Companion Guide to Valhalla Can Wait
Valhalla can wait is, the spiritual successor of my first real attempt at an OC series named the Patron Saint of Crime. While it never had a large following, it was mildly popular, and was very different to the other stuff I was writing at the time. Unfortunately the series was linked to the original Writer’s Guild and once that got into trouble with poor turnout, the Patron Saint of Crime died with it. And while the main characters were never forgotten, a variant of Siwang, the titular Patron Saint of Crime, appeared in 5th Column alongside an unreleased character named Stallion, the tiny universe created around this character was never brought back in earnest.
Recently however I got into the mindset that the series or at least the characters were worth saving, and after a month and a half of planning wrote the first issue of Huntress and Valkyrie, a title referring to Siwang’s new role as a protector working alongside long time foe Danika Sedova. In the end it felt forced and Siwang was removed, if only temporarily from the equation leaving Danika to take on the challenges of liberating El Paso from the criminal occupation alone.
The title was the next thing to change, and went through three different names including; Danika Sedova: Bounty Hunter Babe, Valkyrie and Last Days of the Valkyrie before becoming the current title Valhalla Can Wait. While a few of the characters appeared in the original Patron Saint of Crime title, it has been some time since they appeared and long time follower cbishop rose the point of a character guide, something I agreed possibly was required.
So as such this blog will act as library, character guide and anything else required for this title. Hope you guys enjoy.
Impurest Cheese
Character Guide
Protagonists
Danika Sedova - Alias: Valkyrie
A Ukrainian national, Danika Sedova or Danni to her friends, is an international mercenary who worked for a time as an Interpol agent. After a particularly nasty case she found herself fired, and became a bounty hunter for hire in California, even landing a reality TV show, although she personally disliked being simple ‘eye candy’ and preferred the thrill of the chase. That came in the form of fellow bounty hunter Kenneth Zimmerman the 3rd, who had a vendetta against the Patron Saint of Crime. The pair teamed up but failed in their first attempt, with the gung-ho Zimmerman being arrested, and Sedova being hired by Jena Johansson as a field test pilot for project Valkyrie.
Johansson’s backers wanted the Patron Saint of Crime captured, and sent Sedova in the Valkyrie power armour after her. In battle Sedova had the edge, but ultimately was defeated when the nano-fibre cable in her suit burnt through the thigh armour, with the accident almost costing Sedova her legs. Hospitalized Sedova would later return to El Paso after Boccanegra, the local crime lord, was assassinated, once again using the name Valkyrie. Dedicated to cleaning the now war-torn streets, Sedova teamed up with Vance Chambers, a former police technician, and started investigating the sale of high-tech military grade hardware on the streets.
Vance Chambers
Born in El Paso, Vance followed in his father’s footsteps and became a police officer, but was wounded within a year, and gratefully took a desk-job where he homed his computer skills. This, and his clean record, didn’t go unnoticed by James Grady, who was planning a rico case against local crime lord Boccanegra, and was approached to join an undercover unit. Vance agreed and was ‘killed’ by the operative known as the Patron Saint of Crime, in reality Grady’s adopted sister Maya.
After aiding Maya in gathering data, Vance was told to leave the unit after the Patron Saint of Crime had a nervous breakdown. Out on the now war torn streets, Vance was approached by Danika Sedova, who was looking for technical support to aid in tackling the influx of dangerous crime brought on after Bocanegra’s death.
Antagonists
Dr Jena Johansson - Alias: Black Box
A gifted scientist, Johansson works for Raido Computer Consulting, a branch of a shadowy consortium with loose ethics. She was paid to bring the Valkyrie Power Armour to El Paso by the Weaver, and later chose Danika Sedova to be the first test pilot. After Sedova’s defeat, Johansson was demoted, but apparently has enough influence to bid on a unique piece of hardware known as ‘The Chisel’.
‘Smithy Weston’ - Alias: Gunsmith
An independent arms dealer who only occasionally dealt with the cartels, and often supplied high tech weapons to third parties. One such group was Danika Sedova and Kenneth Zimmerman, who brought weapons, explosives and a drone from his base in Truth and Consequences. Zimmerman rapid Weston for his services, by shooting him through the skull, and leaving him for dead.
This apparently didn't stop him however, as Weston reappeared auctioning off ‘The Chisel’ in his base at City Hall. At least three men resembling Weston were seen at the auction; with two bearing surgical scars, thus throwing suspicion on whether Zimmerman killed the original Smithy Weston, or if he was just a facsimile of the real man.
Soko - Alias: Falcon
An aged Serbian sniper, the man known only as Soko is wanted for war crimes committed in the Kosovo Crisis and the collapse of Yugoslavia. In particular was his torture of children, using a painful venom housed in a ad-hoc knuckle duster. Decades later he arrived in El Paso looking for someone to perform a mercy killing after he was diagnosed with cancer. Angering Boccanegra after killing two of the crime lords drug dealers, he crossed paths with the Patron Saint of Crime, a fight that cost him his son Svareck, after he was shot with a curare tipped bolt.
Soko recently returned to bid on the weapon known as ‘The Chisel’. The current status of his cancer is unknown.
Weaver
A Chinese enforcer working for a gang boss, known as the Dragon Eel, based in Macau, the Weaver arrived in El Paso, after paying a debt to his master, and was in return allowed to see his child again. He attempted to capture the Patron Saint of Crime, hiring Jena Johansson and by extension Danika Sedova to complete the task. Sometime later he promised to stay out of the city but returned, possibly under the instructions of the Dragon Eel, to bid on ‘The Chisel’
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