Inside the SM100S Antarctic Exploration Snowmobile
"Lieutenant Leontchev called! A Rotom polar bear is approaching from the front!"
""!!""
Following Murata's fall, the words delivered by Sergeant First Class Kiyama sent the members of the survey team into an instant of tension.
"Everyone, prepare for battle! BTR-D, pick up Lieutenant Leontchev!"
"Understood!"
Upon receiving Wajima's order, the BTR-D breaks away from the formation and rushed to Leontchev's position. In the middle of this, four Russian soldiers readied the PKT 7,62 mm machine gun. On the other hand, a total of 10 people, consisting of five GSDF members and the remaining five Russian soldiers, were ready to fire in case the BTR-D is breached, brandishing the 40 mm rotary magazine grenade launcher, RG-6 and AK-12s, and surrounded the SM100S with non-combatants on board.
Snowfield on top of a hill
'...It's getting closer this way! So it recognized my voice... it's intelligent!'
Leontchev was peering through binoculars, monitoring the movements of the ravenous beast. Behind the lenses, he saw a scary-looking beast running toward him with agility that did not match its huge body.
'We have to rescue Murata as soon as possible!'
Leontchev bit his lower lip. Driven by the frustration of not being able to rescue Murata as soon as possible, the BTR-D reveals itself to him.
"Lieutenant Leontchev! Are you all right!?"
A crew member emerged from the front hatch and asked Leontchev if he is safe.
"Yeah! I'm fine!" Leontchev yelled, and promptly climbed into the BTR-D through the large hatch in the rear."
Inside BTR-D
Once aboard the BTR-D, Leontchev notified his four subordinates, who were also riding in the vehicle, of the current situation.
"The polar bear is heading toward us in a straight line from about 500 meters ahead. Have the machine gun ready!"
""Yes, sir!""
To the commander's order, the four soldiers answered in a clear voice. After confirming the completion of combat preparations, Leontchev contacted First Lieutenant Wajima, who was waiting around the SM100S in the rear.
"Lieutenant Wajima! We're going to attack!"
"Copy that!"
After contacting the other commander, Leontchev hung up his walkie-talkie and immediately gave his next order.
"Ready the machine gun!"
Two machine gunners, under the commander's orders, opened the front hatch and exposed their figures to the cold air.
"Whoa...! That thing's huge..."
One of the machine gunners, Private First Class Veniamin Azarov, was intimidated by the killing and madness emitted by the Rotom polar bear, which boasts a stature more than four times that of a typical polar bear on Earth.
GROOOOOAR!
It was rapidly closing the distance and had such a vicious look on its face that it was certain that if they did not put up any resistance, they would definitely be slaughtered.
"...Open fire!"
RATATATATA!
At Leontchev's command, the two machine gunners pressed the trigger. At the same time, the two machine guns opened fire.
WROOOOOOARRR!
The Rotom polar bear, hit by the sudden release of high-velocity bullet, groaned in surprise. However, the 7,62 mm caliber gun did not appear to be fatal, perhaps because the damage range was too narrow for its huge body. Soon after, the sharp eyes of the bear, with a vicious look on its face that seemed to deepen its anger even further, turned on the BTR-D. The ferocious beast begins to charge at the BTR-D again.
"It's like firing a machine gun at a tank! This level of firepower is not going to get us anywhere!"
Leontchev, watching the situation, barked a further order.
"Get the RPG-7 ready!"
"Yes, sir!"
The soldier who received Leontchev's order took out the trump card. He is holding the RPG-7 grenade launcher, which was widely used by both regular forces and armed guerillas in the original world and was a worldwide bestseller. Private First Class Renate Korshunov, the other machine gunner who was handed the RPG-7, looked through the scope and sighted in. At the end of the scope, he could see the beast approaching them, forgotten itself in anger.
"Target confirmed! Backblast clear!"
Private Korshunov checked to make sure there is no one behind him and puts his finger on the trigger. By continuing to fire his machine gun, Private Azarov, who had been keeping the Rotom polar bear in check, retreated into the BTR-D.
"Fire!"
Immediately after, the warhead shrapnel was fired with a powerful backblast. It headed, trailing white smoke, toward the beast of prey, which was already approaching 150 meters away.
BOOOOOOOM!
The sound of explosion echoed across the snowfield.
GYAAAAAAAA...!!
At the same time, the monster's death throes reached their ears.
"How's it going!? Did we kill it!?"
"........."
Leontchev asked Korshunov about the result of the attack. He looked at the beast, which was helplessly dying in the face of the anti-tank weapon.
"The attack hit! The target has been reduced to a lump of meat!"
"Good!"
Hearing the report, Leontchev smiled with satisfaction and relief. He immediately sent word of the slaying of the Rotom polar bear to Wajima and the other soldiers and surveyors in the rear.
"This is Leontchev, the target has been killed!"
"This is Wajima, understood! I heard a loud noise, are you okay!?"
"No problem!"
"I see! We're on our way there right now too!"
Communication is cut off. After that, the survey team, having eliminated the threat, began rescue operations for Murata, the leader of the group.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good! Put it down!"
One of the SDF members, Sergeant First Class Shiro Ushiroda, descended into the crevasse along a hastily set descent rope. The other surveyors peeked at him from above the hole with concern.
"Are you okay!?"
"...Yes! No need to worry...!"
As he descended into the hole, Ushiroda's reply became more distant. The crevasse was as deep as if it led to hell.
While the rescue operation was underway, 200 meters from the crevasse, other members of the team and Russian soldiers were surrounding the Rotom polar bear that was killed by the RPG. Blasted by anti-tank weapons, it was a sight to behold.
"...I didn't expect them to use the RPG, sir."
Wajima spoke to Leontchev in a somewhat dismayed voice.
"It can't be helped. If it were only for its size, it would be a monster no bigger than a tank, and with 7 mm peashooters, we would have been in danger."
"........."
Leontchev explained the situation. After that, Wajima, having nothing more to say, once again approached the crevasse where the rescue operation was underway.
"What is the situation now!?"
When asked a question by the commanding officer, Sergeant First Class Fujio Aozuka paused to salute and answered the question.
"We are now descending to a depth of 20 meters, but we still can't see the bottom, and we can't see leader Murata..."
Aozuka described the current situation with a sad expression on his face.
"It's about time we got to the end of our rope length!"
Ushiroda contacted Aozuka via radio.
"Can you see the bottom?" Aozuka asked Ushiroda.
"No, I can't see anything! I estimate that this crevasse is at least 50 meters deep!"
"...!"
Hearing this report, Wajima made a decision. He picked up Aozuka's walkie-talkie and gave instructions to Ushiroda on the other end of it.
"This is Wajima. Sergeant Ushiroda, turn back! Unfortunately... the equipment we currently possess will not save him!"
"!"
Upon hearing these words, Ushiroda, Aozuka, and the other members of the survey team around them were shocked. Wajima made the decision to abandon Murata's rescue. However, as long as they could not rescue him with what they had now, it would have to be done. There was no use in overreacting and causing new casualties.
"........."
In steep snow-covered mountains such as Everest and McKinley, it is said that those who run out of strength because they cannot endure the harsh climbing and extremely cold environment are left as they are and turned into mummies.
"...We will contact the standby team and request them to make preparations to retrieve his 'body'. We will carry on with our mission...!"
"...Understood."
Wajima stated his plans for the future in a matter-of-fact manner. Upon hearing his words, the five SDF members and ten Russian soldiers, including Leontchev, begin to prepare for departure.
"No sign of the doesn't mean that Murata-san has been declared dead..."
Kawamoto murmured to this effect. But even his voice was muffled, as he wanted to believe that there was still hope. It was obvious to anyone. Soon after, he changed his mind and, like the other surveyors, began to prepare for the volcanic area.
"........."
Watching them return to their original mission, pushing aside their grief at the loss of their friend, Sparasky felt indescribable.
While the surveyors were getting ready for departure around the SM100S and the BTR-D, Ushiroda and Aozuka were working on the descent rope that had been set up in the snowfield. Then...
"Man, we chased it all the way here and you beat us!"
"That beast was our prey..."
"!?"
The sudden sound of talking causes all the members of the survey team working around the SM100S and BTR-D to turn around. Those voices, which did not belong to any of them, were heard from the corpse of the Rotom polar bear that had just been killed.
"...?"
There were a man and woman carrying large spears. Both were dressed rather lightly for the extreme cold of the snowfield. What attracted the investigators' attention more than anything else was their height: the man was over three meters tall and the woman was over two and a half meters, despite the fact that they both had the human appearance.
"Who are you!? Where did you come from!?"
At the sudden appearance of these huge humans, Ushiroda asked in alarm.
"That is our line. Why are humans in this place?"
"Where did you come from, of course you walked here?"
The man and woman answered Ushiroda's question.
"And... you people killed this thing, didn't you? The fact that you humans killed this Rotom polar bear is crazy."
Wtith a somewhat menacing look on his face, the man asked from a high vantage point about a meter and a half above. A glare between the two men ensues. At that moment, Kawamoto, a surveyor who had been watching the scene from afar, rushed up to them, out of breath.
"C-could it be!? Are you the people from the Lime tribe!?"
""!""
Kawamoto's words startled both Ushiroda and Aozuka.
"...That's right. I'm asking who are you people," the man answered.
"My name is Kawamoto. We are a survey team dispatched by the Lebameno Federation and Japan. We have come to this area in search of a gold mine!"
Kawamoto told the two Lime tribesmen who they were. They looked at each other in surprise at his words.
"...I'm sure I heard of Lebameno."
"Yes, that's the name of a country we traded with a while ago."
A bit surprised at their sense of value, which compares 50 years ago to "a while ago," Kawamoto continued his talking.
"We are here to visit you, seeking the gold that you used to bring with you when you had trading relations with the Lebameno!"
"Gold...?"
The man tilted his head at Kawamoto's explanation. He did not seem to understand the meaning of the word.
"...You know, those 'yellow stones' that the humans were so happy to see when we brought them to Lebameno!"
The man clapped his hands in agreement with the woman's explanation. Compared to the man, the Lime woman seemed to have a better memory. The man mumbled curiously, "Did you come all this way looking for that thing?" then turned to Kawamoto and began to speak.
"If you want that one, I can have someone who remembers where he got the stone show you around, okay?"
"!!"
The man's offer made Kawamoto, as well as Ushiroda and Aozuka, widened their eyes. Even by coincidence, they had not expected the conversation to go so well as originally intended.
"But... what do you think? Anybody remember them?"
The Lime man spoke and swings his gaze toward the man. The woman makes a slight gesture of thinking, then turned to Kawamoto and begins to speak.
"Hmm, you... you are Kawamoto, right? In the meantime, would you please come to our village? We need the chief's permission, in case we want to host our brave guests..."
Kawamoto responded to the woman's offer by nodding his head.
"Yes! I look forward to it."
Soon after, the 27 members of the leaderless survey team succeeded in making contact with the Lime, a hunting tribe in the far north, and were guided to their village.