Spartans vs. Ice

{|style="width:100%; color:#FFF;" "We're—"
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CRUNCH.

"Almost—"

SWISH.

"Through!"

SPLAT.

"Hey," Jun groused, reeling from the massive wad of snow that had just graced the entire front of his suit. "Watch it, man."

Jorge looked at the sniper, shook his head, then turned to look at what he'd uncovered. The trio had made excellent progress in a few short minutes, hacking and shoveling a crater in the snow. Now he was looking at a flat vertical surface that had a prominent metal handle sticking out as well as several security devices. It was a door.

"All right, let's get this thing opened up and—GAH!" Jun clamped his hand around the door handle and it sparked with electricity, shocking him even with the armor on. The sniper stepped back, muttering swear words, then something crackled and the orange lights on the security meters turned bright green.

"You'll have to excuse the automated emergency system. It has a few… quirks," Halsey's voice said dryly. "I've shut down the perimeter electric system for now. I've been watching you work for several minutes now using various security cameras. So you've decided to make use of those old SNOWSTORM pieces of rubbish, I see."

"They're quite useful for our current objective, ma'am, which is to get you out of there and back to our base," Jorge said respectfully.

"Ah. Yes." Halsey was quiet for a few moments, then sighed. "I suppose I have no other options for now. And the door is unlocked…" There was a beep, and suddenly the door latch turned on its own, and the door swung open. "Now."

Six voluntarily took point, with Jorge and Jun following. She entered the facility and noted how the avalanche had knocked out the power, leaving only the backup emergency system intact. A middle-aged, slender woman was kneeling by a wall console she'd dissected, having crossed a few wires and personally configured a communications unit. The woman noticed Six and stood, brushing back a lock of silvery hair from her face. "Good day, Spartans," Halsey said calmly, pushing her glasses farther up on her nose. "I trust you had a relatively uncomplicated journey?"

Jorge stepped in front of Six and took off his helmet, cradling it in the crook of his elbow. "That we did, ma'am."

Halsey's brow furrowed, then she folded her arms. "I should have known you'd come for me, Jorge. Now, let me guess who these others are." She sized up Jun and Six, her eyes narrowing behind the glasses. "Not as tall as Carter, not as confidant in carriage as Emile, definitely not Kat; you must be Jun-266. And you… female, no robot arm, not as fluid in your motions as Rosenda. Who are you?"

Six pulled off her helmet and her hair fell about her face, framing it. "Spartan-312, the new Noble Six, ma'am," she replied.

"Hm. I see." Halsey made no further comment and zipped up her thick winter coat all the way to her chin. "Well, now that we all know each other, let's get moving. I need to use your base's comm unit to contact my superiors and inform them about a project I'm working on. Also, I'll need a transport to get me back to Sword Base; I'm pressed for time and practically waist-deep in—"

"You won't be staying for dinner, ma'am?" Jorge queried.

"Dinner?" Halsey froze for a second, then huffed impatiently. "Really, I have much more important things to do than eat this evening."

"Oh."

Six thought Jorge sounded minutely disappointed, but didn't comment on it as they made their way out of the base and back into the wild open countryside.


 * Back at Noble Base…

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF PRESTON J. COLE IS THIS?"

Carter put his hands on his hips in an angry-Commander sort of way and frowned down at Emile and Rosenda, who had just been interrupted while kissing passionately on the floor in an otherwise empty and lifeless storage room.

"Um…" Emile glanced down at Rosenda, who shrugged, then he grinned an idiotic grin at Carter, one that would have looked evil had it been directed at an enemy. "Making out, sir?"

"Who injected you with hormone overload today?" Carter grumbled, watching as the two Spartans got up and dusted themselves off, fixing their uniforms. "Granted, I don't mind affection, but this is taking it a bit too far and I—"

"Commander."

He turned to see Kat staring at him with one eyebrow raised, and Emile snorted.

"Honestly, sir, hypocrisy does not become you," Kat sighed. She touched his arm. "It's Christmas. We all deserve a break of some sort. If you and I can express how we feel about each other, they can too."

Carter's face colored somewhat as he realized what he'd just been doing. "Sorry… to all of you. I guess I'm too stuffy for my own good sometimes."

"Aw, you just need Kat here to un-stuff you, that's all," Emile snickered. He draped one arm over Rosenda's shoulders and tugged her closer. "I really don't know what the heck I'm doing either, but hey, I'm not saying I don't like it. How 'bout you, Rosie?"

"No comment," she snarked, but her eyes twinkled. "You're about as experienced as a nauseated hippopotamus, but you'll learn."

"Thaaanks," Emile drawled, his usual sarcasm coming through. "How kind and supportive of you."

"I wonder when Jorge and the rest will be back with Doc Halsey? And for that matter, why is Lieutenant Commander Keyes so up tight about Halsey coming here? Is there bad blood between them or something?" Rosenda wondered. "I mean, it's really none of my business, but it seems like it's creating a problem between her and her father."

"I wouldn't know," Carter admitted. "Kat?"

"I have a few theories, but I'll keep them to myself," Kat muttered.


 * In the great wide open, where it's ten below freezing…

Six wiped the snow off her helmet's visor as she and the others made their way across snowy terrain, trekking back to Noble Base. Only five miles left to go. She stepped over a suspicious bulge that could have been a rock and winced as something in her leg armor popped. When she inspected the incident, she discovered that a bonding seal had snapped open, leaving the thick cloth underlayer exposed. It wasn't anything major; it just meant that gradually the temperature inside the suit would start to go down. But they would be back at the base in no time, so it wasn't a big deal.

"What is it, Noble Six?" Halsey asked, noticing how the Spartan paused and looked at her leg.

"Armor's malfunctioning, but it's nothing major. I can see why these never made it past the prototype stage," Six admitted.

"They are very impractical," Halsey sighed. She turned to Jorge, who had stopped when he saw Halsey with Six. "Why on earth are you out in the elements wearing these body buckets, anyway? Certainly your MJOLNIR would be far more functional."

"Er, our armor is being refitted with new upgrades. Kat's orders," Jorge said. "Won't be available for use for another three days."

"I see." Halsey wasn't wearing body armor, but her thick coat, pants and boots provided excellent insulation, and she had stated that she was wearing a self-heating jumpsuit underneath. The woman certainly had her share of grit; she walked boldly into the wind-driven snow like a maverick. Her face was obscured by a scarf and some safety goggles.

"Hey, guys, has anyone else noticed that it's getting slippery?" Jun asked, stiffening his legs to keep from sliding around. "I think we might be walking on ice."

"If my knowledge of this part of the continent is correct, and it always is, we're walking over Lake Tisza. The ice is certainly thick enough by now to handle our combined weight. There could be up to a foot of solid ice between us and the water below," Halsey stated.

Six's foot slipped a fraction of an inch and she sighed. She usually liked variables, not knowing what was going to happen next, but not knowing when one was about to slip and fall on one's backside in a humiliating manner was just plain annoying.

Jun took point, stepping in front of Six, and tensed when a sudden cracking sounded as he planted one foot in front of the other. He stepped back and the cracking noise continued. "Um… uh…" The sniper sounded worried as he tried to get away from the ominous cracking. "I'm an excellent swimmer, but I really don't think I want to—"

Something like precognition spurred Six to grab her teammate's hand, right as the cracking suddenly became louder and large hole opened up beneath them. Fortunately for Jun, he was on the edge of the hole, and grabbed onto the ice with one hand, armored fingers digging into the frozen crust. Six fell into the black, icy water, and shuddered as water seeped into the flaw in her armor. The force of her fall tore her hand from Jun's and she sunk like a rock, though she moved her arms and legs like any professional swimmer would. The water was entering her armor and weighing her down. The abrupt force of the fall also pulled at her helmet and it came off, and in the confusion she couldn't make a grab for it.

Then something grabbed her hand in a vise-like grip, almost painful, and hoisted her up. Six gasped as her head broke the surface, and then she coughed as she was hauled completely out of the water and set down on the ice a few feet away. The wind hit her like a shock wave because her face was wet and almost immediately it went numb. She blinked furiously and Jorge and Jun came into focus. Dr. Halsey pushed between the two male Spartans and knelt in front of Six. "Oh my… there must have been an air pocket beneath us. And now you're soaked to the skin," Halsey murmured, removing her scarf. "Here, take this, it should protect your face from the cold. This is no time to be wet out in this weather, with bare skin exposed!"

Jorge stuck his hand out, blocking Halsey's movement to hand Six the scarf, and instead took off his own helmet. "Keep it, ma'am. Can't have you freezing your nose off, either," he said. "This'll do a much better job anyway." He gave the helmet to Six, who took it with shaky hands.

"You're sure about this?" Halsey asked, almost surprised, then she sighed. "Very well then, you know your limits better than anyone. Let's keep moving so we can get to the base faster. She has no business being out in this longer than necessary right now."

Six put on the helmet, and her breath fogged on the inside of the faceplate. She stood up, but her legs trembled. She hated it. But her body did not react well to the intense cold that had invaded its personal space, especially now that her armor and bodysuit beneath were thoroughly soaked.

They walked for another mile or so, then Six just couldn't go any farther. Her suit of armor was freezing to her skin, it felt like, and she hated the numbness. It was like her hands, feet and legs were clunky and clumsy all of a sudden, because she couldn't communicate with them properly. She bent over, hands on her knees, and scowled under the helmet that had been Jorge's. She hated not being the invulnerable Spartan she believed she was.

"Allow me." She looked up to see a hand extended toward her, Jorge's hand. She took it, forcing her fingers to work. Jorge scooped her up, easily handling her weight, and kept on walking like it was no big deal. "You've done your bit, Six. Now let me do my job, all right?"

"S-s-since when is c-c-carting me around y-your job?" Six managed.

"Call it more of a volunteer effort," Jorge replied. The Spartan-II seemed unaffected by the bitter cold, only blinking rapidly whenever the wind hit him in the face. "I don't mind in the least bit."

Six closed her eyes. For some reason, it was easier to relax now than it had been in a long, long time. Whether it was because half her body was numb, or because Jorge was the one carrying her, she didn't know, but she had a nagging feeling that it was the latter.