The battle for Mongolia had been brief, but bitterly fought; one of the larger assault ships, numerous Attack Craft, and hundreds of soldiers had died during the process of 'pacifying' the region before Sharqa was satisfied. She liked this band of humans. They hadn't run and scurried about, hiding at their approach. They'd come out by the thousands, tens of thousands, and when they ran, it was from cover to cover; always seeking to attack. If they had the capacity when they left, she would ask Jotun to let her take some of the survivors with her as vassals; she planned to earn such a reward with the coming conquest of China.. according to Chain of Eternity, the most serious threat remaining on earth.
She stood over the ruins of a Mongolian farm, watching her forces organizing. She could see a group of human juveniles in the ruins of a nearby stable, hiding, watching her. They didn't look afraid. They looked... angry. She chuckled. To them, she must look like a monster. Inside her armor, she was a five meter tall blue-grey mass of spike-covered, armored death; one of the few Jotun going without a helmet, she fully expected she looked as hideous to them as their soft, fleshy exteriors did to her. She loved savoring the scent of a new world, but knew she should put it back on; Chain had warned the Jotun of enemy bio-weapons facilities; the natives had actually tailored variations of local diseases to kill Jotun, but been unable to test them, without available targets.
It was possible, but unlikely, one might be a threat despite the robust immune systems every Jotun was born with. Just in case, extensive quarantines would need to be put in place before the return.
Turning south, to the borders of China, she gave a low shriek of joy. The human children pulled further into the ruined barn, to her amusement. Her troops were in order. It was time to advance. The Chinese would hopefully be like these Mongolians; observations seemed to show there might be a million of them waiting along some sort of wall; a local landmark labeled Wan-li Ch’ang-ch’eng. A few of the larger assault ships were here, and ready; and over ten thousand Jotun, with millions of drones to accompany them, were about to turn that wall into so much rubble.
***
"So... what exactly are you doing? Why aren't you heading out to fight and leading the charge? I hear Zeus is there with the greek army, preparing to march into Africa to fight the Jotun. I always figured you were more of a sort of bad-ass than he was." Valkyrie was re-shaping the neutronium bola back into a good aerodynamic shape as she watched Odin.... staring at the circle beneath their feet. Making tiny adjustments with a pick.
"We're standing on a ritual circle. One empowered by life stolen from the Titan, Atlas, himself. Its already starting to work. When I sound the horn, it will be at full strength. After the spell is cast... I will head to wherever the fight is thickest, unless I can find a chance to challenge their king."
She dropped to her knees, studying the lines. They seemed incredibly intricate, and already to have a faint glow; "I thought these were a protective barrier. What saved us from the nukes. And when you sound the horn, it releases the souls from Valhalla to go to war?"
"All of the souls my Valkyries collected are going to emerge; return to their homes, and seek out the nearest invaders to conquer. My Valkyries could not, however, collect everyone. Every body on earth which is sufficiently intact, whose soul still lingers; even some of those currently in Hel; if they died in battle, or with enough rage and hate to bind some piece to the flesh, it will rise for one last fight... if they want to."
She stared at the circle, then out at the town below; or what was left of it. "Good gods. So you can animate and control hundreds of millions of corpses from here? Around the world?"
"Animate, yes. Control, no. While those with no interest in fighting the Jotun will remain in their graves... I have no control over what happens once they rise. The ones in Valhalla, I've been empowering, training, preparing. Not these folks. Unfortunately, I expect many will want to settle old scores.. but the only ones that rise will be those willing to fight for earth. Apollo said it would work out in the end." He sighed, looking up at the sky. "Poor kid."
Valkyrie looked up... and grinned. A target circle had appeared; one of the Jotun ships had entered a range she might be able to hit. She cracked her knuckles, drew back her hand; and hurled the Bola at the target. The magic redirected it just slightly, guiding it... and hundreds of miles to the east, an Assault Ship flying over Kazakhstan suddenly ruptured; she couldn't see it, but a golden X appeared inside the circle as she lifted another Bola; meaning the ship had been destroyed and she needn't waste another projectile. She glanced at Odin. "Poor Kid?"
"Apollo. Said he'd be dead by now. A few different ways; either in the station, or killed by Eyeball, or the Jotun. Or possessed by the Chain and suicided. Even worse, he knew he was gonna die in this battle. Said the only way he could survive all the way through is if he fled offworld. So... thousands of years now, he knew about when he was gonna die. He could see it. From the day he helped us overthrow the Titans til now. Hope he died on his feet. Alright. You ready for the fun part?"
Valkyrie casually tossed the bola in the air a few times. The mountaintop beneath them shook slightly each time it hit her palm, the boots redirecting the impact, avoiding damaging the massive rune carving. "You kidding? I've been looking forward to this. What will your Valkyries do now?"
As one of the powerful golden-armored women stepped forward; handing a massive, ornate horn to Odin, he chuckles. "Whatever they want, and try to help people. I'll explain when the war is over, if we're both alive, and you still want to join."
He lifted the horn to his lips, took a deep breath. Closed his eyes... and blew.
***
In a tomb beneath Dragon island, the Empress abruptly rose. Her badly mangled form appeared stitched together by glowing green light, as she raised her swords... the swords whispering to her. Speaking of the devastation. Of the nukes detonating around the world. Of every damned soul burned in nuclear fire, of the fallout washing over the planet.
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She lifted Hiroshima. It begged her for vengeance. She turned to Nagasaki. It demanded blood. She turned to the ceiling of the tomb, raising her fist. To those on the island, the tomb marking the position of the Empress and the swords would simply seem to explode; and a vivid bolt of green lightning seemed to strike the ground, before vanishing.
***
Within the walls of Valhalla, the armies of centuries past had gathered. In their ancient uniforms, their antique weapons, they gathered together in their millions; and around the world, on a thousand battlefields, their glowing, ethereal forms took shape. Crusaders in armor, with glowing swords. Braves with tomahawks. Redcoats with muskets. Samurai and peasant, general and private; they formed up; and in many cases, aided corpses in prying themselves free of the ground.
Some of the corpses would move off, on their own ends. Scores to settle, things to accomplish. Considering all of them had died in battle of some sort, most of them would want to hurt someone; but these grudges were, by and large, against those long since passed; just as dead as they were. Most, however, joined the glowing forms of their comrades in arms... and began marching to the nearest Jotun position.
***
In northern China, soldiers were gathered just south of the wall, in thousands of entrenched positions; timbers, wood, sandbags, concrete, and stone, forming numerous barriers to protect the men and tanks beneath them. Aircraft were fueled up, prepared to launch.
The plan was simple; when the Jotun began to arrive at the front line, Chinese forces would turn the Great Wall into a wall of death; every man with a weapon, every tank, every aircraft; both those new enough and armed well enough to hurt the Jotun themselves, and the older, antique equipment that could only be used to clear out some of the millions of drones; would be ready.
There was no formation; no solid line. They knew full well the Jotun could drop something from orbit if need be. But there wasn't a single kilometer of that wall facing Mongolia that lacked rifles pointed northward.
If they managed to hold, the line would advance, wrap around the Jotun, and destroy them. They could see the massive Assault Ships flying overhead in the distance; which meant that they were within range. Any moment now, the artillery would begin to fire, the drones would swarm, and the battle would begin in earnest.
For one of the men leaning on the wall, watching the enemy through his scope, he would find a... dramatic sight. A patch of earth, suddenly moving, shifting... and a skeletal hand emerging. A glowing figure of... what appeared to be an ancient warrior, a soldier of the Khans of old, stood over it; pulling the corpse from its grave, revealing a badly decayed skeleton, covered with the tattered remains of Chinese armor that was at least a century or two old. The two figures seemed to stare at each other for a moment. Enemies in life, now long since dead; and nodded, before turning their separate ways; the decayed Chinese skeleton marching towards the wall.
***
Dozens of kilometers away, in a command bunker, a glowing figure of an ancient Chinese man wearing robes and a spear at his back entered. Several of the Chinese military leaders were here; organizing the defense of the wall 'in person' as it were; in reality, seven kilometers south, using thousands of buried wires and wireless repeaters to establish communications and organize the defense.
One of the generals; Shang Ju; a tall, fit Chinese man who despite his years and rank had yet to develop the seemingly inevitable gut most of the generals formed from years of sitting in chairs rather than moving, stepped forward, looking at the glowing form. "I am the overall commander of this section of the wall. I... I was told you were here to assist us?"
The glowing form stepped forward, staring down at a map of the nearby wall section. He was short compared to the living man; and his clothing appeared... simple. Old. Practically shabby compared to a modern military uniform; though the sword at his side was beautiful, ornate, and featured some form of monster carved into the hilt, its tongue forming the blade. "My name is Wu Qi. I understand I was featured in your history books... but that is not a matter for today. I have spent over a thousand years preparing for this war, and have numerous soldiers at my command; primarily of your own ancestors and those of the Mongols. While we lack guns or tanks, we have swords, bows, there are millions of us, and we are difficult to destroy. I would recommend having your forces advance to meet the Jotun at the wall itself; using my own as a vanguard immediately on the other side, to absorb enemy fire, distract, and prevent their flying metal bird-things from overwhelming you. We may not hold the wall, but If you disagree, I will simply have my forces disperse; and move in when their forces reach your own, attacking from every direction to distract and harass the enemy, giving the living more room to fight."
***
The Jotun soldier walked by the shattered wreckage of a Mongolian tank; examining it for a moment with curiosity. While primitive, the structure had ammunition clearly made for killing Jotun vehicles, and if it had managed to strike one of the fast-moving ACs, it would have obliterated it. His sensors ran over it for a few seconds; nothing alive. No energy sources, no heat. He started to move along; only to hear a sudden screech of metal.
He turned back to the tank; and saw a hand emerging from the hatch. He raised his weapon; his scanners still showed no heat sources. Were there species here other than humans? He advanced to study it more closely.. only to stumble as something caught at his claws.
He slammed into the tank with a grunt, and leapt up, activating his jets to fly briefly, surveying the scene... the corpses were... rising. Necromancy. The Jotun weren't big on practicing it themselves, but they were familiar. He dropped back to the ground, firing a single shot of one plasma rifle at the corpse which had grasped his claw, observing closely.
The sudden burst burned away most of the thing's flesh; all that was left was part of a torso, a head, and one arm... but it continued crawling towards him. He also noticed the other hand, crawling towards him on its own, and grimaced.
These things were unlikely to be dangerous unless they came across weapons, but still. They could be intensely annoying. He started firing on the other corpses nearby as he activated his communicator. "Lady Sharqa. We have necromantic activity. Not seriously threatening; they appear to be no more physically capable than they were in life, but are magical in nature. Need to destroy the entire body to stop them."
These combat suits weren't built to just fly constantly. They could do so for a while... but doing it for too long would heavily reduce the enormous advantage of speed and maneuverability they gave them in a firefight. These corpses.... They weren't a big deal on their own, but if they got guns that could actually hurt the Jotun..
He did a sweep of the nearby drones. Seventeen of them were scanning the nearby area... and he saw more of the moving corpses. Dozens of them, just in his area. All of them, in whatever shape they were in, walking, or crawling, south, towards the wall. Undoubtedly they would find not just an army down there... but more of them attacking them from behind as they moved in.
He glanced at his plasma rifles, checking each for charge. He would be fine... for a while. Hopefully this was a local phenomenon, and just a few corpses would need to be dealt with.