Valhala 13

"Valhala, protected by his own straps, confronts Llewellyn and uses a stunner to subdue him. He closes Llewellyn's straps, ending the PSI-storm -- but the Ark is damaged and later explodes."
-- Description from Booklet 045

Valhala 13 is a Riemenmann -- a Driver whose PSI abilities have been amplified to lethal levels -- bred by the Gray Guards as a perfect physical and psionic double of Llewellyn 709. Trained under PSI-Expert Sartyra Fuji and deployed by Queen Ishiya, Valhala 13 represents one of the most dangerous covert operations the Council of Corporations ever launched against the Terranauts: a living weapon designed to replace their most powerful warrior from within. Across four booklets (045-048), Valhala 13's infiltration, rampage, and eventual destruction form one of the saga's most harrowing story arcs -- the "Valhala 13 Crisis" -- testing the bonds of trust among the Terranauts and culminating in a grim sacrifice at the edge of a dimensional rift.

What Is a Riemenmann?

The Riemenmann ("Strapman") is the rarest and most extreme manifestation of Driver ability in Die Terranauten. A Riemenmann is a Driver whose psionic power has been amplified to such lethal levels that their body emits constant PSI radiation fatal to everyone nearby. To prevent this radiation from killing those around them, a Riemenmann must wear a containment weave of golden straps across their body at all times.

The process of becoming a Riemenmann is described as a transformation so profound that it effectively creates a new person. In the case of Llewellyn 709, the saga's most prominent Riemenmann, his former identity as Mar-Estos -- nephew of Growan terGorden -- was essentially destroyed in the process (Booklets 030, 061). When a Riemenmann removes their containment straps, the unleashed PSI energy constitutes a weapon of mass destruction: Llewellyn's strap-removal on Syrta paralyzed an entire army (Booklet 001); on Stonehenge II, it distorted reality itself (Booklet 045).

Only two Riemenmannen are known in the saga:

Where Llewellyn's transformation was a mystery steeped in personal tragedy, Valhala 13's creation was coldly deliberate -- an act of biological engineering designed to weaponize the Riemenmann phenomenon for the Council's purposes.

Biography

Creation and Training on Stonehenge II (c. 2501)

Valhala 13 was bred by the Gray Guards specifically as Llewellyn 709's perfect double. Unlike Llewellyn, whose Riemenmann transformation arose from unknown circumstances tied to his identity as Mar-Estos, Valhala was a product of deliberate engineering -- a living weapon created to exploit the Terranauts' trust in their most powerful warrior.

On the harsh, nitrogen-rich planet Stonehenge II, Valhala underwent rigorous PSI training under the supervision of Sartyra Fuji, a Gray and PSI-Expert in the service of the Gray Guards. The training was overseen by Queen Ishiya, the commanding Queen of the Gray Guards stationed on Stonehenge II and Acting General Manager of the Kaiser Corporation in the system of the sun Set. Like Llewellyn, Valhala wore golden straps to contain his lethal PSI radiation, and his psionic power was sufficient to withstand Llewellyn's own devastating PSI-storms.

But Valhala was not merely a tool. He was a tormented figure. During his training, he was plagued by fragmented memories and haunted by an "inner voice" that directed his actions. The Gray Guards had implanted a mental block / suicide program in his mind -- a form of mind control that would force him to commit suicide if he disobeyed orders. This mechanism ensured his compliance, but it also meant that Valhala existed in a state of perpetual psychological anguish: a being of immense power stripped of genuine autonomy, compelled to serve masters who viewed him as expendable.

The Capture of Llewellyn 709 (Booklet 045)

The operation to deploy Valhala 13 was triggered by an extraordinary stroke of fortune for the Gray Guards. Llewellyn 709, drawn by a mysterious vision of Stonehenge II that he believed held answers to his past, launched a risky solo mission to the planet. He descended in a Ringo lifeboat while the CYGNI served as a distraction, leaving his crew -- including Angila Fraim and Claude Farrell -- behind.

After landing amid violent storms and encountering the planet's native Stonemen, Llewellyn entered an ancient alien Ark being excavated by Queen Ishiya's forces. When cornered, Llewellyn made a desperate move: he removed his PSI-dampening straps, unleashing a catastrophic PSI-storm that caused chaos, distorted reality, and damaged the Ark. But Valhala 13, protected by his own golden containment straps, was able to withstand the storm. He confronted Llewellyn and subdued him with a stunner, then closed Llewellyn's straps to end the PSI-storm.

The Ark subsequently exploded due to nuclear overload, killing Sartyra Fuji among others. But the operation succeeded: the real Llewellyn was imprisoned in a deep-sleep capsule, while Valhala 13, impersonating Llewellyn perfectly, was extracted by the CYGNI. The crew, unaware of the switch, welcomed the impostor aboard. Valhala received his mission: infiltrate the Terranauts and eliminate key members.

Infiltration of the Terranauts (Booklet 046)

Valhala 13, posing as Llewellyn 709, arrived on Rorqual and was met by Asen-Ger and other Terranauts. The deception might have succeeded indefinitely but for the extraordinary psionic sensitivity of Lyda Mar, who had just returned from a mission to Sarym. Lyda immediately sensed that the newcomer was not the real Llewellyn -- she recognized an impostor where others saw their comrade.

The unmasking triggered a violent confrontation. Driven by his inner voice and the Gray Guards' conditioning, Valhala 13 attacked the Terranauts, seemingly killing several of them, including David terGorden. He escaped Rorqual aboard the CYGNI with Claude Farrell, Angila Fraim, and Sirdina Giccomo -- the latter initially under his psionic control -- intending to deliver Rorqual's location to the Council of Corporations or the Gray Guards.

Imprisonment and Transfer to Quostan (Booklet 046)

Meanwhile, the real Llewellyn 709 had been transferred from Stonehenge II to a secret Council station on the icy planet Quostan, where the Council of Corporations was conducting forbidden experiments on the native Ice Devils. The PSI-assassin Ruben Carcones, operating on Quostan with his dying partner Gus, observed Valhala 13's deep-sleep capsule arriving at the station -- and attacked, freeing the real Llewellyn.

Guided by Lyda Mar's psionic contact, the CYGNI reached Quostan. Lyda Mar and Claude Farrell rescued Llewellyn 709 and Ruben Carcones from Queen Ishiya's pursuing forces. The group escaped aboard the CYGNI, but carried with them a terrible discovery: they had been infected with a virus -- the Hate Plague -- designed to activate upon contact with Llewellyn's PSI signature, using his former identity as Mar-Estos as a trigger.

The Hate Plague and the CYGNI (Booklet 047)

Aboard the CYGNI, the Hate Plague spread among the crew, causing uncontrollable rage and madness. Queen Ishiya and her Gray Guards, who had been taken prisoner, escaped their confinement and attempted to seize control of the ship. Ishiya's goal: deliver Valhala 13 -- who was being held in deep sleep in the ship's stasis chambers -- to Max von Valdec on Earth, believing Valhala held intelligence that could destroy the Terranauts.

As the CYGNI approached Earth, Llewellyn 709 contacted Valdec, offering an exchange -- the Gray Guards, including Queen Ishiya, for the antidote -- but Valdec refused, demanding unconditional surrender. The CYGNI was attacked and forced to flee into Space II, eventually emerging near Rorqual.

Despite efforts to keep Valhala sedated, he began to awaken as the crisis deepened.

Awakening, the Hate Plague, and Destruction (Booklet 048)

In the saga's climactic resolution of the doppelganger arc, Valhala 13 fully awakened aboard the CYGNI. Queen Ishiya forced him to help her land on Rorqual and spread the Hate Plague across the Terranaut stronghold. Claude Farrell and Ruben Carcones, both still infected, attempted to stop them but were captured.

Valhala learned of the Terranauts' plan to trap Valdec at a Black Hole in Space II and decided to sabotage it. By this point, Valhala was fully consumed by the Hate Plague, transforming him from a reluctant tool into an agent of pure destruction.

At the same time, David terGorden, Lyda Mar, and Llewellyn 709 had been pulled through a dimensional rift to an unknown planet near the Black Hole, where they existed as shadows unable to interact physically with the world. Lyda Mar, in a dream, learned from her unborn child Aura Damona Mar that their presence was preventing a greater catastrophe.

In the final confrontation, David, Lyda, and Llewellyn combined their efforts to stop Valhala's sabotage. They sacrificed Valhala 13 to close the dimensional rift and prevent a cosmic catastrophe. It was a grim resolution -- the destruction of a being who had never truly been free -- but one that ended the doppelganger threat and allowed the Terranauts to seize Valdec's fleet and set course for Earth to retrieve the Hate Plague antidote.

Key Events (Chronological)

• Bred by the Gray Guards as a perfect double of Llewellyn 709 (prior to Booklet 045)
• Undergoes PSI training under Sartyra Fuji on Stonehenge II, controlled by a mental block / suicide program (045)
• Subdues Llewellyn 709 with a stunner during the PSI-storm on Stonehenge II and closes his straps (045)
• Impersonates Llewellyn 709 and is extracted by the CYGNI (045)
• Arrives on Rorqual posing as Llewellyn; is detected by Lyda Mar (046)
• Attacks the Terranauts on Rorqual, seemingly killing several including David terGorden (046)
• Escapes Rorqual aboard the CYGNI with Claude Farrell, Angila Fraim, and Sirdina Giccomo (046)
• Deep-sleep capsule transferred to Quostan secret station (046)
• Queen Ishiya attempts to awaken Valhala aboard the CYGNI; stopped by Claude Farrell and Ruben Carcones (047)
• Begins to awaken as the Hate Plague crisis intensifies (047)
• Fully awakens; is forced by Queen Ishiya to spread the Hate Plague on Rorqual (048)
• Attempts to sabotage the Terranauts' plan to trap Valdec at the Black Hole (048)
• Sacrificed by David terGorden, Lyda Mar, and Llewellyn 709 to close the dimensional rift (048)

Relationships

Controllers and Handlers

The Original: Llewellyn 709

Adversaries and Victims

Abilities and Traits

• Riemenmann-Level PSI Power: Valhala possesses psionic abilities comparable to Llewellyn 709 -- powerful enough that he must wear golden containment straps to prevent his PSI radiation from killing those nearby. His resistance to Llewellyn's devastating PSI-storm on Stonehenge II demonstrates that his raw power is at least equivalent to the original (045).
• PSI Resistance: Protected by his own strap-weave, Valhala can withstand PSI-storms that would incapacitate or kill ordinary beings -- including the reality-distorting storm unleashed by Llewellyn when he removed his own straps (045).
• Perfect Physical Impersonation: Bred to be Llewellyn's double, Valhala is physically indistinguishable from the original. Only Lyda Mar's exceptional psionic sensitivity could detect the difference (046).
• Mental Block / Suicide Program: Valhala carries an implanted mental control mechanism that forces compliance with Gray Guard orders under threat of self-destruction. This makes him simultaneously a weapon and a prisoner (045).
• Inner Voice: Valhala is guided -- and tormented -- by a controlling "inner voice" that directs his actions, overriding whatever independent will he might otherwise possess (046).
• Vulnerability to the Hate Plague: Unlike Llewellyn 709 and Lyda Mar, who are immune, Valhala succumbs to the Hate Plague, which ultimately consumes him entirely and transforms him into an agent of pure destruction (048).

Appearances (4 booklets)

Themes and Legacy

Valhala 13's brief but devastating arc across four booklets embodies several of Die Terranauten's most important themes, making him far more than a simple antagonist.

The Weaponized Double: Valhala is the saga's most direct exploration of identity as a weapon. Where Llewellyn 709's transformation from Mar-Estos into a Riemenmann was a personal tragedy that created something genuinely new, Valhala's creation was a deliberate act of duplication designed to exploit trust. He is not a new person but a manufactured copy -- engineered not to be himself but to be someone else. The Gray Guards did not create Valhala 13; they created a second Llewellyn 709 and then enslaved him. His "inner voice," his mental block, his fragmented memories -- all testify to a being denied the most basic condition of personhood: the right to be oneself.

The Dark Mirror of the Riemenmann: If Llewellyn 709 represents the Riemenmann as a force for liberation -- immense power held in check by principle and deployed in service of freedom -- then Valhala 13 represents the same phenomenon perverted by authoritarianism. Both wear golden straps; both possess devastating psionic power; both are, in a physical sense, the same being. But Llewellyn fights for the Terranauts because he chooses to, while Valhala fights for the Gray Guards because he is compelled to. The difference between them is not power but freedom. In this way, the Valhala 13 arc dramatizes the saga's central argument: that technology and ability are morally neutral, and what matters is whether they serve domination or liberation.

The Cost of Trust: The Valhala 13 Crisis tests the Terranauts' most fundamental bonds. Lyda Mar's ability to detect the impostor -- where Asen-Ger, Claude Farrell, and others could not -- validates the psionic intuition that the saga consistently prizes over rational calculation. That David terGorden himself is "seemingly killed" by the double underscores the existential danger: if your most powerful ally can be secretly replaced, no bond is safe. The crisis forces the Terranauts to confront the vulnerability inherent in any community built on trust.

Tragedy Without Redemption: Unlike many antagonists in Die Terranauten, Valhala 13 receives no redemption arc. He is bred, trained, deployed, consumed by the Hate Plague, and sacrificed -- all without a single moment of genuine autonomy. His fragmented memories and psychological torment (045) hint at a person who might have been, but the saga offers no path to that possibility. His destruction at the dimensional rift is described not as justice but as grim necessity: the Terranauts sacrifice him not because he deserves to die but because closing the rift requires it. This makes Valhala one of the saga's most purely tragic figures -- a being whose entire existence was instrumentalized by others, from creation to destruction.

The Valhala 13 Operation as Phase 5: Within the broader history of the Driver persecution, the deployment of Valhala 13 represents what the Drivers concept page calls "Phase 5" -- the continuation of Valdec's war against the Drivers through covert means even after the open persecution of earlier booklets. It demonstrates that the threat to the Terranauts does not come only from fleets and armies but from the corruption of their own internal trust.

See Also

• Llewellyn 709 -- The original Riemenmann, Valhala's genetic template and the saga's second most prominent character
• Riemenmann -- The concept of extreme PSI manifestation requiring golden containment straps
• PSI Powers -- Overview of psionic abilities in Die Terranauten
• Queen Ishiya -- Valhala's handler and the architect of the impersonation operation
• Sartyra Fuji -- The PSI-Expert who trained Valhala on Stonehenge II
• Hate Plague -- The bioweapon that ultimately consumed Valhala
• Stonehenge II -- The planet where Valhala was trained and where the switch occurred
• Terranauts -- The organization Valhala was designed to infiltrate and destroy

Valhala 13 appears in 4 of 99 booklets of Die Terranauten. He is the only known Riemenmann besides Llewellyn 709 -- and the saga's starkest illustration of what happens when the most extraordinary human abilities are created not for freedom, but for control.