None present on the target in question were expecting an attack. The Nyx Breaker had done admirably in detecting exceptions within the Aud ranks that turned back to chase them down whenever the Titan emerged from a new point in the ground and unleashed the formidable might of its emplacements.
Unlike the defensive crews stationed across the walls, they hadn't suffered material or personnel losses. For them, morale was steady, and manpower and war-making material was still in abundant supply. There was little reason for those circumstances to be any direr. The Nyx Breaker, despite operating outside of the walls as humanity's sole external asset in the first battle, possessed the subversive transit capabilities to evade any Aud that even gave the distant Titan more attention than a singular glare or roar.
It wasn't as if they had to remain in place at a single defensive location. Directory Control instructed Re-5 before the communications dead zone descended to harass and inhibit the outer layers of the first ring, and that was what she had directed the crews aboard to do in turn.
They could break through the surface layers after relocating to a new section of the outer ring, fire several salvos of sonics, electrics, and cylinders, and vanish back into subterranean safety before repeating the same performance elsewhere on the battlefield.
Though they didn't produce any outrageous or strong results, the Nyx Breaker's presence eliminated several thousand weaker Aud already and had delayed the arrival of thousands more.
That was when her military career subjected Re-5 to one of the few moments where she had no forewarning; a wall-grade electric released a beam, striking into one of the rear compartments of the Titan. The command compartment went almost silent, the majority of the servicemen disbelieving.
She swallowed as the electric beam dissipated away, then returned as fast and blinding as before, striking a patch of ground mere meters away. A third continuation of the beam confirmed her suspicions.
The Nyx Breaker was a target. She shook her head and rushed forward, almost throwing her weight against her console in haste to reach for the vocoder. "Piloting crew, dive now!"
Before the tail of the Titan had disappeared beneath the surface, she was twisting to her officer. "What was that? Why did a defense crew turn their emplacements on us?"
He didn't seem as rattled as her, or any of the other crew. She had the illusion that she addressed the calmest serviceman on the Nyx Breaker. "That wasn't a hostile action, sir. Look." He handed over to her yet another screen. On it, data and diagnostics of the Titan's exterior changed by the second, though only according to minute fluctuations.
There was one exception: the location where the electric beam had struck true. The scutumsteel protections there had absorbed a greater quantity of thermal energy than the surroundings, though not by much. Nowhere near enough to cause damage to the structural integrity of the armor.
"I don't know why they did that, but they didn't hold intentions to attack and debilitate. Assuming all beams fired at us follow the strength of the one that made contact, they stayed powered well below standard charge."
"Alright. If the defensive crews haven't lost their minds, and they thought that through with different intentions than what we believed at first, there's only so many other reasons for them to…do you think they're trying to communicate?"
"It seems the most likely answer. The communication dead zone is effective. Too much so. From its continued functioning, we can determine that not even carriers of the Old Man's Blessing who have Vigors related to the phenomena can put a stop to it. But if you're right, it should be safe to resurface."
She nodded. Reaching for the vocoder and calming the tremors in her voice, she said, "Apologies for the panic. The defensive crews held no hostile intentions. We will resurface and resume normal activities, even if they continue to treat us as a target. Piloting crews, reverse our dive."
The Nyx Breaker took the opportunity of retreating underground to relocate a bit further east before emerging and resuming its attacks. Amongst all the outgoing electrics and other projectiles originating from the Titan, there were still the stray electric beams that were incoming attacks. It was awkward for Re-5 to act as if nothing was amiss, observing the strikes. "Do we know what they're doing?"
"Not at the moment, sir. I put some of our brightest techs to the task of discerning which communication methods they could be employing and--" He glanced away, then back at her. "They've ruled out binary, since the beams are only striking us at one uniform charge across every single one. There would be no way to differentiate the ones and zeroes otherwise."
"Could it be morse? It looks like they all have breaks interspersed between them at the necessary intervals."
"Most of the autonomous intelligences think so. They're feeding the patterns through to a program they've modified. Trying to find the right tempo, since the wall-grade electric the defensive crews use can't be as accurate as a purpose-made substitute, due to both performance and in-field constraints."
.- -. / .- ..- -.. / ... ..- -... ...- . .-. ... .. --- -. / .- - - . -- .--. - / .-.. --- -.-. .- - . -.. .-.-.-
.-. . .-.. --- -.-. .- - . / ..- -. -.. . .-. / - .... . / .-.. .- ... - / .-.. .. --. .... - .-..-. ... / ..-. --- ..- -. -.. .- - .. --- -. ... .-.-.-
.- -.. --- .--. - / -.- .. - .. -. --. / .--. .-. --- - --- -.-. --- .-.. / - --- / -.. .. ... - .-. .- -.-. - / .- -. -.. / ... ..- -... ...- . .-. - .-.-.-
-... . / .--. .-. . .--. .- .-. . -.. / ..-. --- .-. / ... .. --. -. .. ..-. .. -.-. .- -. - / .-. . ... .. ... - .- -. -.-. . .-.-.- / -. --- / .-. . .. -. ..-. --- .-. -.-. . -- . -. - ... / -.-. --- -- .. -. --. .-.-.-
The two of them traded no further words on the topic until the techs had puzzled lines of commands out of the unusual method of transmission. Her officer looked eager when reading the information. "This should be urgent, if Directory Control felt that was necessary."
"Is it?"
"See for yourself, sir." She skimmed the translations. She could read morse just like any other serviceman, but it was faster to register the incoming orders in simple vernacular. Once the commands transferred completely, the defense crew managing the electric had seen fit to repeat in a cyclical continuity.
"Directory Control has ordered us to abandon our current kiting activities and move under the Last Light to force back or rout Aud espionage agents attempting to tunnel to the surface. Piloting crews, get us there. To the rest of you, prepare to enter into high-intensity skirmishes with little forewarning. Though Directory Control has access to sophisticated and powerful sensor systems to determine the positions and fur colors of Aud underground, we don't. And since their current means of data transmission between us and them will become useless once we dive, there will be no further communication between us. Though their data tells them there are no blues, we cannot rule out one or two may make an appearance. Our fur scanners will suffer in range when the Nyx Breaker is in motion. So again, be ready for the worst. We'll maintain modus operandi blue, and change to purple once we encounter our first Aud. There must be no more incidents like what occurred during our last expedition."
The mood throughout the Titan declined for the first time. For the original crew, Ze-4's incapacitation was a sore spot on an already bright record. For the new replacements still working their way into their role, their unfamiliarity with the man didn't affect the shared sentiment. Ze-4 was a sitesman, Ancient, and carrier of the Old Man's Blessing all rolled into one person, each an esteemed title to hold in human society. Military society, though smaller and different in several cultural values, would have no reason to hold a different stance.