|Simon Blackmore|
Drones. An absurd number of drones. That's what he's building. He divides the production into four types: 50% Assault Drones, 30% Maintenance Drones, 10% Scavenger Drones, and 10% Builder Drones.
He is currently inside a small structure at the southmost part of the fortress—where the fabricators are housed—continuously pumping out drone reinforcements to hold back the machines. A blue bubble surrounds him, a protective barrier in case any machine somehow slips past the newly built sentry nest covering the rear approach.
But drones aren't the only thing he's working on. He's also developing new technology—new weapons to help the androids on the battlefield. Currently, he is developing an artillery system. The androids, while competent, simply can't match the output of thousands of drones. They are great for a hit-and-run tactic, but at the moment, they do not require a large infantry presence, at least not in this fight.
Because of that reason, he decides to build artillery pieces that the androids can operate—capable of countering large machines or wiping out clusters of smaller ones. He already sent a swarm of Builder Drones to expand both the east and west walls. Each wing will house a single artillery emplacement.
He bases his design on the Basilisk from Warhammer 40k. A 132-millimeter gun capable of firing shells over 15 kilometers at 814 meters per second. Each artillery position also includes two defensive turrets to protect it at close range.
These turrets require manual operation—he doesn't have time to make them fully automated yet. They use twin-linked accelerator autocannons, which fire shells at a much higher velocity than standard autocannons, with a slightly faster rate of fire.
When he finishes the blueprints, he uploads everything to Helios and orders the Builder Drones to begin construction immediately. While waiting, he instructs Lucy to send ten androids to man the turrets and artillery—four for the turrets, six for the guns.
It doesn't take long for the androids to arrive. He wastes no time.
"Split into two groups. Five of you take the west wing; the rest take the east. Here's how the new weapons operate."
Without further explanation, he transmits all necessary data directly into their shared network. They stop, review it, and then move out to prepare. They are perfect soldiers. They are efficient, obey the command without question, and know how to improve.
As for him, he turns his attention back to battlefield command. He looks at the hologram in front of him and begins issuing commands to the others to ensure everything is going smoothly.
"Team Alpha, retreat to wall 21 for maintenance. Team Charlie, switch with Team Alpha."
"Team Oscar, clear the cluster approaching the sentry nest at wall 11."
"Team Romeo, retreat to Ares for repairs. Team Kilo, cover their withdrawal."
Orders flow from him nonstop. His priority is the safety of the android teams. Unlike humans, his drones can repair android bodies as long as their databanks remain intact; however, the machines are aware of this and attempt to destroy their databanks.
Lucky for him, casualties are nonexistent—at worst, he has to rebuild a body from scratch and implant the databank into the new body.
Thankfully, he already has a mass-production android template—not the best, but good enough.
His thoughts halt when his scanner and radar flag unusual movement. Something approaches from the southeast. He dispatches five Hunter Drones to investigate. Minutes later, he watches a convoy emerge through the desert—fifteen vehicles carrying groups of seven to twelve androids each.
All armed.
And familiar figures ride among them.
He sees Popola and Devola—Game versions, not his—alongside 2B, 9S, Anemone, and Jackass.
He hums thoughtfully and prepares to perform another Purge. All of them carry dormant Logic Viruses, and he needs to remove them immediately. His new Maintenance Drones carry upgraded purge modules to do it faster.
He also creates more Heavy Bolters for reinforcement. He doesn't know how good their weapons are, but judging by what the prior weaponry Lucy and her team used, they are inferior compared to regular Bolters. Even more so when compared to Heavy Bolters.
While waiting, he orders Builder Drones to rebuild the destroyed sentry nest and reinforce the northern wall, which is under pressure. Three android teams slowly regain control, but he sends a hundred Assault Drones to hold the line and instructs the Scavenger Drones to reinforce defenses with shield projectors.
His HUD warns him—the reinforcements are only 700 meters away. He controls the gates remotely, opening them to receive the convoy.
He spots the awe on their faces—and Jackass's unfiltered drooling over the weapons.
Anemone approaches first and salutes.
"Glory to mankind!"
The others echo her.
"Glory to mankind!"
He waves dismissively.
"At ease, soldiers. The situation is dire, as you can see. But before you join the battle, I need to perform something."
At his command, Maintenance Drones descend on the convoy. His hologram shows real-time data as the purge modules activate. In minutes, the Logic Viruses are gone, leaving the androids shaken as they process the sudden absence of corruption they never noticed in the past.
Seeing their faces, he decides to explain.
"As you've noticed, all your bodies were infected with dormant Logic Viruses. The drones purged them. They needed a specific signal to activate—but now the threat is gone."
He gestures toward the row of Heavy Bolters.
"Take one each. YoRHa androids excel at close combat, but your long-range weapons are subpar. These are better for this war. I'm sending deployment data to your networks. Report to Lucy—she's over there."
He points toward Lucy, who is currently coordinating the defenses on Wall 17.
Then he looks at the two new Devola and Popola models.
"As for you two, stay here. I need your help. I'll connect you to Helios's guest level so you can assist with construction."
They salute, take Heavy Bolters, and disperse—except the twins. Jackass grabs her Heavy Bolter first and rubs her face against it like it's the finest masterpiece ever forged.
He shakes his head and hands the twins more blueprints. He sends the blueprints directly to their system and says.
"Here. Study these. Memorize the steps and material specifications."
"Yes, sir!"
They salute again and dive into the data as if studying sacred scripture. Simon sighs and resumes tinkering.
==| Line Break |==
|Commander White|
She watches the battlefield through the monitor, unable to contain the hope swelling inside her chest. Simon leads a second, smaller mech into the field. The YoRHa Pods display live feeds across every screen.
The Devola-Popola twin from Anemone's camp assists Simon as co-pilot, and together they tear apart machine formations with such efficiency that even the most efficient androids envy.
White grips the edge of her table, tense, as the mech darts through the sky—blocking, countering, and then unleashing a massive chest-beam at a Goliath-class machine, obliterating its core.
She cheers with the others as another Goliath collapses. Only three remain.
But she cannot celebrate fully yet. She turns to an operator next to her and says.
"How are the machines moving? Any more reinforcements?"
"No, ma'am! Pods detect no additional waves within a 2-kilometer radius. This is the last one!"
"Good… Good…"
She exhales in relief.
According to livestream data, more than 820,000 machines are attacking the fortress. Surviving this long is a miracle. She dreads what would have happened if more waves had appeared.
Nearly a million machines versus a few hundred androids and one human.
Of course, the drones and sentry nests make a dramatic difference—but even then, this outcome is nothing short of a miracle.
"What about the others? The Attack Team?"
"They're still en route, ma'am! Machines keep blocking their path. But they're getting closer. ETA is two hours. They are pushing really hard."
"Tch. Too long."
But this time, she isn't afraid of them arriving late. Their first reinforcement wave allowed Simon to build more heavy artillery—enough to shift the battle from desperate survival to overwhelming force with a high chance of victory in sight.
Live feeds show his face across every monitor—stern, yet kind. It feels as though he's looking straight through their cores.
"To all androids! This is the final hour! We push through! This is our last strike! Go! Let us break the enemy line and step into a brighter future!"
Androids across the fortress and the Bunker erupt in cheers.
She wants to join them… but she doesn't believe she deserves to. Not after the sin she bears. She cannot join in the victory android-kind has sought for so long.
But she watches.
And she watches as determination ignites in every one of them. They tear through machine ranks. The heavy tank storms from the fortress, flattening anything in its path while its main gun pounds the distant Goliaths and its secondary armaments tear apart machines near it.
The mechs prevent the Goliaths from firing their main weapons or intercepting artillery.
One by one, the remaining Goliaths fall.
Soon, the last of the machines collapses. Silence follows.
Then Simon's mech raises a mechanical fist.
"VICTORY!"
And the Bunker erupts in thunderous celebration.