Larnos awoke to a headache he had not felt in a long time. He was no longer laying by the wall next to his mech. Hard drilled training by instructors from those specialized boot camps took over and he surveyed his surroundings.
Two of the nikke stood a few yards away from him with his mech a few feet away. He would have moved had it not being for another nikke watching over him.
She had shoulder length dirt blonde hair and amber eyes. She wore a yellow jacket with a white undershirt which revealed a lot of cleavage with a diagonal slash over her cleavage. Directly underneath her bust were two rows of what looked like grenades with each row having four of them. She had on extremely short pants with thigh high boots and a single knee pad on her right leg. On her back was a futuristic assault rifle.
"He's awake," she notified the others, her eyes trained on him as she did so.
Larnos instinctively tried to reach for a hidden combat knife under his left thigh but winced in pain as the adrenaline had now worn off and pain now took its place. The woman, no older than 26 watched him with a deadpan stare while her cleavage was out in the open for all to see.
'How bad is it that they now allow half naked women to fight?' he thought to himself as the duo continued their stare off while he tried his best not to stare at her cleavage.
"Anis," a voice called out from beyond his range of view. " It is rude to stare."
"He started it," the blonde now named Anis retorted. "Why don't you tell him that?"
The duo made their way towards him. His muscles began to tense in response. He had heard of the word 'nikke' but that was during the early stages of the war and even then it was a joke among the pilots. Apparently some madman theorized that battle androids could be used to replace the rapidly dwindling amount of soldiers that fought but it was not at the top of the list for the world powers as far as he knew due to the incident occurring at the time.
The one on the left had blonde shoulder length hair which ended in thinner strands as it got to the end. She wore what looked like a black swimsuit which completely covered her mid section and a short black coat with the inside being bright red as well as a tie. On her waist was a belt with multiple pouches as well as a black, extremely short frill skirt and beneath that she had on thigh high stockings. Her black and red gloves were on her rifle which looked bulky and had a bigger barrel underneath the firing muzzle.
The one on the right had silver hair barely going past her shoulders. She wore a white short coat with a navy colored undershirt and had on a skirt so short he could actually catch glimpses of her underwear which caused him to look away out of respect. But he was able to see her weapon which looked to be a vertical double barreled white shotgun.
'But that was a theory,' he reasoned internally. ' Or had they already begun testing and production long before the rumors reached me? '
He looked at the leg that was impaled in the fight. The bleeding had long stopped but what took his attention was the scar. There was no plausible way that wound would have healed that fast without the use of plastiseal and even that would take some time for the healing to kick in.
"I am Rapi and this is Neon," the one in red said before pointing to the silver haired one.
"I believe this is yours," Neon said as she handed him his rifle and pistol.
Larnos had many questions but decided that it would be best to let them say everything they had to say and took the weapons and placed it by his side.
"That mech of yours," Neon gestured to it as it now lay against a different wall. " That thing is extremely old. Where did you get it?"
He looked Neon dead in the eye and replied;
"I am inclined to not tell you but that would not stop you would it?"
Neon simply returned with a neutral gaze but that shifts into a smirk as she gets in close. Larnos reacted by leaping over her to everyone's shock including his.
He lands on his feet a few feet away from the trio which did not make any sense. His left leg should be akin to being pierced by a thousand needles. He gives it a shake, testing it to see if it works and everything seems to be in place.
"Can humans do that?" he overheard Anis ask the other two.
He ignored the trio and made his way over to his mech. Its battered hull gave off a dull glow in the light. He looked at the hole created by the rapture from earlier.
His eyes dull over as he recalls the fight where he should have died on paper. The only reason he survived was because of his mech or as it was officially called when he first saw it, Vessel which was supposed to be an acronym for some long word he never bothered to remember.
It sounded too complicated so he and the others decided to call them mechs because that's what they were. Speaking of the others, where could they be?
He turned to look at the trio, each wearing an expression of intrigue. He wanted to ask how humanity was doing but the thought of that evolved rapture stopped him. How many of them were there now? How many 'Outers' as he and the other pilots were called would it take for them to take out just one?
"You," he pointed at Rapi. " What year is this?"
" 2340," she answered without hesitation.
' So I didn't hear that wrong,' he thought. ' Two hundred fucking years.'
He slumped down to his knees as the crushing weight of his reality began to set in. Most likely all his friends were dead and the war was still on going and it seems the raptures were never defeated.
He let out a chuckle as he realized this. There was no light at the end, no victory that sparked the counter offensive that would reclaim the earth for humans. Nothing at all.
' Why do I fight anymore? I am no longer needed. Everything is gone to shit and the raptures fucking won, ' he thought to himself.
" Systems rebooting." A robotic voice cuts through the silence. "Recalibrating."
Red light began to emanate from the heavily damaged chest piece of his mech. The light suddenly cuts off before anyone could do anything. His mech began to move on its own, defying logic.
"Initializing," the voice continued. " Searching for primary host."
The mech suddenly sprang to its feet and seemed to be looking for something. Its metallic gaze landed on Larnos after a moment.
"Host confirmed. Beginning reconstruction."
His mech began to repair itself right in front of him. Damaged equipment began to revert back to their pristine condition. The broken blade it held began to restore itself. As its components began to restore themselves the fifteen feet tall mech knelt down on one leg and its head piece looked down at Larnos.
The two watched each other in silence. Man and machine joined by countless battles fought together and now in a world where they are seemingly long forgotten.
Larnos looked up at his now fully repaired mech observe him. It was almost like it awaited a command from him. His eyes drift over to his weapons that lay on the makeshift bed inside the dilapidated building.
His mech extends its right arm and a dull blue light emanates from its opened metallic hand. The glow engulfs his weapons and sends them flying past the group of women and towards the two.
It stops just right in front of him. They too seemed to be in pristine condition. He stretched out his hand but paused momentarily. His mech seemed to notice this and gently shifted the weapons closer.
"Guess we still fight huh," he said as he grabs both weapons. "Fucking human spirit doesn't know when to call it quits."
The mech simply watches him as he places the pistol in its holster. He turns to look at the trio that had watched all this in silence and addressed them;
" My name is Larnos. I do not recall my last name nor do I wish to, I am an Outer pilot and that is my battle mech, class model Mercury. I fought in the initial stages of the rapture war two hundred years ago.
It appears that I am in a world where my comrades are dead and or forgotten but I vow to aid you in protecting humanity or defending its legacy should they all have been released from this mortal plane. But should you stand against humanity I will do everything in my power to kill you."
In response to his speech, his mech stood up to its full height and entered a stance that depicted it ready for battle.
Larnos realized that his body armor had also undergone drastic changes. It now had multiple layers with most of it being around his torso and neck. Reaching up to his neck a helmet engulfs his head from the neck up. Reaching to the spot he touched earlier, the helmet retracted into the suit.
" So what exactly is a nikke?" he asked the trio.
" A nikke is a humanoid soldier manufactured to fight raptures," Rapi answered.
"How goes the war?" Larnos asked after a moment of contemplation. "Is humanity still in existence?"
The trio share a weary look leaving the time displaced human uncomfortable.
"Well?" he presses. " Do humans still exist?"
"Yes," Rapi answers but her eyes don't meet his. " Humans lost the war and were forced underground over a century ago into the structure known as the Ark."
Larnos was left dumbfounded by this. Humanity had not only lost but were now reduced to living underground just to survive.
"Then why are you here?" he questioned. "If humanity lost and you were created to protect humanity why not guard them then? "
"Because we are sent out here for multiple reasons," Rapi answered.
Before Larnos could continue questioning the trio the ground began to shake. Two more women come barreling down a ruined street with one dragging a young man wearing some kind of ceremonial light brown military attire.
Behind them was a rapture much larger than any Larnos had seen before since coming to this age. It had limbs akin to that of a gorilla with its fore limbs being exceptionally large with red pulsating lines going up the arms. Multiple whip like appendages came out of its back as it chased after the group.
It wore a large grin which gave off an aura of insanity and reminded him of that one clown villain from some twenty-first comics he would read who had a similar grin. The trio made a beeline for Larnos and the others with the beast close on their heels.
Larnos and his mech made a dash towards the incoming group. Taking aim, he unloads half of his mag into the charging rapture which forces it to turn away from the group.
"What the hell was that?!" a voice emanated from the rapture.
'Interesting,' Larnos muttered to himself as he emptied his magazine into the rapture which was able to talk.
His mech moved closer to him, opening the cockpit as if to gesture him to enter. He begins moving towards the mech, swapping in a new magazine then opens fire into the hulking mass.
In one swift movement he enters the suit and the once non functional radar came to life. Sheathing his blade he equips the assault rifle for his mech and opened fire with a thunderous burst.
Chunks of flesh began to tear off the rapture and it roared in pain and charged at him. Side stepping the swing he struck the face of the rapture with the butt of the rifle, breaking a few of its teeth.
It staggered back yet he did not relent and fired into its limbs, tearing chunks out of both limbs causing it to crash into the ground due to lack of support. Larnos noticed the flesh on its back began to regenerate.
"Those relics won't be enough to hurt me!" it proclaimed in defiance.
"Are you sure about that?" Larnos replied as his radar picked up a heat source closing in on them.
The rapture roared as it charged at him but he dodged its charge and grabbed it from behind and delivered a rear naked choke which transitioned it into a half throw then suplex mid way. It crashed head first into the ground with a heavy thud.
"Still think these 'relics' aren't tough enough to kill you?"
The heat source came to a stop not far from where he was and judging by the way it utilized the ruins it could be a long range unit of some sort. He let go of the rapture and put some distance between the two of them.
Almost immediately a beam of light tore through multiple buildings as it tore through the rapture with ease. Another beam tears through the rapture, then a third until a barrage descends upon it forcing the rapture to flee.
A figure clad in a white coat holding a massive sniper rifle reveals herself to the group. Before anyone can ask about her identity she instructs them to return home before vanishing from view but not from his radar which showed her heading in the same direction as the rapture she fired upon.
Flipping on the safety on his rifle he lets out a sigh. Seems raptures had gone through an entire evolution line in two hundred years which was both impressive and terrifying.
"And you are?" a sultry voice asked the veteran soldier.
With the commotion gone he now paid closer attention to the new trio. Two women and the man. The man had light brown hair with bangs covering his eyes which made Larnos wonder how he could even see.
The shorter of the two women had pink hair which barely passed her elbows which had two red ribbons in it. She had on a white long sleeved shirt paired with shorts that barely covered her thighs with black boots. On her abdomen were multiple belt straps and another strap of black cloth on her left thigh. She had a fingerless glove on only her left hand which held the strap of a jet black rocket launcher that was almost her size. Her light silver eyes watched Larnos with intrigue.
The taller of the two who held the man had a lighter shade of black hair with the insides being a light shade of purple. She had on a black spandex bra with multiple straps of the same color around her torso. She wore an office skirt of the same material which also barely went past her thighs which was connected to thigh high latex stockings by multiple spandex straps. She also had a white overcoat. Her assault rifle was on her back with the muzzle facing the ground.
' Seems nikke come in all forms,' he thought as he observed the group and they observed him.
"Larnos," he voiced out, the suit's speakers making his voice much more robotic than he remembered.
"Are you some kind of nikke?" the shorter woman asked, her voice high pitched like that of a child.
"No, I am a human," he answered.
That seemed to leave the new trio in shock. He knew they had questions as did he but this was neither the time nor place to have a QnA session.
"Listen," he spoke up while taking a look at his radar which had no blimps on it. "It seems you are on some sort of mission, I can aid you and in return we answer each other's questions. Deal?"
The group of six shared glances amongst themselves before all the women looked at the man in military attire for a sign. He gave a nod after a moment and Rapi spoke to him.
"We are on our way to a radio tower to call for help," she told him. " Since the commander has agreed to your offer you will accompany us. Deal?"
Larnos let out of a chuckle before he agreed and the group set out towards the radio tower.