Summary

Life is cruel. It can give the most beautiful things that we would cherish deeply and take it away with the same deft hand. The innocent are punished for the sins of the guilty, the righteous beaten for the deeds of the unfair. It goes further than that; even those who are neither good nor evil are still laid to waste by disaster and things that cannot be controlled by man.

Still. Can one hopeless man just ask for one measly wish? He cannot—the world will not give it to him. Thus, he must take his desire with the arms he was given, to take the future that he yearns for with his own strength. He who wishes must crush the obstacles of fate with his will.

—To stain his hands with iron and blood.

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Foreword

For those who don't know—especially since I also plan to post this on FF dot net—this is the long-awaited rewrite of Honkai Impact 3: Noah's Ark. It's a story revolving around a "male dandere" original character with a background that you could expect to come from an edgy teenager writing on Wattpad and a storyline that finds itself unable to do more than ballet dance around the canon events of Honkai Impact 3rd.

For those who have read the original, the changes are more extensive than your typical rewrite. Noah's background has been changed entirely and I've taken half a step away from "screwing with the main cast" to give myself a lot more creative freedom. The only thing recognizable about Noah now is that he remains as laconic as before.

Nonetheless, I thank the old readers for wanting to see more of my free-Grammarly-aided writing and greet the new readers for loving the game so much that you'd want to read the fantasy of a Captain with a disabled F2P Returnee account, or for listening to the recommendations of your friends to see if this thing is actually any good.

Buckle up and enjoy the ride, because like before, I have no idea where this is going to take us.

Edit: Removed an unnecessary scene and made a few adjustments to formatting. Currently creating buffer chapters, so updates will temporarily be slow.

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Chapter 1 – Valkyrie Abrams

2013

Noah pulled his sleeve back to read the old analog wristwatch. It was 4:27 PM or 1627 hours as he was used to. The last time he looked at it, it was 1613. The one before that, 1558.

He shuffled in his seat sandwiched between the high-quality fabric of the business-class flight seat and his bulky military rucksack. He was dressed in a football jacket and plain jeans, which were a stark contrast to the grey military-grade combat boots. Absently, he fingered the fabric of his jacket, marveling at how thin it was. The clothes were a gift to him from one of the pilots at FOB Winter Gale, who said that he got it from one of his younger cousins that lived in America as a souvenir. Noah was being careful not to pick at the jacket too hard; it was far, far more fragile than the military jacket he was more accustomed to wearing.

He found the darkness and low rumble of the cabin in cruising speed disquieting. Too much space was left empty considering the number of people, and he was starting to feel sympathy for the flight attendants that he had keenly observed to have only dropped their smiles a total of seven times in the 6 hours that he sat there. The other passengers were almost all smartly dressed men that had spent their time working quietly or sleeping. Noah was more conscious about the women.

When he had initially walked in there guided by a somewhat portly flight attendant, he was met with several frowns and even a few scowls by the other passengers. However, when he brought out his badge as per protocol to another attendant to point the way to his seat, several of those looks either morphed into poker faces or amicable raised brows, at least from the men. From the few women in the cabin, who were dressed either in gowns or sporty jackets themselves, came the unfortunately familiar interest and suppressed hostility.

That short, wordless interaction had raised the young man's anxiety towards his new workplace despite all the reassurance of his old commanding officer.

Even now, a few of the may-be-Valkyries were observing him with less-than-objective interest, though he had to admit that most of them lost interest quickly enough when he sat down and plugged in a pair of earphones. The jack was only tucked into his jacket. He didn't have any phone to speak of to actually listen to music that he'd heard most of his generation would do to avoid conversation.

He looked outside the window. He'd seen it change from the snow-covered airport to the open seas. He found looking at the scenery somewhat more painful than he was used to. The sun above the Pacific was several magnitudes brighter than on the cold frontier he had grown accustomed to.

Three soft notes from the internal PA system jostled him out of his thoughts.

"Attention, this is your Captain speaking." Noah had to remind himself of the difference between a Captain and a Captain. "We will be touching down on the Schicksal Headquarters Aerospace Runway in a few short minutes. Please keep your seatbelts on and await further instruction."

The announcement seemed to garner the opposite effect of calming from the other passengers, or was that actually intended? A number of them began to stretch, yawn, or place a few calculated smacks on their sleeping companions. Noah himself felt the need to adjust his seating again, the instincts gained from his flight training kicking in without his notice. Soon, the world came to a tilt. He wrapped his arms around the rucksack to keep it from falling and kept at that position until the floor bounced to signal that they had landed.

The PA system dinged. Noah barely heard the voice of the flight Captain as he unclipped his seatbelt and bounced onto his feet faster than an attendant could begin advising the other passengers to start wrapping up. Get to the exit, show the ticket to the attendant on the other side of the corridor connecting the plane to the landing bay, and head to the luggage belts to pick up the trunk full of military equipment.

He was promptly broken out of his trance when a pair of hands suddenly landed on his shoulders. It took him all of his self-discipline not to grab the other person and throw them over his shoulder. He glanced over and found himself staring at a shock of wild, ginger hair and a round face of smiles and dimples.

"Say, is yer name Noah Abrams?" the woman asked.

Noah blinked, then nodded.

The woman smiled and let him go. Now that Noah had a better look at her, she was half a head shorter than he was and had hair kept at neck length. Her attire consisted of a navy blue coat with extensions around her shoulders—a cape coat, if it was a thing,—fingerless gloves, leggings, and a nearly knee-high pair of combat boots, the sight of which made Noah wonder what she was going to do about it if it gets waterlogged, what he was going to do about his footwear if his was waterlogged.

The Headquarters is a mobile island based at sea, after all.

"Claire Campbell," she said, "Valkyrie and mechanic. Also, yer guide for today, though I'm bein' reassigned too. Think we'll be mates in the same squad?"

Noah returned a noncommittal shrug. The woman frowned and rubbed her chin with her left.

"Not much of a talker, aren't ye?"

Noah shrugged again.

Claire sighed and turned, but not without clinically washing him with her eyes. "If ye hate all the chit chat then ye best start walkin', even if ye just got here. We're," she looked at her watch, "almost late."

She started walking without waiting for him to reply. She walked quickly, but his strides were longer than hers, so he kept pace with ease, albeit lagging behind. Noah was fine with that. He found that being at least six steps behind her was a distance he was comfortable with.

Headquarters, he found, was a lot more… eccentric? The architecture favored white and hexagonal shapes. The roads were paved in the same way a carrier would and wound around the whole compound almost triangularly, which made it abundantly clear which part was the front. Towers with flat nail-like top floors rose from six points to stand watch, while a colossal central building indicated where most of the central commanding took place.

The way Claire led him through had a surprising amount of foliage decorating the sidewalks, with even one path leading to a garden that likely had far more flowers than what he glimpsed. They passed some kind of market, except it had multiple floors, was fully air-conditioned, and was as crowded as the square in Galestone at the height of the Spring harvest festival.

It joggled a memory out of him. A vague one, which meant that it was one from before meeting Mikhail. He kicked it back into his subconscious without a second thought.

Claire began to slow down right as they reached a building that seemed several times bulkier than the ones they had already passed. A pair of Valkyries guarded its gate-like entrance wearing coats with bits of specialized armor such as gauntlets, masks, and boots. Both had halberds, which they put in the way of the approaching pair.

"Claire," one said, "Who is this?"

"A male Valkyrie, if ye can believe it," the woman replied with a shrug.

The two guards raised their heads and turned towards the boy. Noah fished his badge, a golden emblem of Schicksal's trademark V-shaped twin mechanical wings with his ranking denoted in the gap between. In his case, the rank was A. It was common knowledge that Valkyrja badges were bio-encrypted and had an inbuilt anti-theft system should anyone but him have it in their hands.

"Wow."

The guard who had said that—the one who spoke first—covered her mouth. The other guard kept a poker face, though her shoulders were clearly shaking. Claire was not as subtle and snorted.

"Ha~!" the redhead turned to Noah and pointed at the flustered woman. "Anyway, this is Riko—"

"It is Yoriko!"

"—and that's Juno."

Noah looked over the two. Riko—Yoriko was quite a bit taller than Juno and was maybe five or six centimeters shorter than he was—and he was 180 cm—while Juno's height went up to around his chest. Both had black hair, though Juno's had some blue highlights.

"An', Riko, Juno, meet Noah," Claire finished.

Noah waved. "Privyet," he said.

The three glanced at each other for two seconds.

"Yer Russian?" Claire asked, then frowned. "Ugh, I don't think I know Rus enough ta' speak with a—"

"No need. English is fine," Noah cut in.

"And polite, too."

Yoriko covered her mouth again and the other two burst into a fit of giggles.

"Ah well, we best be off," Claire finally said. "Mind if we go through?"

The two nodded and lifted their halberds out of the way, giving the two passage into the building. The two walked into a white-walled hallway that was clearly made from the same material as the Schicksal battleships. The two guards began to converse after they had made about a dozen steps.

"This is the trainin' building," Claire began. "We've got everythin' ye'll need from sims to weapon testin'. The squad leaders also like to have us gather here too during briefings cause, well, sims an' all."

A pair of women in sports attire passed by the two, waving at Claire, who returned the greeting. Two steps later and they were whispering furiously to each other.

"Where was I? Ah, weapons testin'. See, the place has got about the widest range of dummy types…"

Claire continued to chat as they walked, seemingly forgetting that he was the quiet type. Through that, Noah learned that the woman wasn't just a mechanic, but a weapons technician, who not only knew how to use and repair equipment, but also how to break into enemy networks and bypass more than a few Special Armament authorizations. The woman seemed very sociable as well. More than a few times, the girl was greeted by the other women coming to and from the various facilities inside the training building.

"Ah, we're here."

They stopped at a door labeled Sim Lab 037. Claire brought out her badge and pressed it against an indent on the wall. The door clicked and automatically hissed open, allowing them entry.

The simulation room was about as wide as four helipads put together. At the moment, the walls were blank; bare, apart from the grid-like division of the walls. There were six other women in the room already, and all twelve eyes turned towards the new arrivals. All of them were dressed in varying styles—there was even one who wore what appeared to be a maid outfit, albeit one with a scandalously short skirt.

It was that same woman who spoke to them, too.

"Welcome to the squad, and perhaps welcome to Headquarters, too, Valkyries Abrams and Campbell." The woman, short ashen brown hair and rose-tinted eyes said with a bow.

Claire blinked. "Ah!" She saluted.

"Valkyrie Claire Campbell, reporting for duty Miss Rossweisse!"

Noah rushed to do the same. "Valkyrie Noah Abrams, reporting for duty."

The woman, Miss Rossweisse, Noah presumed, placed her fingertips to her lips. "At ease, Valkyries. And Noah, you can put down your belongings. Please, call me Rita."

The two complied, and Noah left his rucksack by the door. They walked into the loose ring of other Valkyries with more than a few curious looks in Noah's direction.

"Now then," Rita began, "You have all been gathered to form a new unit devoted to cultivating the best talent that Schicksal currently has to offer. We are not named for now, though we do have a designation: the Zeroth Squad of Headquarters, or Squad Zero if you are more comfortable."

Noah had never heard of zero being used as a designation for Valkyrie squads among the ones stationed at FOB Winter Gale. He looked at the faces of the other Valkyries in the room, which ranged from shock to mild surprise. Even Claire seemed bewildered. The only ones who look unperturbed were Rita herself and a blonde girl that looked about fourteen or fifteen years old.

"Now, so that we get to know each other better, we shall begin the introductions. I will start with myself, Rita Rossweisse. A-rank Valkyrie and part-time maid. I will be the adjutant of this squad. I look forward to working with you all."

The girl from before stepped forth. "Bianka Ataegina. A-rank. I will be your captain. Nice to meet you."

Noah stared. A girl not even up to his chin was on the same rank as himself, and not only that, she was their captain.

A petite girl similar in age to Bianka raised her hand and gave a warm smile. "Wendy Anemone. A-rank. Let's all be friends!"

The next one was a woman who was quite a bit older than the rest, and the one after was about his age. Noah tried his best to pay attention but his eyes kept drifting back towards the two teenagers. He only noticed that it was his turn when Claire herself finished—she was B-rank, he believed—and elbowed his ribs.

"Noah Abrams. A-rank."

Rita clapped her hands. "Thank you, Noah. Now that we know each other, I have to tell everyone that we are to start with our first drill session as a squad tomorrow at zero six hundred. Between that and now is free time to adjust to the new arrangement. You may talk to each other, go back to your rooms, or handle any other personal business until then."

Bianka raised her head. "Everyone is dismissed."

The captain and her adjutant were quickly mobbed by the other members of Squad Zero. Claire had disappeared into the crowd, leaving Noah without a guide. He shifted on his feet, glancing around the room. No eyes were pointed his way. As quickly yet as quietly as he could, he began heading back to his bag near the exit. He'd just managed to wrap the straps around his shoulders when he found himself staring at the other teenager in the room.

"Hello mister Noah," Wendy said. "Do you need any help? You just got here from your flight, and I know that Headquarters can be a little…"

"That's alright," Noah blurted. "I can get around on my own."

Wendy frowned. "Are you sure? You don't have an AR set compatible with the base map software or an advisor here, and I don't think Schicksal hands out maps, most especially maps with the Valkyries' accommodations and daily routine, for free."

Noah looked up. On one hand, he could just ask around with staff and other Valkyries to get where he wanted to be. On the other, Wendy was someone who managed to get into the same "elite squad" that he'd gotten himself assigned in.

All it took was to remember the eyes that were pointed at him since he landed to make him nod in agreement.

"Fine."

The girl beamed. Noah took a step back.

"Then, first let's take you to the cafeteria! There's this beef dish that the cooks said was made especially for the Russian arrivals. I haven't tried it yet but from the smell alone I could tell it's going to be great!"

She took his hand—he had to stop himself from slapping it away—and dragged him out of the sim lab. Since she was only tall enough to reach his chest, her steps were short. It was more of a struggle to not step on her feet rather than actually keeping up with her. He kept his eyes trained at his feet and hoped the trip wouldn't be too tiring.

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End of Chapter 1