Viking

**Key Features** | »"Doorknocker" Disruptor Hammers»Concordiat derived spacewarping loot packs»Small arms resistant battlesuit»Rune decorated Helmet»"What would Thor do?" Necklace

## Tactical Analysis

* **From the land of ice and snow**: The Vikings are back and better than ever! With hammers effective against most targets but especially buildings and targets in cover, Vikings are specialists in knocking down fortifications and hard or entrenched targets or just smashing a building to peace. When garrisoned they can charge up their hammers to fire disruptor bolts from them for deadly short ranged damage, though the original tenant is probably unlikely to be happy with the power bill.

* **Fehu is joy to man:** The primary purpose of the Vikings however, is to loot. Using their hammers, they can quickly smash apart any barrier to entry to a building in which case they'll run inside, slaughtering the occupants as they stuff everything they can into special loot inventories reverse engineered from the Concordiat and Directorate that allow them to fit huge amounts of valuables without issue. Wrecked vehicles can also provide loot. This gives you some Cash and obviously damages and disables the building until repairs are made or an engineer starts the structure up again. Raiding ore and other economic facilities gives the most cash.

* **Our comrades await in Valhalla**: When all is said and done, Vikings are melee infantry and are thus hideously vulnerable to long ranged attacks and air units, and autocannons are especially dangerous to them.

* **Catch-33**: With the technological aid of their Russian allies, the Norse have created a system that allows them to throw their hammer only to return it back to their hands, allowing them to get in an attack before they charge or hit low flying aircraft.

## Raid at Antillia

Stjarna chewed some gum as the Ferje she sat in rocked in the ocean waves. Summer's warmth was slow to leave from these warm, gulf stream-fed Atlantic waters, and the sea breeze whippped her face as the boat sailed with its comrades. Blowing a bubble as her long blonde hair flowed with the wind, she took out a pair of binoculars to see if she could spot the target, she was well aware of what the Fjalarrs and the radarfolk had told her, but she liked to see things with her own eyes. Her lips curled into a smile as she saw the neon lights of the floating Syndicate base in the distance.

"What do your eyes see?" Asked Magnor, the young warrior beaming at her with an earnest smile. Charming, she thought as she came down from the top level of the ship as it carved its way through the warm atlantic waters.

"Oh, just some nerds who probably never learned the value of a good blackout." She said with a wide smile, putting her binoculars away and clapping the lad on the shoulders, the brown haired youth flinching a bit from the blow. She looked down at him with some interest but then turned her eye towards the horizon where she had spotted the Syndicate base and pointed, offering him the binoculars to see out of. He adjusted the binoculars and zeroed in his sights in the direction Magnhild was using just a while ago, nodding as he saw the spires. He shared her grin as he saw the bright signs advertising all the riches to be enjoyed by the garrison of the Syndicate base.

"By Frey, they're really just leaving all that in plain sight?" He said, his eyes drawn to an advertisement for a strip club before remembering his place and looking at the sea walls. Certainly nothing that would keep out a serious raid or invasion. Clearly they had grown fat and lazy off of their ill-gotten gains. Then he put the binoculars down, which were taken up by Magnhild once again as she sighted towers upon which their seaward defenses lay.

"Oh, people who flash all their cash about tend to expect that nobody will ever rob them. They're quite silly like that." She said with a feral grin, the red heart marks of her war paint giving her an even fiercer look than one would have expected from the young woman. They shared a laugh as Eric, a red bearded Viking, briefly poked into the room.

"They're starting the bombardment! Come get ready for battle, you fools, glory and gold await us!" He said; the two giving each other a nod as they fixed their helmets onto their heads while voltager orbs of lightning raced overhead. The Volva and the Einherjar shared a laugh with each other as the boat hitched on a wave, the vikings inside grumbling prayers to Aegir for protection. The Syndicate towers started to track when their heat sensors picked up the incoming voltager orbs, but the lightning balls soon found their marks; exploding in flashes of heat, force, and electricity that tore through the fragile defenses, steel fusing and melting, concrete splintering, plastic boiling away and electronics fried into uselessness.

A rousing cheer to the glory of Thor went throughout the ship as Stjarna got giddy with excitement, a wide smile on her face as she eagerly picked up the binoculars again. She could now see the legionaries milling around, confused by the sudden destruction of several defenses, but the sudden appearance of Mani bombers made the choice of targets quite clear. With the air defence turrets gone, the aircraft could work together with the Battleships to pulverize the remaining defenses as she let out a delighted giggle; watching defense towers crumble into the sea while Magnor ooohed and aaahed.

Voltager orbs from the Jormungandrs began to combine and explode together, raining lightning down on the heads of the heathens as the winds began to pick up, disturbed by the electrification they were experiencing, whipping the dark seas into increasing activity. But the Norse were always people of the sea, its rage did not scare them; it only convinced them that "The Gods are with us! The Gods are with us! Prepare for battle, all ye proud children of Midgard! The killing time is about us!" Shouted an enthusiastic Kappi as she brandished her blade and pointed it skywards, cheering as lightning crashed across the sky and struck Syndicate Hacker tower, frying it beyond repair.

"Kom allfader Odin!" The crowds inside the boat cheered; picking up a song started earlier.

"Kom moder min Frigg!" Others joined in as Stjarna fixed her helmet onto her head, also decorated with hearts on its cheeks while Magnor followed shortly; joining the main mass of troops waiting to begin the assault. The two nodded to one another and shared a collision of fists as the other Norsefolk picked up their song.

"Kom vise vanar!" A Syndicate ship preparing to marshal out to meet the invaders erupted in the distance, sought out and crushed by a missile that pierced into its top and detonated amongst its ammo rack, the thundering explosion being joined by other rumbling explosions that joined the crack of thunder and the throats of the Norsefolk in making a glorious cacophony.

"Kom utgamle thursar!" They said as a yellow light turned on, followed by a low ping that informed them that the ship was preparing to unload; weapons fire erupting from the ship as soldiers manned fireports, the dark night cut through by the roar of fire from the head of the Ferje. Then all went silent.

"Skeggǫld, Skálmǫld, Skildir ro Klofnir!" The commanding Hersir shouted, raising the bloody banner high in the ship, the second time he shouted, Stjarna and Magnor joined in, weapons held tightly and grins on their face, ones that widened as the entirety of the ship joined in at the third chanting of the war cry; Axetime, Swordtime, Shields are splintered; all projected from the speakers of the ships as the light turned red, the ping sounded again and the doors opened forth.

Charging forth with a holy fury, Stjarna urged the Vikings inside the ship forward as they fell upon the hapless Auxiliaries pushed forward to soak up punishment for their masters. Those who survived the naval artillery anyway. As she and Magnor shuffled out, the nearest Auxiliary was mashed into pulp by a single blow from the hammer of Erik, who shouted Odin's name to the sky above as the auxiliary burst into blood and bonechips. She herself spotted a Legionary cursing at the Auxiliaries whose courage was faltering and shouted at him.

"Thunder of Thor!" She said as lightning danced from her fngertips and flowed into the body of the Legionary who began twitching and spasming as the lightning passed into his body, screaming as he was cooked alive in his own armour, his eyes expoding as they flash boiled in the sockets while Magnor slammed his shield into the auxiliaries, swinging his axe to cut two more in half.

"Having fun?" Magnor said as he offhandedly swung his shield behind him to intercept a legionary who tried to tackle him, crushing the Legionary's face beneath his helmet.

"Oh yeah! Kind of wish they put up more of a fight." She said with a whimsical sigh while a Viking cornered a Hoplite behind her, seeing him prepare to fire his railgun only for the burly armoured woman to swing her hammer around in a way that sent the Hoplite's escorts flying before throwing the hammer right through the hoplite's guns... and hands, making the hoplite scream as he recoiled back and looked at the stumps he had left.

"Want to get that guy?" Magnor asked as Stjarna nodded enthusiastically, pointing behind her and murming "hand of odin" as a mnemonic to focus her psychic ability before a telekinetic vise grabbed around the throat of the hoplite and crushing it into a bloody ruin instantly.

"Gotten!" She said with a smile.

"Come on, you sons and daughters of Lothbrok, we have 'Romans' to loot!" Eric said with a wide smile beneath his helmet as he exalted in the glory of battle and bloodshed, leaping down off the building he had managed to find himself on top of before bringing the hammer down with enough force to reduce a Praetorian into nothing but metal splinters and the bloody ruin of its contained internal organs, laughing as Stjarna psychically pointed out another Praetorian behind him, the laughing Viking batting its head clean off with another swing of his hammer.

"Eric, heads up! Got syndies behind you!" She said as she designated a pair of Titan battlesuits moving into range, concentrating to create the felfrost effect needed to set them up for Magnor's charge. "Little fimbulwinter!" She said, using the mnemonics she trained herself to master and channeling forth a sudden surge of energy from her body out through her mace-wand and then firing a narrow beam that exploded into a wide burst of heat draining cold that created a quick, thin layer of ice over the battlesuits which buckled before the shrieking burst, blindsided by the blue force as one stumbled and was quickly overwhelmed by two vikings coming at it with hammers to smash it into pieces.

The first hammer blow splintered its shoulder, exposing a mass of ruptured wiring as the thunderblast tore apart the shoulder. Blue energy coruscated around the hammer of the second Viking as he brought his hammer in an overhead swing, crushing the left leg of the Titan a its knee joint exploded. Struggling, the cyborg tried to bring its remaining arm around to slam it into the viking duo, but the brothers shouted "ODIN!" as they swung their hammers simultaneously in a horizontal arc, electricity crackling around the mallets as they slammed it into the chest of the Titan simultaneously.

Stjarna reflexively blinked and flinched as the combined hits exploded at the point of contact on the chest. The noise of a thundercrack ripped through the battle as blinding white flashes erupted around the abused Titan's armour, armour was caved inwards and blown aside like tissue paper, cracking open the chestplate to reveal the sad pitiful wreck of the wetware pilot, whom one of the Vikings gladly ripped out of its ruined container, a horrible tearing sound being heard as he snapped the cables connecting the torso to the chassis before tearing off its head with a grunt of effort and shouting to the gods.

The other Titan tried to get to its feet, only for a charging Magnor to come in with a jump kick into its back that slammed it face first into the ground, whereupon he took a slice out of it with his axe, carving open part of it as he shouted at it. "Come on, show me what you're made of! Unless you're scared!" He shouted at the battle suit as it picked itself up and threw itself at the lad. A heavy fist came at him, but a quick rebuff from his shield made the machine recoil as the energy rebounded into the fist. A quick slash at its chest punished it as the axe sailed clean through its armour with only some resistance, a second punch from the macine being ducked under as the Einherjar punished the Titan with a blow that cut deep into its arm, the axe burying itself up to the attachment before Magnor pushed off.

Coiling the muscles of his leg and then releasing them for a jump, swinging his arm around and bringing his shield in for a bash into the Titan's head with enough force to shove the Titan backwards and off of its footing into a building's wall, the concrete wall shattering as the Battlesuit stumbled. Sparks flew from the Titan as its systems failed in turn, the machine spinning right before the cyborg hit the ground on its back, disabled in one final mighty blow.

"Hah, suck it!" Magnor cursed in English as Vikings poured into the breach of the building, terrified auxiliaries starting to break and run, screaming as the Vikings poured in, hammers swinging to kill anyone they caught, blood and bonechips exploding in all directons as each Auxiliary basically disintegrated when struck by the hammers. The Centurion leading them's knees began to shake as he saw the horde of angry armoured warriors pouring in, moaning with fear as he wet himself before Stjarna singled him out.

"Flames of Muspelhem!" She said, and with the click of the world's largest lighter, the Centurion burst into flames, psionic energy raising the temprature in his armour to flesh melting degrees instantly; his suffering being put to an end with a final hammer blow to the head, thunder and lightning crackling out as it always did.

*An Hour later*

"Did we miss any of them?" Stjarna asked, cheerily smiling at Eric as he spoke to a quartermistress who was busily taking stock of the loot raided from the base. Everything was being taken, either in their totality or in pieces. If it was nailed down, they just came with crowbars and took the nails too. Handsverkers pored over the constructions they were dismantling and Vikings were busily unloading their inventories to be sorted by the transports.

"All enemy forces in the area are dead lass, you did good." Eric said as he turned from the redheaded quartermistress to regard the enthusiastic youngun', the smile on his face getting a bit wider, though he struggled to match the manic grin on the blonde's face while Magnor just flopped on the ground and sighed, soaking in the middle atlantic sun's rays, having stripped down to some swim trunks and found some soft ground to lay down on.

"Ugh, if these people didn't put all their junk in the water I could go for a swim." Magnor complained.