Chronocide 0: Snowblind

Hazel felt the vibration of the craft beneath her, and she  couldn’t differentiate it from the buzzing of her nerves through her  body.

She found herself sitting opposite that young man from the  briefing. The man with chestnut colored hair and the baby-blue eyes. He  was quiet as the plane flew, bouncing on airstreams as it flew low over  the Uldovian border, working with a file to work a groove in the back of  his pistol’s handle. Occasionally, he blew the particles away, and  began work again.

He was Viper, his real name wasn’t given in the  briefing, and he was the man she’d be dropping behind enemy lines with  to rescue a defecting scientist from just outside an Uldovian research  base. 

They hadn’t spoken yet. Hazel had, perhaps, been  subconsciously hoping that he’d be the first to speak, and now enough  time had gone by that it was starting to feel awkward.

She told herself she shouldn’t guess what was on the man’s mind, or what he thought of her.

“Hey,” she nodded to him. That… was a start she guessed.

He  finally looked up at her, brushing the hair from his bangs back and out  of his eyes. “Hey.” He had a slight rasp to his voice that spoke to an  affinity for cigarettes, but otherwise deep and pleasant to the ear.

He  gave her a thin smile, “It’s a bit of a surprise that I’ve got a  partner in this. Few weeks ago it was being talked about as a solo op.” 

Hazel nodded. “Sorry for the surprise. I guess I’m what you’d call an unknown quantity.”

“A  real mystery woman, too. Least it sounded that way from the briefing I  got.” He chuckled low, under his breath, going back to filing the back  of his gun after testing the grip. 

“Not exactly by  choice, I’ll admit. Though who can say no to a little air of  mystery?”She gave him a slight smile. She did feel bad for intruding on  his mission. Without a single doubt the man was more experienced, and  prepared than she was.

He glanced up at her, “Not me.”

He winked at her as he blew the filings away from his gun’s handle, “I like an air of mystery. This your first big op, too?” 

“Sorry  to say that it is,” she nodded. She bit back her lack of self  confidence,refusing to let it get the better of her, and suggested that  she might be a burden. She left it as a subtext instead. “Hardly your  first rodeo though, I’d imagine.”

“Not really.” he chuckled. “Did a lot of training as a kid with Lionheart…a brief stint in the marine training camp, too…”

He looked down at the gun, “But this is my first real mission. A proving ground.” 

“Huh.” She turned the thought over in her mind. “That makes two of us then, I guess.” 

She offered him her hand.

He reached out with a gloved hand and took hers in a firm shake. “Then let’s both try and prove ourselves, eh? “

“Maybe we’ll both get lucky…and catch Lionheart’s eye. I’ve been trying to earn my way into her ‘unit’ for ages.” 

“Yeah?”  she cocked her head as she took her hand back. She leaned forward a  little toward him. “Wouldn’t mind that myself. I’ve heard Lionheart’s  really famous.”

“The Hero of the great war,” Viper said with  pride in his voice. “They say she single handedly changed the way  battles were fought…her and her crack team of international freedom  fighters.”

He held his gun, holding it up “When she came back to  Pax…she took me under her wing. Taught me to fight, techniques,  everything I’d need to be a soldier. She’s more than famous, she’s  practically a legend..and a friend.” 

And that person, was probably Hazel’s (second) mother. Somehow.

“I can tell you look up to her just by the tone of your voice,” she said. “I’d love to meet her sometime.”

“Same.”  he nodded slowly “She’s supposed to be on the comm team for this  mission, so you can at least get to know her a bit during the mission.” 

“Really?” she sat up a little, surprised. “She wasn’t at the briefing– unless I missed her somehow?”

Viper  shook his head “She wouldn’t be. She’s on a mission right now herself.  Off in the polar sea, from what I understand. But she’ll be radioing in  to give tactical advice. Least that’s what Knight told me.” 

‘I’m sure whatever advice she’ll be able to give will be very helpful,” she nodded.

He held up his gun, “I’m working on a piece of it right now. You ever hear about the tactical knife grip?” 

“It  rings a bell,” she said, truthfully. Had her mother mentioned something  like that some time. “Why don’t you tell me about it.”

“In order  to maximize effectiveness in the field, at both close and medium range,  you can file down the back of your grip. Doing that gives you a groove  to fit your knife into, allowing you to hold the knife and gun steady at  the same time,”

He mimed the action with the unloaded gun and  his knife, “allowing you to switch between close and medium range at any  time. When you’re in the field without someone to watch your back,  being able to keep on your toes is the most important thing.” 

“Huh,”  she grinned. “Yeah, I have heard about that technique before. I was  thinking of doing the same thing to mine, but I wasn’t sure if there’d  be time. I’m just getting familiar with my gear.”

He flipped the  file in his hand, and offered it to her with a nod of his head. “You  should have a bit of time before we’re dropped out the back of the  plane. Here.”

She accepted it gratefully, and took out her side arm. “Thanks. You ever jumped out of a plane before?”

“Once,  in basic. It’s not as hard as it seems…though this jump is going to be  risky. Low opening, have to make sure you lose enough speed to not die  on impact.” 

She nodded. “Yeah, definitely good advice. I’ve only done it the once myself, and definitely not into this kind of condition.”

In  fact, her mom had bought her a skydiving experience for her 16th  birthday. Simon had been a lot less enthusiastic than Hazel was about  it.

“It’s gonna be one hell of a day of firsts for the both of us  then.” he chuckled dryly “We’ll have instruction from the top, we’ll be  alright.”

He aimed down his gun’s sights, and satisfied, put it back in it’s holster. “Where’d you train, if you don’t mind me asking.” 

“You’re not going to love the answer,” she admitted bashfully as she started to file down the gun’s grip.

He raised his eyebrow at her, leaning back in his chair, “you think so?” 

She nodded. “I have formal dance and judo training, and orienteering experience, but I’m primarily self-taught.”

“Self  taught?” He blinked at her in surprise “...huh. You must be pretty good  if they sent you on this mission without prior experience, Heron.” 

“I  won’t play humble, I think I’m pretty good,” she said, nodding, “But I  would have preferred a chance to prove that to everyone in a less all or  nothing situation. That said, I’m prepared to give it my all, and I  don’t intend to slow you down.”

Viper nodded firmly “Then I’ll be  counting on you to have my back. It isn’t supposed to be a long  mission…but it’s one we can’t botch..” 

“You have my full support,” she nodded, “and I’m prepared to follow your lead. I’ll do whatever’s necessary in any situation.”

Her jaw set with determination.

Viper sat up, and firmly saluted Heron “And you’ve got mine, Agent Heron.”

She saluted in return. “Agent Viper. Heh. What do you think of those code names, huh?”

“A  sea bird and a poisonous snake.” He mused with a slight smirk, “makes  us sound ominous, if nothing else. It’s a bit of a tradition for  soldiers to have an animal in their callsign…you earn descriptors as you  go. Lionheart, Wolfclaw, things like that.” 

“I did  notice there was a theme,” she chuckled. “I’d say a snake and a bird  make a pretty good team if you want a complete lay of the land, huh? Too  bad I can’t actually fly.”

“And I’m not exactly loaded up with venom.” Viper chuckled, “It’s a shame, but we’ll make due.” 

“Admittedly, I have the venom covered, after a fashion,” she smirked. She showed him the Peace Whisperer.

“Nice.”  he whistled “the Peace Whisperer’s a pretty high end non-lethal. With  that you can drop pretty much anyone in one hit in the right place.”

She  nodded. “I’m a pretty crack shot. And I got the impression this mission  was something we’d like to keep as clean as possible.”

He nodded “You remember the briefing, right? Uldovia’s up in arms because of a recent riot, food shortages.”

He  frowned thoughtfully “members of the Uldovian government claim that Pax  was involved in the destruction of supply lines, meaning tensions are  high. There’s absolutely no way we can allow anyone to figure out that  Pax spies are infiltrating Uldovian soil to steal one of their top  researchers. Hush hush.”

Heron nodded. She remembered alright. “Exactly. And they won’t be figuring anything out if I have my way.”

“The  hope’s of course that we can make our way through the surrounding  mountains without encountering, or alerting any local guards. But if we  do…dropping them with rounds that can’t be traced back home is our best  option.” 

She nodded. “Stealth is always the best first option.”

“We  agree on that.” Viper nodded once, leaning on his hand. “...let’s just  make sure we can get in and out. Grab the scientist, and make tracks for  the border.” 

“If it’s as easy as that sounds, I’ll be ecstatic,” she chuckled. “But let’s aim for it.”

“Hey,  hope for the best and expect the worst. That’s what they tell me.”  Viper leaned his head back on the plane’s wall with a soft sigh of  breath. “In a few more hours, we’ll put those hopes to the test.” 

Time  passed. By the time they called for the jump, Hazel had finished  sanding down the groove in both of her sidearms. She checked her  handiwork, with an approving nod.

Viper had holstered his gun,  nodding at her as he stuck his knife in it’s sheath, and stood. A member  of the command team came back as they approached their destination, and  handed them each a helmet with a breathing mask to help them survive  the atmospheric conditions on their way down.

So Viper pulled his  over his head, and fastened the clips as he made his way towards the  large bay door at the back of the plane. “Ready for one hell of a  thrill, Heron?” 

Hazel– Heron, she should consider  herself for now– carefully put away her own weapons, and nodded. “Ready  as I’ll ever be,” she said. It was the truth. 

Honestly, at least the first part would be kind of fun.

She took her own mask as it was offered to her, and flashed a smile at her new partner before she slipped it on.

He gave her a smile in return, just before he closed the mask over his mouth, and did a few preemptive stretches.

The  plane made a sharp grinding sound…the door began to lower as frigid air  blasted in from outside. Far below…Hazel could see through the crack  forming in the back of the plane that they were flying high, high above a  snowy mountain range. Frost covered evergreens and rocky outcroppings  hid squad buildings nestled in secret little nooks and crannies. Below  them it was snowing, ice-slicked and frigid…but she didn’t feel a thing  past the advanced infiltration suit. 

She took a breath, double-triple checking all the clasps and bindings of her chute, and nodded in satisfaction.

Looks cold down there, she thought to herself. Suit must be pretty nice to keep it off me.

She gave Viper a thumbs up, and waited for the mark.

He flashed a thumbs up back her way, before taking a few steps back…and leaping out into the dusk.

Hazel heard Simon’s voice in her ear, “You got this, Heron. Be safe. I believe in you.”

Heron smiled. “Glad you got my back, Simon”

As soon as Viper was clear– she leapt out into the sky after him.

She  dropped from the plane, the suit pulling tight against her from the  sheer force of the air pressing back against her as she fell. Clouds,  thick with condensation, flew past her visor, leaving speckles of it on  her visor as she hurtled down.

The drop point was a quiet  clearing in the winter forest, a small and open space surrounded by  trees on a cliffside outside of the scientist’s hiding spot. But from  this altitude…it was near impossible to see. 

Heron felt  the gravity tight in her stomach and her lungs as the wind pushed up  against her, like the fall from a roller coaster drop writ large. It was  a thrill– but she concentrated on looking for the drop zone– and  waiting for the right moment to pop her chute, which was soon.

As  she broke through the cloud layer, she saw it…a space in the trees just  a little to her right. She’d have to veer, and it was approaching fast.  

A little ahead of her, she saw Viper pull his chute at a low  altitude, rapidly decreasing in speed and steering for the safety of the  landing zone. 

She popped hers just a breath after she  saw his open, yanking the pull cord and feeling the chute yank her body  as it slowed her suddenly.

She felt herself jerk back sharply,  but the straps ensured she didn’t snap under the sudden reverse in  momentum. Her descent began to slow, but the ground still fast  approached. She saw Viper hit the ground and dropping into a roll as he  unclipped his parachute. 

She carefully steer herself toward the drop zone as well– hopefully not close enough to Viper to land right on top of him.

The  ground came sooner than expected…but by now she’d slowed enough that  she could roll her body to absorb the impact. As the ground came to meet  her, she found herself a bit closer to the edge of the clearing than  Viper had landed. 

She hissed a breath and rolled to the side, away from the cliff as best as she could, as she disengaged the chute.

The  chute pulled, nearly yanking her off the side of the cliff. But as the  straps came loose, it ripped away from her, and flew , fluttering, into  the darkness below. Hazel rolled sharply on the ground once,  twice…before coming to a full stop on her back while still on solid  ground. 

She found her fingers digging into the ground, her heart beating fast as she came to a stop, and she took a breath.

“Well. That was exciting.”

Viper  walked over, pulling his mask off and tossing his helmet to the side  with a wry smirk on his face. “Yeah, nothing like the feeling of  averting certain death as the ground rushes up at you, eh?” 

She laughed and pulled her mask off as well, shaking her head and taking a breath of fresh air. “Absolutely nothing like it.”

Viper  tossed the mask to the side with the discarded parachute, before  stretching and pulling his gun from his hip holster, along with his  knife. “Alright. A few clicks south is our scientist’s last known  location. He slipped away from Gagarin’s faction a few weeks ago, and  recently reported in with a stolen radio to update the government on his  whereabouts. He’s hiding out in an old storage area, mostly disused.” 

“Right,”  Heron nodded, recalling the briefing. “And we’ve got a fairly precise  lock on that. Assuming we don’t run into too much interference, it  should be in and out.”

“That’s the hope.” Viper agreed, and  checked his gun. “Chances are there’s going to be search parties in the  way. There’s at least one outpost between us and him, and a narrow  supply bridge bridging two peaks of the mountain range.” 

“Search  parties will be easy enough to avoid for the most part in this terrain.  The bridge is a bit ominous though,” she commented. “But I guess we’ll  cross it when we come to it.”

“I’m not a fan either, but anywhere  closer would have set every alarm in the place off.” Viper grimaced. “I  have a thought about the bridge, we’ll run through it when we get  closer though.” 

Heron nodded. “Sounds good. Should we get a move on, or anything else we should go over?”

“Think  the briefing gave us everything we need,” Viper said, gesturing for her  to fall in. “we’ve only got a little daylight left. Let’s see if we can  make this quick.”

Static hissed in Heron’s ear before she heard  Simon’s voice “This is command, Heron , are you there? I see you landed  safely. Good. Operation’s set to begin.” 

Heron fell in  with Viper as they started on their way. “This is Heron. We’ve arrived  safely at the landing zone and are moving out.”

“Perfect. Major Knight wants to speak with you regarding the target. May I patch him in?”

Viper  walked ahead of Heron, his gun drawn and knife resting against it’s  grip as he eased his way into the frosted underbrush. Snow was blowing  in their vision, the distance beyond the trees lost in a whiteout.

Heron’s mouth drew a line when she heard Simon mention Knight. “Alright. Patch him in.”

She remembered the encounter they’d had just after the briefing.

---

No  sooner did Hazel step out of the briefing room, than Major Knight had  cornered her. The man, tall and imposing with graying hair and a stern  expression, looked down at her with a sharp frown and a request to ‘have  a word with you’. 

Hazel nodded. “Of course, sir.”

She  had a bad feeling about it in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t help  but remember what had been said in the future. Knight had disliked her  enough for people to remember it forty years later.

He’d taken  her to the side, a quiet office where he leaned on the wall and looked  her over with a critical eye “Madame Soteria trusts you, Hazel  Kovalenko. More than I think she should.” 

She stood stiffly facing him, and nodded. “Yes, sir. I very much understand that.”

“These  are difficult times, Hazel. You may not know this,but the world is a  hotbed right now. It teeters between chaos and order, peace and war, at a  moment's notice. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, absolutely,  sir.” From everything she understood, this period seemed analogous to  the cold war period on earth, so he wasn’t exaggerating, anyway.

She wondered if he was going to threaten to have her executed.

Knight  crossed his arms, staring her down “I want to know if I can trust you  to do this job discreetly. I want to know if I have your support in  keeping all out armageddon from descending on the Pax Republic should  things go wrong.” 

“You have my full support in that  goal, sir,” she said. “I wish I could offer you more assurance, but all I  can do is promise you that I am loyal to the Pax Republic, and will do  my very best on this mission.”

“I should hope so.”  he said, “...loyalty is vitally important. Loyalty to the mission, and  loyalty to the Pax Republic. I’ll be keeping an eye on you, so I hope  that Soteria’s faith in you is justified. No matter the outcome.” 

“I’m willing to put my life on the line, here, sir,” she promised. “I won’t let you down.”

“Good.”  Knight said firmly “...I don’t think you need to hear what happens to  traitors. If you are to be trusted…then I’ll be happy to welcome you  into our Intelligence Agency with open arms. This is your chance to  prove yourself.” 

Yep. She figured he was going to  threaten to have her executed. Well, no worry there, since she wasn’t  planning to betray anybody.

She’d just have to hope that  she wasn’t somehow inflicted with a bout of stunning incompetence. But  if the future was to be trusted, the mission would turn out fine.

On the other hand, who knew what would happen to her after that?

She saluted him. “Understood, sir. I hope to make you proud.”

He  saluted her in return, a nod of his head as acknowledgement “I hope so  too, ‘Heron’. The fate of the Pax Republic rests in your hands.”

---

Heron waited for Simon to patch Knight through as she followed Viper on the start of the march toward their target.

“Heron.” Knight’s clipped voice came through the comms, “I hear you and Viper touched down without incident.” 

“Yes,  sir,” she affirmed. She kept her own voice neutral with practiced ease.  Anyway it was possible he had something important to say.

“Good.  I have an update on Dr. Yoheim Adler, your target.” Knight continued,  “we received an update from our mole in the Uldovian special forces  regarding his suspected position.” 

“Great. Ready to receive update, sir,” she agreed. So it was actually something important to say. That was nice.

“He’s  taken refuge in the storage area, as of last update he has not been  located, but he has reported Gagarin has sent his top man after him on a  manhunt. Security is tight, but we have an in. Our agent on the inside  is leaving us a loophole. They can be recognized by the callsign ‘Who is  left behind’, with the answer ‘the widower’. 

“The widower. Huh. Alright, understood, Major,” Heron nodded. “Any info on this ‘top man’ they have after Adler?”

“A  young up and comer in Gagarin’s special security forces. Goes by the  codename ‘Panther’. He’s considered one of the most elite Uldovian  agents in the field. Be careful, Heron. If he’s out there, you could  wind up in some serious trouble.”

“Panther. Got it,” she bit her lip. “How will I recognize him if I see him?”

“He and his unit utilize a distinctive black uniform. Pay close attention, and you should be able to pick him out of the crowd.”

“Understood. Thanks for the intel, sir.”

“You’re  welcome. Be aware, of course,” Knight continued “that we’re not  supposed to be on Uldovian soil. Try to avoid them by any means. Knight  out.” 

Heron nodded, and spoke up to Viper. “Did you get all that?”

Viper  flashed her a thumbs up “Got it. Sounds like we’ve got a bit more heat  than I’d like…but at least we’ve got a friend on the inside.” 

“Could make all the difference,” she agreed. “Let's keep an eye out for these men in black.”

“And  our ‘widower’.” Viper chuckled darkly as he pressed through the trees,  trying to keep his footfalls quiet. “the snow’ll be an issue, but if we  drop any resistance we find, or find good ways around them, we should be  okay.” 

Heron nodded. “The worst possibility is someone  finding our tracks.” She was acutely aware of the trail they left in  the snow as they crept through the trees.

“Exactly my worry too.” Victor murmured. “But we don’t have time to meticulously erase them. Wish I brought my snowshoes.”

Together,they made their way onto a loose, overgrown path, its downward slope leading them into a dip in the mountain. 

“We’ll just have to watch our backs,” she said. “At least our boots don’t have distinctive prints.”

“Yeah,  the commissar's pretty good with that sort of thing. “ Victor’s smile  took on a playful edge “we’re actually wearing the same boots that  standard issue Uldovian guards wear. Should throw them off if we’re  lucky.” 

“Oh, that’s clever,” Heron nodded. She smirked slyly back at him. “No insignias on our gear, either, I noticed.”

“Not a one.” he said, “and the serial numbers are filed off both our weapons. No identification. No markers. We’re anonymous.”

He  smirked back as they came to the edge of the treeline, and gestured for  her to take point beside a tree, “for better or for worse.”