A JP by Ensign Kansz JoNz & 1stLt Samuel Woolheater - ShoreLeave: The Ice Devil of the Night - Part 2 of 2
Radamio
((Continued - From Part 1 - Research Station Outside - Frozen Tundra – Cestus Prime))
Woolheater: =/\= Here we go. Comms are online. OK, so the backstory to this “frost lurker” is that it's picking the science team off. When they come outside to do their checks and meter reads? That’s when they get taken. Somehow, this critter goes unnoticed until, I suppose, it's too late. We’re here to stop that. If we can bag it and tag it, great. Otherwise, it has to be stopped.=/\=
Bounding out on all four paws, quickly leaving the outpost behind, JoNs eschewed a helmet to trust her own senses; the freezing wind carried smells of the Tundra, and her eyes would spot movement. It felt good, letting herself loose like this.
Woolheater: =/\= I got you on the CT. All we know is that….it’s out here somewhere. =/\=
((Holosuite 7 – Frost Range Program – Minutes Later))
The wind bit hard, cutting through every seam of the parka. Sam crouched near the outer wall of the research station, checking his combat tricorder feed. The display pulsed with static interference, snow, and wind scattering the signal.
Woolheater: =/\= JoNz, I’ve got faint biosigns, one-five-zero meters northeast. Could be the Lurker. Or a frozen rabbit. =/\=
On his combat tricorder, Sam could also see that the Caitian had stopped moving and waited.
He glanced up from the readout, scanning through his rifle optics. The ridge ahead looked like a graveyard of white and shadow. The storm light bent over the peaks, turning ice into mirrors and the snow into ghosts.
Woolheater: =/\=Moving to Overwatch. Keep eyes open and claws ready=/\=
JoNz pinged once on the Comms in acknowledgment.
He trudged through the snow until he reached a jagged outcropping of ice. The wind howled around it, masking his movement. He dropped to one knee and steadied the rifle against a drift.
Something flickered on the edge of vision, a distortion, like heat rising off cold ground. He zoomed in, heartbeat steadying automatically. For half a second, he saw it: a feline shape the size of a small shuttle, translucent skin rippling with color as it cloaked against the ice. The Lurker’s hide rippled with living frost. Its chromatophores shimmered between ice and shadow, scattering light like fractured glass. For a heartbeat, the thing looked transparent, then gone altogether.
Woolheater: ::quietly, to himself:: Damn. There you are.
He tapped the comm.
Woolheater: =/\= JoNz, eyes on target. North ridge, moving toward you. It’s using active camouflage…like a cuttlefish. Chromatophores and looks like a walking ghost. Stay low, use sound, not sight. =/\=
JoNz: =/\= Acknowledged =/\=
The creature vanished again. Snow sprayed sideways in a gust, and when Sam looked back through the scope, the signal was gone. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise beneath the hood.
Woolheater: ::grimly:: Alright, Frosty, let’s dance.
JoNz: ::low voice:: =/\= I'm moving position, a few klicks or so off to my right =/\=
The Cait set off at a slow and deliberate crawl, stopping and blending into the snow every few feet, and then moving off again. What her eyes didn't see, her hearing would pick up. She hoped.
Woolheater: =/\= If you are trying to draw them out, it's working.=/\=
There. There it was. To her left, JoNz heard the crunch of snow…it was about one hundred yards or so…
Woolheater: ::to himself:: Watch yourself…JoNz
And a second Lurker pinged on the CTs at that moment, closing the pincers movement on JoNz.
Woolheater: =/\= New target, JoNz. Two contacts confirmed. Marking vectors. They’re hunting in tandem. We hold the line right here. =/\=
He slid his rifle to the snow, unclipped a micro-drone the size of his palm, and flicked it skyward. The thing buzzed away, silent as thought, sending a 3D return of the terrain to his HUD. There on the HUD, two heat shadows weave between snowdrifts like ghosts chasing each other.
Woolheater: =/\= JoNz, left flank, eleven o’clock…yours just shifted patterning to ultraviolet. It can *see* your thermal trail. I’ll draw fire. You move when I light it up. =/\=
JoNz: =/\= Acknowledged. =/\=
He exhaled, thumbed the grenade launcher’s underslung toggle, and sent a flashbang into the wind.
Woolheater: =/\= JoNz, break contact! They’re trying to herd you. I’m shifting downhill to intercept. =/\=
He dropped from the ridge, boots punching into the crusted snow. The world went white noise, the storm, the breath in his hood, the thudding heart in his ears. The tricorder beeped twice, then went dead. Whatever these things were, they were dampening sensors.
A blur to his left, he turned, rifle up. Nothing. Just the snow swirling like ghosts.
With a roar, the first Lurker covered the distance right at the Caitian. From a prone position on her back, JoNz threw one, two knives from the chest harness; one impacted with its muzzle, the other flew wide.
Woolheater: =/\= Talk to me JoNz…=/\=
The snow cat yowled and pawed at its muzzle, trying to dislodge the throwing knife from its snoot; JoNs had managed to stand up and was now skittering backwards as she drew the combat shotgun from its back harness holster. When the beast charged at her again, it was met with the plasma shot from the weapon, the retort echoing through the wind and sleet.
And that was when Woolheater spotted a bright flash of blue blood against the snow.
JoNz: =/\= ::panting:: One target is down, I ventilated it with the plasma shotgun; I lost sight of the second one! =/\=
And there it was, stalking towards the Cait with precise and deadly movements.
Sam saw just a shimmer that was reacting to the downed Frost Lurker. It would seem that they hunted in pairs. It was extremely hard to see.
Woolheater: =/\= I’ve got eyes on it…left flank, closing fast! =/\=
He broke cover, dropping to one knee in the snow. The storm clawed at his visor, static washing across his HUD. He thumbed the Type III(d) rifle’s selector to burst-fire.
The Lurker came in low…a blur of sinew and claws…its hide refracting light like oil on water. All the while, it roared and growled and closed the distance to the Caitian. He knew that this had to be frightening to watch, even if it was just a holladeck simulation.
He aimed, deadly, calm, deliberate. The rifle’s scope found the shimmer of movement in the snow. He wasn’t toying with the Frost Lurker or with Ensign JoNz; he was letting training do the work. Waiting for the thing to commit.
Then he squeezed the trigger.
Three blue-white phaser bursts stitched across the Lurker’s shoulder and flank. It staggered, but didn’t stop.
Woolheater: =/\= It’s armored, aim for the seams, JoNz! =/\=
That detail sure as hell wasn’t in the brochure. These Lurkers came plated.
He rolled hard as it slammed into the spot he’d just vacated. Snow detonated around him, shards of ice pelting his snowy gear. His shoulder hit the ground hard.
He was already moving; he brought his rifle up and drew, lungs burning from the cold and adrenaline. The Lurker wheeled back, jaws gaping, its maw a blur of blue light and teeth.
Sam fired at point-blank range. The flash seared through the storm, blue holographic blood spattered across his grey, digitized camo coat, painting him in the kill.
Woolheater: =/\= I’ve got a cripple, hold steady!, confirm visual, JoNz! =/\=
JoNz: =/\= Confirm, I’ve got the visual. Closing the gap. =/\=
He aimed low, not for bravado but for function. The Lurker’s plating glinted; seams and joints were the weak points. Sam waited until the thing committed, then put two controlled bursts across the hind leg and a third into the soft belly seam. The rifler barked; the creature stumbled, one hind limb folding under it like a snapped strut. Snow kicked up in a white spray.
It wasn’t falling, yet, but it couldn’t run. It spun, furious and off-balance, maw working the air. Sam rolled, keeping low, and brought his rifle up just in case the beast lunged. He was breathing so hard the cold burned his lungs. Blue blood smeared across the snow and flickered on his armor, like a bad holovid filter.
Woolheater: =/\= It’s crippled and down, JoNz, finish it if you have the shot? =/\=
The Caitian took a moment upon coming up onto the creature, just staring at the animal that had been actively hunting them. It locked eyes with her. Then, with no fanfare, she drilled a round from her Slicer sidearm into its temple to put it out of its misery.
Ashes to ashes. Dust to Dust.
Sam walked over to the large Frost Lurker's body. Even when it was "dead," it still never lost its camouflage. After a moment, the holographic character shimmered away back into the computer core.
Woolheater: Can you imagine the first people who saw this and had to deal with this critter? They are hella fun to hunt for, play, you know? But…I am glad that we learned that all we needed was a high-pitched sound fence to keep them away and at bay.
Sam offered a fist bump and then drew her into a quick "bro hug," saying,
Woolheater: Good job. This was fun. A little more cardio than the weapons range, huh? ::grins playfully::
He wiped some of the blue blood off his grey camo cold weather coat and onto the Cait.
JoNz: Hey! Eeewwww! And good work.
They fist bumped. Sam smiled at the good work, the range time they had, and the fun hunt.
Woolheater: So. Late huh? And how dare you suggest that I…an officer of the Realm…would do something so…childish…:: hand goes to his chest::...as bean you - most excellently - on your head.
End Part 2 of 2
= = = = =
Ensign Kansz JoNz
Helm/Comm/Ops Officer
USS Octavia E Butler NCC-82850
E240208KJ1
“Imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein
And
1stLt Samuel Woolheater
Scout Sniper / Infantry Officer
MARDET, Starfleet Marine Corps
USS Octavia E. Butler NCC-82850
O240111SW4