Chapter 23 : Hearts of Ice, part 2

Buildings and giant machines stood atop the icy ground, decorating the frigid landscape with something other than pure white mountains. The red-colored houses, covered in the gently falling snow, stood proud yet clearly empty, no light emanated from their windows and no smoke rose from their chimneys.

Adam and the others weren't strangers to dead cities and towns, it was their job to retake them most of the time, yet this one was different. this one unnerved them.

They, like all soldiers fighting for the human cause, have been to the bloodiest battlefields imaginable. They have seen seas of corpses, scattered and charred, their blood serving as nourishment for the very soil they died fighting for. They have fought under the bombardment of heavy artillery, losing many of their friends and even family to weapons that were meant for their enemies, but this place was different.

"this place…what the hell happened here? The houses and oil rigs are fine, hell, they're completely undamaged from the outside. This doesn't track…what kind of demons leave everything intact? are we dealing with a new clan? or is it a trap?"

The voice came from the back, asking the very questions Adam was pondering, but his comments went unheard.

"alright, you two go check the residential area, the four of us will head to the extraction and refining zone and split there. Make sure to keep your radios on and weapons ready to fire. We can't use satellite mapping right now either since it's needed in another area, so don't bother with it. just stay vigilant and reach out the moment you spot or engage with the enemy, go!"

After a quick exchange of nods, the two soldiers departed on their way, leaving the relative safety of the landing site behind and disappearing amongst the snow.

"…let's go, we need to match their pace as best as possible, they'll need all help they can get if they engage the enemy before we do."

The walk through the thick layer of snow by itself would be a grueling journey for an average man, but the freezing cold and blinding hail did nothing to deter them, in fact, they only added to the exotic factor that made it seem more of a sightseeing trip than a life-and-death walk through one of the most hostile environments known to man.

They looked around in wonder and awe at the natural beauty of the world they were fighting for. They marveled at the mountains of pure ice that have been there for a million years and if left undisturbed, will perhaps remain a million more. They had visited many locations around the world, yet they mostly saw nothing but destroyed concrete jungles or scorched forests without a single standing tree in sight.

"hey Nia, did you know that people lived here even before the war? That's weird right, why would anyone want to live? This place has its charm but it would suck to live in."

"you read? What a surprise, I always thought you were illiterate Isaac."

The three soldiers smiled wide under their masks and hurled insults at each other in a jolly mood, in complete contrast to Adam who walked and contemplated in silence.

Nia tried to remain composed out of respect for their commander, but even she couldn't help but smile and suckle along, luckily her voice was masked by the howl of an especially sudden and violent passing wind.

"thank you for that answer Dom, but I don't remember asking you a damn thing, also, are you really going to call me illiterate? You? The guy couldn't read a map to save his life? Remember that time in east Europe boss, when he—"

The mood of the party suddenly shifted when Adam took aim with his rifle and activated his augments, coating his body in a visible layer of faint blue light in preparation for a foe that they couldn't see.

The others saw his change of demeanor and in the blink of an eye, they too took aim and readied their powers for use. They covered each other's backs, their weapons aimed at nothing but the falling snow and howling winds.

The adrenaline rushed through their veins, preparing them for battle and pushing their senses into overdrive, but the battle they waited for never came, and the rush quickly faded and was replaced with confusion.

"b-boss, I don't mean to overstep my position, but what the hell are we doing?"

"…"

"I-I mean, I don't see any demons in our vicinity, why do we have our weapons drawn…sir."

"I just…I don't know, I could swear something passed by us a moment ago. I can almost still feel it… this place, something is wrong here, I don't like it at all. Put your weapons down, we'll call the others back and ask for an extraction. I'm not risking 5 augs here, we'll come back once we have more backup."

Confused by the sudden change of plans, the soldiers holstered their weapons and looked at Adam, awaiting a further explanation as to why they were about to abandon their mission.

Disregarding orders and leaving a mission unfinished was a very rare occurrence, but doing so based on nothing but a bad feeling never happened before.

The three exchanged worried looks and nods, silently asking one another to step up and talk to Adam. Dom and Isaac knew full well that they did not know him well enough to get out of angering him without consequences, but Nia was different.

She fought alongside him for far longer than the others. she had never seen the true glory days of the 7th dragon knight battalion. when their numbers were much higher and their forces were more consolidated, but she still knew him better than most.

The constant nods and nudging coupled with her own concerns over his seemingly irrational order pushed her into giving in and biting the bullet. Yet before she could get his attention, their radios came to life, and the muffled voice of a terrified man entered their ears.

"d-d-does anybody copy? Commander, can you hear me?"

"I hear you, what is—"

The line was cut before Adam could even finish his sentence, leaving him wide-eyed in shock. The others shared his surprise and confusion, a battle between magic and augments was not one that could be kept in the shadows, yet no explosion or fire could be seen or heard.

"change of plans, you three go back to where we landed and call for extraction. I'll go check on the others and meet up with you once extraction arrives."

Whines and screams of disapproval left their mouths in an attempt to dissuade him, but they fell on deaf ears. Adam's mind was already made, and he, like all commanders before him, was too stubborn to change it.

The three watched as Adam's figure disappeared into the snow, leaving behind a trail of deep footprints that were quickly filled back up by the falling snow, hiding the last trace of him ever even being there.