The big blue plain (THESSIA, NARTIN, TEMPLARS)

To say that the Templar taskforce had come to Nartin at the wrong time of the year was a gross understatement. There was a common joke on Thessia; in order to live there during the winter, you either had to be Ardat-Yakshi or half Krogan. This was a distinction its inhabitants (nicknamed “freezers” by their fellow asari, and muttered by a few of the volunteers) wore with pride. It was located just north of the Thessian polar circle, by a river flowing between the two mountains Leneli and Lenessis. A constant stream of cold wind was channeled between them from the south, ensuring that the temperature constantly stayed below the regional average.

Before the war, it was the most populous city on the southernmost region of Thessia, with a population numbering 120,000. It was complete with its own university, manufacturing, fishing, sea trade and eezo refining industries. Of course, the Reapers didn't seem very impressed by Nartin’s prosperity and simply bombed the city from orbit, leaving a measly 20,000 survivors by the war’s end. These survivors sought shelter in a swiftly overcrowded refugee camp or the nearby farms that were largely untouched by the reapers. Reconstruction is progressing slowly, and the only bit of infrastructure that was functioning properly until recently was an intact eezo refinery.

Then came the reopening of the relays, unleashing a whole new wave of troubles for the struggling inhabitants of Nartin. Pirates, taking the advantage of the still recovering asari navy's weakness, saw great opportunities for profit in raiding the galaxy’s largest supplier of eezo. The Nartin refinery was soon hit by small time raiders, it's desolate location making it a prime target.

This is the place that Vohkaidin Knox and his fellow volunteers are supposed to protect. Their camp (Officially named: “Camp Cobalt” but only known simply as “The Popsicle” amongst its residents,) is located on a hill half a klick away from the refinery. From there, they will been patrolling the surrounding area, distributing supplies and providing medical care to the survivors in the nearby refugee camp and outlying farms.

Vohkaidin is currently prepping his men for the first patrol of the day, two weeks after their arrival...

Those first two weeks had been an altogether unique brand of organized chaos. TERF had deposited them on the ground with all the necessary people and supplies, and immediately blasted off as soon as unloading had been completed, eager to begin the process of securing Thessia. Leaving Vohkaidin Knox in charge.

He'd been warned about the cold. He'd made a priority of not only making sure that not only his volunteers were properly outfitted, but some additional winter clothes, heating devices, and other winter supplies were brought along with the standard load out that all the TERF volunteer groups had been supplied with for dispersal amongst the population.

Wind still bites like a motherfucker though he privately thought. The only place he'd ever been that possessed a similar chill had been at the fall of New Svalbard and that had been for barely more than an hour.

The population hadn't exactly been warm to them either. The kind of people who chose to make a life this way, so far from the silver spires and warm tides that generally reflected asari culture, spoke of a sort of independence that Vohkaidin honestly admired. They would have grumbled if assistance had come north from their own kindred. Instead, however, they had recieved alien assistance, so recently after supposedly offworld marauders had stolen from little industry they still had.

It was a tense situation, to say the least.

Still, Vohk made the most of it with what he had. Along with standing TERF orders, he encouraged every member of Templar to make an effort to become familiar with the population, and make friends whenever possible. Along with the much needed medical care, rations, and other vital supplies, a few more personalized items made the transition. Toys for children, a few bottles of alcohol, etc. Whatever they needed to thaw relations a bit.

The real work had continued unabated as well. A medical center was set up right beside the Refugee camp, a subsidiary construction company of Elkoss Combine was building prefabs for the Nartin survivors, and workers were helping bring the eezo refinery back to maximum production levels for galaxy wide reconstruction.

Which, of course, led to the other reason they were here.

There had, thankfully, been no sign of pirates during those first two weeks. Optimistically, Vohk hoped that was a sign that the mere presence of TERF would be enough to dissuade marauders from coming here.

Still, the need for patrols of the region had yet to fade, and it was time for them to do another circle of the area.

"Morning kids. Ready to go to work?"

He asked his team, dressed in his cold weather clothes, personal KB emitter the only armor he had, thanks to bureaucratic oversight. Actual hardsuits were only permitted if a crisis had already begun. The only visible weapon was a pistol on his side.

He'd been working with these men for two weeks. Most answered to him as the civillian head of the region, but two were security experts sent by the Alliance and Salarian union respectfully. They weren't under his command, but the last two weeks had proven their reliability to the point that when the patrols separated to search different parts of the region, he could trust them to lead in his stead.

"It's exactly like home." Thats was the thought that kept popping up in his head.

Well that wasn't strictly true, his hometown of Bergen was known more for its rain than its snow. It was, however eerily similar to the place he'd been trained and stationed at for 2 years. A little frozen hellhole in the middle of nowhere with wind and tempratures that would make you go numb and loose extremitites if you weren't carefull. This was a place that he could not under any circumstances joke about, even if his attitude towards everything else seemed lighthearted and uncaring.

He'd seen his fellow teamembers. Some of them seemed like they had barely experienced anything below zero degrees Celsius. They had zero dressing dicipline. He'd had to spend the first 2 days giving some lectures in basic winter survival. Thick clothing when stationary, thin when mobile. Sweating was synonymus with beeing wet and being wet was synonymus with freezing and most people didn't seem to get that at first. He'd run drills where they simply had to change clothes quickly outside in the cold icy wind, over and over again, something that hadn't exactly gained him a lot of popularity. But he didn't care, they had to understand how the cold affected them.

Presently he was standing with the patrol team, listening to Vohk as they were about to head out. He was the driver of the lead vehicle, a huge six-wheel armoured truck propped with everything from foodstuffs to weapon crates. It made him miss the MAKO. For all the crap it got sometimes for its grav-adjusters it was an amazingly fun thing to drive.

As vohk adressed them, he answered:

"We're good to go boss." "Don't worry, we're not cold, we're simply shivering with pure joy."

Yeah, it was just like home.

Sgt. Jaeto Arat Ishal Terin Tonn Gallik paced back and forth, the frog looking like a furry, amphibious burrito, with his hood pulled up, goggles resting above his large eyes and face mask pulled up, over his grey skin. Shrell, this cold was nearly unbearable.

He tapped slender fingers against his pistol.

"Indeed. Getting on with it would be nice."

Elsewhere, in the closest thing they had to a Command Center, Helena M. Knox was enjoying the duel sensations of the Prefabs heating systems, and the organized chaos at being at the heart of their operation.

She wasn't ashamed to admit she'd spent most of their time here indoors. She certainly wasn't going to allow Delia out there, after all. And someone with authority needed to always be present here, since it was not only HQ but their central communications hub. If the pirates ever made a move on Nartin, it would be here that the warships above them would be informed about it.

They'd only just finished setting up the civillian alarm last week. Now, at the push of a button, she could ensure that every soul in the valley knew there was a danger to them.

She glanced at one of the holoscreens, a map of Nartin and its environs detailed exquisitely up on it. Several blips highlighted the morning patrol, still yet to set out.

Hopefully I won't have to use it today.

Lupin gave a nod and an affirmative from his place. He'd come out here on a favor to these two, and was regretting it.

Warm, sunny, pleasant Rannoch with people he loved and working to rebuild their society into something that might be respected some day.

Cold Thessia with people he sort of liked working with for a cause he knew was good. The fact that he probably owed the two of them his life was enough to keep him from grumbling out loud, and he did his work. Though as soon as they had a replacement tech specialist he was leaving. The suit was, thankfully, good enough to help with the cold, though he found it easier on the batteries to bundle another suit over it for insulation.

He checked the pistol at his side, and his supply of heat sinks. His omni tool was fully charged up, and his suit systems were functioning fine.

He waited for the day to begin, idly browsing his omni tool.

Titus was not at all happy with the cold, and his narrowed eyes and tight face showed it. He was, at least, doing everyone else the courtesy of not opening his mouth.

He grumbled something under his breath in response to Vohk, and gave a small mod, barely a head tilt.

His claw went down to his hip, to feel the pistol, as if reassuring himself that it was still there. After a lingering moment, he jammed his claw back under his armpit, and began making a strange shuck noise somewhere in the back of his throat.

"All good to go sir." He has learned that he was able to adapt to different weathers and climates fairly well while he was on Earth. The cold weather was the least of his problems. The thick clothing he was wearing gave him just enough warmth for his physical body to get through day after day. But he still felt cold inside.

Sure the reaper war left him lost, and the shock of it all still hasn't worn off yet.
But a year ago, he had this naive mentality thinking that this is the war that would finally bring everyone together. And he was right. The galaxy came together to fight back a threat that would have inveitably doomed all sentient life. But he remembered the faces of the survivors. Of how hollow and empty they were in those refugee camps. He remembered how once decent citizens of the galaxy turned into rabid animals due to desperation.
And then the relays opened up, and he heard news of shootings here, massacres there, and how the scum of the galaxy is raiding and murdering survivors for profit.
That is when Neil realized that it will always be the same bullshit, but under different circumstances. But that didn't stop him from doing his part in helping out the survivors. Though it has but a damper on his once cheery mood he had only over a year ago.
He glanced at his team, and the fact that he always ended up bumping into people he knew over some extranet forum. First with the alliance squad he was in during the war, and now with a group that is dedicated to provide aid to survivors just trying to live with whatever they had left. It was rather humorous, and it may have given him a reason to smile. Something he hasn't done in a very long time.

There was another male human among the patrol team. He was fully prepared to face the cold, wearing a thick white parka, insulated pants and boots. He was equipped with a nano-fiber vest and a KB emitter for emergencies. A white balaclava concealed his face, save for a pair of cold brown eyes. It helped with the cold, plus he preferred not to let the troops see the scars underneath. The human watched the team from a short distance away, silently studying them.

The man's name was Everett Maliszewski. He was a Systems Alliance marine, ranked at Operations Chief, and a veteran of the Reaper War. While Gestran needed to instruct the mercs on equipping and adapting to cold environments, he required no such instruction. N7 training already covered that. He would've preferred to be able to equip proper armor so they could bypass this hurdle altogether, but this was a sensitive situation that required somewhat unorthodox measures to resolve. He'd have to deal with it. It was odd to Everett, when he thought about it. When Everett completed N7 training, he struggled to get used to the standard-issue, red-streaked onyx armor. Now he felt naked without it. A full year of constant activity can do that to someone. The armor was stored nearby, just in case. He hoped that he wouldn't need it.

The mercs were undisciplined, but not nearly enough to jeapordize the operation. Despite the fact that it was happening on the asari homeworld, the objectives were pretty basic; secure the refinery, watch for pirate activity, and protect the refugees. He'd had worse. Even so, Everett felt that he had a personal stake in this op. Thessia was one of the worlds he traveled to with 4th SOG during the Reaper War. It was the home of his bondmate's species, and he was there to see it get torn apart by the machines. The Alliance sent him here now as one of the heads of Nartin's security detail. This was a chance to help its recovery. The Ops Chief wasn't going to pass this up.

Once Vohk approached and addressed the group, Everett began his approach. He knew of this man. Mirala spoke highly of him after the war. Apparently, he helped coordinate a major resistance effort against Reaper on the Citadel, saving dozens of lives, including the matriarch's. For that reason, the N7 owed him.

"Ready and waiting," Everett stated tersely. He hadn't gotten much of a chance to speak to Vohk about the defense of the Citadel since he arrived. If this patrol ever allowed them some private time, maybe they could discuss it. The human also glanced over at the salarian bundled up in thick thermal clothing. Like him, he was an official Council representative and one of the co-leaders of this unit, so it wouldn't hurt to speak to him at some point, as well.

A Chilled Gust

Vohkaidin nodded with approval at the rest of the team "Alright then. Today's circuit, we'll make our way south of the city, to the outer farms, and make our way back north. Standard procedure still applies, keep your eyes out, and watch each others backs. We'll also see take a moment to check with the farmers, make sure things are going accordingly. I don't know what they're growing anything down there, but when Nartin gets back on its feet, those crops are going to be big part of it."

Vohk ordered, before opening the hatch of the truck, signalling for everyone to pile in.

The party stow their gear and cargo onto the three transport trucks. It is a perfectly clear day without a cloud in the sky and a fantastic view over the mountains valleys and hills below them as they set out. The air temperature however is bitingly cold with sensors showing around -25 degrees Celcius.



Lupine is driving the lead vehicle with Everett in the top crows nest as a lookout. In the middle Gestran is driving with vohk on lookout and titus as passenger. Bringing up the rear is Neils truck with Wenrum as lookout.

They roll across the frozen valley, keeping up a good tempo. The roads out here are rough and unkept and the ride is a bumpy one, with the passangers being given a good shaking, it is particularly bad for the lookouts, who have to endure the biting cold from their crows nests.

But besides from that it seems to be another unremarkable day.

Lupin drove on quietly, focusing on keeping the vehicle on track as they went along. The vehicle was making a sound that he wasn't entirely comfortable with, and he was going to have to check that out when they got back to base. Which would give him something to do, at the very least.

He respected that this was important. He respected the people in charge. He respected his teammates, especially since he'd ended up shooting husks with some of them. He repeated this over and over, until a sudden jerk from an icy patch hidden under snow snapped him back to his senses. He shook his head, and refocused on his driving.

"Sorry for the bumpy ride." He radioed up to Everett. "Anything of interest?" he asked, checking the GPS and adjusting slightly to stay on course.

"You're doing fine man, keep it up."

Gestran was trying to keep up a decent level of speed as they swept over the great plain, avoiding bumping into lupine in front as they went along. This was fairly boring though, to maintain focus you needed to relax a bit sometimes. Fortunatly he'd come prepared.

With a grin that many of his friends would recognize, gestran activated his radio mic speaking to the rest of the group.

"Hello ladies, gentlemen and assorted aliens." "You may have noticed I've been spending a bit of extra time in these lovely boltbuckets of ours." "As we all know, they rather lack what we'd all consider essential features but fear not, I've rectified one of these errors." "If you look in the corners you may observe some new boxy things that weren't there yesterday.

He brings up his omnitool.

I'll demonstrate them in a sec, but first I'd like to give a shout out to our resident almost-but-not quite celebrity Neil, my old squadmate in the alliance, who is currently admiring the wonder that is the back of my truck. Without him, this would not be possible."

He presses in a command and suddenly the speakers starts roaring.

"This is from a new york concert he gave back in the day, I give you; empire is one!"

The slow metal travelballad works it out to the refrain where you can clearly hear neils voice thundering:

We are justice fighters with faces of fire
Many walk away, but we stand firm
We are justice fighters with faces of fire
Our decisions affect our descendants
We are justice fighters with faces of fire
Skyscrapers, Earthmovers, Ground Breakers
Our footsteps, bringing purpose, changing history
Skyscrapers, Earthmovers, Ground Breakers
Our footsteps, bringing purpose, changing history!


"You have NO idea how far I had to dig to find this shit man!"

"Still the same old dingus I see." Neil said to himself out loud. He was trying really hard for his rebuttal, but simply gave up on it and concentrated on the road.

He decided to attempt to change the subject with the passenger he currently had.

"Hey, how are you holding up over there?" He learned that acknowledging someone's existence is a key essential to build healthy alliances and bridges. He might as well start talking a little with the Salarian.

Oh boy. From his lookout, the wind and cold were terrible but he kept at it, his training making him nothing if not vigilant. His eyes darted around their surroundings from behind his dark goggles. Hidden by his face mask, he frowned slightly at the music running over the comm. Wasn't terrible music, but it was a distraction from their observations. He took a moment to knock his gloved hands together in an attempt to warm them slightly, as Neil asked his question.

"Doing well, human. Thank you. As well as can be out here, anyway. All clear at the moment though. Would not have thought I'd be visiting the frigid regions of Thessia before now." a pause as he scans the area once more. "Wish we could wear our own armor. Solve the cold problem. Gallik Tonn, by the way. Do not think we've had the occasion to speak before now." He shivered and shrank back into his hood as he kept watch.

At least his companions seemed friendly for the most part. A hostile environment and hostile team mates would have made this trip even less desirable.

Back at Camp Cobalt Helena noted their progress, as three blip son the holomap steadily making their way down to the southern farms.

"Jimmy can you do me a favor and forward me the latest meteorological data from the environment satellites? I'd like to make sure the patrol doesnt run into a snowblind out there."

Muck requested, eyeing the two mountains and the southern pole beyond them. Last thing they needed was a storm making its way up from the south.

Vohkaidin didn't say anything about the music for a bit, instead choosing to admire the Thessian tundra. The scattered green hidden beneath the pearlescent white, showing that the forest was still alive, even as it endured the winter chill.

Just like the people here. And elsewhere. We just have to endure the chill until spring comes along.

it was worth being gussied up to witness it. Still, they had a job to do.

"Gestran turn it down a bit, man. Last thing I want on my epitaph is 'Killed by pirates because he couldn't hear their ship over the music'"

He grumbled, as wiping a bit of snow off his visor as the wind picked up a bit.

Everett manned the MG mounted on top of Lupin's vehicle. There were no unknown contacts in sight, so the human relaxed a bit, leaning forward a bit with an arm crossed over the top of the gun. The clear weather and relaxing view certainly helped with that. As cold as it was, he certainly preferred northern Thessia to Klensal. It almost reminded him of home... a winter day in Wisconsin.

"Clear as could be up here... hell of a view, ain't it?" Everett responded to the quarian, "And don't worry, this is downright mild compared to my ride on Earth."