Three Days Later
Leanbox Basilicom
8:00am
As the sun rose over the Land of Green Pastures, a very unsightly alarm rang out of one of the guest bedrooms, waking one of the two occupants inhabiting it at least.
IF tiredly got up from her slumber, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she slipped on her purple work jacket and headed over to the other side of the bed. As she gently yanked the quilt from her partner, he took great offense, starting to grasp the air around him, trying to get the precious fabric that covered him back.
"Come on, Koei." IF sighed, trying to get the layabout up. "I know it's early…"
"Barely felt like I slept." He grumbled to himself, giving up on his attempts to return to dreamland, choosing to get up and put on his UI Gloves followed by a basic shirt and tracksuit bottoms getup before putting his own Planeptune jacket on. "Look good?"
"A little basic, but I guess it suits you." IF cracked a smile despite barely being awake. "You want to see if Uzume's awake or do you require some caffeine to function?"
"I'll catch up." Koei shook his head, rubbing the tiredness out of his own eyes. "Nothing a quick iced coffee won't fix, since we're on the clock here."
IF froze. "Right… So it's 8am and the meeting's at 11am. I was going to come back later."
"Son of a btich." Koei sighed. "Whatever, got time for some tea at least."
"See? Silver linings." She punched his shoulder with a smile. "You know where the meeting is, right?"
He nodded. "Yes, we went over this last night. I take the main meeting, as the CPUs are all perfectly comfortable with me being there, you and Uzume are on patrol. Is this truly necessary, though?"
IF shrugged, her brunette hair bouncing as she did so. "Probably not, but better safe than sorry, right?"
Koei nodded. "Sounds reasonable. You go check on Uzume, I'll wake myself up with a nice cup of tea."
A quick hug between the two and IF walked off to get the other layabout awake, leaving the swordsman with his thoughts and some tea to brew.
8:10am
IF knocked on Uzume's door, not hearing any response from the guest bedroom and sighed, knowing this would take a while.
"Come on, Uzume! You got work to do!" IF yelled as she continued knocking, bad memories of trying to wake Neptune up surfacing and slowly building up the urge to kick the door in before relenting, realizing this wasn't the Planeptune Basilicom and that'd be quite rude.
Thinking of something on the fly, IF grinned. "Room service!" She announced, knocking again.
This time gave a positive result as a tired Uzume opened the door, clad in her usual suspended suit. "'Bout damn time… Wait, I didn't order room service."
"Rise and shine, bucko." IF stated simply before walking away, leaving the former CPU confused, but at the very least awake.
"Might as well grab some coffee, then." Uzume thought to herself before returning to her room, ready to face the day.
8:30am
"Man, people really like the idea of Uni and Nepgear together." Koei thought to himself, sipping at some tea as he sat in the guest bedroom, already having cleaned up after himself and was simply reading the gossip columns to pass the time.
"Rumors of Blanc popping the question to Vert? Oh that'll be rich." He passed off yet more silly and absurd rumors with a chuckle. "Ah, being in the inner circle has its perks."
Eyeing an article, some "anonymous reporter" had "tipped off" that he and IF had marriage in the works.
"Uh… No." He sighed as the "leaker" could "see it coming from a mile away". "Wishful thinking, but we've been dating for just over a month. Popping the question now would be absurd. Not just because it took so long for us to even "officially" become a couple, but because… Because..."
He stopped himself before he got any more uncomfortable. Continuing down that line of thinking would just be bad for morale and he had more important things to do today.
"Still, I'll put it at the back of my mind." Koei concluded with a determined nod, trying to find another article to distract himself while passing the time.
10:55am
"Well, about time we went on our patrols. Good luck, Koei." IF directed the other half of her patrol to split the trio entirely, IF going to the left of the grandiose hall and Uzume to the right, leaving Koei alone with… Chika.
"So… You're the Oracle of this Nation?" Koei rubbed the back of his head, not really knowing who he was left with.
"Yes and as you might imagine, being in a room alone with the CPUs is making me sort of worried… Could I request that you put your sword away?" The green-haired Oracle averted her gaze, a light blush forming on her cheeks.
"Sure, sure." Koei complied, slipping his blade into his inventory, but not before taking a black cloth out to polish it a bit, placing said cloth in his jacket's breast pocket. "I know it's not really Planeptune branded, it's just something I had lying around."
The Oracle blinked, but didn't say anything before handing Koei a dark green metal baseball bat, preseumably for self defense in lieu of his usual arnament and walked away, leaving Koei with a large pair of gold and green doors and a guard duty to fulfill.
"Alright, politics!" Koei thought to himself sarcastically with an eyeroll. "Hopefully the CPUs will provide some entertainment."
Grabbing the cold, gold door knob, he hesitated. Something shuddered in his spine. He took a moment to think, before thinking nothing of it and opening the massive gold and green doors, revealing the four CPUs waiting for their guard before starting.
They gave a little wave, but mostly paid him no mind as he walked towards a wall, leaning against it to give him a good viewpoint across the entire room and beyond.
Koei lost himself in thought, looking at the rolling plains outside the meeting room, transfixed on the green fields and hills beyond the room, voices fading away as his mind laser focused on the perfectly green fields, farms and eventual ocean, absorbed in the pristine nature as the CPUs discussed important CPU matters.
"... I really don't see the problem with the Lowee Lobo." Koei overheard Blanc's fierce defense of her latest flop, an add-on to the smash-hit Lowee CircuitBreaker. "It's simple, great for kids and most importantly, cheap."
"It's literal cardboard." Noire stated simply with a dull look in her eyes. "Literal. Cardboard. If you weren't a CPU, I'd accuse you of actively scamming people."
"I stand by the fact that it's a fun way for kids to feel accomplished by constructing simple devices while keeping development costs low." The CPU clad in white crossed her arms in defiance. "Certainly better for a developing mind than another mind rotting first person shooter."
"She says, knowing that her girlfriend profits greatly from said mind rotting first person shooters." Noire shot back, to which said girlfriend giggled politely.
"Noire, I thought we agreed that personal relationships wouldn't be brought up in meetings..." Vert chided with a sigh, drinking from her obligatory cup of tea as she did so. "And regardless of who profits from mindless violent video games, the point is that we all have our methods of gaining Shares and should respect that."
Blanc murmured some form of agreement as Koei turned his attention back to the rolling fields, a content smile on his face.
"Peaceful as usual. Bodyguard work is as boring as ever, but it's as Iffy says excitement and bodyguarding don't mix." Koei chuckled to himself, losing himself to the natural beauty of Leanbox as his thoughts drifted to the love of his life and that article he saw earlier. "I mean, she does see something in me and I see something in her, it just works! But at the same time, she's the pants wearer in our relationship, heh. Hell, we've probably become even closer in this last month because she keeps insisting on dates on our days off!"
A tired but relieved sigh left Koei's lips, not even phasing the CPUs he was guarding. His thoughts were true, as the pair had been spotted in Planeptune out on cute dates occasionally, much to their embarrassment but not much else. They usually were just held up for small talk and allowed to continue their dates, but this happened often enough to be a minor annoyance to the pair. This was to be expected, as the pair were Planeptune celebrities, but sometimes they just wanted some peace and quiet.
Peace and Gamindustri don't exactly mix well however, as several canisters broke through the various windows, releasing an eerie, red gas from the containers as panic started to install within the room before the CPUs started to slow their panic, tiredness suddenly hitting them as they collapsed.
Being on the other side of the room at the time, Koei leapt to action, taking the black cloth from his pocket and using it to cover his mouth and nose.
"Good thing I kept this from when Lastation was a smog infested hell-hole." Koei thought to himself as he grabbed the bat lent to him and sprinted to the side of the double doors. The CPUs were already out cold and the gas was already creeping towards him, but he had to stay conscious for them. Taking deep calming breaths he mentally prepared himself before the gold doors were flung open and several menacing figures emerged, clad head to toe in black armor with red accents, concealing them entirely.
"Alright alpha team, room's clear, secure the payload and head out." The supposed leader commanded in a distorted voice, scanning the room but missing the Hero waiting behind them as he prepared to strike, swinging wildly at the leader with a clang, knocking him over in one strike.
Despite the fog and now interloper, the rest of the would-be kidnappers remained calm as their unknown assailant made himself known with a bloodcurdling warcry, smacking another masked figure down.
Breathing heavily, Koei stared the other three down, trying to look brave, but noticed the submachine guns in their hands and suddenly broke out into a cold sweat, realizing he was outmatched.
"Look…" Koei said with some hesitation, knowing that one wrong move would result in dying to a hail of bullets. "I don't know what you want with the CPUs, but they're my friends. And… And I h-have to stand by m-my f-friends." His composure was slowly eroding as he realized the situation he was in. "Please… Don't kill me?"
One of the masked figures shook their head, pointing the SMG at the Hero. "Look, kiddo." They spoke in a distorted female voice. "You can get out of the way and let us get the CPUs, or you could leave here with several more holes in a body bag."
As they stared each other down, Koei started to sweat. "Son of a bitch. I can't leave the CPUs to these nutjobs… But they seem damn intent on doing something to them and I can't let that happen! At the same time, I'm massively outgunned here and I don't have Serenity on hand." Koei clenched his fists and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Screw it, even if I die, I'll die knowing that i kept fighting to the end!"
He started to charge towards the trio, but got interrupted by the barrel of a gun meeting his forehead. "You really want to die today, huh?" The same voice spoke, much more clear on what their intent if Koei's attempted heroics continued.
"I'll fight until my last breath." He replied simply. "A few bullets will not stop me."
This was a lie. Koei was ready and willing to fight no matter what, but the gas was starting to seep into his mask, tiredness starting to creep up on him as he tried to feign energy, but fell to one knee.
Before the criminals could continue with their mission, a very tomboyish throat clear caused them to turn around, revealing Uzume with a glare and a very large battle axe slung over her shoulder. "Now then. Unfortunately, our client has forbade the use of actual weapons." She put down the axe and started to crack her knuckles. "My fists are probably in that category too, but you're threatening my friend and thus, not in her terms."
Two of the thugs started to walk towards her, which was a mistake as the left thug ended up with their face against the wall as Uzume seemed to teleport to the mook before focusing on the second one, death in her eyes as she put both hands on the metal torso and lifting them over her head before slamming them down into the floor head first.
She turned to the last standing mook, looking beyond them to see Koei now unconscious as well, and with a deep sigh she faced her final foe down. "So, your comrades are down and I could probably floor you with a single punch and get away with it. Still want to fight?"
The figure shook their head, the fog having faded allowing them to take off their helmet to reveal a familiar face with long black hair and a red hairband keeping her hair neat.
"That won't be necessary. It appears that we're alone." K-Sha spoke stoically, contrasting her attitude from the brief time they were interacting several days ago.
Several minutes earlier…
"Alright, we got the plan, correct?" The distorted voice of the leader of this quintet of private military contractors asked rather rhetorically, knowing this mission would be a success.
"Of course, sir." K-Sha answered, being the most experienced of the quintet, even more than her "boss", but relented from the leader role, feeling more comfortable with the second in command from her time with Gold Third. "You sure there's nobody working security, though?"
The leader shook his head. "Unclear. Apparently the Oracle hired some Special Forces, but our targets are the CPUs, not them. Avoid them if possible, engage if they get in our way."
Muffled murmurs of agreement came from the group as they prepared their specially designed gas grenades, made in order to knock-out even the CPUs using a special chemical mixed from powdered "Anti-Crystals", or something of the sort.
"Alright, so I'll feign this "ASIC" thing until I can get to the CPUs. Then I figure out a way to get them all unconscious so I can secure the target." K-Sha mentally prepared herself for her true objective: Saving the CPUs and whoever happened to get in her "comrades" way. Before the briefing she had swapped their bullets with less deadly toy bullets designed for training rather than actual missions. Hopefully the others wouldn't notice her deceipton until long after she defected, but for now she had a "mission" to "accomplish".
As the quintet threw the grenades through the windows into the room where the CPUs were rumored to be staging their meeting, K-Sha noticed something off about the guards in front of the Basilicom. Despite the clear vandalism and the group of 5 people covered to toe in armor intending to storm the Basilicom, they remained stoic. But for the sake of the mission she focused on her current task and simply followed the leader.
The quintet marched in silence towards their destination, occasionally scanning the area for anyone mildly suspicious, but thankfully none cropped they reached the giant double doors, the commander finally spoke up.
"Alright ladies, in and out. Take out anyone in the way, but lethal force is not authorized." She spoke with muffled gruffness before kicking in the door.
"So… You're working for these douchenozzles?" Uzume motioned to the now unconscious members of K-Sha's group, while the armor-clad high schooler continued to shake her head.
"Negative. I'm a double agent working for the Guild." K-Sha answered robotically. "They sent me in undercover to see who's bankrolling this "ASIC" group, but there appears to be been no resolution yet."
Uzume crossed her arms with a knowing look. "And why did you come on this mission specifically? I recall that this was a private matter."
"You'd be surprised how easily information can leak." K-Sha didn't even flinch at Uzume's questioning. "Look, if you don't trust me, bring this up to C-Sha. She's the one who wanted me to do this."
"Then why even reveal this information to me?"
"Because I don't have the means to kill you on-hand." K-Sha's face gained a hidden menace before softening again. "That and I know that trying to fight you would just put me in a bad light, so for once the peaceful solution is the one I'll take."
Uzume smirked before holding out a hand to shake K-Sha's with the armor clad black haired high school girl accepting the handshake with the ghost of a smile.
The sound of clomping boots alerted the pair to IF, sprinting into the meeting room without hesitation, scanning in panic as the faint smell of chloroform filled her nose.
"Sitrep. Now." IF turned to the pain, a katar clearly visible and death in her eyes.
"Five individuals threw modified smoke grenades to incapacitate everyone present, before rushing in order to secure the area. One Koei Tech had a makeshift gas mask on to slow the gas entering his system and managed to take out two of them before being threatened by another masked individual before being saved by one Uzume Tennoboushi who took out the other two. Then I revealed myself and my intentions." K-Sha reported, almost on instinct.
The other two stood in stunned silence before IF spoke up. "Hot damn, you're one of those sleeper agents, aren't you?"
K-Sha froze suddenly. "There shouldn't be any public evidence to that project's existence." She suddenly pulled out a combat knife with a death glare in her eyes.
"I'm privy to a lot of confidential projects, Yukiko. It's part of my job."
IF didn't even flinch as said knife was against her throat, her flesh barely an inch from being torn. "Say another word and you'll join the bodycount."
"No I won't." IF stated simply. "Because the death of a high-ranking Guild member would spark an investigation that would paint you as the prime suspect. That and you'd have to take down the entire upper body of the Guild, because all of them are aware of several deep conspiracies, including Project Raiden."
The pair stared each other down for a while before K-Sha took her knife away from IF's throat. "Fine."
With that situation defused, IF got back to work, checking the unconscious bodies of everyone present, thankfully everyone was just sleeping and nobody seemed injured.
"Yeah, if you can get an escort here ASAP as well as some agents to apprehend the four terrorists here, that'd be great." IF put her work phone down with a sigh. "Here I thought today would be quiet, too. Thankfully nobody seems to be seriously harmed, but just in case, I've called in some help to get everyone out of here." She turned to K-Sha. "You can probably figure out why I said "four", so you should skedaddle yourself."
K-Sha rolled her eyes in response. "I can understand subtext, Miss Factory. Don't worry, I'll ensure nobody will spot me on my way out." With that, she clanked off, but not before putting her helmet back on in order to conceal her face once more, disappearing into the Basilicom before anyone could apprehend her.
"What is her problem?" Uzume finally said after K-Sha was out of earshot.
"You'd be shocked." IF simply stated with a sigh. "Project Raiden was an overcomplicated mess penned by a drunken Kei that somehow didn't end in nuclear fire. Now come on, I already have a headache and we're going to have to help Koei get back to Planeptune before the authorities get here."
Uzume sighed before complying, grabbing Koei and hefting him onto her shoulder, IF mirroring which at least made Koei look awake at a glance.
"So… You want to explain why we're on the Leanbox coast?" Uzume asked, sweating after having hefted Koei's body several miles away.
"Subway could have ASIC goons waiting for us. We need to stay subtle."
As she finished that sentence, a light cruiser floated towards the trio, a familiar redhead heading the ship. "Aloha!" Came the cry of San Diego. "I hear you needed some transport?"
"Subtle. This is subtle." Uzume deadpanned as the gangway hit the shore.
"More subtle than having the Candidates drag his body across the ocean." IF shot back. "I'm sorry, I pulled literally every favour I had with the Guild, I apologise if I couldn't organize something more SUBTLE YOUR HIGHNESS!"
Everyone stood silent at IF's outburst before San Diego piped in. "You okay?"
"Stressful day to say the least." IF replied through gritted teeth, before taking a deep breath to compose herself. "Look, let's just get Koei home safe."
With solemn nods, they dragged Koei up the gangway. "I got some beds you can all rest in. Going to take a while to get to Planeptune and you all seem tired anyway." San DIego suggested with a worn smile of her own. "From what IF told me, you've gone through a lot in the last couple of hours. 'Specially Koei."
"It's certainly a shock to the system, but Kosy got the worst of it." Uzume noted as she threw said male onto a spartan bed to rest as a blanket was tucked over him. "Like an alcoholic angel. Shame to see him nearly get filled with lead."
"He WHAT?"
"Hey hey hey, inside voices!" San Diego cut into their banter. "If you're going to start yelling, yell to the ocean." He started to examine the sleeping Koei. "Any physical injuries?"
"Well he didn't get shot, so…"
Patting him down, the shipgirl turned idol didn't find anything obvious, so started to undress him. "Just because he didn't get shot doesn't mean that he doesn't have other- HOLY BOAT CHRIST."
Having taken Koei's jacket and shirt off, San Diego's eyed the massive chest scar Koei had and immediately stopped. "Is… Is that normal?"
IF glanced at the half-naked Koei with a shrug. "Oh, yeah yeah. That's always been there."
"How? Just HOW?"
Uzume sighed. "He stood up to a terrorist holding a machine gun and intent to kill. Intelligence was clearly his dump stat."
"I'd start yelling at you again, but-" A look from San Diego cut IF off. "That. Also you're right."
"Ugh… Laugh it up ladies, I'm pretty sure that machine gun left a mark on my forehead." The man of the hour complained as he looked around the gray room with a sigh. "Fannntastic, I'm at the funny farm."
"Thanks, make yourself at home." San DIego snarked. "We're set for Planeptune, but due to the weight of my… modified weaponry, we'll take a few hours."
"Didn't you say that a few hours ago?" Uzume questioned, to which San Diego's neck almost snapped to her with a deadly glare.
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm just catching up the guy who just woke up, don't mind me!" San Diego snapped, to which she sighed. "Sorry, sorry. Just a verbal tic from my combat days. You get really sick of people giving you shit for say, informing people of the situation so they don't freak out."
"Smart." IF nodded. "Anyway, you okay, honey?"
Koei gave a tired smile in response to being called honey. "Yeah, I think. Might just be the gas screwing with my head, but aside from that, I should be good."
With a curt nod, IF left the room with a content smile on her face. After leaving, Koei let out a sigh he didn't know he had. "Yeah, she must have been terrified about my state." He admitted in a low tone. "Sorry if I did worry any of you."
Uzume smiled genuinely, a relaxed sigh emanating from her as she did so. "Not like you to be worried about me and Ifsy."
"I'd say it's not like me to fall unconscious either, but that's not exactly true." Koei muttered with a light chuckle. "Hey Sandy, mind if I lay down here for a while? I feel a little…"
The redhead nodded. "I was going to suggest you lay down for a while at least. The after effects of knockout gas can be pretty nasty and we're not making land for a while."
Nodding back, Koei started to lie down before noticing something missing. "Where the hell's my shirt?!"
Sun was setting as the USS San Diego hit the Planeptune docks, almost literally.
"Woah! Close one, haha." San Diego noted as the gangay was placed on the sleek ivory dock, allowing them all to disembark safely. "Haven't let Ol' Sandy ride the waves for a while on account of the whole Seven Hels thing." She noted before the ship turned light blue and seemingly disappeared only to have several cannons identical to the ones on the light cruiser appeared. "Right-y oh then. Now excuse me, I need to check up on Helena back in Leanbox, if you don't mind…" She turned around and started to glide southwards, back to Leanbox, scarcely parting the water as she floated gracefully.
"What a sight." Koei noted once she was out of earshot. "Like a sea eagle. Or a heavily armed seagull."
"Righty oh, then!" Uzume mimicked the shipgirl's mannerism with a hearty smile. "How 'bout we hit tha pub and get hammered on tha pisswater, mates?"
"Love to, but I'm still feeling woozy." Koei gently shook his head.
"In that case, let's get you home. We have some Beers in the fridge anyway." IF stated in a caring matter before wrapping her arm around Koei. "Some rest and relaxation oughta do us both some good."
With a weak nod, Koei and IF headed home while Uzume separated from the couple to go get drunk.
"Home… Sweet home." Koei muttered tiredly as IF put him down on the sofa and sat down herself with a sigh.
"Just glad you got out of that scrape in one piece." She replied with a smile. "Though then again, that's not uncommon for you at this point, heh."
Koei stayed silent for a moment. "I thought that was it." He stated solemnly. "If Uzume had not intervened when she did… We could be facing a very different situation. I might not even be here."
If pulled him into a hug. "Come on, don't be so negative…"
"But it's true."
IF sighed. "I understand what you mean. When I was young I faced a very similar situation when I tried to punch above my weight. The intent of that dragon as it stared at me with hunger in its eyes, my young flesh being a delicacy. I had nightmares for weeks afterwards of it coming back and finishing the job. Thank the Goddesses Falcom fought it in my stead, or I too wouldn't be here."
Koei processed that information as he gripped tighter. "I see, I see. Remember back when I lied to NepG about the scar? I see why you got so angry then, even before I found my own fear of then." He gave a sad smile. "So I'm sorry if I brought any bad memories up during that Poyu Poyu Plains incident."
IF giggled. "Oh please, if I was you I'd have done the same thing knowing my girlfriend had such a powerful and cute hidden power inside her."
Koei smiled with a blush. "You have an ego, huh? I'm glad I have you."
IF pulled him in tighter. "Sure, sure. Glad I got you too, but mostly because you're fun and cute."
The two sighed in contentment, glad that events transpired the way they had, but they both knew a new adventure awaited them.
"Here I thought the tournament would be the last excitement we would have for a while. A shame, but it has to be dealt with." IF thought wearily, unhappy at the thought of foiling terrorist plots for the next several weeks.
"Sweet, a terrorist organization? Guess I'll need to up my game. First thing tomorrow, I'mma hit up NepG for some new weapons! Ah, Koei Tech is gonna be kicking so much ass!" Despite nearly dying earlier in the day, Koei was looking forward to future events, his love of fighting burning within and looking forward to his next adventure.
A/N: No, I haven't been playing Persona 4 and no, I did not reference it in this chapter.