by Ray O'Neil
Or just for him, most likely.
“This is unbelievable,” Valerie chimed in, completely surprised. “The Yggdrasil has been destroyed. Emich, do you know what this means?”
“Yeah, we’re slightly less screwed than before.” He stopped at a corner, keeping his eye on the corridor he came from. The explosions were far away, but growing closer. “Listen, that little idea of yours worked, but this place is falling apart. Any longer, I’ll be cooked and sucked out into space.”
“I’m sending in a rescue craft right now. Its pick-up zone will be marked on your map.” Right away, a blip on his mini map light up, being near the outer edge of the ship. “All of our defense ships were taken out during your stealth run, so it’s going to be on its own. Let’s just hope the Niflheim fighters are taken out by then.”
“If it doesn’t get here soon, I’m going to be taken out into deep space.”
Emich made his way to the pick-up, expecting only the rescue ship to greet him. He had no idea he was going to be receiving more company than he bargained for.
Chapter 14
In this part of the ship, it was nearly impossible to find cover. Walking through the back half of the Muspell meant being in the largest area, with the most spaced out caverns. A wave of hot air blasted through the cavern, pushing Emich forward — having to magnetically hold on to the ground with his metallic boots. Aesirium was still relatively unknown to humans, due to the fact that most of the information on it was lost with the G-Data. But from his experience dealing with the Niflheim and fighting through their ships most of his military career, he found out quickly that it was indeed able to be magnetized.
The waves of hot air had a long pause between them, being the blowback of the solar backdraft spreading. Emich had to push away the thought that every shot meant more people dead and at high volumes. Every time he had to brace himself, it meant the Niflheim were another step closer at destroying all of humanity. Despite his suit allowing him to run faster than he would normally be able to, it wasn’t enough to satisfy him. Too many people depending on him have already died and they continued to do so.
His ammo count was running low. The more Niflheim that came in to intercept, the closer he was to resorting to his Saebo. With the caverns growing wider with each pass, it would be him having to charge head first to a line of plasma salvos with nothing but a sword. With the next turn of a corner, he could see the powercore’s radioactive signature on his mini map. Stopping to reload into his last magazine, he could hear a roar that nearly made him fumble with his fingers.
“There! Face the human head on!”
Groups of Niflheim came in from both sides of the corridor in front of him, Emich trapped in the middle of an open area with nowhere to find cover. Cocking the round into the chamber, he lifted his auto cannon and fired at the first one he saw — a Wotan coming in from the right wing. The bottleneck of an entrance caused them to bunch together, blocking him off from any chance of getting to the powercore unless he takes them out. Strafing to the side, he slid his left leg compartment back, tossing one of his few remaining fragmentation discs he had. Exploding in mid-air, it was able to knock a few of them back in a stumble, followed by a shower of mini rockets.
The rockets screamed into any Wotan nearby, their small explosions filling the left side with smoke and crystal shards. Flames shot out violently, the ship having more oxygen than anything else in the air. Red streams of light escaped the smoke cloud, some of the Wotans hit by the disc still in the fight. Emich moved his way to the left, using the smoke and distance to his advantage. Still, a stray round got him in the leg, knocking him into an unintentional roll.
His armor absorbed the blow, only being grazed on the outer calf. As it reconstructed itself, Emich fired a few shots from a prone stance. The Wotans charging through the smoke were hit first, having no idea he was returning fire. Once Emich’s new position was found, he rolled to the side to avoid being completely engulfed in plasma. Using his momentum to stand upright, he moved in, using his gunfire for suppression.
Some of the Wotans were lucky enough to take cover behind the crystal wall, while the others were too far out and were blasted full of holes. One of the Niflheim bodies flew back into the corridor they just came from, flying into the chieftain. Grabbing what was left of his upper half, Hlӧkk saw who was killing his men. Emich was making his way towards them, emptying all he had. Setting the mutilated carcass to the side gently, Hlӧkk let out a mighty roar, letting everyone know he had arrived.
Emich couldn’t hear it. Through the booms of his cannons and the pounding in his chest, the rest of the universe was nonexistent. All he could see and hear was the battle at hand. It only took one hollow click to make him toss his gun into the crowd of Niflheim, a stray plasma salvo cracking it in half before it could bash on of them right in the head. Unsheathing his Saebo from its back holster, Emich’s sword unfolded three times before its blade lit up a bright orange.
Kicking off of the nearby wall, Emich’s kinetic boosters launched him forward, flying through the air and through a hail of red plasma. Diving into a roll in mid-air, his sword sliced through a small group’s legs, knocking them to the ground in a pool of purple blood. As he rolled back onto his feet, the Wotan in front of him had a fist ready to knock his head off. Holding his Saebo’s blade directly in front of himself, the Wotan punched right into it, splitting his own arm down the middle. Unable to stop his forward stumble, the Wotan had the side of his head sliced off — Emich pushing into him to finish the job.
An arm grabbed his leg, clawing through the armor, ripping off chunks of metal. The Wotan on the ground was missing its lower legs, but was still willing to do whatever it takes to stop the intruder. With a quick one-handed swing, Emich sent the Wotan’s head flying into the air, blood spurting out of the severed neck like a fountain. Charging into him, another Wotan picked him up by the neck, holding him up high. Unable to breath, Emich wedged the sword between himself and the Wotans arm, swinging it outwards.
As he fell down to a knee, he sliced the Niflheim in half, the corpse falling down in two different directions. Standing back up, he sliced one to the left and another to the right, cutting them through their chests. A bolt of electrical energy flew through the air, getting emich right in the chest. It was powerful enough to send him flying through the air, landing in a painful drop that cracked the crystal ground. Somehow, the power to his suit wasn’t shut off; Emich suspecting it had something to do with its attachment to his body.
That was one of the few good things about owning a symbiotic suit: it doesn’t shut off until its owner does.
If he took any more hits like that one, it wouldn’t take long. Struggling to get up, he could feel the electric charge still coursing through the suit, stinging him with each arc of a bolt. He could feel his chest bleeding, with most of the armor on the impact site torn to shreds, but it wasn’t enough to worry yet. Using his Saebo to get to his feet, he saw the next shot coming, ducking under it, the shot blasting a hole through the wall far behind him. The white Wotan marched forward, continuing the onslaught of lightning strikes.
“I’ll end you now!”
Emich had no idea what kind of new Wotan he was facing. Using the sound of the charge up to predict when the one handed gun was going to be fired, it was the only thing allowing Emich to roll out of the way in time. Dodging left, then right, he used his kinetic boosters to flying forward; the crystal floor exploding behind him as the bolt struck where his feet were. Through the rain of shards, he spun in midair, his Saebo whooshing quickly. The white Niflheim was right there in his sight and then vanished the split-second he turned away.
Hitting nothing, Emich landed on a knee. Hlӧkk took a step forward, his leg flying towards the human’s temple. Using the broad side of his sword to block it, the force knocked him into a small tumble — having to dig his fingers into the floor to stop his momentum. Hlӧkk didn’t waste any time, following through with a running punch, the knuckles l
ined with small spikes. Before he could react, even before his eyes could see it, Emich was lifted into the air by a powerful blow to the chest.
The armor didn’t help very much. Landing on his back, the four puncture holes in his chest plate were dripping with blood. Holding his chest and trying to get the air back in his lungs, Emich tried to keep his Saebo forward. Walking forward, Hlӧkk held out his gun straight to the side. Its berrel flipped over itself, the power globe flying out to be another arm’s length away.
A plasma form of a weapon shaped itself from the electricity connecting the parts, turning the gun into a plasma warhammer.
Emich tilted his head. “Oh, boy…”
He almost didn’t duck in time, the plasma current hissing overhead. Spinning around for a second strike, Hlӧkk lifted his warhammer overhead and slammed it downwards. Emich rolled forward, the ground shattering behind him. Swinging his Saebo backwards, he got Hlӧkk in the leg, dropping him onto a knee. Emich slashed to the side on his way up, getting Hlӧkk in the waist.
His sword couldn’t go through, slamming into the white Wotan’s metallic shell like a dull knife. Sliding it out, he left the chieftain with a long cut, but not deep enough to draw blood. As Hlӧkk got back up and turned around, Emich charged into him, putting his entire Exoframe’s weight into it and using the kinetic boosters for good measure. It wasn’t enough. Hlӧkk braced for impact, only moving a little bit before overpowering his foe.
Lifting his arm high, Hlӧkk used the bottom of his weapon to pound into Emich’s back repeatedly. He coughed up blood, having it cover his visor, blinding him. He tried to stab his sword into the chieftain’s side, taking two strikes to draw blood. The blows he was talking was too much, his legs buckling under him, his sword getting too heavy to swing. Holes all over his back armor were leaking purple.
Lifting Emich up by the neck, Hlӧkk launched him across the area, using just one hand to do so. Emich lost his grip on his sword, leaving it to fall in the small pool of blood where he once stood. The wall broke his flight, the kinetic repulsors on his armor being the only thing preventing his neck from snapping on contact. As his visor cleaned off the blood and through his blurred vision, he could see Hlӧkk pick up his Saebo. His hand sizzled as he grabbed the blade and hilt, slamming it down on a knee to break it in two.
Liquid plasma leaked out of his last remaining weapon, Emich only having a single fragmentation disc left.
With a weak hand, he slid open his leg compartment and pulled out his last means of defense. Hlӧkk sprinted forward, warhammer held high. There was still a good distance between them, there was still a chance. Tossing the fragmentation disc as far as he could, Emich was lucky enough to have it land in Hlӧkk path. The Niflheim was moving faster than Emich could see, but it wasn’t fast enough to outrun a hail of rockets.
Hlӧkk was engulfed in smoke, the flames almost reaching close enough to burn Emich’s feet. He tried to get up, but his body didn’t want to cooperate. The multiple explosions of the rockets continued as he struggled, having to grip onto the wall to get any progress. As he hoisted himself up with the crystal formations nearby, he heard a noise that made his heart sink. Looking back at the cloud of smoke, he could see an outline forming as it dissipated.
Hlӧkk walked forward, filled with craters on his shell and blood coming out of his wounds — but he was still standing.
Dragging his warhammer across the ground, the chieftain huffed with each step, his leg shredded to where he could barely stand on it. Spikes broke off as he made his way to Emich, the ones on his back leaving a trail, mixing with the blood. Unable to stand on his own, Emich couldn’t run without falling right back down. Holding onto the wall, he limped to the side, trying his best to get some distance. It wasn’t enough; Hlӧkk was closing in too fast.
With one arm blown completely off, Hlӧkk used his remaining one to lift his warhammer. He would only need one hit with it to turn Emich into space dust. But, he had no idea about the rescue ship coming for Emich. And neither one of them knew how the ship was going to get to him.
In the simulator pod herself, Valerie flew the ship through space avoiding the sparse space debris floating about. There was more ruined UAM ships than Niflheim, showing her the slaughter the AI craft went through. The screen in front of her showed the mini map on the side, the destination near the top part of the Muspell. There wasn’t any activity coming from the solar cannon, other than the small blast of a wall, the gust of flames coming out to disappear into the vacuum of space. Getting close to the back end of the Muspell’s barrel, she was drawing near her pick up area.
Switching to detection mode, she could see the Siegfried suit fighting off a lone opponent, their outlines mixing from being so close together. The wearer of the suit was invisible to thermal imaging, only her equipment able to detect him at all through the wall. After a few times of his enemy pounding a fist upon him, his image disappeared. Valerie refreshed the imagining, but he still wasn’t appearing. His locator system was damaged in the fight, having its main chip cluster in the spine.
She wouldn’t be able to see where he was until it was repaired.
The remaining outline was in red, holding a weapon that gave off a high electrical frequency. Moving in, Valerie had no choice. Using the defensive turret on the rescue craft, she fired off a few shots, its purpose being to dig through aesirium walls and rubble. The blastwaves of the explosives traveled through the outer curve of the Muspell’s hull, shaking the bits loose in a violent boom. Bits of wall floated away into the void of space, releasing everything inside out of the newly formed opening.
Hlӧkk hesitated the second the ship’s hull was breached, looking up to see the cracks tear through the crystalline interior. Emich looked up as well, the explosion sending the shards inward before they were sent in reverse. Once they could see the stars above, a violent gale sweep through the place. Activating his magnetic boots, Emich stood his ground. The corpses of the fallen Niflheim flew out of the Muspell, their weapons and bodies quickly sliding across the floor before they started flying.
Hlӧkk tried to swing his warhammer down on Emich, but as he did, his feet lifted off of the ground, sending him into an unintentional frontflip. Flying out into the void of space with no oxygen, Hlӧkk struggled to breath, holding his throat. Valerie saw that the heat signature floating towards her was still moving. Locking the turret onto Hlӧkk, she fired a round right at him, reducing him to a floating cloud of blood droplets. Flying in, she was able to scan the area from the inside, seeing that Emich was right there under the ship.
The ship lowered, Emich keeping himself pinned to the wall to avoid being crushed. The hatch lowered, hitting the ground for Emich to climb aboard. His legs fought to take a step, weakened from his wounds and struggling to counter the suction of space. Stepping slowly, he reached out for the hatch, almost close enough to grab it.
“Hurry up, Emich. This place is falling apart!”
More of the crystal structure tore away from the Muspell, flying away instead of dropping on top of them. Emich could already feel the floor giving away, bits of it coming off in chunks. His hand got a hold on the bottom step, giving him the grip he needed to release his magnets. Rocking the ship to the side, Valerie flung him inwards; closing the hatch behind him. Firing up the engines, she got them out of there — the rest of the area falling apart more and more.
Hanging by one hand, Emich dropped down, trying to land on his feet. Instead, he collapsed onto the floor, landing with a weak grunt. The hatch closed up, releasing the ship’s air supply with a loud hiss, the tubes in the corners coughing out clouds of vapor. Pressing on the side of his helmet, he receded it into its back compartment, allowing himself to cough up blood all he wanted. Valerie watched from the inside camera, seeing the soldier clinging to life with no way to help him.
Emich barely had enough strength to keep his face away from the puddle of blood under him. The more that came out, the harder it was to move. “Valerie,” he coughed the se
cond he spoke, “... how much longer?”
“ETA is one hour. Just hang in there, you’re almost out of hell.”
“Easier said than done...”
The ceiling was spinning, the pain getting to him. Throbbing, stinging, never ending. The cabin looked like an empty medical bay, its nurses made up of automated drones. Two of them rolled up to him, one on each end. Rocking him into a hover-cot, they lifted him up, the cot floating between them —their bodies acting as magnetic fields.
Setting him down on one of the medical beds, they started to hook him up to the machinery. They couldn’t take off his suit, but they could still help in the only way they were programmed to do.
As they left the Muspell, the light dimmed from its mouth, its petals falling wilting off. Nobody would know that Emich was there, that it was him who prevented disasters beyond recovery. From the ERA base, a squadron space bombers moved in, moving in the second VALKYRIE detected the Niflheim flyers go offline. The Niflheim ships were still, floating aimlessly, their Fricka pilots floating away from their opened cabin — having no other means of escape. Avoiding the space clutter, they got to the Muspell around the same time Emich’s rescue ship was moving down the long barrel on their way down to Earth.
VALKYRIE saw the ship, having one of her escort fighter’s lock-on to it. “There is a survivor from the UAM attempt at destroying the Muspell.” VALKYRIE paused as she processed a solution. “... There has been a change. New occurrences show that the presence of the UAM is insignificant. ERA victory is imminent. Carrying out new orders. War with the UAM is now declared.”