Permafrost Slumber

Chapter 3

The bulky bear-like beast roars with savage ferocity as it stands to its full height. As the beast touches down on all of its four limbs it charges recklessly toward the Captain with no regard for its safety. Weaving his arms around the Captain manipulates the crimson-colored sphere that dances around his body to match the motions of his arms before coming to a stop in front of him. The air suddenly grows thin and nearby objects begin to levitate inexplicably. With a twist of his wrist, the Captain sends anything levitating speeding toward the beast at breakneck speed. Most of these objects, despite their size, bounce off the beast's body while chipping away at the ice that covers its bulky frame, inflicting minor damage and doing little to hinder its advance.
As the beast continues its charge unhindered and visibly unimpressed by the wave of random objects haphazardly thrown at it, the beast quickly closes the distance and within a few moments, it reaches the Captain's position and readies a swing of its right paw. Its claws may not be razor sharp, but the strength behind the swing is more than enough to compensate for this minor design flaw.
With one swift motion of his arms, the Captain crosses his arms in front of him with the crimson-colored sphere levitating in front where his arms overlap. Metal plates and pieces of iron of varying sizes then fly toward the beast and wrap themselves tightly around its paw preventing the beast from swinging. Soon the beast finds itself levitating off the floor a few inches and steadily increasing in height as more and more pieces of metal slam against its body and wrap around its limbs and torso. As the beast continues to struggle in an attempt to break free, its roars are cut short by a metal sheet that wraps around its snout and a second piece that molds around the top of its head, blinding it in the process.
With the beast bound with metal and suspended in the air several inches off the surface of the floor, the Captain uncrosses his arms and swings them in an upward motion as if trying to topple a table. As a result, the beast shoots up through the ceiling and exits the vessel's exterior after a few loud crashes as the bulky beast is forcefully ejected through the upper floors.
With labored breathing, the Captain steps underneath the hole made by the beast and stares through it. He can see the steely grey sky several feet above him as the beast was forced through a few levels above the Captain's current location. Snowflakes and small piles of snow drip through the hole as the Captain peers into it and mutters to himself:

Captain: Have a nice trip.

Before he can relax and have a moment to recover, the Captain realizes that Kallen is outside the vessel and is probably locked in combat with one or more of these beasts. Without hesitating, the Captain uses the crimson-colored sphere to boost himself through the hole made by the beast he forcefully ejected a few moments ago. With one simple motion, the Captain jumps up but travels a great height at an incredible speed through the use of the sphere's gravity-manipulating abilities. He then safely reaches the vessel's exterior, gracefully touches down on the ice, and scans the area to see where Kallen might be.
There are signs of struggle all over the area, the surface of the snow is disturbed and littered with sizable misshapen paw-like prints as well as claw marks where the beasts swiped viciously in an attempt to hit their foe. As the Captain attempts to cup his hands over his mouth and shout out for Kallen, he barely manages to yell out the first two letters of her name before the surface underneath him vibrates briefly accompanied by a deafening boom coming from nearby. Directing his attention toward the source of the noise, the Captain sees a towering chimney-like structure vibrate with enough intensity that it shakes loose some of the ice that formed on it, raining down like a short-lived hailstorm. Taking a few cautionary steps toward the chimney, the Captain calls out Kallen's name but there's no answer. A few steps later the Captain makes out the outline of something nailed to the chimney. Focusing his sight on the halfway-buried object, the Captain recognizes it as one of the spears belonging to the Oath of Judah. A loud boom echoes from the far side of the vessel and the Captain immediately rushes toward the direction of the sound.
Peering over the edge of the vessel from a high vantage point overlooking the frozen surface of the lake below, the Captain sees a few of the bear-like Honkai beasts engaging Kallen. Doing a quick headcount there are a total of five Honkai beasts, the Oath of Judah is planted firmly in the ice radiating a soft golden light with Kallen not too far from it, holding her ground against the fearsome beasts keeping them at bay as she remains mobile making full use of her agility and dual guns.
Wasting no time, the Captain jumps over the edge of the vessel and uses the crimson-colored sphere's abilities to slow his fall and glide a fair distance toward Kallen.
As the beasts slowly encroach on Kallen's position, she seems to be having difficulties remaining mobile due to the ice's slick surface and built-up fatigue from the battle. Despite this, she valiantly stands against her foes and hides her tiredness well.
The Oath of Judah launches several spears into the sky, shooting upwards like rays of golden light and after reaching a certain height they change direction and plummet toward the ground with deadly speed and precision. Most of the spears land on their designated targets, embedding themselves deep into the bodies of the beasts while those that would have proved fatal are softened by the thick sheets of ice that plate the bodies of the beasts, causing the spears to stick out like needles in a pin cushion.
Two spears missed their target, the closest beast that was a few feet away from Kallen; it stood up to its intimidating full height, and as it roared a beam of blue energy shot out of its mouth. As the beast directed its head toward Kallen, the beam freezes anything it hits causing the surface of the frozen lake to sprout tall ice spikes as it trails its way toward its desired target. Kallen maneuvers out of the way of the energy beam, flipping backward and landing stiffly as the spurs in her boots dig into the ice. Three spears aim for the beast as they descend from the sky, one strikes true as it nails itself into the center of the beast's back digging deep into the sheet of ice but failing to pierce it, and another spear bounces off the beast's left shoulder while the third narrowly misses the beast's head.
Kallen hurries toward the beast closing the distance between them as quickly as she can while the beast is temporarily distracted by the spear in its back. Kallen then grabs one of the spears and with one graceful maneuver hurls it with deadly precision at the center of the beast's chest. Once again the spear fails to fully pierce the sheet of ice and only serves to enrage the beast as it roars and a blue light emanates from the depths of its maw. A beam of frost shoots toward Kallen but she easily avoids it by circling halfway around the beast, running as fast as the ice permits her before the beam stops.
The beast swipes its claw and forcefully uproots the spear in its chest and breaks away a chunk of the sheet of ice in the process revealing a probable weakness Kallen plans on exploiting. Without slowing her run, Kallen changes direction and goes for the beast's head aiming her guns with deadly precision, and shoots a few times at the hole in the beast's armor. She shoots three times, one of the bullets gets deflected by the beast's claws as it swipes at the air in a gesture of intimidation, another of the bullets digs into the ice on the edge of the hole and the last bullet threads the needle as it enters the hole dead on. The beast lets out a cry of agony unlike its previous roars of ferocity, the bullet likely hurt something inside it that's very fragile. The beast's footing grows weak as it wobbles unsteadily on its hind legs and threatens to fall on all fours, effectively blocking the view of its now-exposed weakness.
As Kallen continues to close the distance, she sweeps off the ice a discarded spear from the Oath of Judah using her foot; kicking it up into the air with a flourish then grasping it firmly in her left hand and throwing it again at the beast's weak point. The spear strikes true as it embeds itself in the hole and digs deep, the beast lets out a deafening shrill cry as a blue light starts to make itself noticed shining beneath the sheets of ice on its body. In a matter of moments, the blue light gains more and more intensity and soon explodes in a brilliant display as the stored energy inside the beast's body is forcibly released. The beast's body fares poorly under the release of energy as the protective sheets of ice burst apart in countless fragments and chunks scattering through the area while some are carried off by the energy wave that spreads outward on a large radius.
Kallen stops and ducks while shielding herself with her cloak in a desperate attempt to ward off the incoming wave of frigid energy and dislodged ice. As the frigid energy hits she is nearly overwhelmed as her body heat is sapped in an instant and ice coats her entire body nearly turning her into an ice sculpture.
As soon as the wave of energy dies out, Kallen stands up, shaking off the ice that coats her body, and tries to catch her breath after going through such a shock. When she looks toward the other beasts that for some reason haven't yet reached her, Kallen spots a strange figure gliding toward her position that got the beast's attention as they look up and ready their energy blasts.
As the Captain drops from the sky, he directs the crimson-colored sphere toward the ground as he plummets at increasing speed. On impact, there's a deafening boom as a shockwave is released that scrambles the weight field of the beasts; snow and ice gently rise a few inches off the frozen lake's surface while the beasts are suddenly raised off the ice and helplessly swipe their powerful claws in an attempt to anchor themselves. Seizing the opportunity, Kallen rushes toward her companion to combat the remaining beasts together.
As Kallen makes her way toward the remaining beasts, the Captain manipulates the crimson-colored sphere and tries to keep the beasts suspended in the air for as long as he can. His hands begin to tremble as if a great weight is placed on him than he could possibly bear; he can feel the combined weight of the beasts weighing down on him and the more they struggle the harder it is for him to keep them suspended.
Seeing no other alternative, the Captain maneuvers the sphere around his body and then points it toward the ice underneath his feet, this causes the beasts to slam into the frozen surface of the lake with great force but it's not enough to stun or daze them. The beasts are quick to recover but it seems that their protective ice sheets have been weakened as cracks visibly bloom over their surface as the beasts move to stand.
One of the beasts wastes no time and as soon as it stands on all fours, its limbs are coated with a layer of shimmering purple-colored energy as it dashes toward the Captain at breakneck speed. Before the beast could reach the Captain, a sizable object arcs through the air and lands on the charging beast's head with remarkable precision. The unexpected object proves to be the Oath of Judah, its weight combined with the force of impact immediately nails the beast's head into the ice, causing the rest of its bulky body to topple over as the oversized crucifix buries itself partway into the ice. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Captain focuses and manages to levitate the stunned beast a few feet off the ice; then, with a grunt of effort, sends it flying backward where Kallen engages with another of the beasts. She is almost flanked by one of the beasts as it stands on its hind legs and raises its massive right paw as it attempts to bring down all of its might on Kallen. Before the beast can set its intention in motion, it gets brutally knocked down as its kin crashes into it from a blind spot from the side.
As the battle between the remaining Honkai beasts and the two companions intensifies, the ice underneath their feet begins to weaken with each passing moment as neither side seems to care about holding back or limiting their strength. Each time the beasts slam their paws into the ice, the force of the shockwave travels through the depths of the frozen sheets coating the lake's surface, causing it to crack and weaken. These cracks are further widened and spread by the constant manipulation of the Captain's crimson-colored sphere that brings a chaotic change to the weight balance the ice has to support or tolerate before giving in.
By the time the two companions manage to down two of their foes, the ice begins to crack, and there's a deafening screech echoing through the area as the vessel begins to sink into the ice that's no longer able to sustain its weight.
Yawning faults bloom across the frozen lake's surface and water gushes out as the shifting ice beneath forces it upward. One such fault spreads quickly across the field cutting a path through the ensuing battle and separating the two companions. The beasts aren't bothered by this devastation and are directing all of their attention toward their foes.
Having no other alternative but to run for safety before the ice swallows them, Kallen is the first to run and shouts something that fails to sound over the cacophony of the ice sheets shattering and breaking apart. The Captain intends to run but after a few steps he realizes that Kallen doesn't have the Oath of Judah with her and that was what she probably shouted about. Looking back, the Captain sees the two beasts crossing the shifting ice and almost reaching him, beyond the beasts sinking into the ice is the Oath of Judah. Despite the worrying circumstances, the Captain calms his mind and manages to gather enough focus to manipulate the sphere.
The Oath of Judah starts to shake but the ice refuses to let it go. Worried that the beasts would reach him before he could free Kallen's weapon from the ice, the Captain has no other alternative but to forcefully rip it out.
Using the same motion he did back inside the vessel, the Captain swings his hands in an upward motion as if he were flipping over a table then the Oath of Judah is forcibly ripped out of the ice with two thick sheets of ice stuck to its surface. Remarkably, the oversized crucifix arcs through the air and lands somewhere far away but on Kallen's anticipated route, and hopefully, she could retrieve it before the ice swallows it.
Wasting no more time, the Captain runs for his dear life, barely catching up to Kallen who tries to make her way to him but the expanding faults are impossible to jump across. Even though the Captain can't see, Kallen's worried her companion won't be able to escape the beasts that are chasing him.
Kallen presses onward as fast as she can as she tries to reach the Oath of Judah and sees it balancing on the edge of a hole with water splashing over it. After she retrieves the Oath of Judah, Kallen pulls out a spear and readies a throw. She carefully follows the path of the beasts chasing the Captain and then tosses the spear upwards into the sky.
The spear then descends and stabs the ice, disappearing while causing a widening fault to spread. By some remarkable stroke of luck, the fault rapidly expands and speeds toward the beasts where it manages to catch up. The beast that was lagging is then swallowed up by the fault and disappears beneath a torrential burst of water that shoots up several feet.
The remaining beast continues its chase, managing to outrun the fault caused by Kallen, refusing to let its foe escape.
Forced by the weakening ice, Kallen begins to make her escape as the ice sheets underneath her feet are tilting at steep angles where her ice spurs barely manage to hold onto. As she struggles to escape while her back is burdened by the Oath of Judah, some of the sheets of ice suddenly flatten into a traversable surface and a path opens before her possibly leading to safety.
Using the sphere, the Captain manipulates the gravity around some of the ice sheets as he tries his best to aid Kallen in her escape, but each time the Captain does this to help his companion he has to slow down and risk either falling or getting caught by the beast that's too close for comfort.
The beast eventually catches up to the Captain and swipes its massive paw at him as soon as it believes it is in range. The forceful swipe throws the Captain off balance and rips the backpack off his person, sending it flying into the distance where it disappears into the shifting ice sheets. For a moment the Captain wants to change course and try to recover the backpack since it contains their precious rations but the shifting ice and the immediate threat force him to keep running forward.
The sizable sheet of ice the Captain is running on starts to tilt and crack under the weight of the beast chasing him.
Suddenly there are multiple faults opening up in the surface of the ice, the Captain narrowly misses jumping across to safety while the beast chasing him doesn't fare well as it slipped in a sudden opening in the ice. It tries to anchor itself to the ice using its claws and hoist itself out but the ice breaks underneath the weight of the beast and sends it plummeting into the depths of the lake.
When the Captain glances over his shoulder he sees the vessel tilting sideways as it begins to sink deeper into the ice. Soon the widening faults swallow the sizable vessel whole, sending it to the depths of the lake leaving behind nothing except loose slabs of ice and splashing water before it settles down entirely.
After reaching safety where the ice gives way to almost knee-deep snow, the two companions take a moment to catch their breath. In between ragged breaths, the Captain notices that the ice spurs on Kallen's boots are worn out, one of them is missing a few spikes on her left boot.