Chaos Gacha Honkai Chapter 3

“Let's get down to business~!” I sang under my breath, striking the punchin back with a rhyme, “To defeat Honkai,” A kick, another series of punches, “Did they… haaaa-haaa, send me bitches…When I asked for chads?” Another series of attacks, and I couldn’t even talk; my lungs were burning too much.

Weakly, I moved away a bit, holding my hands on my wrist. 

God fuck it, damn it, sports were hard!

Still, the song was stuck in my head; it kept playing even as I rested.

“Come on, superhero, don’t tell me that’s the extent of your stamina?” One of my pals, Mat, said, clapping me on the back.

“Can still… kick your ass… on the ring…” I fired back, only to hear him and some others chuckle. 

Fuckers really are way too happy seeing my ass suffering through boot camp during the last month. 

“Fuck you… guys…” I said, slowly making my way down to the cooler. 

Honestly? M.O.T.H. was alright. 

Apparently, the biggest reason why they acted so brutally with me at first, was because they expected me to be a Honkai beast of some sort. You know, being malicious and shitting out Honkai radiation. 

Me being my handsome, smart self… okay, serious talk, me being around human-level smart? That only made me potentially more terrifying if I were another Honkai monster. 

So the initial containment was pretty brutal. But as the testing went on, and I showed no rabid behavior or Honkai-related power, they were already planning to move me from that cute containment cell. 

My agreement to work with them just simplified the matter.

Apparently, I really am the first superhero in the world. First superhuman too! The issue is, aside from my enhanced agility and reflexes, I wasn’t too impressive physically. 

I mean, come on, I was a normal guy back home. Worked 9 to 5 in the office. Went to the Gym, like, three times a month when I felt too guilty about having a gym membership and not using it.

So, first order of business when I agreed to become a soldier for humanity?

Training. Balanced diet, and a shit ton of training. 

I was taught the basics of firearm handling, driving, giving and following orders on the field, and first aid. But those were just courses I attended. 

Outside of that? Mostly physical conditioning. With three hours a day set aside for self-training myself in magic, and two hours a day I was Mobius’ bit… lab rat.

Apparently, M.O.T.H. invested in me; they seriously did. I apparently had a team of nutritionists and exercise consultants who went through all of my medical data to make an optimal training plan, and a bunch of specialists were hired to perfect a fighting style involving Captain America’s shield, just so I could use it optimally. 

I was actually feeling as if I was acquiring the skills necessary to be a superhero now. But honestly? It was tough, like, stupid tough. 

Good thing guys and gals on the base were alright. 

They’ve been a bit wary of me at first; I, too, would be wary of a shadow-demon who can punch through solid steel, but we were guchi now. 

I mean, I wasn’t exactly over getting kidnapped and forced into a sterile room, but… that’s just the risks of being in a superhero world, I guess.

Working for the woman who was calling me a Lab Rat was weird, but again, I wasn’t too prideful, not after the humbling I received from the Black Ops squad. 

It’s not like I can start to hysterically scream that I would rather die than work with M.O.T.H, that won’t end well. Planning an escape, or running off at the first mission? Yeah, cool, I still won’t be able to do shit on my own against Honkai.

I had a fascinating lesson about what Honkai is, and what it actually does to people. 

Shit is fucked up.

The first thing that happens to the infected person? Strange, supernatural-looking lines start to trace his body beneath his skin. That happens instantly, once he gets the correct dosage. Soon, he stops being able to see. Soon after? He dies from total organ failure, one after another, while the victim is alive, and can feel all the pain.

If a soldier gets injured by a Honkai beast in the field and doesn’t have great resistance? He or she had better amputate the limb on the spot. Otherwise, this poison spreads, and you get the lines beneath your skin, with all that follows after being inevitable at this point. 

Then, there is a contamination with the ‘critical level’ of Honkai Radiation. That’s when you get exposed to enough Honkai energy faster than you die. Your organs don’t just fail you… They start to transform into something alien. Slowly, your body mutates and breaks down, as you lose control over your body and turn into a zombie. 

Luckily in the low-level outbreaks, zombies are rare. However, during the Eruption? It was recorded that every second became a zombie. 

Zombies in this world also weren’t completely retarded, Walking Dead style. They coordinate with other beasts, are capable of actually controlling their bodies, not much worse than a living person, to normal armed soldiers, they are dangerous, and not only in endless waves. 

Honkai looked like some endgame crossover level threat in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. How the hell am I the only superhero yet?!

In any case, I alone am not an insignificant factor. I am not any weaker than Captain America, provided I have none of his experience, charisma, and plot armour, but I am also not an American, so it evens out. 

And also, M A G I C. 

For now, I wasn’t deployed anywhere just yet. Small-scale Honkai outbreaks happened occasionally, but were mostly handled by M.O.T.H. personnel of that country or that country’s military. Nothing that would require dropping me in… besides, I was valuable enough to train before being thrown into a war zone. 

That fact I appreciated. 

Why was I valued highly? Well, my superhuman powers in my armour were part of the reason. My potential to get more powerful was a factor, too. 

But another part was something else. Something Dr. Mobius figured out about my power before even I could…

A loud, familiar buzzer rang out.

“Attention, agent Knightmare, please report to section C-34.”

I sighed. 

“Honestly, fuck this woman sideways…”

Damn, now that I said this out loud… I wish I could. 

Standing up, I went to the changing room, and from it, directly towards the facility where Mobius wanted me this time. 

The M.O.T.H. issued smartphone was neat, in the sense that I could actually make it project a small holographic map and just follow it. 

The technological wonders of this world were, in general, amazing. Shame I had so little time for video games. 

VR here actually had proper games, and wasn’t just a gimmick. 

Then again, it’s not like I regret it too much. Working on myself? Pain in the ass. If not for my ‘fitness trainer,’ I would’ve eaten junk on day three and skipped half the exercises. 

But being semi-forced to go through all the conditioning and seeing the gains? Worth the suffering.

For the umpteenth time, I wandered, did they add steroids in my food or something? Or maybe when Mobius was injecting me with those vaccines, they weren’t just vaccines?

Eventually, I made my way to the correct block. 

The door opened, revealing a few scientists, one of whom was recognizably Mobius and her assistant, Klein. I also recognized Blanca and Ato; those two were familiar faces. I knew a few others, too, but not really by name. 

To be fair, I only knew Blanca because Ato can’t fucking shut up about his beautiful wife. 

“So what is it this time, Mobius? Do you want me to transform more shit into adamantium for testing?”

This was the discovery Mobius made. As long as I knew and understood the material? Preferably, if I touched it and knew its texture? I could force an object to transform into it with my second ability.

Sure, my ability wore off once the object was damaged… 

Now, quick quiz, what is adamantium famous for?

Ding-ding, we have a winner. 

Mobius found a way to print basically a genuine adamantium through my magic. Because it’s indestructible, the only way to undo the transformation found so far, was for me to turn it back. 

The discovery was only a week ago, so most of the adamantium toys I made for her were still undergoing testing. 

But to say that Mobius and all the other M.O.T.H. scientists were having a collective orgasm from the sheer prospect of being able to design shit with adamantium in mind wouldn’t be an exaggeration. 

I myself was promised some gear out of this deal. 

“Not this time, Lab Rat,” The aforementioned woman waved away my words, “This time you aren’t here for actual fun research, I am just conducting the testing on behalf ot M.O.T.H.”

So, Klein will do most of the work. Gotcha. 

Still, I raised an eyebrow. 

“Omnious,” I noted, without much care. 

Someone tugged on my sleeve.

“Ah, thanks,” I cooed, accepting a bribe in the form of a coffee cup from Klein. I really wanted to pat her head, but I knew from experience she didn’t like it much. 

I took a sip. 

That’s the good shit. The little assistant was really S-tier helper, she actually knew how to make coffee how I liked it… and shamelessly bribed me with it when I was starting to argue with Mobius. 

I also nodded to other scientists, knowing I didn’t have the time for proper greetings. 

“In a sense it is,” Mobius noted, raising up from her desk and gesturing for me to approach, “We are going to test your Honkai resistance.”

I blinked.

“Wait, didn’t you do that on the literal first day I was here?” I asked, honestly confused. I had access to my own file. “Besides, you have my tissue samples. Why the hell do you need me here?”

Still, I approached, accepting a small folder from her. 

Opening it carefully, I skimmed the outline of the plan. Some schematics for a… eh, power armour? With some space for my own armour underneath? 

“The pro-adamantium is indeed proving to be indestructible so far, but radiation and the honkai energy can bypass it,” She said blandly, “Which means while it’s certainly a miracle substance, it is not, as of yet, our golden bullet.” She looked me in the eyes. I shivered reflexively, “Your own Honkai resistance is abysmal. Way below the average. If we send you into an outbreak as you are now, you’ll come back with Honkai Sickness. If it’s an event on the level of the Eruption, you will be a zombie in a heartbeat.” She folded her arms under her sizable chest, making it really hard to look into her beautiful, yet chilling eyes. “So we have to test how good your shadow armour is at reflecting Honkai.” She taped the folder. “The schematic for the battlesuit MK.0 is designed for you to use your shadow armour underneath. It amplifies your basic characteristic too much to ignore, making you more resistant to the impacts, vibrations, and other damage Adamantium won’t shield you from. But depending on how well your shadows reflect Honkai, we will need to design different paddings to minimise exposure.”

She sighed, looking genuinely annoyed.

“If it were up to me, you wouldn’t set a foot on the battlefield unless there is no other choice. Your ability to produce pro-adamantium is too valuable to us and humanity as a whole. But if an opponent on the level of the Herrsher shows up again… we may have no choice but to send you alone.”

…in the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood…

“...you are thinking about something dumb again, aren’t you, Lab Rat?” She said as she clicked her fingers right under my nose. 

“Maybe,” I admit nothing, snapping back into the real world, away from killing imaginary demons, and back to the possible Final Boss in front of me, “So you need me here because you need to test shadow armour for its anti-Honkai properties… honestly, I am surprised you didn’t test it earlier, back when I was trapped in your cell.”

She chuckled.

“Your opinion of me is far too low. Indeed, I don’t care for the ethical side of things when I do my work, but you are too valuable to be used up irresponsibly. The only way to see your armour’s resistance is to place it under Honkai radiation, and you have to be close… which means you will also inevitably get a dose. If the armour does not protect you well enough, you will have a dosage that will stay in your body until we learn how to clean the body of light Honkai contamination… if we will be able to learn such a thing at all.” She shook her head, 

I nodded, understanding the general idea.

“So basically, you were worried about me back then, and you still are now, but big bad wigs are forcing your hand. Gotcha.”

Mobius didn’t look impressed. Personally, that only made my smile widen. Fucking with her gave me life.

“Alright, I trust you with the procedure; you probably already came up with the optimal way. Let me check in case you missed something.” I said, extending my free hand and inviting her to hand the document over. 

Despite how I made this sound, this wasn’t a dig at Mobius competence, and she knew it. It was just that I instinctively understood the limits of my ability, which came up plenty of times in testing. She usually never missed anything, but double-checking never hurt, and at the early stages of testing, I saved her a lot of time by instinctively knowing some of the things that would never work. 

“It’s on the second page,” She corrected, making me look down at the folder. 

I checked it, yep, it was.

“My bad,” I said, checking what she had in mind.

So, the plan was for me to wear armour, while also making a small, long, wide, and flat nail extend from my gauntlet, which I will place between a Honkai energy emitter and a Honkai energy detector. What followed was school-level stuff; if my gauntlet reflected any honkai, the detector would pick up less radiation than there was emitted. 

It was still kinda risky… but I am not a complete idiot. 

I knew Honkai exposure was unavoidable. For me, knowing my limits with it was worth some exposure. Besides, Mobius will probably start with tiny doses, I should be fine. 

“Fair enough. Lead the way.”

She did so. Damn, I sure love to see her leave, and I love watching her go.

…Jesus Almighty, please, I beg you, take my superpowers away, but let me fall face-first on this ass one day. 


***

“...it’s zero again. Complete reflection?” Mobius wandered from the command center, as I stood there with my index finger extended in front of an Honkai emitter that… was practically shooting a laser at this point.

“It makes sense,” I answered back nonchalantly, “This is magic after all. It makes sense that it counters space-magic.”

“Lab Rat, I am voicing those results out loud for your sake, but if you will keep trying to needle me, I swear no one will ever find your body.”

I gave her a thumbs up, but wisely decided to shut up for now. 


***

I was eating at the mess hall. 

Unfortunately, I was banned from using my magical bowl of spaghetti by literal demons who were running my dietary planning, and had to socialize in the evening and eat in the canteen. 

Stupid sexy scientists, stupid dotting instructors…

“Are you sure you aren’t going overboard?” Ato asked casually, biting into a broccoli, “Wearing this armour of yours even here?”

I got to know a bunch of scientists working under Mobius, when the main woman herself, as well as her cute hobbit-sized assistant, were busy, and she just needed someone to run more routine tests on my Lab Rat ass.

Ato specifically wasn’t a lab assistant; from what I gathered, the guy had more doctorates than I had A’s on my high school diploma. He was also a pretty chill dude. 

Aside from that? He was a fucking handsome normie, with ashen hair, a charming smile, and a good face; he was also happily married and had a kid. 

I was a bit jealous, but was also generally glad I got to know the guy. He was the kind of intelligence that seemed effortless but not self-absorbed… hm, how to phrase it? He wasn’t a try-hard.

Yeah, that's about it. The thing that actually makes him fun to be around, unlike most of our egg-heads. 

I shrugged.

“Hey, most of the field personnel were chosen for their Honkai Resistance. I am not. If I don’t do that much, I’ll die before all of them. And how will those guys live without my wicked sense of humour and sheer inhuman charm?”

Someone threw a tissue at me.

It was Dave. I flipped Dave off. 

“On a serious note,” I paused for a moment, glancing at my gaunlets, “...I guess I just got excited, that’s all”

I was trying not to think that I was accumulating a tiny amount of magical cancer daily. But today kinda forced me to confront the issue. 

Yet, now I knew that my armour could keep me completely safe. 

It’s this odd feeling. I knew I couldn’t feel Honkai saturating me, but my mind was playing tricks. After I exited the lab, it certainly felt as if my whole body was like… ticklish.

Imagination, I know. It was the same back when I was a kid and learned about radiation. But still…

And know, just wearing this armour? I felt safe. Right. Like, I finally got one issue that was weighing down on me sorted out. 

“Just don’t get obsessed over it,” Dasha said, a Russian woman with a short military haircut, who was a menace on the shooting range, “We’ll all die one day. Getting obsessed over something like that… well, it can’t be healthy.”

She wasn’t wrong. I knew that, thought the same thing even, but… 

Fuck, Honkai was terrifying. 

With a sigh, I shifted the armour into a normal M.O.T.H. uniform, except pitch black.

They were right after all, the background radiation here, in HQ, was pretty much nothing. I will die from old age ten times over before dying from accumulated Honkai in here. 

“Fair enough. You guys had any luck reproducing mana?” Mobius almost had a stroke when I proposed to call my energy that, when it was finally noticed by specifically designed scanners (kinda, it’s more like they noticed a faint electromagnetic resonance my mana generated when I slowly fed it into my matter transmutation spell), but relented after a rather long back and forth of us throwing shit at each other.

Mostly because I threatened not to cooperate with her for her experiments for a week, and actually meant it this time. 

“Not as of yet, no,” Ato replied with a small smile, shaking his head, “We are still busy constructing the right survey equipment to try and lock down this energy signal properly and to observe it. Unlike Honkai, it’s shockingly elusive.”

He explained it to me before. Honkai Radiation? In sufficient doses, that shit was picked up by everything, gaiger counters, magnetic wave receptors, and with equipment that observes quantum disruptions… even on radars and sonars, in sufficient Honkai doses. The energy affected the world around it brutally and constantly. 

Mana, however, was much more subtle, almost unnoticeable until I used it for my powers.

“I still think you guys should dedicate at least a week to let me try and teach you how to do magic. It’d be pretty sick if we succeed.” I offered again. 

Ato politely shook his head.

“You said it yourself, you have no idea if anyone else aside from you possesses mana, and even if they do, you don’t know exactly what and how you are doing what you are doing.”

I shrugged. 

“I am figuring it out,” I admitted, “But I am getting better. Before, my shadows lost shape fifteen centimeters away from my skin. Now? I can briefly extend spikes for half a meter, and hold them up for a few seconds.” It took a lot of training to get to that point.

It wasn’t just trying again and again either; training magic wasn’t like training muscles. I had to actually like… shape mana in new ways. It felt like stumbling in the dark, trying to force a part of you to do things you… have no idea how to do.

As long as my armour ability was ‘slotted’, I had an instinctive understanding of how to shape shadows into my armour. It wasn’t knowledge per se… more like a bunch of instinctive understanding of how to do things just right to do what I want. Like, if you learned to ride a bicycle, you would still know how to do it, even if you didn’t have the memory of learning, you know?

That felt kinda like that. 

Right now, I am trying to use the skill of riding a bicycle by pushing it further. I mean, I knew how to affect my shadows with magic, so I was trying to learn to do other things with that shadow. 

Even that was proving difficult. But I was getting somewhere, I knew. 

“What I am getting at…” I said, stubbing the shit out of this boiled and tasteless chicken, before taking a savage bite, “Is that, eventually, I will make this ability truly mine. And I think I will be able to teach it then.”

Ato just chuckled quietly. 

“You are getting ahead of yourself. We don’t even know if other people have this energy.” He quieted down for a moment, “Besides, even if they did, dedicating a whole week to something like that… It’s something we can’t afford right now.”

I just shrugged. 

He wasn’t wrong, but…

“It would’ve been fucked up if others couldn’t learn or replicate what I do. So I refuse to believe that that’s how it works, unless Mobius proves otherwise personally.”

Ato actually laughed at that softly. 

“You really are a nice guy at heart, aren’t you?”

Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you bishonen. No one will ever believe you anyway.

“I am not nice, I am… Knightmare!” I said, standing up, and spreading my hands up, in a suitably dramatic fashion. 

A fist immediately made contact with my head softly.

“Sit down, you clown,” Dasha threatened, looking done… if not for the small smile on her face. 

I pretended to sulk, making some of the boys chuckle.

All according to Cake. 
(Translation Note: Cake means ケーキ (kēki). Shoots himself in the head.)
***

“So, my first deployment,” I said, almost meditatively. “But tell me one thing, dear Doktor, WHERE IS MY SUPER SUIT?!”

…nailed it! I was waiting to use this line, literally my whole life!

Mobius theatrically closed her ears. 

“In production.” Her eyes narrowed. “We don’t have time for your usual routine, Lab Rat.” She said simply, folding her arms. “Even when ready, the MK.0 armour will have limited operational capacity; it’s an issue of energy. Pro-adamantium does not absorb shock and impact,” Unlike the vibranium from the movies. It really is a damn shame. “As such, we can’t afford to put fusion reactors inside, and our battery technology will be able to power it only for fifteen minutes. We are considering an experimental alternative, but it remains to be seen if it’s suitable. You can’t expect to only deploy wearing MK.0.”

“Well said,” The gigacha… I mean, Alexanderson said, approaching. “Knightmare, you trained well and hard, and proved yourself to everyone here. And today, we need you.”

I simply nodded, feeling myself tensing up despite myself. 

During the last two months? I’ve goten strong. My body was lean, I had muscles, I knew how to fight, and functionally, the hellish boot camp taught me a lot about how to operate as a M.O.T.H. soldier.

I still have shit to learn, guys from cocoon were supposed to teach me more things next. 

Alas, needs must. The greatest spike in Honkai radiation since the Eruption, and it’s happening in Japan, in one of the most populated nations per square meter on Earth.

Needless to say M.O.T.H. was pulling all the stops, and was even prepared to deploy me.

Luckily, the outbreak was happening in Hokkaido, which is the northern part of the Japanese Mainland, and was less populated. Comparatively.

However, chances are, the guys on the ground will still drown in zombies and beasts.

“Listen, Knightmare, your VT-9 Skybolt will fly with minimal load, it will drop you as far into the oubreak zone as it could. Dr Mobius, if you please.”

The woman nodded, took out a small remote, and pressed a button.

A holographic map ignited in the hangar in front of me.

“The level of Honkai radiation has spiked in the outbreak, and will continue to remain on that absurd level as long as Honkai Beasts aren’t cleared out. However…” She pressed a button, zoning in on the city named Asahikawa, where a few bright dots were blinking, “Our satellites register a few hotspots. We suspect high-level Honkai beasts, or sizable groups of medium-level ones. We can’t be certain; nothing of this sort was detected since the Eruption in Germany.” She pressed a button again, and the map disappeared.

“You are going there mostly blind, your objective is to scout those hot spots, and detect the original sources of the anomalous Honkai emissions.”

“If it’s the high-level beasts as we initially suspected?” I asked briefly, my expression serious.

“Depends. Most likely, you will be ordered to retreat.” Alexanderson spoke up, folding his arms on his chest, “We would prefer to avoid going nuclear, but if it’s between you engaging enemies of this level unprepared, or using nukes, we will use nukes.”

Encouraging.

“Recon mission in that case. Am I deploying alone?” I clarified.

Alexanderson nodded, his expression regretful.

“Your ability can shield you from this level of radiation; for everyone else, it’s a death sentence. Even our remote drones can’t operate due to electromagnetic interference.” Hulk offered me a hand.

I shook it.

“Go give them hell, and come back safely, son. This is only a recon mission.”

I nodded seriously, feeling a quiet resolve igniting in me.

This? This is what I trained for. I always wanted to be a hero, who didn’t? But over those two months, I grew to like those people, in this base. Other soldiers, Alexanderson, our boss, the science team, and even Mobius.

They put a lot into me. Time, resources, effort.

It’s about time I showed them I was worth all of it.

“Thank you. Take care, guys.” I saluted jokingly to the assembled colleagues and friends; most of the base that wasn’t on active duty was here, in the hangar, seeing me off, even as the Skybolt was heating up its engines.

“You will be briefed in more detail as you fly,” Alexanderson promised. “Godspeed.”

I didn’t turn around again, heading to this sci-fi osprey knock-off with jet engines instead of rotors. Hopefully this shit didn’t kill its passengers as often as ofsprays.

My armour materialized around me, enclosing me in a familiar darkness.

I had Captain’s shield with me, and a mono-molecular sword that Ato cooked up, which I turned into adamantium.

I got into the sizable passenger compartment. The pilots didn’t distract me, as I started to receive instructions and updates from the HQ via a headpiece.

The signal in a zone that is so Honkai Irradiated was completely and utterly dogshit; however, the satellite connection could still work, and there were ways to shield the most basic electronics from Honkai. It’s anything with micro-electronics that really felt the Honkai’s impact.

I booted up my tactical tablet, too, and it showed the course of our flight and…

Wait, we aren’t in Korea!? This base was actually on Mu continent?!

Neat.

Huh, I’ve really been running myself ragged if I never even asked about that before.

For a moment, I closed my eyes. My source of power, the Dragonic Ultra Sigma Chaos Strings?

No new connections. I figured, why would they appear now? It made sense, but still… kinda disappointing.

It’s been two months since I got the shield, and I've gotten nothing from that point onwards. I wasn’t too unhappy about that.

Even my current powers made me a superhero. There were plenty of genuinely good people back in the base, people who probably deserved that kind of power more.

M.O.T.H. didn’t recruit just from the military for field operatives; Honkai Resistance was everything. So you had firefighters, medics… just normal people, brave enough to volunteer.

Me? Imagining myself in their shoes, with no superpower to speak of? I could never.

That’s why I can’t bring myself to treat anyone on the base badly; those people were far more impressive than I ever was.  

What I’ve got going for me right now, power-wise? It’s far more than anyone in this world ever gotten. I just needed to make good use of it.

Because if I don’t… well, no one will.

“...Knightmare, new development,”

My attention immediately went to my tablet, as Commander Alexanseron’s face, in uniform, was there, a command center full of people behind him.

“The JDF is dropping the ball, not that anyone can blame them. We’ve got U.S contingent engaging, and China and Russia sending help, but they barely had anyone on the borders when this shit started, and rotating the navy takes time. We barely have any presence in that part of the country, too; as things are going right now… we are looking at a full containment breach.”

I felt heavy at his words. That meant…

“This isn’t a recon mission anymore, is it?”

He nodded after a brief moment of hesitation.

“Let me put it this way. From the Russian Far East, three TU-180 are launching as we speak. Two of them will be carrying cruise missiles. One will be carrying a nuclear payload…” Commander smirked; it was a truly demonic expression. “Thing is, normally the Russian air force will be as blind as the rest of us. They can launch their rockets, sure, but unless they have someone on the ground to guide them, preferably with a targeting laser…” He trailed off meaningfully.

…I like where this was going.

“Commander, you really give me the best gifts sometimes.” I think my shit eating grin could rival his, “So, I am a God of Thunder today?”

He laughed.

“Just so, just so. There should be SALH equipment in the storage compartment. Get it on yourself, you are our eyes. Humanity depends on you. I will have someone pass along your communications to the Russians in real time, don’t worry about that. Just focus on keeping yourself alive.”

“Gotcha. I’ll do what I can, Knightmare over,” I replied briskly.

The communication died down.

I stood up, checking the aforementioned compartment. I did training exercises in VT-9 before, but it was over two weeks ago, so I was a bit rusty; it took me a while to find it.

Once I found the storage unit, I got myself my sizable laser pointer, which luckily was shoulder-mounted, and the ‘backpack’ that was my communication satellite module.

The backpack in question was the size of a small cat. Basically, more of a bump in my armour, rather than anything actually restricting.

I could warp my shadow armour in a way to integrate both, and even hide them mostly under my armour until I need them deployed.

That too, I trained to do.

“Knightmare, ETA 20 minutes,” The pilot reminded, as I was doing my equipment check for the fourth time.

“Hear you loud and clear,” I sent back, once again opening the map on the pad.

Okay, so there are a few things to keep in mind. My armour was durable. As I trained with it, and my mana grew stronger, it got a bit more durable, and made me even faster and stronger to boot.

Right now, I should be able to ignore Honkai Radiation everywhere in the area. At this level, it just doesn’t penetrate my armour.

That being said, if my armour’s structural integrity is compromised, I will be promptly fucked.

Which is why Mobius insisted that I layer my armour. A bodysuit and the armour itself, two separate layers at a minimum. Even if someone punches through my armour, I should not immediately die from being irradiated.

That said, I knew that some of the stronger Honkai Beasts could punch through my armour. Beasts on the level of the so-called ‘Chariot’, which were spotted in Germany in droves, would be able to strike through my armour with a direct hit. Everyone above is graded for the Captain’s shield only.

Once again, I did some final preparations.

“Knightmare, Honkai Interference is too strong.” The pilot said, “Sorry, sir, but we have to drop you here. We’ll likely just be shot out of the sky if we go further.”

“You did well today, boys,” I said, standing up, “Open the hatch, no need to descend.”

The men were probably a bit confused, but nonetheless obeyed.

My armour morphed behind my back, giving me a long, nice cape.

I grabbed the cape’s edges.

Killing the hesitation, I forced myself to run up and… jump.

A second in the air, and I spread my cape, forcing it to solidify.

Slowly, I glided across the air towards the burning city beneath.

Author Notes; And now I am done for today.

Personally? I love this chapter. That's what happens when the muse is fired up.