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…


Meanwhile at Leanbox...

As Rookie chased after the cat girl to the mountains at the south of Leanbox, with the girls, however. The girls traveled to Gapain Field to eliminate a monster that was giving Leanbox a pain in the ass, they located the monster which is an Elemental Dragon, Chika(Linda) was talking about as Nepgear faced it alone which is the most stupidest thing she ever did... Nepgear regretted her decision as she summoned her Beam Saber and attacked the Elemental Dragon which is wasn't very effective, the dragon growl in annoyance but was saved by a lady who is dress herself in a mixture of a nurse, a maid and a witch. The lady give a little lecture about NOT go head-on without knowing your enemy and herself then she introduced herself as Cave, a Leanbox native.

Cave asked them about Chika(Linda)'s acting as she was suspicious of her, she informed that Leanbox was the weakest of the nations as they don't have a CPU Candidate to take care of their nation. Without Leanbox's Main CPU, ASIC took advantage of that and built a presence in the nation's soil, gaining shares very quick. She notes that the Oracle was controlling the citizens from temptation but changed a few days ago, with all regulations removed by the Oracle. The girls were shocked from the conversation, knowing that something did happened before they arrived to Leanbox.

Cave must return to her post as they say their goodbyes to the lady, the girls traveled back to the Basilicom to report the situation as Nepgear went inside.

"Miss Chika, we beat the monster... Hmm?" Nepgear then looked around the area, seeing no signs of the Oracle. "Miss Chika, Are you here?" She asked but nothing happened. 'Where did she go?' She questioned herself then went to the girls.

"Anything happened, Ge-Ge?" Compa asked her and she shook her head.

"Miss Chika's not here" She informed them.

"*Groan* Great... How we going to get info without a single lead..." IF pouted as they walked away from the Basilicom and on the sidewalks.

"I know, right?" Compa agreed. "Asking people about Miss Chika willy-nilly makes us super fishy" She noted.

"Do we know anyone who could help us?" RED asked.

"Help us, huh? That would be convenient but..." Nepgear was looking around till she saw someone familiar. "Wait... I..." Then her eyes widen, it was Uni, walking ahead of them. "I see Uni! Hi, Uni! Hello, hello!" She loudly called as Uni jumped.

'That voice...' She turns around and saw Nepgear and the girls, coming towards. "Crap, it's Nepgear..." Then she quickly turns away but her voice can be heard by Nepgear.

"Aww... She saw me and said 'crap'..." Poor Nepgear...

"I said whatever I want!" She glared at her with a frown. "What're you doing here?!" She angrily questioned.

"I have the same question. Do you have any business in Leanbox?" She politely asked as Uni turned her head away with her arms folded.

"Hmph! No comment..." She stood silent on her answer...

"Awwww~ Come on... Tell me, please~?" She asked her again.

"..." She didn't respond.

"Pretty please?" Then... Nepgear stared at her with a look of a child, wanting some candy. Uni stared at her child-look face and huffed.

"Ugh! Fine, whatever! Anything to make you stop looking at me like that" Uni demanded and Nepgear nodded. "*Sigh* I'm here for probably the same reason you are. I'm collecting as much shares as possible" She explained. "I figure that, with no CPU, I could get a lot of shares here with little effort..."

"How's that been working out for you?" IF asked.

"Not good, actually. Abysmal, even... I can't believe ASIC was given the freedom to thrive here" Uni doubted. "Green-lit by the Oracle herself, no less! No wonder there's nobody left here with faith in us CPUs..."

"That sounds serious..." Compa commented.

"Well, it won't stop me or anything. I don't give up very easily" She noted. "I'll be taking the shares here, so you all better stay out of my way. Understood?" She scowled then ran off in the distance.

"Wait, Uni!" Nepgear tried to stop her but she was out of their sights. "Awww, she ran away from me..." She was saddened.

"Even she was talking about the Oracle. She just went from sketchy to full-blown modern art" She jokey stated but then Compa noticed that someone was missing in their group.

"Hey... Everybody seen Rook-Rook?" Compa asked the group.

"Mmm?" They all raised their eyebrows and looked around, seeing no sight of Rookie.

"Agggh! You gotta be kidding me..." IF groaned.

"Should we find him?" Nepgear questioned.

"He'll be fine. He probably has the skills as a soldier" RED smiled.

"Even though his ranking is low..." IF muttered as they continued walking across the sidewalk.

With Uni...

As she walks fast across the sidewalk to get out of sight from them, she turned around to see if they follow her and sighed.

'Tch... To think I need friends to help me. I can do this alone... Even with or without' She encouraged herself but she remembered back at Lastation where she's saw Rookie but didn't responded to him. 'Crap... I forgot about that man who's with Nepgear... But I didn't see him with her, might have gone somewhere to find out about this nonsense...' She wondered about what Rookie was doing as the girls think the same.


The Rookie

Location: The Gapain Field

Nine Days after drop...

Meanwhile, Rookie was still giving chase on the cat girl as she was fast as a cat. He continued to pursued her outside of Leanbox towards a thick forest and behind it was the mountains. The cat girl climbed up on top of the branches and jumped to branch to branch as Rookie focused on her and watch out for obstacle in his way.

'Stop... Running...' Rookie was almost out of stamina and lucky, the cat girl suddenly slips off the branch she's on as she screamed and fell onto the ground, head first. "Well that's gonna hurt...' He cringed as he ran to the cat girl and couched down to her.

"Owwie~" The cat girl groaned as she rolled her body then she stared at him and blinked a few times.

"You're okay?" He quietly asked and the cat girl nodded then she stood up and took a few steps back.

"Ummm... Ran-sama said not to interact with strangers" The cat girl pointed out.

"...But why did you told me to follow you?" Rookie asked and she shrugged then ran off. "*Sigh* Such a little kid..." And he continued to pursued her.

A few minutes later...

As Rookie caught up with the cat girl, he saw her standing behind a bush, looking at something then he walks up to her and hid behind the bush with her. He noticed it was night time.

'How long did I chase her?' He wondered, hoping that the girls be alright as he looked through the bush, he saw a bunch of soldiers in front of the entrance of the abandoned station. They were equipped with a modified M16 with a flamethrower under the barrel, Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight and a muzzle brake. They wear metal body armor with some black and red paint on it, a helmet with the same painting but has a red skull on it as the helmet covers the whole face. Rookie saw a soldier unlike the others, it has more armor on its chest and holds a M2 Browning machine gun with a metal shield on his hands with a big drum magazine attached to it and the soldier has a mask of a demon.

"Alright you sack of shits!" The Demon-masked soldier scolded with a low-tone voice. "The General ordered all troops to return to base, so pack up!"

"Wait, just hold on a second! We just came all this way here to defend a useless, drama-queen Oracle and then General told us to return to base?!" One of the soldiers questioned.

"Are you questioning the General's orders?" The Demon-masked soldier threatens.

"W-well... With due respect, Major but we've been doing nothing in the past decades" The soldier pointed as he trembles.

"Doesn't it mean the assassin have to retreat as well?" Another soldier asked.

"We have Miss Linda to do the job but he'll be staying there for a while" The Demon-masked soldier explained as one of the soldiers huffed.

"Pffft! That bitch didn't even complete one fucking job since the Planeptune's Candidate escaped" The soldier pointed.

"I think the General made a mistake to send her to do the job" The soldier stated which upsets the Demon-masked soldier.

"You dare you disrespect the General!" The Demon-masked soldier pointed his M2 Browning at the one who disrespected the General.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry! Please forgive me!" The soldier begged for mercy as the Demon-masked soldier smirks in his mask.

"Don't worry~ I forgive you~" He forgave him.

"R-re-really?" The soldier trembled.

"NO!" Then he lied.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* The Demon-masked soldier fired his M2 Browning at him as he was shredded in half by the Browning's armor-piercing rounds.

"AAARRRRRRGGGHH!" The soldier yelled in pain as blood splatted everywhere. Rookie had to cover the cat girl's eye to prevent her to see the gore due to that she's a little child with cat ears and two tails.

'Dear god...' He never seen much gore in his eyes since he fought with the Covenant.

"Everyone who dares to question our leaders will be killed on sight, no excuses!" The Demon-masked yelled and the soldiers nodded in fear as he turned his back. "Grab his corpse and feed it to the monsters and let's move!" The soldiers then walked into the forest as two soldiers were left behind and both stared at the dead corpse.

"Gonna carry this?" The first soldier spoke.

"What?! Fuck no, I don't want to get my hands covered with blood!" The second soldier stated.

"*Sigh* I'll go see if there are body bags inside the station..." He walked into the station then he stops and throws a piece of stomach which is covered with blood and hits the second soldier at the chest plate, splatted the blood on it as he evilly giggled. "Hehehehehe"

"OH, COME ON, MATE!" He angrily shouted at him. "I just got my armor washed!" He complained.

"Don't care..." And the first soldier continued to walk inside the station.

"Jackass..." The second soldier scolded as he guards the dead corpse.

'Wow, these guys have some humor...' Rookie commented as he still covering the cat girl's eyes as she tried to put his hands away.

"Hey, what happen? what happen?!" The cat girl questioned as Rookie walked away from the bush, carrying her. "H-hey! Let me go!" She whined as she slashes her hands at nothing and he put her next to a tree.

"I think that's enough stalking, kid..." Rookie stated and the cat girl frowned.

"Don't tell me what to do. Especially a human, baka..." She folded her arms and stood up. "I'm gonna see what's going on over there" She stated and then she went to the bush they hid behind, Rookie tried to stop her but she dashed away.

'That kid's fast' He commented as he lied next to the tree and yawns.

A few minutes...

The cat girl went back to him with widen eyes and blinked a few times, probably saw the dead corpse...

"Chen's going have nightmares..." She stated as she shivered.

"Told you not to stalk on them" Rookie pointed who is still lying next to the tree. 'So, her name is Chen, huh?' He figured as he yawns yet again.

"Baka! You should have warned me!" She blamed him but for some reason, Rookie was fast asleep. "Eh?"

*Snore~*

"Are you sleeping already, human?!" Chen shouted as he didn't respond. "Oi! Wakey, wakey!" She waved her hand at his helmet then she frowned, she tried a few ways to wake him up, trying to shake him furiously, using cymbals, a trumpet, a saxophone and a bicycle horn... Plus a cute cat face...

*Honk!* *Honk!*

Back at the station entrance...

The soldier who was guarding the entrance and the dead corpse, he heard a bunch of noises around the forest as he became curious.

"Where those noises coming from?" The soldier wondered as he looked around his surroundings. "Must be hearing things..." He guessed as he still waiting for the other soldier to come back with a body bag.

Back with Rookie and Chen...

She tried everything to wake him up but failed with a pile of stuff to wake him up.

"Why won't you wake up, baka?!" She yelled at him but he didn't respond. After a few minutes, she looked up to the sky and see the moon on top of her. '*Sigh* I have to go home...' She then saw an eye-looking portal opening in front of her as inside the portal was a bunch of unblinking eyes then a tall lady, she has dark golden eyes, wearing a purple Chinese-style tabard with various Trigrams over a pale pink Western-style dress, her hair was coiled up into her mob cap and holds a pink parasol.

"I finally found you, cat" The lady makes a sadistic grin.

"Yukari-sama!" Chen exclaimed as she was paled, Yukari used one of her eye-looking portal, grabbing her on the collar. "Mew~" She squeals.

"Ara, ara. You're such a pain when you disappeared like that but, I didn't expect you to come here and help him..." She made the cat raised her eyebrows and looked at the sleeping ODST.

"You know him, Yukari-sama?" Chen asked as Yukari glared at her.

"…You rather not knowing my time when I'm went out..." She responded was she let go of Chen as she creates another portal. "Now come along, cat. It's time to go home" She ordered her.

"Yes, Yukari-sama..." She obeyed and went inside the portal, she looks at the sleeping ODST and whistled.

*Hwee~* Then suddenly, a crow came out of the portal. *Caw!* *Caw!* The crow lands on her finger and stared at her eyes.

"Would you mind overlook this human and this dimension. Also, give this to that human, lying next to a tree" She explained to her crow, she passes a note to the crow as it grabs it with its beak.

*Caw!* The crow responded then Yukari smiled as it fly off her finger and land on a tree branch.

"Fufufufu~ Good, crow. Be safe out there" She then went inside the portal and the portal disappeared.


Back with Nepgear and the girls...

On the next day, Nepgear and the girls were walking on the side walk with Cave who is tall women with bright emerald green eye while her skin is fair in coloring with long off-red colored hair worn in short, shoulder length pigtails held with black ribbons attached to a white, maid-nurse like cap as her outfit is a mixture of a nurse, maid, and witch-like uniforms. With... Uhh... I'm gonna skip that part... It's confusing... Anyway, during the concert which was last night and Linda failed to take out the idol, Cave decided to seek their aid due to the Regal Regiment of Defense for the Leanbox Special Missions Team reaching their limits, able to only slow the corruption and decay of this nation, they agreed.

As the group were walking on the side walk, RED asked Cave something.

"So, I was wondering... You were at the idol's concert. Are you a fan or something?"

"It is part of my mission" Cave responded. "My task was to act as her security force during her performance" She explained.

"Celebrity bodyguard duty doesn't sound like a special task force's job at all, nyu" Broccoli sweatdropped.

"Well, the idol, stage name 5pb; is an outspoken supporter of our cause" Cave exclaimed. "Her songs raise morale and open the eyes of those blinded by the lies of ASIC. Thus, she is often targeted by them" She explained further. "Due to the threats against her life, we are constantly deployed to act as her security detail"

"Goodness, I suppose there are a lot of ways to fight oppression" Nepgear commented and she nodded.

"I hope to see the day where she can sing, not for a cause, but because she loves to perform" She stated. "For that to ever occur, order must be restored in Leanbox as soon as possible"

"Right" The Candidate agreed as they continued to walk but suddenly, she saw two figures. "Huh? Is that Rom and Ram?" She questioned as it was the twins.

"Wow, we're even famous here!" Ram smiled as she looked around the city. "I hope they want me to scribble on thei-" Then she stopped, staring at what she described as 'CPU Dummy' and frowned. "Crap, it's Nepgear..." She muttered which upset Nepgear.

"Aww~ She's said 'crap' too. Am I really that annoying?" She questioned herself.

"I'm happy to see you, Miss Nepgear~" Rom smiled which made Nepgear happy with fake tears.

"*Sniff* Thank you, Rom... What are you two doing in Leanbox?" She asked.

"We here... To get shares" She answered.

"Sounds like you're both working very hard, then" Nepgear commented.

"But Miss Nepgear, you're working hard... So, I want to, too..." Rom replied as Ram who is still frowned, rolled her head.

"Meh! Now you know, okay? We're busy, so leave us alone" She scolded.

"Collecting shares here isn't going to be as easy as you think" IF pointed.

"Huh? What's that mean?" She questioned as the girls explained the situation happening in Leanbox.

After explanation...

"Our four... warship wreath trick shin repeeled?" Ram was trying to pronounce a sentence which I have no idea what it meant. "Dude, I can't even say it. Do you understand, Rom?" She asked her twin sister as she shook her head.

"Nuh-huh..." She responded.

"These kids can't say hard words, nyu..." Broccoli sweatdropped as Ram glared at her.

"D-don't make fun of us, dummy! All this means is that the Chika person is a giant bully, right?" She questioned.

"Were it only so simple. Her attitude and actions have shifted over the past few days" Cave pointed. "It is still too early in this investigation to deem her the 'giant bully', as it were" She corrected.

"O-okay, but... Oh, I get it!" Ram figured. "I bet the Chika there now is a big, fat phony!" She exclaimed.

"A phony?" Nepgear's eyes widen.

"Yeah, like how bad guys can dress up and pretend to be a good guy" She explained. "Makes sense, huh?"

"We read that... In a picture book..." Rom pointed.

"That's pretty unlikely. I mean, out of all of us, Cave would've noticed if she was a fake by now" IF guessed.

"No. I probably would not notice" She honestly said which shocked her.

"What?"

"I remember people mainly as general body shapes. If they look similar, I am confident I would not notice..." She explained.

"This isn't a good thing to be confident about, though..." Compa replied as they stood there in silence, Nepgear broke the silence.

"So, um..."

"We should look into this, nyu" Broccoli suggested.

"But how?" Compa asked. "We don't know how Miss Chika used to act..." She made a good point as it was the first time in Leanbox.

"Maybe Uni does. It's possible that she talked with Miss Chika at some point in the past, right?" Nepgear theorized.

"Sounds good to me. Let's find her" IF agreed with her. "I just hope she can set her stubborn nature aside and help us" She hoped as Nepgear nodded and looked at the twins.

"Want to come with us, Rom and Ram?" She asked them and Rom responded with a nod.

"Yes, together..." But for Ram...

"No, stupid Rom!" She scolded. "We're SO busy! We don't care about some dumb... Ornocle person! Do it yourself!" She can't even pronounce Oracle...

"Oh... Maybe next time, then" Nepgear hoped as Rom saddened.

"Uh-huh..." She sadly nods as Ram looks away and drags her twin sister away from the group.


An Unknown Dream...

It was night-time on Mare Crisium which is on Luna, the moon as this large sea turned into a city known as Crisium City, the birthplace of John Doe, the Rookie. The city occupied an AMG Transport Dynamics facility, the ones who first made the M12 Warthog and the M274 Mongoose which became popular for the UNSC Army.

At a tall apartment building, there was a little boy out standing on the balcony as he has black hair and brown eyes, wearing a simple T-shirt and a pair of pants. As he stared at Earth with bright lights on it, a woman came.

"Johnny, it's past your bed-time!" The women recall, calling his nickname as she has black hair with blue eyes, wearing a cotton red dress and a pair of socks.

"..." He didn't respond.

"John?" She calls him which she got his attention.

"Oh! Hi, Mom" John exclaimed. "I was just... Looking at Earth..." He shyly explained.

"Hmm?" His mother raised her eyebrows then looked at the big, blue planet. "I see... Quite beautiful with the stars, isn't it?" She asked her son as he turned back to the planet and saw the shining stars.

"Uh-huh!" He nods then saw a huge transport ship flying above the city which reminded him something. "Umm... Mom?" He turns back to her mother.

"What is it, dear?" She asked.

"When is dad coming back?" He questioned which surprised his mother.

"Oh... Umm... Dad won't be able to come back for a while" She explained as John started to sob tears from his eyes.

"*Sob* *Sob* *Stiff* Why isn't he coming back~?" He sadly asked.

"...Oh sweetie~" His mother gave him a bear hug with his face buried in her breasts, still sobbing. "I'm sure he'll come back, someday" His face was pulled off her chest and both stared at each other.

"R-re-really?" He trembling asked and she nods.

"Yes... Now come on, it's time for bed"

"Yes, mom..." His mother takes John to his bedroom, laying down her son as she tucks him under his blankets, she kissed him on the forehead.

"Good-night, son"

"Night, mom" He replied as he went to sleep. She turned off the light and closed the door then she sighed.

'Maybe it's not the time to tell him about the truth...' She thought as she went to her own bedroom and fell asleep.


Back into reality...

Rookie then woke up as he saw daylight at the sky, he was still lying next to the same tree he was sleeping. As he began looking around, he noticed that Chen was gone then saw a note on his chest as he grabbed it and read it, it says:


Dear Human

I've noticed that my pet shikigami, Chen has gone missing. But thanks to you, I able to get her back home.

I've also got a crow overlooking you. Therefore, I'll be watching you.

Sincerely,

Yukari Yukumo

P.S. I might drag some people to this world to entertain me.


After reading the note, he was quite confused and got a lot of questions in his head.

'Who's Yukari? What is she referring to 'people to this world'? What crow?' He then looked at the trees and saw a black crow on one of the branches. 'Oh... That crow...' He was not amused.

*Caw* The crow respond then flew away as he sighed. Rookie went back to the same bush and something was different, the dead corpse is gone as well as the two soldiers.

'It's seem they went off. Gotta see what's inside the station' He went through the bush and went inside the abandoned station. Entering the abandoned station, he was walking through a corridor which looks like something from a science fiction book. He got his Gun-Blade ready on his hands, checking his flanks for any unnecessary sneak attacks. He stumbles into a huge closed door. 'Great, a locked door...' He looked around for something to open the door and saw a panel at his right, he walked up to the panel with a 'Open' button on it as he pressed it. The door suddenly opened slowly, Rookie readied himself with his Gun-Blade aiming at the door as it showed... Nothing but, a bunch of metal crates and a huge hole that leads to a cave at the right-side wall.

'Hmph... Seems that everyone left...' Then suddenly a loud voice spoke.

"You'll think saving that drama queen will be easy, mate!" And a huge shadow came out of the hole as it revealed, it was a man in a exo-skeleton suit equipped with a four-missile pod launcher as he carrying a big flamethrower with two fuel tanks on his back. His suit is covered in thick black and red armor and the helmet has a fiery skull on his visor.

'Wow... This guy means business...' Rookie commented, examining his equipment.

"If you don't know who I am? The name's Incendio, mate" He introduced himself. "I was assigned by the General to end your journey. So, this is the end of the line, mate!" Incendio aims his flamethrower at Rookie as he noticed that the door behind him and the hole was sealed by a energy barrier.

'Nowhere to run... Alright then, bring it on' Rookie points his Gun-Blade at Incendio as he evilly giggles.

"Hehehehe~ Time to make some roast. Chicken~" And then, the duel against the flames of hell has begun...


Author's notes:

Neptune: Eh? NEPU! Did you just cliffhanged us?!

Yep! If I continued this chapter, I'll get less ideas on the next chapter.

Neptune: Uh-huh... Wait just a minute, didn't Yukari sent Chen on purpose?

Unfortunately, no… Chen is very sneaky and usually get out of sight from people.

Neptune: So that means the Bl- I mean bad people didn't know that?

Yeah... They began to be very secretive over their movement.

Neptune: Yeah... Very secretive~

Stop copying me...

Neptune: Aww, poo~


[Quick note]

I forgot to mention that the soldiers from General Spectre have some humor in them but they love to play dirty against their foes.

Most of them are combat androids.

Attacking with brutal force against the military, civilians and their own.

I'll explained more about them in the future as they'll be an obstacle in Rookie and the girls' way.

And they will support ASIC on their plans... For now at least...