[Vol. 1] Chapter 001: What Could've Been

As his vision slowly started to return, Commander saw a silhouette grab an object that was resting atop him and promptly throw it aside. To move an object so effortlessly must've meant the person helping him was a Nikke. She began dragging him to a new location while shouting into her radio as tiny chunks of rubble no larger than a person's toe fell around them. The man couldn't quite make out what his Nikke ally was saying, but it sounded like a code. She was likely relaying information to the Ark about their ship. In that case the code would be BA-01, it was the transport ship's designation.

It took a few more moments but the fog clouding Commander's mind almost entirely dispersed, allowing him to finally realise the situation he was in. BA-01, the ship transporting him to his first mission, had blown up. It had to have been shot down by a Rapture. As he was dragged aside and set to rest on a flatter surface, he saw a fraction of the devastation. Twisted shards of metal and glowing flames filled his entire vision and if he were to look up he would see a building missing a massive chunk of its seventh storey from where BA-01 struck it.

"Useless pieces of shit!" The person who saved Commander began cursing, unable to get through to the Central Government. At the very least her radio appeared to be working, which was the source of her anger. She was either being ignored or for some reason the Government's equipment couldn't pick up on the distress call. Either option didn't exactly paint the Government in a favourable light. They were callous or incompetent, take your pick. "Commander I'm sorry, I can't get through to the Ark!"

She continued to speak loudly, practically shouting, as she peered over the young man who lay motionless on the ground, a mix of dirt and grass beneath him. She was clearly worried, and she was right to be. From Commander's point of view he was losing his grip on reality again, his vision was turning white and his mind was blank. He was painlessly drifting in and out of consciousness. But from her point of view the situation was much, much worse. She must've thought he was in so much pain.

"No, no! Cardiac arrest, I need an AED!" She screamed, reminding herself what procedure to follow as she scrambled to remove her gloves and create an electric current between her palms. All Nikke harboured an AED, a form of defibrillator, within their bodies. A port would open up in their hands and allow them to administer an electric shock in order to resuscitate a human if need be.

Panic began to set in as she couldn't generate an electrical current. It was a miracle that during the destruction of BA-01 she had, at least on the outside, remained unscathed. But it appeared as though the same couldn't be said for her internals. She'd sustained damage somewhere, which stopped her ability to create electricity. She couldn't use her built-in defibrillator.

The woman, who Commander would soon come to know as Marian, was torn on how to proceed. She could feel her heart rate quicken as she remembered that every transport ship was equipped with a large medical bag that should be capable of dealing with most emergencies. In the event that all Nikke are deceased but multiple commanders remain, they could use the medical kit on the transport ship to keep a human alive.

On one hand she wanted to stay with the single remaining commander to ensure his safety, but on the other hand she had to leave him in order to find aid. If it took too long to rummage around what remained of BA-01 and a Rapture showed up, she'd have to hope she could react in time and protect Commander. It was risky for him to be out of her sight.

To Marian's surprise, however, there was still one last able-bodied Nikke around to answer the call. Up until now she had remained completely still, but hearing that someone needed help forced her to push herself to her limits. With her one good foot she kicked aside a metal panel to reveal a medical kit. She rolled over and grabbed it with her one remaining hand before struggling to stand and walk towards the commander. Her Commander. With part of her face missing and her visor display malfunctioning, she could barely see. She was missing a foot which made walking extremely difficult, but not impossible. She kept stumbling forward on her stump in order to fulfil her orders of keeping her commander safe. She would get this med-kit to him no matter what.

Utterly stunned by what she was seeing, Marian froze for just a second. The Nikke holding the blue and red canvas bag was the same one she had thrown off Commander. This Nikke was so badly injured that it was a miracle her brain was able to deal with the trauma. Although perhaps that was what kept her going, her brain had shut off everything except the want to keep this one man alive. Seeing the severely damaged android fall to the ground, Marian ran to her in order to obtain the medical kit. There wasn't much Marian could do for such a wounded Nikke, but Commander could still be saved. Grabbing the med-kit out of the Nikke's hand, Marian observed how the Nikke's mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. It wasn't surprising, there was a large gash on her neck, likely destroying her vocal cords.

Even so, Marian couldn't help but feel like she heard the Nikke's words. "Save… Him…"

With a nod Marian rushed back to Commander as she cradled the medical bag in her arms, skidding on her knees a short distance as she raced to save him. Without hesitation she yanked Commander's coat and undershirt open, popping buttons off the man's clothes and revealing his well-maintained body. Marian had no time to appreciate Commander's body though. She rushed to grab a pair of defibrillator pads strapped to the outside of the med-kit and prepared them for use on the last surviving human of BA-01. Not even fifteen seconds had passed since Marian realised the young man's heart had stopped. Marian knew humans were capable of being revived upwards of a minute or two after their heart had stopped beating, but she was still concerned beyond words.

A powerful electric charge burst through Commander's chest, kickstarting his heart and getting him to open his eyes in shock. He took in a deep breath as he looked around, forcing his brain to figure out what was happening.

"Commander, are you okay?! Answer me! I don't care how, smile if you want! Just tell me you're okay!"

Forcing himself to smile, Commander couldn't help but worry it was the weakest smile he'd ever given someone. He should be putting more effort in for the person that just saved his life. He wanted to show more gratitude, but his vision was still blurry and he couldn't quite think straight. Giving her a smile like she asked was the least he could do, but also the most he could manage in this moment.

"Thank God…" The woman exhaled deeply, suggesting she'd held her breath throughout this whole ordeal. In order to further ascertain if the last remaining commander was okay, she continued to speak. "Can you tell me which department you're from? Who do you work for? What was your mission?"

Taking a second to sort his thoughts out, the young man responded with a deep, but broken, voice. "Nikke Management under the Central Government." He was still a bit out of it but he was pretty sure that was correct. "We were sent to retrieve a lost Nikke patrol."

With his vision finally focusing on what he was looking at, he saw a beautiful woman with brunette hair that was long enough to tickle his face. He almost wanted to laugh at the sensation of her hair, but he couldn't after seeing her shiny blue eyes fraught with worry.

"Baby steps, okay? Let's sit you up for now and see how you feel." The woman said, finally moving out of Commander's field of view and allowing him to see white clouds above being tainted by plumes of black smoke. She put one hand against the back of the young man's shoulder and her other hand was placed in his hand. This was so she could both push and pull him, it gave the man extra support.

"With a babe like you helping me I'm feeling better than ever." He grinned. That was more like it. He felt like he'd been out of it for hours at this point, and that his brain was finally starting to run on all cylinders after a prolonged rest. In actuality he'd been unconscious for no more than three minutes in total.

His comment wasn't exactly false either. Be it humans or Nikke, a good-looking woman was a good-looking woman. He quietly observed his helper. The little blue cadet hat off to the side of her head was cute and went well with her white and blue dress. Her blue sleeves were not directly attached to her dress, revealing her shoulders and the side of her breasts to the world. The skirt portion of her outfit was exceptionally short, to the point where Commander would've seen what lay beneath if she weren't wearing such dark black stockings. Pressing into her thigh and creating quite the appealing indentation was the holster of a handgun. Resting against her back was what seemed like a strange mix between a cloak and a coat. It was primarily white and had a few pouches on it, almost like coat pockets, but there were clearly no sleeves for her arms.

The woman helping Commander finally cracked a smile too, she was happy to see his personality shine through at a time like this. It was only a faint smile though, she couldn't muster up anything better. "It sounds like you're better already, so come on. Up and at 'em."

Propped up against the wall of a damaged building, Commander finally started to support himself by putting a hand on the ground. And when he did so, his hand hit something. It was incredibly light and swayed easily under his touch. He looked down to see a white petalled flower between two of his fingers. Seeing such a thing made Commander's eyes widen. As he was about to call out for Flower and Sun, the woman who'd helped him so far reached back to her gun. Thanks to a sling keeping her submachine gun in place, Marian's weapon was currently resting against her back.

"Commander, we have Raptures incoming. Our transport ship being destroyed probably drew them here." With the way she moved her hand to her face it looked like she wanted to bite a nail, but she settled for quickly brushing some hair behind her ear and getting back to holding her weapon. She did briefly appear to bite her lip in frustration though. "I will keep you safe no matter what, okay? So for now you just stay in cover here and let me deal with the Raptures."

Turning his attention to Marian, Commander simply nodded. Given the situation, it was safe to assume himself and the Nikke helping him were the only two survivors. That meant Flower and Sun were dead. They were dead before he even got to know them. He felt strange, as if he was more attached to them than he should be. He didn't know them, but perhaps he was upset at the idea of what could have been. He could've gotten to know them better. He could've fought alongside them. He could've befriended them.

Shit… Commander thought, trying to push it all to the back of his mind. For now he had to focus on staying alive.

"I'll be back soon, Commander. Just stay behind cover." The woman said, shouldering her bulky blue and silver bullpup submachine gun and moving around the wall her new commander was resting against.

— — — — —

Running around the corner of the building, Marian ducked behind a red vending machine to assess her situation. With her gun's buttstock against her shoulder she quickly pulled the magazine out to check her ammunition situation. She had full ammo, which was nice to see. Occasionally she would fire a few rounds for target practice before a mission and then forget to top up, but this time she was prepared. Thrusting the hefty extended drum magazine back into its well with some force, she was pleased to hear the audible click that signified the magazine was secure. Marian pulled the charging handle back to load a round into the chamber.

The sound of Raptures got closer as Marian assessed her weapon. Her enemies were no more than twenty metres away now. With a destroyed world came silence, and a silent world meant certain heavy, loud sounds echoed through structures and travelled far. If it wasn't for the close-range radar all Nikke androids had built into them, then Marian believed sound would be her greatest asset for detecting Raptures. As things stood though, technology told Marian where her enemies were before she could hear them.

Peeking out from behind her cover, she could see them. A group of a dozen metallic menaces heading her way. Most of them were simple, spherical shapes with four legs and a single red lens at their centre that acted as an eye. There were a few with multiple miniguns on their back and a few flying in the air with a laser weapon under their bodies. Basic Raptures were nothing Marian couldn't handle. But at the back of the group of enemies was a Hexagon, a more humanoid Rapture with it standing on two legs and all. Behind each shoulder were three rods that fired beams of energy strong enough to instantly tear through a human. Man-made structures could offer some resistance to the lasers depending on what material it was made of, and a Nikke could tank the laser and be completely fine in some cases. If she played her cards right then Marian would win this fight without issue, and potentially unscathed.

Taking a deep breath, Marian prepared herself for a fight. Her brief glance around the corner of her cover gave her all the information she needed. There were numerous objects scattered about the street. Plenty of cover. From old vending machines like what she was hiding behind right now, to chunks of concrete from damaged buildings. There were some cars scattered about too, but they were typically the weakest cover to hide behind. Rapture bullets and lasers would tear right through thin metal.

Knowing where she could take cover was beneficial to her strategy. Marian didn't just want this to be about defence, she wanted to go on the offensive and take the fight to the Raptures. Removing her hand from the foregrip of her weapon, Marian stood, grabbed the side of the vending machine she was hiding behind, spun and threw it at a Rapture. Nikke weren't just good with guns, they had immense physical strength due to being androids. She steadied her SMG and began firing before her spare hand returned to her weapon's foregrip, managing to strike two enemies. She shot through the lens of one and shot the leg off another, which at least immobilised them both, as the vending machine collided with a flying Rapture hard, crushing it against a building. Thanks to being so strong, Nikke were capable of using weapons with large calibres and immense recoil. Marian barely felt a thing as she fired her submachine gun with one hand. She could easily keep her weapon trained on her target despite how powerful her gun was.

She rushed forward while firing bursts of bullets that took down another few Raptures, but as she dived into cover Hexagon unleashed a barrage of lasers in her direction. Marian twisted her body to avoid the attack but one managed to cut into her leg as she went down. Now lying behind part of a fallen structure, Marian glared at the gash on her leg. It cut deeper than she expected as a red liquid dripped down her leg and the wound opened up her limb to reveal wires and metal. If she were to put too much pressure on her limb before she received repairs then she could damage it further and potentially even cause it to separate from her body. It was at times like this where Marian was thankful to be a Nikke. They were all capable of turning off certain functions of their body. In order to not be distracted by the pain, Marian turned her nervous system off. She would rather be aware of her body's state by keeping her injuries in mind than feeling the pain. Marian wasn't good with painful things.

Trying to peek around the corner resulted in bright red lasers and a large quantity of bullets being fired at her, peppering her cover with craters of various shapes and sizes. Once Hexagon stopped firing lasers, Marian rushed around the corner and straight into the closest Rapture. It was the one she shot in the lens. Since that part of its body was weakened already, Marian punched right through and pulled its core out, then immediately crouched and used the dead Rapture as cover.

Tossing the Rapture core aside since it was useless to her, Marian blindly fired above her new cover and heard bullets hit metal. Hoping she had struck her enemy and not some nearby car, the Nikke grit her teeth and ran around her cover while continuously firing her gun. A laser brushed past her cheek and a small Rapture no larger than a car's tire was accidentally crushed under her foot. She always forgot about the little ones. Was there even a point to them?

Vehicles weren't good protection by any stretch of the imagination, but something was better than nothing so while managing to take out a few more Raptures, Marian ducked behind a rusty truck. She was sure there were only a few enemies left, including Hexagon. In her mind she could see where they just were before she moved out of sight. If she waited too long they'd move to different locations. Raptures were mindless robots that simply marched at the person they wanted to kill.

It was good that Marian took her job so seriously that she trained right up until the mission started. This was what her constant training was for, rapidly snapping between targets. She was proud of her ability to assess a battlefield in a split second and accurately hit all her targets immediately afterwards.

Wasting time wasn't getting her anywhere, so Marian, still crouched, leaned around her cover and accurately fired into four Raptures in quick succession, destroying them. Hexagon fired lasers from its back and the truck wasn't going to block those beams so Marian rolled out of cover, steadied herself and unloaded into Hexagon. She only performed such a risky manoeuvre because she was certain all the other Raptures had been dealt with, and she was correct. No bullets or lasers came from anywhere except Marian's gun. She was free to kill Hexagon without any worries so she unloaded into the Rapture. Before her one remaining enemy could fire more beams of energy at the Nikke before it, its internal electronics took too much damage, causing the Rapture to cease functioning and crumple to the ground.

Breathing heavily, Marian slowly stood up and surveyed the area. Only one Rapture remained, the one she'd shot the leg off at the beginning of the battle. Brushing her hair aside, Marian simply watched for a minute as the injured Rapture attempted to stand but fell, over and over until she felt her heart rate had decreased and she had entered a state of calm. Then she raised her gun and shot the last Rapture twice, with her second shot hitting its core and causing the machine to stop moving.

— — — — —

Sitting there listening to gunfire, Commander couldn't help but feel useless. He was not equipped for fighting Raptures. No human was. But he could at least see the bigger picture and give orders to his squad in order to help them. That was the entire point of a commander. To command Nikke in battle.

Feeling a bit better than he did a minute ago, Commander forced himself to his feet by using the wall behind him as support. Finally standing on his own two feet, albeit a bit unsteadily, Commander felt a stray breeze hit his chest. He understood why his torso was available for the world to see and if he had to be honest, the breeze felt good. But this was a battlefield and Commander wasn't a nudist so he buttoned up his brown military coat. The buttons on his white shirt were broken due to it being ripped open but his coat buttons were still okay. Then he looked to his side and saw what remained of BA-01. The transport ship had hit the ground so hard that it had created a small crater, and when he investigated that crater he saw her. Flower was unmoving, lying near the main wreckage of the transport ship.

Commander grimaced, leant down to where he was just sitting and plucked the white-petalled flower his hand came into contact with earlier. With the flower firmly in his grasp, he approached his fallen Nikke. She was so heavily damaged there was no way she survived the impact. Her throat was missing, half her face had been blown off, a foot was gone and then probably the most intense wound was her torso. She wasn't just missing an arm, she was missing a third of her damn chest. That would've taken out a lung and probably heavily damaged her core that acted as a Nikke heart.

Gritting his teeth, Commander delicately rolled Flower onto her back and placed the white-petalled flower in her hands above her stomach. He remembered his final moments on that ship. Flower had covered him with her body. He was alive now because of this Nikke. She was so heavily damaged because of her dedication to the objective all Nikke have. Protect the commander.

"Thank you, Flower. Sun. Rest well. Maybe one day we'll have a proper conversation."

He couldn't forget Sun either. She must've taken the brunt of the explosion since she moved ahead of Flower. Commander looked at the wreckage before him and couldn't help but imagine Sun being absolutely obliterated due to her decision to protect him and Flower. There probably wasn't much of her left. Why had they done such a thing? Was it because he tried to treat them normally? If that were the case, then maybe the world would be more than just a better place if Nikke were treated like humans. Maybe they would perform better during missions. There was scientific evidence to show people performed better with high morale, which surely applied to Nikke too.

At that moment Commander saw his path laid out before him. Treat Nikke like people. Countless Nikke had sacrificed themselves to save this world, and what they received in return was nothing but disdain. But this new commander could be different. He could give Nikke a reason to fight. This wasn't just about improving their performance in battle, this was about treating Nikke the way they should be treated. It was about giving them back their humanity and letting them live normally. It was like a weight was lifted off Commander's shoulders. Like chains restricting him had been broken. The Ark and the Central Government were wrong. He was going to show them just how wrong they were, he was going to give them evidence. Nikke should be treated like the humans they are.

Because he was so immersed in his own mind, Commander had failed to realise the nearby battle had ended and the Nikke that helped him was now standing by his side. Once he snapped out of his trance he felt a hand touch his back. Now that he was paying attention, he was surprised to see his helper was more than a full head shorter than he was. He hadn't paid attention until now, but from what he could recall all Nikke were short. It was probably to save on resource costs.

"We need to move out, Commander." She was hesitant to say it, but it seemed like he'd had some time to mourn. And then she realised what she had just thought. Mourn? Mourn who? From the scene before her eyes, Marian could see that Commander was mourning a Nikke. Not the bloodied and battered bodies of other humans that lay motionless on the ground, but a Nikke. If she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes she wouldn't have believed it. Was this man decent towards the android weapons created solely to protect humanity? Marian wanted to know more, but for now she had a job to do. "This may be a bit sudden, but with you being the only human left, that makes me your Nikke. I am under your command. I will follow your orders and keep you safe until we return to the Ark."

"I guess I've got no choice." Commander said, looking at the woman from the corner of his eye. No, that wasn't good enough. He needed to be more assertive. Show more confidence. He was going to be the commander that tried to change the Ark, the least he could do was not act feeble. Once he'd steeled himself, Commander turned to face the Nikke and put a hand out. As they shook hands, he spoke. "I look forward to working with you, erm…"

With a kind smile that showed primarily via her eyes, she responded. "I'm Marian. And the feeling is mutual. I will protect you no matter what. We will get through today. I promise."