Valkyrie Hunter

I watched the Interceptors circling with a sinking feeling in my gut. They weren’t going to go away. They lined up for the attack run. As one they dived their intention clear. The lead Interceptor exploded. The last instead of jinking left or right in an evasive pattern it suddenly climbed vertically and exploded before it could climb into the clouds. All I could see was a burning ball of wreckage tumbling out of the sky. I lowered my intensifiers and stared at Korja.

“What just happened?” I asked her.

She just shrugged and maintained her watch of the skies.

It darkened overhead almost as if there was a patch of darker clouds. Suddenly several shuttles dropped out of those clouds.

“Red alert!” Korja barked as her Militia scrambled into their positions. She didn’t have proper soldiers just a local Militia of part timers that had other day jobs.

I put my intensifiers to my eyes and focused on the shuttles seeing a familiar logo on their hulls. Two hands surrounded by a wreath could mean only one thing the Alliance was here. I didn’t have time to ponder why they were here I had to stop a slaughter.

“Korja hold fire they may be friendlies?”

“Who are they?” She flipped her Militia a signal one of those peculiar to her Clan.

“TCA,” I told her refraining from calling them the Alliance I doubted she’d understand the distinction.

“TCA what are they doing here?”

“That I don’t know. Hold position for now and do not fire on them unless fired upon.”

Korja quickly relayed my orders to her troops. I was unsure why she was letting me take command.

The shuttles quickly passed overhead to land behind us. I jumped down off my crate and dragged it to the weapons slit at the back close to the door out. The shuttles landed on the grassy plain behind the bunker.

“Korja send out a recon party.” I had an idea. “Send Lori with them. Find why they are here?” I realised belatedly I could have commed them. “Can you contact them on the comms?”

“Sorry ma’am,” the comms operator said. “They aren’t on our local frequency. We’re locked out of all others by the Elders’ command.”

Which meant if they had tried to comm us we wouldn’t have heard them. Damn the Elders and their inflexible rules. The shuttles had landed at least three hundred metres to our rear.

“Ma’am you called for me?” A voice asked.

I turned to see a T’Arni woman standing on the stairs. She was a typical T’Arni her long blonde hair tied up behind her pointed ears. She wore a stout leather jacket, brown pants and leather boots. One the back of one hand was a tattoo on a ‘U’ and an upside down ‘U’ dissected by line. I really didn’t like the fact that Confederacy telepaths were branded in that manner commercial ones that was. Xenai didn’t have one I suspected that was because she was in the TCA.

“Lori can you go with Captain Korja’s Militia and speak to the TCA that have landed. The captain’s people will keep you safe.”

Lori nodded thoughtfully. “If it gets me out of here quicker?”

“I’m sure it will.” I had already made up my mind to ask the TCA commander to take her with them. She’d definitely be safer with the TCA than in a war zone. Hell I didn’t want to be here. So I understood better than most how she was feeling. I glanced across to Korja. “Now we wait.”

She didn’t reply just watched the TCA shuttles.

Korja’s Militia moved towards the waiting shuttles. My eyes were on Lori a child amongst adults. I put my intensifiers to my eyes watching armoured Marines edge out of the shuttles. Korja’s Militia and the Marines approached each other with caution.

“Say again?” Korja said her hand on her earpiece. She must be in contact with her troops. Unfortunately that was as far as her comms would go. I saw her glance at me and nod as she confirmed something. “The TCA have asked to speak to the CO?”

I thought she meant herself. “Looks like the ball’s in your court.” One of those flippant off the cuff comments that often confused Confeds.

“The what now?” She was confused. I didn’t blame her.

“I meant to say you’ll have to talk to them person to person.”

“No, that’ll be you?” she replied without hesitation

Now the boot was on the other foot. “Me?” I said surprised. “I’m not in charge?”

I saw her glance at the silver bangle on my wrist. “You are, you wear silver.”

I let out a deep sigh. “Certain?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Korja said.

It might be the best option in the long run. “Let them know I meet their rep half between the bunkers and the shuttles. If they are agreeable?”

I waited while Korja transmitted my instructions. “Yes that’s fine.” She gestured to one of her troops. Corporal Yasma protect our Silver while she talks to the TCA.”

“Yes ma’am!” Yasma gave a precision Confed salute.

It was warmer outside. Warmer than the Alfheimir I was used to for this time of year. I reckoned I was on one of the southern continents I just didn’t know where. Yasma hovered beside me as we exited the bunker an on the road flanked by rolling plains on knee high to me grass. I was apprehensive about meeting the Alliance but I had to put on my game face even if I was scared inside. Yasma spoke obviously relieved to be away from her fellow Militia.

“Silver?” she asked respectfully. “Am I permitted to ask questions?”

I wondered what this was about there were some things I would not answer. “If you’ll answer mine?”

“To the best of my ability Silver,” she assured me.

I knew she wouldn’t divulge her Clan secrets I wasn’t going to ask her those. “So what is it that you want to know?”

“How do you become a Silver?”

That wasn’t too hard to answer. “I was honouring a pledge to friend to return her soul to Alfheimir and hunt down the one that killed her.” I shrugged. “It turned out different to what I had planned.”

“I see.”

I doubted that she did. “The Elders gave me a choice to train with them or to never leave Alfheimir.” I waved my bracelet in her face. “I chose to train, they gave me the first one to pursue Solstrid’s killer. It was their symbol of authority and that I was acting as their proxy.”

“First one?” Yasma sounded surprised that I’d had more than one bracelet. And if hadn’t had my hand blown off Runa wouldn’t have slapped that second one on my wrist.

“I lost my hand in a battle.” I shuddered trying hard to throw off the images in my mind and the cold feeling in my spine. I had to go on even if it brought back hurtful memories, memories of my failure to act quicker and to have not frozen at the worst moment. I shut out those painful memories and I couldn’t let it overwhelm me. I had a job to do.

“You have actually seen combat!” Yasma stared at me in awe. “No wonder Captain Korja refers to you?”

“And you resent that?” I had to ask. Otherwise things could be problematic to say the least.

“Not in the slightest,” Yasma replied promptly. “Most of us have never fired a gun in anger. The best we could do is target practice on a range once a month. “

“Technically I’m not a soldier.” I wasn’t even a Lieutenant in the Alliance. Well as far as I was concerned. I was only one because of Xenai’s ruse to fool the Valkyrie and look how well that went.

“Nor are any of us.” Yasma gestured to the rolling plains of grass around us. “I work on a Rantso.”

“Rantso?” Then I remembered that it was. The equivalent would be a ranch on Earth those great sprawling tracks of land for the growing and care of cattle. In the Valkyrie case herds of Voedi.

“Yes Silver. We herd Voedi, ours have the best meat in all of Alfheimir,” she said without boasting. “I joined the Militia because conflict is bad for business.” I saw her glance to the bunker. That or being laid off.”

I understood her dilemma. “We best get moving and please don’t call me Silver. I’m Gwen.”

“Of course Silver, I mean Gwen.”

I felt better about that although it did little to quell the churning in my gut. “We best not keep the TCA waiting.” I gestured for her to follow. Together we headed to the waiting Marines.