Hello!
This is an experimental crossover story of Azur Lane and Gundam Build Divers. While I am quite knowledgeable in the Gundam Franchise I admit I'm a bit shaky in Azur lane's lore, since I don't have a phone to play it and only watched the event story-lines available in youtube. I will use the wiki for reference, but I feel there's not enough info to work on it. With all that said... Please enjoy and leave comments for my future references in this story.
Azur Lane X Gundam Build Divers: Re-Write The Blue History
"Battle Ended! Mission Complete!"
Gunpla Battle Nexus Online is one of the most popular and leading Online VR games in this day and age. Courtesy of new updates and inclusion of latest technology in Virtual Diving players experience the most exhilarating battles and character interactions from the Gundam Franchise based on the One Year War, Laplace Incident, Operation Meteor, EAF-ZAFT War, Celestial Being's Armed Interventions, Vagan's Invasion, Tekkadan's Last Stand and many more. It also includes several original missions, unique Festivals hosted by famous companies, PVP Tournaments and of course Force Battles which it is famous for.
"Hhmm, I'm ranked 1st, huh..." Another Mission has been completed by a lone Diver who had just gotten out of his Gunpla and checking his rewards list in a Holo-panel. This Diver's Avatar attire is somewhat simple and easy to replicate in real life; he wears a black leather jacket over a blue shirt, blue jeans with a pair of brown sports shoes that makes him look a Karaba member in Zeta Gundam. His physique is also quite unremarkable; a teenage boy with a matching slim but fit build, medium-tanned skin, reddish-brown hair arranged in a slightly combed-back wings style, and a facial structure that resembles Natsuki Subaru from Re:Zero but with golden pupils instead.
"Heh, more weapon Parts Data and a new outfit, noice..."
Enter Kuonji, an S-Ranked Diver who's been playing GBN for the sake of Gunpla battles and venturing through uncharted Dimensions. With his skill in Gunpla Battling he's been invited to join Force battles on several occasions, which he agreed at times to help them out, but he refuses any offer to become their official member for reasons only known to him. Wandering through GBN's whole Dimension Map he had explored every known location in the game, from the most famous to the least visited regions of cyber-space.
After checking out all of his loots for today, "It's 4:50 in the afternoon... Guess I still have time to play before dinner, but I better go shopping now..." Kuonji then accesses a switch on another confirmation window, logging him out of the game as his avatar engulfs in a bright light.
In a certain hobby shop, "See ya later, old man Zel!" A high school student carrying his school bag runs off out of its premises as he hurries over to a nearby supermarket, hoping to catch some big discounts on some groceries.
"Hey! Don't call me old! I'm still in my twenties!" A grumbling voice coming from the shop's counter retorted at the boy's phrase, but no one other than the store owner himself would be able to hear that...
In reality, Kubota Renji is a typical 15-year-old gamer and Mecha enthusiast who often visits this hobby shop to play GBN after school. There is very little difference from his Diver avatar and real-life counterpart in appearance; having the same body build, complexion and facial arrangement but his black hair in a typical short back and sides style, parted at the left that quite matches with his high school uniform.
As he is surveying for instant meals Kubota uttered, "Auntie probably won't be home tonight, but I'd better buy something for two if otherwise so she won't have to trouble herself cooking..."
In place of his deceased parents Kubota's Aunt acts as his sole guardian, whom he is quite close with but rarely gets home due to the nature of her work. His Aunt alone could provide the necessities for the two of them as a hospital head nurse, but he also took a few part-time jobs to help out financially and also to support his hobbies. His grades were always a bit above average, so he often gets away from being told off not to do part-timing just for his manga, anime, games and Gunplas.
Walking towards home the boy thought to himself, "Hmmm, I really should get started on my backlog of Gunplas and animes, but for some reason I want to do something different..."
As his lifestyle is in between a normie and a Otaku (eat, school, part-timing, Gunpla building, watch anime/read manga, gaming, sleep) he always craves for any extraordinary adventures outside the real world, so he tends to get bored with anything relatively quick. He did tried to join several clubs at his school, but none of them seems to satiate his thirst for an adventure. But when he looked up into GBN, it was an instant hook for him. As a Gundam fan and a gamer he couldn't resist of something he could do altogether; Gunpla Battling, meeting new friends and venturing through GBN's vast Dimension Map. Experiencing every single type of missions offered by GBN over time he became a Diver who pops in on every popular events, places and Force Battles that almost made him on par with Patrick Colassour in terms of cameo appearances.
"Oh, well. Guess I'll find something interesting in GBN tomorrow..." Ending his monologue Kubota then dashes into the night despite holding a pair of large grocery bags on both hands.
-The Next Day-
GBN Main Terminal, Tower Lobby...
"Now that I have a new custom Gunpla at my disposal, I should go look for a mission that I can do some target practicing..."
Kuonji is on his usual adventure-seeking routine, checking out any new updates at the Mission List menu. Getting excited to try out a new Gunpla that he completed last night he searches for a Mission where he could go all out and test its overall capabilities.
"Hmm, but doing the same missions over and over again..." Frowning he then mumbles to himself, "I gotta admit, this game feels kinda repetitive and boring at times..."
As he scrolls down on his Solo Missions list, a wandering suspicious-looking woman spots him from afar and walks up towards him. She wears a long white veil that covers majority of her face and a simple white dress that makes her look a shady supporting character from an RPG Game.
When she's gotten close at Kuonji's left side, "Hey, are you free?" The woman softly whispers on his ear with a smile on her face, as if she was trying to use her charm to get his attention.
"Hm?" Kuonji raises an eyebrow when he turns his head at the woman who approached him, assessing whether she's a newbie Diver or something else.
"Do you want to experience... an adventure like no other?" Slightly exposing her face and smiling faintly she intends to make the boy hear her out.
"Hmmm..." Dubious from her line Kuonji narrowed his eyes at the woman in white, sensing some kind of a fishy dealing is about to happen.
The woman repeats her phrase, "I'll ask again... Do you want to experience an adventure like no other?" and continued with, "If you're interested, I'll offer you a mission-"
But before she can start anything Kuonji interrupted her with, "You sounded like some third-rate scammer inviting me to a suspicious ad sale. Buzz off."
"Eh? N-No, I wasn't trying to-" Twitching once and moving her hands in random directions the woman quickly denies his accusation.
"I have something else to do rather than fool around with you. Bye." Escaping from this conversation Kuonji randomly picks up a mission to immediately transfer him out of the vicinity.
"Ah, wait-!" The woman tried to reach him out with her hand but in a flash of light, he's gone in a moment's notice.
"..." She remained silent, motionless from her position for a while after being left behind. After a few minutes...
"Haah, another rejection, huh..." Sighing in frustration The woman in white uttered to herself, " But I can't give up now... I have to convince someone to help me..."
GBN Asian Server, Estania Area
After that incident the other day Kuonji's facial expression is evidently irritated, cringing and briskly walking into one of the local towns of Estania. He's been loitering in this place looking for anything that would distract him from getting into boredom mode again.
Kicking a pebble while walking, "Man, what was that about yesterday...?" The boy scratches the back of his head thinking he messed up his plans at that time, "I ended up picking an item-collecting mission rather than a raid battle, what a waste...Hm?"
"Please...someone, anyone, hear me out!"
When he was about to enter a town square he caught a glimpse of someone familiar running around and offering something to passers-by. It was the same woman whom he quickly turned down the other day. Somewhat feeling uneasy he hesitates to enter the square and decides to stay close on a nearby cafe shop.
"Ugh, It's her again..." Taking an empty table seat beside him Kuonji observes the woman in white that kept chasing unsuspecting Divers, ignoring the waiter beside him waiting for his order.
"Hello, sir! Please listen!" The woman in white cried out while approaching a Diver holding a Holographic panel on his right hand, "I have a request!", but the said Diver waved his hand in refusal which she backs down. Then she saw another Diver and quickly goes to his side, only to be turned down again.
Constantly following her movement with his eyes, "Why the hell is she offering a Mission in public? Is she some kind of an event NPC or something?" the boy mumbles whilst making himself comfortable at his seat, displeasing the man in suit glaring at him for sometime.
"Please! Someone, hear me out!" Despite her efforts most of the Divers walking to and from the town square either refuses her offer with a 'no' gesture or outright ignores the poor woman. When she was about to look at Kuonji's location...
"I'm willing to give a splendid reward-Oh?"
"Ah."
Both She and Kuonji unintentionally met eye to eye, locking their gazes at each other for a while. The two then goes into a trance, as if they were telepathically communicating with each other just like how Newtypes in U.C. come in contact with each other.
""That person..."" Both were in sync thinking that they've seen each other once before, as if there's something that attracts the two of them together.
About two whole minutes later this was interrupted by a sudden bang at the boy's table that immediately took them away from Lala Land. It was caused by the waiter slamming a menu pamphlet at the table, trying to make Kuonji properly order a meal to dine and not to waste time and effort attending the boy.
Snapping out of the trance, "Uhm, do you have a moment..." The woman in white was the first to make a move, slowly walking towards Kuonji and calls out to him somewhat instinctively.
"...Nope." Frowning Kuonji immediately stands up from his seat and makes a quick walk back to where he came from until he disappears into a small path-walk, leaving the cafe's waiter cursing furiously from being ignored.
"Ah..." Just like the same way she was left behind the woman in white froze from her posture, unable to decide whether he would chase him or not.
And this continue to happen a few more times...
Server 10, Orbital Elevator...
Kuonji: "Aah, nothing beats the quiet neighborhood of interstellar space..."
Woman In White(Wearing a spacesuit): "Hello, everyone! I have a great offer for all!"
Their gazes met.
Kuonji/Woman In White: ""Ah...""
A few seconds of silent staring, and then...
Woman In White: "Uhm, do you want to..."
Kuonji: "...Nope." *drifts away*
Woman In White: "Oh..."
Server 36, Water Park...
Kuonji: "Well, cruising underwater like this isn't so bad either..."
Woman In White(In a SCUBA Equipment): "Hello, sir! Please take a look of this!"
Their gazes met, again.
Kuonji/Woman In White: ""Oh...""
A few seconds of silent staring, again, and then...
Woman In White: "H-Hello again, here's a-"
Kuonji: "-Not today." *floats upwards*
Woman In White: "Ah..."
GBN Server, Perisia Area...
With eyebrows twitching in exasperation Kuonji uttered, "Come on, now..."
After a few more hijinks of meet and run from the woman in white Kuonji ends up in Perisia. He usually goes to this area to learn new ways of building his Gunplas but for now he's here to hide himself from a certain character whom he constantly encounter in a daily basis.
"Khh, she's also here..."
"Excuse me! I have a request!"
Concealing himself in some pile of wooden boxes beside a building Kuonji peeks at its hole, observing the woman in white who's been circling around the city park and offering passers-by with a holo-panel inscribed mission detail.
Trying to sort out how he always end up in this situation, "Dammit, this is the fifth time in a row! And what kind of coincidence is this, happening five days straight!?" Kuonji mumbled to himself, "It's like I'm being tailed by this girl everywhere I go... Or am I being lead towards her...?"
"Please, hear me out!" walking in and out of Gunpla Exhibition Plaza the woman in white calls out to any Diver who is interested in her offer, albeit so far no one is willing to listen to her request.
"Damn, I'm starting to feel sorry for her..." Kuonji thought to himself, keeping his eyes on the woman whilst still hiding away from her.
The boy intends to hide himself until the woman in white goes away into another location, however this certain incident happens...
"So, it was like this..."
"That's so lame..."
A group of five Divers then enters the plaza, talking about their previous adventures in a Force Battle. They are composed of entirely male Divers, with their clothing and getup themed like some famous boy band group who sang rock n' roll style music.
"Hey, let's go for some-OOF!"
"Kyah!"
One of them unintentionally bumps into the woman in white, knocking off from her feet and accidentally removing her white veil that reveals the face of a beautiful female elf avatar. Her overall character design pretty much reflects the template of Tony Taka's fantasy-themed character illustrations; a blonde bob-cut hairstyle accessorized with wing-inspired hairpins, pointy ears with ancient-style silver earrings that complements her finely detailed facial pattern with unusually expressive green eyes. For clothing she wears a white blouse with an open chest area exposing her navy blue chest-plate (or more like an 'armored bra') paired with white mini-skirt and above-knee white leggings that certainly emphasizes her sexy figure.
"Owie..." The elf Diver rubs her thighs, soothing out the pain she felt on her rear. She later realizes in horror that her veil has been removed and tries to hide her exposed face using her hands, "Huh? Oh no!"
"Ah, sorry! I was just-" Just as the male Diver was about to offer his hand to the elf Diver kindly he suddenly changed his tone of voice to a trying hard ladies-man, "Oh? Hey cutie, what are you doing here?"
"A-Ah!? I, Uhm..." Stuttering on words the elf Diver couldn't react quickly from the male Diver as he was trying to pick up on her.
Gathering around the Elf Diver, the group of male Divers then bombards her with remarks and gazes that made her feel anxious and unable to recover from her feet.
"Whoa, she's so sexy~"
"Hoh~ she's quite the catch, isn't she?"
"We don't have any girl members, right..."
"A-awawa, awawawah..." Surrounded by more male divers the elf Diver's gone in panic mode where her hands waving in random directions and her eyes having comically-drawn spiraling lines indicating that she's getting dizzy.
"Hmm, this could be bad..." Kuonji, still holing up in his hiding spot continues to observe the situation despite the growing urge inside him to help out the Elf Diver.
"Uh-Uhm, this Mission-" The panicking elf Diver then presents a holo-panel to the male Divers to divert their attention to her offer...
"Forget that and come with us instead. I'm sure you'll be having a good time~" But this was swatted away from her hand as one of the Divers grabbed and pulled her towards them.
"You won't regret spending your time with us~" Another male Diver appears from behind and holds the Elf Diver at the shoulder attempting to convince her to come along with them.
"N-No, wait!" Getting wary of their actions the Elf Diver tries to escape from the group and was about to cry for help but she was overwhelmed by their numbers and being pushy around her, "P-Please, let me go...!"
"..." He wasn't much of a standard hero-who-comes-into-troubled-maiden's-rescue archetype but there are times that Kuonji often acts into action by impulse. And this situation is one of those times his emotions getting the better of him.
""Come on..."" Meanwhile the group of male Divers ignored the Elf Diver's pleads and kept insisting on tagging her along with them, despite the fact that she was on the verge of tears refusing them.
"Khh..!" Unable to contain his temper Kuonji steps outside his cover and shouts at the commotion with, "Hold it right there!"
""Huh?"" Diverting their attention at the male voice who interrupts them, the group of Divers then glanced at the boy with evidently annoyed expressions on their faces.
"He's... that boy..." The Elf Diver uttered in modest voice, staring at Kuonji and having a moment of deep thought to herself once again much like she did during their encounter in Estania area.
"I'm... looking for that girl. I'm going to accept that mission she's been advertising." Kuonji declared with a slightly authoritative vibe, standing firmly in front of the male Diver group.
"Ah..." Having mixed emotions of relief and bewilderment the Elf Diver's eyes slightly shone for a second, as the one who proclaimed accepting her request was the boy who she saw on multiple occasions but seemingly avoided her every time.
"Back off, kid." One of the male Divers retorted in a sneering face, "Can't you see we're busy here?"
"And first come, first serve." Another male Diver cuts in with the same expression, "We get to talk to her first, so don't butt in."
With eyes narrowed in contempt, "Can't you see she's already crying? And you guys weren't interested in her offer, right?" Kuonji countered with his own accusation, "And I'm sure all of you perverts here were up to no good with her, so you guys should back off instead."
""...What did you say...!?"" Triggering a bad reaction from the male Diver Group one of them steps forward and then slowly walk towards the boy.
"Friggin' hero-wannabe...!" Rolling up his left sleeve the male Diver grabs Kuonji's collar and is about to inflict some nasty damage to his face, "We all know this is VR, but let's see if you can feel my fist-"
"Wait, dude. This is a public area, so if we make a scene here it'd be bad for us..." But before he can do anything his comrade taps him at the shoulder, pausing for a bit.
"...!?" The male Diver looks around, witnessing the glares and disgusted looks directed by other Divers and NPCs towards their group.
"..." Kuonji puts up a fierce glare as he awaits for the male Diver group's next course of action, readying his free hand to summon an item from his Inventory anytime.
"Tch. Then don't make her dawdle here for too long." Deciding to back down the Male Diver lets go of Kuonji's collar and notions his comrades with, "Come on guys, let's go. I want to be somewhere away from here." and then starts to walk away from the vicinity.
Following their comrade the rest of them walks past Kuonji and whispers snide comments at the boy.
"Ugh, seriously a party-pooper..."
"Killjoy bastard..."
"I'll shoot you down the moment I get to see you in a Raid Battle..."
The male Diver group then quietly exits the plaza in fast walking pace, ignoring the people who were talking behind their backs as they walk through a main road.
"Shhmmph, shmmphh..." After wiping out her tears the Elf Diver shakes her head sideways to regain her composure and walks toward the boy.
"Hmph, stereotypical goons..." Kuonji still have his stern expression while keeping an eye to the male Diver group as he fixes his crooked collar, "You'll always see one regardless in GBN or IRL."
Going in front of her savior, "Uhm, I-I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused, and thank you..." The Elf Diver bows her head at the boy and continued, "So about the mission..."
"Don't misunderstand me here." Kuonji quickly interjected with a refusing hand gesture, "I only said that because you look like you're in trouble, but from here onward you're on your own."
"...!" The Elf Diver was taken aback from his line and with a sad face she replied, "Oh, I see..."
Staring at her disappointed expression for only ten seconds in silence Kuonji scratches his cheek and said, "...Fine, let me take back what I said. I'll hear you out."
"Huh?" The Elf Diver blinked thrice in reflex, confused from the boy's sudden change of heart.
"I did said that I'm taking that mission, so might as well hear out the details before I jumped right into it..." Scratching the back of his head Kuonji closes his eyes and makes a hand gesture as if demanding some kind of physical written information from the Elf Diver.
"O-Okay, thank you. Thank you very much." Overjoyed now that she's found someone who will help her the Elf Diver smiles brightly and then, "By the way, I'm Cen...Cerea." gives her name to the boy.
With a raised left eyebrow, "Why did she stutter on her own name?" The boy thought to himself from that moment of her blunder but then he later shrugged it off and also told his name, "Ah, right. Name's Kuonji, nice to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you too, Kuonji." The Elf Diver bows once again as ending the formalities and introductions, "Let's go to that cafe and discuss about the Mission, alright?" pointing at a confectionery store at the Plaza's west wing.
"Fine by me." Replied Kuonji, then he picks up something on the ground and hands it over to Cerea, "But are you gonna be okay without this?"
"Huh? Oh!" Realizing this the Elf Diver then swiftly grabs her veil and scrambles to wear it over his face, "W-Well then, let's go."
Settling at one of the empty tables Cerea then proceeds to present Kuonji the details of her Mission, showing the contents and rewards using a Holo panel. It was explained that this is a 5-stage Story Mission, with several unlock-able side quests and secret challenges depending how well he'll perform on clearing them. He's convinced that the difficulty level is something he can handle but he was quite disappointed as there are neither notable titles nor exciting rewards for compensation.
"I see, so this special quest that you're offering to me is a Story Mission, with several other unlock-able extras added." Kuonji asks to confirm everything that he heard, cross-referencing it with his own Holo-panel.
"Mm-hmm." Cerea nodded twice as a reply, drinking cup of milk tea while holding it with both hands.
"This is a unique mission, alright." Kuonji then makes a doubtful look at Cerea, "But let me ask, why are you personally offering this? You could've posted this mission to a Bulletin Board or submit this to an GBN Terminal-based NPC... You're a Diver yourself but you're offering this to someone else, why?"
"Well, that's..." Putting down her drink Cerea then faintly smiled and answered, "I just... I just want to see how this Story mission would turn out at its ending. I've already tried submitting this to those NPD clerks but no one seems to be taking it for some reason. I... I've also tried playing through this mission myself but I'm just not cut out for it..." playing around her beverage's straw she continued, "And when I've shown this mission to all those Divers, they seemed to be disappointed and ignored me. I even joined up with a few Forces to clear it but it just doesn't work out in the end..."
"I see..." Kuonji places his hand on his chin, intrigued by the fact that no one has cleared this Story Mission yet, "She should've tried talking to the Admins themselves, though..." he also thought.
Fiddling with the straw a little bit rougher, "I don't know why but there shouldn't be any reason to turn down this... this mission." Cerea frowns in frustration, "I mean, aren't we all adventurers here? It won't hurt if they've at least try a bit of exploring into the unknown, no?"
"I kinda understand why, with this kind of difficulty and unremarkable rewards there's no way anyone would accept this." Kuonji answered with a deadpan face, as if stating an obvious fact, "Even veteran Divers or Forces won't accept this mission without any good reason."
"Eh!?" Abruptly stopping her hands the elf Diver had an astonished expression upon hearing this, "B-But everyone here should be craving for something different, right?"
"As an adventurer, I do want to go on unexplored regions and difficult missions but I also want some decent rewards after completing them." Kuonji looks at her straight in the eye and makes a blank expression upon replying, "This mission's rewards doesn't really justify its difficulty level to begin with, and your reasons for wanting to see through up to its ending isn't really enough to convince anyone. Right now I feel like I've just wasted my time here and thinking of turning this down after everything I've learned about this mission."
"E-Eh!? No way..." Cerea was taken aback from his words, "You can't mean..." tightening her grip on the milk tea cup.
"..." Still keeping a blank reaction Kuonji's gone quiet all of a sudden, not even blinking once while staring at the Elf Diver.
Hiding her face with the veil, "Haah, I guess you're right. It wasn't good enough of a reason at all..." The Elf Diver lowers her head having a disappointed expression, "What do I do now...?"
Both of them were in a state of serene silence after the heavy atmosphere that had just taken over. After a few seconds Kuonji closes his eyes for a second, takes a deep breath, does a fake cough and then announces his decision.
"...I don't know if I can make it to its ending, but I'll give it a shot. This mission, that is." The boy said in a clear voice, staring at her with a determined look on his face.
"...Huh!? Y-You will?" Cerea's sad green eyes immediately turns into glittering ones filled with hope as she returned his gaze with her own.
"I said I'll only give it a try, so don't expect me to-whoa!?" Kuonji was about to warn her of his conditions but he's interrupted with...
"Great! Now it's settled then~" The Elf Diver then suddenly grabs his hand and stands up from her seat, "Follow me~" then abruptly left their table.
"EH!? Wait!" The boy let himself being lead to her pace, matching her walking speed as to avoid tripping on his own feet.
As he was dragged into some kind of a back alley in one of the Plaza's nearby large buildings, Kuonji can't help but to feel anxious as to where are they going. They reached their destination in a dead end, where Cerea accesses a red and gray utility box situated at the corner.
"So we'll log in here?" Standing in front of the box Kuonji asks Cerea with a dubious look.
"Yup." The Elf Diver nodded twice and proceeds to open the box itself, "Wait for a bit, let me set this up first."
"Okay." The boy then activates his holo-panel, checking up his items and Gunpla beforehand in preparation for the mission.
As the Elf Diver opens the box she also activates the hidden console inside it, taking a form of a Holo-panel. This Holo-panel is being project by a shiny cube-shaped crystal inside the box, emitting all kinds of colored lights in rainbow hue.
"Are you ready, Kuonji?" After inputting a code on it Cerea asks Kuonji to confirm, ready to push the 'yes' button on the Holo-panel.
"Anytime." Kuonji showcases a thumbs up, signaling her to push the button itself.
Upon activation a flash of light envelopes both Kuonji and Cerea, and then transports them to their destination via data stream transfer similar on how Divers travel between servers. However a form of 'glitching' moment occurs as they move forward, with blue spots appearing all over the place and a scene of obscured smoking long objects cruising in a red sea. This made Kuonji a bit worried at first, but later on he becomes more concerned at the bitter expression Cerea was making as she watches this scenery.
"Uhh, Where are we?" Kuonji looks around and asks with a cautious tone, feeling somewhat antsy on a dark place filled with broken machinery and tattered metal flooring.
"This is the starting point." Cerea answered with a confident smile, "I'll wait for you here until you complete the stage, Kuonji."
"I see, wait... Cerea, you're not coming with me?" Pointing at her accusingly Kuonji asks in a confused expression, "Don't you have a Gunpla with you?"
"Ah, Uhh...I'm kinda logged in right now without it, ahahahah..." Smiling wryly Cerea scratches her cheek with a finger, "But don't worry, I'll be guiding you throughout the whole mission, so... Please do your best~" and makes a 'Ganbare' pose that is supposedly encourage the boy.
"Seriously..." With an eyebrow twitching Kuonji sighs with an exasperated face, "Fine. I'll make do with myself. But whatever the rewards given here is going to be all mine, you hear?" he added while pointing his left thumb at himself.
"Well, okay..." Having a huge sweat drop the Elf Diver replied softly, "Does everyone in his world act like him?" she thought.
"Right, my Gunpla's over here." The boy then looks behind him, "Well, better get started. I wanna see in person what kind of mission this is..." and prepares to board his machine via Holo-panel command.
"Okay... Oh, Wait." Taking a bit of moment with him Cerea hops over toward Kuonji.
"Hm, what is it?" Kuonji pauses for a bit before inputting anything on his Holo-panel.
"May the azure lanes bless you." Grabbing his right hand and brings it closer to her chest as if offering a prayer, The Elf Diver utters this phrase in a sincere dedication.
"Uhhh...W-What's this about?" Blushing with a mixture of puzzled expression Kuonji asks Cerea in a fidgeting voice.
"Oh, it's nothing." The Elf Diver replies with a bright smile, making the boy a bit more flustered, "Hurry up, now."
"Uhh, yeah, okay..." And with that Kuonji goes inside his machine through a Holo-panel command, still wondering what or why did she do something like that with him.
As the Elf Diver steps away from the machine, readying himself at the controls Kuonji starts up his Gunpla's systems that made its green optics glow, and he announces in a confident voice...
"0 Gundam Full Armament Type, launching!"
The machine's back-mounted engine lits up and emits yellowish green light particles that enables it to levitate in thin air, exiting the starting point through an open hatch in front of him.
"Hmm, so the starting point kinda looks like a... broken warship. " Kuonji muttered to himself as he moves further away from his original location, "Well, time to check if my Gundam works properly here..." Fiddling at his controls his Gunpla dances high above the ship to check if there's any problem with his machine.
Kuonji's Gunpla is a customized version of the 0 Gundam, from the anime Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Its color and appearance is similar to the configuration where it's still in its testing phase, having metallic white all over its armor except there's dull silver on chest panel while dark gray on torso and foot soles. The backpack has been reduced to size in order to fit in customized weapons scratch-build by Kuonji himself such as anti-armor swords and guns.
Its armaments is a vast upgrade and only difference from the original setting. For handheld it had the GN beam gun upgraded to a variable-output GN Beam rifle, allowing it to fire fast 'machine gun-style' beam bursts or heavy 'Gerobi' type shots. Another long-range armament is a revolver-type Bazooka stored on its rear skirt armor similar in design with Gundam Sadalsuud's main weapon, loaded with large GN explosives for ammunition(two cylinder spares at side skirt armors). For close-range it had the standard GN Beam Saber on its left backpack with the addition of Gundam Exia's modified GN Long Sword at the right, a pair of head-mounted Vulcan gun pods on the head unit and a hidden GN hammer at the Handheld Shield.
"So this is the unbeatable Story Mission, huh..." Kuonji mumbled to himself as he makes a general view of the whole mission field area from the air. From what all he can see right now is a vast reddish ocean illuminated by the afternoon sun stretching from the horizon with several islands and islets dotting the starting point's vicinity.
"Hello~ Can you hear me, Kuonji?" At his Gunpla's cockpit Cerea's voice can be heard via a small communication window that pops up at the lower left screen, "Is my voice reaching you up there?"
"Yeah, I can hear you." The boy responded with a puzzled expression, "What's up?"
"Alright, it worked!" Confirming his reply the Elf Diver does a single clap of relief, "With this I will guide you through the mission. So Kuonji, let's do our best together~"
"Roger." Kuonji replies with a blank expression, "She kinda acts out of character at times..." he thought.
"Holy Light, vanquish the enemies of Love and Peace!"
"Hm?" While Kuonji was talking to Cerea he heard a little girl's voice over his transceiver, making him search for its source using a radar.
"Over there!" Cerea points out from her console, which is indicated on the cockpit's small close-up window.
"That's the mission area, huh?" Kuonji then finds a dome-shaped Battlefield Boundary just a few kilometers from his current position. Observing the field from the outside, he saw a human figure being surrounded by black-colored ships and fighter planes. When his Gunpla gets closer to the boundary both he and the Elf Diver makes a better view inside it.
"Why that's..." Cerea covers her mouth by both hands, seemingly horrified from what she saw.
"Huff, huff... For the sake of Love and Peace, I will not lose!" The human figure in question is a white-themed little girl who is covered with cuts and bruises on her body. Her white hair is styled into twin tails with ends resting on her shoulders, a semi-transparent one piece white dress paired by white stockings and cute black shoes. For accessories she wore royalty-style white and black hat, blue pendant on her neck, a white strap bag adorned with rabbit ears and yellow bells, a set of wings(?) on her back and a tattered large black paper-like object that's floating behind her. There are also white World War-era attack biplanes that surrounds and protects her from the black machines which is produced by the aforementioned floating paper.
"What's with this situation?" Kuonji wonders as he glances to this scenery, "Some Lolita playing with a Space Force Marines Diorama set in the middle of nowhere?" he then shifts his focus on the ships and fighter planes that surrounds and seemingly cornering her. The design of these machines are comparable to any generic futuristic mechas in war-themed sci-fi media, painted in jet-black color scheme with glowing tattoo-like red markings all over their bodies. They consists of three small destroyers, a pair of heavy cruisers and a large aircraft carrier that constantly launches fighter jets from its runway.
"Please rescue her!" Cerea yelled in her comm link window, "Right now she's too tired to fend for herself with all that enemy units surrounding her! I'm begging you, protect her somehow!" she desperately cried out.
"O-Okay, got it!" The boy replied as he accelerates his machine towards the area, somewhat bewildered from Cerea's sudden outburst.
The moment his machine enters the battlefield boundary Kuonji notices that his surroundings have gotten bigger, or more accurately...
"Eh? Did I just shrink into a smaller scale?" The boy said out loud as both the battleships and the girl suddenly becomes way more bigger than his Gunpla, "What the hell?"
But his attention was later diverted to his console as a pop-up window appears with a message written-
"Victory Condition: Destroy all Siren units. Defeat Condition: Little Illustrious defeated/sunk."
"...Little Illustrious? Is that the girl's name?" As Kuonji read the clear conditions he looks closely at the black machines that are indicated as enemies, "So those things are called Sirens, huh..."
Doing a role-playing game in his mind Kuonji then smirks brimming with confidence he uttered-
"0 Gundam, beginning armed intervention."
The 0 Gundam then dashes forward and begins the attack with a beam rifle shot. The attack downed a Siren aircraft, which made the other Siren units switch their attention towards the newcomer.
The black Siren ships aimed their cannons and fires several energy blasts at the Gundam, only to miss their intended target as it dances through their barrage. The humanoid machine then counters with several beam shots from its own handheld beam rifle, destroying the ship's weapon systems and other equipment in return.
"A-Amazing..." Cerea could only stare in awe as she witness the 0 Gundam disable the enemy ship's weaponry on her monitor, gripping on her own chest firmly.
"Ahh..." The little girl in white is also frozen in her feet, wondering what's happening all this time.
A few more black fighter jets come up from the rear to flank the Gunpla on both sides, but they ended up being destroyed by Vulcan fire as the head unit turns toward them. Afterwards Kuonji commanded his Gunpla to charge forward at one of the Siren heavy cruisers and crash lands onto it. In response the black ships fires up hi-energy lasers and plasma rounds at full strength, hitting it all over its body armor. The other intact Siren ships and fighter jets join into the assault as the Gunpla stood still in its position for a while. Though the lasers have burned up its paint-job the attacks had very little effect on the Gunpla's armor integrity.
"Heh, what's wrong? Can't even penetrate my armor?" The boy taunted like a bully, "In its lore, this thing uses E-Carbon material as armor. Never I've expected that it'd be this overpowered, though."
"...How can a machine like that withstand an attack from a Siren's weaponry?" Cerea was further flabbergasted from the Gundam's performance, "Kansens were born to be tough enough to endure those attacks, but his robot's armor is something else..."
"But then again, a World-class pro-builder helped me create this Gunpla, so I guess it's not that surprising..." The boy said to himself with a smug expression, "Well then, time to wrap up this field test..."
Charging at full speed the 0 Gundam draws out its beam saber and slashes the cruiser's bridge tower, stopping the Siren vessel's functions and further damages it with multiple beam rifle shots causing a chain explosion all over its superstructure until it sinks underwater.
Checking up his Gunpla's Condition Kuonji said, "None of them seems to have an anti-beam barrier, and no problems detected on my machine's weapons. Alright..."
Kuonji's next move then had the 0 Gundam fly above water at tremendous speeds, evading anti-air rounds until it gets too close to a Siren Destroyer ship. And just like what he did earlier the 0 Gundam with beam saber still active cuts through the black ship's body and spams beam shots at its exposed machinery, triggering another massive explosion and sinking it. He repeated this attack pattern up to the last Siren Destroyer, as the remaining enemy ships are now too far away from him.
"That's four ships down. Can I sink two more?" Kuonji reiterates Char's line from The Origin OVA as he makes his Gunpla fly towards the Siren ships that are still attacking both him and the little girl.
With this sudden development the remaining Siren ships proceeds to retreat from a distance, with the heavy cruiser type showers anti-air barrage while the carrier-type scrambles a few more fighter jets to deter the Gundam away. However their efforts was all for nought, as the humanoid machine dodges every single attack and downs any incoming Siren jets with either Vulcan guns, beam rifle shots, beam saber slashes or by simply kicking them. When its gotten in an ideal range the 0 Gundam then stores away its beam saber, draws out the bazooka from its rear skirt armor and along with the beam rifle, spams a combination of beam and GN Explosives at the two enemy vessels. The beam shots ravages the armor and gun turrets paving the way for the large GN Explosives to pierce through their hulls and releases light particles in doing so, causing pressure buildup that leads to a massive explosion sinking them simultaneously.
"Guess that's that." Kuonji mumbles with a satisfied grin, "It kinda felt like it doesn't justify the difficulty level labeled on this Mission..."
"...What the hell had just happened!?" The Elf reacted with a jaw drop and distorted facial expression, "The other Divers I've asked for help had actually gone past this stage easily too, but... he's different from them..."
"Warning!"
"Huh?" Kuonji's moment of triumph was cut short after a notification flashes up on his screen.
"Mission Update; Victory Condition: Destroy All Siren Units. Defeat Condition: Any Ally Units Defeated. Secret Condition: Destroy Enemy Affiliated Units."
"There's more of them, huh?" Kuonji then had his Gunpla reload its bazooka readying for another combat situation, "And, enemy affiliated units?"
The moment this message appears the Battlefield Boundary vanished along with the remains of Siren ships seemingly disintegrates in thin air. The little girl is also affected as her paper-like accessory shines brightly until it turns into floating crystal cubes and transforms again into an aircraft carrier, with the girl sitting at the deck. But that isn't the only thing that happened...
"Hey, my machine grew back into full scale!" Kuonji exclaims in an excited tone, "Well, at least in GBN standard...And that girl's floating paper-thingy at her back turns to a ship!?"
Several glowing circles of white light began appearing on the horizon, and after a while several more Siren warships comes out of these glowing circles of light. The newcomers consists of five destroyer-types, three light cruiser-types, two heavy cruiser-types, a single battleship type and another large aircraft carrier.
"Okay, that was unexpected..." Kuonji thought to himself, with his eyes redirected at the enemy fleet.
The Siren aircraft carrier then deploys its flying machines and the enemy fleet goes into an assault formation. Other than the standard fighter jets there is something else mixed into their formation, which made both Cerea and the little girl tremble in fear.
"Please be careful!" After seeing the new enemy units Cerea warns the boy with great precaution, "Those dreaded black robots... They're coming...!"
"Huh?" Kuonji had his eyebrow raised after hearing this from Cerea.
When he zoomed over at the newcomers Kuonji notices that there are mechas on the enemy's side that he is quite familiar with.
"A Strike Dagger squadron huh..." He confirms the overall design of the new enemy units, "Wait, aren't those Gunplas?"
The boy quickly identified the machines deployed by the Siren Carrier; they are all GAT-01A1 Daggers, color-coded in black and gray with the same red markings as the Sirens that are armed with different Striker Packs. There are eight units in all; Three Aile-Types, Two Launcher-Types, Two Sword-Types and a Gunbarrel Dagger as the Lead Unit.
"Ahahahah, I take back what I said." Kuonji uttered while having sweat drops all over his head, "It is in hard difficulty after all..."
The Aile Types began their attack by having beam rifles aimed at the little girl's ship and fires in sequence, scoring a hit all over the carrier's runway.
"Kyaahh!" Crouching and covering her head with both hands the little girl in white squeals in fear as multiple beam shots showers her ship, unable to run away from her position.
"Stop that!" Kuonji had his Gunpla boost dash at the three Aile Strike Daggers, firing three consecutive beam rifle shots that downs one of them. The crippled Aile Strike Dagger manages to fight back doing a beam saber throw but Kuonji's machine evaded it and was destroyed for good by a GN Explosive ramming into its chest.
The other two then shifted their target priority to the 0 Gundam, flying at high speeds with beam rifles firing in rapid succession.
With his Gunpla evading the beam shots, "You sure attacking me head-on without your fleet?" The boy mockingly told off the enemy units, "Not that I mind, that would make my job easier!"
Storing away its bazooka and beam rifle to its back and empty left side skirt armor respectively the 0 Gundam draws out its beam saber to cut down one of the Daggers, severing its right arm holding the beam rifle and continues on to slash through its torso. The attack deals significant damage but it wasn't enough to completely destroy it.
"Right. These are the Daggers that have Anti-beam coating on the cockpit areas." Kuonji uttered in a stern composure, "If that's the case...!"
The enemy Dagger uses its free left hand to draw out a beam saber from its side skirt armor to skewer the 0 Gundam's chest but was blocked by the GN Shield. As a counter Kuonji had his mech draw out its GN Long Sword from its back in a downward motion that cuts cleanly from its shoulder down to its waist, creating explosions and smoke. The remaining Strike Dagger who kept its distance all this time was caught off-guard as the 0 Gundam charges towards it with GN Sword at thrusting stance, having its torso punctured and eventually sliced in half resulting in its destruction.
"That's it for the Aile Types. Now on to the fleet itself..." Having his machine store away both melee weapons the boy set his sights on the Siren ships that are already advancing in his location.
And with that Kuonji proceeds to command his machine towards the enemy fleet with evasive maneuvers avoiding enemy gunfire. While dealing against enemy aircraft with Vulcan fire the 0 Gundam draws out it beam rifle and fires away at the nearest Siren Destroyer, sinking it with six consecutive beam shots. He then steers his machine to an adjacent Destroyer and fires another six rounds of beam shots punching large holes at the hull and effectively sinking it as well.
Looking at his machine's weapons with a grin, "With a GN Drive my weapons have an almost unlimited ammo-Hm!?"
As his machine was about to close on its third target ship the Siren's Heavy Cruiser pair moves in along with a Destroyer and a Light Cruiser in an attempt to box in the 0 Gundam on all sides, trapping it while bombarding their target with Anti-Air(AA), hi-energy lasers, missiles and heavy cannon fire.
Seeing this development Kuonji inputted a command at his controls that made the 0 Gundam's shield expand at the edges and shouts, "GN Field!"
The shield then produces a light bubble made of yellowish-green particles that encloses the whole Gundam, preventing the enemy salvo from actually making contact with its armor.
"...That thing can also use a light barrier similar to the Ironblood's!?" Cerea backs away at few steps and falls on her feet after seeing this capability, "Just what in the world are these Gunpla... or 'Gundam' as he called it..."
Smiling more menacingly Kuonji sets his sights on the Siren Destroyer, "The GN Field's working properly, too. Now then...!"
With GN Field active the 0 Gundam charges through enemy fire and rams into the Destroyer-type's starboard, severely damaging the small vessel and finishes it off with three beam rifle shots. After that it then flies above the other three Siren ships, draws out its bazooka and with a perfect timing of deactivating its GN Field, rains down a volley of beam and GN Explosives, sinking all of them simultaneously.
"That's six of them down. Now for the remaining-huh?" As his machine is reloading its bazooka with the remaining spare ammo a few Siren jets are dashing towards it firing their missiles and machine gun. This however was intercepted by a squadron of fairey swordfish and fairey fulmars that shoots down the black jets, saving Kuonji the effort of attacking them.
"Huff, huff..." The little girl in white is standing at the aircraft carrier's middle runway, posing there as if she's commanding the biplanes to attack these black fighter jets and the Siren ships.
"Wow, did that little miss do that?" Kuonji murmured whilst looking at the girl in white on a close-up window, "Heh, all the more reason not to slack off!"
Meanwhile the Siren aircraft carrier still advances toward the white girl's ship, launching more fighter jets against it. Its escort ships are also throttling their engines at full speed, and the remaining 105 Daggers stayed on the Siren carrier's runway acting both as guards and rear support.
"You guys won't be coming any closer to her!" Kuonji roared in excitement as his 0 Gundam bombards the Siren ships with heavy beams and GN Explosives at full salvo, crippling the Siren Battleship-type and halting both light cruiser-types in their tracks.
In response the Siren fleet then redirects their attention at the lone flying Gundam at their port-side. Though the larger ships were unable to move away from their position they still manage to deliver an overwhelming display of defensive capabilities as they shower the 0 Gundam with deadly energy rounds to keep it away from the rest of Siren Fleet. However this doesn't stop Kuonji from landing his machine at the battleship-type's deck and spams it with beam rifle shots until it's completely destroyed.
"I'm out of solid ammo, huh..." Boost-jumping into a stationary Siren light Cruiser and having his machine discard its bazooka into the ocean Kuonji inputs another command on his control panel that made his Gunpla unleash another weapon hidden on its shield, "It's clobberin' time then..."
Fired like a missile from its shield, a spike-ball style GN Hammer smashes to the light Cruiser's Bridge Tower that literally tears it apart from the rest of its body. The 0 Gundam then retracts the weapon with the attached cable and swings it once again at the Siren ship, this time it hits the deck and breaks the vessel in half, sinking it quickly.
"Two smaller ones, an immobile medium-sized one and the big plane spammer. Alright, just a little more-hm?" As his machine flies away from the sinking Siren ship a hi-energy reddish beam races through just beside its shield, making Kuonji focus more on his left side, "So they've decided to come at me with everything they had, huh?"
The 105 Sword Daggers boost-jumps from Siren carrier's deck edge and into the immobile light cruiser defending it while the Launcher Daggers fires their beam cannons, staying into the carrier's runway acting as support firepower. At that time the Gunbarrel Dagger charges solo towards the 0 Gundam with beam saber deployed attempting to slash down its chest, only to be blocked by a GN Shield.
"You're the lead machine, right?" Said Kuonji as he was about to activate another weapon system at his controls while his machine grapples with the Gunbarrel Dagger, "Then I'll finish you off first-Khh!?" however...
One of the Sword Daggers then fires its rocket anchor and manages to ensnare the 0 Gundam's right arm preventing it to properly aim its beam rifle. The Gunbarrel Dagger uses this opportunity to push further its attack but was kicked away by the GN Drive powered machine.
"You're not going to let go, right?" Kuonji mused as the 0 Gundam passes its beam rifle from its right hand to the left, grabs the anchor cable tightly and throttles up his machine's power output, "Then hold on tight!"
The 0 Gundam then lifts up and throws the Sword Dagger into the air with sheer brute force, swinging in full arc then violently pommels it against the Gunbarrel Dagger that made it crash into the waters below. The poor dangling enemy unit was later then swiveled downwards and slams into the remaining immobile Siren light cruiser, severely damaging both units and triggering a massive explosion, destroying both units and throws off the other Sword Dagger into the ocean.
"That was fun. Who's next?" Kuonji then set his sights on the two Launcher Daggers, still on board the Siren Carrier and firing off potshots at his machine.
Storing away its beam rifle the 0 Gundam then draws out its GN long sword and charges toward one of the Launcher Daggers while dodging all of its attacks, cutting both arms when its gotten at an ideal range then finishes off with a diagonal slash to the chest, blowing up afterwards. The other Launcher Dagger uses the opportunity to fire off its beam cannon aiming at its GN Drive cone, only to have its attack evaded in time and countered with a GN Hammer smash. The impact was enough to crush the Launcher Dagger's chest unit and gets thrown off into the ocean, creating a water spout during its destruction.
"Whew, everything's so busy around here..." Pausing for a second Kuonji takes a quick look of his surroundings, seeing the Siren Destroyers and figher jets were all too busy fending off the white biplanes that continuously bombards them, "Now then..."
Meanwhile the still intact Sword Dagger silently climbs back to the Siren carrier's deck edge and makes a boost dash against the 0 Gundam, attempting to stab it from behind using the anti-ship sword. When the sword was about to make contact on its GN Drive cone the 0 Gundam quickly cartwheels left side and severs the hand that holds it with a GN Long Sword half downward swing, continues it to a shield bash and finally ends the chain attack with a vertical slice at the torso, defeating the enemy Gunpla in the process. As he confirms that it's no longer moving Kuonji focuses on the Sword Dagger's armaments...
"...I'm gonna borrow this for a while!" Picking up a boomerang from the fallen Sword Dagger, the 0 Gundam throws it at the Siren Carrier's superstructure that cuts the ship's bridge tower in half. With their command ship in flames the Siren jets began to move in an erratic pattern, either zigzagging in flight or crashing into the ocean for no apparent reason.
Afterwards Kuonji commands his machine to pick up the Anti-ship sword and along with its GN Long Sword, the 0 Gundam flies around the Siren Carrier doing slash attack combos that lay waste on its deck and body structure until a series of explosions consume the enemy vessel. Satisfied from the damage he had done on the carrier Kuonji then proceeds to target the remaining Siren Destroyer ships, with his machine lunging at the first target using the looted weapon to cut through it vertically and then boost-jumping towards the second to slice its body structure horizontally, sinking all enemy ships simultaneously.
"Huff, huff... The primary targets' already taken down. Now all that's left is...!" A slightly exhausted Kuonji is catching his breath at the controls but at the same time he's also looking for a particular unit that he didn't finish off earlier, Until...
The Gunbarrel Dagger suddenly emerges from the water and flies into the air, deploying its remote weapons and beam rifle to surround and out-gun the 0 Gundam with an all-range attack. The moment it unleashes the dreaded attack the 0 Gundam's shield produces a GN Field, protecting it from the beam and solid projectiles that Kuonji exploits as he command his machine to charge towards the enemy unit at full speed. Seconds later the 0 Gundam's GN field has been deactivated but at the same time it already punctured the Gunbarrel Dagger's chest unit using the stolen Anti-ship sword, stopping the all-angle barrage. Kuonji decides to let the black machine fall on its own along with the sword, where it explodes into the waters below.
"Ugh, I almost used up all of my energy reserves back there... Good thing GN Drive powered machines recharges gradually..." Readying for another wave of enemies Kuonji firmly grips his controls, "Okay, what's next?"
...But contrary to his expectations and much like what happened before the mission a pop-up window appears on his screen. Reading the notification he finally relaxes on his grip at the controls and wave around his arms, somewhat feeling numbness all over his body and makes a deep sigh afterwards.
"All Hostiles Destroyed. All Ally Units Survived. Stage 1 Complete!"
"He single-highhandedly destroyed an entire fleet along with those machines so easily..." Trembling in fear Cerea had an expression as if she saw a monster in action, "Even Ms. Akagi or Ms. Enterprise had the hard time taking down those by themselves..."
"Huff, huff... Haahh..." The little girl in white also takes a break, sitting on her ship's deck in a lazy manner. Exhausted and unable to stand from the previous battle she takes her time catching her breath and holding her chest as if trying to slow down her heartbeat.
"Looks like this time it's really over, huh?" Kuonji mused to himself, "Well, better go back to the ship..." thinking that he would be receiving his rewards back at the starting point.
"Hey, at least you can talk to her, right?" The elf Diver interjects, having a pouting face at Kuonji's chat window.
"Eh...?" Kuonji had raised an eyebrow as a response, "NPD's don't give rewards directly, so there's no need to-"
"Come on, it's not like you'll lose something if you talk to her!" Cerea was rather eager to make him interact with the little girl, "This is a brand-new mission after all, so she might give some extras if you just get out of your machine and ask her if she's alright!"
"Ahh..." The little girl in white is staring at the flying humanoid machine with a mixed expression of amazement and curiosity, as the light particles that it emits on its back creates a pattern that makes it look like a four-winged angel.
"...Right, it was written on the Mission Details that the NPDs will give you an extra reward if you complete the Secret Conditions..." The boy thought to himself and replies to Cerea with, "Well, okay..."
Convinced from Cerea's words Kuonji landed the 0 Gundam onto the ship's deck where the little girl is resting. Opening a window command at his control panel Kuonji creates a terminal port from his cockpit but before he exits from his machine he activates a costume change module from his personal Holo-panel. At first she was a bit scared seeing it up close but after witnessing a person materializes outside the white and gray machine the little girl in white stands up and ran towards it to see who's the one that helped her during the whole ordeal. But when she's about to call out the man...
Stopping midway in her steps, "Uh-Uhm, Thank you very much... mister..." The little girl said to him, albeit quite intimidated from his appearance as she could not see his face due to it being covered by a shiny black helmet that reflects her image.
"...It's my mission." Kuonji replied, now in a full-body black space suit, with a voice where he is attempting to sound like a mysterious cool guy, "B-But I-I'm not some s-suspicious person or a-anything..." however he stuttered in his words after seeing the little girl's reaction towards him.
"Uh-Uhm, let me see..." Rummaging through her little bag the girl then pulls out a few colorful round and square objects and offers it to Kuonji, "H-Here, have some candies..."
A notification screen then pops out on Kuonji's helmet, and what was written on it confirms the contents of Extra Rewards upon completion of Secret Conditions.
"Received a Bonus Reward: Royal Navy Confectioneries."
Receiving the items with his left hand, "Uhh, Mmm, thanks..." tilting his head the boy had a dissatisfied look behind his mask, "This is the bonus reward...?"
"..." The young girl stared at him with a curious look on her face, seemingly anticipating on what is he going to do on his rewards.
"What?" Looking back at the girl Kuonji asks in a monotone voice.
"A-Aren't you going to eat it?" Putting her hands behind and slightly swaying her leg the little girl muses with a meek look, "I'm sure it's tasty..."
"I will going to eat it." Kuonji then puts the sweets on a side pocket of his space suit, "But not right now. I still have things to do." and he nodded as response.
"M'kay..." The little girl in white shows a dejected expression from the strange man's words, unable to see his happy face while eating the confectioneries.
"Well, I have to go now..." Kuonji stated, deciding to end this conversation event and activates his holo-panel to get back to his machine.
"Uhm, wait!" The little girl in white calls out to the person in black, having a look that she seems to request something difficult.
"...Huh?" The boy turns his head towards the girl, puzzled on what did she want from him.
"Can I ask...what your name is?" The little girl in white brings her right hand to her chest, "I-I'm Illustrious, a Kansen who aims to become an elegant Carrier of the Royal Navy in the future!" she said in a sincere tone, "If it's alright, I want to know the name of my savior..."
"Kansen, as in the one mentioned in the Mission profile?" The boy thought to himself as he stares at the little girl in white, "It only said that 'They're warriors born from crystallized soul of warships, and they're this world's last hope against those otherworldly invaders that are called Sirens'... Man, the Admins should've thought about adding content on the lore a bit more, it doesn't make sense to me at all..."
"U-Uhm, excuse me..." Waiting for an answer the Little Illustrious asks again this time with a smile, "Your name, please?"
With the helmet's visor reflecting the little girl, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that yet..." replied Kuonji, giving off a mysterious vibe on his line.
"Ah, Okay..." Little Illustrious then steps back and looks down with another dejected look, "I-I'm sorry, please forget what I said..."
"But if we meet again I'll tell you my name..." Said Kuonji as he does a two-finger salute before pushing the button on his Holo-panel, "Well, I better get going." then moments later he disappeared into his machine.
With its eyes glow in green and light particles escaping from its GN Drive cone the 0 Gundam flies away from the carrier, heading towards its original location.
"Ahh..." With eyes gleaming in awe she looks at the humanoid machine as it flies away from her, "Till we meet again... I wonder when it will be..." the young Kansen pondered to herself.
"Aww, you mean I can't get the main reward until I finish the whole Story Mission!?" Checking his Holo-panel Kuonji uttered to himself, "Oh well, guess I'll do this all the way then..."
Sometime later the 0 Gundam then arrives at the starting point set up as a damaged ship, landing first at the deck and goes inside a hastily built docking bay. The Elf Diver then walk towards the machine with a smile on her face, but the moment she saw the boy in person...
"Geez, what was that about?" Having her arms at waist Cerea had a raised eyebrow as she asks about the boy's interaction with Little Illustrious.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Getting out of his machine and now in his Karaba getup Kuonji steps back as he was taken aback from the Elf Diver's sudden interrogation.
"Being secretive and all that..." Told Cerea while raising her right hand in an arguing manner, "You could've just said you're an ally of justice, or something like that."
"You were watching me all this time?" Kuonji thought and said, "I don't think it's a good idea to easily give my identity in that world setting, I could alter it in a bad way..." and then he continued with a stern expression, "And it seems that world isn't meant to have those kind of machines as their enemies..."
"Well, you're not wrong with that..." Cerea's expression suddenly changes to an astonished one, "So he already thought out that far..."
"...Or something like that~" Kuonji smiles like an idiot with a left thumbs up, "But it's fine just like that, right? I want to play the mysterious hero type who comes in that world to save the day!"
"Uhh okay, I guess it's fine..." The Elf Diver had a huge sweat-drop after hearing this from Kuonji, "I can't really tell what this guy is thinking..." she thought to herself.
Changing the topic, "So, how's your first impression of this Story mission?" Cerea asks in a worried expression, "Are you going to continue?"
After a few moments of silently thinking the boy answered the Elf Diver's question.
"...It was good. I guess I'll come back again for more." Kuonji replied with a smirk in his lips, "I'm looking forward to that main reward given at the end of this mission, so next time ready your Gunpla if you want to get the rewards, too."
"I-I see, okay..." Relieved from his reply Cerea faintly smiled and silently muttered, "Thank you. Thank you so much for saving Illustrious-senpai..."
"...Hm? you were saying something?" Kuonji asks with a confused look, unable to hear what did she said at the end of her lines.
"A-Ah, Nothing! N-None at all!" Smiling wryly the Elf Diver waved both her hands in panic, "P-Please don't mind me!"
"Uhh, Okay, right..." Ignoring her awkward gestures Kounji checks the time with his Holo-panel and said, "Well, I'll be going now. How about you?" He asked.
"Oh me? I'll stay a bit longer..." Snapping out of his panic mode Cerea replies with a vibrant smile, "I want to look around here a little more. I'll contact you again for the next stage."
"I see, so see you later then." The boy then inputs something on his Holo-panel that activates a countdown window, in which a faint circle of light appears on his feet.
"Bu-bye~" Cerea then raises her left hand and waves at him, happily sending him off with a bright smile.
Logging out of the game in a way similar how Kuonji escaped from her the first time a pillar of light engulfs his body along with his Gunpla, and in a moment he and his machine disappears from the vicinity. After he's gone Cerea mellowed out her smile and makes a despondent face when she looks at her surroundings.
Still in the so-called 'Starting Point' Cerea walks around the battered aircraft carrier, having a distant look on her face. She then goes into the deck and takes a glance of the seemingly endless ocean, feeling the wind at first and then narrowing her eyes expressing bitter resentment.
"...This place, this scene, this feeling... This is not an artificial illusion, it's our world... It's our very own unique reality..."
Lowering her head she then closes her eyes and places both of her hands to her chest, much like how one would offer a prayer to a higher being.
"Please, let that boy be the one who will lead us to our salvation..." Cerea mutters in a pleading tone, "With his help, we can change our world's fate... we can save our sisters and friends... We can save Azur Lane..."
Stage 1: The First Contact