Bifrost [Act1:Chapter2]

[fenrir]

Huh. Simplest title I've used, it's fairly appropriate though.

Okay I lied, I just like how it sounds.

Anyways, this is a story that's basically...

Replace every major figure in Nordic Mythology with mechas.

So yeah. Nothing much else to be said. ._. My writing is rusty so, help is appreciated. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it.

(Btw, PG-16 warning.)

[spoiler=Prologue:Before the Gods]

War.

War seems to bring out the best in men, and yet it dooms many.

It forces us to become stronger, to build, to study, to create, it forces us to survive. It punishes, destroys, burns, poisons, and pollutes the planet with corpses and murderers. In the end, what do the winners get? Praise? Money? Resources? Land? It's pointless. The cycle will only continue.

Or so we thought.

December 21st, 2012. Christmas came early for astrologists, as a meteor descended upon the Earth. Not large enough to destroy it, but big enough to kill. Thankfully the meteor hit the Artic Ocean instead of a continent, or really anything else. Even with the disaster of a continent being destroyed avoided, it was still with it's side effects, as fish worldwide died. The world become much hotter, with any remains of the Artic melting away at the impact. When government research groups flocked to the landing area, there was no meteor. Rather, a glacier stood in it's place. The glacier was a large as Cuba, and as chunks of it began to fall off, it began to form an island similar to Cuba. To their surprise, even with the heat the glacier did not melt.

What's more, there were signs of life inside it.

Before they could make a move to cut open the glacier, it opened itself. From it emerged beings, or well, people. Aliens if you will. They were similar in build to humans, but possessed skin in varying hues and shades of blue. They called themselves Jötunn, and claimed they once inhabited the Earth before humans, during the period they call 'The Ice Age'. Their reason for visiting Earth was to claim a gift that was left for them, but that they had forgotten.

At first, people all around didn't believe it. Blue-skinned aliens? "Is this Avatar?" were the words of some. To the disappointment of others, they were not short, so the insult of 'smurf' would not work out. The world at this point, was not sure of what to do with these people. All they wanted was assistance in locating their so proclaimed, 'gift'.

It wasn't until after they offered to share their technology that their request was accepted.

Fast forward 50 years, humanity has grown a lot. Jötunn are seen as equals, and have colonies in the Arctic, Antarctic, Northern Russia, Northern Canada, and surprisingly the Moon. The groups known as Viking and Giant were formed to keep both humans and Jötunns safe... Respectively.

It is on January 12th, 2062 that they finally found the Jötunn's gift. It was discovered by a group of human explorers, off the coast of Greenland, deep underwater, buried quite far.

The Jötunns were excited, but the humans did not want to share this gift.
The 'gift' was a suit of armor, or at least, that's what they thought.

In reality, this suit of armor was the Old One that watched over the Earth while the Jötunn lived. Standing at an impressive 20 meters, this wasn't merely a suit. It was a weapon. Clad in layered evergreen armor, with no opening or weakspot imaginable. It really did look like a suit of armor, trimmed with a dulled gold, with two stag antlers of the same color standing proudly at the top of the head. A weapon yet a work of art, quite a mystery.

It took two days to unravel said mystery.

Four to create a prototype based off of the frame the so called 'suit' had.

Six to advance testing phases.

Eight to find a suitable pilot for their stolen gift.

Ten to create a small army of prototype suits.

Twelve to destroy and claim the city of Jötunnheim, where the Jötunn were residing.

In the end, Jötunn were declared monsters and traitors, fingers were pointed, the Moon was lost to the humans, Viking and Giant prepared to face each other, war was declared, and one man set in motion a game that would test humanity.

Game... No. That's not the right word. This isn't a game, never will be.

It's an act, a play.

And here's Act One.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter One:Taking a Stance]

"For the last time, I will not allow you to take her off the team!" Shouted a clearly tempered bald man, wearing an outfit most would deem too frilly for such a high ranked officer, especially one with a track record such as him.

"But we're not taking her off, we're merely moving her to a more suitable location." Replied the female officer with short red hair, and a white skin-tight uniform that was a little too skimpy. She didn't seem all too concerned with the bald one's rage, and instead was playing around with her hair, looping it in circles.

Right now Audrey Kragson was in a very profitable situation.

Before the bald one could retaliate, the observer patiently sitting at the back of the room finally decided to take his stand. A thin man with a coat befitting of the deep blue coloration found in Viking uniforms. The emblem; a gold ornate axe, was located on his right shoulder. His short brown hair was parted in the center, leaving his scalp open to belittlement and finger pointing. The man adjusted his clunky circular classes, and did what any high ranking officer would do.

Stare at his subordinates until they started to feel awkward.

"Now now, both of you get along. Remember, we're all on the same side here."

The three people in this dark room were all high ranking officials for the organization called Viking. Now before you shoot the author for using such a name, realize what this story is supposed to be about.

Now, these three individuals were here to discuss trades in staff members, squadrons, and specific units. Major Gilham McFlun, the irritated prissy bald man from before, Lieutenant Colonel Audrey Kragson, the obviously disinterested redhead that really should not be wearing that as a high ranking commander, and Colonel Benjamin Münster.

The room they were in was part of a military facility simply called [i]The Forge[/i]. [i]The Forge[/i] is used in creating, maintaining, and repairing Space Class Cruisers that the Vikings use to mobilize their troops and expand their pressure on the enemy. Along with managing ships, it served as an off the record location to trade. Colonel Benjamin Münster was the Overseer of sorts to this port-base-thing. The trade going on now in the dark room, only barely filtered by the blinds to the right of the room, was more of a demand.

And God knows Lieutenant Colonel Audrey [i]'Viper'[/i] Kragson gets what she wants.

Major Gilham adjusted his frilly collar once more, staring intently at his suit's buttons. The trade involved First Sergeant Kyrie Krieger and Technical Sergeant Elisabella Commadóra. From Major Gilham and Lieutenant Colonel Audrey respectively. Kyrie was Gilham's Ace, and was to pilot the new prototype Commander Class Frame, so far called the THOR. Which, by the way, was also part of the deal. Elisabella was the head Combat Medic aboard the Fáfnir, Audrey's ship.

And no, the cute blonde Medic does not come with a giant mech, and that's the issue Major Gilham was having.

The Major sat back in his comfy leather seat, eying the window to his left. The [i]Fáfnir[/i] was undergoing maintenance, being refueled, and resupplied. The Space Class Dreadnought was a beauty indeed, it was six hundred sixty six meters long, painted in a dulled blood red. It was rectangular like any Space Class Dreadnought, with the front portion of the ship being especially blocky. From any angle it appeared to be separable, with the front quarter of the ship having a very pronounced edge, as if making it clear that the square first quarter is indeed another part entirely. Attached to said quarter of the ship, was a rotating set of hangers, eight in total. It seemed like the ship had crashed into a Ferris Wheel, a Ferris Wheel that housed extremely expensive mecha.

That being said, the rest of the ship was vastly different. It's said the the ship was made from a metal created on Mars, known for it's lavish Scarlet coloration and huge price tag. The bridge was located above the ship, befitting for the Captain after well, as she needed to be able to see everything. Ten pulse-based energy cannons were also located along the rest of the ship, indicating that despite it's relative beauty, it would be unpleasant to meet it in battle. At the back of the [i]Fáfnir[/i] were the thrusters that allowed the ship to soar through space, and along the sides near the back were the wings. There were two main wings, tipped with a single thruster each, and then two sub wings for each main wing, also tipped with thrusters.

From the angle inside the building, it seemed like the ship was halfway into the ground. The docking station for Space Class Dreadnoughts were half-tubes cut into the ground, with several long crane-like bridges that would descend downward to dock the ship. This dock would allow workers to repair all sides of the ship while not wasting any energy in keeping the ship afloat.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Audrey was the first to break the silence, casually reclining against the leather sofa stationed across the Major. Her feet were on the glass coffee table between them, and she had moved from playing with her hair to playing with the potted plant besides the sofa.

"It is... Befitting for someone of your caliber." The Major seemed to be a bit awkward now, was it because her ship was much more magnificent than his? It was quite a site to behold, but maybe it was something else.

"Yes but, besides the praise, we did come here to discuss something." Major McFlun seemed to perk up; ready to once again verbally spar with the Viper.

"I just fail to see why I should hand over the Ace and the prototype that I've been entrusted to. I was given orders specifically-"

"So? We break orders all the time, as long as the job gets done then the Higher-Ups don't mind. Besides, you owe me."

"Ms Kragson, we do not [i]break[/i] rules. We merely alter them," Colonel Münster sat back down, his smile not wavering in the slightest.

The Major sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead as if deep in thought.

"Now Major, I don't see the issue. Ms. Audrey does have a point. If you are really so troubled by the prospect of being reprimanded, then I will speak with The Lord himself that you would be excused."

"Well... If you could do that then..." The Major sighed once more, but ceased massaging his forehead. He sat back in his seat and glared at the Lieutenant Colonel. "That being said, I do quite like the prospect of being in control of a prototype that our enemies want so dearly."

"Gilham," The Colonel spoke up; his smile had faded and was replaced with a blank expression. "I [i]highly[/i] suggest you pay back your debt already." The Major froze as the Colonel glared at him, and with a gulp, he finally spoke. "V-Very well, you have a deal."

With a grin befitting a devil, Lieutenant Colonel Audrey Kragson stood up. "If that's the case, then I'll be keeping Elisabella." Before the Major could respond, she nodded at Colonel Benjamin and took her leave, slamming the door as she walked out.

---

Outside where the [i]Fáfnir[/i] was stationed stood a group of aspiring new recruits, fresh out of the 'sims' as they say. They stood in a square formation beside the entrance to the main boarding bridge onto the [i]Fáfnir[/i]. The sound of hushed conversations could be heard from within the square mob of recruits. It was hard to tell them apart, as many of them had the same haircut and deep blue uniform. The only splash of color to be found was the occasional blonde soldier, including the ace.

She at the front of the group, a step ahead of the others. She appeared to be in her early twenties, but quite tall for a woman that age. Her silky blonde hair was kept in a neat ponytail, and she lacked any make-up. The only odd feature about her was her dusty red eyes, which at a distance seemed to be a light brown.

Fortunately, Lieutenant Colonel Audrey Kragson didn't care for 'individuals'; appearance and talent hardly got you far on her ship. She exited the large gray-white barracks that was the main facility, her conference clearly done. It was odd, her presence ceased the quiet chit-chat and bickering of recruits. They had never seen or have even met her before, yet they realized instantly that when she appeared she demanded respect.

She quietly approached the Ace, glaring at the rest of the recruits along the way. A short recruit with the cookie-cutter short hair stood to the right of the Ace. He seemed to be quite nervous with the Captain's sudden appearance. Unfortunately for him, she noticed.

Almost like a coiled serpent, she struck rather hastily.

"You. Kid with the black hair and is probably wetting his pants. Name, age, rank, position." Audrey stood in front of the recruit, staring him down.

"U-Uhm..."

"No 'uhm's on my ship!"

"S-SORRY MA'AM!" He stood straight up and saluted.

"NAME: DEAN FAIRWIT. AGE: 19. RANK: R-RECRUIT. P-POSITION..." While the boy stuttered a lot, he seemed to be unable to continue his sentence. Before Audrey could react though, he managed to continue.

"WINGMAN FOR KYRIE KRIEGER."

The Ace, Kyrie, shot him a glare. Audrey stepped back, her hands on her hips. [i]'Really? They're giving me kids? What kind of joke is this...'[/i]

"I KNOW I'M YOUNG, BUT MY SCORES HAVE BEEN TOP-NOTCH AND I WILL DO EVERYTHING TO SUCCEED, FOR THE VIKINGS." At that point, the other recruits saluted as well.

"Very well." Audrey seemed to be annoyed at the recruit, was it something he said? Nevertheless, she turned around and continued walking, boarding the bridge to the [i]Fáfnir[/i]. As she did, she turned around. "Make sure you're not late. As the new Ace... I expect good things from you."

With that, the bridge door shut.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter Two:Commander's Gaze]
It wasn't the first time Audrey had to show someone around. It certainly shouldn't be her job, but for some reason it always ended up being hers. She was waiting at the bridge of the ship, in her rather comfy leather captain's seat. Really, the majority of her seats consisted of leather. Pretty much any seat on the Fáfnir consisted of leather; it was a privilege the crew enjoyed.

The bridge was like any other bridge; at the back was the sliding door that led to the elevators that would take officers down when they were done with their shift. As soon as you would exit out of the doors, you would run into the Captain's seat, with her control console right in front of her. Granted, this was mostly for show, as she didn't actual steer the ship. That was up to the helmsman, which sat at the far front of the ship. The console was used to allow or disallow certain functions to the other crewman.

The Captain's station was also elevated, meaning you would have to walk down the railings beside it to arrive to the stations assigned for officers. In the dead center of the large room stood three large command consoles, each assigned to three lead officers respectively. At the far front stood the helmsman's station and other control consoles for managing the engines.

Now, all the officers were already accounted for and present, and yet none of them wanted to show the new Ace around. Audrey sighed, arms crossed and looking very dissapointed with her crew. The three lead officers sat nervously in their seats, looking at their command consoles and trying to avoid her glare.

"Echo, are you going to do it?" The pink-haired lead officer suddenly sat straight up, shivering in fear. She had her hair in a pony tail, and was wearing a generic officer's uniform, a deep blue uniform consisting of simple sleeved padded shirt and padded pants, with white shoulder pads that all officers had. She adjusted her very thin glasses. "Uhm... But I have to manage the radar in case we get ambushed when we take off..." She then eased up, sitting comfortably in the left command console.

Audrey rolled her eyes.

Before she could turn her attention to the other two officers, the door behind her slid open, and the light steps of a medic could be heard. The woman that entered was none other than the Medic that was supposed to be traded for the Ace, Elisabella Commadorá. She wore a standard white Medic outfit, consisting of a white coat that seemed to be a little too large for her thin figure. Her strawberry blonde hair was kept in two neat, yet long pigtails that spiraled down and rested near her shoulders. All around she seemed to be frail and easy to pushover. She seemed to be holding a thin sort of tablet, which had words and numbers streaming down the screen.

"Are you going to show her around?"

The Medic smiled and titled her head to the left, giggling. "I will now." She stated. "I just came to remind you my report on the crew's medical status is finished, I've already sent it to you~"

Audrey blinked and turned to her console, she was right, she did send her the medical report. Cute Blonde - 1, Greedy Redhead - 0. She clicked on the report and sighed loudly as the vast amount of information Elisabella had recorded streamed down from the top of her screen. The blonde smiled and turned around, taking the elevator to the hangar.

---

"Sooooooo cooooooool!"

"I know I know, I can't believe they transferred this over, it's awesome!"

"Guys, can you stop fawning and start working?"

This was the usual conversation that went on when a new frame was transferred to the Fáfnir. The three lead engineers would stop and discuss like nervous fanboys about the frame and who would pilot it, ignoring all signs of work. Usually stationed in front of the command console located in front of the frame itself, which was kept standing straight up in the hangar. If one would just go for a walk down the hangar, no matter what frame was stationed it would always be elevated so that the cockpit would be on working level. The bottom half was usually always located below.

In the center was Jonathan Jilan, the messy and greasy brown haired head mechanic with the undershirt and extremely baggy work pants. He was overworked by Audrey to the point of exhaustion, but the only reason was because he is arguably the best mechanic, period on the ship.

To his right was the power management guy, with a name no one really remembered. He was actually Jordan Halein, and was the most striking of the three due to his combed back blonde hair and generally well-kept appearance, with a white dress shirt and black dress pants.

The last was Jack Nikelson, with very short black hair and a general 'average joe' appearance, sporting the same baggy workpants as Jonathan, but less greasy and over-all much more normal looking grey tee.

Oddly enough, all three had lime colored eyes which made the majority of the crew think they were brothers. That and the fact their first names started with J and they all hung out together...

The hangar was a messy place though; there were many mechanics about, working on the frames stationed on the ship. It was loud, smelly, but the key point of the ship. Without them, it wouldn't function. As much as Elisabella appreciated them, she couldn't help but find them a tad disgusting.

She now found herself nearly running to the three head engineers, as she decided the less time spent in the hangar the better. Unfortunately for her, the hangar was also not neat, and many tools were carelessly left around for others to trip or painfully step on. That and she was not one to watch before she walked, but hey.

So when she tripped on a cordless blocky power tool that god-knows what it does, she found herself landing face first in a small puddle of oil. Before she could make contact with a substance that would send her sprawling to the bathroom to meticulously scrub her face with soap, someone caught her by the right arm.

She steadied herself and stood up, grabbing her tablet from the floor and inspecting it to make sure it was clean. She then turned to face her savior. As soon as she did, she dropped her tablet again.

Kyrie stood in front of her, arms crossed and with her standard poker face. Elisa scrambled to pick up the tablet again, much to the annoyance of the Ace. As she stood up for the second time, she cleared her throat and stared at Kyrie.

"So. You're our new Ace I'm guessing. As you can see, your frame is being stored here along with its weaponry and any future auxiliary items," she paused to take a breath, turning to meet the glances of the young pilots that were patiently waiting nearby. "[i]Your[/i] frames are still being taken in, but as you’ve seen, the majority of them are already here."

Without missing a beat, she walked over towards the three head engineers, which all of except for Jack had already turned to face the newcomers. Jack was busy working at the monitor, glancing over the new unit's details and statistics. It wasn't until Elisa jabbed him in the back that he turned sharply to face them, his eyes holding a primal fury that seemed to cause the pilots to become uneasy, with the exception of Kyrie.

“Ahem.” Elisa casually pointed towards Kyrie.

Jack straightened himself out, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Your frame is in good hands.”

With that he turned back to the console, grumbling something about thunder.

Elisa quickly dismissed the group of pilots without another word; they knew where their rooms were and where they would be put on standby.

Except for our unfortunate minor-character, Dean! He had stuck by even after Elisa left, staring at the THOR alongside the head engineers.

Frames were humanoid combat-platforms used for short skirmishes or engagements. The majority stood at around 17 meters, and are often equipped with assault short swords, assault rifles or compact pistols, and whatever other frame specific weaponry they had.

The standard foot-soldier frame was the Einherjar. Famous for being the only frame to never have a prototype and the catalyst for modern frame designs. At first look, it essentially looks like a huge suit of armor. It’s brown in coloration, with large shoulder pads and helmeted head with ram horns. While it is helmeted, one could hardly tell if it even has a proper head. Its eyes are constantly shadowed until activated, where they glow a bright yellow. The control system or cockpit, but often just called the SOUL, sits in the center of the frame. Extending from its right elbow is a long sword. Attached to the back of its left hand is an odd symbol of three lines extending from a dull black circle; when activated it creates an energy shield.

Einherjars work off a basic, ‘block and wait till you get closer to destroy’ tactic. Their large bulk in comparison to other frames and formidable weaponry allows them to get away with this.

That, and the two large cauldron-like boosters attached to their backs.

The THOR is different from the average frame. It stands at 18 meters and possess no notable form of weaponry on it whatsoever. It’s not as bulky as the Einherjar, and is also a dull yellow. Even more of an oddity are the twin A shaped boosters on the back. It lacks the distinct eye-less feature of an Einherjar, and its head is more aerodynamic. Its hands equipped with two gauntlets, which are smooth and round around the knuckles, but thin as they descend down to the elbow. Unlike the Einherjar’s regular looking legs befitting a suit of armor, the THOR has two high-heel looking feet. The large indent in between the toe and the heel hides the boosters used for accelerated flight.

All in all it’s much thinner, less threatening, and much shinier.

“Hey kid, stop staring and go to bed. Isn’t it past your bedtime or something?”

Dean blinked as he was shook roughly. The now-less-threatening face of Jack loomed ahead of him as he held him by the shoulders.

“Oh, sorry sir,” he rubbed his eyes. “I’ll be going now then.”

He left, not daring to give the THOR one last glance or else risk annoying Jack.
[/spoiler]

[Nexev]

ROBOTS

EPIC

Also shouldn't the one be the Destroyer?

[Quiksilver]

So...nice.

Quiksilver likes it.

One of the better-written pieces on this site, I have to say. The problem I had before with knowing the plot (being familar as I am with Norse mythology) seems to have not applies so far. Maybe, in the future, it will, but if you keep going like this, this will be one nice little story.

[fenrir]

[quote name='Nexev the Supreme Party' timestamp='1311304661' post='5376293']
ROBOTS

EPIC

Also shouldn't the one be the Destroyer?
[/quote]

Whowhatwhere?

[quote name='Quiksilver' timestamp='1311340210' post='5377221']
So...nice.

Quiksilver likes it.

One of the better-written pieces on this site, I have to say. The problem I had before with knowing the plot (being familiar as I am with Norse mythology) seems to have not applies so far. Maybe, in the future, it will, but if you keep going like this, this will be one nice little story.
[/quote]

Well there was only one figure appearing in Chapter One, at least, one figure that was [i]mentioned[/i].

The fun part about this is that I'm not actually doing [i]all[/i] the events, just the major ones and a few that I just find interesting if played out. That's why I'm allowed to have the THOR on the [i]Fáfnir[/i], because as long as the major events are done, it's cool.

[fenrir]

Chapter Two up.

I need to stop over-describing stuff and that frame description seemed awkward to fit in but hell, it needed to happen eventually. x__x

[Icy]

I really don't know what to say. I am thoroughly enjoying this however.

[AsianGuy1137]

This story's off to a great start. I like the background plot and the quasi-mythology you've used. It's pretty interesting and reminds me somewhat of Thor. Will this story ever shift to the Jotuun's perspective?

[fenrir]

[quote name='AsianGuy1137' timestamp='1311740671' post='5390691']
This story's off to a great start. I like the background plot and the quasi-mythology you've used. It's pretty interesting and reminds me somewhat of Thor. Will this story ever shift to the Jotuun's perspective?
[/quote]

Thank you. :D

It will shift to Jotunn's perspective eventually; actually, quite soon.

[Big Bad Pennar]

This is an awesome story, I'll keep watch of this like I did with one of the fics here =3

[Aesirson]

I will definately keep track of this, as it seems like an awesome story and since I'm a Norse mythology fan it's nice to see how you will translate the mythology into manly mecha combat.

PS: For some reason the name McFlun amuses me.