Chapter 6 Bear The wind was whipping across the icy planet as we fought against it. We had mostly walked in silence throughout the day. Being around Wolf kind of stiffened any conversation. Jack was still miffed from Wolf’s conversation last night so that didn’t help. The only time anyone had said anything was when Jack mentioned how they hadn’t seen anything today. “Where are they?” Jack flashed in over the coms. “We’re not important enough to engage. They don’t see us as a threat.” Wolf replied. “Well then where are we going?” Annoyance edged into his voice. “My scans have picked up something on the other side of the planet. It looks like a complex and might give us some insight as to what these things are and where they came from.” “Well why do they look like us in the first place?” Jackal trailed off as Wolf stopped and turned to look at him. “If we knew we wouldn’t be trying to find out would we?” Jack mumbled something as Wolf continued. “Now shut up.” After that neither of them spoke a word. I didn’t either. After a while the boredom got to me. I began to daydream. Slowly a memory came to the surface of my consciousness. Hawk and that fatal mission. I considered ignoring it but I let it come. We zoomed across Venus. All the while making conversation. "So Bear." Hawk began. "Do you think Vex use the bathroom?" I chuckled at the thought of a goblin sitting on the John. "Not sure. It'd be amusing though. Imagine a gate lord taking a dump!" I chuckled. "Gate lord!" Jackal shouted. "Yeah that's what I said. A gate lord. Don't shout over the coms it hurts my ears." "No," Hawk said spinning his sparrow on a dime. "That's a blaming gate lord!" I looked behind me to see a mechanical form materializing out of the air. The black shape hovered before dropping to the ground. How was the gate lord here? Scans reported that he was miles away. Unless... I turned and sped off after Hawk and Jackal who were a ways ahead of me now. "Guys that's not the gate lord we've been tracking there's two." "Three," interjected Jack. "Two" "Nope there's definitely three. Hawk and Jack zipped past me in the other direction. Chasing them was another gate lord. "Mother of the Traveler where are these guys coming from?" I flew after Hawk and Jack catching up with them after a few seconds. Dark storms clouds gathered around us and delivered Vex goblins and harpies. "Damn it" Jackal reached for his pulse and began firing. I grabbed an auto and did the same. Meanwhile Hawk jumped high into the air and vanished in a flash of blue light. I gunned down three goblins before one of them got too close. I punched him in the eye. I was glad I had tough gloves. I saw a cluster and through a grenade before firing away without a pause. Suddenly a flash of blue and they were all gone replaced by a white guardian with a cloak. Hawk laughed and said "Too slow." Before dashing off to aid Jackal. A thud shook the ground and a gate lord appeared over the rise. Looked like it was time to go. We hopped on our sparrows and zoomed away. I shook myself back to reality. No good to think about what happened next. "I see a cave up at the crest of that hill. Let's move." Wolf motioned with her hand. Suddenly she held up a closed fist. We froze in our tracks. I listened closely but couldn't hear anything. [i]My scans don't detect any movement or heat. Other than you three of course.[/i] "That doesn't mean anything with these things." [i]True but I just thought I would let you know.[/i] we stood in frozen silence for what seemed like ages. I could feel the icicles on my armor growing by the minute. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. "WELL? YOU GONNA SHOW YOURSELF OR NOT?" Then, with a sigh from Wolf, all hell broke loose. Whooping crowded my ears as Copperheads revealed themselves from behind icy outcroppings. They aimed their weapons at us. I looked at Wolf and Jackal. They slowly raised their hands. I did the same. Even though for all we knew that could be the equivalent of the bird to these people. A flash and suddenly shots were being fired. Bodies were hitting the icy ground beneath us. I wasn't sure whose but I hoped it wasn't ours. I decided it would be a good idea to move. I drew my gun and shot at the nearest copperhead until it stopped moving. Which was a lot. I heard a knife whizz past my ear. I jerked back instinctively and looked behind me. A copperhead was on the ground with a knife planted firmly in his forehead. A small pool of white blood gathered around him. I turned to look at Wolf who had thrown it. "Next time a 'Hey Bear watch out' would be nice instead of throwing a knife at my ear." "Past your ear." "Whatever." A new wave was approaching fast. We readied our weapons. Suddenly the Copperheads froze. From amongst their ranks one Copperhead emerged. He looked different. He had an air of authority about him unlike the others. "Hello Wolf." The Copperhead spoke perfect English. He nodded to Jack and I in turn. "Jackal, Bear. I would like to request a parlay. Oh do accept. I would hate to spill red blood on this beautiful planet. Wouldn't you?"