*Bang, bang* "Oi, Nepgeaaar!"
In a room of metal walls and fluorescent lights, between tech-trash and partial platines, sat the younger sister of the protagonist of protagonists. A pillow underneath, she was fiddling with a printed circuit board, cables, and a soldering iron. Her long pink-ish hair was fastened in a spiral bun so it wouldn't drop down and get in her face while she was working.
The banging on the door from outside became louder, and with a sigh she put everything aside and got up. She just wanted one afternoon for herself to indulge in her tech hobby. She clicked on the glowing button by the door, which opened to both sides with a hiss.
"There you are!"
"Oh, hi Uni. What is it?"
Before Nepgear stood Uni, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune's nominally opposing nation, Lastation. Black hair in her trademark twintails and similarly-black dress in place, Uni was wearing a pair of goggles on her head and had a large revolver on her hip. Her boot-clad feet were stomping impatiently in place.
"Do you know how many times I banged on your door until you answered?!" She looked past her foreign equal, rival, best friend, and co-fighter against all things evil, and let out her breath. "*Sigh*, go figure, of course you'd be busy all day working with tech again. You need to go outside and meet people more. Like these two."
"Hiiiii~!"
"H-Hello, Miss Nepgear."
"Oh, hello Ram, Rom. How are you doing?"
The twin CPU Candidates of the frozen nation of Lowee, Ram and Rom, stood just to the side so Nepgear hadn't noticed them before. As ever they were dressed in light coats of white and with cyan for Rom and pink for Ram, including their fluffy hats.
Ram had a mischievous glint in her eye, and Nepgear could guess why; they'd probably come over to play.
"Actually, Uni here dragged me and Rom over because..."
"Neplunker has been turned into a mine, and Blanc and the others are doing regular dives to get stuff out?"
"Dokidoki, how exciting! Ram, we should join them!"
Uni's face on the video screen agreed. She hadn't seen Nepgear in person in some time, and meeting the twins would also be nice.
"I propose you two fly over to the place, I'll be there in a bit myself."
""Okay~!""
The connection cut off, and the twins got up from the carpet surrounded by toys and books and small handheld game consoles including at least one Loweendo Switch. It was time for a new adventure!
Well, they first had to ask Mina for permission, but that shouldn't be a problem...
"I didn't drag anyone over and that flashback just now proved it."
"Ah...hahaha... But right, Mina doesn't mind this?"
Ram held her right hand up.
"She was asleep, but when we asked she definitely said something like 'Mgh, muhhh, yaya', so that's good enough."
Nepgear scratched her cheek, knowing this didn't actually count. But she knew this to be a fanfic that would need all the Candidates present, so she cheered up because she got to go on another adventure with her best friends.
"Right, but goodness, it's nice to see you all again. Do you mind if I give you a tour before we dive?"
"""Sure!"""
Nepgear played tour guide for the Deep Rock Gamindustri base, though this here Outpost 17 wasn't the most extensive. By a corner to the medbay was a long corridor with doors like the one to the tech hangar the others found her in, which was where miners slept while not on missions or otherwise occupied. Naturally, her room had similar piles of junk as the hangar, though the stuff in there seemed more generally complete.
A large bunk bed that resembled more a coffin made of steel was by the end, posters of various things hang on the walls, and a holographic computer terminal with a spinning model of some six-legged critter with severely oversized teeth provided most of the light aside the overhead lamps.
The medbay itself was a white, mostly clean room filled with all sorts of medical equipment, floating boxy robots, and more bed-like things, but otherwise pretty uninteresting.
Beyond that, the drop pod just behind the holographic mission terminal displaying the Neplunker system rested above an ominous black hole covered in a blue forcefield. It was attached to a large cable and could be rotated and tilted in various ways to allow drilling a particular direction down into Neplunker's mysterious depths.
The Abyss Bar was another prominent spot, but Nepgear hadn't gone there yet. She wanted to reserve that experience for after her first mission.
As the four girls looked at the utter mess that was yet another area with strewn-about tech, weapon parts, and an armoury's worth of bullets, Nepgear got a call from Histoire.
"Yes, hello? Histoire, what is it?"
"Hello, Nepgear. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Mina told me Ram and Rom have gone missing! If you see them anywhere-"
"Uhm, actually... they're right here."
"What?!"
"Hiii Histy!" "Hello, Miss Histoire."
Nepgear saw the hologram of the tiny book fairy facepalm.
"Goodness me, well that explains everything. Why are you here? And... Uni, you too?"
Uni waved, only a little awkwardly.
"Alright, anyway. I think I can send Mina an email about this. It's actually good you're all here, because I need your help. Do you mind meeting me in my office? It's the huge latch-like door above the drop pod."
"Of course. See you in a minute."
The Candidates made their way up a small elevator platform, through a place called the Memorial Hall - everyone except Nepgear who'd already seen them admired the gigantic golden statues depicting idealised heroic versions of DRG miners - and made their way up another elevator and through a corridor to the aforementioned office.
Histoire invited them inside, and the enormous door closed with a bang behind them. The office was well-lit and full of paper in every nook and cranny, which didn't even account for the huge desk with several computer screens.
"Everyone," Histoire began seriously which made the Candidates straighten up, "I have a mission for you. A mission of utmost importance that even the CPUs can't do. Or, *Sigh*, won't do because they're all aware Neptune will mess around and endanger them needlessly."
"Ahahaha... yes, that sounds like sis..."
"Cool, so what's the mission? Rom and I want to shoot monsters!"
"R-Ram, that's a bit..."
Uni just touched her revolver, a 'Bulldog' model she got from the armoury. She was as ready as can be.
"Alright, then straight to it: DRG's surface and underground scans allow us to collect very advanced information on what to expect, and they found a cave with several deposits of a new fuel called 'liquid morkite', which is where you girls come in. You'll be sent down via drop pod, followed by one of DRG's standardised self-deploying refinery platforms.
"You are to find the wells of liquid morkite and connect a pipeline each to them, for which you will also be provided beacons to get pumpjacks down. Once the refinery is connected to the pumpjacks, you can start the draining and refining process. A crane cable will come down to attach to the tank, and once all material is up, we'll provide you an exit via drop pod as per standard procedure. Do NOT hold onto the tank or cable, DRG will take no responsibility if you get squished from it swinging while it ascends. Any questions?"
The explanation was clear and concise, so only one question was on everyone's minds and faces: 'How could Neptune possibly mess this up?' Histoire could tell.
"Since you're all wondering: Neptune would probably skate on the pipelines like Stoney Rawk and waste so much time, Neplunker will quake and endanger everyone.
""""Ohhh..."""""
Yeah, that was completely self-evident.
The girls made to leave for the armoury after signing all required paperwork - except Nepgear of course as she'd been with DRG for a bit already - and were out the door... except Uni, who Histoire held back for a moment.
"Ah, Uni?"
"Mmm?"
"I've...", Histoire said with a tired face, "I've seen what you've written on ScriberHub. So I beg you, please, no more lewd fanfics about yourself, your friends, or the CPUs..."
Uni turned around, hands on her hips.
"You can't tell me what to do!"
"I can and I will!"
Histoire pointed at Uni, not quite pouting. The size difference between the two didn't do her any favours. Uni turned around.
"Okay, let me rephrase that: you can, but I'm not obliged to listen."
The girls had chosen their 'classes' and were gearing up accordingly. Since Nepgear was a tech wizard, it only made sense for her to be an Engineer. Similarly, Uni felt most at home as a Gunner, hence the sizeable 'Bulldog' revolver.
The twins figured they should take the remaining classes, and since Ram's eyes started shining with imagination the moment she saw the 'CRSPR' model flamethrower and explosives a Driller was allowed to take, that was her pick. Rom thus took the Scout class, the idea of zipping around a cave and shooting flare bolts to help the others befitting her friendly nature.
They were all aware that magic didn't work down in the mines, so they picked out a variety of weapons as per regulations. Histoire's voice came from the comms devices everyone got.
"Okay girls, one last thing: due to the Neplunker's caves' nature, as always this area is new, barely explored beyond the scans, and as far as all your sisters could tell based on their own dives so far, likely filled with bugs and thus even more likely very dangerous.
"So remember to check your guns for functionality and ammo, and always wear your custom-fitted mining suits when diving. That means no swimsuits, no nightwear, and certainly not cosplaying as foreign demon lords while down there!"
Ram quickly hid the reddish-pink bikini behind her back, whistling innocently. Another time, then.
Everyone hefted their weapons, topped them off with ammo, and similarly checked if they had the DRG-approved amount of support devices - no more and no less - and stepped into the open maw that was the ominous drop pod. The tall red metal contraption had two spotlights mounted like eyes and swung a little precariously back and forth on the cable. The inside was just as spartan, with four barely-padded seats and roller coaster-esque harnishes to secure passengers, and two large screens displaying information as well as the current height of roughly 5 metres above ground, with a second display for height above sea level.
The girls got seated and strapped in, and a countdown was announced by Histoire via comms after Nepgear gave the go-ahead.
"Neplunker DRG Team 'CPU Candidates' all ready and accounted for, Histoire."
"Good. Setting coordinates. Starting engines. Drop-off in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... down!"
The rumbling drop pod had shifted its angle slightly and was now in free-fall, shaking the girls thoroughly around. Then it crashed against the ground below proper and the giant drill on its bottom side got to work, spinning and pulverising the rock and stones on its way through. The girls didn't see the process as the massive blast doors were closed, but they could certainly feel every single vibration.
"M-Miss Nepgeeeear...!"
"Oh no, did I forget my lunch box!?"
Rom was scared, so Nepgear quickly took her hand into her own, which calmed the little Loweenian down. Her short brown hair stopped shaking around quite so much. Ram and Uni meanwhile felt like they were on an actual roller coaster, just enjoying the ride. Aside from the fact that Ram was worried about having brought no food, of course.
At some point the drill suddenly stopped and the drop pod was shortly in free-fall again before loudly crashing into the ground below. The abrupt stop shook everyone, but nobody lost their lunch unlike a certain purple-haired CPU did on her first dive.
The doors on the outside had opened a little earlier, and now the metal mesh did as well so everyone could exit.
"Get ready!" Nepgear shouted a short but encouraging line.
They all stepped out of the pod and turned their overhead lights on to illuminate the area a little.
"Everything's red. I thought the caves are supposed to be more grey-ish?"
"Yes, Nepgear, this appears to be another anomaly. Occasionally the caves shift completely in appearance; this is just one such 'biome' out of at least eleven... although we only had one occasion of a lime-coloured cave so far. The red material here is similar to the red sugar, but-"
"Sugar?!" Ram expectedly grabbed some of the soil and brought it to her mouth. "BLERGH!?"
"...this is actually salt."
"How mean, you could've said that earlier!"
"Ahem, I would have if you had waited for my explanation to finish."
Uni put a hand to her mouth, suppressing a snicker. Instead she grabbed for the massive gun on her back, its two barrels fed by giant magazines shooting the kind of bullets you'd expect out of an anti-aircraft cannon. Gunner, indeed.
"I suspect those rumblings alerted whatever's down here, so let's get to it."
"""Yes!"""
They stepped away from the drop pod, which was being pulled back via massive cable, and surveyed the area. The red cave was quite large, and variously-coloured stalactites hang from the ceiling.
Uni spotted a vein of very lightly glowing red material. She took out her DRG-provided terrain scanner and pointed its laser at the mineral.
"'Nitra'? I've never heard of that before. Histoire, do you copy?"
"Yes, I do. Nitra is a mineral Deep Rock Gamindustri uses in their in-house manufacturing plants for all kinds of things, including fireworks and, yes, also ammo. Since your guns' ammo and batteries are made with this energy-efficient material, you should always prioritise it over everything else. Without nitra, DRG can't afford sending you new ammo or power cells down.
"Nepgear, if you use your platform gun, you can make a, well, platform just below the Nitra. Rom can then grapple up and mine it. Once it's put into the M.U.L.E., I can log it in. With at least 80 Nitra collected, you'll be authorised to call a Resupply Pod."
"We don't have a M.U.L.E. though..."
"Oh, my apologies. Of course, due to company regulations you will be able to drop any material into the refinery instead. It is almost ready to be sent down."
The girls nodded and did as described. While Ram and Uni defended the position, Nepgear hefted the cumbersome orange contraption of spinning weirdness and aimed. It probably weighed over 10 kilograms, but she had no trouble with it.
The projectile flew in an arc, landing slightly below where she intended to put it, so she fired another shot. And then a third, which finally was where she wanted it. This also required a reload.
"Right, so since Rom is our Scout... Do you have your flare gun and grappling hook ready?"
Rom nodded, taking both in her hands.
"I got them~."
"Good, good. Could you please shoot a bolt somewhere there at the ceiling?"
"Of course. Okaaay, light!"
Taking aim at a stalagmite, or maybe a stalactite - Rom wasn't sure what the hanging-down ones were called - she fired a flare bolt. The rocket-propelled projectile whistled through the air, then embedded itself in the red stone and grandly illuminated the area. A couple large, light-grey monsters resembling pill bug roly-polies glared at the light, then started rolling towards the Candidates.
"Enemies incoming!" Uni shouted while swinging her massive gun over and pulled the trigger. *Thump-Thump-Thump* went the beast, and she really had to steady her footing due to the recoil while the ammo counter ticked down quickly.
Rom put her devices back on the magnetic holders on the legs of her undersuit exo-skeleton and instead grabbed her main gun, an assault rifle named the Deepcore GK2, and fired several bursts. The light recoil gave her no trouble hitting things at this range.
Ram meanwhile held a strange arm bracelet-like device in her left hand and pulled its trigger. The green disk at the front started glowing and the air before it all the way to the pill bug enemy she was aiming at wavered. With a steaming hiss and a splat, the enemy suddenly exploded into white fluids and chitin!
Nepgear wasn't wasting time either, hammering at a large green box that she knew very well already, an automated turret affectionately called a Sentry Gun, and the moment it was ready she aimed her terrain scanner at an enemy and it started firing in tri-bursts, making loud booming noises as it perforated enemies with steel-encased lead. Even so, her handheld machine pistol shot electrified ammo, causing another pill bug to spasm in shock until it keeled over dead.
"More enemies from the right!"
A small stampede of more large white-ish pill bugs tried to assault them from the side, but Uni swept her gun over and started firing once more. Nepgear took her chance and shot several more bullets in quick succession, her machine pistol readily going through the magazine. The suppressive fire from the twins kept the bugs at bay, and so she threw a pink-glowing canister at the diminished horde.
"Grenade!"
Powerful pink-purple lights flashed in quick succession and the enemies were set ablaze and died in plasma flames. After this, silence reigned once more.
"Hah, hah... n-not too bad for our first fight here. Is everyone alright?"
"Doing fine, Nepgear."
"That was fun! Did you see how I turned them into popcorn!?"
"Y-Yes, I'm alright, Miss Nepgear. Hau..."
Nepgear nodded, then patted the twins' heads. Uni gave a thumbs up.
"You did very well. Anyway, we still need that nitra. Rom, if you would?"
"Mhm, I will!"
Since the first bolt's magnesium core had burned out, Rom put a new flare bolt near the nitra and took out her grappling hook again. She aimed somewhere slightly above the red vein, and...
"Here I... goooooo?! Ahhh-"
"R-Roooom!?"
The sudden jerk of the winch catapulted the small girl forward, causing Ram to turn around and shout in disbelief and worry. But Rom was alright, just stunned for a moment.
"I-I'm fiiiine! That just s-surprised me..."
The winch let go and Rom got onto the platform safely. With her pickaxe, she hacked away at the red material and put it into a bucked-sized tube that was attached to her backpack, which sucked it into storage. Her HUD explained she could only take 40 units of the material until it was deemed full. Like in old-school RPGs she couldn't just put it into still-empty compartments intended for other materials.
"It's full! N-Now what?"
"Rom, come down. Histoire just said the refinery is almost here, so we have to get there. You can put the nitra into its chute."
"Oh, okay~!"
Rom shot the grappling hook again, and despite logic saying otherwise it slowed her just before she hit the ground due to the device's in-built dampening effect or... something.
"Oh yeah, it's actually that the grappling hook has a bla bla bla blableblablaBLAH."
"Right..."
Not like Rom really understood Nepgear's explanation.
Another great rumbling sounded out as the ceiling exploded, and a drill even more massive than the drop pod's crashed down, the shockwave shaking the girls hard. They - Nepgear in particular - stared in wonder as the huge automated refinery unfurled itself, providing ramps, clockwork, a round chute on one side, a chimney, and a large gauge. Next to its platforms were three grey slots that Histoire indicated were for the pipes, on one platform was a large button, and in the middle was a round tank atop a cylinder with two grinders for material. That's where Rom put her nitra into.
"Normally you girls would use a four-legged machine called a M.U.L.E. for this, but those are expensive and the refinery can take a near-infinite amount of resources anyway." Everyone nodded at that explanation. "Also, Lady Vert was dropped off a cliff by a M.U.L.E. on her first mission, so..." That was a lot less reassuring.
Nepgear recalled and installed her Sentry next to the button, then reloaded everything. The other girls followed her example, not wanting to get caught with low ammo.
"So, I suggest we split into two teams. Since I can put up platforms for Rom, we should go together to collect nitra and other things. Also, light please, Rom."
"Okay~, light up!"
A flare bolt shot up, bathing the cave in bright light once more.
"Thanks. So yes, Rom and I will go together. Ram and Uni, you can look for the morkite wells. They're apparently quite loud since they boil, so just call pumpjacks down as needed. We all have three beacons, so no problem with that. Any questions?"
Ram held up her hand.
"If we find enemies, can I toast them?"
"Of course."
"Yay!"
Ram took out her flamethrower, a manic grin on her face.
"But no team-killing! Not even by accident!"
"Boo...!"
Uni suppressed the urge to cuff the bratty girl over the head. Instead she twirled her revolver to distract herself. Nepgear thought that to be very cool.
"Enemies~! Go and buuurn, ahaha!"
Ram and Uni had looked around the area, listening for the distinct kettle-like whistle of their first morkite well. The locals, a bunch of brown spider-like monsters, had a different opinion on that and promptly attacked. Their chittering voices accompanied by multiple pairs of legs clicking on hard ground caused a cacophony of sounds, and suddenly the two girls felt surrounded as more enemies dug out of soft soil all around them!
Uni took out her revolver even as Ram rushed in closer and blasted huge bullet holes into the nearest glyphid Grunt. Its green blood splattered all over the ground after its head exploded, the lifeless corpse dropping to the ground and fading soon after.
"Take that, you little bastards!" *Boom boom boom*! "Reloading!"
*Brrrwoosh* "Burn, buggies, buuurn!"
Ram's flamethrower spew liquid blazing death all over the place, lighting up the mostly lifeless caves in short bursts and incinerating the bugs before they could scream and screech. One daring Grunt with extremely sharp forearms swiped at her, but she cuffed it over the head with a drill. Its chitin proved no protection against a device intended to pulp rock, and its innards were soon outward as it breathed its last breath.
So it went on for a good minute, the ambush abating just as quickly as it had started. A single tiny pink glyphid jumped at Uni, but she gave it a good whack with her pickaxe and it popped like a balloon. Unfortunately its sticky blood landed on her face!
"Ewwwww!"
She wiped it off and was glad she had picked goggles before all this.
"Ahaha, you look funny."
"Grrr... come here!"
"Oh nooo, hahaha!"
Uni was chasing a laughing Ram, almost forgetting that they were supposed to put the beacon at the morkite well behind the next turn in the tunnel.
"Whew, that's the last to collect. Let me recheck: 254 nitra, 197 gold, 100/100 dystrum, and a... negligible amount of bismor."
"How nice, Miss Nepgear. Are we doing well?"
"Yes, Rom, we are," Nepgear said with a smile.
On their side, they had found a morkite well too. Histoire had announced that the pumpjack was in-bound, and the missile-like device dropped its shell open to reveal exactly the type of thing used to pump oil. It also showed on the terrain scanner.
"I think we can make a path for the pipeline with your platforms."
"Yes, good thinking."
The two looked for a good way down, a large chasm before them. They had come from a tunnel by the side, but the refinery was actually close by, so for the sake of shortening the distance they mined and platformed their way down and over. The drop was precarious, so they made sure they wouldn't tumble by accident.
Once back at the refinery, they emptied their backpacks again and then began putting down the pipeline. Rom decided where to put the connectors while Nepgear used tools stashed in the refinery to do the actual pipe building by extending the pipe itself from connector to connector. Being allowed to bang, drill, and screw her way forward was the best, the sounds of machinery assembling filling her with bliss.
"Good job, that's two pipelines ready. You're doing well."
"Two, Histy?"
"I'm the queen of pipes, yaaay!"
Ram was giddily skating on the other pipe; Nepgear and Rom had apparently been so focused on theirs they didn't even notice the pipe built by the other duo. Ram was also holding a massive white-glowing sphere in her hands.
"Enor! Enor! Enor for Rooom!"
"Yay, for me?"
Rom, once she was back at the refinery, took the huge pearl and admired its shine.
"Wah, sooo pretty!"
"Hehe, I knew you'd like it."
"Girls, report in please."
Everyone, now at the refinery, activated their comms.
"Nepgear reporting: we've found and connected two morkite wells with pipelines, and finished collecting enough dystrum. But we can't find the third well. Do you have an idea?"
"It's possibly in a side cave. I advise looking for side tunnels. Once you find it, Ram can drill a way straight to it. And please hurry, I can tell a lot of enemies will be at your position soon!"
Everyone nodded and got to it. They called a resupply pod and restocked on ammo, power cells, and health kits, then headed out. Most of the cave was explored, but then Uni noticed a small corridor. That was where the possible side cave was, and the well was there. Alongside a large amount of bismor cubes.
"Yay, bismor! Feels so good to say it!"
"Bismor, how exciting!"
They hacked at the yellow cubes dotted in brown stuff and collected the chunks. Nepgear got to the morkite well and put a beacon down, and less than a minute later the last pumpjack was in place.
"Ram, if you would?"
Ram smacked her drill gauntlets together.
"Leave it to me!"
With a loud whine of the drills, she followed Nepgear's red laser and pulverised the rock before her, drilling a tunnel straight to the refinery. The process to put down the last pipeline was easy, and thus came the moment to start the machinery.
"I'm about to press the button... is everyone ready?"
"Ready!" "I'm ready..." "r"
*Rumble* *Ka-thump* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
The huge machine roared to life, the pumping process beginning. The wells of liquid morkite were being sucked dry, with Histoire announcing percentages several times. Black liquid similar to oil came in bursts out of the large side chute, which smelled pretty bad as it was the residue of the refining process. But then...
*Brrrr deng* *Beep beep beep beep*
"Wh-What the goodness?! Is it broken?"
"Please repair the pipelines. The defective ones flash red. And hurry, enemies are incoming!"
Histoire's voice was accordingly urgent. Enemies started crawling out of the wood- and stonework, agitated by the noise and vibrations of the process. The pipelines had burst tears open at several points, and the glyphids were slashing and biting at the splattering morkite fuel.
Ram and Rom, weapons in hand, surfed on one red-flashing pipeline and stopped just before a point where several hungry enemies clawed and gnawed their way at the pipe. Crossbow bolts and liquid fire answered, the twins' weapons making short work of the enemies. The splattering boiling-hot liquid made it difficult to get close to the tear, but with effort they managed to close the rip in the metal... mostly by Ram liberally applying concussive force to haphazardly weld some metal in place.
On the other side were Nepgear and Uni, their own weapons blazing laser energy and huge bullets from Nepgear's shard diffractor and Uni's autocannon, respectively. Wave after wave of glyphids came to try and rip apart the refinery, and it was mostly their efforts as well as the sentry gun that kept them at bay. Several grunt guards protected the other glyphids while a horde of even more pill bugs came rolling, but the ones that weren't incinerated by laser only ended up face-planting once full of bullet holes.
Histoire updated the two that the twins had fixed all the pipelines, and soon the tank was all filled up. Nepgear wasted no time to press the button, and the middle of the platform released its clamps. The cable atop the tank came to life with a jerk, pulled taut, and the entire middle section rose in the air and soon out of sight through the hole in the ceiling.
"Wahooooo!"
Ram, followed by Rom, arrived via pipe skating, surprised the middle part was missing.
"Okay girls, we're sending a drop pod down! It should appear on your HUDs now, so head to the landing zone! We can't afford to have it down for too long."
With a crash, the huge drop pod landed somewhere above a ledge, its two spot lights illuminating the extending bridge. Unfortunately it was quite high up.
"I got this!" Uni shouted with a smirk, then pulled out a device called a zip-line launcher. "Mmm, mgh, come on, work!"
"What's wrong, Uni?"
"The angle's too high, it won't let me fire!"
Nepgear thought quickly and placed a tower of pancake platforms in such a way that Uni could climb it. This resolved the angle issue. The zip-line hook whistled through the air and embedded itself right next to the drop pod.
"Thanks! Everyone, get on the zip!"
The twins had been liberally firing at incoming enemies, burning, riddling with holes, and in one case dousing them in liquid that caused in-fighting, but as Uni got onto the zip-line, everyone followed. The travel up was a little slow, and they feared they might not make it, but they did.
"Saaafe!"
"Everyone aboard confirmed, reeling drop pod in. Good job, girls!"
The rumbling travel back up was a lot more welcome than fighting alien-like hordes of monster spiders, and everyone realised how tired they actually were once the adrenaline left their systems.
But they felt good about their first mission done. A success was a success, after all.
Light rock music was playing on the jukebox in the Abyss Bar, the light smokey atmosphere atypical a location for the four Candidates. But they wanted to experience it at least once, and the bartender was a robot, so Nepgear was geeking out about him. He was a dapper blocky little fellow named Lloyd, hovering behind the bar counter and connected to several tubes to pour drinks.
Uni was already on her second drink, none the worse for wear, but Nepgear was having reservations.
"Aren't you going to drink, Gear?"
"I-I can't! I mustn't drink, I'm not even 100 years old yet!"
"...Sure."
Uni got back to her beer, then pointed at the twins.
"Ahh, Rom, *Kiss, kiss*, fwah..."
"Raaam~, *Kiss*..."
The Loweenian twins were quite, quite busy with each other, causing Uni to smirk.
"What the goodness?! Are they drunk?"
"Sure seems like it, haha. C'mon, Gear, just one drink will do. It's called Leaf Lovers Special, and I heard dwarves can't get drunk on that."
Nepgear fidgeted, but if it was non-alcoholic, she thought she could risk it. Everyone else was having fun, so she didn't want to be the miser.
"Well, alright."
She took a swig, and the fruity flavour appealed to her greatly. If supposedly even actual dwarves drank that stuff and would say it's great, she was agreeing heartily. She drank the whole mug empty... and then her cheeks flushed red.
"Ah, ehhh... U-Uni! I sh-shought it's non-alshohoooolic...!"
"Gear, Gear... that's still beer, you know?"
Uni was looking at her with the sort of look one gave while bewildered at someone else's silliness.
"Moh! I shaid I can't dring alshoholll! You trickshed me!"
"Hahaha!" Uni, clearly at least a little drunk herself, slapped Nepgear's back in a friendly manner. "It's fine, it's fine. Just have some fun, yeah?"
Nepgear put the LLS away and instead ordered some water, which made her feel better. Uni considered it, but then just put it out of her mind and observed the twins in their drunken revelry.
The evening passed without issue, Nepgear eventually calming down a bit now that she'd gotten a taste for fruity drinks, and her lowered inhibitions eventually made her move to the dance floor and have proper fun, to which Uni joined her. All in all, it was a good experience for everyone involved.
Nepgear didn't even wake up with a headache or anything, although she was wondering where she was for a moment until she remembered that she'd spent the night at the DRG base. She got up and figured she could annoy Uni a bit for the beer prank, so in a reversal of the day prior, she banged on Uni's door.
"Wha- Gear, do you, ugh," Uni held her pounding head, "do you know what time it is?"
"It's time to rise and shine, and go on a new mission!"
Nepgear smiled, but it seemed not genuine.
"Uhuh, uhuh, suuure... let me just cure my hangover real quick."
"Nooope, we're going right now. I'll ping the twins, so let's go up and at them!"
"Ahhh, please, I'm sorry, have mercyyyyy-"
It was another normal day at DRG, when sounds of mining were heard and giant spiders died.