Sigma/Star

Chapter 58: Snow

Porter watched as his breath condensed in the air, turning into water vapour, becoming whiter until it was a miniature cloud hanging in front of him and then saw it disperse into the atmosphere. He rubbed his clothed hands together before his mouth, trying to warm them with that crystallizing breath. They were all wearing their pilot jumpsuits, but with a bulkier overcoat that had heated liquids running through it. It made things bearable but not perfect and none of the students were used to being in these sorts of conditions.

They had moved away from the ship and watched it take off, leaving them behind in the desolate cold. Sure, they had their Goliaths but otherwise it was just them up here in the mountains. They weren't fighting an enemy. They were fighting nature itself.

The Goliaths stood silently in the snow, their massive forms casting shadows across the frozen surface of the lake. There were a couple of arctic birds coming to land on them, returning after being scared away by the Goliaths dropping from the sky. They would be shaken off once again unfortunately, but for now they got to rest against the warm metal of the battlesuits.

The group quietly made their way to each of their Goliaths, their normally cheery spirits drained away by the seriousness of a mission. Things just weren't the same anymore it seemed whenever they came to Earth. Too many near-death events recently had forced them all to think a little harder, to take a step back and consider the repercussions of their formerly brash actions. So now they somberly walked to their Goliaths and loaded up into the cockpits, connecting with one another only through the communication network.

"Alright listen up guys," Ardwen broadcast to each of them as their Goliaths started going through their warm-up procedures. "General Ochenkov was last seen in these mountains. Shotuku has stressed many times he is a master of survival and will be hiding in a cave around here somewhere, unless he's dead, in which case we all go home fairly depressed. So let's try to find this guy quickly."

Various images of Ochenkov came up on everyone's screens, floating in front of them and piling up as they overlapped. Porter admired the burly barbarian for his willpower to leave a hospital and wander around in the cold like this and still survive. But when you considered how much power was in that blizzard, in the ability to bend nature to your will, it shouldn't be a surprise that Ochenkov was able to live in these insane conditions.

Porter stared down at his own hands, wondering if that kind of power rested within him, if his spirit had that kind of capacity. He never would have thought so months ago, before any of this started happening, before Shotuku had mentioned the word chi. It seemed like such a foreign concept at the time. Now it was becoming second nature. A pilot who had once been destined for mediocrity turned into the star of the academy. If he could control it. That was why he had been training so hard recently. Now it was time to put that to the test.

The teen gripped his controls, feeling his fingers tensing around the familiar White Storm, his muscles twitching with anticipation. His body's electrical current began to flow into the machine, synchronizing with its pulse until they were one and the same. He took in a deep breath through his nose, closing his eyes before opening them with the release.

"We will spread out in pairs," Ardwen continued. "We need to cover as much ground as possible as fast as we can in case Ochenkov's life is threatened. Make sure to use every scanner you have available to you and don't leave anything untouched. Raul, you're with Nami. Riya you're with Chase. Porter with me. Make sure to maintain contact at all times. Let's go."

Each pairing received a topographical map of the area, with highlighted circles that had their names marked on them. Ardwen had designated search zones to make things quick and efficient. He was getting better at this; better at running a squad with confidence and micromanaging correctly.