Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Maincalling and Scrims


Upon the guild agent's return after going off to fetch Compa for the planning, to her complete surprise, instead of coming back to more shenanigans, she was met with serious discussion… led by Soldier, of all people! With Histoire or his teammates suggesting or correcting few things of course, but still. While she wouldn't call Soldier a tactical genius, most of his plans were sound, with Spy or Histoire correcting a few logical aspects and adding their own pieces, but it was still enough for her to see him in a new light instead of a 'Shoot first, ask later' type of guy. Now she began to understand why he called himself 'Leader of the team'.

While IF didn't exactly agree with some of the mercs' plans, she decided to listen to them anyway. They are 'professionals' afterall, and they've shown that for all their quirks, they know what they're doing.

Compa on the other hand wasn't of much help. As eager as she was, Spy ordered her, IF and Nepgear to stay in hiding, mainly because the first plan was to use them as bait for CFW Judge, and in order to do that, he mustn't be informed till they're ready, and the mercs have lots of things to prepare.

Yes, Histoire immediately objected to using Nepgear and her friends as bait, and suggested that both her and her friends try to regain some Shares instead. However Engie was quick to assure her that after they will teleport the girls out of the warehouse back to the hotel, destroying the entrance and preventing anyone from chasing or even knowing where they went, and Spy refuted by saying that the ASIC can easily get the Shares back if that strategy isn't followed by sabotage or distraction, and even then it'll be hard to keep those Shares without something major happening that can permanently sway public opinion. The oracle was kinda shocked that the mercenaries, who a few minutes ago didn't even know what Shares are, not only accepted it but were also considering their plans based around them already, and she had to admit they were right.

When Nepgear suggested going back to the Gamindustri Graveyard to try and save the goddesses once more, to her surprise it was Histoire who countered her, saying it would be futile without a big enough Sharicite. Then to her mild irritation she had to explain to the Demoman (and the mercs in general) what Sharicite is.

In short, simply gaining Shares is out of question unless it's a pincer attack, and going to save the Goddesses is impossible without enough shares to 'revive' them, so the mercs opted for a more permanent solution, eliminating one of their leaders, and then gaining as many Shares as they can while ASIC is in chaos over losing one of their higher-ups…

If that plan fails, then the mercenaries will directly fight the ASIC in Planeptune by wiping out their facilities, ambushing supply convoys and weeding out their contacts in the Basilicom (Spy even suggested staging a few anti-ASIC riots on the streets, but Histoire thought that may endanger civilians so he dropped the idea.), while Nepgear and the others will gain shares in order to create the Sharicite, under the watch of at least three designated mercenaries of course. They're wanted by ASIC after all.

So for the next 20 minutes, everyone discussed their target, a.k.a. CFW Judge. His weaknesses, style of fighting, where to ambush him and how to make him get there. They finally opted for the warehouse complex where the mercs first time met the ASIC goons, and IF argued why she can't join the fight.

"Well, the plan seems good, but why can't I help fight?" The guild agent folded her arms, pretty annoyed.

"Chicks shouldn' fight. That's a man's job." Scout puffed his chest, not realizing that every female (even Nepgear albeit softer) were glaring daggers at him.

"Wanna say it again!?" The furious guild agent braced her Katars, making Scout gulp, but the other mercs interfered in time.

"Scout, please. You can barely fight yourself." Spy mocked, rolling his eyes.

"Go to hell Spy, I can kick your bum any day of week." Scout glared and pointed at Spy, who simply ignored him.

"Zhe actual reasons are." Medic, cutting in before things got out of the hand, started counting on his fingers. "Eins, you seems to lack any ranged weaponry. Zwei, ve have zhe biological enhancements, boosting our fighting capability vhile you don't und ve are protected by zhe Respawn System safety net."

"Biological enhancements and Respawn System safety net? Could you explain, Medic?" Histoire perked up with sudden interest, as did Compa and Nepgear.

Medic and Engie exchanged looks, before shrugging and briefly explaining the Re:Spawn System and their nanotech enhancements, on which only Histoire and Nepgear understood, Compa only partially got it and IF was just confused.

"In short, nanomachines make us stronger and more durable, Doc's Heart Implant makes our hearts more effective and if we die and Doc isn't there to revive us, after a few seconds our bodies are teleported and revived by the Respawn System. Any questions?" Engie looked around.

"What about the 'übercharge'? Does it really make you invincible?" Compa asked.

"I stopped a train with Doctor, is true." Heavy confirmed with a nod, and IF's eyes went wide as dinner plates.

"An entire train? How!?"

"With bare hands!" Heavy grinned, clenching his massive hands, still coated in brass knuckles, which send chills up IF's spine. Even Nepgear was at a loss for words, only uttering a dazed 'Wow…' as her brain tried to recover its basic senses.

"Ja, a train filled vith explosives, anvils and, interestingly enough, rubber ducks." Medic, along with his entire team recalled the time of their first battle in Snowplow, while Histoire briefly wondered why someone loaded a train with rubber ducks.

"Yeah… lookin' back, that was some firework show." Scout chuckled.

"Me bottle o' scrumpy…" Demoman sniffled at the memory of his poor whiskey bottle, shattered after the assault.

"Ya still owe me that bloody car mirror, from when you tried to climb my van and nearly fell off the cliff." Sniper grumbled, glaring at Scout, who simply handwaved it.

"Details, Snipes, details."

"You climbed on a driving car? Isn't that dangerous?" Compa questioned the obvious.

"Yeah, it's usually a bad idea to climb a van, 'specially while it's goin' high speed through an avalanche zone, but pfft, I'm awesome like that!" Scout grinned and leaned on his chair. IF was unimpressed. 'They certainly had some adventures.' She thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, if I may?" Histoire coughed. "But I have a bit of a request." The mercenaries looked at the fairy. "Could you please share your Medi-Gun and Respawn System technology with us? We could save so many lives with this!"

"Nein, we von't do zhat." Medic declined without hesitation.

"B-But, what about these poor sick people at the hospitals! The Medi-Gun could really help them." Compa made puppy eyes, but it didn't work on the merciless Medic or soulless Spy, who immediately set about retorting the seemingly reasonable request.

"Allow me to explain. Let's say that we did share our Medic's technology. Tell me what will happen then."

"A medical revolution will come, and our survival rate will drastically go up." Histoire responded, but the Spy had a different answer in mind.

"A valid answer, yes. But it will also mean that criminals will gain access to this, and if that happens then the crime rate will climb even faster than your survival rate. Once people stop fearing death, they won't fear anything, much less the law."

Everyone fell silent at this point, and after a few moments of letting things sink in, Histoire had to begrudgingly admit that he's right. Especially in Gamindustri as it is right now, with already high crime rate, ASIC, low shares and the goddesses captured, giving immortality to the general public would cause absolute chaos! World-changing technology like that could prove dangerous even in times of peace, much less now.

"However," Medic raised his hand. "I'm sure ve can find some spare implants, I could insert them inside your bodies if you vould like." The German smiled a smile that was not very benevolent. Yes! More test subjects!

"You sure it's a good idea, Doc?" Engie questioned.

"Nonsense, Herr Engineer. I see no problem vith it." Medic shrugged. "Zhey are our allies, and a few implants never hurt anyone."

"'Sides, isn't Nepgear our V.I.P. right now? Shouldn't she at least get the Respawn?" Scout agreed, scratching his cheek and making a very valid point for once.

"H-huh? Will it hurt?" The CPU Candidate reluctantly asked. She was expecting doubtful assurances from the doctor, but instead the answer she got was a resounding "Yes." from every single merc at the same time. The girls collectively sweatdropped.

"But don't vorry, I'm not the type to let my test- *ahem* patients, die." Medic followed up with some doubtful assurance, as did the Soldier.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body!" The crazed patriot suddenly yelled, causing the girls to flinch.

"B-But, I would like to." Compa raised an unsteady hand, making the guild agent look at her worriedly.

"Are you sure? You know he doesn't have a medical license." If reminded the nurse-in-training, causing Histoire to tense up at the reference to the Meet the Medic video.

"I am a professional, fräulein. I know how to perform surgery." Medic complained, but the brunette still wasn't assured.

"You won't explode her heart, will you?" IF questioned, folding her arms over her chest with narrowed eyes at the Medic. Nepgear meanwhile widened her eyes in shock.

"E-Explode!? W-What!?"

"I made zhat mistake only ONCE, and vith zhe old Medi-Gun no less." Medic grimaced. Heavy absentmindedly rubbed his own chest. "So NEIN, her heart vill be fine." The German growled.


With the discussion for the plan of operations over, it was time for the next agenda on the list. As much as Nepgear and IF wanted to help with the plan, the former haven't moved a muscle in the last 3 years, and the latter 'is weak and fights worse than a MAGGOT!', as Soldier said while effortlessly blocking a punch to the face from the guild agent in question. That's why the crazed patriot took Nepgear, IF and Compa to train them and get them up to the best shape possible. To their surprise, Histoire even provided them some training grounds inside the Planeptune Tower, on which he took a quick trip to the warehouse complex via teleporter to retrieve some stuff. He arrived 20 minutes later with his usual attire and several crates and even wooden cutouts of the mercenaries, used for practice purposes.

So now the girls and mercenary were standing in the middle of Planeptune's training ground, mostly used by the Basilicom staff to work out and practice combat.

"TEN HUT!" Soldier yelled. IF stayed at attention while a confused Compa winced at Soldier's volume, same with Nepgear. "[G-Goodness, how can someone yell that loud?]" She muttered. But fortunately for them Soldier didn't see or hear them disobeying the drill command, as he was picking his favorite shovel and 'Concheror'. (A wooden box with a quad diamond shaped insignia, accompanied by a conch shell. A white, slightly tattered banner flag with the same insignia appears when the banner call is played, a signal that the healing nanites within the box have gone into overdrive.) "We will begin your training by showing me what you can do. Close and personal. Only melee weapon and bare hands are permitted!" He slammed his shovel loudly on his helmet.

"G-Goodness, now!? Not even a warm-up?" The CPU Candidate hesitantly summoned her Beam Saber while Compa pulled out her oversized syringe and IF confidently braced her Katars and went into battle stance. She was eager to punch the heck out of his face for all he did to her.

"Mwehehehe. This IS the warm-up! ATTAAACK!" With a battle cry Soldier didn't miss a beat to charge and attack IF. While she effortlessly dodged the first swing of the shovel, Soldier used his momentum to spin and deliver a solid smack to her side, which the Guild agent blocked only for the strength to overpower her and knock her back.

While IF hissed from the slight pain, the mercenary sensed Nepgear coming from behind him while Compa rushed to aid IF. Waiting for Nepgear to take the bait, he waited and subtly prepared himself. When the CPU Candidate swung her sword at Soldier she found it easily deflected, followed by a great pain from the brutal punch to the face Soldier delivered her! "Kya!" Nepgear fell to the ground. Unprepared at all for the swift counter-attack.

"Always be ready for counters, sissy!" Soldier spat. Before the crazed patriot could follow up, Compa and IF tried to attack Soldier from both sides in a pincer attack. The American patriot blocked IF's Katars with the shovel while catching the syringe with his bare hand! "Ahh, much better!" The merc 'congratulated' them, his voice dripping with amusement. IF managed to pry the shovel off Soldier's hand, only to immediately find herself hit by Compa's syringe which Soldier ripped out of the nurse's hands in turn. "Firm grip is the basis of weapon handling!" The man lectured while using the syringe like a bat, mercilessly assaulting IF before swiftly smashing Compa's stomach with the cylinder and pushing her roughly onto the ground.

"Kyaaa!"

"C-Compa!" Nepgear rushed towards her friend, who was fighting back the tears as she healed the forming bruise with her weak healing magic before grabbing CPU Candidate's hand which raised her off the ground. There was no break to be found though, as Compa's eyes widen when she saw Soldier approaching from behind! "Watch out!"

Just when the shovel was swinging down, IF cut in. Literally. She deflected the blow with her Katars and immediately followed with a roundhouse kick, finally connecting with the Soldier's jaw. While the crazed patriot was recovering, IF decided to regroup with the others, not following up due to fear of another brutal counter from their coach like he did to Gear. Always be ready for counters, right?

Big mistake.

With the sound of the Concheror's shell horn playing, all hell broke loose. Now under the Concheror's buff, Soldier not only became much faster, but in addition to the passive health regeneration, also gained additional healing upon every successful hit!

"Forward!" Soldier shouted, though instead of charging head-on, he started zig sagging and jumping at the same time, making his motions less predictable. Though his initial assault was deflected by Nepgear's saber, to her horror he used the momentum to spin around and hit her once more from another angle, this time bypassing her defenses and delivering a solid smack to her ribs. The lilac-haired girl briefly lost her balance but managed to stay upright.

Before Compa or even IF could come to her defense, Soldier had already switched targets and was already in the middle of knocking Compa out of the battle using his shovel and her own syringe against her, beating the stuffing out of her with them. This time however IF cut it short and rushed to her defense. With a downwards slash at his back, the attack struck true! But somehow it didn't do much damage, and the guild agent tasted the shovel in retaliation.

"You are all weak! You are all BLEEDERS!" He taunted with a smug face. Nepgear, seeing her friends beaten down so effortlessly, grabbed her sword firmly even though her hands were shaking and bet everything on one last desperate hit.

"Hiiiiya!" She ran at Soldier with an overhead slash prepared. With his shovel in his hand he could easily block such an obvious attack, but instead of doing so or dodging, he opted for something else…

Nepgear's sword went down…

Soldier's left hand went up…

.

.

.

All the trainees stared in shock when Soldier caught the Beam Saber between his fingers. Sort off, because the sword cut straight through his entire palm and stayed there. And the steam coming off it means it's not painless. Even Soldier can't help but wince at the burning pain in his palm. It's similar to when Pyro set him on fire all those countless times, but in much smaller scale.

Flexing his hand, Soldier ripped the sword out of Nepgear's shaking hands and immediately pointed at her with his other hand. "Nepgear, not even in the war have I seen a more desperate and pathetic try to defeat the enemy!" He spat.

The girl in question hung her hand in shame. "I-I'm sorry…"

"Don't you apologize to me, sissy! Get a grip on yourself and try harder! Break! 5 Minutes. Dismissed."

Soldier went to help get Compa onto her feet and shout similar things to her, and when IF came to her defense he was more than happy to point out all of her mistakes. After that they went to rest a little before continuing. This is going to be one very long training session…


When Engineer, Medic and Spy checked out the hotel, they were surprised that only the keeper was present, who gave them the keys, said goodbye and left the building immediately.

The building was only classified as a 3-star hotel, but was futuristic and fancy nonetheless by the mercs' standards. The area in general was big enough to even include a small garden in the back, big enough if someone wanted to chill out outside or train hand-to-hand combat with over three people at once.

The reception room included one exit to the outside, stairs going both up and down, and two corridors leading to opposite directions, the right one to a dining hall with kitchen, and restrooms, shower included. The left one contained 10 doors to the bedrooms and an exit to the garden. The entire floor was T shaped and the Engineer already started planning defenses.

The instant mercs went to the basement, they already decided to make it their 'Resupply Room'. The room was big enough to support the entire Re:Spawn System and place some Resupply Lockers in. There was also lots of junk that could be smelted down to craft Engineer's buildings and other things, so they decided to leave them as they are there for now.

The upper floor contained another 20 rooms and a balcony, on which one could see the center of the city, in its own way it's kind of soothing, Spy remarked.


"Right! Left! Right! Left! Faster!" Soldier slapped Nepgear's back for the tenth time with the 'Disciplinary Action', which was a riding crop, of all things. The girls stopped questioning the mercenaries' weapons of choice a while ago.

"Ahh! *pant pant*" Nepgear gave a wince from pain and a yelp of surprise and ran briefly faster. Both her and the others were doing laps around the room, with IF already done with her 2 kilometer run and Soldier allowing her to take a break till the others finished. She hardly broke a sweat, being one of the most agile agents in the Guild and exercising daily. That couldn't be said about the others…

"*pant pant* C-Can't breathe…" Compa wheezed, and the CPU Candidate wasn't in much better condition.

"G-Goodness *pant pant* Soldier please…" Nepgear tried to beg, but the American was having none of it.

"Less complaining, more running! Or do you want to run another lap?"

"W-We're running!"

Sighing, IF stood up and walked towards her purse. The brunette agent opened it and retrieved a can of Bonk! Atomic Punch. A gift from Scout when he tried to set things straight from Sniper's… joke.


"Heeey, IF. Ya got a secon'?" Scout smoothly jogged towards the guild agent. She silently groaned but kept her composure.

"What is it, Scout?" She kept walking down the hallways of the Basilicom with the young mercenary in tow.

"I wanted to.. ya know… um…" Scout struggled, searching for the right words in his tiny dictionary. Eventually he found them "…explain some things."

IF stopped, and looked at Scout with a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. "Oookay? What do you want to explain?"

"That stuff Snipes said about… the jar thing." He scratched his neck and quietly said the last part. It took a second for IF to remember what he's talking about, and when she did it made her shudder. 'Just PLEASE, tell me you're not going to confirm it. Please tell me that was just a joke…' The brunette begged silently to the one who lies above.

This time her pleas were heard.

"Remember Mann Co., right?" He nervously began.

"Yes. And…?"

"Well they made a certain, something...? Dunno what it is but they call it 'Mad Milk'. Yeah it's white stuff in a jar, and it smells… funky, but it ain't THAT, seriously. But it is something you throw at people, and then get free heals when you hit them." The young man tried to explain. 'Okay… what? How does THAT work?' The girl had a hard time believing it, but her mind was willing to buy the explanation if it meant avoiding the alternative.

"Then what was Sniper doing? Revenge for that joke?" IF asked to confirm, silently hoping that he will say that the thing about throwing piss is just a joke in bad taste or some other bizarre Mann Co. product… 'But then that Sniper's response…'

She shuddered again.

"Well, Snipes is Snipes. I mean sometimes he gotta do it on the battlefield, if it works it works." He shrugged. For a moment IF wanted to ask him about what Sniper said about them not minding it while they're on fire but then… she REALLY doesn't want to know. 'I guess I shouldn't think so low of them, but it's really hard when you see how insane they are…'

"Okay, thanks… for clearing that up." She started walking but Scout stopped her one more time.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!"

Quietly sighing and rolling her eyes, 'As annoying as Neptune…' "Yes?" IF said a little too forcefully than she hoped for. Instead of answering verbally, the mercenary pulled out a can of highly radioactive drink and handed it to the guild agent. She looked at the can with confusion.

"For that trainin' with Solly. I'll be going then, bye." Scout saluted with two fingers, flashed a 'charming' smile, and jogged away where he came from.

Once IF was out of sight and Scout couldn't hear her, a voice called out to him. "Congratulations! I suppose this will be worth a passing grade this time." Spy decloaked. His answer was Scout's sigh of relief.

"Man… If only Miss Pauling actually listened to me like her."

"Well, some things you could play better, but things still went better than with Miss Pauling. But what I don't understand is why IF? Why not Compa or Nepgear, they aren't as skeptical after all, or is it just personal taste?" Spy questioned.

"Well, Compa seems to have a feelin' for the Doc there, maybe that old Deutsch-bag will finally get laid if I stay away from them." Scout chuckled. "And did you see how Nepgear looked at Hardhat? He's like some kind of superstar to her…"

Spy feigned a surprised look. "What's this, Scout? You actually started thinking about others! But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, you're the only virgin on the team." Frenchie smirked.

"Go to hell, Spy!" Came the instinctive response from the youngest member.

"Anyway, I have to look into that hotel Histoire's written off for us. Now that you're free I want you to scout the city or help the others in the warehouses." Spy cloaked out of the sight.

"Damn Frenchie." Scout sighed, before jogging to the stairs and descending.

Little did Scout know that IF had been listening in. And little did she know that Spy KNEW she's there doing that.


The Guild agent reluctantly picked up the can and opened it. She sniffed it once… twice… three times. Smells weird, like a normal energy drink. She looked at the can in detail.

Bonk! Atomic Punch

Cherry Fission

Now with isotopes

She's actually lacking in the chemistry knowledge, so she doesn't quite know what isotopes are…

"Girls, whatever third-world stink pile you actually live in, today you live in America!"

Rolling her eyes at Soldier's random comment. She took a swig of the drink…

And her eyes widened…

Nearly choking at the overly sugary taste that was NOTHING like cherries, IF looked at the can. At first everything seemed normal, albeit a little greyer for some reason, but after looking at the other side of the can she noticed a one crucial detail she overlooked.

Ingredients: Water, Radiation, Sugar.

Along with some text too small for her to read. Out of shock that she just drank liquid radiation, IF dropped the can, but something weird happened.

The can wasn't falling down…

Confused, IF began examining the can with her eyes, and nothing looked wrong, other than the fact it's floating. Then she slowly and carefully poked it: it moved, but it was like frozen in place and moved only when she moved it. 'What's going on? Am I hallucinating?'

With her confusion intensifying, she looked at the running group and also found them frozen in place. Needing a closer look, she walked towards her childhood friend, Compa, and slowly waved a hand in front of her tired and pained expression. 'Soldier's sure pushing them hard.' She thought, as she realized there's no reaction from the blonde teen. 'Weird, she isn't moving or reacting at all! What's happened to her- Wait. This isn't affecting her, it's me! Just what the heck did Scout give me!?' She thought, starting to panic a little.

Despite her growing fear, her eyes happened to look down and her gaze landed on the nurse-in-training's ample bosom. Huh. Well, if time's really stopped for her, she may as well make use of it, right? Feeling a little guilty about what she's going to do but taking the chance nonetheless, she silently hoped that whatever this is it won't expire now. 'I've always wondered…' The brunette's hand drifted closer until it lightly squeezed her friend's breast. It felt… soft and nice to the touch, even with her sweater and bra in the way. The guild agent squeezed them once more before stopping. 'Okay, enough of that… This just feels wrong…' Taking her hands off nurse-in-training's chest (albeit a little reluctantly) and silently praising her luck for not expiring, she noticed that like the can, her boobs didn't move from how they were when she squeezed them.

IF moved out of the group's way and sat back down against the wall. 'That was… interesting. Now when is this gonna end?' She wondered, and as if on cue, the world brightened up and things started to move again.

Releasing a sigh of relief, she retrieved Scout's gift from the floor and placed it on the small table.

"Thank goddess…"


"Hello, Mister Medic and Mister Engineer" Compa jogged towards the German, he and Engineer were discussing something before the nurse-in-training interrupted.

"Guten Tag, Fräulein." Doctor nodded at her.

"Hey there, Compa." Engie politely tipped his hardhat. When the Engie noticed her confused expression he coughed. "Doc said hi. In German."

"German?

"The language of my country." Medic explained impatiently. "Anyway, vat is it?"

"Could you teach me medicine?" Compa looked at Medic with puppy eyes. Her target and his friend's eyes widened slightly in surprise from her bluntness.

'An apprenticeship request? For me!? Haha! Someone finally noticed my genius!' Despite his inner joy, the doctor played it cool. "Do you even have any medical knowledge?" Medic questioned.

"I'm studying to be a nurse and I go to a medical school." Compa chirped. If the doctor was unimpressed, she didn't notice.

'Basic medical knowledge… Not much, but another pair of hands to keep these dummkopfs alive could be helpful… Plus, an apprentice could be interesting.' Medic thought to himself, and outwardly scoffed. "Dah, that vill do." He waved. Before Compa could say something he added, "But not now, after ve get zhe medical bay ready. Now schnell, raus, raus."

Compa happily nodded. "I won't disappoint you, teacher! I'll give my best!" The Medic's new apprentice cheered and happily skipped down the hallway.

When Medic caught Engie smirking he sighed. "Herr Engineer, I am a married man with two children and zhis girl is halv my age." He deadpanned.

"Did I say somethin', Doc?" Engie shrugged.

"You vere smirking, Kamerad."

"Smirkin', not judgin'. So, you gonna teach her how to use the Medi-Gun? Might be nice to have someone else keepin' us alive when you ain't there." The Texan leaned against the wall. The Medic shrugged.

"I suppose I could. But I think zhe Quick-Fix might ve better."


Nepgear and her friends were brutally trained by Soldier for two more days, with each session starting and ending with a painful duel where Soldier dominates the battlefield. While the training focused on getting the girls in best physical shape possible, he also included the basics of self-defense training against humans, teamwork, pressure points and gun handling. Every session included both physical and mental exhaustion, soreness, near-death experiences due to exhaustion and little to no breaks from the strict and inhuman mercenary training.

But it showed results.

While Nepgear can't double jump and her stamina is still below average, she's starting to learn to fight more effectively, shoot straight with a pistol and swiftly reload it. In fact, during their duels IF and Nepgear alone could finally keep Soldier on his toes for a few moments! And with Compa and her (pathetic but still useful) healing magic they're able to keep him at bay! The American is still much stronger than them of course, but after a few battles they've started to learn his tells and effectively judge when to counter-attack or back off.

During that time, the mercenaries finally fully renovated the hotel, with a fully functional Re:Spawn System, medical bay, and dining hall and kitchen and dorm rooms (with personal bathrooms!) for them.

"And why am I here?" IF asked her friend as she dragged the Guild agent and CPU Candidate up to the mercenary medical bay.

"G-Goodness Compa I'm really sore there…" Nepgear protested, but the nurse-in-training didn't listen.

"C'mon Iffy, Ge-Ge! Don't you want to get stronger? Besides this is also my time to finally show my nursing skills!" Compa skipped up the stairs, shocking IF with her arm strength. Several mercs also glanced at them in confusion before shrugging them off.

"W-Well I want to, but goodness how did you get so strong? You're ripping my sore arm off!"

Compa quickly found the doors labeled 'Medical Bay' and knocked. "Mister Medic! We're here!" She cheerfully said. The doors opened, revealing the German Medic without his coat and his hands bare.

"Vell, you're here. Ve're in luck, I just found three full sets of enhancements. Could you two vait vhile we start vith Compa?"

"Sure, no problem!" Not suspecting anything at all, Compa cheerfully skipped into the room, oblivious to the Scout whispering something to the Pyro, who mumbled and shook its head disapprovingly, then dragged him down the stairs.

While waiting, IF took this time to examine the pistol Soldier issued her with. The 'Winger', a bluish pistol with a small pair of stylized yellow wings emblazoned on the slide over the magazine and a yellow-red radiation hazard sign on the grip, straight from Scout's armory. The mercenary himself didn't mind it, he wasn't very fond of this one because of its very small clip, even if it's compensated with stronger bullets.

"What do you think about this, IF?" Nepgear suddenly begun. The Guild agent holstered her weapon and raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm?"

"W-Well, I realize that times are rough, with my sister and all the other CPUs captured, but do we really have to go that far? Hiring mentally unstable mercenaries, getting body modifications, plotting assassinations… I know desperate times call for desperate measures, but still…"

Sighing, IF stood up and placed her hand on Nepgear's shoulder. "Do you remember how ASIC started?"

Nepgear nodded. "Yes, they used to be a charity group. Helping everyone, even those who were abandoned by others or were doing the abandoning. There was even a time when they held a charity to rebuild the orphanage here in Planeptune after monsters destroyed it. We even funded them from our national treasury. And to think that entire thing was just a façade…" The CPU Candidate's shoulders dropped.

"And after you were captured. ASIC made it clear that everything is fair game." IF had brief flashback from year ago. "Disk copying, disk burning, because of ASIC the streets were filled with all kinds of crimes from petty theft and pickpocketing to piracy and even anti-CPU propaganda!" Nepgear's eyes widen. To emphasize her point IF gave Nepgear her N-Gear, which the lilac-haired CPU took and quickly found its case opened.

"There were a few riots in front of the Basilicom because of it, the people went as far as to try to kick Neptune, you and Histoire out of the Basilicom and out of the nation." The CPU Candidate started to tremble in terror, while the Guild agent simply folded her arms as she continued. "The only reason Planeptune is still standing is because someone leaked footage of you and the other CPUs captured in those… cables. It was like a bucket of cold water to the head for the public, and that's how we knew you were still in the Gamindustri Graveyard." Nepgear calmed down a bit, but the bad news wasn't quite over. "But ASIC went in and used the leak to their advantage. Green Heart wasn't exactly seen in the footage, so they fabricated some fake videos and made Leanbox take the blame. The situation's not as bad as before for Planeptune at least, but it's still pretty bad." IF sighed and went back to her chair, letting the CPU Candidate sink in all the information.

"Thinking about that… The mercenaries are exactly the opposite."

This statement caused Nepgear to perk up. "Huh?"

"It's really hard to admit it… but looking past the more horrible things they've done, they really seem to care about others. Yes, they're strange, brash, rude, some of them outright insane, but looking back they really cared about us. I mean, look at Soldier, he's a violent psychopath who says all kinds of random nonsense, but he really took the time and effort to train us, and, well, the results speak for themselves. We'd barely even met for more than a day too, and he was willing to do that for us. For all their flaws, I think we can trust them. And oh goddess, that was so corny!" IF snickered, breaking the atmosphere. At least it managed to bring a light smile of hope back to the Candidate's face too.

"Y'know, your confidence really fades fast, Gear. The last pep talk I gave you was only two chapters ago." IF smirked, before pulling up her phone and checking the time. "Oh jeez, how long is this-" Her complaint was cut off by the doors opening.

"Next!" Said the slightly blushing Compa, smiling brightly with her eyes closed… Though if one looked closely, one could see she's in immense pain right now and that her chest is slightly glowing red.

"Well about time, do you mind if I go next, Gear?" IF stood up and dusted off her shorts and coat.

"Sure, go ahead." Nepgear said politely. IF flashed her a smile and went in while Compa followed and closed the doors.

It didn't take long before IF noticed that the medical bay looked similar to one in the Meet the Medic video, with only a few differences like the floor being made out of planks and different wall colors. The biggest difference is that there are two different types of Medi-Guns attached to the ceiling.

Medic was at the sink, washing his hands of Compa's blood. "Vell then." He turned around. "Please undress everything from your waist upwards."

IF's face reddened and her eyes widened. "H-Huh!? W-Why!?" She stuttered.

"Because Mister Medic's gonna cut you open, so the clothes have to go." Compa innocently said while taking IF's jacket and hanging it on the rack, not realizing how scary that statement was to her childhood friend. "Don't worry, Mister Medic's a great surgeon, it'll be done in no time!" The nurse-in-training assured.

'Well I can't really back out now… but…' With that thought hanging in her mind, IF reluctantly pulled down her one piece tank top, undressed her bra, and let Compa guide her to the surgery bed. To the Guild agent's surprise Compa even tied her arms to the bed, needless to say it seriously disturbed IF but before she could say anything Compa beat her to the punch. "It'll hurt a little but it's okay to scream, the rooms are sound-proof."

IF started to have second thoughts…

"Vell then." Medic turned on the Quick Fix, a prototype Medi Gun with more exposed parts and what appears to be a blender for a body. "Compa, have you ever helped vith surgery?" Medic raised IF's head a little, so all she can see is the ceiling. "Und IF, please don't look down. Ve don't want you to pass out from shock." IF gulped, but obeyed.

"No I haven't, it will be my first time!" Compa shook her head. The German clicked his tongue.

"Vell then, it's time for you to learn TRUE medicine. Scalpel."

"W-Wait! S-Shouldn't you sedate me first!?" IF frantically asked, but the only answer she got was pain in her torso as Medic began the operation with the scalpel, starting from a little above her chest, going between her breasts and ending all the way to her belly. Thankfully the Quick-Fix dulled the pain a little…

Only a little…

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"Hmm… Interesting." Medic commented.

"What is it?" Compa asked.

"Vell zhis proves even if ve're from different vorlds, ve're still zhe same inside." Medic concluded, shoving his hand under IF's lungs and causing the Guild agent to understandably yelp from surprise and pain.

"Aaagh!? N-Not so rough…" The patient complained, unable to stop the tears from forming.

"Don't cry Iffy, it'll be all over soon." Compa tried to comfort her friend as she wiped the brunette's tears with a rag, to some effect. It's a good thing IF couldn't see the Medic casually take her still beating heart out.

"Now, Compa, listen; zhe trick to not make your friend's heart explode," IF's eyes widened while Compa listened like a dutiful student, "iz to use a veaker beam. Zhis vill take much longer, ja, but her heart should be fine."

To demonstrate, Medic impaled the heart on a Heart Implant and turned on the default Medi-Gun which he set on the lowest possible input. Setting the heart on a table and healing it with the second Medi-Gun, he continued his work while IF's heart began beating very slowly.

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History likes to repeat itself.

"Bad Archimedes! Get out from there!" Compa chased out Medic's bird, which cooed in annoyance and sat with the rest of the birds. While IF tried her hardest to ignore the fact a dove was just digging around her insides, the bird's owner prepared the Re:Spawn Chip to insert. "Now, IF. Are you right or left handed?"

Confused by the strange question, she answered slowly and cautiously. "I'm… right-handed…"

"Then please turn your head to zhe left. Zhis part iz tricky."

After inserting the chip on the right side of IF's spine, Medic had to wait a bit for the neck wound to heal a little.

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"Mister Medic, who is this?" Compa took the framed black and white photo from the desk, which showed a slightly younger Medic with a black haired female and two children, both of them are girls and they're twins. All of them were smiling.

"Ahh, zhat is my vife. Jasmin, pretty isn't she?" Medic smiled.

"You have a wife? Where is she now?" IF pried, still looking to the left as before.

"I don't know." The German admitted. "Last time I saw her it vas when they vere evacuating Rottenburg because of Gray Mann's attack…" He sighed, recalling the memories of him and his team using the Electro-Shield and Reanimators for the first time.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's still there and still loves you just as much!" Compa assured. If the Doctor was grateful, he didn't show it.

"Meh, anyway let's move on. Ve still have Nepgear after all."

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"W-Where are you touching!?" The guild agent snapped, the blush on her face intensifying as the Doctor grabbed her thighs and started squeezing.

"I'm judging if you vill be able to handle zhe Agility Amplifier." He said indifferently.

"Agility Amplifier?" Compa questioned.

"One of zhe enhancements, it allows you to run faster and perform multiple jumps in the air."

"O-Oh…" IF felt a little reassured that its part of the surgery and not... sexual assault. With her arms tied, sound-proof walls and a man much stronger than her and Compa together, she wouldn't stand a chance otherwise. "Do it quick then… it's a little uncomfortable."

"Vell, zhey're bare minimum, but it'll do. I'm impressed, even among us only Scout vas able to support zhis. Compa, undress her shorts."

"Yes, sir!"

"H-Huh!? W-Wait a moment!" Compa obeyed and undressed one of the last pieces of clothing on the panicking IF, leaving her half naked on the table. The only thing covering her 'goods' are plain black panties, IF's favorite, which Compa innocently patted with a smile, much to IF's embarrassment, but Medic didn't even seem to notice.

"It's okay, just a little more and you will be free." The nurse assured again, not that it worked very well for the guild agent.

After inserting the Agility Amplifier inside IF's thighs, the surgery was almost finished, all that's left was to shove the intact and übercharged heart into the patient's chest and insert nanomachines into her bloodstream.

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"Now zhen, zhe last part." Medic took out a large syringe filled with transparent white liquid. The syringe itself is about a quarter of Compa's battle syringe, which is still pretty intimidating.

"Finally!" IF released a huge sigh of relief. After being cut open while still awake, stripped half naked, and having her innards messed with by a doctor with very questionable medical ethics, she's tired both physically and mentally and couldn't wait for this mess to end. However that relief was extinguished when she saw an evil smirk on Medic's face.

"I vill warn you. After zhis you VILL feel pain for… let's say up to four hours."

IF gulped and braced herself.

"Compa, prepare zhe painkillers." "Yessy!"

With that, the Doctor stabbed IF in the neck, right inside the vein, and released the syringe's contents. Slowly, to make sure that vein doesn't explode from pressure overload.

"There, all done. How do you feel?" Medic put the empty syringe on the table and untied IF. She blinked. Huh, this isn't that bad-

"OOooooohhhhh…" The guild agent held her bare chest. 'Ohh goddess everything hurts… he wasn't joking about this…' Fortunately for her, her savior came in the form of Compa holding a glass of water and two pills of strong painkillers.

"Don't worry, it's just zhe nanomachines accommodating inside your body. Everything vill be ready after zhat." Medic explained.

"T-Thanks, Compa." IF's shaking hands took both goods of the True Goddess from her angel in the form of Compa and consumed them without a second thought.

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"Much better…" IF, now dressed and under the effect of painkillers which dulled the pain to a simple annoyance, released a huge sigh of relief. "Kinda hard to believe it's been only twenty minutes." Just now she noticed that her chest is also glowing slightly red, but she shrugged off the matter thinking that's because of her übercharged heart.

"Ja, ja." Medic waved impatiently. "Could you call Nepgear in now? I want zhis over with already."

"Why so impatient? Are you guys going somewhere?" IF raised her eyebrow.

"Fräulein, I am zhe Doctor, zhat means I MUST be impatient." The German answered simply.

"Okay…? Why?" IF didn't see where this was going, but she decided to ask.

"Because if I stopped being impatient, I would become patient." Doctor shrugged with smirk. IF's mind thought about this for a second… then two… three…

Click.

"Oooh… I get it, real smooth, Doc." IF shortly applauded at the joke and left the room. Nepgear walked in a moment later, looking nervous as always. Compa already knew what to do.

"Hi Ge-Ge, sorry but you'll have to get undressed before we begin the operation."

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After yet more shocked yelping, embarrassment, and Compa being too innocent to realize she's scaring her poor friend, the mostly naked CPU Candidate was lying on the surgery bed, the blush and embarrassment even more visible than with IF. Nepgear also obeyed all commands better than IF though, but it didn't take long for Medic to notice something odd with her body…

"Zhis… iz strange…" Medic frowned.

"I-Is something wrong?" Nepgear tried to look down, but Compa was faster and quickly prevented her from doing so.

"Now Ge-Ge. Mister Medic told you to not look down." She scolded.

Inside Nepgear's body, Medic found not only human organs but also… hardware? 'Fascinating, it seems like CPUs really are different from humans.' He noted.

"Vell, it seems like zhere are some… mechanical parts inside your body." Medic eyed the processor attached to Nepgear's heart, it was purplish with a power symbol in the middle. The heart was attached not only with veins, but also with black cables leading to the little white motherboard placed in the back, between the kidneys and digestive system. Curious as he was, this was a test subject too valuable to risk, and Medic was skeptical if he could cut those cables, not knowing what they or the other mechanical parts did, so he opted for something safer…

He dragged the table right next to the bed, cut the heart and placed it on said table. Luckily for him the cables reached the table so he could easily über the heart and cancel the operation if necessary.

"Medic, what are these?" Compa pointed at said black cables.

"I don't know, zhis is actually very intriguing." The Doctor remarked. 'They aren't bionic enhancements, Frau Histoire didn't seem to know about zhem till ve told her.' The German deduced. Maybe one day he'll find a chance to study the CPUs more closely, but for now this will have to be the extent.

Continuing the surgery, albeit with much more caution due to unseen complications, it took 30 minutes for the entire surgery to finish.

...

"Here, Ge-Ge. Drink these." Compa handed the painkillers to Nepgear. Like with IF she took them and gulped them nearly instantly.

"Thanks, *pant* Compa. Goodness I've never felt this bad before…"

"Vell then, you three should return to zhe Basilicom and rest now. Ve can't connect you while the nanomachines aren't vorking just yet, so ve will do it tomorrow. Plus, tomorrow's the day." Medic took a clipboard and started writing something on it.

"The day we ambush CFW Judge, right?" Nepgear asked. Medic (who had his back turned to them) waved offhand. "Ja, now raus. I have paperwork to do."

"But what about my lessons?" Compa asked, hoping she could stay, but no such luck.

"Come tomorrow, after our plan." He said indifferently, disappointing her a little, but oh well.

"Let's go, Compa, let's pick up IF and go home." Nepgear opened the doors, now feeling much better.

"Yessy!" Compa cheerfully walked behind the CPU Candidate.


TF2 Dictionary:

- Maincalling - Coordinating and giving directions to your team. Mostly used in matches before pushing.

- Push - May refer to:

1. The act of advancing the cart.

2. An organized attack in which several players simultaneously move into enemy territory and attack in an attempt to overpower an enemy's defenses and complete an objective, such as capturing a control point or advancing the cart. Often accompanied by an Übercharge.

3. The CTF map Push from Team Fortress Classic.

-Scrims - Short for "scrimmage", referring to a practice match between two teams.


Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Maincalling and Scrims


And another chapter down. What do you think about me adding some more 'lewd' scenes. I decided to cut the operation part because 1. I have no medical knowledge. 2. Entire thing would be too long for a chapter that wasn't focused on that.

To be honest at first I planned to include 'Terrorist attacks' when IF explained what ASIC did to the world. But then it would set the Gamindustri in too dark light, the Gamindustri IS a dark place because of ASIC, but I want Mercs to paint the world even darker while wiping out ASIC.

Now that we know mercenaries' game plan, will they be able to do it? Or will CFW Judge wipe the floor with them? Will something happened to females after the operation? And will Medic's implants interfere with Nepgear's HDD?

You will find out in the future.

Respondes:

- Piggyslayer1235

Thanks.

- chrisfortune00

You sir just gave me great idea for some comedy moment with HDN character accidently teleporting bread. Also Histy will ask some more questions, not only she but others as well.

- BreadNotDead

Yes, Nepgear is nervous wreck. Because from the moment she woke up she's thrown from one violent situation to another. Mwhehehe. Actually IF thinking that they're dumb WAS before they revealed that they aren't from Gamindustri, she is still skeptical about this fact but with each passing event she believes in it more and more…

- GXLatias

I don't think I will put taunt kills here, and I have no idea what you meant by "spysurprise !things ?"

- Harmless Orange