"All hands, the Hyperion has entered a 10-nautical-mile perimeter northwest of the New Zealand archipelago. Valkyries, prepare for combat!"
Himeko's urgent voice came over the broadcast, but the scene in the prep room was entirely different.
Kiana, Mei, Bronya, and Seele were already suited up in their Valkyrie battlesuits, their artificial stigmata loaded, but there was no sense of urgency among them.
"Fu Hua already came by and briefed you, right? The main assault force for this operation will be the Southeast Asia Branch's Snow Lotus squad. The Hyperion will just provide fire support from the air and resupply them when necessary."
"Mm, we know. But Kiana doesn't seem very happy about it," Mei said, polishing the longsword in her hands. A pair of violet eyes stared back at her from the blade's mirror-like finish.
Michael chuckled at her words but said nothing, instead taking a soft white cloth and carefully wiping down Mei's wakizashi.
Although the Southeast Asia Branch had only been re-established a few months ago, and the Snow Lotus squad was a cobbled-together team at best, they were all A-Rank Valkyries. In their presence, there was no call for St. Freya's students to take the field.
Not being on the front line was actually a good thing. The Far East Branch was mostly made up of retired Valkyries or those below B-Rank.
The safest plan was for them to remain aboard the Hyperion and operate its weapon systems, which were far more powerful than they were in personal combat.
Only Kiana and her friends were a special case.
Though still trainees, special circumstances had granted them combat capabilities on par with some A-Rank Valkyrie squads.
As such, they weren't assigned to weapons duty in the Far East Branch's battle plans; those posts were left to the other trainees and retired instructors. Their role was that of a mobile combat unit, ready to be deployed to the ground at a moment's notice.
Only... it seemed they wouldn't be needed this time.
It was hard for Kiana not to feel frustrated. She understood, of course, that in every sense of the word, this was "for their own good." But this feeling of being underestimated with no chance to prove herself... it was just... just...
It was just like that time back on the Siberian tundra. She had provoked a brown bear that had just ended its hibernation, gotten her butt kicked, and was planning to train for a few days to get her revenge. But that very evening, her deadbeat dad had proudly served up a plate of the Kaslana-family secret recipe: "charred black" bear paw. The feeling of utter defeat was identical.
To make matters worse, a strange sound came from the side:
"Biu! Biu! Biu! Let's spice things up!"
"Hey! Bronya, how can you still be in the mood to play games!"
Bronya, holding her game console, glanced quickly at Kiana.
"You idiot. This game just entered open beta last month. We're about to go into battle. If I don't play more now, what if I don't get another chance?"
"Uhh..."
Bronya's single sentence left Kiana speechless.
"Um... Big Sister Bronya, please don't say such unlucky things," Seele said with a blink, trying to ease the tension. Unfortunately, Bronya's words were hard to follow up on.
Hearing Seele's voice, Bronya's reaction slowed for a split second. She failed to dodge, and the character on the screen—who bore a striking resemblance to herself—was swatted dead by a giant mecha.
The screen turned gray. Bronya tossed the console onto a table in frustration, but Seele picked it up and checked it over with a pained expression.
"Ahem!" Bronya cleared her throat awkwardly. "This device is too old, and my teammates weren't coordinating. They saw me getting hit and didn't even try to help... When I get my allowance this month, I'm buying a new one. This one's for you, Seele. You can be my backup then!"
"Hehe, if I recall correctly, this game doesn't have a multiplayer mode. And... didn't Bronya just buy this console a few days ago...?"
Hearing the voice of her other self in her head, Seele just shook her head slightly and argued back internally, "Big Sister Bronya is still very strong, she's just not used to this game yet."
Back in reality, Seele nodded emphatically, but then her brow furrowed and she gently took Bronya's arm.
"I understand, Big Sister Bronya, but please don't say such unlucky things again!"
Seeing Seele's serious face, Bronya pouted.
"That's not what I meant. Maybe it's because I'm missing an arm. It's hard to play games with one hand, you know..."
"Big Sister Bronya!"
Seele clamped her hands over Bronya's mouth without ceremony.
Kiana stood to the side, watching the two girls who now had eyes only for each other, feeling a bit lost. Ugh, so I'm the third wheel, is that it?
She wanted to go over to Mei, but the sofa Mei was sitting on was only so big, and the spot next to her was already occupied by Michael... At this thought, Kiana whipped her head around and shot a glare at him.
Just then, Michael happened to look her way. Their eyes met in mid-air, and Kiana could only awkwardly toss her head and look away.
However, Michael wasn't looking at her. His gaze passed over Kiana and landed on the pair of twin-drills.
Of the four girls, Bronya was the one Michael interacted with the least, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention to her. In fact, given her appearance, place of origin, and last name, it would be difficult not to pay attention to the girl.
What's more, her past experience as a child soldier made her stand out before every battle.
Strictly speaking, Kiana, Mei, and Seele had experienced far too little combat. Although they'd had a few brushes with death, fighting Honkai Beasts was a completely different matter from fighting people. St. Freya protected its trainees exceptionally well; they had never really been exposed to the deaths of their comrades...
Bronya was the sole exception.
She had personally killed children her own age because they had pointed a gun at her. She was used to seeing familiar faces disappear after every mission. Someone who had smiled and patted her head that morning, pressing a warm potato into her hands, could be gone by nightfall...
For the first ten years of her life, the word she encountered most was "death." It didn't matter if they were good or bad, kind to her or not; every life was like the wild grass on the plains... No, grass at least leaves a corpse.
Life, rather, was like the snow on the Siberian tundra.
Bodies piled up like individual snowflakes, impossible to tell apart. And as time passed, the snow would melt, dissolving into the black, rotten mud, leaving behind not a single trace of its existence.
This was how Bronya saw life: meaningless, valueless, hopeless, and futureless. The only thing she possessed was the certainty of a death that would never be late, even if she didn't know when it would arrive.
Understanding this, her "live for the moment" attitude was no longer so strange. It was something that even several years of peaceful life couldn't completely change. The only thing that had changed, perhaps, was the expression on her face.
Michael couldn't say whether her current state was good or bad, nor did he have any interest in delving into the personality changes caused by her experiences. In fact, one could even say his focus was a bit peculiar.
"Strange, her personality is nothing like mine..."
"Hm? What?" Mei was focused on her blade and only heard the last part of Michael's soft murmur.
"Nothing. I said you're like me."
Mei's cheeks puffed out. Her first reaction was that he was stating the obvious, but then it slowly dawned on her that Michael was only her legal guardian, not her real father. There was no way they had any blood relation.
"Ahem! Alright, Kiana, sit down," Michael said, smoothly changing the subject.
"I'm now briefing you on Operation Plan B."
"Huh? There's a Plan B?" Kiana complained out of habit, but the moment the words left her mouth, her eyes widened.
"What is it? Is it time for the great Kiana to make her entrance?"
"Idiot. No way. It's just a supplementary plan for emergencies."
"Correct."
Michael nodded firmly, but the corners of his mouth curled into a strange smirk. Fortunately, he usually wore a slight smile around the girls, so other than Seele frowning slightly, none of them noticed anything amiss.
"First, based on intel, the Honkai Eruption on the island can be confirmed to be caused by a Herrscher—the Fourth Herrscher. Fu Hua should have told you this already..."
"Uncle Michael, we already know! It's just a Herrscher. I can take them out one by one with my baseball bat!" Kiana raised her hand and swung it through the air. Halfway through her sentence, she realized what she'd said and looked apologetically at Mei.
"Uh... Sorry, Mei, I didn't mean you..."
"You idiot! A real Herrscher isn't that easy to deal with!"
Two hand-chops landed lightly on Kiana's head at the same time. Michael and Bronya glanced at each other, and both retracted their hands.
"Bronya's right. Against a true Herrscher, even A-Rank Valkyries have limited effectiveness. You need an S-Rank to be sure..."
"Huh? Isn't that Valkyrie named Rita an S-Rank?"
"Let me finish first," Michael said, rapping Kiana's head in exasperation.
"Judging from the situation sixteen years ago, a single S-Rank Valkyrie is not a guarantee."
Michael intentionally avoided mentioning Siberia, the Second Honkai War, Cecilia, or anything else that might trigger Kiana's memories.
"So, this time, the Snow Lotus squad that has already entered New Zealand is only the main force in name. Their actual mission is to pinpoint the Herrscher's exact location and tie it down until two S-Rank Valkyries can reach the battlefield."
"Two?"
"Mm. Schicksal currently has two active S-Rank Valkyries. Rita is already here. The other, Durandal, will arrive in about two hours—if there are no complications."
"Complications?" Mei and Bronya asked in unison.
"Yes. For Durandal to get to New Zealand, she has to pass through the Americas, no matter which route she takes. And the Americas... are Anti-Entropy's turf." Michael shrugged, tracing the outline of the American continents in the air with his index finger.
"Durandal?" Kiana muttered the unfamiliar name, then pouted. "Who's stronger, her or that Rita?"
"You can't beat either of them, that's for sure."
Michael flicked her on the forehead again. If it had been Himeko or Theresa, Kiana would probably be raising a fuss by now, but for some reason, she was always relatively quiet around Michael.
"But... Brother Michael, why are you telling us all this?"
Seele's question made Michael pause. In the end, he just spread his hands, his voice dropping to a low, hoarse whisper.
"Well, that's simple. If something happens to the Snow Lotus squad and they fail their mission, then we'll have no choice. You'll have to go in."
"Yeah! I knew it! I knew I'd get a chance to show what I can do!"
Kiana leaped up from her seat, only to be pushed back down by Michael's hand.
"I know you're eager to get out there, but don't jinx them."
Bronya turned away and silently picked up her game console to start a new game. Mei sheathed her longsword and picked up the wakizashi Michael had been polishing, resuming the task.
Seele quietly poured a glass of water and placed it on the small table in front of Bronya. Taking advantage of the loading screen, Bronya reached for the glass, only to see Seele silently push it closer to Michael.
"In any case, be ready. Don't slack off just because you have nothing to do. It might sound unlucky for the Snow Lotus squad, but anything can happen on the battlefield..."
As Michael spoke, he reached for the glass of water. But when his hand was still half an inch away, the glass suddenly tipped over and shattered on the floor.
"Eh?"
The jolt came a second later. In the instant it took to utter a soft sound of surprise, the entire Hyperion felt as if it had been seized by a giant hand and shaken violently.
The faint screams of Valkyries and the sound of hard objects colliding could be heard from the next room. If Michael hadn't still had a hand on Kiana, her iron head probably would have punched a hole in the ceiling.
Then, everyone in the room felt their center of gravity shift to the right. It was easy to imagine that the massive Hyperion had banked hard, executing an emergency turn.
"What's happening?"
After a long moment, the shaking gradually subsided. Kiana asked, her eyes wide.
But Michael had already dashed out of the room before she even spoke, feigning panic.
"What's happening?"
Sprinting all the way to the Hyperion's bridge, Michael found himself repeating Kiana's question.
He scanned his surroundings. The situation was better than he'd expected; the turbulence hadn't been enough to shake the Hyperion apart, but a group of Valkyrie trainees were clearly shaken.
Hua was expertly tapping at her keyboard. Diagrams of the ship's various sections flashed across the screen, occasionally showing a glaring red light.
"Wind."
She said only one word. Michael followed her gaze out the viewport and saw a bizarre sky.
A faint cyan hue flowed slowly, enveloping the massive ship like water. The thick viewport bore the brunt of it, rattling with a plastic-like CRACKLE.
"We've lost contact with the Snow Lotus squad."
Himeko's voice sounded grim. Michael took a deep breath, clutching his chest in a mock display of shock as he turned.
"What happened?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Himeko shook her head and led Michael toward the conference room they were in earlier, explaining as they walked.
"We lost them suddenly. It happened the instant the Hyperion hit that turbulence. We suspect it's similar to what happened in Nagazora City—an intense Honkai energy reaction is blocking electromagnetic transmissions."
The conference room was just a few steps away. Himeko had just finished speaking as they reached the door.
She deliberately paused, pulling the door open just a crack. It was impossible for Michael not to hear the argument inside.
"No! I don't agree!"
Theresa stared levelly at Otto. Only when he was sitting did she not have to look up at him.
"The Snow Lotus squad is just unaccounted for. We can't simply declare their mission a failure. Besides... if this is a mission that even A-Rank Valkyries can't handle, what's the use of sending in Kiana and the others, a bunch of B-Ranks?"
"Theresa, my granddaughter, don't forget, this is a battlefield. We can't afford to be complacent, nor can we afford any pity—not for the enemy, and not for ourselves. By your logic, we should only ever send S-Rank Valkyries against a Herrscher. If they fail, humanity should just surrender, right? After all, if the S-Ranks lost, what's the point of sending in A-Ranks or B-Ranks? In battle, we must seize any sliver of hope for victory, by any means necessary. You should have understood this long ago!"
"I... Grandpa, just give it another half hour, please? We have to confirm the Snow Lotus squad's status. What if they've just run into a manageable problem? Besides, we need to wait for Durandal to arrive anyway. Half an hour won't make a difference, will it?"
"Sigh..."
Otto and Michael sighed at the same time. Rita and Himeko, given their positions, couldn't comment.
Theresa was no longer young. She had fought in countless battles, commanded countless operations, and made her share of decisions that required sacrifice.
But perhaps the comfortable life of these past years had dulled her thinking. Or perhaps she simply couldn't bear to put her own students in harm's way. After all, most of the Valkyries she had commanded in the past had been little more than strangers to her.
"What if the Herrscher leaves New Zealand within that half hour?"
Theresa had no answer to that question.
Michael and Otto exchanged a silent glance. The former gave a slight nod, and the latter inclined his head in return before speaking.
"Enough. It's decided. Send Kiana and her team into the Oceania Branch... Their combat strength isn't an issue. They proved themselves in Sapphire City. They're no worse than many A-Rank Valkyries."
"Grandpa!"
Theresa's protest was clearly futile. Otto continued as if he hadn't heard her.
"Of course, I don't like meaningless sacrifices either. You know me, Theresa. The situation isn't as dire as you think. Your AI has already received the Honkai energy readings from New Zealand during the storm and has pinpointed the source of the energy's diffusion. In other words, we have the Herrscher's location. Kiana and the others' mission is no longer to eliminate the Herrscher, but to rescue the Snow Lotus squad. Understand? As for the Herrscher... Rita, you will accompany them."
"As you command, Lord Overseer."
Rita curtsied gracefully, but her movements seemed unusually slow, as if she were waiting for something.
Sure enough, Michael's lips began to move.
"Wait. As it stands, both Kiana's team and Rita's side are spread too thin. You'd better let me go with them."