Chapter 2:
Dangerous Mission!
Assault of the Mobile Glacier!
(soundtrack - Aquatic Base, Level 2, from Sonic 06)
The harsh wind of the mountains blew through crags in the rocks, howling as they blasted the air with snow and ice. Redley stood on a rocky cliff, letting the chill wind blow past him as he carefully observed what sat in the bowl-shaped mountain valley ahead of him.
The Mobile Glacier was an angular structure that looked like it was composed of four different triangular pyramids - three of which were smaller and fitted into the corners of the larger, central pyramid - of pure white ice with various viewports and crystal-tipped gun turrets mounted on its sides. Underneath the central section was a gigantic beam that pulsed into the ground, flashing brighter with each pulse and lighting up the valley with blue-white energy. Various smaller vehicles of the Frizonians were flying or rollong in and out of vehicle bays set into the smaller corner pyramids, as patrols of armored Frizonian Troopers made their rounds securing the perimeter.
It appeared that there were more of the flyer vehicles coming in from other locations, and Redley tracked the flying transport that he had followed here as it approached the Mobile Glacier. At a certain point in the air surrounding the Glacier, he saw a ripple of energy as the flyer passed through an invisible force field. To Redley's trained eyes, he could tell the Frizonians were better prepared with this location; an aerial strike would be useless against a shield like that. It might even block entry into the pyramid itself.
But he had to test that.
Leaping from the cliff's edge, he dashed down the side of the rocky precipice all the way down into the valley at supersonic speed. Frizonian patrols were confused when the snow kicked up suddenly in a line toward the Glacier, and they tried to converge on it, only to see it change direction and circle the entire Glacier before making a direct beeline for it.
And Redley suddenly stopped, his adamantium arm out in front of him, his hand outstretched through the rippling field. The hand was frozen solid, and had it not been for his reflexes, the rest of him would have been through the field and frozen as well. Withdrawing his hand, he sped back the way he came and up into the mountains, deliberately taking the time to make a few false trails so the Frizonians wouldn't be able to track him so easily. The cold in the mountains helped to hide his heat, which was what he counted on - he guessed that they used thermal vision to see.
That field was impenetrable without some kind of protection, or without shutting down the field - but what could he use to batter down the field? Assuming of course it could be overloaded or otherwise defeated by the proper application of outside force...
(Music soundtrack - World Navigation, from Armored Core: Nexus)
It was the following day in Sega City. The sun shone brightly as the last of the snow melted all the way to the outskirts of the city, and only a light jacket was necessary for most of the inhabitants. But outside the city, snow stretched in all directions, and it didn't seem to be melting anytime soon. It was colder outside the city than in it, much colder.
In an auditorium in the HQ Tower, the assembled forumers were gathered in their seats as Marcus stood behind the podium, with Vector sitting in a chair to one side. Marcus's blonde hair was combed neatly as always, and he looked around at the forumers with his usual friendly, if somewhat empty, smile. He was dressed in a more formal navy blue military uniform now, without any embellishments indicating his rank or organization.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome," he began. "This is the briefing for our next move against the Frizonian threat. We have confirmed that the Frizonians have landed icesteroids all over the planet, with some of them being destroyed by various resistance groups that have formed at the crash sites. But there are still over an estimated one hundred still on the planet, and each one seems to be generating a field that lowers the ambient temperature rapidly. However, there is an energy signal being transmitted to each of the icesteroids that we've discovered after collaborating with other survivors of the attacks."
A white screen unrolled behind him, and an image was projected of the planet in red wire-frame against a black background, with the icesteroids represented by glowing blue dots, and energy waves being transmitted to each other icesteroids from a single location. "We have determined that the Frizonians have landed a much larger base onto the planet - their HQ. This central base is generating the energy necessary to power the icesteroids, but it also appears to be equipped with a similar freezing ability - one that is reaching into the planet's core itself to sap all the heat from it. Their objective is clear, if the current rate of freezing keeps up as it is."
The wireframe image showed a beam hitting the hot core and freezing it over, until ice had grown all over and through the planet. "Total cryostasis of the planet. Life as we know it will end. And this will happen inside of a week if nothing is done to slow it down."
Marcus pointed to the screen, which now showed an image of a non-frozen planet, with an arrow traveling over a computer-generated map of terrain to a mountain valley. "Your target is this valley. You will be flown there by aerial transport; I will be accompanying you as tactical advisor. We are issuing devices to all of you called AEGIS - All-Environment Geothermal Insulation Shield. They will generate a field that will protect you from ambient temperature - you will be able to walk into a blizzard in your underwear and not feel the cold at all, although you will still feel snow and rain. And these shields certainly won't protect you from freeze rays. But at least while they are active, you will be protected from the cold. We are also issuing any smallarms or other extra weaponry that you desire for the mission objectives."
Vector stood up and coughed, and Marcus stood aside to let Vector stand at the podium. "Your primary objective," the crocodile growled in his typical friendly voice, "is to enter their HQ and plant explosives inside it that will blow it to smithereens. Without that HQ, the icesteroids won't be able to keep freezing the planet. However, I'm adding a secondary objective...a rescue mission. We detected the planetfall of this HQ two days ago, and sent a team of SONIC operatives to investigate it. We have not heard from that team since. The leader of that team was..."
Vector looked purposefully at Jason. "Modesty Rapidfire."
Vector quickly continued on, not giving a chance for an outburst. "But, the freezing is also creating another problem - which I'll allow the resident expert on that problem explain before we send you out." He turned to the side door. "Will you please step in?"
OOC: Hold off posting for just another bit - I've already asked someone in particular to post after this post to involve their character in the situation briefly.
Dangerous Mission!
Assault of the Mobile Glacier!
(soundtrack - Aquatic Base, Level 2, from Sonic 06)
The harsh wind of the mountains blew through crags in the rocks, howling as they blasted the air with snow and ice. Redley stood on a rocky cliff, letting the chill wind blow past him as he carefully observed what sat in the bowl-shaped mountain valley ahead of him.
The Mobile Glacier was an angular structure that looked like it was composed of four different triangular pyramids - three of which were smaller and fitted into the corners of the larger, central pyramid - of pure white ice with various viewports and crystal-tipped gun turrets mounted on its sides. Underneath the central section was a gigantic beam that pulsed into the ground, flashing brighter with each pulse and lighting up the valley with blue-white energy. Various smaller vehicles of the Frizonians were flying or rollong in and out of vehicle bays set into the smaller corner pyramids, as patrols of armored Frizonian Troopers made their rounds securing the perimeter.
It appeared that there were more of the flyer vehicles coming in from other locations, and Redley tracked the flying transport that he had followed here as it approached the Mobile Glacier. At a certain point in the air surrounding the Glacier, he saw a ripple of energy as the flyer passed through an invisible force field. To Redley's trained eyes, he could tell the Frizonians were better prepared with this location; an aerial strike would be useless against a shield like that. It might even block entry into the pyramid itself.
But he had to test that.
Leaping from the cliff's edge, he dashed down the side of the rocky precipice all the way down into the valley at supersonic speed. Frizonian patrols were confused when the snow kicked up suddenly in a line toward the Glacier, and they tried to converge on it, only to see it change direction and circle the entire Glacier before making a direct beeline for it.
And Redley suddenly stopped, his adamantium arm out in front of him, his hand outstretched through the rippling field. The hand was frozen solid, and had it not been for his reflexes, the rest of him would have been through the field and frozen as well. Withdrawing his hand, he sped back the way he came and up into the mountains, deliberately taking the time to make a few false trails so the Frizonians wouldn't be able to track him so easily. The cold in the mountains helped to hide his heat, which was what he counted on - he guessed that they used thermal vision to see.
That field was impenetrable without some kind of protection, or without shutting down the field - but what could he use to batter down the field? Assuming of course it could be overloaded or otherwise defeated by the proper application of outside force...
(Music soundtrack - World Navigation, from Armored Core: Nexus)
It was the following day in Sega City. The sun shone brightly as the last of the snow melted all the way to the outskirts of the city, and only a light jacket was necessary for most of the inhabitants. But outside the city, snow stretched in all directions, and it didn't seem to be melting anytime soon. It was colder outside the city than in it, much colder.
In an auditorium in the HQ Tower, the assembled forumers were gathered in their seats as Marcus stood behind the podium, with Vector sitting in a chair to one side. Marcus's blonde hair was combed neatly as always, and he looked around at the forumers with his usual friendly, if somewhat empty, smile. He was dressed in a more formal navy blue military uniform now, without any embellishments indicating his rank or organization.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome," he began. "This is the briefing for our next move against the Frizonian threat. We have confirmed that the Frizonians have landed icesteroids all over the planet, with some of them being destroyed by various resistance groups that have formed at the crash sites. But there are still over an estimated one hundred still on the planet, and each one seems to be generating a field that lowers the ambient temperature rapidly. However, there is an energy signal being transmitted to each of the icesteroids that we've discovered after collaborating with other survivors of the attacks."
A white screen unrolled behind him, and an image was projected of the planet in red wire-frame against a black background, with the icesteroids represented by glowing blue dots, and energy waves being transmitted to each other icesteroids from a single location. "We have determined that the Frizonians have landed a much larger base onto the planet - their HQ. This central base is generating the energy necessary to power the icesteroids, but it also appears to be equipped with a similar freezing ability - one that is reaching into the planet's core itself to sap all the heat from it. Their objective is clear, if the current rate of freezing keeps up as it is."
The wireframe image showed a beam hitting the hot core and freezing it over, until ice had grown all over and through the planet. "Total cryostasis of the planet. Life as we know it will end. And this will happen inside of a week if nothing is done to slow it down."
Marcus pointed to the screen, which now showed an image of a non-frozen planet, with an arrow traveling over a computer-generated map of terrain to a mountain valley. "Your target is this valley. You will be flown there by aerial transport; I will be accompanying you as tactical advisor. We are issuing devices to all of you called AEGIS - All-Environment Geothermal Insulation Shield. They will generate a field that will protect you from ambient temperature - you will be able to walk into a blizzard in your underwear and not feel the cold at all, although you will still feel snow and rain. And these shields certainly won't protect you from freeze rays. But at least while they are active, you will be protected from the cold. We are also issuing any smallarms or other extra weaponry that you desire for the mission objectives."
Vector stood up and coughed, and Marcus stood aside to let Vector stand at the podium. "Your primary objective," the crocodile growled in his typical friendly voice, "is to enter their HQ and plant explosives inside it that will blow it to smithereens. Without that HQ, the icesteroids won't be able to keep freezing the planet. However, I'm adding a secondary objective...a rescue mission. We detected the planetfall of this HQ two days ago, and sent a team of SONIC operatives to investigate it. We have not heard from that team since. The leader of that team was..."
Vector looked purposefully at Jason. "Modesty Rapidfire."
Vector quickly continued on, not giving a chance for an outburst. "But, the freezing is also creating another problem - which I'll allow the resident expert on that problem explain before we send you out." He turned to the side door. "Will you please step in?"
OOC: Hold off posting for just another bit - I've already asked someone in particular to post after this post to involve their character in the situation briefly.
