by Ray O'Neil
Grabbing the Niflheim by the head, he bashed his visor into its eyes, bursting them on impact. The Fricka reeled back in agony, her tongue still flailing about. Holding the Niflheim by the tentacles on her head, he stood up, dragging her into the close-by wall. Each punch he sent to the back of her head caused her to let out a scream, pincers going wild. Her arms and legs flailed about wildly, but they were too long to get a good grip on Emich.
Cracks appeared on her skull, bits of her shell falling off from the blows. With an open hand strike, Emich held on and pressed down. Using the Siegfried’s hydraulics, he straightened out his arm. The Fricka’s head flattened out in his palm, purple blood spurting out of the holes. Her arms stopped moving, dangling lifelessly, all the way down near the ground.
Tossing the corpse to the side, Emich fell to a knee. Walking was more difficult that it should have been, his feet sluggish. Holding his side, he could see the purple blood on his Exoframe was not just from Niflheim he killed. His own purple blood was pouring out quickly. Crawling for his cannon, he grabbed it, using its long barrel to stay upright.
Slamming his damaged shoulder into the opposite wall, he trudged away from the area, some of the severed limbs behind him twitching. Sliding along the crystal cavern, his steps were growing slower, more unsteady. His vision was growing dim, blurred. Sticking the front of his auto cannon into the ground, he practically used it as a walking cane.
“Emich, what happened?” Valerie sounded concerned for once. “Your vitals have gone critical.”
It hurt to talk, the wound on his neck making it hard to breathe. “... I’m not going to make it.”
“Quit talking nonsense. You can regenerate, just like a Niflheim. Just keep your blood pumping and you’ll patch yourself up automatically.”
“The pain is too much.” Emich gasped for air, hissing from the armor reconstructing itself around his stomach wound. “Something is wrong. My Exoframe is fixing itself, but I can’t heal. What is it that you’re not telling me?!”
Valerie was silent.
Panting heavily, Emich’s voice was harsh enough to make him cough. “Answer me!”
“The only way for the Seigfried to repair itself automatically is by using a host. Whoever wears the Exoframe enters a symbiotic relationship with it, being its source of energy and compounds. As long as you are connected with the suit, you are its host. There’s no way to prevent it from going too far. Once it needs to be fixed, it’s going to take what it needs from its host.”
“You gave me a suit that is killing me?”
“It killed the others,” Valerie quickly corrected. “For you it’s different. You can regenerate cells faster than a normal human. That regeneration rate is a little higher than the suits sap rate, allowing you to keep the effects in check. I know the Yggdrasil ships are equipped with a Niflheim version of a medical bay, a place where they store healing items for their wounded. It’s a stretch, but maybe you can find one like that near you.”
Emich’s skin was already healed over, the armor closed up, but his insides still felt like there was something missing. Coughing up blood, the inside of his visor was covered, as was the outside from the fight he was struggling to walk out of. Pressing a button on the side, it folded up in segments, allowing his head to feel the ship’s surprisingly cool breeze. Still, he was having trouble focusing on the surroundings in front of him, his auto cannon being the only thing keeping him up. But, through the haze, something caught his eye.
It was common to see markings on NIflheim ship walls, weird lines and swirls with no meaning. When he was in an Yggdrasil, he would see them in what seemed to be random areas, no rhyme or reason. Now, he hand to blink constantly, making sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. There was a marking on the wall, but it wasn’t like the unknown symbols he was used to. Somehow, it was a label, a sign that he was able to understand.
“I think I found it…”
Limping over to the other wall, he got closer to the sign that he could read as “for wounded”. Falling into the wall, he put a hand on it, bracing himself. The symbol glew bright, warming up around his hand. The crystal surface split apart, revealing a long, dark tube. He wasn’t sure where it was going to lead him, but anywhere was better than where he was.
Crawling inside, a gravitational pressure sent him upwards, the crystal closing back up below him once his legs were through. Eventually, he ended rising out of a tube, floating there for a second. The hatch under his feet closed swirled back close, allowing him to touch back down to the ground. Putting his hand on the crystal, a voice came into his head. It was calm, emotionless, and absent.
“What do you require?”
“I need to get out of this tube,” Emich said out loud.
The front of the tube lifted upwards, a sudden change in gravity making Emich flop forward. The new room he was in resembled a greenhouse, plants and trees covering every inch; tubes lining around the walls to cover all sides. Walking over to what could be closely related to a crystal-made shelf, he saw numerous mortars containing powders and herbs from another world. A row of mortars all had the same color of herbs, a glowing green kind. Grabbing one out of curiosity, he could smell a sweet aroma from it, being the only pleasant thing he’s come in contact to all day.
“Valerie, do you know about Niflheim agriculture?”
“No more than the next person. There’s little research on their plant life. Did you find something useful?”
Emich kept his breathing steady, fighting to keep his eyes open. “I- I found a lot of plants here. I think it might be how they heal themselves. They’ve grinded up a good amount, but I have no idea what’s what. Do you think the most common one is the one they use for the injured?”
“That would make sense. Even humans have been using healing salves and herbal medicine for thousands of years. There’s no reason the Niflheim wouldn’t be doing the same, only more effectively. Check for a glowing plant. There is a theory that since the Niflheim use the sun to feed, they have a natural attachment to light.”
Emich looked back at the shelf, scanning the choices. “How can I make sure which is the right one?”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out, right?”
Emich looked down at the powder in the thick cup he was holding, it’s glow lighting up his face in a green haze. Tilting his head back, the powder flowed down his throat fluidly, almost forcing itself to traveling straight into his body. The feeling of his insides being filled up made him hold sides in discomfort, using the shelf to support himself. His breathing didn’t sting anymore, making his panting subside. Whatever it was, it had the effect to heal him back up, to an extent. The pain wasn’t gone, but it was lessened enough to let his legs support his weight again.
He shook his head, able to see fine again. Opening his leg compartment, he pulled out a research capsule. Every soldier would always be issued at least one, just in case of the event the soldier happens to find anything of value. He filled two of them with the green powder, placing the full capsules back into their compartments, one for each leg. They would be safe in there, as long as he doesn’t lose his legs.
That would be disastrous, for numerous reasons.
After he was done stocking up, he pressed the button on his collar to reconstruct his helmet. Grabbing his auto cannon, he loaded up, making sure he was prepared for the worst. He left the greenhouse, putting a palm to another symbol by an alcove to open up a segment of the wall. The longer he spent in the ship, the more familiar he became with its twist and turns, noticing he didn’t need his sonar map as much. The powercore was close, but the idea on how to destroy them was still out of reach.
Chapter 13
The powercore shined a bright blue, beating rhythmically. There was a stutter. Chieftain Hlӧkk opened his eyes, feeling a sudden absence in the universe. His connection to his squad of Fricka Elite was severed, ripped away from him. Rising from a kneeling position, he huffed angrily, baring his jagged fangs.
&
nbsp; From a pedestal, he grabbed his small pistol, its barrel in the shape of a long gem. Its back end resembled a plasma globe, electric bolts circling and shifted from a glowing nucleus. Only Chieftains were allowed its use, having it be powered by the Muspell’s powercore itself. A wall opened for him, showing the exit of the control room. There were already Wotans waiting for him, having been called by his psychic link. Emich couldn’t see them coming for him from where he was, but he was able to hear the order in his head.
“My daughters of war have failed. Come brothers, to battle!”
Emich heard it, knowing they were going to look for him. Sticking to the tube system, he avoided the caverns at all cost. As the crystal wall split in front of him, he could see a pack of Wotans marching through the area, searching for the intruder. Keeping low and within the darkness of the tunnel, he waited for the group to clear around the corner before getting out. The powercore was through an open entrance way, up a flight of steps.
He checked every once in a while, making sure he wasn’t spotted. The last thing he needed was to enter a firefight with the entire ship. All he had to do was get to the powercore and destroy it. Once he got to the top of the steps, the view down below was like he uncovered a new world. Electricity flowed all around, bolts flying across the wide open gaps, above and below the hanging platform.
A crystal wall separated the open room with the big blue powercore, protecting it as it stored the sun’s rays inside. Emich walked down the steps towards the platform, the entrance being like a mountain hiding a long forgotten civilization. Memories of when he was with Ashley swept through his head, still fresh in his mind. It was better that he was alone, less people to have die on him. The pedestal at the center had an indentation on it, as if something was stored there.
Seeing the area was clear and free of any activity, he lowered his gun, getting behind a crystalline formation nearby and crouching low. “Valerie, come in.” He kept his eyes scanning as he called her. “I’ve arrived at the powercore.”
“So soon?”
“I didn’t get caught, yet.” Emich stood in front of the crystal wall, seeing that it was more refined and smoothed out than the rest of the walls. That was a sign it was specially processed, meaning it would be much harder to destroy than a normal crystal. “There’s a barrier in between me and the center. It’ll take me more ammo than I have on me to shoot through it.”
“And you don’t have any demo charges?”
“Not unless a Yellowjacker stops by and lets me borrow some.”
“Yeah, sure,” Valerie joked. “Those guys went extinct the second Mars was taken. There must be another way. Try looking for an opening or a weak spot.”
Looking up, Emich saw the bolts of electricity passing through the wall, powering it up while transferring through it to pass through nodes in the corners of the rooms and continue the chain all over the ship. Watching the electricity wavering through the refined crystal, he got closer, keeping cautious in case it was rigged to zap him. Touching the wall, a strong force took over his body. He couldn’t see anything in front of him. All he could sense was the sound of music unlike any other.
The song of the Vanir Plane.
It overwhelmed him at first, quickly becoming a soothing lullaby. The music showed him everything the Niflheim could see. Cities being overran, Queens creating more troops, ships floating through space, Mars. There were more Yggdrasils than he could imagine, growing out of a completely new Mars. No longer was it a red wasteland.
It was a Niflheim version of the human Earth, making the massive colony that was once there seem like an ancient village. Oceans, forest, ecosystems, all in the matter of months by the Niflheim influence. Yggdrasils took off, making their way to Earth. Single ships were able to wipe out entire countries. Now, they were launching them in fleets.
The song of the Vanir plane was soothing, but the sight it cause made Emich feel like passing out.
Taking his hand off, he fell back, losing his balance as he lost connection. It drained him, making him feel tired for the first time in a long while. Panting, Emich got to his feet, remembering that the Niflheim were still on the lookout. He couldn’t stop panting. Seeing the size of the incoming fleet, he figured it wouldn’t make a difference whether he was spotted or not; it was over either way.
Valerie's voice came in right away. “What just happened? Your vitals went berserk out of nowhere.”
“I’m fine,” Emich replied. “... But I can’t say the same for the rest of us.”
“What are you talking about?”
“They’re planning an invasion. A real one this time. Mars wasn’t supposed to be a warning. It was cleaned out so they can move in.”
“It can’t be! How do you know this? Please tell me this is just a hunch.”
“I don’t know how, but I saw it through their eyes. For a second, I was on Mars. I saw everything. The Muspell is just to soften us up.”
“That means we have to take it out as soon as possible. While you were sneaking around, I got some new information on the ship, thanks to your suit’s EDS.”
“The what?”
“The Environmental Detection System. It lets us know where you are at all times and also gives us detailed information of your surroundings. There are small nodes that attach the main powercore to the rest of the ship. Think of them like the dispersing function on your MBC4. On the Muspell, they are used to chain the energy blastback outward, so the ship doesn’t implode on itself every time the solar beam is fired.”
“So you’re saying if I destroy these nodes, then the ship will implode on itself.”
“That’s the theory, yes. There is one in your area, a primary node. It’s above you, to the left corner of the room. Do you see it?”
Emich searched around, his eyes catching a blue orb that absorbed the endless current of electricity. Crawling along a small trench in the wall, the blots of electricity arced across the area, the crystal screen washing with a wave of energy each time. “I can handle it from here. Over and out.”
Walking forward, he would have to make a shot from across the massive open area, something that would reveal his location from how much it will echo. Once he takes a shot, he would have to expect the platform to turn into a battle zone. Walking towards the center, near the pedestal, a voice entered his head. It was one he hadn’t heard yet. Faintly, as if in the background behind him, others also chattered, in search for an intruder.
The calmness of the voice took him by surprise.
“The light is ready to cleanse the planet. What is the next target?”
“Earth can wait,” he heard another voice say, the voice of a blood-born warrior. “The intruder’s death comes first.”
Emich didn’t have much time. Aiming his auto cannon at the blue orb hanging off of the room’s left corner, he put the side of his helmet into the zoom scope, making sure his shots will count. There was no telling how tough they will be, meaning he couldn’t spare a single round. Making sure he was on single-fire, he lined up and took the shot. A fracture spider webbed over the orb’s surface, bolt of electricity flying out into the air.
He could hear the chatter of the Niflheim on the alert, but he didn’t let it distract his next shot. It only took two for the orbs to cave in, one to weaken its shell and another to finish the job. A loud sizzling from an electric cloud blew out of the wall, the oxygen-rich air bursting into flames. The node on the right side of the room went out the same way. The calm voice now spoke with confusion, as if its mind was damaged from the destruction.
It was then that Emich realized the voice came from the Muspell itself.
“Hlӧkk, please. Choose. It doesn’t matter where. Anywhere in the universe. Anywhere your heart desires. Let the light clear the path to victory.”
Emich closed his eyes, his mind joined with the Muspell’s. He could see the life detected on Earth, the signs of conflict and battle highlighting itself. A brightness came from the North, in the Bering Strait. Nifl
heim forces were already moving in a wave, splitting apart and making their way through Eastern Asia and Western America. Like a beacon, the Yggdrasil shined in the center of it all.
The power to destroy entire fleets of two armies. With that power, Emich was sure the Yggdrasil wasn’t immune. It wouldn’t hurt to try…
As Emich kept his connection with the Muspell, the powercore glowed brighter behind him, the energy having it bright enough to engulf the entire room in white. Without the nodes, there was no stopping the energy flow, nothing to cut it off once it’s too much. The solar beam blasted out of the Muspell’s cannon, flying towards Earth’s arctic. The clouds above split, evaporated. Once the beam slammed down upon the Yggdrasil, its citadel was erased from existence.
The beam plowed to the ship’s adjacent spire, vaporizing Sky Screamers in mid-flight. Crumbling into nothing, the spires fell as well, the Yggdrasil reduced to a smoldering mass of growths clinging to the nearby islands. Chunks of what little remained floated amongst the icebergs, Niflheim flyers falling out of the sky without a power supply to work off of. With the Yggdrasil gone–and its queen reduced to ashes–whatever remained of the Niflheim ground forces were without orders. Earth was now able to return to the offensive.
An explosion from behind sent Emich flat on his face, disconnecting him from the Muspell. Without the nodes in place to transfer the energy beam properly, there was no way to stop its release. The beam died out, shrinking down into a weak ray of sunshine. Inside of the ship, electric current flew out of control, nowhere to attach to and flow. Emich dodged a bolt heading right for him, rolling out of the way.
Hurrying out of the control room, massive collections of crystal fell from the ceiling, the place collapsing on itself. Sprinting up the steps, an explosion of sparked air sent him flying, landing at the bottom with an orange wave of kinetic resistance breaking his fall. Having landed on a knee, Emich resumed his retreat, trying to get as far away from the powercore as possible. He didn’t hear the Niflheim in a panic anymore. Emich figured the Muspell was similar to the satellite back on Outerpost Hati, acting as a receiver for everyone to hear and interact with the Vinir Plane.