The first thing Nepgear noticed was that she wasn't in the Basilicom anymore; rather, she was outdoors. How strange... She doesn't remember leaving her workplace to go outside.
She immediately recognized the place; it was the same woods where she went to visit her sister. A warm, golden light pervaded the place. She started shielding herself from the bright light until her eyes adjusted to it. She felt a sensation of warmth from the shimmer filling her body. She could hear the birds singing and smell the fresh morning dew.
The scenery was so breathtaking and serene that it could have been plucked straight from a fairytale. She almost felt at peace.
"Hey you, finally awake, sleepyhead?" A familiar, energetic voice derailed Nepgear's train of thought.
Wait... that voice. That couldn't be...
Nepgear heard a voice she recognized, one she had not heard in a very long time, and she quickly turned her gaze to face none other than her supposed dead sister, Neptune, who was just chilling on some rock, eating pudding blissfully.
"Neptune...?" She let out those words quietly, still unable to process what she was witnessing with her eyes.
Neptune finished her pudding before standing up and stretching her body, while Nepgear continued to stare at her sister.
This must be a dream, but somehow... it all feels so real. Oh, goodness, please tell me it's not one of those twisted nightmares that she's having. It's going to start innocent, then turn into a nightmare. No, no, and thrice no!
"Come on, Nep Jr., this isn't the time to be spacing out, silly." She slowly started walking ahead, leaving poor Nepgear, who was still frozen in place as she was still trying to register the whole situation. After a few moments, her sister's words finally registered as she snapped from her breaking-down state.
"W-Wait for me!" She sprung forward to catch up with her sister, afraid it'd be one of those dreams where she couldn't catch up to her as she saw her go further and further in the distance, no matter how long she ran. Thankfully, she managed to catch up. The two siblings have been strolling silently side by side for some time. Nepgear was still feeling uneasy, as she was waiting for the dream to change, but nothing happened, and they instead kept waking for a while. It was torturous; she wished the nightmare would just come already.
"Um, so, where are we going, sis?" The anticipation was killing Nepgear, so she broke the silence in the hope of keeping her mind off.
"To meet up with our friends, of course, duh." The sight of her sister smiling was enough to calm Nepgear down.
"Our... friends?"
"Yup, everyone is waiting for us. It's going to be a long walk, so better get geared up. Heh, get it?"
"O-Oh, Okay..." Ignoring the terrible pun, they proceed to walk some more, though it appears that they were simply looping in place, as the scenery has not changed in the slightest at all. It probably made sense since this is how dreams function; she was currently reliving one of her memories of this place with her sister.
Nepgear's thoughts were racing; she was afraid to look away from her sister, even for a second, in fear that she would vanish once again. But she was also afraid that her sister would turn into a twisted version, like in the nightmares.
Something else was bothering Nepgear; it wasn't the fact that she was having a dream about her sister; rather, this dream seemed so vivid. Maybe she was having a lucid dream. She remained thoughtful for some time and eventually fell behind.
"Hey, spacing out again, Nep Jr.?" Neptune seems to have also taken notice of her sister's obvious troubled face but hadn't pointed it out yet.
"H-Huh? Oh, yes, I just got a bit lost in my thoughts there, haha..."
"Uh, huh, but for reals, what gotcha feeling all jittery?" Oh, nothing; it's just that you and all our friends are dead, and this is just a dream... or nightmare. Nepgear was conflicted about whether she should or not. Perhaps she could seek comfort from this dream version of Neptune. Maybe this dream was leading her into a false sense of security. She Honestly, she couldn't take it anymore; she wanted nothing other than for the dream to end already.
"Come on, you can rely on your big ol' sis! Tell me what's been eating you, Nep Jr.."
No. None of this is real. Nepgear shook her head to avert those thoughts. "I-It's nothing. I'm fine, really! Just overthinking things. Come on, we should probably hurry now so we don't be late." Nepgear strode on ahead. Neptune seemed a little disappointed with her sister's obvious excuse, but she did not press any further and continued her journey with her sister.
After some time passed, Nepgear became tired all of a sudden; her vision blurred with each second, and she struggled to keep her balance.
Oh... it seems like our times are up, huh? Well, I'm sure we'll meet again. Be safe, Nep Jr.
Oh, and thanks for the pudding as well!
I...
Love...
You...
Nepgear...
We'll be waiting...
She couldn't make out what her sister was saying as it became all muffled, then everything went black yet.
(N)
"HAAAH!" Nepgear let out a gasp and shot her eyes open. She began looking around in a state of panic, but soon her memories came flooding back. She was back at her workplace; it seems like she unconsciously fell asleep as soon as she finished adding the last touch to her project.
Ugh... Just how long did she sleep?
Nepgear noticed she was covered by a blanket; there was no doubt that Histoire found her sleeping. She fetched a blanket for her so she would not catch a cold. Heh, she couldn't help but imagine Histoire trying her best to lift a blanket due to her size. She silently thanked the tome for looking after her, like she always does.
"Nepgear?" Speaking of which...
"Oh, you're awake. Good."
"Oh, good morning, Histoire." A yawn escaped Nepgear's mouth as she rubbed sleep from her eyes.
"It's actually late in the afternoon." Nepgear's eyes shot wide open at the revelation.
"Goodness! That late!" That made her instantly awake as she swiftly got up from her desk. "Why didn't you wake me earlier? Kei said she would call in the morning."
"Well, it looked like you needed more time to rest, so I asked Kei if she could delay the call a bit later, and she said it was fine. She called just now, asking for you, hence why I came to wake you up."
"Sigh... You really shouldn't have done that, Histoire." Nepgear shook her head, but she didn't argue, as there was no point now. "I'll be there shortly."
The tome nodded before she left. Nepgear stood there for a bit, lost in her thoughts once again. Her mind went back to the dream
Well, at least she feels somewhat refreshed. She felt this way for ages, as sleeping was now nothing but an inconvenience to her, so she took short naps throughout the day instead.
Nepgear grabbed the Nep-Note on the table and headed to wash her face with cold water, grabbing a can of Nep Bull on the way as it was way too late for her to have a coffee now.
She settled in front of her computer and initiated a video chat with the Lastation oracle. After a few moments, a short girl appeared on the screen. The woman was dressed professionally in a black suit and had white hair. She presented herself in the most businesslike manner possible.
"You're here, good. Though I expected you a bit earlier." Kei sat there patiently.
"Apologies for being late and for keeping you waiting. I may have overslept for a bit." Nepgear scratched her cheek.
"Don't worry; Histoire has already informed me. I have to agree with her that you need a proper rest. Others can fill in your place while you rest, so I don't see any excuse for you to be skipping sleep, even if you replaced it with naps."
"I know, I know. I might have gone a bit overboard with working."
"I have faith that you won't make the same mistake. Well, with that out of the way, shall we begin with business?"
"Yeah, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me, Ms. Kei?"
Kei picked up a report paper from her desk. "We have discovered what appears to be an old abandoned warehouse that was converted into a hideout in the far south outside of Leanbox borders."
"I assume that you wanted me to go and have a look."
"Originally, I did plan for you and IF to go and scout the place earlier, but since you were unavailable at the time... I decided to send IF to scout the place ahead. She reported back that the hideout belonged to ASIC remnants."
"ASIC? What are they doing so close to Leanbox?" Nepgear didn't mean to voice her thoughts out loud. She already had a good idea as to why they would set up a hideout near a nation where war broke out. It was the perfect hiding place for them to do their criminal activities.
"That will be your job to find out why. We have a suspicion that they are smuggling weapons to Leanbox, but we lack proof. We need you to confirm it and put a stop to whatever illegal operation they have going on once and for all. I informed IF to standby until you arrive. I trust that the two of you could handle it.
"Okay, I'll make my way there right away."
"Best of luck." Kei nodded. "I'll send you the location shortly. Report back to me as soon as you're done." And with that, the call was over, and the screen went dark. Nepgear took a long breath.
Still the same, ol' Kei.
A grin began to form on Nepgear's face. Still, it was nice of her to look out for her when she delayed the meeting so she could rest. Nepgear would repay her kindness by not letting her down. It was nice that she still has people who care for her, which drives her to keep going despite the hardships.
She took a quick sip of her Nep Bull before quickly making her way to the balcony. She transformed into HDD and took off towards her destination via flying.
(N)
The trip didn't take long since Leanbox was next to Planeptune, with the nation being surrounded by water. She changed back into her human form and continued on foot when she got close to the meeting spot.
Leanbox: The Land of Green Pastures.
The nation's outskirts still maintain their signature color, and nature is still untouched. The city, however, became a sight that was taken from a post-apocalyptic movie, with how smoke and rubble filled the place and the smell of fire and gunpowder. The noise of gunfire and bombs echoed through the city non-stop.
She walked for a while, hearing only the sound of crushing grass with each step she took. She spotted the now-special agent lying on a cliff as she was scouting the place with a pair of binoculars. She was a former guild agent at Planeptune's guild. Now she's a special agent that does special tasks—much like this one. It's the same with her gathering intel when she was a guild agent; the only difference is that she's a professionally trained agent.
"Hey." Nepgear laid down next to the agent and her longtime friend.
"Looks like sleeping beauty has come at last." The brunette didn't bother looking away from the binoculars. She wore a dark blue leather jacket with seven different colored smartphones—yes, seven—on her belt, and she had a simple black tank and shorts underneath. She was strapped with a gun holster on her hip and a knife below her ankle. She also wore a dark scarf around her neck and had dark gloves. The girl went by the name IF, and she was known as 'A beautiful gust of wind that blows through Gamindustri.' Though no one really calls her that, she doubts she uses this phrase anymore. IF changed her hairstyle as she settled on a ponytail.
It was no surprise that IF appearance changed all those years, as she's a bit taller. The same thing can't be said for the CPU, as her body was immune to aging, so she was pretty much stuck like this forever.
They hadn't been seen face-to-face since the last time she and Compa depurated, eleven years ago. They used to come over to the guild to hang out, but now the two have gone their separate ways, with IF and Compa wanting to focus more on their carriers, which she can't blame, but she won't lie if she says she hadn't missed them; they were her friends and the ones who stood with her and helped when the world was in danger. At least with IF, she'd be asked to accompany her on some missions. But for Compa, they rarely saw each other, and the same goes for IF, who's a childhood friend of hers.
"Didya had a good sleep?"
"Not you too, IF... I have already heard it from both Histoire and Kei." Nepgear loudly groaned; it seems like she won't be hearing the end of it.
"Well, you still need someone to tell you that you almost look like a dead corpse walking. Histoire is the only reason why you aren't, I imagine."
"Okay, jokes aside, what are we dealing with right now?"
"So far... it's just some abandoned warehouse that was turned into a hideout by ASIC remnants, as you already figured out." IF passed the binoculars over to Nepgear, who began observing the place; nothing stood out about it, so she shifted her focus elsewhere.
"Hmm... there seem to be a couple of guards watching on the rooftop."
"So, what's the plan?" Nepgear put the binoculars aside and turned her gaze to her friend. "How are we approaching this?"
"Well..." IF put a hand on her chin and began rubbing it. "The way I see it, there's two ways we can do this: one, we wait until nightfall so we can sneak in and catch them off guard."
"Or... we can launch an immediate assault. They don't look particularly all that touge; just a bunch of paid henchmen from the looks of it. The two of us can easily handle them."
"Either way will do. Personally, I'll go with the first one, but I'll leave the choice to you, Gear." Nepgear began pondering carefully for a bit before deciding on their approach. Which was...
Author's Notes
Hello there! I've been gone for a month, mostly due to irl stuff, and had gone through a time where I'd lost my spark and motivation to write, but thankfully, with college beginning this week, I've started to get my stuff together. Anyway, I know the chapter is a bit short, but it's supposed to be longer, but I decided to divide it, and you'll see why in the next chapter, which hopefully won't take long since it's the second part of this chapter.
So, I've been playing a lot of Neptunia Victory on PS3. I've played about 100 hours in-game; most of it was me getting sidetracked with side content, and I've reached only chapter 4 of the game. I'm taking my time with it; it's been mostly fun, but it's getting repetitive with the grinding and the reuse of assets, and oh lord, they weren't kidding when they said that the company was known to reuse assets, but I didn't think it was to this extent. (＃°Д°)
I like the jokes in this game; some are hit-and-miss, and the worst of them all are the Sadie jokes. Like, seriously, they won't stop doing the same joke over and over, like Vaas said, 'One time is funny, two times is fucking annoying.' This game does this, but do it a million times and expect me to laugh. I find the villains to be more interesting than the heroes, and strangely, the voice actors sure had a field day with their lines, haha. It's a shame they are not fully dubbed in English.
Lastly, I'm kind of furious about how they turned Nepgear into a mere punching bag and butt of jokes in this game and just overthrow her development because of the bad reception they got from the last game, and what's more infatuating is that they are fully aware of it and make jokes about it. They made my poor Nepgear dirty. This is why this story exists: I shall give Nepgear what she truly deserves and give her justice!
Next Chapter: ASIC Remnants
Nepgear is left with two choices on how to approach the mission: sneak in or bust in. Either way, any one of the two will do.