-2: 74
On the surface, at a wasteland to the south of Eden.
Commander Johan, the New Hope... he swept his sharp blue eyes across the terrain and clicked his tongue. Pulling his communicator out from his pocket, he said, "Cecil. Unchained worked. But something unexpected occurred."
Static crackled and then an intelligent and refined female voice echoed from the other side. "If it worked, what's the problem, Johan?"
Johan ran his hand through his silver hair and looked at the towering half of the mechanized crimson dragon laying on the ground in front of him.
The members of his squad, Inherit, were cautiously examining it. Noah poked at it with her shields, Harran reanimated nearby Raptures to investigate, and Isabel flew around the airspace to survey the surroundings.
But...
"...We defeated Nihilister. We even managed to cleave her body in two due to her lack of regeneration with Unchained. However, an unexpected Heretic emerged to retrieve her before we could destroy the dragon's core."
"Another heretic?"
Johan clicked his tongue. "Yes. She was fast. Faster than Isabel. And she came from the skies. All we saw was Nihilister on the verge of collapse, then a flash of lilac. And after that, gone. Like a ghost."
It annoyed him.
His perfectly laid out plans, the countermeasures he arranged.
More than that, the fatal trump card against the Heretic had been spent.
There was one left at Eden, but...
'If Dorothy had been here...'
Johan clenched his fist, making his cybernetic enhancements creak.
The former Goddess Squad member, the strongest in their team...
The original plan was for her to deal the final blow.
But she had vanished without a word-
No.
That wasn't true.
She did leave some words.
A single note with two lines:
===
You don't need me right now.
I'm taking a personal break.
===
Selfish. As always, that woman was selfish.
Although Eden didn't NEED her power. Without her, things would be difficult.
It worked out this time since Nihilister appeared distracted for some reason. That, and Unchained worked better than expected.
But...
Johan sighed, letting the disappointment and frustration fade. "...Either way, this mission is a partial success. We have secured half of the dragon's body. In her haste to escape, she discarded one dragon head and her lower torso before reverting to a humanoid form and begging for her life."
"...Begging for her life?"
Johan walked over after getting a signal from Noah that it was safe. Then he smiled. "Funny, isn't it? These mechanized monsters feast on us and stole our world. Then they have the nerve to beg for mercy... Well. All the better."
If the Raptures had learned how to fear...
Then Johan would simply have to show them all why he was called the New Hope.
But for now...
"Send some people to help us retrieve the carcass, Cecil. We might get useful data."
Although neither Cecil nor Johan knew exactly why Unchained worked so well... or rather why 'Vapaus' worked so well against the Heretic other than the scant records they managed to find and glean from talks with Dorothy, it WAS another option.
And if they could find the exact mechanism... paired with the fact that a single bullet remained at Eden...
Johan looked up at the clear blue sky. "Soon. Humanity will walk across the surface once more."
===
At an undisclosed Tetra Line facility.
Andersen stood up and then stared at his reflection. "...I've gotta say. This is pretty surreal."
His torso was bare because they were doing a final inspection for his recover. And because of that, Andersen could see it... or rather, he COULDN'T see it.
A muscular and honed body. Everything clear to see... and yet not a single scar. Even after the surgeries he had to replace his organs. Not even the places where his life support systems had been in the past.
Nothing.
In fact, his old scars were gone too.
It was like his entire body had shed its old skin to replace it with new ones.
If not for the fact that his face still carried the weathered lines of age, Andersen would have thought he'd gone back in time.
Mustang frowned, taking a proper walk around Andersen and eyeing him up and down. "Mon amie... this is unprecedented. Even vous, the legendary commandant... this is a bit much, no? It is like you were never in war."
Andersen did a few cautious stretches. And when he did... nothing. No aches, pains, or stiffness. In fact, he almost felt better than he did when he was running around with his girls. "Hm. Guess my kid's a genius. That, or those 'life support' systems were actively suppressing me."
Mustang hummed. "I suppose that could be true as well... There are not any others in the Ark using that technology to sustain their life. Even moi, I maintain my youth through medication, not those cybernetics."
Andersen chuckled. "Right. That Evergreen or whatever, huh? Apparently they injected that straight into my veins... kept me alive, but barely mobile. Looks like I never needed it though."
It was odd.
Andersen had always known he healed fast. And his blood was definitely special.
But it had never been this ridiculous.
"Perhaps." Mustang nodded. "But in any case... Mon amie. Is it time then? Is the legendary commandant going to return from the shadows?"
Andersen picked up his shirt and slipped it back on. After that, he put on his coat, glasses, cap, and gloves. "Not yet. I healed faster than expected. Only a month instead of six... but I DID take personal leave for the full six months."
"Oho?" Mustang's eyes glittered. "Then I take it you have plans?"
"Oh, plenty." Andersen finished adjusting his clothes and said, "I have to check in on my girls after all. And first off... Well." He chuckled. "I suppose I should go check on my kid's homework on the surface, right?"
===
The Outpost, late afternoon.
"Hmph." Dorothy touched down on the outskirts of the Outpost and took a look around. "...Not bad."
It wasn't as sophisticated as Eden. After all, the Outpost didn't have any cloaking technology...
But it didn't need it either.
Coilguns, railcannons, surveillance drones...
Dorothy had NOT arrived unannounced.
But it seemed like they had deemed her nonthreatening since those weapons and drones weren't pointed her way.
"...Well, I suppose if that boor is here then they would know about me." Dorothy muttered and stared at the road leading into the Outpost.
It had been a whim.
A need for confirmation.
Since Johan and Cecil were handling things in Eden well enough, Dorothy decided to take personal leave for the first time in a while and head off.
Red Hood hadn't bothered masking her coordinates when she sent the message, so Dorothy easily pinpointed the location.
But now...
'Should I enter?'
...Dorothy hesitated.
After the talk with her commander... her heart was mixed.
On the one hand, the Ark had left them. Betrayed them.
But her commander had assured her it wasn't like that. And from how he had been kept in a coma for decades... how those accursed V.T.C. had harvested eggs from Lilith's human body only to use them in sick experiments...
Dorothy was fairly certain.
It wasn't that the people of the Ark had betrayed the Goddess Squad.
Instead, it was those power hungry bastards from the United Forces of Humanity. What had become the Central Government.
Dorothy wanted revenge. She still wanted revenge.
Because it was clear as day to her still. That time when they were barred from entry. That man, Oswald, denying them at the gate. Pinne's death because of it all...!
And yet...
Dorothy quietly walked into the Outpost and took a look around.
One of the two mass produced Nikke at the entrance saluted her. One was from Elysion, judging by the emblem on her clothes. A petite beauty with long blonde hair, Soldier FA. "Welcome to the Outpost! You're a Nikke, right? Take your time and relax while you're here!"
The other, a Missilis mass produced Nikke... one who, for a split second, made Dorothy believe she was seeing things.
The Product 23 model with blonde hair and a visor saluted Dorothy. "The Valiant said any Nikke are welcome here! Well, he also said any human is too, but it's just us for now!"
Soldier FA nodded and said, "Yes! We have baths, hotels, a maid cafe... Take your time!"
"...Thank you." Dorothy let out a weak smile and nodded at them before walking into the Outpost.
'...This is possible?'
It was a proper city. A PEACEFUL city.
Although there were only Nikke around... they weren't in armor or equipped.
As if there was an implicit understanding that it was 'safe' within the city limits, everywhere Dorothy looked, she saw Nikke walking around in casual clothes. Most were mass produced models... but even those had reclaimed bits of individuality. Different haircuts, clothings, accessories...
'Paradise... was it?'
The dream that Dorothy and her precious wings had shared.
She had tried to make a place like this. She had tried to make Eden into a city just like this where no one had to fear. Where Nikkes could walk around as themselves and not weapons. Where they could breathe.
And while she hadn't failed... she hadn't quite succeeded either.
But this...
Dorothy noticed another mass produced Nikke walk past. One with crimson hair and golden eyes. "Excuse me."
"Oh! Yes, Miss?" The Nikke, a Soldier EG type, stopped to look at Dorothy. "Can I help you?"
"Yes... Can I ask you? How is this place... well, like this?" Dorothy looked around the Outpost at the clean and new buildings. At the streets filled with Nikke milling about like normal people. At the slice of completely normal life without even an undercurrent of fear like at Eden.
"You must be new here, Miss!" The Soldier EG model smiled and said, "This is all thanks to the Valiant!"
"...The Valiant?"
"Yes! Oh, I guess he's officially Commander Hoopa? But it's all thanks to him!" Soldier EG's eyes glimmered with awe and respect as she said, "He's a human commander who fights alongside his Nikke with experimental cutting edge power armor! People are saying he's someone even better than New Hope!"
"...Is that so?"
'Better than Johan? Well, if he's not just Commander's son, but also Lilith's, then that makes sense. Even so...'
"...Do you have time to talk some more?"
"Of course!" Soldier EG's eyes lit up. "I'm always free to talk about the Valiant! Oh! Let me tell you how we met! You see, I was a guard for the elevator to the Ark when I met him..."