Early the following morning, Corazon is on the bridge of the Sigwada, watching the long‑range scanners for the first signs of what she is looking for. Have patience: the Arctic Wastes are vast, and there's no guarantee we'll find the place quickly. However, the wildcat doesn't have to wait long: after just ten minutes of searching, the long‑range scanners pick up a promising sign. Already? Don't get excited: verify. Corazon taps on her console for a few moments, narrowing down the search area to get more detailed results. Definitely an artificial construction… Hard to tell, but it could be… Yes: it's a hull. Or something akin to.
Corazon taps in a few more commands, directing the Sigwada to fly directly towards the detected construction. As the airship gets closer, the scan results get more detailed, and Corazon's anticipation grows. This is definitely the ship described in those documents. Question is, are its systems still functional? One hundred years is a very long time in these conditions…
Half a mile away from the target, Corazon activates her radio. "Greasemonkey, are the diggers ready?"
"Y‑Y‑Yes, b‑b‑b‑boss," the tarsier confirms.
"I want them deployed the instant we land." Corazon shuts off the radio, then begins the landing sequence.
An hour later, Captain Kalaw's craft finally catches up to the Sigwada, but that's not at the forefront of the minds of the occupants. While Kalaw is in the cockpit, taking the craft in to land beside Corazon's stolen airship, Lilac and Carol are in the common room, arguing yet again.
"I am not going to apologise for my species!" Lilac snaps. "I didn't choose to be a dragon!"
"So, you have to give in to every primal urge?" Carol demands. "Is it really so difficult to keep your heropants on for a change?"
"Just admit you're jealous already," Lilac challenges.
"Don't insult me," Carol growls. "The only reason you get more is because you'll give it to any guy who so much as looks at you!"
"And you accuse me of being insulting!" Lilac growls back.
"If the blue boots fit!"
With the argument showing no signs of stopping, Milla has had enough, and heads to the cockpit to get away from it as much as she can.
"Ah, Milla," Kalaw greets as the hound shuffles up to the co‑pilot's seat. "I take it the secret's out."
"Yeah," Milla confirms.
"My apologies," Kalaw offers. "If I had known, I wouldn't have agreed to it."
"It's not your fault," Milla assures.
"We're about to land," Kalaw informs.
"Can you land roughly?" Milla asks. "It might stop them arguing long enough to remember why we're here."
"Can do."
Kalaw slams the craft into the ground as hard as he can without damaging the landing gear. Once the craft has settled, Milla and Kalaw head to the common room.
"Congratulations on the smooth landing," Carol snarls as Kalaw enters the room.
"If you two weren't arguing, I wouldn't have asked him to do it," Milla informs. "We have a mission to complete."
"Then let's not waste any more time," Lilac decides, striding out the room and towards the boarding ramp.
Carol stalks up to Kalaw. "Thanks for making this worse."
"I assure you, it wasn't my intention," Kalaw apologises. "If I had known, I would have refused."
"Just stay out of our way." Carol storms off after Lilac.
"You should probably stay on the craft," Milla suggests.
"I intend to," Kalaw agrees. "Good luck with Corazon."
"We'll need more than luck." Milla sighs, then departs to find her friends.
"How much longer is it going to take to get inside?" Corazon asks her greasemonkey, her patience wearing thin, yet showing no sign of being affected by the intense cold even though she's only wearing a black bodyglove.
"Almost d‑d‑done," the tarsier assures, continuing his attempts to hack into the door controls and break the electronic lock. "F‑F‑F‑Five m‑more m‑m‑minutes."
"It better‑" Corazon begins.
The door suddenly opens.
"M‑M‑Make th‑that s‑s‑s‑s‑s‑s‑seconds," the tarsier corrects.
Corazon doesn't reply, instead simply striding through the door and into the ancient half‑buried ship.
Milla is last to leave Kalaw's craft and is about to dash to catch up to her friends when the cold wind hits her, penetrating her clothes and fur without effort. Gasping in shock, she starts shivering in a vain attempt to keep warm. Wow, this is cold! How am I going to‑ I know! Milla closes her eyes and concentrates, and a few seconds later, she's surrounded by a faint green glow as she taps into her psychoergokinetic powers to warm herself up. Ah, that's better!
With the worst of the cold now kept at bay by the protective green glow, Milla dashes after her friends, who are doing their best to battle through the cold. Lilac is just about coping, but it's clear Carol is suffering badly, especially since she's wearing only a crop top and shorts that offer almost no protection at all from the elements.
"Come on Lilac, I'm freezing my tail off!" Carol pleads, starting to get desperate for Lilac's karategi jacket.
"Your fur is thicker than mine," Lilac argues.
"My winter coat, yes," Carol reminds. "But this is still my summer coat, and it's too thin for these conditions."
With a sigh, Lilac finally relents. "Fine, take it," she grumbles as she removes the garment and hands it to Carol.
Carol puts it on as quick as she can. "It's not helping much," she complains.
"Tough," Lilac dismisses.
Ugh… "The sooner we get inside… whatever it is we're going to get inside of, the sooner we can all warm up," Milla assures. "Come on!" she encourages, taking the lead. "This way!"
"She can follow a scent in this weather‽" Carol exclaims, surprised.
"Evidently," Lilac acknowledges. "Also, was she glowing slightly?"
"Huh," Carol remarks. "She can use her powers to keep herself warm."
"I wish I could do the same."
"Have you tried Dragon Boosting without actually going anywhere?"
"Doesn't work that way."
"Can you be certain?"
Lilac thinks a moment. Worth a shot. She curls up and charges a Dragon Boost, then tries to unleash the energy as warmth, but fails and shoots forwards at top speed instead.
"I guess she can be certain," Carol shrugs, accelerating to catch up.
An hour later, the rebranded Kasai shuttlecraft locates the Sigwada, Kalaw's craft parked alongside.
"Tufty?" Tai calls, looking out the cockpit window at the two vessels. "Do you know whose aircraft is parked alongside the Sigwada?"
Maria jogs into the cockpit, straightens her dress, and looks out of the window. "No, but Team Lilac are probably ahead of us, so I'd guess it's one of Shang Mu's."
"I don't want to get in their way," Tai admits.
"We won't," Maria assures. "We can actually use it to our advantage: Corazon will be so focussed on Team Lilac, she won't even be thinking about us. After all, she beat both of us badly without even breaking a sweat."
"That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."
"By the time Corazon knows we're here, it'll be too late."
"Sneaky kitties?"
"Sneaky kitties. Want to land while I get our stuff?"
"Sure."
Unknown to Maria and Tai, Captain Kalaw is monitoring the skies for approaching vessels, and has detected their shuttlecraft. Curious, he opens a radio link to Corazon.
"What?" Corazon barks. "I'm busy."
"A shuttlecraft has just arrived," Kalaw informs.
"Markings?"
"There's traces of the Jade Alliance's Kasai‑dojo, but it's clearly been converted to use by the Red Scarves."
It's probably that lynx and leopard having another go. Disappointingly predictable. "Kill everyone on board that shuttle." Corazon shuts off the radio.
"Remind me to ask for a pay rise," Kalaw comments to himself as he watches the shuttlecraft land behind a large ice boulder.
A few minutes later, Kalaw disembarks from his craft and battles through the fierce wind to where the shuttlecraft landed. Drawing his compact pistol, he tries to remain out of sight of the cockpit as he searches for a way inside. And it's only a matter of seconds before he finds the open side hatch.
Once on board, Kalaw makes quick work of searching the shuttle, only to find absolutely no sign of either the lynx or the leopard. Oh well. Can't kill them if they're not here.
From their vantage point on top of the boulder, Maria and Tai watch as Kalaw retreats from their shuttle and returns to his own craft.
"So much for the element of surprise," Tai sighs, huddled with Maria for warmth.
"No point turning back now," Maria replies.
"True."
Together, the felines leap off the boulder, land and roll gracefully in the snow, then sprint towards the ancient half‑buried ship.