The Winter Tyrant

Chapter 106: Old Rivals

They had travelled hundreds of kilometers north, beyond the habitable zone at the orders of their commanding officer.

However, these were small settlements, a pocket here, another there. They seemed more interested in leaving to their own, than building something formidable.

That is until they fell upon the first sign of Elysium.... Truth be told, as a member of the 75th Ranger’s Regimental Reconnaissance Company, James was embarrassed to admit that they had been spotted before they spotted the adversary.

He sighed heavily and waved at the drone, a defeated smirk concealed beneath his balaclava as he shook his head.

A single word escaped his lips, as the men nearby looked over at what James was staring at. Their eyes widened beneath their goggles, but before they could do anything, the drone had zipped off, lost in the storm.

"Sir... Was that drone painted in camouflage to blend in with the storm?"

And only after inserting it back into the magwell, did he finally respond?

"Done here?" One of the other men approached, his voice far more hot than the world around them. "We just confirmed that not only are there people still living in significant numbers beyond the habitable zone, but there are also opponents with highly sophisticated technology."

"Those opponents spotted us, and we haven’t’ seen a trace of them other than a drone. A drone, mind you, that has been expertly cloaked to match the environment. We don’t know who they are, what level of equipment and training they possess, but they spotted us before we spotted them, and there’s only a handful of units in the world I know that are capable of doing that. We’re getting the hell out of here, end of story, understood Corporal?"

"Fucking bullshit...."

"We’ve got a problem...."

The news that men with military grade hardware, and arctic warfare attire had infringed on their borders was not exactly something that Dean wanted to hear.

There was a single moment, clearer than all others that Dean saw the patches on the men’s plate carriers.

It was not until Yuki had sat down next to him and handed him a beer that he finally stirred again. "Who are they? Do you know?"

"My old rivals...."

But she didn’t have to know any of that, because the way Dean was acting, it meant whoever those men were, they were a threat far greater than Lorenzo, Aidan, or any of the others they had fought against so far.

But she didn’t know enough about the Union of Columbia, its military structure, or even the tactics they used. In the end, she too turned off the television and left the room. If she couldn’t console Dean by helping him with the problem, then she knew of another way that could help him.

It was something that, for the time being only she could do for Dean... or so she thought.