NIKKE Xenoverse

Arc 2: Mission 13: Limgrave Travel

[-]

The Next Day; Ark; Andersen's Office

"…This is a lot of info you're dumping on me, Suskian. I'm surprised you're taking this well," Andersen said as he leaned forward at his desk, "Heretics, the Demon Realm going about using your D.N.A. to make Rapture hybrids… And, this Dakimu bringing beings from your realm. It's enough to make a sane person go mad. I'll report what I can to the higher ups. I'm just glad you brought everyone home safe." Suskian nods his head and leaned against the wall to the left.

"…You look distressed. Something else ailing you?"

"…Yeah, actually. The Heretic we met… It was Marian. Like, legit… It was Marian, but she was grafted with a bunch of Rapture technology. Somehow, the other side brought Marian back to life and made her a Heretic. Who knows what else they can do," Suskian told him seriously, "What if they implant my D.N.A. in her? Make her part Saiyan?"

"…Then we deal with it. It's not much we can do since we don't have her here. At any rate, you should head back to the Outpost and check on your squad and the Counters squad. Trust me, they need your attention right now. I'll update you on anything that happens with the higher ups and their decision going forward," Andersen said calmly ad he nods his head, "Harleen would probably be wanting to meet with you when you get there."

"I had a feeling. Thanks, Andersen…" Suskian said ad he went to walk out.

"Wait… One more thing," Andersen said and Suskian stopped to glance at the Deputy Commander In Chief, "I contacted Bradley and asked him personally to try and not reveal much to his uncle. I know Birmingham and how he operates… So, that it won't come back to bite you. We also cleaned up the Outpost and had Mighty Tools build some buildings there for you all."

"Got it. Thanks again," Suskian smiled and headed out.

[-]

An Hour Later; Outpost…

"Welcome back, Suskian," Theresa said as she greeted Suskian as he stepped out of the elevator that led to the Outpost.

"How's everyone? Did their repairs take long?" Suskian asked Theresa as he stood in front of the short woman.

"The only one who took a while was IF. Her spine was completely shattered, so she needed a whole new body. Otherwise, everyone is functioning and repaired," Theresa reported as she and Suskian walked down the street, heading to the Command Center. They passed by a few of the aforementioned buildings Andersen mentioned to Suskian, which was a police station, a library, a mall, and what looked like a bar as well as what looked like a maid Café.

"I know Andersen said he added a few buildings… But, I didn't think it would be this fast…" Suskian said as he looked at the buildings.

"That's Mighty Tools for you," Theresa smiled, "I'm friends with Liter, who is leading that group. She and I go WAY back. I'm happy I got to catch up with her before she had to head back to the Ark."

"I gotta know your history, Theresa," Suskian said to her.

"One day," Theresa said with a smirk, "For now, let's get to the others."

Theresa and Suskian made it to the Command Center and entered inside to greet the members of Dawnbreaker, Wardress, and Counters all relaxing after the strenuous mission and seeing Ryu laying on the couch while staring at the ceiling.

"I'm back," Suskian said calmly and everyone turned to him with smiles and Yuni raced to him and hugs him tightly, "Oof! You gotta do that every time?"

"Yes…" Yuni said happily and Suskian hugs her back, "You're so warm…"

"How'd it go?" Melina asked Suskian as she walked up to him.

"Andersen will talk with his bosses," Suskian said calmly as he looked at her, "It's gonna take a few days, so we can relax."

"Thank God. I need a vacay," Anis said as she plops on the sofa next to Ryu.

"Honestly, same…" Ryu muttered as he shook his head, "What a mission…"

"No shit," Suskian snorted at that, "So, did you see the buildings that got built here?"

"Yes. A fucking bar is just what the doctor ordered," Revy joked as she nods her head.

"Amen to that, sister," Roberta chuckled, "I know what my vacation is gonna be about…"

"I'm more surprised they built a Maid Café here," Chris said as she looked at Suskian, "Do you know what that's about?"

"Nope. I don't think I've been in one myself, personally," Suskian said and Ryu glanced at him in confusion.

"You haven't? Really? They don't have one in the Time Patrol?" Ryu asked him.

"I'm deadass, there is no Maid Café in the Time Patrol… The closest thing to that is a karaoke bar where the employees dress up in cosplays of magical girls," Suskian said as he shrugged his shoulders, "Wasn't my cup of tea, honestly."

"That's surprising. You pegged me to be a maid type of guy," Theresa smirked.

"…I mean, I'm more into maidens," Suskian said and Melina smirked at that, "And strong women."

"Strong women, huh?" Roberta joked as she flexed her muscles.

"Stop," Suskian said and Roberta laughed at that.

"Anyway…" Chris said, "I have a question. What was that bullet that Snow White gave you?" Suskian took the bullet out of his pocket and stared at it.

"I don't know. She called it Vapaus, and I never heard of that name before…" Suskian said and Ryu stood up and came over to look at the bullet.

"You mind if I take a look?" Ryu asked Suskian and Suskian hands him the bullet. Ryu stared at the bullet for a few seconds in silence.

"Commander?" Rapi asked as she came up beside him, "You okay?"

"…Yeah. Just looks… Kinda odd. Never seen a bullet like this before," Ryu said as he hands the bullet back to Suskian, "Something about this bullet is very mysterious."

"Well, I don't need a bullet as I'm not using a gun. Can you hold onto it for me, Ryu?" Suskian said and hands the bullet back to Ryu, "You might find a better use for it than me."

"I'll do what I can for you, Suskian," Ryu told him as he took back the bullet.

"Hmm… I feel like I heard the name Vapaus before," Theresa said as she rubbed her chin.

"Same here," Tsubasa said as she looked up from trying to clean her sword, "In my years as a Nikke, I've been hearing a bunch of things I shouldn't have…"

"Like what?" Ryu asked as he looked at her.

"Well, I have been to the surface before I joined Counters… As a child," Tsubasa said calmly as she sheathed the sword she held in her hands, "I was trained by a woman named Scarlet after she found me hiding in an old abandoned building. She was also a Pilgrim, like Snow White. I never asked Snow White how she was… I hope she is safe. I could have sworn I heard Scarlet mention the name Vapaus a few times during the training… I could be mistaken."

"I hope you're not wrong about that," Ryu said as he looked at Tsubasa.

"Still…" Suskian said as he folded his arms, "It's a definite gamble. But, I'm glad we are back at the Outpost where things are normal for now."

"Yeah. Now, I wish to… Talk about other things," Rapi said as she stood up and looked at Suskian, "I want to speak with you in private, if that is okay." Everyone looked at Rapi as Suskian raised an eyebrow before nodding his head.

"Apologies, Melina."

"Don't worry about it. Just don't take too long…" Melina giggled and Rapi took Suskian by the hand and led him away.

"What was that about?" IF asked as she raised an eyebrow. Yuni then quickly rushed after them and everyone looked confused at this.

"Seems Yuni wants to talk as well…" Mihara giggled.

"…Wait a second," Revy smirked, "Did Rapi fuck Suskian?"

"WHAT," Anis said with a straight face, "Rapi? The serious Rapi, losing her virginity? The very same Rapi, who is always willing to lay her life down for us?"

"If she did, she got a damn good head start on fucking that man," Revy joked as she took a smoke.

"…I don't know whether to be happy or jealous that she lost her virginity," Anis said as she blinked a few times.

"So, why is Yuni following behind them?" Chris asked.

"She 100% saw them fucking and is wanting in on that action. I'm calling it now," Revy said with a smirk, "3000 credits on the table. Who taking it?"

"…Fuck it. 5k," Roberta smirked.

"Deal!" Revy smirked and both women shook hands.

"Is it okay to be talking about our Commander's sex life like that?" IF asked as she sweat dropped at this.

"Better that they take his dick than the enemy," Theresa said crassly.

"THERESA!" IF groaned as she slapped her forehead.

"What? You were thinking the same thing," Theresa smirked as she glanced at IF.

"…No comment," IF muttered.

[-]

A Few Days Later…

Suskian was laying in his bed, with Rapi in his shower, taking one after engaging in another sex session with him. Seems he awakened something in Rapi that she didn't know she had: Desire and Affection. In that moment, he heard his visor go off. He picked up his visor and answered it. It was Selene, contacting him.

"Hey, Selene. What info you got for me?" Suskian asked her.

"Andersen just met with Ryu. I'm here to pass the message to you… Seems Wardress, Counters, and Dawnbreaker have been upgraded to Special Commando Units. That means we don't take orders from the C.E.O.s anymore and we have a lot of liberties to do what we want in terms of our operations. We can also conceal info if we want to," Selene reports to Suskian.

"That's… Actually good news. That means we won't have to go piss off the incompetent A.I. again," Suskian said with a smirk, "I'm glad we won't have to worry for a bit about that."

"There's more. Andersen granted you all 3 months vacation to rest and recuperate as well as train. From his words, if things go this way… You all need to get stronger and be more prepared. He feels at fault for throwing you all into the deep end and nearly dying several times. With the vacation, you can train the others on many things that they can benefit from," Selene said and Suskian smirked at that.

"Great. I was thinking of teaching the others a bunch of Sorceries and Incantations… If they can learn it," Suskian said.

"…That's strange. I'm getting a weird reading on the Dimension Counter," Selene said and Suskian sat up.

"Reading? You're getting a reading?" Suskian said in surprise as he got out of bed and got dressed, "Where?"

"About half a mile away southeast from the Outpost. The coordinates… The Lands Between?" Selene said and the ground began rumbling.

"Holy shit!" Suskian called and knelt on the ground.

"A black hole just opened! The coordinates are leading to… The Lands Between, definitely! Specifically, Limgrave!" Selene said and the ground stopped rumbling after a few seconds. Rapi rushed out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body.

"What was that?! A Rapture attack?!" Rapi asked seriously as she looked at Suskian.

"No… A portal opening," Suskian said as he picked up his Tarnished Charm from the dresser top near his bed and hung it around his neck, "Selene detected a portal opening half a mile southeast from the Outpost. Get everyone together quickly… I'll go ahead and check out the portal."

"…Roger. Be careful, okay?" Rapi told him and held his hands while kissing him on the lips softly. They separated and Suskian ran out.

[-]

A Few Minutes Later; Half A Mile Southeast From The Outpost…

Suskian flew fast in the direction of the portal, noticing the sky above had darkened, even though it was around noon. Suskian spots the portal on the ground. It looked to be about 100 meters high. He Lands on the ground several feet in front of the portal and looked up at the portal. Before he could even take a step forwards, he heard the sounds of screeching coming from the portal.

"What the fuck?" Suskian asked as he blinked a few times. Then, what looked like dozens of gray furred monkeys holding what looked like swords, spiked clubs, and hammers and shields raced out of the portal and began clambering towards Suskian, screeching in unison.

"Wait… Aren't those…" Suskian said in shock.

"Demi-Humans inbound! You need to stop them before they try to get into the Ark!" Selene told Suskian and Suskian grabs his Tarnished Charm and it glows red.

"Tarnished: Class Exclusive: Starcaller! Meteoric Ore Blade!" Suskian called and what looked like a katana with a stony blade that looked old appeared in his left hand. He sheathed the sword in what looked like a brown holster and closed his eyes.

"Cleave Of Destruction!" Suskian called and slashed the ground, creating a HUGE wave of destruction that slammed into the Horde and separated them on contact, killing a few on contact and knocking the others away. Suskian ran ahead and began cutting into the nearby Demi-Humans. As he killed each one, what looked like little yellow wisps escaped from the creatures and went into his body. As Suskian combatted the Demi-Human Horde, he didn't notice that there were bigger Demi-Humans that escaped with a few hordes at their heels.

"Suskian, more ran away to the direction of the Outpost! You need to chase them!" Selene told him.

"Goddamn it! I hate Demi-Humans!" Suskian yelled as he was about to chase them but was blocked by a HUGE Demi-Human that held what looked like a staff in its right hand. It swung the staff as it roared at him, a huge blue Glintstone racing towards him. He parried it away with his sword and growled in annoyance.

"Oh, COME ON! A Queen?! This is annoying!" Suskian called as he held his sword in front of himself. Then, a GIANT fireball shot out of the portal behind him and smacked the Queen down, making it screech as it was set ablaze.

"Huzzah! Nailed it, Irene!" a medieval type voice called from the other side of the portal. Then, a group of 3 people came out of the portal and glanced at Suskian

"Ah, a fellow Tarnished! I didn't think there would be anyone on the other side of this portal! We were clearing out the Demi-Humans near Stormveil Castle, and this portal appeared!" the bald knight said excitedly, "I am known as Scar the Dreadnought! Nice to meet you!"

"...You all are Tarnished? Good, I could use the help," Suskian told them, "A bunch of them ran off. I gotta chase them, but this big bitch ain't letting me through."

"Let thine handle this. Head after the other foul beasts," The redhead nun said as she nods to Suskian.

"Thanks. Good luck!" Suskian called as headed after the fleeing Demi-Human Horde.

"He looked cute," the blonde Starcaller said as she glanced at the redhead.

"Thine shall not let sinful thoughts plague thine mind. Let us slay these foul beasts," the redhead said seriously.

"Okay, okay. You can be such a buzzkill, Irene," the blonde said as she held a purple staff in front of her.

"En garde, foul creatures!" Scar called as he held a claymore in front of himself. Irene held up her right hand and her hand ignited into flames.

Meanwhile; Minutes Later; Outpost…

"So, that earthquake we felt was… A portal opening nearby?" Ryu asked in shock.

"Yes. And, Suskian went to investigate it. He wanted me to gather everyone up and be prepared when he returned," Rapi said seriously.

"Did he say what was in the portal?" Yuni asked.

"…He said something about… Limgrave, was it?" Rapi asked and Melina looked shocked at her.

"Did you say Limgrave?!" Melina said in shock, which also shocked everyone as she sounded worried.

"Yes. Why?" Rapi asked.

"That's part of the Lands Between! How is there a portal to the Lands Between?!" Melina yelled in shock, "That means the Demon Realm opened it somehow…"

"Or… Something else did," Rapi said seriously. Then, she heard the sounds of screeching nearby and she hurried outside to see dozens of Demi-Humans coming into the Outpost to start breaking windows and causing damage.

"What the hell?!" Rapi yelled as everyone came out to see the Demi-Humans causing wanton damage.

"Demi-Humans! Yeah, this confirms it…" Melina said seriously as she brought her Black Knife and held it front of herself, "We need to clear them out quickly, before they cause more destruction."

"…This is disturbing," Neon said. Rapi loaded her assault rifle and got a serious look on her face.

"Rapi?"

"Neon, focus. I know they are animals, but they are causing a lot of Destruction here. We can't have them destroy all we got built here," Rapi said, "Commander, give the order." Ryu looked around at the dozens of Demi-Humans destroying the Outpost before sighing.

"Everyone, engage. Lethal force is authorized," Ryu said seriously.

"Yes, Commander," Rapi said seriously and moved out to start engaging the Demi-Humans.

"Roger that, Commander," Tsubasa said and raced out to began combating the Demi-Humans.

"Roger!" Anis called and followed behind Rapi. Neon hesitated before Chris stuck at her side and nudged her with her elbow.

"Let's engage them together. How about you think of them as Raptures? Does that help?" Chris asked and Neon slowly nods her head before loading her Shotgun.

"Thanks, Chris…" Neon said softly and she and Chris rushed out to battle.

"Launch, go back in and get your heavier firepower. Theresa, Revy… You 2 cover Rapi and Anis. Roberta, take a Sniper position on top," IF ordered as she glanced back at Dawnbreaker and turned to Wardress, "Yuni, Mihara… Cover Ryu. I'll find Suskian and meet up with him with Melina backing me up."

"Yes, ma'am!" Dawnbreaker and Wardress called and split off. IF and Melina glanced at each other and nodded before running towards the outskirts of the Outpost. IF kicks a larger Demi-Human away as it swung its large club at her, Disarming it as it fell to the ground. IF looked to see a yellow wisp escape from its body and go into Melina's body.

"What the hell is that?" IF asked Melina as she sighed with content.

"Runes. It helps me and Suskian get stronger as Finger Maiden and Tarnished," Melina said as she stabs an incoming Demi-Human in the head and more yellow wisps go into her body after she tossed the body aside, "Mmm… I remember the old days when Yuki was slaying hordes of these Demi-Humans in Limgrave…"

"So, are they like… Sentient? Do they think like we do?" IF asked as she and Melina rushed ahead.

"…Well, they are intelligent enough to make packs and hordes of themselves to serve under a Queen. Unfortunately, they are close to infinite due to them respawning when a Tarnished recovers at a Grace," Melina said as she kicks another Demi-Human away and ducks under another. Just then, another gets on her back and tries to stab at her back… Only to get its head cut clean off by an air blade from above. The headless corpse falls off of Melina's back and Suskian lands on the ground beside Melina, holding her.

"You okay?" He asked as the yellow wisps gets absorbed into Melina's body.

"Yes. Thank you," Melina smiled as she touched his arm. Suskian looked around and clicked his teeth in irritation at the destruction the Horde is causing.

"Don't worry. This can be fixed… What about the portal?"

"It does lead to Limgrave, from what the Tarnished that came out of it says," Suskian said and Melina blinked in shock, "Right now, they are holding the line there from any more Demi-Humans escaping into this world. But, I'm more afraid of Raptures heading into the Lands Between."

"Well, you're gonna need to take a few of us there. Get Launch on it… Her arsenal will benefit there," IF said, "Melina and I will meet you at the portal." Suskian nods his head and rushed back to the Command Center… But not before kissing Melina on the lips softly. She and IF rushed out of the Outpost towards the direction of the portal.

Suskian opened the doors to the Command Center and saw Launch loading all her weapons up and Yuni and Mihara keeping Ryu out of battle. The 3 looked over at Suskian and Yuni went over to hold his hands.

"Are you okay? What are these things attacking the Outpost?" Yuni asked him.

"Long story short, they come from the Lands Between. They aren't too hard to eliminate, but they are large in numbers. We need to plug up the hole and stop the invasion. I'm taking Launch, IF, and Melina with me to Limgrave to try and figure out the cause of this," Suskian said, "Launch, you ready?"

"Just a sec. Gotta get all the necessary stuff loaded," Launch said as she puts all her guns in a large duffel bag, "How primitive is this place? Any diseases we need to know about?"

"Can Nikke catch diseases?" Suskian asked.

"No. But, we have to ask since humans would be visiting the Outpost every now and then," Launch said as she slung the strap of the duffel bag over her left shoulder.

"…Only true threat of disease is Scarlet Rot, from what Melina told me. There is medicine for it now since Yuki became the Elden Lord, but when she was going around, there wasn't," Suskian told Launch as she came up to his side, "Ryu, you're in charge while we're gone. Shouldn't be that long to handle things on the other side."

"Good luck," Ryu said. Suskian and Launch headed out the doors and were stopped by Rapi, who was coming in to check on Ryu.

"Suskian. Things are bad here… It's like the numbers aren't going down," Rapi said.

"I'm taking Launch, IF, and Melina to Limgrave to plug up the portal. We'll be back soon," Suskian said seriously.

"…I'm going with you," Rapi said.

"Are you sure?" Suskian asked. Rapi gave him a serious look and Suskian sighed before taking her hand.

"Okay, then. Just trust my word when I tell you anything, okay?"

"Always," Rapi said as she smiled at him. Rapi, Suskian, and Launch raced out of the Outpost with those words spoken.

To Be Continued…