Figured we'd had enough of the feels lately, so let's just have a blast. Couldn't have gotten this chapter together without the help of BrambleStar14, or without the excellent beta reading assist from Minaethiel. And BC wouldn't be here without you, reader. Thanks for being here.
Reign of the Ice Queen
Written by TunelessLyric and BrambleStar14
I'm no hero and I'm not made of stone
Right or wrong, I can hardly care
I'm on the wrong side of heaven
And the righteous side of hell
-Five Finger Death Punch, 'Wrong Side of Heaven'
"Everybody out!"
Punching the release of her safety harness, Blizzard surged to her feet. Around her, Fireteam Phoenix made final weapons checks and patted down their belts to make sure everything was in place. The Pelican's rear ramp opened on a firefight in progress. The street was a mess of scrap metal and hunkering soldiers trading volleys.
UNSC weapons turned on the URF aircraft, bullets pinging like hail on the reinforced hull. Footsteps thundered behind Blizzard, drowning out all other sounds. A flash of black and yellow and Firefly rocketed past, propelled by his jetpack. Harper dropped out next, followed closely by Geist and Hunter. With a ragged deep breath, Blizzard followed.
The impact with the pavement shocked through her even as she rolled forward to swallow the momentum. She started firing as she came back to her feet. The UNSC soldier ducked back behind the SUV he was using as cover. Glass shattered across the sidewalk under her rifle's spray.
Her teammates scattered, seeking out cover to avoid the organizing Army personnel who had turned the street into a shooting gallery. Blizzard herself darted to the battered SUV. Taking a knee as gunfire cracked through the space she had been standing in a second ago, she squeezed the trigger at the boots visible below the vehicle.
A scream pierced through her adrenaline rush. Everything came blasting in, the taunting and swearing and screaming. The debris and half-collapsed storefronts and shrapnel embedded in the tree trunks lining the block. Blizzard shook herself and ended the soldier's suffering with another quick burst.
"Move up!" Harper's voice was in her ear, reminding her they had a job to do. A target to eliminate. They couldn't waste their time playing hide-and-seek with common ground forces.
Circling the SUV, Blizzard hurried down through the hole Firefly and Hunter punched through the line of soldiers. She fired reflexively at movement to the side, letting Harper handle the other flank while Geist covered the rear. A few UNSC soldiers ducked fast enough. Most slumped and didn't rise.
"Good news when you're ready, Circuit," demanded Harper, shifting his pistol to fire a neat spread into his target's centre of mass.
Blizzard tore her attention away to focus instead on keeping heads down long enough for Firefly's strafing to take its toll. Geist systematically cleared anyone left breathing while Hunter surveyed the windows for any snipers.
"Got a location. I'm into their battlenet. Broadcasting it back to our guys." The engineer didn't have enough time to waste his focus on full sentences and real explanations. "Dropping the coordinates for you lot."
A dozen blocks away, a skyscraper flashed yellow before a permanent red outline kept it marked from the rest of the skyline.
"Glad I packed my good socks. That's going to be a hike," commented Firefly, touching down next to Blizzard. He held out a fist.
She knocked her own against it and glanced up. Their Pelican had circled back and was easing down to the now-silent street. What was left of the Innie squads converged on the craft. After killing the engine, Falcon, Crosshair and Circuit clattered down the ramp.
"So what's the plan?" asked Hunter, wiping the blades of his new machetes on one vambrace.
Harper snatched up a section of concrete from the edge of a grenade's blast radius. Dropping it to the ground in the centre of the circle the Innies formed, he stomped hard, crushing it to dust beneath his boot. His knife flashed in the sunlight as he sketched out the part of the city they were concerned with. "Geist and Falcon escort Firefly. He does his explosive thing, levels the building and its neighbours to make sure the good general doesn't get away. Rest of us are on front—"
"No," said Blizzard, voice hard.
Harper's visor snapped up to hers. He stayed kneeling in the street, the point of his blade still sunk into the ashy white dust. "Excuse me?" he hissed.
Hunter stiffened, flipping the grip on his blade back and forth, back and forth. Nobody else moved. Few dared to breathe in the silence.
"I said no." It was louder than before, just as cold. "There are civilians. People who have no part in this war and no choice where it touches down. You give the order to evacuate and the general slips away with them. You bomb the block, they all die."
"That's the point, Blizzard." Harper stabbed his knife into the thin layer of concrete dust, fixing his blank faceplate on hers. "They die, she dies, the Innies win and the UNSC loses. That's what we do."
She shook her head. "We were told to eliminate a target, not level half the city."
Harper stood, grip tightening on his blade, but it was Firefly who said, "We're the terrorists for a reason." But there was a waver in the words.
There were a lot of eyes on her. Not only her teammates, but nearly two dozen Innies she had never even gotten the names of, all watching her.
"Yeah," she said with a nod. Stepping forward, she unpolarized her visor to stare at each of her friends, at Harper and the other URF soldiers. "You're here for a reason. Because the UNSC or ONI or both took something from you. Because you were forced into this. I thought this whole thing was supposed to save the Isaac Harpers," she said, facing Circuit. Turning to Crosshair she added, "To prevent the Amy Baxters."
Harper's head lifted out of its tilt, no longer fascinated. His attention shifted to something else.
"You bomb that building? You become them. You give them reasons to fight and die. You erase any chance of the UNSC and URF sitting down and negotiating peace. Is that what you want? To martyr the general and make sure this war keeps making orphans and widows, widowers and grieving siblings?" She spun, facing Hunter. "You want to keep tearing families apart? Go on. Show the UNSC that they're right about us. We're just terrorists who don't give a fuck about collateral as long as we get our woman."
Someone let out a long, noisy breath. One of the Innie squad leaders leaned over to Harper and asked, "Where the hell did you find this one?"
Harper simply shook his head. "You don't want to know."
"What are you thinking?" asked Hunter, standing halfway between Blizzard and the fireteam lead, weight awkwardly shifting around as he glanced between them.
"You are a surprisingly unimaginative group. Smash our way in, cut through the general's defenses, take our VIP to the pickup."
Bending, Blizzard used her gloved finger to draw a pair of lines around and into the designated building. "Stick Crosshair wherever he wants to be, split the group in half, maybe three if we have enough." She did a quick headcount. "One group goes in the back, one in the front, another in the front two minutes later. Everyone spreads out and makes a mess of the security detail. We meet back in the lobby with our secured VIP."
When she glanced up, Falcon, Firefly and several other Innies were nodding.
"I like it," said one with a camo stripe down his chest.
Falcon pointed to the Innie who had spoken. "Go with Blizzard, Geist and Circuit. She's in charge." His finger moved, singling out another squad leader, this one with a red cloud on her brow. "With me, Firefly. The rest are with Hunter, Maverick and Crosshair."
Everyone turned back to watch Blizzard. Even Harper, his expression unnaturally expectant. Far cry from the aggressive animal planning an offensive when she brought them to her father's office months ago.
"Feel free to be noisy. Civilian casualties to a minimum. Let's get to work." She jerked her chin to her squad and began crunching over the scarred street.
Geist and Circuit followed, one off either shoulder. Frowning, Blizzard glanced back at the assassin. He regarded her silently as ever.
"No reason to stand on ceremony," she told him. "Get going."
He still didn't speak, but he did the courtesy of sending an acknowledgement light her way as he shimmered out of sight.
She kept everyone else's pace light, letting her scout move up and do his job better than anyone could have instructed. But when he pinged with a green light, Blizzard broke into a quick jog. It felt wrong. Like trying to push two pieces of different puzzles together. She didn't know these people. She didn't give orders. She was damn fucking good at her job, but this… was weird. As comfortable as she was with Phoenix, this just didn't click the same way.
ODSTs didn't split up if they could avoid it.
Shaking herself out of those thoughts, Blizzard turned her attention to the last block separating them from the highrise hotel. So far, they'd been crossing no-man's land, ducking and diving to avoid the ragged UNSC patrols. Up ahead, Geist had sent an amber warning light.
"Oh, yeah, I see 'em." The Innie sniper had his head down, casing the rest of the street. "They're mostly hiding in the windows, 'course. Storefronts."
Blizzard waved them all down the next alley. Geist was waiting halfway down, leaning on the wall as if he was on smoke break. She nearly expected to see a cigarette in hand. He pushed himself upright.
"Ready when you are, Blizzard," said Falcon. His team would be able to loop around to come from a different angle once hers started to dig in.
"The anticipation's killing me, Bliz," added Harper, somewhere on the opposite side of the hotel.
Moving up to the edge of the alleyway, rifle held firmly in her grip, Blizzard allowed just enough of her helmet to peer around the corner, her HUD picking up the outlines of the UNSC soldiers marked by the sniper covering her. Several on one side of the street, another batch in an upper floor at the other side. A perfect kill box, if the Innies didn't know they were there.
She signaled and Geist stepped up towards the exit to the alleyway, fading from sight even as he marched with purpose, dull metal of his sidearm visible as he pulled it from its holster at his hip.
Blizzard waited, every second an eternity. Time ticked by on her mission clock, until a crackle of static in her ear jolted her from that intense focus, and an accented voice spoke a single, sharp word.
"Ready."
She inhaled one more time, glancing over her shoulder at where Circuit was checking his own weapon one last time. Keeping that breath held, she raised her rifle, steadying it against her shoulder.
She exhaled. She squeezed.
The silence was shredded open as her bullet rent the air in its wake, whistling across the battlefield and finding its home in that unsuspecting soldier. It was followed immediately by the rest of the burst, dropping the UNSC soldier with a sharp cry.
And just like that, the street blurred into motion. Behind her, the Innie sniper twisted out of the alleyway, falling to one knee, weapon already raised and braced, firing with tremendous reflexes. Another storefront shattered, the soldier spinning backwards, blown off of his feet by the sheer concussive force of the round.
Before the UNSC forces could get their bearings, before they could refocus and return fire, the sniper had already rolled back into cover, taking shelter behind the burned-out husk of what might have once been a car.
Instead of hitting her sniper, the return volley split brick and concrete, shrapnel flying near Blizzard's head as she ducked back into safety as well. Immediately, Circuit had switched out with her, taking a knee and firing his battle rifle, the crisp report of his weapon barely audible over the ricochets and shrapnel that was flying past her visor.
There was a brief lull in the incoming fire, the UNSC taking cover as Circuit forced them to shield themselves and she took it. Her blood rushing in her ears, she burst from the alley and sprinted up the street, toward the soldiers she'd once fought alongside.
They hadn't recovered yet, hadn't seen her moving in their direction, and she followed in the footsteps of the sniper assigned to her unit, diving behind a hollowed-out vehicle. Blizzard didn't even glance at the building directly to her left, where she knew that nest of soldiers waited, directly overlooking her. Able to see her where the soldiers in the storefront could not.
She ignored the shout of alarm in her ears from the sniper, noticeable only in that it wasn't matched by Circuit, who knew what she knew, without the team ever even saying a word.
Sudden, sharp cries sounded out from those shattered windows at the same time as several precise, clean gunshots, a magnum firing several times over the course of three or four seconds. The silhouetted outlines that hadn't even had a chance to fire down at her slumped through the open windows.
Blizzard didn't pay attention to where they fell, her entire focus on the enemy soldiers still actually alive.
"Cover me." Circuit spoke in her ear and she didn't hesitate, emerging from the top of her improvised cover and setting the rifle against the scorched metal, carving a horizontal line through the shop window. The lucky soldiers ducked below her gunfire; the less fortunate soldiers fell too, but wouldn't be walking away.
Black and green armour arrived at her side even as another sniper round whistled past the two of them to drop the soldier that had raised her head to take in the situation ahead. The engineer pulled what looked to be a modified grenade, pressing a button on the side rather than pulling a pin free, gesturing with his chin for her to cover him.
Without asking any questions, she turned her eyes back to the nest of UNSC forces, taking another potshot that just missed. It was all Circuit needed to throw that grenade. It arced between two soldiers, hitting the ceramic tiles of the store floor.
It didn't even bounce, instead detonating on impact. A sizzling filled the air, smoke suddenly spilling out from where the grenade had landed and arcs of electricity lit up the squad, bolts lancing through armour and flesh alike. For a moment, the street was lit up in fluorescent blue-white, before the bolts blinked out of existence and the UNSC soldiers fell, not even having had time to scream.
Blizzard could practically see Circuit's grin beneath the visor.
She didn't release the grip on her rifle as she lifted it from the husk of the car, taking several cautious steps toward the storefront, taking stock of the situation. From the outside, it looked like Circuit's modified grenade had done the trick. The soldiers that hadn't fallen to gunfire sported blackened scorch marks in the centre of their bodies. One corpse lying face-down featured an identical wound at his back, the arc having punctured all the way through.
Stepping into the building to clear it a little more thoroughly, her boot crunched on the glass shards of the window she'd shattered inwards with her first volley. But she heard the sudden scraping to her left and she whirled, a flash of movement catching her eye. Turning her weapon on the UNSC soldier that had been lying in wait, apparently beyond the effective reach of Circuit's arc grenade.
He took a single step forward and jerked suddenly, frozen on the spot. Blizzard lowered the weapon as the man's head twisted to the side, apparently of its own volition, the snap filling the air. He crumpled to the floor, weapon falling from numb fingers, Geist materializing behind him.
She nodded in thanks, not feeling any words deep in her chest. A squeeze of the trigger. That's all it would have required. She had done it countless times now. Yet knowing Geist had been watching for her already, despite the rocky road she and the entire team had been down lately, well, it meant something. Something she didn't know how to put into words, even if there wasn't a free-fire zone around them.
He nodded back, two fingers coming to his brow. They didn't need words
From behind her, Circuit spoke, sounding rather harried. "Were you already in the building when I threw the grenade? Did it just not detect you standing there? Or did you come in after?"
Geist didn't respond, melting away before their eyes. There was a long beat of silence.
"No, but I really need to know though."
Blizzard turned on her heel, moving back to the shattered window to exit back onto the street. A single gauntlet clapped Circuit's shoulder as he peered in the rough direction that Geist had vanished in.
"Let's move up," she ordered over the team's comms. "Second team will be starting soon."
"Yeah, and we've got incoming on our end," answered her squad leader. "Looks like the UNSC's done playing around."
Circuit followed her from the smashed façade, hopping lightly down to the sidewalk and grinding glass down to specks with their combined weight. Though she didn't tell the others to, they all matched her increased pace at the sounds of intensifying combat a few streets away.
With no warnings from Geist, she didn't feel the need to constantly slow down and cover their corners in case of any ambushes. If the UNSC had managed to hide from the assassin, she wasn't going to spot them. They got to the end of the block before new contacts popped across her HUD.
Blizzard dived behind an overturned vehicle, Circuit still at her side. She popped beneath the hood, elbows braced on the scratched and scorched sidewalk. In perfect sync, her partner propped himself under the trunk of the car. They fired straight down the street, dropping a target each.
The UNSC forces scattered for cover, all facing directly at the Innies to fire back.
Unfortunately for them, Firefly glided from between two buildings, several Innies on his heels. There was a heavy crunch as the pyro collided with the exposed back of one unfortunate soldier, his own momentum carrying him down the street even as he cast the corpse aside.
Digging his heels into the concrete, a shower of sparks trailed in his wake as Firefly skidded to a halt at their side, rolling into cover behind the car with them both fluidly. Waving just once, he propped his flamethrower weapon against his shoulder.
"'Sup? Second squad reporting in."
"Less chatty-chat, more shooty-shoot." Blizzard demonstrated by aiming a burst at a particularly gutsy soldier who tried to get into a better position.
Firefly nodded seriously, though just slowly enough to take away any actual weight behind the gesture. Taking off again, he climbed up and over the UNSC soldiers, unslinging his weapon and taking aim.
Cover against horizontal planes didn't really mean much when the opponent was directly overhead.
By the time Firefly landed at Falcon's side to join the Phoenix second in hitting the exposed spines of the UNSC soldiers, most of their targets were already on the ground, the crossfire swift and brutal.
Blizzard straightened, still mostly covered by the husk of the car. "That's better," she said.
Firefly waved impatiently. "Come on, Bliz, Maverick and Hunter are going to have all of the fun without us."
Circuit slapped his forehead. "You're an idiot," he muttered, trudging down the street. "Don't ever say that again."
Rolling her eyes, Blizzard elected to let the entire moment pass by without comment. Sometimes she thought she was too serious for this group. Until Geist appeared at Firefly's shoulder, shaking his head slowly. He let out a long sigh of disappointment. And promptly disappeared again. Firefly might have actually looked guilty as he glanced at where Geist had vanished.
"Are you coming?"
Firefly bent double, breath coming in jagged gasps as he cackled at Hunter's question.
"Blizzard?" he tried again.
"That was a very unfortunate thing to say. We're on our way," she acknowledged. She turned to face Firefly. "Are you twelve?"
Hunter's chuckle cut off as he turned off the Phoenix channel.
Circuit took a second, most likely checking he wasn't on the Phoenix channel before he spoke into her ear. "The Boss is actually going to kill you one of these days." He didn't sound like he meant it, laughter in his voice as he followed in her wake.
From their position, it was only a matter of checking corpses as they went. Not that any of the downed figures stood any chance of actually getting back up or causing harm. Phoenix was nothing if not thorough.
At the entrance of the hotel, all was quiet. Sort of. Through the open-concept, glass-panelled lobby, a muffled firefight raged on the far side of the building.
Next to Blizzard, Firefly glanced over in her direction, before looking back at the glass doors into the target building, apparently assessing something.
"Odds that the lobby is fortified to hell?" The question sounded rhetorical and he didn't bother to wait for an answer, pulling what looked like just another fuel canister from his belt. The small cylinder fit easily enough into his gloves and he twisted it sharply, the cap opening several inches and allowing him to pull it free.
A mass of glittering metal was visible, apparently shifting within the cylinder as Firefly held it up to the light to inspect it. Satisfied, he pushed the door into the hotel open, just a fraction, before pressing a button on the underside of the cylinder. Immediately, that swarm of metal detached itself from the container and vanished into the building, before breaking apart suddenly.
Hundreds of tiny flying drones vanished from sight, too small to be seen in the dim light of the hotel. Waiting with surprising patience, Firefly turned back to Blizzard and an eager looking Circuit.
"Been waiting to test them for ages, but Circuit insisted on urban combat as a field test. Which should have been earlier, given how many urban combat missions we go on, but still." He shrugged. "I asked for fireflies. I got fireflies."
There was a single sudden beep from the small container in his grip and he startled, before turning back to the building, just as eager as Circuit. "And they've each found a soldier to climb on. So if I just press this…"
He tapped the button. There was a pause. A long pause. When no detonation was visible, his shoulders slumped, turning back to Circuit.
"That wasn't as big as I—"
The windows of the lower five floors of the hotel were blown out with a billowing roar as plumes of fire spilled out. Glass rained down over their heads as they flinched instinctively.
Slowly, Circuit turned his head to an unrepentant Firefly. "You weren't supposed to dial the explosions up to maximum! They're supposed to at least be a little stealthy! Controlled explosions!" His arms were waving in that I cannot believe you way only he could pull off.
Firefly, on the other hand, was dancing on the spot, beside himself with giddiness as smoke continued to column into the sky. "Damn! That was awesome, did you see those little guys? All buzz and then boom!" He imitated flight with one hand and then clapped both together loudly, still doing a little bop on the cracked pavement.
Someone groaned behind Blizzard.
Geist materialized, cupping something in his hand. He held it up near his visor, peering at the metallic shine. "This one's faulty," he said. The minute metal bug's wings buzzed without it lifting off.
Circuit whirled. "No it's not! Stop saying bad things about my tech."
"Aw, look at him." Firefly crowded up to Geist's hand, holding out a finger to let the drone climb up his arm. "He likes you!"
Blizzard found herself standing next to Falcon and wondering exactly why she'd been seated at the kids' table. "Can we focus up?" she asked dryly, painfully aware of the two squads of strangers watching the supposedly elite kill team coo over mechanical bugs.
Firefly made sure his survivor was safely perched on Geist's shoulder, waving as it vanished along with him. He looked around at the hotel. "Sorry, yeah, let's knock some heads in."
"Great. After you." She waved him forward.
He lifted off, gliding through the open frame with his arms pulled in tight to his chest. His limbs spread after passing through, pistol in each hand as he swept the rubble-strewn lobby. "Clear," he reported, alighting at the caved-in elevator doors. "Mind if I have a look?"
"Quietly," Blizzard allowed, following him inside the good old fashioned way. "Us mortals will take the stairs."
"And us non-mortals?" Harper flicked a red smear on his chest as he entered from the other end of the lobby, Hunter and the last Innie squad behind him.
"Unless you've been granted the gift of levitation," Falcon said pointedly, "you'll have to hoof it like the rest of us. Sorry, Boss."
As she made her way to the stairwell in question, Blizzard bent and plucked up a fist-sized chunk of drywall. Feeling eyes on her, her head turned partially, finding Harper watching with interest. He mirrored her, gathering a larger piece to fit his bigger hand. He inspected it, nodding with satisfaction at whatever he found.
Squaring her shoulders, Blizzard shoved through the fire door. In the gloom, shapes moved. Red outlines of soldiers lit up the dark, filling the stairs with weapon barrels aimed their direction. Something brushed against her, her VISR struggling to pin down a shape as Geist ascended. Blood so dark it was black flashed out of the first figure. A second jerked sideways into the wall with bone-shattering force.
Before anyone could react, Blizzard whipped her chunk of drywall at the cinder blocks straight ahead. It exploded, showering the UNSC fireteam with a fine dust that filled the air. Beside her, Harper smashed his between his hands, cupping the dust before his mouth and blowing it at the unprotected faces of the soldiers on the stairs.
Covered by the low light and choking haze, Blizzard surged up the stairs, rifle tucked in tight to her shoulder. The familiar weight kicked into her armour again and again as she made her way up after Geist. She was aware of Harper keeping pace with her, knife slashing out rhythmically. At her back, Hunter aimed his SMG overhead at the soldiers higher above. He concentrated on cutting enough of a path for the unseen assassin to float through.
Nothing mattered except shoving the next barrel safely past her shoulder. Tripping the soldier trying to rush past and into their wedge. Putting her head down and bulling into the next person who stepped into her sights. Swapping to a new magazine when the counter on her HUD reached zero.
"Sixth floor," announced Firefly.
The two-foot tall number stamped on the wall at the next landing was their new goal. The door beside it clattered open, leaving the pyro silhouetted in flickering lights. He leaned out into the stairwell, pressing the barrel of a pistol against the head of the sentry. "Boo."
The woman's head erupted into a cloud of mist.
The blood-soaked end of a sword burst from her battle buddy's chest, carving in an arc that nearly bisected the man at the waist.
Blizzard threw herself up the last few steps, pivoting to cover the rest of the Innies as they continued to climb. As she sprayed down a soldier trying to lunge at Falcon she asked, "The general?"
"Barricaded in a room halfway down the hall. Crosshair's got an angle on the fire escape." Firefly covered Circuit as the engineer focused on shocking his downed opponent, humbler flashing out.
Harper and Hunter dashed through the doorway, Blizzard slipping to the side to let them pass. She switched to aiming upstairs, taking up Hunter's abandoned duty. Already the UNSC garrison was wearing thin, the swarm of grey BDUs had ragged holes in its ranks. She put a burst into yet another chest, trained instinct keeping her line in the sand uncrossed.
Falcon and Circuit reached the landing. She waved them through to the hall along with the pair of Innies from the camo-patterned squad. Geist followed them, feet silent on the striped carpet. Blizzard and Firefly held their positions until the last stragglers of their support teams were through.
"Need your jetpack for a sec," said Circuit, crouched next to the door frame. "Close up and lock, Bliz."
The storms of ice and fire made flesh ducked through, slamming the door shut. Blizzard reached overhead to twist the locking mechanism while Firefly knelt next to the engineer. Circuit siphoned a bit of fuel from the jetpack into his field welder, their visors polarizing at the flash from the rod as he sealed the stairwell behind them.
The three of them sprinted down the hall until they reached the door hanging loose on one hinge. The luxury suite had been given a dramatic makeover. Bedframes were turned onto their sides, offering as makeshift barricades against mêlée weapons even if they didn't have the stopping power against AP rounds. A coffee maker sparked where the frayed power cord had been used as a short-range taser.
But nearly every surface was covered in blood and broken bodies. Most of them wore UNSC grey. More than a couple were in URF uniform.
Phoenix was arrayed around a bullet-riddled wall next to a locked door that had to lead to the bathroom. Corpses littered the floor at their feet, some from both sides, all bleeding into the same pool in the end. Everyone died the same.
"Sitrep?" asked Blizzard.
"Tense hostage negotiations," answered Harper, voice jarringly cheery in the macabre surroundings. He shot through the wall and a muted cry of pain answered.
"Don't let me hold you up. Breach when ready," she replied.
He slammed into the door, shoulder pauldron making short work of the lock. She was on his heels, rifle up to check the opposite corner. She squeezed the trigger, dropping the man standing next to the sink.
Harper yanked the shower curtain aside, catching a punch to the jaw for his trouble. His head rocked back before he all but tackled their VIP from the shower and to the floor. He was taller than her, heavier than her, armed with a total disregard for personal safety or pain. The wrestling match was brutal. And it was short. Though the general got a few good blows in and she thrashed like a Fury, Harper flipped her onto her stomach and pressed her face to the blood-slicked tile with a foot while he held both her wrists in one hand. With teeth and free hand, he secured her limbs with a series of interlocking zip ties like he had done it a thousand times before. Probably had.
Hunter descended quickly, slapping a strip of duct tape over her mouth to cut off the endless stream of spat curses and other various niceties.
"Would have preferred a bag over her head," commented Firefly, watching their six. "Fire escape's this way."
Blizzard led them through the savaged hotel room, sliding the window open and yanking the screen free. Slipping through to the wrought iron platform, she spotted the telltale flash of light reflecting off a sniper scope. Her VISR tagged Crosshair as he held up a hand in greeting across the street.
"Already sent word to Command. You guys head up to the roof and I'll meet you on the bird," he reported.
Circuit was the next through the open window, shuffling to the edge of the platform to make space. The gagged general was forced out next.
Blizzard crouched beside the glaring woman, meeting her steely gaze with her own frigid stare. "We're climbing up to the roof. You're coming with. You try to drop off and splatter yourself on the sidewalk and my friend with the jetpack will catch you before you reach the bottom, got it?"
The general's eyes narrowed into a sneer.
"Glad we're in agreement." Blizzard straightened, magnetizing her rifle to her back to free her hands for the climb. She scaled the ladder, Circuit right behind her. Harper and Hunter came next with the general escorted by Firefly hovering beside the hobbled woman.
Fatigue began to burn deep in her bones by the time Blizzard hauled herself over the lip of the roof. Phoenix settled themselves in a circle around their prisoner, the other Innies ranged out along the roof as sentries until the hum of Pelican engines split the air.
Blizzard gave no indication of the stiffness in her tired joints as she stood, gazing up at the gathering dusk. The dark shapes of the aircraft split off from the clouds, one heading for their rooftop while the other made a detour to pick up Crosshair first.
The first Pelican touched down and the support squads piled in, a few sitting on the edge of the troop bay to cover the ladder in case any UNSC survivors had found a way around the welded door or the mess Firefly's fireflies had made of the lower floors.
Nobody showed to put up any further fight. The second Pelican landed and Crosshair stood at the top of the ramp, leaning on his sniper rifle. Blizzard handed the general off to the crowd in the first bird, Phoenix's part in this operation complete. What happened to the VIP now was beyond their paygrade. At least, beyond everyone's but Harper. Blizzard didn't think she counted in the URF hierarchy the same way.
She stood back, letting the others load in before she did. Harper casually sidled up to her. Too casually. He had a faint grin hanging off his mouth as he leaned down to put his lips near her helmet's audio sensors and, in the most affable tone available to the mass-murderer and ex-ONI operator, said, "If you ever mention my brother's name in front of anyone who isn't a Phoenix again, I won't stay quiet. Something to think about, Bliz."
Matching his tone, she answered, "You're welcome for saving countless civilian lives. Who knows how many brothers didn't get buried in rubble when we didn't level a city block. Something to think about, Ian."
Before he could respond, Blizzard left him standing alone on the rooftop, climbing the ramp to bump her fist against Circuit's.
"Boring day, Baxter?" asked Firefly, flopping into a seat and pulling his helmet off so he could shake out his hair like a dog.
Crosshair shrugged. "Sixteen," he answered. "Not too bad."
Blizzard just shook her head and dropped into her customary spot while Falcon made his way to the co-pilot's seat up front.
Harper simply stood with his feet planted, hand in the overhead netting. He surveyed his fireteam and grinned.
"Merry Christmas, mates."
Hunter sat at the end of the row, putting himself between Blizzard and the team leader. He lounged with his legs stretched out before him, letting out a contented sound. "Merry Christmas, Harper," he said.
"Merry Christmas!" the rest of the team shouted, Blizzard raising her voice right along with them.