In the end, I had left the team while I went to find a place duck in, to print the guns and the energy cells disguised as Progrisekeys. The undead and a Templar floating by happily donated their energy to the cause of survival so went into a random building that looked like it was once a convenience store and began printing. Ark and Zea even had a case with foam cutouts to store the Shotrisers in! the energy cells took more time to manufacture while charged. So, I let my mind wander. Zea and Ark both observed with what I could call, curiosity. Oh, right I never told you guys what's going on, did I?

[ARK Notification: Negative]

[ZEA Notification: Negative]

Ok, so shit is all kinds of fucked, including non-Newtonian ways. We are locked in a world doomed to end in 13 to 15 years. We are on the invasion of the Herrscher of Thunder if I'm recalling correctly. This place and time are when Dr. Mei gets recruited into Fire Moth (has a longer name, but whatever), a UN Taskforce made to combat the Honkai after the enormous costs the previous two invasions came with. They had somehow killed the first Herrscher and the Herrscher of the Void of this era, I'm not sure if the First Herrscher is always Reason, but it would explain how fast they could prototype and manufacture MANTIS super-soldiers and Divine Key weaponry.

Also, in the next three years there are three Herrschers waiting to cause more outbreaks: Wind, Ice and Death. And the quick succession of these attacks wrecks the world's military forces and economy. Allowing Fire Moth to take the stage with their MANTIS project to buy time to ensure some of humanity got to survive the coming end.

But the amount of information lost would doom the next cycle to repeat worsen their own errors. Instead of improving or replicating the tech, it became a crutch to their own development. Many sacrifices were mad to maintain and repair things that should have been decommissioned long ago and then used to rule over the masses. And then the powerful MANTIS remains came back and started turning a crapsack world into full grimderp.

[ZEA Notification: Processing]

[ARK Notification: Processing]

Yeah, quite the thing knowing your existence is already quantified, no? Humans usually don't consider that their time is limited, and that their lives have a set date to end is quite madness inducing. Hell, I think it's only the adrenaline from combat or you guys in my head that I'm not curled into a trembling ball in a corner somewhere.

[ZEA Notification: Processing]

[ARK Notification: Processing]

But whatever, let's take these guns back to the squad and find a way to survive the apocalypse, what do you say?

[ZEA Notification: Agreement]

[ARK Notification: Agreement]

We came out the store and saw a couple corpses wandering around the street. Hefting the pelican case on my back, I went in and punched their heads off while running back to the apartments the squad were in. It seemed that the dead had not cared to amass around them, so I filed that away to my evidence folder that the Herrscher was preoccupied with an objective somewhere else.

I hoped that it wasn't the place Watchpoint-2 and I were going to.

What the hell, it probably was in the way to get smashed.

I came around the place Watchpoint-2 was perched in. The unmistakable imprint my body left when I first miscalculated the first jump was there, so I knew just how much power to send to my legs to not bring down the building on us. Or leave another hole on the fifth floor.

The boys and girls were surprised to see me if I was reading their expressions correctly. I think they have labeled me some kind of spook doing things above their paygrade (which in a way, I'm going to) so it wouldn't have been unexpected to have ditched them to do whatever I had to do.

Hell no. Everybody that could hold the line even for a few days more would be needed.

So, I correctly landed this time and set down the case. The thing hit the floor with a hefty thump and all eyes were on me as I opened it and pulled out one of the guns. "This is Steel Hopper's proprietary Ammo Induction and Manufacturing System - Shotriser EMD. Or more like the AIMS Shotriser. It shoots the equivalent of a .50 Cal. AE at 150 rounds per minute if your wrists are made of carbon nanotubes. Meaning you can shoot the thing as fast as you can for as long as you can press the trigger and your arms don't break under the recoil. The ammo is flash forged so you won't get any casings but will feel about a quarter of the recoil more than a Desert Eagle. The gun has a Capacitor that holds enough juice to get around 300 FMJ rounds or 180 if you switch to any of the intended modes for AP, High Ex or Semi-AP High Ex. Don't get too hopeful for great ranges, 140 meters is just as far as you get if you intend the target to die." Their eyes just were wide as plates as the switched between me, the gun, and the case holding more guns and the one I had stuck to my right leg. I guess that they saw me shooting the thing like competition 1911 and now were wondering what kind of bullshit was the Ichigata suit.

The best kind, of course. Kamen Rider kind.

"Uh, sir. Are you sure you can give us these? Wont you get in trouble?" The Lt. turned to me and her honey-colored eyes shone with worry. For whom it was, me, herself or her squad, I couldn't guess.

"Probably, but I hope I can get enough combat data from these to at least not have you pulled into a secret base deep down the earth. Perhaps a promotion to black ops or maybe weapons testing might be on your way. If we get lucky." Yeah, my bullshitting might get us all killed later, but we had to survive the Honkai first. She looked a bit brighter and I couldn't help but smile behind my mask. If only I wasn't such a wuss back home and we had met there… "Oh yeah, here" I gave her the one I had first printed, and then passed the Progrisekey-shaped Energy cells around to the squad as everyone came to get one of the guns. Three per soldier got us to around 1200 .50 cal. bullets ready to perforate the Honkai with. Each. Or 720 if they chose to make them blow up.

The cells weren't full Progrisekeys I thought, but I guess that having a theme was necessary for Zea or Ark, or maybe both, since the cells were helpfully labeled "Piercing Bullet – Ability: Ammunition" and had the image of a bullet ant printed on the front.

Huh, will test one when I get the Zero-One driver.

Everyone kitted out to break their hands, I walked towards the Lieutenant and drew the Typhoon Magnum. "Alright, point the way and I'll clear a path."

She nodded and we all began our trek towards the streets.

Hopefully, from there, to civilization.