Post by eez on Feb 26, 2010 1:20:26 GMT -5
((Well, well! Long time no update! It's been a while since I last left a little piece on this board so I figured one wouldn't hurt every so often.
Enjoy!))
"Explain yourselves!"
A furious slam ranged throughout the stretched out chamber, and the shape of two women in battle armour and dress jumped in place; neither of them having the courage to look their fearsome leader in the eyes.
"But Ship Matriarch Brun!" The skinny, blonde woman stuttered in her thick accent, gesturing with open palms to calm and appease the burly, irate woman before her. "Our fighters were outnumbered at least twenty-to-one! There was no way we could possibly have pulled off that cargo vessel!"
"Yah, Sig is right!" The chunkier of the duo interjected, nodding in quick session. "We were poorly outmatched and outgun—!"
"SILENCE!"
Both women shut up at once as Brun, the impressive woman that she was, rose to her full formidable height and easily cast her shadow upon the shrinking, incompetent fodder before her; her battle staff sparking with angry, red energy at its tip. "Sig! Hilda!" She screamed in her equally thick, nasally accent.
"Do you not know what it means to be a true Valkyran raider?" Brun asked in a deceptively calm question.
The women known as Sig and Hilda glanced at each other briefly before coming up with replies.
"Uh…to prey upon the weak?" Sig spoke up.
"To…take advantage of others?" Hilda added.
"WRONG." Brun howled in disgust, taking a swing at the two lugheads with a mighty slice of her weapon. Sig and Hilda backed away just in time, avoiding a nasty clobbering, but that would be minimal to what their leader would do in her current bout of rage. "A true Valkyran raider knows the Valkyran way, and the Valkyran way is for the STRONG to prey upon the weak, and failure is not STRONG!" She snarled again, grinding her teeth.
"Oh, yah…That does sound like the Valkyran way, all right." Sig murmured with a little nod to Hilda.
"Yah, it does…"
Brun could only slap her face and wipe her hand down its length upon hearing what her raiders had to say about being reminded of the one piece of code every Valkyran was taught at a young age.
"Ugh, you are dismissed—the both of you." She mumbled in disgust, waving the two of them off with a disappointed hand. "I do not wish to see your incompetent faces for the rest of the flight—they would remind me only of your blundering insult of a failure achieved today. Now, GO!" She growled, stomping a massive foot to get them going.
Sig and Hilda went without another word, and no sooner had they left her private chambers, Burn grit her teeth again and twisted her face into a nasty snarl; her weapon sparkling with even greater intensity as she swung it once to relieve some anger.
It merely whistled through the air, however, and nothing could be gained other than looking ridiculous at wasting her precious time and energy upon something so passive as air. It should have been one of those louts who deserved a good whacking, but as it stood, she needed them and it would do no greater purpose to have a wounded raider in the infirmary; even if it would teach them a great deal of good.
"Hmph, they are not worth my time." Brun grumbled to herself, setting her weapon back at her side, up straight and erect. "I should be focusing on that no good Galactic Alliance."
The Galactic Alliance. The name was a bane upon her people's tongues, and ever since they had learned to join together and strengthen their numbers, the Galactic Alliance has thus since figured out how to successfully quell a good amount of Valkyran raids. It wasn't like the old days, where the Valkyrans had once ruled these spaceways without discrimination or fear. Now, it was her people who were on the verge of being the weaker of the two.
"Bah!" The indignant woman spat, approaching a hologram console. She brought up the day's agenda: a simple mission to attack a helpless convoy from Bathyos with very valuable prizes and trophies inside. It seemed easy enough, until Brun read the report where her raiders were bested at every turn from Galactic Alliances forces, and then the inevitable loss of the valuables.
The glory.
The honour.
The triumph of hearing the cries of innocents knowing that the Valkyran raiders were the ones who brought upon their excruciating and painful demise!
All lost because her people were inferior.
But most importantly, it was lost because of this:
Another ship came up with a tap, and Brun sneered as she recognized the white and green paint scheme. The twin stabilizer wings, the pointed the nose, the blue insignia of her enemy.
The ship common to none other than—
"Star Command." The name left a bitter sensation within Brun's mouth and her lips parted into a snarl, her hands wringing the metal shaft of her weapon like it was someone's neck in its place.
Star Command has been the reason their raid had failed! Long before those curs flew the void, her people had ruled the spaceways! The thought of her losing to such ignorant outsiders was not only a thorn in her side, but a mockery of her name! A taint upon her honour as Ship Matriarch! She did not rise in the ranks simply upon her good looks!
"Hmph! No matter." Brun mumbled to herself as she closed the console and strode away with confident footsteps. "We Valkyrans will find a new prey to sink our bloodthirsty talons into. And perhaps, if it is worthy, we shall take their technology and tools and use it to further our own advancement in the Cosm—"
"Ship Matriarch Brun!"
The crackle of the intercom barely garnered a snort from the stout woman, and Brun simply kept a firm fist upon her hip while the other hand propped up her weapon to finish off her proud raider pose.
"Yah, what is it." She replied grumpily, obviously disinterested.
"Ship Matriarch, your presence is requested on the bridge."
"Hmph, very well. Prepare for my arrival."
Once the intercom clicked off, signifying that she was once again alone, Brun headed for the bridge with the same, thundering steps she normally carried and was off.
"Ship Matriarch Brun is on-deck!"
All faces on the bridge turned to face their leader as a guard hailed her name, Brun plodding on through and down towards the overlooking ramp to gaze upon them all with critical, steeled eyes.
"At ease." Brun ordered gruffly, the Valkyran raiders going back to their business once their leader dismissed them. Satisfied, Brun turned around and asked a question addressed at no one. "Now, what's this about summoning me here."
Sig and Hilda soon came forth and greeted their leader by thumping a fist upon their chest once, a typical Valkyran gesture of respect, before speaking.
"We have picked up an anomaly just outside this sector." Sig explained, getting nods from Hilda who took her moment to talk after her comrade.
"Yah, but the funny thing is, our scanners cannot pick up a visible entity. Not so much as a speck of dust or scrap."
A strange reading and yet nothing to coincide with it? Sounded like something secret and potentially useful!
"Hmmm…Valkyran raiders!" Brun suddenly shouted, demanding all of their attention. "Set course for that signal and prepare for a brutal and relentless assault!"
"Yah, Ship Matriarch Brun!"
Brun took her seat, at the command station, and felt the warship lurch through the void; stars streaking by, clouds of gas breaking as they rammed through them, until finally…after perhaps a good twenty minutes of warp acceleration, they arrived at the location in question.
"Shields up, weapons at the ready." Brun instructed, leaning forward in her seat with anticipation of a glorious battle; her hands gripping the armrests. "If there's something out there, they will be given the glory of receiving a ready Valkyran welcome."
The ship pulled out of warp speed and the white streaks morphed back into stars as the Valkyrans could see the vast blackness of space before them. Nothing, however, could be seen besides that and Brun left her seat with a start to walk down towards the edge of the overlooking ramp.
"Status!" She yelled, furrowing her brow at the emptiness.
"Sensors are still emitting those strange readings out yonder, yah, but there be nothing out there to look at!" A Valkyran operator remarked over her shoulder as more confirmed the same result.
"Something doesn't seem right, Ship Matriarch…" Hilda growled, letting her weapon spark within her palms. "Something is out there…waiting for us…"
"Yah, something…" Sig growled back, adding to the tension.
Their concerns did not reach deaf ears, and Brun narrowed her eyes as her instincts began to tingle and itch in the back of her mind.
"Be as that may, Valkyrans do not run from a potentially glorious and rewarding fight." She murmured under her breath, finally deciding upon a plan of action. "Valkyrans! Full speed ahead and show no mercy!"
"Yah, Ship Matriarch Brun!"
But no sooner has her commands left her throat, an invisible grip took hold of the ship and rattled it senseless; the raiders bracing whatever they could for support as those less quick on their toes let out cries of alarm while they toppled out of their seats.
"Battle stations!" Brun hollered defiantly, as the rest of her crew futilely tried to take control of their ship from the mysterious entity.
There came a sudden, unexpected rumble from deep within and just as Brun thought her ship would be torn apart from the cruel jostling, the space in front of them rippled and what was once black soon faded into a rich shade of purple; an apparent hull of a ship more than fifty times their own size.
"By the Old Gods!" Hilda exclaimed in awe, looking up from her cover. "Look at the size of that monster!" She cried.
"Yah! Its main guns can rip us to pieces in one shot!" Sig yelled back, the rest of the raiders gasping in unison while Brun could only curse her bold stupidity.
Fool! It had been an obvious trap and she led them right into it! The energy signature belonged to a massive dreadnaught apparently cloaked and lying in wait for them!
"I don't know where that ship came from, but we're going to send it back to the void from whence it came! Prepare to fire on my command!" Brun ordered at the top of her lungs.
"But we'll be crushed!" Sig and Hilda objected in unison to their enraged leader.
"I said prepare to FIRE!"
The raiders didn't dare to question a second time and they furiously scrambled for their stations, targeting the ship's forward hull with their own weak, pathetic guns. It would be a terrible battle, but it beat being taken alive as prisoners and none of them would stoop so low as to be slaves to anyone.
But just as the targeting system had finished coordinating all its guns upon the massive bastion, nothing happened once Brun gave the order.
In fact, the system remained blank and would not respond at all.
"Why aren't we blowing holes into that monster's hide!?" Brun snapped at once, enraged that she might possibly be denied a victorious death. "Why aren't we firing!? Sig! Hilda!"
"Our targeting systems have been disabled!" Sig stammered.
"And our shields!" Hilda added with tense tone.
"Bah! Valkyrans! Initiate a swift retreat!" How those words stung upon her tongue as Brun said them. She couldn't believe it had not the raiders madly tried to fulfill the order.
A few seconds passed, without any movement, and Brun snarled down upon her raiders with a vehement snort.
"Why aren't we moving!? Pick any starchart and go!"
"Our thrusters have been impaired, Ship Matriarch Brun!" An operator cried out shrilly, none of them able to bring anything online. They were floating dead in space, with that giant ship before them still looming of their ship ominously.
"Neptar be cursed!" Brun spat at her misfortune. With a furious start, the tank of a woman leaped from her seat and slammed onto the ground below, her impressive girth causing a strong tremor upon her feet connecting with the metal. "If we cannot fight from the mothership, then we will take the personal fighters! Sig! Hilda! Get those systems running while I take a squad to begin our assa—!"
"Boarding vessel incoming!" One of the operators interrupted with a cry, an excited hand pointing to small winking space craft fast approaching their lame position. The raiders began to talk amongst themselves, wondering what would happen as their ship had never been boarded before by an enemy craft. How did they react? How did they respond? All eyes turned to Brun for support as the Ship Matriarch lifted up her weapon and began to rally them.
"Valkyrans! To the docking bay!" She yelled, passionately waving a hand madly in the air for them all to follow.
With a flurry of bootsteps, the raiders marched towards the only docking bay within their ship; their weapons poised and ready for battle as Brun stood over them all, a looming sentinel overlooking her warriors. Brun signaled squads of four to five raiders to take cover at various places and not a moment too soon as the docking bay guard began to rise and allow passage to whatever invader dared to come their way.
"Steady…Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes." Brun growled, her voice low.
Everyone watched with tentative eyes as the oddly purple boarding vessel eased itself into the docking bay. None of them had ever seen the model and that caused even more anxiety as the ship began to land; its gear creating a sharp hiss to penetrate the still air as the pistons went to work. Every raider within earshot primed their weapons, holding them up to fire, and for a moment, Brun could only hear the sharp whines they produced over her beating heart.
Something, something small, began to stir from inside the vessel and not a single one of them—not even Brun, who had weathered many battles and atrocities—could be prepared as a hovering device, no bigger than a small child, came floating out of the ship and over towards them at a dainty, leisurely pace.
"Argh, some sort of seeker spy!" Hilda growled as she raised her weapon with the intent to open fire and destroy it. "I will make short work of it and then we can use its metal carcass for scrap!"
"Wait, Hilda!" Brun laid a hand upon her eager cohort's weapon and lowered it firmly. "This is no seeker spy I have ever seen…"
The raiders watched as their leader approached the intruder; slowly, cautiously. The metallic thing didn't seem to move, didn't seem to register, and didn't seem to do anything in particular, until…
It stirred.
Brun felt her palms begin to clam up, her fingers almost red from the tension of gripping her weapon so hard. What if she was wrong? What if this was a bomb? Some agent to release a dangerous nerve toxin?
No! Such thoughts are for the weak! This thing, whatever or whoever sent it, was about to learn that one never messes with a proud Valkyran rai—.
A sudden high-pitched noise was released from the probe and a beam of light shot out from its underside, positioning itself straight down onto the floor. The instant display caused Brun to jump at the sight of something so new and her instincts roused up adrenaline, her weapon snapped up in alarm; the rest of the raiders followed their leader's suit, and raised their weapons as well.
"What's it doing?!" Sig hissed, nudging Hilda with an elbow.
"I don't know, but it looks like it's…it's…leaving a purple…carpet?"
Both dumbfounded goons could only stare at each other and back with gaping mouths, as the drone finished whatever it was set out to do; the purple strip finishing itself right before Brun and the docked ship's only airlock rising up with a sharp snap to reveal a startling surprise.
"By the Gods!"
The was all Brun had time to shout out in disbelief as she at once, in a flustered moment, dropped to one knee and kneeled; her gaze cast down and her weapon upright at her side. The rest of the Valkyrans obediently followed shortly, as the perceived invader came forth down the purple strip and made themselves known.
"Your daughters bid you welcome, Oh Lord Neptar; Rightful Conqueror of the Cosmos." Brun spoke humbly, lifting her head as Neptar, the Old God of their ways, advanced closer to her form. "Prithee, what brings you from the Endless Void?" She asked, gesturing with open arms as a sign of humility before the Old God.
The Old God spoke, and all listened.
"The Void tells of your struggles, Ship Matriarch Brun." The Old God's voice echoed. "And the spineless cowards of the infidel faction boast of their victories against the proud Valkyrans."
A wince was displayed across Brun's face and she let her head fall back down in shame.
"….Yes, it is so." She spoke, the words like acid slowly dripping down her throat and into her heart as she admitted their accruing failures. "For once, we Valkyrans are pressed, forced back into the fringes of the galaxy; an exodus of ignominy!" She growled at her conclusion.
"The Void has told me so." The Old God nodded ever so slightly. "The Valkyran ways of raiding and conquest are outdated; inferior. They are waning in the might of the infidels."
A collective gasp escaped from the raiders and Brun snapped her heads up, her ears not believing what she was hearing from an Old God.
"But Neptar, Oh Just Fury!" She objected, aghast. "We have always upheld our sacred traditions! Without tradition, we are no better than the Raenoks!"
"And like the Raenoks, if you do not change in some way, the self-righteous infidels will crush you into submission and banish you from the minds of all." And thus, the Old God addressed them all. "The Valkyran, for too long, have let themselves grown lax; letting the infidels advance in their technologies and their sciences. Because of this, the infidels have progressed to the point where the Valkyrans are no longer a match to their might. And soon, if this is allowed to continue, the Valkyrans will no longer be a match to anyone as the infidels spread their knowledge and ideas."
The words could never be truer.
The Valkyrans knew that their technology had suffered, most of them relying upon scrap and junk drifting out in space for parts and new technology. They were no better than filthy scavengers, and Brun was eternally grateful that Neptar, the Old God of her people's ways, came forth to take the time and give them audience of the fact.
"What are your daughters to do, Neptar, Oh Eternally Wrathful?" Brun remarked. "With limited resources and lack of a planet to inhabit, the Valkyran cannot hope to catch up with the infidels in the race for superiority. We are no better than collectors, taking any garbage we find from the infidels and their allies. And with our ships spread thin and our Ship Matriarchs far and few, how are we to unite and prosper?"
"To which is the reason why I have left the Void to come and grant you audience." The Old God stated.
The raiders looked amongst themselves, their expressions clearly confused, but all eyes remained upon their leader and to the Old God before her.
"Did the Valkyran admit defeat when their planet succumbed to the natural forces of the Cosmos?" The Old God continued. "Did the Valkyran admit defeat when the outsiders from beyond the rim sought out to enslave them, pushing them further and further into the coldest reaches of the void? And did they, the Valkyrans, admit defeat when the infidels' war machines char the homes of your fledging colonies?"
"No, Neptar, Oh Just Might." Brun replied, bowing her head again. "We have never forgotten the crimes against us and how our people survived each trial thrust before us. And we have certainly not forgotten of your merciful aid to us in the past; for without you, we Valkyrans would be reduced to the stuff of myths and legends."
And as Brun reiterated these facts, the raiders bowed their heads before the Old God and gave thanks in their native tongues in unison.
"And neither shall you witness defeat at the hands of the infidels' science." The Old God spoke unto them.
Brun raised her head at this, and kept her dignity as she begged at the Old God to explain.
"How, Oh Neptar?" She asked sincerely, full of emotion. "How will your daughters regain favour in your kind, fearsome eyes? How will your daughters bring glory and honour to your revered name?"
"I bring you a gift from the Old Gods—from the Void itself. A gift that will grant you my cloak from this world—to slip away from this world at whim."
The mentioning of a gift from an Old God got them all buzzing with surprised whispers, but the Old God quickly held up a hand and silenced them back into reverence.
"However, in order for you to receive my blessing, you must pass the test that comes with it."
"Of course, Neptar, Old God of Conquest!" Brun nearly shouted passionately, a fist pounding against her chest once proudly. If Neptar chose to grant them the ability to appear and reappear into space at whim, then by the Old Gods, they must pass this test and earn Neptar's rightful place! "Name the Old Gods' trial and your daughters will bring glory to you at once!"
"Very well. Your test is to avenge not only an injustice to the Void, but an injustice to your father." Neptar's eyes burned, bathing Brun in an eerie red glow.
Brun grit her teeth, and a great fire consumed her spirit at the notion of someone stealing from the Old Gods themselves. Cowards! Weaklings! Vandals! Who dares to commit so wicked a crime!?
"Who dares to steal from you, Oh Neptar!? Your daughters will crush them without mercy!" She emphasized by crushing something imaginary within her wide, thick fist.
"The infidels." The Old God sneered. And no sooner has the raiders heard the culprit, they let out low hisses and curses at the foul name. "They have stolen from your father items of great interest and importance, and your father would like them back. Do this, and my blessing will shine upon my daughters, the Valkyran—my instruments of war."
"It will be done, and your daughters will earn your eternal love and glory as we smite those sickly thieves!" Brun clamoured. "We will leave no mercy to taint your wishes and we will prove that the Valkyran are, in every honour, able wear your horns with pride!"
The raiders whooped and rallied their battle cries, weapons raised at their leader's promise to avenge an Old God, and the Old One by the name of Neptar seemed please with their answer.
"And I expect nothing less from my daughters. Now, go." The Old God commanded. "Go forth and unleash Neptar's bidding; right what has been wrong and bring back what has been stolen."
The raiders howled, bloodthirsty and eager to appease their Old God, even when their glorious presence left and their bastion of battle long faded out of their mortal realm and into the Void beyond.
"Ship Matriarch Brun!" Sig and Hilda saluted together. "The Old God has given us the selected targets as well as their glorious token of battle! Our ship is now capable of interdimensional phasing!" They cried in tandem, riled up with emotion. "What are your orders!?"
Brun was already within her seat, her weapon proudly at her side and her face hardened with determination.
"We do what Neptar has asked of his daughters!" She bellowed, thumping her weapon once upon the floor and producing a loud ring. "Where is our first target for glory!?"
"In the Beta Sector, yah! Near the world of the Binipinardians, yah!"
"Then we shall begin our conquest there! Valkyrans! Phase out!"
"Yah, Ship Matriarch Brun!"
There came a ripple, and where once stood a proud, pristine Valkyran war ship soon warped into nothing; their god's blessing giving them all they needed to fulfill their test.
A new terror would be unleashed that day, and it would be utterly and completely…
Glorious.
Enjoy!))
"Explain yourselves!"
A furious slam ranged throughout the stretched out chamber, and the shape of two women in battle armour and dress jumped in place; neither of them having the courage to look their fearsome leader in the eyes.
"But Ship Matriarch Brun!" The skinny, blonde woman stuttered in her thick accent, gesturing with open palms to calm and appease the burly, irate woman before her. "Our fighters were outnumbered at least twenty-to-one! There was no way we could possibly have pulled off that cargo vessel!"
"Yah, Sig is right!" The chunkier of the duo interjected, nodding in quick session. "We were poorly outmatched and outgun—!"
"SILENCE!"
Both women shut up at once as Brun, the impressive woman that she was, rose to her full formidable height and easily cast her shadow upon the shrinking, incompetent fodder before her; her battle staff sparking with angry, red energy at its tip. "Sig! Hilda!" She screamed in her equally thick, nasally accent.
"Do you not know what it means to be a true Valkyran raider?" Brun asked in a deceptively calm question.
The women known as Sig and Hilda glanced at each other briefly before coming up with replies.
"Uh…to prey upon the weak?" Sig spoke up.
"To…take advantage of others?" Hilda added.
"WRONG." Brun howled in disgust, taking a swing at the two lugheads with a mighty slice of her weapon. Sig and Hilda backed away just in time, avoiding a nasty clobbering, but that would be minimal to what their leader would do in her current bout of rage. "A true Valkyran raider knows the Valkyran way, and the Valkyran way is for the STRONG to prey upon the weak, and failure is not STRONG!" She snarled again, grinding her teeth.
"Oh, yah…That does sound like the Valkyran way, all right." Sig murmured with a little nod to Hilda.
"Yah, it does…"
Brun could only slap her face and wipe her hand down its length upon hearing what her raiders had to say about being reminded of the one piece of code every Valkyran was taught at a young age.
"Ugh, you are dismissed—the both of you." She mumbled in disgust, waving the two of them off with a disappointed hand. "I do not wish to see your incompetent faces for the rest of the flight—they would remind me only of your blundering insult of a failure achieved today. Now, GO!" She growled, stomping a massive foot to get them going.
Sig and Hilda went without another word, and no sooner had they left her private chambers, Burn grit her teeth again and twisted her face into a nasty snarl; her weapon sparkling with even greater intensity as she swung it once to relieve some anger.
It merely whistled through the air, however, and nothing could be gained other than looking ridiculous at wasting her precious time and energy upon something so passive as air. It should have been one of those louts who deserved a good whacking, but as it stood, she needed them and it would do no greater purpose to have a wounded raider in the infirmary; even if it would teach them a great deal of good.
"Hmph, they are not worth my time." Brun grumbled to herself, setting her weapon back at her side, up straight and erect. "I should be focusing on that no good Galactic Alliance."
The Galactic Alliance. The name was a bane upon her people's tongues, and ever since they had learned to join together and strengthen their numbers, the Galactic Alliance has thus since figured out how to successfully quell a good amount of Valkyran raids. It wasn't like the old days, where the Valkyrans had once ruled these spaceways without discrimination or fear. Now, it was her people who were on the verge of being the weaker of the two.
"Bah!" The indignant woman spat, approaching a hologram console. She brought up the day's agenda: a simple mission to attack a helpless convoy from Bathyos with very valuable prizes and trophies inside. It seemed easy enough, until Brun read the report where her raiders were bested at every turn from Galactic Alliances forces, and then the inevitable loss of the valuables.
The glory.
The honour.
The triumph of hearing the cries of innocents knowing that the Valkyran raiders were the ones who brought upon their excruciating and painful demise!
All lost because her people were inferior.
But most importantly, it was lost because of this:
Another ship came up with a tap, and Brun sneered as she recognized the white and green paint scheme. The twin stabilizer wings, the pointed the nose, the blue insignia of her enemy.
The ship common to none other than—
"Star Command." The name left a bitter sensation within Brun's mouth and her lips parted into a snarl, her hands wringing the metal shaft of her weapon like it was someone's neck in its place.
Star Command has been the reason their raid had failed! Long before those curs flew the void, her people had ruled the spaceways! The thought of her losing to such ignorant outsiders was not only a thorn in her side, but a mockery of her name! A taint upon her honour as Ship Matriarch! She did not rise in the ranks simply upon her good looks!
"Hmph! No matter." Brun mumbled to herself as she closed the console and strode away with confident footsteps. "We Valkyrans will find a new prey to sink our bloodthirsty talons into. And perhaps, if it is worthy, we shall take their technology and tools and use it to further our own advancement in the Cosm—"
"Ship Matriarch Brun!"
The crackle of the intercom barely garnered a snort from the stout woman, and Brun simply kept a firm fist upon her hip while the other hand propped up her weapon to finish off her proud raider pose.
"Yah, what is it." She replied grumpily, obviously disinterested.
"Ship Matriarch, your presence is requested on the bridge."
"Hmph, very well. Prepare for my arrival."
Once the intercom clicked off, signifying that she was once again alone, Brun headed for the bridge with the same, thundering steps she normally carried and was off.
"Ship Matriarch Brun is on-deck!"
All faces on the bridge turned to face their leader as a guard hailed her name, Brun plodding on through and down towards the overlooking ramp to gaze upon them all with critical, steeled eyes.
"At ease." Brun ordered gruffly, the Valkyran raiders going back to their business once their leader dismissed them. Satisfied, Brun turned around and asked a question addressed at no one. "Now, what's this about summoning me here."
Sig and Hilda soon came forth and greeted their leader by thumping a fist upon their chest once, a typical Valkyran gesture of respect, before speaking.
"We have picked up an anomaly just outside this sector." Sig explained, getting nods from Hilda who took her moment to talk after her comrade.
"Yah, but the funny thing is, our scanners cannot pick up a visible entity. Not so much as a speck of dust or scrap."
A strange reading and yet nothing to coincide with it? Sounded like something secret and potentially useful!
"Hmmm…Valkyran raiders!" Brun suddenly shouted, demanding all of their attention. "Set course for that signal and prepare for a brutal and relentless assault!"
"Yah, Ship Matriarch Brun!"
Brun took her seat, at the command station, and felt the warship lurch through the void; stars streaking by, clouds of gas breaking as they rammed through them, until finally…after perhaps a good twenty minutes of warp acceleration, they arrived at the location in question.
"Shields up, weapons at the ready." Brun instructed, leaning forward in her seat with anticipation of a glorious battle; her hands gripping the armrests. "If there's something out there, they will be given the glory of receiving a ready Valkyran welcome."
The ship pulled out of warp speed and the white streaks morphed back into stars as the Valkyrans could see the vast blackness of space before them. Nothing, however, could be seen besides that and Brun left her seat with a start to walk down towards the edge of the overlooking ramp.
"Status!" She yelled, furrowing her brow at the emptiness.
"Sensors are still emitting those strange readings out yonder, yah, but there be nothing out there to look at!" A Valkyran operator remarked over her shoulder as more confirmed the same result.
"Something doesn't seem right, Ship Matriarch…" Hilda growled, letting her weapon spark within her palms. "Something is out there…waiting for us…"
"Yah, something…" Sig growled back, adding to the tension.
Their concerns did not reach deaf ears, and Brun narrowed her eyes as her instincts began to tingle and itch in the back of her mind.
"Be as that may, Valkyrans do not run from a potentially glorious and rewarding fight." She murmured under her breath, finally deciding upon a plan of action. "Valkyrans! Full speed ahead and show no mercy!"
"Yah, Ship Matriarch Brun!"
But no sooner has her commands left her throat, an invisible grip took hold of the ship and rattled it senseless; the raiders bracing whatever they could for support as those less quick on their toes let out cries of alarm while they toppled out of their seats.
"Battle stations!" Brun hollered defiantly, as the rest of her crew futilely tried to take control of their ship from the mysterious entity.
There came a sudden, unexpected rumble from deep within and just as Brun thought her ship would be torn apart from the cruel jostling, the space in front of them rippled and what was once black soon faded into a rich shade of purple; an apparent hull of a ship more than fifty times their own size.
"By the Old Gods!" Hilda exclaimed in awe, looking up from her cover. "Look at the size of that monster!" She cried.
"Yah! Its main guns can rip us to pieces in one shot!" Sig yelled back, the rest of the raiders gasping in unison while Brun could only curse her bold stupidity.
Fool! It had been an obvious trap and she led them right into it! The energy signature belonged to a massive dreadnaught apparently cloaked and lying in wait for them!
"I don't know where that ship came from, but we're going to send it back to the void from whence it came! Prepare to fire on my command!" Brun ordered at the top of her lungs.
"But we'll be crushed!" Sig and Hilda objected in unison to their enraged leader.
"I said prepare to FIRE!"
The raiders didn't dare to question a second time and they furiously scrambled for their stations, targeting the ship's forward hull with their own weak, pathetic guns. It would be a terrible battle, but it beat being taken alive as prisoners and none of them would stoop so low as to be slaves to anyone.
But just as the targeting system had finished coordinating all its guns upon the massive bastion, nothing happened once Brun gave the order.
In fact, the system remained blank and would not respond at all.
"Why aren't we blowing holes into that monster's hide!?" Brun snapped at once, enraged that she might possibly be denied a victorious death. "Why aren't we firing!? Sig! Hilda!"
"Our targeting systems have been disabled!" Sig stammered.
"And our shields!" Hilda added with tense tone.
"Bah! Valkyrans! Initiate a swift retreat!" How those words stung upon her tongue as Brun said them. She couldn't believe it had not the raiders madly tried to fulfill the order.
A few seconds passed, without any movement, and Brun snarled down upon her raiders with a vehement snort.
"Why aren't we moving!? Pick any starchart and go!"
"Our thrusters have been impaired, Ship Matriarch Brun!" An operator cried out shrilly, none of them able to bring anything online. They were floating dead in space, with that giant ship before them still looming of their ship ominously.
"Neptar be cursed!" Brun spat at her misfortune. With a furious start, the tank of a woman leaped from her seat and slammed onto the ground below, her impressive girth causing a strong tremor upon her feet connecting with the metal. "If we cannot fight from the mothership, then we will take the personal fighters! Sig! Hilda! Get those systems running while I take a squad to begin our assa—!"
"Boarding vessel incoming!" One of the operators interrupted with a cry, an excited hand pointing to small winking space craft fast approaching their lame position. The raiders began to talk amongst themselves, wondering what would happen as their ship had never been boarded before by an enemy craft. How did they react? How did they respond? All eyes turned to Brun for support as the Ship Matriarch lifted up her weapon and began to rally them.
"Valkyrans! To the docking bay!" She yelled, passionately waving a hand madly in the air for them all to follow.
With a flurry of bootsteps, the raiders marched towards the only docking bay within their ship; their weapons poised and ready for battle as Brun stood over them all, a looming sentinel overlooking her warriors. Brun signaled squads of four to five raiders to take cover at various places and not a moment too soon as the docking bay guard began to rise and allow passage to whatever invader dared to come their way.
"Steady…Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes." Brun growled, her voice low.
Everyone watched with tentative eyes as the oddly purple boarding vessel eased itself into the docking bay. None of them had ever seen the model and that caused even more anxiety as the ship began to land; its gear creating a sharp hiss to penetrate the still air as the pistons went to work. Every raider within earshot primed their weapons, holding them up to fire, and for a moment, Brun could only hear the sharp whines they produced over her beating heart.
Something, something small, began to stir from inside the vessel and not a single one of them—not even Brun, who had weathered many battles and atrocities—could be prepared as a hovering device, no bigger than a small child, came floating out of the ship and over towards them at a dainty, leisurely pace.
"Argh, some sort of seeker spy!" Hilda growled as she raised her weapon with the intent to open fire and destroy it. "I will make short work of it and then we can use its metal carcass for scrap!"
"Wait, Hilda!" Brun laid a hand upon her eager cohort's weapon and lowered it firmly. "This is no seeker spy I have ever seen…"
The raiders watched as their leader approached the intruder; slowly, cautiously. The metallic thing didn't seem to move, didn't seem to register, and didn't seem to do anything in particular, until…
It stirred.
Brun felt her palms begin to clam up, her fingers almost red from the tension of gripping her weapon so hard. What if she was wrong? What if this was a bomb? Some agent to release a dangerous nerve toxin?
No! Such thoughts are for the weak! This thing, whatever or whoever sent it, was about to learn that one never messes with a proud Valkyran rai—.
A sudden high-pitched noise was released from the probe and a beam of light shot out from its underside, positioning itself straight down onto the floor. The instant display caused Brun to jump at the sight of something so new and her instincts roused up adrenaline, her weapon snapped up in alarm; the rest of the raiders followed their leader's suit, and raised their weapons as well.
"What's it doing?!" Sig hissed, nudging Hilda with an elbow.
"I don't know, but it looks like it's…it's…leaving a purple…carpet?"
Both dumbfounded goons could only stare at each other and back with gaping mouths, as the drone finished whatever it was set out to do; the purple strip finishing itself right before Brun and the docked ship's only airlock rising up with a sharp snap to reveal a startling surprise.
"By the Gods!"
The was all Brun had time to shout out in disbelief as she at once, in a flustered moment, dropped to one knee and kneeled; her gaze cast down and her weapon upright at her side. The rest of the Valkyrans obediently followed shortly, as the perceived invader came forth down the purple strip and made themselves known.
"Your daughters bid you welcome, Oh Lord Neptar; Rightful Conqueror of the Cosmos." Brun spoke humbly, lifting her head as Neptar, the Old God of their ways, advanced closer to her form. "Prithee, what brings you from the Endless Void?" She asked, gesturing with open arms as a sign of humility before the Old God.
The Old God spoke, and all listened.
"The Void tells of your struggles, Ship Matriarch Brun." The Old God's voice echoed. "And the spineless cowards of the infidel faction boast of their victories against the proud Valkyrans."
A wince was displayed across Brun's face and she let her head fall back down in shame.
"….Yes, it is so." She spoke, the words like acid slowly dripping down her throat and into her heart as she admitted their accruing failures. "For once, we Valkyrans are pressed, forced back into the fringes of the galaxy; an exodus of ignominy!" She growled at her conclusion.
"The Void has told me so." The Old God nodded ever so slightly. "The Valkyran ways of raiding and conquest are outdated; inferior. They are waning in the might of the infidels."
A collective gasp escaped from the raiders and Brun snapped her heads up, her ears not believing what she was hearing from an Old God.
"But Neptar, Oh Just Fury!" She objected, aghast. "We have always upheld our sacred traditions! Without tradition, we are no better than the Raenoks!"
"And like the Raenoks, if you do not change in some way, the self-righteous infidels will crush you into submission and banish you from the minds of all." And thus, the Old God addressed them all. "The Valkyran, for too long, have let themselves grown lax; letting the infidels advance in their technologies and their sciences. Because of this, the infidels have progressed to the point where the Valkyrans are no longer a match to their might. And soon, if this is allowed to continue, the Valkyrans will no longer be a match to anyone as the infidels spread their knowledge and ideas."
The words could never be truer.
The Valkyrans knew that their technology had suffered, most of them relying upon scrap and junk drifting out in space for parts and new technology. They were no better than filthy scavengers, and Brun was eternally grateful that Neptar, the Old God of her people's ways, came forth to take the time and give them audience of the fact.
"What are your daughters to do, Neptar, Oh Eternally Wrathful?" Brun remarked. "With limited resources and lack of a planet to inhabit, the Valkyran cannot hope to catch up with the infidels in the race for superiority. We are no better than collectors, taking any garbage we find from the infidels and their allies. And with our ships spread thin and our Ship Matriarchs far and few, how are we to unite and prosper?"
"To which is the reason why I have left the Void to come and grant you audience." The Old God stated.
The raiders looked amongst themselves, their expressions clearly confused, but all eyes remained upon their leader and to the Old God before her.
"Did the Valkyran admit defeat when their planet succumbed to the natural forces of the Cosmos?" The Old God continued. "Did the Valkyran admit defeat when the outsiders from beyond the rim sought out to enslave them, pushing them further and further into the coldest reaches of the void? And did they, the Valkyrans, admit defeat when the infidels' war machines char the homes of your fledging colonies?"
"No, Neptar, Oh Just Might." Brun replied, bowing her head again. "We have never forgotten the crimes against us and how our people survived each trial thrust before us. And we have certainly not forgotten of your merciful aid to us in the past; for without you, we Valkyrans would be reduced to the stuff of myths and legends."
And as Brun reiterated these facts, the raiders bowed their heads before the Old God and gave thanks in their native tongues in unison.
"And neither shall you witness defeat at the hands of the infidels' science." The Old God spoke unto them.
Brun raised her head at this, and kept her dignity as she begged at the Old God to explain.
"How, Oh Neptar?" She asked sincerely, full of emotion. "How will your daughters regain favour in your kind, fearsome eyes? How will your daughters bring glory and honour to your revered name?"
"I bring you a gift from the Old Gods—from the Void itself. A gift that will grant you my cloak from this world—to slip away from this world at whim."
The mentioning of a gift from an Old God got them all buzzing with surprised whispers, but the Old God quickly held up a hand and silenced them back into reverence.
"However, in order for you to receive my blessing, you must pass the test that comes with it."
"Of course, Neptar, Old God of Conquest!" Brun nearly shouted passionately, a fist pounding against her chest once proudly. If Neptar chose to grant them the ability to appear and reappear into space at whim, then by the Old Gods, they must pass this test and earn Neptar's rightful place! "Name the Old Gods' trial and your daughters will bring glory to you at once!"
"Very well. Your test is to avenge not only an injustice to the Void, but an injustice to your father." Neptar's eyes burned, bathing Brun in an eerie red glow.
Brun grit her teeth, and a great fire consumed her spirit at the notion of someone stealing from the Old Gods themselves. Cowards! Weaklings! Vandals! Who dares to commit so wicked a crime!?
"Who dares to steal from you, Oh Neptar!? Your daughters will crush them without mercy!" She emphasized by crushing something imaginary within her wide, thick fist.
"The infidels." The Old God sneered. And no sooner has the raiders heard the culprit, they let out low hisses and curses at the foul name. "They have stolen from your father items of great interest and importance, and your father would like them back. Do this, and my blessing will shine upon my daughters, the Valkyran—my instruments of war."
"It will be done, and your daughters will earn your eternal love and glory as we smite those sickly thieves!" Brun clamoured. "We will leave no mercy to taint your wishes and we will prove that the Valkyran are, in every honour, able wear your horns with pride!"
The raiders whooped and rallied their battle cries, weapons raised at their leader's promise to avenge an Old God, and the Old One by the name of Neptar seemed please with their answer.
"And I expect nothing less from my daughters. Now, go." The Old God commanded. "Go forth and unleash Neptar's bidding; right what has been wrong and bring back what has been stolen."
The raiders howled, bloodthirsty and eager to appease their Old God, even when their glorious presence left and their bastion of battle long faded out of their mortal realm and into the Void beyond.
"Ship Matriarch Brun!" Sig and Hilda saluted together. "The Old God has given us the selected targets as well as their glorious token of battle! Our ship is now capable of interdimensional phasing!" They cried in tandem, riled up with emotion. "What are your orders!?"
Brun was already within her seat, her weapon proudly at her side and her face hardened with determination.
"We do what Neptar has asked of his daughters!" She bellowed, thumping her weapon once upon the floor and producing a loud ring. "Where is our first target for glory!?"
"In the Beta Sector, yah! Near the world of the Binipinardians, yah!"
"Then we shall begin our conquest there! Valkyrans! Phase out!"
"Yah, Ship Matriarch Brun!"
There came a ripple, and where once stood a proud, pristine Valkyran war ship soon warped into nothing; their god's blessing giving them all they needed to fulfill their test.
A new terror would be unleashed that day, and it would be utterly and completely…
Glorious.