Hours had passed since the clash at Vyely Dvor. With the sun gone, the ensuing darkness engulfed the mountain range. The forests on the mountainsides were covered in snow, and the cold winds blew through the pines. The area appeared to be completely deserted... but there, the shadows of a lupo and a pink-haired sankta could be seen traversing the harsh terrain under the cover of night.
"Hah-haha..." Shivered Exusiai "I-it's so cold... I can't even feel my own hands."
"I know, Exu, but w-we still have a job to do." Like her friend, Texas felt the frigid air cutting the exposed bits of her skin like a knife, but even with that she remained unfazed.
"I- don't know, Texas, but just one more hour and I'll turn i-into a block of ice."
"*Sigh* J-just don't think about it and keep walking."
The sankta simply gave a nod. The two women then continued marching through the snowy mountain, trying their best to ignore the intense cold. Not long after, they reached a snowy plain, surrounded by mountains from all sides, except a small corner, where an exit opened between the rocky walls. Exusiai prepared to go deeper into the valley, but suddenly...
"Exusiai, get down." Texas pulled the sankta down with her. Taken aback by the sudden action, she looked at Texas and tried to demand answers, but before she could say anything the lupo shut her mouth off. Instants later they heard voices shouting in Russian.
"...Быстро, принесите эти чертовы барьеры!"
"Перережьте дорогу!Никто не должен отсюда уходить!"
Texas gestured Exsuiai to follow after her. Without making any noise, they started crawling through the snow, trying to keep a low profile at all times. Like that, the two eventually reached the top of a small cliff.
From their position, the two operators could have a clear view of the valley. Just as they feared, the Russians had set up positions to block the valley's exit. Soldiers could be seen digging trenches and putting barbed wire everywhere. On top of that, there were some T-90 tanks positioned to protect the line as well.
Seeing the Russian display, Exusiai turned to her companion and whispered.
"Dammit, they've cut the mountain pass..."
"Yeah, I see. With that many Russian troops, escaping through here is no longer viable." Letting out a small sigh, Texas turned around and whispered. "Ok, we have the info we were looking for, we can now return to the camp."
"Good idea, let's go." Without skipping a second, the sankta and lupo silently stood up, and in the blink of an eye they vanished into the woods.
X-X
Not very far away, the team was catching their breaths after escaping the Russian Army's clutches. They had set up a rudimentary campsite inside a fissure on the stone wall, with most of the members gathered around a small campfire to take shelter from the cold.
"Brrr, my hands are frozen..." Said Matthews, warming himself with the fire "Good thing that we managed to lose the Russians. I don't know what would we have done had they pressed on with it, running under this terrible weather would be a suicide..."
"Don't tell me!" Let out one of the Reunion members. "I thought we were all going to die back at the town!"
"Yeah, but fortunately we didn't." Replied the Doctor.
Croissant, who was being patched up by Sora after having sustained quite some wounds that morning, shifted her attention towards them and joined the conversation.
"You know? From all the battles I've fought, this has been the number one by far... like damn, did you see those helicopters? They were fucking cool...!" All of a sudden, the forte felt a spike of pain on her arm. "Auch! That hurts!"
"I know, but if you keep moving then I can't heal you properly." Said the idol with resignation. "*sigh* Seriously, what were you thinking about when you decided to put yourself in front of the those Ursus armed with AKs?"
Not wanting to continue hearing her partner's telling off, Croissant raised her arms in sign of defeat.
"Okay, okay, I get it... I won't do anything like that in the future, I promise."
"Mmph, I hope so..."
As the two operators continued their exchange, at some point Matt tuned out from the conversation and turned his gaze away, only for his eyes to land in his friend's figure. Unlike the others, Will had opted to plant himself at the fissure's entrance and remain there, not caring about the freezing wind at all. Seeing this, the boy gestured him and exclaimed.
"Hey, Willy! What are you doing standing out there? C'mon, come in with us, we have some hot milk!"
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass." Replied Will, not diverting his gaze from the surrounding forest. "Someone needs to keep an eye on the surroundings, the last thing we want is the enemy making a surprise attack."
"If you say so..."
Will paid no mind to his words. Holding tightly his rifle, the boy refocused his attention on the surrounding area and proceeded to continue his watch. Long minutes passed without any changes... but then he spotted two shadows coming out from between the pines. Upon recognizing their faces, Will lowered his weapon.
"Welcome back, ladies. Did you have any mishaps along the way?"
"No, barely at all." Answered Texas, shrugging off the matter.
"God, finally." The Doctor stood up and walked over to them. "Well, what news do you bring us?"
"Bad news, I fear." Said Exusiai. "The Russians have stationed a crap ton of troops at the pass. Escaping of out these mountains through there will be virtually impossible."
"They've got the Northern Pass cut off, huh?" Everyone turned to the voice and saw Talulah, who was leaning against the wall. "Let's not lose calm. From what little info we could gather from the locals, we know that there are two possible ways to exit the mountain range, the Northern and Western Passes. Now that the Russians have cut the first one, that leaves us with the Western Pass as our only option. If we're lucky it might still be open."
"I hope so, Tal." Replied the Doc. "If something happens with that pass, then we'll be trapped here."
"..." Suddenly, the walkie inside the draco's pocket began to emit static. She took it out and pressed a button. "Yes?"
"Red on the line." His voice sounded very muffled due to the interferences. "Big Bob and I have reached the place you pointed us to... but there's a problem. There's an entire column of armored units blocking the way, and I believe one doesn't need to be a genius to understand that we can't possibly defeat them... so yeah, forget about the Western Pass."
Talulah fell silent for a brief moment, taken aback by this terrible development. Eventually, she gave a response.
"I see... Fine, we already have what we needed, you can return to base. Try not to get spotted."
"We can't promise anything, but we'll try. Red out- BIP!" The transmission ended.
Matt let out a deep sigh.
"Guys, we're fuck*ng screwed..." He cursed under his breath.
"Hey, don't be so pessimistic." Intervened Croissant. "I'm sure there must be some kind of alternative, we just have to keep looking and maybe..."
"No, Croissant, this is not how this works. Most of the mountains here are very tall, there's absolutely no way to traverse them, especially in winter." Explained Matt. "The only way out were those mountains passes, but now that the Russians have blocked them, we're basically stuck here indefinitely."
"But, Matt, if we..."
They started to argue heatedly about what would the team's next step. Exusiai listened to the debate, but as the minutes passed it became less and less interesting. Visibly tired from hearing their frantic arguing, the sankta yawned and spoke.
"Guys, I understand that you want to solve this situation, but you know what? I'm going to head for bed, it's getting vey late. I'm sure we'll come up with something tomorrow..." She laid on the ground, then adding. "Good night everyone."
And with that Exusiai closed her eyes. The rest exchanged glares for a moment, but soon many would follow her example and prepare to sleep. Maybe tomorrow they'll find a solution to the team's predicament...
X-X
Night began to fade away as the sun rose over the mountain's peak, dissipating the darkness engulfing the woods. The area was full of life, the wildlife having woken up from its slumber with the first rays of dawn, and the seemingly endless snowy forests gave a breath-taking sight.
"Mnhhh..." Matt was awakened by the chant of the birds. After blinking for a couple of times, the boy opened his eyes and stoop up from his improvised bed (Basically, the cold stone floor and his jacket as pillow.).
Putting on his glasses, he looked around and noticed that his fellows were still soundly asleep. Many like the Penguin Logistics girls and the Doctor were laying against the stone wall, with the latest having Amiya resting her head on his lap, using it as her pillow. His friend Will, on the other hand, was snuggled together with Talulah, gently sleeping as they embraced each other. Matthews couldn't help but smirk to such heart-warming scene. "You're very fortunate to have her, Willy..." He didn't know why, but he felt an emotion of sadness clung to his heart. "If only I had the same luck..."
Pushing those thoughts away, Matt left the campsite, taking care to not wake up the rest of the team. Outside, the boy turned on a little camping stove and started to heat some water to prepare a cup of tea. However, as he was doing so, he suddenly heard a voice coming from behind, and upon turning he saw Mostima walk out of the fissure.
"*Yawn* Damn, I've slept like a log... Oh, hi there Matt."
"Good morning, Mostima." He greeted. "Honestly, I didn't expect you here so early."
"Nah, I'm not the type of person that likes to sleep a lot."
"Oh, I see... but anyways. I've prepared tea, do you want some?"
"Yeah, one cup would be great."
The Fallen sankta sat to the boy's side. Matt, for his part, poured the hot infusion into a pair of metal cups and served it. Mostima avidly grabbed her tea and took a sip.
"Mnnn..." She felt the hot liquid go down her throat, warming her insides. "It tastes good, what type is it?"
"It's an infusion called rooibos. It comes from South Africa, if I remember correctly."
"Oh, that's very interesting. Many years ago, I happened to stumble with a village in the south of Sargon. The cuisine there was fantastic, and the locals prepared a brewage they called Blom van die verlede. Surprisingly, the taste of rooibos is very similar to it."
"I wouldn't be surprised. The Africa in our world shares a lot of similarities with lands of Sargon, after all."
"Oh, I know." Replied Mostima. "Just look at Ursus and Russia. Both actually share a lot of things, including popular holidays, culture, similar languages... yet here we are, with one laying waste to the other. Another instance of that would be Columbia. Lappland told me that, back at your world, you had to confront this American senator DiAngelo. This might surprise you, but I can tell you that most politicians and businessmen of Columbia are exactly as ruthless as him."
Matt nodded to her words.
"You're totally right... but putting that aside, I see you're very fond of travelling, having been to such distant countries as Sargon or Columbia..."
"Well, I used to work as a Legatusfor Pope Yvangelist XI. I would go around the countries of the world, delivering messages and assisting to diplomatic summits in representation of Laterano. Frankly, it was a good job, but eventually I ended up quitting and joined Emperor's delivery service instead..." She made a brief pause. "Hey, can you serve me another cup?"
"Just wait a sec..." Matt reached for his thermos to prepare more tea, but when he opened it there wasn't any water left. "Crap, we've run out of water."
At that moment something came to Mostima's mind.
"If I not remember wrong, there's a river not far from here. We can go replenish there."
"Seems good to me." Exclaimed Matt, standing up. "Let's go then."
/ /
The snow made a crunching sound under their boots as the duo made their way through the woods. For some minutes no words were said, but then Matt spoke.
"You said that you once worked as a Legatus, but left afterwards. What made you to leave, if I may ask?"
Mostima's expression turned a bit melancholic.
"*sigh* It's complicated, but it has to do with the current war. You see, when the Russian Army first made act of presence in Novaya Volga, people didn't seem to care at all, but then their conquest began to gain steam, and there everyone realized this was serious. News of these unknown invaders and their technology, more advanced than anything Terra had, spread like wildfire, reaching all the corners of the world... including Laterano." Images of those days came to her mind. "Imagine how the citizens of Lateran City reacted when they learned that not only did the Russians weaponry consist almost exclusively of guns, but that theirs were far more powerful than those of Laterano's."
"Damn, that must had been a tough hit."
"Absolutely. Citizens began to revolt all across the city, driven by the fear that Russia would come knocking on their doors. The Potifica Cohors eventually managed to put down the riots, but the tension in the streets remains high."
"If the situation is so bad, then why is nobody doing something about it, like... I don' know, helping Ursus to defend itself?" Asked Matt in disbelief.
"That's the problem, Matt. Everyone is scared as shit of Russia. The nations of the world have seen what happened to the cities of Ursus, and they know very well that, if they get involved, the Russians will take reprisals for sure. That's why, for them, keeping a low profile is the best option. When news reached that the third largest city of Ursus had fallen to the invaders, I immediately went to the Pope and asked him why the f*ck were we sitting and doing nothing while the world burned around us. You know what his answer was? I'm sorry, my child, but there's nothing we can do. I have to think about the lives of my people." The sankta took a deep breath. "After that I resigned from my post at the Legati and departed to join Exu and the gang in the fight against Russia."
"*sigh* I can't blame him, but this will be for naught. He doesn't understand that Russia won't simply stop in Ursus, but rather continue with its conquest."
"Yeah, that's what I told to the ambassadors of several countries , but they wouldn't listen. I only can hope you're wrong... Oh, look!" Exclaimed Mostima, pointing ahead. "There's the river!"
True to her words, the creek could be seen just a few meters ahead, flowing between the pines. Matt didn't wait and, taking out his thermos, went over to the river's bank to fill it with water. However, just as he was finishing, he felt his hand touch something underwater.
"Huh?" He looked more closely at the strange object, but then... "AHHHHH!"
Without skipping a second, Mostima ran to check on her companion. Upon arriving at the scene, she spotted the boy lying on the ground, all while his terrified look was fixed on a human body floating face down in the river.
"W-what... T-there's a fuck*ng body in the water!"
"Let's see." Together with Matt's help, they flipped the corpse. They soon noticed that it was a dead Russian soldier. His uniform was stained with both dirt and blood, like if he had been running through the forest, but all of that paled in comparison with the dagger stuck in the middle of his chest. Seeing this, the boy couldn't help but wonder.
"Who could have done this...?"
Suddenly, a detonation was heard in the distance. The two raised their gazes towards the sky, and there they saw a large column of smoke northward from them.
"Why is there smoke?" Asked the boy to himself.
Mostima turned to him and responded.
"I don't know, but something is definitely off. I'll g to see what's happening, you go wake up the others."
"Are you sure to go alone?" Asked Matt in a worried tone.
The sankta simply smirked.
"Don't worry, I know how to take care of myself. See you there." The moment she said those last words, Mostima ran towards the woods and vanished. Matt stood there for a brief moment, not knowing what to do exactly, but eventually he too ran, headed back to the camp...