The Assassin's Enemy Lover

“Communication is still down. Let’s head back west,” replied Yi Chen with worry in his eyes.

“Is Raylan fully functional?” asked Zi Han while Igneous conducted an extensive search of the surrounding environment for any signs of life.

Yi Chen checked the diagnostic report on the floating screen and found that everything was running perfectly. “It’s all good. Let’s head out,” said Yi Chen before the two mechs ripped through the curtain of snow flying low.

Zi Han couldn’t help but worry for his mother thus he asked Igneous, “Iggy, is there really no way to communicate with my mother?”

Igneous tried to reactivate communication transmissions but just like before it couldn’t connect. It could only give a suggestion which was that if they get within range they might be able to communicate with Chronos.

Zi Han didn’t know if they would ever be in range but right now he could only focus on finding the rest of his squad and the others.

The further they flew the thicker the curtain of snow. It was now difficult to see where they were headed but their mechs were at the top of the range with exceptional navigational skills. They didn’t have to worry about that.

After a while they reached the temporary base they were sharing with Hela’s team. The place seemed to have survived the aftershock of the explosion but it was dark and there was only Shannon, Li Ran, and miscellaneous personnel left behind trying to restore the power.

.....

When she saw the pair of love birds walk in she was so happy like she had seen a ray of sunshine. She had been very anxious and it felt great seeing someone other than Li Ran.

“Where are Zain and Omari?” asked Yi Chen and Shannon replied,

“They left on a rescue mission alongside Shorty and Shaun. Everything is down and we haven’t heard from them.”

“Oh thank god you guys are okay,” said Li Ran as he entered the base control room.

Yi Chen stretched out his hand and Li Ran passed him the tablet-like device in his hand. In front of him was the full report on the base’s integrity. According to the report, there was no extensive damage, and power should be up and running already.

“Why aren’t the lights coming on,” he asked and Li Ran was quick to answer,

“Give it five more seconds and it will be back on.”

As expected the lights lit up and the cold gloomy base was revitalized once more.

“We should head out an....,” said Zi Han only for another explosion to occur. This time it was much closer to them than before and almost shook the base out of the sky.

The control room door locked automatically as a safety precaution and the four went down on the floor as the lights switched off again.

“Shit!” yelled Zi Han as his entire body was shaken to the core. A mass of snow struck the windows of the base making them vibrate but it was very much built to last.

Yi Chen embraced Zi Han tightly while stroking his hair soothingly as these two watched on. How they wished they had someone to comfort them through such a terrible experience.

“You two still know how to abuse us even in a dangerous situation,” said Li Ran as the snow speed slowed and tranquility was slowly restored.

Zi Han didn’t get what he meant until he saw their awkward posture. Yi Chen was protecting him the very same way he did in the mech. Zi Han was about to push him away and express that he really wasn’t fragile but when he saw the worry in those eyes he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Zi Han moved close and whispered into Yi Chen’s ear saying, “Baby, you can let go of me now.”

Yi Chen was extremely reluctant but he still let him go and two minutes later they got up on their feet. It was clear to them that this wasn’t going to stop.

It was going to keep happening again and again and the best way was to find everyone, gather them all at the base, and then evacuate this area.

From the series of explosions, it was obvious that the culprit didn’t want to explode the entire federation. These attacks were carefully planned and only targeted the squads in several posts. They had to do something now before the attacks escalated burying them all in snow.

“Ran Ran, restore power to the base and work on restoring communication with the outside world. Take advantage of Sheba,” said Yi Chen before heading to the door.

Li Ran felt ill at ease letting them walk out of there but they had no other choice.

“I will get it done now,” said Li Ran before rushing down the corridor to the stairs that go down to the generator that runs the entire base. He knew if he did his part it would help a lot.

“Stay safe out there,” said Shannon hoping they would find her brother.

In a matter of minutes, Zi Han and Yi Chen were back outside and started searching for anyone within the sea of white. This search went on for three hours before a sudden miracle happened.

Li Ran actually came through to restore internal communication temporarily. The mechs that had disappeared on the locator reappeared making the search much more easier.

“Over there,” yelled Zi Han as he flew over with Igneous. They had passed this place several times but other than a field of snow there was nothing. Turns out Zain’s mech had been buried deep in the snow.

“Use your cannon blaster,” said Yi Chen, and Zi Han engaged his cannon blaster carefully burning a hole into the snow.

A minute later a purple mech was uncovered and from the looks of it, all its limbs and joints were frozen stiff like they had been dropped in liquid nitrogen.

Yi Chen pulled him out of the snow and they placed his mech on the ground while Igneous checked his health condition.

“He is body is freezing,” said Zi Han while rushing to open the cockpit and take him into Igneous.

Yi Chen looked at Zi Han worriedly. He knew what Zi Han was going to do but he was worried about the side effects. “Don’t overdo it,” he said and Zi Han nodded his head before placing his hand above Zain’s chest.

Yi Chen grasped Igneous through his mech to get Zi Han’s attention. “I mean it,” he said staring at him intently.

Zi Han halted his actions and promised. “Okay, I promise I won’t.”

Yi Chen got up with something weighing heavy on his chest. He didn’t even realize that his hands were trembling. This was not what he wanted for Zi Han. He shouldn’t have to do this. Yi Chen looked back at Igneous one more time before taking off in the air. He wasn’t sure how long this locator will stay online thus he had to find Omari.

When he reached the place where Omari was there was a hardly visible snowman the size of a mech.

Yi Chen hurried over and what he found had him shaken to the core. Omari’s mech had three of its limbs blown off. The windscreen of the cockpit had shattered and his body had been badly injured. He wasn’t even conscious.