Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

The airplane door opened, facing west toward the purplish-red sky that was tinged by the setting sun.

On the airfield, piercing whistles rose and fell. One team of soldiers after another marched in orderly formation across the airfield. They were going to the harbor north of Agania Island to board ships, heading to Rota Island to build a defensive line.

Vashak jogged down to the ground. The aftereffects of flying still lingered in his head—the ground beneath his feet didn't seem flat and solid, but more like a small boat at sea, rising and falling, making his head spin… no, it would be more accurate to say that the cause and effect were reversed.

He bent over and grabbed his knees, then quickly stood up and boasted to the young guard behind him, who was wearing a strange mask: "I really am getting old... In my younger years, I could carry out aerial attacks in an armed helicopter!"

But the young guard didn't respond. Vashak sighed softly. The experiences of fighting in his younger years, which he hadn't thought of for many years, had recently been frequently flooding his mind. But now there was no one who could follow up on what he said.

He was soon supported by the poisonous-insect guard and entered the forward command post under Agania Island.

The layout of the command post wasn't that different from the war room in Fire Moth's headquarters. The staff was running around with paper reports and files under their arms. On the 3D projection screen in the middle, red alerts kept appearing one after another. Before long, the air in the command room had been dyed a bright red.

"Co-co-commander!" Karabis, the captain of the Fourth Squad, who had been deployed here beforehand and had taken over command, saluted hesitantly.

Vashak glanced at him coldly. His lips twitched slightly, and the scars all over his face seemed to wiggle like small bugs.

Karabis kept his head lowered, not making eye contact with Vashak.

He had had connections with Vashak as early as the Phamas era. During the Third Honkai Impact, the Fourth Squad was the only team that Vashak and Lucien could completely control. But after Phamas's death, and after Vashak and Lucien had started their open conflicts with each other, he had actually decided to wait and see, and kept a distance from both sides.

If it had been his previous self… Well, he had now gotten his wish, sitting in the position that Phamas had once occupied, and he had been "cultivating his mind" for over six months…

"Hoo!"

So, he still wanted to slap him and then grab him by the collar to question him.

But the situation was already extremely urgent. He took two deep breaths, and the discomfort in his heart was like something that had been cut off halfway.

"What's the current situation? What about the South Pacific Fleet that was dispatched earlier? Why is there no information at all?"

Karabis had expected him to ask that question, but…

His head drooped even lower.

But remaining silent like this wasn't a solution. Seeing that the staff and personnel in the entire command room were all looking on coldly, Karabiya, the Fourth Squad's unit leader and Karabis's younger sister, said quietly: "It's… all gone…"

"Gone? Two entire new aircraft carrier battle groups lost contact less than ten seconds after arriving at their battle positions? Explain to me how two new aircraft carrier battle groups were taken out in less than ten seconds!"

He had seen recordings of the battles against the Second Herrscher, and had also observed the battles against the Third Herrscher from afar. He had even had in-depth discussions with the First Herrscher and his 280mm giant cannon, but the Herrschers' strength still continuously defied what he believed to be true. He couldn't help but wonder--

Could Mikael also take out two new aircraft carrier battle groups in ten seconds? They weren't the old-fashioned aircraft carriers with extremely poor visual range combat capabilities. They were aircraft carriers that had been modified according to Mei's "Chasing Flames Plan"--which meant the old aircraft carriers had been remodeled into a smaller version of the Chasing Flames One, except that they couldn't fly.

Each new aircraft carrier had four 430mm railguns and four 270mm railguns as their main and secondary cannons, along with countless missile launching units, and a total of eight super heavy fighters. Based on the research of the body that Mikael had left behind, these weapons could definitely cause fatal damage to Herrschers on a physical level.

They also had energy shields, which were enough to withstand simultaneous attacks from several 270mm railguns.

But all of that was gone, like soap bubbles that had burst, leaving no trace behind.

To this, Vashak only had one "Nick Fury" in mind.

"Pro, take over the command post immediately!"

The older adjutant standing behind Vashak was stunned. His expression became somewhat complicated, but he faithfully followed the order, and commanded the staff to start organizing the front-line information.

"Did you send any drones to scout the situation?"

"Yes." Karabiya glanced at her brother who didn't seem to have any desire to speak, and replied with her head lowered, "We've confirmed that both aircraft carrier battle groups have become completely silent. The drones also captured an image of the Herrscher attacking the Northern Moana Islands... According to our analysis, this Herrscher's powers are probably to manipulate water, liquids, or ocean currents. The entire fleet, along with the Northern Moana Islands, were all submerged by a tsunami triggered by the Herrscher."

"Heh." Vashak chuckled helplessly: "Then the battlefield we've chosen now really is unfavorable."

He turned his head and said to the staff next to him, "For now, the Fourth Herrscher will be named the Herrscher of the Sea. At the same time, prepare to transfer the battlefield."

He bent over the largest empty table in the command post: "Pull up the map. Range: 100 to 180 degrees east longitude, and 50 degrees north latitude to 30 degrees south latitude."

A 3D map of the target range was immediately projected onto the table. Vashak gestured with his finger for a while, while thinking in his mind:

"It is absolutely unfeasible to fight the Herrscher of the Sea in an archipelago and in the ocean! We must lure her to the mainland."

"There are only three continents near the Moana Islands. The closest is Mu Continent, but that's where the most densely populated area in the world is, and it's also the area that the United Government has focused on developing in the past few decades. We definitely can't lure the Herrscher there."

"Then what about Australia? Australia doesn't have a large population, and we can deploy defenses on the island of New Guinea, layer by layer to delay the Herrscher's actions, and finally lure her towards the central desert of Australia. But many of the United Government's… family members have settled there, no no!"

"That leaves only the southeast part of Shenzhou. It was destroyed by the Third Honkai Impact, and was never rebuilt. But from the Moana Islands to there, it's necessary to go through a large body of water and many archipelagos. There's no large land mass that could be used to set up a defensive line..."

"They're all bad options…"

Vashak's brow furrowed, and he quickly fell into hesitation. Suddenly, a strange thought popped into his mind:

"Sigh… if it was Phamas, how would he make his decision…"

He quickly shook his head, and tried to drive away that thought like a fly.

But he had actually already given the answer:

"If it was Phamas, he would apologize to the group from the United Government, but with a tangled and helpless expression, he would order the battlefield to be moved to Australia..."

"That's the most suitable place to fight the Herrscher. In the desert, humans can use H weapons without reservation."

But he wasn't Phamas!

Phamas was a lone wolf. He had no one to rely on, and wouldn't be bound by any faction… No, to be precise, Fire Moth was his backer.

At that moment, another thought that shouldn't be there popped up: "If Mikael and the others were here, especially Mikael himself. He would probably be able to kill the Fourth Herrscher instantly, right?"

This thought had appeared so abruptly, and his whole body felt like he had swallowed a fly, feeling uncomfortable all over.

"No, no, no, I'd rather use humanity's own strength to defeat a Herrscher again!"

"Pass down the order! Prepare to move the battlefield to Au..."

"It's too late!"

The door to the command post was opened wide. Mei walked in with her head held high.

She frowned and first apologized: "My Fifth Squad and I are late. I'm sorry."

Vashak took a deep breath. He didn't expect Lucien to send the Fifth Squad, which was further away, instead of the closer First, Second, and Third Squads, and the Fifth Squad had even lost a Kevin while on duty.

He couldn't figure out the other party's intentions for a moment, but he was more concerned about:

"What do you mean by 'it's too late'?"

Mei pursed her lips. Vashak turned his head and looked at his deputy Pro, who was hesitating to speak:

"Speak!"

"Uh… Commander, the soldiers on Tagbopocha Island and Tinian Island have lost contact. According to the images taken by the drones, the tsunami that was caused by the Herrscher has already washed away all of the fortifications. A large number of Honkai beasts have already landed."

The Herrscher was attacking from north to south. The islands between Agania Island and the Herrscher, from north to south, were Tagbopocha Island, Tinian Island, and Rota Island.

"So, does that mean that only Rota Island is left as a defensive line in front of us?"

"No," Mei corrected Vashak's thinking:

"If I were the Herrscher, after fighting for so long, I should be able to guess that Agania Island is the forward command post. So, I'd even choose to skip Rota Island and attack Agania directly. Although, given the current situation, the Herrscher probably doesn't need to expend much effort to take Rota Island."