Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

"By the way, Yuriko, I saw you taking a selfie? Note that you can't post these kinds of photos on Twitter...not even on Instagram."

"Look at how Hanamiya handled this. First of all, her positioning is excellent. As a Valkyrie with heavy firepower support, she chose the highest point in the center of the entire formation. From here, she has a wide field of vision and can see the movement of the entire team. No matter where there is any disturbance, she can immediately provide artillery support. This kind of intuition for choosing the team's position is great."

"Unfortunately, we were a little unlucky. There's still a zombie in these ruins that can move a little bit. It reached out and grabbed Hanamiya's ankle. Look at how Hanamiya handled it." Keng Huo slowed down the video. Hanamiya screamed and jumped back, but the zombie reached out from the gap in the ruins and grabbed her foot, causing her to lose her balance.

"Your reaction time is very fast. As a heavy firepower backline role in the team, you should never let the enemy get close to you. Hanamiya chose to retreat immediately to create distance, but she neglected to deal with her ankle. It would have been better if she had first pulled out the energy pistol strapped to her left leg and shot the arm that was holding her. On the one hand, it would have stopped the enemy's continued attack, and on the other hand, it could have severed the enemy's arm, freeing up her own mobility." Keng Huo stood up and explained vividly, "You must pay attention next time. Although your reaction was correct, you need to pay more attention to details in the future. Cultivating good reflexes is the right way to become a master."

"Then we continued to observe. After the scouts at the front sent back the alarm that the Honkai Beasts were attacking, everyone offered their own ideas and chose what they believed to be the correct defensive direction."

"This team's attention to detail is also excellent. This is something I've only seen in experienced Valkyrie teams. They don't get bogged down in intelligence but consider a variety of possible factors. Since we don't know if this is the only wave of enemies attacking, or if the enemies are coming from one direction or multiple directions, taking multiple directions into account for defense at the same time is a fantastic on-the-spot approach. However, I hope that next time everyone can shorten the discussion time. If everyone is in sync, skipping the discussion and directly forming the multi-directional defensive formation A-4 will be more efficient."

"Then everyone focused on the performance of the fire support team. After taking up the high ground, they were the first to spot the approaching enemy—a bunch of zombies driven by charging Honkai Beasts. Their first choice wasn't to attack, but to loudly warn their comrades. This was excellent. A team must have good communication to ensure the timeliness, fluidity, and transmissibility of intelligence, allowing everyone to immediately grasp enemy information and achieve intelligence sharing. I mentioned this in class, and it seems everyone was paying close attention. Then, before the enemy got close and before the Valkyries of the Assault Division had formed a frontal defensive formation, they chose to open fire prematurely, which was also..." Chang Bang's quick thinking not only temporarily halted the enemy's advance but also bought time for the Valkyries of the Assault Division to set up their defensive formation. The only drawback was that I noticed everyone was using different types of weapons. I saw homing missiles, large-caliber artillery, and lasers. I admit that when facing an enemy for the first time, having the team divide tasks and test different weapons is very efficient. However, I've discussed this in class before; using the projectile-type 73 automatic mines would have been more effective. I'm deducting one point from your score.”

"However, I must commend everyone for their excellent shooting accuracy. Although you did not choose the most effective attack method to eliminate the horde of cannon fodder zombies, your precise bursts and fire coverage were still able to eliminate many cannon fodder zombies. It is evident that everyone has been very dedicated to their training."

"Moreover, the advantage of not using automatic mines is that the explosions and lasers from these heavy weapons can effectively hinder the advancing Honkai Beasts behind the zombie horde. If we use automatic mines, these flying Honkai Beasts might just fly over at low altitude."

"Everyone's choices are excellent. It's clear that you've all diligently memorized what you learned in class and are applying it in practice. Next time we face a similar situation, won't you all be more experienced? Some of the heavy firepower support units can use projectile-type automatic mines, while the rest can use homing missiles to snipe the charging Honkai Beasts. Wouldn't that be more effective?" Keng Huo snapped out of his reverie, looked at everyone's reactions, and finally felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders.

The Valkyries' emotions had calmed down. The Valkyries who hadn't yet attacked watched intently, letting out small gasps of surprise. The Valkyries who had attacked yesterday looked much better, but they still huddled behind the crowd, too afraid to look up.

Keng Huo knew his actions had been somewhat effective, and smiled as he continued, "Then look at the reaction of the Valkyries from the Assault Division here. Under the cover of their teammates in the back row, they quickly formed a defensive formation and made a slight tactical retreat based on the enemy's advancing speed. I didn't teach this in class, but you figured out on your own how to effectively avoid friendly fire when fighting alongside heavy fire support. Although it's still rough, it's the first time, and we can see the results—you completed the defensive formation before the enemy even made contact, and you also cleared a large area of ​​open ground so that the first wave of heavy fire could effectively exert its destructive power."

"But the retreat distance is a bit too large, you see? Look, when the Valkyries in the back row are reloading, there's still a large distance between you and the zombie horde. If your formation were a little further forward, wouldn't you be able to engage in close combat with the chaotic enemy immediately after the first wave of artillery support? This would give you a significant advantage in the first engagement."

"And I also want to remind the students in the back row to pay attention to the intervals between firing. You see, this time everyone fired together and enjoyed themselves, and then basically used up the first wave of ammunition at the same time. The laser cannons were also basically overheated. Didn't this create a gap in fire support? So next time we fight, shouldn't we communicate with our comrades about the ammunition consumption while firing? Then we can assign the first and second waves of fire to form echeloned fire zones, so that we can ensure that our comrades in front have fire support at any time."

Chapter 47 Why Should We Fight (Part Two)

"Now let's talk about the reconnaissance Valkyries on the perimeter. I have to say that their performance was also outstanding. When there was a disturbance in the team at the rear, some members retreated to provide support, while others stayed in place to continue reconnaissance, so that the team would not be without the assistance of external threat reconnaissance when dealing with emergencies. In this respect, their overall strategic vision is excellent."

"But next time you must remember that returning to provide support is fine, but the reconnaissance Valkyries in the four directions must communicate well on the reconnaissance communication channel. Only one person needs to be withdrawn from each reconnaissance team. If next time it's like this, with all the reconnaissance teams in the east and west directions withdrawing and the reconnaissance teams in the north and south directions remaining in place to continue reconnaissance, another wave of enemies might attack through your reconnaissance gaps."

"Then we see another wave of enemies attracted by the irregular fluctuations of Honkai energy caused by everyone's battle."

"This wave of enemies mainly consists of one tank-class Honkai Beast and four ordinary Honkai Beasts. When they rushed in your direction, Reconnaissance Squad A issued a warning signal, but since your battle is still ongoing, it seems that no one has noticed it."

The scene shifts, and a projection on the screen shows a small group of Honkai Beasts, led by a Honkai Beast nearly three stories tall, constantly leaping over various terrain obstacles as they move forward.

The leading Honkai Beast was nearly three stories tall, its body as white as jade, its skin as taut as marble. When it brushed against buildings, it scraped off large chunks of cement, its toughness impossible to gauge with the naked eye. Its proportions were highly disproportionate, yet somehow somehow logical. Its hind limbs were short, while its forelimbs were as thick as a heavy truck, not connected to its main body but suspended in mid-air by a mysterious force. Its upper arms had wing-like, fleshy organs extending outwards, ending in alternating black and purple hues. Its shoulders also had similarly shaped, but longer, appendages, like ribbons from a fairy. Each leap involved its forelimbs, propelling its body straight forward. It soared tens of meters into the air before crashing down, each descent resembling a missile strike. The ground was cratered, creating a crater several meters in diameter, and the earth trembled violently. Buildings along the roads were directly destroyed by the shockwaves. Its head was remarkably small compared to its body, and it wasn't directly connected to the body but rather incredibly suspended above it. Its head was covered with horn-like crown-like structures, and behind it floated semi-circular fleshy ribbons parallel to the ground. The entire structure of its head challenged current biology and physics. The junctions between its head and torso, the junctions between its forelimbs and trunk, the palms of its forelimbs, its shoulders, and the backs of its ribbon-like appendages were all filled with mysterious and indescribable black-purple patterns.

Following closely behind it were four Honkai Beasts, each only the size of a heavy truck, but with identical body structures.

"At this point, I must commend the Valkyries of the Assault Division in the front row. They didn't panic after discovering the enemy's arrival, but instead..."

“No…” a voice from the crowd interrupted Keng Huo.

"That's not how it is at all..." The voice was clearly choked with sobs.

"We...we had absolutely no idea what to do after we landed..."

"I wasn't nervous at all..."

"Everyone was just curious about their surroundings..."

Keng Huo's gaze swept over the crowd and landed on Yuriko, who had been hiding at the very back. She was the girl who had taken a selfie in front of the battle lines yesterday.

At that moment, she stood up with trembling legs, her pretty face streaked with tears. She covered her mouth with the cuff of her left sleeve, as if she wanted to say something, but only sobs came out.

"We...don't remember anything we learned at all..."

"We were just wildly swinging our weapons, turning our backs on others..."

"What tactical retreat...we were just scared...we dared not make contact with the enemy..."

"What fire support... there wasn't any! We... we just poured out firepower out of fear..."

"What reconnaissance... they just didn't notice the commotion behind them..."

“We…we didn’t act with any purpose as the teacher said…” Yuriko wiped away her tears, closed her eyes, and shouted loudly, as if she was squeezing all her strength out of her lungs, “The teacher is clearly lying!”

"The teacher thinks this will comfort us! But!"

"but……"

“But…” Yuriko’s voice trailed off, but her tears flowed even more unrestrainedly, “No matter how you explain… it only makes our defeat clearer to us…”

"We have absolutely no will to fight..."

"We...we were just playing house, pretending to save the world..."

Yuriko burst into tears, shouting at Kōhō as if she had nothing left to lose: "Please... don't embarrass us anymore!!"

A dead silence.

Only Yuriko's tearful cries echoed in the auditorium.

Everyone else fell silent.

Even the most blind person could see that the images in the battlefield records were completely different from what Keng Huo described.

The fear these Valkyries felt when facing those monsters reminded them of the helplessness and terror they felt when facing Honkai Beasts as ordinary, weak middle school students. That sense of helplessness almost destroyed their reason. Those with weaker mental fortitude crouched down on the battlefield, hugging their heads and weeping, trembling with fear. The bolder ones were blinded by the rage of revenge, charging forward without regard for the disparity in strength between themselves and the enemy, forgetting all tactical maneuvers and coordination, simply wasting their energy in a cycle of charging forward, being knocked away, and then charging forward again to be knocked away.

They screamed and fled, the entire battlefield descended into chaos. The Valkyries in the front row hid behind the Valkyries in the back row, while the Valkyries in the back row fired, hitting their own teammates. Those who had thrown down their weapons huddled in the shadows of the ruins, trembling. Others, like frightened horses, ran headlong in one direction without looking back.

A bunch of loose sand.

"So that's what you think?" Keng Huo asked softly.

Yuriko hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer Keng Huo.

"I mean, do you think all your efforts, all the sweat you've shed this past year, all the unbreakable bonds you've built this year have been in vain?" Keng Huo walked up to Yuriko and asked in a very soft but unquestionable tone.

"Do you all think the same way?" Keng Huo turned around and looked around at everyone.

But no one dared to meet his gaze.

Keng Huo took a deep breath, walked to the front of everyone, turned around, and asked them a question.

"I ask you, what is the purpose of the Valkyries?"

"..."

"Answer me, what is the purpose of the Valkyries?"

"..."

"Are you all deaf?! Tell me!"

"What are we to fight for!" Keng Huo roared, like an instructor training new recruits.

"Yuriko! Tell me! Why did you become a Valkyrie! What is your purpose in becoming a Valkyrie!" Keng Huo pointed at Yuriko and shouted loudly in a voice that could be heard throughout the entire auditorium.

Yuriko opened her mouth, but no sound came out; a moment of confusion appeared in her tearful eyes.

"If you've forgotten, then let me tell you! On the day you agreed to study at St. Freya Academy, you said you would become stronger! To protect those who are about to suffer the same hardships you endured! To save everyone! To protect those who are powerless to protect everything they cherish!"

"Then tell me! Did you actually do it or not!" Keng Huo slammed his fist on the screen reflecting the image. One frame was showing Yuriko covered in dust, her anti-Honkai armor badly damaged, sparks and small explosions caused by leaking Honkai energy everywhere. She held a short sword with a broken tip, yet she stood unyieldingly between her injured and fallen comrade and the tank-class Honkai beast.

"I ask you! What were you doing back then?! Were you running away? Were you afraid? Or were you fighting! Protecting! Even if the enemy was overwhelmingly superior! Even if you were running out of manpower! Even if there was little hope! Even if you were actually filled with fear! I ask you! Did you give up back then! Did you back down! Did you abandon your comrades!"

Yuriko opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to respond to Keng Huo's provocation, but she never uttered any words.

"Since you won't answer, then I'll tell you! No! You did it! You launched seven charges at the Honkai Beast without any cover or flank support! You bought enough time for the Valkyries in the back row, whose formation had been broken up, to reload! You were hit by the Honkai Beast's counterattacks four times! Your anti-Honkai weapon was destroyed on the spot! If it weren't for the defensive capabilities of the anti-Honkai weapon, your ribs would have already pierced your lungs!"

"I'm asking you! Did you know back then that you couldn't defeat that Honkai Beast?!"

Yuriko's eyes were filled with complex emotions.

"Fine! You know you can't beat it, so why did you still go to your death! If that tank-class Honkai Beast hadn't been briefly trapped by the strong glue trap, you wouldn't have been able to withstand its leaping attack! So I ask you! Why did you charge into battle alone against an enemy several times stronger than you! Tell me! Tell me, Yuriko!" Keng Huo roared with bloodshot eyes, his aura like that of a lion growling at its prey.

"I... Ena is right behind me! How could I possibly back down?! If I give it a chance to escape from the trap... we'll all die!!!" Whether it was influenced by the clamor or simply couldn't suppress her emotions any longer, Yuriko's eyes were red, and she retorted with the loudest and fiercest voice she could muster.

"That's right! Because the person you're supposed to protect is right behind you!" Keng Huo's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he roared in a hoarse voice, "Isn't this the vow you made? You clearly kept it, so why are you still so frustrated and disappointed!"

"You! Yuriko Busujima! Tell me! Less than half a minute after this scene! Your rapid-fire cannon exploded! You were stunned for nearly ten seconds by the explosion! Ten seconds on the battlefield is practically a death sentence! I ask you! Do you know that rapid-fire cannons can explode under continuous high-frequency firing?!"

“I…I know!” A girl with a high ponytail, as if infected by Yuriko, answered loudly.

"Then why did you keep firing until the barrel exploded! You even removed the overheat safety lock! Aren't you afraid of dying?!" Keng Huo roared, pointing at Tokushima Yuriko.

"I...I'm afraid of dying! Of course I'm afraid of dying!" Yuriko Busujima finally couldn't hold back anymore, and two lines of tears slowly streamed down her cheeks. "Every living person is afraid of dying!"

"Then why did you keep firing! You knew your weapon was about to explode! Why didn't you stop firing and let the barrel cool down!"

"Because if I stop firing... Yuriko will be chased by the Honkai Beasts! She was just knocked down... and she's not moving... If I stop shooting! She will definitely die!" As if provoked by Keng Huo's roar, Tokishima Yuriko also disregarded her ladylike demeanor and shouted back at Keng Huo at the loudest she could.

“That’s right! You were protecting others!” Keng Huo roared. “Hold your head high! Stand tall! You did nothing wrong! If anyone says you did something wrong, then the one who’s wrong is the one criticizing you!”

"Snowfield Chisato! To cover the stunned Busujima, you abandoned your advantageous high ground position! You stood in front of Busujima and Yuriko! When your ammunition was exhausted, you charged forward, brandishing the cannon! I ask you! Why!"

"All of you! I ask you! When the Hyperion decided to recover you, Rinko was left on the other side of the battlefield because of her leg injury! You could have boarded the ship and retreated at that time! Why did you risk increasing the number of wounded and even dead to break through in Rinko's direction!"

"The sunlit road to safety is right behind you! Why are you charging back into the hell you just escaped from!" Keng Huo angrily slammed the remote control on the ground. "Because on the other side of hell! There are people you need to protect!!"

"You clearly did it! You clearly have the strength and awareness! Yet you're fixated on things that aren't even your business, wallowing in self-pity!" Keng Huo squatted on the ground, a seven-foot-tall man, now covering his eyes and weeping like a little girl. "Why are you still dissatisfied with yourselves... You clearly did a fantastic job..."

"That's right! You guys are incredibly bad! You have absolutely no discipline! Your combat awareness is terrible! You're a complete mess! This is probably the worst I've ever seen in a Honkai operation!"

"But when it came to sacrificing yourselves for your comrades, you all instinctively chose yourselves! That's what makes you so outstanding! That's what makes you Valkyries unmatched by any other branch! That's what St. Freya Academy hopes to cultivate you into!"

"I'm telling you! This isn't what I mean by not valuing one's own life! It's precisely the spark that ignites from the collision between valuing one's own life and the bond with one's comrades!"

"It is precisely because we cherish our own lives that we can truly empathize with the sorrow of losing other lives!"

"It is precisely because of this empathy that the desire to protect others arises!"

"It is precisely because of the desire to protect that Valkyries were born into this world!"

"The Valkyrie! She has never been a sword! The Valkyrie is the shield of the people! She is the wall of protection! The Valkyrie should not be used for extermination and war! The true meaning of the Valkyrie's existence..."

"It's been clear for thousands of years!! The first person in this world to obtain the power of the Holy Mark! Her name was Ji Xuanyuan! She spent her entire life fighting across the Divine Continent! Destroying the Honkai! Protecting the people displaced in the First Honkai! Her purpose was so pure! The Valkyrie's existence has no other meaning, the Valkyrie's purpose..."

"It was all just about protecting from the very beginning!!"

"What 'destroying Honkai Beasts'! What 'collecting materials'! Those are just minor tasks! What you accomplished yesterday was the most important task for all Valkyries! You fulfilled your vow!"

"You protected what you could protect! Even at the cost of your own lives! Even at the cost of never seeing your loved ones and things again! Even at the cost of letting the people you protected live on in your place! You did not flinch in the slightest!"

"Life is what I desire, but there are things I desire more than life, therefore I will not seek to preserve it by any means! Death is what I abhor, but there are things I abhor more than death, therefore I will not avoid calamities!"