Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

A chilling wind whistled through the mountain valley, a stark contrast to the scorching summer sun beating down on Elysia's back. She sat on a small folding stool before Mikael's tombstone, wrapped in a thick wool coat, the occasional crackle of static electricity adding to her discomfort.

But she didn't care. She was willing to endure anything to see Mikael again.

"Corporal Kevin… are we just going to watch from afar?"

Aldemir, standing behind another row of tombstones, could only see the back of Elysia's head. He felt a pang of sympathy.

He was still a Private First Class, while Kevin, thanks to his exceptional performance in the simulation training room, had been promoted to Corporal. So, he had to follow Kevin's orders.

Kevin's breathing grew heavy. He didn't want to witness this either.

He was still in shock. Aldemir, at least, had spent several months with Mikael. For Kevin, a close friend and comrade, gone in just a few months…

It was hard to accept.

And Elysia… if it were Mei… no, wait! What was he thinking?! Mei would never…

Anyway, Kevin understood Elysia's grief.

"Our orders are… to keep Squad Leader Elysia within our sight. Nothing more."

He spoke coldly, rejecting Aldemir's unspoken sympathy. Aldemir glared at him, as if to say, "Just because your girlfriend accepted Lucien's investment, you've forgotten your friendship with Mikael?"

But he understood. Some people were like that, especially when the friendship hadn't been particularly deep.

Kevin, irritated by the look, would have challenged Aldemir to a rooftop showdown back at Chiba Academy.

But Mei's words echoed in his mind:

"Regarding Elysia and Mikael, just observe from a distance. Don't interfere."

Kevin, as always, didn't understand Mei's reasoning, but he didn't need to. He just had to obey.

To lighten the mood, he said casually, "I was planning to go to New Moth Town with Mei tonight, but she wants me to bring some friends. I've already invited Hua and Carole. You in?"

Aldemir didn't even look at him, simply muttering, "No."

"…"

Elysia glanced back at the two men glaring at each other, then looked down at the stone tiles beneath her feet, tapping out a rhythmic pattern with her toe:

"Three short, one long… two short, three long… three short, one long… V2V!"

Three seconds later, a similar tapping pattern echoed from beneath the tiles.

"Pardo, is that you?"

The tile shifted, revealing Pardo's grimy face. She gasped for air, complaining, "The tunnel is too long! Big Sis Vill-V's puppet couldn't maintain the signal, so I had to bring it myself!"

"Thanks!"

Elysia chuckled. While Aldemir and Kevin were still distracted, she pulled the puppet, a replica of herself, out of the tunnel, quickly wrapping it in her wool coat and placing it on the stool, propped against the tombstone.

Then she slipped into the tunnel, replacing the tile.

Kevin saw a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision. He looked at Elysia, sensing something was wrong…

But "Don't interfere."

So, he continued to glare at Aldemir, and Aldemir glared back, until it was time for their lunch break. As they were about to return to their quarters, an alarm blared through the base.

"Is that… a fire alarm? What's going on?"

They didn't have orders, so they didn't move. A fire was the fire department's problem, not theirs…

"Where's the fire?"

The base's fire response team, fully equipped, arrived at the scene, finding only a wisp of smoke, no sign of a major fire.

"Seems like some wiring in the control room shorted out. Caused a partial power outage. Some equipment is offline. Please fix it quickly."

"Yes… sir… Mr… Vashak…"

The fire chief, startled by Vashak's presence, stammered.

"Oh, and there's a problem with the equipment in the Poison Cocoon section. I need two volunteers to help with repairs."

Two firefighters stepped forward. The chief glared at them, but with their gear on, he couldn't identify them. He could only watch as they left with Vashak.

Vashak didn't speak. As they entered Poison Cocoon, passing a hidden alcove, he discreetly gestured towards it.

The two firefighters, ignoring him, walked into the alcove.

Sakura and Himeko removed their heavy firefighting gear. Pardo clung to Sakura's chest like a baby kangaroo, and Himeko couldn't help but smile, wishing she had a camera to capture the moment.

"Ugh… I'm suffocating… I mean, I'm exhausted… I mean, my brain can't function anymore! When we rescue Big Brother Mikael, I'm demanding payment—at least ten cans of food!"

Pardo's declaration, though meant to be assertive, sounded pathetic to Sakura and Himeko.

But time was of the essence. Sakura and Himeko quickly handed Pardo the tools from their toolbox, watching as she climbed into the air conditioning duct, not even pausing to rest.

"Pardo!"

Sakura called out.

"Use the same duct to return. I'll be waiting for you there!"

If she could, Sakura would have taken Pardo's place.

But after their failed attempt to steal the Herrscher cores, Lucien had undoubtedly increased surveillance on them. She and Himeko couldn't disappear for too long. They had to reappear shortly after the surveillance team reported their absence.

And Sakura had to prepare for her own departure…

So… I'm counting on you, Pardo. You have to succeed! No, Mikael chose you. You will succeed!

Pardo poked her head out of the duct, grinning confidently.

"Don't worry, Big Sis Sakura! I'll be quick!"

A dull thump, thump, thump echoed through the duct as Pardo crawled towards her objective.

Sakura bit her lip. "Captain, are you really…?"

"Yes… I'll stay here…"

"But, Captain… if this were Mikael, he would want you to support him… and with Fire Moth's current state, you staying here alone…"

Himeko shook her head, patting Sakura's shoulder gently.

"Do you really think Mikael wants to leave Fire Moth and go it alone?"

"Huh?"

Sakura was surprised. Wasn't that his plan?

She didn't know all the details, but based on his preparations and the information Elysia had revealed—combat personnel, researchers, even funding, all in place… wasn't that setting up his own organization?

"Dividing our forces won't save this world. That's not what Mikael wants. I'm betting he'll be back. That he's leaving only to return stronger… so I'll wait for him here. And for you."

"But then… I might have to become your subordinate!"

...

Cold air blew through the air conditioning duct. Pardo, dressed in thin summer clothes, shivered, her teeth chattering.

Her elbows and knees ached. Crawling wasn't as easy as she'd imagined, especially after having already crawled through the underground tunnel earlier.

The only consolation was that she didn't have to worry about making noise. This was the optimal route Sakura had planned. Not only was the Fire Moth base designed for soundproofing, but this duct also passed through bathrooms, storage rooms, and other areas where minor noises wouldn't be noticed.

"Grumble…"

She stopped, placing her hand on her stomach, trying to warm it with her body heat… she'd had milk and youtiao for breakfast, a strange combination to begin with, and now, with the cold air, her stomach was even more upset!

Pardo clenched her buttocks, hoping she wouldn't…

"*Pffffft~~~*"

A slightly muffled sound, with a long, wavering tail—if you ignored the fact that it was a fart, it actually sounded quite melodic.

Pardo pinched her nose, pulling out the duct map Sakura had drawn.

"Hmm… I've crawled past 3358 sections. Only three hundred more to reach Big Brother Mikael's secret room! Hehe!"

She put the map away, then pulled it out again, mentally retracing her route, making sure she hadn't taken any wrong turns.

"Okay, this time for sure!"

An air vent appeared before her. Just as she was about to climb through, she noticed two small black dots connected by a thin red laser beam.

"This is the first obstacle. Laser alarm. If the beam is broken, it'll trigger an alarm."

Pardo remembered Sakura's nonchalant expression when she'd explained this, as if it were nothing to worry about…

Big Sis Sakura, you need to work on your poker face! Your expression told me this thing was easy to bypass!

And indeed, Sakura had explained the solution: "The biggest flaw is that occasionally, insects or other small creatures fly through the beam. So, to avoid constant false alarms, they've installed a delay. The alarm only triggers if the beam is broken for more than 0.3 seconds… so, you'll need some special gadgets."

She pulled out her toolbox, rummaging through it before pulling out a small black box and two rails. She placed the rails on either side of the laser beam, then slid the black box down the rails, creating a tunnel for the laser to pass through, uninterrupted.

Pardo wiped her sweaty palms, waiting nervously. When the alarm didn't sound, she sighed in relief.

She peeked into the room through the vent, making sure it was empty, then, following Vill-V's instructions, found a small button on the side of the black box and pressed it…

"Bzzzzzt…"

A loud buzzing sound made her jump.

"Vill-V, you lied! This thing is loud!"

But then she remembered Vill-V hadn't said it was quiet… and had emphasized the importance of making sure the room was empty…

And according to Mikael's plan, Mobius would be… elsewhere…

Okay, that made sense…

Pardo removed the vent cover, then located the surveillance camera.

She rummaged through her toolbox again, finding a hemispherical, multicolored glass cover.

"Check this out! This is my masterpiece… a low-tech surveillance spoofer! I hand-painted it myself! Just quickly place it over the camera, and based on my meticulous calculations… the image displayed on the monitors should be almost identical to the photo Sakura took. No one will notice!"

Vill-V's laughter echoed in Pardo's mind, then she realized—that was Magician Vill-V's laugh… wrong channel…

She quickly placed the spoofer over the camera, securing it with a rubber band… it truly was low-tech.

Then, she attached a pulley to the vent, securing herself with a nylon rope, placed the toolbox against the duct, and pressed a button, activating its suction cups.

"Time for my grand entrance! Big Brother Mikael, here I come!"

With a practiced backflip, she entered the room, slowly lowering herself with the rope until she could reach the three cores.

The cores weren't booby-trapped. They weren't that paranoid. Besides, who else would even try to steal them? Most people in this world didn't even know what the Honkai was, let alone a Herrscher.

"Which one is Big Brother Mikael's? Oh, right! The blue one!"

Pardo reached for the gem, but just then, the single door in the room, the one she wasn't supposed to open, opened behind her.