A young man with black hair sighed as he took out a pair of glasses and put it on.

He wore a black button-up shirt under a white lab coat. His face looked like one around 18 years old with Asian features. His dark eyes were cold as if they did not have any emotions left.

"Captain Su. The preparations for Project Veluka are ready." The young man told Su. Su is a man with gray hair and pink eyes who wore a black shirt under a lab coat.

"Ah, Ren. That is good to hear." Su replied with a smile as he looked at the locomotive in question. "Are you sure that you will be going with project ARK instead of project EMBER?"

"... I have made up my mind Captain. We have 72 of the brightest mantises aboard the Ark. Most of them are not combat-capable but I could at least safeguard them." Ren replied as he looked at the locomotive.

"You can still join the other projects." Su said with a smile as he looked at the young man. "You are still young."

"Captain. I made up my mind. Project ARK needs combat personnel inside of it. I am prepared for what happens." Ren said as he looked at Su seriously. "Besides, knowing the members of EMBER, it will be fine if we leave it to them."

"Those girls are very competent in their own right." Su agreed as the two looked in the locomotive.

"Besides," Growing out of the tone he used, a sly smirk appeared on his face, "Knowing what kind of person Phoenix is, she won't be letting me slack off and work me to the bone." The young man said with a smile as he looked at Su with a grin.

"And She's right behind me isn't she?" Ren asked, only to sigh as SU nodded with a chuckle.

"We both know if you're not kept in check, you will just procrastinate, over and over again." Turning around, Ren sighed as he looked at the beautiful young woman in front of him.

"Seriously? Come on, Hua. That was one time." Ren whined, only for Hua to roll her eyes and rest her hand on her hip.

"You always procrastinated even before we became Mantis-es. So, come on." Hua said as she reached in and grabbed the young man by his ear. "I shall be taking him now, Dr. Su." Hua said with a bow before she dragged Ren away by his ear.

A few minutes of Ren being dragged by Hua. The two Mantises and SWARA's started to walk side by side together.

"Project Ark. Are you really going with it?" Hua asked, her tone was the same she used whenever she talked with someone else, but for him, to someone who has trained and fought with her for a long time, he recognized the anxiety in her voice.

"Yes. I really loved the idea of traveling the cosmos and discovering new planets." Ren said with a smile as he tucked his hands in his pockets. "Besides, I get the cool stuff more than you. You get to sit bored for several millennia, teaching people while I go and swim in the cosmos of the universe." Ren said with a chuckle.

"ARK members will be boarding tomorrow." Hua said. Hidden from his sight, Hua clenched the fabric of her sleeve tightly.

"Yeah, I already have my things loaded inside it. Along with my god key, Mountain Lion." Ren said. "Bah, don't sweat it. We will be going for a long time and we will return after we find a planet." Ren said. The two Mantises started to walk quietly before turning to a corner to an elevator.

"Ren..." Hua called out, "Do you think... we could have met each other if the Honkai did not exist?" She asked while twirling several strands of her hair.

"Hmm... Hard to say. But the answer is probably no." Ren answered bluntly much to the annoyance of the blue-haired girl. Hua was about to drop the subject when the young man continued. "But, considering my luck... then we would have met. Although under very different circumstances." He said with a smile as he reached and patted her head.

"I see." Hua said, a smile forming on her face.

"How long has it been since we both woke up? Hard to believe it's been a century yet we still look good." Ren said with a smile, hoping to lighten up the mood. This made Hua giggle lightly as the two rested their backs on the elevator's wall.

Once more, the duo sunk into the comfortable silence.

As soon as the elevator opened, the duo walked towards the hallway and into the dorm the duo shared.

The two shared a quick meal and were now drinking some alcohol.

"Earth... A pale blue dot in the vast unending cosmos of the universe." Ren mused as he downed his alcohol in a cup. It was light yet strong enough to make the two of them tipsy.

"Are you getting sentimental on me?" Hua teased as she stood up and sat beside Ren. she drank her drink while snuggling comfortably at the man's side.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Ren asked while looking at his reflection on the drink inside his cup.

"Yes, we both got accepted to our squadrons and we both became soldiers. We always did fight each other a lot." Hua said with a smile.

"Well, you are a martial artist like me. Just more graceful." Ren said as he comfortably rested his back on the bench.

"Yeah. Despite all our fights, our banter, and all the problems we caused each other, you stayed by my side no matter what." A smile formed on Hua's lips as she looked at the young man.

"Well, you were the only person I had a real bond with." Ren said as he finished his alcohol and put it down.

"Time passed by so much," Hua said solemnly as her memories played themselves inside her head. "I can't believe it has been 50,000+ years." Hua said.

"I've been studying many things with Captain Su during this last century. Hell, I'm pretty sure I would have received several Ph.D.'s by now." Ren said with a smile as the two chuckled.

"Are you seriously going with project ARK?" Hua asked. Now that the two were alone, her mask was gone, her eyes quivered with sadness. She did not want Ren to go. He was her best friend and they were each other's anchors.

"Well... I managed to crack a part of one of the tenth divine key's ability." Ren said as he showed her a katana.

"Yamato? you have it? I thought Mountain Lion was yours?" Hua asked. She was confused, how did Ren have several other god keys. The tenth key might have been mass-produced but many of them have been broken or missing.

"Believe it or not. I found it during one of the trips I had in Japan. It was calling out for me. Let me tell you, Mountain Lion was not happy when I found Yamato. Well, I found out I can actually create portals to people that I am bonded with." he said with a smile as he looked at Hua.

"You mean..." Hua gasped out as she looked at Ren.

"Yeah, all I need to do is create a bond with someone in the ARK and I can go back and forth from the ARK to you or the others."

"That's..." Hua looked at Ren. She was so happy and overcome by emotions because Ren can visit her as much as he wanted to and jumped him.

Hua smiled as she hugged Ren while sitting on his lap. She was so happy that she did not care if anyone walked in on them right now and she pressed her face on the crook of his neck.

"H-hey! Hua!" Ren whined before sighing and hugging her back. He wanted to surprise Hua after the ARK left earth to tease her and see her reaction but seeing her like that was enough to shatter his resolve.

"You idiot! I thought!" Hua sobbed out as she pulled away from the hug and glared at Ren. Knowing that look Ren gulped and prepared himself for a slap from the young lady only to be shocked at what happened next.

Hua, his best friend, and most treasured companion grabbed his face and pulled him in. Her lips were soft and addicting.

Hua kissed him!

Pulling away, Hua smiled happily as tears formed around her eyes. She held his hand and pressed it on her cheek.

"I thought I was never gonna see you again. You know that project ARK will keep on going until you find a planet." tears fell from her eyes, making him speechless. Hua was just like him, they were both Mantises and Moth's strongest soldiers. She rarely showed her emotions and will only do so in private. He never thought that he's leaving for Project ARK will have this effect on her.

"I..."

"Shut up!" The shout from Hua was enough to make him shut it. "You idiot! You always do things like this. Just like that time during the fight we had with the final Herrscher..." Hua said with a sob as she reared her hand back and slapped the young man.

"Okay, I deserved that." Ren said as he rubbed his cheek and jaw.

"You're making it up for me. Right now." Hua said with a smile through her teary eyes. Much to his shock, Hua reached in and unbuttoned his shirt as she reached in and kissed Ren once again.

That night, the lifelong friends and companions connected with each other.

The next day, the two Mantis and lovers smiled at each other. as they parted. They both knew they will see each other again.

After several Millenia, the ARK has lost connection with Earth's communications all except one.

Ren Cruz of the old civilization stood alone inside a laboratory as he observed the fate of the new world the Ark had landed in was destroyed.

All the humans other than him had died, all of them absorbed in the data inside the black box.

"So, old friend. Are you on your way back home now? The thousand-year story has reached its end." Looking to the side, Ren looked at the one speaking to reveal that it was a mask.

"Seth. Are you sure that letting Banika Conchita loose in the dead worlds under the sea of Quanta wise?" Ren asked as he looked at the man.

"Of course old friend. Now, why don't you run along and head home? Someone is waiting for you."

"Very funny Seth." Ren said dryly before he smiled and looked as the scenery changes and at the birth of the new fusion soldiers. The guardians of this world and those he has bonded with.

"take care of everything here, old friend." Ren said with a smile as he drew the Yamato and opened a portal.

Stepping inside, the young man smiled at the sight of a young lady with white hair with red accents.

"I'm home. Hua." He said with a smile.

"Welcome back, Ren," Hua said with a smile as she stood up. "What's wrong?"

Ren felt his eyes heat up. He was finally home. After several millennia inside the new planet, project ARK was both a failure and a success.

"Nothing... it's good to be home." Ren said with a smile.

-
Sup! Chirith here! you see. I had this idea in my head for a while now.

I wanted to make a Honkai fic with a lot of tweaks like Fu Hua having several friends from the old civilization still alive during the time the game starts and more.

If you guys are confused.

Ren is a Mantis like Hua and they are Lifelong friends. After Hua became a pariah after Himeko became a Herrscher, Ren stayed with her and treated her the same, yet at the same time being gentle with her. They became each other's, mental anchors.

This story actually happens after they woke up from their cryo-sleep and Ren returned before the time Kallen fought Hua.

And yes, Yamato is based on the devil arm of the same name, and that part where it can teleport to someone he is bonded with is inspired by Raven Branwen's semblance.

Also, yes! this Ren is none other than the Ren Cruz of the old Era and Grif-shit and the others were murdered and destroyed by the Honkai.

Hope you guys liked it.

Also fun fact Ren means lotus or water lily in Japanese.

Fact list:

1. Ren is a mantis and a SWARA, meaning he is immortal like Fu Hua. They both look 17 despite being several thousand years old.

2. Ren has several god keys in his possession and they are made from the tenth Herrscher. One of them is the mountain Lion, an electric type longsword, and Yamato.

3. Ren and Fu Hua are training partners and best friends

4. In this timeline, Project Ark is both a success and a fail. This is because a special MWD was developed and detonated that destroyed the whole world that destroyed everything and turned it into a wasteland.

5. Ren has a very strong bond with Fu Hua and he can open up a portal to her quite easily as opposed to others.

6. If you want to know the thousand-year story then please search Evillious Chronicles. That is all thank you!.

Naturally, my introduction of this character will result in several rather heavy impacts and influences on the storyline. Just a sneak peek though, Fu Hua will still be studying in Saint Freya for reasons, with several very important changes.

Also, I will be introducing characters that will have their own special god keys. Most of them are from the domination series.

As a refresher, I will be dropping these terms.

SWARA

(Subliminal Weaponization & Artificing Of Reflex Arcs)

Increase muscular strength and the neural response of underaged MANTISes.

Status: Success, known members, Fu Hua, Ren Cruz

MANTIS

The MANTIS project, otherwise known as Project Soldier, aimed to give humanity a better chance versus the Honkai. The name stands for Massively Augmented Neo-Tech Integrated Soldiers, which is fairly accurate in what a MANTIS is. As suggested, it entails a human given strength through modified Honkai genes called Meta-Morph ICHOR (Intra-Chromosomal Honkai Gene Repeats)

ARK Find other habitable places to live in using a spaceship sent out into space

Status: Ongoing, the first inhabitable world was destroyed due to the machinations of many of the original crew members being infected with a strain of a less deadly strand of the Honkai virus. It resulted in an event that resulted in a nuclear winter and the destruction of the world, resulting in the surviving MANTIS-ES inside who were not affected with the Honkai strain to rebuild the world, officially making it enter the fourth period. So far, no mentions of Honkai were spotted. After the first success, that planet was made as a base for the people and they have begun their preparations to combat the honkai as well as to conduct their own Project ARKs. The humans of this world are descended from the simulations and inhabited synthetic bodies allowing them to be able to use magic. Research shows that after the reset of the third period and the activation of the black box as well as the fusion of the heavenly yard, (the place where the souls (data) of good people go to after their death) and the hellish yard (The opposite of the heavenly yard). The reincarnation system was optimized to limit and make sure that no will be able to use magic anymore from those born in the fourth period onwards.

Known members: Ren Cruz,

VALUKA

Use the Second Divine Key to find or observe other worlds on the Imaginary Tree where Honkai was defeated.

Status: Ongoing

Known members: SU, Ren Cruz via one of his god keys that allows him to travel to those he had bonded with such as SU and Hua, surviving Evillious MANTIS-es via mathematical readings and calculations.

EMBER

Teach Current Era people Previous Era knowledge

Status: Failed/Abandoned.

Failed - More dangerous Honkai appeared due to the sudden advancement: including Chiyou, a Judgement Class Honkai Beast.

?

An unknown project was handled and created by MANTIS, Ren Cruz. It is similar to VALUKA but has the members sealed inside the sea of quanta to gather data as well as the destruction of as many Honkai they come across to.

Staus: Ongoing/Unknown

Known members: Seth, Banica Conchita,