Welcome back to the story! Previously on…Custody! Goddess Blanc have been kidnapped by the enemy and brought into the belly of the beast which is Nintendus, Lowee's biggest and most important colony, where the Empress reveals her a shocking truth about the forgotten past. Meanwhile, other Goddesses learn the reason the General held them on his flagship. That reason being upcoming liberation of Nintendus…What will happen next? Read on and find out.
But before we begin, reviews.
To end5: Thank you, as always. And yes. Now wait until you see what she's working on.
Alright, with that, let's get rolling.
Chapter 17
April 28, 2257 G.C.
17:34
Nintendus' orbit
Sneaking past the asteroid belt and then through the enemy sensor network was not really an easy task for anyone. Let alone for a giant cargo hauler. Yet somehow, the crew of Beacon of Hope managed to do it. They sneaked past enemy patrols and other units, sensor satellites and other things that could hamper their progress and after another day of travel, they finally managed to reach their target area.
As of now, the cargo hauler was hanging in low orbit over Nintendus, beyond the visibility range of any possible enemy warships. With that, they could start preparing for the reason they came here.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"Noire asked.
"When did ever my ideas didn't work out?"Neptune asked.
"I'm with Noire on this one…"Vert said.
"Me too."Tashima said.
Yuko nodded, agreeing with her brother.
"Oh, come on, Rand agreed as well."Goddess of Planeptune pouted."Besides, they do it all the time in movies and games."
"Dropping from orbit in a cargo container like a meteorite IS not the same in real life as in games and movies!"Noire exclaimed.
Everyone in the cargo container shifted. Rand wanted the hauler to quickly drop them off and leave immediately and leave, but there was a problem. Due to the fact that the corvette they were using was needed on another missions and VA had no ships to spend at the time, including dropships and shuttles, and the hauler had no space for drop pods, Neptune came up with an idea. And that idea was being dropped in a cargo container.
Rand was a bit too enthusiastic about that.
"If we survive, I'm gonna punch you."Noire said.
"We're Goddesses."Neptune said."Of course we will."
"Did you forget something?"Yuko asked.
Neptune looked at the Tashima siblings.
"Oh, right."
"Everyone, this is your captain speaking."Matty said through the PA."We're already over the drop zone. We're be releasing you in 10…9…8…"
"I sure hope we hit the right spot."Vert said.
"We will, don't worry."Neptune waved it off.
"Better for you we will."Noire said.
"3…2…1…Dropping!"
Within a single second, whole gravity disappeared and they felt themselves getting flattened against the wall as the container started falling towards the ground. As it entered the atmosphere, it started heating up from the friction and it's front was covered in flames.
"Neptune!"Noire exclaimed.
"Yeah?!"Neptune exclaimed back.
"If we die, I'll kill you!"
"Wait, that doesn't sound right…"Neptune frowned.
"Shut up for now!"Tashima said.
The container continued to fly down towards the ground, making it through the atmosphere. It fell like a meteorite, reaching the ground after a few agonizingly long minutes. It slammed into the ground, after which it started sliding across the ground for a few dozen meters, before finally stopping. Once that happened, the hinges holding the main door were blown off, making it fall on the ground. Everyone inside staggered out into the open red desert. Yuko fell to her knees and returned her breakfast.
"Never again…"she moaned.
"Never again."Tashima said, sitting next to his sister and patting her back.
"That was pretty good."Neptune said, stretching."We should do it more often."
This earned her looks that could kill from everyone.
"Don't. Even. Think about it."Vert said.
"Okay, what now?"Goddess of Planeptune asked.
"We have to wait for VA operatives that are operating on the planet to come pick us up."Noire said."It might take a while…"
Right as she said that, a pair of headlights lit up in the distance and they started closing in on them.
"Or maybe not…"Neptune said.
"Just in case, let's prepare our weapons."Vert said.
"Agreed."Tashima said, grabbing his riffle from his back.
Goddesses summoned their weapons and Yuko pulled out her sidearm. They stood there for a few minutes, watching as the vehicle approached them. When it finally came into view, they recognized a Lowee's APC with Lowee's Army markings. It stopped in front of them and the upper hatch opened. A woman jumped out of it and approached them.
"Goddesses."she said."Corporal."she added, looking at Tashima."Captain Aeris Saran, VA Nintendus Branch. We're happy to see you here."
Goddesses let go of their weapons and looked at the woman.
"Captain."Noire said."Thank you for coming for us."
"We had our orders, so of course we came."Aeris said."Now come on. We better hurry before someone gets interested."
"No need to tell us that."Neptune said.
They all quickly went inside the APC, where they saw three more allied soldiers sitting in the back. They sat down on the benches and soon, the vehicle was on it's way, leaving behind the crashed cargo container.
19:43
The NEST
Two hours later, the APC was already in the VA Nintendus Branch's secret hideout and headquarters. There was a secret tunnel camouflaged between some rocks that made it hard to spot, but easy to access. The APC drove inside and made it's way underground, until it stopped in a vehicle park. Then, they all disembarked and were greeted by the other allied soldiers working there. After a time of welcoming, Aeris took them through the corridors and towards the command center.
Once they got there, they saw many people running around and many sitting at consoles. In the middle stood a woman in colonel's uniform, giving orders to everyone. Aeris led Goddesses and Tashimas to her.
"This is our commander."Aeris said."Colonel Theresia Saran."
"Wait."Neptune said."Saran? Are you two…?"
"She's my younger sister."Aeris said.
"Usually it's the older sibling that gets higher."Vert noticed.
"Not this time."captain said, shaking her head.
Right then, colonel Saran turned and looked in their direction.
"Goddesses."she said, starting to walk towards them."I'm glad that you could actually come. And thank you for bringing them here, Aeris."
"Yes, ma'am."Aeris said, saluting.
Colonel approached them and stood in front of them.
"I guess you are aware of the reason why you're here?"she asked.
"Yes."Noire said."We're gonna help you liberate the planet."
"Exactly. We've been hiding under the Imperials' feet for years and they didn't even notice. I can only imagine the surprise on their faces when we strike them from both the top and bottom."
Seeing the impish grin that appeared on Theresia's face, Goddesses and Tashimas risen their eyebrows. Seeing it, colonel quickly regained her composure.
"In short, we're glad to have you here with us."she said."You can relax until the day of operation. You have access to the whole base."
"Thank you."Neptune said."So, we're just gonna…"
"Wait."Vert said."I have a question."
Theresia looked at her.
"What is it?"she asked.
"Do you monitor the Imperials' actions?"Goddess of Leanbox asked.
"Pretty much all the time, but they still manage to hide things from us."
"Do you have access to the list of people they're keeping prisoner in the city?"
Colonel blinked for a moment before shaking her head.
"That's the one thing we didn't manage to get our hands on. We can't access their records in any way."
Vert sighed.
"Alright, thank you. Let's go."
The group turned and started walking out of the command room. Aeris assigned them a guide to show them around the facility.
"Why did you ask that?"Noire asked.
"Well…I was hoping that maybe, we would find out if they brought Blanc here…"Vert replied."Stellaria is in charge of Lowee, right? That would make sense."
"I guess you're right."Tashima said."But there is still hope."
"Yeah. Just because they don't know doesn't mean she's not here."Yuko added.
"I sure hope so."Neptune said."We have to break her out sooner or later."
"Exactly."Noire said."But for now, let's focus on the operation at hand."
Others nodded as they followed the guard.
Later…
Their guide showed them around most places that they should be interested in. The living quarters, the mess hall, hangar. He decided to not show them the lower floors, where remains of the LII's experiments were still present. Mostly machines they used to perform them.
But apparently, on the lowest levels, some of the experiments still lurked, chased down there during the siege years before.
Either way, after seeing everything, Goddesses were allowed to just walk around The NEST for as long as they wanted. So they just walked around, not doing much but thinking, even barely talking. Tashimas were dealing with some other stuff.
"So."Neptune said."This is gonna be the first real battle of all this war. Like, an actual planetary invasion. Even on Sonius, everything went pretty smoothly and without much bloodshed. Or should I say, oilshed."
"You're right."Noire said, nodding."We have to be really careful this time."
"Indeed."Vert agreed."This battle is gonna be probably the most important in the entire war."
As they walked through the corridors, Neptune suddenly stopped.
"Oooh, what's that?"she asked and walked into a big chamber on the side.
"Neptune!"Noire exclaimed."Where are you going?!"
Her, Vert and their guide quickly followed her inside. Once there, they saw a big…something, covered by a large piece of material. Neptune approached it.
"Neptune, I think you shouldn't touch it."Noire said."We didn't get permission to…"
"Relax."Neptune waves her worries off."I'm just gonna take a peek…"She grabbed the edge of the material and tried lifting it.
She was cut off by the sound of metal falling on the floor. Everyone looked in that direction and saw a young woman with dark hair and goggles on her head. A wrench have fallen out of her hand and made the sound.
"Oh, um…"Neptune said, scratching the back of her head."Is it yours?"She pointed at the covered thing.
The woman didn't reply. Instead, she quickly approached Neptune and looked as if she didn't believe.
"Neptune…?"she asked.
Neptune looked at the others and then back at the woman.
"Um…yeah?"she replied.
With no more words, the woman wrapped her arms around Neptune and started crying out-loud, shocking everyone.
"Whoa, whoa!"Neptune exclaimed."I didn't know I was so popular!"
"I missed you so much! So, so much for all these years!"
"But I don't remember who you are…?"
The woman stopped hugging Neptune and wiped her eyes.
"Right, I forgot."she said.
Stepping back from Neptune, she pressed a button on a device mounted on her wrist. When she did, a blue aura flashed around her and her appearance changed. Now, there stood everyone's favorite pink-haired CPU Candidate.
Everyone widened their eyes.
"Nepgear?!"they all exclaimed.
Now, it was Neptune's turn to wrap her arms around her sister.
"Yay, my sister is alive!"she exclaimed.
"I missed you so much…"Nepgear said once again.
The two stood there for a few seconds, before finally stopping the hug. They smiled at each other.
"I knew you were back, but I didn't expect to see you so soon."Nepgear said."I'm so happy…"Tears formed in her eyes again.
"Aww, I missed you too."Neptune said."But I'm not the only one who's back."
They looked at Noire and Vert who stood there, still surprised.
"Oh, right. Hi everyone."Nepgear frowned."Where is Blanc."
Three Goddesses looked at each other.
"Before we do that, do you know where are Uni, Rom and Ram?"Noire asked.
Nepgear nodded.
"Yes. They are all here. Along with the Oracles."she said.
"Well, that was easy."Vert said."But now, Nepgear, come give big sister Vert a hug."
Neptune immediately stepped in front of her sister.
"I just got her back. Wait for your turn."she said.
"Hey, I'm not an item to pass around!"Nepgear exclaimed.
Noire just sighed.
"They just found each other and they already act as if nothing happened…"she said.
"Yeah…"their guide said."We didn't even have an idea there was a CPU Candidate in The NEST. Not to mention all of them, along with Oracles."
"You learn something new everyday."Noire said."But now, Nepgear."
Nepgear looked at her.
"Can you show us where the rest are?"Goddess of Lastation asked.
"Sure."Nepgear nodded."Follow me."
She then left the chamber. Others, including the guard, followed.
20:47
The NEST, Armory
Nepgear led them through the corridors, passing by numerous members of the base's personnel, causing them to recoil in surprise, seeing the CPU Candidate. They ignored them, though, as they were too focused on their goal. Finally, Nepgear led them to the area of the base used by VA as Armory. There, they could see numerous gun and ammo racks, filled with assault riffles, SMGs, machine guns, missile launchers and everything in between.
She led them through, until they reached the door at the end of the Armory.
"Okay. Let me do it."Nepgear said.
She approached the door and pressed the intercom button next to them.
"Yeah?"a voice asked from the other side.
Noire tensed. It was clearly Uni's voice.
"Uni, I have a thing for you all."Nepgear said."Can I come in?"
"Sure. Always."Uni replied and disconnected.
Soon, the door started sliding open slowly. Goddesses waited with anticipation as the door slid open, revealing a person standing behind it. As the door did, the person was revealed to be a blonde-haired girl with goggles on top of her head. She stepped forward.
"Okay, what is…?"she asked and stopped.
She spotted the Goddesses standing there, causing an expression of shock to appear on her face.
"N-Noire…"she muttered.
Noire just smiled. The girl pressed a button on a device similar to the one Nepgear had. Immediately, the hologram camouflaging her disappeared, revealing the CPU Candidate under it.
"Noire?"another familiar voice asked.
Soon, two new figures appeared, already with no holograms. Rom and Ram.
"What's going on?"another familiar voice asked.
Soon, they were joined by three more figures. More precisely, three Oracles who came out from the room behind the door. They all stood there, looking at each other.
"Well. Seems like we're all here."Neptune broke the silence. Then, she frowned, noticing something unnerving."Where's Histy?"
Everyone shook from the shock.
"Why don't you come in?"Uni asked."We have snacks and drinks?"
"Sure. We have a lot to talk about."Noire said.
They all started walking into the room.
"Uhh, what about me?"the guide asked.
Goddesses turned around. They've completely forgotten about him.
"You can go, report to your commander."Vert said."Tell her that you took care of what you had to do."
Guide saluted, turned on his heel and left.
Meanwhile, Uni, Rom, Ram and the Oracles led them inside the room. There, they could see several beds, a table with numerous chairs at it. There was also a small kitchen area in the corner.
"Lovely place."Neptune said.
"Well, that's all the colonel could afford for us, especially in this situation."Uni said, approaching the kitchen counter."Want some tea?"
"Always."Noire said.
"Take a seat and wait a minute."
Saying that, she started preparing the tea, while others sat down at the table.
"I must admit."Kei said, sitting down."I didn't expect to see you so fast. We knew you were running around, but it's quite surprising you're here."
"We could say the same about all of you."Vert said.
"Still, we're glad you're here."Chika said."We really are."
"We know. We came to save the day as always."Neptune said, smiling.
Right then, she felt a pull on her sleeve. She looked down and saw Rom and Ram, worried expressions on their faces.
"What is it?"
"Um…"Rom started."We wanted to ask…"
"Where is Blanc?"Ram finished.
Goddesses looked at each other.
"Right."Mina said, correcting her glasses."I was about to ask the same."
"She…was captured by the enemy…"Noire said.
"WHAT?!"CPU Candidates and Oracle of Lowee exclaimed.
"Stellaria caught her during our last mission."Vert said."We don't know where she is. And we don't know how to save her."
Silence fell in the room as everyone looked at each other, worried. Who knew where was Blanc and what was happening to her.
"We're gonna show these Imperials when we get to them!"Ram exclaimed."If they did something to our sister…"
"Calm down now."Mina said."Imperials will get what they deserve. For now, just stay put."
Ram looked at Lowee's Oracle and nodded, pouting. Next, she grabbed Rom and went to the free chairs.
"Tea's ready."Uni said, grabbing the kettle.
She approached the table and started pouring the tea into everyone's cups. Once she done it, she settled down on a chair as close to Noire as possible.
"So."Neptune said."This is where all of you've been hiding this whole time?"
"Yes. We've been in this base for the past three years."Chika said."It's been one heck of a time…"
"We can imagine."Vert said."But…how did you get off of Gamindustri?"
"It wasn't easy."Kei said."Fortunately, we were able to keep in touch, beneath Imperial radar. Finally, we devised a plan of how to leave the planet."
"And that plan was?"Noire asked.
"We converged on Planeptune Space Port and bribed some officials to let us leave the planet. Of course, we had different identities and we changed our appearances. But after a few days of stress, we managed to arrive here, where after a few weeks, we managed to contact the resistance group on Nintendus. Only the leadership of the VA here knew who we really were. To make sure none of that will get out to the Imperials."
"Fortunately, Nepgear was able to come up with these useful things."Uni said, showing the device on her arm.
"What even are these?"Neptune asked.
"Camouflages."Nepgear said."They project a completely different appearance onto a person, which can't be distinguished from a real one unless you touch it. Thanks to that, we've been able to even leave The NEST and go do things in the city."
The Goddesses whistled.
"I knew you have a thing for technology, but that's awesome!"Neptune said."We could've used some of those instead of dying our hair…"
"Can't argue with you on that one."Noire said, nodding.
"I only made these few models."Nepgear shrugged."For our personal use."
Everyone nodded.
"Now that we know why and how did you get here, returning to my question."Neptune said."Where is Histy?"
Once more, Oracles and CPU Candidates looked at each other.
"She…didn't come with us."Mina said.
"Why? Is she still on Gamindustri, leading the local resistance or something?"Goddess of Planeptune asked.
"No, she was…"Nepgear gulped."…captured."
This caused the Goddesses to perk up.
"What?"Neptune asked.
"Not long after the Imperials took over the Planeptower."Nepgear continued."We don't know what was happening with her since. Sorry…"
Neptune patted her sister's head.
"No need to be sorry."she said."If that is the case, then we're gonna free her, just like we're gonna free the whole of the system from Imperial control. We're close to doing that anyway."
Everyone nodded.
"We did hear about your actions."Chika said."If not for you, this whole thing would probably drag on for years to come."
"We still missed three years."Noire growled.
"Still, you finally returned and that's what matters."Kei said."We're gonna have this war taken care of in no time."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The rest of the conversation focused on things the both groups were up to and what was happening for the past three years. But more over anything, Goddesses were simply happy that they could be with their sisters again. Only thing that really killed the mood was the fact, that Blanc wasn't there with them.
For the next two days, Goddesses were just living in the base, catching up with their sisters and Oracles. But as the two days passed, the date of the operation start has finally come.
April 30
12:55
The NEST, command center
Colonel Theresia Saran stood in the CC of the base, overlooking the screens which presented the status of all forces to her. She glanced back at the Goddesses and the CPU Candidates who stood there, observing. Oracles were somewhere else, helping in the preparations. It finally came out to public, that they were here, but that didn't matter. What mattered was the fact, that today, it would begin.
"How does it look?"she asked an analyst to her left.
He clicked some keys on his keyboard and nodded.
"All units are in position, ma'am."he said.
"Good."
She then turned to goddesses and smiled at them.
"It begins today."she declared."The fall of the Empire."
"That's a movie I wanna see one day."Neptune said.
"We will make sure our media will make something about that."Noire said.
Colonel nodded again and turned back to the screens.
"Get me on the PA."she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am, PA on."the comms officer said.
Clearing her throat, colonel grabbed the microphone.
"Soldiers!"she started."People of Gamindustri! For the past three years, we've been forced to under the tyrannical rule of the Aristian Empire! We endured three years of pain and discrimination, while all our attempts to resist were brutally suppressed! We cannot allow this no longer! Today, we will rise to defy their rule and we will show them, that our people will not be broken! Our allies showed them, that the victory can be achieved! And today, Nintendus shall be free once more!"
Cries of approval came from across the radio network as all soldiers accepted her words.
"Begin the operation!"
And so, it started.
XXX
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