Star Wolves - The Tribes of Yggdrasil: Book 1

Chapter 7

In an open and rugged field, Hal was decked out in an olive-drab suit of armor. He crouched, took a breath, then burst forward running. He sprinted for a few seconds then leapt over a massive ditch. His body soared and his legs flailed, as if to gain more traction in the air. He landed gracefully, both feet solidly planted, his body in a crouching position.

Hal stood up and pulled of his helmet, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his left hand. "Well, Cadfael, I have to say, this Recon Combat Armor is amazing!” 

The powered-armor dynamically moulded itself to the user's body. The surface color and reflective properties changed actively in response to its surrounding environment.

Cadfael also pulled off his helmet, no sweat apparent on his brow. "I am glad you find it worthy, Captain. It doesn't have the armor or auxiliary firepower of the heavy infantry Powered Battle Armor, but with extra speed and stealth, it meets its mission objectives."

"Indeed it does. That ditch is over ten-meters wide. I feel like an Olympian in this suit! Or maybe a Norse god?" Hal cracked a wry smile.

"Freyr would be proud, Captain," Cadfael said evenly.

“Just call me Hal when we aren’t on the ship or in front of others, ok?” Cadfael nodded “Ya know, it's hard to believe all the functionality that’s packed into this thing, and how comfortable it feels. I have to give a hand to Alfar engineering," Hal said.

"Thank you, but the credit is not ours alone."

"Oh?"

Cadfael nodded. “Indeed, it was engineered jointly with the Dvergar."

They began walking toward a small Alfar aircar.

"I've been meaning to ask, what do these Dvergar look like? The name means dark-elf in Old Norse and Yggdrasi, correct?”

"The reference refers to where they live—underground. They are in fact, extremely pale. They live entirely underground on a relatively high gravity planet, so they evolved to be stouter than we Alfar or you humans."

"Ah, ok. So you have a lot of contact with them?"

"We trade extensively with them and we often consult with them on engineering projects, and in many cases, purchase technology from them.”

"I look forward to visiting Svartalfheim someday. I'd like to see their wares, " Hal said.

"That is doubtful."

Hal furrowed his brow. "Why would you say that?"

"The Dvergar do not allow visitors to their home world. All of our trade or dealings are conducted on space stations or other planets they control—a network of trading posts. They typically confine their trade with other worlds, to one location per trading partner. That way if their partners are hostile with other parties, they do not meet at the same trading post."

"Very interesting bunch.”

Garbed in a plain white robe, Devrim sat cross-legged on the floor of his cell. He was in the interior of a massive organic structure—some kind of plant he guessed. Plants on Niflheim tended to be very short in stature, due largely to the fact everything grew underground and didn’t have boundless skies to grow into, such as there were here.

He thought he might feel panicky about now, but he was unusually calm. His mission was to find humans, and he had indeed found humans. Though he had hoped to bring back prisoners, not become one himself, but Devrim was confident he would find a way out. Other Hrymar might have become enraged, but not Devrim. In times such as these, his weaknesses in fact were his greatest strength; without the benefit of typical Hrymar physique and prowess, he was forced to cultivate an all together different skill-set.