Identification

"**Identification**" is the second Story chapter of *Goddess of Victory: Nikke*.

This chapter follows the story of Counters squad who are tasked in investigating a power station up to the surface.

## Synopsis

Having come back "successful" from their previous mission, Counters catches the attention of Deputy Chief Andersen, one of the Ark's authority figures. Whatever he sees in the protagonist, it's worth giving another mission to...test him.

When the mission ends in failure due to circumstances beyond Counters' control, Andersen banishes them to the Outpost, a dilapidated backwater teeming with Raptures. There, they find themselves "graced" by an unexpected visitor.

### Investigate the Power Station

Given it's her first time on the surface, Neon marvels at how different everything feels compared to the Ark. Anis reminds the Elysion "spy" that the surface is Rapture territory, and not keeping her head on a swivel is a good way to get beamed in said head. Shifty affirms such a warning, reminding the squad of their mission to reach the power station control room.

A scan of the area reveals that the best path to the station is by the maglev rails. Unfortunately, said rails still have a live charge running through them, which while no issue for a Nikke, will easily turn a squishy human like the protagonist from rare to well-done. With that in mind, the squad's first objective to is disable the electricity,

### Do Not Use When Alone

A yelp from Neon sends the squad into alert mode, with Anis and Rapi bracing for a Rapture incursion. When no such attack happens, it turns out Neon...didn't notice anything and just randomly blurted. After a brief moment of Anis explaining the unspoken rules of the surface, the squad decides to ask what Neon's "ah" was about. It came from a bit of an idea she had to put rubber boots on the protagonist's feet so he can walk on the electrified rails. The idea is immediately vetoed by Shifty, as no amount of feasible insulation could possibly protect a human against the voltage they're dealing with.

### Command Center

Reaching the power controls, Shifty asks the protagonist to use the CombiLink, a device attached to his mobile allowing the manipulation of electronic devices. The fact that Rapi needs to walk him through the steps to use the feature doesn't win him any points, with Anis questioning if he even graduated from the military academy.

With the power disabled, the way to the station is now clear. The mission can now commence, though for some reason Neon is still thinking they need to find some rubber boots.

### Long Live Firepower

With another Rapture group destroyed, Anis airs her concerns regarding Neon's...tendencies in combat. Neon herself asserts that it's a risk she's willing to take, as weaponry (ergo firepower) is the only thing preventing the enemy from killing them all. She tries to lead the squad in a cheer for firepower, only to get immediately shot down by an unamused Anis.

### Into the Power Station

With the power station coordinates confirmed, the squad goes over their method of ingress. Obviously, the front door is no-go since there's a risk of Raptures in the facility. According to reports, the station reactivated itself recently, though no one knows how or why. Attempts to investigate using a reconnaissance-in-force led to the annihilation of the troops involved.

Possible risks aside, the fact is that this power station is big enough to supply the *entire Ark* for 2 whole months, making it a high-value target. Anis snarks that it's clearly not "high-valued" enough to send anything greater than a ragtag squad led by a newbie commander. As the protagonist orders the continuation of the mission, Anis' remarks become increasingly snarky, culminating in Rapi claiming the latter's remarks could constitute a potential insubordination charge, punishable by summary execution. The argument continues as Rapi reminds the squad that the protagonist has yet to even suggest a plan of action, and Anis is already acting like they're all being sent to die.

The protagonist's plan is to try and sneak into the facility, which according to Shifty...*is* doable, based on her detection of an alternative route...

### A Messy Entrance

Said alternative route is revealed to be a drainpipe leading directly to the facility. Unfortunately said pipe is blocked by debris, so they're about to consider this route no good since digging through seems infeasible. Then the protagonist suggests busting through using firepower, which is all he needs to say to get Neon onboard.

Anis warns that such an action will not be subtle in any fashion, but Shifty notes that no Rapture activity is within their vicinity, so their demolition work won't drop a swarm on their heads. At Neon's assistance, the squad leaves the heavy work to the "spy", who starts busting the obstruction with liberal application of firepower.

Some time later, the debris is all clear. As Counters marvels over Neon's impressive demolition work, the Nikke in question turns to the protagonist, thanking him for his...teaching? Apparently, she sees this situation as her nearly straying from her path of firepower, before the protagonist enlightened her to the way like a "wise old master", and ends up changing her manner of address from "Commander" to "Master", much to Rapi's chagrin.

### Dark, Damp, and Stinky

The inside of the pipe is, as expected, dark, smelly, and small enough that everyone has to crawl on their knees to fit. The Nikkes have turned off their olfactory sensors to compensate, save for Neon who seems to have an aversion to dehumanizing herself like that. Rapi checks in the protagonist's condition, to which he claims he's ~~doing peachy~~ it stinks. Said remarks are *not* appreciated by Anis, given how the squad's lineup on entering the pipe means the commander is *right behind* Anis in *more ways than one*.

Proceeding through the pipe, Neon muses at the protagonist's out-of-the-box thinking, given how most commanders in this scenario would blitzkrieg the front door with their Nikkes. Anis snarks that those other commanders are too lazy to think of alternative tactics, self-absorbed as they are in all the ego-stroking they indulge in.

Just then, Rapi tells the squad to stop all of a sudden. The abrupt cessation of their advance causes the protagonist to bump face-first into Anis' posterior. After a moment of more comments that Anis does not appreciate, the Tetra Nikke asks what the holdup is for. Rapi noticed light at the end of the pipe, meaning they've made into the station.

### Dropped It: A

The squad notices Raptures crawling all over the place, and they're...operating the machinery? As the squad parses over this unforeseen development, a beam whizzes by their position. They've been spotted.

Counters prepares to fight a running battle, only for a beam to separate Rapi's head from her shoulders, sending it tumbling towards the protagonist. The man can only look in frozen horror, only snapped out of it by Anis. The facility begins to rumble and shake, which Shifty identifies as the presence of a Tyrant-class Rapture. With their combat capability compromised with Rapi's demise, Counters has no choice but to retreat.

### Dropped It: B

The squad is making decent progress, but they're still not out of the facility yet. Seeing the protagonist continue to be catatonic, Anis quite literally slaps some sense into him, reminding him that Rapi isn't completely dead so long as her head is intact. Coming back to reality, the protagonist orders the squad to make a break for it, with Neon passing over Rapi's head so he can carry it while she fights. The head is heavier than he expected...

### Responsibility

Having escaped from Grave Digger and returned alive, the protagonist is in a meeting with Andersen, who bluntly tells him he's been banished. The mission was to investigate the power station, but thanks to the...shenanigans that ensued, the station and all its resources have been obliterated, with nothing of value to even salvage. Two months' worth of resources and more than that much time in preparation, all in vain. The Deputy Chief refuses to hear any excuses, explaining the protagonist and Counters are being shunted to the Outpost, a wasteland frontier with Raptures on all sides. The way he sees it, it's a merciful alternative to tossing them all in a "rehabilitation center". He also explains Rapi's repairs are proceeding normally, and she will rejoin his squad once they're complete. With that said, Andersen dismisses the protagonist so he can prepare for his departure.

With the protagonist gone, Ingrid can freely report the results of their analyses. The data shows that the squad didn't perform any better in live combat than the simulation, yet *somehow* they managed to fend off the Raptures inside the power station, which are a grade above the ones that wander the surface. This intriguing development is why Counters and their commander were banished to the Outpost, where this matter and its subjects can be investigated and kept away from the wandering eyes of the Central Government.

As for the matter of Raptures being able to operate human machinery, Ingrid has two conclusions, neither of them good. Either the Raptures are bent on wiping humanity off the face of the earth, or they're looking to *replace* them...

### Outpost

Looking over the desolate Outpost, Anis bemoans why they're being sent to some backwater like this. Neon is much more optimistic, gleeful at how she can fire her weapon as much as she wants and no one will try to penalize her for it. While Anis tries and fails to share Neon's optimism regarding their situation, the latter remembers that they'll need a place to sleep for the night. The protagonist answers that they're going to use the dorms.

### Dormitory

Said dormitory looks more like a warehouse from the outside, and the interior isn't much better. The space is dimly-lit and confined, the provided rations are on the brink of expiry, and, to Neon's dismay, the bathroom has no running water. On top of that, both she and Anis feel uncomfortable at the prospect of sharing living space with the protagonist among...other things. The man assures them that he has his own quarters here, which relieves Anis for all of two seconds before she realizes something and asks to see his room...

### Command Center

The commander's quarters are far more lavish than the Nikke dorms, and Anis makes it clear how unfair she finds the arrangement. The space is big enough to run laps in, the provided sofa is as soft and comfy as the bed, and, as Neon discovers, *his* bathroom has running water.

The two complain about it a bit more before resigning themselves to it as another fundamental difference between how humans and Nikkes are treated. Then Anis gets the idea of trying to swap living space with the protagonist, a notion he declines no matter how much she tries to nudge him into it. Thankfully, Rapi arrives in time to back him up, warning Anis about the dangers of being spoiled.

Rapi came over to the Outpost as soon as her repairs finished, and from what's she seen so far, she can only comment on how the higher-ups are keen on making them suffer. Then after a moment of trying to tell the protagonist something, and fumbling over her words, Rapi finally decides to tell Anis and Neon something important; they *smell*. Turns out that neither of the two have found time or resources to freshen themselves up since the Gravedigger incident, and kind of just became nose-blind to the stenches. Fortunately the protagonist offers to let them use his bathroom to clean up, leaving them to sort it out while he follows Rapi's request to wait outside.

Outside the Command Center, Rapi bluntly asks the protagonist about their odds of survival out here. After a moment's silence, Rapi decides to revisit what she wanted to tell the protagonist before; he needs to remember that Nikkes are **not** humans. She noticed how he seemed to be mentally burdened by what happened to her in the power plant, and wanted to remind him that Nikkes are much harder to kill than humans. They have to be in order to defeat the Raptures. So he shouldn't be surprised when a Nikke under his command takes enough damage that would kill a human several times over, only to come back from it a shiny new body.

Turning away, Rapi asks the protagonist what he sees when he looks at Nikkes. His sentiment that they are no different from people is flattering to her, but she warns against harboring such thought for so long. The more time he spends fighting and interacting with them, the more he will be forced to face, if not accept, the fact that Nikkes and humans are fundamentally different. Noting how dark it's gotten outside, Rapi suggests everyone go to bed and rest for tomorrow.

Back in his room, the protagonist is about ready to call it a day when he notices a message on his phone. It's from Andersen, checking up on how he's doing at the Outpost. Despite having been the one to drop the punishment, the Deputy Chief is strangely supportive of the protagonist, dropping hints at how he can freely interact with the Nikkes there due to a lack of Ark oversight.

The next day, the protagonist wakes to Rapi calling for his presence. They seem to have visitors, though she doesn't specify who it is, only telling him to come down when he's ready...

### Humans and Monsters

In the dorm commons, a short woman immediately begins berating the protagonist for making her wait. Seeing the man not recognize her, she laughs and demands that Counters introduce her to him. Neon reveals that this ~~sassy lost child~~ is none other than Syuen, the CEO of Missilis Industry. For *some* reason, Syuen's status leads the protagonist to the conclusion that she *somehow* knows something about the circumstances to Marian's corruption, and he tries to grill her for info. Syuen neither knows anything nor appreciates being interrogated by some fresh commander and commands her subordinate Yuni to deal with him.

A flash of light from Yuni's hand, and the protagonist suddenly loses all strength in his legs and falls to his knees. Counters watches helplessly as Syuen stomps on the protagonist's prone form and grinds her foot into his body. Seeing the man continue to be defiant, Syuen keeps stomping on him, only stopping when Counters finally loses their cool and levels their guns at her. Syuen laughs at this display and simply calls for her other subordinate Mihara.

A blue laser briefly connects Mihara to the Nikkes of Counters. Syuen pulls out a pistol and shoots Mihara in the gut. Despite this, Mihara doesn't flinch. Rather, *all of Counters* staggers as if *they* were the ones who got shot. Syuen crows that Mihara has the ability to swap senses with anyone she targets, meaning even without directly damaging them, the CEO has ways to make those who cross her *suffer*.

The protagonist glares at Syuen for her attitude, but the CEO nonchalantly brushes it off. Cutting to the chase, Syuen introduces Mihara and Yuni as one her personal squads, Wardress. Effectively immediately, the protagonist and Counters are to accompany Wardress to the surface, capture a Rapture she wants, and bring it back in two days. The protagonist still refuses to obey her, only for the CEO to make one thing clear; the CEOs of the Big Three have the same level of authority as Deputy Chiefs. If he doesn't do as she says, she could have him slated for execution in a heartbeat.

Syuen turns to leave, only for the protagonist to stop her. He demands she apologize to Counters for assaulting them with Mihara's ability. In response, Syuen orders Mihara to swap senses with the protagonist, and she eventually complies despite protesting to it. Syuen fires another round into Mihara's abdomen, and the protagonist's gut flares up in pain. Despite that, he keeps advancing on Syuen, not stopping even as she dumps the entire magazine into Mihara.

The protagonist grabs Syuen by the collar and lifts her up as she tries to order Mihara to shoot him. Intimidated by the look on his face and the impending threats, Syuen shakily gets halfway through apologizing to Counter before the protagonist finally falls unconscious. Reiterating her demands to Wardress, Syuen beats a hast retreat.

Some time later, the protagonist regains consciousness, Counters worriedly fussing over him. Anis berates him for being as reckless as he was, but thanks him for standing up for the squad.

Meanwhile Rapi is trying to get mission details from Wardress. Mihara says she'll only tell once they reach the surface, and that Counters has no choice in the matter. Syuen is a CEO of the Big Three. Whatever she wants, she gets, and if someone tries to get in her way or not give her what she wants, then she has plenty of ways to make them regret it...

## Character appearances

* Protagonist
* Rapi
* Anis
* Neon
* Shifty
* Grave Digger (***Debut; presumed dead***)
* Andersen
* Syuen (***Debut***)
* Marian (***Mentioned***)
* Yuni (***Debut***)
* Mihara (***Debut***)