GATE: Thus the Empire was Nepped!
Prologue: The Battle of Planeptune
Colt Formal had enjoyed a rather comfortable life even by the standards of the Imperial nobility: He may have only been a Count ruling over a single city, but Italica was a major trade hub at the crossroads of two major highways surrounded by fertile farmland. As such, he enjoyed a higher level of prestige than most other men of his station, and his personal life had been equally blessed with three beautiful daughters and a staff full of Demi-Humans. The only true hardship he had suffered was the loss of his wife several years ago.
When the Gate opened, it was only natural that he joined the Imperial forces marching through. His lands were the closest and would be the most affected by whatever events occurred beyond, to say nothing of the wealth his city would gain from the loot being sold in Italica's markets. The prospect of adventure had also played a part, though it was rather irresponsible considering what would happen if he failed to return.
As Colt rode through the streets of this mysterious city his fears seemed unfounded; this "battle" was undoubtedly one of the easiest victories in the history of the Empire. These people had nothing to defend themselves with, save for those strange mages and their fire magic, but everyone in the Empire knew that military technology had surpassed magic a long time ago.
"Count Formal!" A voice calling his name brought him back from his thoughts. He turned to see two younger men riding towards him and recognized them Viscount Herm Fule Maio and Gaius Co Palesti, first son of the prominent Marquis Palesti. Herm had long blond hair that he kept slicked back while Gaius had a short military shave that left him nearly bald.
"Viscount Maio, Lord Palesti." Colt returned the greeting with a polite bow of his head. "What brings you here? Should you not be leading your own soldiers?" The elder noble asked.
"There's not much to do unfortunately. These other-worlders don't seem to have any sort of army to defend them, so all we have to do is keep our forces moving towards their palace." Gaius replied, though he sounded disappointed. He and many other young nobles had been sent through the Gate as the spearhead of the invasion under General Titus so they could gain experience and glory fighting in the new world. It was understandable that they would feel cheated by the enemies lack of resistance.
"It seems that no matter what world we fight, in the Imperial Army will always be superior to savages like these." Herm said with pride, though he kept his voice respectful. Colt had become very skilled at reading body language in his years of politics, and Herm's body language practically screamed 'servility' to the two superior nobles.
"I'd hardly call them savages." Colt replied, gesturing to the large building around them. Any one of them far surpassed even the greatest of Saderan architecture, to say nothing of the massive tower that their forces were currently marching towards.
"Pretty buildings mean nothing." Herm scoffed "There were plenty of other nations that built great structures before, and the Empire brought them to heel. If anything, comparing these cowards to our past foes is an insult to our previous victories. These people do nothing but run, and their cowardly mages fight from a distance." The young Viscount spat in disgust.
Colt could agree with him somewhat; the fact that these people did nothing but run was staining what should have been a glorious moment for the Empire. This was supposed to be the first of many battles to conquer a new world, not some mindless slaughter.
"Perhaps they have no need for an army..." Gaius said thoughtfully. The young Marquis-to-be had been staring off at the massive palace in the distance, with an equally distant look on his face.
"What do you mean Lord Gaius? How could they not need an army?" Herm asked, his voice once again dropping into a respectful tone.
"It's just a theory, but what if we're standing in the capital of an empire that has done what Sadera has always aspired to and conquered this world?" Gaius proposed. "It makes sense—where else could they get the resources to build such magnificent structures? And it would explain why they don't seem to have any soldiers, because they don't need them. Perhaps... perhaps this is the future of Sadera." Gaius finished his explanation, once again staring off at the great palace.
Herm remained silent, but Colt could tell it was not because he had nothing to say but because what he wanted to say would greatly conflict with what Gaius had said. Colt found himself pleasantly surprised by the young noble's words; he had heard rumors that the first son of the Palesti family was a genius in more ways than one, and he was glad to see that they had not been an exaggeration. A part of him even hoped that Gaius was correct, then they could finish up this conquest quickly, maybe even force the entire world to surrender in a matter of days.
Perhaps he could even bring Myui to visit once all was said and done.
"I'm going to die."
Those words flashed through Haruna's mind as she lay paralyzed on the ground, watching helplessly as a massive creature with an equally large hammer stood over her. She had been running for her life along with everyone else trying to escape the horde of monsters chasing them, but she had fallen and bruised her knee. Now all she could do was lay there and watch as death approached her.
And pray for a miracle.
"Lady Purple Heart, someone, anyone... help me…"
The beast swung the hammer down, and Haruna's eyes snapped shut, waiting for death.
Haruna flinched as a loud crashing sound filled the air, but despite it there wasn't any pain. Had she been killed so quickly she hadn't felt it? Her eyes slowly cracked open, expecting to find herself in the afterlife, but instead she found that she was still in Planeptune City.
With the Goddess herself standing over her.
Haruna gasped as she found herself staring up at the form of Lady Purple Heart, who was standing between her and the monster that had been seconds away from ending her life, with the beast staring at its now splintered hammer in confusion. Haruna felt a pair of hands grab her from behind, and she was dragged back to a crowd that she was certain had not been there before.
The monster roared and angrily swung its arm at the purple Goddess but struck only air as Lady Purple Heart ducked under the attack and swung her blade diagonally, cleaving the creature in half and sending its upper body flying into the air. The crowd behind Haruna cheered while the invading soldiers stopped in their tracks, surprised by this mysterious woman who had just slain an orc. As the cheers died down and silence filled the air, Lady Purple Heart leveled her sword at the invaders and made her declaration.
"You will bring no harm to my people."
Wyvern Riders had a reputation amongst Imperial soldiers for being egotistical, and as far as Caelum was concerned, they deserved it. They had a view of the world that was typically reserved for birds and the gods. From up here, he could see the entirety of the massive city that the Imperial forces found themselves in, and he could imagine that it was far more amazing than any pathetic infantryman could imagine.
He and his squadron had been sent ahead to scout the large tower that was likely the enemy's palace, though considering the lack of resistance the ground forces were facing, he could imagine himself and his Squadron smashing into the building and flying the enemy lord back to General Titus with no difficulty whatsoever. Caelum smiled at the thought before noticing his wingman, Nubes, was waving signal flags in his direction.
Caelum squinted his eyes as he attempted to identify the signal when what looked like a bolt of lightning blew a hole through the Wyvern and reduced Nubes to a red mist. Caelum recoiled in shock when a flash of light and a roar of pain informed him that another of his comrades had fallen. Before he could process this, there was a third flash and he was alone.
The fourth flash was the last thing he saw.
Dolor was a simple man looking to make his way through life, so like many young men he had joined the Imperial Army. Stable pay, a chance to see the world, opportunities for plunder, and great benefits when they retired. Who wouldn't sign up for that? He'd been in the Legion for three years now and most of that time had been spent marching and training, occasionally broken up by putting down a rebellion or fighting bandits. It wasn't an easy job, but it was a simple one.
His reaction to the Gate opening had been mixed. On one hand, he had joined the Legion for adventure, and what better adventure was there than exploring a new world? But on the other hand, he had no idea what was on the other side of the Gate, so the chances of him coming back were a lot lower than the usual battle. Even though things had been easy so far, he wasn't going to let his guard down, Dolor had seen too many idiots die because they didn't take a fight seriously.
And the Being in front of him was not going to be an easy fight.
The entire Century gawked at the sight of the Being that had stopped an orc in its tracks. It looked like a young woman, and a rather attractive one at that, but it was clearly more than that. Its clothing, its eyes, its wings, its massive sword, and the fact that it could kill an orc had all proven that this was not a woman. Dolor heard the soldiers around him begin to murmur nervously as the crowd of other-worlders cheered and the Being adopted a fighting stance, and he heard the word "Apostle" circulating amongst his own men.
"Quiet! All you maggots quiet down and get back in formation!" The Centurion shouted, and Dolor felt his body moving into place almost automatically as his training kicked in. The rest of the Century quickly moved back into formation, forming a wall of shields eight men wide and ten men deep. Dolor leveled his spear at the being in front of him, his fear subsiding as he felt the strength of his brothers-in-arms joining with him. They were Legion: if one man fell, then there were ten more waiting to take his place. No foe could stand before their numbers.
"Century, attaAARGH!"
Dolor looked back to see what had interrupted the Centurions' order, and his blood froze when he saw a second being, this one with white hair, standing over the corpse of his commander, who had been slashed in two. Unfortunately with the Centurion dead, there was no one to remind him to about the enemy in front of him, which means he never saw the blow that killed him.
"We can't just rush in when we know nothing about our enemy. That's how we lost at the Graveyard."
Vert's words had stuck in the CPU's minds as they flew into battle. She was right after all; they were fighting an enemy that they had no information on, and for all they knew another CFW Magic could be lurking among their ranks. So they had split into groups of two on the way to the battlefield. That way if they did run into something like Magic, the group that encountered it would have a better chance of warning the others.
That was how Noire and Neptune got into their current situation; fighting together against hordes of invaders. Their goal wasn't to stop the attack entirely, but to slow it down until the civilians were evacuated and Planeptune's army could establish a cordon around the invading forces. After that, it was simply a matter of tightening the noose.
It wasn't even a fight; their enemies were falling like wheat before the scythe as the CPUs cut through the invaders two or three at a time. The monsters put up a better fight, and sometimes a soldier would get lucky and manage to land a hit only for it to bounce off the barrier generated by her Guard, but so far the battle had been a one-sided slaughter. A small part of Noire admired their courage, as they kept attacking no matter how many of their comrades fell, but another part of her was very annoyed at their stubbornness.
A loud roar split the air and Noire looked up to see a group of wyverns diving towards herself and Neptune. The invading soldiers cheered in joy at the sight of the incoming monsters while Black Heart clicked her tongue in annoyance. She and Purple Heart couldn't afford to be split up, and it would take them a few minutes to deal with those creatures on their own, but if they both went after them that would leave their enemies free to continue advancing.
Thankfully the problem soon resolved itself as the Wyverns were destroyed by a hail of energy blasts. Noire turned towards the direction the blasts came from and saw Nepgear and Uni flying towards them. "What are you doing here? We told you to return to the Basilicom!" Black Heart shouted to the two approaching Candidates.
"Did you really think we were going to just sit back while you fought these guys?" Uni shot back with an unusual barb in her voice as she and Nepgear leveled their weapons at the opposing army.
"Nepgear, we have this under—"
"Uni and I aren't going anywhere!" Nepgear cut her sister off, shocking both her sister and Noire. "You're our sisters, and we're not just going to sit back while you do all the fighting... Not again..." Purple Sister's voice cracked as she finished. Uni's face dropped as well. It was clear that they were haunted by the shadow of the Gamindustri Graveyard just as their older sisters were.
Noire and Neptune shared an uncertain glance. They'd accepted a long time ago that they couldn't keep their sisters safe for the harshness of the world, but they'd hoped to save them from the horrors of war. The Console War was undoubtedly the darkest point in their lives, and the thought of their sisters experiencing something similar chilled them to the bone. But at the same time it was clear that Nepgear and Uni weren't going to back down. So, reluctantly, they nodded to each other in solemn agreement.
"Alright." Purple Heart sighed heavily, her entire body seeming to sag as the weight of the decision she had just made came down on her.
"Try to focus on their officers; the whole army to will shatter without their leadership." Noire ordered, doing her best to hide her own sorrow behind professionalism. Uni and Nepgear nodded in agreement and the four turned their attention back to their enemies, who had been kind enough to stand motionless in shock while the CPUs worked out their family issues.
"It seems I was wrong." Gaius Co Palesti murmured grimly as the trail of panicked soldiers came rushing past. It was clear that his theory about this place being some demilitarized super-empire was wrong. Painfully wrong in fact, if the stories his men were telling about strange women with inhuman power were true. Gaius felt himself shaking at the thought; several weeks before the Gate opened he'd attended a religious demonstration hosted by the Apostle of Emroy, Rory Mercury, in which she killed dozens of convicted criminals in the name of her god.
If the other-worlders had something like an Apostle on their side...
"Tell the Cohort that we're changing direction. We'll begin marching to the north-east and bypass the enemy, then make our way to the enemy citadel." Gaius ordered his aid, who nodded and left to deliver the commands.
This city wasn't built with defense in mind; a defensible city would have its streets built in a way that made it difficult to reach the central keep, but this city seemed to have been built to make the keep easily accessible. Thinking back, Gaius realized that this was likely a holy city like Bellnahgo, it would certainly explain the grand architecture and the lack of guards. Perhaps the mages were in fact priests or holy knights?
Those were questions for later. Right now, he had to worry about winning this battle. Gaius rode to the front of his unit, leading his men as they marched on their new course. Hopefully the Empire's other forces would be able to keep the Apostles preoccupied long enough for his men to reach the temple. Maybe if he could capture a priest or an official or someone important he could force a ceasefire? He wasn't sure—there were still too many unknowns—all he knew was he had to end this battle before the Apostles noticed his move.
"Double time it men, we have to reach the enemy citadel!" He shouted, urging his men to move faster as they neared a corner that he was certain would lead them to their destination—
Only to find a barricade manned by more of those strange mages, armed with much larger staves.
Gaius' life flashed before his eyes as the mages unleashed their death magic: studying in the family library, attending parties with his mother, learning swordsmanship from his father, seeing Bozes initiated into the Knights of the Rose—
Bozes.
As he tumbled from his horse and the world faded, Gaius Co Palesti thanked the Gods that the Knights of the Rose were only used as an honor guard, or else his sister would likely be here.
The battle was coming to an end: Planeptune's army had encircled the invading forces and was quickly driving them back through the Gate from which they came. The enemy was cut down by machine guns, helicopters swatted their wyverns from the sky like bugs, tanks blasted apart cavalry as the horsemen tried to charge them, and any foe foolish enough to face the CPUs was reduced to a pile of meat on the ground. The enemy was still trying to resist, but the threat to the city was effectively neutralized.
Which meant Iris Heart had plenty of time to play.
"Come on boys~, are any of you man enough to face me?" The sadistic goddess challenged the soldiers surrounding her in a mocking tone. It had taken her a little bit to get used to how delicate these people were. She was so used to playing with Neppy and the others that she had accidentally broken the first few soldiers she had tried to play with. Thankfully, she had plenty to practice on.
She'd adapted her methods now; the man she was idly strangling was proof of that. She'd been holding him in the air for a solid minute and hadn't accidentally crushed his windpipe yet. It was certainly progress, but she wished she could go further.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem like there were any soldiers willing to fight her. In fact, it looked like they were about to retreat. That was fine; chasing rabbits was half the fun. Iris Heart prepared to execute the man in her grasp when a man suddenly pushed his way through the ranks, shouting and pointing his sword at her. Iris Heart raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the mans boldness. Most of his comrades were quaking in fear, but he seemed angry, his eyes darting between the CPU and her captive.
Iris Heart looked at the man she had in her grasp—who was turning quite blue—and then looked back at the man challenging her. They looked very similar; both with strong jaws, blue eyes, and hook noses. They were likely related, possibly even brothers. Iris Heart licked her lips at the thought; it wasn't nearly as good as her fantasy of getting to play with one of the CPUs and their sister at the same time, but it was still amusing.
Iris Heart smirked at the challenger and momentarily loosened her grip on his relative's neck, causing him to gasp as he received a small breath of air. "Come and get me," she said in a sultry voice, motioning with her free hand. The challenger let out a furious roar and charged at her, his sword swinging for her neck.
It was so slow.
She calmly reached out her hand and caught the blade between her fingers, though to anyone watching, the movement would have been a blur. The soldier's expression changed from rage to shock to terror as he processed what had just happened, his head frantically darting between his trapped blade and the smiling Iris Heart.
"My, how pitifully dull of you to challenge me, a Goddess… But, I don't dislike idiots. You are just my type."
She twisted her left wrist, breaking her prisoner's neck. She then twisted her right wrist, breaking the sword and sending a hail of metal splinters into the challengers face. His last sight would be his relative's corpse dropping limply from her hand.
Running from White Heart was pointless. You would only die tired.
The Imperial soldiers were unaware of this, so they wound up like the poor bastard currently trying to crawl away from her. He'd had friends a few moments ago, but White Heart had reduced them to mince meat while he ran. He had eventually gotten tired and collapsed, and now here they were: him, panting for breath, while White Heart stood over him.
"What's the matter? Can't breathe under all that heavy armor?" White Heart growled, glaring down at the man at her feet and hefting her axe.
"Don't worry, you won't need to breathe when you're dead!" She brought her axe down and reduced his head to a smear on the pavement. She pulled the weapon up and turned around to where Vert, Rom, and Ram were finishing off their respective foes. The street they'd just fought their way through was littered with corpses: some had been slashed and stabbed with a level of precision that it almost seemed elegant, others had been frozen solid or impaled by a hail of icicles, and even more looked as though they'd been in some kind of industrial accident.
"It seems we're done here," Green Heart said as she and the twins joined Blanc. Blanc's stomach turned over as she saw Rom and Ram. Despite the fact that they fought at range, their white CPU forms were stained by blood. It was sickening; not because they had killed, since all the Candidates had killed people while fighting ASIC, but there was difference between killing a group of thugs who can fight back and mowing down an entire army like a Killachine. They were probably gonna have nightmares once the adrenaline wore off...
"Blanc?" Green Heart said cautiously when her fellow CPU didn't respond.
"You keep pushing forward, I'm ending this." White Heart said as her wings materialized, the note of finality in her voice making it clear that she wasn't in the mood to argue. Vert sighed as Blanc took off into the air, her sisters called after her but knew better than to follow her.
As White Heart flew over the city she took the time to observe the enemy's positions, and she had to admit she was impressed: they'd begun forming makeshift barriers using cars and junk in preparation for the imminent attack, and she could see them taking men from the units that had been routed earlier and re-organizing them into new formations. Whoever was leading this army was clearly very skilled.
He needed to die.
And unfortunately for him, he wasn't hard to spot. He was wearing black armor with a white cape and red crest on his helmet. He might as well have painted a target on his head. White Heart created a platform of Share energy beneath her feet and launched herself towards her target, roaring at the top of her lungs as she barreled through the air.
Titus Em Varro, The Empire's greatest general, hero of the Battle of Espara, a man never defeated in battle, and personal friend of both the Emperor and Rory Mercury, died screaming at the top of his lungs as White Heart came crashing down on top of him.
Titus was dead.
Colt Formal nearly fainted from the shock when the news hit him. Titus had never been beaten, not even when he was outnumbered and outflanked at Espara. He was the greatest strategist in centuries. He had defeated a Centaur Horde with barely any losses. He had crushed the Alliance of Free Cities in less than a year. He was a friend of Rory Mercury! He...
He was their only hope. Now that he was gone...
"Retreat." Colt whispered turning to what remained of his soldiers. "Go! All of you! Retreat! Back to the Gate!" He screamed, spurring his horse forward into a full gallop, not even waiting to for his men to follow him. He wasn't going to die in this charnel house, fighting hopelessly against these people and their Gods-damned Apostles! He had a city to care for and a daughter who still needed him!
But as the old saying goes, "if you wish to make the Gods laugh, then tell them your plans." For at that moment the ground next to him erupted, one of the many spells he had become agonizingly familiar with in the past hours, and sent him flying through the air. He landed in a stunned heap, a high pitched shriek ringing in his ears as he struggled to rise to his feet. As his vision cleared and he staggered up from the ground he saw the sight of several of his own men running to help him.
Unfortunately before they could get close they were eviscerated by a blur of purple and black. Colt blinked a few times and shook his head, trying to clear his vision. When he opened his eyes he found himself face-to-face with one of the enemy Apostles. She was very young, perhaps a few years older than his daughter Myui, and was wearing clothing that... left little to the imagination. Were she not an Apostle he would have considered her outfit shamefully voyeuristic. The girl quickly leveled her sword at him Colt could see it had one of the bizarre staves used by enemy mages somehow worked into its hilt.
"降伏!" The girl said in a commanding voice, but it sounded... almost shaky, and Colt could have sworn he saw reluctance in her eyes. He was likely wrong—how could a man know anything about the mind of a god? It was probably a product of his desperation; he didn't know how this world's faith worked, but if the purple on her clothing had any relation to the purple in the city's architecture, then this was her city they had attacked. He was going to die, there was no question of that, and even if the Gods of his world could claim ownership of his soul he would have died in battle. He would be the property of Emroy and never join his wife in the Underworld.
But perhaps he could still protect his people.
He closed his eyes and began to pray.
"Emroy, Dark Lord of War, please accept my soul as an offering."
His hand moved to the hilt of his sword.
"やめなさい、私にあなたを殺させないでください!" The Apostle's voice seemed to crack as she once again gave orders in a language he could not understand.
"Should these people cross through the Gate, then send your Apostle Rory Mercury to protect my Italica."
His eyes opened, filled with the fire of conviction as he drew his blade.
"刀を落としなさい!"
"Do not let my city suffer at their hands!"
Colt Formal swung at the Apostle.
Purple Sister fired.
The Battle of Planeptune was over.
The last of the invaders had either been killed, captured, or fled back through the Gate. They were still counting the damage, but it was estimated that two-thousand civilians were killed, injured, or missing. The damage would have been much worse if the CPUs hadn't been so quick to respond. The invaders had suffered even worse, though their casualties were going to take much longer to count. Unfortunately the source of all that death and destruction was still in existence.
Purple Heart hovered in front of the Gate, fixing the structure with a look of utter contempt. She wanted more than anything to destroy the accursed structure, but that would have to wait until later; they were still busy searching the rubble around the Gate for survivors, then they could start searching for a way to destroy it. She'd also promised Blanc that she could take some swings at it as well, and the other CPUs had returned to their nations in case the Invaders tried again.
Purple Heart was glad she was in her HDD form. She didn't know how her human self would deal with the mixture of grief and fury currently raging in her heart. The Goddess of Planeptune closed her eyes and clenched her fist to her chest. She was supposed to protect these people, but in the past five years, her country and the world had been attacked by malevolent forces...
"Nep-Nep, I found something!"
Purple Heart looked down from where she was floating to the rubble below, where various emergency workers and volunteers were sifting through the debris. Compa wasn't technically supposed to be here since she was a nurse and not an EMT, but she was someone with both medical training and the strength to move some of the larger rocks on her own, so they'd let her help out.
"What did you find?" Purple Heart asked as she flew down.
"I think there's someone under here, but I can't move this on my own." Compa explained, pointing to a particularly large slab of concrete. Purple Heart hovered over and, after examining the rock to make sure it was safe to move, picked it up and moved it out of the way. She turned back to check on the person she'd just unearthed and was met with an unexpected sight.
"MAGES.?!"
A.N. And thus this chapter comes to an end.
So now we know the truth; MAGES. opened the Gate to unleash an army and scour the world for Doc P! Thankfully the CPU's stopped her before she could gain any ground. Thanks for reading and goodbye.
Okay, time to be serious.
First, as always, I'd like to thank my Beta Porpol for his hard work on this chapter. He's not a fan of fight scenes or intense violence so I appreciate his help on this chapter.
Second I just want to say that I did not expect the massive amount of positive feedback or popularity this story has received: twelve reviews and over five-hundred views! I figured it would take months and multiple chapters to for this story since it's two niche fanbases, but not only was a wrong, but there are people saying that they've been waiting for a story like this!
But it's not all good. Most of the reviews are the typical "Fuck the Empire!" reviews that you see in every Gate fic, and while I am happy to get reviews it is disheartening that no one seemed to pay any attention to the other parts of the story. The whole reason I got a Beta was because I was worried about my ability to accurately portray the Neptunia cast and I hid several hints to future events in the previous chapter (and in this one as well) but no one seems to care. I'm not saying I don't want "Fuck the Empire!" reviews, any review is a good review in my opinion, I'm just asking for some feedback on the other parts of my story as well.
Random Military Facts (I'll be adding these in every AN to talk about various military-related things that I feel are relevant to the story):
Did you know that a Roman soldier had a longer life expectancy than most Romans? The army offered stable pay, medical care, food, shelter, a great pension, and the training was great exercise. This was how Rome was able to raise such large armies and replenish massive losses, especially after the Marian Reforms. Assuming the Saderan Empire is similar, and I've seen nothing to suggest major differences, then the average Imperial is likely some kid who was signed up to get out of poverty and help their family.
Responding to Reviews:
General 1: I'm not nuking the Empire; partially for moral reasons and because it would destroy their government and the entire Empire would collapse into anarchy. It's the same reason the US didn't nuke Tokyo; a country can't surrender if it's government has been destroyed. Also, why would you waste something as expensive as a nuke on a bunch of Iron Age primitives who can be easily beaten with conventional weapons?
General 2: Iris Heart is not worse than a nuke. There was a man who survived the Hiroshima bombing and grew up to be an animator, and he made a VERY graphic animation that showed exactly what he saw when the bomb hit. After seeing that I can say with 100% certainty that Iris Heart is not worse than a nuke.
Rougedragon: I got three things to say, if you want to debate any of this send me a PM-
1. The Imperial soldiers are not all "rapist pigs" I've read the manga and the first volume of the light novel (which I do not recommend) and there's no mention of anyone being raped during the Battle of Ginza. In fact the only times there's any mention of rape throughout the series are with bandits and Zorzal's forces, at which point the quality of the army had taken a nosedive. Sorry, but I'll be portraying the Imperial army as actual human beings, not a hord of rapist megalomaniac cartoon characters like most stories.
2. Imperial soldiers would not feel "confidence and lust" when seeing a CPU, because they're so alien to what any of them would have seen before that the human brain would suppress all other reactions beyond "fight or flight."
3. I don't think people would start worshipping the CPU's simply because they wouldn't know how. The gods of Falmart are all classic pagan gods with specific attributes: if you're fighting in a battle you pray to Emroy, if you want fertility you pray to Miritta, if you are a smith you pray to Duncan, etc. The CPU's don't have any of those attributes so I doubt people in the Special Region would know how to prey to them.
TheAzureKnight: Thank you so much for reminding me of that potential plot point. Rory shall suffer a fate worse than Iris Heart! MWAHAHAHAHA!
doom2099: No, none of the JSDF characters will be appearing. I've got my hands full with the Neptunia and Special Region characters so it would just make things more complicated, and frankly there's no place for them. Also, the only reason Itami is able to achieve anything is because he's got Main Character status. Without that he'd be dead, thrown out, or moved to a desk job. And since this is the Neptunia series he'd have to fight Nep for MC status, which would end with him as a stain on the wall.
