Chapter 102: Lives on the line.
I'm still in this dream with Nepgear being forced to either confess and survive, or to die a slow and painful death thanks to Blanc who has her trapped in a toilet cubicle, which has a camera overlooking the wash area, and some deadly poisonous gas which is painful as well as lethal. It is then that after all of this time the candidate does in fact decide to finally confess her sins, though something tells me that there may be a twist behind this. This Planeptune joke then takes a deep breath before she finally makes the confession itself.
Note: Readers please listen to Phone Booth Confession while reading this:
"I am never ever nice to people unless they are worthy to me, and this means it's very few people. I never do anything for anyone unless it can hugely benefit me. I have a couple of friends but I don't deserve them for who I am, and how I only take advantage of them. One of my friends is Vert and I play video games with her, but I frequently disconnect so she can lose. I do this because I believe it's important to sacrifice other people so that I can be saved. In fact whenever I see her at her house, I try and steal information and secrets on her computer. I also promised to make a video game about her, about the CPUs with them as main characters but it's all a lie and so am I.
I'm just as vile with Sonic the Hedgehog, OK. I get him to build some technology to help Planeptune when really it's just an EMP device designed to destroy electronic systems, so that technology and power can be stolen with ease, to fuel Planeptune to take on it's enemies. The truth is, Arfoire doesn't exist and I only want the power for myself so that Planeptune can be the best while the others are the worst. I also knew about what Neptune and Plutia did, but did nothing because I look up to them as leaders, and appreciate how it's for the best that Planeptune and its leaders are kept as strong as possible, while the others are made weak and are forced to bow down to us so that they're no threat.
I also scammed the innocent people by buying all of the dolls and puddings for my sister and friend's funeral, and then selling them at high prices and I intend to do this for other items, so that I can get huge profits at the people's expense. Those are my crimes and I wish they have never been committed, and this is my confession." Nepgear says sounding ever so tearful, struggling to get the words out of her mouth considering how ashamed she is.
Or is she ashamed because soon she stops crying and starts lying.
"And that confession is a lie because I have nothing to confess what so ever. Neptune and Plutia are innocent and are only trying to make Planeptune a better place, and in any case Arfoire is coming and so Planeptune needs to be strong as it's the only one who can defeat her, and the only way to do so is to sacrifice the other nations.
Besides which those other nations and the people are worthless and have no respect for us whatsoever, and I'm very angry with how people despise myself and Neptune and Plutia, who have worked so hard. They cheer their demise in secret, they do not have the capabilities like Neptune and Plutia do, none of them do, they're weak and since they're weak and we're strong, their sole purpose is for the weak to serve the strong for their sake. They should consider it an honour, a duty to sacrifice themselves for me, for us to ensure our survival as we are much more important than them.
If they are unable to protect me to ensure I can survive by living, then they have to sacrifice themselves. I've done nothing wrong as I've merely carried out my role as the future leader of Planeptune, just as they've carried out their roles as servants of Planeptune. None of us have done anything wrong and if you wish to murder me in cold blood, just like you did to Neptune and Plutia then so be it, at least I'll get to join them, and I know I'll be proven right as Planeptune won't be able to save the rest of the world against Arfoire. The world will fall and it will be you who has to confess her sins and admit her guilt." Nepgear speaks with much defiance, even if she knows she'll die.
The thing is myself and Blanc know the truth, and we know that she is guilty and the fact that she is proud of what she has done instead of shame, is tragic, ever so tragic. Tragic as for me she has changed for the worse for certain, from someone I was unsure of and felt had some redeeming qualities and potential to someone I truly despise. Well I say that but this is not a sudden change of heart, it's merely more memories being obtained about her, and the more memories I have the more I disliked her.
While I knew about what she did and especially the bad ending, I felt that she wasn't the worst and that bad ending was that a bad ending, yet it is only the realisation that it's only circumstances that brought the ending to being that has changed my perspective. It is the principles that she has that is wrong. The fact that if a difficult enemy comes along and she would rather throw her allies away than fight to the death with them just to survive, it just shows how she's only out for her self just like her older sister, and what redeeming qualities she did have are meaningless now. Considering the defiance she shows, maybe Nepgear supports not just them but their methods, and is no different to them at all really. It's certainly the case considering the portrayals, the defeats, the humiliation that the candidates had.
With what she said about how she sees her people in the same way as her friends, it really baffles me how can a ruler or someone that intends to be ruler, have such a horrible attitude towards the people they rule over, and to act like they're innocent and good, when in reality they're fakes just as this dream or flashback shows, and will perhaps show more of it, very disgusting. Oh well at least it means we can punish them.
"Very disappointing Nepgear, I knew you wouldn't have the decency to confess your sins and even if I said you were doing so much better, I was kidding. You're no better than the others, you've had your chance and now it's time for you to die and be replaced by someone with kindness, intelligence and respect for the people. It's for the best of this world that you die with those morons." Blanc speaks calmly as she's eager to actually give the punishment that the purple joke deserves.
Nepgear then threw her phone across the room, only for her to put her arms out yelling for the caller to take her down. Blanc then unleashes the deadly gas which causes her body to ache and for her to choke, as she's struggling for air. She's also heaving a lot as she finds herself in massive pain, only for her to then fall down….
The dream or flashback then ends and we all find ourselves awake in this gigantic massive bed of ours, after taking in such an interesting dream, with seeing how it's probably like that in Planeptune right now only without Blanc being able to assassinate the leaders there.
"Hmmm, that was a nice dream with me being the caller who's killed the 3 Planeptune stooges, and exposed them for who they are which is complete and utter vile evil frauds, the thing is I'm not sure if that actually happened." Blanc speaks with a huge smile on her face.
Interesting I was wondering if I was only one to think this, but no doubt none of us knows for sure
"Oh yeah that was a nice dream, I hate to think what's going on over there, and how powerless we are to stop this. With what you said about whether it's a flashback I agree, and to think that they may have had power over there is worse, though they must had something if we struggled to stop them for good and merely stopped their schemes individually." Noire adds with a mixture of emotions, joy with the dream yet sad with the reality.
Noire makes a point there definitely was something up that we manage to defeat Neptune and her cronies with ease knowing how stupid she is, but she always escapes. Even if we may not know what power she had or we had exactly from where we came from with regards authority or political power, she's certainly got help. I believe that finding out our origins and whose helping her can help us in winning the war.
We all agree to what they say and it certainly is horrible to imagine what's going on over there right now with the starvation, the poverty, the torture and killings of innocent people, it's madness utter madness, and perhaps these dreams show us what we want and would like to do or perhaps what we managed to do, but we cannot due to the practicalities of this world. Perhaps as I may have said before, they are meant to be ironic that despite our ideology of technology and future proof, the flashbacks make out that our previous place was better due to how strong we were compared to them.
It's certainly frustrating, ever so frustrating though it does make me wonder now considering my opinion of her declining severely whether Nepgear may actually be more involved with Neptune and Plutia than I thought previously, considering what I remember, perhaps initially she just served them but over time she became more and more enthusiastic to their horrible cause. I'm not sure but I'd like to know though it is a shame that it will be a long time before I can find out just exactly what is going on in Planeptune, and to finally do something about it.
A long time indeed as there is still Lowee to liberate, and we've only achieved getting Viridian Forest. It will be a tough fight tomorrow, and yet it will be a tough fight tonight with these dreams and nightmares, I do feel like there'll be a couple of nightmares that we must all face for our survival, though I do hope that we can find out the truth regarding the Arfoire incident. In any case we all go to sleep again ready to face the nightmares whatever it may be, be it in a dream about the past, or a challenge that will be a nightmare or maybe even the truth about Arfoire.
It is then I find myself in a completely different place, only this appears to be underground due to the rocks that surround the place which have pipes hanging high on the walls, and there's barrels scattered all over the place. It's dark with not much light coming from the lights that hang on the ceiling, and the only people with me are Stealth and a bunch of other people I just do not know. All of us are wearing black and grey coloured clothes which cover our torsos, our arms, our legs and our feet, though the clothes are torn, they reek of sweat and dirt to say the least, and it's clear that they haven't been washed.
I find myself grappling with Stealth in this dream, but I know that this is for the sole purpose of attracting the attention of the guards, as my HUD tells me that this is a prison and I need to cause a scene with Stealth so we can get the guards.
Eventually a guard who is neatly dressed in a purple military uniform approaches us, demanding what's going on as he forcefully pushes me away from Stealth, only for him to then get out a mid- length blade and threatens me with it. He then laughs sadistically as he intends to kill me with it, but then my ally who I had a fake fight with, then grabs a rock on the floor, taps his shoulder to get his attention, and he then smacks the rock hard in his face which kills him instantly.
"You OK there Black?" Stealth asks.
"I'm fine thank you Stealth." I reply to him as I then get out of the keys from his pocket and pick up the knife by his side.
"OK everyone I have the keys, this is the beginning of our escape everybody. Let's go." I speak loudly so that I can rally the troops.
After hearing my speech they yell only for us to then rush out of one of the paths which I like to think will lead us out of here. I then notice how there's a railway track on the ground, suggesting to me that perhaps this is a mine, is this the place that I think it is? Hmm, interesting place for my dream to be.
In any case I, along with Stealth and our allies need to get out of this place as well as for us to ensure that we survive, as my gut tells me that this is one of Neptune's nightmares though it is interesting to see that of those in bed, only Stealth and myself are here, making me wonder where is the rest of my friends?
As we approach the route we have chosen, we can see how prisoners like us are fighting the guards there, only because of the guards being armed with knives, they are getting killed off one by one.
Fortunately, they have their backs towards me and so one by one as they're busy slaughtering our allies; I silently kill each one of them. I then wait for the allies with me to pick up the knives that they were using and before long, I then lead the charge against more skirmishes with the same sort of results with the enemy having the advantage until we ambush the guards again who like before, have their backs turned towards us.
After which, I notice the enemy guards trying to charge at us with their knives in their hands, and it is then that I order the allied troops to throw knives at them and they all fall down. After that we pick up the knives and head for what's in front of us, which appears to be some sort of lift on an angle with a railway track on the wall. It's good to know that the lift is big enough for the dozen of us here.
We then get in the underground cliff lift, and press the button for it to takes us to wherever it goes, all of us readying ourselves for whatever awaits us. Though we have been alright for now, I get the feeling that it's going to get more difficult as we head closer and closer to our escape, and it concerns me that I don't have the health in this nightmare like I do when I'm awake, nor would I be able to be revived, but all I can do is my best and I'm confident that my best will pull me through just like it will with Stealth.
Eventually we reach our destination, and we can see a guard desperately trying to defend his position with his Makarov pistol, as the prisoners try to close in on him, as he fires his gun at them, worrying that there's just far too many of them for him to deal with.
I quickly slay him by approaching him and then stabbing him in the back, as I then holster the knife and pick up his pistol as well as a few clips that he had attached to him.
Hmmmm, I find that while I'm pleased to have a gun, I don't feel that this will make things much easier but still, I know I need to press on in our escape, but I need to be careful as I'm almost certain that we will all be shot down to pieces, as I then see that this must be where people gather the equipment necessary to extract resources, as there are a few handheld axes but no helmets of any kind, even though I know how important it is to have helmets in a mine. Still even if I believe in health and safety, Planeptune clearly doesn't and I wouldn't be surprised if Planeptune were to have mines and suffer plenty of fatalities, and not introduce a single law to keep the workers safe, how tragic and pathetic.
I then look to the front to see a door, a heavy door that we all need to push open. It's a pity I do not have my visions in this nightmare as I can then see what's in front of us, and what hiding place we can go to should we get ambushed after opening the door.
We then try and open this big strong door, knowing full well that we'll probably get mowed down by the guards and their weapons, but we have no choice as we need to escape. I suppose if at least myself and Stealth can survive this then it wouldn't be too bad as with regards this dream, it's unlikely that the allies in this dream are actually real like myself and Stealth but even then, we need all the living allies we can get.
Just as I suspected, the moment we open the door slowly but surely, the enemy opens fire and mows down a good number of us as we rush out and find the nearest place we can hide, which is to be a large wagon on a railway carrying coal, and catch our breaths as well as observe the situation and plan accordingly.
I was initially worried to see that it's just me and Stealth, but then I notice that there are many more prisoners where that came from, though at best they're armed with knives and that's only some of them, and many of them are struggling to find a place to hide away from the relentless gunfire.
We have to push forward if there is to be any chance of defeating the enemy machine gun nests, and so Stealth pushes the wagon as best as he could, while I guard him and shoot any enemies that come our way.
They come in twos and threes, and though I get deeply concerned about being shot by them, I manage to quickly shoot them all as they approach me. They come from the left and the right of the wagon but I still manage to shoot them, even if sometimes it's eventually as I try my best to ensure I don't get shot by any of them, especially considering how I fear that just one shot from their pistols will kill me.
I must admit that despite trying to remain cool and calm, it is quite nerve wracking to hear the machine gun constantly shooting at the wagon as well as other people trying to find a place to hide, who still get mowed down in their large numbers. This horrifies me to see this slaughter, perhaps that's Neptune intent to taunt me with seeing lots of people getting massacred and there's little I can do.
I then look around for more troops only to see that we're above ground though the sky is black from smoke, and the ground is full of dirt and rocks. On each side are large buildings that once had purple paint but it's coming off, and the buildings themselves are old and rusty, full of rusty doors and old windows with barrels next to them. There are also massive pipes that go over this place which are supported by stilts, as well as a catwalk with lights hanging over the bottom. It's a very bleak place which increases our motivation to want to get out. I also see large purple rusty old towers towering over this area, as I hear the sound of gun fire and see troops charging in only for them to get shot down by me.
Eventually we reach the end of the railway track with nowhere to go, but I soon see a couple of prisoners with a makeshift slingshot and a Molotov cocktail and after taking some cover, they set up the slingshot, aim it at the machine gun nest, and open fire destroying the machine gun nest completely, allowing us to move forward.
Upon heading further, I notice how this area is surrounded by barbed wire and a gate which is currently opened. We head through only to see that the ground consists of tarmac and there's lots of barrels and crates backed against some old purple brick buildings that have seen better days.
We then go up some stairs on a catwalk past more barrels and crates and barbed wire, as well as seeing the occasional tower which happens to be cylindrical. We then come to a door soon enough which we barge through.
Upon entering the building, I see the floor consisting of old green tiles which look a bit clinical, and I also see the walls bare, with purple paint peeling off, and it's not very well lit up though I can hear the alarm and with it, I can see some sort of different switches, metal filing cabinets, papers all over the floor as well as tables. I see a door which I order some of the troops to break open as best as they can, as my gut tells me that there'll be weapons in there.
"OK Stealth, I'm going to see if there's a radio nearby which I can use to rally the troops, meanwhile I would like you to climb the tower and see if you can support the prisoners here wherever you can." I say to him, as I pass him my gun and the clips for it.
"Sure no problem." He replies to me.
As I hear the prisoners grunting as they try and get the door open, I climb up the stairs and see the place full of large boxes with electronics in them, which makes me think that this must be a very old computer, only to then find what I'm looking for, which is a fairly old fashioned radio with what appears to be large tape recorders with a few buttons on them.
It is then I press the button and begin my speech in which I know just the appropriate words to inspire the prisoner's revolt and to ensure that their morale is high, and they will do their best in making their great escape out of this nightmare.
Note: Readers please listen to Black Ops OST Vorkuta while reading this bit:
"Brave friends of Lastation and Lowee, the time has come to rise against our enemies. Today, we show them the hearts of true gamers. We have all given our support for Lastation and Lowee. We have bought their games without question. We gave our youth, our spare time, our very cash for their consoles and games. As gamers we have competed against various other consoles. We worked hard to succeed in the games, we've tried again and again until we won in them, and over time our consoles have achieved a glorious victory against our opponents. We didn't play for cash or publicity, but for our own enjoyment and to do something unique in them.
We wanted a game about the consoles and when Neptunia came, how did those makers in Planeptune make the game that we have asked for? We got a game not of equality, fairness and good portrayals, but to vilification, humiliation and defeats. In the eyes of the makers we were servants of villains who have defeated them, such that they were out of business. Instead of the series with multiple perspectives and multiple characters, we found the series to be awful. There they have made their games with no hope for fair representation, no hope for equality or justice; here our characters have been exposed to such misery and pain, until they do not have any credibility.
We have watched our characters succumb to poor personality traits, and being made the fool. Our characters have been abused, they have even been killed once, but we will not tolerate it. Today, we will send a message to those silly and careless makers. Today my gamers. Neptunia burns!" I speak loudly and with pride, amused that my speech has such resemblance to something I've heard before, just like this place.
I then go up the stairs to where Stealth is and look at the buildings and the burned towers, where no longer are they shooting at the prisoners. I also see plenty of prisoners rushing towards the building.
"Well done Stealth, OK I think our allies have busted open the door to the armoury. We need to arm ourselves everybody, they are sure to respond with deadly force." I say to him and the few prisoners there.
"Thanks Black and hey nice speech as well, it's certainly aroused me and I look forward to getting my hands on Neptune." He replies to me.
We all then head down the stairs where the armoury is, only to see a door that's broken and open, and outside this door is a huge pile of what appears to be KS23 pump action shotguns.
After we all pick up a shotgun each, as well as enough bullets to last us for a fair while, we then head out of the building where we encounter a barbed wire fence and a gate which is locked with a padlock. I know full well that past this gate through these buildings will be enemies, no doubt they'll be armed with AK47s and ready to pounce on us, and I only hope that we can survive this.
I then shoot the lock, and we all charge though we do it cautiously as we have no desire to get ambushed. The buildings appear to be metallic and rusty, and I have no idea what's inside them, I can only imagine that they might be the accommodation of the prisoners, though I can imagine they're being of poor quality with lack of food, probably not even be any beds.
Just around the corner, I see a few guards trying to shoot at us, but thanks to me being prone, I'm able to shoot each one of them down with just one shot from my shotgun. A few of the prisoners then charge forward but are then met by a few rifle men with both sides shooting at each other and then falling. Still I look behind me to see that there are plenty more of them and I find that we can advance further, and with this I swap my Makarov for an AK47, as then I'll be able to take them down from a distance.
It is then that I notice amongst the towering lights, the pipes that hover over us and the old purple metal buildings which have barbed wire on them, that more enemies try to attack us, including on the roof itself, but we manage to mow them down even if a couple of prisoners get shot down.
We then advance to a bunch of crates scattered across the ground which make great makeshift cover, where a few enemies are hiding. We shoot each of them down while the enemy barely manages to shoot one of us down. The thing is it is then that we hear the sound of a chopper coming our way, and it needs to be taken down as quickly as possible. At least we can't see it but I need to find a way to destroy it, but it won't be easy.
We then advance further and it is now I find this area to be more open as I see trucks parked across the area, but still even though I can hear the chopper, I can't see the chopper. I can see about a dozen or so enemies, but thanks to us hiding and taking them out one by one, we manage to pass through with minimum casualties though interestingly enough, I see more and more armed prisoners coming our way from the rear.
We then head cautiously to the next area of similar looking terrain where we manage to shoot down any enemy that pops out from their hiding place, only for us to reach another open area and find more enemies there, and furthermore I finally see the chopper trying to guns us down as we try and find somewhere to hide which isn't easy. What's made worse is how I see an enemy with an RPG7 about to aim his rocket launcher at us.
The thing is just as he's about to fire his weapon at us, I kill him and amazingly enough, he ends up firing the RPG above where I am, and he ends up hitting the tail of the helicopter, which forces it to spin and crash into some buildings. Hmmm what an amazing shot, and now I like to think it's just riflemen to deal with from now on, who shouldn't prove too much of a problem, though something tells me they might have more specialised enemies to use against us.
We then head past this area to a location where in front of us is a large building, which I'm unsure of its significance at least right now, but even if the purple bricks are old and have seen better days, judging from it being big, with lots of windows as well as there being the emblem of Planeptune at the centre of the building, this building must be important.
We then quickly rush inside before any more enemies show up, only to find that this building while having a very similar interior to the previous building, actually has much more space. There are plenty of enemies who are already waiting for us, but we gun them down one at a time, even though they get a few of our guys.
Upon securing this area, we find that there's a corridor next to it and down that corridor there are numerous enemy guards trying to shoot at us, forcing us to take cover and to try and take them out. This takes a bit of time as I find myself having to wait for one of them to pop out before I fire a burst from my gun, while trying to make sure that I don't get shot myself. I must admit even though I have support from a large number of prisoners who have along the way have died in a fair amount of numbers, I'm amazed that neither myself or Stealth have been shot once, but can we keep this up? It concerns me because even if this place looks familiar, I'm not sure with regards how much more there is of this place before we can make our great escape.
As we advance through after eventually killing the enemies slowly but surely, the corridor appears to consist of small open offices full of desks, old small computers as well as type writers, paper and pens. We manage to secure the corridor, and we reach the bottom of the stairs with which we cautiously climb up the stairs, knowing full well that the enemy are certain to ambush us. And as a matter of fact, they were but despite their numbers, our numbers more than match theirs and we're able to defeat them all, even though I am certain that there's more where that came from.
And in fact I'm proven right as there are more of them down the corridor on this new floor, trying to attack us, almost as if they're trying so hard to buy time, and although they manage to buy time initially, it's not that many as we manage to wipe them out one by one, but soon I notice that the corridor leads to an electronic door which is lowering fast, and so even if the enemy is probably waiting the other side ready to kill us, we then rush in as quickly as we can, in hopes we can secure the controls to the door, and let the rest of our allies in.
I manage to get into the room where the door is but by the time I make it, there has already been a significant battle where the allied troops who made it through have fallen, though at least it's not many although there are still a good number of enemy troops in this area.
Still in any case I activate the electronic door while hiding, so I can protect the room only to see that overlooking this room, is a cat walk full of enemy troops who are trying to shoot at me with their AK47s.
At least with the door opening, my allies are entering in doing their best to take out the enemy troops in the area, but they're still getting killed even though the enemy are suffering with casualties as well. Hopefully it will only be a matter of time before this area can be cleared and we can press on, but while I see waves of allied troops reinforcing their fallen comrades, the enemies who die on the catwalk are being replaced by their reinforcements.
This worries me as even though I haven't seen it yet, I do feel like there is a limit to the amount of prisoners there are, and even more of a limit than the guards. What's more is that while I have a fair amount of ammunition for now, I worry that it will run out at the rate we are going. I also worry that we'll probably be pinned down here for a significant amount of time, resulting in the enemy pouring in troops in significant numbers, and perhaps they'll send in their special troops in as well that will probably be enough to stop us in our tracks. I really worry about what will happen if this is to be the case regarding our fates. In any case myself, Stealth and our troops need to keep on fighting to prevent this from happening at all costs.
We must win this battle and triumph in our escape for the sake of Gameindustri and everything in it, not to mention our pride as soldiers of Lastation and Lowee.