A/N: Eh, it's just something I got an idea for. My other fic in the Fire Emblem section I'm currently running out of ideas for. So yeah, here you go. Keep in mind that yes, I did watch Gundam Seed recently, and the idea just popped into my head. Well, anyways, hope everyone enjoys this. It is set in the middle of Fall of Reach
Icy Dreams
1400 hours, July 25, 2552
Unmarked Pelican Dropship
Lieutenant Alice Connor fiddled nervously with a dismantled Assault Rifle in her lap as she felt the pelican lurch. Outside, high-speed winds rammed the drop ship, forcing the pilot to struggle to keep the craft from getting blown off course.
Connor sighed and brushed a strand of light blonde hair out of her blue eyes and gazed out the view port. She could make out the white snow crystals being tossed about haphazardly in the high winds. Since the pilot made no indication prior to takeoff as to where her destination would be, she assumed she was somewhere in Alaska or Greenland.
"Hey Pilot, where are we?" Connor asked for what seemed like the fiftieth time, and for the fiftieth time, the pilot gave her a noncommittal wave and insisted that he was a mere pelican pilot, fed coordinates and nothing else. Alice sighed and went back to playing with her rifle.
Alice survived the battle at Sigma Octanus IV by what she would call pure luck. After being picked up by a UNSC spaceship, she was immediately transferred. One week later, she was stuck on an unmarked pelican ship, alone headed for God knows where. Alice's tactical skill on the battlefield was top notch. She graduated from Reach's Marine Academy with high honors and soon proved herself in many small skirmishes. At the tender age of 29, she's more respected by the small amount of soldiers under her command than older men are, but she was never noticed. Only after Sigma Octanus IV did a superior officer notice her tactics in battle and had her promoted, and then reassigned. The only piece of information Alice got before she was shipped off was that her new post was "critical to the survival of mankind." Alice Connor had no idea why her being stuck in a frozen wasteland was critical to the survival of mankind, but she was still a soldier. She didn't complain much, and she quietly boarded an earthbound shuttle.
Finally, the Pelican slowed down and began to descend. Alice slid into the copilot seat and strapped herself in, looking out the windshield, trying to find the UNSC Alaska or Greenland bases. She was shocked to find the pelican heading towards a patch of clean snow surrounded on all sides by tall mountains and plateaus. Around the mountains, fast winds that looked suspiciously like katabatics blew tore at the snowy landscape. Alice stared at the barren land, wondering if her pilot had gone insane or if something was wrong with the pelican.
"Is something wrong with the pelican?" Alice asked.
The pilot turned and looked at her oddly. "No, we're here. Look."
Alice turned back towards the ground and watched. Moments later, she nearly jumped out of her skin as the ground literally opened up, revealing a deep metal shaft. Multiple blast doors opened in succession as the pilot skillfully maneuvered the pelican into the shaft towards a distant landing pad deep in the ground. As the pelican passed each level, the blast doors would close, shielding the inside from the snow outside. Pretty soon, the pelican had touched down and the pilot had turned around and stood up. Alice packed away her rifle and did the same.
"So…you finally gonna to tell me where we are? Because I know you know exactly what this place is." She said sharply, narrowing her eyes at the pilot.
The pilot chuckled, and took off his helmet, revealing a gray streak tuff of black hair. The man looked in his late forties, and had an empty hallowed look in his dark eyes.
"I see the military were right in reassigning you here." The man said.
"Cut the crap…where am I?" Alice snapped, her patience at an end.
"You my dear, are in Antarctica." The man said narrowing his eyes. "In the secret UNSC Antarctic base."
Alice paled. "Ant…Antarctica!"
"Yes…" The man continued. "I'm Colonel J.P. Sanders, you can just call me Sanders if you want. I'd like to welcome you to Antarctica."
Alice paled even more. "Colonel!" She snapped to attention. "Excuse me for my insolence."
Sanders waved her off. "Forget it girlie. Everyone here's relaxed. If you act any stiffer you won't last a week here. Take a load off, the enemy won't care how well you can salute."
"Sir." Alice said, relaxing.
Sanders stripped off his pilot suit and donned a fur coat from one of the storage closets in the Pelican. He grabbed a second one and handed it to Alice.
"We may be 10 miles underground, but it's still freezing outside. Don't catch a cold."
Alice nodded and donned the coat, pulling her bag closer to her as Sanders lowered the entrance ramp. A blast of cold wind hit Alice as she walked onto the spacious hanger.
"So…what is this place?" Alice asked as she and Sanders headed across the pad towards a large door marked "Terminal."
"This is a secret base established a while ago. Not many people know about it, but if the covenant wants to glass the planet, this is the place to be. Unfortunately, we're also woefully undersupplied. The food here tastes like shit, and we have almost no ammunition."
Alice paled for the third time in ten minutes. "What happens if we're attacked?"
"We've got until the bastards blast through 10 kilometers of blast shielding to find a way to stop them. Otherwise, we self destruct." Sanders said. "I'll tell you more later, first we gotta get you to your quarters."
Sanders lead Alice through a series of hallways until he finally reached a little cul-de-sac like area. He yelled out several names in succession, and soon five sleepy looking guys hobbled out of their doors.
"Did you finally bring the KFC Colonel?" A blonde haired young man said from the first door on the right.
Sanders sighed and smacked the boy upside the head.
"Ow! Hey! I'm just hungry okay? God if the UNSC ever gets smart, they would send the food they serve here to the covenant. Maybe then this bloody war would finally end."
Sanders glared at the man, making him fall silent, but Alice could tell that the colonel was smiling at the edge of his mouth.
"Anyways, I've picked up the new recruit from HQ today." Sanders announced. "Make sure she's comfortable. We'll have a meeting later today. Now that the entire team is assembled, I'll finally get around to telling you why you've been dragged from your UNSC posts to the middle of this penguin hole."
"Finally!" A brown haired man, similar in age to the first man said. He turned towards the blonde haired guy and they exchanged cheered looks. Sanders cleared his throat and caught everyone's attention again.
"Now, without further ado, I introduce Ms. Lieutanent Alice Connor from the Sigma Octanus IV battle group."
All the guys finally looked at Alice, who at the mention of her name, dropped her hood and stepped forward. She felt uncomfortable as every jaw in the room dropped and every eye trained onto her as if she were a foreign object.
"What?" She asked nerviously. "Haven't you ever seen a girl before?"
Sanders walked up to her and whispered in her ear. "Err…actually no…. you're the first and only female personnel posted here."
Alice blushed despite herself as an uneasy feeling began to overtake her.
Sanders glared out into the group of men again. "Where are your manners? Introduce yourselves!"
The men quickly composed themselves. The first one on the right stepped forward. He was a black haired Asian man, medium height. His eyes shone intelligently.
"Lieutenant Jay Lee, pleased to meet you Lieutenant Connor."
Alice nodded and shook his hand. The next man then walked up to her. He had brown hair and was tall and lanky. His hands twitched uncontrollably as he nearly crushed Alice's delicate fingers.
"Master Sergeant Joseph Zacharias."
"Pleased to meet you." Alice said wincing as she extricated her fingers from the man's grip. She turned towards the third man, a tall blonde fellow with a very muscular build and thick glasses.
"Lieutenant Johannes Klemp."
"Lieutenant." Alice shook his hand and nodded politely. She finally turned to the last two: the blonde and the brown haired duo. She couldn't help notice the smirk on the blonde one.
'Oh god no…' She pleaded as she held out her hand.
"Lieutenant Peter O'Brien" The brown haired one said. He had playful green eyes and looked like one of those pranksters Alice tangled with at the Academy. She shook his hand cautiously and nodded curtly, before getting away as fast as she could, only to meet face to face with the smirking blonde.
"Captain Kevin Sain Rilley. It's a pleasure Lieutenant." His blue eyes twinkled mischeviously, "And if you're not doing anything later…"
Sanders decided to step in and steered a grateful Alice away from the Captain. Her head was still spinning. Three of the men seemed decent, but the last two were trouble. To make matters worse, the blonde pervert that just flirted with her outranked her. She wondered what the military was smoking when they promoted that piece of travesty.
As Sanders saved Alice from Kevin's advances, Peter nudged his friend and laughed silently at his misfortunes. Kevin just sighed and put his hands up, chuckling. They waited for the colonel to show Alice her room, situated between Peter and Klemp's rooms before snapping to attention as the Colonel walked into a more prominent position and faced the team.
"At 1800 hours tonight, there will be a briefing in the main conference room. All of you are expected to be there… on time." His eyes glanced over at Rilley and O'Brien. "You will be learning everything then. Until that time, feel free to wonder, but don't touch anything dangerous, don't set off any alarms, and please show Ms. Connor around the base. Captain Rilley, I expect you'll be doing all you can to make our guest feel…welcome."
Rilley shuddered at the Colonel's gaze and nodded, snapping into attention. "Yes sir!"
"Good." Sanders said returning the salute. "That is all, dismissed."
He turned on his heel and walked briskly out. As soon as Sanders left, everyone turned and walked right back into their respective rooms, leaving Alice outside alone by herself. She sighed and decided to go unpack, wondering what she did to deserve a post with five perverted men no more than two or three years older than she was in the middle of the Antarctic.
Little did she know how much worse it was about to get as 6 PM Military Standard Time rolled by and she followed the rest of the her group towards the conference room.
A/N: Ehh…somewhat forced at points…but it gets the idea across. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.