Ho-Hum and the Alien Visitation

A Hyperdimension Neptunia Fan Fiction

by Derald Snyder

Chapter 43- Airship Heist!

*A few days later, in the skies above Leanbox...*

"Another day, another dollar," Affimojas said as he sat at the control room of his airship. "Now, let's see if I can get any passing shots of Lady Vert today..." He had to play this carefully, as Vert had already scolded him more than once for being a Peeping Tom... So he had to make it look as if he was just passing by casually, and be careful not to linger. "Lady Vert can be scary when she's angry... but that just adds to her beauty, I think! Now then..." He took out a new, top-of-the-line long-range camera, pointing it in the direction of the Basilicom... "Let's see if I can get a glimpse of that divine beauty through her bedroom window..."

"FREEZE!" Affimojas whipped around as the door opened, a black-armored Leanbox soldier and several anthropomorphic crows dashing in. "Don't move a muscle, Affimojas!"

"Oh come on!" Affimojas cried as he gently set down the camera, then raised his hands. "You can't arrest me for shooting indecent photos when I haven't even started yet!"

"Wrong! This is a hijacking, caww!" One of the crows declared. "Your ship now belongs to Ho-Hum, caww!"

"Hijacking?! Over my dead body!" Affimojas cried as he grabbed his broadsword. "Do you have any idea how much money I paid for this baby?!"

"I don't know, and I don't care," the black-clad soldier replied. "This may be an evil plot, but I'm still doing Lady Vert a favor by cockblocking your robo-rear end! Do it, BlackGatomon!"

"Huh?" Several thin tendrils suddenly wrapped around Affimojas, before throwing him backwards- right out through the windshield! "AHH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HOOIE!" he screamed as he plummeted to the pavement far below! (Is this how the great Affimojas meets his end?!) He deactivated his visual sensors-

-only to feel someone catch him! "Oof! Got you, General!" Affimojas promptly reactivated his vision, to see a familiar purple robo-ninja!

"Steamax! Your timing is impeccable, old friend!" Affimojas sighed in relief, only to grunt a minute later as he was dropped to the ground.

"Sorry, but you're really heavy, General," Steamax grunted, shaking his arms a little. "Even with biomechanical augmentation..."

"Well, as long as you saved me from becoming an oily smear on the pavement!" Affimojas chuckled as he stood up, looking upwards to see his airship turn and depart... "You won't get away with this, you rogue soldier! You hear me?!"

"A rogue soldier hijacked your airship?! Not good," Steamax lamented.

"Indeed! We must contact Lady Vert at once! They may plan to do far worse than voyeurism with my ship!" He began to walk toward the Basilicom-

"Actually, General, Lady Vert already left the Basilicom," Steamax pointed out. "I believe she and her Oracle were driving to LASA to meet up with the aliens..."

"Aliens...?! Oh, yes, now I remember!" Affimojas nodded. "I was planning to just stay holed up in my ship until they left, just in case they got the wrong idea... but it seems that is no longer an option! Come, Steamax! To LASA headquarters!"

"I hear and obey, General," Steamax nodded in deference, the two going off...

*LASA HQ*

"Knock knock! Guess who's back!" Haruhi greeted as she, Neon and Vert entered the office area, several NPCs calling out to her in recognition. "Hey, is the administrator around?"

"He's out today, but I'm here," Bliden DeMint said as he walked up to the trio. "It's good to see you again, Lady Haruhi, but why are you back here?"

"Because I brought some friends this time!" Haruhi replied with a smile, stepping aside and letting four other women enter. "This is Princess Asseylum of Vers, and her retainers!"

"Hello, sir, it's nice to meet you," Asseylum curtsied, Urusei, Mikuru, and G Gundam following suit.

"This is the deputy administrator, the second-in-command, so to speak," Neon stated, before introducing the others. "They wish for a tour of your facilities..."

"Certainly, Your Highness!" Bliden bowed lightly to Asseylum. "In that case, let's begin by heading to the tourist museum!"

"My, he's quite enthusiastic, isn't he-tcha?" Urusei observed.

"Well, it's not every day you make First Contact with alien lifeforms," Vert pointed out...

*A short while later...*

"And this is our observation deck!" Bliden DeMint announced as he led the group along. "From here, you can see the launch pads we use to send ships and satellites into orbit, and beyond!"

"Well, it's rather primitive, but charming," Urusei commented.

"P-primitive?!" Bliden sweat-dropped.

"Urusei Yatsura!" Asseylum angrily whirled on her retainer. "Did I not specifically order you not to berate their space travel advancements, or lack thereof?! Lady Haruhi, give her a penalty!"

"You got it!" Haruhi grinned as she snapped her fingers, several splotches of mud suddenly appearing on Urusei's kimono!

"Nooo! Not my favorite kimono-tcha!" the elder alien cried in dismay, doffing said kimono to look it over. "This will take forever to clean out all the stains-tcha...!"

"Big open mouth, insert foot moment there, Mrs. Yatsura," G Gundam shook her head. "To be fair, your 'space shuttles' don't seem to be too far behind the Core Fighters that make up the torso and cockpit of our giant robot mechas..."

"Ah, well, that's good to hear," Bliden nodded. "But why is Mrs. Yatsura wearing nothing but a bikini under her robes?!"

"Haruhi, while I understand the need to penalize her, perhaps you could give Urusei some replacement clothes in the meantime?" Vert suggested.

"Oh, fine," the alien goddess rolled her eyes. With a wave of her hand, Urusei was now clad in a tiger-striped blouse and long skirt. "There, better?"

"Much better," Bliden nodded. "My wife would never let me hear the end of it if she found out a woman had exposed herself to me..."

"I-it wasn't intentional-tcha!" Urusei objected, her face reddening. "On my home planet, fur bikinis used to be all the rage-tcha!"

"Are not elders supposed to set a good example for the younger generation?" an unfamiliar male voice spoke up, causing everyone to cry out in shock!

"Wh-who said that?!" Mikuru looked around frantically.

"I'm not sure, but that voice sounds familiar..." Vert pondered.

"Uh, hello," Haruhi cried, "Like, can you not see the purple ninja robot standing on the railing right there?!" The group turned in the direction the goddess pointed, and sure enough...

"Hmph. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you were able to discern my presence, alien goddess," the ninja complimented.

"Steamax!" Vert realized. "Oh, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Lastation..."

"I came back to visit General Affimojas," Steamax explained. "Unfortunately, I ended up saving him from falling to his doom, as his airship was hijacked by sinister forces!"

"What?!" Vert gasped in shock.

"Looks like those Ho-Hum guys are back at it," Kyom deadpanned. "Please tell me they're not headed here..."

"Actually, no. They appear to be headed south, last we checked," Steamax shook his head. "Fortunately, Affimojas is still capable of tracking his ship despite being dispossessed..."

"But what could be south of here?" Asseylum queried. "If I remember the map of Gaminidustri that I saw, there's only an inactive volcano on the south end of Leanbox, isn't there?"

"That's right, Mt. Ebott," Vert nodded. "If that's the case, then I think I know why Ho-Hum is headed there..."

"What reason would that be?" Mikuru asked.

"Simple. Ho-Hum's stated goal is to keep us on our toes, to challenge us and keep us from becoming lazy," Vert explained. "They must be deliberately moving the airship to an area that is hard to traverse on foot, but with clear weather, so they can just shoot down any planes or HDD goddesses that try to board the ship from the air..."

"So what are you going to do, Lady Vert?" Asseylum queried.

"First, I need to make a call," the CPU replied, pulling out her mobile device...

*To be continued...*