Novia

The Bitter Cold Pt.1

"What?! How do you let something like that happen?!" the general yelled on the screen. She and the Director were still gone at some conference.

"I could have sworn I heard a voice." I replied. I couldn't have possibly just imagined that voice.

"Well why in the hell would they communicate with a simple soldier like you and not with your squad leader?" Then a hand came from the right side of the screen and pushed the general out of the way.

"Don't worry about it David."It was the director with a warm smile on her face," We were able to acquire a recording of the voice from your implant, so it was definitely real. Were analyzing all surveillance footage from the area and we have operatives searching for the terrorist and his accomplices. So don't worry about it. Good luck tomorrow."

"Thank you ma'am." I saluted and the transmission ended. The next morning we were on an N.F.S flagship headed towards Quedromia. Our uniforms were lined with a heavily insulated microfibers and hoods. They were camouflaged with a mixture of grey, white, and black; we also had goggles to protect our eyes from the intense light reflected off of the snow. Our guns were also camouflaged as well.

Once our drop ship was deployed and we landed on the icy planet. I could feel the bitter cold gnawing at my exposed flesh. My teammates seemed indifferent to the extreme cold. We met the Quedromian forces at their base of operations where we were to make a plan. The inside of the base camp was only a tad bit warmer due to the walls blocking the wind, but it still felt like a meat locker. Kalina Ryzhova was waiting at a large table with a holographic topographical map of the area.

"I'm glad you could make it," she said with a smile,"We've located their main settlement," She pointed to a valley north of our location, " If we take out their main source of supplies, then we should come to a peaceful resolution. The thing is that these natives should not be  capable of producing such firepower, It is apparent that they are being supplied by an outside force. What makes things worse is that they are a group of vicious fighters. We need your great abilities to suppress their violence.

We would need to send a large force to carry out the job, but these people know the land far better than us. It would take up to two days by foot. The wilderness is harsh and our forces have suffered many casualties from the weather and terrain alone. We would be spotted long before reaching the location and traps would be waiting for us. But the five of you would be harder to spot and much more efficient than our soldiers. As a bonus, you have a native who grew up in this area to guide you." Her eyes trailed over to Sheol.

"You're from here?" I asked.

"Yes." she replied.

'I should've expected that.' I thought. We loaded our gear onto a tracked transport vehicle. We sat quietly in the back as the engine hummed. After about thirty minutes the engine cut off. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"We are continuing on foot. The transport vehicle won't make it much farther in these conditions." Sheol answered as she opened the rear hatch and climbed out. I was not very enthusiastic about trekking through the snow and ice. It looked like a frozen wasteland. An enormous mountain loomed in the distance along with a deep blue ocean stretching out towards the horizon.

After about an hour of trudging through snow drifts and through fields of ice pillars we reached a ravine. While Seraph and Sheol tried to figure out a new route, I walked near the edge and peered over. It seemed like a canyon that was carved out by flowing water. I could see the mouth of a cave that seemed to go deeper underground. I started to become unstable when Zeal grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the edge and towards her. Her earthy scent was very pleasing to me and put me in some sort of trance.