> Valkyria Chronicles - Sun and Moon > by Universal Librarian > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 - The New Generation Valkyrur > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The assault course was a nightmare. Rain lashed down, making the obstacles slick and turning the dirt track into a muddy quagmire, as if the dim light of the sparse spotlights didn’t make things hard enough. All the while the merciless instructors watched over it like hawks. Waiting. Judging.  Nicole pushed through anyway.  Half a dozen Federation soldiers were taking the course alongside her. This assault course was the culmination of months of gruelling training; a final test of their abilities, endurance, and mental fortitude. Each of the remaining six were desperate to prove their worth. Success here would mean a fresh start. They would get a chance to take on the most important mission on the front lines, defending their homes from invasion and, perhaps more importantly for some, it meant a permanent escape from the oppressive research facilities they had been forced to endure for the last year. The sudden clatter of gunfire almost made Nicole flinch. They were supposedly only blank rounds with a few tracers mixed in, fired overhead to give the illusion of a firefight, but she still kept her head down as she charged to the next obstacle. An almost sheer wooden wall rose up at least twenty feet out of the muck, with a series of vertical ropes supposedly allowing passage. The first soldiers were already clambering up by the time Nicole managed to grab a rope for herself. The climb was agonising. The rain combined with the mud covering Nicole’s hands to make the rope worryingly slick, forcing her to grip with every feasible limb she could. Just over halfway up, the soldier next to her slipped and fell, dropping to the ground with a wet splat. Nicole hoped it wasn’t her sister. Climbing with renewed vigour, Nicole grunted with exertion as she neared the top of the wall. She reached out and grasped the top with one hand, trying to get a good grip on the mud-streaked surface. A hand reached down towards her, and Nicole gladly clasped it, allowing the other soldier to help her up. “Thanks.” Whatever reply the soldier made was lost in another burst of gunshots. The two cursed and ran down the ramp on the other side of the wall, keeping their heads down as tracer rounds zipped by worryingly close overhead. Together, the pair splashed down into the mud once again and sprinted to the next obstacle; a set of narrow metal tunnels half-buried in water that the trainees had to crawl through. Climbing over the top was technically an option, but the tangled web of barbed wire coating them was enough to put off all but the most idiotic. Nicole lost track of the other soldiers as she dropped to her knees and crawled into a tunnel. She gasped in shock as her hands and legs sank into the icy water. It was utterly pitch-black inside, forcing her to feel her way forward with her hands while keeping her head up out of the water. The first few metres were easy enough, but Nicole came to a stop when her head suddenly bumped the top of the tunnel. Pausing to lift her hands out of the water, Nicole baulked as she realized that the tunnel descended ahead, meaning she would have to completely submerge herself for an unknown distance.  Precious seconds ticked by as Nicole wrestled with her own fears. Finally, she worked up her courage, took a deep breath, and plunged down into the icy water.  Sheer determination kept Nicole moving forward. The combination of darkness, confinement, and submersion in ice-cold water was enough to make the tunnel a hellish experience; easily the worst part of the course so far. Hope stirred as Nicole caught a glimpse of a flash of light ahead. The end of the tunnel couldn’t be far away. Right as she thought that, something snagged on her trouser leg.  Nicole barely resisted the urge to swear and let out precious oxygen. She reached down, trying to dislodge whatever she was caught on, but the tunnel was so cramped that her arm couldn’t reach far enough. Nicole tried to back up, but her clothes stayed stubbornly caught. Panic set in. Stuck under the dark and cold water, with her lungs burning for air, Nicole couldn’t even scream for help. Simply trying to do so would only make the end that much faster. Abandoning all restraint, she scrabbled against the sides of the tunnel, trying to rip herself free through brute force. Spots danced in Nicole’s vision as her breath ran out. Instinctively, she breathed out, and her mouth immediately filled with icy water. It was all she could do not to suck it down into her lungs.  As her entire body screamed with the need for oxygen, Nicole put all of her might into one last push. Somehow, incredibly, she managed to get her leg free. Desperation gave her strength, and she scrambled to the end of the tunnel like a deranged animal, spitting the water out of her mouth as she went. The first gasp of air as she broke the surface was the sweetest thing that Nicole had ever tasted. Her whole body shook as she dragged herself, hand over hand, out of the water and into the mud on the other side. Nicole dearly wanted to collapse on the ground, but she didn’t have that luxury. She allowed herself a few seconds to compose herself, trying to ignore the pounding in her skull or the way she was violently shivering, then gritted her teeth and forced herself to her feet. Ahead, barely fifty metres away, a short wooden ramp rose up out of the mud to a platform where a single instructor was waiting. Reach him, and the course was finished.  Nicole grunted with effort and staggered forward, pushing herself into an ungainly run through sheer willpower. Two soldiers were ahead of her, both of them weaving and slipping as they neared the ramp. One of them tripped and fell just before the finish line. The woman cursed and swore like a sailor as she struggled to regain her footing. Nicole grabbed her arm as she passed and helped drag the soldier to her feet, unwilling to leave her to fail so close to the end. Together, the two stumbled across the last few metres of mud and up the ramp. The instructor nodded as they arrived. “Excellent work.” With her goal reached, Nicole finally gave in to her exhaustion and sank to her knees, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. The soldier she had helped flopped onto her back with a groan, while the third, the one who had reached the end before them, was on her hands and knees just ahead, retching from exertion. “Looks like that’s everyone,” the instructor said as he checked a stopwatch. “And… time’s up” He raised a whistle to his lips and blew a single sharp note.  The clatter of gunfire stopped instantly.  Despite completing the course, Nicole felt a sick sense of dread coiling in the pit of her stomach. She looked back over the course, peering through the rain, trying to see where the most important person to her in the world had gotten to. “Tabby…” “I told you… to stop... calling me… that…” the soldier next to her panted. Nicole whipped her head around to the woman in surprise. She hadn’t realized in the darkness, but the soldier that she had helped up at the last minute actually was her little sister.  “Congratulations, you three,” the instructor said loudly. “The official transfer won’t happen for a couple of days, yet, but as far as I’m concerned, from this moment on, you can proudly call yourselves members of the Ranger Corps.” Lieutenant Colonel Gliene grumbled to himself as he looked through the most recent reports from the front lines. It had been less than three months since the East Autocratic Imperial Alliance had invaded the Atlantic Federation, and yet the Federation had already lost over a third of their territory. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the Imperials controlled the entirety of Europa. On paper, both sides would be considered superpowers, but, as much as Gleine hated to admit it, the difference in military might was abundantly clear. He scowled and glared at the most recent orders from High Command. The reason for the difference in relative power was equally clear to him. Where the Imperials were a tightly-knit conglomeration of countries united under the absolute authority of their Emperor, the Federation was a loose alliance of countries who couldn’t agree on any cohesive form of defence until they realized that they were on the brink of being utterly shafted. A heavy sigh escaped Gleine’s lips, before a knock on the door snatched his attention. Straightening up, he made sure to keep his expression carefully composed as he called out, “Enter.” The door creaked open, and the familiar form of Major Cowlrick lumbered through. Tall, heavily muscled, and sporting both long ginger braids and a truly magnificent beard that blatantly disregarded military regulations, Cowlrick was one of that rare breed of officer who had worked his way up the ranks from the very bottom.  He was a hero of the First Europan War, and he was dead set on stopping the Imperials from winning the second one, even if he had to beat them back with a shovel.  “Sir, I got them reports on our New Generation Valkyrur you wanted,” Cowlrick rumbled, his gravelly voice thick with the accent of Edinburgh’s highlands. “Looks like three of them lasses managed to pass the Ranger Course, even without their enhancements. Not bad going, eh?” “No, not bad at all,” Gleine replied, tidying away his paperwork and replacing it with the files that Cowlrick offered.  Cowlrick stepped back and crossed his arms. “Beg your pardon, Sir, but what’s going to happen to the rest of them? We ain’t just sending them all back to the damn research labs, are we?” “Thankfully, no,” Gleine said with relief, ignoring his subordinate’s casual tone. Cowlrick was hardly the most tactful or professional officer, but his skill and dedication more than made up for that, as did his absolutely unyielding nature. “The soldiers who failed the course will be rotated among our regular units in between research sessions. As for these three…” Gleine quickly read through the notes pinned to the first page of each file. “It appears that the brass have cleared them for permanent deployment to our Ranger units.” “Thank Mercy for that!” Cowlrick exclaimed. “It’s about time we had something that can stand up to that infernal Imperial magic. Those buggers are stomping all over us.” He jerked his chin at the files. “Any word from the eggheads on how that magic works yet?” Gleine shook his head absently as he read. “Not yet. All they have managed to confirm is that it, and I quote, ‘interacts energetically with ragnite, but doesn’t appear to be a ragnite-based phenomenon’.” The annoyance that Cowlrick felt was palpable. “Of course it’s not sodding ragnite!” He growled. “I could have told them idiots that this wretched magic ain’t caused by bloody ragnite. What the hell do they think they’re playing at?!” Gleine could hardly blame him for being irritated, but he could hardly blame the scientists, either. He still found it hard to believe that magic actually existed, despite the fact that it had been a few years since it had appeared out of nowhere and rained down from the skies. No-one knew where it had came from, or why, but that hadn’t stopped near enough every government on the planet from scrambling to get hold of as much of it as they could. Unfortunately, the Imperials had managed to figure out how to work it faster and more effectively than anyone else, using it to boost the power of many of their weapons, tanks, and even some of their soldiers. Still, Gleine comforted himself in the knowledge that the three women described in the files before him could go some way towards blunting the Empire’s superiority. “Hopefully the scientists will figure out something soon. In the meantime, let’s see what these ladies are capable of, shall we?” Cowlrick nodded, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Aye. I think that sounds like a good idea.” Gleine allowed himself a small smile and flipped the files closed. “It appears that our superiors wish for these ladies to be referred to by codenames from now on, to reduce the chances of Imperial spies figuring out our methods. It also appears that two of them are sisters.” “Sisters, eh?” Cowlrick raised an eyebrow. “Seems a bit harsh to separate them.” “I quite agree,” Gleine replied, though personally he was more concerned about whether or not their combat effectiveness would be affected if he put them in separate units. “Very well. I’ll assign Miss Aduba to Squad F, under the codename Novo. The Oliver sisters shall go to Squad E, under the codenames of Celestia and Luna.” > Chapter 2 - What's In A Name? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The market square was a hive of activity as Federation soldiers hurried about, preparing for their next mission. Claude tried not to look anxious as he strode through it all. He was painfully aware of the terrified citizens watching the proceedings and, as an officer, he didn’t want to give them any reason for panic. It didn’t help that his platoon was the only elite Ranger unit present, so they were drawing a fair amount of attention.  Thankfully, his two Sergeants, both childhood friends of his, were ready and waiting as he approached.  “Hey, Claude, what’s the word?” Raz called out, earning a glare from a passing soldier for addressing a superior officer so casually. Kai looked around as well at Raz’s words, prying her attention away from the subordinates she was supervising.  “I’ve got good news and bad news,” Claude told them. “The bad news is that we’re being sent to the new Echo Base northeast of here.” Raz scratched his head in confusion. “Why’s that bad news?”  “Because there’s an Imperial advance force between here and there, plus the village of Milt, which is probably in enemy hands as well,” Kai explained with a grim expression. “What’s the good news?” Claude couldn’t help a small smile. “Command has assigned two of the New Generation Valkyrur to Squad E. I need the whole platoon ready to meet them at the east outpost past the city limits in an hour.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nicole idly watched the scenery go by as the jeep trundled along the road. Her and her little sister were both sitting in the back, being driven in silence by two grim-faced Rangers, Edinburgh’s elite special forces. It took Nicole a second to remember that she was one of those elites now, too.  “Enjoying the view, Tia?” Tabby asked.  “It’s a hell of a lot better than the lab, that’s for sure,” Nicole replied, a little miffed that Tabby, or Luna as she was supposed to be called from now on, had already come up with a nickname for her.  “You don’t like labs?” Luna asked. “Not academically gifted, I take it?” Nicole turned to see Luna smirking at her, fully aware that she couldn’t properly refute it without breaching the gag order regarding all details about their pre-war lives.  “Chateau Charlemagne is just ahead, Sergeants,” one of the drivers cut in. “We’ll be at the rendezvous point in just a few minutes.” Nicole eagerly looked back out of the window to see if she could see the chateau. It was a famous historical location; the site of more scandals, assassinations, and dark aristocratic intrigues than almost anywhere else in Europa. She had been desperate to see it ever since she was a little girl. Unfortunately, the high walls and tall hedges that bordered the estate hid everything else from view.  It didn’t take long for the jeep to reach the main gates. The guards exchanged a few words with the driver, then opened up the gate and waved them through. “The Baron has asked all military not on guard duty to assemble at the muck yard, on the edge of the grounds,” the driver explained. “Squad E are already there.” Luna let out a disgusted snort. “Typical. The aristocrats might be on the verge of being slaughtered by Imperials, but heaven forbid that us mere soldiers might dirty up their pretty courtyards when there’s a perfectly good pile of shit for us to gather around.” “Easy, Luna,” Nicole warned.  The two in front just chucked. “Don’t worry, Sergeant, we won’t say anything,” the driver assured her. “Hell, we feel the same way.” Nicole let out a small sigh of relief and allowed herself to relax a little. “I understand where you’re coming from, but let’s at least try not to upset the nobs, shall we?” “Spoilsport,” Luna huffed.  Ignoring her sister, Nicole looked back out of the window to admire the mansion as they drove past. She ended up so engrossed in identifying the parts of the building and grounds mentioned in her textbooks that she didn’t notice the yard ahead until the driver pointed it out, “There’s your new platoon, Ma’am.” Luna looked out of the window eagerly, but Nicole leaned back, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She could handle calling her sister by a different name, after all they had used nicknames for each other since they had been able to talk, but introducing herself differently was different. Nicole has spent years working hard to get herself recognised; discarding all of that effort, even temporarily, stung more than a little.  The jeep rolled to a stop just a few seconds later.  “Come on, let’s see who we’re going to be kicking arse with,” Luna said with a grin. With a heavy sigh, Nicole thanked their escorts and followed her sister out of the car.  Around forty soldiers were lined up ahead of the pair, all wearing the same drab brown uniforms with white armour plates. All of them were arranged by class; scouts, shocktroopers, lancers, engineers, snipers, and finally a tank operator and a medic with a beautiful dog sitting proudly next to them. Three officers stood at the front of the formation.  The trio, two young men and a young woman, all looked to be around the same age. The first man had short black hair and wore the simple fatigues of a tank commander. The second,a shocktrooper, had dark blue-black hair that instantly marked him as a Darcsen. He wore it longer than regulations would strictly allow, even for Rangers, and kept it swept back with a headband bearing traditional Darcsen markings. The woman, unusually for an officer, was a sniper, with long jet-black hair and fatigues that were far too baggy for her. Most of the Rangers managed to maintain a professional and disciplined air as Nicole and Luna approached. The Darcsen officer, however, pulled a lecherous grin and muttered something that was almost certainly crass, earning himself a sharp elbow to the kidneys from the woman officer.  Despite the man’s foolishness, Nicole couldn’t help feeling a little bitter about what had to happen next. Protocol dictated that she had to introduce herself to a senior officer first, but she was being forced to use a different name. Nicole had spent years building up her name, studying and working her arse off to earn herself a position as a professor at one of Edinburgh’s most prominent universities, right up until the army had discovered her affinity for the bizarre new form of energy that had exploded over the planet almost two years ago.  Now, thanks to the government’s need for absolute secrecy around the New Generation Valkyrur, Nicole had to give up her name and identity entirely.  Calling Tabby by a different name was easy; Nicole had been referring to her little sister by a variety of nicknames since they had been children. In fact, she could count the number of times she had actually used Tabby’s real name on one hand. Having to abandon her own name was another matter. Still, it had to be done.  Sighing internally, Nicole stepped in front of the officers and snapped a crisp salute. “Sergeant Celestia, reporting for duty!” “Sergeant Luna, reporting for duty!” Luna saluted eagerly.  The tank commander offered them a salute in return. “It’s good to have you with us, Sergeants. I’m First Lieutenant Claude Wallace, commander of this unit, and these are Sergeant Raz and Sergeant Kai Schulen.” He glanced over his shoulder at the lined-up soldiers for just a second. “I wish we had time to get you settled properly, but we’ve got orders to move out as soon as you arrive. We’ve got your gear in the barn with the Hafen, this way.” Claude turned to show them the way, then paused and glanced back with a sheepish expression that made him look a lot younger than he had first looked. “Oh, and, uh, welcome to Squad E.”