Author's Note
Hello everyone! Its tmroc725 here, back with the next installment of Into the Terminus. First off, I would like to apologize for taking so long, life can really prohibit writing, as it turns out. Been a busy couple of months, but have no fear, this story is anything but forgotten as far as I am concerned. I fully intend to see it through to the end, and I am sure my co-writer feels the same way. On that note, a shout out to 'Roku - Molester of Science' for his awesome and continual help throughout this writing process. Without him, this story would have never gotten its roots.
On a closing note, I want you all to know that the next chapter is already underway, and that I am several pages in already. So with that, lets get this goddamn thing airborne, eh?
Lazarus Station
August
Tyler groaned, the sound muffled by the pillow, which he had buried his head in as the alarm that he had set on his Omnitool blared with impunity. The music he had chosen to wake up to were not music like a 'normal' person – and really, at this point, could he still claim to be one such? -, but instead they were the sounds of air raid sirens. He had chosen them especially because of how annoying they sounded, because he was most definitely not a morning person.
Sure, he could get up in a flash when he had to, the marines had made sure of that, but that didn't make him any more warm toward early rising. Actually, considering the fact that most mornings with the marines had been utter hell, it was a wonder even the sirens could get him up.
Alas, long gone were the days where he could simply swat at his alarm clock until it shut up, meaning that he was forced to sit up and awkwardly snatch the Omnitool off his nightstand in his groggy state. He slipped it onto his wrist and quickly shut off the alarm, an orange glow surrounding his forearm and illuminating his face as he did so. Satisfied with the silence, Tyler sat there for a moment, simply trying to gather his bearings. Aspects, his life had definitely taken a turn for the weirder since waking up in…he actually still wasn't sure where he'd woken up that first day. It wasn't the Lazarus Station, that much he did know, mainly because the station itself was not even furnished when he'd arrived.
Things had been weird like that.
Rising, Tyler yawned and trekked over to his dresser, digging out one of his Cerberus uniforms. Other than what he had been issued by his new employer, he didn't have a lot to wear. His old BDUs were tucked neatly into a corner. Someone had been kind enough to patch them up and wash them for him. Other than that though, he didn't have much. What he had bought on the Citadel during their last visit hadn't returned with him, for obvious reasons.
He hadn't seen anything in the news to suggest the death of Fisher, which really would have been too good to be true. There had been a news broadcast from the Alliance Parliament, where an Admiral by the name of Anna Cologne Fisher – no one could tell him if she was related to the demon – had showcased tech capable of knocking the Salarians on their asses, and he'd be lying if he'd claimed not to be drooling when she revealed plasma weapons.
Loki had pretty much gotten a boner when the news came on, something Tyler did his best to forget.
Anna Fisher had also – and this was something he still had some trouble believing – claimed to have created firebending! No one in Cerberus seemed ready to believe it, but neither were anyone – not even Miranda – ready to dismiss it either. The Admiral was apparently well-known to be the one capable of pulling surprises out her ass, so to speak.
But still…Firebending. That was just too extreme for him to believe. And yet, what was the more probable scenario, really? Was Fisher a demon, or a sociopathic firebender?
Tyler sighed as the contemplations threatened to give him a head-ache. He went through his morning rituals quietly, his sleep fading away quickly as he took a quick shower in the small space of the bathroom that had been allotted for an overhead shower fixture. He knew that, compared to the majority of the personnel on station, he was lucky to have what he did though, since almost everyone else had to share communal men's and women's washrooms. As he dried himself off, he glanced at the mirror and frowned, as he saw that he was going to have his hair cut down a size, and soon. Cerberus wasn't as big on regulations as the Alliance on most parts, but one thing they were surprisingly strict on was personal appearance. Long, shaggy hair was just not an option.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Tyler sighed and checked himself in the mirror one last time to make sure that everything was in order. It felt odd, he had to admit, wearing a Cerberus uniform, but some part of him actually enjoyed it. He felt good, having a place in the world...or was it galaxy now? It didn't matter, not really, what he decided to call it, and he knew that. He had employment, comrades and a place to put his feet up after the day was done.
"Hey EDI, what are we doing today?" He asked aloud, as he walked over to the coffee table in his small living room. The only thing laying atop the clear glass was an M-6 Carnifex pistol that had become his preferred sidearm. While Cerberus seemed to be fond of their own creation, the M-358 Talon, he preferred the more practical Carnifex. What he lacked in stopping power, he made up for with a greater ammunition capacity and concealability. It also reminded him more of his old M9, though with a vastly improved kick. He picked up the weapon, which he had meticulously cleaned the night before, and slipped it into the holster on his belt. While his armor may have had a magnetic holster, his normal clothing did not.
Appearing, seemingly, out of thin air, the blue circular hologram that was EDI projected itself on his coffee table. "Your schedule appears to be free until twelve-hundred hours. At that time, you are scheduled to meet with Operative Valkyrie and Kraken for combat training."
Tyler nodded and made his way toward the door. "Thanks for the help, EDI." He replied, casting a glance over his shoulder toward the hologram.
While he still found it a bit odd that she was ever present, capable of observing him wherever he went in the station, he also knew that she had her uses. He and remembering appointments had never gotten along well, and EDI had been more than willing to help him with that, thanks to her programing. She was…friendly, but he couldn't yet really tell if that was her programming or her personality starting to shine through already. AI's were tricky like that.
"Logging you out, Stevens." She replied as he stepped through the door. He found the hallway empty for the moment, which was unsurprising, since there were very few people of his 'rank' on the station outside of those in his unit. Omnitool lighting up, he waved a hand over his door, the green emblem turning red. Of course, he knew that anyone with any sense of power could probably have it open in seconds, but it was the principle of the matter. Twenty-first century had camera-signs, I have a red door…Which is really better?
As he walked through the station toward the mess hall, he once more pondered on just how much things had changed since he had first come aboard. The station had only been operating at a fourth of its capacity at that time of his arrival, since it was a backwater testing facility, and not the most strategic of targets to hit. But not anymore. With Shepard's body successfully in their hands, the place had come alive, along with a fresh stream of support staff and scientists coming aboard to assist in the reconstruction. It was clear that even the great Miranda Lawson needed help now and then, especially for a project like this. Which might also be the reason she had not been with them on missions since Alchera.
She hadn't even visited the training facilities.
Along with the support staff, had come a fresh batch of men and women from Cerberus' military division. Surprisingly, they weren't the normal troops that one may have imagined high command sending, but instead they were the ODSTs from Alchera, some of them at least. They wanted the best to defend the station, should it come under attack, and apparently the Hell Jumpers ranked among the best that they had to offer. They didn't seem to make up much of a presence in the hallways, but he could still see at least one every time he turned a corner.
The Hell Jumpers were in armor, weapons at rest but still out. They seemed to tower over normal people, and even the women seemed at least a head taller than Tyler, which was…uncomfortable, when the same went for every one of them. It felt odd, the way they stood around in combat-armor, completely encased in the matte-grey-gold suits of armor. Even their visors were just blank surfaces, impossible to see through.
He supposed that was why they were here, though.
When Tyler arrived at the mess hall, he found it already alive, as personnel about to start their shifts sat down for a quick meal before they got to work for the day. Some of them were boisterous, as they chatted and laughed about whatever the subject on hand might have been, while others still looked half-asleep, desiring someone to shoot them dead, as they nursed their warm beverages and munched on their food. It was hard to tell these workers apart from those who were just coming off the night shift at times. Maybe except for the night-shift seeming a little less depressed, heading off for bed as they were.
Tyler wasted no time, however, and quickly assimilated into the quickly growing line of Cerberus personnel waiting for their share of the grub. One could say what they wanted about the terrorist organization that was Cerberus, but they had to give them credit: They at least tried to care about the people they employed. From what he had been told, the Alliance served something that could hardly be considered edible by human standards.
In contrast, the food Cerberus served to crewmen and employees had real taste to it, the kind that came with spending credits. A happy, well-fed and motivated staff was a productive one. At least that was what Tyler assumed was the thinking of those wielding power within the organization. It was probably optimistic thinking, but then again, didn't the world need so many more optimists these days?
Breakfast was a rather simple – but good tasting by all accounts – breakfast stew, which Tyler found out as he reached the front of the line. The moment he stepped up to the counter, a tray was placed before him, a decent sized bowl of reddish colored with liquid and chunks of what looked to be potatoes putting off steam, along with a pleasant scent that wafted through the air.
"Danke." Tyler said quietly as he glanced at the cook – the man's label said 'Kauffman', so Tyler guess he was German –, who simply nodded in reply. He quickly walked down the length of the counter, bypassing some smaller things that he could have added to his tray. The way the food was offered reminded him of his high school days, with a selection of things to choose from, though not something you may have wanted necessarily. He only paused long enough to pluck a water bottle from an indention filled with ice, along with an apple from the fruit and vegetable section.
Turning, he walked away from the food counters, and trekked past the tables occupied by personnel, and now even hungry security staff, who still had their weapons on them, though there was a stark difference between the AR-toting ODST's, and the Predators holstered on these people's hips. After a passing a couple of aisles, he arrived at a table that was on the outskirts of the mess hall. The tables adjacent to it were, surprisingly, devoid of anyone else. At the table, there were only two people already present, both of whom Tyler rarely saw completely in civilian gear.
"Morning guys." Tyler said as he slid into one of the open spots, fiddling with the cap of his water bottle as he did so. Even with cybernetics, he seemed to have a helluva a time unscrewing the caps of water bottles. "There we go." He muttered under his breath as he brought the bottle to his lips and took a swig of the water.
"Morning mate." The man sitting across from Tyler replied as he glanced up from his omnitool, his face a shade of orange from the device's illumination.
Surprisingly, it was Loki, minus the armor anyways. Truth be told, he did not stand out that much when compared to those around him. He had a lankier build, and sandy blonde hair that cut into a short Mohawk, for the moment anyways. After some pressing, Tyler had finally managed to find out more about the resident hacker. His name was Devon Verderame. He had been born on earth, close to Silicon Valley, which was just as prosperous now as it had been in Tyler's day. That was all he had managed to pry from the man so far, but it was a start.
The other man, who simply grunted – before he took a sip from a comparatively large mug of steaming, black coffee – when Tyler said hello, was Kraken. He was just as large and intimidating outside of armor as he was inside, with trunk like arms and a barrel chest that displayed power for anyone who gazed upon him. His hair was a brownish red color, and his eyes am intimidating green that one may have expected to see on a Terran panther, and a jaw that could have been used as replacement in a brick wall. Apparently, his name was Andrew. His father was from Dublin, and his mother was from Handon, the latter of which was a city on the planet Eusebia, which had one of the highest Scottish populations outside of planet earth.
"How's it going?" Loki – Tyler was quite sure by this point that he'd never be able to refer to the man as Devon – asked as he glanced back down at his omnitool, fingers tapping away at the holographic display. It was clear that whatever the man had managed to find on the seemingly all-knowing extranet, had his attention. Then again, he'd been like that for the past three weeks. The man was obsessed with the new gear the Alliance had dug up.
Tyler did not respond right away, instead taking a moment to take a bite out of his apple. He chewed and swallowed a piece of the fruit, before sitting it back down on his tray. "Well enough I suppose." He replied with simple weariness, shrugging as he reached for his spoon.
As Tyler brought the first spoonful in, he spotted movement to his left thanks to his peripheral vision. He glanced over in time to see Valkyrie approaching the table, her eyes fixated not on them, but on her tray, where her meal seemed more than content to slide back and forth with every step. Even though he knew better, Tyler couldn't quite take his eyes off her.
She was in one of her more rare 'Anna' moments, where it was just her, not Valkyrie concealed behind a helmet. Her blonde hair, which was normally tied up in a ponytail, or even a tight bun now and then, was flowing more freely today, coming down to her shoulders and curling slightly at the ends. Pulled over her normal Cerberus work uniform was a black sweatshirt with faded lettering in her native Icelandic tongue, which Tyler couldn't ever even dream of pronouncing. The only thing he did recognize was the Urban Combat League's official markings. That might explain how she continuously wiped the floor with him in every spar.
As she sat down beside Tyler, she wore a small smile for a moment, before turning to look at the other team members at the table. "Morning gentlemen. What's going on?" She inquired, tilting her head.
Kraken simply grunted out something that sounded like 'eating' to Tyler, but he couldn't tell. It was clear that the team's close-quarter-combat specialist was not a morning person. He was seemingly content with glaring at the bottom of his mug, than at his teammates.
"Oh, nothing much, just trying a new lane of approach to get to the Alliance's Military Development Division's mainframe, but there's some sort of fuck-all annoying piece of code that keeps kicking me out, yet it doesn't stop me from trying again…Shite, I'd almost believe there's someone in Alliance Cyber-division challenging me here." Loki replied with a small chuckle. While he might have been a hacker, he also had a certain appreciation for equal-minded opponents. Everyone knew he was trying to be the first to breach the blueprints for the new DC-84's, as he had been since the weapon was revealed.
And everyone knew he'd had no luck yet.
"I guess I know what I'll get you for Christmas then." Kraken said, speaking up for the first time, wearing a small grin as he did so. This earned an exaggerated eye-roll from the hacker.
"I'm glad to see that someone managed to stay out of trouble long enough to get to breakfast." Tyler heard Anna say as she nudged him in the elbow.
He chuckled and shrugged, taking a sip of his water before he replied. "For now. I probably won't make it until lunchtime before something happens. I'm prone to that sort of thing." He replied with a small laugh. He glanced over her shoulder to see Heimdahl and Blue Tooth approaching, talking with one another. "Here comes the rest of the team."
Slowly, the rest of them began to trickle in, filling in the seats of the rectangular table. The next to arrive after the aforementioned commandos was the Centurion Tyler had spoken to in the past. In the last month, while Mjolnir-6 had been off running operations, he had been overseeing the training of a company's worth of Cerberus troops from various branches of the military arm. Apparently, it had been decided by the higher ups that if Mjolnir needed backup that they should have a unit on call to do as they needed. The group had been re-designated as 'Bull Company' due to the pissed off bovine on their unit logo, and the Centurion had been placed in command of it, with Miranda as his immediate superior.
That woman really had a lot on her plate these days.
Along with the Centurion came Gunship-pilot Second Lieutenant Chacon and her two-man entourage, Norm Spellman and Lyle Wainfleet. Since Alchera, they had become the team's designated transporters. When the team needed an experienced pilot to get them groundside in one piece, Chacon was the woman to call, by all accounts anyways. Something about the best pilot Cerberus had to offer, and the looks to match, if he remembered correctly. Was that going to change if Joker joined Cerberus, as Tyler still expected him to do?
After a while, Tyler heard Anna speak up over the banter and conversations that had been going on around them. "Hey guys, 'anyone seen Miranda and Jacob?" She asked, glancing around the table.
That seemed to get the attention of at least a few of them, conversations pausing to acknowledge what the Icelandic woman had said. Finally, Norm spoke; "I actually saw them earlier this morning on the way here, didn't say hello or anything though." He shrugged. "I have no idea where they went, sorry."
Loki hummed for a moment before returning his attention toward his meal, which had cooled down during the time he had spent fiddling with his omnitool. "Maybe they had a morning meeting or something, with all that Shepard stuff going on. Someone's gotta keep the scientists in line," He guessed aloud.
"Probably just took the spare time to get some 'private' time." Wainfleet mused as he started tearing into his meal; "Hard to come by in the Alliance, harder to come by in Cerberus."
"About as good a guess as any, I suppose." Tyler said as he took a final bite of his apple, all of the meat stripped away from the core. Taking a napkin, he wiped his mouth clean of any residue, before he waded it up and tossed it onto the tray. As he went to stand up, his omnitool made a pinging noise, which caused him to pause. He quickly tapped the icon, expanding the holographic display. "Speak of the devil...Miranda wants to see me in the briefing room."
"…Same here." Anna said beside him, causing him to look up in surprise. The blonde, in fact, was looking down at her wrist, which was encased by an orange glow. Leaning over, he peeked over her shoulder, and did his best to not notice how good she smelled as he read the message she had been sent. It always did…things, to him whenever he got too close to her. Things he knew she would probably not appreciate knowing.
"Anyone else get one?" She asked suddenly, looking up at her peers. All she got in response was shakes of the head. She frowned slightly in confusion, and then glanced over at Tyler, who had smartly scooted away from her before she really realized how close he had been only moments earlier. "Well...I guess we shouldn't keep them waiting. Come on, let's go." She said, standing up hastily before heading toward the exit, Tyler on her heels a moment later.
"I wonder what's going on." Anna said aloud as she walked alongside Tyler, her hands stuffed into the front pockets of her hoodie, her lips pressed into a tight line as she walked with her gaze on the floor in front of her. A dozen different thoughts seemed to go through her mind at once, but no answer seemed to come to her.
Tyler shrugged as they rounded the corner, the door to the command center coming into view. His eyebrows rose slightly as he spotted guards posted up on either side of the door, bedecked in their hardsuits with iron-grey helmets concealing their faces, their weapons put away for the moment. "I don't know, but I'm sure we're about to be on the receiving end of it…" Tyler muttered.
They were stopped by the two guards at the door, both looming like menacing statues of iron. The man to the left ignited his tool, and swept it before them both in a scan. It seemed to take forever, and the man's colleague seemed to be itching for an excuse.
"You're cleared to go through." The scanner-guard said demurely, tilting his head to watch them as they passed. His visor was a one-piece model, different from the T-visors used by most regular troops.
"Uh...thanks..." Tyler said, nodding as followed Anna into the room. As he passed them, he noted the hardsuits that they wore. The paint scheme of their armor was a midnight black, with blood red stripes that ran up the sides of their legs and arms, similar to the N7 paint scheme in a way, but not quite. Of course, there was the gold Cerberus logo emblazoned on their chest plates. After a moment, recognition hit Tyler. These boys belonged to Bull Company, and it appeared that they had gotten some upgrades to make them stand out from the standard trooper. The armor's design was clearly taken from the renowned Colossus-armor, but set in P-steel and with different specifications.
Inside the briefing room, Jacob and Miranda were already waiting for them; the two quietly conversing over a datapad in the lieutenant's hands. As they stepped in, both glanced up at them, their conversation ceasing.
"Good, you're here." Miranda said as she handed the datapad to Jacob. She was dressed in her normal catsuit, though with straps and pads of pockets and equipment. Regardless of everything decorating the suit, Tyler still felt as if he could see straight through it, for all the curve-hugging it was doing; "I do hope we didn't pull you away from anything…important?"
Was she cocking a brow at him? Or maybe at Anna, though he might as well be imagining things. Miranda was too business-like to bother with teasing, regardless of how easy it would be for her.
"Not a problem, ma'am." Tyler replied formally, ignoring the thought as he fell into a parade rest stance next to Anna, who was already at attention, her eyes focused on the two team leaders. "We were just finishing up breakfast when you summoned us." He continued, looking between his two superiors.
"What's up with mister and misses Chuckles outside the door?" Anna asked, shooting a quick glance toward the door. Tyler, for all his attempts at professionalism, couldn't quite keep down a snort of laughter.
Miranda sighed and reached up, stroking a few wayward strands of raven hair behind her ear, revealing more of her alabaster skin as she did so. "New safety precaution. Nothing to be worried about." She replied, her face showing no sign of change, though her tone hinted that she wasn't quite pleased with their appearance herself.
It took a lot out of Tyler to not frown at that statement. Just great, they're getting even more paranoid than they already are...
The sound of Jacob clearing his throat ended any more wayward thoughts, however.
"The reason we called you here today." He began, changing the subject to more important matters. "Is that we've been in contact with Cerberus High Command." He continued, picking up the datapad as he spoke. With a few taps, the blank holo-screen that was in the room came online. The image that it displayed was that of a planet that reminded Tyler far too much of Alchera for his liking. It had the appearance of white and blue, indications that it had at least snow on it.
"Tau Volantis. To put it bluntly, it's a frozen hellhole that isn't that much different than Alchera, just a little warmer." Jacob said as he motioned toward the screen with one hand, the other still gripping the datapad. "It's in the Coral System, in the Horsehead Nebula, and only a quick jump away from the lovely Noveria.," he continued, occasionally glancing at Miranda.
"Much like Noveria, it's owned by corporations rather than official government entities. In this case, there are two groups controlling this planet, each effectively owning fifty percent of it. One group is the well-known Sirta Foundation. They control the entire planet north of the equator, and maintain a few independent colonies; the largest is New Crete, which has around 200,000 people living in it at the moment." He explained, tapping the pad so that it showed the next image, which happened to of be the city in question. "Big for an independent colony, but there's money to be made on the planet, resources to be exploited, things like that."
"The Sirta Foundation, however, is not why we are here at the moment though. It is the other group on the planet that concerns us at the moment." Miranda said as Jacob handed over the datapad to her. Her deft fingers flew over the datapad, producing yet another new set of images on the screen. These pictures had obviously been taken from space. They showed a small compound from above, with a number of buildings spaced out across a medium sized area that was covered in snow. What was characteristic was that most of the buildings seemed centered around a four-kilometer construction. It was rectangular and definitely manmade.
"The other group present on the planet is the Church of Uniotology. This," she pointed toward the screen for a moment. "…is one of the few images we have of their main compound." She continued.
"Permission to speak, Ma'am?" Tyler asked, waiting for permission. Cerberus – once again – might not have the same fraternization-rules as the Alliance, but they put just as much emphasis on the importance of strict discipline.
"Granted."
"Church of Uniotology, ma'am? I don't think I've heard of them before." He said, his eyes glancing between the image on the screen and her.
"Aren't they the charity-slash-New Age religious group from Earth?" Anna asked in a moment later, stepping over whatever line of conduct there actually was. Miranda didn't seem to care, though, but simply nodded.
"True, their official image consists of a charitable, tolerant religious faith centered around Michael Altman and his supposed martyrdom at the hands of EarthGov"
"EarthGov, ma'am?" it was not a word Tyler had heard before, though there was something familiar about the name of the church. He'd probably walked past a commercial or something, and not paid attention to the message.
"Before we found the Prothean ruins, before the Alliance was founded, the its predecessor was EarthGov, a union of nations dating back to the UN. When the Alliance was formed, EarthGov became the center of negative attention due to its misuse of power, and replaced by the reformed united nations, now known as the European Federation Enforcement Corps, the United States of the Americas, and the Asian Alliance." Miranda explained, counting off unions like she was reciting a lecture; "Since then, the Church has been fast to expand beyond the borders of humanity, spreading to every civilization willing to hear it. As such, the Church possesses a substantial network of informants, financial backers and potential military capabilities."
"So…they're like a more popular Cerberus?" the flat stare Miranda sent at him meant his joke wasn't appreciated.
"They have the capacity to purchase half a planet, as well as maintain complete secrecy concerning their actions on it." She replied, glancing at them both; "As it is, this gives Cerberus Command the idea that whatever the Church is up to, it needs to be investigated."
"Let me guess, the Man wants it checked out by a low-profile recon-team?" Anna suggested more than asked, and was answered with a short nod;
"…Yes. As I am sure you can tell, they're the reason that we've called you here. The Illusive Man believes that they pose a direct threat to humanity and or the Quarians. With both belonging to the Alliance, he wants us to perform reconnaissance missions on the Church and gather whatever Intel we can. After much consideration, we have chosen you two to observe one of their few known installations, this one." She said, tilting her head toward the screen.
"Understood, ma'am." Tyler replied demurely, with an inclination of the head. "If I may though, why us?" He inquired, glancing at Anna, who looked right back at him.
Miranda shrugged slightly. "Our goal is to keep a low profile. The larger the team, the higher chance of someone getting caught or even killed. It is sometimes better to work in pairs during operations like this. It is best, in these scenarios, to work alongside someone you know well or have worked with a fair amount, that's why I chose you two." She replied, shifting her weight from one curvy hip to the other. He wasn't sure or not, but Tyler could have sworn he saw an amused gleam in her eyes, if only for a moment. "Besides that are there any other questions?" She inquired.
Tyler and Anna glanced at one another, waiting to see if there were any.
"What will the rest of M-6 do while we're getting our feet wet?" Anna asked, likely seeing that Tyler had nothing to ask.
"They'll investigate other known sites of unofficial Church activity." Miranda replied. Her answer was short enough that Tyler couldn't help but feel the tension seeping from her.
"Good. You two have a bit of time to prepare, your transport won't be arriving for another three hours." She replied, effectively dismissing the pair. They both snapped smart salutes in reply and turned to head out, Anna taking the lead.
As Tyler neared the exit after Anna, he was stopped for a moment. Miranda was standing behind him, her arms crossed before her "Mister Stevens...do be careful out there. I've got an uncomfortable feeling about this mission," Miranda said before pausing for a moment. "It is… unsettling, to say the least."
Tyler tilted his head to look back at Miranda, and he nodded in acknowledgement, an odd feeling settling in his stomach as he did so. In the time that he had known her, Miranda had never stated an uneasiness about a mission. It was basically the equivalent of having a soothsayer tell you when to die.
Or something like that.
"Of course, ma'am, I'll keep my eyes open." He said, before making his way out at a quick pace so he could catch up with Anna. She had a head start, but he had long legs. "Hey Anna wait up! I don't want to wait for the next elevator, they take too bloody long!"
A few annoyingly long elevator rides later, Tyler and Anna found themselves in the team's armory, inspecting the various pieces of armor and gear that they would be using for the upcoming mission.
Really, it was a precaution more than anything else, as their tech was usually looked over by a team of specialists, overseen by Jacob and the armorer more than a few times before it was issued or returned to them. It was generally a bad practice to send a team of the galaxy's most elite commandos on a mission with inferior gear, after all.
"I really think you should've chosen a different replacement weapon." Anna commented at one point, temporarily taking his attention away from his blue and white armor that he had been in the process of reassembling. He followed her gaze downward to the right side of the table before him, where his new Phaeston MK.5 Assault Rifle sat alongside the rest of his weaponry, all of which was clean as a whistle and ready for use. He'd considered getting a new paintjob for his armor, but considering the new assignment, there just wasn't the time.
"And why is that?" He asked curiously, getting back to his initial task, hands practically moving before he meant for them to. Between Kraken and Loki, he could practically take apart his armor and rebuild it in his sleep. It was designed to be in sections that you could pull on quickly, like clothing. However, it could also be broken down into smaller pieces for a number of different purposes, ranging from maintenance to training a soldier how to care for their armor.
"It's an inefficient rifle, especially at medium to longer ranges. A spray and pray weapon, really." She quickly motioned to her own Mattock, which was clean and well kept, but was still decorated with a few scars of battles past. She had left them for aesthetics, really. "But this bad boy. All you're going to need is three or four shots to take down your run of the mill baddie. And it's a helluva lot more accurate too." She explained as she fondly ran her hand along the receiver of her rifle. There was something to the motion that made his body tense up, something which he dearly hoped Anna did not notice.
Tyler rolled his eyes mostly for the familiarity of it. This was a conversation they'd had a few times in the past. And while he saw the point she made, he wasn't keen on changing his load out anytime soon. It was one that he had grown comfortable with. "While that may be, this can hold three times the ammunition that yours can with the mods I've got in it. Couple that with the stability dampener and scope on this, along with controlled bursts, and I think I can manage just fine." He winked down at her. "Besides, most of our engagements are close range anyways. Never hurts to be able to just lay on the trigger in scenarios like that."
Did he feel odd, talking about his weapons in a manner similar to how he'd spoken back in the marines? Yes.
Was he going to stop doing so, simply because it might be slightly out of place? No.
"Yeah, well, I'm a biotic." She huffed in a way of winning the argument, crossing her arms under his bosom. Tyler couldn't not notice the way her shirt tightened, revealing just a bit more of the soft curves underneath.
Gods, at this pace he was going to need a cold shower before the mission even started.
Anna glanced at her armor, and then at her undersuit which was laying alongside it. Then she looked up at Tyler, who caught her stare at that same moment, and blinked at the awkwardness behind it;
"Hey, can you turn around for a second? I need to change." She stated, motioning toward her state of dress, which hadn't changed since he had met up with her at breakfast.
"Really? Right here?" Tyler asked incredulously, eyebrow raised as he finished snapping his chest pieces together. They came together with a hard clack, harder than he had intended to, but the words only just finished processing in his brain, and nearly had him short-circuiting on the spot; "R-really? Right…"
"What? We're totally alone; no one will see us. It'll only take a second." She replied with a light shrug, before glancing around the area again. "See, no one." She went on, motioning to the armory.
Other than the weapons and gear that lined the walls, they were in fact, totally alone. They both knew that there were a number of cameras probably watching them, but worries about those devices had long since dissipated. It was an accepted fact that they were being watched at all hours. It was just one of the quirks one had to get used to when working for Cerberus.
"Ah…alright, if you say so." Tyler muttered, turning his body so that he looked away from her. God, this was going to be incredibly awkward, wasn't it? He intended to busy himself, by looking over his shotgun for the umpteenth time, but as he reached for it, he faltered, gaze landing on the shiny metal surface of the workbench beside him. Oh my sweet, buttery Jesus…
On the shiny surface, he could see the image of Anna being reflected as she began to undress, her top over her head in a matter of moments. Beneath was a white sports bra and skin so white it resembled porcelain. He admired the way her lithe body moved as she reached down and began to work off her pants, wiggling her hips to do so, until she was left dressed in just her bra, and the plain grey undergarments they were all issued.
Gulping, Tyler forced his ogling gaze away from her before he got caught. It was a lot easier said than done, considering how attractive she was, and most of the blood had long-since left his head. It didn't take long before he could hear her pulling up the bodysuit that they all wore.
Christ on a Crutch, there was an utterly gorgeous woman underneath that uniform!
"There we go, you can turn around now." She said as she finished pulling the clothing over her arms, efficiently covering her. As she fondled with the cuffs for a moment, until they were the way that she liked them, Tyler took the liberty of facing her once more. "Hey, can you help me with this damn back part really quick?" She asked, turning around to show him, nearly giving him a stroke.
God dammit, he should never have looked in the reflection. Now he felt all weird and…self-conscious around her. He was used to just thinking of her as a teammate. Even if she was female, she had still just been a teammate. Now…he realized she was a woman.
"…Sure" he replied, forcing his voice to remain calm, glancing down at her suit. While it was designed to fit perfectly, there was a zipper that started at the small of her back and ran up to her collarbone. He could see her naked back, even the thin strip of garment holding her bra in place.
He didn't want to waste time, and immediately reached down to pull it up, gently as he could. As the zipper reached the top, he paused for a moment. Her hair was in the way.
"Don't want this to get caught." He mumbled to himself for the most part. Reaching up, he gently brushed away the few of her golden locks that had gotten in the way, fingers ghosting her smooth skin for a moment. And while he could not tell for certain, it almost looked as if she shivered at his touch. With her hair out of the way, he finished zipping up her suit.
"…Tadaa, done." He smiled slightly, giving her an awkward, quick pat on the shoulder before he stepped back.
"Thanks." Anna replied, lips curled in a faint smile. Her cheeks were slightly red, but it went unnoticed by Tyler. "You want to go now?" She asked, motioning toward his own bodysuit.
"Might as well." He shrugged. Within a few moments, he had shed his clothing and had pulled on his own suit, humming some sort of tune under his breath that sounded very candenc-y to Anna. Much to her surprise though, he managed to zip up the back without her help. Noticing her look, he grinned;
"I guess I'm better at bending over than you." he chuckled, then stifled when he processed his own words. As his face subsequently caught fire, he sucked in air and tried figuring out a way to unsay those words. God. Fucking. Dammit. What is wrong with me? She rolled her eyes playfully and reached over to pick up her armored chest-piece. "Uh huh. Whatever you say. I'll go grab our rations, you meet me in the hangar."
Tyler was still trying to come up with a response when she placed the helmet over her head, and her soft, playful eyes were replaced by angled, red slits; "Armor up, Tyr, time's wasting."
And Anna was gone, replaced by Valkyrie.
And, odd as it was, Tyler felt relieved by that.
For the pair of commandos, the following hours were little more than a blur, most of it spent getting together what they would need for the mission. Even though they were supposed to be packing light, Valkyrie ended up on insisting that they bring additional gear and provisions, in the event that the mission stretched out for longer than expected, logic Tyler couldn't argue with.
They filled a pair of battle packs with supplies, then locked them to their armor's backs in the magnetic clamps. It ended up being a notable weight, though not enough that Tyler was worried it would end up slowing them down any.
Several times along the way, they bumped into other Mjolnir members preparing for their own missions.
They were all going to be hitting locations owned by the Church of Unitology, who had stakes in a number of other planets across the galaxy. Loki and Kraken were going to be hitting a confirmed installation on a garden-world in the Terminus system, while Blue Tooth and Heimdahl looked into a base they supposedly had on a backwater desert planet in the Rift.
They all parted ways with respectful nods, silent and solemn, the usual competitiveness between them lost for a moment as they saw each other off.
Kraken promised to toss the first round at the bar when they all returned, in a more somber tone than he usually used. Odd as it may have sounded, this was the first mission they were going to be conducting without the rest of their brothers-in-arms to back them up in a long time, since before Tyler had shown up in fact. It was weird to think about, that he had only been here for about four months, but now it felt like his former life, his work with the marines, everything, was so long ago it might as well have been a dream.
Boarding the shuttle was a rather uneventful affair. They were greeted by a pair of younger looking pilots, who were going over finals checks as they arrived at the bay. Other than that, however, they were the only occupants in the shuttle. The two soldiers slid into their seats, sliding off their packs and tucking them to the side as they did so.
"Damn, I forgot how much I hate flying…" Tyr muttered, mostly to himself. He hadn't felt completely confident about flying transport since Fisher had nearly punched him through a car. I wonder if the wall killed him. Hope so. I'd really rather never meet that…person, again.
Valkyrie glanced at him, her expression hidden behind angled slits. Tyr did his best not to show that it bothered him, but sometimes, such as now, he felt disturbed by the way Anna seemed to have a split personality. When the helmet was off, when she was herself, Anna was kind, funny and pretty. The way she laughed, even when it was at him, always cheered him up.
But when she was Valkyrie, it was like nothing existed but the mission. They weren't friends, then, just colleagues, allies who shared nothing but a common purpose.
Was this Cerberus training, conditioning, or was it something else? I really don't know anything about her at all…
Within a few minutes, they had cleared the mass effect fields of the hanger, and were bound towards the nearby mass relay that would carry them to their final destination light years away. It was only when the shuttle shook, propelling them forward at dizzying speeds, that the two soldiers removed their helmets and set them to the side as they got settled in.
At some point during transit, Tyler laid down on the shuttle bench, having to rest in an awkward position, given that he was longer than the slab of metal he was perched on. For a few moments, he fought himself, before finally giving into the 'resting eyes for only a moment' excuse, which ended up turning into a two hour nap. When the material world finally came back to him, his neck and legs were sore from the position that he had been resting in. As he forced himself to sit up, he let out an unintelligible mumble that even he didn't quite understand.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked around the cabin of the shuttle. Nothing that he could tell had really changed, other than the fact that his helmet had fallen onto the floor at some point during his slumber.
As he reached down to pick it up, his eyes wandered over to where Valkyrie had been when he'd slumbered off.
He was surprised and pleased both when he saw her likewise sprawled on the bench, helmet clipped to her waist. So, not Valkyrie right now, but just Anna. Tyler vastly preferred her like this, even if she was asleep.
He couldn't help but smile slightly as he took in how she looked, so peaceful and calm, features fully illuminated thanks to the cabin-lights. After a moment, she shifted and made a sound that could have been considered a quiet, soft snore. Tyler couldn't tell, but he found it amusing and cute nonetheless. After about a minute of sitting there, he sheepishly realized that he had been inadvertently staring and quickly glanced away before she could catch him, in the event that she woke up. I can't help but find her beautiful, yet when she becomes Valkyrie it's like she's a different person…Not a bad person, just…different.
It was only a moment or two later before the silence was broken, courtesy of the co-pilot entering the cabin. He wore the standard Cerberus flight, which was a white mesh of soft- and hardsuit parts, sporting a helmet that covered his entire face. Pushing some button Tyler couldn't see, the man's helmet slid back, settling around his neck like a high-tech hoodie.
And Anna was sitting upright now, fully awake as if she had never been asleep in the first place. Even as the pilot's helmet slid open, she put hers on in a swift motion, almost as if unwilling to show her face to him. And Valkyrie was back.
The pilot cleared his throat, glancing between the two operatives before him, gazing finally settling on Tyler; "Operatives, we're about to come out of transit in the Coral system. We should be near the drop zone soon, on the ground within two hours." He stated in a quick tone, voice thick with a Hispanic accent. Even the translator couldn't make up for the man's rolling 'r's, which gave it a somewhat curious sound. Maybe even a little amusing.
Valkyrie, being the senior operative of the two, nodded her head the barest that would still be visible. Her eyes were hidden behind angled slits, only a weak red light revealing the helmet as active; "Understood. Proceed with the schedule, pilot."
"Understood." The man replied with a nod, then resealed his helmet and returned to the cockpit. When he was gone, Tyler slipped on his own helmet and looked to Valkyrie, who seemed to be watching him with whatever emotion she felt, hidden behind the helmet.
"Morning," he couldn't help but chuckle as he rose up, Valkyrie sliding back down into a seated position as he did so. "So…We're going to be planet-side soon?"
Valkyrie rubbed her helmet's eyes and yawned, then seemed to realize she was wearing a helmet and stopped rubbing the visors, covering her lower helmet with a balled fist. It almost looked like she was slipping back into being Anna, though at this point Tyler knew better than that;
"Good to see you're paying attention. How long was I out of it?" She asked in a neutral tone, leaning back in her seat. Tyler bit his cheek behind his helmet, not fond of how she seemed to forget concepts like 'friendship' when wearing hers. But that was just how it was, and in the months they had served on the same team now, he'd come to realize that was just something that didn't change.
What confused him was how Loki, Kraken and the others weren't like that at all. They remained the same whether in or out of duty.
"Eh, probably a couple of hours, I wasn't really paying all that much attention." Tyler admitted with a shrug before he pulled his own helmet off. He palmed the protective device, looking at himself in the reflection of the visor. He hadn't realized it until now, but he looked… older than when he had first arrived, in a sense anyways.
There was nothing about his features that really revealed this, other than his eyes, both carrying a certain heaviness he hadn't harbored before, even back in his own time. It was a look that he had seen before in both time periods, the common denominator being veterans of conflict. Even Miranda and Jacob held such appearances, though they seemed to mask it better than others. Then again, they knew the stakes.
The Reapers were real, and even the Alliance said so. No one in Cerberus had forgotten the aftermath of the Battle of the Citadel, when Sovereign had nearly won. And no one had forgotten the press-conference held by Admiral Fisher, the woman who was now hailed as the Hero of the Citadel, by all but the Citadel Races themselves.
There was a certain irony in the fact that he preferred the Hero of the Citadel to not just be Commander Shepard, but instead an actual admiral who'd thrown her entire fleet against the Reaper. It was the kind of stuff movies were based on, and he'd be surprised if the old Admiral didn't get an action-vid about her exploits.
Then again, the Citadel seemed to have done their best to cover up her part in it. Tyler couldn't understand that one – he usually didn't understand politics, but still –, especially how the Council could gain anything by denying what everyone knew. Maybe it was because of her part in the First Contact War, a conflict that had turned out very different from what he remembered.
But she had been the first to do battle with the Reapers, and come out alive. She had been the first to declare their existence and the threat they represented, and she had – ironically – been why the flow of recruits to Cerberus had stemmed. When the choice was between pro-human "terrorists" and pro-human "legitimacy", people rarely chose the former.
Before Tyler knew it, an hour had passed, and they were now in the middle of the system. They'd gotten much closer to the planet, and he could make out what he assumed to be continents and mountains on its surface. He knew this because of the LCD screens placed in the main cabin. They were basically just camera-feeds from exterior sensors on the shuttle, but the technology allowed for incredibly sharp zooming optics, enabling them to see details not even the old Hubble telescope would have on its own planet.
Both Tyler and Valkyrie focused their gazes on the screens, watching as the planet's surface grew closer with each passing minute. No one had challenged them yet, which he assumed meant the shuttle was stealth-issue of something. At least he hoped so, and that Cerberus wasn't just taking a coin-toss with two operative's lives on the line. And the pilots, of course.
"Uh, this is your captain speaking, we are, uh, expecting some heavy turbulence upon atmospheric entry. Please make use of the safety-harnesses available behind you, and, uh, make ready for strong winds."
"Well shit…" Tyler groaned, dumping himself on the bench before grabbing for the extended harness. The damn thing was unfolding from the wall. The way they were the designed, the straps reminded him a lot of how he'd once been strapped in the Hercules transports. No need to fix what ain't broke, I guess…
Almost as soon as they hit the atmosphere, strong winds started buffeting against the shuttle. Even with modern technology, rapid atmospheric entry was anything but gentle, especially in a shuttle small enough to lack the dampeners needed to make it not unpleasant.
Supposedly, this planet was 'warmer' than Alchera, but Tyler didn't believe this for a moment as he studied the landscape of the planet.
"Please stand by for deployment, we have dropped out of atmosphere, and are now proceeding to primary landing sight. Estimated time of arrival is ten minutes." The pilot announced over the intercom as the shuttle began its fast descent toward the frozen planet.
"Well, I suppose this is it, game time." Tyler said, glancing at his partner-in-crime, before pulling on his helmet once more. A quiet hiss signaled the helmet was firmly attached. As soon as he did so, his heads-up-display booted up and linked itself to his Omnitool, which flickered orange as he reached down and fiddled with it for a moment before locking it up. He'd rather not have any programs draining power when they touched down, but he also wanted to make sure the tool didn't shorten out when exposed to the cold.
The shrill cry of a frantic alarm filled the cabin as the shuttle jolting and veered to the right. Without warning, both of the commandos were subject to the change, and grunted when only the strained harnesses kept them from being thrown at the wall.
"What the Hel was that?!" Valkyrie hissed, gripping the harness around her shoulder with tight fists.
Tyler opened his mouth to reply as he regained his balance, but the yell of the pilots silenced him. Apparently, during the chaos of the prior moment, the dividing door between the cabin and cockpit had slid open once more. "Mother of Di-Fuck! They've got a lock on us!"
"I thought you said the bloody stealth systems were on!" The other growled back as the shuttle banked swiftly to the right, presumably to avoid whatever was being sent their way. The LCD screens were still very much active, but they were hard to pay attention to at the moment.
"I did, I did! But whatever the fuck they've got down there saw right through it!" The Hispanic co-pilot shouted back, his voice between horrified and pissed; "Oh Shit! SAM! SAM! SAM!"
"Evasive maneuvers, launch ECM!"
"ECM launched!"
"Fuuuuck! They're gaining!"
"Launch Seconds!"
"They're not ready yet!"
"MAKE THEM READY!"
It was only now that Tyler dared to look over at one of the nearby screens, and as he did so, his eyes widened in a mix of shock and horror. The images being projected were of the ground below and ahead of them, the present blizzard having slowed down enough that he could make out the images a fair bit more.
"FLACK! We've got Flack!"
They were anything but comforting.
Scattered across the field before them, boxy structures dotted the landscape, each having emerged from a pair of slide-doors in the ground. Guns and missiles. It reminded him of flying over Camp Bastion, only now the guns were pointed at them.
And they were active. The guns, from what he could see, were pumping shells into the air, transforming the skies from white to black and smoke-filled. Shrapnel pinged off where they broke the shuttle's barriers, while missiles streaked at their tail-ports, gaining on them with every moment.
The following moments were a blur for Tyler, and he could only watch helplessly as enemy shots began to get closer and closer, despite the pilots' best efforts to keep the shuttle out of harm's way. As they put the craft into a sharp dive, hoping to get under the enemy's direct line of fire, a shot directly impacted the Kodiak, draining it of its shields in one go. Another one hit the underside, throwing everything up. Armored as the Kodiak was famed to be, the impact still left the shuttle with a bulge in the floor, inches from Tyler's feet. A second shot hit the side of the shuttle with such force that Valkyrie's harness snapped and threw her across the cabin to crash into him.
"Fuuuuuuck!"
Before much else could be done, a second shot found its mark with a much more lethal effect. In an instant, the cockpit had been sheared away, leaving a gaping hole in its place.
The only reason Valkyrie herself was not flung from the cabin, was Tyler had wrapping his arms around her torso and held her as tight as he could She gasped, in a mix of surprise and horror, mismatched eyes wide as the watched the world outside begin to spin around them. Her survival instincts kicking in, she pushed herself deeper into Tyler's grasp.
"We're gonna dieeee!" he shouted, closing his eyes.
When the final blow shattered the craft and tore it from the skies, the last thing Tyler registered was Valkyrie screaming for Valhalla.
When the waking world finally came back to Tyler, he awoke with a pained groan, every muscle in his body seeming to ache and scream with protest at any movement. A lethargic feeling was setting in, making each limb weigh much more than it actually did. His chest was heavy and felt constricted, and his arms were still locked around what he very much so hoped to be Valkyrie. His mind was jumbled and confused, but he very much grabbing a hold of her, moments before he'd lost consciousness.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Get shot down and the first thing you do is latch onto an attractive woman." Tyler heard a familiar voice speak out from seemingly nowhere, causing him to groan in frustration. The Aspect had been quiet for some long that he thought it had up and moved on to a new and unfortunate bastard, but alas, the greater powers at work didn't seem to be that merciful.
"Your…sense of humor really sucks." God, speaking hurt. That was probably a broken rib, if his usual luck was anything to go by.
"Aww, you not wanting me around breaks my heart." He heard the voice add after a moment, voice laced with about as much emotion as he suspected the Aspect of War could muster up. The next moment, he felt a jab in his side, as if someone had given him a proper kick. "No time for that now, however, you and she need to get moving if you don't want the search party breathing down your necks. They're already on their way, in fact, so get moving"
With that piece of knowledge, Tyler decided to force his eyes open, blinking as he observed everything in his immediate field of vision. He was lying on his back it turned out, looking up at what had once been the roof of the shuttle, now little more than a gaping hole and mangled metal. Scorch marks adorned the walls of the wrecked shuttle, and a small fire burned nearby as snow blew in through the freshly opened orifices of the grounded vehicle.
"Fucking Hell…We survived that?"
With some effort, Tyler managed to tilt his head downwards to gaze at Valkyrie, whom he was still clutching protectively in his arms, at least for the time being. One of the harness-straps supposed to hold him had snatched on her elbow, probably saving her life. Her armored body was flush against his own, her helmeted head limply rested against his broad chest. For a brief moment, he almost panicked as she gave no indications of being alive, much less conscious, but those fears were squashed as she began to shift in his arms, her groans of coming to reaching his ears thanks to her keeping the communication line open prior to the crash.
"Blech, Fenris' Balls..." Valkyrie moaned as she stirred against him.
"…Thank God…" Tyler whispered under his breath, trying to let go of her. The strap holding her elbow snapped, letting her fall to the ruined floor. What was left of it, anyway.
"…Are we dead?" She asked as she began looking around. The shuttle was a mess, and not even a Quarian could have made as much as a sleigh from it now.
"Nah, but I sure as hell feel like I am." Tyler grunted back, his body sore all over from the hit. He reached to his left shoulder and slipped out of the straps still holding him; "We should, ah, probably get moving. Before any search parties show up, or something like that."
She didn't linger on the floor after that. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She replied quickly, doing her best to not sound distressed. Still, with the way she stood, Tyler could tell she was likely concussed. Her armor was far less protective than his, to allow for mobility, and now she was paying for it. Shit.
Glancing around, Tyler searched for his weapons, which thankfully, had not been completely destroyed in the crash. His rifle was in good shape, as was his pistol, but his shotgun was gone. He placed his sidearm on his hip, but decided to keep his rifle out in case things got hot sooner than expected. Enemies were on their way, after all, as Alex has so kindly informed him.
"What's the status of your gear, Val?" Tyler asked as he pivoted on his heels to observe the commando, who was on the other side of the wrecked shuttle, digging around for whatever she could salvage.
She let out a less than feminine grunt as she pulled on the action pack she had brought for the mission. "All of my weapons made it through the crash, thankfully. So did most of the rations," she added as she tapped the pack slung over his shoulder. "Most of them anyways, I had to toss the shit that didn't make it." She explained, glancing over to the side, where several damaged or ripped open packets could be seen, their contents oozing out onto the steel deck, before freezing solid due to the harsh climate that they found themselves in. "Medical kit made it too, in case we need it...Power-packs are gone though, which'll be a problem…"
There was a pause, before she continued, glancing out the large hole where the cockpit had been, her mismatched eyes taking in the bleak landscape ahead of them. The snow was beginning to come down much harder once more, though it did not seem to perturb her that much, given her prior experience with the Union military. Tyler had no idea just what kind of training the Union forced their soldiers through, but if Valkyrie was an example of the finished product, he'd rather never try it out.
"Any ideas as to our next move," she asked as she looked back at Tyler. While she was certainly the ranking member of the two, and knew he would follow her word without question for the most part, she was apparently open to ideas at the moment. Of course, she knew they needed to vacate the area, but what direction to begin heading towards was a different matter. The blizzard was making scans difficult, and even with the HUDS marking them both as blips on the scan, there wasn't much else to go from.
Glancing down, Tyler activated his Omnitool and opened up a map of the local area that they had downloaded before leaving the station. It had target location of the mission marked on it, along with the: infiltration, extraction, and secondary points as well. But with everything being ice and snow, there wasn't a lot of detail;
"Well, according to this, the mission objective is about fifteen kilometers that way." He began, motioning toward what was apparently north of their location. "I was thinking we move here, if you want my opinion. It's a secondary point marked as a possible base camp location. Caves apparently, deep enough that we could probably find a dry place and rest for a while."
"We could experience radio interference down there." Valkyrie replied hesitantly, like the idea rankled her.
Tyler shrugged slightly.
"Possibly, but that won't exactly prohibit our operation either. They're not expecting us to radio in for a couple of days, if I remember correctly. Not to mention every jammer the enemy may have on hand is probably online." He pointed out, making a 'follow me' motion towards the hole where the cockpit had been. "Not to mention the fact we probably won't getting off this rock for a while anyways. Our ride's kind of… wrecked, after all."
Nodding, Valkyrie readied her rifle and began to follow her more burly companion towards the opening, and then out into the barren landscape of the planet. "Cave it is. Let's get moving, I want to be there before nightfall."
Tyler had no idea when that was, because the blizzard's grey skies basically meant day was night anyway.
"I understand ma'am, I don't want to be out after dark myself… If that's the case though, we're gonna have to move a bit quicker. It's a good ten clicks hike from here, and I can't quite determine what's between us and those caves on the map. Could be open ground, could be hills." He replied with narrowed eyes as he peered down at the map on his omnitool. Damn thing could run for a thousand hours without need for a recharge, but it couldn't make the details of the projected image clear enough for him to make heads or tails of the information.
Someone'd cut corners on the equipment. Bastards.
"Pssh, I could do ten clicks in my sleep, regardless of weather. Hel, it kinda reminds me of home." She grinned under her helmet as she looked up at the dark sky, which continued to drop fat, heavy and fast snowflakes on them with impunity. Each felt like a tap on the armor, and the sheer amount and speed made for one unpleasant first step; "Now come on, let's get moving. If trends continue to hold up, we're gonna have to get accustomed to trekking through wastelands like this… It'll be fun,"
The former marine scoffed at his partner's enthusiasm or lack thereof, it being no secret between them that he preferred warmth to cold, unlike her.
"God, I hope not." He replied, lips quirking upward for a moment. With that, the two began their trek northwest, towards their cavernous objective. It was going to be a long and cold journey, to say the least. The only real consolation was that it wasn't Alchera or Noveria.
No creepy monsters here to take care of.
Codex Entry: Second Kalmar Union
Following the Scandinavian Revolutions in 1810, representatives from each country's revolutionary governments – Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland – met in Stockholm to discuss a treaty between the nations. The result was the Unification Treaty of Kalmar, which became the founding document of the Second Kalmar Union.
In 1864, Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck embarked on a war of conquest over the dispute between the Kalmar Union member, Denmark, and the states of Schleswig-Holstein.
While the Danish soldiers were relatively quickly overwhelmed at the old walls of Danevirke, the Prussian invasion was stopped short in its tracks at the siege of Dybøl, when armored warships arrived from Oslo, carrying Union troops and artillery, as well as Samish mercenaries.
The Prussian soldiers, previously in a superior shelling-position, were now caught between the Danish defenders, and the landing reinforcements coming up from the southern fjord. The battle turned into a bloodbath, with neither side achieving true victory, though the Prussian soldiers were eventually forced to retreat to a more defensible position, allowing the defenders a pyrrhic victory, if nothing else.
The war concluded with the signing of a ceasefire, granting Denmark the state of Schleswig, while Holstein remained neutral as a future buffer between the great nations. This war, while hurtful to the relations between later Germany and Scandinavia, served to bring the Kalmar Union closer together, finally cementing the alliance as military as well as political in name as well as deed.
Later on, Scandinavia remained pointedly neutral during the First World War, despite both sides heavily arguing their case to the northern union. As such, the Kalmar Union prospered from trading with both sides of the conflict, as well as Schleswig functioning as a statewide sanctuary for displaced populations, as well as a neutral treatment-site for both sides.
The Second World War forced the Union into action when Russian soldiers invaded Finland in 1939, and the Kalmar Union entered the war on the side of the Allies. Though Finland eventually fell to the Soviet Union in 1940, Swedish and Danish warships harassed the soviet supply-ships crossing the Baltic Sea, forcing Stalin to send his supply routes across the Siberian, then the Finnish steppes and forests, the latter providing amble opportunity for Finnish partisans to ambush them.
When Russia was attacked by Germany, and as a result thereof sided with the Allies, Scandinavia pulled out of the war, refusing to fight side by side with the soldiers currently occupying the lands of its member nation, Finland. The war was eventually won by the Allies, though historians have argued that the casualties could have been much diminished had the Union not pulled out.
During the Cold War, the Kalmar Union managed a tense relationship with the USSR, refusing to acknowledge Soviet ownership of eastern Finland, though lacking the capacity to retake the lost territory. When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed as a counter to the Warsaw-pact, the Kalmar Union joined as a single entity, determined to remain unified.
In 2016, at the outbreak of the Third World War, Scandinavia fought with Nato against Russian forces in Northern Europe, primarily focusing their military capacities in the Baltic Sea, Finland's border with Russia, and the North Atlantic.
At the end of the War, approximately two million Union troops had been killed in action, and eleven million civilians had been killed by the fighting, primarily in Finland, or in sea-side towns and harbors targeted by Russian missile cruisers.
As a result of the War, Finland regained the entirety of its old territory from Russia, and the Kalmar Union remained a unified superpower, capable of impacting international politics with respect and willpower alone. Members of the European Union, which the Kalmar Union remains a partner if not key-member of, have often voiced criticism of the Unions overtly militarized societies, maintaining compulsory military service for all eligible men and women within its borders.
At the turn of the next century, the Kalmar Union had grown to include Kaliningrad. The Baltic state became the first Christian country to join the previously pure-Asatru Union. In 2131, pro-Russian separatism flourished in Eastern Europe, clandestinely funded and supported by Russian President Joseph Igor Malevich.
Despite the evidence of Russian involvement, the European Union was facing a decline in economic capability, and as such depended too much on Russian energy to punish what was in simplicity foreign state-sponsored anarchy. The Kalmar Union levied heavy sanctions on Russia when Kaliningrad experienced similar uprisings, but due to official denial of involvement, the Union was unable to declare a state of war without breaking international law.
As a counter-measure to destabilization of a member-state, Union troops were sent to combat the insurrectionism in Kaliningrad, and shortly thereafter were engaged by 'self-defense troops' from the separatist-controlled parts of the small nation. When Russia threatened with a full-scale intervention in the Baltic state, the Kalmar Union was forced to retract its peace-keeping forces, and Kaliningrad eventually left the Union before dissolving into city-states ruled by pro-Russian officials.
Relations between the Union and Russia progressively deteriorated to the point where the 'cold' war between the two factions seemed ready to go hot. The only reason this never happened, was the discovery of alien ruins on Mars, which led to the formation of the Human Systems Alliance. When the first human-settled world of Shanxi was attacked by the Turian Hierarchy in 2154, the Kalmar Union joined the Alliance, putting aside old grudges with Russia in the face of extraterrestrial threats.
It remains a significant powerbase to this day, and maintains military bases on several colonies in the inner systems. Union Army Trainers are highly sought after for their expertise in guerrilla-style winter warfare.