Goddess of Victory Nikke: Operation Titanfall

2nd Operation: Pilot and Titan

Last time Lance and his Nikkes departed on a mission to locate and secure an abandoned factory that had a still operating generator that could supply the Ark with power for a few months. However they encountered Raptures on route which led to Lance revealing his trump card, the Titan.

Lance led his group through the abandoned city moving in a cautious manner as to not get caught off guard by anymore Raptures in the area. Rapi was on his left side, Anis on his right, Neon covered his back. Mihara and Yuni both followed behind Neon flanking either side of her, Val marched behind the group, enduring any Rapture foolish enough to ambush them would be destroyed. "The factory should be a few blocks away, when we arrive I want an immediate sweep of the area." Lance stated as the Nikkes nodded their heads in understanding. Rapi watched her commander closely while occasionally glancing back at Val, she genuinely wondered how a human could do efficiently pilot a machine of that complexity. "Commander, may I ask a question?" Rapi asked in a hesitant tone as she felt she might be overstepping her boundaries as a Nikke.

          Lance turned to look at his secretary before giving a gentle nod. "You can ask me anything Rapi, I know all of this had to have been a bit overwhelming." Lance said as Rapi nodded as her fellow Nikkes all perked up and listened in on the conversation. "How are you able to pilot Val so efficiently? She appears to be a rather complex piece of machinery, more advanced then any technology the Nikkes are designed with." Rapi asked in a reserved tone, not wanting to offend her commander or Val in the slightest. To their surprise Lance let out a good natured chuckle. "I suppose you could say Val and I share a single kind in a sense. When a Pilot receives their certification, they undergo a process known as a neural link. Essentially my mind is linked with Val's AI, meaning piloting her is as natural as moving my own body." Lance explained as the Nikkes eyes widened in shock, humans linking their minds to an AI?

              "Hold on so your saying Val can like read your mind or something?!" Anis said completely taken aback as that sounded completely insane, but then again the idea of a giant humanoid super weapon was also pretty outlandish. "Pilots and Titans are the Frontier's highest echelon of soldiers. A single Pilot, Titan pair is worth one hundred standard soldiers. Being the most disciplined, combat effective, and most well equipped units on the battlefield. It is not uncommon for a single Pilot and Titan to take on a mission by themselves." Val chimes in as once again the Nikkes were taken aback, a single pair could handle missions that would require an entire platoon of soldiers?

          Lance let out an embarrassed chuckle, while it was true Pilots and Titans were unbelievably effective on their own, he still never liked taking full credit for his achievements. "My Commander, you certainly are talented. I knew there was something special about you when we first met." Mihara said in a sultry tone as she gave Lance a mischievous smile. Neon gave her commander a curious look. "Master, why weren't all standard soldiers replaced with Pilots? It sounds like a small team of them could do the work of an army if needed." Neon asked as it was strange that so many of the Militia forces were simply standard infantry units instead of Pilots. Lance contemplated Neon's question, he could see where she was coming from, however becoming a Pilot was no simple task.

"Becoming a Pilot takes years of training, I started at age ten under my mother. The average success rate of Pilot applicants is a mere two percent, only the strong survive the training. Pilots must be masters of shooting, parkour, and combat." Lance explained as the Nikkes nodded however Yuni tilted her head in confusion at one of the statements Lance had made. "Parkour? What type of combat skill is that Commander?" Yuni asked curiously as Nikkes were not programmed with any form of combat maneuver or technique called parkour. Lance then gently rested his hand on the strange device strapped to the back of his waist, the Nikkes noticed it looked like to thrusters attached to a power module of some kind.