War, War has changed.

[Lieutenant]

Story Two: Snowdrift

The murky green nebula around the planet of Toledo lent it an awe-inspiring green sky, the planet itself getting a mild amount of daylight and modest warmth. The night side, though, was a terrible and cruel monster. Many times Order ground troops are trained in night operations, and nights on Toledo are cold, hard, and deadly. It wasn't just the wildlife that was killer, it was the weather itself. A wild blizzard could stir up and blanket an area with pieces of blown up ice, razor sharp and big enough to sever limbs. Thankfully, none were forecast on this run.

Jester, all suited in an environmental combat suit, crawled over a fresh ridge of snow. His helmet flickered as his two coin-shaped eye ports flickered green. He could see in this perfect darkness of night, indeed. The Order ground command had scheduled a night run to break in some new recruits. The objective, capture at least one Blanc Wolf dead or alive. Alive preferably, at least the eggheads want. The solitary predators, Blanc Wolves, a hide that blends in perfectly with snow, thick and muscled like it was made out of whipcords. The beast held a deadly defensive mesh of concealed spikes of clear, ice-like formations within that powdery fur. Not to mention it's teeth, a snarling maw that could only be seen before it's blackened eyes. Sunken pits that gave one advantage over it, a sheer tunnel vision advantage.

He pulled his pulse carbine onto his back, lifting a heavy set of nightvision binocks onto his viewports. He had their target in sight, it was rutting it's fat, stubbed nose into the snow, looking for something to chow on no doubt. A trio of recruits on his back, they practically held their breath, stories about these wolves did well to keep them in line. Jester lifted a hand just slightly, and motioned for the sharpshooter recruit to come close. A large-caliber stun rifle shouldered and ready.

The recruit sighted in one of the few weak spots on the creature, and choosing the most useful one, it's bald butt. Still snowy white like it's fur, but thinner on spikes, an easy shot if the marksman recruit was on par. Waiting for the signal, the recruit did his training proud, his finger eased down to feather-touch the trigger. He held his breath as if to signal he was ready. Jester pushed his fist foreward to signal the attack. The round flew, and the wolf vanished from sight, snow flurrying wildly around it as the ground shook.

Without more warning, even Jester wasn't prepared for the next sight, a large tower of white skyrocketted into the air. In it's pincers, in front of an open maw of teeth, a worm-like creature rose a clean twenty feet. It bellowed a roar before stuffing the wolf into it's open gullet. The creature made a hideous gurgling sound and then slinked back into it's hole. The ground rumbling and snow displacing. Jester rose up to his knees and shouted into his helmet's commlink.

"Get the hell out of here! Get back to the bunker, now, now!" He jerked the stunned sniper recruit by his shoulder, all four of the soldiers rose and took into a full run away from the scene. All that could be heard over the comm links was heavy breathing. The ground shook and rumbled as they ran. He rocked, stumbled, and tripped to save himself with a quick hand. He sacrificed the binoculars for it though, dropping them behind him.

It was that glance back that he saw what caused the rumbling. Like a serpent powering into the curves, the beast plunged up and down through the snow and ice, powering towards them. Jester knew they had little chance to make it together, the bunker outpost was another two kilometers, and this thing was scraping at their heels. He fumbled at his vest as he peeled out a brick of thermal explosives from his kit - in case of avalanches, the perfect way to send a signal is a large bang of heat for the sensors to get.

"Left, take the ridge, use the ice bridge!" He waved them left as he broke towards that direction.

"We aren't supposed to cross that anymore, it's not safe!" A recruit piped, though followed along behind his heels.

"Bloody hell, just do it, or we'll die here!" He shouted, it was close, and a do or die moment. He crossed first, the ice creaking and popping already as he ran across a one-man-wide sheet of ice over a deep ravine. Just as he reached hard ice, he spun and slid to a stop. The recruits kept running. "Go, go! Don't stop, go!" He waved the first and second by, the third huffing by just as he saw it.

The bloated body of the worm beast plunged through the gap of the ravine. He reared back the brick of explosives and lobbed the sticky-side of the package at the creature. It bounced along it's hide just one tumble before sticking onto it. Just as it disappeared into the snow below them, he turned to run, his other hand gripping the detonator on his vest and giving the trigger a full-power squeeze. A thump came at first, the ground pounded and heaved upwards as Jester was launched into the air a good ten feet. Sent tumbling through the air, he pounded against soft snow as disgusting bits flew into the air, a fireball reaching upwards out of the snow.

The rumbling ceased, and the ground no longer shook at their heels. The recruits stopped and stood in awe for a moment. Only then they saw Jester rolling onto his back in the snow, the group rushing over. The marksman slung his rifle and checked Jester for any wounds. "Sir, you're one lucky bastard, you know that right?" He grabbed Jester's hand and pulled him to his feet.

Jester's chest pounded as he looked back at the brightly lit fireball driving upwards. The crater with the dead segment of worm in it. He shook his head. "You can tell those bloody scientists, they can look inside that thing for their damned wolf." He grunted as he bent over to place his hands on his thighs, panting lightly. The recruits burst into a short laugh as the comm link crackled to life.

"Good grief, Jester? We picked up an explosion in your area, we're sending an evac team immediately." A voice from the base rang out.

"Tell them to send a science team as well, they'll never believe it." He placed a hand up to his ear as he looked at the smoldering carcass of the new "Ice Worm" as he saw it, the sounds of headquarters grew distant as he sighed. A brush with death he didn't care to have, at least this time.

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My honest reaction upon reading the forums, whenever I rarely do. Joe Kucan, he's the man.