Eirik could feel his pulse quickening and the blood rushing through his veins. Finally, FINALLY, he had found one of Dalle's hiding places. Even if he got no prisoners, he would find the secrets hidden within the base. No matter how minuscule, there would be things left behind that pointed towards his target. The devil was, as they say, in the details, and he was ready to go over this entire planet millimeter by excruciating millimeter if it would get him just a single clue!!

The guards up ahead seemed oddly tense without being on active defense duty, but he didn't have time to worry about that. Eirik broke through the treeline about 100 meters(approx. 300 feet) from the cave, and quickly closed the distance, much to the surprise of the few guards. He was already halfway to the entrance before one of them started shouting orders, but before anyone could get into position, Eirik had reached the first man and slammed his shield into him, sending him flying.

The man landed in a messy heap on the ground and wheezed in an attempt to get some air back into his lungs. In the meantime, Eirik had spun to face the rest, thumbed the forcefield on his shield into existence, and advanced slowly, the oversized axe held ready to strike behind him. The rest of his little group quickly joined him, spreading out to prevent any temptation of using grenades against a clustered group. Mercenaries, as the guards were, they had no interest in dying for their cause if they could avoid it and threw their weapons on the ground. The surrender was quick and painless, except for the poor bastard that broke all the ribs on his right side.

Eirik called a shuttle down for them, posted one of his trusted veteran soldiers as their guard, and turned his attention to the cave opening. Now the real fun could begin.

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Sif watched the outside fight on the screens in front of her and smiled sadistically. That HAD to be the mysterious Eirik. The speed, the aggression, the focus. Now, this was the kind of man she would like to have under her spell. He had not hesitated, not faltered, not even flinched as he faced down 2 handfuls of guards. Sure, his backup was not far behind him, but it was still a fearless thing to run ahead of the group like that. Had there been a firing line ready inside, he could have been in serious trouble, despite that shield. An ingenious idea, she would have to find some way to replicate it for herself.

She looked over herself in the large mirror. The make-up was perfect but subtle. Only there to underline, not overshadow. Her summer dress was light and deepest of royal blue, a perfect contrast to her flaming red hair and emerald green eyes. Standing at nearly 150 cm. (4'10) she was an unusually petite woman, for being of Scandinavian descent, but she was a stunning beauty nonetheless. The costume was ready, now the role had to be played to perfection. If she pulled this off, she saw herself as empress within a year.

One of her guards came running in begging for orders, but she waved him off with a simple "Leave me" As she got an unruly lock of hair under control. Curse her natural curls! The guard lingered for a moment before he took off again. He knew better than to argue, seeing the man filling his role just hours before, lying dead in a pool of his cooling blood in a corner of the room.

Sif turned off the monitors and sat down on the couch on the other side of the room. She needed to think this properly through before her "Guests" arrived. With the sound of sporadic and short-lived gunfire in the base, she started contemplating her coming surrender.

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Eirik was disappointed. The resistance they met was lacking, to say the least. If anyone offered resistance, it was put down almost as swiftly as it began and he felt like something was off. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but something was wrong here. Too little resistance, obviously disheartened guards, and a general lack of administrative personnel that was always needed to make a base of any size larger than a dozen people, run efficiently. Everything reeked of a base in the process of being abandoned.

He urged his 7 remaining people to speed up. He NEEDED to capture whoever was in charge here. Whoever that someone was, it would be someone who was in direct contact with Dalle. 15 agonizingly slow minutes later he happened upon a set of closed doors with the room tag "Command" stuck next to it. He had to split up from the group to cover the underground base efficiently. He knew he should call the others before he went in, but he was in a hurry and trusted in his abilities when it came it combat.

Trying the door control, he was surprised to see it slide open. Axe at the ready and shield up, he saw no one as he looked inside, only a dead body at the far end of the room. Slowly and awkwardly, he made his way through the door, making sure to cover himself as much as possible with his shield as he forced his way through the door frame.

"You have nothing to worry about from me. But I will only surrender this base and the contents inside of it to Eirik!" Eirik heard a soft voice say. He snapped around and froze as he saw Sif sitting on the couch, legs pulled up under her and leaning back against a large pillow. Her dress pulled tightly around her and left very little to the imagination and it took Eirik a moment to regain himself.

Reaching up and pressing the comm button on his helmet, he said, "East corridors, a door marked "Command". Found the head." After sending the message and getting the "Acknowledged" beeps of static, he slowly reached up and undid his helmet once more, the atmospheric seal hissing as he pulled it off.

"Here I am. Now, surrender the base!" Eirik commanded and rose to his full height, nearly touching the ceiling as he did. PESSA suits were not made for indoor usage.

"Such a commanding presence. Of course. I officially surrender the base and the contents within it in your custody, emperor" Sif purred as she stretched out and rose from the couch. "You can chain me up and take me to my cell now. No need for the armor and weapon, I think you will find me a very cooperative prisoner" She said as she walked towards him, not stopping until she was standing right in front of him, forcing him to look down at her. He couldn't help but notice the generous view he had down her dress.

"She is doing this on purpose! She has an ulterior motive!" His inner voice was screaming, but as most men know, when a very attractive woman is pursuing you aggressively, cold and logical thinking suddenly becomes quite a bit harder, and Eirik was no different. It didn't help that he wanted this woman. By the gods, did he want this woman, and they both knew it. Eirik knew it from the dry mouth and rapid heartbeat he was experiencing.

He knew it was pure lust but that didn't make it any easier to ignore. If anything it made it harder. Sif knew he wanted her from the way he was looking at her. "Got you!" She thought to herself as she sent him the prettiest smile she could muster.

It was around this time the rest of his group made their entry and Eirik suddenly felt the room get very cold, very fast, as he heard Freja's voice.

"What the fuck is going on here, Eirik?" Her voice was as cold as ice and as sharp as steel, and her eyes were shooting lightning.

"The enemy commander has just surrendered to me, love" Eirik said hastily as he tried desperately to get the derpy look on his face changed to a serious one. He had seen pictures of himself and Freja when they first fell in love and always had the most punchable derpy look on his face when looking at her. "I was just about to cuff her up for processing." He added, hoping it would take the worst of her anger away.

It didn't.

"Oh, I am sure you were!" Freja retorted, putting her helmet back on and stomping out of the room. A noisy experience to say the least. "Bag her and tag her!" Eirik said to the soldier with shaking shoulders. "And stop that damn laughing, Jesper, or I swear by all the gods I will make you my cabin boy for the remainder of our lives!"

Jesper just gave him a thumbs-up, his shoulders shaking more violently than ever. With a frustrated groan, Eirik ran after Freja.

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Sif was seething. Not only had she been so close with so little trouble, only to be interrupted at the most crucial moment. She had also found out that the man was in, what seemed like, a very committed relationship, judging from his sudden ability to think with his head again. But she had seen the desire in his eyes. She just had to be patient. He would come to her.