Sorry for what I think was the longest gap ever. I got very stuck with this one, and it happened to coincide with being slammed by three different work projects, so it became much easier to play Horizon Zero Dawn (10/10, definitely recommend) than to fight through the block. But it came together rather beautifully in the end. Enjoy!
The war scholars and Volund's best guild seidrsmiths had been over every inch of a number of Dokkalfar ships, both via Bor's archive and the new schematics they'd collected during the survey mission to Svartalfheim. Malekith's flying fortress might be bigger than the other battleships, but Thor remembered all too well (and the records confirmed) that the primary offensive capability of such a ship came from the blade ships it carried. After warring for millennia, there was a reason Malekith had allowed Bor to think he'd won so quickly once Asgard wrested the Aether from his grasp; it was the only great weapon the Dokkalfar had left, and they had bet everything on it and the Convergence—their one last bid to reclaim all that Bor and Buri had won back from Kraw the Uncontrollable's conquest of Yggdrasil.
Malekith had neither the Convergence nor the Aether this time. Asgard was ready; his days of hiding like a coward were over. Unlike with the haphazard Sakaar mission, Thor was confident that they'd considered every angle. The boarding party would be using the Dokkalfar's own technology against them to infiltrate and cripple Malekith's ship without detection. The fleet, meanwhile, was on its way to the jump point nearest the asteroid field where the ship was hidden. In nearly all other situations, the fleet of Asgard would fly along the largest branches of Yggdrasil to reach distant realms quickly, but the Dokkalfar may be able to detect their approach that way. As the jump points were an innovation that had come after the Dokkalfar had gone into stasis, they would have no way of detecting an enemy drawing near through those routes. Once Tyr received the signal from Thor, they would be able to surround the ship in seconds.
The final and hopefully least-needed layer of their defenses was with Odin, who would be ready with more Einherjar and ships on Asgard in case the Dokkalfar somehow managed to get past the rest of them. He, Heimdall, and each of Tyr's ships had been supplied with trackers, so even if they failed to destroy the stealth generator, Malekith would gain no advantage from it.
"Are you all ready?" said Thor, checking that his pair of special Dokkalfar bracers were secure outside the scales of his armor and that the reinforced pouch of scavenged black hole grenades was safe on his belt (Loki had simply tucked his away in his dimensional pocket). His voice resonated differently than normal; Odin had opened the connection from Hliskjalf so that Thor, Loki, Sif, the Warriors Three, Tyr, and the captains of each of Asgard's ships would be able to communicate freely from any distance. Thor greatly preferred this method over the little plastic ear devices SHIELD and the Avengers liked so much. It left his normal hearing unimpeded and he didn't have to poke anything with his finger to change who he was hearing or speaking to.
"For Asgard," said Loki. Sif, Volstagg, and Fandral echoed him, followed by the chorus of the Einherjar scouts comprising the rest of the party and Heimdall, Tyr, and the captains.
Thor, Sif, Fandral, and their four Einherjar seized the handles of the first transporter. Loki, Volstagg, Hogun, and their four did the same at the second. With the destination locked in, they all twisted their handles, and the Council chambers vanished from around them in a violent whirl of blue light.
X
When the light faded, they were standing in a dim, oppressively still corridor illuminated only by small red crystals set along the edges of the floor and ceiling. Loki dropped his team's transporter into his dimensional pocket (Thor's group had to make do with stowing theirs in the satchel Fandral wore). The Einherjar stood alert, weapons ready.
No alarm greeted their arrival, but something felt off. "I don't think the connection to Hlidskjalf can reach us through the ship's stealth field," said Loki. Not unexpected, but less than ideal.
"We'll need to be quick, then," said Thor, watching Loki expectantly.
Loki closed his eyes and reached out with his seidr. The Ljosalfar more than any other race in Yggdrasil were utterly steeped in magic, and he had been sure it would be no different for the Dokkalfar. He was right about the quantity of magic, but hadn't quite known what to expect about the feel. It was immediately obvious to him where the "Dark" in Dark Elves came from. He could recognize it as elven, with a hint of the Dvergar in its mechanical efficiency and a thick current of power that must be from the Aether, but there was something heavy slathered like tar over the mixture. As though they'd found a way to distill wrath and spite into a source of power for spellcasting. It didn't feel wrong in the same nauseous way Ebony Maw's magic had; on the contrary, there was something enticing about it, but Loki shuddered to imagine what it would do to a seidmadr who immersed himself in it. Like pollution for the spirit.
Ambient magic tended to flow like any physical fluid. It swirled around them as water would around an object tossed into a pool. He waited the space of a few breaths, already certain he was going to need a thorough scrubbing to get the sensation of the stuff off his skin later. Nothing happened, but as he grew accustomed to it, he could sense the lives frozen in time around them. He frowned. There were more than he'd expected.
"Well, Brother?" said Thor.
Loki opened his eyes. "Volund's seidrsmiths did fine work on the bracers," he said. As he spoke, he worked on a spell to conjure a pair of sprites that would repeat messages from one party to the other until the Hlidskjalf connection could be reestablished. "Either the Dokkalfar never created a system to detect intruders in the first place or we are invisible to their magic. But there are well over a thousand of them, so tread with caution."
Thor didn't seem concerned over the number. "Good," he said. Spell completed, two fairie-like shapes composed of pure light sprang from Loki's hand, one bounding to sit on his shoulder, the other flitting over to Thor's. "Then we make for our targets. Report anything you don't recognize from the other ships' schematics. We don't want any surprises. Allfathers willing, we will all meet in Malekith's chamber before the hour is spent."
X
No matter how good their plan was, Thor hungered for battle, and yet this mission would hardly count as one. Every step they took inside the ship added to his frustration. He held the feeling in his chest; it would be fine fuel for his lightning when he faced Malekith.
The corridor opened up into a vast space that seemed too great for the outer dimensions of the ship. On one side were rows of pods in varying sizes, most too small or too large for elves, and the other side was nothing but tanks of strange plants that all looked carved from gray marble.
"Well the other ships didn't have this," said Fandral.
"No," Thor agreed, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. The moment he set foot inside the chamber, countless pale blue holograms flared to life above the pods and tanks. They all instinctively raised their weapons, but no elves jumped out at them.
Thor lowered Mjolnir, realizing that the holograms were of a variety of strange creatures with strings of Old Elvish letters glittering beside them in the air.
"It's a nursery," said Sif. "Flora and fauna of Svartalfheim."
Thor didn't want to be distracted from their goal, but his attention was caught by a recurring theme in the descriptions of the animals. The final line in each entry read "Aether Affinity," followed by a percentage. The lowest number he could see was in the high eighties.
"Perhaps King Eitri will want them preserved for Nidavellir's use," said Fandral.
"I doubt that." A projection of Loki had shimmered into being next to him. Apparently he would not be satisfied with a secondhand account of the chamber, even though he had conjured the little communication sprites himself. He leaned close to a leafy plant, eyes narrowed. "These specimens are tainted with whatever Malekith did to the Dokkalfar's seidr. It appears he was testing whether plant and animal life would survive the transmutation to dark matter."
"He wanted to eliminate the competition and keep all of Yggdrasil's resources for the Dokkalfar alone," Thor growled. His hatred of Malekith seared deeper into his bones. How long had he prepared for the Convergence? For the moment when he could wipe out all the peoples he had failed to conquer in one stroke?
"Er, Thor?" said Fandral.
"What?" Thor turned and saw Fandral staring with some concern at one of the displays.
"This looks like an access log. It has entries from as recent as last month."
One of the Einherjar swore and they all raised their weapons again.
"They must have sentries who aren't in stasis," said Thor, switching immediately to the nameless tongue.
"Have they realized we're here?" said Sif, following his lead.
"The whole ship would be awake by now if they had," said Loki.
"Then we must hasten to our objectives," said Thor. "Keep quiet and stay on alert." Loki's projection nodded and winked out. Thor's party picked up their pace.
X
The only sound outside of their own careful footsteps was the occasional cavernous creak or groan from the still, dimly lit ship. "It feels as though we walk among the dead," Volstagg muttered with a shudder. It came out a little rough; he had been older than the rest of them when he earned his clearance to master the nameless tongue, and he'd had some difficulty with it.
"If we did, there would be no threat," said Loki. They were passing rows and rows of stasis pods now, which were certainly eerie. Loki didn't like having his back turned to them, Einherjar notwithstanding.
The farther they went, the stronger the Aether's influence felt. The Dokkalfar had used it to forge and power much of their technology, just as Johann Schmidt's men had done with the Tesseract on Midgard, but no system on the ship would need what the Aether provided so much as the stealth generator. That was how the other ships had been constructed, and yet this ship troubled him. "There is a great deal more of the Aether's power in this ship than the others," he said.
"Could that not merely be the difference between old destroyed ships and one that still functions?" said Volstagg.
"No. I think they're hiding something. If they hoped to gain anything for themselves from turning Yggdrasil to dark matter, then they must have put everything they needed to start their civilization over on this ship. I want to know what it is."
"More Kursed brutes?" Hogun suggested.
"Perhaps," said Loki. Thor said there had just been the one—the one that had killed their mother and nearly killed him, so quite enough already—but might there be others hidden away here?
"You think their planning was so careful as all that?" said Volstagg.
"They've lasted this long," said Loki. "I don't believe it was only to destroy the children of their enemies."
"Your highness, should we still prioritize the stealth generator when we know there are sentries about?" said an Einheri.
"We keep to the mission," said Loki. "We need the cloaking system down to make contact with the fleet, and then Heimdall will be able to point us directly to anything awake on this ship."
Hogun nodded. "It won't matter what the sentries do once the ship is crippled and no longer has ability to hide."
Loki cast another projection to scout ahead and make sure they weren't about to be ambushed by sentries, but none appeared. They reached what could only be described as the spine of the ship. It was too much of a risk to use the lift. Thor's target was somewhere above, but theirs was many levels below. They pried the doors open and jammed them in place. Loki brought out ropes from his dimensional pocket, which they secured to the jagged, scale-like surface of the corridor. With a last glance back at the nearest stasis pods, they began their descent into the lift's shaft, leaving two of the Einherjar behind to guard their return.
X
Thor's party reached the engine level with no sign yet of any sentries. How many were there, and where were they? Had they taken it in turns over the last five thousand years to be awake to guard the ship, or were there designated watchers who had to give up the remainder of their lifespans to see the Dokkalfar to the next Convergence?
They found their target—not the engine itself, but the more delicate machinery that connected it to the control from the bridge. The structures would have been difficult to attack from the outside, but they were highly vulnerable to internal sabotage if you could only make it on board. They were plainly visible, branching out on either side of the engine. Thor passed out black hole grenades, and he and the others began attaching them to the branches at regular intervals.
"Brother, how close are you?" he asked the little sprite on his shoulder.
"We're setting the black hole grenades now," the sprite replied in a squeakier imitation of Loki's voice.
"Good." He turned to two of the Einherjar. "Be ready with the skjoldkasters."
"Yes, we wouldn't want to go flying out into space if these breach the hull," said Fandral. The soldiers sheathed their weapons and unstrapped the bulky contraptions from their backs instead. The last time Thor had seen such a tool used was when they patched the holes Hela had left in the Statesman—not that it had helped much when Thanos showed up weeks later.
"No sign of the sentries here," said Thor. "Have you seen any?"
The sprite let out a tiny squeal and its light flickered. At the same time, Fandral gasped and clutched at his side. His hand came away from his armor covered in blood.
"Fandral!" cried Sif, drawing her sword and whirling about. "Where are they?"
"They aren't here, Sif," said Fandral. He coughed and blood stained his lips. "I'm not the one who was stabbed."
Thor's eyes went wide. Father's curse. "Loki."
"Thor, they've found us!" said the sprite. "Blow the targets now!" It sounded pained, and its light was still dimmer than it should be, but Loki was clearly not so badly hurt that he couldn't keep fighting. The sprite emitted muffled sounds of clashing blades, then a loud explosion.
"You heard him!" Thor shouted as red lights blazed to life above them and a siren blared. "Get clear!"
Sif helped Fandral away from the hull and they all scrambled towards the opposite end of the chamber. Thor slapped the detonator the seidrsmiths had built into his bracer. The black hole grenades exploded all at once before imploding with even greater violence, leaving raw craters in the structure of the ship.
There was a rush of air, but the Einherjar didn't waste a second in firing the skjoldkasters. Meshes of golden knotwork flew toward the damage and unfurled, sealing over the holes while the wounded ship groaned around them.
"Thor, Loki, what's happening?" Odin's voice sounded crystal clear through the link to Hlidskjalf. Then Loki's party had succeeded in taking out the stealth generator. The sprite dissolved into sparks; it wouldn't be necessary anymore.
"We've eliminated our targets," Thor growled. Mjolnir flew back into his hand. "General Tyr, bring the fleet. Let's take the rest of the ship."
"Skjoldkaster" translates to "shield-launcher." I'm really pleased with that one, and I love the idea that they have some kind of projectile version of their knotwork magic shield things that they can use to patch holes in spacecrafts.
I've had a rough idea of how I wanted to do the Dark Elf encounter for a very long time, but working out the nitty gritty details of it was a massive pain. How do you keep it interesting (to write, let alone read) when Asgard has all the advantages? Coming up with cool battle strategies didn't cut it, even though that was fun. In earlier drafts, the chunk at the beginning where Thor thinks through the whole strategy was way too long and kind of killed the tension. I pared that down and let it come out more in real time, which helped. In the end, it was the idea of the sentries that finally made it work, and then I remembered that I haven't paid off Odin's curse on Fandral yet, so that was perfect, and it all came together. We'll get Loki's side of that next chapter.
One of the parts I pared down was the explanation of their Dokkalfar bracers. I hope it was still clear that they're all wearing them and their purpose is to disguise them from the ship's security. I figured there are probably at least a few of those black hole grenades lying around on the huge battlefield on Svartalfheim, so that's where those came from.
Loki's communication sprites were my first draft idea for how they keep contact on any kind of mission, but I decided that wasn't good enough for a full-scale military operation, which was where the Hlidskjalf link came in.
Any guesses what the Dokkalfar might be hiding on their ship?