Hero-36: No Bully
- Location
- Singapore
"Noire, your girlfriend's baaaaaaaack~"
"What, alread--SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! WE'RE ACQUAINTENCES AT BEST!"
"Hi Kei! Hi K-Sha!" Neptune waves cheerfully as she steps off the jeep and walks towards them. "Hi--oh, no third person."
"Shiho's still recovering," K-Sha explains.
"Ah. Hope she'll feel better!"
"Me too…"
Noire palms her face and mutters darkly. "Look, are you going to Hightower?"
"Yep!" Neptune turns back and points at her grandfather. Joshua tilts her head and waves weakly back at her. "Grandpa's here too!"
"...Right, I guessed as much." Noire harrumphs and flips her hair behind her. "The Colonel is busy today, so I'll be taking you to Hightower today."
Neptune bats her eyes. "Like a daaate~?"
"Dibs on music," Kei says quickly.
"Decorations!" K-Sha cheers.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Noire threatens.
"Aw, but wouldn't it be romantic~?"
"Neptune shut your face or I'm cutting your limbs off. I know they grow back!"
Neptune looks brightly at Noire. Noire looks darkly back.
"...Wanna headpat?"
Noire twitches, and draws her sword.
"That's a no, then." Neptune smacks her lips and clasps her hands. "Right, so where do we go?"
"Tram system, underneath. We have a supply tram about to head off, we should be able to hitch a ride. Come on."
----
In ages past, when the Goddess unified the continent of Eopra under her rule… Something happened. Neptune is not really sure. But at some point, for some reason, through some method, she ordered the construction of a military base to unify the command structure of the Eopran Army, which was - and she has like five separate testimonies here - really really big. And big things need big brains. Or they get stupid. And, like… fall over and die easily.
Either way the point is apparently that place was named Hightower, and it survived the end of the world, and it is still the primary military base of the Eopran Army - or what's left of it. Apparently there's a city attached to it too, to house the fairly significant civilian population that would follow any large organised military. She has no idea why it is called Hightower, though. Apparently it has a tower. Maybe Luteus got high there. Once. More than once. A lot. It was a number, at least. She's semi-sure.
Oh who is she kidding all this monologuing and exposition doesn't matter she is just so booooored. And since it's just them in the last car, there's nobody to talk to! Grandpa is meditating, and everyone knows how uppity he gets if people interrupt him! Well, actually, he's really chill about it unless you're just bothering him to amuse yourself but that's precisely why she wants to bother him now! Except he'll probably chuck her through the ceiling. She might survive that now, but it probably still hurts.
Where was she? Oh, right. Noire.
"Noire, wanna play cards?"
Noire looks up from her notebook, a pencil in hand. "You brought cards?"
"Yeah, I always pack a set in case… Wait a minute!" Neptune swoops over, and before Noire can hide her notebook the hoodie-wearing spectre is already upon her. "Ohmygoshthat'snotanotebookatall!"
"USE YOUR WORDS!" Noire pushes Neptune off, and straightens herself out as the young Goddess bounces off the ground, nepping each time. "Yeah, I doodle. Got a problem with that?"
Neptune takes a seat beside Noire, still covered in dust. "Actually, I think it's really cool!"
"...Really."
"Yeah! I can't really draw, and every time Nepgear draws it's some sort of boring design blueprint thing of something she tore apart that week before carefully putting back together. And no one else I know who likes drawing is any good at it." Neptune taps her chin, thinking. "Well, actually, there was Manuel. He was alright, I guess."
"What happened to Manuel?" Noire asks.
"Hmmm… I think he died about two or three years ago. Pilgrim caught him and tried to interrogate him about his salvage party. His head was soup by the time we rescued him." Neptune sighs and shakes her head. "Yeah, sad. Anyways, show me your doots?"
"...First off, we should really address the elephant in the room about how fucking horrible Lanca is."
"No!"
Noire flicks Neptune's nose, and the girl recoils dramatically. "Don't interrupt me! Secondly, don't call them doots and I might consider it."
"Doodles it is!" She flops over, hood flapping in the wind behind her, and takes a seat beside her new best friend. They still look good, and the proportions look right, and the designs are a lot more intricate than Neptune expected. There are frills, ribbons, bells, buckles, belts, the whole shebang! Each outfit looks like a masterpiece, just waiting to be sewn.
The detail seems to have all gone into the dresses, though. Well, outfits. They aren't all dresses. But most of them are pretty frilly. Anyways, the heads are blank, the feet aren't shaded, and Neptune doesn't see any faces at all! Like, why draw people if they have no face? And why do all of them strike the same pose? Seems lazy.
"Hey, Noire?"
The Captain-Goddess sighs. "I know, I know… You're going to tease me, aren't you?"
"About faces and hair and lazy posing?" Neptune shakes her head. "Seems mean. Besides, you still put a lot of effort into these!"
"Ah." Her cheeks flush red. "T-Thanks, I guess."
"I'm just saying, the poses are very samey."
"Yeah, I know."
"And by samey I mean--"
"I get it, Neptune." She covers her face and sighs. "I traced them."
"Ah." Neptune nods in understanding. "Still working on anatomy, eh? Same. I hate drawing fingers. And feet. And shoulders. And hips. And arms." She frowns, deep in thought. "Man, I think I hate drawing!"
Noire chuckles despite herself, and forces herself to stop. Neptune looks at her with an odd expression, but Noire just shys away.
"...Do you? Hate drawing, I mean."
Noire looks at her, eyes wide in surprise. "You're... Not going to talk about me laughing?"
Neptune shrugs. "You seem genuinely uncomfortable with it. It's not fun unless everyone's having fun."
"...Thanks." Noire runs a hair through her hair and closes her sketch-notebook with a small clap. "Anyways, you said something about cards?"
----
"Gentleman and Neptune, welcome to Hightower. Enjoy your stay, come back when you've had enough of this."
Whatever preconceptions Neptune had of the capital of the Eopran Army - and she had a lot of preconceptions - were completely dashed when they emerged from the station, necks stiff and brains aching from the most high-intensity game of cards ever played by (im)mortal hands. Neptune expected rows and rows of tanks, hundreds of men and women in PT attire running laps, artillery by the dozen, and sandbags and bunkers as far as the eye can see.
What she saw was greenery, and civilisation, and people simply walking around, taking in the sights and enjoying peace. Everyone was in some manner of uniform, of course, ranging from fatigues to combat gear. There were some kids with mops, cleaning the floor under the irate glare of a drill sergeant. More than Crow's Nest, more than even Shelter 01, this place felt like something besides a military base. It felt like a city. But something was off. Desperately, badly off.
Oh, and no one had their gas masks on and they weren't dying in droves. That was pretty weird.
"So…" Neptune turns to Noire, who looks back at her with a cocked eyebrow. "Why's everyone not dying?"
"Hm? Don't be silly, Neptune, people don't die in the open. It's only in the hostile zo…" She collects her words and tries to start over. "We have a weather machine somewhere in Hightower, so the air inside the bubble is safe to breathe. Didn't save Janusburg, but… Well, the shelters there are alright, I guess."
"Janusburg is still a thing, I see," Joshua says aloud with amazement. "Do they still make the chicken nuggets?"
"Depends," Noire replies. "Do you mind if your chicken was squeezed through a nozzle?"
"...Honestly, that's not much of a change."
"Grandpa, you talk about chicken a lot." Neptune then tilts her head. "But what's chicken, and how does it taste?"
"Right! We're getting chicken nuggets on the way back." Joshua pinches his nose and turns to the other young Goddess. "Captain, shall we get going?"
"Sure… I just need to find a guide. Not sure where HQ is, actually…"
"Do you need assistance?"
In the corner of her vision, Neptune spots a dark shape. And as she turns, she curses her laziness, because this would have been the perfect moment to go all dark and noir… Hah, noir! That's hilarious. She should save that for later.
Anyways, standing right there was Agent Ironside, cloak billowing and all. And he was still wearing that damn gas mask. Is it glued on? Does his face just naturally look like that? Is it a Black Sun thing? Questions for the ages…
"Ironside," her grandpa nods, completely unsurprised by his appearance. Considering him, he probably knew he was there the entire time. Noire, meanwhile, almost jumps out of her skin. Almost. It was a close thing, but her epidermis held her bones in. "Sorry for the trouble, Agent."
"Hiya, Ironsides!" Neptune waves. "Oh, Captain something-or-other, what's her face… Iceblock says hi!'
"Major, Lady Purple Heart," Ironsides nods. "And no, no she did not."
"Your relationships are messed up, man."
"We're fellow soldiers, not friends. I don't have to care."
"...Right," Noire groans. "Lead us, Agent. We're on a deadline."
Ironside nods wordlessly, and turns to lead the way.
----
Hightower HQ is… Well at this point Neptune has had her mind blown so hard, if she weren't a Goddess she'd be dead. So she'll just go over the basics. Tall tower - probably the tower Luteus got high in, heh brick joke - with guards at the door, a front desk with wood furnishings that can probably be used as a cover emplacement, good sightlines, excellent killbox potential, 7/10 needs more landmines.
No but seriously though the main lobby is nice. Though the peanut packet bowl has the 'empty' note on it, and going by the wrinkliness and Noire's long sigh it's been empty for a looooong time. This is the true cost of the war. No more packet peanuts. For shame.
There are some benches, though! So Neptune and friends head over, and Noire takes a seat, legs folded in a ladylike manner. Not that it matters, she's wearing long pants anyways. But hey, if it looks good!
Neptune goes to sit beside her, already fishing her pack of cards out, when Ironside stops her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Anywhere else and it'd be leeeeewd~"
"Not interested," the faceless bowman responds flatly. "Lady Purple Heart, you and Major Kyrain should go in first."
"Wait, what?" Neptune blinks and tilts her head. "But I thought we were going in together!"
Ironside looks blankly at her. Neptune looks blankly back at him. His mask is really annoying, Neptune decides. Actually, scratch that. Everything Ironside is wearing is annoying. He's got no body language she can read, no facial expressions she can extrapolate, no tone of voice to derive anything from. He's a ghost, flat and white. And while this makes him distinct by being indistinct… It's still annoying!
"Did they send you to fetch us?" Neptune asks. "Are you their little spy?"
"...Neptune." Joshua sighs and palms his face. "Neptune, he is special forces. Of course they sent him. It's a sign of respect."
Ironside turns his apparent gaze to the retired Major, and shrugs.
"Aha!" Neptune declares. "So you are spying on us!"
Ironside shrugs again.
"You stop that! Move your mouth or don't move at all!"
Ironside continues looking at Neptune, his eyes impossible to discern behind his opaque gas mask. Neptune decides that she doesn't like the guy behind the mask, either.
Noire sighs. "Just go in, Neptune. I'll see you later."
----
"Ready, Neptune?"
"Probably not."
"...Well, okay then." Joshua breathes, holds his breath, and opens the door to step in.
Neptune didn't know what she was expecting. Maybe a huge council room, with high seats for the Lords General to lord (hah) over their lessers. Maybe like, lots and lots of really big statues of the Lord Generals and Lord Commanders of old, watching judgmentally upon all beneath their gaze, which would probably make a really cool boss fight arena. Oh, and chandeliers. Lots and lots of chandeliers. That are actually gun turrets. Yeah.
Where was she? Oh, right. Well, it isn't a big council room, there aren't any big statues, and the chandeliers aren't gun turrets. And also don't exist, darn. No, it's just a regular conference room, kind of like the ones they had in the Shelter and have at the Refuge, but slightly bigger, with framed photos, and a holoprojector in the center of the table.
And sitting right opposite them are the five Lord Generals. A short woman with eyes like plasma cannons, a slender lady with no fucks to give, a tough girl who looks like she was caught redhanded in the middle of doing something, a guy with glasses, and an old guy hooked up to an IV drip, halfway through a ration bar, looking wide-eyed at the two of them.
She did not see this coming.
"...General Phosphene?" Her grandfather gasps. Joshua Kyrain steps forward and leans on the table, hands propping the rest of him up. "Goddess above, you're still alive?"
The old man swallows and clicks his tongue. "Kids these days, always assuming their old people are dead. I oughta shoot you in the face. Besides, you're no spring chicken yourself." He narrows his eyes, one hand scratching around his wrinkled mouth. "Nice beard, by the way."
"...I'm lost," Neptune says.
Joshua snaps his fingers and points at the old General. "Neptune, that is Lord General Michael Phosphene, Chair of Intelligence. He's technically your great-great-great... " He starts counting on his fingers, "...Great-great-great-great...Great-great-great-grandfather."
The old man clicks his tongue again. "Call me grandpa Mike. Makes me feel young."
"You look like a fossil, sir."
"Would it kill you to call me dad?"
"...Father."
The Lord General shrugs his shoulders. "I'll take it."
"Yeah, uh." The tough lady gestures at their side of the table, joined by the other Lords General. "We're also lost. Explain how you're related to Joshua Kyrain?"
Joshua sighs. "Blah blah blah, yadda yadda... Meh."
"...Oh. Oh." The tough Lady General - Lady General Toth, Chair of Infantry - nods and sits back down, arms folded. "You've… Never mentioned this."
"I assumed he died."
Neptune tilts her head. "I'm still not sure… Grandpa, is he your dad, or your dad-dad?"
"None of those words made sense," Joshua quips back dryly. "Lord General Phosphene is my father-in-law. He's…" He considers the merits of going over it again and decides he does not care. "He would be the father of your grandma Joanna. Who is dead," he adds, preempting another question.
General Michael nods ruefully. "Damn."
"We can catch up later, right now we have a job to do. You sent for us. We're here." Joshua sits down, and Neptune sits beside him. These chairs are really big. Neptune considers transforming, but decides against it. "So, let's talk business."
"We've reviewed Colonel Burton's report," the guy with glasses - sorry, Lord General McGinnis, Chair of Logistics - says, hands clasped as he leans forward against the table. "You want the Eopran Army to attack Lanca and kill the Truth, correct?"
"I would like your help, yes." He turns to Neptune, smiling quietly. "We have a Goddess now. Neptune is here. We can rebuild."
General McGinnis sighs and adjusts his spectacles. "Unfortunately, Master Joshua… That's not possible. A Goddess is not enough."
"Right. The Avatars. Neptune has killed two of them before."
"She is number thirty two," Lady General Toth says brusquely. "One Avatar, two Avatars… How many until she dies?"
"That's not nice, Hannah," the slender lady with no fucks - Lady General Vesta, right - says in a surprisingly kind tone. Maybe her lack of fucks is a work stress thing? Hm. "Sorry, Major, it's been a long day."
"Don't apologise for me, Vesta. I'm not wrong."
Joshua says nothing. He lets his glare do the talking for him.
The short lady - Lady General Voi, Chair of Armor - sighs. "Simply put, Major, a Goddess is not enough. Our forces are stretched thin as is. We are losing this war. How do we know you will succeed where countless others have failed?"
"You have the reserves," Joshua says. "I know you do. I saw the Shamrocks. You have enough for this offensive."
"They are our strategic reserve, Major," General McGinnis says to him. "We do not use it until there is no other option."
"And if you don't kill the Truth there will be no other option. What happened at Crow's Nest will happen again. Everywhere. Simultaneously. Neptune is your last hope."
"That's what we thought with the previous thirty or so CPUs," Lady General Toth retorts. "And yet here we are, squabbling over the scraps of your mother's empire."
Neptune looks back and forth, following the debate as it continues. She has nothing to add, nothing to say that her grandfather isn't already. And Lord General Michael is the same, content to be silent, to listen to the proceedings. Not helping his son… in-law.
Joshua clenches his fists, but he does not stand up or raise his choler. "...How do I convince you?"
"Give us something. Show us that you have more than a Goddess, more than just wanting to save your home." Lady General Toth stands up, hands on the table. They really like the table. "Give us actionable intel, give us resources, give us assets we can use. What can you bring to the table that your predecessors could not? How can we trust that you won't lead us to our deaths?"
Her grandfather opens his mouth, and Lord General Phosphene cranes his head. "Let the girl speak, Joshua."
Six pairs of eyes fall on Neptune, awaiting her response. Asking for whatever she can provide to end a war almost three hundred years long. She glances at Joshua, who pleads with her wordlessly, to not do it. To not use the most obvious card she has. The only card she has.
[] [UNITY] "There are other factions out there, right? I bet there are. It can't just be the Eopran Army. Point me at them, and I can get their help. We can march on Lanca together."
[] [MIGHT] "I'm not like the other Goddesses. I'm descended from Luteus Kyrain. I'm (the very distant) granddaughter of the last Solar Hero. I've survived Lanca since I was a kid. I can sword good. And I could do this before I became a Goddess. I'm strong enough to win. I just need your help."
[] [TRADE] "We have the K for Kyrain. We have the Sun's Refuge. Just help us, and you'll have a base to work from and a Land Crawler from a forgotten time. And you can even keep the Crawler!"
[] [THREAT] "We're going to attack Lanca either way, help or no help. So unless you want to see the Last Solar Hero and another Goddess die in fire (or worse), you have to help us."
[] [NOIRE] "You don't just have one Goddess. You have two. Noire--Captain Emiya, CPU Black Heart, I can work with her. If we work together,, nothing if impossible. The Crow's Nest proves it."
[] [DELAY] "We will find something. Give us time. We can be more."
[] [GOLD] "I am the successor of Luteus Kyrain, CPU Yellow Heart. And she lives on inside me. Your Goddess has returned, and she can lead you to glory. The Rising Sun can end the eternal night. I can prove it. I can show you her, if you would help us."
[] [WRITE-IN] "Uh…"
"What, alread--SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! WE'RE ACQUAINTENCES AT BEST!"
"Hi Kei! Hi K-Sha!" Neptune waves cheerfully as she steps off the jeep and walks towards them. "Hi--oh, no third person."
"Shiho's still recovering," K-Sha explains.
"Ah. Hope she'll feel better!"
"Me too…"
Noire palms her face and mutters darkly. "Look, are you going to Hightower?"
"Yep!" Neptune turns back and points at her grandfather. Joshua tilts her head and waves weakly back at her. "Grandpa's here too!"
"...Right, I guessed as much." Noire harrumphs and flips her hair behind her. "The Colonel is busy today, so I'll be taking you to Hightower today."
Neptune bats her eyes. "Like a daaate~?"
"Dibs on music," Kei says quickly.
"Decorations!" K-Sha cheers.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Noire threatens.
"Aw, but wouldn't it be romantic~?"
"Neptune shut your face or I'm cutting your limbs off. I know they grow back!"
Neptune looks brightly at Noire. Noire looks darkly back.
"...Wanna headpat?"
Noire twitches, and draws her sword.
"That's a no, then." Neptune smacks her lips and clasps her hands. "Right, so where do we go?"
"Tram system, underneath. We have a supply tram about to head off, we should be able to hitch a ride. Come on."
----
In ages past, when the Goddess unified the continent of Eopra under her rule… Something happened. Neptune is not really sure. But at some point, for some reason, through some method, she ordered the construction of a military base to unify the command structure of the Eopran Army, which was - and she has like five separate testimonies here - really really big. And big things need big brains. Or they get stupid. And, like… fall over and die easily.
Either way the point is apparently that place was named Hightower, and it survived the end of the world, and it is still the primary military base of the Eopran Army - or what's left of it. Apparently there's a city attached to it too, to house the fairly significant civilian population that would follow any large organised military. She has no idea why it is called Hightower, though. Apparently it has a tower. Maybe Luteus got high there. Once. More than once. A lot. It was a number, at least. She's semi-sure.
Oh who is she kidding all this monologuing and exposition doesn't matter she is just so booooored. And since it's just them in the last car, there's nobody to talk to! Grandpa is meditating, and everyone knows how uppity he gets if people interrupt him! Well, actually, he's really chill about it unless you're just bothering him to amuse yourself but that's precisely why she wants to bother him now! Except he'll probably chuck her through the ceiling. She might survive that now, but it probably still hurts.
Where was she? Oh, right. Noire.
"Noire, wanna play cards?"
Noire looks up from her notebook, a pencil in hand. "You brought cards?"
"Yeah, I always pack a set in case… Wait a minute!" Neptune swoops over, and before Noire can hide her notebook the hoodie-wearing spectre is already upon her. "Ohmygoshthat'snotanotebookatall!"
"USE YOUR WORDS!" Noire pushes Neptune off, and straightens herself out as the young Goddess bounces off the ground, nepping each time. "Yeah, I doodle. Got a problem with that?"
Neptune takes a seat beside Noire, still covered in dust. "Actually, I think it's really cool!"
"...Really."
"Yeah! I can't really draw, and every time Nepgear draws it's some sort of boring design blueprint thing of something she tore apart that week before carefully putting back together. And no one else I know who likes drawing is any good at it." Neptune taps her chin, thinking. "Well, actually, there was Manuel. He was alright, I guess."
"What happened to Manuel?" Noire asks.
"Hmmm… I think he died about two or three years ago. Pilgrim caught him and tried to interrogate him about his salvage party. His head was soup by the time we rescued him." Neptune sighs and shakes her head. "Yeah, sad. Anyways, show me your doots?"
"...First off, we should really address the elephant in the room about how fucking horrible Lanca is."
"No!"
Noire flicks Neptune's nose, and the girl recoils dramatically. "Don't interrupt me! Secondly, don't call them doots and I might consider it."
"Doodles it is!" She flops over, hood flapping in the wind behind her, and takes a seat beside her new best friend. They still look good, and the proportions look right, and the designs are a lot more intricate than Neptune expected. There are frills, ribbons, bells, buckles, belts, the whole shebang! Each outfit looks like a masterpiece, just waiting to be sewn.
The detail seems to have all gone into the dresses, though. Well, outfits. They aren't all dresses. But most of them are pretty frilly. Anyways, the heads are blank, the feet aren't shaded, and Neptune doesn't see any faces at all! Like, why draw people if they have no face? And why do all of them strike the same pose? Seems lazy.
"Hey, Noire?"
The Captain-Goddess sighs. "I know, I know… You're going to tease me, aren't you?"
"About faces and hair and lazy posing?" Neptune shakes her head. "Seems mean. Besides, you still put a lot of effort into these!"
"Ah." Her cheeks flush red. "T-Thanks, I guess."
"I'm just saying, the poses are very samey."
"Yeah, I know."
"And by samey I mean--"
"I get it, Neptune." She covers her face and sighs. "I traced them."
"Ah." Neptune nods in understanding. "Still working on anatomy, eh? Same. I hate drawing fingers. And feet. And shoulders. And hips. And arms." She frowns, deep in thought. "Man, I think I hate drawing!"
Noire chuckles despite herself, and forces herself to stop. Neptune looks at her with an odd expression, but Noire just shys away.
"...Do you? Hate drawing, I mean."
Noire looks at her, eyes wide in surprise. "You're... Not going to talk about me laughing?"
Neptune shrugs. "You seem genuinely uncomfortable with it. It's not fun unless everyone's having fun."
"...Thanks." Noire runs a hair through her hair and closes her sketch-notebook with a small clap. "Anyways, you said something about cards?"
----
"Gentleman and Neptune, welcome to Hightower. Enjoy your stay, come back when you've had enough of this."
Whatever preconceptions Neptune had of the capital of the Eopran Army - and she had a lot of preconceptions - were completely dashed when they emerged from the station, necks stiff and brains aching from the most high-intensity game of cards ever played by (im)mortal hands. Neptune expected rows and rows of tanks, hundreds of men and women in PT attire running laps, artillery by the dozen, and sandbags and bunkers as far as the eye can see.
What she saw was greenery, and civilisation, and people simply walking around, taking in the sights and enjoying peace. Everyone was in some manner of uniform, of course, ranging from fatigues to combat gear. There were some kids with mops, cleaning the floor under the irate glare of a drill sergeant. More than Crow's Nest, more than even Shelter 01, this place felt like something besides a military base. It felt like a city. But something was off. Desperately, badly off.
Oh, and no one had their gas masks on and they weren't dying in droves. That was pretty weird.
"So…" Neptune turns to Noire, who looks back at her with a cocked eyebrow. "Why's everyone not dying?"
"Hm? Don't be silly, Neptune, people don't die in the open. It's only in the hostile zo…" She collects her words and tries to start over. "We have a weather machine somewhere in Hightower, so the air inside the bubble is safe to breathe. Didn't save Janusburg, but… Well, the shelters there are alright, I guess."
"Janusburg is still a thing, I see," Joshua says aloud with amazement. "Do they still make the chicken nuggets?"
"Depends," Noire replies. "Do you mind if your chicken was squeezed through a nozzle?"
"...Honestly, that's not much of a change."
"Grandpa, you talk about chicken a lot." Neptune then tilts her head. "But what's chicken, and how does it taste?"
"Right! We're getting chicken nuggets on the way back." Joshua pinches his nose and turns to the other young Goddess. "Captain, shall we get going?"
"Sure… I just need to find a guide. Not sure where HQ is, actually…"
"Do you need assistance?"
In the corner of her vision, Neptune spots a dark shape. And as she turns, she curses her laziness, because this would have been the perfect moment to go all dark and noir… Hah, noir! That's hilarious. She should save that for later.
Anyways, standing right there was Agent Ironside, cloak billowing and all. And he was still wearing that damn gas mask. Is it glued on? Does his face just naturally look like that? Is it a Black Sun thing? Questions for the ages…
"Ironside," her grandpa nods, completely unsurprised by his appearance. Considering him, he probably knew he was there the entire time. Noire, meanwhile, almost jumps out of her skin. Almost. It was a close thing, but her epidermis held her bones in. "Sorry for the trouble, Agent."
"Hiya, Ironsides!" Neptune waves. "Oh, Captain something-or-other, what's her face… Iceblock says hi!'
"Major, Lady Purple Heart," Ironsides nods. "And no, no she did not."
"Your relationships are messed up, man."
"We're fellow soldiers, not friends. I don't have to care."
"...Right," Noire groans. "Lead us, Agent. We're on a deadline."
Ironside nods wordlessly, and turns to lead the way.
----
Hightower HQ is… Well at this point Neptune has had her mind blown so hard, if she weren't a Goddess she'd be dead. So she'll just go over the basics. Tall tower - probably the tower Luteus got high in, heh brick joke - with guards at the door, a front desk with wood furnishings that can probably be used as a cover emplacement, good sightlines, excellent killbox potential, 7/10 needs more landmines.
No but seriously though the main lobby is nice. Though the peanut packet bowl has the 'empty' note on it, and going by the wrinkliness and Noire's long sigh it's been empty for a looooong time. This is the true cost of the war. No more packet peanuts. For shame.
There are some benches, though! So Neptune and friends head over, and Noire takes a seat, legs folded in a ladylike manner. Not that it matters, she's wearing long pants anyways. But hey, if it looks good!
Neptune goes to sit beside her, already fishing her pack of cards out, when Ironside stops her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Anywhere else and it'd be leeeeewd~"
"Not interested," the faceless bowman responds flatly. "Lady Purple Heart, you and Major Kyrain should go in first."
"Wait, what?" Neptune blinks and tilts her head. "But I thought we were going in together!"
Ironside looks blankly at her. Neptune looks blankly back at him. His mask is really annoying, Neptune decides. Actually, scratch that. Everything Ironside is wearing is annoying. He's got no body language she can read, no facial expressions she can extrapolate, no tone of voice to derive anything from. He's a ghost, flat and white. And while this makes him distinct by being indistinct… It's still annoying!
"Did they send you to fetch us?" Neptune asks. "Are you their little spy?"
"...Neptune." Joshua sighs and palms his face. "Neptune, he is special forces. Of course they sent him. It's a sign of respect."
Ironside turns his apparent gaze to the retired Major, and shrugs.
"Aha!" Neptune declares. "So you are spying on us!"
Ironside shrugs again.
"You stop that! Move your mouth or don't move at all!"
Ironside continues looking at Neptune, his eyes impossible to discern behind his opaque gas mask. Neptune decides that she doesn't like the guy behind the mask, either.
Noire sighs. "Just go in, Neptune. I'll see you later."
----
"Ready, Neptune?"
"Probably not."
"...Well, okay then." Joshua breathes, holds his breath, and opens the door to step in.
Neptune didn't know what she was expecting. Maybe a huge council room, with high seats for the Lords General to lord (hah) over their lessers. Maybe like, lots and lots of really big statues of the Lord Generals and Lord Commanders of old, watching judgmentally upon all beneath their gaze, which would probably make a really cool boss fight arena. Oh, and chandeliers. Lots and lots of chandeliers. That are actually gun turrets. Yeah.
Where was she? Oh, right. Well, it isn't a big council room, there aren't any big statues, and the chandeliers aren't gun turrets. And also don't exist, darn. No, it's just a regular conference room, kind of like the ones they had in the Shelter and have at the Refuge, but slightly bigger, with framed photos, and a holoprojector in the center of the table.
And sitting right opposite them are the five Lord Generals. A short woman with eyes like plasma cannons, a slender lady with no fucks to give, a tough girl who looks like she was caught redhanded in the middle of doing something, a guy with glasses, and an old guy hooked up to an IV drip, halfway through a ration bar, looking wide-eyed at the two of them.
She did not see this coming.
"...General Phosphene?" Her grandfather gasps. Joshua Kyrain steps forward and leans on the table, hands propping the rest of him up. "Goddess above, you're still alive?"
The old man swallows and clicks his tongue. "Kids these days, always assuming their old people are dead. I oughta shoot you in the face. Besides, you're no spring chicken yourself." He narrows his eyes, one hand scratching around his wrinkled mouth. "Nice beard, by the way."
"...I'm lost," Neptune says.
Joshua snaps his fingers and points at the old General. "Neptune, that is Lord General Michael Phosphene, Chair of Intelligence. He's technically your great-great-great... " He starts counting on his fingers, "...Great-great-great-great...Great-great-great-grandfather."
The old man clicks his tongue again. "Call me grandpa Mike. Makes me feel young."
"You look like a fossil, sir."
"Would it kill you to call me dad?"
"...Father."
The Lord General shrugs his shoulders. "I'll take it."
"Yeah, uh." The tough lady gestures at their side of the table, joined by the other Lords General. "We're also lost. Explain how you're related to Joshua Kyrain?"
Joshua sighs. "Blah blah blah, yadda yadda... Meh."
"...Oh. Oh." The tough Lady General - Lady General Toth, Chair of Infantry - nods and sits back down, arms folded. "You've… Never mentioned this."
"I assumed he died."
Neptune tilts her head. "I'm still not sure… Grandpa, is he your dad, or your dad-dad?"
"None of those words made sense," Joshua quips back dryly. "Lord General Phosphene is my father-in-law. He's…" He considers the merits of going over it again and decides he does not care. "He would be the father of your grandma Joanna. Who is dead," he adds, preempting another question.
General Michael nods ruefully. "Damn."
"We can catch up later, right now we have a job to do. You sent for us. We're here." Joshua sits down, and Neptune sits beside him. These chairs are really big. Neptune considers transforming, but decides against it. "So, let's talk business."
"We've reviewed Colonel Burton's report," the guy with glasses - sorry, Lord General McGinnis, Chair of Logistics - says, hands clasped as he leans forward against the table. "You want the Eopran Army to attack Lanca and kill the Truth, correct?"
"I would like your help, yes." He turns to Neptune, smiling quietly. "We have a Goddess now. Neptune is here. We can rebuild."
General McGinnis sighs and adjusts his spectacles. "Unfortunately, Master Joshua… That's not possible. A Goddess is not enough."
"Right. The Avatars. Neptune has killed two of them before."
"She is number thirty two," Lady General Toth says brusquely. "One Avatar, two Avatars… How many until she dies?"
"That's not nice, Hannah," the slender lady with no fucks - Lady General Vesta, right - says in a surprisingly kind tone. Maybe her lack of fucks is a work stress thing? Hm. "Sorry, Major, it's been a long day."
"Don't apologise for me, Vesta. I'm not wrong."
Joshua says nothing. He lets his glare do the talking for him.
The short lady - Lady General Voi, Chair of Armor - sighs. "Simply put, Major, a Goddess is not enough. Our forces are stretched thin as is. We are losing this war. How do we know you will succeed where countless others have failed?"
"You have the reserves," Joshua says. "I know you do. I saw the Shamrocks. You have enough for this offensive."
"They are our strategic reserve, Major," General McGinnis says to him. "We do not use it until there is no other option."
"And if you don't kill the Truth there will be no other option. What happened at Crow's Nest will happen again. Everywhere. Simultaneously. Neptune is your last hope."
"That's what we thought with the previous thirty or so CPUs," Lady General Toth retorts. "And yet here we are, squabbling over the scraps of your mother's empire."
Neptune looks back and forth, following the debate as it continues. She has nothing to add, nothing to say that her grandfather isn't already. And Lord General Michael is the same, content to be silent, to listen to the proceedings. Not helping his son… in-law.
Joshua clenches his fists, but he does not stand up or raise his choler. "...How do I convince you?"
"Give us something. Show us that you have more than a Goddess, more than just wanting to save your home." Lady General Toth stands up, hands on the table. They really like the table. "Give us actionable intel, give us resources, give us assets we can use. What can you bring to the table that your predecessors could not? How can we trust that you won't lead us to our deaths?"
Her grandfather opens his mouth, and Lord General Phosphene cranes his head. "Let the girl speak, Joshua."
Six pairs of eyes fall on Neptune, awaiting her response. Asking for whatever she can provide to end a war almost three hundred years long. She glances at Joshua, who pleads with her wordlessly, to not do it. To not use the most obvious card she has. The only card she has.
[] [UNITY] "There are other factions out there, right? I bet there are. It can't just be the Eopran Army. Point me at them, and I can get their help. We can march on Lanca together."
[] [MIGHT] "I'm not like the other Goddesses. I'm descended from Luteus Kyrain. I'm (the very distant) granddaughter of the last Solar Hero. I've survived Lanca since I was a kid. I can sword good. And I could do this before I became a Goddess. I'm strong enough to win. I just need your help."
[] [TRADE] "We have the K for Kyrain. We have the Sun's Refuge. Just help us, and you'll have a base to work from and a Land Crawler from a forgotten time. And you can even keep the Crawler!"
[] [THREAT] "We're going to attack Lanca either way, help or no help. So unless you want to see the Last Solar Hero and another Goddess die in fire (or worse), you have to help us."
[] [NOIRE] "You don't just have one Goddess. You have two. Noire--Captain Emiya, CPU Black Heart, I can work with her. If we work together,, nothing if impossible. The Crow's Nest proves it."
[] [DELAY] "We will find something. Give us time. We can be more."
[] [GOLD] "I am the successor of Luteus Kyrain, CPU Yellow Heart. And she lives on inside me. Your Goddess has returned, and she can lead you to glory. The Rising Sun can end the eternal night. I can prove it. I can show you her, if you would help us."
[] [WRITE-IN] "Uh…"
