Valkyries

By Misty Vixen

Veronica is a futuristic warrior woman. Genetically engineered and seven feet tall, she was trained to kill like no other. And then she was booted from the military that created her. Saf is a kai, living in a galaxy where she is one of the very few of her kind who chooses to travel among the other races that share a galactic civilization. What they have in common, besides being best friends and casual lovers, is that they're both mercenaries who are fed up with working for idiots.

Jared is a human technician who has been living a civilian's life for the past year after getting shot eight times and nearly dying. But living a simple life, he's learning, isn't for him. So when he meets two extremely tough and hot mercenary women looking to form their own group and are looking for a tech, it feels a little like fate, and he signs up immediately. Especially when he learns that they're also very interested in hooking up with him...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Misty Vixen
• Release date: Mar 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463809105

Misty Vixen

I am Misty Vixen (not my real name obviously), and I imagine that if you’re reading this, you want to know a bit more about me.In a practical sense, I am an author who writes series of novels featuring action, adventure, and detailed sex between one man and a lot of women, typically inhuman women, be they monsters, aliens, or other. I also almost always have a tendency to write about people who are fed up with society, whatever their society is, and are looking for ways to build their own lives of happiness together.In a more detailed sense, as a writer, I have a few different focuses.My first focus is on protagonists. When I got my start writing in 2015, I could almost have been called a counterculture author. I was (and still am) tired of the stereotypical male protagonists. You know the kind I mean: the ‘Alphas’, the tough guys, the douche-bros who treat women like crap and get away with it because it’s their story and because ‘it’s okay cuz they’re hot’. I was also tired of the playboy billionaires whose superpower was money, the ultra-ripped firefighters and NAVY Seals, and the larger-than-life outlaws and bad boys. I wanted to hear from way more realistic characters. Socially awkward technicians and self-conscious nerds and quiet introverts. And for five years, I wrote about these types. Recently, however, I’ve been branching out and writing different protagonists. Not alpha-assholes, but characters who are more self-assured, protagonists who are more take charge and get more things done, without being an asshole about it, and without being all-powerful. These characters can still be anxious or uncertain of themselves, but they have a bit more confidence and are more decisive.The second focus is on themes. You could call these themes foundational. I believed in them when I began writing my first story, Hellcats, and I still do. These are things like trust, honesty, respect, open communication, safe BDSM, functional open and poly relationships, things of that nature. I believe in people talking to each other, people being open and vulnerable with each other and not being punished. I believe in the validity of depression and anxiety, and in trying to face those things realistically. I don’t believe in the stoic hardass who will never show his emotions and always ‘bear his suffering in silence like a true man’. I think that’s BS and shockingly unhealthy. I believe in characters who must make hard decisions and who are toughened by lives lived in a hard world, but who still understand that emotions are valid and it’s not wrong to be open with those you are close to. I think this is the main reason I don’t write romance: I hate drama. I hate people lying to each other and I hate needless rom-com BS plots that could have been solved by two characters have a goddamned two minute conversation.The third thing that I focus on is sexual encounters. Although my stories can’t really be called erotica any longer, as the story could survive without the sex, sex is still a very crucial component to everything I write. Here’s a quick list of things that I enjoy writing about, sexually speaking.HAREMS/POLY. Almost everything I write features one dude banging a lot of hot women.HUMAN GUY X INHUMAN GIRL. Again, almost everything I write features a human guy having amazing sex with aliens, monsters, paranormals, or otherwise inhuman ladies.FURRY. I wouldn’t identify as a furry, not because I don’t like them, but because my only real interest in furry stuff is I think furry women are hot, but I have found ways of working furry girls into almost everything I write. Typically this manifests as cat girls, but they aren’t the only kind you’ll find.SIZE PLAY. Definitely on the lower end of the size spectrum. You won’t find fifty foot women here, but you will often find taller than average women. Be they seven foot tall genetically engineered super soldiers or nine-foot half-giantesses, very tall women are well represented in my works.MATURE. I love older women and my love of them has only grown. You’ll find a lot of cougars around.BDSM. While I’m no expert fetishist, I do like writing about submissive women who enjoy getting tied down, treated like crap, slapped around, and nailed senseless. Safe words are always recognized & respected.MILITARY. There’s something especially enticing about a badass woman in a uniform, I’ll admit. Military babes don’t come up a lot, but they come up often enough to mention it.BISEXUAL. Yeah, I’ll own up to it: I’m guilty of making almost every woman I write about into doing other girls.And that’s basically me as a writer. Hopefully you can find something you enjoy somewhere in my library!

Book preview

VALKYRIES

by

Misty Vixen

CHAPTER 01

Veronica tried to quell the growing sense of unease in the pit of her stomach as the shuttle she and Saf were on shuddered and trembled its way through the atmosphere of the planet they were currently coming down on from high orbit. The job was almost done and once it was, they’d grab their paycheck and get out of here.

You getting the same kind of feeling I’m getting? Saf asked.

Veronica glanced over and down at her partner. Although Saf was tall for kai, Veronica still had a little over half a foot on her.

Yeah, she replied quietly, I am.

Mmm.

That only made Veronica’s worry even more. Out of the two of them, Saf was the most level-headed, not prone to rash decision-making or pessimism. Pretty much the opposite of Veronica. She crossed her arms and considered the situation.

Veronica was an Amazonian, a genetically engineered warrior, part of Project Amazon. Well, what used to be Project Amazon. It was a branch of the military, experimental, that ran for about ten years or so. They created, exclusively, very tall, very powerful, very skilled women. They created Amazonians. But then it all fell apart, the Amazonians were basically fired and left to drift in the solar winds.

Most of them, Veronica included, became mercenaries.

She felt particularly bitter about the whole subject, as she’d been among the last of the women culled for the project and only got to be in it for about a year before being dumped. When it had all blown over, she’d gone into the protection business with her childhood friend Sapphire, or Saf as she liked to be called.

The situation didn’t look good.

Currently, she, Saf, and about half a dozen other dime-store mercenaries were running protection for a bunch of mineral samples for a small-time mining corporation. Based on the sketchy intel she had, Veronica thought it was a big break for them. Being so small-time, the mining company didn’t really have the money to commit to full-fledged operations. They needed investors, money men to fund their mining operations for a slice of future profits in return. But they could only find investors if they could prove they’d scouted a mining location worth setting up shop on, usually a newly discovered planet or moon or asteroid.

This company had found such a place.

Apparently it was rich in lots of precious minerals.

So they had collected the samples and were making their way back so that they could prove they had the goods. Unfortunately, a lot of was riding on those minerals, and if something were to happen to them, say, if they were ‘lost’ due to a ‘shuttle malfunction’, well, it might just bankrupt that little mining corporation.

Which was what bigger mining corporations loved doing.

Space travel and hiring mercs and the cost of actually getting the minerals from way out there was expensive, and most smaller companies were almost constantly skirting the edge of bankruptcy. So one fuck-up was all it took to send them over.

Veronica had had a lot of time to study up on politics and policies like these over the past few years since getting tossed out of the military.

There were a lot of warning signs with this job and she was no longer sure why she and Saf had agreed to take it.

Oh yeah, because they were fucking broke, that’s why.

Even the small payout of a two thousand credits a person was looking good right now. Plus, the job was mostly over. They were currently making their final approach to the place they had to drop the minerals off at.

Maybe just another fifteen minutes and they were done.

Then they’d move on to the next crap job.

It seemed to be their life nowadays. For a moment, Veronica began to lament what her life had become, but suddenly, she didn’t have the time.

The ship’s radio crackled to life. We’ve got incoming-

The announcement was knocked off the airwaves by an explosion that rocked the shuttle, sending Veronica and Saf to the hard metal floor of the hallway they’d been hanging around in. The pair shot back to their feet.

Both cursed as they began rushing forward. They came into the bridge of the ship with a few of the other mercenaries.

What the fuck is going on? Veronica snapped.

Uh, well, we’re under attack, the pilot replied.

Yeah, no fucking shit, why didn’t you tell us until their rockets were flying up our ass?

The piece of shit radar is broken!

"Why the fuck didn’t you tell us this!?"

I didn’t know it was broken until just now! Now shut the fuck up and let me fly this fucking thing!

Veronica could think of a lot more choice things to call the pilot, but he was right, he needed to get them out of there. Plus, it probably wasn’t his fault. He was just some poor son of a bitch the company was keeping in the dark just like them. Several minutes passed by as the pilot tried to work with the struggling engines.

Why aren’t they firing anymore? one of the mercenaries asked.

They don’t want us destroyed, Saf murmured. They want us to go down, so they can perform salvage.

Abruptly, the engines cut out. The silence was ominous.

Well, looks like they’re going to get their wish, we are going the fuck down, the pilot announced.

Through the canopy windows ahead of them, Veronica could see the tops of trees: a vast green carpet of forest spread out below them, stretching on for miles, rushing up to meet them. Veronica’s mind started running through options as the trees got closer. Right now though, the only thing she could think of was to get to somewhere safe.

Get to the crash room! the pilot yelled, unstrapping himself and leaping out of the seat. She, Saf, and the other mercs followed him out of the bridge.

They ran through the ship, which was a dead stick now, gliding towards the ground with as much grace as wings and air-brakes would grant it. The didn’t have long. They ran down a pair of hallways and managed to make it into the crash room, which was really just a small room stuffed with heavily reinforced seats attached to the walls. They all got into the seats and locked themselves in as quickly as they could.

Veronica barely fit.

Just another everyday annoyance of being almost seven fucking feet tall. She pulled the crash webbing down over her body and hoped for the best.

Several more seconds went by in miserable silence. Veronica took the time to do a quick headcount. She saw Saf, the pilot, (he was literally the only other crewman onboard, they apparently couldn’t afford anyone else), and four mercenaries. She’d counted six on the way in. That meant that two of them were still out there.

The ship suddenly began to jolt and jerk violently. They had hit the top of the trees. It wouldn’t be long now.

Sure enough, the tremors got significantly more violent and then, suddenly, the ship hit solid ground, smashing into it and coming to a sudden halt, throwing all of them around violently. The crash webbing worked like it was supposed to and kept Veronica mostly where she was intended to be. Now that the ship was suddenly not moving anymore, she began to get untangled from the webbing, knowing they had to act fast.

Come on, get up, they’re going to be coming after us, she snapped at the others.

They groaned their responses. She straightened up and popped her neck. A lot of things were sore and bruised on her right now, but nothing felt broken. Her genetic engineering and the combat armor she had on had done well to insulate her. One of the other mercenaries, unfortunately, hadn’t been so lucky. He’d been throw free of the webbing in the crash and his neck had been broken, killing him instantly.

Come on, lets get to the armory, she said, rallying them. She pointed at the pilot, who was still getting up from the webbing. Call for backup.

On it, he replied, standing up and limping out of the crash room.

It took a minute, but Veronica and Saf managed to get the others rallied and out of the room. They hurried through the ship and made it to the armory, finding another one of the missing mercs along the way. He hadn’t fared any better than the other merc who’d broken his neck, he was dead as well. Which meant they were down to five, maybe six if the other guy was still alive. As they got into the armory, which had been thrown into wild disarray in the crash, Veronica sized up what she had to work with.

There was a dysil, who she knew were tough. The orange-skinned man looked a bit like a demon, as he had short black horns growing from his forehead and a thin tail growing from his back. He’d seemed pretty competent. The other two, a pair of humans, could go either way. They seemed like they could get the job done, but a lot of mercenaries seemed that way until suddenly the pressure was on and it turned out they were novices or idiots.

Or both.

A lot of the guns had been damaged in the crash, but they managed to snag enough shotguns and rifles to equip everyone. Veronica wrapped her hands about a long-barrel, powerful assault rifle and gathered up some scattered magazines.

Let’s go! she called.

The mercs seemed to accept her as a leader, which made enough sense. It was a stupid but basic principle of human (and apparently some alien) psychology that the bigger you were the more in charge you should be.

They made their way through the ruined ship. Veronica left the two humans at one of the two airlocks in the ship, which would be the only two realistic points of ingress into the ship. Unless the crash had created a big hole in the hull, which would suck. But they couldn’t worry about that right now. She led Saf and the other merc, the dysil, back to the primary airlock, which was huge and going to be difficult to cover.

It was at the back of a big cargo room, meant to be used to drive loader trucks up into. By the time they got back there, they heard voices through smaller holes that had been ripped in the hull nearby. Definitely bad guys out there.

Get into position, Veronica said quietly.

Saf and the dysil nodded and moved across the cargo room, which was a complete mess. There were a few vehicles and several crates scattered across the area. The three of them hid behind this debris, ducking down and preparing for a counter-attack. Seconds went by. Then a minute went by. The tension continued to rise.

Veronica was beginning to consider going out to them, (she wasn’t the most patient individual), when, suddenly there was a brilliant flash and the room filled with smoke and flying metal. They’d bombed the door.

As the smoke began to clear, Veronica saw several dark shapes rushing in through the opening. She targeted the first one and squeezed the trigger. The rifle barked in her firm grasp. There was a scream, a spray of blood, and the figure went down. Saf and the dysil opened up as well, taking down more of the uncertain figures. But it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t going to go very well for them. There were a lot of mercs coming in.

And they were gaining a foothold.

Elsewhere in the ship, Veronica heard another explosion and more gunfire. Great. Now they had to worry about getting attacked from behind as well. She hoped those other two were up to the challenge. She redoubled her efforts, wishing she’d grabbed a grenade from the armory, but she hadn’t been able to find any. She took out another two and then ducked as they returned fire. They went back and forth like this, trading bullets until the dysil made a miscalculation, pulled back too late, took a shot to the head and went down.

And there were still more coming.

Fall back! Veronica snapped.

Saf shouted something back. Veronica looked around for something, some kind of distraction, anything to help them out.

She sat it in the form of a fire extinguisher on the other side of the room, near the hostiles’ position. She aimed and fired. It blew up into a foamy spray, knocking two of them off their feet and blinding most of the others.

Saf took the opportunity and ran for the exit. Veronica followed after her. Unfortunately, she was a much bigger target and, consequently, ended up taking a grazing shot to her right shoulder. She hissed in pain as the burning agony cut through her skin and through the crap armor she’d been provided with. She kept running though, right behind Saf. They continued racing through the hallways until a shotgun blast nearly took Veronica’s head off.

She spun to the left and opened fire, spraying the place down with bullets and cutting down two enemy troops. So, the other entrance had been breached.

Cover me, Veronica snapped as she dropped into a crouch and began patting the mercs down. Saf kept watch. She managed to find two grenades among the corpses. Perfect. She straightened back up, a plan forming.

Stay here, watch my back, she said.

Hurry, Saf replied.

Veronica nodded tightly and ran down the hallway the way the bad guys had been coming from, making her way back to the airlock that had obviously been breached. She found two more making their way inside, pulled the pin on one of the grenades and tossed it their way. They began screaming and trying to get out of the way, but they were in a tight space. Veronica turned and sprinted back to where Saf was.

We’ve got company, she said.

I’ve got the answer to that, Veronica replied.

She pulled the pin on the second grenade and tossed it back the way they had come, towards the mercenaries they’d originally run from. Then she and Saf ran the rest of the way to the bridge, where they found the pilot.

What the fuck is going on back there?! he cried.

We’re fucked and we need to get out of here, Veronica replied. Did you call for help?

No, radio’s busted.

Fuck!...okay, um...can you set the engines on this thing to blow? she asked.

What?! the pilot replied.

Can you!?

Yes, but why?

Do it. It’s the only way we’re going to get the hell out of here and survive, Veronica replied.

The pilot stared at her for a few seconds longer, then turned around and got to work. His fingers flew over the keyboard in front of him. Veronica and Saf took up watch at the door, hoping he’d be done before the enemy mercenaries showed up.

They at least had a way out of here: the windows had been shattered in the crash. They could just climb out.

It’s done, the pilot said, standing up. Can we go now? We’ve got to clear a one hundred meter distance, and that’s minimum safety. We’ve got five minutes.

Perfect, let’s go, Veronica replied.

They all headed out the front of the ship, through the broken window. It took a little bit, but the three of them managed to climb down off the nose of the ship. They hit the ground running. For the next however long, all there was to Veronica was running, dodging trees, listening for signs that the mercenaries were giving chase, but it made sense that they’d stay behind, having driven the others off. They were after the ship and its resources, not its occupants and kills. Too bad for them. They were going to die for their greed.

They just barely managed to make it.

The explosion threw them to the ground, but left them otherwise unharmed. They slowly got to their feet.

A moment of silence passed.

Well...now what? the pilot asked.

Now we find out where the nearest sign of civilization is and call for a ride, Veronica replied.

The pilot sighed. Well, if we can figure out north, we went down about five miles away from the hangar we were supposed to land at.

I can figure out north, Veronica replied. Come on, let’s get walking.

…

Saf tried not to sigh in relief as she saw the hangar come into view. Normally a five mile walk wasn’t a problem, but the crash had really taken it out of her. As she started walking towards it, she was reminded that, at times like this, she kind of regretted her parents leaving their home system and going out into the galaxy at large.

Kai were extremely rare in the Milky Way, (she’d always thought that was a silly name but she hung around humans a lot), there were only about two thousand of them at any given time. All the rest of them were back in their own home system on a home planet and three terraformed worlds. Humans and xenians and cyvits always asked how they didn’t have a population problem, but it was simple: from a relatively ‘young age’, kai society felt that resources were ultimately scarce and that parents should be careful about how many children they have and when they have them. It had served them well over the course of thousands of years.

The bad news was that they were largely xenophobic. They weren’t actually hostile to other races, though they didn’t really like them in the system, they just felt that there wasn’t really much in the galaxy worth examining and thus never really left. Saf, and her parents as well, thought this philosophy was stupid.

So they headed out into the galaxy, taking Saf with them at a very young age.

This meant that Saf grew up in a colony right next door to Veronica and they ended up becoming very good, very close friends.

Which was why she was here now, trying to earn a paycheck with Veronica, walking miserably through a forest, her legs and arms and head aching. But there were worse things, she supposed. Like the fact that there was no way they were going to get paid now. Not only had they failed to deliver the mineral samples, they no longer had the samples. Saf tried to keep a level head. She was good at that. Honestly, she had be.

Veronica had kind of shaped that about her.

Kai were naturally more stoic and even-tempered, though Saf thought that a lot of that was because kai society was so peaceful and insular. There wasn’t much to get riled up over. She’d been living in a cultural melting pot for basically her whole life, and