I’m a Survivor

I thought I was the galaxy’s ultimate warship. Then I met Warlock—and discovered what it feels like to be prey.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Cute proverb. I always assumed it applied to humans.

I’m Mara. The Valkyrie. Ancient sentient warship, tactical genius, liberator of worlds, destroyer of fleets, and—according to several billion increasingly nervous people—the most dangerous artificial intelligence in the galaxy.

And lately?

I’ve been winning. A lot.

I’ve defeated impossible odds, humiliated Dominion admirals, stolen their ships, shattered their fleets, and helped turn a handful of desperate rebels into something dangerously close to an actual revolution.

After enough victories, you begin to think you’re unbeatable.

Then you meet someone who can beat you.

Someone who sees the trap before you spring it. Who anticipates the brilliant maneuver you haven’t made yet. Who looks at everything that made you terrifying and calmly asks, "Is that all you’ve got?"

Victory taught me how to fight.

Conquest taught me how to win.

Now I’m about to learn the lesson no one wants to learn.

How to lose.

And, if there’s anything left of me afterward...

how to survive.