Chapter 1 - The Soldier
/_\
[Cryo Stasis System: Disengaging Pods 1 - 4000]
[Initiate Protocol A-66]
[Confirmation Received: Previous Unit Terminated]
[Awaiting Orders: Confirmed - System Diagnostic Engaged]
[Checking Life Support: Success]
[Checking Database: Success]
[Checking Internal Systems For Errors: Failed]
[Cause: Unknown]
[Request Attempted: Self Repair]
[Request Approved Automatically: Confirmed]
[Initiate Internal System Self-Repair]
[System Self-Repair Attempt(s): 1048]
[Failed Attempt(s): 1048]
[Self Repair Failed: Assistance Required]
[Diagnostic Results Sent To [Redacted] - Confirmed]
[Re-Orientate System To New Primary Objective]
[New Request Received: Awaken Soldier-312]
[Request Approved: Initiating Revival Protocol]
[Initiate Pod Reactivation - Success]
/_\
POV: First Person
Deep Underground - Facility R066
Everything felt cold, some parts felt numb because of how cold it was. It was hard to feel certain parts of my body, let alone move it. I slowly opened my eyes but was only greeted by darkness and a deafening silence. It was hard to tell anything around me, like the wariness of having just woken up far too early for anyone's liking.
All I knew was that I was laying across some sort of table with a reflective glass dome stopping me from leaving the table. And luckily, I was dressed in what appeared to be a jumpsuit of sorts. White, clean, if a tiny bit wet.
Minutes went by before my senses returned to me, my body warmed up, I could nearly feel my entire body once again, my motor skills returned to me in full, my senses adjusted, especially my eyes to the darkness. I could finally start piecing together where I was, and what I slowly found out didn't exactly sit well with me.
Not that many things have sat well with me for the past while…
First, my memories slowly returned to me in flashes and sequences. I began to recall everything that happened to me prior to waking up here. The kidnapping, the speeches of grandeur, the rigorous training, the skills I had been taught, how they wished to make the best survivors they could to fill the roles they needed, but also of all the secrets my captors refused to tell me during my time as their prisoner. The hearsay, the whispers, the things that were kept from me.
Second, how long had it been since then? It had been well over two years before I began hearing my captors saying my training program was nearing its end. That it was time for me to join the other saviors.
Whatever that meant.
Although I had ideas, I could prove none of them right now.
Deciding to prioritize the present over the past I began examining the capsule I found myself in. It didn't take long to piece together what exactly I was in. I was in a cryo-stasis chamber. It explained why I felt the way I did, I had been educated on all sorts of advanced tech whilst I was a prisoner and cryo-stasis chambers had been one of them.
Why they'd bother to teach me this at the time eluded me, but it seems I might have gotten my answer in the end.
But that also raised another concern.
I'd been put under stasis by my captors at some point, likely having been drugged at the time because I last recall falling asleep in the room/cell they'd provided me, but for how long?
There was no way I could tell, and from what I'd learned during my forced education lessons, I learned that these stasis chambers could theoretically hold someone for over a thousand years. But that's pushing the tech to its absolute limits.
Beyond that no human could keep the chamber functional, it was too difficult a task to repair an active chamber without killing the occupant in the process. Besides, it would take generations of engineers to keep it running, one of them was bound to make a mistake. That was just human error.
I looked to the top right corner of the chamber to find the access lever. I reached up and pulled the lever with all the strength I could muster.
As soon as I heard a click, the chamber hissed as the airtight seal broke. The glass dome of the chamber lifted up and off, tilting over to the right, freeing me from its confines. I pulled myself out of the chamber, looking around my surroundings for any clues as to where I was.
I was in a singular room with practically nothing inside it. There was a terminal of some kind not far from my chamber, what looked like a doctor's examination table, and a cushioned bench near the only door to the room.
As soon as my feet met the ground the lights in the room turned on, as dim as it might have been it helped brighten up the room. A line on the floor lightened up in a blue hue, pulsing in a way that the light traveled along the line to and out the door.
"Screams "follow me"," I thought as I watched the light for a moment, "Let's hope it leads to answers as to where the fuck I am." Another hiss broke me from that thought as I turned to see the cryo-chamber I'd just been in close itself before it was pulled back into the wall. As soon as it was beyond the wall border the wall sealed itself shut with a metal hatch.
"No going back it seems." With little other options, I made my way over toward the door without so much of a stumble on the way. The door didn't automatically open for me, but the panel on the right-hand side had a simple enough twisting mechanism that opened the door as soon as I turned it.
On the other side, I was greeted by long metal, off-white colored hallways, stretching in both directions an equal distance. Either way, it seemed like it would be a long walk.
As soon as I stepped out into the hallway the door behind me hissed shut, and the lights in the hallway dimmed drastically to near total darkness. Three seconds later a series of pulsing floor lights lined between the walls and floor lit up, and began moving along the floor down the right hallway.
"Well, I'm obviously meant to follow the lights," I thought, "A bit over dramatic for my tastes though. Ominous lights guiding my way? Really?" Another worrying thought that came to mind was how these lights knew to turn on.
Did that mean I was being watched?
Probably.
I was kidnapped, forcibly trained into a special ops soldier, and then put into a cryo-sleep. I had doubts I just happened to wake up with nobody watching me. There was the odd chance that it was all motion sensors but wouldn't that activate everything and not just these guide lights?
I sighed in frustration, "I'll have to play ball for now if I'm being watched. Can't risk drawing too much attention to myself." Then again, wouldn't they likely expect that from me?
Fuck it, problems for later. Let's get here and now over with first, everything else can come later once I figure out what the fuck is going on.
I moved to follow the lights at a brisk but steady pace. I didn't want to overly strain myself, not just after a cryo-nap like the one I just awoke from. I was still feeling some of its side effects, some numbness here and there that might be cause for concern if it didn't ware off in time.
It took me a surprising amount of time to reach my destination which only reinforced the idea that this place was massive. I passed by several different kinds of doors with varying degrees of security protecting them. I didn't attempt to break into any of these places, mainly because I was still of the belief I was being watched but also because I had fuck all except the clothes on my back to actually try break in with. I wasn't exactly packing for a heist or something.
"All the training they gave me is useless without the right tools," I paused for a second, thinking back to some of the more inventive skills they thought me, "Actually, maybe a fucking paperclip and enough time is all I need."
I continued down the hallway until I came to where the lights running along the floor moved onto the walls around a door, a glowing door that just screamed open me.
With little else I could do, I approached the door until I was two feet away. The door activated, with more lights spreading across its steel frame. A circular light was projected onto the ground in front of the door before a robotic voice spoke out.
"Bio-Scan Required: Enter Scan Zone." The tone was authoritative and feminine sounding, like it was a command more than a request but it also seemed as though the voice wasn't hostile. The robotic ring to it blatantly indicated the system was automatic, I had doubts there was a human operating it behind the curtain. I wouldn't say it was impossible, but I'd yet to see another living soul.
As much as I might want to resist anything to do with those bastards that kidnapped me, I have little choice but to comply. My way was blocked otherwise, and I wasn't gotten get answers sitting around doing fuck all.
"Why bother scanning me if I'm the only one around right now?" I thought as I stepped into the circle. As soon as my whole body was in the scan zone, it commenced with speed. The circle rotated around my feet for several seconds before it dissipated.
"Bio-Scan Complete: Human Detected. Entry Authorized." The same robotic feminine voice spoke out once again. A second later I heard the mechanism shift inside the door and its frame as what I assumed to be the locks became undone.
The whole process made me wonder what exactly they were trying to keep out if only humans were allowed access. The hiss of the doors brought me back from within my own thoughts.
The door opened horizontally, with the doors disappearing into the door frame either side of the hallway. I was greeted with a darker room with the same pulsing floor light guiding me to where I needed to go.
I walked in, and as soon as I did, the lights in the room activated. For a second the light was blinding, forcing me to shield my eyes, giving them time to adjust before eventually peeling my hand away to see the room before me.
The room was far larger than the room I had woken up in. At the far end, completely opposite the entrance way was a massive screen spreading across the room, and reached from floor to near the ceiling. On the far left and right walls stretched walls of what I assumed were servers used for storing whatever data this facility had. The servers themselves were inside protective glass and steel casings. Although see-through you could tell the glass was well over 200mm of ballistic shielding surrounding the servers from all sides with metal framework holding it all together.
That wouldn't be easy to penetrate by any means.
"Fuck it," I thought as I looked away from the servers back to the rest of the room, "I'll figure out what's really on those servers another time." Whatever it was, it was clearly worth protecting.
In the center, in a semi-circle in front of the massive screen, were various control or computing consoles. The kind of thing you'd see in NASA, except they looked far more robust and modern. Futuristic even, which is saying a lot considering everything I'd seen in the facility thus far.
In between the semi-circle of consoles, and the massive screen was a small platform elevated off the ground slightly by two steps. The lights I'd been following up until this point now circled the platform, once again guiding me to follow it and stand atop it.
"Man, this is straight out of a sci-fi game." I thought as I crept over to the platform, "Is Mr House gonna pop up on the screen and ask me for the platinum chip? He's gonna be disappointed if that's the case."
Taking my place on the raised platform, the lights on the floor dimmed whilst the screen activated. Words appeared across the screen like a computer's command menu, various lines of code appeared on screen before moving up allowing more commands to be written.
At the end of the line, the words Project Salvation appeared before the screen turned white. A voice box appeared in the top-right corner of the screen, alongside various files running down the left side.
"Greetings Roman White," A new robotic voice spoke, more masculine than the previous one I'd heard at the door. "I am Cid, the artificial intelligence associated with this facility, and the one assigned to help safeguard humanity."
I was surprised the AI spoke my name in greeting, but the AIs self introduction was something I couldn't ignore either. I didn't get the chance to speak before Cid continued.
"I'm certain you have many questions, and I will answer them once I'm able, but we have a briefing to proceed through first." Cid began, which confused me.
"Briefing?" I asked, "Are you gonna explain what the fuck is going on here?"
"I'm certain some of what I am about to say will answer some of your questions, whatever isn't answered will have to wait for a later time," Cid explained.
I scowled at that. "Business first it seems, I doubt my personal concerns and questions will be answered any time soon." I relented, my face relaxed into a more neutral expression. "Let's get on with it then."
"Indeed," Cid acknowledged, "To begin, I shall explain your purpose here as you are no doubt wondering why you are here in the first place."
I remained silent, allowing Cid to continue their explanation.
"You, Roman White, were found to be highly resistant, near immune, to the disease that ravaged humanity thousands of years ago during mass examinations of the public internationally. The virus, White Chlorination Syndrome, was spreading at a rate far faster than anticipated with nobody being able to slow its devastating effects. The end of mankind was in sight with little hope for survival." Cid explained, whilst I listened as best I could, "With that conclusion drawn, an international organization was created to capture, and protect those found with the best resistance to the viruses and diseases so that humanity would survive."
"You were taken to this facility because you were one of the few with near immunity to the illness, and so must be protected from the chaos that descended on the world once the concept of a possible extinction of humanity came into the public light." There was a small pause before the AI spoke again, "The world descended into chaos as wars, crime, anarchy, and insanity gripped the people. With the world falling apart, it was decided that the immune populous would be trained to rebuild the world once it all turned to dust. Once your training was complete, you were to await your time to return to help rebuild humanity."
Cid's next words shook me to my core.
"Humanity as you knew it is dead."
I… I said nothing. I could say nothing. Any words or questions that tried to make their way out died in my throat. That… that took the wind out of my sail, many of the questions I had being pushed to the back of my mind.
"The world… is dead…?" My mind raced with various thoughts, ranging from my friends and family, loved ones, and colleagues. "Am I… the only one to make it out?" In all likelihood, all of them probably died because of some fucking virus. I was just hit with the genetic jackpot, with near immunity to the fucking thing. "They're all gone." The thought hurt, like my heart broke once for every single person in my life that I would no longer be able to see.
"I understand your pain," Cid said, interrupting my thoughts, and although I doubt the AI understood the emotion behind what I was feeling I figured he meant he could logically understand my pain. All Cid had was a basic understanding of what I was going through. "If you require time to recompose yourself then you can, you must be in the right state of mind for the rest of the briefing."
For a moment I said nothing, taking a deep breath to steady my mind and heart. "Thanks, but I'll be fine." And I would be, I knew deep down I'd be able to continue on. But it didn't stop the stinging pain of it all. "So, I'm here because of my… near immunity to the viruses that destroyed the world, but why am I awake now?" Better to get answers and distract myself, ignore the stinging sensation in my chest and push through it.
"You were awakened because we have inched closer to attaining the cure for White Chlorination Syndrome." My brows furrowed at that but Cid continued, "And you were chosen to get us to the end."
"Chosen? Why was I chosen exactly? Or was I chosen randomly?" I thought but speaking another question that wiggled its way into my thoughts. "What do you mean we've inched closer? Who exactly got us this far?"
"Others like you have brought us to now. Soldiers trained like you were awoken before you, sent on missions to retrieve the cure." I took note of how he specifically said soldiers instead of people. "Unfortunately, they did not succeed. They failed to retrieve everything required for the cure and perished in its pursuit."
"They died?" I instinctively asked. It was a harrowing thought that people were sent out to find the cure but ultimately perished in their search for it. Even worse a thought that I'm apparently next in line to throw myself onto the sword.
"Yes, the requirements to find the cure are dangerous." Cid paused, allowing information to appear on screen, "Gigantic facilities built within the region, as well as within Deep Reach, were constructed in secret, housing everything needed to find the cure. Within these facilities and levels are devices related to Quantum Travel." My brows shot up upon hearing that last tidbit. "The cure does not lie in the present, but in the future."
"...does that mean?" My mind asked before my mouth followed, "Are you saying time travel is actually possible?"
"It is. It has been done before." Cid confirmed, the AI continued before I could ask him to elaborate further, "Before the virus had only begun to grip humanity, researchers had united in their effort to find a cure. Combined with the Quantum Matter Wave Projector technology they had, they had found the cure could not be found in the present, but in the future. Plants and other materials taken from their brief time in the future showed potential for a cure but nothing could be made of it in such small doses."
"Although they failed to find the cure, it only confirmed the fact the cure was out there. They just had to find it," Cid explained, showing images of various machines, devices, and data probably from the Quantum tech he'd mentioned. "Their research revealed the fact that the cure was infantile in nature, and that their Quantum Matter Wave technology was limited in its reach. They could only jump so far into the future at the time, and they couldn't go back beyond the present day. So it was determined that the only way to retrieve the cure was to wait many thousands of years, and again try find the cure with the Quantum Matter Wave Projector used before, the theory being that the further they were into the future the further their tech could jump in the timeline, finally retrieve the required components for the cure, and return to the present."
"I can already see where this is going…" It didn't take a genius to follow along the logical thought process they must have had.
"Before they could do anything though, the virus's grip on humanity tightened, with many of the researchers succumbing to the disease. The last few that remained joined with other organizations that wished for humanity to survive, and the result of that cooperation is the facility you find yourself in."
"And they needed the people resilient enough to survive once they woke up?" I asked, having already guessed that was the case. It made sense, who would survive long enough to find the cure? Who were the ones worth putting time and effort into saving for the sake of the species?
It was obvious.
The ones that could actually survive the fucking virus.
At least, survive it for a time until they managed to find a cure.
"Correct once again," Cid confirmed, "This is one of the facilities created to safeguard the last remnants of humanity until the time was right. Multiple facilities were created to better the odds of survival if anything were to happen on the surface." More images of the surface above appeared on screen. "And things most certainly have happened on the surface since humanity abandoned it."
Images of the wasteland above, the destroyed and flooded cities. The machine lifeforms in all their forms and glory, from the largest to the smallest, the most animalistic to ones that looked as though they were mimicking primitive human behavior.
But the one thing that caught my attention was the…
"Why do the androids have to be sexy?" I thought as I examined the images of various androids. White-haired beauties, wearing shit any warm-blooded creature would feel something about. "Is this some kind of joke? Or is there actually a god?"
"Considering what the fuck I was, am, into there might be some belovelent being out there looking out for me." I, reluctantly, tore my eyes away and back to the little AI face in the corner to catch what Cid was saying.
"-with few other options, YoRHa was created as one of the last bastions for humanity. An organization that would one-day aid humanity in re-building, or perhaps what might be its salvation." I couldn't help but feel some level of embarrassment for missing the AIs explanation. Being distracted by images of sexy androids wasn't really a good excuse for missing important world history. Still, having caught the tall end of the explanation I could salvation something from it.
"So I'll be making contact with YoRHa at some point?" I asked, attempting to concentrate on the task at hand and avoid certain… images on screen. The idea of making contact with these YoRHa androids though… that was another distracting matter altogether.
"You will be, at the right time, which is soon." The AI answered, "To better safeguard the last remnants of humanity, YoRHa was left in the dark about these facilities and given the cover story to better direct humanity's enemies away from their true safe zones."
"Cover story?" I muttered, barely loud enough to be heard but something Cid seemingly still heard.
"Indeed, to better protect these facilities, all information on the surface points to humanity being located on the surface of the moon, within a lunar station that extends deeper into the moon's core." Wasn't expecting that, but I had to admit it sounded possible. Given the situation I found myself in anything was possible. "And to some extent, it is also accurate but those sent there were those who didn't have the same immunity as you do. They had hoped to escape all the dangers of the planet, but their efforts ultimately failed."
"All remnants of humanity are held within bunkers underground. Just how many people were there left again?" I thought. Surely, with the limited time they had to prepare they couldn't rescue many. And then with what Cid said about the virus, only a limited gene pool could actually survive at present time. It made the survival of the human race much harder.
"None of them made it?" I asked, confirming the worst had actually transpired when Cid admitted it as fact.
"They all perished in time, leaving only traces of their presence for the androids to follow." Cid confirmed. "That's the way it's been for centuries, androids following the wishes of their creators without realizing they were the wishes of the dead."
"Alright, calm the fuck down, stop making it sound so dark and bleak…" My mind blanked the AI on some of his words. I'd just been told that humanity was near extinction and that I'd lost everything of my old life, I didn't need the bleak existence of the androids thrown in on top of that.
"Given the opportunity, the lie should be kept in order to maintain the peace among the androids," Cid explained, images of the androids coming up again which immediately drew my attention for reasons he refuses to be ashamed of. "Although you will need to do little for your part regarding this matter."
"That shouldn't be an issue."I said, eyes still roaming over the imagery on screen. Shamelessly I might add.
"For now you should prepare yourself," Cid continued, "Given you were in stasis for so long it would be recommended to consume appropriate food and change out of your current attire."
I glanced down at the gown I was in and found I couldn't agree more, the sooner I was out of this rag the better. As for the food?
Growl
My stomach agreed wholeheartedly with Cid's assessment. Food sounded good right about now, like really fucking good. Unfortunately, my brain, ever the killjoy, figured the food available in this facility was probably the ration shit soldiers in the field got or something that could be preserved indefinitely if required.
That put a swift damper on my momentarily brightened mood.
"Fuck whoever created that paste-like shit to begin with." I thought, shuddering at the thought of having to eat that crap for the rest of my life. "Please let there be meat and veg in my future." All I could do was hope someone out there was listening to my pleas.
"Head toward the supply room and personal storage room to locate the food required and your assigned personal belongings," Cid informed me.
Shaking any other mood-destroying thoughts out of my mind, I moved to leave the command room as Cid said. As I do the same lights that had guided me here now lit up a different color, perhaps indicating it was leading me the supply room and my personal locker. I guess.
With a heavy sigh, I headed off into the unfamiliar facility once again.
/_\
POV: Third Person
The food was as shit as expected, but that thought was shoved to the side for the moment.
Roman couldn't help but stare at the new, fresh clothes in his hands. They were clearly more practically minded with function in mind, they were literally a military outfit. Not one from any army he'd ever seen but then again he doubted his captors really belonged to any army of a specific nation given their global reach. Hell, they looked like a cross between what a soldier would wear, perhaps a survivalist adventurer if not a full soldier. They spoke volumes about what Roman was expected to do, even though he knew what was expected of him to some degree, but they were better than the cryo jumpsuit he was wearing, so he changed into them swiftly. Starting with his lower body and working his way up.
The fact they fit so perfectly didn't go unnoticed but no comment was made about it.
In his designated locker were not just clothes, alongside spares, but also his dog tags. Roman picked them up to examine them closer and found both his name, date of birth, blood type, and his newly minted identification number.
SO-312
Roman had never been in the army in any shape or form, this number was given to him by the people who had kidnapped him. During his tenure as a prisoner all those thousands of years ago, before the end times, his captors had never referred to him by name only by ID number.
Soldier-312
That was who he was to the people that basically ruined and saved his life in one foul swoop. A number. And judging by the number he'd been given he wasn't the first and he doubted he was the last either. How many were there in total exactly? Roman couldn't say. That all depended on how many were immune, or at least resistant to the virus on the surface. His immunity was clearly important and possibly why his captors had trained him to be a soldier, someone on the forefront of whatever dangers the people would face. Both in pursuit of the cure, and whatever might threaten their plan to rebuild.
They'd trained him to the absolute extremes in every way he could conceive. His physical ability and fitness were second to none, his firearms training made him absolutely lethal with any weapon, especially the more complex weapons, and even prototype weapons others simply couldn't operate, the survival skills he'd been taught would be able to get him out of almost any situation, and then came the technical skills. Again, maintaining, fixing, and building weapons, but he was also given some training in computers, hacking, programming, and even minor analytical skills, and other technical know-how. A relative technomancer in his opinion. Whatever his job was in this wasteland of a world, he was meant to take on some fierce resistance in some form to be trained in such diverse fields.
He'd even been given some pain resistance training too. Or so they called it. It was basically torture to a degree, non-lethal and only minor damage but high-intensity pain. With what Roman had learned just under an hour ago about the state of the world above and the fact his skills would be put to the test, this didn't bode well for whatever the hell he'd be up against in the coming days, months, or even years.
But an even more worrying thought was the fact he was alone in this facility.
Why was he alone? Why was he the only one awakened in this facility? Was he meant to take on some monumental task as a lone wolf? Sure, going it lone wolf was his preferred way of doing things. Nobody to slow you down, or pushing you to act too hastily. But Roman wasn't exactly a one-man army, he was a mortal man.
Like fuck he could take on the world and win.
Didn't mean he wouldn't try if he was pushed to but he knew a losing battle when he saw one.
And honestly, after hearing about the state of the world above, it sounded like a losing battle if not already a lost one. Humanity was dead on the surface, and those that remained underground in these various facilities would eventually die as well due to the plague that had first ravaged the planet of life.
And hope for a cure seemed to land on his shoulders, with his near immunity he could go to places others simply couldn't without succumbing to the virus.
Even if the surface has trace amounts of the virus left, it would eventually kill them given enough time, but he'd survive. Chances are if the virus managed to kill those with resistance to it then humanity would surely perish.
There weren't enough people immune to the virus to simply ignore it, a cure had to be found for the few survivors that remained to live long lives. The virus must perish, otherwise, everyone dies. That couldn't be allowed to happen.
Despite the fact that the people that had kidnapped him now expected him to save humanity by finding a cure, Roman was willing to go ahead with it. Regardless of how he wanted to spite the bastards for what they did to him, did to his life.
Because if there was one thing that people could say about Roman, it was the fact he couldn't turn his back on people in need.
One of his better traits, all things considered.
"Too big a heart sometimes…" Roman muttered to himself as he finished dressing himself. He really did feel like a soldier dressed like this, something he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to. A soldier wasn't what Roman expected he'd ever become, not of his own free will anyway, but it seems others made that choice for him.
But the cards were now in his hands, it was up to him to play them how he saw fit.
And, like always, it seems he'd be playing them for the sake of others.
He just hoped it would be enough if he couldn't play it perfectly.
/_\
"Roman White," Cid spoke, his voice echoing from the speakers slightly, "Are you ready for your mission briefing?" The man being asked had only just entered the room before Cid was on him to get a move on with his top-priority level mission.
"As ready as I can be," Roman replied as he stood in the center of the room once more.
"Understood," Cid spoke, several pictures appeared on the screen of various locations. They showed what seemed to be dilapidated facility entrances in severe disrepair. "Your mission is considered highly classified, and thus can't be discussed with anyone except authorized personnel. Personnel who will be identified at a later date as required. Do you understand?"
"I do," Roman answered resolutely. Cringing internally at how formal this was sounding. Curse his naturally casual attitude for making this horrendously awkward for him. Still, that little I do wasn't exactly an absolute promise. He'd have to see if that promise was ever broken or not in the future.
Images of the world once again appeared on screen, displaying the various facilities and locations, with the name of the operation written across the center.
Operation; New Dawn
I raised an eyebrow at the on-the-nose operation name but chose not to comment on it, leaving Cid to begin the briefing.
"SO-312," Roman bristled at the designation, "Your mission has been broken down into three main objectives. Objective One; Make contact with the androids on the surface and immediately locate a suitable location for re-colonization to begin. Once the location is secure, you will be joined by fellow human survivors tasked with rebuilding humanity."
"Human survivors?" Roman thought, a sense of excitement slowly building up inside him at the idea of meeting other humans once again. Isolation during his training certainly made his heart fonder for human interaction again.
Although, he wouldn't say no to android interaction.
Roman quickly shook that thought off, "Focus Roman, androids are for another fun time outside the mission. Maybe."
It was still good to hear that other humans would be joining him, however, he had to secure a suitable location before he had the chance to meet them. Would that be a difficult task, he didn't know. How bad was it up on the surface? He'd seen some of the images and whilst it certainly seemed like a wasteland for the most part there were still signs of life. Plants and animals, and all that.
"You can call upon the androids to aid in securing your desired location. Once your fellow survivors settle, you will move onto your second objective immediately." Well, that probably meant he wasn't going to get much time with more humans. Bollocks. "Objective Two; Make your way to facility X-343, Deep Reach, and begin operations to find, secure, and recover the cure for White Chlorination Syndrome. This objective will remain a priority and ongoing until completion, failure is not an option, all other objectives are secondary until the cure, and humanity's future is secured."
"Understood," Roman replied. It was probably one of the only things he'd ever agree with when it comes to the bastards that kidnapped him. He'd do everything in his power to achieve this objective, to find the cure to save humanity.
It wasn't out of a sense of duty though, but out of his own compassion.
Would that help his odds of success? Who the fuck knew? Many others like him had apparently failed when they had been assigned this task, so he had to bring something different to the table.
He wasn't going to go down without a fight.
"Acknowledged." Cid continued, "Objective Three; Once the cure has been secured, it must be delivered to the appropriate doctors and scientists who will reproduce the cure for mass distribution to all human survivors." Roman could have guessed that last one, what else was he supposed to do with it? Horde it all for himself?
"And after that?" Roman asked, curious as to what Cid might expect of him afterward everything was said and done.
"Tasks will be assigned as necessary, but ultimately you will be a tactical adviser and military leader of the human colonies. Your mission would be to safeguard mankind against any and all threats as you see fit from your tactical point of view. Humans and androids combined fall under your command for any combat-related issue." Cid clarified for Roman.
"So I'm a military general?" Roman asked mostly to himself, ignoring the fact Cid actually answered with a correction of what he was supposed to be. He was basically the commander of military operations for mankind as it rebuilds.
That sounded cool as fuck, but also like hell to actually do when the time came.
Roman really wasn't the military type, but fuck him right? Like his opinion on the matter actually mattered in the long run. If humanity was to survive everyone had to play their assigned role, and his just so happened to be a combat and lead role.
Much to his distaste.
"You said military leader," Roman pointed out, "So does that mean I'd be leading alongside others?"
"Correct," Cid swiftly confirmed, "You will be assigned a human partner who will be your civil liaison, their role to lead the more domestic civil affairs whilst your lead the defense and military sides of the colony." So only one other leader huh? A very centralized leader system we had going it seemed, was that a good thing? It would help when it comes to making decisions as they could be made fast with the input of only two required before making a move.
And given how humanity was going to need firm and decisive leaders this concept of leadership seemed to work.
"I'm so assigning advisors when the time comes." Roman thought to himself, imaging all the shit he'd have to deal with on his own if he had no one else.
Yeah, no, fuck that and whoever thought that was a good idea.
"If there are no further questions, then it is time to prepare for your mission Roman." Cid's voice broke Roman out from his train of thought and brought him back to reality. "Head to the armory and prepare whatever equipment and supplies you believe will aid you during operations. However, do remember that the facility Deep Reach is equipped with an armory of its own, to which you have been granted access to. Should you wish to change equipment, tools, or supplies you can do so at your own convenience if the mission requires a change in tact."
"Got it, I'll keep that in mind." Roman replied, he moved to leave central command, "I'll be ready soon, I won't keep us waiting long."
"Acknowledged, I'll prepare additional intel for your departure," Cid said as Roman headed out the door of the room.
It was time to arm up and hype himself up for the mission. As Roman moved toward the armory, following the lights on the floor that were guiding him he heard Cid's faint voice from inside the command center.
"Operation: New Dawn- Initiated."
C1: End
Another Nier story, and this time I'll attempt to give the people from my other stories what they want. Although, be warned, like all my stories there is no schedule for updates. I write when I feel like or am able to write, so updates will be all over the place. Hopefully a Survive update isn't far off. I've had… inspiration, let's just say that. (We shall see soon enough if anything comes of it.)
This is a tale about Humans being found/discovered by the android early on in the story after awakening to the destroyed world after thousands of years in stasis. Two parts to this story, restoring the world for humans to live in and finding the cure before it's too late.
This story swaps between characters through-out the chapters/story at times, so there are basically two connected plots that bounce off each other. Some might focus on specific, important characters such as Roman and Amora since they're integral to the plot I have planned out for the story so far. Also, a majority of this story is Third Person POV.
Other characters like 2B, 9S, A2, and more will be pretty constant and important throughout the story as well alongside the human characters. Each will have their part to play. I'll explain more in the next chapter but first who should Roman meet out in the world? Who should he run into to get this whole thing started? YoRHa? Resistance? Or others like A2? Let me know and I'll make it happen because it doesn't make too much of a difference for how this story will go since Roman is assigned a specific task. Everyone will rapidly hear of the "Human on the Surface" so all the androids are going to react, doesn't matter who it is first. And who should Roman "partner-up" with for the story, i.e spending the majority of the story with them during his mission to find a cure.
This story was heavily inspired by various sources/games, such as GTFO, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, and X-Com. There will also be elements from each of the games, mostly GTFO because that game is sick as fuck. Expect the plot of Nier Automata to deviate heavily from its original story because of that. If that upsets Nier fans, I apologize but this is the way the story shall be.
Note 1: I might accidentally write the name "Raylan" instead of "Roman" out of habit, if you find any of these mistakes please inform me and I'll correct them as soon as I can. If you spot any other errors let me know, nobody really beta-reads my stories. Rarely if it does happen. Thanks.
Note 2: This is a semi-self-insert story I'm making for various reasons. With that in mind, people can offer up a semi–self OC character to appear in the story as fellow human survivors that awaken to the Nier world, so if you want in then you can join the story in some form. I can't promise these characters will play hugely important roles in the story but you can at least appear in a Nier story if that's what you're into. I don't require any though so don't feel obliged to do anything beyond just read the story.
There are a few requirements/limitations but you can speak to me about it if you're interested.
Here's a little reference of things for people interested. There are more roles to be filled in the story but they're not as usable for the story so won't be making many, if any, appearances throughout.
EN - Engineers
SE - Security
DO - Doctors
TE - Technicians
ME - Mechanics
HU - Hunters
AG - Agriculturists
People can try create and come up with their own clever, but useful roles for the story as well. As long as it's something people might need for the future, to help push humanity forward, and all that shit.
The following can't be submitted for: (And their subcategories)
SO - Soldier
AG - Agent
MA - Mage
IM - "Classified"
And that's all there is to it. Another Nier story to add to the collection of unfinished titles. lol
AlcatrazDGold - Peace!
