Battle in the snow I

With Brigham's navigation Ana and Roy charged into the snowy plains of NB011, in search of the Kortonians. They had caused as much noise as they could to draw their attention away from the second group. Running through the snow they eventually came face to face with a Kortonian.

The car-sized bug-like creature turned around to face them. It opened its mouth, revealing 100 sharp teeth with the strength to pierce through a washing machine. Huge compound eyes, two antennas on its head, and 6 legs, with 3 on each side, it felt disgusting to look at it. Its attack mechanism was firing needles out of its skin, which moved at bullet speed. The Kortonian eyed up the pair, but before it had a chance to do anything, Ana pulled the trigger on the bug.

Her bullets hit the bug right between the eyes, and it fell dead instantly.

"Nice shot!" Roy yelled out through the howling wind.

"Of course it was!" Ana shouted back.

Their chatter was cut short by 3 more Kortonians moving towards them at high speed, drawn to the sound of the gunfire. One of the bugs shot out its needles at Roy, the boy managed to roll and dodge and fired back at the bug.

"Run to the right!" Brigham shouted over the radio, "I see 4 more coming from the left, run, or you will be surrounded!"

The pair followed Brigham's instructions and ran but they were cut off by 2 more Kortonians coming out of the snow. They were surrounded and the operation had just begun.

"I didn't see them on the radar!" Brigham yelled from the military base where he saw this predicament on his screen. Was he at fault, the operation had just started and already he had led his team to this.

"Nothing we can't handle," Ana reassured Brigham talking through her radio and the pair unloaded bullets to the bugs in front. "You sent the best there is! And you Roy!" She turned to him, “Don’t slow me down, you got that! Be precise and don’t miss your shots.”

Normally Roy would have a retort ready to insult her but he merely yelled out, “Watch out!” He pushed her away from incoming needles fired off from a Kortonian she didn’t see. “Save it for later!”

Ana quickly took aim and fired at bugs that were coming at Roy at his rear. There was no time to bicker, they needed count on each other and face this menace together. None of their petty squabbles mattered. The only thing was the mission and their survival.

An onslaught of Kortonians continued towards them and the pair ran, dodged, rolled, reloaded and shot the ever growing swarm. All of their training was being put to the test, they would have to give it their all if they were going come back alive.

The two were back to back, in sync and determined to see this through. For the first time since they enrolled into the school, Roy and Ana stood united.

***

The other group waited for Emidio's greenlight to guide them through the fog to the pumping station.

"Alright, the coast is clear!" Emidio spoke through the radio, "I see no Kortonians on my radar, the coast is clear. March to the station!"

"Roger!" Khalid confirmed and gestured to the group to move forward.

The second group marched on to their objective with Khalid taking the lead. Since he was the strongest of the four he would lead the charge and take on any enemy head first. He would even throw them a Khalid slap if necessary.

Lei Mei and Hitomi moved next to each other behind Khalid, while Ljubiša was in the back guarding their rear. This was the optimal formation suggested by Brigham.

The group moved as fast as they could through the wind and the snow, given it was their first encounter with this kind of climate and geography they were moving at a brisk pace.

Everything moved according to plan and so far without a hitch.

"You're doing great guys, there aren't any Kortonians on the radar!" Emidio encouraged them through the radio, "Ana and Roy lead them all away." Emidio lowered his microphone and turned to Brigham who was in the same room. They were both together in the main room of the military base. "How are things on your end?"

Brigham gave Emidio a thumbs up, "They had some close calls but they are eviscerating the bugs so far! What about your end?"

"Nothing to report so far."

"The ship is prepared for refueling," Curro said over the radio. "All the cables are connected and I am in the computer room ready to give the confirmation."

As everything moved smoothly, disaster struck.

Emidio's group marched towards their destination when suddenly out of the ground, from the covered snow a Kortonian emerged. The bug didn’t appreciate being woken up by their marching, it’s hissing further proving that point.

Khalid aimed at the bug in front of him, he wasn’t as quick and the bug fired the first shot. It emptied a barrage of needles toward Khalid, the green-haired boy tried to jump out of the way but he failed. Several needles pierced into his left leg and he fell to the ground.

With him now incapacitated, their strongest comrade, they were in big trouble.

Lei Mei opened fire at the Kortonian, and she managed to unload into its head. She wasn't as precise as Ana or Roy, her bullets merely slowed down the bug failing to kill it. The huge bug screamed from the shooting and it alerted other Kortonians who were sleeping under the snow just like it was not a moment ago.

"Guys more bugs are moving towards you, I am seeing them waking up on the radar!" Emidio shouted over the radio. "If you don't move you will be surrounded and killed!"

One charged at the group from the left and Hitomi fired from her riffle, much like Lei Mei she could only slow it down and failed to kill it. Many more bugs started creeping towards them from all directions. The group had to move but with Khalid on the ground screaming in pain from the needles, they had to make a choice, either stand their ground and get overrun by the incoming Kortonians, or abandon Khalid and save themselves.

But how would they operate the pumping station without him, they needed 4 people. Would they be able to truly leave him to his death? Maybe Roy and Ana could operate the station with them.

"Ljubiša!" Lei Mei yelled at the redhead and reloaded her AK-47. "Don't just stand there shoot!"

Ljubiša seeing the distressed Lei Mei, made him recompose, I have to protect her and bro too. I don't really care what happens to Hitomi but we kind of need her for the pumping station and to heal bro. I have to do something. Ljubiša took aim at the Kortonians but his hands were still shaking so badly that there was no way he was going to hit the mark.

With his hands in this state, it would be a sure miss, he might even hurt himself from the recoil.

No other option was left, Ljubiša stepped towards the Kortonians, "You want a piece of me? Come and get me ya ugly aliens!" The boy taunted the bugs grabbing their attention. He shot his rifle into the air, which agitated the bugs and made them focus directly on him.

His shots made the group of Kortonians run towards Ljubiša. He started to run away, shooting his gun in the air and yelling obscenities at the bugs. The creatures went to chase after him leaving the rest of the class alone.

"I can't believe the screw-up actually did something good for once," Hitomi said in awe watching Ljubiša run away with the bugs chasing in pursuit. "Emidio, Brigham!" She yelled into her radio, "Do something! That idiot is gonna get himself killed!" Next, Hitomi took off her backpack and kneeled next to Khalid. "Come help me Lei Mei!" She gestured at the girl who kept staring at Ljubiša's run.

Lei Mei broke out of her daze and went to Khalid. The two girls started pulling out the needles from Khalid's leg who screamed in pain. Lei Mei tried to soothe him, "I know it hurts but this will help you get better. Soon the worst will be over with."

"C'mon, what's a few tiny needles to a big guy like you?" Hitomi said trying as well, to ease things a bit for Khalid. As cold-hearted as Hitomi was, even to her Khalid's screams made her upset. It made her activate a part of her psyche she didn't think she possessed, a desire to help.

"Did you see how freaking cool bro was?!" Khalid yelled out gritting his teeth from the pain, he tried to focus on something else.

"I don't think cool and Ljubiša go in the same sentence," Hitomi chuckled as she pulled out more needles, "But I guess he was kind of cool."

"Ljubiša…" Lei Mei looked at the direction which the boy ran, she prayed for his return and his survival.