Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series or the Halo series in this story as they belong to Microsoft, Compile and Idea Factory…


Location: The Lowee's Basilicom

Four days after drop...

BGM: Premonition of Battle - Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2

After a very, VERY long walk from The World Labyrinth, they finally made it to Lowee and went to the Basilicom as IF opens the Basilicom's door.

"Oh... Welcome to the Bas-Oh my..." Mina greeted but soon shocked, seeing Rookie unconscious. "What happened to him?"

"Our friend got hurt really bad, we need help!" Nepgear begged as she still in her HDD form.

"Alright..." She nodded. "I go get the guest room ready. Follow me quickly!" Mina ordered as they carried Rookie to the guest room, going through a long hallway, they encountered Rom.

"Miss Nepgear?" Rom tilted her head.

"I'm sorry but Rookie is badly hurt, excuse me" Nepgear apologized as they continued running to the guest room.

"Mister Rookie?" Then she followed them as Ram saw her following them, she followed as well.

"Right here, ladies..." Mina opened the door to the guest room. "Lay him down on the bed" She pointed to the bed and Nepgear nodded, she puts Rookie on the bed then goes back to her normal form.

"Goodness... That was tiring..." Nepgear muttered.

"Compa, can you patch him up?" IF asked.

"I'm not sure... I never treated a soldier before..." Then a light bulb lit up on Compa's head. "but my big syringe can help!" She got her big syringe out and filled it with light blue liquid as everyone except Mina shivered.

BGM PAUSED

"A-ar-are y-you sure about this?" Nepgear shakily said.

"Of course! Taking his armor off will take too long..." Compa stated.

"Well that's seem like a good point" IF agreed as Compa impales her big syringe on his arm as everyone except for Mina shivered again.

"Annnnnnnd, there!" She pulls out the big syringe out of his arm. "He'll be fine for a few hours... Eh?" Then she turns around and saw them, all except for Mina as always, looking pale.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What? Is there something I did wrong?" She asked and they shook their heads.

"Ram... I'm scared..." Rom whispered.

"Yeah... I'm scared too, Rom" Ram whispered as well as they trembled.

"Any who..." Mina broke the silence. "Can you explained why you're here and what happened to the Mascot?" Mina seriously asked as she pointed to the remaining pieces of the Mascot.

"Well... You see..." Then Nepgear, IF and Compa explained what happened.

BGM RESUMED

Twenty minutes later...

After explaining to Mina about what happened to the Mascot, she fully understands their story. "I see... The Killachines are back" She confirmed as the Twins went back to normal after that... Moment, Ram started to mock them.

"You ran because you were scared to fight? Jeez, you're so super lame!" Ram mocked but Rom...

"Are you okay?" Rom asked her.

"Yes. I'm just fine. Thank you" Nepgear thanked her as Rom got angry.

"Stop it, Rom! Stop worrying about that dummy!" She demanded but Rom ignored her.

"Tell us about the Killachines, our attacks could hardly dent it" IF explained.

"Yeah... We founded that those electric shots can able to shut down those Killachines" Compa added.

"I see... Now then, about those Killachines" Mina then explains. "Arfoire created them as a tool of destruction. It's power... Well, you saw that much firsthand. Also, there are far more than just a group of them. Hundreds must be sealed away all over Lowee..."

"Hundred? Oh, give me a break" IF moaned.

"Pssh! Numbers are stupid!" Ram doesn't even care. "Just say the word, then me and Rom will blow them all away!"

"Ka-boom..." Rom smiled.

"Now, now. I don't think it's as simple as blowing things up..." Compa sweatdropped.

"Well, such a course of action isn't realistic. That's why we used the Mascot to seal them away, but..." Mina looked at the pieces of the Mascot.

"The disc shattered. The Mascot..." Nepgear saddened.

"Still, this situation must be addressed. Fortunately, ASIC is not one to take hasty actions" She explained.

"Which could also mean they're taking their time to make a thorough game plan" IF figured.

"Indeed" She agreed. "But their hesitation does change the options available to us" Then she asked them. "It is selfish request but, may I ask for your aid in protecting the city and gather information?"

"That won't be a problem at all" Nepgear accepted. "What's done can't be undone, so we can do all we can to help"

"Thank you" Mina thanked. "I'm sure you're all look tried after today's ordeal. Please rest here for the night"

BGM END

Everyone nodded as Mina showed them their rooms, the Twins went to sleep before the rest fell asleep. IF decided to stay in the guest room where Rookie was unconscious. She noticed that there were no beds beside the bed Rookie using, so she requested a futon for herself as she took off her oversized jacket and put it on the drawers then walked close to him and pecked him on his helmet.

"I hope you'll get well soon..." IF whispered then went in her futon and fell asleep.


Back at Earth...

Buck and Romeo

Location: NMPD Peilcan Crash Site

Three hours after drop...

"BANSHEES!" Romeo shouted as both him and Buck processed over a make-shift bridge then two Banshees flying low over their heads as the make-shift bridge began to shake.

"Let's get the hell off this thing!" Buck ordered and they ran towards the crash site on a nearby skyscraper as they jumped off the make-shift bridge and rejoined Mickey and Dutch with a couple of NMPD Officers that survived the crash.

"What's our situation?" Buck asked.

"Bird's wasted. Lost the pilot on impact, the rest of us are okay" Dutch answered.

"Not for long, Phantoms inbound!" Mickey pointed a few Phantoms and Banshees coming to the crash site.

BGM: Skyline - Halo 3: ODST [4:34]

"Why am I not surprise?" Romeo moaned.

"Pick a turret, Romeo! Conserve your ammo. This is gonna get hot!" Buck warned as Romeo nodded and grabbed a LAU-65D/SGM-151 Missile Pod.

"Look out! Banshees!" Dutch fired his Spartan Laser, destroying a Banshee as Romeo supported him with some missiles, flying towards the other Banshees and destroyed it.

"Phantom coming in left!" Buck shouted as Romeo focus his fire on the Phantom and fired a bunch of missiles, destroying its turret and the Phantom itself as they clear the skies, a Phantom slip past and dropped Covenant infantry.

"Hostiles on the lower levels! Clear them out!" Buck ordered as he grabbed his Assault rifle and open fired from above, Romeo let go of the Missile Pod and grabs a Heavy Machine Gun and mowed them down...

Five minutes later, after wave, after wave, they were able to hold their position as only one NMPD Officer still alive then the last Phantom came to the crash site.

"We got one more Phantom, Gunny!" Dutch shouted as Buck looked closely to the Phantom and saw a Brute Chieftain on the edge of the side doors.

"Look out! Chieftain!" He shouted as they began to fire the Brute, he simply activates his Invincibility, glowing an aquamarine color, he absorbed all the bullets then jumped into the middle of the squad.

"Scatter!" Buck yelled as the Brute Chieftain's Invincibility wears off, he dropped onto the platform and starts swinging his Gravity Hammer, killing the last NMPD Officer. Romeo suppressed fire on the Brute Chieftain with his Sniper rifle, the Brute Chieftain glared at him and started charging at him. Romeo continued firing his rifle as the Brute Chieftain slams his Gravity Hammer on the platform, knocking back Romeo against a barrier. The Brute Chieftain prepares to pound his hammer onto Romeo as he attempts to block it with his weapon but the Brute Chieftain uses the blade on the Gravity Hammer and it bends the sniper rifle's barrel almost 360 degrees, piercing through his chest plate as he screams in pain.

"GAAAAARGH! *GASP!*" Romeo gasped, the Brute Chieftain roared at him and tossed his bent sniper rifle off the platform as he raised his hammer to finish him off, Buck quickly jumped on his back, throwing his Gravity Hammer above Romeo's head as he panicked, trying to shake Buck off then he got stabbed by Buck's Combat Knife.

"RAAAAAHH! *STAB!*" The Brute Chieftain started to choke as Buck still on his Buck, Mickey tried to find a good spot to shoot without injuring Buck but gives up as he rolls his head around, he rams the Brute Chieftain then Dutch joined him as well, ramming him to the ground as the Brute Chieftain died slowly. Mickey gets up on his feet but interrupted as Buck was below the Brute's dead body.

END BGM

"Get. This thing. Off! Of me!" Buck mumbled as Dutch and Mickey looked at each other and pushed the Brute's body off Buck as he gets up, he grabs his combat knife off the Brute Chieftain and wipes the blood off his blade then Romeo violently coughs.

"*Cough!* *Cough!* Uuuuugh..."

"How bad?" Buck asked his status.

"*Gasp!* Not good! *Pat* *Pat*"

"We gonna get you outta here" Mickey said.

"Not by air, we're not..." Dutch pointed out that the Police Pelican is busted.

"That's alright" Buck grabbed and carried Romeo. "I know another way..."


Back with IF...

"Rookie... Wake up..."

'...'

"Rookie... Please, wake up!"

'...'

"Please! Don't die on me!"

'...'

"ROOKIE!"

"AHHHH! *Pat* *Pat*" IF suddenly woke up from that unknown dream she had as she breathing in and out fast. "O-oh... *Sigh* Just a bad dream" She calmed herself down as she heard birds chirping outside. She stood up from her futon and yawned and saw outside the window, it was morning. "Looks like we got some work to do..." Said to herself as puts on her oversized jacket and tide herself up, she saw Rookie who is still unconscious on the bed then she sighed.

"*Sigh* Still not up..." IF pouted. 'Or maybe he's napping...' She guesses but then shrugged and walked out of the guest room. 'Seriously. What the hell was that dream' She wondered as she shrugged again and joined with the girls at the front of the Basilicom, they make their leave to protect Lowee.

A few minutes later after leaving the Basilicom...

BGM: $100 - Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2

As they walk through the city in Lowee, it was a silent moment for the girls as IF sighed.

"*Sigh* Well, this sucks. We can protect this city all we want, but the enemy's shown no sign of movement..."

"Even if the Mister Killachines do come, I don't think we're enough to protect the whole city even without any help with Rook-Rook..." Compa pointed out.

"And the Mascot is gone..." Nepgear added. "What're we going to do?"

"Egh! I hate thinking!" RED became annoyed as she crosses her arms. "Why don't we glue the disc back together? If our wifeys join forces, anything's possible"

"As if it would be THAT easy?" IF frowned.

"Still, that's our only real option at this point" Nepgear noted. "Let's try to find a way to piece it back together" She suggested. "I mean, we need the Mascot to seal away the Killachines again and need its help with the CPUs..."

"Yeah but who knows how to fix a broken disc? It's not like we'll bump into such a convenient person?" Then another voice that's not familiar to them, spoked.

"It can be fixed, nyu"

"See? If we stumbled upon someone like her then maybe it's possible"

"I said, it can be fixed. Look this way, nyu" Then the girls turned around and saw a fair skinned little girl, she has dull yellow-brown eyes and is a light brunette with two pig tails with two bells, holding each one with yellow cat eared hat and a tail, wearing a white school uniform with black and green linings on her collar and her skirt as she sitting on a yellow... blobbing thing with a face and two arms... I don't know what the hell is that...

BGM: Lite Light - Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2

"Huh? Uhh... Who are you?" IF asked.

"Broccoli, nyu!" She introduced herself with a cute smile.

"Hello, um... Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to ask this so suddenly but can you really fix this disc?" Nepgear asked her and she nodded.

"Well, GAMERS magazine had an article of fixing discs a while back, so sure, nyu!" She explains and everyone was surprised.

"GAMERS magazine, huh? Again, how convenient" IF happily shrugged.

"Don't think about it too hard..." Broccoli sweatdropped. "Anyway, you can fix your disc with the right materials, nyu" She explained.

"Okay. What do we need to gather?" Nepgear asked.

"Two things. Rare metal and Datanium, nyu"

"I see... Where are they?"

"The Lowee International Exhibit has some interesting monsters, if you get what Broccoli is saying, nyu"

"Thanks! Let's go everyone"

"Yep, there's no reason to lollygag. Let's collect those materials as fast as possible!" IF noted.

"I'll wait here till you collected the materials. Good luck out there, nyu" Everyone waved their goodbyes and went to the Lowee Global Expo.

END BGM


The Rookie (Still unconscious...)

UNKNOWN...

"Rookie..."

'...'

"Rookie..."

'...'

"Rookie... Open your eyes..."

Then Rookie open his eyes as he saw nothing but darkness around him... 'Hmm... Huh? Where am I?'

"Rookie... Can you hear me?" Then he heard a familiar voice and saw Histoire with him.

'Histoire?'

"Oh. Thank the Goddesses that you're okay..." She was relieved that he's alive.

'Hmm? What's going on?' Rookie has no idea what is going on...

"Do you remember what happened at the World Labyrinth?" She asked him.

'Yes, I was fighting with Linda till she uses an Anti-Crystal? I don't know... Then she knocked me out...' He explained what happened.

"Do you want to know about the Anti-Crystal?" Histoire asked.

'...Yes...' He nodded.

"Okay. Do you know what contains in a Share-Crystal?"

'Let me guess... It's contains hopes and dreams, correct?'

"Correct, Rookie. And what is the opposite of hopes and dreams?"

'Hatred and Despair?'

"Correct. You quite a fast learner to be honest" Histoire honestly comment.

'Oh please, you're making me blush...' Rookie joked and she giggled.

"Anyway, the Anti-Crystals are used against the CPUs and might be used to defeat you easily"

'Huh... I wonder why I was knocked out ten seconds straight..."

"Oh... Umm... Well about that... You se-see..." And Histoire started to tremble.

'Hmm? What's the matter?' He asked her.

"Y-you... A-act-actually... *Sigh* You died..." Then silence...

'...'

"..."

BGM: Comedic Time - Megadimension Neptunia VII

'...What?' Rookie said in confusion which made Histoire shocked.

"Ehhh?! You're not even shocked about this?!" Histoire shouted.

'Well... Yes, I'm shocked that I've died but... I felt like I don't care for some reason...'

"...You're reckless... You know that, right..." Histoire pouted.

'Hey! I've been through hell during the Human-Covenant War...' Rookie pointed out then sighed. '*Sigh* So what DID you do after I died...' He asked.

"Well you have your Exuberant Lump on your backpack but... I don't think its the right time to use it... So, I used a handful of shares to revive you..." She explained which shocked Rookie.

END BGM

'WHAT?! You do realize that will slow down our process to save their sisters and-'

"I KNOW about the cost but..." Then her voice softens. "You have a special relationship with IF as I saw yo-"

'Let me guess... You saw me and IF having a yet awkward confession next to a lone tree...' Rookie knew about her recording history.

"...Yes... I just don't want IF to be upset"

'I see...' Then a very bright light appears.

"Looks like it's time for you to wake up, be careful out there"

'I will' He walks towards to the light but stopped.

"Oh! I almost forgot!"

'Hmm?' He turns around to Histoire as she lightly blushed which is very rare for him to see.

"Just call me Histy, alright?" Then she smiled as she lightly blushes.

Then he giggled. 'Alright then. Goodbye for now, Histy~' He waved his goodbye to Histoire and continued walking to the light then everything went white.


Author's notes:

Neptune: So, it was the first-time Rookie died, huh?

Yes, indeed... I just wanted an emotional scene...

Neptune: Well that IS emotional~ *She joked* So... let's talk about the next chapter. I heard you're in stress?

Yes... The next chapter will be a total pain in my ass...

Neptune: Yeah... So, about the romance with Rookie and IF- *Then she sparkles*

I'll talk about that later... *Frowned*

Neptune: Nepu~ You're no fun, Ace... *She pouted*