Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

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Chapter 102 - The Amazing Flying Circus
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Once everyone was inside the aircraft, it was notable how Emma and Vesti immediately moved as if to fall in alongside Rapi, who momentarily looked uncomfortable before the two women caught the displeased glower Eunhwa shot their way. It took a moment, but it seemed to register to them that Rapi wasn't a member of Absolute anymore, and they were inexplicably formed up alongside Counters. Made even more noticeable by the fact that Rapi had stopped wearing her full Absolute uniform a while ago.

The pair sheepishly moved to instead stand alongside Eunhwa, while Anis and Neon looked somewhat awkward at the situation. To say nothing of how uncomfortable Rapi seemed. It evidently just came naturally to Emma and Vesti to assume formation with the former Goddess. He supposed he could understand why Eunhwa would find that vexing, even after it had presumably been a fair while since Rapi had been a member of the squad.

Man, Joe could already see how this could wind up being an awkward mission. At least Matis seemed immediately distracted by their transport, Drake and Laplace having followed Maxwell into the pilot's cabin while the beleaguered blonde grumbled about her squadmates bothering her with questions about what the Maxwellcopter could do, if Maxwell could pull off barrel rolls or fly through tunnels in it, if it could transform into a jet, robot, or a giant gun, etc.

A giant flying gun would actually probably be useful against the likes of Stormbringer—a Tyrant which was a giant mechnical bird of myth, large enough to rival the Avenger itself. But, that was neither here nor there.

At any rate, the aircraft started up fine, Joe's ear protection kicked in given how incredibly loud helicopters were while running—even while inside of one, which would cause everyone's voices to sound somewhat modulated to him, but they'd still be perfectly descipherable. The hangar elevator started up, and the helicopter ascended before having even achieved lift-off. A few minutes of this eventually resulted in the surface hatch opening, causing daylight to strike the Maxwellcopter for the first time, Christening the wildly yet seemingly non-consensually egotistal aircraft with the sun's rays.

Once the elevator came to a stop, only a few moments passed before the helicopter's propellers kicked into high speed, and the machine lifted off under its own power. With the hatch closing behind them, the Maxwellcopter flew in the open skies of Earth for the first time, like a majestic peacock. Loud, and obnoxious—a perfect fit for Matis given Laplace and Drake's behaviour to that point, to be honest.

Despite the absurd nature of their transport, the flight to Area H was quiet, seemingly largely uneventful. While waiting to reach the drop-off point, Eunhwa spoke up, fixing her attention squarely on Joe. "RoE?" She inquired.

"Return Fire Only," Joe immediately replied, hanging onto one of the transport's standing handles, given that his exoskeleton made sitting down on anything other than a stool kind of awkward. "Our mission is to retrieve the Heretic Fragments, not sweep the region clear in a deranged blitzkrieg. Get in and back out as smoothly as possible. That means avoiding conflict if we can. No unnecessary theatrics that could risk needless injuries or even deaths."

Eunhwa looked surprised when Joe didn't miss a beat as he responded to her, then she looked outright stupefied when he kept going and explained his reasoning with professional ease.

After a moment of stunned silence, it was Emma that spoke up next. "...Eunhwa was just trying to catch the Commander not knowing what 'RoE' means," she started simply enough. "I don't think she was expecting such a well-reasoned justification for his answer too."

While Vesti looked at Joe with wide, wonder-filled eyes, the man in question looked absolutely perplexed for a brief moment, before his neurons connected and with a quick shake of his head, he declared: "I was about to ask how in the fuck I couldn't be expected to know what 'Rules of Engagement' means, but then I remembered that the average Commander is a chimpanzee in a cheap suit with a dented head, and that getting their shoes tied in the morning is an accomplishment for them."

Rolling his eyes, the man let out a sigh as he was forced to ponder for a moment the fact that the Commander Corps was actively shitting all over his and Andersen's legacy. This considering that Joe wasn't even a prideful man in the first place—he could only imagine how severely that pissed off Andersen, peacock that he was.

But, it was what it was. The Commander Corps would be dealt with when it was dealt with; following the downfall of the Central Government. Until then… They'd have to just deal with the knowledge that these morons were wasting lives to maintain their power and keep mankind trapped under their thumb.

But, they were in the here and now, deploying into a battlefield where a Heretic was felled. They didn't know what to expect of the area beyond the environmental hazards that lingered as a consequence of Indivillia's core overloading explosively, or even how Raptures may behave in that location in the wake of the destruction of a Heretic. Focus. Now wasn't the time to get wrapped up in the past and future.

So, Joe refocused, taking a deep, bracing breath, and with his head no longer lost in the clouds… Noticed—Counters all snickering in smug amusement at his brutal dismissal of the Commander Corps aside—Eunhwa giving him an unblinking, askew, uncertain stare, her bright amethyst eyes boring into his face. Given that, attitude aside, Eunhwa was a very pretty woman, being stared at by her nearly gave him pause.

"You ain't gonna do it," the voice of Anis suddenly cut the ongoing beat short. Everyone turned and gave the yellow-bedecked blonde a confused look, even as she herself presented a smug expression Eunhwa's way.

"...What?" Eunhwa's brow furrowed, damn near cocking her head at the seeming non-sequiter.

"You're not gonna make the Commander look bad," Anis asserted, her smug redoubling. "He's too good at his job. In fact, he's the best Commander in the Ark. In fact, he's the best Commander humanity has ever had."

"Yeah!" Neon interjected, pumping her little fists with a proud smile as she agreed with Anis and spoke up. "The Commander's brain is too big to be tricked! Even when a plan fails, he figures it out and we wind up coming up winning anyways! He's the best! He puts the rest of the Commander Corps to shame!"

Eunhwa gave the pair just about the most heavily-lidded stare Joe ever did see. She didn't seem particularly impressed by their assertions, and in fact, rolled her eyes in response. "Oh, I'm sure he's a regular New Hope or Legendary Commander."

Joe did his best to keep his breathing even and pointedly not react to that statement. He'd also made a note to chastise Anis for trying to be cute about who he really was. The last thing they needed was an OPSEC breach about this of all fucking things!

Anis and Neon, regardless, looked somewhat offended at Eunhwa's dismissal, thus, seeking affirmation, the two whipped their faces around to fixate on Rapi, who looked surprised. "Rapi!" Anis started, her girly voice bouncing off the walls of the helicopter as she spoke. "What do you think of the Commander, hmmmm?"

"Yeah!" Neon nodded verily, expectantly looking at the taller blonde. "Tell us about the Commander, Rapi!"

Though there was a delay, with a small smile, Rapi's gaze drifted, becoming unfocused as she said: "...He's amazing. He's kind. He's considerate, brave, focused… Tall… Handsome… Broad chested… Wide shoulders… Big arms… His chest hair… That toned back…" The normally taciturn little woman trailed off, her gaze becoming very unfocused as she started to quietly chuckle to herself, her expression drifting into a blissful reverie.

Joe was doing everything in his power to not acknowledge how Rapi just started drooling over him out in the open like that. How embarrassing. Affirming and confidence-boosting, yes, but still embarrassing! Good Lord, she'd do that back in the day as Red Hood, but… Man, more and more of her old personality really was reasserting itself, huh? The thought of that was both relieving, and worrying, considering how… Well, Red Hood was.

"-Rapi!" Neon stepped forward, sharply poking the taller woman square in the forehead to forcibly bring her back into reality. "You were supposed to add onto how good the Commander is at his job! Not perv on him in public! Go do that when we get back home and you can lock yourselves up in his room with Cinderella again!"

Rapi's face began to burn as red as a stove's heating element, while Anis looked ready to guffaw at her fellow's entirely self-inflicted predicament, and Joe attempted to disassociate.

It certainly didn't help that Absolute looked utterly bushwhacked by Rapi's response. Eunhwa was staring with wide, uncomprehending eyes, Vesti's mouth had become practically unhinged, and Emma looked very much caught off guard for a few moments… Right before her expression shifted into one of damn near predatory anticipation. Joe tried really hard to just ignore that, because whatever the fuck that was, he didn't need that in his life on top of everything else going on.

However, in the midst of all that, Drake suddenly emerged back into the passenger hold, chortling at the top of her lungs most villainously. She kept going. And going. Laughing and laughing for an awkward, uncomfortable amount of time.

Only after things became thoroughly weird did she actually speak up. "I knew it! I knew I had you figured out from day one!" She dramatically pointed at Joe even as she leaned back and settled her free hand over her face, peeking through her splayed-out fingers like a chuuni. "To ensorcell even the mightiest of Nikkes with naught but his masculine charisma… The keen mind of an unstoppable conquering Supervillain! So brilliant as to conquer the Ark- Nay, the whole world in one fell swoop, forming a personal army of the mightiest Nikkes the world has ever seen all the while! A fine addition to the League of Villainy! Bwahahahaha!"

Joe really started trying to disassociate from that, because Jesus fucking Christ, that hit too close to home considering what they were planning to do with the CG, and while the man was sure that Absolute could ultimately be trusted, Ingrid hadn't really talked to him about that yet. And there was no way in Hell they were going to let Matis know anything about fuck all!

"Wrong!" Laplace burst into the passenger cabin after Drake, hands set on her hips as she did her best to do the Superman pose, despite being the tiny little thing that she was. "The Commander is clearly a Hero among Heroes! For even Nikkes to look up to him, he couldn't be anything besides a shining beacon of hope and light and victory and hope! With his direction, the Ark will take one step closer to liberating the surface from the evil Raptures! The Hero's Association is all the stronger with his membership!"

Drake chortled like a cartoon character. "Foolish hero! So blinded by your hopeless optimism, that you cannot identify a true Villain even when one looks you in the eye! A dark lord standing at the head of a dark army rises! Let the world know true fear! Bwahahahaha!"

"Nay!" Laplace interjected, directing her nose skyward as she did so. "A true blue Hero ascends to shine a light upon the world below! A new age of Heroes arises, and all shall be uplifted as the Ark rises to soar through the clouds so that all may look down upon the evil Raptures, as has always been our Heroic right!"

Joe closed his eyes and took a very deep breath. Laplace and Drake were draining to deal with, to say the least. Utterly deranged characters, regardless of how they were supposedly the most powerful Nikkes in the Ark.

Opening his eyes, he noticed that Eunhwa seemed to be having the same reaction as him, though one tinged with more noticeable annoyance, given the light furrowing of her brow.

"Just as annoying as they were the last time we had to work with them…" the Korean beauty noted under her breath, Joe's electronic ear pro working overtime to amplify her voice so he could hear her over the helicopter's roaring engine and spinning blades. "Utterly rediculous…"

Emma turned to face her much shorter fellow, a small smile playing across her features as she did so. "You don't think it's a little amusing though? The way they make everything a big show?"

Laplace and Drake continued bickering in the background, now being soundly ignored as they did so.

Eunhwa's response came flat and pointed. "I hate clowns," she declared simply.

Joe interjected in a similarly dry tone, grimacing slightly. "Shame we seem to have been conscripted into the amazing flying circus, then."

"Indeed," Eunhwa replied with a snort.

Emma, Vesti, and Rapi all looked between Joe and Eunhwa with no small amount of surprise, the three not having expected the two to find any degree of common ground, especially after their introductions had started with such a venomous argument. Professionals, it seemed, tended to find at least something to agree upon when faced with buffoonery, though.

Of course, as soon as they were on flat Earth again, Joe would put his foot down and wouldn't tolerate any bullshit. He had no interest in potentially needing to work around needless problems caused by idiocy. Regardless of how foolhardy Matis was about their capacity to fight, an unnecessary risk was an unnecessary risk. Simple as-

"Maxwell, stop!" Drake suddenly called out, eliciting a moment of surprise from Laplace, who braced at the minimal forewarning.

The aircraft's momentum suddenly shifted, swaying backwards to harshly slow down, if not outright reverse. The heavy exoskeleton combined with his grip on the standing handle kept Joe pretty securely locked in place, but the sudden change was still more than a little worrying. "What's going on?" He demanded of Drake.

"Raptures," Drake replied, lightly rubbing at her chin as she maintained her footing with little to no apparent effort alongside Rapi, while everyone else at least swayed more than a little bit as they maintained their footing. "A lot of them. If we try to fly any closer to Area H, we're gonna get shot down and swarmed."

"Shit," Joe started with a grumble. "Shifty, can you confirm?"

"One moment, Commander," Shifty said before a beat passed, and she replied properly. "I can confirm, there's minimal Alva Particle interference in the area. Scans show even more Raptures than Drake's sensors suggest. I would strongly advise against attempting to fly the rest of the way to the battlefield where Indivilia was destroyed."

"Because of course…" Joe growled, shaking his head as he could make out from the window the copter already dropping towards the ground, "Maxwell, you see anything yourself?"

"No," Matis' squad engineer and sniper replied matter-of-factually. "But Drake's sensors are about as reliable as sensors can be. If she and Shifty say we're about to soar into a Rapture horde, then we're about to soar into a Rapture horde."

"So?" Laplace started, huffing with a small frown. "I'm not afraid of some weak Raptures! Let me at 'em! I'll-"

"You will not engage Raptures without my express permission first!" Joe very pointedly and harshly declared while pointing at the little twintailled blonde for emphasis. "This is a retrieval mission, not a sweep and clear!"

"But we could easily take them all out!" Laplace asserted in a borderline whining tone. "Just Matis alone! With Absolute and Counters along too-!"

"You have infinite energy?" Joe interjected, brow furrowing heavily.

"H-huh?" Laplace looked somewhat taken aback, blinking quite a few times before replying. "N-no, not-"

Joe sharply turned towards Absolute. "You have infinite ammo?" He asked in turn.

"Of course not," Eunhwa replied, seeming annoyed by the question.

Emma set her finger on her plump bottom limp, eyes drifting upwards in consideration. "Well, if I just use my pistol and give my minigun ammo to Eunhwa, she'd probably be able to shoot for a long time, since I've got so much-"

"Of course not," Eunhwa cut Emma off, pointedly repeating herself with no small measure of annoyance. The sniper probably took offense to the idea of loading mass-produced machine gun ammo into her high-speed, low-drag custom elite operator sniper rifle.

Vesti just shook her head to answer the Commander's question.

Thus, he turned back to Laplace, declaring: "We have not been outfitted for a full-on assault against massed Rapture hordes. Even if we could clear out all nearby Raptures without significant risk to our forces, that would be a significant hit to our logistics, and greatly increase the risks associated with just continuing onto our actual objective. Our mission is to get in, retrieve the Heretic Fragments, and get back out. Period."

His point was punctuated by the helicopter touching down, the machine's suspension producing a noticeable bounce before coming to a complete stop. All the while, Laplace looked more than a little displeased, while Drake's attention was elsewhere, likely focusing on tracking nearby Raptures over playing into her typical theatrics.

"Commander," Maxwell spoke up over comms as the aircraft's engine cut off, and the propellers began to wind down. "This is the closest I can safely get us by air. We'll need to continue on foot if we want to avoid major fights."

"Will the helicopter be safe here?" Joe asked, adjusting his tactical vest as he did so.

Maxwell replied matter-of-factually. "I can set the autopilot to backtrack a while and land further away from the nearby Raptures if you want to play it safe. The autopilot trains based on paths already flown by a pilot, so it'll only be able to follow and land along the path we've already taken. We may have to hoof it to reach it if it happens to land in a area of high Alva Particle density and we or Shifty can't connect to it at range, though."

Joe scoffed. "Sounds a lot better than Raptures tearing it apart while we're away and needing to walk the entire way back."

"Agreed," Anis dryly added her opinion on the matter.

"The less we have to walk, the better," Neon agreed with a sagely nod.

"Even though 'she who walks, arrives?'" Anis asked in a bit of a cheeky tone, which inexplicably caused Neon to react as though she'd just heard something profound and deep.

Joe, on the other hand, recognized that Anis just hit Neon with some psuedo-philosophical bullshit, and presented the messy-haired blonde with a heavily lidded look. While she looked a little put-off by the displeased stare, Anis did stop, so credit for that, if nothing else.

"Are we heading out, or not?" Eunhwa inquired, letting her annoyance at the ongoing clown show shine through clearly.

"Yes," Joe replied as he moved for the sliding door, whipping it open and motioning for the girls to all file out. "We'll go over formations and shit once we're all outside again in preperation for the trek."

The Nikkes all complied, though Laplace continued to pout, and Drake villainously chortled for no apparent reason as she hopped out of the helicopter. Maxwell—similarly to Emma—spun on her heel so she could playfully wink at Joe before leaving the aircraft, which produced a huff from Rapi, who left the vehicle just before the Commander did.

Taking a deep breath, Joe allowed himself a moment to brace for what was coming next. Doubtlessly, a series of problems that would be his problem to solve. Starting with an unexpected horde of Raptures hovering around the area where Indivilia had been destroyed, complicating their plan of approach right out of the gate.

Because if it wasn't one thing, it was another. Such was life on this bitch of an Earth.