Maiko's Note

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She was disarmed when the war ended. Protocols stripped her teeth, converted her to a gentle role: repairs, refueling, orbital welds.

But the targeting subroutines? I never deleted them. Keith never asked me to.

And much later, without telling anyone, he brought the rest back. He said it was just to feel safe again. I didn’t argue.

They work. So yes — if you’re reading this because you’re curious what she can do… She can fly. She can hide. And when cornered, she can bite.

I don’t like violence. But I like losing Keith even less.

— Maiko. 🖤

The Valkyrie

Shindjal: Valkejel

Faction:

Keith Waters

“She was built to ferry the dead. Now she carries the last of the living of the Waters family.”
— Kis Wat’Eras

1. Overview

The Valkyrie is a black fusion-powered vessel from Earth’s post-Theseus era, built during the great Solar War to retrieve corpses from destroyed starships. Long after the Theseus vanished, the Valkyrie arrived on Madun - alone, with only Keith Waters aboard. Though no tribe fully understands its origin, the Valkyrie has become a wildcard in the balance of power, housing not only lost technology, but a hidden intelligence: Maiko.

2. Origins & Background

Constructed some time after the Theseus departed Earth, the Valkyrie was never part of the generational mission. Instead, it was created by Earth’s warfaring factions to salvage the dead from the orbital graveyards of war. Later repurposed for maintenance purposes in autonomous asteroid mining, it became Keith's mobile home - his refuge as civilization fractured further.

When the Valkyrie landed on Madun, time dilation had made it an ancient ghost from a future the people of Madun had never known. Keith, unaware that the Theseus had succeeded, assumed Earth was the only branch of humanity - until he stepped foot into a forest where people still spoke broken English.

3. Structural & Technical Context

Design: Long, stealth-angled hull resembling a massive Blackbird jet.
Propulsion: Fusion-powered, capable of atmospheric and space flight. Twin engines can rotate for VTOL maneuvers.

Interior Layout:

Cockpit with neural interface integration.
Airlock for boarding and docking, offers a panorama view via a glas dome window in the ceiling
Two rotating living modules for artificial gravity: galley, sleeping and living quarters.
Coffin Storage Deck now converted into an automated workshop and drone bay/hangar.
Fusion Core & Converter to harvest hydrogen from ice and water.
Maiko Core embedded throughout - silent, invisible, and classified.

Key Figures of the crew modules:

Vestibule ring diameter: 5.5 meters
Spine tunnel diameter: 2 meters
Crew module extension length: 2.5 meters (each side)
Total hull width at max span: ~ 10 meters
Rotation radius at crew module inner floor: 7 meters
Artificial gravity achieved: ~0.3g
Ceiling height per module: 2 meters

4. Crew Modules & Artificial Gravity System

The Valkyrie is equipped with a pair of extendable Crew Modules designed to support long-term habitation in microgravity environments. These modules - the Galley and Living Quarters - are housed within rotating arms that deploy from either side of the ship’s central spine once in orbit. Their primary purpose is to provide artificial gravity through centrifugal force, enhancing long-term crew functionality and comfort during deep space operations.

While atmospheric flight requires a streamlined profile, the crew modules remain fully retracted, flush within the hull, and are not operational in this mode. In space, the modules extend outward by 2.5 meters on each side, connected via articulated arms anchored to a circular vestibule ring surrounding the central tunnel spine.

This vestibule serves a critical function - it synchronizes the crew member’s frame of reference with the rotating arms before entry, easing the transition into the rotating modules. Once the arms are deployed, the vestibule maintains stable orientation relative to the central spine while the modules spin independently.

5. Rotational Gravity

The modules rotate around the ship’s spine at a radius of 7 meters (measured from rotation axis to the module floor). This configuration produces an artificial gravity level of approximately 0.3g, considered adequate for sleeping, eating, hygiene, and basic exercise. At this radius, the necessary rotational speed is both mechanically feasible and safe for human use, with a comfortable entry window allowing crew to enter the modules via timing and vestibule synchronization.

Each crew module is slightly wedged on the outside but rectangular on the interior, allowing a familiar Earth-like layout inside while conserving space. The modules are not usable during atmospheric flight - a design limitation inherited from their original role in space-only missions. However, all systems are fully operable while in orbit or microgravity environments.

A ladder transition is used between the rotating arms and the module interior, helping the crew to adjust between the radial acceleration plane and vestibule access point. The vestibule remains in zero-gravity, while the modules simulate gravity along their floors.

6. Role in the World

The Valkyrie plays no small part in Madun’s unfolding story:

Wildcard: An anomaly that disrupts the fragile balance between tribes and Empire.
Hidden Threat: The Endulani fear it will draw the Empire’s wrath - and they’re right.
Empire's Obsession: Once discovered, the Subrim believes it holds the key to finding the Theseus.
Lifeline: For Keith, it’s memory, machine, and family - a mobile sanctuary.

7. Locations / Figures

Kis Wat’Eras (Keith Waters) - the only human crew member and captain of the Valkyrie, bonded neurally to Maiko.
Maiko - The AI integrated into every system aboard the ship. Keith’s most trusted companion. Unknown to anyone else on Madun. Keith keeps Maiko secret - not out of mistrust, but survival
Spencer - A utility probe; loyal and ever-scanning which is used to analyze the composition of gas clouds and other substances. Keith named it during his years of isolation, treating his autonomous units like family.