The Resistance fighters linked up with the undead hordes, providing ranged fire support. The NSLICE units began to fall, unable to handle the incoming dinosaurs while under suppressive fire.
And of course, among the Resistance’s recruits were supers fleeing the NSLICE program…
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Master Elegant Katana rode on the back of a Triceratops, his blade flashing around him as he cut through NSLICE units. Gone was his golden blade and his extravagant clothing, replaced with a humble but highly functional alternatives. He said not a word, narrowing his eyes as he cut down his foes.
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Gabriel Le Blank made an elegant pose as she pointed a finger. Beams of light blasted forth, piercing straight through the warbots.
She heaved a sigh.
"This is so...unsightly. But I will do what I must to restore some manner of beauty to this world. I suppose my light shines the brightest in the midst of the darkness."
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The Gentle Gloom passed straight through the bots, tearing their cores out along the way. He yawned as he lifted a hand, firing a glowing green beam at another incoming patrol.
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And as the Resistance gained momentum, the people started to notice. Resistance sympathizers all across the city began to rise up. They fought with tools and knives and molotov-cocktails, anything they could find. As they did, Resistance fighters rushed over to organize them, passing out weapons and gathering them into the movement.
It seemed as though the Jurassic Revolution might actually succeed.
But little did they know, they had only handled the first wave, the day-to-day NSLICE guards meant only to maintain order in the streets.
Hangar doors opened up all over the central spire. NSLICE units flew out of them by the thousands, led by the more advanced NSLICE-NS variants. And with them came the more conventional military assets. Tanks, artillery, helicopters, fighter jets.
The real war had just begun.
Fighter jets and flying warbots began to gun down the flying dinosaurs, taking control of the skies once more. Artillery opened fire, massive explosions scattering raptor packs and squads of Resistance fighters. Tanks and helicopters targeted the larger dinosaurs, powerful anti-armor munitions tearing through the undead monstrosities.
And of course, the Concordat of Sorrow’s pride and joy. The true defenders of peace.
The NSLICE-NS variants joined the fray.
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An undead T-Rex marched its way towards a squad of NSLICE units, letting out a roar. The Gentle Gloom floated behind it, laying down covering fire with his beams.
“Target acquired, engaging.”
The dragon-human-cyborg NSLICE-96NS, formerly known as Dragontooth, fell from the sky, piercing straight through the T-Rex’s head. Without another word she turned towards a pack of raptors and opened her mouth, exhaling her fire breath to burn them to ash.
Then she turned to the Gentle Gloom, who frowned.
"Oh, bother."
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Master Elegant Kantana cried as a sudden flash of light blinded him, causing him to fall off his mount. Sparks of light appeared all around the Triceraptors, the beast roaring as they burned its flesh.
NSLICE-47NS, formerly known as Majestic Moth, descended from the sky. Master Elegant Katana groaned as he picked himself off the ground as sparks of light headed his way...
Beams of light hissed through the air as Gabriel Le Blank intervened, blocked by flashing sparks. She nodded at Master Elegant Katana, who retreated from the area.
"New target acquired, engaging."
She scowled at the cyborg.
"There is nothing more unsightly than these puppets who cannot appreciate beauty. Allow me to put you out of your misery."
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Dr. Iwalani danced about, moving her hands in a wide arc. Glowing water followed her path, bots short-circuiting as water worked its way past their exteriors.
But suddenly her water stopped mid-air.
NSLICE-21NS, formerly known as Aqua Mage, landed on the field, AI-assisted magic circles appearing all around her. Dr. Iwalani grinned.
“Hoh, so you tink you know water? I like show you da power of da ocean!”
But even as she boasted, Dr. Iwalani’s mind raced, for she was very far from the ocean at the moment…
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Admiral Faulkner and the Necrosaurus frowned at the display of the battlefield.
“...how many more dinosaurs you got?”
“...not enough.”
“I thought the whole point of being a necromancer was not running out of bodies?”
“Hey, it took a long time to gather enough to make all these! I mean, do you want me to start reanimating human bodies? We’re fighting an army of robots so the only ones available are ours, you know?”
“Ah, maybe not then.”
“Well, this is only a diversion anyways. Let’s just hope Falcon’s team hurries it up.”
Admiral Faulkner crossed his arms. He watched a feed of Elise wiping out an entire platoon of NSLICE units on her own.
“You know, they’d probably have gone faster if we let their bot go with them.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“And you’d trust the fate of this operation to an NSLICE unit in the heart of the Concordat? Even if from a different time?”
“...no, not really.”
“Right. Let’s just be glad they haven’t turned her yet.”
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Elise was sitting on a chair in the broadcasting station, having hacked the warning sirens for the Resistance's call to arms.
NSLICE units, including an NS variant, burst through the door. But before they could even catch sight of their target, their robotic eyes flickered and they froze in place. Elise didn't even glance at the intruders as she disabled them. Between her Vophae tech-upgraded implants, her unshackled AI's continuous growth and improvement, her experiences interacting with the internet, her mini-Mental Unifier and records of Saydaa's mind spells that could also target their organic components, and her own qi that she could use to supercharge any of the above, Elise's cyber warfare capabilities were lightyears beyond the mundane and shackled Concordat enforcers. Not to mention she had access to Concordat protocols from her own records and from 00P Beta, so she didn't even appear hostile as far as Concordat cyber-security was concerned. The NSLICE units weren't even aware they had been compromised as she ordered them to go into standby mode.
So Elise had the leeway to focus on other things. Such as spying on the Resistance leaders to keep tabs on the situation and watch for signs of betrayal.
She hadn't found any so far, but she found what she did hear much worse.
“...Response determined as indignant rage and non-lethal violence. Scheduling Resistance leaders for non-lethal violence at a later date.”
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Meanwhile Icy Falcon led Amano Bin, Aurora Legion, the rest of Nemesis, Roxanne, and several Resistance fighters including one of the Necrosaurus’s disciples. They traveled through the sewers to the area underneath the central spire. A group of NSLICE units barred their path.
Icy Falcon shot a barrage of ice spikes and Amano Bin launched Phantom Slashes at the group, destroying them all simultaneously.
The team came to a door leading directly into the facility. A Resistance hacker got to work, inputting codes the Resistance had managed to steal a few days earlier.
Saydaa just heaved a sigh.
“This would be a lot easier with killer robot girl.”
The Necrosaurus’s disciple, a woman named Adriani Toccili, crossed her arms.
“I can’t believe you trust one of those bots. Nor can I believe that Master let such a suspicious bunch on such an important mission.”
Saydaa glared at her, then stopped and tilted her head, and then smirked.
“Heh.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t worry about it, you wouldn’t get it.”
Adriani frowned but the hacker had finished their work and the door opened up, so she turned from Saydaa to enter the facility. Saydaa’s shoulders trembled as she giggled to herself.
“Aw, is the itsy bitsy spider scared of robots this time? I’d love to show you what your other self looks like, hehe.”
Kiyosuke sighed, and chopped her on the head.
“Ouch! What was that for, you jerk?”
“Focus.”
“You focus!”
The air’s temperature dropped as Icy Falcon stared at them, arms crossed.
“Quiet.”
Both of them shut their mouths and followed after the group.
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The group rushed through the facility. Arvid took the lead. After the Battle for Earth, the saga had reached such a level that conventional weapons from the mass-production warbots hardly affected the man at all. They barely slowed him as he cut them down by the dozens.
Automated turrets popped out only to be immediately destroyed by Nana or disabled by Voidspeaker. Blast doors attempted to close but Saydaa and Roxanne could simply hold them open. Phantom Slashes from two Amanos destroyed entire squads of warbots on approach. Covering fire from the Icy pair forced any normal Concordat guards to keep their heads down. And any counterfire the Concordat defenses did manage were absorbed by undead dinosaurs from Adriani.
Meanwhile Chronolock may have had a bit too much fun destroying NSLICE bots, cackling as she was while she kicked a sparking warbot on the floor. Aurora Legion agreed that they didn't see any such things occurring.
The team made quick progress until they came to a large, open room.
A veritable army of NSLICE units awaited them.
“Greetings, our most esteemed guests. It’s my pleasure to welcome you to the Concordat of Sorrow’s Headquarters. Please, I hope you will enjoy our finest hospitality.”
Mr. Dapper Tiger stood at the front, taking a deep bow, wearing a pristine suit over metal armor. He, too, had been converted into a cyborg, though not exactly the same. As a loyal Concordat officer, he was not leashed by his cybernetic components, but rather enhanced by them.
With him stood several familiar NSLICE-NS units.
Aurora Legion gasped once again, Pink Star covering her mouth and Chronolock clenching her fists.
There was a cyborg Captain Hot Devil.
And they weren’t the only ones surprised…
“You…”
Amano Bin grit her teeth, her face contorting in rage. Kiyosuke narrowed his eyes and gripped his sword so hard his knuckles went pure white.
There was a cyborg Amano Kiyoatsu.
Icy Falcon narrowed his eyes as well.
“So you caught El Capa, or the Warped Warrior now, was it?”
There was a cyborg El Capa as well. Mr. Dapper Tiger nodded.
“We caught this fellow snooping about the city. No doubt probing our defenses for his Herald’s next atrocity. But he has since seen the error of his ways, and dedicated himself to the defense of the peace.”
“You mean the defense of the Concordat’s rule.”
“My dear Senor Falcon, they are but one and the same! For what was the world like before the Concordat? Chaotic, violent, divided, ultimately leading to a day of ultimate sorrow. It is only by the Concordat’s rule that there is any peace at all.”
Icy Falcon frowned and lifted his fists.
“Not anymore.”
Mr. Dapper Tiger shook his head.
“Well, you were ever the soldier, fighting your endless war. What about you, Mrs. Amano? Here I thought you would be happy to be reunited with your son. We've even managed to improve on his efficiency, you should be proud.”
She just grit her teeth and pulled out her blade.
“No? Well no matter, for it is you I am most interested in.”
He focused on Wonder Knight and Pink Star.
“How strange, you two look exactly like some of our assets. I was not aware either of them were twins. Or perhaps…there’s something else going on here?”
Wonder Knight and Pink Star frowned but said nothing.
“Ah well, I suppose we will have to discuss that later. To the business at hand then. Unregistered non-standards, you have rebelled against the defenders of peace, seeking to plunge the world into chaos and death once again. As you can see, you are entirely outnumbered and outmatched. Surrender now and we shall be merciful.”
Icy Falcon just narrowed his eyes.
“We will not be your slaves.”
“Well I can’t say I didn’t expect that. Then let’s have at it, shall we?”
The NSLICE units and the Captain Hot Devil cyborg opened fire. Icy Falcon and Icy Rose immediately raised a huge wall of ice to block. Kiyoatsu flickered behind them but was blocked by Bin. Flickering images of the two appeared all over as the two masters of the Amano Phantom technique started to duel. The Warped Warrior attempted to ambush them as well, but he was blocked by Kiyosuke, the two starting their own teleportation battle.
Adriani formed a large magic circle, summoning a swarm of large undead dinosaurs, which she set upon the NSLICE units. Roxanne nodded at Voidspeaker and Saydaa and they formed a smaller void-typhoon combo that they had used against the Vophae, clearing a large group of the NSLICE units all at once.
But doors opened on either side of the room. Hordes of undead dinosaurs came spilling out, flanking the supers. Adriani’s eyes widened and she grit her teeth.
“You!”
Mr. Dapper Tiger simply smiled.
“My dear, what did you think we did with all of your teacher's pupils we caught? Take heart, for they remain fully devoted to their craft.”
Nana and the other Resistance fighters started to gun down the undead, supporting Adriani’s own minions. On the other flank, Wonder Knight and Pink Star held the line with a squad of pink Ankylosauruses.
Mr. Dapper Tiger raised an eyebrow.
“So not just a look-a-like, but an exact match? How curious.”
Meanwhile Arvid leapt into the air, pulling back his sword.
“HAVE AT THEE!”
He tossed it at the center of the enemy’s formation, heading right towards Mr. Dapper Tiger.
And then…
The room lit up with pink light. Aurora Legion’s eyes widened. Wonder whispered under his breath.
“No…they didn’t…”
A pink Wonder Knight appeared and tried to catch the blade…
It pierced right through him.
Several pink figures appeared, each being dispersed by the falling blade.
Finally…
A pink Xiong Zhen appeared, blade in hand.
He managed to deflect Arvid’s sword, though with great effort.
Mr. Dapper Tiger’s eyes went wide.
“To think the NSLICE Defender was pushed to that degree. You are a powerful one, aren’t you?”
Wonder Knight grit his teeth.
“You…where is she?!”
Mr. Dapper Tiger raised an eyebrow.
“I told you already, my boy, that is the NSLICE Defender. That non-standard’s powers are truly something special, theoretically all-powerful, limited only by available power and data. So we built an NSLICE unit directly into our HQ, capable of drawing on all the power of the entire city and all the data and records we possess. It is our ultimate defense.”
“She’s my friend, you jerk!”
Pink Star smiled, her face flushing slightly at Wonder Knight’s rage before she shook her head. No. Don’t let that start again.
Arvid reclaimed his blade, rushing towards the Xiong Zhen copy. The two collided mid-air. But the Xiong Zhen copy was incomplete, a pale shadow of its subject, for the Concordat only had a few recordings of his fights. Without his full cultivation, the Ten Slaughters techniques, or the Black Blade, he could not match the current Arvid. Mr. Dapper Tiger frowned and pulled out a wrapped weapon on his back.
He unwrapped it, revealing a glaive. He rushed forward and swung it, catching Arvid’s greatsword before he could deal the final blow to the Xiong Zhen copy.
The tiger man grunted but his weapon held. Arvid was forced to retreat as the Xiong Zhen copy counterattacked.
“I say, you are quite powerful, are you not? But this here is the spear of Guan Yu! The mythical Green Dragon Crescent Blade! You’ll need more than mere strength to surpass it, my boy.”
Arvid simply grinned at him.
“Then our battle shall be legendary! Come, and let me show you the might of my saga!”
And so the battle raged…