So, how many of you got it correct? The answer was Hyperdimension Neptunia, because 1: superweapons in Vector Thrust seem to be designed for the sole purpose of breaking the laws of physics, and the game itself, and will make a worthy opponent for the goddesses; 2: it's because I can! And now they've gone too far and experimented with interdimensional travel. (Look back at ACWS Ch 10) Cerin, you had ONE JOB! Moral of the day: Never try to play God. It won't end well.

If you read the articles provided by TimeSymmetry in Mod DB, then you'll have an idea of what this other world will look like. If not, then best of luck, 'cause the VT world has been out of luck for 35 years. Originally, I intended for this to be a crossover, but Vector Thrust doesn't have it's own subcategory.

Anyways, let us enter the opening page of Hyperdimension Neptunia: Battle Weary World. (Two chapter combination!)

Copyright Disclaimer: All material directly or pertaining to the game Vector Thrust belongs to it's respectful owner, TimeSymmetry. The same goes for material from Hyperdimension Neptunia.

Prologue: Two Wars, 20 Years of Chaos

-Altus Executive Airport, Kaesel, Sometime in June 2018-

The reporter finished his interview with the Kaeseli veterans, and started reviewing his report to compare with official sources. He never expected such an event to have so many changes on the world, such as the proxy wars that had become the norm between regional powers as well as major PMCs and their subsidiary branches.

Reporter: "So this is how it all began..."

It all started 55 years ago, in the year 1963. The Third World War began. *Footage of nuclear blast engulfing a military airbase* When the Federated Republics of Kaesel and the Poltavian Federal Republic declared war on each other, along with their respective allies, the current taboos on MAD encouraged the two sides to adopt a new strategy with nuclear weapons: instead of threatening each other with the apocalyptic strategic power of their weapons from the Cold War, they both made a measured tactical use of nuclear weapons in counter-force strikes in an attempt to wipe out the enemy military. This led to the devastating loss of military power, with only their Air Forces barely managing to escape the attacks; yet the civilian populace remained unharmed, if you counted out the residual radiation. *Civilians watching the nuclear blast from afar* With both sides unable to make any expeditionary offensives, the two superpowers reached a ceasefire only a week after the war started. Officially, this could be counted as the end of the Third World War.

Both superpowers went on to reform their remaining forces into a defense force, and became fully dedicated in military rebuilding efforts. The world economy soon saw things turn into a power vacuum, and new changes had come to the world: First, the tactical use of nuclear weapons against an enemy military while avoiding civilian harm quickly became an ethical norm. Second, rebuilding efforts and military development led to the creation of new superweapons. These weapons, which made nuclear arsenals look outdated in comparison, would become known as ANGELs. Finally, the power vacuum left power hungry countries the golden opportunity to fill the vacuum before the world superpowers could finish rebuilding. There was one such nation involved that would become the most feared world superpower during it's reign. A small nation, known as: The Kingdom. *Play the Razgriz Theme from Ace Combat 5*

The Kingdom started as a barren land, with very little resources and only a few fishing towns to occupy the peninsula that sat south of the Centera Sea. When the industrial revolution came, they embraced the new technologies and became the six thriving states which rapidly grew in wealth, gaining popularity and welcoming migrants from all over the globe. After a few decades of war and politicking, they united into a single nation with a figurehead monarch, now earning their name as "The Kingdom." When the dust finally settled in the end of the Third World War, the Kingdom had economic struggles. Driven by ambition and greed, The Kingdom soon established economic supremacy, fueled by the production and export of next generation weapon systems, and led the way in ANGEL development that makes up the world superpowers' strategic arsenals today. Taking part in the golden opportunity to fill the power vacuum, they built their military strength to unprecedented heights, and declared war on the world. This... was The Grand War.

Having power that rivaled that of all six world superpowers combined, they outmatched and overwhelmed their neighbors with ease. The other aggressor nations couldn't even compare with the Kingdom. Annexing it's neighbors and coming close to conquering entire continents, the Kingdom would become the seventh world superpower, and the most powerful and feared one known to man. But taking in so much power would ultimately become their downfall. In the later stages of the Grand War, rebellions soon plagued it's eastern border, and the member states of the Kingdom felt their relations becoming strained. Then the worst happened. Three atomic bombs detonated in the three largest cities of the Kingdom's core states. With their central command destroyed, regional commands lashed out at whoever they thought was responsible, including each other, larger powers, and the six world superpowers across the globe. Over the course of a day, the Kingdom expended its entire strategic arsenal, causing more deaths and more destruction than any other war before it. Fearing the continued aggression, the world superpowers united against the Kingdom to end their destructive rampage, and fought back with everything they had. By the time the last mushroom cloud rose over the war-ravaged landscape, three quarters of the Kingdom's population was dead, it's cities scorched to the ground. *Aerial footage of the massive firestorms as a result of the retaliation* And in 1983, the Grand War came to an end, ultimately putting an end to the 20 years of chaos.

For the destruction they caused, The Kingdom was uniformly blamed for the conflict that had transpired, and the world superpowers created the International Coalition to prevent refugees from coming out and weapons from coming in. Since then, most nations and major companies hire PMCs to do their dirty work, and the economic instability left behind by the two wars ensured that the world would never settle peacefully again, stuck in a constant cycle of proxy wars, inter-corporate wars, and other conflicts that most never pay attention to anymore, as the civilian populace is protected by the International Coalition and the elite peacekeeping force known as the Legion.

It's now been 35 years since the Kingdom fell. In 2003, there was a mercenary who entered the Kingdom, which is now an exclusion zone with the radiation levels high enough to kill someone within minutes, if not seconds without the proper protection. But the we're still pockets of civilization that survived the nuclear hellfire in 1983, which he found with the help of fellow mercenaries. During his time there he achieved many feats such as wiping out an air Force single handedly, killing the prince of Mautique in a one on one dogfight, destroying an ANGEL and even forcing Legionnaire "Overton" to disengage after the latter's Front Radar System was damaged by stray bullets. He eventually became known as "The Raven," notably because of the bird emblem on the tail of his plane. Legion brought him in, and he became one of the first mercenaries to join their ranks, as they normally consisted of military veterans. Today marks the 15th year he has served in the Legion. And through the eyes of this soldier in the sky, a new story will unfold...

... just not the one anybody was expecting.

Chapter 1: The Cerin Defense Rumors

-Exclusion Zone Border, somewhere in southern Koazia-

The radar shows several unidentified planes crossing the Exclusion Zone border, coming from within the fallen Kingdom.

Blockade Runner 1: "Multiple contacts approaching our position, same bearing as the previous wave."

A ground camera zooms in on the planes, revealing that they are advanced fighters, including J-20s, F-22s, and F-35s.

Blockade Runner 2: "Hey, those planes have Cerin Defense markings."

Blockade Runner 1: "There's been similar sightings by the carrier Resolute."

Blockade Runner 3: "Guys! Legion just arrived!"

The radar shows a formation of five friendly units closing in from behind at high speed. The leading pilot was the Legionnaire at Arms himself, Overton.

Overton: "Torrent, Katsu, take any damaged units and the rookies with you to a safe area. Stay low and out of the fight. FlyAway, Ash, form up on me; the three of us will go high and engage the bandits."

The three Legion Su-47s took a V formation and led the remaining Blockade forces into battle, with the latter knowing well that Cerin's aircraft were far and away superior to their small time F-4s and J-35s. The two forces clashed, and the world saw conflict once again.

-Legion 10th Air Cohort Station, King Umberto Airport, Koazia, the next day-

The squadron of five returned from patrol and landed on the runway, making pace to reach their designated area. People within the airport watched in awe at the Legion's arrival. Overton got out of his black and gold lined Su-47 and went over to the nearby radio station.

Overton: (murmuring) "Cerin's gonna have one hell of a time explaining this..."

Overton- A highly regarded Legionnaire in the Legion's Tactical Air Century. Age is around the early 50's and the oldest in the group, and hails from Kaesel. Currently the Legionnaire at Arms to manage the activities of the International Coalition and is greatly feared by his enemies.

While Overton was talking with the Central Authority in Eulyria, Ash checked his plane for any damage done, and FlyAway took off his helmet and called out Ash to talk about a certain subject.

FlyAway: "So Ash, I'd like to ask, how did you end up partnered with me when you first joined?"

-Flashback: Legion HQ, Eulyria-

The Chief: "Officially we're an Agency, men and women who work on and off records, born out of a nuclear war and an international coalition. People from every corner of the world, elevated above the use of nuclear weapons to wage war. We fight not to end war, but to keep it a civilized affair.

We care not for your ideals, your convictions, your truths, or your rights and wrongs. The second you and your leaders threaten nuclear warfare on the scale that would create another Kingdom, if the war you fight gets high enough in intensity that it turns into a meat grinder, we're stepping in and making every party involved pay for their incompetence.

We bring the aspect of Hell to them so that hellfire may not raze the Earth. The world calls us Legion because of it.

We are soldiers, operatives, pilots, politicians, fighting in a world where nuclear deterrence has failed one too many times with the authority of the most sovereign nations in the world.

We are the new deterrent in this world and you are our newest pilot.

You passed our screenings, your service record is impressive, and you sure as hell are familiar with the blockade.

In fact we could probably assign you a case and deployment orders today, still I prefer it if we don't rush things.

We've assigned you to this one particular pilot if you need any help further on, a certain person whose callsign is what I want him to do whenever he calls back, but I'm sure you can be productive enough without him..."

-Flasback End-

FlyAway: "Really? The chief gave you that speech when you first joined? Sheesh, I just wanted to get the standard issue airplane that he needed to hand off the forms to me, so I guess I wasn't listening."

FlyAway- A well experienced pilot in the Tactical Air Century. Age is around the mid 30's, and hails from Kaesel. He tends to be careless on the ground, but he is highly attentive whenever he is sent into the air. He also has so many nicknames given to him since he joined, that everyone gave up counting.

FlyAway's Su-47 was different from the others. Instead of the primary black and gold lining, his plane had a different default of full jet black coloring, bronze lining that lined the edges of all the parts that made up the aerodynamic frame, and the nose was kept white. It also lacked the Legion's emblem that was on the tail of every other plane. This made it look overall made for covert operations at night. Ash's Su-47 had fewer changes. It had light gray lining added with the standard black and gold, and held his custom emblem of a raven on the front end of each air intake, since the tail already bore the Legion emblem. If you're wondering, yes, Ash is the mercenary that joined the Legion in late 2003.

Ash- One of the most popularly known pilots in the Tactical Air Century and is seen as a legend. Age is around the late 20's to early 30's; his nationality is unknown. A quiet guy who keeps to himself. Formerly a mercenary in Bastille flight, his actions were seen as heroic and legendary, most notably when he defended the northern blockade border from Mautique loyalists equipped with their two last EOS-01 Ziz aerial battleships. This action is what gave him a spot in the Legion. His skills are on par with that of Overton's. Because of his "baby face" genes, most mistake him to be almost a decade younger. He's the protagonist of this story.

FlyAway: "Man, it's been one war after the other. Nothing on the scale of the Kingdom of course, but there has been no end to it. The conflict going on now is the 2018 Oil Skirmishes." FlyAway then gets into a relaxed position inside the cockpit of his fighter.

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "Are you always this quiet, Ash? I get the fact that our real names are redacted from official files and we only go by our given callsigns, but that doesn't mean you're not allowed to socialize."

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "Hmm, maybe I can help myself to a quick test to see if you're mute. Just a little tickle..."

Ash: (monotone voice) "... Please don't."

FlyAway, Torrent and Katsu: "Hey! The mute speaks!" FlyAway jumps down from his fighter and the others join in.

Katsu: "Still, you could at least put some emotion into it."

Katsu- A pilot in the Tactical Air Century. Age is in the early 30's, and the only pilot in the 3rd Air Cohort that hails from Juushin. He was the first to witness the offensive power of the EOS-04-1 Leviathan during a shakedown run, and is aware that Legion has a dozen of them patrolling the world's oceans.

Torrent: "Yeah, you don't have to sound like the airport's PA announcement system."

Torrent- A pilot in the Tactical Air Century. Age is around the late 30's, and hails from Kaesel. He earned his callsign because of his self-taught use of "diving into the fireworks." Once when he used this tactic while charging towards the enemy head on, he made a personal record of downing 27 enemy fighters via firing bullets into the air intake, BEFORE he turned back around to engage the rest.

Overton: "Will you three knock it off? Ash is the youngest here and yet he acts more mature than the lot of you!"

FlyAway: "Yeah, yeah, so what's next?"

Overton: "We head back to Port Aester tomorrow at 1300 hours, then prepare for the BLUE POINT naval exercises for this year."

Torrent: "What's the location this time? Please not the Grakata Ice Shelf. That place is COLD."

Overton: "This year, it's the Gulf of Nyx. First reason being to end the aggressive threats between Nyria, Antar and Jerny, and second reason being that we need to make sure that the Cerin Defense Corporation isn't doing anything stupid with whatever they're fishing out of the Exclusion Zone."

FlyAway: "Hey Ash, your first mission was in Guernei, right? What was the last thing they were working on?

Ash: "... A new form of clean energy, and instantaneous transportation systems."

Katsu: "A friend told me that Cerin was working on something similar to the latter. They recently designed a prototype interceptor with that technology."

Overton: "(sigh) They're likely working with the CRADLE conglomerate to gain an edge over Sigsawa Heavy Industries."

Torrent: "Too predictable of them. I bet they're still angry about losing five of their mercenary naval battlegroups to a single Sigsawa cruiser."

Katsu: "'Cruiser' would be an understatement. More like a Dreadnought."

Overton: "You can discuss about that during your break. Get a move on."

Everyone else: "Yes, sir!"

-BLUE POINT Exercises, Gulf of Nyx, One month later-

The combined fleets of Kaesel, Poltavia, and Eulyria began naval exercises, having a combined number of nearly 700 ships. They were currently training for a large scale beach landing. The Legion's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Tactical Air Cohorts were sent from each of their respective countries as a security detail.

Overton: "Keep a tight formation."

FlyAway: "Man, I haven't seen an SNB-02B mobile seabase since the Juushin Civil War in 2007." He looked down at the massive carrier.

Torrent: "Hey Ash, what do you think you'll be doing afterwards?"

Ash: "..."

Torrent: "Silent treatment, huh?"

Katsu: "I hate to interrupt, but I have unknown blips on my radar."

Cavalier 1: "This is Cavalier flight, is anyone seeing an unidentified formation on their radar?"

Coalition Carrier 1 (Stoykiy): "We have the aircraft on our radar as well. We'll send Oryol flight to reinforce."

Cavalier 1: "Roger that, we'll approach the aircraft now and give a warning."

The four F-14Ds that were Showtime flight approached the formation of three unknown aircraft.

Showtime 1: "They don't have any affiliated markings, but they have experimental colors. Establishing communication. (Clears throat) Attention unidentified aircraft, you have entered restricted airspace and- AHH!"

Coalition Carrier 2 (Resolute): "Cavalier flight, what happened?!"

Cavalier 1: "They just back-flipped behind us and shot down my wingmen. My right wing is damaged and hostiles are rushing your position!"

Overton: "Stoykiy, Resolute, scramble your fighters. The 3rd Tactical Air Cohort and I will hold them off."

FlyAway: "Let's go partner." Ash gives a nod in response.

Ten of the thirty Legion fighters went full afterburner and charged at the three experimental craft.

Coalition Destroyer: "I've matched the radar signature to an experimental model. They're from CRADLE's Dark Crescent Project."

Overton: "So they're using the prototypes meant to serve as counterparts to the Scylla UCAV in Juushin."

Katsu: "And we're the test subjects. Great."

The group split off, and engaged the Dark Crescents. It appeared to be a combination of the Scylla UCAV and Su-47 Berkut, with added wing surfaces while lacking vertical fins. And yes, they're painted jet black, but their orange wingtips and elevators stick out like a sore thumb. Torrent rolled his plane sideways, and fired his gun. The bullets went into the air intake, causing the engine to burst into flame. The first Dark Crescent spiraled out of control and crashed into the gulf, due to the imbalance of thrust.

Torrent: "That's one for me."

Ash did a High-G turn and shot down the second Dark Crescent while doing so.

Overton: "Nice one, Ash."

Katsu and FlyAway were behind the final Dark Crescent. As soon as they both had a lock, they fired one missile each.

Katsu and FlyAway: "Fox two!"

Right before the missiles could hit, the final Dark Crescent back-flipped behind the two Legionnaires and fired with two wing-mounted guns. Both Legionnaires dodged, and the Dark Crescent went after FlyAway. He made a High-G turn, but the Dark Crescent kept up this time. The Dark Crescent then fired a missile from it's internal bay, which FlyAway countered with flares. He dived down to sea level with the Dark Crescent close behind, pulling up and speeding forward just as the exhaust nozzles touched the water. The Dark Crescent pulled up early and overshot. FlyAway once again had the aircraft in his sights. Just as he was about to fire, the Dark Crescent did a 180 and fired it's guns at him. Once it was behind FlyAway, it flipped over to attack FlyAway from behind. FlyAway noticed that the Dark Crescent chasing him appeared to have a few "glowing" components. At the same time, he noticed that the Dark Crescent appeared more unstable at higher altitudes. He pulled up, the Dark Crescent following as he expected. Katsu and Ash gave chase. Katsu's computer started giving radiation warnings as he flew behind the Dark Crescent. The Dark Crescent was about to shred FlyAway's plane when a missile hit the cockpit of the aircraft. Ash had pulled above it and fired the missile at an angle to hit the Dark Crescent in the cockpit. The Dark Crescent was then torn apart by it's own debris and exploded, revealing a damaged power core within the burning wreckage.

Katsu: "Everyone, get away from the wreakage! Now!"

Everyone went to full afterburner and escaped just as the wreckage gave off a much larger, secondary explosion, releasing radiation all over. The radiation had a cyan glow to it.

Katsu: "It's Machovsky particulate!"

Coalition Carrier 1: "All units, rescue anyone that's in the water and place full quarantine lockdown as soon as everyone is safe inside!"

Coalition Carrier 2: "There's no time for that! You'll just be getting more people killed! Leave them!"

Coalition Carrier 1: "(Poltavian (Russian) negative) You have obligations, (Poltavian cursing), Resolute. Do your duty, or I will (Poltavian threat)!"

Coalition Carrier 2 Crew: "What did he say?" "I don't know."

The Machovsky particles started causing alterations to the weather, suddenly creating a storm with a super cell in the middle. It could count as a freak storm, but don't start thinking this is a reference to Xenonauts, okay? Anyways, where the middle of the super cell was, the was pitch black darkness, almost like a black hole, except nothing was being sucked in.

FlyAway: "What is that?"

Overton: "All units, standby."

What appeared to be several large drops then fell out of the super cell, landing on the Resolute.

Coalition Carrier 2 Crew: "What's that?" "Looks like slime, like kid's slime in packaging to resemble a dog." "Whoa! What the-" "It's alive!" "Someone shoot it!" (Gunshots) "I think it's dead."

Coalition Carrier 1: "Stoykiy to Resolute, what's going on over there?"

Coalition Carrier 2: "Guards just killed what appeared to be slimes with dog faces. They turned into... pixels, and... vanished? I DON'T KNOW, THEY'RE DEAD NOW!"

Overton: "I'm detecting something large on radar. Around the size of a Gemini bomber."

The said radar signature exited the super cell of the storm, revealed to be an ancient dragon.

FlyAway: "Katsu, is there any chance that the CRADLE facility that you found in Juushin was working on some superweapon that turns anime into real life?"

Ash: (Facepalms his helmet)

Overton: "What you said made zero sense."

The dragon then attacked, first using it's claws. Aiming for Ash, he then quickly dodged the claws and looked back at the dragon.

Ash: "..."

Ash then circled around, and fired a missile at it's back. The missile, while leaving the scales intact, sent a concussive force upon exploding, causing major organ damage and rupturing of blood vessels. From his view, the ancient dragon started spewing blood out of the mouth, then fell to the waters below. It was still alive even after such a concussive blast. Ash then armed two of his bombs.

Ash "...Two away."

Dropping the bombs, they exploded against the dragon's body, engulfing it in flames, then water that splashed upwards. All that remained when the mist cleared was a large red blotch in the gulf the the dragon once was, before becoming pixelated and vanishing, returning the water to its original ocean blue color.

Overton: "It's become quite clear that we need to investigate whatever is in the other side of that super cell."

Katsu: "Sir."

Overton: "What is it, Katsu?"

Katsu: "Other stations are reporting similar situations of being attacked and seeing similar super cells form."

Overton: "Whatever Cerin and CRADLE are planning, we need to shut it down. I am hereby suspending exercises and ordering an immediate investigation of these anomalies."

FlyAway: "Well partner, things just got much more interesting."

Ash: "...Yeah..."

-Operation Storm's Shadow, Gulf of Nyx, Two weeks later-

The International Coalition left a small carrier battlegroup to guard each anomaly that had formed. They eventually returned in full force, bringing sea platforms that would act as a base, after sending a recon drone to the other side. The drone revealed plenty of an ocean with land in the distance, and samples resulted in a breathable atmosphere. After a short period, the drone had to return due to radio interference.

Overton: "Checking flaps." The flaps of his Su-47 moved accordingly for check-up. The others were doing the same.

FlyAway: "So, why are we doing this on the platform itself?"

Overton: "We need to be ready for whatever's on the other side. Alright, move the platforms in."

The tugboats put on the throttle and started pushing the three platforms that made up the runway. As they entered, they could hear the sounds of radio screeching, loud enough that crews had to cover their ears. There was also radio interference. The screeching died down, and the crews and Legionnaires looked around. They saw a bright light at the end, and as they exited, the platforms ended up on an ocean during night time. Out on the horizon, mountains were visible. The land spanned as far as the eye could see, from end to end.

FlyAway: "That's gotta be a supercontinent, if I've ever known one."

A soldier was looking through binoculars, scanning the sky for activity. He then saw multiple ancient dragons, all attracted by the storm.

Soldier: "Multiple hostiles sighted! They're dragons!"

AA tanks and fighter jets took position on the platforms. The Legion's 3rd Tactical Air Cohort took off, and armed their weapons for battle.

Ash: "..."

FlyAway: "This is it. Come on."

Then, the two forces engaged as the sun rose up from the horizon.

Well, two chapters in one package. I got an exam coming, so I wanted to get this done as soon as possible. Anyone that likes my other stories as well, especially my Index stories, my deepest apologies for having to put them on hiatus. I will resume as soon as I can make some space on my schedule. Thank you all for your patience.

Also, How do you like the new cast of characters? These characters are all from the Vector Thrust universe (Except Torrent, I made him up). We'll see how our new protagonist holds up in Gamindustri, as the forces of the Battle Weary World try to figure out what is going on, use it as proof against the Cerin and CRADLE conglomerates, and shut down their operations for good.

Until next time, please Review...

Next chapter...

"... That makes ten."
_

"An army?"
_

"What is that?"
_

"Who was she?"
_

"This is beyond Cerin and Cradle now."

-Static-

*Play the ending song from Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation*