Prolog
They said the world ended in 2014. "They" being other people; I really don't remember anything from that time so it's mostly their word not mine. First came the dragons; they came from strange lights in the sky and the sea, startling pretty much everyone and nearly taking down a few civilian air transports called "airplanes". Since the dragons didn't seem to eat people or really bother humans for the most part, the world's government agreed to let them be. Besides, they had other things to worry about.
The Alfheim Empire rose from the melting ice caps in the Arctic Circle. Their advance technology quickly over whelmed American and NATO coalition forces, taking over the vast majority of the Atlantic seaboard. Under the threat of some superweapon called "nuclear bombs", the American forces are said to have fled to the Alaskan frontier and Western reaches of the continent while other countries back down or signed into treaties of neutrality. That seemed to satisfy the Alfheim Empire to keep control to their slice of the world. But by withdrawing, it left the humans to fend for themselves under their rule. And the thing about the Elves is, they really frown upon lesser beings using "forbidden tools", like medicine and electricity. Then, to make matters worse, they placed a large super ship to block out the moonlight. No one knows for sure but it can't be good. The Empire has forced half the world back into the Dark Ages (or whatever that is but by the way "they" said it, it sounds bad). Paper money and oil mean nothing to them (some weird stuff that meant something to people before it all went…well, crazy) but anything shinny and they'll get you anything that your heart desires…for a price. Otherwise, you're just another filthy human.
But the sun still comes up and the world still turns. As long as life survives, we must fight to survive. Which is why I'm about to jump 1000 meters off this M-Pulse craft…
Chapter One:
"T-minus 30 seconds from the drop. Switching over to silent engine mode. Team Valkyrie, synchronize your time on my mark: three…two…one…mark!"
"Team lead set!"
"Secondary set!"
"Set!"
"Set!"
"Synchronization is now set. Remember: we are only to seize the marked cargo. In and out snatch and grab. No detours."
Team Valkyrie leader, Val, rolled her eyes. As if telepathic she heard Captain Reech growl over the comms. "Acknowledge that Team Lead."
Val replied back. "Team Lead acknowledges." All she did was swiped a few books. Where was the harm in that? She tried to get focus back on the drop, revving herself up for the jump. She double checked to made sure her long blonde locks were held in place by her braid and her holo HUD was snug against her right ear. She rolled her shoulders back, ready for the hatch to open.
"T-minus 5…4…3…"
Val touched her holo HUD, decompressing the helmet and visor that wrapped around her head.
"2…1…!"
The hatch unlocked and the fierce cold air attacked her. She rushed out of the hatch and jumped out into the sky. Val spread herself wide trying to maintain herself from spinning. Her holo HUD began giving readouts, counting down her approach to the target while also relaying her heartbeat and comm status in the upper right hand corner. As she passed through the clouds she began to make out her target below her: an Imperial supply magnetic craft. She flicked her hands, energizing the magnetic grips in her gloves and boots. She wore no parachute; if she missed her chance to latch onto supply ship, it would mean certain death. The possibilities excited her.
Val's holo HUD display flashed as she approached the target. She braced herself for the landing. She hit the supply ship with a single thud, her magnetic grips keeping her attached to the side of the magnetic craft. She held her breath as she counted three other similar thuds hit the ship then waited.
"No change in ship trajectory. No sign of changes in security protocols. Team Valkyrie, you may proceed."
Val began shuffling towards the nearest air hatch. As she moved towards the hatch, the magnetic grip in her left hand shorted out with a spark. She shook the shock out of her hand but was still able to maintain her footing on the airship. "Hurry up with that override," she grumbled.
"Gizmo, I'm plugged in," Team Valkyrie's sharpshooter, Lucy, said over the comm link, "When you're ready."
"Infiltrating onboard computer. I'm in. Overriding security cameras and unlocking air hatches. Team Valkyrie, you have five minutes."
Val threw herself on top of the air hatch before she could slip and twisted the outside handle so that she could climb inside.
"Applying mask scramblers." Val watched her holo HUD visor tint to hide her face as she closed the air hatch. "Now follow the markers to the cargo hold."
Red arrows showed up on her visor display to guide Val to the cargo hold. She carefully moved along the passageway, until the sound of an approaching Imperial sentry forced her to press to the frame of the air ship. The sentry walked passed her without detection and stopped a few feet in front of her but the moment he turned she'd be exposed. The only option was to attack first. She cleared her throat and leaned casually against the wall.
"Hey, how's it going?" she smiled.
The guard turned and stared at her for a few good seconds. Val was known to have that memorizing effect on both humans and elves, even with her face hidden. She punched him squarely in the face before he could discharge his weapon, knocking him out cold. Val shook her hand out as she reached down and grabbed his badge. She wouldn't have time to hide the body, which meant less time to get in and out without further complications. She hoped no one else on her team was having issues.
On the other side of the supply ship, two matching ribbons shot out behind a pair of patrolling guards and grabbed hold of them with a sharp yank. One guard was knocked out immediately while the other struggled to grab his weapon. A Chinese girl wearing robes of red and pink with matching ribbons in her hair slapped him with a wooden fan with the symbol of thunder painted on it. A sudden bold of electricity hit the guard and he was knocked out as well. She put her fan away and looked at the large air tight door in front of her. "Secondary here," said the girl, Ping, "I'm at the cargo hold. What's your ETA Gizmo?"
"Give me thirty seconds."
"How about ten?" asked Lucy, the sharpshooter. She had pelted the sentry in front of her with at least three pellets of orange and blue paintballs but he still reached out to grab her. She managed to slip underneath him and swing her leg around to knock him off his feet. The sentry was still able to reach for his transmitter.
"We have intruders in the cargo level!" he cried over the radio.
Lucy tagged the radio with a pellet but the call already went out. "Guys! We're going to have company!"
"I'll buy some time," said the fourth member of Team Valkyrie, the dark skinned half-elf Mitch. She hid in the shadows as two Imperial guards rushed by her towards the cargo hold. She threw out her arm, sending a pulse and a she had hoped, caused something to knock over with her telekinesis. The noise distracted the sentries and they ran off in the wrong direction, which was spot on timing for Gizmo.
"Cargo bay is unlocked! But the ship is alerted to your presence. We're bringing the Kiev around for pick up!"
"Good!" acknowledged Val, "Let us know when!" She rushed into the cargo bay and found their target: four crates marked "Bio-hazardous articles; to be destroyed". One crate for each of them. The other three Valkyries joined her. "V3, set up a link so that Gizmo can open up the cargo doors in case he gets locked out!" Val ordered Lucy; she then turned to Mitch, "V4, watch for approaching Imperials! V2, help me prep the crates for retrieval!"
Ping helped Val attach magnetic floats to the crates while Lucy tried to connect to the cargo door control pad and Mitch took point. They had just finished with the final crate when Mitch called to them, "Four sentries, heavily armed approaching!"
"What's going on with the door?" Val asked over her shoulder.
"We keep getting locked out!" replied Lucy, her English accent getting stronger the more stress she was under.
"Then improvise!"
Lucy glanced around and spotted the emergency dump lever on the other side of the cargo hold. She took one of her real pistols hidden under her jacket, took aim and fired. Years of similar raids taught the Valkyries to activate their magnetic pads in their boots before Lucy finished firing or else they would be blown out of the cargo hold when the doors began to open. Unfortunately the armed Imperial sentries sent to stop them also had magnetic pads. Mitch threw up her hands to stop the plasma pellets from reaching her teammates.
"Go!" Val ordered Ping to grab part of the cargo, "V3! You too!" She knew Mitch, even with her telekentic powers, wouldn't last long.
Ping nodded and she and Lucy grabbed a crate and released their magnetic pads, dropping out from the cargo hold. Val spotted a battle axe on a weapon rack nearby and swung it around adeptly in an attempt to frighten her opponents. It worked about two times out of five and by the way the sentries were still standing their ground it didn't. She saw the strain on Mitch's face and rushed towards the sentries.
That seemed to get their attention. On que, Mitch ducked, releasing her invisible shield and Val sliced through one of the blasters, throwing the sentry into her comrade and startling the other two. As Mitch jumped with her crate, Val struck another sentry in the head (the armor kept him from getting his pointed ear head sliced off but still hurt like hell), and grabbed his blaster. She dropped the axe and pushed back the armed sentries away from her with the blaster so that she could grab her load. Their armor prevented any serious injury but it would be a few seconds before their resolve recovered. Val wasn't going to wait around for that.
With a mocking salute, she grabbed her cargo and pushed it off the air ship with her along for the ride. She followed her teammates through the clouds where a retrofitted air cruiser, the Kiev waited to pick her up. A magnetic field slowed her approach so she wouldn't hit the cruiser with a smack and pieces of her thrown all over the place. The cruiser's cargo hold opened up underneath her and she and her crate landed safely inside the air ship. She felt the engines roar to life as the cruiser dashed away before Imperial forces could convene on their location. She collapsed on the floor with her arms stretched wide but pausing long enough to deactivate her holo HUD. Her moment of relaxation didn't last long when she heard footsteps approaching.
Captain Reech stared down at her, sour looking as ever, his permanent frown as trademark as his aged bomber jacket. But his arms were folded and he was chewing a tooth pick again, which for him meant he was pissed or stressed.
"What?" groaned Val.
"You were over your time limit," he explained.
"There were complications," Val sat up, "As expected. As what is expected on every mission."
"Did anyone see your faces?" he asked.
"No," said Val getting to her feet.
Captain Reech raised an eyebrow.
"No one saw our faces," repeated Val. "Maybe should check your translator for a fix," she added in an undertone.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing! Just comm static!" she lied. Sometimes she was tempted to shut off her translator so she could tune him out. Reech was more over bearing than usual; was it because he was trying to make it back to home base before the snows came in?
"Get this crate down with the others and turn your equipment into Gizmo for service," he ordered, "I want a debrief from the team before we report to home base. Understood?"
"Understood," sighed Val. It would just be another round of criticism of every little thing that had and could have gone wrong.
"Once I'm sure we're clear, I'll cook up dinner. Cabbage and sausage tonight!" he said as he went back to the cockpit.
"Yay, cabbage…" Val sarcastically raised her fist and pumped it.
Freya, the orange tabby, rubbed her legs up against Reech as he walked by with a small meow. "Get off!" he moved his leg away from the cat but her green eyes were fixated on him. Reech was not an animal lover and disliked cats most of all. So naturally, Freya followed him around. He only put up with her because at one time Freya was the only creature Val could talk too and she had been the Kiev so long she was almost like one of its running parts.
"Oh let him be," said Val as she picked up the cat and carry her down into the cabins.
The armory slash communication room was a hot mess as usual. Various heavy cables made the floor a maze and books and notes were scattered over every table. There were three processors running whose best guess was better than Val's while several monitors displayed readouts and ship statuses. Two white boards were rolled out on each side of the room, one with detailed notes on the mission planning, the other a scribble of calculations, with an enclosed box of "do not erase" for the day's code words. In the corner, Lucy was downloading her weapons while Mitch and Ping discussed who had a better take down. Gizmo, the team's communication and mechanical support was monitoring white nose for sounds of broadcasts. His hair was messier than usual and his glasses were slightly askew.
Val sat Freya down on a pile of notes (which the cat looked around before jumping off and sneaking out of the room, possibly to find Reech) before tapping on Gizmo's shoulder. He took off his headphones to acknowledge Val.
"My left glove shorted out again. Can you take a look at it?" she handed Gizmo her magnetic pad.
"Really?" he sighed, "That's the third time. Maybe the magnet's gone bad."
"I also snagged you this," Val showed him the pass she'd swiped from a guard. "I'm sure they'll change the codes but it should be useful in the short term."
Gizmo's eyes lit up. "I'll pull the root key off of this right away."
Val then address her team. "Okay Valkyries! Bring it in! Good job out there; we're on our way back to home base." Ping cheered. "Reech wants a debrief before we get there so if you can have your notes compiled by dinner that will be great."
"What's for dinner?" asked Lucy.
"Cabbage and sausage."
"Cabbage?" pouted Ping, "But we've had that for four days…why can't we have beets?"
"What else did he say?" asked Mitch, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"Oh, the usual," Val rolled her eyes, "This time, we were over our time limit. Surprised he didn't have anything more to say."
"Maybe he thinks we won't make it back before the snow starts," remarked Lucy.
Mitch narrowed her eyes. "I doubt that."
The ship's intercom crackled. "Gizmo! Get up here! We need to cut the engines down to silent mode, restrictive maneuvering!"
The Valkyries looked at each other as Gizmo acknowledged and went upstairs to the cockpit first.
"Is it the Empire? Did that ship catch up with us?" asked Ping.
"No way," said Val, "After what we did to their cargo hold, they would have to descend to surface level to fix it and they can't broadcast over the horizon that low."
They rushed upstairs to the cockpit, where Reech was at the helm watching the skies while Gizmo went around and sent the necessary measurements. "What is it?" asked Val.
"Dragons," said Reech his eyes not looking away, "Cut our broadcasts to receive only."
Lucy went to help Gizmo switch off the communications, while the other girls watched with him. There were a few at first but then as the ship slowed, Val saw more flying by the magnetic craft; these were large but skinny sized dragons, with wide webbed wings that spread several yards from wingtip to wingtip and horned crowns. They must've stumbled upon a flock as they cut across the sky.
"Typhomarangs…" Val involuntarily mumbled.
"What did you say?" asked Ping.
Val blinked. She wasn't quite sure what she had said. "Nothing."
Mitch narrowed her eyes again. Val knew she was trying to scan her mind so she gave her a look that said back off.
"Engines in silent mode," said Gizmo, "We're now floating off the magnetic track."
"Good," acknowledged Reech, "An Air Force buddy of mine once saw one of these dragons slice off the tops of trees when it was agitated. I don't want to repeat that here. They should be gone as the sun starts to set."
"Must be nice to be a dragon," mused Lucy, "You don't have to worry about the Empire chasing after you or where you can't fly or having to fix your hair…"
"Yeah," said Val, memorized to the window as the dragons flew past them, "Must be nice."
Chapter Two
Val dreamed of falling through the sky, as she often did. She fell slowly as if being carried by the wind. Her back was turned towards the ground as she faced the sky…
"You are graced by your mother's beauty but your eyes reflect that of your father…"
She heard the flapping of great powerful wings, pulsating like thunder…
"He was stubborn and reckless too; no one ever expected him to do great things…"
Fierce waves crashed over the rocks filling the air with salt…
"But he did the impossible…"
A golden field stretching as far as the eye could see, the wheat rippling with the wind…
"Get up! You will not allow yourself to die on the ground, like a dog! You are a warrior! You are-!"
Val still fell…and flying above her was a mask rider on the back of a black dragon with a red tail…a figure she had seen many times before…
"You carry the heaviest burden of all…"
…but this time the rider reached for her and she reached back. Their fingers almost touched…
Chapter Three
Val woke with a jolt as the low altitude alarm went off throughout the Kiev. She threw herself back down on her mattress. They we're making their descent back into home base. With her right hand she reached out as she had in her dream. Who was the rider? What was he or she to her? And why did she reach for the rider? And how were they able to ride a dragon? As far as she or anyone else for that matter knew, no one could ride a dragon. A few brave (and by brave, she meant drunk) airmen had tried but ended up getting burned. But the mask rider could…
"We're coming up on home base! I want to be ready for off load in ten minutes!" Captain Reech barked over the intercom.
Val groaned. She pulled herself up to a sitting position. Her room was in need of a quick clean up: several of her clothes were scattered across the floor and she wasn't all too sure which were clean or not, Freya the cat purred on top of her desk, sitting on her debrief report of the mission, which may or may not have been finalized, while her IPOD was charging in the corner. The only thing that looked remotely organized were her bookshelves. Covering her walls were various sketches of the black dragon with the red tail, the ocean, the field, and other images that continued to haunt Val's dreams. But no matter how hard she tried to put everything together, it was all blurry or just missing. Her gaze lingered on one water painting of the dragon, its body curled up in a spiral, its red tail sticking out like a sore thumb. It should've been easy to spot such a beast, either by the resistance or the Empire, but there simply wasn't enough to go off of.
Val heard a soft meow next to her. Freya had jumped off the desk and was rubbing her head next to Val's hand. "Okay," she scratched the cat's head, "I'll get up."
Val quickly washed her face, threw on a long sleeve shirt and a sweater, and tied her hair back. She left her holo HUD piece behind but made sure to take her translator with her as she grabbed her boots. She could already feel the airship depressurize as they continue to descend and by the time she reached the cargo hold, she was already freezing. The other Valkyries were waiting to begin the offload while Gizmo was up in the cockpit with Reech to provide extra guidance with the descent. Lucy, like Val, was shivering, Mitch was impassive, but Ping was all smiles, probably because she'll see her boyfriend from communications Peter, and at the first opportunity they could get alone, they'll be in a dark corner trying to suck each other's faces off. Val made a face just thinking about it.
A shift of the mechanisms beneath their feet was the landing gear engaging as Val's ear popped with the cabin depressurizing. Val took her crate of the cargo and engaged the key pad to get it to hover for offload.
Reech brought them down as steady as he could; the Coalition base was hidden in the caves in the mountains and lakes of northwestern New York. They were forced underground by the Empire as much of their gear relied on electricity that could easily be detected from the surface. The opening to Home base was carefully concealed and was small enough that only one aircraft no bigger than a cruiser could take off and land at the same time. Reech would have to land the Kiev just right or risk a new paint job. So it wasn't too much of a surprise when the Valkyries heard Reech scrap the side of the ship for a few seconds and the spew of curse words that followed. With a small bounce the Kiev landed safely within the Home base opening. With a hiss the cargo bay ramp dropped down and they were greeted with a gust of cold air and Ensign Abby Lewis.
"Welcome home Valkyrie team!" she beamed at them her cheeks red from the cold.
"Good to be back Lewis!" saluted Val as she pushed down her crate. "Four boxes of cargo, as requested."
"Excellent work. Commander Jones will be pleased," Ensign Lewis made a check on her clipboard.
"You know, we weren't told what was in these crates…" said Val rubbing her hand over the "Bio-hazard label".
"Flu shots, team lead! Enough for the entire command!"
"What?" Gizmo's face paled. He dreaded shots.
"Might what to get him first," Val added to Ensign Lewis in an undertone.
"Come now solider! You don't want to start a pandemic do you?" Ensign Lewis cautioned Gizmo.
"Firstly, I am an analysist and no I don't, but you don't want to see me passed out either," he remarked.
"Move the shipment over there and meet with Commander Jones at the central command post," ordered Ensign Lewis, "She'll be wanting your debrief."
The Valkyries moved the shipment off for disbursement while Captain Reech barked orders at the air craft handlers about not denting the already scratched Kiev. Gizmo picked up Freya who had wandered from the ship and tucked her in his bag. Val was sure he would sneak off to avoid the flu shot as long as possible.
Team Valkyrie and her Captain headed inside the caves where it was much warmer. Home base was made up of the surviving forces of the United States, United Kingdom, French, and German militaries along with other NATO factions. Some were volunteers who had come of age after the invasion, others were refuges who couldn't afford to pay the price of the Empire for medical services so they fled to the only ones left willing to help. There were some many languages being passed around here that Val restricted her translator to her top five languages and filtered out the rest so it wouldn't burn up.
The Valkyries walked passed other raid teams like them: the Buccaneers, the Yanks, the Red Flaggers, and the Loathsome Larrys (all the team members were named Larry). Some of the teams were training, but mostly they gave the Valkyries looks of jealousy, envious of Val's team status as the primer raid team. Val tried hard not to notice their resentfulness. A group of infantry rebels marched by in formation. Two engineers walked by to make their rounds; home base relied heavily on solar, wind, and water power to fuel their operations. During the winter months when the snows came in and no one could go in or out, the engineers had a monumental task of keeping the heat going and making sure there was enough power routed to the greenhouses and the medical bays especially. A few farmers lingered around trading their crops for wares or home goods. Farming was one of the few professions that stayed around after the invasion, since the bare bones of it really didn't require electricity to grow crops or raise animals. A lot of farmers lost their use of equipment but they like other humans found a loophole in that if a machine could work off of solar or wind power, it wouldn't be forbidden. It allowed some farmers to still mass produce crops as they had before the invasion provided they had enough hands. Those close to the coalition would give excess to the rebels and provide help in the greenhouse. A few stayed behind when the snows came in to keep the greenhouses alive since the snows buried the farmers to their homes as much as the rebels to their base. Some even doubled as nurses in the infirmary.
As the Valkyries continued on, Val caught sight of the Russians, Anya and her younger brother, Nicolai. They were as Captain Reech put it, the "slippery ones". They knew everything about everyone (except for Val) and could get anyone anything they wanted…for a price. Whatever methods they used, they were often sent out on special assignments by Commander Jones, and they always came back with vodka. Always. They like to spend time with Val, probably because, like everyone else, no one knew anything about her before the invasion and they were in constant completion with one another to find out. Val didn't mind them; they often had good information and gave her things for free, but she also heeded Reech's words to mind herself when she was with them. They approached her as the Valkyries waited for Commander Jones.
"Val!" called Anya with her thick accent, "So good to see you again! How was your mission?" Half her head was shaved and what was left of her hair was dyed bright pink. She also wore purple lipstick and her left eyebrow was pierced.
"Fine," Val was honest with them, "Brought back flu shots."
Nicolai said something in Russian. Unlike his sister his hair was still there but receding slightly and he was very scrawny.
"What'd he say?" Val looked at Anya.
"Ah, you filtered your translator; he said 'no flu for him'. His bones aches for weeks and I know because I have to hear him cry about it," Anya sighed. She smiled at Val. "I picked up some old weapons on my last assignment. They're from the Soviet era so they're cheaply made but they should be fine in a pinch."
"I'll take a look at them," said Val. She then had a thought. "Say, you never heard of anyone who rides dragons, do you?"
Anya gave a small chuckle; there was a brief pause as Nicolai's translator worked through what Val said and he began laughing loudly. Anya glared at him and he closed his mouth but couldn't hide his smile. "No, moi companione, I've never heard anyone even attempting to ride one successfully," she replied.
Nicolai began to speak and Anya translated, "With enough borsch and liquid courage perhaps. No, the barn cat you saw trying to jump one of the smaller ones doesn't count either!" She turned back to Val. "Why? Did you see something out there?"
"No," Val half-lied, "Just curious." She looked back at her team and rolled her eyes when she saw that one of her team members missing.
In the communications wing, second lieutenant Peter Hawthorne was busy relaying commands out in the hangar bay. "Second aircraft director move the Kiev to spot six and prep for power charging," he tracked the commands on his table display as Ping crept behind him and threw her arms around him. He tried to fight his smile as relayed additional commands, "Then move the Trojan up to spot eleven for maintenance. Notify when complete." He switched his headset to mute and reached up to pull her off as she kissed his neck. "You're going to get me in trouble."
"So?" She slipped down and sat on the left arm of his chair. "You don't care."
"I do when I'm going to be up for promotion soon."
"Really?" Ping beamed at him.
Peter nodded. They both tried to fight their smiles. Ping broke the stalemate when she kissed him quickly.
"I missed you," she said.
"I missed you too," he replied. He then lowered his voice, "Hey, Jones has you guys slated for another mission."
Ping smile fell. "What? So soon before the snows will start?"
"I know, but the Russians came back with intelligence late last night and then the super-secret intelligent guys, the ones that work above me, they confirmed whatever it was. It has Jones worried; I don't know why else she would risk sending a team out only to chance them to exposure before we get buried under snow. Especially when the weather techs say they're a high possibility of the winds setting up just right across the lake."
Any trace of happiness was gone from Ping's face. She slid off the seat and looked back at her team, worried. Peter took her hand and rubbed it between his. "Listen, I'll be on dinner break in two hours and then Danvers has the 0000-0600 watch, so I'll be alone in my room…until then…" he hinted.
A bit of a smile returned to Ping's face.
"See you at dinner?" Peter asked.
"Yes," she replied and kissed him quickly again so that he could get back to work.
Val tried to hide her face of grimace as Ping returned to the team for debriefing. "What?" she asked Val.
Val rolled her eyes. "You know what!"
They stopped talking when Commander Ashani Jones and her second in command Major Nima Mohammad stepped up into the central command space. Both proud woman long before the invasion, the two seasoned rebel leaders could silence a room with one look. Commander Jones had been a member of the US Army and helped set up the military protocol currently in place. Her brown eyes were stern but showed pride when she entered the command space. Major Nima Mohammand was about five years junior to Command Jones and had worked in an intelligence command known as the US National Security Agency before the invasion. She was directly in charge of communications and Intel gathering. She was slightly OCD and she often fidgeted when she saw something out of place but couldn't fix it. Her hijab was red today, pinned with a golden bird; Val knew that it meant something but she always forgot. While it was common for Command Jones to debrief a raid team, she usually did it alone; Major Mohammad's presence was an oddity. Something was up.
"Team Valkyrie, Captain Reech," began Commander Jones, "Excellent work on the last raid. The vaccines you brought us will prevent the worst when we're stuck down here buried beneath the snows. You deserve the time off for R and R. However," she waved for Ensign Lewis to pull up data from the central holo screen, "We received intelligence late last night that the Empire sent out a salvage team in the North Atlantic near where the Empire first arrived. Major?"
Major Mohammand stepped forward and took over the holo screen showing a map of the Atlantic Ocean and a glowing red dot. "The craft they sent out is the standard two-crew patrol airship. Due to the small size, we believe that whatever it is can't be that big but they could be using their matter condenser cubes to hide the true contents. However, the Empire has sent out a special forces craft and they are using their Black Forest encryption technology to muffle comms. Whatever it is their looking for, only a few elves within the Empire know about it. We only found out about because of the Russians. They are about two hundred miles off the coast of Norway and they been there for at least twenty-four hours. There are no known land masses out there but it's possible they're either looking for something underwater or trapped in a floating iceberg nearby. Our next satellite sweep should give us more information."
"What do you want us to do?" asked Val.
"What you do best," replied Commander Jones, "Steal whatever it is they find. If this thing is a weapon, we can't let anyone get their hands on it. If it's something that can potentially help our cause, maybe something to help crack their Black Forest encryption, it'll be a victory for us. Due to the sensitivity of this mission, we will be burning through one of our encryption keys. And I will be personally giving the commands here, remotely."
"Now wait a second!" Captain Reech stepped forward, "First, your ordering my crew to go out so close to the time of year when the snows starts, to steal from a special forces team something we don't know for sure is. Second, you're going to burn through one of our encryption keys, one of the few we have left. And you want to take remote command? From my team?"
"You forget Captain Reech, that before the invasion, sensitive operations like these were commanded remotely," Commander Jones raised her chin.
"With drones."
"And with boots on the ground," remarked Commander Jones.
The two military veterans stared each other down and the electricity was so apparent that Val involuntarily took a step back.
Commander Jones turned her attention back on Team Valkyrie. "Get your vaccinations, get something to eat, and get a good night's rest. Your official mission brief will begin at 0600 tomorrow morning. You are dismissed."
Team Valkyrie started to leave but Commander Jones called to Captain Reech. "A word Captain?"
"Commander, I insist-" Major Mohammad began to say but Jones held up her hand.
"It's alright Nima. He already suspects, don't you Greg?" said Jones.
Reech leaned on the holo table. "What information did you withheld?"
"The reason why the Empire is sending in a black ops team for a salvage mission, is the same reason why I am willing to risk my best raiding team: they, like us, detected gravitation flux distortions," explained Jones.
Reech took off his cap and scratched his head. "How big?"
"Nothing bigger than a car, possibly a truck."
"So it could be a weapon," remarked Reech.
"It could be a crate of fertilizer for all we know. We can't let the Empire have whatever it is. Which is why I will take full responsibility for this mission," said Jones, "And I know you and your team especially will be fine should you get stuck outside on your own. Your craft is small enough to avoid detection from Imperial sweeps. You could probably lay low in the Canadian wilderness."
"Yeah, well you've never been to Canada in the wintertime," mumbled Reech.
The Commander chuckled. "No, I haven't." Her face soften. "How's Val? Any changes?"
"No," Reech shook his head.
"The Doc will want to talk to her before your team takes off again."
"He can try but whether or not she talks to him is on her," said Reech as he left the command post.
Gizmo separated from the team after they left the command post. He followed a pair of thick power cables into a small enclosure of the caves where the stalagmite seem to form a mouth with teeth. Inside of the enclosure a little girl sat plugging in calculations into several computer chips. Her dirty blonde hair was a mess and there were fresh scratches and bruises over her arms. Her clothes were dirty from sitting on the ground floor all day and a plate with a half-eaten sandwich had been pushed away, a water cup spilt on the floor hours ago. The girl didn't notice when Gizmo sat down in the enclosure.
"Hey Dee, I'm back," he said. The girl ignored him and continued to crunch numbers away.
Gizmo said nothing but he reached into his pack to pick up Freya. He placed Freya down on the ground; she sniffed around but her tail perked up when she saw the girl. Freya began to purr as she walked over and rubbed herself against the girl. The girl reached with one hand but not looking away from her work to pet the cat back. Still Gizmo waited in silence until the girl finished. She stood up and dusted off her clothes.
"It's perfect," she said, holding up her finish chip. "New frequencies for the new year," she beamed at Gizmo.
"Great," Gizmo returned the smile, "How many did you make today?"
"Seventy-two," she said.
"Wow," Gizmo nodded in approval, then glanced down at the plate, "Is that why you didn't finish your lunch?"
The girl looked away from him and picked up Freya.
"Dee, you know you have to eat," Gizmo tried to hide his worry.
Dee wouldn't meet his gaze but he was used to it. "And the bruises? Did the kids pick on you again?"
She was silent still. Gizmo sighed. "Come on Dee; I rather hear it from you than somebody else."
"They said you had to go out again," she said quietly and she buried her face in Freya's fur.
"Yeah…"
"I don't want you to!"
"I have to-"
"Why?"
"You know why." He caught himself raising his voice and took a breath to even it. "My team needs me."
"Then take me with you!"
"No, you're not of age," Gizmo found himself repeating the same argument they had every time an assignment came up, "Besides, you do more work here than I do. Your frequency jammers are important to the rebels."
"Are they?" Dee asked.
"Yes," Gizmo reassured her, "Very important." He reached into his bag and pulled out the badge Val had swiped on the last mission. "I was able to crack this root key in…three hours and thirty-tree minutes. Think you can do it faster?"
Dee's eyes lit up and she reached for the badge, but Gizmo held it away from her.
"But first, we'll get dinner. Okay?"
Dee put her hand down and nodded sheepishly. "Okay."
"Good because I am trying- OW!"
Val had come behind him and jolted him with a flu shot. She managed to quickly inject him and pull out the needle before he could turn around. She giggled wickedly and Dee started to laugh.
"What the hell Val?" Gizmo looked peeved.
"Sorry, had to get you before you disappeared for too long; Commander's orders," she wasn't trying to hide her enjoyment of it at all, "You too munchkin!"
Dee held out her arm still giggling as her brother muttered something about passing out.
"Oh you're fine! Look, your kid sister takes it better than you do!" remarked Val as she gave Dee a dose as well.
"If I throw up…"
"You're not going to throw up. Besides, you have to be vaccinated to eat tonight so you'd have to get it anyway or starve before our next mission. So I just save you the hassle," Val smiled.
Gizmo grumbled about losing his appetite but took Dee's hand while she carried Freya in the other.
Val walked over to discard the used needles into the nearest bio-hazard bag when she heard someone call her name. "Val!" She looked over her shoulder and saw the residential behavioral therapist, Doctor Thermopolis, or Doc as he had everyone call him. His family came from Greece before moving to America before the invasion and he had his own practice before the Empire drove him out, like many specialist "healers" like him. He was assigned to all the "war orphans" like Val, Gizmo, and Dee in home base, so that they at least had someone to talk to. Only problem was, Val didn't feel like talking most of the time, since the questions were usually the same. That being said, she was a very special case…
"I heard you just got back. How was the mission?" he asked.
"It went well. As well as it could've gone. Reech complained we took too much time but that's the usual," she replied. "What happened with Dee? She have another fit again?"
"She did," nodded Doc, "When she was told her brother and your team we're being sent out again. We were fortunate to calm her down quickly; I was afraid she would badly hurt herself."
"Can't blame her," sighed Val, "If we get stuck outside, it'll be another three to five months before the snows are clear enough for us to get back."
"What about you?" asked the Doc, "Will you be alright?"
"My team is my family," remarked Val, "I'll be okay. As long as Reech doesn't drive me insane."
They stood over a small ridge looking over the rest of the cave as soldiers, volunteers, and refugees gathered for chow or flu shots.
"And what about your real family?" asked the Doc, "Do you remember anything? Were there any more dreams?"
Val sighed as she did whenever anyone asked. "No." She spotted one of the little green dragons running around a pile of rocks. They were no bigger than the average house cat and often snuck into the base, squeezing through holes in the caves that humans normally couldn't fit through. They like to keep warm around the hanger bay or the generators so engineering and the airplane handlers often had the task of chasing them away. Other than that they were harmless; they still could spit out small fireballs when aggravated. She tried to get this one to come near here; so far it was looking at her with its big yellow eyes curiously.
"There was something a little different about the last dream," Val reluctantly added as the small green dragon approached her hand.
"Oh?"
"I saw someone riding one."
She waited to hear his response as the dragon sniffed her hand. "Aren't you going to tell me that's crazy or impossible?"
"It would be dangerous," remarked Doc, "But not impossible." The green dragon licked its eyes with its long forked tongue, looking up at Val, before he rubbed his head against her hand. "We know very little about them and we didn't have the chance to study them as we have with other creatures before the war. The fact that there aren't just one single species but several is very overwhelming." He watched as the dragon crawled up her arm and settled on her shoulder. "Was there anything else?"
Val scratched underneath the dragon's chin. She didn't mention that the rider had reached for her. "No, there was nothing else."
Chapter Four
Val dreamed of a full moon, rising over an ocean, its yellow orange glow lighting up the sky…
"Come away with me o human child, for the world is a terrifying and cruel place…"
The fierce waves crashed over the weathered rocks, pushing and pulling with the moonlight…
"There is a place East of the Sun and West of the Moon…"
She stood above the plans at the edge of a grassy cliff…
"…there is a dragon that no one has ever seen. It doesn't take any food, never steals anything but it hits with dangerous accuracy. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. We call it…"
There was a distinct whistle in the air, a nose she had heard before… someone was approaching her… and she turned to look…
Chapter Five
Again Val awoke with a start, this time with only five minutes before her alarm was due to go off. She gave herself a moment to catch her breath then looked up at the water paint drawing of the black dragon. "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself…" she repeated, "Sounds terrifying."
Knowing it was useless to go back to sleep, she pulled off her covers and got up to take a shower but as soon as she opened the door, she found Ping on the other side, getting ready to knock.
"Sorry," she lowered her hand, "I heard you crying."
"I wasn't-" Val began to say but then closed her mouth. She knew it was hard to say what exactly she said or even did when she had her dreams, especially when she spoke in her native tongue. "I'm fine now." She noticed that Ping was barefoot, carrying her shoes, her hair had been hastily put up, and her clothes looked loose. "What happened to you?"
Ping's face flushed. "I- uh- went for a walk and uh-"
"You know what," Val shook her head, "Forget I asked. Just be ready for mission out brief in an hour." She slipped past Ping and into the showers.
An hour later, the Kiev was being prep for takeoff. Supply runners were loading the M-class ship with enough dry goods to get them through the winter should the Valkyries get stranded outside. At the airship's wings, the aircraft handlers were fueling the ship up but only with enough to get the ship to the mission location and back and to fill the reserves in case of an emergency. The process to create the fuel liquids had been, like many "human extravagates", shut down during the invasion and was hard to come by more than anything else in the coalition. The great thing about the airships were they weren't picky about where the fuel came from: the life support systems could run on solar and wind power to keep the crew alive but flight required something heavier like diesel or geothermic energy that the airship could convert over. But refueling the ship could take several hours and meant exposure to the Empire. The coalition had already lost two air ship crews when they stopped to refuel and were caught by Imperials. But Reech was an expert on running "essentials only" and would make sure his team came out alive, on the verge of killing each other, yes, but alive.
Command Jones approached the team as they prepped their gear. "Team Valkyrie: as I stated last night, this is a retrieval mission. Since this will put you on a black ops craft, stealth will be of the highest importance. That being said, because you will be going up against a spec ops team, they will be on high alert. They may be inclined to use deadly force to protect their cargo. Guard yourselves and protect one another. From now on, you will broadcast on receive mode only until you are just in range and I give the word to initiate the cipher. From that point on, I will have full operation control of this mission. Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am.
"You have permission to leave as soon as you are cleared to go," Jones saluted and returned to the command post.
As Captain Reech went up into the cockpit to make final checks, the Valkyries made their goodbyes. Much to Val's annoyance, Ping and Peter were trying to suck each other's face off, while Dee put on a brave face and tried not to cry with her brother.
"Hey, even if it's for a few months, we still celebrate Christmas when we get back!" he tried to reassure her.
"But Christmas is always in December!" she stomped her foot.
"I-I know, but it'll be a special Christmas," Gizmo said hastily so she wouldn't have another fit. "But until then, Peter's going to keep an eye on you, right Peter?"
Peter pulled away from Ping. "What? Oh yeah! We'll have lots of fun!"
Meanwhile, the Russians had stopped by to see Val off. Anya handed Val a pistol. "As promised. Hopefully this intelligence is worth it. It was really hard to come by."
Val holstered the pistol on her belt and nodded as Nikolai spoke in Russian. "He says good luck," translated Anya, "And that whatever it is better be worth all the time freezing his behind off."
"Thanks," said Val. She looked towards Lucy and Mitch who were standing around awkwardly. They, like Val, didn't have much of a family to say goodbye too.
"Valkyries! Get up here! We're taking off as soon as traffic control gives us the clear!" Reech yelled over the Kiev's loud speaker.
Gizmo hugged Dee goodbye and Peter gave Ping one last kiss on the cheek before the Valkyries climbed up the cargo bay hold and the offload ramp raised up and sealed up tight for lift off. Reech was already firing up the controls while Gizmo took his spot at the communications station and the other Valkyries took a seat. Outside at a safe distance from takeoff, Peter had his hands on Dee's shoulders as she waved goodbye while the Russians watched ever stoic and silent.
"Kiev, this is traffic control tower. You are cleared to launch. Immediately go to mid-atmospheric altitude once clear of takeoff and cut to receive only at 20 miles out."
"Kiev copies all," replied Reech. He took the controls and began liftoff, once again hitting the wall for a few seconds, and dropping a few curse words before they were clear of the caves.
Once they were at mid-atmospheric altitude, an unnatural silence had fallen over the ship. The Valkyries had never had a mission like this: they had always known their target and had always weighted the risks themselves. Now they had no idea what their target was, with the potential of engaging the Empire's elite black ops forces, with the risk that they might not make it back to base in time. Though no one had said, there was a real possibility of life or death. That risk had always been there, of course, but now it seemed so up front and forward. The Valkyries double checked their weapons and gear, went over their moves, their plans for whatever scenario they might encounter. It was all they could do as they traversed over the Atlantic Ocean.
Finally after hours of radio silence, command sent out a transmission. "V team! V team! Standby for weather report."
That was the que to instigate the cypher code. During their pre-operations brief, Gizmo had been given a large manila envelope that contained the cipher procedure and the key, burned on a tinny chip no bigger than his fingernail. He had two minutes to load and transmit the key back to command for verification. He inserted the key in for loading, waited for the cipher to load as the red button on their transceiver turned to green, and then turned back on the ship's transmitter. "Ready to receive," he replied.
Now to anyone else without the cipher, the broadcast would sound like a weather report, repeating over and over again. Thanks to the cipher key, the Kiev would pick up the secret transmission embedded in the weather report. However, should the Empire grow suspicious of the transmission, the Black Forest Enigma code cracker would also decipher the broadcast in 24 hours or less. Which was why as soon as Gizmo loaded the key, it was only good for 24 hours before the chip with the cipher burned up.
"Team Valkyrie, this is Commander Jones. As you are well aware from our last briefing, we are set to intercept and seize the cargo being held on an Empire salvage skid. The skid is being escorted by a special black ops M-class ship likely from the 3rd Squadron Guard group. Our latest satellite sweep shows that approximately three hours ago, both the skid and M-class ship were still in the area of interest from our last report, but showed signs of preparing to leave the area. We are sending you coordinates to the most likely path of interception. Drop time will be in 30 minutes. Time check will be in 20."
"Copy all, Commander," Val replied, giving the radio speaker back to Gizmo.
The Valkyries gave one last look over their gear, making sure they had enough weapons, their holo HUDs were working properly and none of their magnetic gloves or boots would short out as Val's glove had done last time.
Back at the Coalition command, Peter slowly opened the door to the secondary communications room, looked around to see if anyone was looking, and quickly pulled Dee inside, closing the door behind him. He turned on only a few lights so that could see and began to patch into the command secure communications net. He gently put a set of headphones on Dee's head before throwing on a pair himself. "We won't have access to the video feed but we can still hear what's going on."
Dee nodded and pressed the headphones to her ears.
"Command this the Kiev. I'm reading two contacts on air radar. Do you confirm?" asked Gizmo.
"That's confirmed Kiev. Adjust your course, speed, and elevation for drop and interception accordingly."
"Valkyries, prepare for time synch," ordered Val.
Team Valkyrie readied their watching, standing by for the time synch.
"On my mark, set your time to 09:32 Zulu time. Thirty seconds to mark," said the operator at command.
"3, 2, 1! Mark! Mark time is 09:32 Zulu time. Valkyries ETA to drop is five minutes."
"Valkyries, this is Commander Jones again. I stress that the cargo we are after cannot reach its final destination. We cannot risk raiding the wrong ship. Which is why your team will be splitting up. V1 and V4 will take the Black Ops escort. V2 and V3 will raid the salvage skid. Is that understood?"
Val grudgingly acknowledged as she attached her holo HUD. "Understood Commander." It was risky but she knew the Commander was right that they couldn't let the cargo fall into the wrong hands. Commander Jones was smart enough to send the strongest two Valkyries to the Black Ops ship; Ping and Lucy alone should have no problems taking over a small skid.
"One minute to drop point!" shouted Reech, "Valkyries to your drop doors!"
Val took up her usual pre-drop exercise of rolling her shoulders back and readying for the rush. A few feet down, Mitch was waiting, getting into focus by meditating.
"Ten seconds!" called Gizmo.
Val activated her holo HUD helmet. She took one last large breath and exhaled.
"Three, two, one! GO!"
The drop door open and the Valkyries jumped. Val could see through the clouds one of the sleek black cruisers for Imperial Special Ops. She flicked her wrist activating her magnets and she and Mitch made contact with the cruiser, one right after the other.
…inside, LT. Noir heard a soft thud from above. The female squadron leader frowned.
"Kiev, Command: this is team lead. V4 and myself have landed on the Black Ops cruiser."
"This V2! V3 and I are safely on the skid!"
"No change in either ships' course or security protocol," announced Gizmo.
"Keep going Valkyries!"
"Roger!" Val and Mitch slowly made their way to the access door. Val took a remote access cable from her belt and attached it to the door's access pad. "Gizmo! We're ready when you are!"
"Overriding ship's security protocols…I'm in! Activating mask scramblers!"
The cruiser's door hissed opened and Val and Mitch slipped inside. On the skid, Ping scared the crap out of a patrolling guard and quickly knocked him out with her lightning fan before he could radio for help. Lucy rushed to the cockpit, surprising the pilot. She hit him square in the eyes with her paintball gun, then slugged him with her pistol. He was out cold but had at least the sense to switch over to auto pilot beforehand. Lucy quickly got into the skid's computer to check the manifest while Ping kept watch.
"Command, the skid's manifest says the cargo isn't onboard."
"It must be on the cruiser! V2, V3, get over there! V1, V4, keep an eye out!"
"Will do," responded Val as she quietly knocked out a guard and dragged him out of sight.
In the cruiser's cockpit, Lt. Noir could not shake her uneasy feeling. "Something's not right. Contact the skid."
Her communications officer looked at her. "Do you think that's necessary, Lt.?
Under her helmet, Noir glared at him. "Do it."
He radioed the scud. "Recovery-3, comms check."
Nothing but static. "We've been boarded. Run a security check and lock out whoever's in there!" She nodded to two of her fellow squad members in similar black uniforms. "You two, come with me!"
Gizmo cursed under his breath. "I'm locked out! They know we're on board!"
"Dammit!" cursed Val, "I thought we'd have more time! Were you able to locate the cargo?"
"Negative, but there's a lot of locks around a holding cell on the third level. I'd check there to start!"
"V1, we have three incoming," said Mitch, her ears picking up on the approaching footsteps.
"Alright," Val reached for the pistol Anya had given her. "No one said it was going to be easy."
Back at Coalition command, Dee whimpered and clutched her headset. Peter rubbed her shoulder to reassure her.
Val and Mitch rushed down the nearest stairwell to the third level. A guard raised his assault rifle to fire but Mitch used her physic powers and threw him against the wall, knocking him out and saving Val a bullet. Val went to the door the guard was protecting and found it locked by a hand scanner. Holstering her weapon, Val pulled the unconscious guard over to the door and used his hand to get into the holding cell. The door unlocked but just before she could get inside, she heard, "Hold it right there, human!"
Lt. Noir and two of her squad members had caught up with them. They were all dressed in light weight black combat suits with matching helmets that hid most of their faces. Despite being the only female, Lt. Noir was clearly the strongest of the three.
"I got her," said Val, "Can you handle the other two?"
"They won't be a problem, but we need to watch our time."
Val grunted. The longer they were onboard the cruiser the more complicated things got.
Val immediately engaged in hand to hand combat with Lt. Noir. Val was young, but even when she was just a trainee, she had always been able to take down opponents stronger and bigger than her in hand to hand combat. So when Noir punched her hard enough to crack her holo HUD, Val knew she was up against a real challenger. With a cry, she tackled Noir and slammed her to the ground. But Noir kept up her guard and was able to turn the tables on Val and grab her, pushing Val against the floor. Her holo HUD shattered in protest, leaving Val with a few minor cuts and scratches on her face. As Val struggled to break free, Mitch was having an easier time fighting off the other two spec ops. Mitch didn't fight per say; instead she weaved in out of her attackers moved, making them hit each other. Val wished she hurried up and get Noir off of her.
"You're persistent! I'll give you that!" remarked Noir. She was reaching for her zip ties to restrain Val when a paint ball splattered across her visor. It was enough of a distraction that Val was able to break free and give Noir a good kick in the face.
Ping and Lucy had made it over. Ping got into the holding cell while Lucy helped Val to her feet. "How's your HUD?"
Val tossed the remains of her holo HUD to the side. "Pretty SOL."
Meanwhile, Mitch had managed to knock out both of her opponents which was a good time as any; Lt. Noir was getting back on her feet and had tossed aside her helmet. She was beautiful with jet black hair neatly wrapped up in a bun, even for an elf, but her green eyes seemed to glow unnaturally with power. Val readied herself for the second round, if she could handle a second round.
Ping made her way into the holding cell, finding a black cube glowing with blue circuitry no bigger than a rubix cube, sitting all by itself on the table. "Command! This is V2! I have eyes on the prize; it's a matter condenser cube."
"Can you confirm the cube's contents?" asked Commander Jones.
Ping did a quick once over and found it locked with an encryption key ring. "Negative. It's locked."
"Get the cube and get out of there! Kiev, what is your status?"
"We're turning around for interception!" replied Reech, "ETA, two minutes!"
"Valkyries! You heard him! You need to get out of there now!"
Val stepped back from Noir, looking for an escape route. Mitch looked to cover them from behind, but she heard more Imperials approaching. "We're surrounded! We can't go forward and we can't go back, not without taking out the entire cruiser!"
"The half-breed is right; you have nowhere to escape to," remarked Noir, "Surrender now and I may give good word on your usefulness at your sentencing."
As Val weighted whether or not it was worth fighting their way out, she spotted a pipe running perpendicular to them. She pulled out her pistol and aimed at Noir's head. Noir put up her bulletproof arm guards to avoid a headshot but Val changed her target at the last second, aiming for the pipe. The bullet pierced through the pipe's tubing and the ship's oxygen line ruptured. Val shouted over her shoulder. "Get ready!"
"All my Gawd," groaned Ping as she wrapped the storage cube tightly to her with her ribbons.
"You idiot!" yelled Noir, "You'll blow a hole in the ship!"
"That's the point!" Val took aim and shot a second bullet at the gas. The gas ignited and blew a large enough hole in the ship's hull that was large enough for the Valkyries to jump out of, if the opening didn't suck them out first. Val quickly took hold of another pipe long enough to grab an emergency self-contained air pack inside a mounted case. Across from her, Noir had secured herself with a hook on her utility belt. Val swore Noir hissed at her as she fought to maintain her posture and not get smacked around. "See you later!" grinned Val as she put the air pack around her nose and mouth and allowed herself to be sucked out of the ship.
Val tumbled in the air for a few seconds until she was able to steady herself. She could see the Kiev below her but she wouldn't make the cargo hold opening. She flicked her wrists to activate her magnets. She hit the landing hard but managed to secure footing. Reech opened the emergency escape hatch in front of her. "C'mon!" He shouted.
Val crawled her way towards him as above them the cruiser retaliated by firing upon them. Reech pulled down the hatch slightly to cover himself and Val ducked her head but she managed to make it to the hatch. Reech pulled her inside and shouted. "Gizmo! Full thrusters!"
They held on as the Kiev accelerated forward away from the cruiser, which was rapidly descending to ease cabin pressure. By the time the cruiser got to stable atmospheric conditions, Lt. Noir was fuming. She barked orders to the first guard that came down to check on her. "Send an urgent message to Imperial Command. The storage cube box has been seized by raiders. I will sent a follow up with a description of one of the raiders once we do an initial damage report."
"Lt.!" said one of the squad members, "Commander Dietz is going to want to know about this."
Noir did not hide her annoyance. "Of course he is!" She paused to give herself a moment to recollect herself, "Very well; I will report to him myself." She looked out of the hole Val had blown in the side of the cruiser.
"What do you think they'll do with it?" asked another squad member.
"If they're smart, they'll let it go. We'll recapture it soon enough."
Chapter Six
"Kiev, are all the Valkyries back onboard?" Commander Jones demanded to know.
"All Valkyries are onboard!" responded Captain Reech, "A bit injured but intact and alive. Once I'm sure we're clear of Imperial pursuit, I'll chart a course back for base."
"Roger that Kiev."
Both Dee and Peter, still plugged into the communications link, gave a sigh of relief.
Val made her way down to the cargo hold, sore and mostly bruised, but otherwise okay. Ping was unwrapping the storage cube for Gizmo so that he could hook his probes up and get an initial scan of the contents without opening it up. Lucy and Mitch were standing watch over an Imperial they had tied up but was lying unconscious on the deck. "Where did he come from?" asked Val.
"He got sucked out with us. I wasn't going let him die," remarked Lucy.
"He's the enemy, Lucy," Mitch folded her arms.
"It's called compassion! Besides, we need to open up the storage cube and check the contents."
"V3 is right. We need to assess the contents of the box," Commander Jones was still with them over the radio, "If it's dangerous, we need to destroy it before the Kiev gets back to base. Wake him up."
Ping picked up her lightning fan but stopped when she gave Val a good look. "Val! You're face!" Val realized that they were all wearing holo HUDs, all except for her.
"It doesn't matter," Val shook her head, "That black ops chick got a good look at me. This time tomorrow my face will be plastered all over Imperial circulation." She nodded at Ping.
Ping zapped the Imperial with just enough juice to wake him. The Imperial gasped and struggled against the bonds. He glared at Val as she approached him.
"What's the access code to the box?"
"I'll bite my tongue before I tell you human scum!"
"Okay; then what's in the box?" asked Val.
"You don't want to know."
"Alright, well one of two things are going to happen. Either we kick you off this ship with or without a parachute. Your choice."
"You don't have the conviction. You're a bunch of children."
Val got really close to the Imperial's face. "Either you tell me what's in the cube right now and save us the trouble, or we just toss you overboard and then we crack it open the old fashion way. Our hacker will get a good guess in the next few minutes."
As she said this, Gizmo was already getting feedback. "Whatever it is, it's organic."
"Poison?" asked Mitch.
"Maybe a rare flower?" suggested Ping.
Val turned her attention back on the Imperial who was now giving her a smug smile. "What lovely eyes you have? Did you inherit them from your mother? Or your father?"
The comment made Val nervous. The Imperial leaned closer. "How long have you been at this, Hooligan?"
His last word triggered something dark and sorrowful in Val's mind. Everything else around them seemed to fade out. "What did you say?"
"What's he saying?" asked Ping.
Val's breathing sped up. Something wasn't right, something was wrong, and it was hurting her heart. "What's in the box?"
"V1…" warned Mitch.
The Imperial just smiled at Val. Val took out her pistol and aimed it at his head. "What's in the box?!"
Without thinking it, Val had begun speaking in her native tongue, the one that years before had been all but impossible to translate. Unsure of what was going on, the other Valkyries readied themselves to tackle Val should things get out of hand. Val cocked back the hammer and put the barrel right against the Imperial's face. "The code now," she spoke through gritted teeth. She had to know what was inside. She didn't know why, but it was tied to her, to her lost memories.
"What is she doing?" asked Commander Jones.
"Val put the gun down," Lucy said very calmly but Val ignored her.
The Imperial still wore his smug expression as if he was the one with the weapon, not Val. "3A625U," replied the Imperial.
Val lowered her weapon, ignoring her shaking hands, and walked over to storage cube.
"Wait!" called Gizmo, "I'm almost done with the initial scan!"
"There's no need," remarked the Imperial as Val began to input the code, "It is a beast… of Helheim."
The comment caught them all of guard except for Val who was determined to open the box. Gizmo computer chimed a result. He glanced at the readings. "Matching baseline DNA…" he swiped and gasped, "Don't open the box! It's a dra-"
But Val was already hitting the enter key to open the box. There was a bright flash of light and a sudden explosion, followed by smoke.
"What's going on down there?" Reech yelled from the cockpit.
Val was thrown off her feet. As she tried to get up she felt something heavy on her chest pushing her down. The smoke was beginning to clear and she make out what it was holding her down, it was indeed a beast, a jet black dragon with green cat like irises, it's teeth bared and very close to Val's face. And yet Val was not scared, more surprised than anything, and a name escaped her lips. "Toothless?"
The dragon's eyes dilated slightly and took a less aggressive stance. It sniffed Val carefully, then took its foot off of her chest, and back away slowly, still somewhat guarded, it's eyes not leaving Val.
"Did she just called it Toothless?" asked Lucy.
"But that thing has teeth!" squirmed Gizmo.
Val got to her feet, ignoring the pistol she dropped and with her hands extended in front of her, slowly approached the dragon, speaking in a calm manner, "Toothless, it's me, Val. It's okay, you're safe here with us."
The dragon continued to watch her apprehensively, tucking its bat like wings behind it's shoulders and wrapping its tail around itself.
"It's a black dragon," whispered Mitch.
"With a red tail," remarked Ping, "Well, sort of." She added noticing that only half of the tail was red, part of some sort of rigging to a harness on the dragon's back.
Val was close to the dragon now, everything else around them ignored. She slowly raised her right hand to the dragon's nose but the moment she touched, she was hit with the feeling of being pierced with a thousand knives. She screamed and the dragon panicked. As her friends rushed in to pull her away from the frightened dragon, she hit with the sudden surge of all her missing memories, overwhelming her brain. But just before the darkness clouded her vision, she heard a voice calling out to her, screaming her name.
"Valkyria!"
And everything went to black.
"Kiev! Respond! What is going on up there?" It was quiet across the Coalition's command main communication room. Jones turned to one of her operators. "Are we broadcasting? Can they hear us? Is the cipher?"
"We're broadcasting ma'am and the cipher seems to be working. They're just not responding," replied the operator.
Dee began to cry. "No! No, no. no!" Peter grabbed her before she could throw herself on the floor and hurt herself.
Finally the other end of the radio crackled. "Command, this is Captain Reech. You're not going to believe this, but we have a dragon onboard."