A break in atmosphere

The deeper they trekked into the snowy region, the harder it became to walk. Temperatures outside continued to drop until it eventually got to the point that what snowfall there was, had turned into hazardous blocks of ice.

Long term — it would end up being too strenuous on the Mechanical Body Constructions.

"We're stopping here," Khylon eventually calls for a rest. Seeing as the sun was finally beginning to set, even with their mechas capable of running 24/7 — which, admittedly, wasn't the timings that this planet adhered to. Still, it was the principle of it that made Khylon choose to halt their progress.

His own mecha had been automatically scanning the area for a suitable place to stop and make their first base camp. This particular in-depth function was one unique to those Commander grades and higher; the amount of information included in their scans could be dangerous if just handed out to any and all.

In the end it had led them on top of a lake that was so frozen through that a few blasts of a high-energy photon gun didn't even make a dent. Ideally he would've wanted a dirt base to setup on so nothing like what happened earlier with him and Aliyan could repeat itself, but the next plot of real land looked to be miles away—even with their mecha's speeding up the distance.

The rest of the squadron slow down before they all space out to do their own primary checks. He blatantly turns a blind eye as the majority of them choose to test the sturdiness of their footing by inducting their own different brands of violence against it.

He may—or may not!—have done the same thing earlier with his gun.

(How else would he have gotten the safe readings? There was only so much trust and reliance one should put upon technology, after all.)

Anyway, there was nothing around, just like there hadn't been for the whole time they'd been on the planet. Sure, there was at least two inactive volcanoes he could see in the distance—which is exactly what they had been going towards—but as far as landscaping went, that was it.

Oh and those rocks from earlier with the odd bugs.. that was the first and last time something like that was seen. It was a little bit odd that there was no natural landscapes such as mountains or caves but that could easily be attributed to the horrible weather that eventually knocked down such constructs.

Such as the frequent blizzards that they were about to experience first-hand.

Khylon wordlessly turns his mecha so it faces Aliyan's. His face wasn't currently visible but he somehow managed to send a death-stare to the younger.

['… I know already!'] The man eventually cracks. And not a moment later his own mechanical construction hisses as the compartment peels open to reveal the man controlling it.

Aliyan hops out of the pilot seat and the door closes behind him. It was automatic, to conserve heat. Or in Aliyan's case: a feature that helped him save money.

"—this is such a pain!" Aliyan still couldn't help complaining. Obviously he'd had to leave his own mecha in order to setup their campsite, which meant he was only in the full-bodied Skinwear that one wore when operating a mecha. It helped with blood flow and was made of a material that made it resistant to electricity in case of faults when operating a Mechanical Body Construction; to a certain extent it was even fire-proof. What it wasn't, however, was able to completely stave off temperatures of nearly -120 Celsius Fahrenheit.

Which was, you know, the current reading on the thermometer.

Aliyan was simply lucky enough to have an aerial EVOS otherwise he would've taken a nosedive into the snow, never to be seen again.

Either from hypothermia or suffocation.

Nowadays, setting up camp was as easy as opening a specially folded compartment that allowed it to store a deceptively large amount in comparison to its relative size. It was about as large and rectangular as a one-person sled. There were, however, limitations on what one could carry, and the deployment of such convenient storage units was typically limited to specialised army segments. This was because their speciality tended to land them in harsh terrain and unforgiving environments that could be eased with the easy to use and carry, equipment. Or a Smart Box, as they were more commonly referred to as.

/PLEASE ENTER 4-DIGIT CODE/

( _ ) ( _ ) ( _ ) ( _ )

The interface on his wrist sprung up when he went around to the back of his mecha and held it up to a leg. The calves on these models were hollow to allow for manual storage. With shaking fingers, he punched in what he thought was the right code, only to end up stupidly staring at the red warning saying it was incorrect and would lock after another failed attempt.

"…" says Aliyan.

Hey. He had no one to blame but himself for not getting it serviced earlier.

"Oof!"

Just then something hits the entirety his back and ingrained reflex made him turn, gun in hand, and the trigger pulled before he even identified the threat.

It was a Smart Box.

["Catch,"] someone said, belatedly. That awful kind of humour could only belong to Sir Lueyun.

Aliyan slowly lowered his weapon and pretended he didn't just overreact.

["Good reflexes,"] Khylon distantly complimented. He didn't sound impressed. ["Maybe next time don't shoot the Smart Box and keep your weapon aimed only at the enemy."]

…so it wasn't a compliment then.

With an angry press of a button, the Box sprung open. Maybe because it was half embed in the snow, but when the contents of the Box unravels, the corners of the stored tent flung a bunch of snow in his direction. The heaviness of it threatened to bury him alive if he didn't take flight mid-way.

He cursed, "F*ck! I hate it here!!" He'd already pre-shovelled a bunch of snow out of the way when he was in his mecha to make room for it to expand, but it seemed like it wasn't enough.

Aliyan didn't need to be connected to the team comms to know that they were all laughing at him. He ground his chattering teeth and wished they would all go to hell.

From inside the comforts of his own insulated mecha, Khylon felt no sympathy for his subordinate and simply threw down a singular sentence: ["Deal with it."] And just like the rest of the team, made no move to help.

Anyway, it was part of his punishment.

A cold breeze swept across Aliyan's heart. Only, he knew it wasn't from the oncoming blizzard.

He may or may not have sobbed a little when he could no longer feel his fingers. "Lt. Ja..Jarma, wh-..what's t..the ETA on the 'zard?" His snot had long dried at the tip of his nose, but he couldn't even do anything about it because of the mask encasing his whole face. He even suspected the snot made parts of the material stick to his nose too…

Aliyan needed a distraction, and fast. It had only been a handful of minutes but… but it was only safe for him to be out for a handful of minutes!!

["10 minutes or less,"] came the swift reply. ["Also, you only have 2 minutes left to setup before you get lasting damage."] Lt. Jarma helpfully tacked on. All of which was relayed through the mecha's speakers.

For a moment, Aliyan sobers up at the real threat of a blizzard being so close to arrival. But then his face sours not a second later when he remembered everyone but him was all nice and cosy.

Ahhhh! Why did he have to be such an idiot!!?

...

Douflux was a metal that was both malleable and light, which is how it could be compacted. The material was one of the strongest known by mankind. The downsides was that it didn't positively interact with technology, hence why it hadn't been used when making anything more complex, like, say, Mechas. On the other hand, it made for great cold weapons which… actually weren't that popular anymore. So unless one could solve its main issue, then it would remain known as cheap building material for slums and disaster zones.

Oh and the main equipment of the poor, barbaric 4th regiment that Khylon led.

Not only was it dirt cheap, but he even got a discount on top of that because it was only thanks to one of Khylon's clan members that a cabin made out of Douflux could be stored inside a Smart Box. Spatial EVOS were notorious for getting stubborn materials and the like to work for them as any regular metals and minerals did.

The inside of the 'tent' was the colour of matted steel. There were no sharp corners as that would make the structure more susceptible to collapse against pressuring winds and heavy rainfall.

Instead the 'tent' was cylinder shaped. And yes. This cabin was the 'tent' stored inside the Smart Box.

The metal structure came ready-made and.. pretty much bare, save for a steel table, a flameless cooker, and two stools. There was no such things as sleeping bags or any padding for the floor. These cabins weren't meant for luxury camping; the less there was inside, the easier—and lighter—it was to store.

Once they'd all disembarked from their mechas, Khylon wordlessly stores them inside a stationary space. Which just meant it was a convenient 'space' that followed him around instead of it being in a set location. If he wasn't here then… they would probably have to bury their vehicles deep in the icy snow for safe-keeping. The mechas could survive outer space but the winds that blew in with the blizzard held a black wind that seemed more like an energy pulse output by the dying planet.

After doing so, he was the first to walk inside the cabin.

Immediately, he takes hurried steps towards one of two available stools. As soon as he sits down, his leans his elbows onto his knees and tilts his head forward so its shadowed by his fringe. It was a good no-nonsense look that made sure no one tried to fight him over his recent conquest.

"-ow!" "Oof!"

.. just like Freiyar and Yizmina were currently doing. He was a bit amazed at how fast they had gotten to it, if he was being honest.

Khylon didn't have anything against fighting it out over nonsense. But he himself doing so was a different issue. Right now they were on a Serious Mission, and so he had to act like the Captain and War General that he actually was. Not some ruffian who would gladly knock some guys teeth out for sh*ts and giggles. Or in this case: a chair.

The rest of them pour in and settle down to watch the ensuing brawl. But then all of a sudden the only noise was Gabrielle fiddling with the miniature cooker. His lips twitched. Khylon hoped she didn't think of frying those bugs he saw her pocketing earlier. He'd bet they smelt horrendous being barbecued. But more importantly..

"… damn it, Lulu!"

Khylon chortles at their twin angry exclamations. The short noise was so soaked in schadenfreude that he heard Aliyan shuffle away from him on the floor. Whatever.

It seemed Yizmina and Freiyar had both finally noticed that Sir Lueyun had sat down next to him not moments after those two clowns had taken to the floor trying to choke the other out over a chair. A chair which, in their distraction, had already been occupied.

"Sir Lu—you traitor!"

Idiots.

It was entertaining while it lasted.

...

The blizzard arrives suddenly, but wasn't unexpected. Wild, biting winds become turbulent blades that groan and wail as they come into contact with the surface of the cabin. Nobody could sleep with the noise, but the reality was that nobody could sleep because there was nothing to sleep on.

The floor was harder than the deep lines of Khylon's mouth when he was Disappointed, and their Skinwear was doing the bare minimum at making sure they remained at a survivable temperature.

This was not a family camping trip.

In the end they all sat huddled around the flameless cooker. Gabrielle had thrown in a bunch of nutrient solutions that they all carried on their person, and made some kind of soup with it. The look in her soft and dark brown eyes the entire time was uncharacteristically dead. Probably because Khylon had repeatedly stopped her from adding any special cuisine.

Namely — random preserved Zerg that she had picked up on her travels.

".. are you sure I can't just-"

"No." He immediately slaps away her hand that was inching towards the pot.

The zoologist slumped and quickly returned to her soulless trance. To make sure she didn't try anymore funny business, Khylon served himself some of the questionable soup. And whether she added shredded zerg carcasses to the soup after he had taken his portion or not, he didn't care.

The flavour was.. bland. Or just straight up awful. He couldn't decide. It was nutritious though so he couldn't really complain. Well he could but he wasn't able to actually do anything about it.

Khylon sighed and put the empty bowl down beside him on the floor. The stool wasn't that high up off the ground. He sighed again at the lingering taste in his mouth. Except Khylon wasn't one to let even the slightest of grievances go, so he reached into one of his 'storage units' and pulled out a handful of minty-flavoured candies.

The loud crunch made the terrible expressions on his teammates more pronounced.

Damn. He had hoped they'd be more absorbed in their wallowing at the awful-tasting soup.

The moment he begins to chew on a candy, he feels the multiple eyes on his person as he swallowed. He easily ignores them and chooses to throw the rest of the candies into his mouth with a rare show of artistic flair.

Spite may just be the death of him.

".. Captain, I think I might mutiny." Khylon raised an eyebrow at the challenging tone of his second-in-command. He swept his gaze around the campfire and found all of their eyes ablaze… apart from Gabrielle, who was enthusiastically frying something he really didn't want to know the origins of.

"Mutiny?" That's funny. Well, he always did encourage a little healthy competition.

"Go for it."

After all, they had a long night ahead of them.