New world, New war.
If a guy told me that my future would lead me to become the last hope for humanity against a horde of angry space squids when I joined the military. I would ask him what they were smoking and where the nearest police station was. Unfortunately for me, that happened. Now, I am sitting atop a giant land tumour over Central Park as a massive alien spire spews a reprogramed spore to kill said squids instead of melting us mammals down to Soylent Green's newest competitor. All Thanks to Crynets greatest and creepiest creation: The Nanosuit 2.0. Which I am currently wearing as a second skin. Before that, I was your average Marine trying to make a living for himself and defaulting to the military as it provided the most benefits without any prior experience. Now, let's say that my resume needs an update, considering the number of dead Aliens scattering the city.
I'm just laying on the suspended island made of Central Park as the N2 that holds my questionably living bits together reboots after my jaunt into the heart of the spore that would turn every human in New York City into fleshly mush. That was a real trip…Especially since I had to face-to-face with the guy who used to wear this suit. Yeah, apparently, the N2 could copy the user's personality… I was Joking about the "False Prophet" thing whenever the suit started to talk in his voice, but there he was. The guy talked about how New York and Ling Shain were just one of many Ceph installations on Earth. Talking about us teaming up together, but then SECOND spoke up about a power spike, and Prophet went back into the void.
Then I "woke" up the remains of a fountain, still way up so high that I wondered if I could spot the CN Tower from there. The suit powers up again, so I look for a way down or see if anyone sent a Chopper to rescue me from this questionable inert alien structure.
Thankfully, the wrilly birds arrive in all their repurposed CELL Glory.
"YES! Haha! You did it, Alcatraz! All of Ceph in Manhattan are dead and Barclay got the Nuke called off. We aren't going to be atomized! WOO!"
Nathan Gould, Prophet's partner in crime before he went dark, is an ex-Crynet employee and a fellow target of not only the Ceph but also the paramilitary band of idiots: CELL.
Speaking of CELL, with them attacking me and my squadmates, does this make them a terrorist body now?
Well, at least Gould's happy, I wish I could say the same, but the Nanosuit doesn't come with a zipper to take off after walking corpse in a suit. Ah, who am I kidding? A dude can't just crack a smile after going through all this bullshit. Gould is still a total ass for hiding my condition from me; a man deserves to know when he's turned into a cyborg.
"Once we are back on solid ground, I see if I can't get a voice synthesizer working on the suit. After your injuries it should've just activated in the first place."
For once, Gould finally cared about me and not the billion-dollar ones. If this advanced, it would repurpose all of my wetware minus my brain (I think?). Making me a new voice box would not be too hard.
VOICE SYNTHESIZER INITIALIZATION AT 10 %
Oh, you cheeky piece of alien hardware.
Before the transport got any closer, the ground under my feet started shaking again to remind me that it was unstable as hell, and the Ceph tech holding it up was also offline due to my world-saving tomfoolery with their bioweapon. The fact the suit even had the spore screw with all the Ceph tech is crazy, but even I already knew that it just turned the spore into a nanite cheat code to victory.
WARNING, ALIEN ENERGY SPIKE DETECTED.
Uhh, SECOND? Run that by me again? Shouldn't all the Ceph be dead by now? Maybe your sensors are malfunctioning, and these quakes are just the Spire naturally collapsing due to lack of power? This a logical and reasonable answer, even though everything that has happened in the past 48 hours belongs in a sci-fi movie.
MASSIVE CEPH ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED
My vision is filled with a wireframe map of the structure I am standing on, which shows the energy spike coming deep below the Central Park spire…and spiking fast.
"Alcatraz! Watch out!" Gould shouts into my ear as a massive pulse of energy explodes through the Spire knocking me on my ass.
"Damn it! We triggered a reaction with something deep below! At this energy level, it's gonna vent through Central Park!"
"Alcatraz, we are locating a LZ for you! Hang on!" Tara Strickland, it's about time you said something. Must've been screaming at the Pentagon about the whole nuclear situation while we went to save the planet. Questions for later, I need to start hauling ass. SECOND pings to where it was the most stable on this island in the sky. I'm glad to see the suit is still watching out for me.
I made it to the LZ, and Gould's Chopper tried to stay in the air as the Ceph structures collapsed and exploded. The ground behind him started to crack and fall into the glowing abyss below. Thanks, It's a really great reminder to get off this rock!
"Alcatraz, I can't get any closer, you'll have to jump!"
The Chopper barely stays in the air because the wind is going hurricane-force tier fast, and the Spire is running out of real estate for my feet, so I pull all the suit power I have into speed and strength for the jump. I'm a classic Superman who jumps the crazy gap between me and my ride. I just barely make it. Gould actually put his arm out, and I grabbed hold of it. I am still dangling from the Chopper, and Tara is trying to keep us from crashing.
I'm trying to pull myself up, which should be easy, but something was tugging me down. Gould is freaking out, so I look at my feet and see that some freaky energy tendrils are pulling me down.
UNKNOWN POWER SURGE DETECTED
"Hang on, Alcatraz! Just hang on!" Gould is trying to pull me in, but damn, the suit's systems are going haywire, so all I could do was put a deadman's grip on the helicopter's hull with my free hand.
"It's pulling us in!" Tara shouts out, and she is right. It was a tug-of-war between a cheap human-made flying machine and whatever eldritch abomination had latched onto the suit.
"Pull it into full gear or whatever!" Gould desperately tries to pull me in but can't do anything.
"It's at full throttle! I'm risking damaging the rotors if we keep at this!" Tara says while struggling with the controls, and the suit tries to reroute its system to break free of whatever has us by the boot. Dammit, there is no other option. Gould fucking sucks, but I'm not an asshole. (Sometimes I am, but that's not the point!) I stared at him dead in the eyes through my red visor, and he could already tell what I was about to do.
"Don't do it man! Not after all the shit they've done to you…What we've done to you!"
Well, that makes me feel a little better that he was taking the blame for my second skin situation. If that's the case, I have one request for him, and he'd better fulfil it if he had any remorse for what this suit has done to me.
"Find…Alice… "
SECOND already knew what I wanted to say and used its voice through the comm unit. Was the Prophet talking again or just trying to listen to what my mind wanted to say? I don't know, so I pull my arm away from Gould and Ripped my hand from the CELL chopper's hull. Taking some of the outer plating with me as one last fuck you to CELL and all of it's mooks.
"ALCATRAZ!" Gould is screaming as Tara pulls the Chopper away, and I'm getting dragged down into a vortex of energy. I don't know what'll happen to me; all I can hope for is my little sister to get the best life she deserves.
My vision goes dark…No HUD, no SECOND giving me updates. Just…Nothing and not the peaceful emptiness people tell you about after returning from oblivion. Damn, I was hoping to be able to find Hargreave and kick him in the dick for eternity.
Then, I feel the wind over my face…My actual face and I open my eyes to see myself sitting in an open field under an endless sky. I look down at my body, and I'm in my Marine Gear, not the N2. I felt at peace, my lungs breathing in the fresh air. So I stand up with my own strength and wiggle my fingers. Yeah, this is just like before when I was conked out. This isn't real, and it is just a dream before the cold embrace of N2 comes back. Better enjoy this lucid dream while it lasts. While walking, enjoying the sights, I spot something out of place. Some wrecked machinery…or something?
Walking over, I realized it was a quadruped robot with some nasty-looking guns. Appears to be an alien Alien, but not Ceph at all. The lack of tentacles is the first clue that something is off. What the hell is this thing? If this was some sort of dream, where the hell did this come from? These may be from Prophet's memories. Speaking of which, I find it odd that I haven't seen him at all since our little chat back at the Spire.
The wind picks up and sends a chill down my spine. I turn around and see a body. This time, I get concerned, as it was a human Female dressed up in combat gear I've never seen before. My instincts kick in, and I check on her to see if she's still alive. I do a pulse check... nothing. The wind blows again, and I see more robots and Female soldiers scattering the area.
Okay...Perhaps this isn't a dream…
"Join…us…" I hear a voice. I look down at the body I was inspecting…
She is staring blankly at me now. Her pupils are red as the sky darkened. I hear the sound of groaning metal as the robots come to live life via screams that echo through fields.
So, the reasonable thing to do is to start running while the robots and soldiers rise from their graves. Then, the ground before me cracks open, and I lose my footing and fall into the abyss.
Dammit! Shit! I ain't dying! No, I Refuse to fucking die…I…
Who am I kidding?
I'm already dead; I've been dead for over nearly two days now…Who the fuck cares about me? I was just used as a replacement because the Prophet got corrupted by the Ceph. Still…some part of me wants to keep going…I still have one thing to keep fighting for…
"Then get off your ass, marine."
Raising my head, the Prophet reached out his hand.
"Do you think Alice would want you to give up?"
Alice, my little sis, was always rooting for me with her letters while I was on deployment. Alice grew up in the foster system after our parents….became unable to take care of us. I joined the military for income so I could become her legal guardian. Then New York happened….
You know what? Alice would never forgive me for fading into oblivion. After all the shit that happened to me, I deserve to finally live my fucking life.
I grab Prophet's arm, and he pulls me into the light as I hear the familiar sounds of Crynet software beeping rapidly.
DNA PROFILE: ALCATRAZ
STATUS: RESTORED
BEGIN REBOOT SEQUENCE
PURGING CORRUPTED DATA….
UPDATING SECURITY PROTOCOLS…
…Good luck…Marine….
My eyes open, and I am welcomed by the familiar N2 Hud elements filling my vision as Prophet's Prophet's words echo in my head. Well, I am back to the land of the living…Er…Whatever. I'm currently in a dilapidated room for a suburban home. The paint is peeling, the Furniture is rotting, and the window is shattered. The smell reminds me of a fratboy house at a university.
Huh. I don't remember walking into a house…No sigh of me being flung in here after the blast.
It's best to do the sensible thing and get on comms. It's time to see if I can contact Gould or Tara to tell them I am okay.
ERROR: NO KNOWN FREQUENCY DETECTED
VARIOUS UNKNOWN TRANSMISSIONS DETECTED.
SCANNING….
Great…Maybe I can use GPS to see where I am?
GPS SYSTEM UNAVAILABLE NO SATELLITES DETECTED.
That's impossible. Earth's orbit is littered with satellites nowadays…Wait, am I on Earth? I take a peek out the window. The atmospheric sensor tells me it's Earth, just not in New York anymore. Most of these buildings look European or East Asian… That's the most I could tell from their devastated remains. The overgrowth shows that they've been like that for a while.
Did we lose…or maybe the Ceph did a counterattack…All I remember is getting pulled into that vortex. Then, that weird dream, and now waking up in this room…Did I get warped into the future? Or another dimension?
I hope it's the latter, for Alice's sake. That would give me a slim chance of getting back to her…
With that thought, I notice myself in the mirror across the room. Reminding me of my second skin…In some new threads? I get another look at my body and see that I have a tactical harness of sorts with various pockets and pouches. Another tact strap on both of my upper thighs. One with a holstered suppressed pistol and the other with a bigger pouch. Another change was that the visor was no longer blood red but a cyan-blue colour…I didn't know I could change it like the LEDs on an overpriced PC.
The N2 appeared to be the same Cryfibrel attached to a Coltan-titanium exoskeleton. Anyone who wore this seemed to be a golem or a flayed human. Cause that really screams, "Hey! I am a fellow human being! Please don't shoot me when I am not looking!"
Anyways...Someone was busy giving me some gear…Maybe while I was out… Perhaps the Prophet took over my body, and…No, even thinking about that gives me the willies. This is MY body, maybe all reformatted into Nano-suit bio-mesh, but it was still mine.
Regardless, I'm in control again…No, I am still in control.
I look into the mirror again…, and I get curious since I didn't take many hits to the face…I take off the helmet of the N2, and the hermetic seal hisses as I raise the helmet from my head….
I immediately put it back on…
..I should've known…
This will repurpose any body part to ensure I am alive and efficient. Hargreave's attempt at skinning the N2 must've done more damage than I realized back then, making the nanite go into overdrive, repairing and repurposing whatever was not needed.
Fuck Hargreave's greedy ambitions, Fuck Crynet, Fuck Lockhart!
The mirror shatters against my enhanced fist as I punch it in frustration. The whole thing falls to the floor, revealing the dent in the wall behind it. I can never face anyone like this…People already get spooked around me…Seeing my face—what's left of it… I'd give people nightmares.
Sorry, Alice...it's best if you think you're dead.
Gah, I need something to distract me from my little crisis, and boy, I do. A fine piece of hardware was on the chair next to the mirror: An M2014 Gauss Rifle, a pinnacle of mass acceleration weaponry. Picking it up, I found it surprisingly heavier than the ones in the Big Apple. I scan it to satisfy my curiosity and see that it's overall the same, just reinforced with a type of steel unknown to the suit's database, and the electro-magnets along the barrel are much more substantial. I could core a Ceph gunship with this bad boy, which puts a smile on my… never mind.
One last gear check before I headed out. On the tact harness were a few frags and some C4 charges. Both had higher yields than I am used to, but I don't get blown up as quickly anymore.
A pair of nasty-looking bayonet-style knives made of the same materials were used to upgrade the Gauss. Now for the pistol on my hip...
Based on the Polish PT83, the pistol appears to have a fully reciprocating slide and under-barrel attachment rail to which a laser sight is placed. Again, it comprises this mystery metal, such as the knives and the upgraded bits on the Gauss.
Found some extra mags on my person as well as some more for the Gauss. Overall, it is a good sidearm to use while invisible. A quick glance reveals the weapon name on the built-in suppressor: Vesper 77. Huh…Well, SECOND is pulling a blank from its own Databanks, which should have every weapon ever made by humanity.
Gauss… Let's see…The scope has increased magnification, which is excellent since it has a lot of extra juice. I wonder if I can snipe a satellite out of low orbit with this thing. Mags hold 6 slugs instead of 4, nice….What else…The fire selector has an alternate mode…Overcharge. Pretty self-explanatory. Overclocks the magnets to get even more speed and penetration. Risks overheating, however, so the gun will not fire until it's cooled off. I could only complain about the lack of a bipod or a forward grip to improve handling. Other than that, I am just giddy about the powerhouse of a rifle.
The loadout could still use a weapon such as an SMG or Shotgun. It might be overkill, but I've been blasted into Swiss cheese by an alien gunship. I get to decide what is or isn't overkill. Considering the situation, having more options wouldn't hurt; this could be a new world. Please, oh mighty Ceiling Cat, don't let this world be whole of the undead, mutants or some shit. One Cloak mode checks to ensure all my gear goes invisible, and I am out into the world.
OBJECTIVE UPDATED: FIND HUMANITY'S REFUGE, ASSIST IN RECLAIMING THE SURFACE, SAVE THE GODDESSES.
SECOND must've been busy scanning the local radio chatter for the past half hour after rebooting and gearing up. The thing is always up to something in the back of my brain. It's creepy, but I'm used to it now, probably by design if the suit had anything to say about it.
I guess it is time to find this "Ark" if there is any chance to get some answers about what happened here, some friendly faces, but what is it talking about, Goddesses? Things keep getting weird, but if one of the objectives is to assist humanity in reclaiming the surface, the survivors will be hiding underground. It makes sense that, outside, everything is dead and abandoned. The Earth is reclaiming this land through the overgrowth. It's beautiful in its own "Earth is Healing" way. Back home, climate change was doing numbers on us, especially after the Ceph woke up on Lingshan. I wonder how many nearly extinct animals are thriving now that we evil humans are out of play.
I climbed up the side of one of the tallest buildings I could reach on foot. I would take the stairs if they weren't half collapsed, so climbing is! Unsurprisingly, climbing up a 10-story building quickly is easy for one with nano-muscles. Yay for super strength and adjusting the friction on my hands and feet!
Once on top, I take it all in; no signs of life for kilometres, even after cranking up my sensors to the max. Then, I finally spotted why this world was the way it was…Robots, Just like the ones in that dream…More started to crawl out into the streets. Cloaking up to avoid detection since their swarms march through the streets below. Fucking hell, this isn't the Ceph; at least, that's what the suit is telling me. These guys are something else and come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are as small as a smart car, and others are as big as a Gunship and can fly.
SCANNING ENEMY COMMUNICATIONS…
ERROR: NO KNOWN CIPHER AVAILABLE TO DECRYPT ENEMY NETWORK.
BEGINNING ANALYSIS…
At least SECOND is on top of things…So I can't listen in on what's going on for now. That's going to be a bite in the arse on the intel side of things. Peeking over the edge, some of those robots have started to climb up the building where I'm posted. Uh oh…
I duck behind some old AC units. Surprisingly, I'm still invisible, and my movement only slightly sips into my suit energy. Did it also get an upgrade and my supply drop of weapons?
That thought was interrupted by the sound of robots stomping around the rooftop. A group of the more petite, bipedal and stumpy-looking units. Then, a swarm of flyers followed them, making this place too crowded for my liking. What made them even come up here in the first place? I'm still invisible, and the sound suppression is active…Unless…
THREAT DETECTED
Fucking SECOND…
I decloak and shift suit power into speed as the robots start screeching like a banshee out of hell. Jumping off the roof and onto the next was my only option as the flyers kept up with me. I just need to find a moment to break their line of sight of me. The suit battery is still going strong, with about 60% juice left, and I am booking it across the rooftops. I just hope I don't land on the spot that, too-
CRACK*
Rotten through…I really need to look before I leap. Max Armor should take the edge off the landing.
So, I crashed right through the roof and several floors of the next building before I hit the bottom. Armour mode also increases how heavy the suit is, so my ass gets sent straight to the basement.
Oh, I still feel pain, by the way; I'm just less of a bitch about taking damage that would turn a mere mortal into a hamburger. Wait…Too soon. Ceph Spore victims are still fresh in my mind.
I power down Armor mode to let the power cells recharge and scramble before the swarm appears. Then those bots start ripping this building apart with energy weapons, I barely get out unscathed, and I cloak again. I must deal with my pursers before doing anything else. However, I am outnumbered and have limited ammo. I doubt I can scourge up any spare mags off of these things. At least in New York, you'd tripped on ammo boxes on every corner and/or corpse.
TACTICAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE.
About time you gave me something you overpriced toaster.
ANALYSIS INDICATE ENEMY UNITS RELY ON A COMMANDER UNIT WHILE IN COMBAT.
SUGGESTION: DESTROY THE COMMANDING UNIT TO DISRUPT ENEMY COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS.
Okay, that I can do. Where's the leader bot?
WARNING: ENEMY UNITS CAN DETECT TACTICAL SCANS.
RECOMMEND CAUTION
So that's what set them off earlier, so they can detect the wavelengths my gear uses. Hm… Short burst scans should be okay if I remain cloaked and on the move. Also, SECOND, please Tell me you are already finding a solution.
ADAPTATION TO ENEMY SCANNERS POSSIBLE.
ADDITIONAL BATTLE DATA REQUIRED
Well, that's a relief.
Time to play some cat and mouse.
Tossing a frag towards a bunch of the ground units creeping around the streets to freak them out. Taking out a good amount of them makes me wonder who makes them. Questions for later as I disappear and burst to scan the enemies. Like clockwork, some of them are alerted to my presence. SECOND has conveniently given a little bar of my HUD telling how close the enemy is to triangulating my position.
I've played a video game with this kind of BS.
I will use my cloak-and-scan tactics until I find this platoon's big boss, and when I say big, I mean BIG.
More significant than a Ceph Pinger, with four legs instead of three and two massive cannons that might actually tear N2 to shreds…
Yeah, it's Gauss time. Turning visible out of sight to let me get the juice back before I…
The big bot starts blasting in my direction.
I dive again and roll across the street and into a storefront. Gotta think fast before it brings in its troops. I grabbed another and whipped it like a cracked-up pitcher in MLB, right at its red optic. It bounced off but exploded, giving me the opening to open fire. I line up my shot and don't know where exactly to shoot, but right in its eye is a good idea. I pulled the trigger and made the sound barrier my bitch as a tungsten slug ripped right into this chassis.
It recovered from the damage as one of its cannons fell off. The recoil of upgraded Gauss surprised me and threw my aim off. No matter; I compensate and fire again right in the eyeball, and it keels over, followed by a satisfying boom. I turn around and see the hunting party retreat. Finally, I get some peace and quiet around here, so it's best to investigate the corpse of the big boy while I have the time before reinforcements arrive.
After cautiously walking over to Gauss at the ready, should this thing have a backup power core or whatever to surprise me, round 2?
Nope, it's dead. Take a look at the thing; it's definitely not Ceph tech. Hard to tell if it is made, either. Scans indicate lots of foreign Nano-technology inside the core of this thing, and only fragments remain after taking a direct hit from my rifle.
Yeah, Yeah SECOND. Get off my ass, I'll grab one of the fragments for analysis. I reach into the chassis to grab what's left of the core, covered in what I guess was blood for these things. Holding the fragment in my hand, the suit started collecting nano samples for study. Man, gotta love my body being turned into a science experiment…nothing beats having weird particles floating around my body.
No concern there, none at all…
In case anyone asks, that was sarcasm.
The fragment gets stuffed in a pouch for later as the suit deep layer protocols warm up, which I hate because it makes me dizzy and distracts SECOND for a few moments, leaving me vulnerable to-
My spidey senses spot something in the distance on one of the old skyscrapers. Swapping to a tactical visor gives me a better view. There, Someone kitted out in a white cloak with some armour plates on the shoulders. Visors covering their face, so I can't tell anything from this range while SECOND is busy with the samples. Whoever they are, they can see I am staring back at them. I'm unsure they are friendly right now, so I will slowly reach for my gun. Then they disappeared in a fog of white mist just as my suit gave the all-clear.
Considering they didn't shoot me, I'll take it as a sign of being friendly enough not to blast a guy in the back.
Well, I'll go follow them. With N2's systems, tracking them shouldn't be too hard-
PLEASE STAND BY.
God dammit, what is it?
INCOMING DISTRESS TRANSMISSION DETECTED.
Oh shit, nevermind, open the commlink
"Mayday! Mayday! We are going down! We have a commander and Nikke's aboard! Mayday-"
I heard a loud crash nearby as the transmission cut out. Crap, that's going to attract a lot of attention. Any crash survivors are screwed, so I better go start making some friends and help them out. A smoke plume marks the location, making finding my way to the site easy. Hopefully, they don't shoot at me…I really would appreciate some friends right now.
"BA-1 is Down!"
"BA-1 is Down!"
"Please respond! We've been shot down!"
A new distress call goes out via a different transmitter. That means survivors. I activated my voice synthesizer on my suit; thankfully, the suit had that calibrating in the background this entire time.
"I hear you BA-1, This is Alcatraz of the US Marine corps. I just heard your distress signal and double timing it to your position. How many survivors are there?"
It feels good to talk again. Anyway, the voice on the comms was female and in panic, so I needed to help her focus.
"US Marine? ... .Uh-h I only have myself and my commander. H-he's going into cardiac arrest!"
Well, my rank isn't going to get me far. Regardless, I'm a fellow soldier and won't leave them alone with those monsters running around.
"I'm on my way! Focus on your commander! Do you have an AED?"
I hear some fumbling over the radio before the soldier returns to the comm.
"Yes! I got one! I'll handle it!"
She has the situation under control, which is good. My radar is picking up bogeys closing in on their position.
"Good! Just follow your training, I'm just one street over."
It'll take me too long just to use the streets, time to improvise and take a shortcut. I scan the buildings between me and my waiting buddies and find the weak points in all of them. Calculate the pathing to avoid dropping a building on myself and… I'm off! Using Max armour and breaching through wall after wall like a Kool-Aid man with on stims. I bash through the final fence and was greeted by some bullets shot in my direction.
Whoops should've given them the heads-up.
"Whoa, Whoa! Friendly Fire! Friendly Fire!"
Thankfully, Maximum Armour ate those bullets…Although there was a lot more firepower behind them than standard military hardware. Anyways, my bad. Through the dust, I spot my two buddies; one looks like a young man about my age in a brown military officer uniform. He's standing behind a lady with her gun trained on me…I blink a few times as she Well, let's say it's no what in hell a standard issue uniform from any military position I know of. White blouse with a short blue skirt that hugged her very eye-popping female form. Their legs were covered in nylons while her feet were in high heels…Fucking high heels! The suit detects little armour other than some speciality Kevlar in the uniform.
"Nice suit, that's 5th avenue?…You gone shopping without me?"
Man, Chino would be laughing his ass off right now.
"Wait, Are you Alcatraz?" The Lady said, lowering SMG with an oversized drum mag.
"Affirmative, I got your distress signal and came as soon as I could. Are there any other survivors?"
I looked over to the wreckage; the transport was more significant than a Vulture air vehicle, but it didn't take the crash any better.
"No, we are the only ones who made it." The kid behind her spoke up while stepping forward, and I lowered my hands.
Dratz, well, I'll do what I can then. I'm just glad Someone made it out. Anyway, we can do better introductions later. We got some bad guys to send to the scrapheap.
"Okay, then we need to hunker down and hold this position. We got enemy's inbound."
The Lady stands alert and faces her commander.
"Commander, I know it's a bit sudden, I'll need you to give me orders."
"I'll give it a shot, " the kid said. It sounded like he was green. Well, there was no time like now to get experience. Some more little grunts started swarming in, even though it was strange to call a guy who could be the same age as me a commander. But I wasn't one to judge, considering my situation.
"Alright, Commander. I'll take the sniper position. I have 6 shots before reloading. I'll focus on units that will give you guys trouble."
Maybe it would be best to explain my tactics so he can focus on assists while…What was her name?
"Very well, I'll take the machine gunner position. Nikke Marian! Engaging!"
Well, that was convenient. What's a Nikke? Never mind, Murderbots must die first.
After barely a few seconds of climbing, I am on top of a nearby building as the Raptures start firing on us.
"Marian focuses on defence," the kid said. He has some idea of what to do. Rushing into the fight would be a dumb move.
"Yes, Commander."
I focus on taking out Raptures with heavier weaponry. Marian guns the rest of them down with extreme prejudice. What is her SMG packing to punch through that much armour? The answer comes from a single scan, and let my suit process it in the background, back to the murder drones. Now they have flying units after us, looking like a demented Terminator seahorse.
Nothing that some tungsten slugs can't fix.
I'm constantly keeping tabs on my buddies, who are holding well. Marian is doing exceptionally well in this fight. It's almost like she is in an N2 as well.
I have questions for later. The big boss just showed up. It's the same as the last one, and this time, I'm fully adapted to my weapon's recoil.
Boom, Headshot.
The rest fell over, and the battle was won. One quick peek and my two buddies were alive without injury. Nice. It's time to jump down and meet the highly trained military neighbours.
"All clear, from up there. You guys okay?"
Marian nods.
"Thanks for the assistance. Seriously, we were in some serious trouble there and I won't lie that this is my first time in the field. I'm William by the way."
The guy offered me a handshake, and I obliged. On the inside, I am giddy because I am getting some thanks, which is a rare experience nowadays, even while saving people's asses in new york.
"Alcatraz, nice to meet you." The introductions are going well. I'm crossing my fingers they don't turn on me. Oh, Please, just give me some friends who don't get creeped out by the Nanosuit.
"My name is Marian; thank you for answering my distress call," Marian says with a sweet smile, which is rare in this line of work.
"Hey, I'm just looking out for my fellow soldiers. Now…I guess you got some questions, I'm willing to answer, but I think those should wait until we are out of an active combat zone."
Marian looks suspicious of me; I gotta think of something to show I am not a threat.
Thanks to the N2 data records from the visual feed and extracted memories, I can provide all the proof I need. This shouldn't be too cwildfor them to believe because these guys have killer robots running around.
Also, Marian's scan is finished, and she's a cyborg. Her body is artificial, while her brain is human. Compared to myself, she got the better deal with her supermodel physique, perfect face, flowing dark hair, and skin that perfectly mimics a human's.
I am just some unlucky son of a gun, aren't I?
"It's complicated. I'm not a 'Nikke' like yourself."
"Really? But you fought off those Raptures like one." Marian pushed the question again. The last thing I needed was to arouse suspicion in the people I had just met. Ah, "Raptures." So that's what those things were. We're getting a little biblical, are we?
"It's because of what I am wearing." Gesturing to the N2, they get an idea of what is going on with me.
"This is called a Nanosuit, a high tech combat armour. Basically makes me more than a soldier and capable of fighting anything that a regular human can't. Where I got it…Well for now, lets just say I'm not from around here."
William seems alright with my explanation, but Marian is still uneasy about me.
"Marian?" William notices her mixed expression.
"I'm sorry. I'm trained to be careful of anything anybody finds outside of the Ark." Marian again tried not to sound rude while remaining sceptical about what I told them.
"Understood. I can provide video evidence once we get out of our predicament. Will that be sufficient? "
"Very much so. I hope I didn't offend you since you are helping us. Thanks again for your assistance."
"It's okay, you are protecting your CO. As a fellow soldier, I know what it meants to watch over your squad…."
…If only I could've done something more for my guys back on the sub…No. 'Can't be mopy now; I'll make some time to mourn later.
"Are you okay?" William catches my thousand-yard stare.
"Y-yes, just thinking about my buddies back home."
I'm never going to get used to people being this nice to me; my nanite-infused brain is still fresh with paranoia of betrayal. Maybe things will change now? William seems nice enough, but Marian doesn't want to shoot me, and I received thank-yous from both of them.
Still, we can't shake the feeling that we are not out of the woods by a long shot.
AN: Howdy! I'm writing a new story and experimenting with writing from the first-person perspective. Also, this is another case of me combining a Gacha game with an FPS. This time, it's all about nanomachines and Goddesses.
I started playing Nikke a while back to try something new, and I'm not gonna lie; I was curious about Nikke for a while. At first, I thought it was a fan-service game, but DAMN! The STORY hooks you in; please, I recommend people who are on the fence to give it a shot. It's also one of the fairest Gacha games for getting new characters.
Anywho, I've always been a fan of Crysis 2. However, I couldn't get into three after they shifted the vibe from Prophet and him working together to a battle for control of the nano suit, especially after reading the book Crysis: Legion, which retells the second game's story entirely from Alcratraz's perspective. (Also, it's a good read, so buy the book. It's worth it!) So, after playing Nikke for a bit, I thought about crossover ideas, and since both games have the Post-human warrior trope, BAM, this fic was born.
I'll admit this will be a slow-burn fic as it's a new writing style, and I'm prioritising my other in-progress fics, but I wanted to test the waters.
So yeah, I've got lots of plans for this fic. I'm sure Nikke fans wonder how Alcatraz can shake things up.
Can he fight the Raptures? Will he become a Commander? Can he become corrupted?
How far can he throw a particular bratty CEO?
And most importantly? Will our boy Alcatraz receive some much-needed love and hugs? And from who?
All will be answered, so look forward to that.
That is all for now, so I hope you enjoy this new idea.
Have a Beautiful day!