Lastation Basilicom, a few hours earlier…

Noire, aka CPU Black Heart was a little busy. Normally this would mean she was working on raising the shares of the nation, but today was a little different. This time, she was busy playing video games. Lastation's shares were rather stable at this point, so she decided to take a break with the little sister Uni.

It was around this time when it happened.

The phone rang.

"Pause the game Uni," Noire said. "I'll get the phone."

"Okay," Uni replied.

Noire picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Lady Noire!" said whoever was calling. "This is an emergency! One of the factories near the border is under attack! Casualties seem to be severe and the destruction is spreading and…!"

"Wait, slow down," Noire said. "Can you at least tell me who or what is attacking?"

"Um… I don't know… I didn't listen to the whole report…"

"...Fine I'm heading there." Noire turned around to Uni.

"When we get back, that guy is fired," said Noire. "C'mon, Uni. Let's go."

Lowee-Lastation Border, few hours later…

When Noire finally reached the scene of destruction, she almost wished she stayed at home. The oversized Ancient Dragon with laser cannons for arms was not only tearing apart the factory, but also the surrounding buildings.

"Uni, cover me," Noire said. Her sister nodded and aimed her railgun at the dragon. Noire dove down at the dragon, her sword flashing and, in an instant, slashed at the dragon's eyes. She was awarded with a screech.

A screech of annoyance.

Suddenly, a number of scales on the dragon's back flipped open, revealing missile silos. The missiles screamed out of each silo, some headed for Noire, others for Uni.

A machine gun went off and the missiles exploded. There was suddenly a mass of minor monsters nearby.

Noire looked down at where the MG fire came from. Was there a survivor down there?

"Uni, deal with the grunts. I got this," Noire said. Her sister nodded and flew off to engage the mass of weaker monsters.

The barrel of Belri's assault rifle sizzled as water vapor rose from it. His breathing grew heavy. His vision was blurry. Happily, he had managed to intercept the missiles that were headed towards Noire and Uni. He tried to reach for another magazine with left arm, only to feel pain stab through his body.

But Lady Black Heart was here. He had to help.

"Adrenaline Drive, Tertiary Accel," Belri whispered, simultaneously coughing out some blood that had built up in his lungs.

A whirring noise followed Belri's command. Sharp pain stabbed through his body once again, but it subsided quickly. His eyes were bloodshot, pupils dilated. His vision cleared. All the pain was gone. He staggered onto his feet. A holographic screen appeared over his right eye. It showed a diagram of Belri's body, its left arm and right leg flashing a blood red.

Belri dismissed the diagram, returning it to its original crosshairs.

The dragon was distracted by Lady Black Heart. Now was his chance. He kicked down on the ground hard. A cloud of dust went up as he accelerated towards the dragon. Belri ejected the empty magazine in his assault rifle. He slammed the rifle's magazine well over a full magazine on his belt. Pulling the loaded rifle off the belt, he bit down on the bolt handle and cocked it back with his teeth.

Within a yard away from the dragon, he jumped. As he floated over the dragon's back, which had its missile silos open, Belri fired into each of the silos, causing the missiles to explode inside.

The dragon screamed in shock and pain before disintegrating into polygons.

"Tertiary Accel. Duration end," an electronic voice said. Belri's sense of balance suddenly disappeared. He collapsed on the ground, pain stabbing him multiple times all over the place. Without the extra adrenaline, he couldn't take it anymore.

Everything went black.

An unfamiliar ceiling greeted Belri Yudintsev when he opened his eyes. When he looked around, however, he knew where he was. This was one of the few field hospitals near the border. It was unmistakable. The smell of blood and decay. There was a faint scream from one of the other rooms.

There was some voices nearby.

"Ensign Yudintsev," a voice said. Belri turned around to find an officer standing next to him. Belri tried to salute, but it was not easy considering his injuries.

"Easy there," the officer said. "You're hurt."

"Oh really, sir," Belri said sarcastically. "It's not like I am invincible or anything…"

"How do you explain being the only survivor?" the officer said. Belri raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"You're the only survivor," the officer repeated. "Do you know why?"

Belri was not in the mood for this.

"I don't know," Belri replied. "Plot convenience, maybe."

God damnit he knows.

The officer sighed, obviously knowing where this fourth-wall breaking was coming from.

"It seems as though the Adrenaline drive that was installed on you worked rather well," the officer said. "Once you recover from your injuries, there will be a ceremony, don't worry it will be small, for you to receive your medals and citizenship."

Belri blinked.

"Wait sir," said he. "Medals? Like, with an 's' at the end?" The officer nodded.

"Congratulations."

As the officer had said, the ceremony itself was small. Only a small number of people attended, mostly journalists and military personnel, but the group also included an unexpected face.

Lady Black Heart herself.

"Now then ensign." Belri cleared his head of the recent events as he stood in front of General Franco, commander of Lastation's border patrol.

"At around 0500 this morning, a note was sent to the Basilicom, claiming that someone is targeting Lady Black Heart's life. Now, most of us know that it is pretty much impossible to kill a Goddess without destroying the whole nation's population. Not many are taking this note seriously, but we need to take precautions."

General Franco looked up at Belri.

"Due to your distinguished service near the border, you have been given the assignment to guard Lady Black Heart's life at all costs."

Belri gulped.

"Is that understood, Ensign?"

"... Yes sir."

By the time Belri arrived at the Basilicom, the rest of the unit had already arrived. His new friends. They were chatting among themselves rather lightly. Most wore casual clothes so as to not attract attention.

The doors to the Basilicom slowly creaked open. Everyone stood at attention.

Let the party begin...

Author's notes: Chapter two hype! Please review!

See you in the next chapter!

-SPSH Karl