Genoverse I

Stake IV - The Blue Army

North Nation, the Arctic
The Arctic Forest, home of the Frost Army

Leginald pulled his fur coat tighter around his shoulders, shivering against the icy breeze that seemed to cut through him. He had only prepared for mild weather conditions, not an arctic storm in the middle of the night, so his supplies were stretching thinner by the hour, his boot sank into the snow with each step - the soft squelching of mud from the path guiding him onward.

Pulling the map of the Arctic out from a leather satchel, Legi ran his finger over the trail he was - he prayed - following to the fortress of the Frost Army, Nation's most powerful ground force. The Frost Army was an unusual group, the remaining race of what is called stick figures - of whatever gender nobody knew, they were a very isolated military.

"Can't be far from here..." Legi whispered, his breath becoming steam as soon as it left him. He unslung his rifle from his shoulder, gripping the bolt and forcing the cold mechanisms into barely working condition; the gun wouldn't last long in the cold. He tried cocking back the hammer on his pistol; no difference to the rifle.
With shaking hands, Legi put away the pistol, training his rifle as best he could, even with his gloves his fingers struggled to keep a sturdy grip on the wooden handle and foregrip.
"F**king surplus, these clothes don't do a thing..." he grumbled under his breath.

After what felt like an eternity of fighting through the blizzard, Legi and finally reached the city of the Frost Army Republic, a city that was built not out, but up (for reference it's on a thin mountain and all the buildings are slim and tall).

Two guards stood at the entrance, rifles in hands, like they needed them with the artillery guns around the base of the mountain. The guard to the left marched forward, her free hand outstretched.
"Papers." she commanded.
"Got 'em..." Legi replied, handing her a small book with all his national records.
The guard inspected it briefly before giving it back to him, waving him through the entrance.
"Enjoy your stay, sir." she said in her monotone voice.
Legi made his way through winding, steep streets, up to the central tower of the city - the hearth of the military leader.

The elevator slowed to a halt as it reached the top floor, he stepped out into the warmth of the room. A purple stick figure, dressed in the Frost Army's uniform, glanced up from a map spread out on a desk.
"Ah! Legi! Didn't freeze your ass off in the storm... quite fortunately..."
Legi smirked, taking his worn ushanka off and matting his hair back into place, "how's the weather up here, Onyx? Still storming daily, eh?"
Onyx laughed heartily - though he had no visible mouth - he stood up from his desk, "what would I do without you, mate? Looks like we have a couple more wars to win."
"I can't believe it's still going out there, the eastern front is the holocaust all over again."

Onyx nodded solemnly, "that's why half my paratroopers are out there, getting the boring but important chores done."
Onyx turned to the wall behind him, smoothing out the flag of the Frost Army.

"Nice flag." Legi remarked, running his fingers over the delicate cloth.
Onyx snorted, "ha! We got a flag before the god damned government, Frost Army's on a roll!"

A silence fell over the two, Legi was first to break it.
"So... yeah... how's life holding up?"
Onyx shrugged, slumping into his chair, "uhm... it's fine..." he waved a hand dismissively, "turns out one of the pilots is takin' a liking to me now-"
Legi cut him off, finding it impossible to hide his twisted smirk, "what's that? One of the pilots is on you?"
"She's not doing anything yet, it's not a big deal."
"Who said she isn't trying to catch your attention?" Legi teased, pushing Onyx's buttons.
Onyx slammed his hands on the desk, "f**k off!"

Legi sighed happily, clearly satisfied with this outcome. "Alright, I'll stay off your ass, if she ends up making a move you tell me. My life is nearing it's boring phase."
"Well, boring's out the window with this one, you're coming to war with me and my boys anyway!"

*****

Onyx, Legi, and the platoon charged through the autumn forests of the Eastern Front of Nation. Onyx had received word of an offshore enemy terrorising the area.
As the group slowed down at the edge of a cliff, Onyx spoke up.
"Alright, we redid parachute training last month, Calvin - you take lead."

A purple stick figure stepped forward - presumably Calvin - strapped his parachute bag firmly around his body and leapt off the cliff, deploying his 'chute halfway down.
Calvin's voice came out of Onyx's radio transmitter, "mic check? Coast's clear, Onyx!"
The others fastened their parachutes and jumped down, descending to the base of the cliff.

The platoon pushed onward.
"Alright, the town is up ahead. Legi, Cal, and Maylz, go to the north part and kill off the guys or whatever, do your thing." Onyx waved his hand at the last part.

Legi, Calvin and Maylz made their way up towards the north section of the town, mantling and clambering over fences and up stone walls, eventually reaching the town's hilltop church. Calvin gave the word to advance inside and Leginald and Maylz pushed open the double doors, M3 submachine guns at the ready.
"Who are we taking shots on?" Legi asked quietly.
Maylz, a red stick figure with a golden hammer and sickle clipped to his belt, answered, "anyone with grey or white trenchcoats." his voice carried a small hint of a Russian accent.

"Are you Russian?" Legi questioned out of nowhere.
Calvin closed the church doors behind him, "Maylz is our... Soviet themed soldier, hammer and sickle, red skin with gold eye colour... pretty much the USSR flag as a stick figure." he shrugged nonchalantly.
Leginald hummed slightly, "yeah... cool."

Legi continued, "we're awful calm about war."
"Because we don't lose," Maylz joked, "there's this kid in our ground force with a cannon for his right arm! He says he's twelve, but rumour has it he's a being sent from a higher power, so I think he's an immortal."

Calvin spoke up, "OI! Legi? Weren't you a sorcerer a couple days ago?"
Legi chuckled, "I gave up on mage stuff, never sat right with me, and to be honest it's only effective in GenoHell - and I'm not living there for eternity..."
"Ah, sorcerer to soldier?" Maylz sighed.
"Yep." Legi replied.

Meanwhile, in the south of the town, Onyx and his squad mates, Tom and Maverick, had started to get a few kills on the hostile soldiers. Maverick was finishing up an enemy while Tom had taken watch while Onyx started hacking into the enemy terminal.
Maverick laughed almost maniacally, "oh! I haven't had so much action for months!!"
Tom glanced at Onyx, "hey, what country are we against?"
Onyx didn't look away from the laptop screen, continuing to try to override the security coding, "apparently a country north of us, called Kijah, it's not all bad but some southern gangs have formed an army to try and take some land for their own."
"Aw yeah! More bloodshed s**t!" Maverick cheered.

Onyx's fingers tapped away furiously at the keyboard, keeping ahead of the security system, he plugged in a USB stick and began to attempt to transfer some documents onto it. After a few more minutes of typing, he made it past the security mainframe.
"Let's go!" he exclaimed happily, downloading all the files the USB would contain.

Tom's worried voice echoed inside the room as he kept his gaze fixed through his rifle scope.
"Uhh... Onyx?" he sounded nervous.
Onyx's raised eyebrows instantly fell, "what the hell is it?"
Tom grabbed Onyx's wrist, helping him up to see through the window.
Tom whispered, "are those..."
Onyx's eyes widened in horror as he saw them approaching.

"Tanks..."