Skipper's log. 02:00 Hours on September the 16th.

"I always pictured hell to be some sort of lava-filled inferno. Turns out its actually a giant block of ice.

"I have never seen the amount of destruction that I see now in my life. I've seen the aftermath of conflict before, with families torn apart, and houses burned, but never on this scale. Manfredi's Penguin City, his hometown, is nothing more than a smoldering crater. As the Penguin Army moved through, they didn't leave a single building standing. These Arctic penguins built their homes out of the ice and snow. They were never meant to be put up to explosives and gunfire, and have all toppled.

"It wasn't until we got closer that the real feelings of desperation sank in. Manfredi always said the Penguin City was not that large; maybe only one thousand penguins. The sheer number of bodies laying in the streets makes it seem like only a few hours ago, there had been many more. Fishslader didn't spare a single life, it seems. Even Manfredi's fiance and child weren't spared. Johnson and I couldn't bare to see Manfredi cry over his lost love, so we left him to mourn for a while and went off to look for survivors.

"I wish I hadn't. It seems each time I think I witness a body stir, I only come upon another dead penguin. I have mostly given up, now, and I am now just roaming these streets. If hell exists, this is definitely what its like. The death and destruction that this place reeks of is nearly too much to take. I'm not even from here, but I still am wrecked. I'm trying not to let it overtake me, but a feeling of desperation is slowly rising inside me.

"Johnson doesn't seem to be doing much better. He tried to wake a few of the deceased up, but then I saw him making his way out of the city. Its better that he does I feel – I don't want him to become too scared by this before we even encounter Sarge. That bastard did this to weaken us, and more importantly, weaken Manfredi. I hope that he can hold together through this. There will be plenty of time to mourn after we stop Sarge from getting the Sun. For now, there's something worth fighting for. I'll probably tell him that when we meet up again later.

"I wish now that I hadn't underestimated the the length of Fishslader's corruption. It's a mistake that I will be sure to never make again."

The Speed of Darkness
Chapter 43 – Backup

IT WAS LIKE NOTHING SHE HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE.

She always knew that there were penguins living in Antarctica. In fact, she was entirely unaware about the other locations penguins could be found until she became a zookeeper. As a young girl she used to see the nature documentaries on Arctic emperor penguins. On those documentaries, though, they would always be shown on some glacier, huddling together for warmth. Never had they shown something like this. Was it possible that she was one of the first people to lay eyes on a true penguin civilization?

It was an entire city, built by penguins out of snow and ice. She had no idea where they even got the tools to perform such a feat, let alone the know-how. The strange thing was the fact that the buildings that stood around her resembled ones that a human might build. Had the penguins gotten their inspiration from the human cities?

There was one thing she was sure of, though. She didn't doubt that penguins were capable of building such a monument. After the last two months of following her own penguins around, watching their every move, inferring what they communicated, she realized that she barely knew what they were capable of.

"This place looks like it hasn't seen the light of day in years," commented Mr. Green as they made their way down one of the streets. He, a few of his interns, and Issac were all huddled into one group, shielding their faces from the cold. Behind them they pulled a sled with supplies and portable shelter. Alice was glad that Issac happened to have Arctic survival gear laying around.

"I wonder who be buildin' this here city," the crazy sailor responded. "Ain't heard of no people livin' in Antarctica."

"This place wasn't built by people. It was built by penguins," offered Alice.

Issac let out a loud, horse laugh that made Alice flinch. "Good one," he said, "And I s'pose the long lost treasure of Blackbeard be buried her as well?"

Alice shook her head, glancing at Andrew. He seemed to be as equally angered by the man's disbelief. "I'm telling you," she told him finally, "the penguins I'm talking about aren't anything normal. If anyone built a city in Antarctica, it was them."

There was some muffled discussion from the interns, but they seemed to agree. They had also been watching the penguin's feeds for long enough to conclude it was possible. "Besides," spoke Mr. Green. He had swapped out his suit jacket for a much warmer one. "What group of humans do you think would build an entire city out of snow and ice?"

"You're with this lass?" answered Issac as if he was surprised. "I'd have to say you two probably built it, based on how crazy you already are." He laughed as he spoke. Alice could feel anger rising inside of her, but she suppressed it. He was their only way home.

"It was penguins, Issac," continued Andrew. Alice was glad that he was on her side.

"Well where be these penguins now, then?"

"Not quite sure," Alice said, grabbing one of the monitors from the interns. "When our penguins moved through here, there was a group of emperor penguins they got into a fight with. They might be in hiding, now."

"Penguins, fighting? So they just be cawin' at eachother?"
"Not quite. Our penguins are very skilled in some sort of martial arts. They could kick all of our asses if they wanted to."

To this, Issac laughed again. "Even if what you say be true, I ain't gonna be bested by no bird," he said, raising his fists.

As if on cue, three emperor penguins waddled around the corner of a building. As soon as they saw the humans, they puffed out their orange chest feathers and attempted to look bigger than normal. They made clicking noises to each other, but stood their ground.

"So there be penguins here after all," Issac said, cracking his knuckles. He turned to Alice. "Time to prove you wrong."

He stepped closer to the emperor penguins. "Issac, don't mess with them. They just want to be left alone," urged Alice. She never enjoyed the idea of people beating animals senseless, but before this whole adventure she never would have done anything about it. Now, however, she felt compelled to stop Issac before he hurt them. She had seen on the monitor how these penguins fell easily to that one robotic super-penguin. She didn't think they'd be able to defend themselves against Issac.

Issac was already charging at them though, shouting at them and raising his fists. She cried for him to stop, but he didn't hear her. To her surprise, however, the three emperor penguins were more than able to defend themselves.

First, they locked their flippers together. Then, in one swift movement, two of the penguins heaved the third penguin into the air, who landed on Issac's face. Issac stumbled from surprise and tripped over a piece of ice. The penguin on top of him began swinging its flippers wildly, but Alice was sure he wasn't doing any damage. Issac was yelling for help, but Alice let this go on for a few moments.

Eventually she stepped in and yanked the penguin off of Issac. Setting it down gently, it waddled off and rejoined the other two, clattering out something with its beak. Alice helped Issac up, who wiped his face. Alice thought they were tears for a moment, but then convinced herself otherwise.

"Damn birds caught me off guard," muttered the sailor as he jabbed his hands into his pockets. The penguins across from them were waving their flippers wildly, showing them they wanted them to leave.

"We should get out of here," concluded Alice. Mr. Green nodded, and the group made their way out of the town. The three penguins followed them to the outskirts of the city, and then watched as they made their way back out into the barren wasteland. Alice briefly hoped they were going in the same direction as her penguins were, as it was hard to tell.

She looked at the monitor she had taken from one of the interns. It turned out to be the feed of the captured penguin that was helping the penguins that had attacked her. She had thought about this penguin for a while, and concluded it was the tall, round-headed one. Based on how the other penguins had been acting both before and after the flat-headed leader had returned, her best guess told her that he was his best friend. She wasn't sure if her own judgment was clouding that conclusion, though.

The penguins on the screen had approached some sort of strange temple. It seemed like it was almost entirely built out of ice, with spires that shot towards the sky. Alice remembered the pictures of European cathedrals she had seen before, but couldn't think of one she had seen that looked like this. It was comparable, she thought, as the sheer size of the structure was enough to take her breath away. She wondered how, with all of the exploration in Antarctica in recent years, they had missed both the Penguin City and this ancient building.

On the screen, the penguins stopped at what appeared to be the front door to the temple. As if they were wasting no time, however, they they proceeded to three large, glass-like columns near the entrance. The blind-eyed leader glanced up at the sun, and signaled the three penguins now holding the columns to rotate them into position. Alice was surprised how easily the columns turned – they looked like they could weigh a thousand tons.

Then the penguins on the screen exchanged high-fives and walked into the temple. The screen grew dark for a little while, but after a few moments the area around the penguin was illuminated by eerie blue light. It was a long corridor made of the same material that Alice had seen from outside. Along its sides were torches that, though previously unlit, had strange blue flame burning on them. It seemed to give off just barely enough light.

"It seems we know what there final destination is, now," said Andrew, who had been watching the screen from over Alice's shoulder.

"Yeah," agreed Alice, "but how in the world did this temple come about? I mean, it looks like it could be made of solid glass. There's no way the penguins could have built that, even if they did build the city."

"If I had to make a guess I would say that this temple is far older than the city," returned the businessman.

"Do you think it was built by some strange ancient penguin architects?" Alice asked, intrigued. The penguins on the screen had begun walking down the long corridor.

"With everything we've seen so far, I wouldn't doubt it in the slightest."

Issac rolled his eyes, "What's this with more penguins buildin' things?"

"None of your business," shooed Alice. She didn't want to get the crazy old man any more involved than he already was. He had already gotten in trouble with the penguins from the city, and she didn't want him to cause any more conflict. The sailor shrugged his shoulders and began whistling a tune from behind his tightly drawn hood.

"My penguin really seems to be working with them now," Alice said after a few moments. Her penguin was now leading the group down the long corridor, turning his head back every few minutes to glance at them.

"Personally, I thought he was going to ditch them as soon as he got off that boat. If he could get away, he'd be able to survive on his own in Antarctica until the other penguins found him with the tracking device," returned Andrew.

"It really seems like he's betraying them," sighed Alice.

Andrew picked up on Alice's brief words of worry, and prepared to accuse her of caring for the penguins she had dreaded so much only a few months ago. Alice glared at him before he could, though, and instead he said, "It would be a terrible event to be betrayed in such a way by someone close to you."

"Yeah," agreed Alice. "I hope that my penguins can work it their differences. I don't know why that tall one would back stab them like this, but I don't know if they can defeat those ugly, evil ones without his help."

"Maybe we can help?" offered Andrew. Alice looked at him, and was surprised to see him smiling. She knew that she was slowly beginning to love her penguins more and more, but she had no idea that he might be the same way. Did the last year of doing nothing but watching those pesky little birds change him, too?

She shook her head at the businessman's confused expression, and then said, "You're right. If we can get to that temple before them or even shortly after them, maybe we can help them deal with those evil penguins. And get their little buddy back, for that matter."

"They're obviously very skilled in combat, though. They took you out without much problem before, remember. And those emperor penguins floored Issac without much problem, even though they were obviously not as skilled as our penguins."

"We're also four times their size. Even if we just flail our arms around, we'll probably do serious enough damage."

Mr. Green turned to his interns. Surprisingly enough, they all had looks of determination on their faces. Alice's heart was warmed slightly at this sight. Had all of these people had come to care for her birds? The answer was unanimous to Mr. Green's question of whether or not they wanted to come. It was good to know, because Alice knew they would need all the help they would get.

Issac looked confused at this gesture, but shrugged.

"Off to the temple. Let's go!" Alice said, determined.

~Author's Note: So here you go. I've got a lot of studying to do over the next few days, so the next chapter won't be out until Thursday. Also, I've written a fairly important Deviant Journal on my plans for this story. If you'd like to read it, search up Cudabear on DeviantArt.

For the sake of simplicity, though, I will sum it up here. Basically, from next Thursday the 23rd to Monday the 5th of March, you can expect a brand new chapter each day. That sets my estimation completion date for this book as the end of March. Exciting, eh?