The group were in the helicopter, on their way to the Arctic, to secure an SCP of interest there. They don't know what they were going to be doing, since they just completed their first field mission.
"We have another mission already?" Drista asked.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting it either." Riley answered.
"I mean, yeah, shit happens but why us?" Drista asked again.
"We're already in our sub-zero gear, just so the Foundation could save time and resources." Riley answered.
"So, what SCP are we going to be dealing with this time?" Freddie asked.
"I don't know either." Riley answered. "I've never heard of any SCPs in the Arctic before."
Riley then went over to the pilot, who probably knows what the group will be doing.
"Pat, you mind telling us what we're going to be dealing with?" Riley asked the pilot, Patrick Scott.
"Sure, man." Pat answered. "I don't know much about the report, but they're saying that there are some fishing vessels that sank by the Arctic, and here's the catch, they said that an iceberg's causing it, and eyewitnesses say that the iceberg rammed into the fishing vessels."
"Alright." Riley responded. "Thanks, Pat."
"No prob." the pilot replied.
Riley then went back to the group, assuming that they heard what the pilot had said.
"Everyone got that?" Riley asked the group.
"Wait, we're going to secure an iceberg?" Drista asked.
"An allegedly moving one." Riley corrected.
"And this iceberg's an SCP?" Freddie asked.
"Sure sounds like it, though I've never heard of it before." Riley answered. "Apparently, the iceberg rams into fishing vessels that go in the Arctic."
"Sounds like Titanic all over again." Adrian said.
"Yeah, an iceberg with a grudge it seems like." Dustin added.
"Yeah, I guess so." Riley responded. "Glad you guys are listening this time."
"Yeah, told ya we'd listen." Dustin replied.
"Alright, we're pulling up." the pilot announced. "Get your things ready to go."
"You heard the man." Riley told the group.
The group then armed themselves with their SOPMOD M4A1 rifles, prepared their goggles and masks as the helicopter was landing. The helicopter touched down on the Arctic ground and the group began to leave.
They left and they looked around vigilant, securing their perimeter. The helicopter left the group there and they looked around.
They were near a sea, with glaciers on top of the water. They were on top of frozen ice, at least ten feet above sea level. The surroundings seemed barren, but there was civilisation nearby, at least a mile from where they were. The sky was a somber blue, which was still nighttime.
"Alright, here we are." Riley told the group, then inhaled. "Arctic air... clears the head, doesn't it?"
"I guess..." Freddie answered.
"Hey, are those polar bears?" Drista asked, pointing to three polar bears in the distance: two adults and one cub.
"Yeah, sure looks like it." Dustin replied.
"Cool." Drista responded.
"Man, this place is pretty chill." Adrian said. "Literally."
"Alright, listen up." Riley told the group. "This place is where the reports said this is where the last fishing vessel sank. This iceberg SCP must be around here somewhere."
"So, what're we doing exactly?" Adrian asked.
"Yeah, every iceberg looks the same." Dustin added. "I mean some are bigger than others, but none of them are just gonna move in front of us."
"Are we just going to wait for an iceberg to show up?" Drista asked.
"That'll take a while to happen." Freddie added.
"No, we're not waiting." Riley answered. "We're just going to have to inspect every suspicious iceberg in this area."
"You make it sound so easy." Dustin said.
"Who said it was?" Riley asked.
"Come on, the faster we get this done, the sooner we can get back to the Foundation." Freddie told the group. "So, let's not waste any more time."
"Alright..." Dustin responded.
"Let's move." Riley told the group.
The group went to inspect every iceberg in the area, in search of this SCP.
-----
The group had spent looking at the icebergs; inspecting them, chipping some ice from them, checking if the icebergs were unusual in any way.
"This one isn't the SCP." Riley informed the group, finished checking the iceberg.
"You said that twenty-two icebergs ago." Dustin groaned. "Are you sure that report isn't tampered with or something?"
"This is the SCP Foundation we're working for." Riley told the athlete. "Of course everything here is hard to believe and this one is no different."
"We spent two hours here." Drista pointed out. "That report might as well be fake."
"Yeah, I'm starting to think so too..." Freddie added.
"We have to keep trying." Riley told the group. "We can't leave here until we have secured this SCP."
"Wait, where's Adrian?" Dustin asked.
The group looked around for the joker of the group. He was nowhere near them. They then noticed him fishing near the sea, and they went over to him.
"Oh hey guys." Adrian greeted them. "Guess I reeled you guys in."
"What do you think you're doing?" Riley asked the joker.
"What? I'm just fishing over here." Adrian answered.
"And what makes you think that you can fish during a mission?" Riley asked.
"Well, the report said that the iceberg sank a fishing vessel, right?" Adrian started to explain.
"Yeah..." Riley responded.
"Well, maybe if I fished here too, then maybe it'll get the iceberg to come to us." Adrian explained. "That way, we're not going to spend an entire year in this frozen wasteland."
"That..." Riley started to speak. "...doesn't sound that stupid."
"Hey, I'll help you with that." Dustin told Adrian.
"Yeah, I want some seafood!" Drista added.
With that, Dustin and Drista went to Adrian to help him fish, completely forgetting about why they were stationed there in the first place.
"Hey!" Riley told the three, irritated. "This is getting ridiculous! I order you to stop!"
"Hey, shhh!" Adrian shushed Riley. "You're scaring the fish."
Riley, now a tad mad, could only sigh and watch the three fishing in the waters, knowing full well that he couldn't do anything about it.
"I mean, look at the bright side, Riley." Freddie said to Riley, trying to calm him down. "At least they listened this time."
"I guess..." Riley replied.
Since the two couldn't do anything about it, they decided to just watch the three with their fishing.
"Hey, where did you get this fishing rod anyway?" Drista asked.
"I found it floating near here, just over there." Adrian answered, pointing to a certain spot near the shore.
"Must've been from the fishing vessel they were talking about." Dustin said. "You're one lucky bastard, Adrian."
"Well, my parents did call me 'Auspicious Adrian'..." Adrian replied. "Maybe my luck is brushing on me again."
"Why did they call you that?" Dustin asked.
"When I was like three, I was just walking down the street and then a car sped past me, just missing me by an inch." Adrian answered.
"Jesus Christ..." Drista responded. "You didn't get hurt from that?"
"Nope, not even a scratch." Adrian answered. "But that kind of luck only happens to me just in random times."
The hook in the water suddenly sank and Adrian felt some weight on the fishing rod, signalling that there was a bite.
"I think I caught something!" Adrian alerted.
"What is it?" Drista asked.
"I dunno, but it's huge!" Adrian answered, noticeably struggling with the fish he caught.
With that, Dustin and Drista tried to help Adrian by holding on to him. They were still struggling, even though they were together.
"Come on..." Dustin said. "Just get out of the water already!"
After a few more seconds of struggling, the three managed to get the fish out of water. It was a fairly large Arctic cod. It was of a brownish color, spotted above, and silver coloured on the belly.
"Haha! There we are!" Adrian said, proud of himself. "And that's how you reel-ly catch a fish!"
"Alright, that's enough puns for today." Dustin told him.
"Hey, guys...?" Drista asked, sounding unsure of something.
"Yeah, Drista?" Dustin responded. "Something wrong?"
"Was that iceberg always been there before?"
They looked to see an iceberg in the distance. It seemed to be a huge iceberg, menacingly towering over all of the others in the vicinity. Upon closer inspection, the iceberg seemed to get gradually larger.
"I don't think so." Freddie answered.
"Hey, is it just me, or is that iceberg getting bigger?" Dustin noticed, unsure of the situation.
"Yeah, I'm starting to think so too..." Drista noticed as well.
Riley then noticed the water movement, just to make sure of the route of the iceberg. He noticed the iceberg was heading towards them, as if to ram where they are.
"Guys, it's heading straight to us!" Riley alerted the group. "Brace for impact!"
The iceberg then crashed into the ice that the group was stepping on, causing the ice to shake much reminiscent of an earthquake.
The group began to feel the shake with the ice, causing them to fall down on the ice. Adrian was near the sea and the shaking caused him to fall over, which then he accidentally let go of the fish he caught.
"No!" Adrian shouted, watching his fish fall back to the freezing waters of the Arctic.
The shaking had stopped and the group was recovering. Freddie then noticed Drista on the frozen ground.
"Here, Drista." Freddie put out his hand to the tomboy. "Let me help you up."
"T-Thanks..." Drista took his hand and stood up.
"Everyone alright?" Riley asked the group, checking they're okay.
"Yeah, I'm good." Dustin answered.
"We're fine too." Freddie answered, regarding him and Drista.
"Alright, good." Riley said, but noticed something. "What about Adrian? Where's he gone?"
They looked around for the joker of the group, which didn't take long as Dustin already noticed where he was.
"There he is." Dustin told the others.
They noticed Adrian laying down on the edge of the ice, head and arms looking down on the freezing seas below.
"Hey, Adrian." Dustin went to him. "Come on, get up."
"I lost the fish we caught." Adrian said, downcast. "Guess my luck ran out faster this time."
"Look, that's sad and all, but we have bigger things to deal with." Dustin replied, then looked at the iceberg that rammed into the ice. "Literally."
"Come on, get up."
Dustin grabbed Adrian by the torso, wrapping his arms around him, and forced him to stand up.
"Alright, I'm good." Adrian replied, then looking back at the iceberg. "Huh, guess my plan worked after all."
"Yeah, indeed it did." Freddie responded.
"Really got the job done." Dustin added.
"I'm surprised it actually worked." Riley said.
"So, I'm guessing that this is the SCP we're looking for?" Drista asked.
"Yeah, it looks like." Riley answered.
"What's next?" Freddie asked.
"One of us is going to have to board it." Riley answered. "It's gonna have to be you, Fred."
"Me?" Freddie asked.
"Yeah, because I can't trust the others with this." Riley answered. "You have to activate your tracker on you, so we can track where this iceberg goes."
"Got it."
Freddie got his tracker from his pocket, activated it, and shoved it back into his pocket.
"Good luck, Fred." Riley told him. "This is for the good of the Foundation."
"Stay cool, Fredman." Adrian added.
"Godspeed." Dustin said.
"Thanks you guys." Freddie replied.
"Wait!"
Freddie looked back to see that Drista was the one who told him to wait.
"Yeah, Drista?" Freddie asked the tomboy.
"Just... be careful out there, okay?" Drista answered.
"I'll be fine, Drista." Freddie nodded. "Thanks."
With that, Freddie boarded the iceberg, which then slowly began to move out of the frozen ground. Drista was very worried for Freddie's safety, and the others knew that.
"You have a crush on him?" Riley asked the tomboy for confirmation, much to her surprise.
Drista turned back to Adrian and Dustin, next to Riley. She was a bit mad since she thought that Adrian and Dustin told the corporal about it.
"You guys told him?" Drista asked them, mad at the two.
"We only confirmed it for him." Dustin responded. "We didn't say anything about it."
"It's alright." Riley added. "I won't tell him about it."
"You better make sure of that..." Drista sulked.
"Anyways, I'm tracking Freddie's position now." Riley told the group. "Then Foundation will try to follow his coordinates."
"Who's going after it?" Dustin asked.
Then they saw a helicopter in the sky and land near them.
"Hop in." the pilot, Pat, said to the group via radio. "I got your coordinates and this baby's all gassed up and ready to go."
"Knew I could count on you, Pat." Riley replied through the radio, then turned to the group. "Come on, we're chasing after him."
"Got it." the group responded.
With that, the group boarded the helicopter and after a while it lifted off, chasing after the SCP.
-----
Freddie was on top of the said iceberg, which was currently drifting away from the mainland. He was looking around, noticing the iceberg was bigger than he thought. Freddie readied his M4A1 rifle, just in case, and started to walk around the iceberg.
"Alright, Frederick..." Freddie told himself. "Just relax and look around. This mission will be over before you know it."
Freddie walked around, for anything suspicious about the iceberg. So far, nothing was out of the ordinary.
"There seems to be nothing weird about this iceberg..." Freddie said to himself. "And I'm wondering if this was the right one..."
All of a sudden, he heard ice cracking from beneath his feet. He started to walk out of the area where he was stepping, but as he started to walk, he fell through the ice.
He landed on more solid ice, now presumably the iceberg below sea level. He slowly stood up and grabbed his rifle. He looked up and he saw that there was a considerable distance between him and the surface of the iceberg.
"That's a long way..." Freddie said to himself, then looked around.
The surroundings were very spacious, there's enough space to move and walk around.
Then he noticed something peculiar. It was an Inupiat tribeswoman, dressed in wooly clothing, presumably middle-aged, frozen solid in the ice.
"W-What is this?" Freddie asked himself.
"I am nothing but a protector of the wildlife here, child."
Freddie was surprised to hear an answer coming from somewhere. He heard a woman speaking English, with an indigenous accent. It seemed to be coming from the indigenous woman, frozen in the ice.
"Who are you?" Freddie asked.
"I am the mother in the ice. How dare you intrude my home."
"I-I'm sorry for intruding, ma'am." Freddie spoke. "But me and my team were sent here to investigate some matters, since it's our job to protect the public."
"It appears that you do not understand, child."
"Understand what?" Freddie asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
"You have been trespassing here in natural waters, not to admire the beauty of nature of the north, but to capture the wildlife for your own personal gains. It disgusts me. I am only here to protect the wildlife present in this frozen sanctuary. Such insolence, coming from you and your people."
Freddie stayed silent, not knowing what to say.
"Your people have been abusing the natural resources of this northern sanctuary, and you are no different from them. What brought you here, child?"
"Reports have been saying that... an iceberg allegedly sank a few fishing vessels." Freddie answered. "And... the organisation I work for isn't quite too happy about that, so they sent me to capture you."
"Capture me?"
"I know it sounds a bit rash but if you agree to cooperate with us, we'll provide you with accommodations to suit your needs." Freddie tried to reason with her.
"I am tasked to rid of many intruders in the northern waters, now you're saying that I am to be captured by the likes of you, just for doing my duty? After you rid of me, you'll destroy the serene northern sanctuary, by fishing every single species of wildlife in the waters, will you not?"
Freddie noticed that the woman's tone of voice had changed, from irritated to resentful to angry.
"T-That's not what I meant, ma'am!" Freddie replied.
"Do not dare lie to me, insolent child! I saw your friend trying to fish in these waters! He caught one fish, but I did what I could to save it!"
"T-That was his idea to draw you out, ma'am." Freddie replied.
"You and your people are all the same, aren't you? Trying to reason with those who chose to protect the wildlife, and if they refuse, you force them out."
"Listen ma'am, with all due respect, but trust me, you don't want to mess with my organisation." Freddie continued to reason with her.
"And why should I trust an insolent child, sent by the people to capture me? Your people have polluted our waters, continue to destroy our ecosystem, and abused the wildlife! Now, they're sending you to capture me, just so the public can continue to abuse the local wildlife."
"I'm sorry for all the abuse that we have done towards the wildlife." Freddie said. "I know apologies don't mean much in a bigger picture, but I'm sorry nonetheless. But that doesn't mean you have the right to sink ships and hurting innocent lives. Doing that, you're putting them and the wildlife at risk."
"I can assure you that the wildlife are agreeing with my course of action. It makes them feel protected in my hands."
-----
Meanwhile, the helicopter caught up with iceberg. The helicopter maintained a small distance from them to the ground level of the iceberg.
One of the group was to plant a tracking device in the iceberg, so that the Foundation could track its location. Riley had decided that Drista would be the one to do it, since he doesn't trust Adrian nor Dustin with expensive equipment.
"Chisel a small hole with your knife." Riley instructed her. "Then plant the tracking device and cover it back up. If you see anything, tell us."
"Got it." the tomboy answered.
She got the tracking device from Riley and jumped off the helicopter, landing on the iceberg. She then started looking for a spot to place the tracking device.
"Hey, why weren't we picked for the mission?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, we're good enough for it." Adrian added.
"You'll just lose it." Riley answered, referring to Adrian, then turned to Dustin. "And you'll just break it."
"That's... yeah, okay you make a good point." Dustin responded.
"I'll tell Fred to bail out." Riley said as he activated the radio.
-----
"Just please cooperate with us." Freddie continued to reason. "I don't want them to destroy you, and if they decide to, I wouldn't be able to stop them."
Then Freddie heard the woman chuckle.
"They could only try."
Freddie was a bit unnerved by that answer. The atmosphere became silent for a short while, which was then broken by Freddie's radio crackling to life.
"Fred, you there?" Riley asked. "Fred, do you copy?"
"Yeah, Riley." Freddie answered. "I hear you loud and clear."
"Where are you right now?" Riley asked. "I can't see you in the surface."
"Riley, I somehow fell through the iceberg." Freddie answered.
"You better find a way back up here." Riley told him. "We got what we came for. Just get out here and we'll pick you up."
"Wilco. Schmidt out." Freddie answered, ending the call.
Freddie then turned back to the woman in the ice.
"I will be leaving now, ma'am." Freddie said. "I'll make sure to remember everything that we have discussed here."
"You are not going anywhere. I will not let you leave!"
-----
Meanwhile, outside the iceberg, Drista was planting a tracking device in the iceberg. She used her knife to chisel a small hole in the iceberg and put the tracking device inside. After she put it, she gathered all of the chipped ice and covered the hole.
She then went back to the helicopter.
"Alright, tracking device is set." Drista informed the corporal through the radio.
"Copy that." Riley replied. "We're just going to wait for Fred. Do you see him anywhere, Drista?"
Drista looked around her surroundings for any sign of Freddie.
"Nope, I don't see him." Drista answered.
"I hope he's okay..." Drista thought to herself. "Where could you be, Freddie?"
-----
"Look ma'am, how about this, if you let me go, then I'll get you something that you want." Freddie bargained with the woman. "Whatever that may be, I'll get it for you."
"An offering?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am." Freddie answered. "Well, more of a bargain."
"I see your friends. They appear to be trapping me."
"Really?" Freddie asked.
"You will pay for this. All of you!"
Freddie then heard ice cracking, which made him look around. He thought to look down, which was the origin of the ice cracking. The ice eventually broke beneath his feet, causing him to fall through the ice.
He plunged into the polar waters, and Freddie immediately started to swim up to the surface and latch on to the side of the iceberg.
-----
Drista was on the surface of the iceberg, waiting for Freddie to show up. She was getting worried as to where he might be.
"Where are you, Freddie?" Drista thought.
She then noticed the waters making some sort of ripple, signalling that something was about to emerge from the water. She immediately pointed her gun at the area, thinking that it might be an enemy, but she immediately put her rifle down as she saw who it was.
"Freddie!"
The tomboy immediately went over to Freddie, who was latching on to the iceberg and intensely shivering. She helped him up and helped him stand.
"Are you okay?" Drista immediately asked. "What happened in there?"
"W-W-We n-need t-to g-g-go..." Freddie tried to speak, shivering.
"Alright, just sit tight." Drista reassured the peacekeeper.
Drista got her radio to tell them about Freddie's current state.
"Guys! Get down here!" Drista told the group through the radio. "Freddie's shivering really bad!"
"Copy that." Riley replied. "Lowering altitude."
The helicopter lowered itself, to match itself to the surface of the iceberg.
"Come on, we need to get him warm, before the frostbite hits him." Riley told the group as Drista and Freddie were getting inside the helicopter.
-----
Freddie had gotten a bit warmer as the group were heading back to the Foundation. He was still drenched in the polar water but the group was doing all they could to help him to keep warm.
"Why're you hugging him, Drista?" Dustin asked the tomboy.
"To help him keep warm, duh!" Drista answered.
"You sure it isn't more than that?" Adrian teased.
"Guys, shut it!" Drista told the two. "I'm helping him keep warm just so the frostbite doesn't take a toll on him."
"Alright, whatever you say, Drista..." Adrian said.
"You know, you kinda are warming me up just a bit, Drista." Freddie said to the tomboy. "I'm surprised that your idea worked."
"R-Really?" Drista asked.
"Yeah, but you can let go if you want." Freddie said to her. "I'm kind of warm by now."
"Just a little longer..." Drista begged as she continued hugging him.
"Alright, I guess it's fine." Freddie replied, still oblivious to Drista's advances.
"So, what happened in there?" Riley asked the peacekeeper.
"The iceberg only wanted to protect the wildlife from intruders." Freddie answered. "That's why it had been sinking fishing vessels around here."
"I see..." Riley understood. "Well, I'll have to tell the Foundation about this so that we can contain it."
The group had kept talking, as the helicopter was taking them back to the SCP Foundation.
To Be Continued