Sledger: The Sledgening

prolog 1: Where It Begins

The choppers blades sliced through the air as it advanced through the clouds. This helicopter, lovingly dubbed 'The Pursuit', held six passengers plus the pilot,

"Landing in five." The pilot spoke through the intercom, a staticy film laced over his voice,

"Finally." The Engineer said, rubbing her arms, "Pretty chilly."

"Oh, pretty chilly-!?" An angry Mortar seethed, "-Well maybe next time you can bring your own winter clothes instead of stealing mine!" His teeth chattered against each other like a bullet to a zombies brain. He hugged his body close to himself, not at all dressed enough to handle the drop in temperature.

Most of the passengers looked at this squabble, considering they haven't had anything to do over the trip any ounce of possible entertainment was worth it. One of the passengers sighed, the Mortar and the Engineer looking over to him, "I gave you multiple warnings that we were going to need our warmest clothes, didn't you still have that bunny suit from Easter?" The Commander remarked,

The Mortar looked at his superior in an strife-ridden look of shock,

"Hell no! I'Il never wear that thing again!" The Mortar retorted, "We all know what happened last time I wore it!" The last time he had worn that damnable bunny onesie he ended up screwing his cannon up, and it was decided then and there that was the last time he would ever wear it,

"Aw, you looked cute in it though!" The Engineer playfully mentioned,

"If you thought I looked cute in it then that's even more reason not to wear it!"

"Quit your flirtin', you two." The Ranger spoke up, staring out the window.

"Ew!"

"Wha-!? We're not!"

The Mortar and Engineer made their own sounds of disgust at the notion. The Engineer made a puking noise, pointing at her mouth to further her stance on the thought, the Mortar shouting; "C'mon, I think it'd be gross too but I'm not that bad!" Seems he was offended.

A laugh broke out through the helicopter, "Hell yeah, man! Get their asses!" The Pyromancer broke out with manic laughter, his sleet grey mask hung around his neck, allowing his cheshire grin to be revealed to the passengers. The Ranger sighed,

"You're no better yourself."

The Pyromancers expression dropped, "Whaddya mean by that..?"

"I mean; you're pretty damn annoying yourself."

The pyromaniac stared at the railgunner for a second, before looking down with an expression similar to that of a kicked puppy,
"Suck it, nerd!" The Engineer bellowed,

"Quit your yapping, all of you!" The Commander snapped.

The passenger section of the helicopter was silenced. The Mortar scooted closer to a corner, clasping his arms over himself. He looked up at the Ranger, who was staring out the window, maybe he should find a way to distract himself too. The man scooted into a seat, staring outside, the sky was akin to a void, stars shooting holes into the inky blackness of it all. More importantly, it looked like they were going lower.

Somewhere from the cockpit the group heard heavy footfalls,

"Team, I bring unfortunate news, we may hit turbulence." A russian accent broke through the crowd,

"What- but-!?"

"Shaky ride, huh?"

"Oh come on.."

"We're gonna die!"

"Damn it."

The team each had their own responses to such news before the Minigunner piped up again,

"I joke! We are about to land!" The muscular man looked over at the team with a playful smile,

"Damn it, don't joke about that." The Mortar seemed more agitated than anything, probably from the Engineers earlier teasing.

The group could feel the helicopter touchdown, it kinda felt like going from high to low on a swing, the Mortar noted. They each share a collective huff, Mortars teeths chattering interrupting the small moment of quiet.

They were finally there, the group stretching as soon as they got out, all besides the Mortar,

"Hell no! Do you know how damn cold it is out there? I'm not getting out!"

"C'mon, get out, you pussy!" The Engineer teased,

"No!"

"Only losers are scared of the cold!" The Pyromancer challenged,

"Then I'll be a loser!"

"Get out or I'll give you a reason to get out." The Ranger threatened,

"Like hell you will!"

A moment of silence passed before the snow crunched under two heavy feet, "Do not fret, Mortar, I will make sure you stay warm!" The Minigunner spread his arms welcomingly, warmth and comfort radiating from his very being.

The Mortar stared at this display suspiciously, crawling closer to The Pursuits exit. He poked his head out, like a scared, stray animal to a well-meaning human. The man glared at the bigger man, scrutinizing him,

"Fine."

The Mortar slowly got up, a tremor visibly going through his body as the cold wind cut through it. He spread his arms in a similar fashion to the Minigunner before flopping forward onto the burly man-

"AUGH!"

-and perhaps he should've kept the horns atop the mans helmet in mind, he laid flatly on the mans head as he tried to process the white-hot pain his rib-cage had been hit with.

The Engineer and Pyromancer placed a hand over their own mouths, "Ooh... Ow.." They hissed from a burst of phantom pain just watching him.

The Ranger had also placed his hand over his face, "Heheheh.." Unlike the other two, he was laughing at the unfortunate Mortar,

"Mortar! Do not worry, I will help you!" The Minigunner bellowed, grabbing the Mortar by the hips. He lifted the smaller(or more so, average-sized)man off of his head, cradling him to his chest like a mother.

The Engineer ran up to the man in the Minigunners arms, "Shit man, that looked painful!"

"Ugh..." The Mortar groaned, drool leaking down his chin, or maybe froth,

"Y'know what, ew," The Engineer cringed,

"If you survived that you can survive anything, next time we're facing the Fallen we can use you as a human shield," The Ranger taunted, to which the Mortar glared at him.

The Commander finally spoke up to his troops, "Three minute breaks over, now we gotta get to work."

"Aw, come on man! Only three minutes? My legs still feel like jelly!" The Engineer whined,

"Like she said, if I have to do any work in this state I might as well die!" The Pyromancer joined in the womans complaining,

"Too bad, I'm afraid this isn't something we can wait on."

The group collectively groaned, walking towards the research station they were assigned to check on.

The Commander sighed, looking towards the group. The man wished they weren't so careless, especially now. The Commander looked down at the transceiver in his hand, a sudden worriedness taking over his features as he listened to the repeating, ever-cryptid distress signal,

"I don't know what we found in there, but I don't think we're gonna make it."