Chapter 9: The Big Reveal
The scene that lay before the two divine beings from Planeptune told one grisly tale. It didn't take someone high in intellect to see what had transpired here. Both Purple Heart and Purple Sister stood among the dead soldiers of what used to be a sizeable number of Leanbox's Army. Both had witnessed tragedy before (Conquest Ending), but this was on a scale that made the two feel even worse. It was so bad for Purple Sister that she had to take off and throw up behind a tree several times before she could stomach what she was looking it.
"This just tells us we need to be more serious than we have ever been before." Purple Heart sighed as she rubbed her sister's back. "How are you feeling now, Nepgear?"
"Ugh. I still feel sick, but thanks, Neptune. What should we do?"
"I do not think there is anything we can do here. We should return home for now and report to the others about what we have seen. I also wouldn't want us to get caught off guard right now."
Purple Sister let a small whine loose as she thought about Purple Heart's words and knowing that she herself would be the reason if anything untoward happened to them. Returning home was the wisest choice to make right now.
The divine siblings took off and returned home in an otherwise uneventful night, pondering their next move.
Morning came to the cellblock that Vert was in. The goddess hasn't slept at all since being returned to her cell with the events of the previous night filling her brain.
*Snore*...*SNORE*
That and the excessively loud snoring noises from Neptune. Vert worried about how her complexion would hold up to the fatigue and insomnia, and how her mental state would fare from the assault of snoring.
"Just how can she sleep so deeply with what happened last night? I would question whether anything that transpired meant anything to her at all, but I know it does. She is just too carefree like our Neptune is to let it bother her to the extent it bothers me." There was a pause. "I wish I could just switch off like her as it would make things much easier to deal with."
Vert rubbed her eyes and sat up in her bed. She sighed as she thought once again about the 'deal' she had agreed to in order to save Chika and her army. The god seemed honourable enough to not make distasteful demands, but experience had taught her that power can be quite corrupting on those who seek greater power to further their own personal needs. Various guilds over many games she had played over the years were prime examples where they had collapsed due to the guild officers neglecting the needs of their team members in favour of themselves or certain individuals. One particular incident led to gargantuan problems when one person was awarded a legendary weapon that their class did not use as its primary weapon over the raid members whose class did use that weapon 'out of loyalty' to that one person who had been there since the start of the guild. The very public and toxic fallout of that debacle made Vert work harder to ensure her guilds never suffered such an event.
The worst part for Vert was how helpless she felt right now. She had no idea if she was going to be saved by her comrades, or even if they were capable of saving her. She was certain that if all the CPUs came at once, they just might be able to rescue her, but any less and she felt that despite the odds being stacked seemingly in the CPUs favour, the god and his army and air force would be more than capable of making things difficult.
More stress for the goddess of Leanbox as more negative thoughts ran through her mind.
By mid morning, both Planeptune guardians had returned and gave their reports on what they had seen. It made for a grim report, one which IF wasn't surprised about and Histoire wished she hadn't had heard. Histoire had tried to get in contact with Chika only for the Leanbox Basilicom to state that they are taking no calls from 'outside sources' for the foreseeable future.
"They must be up to their eyeballs in crap trying to keep Lady Vert's capture a secret from the populace, not to mention how they are going to tell families that their relatives have died without telling them why." IF stated with a frustrated look on her face.
"This could be a very bad situation if Leanbox was to go into open rebellion against their goddess if word gets out about all of this. Rescuing Vert must now become our number one priority, and with great haste. At least with Vert back in Leanbox, she will be able to keep the situation under control to a degree." Histoire sighed. "IF, put the call out for all goddesses to assemble here ASAP while I work on a plan of action."
"Sure. But please do it faster than three days."
"Hmpf!" Histoire scowled at IF as she left. "It will not take me three days...probably."
IF chuckled lightly as she left Histoire and proceeded to phone Lowee and Lastation to update Mina and Kei of the latest developments and to have Uni, Rom and Ram join Noire and Blanc in coming back to Planeptune. She did wonder if it might be better having all of them just stay here for the time being instead of shuttling back and forth nearly every day...
Planeptune: 2:07pm - Basilicom
"It is plainly clear that we must rescue Vert immediately! If she is held captive for much longer I fear there will be problems arising in Leanbox. While I'm certain that some of you.." Histoire pointedly made eye contact with Noire. "...would not have a problem with the opportunity of trying to gain some extra shares, our opponent would only benefit from such actions. Now, I have formulated a plan of action that wil-"
"Hang on a second, Histy. Where is Iffy? Where'd she go?" Neptune interrupted Histoire.
Histoire sighed loudly.
"If you will listen, Neptune, I will explain."
"Why did you single me out?! Blanc would jump at the chance to steal some of Vert's shares, given how many times she has threatened Vert over the years!" Noire interrupted.
"Hey, you're the one who has a game where you want to unite the world under Lastation's banner, so it stands to reason why Histoire specifically targeted you." Blanc interjected before Histoire could reply.
"Yeah! That damn game. Everyone knows I'M the series protagonist, so how comes Noire was the protag? I starred alongside Blanc's and Iffy's games but I was just a secondary character in that one! A disgrace!" Neptune furiously said, flailing her arms around for effect.
'Why does this always happen whenever anything serious is going on? I wasn't created to deal with all of this stress.' Histoire thought as she rubbed her temples. "WILL ALL OF YOU PLEASE JUST SHUT UP!"
Instant silence. Instant freezing of all movement as well. The goddesses were too stunned by Histoire's voice to do anything except stop.
'Goodness, perhaps I should have done this sooner.'
"Wow, Histy, when did you get such a loud voice out of your tiny body?" Neptune asked, marvelling at Histoire's loudness.
'It was too good to be true.' Histoire sighed again.
"Yeah, they always say to watch out for the quiet ones." Blanc pointed out.
"Ironic, coming from you." Noire smirked.
Blanc's retort to Noire was cut short by the arrival of the CPU Candidates - they were all late.
"I'm sorry we're late, Histoire!" Nepgear shouted as she ran over to join her sister, holding a bag closely to her chest.
"It's all Nepgear's fault." Uni muttered as she took her place next to Noire.
"That shop sells the BEST sweets EVER!" Ram exclaimed gleefully.
"Uh-huh!" Rom nodded enthusiastically.
"Wait...you went shopping for snacks? And you didn't bring ME?! What kind of sister are you, Nep Junior! Here I am, enduring Histy's fit-sy while you are off consuming vast amounts of sweet deliciousness." Neptune whined as she grabbed Nepgear's shoulders.
"Aw...I knew you'd be upset, so I bought some for you as well." Nepgear handed the bag to Neptune, hoping her sister's mood would improve.
Neptune opened the bag and squealed with glee at the contents, before devouring said contents in a manner equal to a certain monster that loves eating cookies.
Histoire took several deep breaths to try and stop herself from erupting. Slowly, the chatter quietened down and Neptune ran out of sweets to consume.
"As I was saying..." Histoire paused, anticipating an interruption.
"..." Which never came.
"Time has all but run out now, and if we do not rescue Vert very soon then there will be problems arising for our nations, not just in Leanbox. We know where this supposed god is located, but we do not know exactly where Vert is being held captive. IF left earlier this morning to scout the base for the most likely place or places Vert is being held, though I am not certain when she will be able to make contact with us again given it is nigh impossible to get a communication through from there. For now, all of you should get ready to depart for our invader's base. Regardless of whether IF can contact us or not, you all need to leave on the rescue mission at fifteen hundred hours."
"What about Uzume?" Neptune asked.
"I have already briefed Uzume and she is remaining behind to respond to any potential threats that may arise while you are all absent. The last thing we need is an incident to take place when no-one is around to deal with it. I understand if you all are not happy with this but the other Oracles and I must prepare for as many eventualities as we can."
The group of divine beings all murmured amongst themselves before reluctantly agreeing with Histoire.
"Wonderful, please get ready for the mission, and above all else, return here safely."
Grey Heart's base: 3.14pm
Vert had been snoozing lightly when Grey Heart and a couple of guards, both female, arrived at her cell. The god unlocked the door, entered and proceeded to gently prod the goddess's shoulder until she woke from her rest.
"Wakey-wakey, goddess. This is no time for a nap." Grey Heart's voice was laced with taunting. "I am very pleased to report that your scheduled public humiliation can be brought forward to right now. My men and women have done a sterling job in getting everything ready when I feared that it may have taken longer."
The exhaustion still lingered in Vert's eyes and she merely exhaled loudly in response. In a way she was glad as it meant she might well be free of some built up stress, but on the other hand, she would surely have a lot of work to do back home - none of it good at all, especially since she will inevitably suffer from a drop in share energy, that is if she is able to remain a goddess.
"Up you get, goddess, you will have your face on camera soon, so focus on shaking off that fatigue to make yourself look presentable to the world. I won't have anyone suggesting that I have in any way mistreated you in my first worldwide address."
Vert did not restrain herself in snorting a response, though such an action was unladylike for her, it would be doubtful one could find many people who would chastise her for such a response given what she has been through in the last 24 hours.
'Here he just cares about his image to my followers.'
The god smirked as he turned and walked out of the cell, turning his head towards one of the guards.
"Assist her in freshening up, Pegdon."
"Yes, my Lord."
Though the guard did not look happy about having to help Vert, she nonetheless will exactly do as ordered to the best of her ability.
"Heeeeeyyyyyy! I coulda done that if ya wanted!" The overenthusiastic voice of Neptune rang out from the other side of the cell block.
Neptune had taken up her customary position of pressed up against her cell bars with her arms flailing through the bars in a desperate attempt for attention. Her antics by now had worn thin and everyone just ignored her, save the god who looked at her and just rolled her eyes.
"Maybe next time."
With that, the god left leaving the alternate dimension non-goddess woman feeling dejected at effectively being brushed off. Neptune slumped against the cell door and whined, still hoping to attract some attention.
"What does he have planned?" Vert asked.
The guard, Pegdon, merely scowled in response, handing Vert a wet flannel that she had prepared from the small wash basin in the cell. Vert took the flannel and gently rubbed it over her face though a little awkwardly as the handcuffs denied her free movement of her hands.
"Are you going to say anything?"
Pegdon took the flannel back from Vert, rinsed it and rubbed some soap over the flannel and then handed it back to the goddess. Pegdon still did not speak.
"What have I done to cause you to show such hostility towards myself?"
Vert rubbed the flannel over her face again and passed the flannel back to the guard.
"Nothing personally as of yet, but you would be well advised to accept Lord Grey Heart's generosity in not slaying you and granting you a position of power under him. None of us would have done so." Pegdon told Vert as she handed the goddess the prepared flannel for a final time.
Vert rubbed over her face and sighed in frustration. There was no real reason to keep questioning the guard as Vert doubted she would provide the answers if she even knew them. The god was the only one who would provide information, and Vert doubted he would share more than he felt she ought to know.
Pegdon took the flannel back and tossed in into the basin carelessly. She unhooked her rifle from its holding on her left thigh and aimed it at Vert.
"Up! Hands in the air and move out of the prison! Lord Grey Heart will take you to the stage where he will make his speech."
Vert reluctantly did as she was ordered and exited the prison with her hands in the air as best as she could, with the female soldier following her with the rifle in close proximity to Vert's spine. While it was a blessed relief to be outside, the hastily erected stage and the large crowd of people made her feel anxious.
"Come, goddess, it is time." Grey Heart grinned as he took hold of her left arm and pulled her along. "Dismissed, Private."
"Sir!" Pegdon saluted the god and left for the barracks.
"Not very talkative is she?" Vert mentioned.
"She's a good soldier. Learnt well from her mother, who was one of the finest Generals in my armies." Grey Heart replied.
The god opened his mouth to speak more when there was a bang from a rail connected small engine shed, big enough for just a single shunter, nearby. The doors flung open and large amounts of smoke came out, as well as two men coughing while waving cloths around to try and dissipate the smoke around them. The two divine beings stopped and watched as Pegdon ran over to them.
"Are you both alright?"
The soldier began dusting off the young man while he took off his glasses and cleaned them.
"Father, what are you up to this time? You still aren't messing about with that old shunter are you?"
"I'm not messing about!" Mr. Pegdon protested. "I'm fine tuning her! She's a real beaut! Just needs a little more tinkering here and there and she'll be running sweet, better than she ever was in her days in service."
"I-I really should be going now, Mister Pegdon. I only stopped for a chat anyways and now my suit needs to be cleaned." The young man stated as he tried to wipe some oil off his right sleeve.
"You both haven't forgotten that it's time for Lord Grey Heart's national address, have you?"
"Oh 'eck! If the missus were to discover that I missed it, I'll be living in the shed 'til I die! Come on, Mike, we'll have to worry about the shunter this evening. I'll see you later, luv."
Mr. Pegdon leaned over and kissed his daughter on the cheek before jogging off to join the crowd. Mike was about to leave when the young woman grabbed hold of his arm.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Erm...er...I don't think so, Sarah."
"My kiss?" Sarah suggested.
"B-but...I'll be late!"
"Oh, Mike! You won't be late just for giving me a goodbye kiss."
"Wh-what if your mother see us?"
"We're engaged! She isn't even here, so she won't be able to do anything."
"She'll find a way..." Mike muttered under his breath. "She always does."
He wasn't going to be able to leave without fulfilling his fiancée's wish so he leaned in and kissed Sarah's other cheek since there was now a small oil stain on the cheek that her father had kissed. As he turned to leave, Sarah gripped his arm tighter and swung him around to face her again before planting her lips onto his forcefully for a few seconds. The young man was left stunned as Sarah released him and stepped back.
"Off you go now, when the address is over, get changed into another set of clothes and leave that suit on my bunk in the barracks. I'll get it sent back to Mother and she'll get it cleaned for you."
Mike was still in a slight daze as he left, leaving Sarah with a smug smile on her face until she noticed that the whole event that had just taken place had been observed by the god and goddess. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and she made a hasty retreat to the barracks.
Grey Heart had the overwhelming urge to slap a hand over his face and groan; this wasn't how he wanted to present his followers to a goddess. As for Vert, she was amused by the girly side of the soldier that held such disdain for herself. She looked up at the god and he refused to make eye contact with her, instead pulling her forwards towards the stage that was set for his address. When they reached the stage, he had Vert stand to one side while he stood next to a microphone which had a camera in front of it, several yards away. Various tech staff milled about checking things and giving thumbs up signals while the General handed Grey Heart his script.
"Everything is ready to go, Lord Grey Heart."
"Excellent. Start up the jammer!"
The thin but tall building clicked and buzzed into life as it began to send out the jamming signal, boosted by various towers all over the continent that had been reprogrammed by Grey Heart's network of spies to receive the signal to steal all of the air waves. From a cliff overlooking the stage, IF crouched in the undergrowth and looked through the scope on the stolen laser sniper rifle. She furrowed her brow at what she saw and took out one of her phones to contact Histoire...
All over Gamindustri, everything ceased to show or function how it was supposed to, and in their place was an live image of a man wearing blocky processor units and heavy armour or sounds of his speech filtering through speakers.
"Citizens of Gamindustri, I must start off by apologising for interrupting your daily tasks. I shall not take up much of your valuable time for I know you are all busy. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Grey Heart, a god. I am akin to your goddesses but far more competent and hardworking. I implore you to abandon your beliefs in your vaunted goddesses and instead place your faith in me, for I alone have the strength, will and integrity to protect Humanity from disaster. I know there will be those of you who will refuse to give up your old ways, but I have already clashed with your precious goddesses of Planeptune and Lastation and comfortably forced them into retreat. Citizens of Leanbox, how long has it been since any of you last saw your goddess? You may think she is just holed up in her room playing various 'online' games, but the truth is much simpler."
The camera panned round to Vert.
"She has been my prisoner and has agreed to ensure the protection of her people by joining me. Why don't you confirm this yourself, goddess Green Heart?"
Vert glared at the god.
"I...Vert, goddess of Leanbox..." She sighed. "Pledge my support to Lord Grey Heart."
With her eyes narrowed slightly and her lips pursed, Vert looked down at the ground as the camera panned back to Grey Heart.
"I will request once again for everyone to place their faith in me, and I shall protect you all from any threat that dares to try and snuff out human life on this world. Finally, to the remaining goddesses on this planet; if you are not willing to pledge your allegiance to me, I would be more than happy to meet you on the field of battle and show you why you should follow me."
A few seconds later the jammer shut down and the airwaves returned to normal. There was static for a few seconds longer before whatever had been interrupted started back up again, which for radio stations meant a few extra moments of silence until the hosts either started talking about what had just happened or put a song on. As for Grey Heart, it was a job done: Gamindustri knew of his presence in this world now and there was going to be problems for the goddesses.
"Escort Lady Green Heart back to her cell and bring that infernal pain in the proverbials from her cell."
Same time, in the skies over the southern part of Virtua Forest
The goddesses and CPU candidates had listened to the broadcast and knew things were going to get tougher for them.
"You don't really think Vert will have willingly submitted to him, do you?" Black Heart asked her colleagues.
"Given how her mind works and personality, I think the perverted side of her would find the idea appealing, but really I highly doubt she would. She will most likely play out any fantasies in her head when she is alone." Purple Heart replied. "I'm worried that some of our followers will abandon us for him though. I'm confident all of us can defeat him together, but I will not put it past him having a few tricks up his sleeves."
"We could just leave here there so she act out her fantasies and steal her supporters to give ourselves more power. Not like she's gonna be needing 'em or anything." White Heart suggested.
Purple Heart was about to reprimand White Heart when she received a phone call.
"Iffy?"
"Nep, I've got a clear view on Lady Vert but I can't wait for you guys to arrive or she'll be locked up again. I'll act now, so be ready for battle." IF said and immediately hung up.
"Oh dear. We need to get a move on as Iffy cannot wait for us to arrive."
"Great, straight into the action!" White Heart exclaimed as she prematurely summoned her axe.
IF looked through the scope with the sight switched on, aiming it at Vert. IF wasn't sure how quickly the goddess would regain her shares, but she hoped it would be quick enough to absorb and leftover energy from the laser bolt.
A couple of guards arrived to take Vert away, and, with the god's back turned, IF pulled the trigger. The bolt of energy exploded forth and cut through the chain on Vert's cuffs. IF saw Vert recoil in shock and the guards immediately dived for cover as others began shouting. IF aimed the sniper rifle at the god who was shouting orders and fired three more times. The first two bolts dissipated on his protective share energy shielding and he dodged the third while summoning his own laser rifle. IF's eyes widened as she saw him take aim at her and as he fired back, she dropped to the ground from her kneeling position, the laser bolt burning through the foliage precisely between her eyes had she not taken evasive action.
In the base, Vert could feel all her share energy returning, taking this as a sign to make her escape. She activated her HDD form and summoned her spear, striking the god down as he shot at her benefactor.
"Thank you for the hospitality, but I really must be off now."
Green Heart brought her index and middle fingers on her right hand to her mouth, kissed them and blew the kiss at the god.
"Tee tee eff enn." She winked before launching into the sky.
Grey Heart growled more in embarrassment than anger at being teased by a goddess.
"General! Major! I need all available forces to move out!"
A buzz on his communicator got his attention - a radar update from Epsilon.
SEVEN AIRBORNE BIOLOGICAL LIFEFORMS DETECTED - LAUNCHING MANTAS - ENGAGING TARGETS
"All forces follow me as quickly as you can! Prepare to engage as many as EIGHT goddesses. MOVE OUT!"
He himself took to the sky to give chase to his escaped prisoner as the four jets roared past to intercept the goddesses.
Planeptune
"First phase of the rescue is complete, Lady Vert has made her escape from captivity, but completing the second phase is going to be tough. I've only got one more shot left and I'll be at severe risk if I try to help."
"Understood, IF, come home as quickly as possible. We'll have to rely on the goddesses helping themselves for the rest."
"Okay, on my way."
Histoire was anxious about the situation. She hoped that the numbers would be enough to see the operation succeed, hopefully without any injuries. Her thoughts were interrupted by a beeping on the command console, showing a significant energy spike forming within the Basilicom. The sound of swirling raw energy filled her ears from behind her and as Histoire turned around, she saw a tall woman stepping through the energy into the Basilicom, with the energy abruptly dissipating once the woman had stepped through.
"Hmm, how quaint. Is this how goddesses of these modern times live now?" The woman remarked as she looked at her new surroundings.
Histoire couldn't find any words to speak since she had frozen at the imposing sight of the woman, very likely some kind of ancient goddess, given her antiquated looking processor units and the pair of swords she was wielding in her hands. She noticed Histoire and addressed her.
"Are you the one in charge here?"
"Er...um...I...I am Histoire, a Tome, I serve as this nation's Oracle, aiding the Guardian Console Patron Unit, Purple Heart."
"Excellent. I am led to believe you have recently encountered problems with a god?"
"Y-yes. How did you...know?"
"Call me an...adversary of our mutual enemy. I've butted heads and blades with him numerous times in the past and I've made it my mission to bring him to justice for the countless goddesses he has slain over the centuries. Do you know where he is located?"
Histoire nodded and activated a map of Gamindustri for the other woman to see.
"We are here." Histoire pointed at Planeptune. "Information gained has revealed the base of operations for the god is here." She pointed at the end of the landmass south of Virtua Forest.
"Have you engaged him in combat yet?"
"Well, he did capture Green Heart and has battled with Purple Heart and Black Heart. The goddesses are currently performing a rescue operation as we speak...I should find out how things are going."
"Leave it to me, I shall aid your goddesses in their operation."
The goddess turned towards the glass doors that led to the balcony.
"Who are you, by the way?"
"I am Crimson Heart, but you may address me by the name I use in my Human form, Ruby." She turned her head towards Histoire and grinned.
To Be Continued...