I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series
Luna, Mare Tranquillitatis
Gliding just above the lunar regolith, a lone celestial dodged one boulder after the other, avoiding to disturb the ancient landscape; one that was left unchanged by the passage of time, unlike that of the blue orb which was rising over the horizon. A sphere that could be easily obscured, just by moving his thumb before it. Still, that tiny spot on the dark and harsh void of space was the home of billions, each with their dreams, wishes and problems. All of them important for the two quarreling factions of immortals who shared the cosmos in an eternal game of chess; yet completely irrelevant to him.
Looking around for the item he was searching for, the war god was silently debating with himself that such a detour was merely a waste of his precious time and that he should've focused on his mission instead. It was something that he no longer had the luxury of doing and despite knowing that, he pressed forward going in the entirely wrong direction and away from the actual location of the Lunar Prison that was hundreds of miles away from the location he was heading.
Statio Tranquillitatis, also known as Tranquility Base was the place where mankind stepped on an alien world for the first time in history and a testament of the accomplishments of what hard work, vision and above all, sheer willpower could achieve. For a pathetic species as some like to call them, humans had managed to get to a place like this using an over glorified tin can, so flimsy and primitive that most immortals would've laughed at the mere sight of it.
'A ship that needed a sextant to keep it from going out of course, because its navigation computer was a joke. Heh… I'd love to see our guys trying to fly a deathtrap like that. They may call themselves gods, but for all their arrogance they can't solve the same lingering problems for entire millennia. Innovation is pretty much a word that lost its meaning these days, with only a handful of celestials using their heads, with the rest denying them the recognition they deserve. Instead, a bunch of short sighted fascists are running the place dictating how we should live our lives. As if they know better… after all those millennia of struggling and failing to solve the same exact problems, they still refuse to allow someone else try to fix the mess they've created in the first place. So much for their precious perfection… '
Pausing as he did a 360 degree turn to scan his surroundings for any sign of activity, the dark haired god continued until he reached his destination; the landing site of the Lunar Module of Apollo 11. Undisturbed for decades, the mylar wrapped craft stood on its four spindly legs like a carcass of an insect long dead in a the middle of an equally lifeless sea of regolith. At least what was left of it, as the upper half of the LM was missing once it separated from its landing system to carry its astronauts back home.
Carefully floating above the ground to avoid adding his own footsteps along with the human made ones that were still present due to the lack of atmospheric phenomena to wipe them out.
'Is it advisable to spend more time on this detour, Odal?' asked the sword that was securely strapped on his back, using the same telepathic language of the angels since there was no air to carry sound.
'I believe so. By the time we're done, the whole place will be crawling with Valkyries, so, I want to pay tribute to my fellow Terrans while I can, Gram,' replied Odal in the same manner as his synthetic comrade.
'You're not a human, Odal.'
Rolling his eyes the war god resisted the urge to offer a sarcastic comment out of respect for the rather intelligent, but occasionally oblivious weapon. 'Terran refers to all the individuals who were born on that planet, not just the humans. I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I'm a god, thank you very much.'
'Hailing from the same planet means very little, especially given that your parents were of celestial origins,' replied Gram without missing a beat. 'Under these circumstances I can hardy find a serious enough reason to call you a Terran, instead of an Asgardian who was merely born on another location. There are more than enough examples of immortals born on different realms from those they reside and yet, they follow the rest of their species' designation.'
'Whatever makes them happy, I guess. I currently have no home on any of the realms under celestial control, and neither I am following their orders. As such, I have every right to call myself whatever I want, instead of adhering to the norm,' said Odal with a shrug. 'Either way, they've classified me as a rogue and it's unlikely that they're going to treat me any better if I pretend to be one of them.'
'Which is why we should get going, instead of wasting time here. At some point their prison's long range sensors are going to see through our countermeasures and alert them of our locations,' warned the synthetic, changing his normally monotonous tone to a more urgent one.
'I'm not planning to stay here forever, Gram.' Floating in front of the plate that was attached on the ladder of the descend stage, the god took a moment to read its inscription.
'HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969, A.D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND'
Taking a final look around the landing site, Odal glanced over his shoulder towards the direction of his actual destination.
'Alright, let's go.'
XXX
Niflheim, Daimakaicho's office
Yawning as she struggled to keep her eyes open, Hagall could hardly wait to go to her own office and get some much needed rest on the sofa. She was so nervous about the prospect of having a celestial assassin, or… 'sharpshooter' as he called himself in her house, that she stayed up all night reading a book. And as interesting as that novel was, by the time morning arrived and the god was finally gone, she was dead tired. Stumbling around like a drunkard, the blonde demoness had actually tried to leave her villa while still wearing her pajamas, before she noticed her blunder and put her regular outfit on.
"I wasn't aware that the whole Muspelheim crisis had kept you up all night, Hagall-chan," commented Hild who unlike her subordinate appeared to be well rested and even smiled, despite the stack of documents that was generated by that incident.
"Not really, Hild-sama… I had a guest and got no sleep, because…" Stopping abruptly as she realized what she was actually saying and to whom, Hagall dared to glance to her side as she stood next to her boss and much to her horror, the smile on Hild's face grew even larger and more… suggestive.
"Mm… Sounds like you had some real fun, Hagall-chan," purred the Daitenkaicho, leering at her horrified subordinate who was fully aware that she wasn't going to let her live this one down. "So… Any details, naughty girl? Staying up all night… Ah… how nice being young!..."
"N-No… w-wait… It's a-a misunderstanding…" stammered the blonde demoness, although she had no idea how to explain the situation to her mischievous boss. Admitting that she had enlisted Ullr's assistance to get more information about Ymir was problematic on so many levels, but, letting her think that she was participating in such... activities was something that, Hagall wished to avoid at all cost. 'She's gonna think I'm just a pervert who only cares about her own pleasure and...'
"Aww… don't be so shy, Hagall-chan. Come on, you don't have to give me the whole story," said Hild with a big grin, that one could've also described as downright lecherous. "I only want the juicy details! I don't need the boring stuff!"
"No!" shouted the deeply embarrassed demoness, taking a step away from the way too happy Hild.
"Don't even try to hide your dirty little secrets! Just confess you naughty deeds, already!" Pouncing at her poor subordinate who paled considerably as the Daimakaicho caught her in a tight embrace, Hild was actually proud of her protegee who had made a significant improvement ever since she had taken her under her wing. "You used to be so insecure and shy! Now look at you! Keeping them up for hours!"
"H-Hild-sama!..." stammered the demoness as she turned red, as her face was nearly buried in the Daimakaicho ample bust. "I… I…"
"Congratulations Hagall-chan! I'm so proud of you!" Despite the younger demoness' protests, Hild continued to glomp her in a manner that was a bit beyond scandalous and more than enough to make the blonde forget everything about how tired she was, as the hovering Daimakaicho wrapped her legs around her.
"Eek! Hild-sama?!" cried the startled demoness as she could've sworn that she felt a hand somewhere it clearly didn't belong "I… You… We…I'm not mentally prepared for this!"
"Wake up..."
Blinking, the blonde realized that everything around her suddenly seemed dark and her face was now resting on a much harder and completely flat surface. "Huh?..."
"I said wake up, Hagall-chan!"
Opening her eyes once again, Niflheim's second in command found herself face first on the Daimakaicho's desk. Looking around in confusion, the disoriented demoness saw the rather concerned expression on her superior's face, as Hild shook her head.
"Hagall-chan… I know that the Muspelheim incident had kept us awake throughout the night, but, you shouldn't be get to the point where you literally fall asleep like that," said Hild with a frown. "Take the day off and get some rest, you silly girl!"
Fearing a repetition of what actually turned out to be a dream, Hagall avoided to correct her leader, letting her believe that her assumption was actually right and offered her a silent nod; before she blinked as she realized something. "Wait… take a day off? B-But… Hild-sama, there's a lot of work waiting for us because of that incident, and..."
"And you won't be of any help if you're about to fall asleep again," insisted Hild with a sigh. "Seriously, just take a day off and get some rest, Hagall-chan; I insist. It's not like I'm going to think less of you for admitting that you're tired."
"T-Thank you, Hild-sama!" Touched by her boss' words, Hagall offered her a polite bow, before she got up from her chair in front of the Daimakaicho's desk. "If you excuse me, I'll take my leave then."
"Take care! I'll see you tomorrow!"
Waiving at her subordinate with a cheerful expression, Hild waited for the younger demoness to leave and then grabbed her phone's headset, hitting the quick dial.
"It is I."
Resisting the urge to laugh at the baffled demon at the other end of the line, Hild opened one of the folders that were lying on her desk, taking a look at the photos of the god that visited her blonde student yesterday.
"Yes, of course it's me," said the Daimakaicho, rolling her eyes at the rather obvious question. "Now, follow her and see what she's up to."
Ending the call, Hild couldn't help but giggle at what seemed to be a rather interesting distraction from her main problem; the rogue god that, Surt had failed to capture.
'Hm… Maybe I should take to Tyr about him?'
XXX
Nekomi, Japan
Peeking around the door frame that separated the workshop from the front part of Whirlwind, Keiichi was relieved to see that everything was normal; although the definition of normalcy was rather subjective here. Watching the three goddesses dressed in black microskirts and the accompanying tops that displayed a generous amount of cleavage was a rather surreal sight. At least for the two of them, given that this was considered as rather conservative by Peorth's standards; although, not so much for Lind and more importantly, Belldandy.
'Come to think of it… I never saw her wear such audacious clothes before,' though the dark haired mortal as he stared at his wife who was teaching the two other goddesses how to use the cash register.
"For your own good, I hope that you're staring at my sister and even then I can hardly resist the urge to clobber you." Peeking over his shoulder with an oversized spanner at hand, the youngest goddess of the group was staring at Keiichi with such a dirty look that made him pale and sweat profoundly.
"Of course I'm staring at your sister!" replied the mechanic before he paused thinking how that sounded and especially to who he was currently talking to. "No! Wait! Let me rephrase that!"
Grabbing the hapless mortal in a headlock that would've put Tamiya and Otaki to shame, Skuld's eyes flashed for the briefest moments; barely enough for her captive brother-in-law to register. "Lech! How dare you do such perverted things in front of me! Trying to see if you can get a glimpse of oneesama's panties! Unforgivable!"
"Stop! I know what her panties look like, Skuld!" protested the dark haired mechanic, only to make things far worse for him.
'For goodness sake! What are you telling her, master! If I wasn't so busy keeping your neck from snapping, I would've slapped you with a wet noodle!' screamed Terrestrial Spark in his mind. 'Noble Scarlet! Help!'
'You want me to make a miniature boat for your journey to the great beyond?' asked the angel with a giggle from within Skuld's body. 'Mistress still has a few model kits in her room, I can whip up really fast.'
'I don't need a funeral pyre yet! Just stop her! The oxygen level here is getting dangerously low!' replied with an urgent tone that was actually enough to stop Skuld, even without her angel's intervention.
"Oops… I guess I went a bit overboard. Sorry about that, Keiichi," said the Norn of the future, scratching her head, as her sister decided to check what the commotion was all about.
Finding her husband and her younger sibling on the floor, Belldandy walked up to them to see if she could help them. "Are you two alright?"
Turning to her, Keiichi offered his wife a smile. "We're fine, Bellda-..."
He never got to finish his sentence as the younger Norn pushed his head lower to prevent him to see her sister from such an angle that would've rendered her skirt's purpose pointless. "No! Don't look! And don't you dare tell me that you saw her panites again!"
"But… Skuld… He had seen me without them, too."
Staring at the brunette goddess with a stunned expression of disbelief, neither Keiichi nor Skuld had anything to counter her argument, even if it was merely a fact.
"Now, could you please get off the floor? You shouldn't fight like that, it's not nice" said the goddess of the present with a frown.
"Yes, Belldandy…" Getting up and dusting themselves, the two mechanics decided that it was about time to return to their work, before they managed to upset her with their antics.
It was at that very moment when a customer entered the shop, making the two other goddesses turn towards him, eager to prove that they could be useful.
"Welcome to Whirlwind!" beamed Peorth with a smile, surprising the young man, who nearly took a step back.
"Oh! You must be new employees. Well… I left my Honda here to have a new carb installed, so, I was wondering if it's ready," said the customer as he tried to focus on her eyes, instead of her halfway open top; a task that was proving to be more difficult than he had originally expected.
"Please wait a moment!" Checking the shop's laptop to see if any of the bikes they were working on matched that description, Peorth, turned back to the customer with a satisfied smile. "Yes, it's ready! Lind, can you get it while I receive the payment?"
"Sure thing, I'll be right back," said the Valkyrie, walking past the two Norns and the dark haired mechanic who witnessed this exchange.
"Well… They seem to have things under control," said Keiichi, breathing a sigh of relief as Whirlwind's newest employees appeared to handle everything nicely.
"Of course! You shouldn't worry for them that much, dear!" replied Belldandy, only to be proven wrong a split second later.
Returning with the requested bike, the blue haired Valkyrie was probably unaware that carrying such a heavy vehicle with one arm was too much even for the strongest human to do; especially in such a casual manner.
"Uh… you're supposed to get it out from the side door Lind," said Skuld, pointing at the alternative exit that allowed them to bring in any bike through a ramp that was directly attached to the middle section of the shop. "We're not taking them out through the front door."
"Oh… my apologies, I didn't know that," said Lind as she turned around and headed for the aforementioned exit, much to the shock of the bike's owner who watched agast as a seemingly slender girl was effortlessly carrying around a bike that was supposedly heavier than her.
"Uh… Wha-... How?..."
And he wasn't the only one who was shocked, either. Although for different reasons, Keiichi was rubbing his temples as he sensed his stress level reach a point where he could feel the effects on his poor stomach.
'I really need those antacid tablets again…'
XXX
Lunar Prison
Buried deep underneath the lunar soil, the maximum security installation contained some of the worst criminals in the entire celestial history. The mere fact that the facility was built in Midgard was enough to prove that they were so undesirable that they wished to get them as far as possible from any of the realms under their control. A practice that was also used by the demons who had a similar installation on Phobos, the larger of the two moons around the fourth planet of the Sol system.
Using the security card he had acquired from one of his Asgardian contacts, Odal passed the fourth heavily reinforced door on his way to the main fortress like facility that contained his primary target: The banished first class goddess, Ilmr.
Found guilty for the crime of lying, despite the fact that it was forbidden for a first class celestial, Ilmr was sentenced to eternal imprisonment, the maximum possible punishment for such a grave offense. A misdeed that was made worse by the motivations which led her to act in such a manner; jealousy. The once best friend of Ansuz, Ilmr had purposely sent her on a wild goose chase in Muspelheim in hopes of getting rid of her, soon after they had both acquired their their first class licenses, a rather impressive feat given how young they were at the time.
It was thought that while insanely popular, the misguided goddess started to feel distressed by her friend's power as they both grew up, threatening to significantly outrank her. And given that those were turbulent times back then, martial prowess was a greatly treasured asset for any celestial, making the young Ansuz a very desirable goddess that was already approached by the highest ranking of Valkyries in order to join their ranks. By contrast, Ilmr failed to keep up with her friend's success, despite how much others praised her for her kindness and her work ethics, that apparently weren't enough to get her anything better that the position of a mere wish granter; a far cry from her aspirations to become a junior administrator. A position that would've later allow her to get closer to her eventual dream to obtain a seat on the Council.
Although a popular assignment, granting wishes was often seen as a dead end position that rarely allowed anyone to show their true potential. As a result, most ambitious celestials hated that job with a burning passion, since they knew that they would be stuck doing a rather boring task with virtually no opportunity to do something that would gain them enough recognition to eventually gain a higher position in their society.
After the investigation that was triggered by Ansuz's admission that she had been in Muspelheim, Ilmr was eventually arrested and brought before Odin who demanded an explanation for her actions and without any hesitation, the Daitenkaicho sentenced her in eternal imprisonment.
'We have arrived at our destination. This is her container, Odal. Shall I prepare to release her?'
'Hold on a moment, Gram,' replied the rogue god as he looked around the cell for any defense mechanisms that might've reacted to his presence. Once he was certain that everything was fine, he walked towards the middle of the room where a monolithic slab held the prisoner's container securely in place. 'I'll perform the release procedure, and in the meantime, I want you to do the same for the secondary target.'
'Is it necessary to get that god, too? According to my information, he's merely a husk; a shadow of his former self. I cannot see why we should get into the trouble of freeing him,' said the sentient sword.
'We don't have the luxury of being too picky. If he can useful, then we'll have to get him out of here right now. I doubt that we're going to get another opportunity to come here again if we happen to change our minds later,' said Odal, as he pressed a datapad against the monolith's surface, initiating the program that was designed to unlock the restraints around the container. 'In that case, I want you to start working on his cell as well. We must synchronize our efforts, since we won't have the time to repeat the procedure once the alarms will go off.'
'Understood. I'll get in position as soon as I can.' Without delay, the synthetic detached from the warrior's back and assuming a bipedal robotic form, Gram headed towards the cell of their secondary target: the former member of the lower Council; Celestin.
Unlike the two Councils that assisted the Daitenkaicho with matters that concerned all celestials, the lower Council only looked after the capital city of Asgard. Despite that, being part of it was considered a great privilege and it was extremely unusual for any of its members to end up in a place like this after they were charged with treason for rebelling against Heavens. As a matter of fact, it was something rather unexpected for the otherwise respectable god who had a clear record before he decided that the Judgement Gate was an abomination that had to be destroyed.
Unfortunately for him, destroying the Gate proved to be a much harder task than he had originally anticipated, with Ansuz having no problem sending him packing after he attempted to steal the compact form of the Gate that doubled as her axe. As a former Valkyrie, Asgard's second in command had a lot of trouble to understand what the Councilor was thinking when he tried to mess around with her, but, in the end it only counted as an additional offense that got him punished in the most harsh manner possible; disembodiment.
'This is Gram,' said the sentient sword over the god's communicator. 'I'm in position and ready to initiate the release procedure.'
'Copy that. I'm almost ready as well. On my mark,' said the rogue god as he started the countdown, pressing a few more buttons on his datapad. 'Three, two… one… Engage!'
As the monolith split apart, releasing the embedded container, a series of alarms went off all at the same time. And despite the fact that there was no air to carry the sound, the telepathic cacophony that assaulted the war god's senses was nearly overwhelming. Grabbing the container, Odal rushed out of the room before the facility's guardians woke up to intercept him and his accomplice.
'Over here! I've recovered the other prisoner!' Tossing the mask like object to his comrade, Gram immediately resumed his sword form and returned back to the warrior's scabbard that was strapped on his back.
'Ow! Please don't handle me in such a crude manner...' Rousing from his millennia long slumber, Celestin got one of the rudest awakenings he had ever experienced, as he was sent flying across the corridor before he even found out what was going on.
'Sorry for that! We have to get moving before we all end up joining you!' Flying down the hallway, Odal watched the reinforced doors start to seal shut one after the other, barely giving him enough time to pass through. Worse, a series of winged humanoid beings began to materialize in the empty corridors, their glowing blue eyes tracking the fleeing god as they each summoned a staff and prepared to intercept him. Despite their small stature the guardian angels could prove to be a threat, especially if one faced too many at the same time.
Unlike their symbiotic relatives that required an immortal as a host, that particular variety of angels was fully autonomous, although that came at a heavy price as far as their strength was concerned. In most cases, they were nearly as powerful as second or third class Earth spirits and that was a far cry from the other angelic group that shared the power of their hosts which was substantially more than any of them would ever acquire. To underestimate them for that was a truly foolish notion, though, as they were fully aware of their weaknesses and worked closely in small groups to overwhelm their opponents; exploiting their superior numbers and perfect coordination to their advantage.
'Watch out for their nets, Odal! If we get entangled in them, we'll never manage to get free in time, before the Fighting Wings come here!'
'I know that!' replied the rogue god as he dodged a series of light balls that exploded in a web shaped containment field, ready to capture anyone who came into contact with it. 'Is there any shortcut for us to use?'
'Yes! There's a maintenance duct on sublevel B34-C5. It should save us five seconds if we go through there and there should be less guardians that way as well,' replied the synthetic, as he opened a holographic panel of the prison's layout for his comrade to see.
'Alright! We're going through there!' agreed the war god, not wanting to waste more time, trusting his sentient weapon as it would've taken him too long to study the map and see if there was any other way out of there.
'Then it's the first corridor to the left and then straight to the end of the next section!'
XXX
Valhalla, Asgard
"Status report!"
Entering the situation room of the Fighting Wing's headquarters, the supreme commander of the celestial forces turned to Freya who was already there, looking at the report that were coming in.
"Heimdall-sama, we have a security breach on the Lunar Prison! Two inmates had been released and the rogue god seems to be the culprit," said the second highest officer and head of the Valkyries. "I've already informed the Daitenkaicho and a response team of war goddesses was dispatched to apprehend that god."
"Good." Taking a seat on his station, the blonde god checked the tactical hologram depicting the Lunar Prison and the current deployment of its guardians who were chasing the intruder around the place. "This is a joke, though. How did he get that far without any of the other defense systems activating?"
"He had the security codes, I'm afraid," replied Freya with a frown, much to her superior's surprise. "I cannot explain how he got them, but, we had no idea that something was wrong until after he released two or our prisoners."
"I think it's safe to assume that someone gave him the codes, which… is whole different problem all by itself. Access to such sensitive areas is highly restricted and yet, he managed to get the necessary keycards to get into the facility. There's more going on here than a single rogue god and I want to warn Tyr-sama that the situation is far more serious than originally anticipated," said the blonde god as he watched the blue dots move rapidly across the map in front of him, chasing after the single red one. "Also, inform Ansuz-sama, since she's already on the mortal realm and can easily get there in time to capture that god!"
"Yes, sir!" Hurrying back to her station, Freya let the head of the Fighting Wings stare at the holographic display in disbelief.
'Is this a prison or an amusement park? A single god is pretty much walking around as if he owns the place and we found out now? I must talk to Tyr-sama… this is unforgivable.' Shaking his head, Heimdall was starting to realize just how bad the situation was. The millennia of peace had lulled them into a false sense of security, and while he wasn't a supporter of pointless conflict, the blonde god firmly believed that they should remain vigilant just in case things like that happen. Instead, the Councils had slowly restricted most of their activities, making it very difficult for them to perform their duties and this incident was just the proof of that.
'The Lord of Terror, the Angel Eater, and even the whole rebellion in Niflheim… During all those events, our presence was minimal to say the least. And even worse, Surt had pretty much invaded Alfheim and all we could do was sit idly, claiming one technical problem or the other. Now, we have a god who not only stole a battleship, but, released two inmates from the Lunar Prison as well. All while we investigate and waste time with pointless reports, one after the other… as if those actually solve anything. I fear that the Councils are more than just hindering our work… They're clearly the real problem, preventing us from performing our tasks in an efficient manner anymore. It seems that the rumors are true after all; they fear us and the possibility of a coup. After all, without the demons to pose an immediate threat, they're our worst enemy.'
One of the biggest flaws in celestial society was the lack of any law that poses limitations on how long the members of the Councils could remain in their office. It was something that the demons had predicted as a problem and had placed various restrictions upon their own officials. However, unlike them, celestials had blissfully ignored that issue which practically allowed the Councilors to hold their positions indefinitely. And as time went by, their loyal subjects were starting to get uneasy by how some of them refused to let go their privileges and ignored the fact that there were even better candidates for those very positions who had to wait forever until they'd willingly resign; which never really happened.
As a direct result, a lot of celestials were feeling that there was a desperate need for things to change and a coup was one of the few remaining methods that such a thing could happen, given that it would bypass all the rules and regulations that the Councils had used to cement their rule over the celestial population and also the fact that the current Daitenkaicho was trying to appease them instead of keeping them in line like his predecessor.
'Tyr-sama has allowed them too many privileges and now we're suffering the consequences of that foolish practice. I need to talk to him, as well as some of the saner Councilors, before the situation gets completely out of hand. But first… We must get that god!'
XXX
CMV Skidbladnir, inside Shackleton crater, Lunar south pole
"All hands hoay!"
Startling the two other provisional crew members of the stolen celestial military vessel, the equally unofficial canine captain barked his orders as the ship received the signal they were waiting for.
"You think that your father can fix him?" asked Vidarr at the oversized python as he looked over his shoulder to glimpse at the puppy who was sitting at the captain's chair.
"Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!"
Shaking his head, Jormungandr let out a sad sigh as he tried to ignore his brother's antics. "Alas, no. He's beyond repair now. Not that he was completely sane befo-.."
"AAArrghhh! Ye, Scurvy dog! What did ye say?" barked Fenrir as he glared at his younger sibling.
"For your information, I'm a serpent, not a dog of any description. And shouldn't you stop talking in that silly manner, already? It's rather embarrassing, niisan."
"Besides, shouldn't we go and retrieve him before they make him the latest addition to the prison's inmates?" said Vidarr with a raised eyebrow. "We're not filming a pirate themed b-movie…"
"Yeah, yeah… whatever!" grumbled the annoyed canine as he pressed a button to the console adjacent to his chair. "Just remember that I'm the captain!"
Letting a tired sigh the two crew members got into their stations as the ship's claxons blazed, announcing that the vessel was preparing for combat. With the coordinates already set, Skidbladnir began to rise above the crater and accelerated towards the Lunar Prison in order to extract the rogue god who was currently attempting to get as far from its guardians as possible.
"The Gate is opening!" said Jormungandr as he glanced at the tactical map next to him and used the tip of his tail to hit the buttons of his terminal to get more information about the deployment of Asgardian forces. "A squadron of Valkyries are materializing on the surface above the facility! Additionally, a short range portal is opening next to them and the goddess who's transferring there is none other than Ansuz!"
"He's dead," muttered Fenrir, scratching his neck with one of his hind legs in annoyance. "Alright! We're sending those bucketheads to create a diversion! The dropships are actually faster than Skidbladnir, so they should give him a minute or two! Load them and send those toys immediately!"
"I thought that those prototypes were not ready yet," objected Vidarr as he turned to face his so called captain. "At least that's what Odal told us and as such…"
"No complains! Just do it! It's your admiral's orders!"
"He ever promoted himself…" muttered Vidarr, shaking his head. "Okay, you won… I just hope you know what you're doing…"
"Of course I do!" barked Fenrir. "I'm an expert at playing Battleship! This is going to be a walk in the park for me!"
"Uh… you don't mean that… guessing puzzle game, do you?" asked Vidarr as he turned to head towards the storage rooms.
"Yep! That's it!" replied the proud wolf, wagging his tail lappily.
'Oh great… We're doomed...'
XXX
Lunar Prison
'Valkyries! Secure the perimeter! We're gonna seal him the moment he steps out of the facility!'
Marshalling her warriors into their positions, Thrud scanned her surroundings for any signs of hidden traps that the rogue god might've left behind in case someone went after him. Satisfied that there was nothing threatening in sight, the blonde Valkyrie was about to head towards the installation's entrance, before another portal opened above them and for a moment she prepared for the worst; another rogue.
'Halt! Who goes the-..' Stopping as abruptly as she started, the Valkyrie captain, lowered her battleaxe when she identified the newcomer as none other than Asgard's second in command. 'Ansuz-sama! We weren't told that you were joining us!'
'At ease, Thrud. I was informed of this situation and I wanted to assist you,' replied the teal haired goddess as she too inspected her surroundings. 'Any details on what's going on? I rushed to get here as fast as I could and I'm afraid that I don't know much of the details...'
'My apologies Ansuz-sama, but, there's little information I can offer at the moment. We just discovered that two of the inmates were released and that's when our headquarters became aware that we had an intruder on our hands,' said Thrud as she kept a watchful eye on the facility's entrance.
'Who got released?' asked Ansuz as she summoned a fairly large battleaxe to match her missing Judgement Gate that was unavailable ever since that Alfheim incident.
'The former lower seat Councilor, Celestin, and a first class goddess by the name Ilmr,' said the blonde Valkyrie captain.
"Ilmr?' Flinching as her former friend's name was mentioned, Ansuz wondered why anyone wanted to release her, since the lying goddess wasn't a warrior who could prove of any use. On top of that, the other inmate was in a much worse state and an even less likely option as a potential ally. Having lost his true body, Celestin was a mere shadow of his former self and for most practical purposes, useless. 'Why them? They're not the most…'
Pausing as she saw a glittering pair of flashes from her left, the teal haired goddess turned to see what the rapidly approaching objects were. Sporting the insignia of the Fighting Wings, the streamlined, aerodynamic forms of the hypersonic dropships were flying at an alarmingly low altitude above the lunar surface, unaffected by the lack of an atmosphere, since they were designed for operating in total vacuum without any problems. And while called dropships, the celestial craft were actually large enough to be compared to some human made bombers, ever if their arsenal included some far more deadly weapons. From guided missiles to compact particle gun pods, the robotic craft also doubled as competent gunships and currently, they were about to unleash their fury on the group of unsuspecting Valkyries who watched them in confusion.
'Did you call for air support?' asked Ansuz, glancing over at her niece who seemed equally lost as her.
'No… It wasn't you?' As both goddesses remained telepathically silent, they both began to realize that something was wrong; really… really wrong.
It wasn't before everything around them exploded as the dropships opened fire, pelting them with one volley after the other. A truly bizarre experience for some of the junior warriors who had never seen exo-atmospheric combat in their lives. While eerily silent, as sound could not transfer without a medium, all hell broke loose around them with rocks and large amounts of the powder-like regolith exploding into grand plumes above the surface; with the moon's weaker gravity making them seem way more impressive they would've been elsewhere.
However, it was the sheer shock of being attacked by their own forces that caused them to be taken by surprise and fail to defend themselves. Even Ansuz, the veteran amongst them was hit by an anti armor, high explosive missile and sent flying from the powerful concussive effect of the blast. And the lower gravity wasn't helping either as she needed to use more power to stop herself from skidding across the lunar surface.
'Damn them! Those must be from our stolen ship!' Shaking her head to recover, she immediately noticed the four dozen crates that the dropships had left behind them, before they departed as fast as they had appeared. 'Everyone! Get back on your feet and regroup! There's no time to waste staring around like that!'
'You heard the lady! Move it!' barked Thrud as she felt her rage built up in her. Thor's daughter was clearly unhappy that she and her squad was caught with their guard down in such an embarrassing manner, even if that was mostly due to the fact that it was caused by the confusion over the crafts' identity.
Any concerns that the celestial warriors might had were immediately pushed aside when the seismic shock of another explosion traveled through the ground and this time, it was coming from the direction of the prison. As one of the facility's reinforced panels that hid a nearby access panel was blown apart with the shrapnel going in all directions, the dark haired rogue god rushed out, dodging yet another volley of attacks that were meant for him.
However even he was surprised to see what was going on above ground and more importantly, the heavy crates that were scattered in the boulderfield not too far from their position. 'Did you request the others to deploy those here?'
'Negative. They must've done that on their own volition,' replied Gram as it scanned their surroundings. 'It was a good decision, though. We desperately needed a diversion if we wished to get out of here.'
'I wished we hadn't wasted them, but… I guess that there's no other way...' Watching the boxes open one after the other, the hulking forms of the three meter tall humanoid robots within started to come online.
Built in a modular manner, their sensitive cores that contained their AI brains were encased within the center part of their imposing and heavily armored exoskeleton that functioned as their body. Made from a series of layers of different materials, both of celestial and earthly origin, their bulky bodies were made to take quite the beating and their synthetic muscles that assisted their already powerful servos gave them incredible physical strength. And their arsenal of vertically stacked double particle cannons, as well as an automatic grenade launcher for a sidearm was more than enough to make them a potential threat for the guardian angels that were staring at them in confusion.
Returning the stare with one of their own, as the robots turned their 'heads' towards the winged beings, or rather what was actually their primary sensor array containing three sets of ocular receptors that included two high resolution front mounted cameras for binocular vision, two extra ones further apart for expanding their field of view and a final, single infrared one located on their forehead that coupled as a thermal imaging system, they had more than enough to be well aware of their surroundings. Of course, there were a lot more sensors installed on them, but at the time being, given that they had clear view of their adversaries; nothing else was necessary.
Without any hesitation, they trained their cannons on the angels, who immediately responded by unleashing a volley of their own, although, in their hurry they used the same capturing nets they were attempting to use on the rogue god and as a result their attack was utterly useless. Since those weren't organic targets, immortals or not, the nets simply considered them as part of the surrounding area and failed to trigger as they harmlessly bounced on the robots who paid little attention to that failed attack and used it as an opportunity to pelt them with their own fire.
In a split second several dozen particle bolts were sent towards the hapless guardians who tried to reconfigure their lances to their attack configuration, only to realize that there was no time. With a collective telepathic scream of pain, the petite winged beings were thrown around like rag dolls as the synthetic troops kept firing without sign of hesitation or remorse.
It was a sight that made the Valkyries stop for a moment and turn away from the god they had surrounded, to glance at their guardians who were clearly in danger of getting seriously injured or worse. Servants or not, they were indeed sentients under their command and no celestial who respected themselves would simply allow those poor beings get slaughtered while they did absolutely nothing to prevent it and as a result, Ansuz had little choice but to attempt to save their lives.
'Thrud! Get him, while I deal with those mechanical pests!'
'Yes, ma'am!'
Waiting no further reply, the teal haired goddess launched herself towards the assorted squads of mecha and prepared to slice the closest one to her, when her battleaxe hit a blue tinted field around it, making her stop in shock. It wasn't just the fact that it was capable of utilizing such a defensive mechanism that surprised her, but, the fact that for a moment she could've sworn that she felt the presence of low level water spirits casting a protective spell to stop her from reaching the armored construct.
'Wait!... What?! How?! It's a machi-...'
Exploiting her confusion, the squad leader of Odal's first and... only synthetic company of commandos, tossed the canon aside and went after the most efficient weapon within its reach; the goddess' own battleaxe.
'Hey! Why you… Ooff!..'
Receiving a harsh kick that would've snapped even the toughest mortal in half, Ansuz wondered who in Heaven's name had programmed this behemoth to go for hand to hand combat. Most robots she had seen were primarily using ranged weapons due to their lack of flexible limbs, but, despite its mass, that thing was not only capable of wrestling to get her axe; it was perfectly willing to do so as well.
'Not so fast, you bucket head!' Freeing her weapon from the robot's iron grip, Ansuz brought in upon its head once again and this time she meant business as the axe went through the same protective field and shattered it like glass. Without even stopping, the celestial weapon slashed the heavily reinforced armor and embedded itself at the robot's head sensor array, severely damaging it.
'There! That should teach you a lesson! Now, for that blasted god… Huh? It's still moving?'
Given her misguided expectation that the synthetic's AI core was located on its head, she was once again shocked to see that it went for her axe once more and this time, it managed to get hold of it and once it dislodged it from its primary sensor array, it swung at her horizontally getting the goddess' midsection.
'OW! That… stupid bucket!' Clasping her side where her uniform had a wide gash, Ansuz was happy that she was tougher than the average celestial despite her seemingly fragile build, or that would've ended up in a nice injury. Unlike their particle cannons, the mithril axe was a true ten dimensional weapon created by the Asgardian finest smiths to serve the needs of a Valkyrie. And machine or not, her enemy was wielding it with enough strength to cause some serious damage if it managed to hit her from the right angle. 'Hey, that's mine!'
Gritting her teeth, the teal haired goddess had enough of it already. It was time to get rid of those pests and as such she brought her hands in front of her to form a spell that should've been more that enough to wipe them all out, but, stopped when one of the Valkyries let a surprised cry.
During their standstill as they attempted to throw yet another sealing spell to the elusive god who, against all odds had managed to deflect a few of them already, a junior war goddess found herself trapped in one of the nets that the guardian angels were hurling at the rogue celestial moments ago.
'Who did...' Turning around, Thrud spotted several of those robots holding the angel's staffs that their servants must've dropped when they were first under attack. As a matter of fact, the disarmed guardians had retreated to the prison's entrance to get some cover, allowing the machines to reclaim their weapons. 'Wait a moment! How are those things interfacing with arcane objects?!'
Instead of an answer, the squadron of synthetics that had equipped themselves with the angelic staffs started to charge towards them with two other squads strafing them from either side, firing their cannons in order to distract their attention, as their comrades sent more nets towards the Valkyries, managing to entangle two more.
It was such an unlikely outcome that none of them had even remotely expected, let alone take measures to prevent it. Even though they were acutely aware of the robots' presence, none of the goddesses were particularly concerned about them, given that they felt invulnerable against such weaker enemies. And as a result of their hybris, the war goddesses were now facing the possibility that their target was actually going to escape. With three Valkyries temporarily out of action, there was just enough of an opening in their perimeter for Odal to manage to slip through them and head towards his robotic assistants who kept the line despite all odds.
'How… Did we let that happen?' wondered the astounded Ansuz, as the situation was quickly getting out of control. What should've been a walk in the park for them was turning into one of the biggest fiascos in the celestial history. But, before she had the chance to chase after the rogue herself, Ansuz barely managed to summon a new battleaxe to block the downward swing of the damaged unit that was still wielding her stolen axe. 'Tenacious, aren't we?'
Feigning another attack, the hulking robot landed a kick on her left ankle, making the goddess stumble and use the opportunity to apply its shield not to itself, but to the very tip of the axe's cutting edge and then swing with all the strength it could muster, hitting the goddess' own weapon and breaking it in half as a result. Its victory was short lived, though, as the deity decided to give that particular unit an idea of what a kick really felt like and shooting herself out of the regolith she nearly buried her heel on its left knee causing it to bend in a direction it was not meant to work. And as it was about to rebalance itself the robot nearly jumped to the right, using the axe as a support to prevent from falling over, as an incoming attack spell was aiming for its torso. Shattering its protective field as if it wasn't even there, the ball of concentrated heat exploded against its left arm severing it completely from its elbow.
'Not so tough anymore, are we? And I'm just getting warmed up!'
Noticing the robot's arm that was sent flying at a much longer distance due to the moon's low gravity, Odal came to a stop in his hasty retreat to take a better look at what was happening. He had barely managed to to get away from the group of Valkyries who had to deal with the squad that was equipped with the angel's weapons, but, as he witnessed the scene around him the rogue god faltered; much to Gram's annoyance.
'What in Terra's name do you think you doing? Don't just sit there! It's only a matter of seconds before the Valkyries are free and after us once again!'
'We can't just leave them like that, Gram! They're not going to last for more that a couple of minutes. Without the element of surprise, they have no other advantage to give them an edge over to a group of goddesses,' replied Odal.
'Are you serious? This is our last chance to get away!' insisted the synthetic. 'If they catch you now, everything's over!'
'How would you feel if I left you behind like that?' countered the dark haired god.
'There's a difference between choosing to stay behind and abandoning someone,' corrected Gram. 'Those guys are willingly going to perform their duty to protect you, even at the expense of their lives. There's no point wasting their sacrifice by sticking around and get captured in the process. Now stop being sentimental at the worst possible moment and retreat back to Skidbladnir in order to get out of here.'
'I'm not a helpless child, Gram. Remember that we've been through worse and… I've been a warrior, too,' said Odal as he drew his protesting sword from his scabbard. 'We'll get out of here with them and that's the end of that discussion.'
'A warrior? Yes, in the engineering corps! Not as a front line combatant!' shouted the outraged sword, deciding that his typically stoic tone was ineffective with him. 'Besides, Ansuz is beyond your league, and the only thing you'll accomplish is to get your backside kicked so badly, that it's not even funny.'
'You're wrong… It's not always a case of who's the strongest, Gram. I may not be as powerful as her, but, I still have more than enough strength to hold my ground and more importantly, I have a few tricks up my sleeve,' said Odal as he approached the barely moving robot that was facing Ansuz.
'It's been nice knowing you...' muttered Gram as he realized that his comrade was far too stubborn to listen to reason.
'Oh? Are you going to finally fight us, mister pirate?' asked Ansuz with a grin, summoning yet another battleaxe from her collection of weapons. 'That's quite a bold move coming from a thief.'
'I'm not leaving...' stared Odal, when he noticed the robot limping next to him. 'What do you think you're doing? Get out of here! You're way too damaged to even walk!'
Having its knee locked firmly in position in order to be able to use it as a crutch by dragging it on the ground, the damaged unit struggled to get itself closer to its teal haired adversary despite its creator's protests.
'Negative. Without retreat as a viable option, we are to be terminated within the next couple of minutes. Given those circumstances, this unit desires to meet its end while fighting, instead of cowering behind a rock.'
Blinking at the hulking robot who had decided to utilize its telepathic vocaliser as a means to communicate with them, both Ansuz and Odal stared at it for different reasons.
'Wait a second… that thing's fully sentient? Not a simple AI?' wondered the goddess as she stared at the machine that was apparently smarter that she had originally given it credit for. There were a lot of different AIs available to immortals, but, celestials avoided using fully sentient ones since there was a debate amongst them in regards to how ethical it was to create a species for the sole reason of acting as their servants. And while there were several exceptions of that rule, most of them used weaker AIs that while smart enough, they lacked self awareness.
Odal on the other hand had a bit of a difficult time to understand why his robot was acting like that. He had personally designed most of the learning and behavioral routines of his synthetics and as such he was fairly confident that they weren't supposed to react in such manner.
'Great… even these guys are stubborn...' muttered the frustrated Gram.
'Uh… I'm fairly certain that I haven't programmed them to act like that...' replied the mystified rogue.
Ignoring the two immortals, the robot removed one of the unused weapon attachments it had on its waist that would normally hold a grenade and secured it on its upper arm. Using it as a means to temporarily secure the axe on its crippled limb, the synthetic grasped the other end of the weapon with its intact hand and limped towards the astounded goddess who wasn't expecting such tenacity from what she had originally considered as an automaton.
Being momentarily distracted by the valiant although futile attempts of the synthetic to get back on the offensive, Odal hurled a grenade at her and then charged a spell to bind her before she decided to unleash her own devastating arsenal of attacks against them. And while successful at catching her off guard, his spell was merely deflected by Asgard's second in command who wasn't even phased by the explosive.
'That's all you've got?' Repositioning her axe to strike the rogue as she prepared to charge at him, Ansuz was interrupted when a shadow loomed over her and for a moment, she had to stop and block the incoming battleaxe that was meant for her head. Apparently, the robot had decided that it was more easy to just use its strength to jump towards her, instead of slowly creeping its way with a broken leg. 'What the?!...'
Undaunted by the fact that it was facing a celestial with powers far beyond most mortals' imagination, the synthetic tried to keep her busy with the wide swings of its axe in an attempt to give his creator the chance to land a successful hit on her. It was their turn to get a nasty surprise though, as Thrud had managed to free her fellow Valkyries and with a set of proper shields erected, the stolen capturing weapons were proven to be rather ineffective as they no longer had the ability to stop them. And with her warriors holding their ground without any issues, the blonde Valkyrie captain decided to finally show this rogue that she meant business.
Narrowly dodging the blast of searing plasma that was aimed at him, Odal took a few steps back as he prepared to face yet another goddess and this time, Thor's own daughter. 'Great… Just what I needed...'
'Heh… you can say that again, smartass,' sneered Thrud as she closed in on his position like a hungry predator. 'You've run out of luck, so, give up.'
However, before any of them had the chance to make the next move, the world around them exploded in silent yet fierce blast, scattering them across the lunar surface.
XXX
Muspelheim, main residential area
"Grandparents? For real?"
Staring at Urd with a shocked expression on her face, Mara wasn't entirely sure whether her friend was trying to pull a prank on her or she was actually the recipient of one. "Don't get me wrong, but… it's one thing to claim that Ymir-sama is alive and… a totally different thing to say that he's your grandfather!"
"That's what he claimed at least," replied Urd as she calmly drank from her glass of sake. "I'm not saying that has to be true, just what I've been told. The results of the test should be ready soon enough, so, we won't have to speculate for too long."
"Wow! I mean… it's one thing to be Hild-sama's daughter, but… Ymir-sama's granddaughter, too? That makes you a celebrity!" said Mara as she drank from her own glass, as the two were enjoying a peaceful afternoon together in their apartment. The whole situation with the first Daimakaicho had left Surt so busy, that he gave Urd a day off to focus on his other 'guests' while they waited to see if their claims were true or not.
"Give me a break, will you? A celebrity? Who, me? That's ridiculous," said Urd with a snort, drinking the rest of her sake, and then pour some more in her empty glass.
"Hey, that's not true! Anyone who descends from the first demon is a really important person! I mean… okay… everyone is comes from him, but, the closer you're related to him, the better!" said the wide eyed blonde.
"The days of the demonic nobles are history, Ma-chan. The whole system was destroyed by my own mother, no matter how ironic it might sound right now," said Urd with a chuckle. "She could've been the greatest noble amongst them."
"Yeah… but… most of them were just idiots who tried to make themselves look too important. Some had even fabricated their supposed connection to Ymir-sama to gain their social status, or that's what I've heard," said Mara with a disgusted grunt. "Nobody really liked them for hogging all the nice positions in our society and the moment Hild-sama decided to strip them of their status, she became really popular."
"That's probably true. Hm… Come to think of it… what happened to them?" asked the curious Norn of the past. "I never really studied demonic history, and I kind of wonder…"
"Hm… Well, the vast majority of them were assassinated soon after they lost their status. Nobody knows who ordered their execution or even who carried out the order, but, they did a very good job regardless. When Hild-sama made the reformation, everyone expected the nobility to cause a civil war, however, all of a sudden they started to disappear left and right and… Any plans for messing around with her, simply vanished at the aftermath of that cleanup operation," explained Mara with a shiver.
Pausing for a moment as she drank from her glass, Urd had already regretted that she asked that question in the first in the first place. "Mom… I mean, the Daimakaicho did that?"
"I've got no idea, Urd. Neither of us was alive back then and despite what happened, there's absolutely no evidence left to point at anyone," said the blonde with a shrug. "If you're that curious, you may ask Hild-sama if you want to want to learn more."
"Thanks, but, I'll pass," said the half demoness shaking her head. "Say, since we don't have anything else to do for today, how about we hit a bar?"
"I should've expected you to ask that," said Mara with a giggle. "Although, it can't be helped either… We have no more booze left!"
"That's indeed true! Let's go th-..." started Urd before Excalibur walked into the room with a grim expression.
"I'm afraid that it's going to have to wait. Muspelheim's first fleet was ordered to join the sixth Jotnar fleet en route to Mars in order to guard the Deimos Purgatory," said the sentient weapon. "Surt wants you to come along for the mission."
"Wait! What happened?" asked the startled half demoness.
"Yeah, why should we go to that prison? It's the place where we store those who committed the most heinous of crimes," said Mara who was equally confused. "I don't see why we need to guard a…"
"Remember that rogue god? Well, he's on Luna and blasting the celestial prison to bits," said the sarcastic Excalibur. "And boy, he's doing a great job from what I've heard! I never saw Surt that happy! It's one of the few times I can genuinely say that I was scared; and that says something."
"Hold on a second! The Lunar Prison is under attack?" asked Urd. "And by that rogue? How? When?"
"Yes, and once again... yes. He's using the stolen Skidbladnir and it's happening right now," said Excalibur in the most laconic way he could explain things. "We' must get to Naglfar as soon as possible, since it's going to lead requested task force."
"Uh… what about me?" asked Mara.
"Oh, you may come as well," said Excalibur with a shrug. "According to Surt's orders, there's no reason to separate the happy couple…"
"We're not a freaking couple!"
XXX
CMV Skidbladnir, bridge
"ATTACK!"
Firing another salvo from the front batteries, a new set of dust plumes rose over the horizon as the Lunar Prison came into view, along with the dozen new craters that were created moments ago.
"Stop, you insane mutt!" shouted Vidarr from his station. "You're going to kill someone at this rate!"
The fury of the wolf could not be stopped by mere words, though. Lost in his most dark of instincts, the tiny pup howled with pure excitement as he commanded an entire battleship in what was the reason of his existence; glorious battle and annihilation of his enemies. And right now, that gray, oppressive underground structure laughed at him, its mere existence defying the wolf's wrath.
"He's gone feral!" shouted Jormungandr to the god who tried to rush to the captain's in order to put an end to this lunacy.
Before he managed to take more than a few steps, the ship listed dangerously as the motion compensators struggled to keep everyone onboard upright, due to a hard starboard turn it did in the most abrupt manner possible.
"Fenrir! You're not supposed to do a powerslide with a freaking battleship!" shouted Vidarr over the warnings of the ship's AI as it prevented Skidbladnir from losing control.
"I!... Don't!... Care! That Prison's going DOWN!" howled the wolf as he kept pressing a series of buttons on his console, before Vidarr tried to wrestle him away from the ship's controls.
"Enough, I said! You had enough fun alrea-... Ow! Hey!" Clasping his hand as he got bitten by the wolf, who used the opportunity to escape the god's grasp and land on the console, smacking his forehead against the fire control controls
"I said, that prison goes DOWN! FULL BROADSIDE!"
Roaring with the tremendous force they possessed, the celestial battleship's guns effortlessly ripped through the lunar regolith, tearing the underground installation asunder. Those who were still on the dusty, impact riddled surface of the moon had no other option but to seek shelter as far away from the attacking war vessel as possible; both friends and foes, as the wolf was outright indiscriminate in his assault.
"Heavens above!..." gasped the god as he watched the large chunks of reinforced armor shot up as the top part of the prison was blown clean off the rest of the torn facility. "Are they even alive anymore?!"
"Affirmative! They still register on the sensors and even Odal's robots are all functional," replied Jormungandr with a sigh of relief.
"Of course they are!" shot the offended canine. "I was aiming at the prison, not them!"
"Right… For argument's sake, let's accept that as a valid answer and ignore how improbable that sounds..." grumbled Jormungandr. "Alright, I've sent the dropships back to get them to safety. We need to… Oh no…"
"What is it now?" asked Vidarr, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Two demonic fleets had materialized in Martian orbit. It's the sixth Jotnar fleet and the first Eldjotnar one," said the sea serpent as he checked his tactical map.
"What?! Two whole fleets?!" gasped the god as he rushed to the snake's station to check the holographic display. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Well, it was about damn time someone decided to take us seriously, instead of picking their noses," muttered Fenrir as he scratched his neck with his hind leg.
"Yes! And that means we have to get out of here! Now!" shouted Vidarr at the wolf. "I'm not sticking here to see if Surt's going to keep orbiting that wasteland of a planet, instead of coming here to poke his nose in our business."
"And you know what they say about demons with big noses!" laughed Fenrir, much to the god's annoyance.
"No, and you're the only person to bring such nonsense up at a time like this!" said Vidarr with a snort. "Now get those dropships going!"
"Touche."
XXX
Luna, Great Fenrisian Crater
Shaking her head, Ansuz observed the scene of utter destruction around her. The was absolutely nothing left to remind her of what she was previously standing on. The whole area had transformed into a huge crater, with the mangled remains of the prison at the epicenter of it.
'Status report!'
Getting on her feet, Thrud scratched her head, trying to make her vision clear, so that she stopped to see two versions of her aunt spinning around. 'We're dazed, but fine. The rest of the girls are over there and the angels had made it, as the got out of the installation when the attack started.'
'Thank goodness!...' said Ansuz, taking a look around and realizing that while all the Valkyries and the guardian angels were present, the rogue god and his robots were nowhere in sight. 'Wait! Where are they?'
'Uh… There are no signs of those synthetics' broken bodies, so...' Reaching the inevitable conclusion, both she and Ansuz rushed to fly out of the newly made crater, only to found the dropships on the surface as they picked up the robot squadrons.
'There!' snarled Ansuz, ready to blast them and the rogue who was organizing their extraction. 'Don't let them get away!'
Before the captain answered, a volley from Skidbladnir forced them to duck for cover, as well as act a reminder that they had no longer the upper hand in this situation.
'Cease and desist! Not unless you want me to set your frilly panties ablaze in a bath of hot plasma!'
Blinking at the crude message sent by the battelship's telepathic communicator, the two goddesses shared a concerned look as they doubted that it was prerecorded and given that it didn't sound like anything the ship's systems would've normally come up with, the only logical conclusion was that someone else was also aiding that rogue.
'Another god?' gasped the teal haired goddess. 'Just how many traitors there are?'
'I'm a wolf!'
'Really? You want me to believe such an obvious lie? A wolf for a captain? Give me a bre-...' started Ansuz, only to be forced to dodge a barrage of particle blasts from the ship's point defense cannons.
'Got a problem with me being a proud wolf? Want more, you feathery pancake? Well?'
'What did you just call me?!' shouted the enraged goddess, gritting her teeth.
'You heard me! To say that a wolf cannot be a captain! I've got more guts than your collective lot of miserable bureaucrats! Your stupid species even registered me as a pet! My fury knows no bounds, my strength unmatched by the mightiest of weapons and my resolute harder than the highest grade mythril! Not that any of that makes sense to a bunch of pansies who pick their noses while filling some boring report… Hear my name and tremble in fear! I'm Fenrir, the Dread Wolf!'
'Eh?! The Ultimate Destruction Program? But, I thought that the Norns had dealt with it...' said the baffled Thrud, something she regretted as all the guns of the celestial battleship began to charge.
'Don't ever bring up that faker in my presence! I'm the one, only and angriest wolf to bear that proud name! Not some demonic rip off found in a telemarketing catalog! Got me? Now eat hot particles you disrespectful lot!'
The barrage that followed was so vicious that the assorted celestials had to use a series of barriers to protect themselves and while they were more than powerful to effectively stop the incoming blasts, the side effect was that they were effectively pinned in their position. All while Odal and his synthetic troops were about to leave, as the majority of them had already boarded on the dropships; all except for one.
Limping towards the same craft that his creator had boarded, the stricken robot was still carrying the battleaxe it had taken from Ansuz. And despite its comrades' offers of assistance, the synthetic refused to either let them carry it inside the dropship nor extract the AI core from its damaged chassis, opting to drag itself slowly towards safety.
'My apologies for the delay, my lord. It took me longer to move than the rest of our troops.'
'Then why hadn't you let the rest of them to help you?' asked the rogue god as he closed the door behind them, letting the dropship take off from the lunar surface.
'In the world of the organics, sometimes old or sick animals don't sit down because they know that when they do, they may no longer have the strength to get back up on their own feet.'
'Huh?' Blinking, Odal made a mental note to check his synthetic troops, as their behavioral patterns were far outside the scope of what he intended. Instead of an army of smart robots, he may had accidentally created a truly intelligent species of machines who not only possessed self awareness, but emotions of their own; including pride.
'My lord, if I may ask… Will we return back here? To the planet where we were created?'
'Yes… one day we'll come back,' answered Odal as the dropships began to dock back to Skidbladnir. 'But for now, we have to get out of here and keep a low profile.'
'Understood.'
Meanwhile, outside the ship the group of Valkyries and Ansuz had slowly began to turn the tide, getting more efficient at using their shields between blasts and returning the favor with their own spells that smashed against the battleship's barriers. It was a fight that was taking more time than necessary, given that none of the goddesses had taken their limiters off, since their mission was to arrest the rogue and reclaim Skidbladnir. As a result, damage their stolen war vessel was clearly out of question, greatly restricting their offensive options.
'No no no! It's about to fold out the mortal realm!' Panicking, the horrid realization finally hit Ansuz with the force of a freight train. What should've been a walk in the park for them was now turning in a disaster on an unprecedented scale. While their attempt to capture him was a really poorly planned from the very beginning, it was unbelievable how things had gotten this far and for a moment the teal haired goddess almost prepare to release her seal and crush the battleship and together with it, the rogue's hopes to get away; no matter the maelstrom of protests she was going to get once she returned back to Asgard.
It was unnecessary, though, as the ship was hit by a series of bolts that nearly overwhelmed its barriers. Looking up, the goddesses spotted a pair of celestial battleships close in to put an end to this fiasco.
'Finally! It was about time they mobilized some of our ships!' said Ansuz with a grin, as she watched two of Asgard's mightiest battleships, Sessrumnir and Bilskirnir prepare another assault at the stolen Skidbladnir. However, the divine intervention came too late to make a difference, and with a blinding flash, the largest vessel of the celestial fleet withdrew from Midgard, leaving only wreckage behind, the broken remains of what used to be the former Lunar Prison.
Tugging her winglets in utter frustration, Ansuz suppressed the urge to swear, given how utterly ridiculous the whole situation was. Their overconfidence and lack of decisive action had allowed this disaster to take place, and the worst part was that if handled properly, none of that would've happened. If they had taken their opponents seriously at an earlier point and even released their seals, then the traitors would've stood no chance against them. Playing the blame game wasn't going to help anyone, though and neither was to ponder what could've been different. For now the only option was to regroup and reevaluate the whole situation.
'Well… That sucked!'
AN: I would like to thank everyone that has offered their feedback and support both here and on the Goddess Relief site.
There are a few things that I'd like to note for this chapter.
To begin with, this is not only the longest chapter so far, but the first one that incorporates an action scene. While I had a few bits here and there, this is my first real attempt to write something of that nature and I hope that it came out nicely.
All locations mentioned on the moon are real, with one notable exception: the Great Fenrisian Crater (that was a joke on my part). I wanted to add a bit more realism and flavor into the chapter, so, I used real locations instead of fictional ones. Additionally, the inscription on the Lunar Module is also genuine, although for formatting reasons I've omitted the names and signatures of the three astronauts and the US president at the bottom of the plate.
The robots mentioned in this chapter were primarily inspired by the last story arch of the mange where Skuld engages Mokkurkalfi in a mecha battle. Of course, there are going to be a lot more references and influences from all sorts of other sources, but, that'll have to wait until those guys make another appearance.
On the other hand, the guardians of the prison were taken from the Movie where a series of angel like beings were about to stop Celestine after he destroyed the Judgement Gate. Suffice to say that aside from that reference, there's not really anything else from the Movie here, as I'm not writing an adaptation of that.
The names of the two celestial warships towards the end of the chapter were actually not really the names of ships, but locations in Norse legends. Well, Sessrumnir (translates as "seat room") was either a hall that belonged to Freya and was located in Folkvangr or potentially an actual ship. Bilskirnir (translates as "bright crack") was the hall of Thor where he and his family lives and contains 540 rooms. Here, it's a battleship, since it would've been fitting for something of that size to be one.