Metals clashed. Gunshots fired. A massive warship hovered overhead, providing cover fire.
Thunder crashed. Fires blazed. Wind roared. Ice swept the ground—ruins painted by the elements as if Armageddon had come at last. Guttural screams tore through the storm, and hard grunts of exertion escaped their mouths as Valkyries fought with a single-minded purpose—to slaughter the abominable creatures that had seized their home world.
Terra was lost.
Amidst the ensuing battle, a Captain and her subordinate pushed through the ruined structures and beasts toward their objective.
Red warnings blared from the distance. The pod, which had been hidden and sealed, received an abrupt awakening from the growing chaos above.
—Captain, here!
[Warning! System Failure]
[Crystallization Pod Integrity: 13%]
[Initiating Emergency Protocol]
Slowly, weakly, he opened his eyes.
Where... am I?
Beyond the glass was a silhouette of a woman. Her voice was soft, laced with desperation as she struggled to fend off the creatures that came near them.
—He's awake!
—Knock him out! We can't afford to deal with him and these monsters!
Another. Gritty and commanding—followed by gunshots—the sound of which was laser-like. Far from anything he remembered.
The woman turned beside his pod, her silver hair catching the flashing of red lights.
The hatch opened.
"What are you...?"
Before he could react, the woman reached down to his chest.
The palm of her hand grew heavy, and a swell of familiar energy circulated through her skin—growing hotter and hotter until finally—it burst.
A surge of energy hit him, and his body went slack, eyes struggling to stay open as darkness slowly crept in.
Then, a voice in his head—gibberish and ancient—yet audible.
ыq╚f
His eyes snapped open, gaze darting wildly across his surroundings. Everything was different.
Buildings now wore flesh-like clothing. Spikes, tendrils, and bones erupted from concrete and steel as if the structures themselves had become living things.
His hands pressed against the glass to break free, but to no avail—his abrupt awakening from the pod's multiple system failures had made his body weak. Even now, his thoughts struggled to return. Only the roaring noises of destruction echoed in his ears—sounds of a battle raging beyond his view.
Out of nowhere, voices. Loud and desperate.
"Sonia, go! We'll hold them off!"
"What? Agnes, no! Get back here, we'll—"
"Captain Sonia, our mission is done! We need to get to safety!"
"NO! Get your fucking hands off me! Aria, help them!"
"I-I can't..."
"Your arm..."
"Zani, get them out of here!"
"Leave it to me!"
A slam. Blunt and powerful.
The environment around them began to shift. Blue streaks of light flashed over them, wrapping the area in a sphere of crackling energies. Small, vibrant runes floated aimlessly overhead—each one humming with unknown eldritch power.
"Sonia... I love—"
"STOOOOOP!!!—"
With a final pulse, the runes flared and burst—the world fracturing into shards of light. Beyond the radiance, beyond the pain—the gnawing of flesh, and the crunching of bones rang through—followed by the anguished cries of the fallen.
Then nothing.
Though not a witness to their sacrifice, he realized through their voices a bond deeper than trust, family, and friendship—a bond born from countless shared battles.
"Requiescant morte..." he whispered. A silent prayer from a language now lost.
"Zani... Agnes..."
"Captain... I'm sorry—"
"Don't fucking touch me."
"...Sorry"
"..."
Not long after, the light surrounding them dissipated, and the world restructured itself. No longer were the skies darkened, no more buildings made of flesh—just a vast, empty wasteland as far as the eye can see, and the afternoon sky above him.
"Let's move."
His pod lurched, then pulled as multiple figures dragged his encased form to an unknown destination.
After an hour of walking across barren wastelands, they finally stopped. Above them, a massive warship hovered overhead, passing by before landing on open ground.
"Let's go."
Moments later, they were inside the ship, immediately greeted by the concerned crew members.
"Captain Sonia... Where are the rest of the squad...?" one man said softly, a tinge of despair in his voice just waiting to crack.
"...They're gone. We're the only ones left."
"W-what...? It was supposed to be a simple extraction mission?! How could you—"
Silence. Heavy and tense.
His pod lifted, and they began to move once more. Very briefly, he saw the sorrow etched in that woman's face as they passed her.
"I lost people as well... Don't imagine for a second that this isn't difficult for me..." Sonia whispered, her voice low yet measured.
The man fell to his knees and broke down.
Sonia's step faltered, looked over her shoulder, and whispered.
I'm sorry...
Shortly after, dark, metal walls now dominated their sight, and a faint light hung overhead. Two figures now loomed over his pod, their scrutinizing gaze piercing through the pod's glass.
"Why the hell is he awake? I thought you put him to sleep!"
"I-I'm sorry, Captain. I held back given his condition..."
"Tsk." Sonia's hand struck the glass—not gently.
"Hey! Can you move?"
He tried flexing his fingers, clenching and unclenching.
A nod.
"Good. I'm opening the hatch. Don't try anything stupid."
Sonia backed away, swiftly pulled out her pistol, and shot at the pod's controls. Thick fog rolled from the vents as the hatch slowly opened—two women watching in tense anticipation.
Briefed only in broad strokes beforehand, they had expected him to be weak and skinny—almost on the brink of death as a consequence of the pod's continued degradation.
However, as he raised himself upright, and as the fog began to clear—he was anything but otherwise.
He had a lean, muscular build, and his face was surprisingly young despite the long passage of time. His body was adorned with many malformed scars that spoke of untold horrors, and that quiet intensity in his eyes that showed no fear, no emotion—nothing—sent shivers down their spine.
Their eyes fell to a mark on his torso.
On his upper chest was a scarred sigil: a sphere crossed by a diagonal slash and orbited by four stars.
Their expression tightened. It was a symbol of great renown—a symbol that represents strength and perseverance in the wake of tragedy. To see that same symbol on him didn't make sense.
"Captain, isn't that...?"
"Yeah—"
He glanced around. Everything looked different—sleeker, more advanced. Far different from what he was used to.
The two women's appearance now came into view.
The one with the gun had short hair and sharp, almost predatory eyes. Two horns rose from her head—one broken at the tip—and a scaly tail with a pointed end swayed behind her hypnotically.
"Where am I?" he asked, voice hoarse—the two women snapped from their momentary daze.
The other woman stepped forward. She had long, silver hair with no apparent mutations...
However, as his gaze fell upon her. Her face blurred, then flickered. And for a moment, he saw someone else—someone he recognized, but couldn't quite place.
"Where am I?" he asked again, voice more insistent, "Who are you people?"
"Watch your tone," she warned, "My name is Sonia Velmare, the Captain of this ship. The one beside me is Aria Silvers, our head medic."
"A ship... What happ—"
"No," Sonia sharply interrupted, "We'll be the ones asking the questions here. Your name. Now."
His brow furrowed briefly before it relaxed. Not liking her tone.
"Ain," he answered flatly,
"Are you deaf? Your last name!"
"...I don't have one. Just Ain, Captain of the First Reclamation Division."
Sonia and Aria exchanged glances. A mix of recognition and surprise passing between them.
At a certain point in a Valkyrie's initiation, they are taught the existence of a man who led humanity's first attempt to retake Terra—successfully reclaiming over 30% of the planet's landmass before a devastating incident caused its downfall.
They thought this was just another isolated fossil—a man out of time.
However, as their inspecting eyes narrowed, and as more of Ain's features resembled those from historical accounts—
Ain observed, clenching the pod's edges. "What is it?"
Another pause. Heavier this time.
"How long do you think you've been in that pod?" Sonia asked carefully.
Thinking back only brought fragments. The last thing he remembered was the pod sealing shut, someone's face blurring beyond the glass, and then—nothing.
"I don't know. Weeks? Months? Why?"
Aria glanced at Sonia. A brief nod.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Aria locked eyes with Ain. When she spoke, her voice was as gentle and measured as she could be.
"You've been asleep... for almost half a millennium..."
"Four hundred and seventy-two years, to be exact," Sonia added, tone sharp—clinical.
"F-four hundred...?" Ain's breath caught, his shoulders slumped, and his strength left him instantly.
He tried to move, tried to stand, but his balance failed him, and he collapsed to the deck.
Slowly. Desperately. He dragged himself forward—toward the exit, toward something. He didn't know what.
The two women exchanged another glance.
"Do it."
The hum of Eid charging behind him went unheard. The gentle press of a hand on his back went unfelt.
A familiar surge of energy hit him once more.
Darkness slowly took him; his body going slack against the floor, one arm still outstretched toward the door—then dropping as unconsciousness finally claimed him.