Everyone who played the original Valkyria Chronicles knows that having a Valkyria on the battlefield is awesome – just as long as they’re on your side.

As Day VIII arrives, we’re taking a look at the Valkyria of old and new, including a mysterious young girl named Aliasse who wields a shield in one hand and a whip in the other. More special thanks, yesterday’s winners, and a rare Selvaria figurine are all lined up for the evening!

Community BLiTZ – Day VIII: Azure Flames

History across Europa teaches that the Darcsens, cruel rulers of times past, once controlled all of the continent and treated the people unjustly. Until the Valkyrur came, that is – liberating Europa from the Darcsens and rescuing all those under their rule. Until recently, it was commonly thought that House Randgriz was one of the few final homes of the Valkyrian bloodline.

For their crimes, the Darcsens were stripped of their last names, and the Valkyrur quickly rose to power. How much of the story is a myth and how much is fact, well… that depends on who you ask. But there is one point that remains true, even to this day: history is always written by the victor.

There are rumors going around about a number of countries experimenting with secret projects to ‘create’ artificial Valkyrur, but most of these are unsubstantiated. However, the recent appearance of more than one Valkyria after so many years of only legends does raise interesting questions…

If there was one mission that everyone had trouble with in the original Valkyria Chronicles, it was Chapter 7. Just when you finally think you’ve finally taken down that monster of a behemoth that Maximilian calls a Tank, in comes Selvaria, blue flames aglow, and lance at the ready.

It’s an important moment in the game, because for the first time yet, you finally come up against something that is so completely overpowering that you feel totally helpless. Even with the best strategy, and even with far more leveled troops, nothing can stand against her. For once, you’re forced to realize that retreating is the only option, and that sometimes, you have to lose some smaller battles to win the big ones later.

Meet Aliasse. Keep her happy, and she’s your best friend. Just don’t make her angry.

Valkyria Chronicles II introduces a new heir to the flame, and her name is Aliasse. Unlike most Valkyria spoken of in legend, she bears a shield and a whip instead of a shield and a lance. Little is known about her personality or her background, but some claim to have seen her wandering quietly around the campus at Lanseal.

The favor of the Valkyrur can be a powerful ally, but likewise, sometimes dangerously volatile. The difference between a person and a weapon is sometimes purely a matter of perspective…

That’s all the detail of the Valkyrur that we can reveal today, but we leave you with one warning: there are reports that the rebel army may be attempting their own mimicry of the Valkyria’s powers, so stay vigilant for anything with the code name “V2″…

New Story Trailer

A brand new Story Trailer also went live this week – you can check it out above! Once you’ve got your fill of Valkyria videos for the day, check out what’s next for today’s big giveaway…

Special Thanks

Today’s Special Thanks go to Segabits, a cool SEGA Fansite that know what they’re talking about and are also made up of a lot of SEGA and Valkyria fans who loved the first game. Thanks also to Ryan for his help in getting the basics of our Valkyria fansite one step closer to finished!

Yesterday’s Winners

• On the Blogs, Tomceltic who wrote:

Well really everyone in squad 7 was immense, but if I had to pick one id go for Hermes Kissinger, because for one he couldn’t be asked and two he didn’t really want to be there…thats the kind of charectar I can relate to.

• On Facebook, Donny Van Z. who wrote:

kalamata olive bread!

• And on Twitter, Darkpen who wrote:

Gosh, my second-most? I guess Lynn comes in second to Marina

Congrats to all three of you!

Win a Selvaria Figurine!

Since today is all about the Valkyrur, we’re going to do our giveaway in style by offering up this rare Selvaria figurine to one lucky fan! She comes complete with the Ruhm in one hand and a sword in the other. This is part of the original Yujin figurine set from Japan.

Now that you’re all drooling, here’s what you need to do to win:

• Tell us in the comments which Valkyria you think would win in a fight: Selvaria or Aliasse?

Two more signed copies of VC1 are also going out via the Facebook and Twitter pages!

Coming tomorrow…

New battlefields bring new challenges – join us as we take a look at some of the new environments you’ll be fighting in through VCII, learn the new hardships of the desert heat and likewise the chill of snowy mountains, and get some tips on the best ways to overcome the new environmental challenges that affect both you and your enemies alike!

Oh, and did anyone see our PAX Blog today with all that swag? There’s a little bit more that you don’t see in the picture there… and we’ll be showing it off very soon.

Until tomorrow!

SEGA and the community team is headed to PAX 2010 to show off our games, have some fun, and throw a Community Event at the Gameworks right next to the convention center! Our community event kicks off at 8pm on Saturday and will feature live music from Cash Cash (creator of the Sonic Colors theme song), free food & drinks, access to some classic SEGA arcade games, and a chance at some of the epic swag we’re raffling off!

The Raffle Prizes & Sweatshirt

Epic swag you say?? We’ve secured some of our best SEGA swag from years past and present and are rewarding attendees with some really good stuff. To sweeten the deal, we’ve created a very special sweatshirt that’s only available at PAX Community Event – we think you’ll agree, it’s sweet. The sweatshirt comes in black and is heavy duty; very thick. There are four signature controllers from classic SEGA consoles embroidered across the front; we love how they turned out and cannot wait to pass them out. As mentioned, this is only available for our PAX Community event for these special giveaways, so you’ll have to come out and take a chance at winning one!

How to enter?

Very simple – Attend the event and you’ll get a raffle ticket. We’ll hold the prize giveaway later that evening and you’ll need to be in attendance to pick up your prize – it’s that easy! To help save on shipping costs and awkward travel situations (“Is that a Bayonetta gun in your bag, Sir?”) from the show – we are awarding sweatshirts on the floor and shipping all prizes out to winners after the PAX weekend.

Individual Raffle Prizes

We’ve got a total of twenty mixed prizes, spread across a wide range of SEGA brands and even some consoles to giveaway.  Keep your eye on the blogs for updates leading up to PAX 2010 that detail the individual prize packs!  We hope to see you at the event – if you are coming, let us know by signing up on our Facebook Event page!