Return of the Valkyrie

The sun shines down through the ruins left by humanity that nature had taken back. Naomi walked a safe path that was laid out by her village with her findings slung over her shoulder. It was free of Nobles yet riddled with Scabs. Overall, it was the safest route through the old world.

Seventeen years of life fighting for survival. She was born from a mother who was lost to the ages, and a father that was lost in a war that he did not belong a part of. A new age that put nuclear warfare on the back burner in hope of reducing collateral damage. It made the difference, but for the worse.

Man, preferred rubble over ash. This made many turn a blind eye to the destruction caused by their new form of warfare. New nations on top of the old as power shifted amongst the Kingdoms. This left those without the same outlook fending for themselves outside the walls.

Naomi was making her way to the hidden entrance of the village. An unintelligible voice called down from the remains of a fallen Knight catching her attention. It laid inoperable with its back against the ruins of the old world. The black paint still held onto the old metal with the Kingdom's crest crossed out with spray paint.

It was a smaller model that was used for reconnaissance, and only housed one pilot instead of two. Naomi's village toppled the scout before it could give the location away making it a part of the scenery. The pilot inside was dealt with accordingly by the village, and the Knight had already been scrubbed clean of its inner workings.

Naomi knew what she was dealing with. The voice was easier to understand the second time around. "Ay! Little sweet thing like you shouldn't be walking all alones and whatnots." The raspy voice rang out from the shattered eye of the fallen Knight.

Naomi looked up at the busted mechanical head. It was no more than a black sphere with a track that blended in with the rest of the head. A shattered glass lens sat on that track also blending in with the rest of the head. A dingy, rat of a man climbed out of the hollowed head dripping in sweat. He carefully made his way down the pile eyeing her as he spoke.

"Piece of shit was already picked clean, but you my love," he continued his advancement while shutting up long enough to wiggle out a loose tooth with his tongue. The man spit it to the side before continuing, "you are a fucking gem. I'll be sure to turn you in after I have a little….snack. I'll be living like a Knight taking in something as lovely as yourself."

She was no stranger to these interactions seeing that humans alone were rare to come by outside of the Kingdom's. Not to mention women and children were a high commodity. Naomi had long brown hair with eyes that matched, mocha skin and stood at an even 5'2".

She looked like the women that resided in the Kingdom's who were catered to hand and foot if they bore the healthiest warriors. Not all women agreed with this lifestyle seeing that there was a lack of freedom, individualism and always under the eye of anyone of nobility. Naomi was one of them.

The Scab reached out, but Naomi was ready. She grabbed him by the wrist before yanking his arm over her shoulder. His hip contacted hers, and the Scab was flipped onto his back before he even knew what happened. The Scab gasped for air from having the wind knocked out of him. His vision started to clear up to see a boot just before it sent him into a daze.

She knew she only had some time before he got back on his feet. She booked it to the village jumping over and ducking under any obstacles in her path. Naomi ran through everything just to lose her abductor as he yelled from behind. "I'm going to kill you, you fucking bitch!"

Naomi threw up the finger and yelled back. "Fuck you puto!" She made her way to the massive wall of rubble in the distance. The secret entrance into the village was in sight, but the Scab was still hot on her tail. She dove in through the car door hitting her elbow.

Crawling was the only way through the maze of vehicles meticulously placed within the rubble. She watched those bloodshot eyes getting closer and closer every time she looked back. Her goal was just to get to the other side.

Right before exiting she yelled. "Gold one! Red one! Ten feet!" The two guards waiting at the end of the entrance moved to the sides of the exit. One yanked her out of the maze to safety, but the other grabbed the Scab by his head and arm as soon as they saw him.

The dingy man held a flare gun in his free hand when the guard yanked him out. They all heard the pop as their eyes followed the ball of light flying across the sky. The Scab was violently dragged from the entrance by the guards. His body jerked around while he laughed hysterically.

He took a breath between his laughter and cried. "It's too late! We found youuuuuu." Naomi and the guards heard large steps in the distance. "Take defensive positions!" Naomi and the guards yelled at the villagers in earshot.

Naomi slugged the Scab across the chin knocking him unconscious. The village was three blocks long, with walls of rubble stacked over thirty feet high and only had one entrance in and out. The high walls kept them out of sight of Nobles and Scabs, but with only one entrance made them sitting ducks if their defenses were breached.

Women and children scattered looking for places to hide while some joined the men in taking up arms with makeshift weapons. Naomi ran into the garage of an ancient auto shop. She threw open the door and ran straight for her Baron.

It was a custom mechanical suit that stood about nine feet tall with pink flames painted on it. The suits were originally designed for the workplace, but most were now used for grunt warfare. The pilot would sit in the center with their arms and legs fixed into the limbs of the machine. A blast shield lowered onto the pilot to cover the cockpit leaving very little exposed to harm.

Naomi jumped in booting up the systems. The blast shield lowered as the machine roared out of her garage in a single stride. Her eyes fell on the war she had yet to witness firsthand.

Rounds were raining on the village bringing her attention to the top of one of the walls. Scabs scaled the walls with their custom Baron suits. Those without machines rode on to the backs of the Baron's to the top of the wall. They shot with their makeshift rifles laying waste to those below.

"Kill anything with a dick! Fuck turning these women in. We're starting our own village boys!" Yelled one of the Scabs with an echo of cheers in return. Other guards took up their suits to defend their village the best they could, but the Scabs had the high ground.

Baron's clashed with one another catching those fighting on the ground in their wake of destruction. Most of the Barons were built from scraps making most of their weapons a one-time use. One Baron had an old missile they found and tied to their suits arm.

The rocket pulled the Baron off balance when it was used, making the Baron fall off the wall. The middle itself caused a massive explosion crumbling the base of the wall. Chunks of the wall fell onto those below amid the rumble.

A Baron being operated by a guard was blocking rounds with a car door while guiding villagers to safety. They used an old yield sign to split or bat away anyone who opposed. All depending on where the blow landed.

Naomi's Baron wasn't fixed with weapons, so she did what she did best. She used her fists to pummel any who crossed her way while guiding the villagers to safety during the chaos. A little boy's scream caught Naomi's attention. She looked over in time to see a group of Scabs stomping on his small body.

They laughed until one grew bored and decided to deliver the final blow with a pipe. Naomi looked around at her surroundings, ripped a sign from the ground and threw it at the Scab that was about to strike the small child. The sign pinned the Scab's arm to his head.

The velocity of the sign took the Scab with it leaving those around confused about what had happened. He was stuck in the ground a way away. The boy saw an opportunity and disappeared into a manhole under a desk.

The remaining Scabs looked over at Naomi with malice. They opened fire on her with the blast shield taking the rounds. Naomi quickly closed the distance and punched a Scab with her massive fist in the torso. The Scab was sent flying like a ragdoll. He tumbled across the ground filling the air with a pink mist until his body came to a stop.

Naomi reached out with her left hand grabbing the nearest one by the arm. She spun around holding the Scab by his crushed arm and swung him into the other. Their bodies collided with such a force they went flying into an old, rusted vehicle covering it in viscera and bone. Naomi set her eyes on the next target which was a Baron sliding down one of the walls.

She set her machine into motion to catch him at the bottom of the heap before he could do any damage. The two locked hands in a test of mechanical might, but the Scab had a fear stricken look on his face. An all too familiar look in his eyes. The roaring sound of metal bending echoed from the other side of the wall.

Naomi looked up to see a massive hand take hold of the top of the wall as the Scab she was tussling with had opened his blast shield to run away on foot. Soon after a giant knee pushed through the center of the wall causing it to crumble. Naomi turned to run from the destruction screaming, "KNIGHTS," to anyone around to listen.

The battle came to a halt as everyone waited for the dust to settle. A Knight stood before them on the other side of the destroyed portion of the wall. A humanoid hulk of sleek red metal stood much larger than the wall itself. The cockpit was in the chest of the machine just like the scout, but most were piloted by two.

Both operated the Knight with skintight suits that were tailored to each operator. The suits used their synchronized movements as commands that controlled the Knight. The size is what made it take two pilots. Only a few have been successful operating a Knight with one.

"Magandang baboys," was said by a male’s voice over the loudspeaker of the Knight. Nobles on foot and others operating Barons flooded the village snatching up anyone within reach. "Take the women and kill the rest," he finished.

Naomi knew the fight was over. She ran under the Knight catching its attention. She was running for her life for the second time that day and hoped the Knight would turn its attention elsewhere. Instead, the Knight quickly closed the distance with its strides.

She started bursting through walls in hope of losing the Knight in the ruins. It kicked through the walls of the ruins sending her Baron flying through the air. It skipped across the ground colliding with walls before sliding to a halt. She rose to her feet with her remaining arm, then continued to run for her life up a mountain of debris just to get away.

It all seemed fruitless as she felt one of her legs get crushed in the mechanical hand of her chaser. Naomi opened her blast shield and leaped out with her one good leg. She crawled away with her remaining arm to a square hole she noticed in the distance leaving a bloody trail behind her.

The Knight watched her helpless body lean over the hole. It taunted her, "You would have been a fine maiden." It watched as she fell into the hole disappearing. Naomi fell into a dark empty space. She smacked against a handrail on the way down, then got wrapped up in a banner before hitting the ground that mildly cushioning the blow.

She landed on her chest hearing a few of her ribs snap on impact that not only knocked the wind out of her but sent her into a daze. She lifted her head trying to steady her vision. Her eyes focused on a small skeleton curled up in a fetal position next to her. That's when she noticed something she'd only heard about in legend.

It was a prototype of a Knight that was featureless like a mannequin until piloted. Man wasn't too fawned of the machine due to its inhumane way of operating it. The machine was made of, "living metal," that would repair any damage with the surrounding metals. This made the operator virtually immortal considering that the pilot would give up their body to operate the machine.

The pilot would use its own nervous system to pilot the machine. The machine laid there with its back against the stands with its arms stretched out along the railings like a boxer against the ropes. The pried open cockpit was located where the abdomen sat.

Naomi dragged herself with everything she had to the opening. She used all her strength to pull herself up and roll into the monstrous stomach cavity leaving a bloody mess behind her. Naomi rolled into the center where she caught herself on the operating chamber. She reached up and ripped down what was left of the mummified pilot's nervous system before everything completely went black again.

Naomi could feel cold metal prick into her back. She then felt her body lift into the air. The feeling of being split from the back of her head to her tailbone sent signals throughout her body. A loud crack echoed in the cavity followed by a release of pressure in the back of her head.

A series of snaps down her back made everything flash red and blue behind her closed eyelids. The sound of energy charging filled the cockpit before giving off a loud suction sound, and the machine started mending the cavity that she entered from. Naomi opened her eyes in a daze. She attempted to wail in pain, but all that was heard was metal grinding together before sounding like a familiar voice.

First a flash of the words, "GEIRAVÖR OPERATIONAL," appeared in her vision. Text kept popping up as she fruitlessly tried to wipe them away with her hands. It made the sound of metal scraping against metal each time she did so. She continued to do it until she realized it was a HUD booting up.

Her sensors focused on the skeleton on the ground before her with the word, "DECEASED," above it. Above that gave her the location where she was. "What the fuck is a AT&T Stadium?" She asked herself. Naomi brought her hands in front of her face watching every little blemish cover itself with a new sheet of metal.

The ground rumbled as the Knight outside made its way back to the village. A red square popped up in her vision displaying following the Knight with the words, "POWER CORE DETECTED. KNIGHT SUIT IN OPERATION." Naomi rose to her feet making the metal scream as if it hadn't moved in ages.

She initially had trouble balancing herself on her foreign legs. Her first step was the hardest feeling like her foot was anchored to the floor. The second step was the most painful as her nerves were still connecting to their artificial counterparts and rearranging the appearance of the machine in her image. Naomi's third step dug into the ground as she burst into a sprint.

Her new body barreled through the wall of the stadium with its shoulder at full speed. She exited out the other end with her right side in shambles. Naomi could feel everything from the right side of her face to the tips of her fingers on fire wondering why she had immobilized her arm once again.

The vision in her right eye was the first to come back, then the mobility of her arm shortly after. She lifted her arm that was missing the portion from her elbow down to see it draw metal from all directions. It used the scrapped metal to mend itself as if nothing happened.

Naomi watched the Knight turning around in the distance and charged him while letting out a war cry that was a mix of man and machine. She jumped through the air with her fist reared back, then drove it forward into the Knight's face throwing it off balance. The Knight reached up grabbing her extended arm by the wrist with his left hand while producing a blade from its opposite forearm.

The Knight lopped off her arm at the shoulder before kicking her to the ground. It stood over her as she laid before him with his blade pointed at her neck giving her final words. "I've only heard about these in story. Speak pilot, why do you attack me in this monstrosity?"

Naomi spit a chunk of metal at the Knight's face scratching its visor. "Putang ina mo! I will end you where you lay!" Yelled the pilot of the Knight. He removed her head from her shoulders in a single swipe of the Knight's blade before retracting it back into the forearm.

The Knight turned to walk away while Naomi's arm was attracting metal from the area. It was thrown off balance when something struck his back by something heavy. The Knight turned around only to see a headless humanoid machine quickly closing the distance with its head sitting on the ground between them.

It had a new arm far longer than the other that was now shaped to a point where the hand would be. The Knight watched her artificial vocal cords working out another war cry, and eyes sprouting from her neck regaining her vision. It extended his blade once more as Naomi kicked her head at him. The Knight batted it away keeping his hands high.

Naomi slid past the Knight driving her pointed arm through the knee making it buckle. She then spun around and sliced down across its back immobilizing the Knights torso. The Knight spun its arm around above the elbow and tucked its left hand under his right side hiding a cannon.

He aimed the cannon where her cockpit sat, but she was too quick for the veteran pilot. Her commands were instant. Naomi batted its arm up to take the blast to the chest making her half-formed head scream in pain. She stuck her pointed forearm into the Knight's cockpit, before using her free hand to rip off the chest plate to expose the impaled pilot.

She violently ripped him from the cockpit, then brought him to eye level to her reanimating her head. Naomi held the pilot in front of her as he screamed obscenities at her in a language she didn't understand. She answered with a phrase he knew all too well, "blood oath," before transforming the point forearm into a hand while it was inside the pilot.

Naomi splaying her fingers turning him to a pink mist. She turned her attention to the village now that the Knight was taken care of, and quickly made her way there to save anyone who was left. Upon arrival she saw the Nobles that were operating Baron's escorting women and children out of the village single file. Everyone came to a halt at the sight of the behemoth.

Naomi spoke to all from her new body. "None of these women and children will be leaving for your Kingdom. With that being said, relinquish your Baron's if you value your lives Noble scum." Those piloting a Baron raised their blast shields to exit their machines.

Women and children cheered for their savior. Naomi's HUD popped up twelve boxes showing different distances with the words, "VALKYRIE UNIT DETECTED". She continued, "Go back to where you came from and tell your King that the Valkyrie have returned, and we will free our future from your grasp. However, much blood must be shed."