The Console Wars

by BlackNoire

The CPUs are at each other's throats, but not in Celestia but in Gameinudstri. This is not done from Neptune's perspective or any CPU for that matter. A male arrives in Gamindsutri who appears to be from somewhere else. All is not as it seems as this is not from the Neptunia universe but a general gaming universe. This is a fanfic unlike any other. Rated M for violence.

69. The Battle of Pallet Town

Chapter 69: The Battle of Pallet Town

Yeah the situation does look bleak upon realising there are no more of our troops in Pallet Town, and I even find myself, sighing as I sit in one of the corners of this bedroom. I look to see the walls painted in red along with the carpet and ceiling. There isn't much in this bedroom at all apart from a single bed that's red, an old TV in a corner with a Nintendo 64, as well as a plant with red flowers along with a table with an old computer on it.

As I look at it, I find myself baffled as to why there is only one bedroom and no bathrooms or even a toilet in this house? Then again that's how it was in the Pokémon games. But as I think about that I am reminded of the situation. I suppose it could be worse, at least I'm not captured or dying and Red House is captured, even if it's just me left here. I decide to try and communicate with White via mind talk, though I wouldn't be surprised if she's engaging the enemy or worse she's captured or dead. I can't imagine any of her squad members being alive right now.

"White. White? Are you ok?" I ask her.

"Yeah, we've engaged the enemy reinforcements, they're defeated but it's just me now, why what about you?" She responds to me.

Well it's just as I predicted but still, 2 people being left is better than 1.

"Well Red House is captured, although unfortunately it's just me that's left. I propose you return here and I'll see what our CPUs have to say about this." I speak to her though it's clear how depressed I sound as I talk to her.

I reckon Uni must have noticed through her surveillance that I am depressed.

"You OK big brother? I notice you're looking rather depressed. Good job in capturing Red House by the way." My Lastation Candidate speaks to me in a caring understanding tone.

Though I am willing to tell Uni what's wrong as she's my sister, I also realise that maybe it's good to talk about what's troubling me. It makes me wonder if they feel the same way.

"Thank you. I feel really bad because all I've managed to do is capture the Red House and yet my entire group is killed. And even though they can be revived I don't think it's convenient to revive them, without the enemy arousing suspicion. What makes it worse is they'll be suspicious if they find that me and White prove to be very difficult to kill. As if that's not bad enough they're sending in reinforcements, and I don't know if that squad can hold them off. I'm really worried that Pallet Town will not be captured and we won't be able to gain a foothold. I mean it's unfortunate that reinforcements aren't available right now. But I don't blame you, I just wish there was more I could have done to have avoided the casualties of our troops, but I don't even know if I could." I explain to her sounding quite sad.

While it pleases me to have explained it to her, the very situation angers me and I feel so guilty and terrible for not being able to take Pallet Town. In fact I feel as though I've failed.

"Don't worry it is not your fault. If anything we could have done with more troops available for this attack, but they're needed for our defence as we have reason to believe that Leanbox is attempting to attack us again soon. Besides at least we tried and I think you've done well for the numbers you had, I mean you took a lot of them out.

I've learned from Blanc that there are groups of freedom fighters around route 22 to the west of Viridian City, and intelligence indicates that they'll be attacked by Team Rocket soon. I also feel terrible as well because they'll probably die due to us being unable to provide them with reinforcements. It's a real shame as they'd be useful in our campaign in Lowee.

Both Noire and Blanc know about this and they're just as depressed about the whole situation, but none of us are angry and it's no one's fault it's just unfortunate circumstances. As a matter of fact they wish they didn't send you out, as they're concerned you both will be captured or die and we'll have lost the two best people we have. Or worse is they may end up working out Lastation has invaded, and they'll ally with Leanbox. This is indeed something we're desperate to avoid. Yeah they're both frustrated with how Lowee may not be liberated at all.

I propose that you and White do whatever you can to survive in Lowee for now. I wish we could provide the means to take you back home, but we need all the equipment we can get to defend Lastation right now. I'm extremely sorry Black, I feel so terrible to be forced to leave you behind, and in fact I may end up going dark temporarily when we fight Leanbox. I don't like this as it frustrates me to no end, I don't want to leave anyone behind at all and it disgusts me how our attempt to liberate Lowee has failed from the start." Uni explains though she sounds extremely upset, but I can't blame her at all.

Although it pleases me to know they're not mad at me, I still feel the guilt and I can sense Uni's guilt for not being able to help me as much as she would like to.

It's really awful how Lowee is the next step and we couldn't even capture the first town from the border. I'm concerned that it will take time and reinforcements to attempt to attack Pallet Town, and I'm unsure if it's even possible due to dealing with Leanbox. It makes me wonder the rate we're going whether Lowee will ever be liberated, and because Lowee needs to be liberated as part of our plans, can we ever win this war? Thankfully I at least have an idea of what to do now.

"Don't feel so bad maybe me and White can join those guys in Route 22 for now. Hopefully we can hold out against the enemy long enough before you have more troops available for this operation. Speaking of which I don't think the operation itself was bad, it's just we needed more troops to do it. Maybe if I find them we can attack Pallet Town and take it together." I propose at least trying to snatch some victory from the jaws of defeat.

"It's worth a try though I'm not sure, I must admit Team Rocket is very eager in their calling of reinforcements, so when they attack the Loweeans they'll probably use their radios to call in troops after troops until the job is done." She explains to me.

Hmmmm radio to help call in reinforcements…. Hang on what if they didn't have radios any more, it would mean they can't call in reinforcements. Wait a minute what if I could EMP the troops at Viridian City…. No they'll be suspicious but Pallet Town on the other hand? It is then I ask Uni some questions and I realise that my depression I have right now, may have faded away.

"Uni do you know how many radios there are in Pallet Town?" I ask her.

"For some strange reason, they have only one. They don't even have any cell phones though it could be to do with them being low level grunts, or something like that. Why do you ask? What strategy do you have in mind?" Uni asks sounding more happy as she realises I may have a plan.

"OK would it possible to EMP Pallet Town, being as how they probably won't suspect an attack and they won't be able to call for help, or officially recognise a Lastation attack?" I suggest to Uni.

"And then you'd be able to capture Pallet Town, revive the fallen and they can get their supplies, and they can then deal with the enemy reinforcements in the forest. It just so happens that the Orbital VSAT watching over you is equipped with an EMP." Uni replies to me.

This news cheers me up no end, and now I think have a plan which is based on what me and my sister have talked about. Hopefully it'll work but at least it's better than nothing. Perhaps Pallet Town will be captured after all, and Lowee can be liberated someday.

"OK use it now, me and White will take the Blue House then once it's taken I want you to revive our troops in route 1. After which we can take Professor Oak's Laboratory and then Pallet Town will finally be ours. After which White will protect the town, while I take the majority of our troops to engage the enemy in the forest. Hopefully I can meet up with the Loweeans in Route 22 and they can protect Pallet Town, and then we'll finally have our foot hold in Lowee." I order calmly.

"Excellent idea, be advised you'll be without surveillance support, as currently Leanbox has sent an invasion force against us, and intelligence indicates that they have sent in some robots called Titans. But don't worry about the allied dead troops as it's possible for you to revive them yourselves. Good luck in your plan Black, hopefully we'll all be fine without your help, and then I'll be back with surveillance and with luck some more troops and supplies for our Loweean campaign as well. As for now an EMP has struck Pallet Town." Uni explains to me.

"Thank you and you too Uni. I have all the faith in you guys and I'm confident that Lastation will look just as grand and flawless and utopia-like, as I left." I say to her.

Although I find it sad that Leanbox has invaded Lastation once again and I'm not there to defend it, I'm at least confident that with Noire, Uni, Blanc, Rom and Ram there, Lastation is in very capable hands. I shouldn't be surprised if Lastation doesn't suffer a single casualty or a single damaged building. Though mind you with the advanced technology that Lastation has, it shouldn't worry me if it did as revival is possible, and I'm sure with the ease of making materials, or having nano bots will ensure that nothing is damaged for long in Lastation, which makes me really happy.

But with a strategy that I'm confident will work for Pallet Town, I now feel confident and relaxed and it is now as if on cue, that I hear footsteps approach up the stairs and my HUD confirms it to be White.

As she approaches I then speak to her via mind talk.

"White I have some good news; Uni has managed to EMP this town so we don't have to worry about engaging the enemy here. We just need to take Blue House for now and then we can revive the dead troops in Route 1, before we then take Oak's Laboratory and with it Pallet Town." I say to her.

"That's wonderful news Black. The thing is I'll need to gather some more ammo as my Scoped Arisaka is quite low now." White replies sounding quite concerned.

I completely understand where she comes from considering the amount of enemies she had to kill. And having a sniper rifle is very useful, it's too bad there doesn't seem to be that many considering all the grunts we have faced.

"Here take my shot gun; as a matter of fact I'll use this Type 99 over there." I gesture with my hand indicating its location.

I reckon that gun will be heavy so after giving White my shotgun, I drop my Arisaka before picking up the Type 99.

And indeed I do find this gun to be heavier than the others, but I still manage to carry it it's just I can't carry any other weapon apart from my side arm.

I look in my HUD to find the numbers: 20/180. The ammo count is disappointing and I know how fast this gun can fire, but still considering the sort of enemies we'll be dealing with, a portable machine gun of even this quality should prove most effective against the garrison of the Blue House.

With our guns in hand we then head down the stairs.

"Unfortunately Uni cannot provide any support for now, as she's currently dealing with a Leanbox attack." I inform White via mind talk.

"I hope she's ok, it makes me wonder how many of them they're dealing with and what troops they've sent out." White replies to me sounding quite curious.

"Well I know that they've sent in their Titans in this invasion." I answer her.

"Titans? I remember how powerful they were; hopefully Cole McGrath can wipe them all out with ease." She speaks to me.

"I'm sure they will, and I'm confident they'll be just fine." I reassure her.

By this point we leave the Red House only for us to advance on the Blue House, we split ourselves up with White going to the door, and myself going to the windows at the back of the Blue House.

As I get in position I feel a surge of adrenaline as well as confidence as although it's just us 2, with how powerful we are I know we'll be able to take the Blue House with no difficulty.

When we arrive I hide below one of the windows and look inside with my magnetic vision, to see plenty of troops there all around the floor as well as White hiding behind the entrance.

Even with my vision I can tell that the floor appears to be just one room and it appears to be a kitchen, a dining room, all into one. I'll have to tell you readers it's appearance when I clear the ground floor with White.

With us both in position I commence the attack by leaning over the window with my gun, and shooting as many of them inside as my clip will allow me. Although I do my best in making every shot count, I've only killed 5 of them. After which I then hide to reload my gun, and after that I see with my vision that White has killed 2 of them that were hiding behind a door. Afterwards I then hear multiple gun shots all over the place, though upon looking inside I find that they're standing up. It's not long before I see White taking out a couple by the corner closest to me with her shot gun, while she stands in the doorway.

I wait for them to reload before I lean out and fire my gun again, killing another group particularly those that intended to ambush White with their bayonets. After which I have to reload but before I can crouch to do the deed, a couple of them pop out near my window in an attempt to kill me, but they get shot down by White.

By this point the remaining troops then retreat to one side of the room away from me and White, making the most of what cover they have.

With my gun now reloaded I now walk down to the back of the house to another window where they all are. Meanwhile I see White switching to her dual wield Nambus while she walks inside the room.

By the time I reach my new position White is already engaging the remaining enemies. Although they shoot plenty of bullets at White, this appears to have no effect on her as one by one she kills each one with a shot from each of her pistols.

I then fire my own gun at the rest of them to assist White, causing the window to smash from the bullets.

With the ground floor clear I enter the room via the window, before having a look around. The room is exactly the same as the one in the Red House, the only difference being is the colour scheme which is all blue, and there's also a map of the entire Kanto region on the table. It's different to how I remember where there was just a TV, a table and chairs, as well as shelves of books and plants with no kitchen, or an upstairs I mean where was that female supposed to sleep?

We then make sure all of our guns have fresh clips, but as if on cue we hear the footsteps from the stairs of what sounds like 2 people charging down.

As soon as they bust open the door from the stairs to this room, White shoots them both quickly with her shotgun.

We then switch to our magnetic vision afterwards to see what enemies we have to deal with upon going up the stairs. On the stairs there are 6 of them, there are 2 on the stairs itself carrying pistols and 4 of them are at the top with rifles and bayonets, including one who's lying on top of the stairs with a scoped rifle. We both realise they intend to ambush us both from the stairs, so with this taken into consideration we enter the bottom of the stairs but do so cautiously.

As I peek through the door, they open fire but so do I and because of me having way more health than them, they all die except for the sniper who because of his position is very difficult to shoot, from where I'm crouching. Never the less White charges up the stairs and shoots the sniper in the head with her pistols.

I then follow her making sure I have a fresh clip for my Type 99. When we reach the top of the stairs the both of us look with our visions, only to find that like the Red House there is a bedroom. Though with regards their troop deployment they all appear to be on one side with their rifles and bayonets. They aim them at the other side waiting to fire should we come in. Amongst them is another soldier doing the same thing though he appears to be carrying a pump action shotgun, he must be the boss of the Blue House.

Although we know we'll be walking into a trap and perhaps this could get quite precarious, we kick open the door to the bedroom. Soon after at least a dozen troops open fire on us and for the first time here, I feel a bit of pain from their bullets as they have done quite a bit of damage. They all then charge at us while in response we try to shoot them all down.

Despite us doing our best while dealing with their banzai charge, we've only managed to wipe out a third of them before being forced to switch to our side arms, and by this time they are constantly stabbing us.

Oddly enough each stab with their knife only feels as painful as a punch, but it's starting to add up as we try to take them out one by one with our pistols. It's rather fortunate that one shot from our pistols are all that's required to take them down, and it's not long before we manage to wipe the banzai charge out. But I'm starting to feel a bit of pain now and I can only guess my health is at about 80%, I'm sure White's is as well.

With the minions dealt with it's just the boss now and I find the boss to look exactly like one of the grunts, as he's been firing shot after shot with his shot gun, and each shot from his shot gun hurts a little bit. He alternates between shooting us both.

Although reloading our primary weapons will take some time, we choose to do so as they'll do the most damage to him. Thanks to our perk a colas they don't take much time to reload, as before long we shoot back while he has to reload his shot gun.

I find that upon firing my entire clip from my machine gun at this boss, he is now at less than half health and he's starting to clutch his chest as he's wounded, clearly in pain. Because of this he's unable to fire his shotgun as often as he'd like. After reloading our guns again we finish him off and with him dead the Blue House has been captured, it's just Oak's Laboratory now though something tells me this will be tougher than both houses put together. We need more troops as well as Uni's surveillance though one of them we don't have right now, while the other we don't even know if we can have it right now.

Although Uni won't be able to respond, I leave her a message via mind talk that the Blue House has been taken. I then place the LMG on the floor before picking up the shot gun. It's actually an 1897 Trench Gun though this one has 6 bullets with 54 extra.

"Well done for capturing Blue House White, OK I need for you to go to Route 1 and see if any reinforcements are coming, as although their communications are now cut off we still need to be sure." I order her via mindtalk.

She then heads down the stairs, picking up a scoped Arisaka while I pick up one of the regular Arisaka's on the floor, as well as the others which merely provide extra bullets for the gun, just like in a shoot em up.

I try to use my magnetic vision to try and learn of the troop deployment, but unfortunately they're too far away. It's quite inconvenient for Leanbox to be attacking Lastation right now, because if they didn't Uni could actually inform me of who's in there and perhaps I can devise a strategy for taking that lab. Still I'll have to see if I can gather intelligence without being spotted, but I realise that they'll be suspicious if they see me standing outside. This is because they'll probably expect me to report, which will mean going inside without assistance and that may not be ideal. Although their communications are cut off, there's nothing to stop them from running for help and without Uni's help, it could be difficult to prevent this from happening.

There's nothing for it but to wait as I hide behind a window overlooking the lab, and use my magnetic vision to see anyone that's coming out. Which happens to be no one and I find this to be rather odd. They don't seem to be any of the wiser that both houses have been taken. I just hope White is alright and that I can revive the troops without incident. It's rather unfortunate that I'm not even sure how many of them are in this laboratory. I guess all I can do is wait; at least I'm overlooking the entrance so they can't attack me without me knowing.

Eventually after a short while White sends me a message.

"OK I'm by the bodies there's no enemy reinforcements." She informs me.

I then do my finger snap to revive those dead troops in route 1.

"Excellent ok there are some supplies on the outskirts of this town, lead them there but be quick. We need to capture that lab before any more enemy reinforcements come." I order her politely.

She responds to me and with this done, I hold position only to find there's no one coming out. Eventually I see White and a small army of our troops rushing through Pallet Town to get the supplies. I just hope the enemy don't become suspicious of White and those troops.

Unfortunately my concerns are confirmed as I see one of them come out to investigate. Left with no choice I lean out of the window and shoot him in the head with my rifle. Although this will probably encourage more to engage me, not least because of how one of their houses been captured, I feel I made the right call.

It's not long afterwards before I see a squad of them approach attempting to engage my position, they split up in 2 with some of them going in my house, while the others standing there trying to shoot me from where they are.

They prove no threat to me as one by one I kill the entire group that tried to shoot me. But it's not long afterwards that I hear footsteps coming from the stairs, with this knowledge I aim my rifle at the door loading a fresh clip, waiting for them to come to me.

It's not long at all before they do indeed go upstairs, and at that moment I wipe them out one by one. Despite my slow rate of fire allowing them to fire back at me, they do little damage to me.

With the threat dealt with I look over the laboratory again, while hiding beneath the window. I'm relieved to find that there are no more enemy troops that come out.

It's not long before White and the small army return, so I rush down the stairs and out of the house to greet them.

With them seeing us all together I expected for them to come out, but they don't and it's reasonable to presume that they see us as one of them. But we need to be heading for the laboratory to keep up the disguise, as I then look inside with my magnetic vision to see what troops they have inside.

As I look inside I find that the building is split into two sections, the one closest to the door has about 20 of them along with 4 machine guns that point at the door, while in the other section there are 6 machine guns and 20 more of them. Hmmmm though those machine guns look deadly, I'm sure there is a way of neutralising them however. It is then I think of a plan.

"OK guys, me and Paula will enter through the front door. The rest of you hide behind the front windows, when we attack you do the same. OK?" I whisper my order to the troops.

They nod showing their obedience and we then head to the entrance to Oak's laboratory.

As I look outside I find it to look like a regular building, although this one is larger than the two houses. I find it odd how this is all there is to Pallet Town just two houses and a lab, but still I now realise that if I can capture this lab then Pallet Town will be ours, and our campaign can start. It's weird how earlier I was concerned that it may not happen and now I think it could, but there is something that does concern me now. Can we hold Pallet Town with what troops we have? Because sooner or later they'll learn that they've lost contact with Pallet Town, and it will only be a matter of time before they send reinforcements after reinforcements.

None the less before I know it we're all in position and so begins my plan for capturing the lab. As planned me and White open the door, but before we enter we quickly shoot the 2 machine gunners that stands guard overlooking the entrance. After that we both hide outside only for our troops to ambush the enemy inside, successfully killing all of them that stands in the first section before they can even react.

With the first section now clear morale is high, as none of our troops are injured right now. We then advance into the building.

I look inside to see that the laboratory appears old and basic, with little special equipment. All I see in front of me is stacks of old books on shelves. There are plenty of shelves it's almost like a library, in fact there is a wall of them with a gap in the middle to allow a couple of people to walk through. I shouldn't be surprised with its appearance as like the houses they are abandoned and left to Team Rocket, it makes me wonder what they use this building for apart from their base? One thing I also notice is the immense number of sleeping bags here, it's hard to imagine that the entire garrison would sleep in this place.

I now realise I have no time to think about that as I notice two machine gunners that try and shoot us, though by this point my forces are taking cover behind the books. I use my magnetic vision to confirm their troop deployment in the next section. I look to find the 2 machine gunners as well as another 4 in the area, including 2 that have their backs to a corner. Conveniently I find myself on one side and White on the other, while sharing our forces on both sides.

"Paula I need you take down the enemy gunners with your shot gun." I order her.

And with that command she obeys. What happens is we end up shooting the machine gunners with our backs to us with the shotguns. The shot is powerful enough to penetrate through the wood that holds the books. My vision confirms them to be dead and when they realise that 2 of their gunners have been shot, they all retreat back away from the books so we cannot do it again. What happens after wards is that me and White then peek around the cover of the shelves and we pick of the enemy gunners one by one, and eventually the troops themselves.

Upon realising they're dying without the means of seeing us let alone engaging us, they change tactic and do a banzai charge to our section. I notice this so I'm able to order the troops to prepare themselves for their charge. As soon as we see them come charging out they get shot by our rifles, in fact none of them are able to make it past the shelves before they get shot, and this is thanks to the narrow section that they have to pass through.

It gets to a point where there is no more of them left as they have all died by us, but suddenly I find that a grenade has been fired at some of our forces. Although they're merely wounded but with no loss of limbs thanks to the perk a colas, I have concerns that they could die or perhaps lose their limbs if they were to be shot again.

My gut tells me that their boss has fired that weapon so me and White quickly charge in to engage the enemy. I find that their boss carries a Scoped Arisaka but with a grenade launcher attachment, and although the boss looks like a grunt he wears more white than black. But it's of no consequence as I attempt to kill him with my new shot gun.

I pump shot after shot of my gun in him and though it hits him every time and it clearly hurts him, it doesn't kill him and neither does White's shot gun. Unfortunately we have to reload allowing him to return fire, though he fires every shot from his rifle at White. When he's out of bullets he screws a bayonet on the end of his rifle, but before he can charge with it we fire our shots again at him. Unfortunately although it does hurt him the shots don't seem to push him to the ground, at least something tells me that his health is running low now but he's still standing after our second clip. It's then he tries to charge at me but I switch to my Arisaka and shoot at him, but he's still going. Rather than cock my rifle I decide to stab him when he's in range. As soon as he's in range I stab him with the bayonet, though amazingly it's the stab that actually kills him as he's ran out of health.

"You're OK Black?" White asks me understanding that it was quite a tense fight.

"Yeah I'm fine, anyway I'd best go and help our friends in the forest, meanwhile you guys stay with Paula and defend Pallet Town." I order.

After giving the order they obey and I rush out after picking up the grenade launcher, while messaging Uni about the capture of Pallet Town before finding my fallen allies, resurrecting them and informing them of our plans.

It brings such a smile to my face to find that the laboratory has been taken; meaning Pallet Town our first Loweean area has been captured. It's too bad we've yet to find the means to bring some Loweeans here, but I'm sure this will be good news for the people back in Lastation and it's one small step towards the goal of liberating Lowee.

But as I rush to do the next phase of our plan looking forward to meeting the Loweeans that live here under Team Rocket occupation, I can't help but feel concerned whether they're alive and even if they are how they are doing, with regards their survival and what not. It makes me wonder if they have food and drink, sanitation as well as shelter, though I'll remember to bring some supplies to the Loweeans there as well. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for them as they will have to deal with waves of Team Rocket troops, I mean I've experienced this first hand here. I just hope they're alright.

It's like with White. Although it's for the best I kinda feel uncomfortable leaving her behind to defend Pallet Town with so few troops, despite dealing with their reinforcements and the communications being cut. I can just predict that they'll be invaded again. I can just predict that White may end up dying or worse, I can only hope that I can meet up with the Loweeans to reinforce Pallet Town as soon as possible. This is because we'll need all the help we can get as despite my allies doing the best they can and I don't blame them, they've not been able to provide as much troops as they would have liked. But at least they're able to provide excellent supplies that are fantastic in quality and quantity.

Yeah I do find that a lot is on my mind right now. I just hope that it all goes down to plan, but I have reason to believe it may not be. But none the less I should keep going as I have managed to turn the situation around and captured Pallet Town for my team. Speaking of which I hope they're doing alright back in Lastation, I'm sure they are but I look forward to being able to hear from Uni, as well as if possible to be able to speak to my CPU Noire tonight. It'd be interesting to see if it would be more than mind talk because I would love to see her again, even if it can't be face to face.