Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

"Where's the core?"

The soldier's face was contorted in pain. The Herrscher held him aloft with her remaining hand. He beat against her arm, struggling, his legs kicking uselessly—phantom limbs. The battle had been over in a flash. He hadn't even realized his lower body was gone.

"[String of censored Text]"

The 3rd Herrscher tilted her head. Although she didn't understand the specific words, she understood the anger. She tightened her grip, and with a sickening crack, the soldier's neck snapped. His upper body twitched a few times, then went still.

She casually tossed the body aside.

It landed with a soft thud, quickly disappearing among the hundreds of other corpses and the wreckage of mechs.

"Captain, we've lost contact with Provisional Battalion 3."

Ato simply hummed in acknowledgment.

There were five lines of defense, each manned by a battalion of regular soldiers. These two thousand men, along with Squad 1, comprised the base's entire defense force.

The non-combat personnel, including Blanka, were sheltering in the medical bay.

He hadn't wanted to send those soldiers to their deaths, but against the 3rd Herrscher, drones and mechs were useless. Sacrifices had to be made to lure her towards…

Ato glanced at the timer on his watch. Utilizing landmines and traps, they had led the Herrscher on a chase through the base, delaying her advance. The first three battalions had bought them nearly an hour.

With the Herrscher focused on combat, the electromagnetic interference had lessened. Ato had contacted the Fire Moth One half an hour ago.

"According to the plan… the reinforcements should be arriving soon… but the connection is still unstable. We can't get real-time updates…"

Ato gritted his teeth, grabbing the wired phone. "Battalion 4, engage the Herrscher, but do not lead her to Point A."

After a moment of silence, he heard a resolute acknowledgment.

He slammed the phone down, then, like the grizzled veteran before him, slapped himself twice.

Trading lives for victory… he could accept that. He wasn't afraid of sacrifice, but now he was the one making the decisions, deciding who lived and who died.

"Captain! We have a problem!"

"What…?" Ato looked at the surveillance feed, his face twisting in anger. "That idiot!"

The 3rd Herrscher stood before an intact "corpse," lifting it by the collar.

Sozer swore he was just passing by! He swore!

He was the only strategist remaining at headquarters, already feeling vulnerable and ridiculed after his earlier outburst.

He didn't understand combat, but he was just following protocol! What was his mistake?! Captain Ato had his own plan but hadn't bothered to inform him. Wasn't that disrespectful?

Besides, just deploy the silver bullets! It would be over in minutes! The war room and medical bay were within the shielded zone, they wouldn't be affected. He didn't understand Ato's hesitation.

So, he'd made a decision he now deeply regretted—he'd stormed out of the war room in anger. But everyone was preparing for battle, no one had time for him.

Then he'd made an even worse decision—they thought he didn't understand combat?! Then he would go to the front lines and see for himself!

See this, you [censored]! If he could go back in time, he would slap himself silly.

"Um… Miss Herrscher, please calm down… Let's talk this over!"

"Where… core?"

"What core?! What core do you want?!"

"Core… core… core… I want core!"

Seeing that the man before her wasn't yelling like the other soldiers, seemingly cooperative, the Herrscher eased her grip slightly.

But her language skills were still limited.

Sozer took a deep breath, his mind racing. "Core? Herrscher? Wait… could she be talking about that?!"

The Herrscher, seeing him fall silent, slammed him against the wall. "Tell me. Where… core?"

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

Sozer was ready to surrender completely.

"Ato moved the 2nd Herrscher's core a few hours ago! From the lab to the old simulation training room! I've told you everything! Don't kill me!"

But then he panicked—would he be executed after the battle for revealing this information?

No, wait! If I hadn't told her, I'd be dead now!

Wait! Now that I've told her everything, will she kill me anyway?

"I… I… I can take you there! Just don't kill me!"

The Herrscher tilted her head, her cold, crimson eyes studying him for a long moment before finally uttering a single word: "Good."

"Revoke all of Strategist Sozer's access privileges, immediately!" Ato roared.

But he knew it was futile.

Without authorization, Sozer couldn't open the security doors for the Herrscher, but with her power, she could simply blast through them. Not every door was as reinforced as the main gate.

"So, it's come to this… It's a shame. We could have delayed her for another half hour, according to the plan. Heh, well, it doesn't matter…"

Ato checked his weapons, taking a deep breath.

"Squad 1, assemble!"

The two hundred soldiers of Squad 1 had been standing at attention outside the war room.

"This is it…" he murmured to the grizzled veteran beside him.

He was Ato, Fire Moth's chief instructor, captain of Squad 1.

He was also a highly adaptable Honkai energy user. Unfortunately, his combat skills weren't as refined as that fiery woman's.

But…

"Himeko, I won't lose to you this time!"

"Don't be so sure!"

"Huh? Himeko?"

Ato turned, surprised, to see a fiery red figure standing at the war room entrance.

"We'll handle the simulation training room. You Squad 1 rookies can just sit this one out! The 3rd Herrscher brought in at least a thousand Honkai beasts. If you don't clear them out, your precious Blanka might be in danger!"

Ato's gaze shifted past Himeko, landing on Elysia, holding Whisper of the Past, and Sakura, gripping her katana. He understood.

Squad 5 had a score to settle with the 3rd Herrscher.

As for the rest of Squad 5, they had joined Squad 1, bolstering Ato's forces.

"Then I'll leave it to you… Avenge Mikael. And do it for us too."

When he looked up again, they were gone.

As the Herrscher blasted open the door to the simulation training room, approaching the single table in the center, and claiming the golden gem resting upon it, a familiar voice echoed behind her:

"Hey! Long time no see, 3rd Herrscher!"

Bang!

A reinforced door, a backup for the main gate, slammed shut behind her.

The Herrscher turned, seeing Himeko, Elysia, and Sakura surrounding her in a triangle formation.

"Unfortunately for you, this place has been specially prepared. Let's see… to deal with you specifically, the walls of this room have been replaced with thick, conductive metal, so you can't escape by transforming into electromagnetic waves!"

"Oh, what's that? You want to break through the walls…? Heh, these walls are the same material as the main gate."

Elysia smiled, but there was no warmth in her eyes or her voice.

The Herrscher looked up. The walls were indeed reinforced, as Elysia had said. She couldn't break through them quickly, and the conductive metal would block her electromagnetic waves.

"And the size of this room is just right. Large enough for us to maneuver, but small enough to negate your speed advantage." Sakura added coldly. "As for the 2nd Herrscher's core… you can't use it!"

"So, let's settle this once and for all!"

Himeko raised her greatsword, uttering the classic line:

"We live, or you die!"

"Oh…" The Herrscher's response was surprisingly calm. She tilted her head, searching through the few remaining memories in this body for the appropriate phrase:

"You got me dead to rights?"