Uni raised a fist after the last shot. She was pleased with the damage she was inflicting, even if it wouldn't finish off the Land Carrier. Before she could get ready for another shot, however, she noticed her phone going off. She paused and looked down to check quickly, before realizing the text had come from IF. Reading it, she grinned and boasted to the others, "Neptune and the others did it!"

"They did?" Rom asked in surprise, before checking the monitors once more. After a pause, she noted, "It stopped moving!"

"Their engines and assembly line are down," Uni said, "It's a matter of time before Noire's group finish it off."

"So what do we do now?" Ram asked from her spot, still keeping the turret's hatch closed.

"Keep at it," Uni went back to using the cannon, "Finishing off the remaining robots and keeping them away from the others is still a priority."

"Makes sense," Nepgear added, "We need to make sure the other teams get out safely."

The tank was getting ready to for its next round. However, even though the Carrier lost a lot of power, it still had some systems active. While one side of the Carrier was dealing with damage to their cannons, the other side was still undamaged.

That side opened up parts of its armor, as the cannons there began to charge up. Although it was slower, they were not stopped like time by Neptune and Thomas.

Uni realized that her tank wasn't going to be ready to fire again by the time these guns fired. "Uh, girls? I think this might be it..."


Uzume and Plutia returned back to check on the battle, as Plutia was rested up, and Uzume was feeling left out. Returning, they moved in between Noire and Blanc overlooking the battle, just in time to see the Land Carrier's other cannons fire upon the Bandicoot. The massive barrage set off multiple explosions surrounding, and finally engulfing, the tank.

"The juniors!" Uzume called out. Plutia jumped and held her hands over her mouth.

Blanc, meanwhile, also lost her cool, "My sisters!" Her eyes were about to turn red, when Noire waved her hand to get the others' attention.

"Hold a moment," Noire said calmly, although the back of her mind was clearly wrought with fret.

All four stood quiet, watching the explosion dissipate. The smoke wasn't done clearing before four beings shot up into the skies, briefly shining before revealing themselves to be the Candidates, transforming into their CPU forms.

Noire let out a sigh of relief, "Uni's gambled quite a lot on that bailout system working. Not sure how this will work for non-CPUs, though."

"You weren't sure it was going to work?" Uzume asked incredulously.

"Don't look at me, it wasn't a project I actively worked on," Noire winced, "I just knew Uni wouldn't let that be the end. My sister's stronger than that."

"It is good I do not have high blood pressure," Plutia said, putting her hands down closer to her chest, "That was kind of scary."

Blanc relaxed a little before she checked her phone, seeing a new message being sent by IF. While she was reading, she murmured, "I agree, Plutia..."

Plutia nodded, finally dropping her arms, "Uh huh. Good thing those girls are really strong, hehe."

"Noire?" Blanc spoke up, "We got the message from IF. Their mission's complete. We're up."

"Alright!" Uzume clapped her fist, "I've been itching to take that thing down since we got here."

Noire hummed quietly, than nodded, "Let's go! I've been staring at that thing long enough!"


The bailout system allowed the Candidates to eject up into the skies out of the tank just as it was destroyed. Transformed, the Candidates flew into the open skies surrounding the Land Carrier. Nepgear and Uni shot out quickly, drawing their weapons and engaging the robot jets. Nepgear charged against them with her gunblade, while Uni began some precision attacks on a few ground targets. The two would be the vanguard, keeping the robots away from the Lowee twins.

White Sisters Rom and Ram took a moment to survey what was happening. Once they figured Nepgear and Uni were providing cover, they turned their focus to the Carrier's cannons, which have yet to aim since their attack on the tank.

Ram pointed to the middle of the battery, "Right there, Rom! Let's take those out!"

"Alright! Let's do this, together!" Rom got fired up, and helped out Ram by offering her power. With that, Ram charged up a baseball swing, before launching a massive ball of fire to rain down and explode right in the center of the cannons. The Carrier shook from the big explosion that devastated the cannons, leaving a smoldering fire similar to what happened on the Carrier's other side. However, the Carrier's armor still held up.

"Yeah!" The twins congratulated each other with a high five, proud of their accomplishment. Their elation was short-lived. Many of the robots that were patrolling outside of the battle returned back to the Carrier, and starting firing on the Candidates.

Rom eeped, and she and Ram split, trying to avoid the gunfire. Nepgear and Uni pulled back, trying as hard as they could keep the robots away, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

The robots decided to add some strategy with the remaining robots they had under their command. There were a few sniper robots, similar to what the CPUs faced at the Plains, although they looked weaker than the one they faced. Pulling back to a far away distance, one of the sniper bots was trying to lock on a target. Focusing on Uni, it tried a couple of shots, surprising Black Sister as it dinged off her large rifle.

Uni freaked out a little, in part because the robot was damaging her weapon. The next shot barely zipped past her cheek, and she gritted her teeth, turning to focus on the sniper bot. However, as she did, a wall of jets would zoom in front, trying to block her aim. Uni growled and tried to find a better shot, but they kept moving out in front, firing their own shots. This, in addition to some of the ground robots ordered to fire back at Uni, made it difficult for her to get any good shot.

Uni was becoming overwhelmed, and the other Candidates were feeling similar pressure as the robots coordinated their attacks. Just as they look to be cornered, the Candidates received new relief.

From all around the Carrier, sporadic rifle fire pelted the sniper robots from different areas. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was enough to throw off the robots' strategy. This created some new openings for Uni to finally refocus and take out the more dangerous sniper bots.

"Wh-who's out there?" Nepgear asked herself, as she squinted in the distance to see a few people at the rooftops with their own guns. One was hiding within a box, somehow aiming his gun through a small opening. Another looked to be a man in full police armor. There were different people, and even a few monsters, that took up arms at this moment to fire upon the robots. Nepgear made note specifically of one other. A familiar looking black-haired woman clad in red hunched down behind some cover, expertly firing her weapons just as well as Uni.

"Looks like the Guild chose its moment to get involved," Uni said aloud, "No... this is Lastation coming together. I'm sure of it."

"In that case, let's help them out!" Nepgear called out, "Keep taking these robots down! Don't let them hurt the citizens!"

With that set, the Candidates pushed closer to the Land Carrier, harassing the robots and making sure the focus was still on them.

This as Noire's group was flying towards the Carrier...


Returning back to the Carrier, Thomas hung up the phone as Neptune watched one of the robots coming down. Seeing that the robot was slowly looking towards the terminal, Neptune quickly checked her inventory for something, anything, to distract it away from Thomas.

Frustrated, Neptune found a stone that she stored from a long time ago. Was it a Key Item? Was it to be used in some old quest back in the Ultradimension? At this point, it wasn't important. She brought it out of her inventory and pitched it right at the machine.

"Ooh," Neptune said audibly, getting the robot's attention, "That looked like it stung. Maybe you should walk that off?" The robot brought out its gun and fired a few shots. They were easy to dodge for the CPU, who added, "N-no? Gonna rush the mound, huh? Such poor sportsmanship!"

"N-Neptune?" Thomas muttered in his quiet voice, "What are you doing?" He just looked up from finishing his call and dealing with the terminal to see Neptune taunting the robot.

"Oh, just keeping some enemies away from someone, or something!" Neptune spoke out loud. She wasn't looking directly at Thomas, as she was trying to keep busy drawing the robot away, but her words were understood. Thomas cowered by the terminal as the robot continued to fire at Neptune.

The robot was slowly descending, when the Carrier shook once more, as Rom and Ram dealt with the cannons. Inside the Carrier, the platforms once more shook, and Thomas clung hard to anything to keep him up. Unfortunately for Neptune, her platform tilted down suddenly, tripping her up and making her stumble off the edge, "Wah!"

Thomas' eyes bulged as he peered over to see Neptune managing to grab the edge of the platform, which was still relatively stable. Hanging with one hand on the edge, Neptune looked up to see the robot still coming down. As the bot was turning towards the terminal, Neptune acted, waving her hand up at the robot, "Hey buddy, still hanging here."

Thomas shook his head, mouthing quietly, "Neptune, no!"

Neptune saw what his lips were saying, but she still shared a bright smile, trying to assure him, even as she was in a bit of trouble.

The robot continued downwards, unable to fire at Neptune from where it was but switched to a bladed weapon. It was ready to strike, as Neptune couldn't get back up on the platform. She pondered dropping down, as she was not really scared of falling, if anything. She also had a backup plan in mind. However, the thing she wanted to do was keep its attention away from Thomas.

The robot was just nearing the platform, and Thomas hid for a while. However, with the robot being between him and the platform, Thomas couldn't take it anymore.

"Neptune!"

The goddess blinked, looking over at where Thomas was hiding. He was reaching for his sabre, but before she, or the robot, could react, Thomas quickly vanished from the platform. The robot swiveled quickly to where it heard that voice, but saw nothing. Instead, a moment later, a loud sound echoed near the machine, along with an explosion of air in a cone-like shape.

It looked more like a sonic boom happened just by the robot, with a blade slicing through one of the robot's center. Although the strength alone wasn't enough to down the robot, the sudden quickness of the attack knocked the robot back, falling into the giant drill it was repairing earlier, breaking into pieces.

Neptune blinked, and saw that both Thomas and the robot were no longer there. It was a moment that happened so quickly that even she was having trouble processing it. She looked around the platform Thomas was on, than at where the robot crashed, but saw nothing else.

"I'm right here!" Thomas' voice surprised her as she saw Thomas on the platform she's still hanging on to. He moved over to the edge, on his knees, "Need some help up?"

"Huh?" Neptune grew puzzled, before saying, "S-s-sure. Up I go!"

Thomas held out a hand, allowing Neptune to be pulled back up to the platform. With that task done, Thomas phewed, feeling a little tired as he sat down to take a breather.

Neptune was still confused by what happened, and was about to ask, when the both of them felt the platform continue to give way. "Oh, right," Neptune remembered. The platform was barely held up as it was, but with the added weight of both Thomas and Neptune, it could no longer stay up.

The platform fell downwards, with the two quickly falling with it. Neptune grumbled, irritated by the circumstance. However, that thought was put aside as she saw Thomas' frightened expression. Remembering that earlier near-death experience he had at the beginning of the story, Neptune resolved herself.

In a flash of light, Neptune quickly rushed to Thomas' side, "Tommy! Hold tight!" Neptune's voice shifted into its more serious tone as she changed to her CPU form. Purple Heart grabbed onto the falling man, and held him close to her side before stopping their descent, shooting back up.

"Th-thank you," Thomas said under his breath, as Purple Heart shifted to keep him held with one arm, while taking out her weapon with the other.

"We are not quite out yet," Purple Heart noted, "Keep holding on. I'll get us both out!"

Thomas hummed an affirmative, nodding as he tried to stay close. He held his arms around the woman's waist, while clasping his hands together just outside. This wasn't the first time he held close to a goddess helping him out, as with Uzume and Blanc, but he was feeling a little self-conscious about it more here. He glanced away, then winced seeing Purple Heart lifting them high up towards the floor's ceiling.

Purple Heart soon turned towards the entrance, now their exit, and flew forward with her blade at the ready. It was a matter of time before she was intercepted by the few robot jets still inside the mobile factory. Purple Heart attempted to shake them from firing on her by weaving back and forth, before trying a spin. This did little to deter the enemies, though it did mess with their aiming, as they kept missing their fire. Thomas was also trying to keep from getting too dizzy.

Noticing this, Purple Heart pulled back towards the chasing robots, and spun with her blade to tear through them, before resuming her flight. The few remaining cannons that weren't deployed outside began to turn towards her, charging up to fire. Purple Heart saw this, and arched downwards, diving closer to the ground and in between several of the piles of metal and materials. The cannons struggled to aim directly at Neptune, and only managed a few shots that only did damage to their own disabled machinery.

Sure enough, flying low allowed Purple Heart to get through over the assembly line, and the CPU called out, "Iffy! Compa!" She was reaching the entrance, with the two still lingering inside. Despite being told to leave, the two stayed just nearby to wait for them to return.

IF and Compa waved quickly, before turning to run outside. Thomas re-opened his eyes, only to squint at the daylight shining from the open entrance.

"They're out!" Uni was quick to react to the group coming out at roughly the same time. The Candidates rushed in to give cover to the other group's retreat. With the help of the Guild's snipers, the Candidates attacked any enemies nearby, as IF and Compa fled north into Lastation proper, while Purple Heart flew northeast, further away from the battle, to a more open clearing. With their task complete, the Candidates returned to keeping the robots occupied.


The small clearing was just outside of Lastation, but was far enough for Purple Heart to go for a landing, slowing down and getting her feet down to safety. The CPU felt a little more relaxed, and eased her grip on Thomas, "You can let go now. We're on land."

Thomas slowly balanced himself on the ground, eventually letting go of his embrace, though he still felt a little woozy and disoriented. He held his hands up to note he was alright, and just wanted to stand upright for a moment. It was plain to see he was rather dizzy, so Purple Heart held a hand over Thomas' shoulder just so he can stay up.

"I did not think my flying would be as disorienting as an amusement park ride," Purple Heart joked, finally letting go after Thomas stabilized.

"It's okay," Thomas said, holding a hand up to his forehead, hoping the spinning would stop eventually. "Oof, at least we made it out, somehow." Thomas muttered under his breath.

He then paused, looking to seeing Purple Heart turning to check on the battle. Thomas thought a moment before he turned his body to bow politely, "Uh, Lady Purple Heart. Allow me to formally thank you for saving me there!"

Purple Heart tilted her head, looking at Thomas, "Hmm?" She looked a little surprised by Thomas' action, saying, "You need not be so formal, Tommy. You can still call me Neptune, if you wish. In any case, I was helping out a friend, just as you did back there."

Thomas flustered a bit, "O-of course." He had to remind himself that the CPU is the same as the lazy, carefree girl he's known since his days at the Basilicom. It was just strange, however, for him to consider this. Purple Heart had a much different aura, a different presence, to him. It was enough to make him a little nervous.

"Uh, perhaps you should go and help out the Candidates?" Thomas said as he looked back to see Nepgear in the distance slicing through a couple of jets, "Isn't it exhausting to stand around in CPU form anyway?"

"I believe they can handle this part on their own. We have done enough with our last bit of interference," Purple Heart said politely, "And yes, this form can be a little tiring to hold. I feel like I can manage this time, however."

"Is that so?" Thomas asked rhetorically.

Purple Heart closed her eyes, thinking on some things. "It is not common for us to speak like this."

Thomas blinked at Purple Heart, "What do you mean by that?"

Purple Heart chuckled briefly, "I mean, to speak to you in this form. I still remember the first time you saw me like this. You were completely out of it after a while. Were you truly that stunned?"

Thomas sweatdropped, "I regretfully can't say I remember much of anything afterwards." The first time was during that ceremony long ago, but in truth, he was stunned by Neptune's sister revealing herself, and the revelation of Thomas' rescuer that fateful day. He grumbled, "Don't like that you have a better memory of that day."

"Don't worry about it," Purple Heart smiled, "You just stood there with this goofy look on your face for a while before some people moved you to a seat out of the way. I wasn't sure if you were ever going to snap out of it."

Thomas grimaced, feeling his heart sink, "That just sounds embarrassing."

"That's the second time I must have broke you," Purple Heart joked, before saying more quietly, "Perhaps you no longer view me as just some kid to dote on."

Thomas snapped out of his brief melancholy, "Pardon?"

"It was nothing important," Purple Heart said with a shake of her head, before turning to face Thomas, "So, what do you think?"

"What do I think?" Thomas arched an eyebrow at the next question.

"2-D or 3-D?" Purple Heart asked in as cheery a tone as the CPU could make with her current voice.

Thomas' cheeks reddened quickly, and he rolled his eyes, "You're just teasing me now, aren't you?"

Purple Heart laughed a little, "Maybe I am. I can't help myself. I always like to see these expressions. Don't think I didn't notice how you were acting earlier, either."

Thomas flustered, crossing his arms, muttering, "Sh-shut up."

Amused, Purple Heart laughed a little more, "Don't take it too personally." She seemed very pleased with what she got of that tease. Her expression changed rather dramatically in mere seconds, though, as she rapidly turned around and drew her blade to block a sudden attack from behind. Wait, what?

Purple Heart pushed away the talons of her attacker, getting into a battle stance in front of Thomas, who scrambled to get into a guarded stance.

"Interrupting a moment like this, and attacking from behind? How cowardly," Purple Heart said to her attacker. Upon closer look, we see that it...

It's that owl again! The one that was following them around the Plains and had those glowing eyes. Upon closer look, this owl was certainly a lot more robotic in appearance. Actually, not quite. There were joints here and there to indicate machinery, but its movement seems less powered by electricity. I mean, the eyes were still glowing electricity, but there's also some ticking inside, as though it was powered by... clockwork?

"I don't recognize this model," Purple Heart noted, "But all the same, you're going down."

The owl flew backward for a stretch before turning around and flying down at the CPU. Purple Heart met this with a counter, slashing upward and clashing with the bird's metallic talons. The clash produced a draw, as Neptune lept back and the owl had to fly back a bit.

Thomas gritted his teeth and took to the offensive, trying to catch the owl off-guard with a quick attack of his own. The owl spun away from the blade, turning to try and peck him with its beak. Thomas dove away from the bird, rolling back and standing next to Purple Heart.

The two stood on guard, before a projectile shot from behind them, aimed at the owl. The owl reacted by holding its wings around itself tightly. The armor on its wings hardened enough to deflect the kunai, which dropped down to the ground.

"I knew something was up!" IF shouted as she and Compa rushed to join the two, "That thing's been circling around you two like a vulture since you landed."

"Wasn't I the one who pointed out how off that owl looked?" Compa said, suggesting she was the first to notice something off.

"I'm glad you're both here, in any case," Purple Heart said, content with the assistance regardless who noticed what first.

The owl was not deterred by the new reinforcements, as it briefly shot up into the sky before diving down at full speed close to the four. The group didn't have time to react when it impacted the ground, causing a shockwave that caught everyone off. The four were knocked back in different directions, with Purple Heart able to balance herself quickly thanks to her having some flight.

The humans, however, were hit pretty hard, as Compa and Thomas crashed close to Neptune, and IF was knocked away from the group. The owl flew back up between the separate group, readying itself for its next attack.

The three got up, feeling some of the damage inflicted on the hard landing. "Ow, my knees," IF complained, before trying to hold her guard at the owl decided to pick on the isolated person, turning to fly towards her.

"Iffy!" Purple Heart was already moving forward to try to intercept the owl, but she was still pretty far back.

Thomas struggled to get up on his feet, and, seeing IF in trouble, tried to recall what he did much earlier. Reaching down to his scabbard, he called out his recently acquired move:

"Super Sonic Sabre!"

Thomas had a sudden rush of energy, as he darted forward. As he got close to the owl, he pulled his blade and aimed right at its center, passing by it in a quick, supersonic second. The resulting attack, and sonic boom effect, knocked the owl off its flight path. It barely managed to stabilize itself before it could crash, and Thomas' strength was still too weak to inflict much damage, but it did stop its momentum.

In addition, Thomas ended up well ahead, now standing near a perplexed IF. "IF! How are you holding up?" Thomas asked.

"U-uh, a little hurt, but could be worse," IF answered, "What the hell was that?"

"New move, I guess?" Thomas wasn't too sure, himself, as he went through his inventory. "Is a Healing Circle good?"

"We'll talk later, but yes, that'll do," IF nodded, as Thomas used the healing item to help out with both his and IF's injuries. Meanwhile, Compa helped heal both herself and Neptune with her First Aid skill.

The owl turned its focus on Thomas and IF, hovering in mid-air for a few seconds while its eyes glowed more fiercely, firing several electric beams in their direction. The two reacted quickly to dart to the side to avoid the blasts.

This gave Purple Heart the opening she need, as she caught up with her blade, unleashing a flurry of attacks at the owl, "Cross Combination!" Although the owl was able to avoid the first few attacks, it soon couldn't stay away from Neptune's relentless assault, culminated with her launching the owl in the air with her blade, only to fly up and smash it down to the ground for good damage.

"I'm getting really sick of being thrown around by these robots!" IF shouted, starting to snap, "It's bad enough I had to sit uncomfortably with a bunch of scrap and get my coat messed up, but these assholes had to make me run around like an idiot through sewers and machinery. I'm sending this creature straight to hell!"

IF jumped up really high, and rapidly threw a bunch of blades down at the owl, pinning it down. Not content with one, two, or sixteen things to throw at it, IF charged up in mid-air and dove down in similar fashion to what the owl did earlier. This was actually a part of her ultimate move, Apocalypse Nova, as she crashed down at the owl with an ice attack. The move knocked it back a few more feet, dazed, as IF quickly got up, "I'll give it this, too! Burn in hell!" Charging up more of her magic, she launched a powerful attack, incinerating it in an explosion.

IF seethed in anger, even in victory, as Compa went over to check on her, "Uh, Iffy? Wasn't that a bit much?"

"It pissed me off," IF muttered, "No. Mercy."

Purple Heart reverted back to her human form, and took a deep breath, "Phew! That was more than I was expecting from a sneaking mission. Everyone alright?"

IF and Compa nodded, while Neptune tapped her cheek in thought, "Oh, by the by, Iffy, Compa, any idea what we were fighting a moment, there?"

IF shook her head, "Not a clue. I never saw that thing before. You, Compa?"

Compa thought a second, "Can't say I have."

"Must've been a one-off design, I guess," Neptune shrugged, before looking over to Thomas, who was checking around where the owl was before it was incinerated. He was looking for any drops or clues related to the creature.

"I've seen it before," Thomas said bluntly, recalling something, "I mean, before this firewall even started. I've seen it!"

"You have?" IF asked, "Well, don't leave us hanging, tell us when and where you saw it!"

"Remember the last crisis? I mean, the one where you guys apparently revived Uzume?" Thomas said as he looked at the others.

Neptune nodded, "Following you so far, around the time of the last g-"

"Not now, Nep," IF was not in the mood for that meta nonsense, and gestured to Thomas, "Keep going, Thomas."

"Gamindustri was dealing with a great influx of these delusionary monsters," Thomas noted, "It was here that many people, including myself, were busy with building up what would be the Azure Coast. The former Gamindustri Graveyard."

"Are you saying that owl is one those monsters?" Compa asked, not really sure if that was the case.

"No no," Thomas shook his head, "No, that owl... we saw this owl just watching most of our engagements. Whenever an adventuring group went, it followed behind just to watch. It was constantly leering at whatever we were doing."

Thomas grimaced, "It only became aggressive near the end, when it attacked one of our groups that we sent to the mountains. It just suddenly attacked everything nearby. Human, monster, you name it. From the last report, it was damaged and flew off. Never heard from it since."

"Looks like we found a clue," Neptune declared, "Although, not too smart of it to attack me of all people."

"Maybe it figured you were slacking off again and took the moment to strike?" IF said half-jokingly, though it was hard to tell at this point.

"I was not slacking off!" Neptune complained, "I was busy teasing Tommy here. I think that was a productive use of time."

"I respectfully disagree," Thomas said dryly as he frowned.

"Speaking of which, what was with that super new move, anyway?" IF asked, "People don't usually break the sound barrier."

"Says the person who says she has a demon in her arm," Neptune teased IF, "You do realize all of us have some pretty crazy moves now and then."

"She's got you there, Iffy," Compa smiled, "And it's not just the CPUs, you know."

"I'm just saying it's quite a lot, th-that's all," IF crossed her arms, "It's not like I'm jealous of someone becoming as fast as the wind."

"She totally is," Neptune giggled.

"That took a lot out of me," Thomas admitted, "And it's not terribly strong, anyway. I just... I saw Neptune's Critical Edge and thought of trying something similar. I didn't expect it to be so fast."

"It's great to see you getting a little better, Tommy," Neptune grinned, "But that name, I dunno. Super Sonic Sabre? Nepgear has a normal attack she calls Super Sonic, so are you really sure it is my fighting style you're emulating?"

"Hehe," Thomas laughed a bit nervously.

"Whatever," IF grumbled, moving along, "If what you're saying about that robot is true, Thomas, then maybe these things have been active for quite a while."

"Uh, yeah," Thomas agreed, "That could very well be."