Accompanied by a miserable scream, a fighter jet exploded midair.
"12H, destroyed. Entire team switch to manual mode, avoid enemy attacks using visual evasion."
Faced with the death of a teammate, 2B showed no emotional fluctuation, her voice calm as she issued the command, this kind of scene, she had seen far too many times.
The teammates who received the order had already switched to manual mode, performing irregular maneuvers in the air.
But at this moment, another beam of light shot over.
Boom!
Another fighter jet failed to evade in time and was hit by the beam.
Looking at the teammate who turned into countless firelights, 2B's voice remained calm.
"11B destroyed. Equipped HO229 neutralizer failed to activate."
[Descend in altitude, fly close to the water surface.]
"Understood."
Following the issued command, the only remaining four fighter jets began to rapidly descend, flying at high speed just above the water surface.
At that moment, the onboard radar issued a warning, alerting them that a large number of flying mechanical lifeforms had appeared ahead.
"Request permission to use onboard weapons."
Seeing the enemy flying units appear, the squad leader 1D reported to command.
[Permission to use weapons granted.] The communication officer's voice immediately responded.
But before they could fire back, a beam appeared again.
"7E, destroyed." The calm voice rang out once more.
At this moment, only three fighter jets remained in the entire squad, and they had only just laid eyes on the enemy.
"Entire team, pay attention to dodging attacks. We cannot afford to lose any more teammates." Squad leader 1D said.
But immediately after, she too was hit by a beam.
"1D destroyed. As per regulations, this unit 2B takes over. 4B, be careful."
"Understood, Captain." 4B replied.
At this time, dense groups of enemies had already appeared in front of them, flying units of mechanical lifeforms in great numbers.
In an instant, a sky full of beams and plasma spheres shot toward them.
The only remaining two fighter jets could only rely on agile movements to continuously evade, occasionally firing beams to destroy approaching enemies.
But the number of enemies was too many, almost blotting out the sky and sun. Just as the two fighter jets were about to be completely surrounded...
Suddenly, a gigantic robot flew out from the water.
"That is..." With rich combat experience, 2B took a moment to glance down, immediately furrowing her brow.
"Captain, is that a new type of mechanical lifeform?" 4B also noticed the robot.
"Unclear. Maybe." 2B suddenly felt some loss of hope for this mission. That large robot was covered in weapons from head to toe, just judging by appearance, it was clearly a powerful monster.
However, in the next second, she wanted to take back her previous words.
Because she discovered that the giant robot was actually attacking the mechanical lifeforms surrounding them. A barrage of missiles and beams scattered in all directions like they cost nothing, its fierce firepower instantly clearing a large area.
"It's actually an ally? Could it be support from the androids on the ground? But... where would they get this kind of technology?"
Watching the robot speed off into the distance, 2B thought with surprise.
———
On the ground, Aiden glanced at the mechanical lifeform that had been sliced in half by A2, and helplessly furrowed his brow.
The android girl in battle mode was just too brutal, completely unlike the A2 who curled up in his arms that morning, as if they were two different people.
"I suddenly feel a bit worried for your future." Beside him, Yakor, carrying a case, noticed his expression and laughed while covering her mouth.
Aiden glanced at her, then unceremoniously clenched his fist and smacked her on the head.
"Bastard, hitting my head again, I'll fight you for real this time." Yakor wasn't being hit by Aiden for the first time, this had been happening daily lately, but every time, she just couldn't endure it.
Ignoring Yakor's completely non-lethal punches and kicks, Aiden half-squinted his eyes, connecting to the aerial combat robot he had sent out, Gale.
Through Gale's vision, he saw that two fighter jets from the YoRHa squad had broken through the encirclement of mechanical lifeforms and were flying toward the direction of the ruined factory.
'One of them is 2B, the other one... who could it be?' Aiden thought to himself.
But soon, he noticed something else. In Gale's essentially useless hand, it was holding an android girl.
'That was... 11B?'
Aiden recalled the plot.
In the original 243rd descent operation, only 2B survived out of six fighter jets, the remaining five were all destroyed.
However, as long as a YoRHa model android was not completely destroyed, their memory could be uploaded to the Bunker, allowing them to "revive."
So, technically speaking, the destroyed YoRHa units were not truly dead.
But 11B was the exception. She seemed to have discovered something, learned some inside information, and had long planned to escape, even intending to bring along a junior. But due to participating in the descent operation, her escape plan had to be moved up.
And when her fighter was destroyed, 11B did not die and revive in the Bunker like the others. Severely injured, she fell into the sea. In the original plot, she was tortured to death by mechanical lifeforms after reaching land, without even having time to upload her memory. By the time 2B arrived, 11B was already completely dead.
But now, in addition to 2B and another unidentified android, 11B was also rescued by the Gale unit that Aiden had dispatched.
"Count yourself lucky. If Gale didn't have some degree of intelligence and saved you, I'd have almost forgotten you were even a character." Aiden muttered softly.
After all, among this YoRHa squad, only 2B was worth paying attention to. But since she was saved, it could be called fate, so Aiden ordered Gale to take 11B to a safe place.
———
Behind Gale, 2B and 4B followed all the way. Under the powerful firepower of the aerial combat robot, they encountered few enemies and smoothly entered the ruined factory.
Watching the robot suddenly accelerate and disappear from sight, 2B and 4B didn't continue chasing, it was clear they still remembered their mission.
"2B calling Communication Officer 6O. Current YoRHa squad survivors are 2B and 4B. Should the mission continue?"
After landing, 2B, having assumed captain authority, contacted the commander.
[This is Communication Officer 6O. Continue the mission. Please rendezvous with local contact 9S and the resistance group supporting you to obtain critical intel.]
"Understood." 2B responded immediately without much thought.
She then turned off the communicator. Originally, she had wanted to report the robot that supported them, but thinking of the Bunker's usual behavior, she decided to keep it secret.
"Captain, are we not going to report that to command?"
Seeing 2B directly shut off the communicator, 4B asked, a little puzzled.
"No need. Not an enemy, no need to report." 2B said.
"Well... okay." 4B didn't say anything more. Now that 2B was captain, everything was up to her.
———
'Self-check complete... Rebooting...'
11B slowly opened her eyes. Multiple damages to her body made even that movement difficult.
"You're the one who saved me?"
After opening her eyes, 11B found herself being held in the hand of a large robot. But she wasn't alarmed, before her body forcefully shut down from severe damage, she had clearly seen herself being pulled from the water by this robot.
The other party didn't show hostility, so it certainly wasn't one of their enemies, i.e., mechanical lifeforms.
But just like support bots with firepower, the aerial combat robot Gale, although it had a degree of intelligence, couldn't think independently or speak on its own. So it didn't respond to 11B's question.
"Where are you taking me?"
Seeing the robot didn't reply and just kept flying while holding her, 11B asked again.
"To a safe place."
The robot finally spoke, but it was Aiden's voice. "So you can talk."
11B wasn't concerned about the so-called safe place. Instead, she was very interested that the robot could make a sound.
"It can't talk. It's me, the operator of this robot, speaking with you."
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