Four years before the events of the first chapter

“Of all the places to run away to, why choose the coldest emptiest continent on the planet?” Tony complained.

“That’s what makes it the perfect place to hide.” Camila Rosenthal said, her voice flat and devoid of all emotion.

The two soldiers had been on the southernmost continent for only a few hours and Tony already hated it. It was late at night so the temperatures had dropped way below comfortable levels.

Why were they in Antarctica? Why did Camila choose Tony of all people to accompany her, when there are nine other A rankers at the council’s disposal?

The answer to the first question was simple. They were sent to hunt an escaped scientist named Jonathan Ross, who was working on a secret project for the council. They had been informed that Mr. Ross went against the councils wishes and ran away with his research which was apparently so important they sent some of their highest ranking soldiers. However, Camila and Tony weren’t told what that research was exactly.

The answer to the second question was not quite as simple. Tony wasn’t Camila’s first choice. Apparently, she tried to get the other A rankers, but some of them were already on their own separate missions and the rest had been injured during a training incident.

Tony wondered what kind of training could possibly leave several A rankers bedridden.

Tony dragged himself back to reality as he realized that none of that mattered. He was the one who drew the short straw and ended up on the frozen continent. He pulled up his night vision goggles and scanned the frozen planes before.

They had received coordinates from the council, these coordinates showed Mr. Ross’s possible whereabouts, but was nothing for kilometres and the only signs of civilization nearby were a few beacons used for various scientific research purposes.

A few minutes passed and there was still nothing suspicious. Then Tony’s eyes landed on a small flickering white light. He wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was actually there, so he brushed of some of the frost that had built up on his googles, but the flickering lights were still there.

“A-1, look over there. I’m not sure what it is yet, but for something to be out here in the first place counts as suspicious, right?” Tony said as he headed Camila his googles. She took the googles silently and looked in the direction that Tony had pointed out. She comically rotated her head as she surveyed the surrounding area.

None of Camila’s beauty was diminished by the fact that she was wearing thick winter clothes. She was a few inches taller than Tony was, but she had curves in all the right places. Her black hair sat just above her waist and it sharply contrasted with the blue white camouflage clothes we wore.

She was Tony’s superior in almost every way. She was cold, efficient and drop dead gorgeous. How could Tony possibly have a shot with someone like her? He didn’t know.

But still, shouldn’t I try? Tony thought.

“You’re right. It’s suspicious. Let’s go.” Camila said flatly as she walked towards the flickering lights which were several meters to the south. Fortunately for the two of them the terrain was relatively flat, this made walking several times easier.

After walking for a few minutes, they finally found the source of the flickering light. It looked like an ordinary survey beacon which looked like toasters on poles with flickering lights on top.

Tony assumed that the rogue scientist was using the beacon to mark the surrounding area.

Meanwhile Camila walked past the beacon and brushed the snow under her feet, revealing concrete.

“Mmm.” She sounded off. Tony was curious as well.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a bunker. The entrance should be near here, but how did a rogue scientist have all this prepared? Something’s not right.” Tony asked.

Camila ignored him and walked a few paces away from the beacon where she knelt over something.

Tony followed and clearly saw some sort of handle hidden in the snow. Camila reached out to pull it, but Tony stopped her. He realised that there might be a trap waiting for them.

They were chasing an escaped scientist after all and Tony didn’t want to risk humanity’s greatest weapon getting injured.

“Take a few steps back. Could be a trap.” Tony cautioned and Camila complied.

After making sure that Camila was a few meters away, Tony pulled the handle and it emerged from its casing in the ground. The handle was attached to a metal hatch hidden under the snow and so as he lifted the handle, the hatch also rose. As the hatch opened, a warm plume of air rose from the interior and slapped Tony in the face, slightly melting the ice that had accumulated on his brows.

I don’t think I’ve ever been happy in my life before! Tony cried internally.

After savouring the warm air, tony gently let go of the hatch once it was fully open. Within the narrow entrance was a ladder, which Tony proceeded to descend.

“Is it alright for me to come as well?” Camila asked from above.

“Yeah, look’s clear.” Tony still wasn’t sure about it, but he had made it this far without being blown to pieces. Plus, Tony was a long range combat expert whilst Camila was well versed is every aspect of combat. Having her in the confines of this bunker would be wise.

The descended into a large tunnel with rails in it. Tony was starting to believe even less that this was the work of some random rogue scientist.

Whoever this Jonathan Ross was, he had been planning this for years. Tony really hated it when things got unnecessarily complicated and this mission, Tony knew, was undoubtedly going to get complicated.

The two chose the path towards out right and headed deeper into the tunnel, only to find a metal door blocking them from traveling any further.

Tony realized that neither he nor Camila had any explosive equipment. Actually, all they had was Tony’s tactical assault rifle and Camilla’s handgun, which made Tony sigh in defeat. He wanted to call in the mission as a failure and go back to home base, where warm coffee and TV awaited him. But he had a job to do, failure to complete his mission would mean he'd have to face the wrath of the council and that was slightly worse than freezing to death in Antarctica.

“Well this sucks. Let’s go see what’s on the other side.” Tony suggested, but Camila ignored him. She walked over to the door and placed her gloved hand on it. It looked like it was made of steel and even though Camila and Tony’s bodies were heavily modified, punching through it was not advisable and probably impossible.

“That will not be necessary.” Camila said.

Then suddenly, Tony heard a loud sound coming from the door, which now had a huge dent right in the middle.

Tony didn’t even have time to react, because several more explosive sounds came from the door and he watched helplessly as the steel warped and bent inwards.

Tony assumed that Camila was punching the door, but he simply couldn’t see her moving. It was incredibly scary, watching her destroy military grade steel with just her hands.

After a few seconds of non stop heart attack inducing tremors, Camila finally stopped, revealing a jarring hole that was once a door.

“Let’s go.” She calmly said.

Tony nodded slowly as he followed Camila into the hole.

So this was the power of the councils highest ranked soldier. She was a walking blizzard of death. A chaotic blizzard, No other name could fit what Tony saw. Fortunately, His fear was soon replaced by surprise as he stepped into what looked like a huge hanger. But the hangers size was of little consequence. It was the dimly lit contents that sent a chill up Tony’s spine.

What he saw was dozens of human like robots, but they were more skeletal. Their metallic limbs and various other components had a dark grey colour, making them that much spookier.

Tony walked up to one of the robots. It looked really well made. The devices that were supposed to be its eyes looked like high grade military sensors and the actuators all around its body looked like the same stuff you find in space grade equipment.

That’s it! Tony exclaimed internally.

Whoever Jonathan Ross was, Tony had a few questions for him. Tony and Camila searched for any clues that could point as to what purpose the dark robots possibly serve, but then suddenly the lights above them lit up.

[I was wondering when they would send their hounds after me, but to think that they would send Camila Rosenthal herself, I truly am flattered.]

A voice came from various speakers scattered in the hanger. Tony looked around for what could be a door leading deeper into the bunker.

[I’m sure you’re wondering what purpose those robots serve. Well, we do have some time before we all die, so I’ll enlighten you. Those are highly advanced machines that operate using an extremely rare type of energy.]

As the voice spoke, Tony heard low humming noises come from all the robots. The hairs on his back stood at once and he could feel the energy oozing out of each of them, two hundred or so in total.

[For the longest time I have been researching said energy, but I had never been able to absorb or contain it. That is, until very recently. What is this energy you may ask? Well, I’m not entirely sure myself, but I know that its potential is almost limitless. We could provide power to all of humanity with it, but those bastards on the council wanted me to keep it under wraps so that they can horde it like they do with everything else! Mankind is killing this planet and the council is watching as people die and cities burn! Why? Because they believe mankind is not ready to inherit the knowledge that didn’t belong to them in the first place! Anyway, I’m getting side-tracked.]

The crazy scientist rambled as the robots continued to heat up.

[I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed that the robots are heating up quite considerably.]

He was right. The temperature in the hanger had already exceeded that of the human body. If it wasn’t for the fact that Tony and Camila were modified to withstand heat, they wouldn’t be standing so comfortably.

[You see, the answer to that is quite simple. In order to absorb an amount of the divine energy I seek, I need a device capable of forcible pulling it from the recesses of space. Within every one of those robots is a special device I called a Calcarea battery. You’re probably not going to understand most of this but its nice to share your scientific accomplishments with someone before you die.]

Mr. Ross continued to ramble but Tony was starting to get very impatient and very hot. He walked over to the hole Camila made for fresh air, If he could find any..

What was Camila doing?

Well, she was standing completely still. Her expressionless face still hadn’t changed.

“Camil- A-1, I have a feeling those robots are bad news. My combat usefulness is greatly reduced when indoors. Let’s run for the exit. We’ll take care of the scientist after we’ve dealt with all of them.” Tony pleaded, but to his dismay, she remained completely still.

“No need.” She calmly replied.

Crap! Not this again! Tony screamed internally. His heart wasn’t prepared for any more of Camila’s moves.

Every instinct Tony had told him that staying in that hanger would end badly for him..

[Good luck Camila. Oh, and you too A-10.]

I have a name too, you know! Tony thought, but just as the speaker went silent, the robots started moving. They’re movements we jittery and uncoordinated. They shook and twisted for a few seconds before all of them simultaneously tuned their heads towards Camila. They’re eyes suddenly flared with purple light and they all ran towards her, all two hundred of them.

“Camila this way!” Tony shouted, but she was on the other side of the hanger and two hundred robots separated her from the exit.

Tony fired several bullets at the robots but they all just bounced off.

Not good! Tony thought.

Then all hell broke loose.

In an instant he saw something rapidly coming at him. He dodged, only to find that it was the head of a robot. Tony turned back to face Camila and saw that she was holding her combat knife. The next robot to approach her lost both its arms, Before losing its head, then falling onto the ground. This repeated a couple of more times before the robots realised that they wouldn’t win in one on one combat and so they started charging at her in groups of five.

Tony saw them brutally torn to pieces by some invisible blade.

What was she doing? Tony wondered.

He couldn’t keep up with any of it. He enhanced his vision to as far as it go with his augment [HORUS LENS] and focused intently on the battle before him and what he saw made his knees shake.

Camila was standing over a small mound of broken robot parts as she gracefully swung her blade at one of the incoming groups of robots. It was almost beautiful to watch as they all got their torsos ripped to shreds one smooth elegant motion at a time.

She dug into the chest of one, before rapidly switching to another and hacking off the head of the next one. The only reason Tony could see any of this was because he was pushing his augment to it’s limits.

Truthfully, Tony had only just finished his first mission as an A ranker.

Was he even worthy of witnessing the slaughter that was taking place in front of him?

He felt something on his checks and felt something rather wet.

Am I crying? Tony wondered.

No! Of course not! He denied internally.

The sounds of clashing metals intensified as the battle got more intense. More robots ran to their deaths and this point all Tony felt was pity for those things.

After several moments of none stop mayhem, some of the robots decided that it was pointless trying to kill Camila and so they turned to Tony, who couldn’t help but feel that he was being underestimated. He dropped his rifle and pulled out his combat knife.

He was still an A ranked soldier, so he dashed forward and stabbed into the necks of one of the robots. It took almost all his strength to insert his blade into its neck and even more strength to rip of its head.

Camila had done this to more than a hundred of them, meaning he needed to catch up. So Tony took calm deep breaths and he could feel his heavily augmented muscles drink up the oxygen he gave them.

For an instant Tony was moving at a speed close to that of Camila, but this came at a cost. Tonnes of lactic acid would build up and nutrients would be used up, leaving him almost completely defenceless afterwards.

But he didn’t care.

He slashed into several robots and he used his combat knife gouge out chucks of their metal bodies. He did this repeatedly, switching targets in an instant. Focusing on using the little energy he had to destroy as many of them as possible.

.

..

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally destroyed the last robot.

Tony was gasping for air at this point and his vision was so blurry he couldn’t even see his hands. All the muscles in his body ached and his limbs were numb, but it was worth it. Because for a brief moment, he was able to be on the same plane as Camila. That’s all that mattered to him.

Tony heard footsteps approaching him. He raised his knife and turned to face whoever or whatever was coming, but it was useless. His vision was all but gone.

“A-10, are you alright?” Tony heard a cold monotone voice. Tears starting welling in his eyes.

Because of the dust particles, obviously! Not because he was proud of himself for stepping into the realm of perfect combat effectiveness just like Camila.

“Camila!” Tony’s voice came out an octave higher than he intended. He slowly walked over to where her voice came from and stumbled over some robot corpses before bumping into something rather soft.

“Are you still fit for duty, A-10?”

Tony realised that he had face planted straight into Camila’s chest. He almost didn’t want to get up from there, but he also knew that one wrong move and Camila would take his adventurous hands as trophies.

Tony moved away from her, wiped his eyes, which restored his vision slightly and replied with a rather weak voice.

“I’m ready for everything but combat, hehe.”

“Understood. Let’s continue with our mission then. Should we encounter any more robots, you are to retreat.” She ordered.

Tony wished he could lie to himself and think that she was truly worried about him, but she probably wanted to minimize casualties. He sat down on a small pile of robot parts and took out his small ration bag.

After taking several bites of his field rations and drinking some water, he had managed to restore a certain amount of his energy, but he was still recovering.

“Let’s go.” Camila said and the two set of to the back of the hanger, there they found a door. They entered cautiously and moved down several corridors and halls before arriving at a room which had a glass window next to it’s only door. Tony looked into the window and saw a rather messy room filled with piles of paper and various other items.

On a table, in the rooms centre, sat a golden orb. It about the size of an orange, but could feel the amount of energy that thing gave off, even on the other side of the wall.

Finally, Tony’s eye fell on a man standing behind the table, tinkering with the orb.

“Wow! I can honestly say that I am surprised. I’ve been alone down here for a while, so i guess I’m pretty easily entertained, but that was phenomenal! As expected of the elite of the elites. Or maybe I should call you Kynigoi? Yes! Fitting, very fitting. The word means Hunter in Greek, I think… and seeing how the two of you hunted me down perfectly, I’m sure there is no problem with that title. Unfortunately, only those in the afterlife will know of your bravery as I have rigged this bunker to explode. Boom, hahaha!” Jonathan Ross laughed hysterically as he swivelled around in his chair.

“You maniac!” Tony cursed.

“What? I’m the crazy one for not wanting to share my research? This is exactly what that council of tools is doing! Tell me, the technology in your bodies, don’t you think that it would benefit all of mankind?” Jonathan asked.

“Um… that is not up to me to decide.” Tony answered hesitantly.

Why is he yelling at me? Tony wondered.

Camila was Tony’s superior. Shouldn’t all his ravings be directed at her?

“Then you are a fool, Tony Martinez.” Johnathan sighed.

Suddenly the ground beneath Tony began to tremble.

[Self destruct sequence in progress]

An automated voice reported.

“The price for your foolishness shall be a quick death.” He waved at Tony in dismissal. Tony looked at Camila for answers but her expression still hadn’t changed. Of all things, this was one of her only flaw.

“What should be do?” Tony asked her, but she looked at Tony, her deep brown eye’s remained unshaken.

“We’re leaving.” She said in her usual manner. Tony didn’t argue and tuned to leave.

“What about that guy?” he pointed his thumb at the mad scientist.

Camila followed Tony as they left.

“If he dies here anyway, then our mission will be completed either way. No?”

Tony let out a weak sigh.

“That makes sense, I guess.” He said.as they ran out of the inner area of the bunker and out into the banger where piles of broken robots littered the hangers floor. The earth shook again, prompting the two to run even faster.

After entering the tunnel from which they originally came, they emerged from the hatch and continued running north to one of our extraction points. Once the two reached the extraction point, Tony realized that Camila’s gear and coat had been torn to shreds in the fight against the robots, leaving her in only her tank top which revealed her rather well endowed chest.

Tony couldn’t leave her as she was, so he removed his jacket and handed it to her.

“Here.” He shyly offered, but Camila tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“But we’re both capable of surviving in these conditions.” She said blankly.

“Yes, that’s true. But- but your bosom- its exposed.” Tony said reluctantly, which made her look down at her chest.

She spotted several rips and tears that exposed more than what was meant to be seen.

“Really?” She raised her left eyebrow at me and crossed her arms over her chest. This was the first time during this entire mission that he had seen her express herself, so he was taken aback.

“I didn’t mean to look, of course! But any decent gentleman would offer a woman his coat of he saw her in a state such as yours. Ahem!” He let out a fake cough to mask his shame, then suddenly he heard a massive explosion coming from the south.

That madman, Jonathan Ross, actually did it. He blew himself up. Tony thought.

Why did the council want to lock away his research? Tony wondered.

Why wasn’t the council actively trying to help mankind?

Why did they operate under the cover of the shadows?

Tony didn’t know the answers to any of those questions and thinking about them any further was just going to cause many headaches in the future. Besides, Tony had learnt at a very young age not to interfere in the business others.

Soon after the flames died and the ashes fell, the sun gently rose and lit up the frozen wasteland, except the terrain now had a gigantic black scar.

The smoke had long since clared and the sounds of an approaching helicopter filled the area.

The two boarded that helicopter and made their way to one of the councils facilities on the Antarctic continent. No one knows exactly how, but soon after the events of that mission took place, rumours about Camila Rosenthal’s destructive capabilities spread like wild fire. The soldiers all began calling her the Chaos Blizzard. Some of the nameless soldiers also started referring to themselves as the “Kynigoi", the hunters.