"The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness." As Durandal read aloud the lines in the book in front of her captain. This causes the captain to smile.
"By Joseph Conrad." He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at her. "You are making this too easy for me, Miss Ataegina." Durandal rolled her eyes at her captain's taunt.
"Hpmh!" Bianka 'Durandal' Ataegina took a whiteboard marker and gave her captain a point on the board, much to her dismay. Captain Hajime, Durandal and Overseer( who was watching a video on her phone) were at the observation deck as 3 new valkyries were warming up for their upcoming combat assessment.
"Here I thought, I almost had you there."
"Please. Try playing this game with Dr. Nagamitsu. You will likely lose on the spot."
Captain - 5
Durandal - 4
It was a day after St. Freya Homecoming dance and since the Hyperion is docked and on maintenance, everyone in the crew is having their break, except the current Bridge duty valkyrie, its captain and Overseer.
As the three are now taking on valkyries on training in St. Freya, the rest of the crew have been spreading word around that there was a mystery lady who asked Fu Hua on a dance, who was merely acting as a chaperone.
She had wine-colored hair, fair skin and was taller than Fu Hua. Many tried to ask for her name but she nonetheless refused.
She walked in unannounced, slow and elegant. Her step took everyone else's attention as if they demanded attention.
She wore a red dress that had the same color as her hair and black outlines. Her color suited well with Fu Hua's Black Butler Suit which she used on the ball.
'She only took those who had a 'fire' in their heart and Hers was dying.' That's all she said. That was all they could work on.
Many have tried to run facial analysis, voice recognition, behavioral match and so forth but none ever reached a certain conclusion and they never knew who she was.
All they know is that her name was Jing Ji.
In Fu Hua's Taixuan knowledge, it meant thorns.
"A flower wouldn't be a flower without its thorns, no?" That was the response the crew overheard when the two were dancing in the center.
But none knew that Fu Hua never knew how to dance.
And Jing ji was happy enough to teach her.
The Hyperion valkyries, except Rita, who also attended, were still shocked that they still have not comprehended the fact Fu Hua was relaxed and happy yet they were happy for her.
Kiana was even the first to get her to talk about the experience of her first dance after more than 50,000 years of living And She was happy to share.
Theresa was so entranced to the dance that she had it recorded on the phone.
The music. The ambience. Everything occurred between the two.
The handsomely beautiful Immortal and the mystery guest.
She only regretted that anyone from St. Freya, Schicksal and AE were allowed to join and they could come as they pleased. And considering how many people who worked for the said organization, there were a lot for her.
Rita unsurprisingly showed professionalism as she served tea to the Mystery guest and the silver haired overseer was slightly annoyed at the fact that Rita couldn't get her to talk as it was not in her place. She sighed and replayed the video.
"What are you... Oh! Hey. It's Jing Ji. It has been a while since I have seen her." The captain took a peak at what she was watching as He and Durandal, who was now his weekly Valkyrie Bridge Duty, finished talking.
"Durandal? Why don't you give the pixies a bit of a challenge down there?"
"One last quote, captain. It will be worth two points." He chuckled.
"Okay. One last. If i didn't get it right, you get to choose how hard their training will be that might drive those fairies to the ground. If not, Theresa will." Durandal perked up to her captain's words and she said her last philosophical quote for their game.
"A photograph is a secret about a secret." Durandal smiled at the words as she remembered a certain photograph that she held close to her heart.
"The more it tells, the less you know." The captain finished the quote for her as Durandal stared blankly.
"By Diane Arbus." As Both captain and Durandal stated and chuckled.
"Guess i really did lose for today, Captain." She flicked her blonde hair.
"Relax. There is always next time. Now, move along. Those three can't be fighting Honkai if they don't know how strong or hard they will be facing. " Durandal nodded with a smile. She took her Black Abyss White Flower Lance and headed to the simulation room.
"You know Jing Ji, captain?" As Theresa started breaking the ice.
"Oh yeah. She used to work at a Treasury on the southern branch of Schicksal. She and I used to chat about a lot of things and she often asked for my help when I was assigned as an Auditor there. Something about dirty money was involved." As he stopped analyzing the three newbies with his holotab and looked at his overseer
"How come I never saw her name in the database?"
"Oh. That's because in the process of reformation, the data of those who retired have been redacted and had their information changed into a bit friendlier light with my supervision."
"But why?"
"To dissociate them from the Old Schicksal in case that they ever want to find work again. I don't want the old employees to have their job application rejected just because of their 500 year boss of a very corrupted organization.
Now, every retired and resigned Schicksal employees are now happily working for other companies and have their own families to take care of." Hajime showed her the list of names who were now happy and satisfied with their lives.
"But no one told me about this."
"I had Amber withdraw that information from you."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because you would be visiting them individually and apologizing for what Otto did. And we both know you are not ready for another media exposure just so you could apologize to the world." Theresa slumped her shoulders as she remembered how exhausted she was from the last Media exposure, answering and reassuring every scared citizen to the world.
"You still could have told me about this."
"If i did, you wouldn't have the opportunity to earn back the public's trust when i asked you to come along and you would have holed up in your office, trying to read every bit of employee's profiles and lives whom Otto destroyed." Theresa looked at him with a soft look.
"I don't know about you but I don't want my valkyrie's aunt crying in her room, feeling guilty for what her grandfather has done." Hajime's words hit her in the core and it felt heavier than her Oath of Judah.
"Still. You withheld information from me, Hajime. I didn't like that." She crossed her arms.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to and I will try to avoid doing the same thing in the future. But you would have snapped if I let you start doing that. It didn't also help based on your psychological profile which read that you lost a lot of valkyrie whom you relied on."
"Cecilia." Theresa's nose flared. "Ragna." She clenched her fist. "... Himeko." She slumped her shoulders in defeat.
"Those three alone hit you hard on the core. You think you can handle 1500 innocent more while carrying your grandfather's name?"
"..." Theresa sighed and hung her head low."You promise you are not going to do it again?"
"I will try to avoid doing it in the future." She sighed at his response.
"I don't want to neglect all of my duties as an Overseer." She muttered.
"I am not asking you to neglect them. I am asking you to heal first." Theresa looked him in the eye and saw how genuine he was. The man may have lied to her but there was a certain warm feeling in them.
"I don't want that the first thing you will see in the mirror one day is your grandfather. Life with heavy regrets is a life you cannot live alone even if you carry the Oath of Judah." He patted her shoulder and he continued on working. **
The short leader looked at the busy man and took a long breath after thinking about a few things.
She stood beside him and observed the training.
"Thank you."
"Happy to help." He mindlessly typed as he looked and analyzed every training valkyrie physical and mental strength, reflex speed and their team coordination.
Susannah provides ground support and immediately takes cover for other valkyries in her team to take fire at their enemies. She is great at rounding them up and rooting them in one place for easy targets. She however needs to improve her physical strength and defense and has to have defensive measures in case of Honkai beast ambush. Due to her recent valkyrie rank promotion, it is also possible that her lack of advanced training might attest to this possibility.
Alvitr, while providing open firing assault, observes the battlefield and analyzes and at the same time, removing the chances of Honkai beasts escaping down to...25%. Due to the lack of Valkyrie assessment, she needs to retake her physical assessment. I am guessing that she hasn't explored her capabilities as a valkyrie. And considering she has spent most of her life working as an adjutant, that would be likely and this is probably her first battle simulation.
Theresa read the captain's analyses on two of the valkyries and decided to look through the observation deck.
"Do you think it is a good idea for St. Freya Valkyries to have its own guidance counselor?"
"..." The captain breathed deeply and thought about what she said.
"Yeah. A good idea since most newer valkyries tend to feel a bit lost after being initiated in the battlefield. You just need a certain professional who has gone through a lot in the battlefield and at the same time provide emotional support to keep their morale up so most of the current Hyperion Valkyrie would be off the list."
"That's fine. Do you think Fu Hua or Mr. Welt would be considered as good candidates?"
"... I would advise against it. While Fu hua would work in theory, she will have her hands full, training and improving every bit of the valkyrie's fighting style."
"Mr. Welt would be a bad choice. A guidance counselor has to be in a neutral position. Most of the world has seen them do good and Schicksal and St. freya would agree to that statement. However, He is still a member of AE. It would take years for the valkyries to lower down their guard just to at least make them feel safe."
"... How about you then?"
"Worse choice. I may be Captain of the Hyperion but I am also a Former member of Old Schicksal. I won't get anywhere with them if I start a session, let alone initiating a conversation."
Bethany. A worse version of Hyperion's Kiana. I have said enough.
Theresa just chuckled at his last assessment.
"Welp. I have done my job for this class. I have something to discuss with Dr. Nagamitsu."
"Should I know about it?" Theresa crossed her arms at him with narrow eyes.
"Let's just say that it is something I should have done a long time ago." He left the observatory deck and headed out. "I will send you details later."
"You better." She muttered under her breath.
"Hajime." The red haired captain entered the R&D labs.
"Dr. Nagamitsu."
"I can see why people have been coming around to ask me if I knew a certain Jing ji. If it weren't for the blue eyes, we would have been mistaken as sisters."
The captain chuckled at the sight of the professor, watching a certain duo dancing during Homecoming ball on a video. ***
"Didn't know you would be interested in such matters."
"I am a scientist, captain. Curiosity is our muse. I am guessing you are here for your medical check up?"
"That and I am also following up regarding the request I have asked you for."
"Understood. Please take off your suit and we will begin shortly." He looked around and saw the poster 'FIGHTING FOR ALL THAT IS BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD.'
Seeing the poster reminded him of how he first heard the valkyrie's main motto.
"Ah. Hajime. You are finally here."
"Sorry. It took me time to get here. Has my transfer been approved, Overseer?"
"Straight to the point, as always. Here I thought I could talk to you out of it."
"I am not changing my mind, Otto."
"Such a shame. You and Rita have been regarded as two of the best operatives in Schicksal. If Miss Rossweisse has learned about your transfer, she will hate you for it."
"Miss Rossweisse, as far i am concerned, has miss Durandal and last i checked, those two enjoy each other companies. And she has always wanting to have her own task force. So I don't see my significance in that part of her life. So is hers to mine. And if i know my former agent, she'll only see my requested transfer as a career opportunity. Rita always sticks her professionalism close to her heart. So nothing more, nothing less."
"4 years of blooming partnership has gone to waste. But such things are necessary to fight for all things that are beautiful."
"Huh. Are those what you teach your valkyries?"
"What do you think? Even Miss Durandal has took these words as her personal motto."
"Does my opinion matter? You have already done it."
"I am just trying to make small talk."
"I will take my leave, then." Otto laughed at the young Hajime and drank some wine.
"Shame that you don't drink...All right. Before I give you this approved request, Tell me Hajime... What is your personal motto? I would like to see if you bear a similar will as my previous knight."
"Wir Kampfen für die Walküren." Hearing this caused Otto to laugh and gave him what he wanted after working with Rita for 4 years.****
Leaving behind a broken heart and broken promise of being her partner in the future. *****
"Well. Looks like your body is in good shape. Aside from your scars, your body's resistance to honkai has shown no improvement. But it does however also mean that you have not received any Honkai Corruption for the past few months, let alone days."
"That's fine. If I were, I would be a walking zombie right now."
"What's more odd is that the Honkai in your system has decreased slightly. It is not significant but I do, however find it odd." Hajime raised his right eyebrow at her but she shrugged and beckoned. The gesture prompted the captain to put on his clothes back and followed her.
She led him to the door but hesitated as she wanted to ask him something.
"Captain Hajime? Before we proceed to the next room, Can i ask how did you get the huge scar on your chest?"
"..."
"Mei. We need to talk about this. There are other ways to save her."
"Move aside, captain. Or I will do something that I will regret forever."
"And I am asking you to stand down. Let's talk about this like friends, alright?"
"I don't have time for idle chats. Hajime. Either you move aside or you get hurt. Don't make me do this, captain."
"And I am afraid that we are at an impasse, Raiden Mei."
"..."
"Come on, Let's go back to Kiana. Maybe Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla have found something else to save her."
"And I am afraid that you will be heading back to her without me."
"What do you..."
He was interrupted by a powerful force that threw him to the wall of the lobby.
"Me... AGH!" It took him a moment to realize that his chest was bleeding.
His vision was getting blurry and He was getting weaker.
He tried to move his arms but Mei's Takemikazuchi temporarily paralyzed him from the neck down. Now, he was just groaning in pain, trying to reach out his valkyrie.
"I am truly sorry, captain. From the bottom of my heart. Kiana is and will always be the shining beacon of my life. I will gladly trade my life for hers." The young teenage girl who was wearing her Striker Fulminata held his right cheek with a gentle smile.
Despite his vision being cloudy and tunnel-like, Seeing his gentle valkyrie crying for what she has done to her captain broke his heart and it hurt more seeing her masking her pain with a smile.
"I... I hope that the paralytic effect of my Takemikazuchi would stop you from following me." Mei applied bandages on his chest. "I will be gone for a while and i don't know when i will come back but i will save Kiana. So please Captain Hajime." She closed her eyes, letting out so many tears and smiled at one of her dearest friends while caressing his cheek.
"Please take care of Kiana for me." She kissed his forehead and left.
"MEI! Don't do this." His vision was dying out but he could sense based on her rapid footsteps that she was leaving the Hyperion crew, leaving him and Kiana behind.
"MEI!"
"DON'T YOU DARE MEI!"
"RAIDEN MEI! ANSWER ME!"
"DON'T DO THIS TO ME, MEI!"
"MEI!"******
"A minor disagreement with a friend. It is nothing fatal." Nagamitsu widened her eyes.
"I would honestly argue that it's the opposite and it is a miracle that you are still alive." She saw him giving her a sorrowful smile. "Okay. I understand, Hajime." He mouthed his thanks to her and followed her to her table.
"It was honestly a surprise that you asked me to create a custom-built weapon for honkai waves but it was an interesting notion since valkyrie weapons don't actually work without the owner's honkai level or stigmata." She showed her the pairs of black and red pistols on the table.
"These are just prototype pistols but they are however capable of absorbing atmospheric honkai energy and turn them into ammunitions." Hajime tested the weapon by targeting a nearby dummy. As much as his expectations, It was weak. He sighed in defeat.
"Sorry to disappoint, captain."
"It's okay, Dr. Nagamitsu. I honestly was expecting this outcome."
"If it makes you feel any better, these prototypes were based on my previous work, PSY BOWS OF HEL that we have in the armory. The difference is that it has a paralytic effect and fires off lightning charged energy bullets. Unlike Fenghuang pinions that rely on nature to strike their enemies, the prototypes house honkai-charged energy bullets. The hammer causes the ammo to be supercharged and fired off to the target."
"Essentially, this weapon makes you feel like you are shooting lightning bolts in theory but due to current circumstances, at best, we are just using them as a weak, paralytic dart gun."
"My main problem is that there is no known resource that could act as a battery. Normal batteries that you find in cannons are way too big and too costly in terms of materials. And even so, a single Honkai Battery wouldn't even last up to 5 shots. It would be a miracle if you managed to land 2. After that, it will be a burner."
"Is it possible for it to be directly charged from the source?"
"Unless you want to get a full blown hit from things like catapult class Honkai beast? I rather not. And even so you managed to get a charged bullet in, You need to make your shot count because for you, these pistols require a lot of Honkai energy to fire a bullet."
"So Supercharging the bullets and Firing off the ammo requires both tremendous amounts of energy. I am guessing that creating the energy bullets has the same problem?"
"Yes and No." She showed him a small case and revealed a set of bullets.
"Normally, the pistol requires high honkai energy to make some energy bullets and have them stored in the magazine. I developed this small case just so it could get around with that problem. You can load up to 17 rounds each. It only needs to be supercharged on the field."
"And i am guessing that is the impractical part because I will need to carry the case with me at all times just so i could reload my weapon." Nagamitsu frowned with a nod. The captain sighed.
"I see. I still appreciate how you designed them. The aesthetic looks great." The black and red marks on the pistol shined under the light and they felt even more comfortable to hold.
His marksmanship was still on point as ever and he will be happy to prove it.
In a way, the weapon reminded it of him.
A capable captain in and outside of the Hyperion.
But also a weak ally in the face of Honkai.
It felt like the weapon was and wasn't made for him.
"Have you named it yet?" Nagamitsu widened her eyes but instantly shook her head.
"N-No. No, I haven't. You would like to keep and use them?" He nodded which prompted the doctor to sigh.
"Okay. These are still prototypes so I hope that you don't mind coming here often just for maintenance and upgrades." He didn't, which caused Nagamitsu to smile.
"I guess that it's for today, captain. Do you have something else to ask, captain?" He thought about things that have happened so far and decided to ask her about something.
"I actually do. While the valkyries and I were done defending Soukai City from Imaginary constructs honkai mobs, I found this in the aftermath." He tossed her the pink crystal that was the size of her palm.
"Fu Hua and I reached a certain hypothesis that Mei helped us out during the fight. And I am thinking that she also used that. I am asking if you could analyze the said crystal and trace to its source location." Nagamitsu widened her eyes at the result.
"And you held on to this after finding it on the street?" He raised an eyebrow at her excitement but gave her a nod.
"No wonder your honkai energy levels in your system have dropped insignificantly. This was the cause."
"Hajime, this crystal is exactly what we needed for the weapon."
"As a battery?" She shook her head.
"Think of it as the crystal as the router while the pistols as the device connected to the router." He nodded which convinced the doctor to proceed.
"It manages the Honkai energy flow in a more organized manner. It can also help absorb more Atmospheric honkai energy as the weapon doesnt need to filter that flow into them. The crystal regulates the honkai energy inside."
"If the crystal acts as a router and pistols act as the device, then what acts as a modem?" He asked her while giving her a curious look. The question made Nagamitsu smile in which he caught on.
The idea of him being a modem made him chuckle.
"All right. I will find more and more crystals and have them sent to you. That way, you can make more weapons for me." She nodded and started working on the pistols.
"And Don't worry, Hajime. I already scanned the properties of the crystal to the point where I can help you find their location on the globe." He nodded.
"Have you thought about the name yet?" Dr. Nagamitsu gave it a small thought and smiled.
"Why don't you name the weapon captain? After all, you requested them and gave me the right resources I need. You at least deserved that much." He thought about it for a long time.
"Hmmm... How about Lightning Bows of Odysseus?"
"'A Greek mortal that defies monsters and gods with cunning and clever planning. It fits the weapon and the owner." He chuckled and stood in front of the map that was locating the crystals.
"Are you hoping that you will find Raiden Mei from the locations of the crystals?"
"Yeah..." Dr. Nagamitsu instantly regretted asking.
"Will you bring the valkyries with you?"
"No. I won't. It is all speculation that Mei has something to do with these crystals and I want the valkyries to be ready whenever there is a honkai wave. So for now, I will request for a month off so I can do this alone and hopefully find her."
"Are you going to ask her to come back to Hyperion?"
"..." He sighed.
Remembering Mei hurted him hurted her a lot and he doesn't want to know how much she is in emotional pain right now.
She may have saved Kiana. All she needed to do is to become a sinner.
A word he can relate so well.
A burden he understands.
A self vow that Mei made for herself and he knows she will never stop caging it to her heart.
"No, actually." He thought about the old letter in his office.
"I just wanted to give her the letter in my office. It has been there ever since she left."
To my Dearest Raiden Mei
From Raiden Ryoma.