3
STOP
If you've not read the previous chapters here:
- Prologue: https://community.pl...es/#entry467079
- Laila's Journal Entry: https://community.pl...28/#entry476338
Point in HWKN timeline: 6 Months and 2 Days after the 2nd Outbreak.
A blinding white snowstorm twisted violently around the frozen wasteland as Jin Ryu fought against the icy winds. He tried to fix his modified caterpillar track van as his goggles fogged up. Jin took them off and scowled as he clumsily rubbed his goggles with his hands in bulky gloves. I hate how I have to drive in this thing and not my axe. As he put the goggles back on, a semitransparent topography map appeared in his mini HUD. He noted how close he was to his destination and got back to work. Jin swore as he dropped his arc welder from his numb hands. Despite being covered in heavy military snow gear, I still feel cold. Stupid Procurement guys never had to deal with this damn weather back in Andromeda. Jin stared at the van’s twisted dark gray-black metal hole near the front of the van and sighed. I’m close by, I’m sure this box on wheels can make it. He gave up and jumped into the cabin as he tossed the welder into the glove compartment. The van started with a cough and rumbled to life as Jin gently pushed on the accelerator. After a few more metres he saw a rigid manmade structure appear. What the heck is that_ He squinted through the white haze that surrounded him.
A large missile silo appeared from the swirling snow as Jin drove by. The van went down a small slope in a large roughly circle depression in the ground. The van slowed as Jin parked it and climbed the blocky structure’s rusty ladder and looked around. A rigid pyramid structure jutted in the middle of the depression while an assortment of vehicles and buildings surrounded it. He climbed down from the missile silo and walked toward one of the cumbersome vehicles. Wow these things are ancient, then again I did choose to be at an isolated minor outpost. Jin pressed his lips and narrowed his brows as he looked again toward the lone missile silo. Fuzzy bunny, this place looks pretty poorly defended. A column of axes with Hellfires and a squad of snipers could take this place down easy.
“Damn higher-ups.” Jin muttered as he walked into the pyramid’s locked hatch. He patted the documents in his front pant pocket as he keyed the keypad for entrance. “Typical for them to hang places like this out to dry while they stay safe with thousands of troops under metres of armor in a nice underground bunker. At least it’ll be quiet here, no stupid high risk missions for me anymore. No serious Sentium brigade would want to take this joke of a base.”
*****
Kaori Kurosawa walked around the armored hallways while scratching her dark messy hair under her bandana. She nodded toward every member of Bunker 167 and gave a casual salute to any of her seniors when they passed by as she headed to her private office. She heard heavy footsteps come toward her.
“Chief!” A grumpy male voice called. “Is Corporal Makoto back_ He was due forty minutes ago, I thought the guy was just placing sensors around the perimeter.”
Kaori turned and saw a tall man with stocky black hair under a beanie hat. The man scowled toward the UI pad he was holding. Malik always seemed to have a permanent frown on his face. “He radioed in a few minutes ago saying he saw something interesting and asked to investigate,” she frowned slightly. “Malik, I thought we agreed to drop the ‘Chief’ nine years ago. I’m not part of IPDF anymore, remember_” She took out a cigarette from a pocket in her jacket and lit it.
“Uhh…. Right boss, I forgot we’re mercenaries now.” Malik Rivera replied, giving her an uncharacteristic sheepish smile while handing her his UI pad as she took a puff. “Anyway, it turns out we’re running a little low on supplies to the base. That damn old Captain Wayden is still refueling and refitting his ship. We need someone to head over to Eugen since that’s where the next shipment will be tomorrow.”
The UI pad vibrated as he finished his sentence. Kaori glanced down and saw that someone was requesting entrance from the main entryway. “Who the hell is calling in at this time_ Could it be Makoto_”
“No idea, ma’am. If it’s him, may I have permission to shove a heat round up his behind for being late_” asked Malik with
a deadpan expression.
Kaori smiled faintly as they headed to the main entrance. The two walked through a series of heavily armored elevators that weaved throughout the base. I’m sure he’s joking… then again maybe not, Malik tried doing that last time. Being in the police or military certainly includes the bonus of bad humor with all the horrible fighting going on. Her smile faded as she remembered why she resigned from her former position at International Illalian Police Defense Force. Frack, why now_ I got an unknown person to meet. I should act more like an officer, no tears this time. Could it be that rookie that HQ sent us_ I definitely did not request for a new recruit, so who is this person_ Kaori dropped the spent cigarette on the floor and crushed it.
“Heya Kao- I mean Ms. Kurosawa! I can’t wait to see this new guy, I hope he’s handsome. Ack- Mr. Rivera!” Exclaimed a young blond woman who dropped a few tools she was holding. She wore the typical maintenance uniform of engineers found everywhere on Illal, except it was adorned with stickers.
“Why the fuzzy bunny are you so jumpy around me, Laila_ Dammit…” grunted the crabby man as Laila slowly backed away but still kept up with Kaori and him. “What are you doing here, if all you do is lazing ‘round and complain about what we don’t have_ Aren’t you supposed to clean and recalibrate that prototype axe the rookie pilots_” Kaori simply watched the exchange between the two, slightly amused.
Laila’s eyebrows furrowed as she pocketed the fallen tools and crossed her arms, “I’m not that lazy, you know_ The thing with that axe is that I can’t even understand how to fix and maintain it,” she glanced down the corridor she came from as they walked away from it. “Honestly, the manual that came with the darn thing is filled with ‘access restricted’, it’s a real pain… Anyway, I figured the new guy might know how to maintain it since it’s his.”
Malik raised an eyebrow as they continued walking, “Right, I bet from your earlier comment that you just want to see how this guy looks like. Typical foolish girl, grow up! You’re nineteen already.” Laila ignored his jibe and continued walking as they passed the last pressurized gate. The trio stepped onto the last elevator that went up directly to the entrance as light flooded the opening.
Kaori’s eyes adjusted to the sudden intensity of light as a figure of medium height appeared. “Hey is this Bunker 167_” The figure asked as he smiled, the man had neat black hair that was combed over to the left side of his forehead and had a trimmed beard. The man was covered in heavy beige snow gear with BNKR 167 neatly printed on one side of his modified parka. On his shoulders rested two large duffel bags that shifted as he adjusted them to stand more comfortably. “G1 Limited Jin Ryu, reporting for duty!” A pause as Jin took out something in his pant pocket and gave it to Kaori and saluted. “I believe you are the CO, right ma’am_”
“Yes, I’m Sergeant Major Kurosawa of Mech Ops around here,” Kaori replied as she motioned Malik to take the documents as they all went back to the depths of Bunker. She introduced him to Malik and Laila. “We don’t use those type of ranks around here, so your new rank will be Private. We’re mercenaries, so a few rules that you learned are changed and it’s a little more lax around here compared to what you’re used to.” She noticed him glancing around, casually observing entrances, security cameras, hallways, and guard turrets. The way he looks around… That’s no rookie move, that’s how a spy finds an escape route. Also… Why would a rookie have an experimental axe in the first place_ She noted that his gait and the way he held himself looked more like a seasoned vet. I’ve got a feeling he’s not who he says he is. Why pretend to be a rookie_ What’s your angle here_ She pressed her lips and continued, “We’re glad you’re here, I was rather surprised that HQ sent us a new recruit. Even if we are a bit understaffed, almost no new recruits go here since this is a backwater outpost.”
“I was shocked as well, they told me I was to be shipped out two days ago so I had to rush packing everything and it turns out my axe was sent here before I made it.” Jin said in an embarrassed tone. “Sorry if I was late, I was chosen to test out the new systems of the prototype recently. I’ve only clocked twenty three hours with it. I’m sure that maintenance manual gave you some trouble. If only I got here sooner…”
Now that’s a cute little backstory… Anybody could make that up, so maybe not a spy. He’s obviously more than he says he is, though. What’s his reason for being here_
“About that, Jin… Do you know how to calibrate it_ The systems are more advanced than many of the axes I’m used to.” Laila told him. “Could you show me and Mr. Medens, our Mech Maintenance Chief, how to maintain it_”
“Yeah, sure thing ma’am.” Jin told her as they got near Kaori’s office. Kaori could see him looking at her, slightly interested.
I doubt he’s checking her out. Gauging her experience through rank and her build maybe_
“It’s just Laila, meet me in the hangar later, ‘kay_” She told him as she walked toward the hall that lead to the hangar.
Kaori waited until Laila’s footsteps faded away. She gave a glance toward Malik, and took the hint and left. Soon it was just her and Jin. “May we talk inside my office_ I got a few questions for you.”
“Of course ma’am, what sort of questions_” Jin asked while smoothening out the wrinkles in his pilot jumpsuit under the snow gear. “Is… there a problem with my documents_”
She eyed him carefully while beckoning him in. “Just come in, it’s just I need to ask you on a few things about yourself.”
Jin hesitated for a few split seconds as he look at her. “Um… okay ma’am.” She saw Jin’s eyes narrow slightly and his right fist ball up but still kept up the rookie act.
Gotcha. Something’s definitely up. Guess my time at IPDF wasn’t just a waste, time to be more direct. She sat down at her chair and placed her TAC Pistol on the desk, close to her hand while lighting a cigarette. “Please sit down.” A slight pause as he sat opposite to her, eyeing the gun. “Don’t worry, no one can hear us in here and the door is locked.” She leaned in closer with a cold steady stare and said, “Who are you really_ Why is a person like you here_”
Jin’s face and whole demeanor changed as he gave her an even colder look in return. “Look ma’am, all I want is a quiet place to stay at. I am who I told you, that’s all you need to know.” Kaori saw his right hand slip into his pocket as she puffed a cloud of smoke. “Anyway, why is that blond girl even in the military_ Her actions tell me she’s not been in actual combat.”
“She’s just maintaining mechs and aiding around the base.” Kaori replied while taking another puff. Why is he interested in her_
“Liar. Her rank and badge indicates she’s done some combat. However, her actions say she hasn’t.” He paused, searching Kaori’s face for some weakness and suddenly smirked. “Ah… I see. I’m guessing you baby her, don’t you_ Trying to play mommy for her_”
“No, I’m not. Besides, she’s always like that.” Kaori said through gritted teeth. She tried to keep her cool as she stomped on her cigarette but Jin noticed the slight changes in her expression. Damn I’m rusty, when did this turn against me_ Kaori never felt so tempted to punch someone’s face until now. This guy… He’s the same age as Shae and yet this complete jerk is talking to me like this_
“Judging by how you reacted and the fact that you smoke… I can surmise that you probably had family problems as well. I bet you’re trying to show up whoever messed up fuzzy bunny you had as a parent and-“
Kaori picked him up by the hood and slammed him face first on the desk. “Look, do you want a place to stay or not_” She waved the pistol toward the back of his head but made sure the barrel didn’t touch it. Her left grip tightened on his hood as she brought the pistol closer. “I’ll ask again. Why are you here_ I’m normally very even tempered, you just caught me in a bad day.” She lifted Jin’s hood a little so he could speak.
“What do you mean, ma’am_ I’m just a concerned patron of lovely Illal. I don’t want inexperienced people in combat. Especially when the superior officer is holding them back. Maybe I could help train he-“
A klaxon alarm sounded as Kaori let go of Jin. She heard heavy footsteps pound down the hall outside as Malik unlocked and barged through the door. “Sarge! Enemy Sentium forces appeared on the ridge heading straight toward us. Makoto got shot down but he survived and radioed in to warn us!”
“Frack. At a time like this_” Kaori grimaced, “Alright, Jin help us out if you want to stay.”
Jin did his rookie act again. “Sure thing ma’am! I’ll defend the base.” He saluted and rushed off toward the hangar.
“Fraking IPDF probably got bribed to let them through. This is why I hate them, damn corporations and the government are rotten to the core.” Muttered Kaori as she strode out with Malik, “Malik, tell the hangar crew to prep our axes up.” It’s going to be a long day.
***
Part 1 ends.
***
Hey guys! No, I'm technically not back from my hiatus yet, I just found some time to finally post it. Here it is! Enjoy the first part of Snowfall, it's so epic I had to split it into two parts! (Currently typing second part)Make sure you like this, follow, and comment! I was planning to put the picture on here, but it's not quite done yet and I'm very busy. Maybe for part two...(_) Please tell me if you find any errors and stuff, I'm rather busy as of now and I will fix it as soon as I get done with the irl stuff. Character bios will be updated at a later time.
Thanks to:
Mags- For all the facts and stuff for Ilall.
Lazy K- For being the first person to support me and on other stuffs.
Wisp- For being my editor for this particular piece.
Sandspider- For answering that post I made and helping my project grow.
Thanks for reading! Part 2 will come!
Update: Chapter fully edited!
Update2: A few more edits at the request of BoompigXD
Edited by Hijinks_The_Turtle, June 07 2014 - 07:15 AM.
