M4A1 sat beside the left side door of the variable craft as she watched the sun slowly rise from the horizon while recalling all of what just happened. It was noon when they left the base and arrived at the city at dawn. She stared at the bullet holes in her left arm and began feeling it with her right hand. A lot of them got some injuries from all of the fights they had after they found Big Boss and Persicaria.
M4A1 received several bullet wounds from the abdomen and her left arm. M16A1 received multiple cuts from the melee type SF when they broke through their defenses and some shots to her back. ST AR-15 received a stab wound in her right thigh and left shoulder blade. RO635 received bullet wounds in her arms while M4 SOPMOD II doesn't have any visible damage due to her being able to salvage parts from fallen SF androids.
HK416 received minor bullet wounds from the front and back. G11 lost both of her legs from the knees up. UMP9 lost her entire right arm while UMP45 received multiple cuts, stabs, and bullet wounds though they look like scratches at first glance.
Raiden only lost his left arm from Executioner but SOPMOD and RO manage to give him a new left arm. ICEY received several small cuts, though nothing serious. Big Boss and Solid Snake were both relatively unscathed. Persicaria receives minor scratches and bruises from the flying debris even during hiding. Sam Shirohime on the other hand, received a stab wound from his right abdomen, broken left ribs, dislocated right ankle and right shoulder, and a noticeable scar to the left side of his forehead.
"How did you end up in that kind of mess?" Big Boss asked Sam.
"I messed up." Sam chuckled. "I was dead-set on retrieving that artifact, as opposed to just ensuring that all of you stay alright." he added.
"I accidentally activated it and saw that all of the SF androids suddenly glitched out. That must've meant you guys also glitched out?" Sam asked.
"We did…" Big Boss answered.
"I'm sorry about that…" Sam apologized.
"Don't be, that saved us and bought everyone some time." Big Boss patted his shoulder. "We're just about to get overrun when it happened." He added.
"Is that so?" Sam let out a sigh of relief. "I still have no idea why me and the rest of the rescue team aren't affected by it…"
"Hey guys! Look!" SOPMOD, who was sitting at the right side doors pointed out to the distant horizon.
The Genesis large warship was fleeing from three rectangular-shaped warships, one big warship, and two small escort warships. Genesis' aircraft were duking it out against a spherical, eyeball-looking flying craft.
"Holy shit! Those warships are flying!" Raiden chortled. "Are those what they call starships?"
"Yeah." Sam answered as he tried to get up. Big Boss assisted Sam as he looked outside.
"No fucking way!" Sam exclaimed, almost distracted enough not to mind his injuries. "Those warships that are chasing our warships are from Star Wars!" He added.
"... Star what-s?" Snake muttered.
"Yeah, what is that?" M4A1 asked.
"I'll uh– explain that later on! But what you need to know now is that the big one over there is called the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Then those two smaller escorts are Gladiator class Star Destroyers. And finally, the weirdest ones yet, those eyeball-shaped fighters are called TIE/LN Star Fighters!" Sam explained.
The mounted cannons placed at the stern of the Genesis Warship began blasting the Imperial-class ships but its shield was sturdy enough to shrug off all of those attacks. The Imperial-class retaliated by firing all of its energy weapons towards the Genesis Warship. Genesis received some damage right after.
The Genesis warship concentrated its energy at the stern to defend the full salvo of energy beams. The TIE fighters began swarming the Genesis warship from both port and starboard. The Genesis fighters tried their best to defend their mothership but were slowly being overwhelmed by the sheer number of the TIE fighters.
"Tell the captain of HMNS Duke of Wilhelm to destroy those two domes located at the command tower of the Imperial Class, that's where the shield generators are!" Sam ordered the pilot.
"Yes sir!"
"Where's HMNS Amber Town? Did they get shot down?" Sam looked outside and saw his mecha fending off several TIE fighters.
"Sir! Looks like Amber Town managed to escape first thanks to the Duke of Wilhelm, and the variable craft carrying that walking tank got shot down and is being rescued by a bunch of strangers who are currently riding one of our 4x4 all-terrain vehicles!" The pilot reported.
An injured pilot of the crashed variable craft can be seen being treated by a petite, pink-haired little girl wearing an unfamiliar costume alongside a brown-haired girl wearing a shrine maiden outfit while the scene looked to be defended by another group including a boy with dark brown hair wielding a scythe, a girl with long dark brown hair with long pointy ears and pinkish-white skin wielding a staff, a girl with red twin-tail hair with a pale skin wielding an energy long sword, a blue hair man wielding a rifle, and a man with dark skin color using his bare fist to fend off the attackers. The attackers were all wearing white armor and white helmets wielding energy rifles and pistols. Even with their opponents' decent accuracy, the group of strangers who were on the offensive had enough wiggle room to take them head-on.
"Damn it! They're being surrounded by Stormtroopers!" Sam grabbed a radio. "Pancakes! Ya hear me? Get over here! I'll be piloting!" Sam shouted at the radio.
"Roger!" Pancakes replied as she remote-piloted the borrowed mecha and made it hover closer to the variable craft. Not minding the pain he felt from his recently treated wounds, Sam jumped right back out of the variable craft and landed onto the back of the mecha.
"You guys go and support those people down there! I'll be dealing with those Star Destroyers!" Sam ordered them as he entered the mecha's cockpit from the back and zoomed towards the star destroyers while shooting down a couple of TIE fighters on the way.
The variable craft they were riding performed several gun runs at the approaching enemies at the crash site before landing nearby it. M4A1, M16A1, RO, SOPMOD, HK416, UMP45, Big Boss, Snake, Raiden, and ICEY jumped out of the craft and assisted the group in protecting the downed craft. AR-15 stayed behind the craft and provided some sniper cover while it flew around the downed craft. G11 and UMP9 stayed behind at the craft due to the earlier damages that they received.
"H-hey! We're here to help you out!" M4A1 tapped the pink-haired girl by her shoulder and that startled her.
"Eep! Ah! Oh! I-I healed him up but he's still unconscious… there are still some people stuck inside the vehicle!" the pink-haired girl cried. "Me and Chiyome can't do anything about that! Please help!"
Acting upon the stranger's plea, M4A1 immediately entered the wreckage and assessed the situation. One of the two pilots under that wreck took a stab by a one-and-a-half-inch diameter metallic pipe towards his left shoulder while the other pilot near him had his legs stuck in the debris. With all her might, she lifted the totaled vehicle and freed the pilots who got stuck in the debris. Lily and Chiyome helped by tugging on the injured pilots underneath. But one of them got stuck and won't budge despite clearing off the debris that crushed them.
"I need help! There's one here that got caught by a pipe and is bleeding! I fear that it might worsen when I tried to remove it!" M4A1 shouted in agony. Raiden approached them and began helping out.
"Move!!" Raiden instructed as he swiftly cut down the right angle of the aircraft. In one slash, the wreckage was cut alongside the pipe that caught that pilot, freeing him and allowing the pair to tug him all the way to safety. A sliced pipe still was lodged into his shoulder, so an immediate archaic treatment must be administered.
"Deep breaths. We're about to pull this thing out of you." M4A1 slowly pulled out the pipe as the pilot screamed in pain. Lily and Chiyome immediately used their magic to heal the injured pilot, the wound slowly sealed itself up as if he wasn't wounded at all! Though this confused the injured pilot, he showed his gratitude immediately.
"We've successfully extracted the injured pilots out of the downed craft! We're pulling out!" Big Boss shouted through the radio.
"Roger that!'' The craft began descending and landed near the wrecked craft and they all immediately boarded the craft and left. The Stormtroopers nearby started firing at the escaping craft. Thanks to its strong armor, it managed to ignore all the energy beams being thrown at it. Fortunately, the weakest spot of the craft wasn't hit at all.
A bit cramped with so many characters fitting inside it, the little pink-haired girl was forced to sit on the lap of the shrine maiden. They let out a sigh of relief as their companions began introducing themselves.
"I am Kyra Akashiya." The aloof girl with red long twin tails introduced herself. The end part of her red twin tail had yellow and blue highlights.
"…I'm Griselda Utsu…" The quiet girl with long dark brown hair and pointy ears introduced herself. "…You can call me Zelda…" she added.
"I'm Light Gambles." A friendly, outgoing-looking man with blue hair holding an energy rifle introduced himself.
"I'm Tank Chaos." A meathead and mean-looking man with dark skin tone and dark gray hair introduced himself.
"I'm Kei Asashio." The slightly disinterested spiky brown-haired boy wielding a scythe introduced himself.
"M-my name is Lily Altria!" The flustered, pink-haired girl holding a shiny staff introduced herself.
"I'm Chiyome Mochizuki." The gentle-natured, brown-haired girl slightly bowed at them as she introduced herself.
M4A1 and the gang introduced themselves to the now familiarized group.
"Holy shit! Guys! Look!" SOPMOD said as she pointed outside.
Everyone tried to look outside but it was a bit cramped and some are having a hard time seeing the commotion outside the craft.
"Hey, you guys! Be careful!" The pilot shouted.
"I-I can't see!…" Lily tried her best to see what was going on but was unable to.
"Up you go." Big Boss picks up Lily so she can see what's going on.
"W-whoaa!…" Lily's face flushed with embarrassment as she was easily picked up like a kid.
They all watch as Sam blasted the Imperial-class Star Destroyer's shield dome and command tower into smithereens with his mecha and continued to rain hell upon it right after. After taking enough hits, the critically damaged starship slowly descended to the ground as it lost control and created a huge explosion the moment it hit the earth. Sam and his mecha got caught in the explosion but only was blown away. The two remaining Gladiator classes immediately turned to 180 degrees and commenced hyperspace jump and immediately fled from the battlefield. Sam's mecha hovers out of the smoking wreckage of the fallen star destroyer as the people in the variable craft cheer. He flew off and returned to HMNS Duke of Wilhelm.
"By the way, where's the Metal Gear Rex? The walking tank?" Snake asked one of the injured pilots.
"We dropped it off the HMNS Duke of Wilhelm before returning outside to pick those people up." the injured pilot answered as he pointed at Lily and her gang.
HMNS Duke of Wilhelm met up with HMNS Amber Town who landed at the nearby shores. They began setting up defense parameters and sent out patrols in case the enemy fleet returned with vengeance.
Inside the HMNS Duke of Wilhelm, the gang met up with Sam who was still inside his parked mecha. Sam scurried himself out of the mecha's cockpit. His wounds were far from healed and pain only worsened from his overexertion. With one mishap with his grip, he fell out of the cockpit and headed straight for the ground. Fortunately, he was caught by the nearby people there. Some rushed over to him when they saw him like that.
"You shouldn't have pushed yourself there…" Snake told Sam the moment he got down safely.
"Uh… Haha, sorry… Old habits die hard" Sam replied as he smiled away the pain.
"What do we do now?" Snake asked.
"You guys go take some R&R. We just had one helluva day. I bet you're all beat and want to rest, so go do that for now." Sam told them. "After I get patched up, we'll meet at the briefing rooms for that long-deserved debriefing."
"I'll take that offer." Snake answered. "How about you guys?"
"Yeah, we'll do the same." Tank answered.
"We'll have ourselves repaired before taking a rest." Raiden answered.
"Oh right!" Sam called for Green Tea, Pancakes, and Silent.
"You girls go assist them." Sam ordered them.
"I thought Pancakes is also piloting the mecha that Sam just piloted." M4A1 whispered. "Did she remote control it from the outside?"
"Yes, but before that." Pancakes put Sam on a stretcher.
"H-hey hey! I can walk!" Sam complained.
"That's a no-no!" Pancakes begin pushing the stretcher away.
"All right! All the androids and cyborgs, come with me!" Green Tea gleefully shouted as she led them to the repair station, Persicaria tagged along with them.
"Geh! How did you manage to sleep with all of that commotion?" HK416 pinched G11's cheeks as she was being carried by UMP45 in the back. "And not to mention, half of your body's missing…"
She was only answered by comfortable snores. Silent started counting the rest of the gang who remained.
"Okay, we will need eight rooms for you all." Silent asserted.
"Ummm, We're nine…" Chiyome added.
"I think you forgot to count Lily…" Kei stuck a thumb out towards Lily.
"H-hey!" Lily fretted.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I wasn't able to notice…" Silent apologized.
"I-it's okay…" (Lily's face turns red due to embarrassment.) Remaining silent after the apology, Lily shot a glare at her.
Silent just tried to ignore it but still was shook by that simple mistake.
Silent led them to the quarters with several empty rooms. Lily entered her own designated room and locked it shut behind her. She then immediately jumped towards the bed the moment the door closed.
"Hwaaa~" Lily lets out a huge sigh. "Today's been one stressful day… As if I needed more than what I originally had anyway." After shaking off her boots and laying down on her side, she closed her eyes and aimed to sleep. "Time for bed then. Surely I'd wake up from this nightmare, layered on top of my original nightmare."
But during the thought of wanting to sleep, she suddenly wasn't able to rest at all. Her fatigue was replaced with an out-of-place restlessness.
"Agh!" She groaned out loud and sat herself up. "Why am I even here?!"
The only answer that came to her question was a sudden series of knocks on the door.
"Eep!"
A startled Lily immediately rushed towards the door to open it. It wasn't the time to feel existential all over again after all.
"Hey, Lily!" Chiyome waved as she greeted.
"O-oh! Hello Chiyome!" Lily greeted back in courtesy.
"I don't think I'm still tired despite all that just happened, sooo would you like to accompany me for a bit? I want to check out the shore somewhere!" Chiyome mentioned while smiling.
"S-sure…" Lily agreed with a half-willing intention.
Lily and Chiyome headed out of their dormitories and made the journey towards this shore Chiyome was talking about.
"I'm relieved…" Chiyome stood by and looked down at Lily.
"Y-you are?" Lily stopped and stared back at her.
"I thought you were crying because you hurriedly entered your room and I was relieved to see that you are fine!" Chiyome chuckles as Lily's face turns red yet again.
"Uweh! W-w-why would you think I'll cry?" Lily complained.
"You do look like the type to cry a lot, that's all~" Chiyome chuckled.
Lily blankly stared at her as a response.
"If there's something in your mind, you can have me listen to you!" Chiyome patted Lily.
Lily teared up a bit without her own knowledge as Chiyome patted her on the head.
Flashing back to that time when they all were transported to this unknown world, she remembered it clearly. Unlike the others who seemed to have been transported alongside their friends or pairs, Lily was the only one who got transported all alone. Kei and Chiyome found her passed out in the middle of the desert. Sam found the three afterward and gave them the 4x4 vehicle to ride on and bumped into Kyra and her gang later on.
"I was scared and all alone when I got here. But– it's not like it's anything new…" Lily chuckled dryly. "I'm just a bit happy things are a little different this time."
"Of course, things turned out different, you're not alone anymore and I'm here for you!"
Chiyome patted Lily. Lily still was flustered with the sudden attention but reminisced about the familiar feeling with someone she knew from another world. With that reasoning in mind, she stayed still and took it willingly.
"Thanks, Chiyome." Lily was conscious enough to mind and wipe her tears away.
"You can call me 'Chi'-chan instead." Chiyome smiled.
Only then it all added up. Her traditional shrine miko outfit, her name, her mannerisms.
'No doubt she's genuinely japanese.' Lily thought to herself.
"Ah. Chi-chan then." Lily replied and smiled back at her.
They sat on the rocks beside the shore and chatted about stuff to better understand each other's viewpoints about their respective worlds… until they were interrupted by a huge floating naval base suddenly appearing in front of them from out of nowhere. Multiple girls can be seen running around treating the other injured girls.
"N-no! Let go of me!" A blonde girl shouted as her companions stopped her. "My sister is out there! I have to save her!" she shouted.
"Hipper! Please, stop!" Another blonde girl with a bigger chest stopped her. "You're injured! You need to take a rest first!"
"But my sister, Eugen! She…needs…help!…" Hipper slowly passed out due to her injuries.
Several personnel from the Genesis corps suddenly appeared, climbed aboard the massive structure, met up with the girls, and didn't hesitate to lend aid towards all the injured on-site.
"Wait… I think I know those characters!" Lily told her in reply.
"Eh? 'Characters'? Are they your friends or something?" Chiyome asked.
"N-not in a literal sense, but from what I remember they're all from this one game a friend bugged me to try. A gacha–" Lily answered Chiyome. "... ah wait wait. Right right. That'd probably be another piece of info that may need proper orientation for some later time. At least right now we should focus on having unfamiliar company."
Hearing herself, she jumped at the sudden realization when she saw a couple of warships docked at the side of the floating naval base.
"Ueeh! Where did that gundam come from?!" She exclaimed as she pointed at the 'gundam' kneeling on one of the warships docked.
"Eh??" Chiyome is a bit confused about what Lily just said but mostly confused about the sudden arrival of new people on a whim. "W-what on Earth is happening??"