Battallions of Sol - Chapter 5 - Fresh meat for the grinder

Battallions of Sol - Chapter 5 - Fresh meat for the grinder

“Many know the thirteenth Stromtrooper Company, the Black Cats. They are one of our empire's elite forces, fighting for the good of all humanity against any foe and almost always rise, victorious. Yet few know just how this elite group is kept plentiful. Seeing as how their losses are very low, they are slightly larger than a standard company, with two hundred and twenty-three Stormtroopers in total.

The whole recruitment process starts with a very hard undertaking. Finding someone who is light-hearted and cheery at all times. Since our society is focused on war, few such humans exist, nowadays. And even if they do find one such individual, not many pass the ensuing tests.

Going with the Cats' belief, that light-hearted soldiers are more focused and efficient, the would-be trooper is put through many psychological tests. They are subjected to the worst stress imaginable and if they remain cheery and continue to throw absurd jokes, they have passed.

But cheery attitude alone does not win wars.

The candidates are first put through standard military tests, to make sure they can at least function as Einherjar later, should they fail the true horror. In small groups, they are sent to the second harshest planet in the empire. The first most dangerous is just a big set of volcanoes with no life whatsoever.

The fact that it is still habitable makes Ardoria Prime the perfect training grounds for the best of the best. Some believe it has to be of terraformed nature, but no such event has been recorded. So, this deathtrap of a planet is the work of mother nature, showing what a bitch she can be.

The southern half is an endless, barren desert, constantly baked at a temperature of fifty degrees Celsius, but those can reach seventy or more. This land is ruled by scorpions, snakes and general smaller critters. Did I mention the scorpions and snakes are the size of tanks?
The northern half, however, is a vast tundra, where only lichen grow due to temperatures of minus fifty degrees Celsius... in the parts closest to the desert.
Between these areas are vast plains. This is the only truly habitable part of the planet, for it is not too hot, but definitely not cold. However, they are abundant with monstrous and carnivorous creatures, and so, survival is not guaranteed anywhere.

To pass this test, the group of four to six people must survive three weeks, their only equipment being a compass and a map. Those in the group form such strong bonds during this time, that they then serve as a Black Cat team for the rest of their lives. The death of even a single trooper in such a team creates great sorrow.
That is the final, unwritten test. If they can lose such a close friend and still remain cheery, they are true Thirteenth company Stormtroopers. Only two have achieved this. One of them being the company's current commander, Panther.

- From the book of Edmond Killa, The Finest in the Military

******
As soon as Odin entered the throne room, the Queen had the guards present in the chamber point their weapons at him.

“COULDN'T YOU WAIT A FEW MORE DAYS FOR THE NEROSH TO KILL ME?”
“Calm the hell down.”
“You! You... you slaughter my armies, you destroy my throneworld, you kill my Champion, you try to assassinate me, and now, you dare give me orders?”
“Sorry to break this to you, but we don't assassinate people. Especially not leaders. And don't blame me for what happened to this planet. It was your drones who destabilized the antimatter containment system.”
“Then who are they?”

Several guards brought a group of four human soldiers into the room, and pointlessly attempted to force them to kneel before the Queen. They just stared at their surroundings, grinning.

“Hey! Black Cats, right?”
“Odin! And we thought you were already worm-food!”
“Sorry to disappoint. But it hasn't been exactly pleasant around here. You try being around her while inside the body of a hundred-year-old.”

The alien suddenly jumped down from the throne and headed towards the human, visibly angry despite the faceless mask covering her face.
“You insolent little mag-”
“Calm down, sweetheart.”

The Queen lifted the man off the ground with little effort, and began crushing his neckguard.
“Let him go, bitch!”

An armoured figure dropped from the ceiling in an attempt to slash the Queen with its talons, only to be caught by the alien and held side by side with Odin, while the Black Cats, taking advantage of the chaos, stole their captors' spears, and set about killing any remaining guards, as more rushed into the room.
“Well, it seems you tricked me. I actually believed you when you said you were not trying to kill me. I will not make the same mistake again.”

The Queen effortlessly threw Odin into her throne, breaking it into rubble, and smashed Hel down on the floor with enough force to crack several of the black, marble-like plates which composed it.
As the two humans struggled to get back on their feet, she approached Terra's ruler.

“I committed an error when I sent the other prisoners back to your army. But the harm is already done. Seeing as how you want me dead so badly, I will allow you to witness my death.”

Prevented from answering by the blood filling his lungs, Odin once again passed out, while the Queen's guards overwhelmed the Cats. Hel remained conscious only long enough to hear the alien shout something in her own language.

“*You! Guard! Come here!*”
One of the guards instantly dropped his spear, and obeyed, without daring to look at her.

“*Yes, Goddess?*”
“*Take him to surgery. Make sure he lives, and once they are done, bring him back here.”
“*What about the others, your majesty?*”
“*Send the woman to surgery as well, and then throw them in the guest quarters. The whole Citadel no longer has a purpose.*”
“*My Queen?*”
“*I will die soon. After that, you will be in the service of my Handmaidens. Take them out of here, and defend them with your lives.*”
“*You cannot die! You are the Goddess!*”
“*Even gods fade away. One more thing: instruct the medical staff to bring his age down to thirty of their years.*”
“*Reward him? Surely your highness is not serious!*”
“*It is for me, not for him.*”

******

Odin was again brought to the Throne Room, his numerous scars now clearly visible. The Queen, now wearing a sort of bright red royal armour, which left her stomach and head unprotected, revealing smooth, dark purple, nearly jet-black skin, and her long, soft, white hair, was arguing with two others of her species, who wore blue versions of her own armour, the one bearing lighter garments making a faint gesture in his direction.

“*You can't do this because of him, my Queen!*”
“What the hell did she just say?”
“*When I am dead, you will be Queen. Why does it bother you so much?*”
“*Because you are committing suicide pointlessly! We could just use him to force his army to leave, by threatening to kill him!*”
“*That won't do any good. The humans are stubborn. They will not sacrifice victory for a single life. Besides, the Nerosh are near. Even if the humans lift the siege, the Citadel will still fall.*”

The third Daranti, who wore the darkest armour, joined the conversation.

“*Then we will die at your side, doing our duty!*”
“What the fuck are you three talking about?”
“*If my sacrifice buys you two transport off-world, then I will gladly fall.*”
“*You are starting to sound like a human!*”
“*Your highness, we are supposed to be your guardians, not the other way around.*”
“*One of you two must lead what is left of the empire. If my death is the only way to guarantee that we do not lose the whole command structure, then so be it.*”
“EXCUSE ME! Why the hell am I here?”

The Queen finally decided to answer him, throwing the human back his rifle, the massive weapon cracking several other plates when it landed on the floor.

“Aren't you going to pick that up?”
“Seeing as how it weighs more than me, and you saw fit to remove my torso armour and gauntlets, something I have no idea exactly how you did considering the magnetic locks they have, no.”
“It only weighs one hundred and fifteen of your kilograms.”
“As I said, more than me. Now, what's this about?”
“Follow me.”

Odin found himself flanked by the other two aliens, which he observed were different only in the colour and length of their hair; the one with the darker armour wearing hers slightly shorter, and purple, while the other one's hair was nearly as long and black as his own. The masks they wore being identical to the Queen's.

“Why do you have white hair?”
“Why would it be of interest to you?”
“We're an annoyingly curious species, remember?”
“My kind has a broader range of hair colours than yours. Apparently, the first thing on my people's mind once they discovered how to modify our genetic structure was appearance.”
“You'll be pleased to know that you passed that trait down to us.”
“Is that why you value your scars so much?”

The man now bore an annoyed expression, amplified by the scar which ran from his forehead to his neck, over his right eye.
“No. I thought you wanted to show me something.”
“This way.”

She led them into an elevator, somewhere in front of the throne, which descended for less than a minute, finally opening its doors to reveal a large, metallic arena, in the middle of which, a creature sat. It was large, insect like, with three pairs of skinny legs and one pair of scythed arms. Its head bore uncountable compound eyes.

“I take it you are planning to feed me to that little beastie?”
“Since you want to see me dead, I offer you a deal: I will allow that creature to kill me. In return, you must take my handmaidens off-world, and keep them safe.”
“WHAT?”

The alien with black hair made a final attempt to stop her from entering the arena.

“My Queen, I must protest your actions again! You cannot do that for this... this maggot!”
“While I resent being called a maggot, I've got to agree! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I have learned from your kind that survival does not come without sacrifice.”
“You kind of miss-”

No longer listening to him, the Queen stepped into the chamber, and stood right in front of the insect, ready to receive the killing blow. As the creature got onto its numerous feet, it examined the prey with its ten eyes, and raised an arm ending in a long blade, ready to stab the being in front of it.

“DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER, FUCKFACE!”

The insectoid shifted its gaze towards the charging human, just in time to block the armoured boot heading for its mandibles. Odin's kick succeeding only in tearing off the alien's left bladed arm. The best roared. Backing up, the creature thrust its other blade towards the terran, slashing his left arm. As the confused Queen took a few steps back, he managed to lodge his fingers around the edge of one of the insect's chitinous plates, and began tearing it from the alien's flesh. the insect, writhing, somehow extended one of its feet and kicked him with great force. Odin was sent a few yards back and the creature rushed to him. Its razor-sharp blade moved with lightning speed and pierced the tissue on his back. Refusing to let a good wound go to waste, the human pushed the blade further through his ruptured organs. The bug seemed enraged, its one arm not enough to stop him. To add irony into the battle, Odin drove the chitinous scythe-arm right through the beast's tiny brain. And it collapsed.

While the two handmaidens rushed into the room to ensure the safety of the Queen, she broke the dead monster's blade from it's arm, and pulled Odin, along with the remains of the blade from the corpse, gently lying him down on the metallic floor; the human's hand suddenly grabbed the edge of her breastplate, and pulled her closer to his face, his coughs splattering blood on her silver mask.

“Are you fucking stupid, or just pretending to be?”
“I thought...”
“You thought what? I fucking told you! We... I don't want you dead!”
“Get him to the medical bay! Now!”
“Not again...”
“*Your highness! Are you all right?*”
“*Just bring him to the med bay!*”
“*Very well.*”

******

The Queen oversaw the operation. Three High Daranti had anaesthetized Odin, and were working on removing the long, organic blade from his liver. Despite their advanced technology, they still had to remove it the old-fashioned way. Moving the human's tissues out of the way, they slowly extracted the jagged weapon from his body, quickly directing a celular regenerator into the wound as soon as it had been removed. Several minutes later, one of the doctors exited the room and approached her.

“*This one will live, however he will require rest.*”
“*Rest? There is no time for rest. And even if there were, he would never stay still.*”
“*Your highness, I suggest you find a way to keep him from making any effort for at least a planetary rotation, if you want him to survive. Their physiology is similar enough to our own that we could close his wounds; but this is a grievous injury, even for one of us.*”
“*Have him sent to the Throne Room when he wakes up.*”

******

Once again, Odin was brought into the hall which contained the Queen's now-ruined throne; the table in the middle had been cleaned, and was covered, as before, with a wide variety of alien dishes, while in the seats around it sat the Black Cats.

“Sir, where's your shirt, why are you young and why do you have a fresh hole in your frikin' stomach?”
“I'd like to know, too, boss.”
Panther calling someone boss was a tad bit strange.
“Irrelevant. I suggest you try those cephalopods, though, they're delicious.”
“The whatolopodz?”

Panther pushed a plate filled with small, apparently fried and crunchy octopus-like animals towards 22, and answered:
“The squids, idiot! So, boss, now what?”
“Good question. Well, your highness, how are you planning on killing yourself now?”
“I am not. However, I do posses something which would aid you in the war your empire faces: the knowledge of my people.”
“Really, now? And to access this knowledge I will have to get you and your handmaidens out of here, right?”
“Yes. But first, you might want to have some engineers remove the Archive. I also suggest you stop the siege. Your troops will be safer in orbit.”

The handmaiden with purple hair brought Panther another drink, and placed it on the table in such a way that the human could not avoid noticing her body, accentuated by the tight, revealing armour she wore.

“And they're just going to take orders from me after I've been captured and altered by the enemy?”
“Of course I don't expect that to happen. I will accompany you to your front lines, if you wish. I doubt a direct order after your identity has been established will be ignored.”
“Might as well, I guess. But I'm not going outside until I get my a-”
“Look to your left.”

His armour plates and helmet were held by a seemingly very angry guard.
“Well, in that case, let's get going. You four stay here and take care of Hel, all right?”

Panther managed to tear his gaze from the handmaiden, and turned towards his commander.
“It's a hard job, but someone has to do it, right, boys?”
“Yeah, boss! Someone's gotta' keep her outta' trouble.” the rest of the Cats exchanged glances with idiotic grins. They weren't quite sure who Panther meant. 22 suddenly raised an arm, still chewing a squid.
“Like the most awesome team in the galaxy, eh boys?”
After a four-way high five, the Queen and most other Daranti were left confused, at the very least.
“Your troops are most peculiar.”
“I know. You'll get used to them.”

******

“Hey, Loki, Thor, get over here!”
“What?”
“Look who we found wondering around the No Man's Land!”

Freyja entered the bunker, followed by Odin and the Queen, along Rhino, who held his rifle towards the alien.
“Hya, chief!”
“Hey!”

The Queen seemed confused by the humans' lack of reaction.
“You seem... less than impressed with the fact that he is still alive.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Calm down, Thor. She doesn't pose a threat.”
“No, wait. She's the Queen, isn't she?”
“Yes, I am. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.”
“Personal issues don't belong in the field, soldier!”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

Freyja interrupted the conversation, for once more interested in the way the 'battle' progressed than in Thor's family relations.
“Sir, what is going on?”

As he explained the situation, a Valkyrie began the process of confirming his identity.

******

Several hours later, as the human troops grudgingly began pulling back a mere four days after the siege had begun, Odin, along with a squad of engineers, the Queen, Rhino, who led a small group of Einjerhar volunteers and the three Brothers of Metal arrived back in the throne room, which now boasted a glowing, white column with holographic green hieroglyphs near the Queen's reconstructed throne, while at the table, the Cats were busy examining several disassembled Daranti lightning rifles and spears, with the exception of Panther, who was talking to the purple-haired handmaiden. Odin overheard bits of their conversation:
“But why are you so unsophisticated? So... well, insane?”
“I wouldn't call us insane. I'd call us light-hearted. Helps keep any kind of stress away, if ya ask me. Makes it easier to concentrate during missions.”
“Fascinating.”

His eavesdropping was interrupted by the Queen, who addressed the new-comers:
“The guards will lead you to the guest quarters. I suggest you get comfortable. You might be here for a few days.”
Odin supported the recommendation with a nod towards the troops, and they followed a pair of guards up a set of stairs. The Brothers of Metal, however, held their positions behind him.

“What the hell are you three still doing here?”
“Sir, our duty is to stay by your side. We have already failed once, and we are not eager to do so again.”
“Black Wind, Fire, Steel, get some fucking rest.”
“Sir, we-”
“That was an order, not a request! Get going!”
“Yes, sir.”

As the soldiers turned around and disappeared up the stairs, Odin leaned against a wall and soon noticed the Queen had quietly approached him, and seemed worried.

“Are you alright?”
“I'll live. That wound hurts like hell, though.”
“My doctors said you needed rest. I apologise.”
“This was more important than my health. I'm going to go get some sleep now.”
“Where are you going?”
“To the guest quarters.”
“Come with me.”
“Where?”

The Queen led him out of the chamber, through a large door behind the throne, into a smaller room, with three other doors.
“There is a dining hall to your left; a bathroom to the right; I assume you can guess where the third door leads to.”
“Thanks.”

Inside the faintly-lit bedroom, pressed against the left wall rested a large, hexagonal bed, with blood-red sheets and numerous pillows, while the right one was completely occupied by a large screen.

Having removed his armour, Odin checked the new wound. And since it hadn't re-opened, he simply crashed onto the bed.

******

Something soft slid under Sam's chin, waking him. As he attempted to get up, he realised that the Queen was resting her head on his chest, with her hand on the fresh injury on his stomach.

“You humans sleep for excessive amounts of time.”
“Is this why you invited me in here?”
“Do you mind?”
“Not really. But I would appreciate being able to see you.”

She gently took his hand, and placed it on her face, slowly moving it down across her body.

“Better now?”
“Slightly. What's your name?”
“Mirthala. But since I am the Queen, it is not to be used in public.”
“Well, Mirthala, your skin is as smooth as silk. I hope that's not your only advantage...”

Giggling, the Queen moved herself over him, careful not to touch his barely-closed wound.
“You will have to find out for yourse-”

She was cut off by the sound of the door, which slid open, forcing her to quickly lift the bedsheets to cover her body. Sam could finally see the features of her round face: below long, red eyelashes, her eyes, with silver irises, were gazing at the open door, while her smooth, soft lips, slightly lighter in colour than her silky skin, were partially separated in an expression of elegant shock.

“My Queen! Forgive the intrusion, but I have a qu-”
The purple-haired handmaiden suddenly stopped when she noticed Mirthala's position.

“Ymra! Couldn't you have knocked?”
The Queen dropped the red sheet, and placed her lips and the tip of her tongue on Sam's chest, slowly moving up towards his chin, while the handmaiden continued her thought, apparently oblivious to what was happening.

“How do you know if a human is interested in you?” Mirthala lifted her head in an attempt to answer, but was promptly pulled back down by Odin, who pressed his lips against hers ,“The one called Panther is quite pleasant to be around...”

The Queen finally managed to extract herself from the human's arms, and answered while gasping for air.
“Ymra, please, leave!”
“Just take your mask off and kiss the bastard. Now get out!”

Seemingly pondering the advice, the handmaiden left, closing the door behind her; before she could reach the door to the throne room, she heard Mirthala moan, and couldn't help smiling as she left the Queen's quarters.

******

Panther approached a man, who seemed very focused on the Archive, and bore green stripes which indicated the fact that he was an engineer.
“Hey, egghead, how's the rune reading going?”
“Ah, smartass commander is up! Bored with tearing apart Daranti weapons, are we?”
“Nah, just needed a break. Say, have you seen that purple-haired girl?”
“Listen, Panther, you need to calm the fuck down. Spending your whole day around her will probably only get you tired of her quicker. You don't even know her damned name!”
“Spare me the lecture, will you?”
“Fine, just go away. Regardless as to what planet we're on, it's still 2 AM, and I want to finish this thing.”
“Damn, why the hell are you so uptight?”

The engineer accidentally touched a glyph, causing the pillar to emit a holographic map of what seemed to be the Daranti empire.

“First, those goddamned Assassins figured that the best place to drop in is my room, then you dandily come along, and make me fuck this thing up! Now leave me the hell alone!”
“Ok, ok. I'll never understand why everyone besides us is so serious...”
“Hey, look, there's your woman. Go talk to her, or something.”

The handmaiden approached Panther, and gently pushed him back to the nearest wall, while taking her mask off.

“This is very nice, but could you maybe fucking do it somewhere else? I swear to Muspelheim, if any of you two idiots hits this thing, I will kill you with my bare hands!”
“I think mister asshole wants to be alone. I didn't catch your name earlier.”
“I didn't give it. Call me Ymra. Where should we go?”
“Anywhere that's not here...”

As the two left, the engineer, who finally managed to turn off the hologram he had activated earlier, let out a sigh of relief; two minutes later, the last missing Assassin dropped from the ceiling right on top of the column, activating several more glyphs with his talons, causing countless other holograms to appear over each other, before slipping off and touching several more hieroglyphs on his way down.

“You... You son of a bitch!”
“Name, rank and squad, soldier!”
“NAME? You fucking idiot, you ruined eighteen hours worth of work!”
“Answer me, trooper!”
“Get out.”
“What? I outrank you! Show some respect!”
“Get the fuck out.”
“Soldier! Wha-”
“I said: get the fuck out of here.”
“What are you, a traitor?”
“Get the fucking hell out of here, before I rip you apart with my bare hands.”
“You can't hurt me!”
“I am perfectly aware of every single fucking weakness in both your fucking armour and your goddamned muscle and joint replacements. GET THE FUCK OUT!”

The Assassin's voice began to betray fear.

“Soldier, g-”
“WHAT FUCKING PART OF 'GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE' DOESN'T YOUR FUCKING RETARDED HEAD MOTHERFUCKING UNDERSTAND?”
“Ok, ok! I'm leaving! Calm down! Note to self: never, ever fucking piss nerds off.”
“Other way, idiot! Those are the Queen's chambers!”
“Isn't there someone else who can do this while you get some goddamned sleep?”
“No, I'm the only one awake, thanks to your fucking squadmates, who dropped right into my room!”
“Soldier, you're going to kill either yourself, or someone else. Get some fucking sleep.”
“You try sleeping after three psychos drop in your bed from the vents!”

The black-haired handmaiden entered the throne room, visibly angry and heading right for the engineer.

“*Munkat damned humans! Could you pests be any louder?*”
“Speak in English, bitch, we can't understand you!”
“You dare talk to me like this?”
“Yes, I fucking do!”

Touching her arm, the Assassin attempted to stop her from doing something which might break the fragile truce.

“Don't. He's just suffering from lack of sleep. And exasperation.”
Annoyed, she took a mug containing a clear green fluid from the table, and forced it in the engineer's hand.

“Drink it!”
“I don't have time for this.”
“I gave you an order!”
“And I don't take orders from you!”

The handmaiden touched a small indentation on the column, causing all of the glyphs and holograms to disappear.
“Drink it, or I am not turning the Archive back on!”

Grudgingly, he took the mug, and emptied it; despite the fact that the liquid was delicious, the human still had not calmed down.

“There! Now re-activate the damned thing!”
“No. Go get some sleep.”

Fighting the sudden urge to obey, the engineer answered in a flat, bored tone.
“No way. Turn this monstrosity back on!”
“Please, go to your quarters. For me.”
“Read my lips. No. Motherfucking. Way.”
“So that's why the Queen admires you terrans.”
“What did you give him?”
“Something you would consider an extremely intoxicating beverage.”
“Alcohol tends to have a very low effect on humans older than one hundred.”
“This is made of hallucinogenic mushrooms.”
“Those don't work at all on us. Not any more, anyway.”
“Then what are you planning on doing with him?”
“Don't have the slightest idea. Wait a second, why is he so quiet?”

The engineer had fallen on the ground, and seemed to have gone into a coma.
“That drink is not poisonous to your species.”
“Maybe he's finally asleep.”
“Now you can throw him in his chamber, at least.”

Looking around for the Assassin, she found that he had silently disappeared And worse, the engineer had woken up.
“Wow. That sure as hell packs a punch. I think I'm going to go back to my room now.”
“Finally.”

******

“Good morning, beauty of the galaxy.”

Mirthala pulled herself closer to Sam, her smooth skin and white hair glowing slightly in the now-brightly lit bedroom, before answering.

“Is it morning already?”
“I think... the lighting in this place seems to be utterly random.”
“Don't get up. There is nothing for the two of us to do until your engineers figure out how to remove the Archive from the throne room.”
“Excellent. What's that screen for?”
“It is more or less useless. Since the Citadel no longer receives signals from the other worlds in the empire, there isn't much it can do.”
“Incidentally, I always carry a movie collection with me. The armour has a lot of storage space, and missions are frequently long.”
“Sounds intere-”

She was cut off by the screen, which suddenly flashed to life, presenting a humanoid insect-like being, clad in black armour. Its head vaguely resembled that of a hammerhead shark, but it was curled backwards, not as thin and the eyes looked forward, like a human's. But those eyes had no visible irises or eyelashes. They were just two lifeless, green orbs. Its small, pincer-like mandibles were not obstructing any part of its face, and caused it to speak with an added slight chirp.

“I do hope I am disturbing. I am here to discuss the terms of your surrender!”

Willis seemed more shocked by the creature's words than by the fact that a giant, insectoid sapient appeared on the screen across from the bed.

“Surrender? Who the hell do you think you are?”

Mirthala attempted to calm him down, gently pulling him back onto the mound of pillows.

“Ignore it... The Nerosh have always been annoying.”
“They make a habit of showing up while you're in bed?”
“Your beloved human has forgotten to remove his artillery emplacements when his armies pulled back. Soon, our t-”
“Yeah, yeah, fuckwit, you do that. Can we turn this thing off?”

She took a small remote from beneath a pillow and shut the screen down.

“You left the artillery pieces and trenches intact?”
“Yes... along with several antimatter bombs buried in them. And other rather disturbing types of traps.”
“Doesn't that go against your code of fairness in war?”
“Not when faced with a cowardly attack.”
“Isn't that what you did when you came here?”
“Not really. We gave you a chance to stop us, and you nearly succeeded.”
“Well, you were saying something about a 'movie'?”
“Yes, I'll try to connect that screen to my armour later, when I get up.”
“In the meantime... shall we have some more fun?”
“Hehe... glad-”

The screen turned on again.
“Insolent wretches! I am giving you one final chance! Surrender, and you will be spared! The Overlord is merciful! Comply, and you shall be granted the honour of being his servants!”
“God fucking damnit! Can't you see we're a little busy, bugbrain?”
“Useless mammal! The Sire shall have your head on his staff!”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.”
“And you, Daranti infidel, the Lord has a special place for you!”
“Your lord is an insect... he would not possess the appropriate equipment to do anything with me.”
“Ok, that's it.”
“Pitiful ape! You think you can protect her?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do!”

Odin retrieved his helmet, and touched a button on its side, below a set of antennae.
“Planetary defence batteries, lock on to the extra-atmospheric signal's source, and open fire!”
“You took control of my defence grid?”
“Of course I did. I also atomised the control bunkers.”

As Mirthala once again turned the screen off, and kissed the man who held her, another insect appeared on the viewscreen. But this one was far more awe-inspiring. Encased in golden armour, it held a staff with heads of countless creatures. On its head sat a black crown, which seemed to emanate some sort of aura. Its silver throne was in start contrast with the dark wall behind it. Mirthala knew who it was.

“If I am not mistaken, your culture considers killing messengers rude, human!”
“My culture also considers rude what you're doing right now! Batteries, fi-”
“Don't bother, insignificant one. I am far beyond the range of such pathetic weapons.”
“You're just as insignificant to the universe as me, moron!”
“You dare talk about the Universe? The great Malakath himself had spoken to me! Declared that you be wiped out!”
“Yeah, sure. Now, will you please fucking leave? I am trying to have a private moment with my-”
“I will keep you alive long enough to see her-”

She used the remote to shut the screen down for the third time.
“I am going to go take a bath before that thing shows up again. Will you join me?”
“Gladly!”
“So you enjoyed last night?”
“Would I still be here if I hadn't? On a side note, I think we should have used a-”
“Our species are not that similar...”
“I thought the only differences were lack of body hair and skin colour.”
“The Ancients ensured that hybrids would not show up. They had a certain degree of obsession with the genetic purity of a species. Now, let's go take that bath while I'm still in the mood...”
“Great. So space Nazis are responsible for mankind. Let's go.”
“Nazis?”
“Morons who couldn't get it through their thick skulls that being blonde with blue eyes doesn't make them better than anyone else. They'd have a field day with you, if they would still exist.”
“Why?”
“They'd consider you a genetically inferior offshot of the human spe- wait a fucking minute! We evolved on Terra, we traced our lineage all the way back to the initial pond scum!”
“My ancestors introduced a certain amount of their genetic material into every simian species they encountered. It was done to accelerate the evolution, and create a species which could potentially be added to the empire; but it was a low enough amount that the changes would seem natural. You were an experiment in the sense that you were the first to have your genetic structure altered.”
“That's how your guards came about?”
“Well... yes. Now, can we go? I would really hate seeing that insect again.”

Sam kissed her stomach before answering.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Good.”
“By the way, I'm no geneticist, but I am pretty sure it's not as simple as in-”
“Do you want me to show you the entire process?”
“Not really. What I would like to know is why those bugs showed up in your room.”
“That screen is the only one with an open network in the whole Citadel.”
“And why does it have a camera?”
“I require... private communication, from time to time.”
“I won't bother asking how they hacked into it.”

******

“Why does everyone else call you Panther?”
“Because a panther is an awesome terran animal. Like me.”

Ymra began putting her armour back on.

“Will we meet again?”
“What kind of question is that? I'm not leaving you.”
“Even if you are ordered to?”
“Well... that's a delicate subject. But Odin isn't that big of an ass.”
“Neither is my Queen.”
“Then what's the problem?”
“What if we get separated?”
“That's easy. I'm always either in the mess hall, or in the armoury.”
“And how will I find those?”
“The armoury is always off-limits to non-military personnel, but you'll find the mess. The damned thing usually shakes the whole ship after a battle... and the Kivenkantaja is filled with troops, coming back from a decapitation strike.”
“Kivenkantaja?”
“It means Stonebearer in some ancient terran language... Finnish, I think it was called.”
“Appropriate name for a transport ship.”
“You should have seen what the Hand of Doom did to earn hers...”
“Given your obsession with war, I might like it.”
“I'll show you when we get out of here. I should still have the pictures somewhere.”

The handmaiden wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him before re-attaching her mask.

“I cannot wait...”
“You'd better. My superiors tend to react badly to shows of any emotion above friendship from soldiers who are on duty. It's our way of ignoring casualties.”
“Then I will do my very best to keep to myself until we leave.”
“Or until tonight...”
“We can only hope your engineers suffer a delay...”

******

The Overlord sat in his silver throne aboard the Nerosh flagship, 'Makaene Kirtonos', or 'Light of Gods' in our lesser language. He clutched his staff, which was made of an exotic, red, energy-emitting metal. The first negotiator looked at his lord.
“Sir, why were they together in bed? And what did she mean by...”
“SILENCE!!”
The Overlord's eyes flashed and the servant's head exploded, covering the bridge with purple liquid. Another soon took his place and more started cleaning the mess.
He stood up, crushed one of the cleaner's heads beneath his clawed foot and then looked at the planets visible through the long-range sensors. He then spoke:
“Proceed with battle plan alpha. Split the armada. Let my brother take Munkat. I shall personally raid and destroy that human's worlds. I, Lekeios Manthedor, do not take kindly to insults.”
“As commanded, sire!”
The communications experts then started relaying his orders