the middle of the crater,”

“Does…Does that mean more-,”

“More resources, yes Z38S647, speak out of turn again and I will activate your pain transmitter, understood,” the Dr. E responded.

“Y-yes, Dr. E,” Z38 responded, looking down.

The image changed to one of a torn apart airship.

“Our scouts recovered an airship containing human shields of the Owls and savages of the North. To strike while the iron is hot, we need to gather as much information as possible. That will give us an advantage in the war and harvest to come, understood?”

“Understood!” all of the mechs responded.

“Tear them down,” she called out, clawing at the air.

“TEAR THEM DOWN!” they repeated in turn.

………

[“LET GO OF ME YOU ADLERNESTI TOOL!” The Captain demanded.

A54 brought The Captain into a dark room with a silver table. Her arms were bound in thick, metal cuffs. It shoved her into a chair and sat on the other side, next to Z.38.

“Apologies for the-,” Z38 greeted, going over a document.

“No apologies, Z38,” A54 ordered, raising a claw. “We have questions for you, Aeternum Shield,”

“YOU SERVE AN AETERNUM-!” The Captain argued, attempting to stand up, but buckling under the weight of the cuffs.

“The Mondgreif is an Aeternum of the people. She freed us, giving us prosperity, immortality, and security. Your Owls are just a bunch of Birds,” A54 argued, waving away the response. 

“You speak of us, but I'll bet you tools aren’t even from Adlernest,” she growled, glaring at it.

Z38 sank in its chair. It looked back and forth nervously, not wanting to get involved with the discussion.

“Correct,” A54 answered, placing its arm on the table. “We too were once shields, but the Mondgreif liberated us so that we might fight for the free world,”

“Free world?!” The Captain exclaimed, raising her head before being pulled down. “There’s no such thing!”

“Perhaps you’ll understand if you became one of us?”

“I refuse to become a wretched machine like you!” She screamed at them.

“See Z38, these Aeternum Shields are so brainwashed that it’s almost better to free them(whether they like it or not),” A54 commented, gesturing to Z38 casually.

“(Understood, A54),” it responded, quickly nodding along to whatever it said.

“If you don’t want to be made into one of us(weirdo), then you’ll answer our questions,” A54 stated, gesturing to the document.

Z38 placed images of a distorted bear on the table, “Can you identify what this is?”

“That’s the property of the Owls, nothing for you to worry about,” The Captain responded, spitting at them.

“Fighting one of your own?” Z38 questioned, tilting its head.

“That Mede was a traitor. It came into *our* nation to steal *our* jobs. We were just dealing with it,” The Captain stated, leaning forwards.

“I understand that position. Seems reasonable, but it killed your own soldiers too,” A54 stated, taking papers from the document to show bits of the battle where Ursa fought Daimyese Guards.

“Some of our Property is hard to control. It went berserk, and I sent in troops to help get it under control,”

“Except-,” Z38 questioned, preparing more documents.

A54 raised a claw, “Your a terrible liar. Your story has more holes than the ship we found you lot in. What *is* it?”

“I refuse,” She stated, turning her head.

A54 reached over. It grabbed her by the *soft* head and SLAMMED it against the *hard* table.

Z38 flinched.

“Listen here, shield. We’ve been nice to you up until this point, but we can make this much more difficult,” A54

“End simulation!” Z.38 exclaimed].

The two were booted out. They were in front of a colossus computer, secluded from the others. Their claws were placed in, as was a small,  multicoloured box with a white light inside of it.

A54 glared at Z38. Z38 flinched, taking a few steps back.

“A54 I’m sorry it had just gotten so intense i reacted on-,”

“Impulse,” it responded, looming over it. “Your impulses are broken,”

“No I’m fine I just need-,”

“To get it together, right Z38S647?” it threatened, its visor covering its eyes. “From early days, the Mondgreif needed us not to feel pain. At the same time, how else are we to be disciplined?”

“S-she made devices that when triggered irritated our red-,”

A54 held up its claws, emitting a subtle red light. 

Z38 fell to the floor, twisting and spazzing around. It screamed as tiny bursts of electricity were shot through its body.

“Now to remind you, who's the ‘strong man’ here,” it asserted, opening the talons that made up its boots and stepping on Z38’s head.

It turned off the red light and picked it up with its talons, “Your going to reset the simulation. Then your going to go in yourself, and convince the Shield to tell us what we’re looking at. If you don’t. I will have you reset. Understood?”

“Y-yes, A54,” it responded, trying to nod in its limited capacity.

“Good,”

………

[Z38 sat before the Captain yet again. It looked left and right nervously, while the Captain just glared at it.

“W-what’s your name?” it asked.

“Haruna Ino, who’s asking?” The Captain responded, rolling her eyes.

“Z38S-,”

“You fucking Disaster Mechs and your Disaster Mech names. Let me go or kill me. Your wasting your time,” she responded, cracking her neck.

It took an imaginary deep breath, “This black bear is surely incredibly powerful, yes? It defeated a Monk and a Forger at once. It’s clearly not your property, unless it's a Possessed. Which means that it's not so much your property so much as you want it to be,”

“Wow, did you figure that out yourself?” she responded, sarcastically.

“No, i was born yesterday,”

“Makes sense, you haven’t figured out how to shut up yet either,” she laughed].

“(Z38),” A52 whispered in its speaker. “(This is getting you nowhere),”

“(no, I think-),”

“(it sees you as weak. Its as the Drescher Doctrines say, ‘we are wolves, and the only way to gain the respect of the pack, is through might’),” it recited.

[Z38 took an imaginary deep breath. It messily grabbed Ino by the collar and threw her to the ground.

“You think your tough?” she called out].

“(stomp on it),”

[Z38 opened its talons. It froze].

“(What are you doing, Z38? Do it),”

[With a roar, Z38 stomped right through Ino’s head.

It’s blood poured out, covering Z38’s foot. 

It could see the insides of the skull. A good portion of the shell and insides were immediately crushed to mush and dust. It could see the remains of the back of the inner skull where it missed. It was still fresh. Still moist].

“(I didn’t say aim for the head),” A54 criticised. “(And you didn’t even destroy the whole head. Sloppy. Reset and try again),”

………

“Again,”

………

“Again,”

………

“Again,”

…………

“This is taking forever, Z38,” it criticised, placing its arm around it. “Do I need to have you re-,”

“No, A54, I’m almost there! I can feel it,” Z38 assured, shaking nervously.

“Good. I have to talk to Dr. E, so finish up before I get back,” it stated, leaving Z38 to it.

………

[Once again, it sat across from Ino. It scratched the table nervously.

“Is this really the best Adlernest-,”

“Your already dead,” it stated.

“Huh?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“We’ve compressed your colour energy and white fragments into a compartment, and we’re speaking with your memories and fragment directly. Your dead,” it stated, gesturing to them and around.

“Bullshit,” she chuckled, shaking her head and leaning back.

“Simulation: undo cuffs and show us the wreckage,”

The environment changed. They were once again on the airship. The ship had been heavily corrupted and floated about in the Colour Realm. A group of airships with the Drescher logo on them surrounded the ship.

Disaster mechs attached wires and used boosters to climb over to the ship. They found multiple corpses and fought multiple shadows. In the end, they found a few barely living, their bodies heavily corrupted or wounded. Amongst them was Ino’s body.

Ino stared in shock, but shook her head and grit her teeth.

“Simulation: show execution,”

Back in Adlernest. They placed Ino in a clean room. She struggled and screamed, but was unable to fight.

They placed her on a table with three red dots in triangle Formation. They locked her down and left the room.

The red dots turned on, and dissolved her body. Each strand of colour was pulled apart, but kept in orbit of the white fragment, effectively killing her.

A54 and Z38 used red beams to examine her memories from her orange. The footage was lacking however, so they changed tune.

They used a series of red beams and the dots on the body. They compressed it all into a contained form.

“Tell me what you know, and I can negotiate putting you in a unit, memories intact,” Z38 assured.

“FUCK YOU!” Ino exclaimed, grabbing it. “If I’m dead! It doesn’t matter! And I’m not being made into one of the Mondgreif’s cunts!”

Z38 growled, “Simulation: make subject immortal,”

“What are you-?”

It threw her aside, “Simulation: inflict pain and fear,”

Lightning exploded through Ino’s body. She let out a horrible scream.

Z38 just watched, its eyes narrow and sharpened].

………

“Shadow velvet Ursa?” A54 questioned, eyes widened.

“Are you sure?” Dr. E added.

“That’s what she said,” it asserted.

“Great job, Z38,” it responded, warmly wrapping an arm around it. “This is big,”

“We should report this to the Mondgreif,”

“Not yet, we need to scout and make sure w3 haven't been tricked,”Dr. E ordered. “You two and the rest of the Series 647 mechs will do the deed,”

“Heil Adlernest! Heil the Mondgreif! Tear them down!”

To Be Continued………