"COME ON, WE HAVE TO GET OUT HERE!"
"RYDER? HOW ARE THE REINDEERS!?"
"All tied up and ready to go! Are you su-"
"YES I AM SURE! Only the essentials! Leave everything else!"
"Aw man!"
"Elsa, what is happening? All you've said is that something bad is coming to the forest and Arendelle! We've been free for a month and now we have to leave?" Honeymaren pleaded for more information from the fifth spirit, who was currently helping another pack up their necessities.
"Trust me Honeymaren, this is for your own good. The people who are coming, they are nothing like you've seen." Elsa exasperated as she then helped the other Northuldran tie the bag to a reindeer.
"Thank you Elsa." The Northuldran thanked Elsa, who returning a nod.
"Yeah but-"
"It's not even something Arendelle or I have ever faced." Elsa quickly interrupted Honeymaren as she got close to emphasize the threat at hand. "These people, they will kill any and everybody who gets in their way, without mercy." Her eyes, wide pleading, as she started to swell up in emotions. "I just witnessed a man die… I've never thought I'd ever see a man die with my own eyes… and without remorse…"
"Hey, hey Elsa… it's okay. It's okay." Honeymaren said as she gently wrapped a comforting arm around Elsa. She didn't really know what to say. She can't relate to something like that at all. She has experienced loss before; the forest before Elsa arrived was dangerous. But never has she ever seen someone die in front of her.
Elsa looked back up at Honeymaren. "Listen, the killer, the man that I saw murder someone in front of me, is coming right here. And I'm sure that he won't be alone. You have to hurry up! There isn't much time! They could be arriving at any minute right now!"
"Well that's too bad." Another voice joined their conversation. Yelana was walking towards them, her usual strict frown ever present. "Cause we can leave at any second."
"That's my cue." Honeymaren said as she quickly ran to the adjacent reindeer next to her brother. She looked back to Elsa. "Stay safe and be quick, if what you say is true…"
"You don't need to remind me." Elsa grimly said the water Nokk summoned next to her.
"Elsa, what of the other Spirits?" Yelana asked as she got on a sled with some other children.
"They're escaping their own ways, best not to stick together if they manage to get us."
The ground shook beneath their feet. Elsa had to calm herself, it wasn't the sound of explosions, no. A couple earth giants were marching towards the river bank where they usually slept.
"How about them?" Yelana asked, shouting over the loud stomps of the giants.
"Some volunteered to stay and fight, keep them off you and the other spirits. From what I saw, they're planting themselves by the river, ready to ambush. They're stubborn!" Elsa desperately wanted them to go, go anywhere but the forest. She didn't want anyone or any Spirit risking their wellbeing for her and frankly anyone. She felt like she was abandoning them.
"Thank the Spirits." Yelana said as she watched the earth giants prepare for the upcoming attack. She looked back at Elsa. "What are you doing? Go to Arendelle! NOW!"
Elsa looked back at Yelana. Without another word, she mounted the water Nokk, and made her way to Arendelle.
Empty.
The village was empty. But only recently evacuated, there were several indicators that revealed a great rush.
A figure walked towards the centre of a recently vacated village. She had a red leather jacket, blue jeans, a familiar holster behind her back, and a signature .45 Defender on said holster. It was none other than Chloe Frazer. The Indian-Australian treasure hunter crouched down, to pick up a strange item. It was a toy, made out of ice, and solidified into the image of a certain famous Disney snowman.
"This job couldn't get any weirder." She simply said, examining it further.
Footsteps, coming from behind her. It wasn't a threat of any kind, this job wasn't one she was doing alone, quite the opposite actually. She turned to look at the young man that was now next to her. He's wearing a grey zip-up hoodie with black stripes running horizontally, tan cargo pants and a thigh holster. Rian Jayce.
Rian looked down to her, noticing the toy in her hand. "Can I see that?" Chloe nodded and handed him the ice toy.
She only met him yesterday, when she arrived in politically unstable Norway with Nadine. Cutter was there before them, and the trio were hired by Stalheimer for a certain 'expedition'. An expedition with more guns, helicopters and tanks than Lazarevic's private army. Although details were too vague for her standards, she couldn't say no.
"What's this?" Stalheimer yanked the toy from Rian's grasp. He didn't examine the toy for too long before he violently crushed the toy into nothing but cold slush. "Stop playing around and get back to work, especially you boy. Or else a second shot to the head will serve as a double tap." Stalheimer said as he roughly bumped into the young man's shoulder, while simultaneously walking away. Rian's glare could put Superman's laser eyes to shame.
So why did Chloe accept this particular job? Nadine owed a lot of money to this guy. Their little adventure a month ago in India was not only supposed to put Shoreline back in business, but to also pay off this other mercenary warlord. On top of that, their escapade in India was also supposed to pay well. But Chloe's change of heart wasn't exactly profitable at the end of the day. So they needed the money as well.
"Don't let him get to you. He's just another greedy asshole with a lot of money. There's a lot more like him in my line of work." Chloe reassured Rian with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"He already got to me, just read the headlines from around the world.'' He raised a hand up, preparing to place each word in open air to emphasize the title. "Rian Jayce, the soldier who murdered his whole squad. 'Cause of him, I've been on the run from other SpecOps and opportunistic mercenaries. All the while I was also chasing the son of a bitch who ruined me." He paused, anger seeping into his tone. "And to top of it all off, now I'm forced to work with him to get my life back, ironic right?" He audibly scoffs. "My squad would be rolling in their graves right now. Only if I had a wire while he confessed it all."
"Wouldn't make much of a difference though." Two people were walking up to the soldier and thief. One of them being the former mercenary herself, Nadine Ross, former head of Shoreline, now turned treasure hunter. "He would've been pardoned by Lars, then any evidence you turn up would be seen as fabricated. Lars and Joseph have friends in very high places."
"Charming fellow though." The other person said. It was none other than Charlie Cutter, another fellow treasure hunter and friend of Chloe Frazer. "He's like your classic cartoon villain, we don't have a lot of those around you know. Makes him a multinational treasure."
Chloe scoffed. "Only if we can treat him like any other treasure we've ever come across. All we need to know is how we're getting his valuable ass out of here."
"We're treasure hunters, not bounty hunters. If I were a bounty hunter, I'd have baby Yoda beside me right now." Cutter said as he left the two women to stand next to a clearly concerned looking Rian. "Everything alright there Jayce?"
"Fine."
"Grumpy much?"
"You heard my rant."
"Working with the villain isn't as bad as you think. I mean, I was undercover once with someone who was after a treasure I wanted. Was a bit of fun playing the bad guy, not gonna lie." Rian only raised an incredulous eyebrow. "I know your circumstance is different, but have some fun in it. It'll all be over at the end, then you get your life back."
"I'm hopeful, but part of me doubts it."
"Expecting a knife in the back?"
"Better than being on the run for the rest of my life." Rian shook his head as he looked back at where they came from. Ahtohallan is what that glacier ice they came out of was called. After months of recovering, planning and action, there were still so many unknowns. One of them being the circumstances in that cave, the two prisoners, that whole hallucination with Elsa. It was strange, and yet now, they were here. He planned to watch Frozen 2 to see if he can get some answers, but right now… Just one job, and he gets his life back, hopefully.
"Have a clue where we are?" Charlie broke the silence between them. "I mean, Chloe's been to a few places, but I'm sure this beats everything." He looked around the area, and it was, for the lack of a better term, magical. Arriving in Norway, he didn't think that going through a tunnel, then an underground river would lead them… here. "You'd think satellite imagery would pick up this place."
"Yeah…" It was surreal, this place shouldn't exist, the way in didn't even make sense.
"Trust me boys, Shambala's entrance didn't make any sense either. Don't bother trying to question it." Chloe said as she and Nadine caught up with them. The Indo-Australian looked around, and was also mesmerized by where she was. "But yeah, Cutter wasn't wrong, this place is a whole 'nother level."
Looking back at Ahtohallan, now with black smoke rising off the glacier. It was strange, seeing it for the first time enraptured him. It's natural, smooth and sleek surfaces. It was a sight to truly behold. Looking at it now, it was anything but that.
There was now a sizable hole right in the middle of Ahtohallan. They blew it open to make room for some infrastructure work. They also blew it open for one other reason, air dominance. Rian saw them before he heard them, and he wasn't the only one. As everyone turned to hear the same thing.
"As the yanks always say, the cavalry's here!" Cutter exclaimed as he slapped Rian's back.
A single Huey escorted by three Little Birds landed close to them, on the field bordering the treeline to the village. A Russian Hind was still hovering above them, circling like a vulture. As if on cue, a convoy of vehicles arrived from Ahtohallen. The vehicles ranged from the standard jeeps, armoured cars, cargo trucks, all the way to snow mobiles, and a few IFVs. It wasn't hard to notice the discomfort coming from the treasure hunters, especially Chloe.
Stalheimer's right hand man, a mercenary that Rian didn't know, approached the warlord himself. "Sir, we've only managed to squeeze five helos, and about twenty percent of our expeditionary convoy through."
"That'll have to do then, tell them to get moving, we have to be quick." Stalheimer responded. He then looked at the group of treasure hunters, and approached the group. "Listen up, all of you are coming with me in the helicopter. We have to be quick."
Stalheimer was about to board the helicopter before Chloe spoke up. "What's with the rush? I thought this was an expedition, shouldn't we look around or something?"
Stalheimer looked dead at her in the eye. "This isn't the area that we're prioritizing." That was all he said before boarding the helicopter. Chloe looked around her group, hopefully searching for any clarification. But Nadine just shrugged, and entered the helicopter.
"We're all just as confused as you Frazer. Lets just hop on, the pay's enough to set us up for life." Cutter simply said before following Nadine.
Chloe then looked at Rian, who was about to walk past her and to the helicopter before she asked. "You know something, don't you?"
Rian stopped to look at her. "What?"
"Don't play dumb with me. Ever since I met you-"
"Which was yesterday." Rian interrupted.
"Yeah, you've been strangely distant. Like you're constantly thinking about something." Chloe finished.
Rian pondered what she said. "Distant and constantly thinking?"
"Yeah, what's on your mind?"
Rian paused at the question. With what he remembered during that fateful day, he still wasn't quite sure of what he saw or knew. Sure he saw things, but it made him more confused than the treasure hunters are at the moment.
"I'm not even sure what I'm thinking about. But if I told you now, you wouldn't believe me." He responded.
"Try me, I've already seen a lot. Believe me." Chloe challenged Rian. But before Rian could reply, they were interrupted.
"GET IN, WE ARE IN A HURRY!" Stalheimer exclaimed, even over the sound of the helicopter. The duo quickly followed his instructions and got in. The helicopter took off, and started it way through a fiord.
Rian tapped on Chloe's arm, getting her attention. "What I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted. If what I'm thinking about turns out to be true, it'll be better for you to see it for yourself."
"See what?"
"A kingdom."
Arendelle.
A small yet noteworthy kingdom. Due to its location, it's a trade hub and a stop for anything in Northern Europe. A bustling town, full of culture, and known for its polite inhabitants. But it is now full of panic, confusion, and fear.
"EVERYONE TO THE SHIPS, NOW!"
Every Arendellian was trying to pack up everything they needed for their unexpected evacuation to their nearest ally, the Kingdom of Corona. Parents with their kids and elders, all lined up near the docks, awaiting for ships to accept them in. Guards keeping order, making sure ships weren't too full and too heavy to set sail. Babies crying, people panicking, it was utter chaos. No one knew why, all they knew was that something was coming to Arendelle, something dangerous. Dangerous enough to get the Fifth spirit trembling.
"Elsa, who is coming here? We can't just run away from a fight, we have to make a stand." Anna said as she went down the steps, coming from the castle. She accompanied a worried Elsa, with them both looking out into the castle courtyard, seeing guards busying themselves with setting the animals free.
"No Anna, listen. These people are nothing like we've ever faced." Elsa explained as she watched Kristoff trying to send Sven off into the wild. On Sven's back, a scared and confused Olaf sat like a vulnerable child.
"Arendelle is not a stranger to war, Elsa. We have soldiers, we have to fight." Anna argued back.
"Anna, they have guns-"
"We have guns too Elsa! And we have men who are trained to use them!" Anna interrupted Elsa. It was clear that out of everyone in Arendelle, Anna was the most emotional. She was only Queen for two weeks, and that month alone was enough to overwhelm someone who wasn't tutored from birth to become Queen.
"Listen!" Elsa said sternly, sounding like the Queen Anna knew her sister was. "These invaders, their guns aren't like ours. They can shoot a number of times before they can reload. We're-" Elsa struggled with what she remembered and saw. The soldiers had advanced automatic weaponry, skills meant to kill. Combat without honour. They stood no chance. "We're primitive to them. A single squad of theirs, can wipe out our entire guard!" Elsa finished. Anna was at a loss of words. If what her sister said was true, then…
"GO ON, SVEN GO! GO TO GRAND PABBIE!" Kristoff desperately yelled back at a shaking Sven. The reindeer answered back with panicked moos and grunts.
"I have to stay with Anna, you and Olaf have to tell the Trolls about what's potentially coming for them too!" Kistoff responded. Once again Sven worriedly answered back. This time, Olaf decided to enter the conversation.
"What about you guys? Once we tell them what's happening, we come back, right?" Olaf said in a timid manner.
Kristoff was about to answer, but Anna decided to inform the snowman and reindeer duo. "No Olaf, you'll be safer with them then you'll be with us."
"But-"
"No buts Olaf. Please, if anything happened to my friends, I wouldn't know what to do." Anna begged for Olaf to understand.
"Neither would we." Olaf tearfully said.
Anna couldn't contain her tears, as Elsa walked up next to them. "Olaf, please, you have an important duty. I know you're scared, we are too. Once this is all over, we can play charades the entire day." Elsa gave a small smile to the snowman, hopefully giving enough incentive for them to go.
"But I want to stay here with all you!" Olaf continued to insist like a child. Elsa didn't want to scold the snowman, it's the last thing she wants to do to an already frightened childlike snowman.
"Olaf-" But before Elsa could say anymore, they all paused. As a matter of fact, it sounded like the entire kingdom paused, as no sound erupted from the busy docks. No sound, except the one that made everyone pause.
A strange, distant noise that sounded like someone continuously swinging a massive sword in the air. It's a sound no one recognized, it was unique, and it certainly felt like that sound alone, would be enough to assert dominance. It kept going on, and scarily enough, it grew louder. Growing nervous, Elsa climbed a nearby guard tower, to find out where the sound was emanating from. She determined that it came from deeper within the fiord. Elsa's eyes grew wide, it was the same Fiord she came to Arendelle from, the Fiord leading to the enchanted forest.
Using her magic, Elsa created an icy spyglass, and used it to look at the Fiord. Nothing was coming from the waters, but the sound itself wasn't emanating from the water, but above it. Raising her spyglass a little higher, she saw them.
Five flying... things? She didn't know what those things were. But in them were the invaders. They were heading this way!
"Oh no…" Elsa was at a loss of words. They weren't nearly completed in their evacuation. Then she remembered Olaf. She looked back at her family. "KRISTOFF!" She yelled, hoping he understood why she called out to him.
Luckily, he did. "Sven, go NOW!" Kristoff demanded this time. A startled Sven got the meaning, and galloped through the gates, carrying a snowman crying out for the sisters and the ice harvester.
Kristoff looked off at the duo, fear plastered on his face. "Be careful out there." He muttered to himself. He then felt a presence next to him.
Anna held onto his arm, her head leaning onto his shoulder. "They'll be okay. I'm sure of it."
"Your majesty, orders?" General Mattias saluted to Anna.
The Queen didn't bother to remove herself from Kristoff, and looked at him. "Get your men to their battle stations! We have to defend our people until the evacuation is complete, understood?"
"Yes your majesty!" Mattias nodded and ran off as Elsa approached the two.
"Is it the invaders?" Anna asked her sister. Elsa gave her a grim nod. The Queen sighed, the stress was getting to her, and the presence of her family wasn't even enough to soothe her. "Help me defend Arendelle?" Anna asked her sister.
To which Elsa placed her hands on Anna's shoulders. "I'll help you defend our home." She smiled.
Anna couldn't help but smile back.
"Holy shit." Was the very appropriate response that Cutter gave when he saw their destination.
"Is that what I think it is?" Chloe muttered. Her face matched that of Charlie's and Nadine's expressions of complete shock.
Rian looked outside the helicopter as it did circles around Arendelle. The people down on the ground were just as surprised and shocked as they were. Then he spotted the 'VIPs' as Stalhiemer called them. They stood next to each other, close to the castle's gates, eyeing the helicopters and the people in them. It was so surreal to Rian, seeing fictional characters not brought to life, but alive in the first place.
"Rian!" He was shaken from his musings by Chloe, who was critically eyeing him. "Is this what you were talking about?"
He nodded. "Lets just say I had a close encounter."
"All units weapons free, open fire!"
Wide eyed, the treasure hunters looked at the Norwegian mercenary. "WHAT!?"
On cue, the Hind and the armed little birds with miniguns and missile pods began to open fire on the small Kingdom. Impacting the guard towers and positions, explosions rocked the settlement, and people began to truly panic down below. The automatic fire of the helicopters and their occupants was proving to be a challenge for the small kingdom. The Arendellian guard only had muzzle-loaded munitions, which can only do so much against modern helicopters.
Nadine gripped Stalhiemer's shoulder. "What do you think you're doing!? I didn't sign up for this shit!"
"Then maybe you shouldn't have owed me money." He snapped back, before turning back his focus on the siege of Arendelle. "How long until the convoy's here?"
"Five minutes out sir." One of his radio operators said.
"Good, begin landing our guys down there. Round up the civilians and…" He glanced back at Nadine. Even though she was working for him, he still needed their expertise. It wouldn't do him any good if he fell into their bad graces, plus he didn't want to piss them off too much. "...also round up the surrendering soldiers."
The radio operator sighed. "You're the boss." But then a loud crash was heard over Arendelle's airspace. Everyone looked over to see what had happened.
One of the little birds was hit by a massive icicle. It pierced the helicopter's fuselage and was twirling down towards the bay that Arendelle surrounded.
"They're picking up a good fight Stalh, maybe you should reconsider." Rian taunted.
But the mercenary sneered. "Didn't know you wanted to die that badly Rian. Plus, they're not fighting good enough."
"Forget the belongings! Just get everyone on the ships now!" Anna yelled out as explosions and gunfire still rained all around the once peaceful Kingdom.
"Your Majesty! You need to board one of those ships as well!" A guard pleaded with the new Queen.
But Anna shook her head. "I'm not leaving my people behind, I'll gladly be the last one to leave as long as my people are safe!" She sternly retorted. She looked around the chaos enveloping around her. Guards shot the flying machines, but their enemies were clearly too powerful. And now, she just got reports from surviving guardsmen that those flying machines are dropping soldiers off in the streets of Arendelle. But even worse, more reinforcements were coming down from the path to the Enchanted Forest. They didn't stand a chance.
Anna ran around the Castle's courtyard, searching for the one individual who can mitigate the losses of her soldiers. "Elsa!" She calls out, seeing the fifth spirit hurling icicles into the sky. She already shot one of those flying machines down, but the others were now being more cautious.
The former Queen heard her name being called. "Anna! You need to get on one of those ships now!"
"Not until my people are safely onboard!"
"Ann-"
"No! I'm not leaving my people!" The new Queen snapped back. Elsa understood why, and if she was in Anna's shoes, she would've made the same call. But it was her sister's life on the line, she didn't want to lose one of her only family members left. But that didn't mean Elsa was very frustrated with her younger sister at the moment. "Listen, we can't stand up to this. More are coming, and we won't survive!"
She was right. "Then what do we do!?" Elsa said as she hurled another icicle in the sky, just barely missing the larger flying machine. She then grabbed her sister's arm, and pulled her into some cover beneath the Castle's gate.
"We need to find General Mattias. Order what's left of the guard to retreat into the forest, and make sure they make their way to regroup with the Northuldra." Anna explained with defeat in her tone.
"We surrender?" Elsa's eyes were wide. She was prepared to fight, not to surrender.
"Live to fight another day. I don't like it, but we have to."
Elsa nodded defeatingly. A part of her was proud of the woman her sister had become, the perfect Queen of Arendelle. Gone were the days when she crashed her bike into the suit of armour, well… not completely gone but Anna has matured. Elsa allowed a small smile before she ran out to the courtyard, trying to find the one man who was in charge of Arendelle's forces.
Anna too walked out of their cover, then grabbed a nearby piece of white yet slightly burnt cloth, and started waving it towards the flying machines.
The streets of Arendelle. Littered with rubble, belongings, and patches of fires. Military vehicles were scattered around the kingdom, from jeeps to IFVs. Helicopters were doing flybys from above, searching for any holdouts. Soldiers on every street, intersection and some alleyways. Patrolling, searching, taking advantage of the scattered loot and precious belongings in the houses and streets. Arendelle's inhabitants corralled like animals towards the docks, where they were forced into boats sailing for an allied Kingdom. All except for the children and surviving Guards, as Stalheimer wanted leverage to use just in case.
The sounds of distant cries, both in pain and sorrow. Children crying for their parents, and Guards crying for their sustained injuries. It wasn't anything new for Rian, he'd seen this all before. In his deployment to India almost seven months ago. But now, instead of feeling like a hero, he knew he was the villain here. He was part of their pain, and he hated it.
"I didn't sign up for this shit." Nadine muttered, looking at the carnage before her. She was used to sights like these as well, in her days with Shoreline. From wars across the world, all of it for a payday. Yet now as herself, not a soldier for Shoreline, she already realized how cruel conflicts like these were. But it was sights like these that made her wonder if the money was actually worth it. She shook her head, ever since joining up with Chloe, she saw the humanity. Funny, Chloe was just like her long ago, now, she was looking like the Drakes.
The three treasure hunters and former soldier walked the streets of a ruined Arendelle. Taking in what used to be a beautiful and vibrant Kingdom, now ruined... partly because of them.
"Neither am I. Of all the people you owed money to, it just had to be him." Chloe sighed. She had enough of this when she worked with Lazarevic. Her time with Nate, and her adventure in India certainly shone a light, and she immediately understood Nate's heroics. It apparently rubbed off on her, and then showed itself when she was adventuring in India.
"I thought this was a regular job, an actual expedition! You know, no guns, just straight relic hunting!" Nadine defended herself. "Plus I'm still new to this whole 'good guy treasure hunting business.'" She air quoted.
Charlie let out a humourless laugh. "You're in the wrong business then. Scratch the 'good guy' part out and you're right at home."
"What's the difference anyways?" Rian asked. "You get a hefty sum at the end of the day, how's this any different from what you do?"
Chloe did a one-eighty and directly looked at Rian, straight in the eyes. "Because dead people don't need their wealth anymore. Do they look dead to you?" She used her thumb to point at the docks. Stalheimer's men were loading people cramply into the boats... it was inhumane. Pushing, shoving, threatening, insulting, to the soldiers, they were corralling sheep.
He shook his head and sighed. "I know you're not exactly the Robin Hood figure. But…" He raised his arms up in a disarming manner. "I see your point, sorry if I offended."
Chloe kept her glare up for a few moments longer, before a small smile formed. "Wouldn't be a Canadian if you didn't apologize, right?"
Rian rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't be Australian if you didn't say 'Crikey!'"
"Har, har…" She turned back around, and walked towards the bridge. It was only wide enough to fit a one-way road for vehicles, while the rest of the space could be used as a walkway.
The group continued their stride to the Castle, until they reached the courtyard. There was where the majority of Stalheimer's operation sat, planning to use the Castle as a means of his headquarters for his operations here. There were trucks, cars, a landing pad, supply crates, and a lot of soldiers with other personnel, all walking with purpose or doing their assigned tasks. Right by the entrance into the castle was Stalheimer himself, issuing orders and threatening his own men like he was Darth Vader.
"We can practically all agree that this is messed up. Question is… what're we gonna do about it?" Chloe stated to the four as they approached the clear bad guy here.
"Yeah, maybe we should talk about this in private." Nadine enunciates every word.
"Wait… what do you mean 'what're we gonna do about it?" Rian asked, with the treasure hunters turning their heads to face him. But before they could respond, Stalheimer's voice was loudly clear to them.
"What do you mean we were shipped practice grenades! GET THIS PROBLEM FIXED NOW!" The poor worker scurried away as the Warmongering Norwegian ran a hand down his face. He turned to see the four standing individuals, all looking at him. "Where the hell have you four been?" He started with his 'no-bullshit' tone.
"Just out for a stroll." Charlie casually said, before yelping after a elbow to the side by Chloe.
"Funny. Now get to the library and dig up everything you can about myths and folklore. Do the job I'm paying you to do. And you." He looked at Rian. "Guard the Ice Queen and her entourage. And if you try anything, I'll have you fried with her, understand?"
"Hold on a minute Stalhiemer." Chloe stepped up to the man. "We've been here for about an hour and a half, and this place is still sinking in for us. Just yesterday this place only existed in fiction, and now I'm standing here in it." She paused a bit before recomposing herself. "Just… give us time to soak it all in, okay? It's quite the shock if you know what I mean."
There was an intense pause, as Stalhiemer carefully looked at the four people in front of him. His eyes narrowed, clearly a thought was running through his mind. He then slightly leaned into the group, specifically at Chloe. Looking carefully at her with his cold and calculating eyes. Chloe wanted to take a step back but was concerned with how her employer would take the gesture as.
"Thirty minutes." Was all he said, before looking at Rian. "And you're keeping an eye on them." With that, he left the four to enter the castle, barking orders at whoever stood in his way.
Charlie clapped his hands. "See? Classic cartoon villain, a rare gem ain't he?" Then he looked at Chloe. "Your acting has gotten better too."
The Treasure Hunter just shrugged, flashing a proud smirk.
"I can't."
"What do you mean you can't?"
"I just… can't!" Rian exclaimed.
The group quickly found an empty tavern, not too far away from the castle. There they drank and ate whatever they could find, from leftover mead, to cold meals and so on. They also discussed plans on what to do, concerning their situation. Although such a behaviour was foreign to the former soldier.
"No offense but I thought you guys were just a bunch of Treasure Hunters. Like modern day treasure hunters are either people who roam legal places with metal detectors, then there's the… well, you guys. Underworld types…" Rian tried to put it in words, but was finding the terminology difficult.
"Criminals?" Chloe finished his thought, to which he reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah… well mate." Charlie started as he jumped down from the counter he was sitting on. "In our line of work, there are a lot of undesirables, looking for things that won't do anybody any good. So often then not, we're forced to do the right thing."
"Like preventing a warlord from gaining near-invincibility from the 'Tree of Life." Chloe started.
"And preventing a secret Hermetic society from controlling the world through fear." Charlie continued.
"What does Hermetic mean?"
"Finally, preventing a rebel terrorist from using the riches of an ancient civilization to buy WMDs.'' Nadine finished.
Rian looked at all three treasure hunters, impressed with what they were implying. And as much as he wanted to help stick it back to Stalheimer, he couldn't. He simply just lowered his head, shame emanating from shaking it.
Chloe stepped up to get his attention. "You know, out of all of us, you have more of a reason to get back at Stahlheimer. I thought you'd be all on board with this."
"Yeah… you're practically kissing his ass right now." Rian slowly turned to Charlie. A proud smirk from Charlie, getting the result he needed.
"Kissing his ass?" He stated carefully with a dangerous tone. "Have you seen headlines around the world? I lost everything because of him!" Rian shouted. "I was blamed for the death of my entire squad! Because of that I'm one of the most wanted individuals in the entire world, and I've been stuck on the run ever since!" His fist collided with the wooden table beneath him, creating a sizable dent on the piece of furniture.
"Then don't get angry at us. Get angry with him, and help us." Nadine reasoned, not at all fazed with Rian's outburst.
But he just scoffed. "Help you? I can't even help myself at the moment! If the universe didn't hate me before, it does now. My only ticket back home is if I help Stalheimer!"
"And do you honestly think he and Lars will actually pardon you?" Chloe said, gaining his attention. "They already pinned the death of your squad to you with a lot of fabricated, but very convincing evidence. Do you think they'll just do an uno-switch back, saying they were mistaken?"
"Well Chloe…" Rian started with an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone. "Better that than having no way back home to my family. Cause yes I'm desperate to see them again." His eyes were threatening to leak, he was struggling to hold back. A silence descended upon the near-empty tavern, the group not knowing how to proceed with the conversation. Until Rian spoke up once again. "Listen, I want to help you. I really... really do, believe me. But I need my family, and they need me too."
There was a moment, before Chloe responded. "I thought you were a soldier Rian."
"Oh don't start that shit with me. Last I checked, the majority of you actually never served at all." He narrowed his eyes at the Australian treasure hunter. "If I help you, I lose everything. I lose my life, and yet I'm still alive somehow. IF... I live that long."
"Look outside Rian." Chloe ignored Rian as she forcibly stood up. "Your family aren't the only ones in need right now." Chloe marched up to a nearby window, and pointed outside to Arendelle. "Those aren't pixels in a screen anymore, as shocking as that sounds. No, those are actual people out there, being treated like they're still pixels on the big screen, or background characters in a movie. Throwaway, expendable, and you want to brush them aside like they actually were." She gestured for Nadine and Charlie to follow her. "I heard what you did in India before I got there. You and your squad are war heroes, you saved a lot of lives that day." She shook her head, as the trio moved for the tavern's exit. "I wonder how your squadmates will react if they can see you ... I wonder how you can be with your family, knowing you condemned other families to their doom. Well… if you managed to survive that far with Stalheimer, that is. I've been in that position before, and trust me…" She gave him one last look. "You're on the wrong side." She exited along with Charlie and Nadine in tow.
Rian sat alone in a now empty tavern. He silently contemplated what Chloe had just said, he knew she was guilt tripping him, and hated how effective she was. His squad, although he wasn't around for long, he still had enough time with them to know they were good people. He fought alongside them in India, practically went through hell, but all came back with each other in tow. He trusted them with his life, and now they were all dead. He can't imagine how they would react to what he was doing now. Working with the man who killed them, only for him to get his life back.
Rian shook his head, with it landing on the table below him. He felt guilty, he hated how Chloe's guilt trip worked. The thought of betraying his own team suddenly started to infect his mind, and he couldn't get it out. Working for the man who killed his squad… knowingly working for the man who killed his squad. Rage… rage coursed through his veins.
He wanted payback.
He wanted to see his family.
He wanted to honour his team.
He wanted to help the people of Arendelle.
He wanted to kill Stalheimer.
He wanted to stay alive.
He grabbed a half-empty mug from his table. Standing up, and with a warcry he violently threw the mug towards a wall, shattering into a million splinters. He stood there for a moment, trying to calm himself down and gather his thoughts. Eventually, his mind cleared, and knew exactly what he needed to do.
Rian rushed for the exit. "Wait up!"
"Told ya, where's my money."
Charlie peaked around the corner, he spotted the tall double doors, and the two soldiers guarding it. They both had flamethrowers.
"What's it like Cutter?" Charlie turned back to the group.
"Just like he said, two guards with flamethrowers in front of the library. So inside should be the same; ten heavily armed guys, three of 'em with flamethrowers." He paused, re-evaluating their chances. "You sure this is gonna work?"
"It'll work, I have the real thing just in case it doesn't. Just remember that once the three of us are inside, you deal with the two guards outside. Chloe, Nadine and I will tackle the ones inside." Rian said as he too reassured himself of the plan. "Worse comes to worse, we'll have to do everything we can to free the Ice queen, she'll be the heavy hitter we need."
"If we do that, then we need to take out the guys with the flamethrowers first. Luckily there's one for each of us." Chloe added.
"You sure 'bout that?" Cutter raised an eyebrow.
"You'll be fine Charlie, just remember to use your fists." Nadine commented, with the two now sneering at each other.
"Children enough, it's serious time now." Chloe mediated. "Desperate times right?" She jokingly said.
Nadine scoffed. "Pff… yeah."
Silence descended upon the group. Anticipation weighing on them, this wasn't going to be easy. They had a plan, even if it was hastily made up, but they had something at least. On top of that, they were gonna have front row seats to actual magic and supposed fiction. With all the myths and legends the treasure hunters chased for years, this was literally something beyond logic nor reason. On top of that, they would be standing in the same room as pop culture icons, actual Disney perfection. Anticipation was truly weighing on them now.
A nod from Chloe meant the plan was now on motion. She was the first to move around the corner. Followed by Nadine, Rian, and lastly Charlie. They approached the two soldiers outside the Library.
"We weren't expecting you." One of the flame-soldiers said. His voice came through the gas mask he was wearing, he sounded totally inhuman.
"We just need to talk to them. They can help us decode some stuff we need to find our grand prize." Chloe flashed her hands to emphasize the last word.
"That doesn't change anything." The guard simply stated.
"Listen." Rian stepped up, and the soldiers got in a ready posture. He paused to assess the two soldiers, before continuing. "Stalheimer already said that I needed to be in there to guard the cast, alright? On top of that he also told me to keep an eye on these three." He gestured to the treasure hunters. "We can be in there."
"I didn't ask you." The soldier replied rudely.
"Just let us in." Nadine interrupted. "Let us in, and there won't be any trouble now."
"There could be trouble later." The other soldier spoke up.
"Trust me, there won't be any trouble." Nadine subtly implied, and the others wanted to face palm. "Unless you want to explain to Stalheimer why you're keeping us from doing the job we were specifically hired to do?"
That caught the soldier's attention. They both looked at each other, both weighing the pros and cons. After a moment of deliberation, the lead soldier nodded. He approached the door with a fist, and knocked twice.
"You got visitors!" He yelled, and the door audibly unlocked. He gestured with his head to move inside. A moment of anticipation washed down Chloe, before heading inside the room. Nadine moved in without hesitation, and then followed by Rian after some hesitation. Charlie didn't move, and stood there with the two soldiers outside.
"So… how's the weather?" He asked, and the soldiers both simultaneously sighed.
Rian entered the room, and noticed how packed it was for only ten guys. That was largely due to the fact that those ten guys were heavily armed soldiers. Seven soldiers had full body armour, satchels full of magazines, with assault rifles and shotguns to defend themselves. The other three were the same flamethrower soldiers he saw back outside, except now they weren't facing him.
The flame-soldiers were all looking at where the fireplace was. Because in front of the fireplace, there sat the big three. They were all huddled next to each other, their hands cuffed together in front of them, ankles chained, and tape on their mouths.
Kristoff laid on the right, wearing his usual animal leathers from the movie. He was looking rather venomously at all the other occupants of the room. He looked like a wild dog with his eyes, only softening when looking at Anna and elsa.
To his right and in the middle of the group was Anna. She was wearing rather regal clothing, which confused Rian, thinking Elsa was actually the queen of Arendelle. The younger sister herself was trying to maintain composure. But her eyes betrayed her, she was looking around erratically, a hint of fear made Rian feel for the young woman.
Last but not least, was Elsa herself… who was staring wide-eyed, directly at Rian. That alone freaked him out, as she refused to break eye contact with him. She stood out, in a flowing white dress instead of the common blue he was used to seeing… well, everywhere. Her hair wasn't constrained in a braid of any sort, but freed and flowing. But he couldn't shake the sight of her looking right at him, they were locked in each other's line of sight, and he didn't know why.
Ice began to form beneath her, the flame-soldiers noticed.
"CALM YOURSELF OR BE FRIED!" With his flamethrower, he lets out a couple of small bursts of fire from his weapon. It was more than enough, as Kristoff and Anna stared wide-eyed at the weapon, and looked at Elsa. For her part she broke eye-contact with Rian and looked at the soldier who issued the order. The ice queen relented, the ice retreated back closer to her.
Rian used this time to look around, seeing both Chloe and Nadine being equally entranced by the supposed fictional characters. Rian refused to look at the cast, as he feared he wouldn't stop looking at Elsa for some reason. He noticed one of the standout soldiers approaching him and the other two treasure hunters. Instead of a helmet like the other six soldiers, he had something akin to an officer's cap.
"What do you need? We're busy holding some fantastical prisoners."
That brought Chloe and Nadine out of their reverie and focused on the man who spoke. Chloe looked at Rian, he knew that was his cue. He slowly made his way closer to the Frozen cast, specifically towards one of the flame-soldiers.
"We're here to talk to your prisoners. We need to ask them a few questions." Chloe began, as Nadine too wandered close to the door without raising suspicions.
"Questions about what?"
"About clues to where the treasure is, you know? The only reason we're here? God… are you all morons for forgetting why we're all here?"
"Stalheimer didn't say anything about this." Rian was getting close to the flame-soldier of his pick. "Hey Mister international criminal, you're getting to-" He pulled out a grenade. He tossed it in his hands so everybody could see what he had.
When it landed back in his hand. Grasping it tightly, he pulled the pin.
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!" The whole room panicked, everyone scattering away from Rian. But the former soldier was too close to his target. Grabbing the bulky soldier, he twisted him around so Rian was holding him from behind by the neck. The grenade in his hand rested on the flame-soldier's shoulder, close to the fuel canister on the back of said soldier.
Chloe got into action and subdued the officer easily. Nadine subdued another soldier, since she was next to the door, preventing anyone from escaping. When the dust settled and the room stood still, she used her foot to knock at the door. After the two knocks, a struggle and a short fight was heard outside of the room. With two knocks back from the outside, the coast was clear.
"Listen up!" Rian called for attention. "It only takes this one grenade, and the five fuel tanks close by to bring half this castle down on us. So don't do anything stupid like calling for help."
Rian looked around to see the various wide eyes of the soldiers around them. He glanced at the cast to see that they too were wide-eyed with fear of the implication. Especially Anna, who backed up close to Kristoff for some comfort. He didn't fail to notice ice slowly growing beneath Elsa.
"This is Stalheimer! We heard some rustling, what's happening?" The officer's radio sounded off, and Rian eyed him in particular.
"You're bluffing." A random soldier tried to call him out, and Rian happily proved him otherwise.
Showing his hand with the grenade, he pulled three of his fingers off of the explosive device, with his middle finger and thumb being the only thing holding onto it. Slowly, he started moving his thumb away from the grenade, setting everybody on edge.
"Whoops!" Rian pretended to drop the grenade by flinching his arm down, making it look like he dropped it. Everybody flinched and screamed. The officer's hand went straight to his radio.
"We're fine! We're fine! The iceman just tried to make a move and we acted." He made up an excuse.
There was a pause in the radio, before Stalheimer replied. "Don't hurt them too badly."
Rian and the treasure hunters sighed in relief. "Alright! Here's the plan!" Nadine called out as she started to choke out the soldier she held. "All of you unload your weapons, including the rounds in your chambers. Then place them on the ground, don't drop them!" With that said, the man she held went limp, and she carefully placed him down on the ground unconscious.
Everyone followed the former mercenary's instructions, and once that was done, she and Chloe smiled wickedly. With Nadine cracking her fist, they got to work.
Within thirty seconds, the entire room was quiet, with unconscious bodies laying on the ground except for the flame-soldier Rian still holding onto. Deciding that the game was up, he dropped the grenade.
"OH NONONONONONO, AGGGHHH!" The flame-soldier screamed as he broke free from Rian's grasp and got down straight on the ground, arms covering his head. But nothing happened. With great confusion, he sat up and looked at Rian. "Wh-what?"
"It's a dummy grenade you dummy." With a swift kick, the flame-soldier was down and out. The room cleared, all eyes went to the Frozen cast in the room. They all looked at their rescuers with wide and emotional eyes. Thankful but fearful, wondering who they were.
Rian crouched down on the fallen officer, and pulled out the keys to the cuffs. Getting back up, he once again looked at the cast. Elsa now stared unopposed, looking directly at Rian. He decided that she should be the one to free first.
He slowly approached her. "Hey… listen, we want to help you. Okay? No tricks, no deception, we want to help you. And we're risking our neck out for you right now. Alright?" He slowly approached the ice queen, who stared back at him. Her eyes were calmer now, yet cautious as well. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm pretty sure you can hurt me more than I can hurt you. So I'm just gonna set you free." Slowly getting close, he now crouched down next to her. They didn't break eye contact, as each was being careful with the other.
Rian reached out for her cuffed arms, and Elsa slowly extended her hands to him. Their skins touched, and Rian almost flinched away, her hands were appropriately ice cold. But he gently grasped her hands, it amazed him how smooth they were, almost unrealistically so. Yet that didn't deter him, inserting the key, a twist, and the cuffs slid off her hands. Giving the same treatment to the locked chains on her ankles, he then tossed the keys to Chloe, who stood crouched in front of Anna.
Looking back at Elsa, Rian made a move to remove the tape on her mouth, but she moved back away from him. "I got to rip that tape out from your mouth. If I slowly do it, it'll be more excruciating."
He saw hesitation in Elsa's eyes before she gave him a small nod. He moved to remove the tape on her mouth.
"After three, okay? One… two… three!" He quickly ripped it off.
Elsa's ice powers flared from beneath her. The ice quickly extended towards Rian, freezing his feet to the floor. Anchored in place, Rian fell over and landed on his ass, he quickly drew his Glock 18, and took aim at Elsa out of instinct.
Everything froze, not literally. Rian's pistol was aiming at the ice queen, with Elsa not moving at all. Fear crept up in her system as she already realized what she had done.
"I-I'm… sorry. That-that hurt." She said, rubbing her mouth.
Rian nodded. "Yeah…." He said with a shaky voice. "That's… my fault. I forgot to mention its stung when I ripped it off.'' After a moment, he holstered his pistol back, and Elsa instantly thawed out the ice that held Rian in place.
The sound of tape being ripped off was heard. "Ow! That hurts!"
"Sorry sweetheart, tape is that good."
Elsa looked back, relief washing over her to see her sister relatively unharmed. "Anna! Are you okay?"
The two sisters hugged each other, refusing to let go for awhile. "Am I okay? Those thugs were practically here for you! I should be asking you that!" Anna reluctantly extracted herself away from her sister's grasp to get a good look at her. "Are you okay?" Anna finally asked.
Elsa gave a shaky laugh, until another sound of ripping tape was heard. Anna turned to see her husband steadily getting up with Nadine's help.
"Kristoff! Are you okay!?"
"I'm fine Anna. They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"I'm fine Kristoff, I'm okay." Anna said as she leaned onto Kristoff, who hugged her back.
Elsa looked at their rescuers. "Who are you?"
Chloe blew out some air. "Just a bunch of do-gooders that aren't getting paid now."
"We didn't sign up for this shit so we're switching sides." At Nadine's curse, the Frozen cast flinched. Rian couldn't help but be amused by it. "So, we're getting you out of here."
"Getting us out of here?" Anna asked. "How about the children they're keeping hostage? Along with some of our surviving guards? We can't leave them behind, I refuse to!"
"They've already been moved. We don't know where they are." Rian answered. "On top of that, nowhere in Arendelle is safe. Its open season with no legulation, Stalheimer has all the power now with his army. We need to leave now."
"I ca-"
"Anna." Elsa stood in front of her younger sister. "Be reasonable. I understand you don't want to leave them, I don't want to leave them either. But right now, these invaders are mainly here for us. We can save them later, they're being used as leverage anyways, okay?"
"She's right darling. Stalheimer's mainly here for all of you, and whatever's in this castle that he could use. If we can keep his hands off of you, we have some advantage over him. Right now, you three are our priority, and we need to get you guys out of here asap." Chloe reassured Anna.
"Asap?" Kristoff asked.
"As soon as possible." Nadine replied to him.
"So what do you say?" Rian asked. There was a pause in the group, with Anna trying to find the answer. She looked at her older sister for confidence, and Elsa gave her a reassuring nod. Eventually though, she relented.
"Okay, I don't like abandoning Arendelle, but I understand."
"Just like you said Anna; 'Live to fight another day.'" Elsa continued to reassure her sister, to which her sister greatly appreciated.
The door creaked open, everybody got ready. Rian pulled out his Glock 18. Chloe and Nadine drew their pistols as well, with Chloe's signature .45 Colt Defender, and Nadine's HK USP. Elsa's magic generated around her hands, as she got ready for whoever opened the door. Kristoff just readied his fists, and to his amusement, so did Anna.
But the door didn't completely open, as a bald head peaked over from behind the door.
"Bloody hell… Don't mean to ruin the comic-con panel but we need to move, like right now."
The treasure hunters and Rian lowered their respective weapons, followed by the Frozen trio also lowering their guard.
"You heard him, let's move people!" Chloe said as she led the group.
They knew the jig was up when they all heard the alarms start blaring. But Anna knew this castle inside and out, knew all the secret passages and routes. So with Anna and Chloe leading the group, they ended where they needed to be, the stables.
Considering how heavily guarded the castle was now, it was surprising to see how lightly guarded the stables were. There were four guards here, nothing like the patrol-ridden corridors of the castle. But the stables were where some spare supplies were being stored. From extra weapons to some spare jeeps and food. And that's exactly what they saw and needed.
A four seater jeep with enough space in the back, perfect for the group.
"We need to take out the guards." Nadine said, already eyeing the guard to target.
"Quietly, we don't want the entire area to know we're escaping." Chloe clarified.
"You mean don't 'need,' right?" Charlie worriedly asked.
"You know what I mean."
"Let's make this quick." Rian said, turning to the cast behind. "You three stay here, we'll call you once it's clear."
"We can help." Anna stated, ready to pounce on someone.
But Rian shook his head. "You know we're killing them right?"
That caught Anna off guard. "Wait what?"
"They're not looking, now!" Nadine rushed out, followed by Chloe, then by Cutter. Rian stayed behind just a bit, making sure the trio stayed where they needed to stay. After a moment, he too went out to aid the others. The trio watched as this time, their rescuers fought for real.
Nadine was the one who was more eager than the rest. Quick and quiet, she pulled the legs of her target from behind. The soldier fell face first, a crunch emanating from their nose. But before the soldier could even cry out in pain, Nadine slid to the front of the down soldier. Her hands on the soldier's neck, and violently twisting it, another distinct crunch.
"Oh my goodness…" Anna quietly gasped, and so the other two. Horrified at seeing such an efficient way of killing. Anna has never seen someone die in person, her eyes wide with shock. Kristoff's only response was to give Anna a reassuring squeeze of her hand, to which she reciprocated.
Even though Elsa has… well technically seen someone die, she was still on the same boat as Anna. She also hasn't seen someone die in person. She just crouched there, in quiet disturbance. But eventually, her eyes gaze from one rescuer, after the other.
Chloe went straight for the neck. Jumping to the soldier's left side, her right arm enclosed around their neck, and twisting it. Just like that, another one died.
Charlie was something else. As he was the resident thug, his takedown was heavy. Picking up his soldier, he then immediately threw him down on the ground hard. Then with a mighty stomp on the soldier's head, that was it.
Last but not least was Rian, the one who got Elsa's attention the moment she saw him. He was supposed to be dead, and apparently he was not. It shocked her to no end, to see Rian's lifeless corpse, with a bullet hole in his head. But Ahtohallan was never wrong, it showed the past. Then again, she thought her parents were dead until Ahtohallan showed otherwise. But before she could think more in depth, Rian took on his target.
Using both his hands, he clapped the sides of the soldier, specifically right on the ears. This immediately dazed the poor soldier, as he stood there wobbling for a moment. Until Rian turned him around, and immediately threw a punch to the soldier's throat, Elsa could've sworn she heard a subtle crack. Then came the finisher, Rian brought the soldier's head down, and his right knee up. His knee connected with the soldier's forehead, and an audible crack was heard. Then the soldier slumped dead on the ground.
The room was cleared, and the Frozen cast were somewhat traumatized.
Chloe immediately went to the jeep, jumped into the driver's seat and began hotwiring.
Nadine and Rian scouted the room for supplies, and a weapon garnered their attention. A Milkor MGL with a bandolier of 40mm grenades sat on top of one of the crates.
"Mine." Nadine snatched it before Rian could even process it. Nadine's quick thinking got Rian out of his stupor to search the room even more, his eyes landing on another weapon. An M249 with a couple ammo boxes next to it.
"Okay…" Like Nadine, Rian quickly got it and went to the jeep.
Charlie looked around for more enemies before his attention went to the Frozen trio still standing next to the secret passage they came out of.
"Come on! Move your asses, you gotta go!" Charlie beckoned them to move, and they did. The trio quickly made their way to the jeep. Rian saw them coming, so stowing the machine gun in the back of the jeep, he opened the door for the trio to head it.
"Inside, now. Sit." He pointed at the seats. Anna got in first, then Kristoff, but Elsa stopped to look at him.
"You all killed those people." She said to him.
"Yeah… so?" Rian said with a raised eyebrow.
"Why? You didn't kill our captors back in the library."
Rian regarded Elsa for a while, before it hit him. "Oh… you're new to this, aren't you?"
"New to what?"
"This whole violence and death. I know Arendelle is a peaceful place, but guess what. Not everywhere is like Arendelle. You need to get your hands dirty from time to time. Now get it now." Rian said with finality. Elsa only gave him a cold stare, literally, the room temperature dropped a bit. Enough for it to be noticeable, but Rian didn't care. He also gave Elsa a cold look, with the Ice Queen relenting and getting in the seat, next to Kristoff. Rian slammed the door, and hopped onto the back of the Jepp with Nadine, who readied her new toy.
Chloe was almost done hotwiring the jeep before she used the rearview mirror to look behind them. Charlie was still on watch duty, looking for anyone who may sneak up on them. As she continued to hotwire the jeep, she called out to him.
"Cutter, get in!"
But Charlie only looked at them, before relaxing a bit. "You blokes need an inside man." Chloe instantly knew what he meant. With a last worried look, she finished up the hotwire.
"What the hell do you mean Charlie? Get in the jeep, now!" Rian called out. But he just shook his head.
"I'll be fine, just take care of the three. And do the right thing." That caught Anna's attention, as she looked back at Charlie as well.
"Charlie…!" Rian warned, but it was too late.
"They're over here!" Charlie yelled out loud for anyone to hear. He then raised his gun, aiming at the jeep. "Guys. Go. NOW!"
"I'm not j-" Charlie began shooting at the jeep, purposely missing. "JESUS CHIRST!" Rian instinctively ducked down, and so did everyone else.
"OVER HERE!" Charlie continued to shoot, and there the first soldier appeared and took aim at the jeep.
At that point, Chloe stepped on the accelerator, and the jeep jerked into motion. Taking it as a hint, Rian readied his M249, and laid it on one of the handlebars of the jeep.
The jeep smashed through the wooden doors that led them outside, there they saw the full courtyard. Full of military vehicles, supply crates, weapons, the landing pad, and a lot of bad guys with guns. All of them now took aim at the fleeing jeep.
But Rian's finger was already on the trigger. Pressing it down, he sprayed wildly in the general direction of the courtyard. Nadine too was ready, and started to shoot her grenade launcher back at the courtyard. It was chaos, everyone dove for cover, with some unlucky souls getting hit with either machine gun fire, or the impact of the grenade launcher.
Chloe swerved to the bridge, which was luckily empty, and started driving through the bridge, but still under heavy fire.
"Where are we going!?" Anna yelled.
"Somewhere Stalheimer can't easily get to you!" Chloe shouted back as she kept her eyes on the road.
Passing through the bridge, Chloe expertly drove through the streets of Arendelle. Drifting through corners, using alleyways as detours or shortcuts, and quickly passing by any more hostile soldiers. Behind them was a different story.
"Uh…Chloe, we're being chased!" Rian yelled out.
"Then shoot them!"
And shoot them he did. Using his M249 Rian was shooting at their pursuers. UAZs, and motorcycles chased them around Arendelle, with some of them even shooting back. But Rian didn't let go of the trigger, as he continued to spray bullets down, either keeping their heads down or actually hitting some of them.
Nadine popped out after reloading her grenade launcher. Taking aim at the nearest car, she fired. Hitting the front, the car flipped in a fiery ball, with another car behind it crashing into it.
"Hey! Do you mind not destroying my kingdom!?" Anna yelled as she witnessed the destruction.
"I want to stay alive, your majesty!" Nadine said as she readied her grenade launcher for another shot.
"Then can you find a less destructive way of doing it? I have to do something about this once this is all over!"
"We might be dead long before it's over!" The former mercenary yelled out, but before aiming down the next vehicle.
But before she could take a shot, a hand forced the weapon down. Looking over, Nadine saw the Fifth Spirit next to her.
"Enough, both of you are right. So…" Elsa clenched her fists, cold magic brewing between her finger tips. Nadine carefully watches as the Ice Queen prepares for her chance at taking down the coming bad guys. Thrusting her hand forward and open, releasing the magic built within. Ice evolves on the ground behind the jeep, very slippery ice. Ice that the cars passed harmlessly.
Everyone frowns. "Yeah, they're called snow tires." Rian said sarcastically. He continued to squeeze the trigger, raining down bullets on closer targets.
Elsa sighed, before shooting ice towards the windshield of one car, covering it in a layer of thin frost. That made the driver panic, losing control and crashing into one of the buildings. Everyone winced, minus Rian who snickered a bit. Elsa glared icy daggers at him.
"Elsa!"
"Sorry! I didn't know!"
"Alright enough of this." Rian paused his shooting and looked at Chloe. "Get us out of here!"
"I know, luckily I just found the gate!" The jeep sped towards a large wooden gate separating Arendelle from the surrounding region. It was already destroyed when Stalheimer's convoy violently arrived in Arendelle. Now it was only guarded by two jeeps with some men holding it down. They were easily spotted and began taking fire. "Nadine!?"
"Got it!" Nadine took aim and fired. Easily taking out the blockading jeeps and with them passing through the gate. Their next destination, the Enchanted Forest.
But they were still being chased. So with no worries of property damage, Nadine joined Rian once more to handle the chasing soldiers.
"You know…" Chloe started. "It's always the same thing. I've been into a few chases like these, and it's always the same."
"You jinxing us?" Rian said as he was reloading his M249.
"No, I'm just saying. It's always cars, trucks, and motorcycles. And sometimes an armoured car here and there, and probably a train or a tank." Chloe said, but paused her talking when the familiar sound of chopping air was heard. From out of nowhere, the Huey that they took getting to Arendelle, flew past them. It then immediately turned, and began chasing after them. "That's new!"
"Frazer!" Nadine complained as she groaned out loud. She looked at Rian. "I'm almost out!"
"Same! And I need to keep our baddies on the ground occupied! Can't take on the chopper!" Rian said as he began reloading once more.
Nadine looked around, struggling to formulate a plan. But then something came into mind, remembering her time in Kings Bay and India, and all those car chases. She decided to do something very… Drake-like. Hopping over the handlebars, Nadine jumped for the nearest enemy Jeep.
"What the-" Plumes of dirt and smoke interrupted Rian, realizing the Huey just took its first shots at them, missing entirely yet hitting everything around the Jeep. He looked around, seeing Elsa worried about their chances. "Ice Queen!" He yelled, getting her attention but was met with a frown. "Distract the helicopter!"
"The what!?"
"The flying do-hicky in the sky!"
"I'm not killing anyone!"
"I didn't say kill, I said distract!" Rian finished reloading his machine gun, and started to fire upon the enemy ground vehicles behind them.
Elsa began shooting icicles at the helicopter, purposely missing, while also making her shots near-misses. It was enough for the pilot to focus more on 'dodging' the flying sharp ice then engaging them.
"Holy shit you're insane!" Rian yelled out at the former mercenary, as he continued his bullet hell, while at the same time, watching Nadine do her work. She successfully hijacked the jeep she jumped on, and began running down the ones in motorcycles. Some tried to jump on and hijack her, but she was beast, either hitting something that made the jumping soldiers fly off, or actually punching them off herself. Whenever her jeep was taking too much fire, she'd jump into another jeep. All the while Rian was providing fire support from his position on the main jeep.
After Nadine hijacked the last chasing jeep, the road behind them was clear. She got close to the main jeep, before jumping off of it and back onto the main jeep. Rian pulled her back in, but too much and she fell onto the passenger seats.
"Ow! Hey!"
"Sorry!"
"Get off of me! I'm married!"
"Didn't mean to touch you there!" In her struggle, Nadine realized that this Jeep did have some firepower on its own. "Blonde guy, help me get this thing out."
"I have a name you know? It's Kristoff!"
Rian and Elsa continued to engage the helicopter in the sky, with what's left of his ammo now being used against the flying threat. But like many weapons, ammo tends to run out. A click made his eyes widen.
"Oh shit… I'm out!"
"Watch your language!" Elsa scolded him.
"Excuse me!?"
"Don't worry I got it!" Rian and Elsa stopped and looked at the driver's side of the jeep. There stood Nadine, with an RPG. The backblast pointed at the hood of the car, the warhead pointed directly at the chopper. "Cover your ears!"
Everyone did, and with a pull of the trigger, the warhead shot out of the launcher, and directly at the helicopter. The aerial threat exploded into a ball of fire, with it quickly descending down beside them. The moment it hit the ground, it also hit the side of the jeep.
Chloe struggled to control the jeep, before they inevitably ran off the road, and into a nearby ditch.
"Everybody hold on!"
Author's Note: Sorry for the massive delay! I lose interest from time to time, and eventually, this project was shelved early on. But I'm here with another chapter, and hopefully you enjoyed reading it!
As always, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. If you spotted any spelling or grammatical errors, I do apologize, I know those errors could ruin immersion. But in the end, I sincerely hope this chapter was good.
'Till next time, peace!