Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 48 - Queen's Court
===

Joe damn near jumped out of his skin when the door to the 'Deep Freeze' slid open, breaking the otherwise mildly disquieting silence he'd fallen into with Anis and Scarlet.

Snow White stomped out, face drawn in a severe frown and covered in… blood - at least the fake blood Nikkes had - diluted and smeared by water, and other fluids that resembled motor oil. Her gaze flowed down to settle on the lowered trio, and she immediately declared: "She's stable, and I've done all I can with the parts they had on hand. The ice bath will keep her temperature within tolerable levels until I can finish the job."

Though 'stable' did not necessarily mean 'okay,' it at least meant that Rapi was under no imminent threat of death. If nothing else, that allowed Joe to let out a bone-deep sigh of at least partial relief.

"So, with that being said," the monochromatic, poncho-bedecked Nikke pointedly focused on Scarlet. "Clothes off, I'm looking you over while I have the chance."

"Fallow boor!" the grey-haired swordswoman immediately protested, fingers still interlocked with Joe's. "Art thine eyes malfunctioning? Can thou not see the Commander right here?"

"I can see him just fine, and I can see that he's well enough that he was able to get out of bed and make his way here," Snow White firmly said. "If you don't want him to see your chest, then he can avert his gaze, and you can turn around."

"I- it's fine," the displaced Canadian started as he rose to his feet, slipping his hands free from the flanking Nikkes and somewhat caught off-guard by just how brusque Goddess' engineer was being. "I want to see Rapi any-"

"I would advise against that," a mature, dignified woman's voice with a notable posh accent called out from within the room, which echoed slightly off the largely unadorned metallic hallway walls and floors. The door was still wide-open, given that Snow White was standing in it. "The lady is unconscious and far from decent, right this moment, considering her impromptu 'maintenance' which has seemed more in line with a maddened field surgery. To say nothing of the state the 'doctor' has left the room itself in…"

"I wasn't left with much of a choice, given what she did, and what I had to work with," Snow White asserted pointedly, glancing back into the area in question before shifting her attention back to Joe. "Though you're already well familiar with what Red Hood looks like naked, Commander, I would advise that you refrain from seeing her just yet, given that she's partially disassembled and has her maintenance panels wide open. Accepting and non-judgemental as you are, there's little to gain from disturbing yourself needlessly. She'll still be there, and back in one piece in hopefully just a few hours at the most."

The white-maned woman cracked her neck, producing a small 'pop' as she continued.

"Especially considering, knowing you, you'll want to hold her hand, which would give you at least a mild burn at this point. Even despite her being submerged in highly concentrated saline water well below the freezing point - which would itself probably be bad for you to dunk your hand into on its own."

Joe did his level best to not react like he'd just been struck in the face with a bat by those statements, or the implications they carried. The former, considering how his previous relationship with Red Hood had seemingly gone and ended. The latter because Jesus fucking Christ, please be okay, Rapi. Instead, he just took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I-"

"Scarlet," Snow White, however, cut Joe off as she refocused on the swordswoman, pointing firmly at her chest. "Top. Off."

While Scarlet rolled her eyes and Anis turned beet red while rapidly rising to her feet, a starkly pale platinum blonde about the same height as Anis strode out of the room Rapi was occupying. She carried herself with the firm, dignified grace of a noblewoman, and had a build comparable to Rapi's. Her long, wavy hair shone with an eye-catching silken sheen. Her gaze, yet still the same ruby red as Rapi's, immediately locked onto Joe, staring at him with no small amount of rapt intensity.

And moreover… recognition. "Perhaps while waiting for a more prime opportunity to check on your companion, I might offer the Legendary Commander a spot of tea," she started. "As I ask what precisely brought himself and half of Goddess to my remote Fortress of Solitude, an entire century after they were supposed to have faded into the annals of history."

While Joe was good and ready to stare back at the women for a good few moments, considering the holy shit of just being casually recognized like this, Snow White turned to face Joe and immediately spoke up at that. "Commander, please distract her while I'm working. I need to focus, and she keeps dividing my attention with her incessant questioning."

The sheer brusqueness of Snow White was something to behold. She'd matured into something altogether different from the shy little teenager Joe remembered - for as little as he did remember her, at least.

At any rate… "That might be appropriate, given how she's doing us the honour of hosting us on such short and demanding notice," he declared.

"Indeed," the apparent XO of the Northern Fortress dryly replied, her long, thick eyelashes seeming to only accentuate her noble air as she looked up at Joe with a detached interest. "Follow me, then, Commander Pholus. Any of your Nikkes are invited to join as well, for as much as it goes without saying. I'd not have it be said that I am an inconsiderate host."

With that, she spun on her heel and started off down the hall - her stride being… incredibly distracting as Joe only just registered how very tightly fitted the skirt of her short, borderline micro white dress was, compounded by being coupled with her prideful sashay and lace stockings held up via garter straps.

Given Joe's propensity for blondes at that, he had to make a point to remind himself of the circumstances to not gawk like a horny caveman… Which, it seemed, Anis was not managing, as she did openly stare at the XO's ass as she strode down the hall.

Well. Joe sure as shit wasn't going to hold that against the messy-haired blonde, shrugging and setting off with a start.

"Unhand me, foul cur!" Scarlet immediately began caterwauling in the background. "I have been offered tea! You know mine feelings on tea-!"

"You can drink your damned tea after I've made sure you didn't sustain any serious, lasting damage being backhanded through a small forest by a Heretic, you idiot!" Snow White forcefully cursed her fellow out.

Scarlet was quick to shoot back. "As though thou was not pitched directly into the earth thyself-"

"Take off your damned shirt or I'll tear it off, damn it-!"

Somehow, Joe was rapidly finding it far more believable that he'd once been the commanding officer of Goddess.

---

"Ludmilla," the starkly white-clad woman suddenly proclaimed as she sat down in a cushioned seat set at a long, inorganic utilitarian table in what seemed to be the base's sparsely-decorated mess hall.

"Huh?" Joe, and Anis, dumbly replied as they were in the midst of sitting down as well.

"My name," the woman, evidently named Ludmilla continued as she lifted a cup of steaming tea to her fine lips. "I'd had yet to introduce myself."

"Oh," Joe intoned, looking at his own glass, lifting it to take a sniff - chamomile, his favourite kind of tea, luckily. With that particular bit of information known, Joe added sugar - or, it was probably more of an artificial sweetener given that there was no way they were growing sugar cane or sugar beets in the Ark - and let it sit to cool before drinking it. "Well, you already know my name…"

"Anis," the bodacious blonde seated alongside the Commander noted, meanwhile. She gave her tea a far more dubiously experimental series of sniffs - unsurprisingly, given her predilection for soft drinks over anything else.

"Is it not to your liking?" Ludmilla inquired, an eyebrow slightly raised as she gazed at Joe over the rim of her cup.

"I'm just letting it cool down," Joe informed her. "Chamomile is my favourite; I just don't like scalding my tongue and the roof of my mouth."

"Hm, fair enough," Ludmilla seemed to allow his explanation, if anything. Her gaze drifted aside to Anis, who seemed somewhat reassured by the notion that this was Joe's favourite, though not entirely. The far more mature and dignified-seeming woman didn't otherwise address Anis' concerns. "So, if I may be so bold as to follow up on my initial inquiry," she refocused on Joe.

"If I could ask a question first?" Joe interjected, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms, not entirely comfortable given the circumstances. To say nothing of the dining hall they were in… being drab, to say the least.

"Demanding for a guest, aren't you?" Ludmilla seemed halfway between amused and annoyed. "If anyone has earned such an onerous predilection, I suppose it is you and yours. Ask," again, she seemed the part of a well-to-do noble granting a boon to a social subordinate.

"How in God's name do you know who we are?" Joe pointedly asked, which caused Anis to perk up, pointing at Joe and snapping her fingers with a series of forceful grunts and hums to punctuate an agreement with his line of questioning. Having a mouthful of hot chamomile tea wasn't exactly conducive to simply vocalizing her support, it seemed.

"We met when you were all knighted following the, however fleeting it revealed itself to be, reclamation of London," Ludmilla matter-of-factually replied.

"I- wait, what?" Joe blinked owlishly and all but jumped in place. He was a knight!? Also… "What do you mean we 'met' when- the Ark was sealed a hundred years ago!"

"And I underwent conversion into a Nikke two decades afterwards," Ludmilla stated plainly. "I was a child at the time we'd encountered each other at the victory parade in Edinburgh, given that London itself was in no state to be hosting festivities of any kind… so, I suppose it's not unreasonable that you wouldn't recognize me, given how much smaller I was back then."

"I have amnesia," Joe noted in reply to her supposition. "I have no memory of having been 'knighted' in the first place." He would reflect on the fact that Ludmilla was far older than she looked, both because older women, fuck yeah, and because that really hammered in how Nikkes were functionally, if not just literally ageless. Though given that Goddess as a squad were very much on the older side as a whole, that wasn't that amazing of a revelation at this point.

Ludmilla lowered her cup, giving the brunet a calculating look. "...Is that so?" She acknowledged his assertion. "So, I suppose you could not tell me how it is you came to be alive, and young so long after the Initial Rapture Invasion, then?"

"I actually could," Joe corrected her. "The actual question is if I should."

At that, Ludmilla hummed deeply, setting her cup down upon the saucer accompanying it with a light 'clink.' "Well, given how knowledge of yourself and Goddess has been aggressively suppressed for some sixty-odd years now, I suppose it would be a safe bet to wager that it would be perilous to reveal the truth on what happened to yourself and Goddess… Not that I would be foolish enough to reveal that I knew enough to recognize Goddess or the Legendary Commander myself to the Central Government in the first place, but, if you do not wish to reveal the truth, I shall not begrudge you that."

The gorgeous woman of seemingly English origins crossed her legs in a manner which damn near broke Joe's focus, but he was getting better about not going full caveman mode from being exposed to unreasonably beautiful women - likely on account of never not being exposed to unreasonable beautiful women these days, Nikkes being what they were.

"However," Ludmilla continued. "I would, at the very least, ask that you inform me why you are here, so far in the distant North, with half of Goddess, no less."

"We were searching for Snow White," Joe answered honestly, because he didn't really want to shut down every question Ludmilla asked. "Myself and Counters, Anis, Neon, and Rapi - er, Red Hood, that is. We've had no contact with Snow White, or Scarlet, for that matter, since… well, since the Ark was sealed."

"Is that so?" Ludmilla brought a hand up to her chin in a notably dignified manner, "That alone is quite telling, regarding your situation, as it is, when combined with how the Central Government seeks to cause Goddess to be forgotten entirely… This is not an officially sanctioned expedition, I suppose," she pondered aloud - notably, not as a question. She didn't seem to intend to actually drill Joe too hard given the circumstances. "Well, I am not going to be the Nikke that attempted to turn in the Legendary Commander and Goddess to the Central Government, intentionally or otherwise, so I will make a point to not log your visit to the Northern Fortress, nor your presence here in the Yukon."

With that declaration, she lifted her cup to her delicate lips again, sipping at her tea elegantly.

Joe wasn't entirely sure how to process much of this. Ludmilla recognizing them was deeply unexpected, to say the least. Especially unforeseen was meeting a Nikke who had been alive before the Ark was sealed, had met Goddess as a human. As much as Joe wanted to question her about everything, it didn't seem like it'd be wise to do that. Though, if nothing else… "Thank you, for…" For a moment, he wondered how to put it beyond a simple 'thanks.'

"Any Nikke that would seek to stab the Goddess Squad in the back is a foul wretch undeserving of their augmentations," Ludmilla forcefully cut him off. "To express gratitude for the bare minimum of what should be expected of any Nikke that recognizes you is absurd and obscene. I'll not have it."

…Man, with the sheer stiffness of Ludmilla's upper lip, Joe was about ready to ask if she was a member of the British Royal Family, as absurd as the notion was - least of all considering she was a Nikke. He just managed to hold his tongue, regardless. "Even if you don't think I should be, I am appreciative of the help you're providing us, and especially Rapi, regardless. Especially considering it sounds like she might've died if not for the facilities you have on-site…"

"Providence has a way of rewarding the just, I find," Ludmilla remarked matter-of-factually between sips of her tea. "Even if it does oftentimes take many years upon years for it to take effect. And sometimes, fate too conspires with providence, given the cause for that room to have been built to begin with…"

That… actually… "Now that you mention it, I'm more than a little surprised that you just so happened to have the exact right facilities on-hand to address the exact issue that Rapi happened to have."

"It is not nearly as unlikely as you might imagine, given who I happen to have on-site as a dependant," Ludmilla replied simply. "Alice has more in common with your 'Rapi' than you might expect."

At that, Joe glanced aside at Anis with no small amount of confused surprise, a look Anis understandably shared with him. Regardless, he refocused on Ludmilla out of the corner of his eye with a wary expression worn on his face. "What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked. "I don't see how Rapi could possibly share this particular issue with anyone else considering-"

"Red Hood is not the only Nikke that was built with Exceed, Commander Pholus," Ludmilla asserted. "She is simply the only one to have had Exceed operate within her systems as intended."

That caught Joe's attention, to say the least. Especially given how that caused Joe to suddenly recall how Andersen had offhandedly mentioned that at least one other Nikke had been created in an attempt to replicate what Rapi could do. A Missilis Nikke, whose name escaped Joe at that moment. Was this 'Alice' that Nikke, then? "And who-" Joe started to ask after the Nikke in question.

Only to be cut off by a distinctive jingle playing over the base's intercoms, which caused Ludmilla to hum in acknowledgement. "Speak of the devil. It seems that the away team, meaning the little bunny in question, is back with the parts needed to finish helping Rapi. If you'd like to meet her, as she very much wants to meet you, everyone should shortly gathered at the front entrance to the base."

With a low hum, Joe grabbed his glass and tipped the cup back, getting the tea down in just a few gulps. Though he could hardly say that he'd savoured it, damn, did it taste good. "That tea was so good that I feel bad for not having gotten to actually take my time drinking it," he admitted aloud.

Ludmilla, in reply, smiled with a small amount of gratification, finishing off her own cup and setting the dishes aside. "Then I can say that I've satisfied the Legendary Commander, if even in a small way." Rising to her feet, she began moving for the hallway door again. "Come, then. If nothing else, you and Anis will do well to help move the Rapture parts to a convenient location for Snow White to work with."

With one mighty gulp, Anis swallowed the entire mouthful of tea she'd apparently been just holding like a chipmunk, then declared: "Anything to help Rapi," as she stood with a purpose. "Come on, Commander!" She then sharply spun to follow Ludmilla.

Joe understood her eagerness, and followed shortly after her. It wouldn't be much, but every little bit would help in getting Rapi back on her feet, and damn, did the little Goddess deserve all the support in the world, and anything more Joe could manage.

To say nothing of the fact that they were apparently about to meet another Nikke with the Exceed system.

This was bound to prove interesting.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 49 - Echoes of a Past Life
===

Following Ludmilla into the front-most entrance of the Northern Base, which was itself a largely unimpressive, unremarkable military installation, a small crowd gathered around a large pile of what looked to be Rapture parts. Said parts were hastily and inelegantly bundled up in tarps and resting atop sleds which had been crudely lashed together to form an ad-hoc wagon train.

The front gates had been sealed behind them, the girls already readying themselves to drag the stuff the rest of the way to the room where Rapi was waiting.

While Joe might've usually gotten caught up on the group of absurdly beautiful women, he was more focused on-

His train of thought was broken by a sharp and loud gasp. Draped head-to-toes in pinks, a skintight bodysuit which left remarkably little to the imagination despite revealing no skin below her neck, and a loose heavily-cropped shrug jacket, was a striking twintailed beauty. With-

"My queen! My queen!" The pinkette called out in a high-pitched, incredibly girly voice, her nearly white pink hair bouncing in place as she too bounced on the balls of her feet, pointing at Joe as an excited child might. "The King in the Mountain! The King in the Mountain is up! He woke up! The Queen of Hearts will finally be beaten!" she declared joyously, again, with childlike glee. "Look! Look my queen! We can finally defeat the Queen of Hearts and free Wonderland!"

Though this tiny little lady did, frankly speaking, tick a good many of Joe's boxes at a glance… at once, the man immediately and most assuredly knew: this one was not for lewding, and any that may attempt to do so, deserved a bullet.

So, quickly, all physical attraction was quashed against the rocks, and he firmly slotted this Nikke into the 'headpats only' category, given her decidedly and obviously immature nature.

"Yes, yes, I know, Alice," Ludmilla asserted, reaching out and patting Alice on the head - "Now hush, the King in the Mountain's Knight needs help."

"Oh right! Little Red Riding Hood got hurt fighting the Queen of Hearts' minions!" Alice declared, large pink eyes going wide for a moment before she spun in place, grabbed a large cable being used as the rope for the wagon train of sleds, and started off down the hallway towards the Deep Freeze with a purpose, single-handedly drawing the entire, massive load behind her despite her diminutive size. "Don't worry, King in the Mountain! Little Red Riding Hood will be good as new right away!"

Bounding off with a childish spring in her step, Alice quickly left most everyone else behind, the sleds quite loudly protesting at being drawn over anything other than snow.

With a blink, Joe watched her go for just a moment before turning to face Ludmilla, an inquisitive look on his face.

"Well that was weird," Anis, on the other hand, just openly vocalized her intrusive thoughts, as she was wont to do.

"Alice lived a difficult, scarring life, even before she underwent conversion," the haughty blonde declared in reply. "Many of those same scars, she still carries to this day. I would ask that you not be so cruel as to deprive her of the comforts of her own imagination, Commander."

…So, probably a Mind Switch situation, then. One which was balanced upon a knife's edge, if allowing Alice to live in whatever kind of fantasy she did was preferable to… drawing her back into reality.

Not any of Joe's business, ultimately. Even if it was concerning, he had a whole mountain of his own shit to deal with. Thus he simply nodded in acknowledgement of Ludmilla's request, shifting his attention to Neon and the other two present Nikkes.

Neon had a small smile of relief to see Joe up and on his feet, and generally, seemed fine overall. A strange kind of rock, she was seeming to be.

The other two Nikkes, on the other hand, were openly staring at Joe with wide, wonder-filled eyes. Yet another silver-haired woman (silver-white hair seemed to be notably popular among Nikkes for whatever reason), hair worn in a bob. She was incredibly curvaceous, and strikingly well-endowed, which she was very clearly eager for everyone to notice, given how she had her cold suit unzipped down to her navel and her chest seemingly one unfortunate sway away from having her heaving breasts come tumbling out into the open air, much like Anis. Joe very much didn't notice that she had a beauty mark on said chest.

Otherwise, she had large, glimmering silvery-violet eyes with a gentle, down-turned angle. Somewhat thick eyebrows which too seemed to naturally angle downwards, giving her a very soft, easy-going aura. Then, upon processing that Joe was looking at her, the large open-mouthed, toothy smile she presented to him only further emphasized this impression. One might be shocked to hear that she was unreasonably beautiful, and had Joe not been constantly exposed to unreasonably beautiful women, he'd most assuredly be immediately making a complete fool of himself in front of her. Luckily, he was able to keep it to a somewhat 'oh no pretty girl' anxiously nervous wave, rather than outright dumping a metric tonne of spaghetti at her feet.

Her returning the wave with that big smile of hers did very nearly shove him over the edge, though.

Aside from the dark blue jumpsuit which contrasted heavily against her fair skin, notably, she was wearing a white cropped shrug like Alice's - however, the full-length sleeves seemed to end in large puffballs, with dedicated finger holes to poke her digits through them. That, combined with her furry boots that terminated in what soles that gave the impression of cartoony animal paws, and moreover, the furry cloak adorned with a pair of round bear ears, with a pair of 'wings' that came to large, clawed bear paws, produced a strange mixture of overtly sexy and cute.

It took Joe a moment to realize that what he thought was an armoured visor on her forehead like Snow White's, was actually a polar bear-themed sleeping mask. And she had a teddy bear hanging off of her back, rather than a dedicated backpack.

She was, needless to say, very 'quirky' in her choice of aesthetics, given the clashing nature of her skin-tight cold suit which hugged her every curve and nearly wholly exposed bosom, combined with the starkly cutesy polar bear themed cloak, boots, and cropped jacket.

Still absolutely gorgeous, though.

The long-haired blonde standing astride her, shorter and more athletic in her build, skin having more of an olive, yet still fair complexion was decidedly eye-catching in her own way. Her eyes were larger, more striking and lively. A pair of simple braids tucked behind her ears adorned otherwise unstyled hair. A white, horned hairband rested atop her crown, the tips terminating in golden points, a secondary band stretched between the horns, creating the illusion of floating just off the top of her skull.

Her cold suit was a bright, almost fluorescent orange, and so tightly fitted that her belly button was visible through it. She wore a short, but not outright cropped hooded black and white jacket loosely hanging from her slim shoulders. Her suit ended with four or five-inch heels, giving her legs a long, shapely appearance.

She was incredibly pretty, yes, but there was otherwise, outwardly nothing all that stand-out about her attire. Is what Joe would have said if she weren't wearing a white, black-trimmed two-piece bikini over her cold suit which, being notably skimpy, produced an effect which gave Joe pause, and necessitated him actually having to fight his instincts to stare a bit, even despite his budding desensitization to beautiful girls in revealing attire.

Unfortunately, she was evidently the type that was very perceptive, and very clearly noticed how Joe was very pointedly not looking at her midsection. Thus, though with a little starting nervousness, she proceeded to inflict an outright critical hit upon the man by producing a V with her index and middle fingers, bringing said V to her eyes, presenting a broad, toothy smile his way, following up with a goofy kissy face.

Joe had negative defences against gyaru energy, and thus, he could not entirely suppress his reaction to the display.

The blonde looked more than a little taken aback by the effect her gesture had, immediately looking more than a little smug and intrigued… all the while Joe suddenly felt danger emanating from Anis' direction.

Ludmilla turned to Joe, a somewhat amused expression worn on her face as she started, "Commander, as familiar as I'm sure you are with amorous women, I must ask that you exhibit a degree of professionalism and not actively flirt with my squad."

"I-I didn't!" Joe immediately protested his innocence, his voice breaking as he sharply turned towards Ludmilla in dismay.

Ludmilla, however, just turned to her two wayward squadmates, declaring: "Tove, I must also ask that you not actively and openly attempt to court the Legendary Commander literally the minute you've met him."

"I-I didn't!" the orange-clad Nikke dubbed 'Tove' protested, in pretty much the exact same cadence and tone as Joe had, her expression twisted into a nearly cartoonish display of embarrassed dismay - not entirely unlike the one Joe himself was wearing.

Ludmilla then, without missing a beat, turned to the taller, far more well-endowed silver-haired Nikke in the room to address her directly. "Neve, you and Tove are on surveillance. We are tending to a member of Goddess in need. The shame that would be brought upon our names should we need to divert attention away from her to deal with Raptures near the base cannot be overstated. Ensure her rest is not interrupted."

The fuzzy Nikke, meanwhile, immediately took on a more militaristic, hard expression upon the mention of 'Goddess,' nodding firmly once. "Yes ma'am," she declared before heading off with a purpose - this despite having presented no small amount of lethargic calm up to that point.

"A-ah, right!" Tove bounced back, clicking her heels together. "We're on it, ma'am! We won't let Goddess down!" She hesitated for a moment, gaze settling on Joe for an instant - and she quickly winked at him once before setting off to follow Neve.

Ludmilla let out a small sigh at that, shaking her head before addressing Joe again. "It will likely take some time for Snow White to fully finish tending to Red Hood - or Rapi, if you prefer. Though I would not blame you if you are lacking in appetite, I would offer you three a meal. Especially you, if nothing else, Commander. As a human, it is essential that you eat regularly."

Looking between Neon and a still visibly annoyed Anis, Joe shrugged. Though yeah, he really wasn't hungry considering the circumstances… "You're right, it'd probably be wise to at least try to eat something, considering we're in the field and all that."

"I'm not really hungry, but…" Neon started, pushing her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose. "Like, maybe a few cookies or something would be nice."

Anis just glowered at Joe.

"Then come, let us return to the dining hall and partake in some finger food to tide us over until dinner proper," Ludmilla proclaimed with all the authority of a posh noblewoman, spinning on her heel and going right back the way they'd come.

Part of Joe low-key wondered why they'd even bothered coming to the base's entrance to 'help' when Alice - the girl that apparently also had Exceed he just realized, didn't even need help hauling the massive load of Rapture parts to Snow White… but he supposed that it was good to have met Tove and Neve as well, if nothing else.

---

Darkness. Alarms. The stench and wetness of fresh death hung heavy in the air. Already, she'd been coated in gore - yet now, the fresh blood streaming down her front filled her with far more horror and agony than she'd imagined possible. It wasn't her blood, yet so terribly desperately she wished it was, rather than his.

Red Hood clung to Joe, held him close, and refused to let him go. Even as he bled all over her, even with the mortifying hole blown in his side. His breath came shallow, shuddering, audibly pained, each inhale a horrible struggle. She'd entwined her fingers with his, and there was no strength left in his hands - he was entirely limp, seemingly barely even aware of their surroundings, of what was happening.

"-Don't go," the Nikke cried, drawing him in, hugging him desperately. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please! Joe… Please don't leave me! Please, stay!" She pressed her cheek against his, tears streaming down her face helplessly. "I'll- I'll be better! I'll do better! I'll never let you down again! I'll stop being stupid, I'll be reliable, I'll be strong, I'll be like Snow, I'll be like Dorothy! I'll… I'll be everything you deserve! I won't be a burden! I'll never insult you, or mistreat you again!" Red Hood's voice grew increasingly desperate and strained - her voice was entirely broken, not a single word coming out strong. "I… I won't betray your trust! I won't make you feel useless! I'm the useless one! I'm the idiot, I'm the moron! I'm the one always causing problems! I'm the one always annoying everyone! I- I- I-"

A pitiful cry spilled forth from her lips, tears mixing freely with blood as the pair were lit only by strobing red lights.

"I'm useless. I'm incompetent. I'm an idiot. I… I don't deserve you. I don't deserve any of you! You're better than I deserve! I'm trash! I'm garbage! I'm just a thug, some lazy loser from the middle of nowhere! Some idiot that doesn't deserve to serve with Goddess! I… I'm the one that deserves to die, not you! So please! Please!" Red Hood squeezed Joe, let all of her darkest self-recriminations fall free, laying her heart and soul out to him in a desperate attempt to convince him to stay, to not go. "I… I… Joe…"

With a shuddering breath, she finally uttered those three little words that had evaded her for so long, that had simply refused to come no matter how hard she'd tried to force them out, even when things were at the best they'd ever been.

"I love you," Red Hood all but whimpered to her dying Commander. "I love you, Joe… I love you! So… so there, I admit it! I admit it, okay!? So you have to stay!" she couldn't hold him any tighter, yet desperately, she tried to. "You… have to stay, you have to take responsibility! You… need to… you need to give me a chance, you need to let me make it up to you. You need to let me prove it, to prove that I mean it! That I'll be better! That I'll be reliable! That I'll be trustworthy! That you can tell me anything! That you can lean on me no matter what!"

"I'll stop being unreliable! I'll stop being immature! I'll grow up! I'll get my shit together, I swear, I promise! I promise! So please, please! Don't go! Please! Stay with me! By my Commander! Be my Commander, and I'll be everything I haven't been! I'll be the Nikke you deserve! I swear!"

"I love you."

As Red Hood's breath came in ragged gasps, having started desperately shouting and wailing at some point, relative silence fell. Little other than distant alarm klaxons accentuating this horrible moment.

It was Joe that broke that silence. "...I'm… Sorry…" he wheezed out, the suffering in his weak, borderline whisper of a voice feeling like a thousand daggers to Red Hood's heart.

He was apologizing. He was apologizing. When he had done nothing wrong, when it was her fault, when she'd failed him in all ways that mattered, when she had left him confused, uncertain, befuddled, then failed to protect him when he'd placed his life in her hands… when she didn't deserve to fight alongside him. When he was the Commander she didn't deserve, when she didn't deserve to call herself a Goddess-

Joe's voice cut her thoughts off, one last time. "...My Goddess… of… Victory…"

Then with one final, shuddering exhale, he fell entirely still, face falling into her shoulder, even as Red Hood stared forward into the darkness. Even as the weight of this moment fell upon and crushed her like a boulder.

His last words. An apology she didn't deserve. His final moments. Consideration and regret she had no right to be the recipient of.

That was it. Her last ray of light, the last thing that kept her flame burning bright.

With that last light extinguished, Red Hood leaned forward, drew her Commander in as close as she could. She curled up, she twitched, she spasmed, she gasped for air. Yet, the tears had stopped flowing. She wasn't crying. Her eyes, wide open, her lips twisted into an agonized grimace, and no tears accompanied the hitching, animalistic cries projected from deep within her chest.

Red Hood curled over yet further, the darkness all-encompassing, all traces of light fading, until finally…

Her back was starting to get really sore.

So many bumps, so many jostles. So much noise, curled up into a tiny little ball like this, barely able to breathe, pretty much blinded for hours… and all for what? Some dumb little joke?

The Nikke was actually really starting to think that this wasn't the best idea she'd ever had, especially now that everything had gone still for what felt like ages now, and yet-

Suddenly, she could hear the clamps of the box unlatching, and her typical ear-to-ear smile found purchase on her deceptively lovely features once more, and at once, she knew that it would have been worth it to see the looks on their faces when…

The moment a little light hit her face, the black-and-red clad Nikke all but jumped up to her knees, throwing her arms out wide and casting the lid of the metal shipping container open with a crash as it slammed into the floor behind it. "Surpri-aaaAHHHH!" she cut herself off, immediately placing a hand on the bare flesh over her posterior, crying out in pain. "My back! Dang it, it hurts! Why did I think shipping myself here in a box was a good idea...!?"

Eyes closed, hissing at the harsh stringing, it took the Nikke a few long moments to recover, eventually cracking her eyes open to find…

Well, what had to be her new squad.

"...Commander," a pink-haired, ruinously snooty-seeming lady declared, gazing down at Red Hood through her nostrils. "Close the lid and ship the box back to the return address, I don't think we want to have to put up with this 'gift.'"

"-Best gift ever," a burly, long-haired man in a plain, military green combat jacket declared with a stupid, downright smitten grin as he stared down at Red Hood, his hands still hovering in place where they'd been in the instant before Red Hood threw open the lid of the box she'd had herself shipped to Goddess Squad in.

Red Hood's smile returned in full force, and even redoubled upon hearing that, and seeing the dog tags hanging from his neck, immediately knew who this was. "Hey, is it Christmas morning, Handsome?" she asked the man that was surely her Commander.

He blinked owlishly at that, seeming more confused than anything-

"'Cuz damn if I don't want to unwrap your clothes like I just found you under a tree!" Red Hood finished her totally butter smooth and absolutely sensical pick-up line as she set her hands on the rim of the metal box, deliberately puffing her scantily-clad chest out to the long-haired man with her trademark winning smile for emphasis.

Though there was a but of an awkward delay, the man eventually seemed to process what she was implying, at once turned beet red and sputtering like an old car, the white-clad pinkette standing off to his side too went red, but with her brow furrowing and nostrils flaring heavily, the towering blonde nun Red Hood had previously not noticed built like one of the girls from her favourite hentai mags suddenly started squealing like a tea kettle… and another man's voice started uproariously laughing in the background.

Twisting around to find the source of the laughter, Red Hood spotted a far more ostentatiously dressed military man wearing a peaked cap, aviators, and a greatcoat like a cape doubled over, wheezing and hitting his own chest as he attempted to get his laughter under control - even despite using his other hand to point at his long-haired fellow.

"John…" there was a silver-haired woman, mop styled into an asymmetrical bob standing alongside him. She too was dolled up in a nice military uniform complete with a cape, speaking to him in a mildly chastising, heavily-accented posh voice, reaching over and pinching the lobe of the apparent officer's ear to drag him back up to his full height. "What did I say about conducting yourself as the High Commander of Goddess?"

"I give! I give!" the well-dressed man, 'John,' declared desperately as he latched into the woman's wrist utterly ineffectually, his assaulted ear rapidly turning red. "Uncle! Uncle! Lilith, lay off! You win! You win! I'll leave the treasonous cur alone- Ahhh!" His cries redoubled as Lilith began to lightly twist his ear for emphasis, a serene smile in place on her unsettlingly artificial face all the while. "Joe! You're her Commander! Command Lilith to lay off- AAH!"

Still twisted around to watch the byplay, Red Hood caught sight of someone she would've missed otherwise, actually seeming to hide behind Lilith's cape, was a young teenager, short, dressed in all whites and blacks to accompany her messy white head of hair, large golden eyes standing out all the more because of it. She was visibly nervous as she peered around the taller Nikke at Red Hood, lips drawn into an adorable little uncertain grimace.

Red Hood immediately desperately wanted to tug at her little cheek and listen to her whine over being called 'cute.' And she'd surely do so! But not before she finished hooking the Commander like the smooth operator she was! "-So, Commander!" she started as she spun to face the man dubbed 'Joe' once more, smiling brightly at him. "Where're you planning on taking me for our first date, and is pinky there gonna tag along for the fun too, or are you more of a one woman kinda- AH! Hey! What's the big idea!?"

The blonde cried out as the pinkette boldly strode over to the box, shoved Red Hood back into it, and started trying to close the lid on her again, producing a small fight as Red Hood tried to stop her from doing so from her awkward angle. "This one is clearly defective, Commander!" the snooty lady in the fine silk dress asserted pointedly, "We should send her back and get a replacement!"

"What the Hell?" Red Hood cried in offence and protest. "Hey! Chill out, I said that I'm cool with sharing! Don't bogart the Commander, Missy! I'm sure there's plenty of him to go around! Right Your Holiness?" she called out to the nun, whose full-faced blush somehow redoubled and intensified at the inquiry. "Come on! Don't be such a stiff!" she attempted to reason with the well-to-do lady. "Learn to live a little, Your Highness!"

"Commander!" Lilith called out, even as she continued to discipline the High Commander's ear for his poor conduct. "I think you need to calm Dorothy down before she starts attempting to bash the box's lid on our new recruit's head. And Rapunzel likely needs to be coaxed from the corner she's retreated into as well!" She was clearly referring to the nun that was now facing away from the rest of the room, evidently attempting to hide her reaction to Red Hood's open gooning. "I'm going to finish punishing High Commander Andersen, then take Snow White to the mess hall for a treat! Good luck!" At that, Lilith began dragging Andersen from the room, the man squealing all the while. Snow White moved to keep Lilith between her and Red Hood, clearly a shy girl as she was.

Red Hood, meanwhile, was stuck fighting for her life, trying to prevent Dorothy from locking her back in the box. "Hey! Come on! You haven't even let me introduce myself! Hey! Commander Handsome! Get her to lay off, will ya? Getting harangued like this is such a turn off, and I assure you, you're gonna want me turned all the way on for our first date-!" Her voice cut off as with one mighty push, the box was slammed shut, and darkness overtook her once more.

"Red Hood!"

She held him tight.

"This is the A.C.P.U.! Raise your hands above your head now!"

Gently, Red Hood set Joe down, laying him to rest, at least setting him in a dignified position. The absolute least she could do for him now.

"Comply at once or we will open fire!"

They'd taken everything. Everything. Everyone. All that she cared about. They took her ray of light. They'd snuffed out her burning flame.

"Stop! Freeze! Now! Red Hood! Stop!"

And so. Red Hood would do unto them what they had done to her. The Ark, they'd sacrificed so much for it, and the Ark had taken even more. The Ark would see them all destroyed. The Ark would see her sisters, her family, her loved ones destroyed.

"It doesn't have to end like this! Stop!"

So in turn, Red Hood would do just the same.

"Open fire!"

Red Hood would destroy the Ark.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 50 - An Uneventful Departure
===

With a great, gasping breath, Rapi's eyes snapped open, seeming to struggle to catch her breath as her pupils darted to-and-fro wildly, hands latching upon metal bars and squeezing with terrible force-

"Rapi!"

At once, she was keenly focused, upon hearing his voice despite having witnessed his death mere moments earlier. Joe was stooped over her, hand outstretched, resting on her cheek. Whatever he was to say next was cut off, as Rapi lunged upwards, desperately encircling her arms over his shoulders and drawing him into a clinging hug.

Protect him. Shield him. Hold and cherish him. Never again. Never let him be harmed, never let him suffer, never make him feel unwanted, undesired, despised. You do not deserve him, yet he deserves the best you that you can be. Never again.

Do not fail him again.

All words fell upon deaf ears, and it took a moment for Rapi to register that they were surrounded - and she damn near went feral, keenly remembering the Ark Central Police Unit closing in on them. Yet then she registered that they were faces she also recognized - Anis, Neon, the Pioneers…

The Northern Base. They were at the Northern Base. Not the Central Government Headquarters. Joe was, Joe was-

Holding her, gently whispering into her ear, stroking her cheek- wiping away at-

Rapi blinked, her vision very slightly distorted by moisture. She was crying. Her. She was crying.

She was… "I'm sorry," Rapi's voice immediately broke, the word spilling out unprompted and unheeded. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Agony, crushing guilt, suffering. It was over a century past. Yet the pain felt so raw, so recent, so real. She remembered. Only these, only their first, and last meetings… yet she remembered them. And, moreover… the emotions. The images, the moments, the places, words, all pieces of her past life eluded her still - save for, now, the emotions, those most closely associated with her Commander. Those, those were washing over her like a tsunami.

The adoration. The longing. The fear. The guilt.

It was overwhelming, overbearing - too much, far too much. Everything had been grey, noise, static which had just washed over her for so long. Then, suddenly… it hurt. It hurt so much. It hurt so much that she could barely process what was happening around her. She couldn't focus, she couldn't centre herself. With every breath came an intense risk of a sudden onset panic attack. Every thought snapped to the possibility of Joe's demise, how much danger he'd been in, how she'd failed to protect him, how-

---

It took Rapi a long while to calm down after that episode, and she didn't seem particularly keen on talking or explaining herself afterwards, leaving Joe and everyone else to worry over her until she passed out. The girl was seemingly overwhelmed by her emotions to the point that it left her utterly fatigued on top of the damage she'd inflicted on herself using Exceed.

"Well, at least she seems okay…" Joe quietly mused as he stroked Rapi's forehead, more than a little wary of her state. She was such an unbending little rock, so to see her like this was…

Anis and Neon had gone to make sure all their gear was ready for their inevitable departure. At least, Neon seemed genuine about wanting to be helpful and productive. Anis just seemed deeply uncomfortable with recent developments, and in particular, Rapi being in outright hysterics. Given that Ludmilla was keeping Unlimited, her squad, busy to keep them out of Counters and Pioneer's hair, it was just Joe and a good half of Goddess set aside in the medbay. The room was largely identical to that Joe had woken in himself earlier.

"I did the best I could," Snow White asserted in reply, looming over Rapi from the side opposite the medical bed she was laid out upon. "She's stable and won't suffer any further degradation so long as she doesn't try to use Exceed again, but…" the monochromatic Nikke looked over her fellow Grimms with a heavy grimace. "Her body was already in relatively poor condition before this happened. I had to replace more than I thought I would. It was almost as though she hadn't seen proper maintenance in…" Sighing heavily, she continued. "In nearly a century. As though the Ark hasn't been taking care of her since Operation Ark Guardian."

"The Ark lost knowledge on how to build or properly maintain Grimms upon losing the surface, yes," Joe informed the White Reaper. "I was warned that using Exceed would certainly kill her… you saved her life," he breathed, deeply upset by how Rapi had been suffering.

"I did all I could," Snow White asserted pointedly. "Jury-rigging Rapture parts results in continued functionality, but for a Grimms especially, it's a downgrade."

"To say the least," Scarlet somewhat bitterly noted from the foot of the bed, displeasure clear on her features at the apparent reminder that she and Snow White were operating at a presumed fraction of their true potential on scraped-together parts.

"Now, it's not… as much of a downgrade as would be typical, considering the… state," Snow White spat out the word angrily, "her internals were already in, but she is going to be operating in a weakened state from now on, even relative to previously."

Considering Snow White's statements, Joe inquired: "Would you be able to return her to full functionality with proper, dedicated Nikke parts?"

"...No," Snow White replied warily. "Not to the extent I imagine you're thinking, at least. Having access to factory-new parts would go a long way to restoring her… and the rest of us, for that matter, to a more acceptable state, but Grimms require dedicated Grimms-tier resources to operate at our true potential." She shook her head in frustration. "Given that the Ark doesn't know how to even maintain a Grimms properly anymore by your own admission, then they wouldn't be able to produce the necessary equipment to wholly restore a Grimms either."

"We wouldst need to locate a Grimms production facility from the Initial Rapture Invasion, and hope said facility had gone unplundered in the century the Ark has been sealed," Scarlet added on to Snow White's point, leaning on the edge of Rapi's bed as she was. "We have found such places in days gone, yet, as thy imagination may suggest, what resources we'd scrounged from such places have been long since spent."

That was probably something to look into, once they were back at the Outpost and had access to the Ark's resources. Looking into potential Grimms facilities, in particular. Regardless… "A repair centre is being constructed at the Outpost. I'll be able to get you access to actual Nikke parts once we're back regardless."

"'The Outpost?'" Scarlet inquired, raising a brow.

"A checkpoint between the Ark and the surface," Joe elaborated. "I was put in command of it after we destroyed Blacksmith and Gravedigger. It's being built up into… well, a sort of mini-Ark, I suppose. There isn't any Central Government surveillance there - or rather, I'm supposed to be Central's surveillance there. So, it's about as free of their oversight as a place directly connected to the Ark can be, considering I ain't telling them shit if I don't have to."

Snow White's brow had furrowed with each word spoken, though from apparent consideration, rather than displeasure.

Scarlet, meanwhile, hummed as she pondered Joe's words. "Doth mine ears deceive me, or does it sound as though our Commander's relationship with the Central Government is perhaps a checkered one?"

"To say the least," Joe immediately scoffed, rolling his eyes as he suppressed the immediate urge to go off on the grossly incompetent and corrupt fascist establishment. "But… we should probably get into politics later, when 'everyone' is all back together, yeah?" he asked, recalling how Scarlet had warded off Joe telling her everything that had happened with him, wanting Goddess all together to hear what had happened.

"Yes, let it wait until after we've returned to the Ark's vicinity and we are as one once more," Scarlet nodded, giving Snow White a significant look. "Otherwise… Joe, I did notice something. Anis and Neon, those two were dumbstruck and wowed to learn who we are - who you are. That, I suppose, is why Red Hood has abandoned her Grimms title to sport her given name once more? To enshroud your identities?"

…Oh, so 'Rapi' was actually her real name, even before she was a Nikke? That was… interesting. Maybe Joe should ask her about that once everything had calmed down. "Seems that way," he simply answered, not particularly knowing himself, though it would make sense. "That being said… What's the plan going forward? You two were hunting Chatterbox, yeah? After that…?"

"We were hunting Chatterbox specifically because we know it's a danger to you," Snow White asserted. "Then we were going to focus entirely on reuniting with you and Red- Rapi," she corrected herself somewhat awkwardly. "I'd advise that we momentarily split up before returning to the Ark, so you can report back, and we," she nodded to Scarlet, "can prepare."

That… sounded weirdly ominous-

"Truly, Snow White?" Scarlet dubiously started up, "Of all the times to attempt to sound profound and striking-"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Snow White forcefully, too forcefully, denied attempting to sound cool.

Such little moments, yet they were quite telling in regards to how very goonish Goddess was, despite their legendary status.

At any rate, "Well, it sounds like we have a plan going forth, yeah?" Joe inquired. "We head back for the Ark, split up before getting there, and reunite in whole shortly after?"

"I've no opposition to this proposition," Scarlet declared. "Moreover, I would advise that some time be taken to allow Rapi a moment of respite. She could be emotional in times before, yes, but she has never…" the grey-haired woman's gaze drifted down to the fretfully slumbering blonde. "Broken down in such a manner previously."

"I'm not sure why she freaked out like that," Snow White noted as she gently settled her hand over Rapi's, concern writ large on her face. "But, considering it's obvious that she experienced a Mind Switch as serious as mine too, then we can wait a few more days if it means avoiding pressuring her, Commander."

At that, Joe reared back somewhat, visibly taken aback by Snow White's casual admission of what really should have been a horror…

"Didst thou believe we would not notice, Joe?" Scarlet asked him, popping a brow as she did so. "Red Hood was a raucous boor; loud, overbearing, disruptive and cheerful in equal measure, to say nothing of how she was casual to a fault. As she is now? Stern, quiet, dependable, almost brooding, downright militaristic in all aspects of her life as according to Anis… Rapi clearly experienced a Mind Switch and accompanying personality shift as extreme as Snow White's had been." Her focus settled on Snow White again. "You used to be such a shy, uncertain young girl, so easily rendered anxious… how times have changed."

"I retained my memories, regardless, which is as important as anything can be," Snow White asserted, refocusing on Rapi, lips drawn into a heavy, mournful grimace. "She did not, though, did she, Commander?"

The uncomfortable silence that followed was palpable. Yeah, they'd have to address this sooner or later, but still, Jesus fucking Christ…

"At first, it was easy to simply assume that Red Hood would not meet our eyes out of some sense of shame," Scarlet began. "Her quiet too, if guilt wracked her terribly enough."

"That was never what Red Hood was like, though," Snow White added on. "The moment she felt as though she'd genuinely wronged someone, she would get on her knees and beg for forgiveness. She would be just as boisterous as she ever was, just… in a remorseful way. Never, never would she avoid someone's gaze - let alone ours."

"And yet further, in retrospect, she was so terribly uncomfortable in our presence because she did not recognize us," Scarlet noted, evenly and almost serenely, as seemed common with her. "Tis' heartbreaking, yet… she is here. And though she may not remember us, we may yet simply create more memories with her to replace those lost."

"It's unfortunate, but, at least she's still here," Snow White asserted with a nod. "I'll… handle her with more reservation going forth, Commander. I can't imagine it's doing her any favours, being crowded by people that are treating her with such familiarity."

Joe shallowly nodded in acknowledgement, "that would probably be for the best. She's… been having a bit of a rough go of it lately."

"All the more reason to give her a chance to relax," Snow White nodded. "Give her the chance to process everything happening, and we'll prepare Pioneer for your return and our reunion."

With a nod, Joe refocused on Rapi, continuing to gently stroke her forehead. He didn't enjoy seeing the little blonde so overwhelmed and worn down. But, this was a necessary step forward, and difficulties were always to be expected when trudging through knee-deep snow.

But, she wasn't alone anymore - she was about as far from alone as anyone could be at this point, even. They'd get there, all together.

"...You take it easy as well, Commander," Snow White directed him quietly, gently interrupting his train of thought. "Rapi isn't the only one that's had terrible experiences on this mission."

…Yeah. Joe was avoiding thinking about it, but… Marian…

This may have been an oncoming storm they were facing down, but, surrounded by returning friends and allies he knew they could depend upon, it'd be a lot easier to weather this particular storm now, at any rate.

---

There wasn't all that much to say to Ludmilla or Unlimited in general, after Rapi eventually woke up and was good to get dressed, geared up, and move out back for the Ark. She had made it clear that she'd rather not talk about everything that had happened, being unusually reticent to speak even by her standards. Though, she was insistent on remaining right by his side. To a degree that far outstripped the norm.

The reason was obvious enough, given that she was obviously guilt-ridden over how Chatterbox had managed to grab and run off with him, if even briefly. Then, when Marian- Modernia had gotten her hands on him too… Rapi prided herself on being reliable and trustworthy. She likely felt like she'd let him down or otherwise failed him.

Joe firmly didn't believe that, but he'd talk to her about that later, when they weren't in the field anymore.

Until then, Counters and Pioneer gathered their shit up, kitted themselves out again, and departed from the Northern Base to return to the exfil zone. Of course, Joe had expressed his gratitude to Ludmilla for sheltering them, and her only request was to ask that Joe bring up the notion of having Snow White look over Alice with Mustang. Ludmilla wasn't about to allow that to occur without clearing it from the top-level, obviously. Otherwise, she thanked Scarlet and Snow White, for everything, and allowed everyone to head off without making a big show of it.

Somehow, Joe got the impression that this wasn't the last time they'd meet Unlimited. Though he was hardly a seer, so fuck if he knew how that would manifest, but Alice's Exceed alone marked her a person of interest, to say the absolute least.

At any rate, mercifully, the crew met no resistance on their way to the exfil. That struck Joe as weird, but Snow White affirmed to him that this wasn't wholly unusual. Even after all this time, Raptures tended to flock to cities, rather than the absolute wilderness. Those that did pop up in remote places tended to be more dangerous than the average Rapture, but that was more to do with the weaker Raptures just being more common around cities and other formerly large population centres in the first place.

So, mercifully, they simply… had faced no combat, aside from the fucking Tyrant and Heretic. And were returning with two additional Grimms models, and had suffered no major lasting injuries or losses. And they had attained intelligence on the identity of a Heretic…

Rapi may have hurt herself, but he had been assured that it was relatively minor as far as lasting injuries went given Snow White's intervention. The entire operation couldn't be considered as anything less than an obscene success objectively. Another mark on Joe's tally, as it was. And a fucking absurd one, as seemed usual at this point.

The pilot that had arrived was, as expected, an Elysion Black Ops asset that damn well knew better than to ask questions when Ingrid's favourite returned with two new Nikkes in tow.

Leaving the Yukon behind felt somewhat… strange, to Joe. Though it was hardly a trip through memory lane, a revisiting of his old pre-Rapture life, to be specific, it had been a journey through places that at least looked and felt like those he'd known growing up. Just, dead. Frozen over in time, abandoned… He'd avoided thinking about it, but it had felt like walking through a ghostly apparition of his past life. What remained of something he'd never experience or know again.

Ghastly, dreadful in some ways, yet, still… in some distant way, it felt appropriate. Like he'd been afforded a degree of closure - allowed to see off what he'd once had with one last, positive memory, in comforting Rapi in a woodfire-lit home's living room, after having watched a friend's cheap-ass comfort food anime, assuring her that she wasn't the monster she'd thought she was, then spending the night together in a display that spoke volumes to how much she trusted and cared for him...

So, ultimately, it felt like an acceptable, even worthy sendoff for what he used to know. Thus, he'd do his best to leave that past where it belonged now - in the past, another world away. This was where he lived now, and that wasn't going to change any time soon.

Thus, Joe didn't look back when the Arctic snow and ice faded away to reveal the lush greens of British Columbia once more.

The Commander's personal musing aside, the aircraft's pilot didn't ask questions when Snow White and Scarlet were dropped off about a day's travel by foot from the Ark either. Ingrid was smart about assigning assets to Counters, as it turned out. Good for them, and yet more evidence that Ingrid was one of the more intelligent people in power in the Ark.

Snow White had passed Joe a piece of paper which indicated where to find Pioneer once they were all prepared, with it going unspoken that they weren't going anywhere after this. She and Scarlet had the presence of mind to otherwise not tip their hand, regardless of how professional and likely trustworthy the pilot was. They simply departed into an open freeway, watched the VTOL lift off, and leave.

It had felt a bit strange to set off without them so unceremoniously after all that effort they'd gone through to find them in the first place. Though they weren't being stupid about this, it was best to split up here and make sure they had everything in order to ensure that the girls weren't detected as being Pilgrims near the Ark or in the Outpost, given the Ark's unfriendly policy towards Pilgrims.

At any rate, it didn't take long for the aircraft to land at the exterior entrance to the Outpost, letting them out and returning with little aplomb. The squad hadn't even made it all the way back through the entrance tunnel, passing through the multiple blast doors and unremarkable stone and concrete halls before Joe's work phone buzzed from his pocket.

Ingrid was already gathering Andersen to meet Joe at his office for debriefing. She made a point to inform himself, Rapi, Anis and Neon were all expected to join them, which wasn't all that surprising, all things considered. The pilot had probably informed her of their approach.

"Ingrid and Andersen are going to meet us at my office for the debriefing," Joe declared. "You three are all expected to be there too."

"Of course…" Anis just cried, deflating as she slumped forward while walking.

Neon whined quietly as well, though didn't say anything herself.

"...Understood, Commander," Rapi, meanwhile, tried to reply with her typical militaristic cadence, though the effort mostly failed, given how heavily everything seemed to weigh on her.

Joe could hardly hold that against her, and while his bones were sure as shit feeling everything they'd just gone through just the same, a soldier had little choice but to answer to their superiors before they would be granted leave.

Such was life on this bitch of an Earth.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 51 - Ruminations and Remembrance
===

"So, Snow White and Scarlet are alive…" Andersen's expression was one of mild consternation, given that… "But you didn't think to confirm specifically which other members of Goddess are too, only that they aren't the only two remaining…"

Joe, in turn, wore a very sheepish grimace as Ingrid gave him a heavily lidded stare of aggravation. The Commander, despite how generally well the entire operation had gone, somehow still managed to emerge looking like a fool. "There was a lot going on up there," he weakly defended himself.

The former High Commander of Goddess just set his hand over his eyes, letting out a deep, displeased sigh as he muttered, "Dumb ass…"

Ingrid and Andersen were being debriefed on everything that had happened in the Yukon, while everyone else had at least been allowed to change into more casual attire than their cold suits. The CEO and Deputy Chief… Were more than a little frustrated with Joe's inattentiveness on certain matters.

Not that Joe could blame them, they very much had a point. But still, Jesus fucking Christ, he felt like he deserved something resembling a break, considering all the bullshit that had happened-

"Okay, well, you know where to meet back up with them," Andersen continued, somewhat anxiously rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. "We'll arrange to give you the means to head out as soon as you're ready, so, moving on. You found Snow White, and she was accompanied by Scarlet. What happened next?"

"We- well, it actually happened first, but, we encountered Chatterbox again," Joe noted from his sofa seat across from Andersen and Ingrid - the Counters girls that had accompanied him to the Arctic seated on either side of him on the sofa. And on the floor with her legs crossed beneath her like a kid watching TV, in Neon's case.

"Given that you all seem intact," Ingrid began, arms crossed beneath her chest as she looked the squad over critically, "I assume the upgrades and additional gear we provided you went a ways towards besting the Tyrant?"

"We sent the big doofus running with its tail tucked between its legs!" Neon immediately proclaimed with a broad, toothy smile as she pumped both of her tiny little fists. "Our firepower has achieved such a state that the mightiest of Raptures are but a speed bump to us!"

"She says," Anis began in a dour tone, "as though we didn't have the help of literally half of Goddess when he fought the prick."

"Less than half!" Neon pointedly declared as she twisted around to shoot a displeased glower at Anis. "Rapi took off to make sure the Commander was okay after he got picked up by Chatterbox and tossed like a baseball!"

"Wait, what!?" Ingrid leaned forward, and Andersen's eyes widened no small amount as well. "Picked- Chatterbox actually grabbed you!?"

Spinning back in place to reply, Neon continued excitedly: "Then the Commander stabbed it in the eye with his knife!" the little stark white Nikke proclaimed, pantomiming a stabbing motion with a phantom blade, her emerald eyes seeming to sparkle as she did so. "Then Chatterbox screamed like 'Oh no, a knife, my only weakness, how did you know!?' and threw the Commander and-"

"That is not what happened!" Anis pointedly cut her off, leaning forward as she interjected, "We didn't even see that happen! Scarlet only told us about it after we got to the Northern Base!"

Neon petulantly retorted, "It could have happened like that-"

"Pholus," Ingrid, however, cut her off with all the authority she was capable of projecting. "Explain," she outright commanded him.

"Chatterbox grabbed me, booked it, literally ran into Scarlet and Snow White, and when it stopped, I stabbed it in the eye in a blind panic," Joe immediately elucidated upon what he remembered happening. "Frankly, I'm shocked it even worked… But, I'm pretty sure its grip on me slipped when it flailed in response to the attack. I went flying… Then I think Rapi jumped on the Tyrant, right before Snow White lunged in, picked me up, and moved me somewhere safer. Rapi stayed with me to make sure I was safe while Scarlet, Snow White, Anis, and Neon fought Chatterbox off."

"...You hurt a Tyrant!?" Ingrid's eyes had gone as wide as dinner plates, staring at Joe as though he'd just transmogrified into a giant marmoset before her very eyes. "With a knife!?"

"Y-yeah…?" Joe was more than a little taken aback by the woman's intensity. "I-"

"That makes you the only living, unaugmented human being in the Ark to have ever actually harmed a Tyrant directly, Joe," Andersen noted to the man dryly. "No Commander before you has ever survived being attacked by a Tyrant, in the Ark's history." He adjusted his cuffs with a small grin. "Of course, the Ark has lost almost all knowledge of the events of the Initial Rapture Invasion anyways, so, they of course don't know about that time you personally destroyed a Tyrant anyways-"

"He what!?" Ingrid, Anis, and Neon all cried out in shock, first looking at Andersen, then squarely at Joe.

As though he didn't have fucking amnesia. Meaning he just shrugged, assuming that Andersen was bullshitting for effect regardless.

"Ask Snow White and Scarlet the next time you see them," Andersen just suggested with a wry grin. "That being said: what happened next?" He inquired, giving Joe an inquisitive look.

…Which was where this was about to get incredibly unpleasant. Taking a deep, bracing breath, the Commander did his level best to shift to pure professionalism mode, to just deliver the information he had as it had happened. "Once it was clear that I didn't have any actual injuries, we decided to head straight back for the exfil point. Pioneer's intent was to hunt down and destroy Chatterbox, but they prioritized getting me out of its immediate crosshairs."

Joe continued as Ingrid and Andersen keenly listened.

"Not long after we departed, Chatterbox announced its presence to us again. Annoyed by the Tyrant's persistence, and emboldened by how it had been forced to retreat earlier, we launched an all-out attack against the beast… Which, on account of that having been a distraction, opened us up to the ambush the bastard had set up."

"Ambush…?" Ingrid's brow furrowed heavily at the idea of Raptures using complicated tactics against them. "By what?"

Joe had to take several, very strained breaths to centre and focus himself. He had to just say it, to just get it out, don't get hung up on it, he was a soldier, soldiers were supposed to stay calm and professional, not-

Grimacing, he grit his teeth and forced it out. "The Heretic Modernia."

That got Andersen and Ingrid to damn near jump out of their seats, eyes going wide and their faces pale as sheets. Ingrid was the first to speak up at that, directly addressing the Nikkes. "All of you recorded this encounter, right?" She immediately pressed the girls forcefully.

"Yes, ma'am," Rapi quickly and factually replied.

"Good…" Ingrid looked about the closest to a panic attack Joe had ever seen her right then, breathing unevenly and with no small amount of labour. Given what Heretics were, and the intense feelings of terror that had been instilled in them at the sight of her… Yeah, he got it. "I'll be reviewing that data personally when we're done here, but Pholus: tell us everything that happened. Leave out no details. Any and every piece of information you provide will be invaluable. Doubly so considering you all came out of that alive, and seemingly without injuries of any kind."

While Anis and Neon had averted their gaze, looking off to the sides uncomfortably, Joe focused as much as he could. "...Modernia was there for me, specifically," he noted, eliciting a pair of heavy grimaces from Ingrid and Andersen both. "She was piloting a Titan-class Rapture mech. It was flight-capable, hovered freely, could teleport, had a pair of laser cannons, a railgun, and an energy sword."

"...That's new," Andersen noted grimly. "Doesn't match any known descriptions of known Titans we have on record…"

"Neither does the Heretic itself," Ingrid asserted. "Keep going, Pholus. Anything else?"

Joe repressed the immediate reaction he had to Ingrid calling her 'it,' but… "...With Snow White's help, we were able to actually seriously damage the Titan, seemingly forcing both the Heretic and Chatterbox to retreat, after Scarlet severely injured Chatterbox as well."

"...You fought off and forced a Heretic to retreat…" Ingrid let out a shaky breath. "Good lord… Counters qualifies for Commando status after this," she asserted with no small amount of awe in her voice. "So, that was it? The Heretic Modernia and Chatterbox fled, and…?"

"...We tried to chase them down, thinking we could finish the job," Joe admitted, in retrospect, taken aback by the sheer audacity and arrogance they'd displayed in that moment, in retrospect. Even if Modernia apparently planned to hunt them down regardless… Which Andersen and Ingrid seemed to agree with, given the sheer, dumbstruck shock on their faces. "Chatterbox fled entirely as soon as Modernia engaged us on foot… There was no fight. Modernia took Scarlet and Snow White out both, back-to-back, with a single bare-handed strike each. She barely even bothered pushing Anis and Neon aside to get to me, and…"

"...I initiated Exceed to engage her," Rapi declared.

At that, Ingrid and Andersen actually leaped to their feet. "You WHAT!?" Ingrid cried out, eyes bulging from their sockets.

"How are you not…" Andersen started, looking ready to bolt right at Rapi before catching himself, brow furrowing before he shook his head. "Snow White was there. She was Goddess Squad's engineer. She probably prevented Rapi from expiring," he noted as he stepped back and warily returned to his seat. "Ingrid, sit back down, and let them finish. If Rapi was in immediate danger, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

Though Ingrid had gone red in the face, she dropped back into her seat with a heavy, aggravated huff, crossing her arms beneath her chest again and staring Rapi down with flaring nostrils.

With Andersen motioning over to Joe to continue, the Commander did so, though with great reticence, all things considered. "Rapi was able to hurt Modernia, hit her back as hard as she'd hit Scarlet and Snow White. The effect was so strong, that Modernia was actually driven to stop playing around with us… And… And… Her mask was shattered. It broke, fell off, revealing her face."

"Marian. Modernia is Marian. She's Marian. I shot her in the head, I killed her to protect her from the Corruption, I was told that it had to be me, that it was necessary, that it would be cruel to not do it, that it was for her own good so I shot her, I killed Marian, but it didn't work, it didn't help her, she was still turned it was her and she recognized me and she fought off the Corruption long enough to tell Rapi to protect me but it wasn't enough and I watched it take back over I watched her go again and I couldn't do anything to help her again I'm useless I can't help her Anis is right everybody is just going to die if they try to rely on me I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't-"

With a harsh jostle, Andersen was suddenly up in Joe's face. Hands set firmly on his shoulders, the Deputy Chief's piercing ice blue eyes were boring into Joe's own, and- "Unclench your hands, Joe." He commanded the longer-haired brunet.

Joe blinked in confusion, suddenly processing how blurry everything was, how tense every muscle in his body had become, how his lungs burned, how his hands hurt like absolute Hell-

"Joe," Andersen repeated himself. "Unclench. Your. Hands."

Blinking blearily once more, with no small amount of confusion, Joe looked down to see that while Andersen had taken hold of his shoulders, Rapi had grabbed his hands, looking like she was ready to force her digits under his own… And he recognized the blood rapidly dripping onto and seeping into the material of his pants.

With a gasp as full awareness returned to him, the Commander let out a wince and grimaced as the sensation of his own nails being practically ripped from the flesh of his palms hit him like a truck. At once, Rapi took his hands and laid them out flat, palm-side up, declaring, "Neon! Get the first aid kit from the washroom, now!"

Neon, who had already risen to her feet, was quick to comply. All the while Anis had shrunk away from Joe, a look of intense, overwhelming guilt and shame worn clear on her features.

Ingrid, overlooking the display, wore an intense expression as she didn't move to interject herself into what was happening, instead quietly watching as Rapi went about cleaning and bandaging Joe's hands with mechanical precision. She capped it off with practically forcing him to take painkillers - by giving him just about the most pained and pitiful pleading expression he'd ever seen when he initially tried to refuse the medication. Rapi, clearly, didn't like to see him hurt and in pain.

A small comfort, given everything else that was happening, he supposed.

Once that seemed to be done, and everyone was calm, it was Ingrid that broke the silence. "Rapi, Anis, Neon," she started forcefully, making a number of motions over a physical device held in her hands as she did so. "All of you, upload all of your black box data on the encounters with the Tyrant and Heretic directly to my tablet, then scramble and delete your local copies with the Blackout Protocol authorization I'm giving all three of you, at once," she directed the three Nikkes.

"Wha- but that's in violation of-" Rapi started, only for Andersen to interject.

"That is an order," he declared. "I would strongly advise against refusing to comply."

There was a tense beat before all three girls affirmed that it was done.

"I will have Elysion Intelligence go through and scrub any and all proof of your encounter with Modernia and Pioneer from these recordings," Elysion's CEO started, "what is left will be curated and edited to present the image that you three had fought off and forced Chatterbox to flee on your own. We have the technology and means to fake Alva Particle interference to explain away corrupted recorded data, so the Central Government won't see any proof, video or audio, that Counters had done anything beyond battle Chatterbox and recuperate at the Northern Base."

She lifted the tablet in her hand and lightly jostled it for emphasis.

"If the Central Government demands evidence that Counters has what it takes, I'll be using this to push to have your squad promoted to Commando status; which will give you the autonomy to operate on the surface as you see fit without the need to request permission from anyone, and without the need to report your activities or findings either. You'll be a proper Black Ops unit, from there on out."

"We don't need to explain the benefits of this," Andersen declared from his seat, having returned to it once it was obvious that Joe had been calmed down.

"I shouldn't even need this much, however. The fact that it's me directly making the request should be more than enough for Central to authorize it," Ingrid continued. "Regardless, none of you will so much as breathe a word of your encounter with Modernia or Pioneer to anyone not in this room, understood?"

"Even Mustang?" Joe asked simply doing his best to ignore the shooting agony in his hands while waiting for the painkillers to kick in.

"I'll inform him myself," Andersen answered. "And he'll have the presence of mind to not ever mention it outside of a secure area himself either. We know what we're doing here. All you four need to do is listen to and trust us. Understood?"

With a round of affirmations from Counters, Ingrid nodded as she proceeded. "Pholus, we have been continually investigating the matter of how Marian was corrupted from within the Ark before you two were even deployed to support Rapi and Anis," she started, ignoring the dumbstruck look on Anis and Rapi's faces at the casual bomb drop that was. "The fact that she's been converted into a fucking Heretic on top of that, even after what happened… We'll keep you informed going forth, but don't expect a miracle. It hasn't been easy scraping together much of anything on the matter as it is."

"And more than anything, Joe," Andersen started rather pointedly. "Know that we are keeping in mind the fact that Marian was able to temporarily overcome the Corruption. That has not happened before, but… we aren't going to let Central find out about this and blindly mark her as a priority elimination target, as we know they will the moment they find out about another Heretic being active." He learned forward, firmly staring at Joe as he did so. "If there's a chance to save Marian, we're taking it."

That alone filled Joe with no small amount of intense relief. Marian… There was a chance. A chance, however small, that she might be saved, and Andersen and Ingrid were already all-in on taking it.

Thank God. Thank God.

It was all Joe could do to just nod, hopelessly overwhelmed as he was. Rapi, at least, reached over and gently took a hold of his wrist, a simple show of affection and camaraderie in a moment of intense emotional vulnerability.

"...So," Andersen leaned back with a heavy sigh. "Because I know you well, Joe, I know that leaving it at that, or going into more details on this matter right now would be catastrophic for your current mental state, so, instead, I'm going to shift the topic to something you can grab onto to keep your mind occupied while you ground yourself."

That… yeah, that sounded about right. If left to just stew in his own head after something bad happened, Joe had always handled it poorly. He needed to keep distracted if possible, at least at first. Once he'd processed everything, then he'd be ready to think about what was getting to him. Any earlier would only lead to disaster.

So, he just nodded once, keenly focusing on Andersen above all else, eager to receive whatever it was Andersen had to offer.

"I think it's best to catch you back up on the matter of Goddess, of your service during the Initial Rapture Invasion," Andersen declared. "In hopes of stirring more of your forgotten past, I think it's time to tell you all about how, exactly, you managed to become the Legendary Commander of Goddess."

---

After the debriefing with Andersen and Ingrid was done, everyone was allowed to take the rest of the day off. Neon told Joe that she'd do her best to bring as much firepower to bear as she could for the trials to come. Anis… drifted off, not being able to look Joe in the eye and clearly avoiding talking to anyone. Rapi, meanwhile, had to be convinced by Joe to leave him be, because he just wanted to be allowed to lay the fuck down and sleep for the next forty or so goddamned hours after everything that had happened.

He understood her intense concern, but Ingrid had made it clear that she was to damn well report to Elysion's HQ for a thorough check-up and special maintenance the moment she was able to, and Joe didn't want to keep her from that either. So, quickly enough, after Andersen's lore dump, Joe found himself sitting on the edge of his bed, blankly staring at the floor at his feet as he struggled to process everything.

It, notably, had begun to stir something in him, much like how being told about him and Red Hood's attack on the Central Government HQ had brought old memories to the fore previously, but it hadn't quite caused him to fully remember anything right then. It was more… Impressions. Echoes. Distant memories, stirring on the edge of awareness.

It was better than nothing, and yeah, was going a long way to helping Joe keep his mind off of everything that had happened, but, still…

Leaning back until he was laying down, staring at the ceiling, a wave of exhaustion washed over the Commander, and he allowed his eyes to flutter shut for just a moment…

---

"Commander, it's time to wake up," Joe was lightly jostled by a sugary-sweet voice, so familiar, so comforting. Eyes creaking open, he was greeted by the sight of what could only be described as an angel pushing on his shoulder to get him out of bed.

Yet still, he protested, grumbling and attempting to retreat under the covers to sneak in just a few more minutes of rapturous slumber... Only to have said covers cruelly drawn down from his face, a look of utterly, contented amusement on the face of the Goddess that smiled cheerily upon him.

"Joe," she almost, but didn't quite sing-song. "Come on now, we have to report for a briefing. You don't want to give the High Commander an excuse to chew you out again, do you?"

Oh God, of all fates, Joe couldn't imagine a worse one than that dumb ass Andersen actually having one over on him... So, he fought the urge to stay in bed, sitting up with a heavy groan, and began rubbing at his eyes, grumbling out a meagre complaint of, "Mornings go 'slode forever..."

With a light giggle, Dorothy reached out and happily tussled Joe's long hair with a declaration of: "Good morning to you too, Commander."

A typical start to his days as the so-called Commander of Goddess Squad.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 52 - Back to the Past
===

With a startled cry, Joe ducked, bobbed, and weaved, narrowly avoiding a terrible fate in doing so.

"...Commander," Dorothy started in response, the length of ostentatious fabric held loosely in her delicate little hands. "Dressing appropriately for your station is important."

"I'm not wearing a cape!" The Commander of Goddess declared, skittering away from Dorothy and that accursed, glorified gold-trimmed curtain she'd just tried to hook over his shoulders. "Go give it to Andersen! He's the one that dresses like an asshole!"

"Such crass language ill befits you, Joe," Dorothy tutted in disapproval as she moved to advance upon the long-haired brunet. She brandished the cape in a manner most threatening, at least, to him. "Now come, you should be fitted properly for the upcoming briefing-"

Dorothy's porcelain-perfect features contorted in mild displeasure as she watched Joe scramble for the hallway door. She sighed while he all but slid out into the hall atop the soles of his socks. Patting himself down, as if to ensure he hadn't been stealthily constricted by any finery, Joe seemed deeply relieved to affirm that he was safe from the wretched cape, and-

A sharp whistle and catcall sounded out from down the hall. "Woohoo! Ah yeah, baby!" A familiar gremlin woman's voice demanded attention, to which Joe turned to see a striking messy-haired redhead bouncing on the balls of her heeled feet. There was a massive, shit-eating grin plastered across her lovely face. "That's right! That's what we like to see! Now strip that top off too!" Red Hood excitedly cried out at the sight of the Commander.

Deeply confused, perplexed, one might even suggest, bamboozled, Joe blinked in abject befuddlement… until he felt a cool breeze on his bare legs.

Pants. He'd forgotten them.

"Come on, do a dance for us!" Red Hood continued to call out between eager cries for manservice. "Drop it like it's hot, sweet-cheeks! Let's see those meaty legs work!"

Horrified and with rapidly reddening cheeks, Joe went to retreat back into his room—only to spy Dorothy still standing in there, presenting him with a heavily lidded stare of utter indignation. Still holding the cape that was a part of his uniform. The uniform he did not want to be forced to wear.

Yet, standing out here left him defenceless, leered at by a famished Red Hood like he was a slab of prime red meat. To say nothing of whatever other crew members might happen upon this ongoing tableau…

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Joe was trapped in a no-win scenario. Continue to be feasted upon by Red Hood's hungry eyes, or risk being forced to wear a cape by Dorothy-

"Let's see those cheeks clap!" Red Hood cheered, "Come on, move that body-!"

"Stop encouraging him!" Dorothy cut the empowered redhead off with an annoyed huff, stomping out into the hall to place herself between her fellow Nikke and Joe. "The Commander's behaviour has relapsed into base tomfoolery on account of your presence enough as it is! He represents-"

"Oh, hey Miss Missy," Red Hood breezily replied without missing a beat. That trademark shit-eating grin not fading from her face. "So you spent the night with Handsome, huh? No wonder he's tumbling out of his room half-nekkid and run ragged. You been riding that stallion good and-?"

"For the last time, the Commander and I are not in a relationship!" Dorothy cut her off, brow heavily furrowing as she openly glowered at the far less modestly dressed woman. Joe taking the distraction as a chance to sneak back into the room to grab his pants. "Do not presume to project your puerile carnal desires onto me!"

"Mm-hmm," Red Hood hummed, openly amused by Dorothy's dogged denial of what seemed obvious to the redhead. "That's why you're always here, first thing in the morning, every morning, yeah?"

"I am here to ensure that the Commander is punctual in waking every morning, after you went and encouraged him to be lazy with your negative influence!" Dorothy snapped back defensively, leaning forward with her hands set upon her deceptively broad hips. The pinkette's delicate brow furrowed in rapidly mounting annoyance. "As a decorated officer of the United Forces of Humanity-"

"Ain't he technically still a mercenary?" Red Hood asked with a popped eyebrow, cocking her shapely, pleather-bound hips as she did so. "He and the Big Boss're contracted by the UFFH-"

"There's only one 'f' in the United Forces of Humanity!" Dorothy interjected in stark disapproval.

"Whatever! Who even cares?" The red and black-clad woman almost whined, casually stretching her arms over her horned head. "They ain't actually members of the Big Dogs, right?

"Why is it that you struggle with the most basic matters of social etiquette?" Dorothy demanded, huffing in mounting annoyance at Red Hood's antics. "Proper terminology is not difficult to grasp! Least of all for one of humanity's best! You are a member of Goddess, will you not conduct yourself in a manner appropriate for your station!?"

"You mean a conscript?" Red Hood retorted, an inquisitive eyebrow propped up on her forehead. "I didn't exactly 'sign up' for all this business, y'know…"

"That is entirely beside the point!" Dorothy snapped back, damn near looking as though she barely repressed the urge to actually stomp her foot in annoyance. "Where you came from and how you got here is irrelevant! What matters is that you are here now, and that you are among the few that have been elevated to the station of humanity's foremost defenders! Show some consideration for those that are looking to you as our species' last hope, if not for the sake of your own dignity!"

That resulted in Red Hood—normally utterly unflappable—to actually go quiet and lower her face sheepishly. Her fair chin and dainty lips dipped behind the rim of her rumpled, neon red scarf. A pensive, even self-recriminatory expression, wholly unusual for the cocksure little lady finding purchase on her typically unfailingly bright features.

When no expected reply followed, one of Dorothy's perfectly manicured eyebrows drifted upwards. She wondered aloud: "Have my words struck a chord? Am I finally getting through? You are a Goddess, Red Hood. You owe it to the many looking up to us for guidance and protection to consider this in your actions and behaviour."

As Red Hood muttered something unintelligible under her breath, neither of the two bickering Nikkes noticed Joe slipping back out of his room, denim pants on, and boots held in his hands. The man skittered away atop his cotton-swaddled feet, doing his best to avoid attracting attention as he fled without shame.

Luckily, he wasn't caught. Joe was able to quickly slip on his boots, and adjust the sleeves of his trusty olive drab fatigue jacket. With a sigh, he ran his hand through his mane of dark hair-

"-Wait! Commander! Where- You!" Dorothy's irate voice could be heard echoing down the Avenger's metallic halls. "You were covering for him so he could scamper off without donning his proper uniform, you rancorous little monkey!"

"Not even!" Red Hood cried out in reply, her voice dripping in pouty offence. "I was just hoping to get a peek of him before he got dressed this morning-!"

"Is that supposed to sound better than you being an accessory to tomfoolery-?"

In avoidance of the bickering Goddesses, Joe scampered down the helicarrier's cramped halls with a deliberate quickness. He passed by a number of crewmates, and numerous porthole windows which revealed the distant, picturesque green Earth lazily drifting on by below.

The skies of Montana were mercifully clear, the Raptures having not pressed this far into the continent just yet. The usual jet fighter escorts flew alongside the airborne aircraft carrier, but, otherwise, the sky was peaceful.

Alongside Andersen and Liliweiss, Joe alone was privy to the actual reason why they were so far away from the front lines, however briefly. Thus, he knew well what it was the squad was being called to this morning's briefing for—he'd been in contact with her well ahead of time at Andersen's insistence, after all.

The High Commander wasn't above engaging in petty nepotism, and was really quick to remind both Joe and Liliweiss that his occupation was being the CEO of a mercenary company; paramilitary soldiers for hire. Being a bastard without shame came with the territory. Hence Joe's current position as the Commander of Goddess.

Otherwise, by all current reports, Andersen's status as a shameless bastard was something the entirety of mankind was about to dramatically benefit from.

Joe slipped into the briefing room to find it, as expected, occupied by his fellow officer.

"Ah, Commander," Liliweiss—or, as she preferred, Lilith—smiled genially at the brunet, her striking artificial lips presenting an uncanny countenance in response to Joe's emergence. "Still not sleeping well?" She inquired in a distinctly posh British accent. She was bedecked in a dark, militaristic uniform which terminated in a pencil skirt worn over sheer tights and heeled mini boots.

Being the literal first Nikke in existence, the woman's status as a prototype was plain to see. Development on producing convincing human features, such as naturalistic flesh and eyes, only came after Lilith's creation. Therefore: she stood out among Nikkes on account of having plainly artificial features. Her asymmetrical bobbed white hair, which had a faint violet glow on the shaded interior locks, went no small way towards contributing to her obviously trans-human nature. To say nothing of her striking blue eyes bearing four-pointed, star-like pink pupils.

She was still very much pretty, though in the same way that a figurine might be. Her life sized doll-like appearance, needless to say, contributed no small amount to her crashing cleanly into the uncanny valley. Though she was genuinely unsettling to be around initially, Joe had long since acclimatized to the woman's borderline otherworldly appearance.

Now, her presence was nothing but comforting. Stalwart, earnest, brave, unerringly reliable and supportive… The first Nikke was a damned fine comrade. To say nothing of how utterly selfless she was.

At any rate, Joe replied to her inquiry. "I keep telling you that I always have bags under my eyes," the long-haired brunet replied as he ambled into the hologram-bedazzled room. The man did give the impression of being perennially exhausted, after all.

"So you say," the original—and most powerful—Nikke noted with a dubious expression. "I presume that Dorothy was waylaid on her way to waking you?" She observed while poking at a few holoscreens, reviewing information on their upcoming 'operation.' "We are, after all, still not quite cape buddies despite her attempts to gentrify you," she teasingly noted while observing Joe's capeless form.

Indeed, Joe's proper uniform included a half-cape which matched the one Liliweiss wore. Though she wasn't particularly invested in the notion of them wearing matching uniforms, she wasn't above poking fun at Joe's situation with Dorothy.

"Red Hood happened at her," Joe declared by way of explanation, rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced around to confirm that it was just him and the 'second-in-command' of Goddess immediately present. "Andersen's applying the finishing touches to our new squadmate's red carpet?"

At that, Liliweiss's star-like eyes tracked aside to settle on a door off to the side. After a moment of silence, Andersen's voice could be just made out on the edge of hearing; muffled by layers of titanium and aluminum, shouting up a storm at someone over comms.

"The mercenary bastard man's being a mercenary bastard man, I see," Joe noted with some mild indignation as he sidled up next to the woman.

"He found an angle he can work to get exactly what he wants, every time he wants it, with minimal actual effort on his part," Liliweiss noted as she adjusted her short white gloves which terminated an inch before reaching her wrist. "Loathe as I am to admit it, that's why he's the brass wrangler and our top-down strategist."

"Nobility has no place in the realm of politics and bureaucracy…" Joe nodded in affirmation, crossing his arms over his broad chest as he looked over the notes they had on Ellie's - or, he supposed, Cinderella's grand entrance. "What's he arguing for this time now anyways?"

"A valet to shuttle Cinderella's personal belongings to her quarters for her when she arrives," Liliweiss noted with an amused huff. "While this is certainly an improvement over how he treated her when we first met…"

"That man doesn't do anything by half measures," Joe agreed with the Nikke's unspoken assessment of Andersen's conduct towards his daughter. "Absolutely no chill whatsoever…"

"Neglected to spoiled, seemingly overnight," Liliweiss mused as she adjusted her weight, idly resting a cheek in the palm of her hand. "I can only imagine the whiplash."

"I didn't have an easy time convincing her she wasn't dreaming, yeah," the Commander said as he reached out and used his index finger along a holographic screen, tracing the expected flight path the Avenger was taking to reach the Elysion Grimms facility. "Once she actually gathered herself well enough to stop squealing like a kettle the moment I was on the other end of the line, at least…"

"The perils of being famous," Liliweiss chucked under her breath. "You'll get used to it."

"Really?" Joe hopefully asked.

"No," the Nikke mercilessly shanked his hope in the kidneys.

As Joe recoiled in metaphorical pain, the door Andersen had been on the other side of slid open. The man was kitted out in the finest custom-made silk and velvet uniform money could buy. He confidently strode into the room, adjusting his aviator sunglasses as he immediately gave Joe a critical once-over. "-Bastard!" he cried out, pointing harshly at his subordinate's attire. "Go put in your uniform, damn it!"

"No," Joe flatly refused.

"You're dishonouring Lilith by not wearing your matching capes together!" Andersen asserted, pointing to the woman standing alongside Joe.

"No I'm not."

"No he's not," Joe and Liliweiss declared together in near-perfect unison, causing the High Commander of Goddess to recoil as if struck in the gut.

"L-Lilith!" the bespectacled man cried out in dismay. "Even you would betray me now?"

"The Commander's outfit doesn't bother me, John," Liliweiss noted in a plainly amused tone, still wearing that genial smile which so rarely left her doll-like features. "In fact, it's never particularly bothered me how he dresses, so long as it doesn't impede him in any capacity. Such as by, oh, I don't know, having a large article of his clothes get caught in a VTOL's engine intake and sucked clean off of his shoulders. A wholly expected consequence of him not listening to everyone around him, as he attempted to pose dramatically for an imagined photo op…"

"You promised you'd stop bringing that up!" Andersen cried out in overt, scandalized offence. His voice pitching up an octave as he reached up to protectively clasp at the sleeve of the replica of his original greatcoat, loosely worn over his shoulders like a cloak. "Also, that only happened once!"

"Like how you only dropped your sunglasses off the side of the Avenger 'two-and-a-half' times as well?" Liliweiss asked with a gentle smile.

Andersen recoiled once more, right into a wall against which he backed into and curled up in a ball like a cornered animal might. All the while, Joe just snickered at seeing his superior officer be casually beaten down by Liliweiss' casual reference to his past dumb ass mistakes. Anyone else, he'd have felt no small amount of sympathy—though Andersen deserved it, so this display was just entertaining.

As the idiot continued to whine in dismay, the doors Joe had taken to enter the room revealed a familiar group.

"Commander," Dorothy darkly sing-songed as she shot Joe a piercing, entirely too-pretty smile despite the recently dishevelled state of her hair. "Setting up a distraction and fleeing unseen is such a dirty tactic…"

"That's why he's the Commander!" Red Hood cried out with a broad, toothy smile, her hair seeming only marginally more dishevelled than it had been when she'd catcalled him in the hallways a few minutes prior. "Cheap tricks and underhanded tactics are what win the day!"

"The Crimson Fool declares, as though she had not been swiftly bested in her impromptu duel with The Pink Gorilla, despite her attempt at shaming her into defeat by flipping up her skirt…" Scarlet mused with no small amount of annoyance as she followed the pair into the room. The dark-clad Nikke's form-fitted, partially transparent attire, as ever, caused her to cut a stark image compared to the rest of Goddess, given her villainous countenance which was matched by her baleful glower and Byronic attitude.

"Hey! How the Hell was I supposed to know that Miss Missy is so dang shameless!?" Red Hood attempted to defend herself like a put-upon used car salesman.

"What would I have to be ashamed of when my fashion sense and taste in garments is impeccable?" Dorothy countered with open confusion, plainly missing the point of why Red Hood's dirty tactic should have deeply offended her.

"Y-yeah," Rapunzel mewled out past reddened cheeks, walking with a mildly awkward gait. "Y-your fashion sense is really, really lovely, Dorothy…" the towering blonde affirmed the pinkette's claim. Visibly flustered by what she'd witnessed.

"Thank you, Rapunzel," Dorothy nodded as she gave the obscenely curvaceous and technically conservatively-dressed nun a genuinely appreciative smile.

"In all directions in which I may glance, do I spy naught but blind and deaf fools, hearing and seeing little beyond what they wish to perceive…" Scarlet grimly appraised her squad mates with a heavy frown—her striking crimson eyes appearing as little more than a thin red line, so heavily did she lid them.

"Come on, it's first thing in the morniiiing!" Snow White bumbled through the group to the front, rubbing her eyes heavily with a pitiful whine. "Mornings suck enough without everyone being stupid and perverted weirdos all the time too…!" She ambled forth blindly, actually walking face-first into a filing cabinet which produced a dull, resounding 'clang.' Snow White just emitted another drawn-out whine of dismay, not backing up or otherwise stepping away from the metallic container she was now pressed into.

With a light chuckle, Rapunzel stepped forwards and affectionately patted the stark-haired teen's head. "There there, mornings mean breakfast, right?" the blonde noted to the significantly smaller girl. "Just think about waffles and hash browns, Snow."

"But they're making us do this stupid briefing first thing in the stupid morning before letting us eaaat…" Snow White continued to whine and complain like the teenager she was, face still pressed into the cabinet.

"Hey," Joe started as he strode over to the small girl, more forcefully tussling Snow White's hair once Rapunzel withdrew her own hand from the girl's scalp. "What if I let you have a soda for breakfast today? Will that help?"

"Commander!" Dorothy immediately responded in a chastising tone, clearly disapproving of his attempt to bribe the squad's youngest member with a soft drink first thing in the morning.

"Promise?" Snow White, meanwhile, leaned back slightly and shot Joe a pleading expression, immediately latching onto the opportunity to literally sweeten her morning. She presented her best puppy dog eyes to the Commander, hoping to supersede Dorothy's attempts to shame him into being responsible.

Unfortunately for Dorothy, Snow White had learned from the squad well. She had learned the weaknesses of the adults around her well enough to leverage her cuteness to get what she wanted, as she wanted it, whenever possible. Thus, Joe didn't have the heart to let the shorty down. "...I promise, you manipulative little turd…" he wearily caved, even as Dorothy pursed her perfect lips in stern disapproval.

"Yay! You're the best, Commander!" Snow White suddenly cheered up, bouncing back from the filing cabinet to hug Joe around the waist, shamelessly abusing her little sister energy for maximum effect.

Not that Joe understood the insistence on Snow eating 'healthy' in the first place, considering she was a bloody cyborg super soldier anyways!

"Okay!" Andersen began with a start, leaping to his feet out of the blue.

Snow White yelped in surprise. "Why's the High Commander creeping in the corner like a weirdo again!?" the little monochromatic Nikke cried out in shock, while Rapunzel gasped and Scarlet dropped into a readied pose, reaching for a phantom sword which wasn't actually strapped to her hip.

"Hey! I'm not a creepy weirdo! I'm just sleek and sneaky, like a snake, or a rat!" Andersen attempted to defend his bizarre behaviour. "Anyways! Now that everyone's here, we can begin the briefing! So everyone, form up and junk!" he declared with a clap of his hands.

The girls, rather than obey, all continued to stare at Andersen like he was a freak. When Liliweiss was quick to follow up with an authoritative clap of her palms, on the other hand, they damn well fell into line real quick.

At that, as everyone did as instructed, Joe, Liliweiss, and Andersen took up formation in front of the holotable at the front of the room. The lights dimmed, and the holographic screen blinked to life.

"Now," Andersen began properly, "as you're all aware, we're quite a way's away from the front lines, this deep into rural Montana," he pointed at the map screen projected before everyone, showing the flight plan of the Avenger as it approached a seemingly random location in the middle of nowhere. "Now, this is no fun-time vacation we're out here on. Rather, we're here to directly contact and pick up the newest member of Goddess, the first next-generation Grimms model."

That caused Goddess to perk up, to say the least.

"Every time a new Grimms joins Goddess, our operational strength skyrockets," Liliweiss added. "But, this instance is of particular importance, given our new squad mate's unique position…"

"Grimms model No. 6," Andersen continued on. "Codename: Cinderella, the first flight-capable and most heavily armed Nikke created by the United Forces of Humanity to date…"

Eyes went wide at that, a few intrigued hums were vocalized, but everyone allowed the High Commander to finish.

"...And most importantly, my precious daughter: Ellie Andersen," he added with no small amount of paternal pride.

With a round of shocked gasps, Goddess seemed more than a little taken aback by this revelation.

Joe was just quietly ruminating on the low, roiling dread building in his chest. Having been personally in contact with Ellie at Andersen's insistence for a fair while now… He hoped and prayed that she wouldn't make a complete and total fool of herself in front of the entire squad on minute one; produce a 'memorable' entrance in all the worst ways possible.

Unfortunately, he knew her well enough to know that, to some extent, Ellie Andersen was, at the end of the day, her father's daughter.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 53 - A Future and a Hope
===

"You reproduced!?" Dorothy cried out in no small amount of open horror.

"Hey, what the Hell is that supposed to mean-?" Andersen began to reply in offence.

"The offspring of such a simplistic boor could not possibly have developed in a healthy manner…" Scarlet mused darkly, giving Andersen a deeply critical glower.

"Excuse me-!?" Andersen, again, started, his voice pitching up an octave.

"Oh man, what sort of damage are we gonna be dealing with here?" Red Hood wondered aloud, seemingly genuine concern writ large on her usually carefree features.

"Who the Hell do you think you-!" Andersen's voice once more, notably increased in pitch.

"That poor girl…" Rapunzel grimly whimpered, empathetic sorrow settling on her gentle visage as she brought her hands up in prayer.

"Gah- Seriously, even you, Rapunzel-!?" Andersen's expression began to painfully contort in response to the ongoing assault.

"I really hope she took after her mom…" Snow White stage-whispered her concerns, all but recoiling at the notion that the High Commander had a daughter.

At that point, Andersen fell back against the wall as though shot, clutching at his chest and staring wide-eyed past the dark lenses of the aviator sunglasses he was wearing indoors, in the dark. Gaze snapping aside, he turned to Joe and Liliweiss, calling out, "Both of you, I've been doing better lately! Tell them!"

"Lately!?" Dorothy leaned forward, brow heavily furrowing in naked displeasure.

"-Support! Now, damn it!" Andersen harshly jabbed a finger out at the Commander of Goddess and his second-in-command.

The pair just wordlessly stared at the man, judging him far more harshly than even the other Nikkes of the squad had been.

"Bro, seriously…?" Even Red Hood was looking increasingly put off at Joe and Liliweiss' judgmental stares. "The Hell you been doing to this girl?"

With a sigh, Liliweiss decided to interject. "He has progressed leaps and bounds in how he treats Ellie, yes," the first Nikke admitted.

"So he has been mistreating her outright, then?" Scarlet's typically moody frown tightened yet further.

As Andersen began to resemble a cornered animal, Joe figured that it'd be best to just pull back the curtain on this matter, lest Goddess begin acting openly insubordinate, even when it mattered that they be as obedient as any soldier had to be. "Andersen did not have a positive opinion of Nikkes when we were initially contracted by the UFH."

Joe's words sharply gained the attention of the squad as a whole. Thus, he continuied.

"Ellie wanted to undergo conversion on day one. He… didn't take it well, and forbade it. To the point of bringing it to the highest echelons of the UFH, with threats to null our contract and walk if they accepted Ellie's conversion request after she'd gone directly to them."

The girls all looked aside at Andersen out of the corner of their eyes, no small amount of critical adjudication present in their gaze.

All the while, Joe continued. "Ellie did not take this well, and the two's relationship soured significantly." He pointedly left out the fact that Andersen and Ellie's relationship had actually always been a fair bit more 'complicated' than that. "Eventually, after being around the squad, and Lilith in particular for long enough, he, to be somewhat blunt, pulled his head out of his ass and acknowledged that Nikke conversion wasn't something to be ashamed of. So he about-faced on his previous stance."

"He not only recanted his previous demands, but dictated that if Ellie was converted into anything less than a Grimms and directly assigned to Goddess, he'd take me and leave the UFH. To say nothing of how he's been… Forceful with the brass about giving Ellie preferential treatment in general at that."

Everyone seemed to relax a fair bit, if not entirely, at Joe's ongoing explanation.

"So, yeah. He's making an effort to do better. So lay off."

Though everyone was more than a little wary of the assertion, Rapunzel, at least, and as was to be expected, seemed to be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. "That's good! I'm proud that you're striving to grow and better yourself, High Commander!"

At the nun's earnest praise, Andersen puffed his chest back out, preening eagerly like a peacock.

Rapunzel was a bit too soft, honestly.

"Lilith," Dorothy started, sharply turning to the squad's second-in-command. "You'll be keeping him in line and won't let him get away with mistreating his daughter as a member of the squad, yes?"

As Andersen, once more, deflated and blanched at the pinkette, Liliweiss let out a single, amused chuckle before replying. "That would be somewhat redundant, given that the Commander has established that he's more than capable of handling the issue himself." She finished, turning aside to give the man in question an appraising look.

Joe just shrugged. "I just made it clear that Andersen's conduct towards his daughter was unacceptable." Bringing up the fistfights didn't seem wise right then and there.

"Y-yeah," Andersen quickly interjected to move along the discussion. "Anyways! We'll be arriving at the Grimms facility within the hour! We expect the pick-up to go smoothly. Beyond that, it will be a simple case of introducing Cinderella to the squad and acclimatizing her to the Avenger. As soon as she's onboard, we'll be immediately setting off for our next proper operation—joining the unified assault to push into South America to reach the Orbital Elevator in Ecuador, near Quito."

Goddess Squad, at that, all took on a distinctly grim countenance—one which swiftly shifted to determination. They all knew exactly what this meant. The Orbital Elevator was the source of the Raptures, where the Rapture Queen was stationed. The UFH had decided to go all-in on a decapitation strike. Surely, emboldened by the completion of Cinderella, a veritable one-woman army who just might be the edge they'd need to end this war once and for all.

"If we're lucky," Joe began, arms crossed as he looked over the women of Goddess with a severe expression, "this war is about to turn in our favour in a big way, then shortly come to an end. So square up, ladies. We're fitting to take a page from the French here and remind our enemies what happens to tyrannical monarchs that have pushed the common man too far, and reclaim what they've stolen from us."

"Ha! Down with the Queen!" Red Hood cheered, pumping her fist with a broad, toothy grin. "Off with their heads!"

"I will gladly deliver the decapitation strike upon the would-be tyrant," Scarlet asserted with a heavy, self-assured huff. "The Rapture Queen shall keenly learn the taste of my steel in her final, wretched moments!"

Clasping her hands together, Rapunzel declared, "'You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

"In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.'"

While the others turned to give Rapunzel a confused stare, Joe nodded in acknowledgement of her prayer. "'A Letter to the Exiles,' huh? An appeal to hope even for those who seem hopelessly damned, a promise that the displaced will see their home once again… How appropriate."

While Rapunzel gave Joe a downright beatific smile of appreciation in his immediate understanding, the others all nodded, Joe's explanation allowing them to easily comprehend the intended message.

Snow White, meanwhile, somewhat lost by the Biblical reference, just shrugged as she bounced in place. "I knew we'd win! We're gonna kick the Rapture's butts!"

"Against all odds," Dorothy confidently, though with a casual cadence, stated, "we rise."

"Let's whoop their asses!" Andersen punched skywards, grinning widely.

Nobody was particularly impressed, given that he was basically rehashing Snow White's proclamation, but briefer and more crudely.

At that, Liliweiss clapped her hands to grab the attention of the room. "Okay, everyone," she projected an air of steely confidence. "We aren't there quite yet—though recruiting Cinderella will go a very long way towards getting us there." She turned to Joe, an expectant look on her face.

"I believe we're done here for now," the Commander nodded. "Everybody, be ready to roll out the red carpet for Cinderella. Assuming things go to plan, she'll be instrumental to ending this war." He paused before continuing. "To say nothing of how much of a hopeless fangirl she is of Goddess, and how desperately eager she's been to meet all of you."

"As is only natural," Dorothy, with a cocksure attitude accepted the premise as easily as she breathed, entirely unphased by the proclamation.

"-Awah, don't tell us that!" Snow White, in contrast, immediately whined, her face contorting into one of dismay. "Now I'm anxiooous!"

"I do what is expected of me as a protector of man," Scarlet turned her nose up at the notion of being admired, "Little else."

"I'll do my best to make Cinderella feel welcome and a part of the team," Rapunzel just smiled broadly at the notion of having a new team mate.

"...I got a bad feeling about this…" Red Hood mused quietly, mouth dipping below the rim of her ragged scarf, "Even more competition than Miss Missy and Her Holiness as it is…?"

Luckily, only Joe heard that, though he was more than a little annoyed by the continued presumption on the blonde-turned-redhead's part. He and Dorothy weren't in a relationship, and he'd only caught Rapunzel staring at his ass a few times, damn it!

At any rate, not wanting to have to try dealing with that damned whole thing again, Joe motioned for everyone to leave. "Everyone will reconvene on the Avenger's deck in an hour. You'll be pinged with a reminder fifteen minutes beforehand. So, forty-five minute break. I'd recommend spending it grabbing some food."

"Yeah! Food!" Snow White's eyes immediately began to sparkle, saliva already budding and threatening to dribble from her mouth. "Let's go get a big pile of pancakes and hash browns, Commander!"

"Mmm, waffles and bacon…" Red Hood mused contemplatively, her lips curling upwards in anticipation.

"Let's all go to the mess hall while we have time then!" Rapunzel eagerly suggested with a lovely smile.

Scarlet, meanwhile, looked genuinely dumbstruck, gaze snapping around in open disbelief. "...I can scarcely believe it…" she began, utterly bamboozled. "An entire briefing, in which I was not even once compared to that shadowy hedgehog-"

"Shadow the Hedgehog!" Andersen sharply cut off the grey-haired Nikke.

"Don't you fucking start you son of a whore!" Joe, somewhat uncharacteristically, was suddenly all but frenzied at the High Commander. "Nobody here wants to hear about your fucking children's video games-"

"Sonic the Hedgehog is a national treasure and it is a resplendent honour to be compared to the coolest anti-hero ever created!" Andersen forcefully snapped back, pointing at a visibly dismayed Scarlet for emphasis.

"Sonic the Hedgehog is a god damned Japanese property you dumb fuck!" The displaced Canadian snarled. "You can't claim it as a national treasure! You're from Detroit!"

"I may have been born in the Motor City," Andersen started, leaning back and standing up straight and proud. "But my soul was forged in the fires of Mt. Fuji! My heart burns with the passion of Yamato Damashii in pride for the greatest piece of art ever created, Sonic Ad-"

Joe sharply cut the High Commander of Goddess off. "Sonic Adventure 2 was as much of a pile of fucking shit as Sonic '06 and you miserable bastards whose one and only consistent defence to the contrary is 'but muh Chao Garden' damn well know it!"

"Take it back you sub-human sack of-!"

"'But muh Chao Garden!'"

With a furious war cry, Andersen lunged forth, charging at Joe low and shoulder-forward, the pair colliding as the long-haired brunet learned forward and caught Andersen around the waist, lifting the man off of his feet and flipping him over his shoulder in a smooth motion.

While Andersen's coat and hat went flying, Andersen himself twisted and contorted to land on his feet, catching Joe by the arm and wrestling him down into a ground grapple.

"Hell yeah!" Red Hood immediately lurched forward, pumping her fists and shadow boxing at the pair eagerly. "Whoop his ass, Joe! Show him who's boss!" she screamed at the two grown-ass men that had, over the course of several seconds, broken out in a fist fight in the middle of a military briefing over Sonic the Hedgehog. "Grab his dick and twist it! Make him squeal like a pig!"

In the midst of the sudden melee, Joe managed to backhand the foppish High Commander, the man crying as his aviators went flying, slapping a hand over his now bare eyes. "My glasses!" the overdressed man suddenly flung himself from his subordinate, desperately reaching out and grasping at the ground around him. "My glasses! I can't be seen without my glasses!"

As Joe rose to his feet, wiping at his chin with the backside of the hand he'd smacked Andersen with, Dorothy lowered herself to a squat momentarily, reaching out and taking a hold of Andersen's aviators. The glasses had come to a clattering stop at her feet.

Standing, she folded the glasses and… Demurely crossed her hands behind her back, still holding the shades, an innocent smile on her face as she watched Andersen desperately fumble around blindly for the object that was no longer on the floor with him.

While Red Hood smiled broadly at Dorothy as though she were a partner in crime, the rest of Goddess, sans a Scarlet who was critically studying Joe, just looked utterly defeated by the idiocy going on before them.

"Commander…" Snow White whined in open disappointment at Joe. "Seriously?"

"In the land of the blind," Liliweiss started, head tilted back and hand set on her brow sorrowfully. "Alone, I think—therefore I am getting a headache…"

"Lilith! Help!" Andersen cried, his desperation increasing as he failed to find his sunglasses. "I need support! Officer down! Officer down! Threat level: midnight! Threat level: midnight!"

While the poor, deeply beleaguered second-in-command of Goddess rued the day, Joe started off with a huff.

"Breakfast time, girls!" The Commander declared as he marched for the hallway door, mercilessly leaving Andersen blind on the ground.

"Joe! Joooe!" Andersen mewled out as though shot and abandoned, hand still clasped over his bare eyes. "Bastard! Honourless cur! I abhor you! Traitor! Judas! Joe! Jooooe!"

With only Rapunzel hesitating out of guilt, all but Liliweiss followed Joe, not an ounce of mercy to be found in those women that served as Andersen's subordinates.

As was just and right.

---

Not long after, Goddess Squad was gathered on the deck of the Avenger, the secret Grimms production facility down below amidst Montana's grassy fields, verdant forests, and towering mountains. The VTOL which would be carrying Cinderella had set off, and was ferrying the newest Grimms up to the helicarrier.

Unfortunately, Dorothy had been ratted out by Liliweiss and forced to return Andersen's glasses to him—the man having so staunchly refused to be seen without them that the first Nikke had to lead him to the mess hall by the hand. Therefore, he stood as though braced against the world, a foot raised on a bottle crate he kept on the Avenger's deck for the express purpose of posing on it.

Quickly enough, the shuttle circled the helicarrier once, smoothly settling down before Goddess with a burst of wind generated by the engines. With the power cut, the craft quieted, eventually downed out entirely by the constant whir of the Avenger's own engines. The side door slid open, and a number of uniformed men clambered out hoisting a number of large, overstuffed suitcases, duffle bags, and boxes. Presumably, the 'valet' service Andersen had demanded to haul all of Cinderella's junk to her personal quarters for her.

The men gave Goddess acknowledging nods as they passed by, quickly marching off with the newest Grimms' personal belongings in tow. Only a single man was left to stand at the ready by the wide-open door of the shuttle. He continued to just stand there. To the point of it gradually growing awkward. After an uncomfortable amount of time, the man, with no small amount of confusion, twisted his head around to look into the craft, leaning back, and stating, "Uh, ma'am-?"

Only to be cut off by a high-pitched squeal of "Nooo!" from within.

Cinderella, it seemed, had developed cold feet.

With a sigh, Andersen called out: "Ellie, sweetie, you have to-"

"No! I don't want to hear it from you!" Cinderella immediately snapped back from within the shuttle's passenger section, no small amount of genuine resentment shining through her anxiety.

While Andersen damn near recoiled off his feet, clutching at his heart in dismay, Joe rubbed the back of his neck as the rest of Goddess looked more than a little amused by the situation. "-Ellie, come on now-!"

"J-Joe!?" Cinderella's voice pitched up an octave at his call out. "I-I m-m-mean, "C-Commander? Ahhh! No! I can't! Don't look at me!"

Holy shit, what a nerd. Joe thought, rather than speaking aloud. Of course, he'd seen a picture of Ellie before—though, that was before she'd undergone Nikke conversion, to be fair. She might well be totally unrecognizable now. "Ellie, come on, everyone's really excited to meet you!" he declared, trying to lure her out of her veritable fortress of solitude, giving the put-upon guard set to escort her a sympathetic look.

"Liar!" Cinderella shot back, disbelief lacing her voice. "T-they wouldn't-"

"Cinderella," Liliweiss called out next. "Won't you please come out now? Goddess got all ready to greet you and everything…"

"W-was that-!?" The newest Grimms, clearly, recognized Liliweiss' distinctive voice and accent—no small amount of awe filtering into her cadence. She then squealed in yet more mounting anxious terror.

This, coming from one of the singularly most powerful human beings to have ever existed. This, evidently, was what peak performance looked like.

"Ellie," Joe once more called out, stepping closer to the shuttle and waving off the guy that was evidently set to escort her. Though he seemed surprised, he offered no protest and set off to do whatever he would do. "Please don't be difficult. We have to be good and efficient here."

"I'm not-!" She started, harshly pausing, and now that Joe was close enough to hear, taking deep breaths in an attempt to steady herself. "O-okay… P-promise not to laugh!"

Joe couldn't get over how much of a nerd Cinderella was behaving like. Not wanting this to drag on too much, he replied: "I promise, now come on!"

Audibly whimpering rather pitifully, Cinderella finally stepped out into the open, revealing herself to Goddess for the first time.

Joe's soul attempted to eject from his body.

Not because Cinderella was gorgeous, which she was. Not because she had a set of resplendent trailing platinum twintails and a fringe which masked one of her large eyes, which she did. Not because she had captivating, shimmering sapphire eyes, which she did.

Rather, Joe's soul desperately attempted to escape, because Cinderella was wearing an oversized t-shirt, large enough to look like a dress on her tiny, 4'11" frame. A dress-like oversized shirt that was adorned with a badly mimeographed stylized image of his own face on it.

Joe had promised to not laugh. Red Hood had not.

Cinderella immediately looked ready to cry, complete with tears budding in the corner of her visible eye, in open-mouthed dismay as Red Hood doubled-over, pointing and laughing like a hyena.

Andersen, to his credit, immediately rushed to place himself between Goddess and Cinderella, declaring: "HEY! You will not mock my daughter or you will be punished-"

"I think Red Hood's laughing at the Commander's reaction to Cinderella's shirt, High Commander," Liliweiss cut him off. "He is, after all, trembling in his boots…"

Indeed, Joe wanted to flee, but his body refused to obey. Both because Cinderella's shirt was just about the most embarrassing thing he'd ever encountered in his life, and because her shy reaction to his stare was to grab her twintails and pull them up to cover the lower half of her face. He desperately wanted to fly, and also to tease the little platinum-haired nerd for being a nerd. Thus, he was frozen in place…

As Red Hood laughed, Dorothy chuckled quietly under her breath, Scarlet critically inspected their newest team member, while Rapunzel and Snow White smiled and warmly waved at the newcomer in an attempt to be welcoming, Liliweiss approached the tiny little Grimms. "Cinderella, as… Festive as your shirt is, I think it is causing the Commander some degree of distress. If you could remove it, please…?"

Blinking, and turning bright red, Cinderella didn't say anything in reply, but moved to comply regardless. Immediately reaching down to grab the hem of her shirt and pull it up and over her head on the spot.

"Oh bullshit!" Red Hood immediately cried out with a finger jabbed out in Cinderella's direction, even as Rapunzel gasped and went red as a tomato. "Look at the size of her jugs! How the Hell am I supposed to compete with that!?"

"Put it back on put it back on young lady you PUT THAT SHIRT BACK ON RIGHT NOW!" Andersen cried as he dead-sprinting at his daughter, reaching up and desperately grabbing at the hem of her shirt and trying to pull it back down over her torso—to absolutely no effect, given that she was a Nikke.

Death. The reaper had come, and Joe was his quarry. The size of her shirt had masked her figure. To say nothing of how it had masked her outfit. A skin-tight bodysuit, so much of it was transparent, complete with a wholly see-through mini skirt…

Joe had let out a pained, distressed, breathless cry of defeat, immediately collapsing to his knees, now staring up at a Cinderella that looked utterly bushwhacked, totally ignoring Andersen as he desperately attempted to force her shirt back on, the top wrapped around her arms as she had just managed to get it over her head before she noticed Joe's reaction to her.

He couldn't help himself, she'd set up a perfect hidden blade right to the kidneys… And she was jaw-dropping.

Worse yet, in the moments that followed… Cinderella noticed. And where she had been shy, overwhelmed, even adorably anxious before… At once, all of it, every single solitary trace of overwhelmed fright was replaced with something far more ruinous in the face of the man she'd fangirled over gooning over her in turn.

Smug.

Suddenly, Cinderella was posing to emphasize her figure, making a point to give Joe a show, paying an increasingly distressed Andersen no mind whatsoever.

"Nooo!" Snow White cried, covering her face in open dismay. "Another pervert…! Leave the Commander alone! He has a hard enough time getting enough sleep as it is!"

Where Joe stared on his knees in helpless awe like a dumbstruck baboon, Rapunzel too leered at Cinderella through her own fingers, Scarlet sighed with a heavy roll of her eyes at the shameless buffoonery on display, and Dorothy just looked at Joe in disappointment at his unabashedly horny response to their new squad mate.

Liliweiss, meanwhile, sighed deeply as she could simply tell that her work load had just doubled.

The next couple of weeks were bound to be 'interesting,' to be sure.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 54 - Silver Bullet
===

"Joe, my office," Andersen gave the Commander of Goddess a firm order. Motioning for the younger man to follow him resolutely.

"Uh, yeah, sure-" the burly long-haired figure moved to comply, though he found it difficult to do so, given the… particular, distressingly soft and supple figure weighing down his arm. "...Ellie, if I could have my arm back…"

"No, I'm using it," Cinderella asserted pointedly, firmly clinging to the man's arm with a self-satisfied grin stretched across her gentle features.

"Relinquish the Commander's arm, Cinderella," Andersen said with a surprising amount of uncharacteristic authority.

"No-" the silverette began to pout…

"That's an order, soldier," the young woman's father pointedly commanded her, his typically jovial tone entirely absent.

That visibly caught Cinderella off guard, and it took her a moment to warily comply, looking more than a little put off by her father's tone, but being very aware of the fact that he was her commanding officer, and disobedience would put her in hot water. Thus, the tiny Nikke backed off, releasing Joe's arm - as displeased as she seemed about it.

"The rest of you," Andersen continued, looking over Cinderella's head to acknowledge the squad, all of whom were in various states of amusement and/or annoyance at the new girl's behaviour. "Show Cinderella around the Avenger. This being our effective home for the foreseeable future, it would be best if she learns her way around sooner rather than later."

"Understood," Liliweiss nodded, stepping forward to take control of the situation. "Cinderella, come with us, we'll start off with the mess hall. Snow White looks ready to start gnawing on the handrails," she asserted playfully.

"We got rushed out to the deck of the ship so quickly!" Snow White asserted with a heavy pout. "It's not my fault I'm still hungry!"

Rapunzel reached out and gently patted the squad's youngest on the head with a contented smile on her face, the rest looking somewhat entertained by the group's designated little sister's behaviour.

Cinderella, meanwhile, looked more than a little conflicted by Liliweiss taking charge. Understandably enough, given how Liliweiss and Andersen were an item - and Liliweiss was pointedly not Cinderella's mother. Yet, being the first Nikke, she was immediately afforded no small amount of respect most others didn't receive by default.

From their previous talks, Joe had gathered that Cinderella's feelings on Liliweiss were complicated, to say the least.

"Go on, Handsome," Red Hood waved Joe and Andersen off. "We'll go ahead and make sure Daddy's Girl is good and settled in while the Big Boss and you hash out your grand strategy stuff. That and make sure she understands how things work around here, and how the hierarchy for who gets the Commander's attention works too. She'll learn quick enough that she's third and get out of your hair lickity-split!"

"Wait, 'third?'" Dorothy turned, brows furrowing as she turned to look confusedly at Red Hood. "-Oh for-! The Commander and I are not in a relationship, you brainless gorilla!" The elegant pinkette sharply stepped towards the redhead, indignation awash over her features. "And- Wait, who would even be first and second in this imaginary scenario you've concocted!?"

"Hm, I wonder…" Red Hood made a show of picking her ear, a cat-like smug grin spreading across her unpainted lips at the chance to stir shit arising. "I don't gotta say, right? I mean, it's super obvious, isn't it?"

"And just what is that supposed to mean!?" Dorothy pressed on, glowering angrily with flaring nostrils at the pleather-bound redhead, the two at eye-level parity on account of Red Hood's taller heels. "You presumptive little-!"

"What're you even getting all worked up about?" Red Hood wondered aloud, a shit-eating grin stretching ear-to-ear as she replied. "I thought you ain't in a relationship with him anyways…"

"I lay claim to the winner of the upcoming and inevitable duel!" Scarlet interjected herself in the budding conflict, making a thrusting motion with her outstretched hand, as if to present an unseen sword for emphasis. "Our battle shall be legendary!"

"Uh oh, Handsome's suddenly got competition?" Red Hood sounded halfway between scandalized and elated. "And of all challengers to arise too!"

"That is not what she meant and you know it!" Dorothy set her hands on her hips, leaning forward aggressively towards Red Hood. "Cease with these puerile and perverse presumptions of yours at once! Why must everything come back to base intercourse with you!?"

"Good question…" Snow White grumbled, glowering childishly up at Red Hood, visibly unimpressed by her elder's horndog nature.

Rapunzel, meanwhile, had simply gone as red as a beet, and was attempting to appear wholly uninterested in the ongoing topic… as none of them noticed that Liliweiss had moved to direct an increasingly bushwhacked Cinderella down the hall and away from Gooness Squad, going in the opposite direction which Joe and Andersen had departed in as well.

Quickly enough, the Commander and High Commander were indeed in Andersen's weeb cave of an office. The man's personal computer adorned with anime girl stickers, his mouse pad being a soft anime girl booty pad, and no small amount of plastic models from various franchises littering the room. The area was well-lit by powerful ceiling lights, with the typical small, porthole windows granting a minor view of the Earth below.

"Sit," Andersen directed Joe as he himself moved to drop into his own chair, settling his elbows upon the desk's top.

Having little reason to be insubordinate, the Canuck claimed one of the seats also rated for Nikkes across from the High Commander. "Alright, what is it?" he inquired.

Andersen visibly hesitated, kneading his knuckles as he contemplated whatever it was he intended to say. After some time, he did eventually take a deep breath and a nod. "I haven't been a good father to Ellie," he began. "Goes without saying that I could have been a better husband to her late mother as well, but… I intend to make it up to my daughter as best I can right here and now, every minute of every day. I'm not going to neglect her again, just dump money in a bank account and expect her to handle herself while I'm off directing Andersen Solutions on the other side of the world…"

He referenced the paramilitary company he commanded, which Joe was currently a part of.

Andersen continued. "That starts with me making damn sure that the man I entrust her to understands the importance of protecting her smile, of making her the happiest girl in the world. She deserves the entire world, and while I know that you're a damn good man, probably one of the best I've ever met, Joe… I still need to make one thing very, very clear-"

"Um…" Joe raised a halting hand, a small sheen rapidly building on his forehead at the topic of discussion. "I, uh, okay, look, I get that I'm probably totally misunderstanding here, since I'm a dense idiot and everything, but… uh, my guy, the way you're talking right now…" he nervously adjusted his collar. "You're almost making it sound like you're handing me Ellie's hand in marriage or something, dude." The Commander trailed off with an anxious, almost wheezing laugh.

Silence reigned between the two for an uncomfortable amount of time.

With Joe's pulse quickening, he spoke up again, "...A-Andersen…?" He inquired, almost ready to panic.

In response, Andersen opened his desk's drawer, retrieving a large hunting knife from within and calmly depositing it onto the fine wood surface sitting between the two mercenaries. "If you ever make my daughter cry, this is the knife I will use to cut off your dick and balls. Am I understood, soldier?"

…Ah.

Shit.

---

"That's going to be a problem," Dorothy declared as she gazed upon the holographic display showing the Rapture horde which had built up what looked to be a defensive force, blocking the UFH's forward progress towards the Orbital Elevator.

This was, of course, expected. South and Central America were wholly lost to mankind, with Mexico being well on its way to being conquered just the same—though an attempt was made to hold the line, the line was being shifted further and further north every day. The results of that were shown here. The line had drifted far, in the relatively short time frame Goddess had taken to pick up Cinderella. Dorothy was loath to see the territory lost, though she never took it particularly well to witness loss.

Some time after Cinderella had joined, the Avenger had made its way south from Montana, needless to say.

"Nah," Andersen countered Dorothy's declaration.

"What?" Dorothy glanced up at the older man, brows knitting in no small amount of confusion.

"Bet," the High Commander asserted further, turning to face Joe and Liliweiss. "Commander, Lilith. Prepare to deploy. I think it's time to put our newest squadmate through her paces."

As Cinderella visibly braced herself off to the side, the Commander of Goddess and his second-in-command both nodded in acknowledgement of the order. "Lilith," Joe began, "Get the MP Nikkes ready."

"To be deployed?" Liliweiss coyly inquired, a knowing smile widely featured upon her face.

"To bear witness," Joe declared, meeting her smile with a grin of his own, spinning on his heel and marching off, the gathered members of Goddess, Scarlet in particular, looking more than a little intrigued by the unspoken assertion. "Make sure we've got cameras on the battlefield too, Andersen! On me, girls!"

"Of course!" The High Commander loudly and proudly asserted with a great toothy smile. "We'll make damned sure the world sees what's about to unfold!" Turning to his daughter, Andersen declared, "Now go! Rekindle the embers! Forge a new legend for mankind to look up to!"

Cinderella, for her part, was visibly filled with anxious anticipation, rushing forth to catch up with Joe, breathing deep in preparation for what was to come. This was what she had joined for, and she could only hope that her purpose would be fulfilled. That she would give humanity hope.

---

The horizon burned. The front line had been driven back, the assorted forces that had been set to hold the line all stood in no small amount of horror, yet still, with budding awe and hope.

Joe, adorned in slim-fitted flak armour as his pilot's suit, loomed tall over the thousands of men in the immediate vicinity, arms crossed as he stood in the open cockpit of the Hoplon mech he'd been assigned for the operation. Nothing special, no ace custom—just one of many machines which were used in a desperate attempt to give unaltered humans the means to directly combat the Rapture threat. Behind them, was the company of Mass-Produced Nikkes whose purpose was to support Goddess in their battles.

Before him, stood the Goddesses of Victory, facing humanity's encroaching doom with grim determination. Weapons at the ready, bravely showing that they did not fear the Raptures. They were strong. They were unbending. They were indomitable. The many men and women standing at their backs, ashen-faced, gaunt, beaten and bloody, tens of thousands in their number, clinging to inadequate weapons and armour, were understandably uncertain of the promise of victory. They had been driven so far back, they'd witnessed South and Central America fall, and now, so far as they were concerned, were cursed with front-row seats to the inevitable loss of Mexico too.

They would learn.

As was the plan, Joe activated his comms, projecting his voice to each and every soldier, near and far, that had fought tooth and nail to hold the line and grant Goddess the chance to join them. "Soldiers of the United Forces of Humanity," he began, opting to keep this short and sweet. "You have fought long and hard. Day in, day out, against the greatest threat our species has ever faced. Day in, day out, you have been asked to sacrifice everything you have, every piece of yourself, to grant mankind just one more moment, one more day, in hopes of a miracle emerging from the dark…" Pausing for dramatic effect, he then declared, "Well on this day, I ask only one thing of each and every one of you: bear witness to a miracle."

With that, Joe motioned to Cinderella, turning his palm upwards, and raising it, as if to beckon her to take to the sky.

At the silvery white Nikke's sides, the cases containing her weapons, the Glass Slippers, popped open. Four great metallic devices polished to a chromed, mirror sheen, looking the part of massive technological shields drifted upwards as if with minds of their own. The common soldiers blanched at the sight, seeing the seemingly unorthodox weapons hovering, then moving to form around Cinderella, almost looking the part of great, folded wings.

Then, with a broad smile, Cinderella obeyed Joe's command. Heels first, then by her toes, did she rise. By centimetres, then inches. Then feet. Cinderella rose from the ashen Earth, all those around her staring in mounting awe. Nikkes, for all of their might, had not been capable of conquering the skies. Until today. The first flight capable Nikke rose, and came to a stop, at eye-level with Joe, standing atop his mighty Hoplon. She was beaming, seeking praise from the Legendary Commander, and receiving it in spades.

Hand still outstretched, Joe smiled back at her, then curled but one of his fingers inwards, pointing at the Raptures in the distance. "Cinderella!" He cried.

In reply, the Glass Slippers spread out wide like an angel's wings, emphasizing the role she was to play for mankind on this day.

"Halt the Rapture's advance!" He directed the silverette.

At once, with a back-flip, Cinderella threw herself backwards, and towards the Raptures, rocketing outward and forward like a silver bullet.

A collective breath had been taken by all present. The South American Rapture Invasion forces. A lone Nikke had been deployed to attack the entire front line, on her own.

The tension could be cut with a knife as Cinderella turned into a distant, white glint.

Then the tension was broken and the breath released at once in a singular, collective gasp, when the Rapture's front lines exploded in a dazzling display of white. Flashes, bursts and streams. Cinderella's purpose, at once, was clear. Where the Grimms before her were startlingly powerful in single combat, as they had to be by virtue of their production and means of combat… Cinderella was an anti-army Nikke.

Beams, what appeared to be dozens upon dozens, even hundreds screamed out in the distance, the horizon well and truly erupting in flame. But it was no blackened, sweltering flame, but a purifying Heavenly white. The Glass Slippers were particle beam diffractors, causing a singular beam to turn into a shotgun spray, a singular concentrated beam, into many dozens of searing streams, into hundreds of needle-like points of blinding light, all at once and just as Cinderella willed it.

Beams, each of which obliterated hundreds of Raptures, the beams coming in such intensity, in seemingly random, utterly unpredictable patterns. They could not react, they could not counter her assault. The sheer speed of the woman alone making landing a shot on her as likely as striking a bullet from the sky.

This force had driven the United Forces of Humanity from Ecuador up to central Mexico. An unceasing, unrelenting tidal wave that could not be stopped, could barely be slowed.

In a scarce few minutes, the beams slowed, and Cinderella soared straight back the way she'd come. She was greeted by absolute silence, coming to a halt where she'd begun, once more, meeting Joe's eyes as he stared in open wonder.

Comms flared to life, and in open wonder, a voice declared: "...Retreating. Re- the Raptures are retreating! I repeat! The Raptures are retreating! I say again: the Raptures are retreating!"

With a wide smile, Joe activated his comms again, declaring to all present: "Soldiers of the United Forces of Humanity!" he called out. "What did you just witness? Let me tell you!" He made a grand, sweeping gesture over the entire horizon. "A miracle! The tide! The tide, turning! In mankind's favour!" He motioned once more, directly to Cinderella. "A promise fulfilled! Promised victory, before your very eyes!"

Punching the sky, Joe made a declaration.

"Against all odds! We rise!"

The uproar that followed, when mankind witnessed the tide finally break, would have been the stuff of legends. The songs sung in the honour of Goddess, of the hope Cinderella had rekindled in the hearts of humanity everywhere…

All of that, yet, somehow, managed to pale in comparison to the smile the graced the heavenly woman's features. A dream come true, not just for the many, but for her. Ellie Andersen's greatest wish, after all, had been a simple one. To be a shining beacon of hope for mankind.

And how brightly did she shine.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 55 - The First Whispers of Heresy
===

"The Montana Grimms facility has been destroyed by Raptures," Joe repeated Andersen's words with a blank expression worn on his face.

"That's right," the High Commander of Goddess declared, arms crossed over his broad chest, Liliweiss standing alongside him, both wearing darkly pensive faces. "I confirmed it thrice over with the brass—Raptures actually infiltrated Montana, avoiding contact with all UFH forces, disrupted comms, assaulted and destroyed the production facility, and disappeared long before anybody else was aware of what happened."

"Every Grimms that was in production there," Liliweiss added, "and all the equipment that was meant to keep Cinderella's Glass Slippers maintained in the long term were destroyed, or captured. Meaning that what we have to keep her weapon in working order on the Avenger is all we have to keep her weapon in working order for the next while."

Forehead resting on a port window overlooking the open plains of Mexico, Joe took a long, shuddering breath. Best to address this topic one issue at a time. "Don't tell me we've lost all information on how to produce parts for the Glass Slippers too."

"Luckily, the Big Three had the presence of mind to decentralize that information at the Tetra Line CEO, Mustang's suggestion," Andersen continued, moving to lean on the metallic wall next to Joe. "Elysion actually started the process of doing much the same with all of their general information. Missilis thought the idea was daft, but they've strongly reconsidered their stance on the matter considering that it was their share of the Glass Slippers information that was lost in the attack. With the fact that they were the primary contributors to the actual technology of the platform, it's a major pitfall, I'm not going to lie. But at least a portion of the team that worked on the Glass Slippers was off-site working on other projects when the Grimms production facility was trashed."

"Meaning that it will take some time to recreate the technical data and tooling machinery that was lost," Liliweiss added as she walked up to gaze out the next porthole over from Joe. "But with at least part of the team still intact, we should be able to do so in 'a few months time' as according to current Missilis estimates…"

"Assuming nothing else we hadn't accounted for goes wrong," Andersen darkly noted. "Considering a Grimms Production Facility was just taken out and looted by a stealth Rapture force in the heart of the United States, one we cannot track and whose current whereabouts are unknown…"

"From here on out," Joe wearily began by way of reply. "We have to assume that we will receive nothing by way of materials for maintaining Cinderella's weapons beyond what we already have onboard the Avenger," he nodded with a heavy grimace. "So, no more repeats of that stunt where we had her singlehandedly break the Zacatecas Rapture invasion line. We deploy her far more strategically, and more conservatively."

"My thoughts exactly," Andersen nodded, reaching up to tip his officer's cap by the brim a few centimetres. "Cinderella herself can be maintained using the same materials the rest of Goddess are built from; and Snow White will be able to account for any necessary adjustments with the technical package Tetra Line sent on her featherweight frame. Her weapons, though, will be absolutely instrumental to clearing the zone around the Orbital Elevator's entrance. We can't risk losing them before we even get there."

"That shouldn't be a real issue," Joe pushed himself off the window, hands planted on either side of the porthole, he still leaned heavily on the wall. "We only deployed her as we did for the sake of putting on a show for the world; to give everyone a much-needed morale boost. There is absolutely no good reason to not have her perform as a fast-attack bomber and artillery platform from here on out."

Liliweiss responded. "The crowds may enjoy a good barrel roll or two at an air show every so often," a small, nostalgic smile finding purchase on the former fighter pilot's features. "But there's a time and a place for showboating. Cinderella has a dedicated role on the battlefield. Though she can operate on the front line, indirect, anti-army fire is what she does best."

"Artillery is king," Joe nodded resolutely. "And holy mother of God, is Cinderella a goddess of sky-borne hellfire."

Andersen adjusted his cuffs as he replied seriously. "So long as we're smart about how we deploy her, logistical concerns should be minimal going forth."

There was a beat, the three high-ranking officers standing in silence for a few moments before Joe spoke up again. "The Raptures have generally presented themselves as a tidal wave of mindless animals. Base creatures that overwhelm with sheer numbers and a terrifying capacity to hard counter our most powerful weapons of mass destruction…" fingers tensing heavily against the aluminum wall, he continued. "Raptures being capable of performing undetected precision strikes on particular sites of interest, deep in the heart of human territory…"

"Is unprecedented," Andersen nodded with a heavy grimace. "And, moreover, it's an effective confirmation that while individual Raptures are nothing more than thoughtless attack drones, they must have some form of 'officers' capable of intelligently directing them in as sophisticated a manner as any human military force can be. And they must have some form of intelligence gathering apparatus, to have known to target the facility in the first place."

"Fuck me," Joe let out a shuddering breath. This was huge, and bad.

"It gets worse," Liliweiss assured the long-haired young man. "From what information we were able to scrape together, from damaged black boxes and the like… the 'officer' that was directing the Raptures in question, was a Nikke."

"What," Joe's breath hitched, his pupils dilating.

Andersen elaborated. "It was mentioned several times in what few audio recordings we could salvage. From multiple units guarding the base, the reports were the same: at least one unidentified hostile Nikke was fighting alongside the Raptures. None that spotted her lived long enough to give details on her appearance. That speaks volumes to the power this turncoat must possess, considering we had no small amount of well-equipped Nikkes of our own guarding the facility. Unfortunately, we don't have enough information to determine who it is that's working with the Raptures, only that they must be a specialist model."

"You've gotta be shitting me…" a stone had dropped into Joe's gut. Nikkes, fighting alongside the Raptures against mankind? How? Why would- A light bulb switched on in his head, and he recalled a particular breed of Rapture they'd encountered in Europe. "Codename: Ultra," he declared in realization.

"That's the running theory right now, yeah," Andersen nodded in acknowledgement of the declaration. "Nikkes that come into direct contact with Codename: Ultra types have a startlingly high chance to experience a psychotic Mind Switch, turning them into violent berserkers that attack anything and everything in sight, including their own allies… Chances seem likely that this Nikke is one which was corrupted on the front lines, and rather than being eliminated by her own former allies, simply… Persisted. Persisted, and developed."

Unbidden, Joe was made to recall Red Hood's close encounter with a Codename: Ultra type. She was so convinced that she was doomed, that she was going to go berserk and need to be put down before she became a danger to everyone, only for the expected symptoms—even the most benign ones—to simply never manifest. After all, Nikkes would often experience a sudden onset psychotic Mind Switch upon being struck by one of the bastards, but not always.

It had been insufferable, trying to convince her that she was one of the lucky ones. Even despite the fact that Rapunzel was a former researcher in the Vatican Technical Collective, and was still remotely, but actively collaborating with them on Rapture research despite now being a soldier in the UFH. The towering blonde was one of the premier minds on the matter of the so-called Rapture 'Corruption.' So many tests, so often did Red Hood melodramatically cry that she was sure 'this was it this time,' based entirely on 'a gut feeling,' only for Rapunzel to find absolutely nothing—or more commonly: bloating and getting gassy because Red Hood had overeaten. Again.

Insufferable.

Liliweiss reached up to brush a few stray strands of platinum silver hair from her face as she spoke. "This presents the possibility that any given Codename: Ultra's attack has a high chance to force Nikkes to undergo a Mind Switch in an attempt to 'Corrupt' them to the Rapture's side, as it were. A good deal worse than simply making them go berserk, as has been the case up to this point."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Joe allowed his face to fall to the floor. "So now we have to worry about Nikkes becoming active agents for the goddamn Raptures now on top of everything else too?"

"Possibly," Andersen shrugged. "It isn't good, I'll give you that. But Nikkes on their own are easily countered by other Nikkes. Granted, this one seems to be particularly powerful on her own, but it's just one Nikke. I'm sure that no small part of the reason our own forces were overwhelmed was to do with the sheer shock of seeing a Nikke fighting alongside, likely even commanding Raptures, then being blitzed. Though…"

Joe turned to face Andersen, a deeply put-upon expression worn on his face. "I'm not about to like what you're going to say, am I?" He inquired.

It was Liliweiss that answered him, however. "Most Nikkes on-site were killed via the means that are typical to Raptures. Puncturing stingers, claws, mechanized teeth and energy weapons… There were also a few unusual examples that looked more like clean cuts from a blade, which suggests that those rare few Raptures with bladed tails that we've received scattered reports on in the frontiers must be being cycled into the general Rapture populace as more regular production units. That, or they're more specialized models we can expect to encounter in particular scenarios where they seem to thrive—such as assaulting heavily fortified locations wherein close quarters battle can be expected."

Joe just growled. "...So the Raptures are deploying goddamned special forces models to infiltrate and directly assault our fortified locations. Great."

Liliweiss let out a shallow sigh before she replied. "That shouldn't affect us directly aboard the Avenger, if nothing else," the First Nikke declared. "A cold comfort, but that's about all we can hope for here."

"So our logistics, already strained as they were, just got stretched yet thinner than they already were," Joe observed as he leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest himself. "And there's a non-zero chance we may encounter Nikkes fighting alongside the Raptures from here on out too… that is not going to help the morale situation."

"Needless to say, there's a gag order on announcing sightings of turncoat Nikkes to war reporters and other non-military forces," Andersen noted dryly. "Additionally, the UFH brass has emphasized the importance of Goddess ascending the Orbital Elevator and eliminating the Queen as quickly as possible. The last thing we want to do is drag our feet when there's a non-zero chance that any particular fortified location in humanity's domain can be blitzkrieged. HQ just became a lot less safe and secure, to say the least."

"No shit…" Joe grumbled. "Anything else I need to know?"

"I'm trying to tear as much information as I possibly can from the brass," Andersen declared, pushing himself from the wall and setting his hands on his hips. "The bastards are making it difficult, to say the least. I'll fill you in on as many details as I can regarding these developments, but I'm not expecting the brass to be particularly forthcoming about this."

"In other words." Liliweiss began, "aside from the necessity that we inform the rest of Goddess about these developments, we're done here. The High Commander and I will further refine our ongoing strategy as it is. You go do what you do best: talk to the girls, and arrange for everything to be in order when we next deploy. We're being rushed to reach and assault the Orbital Elevator, so it would be best for all of you to enjoy whatever downtime we get between sorties from now on."

With a shallow nod, Joe moved for the hallway door. "If it's not one thing, it's another with this war…"

Andersen and Liliweiss allowed him to depart.

---

Sitting at the desk in his room, Joe worked to get the logistics of Goddess in order. Though, generally, everyone was encouraged to make the most of the time off they had which was going to rapidly grow increasingly brief, somebody had to do his job, and Lord help him, the job was his to do.

It was tedious work, but it had to get done. To say nothing of how it was helping keep his mind off of the talk he'd had with Andersen and Liliweiss. His side to the hallway door and hand resting over the eye closest to the door, he didn't see who brazenly walked into his room without bothering to knock—and Dorothy would glide along the ground with almost mechanical precision, producing a minimal amount of noise with each step taken with her heeled feet.

So Joe knew at once without turning to face the woman in question that it was Red Hood, given that Red Hood, despite her diminutive size, kind of trundled around like a bull. You could hear her coming from down the entire hallway, even if she actually uncharacteristically kept her mouth shut for some reason.

"Co-mmaand-der!" Coming to a stop directly behind him, the bodacious redhead started, and Joe could hear her shit-eating grin as she did so. "Commander!" The man continued to focus on his work, not ignoring her, but expecting her to just declare what she was there for as she usually did. "...Commander!" She more forcefully declared, seeming actually somewhat frustrated with his lack of a reply.

"What?" He acknowledged her presence vocally with a roll of his eyes.

"Turn around!" Red Hood demanded of him.

"Why?" Joe asked.

"Because I have something important to ask you!" She declared.

"And I have to face you for that because…?" Joe inquired, still generally keeping his focus on the damned paperwork he had to go through to ensure everyone's shit was in order.

"Because it's important!" She whined. "Now turn around!"

"Just ask what you're gonna ask, shorty, I'm busy," the beleaguered man asserted pointedly.

"I'm not short!" Red Hood, at that, audibly whined in annoyance. She remained silent for a few moments, before eventually actually just asking what she'd come to ask. "Red, or black?"

"...Huh?" That was vague, to say the least. "Red or black what?"

"Red, or black?" Red Hood repeated herself without elaboration.

"Little Red," Joe's eyes became lidded, the man taking a deep, mildly aggravated breath. "Red or black what?"

"Red, or black?" Yet again, the Nikke just plainly repeated herself.

Now growing rapidly annoyed, Joe turned around in his seat, once again and more heavily rolling his eyes as she did so. "Red or black what-!?"

The Commander stopped dead, eyes locked onto Red Hood's own, the little woman's smile quickly growing to stretch ear-to-ear in a Cheshire grin. Pointedly, he kept his eyes firmly upon Red Hood, and not the… skimpy, lacy, tiny articles of fabric dangling tantalizingly off of either of her outstretched index fingers for emphasis.

"Red," she shook the undergarment in her right hand for emphasis, "or black?" she then called attention to the one in her left just the same.

It was downright amazing, how Joe continually managed to somehow forget that Red Hood was a terribly bold and brazenly shameless down bad horndog.

Staring down Red Hood's increasingly shark like-grin, he was in danger, to say the least. Normally, hardly an issue. He appreciated Red Hood's beauty and company, and her apparent casual interest in him.

But it had rapidly become clear that, despite Andersen having put the fear of God in him, Cinderella was interested in Joe in a far more serious manner. The knife came to mind again, and the Commander was mortified by the notion of Cinderella not taking whatever weird thing it was that Joe and Red Hood had well…

What if Cinderella cried?

The knife appeared all the clearer in his mind's eye.

"Well-?" Red Hood moved to step closer to Joe, leaning over to call attention to her chest, only to have her attention caught by one of the Avenger's jet fighter escorts drifting by the bedroom window suddenly doing an aileron roll, likely out of boredom. "Oh shit," she excitedly started, "did they just do a barrel roll-?"

With her attention divided, in fear of losing his genitals, Joe leaped from his seat and bolted for the hallway door, demonstrating his strategic genius with his brilliant tactical retreat.

"Ohwa- HEY!" Red Hood immediately moved to follow him. "Coward! Face me-!" Only to, klutz that she was, trip over her own feet and loudly slam into the metallic floor of Joe's spartan office behind him. "-What the Hell!? Get back here you-!"

Joe didn't stop. For fear of his manhood, the Legendary Commander ran tactically retreated.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 56 - Scarlet Stains
===

"Okay, so," Joe noted as he sat across from Cinderella at her bedroom desk, the young woman in question seated on her plush, silken, decidedly non-military issue bed. She was focusing heavily on Joe with her lone visible sapphire blue eye, as she wore a dramatically oversized black zip-up hoodie (which looked suspiciously like the one that was supposed to be hanging off of the back of Joe's office chair) over her otherwise incredibly revealing bodysuit.

The Commander continued.

"Maintaining your distance from Raptures in battles will be key. The moment you start taking fire, retreat and relocate. We can't afford to lose the Glass Slippers, yet we still need you to deploy and aid in the coming battles to push to Ecuador, so-" Pausing, Joe noticed that Dorothy had drifted aside from her typical spot right next to him, and was staring at something on one of Cinderella's myriad shelves. "-Dorothy?" he inquired.

"I detest it," Dorothy sharply declared by way of reply. That caught Cinderella's attention, given that they were in her room and speaking of her possessions, needless to say.

"Huh?" Cinderella blinked, looking more than a little confused and put-off. "What do you mean?"

"This abhorrent little caricature. Its smug aura mocks me." Dorothy noted, violet eyes firmly locked onto… a plushie? Wait, was that- "Commander! I detest it! I demand that it be destroyed at once!"

"Nooo!" Cinderella cried, leaping to her feet and, with no small amount of speed, lunging out and grabbing at the plushie Dorothy had been glowering at. "The Doro hasn't done anything to anyone!"

"Do not call it that!" Dorothy demanded of the silver-haired young woman, pointing to the refuse bin next to the desk. "Dispose of it in the trash, immediately!"

"No!" Cinderella refused, tightly hugging to her bountiful chest the derpy little Dorothy plushie that was, for some reason, positioned upon all fours like a dog would be. From his position, Joe could see that, indeed, 'the Doro' wore a ruinously smug expression which mocked him too. "Joe! Tell Aurora that she's not allowed to bully me!" The little silverette pitifully pleaded with the Commander, rushing as if to take cover behind him.

"Do not call me that!" Dorothy, in turn, demanded of Cinderella. "I refuse that title! The pedigree of my given name is ample enough to suit my role as a member of Goddess! I am not lazy! And why are you speaking to the Commander in such a familiar manner!?"

"That's not why you were titled after Sleeping Beauty, Dorothy, it's not meant to imply that you spend all day sleeping-!" Joe started, only to throw his hands up in frustration, not really wanting to have this argument again. "That aside, leave Ellie alone, she hasn't done anything to-"

"Oh I'm not so sure about that," Dorothy crossed her arms beneath her chest, "that poorly-produced doll is leaving me feeling rather 'bullied!' Am I to simply suffer knowing that cruel mockery is occupying the same space as me? What have I done to deserve this manner of humiliation?"

"Dorothy, it's a plush doll," Joe declared, rubbing his face wearily. "It looks hand-made-"

"It is!" Cinderella interjected. "And I worked really hard on it!"

"Did you?" Dorothy questioningly inquired, brow slightly furrowing in distaste.

"Okay, now you're just being shitty," Joe cut in, standing up and crossing his arms with a frown. "Ellie hasn't done anything wrong, and you're just being an ass, Dorothy. Cut this shit out, or do you intend to snap at everyone we meet that made something to show their appreciation of you?"

With a huff, Dorothy responded by just spinning on her heel and swiftly strode out of the room. Joe was exasperated by that, needless to say. Immediately falling back into the chair and cupping his hands over his eyes with a groan. "For the love of…"

Dorothy never took it well when she perceived Joe not taking her side in something, and she probably felt like 'the new girl' was receiving preferential treatment. So, great. He was going to have to deal with that.

Taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to de-stress, the attempt quickly turned out to be for naught. Blood pressure and anxiety spiking, from a pillowy sensation that really should have been nothing but heavenly.

As Cinderella jumped on the chance to sit across Joe's lap, he suddenly remembered that the whole reason he'd asked Dorothy to accompany him to talk to her was to dissuade the bold silverette from doing something like this.

Not only did Cinderella claim Joe's lap, she then leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, smiling sweetly up at him as she did so.

He spoke up, out of no small amount of rising wariness, without quite thinking first. "C-Cinderellie…" he stammered anxiously.

At that, Cinderella chuckled adorably, nestling into Joe's chest with a broad smile. "My perfect hero…"

"...Huh?" Joe blinked owlishly at that.

"You've always known exactly what to say to make me happy," the little silver-haired woman noted. As she reached up to take Joe's arms and wrap them around her shoulders and slim waist. "No matter how badly my day may be going, you always make the sun seem to shine so bright, even when you were just a voice over the phone, a face on the screen…"

Joe felt like he was in imminent danger, mortified by the idea that Andersen was going to barge in and catch them like this, and the Commander was rightfully terrified of what would happen to him if Andersen misunderstood-

"Am I pretty, my hero?" Cinderella sweetly inquired.

…Okay, so, Cinderella was probably actually interested in him then. Shit.

"Joe?" She pressed, a slight pout forming on her glossy lips. "You don't think so…?"

"No, you're resplendent!" Joe panic-replied, his dumbass monkey brain just flinging out a dangerous truth without a moment given to consideration.

That seemed to do the trick for Cinderella, though. Given how she immediately let out a goofy, breathy chuckle as a light blush played across her features. "Am I the most beautiful woman you've ever met?"

Don't- Joe's brain attempted to reason with him… "Y-yes!" FUCK. To no avail.

With another melodic chuckle, Cinderella started to joyously kick her legs where they hung in the open air, making herself good and comfortable in Joe's arms and on his lap. "I'm the most beautiful girl in the world…" she rapturously sighed.

In a display of impotent futility, Joe tried to cope with the idea that this was just Cinderella's lack of self-confidence manifested. She had been something of a mousy little woman before her conversion. Shy, nervous, introverted… maybe she just wanted affirmation that her conversion had made her 'beautiful?' Not that she wasn't pretty before, but, holy shit the effect her conversion had on her was… significant, to say the least.

Given how intensely she'd been looking herself over in her, again, very non-military issue full-length mirror when he and Dorothy had entered the room to discuss tactics and strategy with her, and how eagerly she'd shown off her new figure and revelled in Joe's attention on the Avenger's deck when she joined up with Goddess…

Yeah, that was probably just it.

"I'm so happy that I was assigned to Goddess," Cinderella noted cheerily. "Not only do I get to be on the same team as all of them, I get to spend everyday with you, and be a beacon of hope for mankind… It's a dream come true. I still can't believe all of this is really happening…"

"Well," Joe started, his mind drifting back to the dazzling show she'd put on for all the world when she single-handedly broke the Rapture invasion line. "It is. And you aren't just fighting alongside Goddess… I'd wager that you're even the most powerful member of Goddess, bar none." Liliweiss, and maybe even Red Hood would likely have an advantage in a melee, but good luck getting within punching range of Cinderella in the first place.

"...Don't say that," Cinderella almost whined. "I can't be as amazing as them. I… I want to be that sort of person, but how could someone like me-"

"Enough of that," Joe cut Cinderella off when it seemed as though she was starting to backslide into the pessimism she'd demonstrated before she underwent conversion. "You're the most powerful Grimms to have ever been created - even more so than Liliweiss. You've given mankind hope. We're closer to winning this war, because of you. Don't discredit yourself; you're amazing and have given all of us hope for the future. Your beauty shines brighter than the sun itself, and I'll not hear you disparaging yourself over abject falsehoods."

There was a long pause, wherein Cinderella balled up somewhat, seemingly attempting to hide from Joe even as she sat on his lap. Then, after a few moments, she started giggling with a broad, lightheaded smile. "...Charming…" she started in a breathy voice. "You really are my Prince Charming, here to lift me up and make me feel like a perfect princess…"

…She couldn't find out that Andersen only relented and ultimately allowed her to undergo conversion because of him. This was already getting way too dangerous, and Joe couldn't be trusted to not douse himself in chum before leaping into shark-filled waters-

"Lilith told me that it's because of you that I was allowed to become a Nikke," Cinderella piped up.

FUCK.

The silverette continued. "You tried to reason with my father, until he finally forced your hand and you just beat him up for the way he treated me, and we hadn't even met yet… You fought for me, when nobody else had before. You fought for me and gave me the chance to become so much more than the unremarkable nobody I was…" She hummed sweetly. "You gave me my glass slipper, gave me the chance to become the most beautiful woman in the world… What else could you be if not my perfect Prince Charming?"

The knife. The knife. It looked so keen, so terribly sharp in his mind's eye.

Keeping quiet, not trusting himself to not somehow make the situation worse and endanger his genitals via Andersen's knife, Joe just remained silent and wordlessly held Cinderella.

After a few moments, the little lady in question nestled further into Joe's chest and shoulder, humming lightly and quietly musing, "Sometimes, silence is golden… Your actions speak louder than any words ever could, my Prince…"

HE WAS JUST SITTING THERE. HE HADN'T EVEN DONE ANYTHING. WHY?

The knife grew three sizes in his mind's eye that day.

---

Later on, Joe managed to disentangle from Cinderella and made his way to the deck of the Avenger, seeking air and a release from the increasingly suffocating-seeming confines of the helicarrier.

Upon stepping out into the bright blue skies of rural Mexico, he spotted a particular sight at the end of the runway. A certain specific black-clad swordswoman drilling with her neon red blade. A sight which was outright hypnotic - not just because Scarlet wielded that sword with a grace that borderlined on supernatural, but she did so as a grim, trance-inducing beauty. There were few environments wherein the grey-haired little woman didn't pop on account of her midnight black, crimson-accented bodysuit. Least of all against the cerulean sky which framed her in a manner so striking.

Scarlet may not have been the most curvaceous Nikke aboard the Avenger, but she was still as most Nikkes were regardless: jaw-dropping. A walking testament to the assertion that 'medium is premium,' to say the least.

So, entranced by the woman's display, it took Joe a good few moments to register that he'd just stood there gawking at the gloomy figure as she honed her skills. Mercifully, she hadn't seemed to notice, so he hadn't quite managed to make a complete fool of himself. Well, the crewmen on the deck noticed, but they'd been staring at Scarlet just the same as him, and so had no ground on which to stand to give him shit for it.

Regardless, it occurred to him, as he stood there, that they knew more about Cinderella, the new girl, then they did about Scarlet - and by no small margin. Scarlet was pointedly guarded, and when she wasn't demanding that Joe duel her with his swords (regardless of how much he told her he didn't even know how to actually use them), she was generally just… Milling about, keeping to herself when she wasn't being actively pestered by Red Hood. Or, like, getting into another full-throttle fist fight with Dorothy over something or another…

Scarlet wasn't the most personable individual around, but she was still a member of the squad, and it was Joe's duty to make sure everyone in the squad was well-integrated and comfortable. It would hardly do if Scarlet was the only girl he wasn't familiar with either, so, hands set in his jacket pockets, the Commander ambled over Scarlet's way.

The woman in question continued as she had been, paying Joe little mind, even as he came to a stop a safe distance away from her. For a few minutes, she kept practising in that entrancing manner, utterly unperturbed by her one-man audience.

Eventually, she smoothly sheathed her blade seemingly mid-swing, at once shifting to a neutral stance, back straight and baleful stare fixed square on Joe. "Commander," she finally directly acknowledged him. "For what cause hast thou sought me out?"

With a shrug, Joe declared, "You've been pretty distant. I figure it'd probably be best to just try talking to you for a while."

Scarlet just stared at Joe with a mild amount of annoyance at his words, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in reply. "Such is unnecessary. I am yet another blade to be directed at the oncoming Rapture horde. Seek not connections with me, I will surely be gone as swiftly as I have arrived just the same."

Lightly grimacing, Joe considered the diminutive woman seriously, eventually replying: "Does this have anything to do with how we met you to begin with?" he inquired.

At that, Scarlet turned aside, shifting her gaze over the edge of the Avenger and into the distant sky beyond. She didn't respond, though her off-handed grip on the hilt of her sheathed sword noticeably tightened.

After an awkward moment of silence, Joe spoke up again. "Scarlet… come on. You're a member of Goddess now. I understand that you don't get along with Dorothy in particular, but you have to at least try to open up to the rest of us. We're all looking out for each other out on the battlefield, the better we all know each other, the easier it will make it for us to all trust each other-"

"Closeness and familiarity are not the unbreaking chains thy all believe they are." Scarlet interrupted him, her voice taking on no small amount of bitterness. "Bonds are not unbending steel. Lean upon them with all thy faith, and thy fate shall be set in stone."

Joe allowed that to sit and percolate for a few moments, before speaking up again. "...So, this does have something to do with how we met you," he noted. "Your previous squad, the situation you were in…"

Eyes locked on the faraway horizon, Scarlet took a few moments to continue. "I was not shocked. Not in the least. When we were informed of turncoat Nikkes fighting alongside the Raptures."

…Ah. "The Melee Squad," Joe began as realization struck him like a sack of bricks. "We found you, surrounded by them…"

"As I had just cut them down," Scarlet declared. "My comrades, those I had sworn mine blade to the protection of, those who had sworn their blades to protect me in turn… Each and every one, betrayers. They turned on mankind. They spat upon our purpose, our duty, that for which we forsook our flesh and blood."

Joe went silent, and simply listened. Brow furrowing, focusing entirely on Scarlet's words as she did exactly as he'd asked, began to open up.

"I awoke in our barracks, to find two of them standing guard, as though to prevent my leaving. I demanded to know why, and I was told. My sister, she had spoken to them all as I slept. She was to murder our Commander, and I was to be kept in the barracks, prevented from intervening. Those few who would have allied with me in my attempt to stop her, had already been slain."

Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"They presented me with little other choice. I cut them both down, so that I may fly to prevent my sister from committing the ultimate sin, a mark of evil which would stain her legacy forevermore… yet, I arrived, far too late. Already, I found her looming over our Commander, and even two more of her collaborators. The blade of Fleetly Fading, a weapon made to protect humanity from the greatest enemy it has ever faced…" she lifted her sword from her hip to gaze down upon it, still sheathed, hands beginning to tremble ever-so-slightly. "This blade, meant to shield mankind, stained with the blood of a human."

Both hands now gripping her sword, Scarlet took a moment to gather herself before she proceeded.

"No explanation was offered. Despite my pleas, despite my demands… She just stood over him, that same gentle smile she ever did wear, even as the blood of our Commander ran down her figure and pooled at her feet… She raised Fleetly Fading, directed the tip of its blade to me, and informed me that she had no intention of stopping with him. That if she left that building, that she would hunt down as many human beings as she could, and slaughter them all without mercy… And she would not say why. Only that she would. She would not say why she hated mankind so terribly, only that she did."

"I had no choice. I did the only thing I could do as a protector of mankind. Despite knowing that Rose had always been mine better, despite knowing that never could I hope to defeat her in true battle… our blades did clash. I cannot recall how long our final duel had drawn out. Only that my entire body ached by the end of it. And… She attempted to disarm me. I allowed her to. A feint, one which I used to wrench her own weapon from her hands, and turn it upon her, defenceless as she then was… as though she could not have stopped me with ease. As though she had not countered and punished that very same manoeuvre countless times in our sparring matches before. She had proclaimed her intent to become a slayer of men, yet… she let me win. Using her own sword…"

"A sword meant to cleave through the abominable metallic armour of the Raptures, punched clean through her core." Scarlet paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "I… I took her in my arms, I cradled her, in her final moments. Those moments in which she chose to be an abomination. And, yet… she was smiling. She smiled so terribly radiantly, with contentment, joy, pride. She uttered no words, she only allowed herself to be held, met mine eyes, and smiled, so truly, so genuinely, as she faded… Why? Why?"

Andersen had attempted to get information on the Melee Squad after they'd recruited Scarlet, only to be firmly and downright viciously stonewalled, to the point of being outright threatened to mind where he 'stuck his nose,' as there were matters which simply did not concern him or Goddess, and insubordination on this matter would not be tolerated, regardless of who he was… No fucking wonder. They were trying to prevent knowledge of most of the Melee Squad going rogue, of Nikkes turning against the UFH from spreading even earlier than it eventually did with the attack on the Montana Grimms facility.

The Melee Squad… were they victims of Corruption? Was Scarlet simply one of the lucky few? Rose's behaviour seemed… incongruous with her stated intent. As though she might not have been thinking straight? If she had decided to turn on humanity, why would she smile upon being cut down by Scarlet after only managing to kill their Commander?

Things to bring up with Andersen and Liliweiss as soon as he was done here. But, for now… "Scarlet," Joe began. "Thank you."

The little Nikke was quiet for a time, letting out a single, cough-like, mirthless laugh before she replied. "...I meant not to ramble and reveal so much. Such a fool I am…"

"But I'm glad that you did," Joe asserted. "Because now I know that I can put all of my faith in you from this point on. I know that no matter what happens, no matter how this war may turn… You will be there, at the front line, holding your blade high in defence of mankind. I know I can trust you. You'll be there for us, and we'll be there for you."

Slowly did Scarlet turn to face Joe. Her expression was deeply perplexed, and pained. She didn't speak up, just… staring at him in open confusion.

So, Joe made an attempt to further clarify. "I don't know what it's like, to feel driven to turn my weapon upon my fellows, on those I should have been able to trust to defend mankind against the greatest threat we've ever known… I can only imagine the strength of character, the sheer willpower it would require to do the right thing in such a moment. You're strong. Stronger than I'd have ever imagined. I hope nobody else will ever have to go through what you did, to do the right thing. But… in so doing, you've shown how pure of soul you are."

Nodding once firmly, Joe finished as he locked eyes with the swordswoman.

"I trust you, Scarlet. I trust you, I thank you, and most of all… I'm sorry. Just know that though it could never be enough, I will always be willing to listen to you, to talk to you, to be there if ever you need it. It's the very least I can do, for the proof you've provided me that you are truly a worthy Goddess of Victory."

Scarlet just stared at Joe. Her expression unreadable yet uncertain. After a brief time, her gaze broke, sharply wandering, eyes growing increasingly glossy… she took a heavy, shuddering breath, about-faced, and started off without a word.

Joe just watched her go. Both grateful, and heartbroken that Scarlet had to go through something so harrowing. But he knew damn well that some people required space and time more than anything. So, he would allow it, and-

Scarlet stopped mid-stride. Stood stock-still for a few moments, almost, but not quite looking back over her shoulder Joe's way, before she shook her head and continued off again.

-Somehow, Joe felt like the little woman's walls had already begun to crumble, and soon enough, she'd allow herself to become a fully-fledged member of Goddess.

Truly, they were lucky to have one as genuine and principled fighting alongside them, in mankind's darkest hour.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 57 - The First Heretic
===

Finally, after no small amount of effort and time, The United Forces of Humanity had managed to push their way through Central America, and into Ecuador. The Orbital Elevator stretched high into the heavens above, a tainted symbol of what was once a monument to mankind's capacity to reach for, and yet perhaps even touch the stars. What should have been the next launching point of humanity's next great adventure, reduced to a tyrant's throne.

It loomed terribly over the Earth, fading heavensward into the great blue. The effect only further emphasized by the nightmarish state the entire region surrounding the elevator had been left in. This is where the invasion had started, and that much was clear to see. No buildings were left standing, not a tree, not one blade of grass had gone unburnt. The entire area had been reduced to a desertified wasteland, one which may not even be capable of sustaining any meaningful amount of life for the foreseeable future.

If nothing else, that at least would make it easy for the UFH to go all-out on this attack. There was nothing left to preserve. Destruction would be all that would come of this operation.

"We're nearing the jump point, everybody, damn well be ready, it's going to be hot!" Joe called out from within the cockpit of his heavily stripped-down featherweight-frame Hoplon, the machine optimized by Snow White to maximize its speed and manoeuvrability above all else—it wasn't as though the armour that could be mounted on such a machine did anything to stop a Rapture's weapons anyways. Not getting hit in the first place was Joe's best chance to avoid being pasted in a battle.

Goddess was stuffed into a drop ship, rapidly ferrying the most powerful heroes to have ever lived to what would, hopefully, be their final battle.

Liliweiss was the next to speak up, as Snow White fumbled with her parachute, Rapunzel moving to help her put it on properly after a moment. "Remember our training, and the plan! We land, and as Cinderella carves out a path for us, we advance to the elevator as quickly as possible! Do not engage in unnecessary combat, do not divert your attention or focus to aid UFH forces on the way there! Every man and woman fighting today knows that they are putting their lives on the line to ensure that we reach the invasion point and put down the Queen! We are the tip of the spear, and the spear does not waver when thrown! Do not waste their sacrifices! Advance! Unceasingly, and without mercy!"

"Let's end this war!" Joe added onto the First Nikke's declaration, taking in the determined expressions of the girls he'd be fighting alongside. "We are Goddess! We are victory! Against all odds! We rise-!"

As a lock-on alarm blared out from the cockpit, even as the bay door started opening, the pilot leaning back and calling back desperately: "GO! GO! NOW!-"

With a ruinous crash, the shuttle was torn in half in an instant, sending everyone tumbling out helplessly into the open air.

Smoke, fire, explosions, lead, and energy particles filled the sky. From so high up, even as the Hoplon righted itself, the battlefield—or rather, the warzone—was clear to see. The battle was horrific, putting to shame the worst sights that had been produced by the battlefields of the first and second World Wars. The Raptures were defending the point from which their invasion had started, defending their Queen. Mankind was throwing every single thing they had into their first and only hope to end this war.

By all rights, this was a battle of extinction. The combined sum total of human history was on the line—every accomplishment, every story told, every great invention, every advancement… all would have been for naught if they couldn't win here.

Thus, every man and woman fought with everything they had. For they battled for the very future.

The results of those efforts were ruinous, to say the least.

Yet, Joe paid the sights little mind. His focus had to stay on Goddess, on making sure his girls would make it to the elevator, to ascend, and face down the Rapture Queen, destroying it once and for all. So, he scanned his surroundings, tracking the girls to determine they were all accounted for.

Liliweiss, Red Hood, Scarlet and Dorothy were all unperturbed as they righted themselves and deployed their parachutes—all save for Liliweiss, who simply dove harder and faster, utterly fearless as she rocketed towards the blasted Earth below. Of course, she never wore a parachute. She simply didn't need to. Even a face-first collision with the planet itself at terminal velocity didn't slow her down, so why bother when she could slam into the landing zone ahead of everyone else and ensure it was clear?

Cinderella, being the sole Nikke among them capable of flight, had nigh-on effortlessly recovered from being blown into the sky, and even turned around that attempt to swat Goddess out of the sky into a mistake on the Rapture's part. Already, the Glass Slippers lanced out and incinerated any and all anti-air forces attempting to pepper them with flak. Even Liliweiss was being shown up, a stream of concentrated energy fire clearing much of the ground Raptures waiting for them below before the First Nikke could land.

Liliweiss compensated with a heel drop directly onto the core of the largest Rapture Cinderella had missed, producing an explosion of fire and steel with her impact. Without missing a beat, she launched herself from the smoke left in her wake and went about doing what she did best—effortlessly sundering and smiting Raptures many times larger than her with her bare fucking hands.

How Andersen managed to handle that woman, Joe had no idea.

Regardless, Joe made note of Red Hood diving to catch up to Snow White, grabbing and helping her reorient herself before bounding off to draw her own parachute—a bit early, to note, given how the plan was to try drawing their chutes as low as possible to minimize the chances of being hit by anti-air. Given that Cinderella had just cleared anything that would have had a reasonable chance to land a shot on any of them, he wouldn't hold it against her.

Deploying the heavy-duty parachutes for his Hoplon, Joe prepared to fire off the retrorockets and slow his descent even further before landing—naught but the thinnest of aluminum plating to shield him from the harsh wind buffeting the machine. Teeth grit, brows furrowed, he readied for the absolute shit. They needed him on the ground, fighting alongside Goddess to empower them, push them beyond their limits during mankind's greatest hour of need.

This fact didn't make him want to shit himself any less the moment he was directly participating in the fight against the Raptures, however. Joe was no Nikke, and the best Hoplons only made men capable of using weapons capable of harming Raptures without utterly fucking their capacity to avoid being hit in the first place. Reports of the nations that stubbornly refused to abandon their increasingly comically obsolete tanks and consequently losing everything came to mind.

G-forces sharply acting against his woefully human body, the Hoplon slammed into the ashen earth with a metallic cry and a plume of wasteland dust kicked up by the retrorockets which had slowed his descent. Even encased in his machine as he was, he could hear the hellfire erupted in all directions with his own ears. Once, Joe would have hoped that he would only ever experience a battlefield through entertainment and educational products. Now, he was simply used to being thrust feet-first into Hell.

"Goddess! Report your status!" Joe commanded the crew, given that Liliweiss was still preoccupied being a fucking Dynasty Warriors character as everyone else was landing and righting themselves.

Everybody replied quickly, the squad having landed about as smoothly as they could, gathered up as streams of neon-white light and unending thunderclaps exploded all around them. Dead Raptures surrounded them, shattered, caved in, torn asunder, all obliterated with the First Nikke's bare hands and no mercy.

Quickly enough, everyone was gathered up, and wasting no time, Goddess pushed onwards to the Orbital Elevator.

---

The squad made their way onward and pushed through. The sky was choked out with smoke, thunder and fire pounded the eardrums of all present. Cinderella's overwatch gave Goddess the fire support they needed, and if anything, it was excessive. Cinderella had become the torchbearer for humanity's hope for a reason. With every minute which passed, it became clearer and clearer: they were going to manage this. They were going to reach the elevator, they were punching through the Rapture's defensive line, and they were going to make it to the Rapture Queen, and with Cinderella's help, they were going to end this war.

Pressing on, doing what they had to do and focus entirely on their purpose, Goddess pushed through, Joe keeping pace with them thanks to the heavily modified mech he piloted, and even took out a few smaller Raptures himself using the machine cannon the Hoplon hefted along.

With each passing minute, the elevator's base grew closer. With each minute passed, they got closer to mankind's salvation. Rapidly, it was in sight. Then, it was nearly within reach. It was there—right there. They had done it, with Cinderella's help, they-

Leading the pack at a full-tilt, Liliweiss suddenly lifted her arm in a defensive motion, something screaming out and impaling itself through her limb in the moments before everyone, including Cinderella, were beset upon by a storm of-

Eyes going wide and pupils constricting into pinpricks, Joe was stunned into dead silence when a metallic shriek pierced his ears, and he realized that he was staring down the length of a sword's blade, a hole punched clean through the thin plating meant to do little beyond serve as a windbreak.

It couldn't be more than a few millimetres from his eye. If he blinked, he might risk cutting open his eyelid on the blade's tip.

Time seemed to have frozen, Joe staring forth in horror, and it took him a few moments to register that no, time had not frozen, Goddess had been scattered by a sudden onset assault, and standing before him… Scarlet was shielding him. Standing firm, yet at an awkward angle given the suddenness of the attack. Fleetly Fading had caught the assaulting blade, just barely having saved Joe's life.

Yet, beyond her, Joe's attention was drawn to the black-clad, red-eyed figure standing in opposition to the lone swordswoman of Goddess…

"...Thy hatred truly runs so deep," Scarlet started, grimacing heavily as her eyes blazed with fury, "that even death shall not stay thy blade? That Hell rejected one as wretched, corrupted, treasonous as thyself?"

Despite the withering words spat out by Scarlet, the woman, so similar in appearance to the swordswoman of Goddess—right down to sharing her crimson halo—looming over her simply… smiled. A genuine, adoring, loving smile, one bearing no malice, no hatred, no ill-intent at all.

"If no words come to thine foul tongue to defend thyself…" Scarlet continued, winding up and pushing back, the blade that had come so terribly close to skewering Joe's eye retracting from the Hoplon's hull inch-by-inch. "Then shall I take as much as a clear and shameless admission of guilt…!"

With explosive force, the assailant was thrown back. Catching herself on the ashen, cracked earth smoothly, with absolute ease. She stood with pride, gracefully, serenely despite the fel glow of her ominous crimson eyes. Still, she wore that smile, gazing upon Scarlet with unfettered affection.

"Rise from the dead, claw thy way from the darkest pits of Hell again, and again," Scarlet continued, keeping herself firmly set between Joe and the hostile Nikke. "For as many times as thy shall return, so too, shall I cut thee down again in turn! For thy crimes against humanity! For thy treacherous nature! Never shall another human life be cut short by thy blade!" Despite the absolute, unshaking resoluteness in her voice, tears clearly streamed down Scarlet's face. Her pain was so terribly clear to see, as clear as her steadfast, unbreaking nature and devotion to those she'd sworn to protect. "Thy heretical betrayal shall not go unpunished! You shall not deprive mankind this promised victory! On this day, I shall defeat thee, Rose!"

With that same, vacant, yet genuinely affectionate smile, Rose readied her sword, and beckoned her sister to approach her.

Scarlet rushed forth, Fleetly Fading screaming as it cut through the air, almost as loud and keenly as Scarlet herself did. Joe could not keep up with the sight before him. Scarlet and Rose, unquestionably, the greatest sword wielders to have ever walked the Earth, duelling with a speed and unrelenting fury that a mere mortal could not possibly hope to comprehend. Anything too close to them was shredded as if thrown into a blender. Dead Raptures, ruined buildings, nothing could stand against their blades save for each other. The edges of their weapon clashed with such ferocious rapidity as to produce a single, seemingly continuous keening cry.

It took Joe far longer than it should have to recover, to gather himself, and refocus on the situation, attention snapping to-and-fro to make sense of what was happening.

Scarlet fought Rose alone out of grim necessity. The rest of Goddess—Cinderella included—were entirely embroiled in simply attempting to survive the literal storm of swords which had overtaken the lot leading to the entrance of the Orbital Elevator. Blades, swords, an impossible amount, too many to count soared about the battlefield as arrows might, yet once within range of a Nikke, they moved as if wielded by phantom hands with as much grace as Rose used her own weapon.

At once, Goddess had been beset by a storm of steel which overwhelmed them to a hopeless degree—even Liliweiss, for all of her personal, legendary, seemingly insurmountable might, and Red Hood with Exceed's throttle fully opened struggled to do more than be pushed back and take countless small, perhaps individually insignificant, but rapidly mounting cuts.

For every sword shot out of the air by the impossibly sharp senses of Goddess Squad, a dozen more seemed to take its place. Even the weapons held by the girls were not spared—nicks building up upon the surface of the hardened Goddessium-built firearms, chunks cloven, gouges smote. Their weapons would rapidly be rendered useless.

Tracking Cinderella taking evasive manoeuvres, dipping, bobbing and dodging with all the agility provided to her by her capacity for flight and her featherweight frame… Joe's heart dropped into his stomach. The Glass Slippers. The swords weren't targeting Cinderella, they were targeting the Glass Slippers, and the weapons which were mankind's greatest hope of pushing into and up the Orbital Elevator were taking severe damage, so much that if Cinderella did anything beyond attempting to protect them with their shared agility, they would be destroyed outright. She couldn't fire without firing wildly, risking hitting anyone on the ground…

Refocusing on Scarlet, Joe noticed something… Rose. Her feet weren't touching the ground. She was floating, hovering. Just like Cinderella. The swords, the swords all swarming them autonomously… They were working off of the same system that linked the Glass Slippers to Cinderella. The assault on the Grimms production facility… The Raptures had devised a hard counter to Cinderella specifically.

"Commander! What do we do!?" Dorothy cried out, earnest desperation clear in her voice.

Fuck. Fuck.

"Commander! Help!" Snow White pleaded, hopelessly overwhelmed by something they never could have prepared for.

Fuck! Fuck!

"I-I'll try to heal- Ah!" Rapunzel started, cut off by her own cry of pain as a sword's edge ran up along the entire length of one of her legs.

It was right there! The elevator's main gates were right there! They were so close!

"I'm trying- I can't!" Red Hood snarled, doing her level best to strike out and catch the swords to no avail. "Commander! What do we do!?"

With a heavy grimace and ruinous determination, Joe raised the Hoplon's machine cannon, levelling it upon Rose. Would it even do anything beyond stagger her? It didn't need to. The only thing he needed to do was distract her, divide her attention, force her to make the mistake of shifting her attention from Scarlet. Scarlet had defeated her once, she could do so again. Once Rose was downed, if he was right, the swords would—had to fall with her.

Lining up his shot, Joe focused, even as sweat poured down his forehead and got into his eyes, he kept them locked open and focused. He watched, waited and watched, and…

Fire!

A stream of high-calibre anti-materiel rounds were projected right at the hostile Nikke's back—only for her to deflect them in the same motion with which she parried a cleaving blow from Scarlet with a spin.

Fuck!

He would have to keep trying, he had to do everything he possibly could to give Scarlet the opening she needed! They had to win here! They had to!

"-Commander!" Liliweiss' voice broke his concentration as it called out over comms. "We can't overcome this! We're all taking severe mounting damage! We have to retreat! Now!"

"We can't!" Joe cried back, firing off another volley, just as easily deflected as the first. "We mustn't! This is it! This is our only chance! If we lose here, we lose the war! We can do this! We can win! Just-"

"Joe! Call off the attack!" Liliweiss demanded of him as she barely reached out in time to take a sword through the palm of her hand which would have embedded itself in a visibly terrified Snow White's core. "We cannot win this! Call for a retreat, now!"

"No!" Joe refused in desperation, still trying to support Scarlet, his efforts still producing nothing. They'd come so far, they'd fought so hard, they couldn't fail here, if they did, if they did… Mankind's future, all hope of victory would-

With a crash, the Hoplon was knocked back, landing on its ass, Joe's eyes went wide in shock as the cockpit hatch cried and screamed in protest as it was forced open. Liliweiss, having tackled the Hoplon, gazed down at Joe with grim determination set on her features.

"NO!" He shouted, "Lilith, don't-!"

Reaching in, Liliweiss grabbed the man by the strap on the back of his flak vest, effortlessly tearing him from the machine, his neural connection to it harshly breaking in a severe disorienting manner as the Hoplon plug was torn from the base of his spine suddenly and inelegantly. Thrown over her shoulder, Liliweiss called out over comms: "The Commander has been hit! I repeat: the Commander has been hit! Retreat! Full retreat, now!"

Too disoriented to counter her order, from the perspective of Goddess, Joe's lack of a response and the fact that he'd been so harshly grabbed and was being carried away by Liliweiss was all the evidence they needed. Immediately, Goddess broke off from the engagement, fleeing desperately.

Even Scarlet, though Joe could see that she hesitated, was not so determined as to let herself die pointlessly.

Rose let her go.

She hovered there, watching Goddess flee, run away. Smiling brightly, still focused entirely on Scarlet, Rose just let them go. The blade storm had ceased, and each and every sword shot right for Rose… to take up position at her back, the weapons rapidly slotting into what seemed to be a preset position. As though materializing behind her, suddenly, the Nikke who had betrayed mankind had wings. Great, terrible, metallic, angel-like wings which stretched out so frighteningly far, the feathers of which were each an individual sword.

Rising, Scarlet's sister gained in altitude, taking to the sky to reveal herself to the many; to any and all who may be turning to the elevator in hopes of seeing the ascent of Goddess. Instead, they saw something far worse, a terrible omen, a fel augur.

Mankind, on that day, saw their promised victory stolen.

On that day, mankind lost the war.

On that day, mankind lost the Earth.

All the while, a cruel angel smiled.

The Legendary Commander of Goddess, naught but a mere human, could do nothing to stop it.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 58 - The Reason Why
===

In his personal quarters aboard the Avenger, Joe lay listless amidst the United Forces of Humanity's desperate retreat from Ecuador. There was no reason for him to be involved in the discussions about plans going forward: Liliweiss had made it clear with her actions that his words and will held no weight.

Though that had previously gone without saying beforehand, she had hammered it in home when she superseded his directive, and threw away mankind's only hope of victory the moment they had encountered actual opposition they hadn't previously accounted for; rather than so much as allowing for the chance for someone else to improvise and adapt to the situation at hand.

So, he wouldn't respond to summons to attend strategic meetings from there on out. Why was he the Commander of Goddess? To preserve the integrity of Goddess and ensure that the squad would be capable of operating unfettered in the interest of working towards the defeat of the Raptures and save their civilization and planet. Liliweiss had just thrown that one and only opportunity away, so there was no point in even entertaining the facade anymore, and he wouldn't.

None of it mattered. Absolutely none of it had ultimately mattered. Every single battle, every victory, every loss, every inch gained, every life lost fighting for mankind's future… All of it, cast aside. All of this, despite the fact that if he'd just been given a few more moments to gather himself-

The door to the hallway opened, a distinctive click-clack sounding out as the dark room was suddenly flooded with light. With a pause, the heeled figure paused, warily moving for the bed on other side of the quarters-

Only to bump into Joe's leg where he'd slumped down and let himself fall right there against the wall next to the door.

Silence reigned for several long moments. Joe not acknowledging the interloper, simply allowing himself to continue to limply lay where he had awkwardly fell against the wall. Shortly, though, the figure shifted to settle herself on her knees before him, and Dorothy encircled her arms around Joe. She drew him up with all the ease expected of a super soldier, holding him with a forlorn expression on her soft features. "Joe…" she breathed, visibly and audibly heartbroken to see him in such a state.

"...She was distracting everyone," Joe started in a low voice that borderlined on a whisper, causing Dorothy to blink in some measure of confusion. "She only had a sword… She was able to hold Scarlet at bay because her gambit to confuse and overwhelm us worked… I realized it as Liliweiss carried me off. If I'd been allowed to recover, to focus before she forced a retreat… If all of you had just attacked Rose at once, ignored her storm of swords, tanked the damage they'd inflicted and descended on her, shredded her from all directions at once while Cinderella targeted her remote blades from a distance…"

Dorothy had gone completely still, her lips parting ever-so-slightly, a frown rapidly finding purchase on her face as realization struck her.

"...We could have done it," Joe continued, his voice weak, bereft of any of the boisterous life Goddess was so used to hearing from him. "You girls… you could have done it. We could have beat her. We could have ascended the elevator… We could have ended this war. I know it. I know it. My girls, you could have done it…"

After a pause, Dorothy drew him in tightly, frowning heavily. "...You never lost faith in us. You had a plan, like every other time it had ever mattered, you had a plan: if only… If only you'd been allowed to… Joe… I believe in you, I still believe in you, just like you believe in me. One day, one day, we'll make it right. I promise, I swear. I'll be right there, I'll be right by your side when we do. I'll always, I'll never stop believing in you, Joe… Commander…"

With no more words spoken between the pair, Dorothy continued to cradle Joe in his state of utter resigned defeat and despair. Gradually, as the weight of their failure pressed down upon him despite Dorothy's earnest attempts to comfort and reaffirm their cause and ability to save the world to him, as his body gave in to the overwhelming fatigue of how terribly everything had gone, Joe started to fade into unconsciousness.

In the wake of his utter failure as a Commander, as Dorothy continued to believe in him, he didn't understand why.

---

Eyes fluttering, Joe shifted where he lay, his bed groaning slightly under his weight.

"Ah," a voice altogether different from Dorothy's caught his attention. "Joe?" A gentle inquisition came. "Are you awake?"

Looking over, a familiar little gremlin woman was seated on the edge of his bed, her expression somewhat placid.

"...Not today, Red Hood," Joe slurred out with a grumble, given everything that had just happened. "I'm really not in the mood for 'a morning quickie' now, of all times…"

Any time Red Hood had sneaked into Joe's bedroom in the morning, she wanted sex. And Joe was really not feeling up to that, given the-

Wait, what happened to Dorothy-?

Mind spooling up, Joe was suddenly keenly aware of the sharp, lingering pain in his hands. He was aware of the fact that his bed was far nicer than the one in the Avenger, and since when did Red Hood lounge about without Exceed on? To say nothing of her suddenly having an indoor voice-

Eyes going wide, the Commander's attention whipped around to refocus on Red Hood… To find Rapi, eyes as wide as saucers and face rapidly burning as bright a red as her strawberry blonde hair would when Exceed was active.

He was back in the Outpost. Everything that had just happened was memories flooding back into him: the operation to assault the Orbital Elevator…

Oh. Shit. He- he just revealed to Rapi that back during the days of Goddess that they'd…

Oh shit.

Launching himself from the bed, still fully dressed as he'd passed out without disrobing first, Joe sharply declared: "S-so you're back from special maintenance, then?" Awkwardly standing as he lightly swayed from lightheadedness.

"Y-yes," Rapi replied as she sat on the edge of Joe's bed, eyes now locked firmly on the floor as she blushed a neon red he'd have never expected to see on the militaristic little woman. "I-I'm fine, Commander. As fine as I can be."

"G-good-" Joe started, flinching with a heavy grimace as he went to run his hand over his scalp—an unpleasant reminder of the fact that he'd just torn up his own palms the night previous…

At the reminder of the Commander's injury, Rapi, despite herself, immediately rose to her feet and sharply reached out to grab at his wrist, going about to check his palm by removing the bloodied gauze that had been wrapped around it. "We need to change your bandages. I'll do that, then book an appointment in the nearest hospital in the Ark," she declared as she about-faced and moved for the washroom to grab the room's medkit.

"Y-yeah," Joe let out a shuddering sigh, his hands pulsing with pain as he looked at the unpleasant wound. Refocusing on Rapi… it registered to him that this was easily the most dressed-down he'd seen her. No beret, no jacket, no combat webbing… just her long, sleeveless split-legged shirt, thigh-highs, and heels. Even in what seemed to be her casual wear, Rapi wore her necktie, which was wildly in-character for her.

…She really was a stunning little beauty, wasn't she?

Attentively, Rapi went about cleaning Joe's palm wounds and re-wrapping them with fresh gauze. She was notably far gentler than she'd been with Marian when checking her for injuries on their first deployment together… As precise as ever, but with a kinder touch than she seemed willing to bother with initially. Once she was done, rather than backing off immediately, the little blonde held onto Joe's hands, staring at them with a distant expression.

After a few moments of that, it registered just how soft Rapi's skin was. For someone that did the sorts of things she did with such tiny little digits, one would logically imagine that they'd be ruinously calloused. But Nikkes were by their very nature operating on an unfair playing field as far as ordinary humans were concerned. Little wonder, that the most battle-hardened women to have ever lived, were able to retain the softer aspects associated with traditional femininity, despite their purpose.

…Rapi continued to just absentmindedly handle Joe's own hands, running her fingers over his digits with an almost longing attention to detail. She… didn't have the carnal proclivities she once did as Red Hood, right-?

Joe hissed when the little Nikke's thumb drifted over his bandaged palms with a little too much pressure, Rapi jumped, eyes going wide, and she backed off rather sharply. "Ah- I-" she stammered out, once again beginning to blush rather heavily before she grabbed the medkit and rushed to return it to its designated place, returning with a pair of pills Joe recognized as the same painkillers she'd offered him the night previous. "-Here," she went to raise them to his mouth herself.

When Joe opened his mouth to protest, because he could take pills himself, Rapi just took the chance to cup her hand over his mouth, smoothly depositing the pills as she did so. At the very least, she backed off immediately rather than make it weird by staying in his personal space.

Not that Joe particularly minded the idea of Rapi invading his personal space, but it was the principle of the thing that mattered.

Though, taking in the sight of Rapi more dressed down, behaving more… gently, in a more considerate manner than usual, the importance of principles perhaps waved a bit in Joe's mind.

"...Do you like it?" Rapi suddenly inquired.

"E-bwah?" Joe bawked not entirely unlike a donkey as he realized he'd just started staring at Rapi's body, and it registered what she'd asked. "Hwat?" in his befuddlement, he overemphasized the 'h' in 'what' to a comical degree.

"...My outfit," Rapi elaborated, eyes shyly averted, an uncertain expression worn on her features as her blush had become far more subdued. Standing with her hips cocked as she usually did in that way which called attention to her curvaceous figure. "Do you like it?"

"Holy shit yes," Joe immediately affirmed by way of reply without an instant of hesitation or shame.

Rapi's eyes went wide as she looked up at him in no small amount of shock, which quickly shifted to a small, smug, satisfied little grin which complimented her blush entirely too well. "...Good," she said happily.

Joe hadn't offered Rapi many compliments because he didn't get the impression that she would particularly care, given her personality. But if she asked, then by golly did he have no compunctions about being open about how appreciative he was of her looks and fashion sense. Rapi had an aesthetic, and rocked it, to say the least.

So pleased was he by Rapi's smile and the balming effect it had on what would have otherwise been a shitty morning—after remembering how badly the assault on the Orbital Elevator had gone a century prior—that he didn't even register how deeply unusual it was for him to wake up with Rapi in his room, seeming to have been waiting for him to awaken.

Pretty girls had a way of shorting out Joe's intellect, needless to say.

---

Rapi had called the Ark's primary hospital to book an appointment to get Joe's hands checked out. Upon his name being mentioned, she had been informed that they could come in whenever they pleased and they'd make time and room for 'The Tyrant Breaker,' no appointment necessary. Given that it was otherwise hospital policy that there were no walk-ins, that immediately demonstrated that word of the accomplishments of Counters was spreading and not going unacknowledged.

Even regular Commanders simply didn't get that sort of preferential treatment from Government services. That made Joe more than a little uncomfortable, but he supposed it was what it was.

So, Rapi, worriedly wanting Joe to get his hands checked out as soon as possible, pressed to immediately go down to the Ark and do just that.

Then, partway down the elevator to the Ark, Joe's stomach very loudly growled. A firm reminder that the last time he'd eaten was back in that abandoned house in the Yukon.

The distress on Rapi's face once she'd processed that was almost- No, it was adorable, given how usually stoic she was. Upon being assured that they could just eat in the Ark, she chilled out, mercifully.

Rather than beelining for the hospital as seemed to be the original plan, they diverted to find food. Upon spotting a food stand of some kind, Rapi insisted that Joe find a nearby bench to wait at while she waited in line for them. Though he wanted to protest… The pleading look she gave him successfully guilt-tripped him into agreeing, and so Joe moved for a nearby bench set before one of the Ark's parks.

Joe didn't pay the park itself any real mind, simply settling into the seat and letting his eyes glaze over.

As the minutes passed while Rapi waited to order, it didn't take long for his thoughts to, without a distraction, drift back to the Orbital Elevator, the failure of Goddess Squad to overcome the most important challenge mankind would have ever faced, the day the war against the Raptures was lost. The feelings started to bubble up again, the guilt, the shame, the knowledge that they'd let the entirety of humanity down, that they'd damned them all to this underground Hell in their failure.

If only Liliweiss hadn't forced a retreat. If only he'd been quicker to think. If only he'd remembered to rely upon the girls instead of trying to be the guy that solved issues with a gun he damn well knew was of minimal worth in his hands. What the fuck was even the point of it all? Why had they kept fighting after that? Why had they bothered, when this suffocating hole in the ground was all they'd have to show for it? What was the reason why-?

Joe's thought process was broken as the opposite end of the bench was claimed. Not by Rapi, but by an older man with a cane. A very old man, in fact. A stark white head of hair, deep wrinkles that spoke to a long-lived life, eyes containing that deeply-entrenched wisdom that seemed so common among the truly elderly. He was contentedly gazing out into the park, to which Joe didn't pay him much mind. Just another Ark dweller, another pedestrian going about his life, after-

"That's my family over there, you know," the old figure, dressed as any common man would be, declared out of the blue with a notable Scottish accent. This caught Joe's attention again, to which he glanced at the man, then followed his gaze to see a pair of adults with children beneath a tree. Playing, enjoying what seemed to be a simple family outing. "My children, and grandchildren. Getting to enjoy a gentle day. Getting to live as though the Raptures might as well not even exist, even in just this one little underground bubble…"

Joe turned to gaze at the man out of the corner of his eye. He'd have been more weirded out, had it been a younger man, but the elderly did tend to have a tendency to ramble, so he simply allowed it. Even if it was… Poking at the semi-open wound that was his feelings on the war with the Raptures-

"You might be a bit too young to remember this," the geezer continued, clearly speaking directly to Joe. "But, there was a time when everyone thought it was all over. When there would be no future for anyone, anywhere. I was one of them. Just a little boy, when the Raptures invaded."

At that, Joe's curiosity was genuinely piqued. He supposed it shouldn't be all that surprising, given that all the food in the Ark was laced with additives that actually significantly extended the natural lifespans of humans. Someone that was very young when the Raptures first showed up could well still be alive a century later. Joe would imagine they'd be rare, though. All things considered… There probably weren't many common people left that were actually there. Not many people that would remember living beneath the real sky…

The old man kept talking. "Back then, everyone was so scared. So terrified. Rightfully so, I suppose. Nobody wanted to have kids, to bring new life into a world about to die. There was no hope, after all. Hope had been extinguished, and there was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide." Closing his eyes, he leaned back about as far as he could, with his back seemingly somewhat permanently bent. "But, I remembered. I remembered the heroes that gave us hope, even in those darkest days. That defended us, gave us an Ark in which to take shelter, upon which to ride out the coming storm, the flood that would overrun the whole world."

Opening his eyes again, the old man looked about somewhat conspiratorially, as though checking to see if they were being watched. Once he seemed satisfied that their talk was as private as could be in a public park, he leaned over to Joe, and whispered in a quiet voice.

"We aren't supposed to talk about those old days anymore. They never made it a proper rule, but it was one we all learned all the same… But, I've met the Goddess Squad and the Legendary Commander, you know."

Eyes widening in some measure of surprise, Joe blinked, then relaxed. An old man just spinning a yarn for its own sake. Nothing to worry about.

With a chuckle, the old man waggled his finger at Joe as he continued. "I can see that you don't believe me, but it's true!" He continued to speak quietly, though with no small amount of lively vigour upon bringing up Goddess and… well, surely unbeknownst to the elderly figure, Joe himself. "Even back then, everyone would tell you that the Legendary Commander, why, he was twelve feet tall!" The man motioned outwards and upwards with his hands for emphasis, getting into telling a tall tale as though speaking to an excitable child. "Larger than life, with a lion's mane of hair, arms as wide around as trees, skin like steel, and a stare that could melt metal! But! Let me tell you something truly extraordinary about the Legendary Commander! He was no giant. No shining, angelic figure or hero from the old Greek myths."

Shaking his head in amusement, the old man tapped his cane on the concrete path the bench was set alongside.

"He was just a man. Of about average, maybe a little above average height. His skin wasn't made of steel. And he wasn't built like Hercules. But, he had what it took regardless. He didn't need to be a God. He didn't need to be larger than life. The way those girls, the Goddess squad looked at him… Just a man was all he needed to be. And he never presumed to be more than that. He even told me that himself, in Edinburgh. When he stopped in the middle of the parade celebrating the reclamation of London, and took a knee to acknowledge a starstruck little boy."

…Ah- Oh.

"He said to me, 'I'm just a soldier, doing his duty. No more, no less. You should be thanking them. The real heroes are the girls that fight to protect everyone,' right as he turned and pointed to the closest Nikke to him. None other than Red Hood. The most beautiful woman I ever did lay eyes on, I swear." With a start, the old figure creakily turned about in his seat, as though worried he was about to be struck by something. "But don't ever let my wife hear that I said that! She'll whoop me good with her slipper, she will! Jealous old fiend she is!" He chortled in amusement at his own joke.

Joe, meanwhile, had just gone stock still. There was no way… Right?

"Then," the ancient figure kept on talking. "Miss Red Hood noticed she was being pointed to, and she barrelled on over like a rhino, and asked if I wanted an autograph with a big, giant smile that stretched from ear-to-ear. Instead, smitten even then, I asked her to marry me instead!" he laughed as much as he could with lungs as aged as his. "She actually fell over laughing right there in the street, and I felt like I'd burst into flames from embarrassment!"

Not particularly acknowledging how Joe seemed frozen in time, the old man just kept going.

"The Legendary Commander was right, of course. Nikkes, they don't get treated right, for all they do for our sake. One day, I hope that everyone will see that, and finally, the Ark will-"

"-Joe?" Rapi's voice cut the old man off, the blonde approaching with a pair of foil-wrapped somethings in each hand, looking over the small tableau with some measure of confusion. "Who's this?"

At her appearance, the old man's eyes almost began to glimmer. And he simply stared at her for a few long moments, a smile wide, and deeply relieved finding purchase on his wizened features. While Rapi just looked between Joe and the elderly man, awaiting a response, the old man rose to his feet somewhat shakily, stooped over upon his cane, letting out a wheezing sigh as he did so. "I suppose I ought to let you kids enjoy your date, huh?" He rhetorically asked as Rapi lightly sputtered in reply. "I appreciate you entertaining a doddering old fool, young man. Not many will listen so respectfully to a coot half as grey as me these days. And I should go and spend more of what time I have left with my grandkids."

He started off at that, initially, with a purpose. But, he halted not long after, taking a deep breath, seemingly to steel himself.

"You know," the elderly figure said. "I always wished I could have told the Legendary Commander and Goddess how grateful I am. For the life they gave me. For the life they gave my children, and their children in turn. For the Ark they gave us. For the chance to live even a facsimile of an ordinary life, when by all rights, there shouldn't be any of us left."

The old man's voice became shaky as he continued to speak.

"I wish I could have expressed to them how much it mattered. How in the end, they never stopped being our heroes. How, despite the Central Government's best efforts, we never forgot them, and always trusted that somehow, some way… Their will would carry on to the future, and carry humanity on to that victory we were promised, and then, to the stars beyond. Where one day, the Rapture invasion would be nothing but another dark page in humanity's history. A future where those who follow in our footsteps, will look back upon, and remember as an age of the truest heroes to have ever walked the Earth's surface."

There was a long pause in which nobody spoke. The old man's back was still facing both Rapi and Joe. Eventually, he did turn around, however. His eyes were glistening with moisture, a smile, equal parts contented and grateful stretched across his ancient features.

"I'd thank them, from the deepest depths of my soul. For all they'd done. For all they'd sacrificed for our sakes. I'd thank them for never having stopped fighting. I'd thank them, because I know, if they could, they'd still be fighting for us to this very day, even if so many of us don't deserve it. I'd thank them for being true heroes."

Another stretch of silence in which Rapi stood stunned, and Joe just stared, utterly dumbstruck.

With a shaky hand, the old man lifted his arm, and standing as straight as his worn-down body would allow, he saluted both Joe and Rapi, and declared with a warbly voice: "Ma'am, Commander. Thank you for your service."

With that, having finally directly thanked at least two of the legendary figures everyone owed everything to, without openly declaring it for all of the Ark and Central Government to hear, the old man let his arm settle at this side again, and simply turned off to continue to make his way to his family. Joe and Rapi watched as his grandchildren cheered at his presence and had to be told off for trying to excitedly jump on him.

Eventually, Rapi, with no small amount of hesitation, stepped before Joe, an uncertain look on her face as she stared down at him. "...How did he know you're a Commander?" she inquired, given that Joe wasn't wearing his uniform, and had his dog tags tucked away under his shirt. "How did he know I'm a Nikke?"

In turn, Joe just patted the spot next to him, not quite trusting himself to speak after being spiked through by that old man's words. Seeming to understand, the former member of Goddess simply took a seat next to the Commander, handing him his half of a sandwich, absolutely loaded with deli meats, lettuce, pickles, and what was clearly honey mustard on toasted garlic bread. Exactly the way Joe liked it.

…Exactly. As though Rapi somehow knew…

"...You've started remembering the past too, huh?" he inquired with a hoarse voice, given that otherwise, Rapi shouldn't have had reason to know exactly what he would have liked out of a sandwich; she'd never seen him eat one in their time together as Counters, after all.

It took her a few moments, but, still clearly overwhelmed, she just shallowly nodded once in affirmation.

With a small smile, Joe quietly declared, so that just the two of them would hear: "It seems like we aren't the only ones that remember, then," his gaze drifting up to the old man and his family, clearly happy, clearly living good lives, despite everything, despite Goddess' failure to destroy the Rapture Queen a century earlier. Despite how seemingly total, how hopelessly ruinous their defeat had been…

…Maybe continuing the fight was all worth it, after all.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 59 - The Return
===

Upon returning to the Outpost, hands professionally tended to and Rapi placated, Joe moved to amble his way back up to his office. Shredded palms or not, he still had a job to do as the Commander of Counters, and he didn't type with the meat of his hands.

To say nothing of the fact that they needed to prepare to go out and reunite with Pioneer. They weren't terribly far away, so it shouldn't take that long to get to them—far less than even an entire day—but still best to have all their ducks in order before heading out to the surface.

With luck, it had turned out that there wasn't all that much to account for. Everything was quickly ordered, and with unexpected rapidity, Joe found that they were already prepared to deploy to the surface and seek out the remnants of Goddess.

Then Joe was surprised and confused when he found that Rapi, Anis, and Neon were the only members of Counters that were available to deploy, as the MP girls were otherwise occupied with 'Dispatches,' whatever the fuck those were.

Not that he would have been dumb enough to bring anyone else along to meet Pioneer, but—actually, suddenly the Command Centre being so quiet made some sense. The building was empty of everyone save for just Joe and the original Counters girls.

That being said, after some consideration, he came to the conclusion that, maybe, it should just be himself and Rapi that went out. Both because Anis was visibly overwhelmed by everything that had already happened and probably needed some time to decompress, and Neon… Was Neon. She should probably just sit this one out.

"Just you and I should probably head out to meet Pioneer," Joe declared to Rapi, who had only briefly separated from him to get fully dressed in her typical beret and jacket. She then followed him to his room and plonked herself down on the couch, just quietly watching him work.

The little Nikke blinked at being addressed, shifting in place uncomfortably. "...Shouldn't we wait until your hands have healed?" She asked.

"We're not making them sit out there waiting for us for weeks on end, Rapi," Joe replied dryly and pointedly. "It's a straight shot to them as according to Snow White's map, and we can reasonably assume that they're keeping the area clear for us too."

"...Very well," Rapi acknowledged the assertion with a degree of resignation. "So, we're just… Going now?"

"Well, we have to pack for a day trip, but, it'd probably be best to not leave them hanging for too long," Joe declared as he tapped away at his computer, ensuring their stuff was in order for the trip. "We'll pack assuming it's gonna be an overnight thing, since, well… I figure we're gonna get all caught up in reunions, and such."

"...I see," Rapi grimaced, discomforted by the notion of being reunited with Pioneer, but making an effort to keep it to herself lest she cause unnecessary problems. A sharp contrast to her time as Red Hood, wherein she'd have hemmed and hawed and whined and cried in an attempt to avoid the potential discomfort.

As she had promised to Joe, back then, in the Central Government HQ, she had to do and be better for him.

---

Upon sending a message to Andersen indicating that he and Rapi were about to leave to make contact with Pioneer, Andersen responded with a phone call.

"Before you go to that," the Deputy-Chief Commander started immediately, "There's something I want you both to do first. There's a shipping container next to the Command Centre, among all the rest holding shipments from Elysion and Tetra Line for the Outpost's upkeep. It's the one red one that's a noticeably more intense shade compared to the rest. It has a digital lock. I'll message you the code to open it. Take Rapi, and collect what's inside, and after… Wait for a while as I have a package sent to the Command Centre for you."

Joe blinked, an eyebrow quirking as he inquired: "And what would that be? Either of these things."

"What's in the container? You'll see," Andersen stated matter-of-factually. "As for the package? It's…" the man paused, steeling himself on the other end of the line for a moment before continuing. "It's for Ellie, if she's among Pioneer when you reunite with them."

…Ah. "Okay, I'll be sure to pack it along when we head out," Joe responded simply.

"Good. Good…" Andersen trailed off, seeming to be a little winded by the topic. "So… I'll leave you to it, then."

"Alright," Joe nodded, despite Andersen not being able to see him. "You'll know as soon as we're back."

"I know. Good luck out there." With that, the older man ended the call, and a few moments later, the promised code was passed along to him via text message.

Nodding, Joe gathered Rapi up, informed her of the current plan, and the pair immediately went to find the container in question. It was pretty deep into the lot. Clearly done to hide it in plain sight. But, just as advertised, it was the one container that was a noticeably more intense red compared to the rest.

Upon finding the key pad—which was itself hidden beneath a low-profile swing-out case—the code was punched in, and the doors audibly unlocked. It only just occurred to Joe that this meant that the container must have been powered, strangely enough.

But, moving on, he swung open the industrial double doors, and immediately, a light from within flicked on; illuminating what would have otherwise been a dark interior.

Rapi let out a small gasp, and at once, the man could see why. Inside, at the end of the container, were Red Hood's bright red leather jacket and scarf set upon a simple stand, and her personal M82A2 over-the-shoulder anti-material rifle, Wolf's Bane.

There was a notable pause in which Joe simply turned aside to look at Rapi. She was staring, eyes wide and rapidly fluttering. No small amount of melancholy overtook her features as she slowly stepped into the container, making her way towards her old, signature garb and weapon.

Following her in quietly, Joe watched the strawberry blonde as she approached the artifacts of another life once lived. She stopped before the jacket, and gingerly reached out, brushing her fingertips down a sleeve, then taking a proper hold of one. "...It's just as I remember it…" she noted quietly, under her breath. Her voice was suffused with a pensive nostalgia terribly unlike her. "All this time…" turning aside, she acknowledged the massive rifle resting upon a gun rack embedded into the metallic wall of the container.

The weapon was far too large for her diminutive frame, such was plain to see even with it simply resting within arm's reach of the little woman. Yet, Joe remembered clearly how she'd flail that thing around like it weighed nothing, handling it like a child would a pop gun with dismissive ease.

Unlike the generic grey M82A2 she'd carried into the Yukon, this one was a midnight black with bright red accents. It had a massive custom super-tech scope, a muzzle brake which nearly came to a point to facilitate her tendency to drive it into Raptures like a spear. A personalized red and black sling was attached to it at the barrel and butt of the stock, and it was decorated with a decal depicting a red and white wolf clutching in its teeth a length of red fabric bearing the weapon's name.

Snow White had personally built this thing for Red Hood when she first joined Goddess. Every single part of the weapon was expertly crafted and customized. Back then, Red Hood appreciated the act of generosity on the part of the squad's youngest, but never truly seemed to internalize just how much effort and skill had gone into craft producing this firearm by hand for her.

Now, however, Rapi ran her fingers along the weapon's body with a distinct reverence Joe had yet to see from her. She had changed no small amount since she bore the title of Red Hood. In many ways, she had matured significantly since that time. Time enough to appreciate a long-lost gift, it seemed.

After a few moments of simply basking in having these once-forgotten treasures all within arm's reach again, Rapi turned back to the scarf—which was simply slung across the jacket's shoulders—and took the old length of fabric in both hands. She just stood there, holding it for a time.

Releasing the scarf, she stepped back—and after a few moments—reached up to remove her beret, setting it aside atop Wolf's Bane, then removing her black and red-accented jacket in turn.

She looked upon the cropped coat she'd been wearing since at least as long as she and Joe had been reunited, and with a heavy sigh, spoke up. "...I shouldn't have been wearing these anymore anyways," she declared, voice soft, regretful. "My Absolute uniform… I clung to it all this time, despite having left the squad a long time ago. As though I was only taking a break from it. As though I intended to go back to them one day…" letting out a shuddering sigh, she set the black leather jacket atop Wolf's Bane as well.

With her shoulders bare, she reached out to take her old scarf, deftly wrapping it around her neck, just as she would have back during the days of Goddess. Then, just as quickly and smoothly, the bright red leather jacket with a white liner and a silvery crest depicting a roaring wolf on the lapel rested upon her shoulders for the first time in a century.

Reaching up, Rapi ran her arms across the nape of her neck, under her hair, and spread them out to draw her long locks out from under her jacket, streaming down her back like a strawberry blonde waterfall.

Turning back around, the echo of Red Hood looked up at Joe. Recognizable, but unquestionably distorted by the passage of time. Her hair was no longer messy, her expression far from the cocksure, foolhardy grin he had once known. Her eyes lacked that vague, deliberate lack of awareness they once did, instead infused with a particular keen edge that betrayed her razor-sharp intellect. Yet…

There she was. The little woman that had caused him so much trouble, so much grief, so much annoyance, so many needless headaches. All of that, and yet still, joy, laughter, comfort, camaraderie, and, even…

Pointedly ignoring the sharp jolt through his heart that consisted of equal parts pain, longing, and adoration, Joe cleared his throat as he smiled down at Rapi. He did so, even despite the awareness of the moisture building up in the corners of her eyes, accompanied by the slightest shuddering of her lips. "Looking as good as ever," he declared, giving the blonde an approving thumbs-up. "Little Red."

The misting of Rapi's eyes doubled at the mention of the nickname Joe had last used for her a hundred years previously. She sharply averted her gaze, and attempted to swallow a lump rapidly growing in her throat. After a moment of no small amount of awkward silence, she suddenly lurched forward and wrapped her arms around the larger man's midsection, drawing him into a tight hug.

It took him a moment to process, but with an owlish blink, the Commander responded in kind as he circled his own arms around Rapi's tiny frame.

"...Thank you, Joe," she uttered quietly. "Thank you… Thank you," she repeated herself with increasing fervency each time.

Something told the man in question that this was about something more than what was immediately happening, but, this hardly seemed like the time or place. So, rather than press that, Joe simply squeezed Rapi and patted her on the back lightly. It somehow didn't feel like the right time to talk more about… Whatever it was that might've been going on in her head.

So, after a bit, the two disentangled from each other, and Rapi took her Absolute jacket and beret, tucking them under her arm as she grabbed Wolf's Bane and easily set it in place over her shoulder… In just the exact same way she always had back then.

If there had been any doubt before, it was gone. Her personality might've been forever changed, her memories broken and fragmentary… But Red Hood was still in there. Rapi hadn't fully lost herself. How else could she so easily assume that stance she always held while her signature weapon was slung over her shoulder? Just… Reassume her previous mantle without even thinking about it.

Rapi was Red Hood. She simply was. She had changed, but that was just what people did. Scarlet had changed. As had Snow White. Though he couldn't speak to Dorothy, Cinderella or Rapunzel just yet, he was sure they wouldn't be the exact same people he remembered from their time aboard the Avenger either.

With that thought, smiling broadly down at the little blonde, Joe declared with a gesture to follow him: "Come on then, little troublemaker. The squad awaits."

Though Rapi was far more hesitant about the notion, she didn't protest as she followed Joe as faithfully as ever.

It was as he said: Goddess Squad was waiting for them.

---

With the package for Cinderella in tow, Joe and Rapi made their way across the surface, passing through the verdant green wilderness surrounding Vancouver and proceeding onward to Pioneer's camp.

The sun hung high, birds sang cheerily, and the wind blew lightly. There were no Raptures in sight, none visible from the drone's elevated vantage point… Really, ultimately, functionally, this just felt like a hiking trip. One complete with his old trusty sword—now dubbed The White Reaper's Talon—once more mounted on the back of his hip.

It was meditative, in a way. In no small part because unlike Neon and Anis, Rapi felt no apparent need to yap for its own sake. She seemed content to simply walk alongside Joe in silence, little other than the sounds of their footsteps to accompany them alongside those of nature.

Thus, they moved on with no distractions to divert their attention. It didn't take as long as one might've expected to eventually reach Pioneer's camp, consequently.

Approaching from a distance, the squad was settled under a lone tree, a small fire set in the midst of a pair of old camping tents.

Heart skipping no few number of beats, Joe focused on the crew. The girls—his girls. Goddess, those he'd left behind a century previous.

He saw them before he heard them. Notably, their backs were all turned to the Commander and Rapi, crowded around a particular point of focus, which, upon getting within earshot…

"...What if they don't recognize us!?" Cinderella's lovely voice cut through the air, acting like an arrow straight through the heart as it suddenly registered to him that they were right there. Everyone… Except Dorothy. Was she, maybe, out on patrol or something…?

Shaking his head, suddenly, it occurred to Joe that maybe Rapi was going through it just the same as him. So focused on keeping the ball going, Joe had simply gone full brain-off and fish-eyed on the road ahead without considering that, well… He and Rapi were about to reunite with the rest of the girls. A reunion a century in the making.

Looking aside to find Rapi, indeed, looking more than a little anxious, he reached out and gave her red-clad shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It's been so long! No, nooo," Cinderella continued to whine.

"Ellie, come on now," Rapunzel's gentle tone washed over Joe in turn as well. Hand out, she was comfortingly rubbing the back of the little silver-haired beauty more than an entire head shorter than her. "Joe wouldn't forget what we look like. He's going to stroll up, and it's going to be like nothing happened!"

Despite her attempts to reassure the far smaller Cinderella, Rapunzel had no small amount of anxiety filtering through into her own cadence as well.

"Rapunzel is correct," Snow White asserted in turn, rolling her shoulder with a huff. "The Commander has not forgotten us. And Red Hood… Can be reminded. It is as simple as that."

Where everyone else had been so inattentive as to completely fail to notice Joe and Rapi come to a stop, standing at the edge of the camp, Scarlet did notice. She had been standing somewhat apart from the rest, as was typical of her.

She, before anyone else, spied the two out of the corner of her eye, and with a wide, beaming smile, called out to her squadmate: "Cinderella, art thou truly so keen on the possibility that the Commander and Red Hood might happen upon thee in such a state? Hemming, hawing like an anxious teen… Imagine, perhaps, what they might say if this was the state in which they'd first seen thee after a century apart?"

Oh, Scarlet you mean little lady.

"Nooo!!!" Cinderella shook her head, almost seeming to attempt to fuse with the tree she was standing against now. "Don't say that! They wouldn't… My hair's a bird's nest! I haven't been tending to myself adequately at all lately, have I? I-I have to make sure I look good in case they arrive today!"

Reaching into a small pouch worn on her thigh, she withdrew a folding hand mirror. Popping it open low, and immediately checking her features in it as she was stooped over.

"Oh, my eyelashes are in disarray, my lips are so dry… No, don't let this be how they see me for the first time again!" Cinderella whined and worried about her flawless looks, as she typically did. "Maybe it's just the angle? I'll just-"

Lifting the mirror up to eye level, Cinderella suddenly stopped speaking, catching sight of Joe and Rapi's reflection over her shoulder, and harshly gasping before spinning in place as she dropped the mirror outright.

Everyone else quickly followed suit. While Snow White and Scarlet just smiled widely at the familiar sight of the two on the other side of camp, Rapunzel had clasped her hands over her mouth in surprise.

Where Cinderella stared in open shock, tears immediately began streaming down Rapunzel's cheeks as she looked upon their long-lost, once thought long dead teammates.

Choking, sobbing, the white and black-clad priestess began wavering where she stood, so overwhelmed with emotion was she. It took a few moments, but Cinderella too began to process that Joe and Rapi were right there, and tears rapidly formed and began to freely fall down her face.

Joe couldn't help but smile, seeing these faces that he now recognized so clearly, as all the emotions, if not necessarily the memories, came back to him in a torrential flood. His girls… So damned long he'd left them to wonder, to wander. So damned long, they'd been left to think him and Rapi dead. So damned long, they'd been left to needlessly mourn.

No more. Never again.

Working past the lump growing in his throat, Joe was the first to speak up. "Hey girls," he started with no small amount of a heavy warble present in his gravelly voice, Rapi silently, anxiously shifting her weight as she looked upon her old, once forgotten comrades with blatant uncertainty.

Yet Joe's smile only redoubled as he finished with a declaration.

"Kept you waiting, huh?"

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 60 - A Century in the Making
===

Immediately, Joe was bum rushed by Cinderella, the little silverette charging the burly brunet and tackling him around the waist. Had Rapi not reached out to catch him, the man would have been knocked flat on his back at the assault.

Rapunzel was quick to follow, the tall blonde too lunging out and pulling Joe, Cinderella, and Rapi into a big hug.

It surely went without saying that some ugly crying and incoherent blubbering was happening.

Shortly, Snow White and Scarlet both marched up and joined the rapidly snowballing standing cuddle pile. Joe, needless to say, was caught somewhere between Heaven and Hell—squished between a mess of beautiful women, most of which were ruinously soft, yet at the same time, they were hidden muscle women desperately crushing him with their vice-like grips and metal bones.

The man knew a fellow Canadian compatriot from the old world who would have attacked and dethroned God for the chance to be crushed between the arms of even one powerful woman. Unfortunately, Joe didn't quite share his long gone friend's proclivities towards muscle women, and so, was mostly just kind of suffering.

Aside from having Cinderella's whole, soft and supple body pressed into his own. That was the Heavenly aspect of the situation.

It took several long minutes for the girls to finally pull back and let the beleaguered, yet still genuinely smiling, man free. Except for Cinderella. Cinderella refused to let go, not that Joe could find much reason to complain about that.

It was no surprise when Rapunzel was the first between them to compose herself well enough to speak. "J-Joe…" she started, sniffling and wiping at the tears streaming down her face with both hands. "Red Hood…"

"Rapi," Snow White interjected to correct her fellow. "She goes by her real name, now."

"R-right," Rapunzel let out a shuddering breath, even as Rapi averted her gaze with no small amount of visible discomfort. "You two… It's been so long! It's so good to see you two again! We missed you so much!"

"They have been bounding about like anxious cats since we reconvened with them and were informed of our reunion," Scarlet remarked to Joe with a small grin. "Yeowling and braying as they paced about…"

"S-Scarlet!" Rapunzel immediately protested being called out by the resident squad alcoholic. "Y-you don't need to say that!"

"'Tis most amusing to do so, though," Scarlet asserted with a small, cat-like grin of satisfaction.

"This place is full of mean ladies," Joe remarked in a put-upon tone, which caused Rapunzel to choke and cover her mouth again—evidently taken aback by simply hearing his voice again.

Cinderella, meanwhile, slightly tightened her grip around his waist, damn near whimpering at the sound of the Commander's voice.

In reply, the man lightly patted the littlest Goddess on the back, smiling gently as he circled his arms around her shoulders. "Alright, alright, come on, I'm here Ellie…"

"Joe…" Cinderella whined as she attempted to somehow snuggle up even closer to the man in question, despite already having her entire body pressed into his. "Commander…!" The silverette hiccuped once, then twice, and Joe knew at once that she was crying.

That elicited a weary sigh from the man, who was the sort of guy that was very strongly affected by crying women. There wasn't much he could do about it, unfortunately. The girls had missed them. Thought them dead for an entire century. Now, here they were. Reunited with their former squad after one hundred years… It wouldn't have been reasonable to expect or demand that any of them not cry. Least of all Rapunzel, easily the most emotional of Pioneer. So… It was all Joe could do to just let the girls cry it out, get it out of their system.

Which meant, of course, that Rapunzel had to grab both Joe and Rapi and pull them into another hug along with Cinderella again. This went on for a fair while, too. An exhausting amount of time, in fact. Eventually, as Joe's worry continued to mount over the continued absence of Dorothy, he decided that it was time to coax Cinderella into backing off. "Ellie," he started as he gently stroked her platinum locks. "I can't really give you the package I was instructed to deliver to you if you won't let me move, you know."

That finally got her to react beyond stammering and whining. Pulling back slightly, she looked up at him with her big blue eye, still glistening with moisture. Though with no small amount of hesitation, she did peel herself off of his torso, stepping back as she continued to look up at him with uncertainty.

Smile redoubled, Joe unslung his backpack, dropping to a knee to dig into it and withdraw the package from within. It was unadorned, didn't look outwardly special outside of being sealed. Presenting it to the little silverette, to the intrigue of the rest of Pioneer, Joe noted as Cinderella reached out to take it with both hands: "Andersen had it shipped right to me just before we left, with instructions to make sure you received it if you were among Pioneer."

Everyone sharply halted at that, eyes going wide, and after a few moments, Snow White was the first to break the sudden silence. "...Andersen is alive!?" She cried, her smile somehow growing all the while.

"What?" Joe began incredulously. "You thought that stubborn old bastard would let the reaper take him before his duty was done?" He inquired rhetorically.

"I suppose the two of you always did have that in common," Rapunzel appraisingly noted with a beaming smile, wiping at renewed tears at the affirmation that Andersen too was still kicking around. "Stubborn, unreasonably so…"

"To think, the Reaper can do naught but watch as the men of miracles outpace him with such gallant ease," Scarlet added her own thoughts with an amused hum.

Snow White, meanwhile, laughed aloud at the revelation. "And here I thought it was unreasonable and greedy to hope he'd survived too! You two… I'd never imagined I'd meet two men that are just too stubborn to die!"

Yet, Cinderella looked as though she'd been flashbanged. Her lone visible eye having gone as wide as a saucer, she just stared uncomprehending at Joe for a good long couple of moments before she became responsive again. Gaze drifting down to the lightweight package, she finished reaching out for it, taking it terribly gingerly. It took her a few moments to seemingly work up the will to do so, but she slowly and deliberately undid the seals, revealing what was contained within, at least to herself.

After a beat, she reached in, and withdrew a piece of paper. It quickly became apparent from the way her eye scanned it left-to-right, that it was most certainly a hand-written note from Andersen. Partway through reading it, she let out a few strangled, choking sobs. Nobody spoke up or otherwise demanded to know what was written on it, because the message was intended for her, not the entire group. When she finished, Cinderella clamped her tearful eyes shut, and had to take a few bracing breaths.

Once she had recentered herself, the slip of paper was returned to the package, and she reached in to retrieve something else, presumably the main attraction, as it were. Easily, Cinderella withdrew from within… A pair of little plushies.

Rather than being situated on all fours like… Well, the Doro had been, they were instead seated upon their rumps with their stubby little legs and arms splayed out in a cutesy manner. The subjects in question were of Cinderella herself, and Andersen as he'd appeared in his High Commander uniform. Notably, the Andersen plush was holding a little flag depicting a crude chibi depiction of Cinderella's face with markered-on text reading '#1 daughter.' While the two plushies were set to dangle from keychains, they could also be joined together by their left and right hands respectively by sewn-on Velcro strips.

Cinderella stared at the paired little dolls, which, Joe idly recognized from his memories, were the only two figures she had never gotten around to creating plushies of by her own hand. Back on the Avenger, she'd made little cutesy depictions of the entire squad, sans herself and her father.

Andersen, it seemed, at some point, finished the job for her, possibly believing that she'd died before she'd gotten the chance to.

While Rapunzel, at the sight, immediately started sniffling and lightly crying again, it took a fair few moments for it to seem to register to Cinderella. Gently, she joined the doll's hands together, and at once, her lips and shoulders started quaking before she rapidly drew them both into her chest in a tight, desperate hug. "Dad…" the silverette mewled, "S-stupid old man…!" Tears flowed as freely as they had before, and without hesitation, Joe drew Cinderella into a hug of his own this time. One which Rapunzel was, again, quick to join in on, both immediately seeking to comfort their emotionally overwhelmed squadmate.

As Rapi hung back, feeling more than a little awkward—despite remembering as much as Joe himself did now—Snow White approached her to take up position alongside her, as she always would back then. Though Rapi once more averted her gaze with some uncertainty, Snow White spoke up. "Our situations aren't so different, you know," she started, eliciting a surprised look from Rapi. "I used to be a completely different person as well, and was utterly changed by a mind switch just the same. I understand that it can feel daunting, that it can leave you feeling an overwhelming sense of imposter syndrome… But even if you don't remember the things we do, it doesn't matter. You're still our sister, and we're all still grateful beyond words to have you back."

Reaching out, Snow White set her hand on the red-bedecked little strawberry blonde's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Rapi, or Red Hood, it doesn't matter. You're still her. You're still one of us. If you don't remember, then we'll just make new memories together. It's as simple as that."

That got to Rapi, causing her to once more avert her gaze, grimacing despite the reunion being what it was. There were several reasons for that, but one of which being… "...I've remembered more," she clarified, immediately piquing Snow White's interest. "A bit of the first time we met, when I joined Goddess, and, a lot of… Around the time Cinderella joined too. The lead-up to the Orbital Elevator…" She made a point to leave out her recollection of the moment Joe had 'died' in the Central Government's headquarters.

Smiling just a little bit more, Snow White nodded once warmly. "That's good. It's much better than nothing. It means you're one step closer to our situation being just the same. Meaning there's nothing for you to worry about. You're right where you belong, where you've always belonged… And we'll make sure we never lose sight of you again."

With that, Snow White suddenly reached out and yanked Rapi into yet another hug, squeezing her tight and ignoring the small, uncharacteristically girlish 'eep' she let out at the suddenness of the embrace. After a few moments of this, Snow White let out a hearty chuckle. "I remember when hugging you used to mean getting a face full of your big dumb chest, without fail… Now, if you weren't wearing heels, I'd be able to see clean over your head…"

"Y-you only have like, three inches on me!" Rapi defensively fired back, immediately sucking in a sharp breath through her teeth at her own childish reply. The sort of thing Red Hood would have said, rather than…

Unaware of Rapi's internal narration, Snow White just pulled back enough to present a cattish grin to her senior. "That's right. Three whole inches. And don't you forget it," she smugly declared.

At that, Rapi couldn't help but feel the corners of her mouth twitch upwards and fight to contort into a smile. Some deep-seated, distant part of her felt stirred at the light teasing. Something that otherwise had only tried to claw its way out in the midst of her deeper interactions with Joe, or when she thought about him, in a more… 'Intimate' manner.

Was there really so much of Red Hood still inside of her? This… Immature self that wanted to act outside of the boundaries of strict professionalism? That felt so strange, so difficult to consider. Red Hood was so childish, so terribly id-driven… To the point that it had ruined her would-be relationship with Joe, back then. She had been such a fool, such a moronic, ungrateful idiot, condemning him over something so damned stupid, just to make her feel better about herself…

This, when he deserved the absolute best she could be. No, she couldn't be who she was. She couldn't be the Red Hood that was anything less than perfect, that was anything less than everything he needed, wanted, deserved. She had to be the Rapi he had come to know. Quiet, dependable, stalwart and true. Utterly devoted, no matter the circumstances. She'd promised him, swore as much to him once before. A promise she would keep, no matter what attire she donned, no matter what moniker or title she went by. Goddess, Absolute, or Counters… Regardless of the squads she had fought alongside, been a part of… Here, today, she would strive to be better.

Unaware of Rapi's internal brooding, Snow White pulled Rapi back into a strong hug, just grateful to have her back. Otherwise, Joe and Rapunzel stepped back from Cinderella, the little blue-silver-clad lady lightly hiccuping as she continued to cling to the plushies of herself and her long thought dead father.

Once it seemed as though everyone was winding down, Joe glanced around, his expression becoming particularly pensive. Eventually, upon confirming that she wasn't anywhere within sight, he asked everyone present as dread built up in his gut: "Where's Dorothy?"

It was as though an ice cube had been dropped down the spines of Pioneer, at once, their expressions falling in perfect tandem. Immediately, Joe feared the worst. That Dorothy wasn't present, because she was dead.

Upon seeing that growing, dreadful revelation clear on his face, Rapunzel immediately replied without missing a beat, shooting down the misunderstanding before it had a chance to take root and hurt their Commander. "Dorothy's alive!" She forcefully assured Joe, entirely blowing past Snow White's previous concerns about keeping him in the dark about Dorothy. "Or—at least, she was, the last time we saw her…"

No small amount of sudden tension in the air between the gathered members of Pioneer became incredibly apparent. Glancing between them, Joe felt the sudden swell of relief at the affirmation that Dorothy was alive waver, and he was immediately on-edge. "...Why is everyone suddenly so tense?" He asked, his wariness mirrored in Rapi's features.

"...It will take some time to entirely explain the situation with Dorothy," Scarlet spoke up from where she'd been standing apart from the rest. She had clearly been taking advantage of having faded into the background to drink without being called out on it. "Yet, explain it we shall. Over food, might I be so bold as to suggest?"

Looking about, Joe let out a heavy sigh, nodding as he allowed it, moving for the small campfire Pioneer had going. With his backpack now set between his feet as he claimed a seat at a fallen log, the man withdrew a shitload of Tetra Line's high-quality MRE's. "If we're going to eat, then let's go ahead and-"

"Feast," Snow White's eyes had gone wide and her pupils dilated at the sight of the great many packages of food. All of this, in addition to the freshly-foraged but numerically meagre fruits, vegetables, and dried meats Pioneer had on hand. To say the very least, the White Reaper looked ready to charge like a starving wolf set upon a wounded deer.

She was held back only by Scarlet, giving her taller companion a reproachful look and speaking with a chiding tone. "If the Commander intends to cook for us, least of all for the first time in a century, Snow White, then thou shall allow him to cook."

As that occurred, Cinderella gracefully claimed the spot on Joe's right, and Rapi rather pointedly—and with something of an inexplicable huff—his left. The white-haired Nikke smiled upon him cheerfully and contentedly despite the tears streaking her still flawless features. Rapunzel, for her part, set up for herself a large, chair-sized rock she effortlessly picked up and placed before the fire pit with a casual ease. A casual ease the sight of which would certainly fill a certain demographic with a powerful need for big, powerful, yet notably gentle women.

Snow White, that aside, seemed cowed by Scarlet's words, ceasing her attempts to force her way to the mountain of food. Standing as tall and proud as she typically did—this, even despite the dribble of saliva visibly trickling down her chin. "Then he shall cook," she declared, clearly attempting to sound cool and deep as she did so.

With a sigh, again, Joe allowed it as he settled in to prepare a meal for most of his girls, a good hundred years after the last.

Even with such meagre ingredients… He'd do his best to ensure that it would be the best damned meal these girls had eaten in a century.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 61 - The Ugly Truth
===

Pioneer laughed heartily, with far more levity and merry than any of them had in a long while.

Both because of how long it had been since they'd had the privilege of enjoying such a refined meal, and because they had been reunited with their long-lost Commander and sister—and because they knew that Andersen was also alive too.

For as dark and miserable as the lives of the former members of Goddess had been this past century, this day proved to them all that miracles did still happen.

It was especially heartening to see that, all this time later, while Red Hood was noticeably different now…

The Commander was taking single pieces of chicken nuggets, setting them on the palm of his hand, and smiling like a buffoon every time Snow White lunged forward to eat the nuggets from his hand like a dog would.

The more things changed…

Moreover, Rapunzel was staring at Rapi, visibly confused as she periodically gave the much smaller blonde a blatant once-over. After a while of that, Joe had to ask: "Is something wrong, Rapunzel?" He inquired.

"Rapi's breasts are smaller," she immediately replied without missing a solitary beat, at this point, very obviously staring outright at the red-and-black-clad blonde's chest.

Needless to say, everyone, save for a Snow White still chewing on a mouthful of food, sharply turned to look at Rapunzel in shock at once… Then to a mortified Rapi.

Joe, while thinking of how damn gauche it was for Rapunzel to just call that out as she had, was the only one that didn't outright leer at Rapi in reply.

Instead, he fell back upon the ancient, mystic technique all men eventually instinctively learned with age: to look without looking by focusing in on his peripheral vision.

…Rapunzel was right. Rapi was noticeably larger back during their days as Goddess. How did-

Loudly swallowing her surely only partially-eaten food, Snow White cleared her throat and interjected: "No they aren't," she declared matter-of-factually. "She's just wearing a compression top under her shirt." She declared before she began contemplating a whole, baked potato.

Blinking once, Joe had to acknowledge that yeah, if anyone would know that, it would be Snow, given that she'd stripped Rapi down to her birthday suit to perform maintenance on her.

After a few moments, Rapi spoke up, more than a little sheepishly. "...They get in the way, otherwise," she explained herself, visibly uncomfortable and shifting about anxiously with the scrutiny she was receiving.

Only then, did Rapunzel seem to actually process what she'd said. "I-I-I didn't mean that in a bad way or anything! I mean, you're still shapely and curvaceous and beautiful and striking and—And—And-!"

At once, the towering blonde turned neon red, her big blue eyes bugging out as she slapped her hands over her face and squealed like a tea kettle in embarrassment.

At that, Joe was smacked in the face with a distant reminder of how… Repressed Rapunzel was, and how she'd actually made him look remarkably less prone to spilling spaghetti by comparison alone.

The poor nun was down bad, and everyone inevitably wound up knowing it. He'd forgotten what it was like to not be the source of social pasta disasters. How… Nostalgic.

"Well, at least the Commander seems to be enjoying this tableau, should one account for his contented smile," Scarlet observed between swigs of her flask.

Indeed, Joe had started smiling at the byplay unconsciously, and immediately attempted to correct by raising a hand to cover his mouth-

"Nooo!" Cinderella, however, did not let him, her grabby little digits immediately striking out to prevent him from masking his features. "Don't try to hide your smile from us! It's been so long since we got to see it!"

As the silver-haired Nikke suddenly invaded Joe's personal space, a wide smile on her flawless features which stirred far too much in the man… His space was suddenly invaded from two angles at once.

Rapi immediately claimed one of his arms and drew him in closely, as if in an attempt to demand his attention over Cinderella.

Glancing Rapi's way, Joe noticed that the blonde was visibly frustrated and annoyed, attempting to pull him away from the stark-haired, even smaller woman.

Where this situation would have normally escalated based on Joe's memories of Goddess… Instead, Cinderella paused, blinked, and retreated back to her seat with a small, sheepish cough.

Cinderella didn't say anything, leaving Joe and Rapi in a somewhat awkward position, as the blonde continued to cling to a perplexed Joe possessively.

Backing off was hardly Cinderella's typical modus operandi, so the man was more than a little confused…

After a few moments, however, Joe shook his head as the break served to remind of the time and place, and the fact that they needed to address the elephant in the room.

Thus, he moved to return to his normal seated position—needing to turn to Rapi to address her, "Rapi, let go of my arm, we've got to talk about everything," he pointedly noted.

Though Rapi was more than a little hesitant, she did eventually relent and let the Commander go, glowering lightly as she did so.

The air around the campsite had shifted at Joe's assertion, which caused everyone to adjust their seating positions.

Even Snow White, who had shoved an entire potato into her mouth, attempted to look as serious as she could while she played the part of a whole roasted pig on a platter.

Glancing about, affirming that everyone was well and properly settled in for the discussion that was to be had, Joe took a breath and settled his elbows on his knees.

Clasping his hands together before his mouth, Joe contemplated the situation. "...Dorothy," he began. "Why isn't she here? Why are you all so… Wary to speak of her?"

There was a heavy pause before someone finally spoke up. "The situation with Dorothy is… Difficult," Cinderella darkly noted, anxiously rubbing her hands together. "She, um… She… Isn't aligned with humanity anymore."

Turning to face the silverette, Joe's brow furrowed heavily at the assertion for obvious reasons.

It was Scarlet that followed up, though. "We were informed by our handler in the Ark, that Andersen and thee had been executed by the Central Government for 'outliving thy usefulness.' The gate had been sealed behind thee, leaving Dorothy inflicted with a most ruinous sense of betrayal."

Having chewed through and swallowed her potato in record time, Snow White spoke up next. "Dorothy has declared her intention to cast down the Central Government, and destroy the Ark. Not unlike a Heretic."

"Dorothy isn't a Heretic!" Rapunzel declared, rising from her seat forcefully. "None of what happened is her fault! She just needs to see Joe and know that he's alive and well and she'll calm down!"

"You don't know that-!" Snow White started as she too rose to her feet, rapidly growing heated.

She was cut off by Joe and Rapi rising to their feet, reminding everyone that they were, in fact, present this time.

Pioneer fell into rapt silence, all eyes on the Commander as he stepped aside and away from the campfire. Joe settled a hand on his bearded chin, as Rapi remained stuck to his side, understandably concerned for obvious reasons.

The little blonde reached over and set a hand on Joe's elbow, more than a little uncertain. The man in question, however, was stuck pondering the situation. Dorothy, she hated the Ark and the Central Government. Understandably so.

Yet Snow White considered her to be a Heretic because of this. This was a complicating factor, but, given everything that he knew, Joe was firmly of the opinion that they couldn't, and shouldn't pull the wool over Pioneer's eyes.

From Joe's perspective, the best path forward would be to walk Pioneer through the situation, explain to them what had actually happened in the Ark on the Sealing Day. Then… Discuss contacting Dorothy.

With a nod, he gave Rapi's shoulder a squeeze, turning around and facing his girls once more, making note of how anxious the lot of them were.

"I don't think you're going to like what I'm about to say," Joe declared, crossing his arms and stepping closer to the campfire again. "But, clearly, it needs to be said. First off: your 'handler' lied to you. Whatever it is you've been led to believe about what happened on that day, was a lie."

"Then what happened?" Rapunzel asked, leaning forward, heart going a mile a minute in her chest along with the rest of her long-time companions.

"After I arrived in the Ark proper, I was called to meet with the Central Government council. The message they had for me was simple and clear: Goddess was to be disbanded, the Grimms which made it up 'deactivated' and disassembled to reverse-engineer the technology that went into their creation."

Walking aside, Joe had his back to Pioneer, looking out into the distance as he continued to speak.

"They wanted me to become their figurehead, to lead the charge to shifting the Ark into fascist rule, wherein everyone would answer to the Central Government, and anyone that was in with the CG would live like royalty."

Joe's voice was tinged with no small amount of anger. Anger which would never leave him; a deep-seated hatred for those bastards that would have seen his girls disposed of after all they'd done for mankind.

"I would lead Goddess to their deaths, because all of you had outlived your usefulness, and they wanted super soldiers they could control absolutely, not potentially contrarian heroes that might put their rule at risk."

Joe continued to look outwards into the horizon as he continued.

"Red Hood had been sneaked into the Ark, lured in ahead of everyone else, because Exceed was deemed to be the most valuable ability among those granted to Goddess. Then, in their infinite wisdom, they had allowed her to roam free while setting up her execution. This was the opening I needed, that we needed, to do what had to be done."

Rapi glanced back over her shoulder, making note of the mounting horror on the faces of Pioneer as Joe laid out the facts to them.

"Enikk, the Ark's central managerial A.I. overheard us… And immediately cut us off from the rest of the system to ensure we wouldn't be caught. She confided in us, informed us that the Central Government's immediate plans left humanity with naught but ten years before extinction."

That was the point when Joe turned around to face Pioneer, his expression grave as he too saw how mortified they all were. It did little to discourage him from continuing to reveal the ugly truth.

"Enikk served as our handler in the two-man operation to eliminate the council. Her intervention is the reason we succeeded, and humanity did not go extinct ninety years ago."

Silence reigned, Pioneer staring at Joe and Rapi in open horror. Doubtlessly, this was just about the very last thing they'd expected to hear from their Commander a century after their last meeting, back when they were all loyal soldiers of the United Forces of Humanity and the Central Government.

After an extended period of time, Cinderella was the first to speak up. "...Dorothy was right," she breathed, gaze becoming unfocused as it hit her all at once. "All this time, she was right…"

"-Bullshit!" Snow White all but screamed, on the contrary, eyes having gone wild as they snapped between Joe and Rapi. "That's not- No! No! That doesn't- You're lying! You wouldn't betray-!"

"Snow White, calm yourself," Scarlet interjected, pointedly rising to her feet commandingly. "If even the Commander and Red- Rapi have been driven to turn their sights upon the Central Government, then any betrayal would have been upon them by those we trusted—those who hunt us to this day, if thou shalt recall!"

As the pair stared at each other with considerable intensity, Rapunzel remained quiet, just staring at Joe and Rapi. It seemed, that of Pioneer, she at least had the wherewithal to wait for them to finish explaining themselves, and so they did.

"Our enemy is the Central Government," Rapi, notably, spoke up rather than Joe. "Not the Ark."

That caught Snow White's attention once more, the golden-eyed woman now keenly focusing on the smaller blonde.

"The Central Government is not the Ark," Rapi asserted matter-of-factually. "The Central Government has infested the Ark. It needs to be extricated, like a cancerous tumour, so that the Ark itself and the civilians inside of it may survive in the long term. So that we may one day reclaim the surface the Central Government has forsaken."

Joe just nodded in agreement of Rapi's clarification, very much appreciating that she was supporting him on this matter, and so well at that.

That seemed to give Pioneer no small amount of collective relief, though the tension in the air did not dissipate in whole.

This was exemplified by Scarlet's response. "So… Thou suggests that our purpose ought to be combating the Central Government, for the sake of mankind?"

Joe replied to that. "The Central Government are enemies of mankind. They have no interest in reclaiming the surface. They know the Ark's time is limited, that it is not self-sustaining and will one day run out of resources. The only thing they care about is ruling over it and what little remains of mankind until our species hits its expiration date."

The man was looking between the girls that had served under him amidst the Initial Rapture Invasion.

"Andersen has been among their upper echelons for years now as one of the Ark's Deputy Chief Commanders under a pseudonym. If anybody would know these to be facts, it would be him. Would any of you argue that it is not our duty to see the CG cast down, in light of these facts?"

As Snow White's hand balled into a fist, Cinderella anxiously wrung her hands together, while Rapunzel clasped her hands in uncertain prayer, and Scarlet rapped her fingers on the butt of Fleetly Fading.

They weren't going to get anywhere by sitting around and leaving everyone to brood and get lost in their own heads. So, Joe pressed the issue immediately. "Look me in the eye, and tell me that the Central Government is not humanity's enemy, despite actively and knowingly engaging in malicious behaviour they know will lead to the extinction of our species for their own short-term gain."

That only momentarily made Pioneer all the more visibly uncomfortable, shifting about with no small amount of mounting unease.

But Joe wasn't having it. "That is an order," he dictated with anything even approximating a semblance of humour.

That caused the attention of the girls to all snap to Joe at once, wavering slightly, only to deflate more than a little bit at the newfound pressure placed on them.

Scarlet was the first to reply. "Nay, I cannot," the ashen-haired swordswoman said with a heavy sigh. "The Central Government, by thy own words, can only be construed as mankind's enemy, if they do be truly bettering their own purses at humanity's expense."

Cinderella replied next. "...If my father has been serving as a… A spy, I suppose, and he says they're evil too… Your word alone would be enough for me, Joe. If our next mission is to destroy the Central Government for humanity's sake, then so be it." Despite the clear conflict in her shimmering blue eye, the Commander could see that she was indeed truthfully putting her faith in him. He wasn't misleading her, so he simply nodded once in acknowledgement of her assertion.

"...I can't believe that… But Dorothy wants to destroy the Ark-!" Snow White began, only to be cut off by Rapi.

"We are not discussing Dorothy or the morality of her actions or objectives," the diminutive blonde asserted forcefully. "You are being informed of our newfound mission which, as all other missions we have engaged in, is for the sake of mankind. Not Dorothy, not Joe, not ourselves, not revenge. The Central Government is knowingly driving humanity to extinction. Is this acceptable to you, yes, or no?"

Snow White closed her eyes, visibly conflicted by the notion of knowingly and deliberately taking up arms against human beings. Yet… "...No," she growled out, demonstrably resenting that she had to vocalize such thoughts in the first place. She left it there.

At that, only Rapunzel was left, who was clearly lost in her own head. Muttering quietly to herself, periodically shaking her own thoughts, trying to sort something out on her own. Rapi didn't seem content with this, and so interrupted the towering blonde's thoughts. "Rapunzel? You've been asked a question."

Rapunzel jumped in her seat, large blue eyes going wide before she cleared her throat. "I-I hate the thought of bringing harm to humans. But… If the Central Government is truly deliberately working towards mankind's extinction, then there's only one path forward: bringing them to justice for the sake of the many to whom we exist to shield, from anything and everything that would threaten them."

She paused, lips still parted, gaze drifting aside for a few moments before she spoke back up.

"I'm more so thinking of Dorothy, though. She… It's as has been stated. We all left her, because she made it clear that she considered mankind to be the enemy, that the Ark had to fall, that she would see it fall for the 'sins' committed against us… How for what they did to you, Joe, that the Ark absolutely had to be punished, for profiting off of and benefiting from your 'murder.'"

That brought everyone to silence once more. Joe hadn't been expecting to hear that Dorothy had become an extremist after the Ark was sealed. Nor that she was driven to such hatred specifically by what she'd been told of his fate, which was itself a lie… He'd known that she cared deeply for him, but to the extent that she'd effectively stopped just short of Heresy herself for vengeance?

Speaking up, Joe vocalized his thoughts. "I can see why Snow White would accuse her of being a Heretic…" Though Rapunzel clearly disliked that, Snow White seemed vindicated by his assessment. "But… The thought of treating Dorothy as an enemy…"

Rapunzel was quick to speak up at that. "I think she would be calmed just by seeing that you're alive after all! She's far gone now, but only because of how much it hurt her when we all thought you'd died! She just needs to know that you're still with us, that you've been working towards a less… Extreme version of what she has been all along!"

While Snow White was still more than a little uncertain and uncomfortable with the notion, Joe was just disconcerted by the question of Dorothy's state, and furthermore… "Where is Dorothy, then?" He asked.

At that, the girls all shared collective looks of uncertainty, and Scarlet was the one that answered him. "Eden, Commander. Dorothy is in Eden."

Rapi's brows furrowed. "...Eden?"

At that, Joe too was confused, spurring a question that was far larger than he'd have expected.

"And what, exactly, is Eden?"

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 62 - Someone Else's Definition of 'Perfection'
===

"Eden…" Cinderella started, shifting in her seat warily, mulling over the question as she crossed her hands over her lap in consideration. "Eden is a human enclave on the surface, with a population in the low ten-thousands. It's hostile to the Ark."

Joe sharply turned to stare at the platinum-haired woman with wide, dumbstruck eyes. An expression shared by Rapi, who looked as though she'd just been slapped with a fish.

"A human enclave? On the surface?" Rapi cried out abject shock. "But that's not possible. The Raptures target and destroy any and all human habitation on the surface. It's impossible to stand against the endless waves that would be thrown at any established human population."

"Yes, tis' the truth," Scarlet noted simply. "Yet, still the truth: is that Eden stands, and has stood for decades upon decades at this juncture. Not as a mere outpost, a concrete bunker filled with naught but stale air and miserable fluorescent lighting-"

The swordswoman adjusted her stance to resettle her wrist, resting upon the butt of her sword as it was.

"-But as a true, self-sustaining arcology. A towering structure of crystalline glass and steel which casts a large shadow upon the environment in which it looms. This too, surrounded by rolling, verdant farmland in addition to those vertical farms contained within the primary arcology as well."

"And the living conditions for its inhabitants are fantastic as well!" Rapunzel interjected with no small amount of enthusiasm. "Though personal accommodations are somewhat on the… Cozy side, to ensure no space in the primary tower is wasted, everyone has large, wide windows that can be opened to let the sun and fresh air inside!"

The blonde spoke with no small amount of seemingly genuine cheer.

"And everyone receives a fair and healthy weekly ration of food and water! Entertainment is distributed for free, everyone lives in safety and security…"

"How could they be living safely on the surface?" Joe cut in, furrowing his brow as he considered the information presented to him, finding it far too good to be true. "Especially in a tower. What you're describing would be a cacophonous dinner bell to the Raptures."

"Eden is a… I suppose it would be most accurate to refer to it as a nation-state," Cinderella began in reply. "It's a technocratic meritocracy. Their technology is hundreds of years ahead of that which the Ark has. To the tune of their territory being enshrouded with a stealth field that makes the entire region appear as a barren, silent wasteland at a distance. By the naked eye, or technological means, the Shroud cannot be pierced except by stepping past its threshold."

Rapi and Joe, by that point, were staring in dumbstruck awe. Given the state of the Ark, how it had largely stagnated since it was sealed…

If Pioneer were being honest, Eden was not only advanced to the point of it being comical, but it was advanced to the point of having the means to permanently reclaim parts of the surface.

"Even still," Scarlet continued to elucidate. "Should the Shroud be pierced by happenstance… As thy may imagine, Eden's Nikkes are truly awe-inspiring in comparison to the middling strength those produced by the Ark may project. They are not on-par with us Grimms models… Though they are far, far closer than what we've seen among the Ark's forces."

"In some ways…" Rapunzel began to add onto Scarlet's point. "They're even actually more versatile than most of us. Pioneer. When we left Eden, they were powerful, incredibly so, yes, but since then, in the rare times we've encountered Eden Nikkes since…"

"When we were with Eden," Cinderella started, a conflicted expression worn plain on her face. "We allowed them to study us, to reverse-engineer the technology that went into our creation. While some things are simply too heavily black boxed to be accurately or reliably assessed non-destructively, others, they were able to actually extract all the information they needed on. Such as my featherweight frame, and my anti-gravity capabilities."

"Many Eden Nikkes can fly," Rapunzel declared. "This, on top of their weapons technology being so terribly advanced… Eden can do everything the Ark can do with a small fraction of the same amount of Nikkes."

"If not for their middling numbers," Scarlet added on with a ponderous hum. "Eden would have all which was needed to begin reclaiming the surface, doubtlessly…"

Joe felt as though he'd just fallen down a flight of stairs. The Ark had been piddling along pitifully, not even able to truly claim the territory right on top of the Ark, while another civilization freely and safely existed on the surface. Not only existed, but apparently, thrived. Being outright invisible to encroaching Raptures, feeding and housing all citizens… "And yet, you all underwent this self-imposed exile from Eden…" the Commander noted.

"With the entirety of the adult population consisting of former Ark dwellers, abandoned and betrayed Commanders, Nikkes, and even former megacorp researchers… Eden considers the Ark to be their enemy," Snow White finally spoke up, after having been silent the entire time the nation-state was described. "In fact, so far as Eden is concerned, they are actively at war with the Ark, and behave accordingly in encounters with active duty Ark Nikkes and Commanders."

…Ah. Yeah, there it was.

Snow White continued. "Eden attempts to capture Ark Nikkes, as many as possible amidst any particular engagement. These Nikkes are then brought to Eden, and whereupon they are interrogated, and attempts are made to recruit them. Policy is that Commanders be simply executed in the field, barring particularly… exceptional examples. They are assumed to be not worth the effort in any regard. Dorothy emphasized this point to us by doing the deed herself the first time we encountered a Nikke squad alongside her, with such a serene expression on her face, no less…"

Silence fell over the group, Joe bringing his hands up to cover his face, taking a number of deep, bracing breaths. "'Execute.'" The man began. "Meaning, said Commanders were already captured?"

"Yes," Snow White pointedly forcefully declared without missing a beat. "There are numerous examples of Commanders being shot, even if they surrender-"

"Not every time-!" Rapunzel tried to interject.

"That it happens at all is beyond the pale!" Snow White cut her off angrily, sharply turning and gesturing towards the nun. "Executing captured and surrendered forces is a war crime! It was Dorothy that pushed for this policy! It doesn't matter that it wasn't her that initially proposed it, she was the one that pushed and pushed and so clearly takes pleasure in the act of murdering helpless Ark Commanders!"

There was another stretch of silence in which everyone had grown visibly uneasy, Joe still performing breathing exercises into his hands.

The average Ark Commander was, indeed, a wretch. An active, walking insult to the memory and efforts of Goddess… But that didn't mean that it was okay to commit war crimes against them! Execute them without a trail to prove it was deserved beforehand, after they'd surrendered and been captured!

It was one thing to kill a combative Commander actively attacking them, but what Snow White was describing was cold-blooded murder!

"As a reminder, Snow White," Scarlet spoke up again, not privy to Joe's internal narration. "We. Are. Not. Thy. Enemies. We left Eden because we agree with thee. Do not seek to snap and nip at us because we seek to give Joe and Red- Rapi the whole picture, over demonizing Eden in whole."

"Just as you'll tell the Commander all about Eden's wonders, I will tell him about its numerous maluses," Snow White darkly asserted. "Such as the fact that Eden pointedly houses no non-combatants."

At that, Joe finally tore his hands from his face, focusing on Snow White in a way that clearly indicated that he wanted her to elaborate.

"Everyone, be they human, or Nikke, is required to prove that they can personally, and directly destroy Raptures before they will be even allowed to pass through the Shroud without being slaughtered by Eden's border patrol," the silver-haired, golden-eyed woman declared with a grimace. "This not only contributes to every single inhabitant of Eden being a soldier expected to participate in combat, it means that countless humans have died simply attempting to qualify to even set eyes upon Eden in the first place."

"Even humans are expected to be able to destroy Raptures?" Joe echoed the assertion dubiously. "How?" Who the in the nine Hell's idea was that? How is that a reasonable expectation to even enter the place?"

"It was Dorothy's idea," Snow White stated matter-of-factually. "And she had the rule implemented 'to honour' you," she asserted darkly. "You, unlike the Commanders of the Ark, actually fought alongside us in battle properly. You took up arms, and, in one particularly extreme case, even managed to destroy a Tyrant, on your own, when separated from the rest of Goddess. When Eden had received information that the Ark's Commanders are hollow, insulting facsimiles of you, and how you led and supported us… She was very forceful about ensuring that the only human beings that would ever enter Eden would be those worthy of serving alongside Nikkes in the same way you were."

After a beat of stunned horror, Joe replied in mounting mortification. "...I'm a Hoplite. I would burn through Hoplons at a rate that was unsustainable in the long term just keeping up with you girls."

"Well Dorothy and Eden's most high-ranking officers expect all humans that inhabit that place to be able to do the same," Snow White all but growled in reply. "Initially, without the augmentation and mechanized assistance you had access to."

"Jesus fucking Christ…!" Joe just exhaled as he was forced to his ass, dropping to the ground as he was bombarded with this social darwinist horseshit, apparently being done in his name. "D-does Eden even have children!? If they don't have non-combatants…"

"Children born in Eden go through combat training alongside typical academic schooling from the moment they are capable of walking and retaining meaningful information," Snow White stated. "There are no non-combatants in Eden. Everyone is a soldier. Some are just mere Cadets before they reach the age to undergo qualifications for promotion to the rank of Private, and graduate out of the trainee phase of citizenship."

Snow White continued past that point.

"Eden has not been around long enough to have properly elderly citizens age out of being viable combatants, given the society's life extension capabilities. However, it is already established policy that women, if they had not already, are to undergo Nikke conversion upon reaching the age wherein their natural biological body begins to deteriorate. Men undergo extensive cybernetic alterations in much the same way even before this, in order to make them as capable of fighting alongside Nikkes in open combat as is possible."

That last fact caught Joe's attention in particular, for very obvious reasons.

Having noticed, Snow White elucidated. "Eden's technological development has granted them the means to augment men to a far greater degree than seems possible in the Ark. They are no Nikkes, nor Adonii… But the Epilektoi of Eden are capable of fending for themselves on an open battlefield against the most common Raptures, even if with no small amount of exertion."

Epilektoi, ancient Greek for the Chosen. Men capable of actually fighting alongside Nikkes properly, not just… Standing at their backs and cheerleading for them, but taking up arms and supporting them in battle. That, in a vacuum, sounded amazing to Joe. If they had opened with that, and left it at that, the man would have been demanding that they bring him to this place at once.

But it wasn't just that one, positive point. Eden wasn't just men fighting alongside Nikkes in combat meaningfully, not forcing the women to shoulder the burden of war effectively on their own. It was also… Everything else that had been mentioned.

Joe saw meritocracy as a good thing. People should be awarded as per their personal accomplishments, in accordance with their ability to live up to their own ambitions. Too often, did fools and worthless sacks of flesh unworthy of much of anything find themselves in positions of power, positions which should be held by those who have earned their place in the leading roles of society, that have proven they can lead and make life better for the many they serve.

But this? This was just social darwinism. Forcing children to learn to fight, putting the 'unworthy' to the blade, taking no prisoners who could not potentially be converted to their way of thinking… No fucking shot that Eden didn't also bombard their citizens with propaganda extolling the virtues of the state, that their way of life was the way of life, and that the Ark was a society of 'unworthy' weaklings.

A soldier's purpose was to protect civilians. A soldier's duty should be defending the weak, ensuring those who could not fight for themselves, could live in peace and prosperity. A society without civilians… A society wherein the weak were treated as chaff to be discarded…

For all the Ark's problems, for as wretched a place as it was, for as much as Joe hated the culture the Central Government had cultivated… The Central Government didn't actively cull the Ark's civilian population. The Ark still had civilians. The young were allowed to be children, the weak were allowed to live. The elderly were not forcibly conscripted and augmented to justify their continued existence… At least, not to the point of leaving no civilian class to speak of.

Yet, worst of all… "...And Dorothy contributed to this culture?" Joe inquired with dread bubbling up in his gut. "She directed Eden to develop into this Neo-Sparta?" He spat out the term, openly disgusted by the notion.

"She did," Snow White declared as the rest of Pioneer looked halfway between relieved and anxious. "She even refused to budge, so much as relent in the slightest on her beliefs and newfound ideals, even when we all told her on no uncertain terms, that we would not continue to support Eden if it did not change its ways. So… We left. And never looked back."

Joe pinched the bridge of his nose, rising to his feet with a heavy, bone-deep sigh. "Meaning that Dorothy is so damned stuck in her newfound ways, that even driving off what remained of Goddess at the time wasn't enough to deter her from continuing down this path…" This path, which involved the execution of captured enemies and radicalization of Eden's people against the Ark, no less! "...I can increasingly see why Snow would compare her to a Heretic."

As much as it clearly hurt Rapunzel to hear him say that, Cinderella and Scarlet just averted their gazes uncomfortably, while Snow White huffed, evidently not quite finding the statement as vindicating as she did previously.

Such did not stop her from replying in earnest, regardless. "This is why she can't be trusted. This is why she is a danger, not just to the Ark, but to you. We don't know what she would do if she knew that you were still alive."

Joe didn't reply to that, remaining quiet as Rapi gave him an uncertain look, clearly herself unsure of what to say,

Rapunzel was the next person to speak up, regardless. "And how do you know that knowing Joe is alive won't be the hook we've needed to pull Dorothy back from the abyss?" She inquired, giving Snow White a reproachful look. "It was his 'death' that pushed her over the edge. You know it, we all know it. We were all there when it happened. We all had to watch her break. We all had to stand by, knowing we could do nothing, watch her heart shatter into a thousand pieces, helpless, inconsolable… Crying, begging Joe for forgiveness, for failing him, for letting him down when he needed her the most…"

The Commander, at that, turned to focus on Rapunzel, his expression having fallen considerably, these assertions flew in stark contrast to all of his memories of Dorothy. Dorothy: strong, unbending, unbreaking. A rock, an anchor, a lighthouse in the dark… She had been all of these things to him. Now, Joe was learning that, all this time, he had been the same to her? How? Since when? How was he allegedly so damned important to her? How did losing him… Turn her into a monster that would see the Ark burn in retaliation?

Snow White firmly affixed her gaze to the fire, pointedly not looking Rapunzel's way. Cinderella fidgeted in place deeply uncomfortably. Meanwhile, Scarlet rapped her fingers on the pommel of Fleetly Fading, expression suggesting she'd just bit down on something sour.

The towering nun, at that point, turned to face Joe directly, her expression projecting no small amount of sorrow. "Joe. It may or may not have been romantic, it may have been more complicated than just the feelings a man and a woman may share for each other… But Dorothy loved you. With all of her heart. When we were told you died, when she was led to believe that we'd all just let you walk into the jaws of the beast that took you, it…" Rapunzel had to take a steadying breath, the motion producing a half-choking sob. "A piece of her soul died with you. Seeing you alive again, it just may bring that lost piece back."

That gave Joe no small amount of pause, his expression becoming deeply uncertain and pained. If Dorothy had actually been pushed to such terrible depths because they'd lost him… Would it really be enough to bring her back, knowing that he wasn't truly gone?

"She deserves to know, Commander," Rapunzel all but pleaded with him, lightly clasping her hands together, eyes shimmering with budding moisture.

At that, the man just let out a low sigh. "...Yeah, she does," he admitted, wary of the notion, given how far she'd fallen, yet… It was Dorothy. He couldn't just… Abandon her. "But, we can't go off half-cocked on this matter. We have to make sure we aren't setting ourselves up for failure of any kind. No stumbling into this blind."

Though Snow White was clearly displeased with the notion, she didn't protest further. Cinderella let out a weary sigh, while Scarlet rubbed her eyes, evidently finding some measure of relief at the finality of Joe's decision. It was his decision to make, after all.

Joe continued on the matter of Eden. "For starters… Where even is Eden?" he inquired.

"The Okanagan Desert," Cinderella answered simply. "Due East of the Ark."

"That's…" Joe paused, brows scrunching up in surprise. "A lot closer to the Ark than I'd have expected… Even in the same province, unless it's on the American side of the border…"

"Dorothy did say something about keeping one's enemies close," Snow White gruffly grumbled. "It's on the Canadian side, for all the difference that makes at this point."

Joe just nodded, rubbing his bearded chin contemplatively, pondering the notion of just how they'd get in contact with Dorothy, in as safe and controlled a manner as was possible.

"...Joe?" Cinderella, however, spoke up, no small amount of curiosity lining her tone. "We've been wondering, ever since we discovered that you were still alive… How are you not an old man?"

"Yes, that was… Something of a sticking point," Rapunzel added. "We know that the Ark's food has life extension additives in it, but, we also know that it only slows aging, meaning that, a century since we'd last met… You should be far physically older than you are. Yet, you clearly haven't aged a day…"

Ah. Right. That. "I've been in cryogenic stasis since shortly after the Ark was sealed," Joe explained the situation quite simply. "It's actually only been… Like, two months since then, from my perspective?" He turned aside to Rapi inquisitively, though she could only shrug in reply. Time was something that sort of slipped away from the both of them, given all the shit they'd had on their plates lately.

"Ah, that would explain it…" Rapunzel accepted the answer easily, gazing up at Joe somewhat forlornly. "Rapi was in a similar situation?"

"...No," Rapi answered flatly. "I've been active almost the entire time since then. I only just started to remember our shared past together… Not very long ago," she declared with no small amount of discomfort.

Pioneer shared a look of mild dismay at that, but just allowed the topic to fall by the wayside. If they were to get into the matter of Rapi's career post-Goddess, they'd clearly be talking about it all night.

For that matter… "...Joe," Rapi started, looking out to the horizon as the evening wind caught her silken hair and scarf. "We should set up our tent. We're clearly going to be spending the night out here."

Glancing up, Joe noted with mild disinterest that, yeah, the sun had started to set. "Guess so…"

Notably, Snow White heavily rolled her eyes. "Figures that you two would still be sharing a bed, even after all this time…"

While Joe just grimaced at the insinuation with some minor discomfort… Rapi's entire head turned the same colour as her scarf and jacket. Harshly turning on her heel, she took off without a word, fleeing the scene with a purpose.

That caught Joe, and especially everyone else off-guard, to say the least.

"...Rapi is not the same person she was back then, Snow," Rapunzel noted a little reproachfully. "Please, relent, given that she clearly is not even as half as… Red Hood as she used to be."

While Snow White at least had the decency to look somewhat sheepish, Cinderella, meanwhile, just stared at Joe with uncertain longing. Her sole visible eye focused on him, wordlessly measuring him.

Recalling how Cinderella had just… Backed off of him, rather uncharacteristically a little earlier, Joe had to wonder what exactly was going on with the twintailed beauty. She had made it very clear that she was very romantically interested in him back in the day, and while he'd have just shrugged it off as her moving past her crush… He recognized that look well. That quiet jealousy she held when regarding the relationship—however casual it had been—he had with Red Hood.

Of course, with the reunion of most of Goddess, Joe's personal life would become quite a bit more complicated again…

Regardless, he moved to his backpack to begin the process of setting up the tent he'd packed for himself and Rapi. It was all the Commander could do to sigh, and not let the attention of literally the most powerful women to have ever lived, to say nothing of the ongoing discussion about Dorothy's so-called 'Eden,' get to him.

Such was the life of the Legendary Commander of Goddess.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 63 - Pillow Talk, Ruminations, and Deliberations
===

"...Joe?" Rapi's voice quietly spoke up from his side, a low breath uttered in the dark confines of their small tent.

Turning his head towards the sound of her voice at his side, despite it being far too dark to see her, the Commander responded in a fatigued whisper. "Yeah, shorty?" He inquired.

There was a long beat, to which Rapi too replied: "...I'm not short," she damn near audibly pouted, a fleeting hint of Red Hood shining through in her tone.

"Yes you are," the only slightly above-average-sized man an entire head taller than her asserted, audibly smirking. "And it's wonderful."

Again, a significant pause punctuated Joe's declaration. Rapi eventually replied a little warily: "...You like short girls?" She asked.

At that, Joe blinked, shifting in his sleeping bag slightly. Did this never come up back in the days of Goddess? "This is a short girl supremacy house," he asserted matter-of-factually, ignoring the fact that they were in a fabric tent.

Shortstacks were compelling evidence that God was real and loved humanity, after all. Hence the danger Joe was constantly in, surrounded by the weirdly abundant shortstack Nikkes in and around the Ark.

Speaking of, he was kind of starting to miss Privaty…

Regardless of the Commander's internal musings, in the dark, he couldn't see Rapi's expression become incredibly smug and self-satisfied.

Happy with that unexpected revelation, the little strawberry blonde let out a shallow sigh before refocusing. "All of this business involving Dorothy, and Eden. How do you feel about it all?"

Mood immediately sobering, Joe inhaled deeply before responding. "I hate it."

Rapi shifted in her own sleeping bag somewhat. "...Is that all?"

"What else were you expecting?" Joe asked. "Dorothy was my rock, back in the day. She was always the most dutiful and reliable member of Goddess. She was there first, standing firm at my side from the moment the squad was formed…"

The man hummed in naked discontent.

"I hate the idea that we have to approach her assuming that she may be hostile. I hate the idea that we may not be able to trust her."

"I hate the idea that she might've misunderstood me so badly that she'd thought I'd have approved of the creation of a Neo-Sparta. I hate it. There's nothing about it that isn't miserable and soul-crushing."

There was a beat in which Rapi mulled over Joe's blunt, entirely honest words. From what she could remember of Goddess herself, his words felt right. About as expected. Dorothy and Joe had been nearly attached at the hip from the very first moment Rapi had set eyes on them.

But, that aside… "What of the rest? Of… Pioneer, as they go by now?"

The man fidgeted in his place, mulling over the question before responding with one of his own. "What about you?" He asked. "How do you feel about everything that's happened with Pioneer?"

That gave Rapi no small amount of pause, having, for some reason, not expected the Commander to turn the question around on her. "I… I'm not sure."

She admitted, the fabric laid over her diminutive form lightly sounding out in time with her shifting.

"It's… It's been been so long for me. Even with my memories having come back recently… I was in the Ark, serving as a member of Absolute for so much longer than Goddess…"

Lightly gripping at the bedding of her sleeping bag, she frowned slightly.

"I feel detached, disconnected from them. It was so many lifetimes ago. It makes me uncomfortable when they treat me in such a familiar way. Especially since… I'm not the person they knew. Literally."

Joe pondered Rapi's assertion. Indeed, for Joe, with his memories gradually returned to him, it had only been a few scant months since having been separated from Goddess.

This, in stark contrast to Rapi having been active for… Decades upon decades since.

No wonder she would be uncomfortable interacting with them, especially with Snow White trying to just… Keep treating her like Red Hood.

"It would only make sense for it to feel awkward for you, yeah," Joe acknowledged Rapi's point of view. "I'll talk to them about laying off a bit later on."

Sighing, Rapi quietly appreciated the concern Joe showed for her. She knew that, obviously, she would have to eventually fall back into her old role—a member of Goddess.

But… She would rather not have that forced onto her just yet. Not when she was only just starting to remember her original life; after having lived an entire life separate from them.

"Thank you, Joe," the little blonde said gratefully. "But… Still, your thoughts on the situation with Pioneer?" She pressed.

At that. glancing aside, out the transparent plastic window that granted a view of the distant night sky, Joe lightly clicked his tongue. "I feel relieved. Remembering so many things, so quickly, as I have… I remember them. I remember you all."

The Big Dipper stood out starkly against the inky black cosmos that night.

"Given that I've been in stasis for so long, to me, it just feels like a reunion after a relatively short separation. I know that, in fact, it's been an entire century for everyone else, but…"

Closing his eyes, the man hummed contemplatively.

"It doesn't help that everyone's still dressed the same way they used to be. You presented yourself so wildly differently across the board, even down to actually brushing your hair straight, you did kind of feel more than a little disconnected from Red Hood."

"Yet, having taken up your old rifle, jacket, and scarf…" He turned aside to the place he knew Rapi was laying in, despite being blind in the dark. "I keep seeing bits of who you used to be shining through too. Even just hints, but it seems to me like you've still got some Red Hood, hidden away in there."

Feeling something stirring in her, thinking on that, Rapi reflected on her initial days with Absolute. At first, she was quiet, uncertain, wary and distant. She almost never interacted with Vesti seeing as how they were both so withdrawn, Emma had treated her as almost being a second Vesti that needed to be similarly babied, and Eunhwa seemed split between annoyed at her shyness, and pleased by her professionalism and competence despite that.

But, thinking more on how all three eventually came to see and look at her… Rapi realized that, for the sake of bettering the squad and her role in it, being the beacon they needed, she had taken a few steps back towards behaving like she had when she openly carried her Goddess code name. Eunhwa grew to treat her as a trusted, cherished confidant. Vesti looked up to her like a peerless hero. Emma trusted her implicitly in keeping Vesti and Eunhwa in good spirits. She was trusted to keep morale high…

She had put on a mask. A mask of her forgotten past self, without even being aware of it.

Then, she screwed up. She killed a human. In the arrogance she hadn't even noticed she'd developed, she killed a human, and the realization that she didn't care broke her. Then, rather than… Simply talk to Absolute, discuss what had happened, how it had affected her… She left. Without a word. Without saying anything to her newfound comrades who had come to trust and value her as an invaluable anchor.

She avoided the uncomfortable interaction. She ruined among the few good relationships she'd had in her time in the Ark to avoid admitting to them how she felt. Telling them what sort of person she really was, in stark contrast to the pedestal they'd placed her on…

In the days of Goddess, it had been much the same. Everyone looked at her as a cheerful fool. The squad jester, there to keep everyone's minds off of the direness of the war. She had been appreciated for her ability to keep spirits up. All the while, nobody knew just how troubled, even haunted she truly had been beneath the mask. A hopeless sad clown, putting on a show for everyone else, even to her own expense…

She was trying to do it again now, wasn't she? Hoping to avoid interacting with Pioneer, despite their storied past together. Because… She found the idea uncomfortable. Always, every time. She ran away from situations that might make her uncomfortable. Both in this life, and the last.

Rapi knew that she couldn't keep doing this. She had promised Joe that she'd be better than she was, all those years ago. She had promised him that. She couldn't be the person she was back then anymore.

"...Rapi?" Joe inquired, rolling onto his side to be closer to her. He was more than a little worried by her response being, after an awkward-seeming silence, a long shuddering sigh.

"I-" the strawberry blonde started, catching herself just as she could tell her voice was about to break. "It's nothing, Joe. Just…" She tightly gripped her pillow, grimacing heavily to herself. "...I'm realizing that there's some things I need to do, things that I need to stop running away from."

At that, Joe blinked owlishly. "You haven't struck me as the type to run from things," he remarked with some confusion.

If only he could see the pained expression worn on the Nikke's face. "...Running is what I'm best at," she asserted grimly.

Joe didn't like that, shifting in a futile attempt to spot her in the dark. "Rapi-"

"Not-" the blonde began, almost a bit too loud, reining herself in as she continued. "Please, not here. I don't want to have to talk about stuff like that when we're out here."

On the surface, meaning. As much as the Commander didn't much care for that… "Okay." A tent wasn't exactly the most private place in the world, so he would allow it. Instead of pressing that issue, he shifted onto something else he'd noticed. "...Y'know, I'm surprised that you didn't volunteer to stay up all patrol the camp all night with Snow White. I'd have assumed you'd want to do guard duty."

"I am doing guard duty," Rapi somewhat forcefully asserted, not at all keen on making the mistake of leaving him unattended in a tent with room for two with much of the old squad reunited as they were.

For his part, Joe didn't really understand what she was getting at, and so shrugged as he replied: "If you say so…" he wasn't particularly feeling up to interrogating what she meant by that, and so simply allowed the topic to fall by the wayside. "Anyways… Was there anything else?"

Humming, Rapi contemplated the question for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "I should actually let you get to sleep. It's already dark out, and unlike the rest of us, you need consistent and proper rest. So… Goodnight, Commander."

"Alright then," Joe made an attempt to make himself as comfortable as he could in reply. "'Night, Rapi."

At that, silence fell in the tent, little other than the sounds of wind and distant night critters to break the silence of darkened open wilderness.

---

The following morning, everyone clambered out of their tents, a bit of sniffling occurred when it was once again confirmed that Joe and Rapi were, in fact, back, and their return hadn't been a sweet, delusional dream.

Breakfast had been eaten, everyone got their engines spooled up, and…

"Do you… Really think that's a good idea, Commander?" Snow White asked warily, adjusting her wrist's place where it rested upon Seven Dwarves. "I mean…"

"The CEO of Elysion is on our side," Joe declared to head off the concerns already being presented to him. "She's already demonstrated that she's willing to alter records to suit our needs, hence the reason I'm not being harassed for not actually being a licensed Commander-"

Rapi scoffed heavily at that.

Though Joe didn't let her interruption phase him. "-I've already worked out a simple enough idea. Pioneer are an Elysion Black Ops Commando unit, and have been assigned to the Outpost by Ingrid specifically to bolster Counters' operational capabilities."

"...This doesn't seem wise, Joe," Cinderella noted, brows furrowed in naked concern. "That excuse seems really… Flimsy. Wouldn't the Central Government see through it really easily-"

This time, Rapi and Joe both snorted in open derision of the notion. "No," the man declared. "They won't."

While Pioneer looked more than a little dubious of the notion, Rapi backed him up. "The Central Government's incompetence has to be seen to be believed. And you'll see it…"

Rapunzel hummed warily, delicate lips pursing as she wrung her hands together in uncertainty. "You two… Suggesting that we just, go along and live in the Ark-"

"The Outpost," Joe corrected her. "The Outpost isn't a part of the Ark, and I'm the Central Government's primary contact there. Do I have to note that you can trust me to not turn you girls in to them?"

"Of course not!" Rapunzel cried out, upset by Joe even feeling the need to make note of that. "But-"

"And everyone else in the Outpost can be trusted?" Snow White interjected. "Nobody there will see us, and report us to the CG for being suspicious?"

"Again, I am the CG's representative in the Outpost," Joe asserted as he adjusted the strap of his backpack. "Anyone that gets suspicious will report such suspicions to me, and I'll respond by opening a line to Ingrid to have them explain to her why they're poking their nose into top-secret Elysion matters that do not concern them."

"...Somehow," Scarlet began, "I doth suspect there is some matter you are not considering, Joe. This feels as though it would be entirely too easy."

"As easy as the High Commander of Goddess infiltrating the Central Government and becoming one of the highest-ranking members of its military, full-stop?"

Joe countered, crossing his arms as he did so.

"As easy as the Legendary Commander of Goddess just reappearing from the aether, becoming a Commander in the Ark's Armed Forces despite never having attended the Commander Academy, and having nobody actually look into his history at all, despite the fact that he should be the CG's public enemy number one?"

He pointedly continued.

"As easy as the Legendary Commander being given control of a forward operating base that functions as a small town in its own right, with no Government oversight as its administration is entirely delegated to the megacorps backing said Legendary Commander?"

He nodded aside to Rapi.

"As easy as Red Hood having been actively serving in the Ark's military for decades, as a member of the most successful and famous Nikke squad in the Ark, full-stop, without ever being so much as suspected of being a member of Goddess?"

Pioneer went collectively quiet at that. All four sharing somewhat bamboozled looks.

"Look, I get it," Joe started once more with a sigh. "Everything's been so shit for so long, that it's difficult to imagine that something can just be good. If you girls are really so worried, Rapi and I can return to the Outpost on our own, and we can get back in contact with you once everything's been already set up ahead of time. But I don't think you should remain on the surface, living like homeless drifters, wandering from fight to fight all but aimlessly."

The Commander uncrossed his arms to set his hands on his hips.

"We have a home, meaning you have a home again too. We have the means to get you girls sorted into the Outpost's ranks unnoticed. I don't see why we shouldn't take it and have us all back together again from now on." He looked to Cinderella in particular. "It'd make it a lot easier for Andersen to pop in for a visit if you're all actually on hand too, y'know."

Cinderella, at that, visibly swayed quite heavily in her stance against going to the Outpost, lifting the plushies of herself and her father to gaze forlornly upon them. She didn't say anything, but it was clear that the argument had moved her by no small amount.

"...It would be nice to have a warm bed to sleep in at night again…" Rapunzel mused quietly, "And have things to do aside from just… Wander. Wander amidst ruins, and death…"

Scarlet hummed, drumming her fingers on the side of Fleetly Fading's scabbard. "The ronin act has grown more than a tad trite, to be wholly truthful… Yet still, a proper home in a community again would mean access to easy food, and showers…"

Snow White's eyes grew wide, her face going slightly gaunt as she sucked her cheeks in to lightly bite down upon them in anticipation at the notion.

It was Joe that spoke up next, to add onto Scarlet's point. "More food than you could handle," he declared as Snow White's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Of the many issues the Ark has, hunger isn't among them. To say nothing of the fact that our Tetra Line sponsors ship us the good stuff on the regular too…"

"'The good stuff…?'" Snow White all but breathed, her lips beginning to quiver.

"Rapi and I are conservative in how we eat," Joe remarked to the monochromatic engineer. "What we brought here was a small fraction of what we have back at the Command Centre. A fraction of the 'boring' stuff at that."

Snow White was visibly fighting the urge to begin drooling outright… As her stomach audibly growled despite that.

As ever, it was the promise of common creature comforts that would really sway them. Easy access to complex meals, running water, and entertainment went a very long ways, especially to someone whose every living day was a miserable struggle for scraps.

Joe knew that they were all but convinced. So… "If you girls really want to hang back until everything is already set up, then so be it, Rapi and I will come back after-"

"A-actually," Rapunzel stood up. "M-maybe, even if we maybe shouldn't hang around until, yes, you've had everything set up for us… It might not be so bad to come and at least… Pop in, to get an idea of what we're signing up for," she glanced at the rest of Pioneer. "Right?"

"It would be nice, to walk among a living civilization again," Cinderella mused quietly, making no attempt to mask her longing to do so. "...Maybe even visit a café… Go shopping… It's been so long since we've been able to enjoy even something like coffee..."

Scarlet gasped, eyes suddenly widening as they locked onto Joe. "Does the Outpost perchance house a tavern, or liquor store?" She eagerly inquired. Because of course that's what would get Scarlet visibly excited.

"I'm not sure," Joe shrugged. "But we certainly have beer at the Outpost, given how someone has to keep telling Anis to toss her cans when she's done with them…"

"...Let's go," Snow White finally sighed in defeat, capitulating despite her misgivings. "We can justify it as a supply run before returning to the field to complete a mission, I suppose. In and out before the end of the day."

Nobody protested, Pioneer seeming to have been successfully swayed to at least visit the Outpost, if not move in right away.

As the wind picked up somewhat, causing everyone's hair and clothes to slightly billow about, Joe nodded in acknowledgement of the affirmation that Pioneer would be, at least for now, following himself and Rapi back.

"Okay," the Commander gestured over his shoulder the way he and the red-clad Nikke had initially arrived. "Let's get along and mosey on then."

There was a beat, eventually broken by a grinning Cinderella replying with a declaration of: "Giddy up, pardner," she teasingly poked fun at Joe's backwoods country boy lingo everyone present damn well knew was far more natural than he'd like anyone to know.

"Boy howdy, it gon' be a long ways, riding along that Oregon trail..." Scarlet gently mocked the Canadian from the boonies.

"It'll be high noon around the time we get hoofin' it at this rate," Snow White 'seriously' mused with a hearty hum.

"E-easy up there, little doggy," even Rapunzel started to pile on, a small, entertained smile finding purchase on her gentle features. "Ain't no need to go hopping about like you got a snake in your boot now..."

At once, even with Rapi being kind enough to not join in on the ribbing, the man's bones rattled in dreadful defeat.

In stark contrast to the walk to Pioneer's camp, Joe knew that this was going to be a long ass hike back the way they'd come.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 64 - The First Steps into a New Home
===

It wasn't long before the group was back in the Outpost, passing easily through the front entrance and stepping into the great, cavernous living space. Though, despite it being an increasingly familiar location, Joe was caught quite off-guard upon looking up and seeing the sky where there had once been a rocky ceiling.

Staring up in open surprise, it was Snow White that spoke up first. "What in- I thought the Outpost was underground? This is clearly a valley!"

"One must admit, this sight is rather incongruous with the description we were given leading to our arrival here…" Scarlet added as she tipped her massive hat up, gazing about with a popped eyebrow.

Rapi was the one that spoke up next. "It seems that Mighty Tools finished installing the Outpost's Dome of Eternity," the little blonde remarked at the sight. "Do you not remember having approved the motion, Joe?" She inquired of the Commander, giving him a bit of a bemused look.

At that, Joe just coughed into his fist and started off towards the Command Centre. "A-anyways, there isn't a whole lot to see, but-" once again, he paused. This time, upon noticing how very filled out the Outpost was compared to how it was when he'd last observed it.

Mighty Tools had been hard at work, it seemed. Suddenly, though the streets were still rather barren aside from distant workers, the place was increasingly looking more and more like a proper budding town. All it was going to need at this rate, was a wave of immigrants to fill up the empty buildings.

Hell, thinking of the map Litre had shown him of the place's zoning plans, it looked like the commercial district was even at least mostly done. Shopping might be a lot easier to get done here, at this rate…

Regardless, Pioneer surged forward, seeming more than a little eager to see a functioning, properly built-up town being actively constructed—something of a rare sight on a planet almost entirely bereft of human life, to say the least.

With no small amount of surprise, Joe watched them begin to zoom off—with the exception of Snow White, who stepped towards the Outpost proper, then stopped to give the Commander an expectant look.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Joe looked to Rapi, who was still glued to his side, and motioned for her to follow. "Alright, let's give you girls the tour of the Outpost, such as it is." With that, he set off, Snow White and Rapi remaining close by his side all the while.

---

There hadn't been all that much to show Pioneer, and while the group did garner a few eyes, Joe had just made it clear that they answered directly to Ingrid, and to mind their own business. That, if nothing else, seemed to make the remnants of Goddess all but invisible to wandering eyes right quick.

Aside from Centi, who seemed utterly nonplussed by Pioneer's presence regardless, nobody of particular note was around to see the girls in the first place. While the Outpost wasn't much, especially when compared to the Ark proper, it was still seemingly a bastion of life as far as Snow, Rapunzel, Scarlet and Cinderella were concerned. Such was understandable, if nothing else, given how they'd been living since… However long it had been since they'd left Eden.

Eventually, the girls had seemed to have their fill of wandering around, and so everyone made their way for the Command Centre, and more specifically, Joe's office. Since there was an elevator in the foyer leading directly to the top floor, they didn't need to pass through the general Nikke living space, and so they didn't run into the rest of Counters proper yet.

Thus, Joe marched to and collapsed into his office chair, letting out a long, weary sigh as he allowed himself to momentarily melt into the seat.

All the while, Pioneer zipped around the suite, immediately looking around and poking at near everything—culminating in Cinderella finding the washroom and declaring with no small amount of utter, rapturous joy, that there was a shower.

The Commander wished that he couldn't say that he was surprised when he heard the water start running, Scarlet glowering covetously at the washroom door as it did so. He probably should have seen the girls hijacking his utilities immediately, given how they'd been living out of tents and probably bathing in rivers for decades now.

Regardless, as the girls all settled in, Joe worked up the will to withdraw his phone to contact Ingrid and Andersen.

[I'm back from the field. Requesting a meeting to debrief.]

Short and sweet, hopefully they'd immediately understand and-

[The Deputy Chief Commander is preoccupied,] Ingrid rapidly responded, [I'll be at your office shortly.]

Ah. So, Cinderella was probably going to have to wait a while before being reunited with her father just yet… Unfortunate, but it was what it was.

"Andersen can't come to meet everyone just yet," Joe declared to the gathered girls, of whom Snow White was peering intently at Marian's gun, First Affection; Rapunzel had claimed one of the couches and was serenely sitting without making a nuisance of herself; and Scarlet was looming next to the washroom door, clearly intent on being the next to use the shower. "Ingrid, the CEO of Elysion and a trusted ally, is going to show up to talk in his stead."

"Ah," Rapunzel seemed more than a little disappointed, glancing towards the small, increasingly steamy room Cinderella was currently occupying. "That's rather unfortunate, but I suppose it can't be helped. He's probably busy with being a… General, I suppose?"

"That's effectively what Deputy Chief Commanders are to my understanding, yeah," Joe nodded in acknowledgement of the comparison. "We'll figure out when we'll be able to have a proper family reunion sooner or later."

"I suppose if we've waited this long, just a bit longer can't be so bad…" Rapunzel mused as she lightly steepled her fingers, seeming to mull something over as she glanced out the window. Her eyes widened at the sight of the sky again. "Um, Joe?" She started. "Rapi mentioned 'the Dome of Eternity' in reference to the sky earlier…?"

"The Ark has a holographic artificial sky over the city," Joe answered matter-of-factually. "It creates the illusion of the city not being a hole in the ground. Helps with the psychology of the general populace. Separates them from the reality that most of them have never, and may never see the real sky, sun, or moon in their lives."

Joe looked out the window himself, noting how, under scrutiny, the illusion cast over the Outpost was somewhat less convincing than the one in the Ark proper. "Mighty Tools must have used older, mothballed projector panels for this one. It's easier to tell that the sky isn't real compared to the Ark itself."

"Amazing…" Rapunzel let out a wondrous breath. "It's good to know that most get to experience normalcy, even today. All this time, we've been fighting just for something like that…"

"It'd be better if they didn't have their heads firmly buried in the sand, in my opinion…" Joe noted somewhat darkly, his frustrations with the Ark's populace filtering through to no small degree. "Maybe the ungrateful fucks would be less inclined towards mistreating the Nikkes they owe everything if they couldn't deny the reality of mankind's situation," he suggested in a resentful tone.

That gave Rapunzel no small amount of pause, shrinking in on herself somewhat with a strained grimace. Snow White's attention shifted to Joe, now staring at him with some measure of wary uncertainty. She didn't say anything, however, leaving the group in a momentary lapse into silence.

"...Such an indulgently large bed…" Scarlet mused out of the blue, leaning over to peer into the sleeping quarters proper of Joe's Commander Suite. "The Commander hath been living in the lap of luxury in his time here, if nothing else."

An obvious subject shift, but one that wasn't altogether unwarranted, all things considered.

The conversation that followed wasn't particularly noteworthy, thus nothing of particular interest occurred until Cinderella was done with the shower… Only to realize that she'd not thought her actions through entirely, given that the washing machine only just audibly started up after the shower stopped.

"Truly?" Scarlet started with audible frustration. "Didst thou sincerely not consider that you hath not a solitary change of clothes on hand?"

"Shush!" Cinderella indignantly cried from the other side of the door. Joe could hear the embarrassed pout on her face.

Although… "So what was your plan then, Scarlet?" the burly figure inquired, popping an eyebrow as he observed the swordswoman's continued vigil over the washroom. "You don't exactly have any clean clothes either… In fact, hey!"

The man suddenly rose to his feet, ignoring the flush of realization striking Scarlet's features. Rather, he quickly rushed to the door and authoritatively rapped on it.

"Don't use the washer and dryer just for one bloody outfit! The Outpost has to get potable water delivered from and dirty water shipped back to the Ark until the on-site recycling centre gets set up! We have to ration it out because there's only so much to go around per shipment!"

"W-well what am I supposed to do then!?" Cinderella cried back, her voice becoming audibly distressed as the washing machine stopped spooling up. "I can't come out and lounge about in my birthday suit! I'm not my father!"

…Yeah, Andersen had tried to waltz about the Avenger in nothing but his way too revealing briefs, sunglasses, and hat more than once. Cinderella may have inherited some of the man's attention whore tendencies, but she wasn't that egregious.

Usually.

With a jolt, Rapi suddenly went ramrod straight with a look of stark realization, and with a grim expression, declared: "I'll be right back!" She then zipped out of the room with a purpose.

Joe couldn't do much beyond stare at the hallway door after the little blonde's departure, not entirely sure what it was she intended to do-

"Here!" Scarlet slapped the washroom door herself, presenting to it a-

"Oy!" Joe started with a furrowed brow. "Did you just sneak into my closet-?"

"You just declared that it would be wasteful to wash but a single collection of garments at a time," Scarlet noted with a grimace as she continued to hold one of Joe's spare shirts up to the door. "Therefore: we need something to wear until the last one in to clean themselves can wash all of our accoutrements at once."

Joe opened his mouth to protest, however, she had a point. So, he just shrugged, spinning on his heel to return to his seat. "Alright, alright, point taken! I'll make a note that we need to get you all new clothes the next time we make a supply run to the Ark…"

"You said that we weren't to head into the Ark proper," Snow White noted dryly, paying little heed to a rapidly reddening Rapunzel.

"I meant myself or one of the Counters girls!" Joe clarified with a groan. "Y'all can give us your measurements or something!"

"O-our measurements!?" Rapunzel cried out, openly scandalized. "B-but that would mean- You would know how big our- And you'd have to use a measuring tape and touch and squeeze and lift and cup our…!" The repressed nun buried her face in her hands, somehow failing to hide how widely her eyes were bugging out at the thought of regardless.

At that, Joe just fell into his seat, then slumped right forward and allowed his forehead to all but slam into the surface of his desk with a long, pained groan. "You've all been here for less than an hour, how is my room already devolving into bedlam, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…!"

"I'm not even doing anything!" Snow White protested with a heavy frown.

Then Cinderella finally emerged from the shower, more than a little sheepishly doing her best to adjust the massively oversized shirt loosely hanging from her frame in a manner that made it look like a wildly ill-fitting dress. The sight reminded him of the first time the little Nikke met Goddess, in fact…

Otherwise, needless to say, Scarlet all but shoved the little platinumette out of the way as she bounded to get in the shower next.

At any rate, with Cinderella's hair worn loose as well, the effect was more cute than anything-

"And of course," Snow White spoke up again. "You're already making yourself comfortable wearing nothing but the Commander's own clothes in his quarters, as per usual."

While Cinderella turned ruby red, Joe gave Snow White a deeply betrayed look.

"...I have done nothing wrong in all my life," Snow White defensively asserted, making firm eye contact with the man as she did so.

"Judas," Joe countered with a heavy grimace.

Some time after, just as Scarlet stepped out of the shower, a deeply contented expression worn on her face as she ran a hand through her still-damp hair, Rapi emerged back into the room. A bundle of clothes held in her arms and a determined look on her face.

"Put these on," she ordered the two recently cleaned Nikkes, randomly shoving half of each bundle into their chests. "Whatever fits best."

As the two blinked in surprise, Joe scratched his head in confusion for a moment before he realized that Rapi had grabbed a bunch of spare workout tops and bottoms from the barracks. That was a really simple solution, though… "Um, Rapi, I don't think those will-"

"You're complaining about me ensuring that your closet remains unraided?" The little blonde sharply turned to face the burly brunet, her delicate brow furrowing heavily in the moments before…

"U-um…" Rapunzel started after she'd stood up, approached, and took an article of clothing from the bundles, holding the shirt up and very warily gazing at it with a deeply embarrassed and somewhat scandalized expression on her face. "All of these, on top of being so... airy, would be several sizes too small on me, R-Rapi. J-Joe would be able to s-s-see e-e-e-everything…!" The towering blonde noted as, yes, it had to be noted that Rapi had failed to account for the fact that Rapunzel was a big girl, actually being the same height as the Commander himself was.

Joe interjected before the poor Italian started to death spiral. "I think that Rapunzel is going to need to wear one of my shirts tonight, Rapi."

The nun's chest alone would probably cause even the largest of Counter's spare tops to tear if she tried to force any of them on. And as appealing as the idea of that was in a vacuum, Rapunzel would probably die if that happened. Come to think of it, Joe would probably die too. Rapunzel was very much a stone-cold stunner, after all.

Rapi just stared at Joe, clearly displeased with his assertion, though she wordlessly shifted her attention to the shirts and shorts she'd provided, and obviously, could not deny the fact that not one of the girls currently housed in the Command Centre even came close to sharing Rapunzel's statuesque, fertility goddess-like build.

So, instead, she turned to Cinderella. "Well, you can at least-"

Cinderella had found what was obviously one of Anis' spare shirts, and upon probing and feeling it out for a bit… "...This would be too tight in the chest, and too loose everywhere else," she pointed out.

Indeed, Cinderella was as stacked as Rapunzel was, while being the shortest member of Goddess at that. Again, none of the Counters girls had anything even approximating a figure like hers, with only Anis even beginning to approach parity in a certain specific area.

"...Again, I think Cinderella's going to have to keep wearing my shirt for now," Joe noted as he rubbed the back of his neck with a small, apologetic grimace. Better for the entire article to be too big, than distractingly too tight in the chest and baggy everywhere else.

After a few tense moments, Rapi turned to face Scarlet, her expression entirely too blank.

"...Well, luckily, given that thine attire seems sized for thy binded figure…" Scarlet began, holding up one of what was one of Rapi's spare tops, given that Rapi's name was written on it on a patch, oddly enough. "There's little reason I could not change out of Joe's garment and change into thine." She reached out, secured a pair of (worryingly tiny, holy shit, Rapi) shorts, and retreated back into the washroom to change.

After a moment, Rapi turned to face Snow White-

"I'm not showering," the silverette asserted plainly.

"Yes thee art!" Scarlet shouted through the door. "Smelly Nikke!"

"I am not a smelly Nikke!" Snow White very forcefully and defensively cried in reply, immediately hunching over like a snarling dog might.

"Stinky Nikke, stinky clothes!" Scarlet asserted. "The Commander only spares you criticism on account of thine fragile ego and sisterly status!"

Utterly aghast, Snow White sharply turned to face Joe, her expression demanding that he deny the cruel assertions.

However, Joe knew and understood what Scarlet was attempting to do, and thus, he simply averted his gaze sheepishly.

At that, Snow White's expression contorted into one of pure betrayal, then pain, then, resignation. In a deeply uncharacteristically small and defeated voice, she declared: "...I'll shower…"

Well that made Joe feel bad, though he wasn't about to go undercutting Scarlet's efforts to get Snow White to bathe. Thus, he simply resolved to low-key make it up to the bottomless pit by allowing her to gorge herself on food that night.

All that aside, there was little else to do but wait for Ingrid to arrive.

---

When Ingrid did eventually step into the room, carrying what was clearly a rifle case as she did so, she harshly halted, freezing in place like a statue as she took in the sight of almost the entirety of the legendary Goddess squad.

All of whom were loitering and lounging about the Legendary Commander's room, in various states of undress, several wearing what were clearly the Commander's own shirts and little else, listening to cyberpunky ambient background music. There was a mountain of just-emptied Tetra Line Premium-grade ration packs piled up on his coffee table, and the Legendary Commander himself was slumped in his office chair, a can of soda limply held in his hand in a way that called to mind a man defeated by his life and nursing a can of cheap beer in an impotent attempt to deal with everything.

Joe simply tracked his eyes over to Elysion's CEO without turning to face her properly, simply letting an acknowledging, guttural sound of "Egh," along with a quarter-assed nod of his head to affirm that her appearance hadn't gone unnoticed.

Ingrid's keen violet eyes took in the unfathomably absurd sight, and after several long moments, she reached up and heavily pinched the bridge of her nose with a bone-deep sigh of absolute exasperation.

"...It would have been appreciated," Ingrid began, "Had you been so magnanimous as to grant us a warning that you intended to bring Goddess into the Outpost, rather than simply springing your decision upon me like this, Commander," she declared in a deeply put-upon voice.

After a few moments of consideration, Joe looked as though he'd bitten down on a lemon after considering that, yeah, they'd never discussed the notion of him just bringing Pioneer into the Outpost the moment they were reunited. He'd just done so without talking to anyone about doing so beforehand.

Joe had only a simple reply to Ingrid's entirely reasonable point.

"Oops."

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 65 - Tactical Opportunities
===

Ingrid, regardless of her intense aggravation with Joe's ongoing and increasingly typical brand of particular bullshittery, marched up to his desk, brusquely depositing the rifle case she'd been carrying into it with a huff.

"Matters of your persistent lack of forethought aside," the CEO began with no small measure of annoyance, "It is good to see that the operation was clearly a…" She turned aside to take in the sight of Pioneer, eyes tracking over the group with transparent reverence. "Success."

Indeed, all but one of the legendary Grimms were present—only Sleeping Beauty, Dorothy, was missing. The Nikkes that humanity as a whole owed their continued collective existence to. The most important warriors and heroes to have ever lived.

All of whom were clad in little more than what looked like borrowed gym wear, and the Commander's own ill-fitting clothes. By all accounts, they looked the part of a gaggle of teenagers in the midst of a sleepover, rather than unstoppable living legends.

…And Snow White's cheeks were puffed out from having a mouthful of something, with Scarlet being visibly drunk, given the heavy blush on her cheeks, her unfocused expression, and the way she swayed in place even while seated.

Elysion's CEO did not know how to even begin to process the absurd sight. So, she opted to ignore it and focus on Pholus. "I hope there was a purpose behind bringing Pioneer into the Outpost, and that you weren't acting entirely off of pure id." She blinked, rubbing her chin as something seemed to cross her mind.

"Also, after some discussion, it's been agreed upon that the Outpost should probably receive a proper name, given that it's rapidly looking to develop into a small town in its own right. Doubly so with the interest many Nikkes have been expressing in it lately."

While Joe wanted to take offence at the implication that he had a tendency to not think his actions through… Well, he had a tendency to not think his actions through, and so, passing the rifle case but a curious glance, he adjusted his position in his seat and set his soda can aside as he replied.

"Duly noted in regards to giving the Outpost a proper name. That aside: you previously altered existing records to make it seem like I was always endorsed by Elysion to keep the likes of Syuen off of my back," the Commander started as Pioneer looked warily between the two. "Could you do the same for the girls to make them an Elysion Black Ops squad, to discourage anyone from digging into their presence in the Outpost?"

Ingrid's response to that was immediate. "I could, but, frankly speaking, I have severe doubts about granting them any kind of excuse to set foot inside of the Ark given how increasingly brazen you've demonstrated yourself to be." Immediate, and more than a little scathing.

At that, Joe pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a heavy sigh as he bit down on his bottom lip in frustration.

"The Commander assured us that the Outpost is a haven, bereft of Ark monitoring, and staffed by naught but Nikkes who answer only to him," Scarlet piped up, her expression sobering up somewhat as she critically gazed upon Ingrid.

She continued on without missing a beat.

"We hath also discussed at great length the fact that any of us setting foot within the Ark, regardless of the cause, would be the epitome of suicidal. Whatever thine impressions of us are, we have survived conditions which demand nothing less than peak performance, and a keen intellect, for a hundred years."

"None here would be fallow of intellect enough to so much as approach the elevator to the Ark, without having had multiple layers of confirmation given to us beforehand," Scarlet pointedly finished.

"We aren't stupid," Snow White—who had a towel loosely secured in place over her shoulders by a hair clamp like a cloak—after swallowing her mouthful of food, curtly summed up Scarlet's counterpoint. "And we were told that the Outpost was made wholly secure by the Commander's allies. Were we misinformed?"

Ingrid turned to face Pioneer, her expression shifting to be somewhat uncertain. After a few moments of consideration, she replied with a notable lack of the intensity with which she addressed Joe.

"The Outpost is as safe and free from the CG's oversight as it possibly can be, all things considered," the CEO stated. "And I meant no disrespect to Pioneer, but Cmdr. Pholus has repeatedly demonstrated a tendency to behave without the foresight he should have given his status as the Legendary Commander."

It was Cinderella replied to that assertion. "So you're criticizing him for not having a strategic mindset that he never had, even in the midst of the Initial Rapture Invasion?"

The silverette—with her now-dry hair worn in her typical twintails and garbed in nothing but one of Joe's spare t-shirts—added on, levelling a firm stare Ingrid's way.

"Joe's told us about the missions he's been sent on, and the preparation and support—or consistent lack thereof—he's been provided for all of them. He's a tactician. His skill set has always laid in on-the-spot improvisation and making snap judgments while under pressure. He always had Lilith, or my father to provide intelligence and form long-term strategies to work towards before deployments."

The platinum-haired beauty noted the role Andersen apparently should have been filling very pointedly.

"From what we've been told, and as Rapi has affirmed, every time he's been deployed from the Ark, it's been with little to no actual information or directives beyond 'get it done.'"

"It isn't his fault if those who should be providing him adequate support and intelligence have been falling woefully short, putting undue pressure on him whose increasingly negative effects should be readily apparent and wholly expected."

Even Rapunzel—with a towel loosely draped over her crown as though it were a colourful, improvised nun's habit—joined in on playing defence for Joe, her lips lightly down-turning as she produced the closest thing to a frown she seemed to be capable of.

"The expectations placed on him in the midst of the IRI were somehow significantly less unreasonable than those of the modern day, considering how he's been offered so remarkably little to accomplish his goals recently. Even when made to go up against the likes of Tyrants, which we would never have allowed him to so much as approach without a Hoplon…"

Rapunzel paused, before finishing pointedly:

"And he never would have been knowingly deployed against something like Chatterbox without being informed of the danger he was approaching in the first place."

Snow White crossed her arms, brow furrowing as she added on: "And the one time Andersen was actually directly involved in the planning for an operation, Joe was deliberately lied to and misled as to the objective of the mission, leading to the necessity of altering the plan to account for him and Rapi being exponentially more competent than the Ark, meaning you, were willing to give them credit for."

There was a long pause, in which Ingrid looked more than a little bushwhacked.

After a fairly pregnant pause, she cleared her throat, and noted: "...I actually directly questioned the wisdom of expecting the Legendary Commander to not pull a miracle out of his ass when deploying on that mission, but Andersen would have known better than me, or so I thought…"

There was another significant beat, which was punctuated by Cinderella glaring at the smug little Andersen plushie set before her next to the chibi depiction of herself, on the coffee table she was seated at on the floor. She ultimately reached out and lightly punched the doll with a displeased huff. The little Andersen looked quite sad, now splayed out on its back like that.

At any rate, Joe was left awkwardly gazing about sheepishly. He had not been expecting to have the girls be so quick to rush to his defence, outwardly criticizing Ingrid like that. Granted, it felt… Incorrect, to him. It made him uncomfortable.

Rapi seemed to notice, shifting to stand closer to the man. Cinderella too noticed, her expression taking on a tinge of self-recriminating, envious longing at the sight of Rapi's physical closeness to the Commander.

Regardless of Cinderella's thoughts, Rapi spoke up next without any concern paid to the silverette. "I must admit, based on what few memories have returned to me of the IRI… The Ark's penchant for strategic and tactical considerations is… Woeful, respectfully, ma'am."

Though Rapi had said 'respectfully' in order to ensure that her words were… Respectful, Ingrid looked utterly aghast at her subordinate's assessment. "...Even Elysion?" She asked, uncharacteristically wary.

"...Yes," Rapi flatly replied, averting her gaze as she did so.

Ingrid looked like she'd just stepped on a nail, gritting her teeth near hard enough to crack a tooth as she sharply sucked in a lungful of air with a harsh hiss. "But our tactical acumen… It's second to none…!" She stage-whispered aloud.

"Resting at the top of a pile of rancid trash is no feat to be proud of," Snow White mercilessly declared in response.

Ingrid looked as though she'd been shot in the heart, actually needing to plant a hand on the Commander's desk to steady herself.

The girls, at least, seemed willing to relent, the suite growing silent, cyberpunk ambience aside, as Joe contemplated the newfound awkwardness.

Only briefly, however, before he decided that it would be best to keep the ball rolling on track. "So you won't modify Elysion's records to legitimize Pioneer's presence in the Outpost?" The man inquired.

It took Ingrid a few moments of wavering in place before she responded, audibly pained. "...They would be assigned an Elysion-specific squad name, and understand that they are never to set foot in the Ark proper unless cleared to do so by myself, Mustang, and Andersen, simultaneously and without exception. Am I understood?"

"Of course," Joe answered plainly, not noticing how the girls had all perked up at the mention of Mustang's name.

"They will always, and without exception, refuse to answer questions asked of them by anyone not a part of the conspiracy," Ingrid continued, recovering fully and crossing her arms beneath her chest. "To the point of being openly hostile if pressed. Elysion black operatives do not tolerate attempted interference from anyone. Even the CG understands that our toes are not to be stepped on, in certain regards."

"That sounds perfectly doable," Snow White declared matter-of-factually.

"They may need to also be deployed on missions apart from yourself, Pholus," Ingrid added, though she was obviously addressing everyone in the room. "If I'm obviously playing favourites and giving you exclusive command to a Black Ops unit that otherwise does little beyond mill about the Outpost, it will draw undue attention we do not need."

While Pioneer looked ready to collectively protest, it was Joe that spoke up. "It goes without saying that we can't have them accompany us on every single, or even most CG-assigned operations," he noted as he crossed his arms with a slow nod. "That would be like if Absolute suddenly did nothing besides deploy alongside Counters. Everybody would notice, and get understandably suspicious."

"It would be worse," Ingrid declared rather forcefully. "Absolute has a track record that, even if it can't be discussed openly or in any degree of meaningful detail, is known to exist. Pioneer? A 'new' Elysion Black Ops unit, that nobody outside of Elysion can attest to the previous existence of, has not appeared anywhere before suddenly showing up and working under the brand new rising star Commander of the Outpost, who also doesn't actually have a verifiable past anyone outside of Elysion can affirm?"

Closing her eyes and shaking her head lightly, the white-clad woman's wavy chocolate brown locks swayed about her sharp features.

"The most I can do most of the time is grant an allowance to call upon them in emergencies ala Absolute during the mission to hunt down Chatterbox. And even then, it would have to be in a staggered manner: Pioneer some deployments, Absolute other deployments, depending on either squad's availability. There can be no allowance for brute force on this matter which may reveal to the CG your true identities."

Pioneer, collectively, looked as though they'd bit down on one Hell of a batch of lemons. At once, the girls were all clenching and unclenching their hands, fidgeting in place in open discomfort. The reason why was obvious: not one of them wanted to tolerate the notion of Joe and Rapi going out into the field without them. But they weren't in the midst of the Initial Rapture Invasion anymore, and in fact, they were all technically fugitives that would be targeted the moment they slipped up and suddenly everyone knew who they really were.

"That will have to do, for now," Joe declared as he leaned forward in his seat, uncrossing his arms to rest his elbows on his knees and rest his chin upon his knuckles—a position which seemed to catch Cinderella's interest for some reason.

Otherwise… The mention of Chatterbox twigged something in Joe's head, and he found his brow furrowing heavily in deep consideration. Was he forgetting something regarding that? He couldn't-

"Fuck!" He suddenly jumped in his seat, which caused everyone to go on-edge. "Wardress!"

"Wardress?" Ingrid fixed the brunet with an intense stare. "The two-woman squad that accompanied Counters to hunt down Chatterbox in Vancouver? Syuen's little pet project... What about them?" She inquired, even as Pioneer, Snow White in particular, had their interest visibly piqued.

Joe took a moment to grit his teeth and calm himself—Christ, he'd completely forgotten… "Yuni and Mihara, Syuen abuses them, to the point that even though they heard enough about what Chatterbox said about Rapi being Red Hood-" Pioneer suddenly looked very pointedly concerned, to say nothing of Rapi herself, "they agreed to say nothing to Syuen or anyone else, so long as I myself didn't tell anyone-" Joe paused, considering if he actually should…

"If you didn't tell anyone what, Pholus?" Ingrid inquired, her eyes narrowing as she focused heavily on him. "Remember that the Command Centre and Outpost as a whole is clean of listening devices. Nothing that's said here leaves this building so long as nobody talks outside of it."

…Yeah, fuck it. "Yuni was able to blind Chatterbox by simply pointing at the thing," Joe declared, which very clearly piqued Ingrid and everyone else's attention in a big way. "So long as she maintained her focus, kept her finger firmly locked on it, Chatterbox's eyes just flat-out stopped working. I'm given to understand that isn't normal for a Nikke."

"It is not," Ingrid declared as she turned fully towards Joe, immediately leaning over the desk and planting her palms on the surface with a keen interest. "In fact, that sounds rather like the modern-day Grimms experiments that Elysion and Tetra Line have also been performing to grant decidedly unusual special abilities to select, high-performance Nikkes."

"What!?" Pioneer collectively jumped in place themselves—with Snow White actually leaping to her feet outright. "The Ark has produced more Grimms in the modern day?"

At that, Ingrid openly snorted derisively. "Hardly. They can do things other Nikkes cannot, but their baseline performance rarely exceeds that of typical specialist Nikkes. We do our damn best to push the envelope, but…" the CEO growled outright, letting her frustration show openly. "It's a miracle we've managed what little we have, as it is."

Regardless, she turned to Joe again.

"Why are you bringing them up in the first place, regardless?"

Joe was quick to answer. "Because I wanted to find out if it would be possible to have them transferred to Counters."

While Rapi looked somewhat put-off by the notion, Ingrid just scoffed. "Good luck with that," the violet-eyed woman declared. "If Yuni is actually a modern Grimms prototype, Syuen will never so much as consider loosening her grip on their leash. Just as Mustang would never surrender Alice to myself or Syuen, and I would never surrender… Any of my specialists to them."

Again, Pioneer visibly reacted to the mention of Mustang's name, though it had gone unnoticed by Joe and Ingrid.

"She abuses them though," Joe countered pointedly, rising to his feet as he fixed his own gaze on Ingrid. "Mihara told me outright: it's the reason she was willing to cut a deal and not tell Syuen what they'd seen or heard about Rapi and Snow White. They aren't loyal to the little twerp, and clearly aren't happy working for her."

He needed to get Ingrid in on the idea of poaching Wardress from Missilis… Perhaps…

"My mind trembles at the sheer breadth of tactical applications that would grant us," the man declared damn near boisterously, and, notably, Ingrid's eyes lit up, damn near metaphorically burst into flames at the mention of the word 'tactical.' "We've already seen that Yuni's ability works on Tyrants, Chatterbox had to determine that it was her doing it specifically before it knew to fling attacks in her general direction to break her focus. If it works on something as powerful as a Tyrant… Well, what if it would also work on a Heretic?"

At that, Ingrid outright bit down on her nail through her ivory-white gauntlet like a dog might a bone, her pupils darting about as her mind visibly started overclocking. "The tactical applications… The tactical avenues it would open up…! The tactical opportunities…! The tactics…!"

She trailed off, the fervency in her voice rising despite her volume noticeably decreasing to a whisper with each utterance—which was starkly noticeable, given that otherwise, Ingrid had no indoor voice and was always shouting.

"...Tactics…!" She finished with a breathy whisper just barely on the edge of hearing.

Weird, but, okay, it seemed to be motivating her to seriously think about the notion, if nothing else.

The woman clenched her eyes shut, and after a few moments of consideration, she replied: "I seriously doubt I'll be able to produce a miracle, but I'll put in a request on your behalf, and probably get into an argument with the little shit over it. Just don't expect anything to come of it."

Well, that… Yeah, Joe didn't like the idea of leaving Yuni and Mihara with someone that was literally using them as punching bags, but, if they couldn't swing it, then they couldn't swing it. "I appreciate that you'll try, regardless."

"That's about all I can promise," Ingrid declared before looking over Pioneer, giving the ancient squad a particular look of appraisal. "I'll let the Commander know as soon as all the paperwork has been fabricated to point to you all as being an…"

Her gaze drifted to, and visibly hung on Cinderella and Rapunzel in particular for a few moments before continuing.

"...Inter-Manufacturer Black Ops squad—because nobody would believe that anyone other than Tetra Line would produce Nikkes that look like you two. It'll take me a bit, given that additional wrinkle, but it'll get done."

"...I'm not sure if I should be offended or not…" Rapunzel noted, brows furrowing and lips down curling somewhat at her and Cinderella's having been singled out. "What is that supposed to mean? That we have to have been made by Tetra Line?"

Rapi averted her gaze sharply, suddenly finding an empty soda can sitting on Joe's desk to be remarkably interesting. Snow White grimaced and acted like she didn't hear what was being said, and Scarlet was suddenly a lot more tipsy than she was before, conveniently too much to be able to be relied upon to explain much of anything.

Joe, meanwhile, did his level best to not respond to having attention indirectly called to Cinderella and Rapunzel's figures by looking. Meaning that suddenly, Ingrid was the only one that was actually looking directly at the two.

Which, unfortunately, meant that it was Ingrid that elaborated on the matter to Rapunzel. "Your figures, mode of dress, and the way you present yourselves is far more unnecessarily glamorous and obscene than what would typically be found in the average Elysion Nikke," the professionally-clad woman declared with all the bluntness of a bull moose.

The poor nun, at that, suddenly seemed to spontaneously develop the ability to use Exceed herself, given how her cheeks took on the same glowing hue that Rapi's hair did when she activated her own super mode. "I-I-I-I'm not 'obscene!'"

Rapunzel protested in a high-pitched squeal as she jumped in place to cup her cheeks in scandalized horror, the act causing her massive and presently unsupported chest to jiggle about so violently as to nearly break Joe's neck with the sudden, onset gravitational pull the motion the two borderline celestial objects had nearly produced.

"I-I'm a good, well-behaved and conservatively dressed girl! M-my outfit doesn't even show any bare skin below the neck! How is that obscene!?"

Joe pointedly did not note that Rapunzel's full-coverage outfit was a skin-tight body glove that hugged and emphasized every single one of her absurd curves, leaving damn near nothing to the imagination, in so doing. The poor woman, she didn't understand…

Cinderella, meanwhile, only took on a slightly reproachful expression. "'Obscene' is not the term I would use," she said calmly, flicking her hair with a hand for effect as she did so.

"I am simply emphasizing my natural beauty for all to see: for beauty is something that all should appreciate in all of its forms. Rapunzel, clearly, is doing the same, and why should she not? A woman's beauty is something that is adored and appreciated by all, and we shine so brightly as resplendent Goddesses, even just our presence serving as a balm to weary souls in terrible need of any and all forms of comfort they may receive…"

She looked to the Commander, an expectant, somewhat presumptive little grin finding purchase on her features as she did so. "Isn't that correct, Joe?" She sweetly asked as she arched her back in such a way as to emphasize her own chest which rivalled Rapunzel's, despite being clad in nothing but one of the man's own oversized shirts-

Joe tore his gaze back upwards with a mortified grimace as he realized he'd just dead-ass and rather openly looked.

However, Cinderella only looked smugly satisfied to have caught Joe looking. She put on that grin—that fucking grin—the one she'd inherited from her father, the one that just shattered one's defences as ruinously as her beatific, earnest smile would.

Hadn't she just recoiled and made a point to avoid invading his personal space the night prior? Joe wasn't sure what to think of that—unless she was just doing that thing she usually did where she wanted praise from anybody for her looks?

Regardless, as Snow White rolled her eyes at the display, Joe rather quickly and forcefully planted his ass back in his seat, coughing repeatedly into his fist as he did his best to not let his intense embarrassment show—quite unlike a poor, crying Rapunzel that had hid her face beneath the towel she'd previously had laid over her head not unlike her typical habit.

Cinderella's smug expression only intensified at that, even as Rapi's own intensely dissatisfied expression went unnoticed at large.

Ingrid, all the while, just gave the entire group a heavily lidded look, eventually rolling her eyes in turn as she turned aside to face Joe properly once more.

"At any rate, Pholus," she slapped the rifle case to call attention to it. "The rifle you brought back from the Yukon. I had it inspected, maintained, and treated to be capable of handling a far hotter load than was typical of such ancient-pattern firearms. Additionally: owing to the eclectic variation in Wildcat cartridges produced by Tetra Line, I was able to procure several boxes of reproduction, high-powered .30-30 cartridges for it."

Joe blinked, paused, looked at the rifle case, then around the room… What the fuck, he hadn't even noticed that the old lever-action rifle was missing. Holy shit, talk about missing a spot check. When had she even taken it from him!?

Leaning back up, Ingrid set her hand on her hip as she continued. "First and foremost: this rifle is a non-functioning replica, and nothing more. Never, under any circumstances, admit to the CG that you have a non-biometrically locked and untracked firearm. They don't tend to appreciate it when a weapon they can't control exists anywhere near the Ark. Understood?"

The Commander gave the rifle case a serious look, decidedly caught off-guard by the entire notion, but one thing in particular stuck out to him. "It's been 'treated' to 'handle' hotter-than-normal loads?" He inquired.

"With the same process we use to reinforce conventional firearms used by Nikkes," Ingrid answered with a nod. "Of course, even with that treatment applied to it, it absolutely could not handle a true Nikke-grade cartridge without exploding, given that it isn't built from Goddessium, but it'll be far more powerful than it ever had been historically, with no cosmetic changes to speak of… Besides the addition of muzzle threads, at least. There's a powerful muzzle brake and a heavy-duty suppressor included in the case, incidentally."

Ingrid shrugged.

"Do what you will with it, just, again, never let anyone that works for the CG know that you have a functioning firearm that lacks a biometric lock. Understood?"

…Did Ingrid… Holy shit, she just gave him an emergency trump card, didn't she? Something he could grab in case of an emergency, rather than being completely helpless.

"Understood," he answered, getting the point she was non-verbally making.

"Good," the CEO declared with a nod. "Additionally: while you were gone, the Outpost's Armoury was finished, and your personal high-mobility tactical exoskeleton was delivered to it. Inspect it yourself whenever you see fit, though it should be good for deployment whenever you next go on a surface excursion."

His.

What.

"Don't ever call attention to the Hoplite input it has either," Ingrid added pointedly, shifting her balance where she stood. "...Additionally," her gaze drifted over to First Affection, Marian's submachine gun, resting on the wall over Joe's desk as it was. "Nikke firearms are, obviously, biometrically locked, and would be impossible for a human to use safely even if the lock was defeated by an exceptionally skilled engineer anyways."

She made that declaration while pointedly not looking in Snow White's direction.

"An unaugmented human would require an exoskeleton that had been built, or modified to be capable of better handling the recoil of a weapon meant for Nikkes, and any such weapon itself would likely have to be altered as well to tame its recoil on top of that to minimize strain on the exoskeleton and operator just the same. Such developments would be absurd, and unreasonable given how human soldiers are so terribly unsurvivable against Raptures, regardless of how well they're armed."

The violet-eyed CEO shrugged, still making a point to not so much as glance at Snow White.

"Not that it would matter regardless. Even with extensive modifications and heavy-duty equipment to allow for it, a human would only realistically be capable of handling a pistol-calibre Nikke-grade firearm in semi-auto, at most, anyways. The tactical applications of that would be limited to, what, emergency situations?"

"Nothing the CG would be willing to waste resources on, given how unlikely it is for the average Commander to be put in a situation wherein they wouldn't be just relying on the Nikkes under their command anyways. Especially considering that no Commander would have the acumen to suggest they'd be able to meaningfully or intelligently contribute to combat situations regardless."

Joe just stared at Ingrid in silence as he was forced to contemplate the implications, the woman returning his gaze as Snow White's eyes were quietly locked onto the side of her head.

After a few beats, Ingrid continued. "So, with all of those disclaimers and warnings out of the way… I'll inform you as soon as Elysion's new Inter-Manufacturer squad is ready for deployment, and I'll be damn sure that Andersen knows that he is the one that will handle the next inevitable briefing you'll need."

Cinderella's breath hitched in her throat, and she reached over to gingerly pick up the little plush doll of her father, bringing it to a gentle hug against her chest in sharp contrast to how she'd smacked it in retribution for his poor conduct towards Joe earlier.

A firm reminder that, despite her protests to the contrary, she ultimately was her father's daughter.

"Until next time, Commander." At that, Ingrid about-faced and moved for the hallway door, her stark white and red-accented greatcoat whipping around her frame as she marched. Though, she stopped at the threshold, halting and holding her position before she turned back around, this time to face Pioneer, sparing a glance Rapi's way as well, before… She simply, sharply saluted with a reverent declaration of: "Thank you for your service."

There was yet another long pause, none of the girls seeming to have seen that coming.

Not that it seemed to bother Ingrid, who, after holding the salute for a few moments, spun on her heel and continued on her way with no further aplomb, leaving the group as she proceeded back on to the Ark to handle everything that had been set on her plate without complaint.

After a long, pregnant pause, Joe's attention was grabbed by his having noticed Snow White's golden oculars being focused squarely on him. When he returned her look, her stare momentarily shifted to First Affection, hanging on the firearm for a few moments before once more meeting the man's gaze.

With a small, gremlin-esque mounting smile, Snow White declared to Joe in a deliberately, exaggeratedly dry tone: "Now I have a machine gun."

"Ho-ho-ho."

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 66 - Starseeker
===

Eventually, Joe found himself running headlong into a particular little issue: he, as per usual, failed to account for his recurring character flaw of not thinking his actions through all the way. That is to say: night fell, and Pioneer, not exactly having the credentials to simply rock up to the barracks and claim some free bunks for the night just yet… Made themselves comfortable in the living room area of his suite, once Rapi left for her own bunk.

Joe was surprised by how surprised he was, to see that Scarlet was drunk enough to attempt building herself a pillow fort. She claimed that it wasn't a pillow fort, and that she was only preemptively attempting to shield her hungover eyes from the morning light.

Nobody bought it, and the sloshed swordswoman was forced to instead simply use her comically massive conical hat as a makeshift tent on the floor instead. Scarlet was small enough for this to actually work, notably. So long as she propped one side up with a pillow and balled up under it, at least.

Snow White simply curled up under her poncho in one of the room's corners, asserting that she would need nothing else for a tolerable night's rest. She also noted that sleeping in a climate-controlled building was wildly opulent in of itself, regardless.

Rapunzel simply claimed one of the two sofas which sat across from each other, making herself a cozy little bed atop it, and laying down to drift off without causing a fuss. Angel that she was, she sought to avoid making trouble for anyone if she could.

Cinderella, meanwhile, quietly claimed the opposing couch, giving Joe a small, gentle smile as she laid on her side and watched him retreat into his room for the night.

While one might have expected Joe to pass out the moment the opportunity presented itself, he instead wound up just sitting on the edge of his bed, only having removed his jacket. Face in his hands, the man found himself lost in his head—his thoughts getting to him as he, as per usual, found his brain taking the lack of external stimuli as a prompt to start thinking.

No small part of him wondered if he was ultimately doing Pioneer a disservice, putting them into a position wherein they were made to serve the Ark… Considering everything as a whole, that was debatably a bad thing. The Ark didn't deserve their service. Not with the way they'd been betrayed at the end of Operation Ark Guardian.

On top of that, Ingrid couldn't even realistically guarantee that they'd be able to consistently support him and Rapi in the field. This was debasing, wasn't it? Couldn't he be said to be screwing them over, in some capacity?

Though, it was entirely possible that he was overthinking it too. Ingrid wasn't stupid. Ingrid knew what the Central Government was. In fact… Given that Pioneer would answer exclusively to her, she would doubtlessly have the presence of mind to put them to work undercutting the CG's power, wouldn't she? There were things Pioneer could do, places they could go, resources they could gather, things they could fight no other Nikke squad could.

Hell, Ingrid wouldn't make Pioneer do anything that she knew would piss off Andersen.

Worrying for nothing, ultimately. Typically, the so-called Legendary Commander, upon stopping to think, thinks stupid. Just with extra steps. Screwing himself out of precious sleep for no good reason-

The door automatically slid open, Cinderella's arresting sky blue eye peeking past her alluring bangs at the man in no small amount of surprise.

Because somehow, he'd failed to account for the possibility of a certain someone doing what she typically did. Again, stupid, just with extra steps and more wasted effort spent on the wrong thing.

"...You aren't sleeping," the silver-haired beauty quietly noted, big blue eye glimmering with concern.

"You expected otherwise?" Joe responded with a lop-sided smirk. "Neither are you, Ellie."

Where most might've worn a reproachful look at that observation, Cinderella just put on that smug, dangerous little grin of hers. "Yes, I've successfully monopolized even a small fraction of your time, all to myself."

She stepped into the room, silently closing the door behind her as she did so.

"Spend enough time with someone, and you will learn how long it takes for them to fall asleep, thus letting you act with impunity. I've learned well from my Commander and Lilith…" The little platinum-haired beauty declared, laying out her plan to have waited for the rest of Pioneer to be left in no state to interrupt her plan.

Joe just sighed in defeat. What troublesome Nikkes he was saddled with. Yet, he didn't complain as Cinderella quietly padded over to claim the spot next to him, her expression becoming slightly uncertain as she lightly wrung her hands together.

After a few moments of the two just silently sitting in the dark, Cinderella took a deep breath, visibly bracing herself as she did so. "...Joe," she started, "I… I would like to apologize to you," she eventually said, her voice now somewhat reproachful.

The man blinked, confused, staring at her in naked perplexion. "...Huh? For what? The washing machine thing? I'm not-"

"Wha-" Cinderella's eyes fluttered in confusion this time, shooting the Commander a bushwhacked expression. "N-no, I- You dummy, I'm trying to be serious here!"

"About what?" Joe held his hands aloft in defeat like a put-upon used car salesman. "What do you have to apologize for?"

"How I conducted myself during our time together in Goddess!" Cinderella asserted, brow furrowing momentarily before she stopped and took a moment to recentre herself.

That only served to confuse Joe even more, but he bit his tongue and simply waited to let her get to the point she was trying to make.

"...My behaviour back then," she started back up, Joe making a point to not interrupt her. "From the first time we met in person, to the very last… It was inappropriate, and only in retrospect did I come to realize it."

That really caught Joe off-guard, and he did not understand where this was coming from. "I… what?" He expressed his confusion quite openly.

"...You know how I feel about you," Cinderella continued, directing her gaze to the floor with a small grimace. "I've always been upfront about it. So… Only after we had lost you, did I realize why you never acknowledged my feelings. It's because I approached you like… Rather than as a good man, I approached you like a celebrity, as though I were an immature, smitten teenager, despite us both being grown adults."

"For the longest time, I couldn't understand why it was that you and Red Hood had what you did, yet, despite her assertions that it was only casual and to not consider you as being 'tied down' with that rakish grin of hers, you never… You never took my hand, no matter how often I offered it, no matter how long I kept it extended."

"When my dream was taken from me, when I was told I would never be allowed to be a Goddess of Victory, that I would never be allowed to be a beacon of hope for mankind… You fought for me. You, literally fought for me, even though we'd never met, even though you didn't even know who I was, you fought for me where nobody else ever had before. You fought my father to give me back my hope. You struck him down, forced him to treat me well for the first time in my life to grant me my dream…"

Cinderella turned to face Joe, giving him a resplendent, glowing smile.

"You gave me my glass slipper, gave me the chance to meet my fairy godmother… You became my first love. My Prince Charming, who brushed the soot from my face and picked me up, carried me into the light, and gave me the chance to spread my wings, fly, and become the hope of all mankind, even if only for a few, beautiful fleeting moments…"

"Yet I harried you away, by acting so… Forceful, so shameless. I was jealous that Red Hood could be with you—even so casually—while I couldn't. So I tried so hard to be like her, to approach you shamelessly, to suggest that I was offering the same thing as her…"

"Of course you would keep your hands to yourself, despite my being everything you would ever want, despite me having every trait you desire in a woman, the perfect encapsulation of femininity and beauty. You already had what I seemed to offer with Red Hood, and… That isn't what you wanted. Not truly."

"Yet, not only is that what I seemed to offer, I did so with such… A distinct lack of maturity. I acted desperate. But still, I wanted you to be the one to make the first move, I wanted to be the Princess you would scoop up in your arms and carry into the sunset."

"Of course you were turned off. Of course you wouldn't take my hand. My behaviour was shameful, pitiful, not beautiful at all. I'm sorry, for being so… For my uncharacteristic lack of pulchritude. I'll be better than I had been. I'll conduct myself more appropriately than I did. I'll give you cause to reach back and take my hand."

Her smile only intensified as she rose to her feet, looking so very sweetly down upon Joe as she did so.

"I've waited, kept this flame burning for a hundred years, if even in mourning until so terribly recently… I can wait a few more weeks, or even months, to show you, to demonstrate that I can be a worthy Princess for you."

She turned to face him properly as she shifted to stand directly before the man, stooping over as her arms encircled his shoulders and neck, gently pulling him into a tender embrace.

"I've missed you so much, Joe," her voice warbled slightly. "I'm so happy to have you back. I'm happy to see your face, to hold you, to see your smile and know that you never stopped cherishing us as much as we cherish you. So…" She pulled back just slightly, and after a ruinously heart-stopping moment, a wondrously soft, warm, pillowy sensation graced his cheek, and Cinderella held it for a few long moments before she pulled back from the kiss.

Even despite the heartfelt tears of happiness lightly streaking down her face, the smile she wore was Heavenly. The way she shifted her hands to gently cup his cheeks only increased the intensity of the moment a hundredfold.

"Watch me, Joe. Watch me so keenly, so intently, as I shine brighter than the brightest star for you. Watch me show you that I can be your worthy Princess, become the star that you seek, just as I reach towards the brilliant night sky for you… And maybe, in doing so, you'll come to understand that you are the perfect Prince we deserve. Maybe you will be kinder to yourself, when you are offered the rightful praise, loyalty, and protection you have earned from your resplendent Goddesses of Victory."

She made a point to brush his cheeks lovingly in the instants before she started to back off, the tips of her fingers seeming to protest against the motion of being removed from his face.

"I wish you only the most pleasant of dreams, my perfect Prince."

With that, she quietly backed out of the room, the door quietly opening and closing, the gorgeous silverette continuing to stare longingly at the Commander from between the door and its high-tech frame for as long as she could before it soundlessly slid shut.

Thus, Joe was left alone again.

He stared.

He stared, and stared, with eyes as wide as saucers.

Firstly, because she actually said it. Cinderella just said it, outright, leaving no room open for interpretation.

Yet, further, because Cinderella, for an entire century, had been ruminating on the way her interactions with Joe had gone aboard the Avenger and beyond… On the mistaken belief that she'd done anything wrong, and it wasn't that fucker Andersen's fault that he hadn't pounced on her on day one.

One-hundred years, Cinderella had been left believing she was a fuck-up, that she'd done so much wrong, that it was her fault that Joe hadn't eagerly taken her hand all those years ago. One-hundred years, she'd longed for him… An entire century, she'd not stopped wishing for him, even despite believing he was gone forever…

All because Andersen just had to do what he did best, and ruin something for her at the first opportunity he received.

Joe was going to make that dumb fucker regret being born.

---

As per Rapi's report, Pioneer scattered around the Outpost come morning, the girls being considerate of the fact that Joe had shit he had to do as the administrator of the budding community. Rapunzel, Scarlet and Cinderella went to explore the area in general, appreciate the opportunity to simply traipse about a small settlement that wasn't in ruin, and mirrored those of the old world as well.

Snow White, meanwhile, moved to immediately lay claim to the newly-built Armoury, to nobody's great surprise.

Thus, the Commander was left free to do the shit required of him.

Which started with Rapi noting that the Carronades had actually arrived at the Outpost a few days prior, and were getting somewhat visibly irritated that he'd not come to greet them.

So, more than a little sheepishly, Joe proceeded to the barracks to meet the new girls, idly wondering what else he'd missed in the avalanche of shit happening lately.

While it really hadn't actually been all that long since he'd last set eyes on the iDolls, it somehow felt like it had been months since Joe had last interacted with them. Mia and Flower each presented a happy wave the Commander's way, while Sunny only spared him a passing, wildly uninterested glance with her big blue eyes. While Mia was still wearing her headgear, the other two had gone without all of their tactical equipment and were just sitting around the common room in regular (if somewhat skimpy, in Sunny's case) clothes.

Surprise surprise, even despite being Mass-Produced Nikkes, Sunny and Flower were gorgeous. Joe was sure that Mia would be too, the moment she allowed her face to be seen, but alas, that time was not now.

While idly tapping away at their phones, the three were watching the TV; what looked like some sort of Power Rangers/Super Sentai knock-off.

Flower spoke up on Joe and Rapi's approach. "Commander, you've been busy lately, huh?"

"'Commander!?'" Joe did not get the chance to reply, however, as a new, very girly voice interjected from deeper into the barracks, followed by a very loud series of bounding footfalls.

"Belorta, wait!" Another, equally girly voice called out, audibly following the first as quickly as she could. "Don't get us in trouble with a new Commander again!"

The first, regardless of the second's pleas, slid into the room with a scowl which could only be described as 'cute' worn on her button features, looking almost poised to strike out like an irritated dog.

The first thing that was noticed was how small the new girl was—or rather, small wasn't the right descriptor to use. She was pale-skinned and short, but otherwise, easily and impressively rivalled Anis in build. Short, clad in a form-fitting red button-down capped with a thick, fabric gorget neck protector, and detached baggy sleeves adorned with athletic stripes. Additionally, she wore a short skirt supported by suspenders, and simple red-and-black short boots over thigh highs lightly decorated with three-or-so inches of vertical stripes over the elastic bit.

She had yet another stark head of snow-white hair (which seemed a bit oddly prevalent among Nikkes to Joe) done up in girly little twintails, and wow she had pretty golden eyes and—why was she looking at Joe like he was the most shocking thing in the world-

"T-The-!" The little Nikke, Belorta, going off of the second girl's words, started as she stared at Joe.

"Belorta, please!" Another girl, darker in complexion than her fellow, but still rather fair-skinned, bounded into the room worriedly. She was significantly taller than Belorta, yet still quite short. Built far more modestly, but dressed in a far more provocative, very high-cut leotard beneath a cropped baggy orange-and-black jacket. Her black socks only just went over her knees, ending with simple black boots zipped up the front.

She was brunette, her excessively long—to the point of rivalling Rapunzel's—silken hair adorned with a simple headband, otherwise worn loose and trailing down her back to her ankles. Her eyes were grey-blue, large, and sparking with intense worry.

The brunette attempted to finish her plea. "Don't get us in trouble-!"

Only to be cut off. "-The Legendary Commander!?" Belorta cried out at the top of her lungs.

The slim brunette, at that, jumped, turning towards Joe and Rapi, then- "R-Red Hood!?" She too, all but screamed upon setting eyes on Joe's second.

The room went completely silent, aside from the sounds of sentai action in the background, the TV continued with little heed paid to the room's occupants.

After a few moments of significant tension, Joe reached into his pocket, withdrawing his phone and immediately going through his contacts. There was a beat, the device audibly ringing before, even despite it not being on speaker mode, everyone in the room heard the man on the other end. "Aaaah, mon cheri Commandant Pholus! I have been anticiper the moment your oh-so-masculin voice would grace mon téléphone intelligent! How might I servir you?"

"I just met the Carronades," Joe started in a plain monotone.

Mustang all but crooned in reply. "Ah yes, little Mica and Belorta, such adorables petits chéris they are, oui? Are my sweet little pétards treating you well, mon cheri?"

"They just exposed Rapi and I's identities to the iDolls." Joe very flatly declared to the CEO of Tetra Line, Rapi wearing just about the most put-upon and exhausted expression on her face that he ever did see.

There was a beat before Mustang flatly replied. "Do not allow anyone that was present in the room when this was said out of your sight. I will be there shortly," he stated matter-of-factually as he dropped his usual flouncy pomp, the line cutting at once.

With that, Joe returned the phone to his pocket, just blankly staring at Mica and Belorta. They, in turn, wore expressions of mixed horror and dismay. Belorta in particular looking the part of a chastised puppy, her large, glimmering eyes becoming equal parts watery and pitiable.

The iDolls, meanwhile, were just blankly staring at the tableau, rather visibly dumbstruck into a collective stupor. Given the weight of the revelation they'd just been exposed to out of the blue, such was rather understandable.

"If it's not one thing…" Joe started, his eyes heavily lidded as he pondered how in God's name these two could have even known who he and Rapi were to begin with. To say nothing of how much the two just complicated things involving the iDolls.

"...Then it's another," Rapi finished his sentiment as she rubbed her forehead in pure exasperation with a heavy grimace.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 67 - All the Depth of the Ocean
===

Mustang quietly, lacking even a vague semblance of his usual flamboyance, circled the sofa upon which Belorta and Mica sat. The iDolls too—after having had their phones confiscated—set in a central location so that the CEO of Tetra Line might loom dangerously over the group; like a bear upon its hind legs might threaten a troublesome hound.

In this instance, it was a firm reminder that, immediately nonthreatening as a panda may be, it was still a bear, and bears did what bears did when one fucked around.

Joe and Rapi stood at the entrance to the barracks common room, having confirmed that the iDolls and the Carronades were the only groups present in the Command Centre apart from himself and his XO.

"...My apologies, Commander," Mustang started, his voice lacking any of the pomp typical of the towering, muscle-bound man. "I committed a grave oversight in assigning the Carronades to you, without considering the fact that they were converted into Nikkes but two decades after the Ark was sealed…"

The Adonis tilted his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose past the rim of his aviators.

"But of course they would recognize you two, given that they were around well before the Central Government started their suppression campaign…"

Joe took a deep breath, furrowing his brow heavily as he let out a deep sigh. "Something of an oversight, yes."

The iDolls all shared a deeply disconcerted look between the three of them, visibly unsure of what to make of this ongoing development.

Mustang, regardless, continued on. "Well, with this particular issue having been revealed perhaps a tad early… What would you have done, Commander?" He inquired as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked, idly tapping his bicep as the situation unfolded.

"Commander, please," Mustang started, giving the far more modestly dressed man a dubious look. "Your identities," he motioned lightly towards Rapi, "have been revealed to the iDolls. This is not nothing—it is, in fact, rather potentially disastrous. We have been subtle about your return for a reason, after all—"

"Could you stop with this idiocy?" Sunny interjected somewhat forcefully, lips down curling heavily. "As if anybody's buying this-"

With a quickness which borderlined on supernatural, Mustang snapped forward. At once, Sunny's large, sapphire eyes were locked with the CEO's. Mustang's steely silver irises uncomfortably close to the Nikke's, her dainty little chin firmly secured between the man's thumb and his hooked forefinger. "You are accusing me of lying, little Doll?" he inquired in a low, borderline guttural tone so terribly unlike him.

Flower and Mia both skirted away from their fellow, rather understandably more than a little spooked by Mustang's uncharacteristic shift in attitude. Belorta and Mica, for their part, remained rooted where they'd been made to sit, too visibly terrified to risk moving in the first place.

"A- I-I-I-" Sunny's voice audibly cracked as she started to tremble. "B-Boss, I-I didn't mean- J-Just… P-Please, the Legendary Commander? Seriously-?"

"Seriously," Mustang drew Sunny in closer, jerking her head up by her jaw to emphasize his point with a smidgen of deliberate inflicted discomfort, given how the Nikke jumped and was lifted slightly off the sofa by the motion—or, rather, she didn't resist Mustang's motion for obvious reasons. He wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything to suggest he was capable of lifting a 800lbs/363kg Nikke outright.

Sweat was rapidly forming on her brow, and Joe was getting agitated by the obvious intimidation play being done on her.

Mustang, if he noticed Joe's distaste for the way Sunny was being handled, didn't let it stop him from maintaining course. "You think I would come all this way for a joke? You think I would confiscate your phones on a lark? You think we would have had the premises swept and cleared of other potential information leaks as a laugh? You think Mica and Belorta would look like they were awaiting a death sentence if they were not genuinely in fear for their lives on account of the gravity of their thoughtless mistake?"

Sunny's chin was jerked yet further upwards, Mustang deliberately forcing her into an unnatural, uncomfortable position as he loomed in an increasingly exaggerated manner for effect.

"This situation is intensely serious, little Sun. And for as much as I cherish all of my little idols, for as much as I will forever give all of you the praise you deserve for the sacrifices you make towards mankind's salvation…" He stared darkly into her eyes, expression incredibly intense. "This particular situation relates to mankind's future, towards the possibility of us actually one day retaking the surface, or going extinct in a fetid hole in the ground. This situation is serious, and you will treat it as seriously as it warrants."

Sunny's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, her breath firmly hitched in her throat. Mustang never talked to his girls like this, loomed over them in such a nakedly threatening manner. Whatever doubts she must have been harbouring towards the notion of this situation being very real, then, were clearly rapidly dissolving beneath the weight of one of the most powerful individuals in the Ark stopping just short of pressing a weapon against her skull.

"Mustang," Joe, at that point, felt the need to step in, approaching the pair with a displeased expression on his features. "You've made your point. Dial it back a notch," he instructed the man pointedly.

Mustang didn't immediately acknowledge the order, continuing to stare into a decidedly terrified Sunny's eyes. When he did reply, it was still directed towards her, rather than at Joe. "A common Commander, having the sheer gall to give an order to one of the Big Three of the Ark, so brazenly, so confidently, in defence of one of his Nikkes? Curious, that, hm, little Sun?" He suggested as he finally leaned back, making a point to continue holding onto Sunny's chin even with his arm fully extended, only finally releasing it with a small flourish.

The twintailed blonde heavily fell fully back into her seat with a quiet, shuddering whine, clearly incredibly shaken by the CEO's uncharacteristic display.

At that, Mustang leaned back, settling his palm upon his chin with a hum. "You just had the Legendary Commander himself step up to protect you, little Sun. How many Nikkes have fantasized about just such a scenario happening to them? The answer is many! I have read the fanfiction that gets posted on the Ark's internet!" The man leaned back, laughing heartily despite the seriousness of the situation as it was.

Joe felt an ice cube run down his spine. He had never once pondered the notion of fanfiction existing of Goddess, and he'd rather go back to a time when the thought had never occurred to him. But, that wasn't this timeline, to the Commander's dismay.

Regardless, the displaced Canadian crossed his arms over his chest with a huff, making no attempt to hide how put-off he was by Mustang's conduct.

"That being said," the flamboyant man built like a Greek God started, turning back to face Joe as he did so. "To bring it back to my original question: what would you have done about this development, Commander? These girls may be Tetra Line, but they are also, moreover, your direct subordinates. They know enough for it to be a direct danger to our plans. Would you trust them regardless?"

The Nikkes all presented wide eyes (presumably, in Mia's case) to Joe, save for a mostly inquisitive Rapi. Belorta and Mica's expressions were pleading, while Mia, Sunny, and Flower all gazed up at the man with mounting dread. For his part, it was an easy decision to make. "Full disclosure," the Commander declared as he looked over the gathered super soldiers. "The more they understand, the more likely they are to treat everything as seriously as they should."

"Oh?" Mustang started, a bit of his typical pomp filtering back into his voice. "You would tell them everything, Commander?"

"Everything," Joe pointedly declared. "They're going to be putting their lives on the line to fulfill our long term-plan, so it's only right that they know as much as the others do too." He refocused on Mustang. "Besides, your girls can be trusted, right?"

"But of course!" Mustang asserted cheerfully. "They only needed to understand the gravité of the situation, to know to not treat it as a petit tableau épicé for evening gossip! If you would inform the Carronades and the iDolls of everything, well, I believe they can be trusted. Doubly so considering who you are!"

He turned back to face the girls, lowering his glasses to peer over the rim at them keenly.

"None of you would be the Nikkes that betrayed the confidence of the Legendary Commander himself, would you?"

"N-no!" Mica and Belorta cried out in unison, the two's big 'ol eyes glimmering and watery.

"...Nobody would ever betray the Legendary Commander," Flower asserted warily, the redhead's gaze drifting aside to give Joe a deeply uncertain stare. "But… How could the Commander possibly be… Him?"

It was Mia that spoke up next. "It's been a hundred years since he disappeared, after the Ark was sealed… Commander Pholus doesn't look old enough to be him."

"I've been in cryogenic stasis since immediately after the Ark was sealed," Joe stated outright and with no aplomb.

All five girls blinked (presumably, again, regarding Mia) owlishly at that, replying with a collective "Oh."

"That… Actually explains a lot," Flower noted dryly. "Suddenly just being… Gone. Nowhere to be found… But, why? All these years, the Ark has needed you. Why would you only come back now? Why would you go into stasis in the first place?"

"Because I needed to be sealed away until medical technology advanced enough to save my life," Joe, again, flatly answered.

That, needless to say, caught all of the girls off-guard, no small amount of concern showing on their faces, even as Rapi grew visibly uncomfortable in the background.

"You… Were you hurt when Goddess was sealing the Ark?" Mia asked nervously.

To that, a particular tension sprung up between Joe, Mustang, and Rapi. The three exchanging swift glances of their own discomfort.

Joe did say full disclosure. "Goddess didn't seal the Ark," he declared outright. "They were locked outside of it when the Central Government betrayed us."

That caused the girls to react as though they'd been struck across their faces with a fish, to say the very least. "W-what!?" They cried out collectively.

"I can, and do, attest to the reality of this betrayal against our saviours," Mustang added, taking a hold of his own photogenically stubbled chin as he did so. "Goddess did not sacrifice themselves. They were tricked and abandoned to die, after Commander Pholus was manipulated away from their side by the treacherous vipers of the Central Government."

"The Central Government, at the time, were hardline fascists seeking to consolidate all power into their own hands, and eliminate any and all potential threats to their rule in doing so," Joe began, just opting to explain the entire situation as it was. "Goddess was a threat to them. Goddess would never have gone along with their wretched plan to turn the Ark into the Central Government's personal slave colony. So they were removed from the equation."

Stepping aside, Joe approached the window overlooking a small, empty lot set to be built into a park, so that the Nikkes living in the Command Centre's barracks could at least have a pleasant view out of the common room's window.

Joe laid out the facts as they were to the iDolls and Carronades, relaying events as he recalled them, the words the Central Government had used, how even Enikk had supported them in their attempt to eliminate the Central Government right then and there. How the Central Government's plan would have led to mankind going extinct ninety years ago.

They were visibly overwhelmed, to say the absolute least.

Yet, moreover…

"...O-one of Goddess Squad… Was there with you?" Sunny found the will to speak up again. "There's… A Goddess in the Ark? There has been, this entire time?"

"W-who?" Mia leaned forward. "Who is it? Who's the Goddess that's been secretly in the Ark this whole time? Is it someone in Matis? O-or Absolute? You said her name was 'Red Hood-'"

Flower and Sunny's eyes both snapped opened to their maximum, with all three iDoll's faces whipping around to keenly focus on Rapi.

Poor Rapi damn near wilted under the sudden scrutiny, firmly averting her gaze and pursing her lips in discomfort.

"No way…" Sunny started, her voice wispy and awe-struck.

"It can't be…!" Flower's voice was caught in her throat, pupils seeming to dilate at the onset realization of just who Rapi might be.

"She's always been so much better than everyone around her…" Mia noted, leaning forward in her seat to get a better look at Rapi from around her fellows. "But… Could that possibly mean…?"

"Rapi is indeed Little Red Riding Hood of Goddess Squad, just as the Commander is the Commandant Légendaire," Mustang asserted, reaching up to run his fingertips along the shaved sides of his head. "As petit Belorta and Mica can attest based on their expériences personnelles."

"Mica had a Legendary Commander backpack, before they took it away from her!" Belorta declared with a degree of sudden onset cheer.

Mica, at that, cried out as her entire face turned beet red, betrayal writ large on her features as she covered her face and turned away from Joe. "Y-you had a dress-up Red Hood action figure!" She shot back, as if attempting to embarrass her partner in turn.

"It was so cool!" Not that it seemed to work, given Belorta's rather excited response. "Her hair would actually turn red and glow when her batteries were charged, and she had changeable face plates to change her expression and everything down to articulated fingers and toes, and even thighs that squished if you put thigh-highs on her!"

The silver-haired Nikke's tone shifted to an affronted, deep-seated and long-burning anger.

"I had her set up in a super cool sentai pose with her gun and everything! It was so cool! Then those jerks just came in and grabbed it and tossed it in a bag along with all of my posters and stuff like it was trash and didn't even compensate me for it even though she was really expensive! I knew they were evil from that moment on!" the little golden-eyed Nikke asserted with a childish huff.

Mustang, in reply, leaned back as he let out a pained whine of his own. "The Action Goddess line was my fierté et joie! Oh, I will ne jamais pardonner them since they gathered up and détruit all of those objets de collection classiques…!"

"Ah!" Belorta suddenly leaned forward, pointing firmly at Rapi, or rather, more specifically, at her- "You see! You see Mica!? You said that it was unrealistic how my Red Hood doll's thighs squished when wearing thigh highs! But look! Look! She's wearing thigh-highs right now! Look at how they squish on the real Red Hood too!"

Rapi immediately looked like she wanted to die, actually starting to turn away from the group as a whole to hide her intense blush and contemplating retreating from the room entirely. Joe could not blame her, Jesus Christ almighty.

"Mustang, what the fuck," Joe declared, giving the CEO a deeply dubious look of horror, because why would he make posable figures of women he actually knew with absurd details like squishy thighs?

"The Goddesses deserve nothing less than représentation parfaite! They are, all of them, des beautés parfaites et sans défaut! Any recreation of them must honour their splendeur de haut en bas in turn!"

…Suddenly, Joe was deeply, deeply dreading the moment Mustang and Cinderella were in the same room together.

He didn't let himself get caught up on that, however, instead refocusing on the issue at hand.

The iDolls seemed more keen on keeping the discussion going seriously as well, given Mia's next words. "...This… This is real?" She inquired, audibly awed by the apparent revelations they were subject to. "They… They're really…?"

"Yes," Mustang interjected. "The Legendary Commander, and a member of Goddess Squad."

"And," Sunny piped up next. "They… They've been in hiding, this entire time, because… Because the Central Government…"

"Would see them killed," Mustang replied again. "The Central Government has no actual intention of reclaiming the surface. The Legendary Commander and Goddess do. This makes them threats to their ironclad rule."

"...The Central Government would betray everything Goddess fought for? Everything we exist for?" Flower spoke up next, her voice warbling in frustration and anger. "They… They would forsake the surface!?"

"They already have, little Flower," Mustang noted mournfully. "One-hundred years ago. All signs to the contrary since, have been but circus to placate the masses. Surely, you have all wondered, why the common Commander is so very intensely incompetent?"

"...They aren't supposed to win against the Raptures," Belorta spoke, her expression too, falling into a small grimace of intense distaste. "I knew it…"

"...Yeah," Mica whined, just looking utterly defeated at the confirmation, directly from the mouth of one of the Big Three CEO's themselves.

Joe decided to touch on a particular sore spot next. "It's also the reason Nikkes are treated the way they are, in the Ark," he began with a heavy grimace and intense disgust etched across his features. "Our Goddesses of Victory, each and every one of you… Treated like tools, like trash by actual, worthless maggots that dare to think themselves your betters, when they do so very little, when they actively demonstrate that they are traitors, enemies of mankind."

"This isn't what we fought for. This isn't what we bled and suffered for. Nikkes, regardless of whether you are mass-produced or not, are heroes. Among the greatest this world has ever known. For all the sacrifices you make, for all the Hell you throw yourselves into, so that an ungrateful, and unworthy Ark can live another day under the authoritarian thumb of the Central Government…"

Speaking in a deep, guttural growl, Joe made no attempt to mask his intense contempt for the Central Government, and the culture it had cultivated in order to prop up its own rule.

"You are human beings, it doesn't matter how much metal is in your bodies. You are people. You feel, you hurt, you bleed, you cry and love and deserve nothing but love in turn. For all that you do, for all the battles you fight in our name, to give our species another day on a world no longer our own, you all deserve nothing but the utmost love and adoration. You have given us everything, and the Central Government deserves nothing more than to burn for daring to demand even more, while offering you less than nothing in return."

The room had grown silent, the iDolls and Carronades staring up at Joe in dumbstruck shock. He decided to cap it off with a hammer to nail the point home.

"The Central Government does not deserve your loyalty. The Central Government are traitors to humanity and defilers of our hope and legacy. Mica, Belorta, Sunny, Mia, Flower… Will you take my hand, and join us, in our journey to overthrow the corrupt, hedonistic fascists that have usurped the place of a worthy, just administration set to lead us all into the future, as rightful equals?" He extended his hand for effect. "Will-"

Mica and Belorta immediately lunged from their seats to firmly latch onto the man's hand, despite him having intended it more as a symbolic gesture than anything. That caught him off-guard, to say the least. Doubly so when, though with some hesitation, Mia, Sunny, and Flower followed suit.

Looking down upon the sight, Joe remarked, "...Shocking, how despite Nikkes all being supposedly untouchable, cold, unfeeling and soulless machines, I feel naught but the warmth and softness one would expect of a woman's touch through your palms, though your delicate, soft fingers. The touch of my fellow human beings. Not the empty cold of a weapon."

Shifting his focus up, he caught their gaze, the large, bright stares of the girls that had gone through so damn much.

"'Disposable weapons' my ass," the man declared, looking deeply into the eyes of the quint of girls. "Look at these eyes… Look at how soulful these eyes are, with all the depth of the ocean…"

Speaking of oceans, save for…

"...Mia," Joe started, "Please, take off your mask."

The platinum blonde jumped, looking very much put on the spot, almost seeming to wilt at the request. Lips becoming a quavering line, she tensed up and almost looked as though she wanted to retreat.

"...It's okay," Belorta spoke up next, having turned to face Mia and talking in a gentle voice. "It's the Legendary Commander. He's not like those other mean Ark Commanders. You can trust him," she assured her fellow with deceptive kindness.

"Y-yeah," Mica backed up Belorta's word. "Everyone knew how good and nice he was—is to Nikkes. Everyone."

Flower whispered something to Mia, doubtlessly also words of encouragement, while Sunny looked… As though she was in over her head. Not everyone was good at comforting and assuring others. Regardless, after a few moments, with a shaky hand, Mia started to reach up, her fingers settling on her face-obscuring headset. With a grimace, her hand began to shake even harder, and continued to shake for some time.

Until, with a gasp indicating that she'd been holding her breath, she let her hand fall, headgear remaining unmoved in place. "I-I'm sorry…" She apologized pitifully, all but whimpering. "I-I can't, i-it's too… I can't…!"

After a few moments, as the other Nikkes gazed upon Mia with open pity. Joe let out a low sigh, declaring, "It's a good thing you're not alone any more, and have us to help you with this sort of thing now," he said as he reached out with his free hand, taking a hold of her visor.

Mia gasped, going as still as a statue. The man had the presence of mind to not just tear it off, instead, gently, slowly lifting the armoured mask. The Nikke's expression twisted in rising fright and anxiety, and soon enough, her entire face was wholly exposed.

It went without saying that she was beautiful.

Otherwise, of course, she had clenched her eyes shut as hard as she could, trembling pitifully as she tried to continue hiding her oculars from view.

Joe quietly set the visor aside on a table, and with that same hand, reached out again, this time, gently cupping her cheek in a comforting manner. Mia's breath came out in a shocked shudder, her trembling intensifying at the contact.

He waited. Content to give Mia as much time as she needed to find the inner strength to overcome this trauma, take the first step to learning that he wasn't like every other Commander she'd been accosted by. She was safe, and appreciated here.

Eventually, with the other Nikkes gently encouraging her, Mia relented. Her eyes gently, gradually, slowly opening, fervently meeting Joe's own in naked terror.

To that, he could only smile. "'Ocean' really was an appropriate designation, with how shockingly deep, swelling with life these big seafoam green jewels are," he gently asserted. "How bereft of empathy and humanity somebody would have to be, to feel anything but wonder and adoration upon meeting such soulful eyes…"

Mia, at once, let out a long, shuddering whine, tears immediately welling up, relief, gratefulness, joy visibly overwhelming her. "C-Commander…!" She hiccuped, immediately prompting her red-headed comrade to draw her into a one-armed hug. "I-I… I…! T-thank you…! Thank you…!"

Basic empathy. Such a simple display of appreciation, consideration, kindness. That is all it took to get such an intense reaction out of this Nikke. That fact was heartbreaking and infuriating in equal measure. Only emphasizing how utterly bereft of worth the Commander Corps was, to thoughtlessly, shamelessly, heartlessly hurt these women like this.

All the more reason for Joe to do better, and make these girls feel adored, as they damn well deserved.

As everyone was quiet, aside from Mia's silent crying, a high-pitched keening sound slowly made itself known to everyone in the room.

To Joe's horror, it was Mustang. The comically muscular man craning backwards, balanced precariously upon the balls of his feet as he took in the sight of Joe surrounded by the iDolls and Carronades. "This! This! Magnifique! Belle! Resplendissant! Nikkes, being given hope for the first time in so long! Seeing la lumière, spotting the bright couper dans l'obscurité!"

"This is it! This is precisely what we, the Ark, have needed! C'est pourquoi vous êtes légendaire! This is why we will win this war! Le Commandant Légendaire Joseph Pholus! The shepherd to guide us to victoire promise!" He then continued to squee, as he, still craned over backwards at a seemingly impossible angle, started bouncing on the balls of his feet in an alternating motion akin to running in place.

While Rapi looked just as mortified as Joe… The Tetra Line Nikkes, on the other hand, didn't so much as blink at the display. Meaning that they were just used to this sort of thing.

Jesus Christ, how horrifying.

At any rate, the Nikkes gathered around Joe continued to focus on him, all smiles, all happy and hopeful, likely for the first time in a very long time. And it came so easily. The only thing he had to do was show them empathy, make them feel seen and appreciated for all of their bitter sacrifices made for humanity's sake.

These beautiful, heart-rending smiles only reemphasized another point firmly home into Joe's very soul.

For their crimes against their Goddesses of Victory, the Central Government would burn.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 68 - All Work and No Play
===

Luckily, it seemed that Joe had the loyalty of the iDolls and Carronades in the bag. Mustang—once he had assurances that everyone was on the same page—checked the girl's phones to ensure that everything was good.

The flamboyant man returned the devices to them with the reminder that if word of Joe or Rapi's identity wound up leaking, they'd all find themselves wishing they were just decommissioned.

He then took his leave, having all sorts of other shit he had to tend to as a megacorp CEO.

Harsh, but given the stakes, not unwarranted. Nobody seemed keen on being the Nikke that screwed over the Legendary Commander or one of the deified Goddesses, regardless. Thus, it seemed that everything should be fine as far as they were concerned.

Joe was, admittedly, more than a little put-off by the way they were all looking at him now, but that sort of came with the territory of his being who he was.

The iDolls still had some varied reactions to him, either way, with Mia of course looking at him with stark adoration, Flower (who they had to get around to giving at least a proper nickname) seemed a bit unsure of how to behave, while Sunny…

Sunny didn't seem to be capable of looking right at him now. Her expression was more than a little wary, and the man felt like it would be best to talk more to the girls about things going forth.

However, he received a call from Ingrid as he was about to do so, and upon answering it…

"Get to Missilis HQ, right now!" Ingrid urged him the instant the line was opened, startling the man, to say the least.

"E-hwa?" Joe vocalized his confusion, causing Mica to tilt her head at him in confusion while Belorta lightly covered her mouth and tried to not openly laugh at his goofy cry. "What? Why?"

"Because I just got done talking to Syuen about the matter of putting Wardress under your command, the little idiot said that 'if that talentless and lazy dumpster diver wants to play with garbage, then if he comes and take out the trash himself, he can do whatever he wants with those worthless buckets of bolts!'"

The CEO of Elysion declared with a purpose.

"She previously set a precedent that such indirect language and directives can and should be counted as a binding agreement between the Big Three to get out of needing to go through typical Byzantine red tape and middlemen to get things like transfers of resources and money between companies done!"

Joe blinked, shaking his head as he started to reply, "That doesn't sound-"

"Until she realizes what she's done, it's a legally binding agreement!" Ingrid asserted forcefully. "But if she realizes that she just gave you permission to claim Wardress before you do so, she can recant it and you'll lose the opportunity to add them to the Outpost's reserves! For free! So haul ass and go grab them now!"

While this sounded shockingly stupid to Joe, Ingrid, of all people, would know if this was the real deal. Plus, Syuen was, by all accounts, actually that daft and short-sighted. So, with a start, he spun on his heel and started off with a purpose. "O-okay! Okay, shit! I'm running now!"

"Hurry!" Ingrid urged him onwards.

As Joe bolted out the front doors of the Command Centre, leaving the Carronades and iDolls deeply confused by his sudden departure, Rapi, meanwhile, kept up with him. "Joe, what's going on!?" She cried out, understandably concerned.

"Syuen did a stupid and gave me permission to claim Wardress as additions to the Outpost if I get to Missilis HQ and grab them before she realizes she did so!" Joe called back.

Rapi was visibly caught off-guard by that, grimacing lightly as she continued to follow the Commander. She assured herself that the Commander's interest in them was purely professional. Surely. Definitely… Maybe.

Considering how Yuni and Mihara presented themselves, the once-Goddess was starting to get worried about just how many dangerous women she was going to wind up having to keep a watchful eye on around Joe from there on.

---

Recovering outside of the well-travelled, but largely empty courtyard of the main Missilis HQ in the Ark proper, Joe had dumped his ass quite bodily upon one of the benches set before the ridiculous, spiralling skyscraper. He and Rapi were ignoring and being ignored in turn by the distant crowds ambling to-and-fro on the main street across the courtyard.

Missilis HQ looked far more like some sort of gargantuan art deco piece than the centre of the Ark's technological innovation, but, Corpos. They did, and would flop their dick out on the table to show off at any and every opportunity provided.

Regardless, Rapi, who had been forced to wait outside when he went in, had claimed the seat next to him once they'd settled down to wait for Yuni and Mihara to receive word that they were transferring to the Outpost. They had gotten there in time, luckily, and after confirming it with Ingrid, who had remained on the line with Joe the entire time… Well, he'd been informed that the two would report to Joe and Rapi shortly.

Joe was in pretty dang good shape, considering he was an active combatant during the Initial Rapture Invasion, but damn, hauling ass to the Ark and Missilis HQ had winded him something fierce.

"...My cardio suddenly feels woefully inadequate," the Commander declared with a heavy grimace. Especially considering how often he made a point to work out-

…Before Operation Ark Guardian.

"-Oh, wait, shit, when was the last time I actually properly worked out!?" Joe wondered aloud in mounting horror. "Ah fuck me, I'm withering away! I've started to let myself go! Damn it! Rapi, please don't hate me for degenerating into a pot-bellied stick figure!" He whined in embarrassment and dismay over his realization.

In turn, Rapi just gave the man's burly and well-toned exposed forearms a significant look. There was more solid muscle in his arms alone than most scrawny Commanders had in their entire body.

"You're being melodramatic," Rapi asserted past lidded eyes. "Your figure is as pleasing to the eye as ever." The little blonde Nikke matter-of-factually declared, her mouth moving faster than her brain.

Her eyes widened in horror as she processed what she'd just said aloud to Joe, however, he didn't seem to notice considering-

"Tublord! Go for a second helping of ice cream, why don'tcha!?" Joe cried out as he grabbed at his midsection—which while notably more thickset than a typical, showboating bodybuilder's (like Andersen) would be… Such was because Joe's body was developed for functional fitness demanded of a working man that went into active battlefields, and had to carry the equipment for it without being burdened and winded.

Men that actually used their muscles needed to have supportive layers, to avoid hurting themselves when working and carrying significant loads, after all. Old-timey strongmen came to mind.

"Lard lad gonna eat him a whole box of donuts to his self!?" Joe cried out as he pinched at imagined chub hanging off of his well-muscled forearms. "I need to get workout equipment delivered to the Outpost! Fuck!"

In other words, the man was suddenly being a drama queen over nothing.

Yet, something in the back of Rapi's mind was tickled by the display… Joe and Andersen, viciously fat-shaming themselves and each other into pushing themselves to their limits while working out to spite each other, rather than doing so at a reasonable pace.

Blinking, she also recalled how that absurd method had obviously worked. Those two, managing to accomplish something so meaningful in such a transparently boyish manner… How vexing.

But, also… On the matter of Joe potentially getting into regularly working out… "A fitness centre was among the facilities you've previously approved the construction of in the Outpost," Rapi noted. "We could begin using it as soon as it's done, assuming it isn't already."

Rapi enjoyed the idea of getting to watch the well-built man work out. Not that she would admit that openly.

At any rate, Joe's eyes went wide. "Oh, shit, I did? Good! I'll look into that once we've got some free time-"

The man cut himself off as he noticed Rapi's attention shift back to Missilis HQ, and following her gaze, he made note of Yuni and Mihara approaching them. The two looked just as they had the last time Joe had set eyes on them, though they were giving Joe a very particular look as they neared.

Rising to his feet—which Rapi mirrored—the Commander crossed his arms as he gave the duo an acknowledging nod. "Yuni, Mihara," he started. "Good to see you two again."

"My my," Mihara started in her perennially sultry voice. "And here I was certain you'd gone and forgotten about us as soon as we were out of sight… Imagine our surprise to be suddenly informed that we were being transferred to the Outpost not twenty minutes ago…"

"Weird…" Yuni muttered as she stared at Joe in plain stupefaction.

"Yuni," Mihara rounded on her pink-haired fellow, leaning over and planting a slender finger on the diminutive Nikke's lips with a matronly 'hush,' "don't be rude to our new Commander."

"But why would he suddenly show up to take us away from Syuen?" Yuni countered with her brow immaturely furrowing, huffing as she lightly clapped her heel against the finely-paved courtyard tiles. "We had to leave all of our stuff in our rooms too! I don't want to leave all my things and toys behind!"

Joe interjected. "We'll have your belongings brought to the Outpost later," after they've been swept and scanned for possible tracking and listening devices, the man thought to himself as well, "we obviously wouldn't force you to just abandon all of your belongings."

"You see, Yuni?" Mihara started as she returned to her full height, adjusting her stark white trench coat as she did so. "There's nothing to worry about, so be polite."

Yuni just quietly mouthed an 'oh,' in reply, deflating at the clarification.

The ravenette, with Yuni cowed, gave Joe a significant look, measuring him as Rapi lightly glowered at the larger woman in response to the attention placed on the displaced man. "Handsome… I must admit, this is more than a little sudden and unexpected. To go from hearing nothing from you once our mission was complete, to suddenly being told that we'd been put under your permanent command… Did we perhaps leave more of an impression than we thought?"

Pausing, Joe slightly chewed on the inside of his cheek before answering. "That's certainly one way of putting it." Turning, he motioned for them to follow. "We'll talk more when we're back at the Outpost," he declared, not wanting to get into anything potentially… Dangerous right in front of the Missilis HQ, where they surely had listening devices set up.

"Our new home, hm?" Mihara mused aloud as she set off, confidently sashaying along as she followed Joe and an unamused Rapi. "I've not looked much into the Outpost, admittedly. Are we to share a barracks with everyone else, or-?"

"I don't want to share a room with everyone!" Yuni protested the notion in a whining tone, further emphasizing her apparent immaturity in doing so. "I want my own room!"

Mihara, again, turned to lightly chastise Yuni, while Joe called back over his shoulder: "The residential zone is going to be finished soon. If you want your own apartments, then just put in a request to be transferred over to one rather than the communal barracks."

"Nikkes are permitted to have their own homes in the Outpost?" Mihara wondered in reply to that, womanly violet eyes going wide in surprise.

Joe wished he could say that he was surprised by the implication that Nikkes in the Ark were corralled into communal barracks or likely dinky little dorms at best. "Yes," was about all Joe felt the need to say by way of response.

Yuni and Mihara shared a significant look at that, the pair smiling devilishly at each other. As the two girls seemed more than a little intrigued by their newfound situation, Joe lightly grimaced at the potential living standards the average Missilis Nikke might've had to put up with…

Worse, actually, Yuni might've been a modern Grimms, or at least the closest thing the Ark could produce to a Grimms. Yet, she, along with Mihara, was surprised by the notion of being allowed to occupy a simple, personal apartment in the Outpost?

Was Missilis really so bad? Did the average Missilis Nikke really have to bear such cruelty on a daily basis?

Considering how flippantly Syuen had presented him the opportunity to actually take Wardress from the Ark, actually… Yeah, that didn't surprise him in the least. Even someone with such an inherently powerful ability as being able to blind Raptures, up to at least Tyrants, at will…

What in the fuck was Missilis and Syuen's major malfunction?

---

Upon arriving at the Outpost, Joe confiscated Mihara and Yuni's phones, to much caterwauling in reply to the demand. Though even Mihara seemed loath to separate from her smart device, she did ultimately surrender it along with a heavily pouting Yuni.

The Commander asserted that they'd get them back, but this was basic Operations Security. For the time being, they'd have to go without the magic picture boxes.

They really didn't like it when he opened the devices to remove the batteries right in front of them, but Joe wasn't about to potentially lug a pair of active Missilis listening devices into the Outpost proper like a total buffoon.

With that, he brought the pair into the Command Centre proper, noting how impressed they were by how built-up the Outpost was, not having expected it to have its own Dome of Eternity in particular.

Introductions were made, Mihara immediately attempted to lightly pinch Belorta (who protested) and Mica's (who didn't seem to dislike it) cheeks while cooing about how cute they were.

Yuni wore her jealousy on her sleeve, demanding Mihara's undivided attention afterwards, to which it was provided as the duo were given leave to go and explore the Outpost as they saw fit.

After that, shooting Ingrid a message that they'd successfully poached Wardress from Missilis along the way, Joe returned to his office to do his stupid-ass managerial work shit—starting with sealing Yuni and Mihara's phones in the same type of Faraday shielded-baggy Andersen had once put his own, original CG-assigned smart device in.

While he was prepared to have to wade through the suck, as was usual, Rapi had followed him into his office, and absolutely insisted that she be allowed to help him. To the point of damn near seeming to get actively mad at him, for trying to wave her off to actually take advantage of her own free time.

Joe wasn't sure how to feel about that, but Rapi claimed half of the paperwork he was supposed to do, and settled down to start filling it out for him. The pair worked quietly, little in the way of distractions cropping up.

It took a few hours, but, eventually, they finished, thus, by the grace of a miracle named Rapi, Joe was left with actual free time before the day ended.

The man pondered things for a few moments, eventually realizing that he didn't have any more duties to tend to any time soon now. Including missions. Meaning… Extended free time.

Joe stared ahead blankly for a time, not entirely sure what to do with that realization. Or with himself.

"...Joe?" Rapi started, leaning over to give the figure a wary look. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know what to do now that I don't have any work to get done," Joe responded flatly. Still just staring into the aether.

Rapi blinked owlishly, lightly thrumming her fingers against her knees in consideration. "...You could partake in some of your hobbies?" She suggested.

"I don't have any hobbies," Joe, still flatly, declared. He obviously had hobbies before all the trans-dimensional displacement bullshit, but that was a long time ago, before he suddenly because a military man. "One needs free time to develop hobbies. I don't get free time."

Indeed, Joe's time in the Ark had been anything but 'relaxed.' At most, he had just enough time between major bullshit events occurring to stave off a psychotic break. He hadn't been given real free time since… Before his first mission to the surface. And he had Marian keeping him occupied for that entire time.

Marian… Shit. Shit. She was alive. She was a Heretic. She was being controlled by the Raptures. She, for just a moment, freed herself from their control. She…

Joe didn't know how they were going to save her. To free her from the clutches of the Raptures. He had to figure something out, he had to-

"Joe?" Rapi's hand suddenly came to a rest on his shoulder. The man jumped as he hadn't realized he'd harshly leaned back on his desk, becoming intensely focused on something she couldn't see, and that Rapi had risen from her own seat to approach him. "What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, the man replied in a slightly shaky voice. "I need to find a way to save Marian," he declared bluntly, rising to his feet as he did so. "Pioneer. The girls have been dealing with Heretics on the surface for a century, if anyone would know how to deal with this, it would be them."

As Joe started for the hallway door, Rapi was hot on his heels, her brows heavily knitted as the man seemed to be actively refusing to grant himself a moment of meaningful respite. "Most of them are wandering around the Outpost, Joe. You won't even be able to find them-"

"Snow White settled into the Armoury," Joe noted as he passed through the door, already heading down the hall and towards the elevator. "Her input will be enough, for now."

Though Rapi grimaced heavily at Joe's insistence on depriving himself of even a moment's respite, she understood and could hardly hold it against him. Marian was important to him, his relationship with her was the basis for how he treated every Nikke under his command.

For as much as the blonde would like for Joe to give himself even just one break… Given what was at stake, in every capacity, and just who he was, she supposed that she really couldn't blame his insistence on being productive.

Even if Rapi didn't like the tightening in her chest whenever she pondered the notion of Marian, who Joe clearly cherished, coming back and… Picking up where they had previously left off, she supposed. As if it wasn't bad enough with Cinderella still being interested in him too, even after all this time.

Marian had been there for Joe when he awoke in the Ark, before he regained his memories. She gave him a happy, joyful beginning. She had affected him so strongly, that he kept her weapon, her ID card, and her ribbon at his bedside.

Cinderella had remained loyal to him, waiting for him, keeping her flame burning for him for an entire century, held out hope, never forgot him, and had never hurt him.

While Rapi, in contrast… As Red Hood, she'd strung him along, jerked him around. Mistreated him. Refused to be there for him emotionally. Among her last words to him were abusive, despite the boundless trust he was placing in her, even then.

In this life? She'd forgotten him. Forced him to kill his lover. Treated him as a distant stranger she had no interest in becoming close to. Then clung to him, started to treat him as a security blanket with little regard for his own need and want for personal time to himself.

She took the emotional support he offered, and offered in return… What? Doing half of his administrative paperwork for him? Something he could just hire an assistant for?

The tightness in Rapi's chest intensified tenfold, as she considered how remarkably little she had to offer Joe, compared to Marian or Cinderella.

Such loyalty, that even death and rebirth by an otherwise all-consuming Corruption couldn't erase Marian's feelings for him. Such loyalty, that even a century after believing him lost, Cinderella hadn't wavered and earnestly waited for him regardless.

While Rapi, from all she could see of herself, could not see what she had to offer him in turn.

How could she ever hope to compete with any of that?

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 69 - Building Pressure
===

"Joe," Snow White, already covered in oil and grime, immediately called out the moment she noticed the Commander step into the armoury. "I need access to parts to properly upgrade this thing," she called out from where she sat amidst the disassembled parts of what had to be his exoskeleton. "Things to reinforce the existing limbs, and construct a new limb, among other things. Nikke parts would be ideal, but I could work with Rapture parts too."

Blinking, the Commander did not expect Snow White to have gotten to work so quickly. Neither did Rapi, given how visibly caught off-guard she was by the sight of the exoskeleton in pieces.

Lips parting as the man contemplated the sight, he hummed as he inquired: "Shouldn't you perform proper maintenance on Pioneer's weapons first and foremost?"

"All of our weapons are currently functional—save for the Glass Slippers, which I lack both the specialized parts and expertise to properly repair. You, on the other hand, are utterly incapable of fending for yourself in any capacity. Having this," she patted what looked like a leg servo, "will make you far more survivable in the field. So your equipment takes precedence."

For a moment, Joe was surprised to hear that even with proper equipment, Snow White couldn't do anything to repair the Glass Slippers. Just a moment, though. He was quick to recall how they'd been struggling to keep them maintained even back aboard the Avenger.

More facilities had apparently actually produced the parts needed to repair Cinderella's weapon, but they'd never found their way to Goddess' hands. The man wondered aloud, "...Whatever happened to the parts they never delivered to us, I wonder?"

"Eden claimed them," Snow White noted with a heavy frown. "They have the means and methods to keep the Glass Slippers in proper working order, and were even backwards-engineering them by the time we'd left. This doesn't do us any good today, as you might imagine," the starkly-maned woman declared as she started fiddling with a piece of machinery Joe couldn't identify at a glance.

Eden could even maintain the Glass Slippers? Holy shit, that was a big deal. All the more reason to make contact with Dorothy and figure things out, if they could get Pioneer back in working order. "...Well, for now, the Outpost's repair centre was finished not so long ago. I'm sure we could get at least some spare parts from there for you. There's a pile of Rapture parts near the tunnel exit to the surface, too."

"The Outpost has to contend with Rapture incursions?" Snow White looked up at the man, brow furrowing at the statement.

"Not in any great numbers," Joe assured her. "Our current defences have never reported anything serious making its way down the tunnel. Nothing's ever managed to get into the Outpost proper either."

"...Does the Outpost tunnel have automated defences?" Show White inquired, brow remaining furrowed in consideration.

"I-" Joe stopped, gaze shifting aside as he considered the question and realized he didn't know-

"It doesn't," Rapi answered for him. "Just Nikkes."

Snow White hummed, setting a hand on her chin ponderously. "I'll look into producing turrets and other traps to reinforce the entrance tunnel then. To think that the Central Government would allow a possible entrance to the Ark be left without proper automated defences all this time…"

Joe repressed a grimace. He hadn't caught onto that himself, and that rankled at him severely. There was a lot of shit going on, he had practically no time to notice, even, but still.

"I'll tear into the Rapture parts you have on hand and modify those for jury-rigging shortly then," Snow White declared as she made modifications to something that probably did something when plugged into something else on the exoskeleton. "Otherwise, I'll go to the repair centre and take what I need—which shouldn't be more than one or two spare arms. I'm going to add a tertiary support arm that should bear most of the weight and recoil of that gun Ingrid called out yesterday."

First Affection, Marian's submachine gun… Joe didn't quite know how to feel about the idea of bringing it into the field with him. But as it stood, it was his best option for arming himself with something he could use to defend himself at all. But, that aside…

"Snow," the Commander started, "Pioneer has fought Heretics on the surface before, right? Do you-" He trailed off, voice catching in his throat for a moment as he fought to keep his cool. "-Marian, she overcame the Corruption, even for just a moment. That is, I mean, I-" Sharply taking in a shuddering breath, he closed his eyes and did his best to calm himself. "-Do you know if there's any way to save her? Is there anything we can do to help her overcome the Corruption for good?"

At that, Snow White stopped dead, blinking once before she shifted her attention to the man. "...Do you not-" she paused, letting out a small huff. "I suppose that's among the many things you've forgotten."

Joe's eyes went wide, stepping closer to the Grimms and starting with no small amount of rising anxiety, "Forgot what!? Is there something we can-!"

"Yes," Snow White made a halting gesture towards Joe, rising to her feet and moving to the front gate, locking it with a huff. "Vapaus," she started as she spun on her heel to face the Commander and Rapi once more. "Bullets produced from a substance that destroys the NIMPH in a Nikke's brain, taking the Corruption with it."

That answer made Joe's eyes go as wide as dinner plates, breath hitching in his throat and entire body going tense. "'Vapaus' bullets," the man started, his gaze pointedly intense. "Where can we get them?"

Though Snow White grimaced—an expression matched by Rapi—at Joe's intense reaction, she replied by reaching under her cloak, and after taking a moment to fumble about, she produced from within a single pistol calibre cartridge. Setting it down on a counter set between herself, the man, and Rapi.

Joe beelined for it, reaching out for it without hesitation, though stopping as soon as he processed what it actually looked like.

Where most bullets were simply a copper or brass-coloured oblong spheroid sticking out of a casing, the so-called Vapaus bullet looked the same, however, the tip was crystalline—as though it may have been a hollow-point bullet that had its cavity filled in and capped with this anti-Corruption substance. The tip was ruby red, reflecting light as a jewel might… It looked more like an art piece than something that could be used to destroy Corruption.

Picking it up, somewhat gingerly, Joe lifted it into the light to get a better look at it. The casing, as according to the bottom, was a typical 10mm Auto. Brow furrowing, he started, "Why didn't you-" he'd been about to ask why Snow White hadn't used it against Marian, when she was acting as Modernia, but then he thought it through all the way. "-None of you carry pistols."

"I used to," Snow White noted grimly. "Pistols break easily, unfortunately. We've also found appropriately chambered carbines in our time on the surface, but…" She shrugged. "Weapons not built to Nikke specifications just don't last out there."

Joe grit his teeth in open anger. The pistol issued to him was a 10mm. They were issued in said calibre because Commanders were expected to either use them to 'dispatch' Corrupted Nikkes, or dangerous animals—10mm having been considered an effective anti-bear round, after all.

"The pistol I was issued and carry at all times is a 10mm," he growled.

There was a beat in which nobody said anything, Snow White eventually replying plainly. "Ah. Shit."

Had he been given the round back in the Yukon, before they went after Chatterbox and Marian… He could have used it, right then and there. Marian could have already been freed.

To describe this revelation as vexing would be an understatement.

But… They had it now. They only needed to find the opportunity to use it. Unholstering his pistol, Joe, ensuring that it was pointed in a safe direction, gazed at it, comparing the two objects held in either hand.

A few moments passed. A few moments in which Joe felt his stomach lurch up into his throat, eyes widening in horrible realization.

Using the Vapaus bullet on Marian would mean… Shooting her again. Settling the barrel on her again. Pulling the trigger again.

But… It hadn't even been him that pulled the trigger back then. Not without help. Then, on his first deployment, Marian had helped him. Marian had effectively been the one to pull the trigger for him.

Could he do it? Could he look down the sights of this pistol again, and pull the trigger himself? Even if it was for Marian's own good… It had been for her own good back then too, hadn't it?

Could he do it? Could he pull the trigger?

Joe had started to tremble with wide eyes as he stared at the cartridge and the gun. A sweat even began to form on his brow, and his breath came in shaky tremors.

While Snow White didn't wholly understand the reason for her Commander's reaction, Rapi very much did. Rapi knew exactly why he was reacting this way. It was, after all, her fault that he looked to be on the verge of having a panic attack right then and there.

Yet, her immediate response to reach out and comfort him in some capacity, fell short. Suddenly, the little blonde herself felt as though she'd been hit by a tidal wave of anxiety. This was her fault. He was reacting to the idea of being the one to shoot Marian because she had previously forced his hand. By what right did she presume to comfort him? Where did she get off, thinking she had the right to be there for him, to support him over an anxiety she had given him to begin with?

Rapi, eventually, retracted the hand she'd started to reach out to set on Joe's shoulder. At once, she couldn't seem to look at him, even.

That gave Snow White no small amount of deep-seated concern. This reaction from the both of them was worrying, and she didn't like it in the least.

"...Joe," Snow White started, reaching out and patting him on the shoulder to snap him out of it. He jumped, gazing at her with wide eyes as she continued, "You should head out for a walk. A long walk. Once you've done that, come back, and we'll talk things out more."

The man looked overwhelmed, but grounded. Taking a deep breath, he nodded, and upon reholstering his pistol… Snow White reached out, quickly snatching the Vapaus bullet back up. Joe looked caught off-guard by that, to say the least.

Snow White had an immediate defence, however. "I'll hold onto this until we need it," she asserted. "You just head out, you don't need any distractions right now. Go out on your own, and just let yourself work the anxiety out, then consider things you have on your mind."

Taking a deep breath, Joe nodded once more. He closed his eyes and clenched the hand which had been holding the Vapaus bullet. "You're right. You're right. I'll… I'll be back. Just…" Stepping back towards the door, he looked at his still-clenched fist, shook his head, and declared in a breathy, strained voice, "I'll be back."

With that, Joe about-faced, unlocked the door, and departed quickly.

Rapi, meanwhile, gave Snow White a decidedly put-off look. "What're you doing?" She demanded.

"He needs to be left alone," Snow White declared pointedly, holding firmly onto Rapi's wrist—having stopped her from following Joe when she immediately moved to follow him. "You'll only give him a distraction that'll stop him from focusing on what he clearly needs to. To say nothing of the fact that we, just as clearly, need to talk about what just happened."

"I-" Rapi stopped, grimacing as she, once again, averted her gaze. She didn't follow up on that, just allowing herself to fall uncomfortably silent.

"Rapi," Snow White started assertively, not feeling up to letting much of anything fester or otherwise stew where it clearly shouldn't be allowed to. "Just tell me: what happened?"

Rapi did not want to have this discussion. She did not want to have to vocalize what happened, openly admit what she'd done, but…

"I'm not letting you go until you explain what the Hell that was, Rapi," Snow White declared forcefully. "So. Start. Talking."

It would clearly be far worse if she tried to get out of addressing this, and the Pioneer clearly had her mind set on this besides. So… "...Joe and Marian were in a relationship," Rapi started, her voice low and defeated. "On their first deployment together, she was Corrupted. We defeated a Tyrant on his orders to save her. I… I made him be the one to… Put her out of her misery," she softened the harsh truth as much as she could.

Snow White didn't immediately reply to that, just closing her eyes and taking a deep, bracing breath. When she did respond, it was with a brow furrowed in no small amount of visible anger. "You're sitting down, and we're talking about everything that's happened before we were reunited, and I am not taking no for an answer."

This wasn't like dealing with Anis. Snow White clearly had no problems being forceful, and combative if she needed to be to get her way. Rapi knew that she wasn't going to get out of this. Thus, "...Okay," she capitulated in a deeply defeated tone, even as the younger, white-haired woman immediately went to drag her towards the disassembled exoskeleton.

Rapi hated being faced with confrontation.

---

Joe had gone for a very long walk. Straight for the elevator to the Ark. Not because he uniquely enjoyed being in the Ark compared to the Outpost, but because he needed to be alone to think. The Outpost was small enough that he was very likely to run into Cinderella, Rapunzel, or Scarlet, if not all together when he needed to be isolated, at least for a time.

At some point, he stopped, and just leaned on a tree in a park—a facsimile of the surface that was the closest most living human beings would ever get to experiencing nature.

He was doing it again. Not giving himself a moment, not letting himself stop and actually think about his situation, everything that was going on around him, the position he found himself in, the responsibilities being foisted upon his shoulders…

He was trying to distract himself from the obvious fact that the weight of it all was crushing him. Instead of trying to set it all aside, to even so much as lift the load to get it off of his chest and let himself just breathe, he refused to acknowledge that it was killing him, and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong.

Goddamned fool that he was, he hadn't even actually stopped and acknowledged the fact that Marian was still alive, and what saving her might entail. He was aware of it, he knew that he'd do everything he could to bring her home, but, he hadn't actually thought about any of it. How it made him feel, how that was not actually the last time he'd ever set eyes on Marian. How those words… Weren't really the last they'd ever share.

She was a Heretic. They would have to fight her to even earn the chance to see her freed from the Corruption. This, with the knowledge that only Rapi was able to actually stand up to her in a straight encounter, and she could not do so again. The danger in trying to bring her back was… Nightmarish.

They may well lose Nikkes trying to create the opening they'd need to use the Vapaus bullet on her. Was that a price Joe could actually pay? Was he really willing to risk a plurality of lives, trying to just save one?

Everyone was standing at his back, assuring him that they would support him in this venture. But, how much of that was just because they couldn't afford to lose the support of the Legendary Commander? How much of that was just them humouring his trauma? Trying to avoid breaking him?

He'd just kept refusing to think about anything. He'd address the surface level of shit, and little else.

Too much. All of it was too much, too damned much. Too damned much weight, too much fucking bullshit, not enough down time… Not enough time he'd just allow himself. All work, all work and no play.

How damned much of it was showing, he had to wonder? Just how deranged must he have started to look to everyone around him? Was he sleeping well? No, he wasn't. Was he eating properly? No, of course he wasn't. Son of a bitch, he wasn't built for this.

But it didn't matter if he wasn't built for this. It didn't matter if he wasn't ready. This was where he was, this was the situation he was in. He had to get his shit together, figure it out, and be the leader that was needed to carry everyone to victory.

That started with letting himself decompress, because this was… Unsustainable. He couldn't keep on like this. He needed to let himself just relax between missions. If he was wound up like this all the time, he was going to snap at the worst time, and probably get somebody killed.

But, how-

"-Hey!" A slap on Joe's shoulder caused him to jump and yelp, breath coming heavily, his gaze was immediately arrested by a large pair of gorgeous golden eyes framed by turquoise locks-

Ah- "...Privaty?" The man started, trying to catch his breath. "Holy shit- Why'd you sneak up on me like that!?"

"Sneak up-" The twintailed beauty started, staring up at Joe with an utterly flabbergasted look. "I've been calling out to you for the past minute and a half!" She asserted with a heavily furrowed brow. "Are you okay!?" She demanded, making no attempt to mask her very visible concern.

Joe blinked several times in rapid succession. A minute and a half? How could he have failed to notice that? She was exaggerating, right? "I- It's nothing, I'm fine, okay-" He raised a hand, to make a halting motion at her. He noticed too late that his hand was shaking—which Privaty very much did spot, given how she lashed out and caught his limb when he tried to drop it back down to his side.

Holding onto his wrist, Privaty stared at his hand, took in how it was outright trembling, then took in the rest of his figure, clearly, catching on to all of the other little tells even he himself hadn't noticed. She stopped on his eyes, met his gaze, and just stared for a few long moments.

Breath hitching, the man sharply averted his attention, feeling the rapidly mounting unease in the little woman's eyes as overt worry suddenly overtook her features land like a shiv in the kidneys. She saw right through him, and saw pain. At once, she knew that he was in a bad place, and made no attempt to hide the empathy she clearly felt.

Though, she didn't say anything outright. Privaty just stood there, holding onto Joe's wrist, staring up at him in unapologetic disquiet. Where she was typically combative, even if in a light way… There was none of that in her body language now.

The two just remained there in apprehensive silence for a time. Eventually, however, the little woman saw fit to act. She stepped back, still holding onto his wrist, she moved to draw him along. "Come," she instructed him, an uncharacteristic gentleness starkly present in her voice.

"Wha-" Joe started, blinking in confusion.

"Just-" Privaty almost snapped, but stopped short with a small, worried frown. "Come," she urged the Commander, lightly tugging on his arm without being forceful.

After a moment, the man let out a sigh, and just allowed himself to be pulled along by a fretful Privaty. Idly, he recalled how his previous meetings with the twintailed little beauty had gone, and despite himself, a small, anticipatory smile found purchase on his beaten-down features.

Maybe a meeting with an increasingly familiar little goofball was just what he needed, after all.