Nikke: Nullable Type

Although it took a bit more time to gather the rest, everyone that was part of the Brave Squad had arrived. Hana, Nami, Suri... even Jien and Nayuta (through a video chat).

Back in the war room in my office building, I pulled up a holographic map.

"Alright. To get to the bottom of things, I'll remind you guys of our main objective. You see, as the ones in charge of the Outpost, we're simultaenously the first line of defense for the Ark as well as the vanguard for reclaiming land for humanity's sake. And we've already done a part of that here."

I highlighted the Fifth Weapons Depot on the map, as well as the power station I had helped recapture a long time ago in one of my earlier missions. "As you can see, recapturing these key infrastructures have helped us greatly on resources." I nodded towards Eternity and Endless. "With the power station, Enikk was able to develop high-end autonomous Nikke frames which developed into fully sentient beings. And also." I nodded at Rose. "With the Fifth Weapons Depot, we were able to begin the first steps in expanding the Abnormal Nikke Production Line, although it hadn't been formalized yet at the time."

Shifty raised her hand and said, "Commander. Does this mean that we're going to actively start claiming more territory?"

I nodded at her. "That's correct. But not for the Ark."

My words made everyone in the room sit up a bit to pay attention.

Suri spoke up after that, adjusting her visor and dirty blonde hair. "Not for the Ark... so are you planning to officially break us apart from it, Commander?"

Nami adjusted her own visor, fiddling with her white hair. "Can we do that? And... is that a good thing to do? We're still part of the Ark, aren't we?"

I nodded. "On paper, yes. But in practice, we've practically already split from the Ark. Especially with recent events." I frowned. "Right now, the Ark is a snake den. Deputy Chief Burningum, the Goddess Squad, and my old man are doing their best to sort things out. But there's too many people in the mix down there who have entrenched positions and secret resources. We shouldn't be too involved."

Syuen snorted. "Tell me about it... There's still that faker running around with my face in Missilis."

Jien's eyes flashed dangerously and she said, "Yes. That witch is holding the reins of Missilis right now and likely has access to D.E.E.P. Or at least, M.M.R.'s research."

Neon frowned and said, "Shouldn't we go get what we can from the Ark then before things go wrong, Master?"

"That's the plan, Neon." I looked at her and said, "There's really only two main tasks left for us to resolve in the Ark. The first is, of course, the concert with T.T. Star." I looked at Anis and said, "Considering Pretty's returned... or at least, a Nikke who looks like her, it'll be vital to shoot up the morale when the Central Government HQ announces the Third Reclamation war."

Anis waved her hand and said, "Yeah, yeah. I got that, Commander." She smiled. "It's time for the past, present, and future stars to align for one impossible moment before we race towards the happy ending. Right?"

"Right." I smiled back. "And that's November 11th. About a week and a half from now. But we can't stay idle either." I frowned and said, "It's pretty clear by now that the Rapture Queen won't just let us keep racking up advantages. So far, I've managed to flip things on its head, but considering pretty much all of Goddess is back together, the Legendary Commander is back on the field, and that I've turned more than a few Heretics and Raptures to my side..."

Vanitas hummed, stroking his chin. "Yes. The False Queen is likely going to make her move soon. And as she's always known where the Ark is, a major battle will soon ensue."

Laplace punched her right fist into her left palm and said, "Then we just have to hit first, right? Where do we go, Commander?"

I tapped on the map some more and showed various locations lit up on the map. Abandoned warehouses, farmland, and more, slowly spreading out from the Outpost. Not only that, but the crystal region that Raptilion had mentioned and the same region where Liberalio and Nihilister were right now, along with Siren and the others.

"We have lots of targets. And we have lots of objectives. But the key part here is infrastructure." I zoomed in on the map and highlighted the roads that we had created along the way to the Fifth Weapons Depot. "Due to Maxwell's development of the microbot technology, it's become possible for us to quickly prepare terrain for motor vehicles in a way that wasn't possible in the First and Second Surface Reclamation wars. At the same time, it becomes possible to create mobile defensive positions, like so."

I showed some live footage of the miniature outposts we had made along the way towards the Fifth Weapons Depot that were now fitted with mobile coilgun turret systems.

Jien placed her hand on her chin and hummed. "That's quite ingenious... but darling." She looked at me and said, "Aren't you afraid of the Raptures converting the infrastructure against you?"

Anis's eye twitched.

"First, Jien," I said. "It's Commander during briefings."

"Right, right." Jien nodded and smiled. "My apologies."

"Second... No. Because I've seeded said infrastructure with something I like to call the 'Maverick Virus.' It's a Trojan horse and an absolute Morton's Fork for them. They either stay away, get destroyed, or manage to take it over, only to be reverse corrupted by human morals and emotions."

Maxwell's eyes lit up at that. "Maverick Virus? No, human morals and emotions...? Have you found a way to quantify semantics into binary information in a way that the Raptures can process it?"

"Something like that." I chuckled. "Let's just say, it's a non-issue. But anyway." I looked towards the video feed with Nayuta and my Guardian in the background. "Miss Nayuta. How's the situation at the Fifth Weapons Depot?"

The silver-haired ascetic Nikke smiled and said, "Oh Valiant One, your preparations and defenses are impeccable. This One has patrolled the perimeter along with your Automaton, and This One has confirmed that the Raptures are indeed maintaining a certain distance after the latest attack."

Syuen hummed, rubbing her chin. "I wonder why that is? Before, they would have just kept throwing more units at the facility to bruteforce it, right?"

Laplace struck a pose and said, "Isn't it obvious? Commander struck fear into the hearts of the Raptures from his valiant actions and sheer prowess!"

I chuckled and said, "You're not wrong, Laplace." I nodded and said, "It's a confirmed phenomenon that 'something' is stirring with the Raptures. Whether it's a result of some Raptures I had brought to my side in the past, Raptilion's actions, or the sheer time and data accumulation since the first invasion resulting in nascent sentience, what's clear is that, for the first time in history, Raptures have a sense of 'self.' Or at least a fledgling version of that."

Indi nodded. "Daddy's right! Even the boring Husks know how to be cautious now! It's all because Daddy's so weird!"

Marian chuckled. "That makes sense..." She gave me an amused look and said, "Our Commander here did just start off destroying Rapture units with a basic pistol and normal weaponry. I'm sure that sent a ripple of confusion through all the Raptures."

Rapi chuckled as well. "I think that it was a ripple of confusion through everyone. Especially when our dear Commander switched to melee weaponry."

Rose smiled, idly fiddling with her sword. "Well. Commander is a god with a sword... in more than one way, after all."

I cleared my throat. "Moving on..."

Laughter filled the room.

I was immediately made aware of the fact that I was absolutely outnumbered in the gender department here... but I soldiered on.

"The point is that we need to quickly accumulate advantages before the Rapture Queen flips the board on us." I pointed towards the various highlighted portions on the maps. "We have enough powerful Nikke as well as general manpower to recapture and retrofit these sites for our own purposes. But to ensure that we can do it properly, we'll need to arrange personnel and equip everyone properly. So here's the general flow of events."

I changed the map into a list of names.

===

[Squad Brave Firepower]

Neon

Guilty

Maxwell

[Squad Brave Heroes]

Syuen (Wisteria)

Laplace

Ark Ranger Black

[Squad Brave Villains]

Drake

Vanitas

Endless

[Squad Brave Scouts]

Rose

Sin

Jien

===

"For now, these will be the subsquadrons deployed to the field. Each of you will be joined with an Automaton remote operated by myself as we work towards different objectives."

Neon's eyes lit up. "Oh boy! I get to lead a squad of my own?! And I get to have Guilty and Maxwell on my team?!"

Maxwell looked amused. "I suppose that makes sense. We're a makeshift Mighty Tools squad then?"

I nodded. "That's right. You blaze the frontier and lay down the paths as you go."

Syuen looked at her squad name and hummed. "Brave Heroes, huh? With Laplace and Ark Ranger Black... I'm guessing we'll be the ones creating PR film?"

"Right in one." I smiled at Syuen. "Be as flashy and heroic as you can."

Laplace grinned. "I can do that!" She looked at Ark Ranger Black. "And since Ark Ranger Black is here too... we'll be a full crossover hero team!"

Ark Ranger Black's eyes lit up and she said, "Yes! We can do poses and dramatic entrances and set up the cameras..."

Syuen grinned. "And since I'm digital AND physical, I can get the perfect angles!"

Drake looked up next and smirked. "So we're the villains..."

Vanitas looked at me and said, "King. I presume you want us sent as envoys?"

Endless crossed her arms, looking smug. "I see. Charisma, proof, and the future." She pointed at Drake, Vanitas, and herself. "For any Raptures that have even the barest of sentience, it's a chance to turn them over to our side."

I pointed at Endless. "You get me, Endy. And yes. You guys will go out and try to subvert as many Raptures as you can."

Rose spoke up next and said, "Then we're the scouts..." She looked at Sin and Jien. "I'm there for speed and fire power. Sin is for emergency exits. And Jien..."

Jien smiled. "Why, I'm the brains, of course. Since I'm familiar with old protocols and historical data, I will be able to quickly note points of interest and value as we explore."

Sin hummed, her voice distorted through her mask. "That sounds interesting..." She looked over at me. "And if my man asks me to, who am I to refuse?"

A tense silence fell over the surroundings.

Anis looked over, her eyes sharp. "...Your man?"

Sin paused and corrected herself. "I mean, the man who owns me." She took a step back, literally and metaphorically. "I'm not picky."

"Thought so." Anis crossed her arms, huffing. But then she paused and looked over at me. "But hey, Commander. What about us? You know, me, Marian, Rapi... Suri, Hana, and Nami too?"

Shifty nudged me. "And what about me, Commander?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I sighed. "...We got promoted. Now we're all pencil pushers. I'm not going to be the only guy manning the command center."

Rapi laughed. "I suppose that's true. You would go off the rails pretty quickly if we aren't around, wouldn't you, Commander?"

Marian smiled and said, "So we're emotional support then?"

Anis chuckled. "Makes sense. Commander's probably going to be itching with energy from not being able to fight. We've gotta make sure that energy goes SOMEWHERE."

Rapi raised an eyebrow.

Anis froze and turned a deep red. "I-I mean... Shut up, Rapi!"

I laughed. "That's the general gist of things, yeah."

Syuen hummed and said, "What about the others, Commander Hoopa? Like Yuni and Mihara? Also, there's Mori too, isn't there? Not to mention Avaritia and Acedia..."

I nodded. "I'm aware. But everyone not mentioned will just stand by in the Outpost. We can't deploy all our forces at once, right? Also, it's good to have people on standby in case something happens at the Ark."

Jien chuckled. "Darling's quite cunning. Sending out the normal Nikkes out into the field while holding onto converted Heretics as your secret ace in the hole..."

I laughed. "Well, I have a whole deck of aces, actually. But those are definitely some of them, yes."

From her video chat, Nayuta let out a bright smile, her eyes cracking open just a bit. "...How wonderful, Valiant One. To have such foresight and capacity..." She looked around the room, the webcamera taking in everyone there. "And to have a gathering of such formidable forces as well. Truly, the end of times will soon come in our favor."

"That's the hope, Miss Nayuta." I nodded. "So." I clapped my hands and looked around the room. "What questions do you all have before we put this into action?"

Hana held up her hand. She took off her visor, revealing her emerald eyes and her face that was still strikingly similar to Monika's. Then she said, "I have a question, Commander." She frowned. "If we're doing all of this... are we going to be coordinating with Goddess at all?"

I hummed, thinking about that. Then I said, "Probably not in a full capacity." I adjusted my datapad and projected a three circle venn-diagram. Each circle was labeled a different name, starting Ark, then Brave Squad, then Goddess Squad.

After that, I said, "Right now, we're all performing different functions. Before, we were overlapping out of necessity. But since we've slowly gathered enough resources, we're specializing."

I pointed to the Ark and started filling in the circle. "The Ark's function is many, but it boils down to 'insuring humanity's persistence.' Because of that, they're cautious and focusing primarily on resolving unity inside of the Ark as wel as public morale."

Anis nodded. "That's what our concert is for, right, Commander?"

"Right." I nodded. "The Ark is literally that: an ark. It carries humanity's past, present, and future with it. So its priority is to ensure humanity doesn't crumble from within."

Suri held up her hand and said, "Then what's the Goddess Squad for? Isn't it tied into that?"

I nodded. "It is, Suri. But it's slightly different." I tapped on the Goddess Squad and said, "Goddess originally deployed to boost public morale, but its objective was and has always been to end the war with the Raptures by taking the head of their Queen. Once it was determined that the Raptures had a leader, they retooled to make sure that said leader was their number one priority to eliminate. And now that they've all pretty much gathered back together again, I'm sure they're picking up where they left off."

Shifty took a look at all the text filling in for the Ark's circle and the Goddess Squad's circle. Then she looked at me and said, "And what about us then, Commander? The Brave Squad and the Outpost?"

"It's simple." I tapped our circle and said, "Our objective is to reclaim the Earth and secure humanity's advancement into the future. By whatever means." I tapped on the Ark and on the Goddess Squad circles and said, "The Ark and Goddess are both continuations of past plans born from desperation. They aren't 'wrong' but they were by nature a narrow vision. But we're different." I tapped my chest and said, "We have me... and all of us. Resources, technology, and essentially 'paths' that don't and cannot exist for the Ark and Goddess."

Neon pumped a fist in the air and said, "Yeah! Master's special, and we're all special too! Like me, the former Pope!"

Endless smiled. "And both myself and my sister, autonomous Nikkes. A new form of life."

Marian placed her hand on her belly. "And myself. A miracle wrought from a past promise and vow."

Syuen laughed. "That's true." She waved at herself, Jien, and Maxwell. "You've got Missilis's real brains with you, Commander Hoopa. And you have your own ridiculous traits too... even if you definitely would bleed out to death from a stray bullet."

I pointed at her. "Hey. Still not confirmed. I might have godly regeneration or something. We just haven't tested it." I paused. "And we probably shouldn't too. Not unless we have to."

Indi yawned and said, "Okay, Daddy. It's getting a bit long... can we end it here? I'm hungry."

As if that was a cue, a low roar echoed through the war room as more than one Nikke's stomach grumbled.

I laughed and said, "Alright. Let's call it here then. We've covered the bases, secured the main objectives. From tomorrow on... we execute."