The target was in a slightly cumbersome and extremely bizarre location. “That’s strange. The location data should be correct… W-whoa!” 9S exclaimed, losing his footing in the sand and catching himself as he fell forward. 2B issued a short warning to be careful. “It looks like there aren’t any enemy signals in this area,” observed 2B.
Recently, there had been many violent Machines appearing in the desert area. 2B and 9S had come to the desert military post to exterminate the nuisances. The local resistance that protected the desert had given them specifics; now they planned to leave for an extermination mission.
However, their informant was nowhere to be found. There was no mistake as to the meeting point. Moments before, a soldier they had run into told them, “Our comrade is waiting near the rocky area ahead.” Boulders poked out from the sand, and there were layered cliffs surrounding them. There was no mistaking that this place was “the rocky area,” and this was a dead end, so it couldn’t be “ahead” either.
“Pod. Give me the map data once more…” As he was asking support pod 042 to recalculate their coordinates, 9S raised his voice. “2B, look over there!
“Heeeeey! Can you hear me?” 9S exclaimed, waving his hand at a silhouette. No response. Was 9S’s voice not reaching them? No, at this distance it must be. They must have seen 9S waving his hand as well. If they weren’t replying there must be a reason why.
For example, maybe they were unaware that the YoRHa squadron had been assigned to eliminate the Machines, and they were being wary. Or perhaps they were in such a bad mood that they didn’t want anything to do with anybody else. Unlike the YoRHa squadron, who were forbidden from experiencing emotions, this could very well be the case with a resistance soldier.
“If we go this way it will be faster,” said 2B. 2B built up speed and leapt onto a boulder. 9S followed, slightly lagging behind her. From down below it was hard to tell what the individual’s gender was, but it was a female soldier wearing a long hood.
She introduced herself, saying, “My name is Jackass. Nice to meet you.” She had an unexpectedly friendly voice. It seemed like a bad mood wasn’t the reason for her unresponsiveness. “I’ve heard the details from the leader. You’ve come to wipe out the Machines, right?” 2B nodded her head. “Then we’ve got to open the sealed entrance,” Jackass said this with a hint of amusement. 9S asked suspiciously, “By the way, why are you in such a weird place?”
“Oh, this? Well…” Her lips tightened into a smile. Right then, an explosion shook the area. A hot gust pushed through from the direction of the shockwave. As the clouds of sand settled, the previous dead end was revealed to give way to a narrow path. That was the entrance to the desert. Jackass added, “If we were caught up in that it would be dangerous, no?” When Jackass had said “open,” she had meant blow it open with an explosion.