Chapter 17

I knew from my metaknowledge that the next Herrscher was of Wind. But there was a problem. I remembered the Divine Key built from its core and the details about the core's powers.

The Fourth specializes in Ideal fluid manipulation, this usually translates into aero kinesis. But the Fourth Divine Key would be a satellite orbiting earth that would restore the biosphere from the wasteland the 14th Herrscher left it as. How? Who knows? Dr. Mei would, but here she had yet to invent that thing.

But I also remembered details I hoped carried through. The super storm, a category 5 hurricane that had appeared suddenly within European country and wiped it out of existence. The Herrscher could fly as any other one could, but she also could solidify the air around her to be as dense as any armor we had, or even stronger. That was a pseudo-Herrscher that only got wasted by the 6th Divine Key and a HALO jump.

So, I prepared for that. Like Schicksal would do in the future, I began creating something to split her attention in as many directions as possible. Then an orbital strike would get me into the Eye of the storm so I could finish her. Arsenal City rumbled for a minute as Zea's latest design woke up. The thing was a massive, Superheavy constructor that wouldn't have looked out of a Faro Automated Solutions line up, it looked like a massive CT scanner with multiple rings going around carrying robotic arms with Printing Lasers and more tools than I could imagine. It was a long as the island we were in. the thing began printing the chosen designs for the TSF's we had chosen. The A10C Thunderbolt 2 and the Su-47 Berkut. A Gunner type to hold positions and a CQC monster to destroy anything that got too close to the gunners. The Berkut was designed with a bonus that I shouldn't be surprised came from Alt-Russia: It took mods to use the Lesser Shard of Thunder (LST) like a duck to water, its systems reacting well to the Honkai Energy source and opening a few options I hadn't thought about. The Thunderbolt instead was a rugged system that had to be modified to work on this world.

The 36mm autocannons were swamped to 30mm to be compatible with the rounds of this world. The 120mm Smoothbore was left as it was. On both the Thunderbolt and the Assault Cannons it meant more ammo but more wear on the barrels as the smaller rounds had a higher velocity, countered by using the Photon-S Coating from the Shotriser. The feeding systems had to be adjusted but overall, the revised magazine could hold at least 25% more rounds than its predecessor. I would later attempt to use Attache Shotgun Technology to make the new Assault Cannons but for now this would have to work. I chose to use the AMWS-24 Advanced Multiple Weapon System platform from the YF-23 Black Widow 2 project, which was already a more compact, higher capacity Assault Cannon than any other out in its universe. Why they never entered mass production on their own, I would never know. In the end it meant that I had an Assault Cannon with almost 3000 30mm rounds (2900, to be exact), and 8 shells of 120mm on each magazine. I also brought the Mk.57 Squad Support Gun chambered for 90mm and 120mm for use with the Thunderbolts.

The Thunderbolt 2, being an 'older' machine had some stuff I needed to change. The Thrusters were replaced with MHD Drives to make better use the LST Power plant, the iconic bathtub was reinforced with Hiden Alloys to improve its durability when facing energy beams in case the outer armor was compromised. The GAU-8 Avenger was left as it was, only its barrels swapped to the 30mm ones that it used in this world and given the Photon-S coating the Shotriser used on its own barrel. We tried to add mount pylons but instead expanded ammo capacity for the Avengers and whatever loadout this heap would fly with. Refractive coatings and ablative armor hardpoints were added to improve survivability against energy beams. Because of course the Honkai will managed to laser spam my AO on the first try.

The Berkut, oh boy, was a nightmare and some. The Super Carbon alloys used for its powerful and quick input response was very, very precise. Ark and Zea had to pool several hours to figure out the molecular makeup and then fabricate it and test it. So far it looked fine, but we had to add more armor and ammo carrying capacity to compensate for the weight loss from switching the Jump units to MHD Drives, as it could compromise its aerodynamics and weight distribution and also put stress on the frame in places it wasn't supposed to. Reinforced fixed weaponry, better sensor suites and ablative armor in key components were added. The Blade Motors, I chose to use the same Hiden Alloy from the Attache Calibur which became sharper when it had electrical currents running through it, somehow.

The modifications finalized, the Superheavy Manufacturing Corridor began printing the parts and assembling the Pelicans as they came through its length, the second SMC would be ready to print the Thunderbolts and a third one would print the Berkuts. The smaller Manufacturing Corridors we already had would dedicate themselves to making Flight units, the Androids and the Warthogs. My distributed LST network was already a great relief as I could now disconnect myself from the energy network and not pull the plug on the entire City. I added a couple more LSTs for insurance in case something came up. If anyone looked at the island, they would think there was an active volcano in here.

So, queue finished I set myself to sleep.

I woke up three days later to surprise new arrivals.

"Greetings, Father. I am Model 1 Type Research, Miss Ark has given me the name, Naki Fuwa. I am ready to commence my duties."

"Greetings. I am Model 1 Type Machinist, Zea has granted me the designation, Yua Yaiba. I await proper facilities to commence my tasks"

"Greetings. I am Model 1 Type Commander; I was designated as Renee White by Ark and Zea. Please, show me the Command and Control area to commence preparations."

Oh Dear.

He duck and weaved the punches that would certainly cave his face in. He tried retaliating but found himself flat on his back with difficulties to breathe again. His fellow squadmates tried ganging on the one responsible but instead were demolished like rookies instead of the serving spec-ops he suspected some of them were. The screams of pain coming from nearby told him his team wasn't the one doing the worst out there, he got up just in time to see his opponent pick up a man lager than her by the legs and use him to bludgeon a fellow soldier in the face.

He knew these guys had to be ridiculous to have survived Nagazora after it all went to hell, he'd been shown the photos. Unlike his fellows, he didn't think about it as a prank or some joke by his superiors, no he had been there, and it looked like things had gotten worse after they'd been evacuated. The pictures of the aftermath were horrifying enough. It wasn't his city, he hadn't been born there, but it hurt to think that so many of those people he had attended school with were now dead.

The redheaded lieutenant addressed the trainees. "Don't wait until your squadmate is down to rush in, pile up, I might be shorter than almost all of you but the Honkai have freaks bigger than tanks, rush in, punch to stun and fill them with lead. Don't go one by one if you don't want to be cut off from you mates. Live together or die together. Take the day, you need to rest for what's to come" The woman shook her head, free of sweat, and left the men to their devices, and as soon as she disappeared, they began talking.

"Dude, that bitch aint human, I swear I broke her hand and she just caved my chest in… I might have to go to the Doc's to check…" one of the Army, a female soldier, going by her tattoos, complained as she sat back down on the mat covered room.

"You think? I got a faceful of Marine and you complain about your tits?" A large man responded, covered in sweat and bruises, and addresses the mentioned Marine. "You ok, Honsu?"

"Your head is almost as hard as her fist, Yori, I might join Taki in her trip. Oi, rookie, Kevin was it? You ok down there?" the man looked down onto him, his face having lost the indifference he'd had had when they had been put together. Kevin responded with a feeble thumbs up as his own lungs finally chose to work properly again. Spoiler: Kevin Kaslana
This had been their routine for the last months, the Watchpoint Unit, those that held the longest in Nagazora and were said to kill the one responsible for the Eruption, had been put in charge of training the personnel stationed in this base in the middle of nowhere. They had chosen people at random, ignoring what branches they'd come from, to make the squads and begun laying the smackdown on them. It had caused no end of complains from everyone but after months, they had finally reached an accord one having to deal with the trainers first.

It was a disaster; people Kevin thought could bench press a truck were left whimpering as the smaller Japanese reservists turned veterans deconstructed the way they fought. Using unnatural speed and strength they'd demolished seasoned men and women by the dozens, then they would end the beatdown with some cryptic phrases and leave them to limp back to the barrack or the infirmary, more often the latter.

He'd been the only one from a pure civilian background, the only FNG among FNGs. He didn't know how to feel about that title, but he still managed to keep up with the others. The PT runs, the training, the shooting gallery, the strange food, the odd noises coming from the toilets when they were occupied, it all mixed into almost comfortable routine.

Then he got called to a meeting room and met Mei in there. Talking to the reason of his enlisting was a nice feeling, marred only by the fact that Mei was crying on his arms. She'd begun talking about something or the other, but he just hugged her until she calmed down. Then she started talking properly.

He had to admit, he kinda suspected some strange stuff would happen when he said he'd join the Task Force, but he didn't expect his kinda-girlfriend to be made woman in charge for so many things, from military matters to really shady business, Mei told him how bad things were going.

The thing that finally made her seek him out was the last communication from their 'sister' organization, Steel Locust. That group's director had finally contacted Mei and they had talked about some of the stuff that the people under Mei had done without telling her, and then they'd both had had some realization that had made the man frantic and left Mei very distraught. Spoiler: Dr. Mei
Then she told him about the fate of Alphabet Soup. Of the horrors inflicted, and their tragic end. She went on detail describing the atrocities as she began crying again and didn't stop until she finished telling him the story of the now defunct American project. He had to admit, he was glad Su liked horror stuff because only that way could he hold his stomach from embarrassing him in front of Mei, but certainly he cursed his imagination for finally working properly and allowing to clearly picture what Mei was describing.

She said that they had suspicions of who the next Herrscher might be and a general area where it might attack. She also told him to be ready for increased training, that she was allowing the Watchpoint the gear they used to survive Nagazora to be integrated into the training.

That made his smile a bit brittle, as he continued holding Mei in his arms.

She smelled nice.

The new Androids had been built as Zea and Ark saw me struggle with managing a whole organization of three, then decided that it would make it easier to have someone fill in the tasks I was not doing well at. Yua took over Manufacturing and locked me out for the next days, by the end she had finished 18 Pelicans, 20 Berkuts, 16 Thunderbolts, 13 Warthogs, 23 Flight Units and enough ammo for them to kill a Kaiju. While it would take her some time, she had begun construction yet another SMC for some reason Zea wouldn't tell me. Naki looked as sleep deprived as her chassis allowed, she had spent the last days going over my notes and making comments about the impossibility of all. But she had adapted and had begun prototyping the next gen Assault Cannons, Next Gen Drivers and some Progrisekeys. Commander White… she was a pain, not that she was annoying, just… I didn't know where to look at when talking to her. She was dedicated as any other android, but her chassis properly brought to life my memories of the game she came from, and boy, that dress… It probably was me going stir crazy from being on Arsenal City for months now, and while I enjoyed being lazy, having an incoming sentient disaster put a bit of a fire under my ass.

I wanted to see the guys from Watchpoint again, properly.

"Sir!" White's voice interrupted me. "Atmospheric Pressure drop! 990 Millibars and falling!"

"Location!"

"800 Kilometers south of Isla de la Juventud! Cuba! 960 Milibars!"

Aw shit, she's here!

The Herrscher of Wind!

God told me I can stop it.

That I can stop everyone's suffering.

That I could cleanse the earth from sin.

So, she gave me this stone.

The stone is [me].

I am She Who Reaches All Under Heavens.

Go, my beautiful servants.

Set the path for your Queen.

My name is Ananiel, the Rain of God.

And I shall wash away the filth from Creation.