Author Notes:
Hot damn, this is already the last GSS chapter for 2025, huh...
Perhaps it ain't a bad time to ask for some support for the fic? Maybe some comments and likes, and possible a few more patrons? *Nudge* *Nudge* *Wink* *Wink*
Hahaha, I was kidding...! Or was I?
Seriously though, jokes aside, here's hoping you all will have a wonderful New Year to come! It ain't much, but I hope this chapter, and the others to be jotted down, will be a fine gift package to all of you from now to the end of the new 2026!
Peace, everyone! And a joyful time to all of you!
Santa Ein: https://postimg.cc/LYDXwhRD
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"Safety off, boys and girls!" Johnson barks into the Vox channel of our Platoon as our Chimera shakes after going over a little speed bump. Most probably, that speed bump has been some unfortunate cultist's corpse. "We're in the badlands now!"
Johnson's words are followed by the clicking sounds of weapon safeties deactivating and the muffled screams of the Aeronautica Imperialis zipping over our heads. The distant rumbling of explosive ordinances and collapsing structures can be felt through the shaking of our IFV as our CAS aircraft dispense their payloads. From my point of view, with my senses spread across the landscape, I can confirm that the Aeronautica Imperialis, while suffering some losses of their own, have been able to suppress, if not outright destroy, many armed obstacles on the path of our convoy. However, with our spearhead thrusting so deeply into the enemy's backline, the increased density in hostile triple-A means that further air support will be impractical in both cost and strategic terms. It won't be long now before the Aeronautica Imperialis pulls back the net, and the convoy will be left unsupported for the final stretch.
Still, the efforts of our flyers speak for themselves. Thanks to the bombers softening up the opposition, the JTF convoy has been able to advance at a constant, rapid pace, with no vehicular losses. However, that doesn't mean that the convoy is free of damage and casualties. We have some of our less durable vehicles taking critical damage, and while they're still able to keep up with the convoy by staying in the middle of the formation, they've lost most of their fighting capability. A couple of Cadian 8th transport even suffered from having half of their passengers injured or deceased after receiving some devastating hits. Given that we will have to go for a base capture next, these dozens of losses to the footmobile fighting force understandably hurt. Nonetheless, these losses are within an acceptable range, as far as I can see.
However, let's not overlook the sacrifices of the Aeronautica Imperialis. In their bid to support us for so long, they have lost a variety of airframes and their crews deep in hostile territory. Suffice to say, the fate of those pilots, if they survive, is grim. I can only hope they can find solace in their loyal service to the Imperium before putting up one last fight, as there's next to no chance they will be rescued. Death, before dishonor.
[Jingwei: So, this is your war... It's even more chaotic and messy than I expected.]
Hua remarks after silently watching my livestream and taking in all of its details. As if a floodgate is opened by Hua's comment, the others chime in as well.
[Nuwa: Perhaps, this is actually the norm of any factional war?]
[Fuxi: Back then, when we still fielded an actual military force, the common ways to deal with small-to-medium Honkai incidents were to bombard the threats from long-range before slowly pushing them back. For the most part, Honkai beasts and zombies lack sophisticated intelligence and could be dealt with by enough firepower and funding, quite simple means, really. A war against a Herrscher-level threat or any other sapience beings, however, required drastic measures, like what Ein's force is doing right now.]
[Xuanyuan: ... If not for Ein, I never would have known to be expected of war. For better or for worse, I've been enlightened.]
Xuanyuan's words are punctuated by the spearhead of our convoy, the Land Raiders, crushing apart a measly defense line the heretics have set up. At the forefront, the Salamanders' Land Raider Redeemers roll over tank traps and barricades with laughable ease, flattening everything, and I mean everything, beneath their massive treads. Upon wings of fire, the Land Raider Redeemers pave the way forward for the rest of the convoy, preventing any threat from ever getting too close. Anyone unlucky enough to be standing in front of a Redeemer will find themselves either shredded apart by the Gatling gun-like Twin-linked Assault Cannons or bathed in a flame that can liquefy plasteel and even the ceramite of Astartes power armour. The cultists who believe themselves to be well-protected will find themselves purged out of their hiding spots in shattered buildings, mazes of debris, and rockcrete rubble. Only a few survive long enough to be made into a living torch; most die instantly, some nothing more than crackling charcoal and ashes.
Hua has the mental fortitude to stomach such scenes, but the same can't be said for others.
[Xuanyuan: Even though I somewhat understand the necessity...]
[Nuwa: It's still a cruel way to go.]
[Emperor of Man: Mercy to your enemy is cruelty to yourself.]
A wild Emperor of Man appears!
[Emperor of Man: I can't exactly say it's a good day, now that Ein is in the middle of this mess, so I'll settle for a simple hello.]
[Jingwei: Hello, Emperor.]
[Fuxi: Hello, Emperor.]
[Nuwa: Hello, Emperor.]
[Xuanyuan: Hello, Emperor.]
[Ein: Hello, Emperor.]
[Emperor of Man: ... These aren't the reactions I was expecting.]
I let out a mental snicker. If the Emperor were using a phone, I bet She would be looking at it like an old man in a subway after seeing our low-effort copy-paste of Hua's reply.
[Ein: To be fair, you did settle for a simple hello.]
[Emperor: Touche. So, how does it feel to be stuffed inside a Chimera, once more, Ein?]
[Ein: Like a packed can of sardines. I'm already missing the open space of Mount Taixuan.]
And ain't that my true thought?
[Jingwei: Remember, Ein, you're always welcome to return to us.]
[Xuanyuan: Umu! Visit us whenever you want to relax, not just because there's something you need to do!]
The concerns of my martial master and senior sister are well appreciated.
[Ein: Of course, everyone!]
After my reply, the Chimera I'm riding on hit yet another speedbump that jostled us passengers. Due to that inertia, Weiss finds herself leaning on my shoulder. I reach out with a hand to stabilize her posture, but do not attempt to push her away. After our brief time airborne back then, I find that we are more natural in maintaining physical contact, not that we weren't close before.
[Xuanyuan: Say, I know that it's a means of transportation and all, but isn't it scary to you? You know, entrusting your fate to a moving carriage, in which you have no means of knowing precisely where the threat will be coming from, nor how to counter it?]
[Emperor of Man: Interesting perspective, little Xuanyuan.]
[Xuanyuan: Hey, I'm not little...! But wait, if you are much, much older than all of us, then I guess you can actually call me little? What does that make Ein, then, being my Junior Sister and all?]
[Emperor of Man: While I would love to elaborate more on that, it will be a conversation for another day.]
I mentally roll my eyes.
[Ein: Hello, don't forget that the person in question is still here.]
[Emperor of Man: Your perspective, little Xuanyuan, comes from a position of power. Given your supernatural prowess, you need not something as mundane and confining as a protective wall for you to be effective on the battlefield. Yet, for the most part, these soldiers under my Imperium are mortals. They're normal human beings with normal human limitations. This boxy metal carriage that you see may as well be the very thing that can preserve them from threats beyond their levels. But as you can see, even that protection isn't enough, more often than not. Unfortunately, Ein's convoy still loses some good, loyal people along the way.]
[Xuanyuan: ... I think it's tragic that the soldiers perish without being able to see or retaliate against their foes, being stuck inside the carriages when the attack comes. They could have accomplished so many things, but then their fates were cut short so unceremoniously.]
[Emperor of Man: I wholeheartedly share your sentiment, little Xuanyuan. But this is just the nature of war, as merciless and unpredictable as it can be.]
The conversation then halts for a bit as my senior sister digests what was said. Given that she's unifying the lands of Shenzhou beneath her banner, experiences and lessons gained from viewing my livestreams may very well shape her eventual rule, preventing her from stepping into any pitfall wherever Hua, Fuxi, or Nuwa aren't available. The Emperor's concise comment about war is but one of many things my senior sister will learn.
[Jingwei: Sometimes, man is often left powerless to resist fate.]
I can almost feel the heaviness in Hua's sentence, all the way from a different world. Given what Hua has lived through, it's undeniable that her remark is no different from a statement. Coincidentally, the Aeronautica Imperialis chooses this moment to announce its evacuation from the local airspace through the Vox network. Still, I find myself smiling fearlessly.
[Ein: Welsh poet Dylan Thomas composed
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Before mankind is rendered helpless, we will resist and bite as hard as we can, for as long as we can. I believe this is something anyone is capable of, and that the Emperor, sister Hua, Fuxi, and Nuwa have personally experienced it themselves.]
[Jingwei: All the way till the very end... That was us.]
[Fuxi: Even when there's nothing left but a few seedlings...]
[Nuwa: Heh, the few among us still marched upon that moon anyway, buying a few precious hours for civilization as we know it.]
[Xuanyuan: I exist because you all sacrificed something for me, Jingwei, Fuxi, Nuwa... Thank you, once again.]
[Emperor of Man: I am left with a heart full of respect for people like you all, who fight for all that's beautiful in the world, but a part of me is amused by how we went from a carriage to something so grand.]
I mentally chuckle.
[Ein: That's just how humankind is, philosophical whenever we want on even the most mundane of topics, much less occasions like this.]
Somehow, I can feel the Emperor Herself is sporting a grin as she says.
[Emperor of Man: We aren't unfeeling irons. We're humans, and humans are...]
[Jingwei: Indeed...]
[Fuxi: Ah, so that's how it is...]
[Nuwa: Yeah, that tracks...]
[Ein: That's summing it up quite well, Emperor.]
While the more knowledgeable among us understand what the Emperor is getting at, only my senior sister is left a bit confused.
[Xuanyuan: Eh? Is this the part where we have to fill in the dotted lines with our own assumptions?]
I can imagine Xuanyuan turning to Hua and the twins, asking for confirmation with her puppy eyes.
[Jingwei: I don't think it's incorrect to assume such?]
[Xuanyuan: Oh, then I suppose humans are just stubborn, then!]
[Ein: Hah! That's a gross simplification of humankind as a whole, but it ain't wrong, senior sister.]
I turn to Weiss, passing her my shield and taking hold of her Lasrifle, much to her confusion, before I start opening the hatch above my head.
[Ein: We are stubborn enough to serve even in death!]
The moment I push aside the hatch, I pop my upper body out of the Chimera before bracing myself securely on the vehicle's roof. I am lying near horizontally, looking skyward with my back resting on the rim of the open hatch, and one of my legs curls up to brace the sole of my combat boot against the opposite side. My posture is not unlike the one I had when I took that last shot in our first spar against the Salamanders. Only this time, I am running with Weiss' Lasrifle instead of my Long-las. Still more than enough for what I am about to do.
As Weiss and Johnson start popping out from the other hatches, their demeanors tense with wariness of the unknown and trust in my sudden, unexplained action, I train the sight of Weiss' rifle on the falling, smoky dots in the sky. Objects that I have sensed earlier, thanks to my instinct and the training I received.
[Ein: And because humanity is so stubborn, we can achieve miracles with our will alone!]
The falling objects are none other than high-yield missiles, not dissimilar from the ones used in the Whirlwind Multiple Missile Launcher. If they are what I suspect them to be, then the upcoming assault can be quite complicated. But would that deter me after the whole speech?
Absolutely not!
As the Chimera jostles over rubble, I stabilize the Lasrifle I borrowed before softly exhaling. Gently, as if putting a wedding ring on someone's fair finger, I pull the trigger on the falling warhead smack dab in the middle of the incoming missile barrage. In the split second following the red beam that pierces the sky, a blanket of piping hot blue explosions appears, stunning those who have been aware of the incoming dangers and those who launched the attack. Apparently, all of those missiles have been the expensive and rare Plasma Missiles. Because I targeted the missile in the very center of the barrage, the aftermath of its explosion caused a chain reaction that took out the rest of the missile strike.
Had the missiles been allowed to reach us, our convoy would have suffered some very catastrophic losses, and our decapacitating strike would have ended right there. Knowing that, I let out one dastardly smirk.
[Ein: That barrage must have cost an arm and a leg. Feels good to cause someone to lose their mind over a massive waste investment. And understanding the potential consequences, if what I just did doesn't count as a miraculous intervention, I don't know what will.]
I then turn to the pleasant surprise and relief of Weiss and Johnson.
"Come on, best we hop back in and not let burning plasma give us a haircut."
Being reminded of the fluttering shower of blue plasma, the pair follows my example, sliding back down and closing the hatches tight. While the chatroom and my Platoon mates offer me compliments for a nice save, I am more taken by a transmission through Vox from my most cherished mother.
"Beautiful marksmanship as always."
My effort has been totally worth it.