Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

[BakaSmurf]

I thought the "change" in appearance was this horrifying thing now I get that its just Red Hood.

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding what you meant to say here, but Beta (left) Rapi is indeed what she's looked like in OH up until this most recent chapter. Release (right) Rapi is what she looks like sans the unsettling heavy makeup. Her face has not physically transformed since she served as a member of Goddess, she just dresses and presents in a starkly different way compared to back then.

Meaning that when you imagine the events of Red Ash, you should be imagining Red Hood with Rapi's face, not the other way around.

 

[Fragment of Serenity]

Good man Joe. Get your Nikke's that therapy. Therapy the fuck out of them. Powers know they need it.

 

[Dasneaky]

As a degenerate are you HAPPY you made a another fellow degenerate redownload NIKKE HUH. Anyways love the fic.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 30 - Pioneer
===

"There," with a smile, Joe secured his trusty olive drab fatigue jacket on the little Nikke's shoulders, creating an image not unlike a cloak wrapped around her figure. "You know how much this means to me."

"...I do," she replied, reaching across her chest to grip the coat's collar. "But-"

"But nothing," he declared, reaching up and cupping her cheeks, as though lightly attempting to set a smile on her face regardless of the general mood. "I'm not giving this to you. I'm asking you to hold onto it for me, just the same as the rest of the squad," he asserted, gesturing in the direction of the rest of the gathered girls. "I'm coming back. For these," he tugged at the jacket's collar, ensuring it was standing as was good and proper. "And for all of you. Soon as I can shake the claws of those brass pricks off, I'll be right back here. Alright?"

"But…!" she continued to protest, wearing her anxiety plain on her sleeve.

Joe gave her a mildly reproachful look everyone knew full well was toothless. "But what? You don't trust me, Dorothy?"

"Of course I do!" the pink-haired young woman declared forcefully, reaching up and taking hold of the Commander's wrists, sapphire blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight as she stared up at Joe worriedly, her angelic beauty standing out all the more against the ravaged, blasted grey hellscape the Ark's entrance had been reduced to over the course of Operation Ark Guardian. "But what if…"

"I'm not going to let them keep me any longer than is absolutely necessary," Joe asserted, giving Dorothy his best disarming smile. "As quickly as I possibly can, I'll be back. Hell, don't be surprised if I'm only gone for a few hours! Okay? Nothing's going to happen in such a short window of time."

Clenching her eyes shut, shaking her head and causing her pink tresses to cascade about her figure almost mesmerizingly, she began to protest again. "But-!"

"Enough," Snow White interjected, hand locked firmly around the Commander's favoured sword, the paired blades secured in place at her hip. "Dorothy, the Commander has given his word. He says he means to return to us as quickly as possible. Continuing to hold him here only delays the inevitable, and will earn him the ire of the Central Government for not responding to their summons in a timely manner. Don't let him go."

"You see?" Joe asserted, nobody acknowledging the last four words of her statement. "Snow gets it. If I'm punctual, the eggheads up top will be a bunch of happy clams and let me return to my duties right away, versus keeping me there to chew me out for a 'lack of discipline' or whatever bullshit they'll make up."

"They're going to kill him," Snow White cried, raged, screamed as loudly as she could - but her lips would not obey her. All she did was stand there, watching, watching and- "The Commander has to respect the chain of command, just the same as us. Don't listen to me. I'm wrong. We'll never see him again. He may be a living legend, but he must still obey the orders given to him. Keep him here, with us, where he'll be safe. The Ark is a trap, the gates a maw which will never open again! Don't let him go! Dorothy! Don't let him go!"

"...You swear that you'll be back soon?" Dorothy asked, allowing her grip on Joe's wrists to slacken. "As quickly as you can?"

"I swear," Joe assured her gently. "And I'll be expecting you to take good care of the squad while I'm gone - however briefly that'll wind up being, Alright, Dory?"

"Forever," Snow White cried, she cried as desperately as she could despite her body's refusal to obey her. "It will be forever, a forever she cannot bear. A forever that will break her. Commander, please, stay with us!"

"...You know I hate that nickname, Commander," Dorothy dangerously intoned as she pouted up at Joe, reaching up and pinching his cheek as he chortled and winced in equal measure, waving his hands in defeat. "I won't forgive you if you think you can start pulling from Red Hood's ratty little playbook without consequences…"

"Ow ow ow, yikes, c'mon, I get it, I get it! Lay off, why am I always surrounded by mean ladies? I'm just trying to be all affectionate and junk!" Joe openly whined.

"Your boorishness disappoints me, Commander," Dorothy tutted, tugging at the much larger man's cheek in a disciplinary manner. "And you were doing so well there too…"

"Stop it," Snow White cried out to nobody, everybody, nothing and everything at once, to no avail. "Stop it! Please! Don't do this! Don't take him away, don't take her away, don't take them away!"

"Do relent, Dorothy," a white-clad swordswoman suggested off to the side, adjusting the Commander's aviators, resting on her nose as they were. "You are well aware that such idle chicanery comes naturally to the Commander. He can scarcely help himself."

"And it comes naturally to dogs to piddle on the carpet," Dorothy countered, pulling Joe's cheek just a tad harder as he pitifully protested utterly ineffectually. "Yet I don't see you rushing to enable that sort of behaviour, Scarlie."

"Attempt to provoke me not, Dorothy," Scarlet breezily waved off the equally-disliked nickname. "You know I speak naught but truth: regret shall be thy companion should ye not relent in your corporal punishments upon our Commander's tender visage afore he departs to answer his summons."

"You shouldn't have taunted her, though, Joe," a tall, Joe's equal in height despite wearing flat-heeled shoes, in fact, white and black-clad nun stepped forth, her golden blonde hair drawn back in a singular gargantuan braid which trailed down to her heels. "Of all the habits to have picked up from Red Hood, I think you should reconsider this one," Rapunzel suggested as she ambled over, taking Dorothy's hand and removing her fingers from Joe's cheeks, which were going red from her continued assault. With that done, she stepped back, reaching up and across her chest and making sure the Commander's pocket watch looped around her neck remained secured in place. "My outfit isn't really designed with accessorizing in mind, so… while I'm sure the Lord will guide you right back to us safe and sound, hurry back yourself too, Joe."

"Like a light shining in darkness!" Joe asserted as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Don't worry, like I said, I'll be taking all my junk back as soon as I'm back," he asserted, turning to Scarlet in particular.

The swordswoman pushed the aviators up her nose with a finger, giving Joe a diabolical look. "If you want it," she started, adjusting the sunglasses for emphasis. "You'll have to take it. But you already knew that, didn't you?" she quoted a certain specific Devil at him.

With a heavy, exasperated sigh, Joe rubbed his forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't actually know how to use my swords, Scarlet…?"

"How many times must I reiterate that your ceaseless fibs shall fool me not?" Scarlet asserted with a confident grin. "I shall have my duel, Commander. And it shall be legendary."

Slumping in defeat where he stood, Joe pinched the bridge of his brow, unknowingly placing himself in perfect attacking range of the last present member of Goddess.

Stepping forth, and jumping on him, the Commander of Goddess, rather than buckling and crying out in pain, only swayed in place before recentering himself with the newfound weight dangling from his neck. "Aha, come on," he cried out, wrapping his arms around the silver-haired Nikke clad in a figure-hugging silvery-blue bodysuit, and hoisting her up with a chuckle as he returned to his full height with utter ease. "I just told you that I'm gonna be right back, you don't gotta act like I'm going across the country, Ellie."

Cinderella let out a huffing whine, clinging to the Commander tightly - a situation which would have once left him a stammering, neon red mess given her comely figure, had he not eventually gotten used his situation and usual company. "Dad said the same thing two weeks ago…"

"Show off," Dorothy huffed, glowering lightly at the twintailed rookie of Goddess.

"Cease thy hollow simpering, Dorothy," Scarlet shot at the pinkette past lidded eyes. "Act not as though thy wouldst not do just the same, were thy as nigh-on weightless as she is."

Had any other Nikke attempted to jump onto the Commander as she had, Joe would have likely broken something. Cinderella, on the other hand, had been built to be capable of flight - and thus, as a next-generation featherweight Nikke, was a fraction of the weight of the average cybernetic super soldier. In fact, she was only somewhat heavier than a human woman her size should have been.

She loved milking this fact for all that it was worth.

Joe, regardless, didn't acknowledge Dorothy and Scarlet's bickering, instead giving Cinderella a squeeze as he defended himself. "Yeah, but your old man is an unreliable dumbass. He probably got caught up handing out autographs and has been camping out on the streets, sleeping on public benches to bask in as much public attention as he possibly can before he returns to his duties."

There was a beat before the twintailed Nikke huffed into Joe's shoulder, and he could hear her annoyed pout. "That sounds like him, yeah. Stupid, vain old geezer…"

"Andersen's positively decrepit, isn't he?" Joe chuckled, adjusting his grip on the white-clad Nikke, visibly moving to set her down on her feet again. "A vainglorious old man with delusions of grandeur."

"Don't let go Cinderella," Snow White tried to plead with the young woman, again, despite her lips refusing to obey her. "Never let him go, hold onto him! Cling! They took your father from us already, don't let them take the Commander too!"

Despite Cinderella's toes touching the ground once again, she refused to release Joe, even lightly whining when the Commander unwrapped his arms from around her form.

After a few long moments of that, she finally began to pull back - only to forcefully pull him down and plant a firm kiss on his cheek - specifically the cheek Dorothy had been pinching.

Having long since learned his lesson, Joe let it happen despite the embarrassment clear on his face. when she finally pulled back properly. Cinderella looked him firmly in a singular eye, given her long bangs which completely blocked off her own right eye, and gave him a simple directive. "There, I kissed the hurt away… in return, bop my father on the head when you meet him in the Ark, okay," her voice took on a mild, sadistic tone, "Jojo?"

Cringing, Joe averted his gaze with a pained wince.

"What's the matter, Commander?" Dorothy levelled an icy, sadistic smile his way, revelling in the tables having turned. "Do you not care for that particular nickname?"

"Our adventure has been one most bizarre, has it not, Commander?" Scarlet leaned into the joke, grinning cattily at Joe.

"This place is full of mean ladies…" the long-haired Commander complained, Cinderella finally letting him go. "Anyways… What'd the old man do to earn a bonk this time, then?"

"Aside from being late after he promised to be back right away?" Cinderella grumpily growled, the effect wasted given her sugary sweet voice. "I'm sure he's done something to earn it since he left."

"That does sound like the High Commander," Dorothy declared matter-of-factually.

"In truth, the man's boorish, self-aggrandizing nature does often generate absurd and altogether foolish circumstances around him," Scarlet reached up, adjusting her absurdly over-sized kasa hat. "I must admit, I do not doubt he has engaged in some manner of tomfoolery since his departure."

"I don't want to be mean," Rapunzel pursed her lips in open reticence, already visibly guilty. "But… Andersen does tend towards being very… impulsive, yes."

"He's probably stealing food from everyone in the Ark as we speak," Snow White asserted grimly.

Joe gave Snow White an amused grimace. "You're never going to forgive him for that, are you?" he inquired.

"He ate my potato," the golden-eyed Nikke asserted, her expression stony and dead serious. "I was looking forward to eating that potato."

"There wasn't even anything on it, Snow…" Joe remarked. "It was just a plain, microwaved potato…"

"He. Ate. My. Potato," Snow White forcefully reiterated her point for emphasis.

Letting out a sigh, Joe reached up and scratched at his bearded chin. "Okay, okay, I'm sure he's done something stupid, and I'll give him shit for it, okay…" Looking around, he saw the mass-produced Nikkes operating the ashen perimeter. He'd said that he wanted to address them as well, but everyone that could guard the Ark's entrance perimeter at every minute of the day, had to. So, Goddess had taken a few minutes to see their Commander off, the MP's holding the fort for them to grant them that brief grace period.

Besides that, his gaze lingered on a particular spot next to Snow White, conspicuously empty of the squad's infamous redheaded dumbass…

"I'll find her, Commander," Snow White assured Joe, her expression firm and resolute. "I promise."

Smiling, he nodded, "If anyone could, it would be you," Joe nodded. "Alright, I'd better get going now," he noted, taking a few steps back towards the Ark's main gates. "Y'all be chill while I'm gone, alright?" He shot the group a genial smile, giving them a salute. "Back in a jiffy-!" He paused at the sound of a digital shutter going off, giving Cinderella a tired grin as she took a picture of him departing with the camera of his own phone, peeking almost shyly over the rim of the device he'd entrusted to her as an assurance of his intent to return, just the same as the rest of those belongings given to the other members of Goddess.

"Don't go," Snow White cried desperately. "Please, Commander, don't go! Don't leave us!"

"We'll be right here," Dorothy said, adjusting his jacket hanging from her slim shoulders, smiling beatifically at Joe as he stepped through the threshold of the Ark's main entry elevator. "As soon as you're back, we'll be right here, waiting, as long as it takes."

"Don't," Snow White cried uselessly. "Please, Commander, don't!"

"I know," Joe replied to Dorothy's assurance, grinning widely as the Ark's main gate started vertically closing, steel grinding on steel, metres upon metres of concrete about to entomb him forever. The Commander watched the group as the first blast door gradually lowered itself…

And Joe crouched low to keep waving at the squad, presenting them a toothy grin - then dropped onto his side outright and shot finger guns at them up until the gate fully closed with a deafening clang. The last time the Ark's main entrance would ever accept an entrant. The last time any of them would see their Commander in their-

---

"Snow!" the ivory-haired Nikke jumped, throat dry, a lump heavily hanging within as she gasped heavily, a moment of panic rushing through her artificial veins until she recognized the bright blue eyes of Rapunzel gazing down upon her, kneeling and stroking the shorter Nikke's forehead gently as she was framed by the sun hanging high in the sky above. "It's okay, you're awake, you're awake, it was just a bad dream."

Almost a hundred years later, Snow White found herself laying where she'd settled down to sleep for the night: at the meeting grounds of the remnants of Goddess. Where what remained of the squad would meet up every month to discuss what discoveries and progress they'd made in their efforts to reclaim the surface.

Almost a hundred years later, and she was still afflicted by that nightmare - that memory. The last time they'd set eyes on their Commander. The last time they'd failed him when he needed them the most.

…Or so, they'd all thought.

Sitting up, Snow White caught her breath, her poncho which she was using as an improvised blanket slipping from her chest. She noticed Cinderella peering over Rapunzel's shoulder worriedly. "Are you okay, Snow?" the silvery Nikke asked, and… A wondrous smell hit Snow White's nose, scrumptious, mouth watering…

Looking over, she could see Scarlet tending to a large pot they kept stored away in the area, set over a bed of hot coals, something audibly bubbling within, an ancient, yet reliable synthetic bag overflowing with freshly grown vegetables, fruits, and herbs sitting alongside her. "I would have swiftly crowded you just the same as our compatriots," the grey-haired Nikke started as she stirred the food cooking within the pot. "However, I clearly recall how you reacted when last we left food in preparation unattended to worry over you as a group…"

Snow White leapt to her feet instantly, her eyes wide and her breath hitching in her lungs for a moment as her brain jump-started into full power.

"Snow, calm down, the soup will be done soon!" Rapunzel started, also rising to her feet and hastily moving as if to block Snow White from rushing the pot. Any other day, the concern would have been warranted, however, food was genuinely the last thing on her mind right then.

"The Commander and Red Hood are alive," Snow White declared forcefully, projecting her voice over the small, lightly wooded campsite to Pioneer - the remnants of Goddess.

Silence fell over the gathered squad, only wind, rustling leaves and grass, as well as the crackle of the hot coals and bubbling soup audible for a few moments. Rapunzel and Cinderella stared blankly at Snow White, uncomprehending, visibly struggling to process what they'd heard.

"Snow White," Scarlet hooked the hand-carved wooden ladle on the rim of the simmering soup pot, rising to her feet and, still in command of her faculties, firmly commanded her squadmate, "Elucidate."

 

[FatBabyYoshi]

well damn, this was an emotional slingshot . also cinderella is alive cool hope anderson finds out about this. Please continue this dialogue soon big cliff hanger, Where dorothy, what did snow mean by her breaking?

good chap.

 

[AldariSiradla]

I worry for Dorothy...
Saw the skin that's given to her back when it was on the roll...
And it pained me greatly that behind the serene smile is a broken woman.
I truly fear what has happened to her in this reality.

Looks like Pioneer has obtained the knowledge.
If Inherit exist, especially that one person who initially didn't want him to leave, I'm pretty sure the Pilgrims would war with the Ark...
For the return of their Commander.
A dream, now a reality after all since the Commander lives and breathes.

 

[Alayashiki]

Looks like Dorothy is going on a warpath now

 

[Zam138]

Oof... the Mind Switch hit Snow far harder than it did in canon, didn't it?

 

[Project Eden]

I wonder if Joe ever fucked any of his Nikke? He made it no secret he's attracted to them and they certainly love him alot. Plus, being on battlefields mean whole lot of stress.

 

[Queen]

Been super busy I saw the last update and And I loved the last chapter with Rapi got me in the feels I felt so bad for her and and was touched when you hugged her and comforted her. And then you post this chapter and I legit started crying Poor Snowflake Poor Dorothy and I can't imagine the heartbreak of the others though I do gotta let out a heck yeah when I saw that cinderella survived to modern day. And laughed once I realized that Cindy and privaty are in your strike zone and that you be seemingly incorporating the snow is a mega glutton meme

 

[Masayume]

I called it! Andersen you sick rascal, eating Snow White's microwaved potato smh. Also nice to see Cindy making it to canon timeline. Pioneer is totally gonna start tracking down Joe now. Question now is when this info will reach Dorothy and how violent she reacts to it, thinking it is a plot by the CG.

 

[Sad Machine]

Snow white hungy

 

[Ace of Scarabs]

I see someone also chose that particular Bond Conversation option (I did it purely accidentally because I was advancing the text too fast lol).

 

[EX143]

Rapi... she might be in some real danger here. Joe said he was gonna find her, and low and behold, he shows up with their squads Idiot, missing memories and dropping out of their lives for who knows how long.

There might be some real resentment against Red if the Pioneers suspect she might have a hand in causing Joe's current situation.

 

[BakaSmurf]

Rapi... she might be in some real danger here. Joe said he was gonna find her, and low and behold, he shows up with their squads Idiot, missing memories and dropping out of their lives for who knows how long.

There might be some real resentment against Red if the Pioneers suspect she might have a hand in causing Joe's current situation.

Click to shrink...

Snow White said she was going to find Red Hood, not Joe.

 

[Feng Lengshun]

Caught up to this. Man, I swear, Nikke's story is actually really appealing to me... if only they tone down the fanservice just a bit, at least allow them to stand still instead of forcing distracting swaying all the time as if everyone haven't gotten familiar with Live2D.

Anyways, I'm guessing the Commander being the same as the Legendary Commander from 100 years ago is something original to this story?

 

[Dasneaky]

Snow white hungy

Click to shrink...

Is it bad that I watched this multi times?

 

[Slayer 10321]

Is it bad that I watched this multi times?

Click to shrink...

Not at all. I've rewatching it multiple times ever since I first found it. It's so cute and the voice acting is great.

 

[BakaSmurf]

Anyways, I'm guessing the Commander being the same as the Legendary Commander from 100 years ago is something original to this story?

Click to shrink...

Andersen is (secretly) the Legendary Commander in canon, not the player character, yes. In the game proper you're just playing as some Commander Academy graduate yahoo that shares a (plot-critical) blood type with Andersen, and happen to have a mild case of amnesia to justify the self-insert aspect.

There's been little to indicate that the canon PC was someone important before the game's events start beyond his blood type and some vague amnesia flashbacks involving an unidentified faceless little girl in a hospital.

 

[Feng Lengshun]

Andersen is (secretly) the Legendary Commander in canon, not the player character, yes. In the game proper you're just playing as some Commander Academy graduate yahoo that shares a (plot-critical) blood type with Andersen, and happen to have a mild case of amnesia to justify the self-insert aspect.

Click to shrink...

That's interesting. I just looked up the TvTropes page on Anderson, and it seems like it's not 100% confirmed yet that Anderson is the Legendary Commander? Though, if he is, I guess he's just not as close as Joe is with the Goddess Squad?

Still, those character dynamics are going to be interesting to puzzle over through the story.

 

[EX143]

That's interesting. I just looked up the TvTropes page on Anderson, and it seems like it's not 100% confirmed yet that Anderson is the Legendary Commander? Though, if he is, I guess he's just not as close as Joe is with the Goddess Squad?

Still, those character dynamics are going to be interesting to puzzle over through the story.

Click to shrink...

There hasn't been ironclad confirmation of Anderson's former command of Goddess Squad, but his CG art in Red Ash is very similar to his appearance in the campaign. It's implied, pretty strongly with the same VA and all, but not yet.

Just minus the aviators

 

[BakaSmurf]

That's interesting. I just looked up the TvTropes page on Anderson, and it seems like it's not 100% confirmed yet that Anderson is the Legendary Commander? Though, if he is, I guess he's just not as close as Joe is with the Goddess Squad?

Still, those character dynamics are going to be interesting to puzzle over through the story.

Click to shrink...

Same VA just speaking in a (very slightly) higher register to emphasize his younger age, similar character art that shows the same character that's just cleaner cut and more heavily accessorized, same outfit minus sunglasses and the greatcoat cape in the modern day... the script never explicitly refers to "Commander" as Andersen in the Red Ash event, in the same way that Metal Gear Solid 2 doesn't acknowledge that Plisken is Solid Snake until you get to the end of the Plant chapter. To say nothing of Andersen inexplicably (up until Red Ash started and peeled back the curtain) being the Pilgrim (which includes the former members of Goddess) representative in the Tribe Towers.

The Legendary Commander is blatantly Andersen with the context of Red Ash; unless Shift Up is going to go full genius Kojumbo and reveal that Andersen and the Player Commander are both clones of the LC and that's the reason they both have

Spoiler

the RhX blood type.

Beyond that, in Red Ash, the LC was more of a goonish butt monkey from the perspective of Goddess than anything, outside of being, well, their Commander. Eating Snow White's potato to her considerable dismay, whining about not feeling appreciated enough because his name isn't in the squad name in the middle of a briefing, constantly generally getting dunked on (sometimes even unintentionally) by the Nikkes under his command for being kind of a dumbass tryhard loser? Hell, the girls all believing that he'd do stupid shit in general? That's all canon. The man may have been a genuinely shockingly competent commander, but he was a complete dumbass outside of that. They followed his orders, but they weren't really close to him personally outside of Liliweiss.

That's the biggest different between Joe and the canon LC - Goddess leaned on Joe emotionally as hard as most Nikkes emotionally lean on the modern PC in game canon. Some more, some less than others. But they were all emotionally closer to him compared to the canon LC all the same.

 

[Feng Lengshun]

That's the biggest different between Joe and the canon LC - Goddess leaned on Joe emotionally as hard as most Nikkes emotionally lean on the modern PC in game canon. Some more, some less than others. But they were all emotionally closer to him compared to the canon LC all the same.

Click to shrink...

That's interesting. I did some read up on the Goddess members, and Dorothy would be interesting point of difference once Joe gets in contact with her again (and from the latest chapter, it seems that she's not with the rest of the Goddess? So it's plenty likely she's still where she's at in canon).

 

[Fragment of Serenity]

*Polite knocking on ARC's main elevator*

'Hello. This is Goddess Squad. We have... questions. That need answering. We request that you dispatch this... Joe. And the one called... Rapi. We wish to speak with them.'

*Sounds of VERY MANY WEAPONS BEING PRIMED*

'It should be noted that this request is not optional. Send them out, or we're coming in for them'

*Particularly loud shot-gun priming noise*

'And that just won't end well for anyone.'

 

[Stove]

pictured: legendary commander consulting local construction grandma (partially colorized, 21XX)

 

[Stove]

wait shit i forgot to post Sword Idiot (affectionate)

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 31 - Forsaken Goddesses
===

"Joe and Red Hood are alive," Snow White reiterated her point, a fervency in her voice normally not present unless she was destroying Raptures. "They were battling the Tyrant-class Chatterbox in Vancouver, accompanied by a number of Ark Nikkes. He recognized me, called out to me by name…" After closing her eyes and taking a deep, bracing breath, she continued. "Chatterbox threatened them, and I… Lost control of myself. I pursued the abomination in a blind frenzy, and by the time I'd realized my mistake after it escaped from me… they were long gone when I returned to the battlefield. Surely back to the Ark."

The rest of Pioneer stared at Snow White silently. Cinderella slowly rose to her feet as Rapunzel took several attempts at calming breaths.

"Your visor," Cinderella started, large blue eye staring past her parted bangs in wary uncertainty. "It has a recorder built into it, right? You… you'd have pictures, or video, right?"

Reaching up and fiddling with her visor, once little more than a ballistic mask that doubled as digital goggles, Snow White adjusted a few of the additions she'd since added herself - and a hologram, somewhat fuzzy and out-of-focus due to crude maintenance at best, was projected from the blackened armoured mask.

A round of gasps followed when the video recording played back, and even as Chatterbox writhed in pain before the White Reaper, the Commander's voice suddenly called out to Snow White. The camera spun in place, and… with a pause, there they were.

Joe, their Commander, and Red Hood, their sister. Both were dressed… not as they once would have, and Red Hood did not have her Exceed active, but, it was obviously them. Then-

They heard Chatterbox's declaration, and immediately understood why Snow White had lost her cool. Nobody would hold her reaction against her, however…

"Commander…" Rapunzel almost immediately sobbed. "Red Hood…"

"Truly, a man of miracles, to persist into the modern day even despite all which has occurred…" Scarlet mused through a small, but powerful smile of relief. "And the crimson fool as well, no less. Despite thyself, even you failed in thine attempts to shirk thy duty, Red Hood."

"...How?" Cinderella wondered aloud, even as her eyes visibly began to shine with heavily building moisture. "I-I mean, I'm happy, I'm more happy than I ever thought I'd be again. But… how?" the twintailed Nikke asked, reaching out as if to stroke at the noncorporeal hologram, her hand stopping just before the projection of their Commander's face. "It's… it's been almost a century. He looks just as he did that day he left…" to emphasize her point, she withdrew a smart device from a holster on her hip. Not Joe's own phone, that had perished and been left in memoriam of him with Dorothy many decades ago, the quality of that original device having been seemingly built to fail after a point. The memories, the data and information that had been stored on it, however, had long since been transferred to this new device meant to weather the apocalypse.

The last picture she'd taken of Joe, in the moments before he'd descended into the Ark. The older photo was more clear, not being a still from a video, and having been captured using a device still well within its intended shelf life and in good maintenance… but it was clearly him. Even quickly going through the saved digital pictures, she found another of Red Hood and him together. It was undeniable - it was them, and Joe hadn't aged a day. "Joe shouldn't be… he should be elderly. He should be on death's door from old age, even with the Ark's widespread life extension technology. He's just a man, he's not a Nikke, he should have aged so much since then."

"And Red Hood…" Rapunzel noted, wiping away the tears that streamed down her cheeks, for all that it did to stem the tide. "She went missing two weeks before Joe descended into the Ark, only a few days after Andersen was recalled there himself. How… how could she have possibly gotten into the Ark, if not through the entrance? We had it covered at all hours of the day and night - surely, one of us would have noticed her if she'd gone to use it, right?"

"Most certainly, to say little of the matter of how she would have made a point to boorishly as ever announce her presence if she had gone through the main entrance besides," Scarlet set a hand on her chin, eyes narrowing in deep thought. "However, one must consider the serpentine nature of the Central Government. Should they have managed to finish but a single of the many smaller secondary elevators in extensive use today by that time…"

"I thought just the same," Snow White agreed with Scarlet. "As far as we knew, the main entrance to the Ark was the only entrance to the Ark back then. It would have been but one of many more lies the Central Government told us by the end. And it is hardly as though any of us would have had the means or incentive to prove otherwise, until it was too late," she asserted firmly.

"...You're suggesting that Red Hood went behind our backs to sneak into the Ark, after telling us she was going out scouting?" Cinderella inquired, gazing forlornly, uncertainly at the picture of their long-lost squad mate.

"Or she was taken there," Snow White added. "If there was another functioning elevator hidden away nearby, it stands to reason that the Central Government may have had agents using it to access the surface covertly. Red Hood was… if nothing else, trusting. Earnest. Uncritical. Foolish. Andersen and the Commander were summoned into the Ark before the main entrance was collapsed behind them. How do we know they did not simply circumvent our communications, and do the same to Red Hood while she was out scouting? Call her to the side-entrance, bring her in… and seal it behind her."

A long quiet fell over the squad, the low, consistent bubbling of the soup in the background accompanying the gentle wind. "But… why?" Rapunzel asked. "Why would they have done that? You… you heard Oswald. We were obsolete to the Ark. We'd 'outlived our usefulness.' Why reclaim Red Hood, and just Red Hood if that was true?"

"The Exceed system," Cinderella noted darkly. "Between all of us… my ability to fly, and the Glass Slippers," she reached out, running a gloved hand down the length of one of her great, bulky shield-like 'wings' which hovered around her, as though tethered to her body by some unseen force. "Were championed as the most advanced developments out of all the Grimms models. Yet Exceed allowed her to almost perform on-par with Lilith. When sparring, if she used it, pushed it, she could catch me, and overwhelm me through sheer direct might."

"It would seem that when we were dubbed 'obsolete,' Oswald was referring to all but one of us," Scarlet mused grimly. "I see little fault in this supposition. Though Red Hood did not carry or present herself as the veritable demi-god she truly was, I think there is a genuine argument to be made that she had, at least the potential, if not the predilection to be the most powerful among us."

"That…" Rapunzel lightly wiped at her nose, sniffling, "makes sense, I suppose. Though… that doesn't address the other elephant in the room: Joe. Him being alive isn't impossible - it isn't even improbable given how long the average Ark inhabitant apparently lives… how does he look so young, though? He would be… well over one-hundred years old now, if I'm remembering correctly, wouldn't he?"

"I have no idea," Snow White bluntly declared, focusing firmly on Rapunzel. "If anyone would have been aware of any irregularities that would account for his apparent agelessness, it would be you, given that you were most familiar with his medical records at the time."

"That's the thing…" Rapunzel started, "aside from his Hoplite implant, he was a baseline human. Just a man. And that one implant wouldn't impact his aging given what it is…" the techno-nun mused, even as she gingerly wiped at her reddening eyes. "Whatever it is that seemingly stopped his aging must have been done to him after he entered the Ark. I don't know what it could be, but… Splendamin supposedly slows down aging, but it doesn't stop it entirely. It shouldn't, at least."

After a few moments of silence, nobody having anything even approximating an explanation for this irregularity, it seemed that it was just time to move on.

"...Oswald lied to us," Cinderella noted darkly, staring at the image of the Commander from just a scant few days ago now - evidence that he'd been on the surface, actively fighting the Raptures into the modern day, just like them. "Joe… he said they'd killed him, that just like us, he'd outlived his usefulness too."

"And the way he uttered Snow White's name, with such shock, as though settling his eyes upon a spectre…" Scarlet added with a low hum.

"Everyone in the Ark was told that we'd died sealing the Ark from the outside," Cinderella continued. "The Nikkes we've encountered and spoken with over the years… it's always the same thing: 'Goddess perished holding the line, giving their everything to ensure mankind's survival. Each of them, a Goddess of Victory shielding the human race with their radiant wings and their very souls one last time…'"

"The Central Government lied to them," Snow White surmised, brow furrowing heavily and nostrils flaring. "The Commander and Red Hood must have been led to believe that we'd all died while they were inside the Ark. That answer makes the most sense out of any other possibility."

"...Do you think they told my father the same thing?" Cinderella wondered aloud, voice becoming forlorn and soft. "That after he promised to be back soon… with 'souvenirs,' 'gifts,' and 'party favours' that… that I died, just out of reach, just out of view?"

"Certainly and without doubt," Snow White bluntly replied. "The Commander, Red Hood, and the High Commander… they wouldn't have abandoned us. They would have fought tooth and nail for our sake. The Central Government lied to them, just the same as they lied to us. They must have. Otherwise, they'd have come searching for us. If not immediately, then as soon as they were able to return to the surface. They wouldn't have stopped until they found us."

An awkward silence permeated the group after Snow White's lack of tact left everyone feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

"...Well," Rapunzel let out a shuddering breath, electing to be the one to move it along. "What now?"

"'What-'" Snow White looked at the nun as though she'd grown a second head. "'What now?' We correct the mistake we made almost one-hundred years ago! We proceed to the Ark, and we rescue our Commander and sister from the claws of the Central Government that lied to them! That lied to us!"

"...Snow," Rapunzel's brow furrowed heavily with clear and present worry. "You need to stop and reconsider-"

"There's nothing to reconsider!" Snow White forcefully declared. "After all they've done, how even now, we must ward ourselves away from the Ark lest the Central Government target us again!? Are you even considering what they've been doing to the Commander and Red Hood!? They aren't safe there-!"

"So your intention is for us to deliver him unto Dorothy?" Scarlet interjected with a critical eye.

Snow White looked downright furious for a moment, actually glowering openly at the swordswoman. "Absolutely not! Dorothy cannot be trusted! She-!"

"Then the plan is instead to have the Commander perish from exposure to the elements, if not gradual starvation on the unforgiving surface, then?" Scarlet pressed, giving Snow White a deeply unimpressed look. "Scarcely have we managed to sustain ourselves this past century, to reconstitute thy memory, Snow White. And we need not partake anywhere near as much as the average human, let alone a man as burly as the Commander. Dost thou sincerely believe that we would manage anything beyond our own mutual deaths via starvation, should we attempt to care for him ourselves here upon the surface?"

"Don't underestimate the Commander!" Snow White demanded of the grey-haired woman. "It was him that taught me to use a bow! It was him that taught me to track prey! It was him that taught me to dress game! It was him that taught me how to build a survival shelter, what wood burns clean for warmth and cooking, what would produce acrid smoke that would attract unwanted attention and foul food! How to preserve meat, how to produce the pemmican that sustained us through our hardest days in this no-man's-land! If any human could survive, thrive on the surface, it would be him!"

"The surface was recognizable once upon a time, Snow White. Now?" Scarlet asserted pointedly. "The Commander honed his capabilities with the knowledge that help would rush to his aid should all go wrong, professional aid backed by an entire nation naught but a phone or radio call away. He earned these accolades without the constant threat of Raptures descending upon his person at a moment's notice. He learned the ways of his people in the distant forsaken north - where today, winters would be unsurvivable without modern infrastructure to rely upon. I am not underestimating the Commander. Thou are overestimating him to a dangerous degree. And moreover… I understand why."

While Rapunzel looked ready to interject, her brow furrowed in building worry, she seemed mollified by the softening of Scarlet's tone, while Cinderella remained quiet, looking between the two arguing Nikkes warily, seeming to want to let them work through it on their own if possible.

"I have longed for his company just the same as thyself, Snow White," Scarlet asserted gently. "The notion that our dearest Commander has been without us this entire time, that he has been venturing to the surface to uphold our duty to cast down the Raptures for who knows how long, only Red Hood to ward off our mortal enemies all the while… I wish to stand with him again just the same. Yet I urge you, Snow White. Close thy eyes, and open them not 'till thou have heard thy own words and pondered the consequences of thy suggestion."

The white-clad Nikke did as instructed, closing her eyes and taking several long, meditative breaths. After a few moments, she let out a heavy sigh. "If we did not entrust him to Eden, removing him from the Ark would ultimately kill him with absolute certainty."

"And he's healthy, Snow," Rapunzel noted, pointing to the still shot of the Commander next to Red Hood. "He looks just as he did the last time we set eyes on him, just as Cinderella said. He hasn't been starved, he isn't missing any parts… Whatever life is like in the Ark, he's at least safe there."

"Then what are we supposed to do!?" Snow White demanded, brow furrowing in mounting dismay. "Just… just pretend this never happened!? That he hasn't been fighting without us this entire time!? That-" She was cut off by Cinderella approaching and taking a hold of her shoulders.

"Nobody is saying that we should abandon the Commander. All of us want to return to him. All of us have missed him," Cinderella assured her senior, releasing her with a squeeze. "I'd advise that a few of us remain near the Ark - not so close as to be spotted by them, but enough that we may notice further deploying teams. Joe is being sent into the field alongside Red Hood, we know it's happening now. So… we wait. We follow deploying squads until it's them. We could even take the chance to approach Nikkes left to do guard duty, or sent ahead of their Commanders to scout to ask if they know anything about them. We need to get a better idea of what's happening, what the actual situation around them is."

"Cinderella has the right of it," Scarlet asserted, adjusting Fleetly Fading where the sword hung from her waist. "We cannot discharge half-cocked. Not when doing so may yet actually endanger the Commander and Red Hood."

At that, Snow White's brow furrowed heavily. "...Speaking of threats to the Commander and Red Hood…" she tracked back through the video, stopping it on Chatterbox. "This thing is a clear and present danger to them. It must be eliminated with extreme prejudice as soon as possible. I will pursue it and destroy it as soon as we are finished here. I abandoned its trail to await everyone here. There is no reason I cannot pick it back up shortly." With a nod, she looked to everyone else. "Cinderella, you are the only one among us capable of flight. You keep watch over the Ark. Your capacity to follow and catch deploying teams far and away outstrips the rest of us, given how common it is for Commanders and Nikke squads to be deployed from the coast to travel inland via aircraft across great distances."

"I would advise that Rapunzel accompany her," Scarlet suggested in turn. "She is as outwardly threatening as a teddy bear," she ignored the small, somewhat offended protesting 'hey' the much taller blonde projected, "and rather fortuitously, has a stellar track record in achieving fruitful and open dialogues with Ark Nikkes as a consequence."

"What will you do then, Scarlet?" Rapunzel inquired, "Do… you intend to go tell-"

"We are not informing Dorothy of this," Snow White firmly declared, nostrils flaring. "She cannot be trusted."

"Snow! How can you be so cruel?" Rapunzel, in response, gave her younger comrade a deeply reproachful look. "She was affected by what happened moreso than anyone-"

"She has turned her back on mankind!" Snow White pressed firmly, almost furiously. "Human beings are nothing but tools to her! I will not allow her to endanger the Commander with her wretched, near-Heretical behaviour!"

"Dorothy isn't a Heretic!" Rapunzel forcefully asserted in turn, actually getting upset herself. "She's just heartbroken-"

"She may as well be!" Snow White angrily shot back, eyes widening and pupils constricting as she cut the blonde off.

"Cease this buffoonery at once! Each of you!" Scarlet interjected, metaphorically cutting the two off at the knees. "My intent is to accompany Snow White in her pursuit of Chatterbox, and I shall brook no arguments to the contrary. In fact, the only reason I am not pressing for all of us to hunt down this Rapture altogether is because making contact with the Commander is just as important, if not more so. We shall destroy Chatterbox, and matters of personal pride shall not be considered in matters of Joe's well-being. Am I clear?"

"I agree, Scarlet," Cinderella nodded in turn. "Both of you, leave a trail for me to follow if need be. I'll track you both down if we make contact with Joe and Red Hood before you return."

Snow White released a heavy breath. "Very well. You're correct: the Commander's safety is of paramount importance. We will hunt down and reduce the Tyrant to ashes, then return to the general vicinity of the Ark to await…" yet another long breath, this one shuddering, escaped her lips. "Our reunion with our Commander and sister."

"We've waited nearly a century up to now," Cinderella asserted with determination. "A few weeks, even a few months now, will be nothing in comparison."

"So you say, yet somehow, it feels like time has slowed to a standstill to me…" Snow White made no attempt to mask her frustration with the need to wait.

"There is little else to be done. We know they are still with us, and we shall be reunited with them in due time," Scarlet asserted, before looking between Snow White and Rapunzel pointedly. "Now, to leave little room for misconstruance: I would have it known that I see where each of you are coming from in regards to Dorothy, and my own considerations fall squarely in the midst of either. Dorothy has previously declared that her allegiances no longer lay in mankind's best interests. She has demonstrated that human beings are little other than tools to be used to advance her ambitions now… however, I defy you to tell me that the Ark has not gone out of its way to push her to take up this sword, that she has made clear she does as she does so both for us, and for him. I defy you to assert that we have not felt the same temptation in turn, and only fight for the Ark even as it would see us hunted down and destroyed as we do out of duty, because protecting the Ark and the humans within it is the right thing to do, not necessarily what is deserved."

While Cinderella remained quiet, allowing everyone to work through their issues, Rapunzel looked despondent, as Snow White looked deeply frustrated.

Scarlet continued on regardless. "I recall clearly that day. The moment it happened, when, in retrospect, we lost both of our remaining leaders… Do you, Snow White? Do you recall what Dorothy said?"

Snow White didn't reply, averting her gaze in visible discomfort.

"What of you, Rapunzel? Do you recall the words Dorothy spoke?" Scarlet addressed the group's tallest member next.

"...'Give him back,'" Rapunzel all but sobbed. "Screaming, crying, until her voice gave out. For the first time since any of us had met her, unbreakable, unbending Dorothy… we couldn't console her. Nothing we said mattered… 'Give him back! Give him back! Joe… give back my Commander! Give me back my wings! Goddess... he called me his Goddess of Victory! Don't take my wings! Give them back!' Then… she just kept apologizing. To him, obviously to Joe… begging him for forgiveness… even though all of us know that he would never hold her responsible…"

Silence permeated the group, Scarlet making a point to allow that reminder to marinade before she spoke up again. "Thou art correct, Snow White. Dorothy is dangerous. We simply cannot blindly entrust the Commander to her at present. Not when we know not what she would do, how she might react. However, I would strongly advise that rather than demonize her as a monster, thou recall that the Ark did this to her. Do not act as though her feelings are not justified, even if we ultimately parted ways because we can not walk the same path she has chosen. And ever more: blind thyself not to the fact that should we need to remove Joe from the Ark, there is no other place he can reasonably be considered to be safe for him to inhabit. We would need to leave him with Dorothy, and to argue otherwise would be the height of folly."

Silence reigned once more, and looking between the other gathered members of Pioneer, Scarlet let out a bone-deep sigh once it was clear nobody else had anything to say on the matter.

"Well then, now that I have once more been forced to play the role of diplomat between thyselves…" she reached across her waist opposite her sword, and with practised ease, popped open a large flask, immediately tipping her head all the way back and downing it.

"Scarlet!" Rapunzel cried out. "Really!? It's not even mid-day yet!"

"There she goes…" Cinderella pinched her brow as Snow White remained silent, closing the hologram and inching forward while everyone else seemed distracted.

Releasing the flask from her lips, from which a dribble of liquid fell, past already rapidly reddening cheeks, Scarlet declared: "I shan't be denied my reward for playing the part of the mediating adult! An adult's treat, for an adult's part played!" she asserted before she raised the flask to her lips and continued morning drinking shamelessly.

"Scarlet… seriously-" Cinderella started, letting her hand fall and looking up at her squad mate, to which her one visible eye became unto a dinner plate and she cried out: "Snow, no!"

Rapunzel and Scarlet's attention snapped to the group's engineer, and the remnants of Goddess practically tripped over a Scarlet who lunged into an immediate face plant on account of her instant inebriation attempting to stop Snow White, who had taken the distraction as an opportunity to go for, and begin chugging the entire pot of still-hot vegetable soup before anyone could stop her.

If nothing else, the forsaken Goddesses of Victory had rediscovered a path thought long since lost, and though warily, they would dutifully take it once again.

 

[Sad Machine]

You really get Scarlets way of speaking well its really nice also Dorothy being a yandere sounds just about right.

 

[AldariSiradla]

Oh my god...
I felt that...
My heart and soul cries out in despair...
And anger.

Looks like the Goddess Squad has problems.
Deep, rooted problems...
And it pains me greatly to see the very faces of Defiance...
The Spirits of Victory...
Be this...
Broken.

 

[Project Eden]

I have no idea about Nikke plot but I'm enjoying this immensely. I just know it's a gacha game with waifus, big jiggly tits and surprisingly great story from what I've heard.