0-2 First Encounter

Time passed.

Boots clacked on the ground as Johnny's squad explored the sleeping forest. The feeling of loneliness was dissipating as he was slowly getting used to it.

Who knows if Raptures will appear right behind the buildings or in front of them? Well, it didn't really matter as they were prepared, sorta.

What mattered was that there was a mission to be completed.

All around them was filled with flora extending up to the tallest of the ruined buildings. The roads were old, and there were ruined cars at places.

Slowly Johnny began dozing off in his thoughts as he explored the system's functions and how they should work.

The system told him that he can now command 5 squads at the same time, just like in the later parts of the Lost Sector.

The problem was how and when to use them.

The Gacha remained the same, except right now, he was unable to recruit Nikke above SR and SSR grade, since he hasn't owned them aside from the mass produced units.

[ Attention: All recruited Nikke are permanently under your free command, unobstructed ]

Oh, so that's one of the reasons why. It should only be used when needed.

There was also an equipment Gacha that provided the "right equipment" just for him and his Nikke.

Since Johnny had 20 free rolls, 10 each on the two, he wondered if he can roll on the equipment gacha first.

Yet he was brought out of his thoughts when Marteau started to talk.

"Sir, we are near the target location. Your orders?"

Looking forward, he noticed some mechanical-like creatures walking with four legs like insects and animals.

Luckily, they haven't noticed the squad yet.

"Nacht, can you scan the area in front of us just to be safe?"

"Of course! Uh.... There are dozens Raptures in that area, based on the Alva Particles they're producing, they're Servants and Husks, along with a Master. Should we call for reinforcements?"

Johnny felt very confident about this mission, and even more so about the rewards than the possible dangers that might come.

Scouring the area for any possible advantages he could use, he saw several boulders lined up perfectly for the job.

"Get to cover, and let them come."

Johnny replied to them, and soon the three didn't complain and walked towards the boulders to hide before hearing a loud shriek from one of the Raptures in the distance, alerting its allies that they made a quick dash to an individual cover.

[ A battle is about to commence ]

[ Your squad's BP: 876 ]

[ Enemy BP: 1500 ]

[ Element: D.M.T.R. / Iron ]

"Encounter!"

Johnny said to his Nikke, allowing them to briefly exit their cover to open fire on the enemy as you noticed their portraits at the bottom of his vision.

Their HP which was a white bar, and even the HP of their cover, which was the blue bar above the white bar.

A finger is tapped on Nacht's portrait. This allowed Johnny to take control over her and guided her aim through a crosshair manipulated by his will.

Just imagining he was aiming and firing his gun in the House of the Dead and Time Crisis allowed Johnny to almost perfectly guide the shots from her was a new experience in itself.

Raptures entered from the front, on the buildings, and even entered on the side, sliding on the ground and causing sparks to appear from the grinding of metal on asphalt.

The raptures began to outnumber the group even if Johnny's Nikke were swiftly taking care of them through shooting their cores and filling out the area with rapture body parts.

But, Johnny didn't mind it too much as he guided Marteau's shots down to the closer Raptures on his field of vision, breaking them apart after a few shots before reloading.

"Commander! They're firing right towards you now!"

"Yeah, I know! So it is time to coordinate a full burst!"

Ducking down to the cover to defend against the different shots of the Raptures, Johnny gazed towards the Nikke he commanded.

They were silent as they halted their shots.

"Burst skills? We have one yet?" Agnes was confused, as it briefly made her go down to the cover.

"Uh.... You been playing games all week to be this crazy?" Nacht scratched her helmet, just as confused as Agnes.

".... Sir, I think those are exclusive to regular Nikke unlike us. Sorry." Marteau replied, reloading her clip.

Soon the group was being bombarded by several bullets and energy bombs by the Raptures, him and his Nikke's cover HP being chipped down slowly....

'What the actual fuck?! They don't have burst skills?! Then that means, they haven't gone through the Simulation Room!' Johnny realized, clenching his fists tightly.

Another possible reason they didn't have one was that they didn't have enough battle data while they were being created.

Suddenly, Shifty appeared in front of Johnny, looking distraught as her figure was beginning to glitch.

"Com....er!! Pl *krrk-ksshk-krrk* ...evac... area! A Dan....rous .... Lord-class ....ture..... nals coming! Alv.... cle... Cutting out.... si....l!"

Because of the glitches, her voice wasn't clear and was cutting off, making Johnny feel confused.

She was obviously distressed, and it didn't take a while for something to appear.

"Wh-what? Shifty, I can't make out your voice down here-!"

Shifty's signal was abruptly cut off.

[ !!!! WARNING !!!! WARNING !!!! ]

[ BOSS SIGNAL DETECTED ]

[ TARGET: THERMITE - LORD CLASS ]

[ You may choose to escape, and you will obtain the rewards without question ]

[ You may also choose to fight, increasing your rewards ]

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..."

Johnny took a deep breath, before letting out a sigh.

Then, a large rapture landed somewhere in front of you as you lifted yourself up to look at it.

Unfortunately, the rapture he wanted to fight is towering and intimidating. It was a four legged bio-mechanical monster with two arms that would launch energy bombs that could decimate him and his Nikke in a short period of time.

It was accompanied by two Master Ranked Raptures, both which shoots bullets that would immediately decimate the ordinary Mass Produced Nikke.

[ IMAGE ]

"Thermite... Lord Class Rapture...."

"What?!"

"Oh goddess...."

"Tch.... Just our luck...."

The three Nikke stared at Johnny, looking like they'd almost began to give up right at this moment.

"Commander, please retreat. We'll cover you with the best as we could.... Hopefully." Agnes told him, gripping her Assault Rifle tight as she was contemplating on her life.

Normally, if Johnny was an ordinary commander, he'd run immediately and have this moment be engraved in his mind like trauma while his Nikke protect him as much as they can.

He's only just met some girls who were kind to him, admiring their features inwardly and even trying his best to be with them, not just as weapons for you, but as someone to be with.

Yeah. Good times, only for it to be taken away by some powerful rapture.

But he wasn't the common commander of the Ark, after all he has some things he knew that would possibly help him.

Code Overclock and the Equipment Gacha.

Johnny scurried to have the system launch the Gacha right at this moment, as he gestured his Nikke to keep their heads down to the cover.

[ Drawing Equipment.... ]

"Come on.... Come on.... Come on..."

[ D-wave burst initiated.... ]

[ Success!! ]

[ You have obtained the following:

• [Rank R] Goddessium Boots+

• [Rank R] Goddessium Gloves

• [Rank R] Goddessium Visor+

• [Rank R] High Quality Chocolate Bar

• [Rank SR] Atlas Gear (Manufacturer: Elysion)

• [Rank R] High Security Card

• [Rank R] Goddessium Goggles

• [Rank R] Goddessium Helmet+(Manufacturer: Elysion)

• [Rank R] Weapon Tuner

• [Rank R] Weapon Tuner ]

[ Automatically Equip the Equipment to your Nikke now? ]

Johnny did not hesitate to slam his fist on the "yes" sign just as Marteau's cover was blown up.

Although there were no visual changes (strangely enough), it was clear that the Nikke became much more powerful.

"Is that all? We're fighting back now!"

"I'm not done yet! But start moving already!"

Under that signal, the three Nikke started attacking again with renewed vigor, surprisingly finding out that two of them have their abilities heightened at a new level.

But it wasn't truly enough, he knew.

Therefore, he struck a pose, his palm grasping his bicep as he prepared to grasp the empty air with his other hand.

"Superuser Access Granted.... Nikke BIOS override, Core override initiated, NIMPH restrictions lifted!"

Johnny immediately clenched his hand to a tight fist and raised it above his chest.

While it confused Johnnys Nikke, they probably thought he was just being crazy like many other commanders before him, because their life is over anyway, to them.

"Code O.V.C.K! Launch!"

[ Code Overclock activated! ]

[ Selected Nikke are now beyond their full potential for 1 minute! ]

[ 59.50 ]

The moment you clenched your hand, their inner potential is released and multiplied by ten.

Also, it was indicated by a burst of energy from the Three Nikke, who were looking like they weren't believing what they saw and felt.

For now they couldn't describe this feeling, instinctively thinking of it as pretty dangerous based on what their commander had just said.

There was a battle that was going on right now. They had to finish it before making comments about the power up.

"Deploying Falcon's Nest!"

The Thermite started to aim its weapons towards you the moment it recognized you are a threat, and to defend against it, Marteau hopped in and used her Riot Shield to defend against the projectiles.

Normally its projectiles would burn through, but at this time only an several impacts and intense heat were felt by her.

When it was over, she immediately hopped back and placed her "Nest", the riot shield right in front of you, now acting as your new cover.

When Johnny touched it with a finger, he immediately retracted his hand and put it in his mouth.

'Ouch, That definitely burnt.'

Without a word she immediately returned fire against the rapture, along with both Nacht and Agnes firing towards the Masters and the lower ranked raptures, decimating many of them in seconds.

"Uwaaah! Our Core output is way beyond how it should be! I'm certain we should end this fight now!" She said after checking her status.

'My core is at 1000% output, even my sub-generator is going at overdrive, giving me a limitless amount of energy as it forces my body to go over its limits to the point where I think it might destroy my mind and body!' Nacht described the feeling she gets, however it did have an incredible amount of benefits.

"Then are we waiting for!?" Agnes yelled out, unaware of her temporary change of battle outfit which was looking more metallic and stylized, even its colors became black and red.

The two boosted Mass Produced Nikke exited their cover and proceeded to open fire after reloading their weapons, which took less than a second, before Agnes took her grenade out and threw it to the raptures.

The impact of the explosion melted two Master class Raptures, which was surprising to her as even it was affected by this power up.

Then they focused on assisting Marteau as she dashed around the field reloading her weapon at an incredible speed.

"Trident Formation. Now!" Marteau yelled out, gritting her teeth as she glared at the enemy with rage. Almost as it was natural to her.

The two Mass Produced Nikke took positions right behind Marteau, assisting her in attacking Thermite.

It almost seemed like Marteau was the one mainly attacking the Lord Class Rapture as soon enough its arms came off by several empowered bullets from the three.

It was barely given another chance to attack as Agnes closed down the distance between herself and the rapture in a mere second, shooting its core in pure spite, guided by none other than Johnny.

"GGRRRRGGHHH!!!!!" Marteau was definitely becoming murderous as her grin did not ever vanish.

By chance, the three were hit by a few projectiles the Thermite fired, but it wasn't anything they couldn't currently deal with.

Until.....

Marteau leaped, closing in to the slammed the barr

The Lord Class Rapture fell over after its legs were broken apart by many shots, soon exploding in a fiery explosion, affecting his Nikke as they were caught in it.

As of now, their HP was right below 50%, and Johnny's Overclock ability had expired, putting it on a 5 minute cool down for each of them.

[ OPERATION COMPLETE ]

[ Battle Rewards: 20k Credits, 30k Battle Data, 50 Gems, 10k Commander EXP ]

[ You have Ranked up to Rank 15 ]

[ Overall Ability Increased! ]

"Damn, I'm freaking tired...."

No other tension was present, they've won. But at what cost?

The Nikke were breathing heavily as if tired, and they all sustained damage from different parts of their bodies, even Nacht's leg had been broken.

Agnes scanned the area before she turned towards Johnny, "Area clear, sir. We should return now."

"Yeah, but first...."

Johnny approached Nacht and lifted her up by her thighs and back despite her protest, weight and high, fever like heat. Don't forget that Nikke are heavier than humans.

Even mass produced units are quite heavy, and she was probably around 125kgs. And that was enough.

"You three alright? When we get back there, you're not telling anybody about that code. Aside from that, any questions?"

"I.... I do. If you didn't have access to, what would you do?"

"I'd die with regrets unless some girl walking on the surface saves me, simple as that. Next question."

"Why wouldn't you treat us Nikke as just some lower beings?"

With growing arrogance on his tone, Johnny replied: "Pfft, seriously? You might not believe me, but weren't you humans before you became Nikke, too? Am I just going to ignore that fact? Hmph, it's only foolishness. Next!"

".... None."

The Nikke stared at Johnny for a long while, filled with disbelief, and slowly but surely they accepted his words.

[ Bond with Agnes (Soldier EG) increased to Rank 3! ]

[ Bond with Nacht (Soldier OW) increased to Rank 4! ]

[ Bond with Marteau (Soldier FA) increased to Rank 3! ]

[ Their stats have increased! ]

[ Your shooting ability has been increased! ]

[ Your defensive ability has been increased! ]

[ Your perception ability has been increased! ]

Silence engulfed the four of them, and soon enough they were nearby the elevator where Shifty communicated with them once more.

"Communications are back again! Commander, you and your Nikke look roughed up. Did you safely escape the area?"

"No, but we bring some great news."

"What news?"

"We defeated a Lord Class Rapture by ourselves."

".... What?!"

"It wasn't really easy, you know.... And you're just telling me we defeated that thing so easily? Also we have evidence, they won't treat it so lightly."

Nacht said, feigning some ignorance while lying blatantly. Her squad members, including her commander knew she was lying, but they went in with the flow.

Smiling wryly, you scratched your nape.

"Eh... I'm the most talented commander of the academy AND a graduate of M.M.R. Vocational School you know? My tactics and intelligence are supreme, fuhahahaha~!"

Johnny inwardly cringed saying those lines, it was making him look like an arrogant commander! Well, he noted that having memories about that school gave him more scientific knowledge he could use for the future.

Anyway, it should be better to just calm his ego down before it could try to consume him.

"I see.... Then congratulations on beating your first mission along with defeating tour first Lord Class Rapture! I had my doubts, but we'll soon find out."

Shifty disconnected from the group as the elevator arose from the surface, and once the group entered it, Johnny placed Nacht on the floor.

Soon, the elevator moved down to the Ark, and it will be a long time before they arrived.

Therefore, they had some time to talk.

[ ~ TO = BE = CONTINUED ~ ]