[Nivirres: The Frozen World] (Main) Chapter Two - The Frozen World

[Petal]

Aril was making progress with the base but now and then she raised her head to listen to the gunshots. "I don't like it when I'm far away from the battle, unable to see what is happening." she mumbled to herself but was still loud enough so that Coryn, who was helping her, could hear her words.

 

[Contrition003]

"I don't like it when I'm far away from the battle, unable to see what is happening." Aril had mumbled to herself, while she worked diligently at setting up the base camp.


"I know the feeling Miss Saday. I feel the same. But the commander wouldn't have left us behind if he truly felt they couldn't handle the situation. They'll be back soon, and if we don't have this camp up and running, the Commander will have all our hides." Coryn said to Aril, he gave her a smile, but it masked the uneasy feeling in his gut. He again let his hand drop to his holstered sidearm, checked that it was securely strapped in place, and fingered over the safety catch. "They'll be just fine ma'am." Coryn repeated again, with that same smile.


"So if you don't mind my asking, where were you positioned before you got sent to this beautiful vista?" Coryn asked with a gesture of his hand, indication the darkening, snowy mountain range.

 

[Helix Nebula]

"Yes sir." Jack said, nodding, as he took cover on the left side of the door. He double-checked that his rifle's safety was off, which it was, then with a deep breath he moved to stand in front of the door as he kicked it in.


Jack quickly moved in, checking the immediate area around him first- It was secure, he noticed a couple of metal crates near the door and ran to crouch behind them for cover. "Thunder!" He shouted, ready to open fire at anyone in the opposite direction of the reply - Assuming it really had been Bravo shooting in here.

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

The commander moved in right after O'Neill, his sight firm at the laser dot of his rifle. Though the immediate surroundings seemed clear, it was only thanks to the fact that his teammate instinctively ran behind cover, that he managed to avoid the burst of bullets showering the wall behind where he stood just a moment ago. Seeing the source of fire, Tyder took cover behind crates opposite from O'Neill.


"The catwalks!" he shouted through another barrage of bullets that actually made his statement obsolete. It was now more than obvious that they were being fired upon from above, from the catwalks extending along the far end of the warehouse. The high windows still shed some light on things, but it wasn't enough. "Switch to nightvision."


Through a fast study of the surroundings, Tyder gathered that there were two ladders leading up to the catwalks, and one was close to O'Neill, to the right. The other one was diagonally on the opposite side. There were various containers and crates all over the place, and as for hostiles, they were positioned on the far end of the warehouse. Right next to the sealed off section that must have been offices or secure storage. "Bloody robots, that's what we're up against! Look! I count at least three on ground floor and two topside. O'Neill, take the ladders to your right up to the catwalk and provide some cover. I'll try to hit the left flank. No use exchanging fire from here." The whole warehouse must have been some fifty meters across.

 

[Petal]

"I know the feeling Miss Saday. I feel the same. But the commander wouldn't have left us behind if he truly felt they couldn't handle the situation. They'll be back soon, and if we don't have this camp up and running, the Commander will have all our hides.", surprised, Aril turned her head to Coryn and found him smiling, she returned the smile, I was just a bit too loud I see, "They'll be just fine ma'am." He seems more nervous than I am.


"So if you don't mind my asking, where were you positioned before you got sent to this beautiful vista?"


"Commander won't be pleased indeed if we don't finish our task in time. I was in delta quadrant, Iloven system." she answered. Small talk made her feel a little less jumpy.

 

[Contrition003]

"Iloven..." Coryn gave his head a shake, "Nope, can't say as I've ever been sent there. What was it like?" Coryn kept hauling around the equipment, it was progressing well, they should be done well before the other returned. The shelters were all set up, they were just stowing the gear and organizing the insides now.

 

[Petal]

"Melt this planet and add island chains with various vegetation and different creatures for every island. Quite delightful if you've chosen to dedicate your life to exploring the universe and finding and describing every living species there is." Aril spoke, there was a tune of nostalgia in her voice.

 

[Contrition003]

"Sounds like a helluva place to be deployed to, a whole lot nicer than my last post, that's for damned sure." Coryn was dragging a crate of supplies to the back of the shelter. "cramped crew quarters, food was lousy, a CO that... well let's just say wasn't too pleasant... but there was this communications officer, now she was a..." Coryn realized where his train of thought had strayed. "So I think we're just about done in here..." Coryn stood straight, with a sheepish smile, trying to redirect the conversation.

 

[Petal]

"A beauty?" Aril smiled mischievously at Coryn but looked away shortly to examine their creation.


"I quite agree, we did a good job. And about "a helluva place to be deployed to", most of the creatures are quite hostile, but I guess that could be found perfect for an adrenalin junkie. And the food....exotic.", she smiled again, remembering, "But it kind of grows on you, you know. I must say that it was interesting."

 

[Contrition003]

"Believe me, after 8 months of sleeping in a cramped rack in a room with 60 or so others, on a frontier border patrol, where the only things to do for fun are training drills and not pissing of the CO... a tropical island with hostile creatures still sounds a helluva a lot better" Coryn was grabbing his cold gear and suiting back up, "At least you can shoot the wild creatures trying to kill you. The Brass get mad if you shoot a CO." Coryn let out a laugh as he thought about the ship, The Unyielding had been home for nearly three years, and he didn't miss it a bit, there was no time for that now though, he needed to keep focused on the mission at hand. "C'mon, let's go check and see how Stop is coming along with the APV's repairs, see if the professor needs and help."

 

[Petal]

"I'm being a little spoiled, arn't I?", Aril laughed, "I'll come along but I better not touch anything, I've never been good with technology." She went to stand by Coryn's side.

 

[Contrition003]

"Naw not spoiled. Alliance Military sends you where they want. The only say soldiers get is Sir Yes Sir, and get our asses on the transport." Coryn gave Aril a smile and lead them out back into the cold, the weather seemed to be clearing, but it was getting darker by the minute. As they approached the APV Stop seemed completely immersed in his work. "Houlder, hows the APV looking?"

 

[Petal]

Complaining about something easier, that's what I meant. Aril gave Coryn the I-like-you smile while he lead them back to the APV.

 

[Helix Nebula]

"Yes sir." Jack said somewhat reluctantly, but this was nor the time or place to negotiate battle-tactics. Jack crouched and quickly made his way across the gap in between the several crates nearby the door, to the right side. He sneaked to the edge of the boxes and debris, popping his head up just for a second- To make sure the ladders were clear.


With a deep breath, Jack made a bee-line directly to the ladder and half-way through almost jumped onto them- So that he could get up as fast as humanely possible. Once up top, Jack hit the deck, hoping the hostiles hadn't spotted him. He then crawled to the first intersection of the catwalk, and rose up to a crouched position as he quickly ran across to the opposite side, taking cover behind the fence. Jack then lifted his rifle up, turned around and shot a few good barrages at the hostile closest to him, trying to identify any possible weak-spots in the few seconds that he had - Before lowering himself back into cover.

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

O'Neill's approach was not undetected. Immediately after reaching the ladder to the catwalk he attracted most of enemy fire. Luckily, the fences were made out of full steel cover and not just barren railing. When he returned fire, he did so with result. One of the synthetics fell down to ground floor, sparks flying mid-air. There was at least one more on the far catwalk. The things seemed to be able to take cover so O'Neill couldn't be sure.


Meanwhile, commander Tyder hit the left flank as soon as O'Neill's diversion was in place. It proved useful, and he managed to hit two robots on ground floor, causing critical damage to one. There didn't seem to be that many. Perhaps half a dozen altogether. Tyder got as far as the other ladder to the catwalk, before he was pinned down by focused enemy fire. "Damnit." he swore, crouched behind a metal container while he waited for an opportunity to return fire.


It was dark, but nightvision goggles made things easier. The enemy looked like perfectly humanoid synthetics, fairly tall and bulky. If they had a weak spot, it would probably be the same as with most things, living or dead. The head.

 

[Xenthriss]

Before any further action could be taken on behalf of the Alpha team members in the firefight, an cloaked figure slowly and nonchalantly strode into the middle of the room. Although not completely clear on who it was, the entity quickly made it obvious that it wasn't a friend of the synthetics when it whipped it's arm across the room. The flash and bang of high-caliber fire echoed deafeningly throughout the chamber as the stranger fired it's weapon at the machines that had been attacking Alpha. Not even waiting to see the results, the figure spun on it's heels and lobbed what appeared to be a smoke grenade at Tyder's position. "I've got their attention, move!" An inhumanly deep voice barked, it's words seeming to reverberate before they even echoed. "Alliance never could do their damned jobs right.".

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

When the mysterious stranger dropped right into the thick of things, fired at the enemy synthetics, and the smoke grenade went off, Tyder hesitated for only a moment before he decided to trust him. In his opinion the smoke was unnecessary, since these were robots they were fighting, likely equipped with thermal scanning, while on the other hand it was largely improbable that those same robots would show up on a thermal scan themselves. Regardless, the diversion itself was as good as any, because the enemy immediately shifted fire to the stranger.


Tyder used this opportunity to climb the other ladder onto the catwalk and fire at the remaining synthetics O'Neill had been focusing, now ripping them apart. The catwalk appeared to be cleared of hostiles. There were at least two more robots down below, near the wall of the offices, taking cover behind some large containers.


The commander signaled O'Neill to meet up at his position. "Don't fire at the stranger just yet." he said over the comm so that only he could hear him. "Let's trust him for now, but don't let him our of your sight."


The smoke from the grenade quickly expanded, and was now obscuring the exact location of the remaining enemies.

 

[Helix Nebula]

"If you say so, sir. I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Jack lifted his head just enough to get a peak on the ground floor, but it didn't help as the area was being filled with smoke. "Darn.." He thought and glanced at his grenades, but ended up looking at the Commander. "So how should we handle the last tin cans? Or should we let Rambo down there, deal with them?"

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

Tyder leaned over but couldn't see where the stranger took cover when the synthetics opened fire at him. "What I wanna know is where the hell is Bravo, if they were even here. Those damn synthetics were exchanging fire with someone before we got here, and that signal flare had to be Bravo." He crouched down and took a few moments to study the destroyed robots on the catwalk.

 

[Xenthriss]

Flicking it's arm out to the side, the entity laughed before extending an immense blade of the same construction as the machines that had just been firing at it. Not caring about the hail of bullets being directed at itself, the figure charged at the remaining group and swung it's blade with the intent to impale one of the synthetics when it closed the distance. Blade still mid-arc, it emptied the last of it's current magazine into the other machine with it's free hand. Judging from the size and power behind the rounds, the kick likely would have severely harmed a human trying to fire it like that. Whatever the stranger was, he probably wasn't one to be taken lightly. "Now this is fighting! Never would have got this if I had stayed with you Alliance pukes.".

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

The racket below made commander Tyder stand up and observe. "Are you watching this?" he said to O'Neill without diverting his gaze. "What do you make of that?"


The mysterious figure sprinted madly through the slowly clearing smoke, shooting an assault rifle and swinging a blade. A reckless method, but it turned out effective. The bullets that did hit him mostly grazed his armor, and at the end of the run both enemies lay on he ground, sparks fizzling from the smoking electronics. One suffered critical damage from the bullets while the other was literally sawed in half from the point of impalement at the torso, upwards through the right shoulder. As far as anyone could see, there seemed to be no more hostiles present.


"Turian armor. Curious." added Tyder. The time to resolve the situation with the stranger would be now, only Bravo was not yet accounted for. Or whoever it was that the robots were fighting.

 

[Helix Nebula]

Jack followed as the unknown character sliced n' diced the remaining tin cans, when the Commander asked Jack what he made of it- He just glanced at Tyder and said, "Rambo comes to mind, sir." indifferently. Jack had noticed the Turian armor as well, and while the stranger might have saved them from somewhat of a pinch, Jack really didn't think this mission needed any more "God damn aliens.".


After the hassle down below had settled down, Jack properly stood out of cover and instinctively lifted his rifle- Pointing it at the stranger. "Alliance Military. Identify yourself."

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

Commander Tyder nodded and stood by his team mate, a few feet away, without a word. He was staring downwards into the stranger, his own weapon ready but not yet aimed at anything.

 

[Xenthriss]

Turning to look at Jack, the massive soldier chuckled. "Karnsk, captain of the mercenary pocket dreadnought Meatfucker. Ex-Alliance Drop Trooper, Major. Been on this rock for about a year and a half." He replied, dropping his cloak to reveal his heavily mechanical body. "I recommend you put the gun down, I've been fighting for longer than you've been alive. Threatening me is a very unwise decision. Search the machines, they generally tend to have some of their material or weapons left for salvage.". Loading a new magazine into his gun, Karnsk proceeded to ignore the soldiers and begin pulling strips of metal off the synthetics that had attacked them. "Their armor is useful for patch jobs and weapon mods.".

 

[Helix Nebula]

"So a Hierarchy screw up, then." Jack said quietly, before glancing at the Commander. "Do I pump Raunchy-Rambo there full of lead, or should we trust our new Turian acquaintance for now, sir?" The threats of a cocky Turian weren't enough to shake Jack- He'd already experienced the wrath of an angered Turian in the past, and it definitely hadn't been among his "Top 3 worst things ever" list.


Maybe Top 5.