Swarm Ascendant

Scania quickly seceded from the European Union, finding the drift towards corporatism in the rest of the region to be antithetical to their interests. It is even possible that the Scanian project spurred on the counter-movement of the European Union forming the eventual European Corporation, which saw...

--"European Politics in the 21st Century", page 24

***

I awoke with giddy nerves. Today was the day, the day I'd get to meet one of my long-time idols. My eyes were drawn to the poster of Ghost Widow on my wall. This was going to be amazing, if I didn't fuck it up. I was going to fuck it up, wasn't I? Maybe I should practice what to say, come up with some topics to talk about? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea, I had hours still, and there was no way I was going to be able to concentrate on anything else, anyway. Then I had an idea.

Eyon, do you know anything about Ghost Widow? Her hobbies or something, anything we have in common we could talk about?

[I am afraid that sharing private information about other Vanguards is off the table. I value your privacy quite highly, and that is of necessity a two-way street. That said, I have access to the public information that is available on her, but it is of course not as thorough or as trustworthy as a deeper investigation could be.]

Oh. Well, I guess it is better than nothing. What can you tell me? I know she has said she likes knitting and classical music, but I cannot recall anything else off the top of my head.

[Yes, those are amongst the top five activities she has previously listed as hobbies in interviews. Others include craft beer, yoga and target shooting. You might be interested to learn that she has a similar fighting style to you, in as much as she is often seen with multiple giant mechanized spiders at the same time.]

That's good, maybe she'll have some good insights then. And we'll have something to talk about. Now, I need to study up! Craft beer, yoga and target practice, you said? Let's start with the beer, let's see, what are...

What followed was a couple of hours of me preparing to meet my idol, before it was finally time for me to leave. Laura had sent me a location, which was at the top of a nearby building. I was a bit curious about that, but decided just to roll with it. If Ghost Widow wanted to meet on the top of a building, I'd meet her on the top of a building.

Anyway, I put on my Valkyrie gear and set off, going down, across two skybridges, then back up. I arrived to find an empty roof, except for the ubiquitous gun emplacements pointed at the sky. I looked around a bit, then shrugged and walked around a bit, intent on waiting.

I had gotten a few steps before I walked into the air and fell over on my butt. I looked up, and found a giant black and silver leg shimmering into existence, one of eight on the even larger spider mech. Then I paled. Oh no, I'd done it again. I'd ruined any chance of a good first impression.

I quickly got up as a chuckle rose from the spider mech.

"That never gets old. Went even better than I expected. Only sad part is I couldn't see your face, but I guess I'll just have to imagine that detail." Said the spider.

I swallowed. "G-Ghost Widow? Is that you?"

"Oh, you're precious. Yes dear, I am Ghost Widow. Pleasure to sort-of meet you. Now, would you mind stepping into my spider so I can take you to the actual meeting place? I want to get away from any possible prying eyes."

A port in the abdomen of the spider irised open and a ladder extended down.

I tentatively stepped over under the spider, in among its legs, and reached out for the ladder. I retracted my drones, then ascended into the spider. The portal irised shut after me, and a small reclining seat folded out to take up most of the rather cramped space.

"I'm afraid it isn't the most luxurious of vehicles. It is a battle mech, after all. But please, take a seat."

I did so, and the cramped space all around me was replaced by a view of the outside, the building I was just on. It soon started moving, as the spider apparently set off, but I barely felt anything at all. The spider moved over to the edge of the building, then leaped into the air and started to hover skywards. It was a bit nerveracking to be sitting in what looked like thin air, and I instinctively gripped the edges of my seat. As I did so, the floor of the spider cockpit came back into view, a featureless beige, leaving only the top half of the room as a view-port into the world outside.

"I forget not everyone appreciates the view." Ghost Widow said with a chuckle from all around me. "I'm sorry. You'll be there soon, though."

I relaxed a bit, looking around me to try and find any clue as to where 'there' might be. I soon looked up, towards the rapidly expanding floating fortress, Valhalla.

Oh.

I gulped. I mean, of course. Where else would a pair of Valkyries meet? I felt a bit faint. This was all happening rather quickly.

Regardless of my feelings on the matter, the spider flew in through massive port in the side of the building, then landed in what looked like a hangar space full of eclectic and clearly Valkyrie vehicles and mechs. I recognized another couple of silver and black spiders, as well as the iconic vehicles of other prominent Valkyries. There were fewer than I might have expected, though.

The seat prodded me, and startled I got up. The seat retracted behind me, and the port to the outside opened up in the floor, ladder extended. I took the hint and climbed out. On the way down, I extended a few drones, feeling a bit of relief.

As I reached the floor, a door in the side of the hangar nearby swung open and out stepped Ghost Widow. She smiled at me, and I felt a bit giddy at the sight. She was beautiful, in that mature and confident way, and her skintight suit in black and silver did absolutely nothing to hide her figure. She walked over to me and greeted me with a hug.

Oh gosh. She even smelled wonderful.

"Hornet. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Ghost Widow." She said.

My brain wasn't quite operational yet.

"Spider got your tongue?" She asked teasingly.

"It's, ah, hello. I mean, hi. I'm Hornet."

"Yes dear, we have established that. Welcome to Valhalla."

I blushed furiously, then took a deep breath and shook myself mentally.

"It is an honour to meet you, Ghost Widow. I have been looking forward to it, very much."

"I see. Isn't that nice? Well, come on in, we can't just be standing out here."

She turned and sashayed towards the door. I followed along.

"Do you want the tour of the place first or last?" She asked as we walked through a short corridor into what looked like an armoury. A very, very high-tech one.

"First?" I ventured. Maybe it'd allow me to settle down a bit, so I'd be able to hold an actual conversation by the end.

"Very well. This is Valhalla, where as you might know a number of us Valkyries live. Many have secondary accommodations out in the city, and some don't even bother to ever really come here. Still it is a nice place, and you're welcome to join us if you'd like. Unless," and she turned to stare at me. "Unless you're a slob. You're not a slob, are you Hornet?"

I gulped. "I-I'm not."

She smiled brilliantly. "Good! Then there is no problem." We had reached a dining room slash living space, with a few couches, a number of recliners in various arrangements, a few shelves with boardgames and books in mild disarray and a large dining table with seating for twenty.

"Oh, can I call you Sylvi? I know we tend to stick with the official names when we're in uniform, but it's just feels so impersonal. I'm Valerie, by the way, but all my friends call me Val."

"Of course you can, Va-Valerie."

"Val, please. And you can take off your helmet in here, if you want. I promise you, you're quite safe."

I hesitated. Did I want to take off my shield? I was sure I was blushing quite profusely, but did I have an excuse? Not being able to think of anything, I reached up and removed my helmet.

"Ah, there you are. Hello beautiful. You can leave your helmet here, we'll come back once the tour is over."

Yup. Definitely blushing.

I left the helmet on the dining table, then we proceeded past it and into a large kitchen. It was spotless, and fancier than any I'd seen before. There were all of the kitchen tools I'd ever encountered, and some few I couldn't recognize. A man was busy chopping some vegetables.

"Sylvi, meet Anker. Anker, Sylvi."

He nodded at me.

"Oh, you might know him better as Tyr."

I gaped. Tyr. One of the prime Valkyries in Scania. Chopping vegetables. He was wearing a cute apron. It had flamingos on it.

"Do you like cooking, Sylvi?" Valerie said, bringing me back to reality.

"I-, I help Dad from time to time, it's a nice way to relax." I answered.

"Ooh, excellent. We like to have a communal dinner at least once a week. A few of us have access to ingredients catalogues, and like to experiment. The results are often as good as the foods you can buy for points. Often, but not always." She looked like she'd remembered a bad memory for a moment, then carried on. "Regardless, if you like, I can grant you access to the same catalogues while I am here so you can try cooking for yourself, if you'd like. Or we could cook something together?"

"Ah, that sounds fun. I'd like that. Yes."

"Great. Maybe for lunch. Anyway, back through the living room."

We retraced our steps, then turned down into a hallway.

"Bathrooms," Valerie gestured. "Further down are a few of the private rooms. We're going down here, though."

She turned and headed down some stairs, which opened up into a shooting range.

"Good place to test weapons. Place is reinforced, should hold up to most things you have access to so far. You can ask your friend if you're in doubt. Oh, how rude of me! Sylvi, meet Myrai."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sylvi. Might I introduce myself to your AI?" A masculine voice, presumably Myrai, spoke from the ceiling.

"Of course. Eyon?"

"The pleasure is all mine." Eyon said from the same ceiling.

"Anyway, we have racks of various guns down here, if you fancy shooting some." She pointed off towards a wall.

"D-Do you spend a lot of time down here, then?" I asked.

"Naw, can't stand the things. I prefer my guns mounted to something automatic."

"But I thought..." I began before clamping my mouth shut.

"You thought...? Oh. Oh! You read up on me, did you? Hah, nah I just settled on some sob stories and yarns to tell the public. It's easier if you start early, so you don't have to revise your story later. I swear, those journalists can be so nosy... Still, I'm flattered, but I am afraid you might have wasted your time there." She patted my arm.

I felt panic rising. But my carefully laid plans!