"Good job finding them.", Marcus hummed as he let his eyes wander outside the window of the raven to checkout the snowy landscape below.

After the war had ended, the world had mostly been no man's land, with harsh environments and places where people wouldn't want to drop dead. But after some time, humans had started to repopulate certain habitats again. This icy desert wasn't one of them.

With a hum, Baird pointed to a frozen lake.

"The signal is down there.", he said and started landing.

"Under the ice?"

"Yeah. But it's moving. They should be up again any moment."

"Hm."

Making himself ready and expecting the worst, Marcus grabbed a handle to keep his balance. But as he glanced over his shoulder, he could tell that Baird had something burning under his nails.

"Spit it out.", Marcus growled with a grim expression.

Braid pulled a face.

"Now that JD isn't here, a word. Just between the two of us."

"Cut to the chase."

"We are manly here to pick up Jack."

"The robot you made?"

"Yes. He'll do the main part of the operation, tricking the system and reaching places that we cannot get out hands on. Like the cooling tanks."

"Hm. So, what's your concern?"

A sigh escaped Baird. He usually wasn't a pessimistic person, but this time he looked as if there wasn't a single good thing he could think of in this world.

"We have a good chance to get JD's birdie out of there. But I'm not very confident about the survival rate."

Marcus pulled a face, baring his teeth.

"I though Jinn offered her best specialists.", he mumbled, his eyes still glued to the frost.

"She did. But under the condition that (Y/N) will be operated in one of the COG's medical institutes.", Baird threw a glance over his shoulder, locking eyes with Marcus. "But I fear the way will be too long. Marcus, after the temperature changes rapidly, we have about five minutes to prevent severe brain damage. And about the blood. Well... there won't be much left after months of bleeding."

Understanding, Marcus nodded. His eyes returned to the frozen lake, getting caught by three small figures.

"Tell me.", he hummed in a low voice. "How likely is it to survive all these odds?"

"Do you want my honest opinion?"

"Yes."

"I'd advice you to prepare JD for a funeral."

"Or myself for JD's..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just land the damn thing."

Shrugging, Baird let the raven fly lower. He did not ask anything more, but knew that nothing that was about to come would be fun in any way. Neither for his old friend nor his son.

As the wheels touched the frozen lake, a thin layer of snow was twirled up, filling the daylight with a dusty shimmer. The doors opened with a hissing sound.

The two figures approached. Kait and Del seemed surprised to see that somebody had followed them.

"Looks like you need a ride.", Marcus shouted through the noise of the engine.

"How did you find us?", Del asked, smiling.

Baird jumped out of the raven.

"You think I'm giving you a one-of-a-kind piece of tech without the ability to track it to the center of the planet?", he asked and pointed at Jack, his robot. "I can't afford to loose him. Especially now that he's a bot in demand."

Jack beeped in approval.

Del rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, fine.", he said and pointed over his shoulder. "And speaking of one-of-a-kinds... Help me hook up this skiff."

Without complain, Baird and Del went to work while Marcus helped Kait get into the raven.

"You find what you're looking for?", he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

He didn't know what to expect, but even if it would be the worst, he'd like to be prepared when it happened.

Kait sighed. Her eyes jumped back to the hole in the lake from which she and Del had crawled mere minutes ago.

"Yeah.", she said, a white cloud of frozen breath escaping her lips. "And now we need to kill it."

She sat down on one of the foldable seats. Her expression darkened. She was upset.

Frowning, Marcus sat down too. He wanted to respond something but didn't. Sometimes, it was better to keep the mouth shut. Especially when it was about something that was as unsettling as Kait's new information.

In the distance, Baird and Del approached.

"But let me ask you something.", Del's voice sounded. "How long would it take to get the Hammer of Dawn up and running?"

Baird's eyebrows drew together.

"Funny you should ask.", he offered Del a hand to climb into the raven. "The data drive you found, months ago, about the UIR."

"Yeah."

"Interesting stuff."

"Interesting how?"

Baird forced down a smirk.

"You'll see. And lucky for us, I have an old UIR contact.", he raised a finger to wiggle it in the air. "Take us home, Sam."

The raven started rising again.

But as everybody took a seat, the mood darkened. A strange heaviness was in the air, tension, so thick, that it could have been cut with a knife.

Exchanging a gaze, Marcus sighed.

"Ask your questions.", he mumbled and lowered his head.

Kait frowned, trying not to feel too guilty.

"How is he?", she finally asked in a silent voice.

"Miserable.", Braid answered bevor Marcus had the chance to. "There's nothing else that keeps him awake. He's holding onto every single straw."

"Braid.", Marcus gifted his friend a warning glance. "They should talk to him themselves."

But Del shrugged. The expression on his face was anything but thrilled.

"He acted like a bitch when Oscar was killed.", he growled and looked out the window, arms crossed.

"James has his own issues."

"But he doesn't have to be so selfish about them.", Kait sighed. "We're still friends. He could have asked us for help."

Marcus shook his head.

"You wouldn't be any help.", he said. "Sounds shitty, but it is what it is. Even we struggle to find a solution."

Baird huffed.

"We have a solution now.", he reminded him.

"Not an ideal one.", Marcus growled.

"But the only one he'll ever get."