Valkyria (20 page)

Nate clenched his fist. He could not
believe that people were talking about Charles in the past tense.
Nor could he believe that he had died saving these two civilians,
who offered no obvious use to anyone.

“
I do, and I am terribly
sorry for that.”

“
Be that as it may,” said
the Captain, “we are still short a vital crew member. What do you
suppose we do about that?”

Nate looked up at the Captain,
wondering what he was planning.

“
I do not know, sir,” said
Einar.

“
Well, I have an
idea.”

The Captain stepped forward toward the
pair of civilians and smiled. His eyes moved over them like an
eagle examining its prey.

“
As Charles died saving
you, and he was Nate’s gunner,” said the Captain, “I think you owe
it to both of them to take his place.”

Nate shuddered.

“
Captain! You cannot be
serious,” said Nate.

“
But I am.”

“
But Captain! Look at him!
He is a worthless child! He could never replace
Charles!”

“
And he will not,” said the
Captain. “However, you are in need of a gunner, are you
not?”

“
Yes, but-”

“
And you,” said Irving as
he turned back to Einar. “You have nowhere in the Ringlands that
you can be safe now. I am offering you a place on my crew. Do you
accept?”

Nate could feel his blood boiling. How
could anyone think of giving Charles’ position to this man who
caused his death?

“
We do,” said Einar after a
brief pause.

“
Good,” said Irving. “Now,
as for you Haze, we are in need of another cook in the mess hall.
It is the safest place for you on this vessel.”

“
Captain!”

One of the scouts ran over to Irving,
handing him a pair of binoculars.

“
An air-taxi is
approaching! It is requesting permission to land!”

*~*~*

35

SERAN

Seran circled the massive airship. It
was far larger than he expected, being only the third airship he
had ever seen with more than floors. Girders and struts extended
from the front and back of the ship, with tubing passing through
them. Mid-air refueling stations. Impressive. Although they should
put extra protection on those girders.

“
Attention,” said a booming
voice emanating from the Valkyria. “Your request to dock has been
granted. Please proceed to the starboard hangar.”

Seran titled to the small air-taxi and
flew around the Valkyria once again, spotting a large part of the
wall sliding open. On his previous circle of the airship he had not
even seen that there had been a door there, let alone a hangar
bay.

“
They certainly hide their
weak spots well, except for the refueling pipes.”

He slowed the engine as he lined up the
air-taxi with the hangar bay and flew through the open door. The
hangar itself was huge, as was everything about the Valkyria. There
was enough room to hold a small fleet of air-taxis, even though
there were only seven apart from his.

As the engine of his air-taxi slowed to
a halt, he climbed out of the machine and stepped onto the metal
flooring of the hangar bay.

A large group of armed men and women
entered the hangar through a thick metal door. Within seconds they
had surrounded Seran, their pistols and rifles pointed directly at
him. He put his hands on the back of his head and smiled. For
pirates, they seem incredibly organized.

Groaning filled the hangar as the large
metal exterior wall slid back into place, closing with a loud bang
and a long hiss from the motor. Steam spurted from the motor and
expanded to fill the hangar before dissipating a few seconds
later.

“
I request an audience with
your captain,” said Seran, yet none of the Valkyria’s crew seemed
to move. Their weapons remained trained on him from all
directions.

“
It is a matter of
urgency,” he continued, but again none of the crew seemed to move.
They did not seem to even blink.

“
The Inquisition are
preparing for war! I must speak with your captain!”

“
You are from the Empire,”
said a soft yet forceful voice. “Is that not correct?”

Seran turned around to see a young lady
walking toward him, a long barrel rifle in her hands.

“
How did you
guess?”

“
Your sword. Only a Dragoon
pig of the Empire would carry a chainsword.”

“
Well then, should I be
saying ‘oink’ instead of speaking like a man?”

“
No,” said the young lady.
“You should simply not be here. You come here claiming the
Inquisition is preparing for war, but the Empire is doing the
same.”

Seran nodded. It was true that the
Empire had been increasing its military might recently. Production
of airships and tanks had doubled at least, but Seran was certain
it was because of the intel from spies such as Lord Eerhart and the
actions of the Inquisition that those spies had reported
on.

“
We only seek to defend
ourselves,” he said.

“
Do you truly believe
that?"

“
Of course I do,” he
replied. “The Empire only seeks to protect its
citizens!”

The entire crew within the hangar burst
into laughter, filling Seran with a sense of anger.

“
How dare you
laugh!?”

“
And how dare you shout at
us?”

The young lady stepped closer to him,
the end of her rifle pushing against his chest.

“
Now, tell me what you
want,” she said. “And make it quick.”

“
I know the location of a
secret project the Inquisition is working on and I must speak to
your captain.”

The young lady stared at him in the
eyes, hers appearing to burst into flames as she looked at him. He
could feel the disgust and contempt she felt for him. However,
after a few long seconds, her rifle fell from his chest.

“
Very well. Let us go to
the bridge and see what you have to say. But know that I am right
behind you.”

*~*~*

36

EINAR

“
And then they left the
compound to return to the fortress,” said the man from the
air-taxi. He had said his name was Seran, a Dragoon from the
Alexandria Empire.

“
What about the girl?”
Einar had to ask. “Did you hear her name?”

“
I did not,” replied
Seran.

“
But you are sure of the
clothes she was wearing?”

“
Yes, why?”

Einar turned to Irving, his eyes
burning.

“
That is Alexia. I am sure
of it! Those are the clothes she always wears!”

“
Very well,” said Irving.
“So it appears as though we have two issues here; an Inquisition
super weapon, and your sister accompanying this man.”

“
She would never work with
them,” said Einar.

“
Of that I am sure. From
what Seran has told us, it sounds as though her mind is not her own
at the moment, although I do not understand how the Inquisition
would have done that.”

“
I need your help,” said
Seran. “I need to destroy their super weapon.”

“
And why,” said Nate,
“should we help scum from the Empire?”

“
Because you strive for
equal ground in war,” said Seran.

“
Not true,” said Irving.
“We strive for peace. However, I do agree that we need to find a
way to destroy this super weapon.

We cannot allow any one side to have a
weapon that will give them superiority in war. That would only lead
to more death and more violence. It would create an arms race
between the nations that would surely spiral out of
control.”

“
Exactly,” said
Seran.

“
Well then,” continued
Irving. “Here are our terms. We will assist with the assault on the
Inquisition’s facility, but we must bring back Einar’s sister. I
will not allow her to come to harm, do you understand?”

“
I do,” said
Seran.

“
Good. Then there is just
one more issue for us to iron out. How large would you say their
ground defenses are?”

“
From what I could see,
there were at least a hundred foot soldiers within the compound.
However, they are not the biggest threat. The Tempest
is.”

Einar jolted.

“
The Tempest?”

“
Yes,” said Seran. “It is
stationed above the compound, fully armed as far as I could
tell.”

“
That certainly changes the
situation,” said Irving. “Nate, please take Einar to the mess hall.
Seran and I will discuss this further and hold a briefing before we
arrive at Midland.”

Nate gave a salute, which Einar copied.
He did not want to leave the room. He needed more assurance that
Alexia was safe, but he was part of the Valkyria’s crew now. He
knew he had no choice but to follow orders. After all, he owed the
airship and her crew his life, Haze’s life, and the life of the man
who had died rescuing them. He turned and followed Nate out of the
bridge and down the stairs into the bowels of the
Valkyria.

“
This is crazy,” said Nate.
“First we lose Charles, and now we are going to face the
Tempest?”

“
Why are you scared of the
Tempest? This is the Valkyria,” said Einar.

“
Yes, and I have only been
on this ship for a few days. I know nothing of its actual combat
ability. But I do know the Tempest and the devastation it wrought
on Three Peaks during the First War.”

“
Three Peaks? Is that where
you come from?”

“
Yes, and I wish we had
stayed there. Then maybe Charles would still be alive.”

Nate’s voice almost sounded like he was
hissing as he spoke, and Einar knew that it was time to stop asking
questions. They walked through the corridors to the mess hall in
silence.

Inside the hall he saw Haze, dressed in
a white kitchen uniform, and could not help but laugh a little. He
strolled over to her and smiled.

“
How is the new
job?”

“
I think it is going well,
although it is a bit boring. We only have gruel and mead at the
moment, so there is no real cooking involved. I am just serving up
slop to the crew when they come in.”

“
It may be dull,” said
Einar, “but at least it is safe. I promised I would keep you safe
and I will.”

“
I know you will,” said
Haze with a smile. “What happened with that air-taxi?”

“
The man was from the
Empire, and he has found my sister!”

“
Really?”

“
Yes,” said Einar, his head
tilting toward the floor. “She is with a leader of the Inquisition.
Irving said that her head seems like it is not her own, whatever
that means…”

“
I see,” she replied, her
voice quiet and apprehensive. “But at least we know that she is
alive, and where she is.”

“
She is in an Inquisition
fortress,” said Einar. “One that the Valkyria is going to
attack.”

“
We are going to
battle?”

“
Yes. Captain Irving is
talking to the Dragoon now, trying to formulate the best plan for
the assault.”

“
So that means you are
going to be out there in the battle?”

“
Well I am a gunner
now.”

“
I see,” she said as she
leant forward. She gave him a kiss and smile meekly. “Please be
careful out there.”

*~*~*

37

NATE

The Valkyria’s propellers were spinning
at full speed, shaking the airship as it tore through the skies
toward the Midland Island. The crew had gathered in the mess hall
that now performed the role of the briefing room.

The tables had been folded away leaving
only chairs and benches to fill the room, themselves lined up so
that everyone sat facing Captain Irving. Nate had taken a seat in
the middle, but had been told to move to the front row and now sat
next to Einar. Anastasia sat with her co-pilot Sherry, a few seats
to the left of Nate, whilst Seran had been given a chair next to
Irving himself.

“
We will arrive at Midland
soon,” said Irving, his voice booming throughout the mess hall. “We
expect a near immediate response to our presence, and therefore you
are to being assault as soon as you have cleared the hangar bay. Do
not hesitate.

Your main focus will be to take down
the enemy’s aerial forces. However, be warned that the Tempest is
currently in the vicinity.

The Valkyria will concentrate her fire
on the Tempest, but will offer suppressive fire on the enemy’s
smaller vessels when possible. Then, once the ground team has
disabled the fortress’s main defensive cannons, you will move in
and assault the factory. Any questions?”