When Eirik took off to hunt down Dalle, he forgot everything else going on around him, leaving Lasse to finish mopping up the pirates. Not that it was a difficult task. Their morale was broken and many tried surrendering. He allowed it for the time being, at least until the majority of the surviving pirates had surrendered or died in the fighting. Maybe Eirik would find it in his heart to show mercy if he got his revenge... Or just returned alive.

He was overseeing the transport of the prisoners as they were being led to the holding area, where they would spend the foreseeable future until it had been confirmed whether they were to be executed, or if Eirik wanted a significant mining force. There were always asteroids that needed mining.

The runner he had sent to the bunker returned and confirmed the completion of his task. The bunkers had been opened again and the people were slowly gathering themselves. Guards had been placed at certain sections of the station, to prevent the civilians from seeing the worst of the slaughter that had taken place. It would be cleaned in time, but for now, keeping it clear of civilians would have to do. Those that lived on the station quickly got their belongings and families and headed back to their homes to see how much damage the small occupation had caused. As they would come to find out, the pirates had been so focused on getting rid of the defenders, that they had not looted yet.

Those that did not live on the station would slowly gather up near the dock that Eirik had landed on to be transported home by one of the military ships. Krisnu had gathered her family around her, and as they slowly made their way toward the dock, They saw Lasse and stopped to ask about Eirik.

"He is still hunting." Lasse said in a brusque manner. He was bothered by something, but they knew better than to ask.

"And what, exactly, is Eirik hunting?" Freja's voice cut through the air, making Lasse visibly wince.

"You can contact his ship for more information. I just know he did not stay on the station." It was a small white lie, but one that would save Lasse from being the target of her anger. He could have told her that Eirik was hunting Dalle. He could have told her that Eirik was in a mental state where nothing could stop him from doing what he was currently doing. He also knew that Freja was stubborn enough to just into one of the fighters on the station and try to go after his brother. So he kept his mouth shut and passed the ball on to the next unlucky person to cross her path.

"If you don't mind, Freja, I have over 7000 prisoners I need to oversee the transport of, and I need to make it happen as fast as possible so I can get people to start cleaning up. Contact his ship, they will know." Trying to take the edge off of his previous words, Lasse offered an excuse for not having the time and Freja graciously accepted, turned on her heels, and headed for the security station Lasse breathed out slowly, relieved that he had gotten away with snubbing her off, though he credited that to the fact that she was looking for Eirik.

In truth, Lasse knew exactly what was happening with Eirik, receiving updates from the other brothers that had quickly sent their ships to assist, after Eirik's crew informed them of his actions. But he did not have the mental surplus to deal with Freja when she learned that Eirik had crashed into Dalle, on purpose, less than a minute ago and was now plummeting toward the planet next to Dalle's ship.

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They were not going to die! A lesser pilot, like Dalle, would no doubt believe themselves doomed simply or falling toward the planet. Admittedly, that could still happen, but only if they did absolutely nothing to stop their dive of doom. All they had to do was guide the ships to level with the horizon after they entered the atmosphere and glide to safety. Sure, landing near Dalle would be a challenge, but out of the 2, Eirik was the better pilot.

He had still not taken his eyes off of Dalle and had seen the serenity take hold of the man. He knew that look in a man. He was accepting his fate and whatever was to come, but the question was, did he do it because he could no longer run or did he do it because he finally understood personal honor?

Eirik was leaning toward the first possibility. The man had never had a speck of honor in him! "He looks tired. Tired and scared." Eirik thought to himself as he looked over Dalle. The man was still a soldier though, and a well-trained one as well. but his true skill lay in deception. He had always been a good soldier because he was unpredictable. He might initiate a frontal assault, just to have 3 men sneak in from the back and start killing officers with silenced weapons. He might sneak an entire battalion into an enemy base, 5 men at a time, waiting for sunrise to herald the time to start the attack.

That unpredictability made him a dangerous enemy in melee combat. But Eirik was no longer a young man, bound by the rules of formal and proper combat. He had committed piracy (privateering, if anyone asked), worked with long hauling goods across the galaxy, been to proper wars where the only rule was "Don't die!", and taken part in civil war amongst Terra and other small emerging empires. The difference between Eirik and those that came before is that Eirik started in an unoccupied part of space, instead of trying to carve out a piece of land already belonging to Terra.

For the briefest of moments, a single thought snaked its way through his mind. "What are we going to do once Dalle is dead?" The thought didn't linger, as Eirik saw Dalle reach out with a hand and press a button. To his surprise, his ship reported an incoming call. Pressing the button he heard Dalle speak for the first time in over 10 years.

"So, you finally tracked me down. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Despite all your faults, you always managed to get the job done, somehow." Dalle opened the conversation.

"I will admit you are adept at hiding yourself away from the face of the galaxy, but that is all the praise you will ever get from me in life! You betrayed your brothers in arms, handed over your fellow soldiers to the enemy, ran away to avoid the consequences of your, and worst of all, you did all of this, knowing exactly what would happen as a consequence. But as you said yourself, I always manage to get the job done, somehow. I even managed to finally lock you into a position where you cannot escape!" Eirik retorted. He had not expected that he would have to actually talk to the vermin, but maybe it was a good thing.

"At least I can die knowing I am taking you with me!" Dalle said with an empty chuckle.

"Is that what you think? Lesser pilots will most certainly think this situation is carved in stone, but I know better. I can still land this ship safely enough to make sure you are dead and gone before I get picked up by the "Void Wolf". Though, I am not surprised you see the situation as hopeless. You were always unable to see the positive in any situation, focusing instead on the negative and the hindrances." Eirik laughed as he spoke. "I knew you would have gotten older, but to have gotten older AND less skillful? I doubt there is a handful of Terrans alive that have managed to accomplish that!" He continued to mock Dalle.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Dalle's expression darkened as Eirik spoke, the insults hitting home because there was truth to the words. "Better a self-serving coward than an honorable fool!" He snapped with visible anger. "All the time I have known you, you have gotten everything handed to you! Your skills as a warrior were given to you by your ggrandfather'straining, your confidence came from knowing your brothers would always look out for the youngest brothers. Your woman, for some insane reason, is completely devoted to you, despite you being nothing more than a lucky, ungrateful, superstitious FOOL! At least I can thank your gods that your bloodline does continue. I heard about Freja not wanting a child!" Dalle laughed maliciously as he said this. He knew how much it meant to Eirik to become a father.

"well... About that last one..." Eirik replied with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Dalle stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds before he started yelling. "NO! NOOOOO! You can't keep being this fucking lucky!! You gods damned son of a whore! I HOPE BOTH FREJA AND THE CHILD DIE DURING LABOR!"

Eirik stiffened when he heard the words, reached out, and cut communications. He grabbed the steering controls and braced himself for when he entered the atmosphere. He had nothing more to say to Dalle. Dalle kept trying to start communications up again, screaming to his heart's content inside of his ship as Eirik kept ignoring the request. He could see Dalle's antics, their ships no more than a few dozen meters apart.

Less than a minute until they hit the atmosphere. Eirik was getting annoyed by the constant alarms, error sounds, and requests to start communication up again. He reached out to start the music again but stopped himself. These might be his last moments. He was a great pilot and he knew it. But there was always fate to consider. Did he want to go out without a last thought on the gods? There was one goddess that was rarely worshipped, though the vast majority of the dead went to her domain. Hel, one of the 3 abominations fathered by Loke, Master of the underworld, queen of twilight. The mistress of the void.

He thought for a few seconds and decided on a song he knew was written as a loving tale of the unfair treatment she was subjected to by the gods. Her existence was a part of their failings, and a constant reminder that no one was perfect, not even the gods. He hit the atmosphere alongside Dalle, around 15 seconds later and the ship started shaking violently, as it fought against the forces of kinetic energy being drained by atmospheric dissipation. It was difficult keeping the ship level enough to allow for an emergency landing, but Eirik managed it. He risked a look sideways and saw Dalle fighting hard to emulate Eirik.

"That sly asshole!" Eirik thought to himself as turbulence rocked his ship and he was forced to focus on the task at hand. As they glided toward the ground, it was evident that Dalle relied on emulating Eirik to have a chance at surviving the landing. This meant he would have to stay close until they were so close to the ground that it didn't matter. The distance between them would be maybe, 16 kilometers (10 miles) at best. He could hunt Dalle down, even if wounded, on that short a distance. Even if the man tried running, it would not be a significant hurdle to overcome.

Dalle split away less than 500 meters from the surface, hoping it would create enough distance between them to give him a chance to escape. He ended up barely 10 kilometers (6 miles) away from Eirik. When Dalle hit the ground, he was knocked out almost immediately, but survived the crash. Eirik lasted longer, almost managing a proper landing, only to get knocked out by a toolbox that came loose from its compartment

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The last transmission with the location of Eirik's and Dalle's ships was from when they entered the atmosphere. After that, it was up to the computers to figure out the most likely place they crashed and start the search there. The command staff had listened in on the conversation between Dalle and Eirik and had been mumbling amongst themselves. Jeanette held a constant hand on Narvik. The poor creature had been in a state of shock ever since he had seen Eirik and his men join the fight alongside the defenders. He didn't speak or even move, but willingly let others lead him. Knud suspected it was a temporary reaction until Narvik's mind had accepted what he had observed.

None of them spoke as the 2 signals stopped responding on the scanner, but they sent out a notice to Eirik's brothers since they were already on the way at speed.

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Eirik slowly opened his eyes. He expected his head to hurt, he had seen the toolbox coming but had not been able to move out of the way. He was surprised to find no headache and no pain, and he felt around his head to find the bump.

"Hmph. You sleep soundly for a man on the verge of revenge" The same voice that rang through his head when he tried shooting Dalle down now sounded like it coming from a few meters away. Eirik looked around and saw an old man. Old, but still radiating power. His one eye was piercing and as blue as the deep ocean. His beard was long and grey with age, the same with his hair. Most of his face was hidden in the shadows of his large brimmed hat. He was sitting on a log that had been rolled up to the small fire that was burning merrily on the ground. A small stump served as a simple table, holding 2 richly decorated drinking horns

On the ground lay 2 wolves, watching him with lazy eyes and above them circled two large ravens. a long menacing spear leaned against the old man and a fabulous golden ring adorned his right forearm Even if the old man had not spoken, Eirik would have recognized Odin from the descriptions.

"Allfather." Eirik acknowledged him.

"Also ill-mannered! You do not kneel for the father of the gods?" Odin thundered and grabbed the spear tightly as he rose.

Eirik rose as well and answered, "I kneel for no one, neither man nor god! I stand on my feet, proud and tall like my ancestors of old!"

Odin started laughing heartily at that. "Spoken like a true Norseman! I knew you were worth keeping an eye on! And from the stories I have heard from the other gods, I have missed quite the show. You can be sure I will be watching you closely from now on, Eirik!" Odin started moving the end of the spear around on the ground in what seemed to be a very specific pattern. "But you were not summoned here to talk to me. I am just not refused when I make demands. It is time for you to meet the one who wished to speak with you!"

Odin slammed the spear end into the ground and Eirik could feel himself move with incredible speed and he soon found himself in front of a large hall, larger than any he had seen, only surpassed by Valhalla itself. This had to be Trudvang, home of Tor and Sif, God of war and male passion, and goddess of mothers and female fertility. Her long hair, made of gold, flowed as a waterfall from her head, and she had the solid rotund body of a woman that had given birth many times.

"Eirik! I was waiting for you, but old one-eye gets what he wants!" Sif said with a big smile. She was hanging up clothes for drying and Eirik, by instinct, started helping out. This gave Sif pause in her work. "I never thought I would see a man perform a woman's work." She said after a few moments.

"You should look to Midgård more often. Many things have changed, mostly the people, but everything about life has changed drastically. But I suspect that is not the reason you wished to see me?" Eirik said with a small smile. It was strange to think the gods did not keep up with the world.

"You are correct. You know my responsibilities as a goddess, so I would think the reason should be fairly obvious. Unless you are just a pretty face with a strong arm, of course." Sif said in a voice that bordered on teasing. There was nothing flirty or malicious in it, merely good-natured teasing.

"Wow, that is an underhanded insult if I ever heard one. You really ARE the goddess of mothers, "Eirik remarked dryly, not missing the beaming smile Sif sent him "My best guess, is my impending fatherhood. Am I correct?"

"Partly," Sif said "But mostly, I wanted to warn you. You are losing yourself, Eirik. In the hunt for revenge, in the effort to secure your empire, in your refusal to lean back and let things unfold as they see fit. I fear that you may lose what you value most if you don't start appreciating the small things around you. You are soon to be a father. A father cannot go where he wants when he wants. His family depends on him, as he should depend on them. You will soon reach a crossroad, Eirik. What path you chose will determine the path for the rest of your life!" Sif explained patiently.

"A crossroad?? between what choices?" Eirik asked. He didn't like the sound of this.

"Good luck, Eirik. And happy hunting." Sif put a hand on his shoulder and he felt hot and cold, knowing he was being sent back.