Ch 45: Wagner's Angels
(Tues, Y+1, M+5, D+4?)
[Unknown Location]
"And who might you be?" I ask, looking up to see a woman dressed in silver armor. In form it looks rather similar to the standard-issue combat armor used by pretty much everybody with any sense at all. On either shoulder pad is a simplified silhouette of a winged humanoid overlaid over a pair of crossed swords. I guess that means that she's important. On her right chestplate is a nametag reading Valheim.
"M'am." Brimstone says respectfully. "This is Kurt Wagner, and his teammates. They're students from a combat academy."
"So I see." The woman says, walking towards us. Just by looking at her, I can tell she has a strong will. That and the fact that she practically radiates confidence. On every spectrum. Oh, yeah, and my psyker-skills are no longer suppressed. It's rather strange, actually, I used to be entirely unaware of this sixth sense and now even a minute or two without it feels rather disconcerting. "So, you are the one we are hearing so much about." She says, standing before us.
"Yes m'am." Sven answers, snapping his right fist to his left breastplate with a clash of armored plates.
"And what exactly is going on here?" I ask Four quietly, sliding up next to him.
"We're currently in Valhalla, in their equivalent of a waiting room." He answers. "That woman is a Valkyrie and pretty much everything else is some combination of complicated or classified, but suffice to say we're here to retrieve one of our own."
"Wait. Isn't Valhalla supposed to be where warriors go when they die? Or at least according to Norse mythology?" I respond. My mind working overtime trying to find out what exactly is going on.
"The Norse legends were close. Dead warriors enter Valhalla, at least those that the Valkyries deem worthy."
"Worthy?" I ask.
"Yes, those who have done their duties with the intentions to protect the innocent are those deemed worthy. Or, at least did what they did without the intention of harming the innocent." The Valkyrie says.
"Oh." I say, a bit embarrassed to have been heard. "Any examples? Of who you'd deem worthy, that is?"
"You're safe, if that's what you're wondering." She says. "All of you." She turns on her heel and beckons us forward. "We should get moving. Time is short."
"C'mon." Three says, clapping me on the back. "We shouldn't keep the nice ladies waiting."
'Time is short? Something's going screwy, isn't it.' I think to myself, as the Valkyrie leads us out of the hall. Outside is a rather large open space, which appears to be a parade ground, covered in clean white stone panels. Surrounding the parade ground are a series of large, heavily armored and reinforced concrete and metal blockhouses. In my personal opinion, they appear to be barracks blocks, armories, and other military buildings. Amongst all of the buildings I see women wearing white and red-tinged silver armor. All armed, all with white, blond, or red hair and all looking like they know full well what they're doing. Some marching in formation to various destinations, others jogging in large blocks singing cadences in beautiful voices, and yet others marching singly or in small groups to wherever it is that they are going.
It appears to be a rather well organized and run military force.
"Impressive." I say, obviously impressed. "Even the Valean Defence Forces aren't this well organized. And nobody on the rest of the planet has even thought about using full-head helmets. They always leave the mouth uncovered. Really a major weakness if you ask me, leaves you open to airborne agents." I rant a little. Just a bit.
"Well we do aim to impress." The Valkyrie says.
"And to kill as I can see." I say, somewhat sarcastically, hearing the crack of rifles in the distance. Likely marksmanship drills. Or markswoman-ship, in this military I guess, since I haven't seen a single man here so far.
"So is this an all-fema-" I ask.
"Yes." The Valkyrie cuts me off. "This is Valhalla-Alpha, the central military base for the city and home of the First Valkyrian Airborne Infantry Corps." She says with a tinge of pride in her voice. She leads on in silence for a few hundred more feet, taking us down what appears to be a main thoroughfare to a grand, important-looking building that somehow maintained the impression that it could still resist an assault of rather significant magnitude. We walk through a set of sliding blast doors into a main lobby, full of armored women moving to and fro, many carrying tablets, boxes or weapons to unknown destinations. Our guide leads us through the building to a rather inconspicuous-looking door marked Reception E-5. We enter the room, which looks for all intents and purposes like a doctor's waiting Valkyrie stands to the side of the door and closes it once all of us have entered. Behind a little desk-window-thingy on the right side of the room was an Alpha Company soldier in full combat armor, with a small personal computer. The soldier looks up and starts typing into the computer. An automated door in the opposite wall slides open and a man walks through it.
He is of a rather average height, with a rather impressive build. His hair is a dirty blond and cropped short, with steely blue eyes. He is wearing a black and purple dress uniform with a sidearm and a short sword strapped to either hip. On his chest right above his heart is a silver pin in the shape of two crossed gladii. Below the pin is a line of silver skull pins, seven in all, with the final pin worn upside down. On the opposite side of his chest is a simple name tag reading Shrike.
He stands at attention and snaps the same salute I've seen Brimstone and Sven make.
"Sir! Lupus Lead reporting for final dismissal!" He says.
"So I see you've made your choice Brother." Brimstone says, returning the salute. "At ease". Both relax.
"Yes sir, I have." Shike says, his voice a mix of emotions. I can make out traces of sadness, relief, and pride.
"Well then soldier," Brimstone says, taking a tablet handed to him by the Valkyrie and writing something on it with his finger, before shucking off one of his gloves and pressing his thumb onto a highlighted box on the device's frame. He passes the tablet to Shrike and Shrike copies his superior's actions. The tablet changes hands again and pings three times. Brimstone nods and offers his ungloved right hand to Shrike.
"You have served your full term and have opted out. Our databases list you as KIA and your Coffin will be buried with full honors. You are officially discharged from service." The two shake hands. "Good luck brother, see you next Ragnarok."
"It's been a good run si-... brother. Tell Torch the rest of us are here waiting for him, would ya?" Shrike asks.
'What… He's dead?' I think, having the presence of mind to keep my mouth closed. 'Probably shoulda seen that. After all, that was his name on the coffin.'
While I zone out thinking, Brimstone and Shrike finish their business and we walk out. Eventually we make our way back to the hall we started out in, and as we near it I see a few people who look out of the ordinary, men who looked rather like soldiers, all in uniform and armed. Most belonged to one of two groups; one group being musket-armed line infantry wearing blue and yellow uniforms, and the other group appearing to be WWI American Doughboys. Considering everything else up to this point, the two groups are actually what they appear to be, except they've been dead awhile.
It seems like the two groups are heading in different directions.
"Is this some kind of changing of the guard?" I ask.
"Yeah, pretty much." The Valkyrie says.
I also see a few other people milling around and heading elsewhere: a samurai, a redcoat chatting with a Continental Army infantryman, and a Soviet tanker, just to name a few.
We reach the hall, which appears to be named Ad Memoriam, if the words engraved above the entrance are anything to go by.
We enter the hall and the doors close behind us. The inside is the same as I remember it, with the exception of a small stone structure in the very back, just forward of where we arrived. Also present was a man wearing simple grey fatigues, with a bolt-action rifle slung over his shoulder.
The man is looking at one of the many tapestries hanging from the wall; it is of a small band of soldiers holding their own against a large force of what appears to be Soviet troops in a wintry forest.
We approach the man and he turns to look at us. The left side of his cheek is heavily scarred. 'Familiar. Where from?'
"M'am." He says, snapping a salute.
"Warrior." The Valkyrie says. "Why aren't you at your post?" She asks, firm but respectful.
"Sorry m'am, just remembering my old hunting grounds." He says, looking back to the tapestry with something that appears to be fondness. "I just joined the White Guard as sort of a social club. I never thought I'd actually have to go to war. Just thought I would stay for a few years,drop out when I got too old and live a quiet life. Never thought I'd be asked to step up and fight. Never thought I'd ever be called a hero, you know? But that's just me." He says with a chuckle. "Just the words of a bored old man." He turns to the Valkyrie. "Sorry m'am, I'll be getting back on the job now." he says, turning to face the rear of the hall.
"Wait…" I say, a bit hesitantly. The soldier turns to face me. "Sir… would you mind telling me who you are? I feel like I remember you from somewhere."
"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt. I'm Simo Häyhä."
"The White Death, the single greatest sniper of all time." I say, a bit shocked to be standing in front of the man who was/is, in my opinion, the greatest soldier ever.
"Well that's kinda surprising kid, never thought that people still remembered me." Simo says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Feels kind nice actually." He says with a bit of a smirk.
"Get moving you two, things are getting hectic back on Remnant." Brimstone says.
"What?" We all say, turning to the soldier.
"Valhalla just started getting a LOT of new arrivals from Remnant, lots of 'em our people." Brimstone says, an edge to his voice.
"Move it!" One orders, and we all start jogging towards the structure in the back of the room. Simo keeps next to me with very little effort.
"So kid, what did they teach you about me?" He asks.
"No clue, I'm amnesiac. I don't remember anything about my life starting from whenever it was that I was born to a bit less than two years ago. And to make things even more weird, I appear to have traveled forward in time and also to an entirely different planet/dimension, which really hasn't been explained to me." I take a deep breath. "But I do suspect that it has something to do with a song I have called White Death, about you. It's by a Swedish power metal band called Sabaton who do their part in ensuring that the soldiers and battles of history do not go unremembered." We reach the structure. I turn to him and snap a salute. "It's been an honor meeting you sir, I only wish we had a bit more time to talk." He quickly returns the salute.
"Well it's nice to know that I'm still remembered, if only by one man. Good luck kid." He says with a slight smirk. With that he heads into the structure, closing a thick metal door behind him. And then I notice that, again, I am bereft of my fancy psyker-powers. 'Great'
"Alright, just arrange yourselves within the stone circle inlaid on the ground. You should reenter the other dimension just about where you left it. Good luck." Simo says over a PA system of some sort. "Jump in 5...4...3...2...1…"
And with a flash of purple light we return to the vault underneath Beacon. To put it simply, the place is a mess.
AN: GUESS WHO'S NOT DEAD?!
But yeah, sorry about the wait. I make no promises about how long it will be until the next chapter as I will soon be going to college and am currently undergoing extreme writer's block. But I will keep working on the story at every available opportunity.