The Ofnir slowly drifted through space, relying solely on momentum. On one side was the system's star and the other was the Milky Way gaxy, partially obscured by the unreality of the Nastrond Anomaly. The cruiser was here not for some grand military action like the attack on Breidablik some six months prior, but instead was here to hunt something the Penrose Foundation would rather be kept hidden.
Sirius sat at the edge of the Morningstar’s cockpit, calves inside the cool breathable liquid. Even with the somewhat thick pilot wetsuit they wore now, they could see that their body had changed over the past months. A number of the harsher lines of their profile had softened, the fat they’d accumuted from being mostly sedentary after coming down with synchronization syndrome had shifted around as well. Mostly though, they were annoyed at the ache in their chest.
“We’re just about ready for you to deploy,” said Freya, her voice coming through Sirius’ ARC.
“I thought the Captain would be contacting me more since she's had time to get used to the Ofnir,” said Sirius, reaching back to push their red hair into the pilot suit’s cap.
“She will, I just wanted to check in with you ahead of time.”
“And why’s that, Freya?” Sirius pulled the cap of their suit over their head.
“I can’t exactly expect your protege’s AI to give me a hand with my little problem again if you aren’t safe and whole.”
Sirius looked down at their chest, their small bust visible even under the tight wetsuit. “I just know she’s going to have a lot to say about my new look.”
“I expect it’ll mostly be some form of ‘I told you’.”
“That would be Aria’s response.” Sirius found themself ughing softly at the thought. “Nimue’s going to have something to say about my fashion sense.”
“Would she? It didn’t seem a priority to her when we talked.”
Sirius clipped a hook connected to a winch at the bottom of the cockpit to their suit. “You never had to hear her compin about Aria’s wardrobe.”
Above the bone-white Morningstar, the hangar’s speakers crackled to life. “The Ofnir will be in position shortly. Retrieval team, begin prep. And Sirius, please move the Morningstar to the catapult.”
“You heard the Captain.” They wallowed further, chest height, into the liquid. “Ugh. Wish the fluid wasn’t so damn cold,” said Sirius, cracking their back.
“It’s because it’s harder to dissipate heat in space.”
“I know.”
Sirius slid down into the tube of breathable liquid and inhaled. The thick perfluorocarbon solution stuck in their throat and made them cough, bubbles of air floating up in slow motion as they sank deeper pulled by a cable anchored at the bottom of the tube. Once they were in the center of the tube, small arms connected cords to Sirius’ valkyrie impnt. When the final connection was made, the discomfort washed away as synchronization to the Morningstar took hold. The changes to their body had made it more comfortable to live in, but it paled in comparison to being their einherjar. Part of their soul will always live in the machine. Unlike the human body, an einherjar was made for the expanse, was made for violence.
“This is Sirius, confirming your order and moving to unch catapult,” they said as the Morningstar was released from its dock.
“I’m riding along with you this time, Sirius,” said Freya as her mind slid into the Morningstar’s systems.
“Why? Is it because of the target?” The Morningstar shook its head. “I don’t need looking after, and I don't want an easy fight.”
“I only disabled Breidablik’s automated defenses on Cecile’s orders. I wouldn’t rob you of a good fight without reason.”
“Then it’s the target,” the Morningstar entered a lift to the main unch catapult.
“It’s a Draugr.”
“Blivet managed to take one down?”
“I hope you two don’t mind me butting in, but yes. Reports from Penrose’s intelligence network indicate that they did.” Captain Ailin Maes sighed. “Poor bastards.”
“Would probably have been better for them if they just took some losses and disengaged,” said Sirius, locking the Morningstar’s feet into the catapult’s sleds.
“Likely. However, it’s our problem now. So you two, get out there and secure the vessel and send an optical confirmation to the retrieval team. Remember, their standard comms are disabled. We don't want a Draugr in their systems.”
“I’ll keep the Morningstar shielded,” said Freya.
“Safety first. I don’t want a repeat of what happened on the Shahrat. Cutting communications, prepare for unch in thirty seconds.”
Sirius leaned forward, thrusters primed. “We’re going to start with disabling the engine block. The eitr cannon should be able to pierce straight through.”
“Shoot for the sleipnir drive first. The Shahrat’s main body was taken into Nastrond from the drive itself, and its not like impulse engines can out pace the Morningstar.”
“Right.”
Sirius fired the Morningstar’s thrusters right as the catapult unched, slinging the einherjar out into space. In pce of the missile racks that it had been armed with during the assault on Breidablik was an external battery pack linked directly to its eitr cannon. Its standard armaments; a high caliber battle rifle, pistol side arm, eitr bde and combat shield were stowed across its form.
The long range cameras in the Morningstar’s optical bank focused on the just barely visible Blivet cruiser in the distance. Across its bow was its name painted in block white.
“The BHI-Surcouf, is it? Looks like the drive block’s already fucked.” It had been ruptured from the inside, rainbow trails of eitr flowing out like branches reaching for the sky. “I’m going to finish what the crew started.”
The Morningstar came to a stop, verniers across its body firing to steady the einherjar. It raised its weapon, a Vidur css eitr cannon, a miniaturized version of a weapon normally reserved for mounting on ships or stationary empcements. It was composed of two long prongs connected at the base and down its length by braces of hafnium carbide, mimicking its rger siblings. The Morningstar primed the central chamber, raw eitr flowing into the space inside the braces casting scintilting light across the Morningstar. Its targeting systems aligned with the Surcouf and made micro-adjustments to account for the slight drift of the cruiser.
Sirius fired.
The Surcouf's hull fshed, heat spreading from the impact point, then a few moments ter the beam of rainbow tore out the other side accompanied by a series of explosions within the cruiser.
“If the Draugr wasn't awake before, it is now. I can feel it probing,” said Freya.
“Its escape should be cut off now.” Sirius let go of the cannon, the connecting tubes spraying motes of rainbow as it disconnected from the molten apparatus. “Do we know if it was salvaged as a cairn, or is it still in its einherjar?”
“What data was in the distress pulse indicated a wreck was taken on board.”
“Poor idiots.” Sirius reached an arm back and grabbed their rifle as the long teardrop shield slid down from the machine’s left upper arm, rotated then locked into its mount on the forearm. “It shouldn’t be too hard to disable, doubt it's been able to mend yet.”
“Movement from the hangar, the doors are open.”
“Probably the remaining Blivet einherjar, a cruiser of that size should have a squad of Garwulfs, maybe a Biscvret if they’ve been well supplied.” The Morningstar grabbed its pistol from its hip. “I hope it’s still void worthy.”
“It won’t matter if the Draugr is the one puppeting it,” said Freya.
Sirius pointed its rifle toward the Surcouf and waited a moment, nothing left the open hangar and the turrets failed to turn their way. “Whoever or whatever opened those doors isn’t coming out to py yet.” The Morningstar took off toward the crippled vessel. “We ought to at least make sure the Draugr isn’t up and about.”
As the Morningstar neared the Surcouf a plume of rainbow shot out of the punctured engine block, the active eitr slowly twinkling as it faded into the void. “Well, that was a reactor. It won’t be going anywhere now with only back ups and the sleipnir drive blown apart,” said Freya.
“Movement in the hangar, whoever’s left probably figured out the ship’s entirely fucked.”
“Maybe you’ll get that welcoming committee after all.”
From the hangar came a trio of einherjar; Garwulfs, Blivet’s older models armed with an industrial cmp, rocket batteries and a variety of heavy ballistics. The Morningstar took aim at the front most of the trio and paused. The one he was aiming at raised its autocannon, the others bringing up a rifle and cannon respectively. There was clear damage to their frames, other than the central one none of them moved fluidly, like they were being piloted through analog means.
The Morningstar shrugged and fired at the central one, tearing through the side of its vaguely canine cranial unit and sending it tumbling back, its thrusters firing to compensate for the spin. One of the other two waved its hands, a projector popping up near its head and rapidly fshing.
“They’re saying they’re the surviving crew, that they disabled any comms but optical ser,” said Freya.
“Send back that they need to stay out of the way, I won’t kill them,” Sirius groaned as Freya sent back a message via the Morningstar’s own ser emitter nestled inside of the upper camera bank. “Once we’re sure they’re not an issue I’ll turn and you can send the message to the recovery team, we’ll take these ones on as prisoners.”
“Sent.” The Garwulfs lowered their weapons and Sirius turned, looking out into the dark towards the Ofnir so Freya could send the message back to the crew. “Not feeling it with them?”
“Fuck no. They’re probably engineering, and it’s not even any sport taking out Mk.2s anyway.” Sirius turned back to face the trio, zily getting closer. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to leave them active for the Draugr to use.”
As the Morningstar passed by it put its rifle back on the hook behind its pelvis and deployed an eitr bde hilt from its forearm. It patted the nearest one of the back and ignited the bde, slicing through the single reactor inside the Mk.2 before pulling it out and boosting toward the one it had just shot. The pilot inside fired a stream of high caliber rounds into the Morningstar’s shield. Sirius bashed the barrel up and pierced its reactor before kicking off the inert machine towards the remaining Garwulf.
“You don’t have the thrust to escape,” they grumbled to themself, having left the channel to Freya open.
The Morningstar caught up easily and grabbed the waist skirting before disabling the Garwulf’s reactor. Carefully it steadied the other einherjar then let go and moved to the front of it.
“Tell them that I did that for their safety and to cooperate with the recovery team.”
“Done.”
“I’m going to check the hangar myself.”
The Morningstar paused for a moment to repeat the process with the other two Garwulfs, steadying them to near neutral then passing on the message and then leaving them for the still open hangar. As it got nearer it was easier to notice the bodies and cargo that had been sucked out when the doors had opened to the vacuum. It kept its eitr bde ignited as it entered the hangar, external lights turning on and illuminating the inside. Further in was the target, the cairn, an oblong structure held in the ruins of an einherjar made of jet bck metal.
“Well, it's not getting up any time soon.” Sirius pointed the end of its eitr bde at the cairn. “Penrose doesn’t need another one of these things.”
“Agreed, but–” Freya’s words were cut off by a sudden impact and her own scream. “It’s awake!”
Sirius turned, swinging the eitr bde defensively and drawing a molten line across another einherjar. “Oh I'm so gd you could join us.”
Across from the Morningstar stood a Biscvret, the Mk.3 version the Garwulf and seemingly a much more nimble opponent. It charged, its cwed left hand open and reaching. Sirius met the charge with its shield. The cws pressed into the pting of the shield then a spike of metal burst through the center and the Morningstar’s left forearm. Sirius ejected the arm at the elbow and sshed down through the still deployed spike. Briefly, it could feel their face inside the cockpit twitch towards a smile.
The pair broke contact, the Biscvret loosing a swarm of micro-missiles that forced Sirius to take a wide arc then boost straight forward. The missiles were tenacious, clearly aided by the Draugr’s mind, unless Blivet had really upped their game. It forced Sirius to detach the backpack reactor to catch the majority of them. A gout of rainbow erupted from the Biscvret’s right hand weapon, forcing Sirius to make a hard turn and sacrifice the rest of its left arm to the unnatural fmes that clung to it.
“Hurry it up! I can’t just keep it at bay for you to have your fun,” snapped Freya.
Annoyed, Sirius charged the Biscvret. Its cws dug into the Morningstar’s pelvis, and it brought the eitr thrower up and bathed the Morningstar in fme that stuck to its armor. Sirius sliced up and through the Biscvret’s right arm and torso. The wound sprayed out a plume of vaporized liquid tinged with crimson as it breached both one of the reactors and the fluid cockpit, some poor bastard had been inside.
Fmes still licked at the front pte of the Morningstar. Inside a series of mounts disconnected and the armor pte popped off, released to keep the temperature inside the cockpit from reaching dangerous levels. The enemy einherjar fell limp. It was stuck by its cwed left hand to the Morningstar which was quickly severed before Sirius flew to the Draugr and pierced its cairn. Sirius turned the bde of searing energy in a circle to make sure it was dead.
“Freya, you alright?”
“I will be. Hopefully Cecile doesn’t get too mad about our failure to retrieve the Draugr alive.”
“It was clearly hurting you, so I got rid of it.”
“Thank you, Sirius.”
______
Sirius pulled up a pair of jeans and winced. Outside of the Morningstar, they still had to deal with the effects of synchronization syndrome, the disconnect and failure to fully control their body. It had gotten easier with the hormonal and chemical regimen that Freya was providing them, less incidents of total loss of muscle control, yet the shakes and nerve pain persisted with occasional fre ups. They sat back on the edge of their bed and raised a hand to interact with their augmented reality interface.
“Freya, how are our guests faring?”
“Alive, but still a bit panicked,” replied Freya.
“I'd have joined you myself–”
“You don't have to expin yourself.”
Sirius frowned briefly. “No, it's not my new look.”
“I wasn't saying it was.”
“Good.” They took a breath, hand rubbing a spasming muscle in their thigh. “What did the recovery team bring back?”
Freya sighs through the connection. “We brought aboard the Garwulfs and salvaged the usable parts from the Biscvret… And the Draugr einherjar.”
“The damn thing is actually dead, right?”
“You burned out almost all of the biological matter from the cairn. There's some rudimentary minds in the einherjar’s systems, but they're not conscious.”
“If the dy Penrose has an issue with it, let her know I did it to keep one of her wives safe.”
“She won’t care.”
“We could just lie.”
“Maybe, though we may not have to.”
“And why is that?”
A notification popped up in Sirius’ vision. “It says it’s from ‘a friend’ of yours. It has some pretty strong encryption too.” Freya paused. “Do you want privacy with this one?”
Sirius pulled up the message, noting the attached emblem; a humanoid figure afme. “Yeah. That might be best.” They inhaled and sat down on the edge of their bed with a sigh. “It’s from a ‘friend’ alright.”
