The North-East. Former Interstate Highway 95
It wasn't standard for the UNSC to travel through this place yet, so Alyosha and his squad found themselves riding an Oryx, a standard-issue UNSC IFV armed with a shrouded 30mm cannon and fire-and-forget AT missiles, alongside a convoy of UNSC Marines from the Spirit. These squads were heading out in order to build an outpost farther along the road, so that meant some heavy firepower. The convoy consisted of two Oryxes, half-a-dozen Warthogs and two Grizzly MBTs, one at the front and one at the rear of the formation, as well as one Sun Devil AAA Tank.
Orbiting above were two Hawks that were escorting a larger lifter transport ship. Alyosha listened to the IFV's crew speaking over radio, "Warhawk 1-Actual to all advancing Warhawk elements, BattleNet is active. Scanning for targets," And the hydraulic whirr of the tracked battle vehicle's turret filled the hold. The gunners turned the weapon about to the point the spall liner separating them from the twelve-man hold where the infantry was sat had gotten hidden behind a wall. The commander radioed again, "Advise Outpost and Delta Hotel, Package is aboard and en-route to dropoff point..."
"Didn't think we'd already be rolling outposts this far North!" Anis called out to a Marine sat in front of her. She looked over to a couple more on Neon and Rapi's left and said, "You guys sure you wanna do this!? The Raptures are gonna start hitting you the moment they learn you're out here! Just ask the girls in the Northern Base about it, the bastards are ruthless!"
"We know!" A female Marine cradling a BR75 replied, weapon pressed against her shoulder, "It's why we're headed here! Covering the base's right flank and acting as a checkpoint for any Rapture forces pouring in from the North! We're apparently going up the Old I95, so if the Rat Bastards wanna push troops down south into the Old States, they'll have to go through us!"
"Hoo'rah!" Cheered the Marines and a few of the Nikke aboard, looking to one-another. Anis grinned at that and extended her hand toward the Marine, balling it up into a fist which the female Marine gladly bumped her own into. The two gave each-other thumbs-up as Anis started checking her launcher. Rapi, meanwhile, held close her rifle and felt the new armor they were wearing. UNSC BDUs included modular armor plating meant to protect any and every important part. She'd picked thorax and stomach protection, as well as a lightweight helmet.
Anis had picked out a Grenadier loadout, though the chest armor seemed a bit tight for her. That meant she had extra grenades loaded in her armor plate pouches, as well as an M6 sidearm strapped to her chest. Added protection also came in the form of a Helmet with a VISR system that she'd picked out herself. At least her hair could still poke out from under it.
Neon had picked the heaviest loadout, surprisingly. She'd modified her Shotgun with parts from standard-issue M90 CAWS, including the tubes for the eight-gauge Soelkraft flechette shells and AP Slugs the UNSC carried as a standard. It lowered her ammo count, but the extra punch from the modified twin-barrel shotgun was the perfect tradeoff after her.
She also had two layers of kevlar topped off by full-body plate armor and a helmet. The only thing not concealed were her face and glasses, which glimmered like her teeth in the red light of the transport. The young girl giddily giggled as she pretty much danced in her seat. Alyosha, meanwhile, had picked out a more standard kit, basically the same type he'd worn during the Crisis.
Light armor, a helmet and an MA5k, not to mention an M6 pistol. He clenched and unclenched his fists, prepared to head out into the biting cold again as the vehicles rolled forward. They all felt the vics turn left on the road, the Commander reporting, "All Warhawk Elements, actual. We're descending from I95. Watch your sectors, check your fire. It is unknown at this time if the allied patrols haven't just had a Loss Of Contact in this AO. FORGE-1-1 and FORGE-1-2, prep to drop payload... We're committing to the RV with BEACON Element now."
The man, an old-looking thirty-something with wrinkles on his forehead barely hidden by the much thicker tank crew helmet, poked his head down and told Alyosha, "I think this is your stop, sir! You and your squad can head on foot from here and the POI is approximately about a couple miles' hike through the Forest and past some natural barriers! You'll probably run into it by the Lakes!"
"Roger, thanks!" Alyosha nodded, then grabbed his rifle and slung it onto his back. The other members did the same as the vehicles came to a halt. The back hatch of the vehicle dropped, dismounting the twelve troops on board as the 30mm autocannons scanned heaven and Earth. Indeed, as they exited out onto the broken stretch of the road they'd descended onto, they could see what was left of Interstate-95 behind them. Not a bridge, but a broken concrete path, several lanes wide in both directions.
The wail of the UNSC aircraft up above filled their ears as the Hawks hovered, utilizing their thermal optics to scan what seemed to be thick brush and forestry that was covered in a thin layer of snow and ice. Stepping foot out onto a dirt rise that had concrete and the ruins of a massive industrial building on it, Alyosha and the squad watched the massive Heron-class drop-ship descend with the main FOB building itself on top of a pre-constructed foundation. The slow descent, combined with how accurate the Heron's pilot was in attaching the item, was a sight to behold.
The UNSC FOB soon lay almost completed ahead of them, with the Marines and SeaBees present setting up the last few remaining and important details. The base's crews also began a dig undeground as a second Heron arrived, delivering the other part of the payload:An entry point to the dug-out underground that was also filled to the brim with supplies.
A Nikke approached the man. Commander Keyes. She was wearing thick winter clothes in the midst of the Northern Snow. She greeted loudly, "Commander Harris! Welcome to Firebase BLACKWATCH!" thanks to the roar of the engines and construction behind them. Automated turrets began to emerge from the base's foundation, already tracking and ready, armed with missiles, gauss cannons, lasers and machine guns and meant for air and ground defense.
"Ma'am!" Alyosha smirked. He and the others saw a platoon of REDGUNS descend from the ruins of the industrial building to their right and begin assisting. Michigan greeted the group with a wave and a salute and, finally, their squad's final member, who had decided they would meet here, walked out. Stella, clad in winter clothes and toting a BR75 as well, saluted Alyosha and smiled, then looked to and saluted Commander Keyes as well.
Miranda saluted back and said, "Good luck out there! Place is thick with ice! We'll be on standard UNSC Freq if you need any help, but I hope that won't be the case!"
"We'll see you folks when we get back!" Alyosha nodded, then motioned to his teammates to follow after him. As they left the racket of the new UNSC Compound being built near I95 and walking across the wide-lane highway, the man commented, "Christ, ten lanes?" with a smile, "Must've been so many cars on the Highways back in the day..." and paused as they walked by a destroyed wreck that was covered in snow.
Indeed, patches and splotches of snow, ice and glazed frost started appearing ahead of them as they pushed forward. Anis looked around, smiling as she did so, then said, "Ah, Northern winter. It's nice when there's nobody firing rockets at us," as she hefted her launcher over her shoulder. The group let out several sounds of agreement as they walked, weapons at the ready.
Rapi moved close beside Alyosha, while Stella trailed behind with Anis and Neon. The iDoll Ocean trooper hummed, then looked over to Anis and asked, "So, are he and Rapi as close as I think?" which caused Anis to stumble a little, almost tripping over thanks to the ice she stepped on. The grenadier then looked upon the woman, who was carrying an M7 SMG with a silencer and holographic sight.
Blinking, Anis looked forward at the Commander and Rapi helping each-other over obstacles and even over the remnants of a concrete barrier that had probably once been used to keep traffic on the road. Or at least make sure that if it hit something, the people died instantly. The two spoke as they walked, with the Commander stopping to offer Rapi a hand and help her down. "Yeah," The Grenadier answered with a grin, "I'd say they are."
Stella giggled, then said, "From what I can tell, she's also exactly as he described. Stoic, serious, focused, well-read and well-mannered. Meanwhile, my brother ain't exactly different from how he was when he left for the Academy... Same nervous ticks, same views on things... He seems a bit more uneasy, but that's probably a given, considering where we even are."
"You live on the Surface for a while as a soldier, you still change, even if a little," Neon quipped as she managed to step her way past a few more ice spots. She whined, "I hate the ice though. Feels like I'm walkin' on some non-explosive landmines and it kinda sucks," and that got Stella to laugh. It was an unexpected change of subject, honestly, but one she(and her brother, probably) appreciated.
"Y'wanna die to a landmine or something?" Anis asked jokingly.
Neon huffed, "To be honest, if I do have to die to one, I want it to be cool with a lot of explosions behind it, not just from bumping my head on something."
"How about you don't die while taking us with you in a violent explosion?" Anis suggested half-jokingly, which caused Neon to huff and cross her arms, pouting. The grenadier rolled her eyes at that and said, "Get upset at me for suggesting I don't wanna die, nor do I want ya to die. Stay classy," and she heard the little white-haired shotgunner chuckle at that. Anis shook her head and whispered, "Doofus," with a smile.
Stella chuckled, thinking to herself that her brother had been telling the truth about those two, as well. She looked ahead and watched Rapi and him be awkward around each-other, even as they walked like two armored and armed soldiers. As she wondered just how close those two were, she started hearing their boots crunching against the thicker layers of snow. Above them, grey clouds rolled in, hiding the sun and leaving nothing but flat lighting and the slowly-descending blanket of snowflakes above. Not exactly a snow storm, but rather a gentle snowfall.
The group walked on deeper into the forests, moving parallel with a creek nearby once they'd found it. The place was loaded with trees with no crowns, all of them almost looking dead in comparison to other parts of the Earth. In truth, it was just due to the snow itself and the cold weather up North and here, in the North-East. As they carefully treaded the place, Anis spoke to Stella, "So... How was the Commander as a kid?"
Stella chuckled, "Little bit of a scaredy-cat," Then she looked over to Anis and neon, watching the two's faces while she spoke, "It was why it was a surprise for us when he volunteered to be a Commander," and cradled her SMG. Her brother was probably listening in from the front with Rapi, so she was making sure to keep her voice down just in case the two lovebirds wanted some peace and quiet.
"I really don't believe that, honestly," Anis defended her Commander, to nobody's surprise. Neon nodded as the girl continued, "Guy's been commanding us from basically the front for the lifetime of this squad. Seriously, he's nuts," and she tilted her head to him being at the front of their little patrol formation as an example. Stella chuckled at that. A good counter.
"I'm telling you," She shrugged, however, then stated, "Then again, thoughts of him being a scaredy-cat might be because I showed him a lot of horror movies when we were kids," and she smirked proudly, "He'd always be afraid to sleep after'em," as they inched their way forward through ever-thicker snow built up by the slow fall of flakes. The clouds themselves never thinned.
"PfffT!" Anis snorted, while Neon chuckled. The grenadier shot back, "Okay, now I know you're pulling our legs!" only to get a shake of the head from Stella and a calm, yet smug look of knowing. Anis groaned, then threw her hands up in the air and stated, "What the heck, the Commander never mentioned this!"
"D'you think he'd mention it?" She asked, partially teasing and partially being hit by another memory. She continued calmly, looking at her brother with all the care of a sibling, "Nobody likes admitting they're scared, even if it's basic stuff like a horror movie..." And she smiled, "But Aly's brave in other stuff. I think that stuff is what drove him to be a Commander in the first place..."
"He seems to care a lot about us for some reason," Neon hummed, then asked her, "Was it because of you...?"
"In a way?" She shrugged, then sighed, "I've been a Nikke since I was fourteen. We're both twenty-one right now, so you can imagine seven long years of my life spent as a Nikke, sending letters home about the stuff we have to endure daily, added upon it heavily contrasting with the propaganda pieces that Missilis, Elysion, Tetra and the CG as a whole produced before the UNSC takeover probably shaped his world view. He probably wanted to be there, help me save the world and all..."
"Master is a bit of an idealist," Neon admitted, then smiled jovially, "It's what we like about him, though. He's given us hope."
"Heh. Yeah, that sounds like Aly..." The girl spoke almost melancholically, then jumped over a downed log as they kept up the pace. She told them, "There's an old saying that speaks of him and the UNSC folk I've met so far. Well, a saying that describes them, I mean. We still speak Ukrainian and Russian in the Harris household beside English, despite the former two languages basically being Dead Languages to some degree, so you'll have to pardon me if I make mistakes some time."
"Sure," Anis shrugged. She really didn't care about any grammar mistakes. She simply asked, "What's the saying, though?"
Stella took a moment to look at her brother again as he and Rapi seemed to share a laugh. He stopped and helped her up as she nearly tripped, then the two continued walking. She told the girls next, "... Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to face your fears regardless of how paralyzing they are," Then she looked upon both girls and stated proudly, "That's what's changed about Aly... He feared the Raptures when he was a child. Worried about me to the point he almost got himself into hospital at one point when we were fifteen because I and my team were away on an extended mission..."
"That certainly describes Master, I guess..." Neon giggled, while Anis beamed, looking forward at her first Best Friend and their CO.
"I can see that his fear is still affecting him, probably now more than ever since he's in charge of you three..." She offered, then added with a slightly awkward smile, "And me. But he still presses on..." then she looked at the two team leaders again as they walked through another intersecting, smaller stream to the one they were going parallel with. She finished off with, "I can't help but respect him for it..."
"Yeah..." Anis nodded, in agreement.
"Mm..." Ditto for Neon. They both seemed to hold him in high regard, much like Rapi and herself. That made Stella happy. It meant he had a good and reliable squad with him. Some Commanders were good, she thought, but they had bad Nikkes with them, which led to deaths... Neon, however, took her out of her momentary thought and continued the convo by asking, "Hey, speaking of, Stella? How was your previous commander? What little hint we got from you about him was during the Crisis and it didn't sound too good, honestly..."
"Latest one was..." She winced, remembering some of the more crappy things he'd done, then answered properly, "An ass. An idiot. Poor decision-maker. Always berated us for his own failures, failed to do so much as send us to maintenance to the point a Product-09 I was working with broke down and could never be repaired due to her Mind Switch. We've lost more due to his incompetence. The last good commander I had before Aly was about two years ago. He was great. Handsome, charismatic, a friendly face... Got killed in an Anti-Terro mission. One of my friends got the blame for it and got scrapped."
The girls winced at that, then nodded. It was how they got transferred to Alyosha's command, too, but almost the polar opposite, with their previous commander being a moron and a coward. Rapi probably would've agreed if she heard them talking. Anis was about to make a quip until they came into a clearing. Alyosha gasped and lifted up his balled fist, then cocked his rifle.
The girls tensed, readying their own weapons. Pushing past the leafless shrubs and trees in a tight formation, weapons raised, the girls gasped and all took a moment. Several Nikke corpses lay sprawled out across the clearing, partially buried in several layers of fresh snow. They looked cold, however, their skin bone-white, pale. Two Product-08s, four Product-12s, a Special Construction Nikke that seemed to be the Squad Lead, maybe a dozen Product-23s with different faces and some other varied models of mixed MPs.
The group grew quiet, their eyes wide as they looked at the corpses. Several dozen Nikke, the missing scout patrols. Some had burns on what was left of their bodies, having seemingly exploded under concentrated fire from some energy weapons. Others were split in half at the midsection or were missing heads that were merely a couple feet farther, buried in the snow, wounds cauterized. Others still look like they'd had their chests splayed open, lilac crystalline shards shimmering in their grotesque wounds.
The Special Purpose Nikke, the leader of what must've been the last squad, lay farthest ahead, her chainsaw-like weapon cut in half, chain and teeth in the snow. It was a chaingun, obviously, but shaped like a saw. Didn't matter, though. Alyosha knelt next to the girl's corpse, noting that her eyes had seemingly been burnt out. And whatever did it had bored through the back of her skull and into the snow. She was unrecoverable, her NIMPH and brain probably completely destroyed.
"Jesus Christ..." Alyosha murmured. He looked around at the dozens of dead and radioed, "... Command... We found the dead Nikkes. Looks like whatever got to them got a little brutal... We have multiple KIA, been dead for weeks at this point," and he approached another Nikke, this one stuck in Rigor Mortis like a statue, snow covering her exposed ribs and chest. The blood-like coolant pooled at her feet, froze and was buried under other layers of snow. She still gripped her shotgun in her hand, her shield torn in half and broken, sitting on the side with her cut-off arm.
"Copy...." The com played static. Miranda's voice was barely audible, "... ce locator beacons... Will rec-... soon as the... er clears..."
"Damn," The man sighed, "There shouldn't be any interference here. Even with the snow..." and he, much like the members of the squad, felt his heart suddenly sink into a pit in his stomach. Stella seemed to agree as she gently laid the dead Nikke to the floor and turned off her muscular response, causing her to go limp. She then picked up the girl's shotgun, a six-gauge model for Product-23s, pulled back the pump and saw that it'd been emptied.
Anis paused and blinked, shaking her head, "I'm getting some sorta interference with my optical sensors... You girls feeling it, too?"
"Yes. Adjusting now," Rapi replied as she blinked, her eyes seemingly 'adjusting' themselves. She felt a little woozy and said, "Feels... Wrong... Commander, we should retreat, call for backup..." as she looked around. Faint shadows danced in front of her, behind the treeline she was looking at. She shook it off, probably interference in her eyes, still.
"The Jammer's just recently been turned on," Stella spoke as she took her helmet off. The entire group looked at her with surprise. Everyone but Alyosha, who nodded. She said, "It'll probably only increase in strength. Dad taught us from his time in the military that newly-activated, much newer Jammers like this, whatever EM-type pulser it is, will only have an extremely high intensity, capable of jamming even us, Nikkes, until settling on a specific range. We could be walking another six miles before we're out of its bubble. Best bet would be to move forward, try and disable it if it's some sort of trap."
"Don't you think that's what they tried to do?" Anis asked, motioning to the dead Nikkes. She shook her head. In the corner of her eyes, however, she saw movement.
"Possibly? I don't know... They look like they've been ambushed, but none of us have picked up anything yet..." The girl said, cocked her SMG and added, "Plus, if we don't do this, others may stumble upon this jammer, suffer a similar fate," And that got the girls to sigh. They nodded in agreement, with Rapi showing Stella that the two of them will take point. The distant sounds of a waterfall filled their ears as they advanced now...
They came upon a beautiful natural formation after another short trek through the forest. The wails of the massive waterfall to their left filled their ears as they looked upon its natural beauty. Despite the fact that this was water, it was probably due to its speed that it did not freeze over, flowing from the top of a plateau down into the dug-out basin below. A basin that was, in fact, a flowing river. They could see the remains of human habitation on both this side and the opposite side's cliffs. Bridges, concrete structures and even the destroyed remnants of houses, reclaimed by nature.
... What stunned them, however, was a large chunk of something that had landed in the water. Said chunk looked like a piece of machinery torn from a much, much larger item. Grey-silver and purple hull greeted them, marked by the heat of re-entry. The charred remains of one of the two visible sides dangled, sparkling wires and electricity still seemingly coursing through the massive alien item.
The Jammer signal was coming from there. Alyosha gave a nod and a chop of his hand, showing them to move in. Even so, the pit in his stomach deepened. Something was screaming at him to go back, but he couldn't just let anyone else deal with this. They'd found it and were still alive, so they could potentially deal with-he froze. Something moved in the corner of his eyes in the shadows. The air almost looked like it rippled, but he couldn't hear anything.
Sighing and ignoring it, he and his team found a way into whatever the chunk blocking the canal was. They found a hole in the hull and climbed through, activating their flashlights and NV systems as they did. Deep lilac alien walls greeted them, scarred and charred by whatever the heat of its re-entry had been. Wires dangled and bent panels hanged off the walls, exposing the insides of crystalline nanotubes and wiring that almost looked human. Pushing forward, the group soon realized the sound of the waterfall was being muffled.
Something about this place... It scared the life out of them for some reason. It seemed completely alien, yet too familiar...
They had an objective, though. They'd accomplish it.