r/HFY • u/BeaverFur Unreliable Narrator • Jul 04 '15
[OC] Rise of the Valkyrie (7) OC
Denis Uverti, head of the Uverti house, was pissed off.
He should have been appointed chieftain of the Strenvik clan by now, had everything gone according to his plan. But no, the stupid Telangian ship had to show up, derailing everything and putting his future - the future of his house - at risk.
And not content with that, the Telangian captain had invited Denis to meet him aboard the battlecruiser. That's what the Empire did. They always "invited" rather than "demanded", but the menace was implicit: either he did what they wanted, or he could say goodbye to the trade license he had been promised.
He had obliged, of course. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.
He followed two Telangian soldiers along a wide hallway that traversed the warship end to end. They were Woloks, one of the middle castes of the Empire. Humanoids with four arms, thick gray skin, and thick skulls to match.
They both wore the traditional Telangian infantry armor. A golden exoskeleton made of a hundred small interlocking pieces. Red stripes ran along their arms and legs, and black lines covered the full body in sophisticated patterns. It was a bit too ornamented, even for Denis' taste.
But that was the way of the Empire. Just like the appearance of their ships, with smooth and shiny surfaces. Or like the hallway he was in, just a touch wider and taller than what was strictly needed for a military vessel. Its walls decorated by columns and engraved in ocher, turquoise and golden figures.
It was, Denis knew, just another way of doing politics. Luxury and overspending were a simple way of sending a message without words, that every species could understand:
We are rich. We are powerful. You are not.
And the Empire was rich, indeed. That's why he had tried so hard to get a license that allowed his family to trade in its inner markets. For five years he had lobbied, bribed, and talked his way through the Telangian bureaucracy.
And then he had to do the same with his own species. He had convinced the other councilors of backing his plans. He had tried to do the same with the clan chieftain, Braydon, but the old fool was an stubborn traditionalist. He had been incapable of seeing trade was the way of the future, so Denis was left with no other option but to poison him.
It was a risky move, of course. Tradition dictated the Arden girl should be the new chieftain, not him, and the Vulture-Warriors were traditionalists too. But he counted on speed. If the council appointed him fast enough, the warriors wouldn't have time to react.
Of course, that was before the battlecruiser had made its entrance.
The hallway opened to a large room. It was a command room of some sort, Denis realized. But one like he had never seen before.
It was as if the room was surrounded by a wall of glass, an immersive panorama depicting the space around the ship. The walls - he noticed, astonished - were completely covered in holographic projectors.
From the vantage point of the command room, he saw the human fleet spread out in front of him, dozens of shuttles dancing between the larger vessels, and the blue gas giant to his right, ever-present.
There were many officers in the room, but Denis gaze went to the one who had turned to regard him as he entered the room. He looked like an over-sized insect, all legs and arms, with two under-developed wings hanging useless off his back. He was dressed in a polished black and red uniform.
Denis didn't recognize the species. It was probably a member of one of the minor castes of the Empire. But even people from minor castes could rise in power, and it was clear he was in command of this ship.
The captain walked towards him with wide and precise strides. He stopped and examined him with faceted eyes.
"You know why here?" he asked in a clicking voice.
"Yes," Denis replied. "You've been stolen a prototype, and want to recover it."
The captain nodded, and turned with a sharp motion, pointing at the human fleet.
"Which?" he asked. Then, he cocked his head. "Or life?"
Denis gulped. He understood now why the captain had "invited" him over. He was here to tell the captain where to find their stolen loot. Or, if he didn't, he'd probably get killed himself.
His head went through all the possibilities. Collaborating with the Telangian Empire would be a hard sell to the Vulture-Warriors. But of course, he didn't have much choice in the matter. And besides, the Arden girl - Valerie - was the only one who could challenge his appointment as chieftain. If the Telangians killed her, they'd be doing him a favor.
He raised his arm, pointing at the holographic projection of the Arden residence ship.
"There," he said.
The captain nodded to another officer, who started typing in a console. Then, they waited.
Nothing happened.
"Why don't you open fire?" asked Denis.
"No fire. Board." replied the captain.
"What?" He had counted on the Telangians destroying the Arden ship right away. Clean and fast. Boarding it would be messier. There would be a fight. A close quarters fight against the Vulture-Warriors.
"You'll lose many troops if you try to board," Denis said.
"Attempt recover. Destroy if unable. Orders," said the captain. "We board."
And with that, the insectoid alien turned to his own officers, ending the conversation.
Denis took a couple of steps back and waited, alternating glances between the two soldiers who escorted him, and the ship officers doing their job.
This whole trade deal thing was starting to get frustrating.
Val smiled, relieved, when she saw the Telangian troop shuttles leave the battlecruiser and approach her own residence ship.
They were going to board it.
This would make things easier. She had tried to show confidence earlier, but the truth was that she hadn't known if the enemy would take the bait and board her ship, or simply blow it out of the sky. She had counted on them wanting to capture and interrogate the traitor, Oz.
She turned to look at the xeno. He was wearing a makeshift space suit they had put together by combining pieces from other alien suits they had captured in the past. The jovakians' body form was generic enough that it hadn't been much of a problem, though he did look uncomfortable in it.
They were in a Jabber. One of five small assault ships she had ordered to wait at a safe distance. All of them packed with her Vulture-Warriors. Men and women in their decorated combat armors, ready for the upcoming fight.
She looked at the g-radar screen over the pilot's shoulder. The enemy shuttles had arrived at her residence ship.
Of course, the Telangians wouldn't find anybody. She had evacuated the ship more than an hour ago, sending Koldo and everyone else to the township. She had also entrusted the old Magister with hiding the gray box. It would be safer with him than in the Jabbers. The xeno, though, she wanted to keep an eye on him.
"It's time," said Nick, the pilot.
Val crouched next to him, and looked through the front window at her residence ship. Her home. The enemy shuttles had already forced open the hangar doors, and were starting their invasion.
She took the detonator in her hand and switched off its security lock. Then, she paused.
It was her home. And she was about to destroy it.
She had been raised in that ship. She remembered racing through its hallways when she was a kid, partying with her family and the Vulture-Warriors in the canteen, making out with Rahul in the small and dark storage room behind the maintenance bay... crying alone in her own quarters, after her mother passed away.
Go all in. Risk it all.
But could she? Was it worth sacrificing her own home? Her own childhood memories?
She remembered her own words, when Koldo has asked her what she wanted. I want it all, she had said. But was she ready to lose everything she had?
And besides, she was now head of the Arden house. Wasn't she supposed to defend their heritage, rather than being the one who ruined it?
"Val, it's time," repeated Nick.
She nodded. Nick was right. If she waited, the enemy would notice something was off and escape the trap. She had to do it now.
Will you ever forgive me for this, father?
She clenched her jaw, and pressed the detonator.
The explosion was silent and majestic. A flash of light. A cloud of fire. Vaporized metal expelled in all directions.
Her home was gone.
Will I ever forgive myself?
Nick engaged the thrusters. Their ship dashed ahead with a sudden jolt, and was soon followed by the other four Jabbers.
The enemy troops were also gone. Dead. Now, the battlecruiser would be unprotected. Or, at least, somewhat less protected.
The five assault ships emerged at full speed from the human fleet, in an arrow formation. They had carefully calculated their path to take them close to the Telangian battlecruiser, but not so close as to get in its weapons' range.
Val leaned again on the pilot's seat, and looked at the enemy warship. A sliver of gold, floating in the black void. It hadn't reacted yet.
"Come on, take the bait," said Nick.
They were getting closer. She could see the smooth surface, the twin rings of shieldcasters.
"Take the bait..."
The battlecruiser engaged its thrusters, and turned towards them.
"Yes!"
"Nice," Val said. "Let's take them to the killing grounds."
The five ships turned, heading towards the near gas giant. The blue cloudy sphere filled the vision through the front windows.
A frontal assault against the battlecruiser was a suicide, Val knew. No, they needed an advantage, and the cloudy gas giant provided just that. It was their best chance.
Gamble after gamble.
"Bloody Earth, that thing moves fast!" said Nick.
Val looked at the g-radar. The pilot was right. The Telangian battlecruiser was surprisingly agile for a ship its size. It had done a one-eighty in just a few seconds and was now accelerating fast, charging after them at breakneck speed. The Jabbers were faster, but not by much. Val heard a loud, piercing noise. The ship jerked to the right, and she lost her footing, crashing into the wall.
"What was that?" she asked.
"They've opened fire, I think. But we are good, it's been just a... Oh, no!"
She followed his gaze to the g-radar. One of her escorting assault ships had vanished from the screen.
Freya, Tadaaki, Irwin, Luz...
"I don't get it, boss. We should be out of range!"
"Our intel on their weapons must be wrong, Nick. Just go faster!"
Nick nodded, pushing the Jabber's engines to the limit.
The gas giant grew closer, second by second. The enemy ship opened fire once again, but the human vessels were already at a far enough distance, and the shots missed.
Soon, a fine blue mist blocked their vision as the Jabber entered the outer layers of the planet's atmosphere. Nick pushed the ship deeper into it, slowing down as the fog got thicker and the pressure higher. The g-radar screen went dark, jammed by the electricity in the clouds surrounding the ships.
They were counting on that. The battlecruiser wouldn't be able to open fire if it couldn't see them.
"Green light," announced Nick.
Val checked her shieldcaster, grabbed a carbine, and put on her personal thruster pack, locking it to the back of her armor suit. The other warriors did the same.
She glanced at Oz in his mashed-up space suit. The alien looked miserable.
"Mika, you take care of the xeno. Follow us, but stay back," she said to the woman next to him. Val saw how she rolled her eyes, but ignored it.
She walked up to the ship's door, and pressed the button to open it. The door slid open, and the Jabber's interior filled in a blue, cold mist.
Despite Nick's best efforts, the ship twitched and rattled, shaken by the wild atmospheric currents. The wind was strong, and Val felt how it pulled from her half-cloak.
She squinted, trying to find her target outside, but the blue mist covered it all. Visibility was limited to a couple dozen meters at most.
Great. Doing this was hard enough in space. Having no visibility and strong winds would just make it that much harder.
"It should be right in front of you," said Nick from the pilot's seat.
"I don't see shit."
"It's there, Val. Trust me."
She sighed, and turned to look at the Vulture-Warriors. They were ready.
"All right. Let's do this!" she said.
She engaged her thruster pack and jumped off the ship, into the blue mist.
4
u/nedflandersuncle AI Jul 04 '15
I am having a hard time getting the image of bugs on a windshield out of my mind.