Helm/Story

Spoilers!*"Your greatest villain Drake shall warn you, SPOILERS AHEAD!"*The following article or section contain **spoilers!** Viewer discretion is advised.

Overview**Story**VoicelinesGallery

## Behind the Scenes

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Sa Moon-young

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Kaitlyn Robrock

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Marina Inoue

## Profile

Helm is the leader of Aegis Squad, a group of Nikkes charged with acting as the Ark's naval force. To this end, Nikkes of Aegis are adapted to be able to swim and operate in water, and are assigned to the Admire, an Elysion battleship which Helm is the captain of. She runs a tight ship and demands discipline at all times, often butting heads with her whimsical subordinates, Mast and Anchor. Despite being a Nikke meant for naval ops, Helm can't bring herself to like sea creatures, whether it be handling them or trying to eat them.

Despite being the Ark's navy, Aegis, and by extension Helm, has not seen any naval combat operations due to the lack of open seas in humanity's control. As a result, the Admire has spent most of its time in the Ark's water tanks, either running training exercises or being used to host parties for the upper crust of society. Due to the expenses involved with maintaining an overengineered monstrosity like the Admire, combined with their incapacity to carry out their intended role, Helm is forced to attend these dinners for fundraising, all but begging the affluent of the Ark to give her the money needed to keep the Admire afloat. Still, Helm still keeps her head held high, dreaming of the day she can finally show everyone what her ship and squad can do.

### Nikke Backstory

The leader of Aegis and the captain of the Admire, an amphibious warship. She eagerly awaits the day when she can prove her mettle in naval combat.

## Story

### Event Story

#### Brand New Year

Helm invites the protagonist to a New Year party aboard the Admire, and even accompanies him on a mission from Burningum. The sight of the ocean on the surface, and the sun rising over it, are burned into her memory, strengthening her resolve to finally take to the seas and fulfill her promise to Aegis.

### Character Story

#### Episode 1 - Boat Party

The protagonist is attending a party aboard the Admire, having received an invite from Andersen. After the two chat for a bit, Andersen leaves the protagonist to handle his own affairs. Shortly after, Burningum thanks all attendees of the party and invites Helm to exposit about the Admire. Helm explains how much of a high-tech ship the Admire is, and its capability to keep the seas safe, despite murmurings from the guests that the Admire is currently docked inside the Ark's water tank and hasn't seen a single sortie. After her explanation ends, the party begins, and the protagonist steps outside for some air.

Outside, Helm is standing with a tired look on her face. The protagonist tries to talk with her, but she simply brushes off his words, though she does request he stay after the party and help clean up, which he agrees to.

After the party, the hall is a mess. Mast and Anchor, Helm's subordinates in Aegis, decide to feast on the leftover food, but Helm demands they throw it out, seeing gorging on table scraps as undignified. The protagonist is told to help Mast clean the floor, and after a while, they get it clean enough for Helm's standards. She tells the squad to go rest, but Mast and Anchor complain about this cycle of playing nice at dinner parties and cleaning up, then leave to drink. Helm dismisses the protagonist and leaves to prepare for tomorrow's party, but on closer inspection, her prideful demeanor is marred by slumped shoulders...

#### Episode 2 - A Soldier Without A Fight

At the next party, Helm and Burningum are once again addressing the partygoers, the former bidding the audience to support the Admire with their contributions. The partygoers line up to put their monetary contributions into a box, and three boxes are filled this way before the festivities come to a close.

After the party ends, Burningum and Helm look over their donations to see that their gains are becoming less with each event. The Deputy Chief apologizes for his remarks before taking his leave. The protagonist approaches to see what's going on, to which Helm explains that they're donations to maintain the Admire. She exposits that despite the Admire existing, the Ark has no oceans for it to deploy on, and the surface's seas are not within humanity's territory. Thus, both the ship and Aegis have yet to see a single naval combat sortie despite that being exactly what they were made for. As for *why* the Admire exists, it was created by Elysion for literally no reason beyond flexing their technology muscles, but was bought for cheap by the Central Government to keep such a powerful ship outside the arsenals of corporations. Unfortunately, between that low price, plus the fact that the Admire hasn't seen a single sortie, the Central Government keeps slashing the budget, unable to justify the expense of the battleship, leading to the fundraising Aegis now undertakes. Helm laments how they can only get donations in cash, which is unstable in its exchange ratio to Ark credits, and even the donations themselves have been shrinking. When the protagonist asks how he can help, Helm simply requests he stay and help clean again.

Three hours later, the protagonist, Mast, and Anchor are exhausted from cleaning. Helm tries to get them to clean the bathrooms, but when Mast and Anchor talk back to her, she gets annoyed and threatens to ban drinking and seagull watching. When she tries to explain the standards of soldiery and instill discipline, the two Nikkes storm off, Anchor going so far as to toss a live starfish in Helm's face.

#### Episode 3 - Little to No Pride

In one of the Admire's cabins, Helm and the protagonist find Mast and Anchor sleeping near a pile of empty cans, though it seems none of them were alcohol. Helm puts a blanket over the two sleeping Nikkes before inviting the protagonist for some air.

Outside, Helm admits that she knows that these parties she's attending are no more than begging others for money, and she'd love nothing more than to step out on the battlefield and be judged by her merits as a soldier. She rejects the protagonist's suggestion to change squads, having promised Mast and Anchor that Aegis would sail the high seas and see all the marine life there is. Despite that promise giving Helm the fortitude to weather the people's whispers, it does nothing to change the fact that their funds will run out if the donations keep dwindling. The protagonist makes suggestions like asking Talentum or the Big Three's CEOs for money, but Helm is insistent at sticking to donations, believing that what her squad needs is the respect of the Ark's citizens. After a moment's deliberation, the two agree that what is needed is for Aegis to prove its competency as a navy. They decide to make a video promoting Aegis and the Admire, hoping that a show of capability will sway the Ark's people to hold faith in Aegis. The protagonist asks Helm put her faith in him, even if he asks for something odd or outrageous. Helm herself complies, being used to figuratively prancing about for others' amusement.

At a spa the protagonist has rented out, Helm immediately gets annoyed thinking he's going to try and put her in a swimsuit for advertising, only to find herself immediately proven wrong. At Helm's suggestion, the two take footage of her swimming, demonstrating how Nikkes of Aegis are specially adapted to operate in water. After several recordings, and being repeatedly yelled at by the spa owner, the two take their leave. The protagonist asks Helm is she has any other skills, the answer to that being piloting the Admire.

#### Episode 4 - Admire! Set Off!

On the Admire's bridge, the protagonist suggests they set forth, only for Helm to veto it due to the ship's fuel costs. With little else to do on the bridge, the two decide to film Helm shouting orders on the bridge, something she's rehearsed a number of times. They briefly play out her ordering the ship to fire on a Tyrant-class Rapture, and the protagonist's applause makes Helm blush.

The two decide to make one last shot of Helm with the Admire before deciding they have enough footage. Helm herself sheepishly requests the video make the Admire (and to a lesser extent herself) look good, even if some parts have to be played up or slightly exaggerated. She gives the protagonist a 2-week deadline, the time of the next fundraiser, to complete the promotional video.

Back at the Outpost, the protagonist is wracking his brain for how to make an advertisement in compliance with Helm's specifications, but coming up blank. Counters squad steps in, and he explains the situation to them. Rapi suggests everyone put their heads together and brainstorm ideas, which they do for the next 2 weeks.

The day of the fundraiser arrives, and the video is done. At the event, Helm welcomes the attendees before playing the video. The result is...quite something. It would appear that between the ideas of Counters and the protagonist's creative liberties, the Admire has been marketed as some kind of one-ship armada able to destroy swathes of Tyrant-class Raptures in a single shot. While it does the job of hyping up the crowd to donate, Helm almost immediately steps up and apologizes, saying the video is a falsehood.

#### Episode 5 - Reason for Existence

Helm explains that the advertisement was full of exaggeration, cancels the donation drive, and remains steadfast in refusing any donations stemming from this overhyping. The fundraiser's atmosphere takes a turn for the awkward, and the event is ruined.

1 hour later, the protagonist is apologizing to Helm for this situation. Helm forgives him, having thought that the video was well-made and well-received despite the time crunch, but nonetheless, she doesn't want to sell her squad or her ship on false promises. Just as the two wrap up their talk, a loud boom echoes across the Admire. Soon after, Mast and Anchor report in, panicking over a hole in the side of the ship. It seems someone set off a bomb inside the Admire, and now the lower decks are flooding. Helm is quick to respond, ordering her subordinates to evacuate people from the lower decks and start sealing the breach. While the two panic and forget their training, Helm quickly gets them back on track as she subtly has Burningum evacuate the partygoers. The protagonist asks what he should do, to which Helm rattles off the profile of a certain guest she noticed acting suspicious. She asks him to apprehend the individual, who went to the lower decks and hasn't shown up since.

Wading through ankle-deep water, the protagonist hears a man begging for help. He notices a slightly open door from which a hand is reaching out. The protagonist tries to save the person from the water flooding the room, only for the hand to grab him and the man to cackle, proclaiming he will take one more life for Heavenly Ascension. An explosion sends the protagonist into a wall, and his consciousness fades.

Later, the protagonist wakes up, having been saved by Helm. Mast and Anchor report that the breach is sealed and the guests evacuated, only to be berated by Helm for being too slow. The kerfuffle wraps up with Helm ordering the new breaches be sealed.

Later, Helm explains this incident was a terrorist attack by Heavenly Ascension, who stole one of the invitees' ID chips and used it to sneak in. Their original plan was to detonate bombs during the donation drive, but since Helm canceled it, they threw their hands in the air and tried to blow up the Admire. Thanks to Aegis' quick response, all the guests were safely evacuated without casualties. The Admire withstanding the bomb blasts and Aegis' response has actually worked to bolster their reputation, the resultant donation surge assuaging their money woes for the time being.

Helm envisions the future of her ideals, taking the Admire out to the high seas like she promised her crew. The protagonist pledges his support, to which Helm tells him that she wants him to witness it. The moment where she keeps her promise and shows the worth of her squad.

## References

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