Modifications

Sliding the magazine out of the Skadi Pistol, I racked the slide and ensured it was clear of any rounds before pressing in the takedown lever and slipping the slide off completely, separating the gun into two distinct parts.

The first was the grip and lower half of the gun was the frame, and that dealt entirely with the magazine and housing the ammunition alongside the slide, while the other half was the slide itself which included the barrel.

The top half of the pistol - the slide, barrel and spring - could all be separated as well for individual cleaning, and although it was a complicated piece of machinery when put together, taking care of it was actually pretty simple.

It was so simple in fact that I didn't really need to think about what I was doing and instead just did it, allowing me to do two things at once; clean my seldom used but immensely important pistol and think about the upcoming battle we were to have in the middle of space.

Brynhild's words still troubled me a little, the veteran's experience stirring up worries in my mind that I was going to do something that would result in a failure for the mission, and that... wasn't a feeling I was accustomed to experiencing, not anymore.

I made risks that I believed were calculated and well within my ability to complete, I ensured there weren't giant flaws in my plans before enacting them, I did all of that and yet... to think that these were not risks would be idiocy.

I knew these risks had weight behind them that I might not be able to bear, but I was confident enough to take them anyways, and so far I hadn't been proven wrong; was now a time that I was going to be proven wrong?

Was Brynhild a harbinger of a future I had refused to consider going forwards?

She had seen far more than I had, so her word had merit, but still... did it outweigh my own merit?

That was what I had on my mind as I cleaned out the barrel of my Skadi before lubricating the other parts as I reassembled it, ensuring the metal wouldn't rust or take heat related damages on the next deployment.

Staring at the 10mm pistol for a few seconds, I couldn't help but marvel at the simplicity of it on the surface; the blocky upper half gave it a weight that made shooting it a blast, while the grip was comfortably molded to my hand.

Everything about it was simple on the outside, but beneath there were so many moving parts that only worked because of the care and work that was put into it, and that... was it not similar to the way the Vel Risi worked?

We were a simple people, yes - many called us arrogant and brash, overconfident and brutish - but we had a camaraderie that the other Arks envied no matter which sub branch of descendants we came from; what world we were born on, how close we were to the Ark, none of that mattered since we were all descendants of the 'Valhalla'.

Us Einherjar were the pinnacle of our warriors and as such we displayed those traits and then some, but where we appeared simple on the outside it was only thanks to the complicated relationships we shared with one another that we were able to perform this well.

We were a forwards facing people, always pushing ahead and looking for the next fight, but that only worked because we trusted one another and kept each other in check, and that... that was what Brynhild was doing, right?

I sighed as I placed the Skadi back on its mount on the wall, before looking towards the door when I heard someone knock; the familiar voice brought a small smile to my lips as I made my way over towards it, opening it up without saying anything back.

"Ah, there she is! I had thought I had seen you return! Welcome back Hrefna~!"

Standing just outside of my cabin was an all too familiar face for me, one that I cherished quite a bit; a head shorter than me, the oil stained face of a cheery woman wasn't that out of place inside of a mechanized army entered my vision, though before I could take it in she leapt into my arms and pushed me back a step.

Despite being shorter, she was a 'heavy' woman that had a personality to match, her burly muscles from working with heavy machinery ranging from tanks to mechs pairing uniquely with a large bosom that she despised having.

Soft and hard at the same time was exactly how everyone described the red haired woman, and it wasn't just because the shortstack was both muscular and well endowed; it was also because she yelled constantly at everyone while working before being such a soft and caring woman whenever she was free.

Smirking up at me, Rakel closed the door and walked with me towards the table as she asked "How was it~? C'mon, tell me I did good out there Hrefna~! Tell me, tell me~!", flashing that pride that I was just thinking about as she pleaded to hear my report.

"It was finely tuned, Rakel... Well done."

Even though she let out a shout of joy and danced around, I didn't find being around the shortstack to be that... off putting compared to the other loud members of Vel Risi.

Perhaps it was thanks to her being a rather likable woman, but it was probably also due to her being such a genius when it came to mechanical engineer and the shortstack taking an interest in me after I had her help customize both my Ullr and my mech.

She wasn't loud about something just to be loud; she was passionate, and I could respect and tolerate that, but also... well, considering her smile turned sultry, it was also admittedly because we were good friends that had some great benefits.

Benefits that I relished in taking advantage of whenever I could, and apparently Rakel was the same as her uniform flew off not even a second later.