Deicide1

White glared in every direction, a thick blanket covering the hard rock of the island underneath it.

Atlas trudged forward, a certain efficient swiftness in his step from years of experience in such debilitating conditions. Having spent his fair share of activations in the inhospitable yukon wastes, he was intimately familiar with the intricacies of navigating such an environment- but that experience did little to lessen the constant cold seeping into his armor. Despite the decidedly hostile conditions, outwardly he showed no signs of discomfort; His head on a constant swivel as he surveyed the frozen landscape surrounding him. His assignment was simple, yet grueling; Reconnaissance along the northern edge of an island once called ‘Severny’. Reports of Eliksni excursions into the frozen wastes had come in droves over the preceding months, and the Vanguard council had decided that whatever reason they must have to search such a barren place was worth enough worry to send himself and four other scouts to asses the situation and remain until otherwise ordered.

His first few days, it seemed, were proving fruitless.

The snow itself was the largest offender, covering the ground day and night through recurring blizzard conditions. More often than not, he resorted to trekking across the freezing rock on foot; any vehicular method proving too unsafe in the uncooperative visual conditions. He would sometimes come across the remains of an alien camp, or a corpse.. Each time searching them for any information at all regarding their fateful trek into this wasteland.

Nothing. Each time he looked, and each time he found nothing. No dataslates, no parchment, not anything that could serve as a clue to their intentions. He was starting to wonder if they had gone mad- the once-grand Eliksni houses had once been strong enough to put the entirety of humanity on the run; but now, it seemed, they were running themselves.

His thoughts concluded just as he came upon another such site, two black-frozen bodies half buried in snow. A small form of light burst into life beside him, materializing into his companion, the aptly-named ‘Spark’. The palm-sized bot zipped above the fallen remains, a steady blue scan penetrating the snow to search for anything useful.

“Hmm.. nothing again.” The bot’s shrill voice pierced the eerie calm, his tone slightly perplexed as he hovered around to different point over the snow, checking a few more times around the bodies.

“Sixth pair of corpses; Yet we have nothing by way of motive.” His voice resonated in his own chest, only slightly obscured by his helmet as he spoke to his ghost. He knelt beside the body nearest to him, flicking at the metal plating making up the alien’s head. It was impossible to tell how long they had been here, beside the obvious lack of snow over them.

“Perhaps they’ve all been exiled? It isn’t exactly rare to hear of the Fallen doing such a thing to the.. Failures, of their ranks.” The bright robot answered awkwardly, still probing the fruitless snow for answers.

“Possible, but.. Why would they send them in pairs? And more importantly, if they’re exiles.. Why would they arm them?” He countered, bringing himself back to his feet and kicking at a weapon frozen in one of the four hands of the dead alien.

“Hmm.. noted. We should keep moving, these ones are empty, too.” The ghost concluded its scan, flying back to Atlas and dematerializing in a small flash of light.

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Ice cracked under the titan’s feet as he made his way toward the coast proper, hoping to find a small respite from the deep snow along the water’s edge. He kept a constant scan of the horizon as he moved along, stopping occasionally to get a better look at a glint in the distance, or a strange shadow- each time coming up with nothing unnatural. Another hour and command would be expecting a report from him, and he was disgruntled to be empty-handed a fourth time.

It seemed that not everything was going poorly. Just as he began crossing onto the thick ice of ocean, the clouds began clearing; and the almost constant snow ceased. He stretched his neck up, basking his face in the sunlight- though he felt no warmth, or brightness; his visor working to dim the blinding light. He closed his eyes, resting for a moment in the cold..

“Atlas! Atlas, do you see that?!” Spark burst to life and flew a few feet above his head, intensely focused on an empty part of the sky. Atlas opened his eyes and followed the bot’s gaze, squinting into the distant blue just in time to catch a massive blast of fire streaking toward the ground.

“Is that.. A warsat? Why hasn’t the Vanguard notified us of a local re-entry?” He questioned his companion, watching the flaming chunk of steel as it hurtled toward the horizon.

“Uhm, Atlas… We have a problem. I’m not reading any incoming radio frequencies, and I can’t send any out either. All transmissions are being blocked.” The ghost twirled in place, exposing its bright core as it began to run diagnostics.

“Nothing? That’s unusual, I wasn’t aware warsats were capable of complete communication disruption.” Atlas stared on as the satellite disappeared behind a small mountain in the distance, surely crashing into the snow and rock near the base.

“Not to worry you, Atlas, but.. I don’t think the origin of the interference is the warsat. It seems.. Local.” The ghost spun to face him, tilting its oculus inquisitively.

Atlas didn’t bother with a reply, only sparing a nod before he set off across toward the direction of impact. His ghost sighed indignantly, painfully aware of the titan’s intentions as he de-materialized once more.