2

Play: ShowCase

"...I still can't believe it." Anis glanced at her data pad and then at me. "You really are a complete rookie. They said you graduated from the military academy literally yesterday. And with barely passing grades."

I shrugged. "What can I say? I guess life and death situations brought out the best in me."

Marian chuckled. "My Commander does appear to have a knack for combat."

Rapi nodded. "Surprisingly so. But not unwelcome." She shifted her gaze to the surroundings and said, "In a situation like this, keen instincts such as yours, Commander, are necessary."

"...Still think it's weird." Anis stared at me. "...You're really just human?"

"I mean, I 'should' be. I don't remember NOT being human. Again, hazy memory and all though. I blame the heart attack."

"...Really not being convincing here, Commander." Anis sighed. "But whatever. I'll take a weirdly competent rookie over the idiot who ran at a Rapture with a pistol thinking he could take them."

Marian tilted her head. "Is that what your last Commander did?"

"Yeah." Anis clicked her tongue. "Honestly. Normal weapons don't work on Raptures. He should have realized that."

I blinked. "Wait. Why not?"

Anis rolled her eyes. "Seriously? It's obvious, isn't it? Raptures are made of materials that normal iron and steel can't put a dent in."

"...Then why don't you just use Rapture scrap against Rapture? Like cutting a diamond with a diamond?"

Anis sighed. "...Yep. Definitely average grades."

Marian glared at Anis. "Then explain instead of complaining to the commander, Anis."

"What? It's basic though!"

Rapi glanced at me. "Allow me, Commander. The reason is because Raptures can only be destroyed by damaging its core. Shots against the limbs and outer shell are ineffective."

I slowly blinked. "...But uh. Haven't we been doing literally that this entire time? Not shooting the cores, I mean."

Silence.

Marian's eyes widened. "That... is right. My Commander makes a good point."

Rapi frowned. "That... is true. Odd."

Anis pointed at me. "Wait! You! Commander! How did you know that if we shot the Raptures like that they'd explode?"

"Mm... Gut feeling?"

I mean, what else could I say? That I saw weak points as flashing red lights?

Rapi pinched the bridge of her nose.

Anis threw her hands up. "Gut feeling? The heck you mean gut-"

"Anis." Rapi shook her head. "Enough. We are still out in the field. Too much noise could alert-"

Play: DUST RIDER

Mechanical screeches echoed from nearby. More Rapture units.

"...The enemy." Rapi sighed.

Marian immediately moved in front of me. "Stay close, Commander. I'll protect you."

"Of course, Mari." I stayed close to her, sweeping my gaze across the terrain. "Looks like we have air units this time... Hm."

The red was starting to dim.

True to my initial thoughts, it seemed like it was a 'tutorial' of sorts for me. Now I'd have to rely on my own intuition.

But I got the gist of it now.

"Mari. Sweep the propeller joints and drop them. Rapi, fire a shot at either 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock on the ground units, at half the radius of the central face. Anis, blast them the moment Rapi does."

Anis loaded her rocket launcher. "Again with the ridiculously specific orders...! Fine! This had better work!"

"Roger, Commander!" Marian nodded and swept her machine gun, firing at the aerial units.

"Understood." Rapi fired as I commanded immediately after Marian started.

And then, thirty seconds later, the Rapture units were all scrap metal.

I swept my gaze around and said, "All clear."

Anis blinked and muttered, "Unbelievable. Was it always this simple to beat Rapture units?"

"No." Rapi shook her head, eyeing me. "...Our commander just has a keen eye for timing and combat it seems."

Marian quickly moved to me and checked my pulse, placing her hand to my neck. "Are you okay, Commander? Any sideeffects from the treatment earlier? Are you lightheaded?"

I smiled at Marian's fussing and said, "I'm fine, Mari. I'm feeling better, actually. Although..." I frowned, staring at the distance. "...Hm. Is it possible to get synesthesia from head trauma?"

Rapi glanced over. "Synesthesia?"

"Yeah. Like hearing colors."

Anis blinked. "What? You're hearing colors? The heck does that mean?"

"No, it's just an example... Never mind." I sighed. "How are you guys though? I didn't ask, but are you two fine, Rapi, Anis?"

Rapi nodded. "Performance metrics optimal. No physical damage to my frame or inhibitions."

Anis scratched her head. "Ugh... I swear, Commander, you're going to give me a headache with all this whiplash in the conversation... But yeah, same here. No damage. Our previous commander bit the dust before we even saw action, so we're fine." She glanced at Marian. "What about you, Mari? Commander said you protected him... are you fine?"

Marian frowned. "...Slight damage received. My leg was wounded from the impact. Perhaps a 20% decrease in mobility. But no problem for general deployment."

Rapi stared at Marian and said, "No good. We'll perform a maintenance check."

"M-Maintenance check?" Marian blushed. "Here? In front of Commander?!"

I blinked. "What's wrong with a maintenance- Oh. OH!" I coughed. "Right." I immediately spun around. "Go ahead."

"...Woooow." Anis drawled. "You really DO see us as people, huh? Weirdo."

Rapi sighed. "Anis..."

"What? It's not a bad thing." Anis chuckled. "I kind of like it. Reminds me of Boss, actually."

I tilted my head, listening. "Boss?"

"Er... Long story. Maybe I'll tell it if we live past this, Commander," Anis said.

"...Sure."

Play: pickup☆ pickup☆

I heard the sound of clothes rustling and Marian squeaking a bit as Rapi performed 'maintenance.'

...I wasn't sure entirely what that entailed. But I fixed my eyes on the horizon in the meanwhile.

Anis walked around to look at me and said, "But huh... Hey, Commander. They're gonna take a while, so wanna chat?"

"Sure, Anis. What's up?"

"...You really just graduated from the academy yesterday?" Anis frowned. "You act like an old veteran. And you're not scared. Like, at all. Your heart rate is stable, you're not flinching at the Raptures... It's weird. Like, REALLY weird."

I shrugged. "It's not that scary. I mean, they're just machines. It's about the same as seeing a car rushing towards you, right?"

"Well, I guess. But... they're Rapture units. Humanity's enemy. Doesn't that freak you out at least a little?" Anis frowned. "You can't do anything to one if it gets close to you, you know?"

"That's not true. A machine is a machine. They're highly tuned and calibrated units, yes. But because of that, they rely on precision. Introduce a little bit of chaos to their carefully oiled machine and they go on the fritz until they recalibrate. That's enough time to move, isn't it?"

Anis blinked. "...Okay. That is DEFINITELY not standard Commander protocol OR common sense. Just where the heck did they get you?"

Before I could respond, Marian walked back to my side, red-faced, but fine.

Rapi showed up next and said, "Mari is fine. Maintenance check revealed no anomalies."

Marian blushed a deeper red and said, "I told you I was fine."

"It appears so." Rapi nodded. "All for the better."

I chuckled. "No need to be embarrassed, Mari. We're in the field. We're all bound to see each other in various states eventually."

Marian's face blushed even deeper red. "C-Commander!"

Anis laughed. "Okay, fine. You're not half bad, Commander."

Rapi sighed.

===

Play: 6f6e6573656c66

Static echoed over the comms.

I frowned and pulled out my data pad just in time to see a blue-haired young woman pop up.

"Hello? Can you hear me? Ark Control to surface! This is Shifty, the operator for this mission. Do you copy?"

I blinked and then nodded. "Yes. We copy."

Anis crowded into my space and glared at Shifty. "Hey! What's the big deal, Shifty? You led us into enemy fire! The transport ship crashed and our old commander's dead!"

"Wh-what?" Shifty blinked. "B-But there weren't any anti-air units in the area! How could the transport ship crash?"

Rapi frowned. "...Shifty. Is it possible to get the Black Box from the transport ship?"

"Yes? But why-"

"Just for confirmation." Rapi glanced at me. "Any qualms about this, Commander?"

I shook my head. "No. Go ahead. It's better we know anyway. But more importantly..." I looked at Shifty and said, "Shifty. I'm Commander Hoopa. I was sent here with Silver Gun to reinforce Rapi and Anis. Unfortunately, their commander is dead, so I've taken direct control. We have the coordinates for the search mission. Anything we need to know?"

"A-Ah." Shifty nodded. "Nice to meet you, Commander... Hoopa? Strange name..."

I chuckled. "You aren't the first to say that today."

Shifty's ears turned red. "R-Right! But... well, the main thing is that there's a high-level energy signature in the area. Likely a Lord-class Rapture."

I blinked. "Lord-class?"

Anis gave me a deadpan. "...How are you this ignorant but this competent, Commander?"

I quipped back. "Intuition does not equal information. I might be able to gauge a Rapture's weak spot at a glance, but I don't have proper intel."

Marian held my arm and said, "It's fine, Commander. Intution is plenty for us."

Shifty tilted her head on the data pad. "Um... Intuition?"

Rapi nodded and said, "Yes. Commander... Our new Commander here has an uncanny knack at detecting structural flaws within a Rapture unit as well as inducing them for total system failure."

"What?!" Shifty's eyes widened. "That's incredible! But how?"

I shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe smacking my head in the transport ship caused some wires to cross in a good way."

Anis nodded. "Yeah. And they're tooootally not going to dissect you to figure out why."

Marian's eyes gleamed. "They won't harm my commander."

Rapi frowned. "...I have to admit, that is... a non-zero possibility."

I blinked. "What? It's not just intuition though. There's a logic behind it. Can't you girls see it?"

Rapi paused. "...See what, Commander?"

"The logic. It's just like with animals. The Rapture units we've fought are either quadripeds, bipeds, or aerial units. Just like how muscles have to tense to move, sheer mechanics require there to be a moment of overlapping tension in order for their movement to occur. It's not like they're biological in nature. They're metal. So that metal is going to be stiff at a precise moment of movement. That, or you can induce the stiffness via striking at the rough joints. Like hitting pressure points in people."

Dead silence.

"Uh." I coughed. "Did I say something wrong?"

Shifty screamed. "IT WAS THAT SIMPLE?!"

Rapi slowly blinked. Then she let out a long sigh and said, "No, Commander. The problem is that you said something too correct."

Anis's eyes widened. "...Holy shit. You're... actually right. Shifty." She urgently looked at the data pad and said, "Has no one ever thought about it like this? Like, ever?"

"...No." Shifty slowly said. "The common protocol for engagements is to strike with overwhelming firepower at the core of each Rapture. It's true that 'weaknesses' are considered, but inducing them via mechanical failure due to the actual structure of a Rapture...! I have to report this-!"

"Not yet." Rapi cut Shifty off, staring at me. "Commander. If what you say is true... it could change the entire protocol of engagement with Rapture units. No, it already opens up an entire avenue of study." She looked me in the eye and said, "You are exceptional. This mission is important, but clearly, your safety is of a higher priority if you have this much insight. Do you wish to proceed?"

"A-Ah!" Shifty spoke up. "That's right! Commander Hoopa! Please, return! The Ark needs a Commander like you! We can't afford losing you on this mission!"

Marian looked at me, hesitant. "Commander... If we leave, the lost Nikke..."

Anis waved her hand. "Forget about them. They're probably dead by now anyway. It's already been 49 hours since Rapi and I were out here searching for them."

Marian shook her head, looking troubled. "Even so... If there's a chance, shouldn't we look?"

Anis immediately rebutted her and said, "And if our Commander gets back, we could save even more lives!"

Rapi frowned and looked at me. "...It's your call, Commander."

I paused, mulling it over. Then I said, "Hm. Shifty. Hypothetically, if a rookie commander took down a Lord-class Rapture on his first deployment with just three Nikke, would that be grounds for promotion for some autonomy?"

Shifty focused. Then she slowly said, "...If you succeeded, then yes. But, Commander Hoopa-"

"Great. Then we proceed."

Marian let out a grateful smile.

Anis facepalmed. "...Great. Just when I was thinking we had a sensible Commander."

Rapi frowned. "Commander. I must insist. It would be best if we return to the Ark."

"It would. But I'm not about best-case scenarios. I'm about certainty." I spoke up. "And right now I'm certain about one thing. If I head back with no accolades or 'proof', I'm dead meat."

I might not remember much about Nikke's world, but I DID remember it was grimdark.

Unless I proved my qualities and skills, I was disposable. After I showed my theories, they'd off me.

That, or they'd take Anis, Rapi, and Marian away to see if there was anything about them that made it special.

So, no. Not heading back yet.

Rapi paused. "That... is a valid concern."

Anis blinked. "...Huh. So you aren't just doing this because you think you're hot stuff, Commander?"

I laughed. "Yeah, no. I might still be a bit hazy in my memories, but I know that I'd rather risk a battle with Raptures who just clearly want to kill me over political intrigue with upper brass who might or might not want to rip my head open unless I prove I'm either too dangerous or too vital for them to do otherwise."

Shifty coughed. "Should... you be saying this while I'm here...?"

"I'm saying this because you're here, Shifty. After all, you might be in danger now too, you know?"

"Eek!" Shifty flinched. "That's... I DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING! LALALA!"

Anis rolled her eyes.

I laughed and looked at Marian. "Alright, Mari. Lead the way."

Marian smiled. "Yes, Commander." After that, she started heading off.

I followed after her.

While I did though, I noticed Rapi talking in quiet whispers to Shifty about something.

Hm...