The Vulcan Forge, 23,000 light-years from Earth
This solar system used to be a big deal: the neutron star at its center was the capital of the Hephaestus sector, and thousands of indestructible Talos robots would traverse its space to enforce the will of their god on the worlds under his rule.
Now all that’s left of what was considered the crowning achievement of the self-proclaimed God of Technology is a black hole that swallows the debris left over from the ruins of an empire.
The Talos exterminated all organic life in the neighboring sectors centuries before the demise of their creator: there’s nothing of interest left here, and black holes don’t make good tourist attractions, so nobody ever visits the dying place of Hephaestus.
Except today, when the N01-Ragnarok is orbiting the celestial object at a safe distance.
The full membership of the Vanguard is on the bridge: they can only “see” the black hole thanks to the material that is still part of the accretion disk, slowly descending into the inescapable nothingness at its center.
<Can you believe it’s been seven years since we killed Hephaestus?> Quantum asks his teammates.
<“We”?> Noriko Null repeats, raising an eyebrow.
<Hey, we all played a part!> the hero objects.
<I didn’t. You guys didn’t take me with you.> Kari complains, pouting as she crosses her arms.
<It wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.> Vesta recalls.
<It was a neutron star, Kari. I barely scavenged enough Hephaestus tech to go there myself; I didn’t have gravity dampening devices back then.> Noriko adds.
<I also missed the fight. You don’t hear me complain about it.> Torn points out.
<We barely hear you say anything.> Kari clarifies.
<Including complaining.> Torn says, managing to get the last word in.
Just in time for all the alarms in the ship to go off, and it’s not hard to see why: an explosion of blue energy completely fills the area, and instead of being absorbed by the black hole it’s re-absorbed by an incredibly angry goddess.
<I accept your challenge, Null. If you think you deserve to rule Olympus, face ME in battle without shielding yourself with the pitiful remains of a long dead race!!!> Hera shouts, her volume remaining deafening even through radio waves.
<She’s talking about the Vial of Destiny, isn’t she? As if you’d be stupid enough to accept!> Kari comments.
<Actually, that’s exactly what I was planning. Keep this safe.> Noriko replies, taking off the choker securing the Vial to her neck and handing it over to Kari.
<What!? Are you insane, Nori!? This is the only thing keeping her from murdering you!!!>
<I know. Keep the ship within teleporting range, just in case.> Noriko answers, pressing a button on her belt to activate her Survival Field and immediately teleporting outside the ship.
<She can’t be serious! She’s going to get herself killed!>
<Don’t worry, Kari. The death of Hephaestus isn’t the only thing you missed.> Vesta reassures her.
The day before
Asgard Station, Null Zone
How to access this dimension is a well-guarded secret: only Noriko Null herself knows it.
It’s something of greater importance now that the location of Earth is known throughout the Olympian Galaxy, as it makes Asgard Station the potential last stand of the Vanguard.
But this is also where Noriko Null carries out her most dangerous experiments and projects, one of which has kept her occupied for the past few hours.
She’s currently in a rather unusual lab: she’s remotely controlling the industrial robots that are doing the actual work, which is carried out on the other side of a massive lead shield.
<So… it this going to take long?> Quantum asks her, turning back into human form and looking around; he then wipes the sweat already forming on his forehead.
<Wow, it’s like a hundred degrees in here!> he complains.
<112, actually, if you must insist on using Fahrenheit degrees.> she replies, not looking at him but focusing on the images projected directly into her retina.
<No, I was just using the American ones. Is it safe in here? I had to pass through a lead door that was like ten inches thick.>
<Yes, it’s perfectly safe. You don’t want to go into the assembly chamber, though.> Noriko advises, gesturing towards the massive security door in front of her.
<Why not?>
<It’s 120 million degrees.>
<That… does not sound safe, Noriko. AT ALL.>
<It’s perfectly under control: there are 5 meters… sorry, 16.4 feet of solid lead-bismuth alloy, followed by twelve layers class-12 force fields. I calculated it should be enough to withstand 125 million degrees for a couple of hours.>
<Geez, Nori, what the heck are you building in there!?>
<You’ll see soon enough: your timing is impeccable, for once… we just finished.> she says, deactivating the holographic interface.
<Who’s “we”?> he asks.
<The station’s Star Forge couldn’t provide enough heat, so I asked Vesta to help. Speaking of which… Vesta, you can come out now.> she adds, talking through her Soul Relay.
<Wait, isn’t the Star Forge the thing you use to build the artificial stars that power the station?>
<Yep.>
<And that’s not enough!?>
<Max, we’re going up against Hera. Now that Ares is dead, she’s currently the most powerful of the Greek gods… well, excluding Zeus of course. We’ll need every advantage we can get.>
<But you killed Ares. Your sword should be able to kill Hera, right? Or the Final Abyss, or whatever you used against Harmonia… don’t you already have like five or six ways to kill gods!?>
<I do. But I’m not going to kill Hera.>
<Look I know I’m the one who complained when you killed… you know who… but come on, Hera is a complete monster that nobody likes!>
<Except Zeus. I’m inclined to believe he will stay neutral in this fight, but if I murder his wife… well, he might be the worst husband in the universe, but he certainly isn’t going to let THAT slide. And I have to admit I haven’t found a way to actually hurt Zeus. Yet.>
<So what’s the plan? Beat her up and hope she won’t come back later?>
<The plan is to defeat her so thoroughly that her spirit will be too crushed to attempt trying to face me a second time.> Noriko boasts, her silver eyes flashing with pride.
Anyone else would be impressed by her overwhelming confidence, but Quantum has seen at her best and at her worst. He’s not talking to the Slayer of Gods, he’s talking to a close friend.
<Then what? You give her kingdom to Hebe, or do you keep it for yourself?>
<Max…> she rolls her eyes.
<I’m not sold on this idea of you succeeding Leiko as the Ice Queen.>
<Look I’m not proud of it, okay? I saw a way to resolve the situation peacefully and I took it. Besides, I’m done letting my mother define who and what I am. If the price to pay is the public acknowledgment that I’m the daughter of a monster, so be it.>
<Well, that and the freedom of those planets you now rule.>
<Oh come on Max, do you actually think I’m going to turn into some kind of dictator? I’m just going to fix the situation, then I’ll leave the throne and let the Lar decide who’s going to govern them next.>
<I dunno, Nori, that still sounds really sketchy. What does Kylon think about it?>
Judging by the twitch under her left eye, the question just touched a sensitive nerve.
<I don’t really know. We had a fight. A serious one.>
<Oh. I guess he’s not very fond of you taking the throne?>
<No he’s all for it. We just had a… disagreement on whether my mother should be executed.>
<I see. I’m sorry Noriko, despite everything that happened between you two, it must’ve been hard to kill your own mother.>
<What? No no, Leiko is still alive. Kylon is the one who wanted to murder her.>
<Seriously? I swear I don’t even know what’s going on anymore.> he admits.
<Yeah, well, welcome to the club. Sometimes relationships suck, don’t they?>
<Tell me about it. Although you’re the only one who could possibly get into a fight with your boyfriend over political assassinations and not, I don’t know, because he let the toilet seat up.>
<Actually that’s never been a problem for me: my toilets are fully automated. Besides, I’ve already been into a fight regarding an assassination, and you’ve been far more reasonable than Kylon. I know he’s a couple centuries old, but sometimes I wish he was more like you.>
Despite having a brain literally billions of times faster than any other human, sometimes Noriko’s mouth manages to be outpace it. And to cover up her blushing she faces the other way.
<I did not just say that out loud.> she whispers to herself.
Luckily for her, now the safety door opens and Vesta is able to leave the assembly room. That quickly captures Quantum’s attention: not only because despite the wait it still makes the air even more unbearably hot, but because of what she’s carrying.
<Sorry, I think they’re completely broken now.> Vesta says, lowering two Talos robots on the floor. They’re barely recognizable: their Neutral Matter chassis has melted them out of shape.
<Dammit. Those were the last ones I could find… but if the forcefield failed, the circuitry beneath the chassis must be gone.> Noriko says; the two robots are still far too hot to touch.
<More like evaporated. I just had to lower the temperature around their bodies… after all, I did have to go past the boiling point of Neutral Matter.> Vesta adds. Quantum notices she’s not even sweating, in one of those moments when the reality of her divinity really hits him.
<At least you saved some raw material, I might be able to melt them into something new. But that’ll have to wait… are the guns safe to use now?> Noriko asks.
<Yes. They should be cool enough.> Vesta answers, handing over something… a couple of silver handguns. Their design is clearly inspired by common Earth weapons, but they’re visibly much more advanced.
<Oh yeah. They’re cool alright.> Noriko says with a smile, checking the weapons’ balance and making sure the Ø symbol was emblazoned correctly.
<Wait, that’s it!? All of that for another couple of Genius Guns? I was expecting something more! What did you need all that setup for… did you build them out of Neutral Matter?> Quantum asks.
<No, the gun itself is nothing special. Just titanium steel enhanced by hyper-vanadium… an artificial four-dimensional alloy invented by the Amazons. I theorized its existence a few years ago, but turns out the Amazons beat me to it by several centuries.>
<Yeah, sure, that doesn’t sound anything special.> Quantum comments, and this time it’s his turn to roll his eyes.
<Trust me, Max, you’re gonna love this thing. You guys take the Ragnarok to the Vulcan Forge… I’m going to bait Hera into meeting us there.> Noriko says.
Today
The Vulcan Forge, 23,000 light-years from Earth
Hera is mildly amused by the view. She can immediately sense that Noriko Null is no longer protected by the Vial of Destiny; the Survival Field might keep her safe from the dangers of outers space, but that’s a laughable defense against her divine might. What does make it truly hilarious from her point of view is watching this overconfident mortal draw a couple of guns.
<This is what you bring to the fight, “Slayer”? What are going to shoot at me… plasma blasts? I endured much worse than that just to nurse Hephaestus!>
<Nothing like that. Just bullets.>
<Bullets? BULLETS!? Ha! You might as well threaten me with a gentle breeze if you think…>
Hera is too enamored by the sound of her own voice that she doesn’t even realize when Null fired the gun… until the bullet reaches her body. But instead of ricocheting against her skin, it pierces her shoulder and penetrates deep into the bone. Making it explode on impact and making her feel more pain in a single moment than she’s felt in the last million years.
As she screams in pain she forgets to emit radio waves, so there is no sound leaving her mouth. Not even when a second bullet hits her breast, travels through the torso and explodes inside her lung.
<Hurts like a mother##ker, doesn’t it?>
<What… how…>
<Amazon dimensional technology was inspiring. Did you know that, if you superheat the outer layer of a four-dimensional manifold to about 120 million degrees, you can create an extremely tiny tesseract that can only be disrupted by a strong kinetic impact? Say, a bullet hitting indestructible skin at the speed of sound?> Noriko explains, shotting another bulled into Hera’s heart.
The goddess has to gather all her strength to keep herself alive, but Noriko is not finished.
<Neat trick, but useless against a god if you don’t have something that packs enough of a punch. Except… some time ago, a very smart man accidentally discovered a way to turn a stellar engine into a black hole generator. His name was Dmitry Voron, by the way, and your son killed him in front of my eyes.> Noriko continues, coming closer.
She puts the gun right on Hera’s forehead, and all the strategic decisions about the future of the galaxy are fighting the painful memory of her greatest failure.
<So here we are, Hera. You without any allies left, and me with a gun that shoots miniature black holes. Karma is a b##ch, isn’t she?>
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