Kenji
Even after being a knight for nearly a year, Kenji had never been in the Hyperion. It was Himeko's signature ship, and he kept hearing people talk about how grand it was, but he never got the chance to explore it. Now that he was seeing it firsthand, the rumours didn't do this thing justice.
'It's like a sci-fi fan's wet dream.'
Here, there was no lazy afternoon sunlight or chatter of students. In front of him was a humongous window, giving him a clear view of them cruising through the open skies.
His team stood in the center of the command deck. Looking at his teammates, so ready for battle, he felt like he was a full fledged knight already. The sheer scale of the Hyperion, an actual high-grade battleship, definitely made him feel more motivated.
Himeko was seated in the captain's chair, looking at the four of them with a serious expression. But Kenji could see a hint of pride in her eyes.
"Alright Team, listen up. This is your first high stakes mission—not that any mission we send you on isn't high stakes—but the point is, this will be dangerous. No do overs, no pulling punches, and no room for error."
She gestured to the main viewport, where a holographic projection of Earth rotated. It zoomed in on a specific point in the Pacific. "We're approaching the Schicksal Oceania Branch. As you know, forty-eight hours ago, it went dark after a massive Honkai spike."
A new window opened on the display, showing Theresa's face. "Hello everyone," the Principal's voice came over the comms, "what I'm about to tell you is classified, so remember to keep your lips sealed tight. Sixteen years ago, after the Second Eruption, Schicksal recovered three powerful Honkai Cores from the 2nd Herrscher. One of these, the 'Gem of Desire,' was assigned to the Oceania Branch for containment."
Kiana leaned forward, her earlier excitement now tempered by the briefing. "The Gem of Desire?"
Theresa's image flickered. "Until two days ago, when the gem was lost after the Honkai spike. The base is now offline, and the entire facility is showing Honkai readings that are off the charts. Your job is to locate the Gem of Desire and find any survivors."
'So we're going to find a gem that came from Herrscher?' He discreetly turned his gaze to Mei, 'From what she told me, Herrschers are beings that could literally end the world. It's hard to believe that just a shard from the 2nd Herrscher could have so much power.'
"I'll be staying in the Hyperion," Himeko continued, standing from her chair. "You four will be going down for retrieval, and I will be giving you the scans of the area from here. Hopefully, I will be able to pick up the location of the Gem quickly. If not, this could take a while. Do not let your guard down."
Kenji nodded along with his team, but as the Hyperion began its adjustment to drop them off, a strange sensation made him pause. It was faint at first, so subtle he almost dismissed it as pre-mission nerves.
A faint, cold, pulling sensation, deep in his chest. He'd never felt anything like it before.
"Hey," The others turned to him. "Does... anyone else feel something... weird?"
Kiana tilted her head. "Weird how? I feel pumped!"
"No, it's..." Kenji's hand unconsciously went to his chest. "I don't know. It's just an odd feeling. I can't really put my finger on it."
Mei looked at him with concern. "Are you feeling alright, Kenji?"
Before he could answer, Himeko's sharp gaze locked onto him from across the bridge. She glanced from Kenji to Theresa's holographic face on the main screen, then back to him.
Theresa's holographic expression was unreadable, but Himeko could see the small changes on her face. She was nervous, and that nervousness, for some reason, was directed towards Kenji.
"It's probably just nerves, kid," Himeko said, her voice casual, but her eyes were anything but. "Get your gear checked. You're deploying in five."
Her casual dismissal of what he was feeling just made him feel like it wasn't just nerves. But there wasn't anything he could do anyway, so why worry about it?
The team gathered their gear by the hatch, the air thick with anticipation. Kiana was obviously excited, double-checking the magazines for her pistols. While Mei had her hand resting on the hilt of her katana as she prepared to head down.
Kenji glanced over at Bronya. She was silent as ever, standing by the hatch, with no notable changes in her expression. He saw her hands, partially hidden at her sides, clench into tight fists for just a second before relaxing.
'She must be nervous too.' He couldn't blame her. This was their mission that 'felt' real, and it was already feeling like it was way above his pay grade.
/ — /
"Everything ok down there?" Himeko's voice cleared out through the comms. Kenji glanced at his team, who were now busy checking their surroundings.
"Yeah, everything is fine," Kiana responded, walking up beside him to admire the structures ahead. They stood staring at the Shicksal's Oceania branch, noting the copious amounts of flora that surrounded the place.
The sun glaring down at the area would have made for quite a breathtaking sight if it weren't for the fact that everything was unsettlingly silent, with only the sound of whistling wind being heard throughout the area.
Kenji took one last look at his team, each of them nodding once they made eye contact. "Everything is set, we are good to go."
"Great. Hold on, let me see the scanner real quick." Her audio stuttered for a moment before settling back to normal, "Alright, I don't have an exact position yet, but it's somewhere west of the facility."
Kenji took a deep breath and took a step forward. Only to suddenly lose strength in his leg and nearly fall to the ground. "Agh!" His team's heads snapped to him.
"We haven't even started yet, and you're already stumbling— Wait, are you ok?" Kiana stopped her teasing when he saw Kenji clutching his chest. "Kenji, what's wrong?" Mei quickly went to his side, supporting him just in case he would fall.
"Whoa, whoa! What's going on?!" Theresa's voice shouted through.
"Subject Kenji is showing sudden signs of distress. But The Bronya's scans only show his elevated heart rate. There are no signs of outside tampering." Bronya quickly answered, and even her voice sounded worried at his sudden pain.
Not wanting to worry them anymore, he quickly pulled himself back on his two feet. "S-sorry about that guys, I'm good now." He roughly patted his chest a few times for good measure.
His team remained unconvinced, but before they could voice their concerns, Theresa's voice was quicker. "Kenji, what happened?" Her voice sounded panicked.
He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "I think… I think I can sense something here. Something that's pulling for me, or more like… I'm trying to pull it? I don't really know how to describe it, but there I'm definitely sensing something."
Everyone was silent after hearing his words. The mood suddenly grew tense, everyone here knew of Kenji's passive ability to absorb Honkai Energy. But he could never exactly feel it before, the fact that he could now could mean that whatever he is sensing possesses a large amount of Honkai Energy.
"Kenji, you are to head back to the Hyperion." Theresa suddenly ordered.
"What! No way, whatever it is that I'm sensing is really strong. I'm not leaving my team to possibly fight whatever it is on their own.".
The comms crackled. "Kenji, this is not a request, it's an order!" Theresa's voice was on the verge of anger. "Your condition is unpredictable. I cannot risk you in proximity to a Herrscher-level artifact, which, mind you, is already affecting you somehow! Himeko, order him back to the dropship. Now."
Kenji tensed, bracing for Himeko to back up the Principal. He wouldn't go. He didn't care if it was an order, he wasn't going to hide on the ship while his friends— "Stand down, Theresa."
The comms went silent, no one actually expected Himeko of all people to shut down Theresa like that. His team was also speechless, unsure whether to add to the conversation. "Himeko, what—"
"I'm the commander of this mission, Principal," Himeko cut her off, matching her gaze head on.
"And Kenji stays. I am not going to have him sit around while his team is out there. Also, since he can sense what I assume is the Gem of Desire, which my scans still cannot pinpoint its exact location. Having him down there is more beneficial, not to say efficient. "
"Himeko, you don't understand the risk—"
"What I understand is that you're acting irrationally. You've been pretty jumpy about him lately, and paying much more attention to him than usual."
'Wait, really?' He hadn't even noticed.
Himeko continued, her suspicion now openly broadcast. "What aren't you telling me, Theresa?"
A suffocating silence followed. Kenji looked at Mei, who looked anxious to be caught in the middle of an argument between the Principal and the Captain. It was like watching your divorced parents argue.
Bronya had tilted her head, her neutral expression for once seeming to mask genuine curiosity. But above all, the situation was very uncomfortable.
Finally, Theresa's voice returned, all the panic and anger drained, leaving only a weary resignation. "Fine. He's your responsibility, Himeko. But the second his condition changes, the second he feels anything wrong, you pull him out. Am I clear?"
"Crystal,"
She cut the main channel to Theresa, leaving the team on their private comm link. The sudden silence was a relief to their ears.
"Alright, you heard her," Himeko said, now sounding much more relaxed. "She's definitely going to give me the stink eye for the next couple of days, oh well. Kenji, take the lead. My wide area scans can't pinpoint a location. I can get more accurate scans if you get closer to the Gem."
Kenji let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, he didn't expect things to become so tense suddenly. The adrenaline from the argument faded, leaving just the feeling in his chest. He looked at his team. Kiana gave him a grin and a rough punch on the shoulder.
"Okay," Kenji said, rolling his shoulders as he started to walk. "The pull is this way."
***
Author's Notes:
Hello everyone, I want to say that we have reached 200k words for this fic! Yay! I never thought I would get this far, honestly. Thank you to everyone who enjoyed this story so far. Hopefully, you will stick around for much longer for future arcs!
We finally reached the point where the game's main timeline starts. I'm really excited to get into this because I already have so many plans for the story's future. As I said before, I'm not that well-versed in the Honkai Impact lore, but I am learning!
All I can say is that from now on, this will be a very heartwarming story.
Thank you once again, and I hope you will be with me to see how Kenji's story unravels.