The gusts of air outside the Durrigan's wreckage were sharp and biting, the cold like a harsh sting that permeated the VACAS despite their ability to withstand the harshest environments. The snowstorms of Golah were worse than Javina could have ever imagined. Still, the group had no choice but to trudge through the seemingly endless amount of knee-high snow. Qerod led the way, as always, while Jat, Irys, and Driscoll followed behind. Roxli and Givety closed out the back of the first team, but trailed behind the rest by a good yard.
Javina, meanwhile, led the second team even further back. Zec and Cragin pulled a makeshift sled with Takeo's still-unconscious body behind them, followed up at the rear by Pirzy and Vhaz. Both teams were an eclectic mixture, but Qerod and Driscoll agreed it would help ease some of the tension within the group. If they were going to survive, they had to be one unit. The choice to break in half, however, was Javina's suggestion. They could mingle all they wanted, but the harsh reality was that Takeo's situation slowed them down. The only people that made sense to drag him along were the two biggest men on the team, and Pirzy was the one monitoring his condition. Vhaz went wherever Zec did.
"We should be approaching the station after we crest this hill," Pirzy notified them. The angle became steep under their feet as the slope heavily increased. Javina tapped at the wristpad of her VACAS and made a circular motion with her finger to activate the climbing mode on her boots. She felt the spikes shoot out of the bottom of her sole and latch into the ground. With the way her feet were angled to the ground, she guessed it had to be a fifty-to-sixty degree incline. That meant a lot more exertion of their already limited pool of energy.
"Zec, Cragin, ditch the sled," She told them as she turned around. "We don't want to risk losing that halfway up the slope."
"How are we going to get Takeo uphill then?" Pirzy inquired with a look of concern. The teal of the lights inside the VACAS helmets illuminated their faces well amongst the blinding white of the snow. Zec looked at her.
"I got 'im," He answered. "I can carry up to four times his weight like nothing."
Zec reached down and picked Takeo up, then slung him over his shoulder face down. He shook off the excess snow that accumulated on his back. "Let's get going."
Javina acknowledged and started to make her way toward the top. Each step was harder than the last. She forced one foot through the thickened snow until it crunched down amongst the ground, then latched in with her boot. Her other foot pulled against the snow that had filled in around the hole she created, then repeated the process. It was like walking through the sands of a densely-compacted beach, but there was no sunshine to light her way and definitely no hard drinks waiting for her at the end of the journey.
A rope dropped down in front of her face and slipped through the gap her legs had created between steps. She glanced up and saw Qerod give a small wave. "I figured you might like some extra help," He shouted over the howls of the wind.
Javina wrapped her gloved hands around the rope and used the added force to pull her feet out of the snow. It sped the climb up dramatically. As she reached the top and rolled over the crest, she let out a slight sigh of exhaustion. The others made their way up shortly after, each with an expression of relief at completing their journey. Javina looked out into the distance to gauge how far away the Durrigan was, but the storm was too thick to see through. The two teams gathered together and Qerod stepped into the middle.
"Alright, everyone. If you look down, you'll notice that the snow has started to taper off here. According to the map provided to us by the Forces, we should be on the outskirts of 27-A right now. That means that there's about 3 miles of solid titanium under our feet that burrows down into the caverns and is heated by a self-sustaining plasma mechanism. That should make it a bit easier to walk around out here. My team," Qerod said as he pointed towards each member of his unit. "We're going to survey the area and check each building for anything that the previous tenants may have left behind. If you find something, bring it to the central structure. Also check for power, tools, etcetera."
"And my team," Driscoll said as he stepped in and mimicked Qerod's point. "We're going to be setting up base in the central structure's third floor while the others are out and about. I want us hardwired into 27's systems as soon as possible. Anything you find from kiosks, terminals, and data points, I want in my files."
"So much for one unit," Vhaz grumbled to Zec.
Roxli overheard and lifted his hand. "Vhaz is right, boss. Why do we have to go out and keep freezing our assets off while they get to be warm and cozy."
"Because, Roxli, if you break something out here, we can probably fix it," Qerod explained patiently. "If you break anything inside that main facility and the UIFH find out, you can kiss your ride home goodbye. Got it?"
"Aye, sir." Roxli replied with a half-hearted salute. Cragin laughed beside him.
The group began to drift apart, with most of the scientists heading toward the main courtyard of the station. Zec followed Pirzy, Takeo still in tow. Javina looked around for Jat and caught him gesticulating wildly with Irys. She gave him a confused nod, then left to join the rest of the group.
"What was that all about?" Javina asked as she approached the sullen playboy.
He looked at her with defeat in his eyes. "I was telling her that the snow reminds me of this place we used to go to when I was a kid back on Nicollei. It was a really nice little area that we'd spend holidays at."
"Oh, that's surprisingly sweet coming from you," Javina teased. "So? What happened?"
"Well, it turns out her dad used to make business trips to the same area when she was little, only he wasn't there for business," Jat explained. "Kind of a sore spot, I guess. I tried to fix it by talking about how she should give it a chance and see it for herself, maybe even with a tour guide that can show her all the wonders of the world."
Javina pressed her face into her palm and tried to walk through the blunder. "You told her to go with you to the place that her dad would go to get his rocks off and quote-unquote give it a chance?"
"Look, Hall's, I wasn't trying to make it sound like that. I'm a bit embarrassed by the fact, alright?"
"I'll be honest with you, Jat. I'm embarrassed for you."
Jat rolled his eyes and gestured crudely toward Javina. "Don't you have buildings to scavenge?"
Javina projected the map Qerod had given her up from the wristpad. Small blinking white dots marked the positions of the other VACAS suits. A large huddle of dots was already assembled in the central structure, while others were scattered across the remaining buildings. She tapped each of the dots to determine who they were.
"It looks like Zec is still with the others in headquarters," She explained to Jat. "Roxli's in the greenhouse in the northeastern subsection. Cragin's not too far off in the reserves storage next to it. Vhaz is wandering the power facility in the northwestern corner. That leaves three buildings: sanitary to the west, the garage in the south and the external research lab in the southeast. Your pick."
"Wow, Halls. Digging through the toilets, slipping around in oil spills or subjecting myself to some kind of potential experimental monstrosity, eh? Real hard choices there. I guess I'll go with the research lab. No one needs to go to sanitary."
"Agreed," Javina said and closed the map. "Guess that means I'll go check for a backup vehicle in case our great escape never gets here."
Jat patted Javina on the back and left towards the opposite end of the station's grounds without another word. She could tell he was still in his thoughts about Irys. Javina wondered what exactly it was about the redhead that had Jat in such a funk. Normally he'd just move on if he wasn't getting any type of reciprocation, but the mention of his childhood was definitely not a tactic he used before. She made a mental note to dig deeper once they were settled in, then made another that if they didn't get off the moon in time, none of Jat's plight would matter anyway.
Javina made her way through the central courtyard. It was a large gray rectangle, mostly flat save for a few chest-high walls that lined the edges. There were no decorations, no furniture or anything of the like across the space. It was as cold and lifeless as the planet itself.
"There's a really great atmosphere here," Javina joked to herself. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to leave."
Javina approached the garage, a massive warehouse covered in iridescent paint. She wondered what the point of the paint job was as she examined it. The door to the garage sat in the far right corner. Javina pushed against the heavy metal and it opened with a loud, slow creak.
The interior was cast in complete darkness. She tapped the left side of her helmet and turned on the small flashlight attached above her ear. It flickered, then projected a bright beam across a number of dusty vehicles. Wheels, engines and chunks of metal were scattered across the floor. Javina stepped further in and the door behind her slammed closed. The sound startled her at first, but she quickly regained her composure. There was nothing to be alarmed about.
The sudden scrape of metal along the floor told her otherwise. She whipped around in the direction of the sound, flashlight illuminating the crates, but there was nothing there. A soft patter emerged from her right. She panned over but, again, nothing. There was no wildlife on Golah. The temperature and atmosphere were too extreme for it, and even if there was, the chances of it getting into the garage were near impossible. Yet somehow, something was inside the garage with her. She slowed her breathing and rotated around until her light stopped on a pair of boots. The teal light of Driscoll's helmet temporarily burned her eyes.
Driscoll launched towards Javina and slammed her back into the deconstructed ship behind her. Her head whacked against the frame. He reached for the latches of her helmet, but she grabbed onto his hands and tried to rip them away.
"Come on, Halls. That's what Qerod calls you, right, Javina? Halls?" Driscoll seethed and he slammed her into the frame again. "We've been long overdue for a conversation."
"I don't have anything to say to you," She responded with a kick to his stomach. He stumbled back and she followed up with a punch to his jaw. The crack of her fist against his helmet caused her to wince in pain. "Stay back!"
Driscoll stepped forward, then stopped himself. "I'm going to give you one chance to do the right thing. Only one. When you left, you broke me. It's only right that you fix your mistake."
"The only mistake I made was ever loving you," Javina spat.
"That's a shame, then."
Driscoll grabbed a nearby piece of pipe and smacked it into Javina's helmet in one swift motion. The blow caused her to stumble back and fall to the floor. She tried to scurry around Driscoll, but he slammed the pipe into the ground next to her head.
"Next time I won't miss. Do the right thing, Javina. Come back to me. Otherwise it'll be easy to make this look like an accident."
The light of the garage door flooded the interior and caused both of them to shield their eyes.
"That'll be real hard for you to do when I just heard everything," Vhaz said from the doorway, knife drawn. "Step away from her. Now!"
Driscoll lifted his hands and dropped the pipe to the ground before taking a couple of steps back. Javina tapped her wristpad and closed the open comm between her and Vhaz. Driscoll noticed and let out a snicker.
"Alright, I see how it is. So what happens now? You turn me in to Qerod?"
"Too easy," Javina said. She picked up the pipe and knocked Driscoll unconscious in a single blow.