IMAGE PLACEHOLDER *Published on PLACEHOLDER* --- Hey there, Comet here! Valkyrie has started multiple initiations with some of the Exodus No-Pats and it's quite a lot to go through. So, in this blog post I will cover every detail in the machinations of this phantom called Valkyrie. ### A Showing of Promise When Oz needed the Blackout intel, he tasked the Exodus No-Pats with carrying out the mission. They ventured to Alang, India, where a contact kept the intel safe. When Exodus initiated contact, they received a riddle: "Go to source of power. Romeo three, Charlie two." >"Contact made - they were watching us. Like a specter in shadow. That message reveals the dropsite where the associate left the intel. Once we locate it, and broadcast globally... everyone will know America's role in causing the Blackout." - Blasco The data drive, in fact, wasn't in India, but rather at the Wellspring facility. The No-Pats traveled to the array of solar panels and found the specific panel at row three, column two. They successfully exposed Wolff's cover up of America's involvement in the Blackout of 2040. Valkyrie saw promise in the Exodus No-Pats and knew that if there was ever a threat to the balance of power, they would answer the call. <br> ### A New Threat Years later, Valkyrie observed a new enemy building in Zlín, Czechia. The Nova Group PMC had taken control of a vital train route. Nordvik armaments were being transported along this route, supporting a planned Eastern offensive into Czechia. This was all a secret until Valkyrie began transmitting an encrypted transmission from the Zlín Chemické Zpracování factory. ![[down-to-business.png]] ***Valkyrie's transmission was sent out on March 3rd, 2048 as shown in the image above.*** Colonel Greenland of the US Army picked up the signal first in New London, UK. She watched drone footage (provided by Arkangel) of where the signal was transmitted from and recognized the significant threat: a build-up of Eastern forces. Greenland reached out to an old friend: Kimble "Irish" Graves. He couldn't commit to lead the operation, but suggested Greenland ask Maria Falck. Maria had been still searching for her lost son David and thought accepting the offer was wrong when he was still missing. It wasn't until someone hacked her comms that she changed her mind. That someone was Valkyrie. She told Maria to reconsider, for David's sake. <br> ### A Departing Raven What was Irish up to? While it's not explicitly said, I believe Irish was helping in an accident that happened in Sudan. During the deployment of a Shearwater-2 satellite, an unintentional landslide devastated a nearby village. One No-Pat who was helping the Shearwater rollout, Leila Zekkal, was among those present at the village. These injured No-Pats were abducted and placed on a cargo ship. They eventually reached the destination: the Scottish Hebrides (As a rough estimation, let's say the ship arrived in April 2048). Leila was no more, she was now 8838; she was stripped of her memory. All she could remember was the torture inflicted upon her. While the No-Pats were being processed into the Boreas laboratory, 8838 bonded with 8812, who once was Alice. They both had tattoos, 8838's was an Algerian nuthatch and 8812's was a black raven. This inclusion of a raven is a hint towards 8812 being a recruit of Valkyrie. In Norse mythology, valkyries are typically accompanied by ravens. It's important to mention that Alice didn't necessarily have to be on the cargo ship that Leila was on. Alice could've made herself a target of Boreas Containment Services - much like Paik will eventually do as well - and arrived when Leila did. After processing and hellish augmentations were installed on the recent No-Pat cohort, they were placed into their first round of Stress Testing. What exactly is "Stress Testing?" It involves the No-Pats being pitted against each other all the while their killswitches are randomly activated. Each No-Pat has a neural link placed on their brain stem. A switch in the observation room controls this electrical device on every soldier. During the Stress Testing, 8838 was forced to kill her friend, 8812, before she could've processed what happened. The reinforced skeleton in her hand reacted faster than her eyes could. <br> ### A Ghost Signal Transitioning back to March 2048, Tombstone arrived in Zlín on the 6th. Their orders from Greenland is to make contact with the Moravian Guard, a group of brutal fighters that oppose Nova Group and Eastern forces. Maria meets up Major Brozik, the leader of the Moravian Guard, and he proposes a deal: Tombstone helps them sabotage the train route in exchange for assistance in finding the transmission source. Maria agrees and they begin to plot an attack. In the night another shipment of cerium is about to arrive at the factory. The Moravian Guard and Tombstone set charges on the tracks and detonated them at the opportune time. The fiery train cars erupted into the black sky, igniting a small skirmish with the Nova Group. Afterwards, a representative from Arkangel contacted Hamada and informed her that a dispatch of Arkangel Legion will be deployed shortly to retrieve the sensitive cargo. Unbeknownst to Tombstone or the Moravian Guard, the package was destined for Scotland. They returned to the Moravian camp as Brozik held up his end of the bargain. The encrypted transmission was given to Casper who quickly decrypted the message: "Irish, if you're out there, we need your help." The mysterious voice wasn't recognizable to Maria, but she hoped Irish would. "In the land reclaimed, a secret in transit." Valkyrie sent this message to Tombstone squad on their private communications. It was a lure to the derailed Arkangel shipment. Once the squad discovered the transmitter, Valkyrie sent another message. ![[Never Back Down Blog.png]] The destruction of the train route allowed an opportunity for the US to move in and contest the Eastern forces advance. Tombstone supported this effort while Valkyrie pursued her next recruit... <br> ### A Shape-Shifting Fox Valkyrie works in a way that she can handle any eventuality. Her recruit, Alice, had unfortunately perished, but I feel as she expected something would go south. She had her eyes on a promising recruit: Ji-Soo Paik. Paik also had surveyed the transmission from Czechia. Valkyrie told Tombstone that, "Soon, the faithful warriors will descend and secure what they have lost." The "faithful warriors" are members of Arkangel Legion. Valkyrie must know that these soldiers have a low chance of failure in retrieving the shipment since she says, "Then its journey will continue west, to a place far below." I believe that Paik follows the Arkangel shipment once it's returned into transit. This is because of a line from "Paik's Message" that says, "Working with an associate, I followed the trail of breadcrumbs. It started in Czechia. The transmission, the Arkangel cargo. It led us to a Boreas lab. A tomb." Of course, this is up to interpretation of whether Paik meant this figuratively or literally. I think she meant this literally because how did Paik find the Boreas lab? Valkyrie knows where the lab is, but doesn't tell Paik or any of the No-Pats because it's all part of her tests for them. This also explains the gap in time between events. When could the shipment be in Arkangel's possession again? This could be possibly dependent on when the Battle of Zlín ends. We know the battle starts in roughly mid March and that Paik's infiltration at Boreas in is September. There's a lot of time to play with and so I won't try to put definitive dates on anything. What else do we know? We know that Valkyrie seemingly sent Paik a message in August. The message itself was a test for her to pass. >VALKYRIE: 55 78 69 55 78 37 47 79 96 56 54 54 90 87 69 37 76 50 96 60 55 38 80 56 60 43 58 78 59 56 56 37 88 59 77 54 56 50 59 90 33 45 46 68 79 66 58 70 78 By using a Nihilist cipher on this string of numbers with the key "Ghost," the resulting communication is: >UNKNOWN: My name is Valkyrie we've met before and we'll meet again soon. A second message is assumedly sent to Paik in August. >VALKYRIE: You passed. That's good. But clipping the angel’s wings was only step one.<br><br>Get ready to pick up a lantern and shine a light on the truth. I think after this message we can definitively say Valkyrie has been sending these to Paik. Valkyrie is telling her to get ready to uncover something and we know that Paik goes undercover in September. This likely places these communications in mid-late August. Paik then wrote a log, already inside the Boreas lab, detailing what she's about to undertake. >LOG: September 2048<br><br>They came for me at 0400. Baiting the squad was easy - they are mercenaries hired to extract individuals under duress. Making myself Boreas' target, on the other hand, had taken weeks. <br><br>We reached the island in six hours. Processing in the lab was a checklist of simple, degrading cruelties, but the hardest part was not telling the No-Pats next to me in line that help had finally arrived. <br><br>The bag my contact said would be waiting for me had an anonymizing Boreas Containment Services suit and a loaded pistol, along with laboratory ID. To the artificial intelligence overseeing this place, I was now invisible, integrated. <br><br>Now I need to find out the truth about what Arkangel is doing here. I need to survive long enough for Irish and the others to realize something has gone horribly wrong. <br><br>So, here’s to survival. <br><br>Ji-Soo Paik ### Placeholder Valkyrie turned her focus towards Tombstone again and sent a message of reassurance to Maria. >VALKYRIE: You don't know me, Falck, but I know you. I sent the message that lured you to Czechia.<br><br>But it wasn't a false flag, I promise. I do have information about David.<br><br>He is alive, I can say that much. But as for the rest... it has to wait. I'm sorry. This was likely a strategic move by Valkyrie. She knows that Maria only came to Czechia for information on her son. With there being months that have gone by, Valkyrie needed to give Maria something, something to grab onto and push forward. Beforehand, Maria didn't even know whether David was alive. Could she trust this mysterious figure's word? I don't think Maria did, but she's followed so many false truths about David, and she would follow every last one if it meant finding him. Let's also discuss the fact that Valkyrie isn't a flawless character. She is knowingly withholding information about someone's son that has been missing for close to a decade. However, Valkyrie's goal is stopping Blackburn, and she needs her recruits at their full capabilities. That includes Maria. What if Maria was to find out what's happened to David? That amount of potential emotional distress could take Maria out of the picture. So, while what Valkyrie is doing isn't entirely moral, you can see why she's not telling Maria more. A possible recruit of Valkyrie exchanges a data drive of unknown contents with Camila Blasco. When this takes place is hard to place, but I think it occurs closer to September 2048. ![[Nocturnal Hunt Blog.png]] The last line is what I believe heavily proves this data drive has something to do with David. The task force once aboard the Exodus were committed to helping Maria search for David.