A foundation for the legend...

Posted on Thu Oct 3rd, 2024 @ 12:41am by Lieutenant Betaras K'ner

Mission: Deep freeze
Location: here... near...
Timeline: pre-current

“It’s like they dropped down from the heavens with a war cry and to mete out vengeance upon them all. And then, they were gone… we couldn’t even thank them. And they took the warriors we hired, Kots and Chbje too from where they’d fallen…”

“This were the Valkyries…” said another, with quiet reverence. "They’ve taken them to Valhalla!”

K’ner watched the caravan get themselves together. They could still make it to the village by nightfall if they got repacked and on their way. She looked at Nod as she rose. “Keep an eye on them. Signal us if you need help."

Nod nodded and moved ahead to get a look at the trail beyond, stopping on occasion to examine spots and leave markings on the side of the road to caution the group as they continued their journey. They would probably think it was scouts from the Jarl’s clan, marking paths of safety. Nod smiled, wondering what they would say if asked…

K’ner had bundled up again, treading across the drifts with a rhythm that ate up the distance towards the pennant she could just barely see. She wanted to get into place with the others before dark in case she needed to be able to see anything before darkness fell completely.

There was less than an hour, likely less than a half hour even in these hills, before they’d be navigating by the subtle glow of the moonlight through the cloud cover. You couldn’t read a book by it, but you could maneuver. ‘Course you couldn’t truly see very far either, but in this case, the others had already reconnoitered the area and just had to bring her up to speed when she arrived.

The breakdown was quick, the routes, the lair, the approaches. K’ner was more concerned at the moment with injuries from the recent entangle, but as she went from one to another, they had sufficiently attended to each other's wounds already. It was all they could do for now, and none were life-threatening, but they would have to be careful. Lack of proper medicines increased the risk of complications later. Between Taz and K’ner’s medical knowledge, they’d identified some local herbs, but other than ‘better than nothing’, they couldn’t count on anything more.

As the light faded, they discussed the pros and cons of going in now… The beasts would still be somewhat demoralized, but backing them up in a corner, as it were, left them no choice but to fight. The team had some injuries, but it had been a light couple of days, they were well-fed, and now refreshed from the jaunt here from the main road.

K’ner, Chbet, and Taz could work well enough in the dark, whereas the others would be pretty much blind, so they were the advance team, leaving Roadie, Peke, and Kotsoo near the entrance to catch any that got by them. They weren’t truly sure how many were inside, and if there were pups, or whatever their offspring were called, that would likely up the ante. But it best be done now, than lose the advantage waiting.

The trio slipped inside, moving quietly and haltingly. They expected no real telltales or traps, but moved cautiously anyway in case the beasts were intelligent enough to leave a guard posted as an early warning. Each of them noticed the lack of any overwhelming scent, which either meant this was a new location for them, or there was a source of fresh air somewhere farther inside.

Occasional breaks in the ceiling let in small shafts of moonlight. K’ner noted that the floor had shallow rivulets that would conveniently drain off ground water. She was becoming more interested in this place the farther they went in. They could still hear the wind rustling in the trees outside, so sound was funneled in, but there was a lack of any noise from inside. Better and better.

They knew they were on the right track, the beasts hadn’t been all that thorough with hiding their tracks, and it all funneled into this entrance. The hard ground left no clear tracks, but they had tracked in the dirty snow and left evidence of their passing. They were on the right track, now they just needed a little luck on their side to see them before they were detected. K’ner wasn’t hesitant, nor the others, this was one of the things they’d trained for, even if it seemed like another life, another time, far removed.

A good 50 meters in, the walls widened to a point, interposed by squatting stalagmites strewn across the irregular level. K’ner was reluctant to split the party and decided they’d work the area from left to right until they’d cleared and explored it all. She didn’t think it would take long to locate their quarry, and her nose agreed.

Signaling left and straight, they worked quietly around the formations until the cavern split, one going higher up into the hillside elevation, the other flattening out into a broad expanse. It was there they sighted what they’d come for, the beasts milling about below.

Three appeared to exhibit wounds, no doubt from the recent altercation. There were four others, either unharmed in the fight, or having not left the safety of their lair. K’ner signaled the others to spread out and observe. It wouldn’t do to get involved below and find out there were yet more in unknown pockets of darkness they had yet to explore.

They didn’t seem to be mated off from what K’ner could see, or any other kind of bonding. None tended another, offered solace, nor uttered any annoyance at the occasional moan or huff. K’ner let the clock tick away until she was satisfied with the count. Her team would all be calculating possible escape routes, areas with movement challenges, and even choke points in case it turned into a rout! None of them were expecting the latter. . . but they considered every option regardless.

K’ner had settled into position as comfortably as possible. She’d practiced being motionless for hours, and times like this it had come in handy. She was also glad that whatever controlled these sims, also mirrored what your experience would dictate, without their extra programming. She wondered if her conditioning would carry over once they finally escaped and returned to their SF missions.

As she gazed about below, she noticed the beasts had finally settled, going to sleep. Given the amount of movement and noise, they felt safe here, and slept rather soundly. This would certainly work in their favor when the time came. With just a little luck, they’d cut the pack in half before they knew there was an issue and be in a good tactical position against the remaining.

{ next morning }

K’ner supervised the layout of their gear thus far. They’d accumulated a few pieces from the bandits they’d encountered, and a handful more since. They had also scavenged some good pieces and fashioned others. They had thoroughly explored the connecting tunnels inside the cavern system and she was amazed it was mostly all well over the water table, but also had a pool that flowed pristine water from within the hills.

Lacking the technological advances of their time, K’ner and her team weren’t without other skills, those cultivated from training for missions requiring low tech restrictions from the government, first contact scenarios, or just unobtrusive observations. A string here, a vine there, the right amount of crunchy leaves or branches. They were also trying to invite some birds inside that would also give them some early warning of strangers.

It didn’t take long to get their new lair squared away, especially since they didn’t have all that much in the way of inventory, but time would tell, and they needed to travel light most of the time anyway. Given its location, and access to advantageous lines of travel, this would be a good hub to work from.

The proximity to the Jarl’s valley were prove helpful as well. Nod had returned from escorting the caravan to the vicinity of the village and had observed for a while, recognizing several of the crew in his clan! Now that they had a base of operations established, they could suss out OPs and avenues of tactical awareness.

The time of the Valkyries was at hand.



OFF:

Lt Betaras K'ner
Hazard Team Combat Medic TL-B / CMO
USS Chuck Norris

:o)