Some changes to the Lore:

-1 game day is equal to 3 real days. (Meaning the Storm happened around the 4th Month)

Chapter 5: Home

It had been around an hour since the Rockwing joined the rest of the hunter fleet. Adriane kept the ship at pace with the others, moving in a diamond formation with the other air barges filled with meat and forage. The only thing seen below them was white, either from the ever-lasting blanket of snow or rolling clouds. Yet the barges continued to move through the cold air without stopping or hesitation.

Despite the rising sun, the cold breeze continued to hound the hunters. They either sat by the metal seats attached the deck and walls of the ship or around the compacted engine furnace. Jackson was one those who remained standing by the windowed walls on the starboard, watching the brown, metallic ships cut through the thin clouds that whisked past them.

There are a few things Jackson appreciated since the start of the Frost. These small moments of silence was one of them. The howls from the wind seemed to fade away as he gazed into the clouded, blue sky. A much more relaxing coolness touches his face as the ship moves through the sky. Before, only nobles and colonists were able to experience flight, with the latter only going through it once. Since they deployed the hunting ships, it is something he has reveled in almost every night and morning.

He looked away for a while, taking a quick glance at the deck to observe his fellow crewmates. Syndey was sleeping soundly beside his empty chair, her back against the deck's wall white sitting straight up with a little slouch. Wesley was still sleeping, just in a more humorous position than Syndey. He was straight off snoozing on the floor, head prompt up against one of the sand-weights, with his mouth wide open. Beside him, Friedrich and Mac were also sleeping while sitting down on the seats by the opposite wall of the ship.

Russell was awake as Jackson was, and kept a vigilant eye on the rest of the crew and the air space outside the ship. Jenny took a break away from tending the engine to check on Paul, who was developing signs of a slight fever, shivering and a warm head, to add to his injuries. Adriane continued to steer the ship through the wooden wheel in his hand and claw while Anna stood beside her brother, looking through a telescope towards the direction of the fleet.

Jackson walked towards the Beaks twins, with a slight limp on his healing leg.

"Looks like all went well today." The hunter said as he approached the twins. Neither looked towards him, but a trained eye can see that they definitely heard him.

"Almost. It seems the Providence has had a poor night. I only spotted a few hares on their catch, not to mention they were signaling for injuries when we regrouped with the fleet" Anna stated her observations, turning her telescope to the ship she mentioned, around a hundred meters from the Rockwing. She can see the red and white signal flag still hoisted on the flag pole of a deck with one or two rushing crewmen going to and from stationary figures covered by what appears to be blankets.

"I managed to radio in with their ship's pilot. On their way home, half of their hunters were walking over a hollow iceberg that was pushed into the land by the storm." Adriane explained with sadness. "The weight of their catch brought the whole thing down. No one died, thank God, but I heard one of them impaled his foot on a jagged icicle. They stopped the bleeding by clamping down the leg from the top, but knee down, the leg is beyond saving."

"That's the third major accident we had since we went back to the Frostlands and it's only been a week." Jackson noticed with worry. "Things like this used to happen only every month or so. And that was including when we used to travel on foot."

"The Storm obviously managed to change our environment as well. Perhaps in insane and dangerous ways we can't think off." Anna stated darkly.

"We were basically blind to everything that happened outside the city when it came. Who knows what else it hid under all that snow?" Adriane added to his sister's statement. "Even with the city's crater walls, we still got winds reaching a hundred kilometers an hour. I can only imagine what it was like on the surface."

Jackson gave a solemn sigh.

"If this keeps up, I don't know if the casualties we sustain every hunting expedition will be worth it."

"It will always be worth it." Anna replied back with firmness as she turned towards the male hunter, lowering her telescope. "The food that allows the survival of our city will always be worth it despite the dangers. You and I both know deaths from hunters in previous expeditions didn't stop us before and they definitely won't be the last."

"Then I hope the engies got something special for us with all these new hazards." Jackson replied. "I love excitement as much as the next guy, but one kilometer high cliffs of sharp ice is a definite red flag for me."

"I don't think the engineers have anything to add to us. It's just all bad fortune with all that has happened. We'll adapt, as usual."

"Still. A stronger rope or a gadget to detect stuff like that before we step into the snow would be something I definitely would get and appreciate.

Before the conversation continued, Adriane squinted his blue eyes behind slightly fogged goggles as he spotted something through the dark shadows of the clouds. It appeared to be a faint glow that pulsed on and off."

"Hey Anna, I need you to zoom in on the horizon, eleven o'clock."

His sister did so without haste, looking through the telescope while the pilot grabbed a handheld radiophone by the helms surface.

"That has to be the beacon, Adriane. Bright lights, the spinning beams, the usual." Anna said to her brother who gave a nod in reply.

"Got it." Pressing his thumb on a button by the side of the radio, he brought it close to his face. "This is Rockwing to Genesis. Do you hear me, Genesis? Over."

Around a second has passed after he let go of the radio's button. Immediately, a voice came through pilot's speakers.

"Copy, Rockwing. We hear you loud and clear. Over."

Adriane held the button again before replying.

"We have visual on what appears to be the beacon, North-west bound of the fleet. Request confirmation. Over."

A few more seconds passed. Around ten or fifteen. The pilot's helm remained in silence before the voice broke through."

"Copy, Rockwing. We confirm that is the beacon. We are coordinating the shift in the fleet's course. Stay in formation, over."

At the front of the formation was the largest of the fleet's barges, The Genesis. Being twice the height of the Rockwing and three time the length, the whale hunter ship turned slowly towards the re-occurring glow. Its actions were soon followed by the other ships in the formation. At the left-most corner of the formation, the Rockwing took a similar change in course. As they moved closer, the faint glows started becoming brighter and brighter, soon becoming bright beams of light they could see from miles around.

As all ships followed the light beams that penetrated through the clouds, they approached closer and closer to its source. And there it was. The beams of light lead to a large, spinning lantern inside a large hot air leather buoy, tied to the ground below with a thick chain.

"There's the beacon, boys and girls. Hold on tight as I bring this girl down." Adrianne announced to the crew as he pulled another lever. Steam released from the side of the Rockwing as it started descending through clouds, revealing much more than just snow and vapor to the humans in the ship.

The airships lowered themselves into a gigantic crater in the snow. Its massive walls of ice around the crater provided protection to whatever resided inside from both hostile razor winds and external, smaller threats such as aggressive wildlife. Jackson turned his eyes away from the fleet and looked down at the city below them in wonder.

"I could do this a hundred more times and it will never get old."

New London was a figurative oasis in the vast desert of the arctic. Rather than water as the critical resource, the central generator, as massive and powerful as the smoke that rose from its hellish exhaust, was the beating heart of the city that gave life-sustaining heat. Heat was the only thing that kept the people of New London safe from the chilling air of their frozen world, being pumped across hundreds upon hundreds of meters of pipes along the roads and into houses, workplaces, hospitals, cookhouses, and every part of the steel-lined city. The large machine also generated electricity for the citizens of new London, illuminating the glass windows with a glowing yellow that brought life to the dull brown metal and wood structures.

At the moment, the only place with the signs of occupancy was the housing districts, both the central district and the south-east district. At the center of the city lied the main housing district, heated solely from the generator itself. With a few infirmaries and cookhouses, a large percentage of New London lived and slept in the warmth of the city's core. From the ship's deck, Jackson spotted a number people already rising up and getting ready for the day. A few were heading to one of the cookhouses that they passed over, ready to receive the breakfast for them and their families. Along with a one or two metal caged fighting pits, the most notable structures were the tall and watchful guard towers that were lined with the red and black striped banner of the Order. The bright spotlights that came from the towers sometimes head up and scanned over the ship's belly before pointing back down to earth.

It was far from the start of the workday, so people were either still asleep or eating breakfast with their families and roommates. So the western engineering district, the northern farming district, and majority of the industrial districts remained still in the eyes of Jackson, with the only signs of operation being from open windows of the infirmaries and the gentle, moving silhouettes of the titanic automatons.

Despite flying above the city, the announcements from the agitators placed all across the city still were able to reach up all the way to the barges.

"Citizens of New London! Please note that the morning assembly starts at nine today! The work shift starts at around ten o'clock in the morning afterwards. Take this time to rest."

"Huh. That's odd. Why so late today?" Jackson wondered curiously. The morning assembly was usually at seven, while the workday generally starts at eight.

"Well, it is the… memorial ceremony for the sixty." Anna paused in the middle, remembering what today was for and what it meant to the hunter across her.

"Our condolences, Jackson. We know we said it before, but still." Adriane said solemnly, speaking out for the thoughts he and his sister shared.

Jackson gave both of them an appreciative smile, looking away from them at back at the city.

"Thanks, Adriane. Anna. I'm just happy they won't be forgotten anytime soon."

Passing over the north-side farming district, the fleet began to land in a large compound that was half-hidden in a high-roofed cave on the ice wall of the city. As the Rockwing slowly and gently moved inside the compound with the rest of the fleet, a much more blackened, rocky wall was revealed inside, rather than the chilling bluish white ice. The stony floor was filled with hangars of varying shapes, with the largest of them being an open landing pad at the center of the cave. The Genesis slowed down and started a majestic halt to its operation, touching metal support clamps with gentleness and power.

As with the other smaller barges, the Rockwing broke off formation to head to a hangar marked with a large, painted number four by its roof. The hangar's opening was only slightly larger than the ship, making it a comfortable fit for the approaching air barge.

Adriane pulled a lever by his side, which followed by a release of steam by the ships steel balloon and a steady descent through the wide open metal doors. With a few more maneuvers from the both the pilot and the ship, the Rockwing landed firmly unto the strong metallic supports that kept it suspended a few feet from the ground. The shaky vibrations the ship made upon landing stirred the sleeping hunters, with Syndey being the first to wake up with a groggy expression on her face.

She stood up and took a stretch with her arms, locking her hands and pushing them all the way up while giving a yawn.

"Urgh. That's was a good nap. Guess we're back home?" The spotter said half asleep.

"Nah. We're back in London. Eternal summer just came up. We actually saw something green this time." Jackson joked as he approached his friend, eliciting an annoyed grunt and a shove at his arm.

Jenny was starting to deactivate the engine when she was startled by a loud shriek came from the hangar's floor.

"Jennifer Arthurs! You bring that ramp down right now! Do you hear me?!"

Jackson can see Adriane nervously looking back at the Rockwing's entrance platform, where a slightly trembling Jenny was moving a hand slowly towards a lever.

"Jenny, n-n-no don't do that yet. We can still have t-time to think this t-through." Adrianne tried to reason with a little stutter in his voice.

The only reply he got was a guilty and apologetic smile from the engine operator as she pushed the lever that opened brought a metallic ramp out of the ship and move downwards towards the floor.

Right in front of two, heavy-duty leather mechanic boots. The moment the ramp touched the ground, a boot lifted up and stomped on it with a loud clang, followed by another one and another one. The clinging sound made by the tools that swung either at her belt or on her bag added to the metal serenade of doom that made its way to the Rockwing's deck.

Jenny step-backed a little quickly from the Rockwing's entrance as an irritated red-headed engineer made her up the deck with annoyed scowl on her face. Her light chocolate eyes scanned the ship's helm before closing on a hunched figure by the steering wheel. Every step she took towards the pilot made him feel a bit smaller every time. Even Russell and Anna took one step away from Adriane as he was slowly approached by a figure who was an entire head shorter than the two were.

"Beaks."

Jackson thought the chilly feeling that came with her voice was colder than the first day of the Storm.

"I'm thankful that he saved us, but I think I'd rather face the polar bear again than be in Adriane's shoes." He whispered to Syndey, who only nodded back while watching the scene in front of them with great caution and interest.

Adriane nervously turned around to see a very unimpressed face glaring right at him

"M-M-Marcy! Hey! How a-a-are you? Ice- I mean n-nice of you to greet us as w-we got home!" The pilot said with a masking joyfulness that was betrayed by a really bad stutter.

"What did you do to my ship?" Marcy asked monotonously, completely ignoring his first statement.

"T-t-the s-ship? Nothing! We are perfectly fine. Nothing out of the ordinary! Absolutely nothing!"

"Idiot! Do you think I cannot recognize engine overdrive when I see it? Do you know how much black exhaust was coming out of the ship's vents?!" She loudly scolded him, making Adriane bring his arms up in defense as he took a step back for every step she took front.

"Oh come on! These are coal powered air barges! They release smoke all the time! Coal powered! Smoke, you know?"

"Not that much exhaust! A little more and this ship would be blowing off as much as the generator itself!"

"Wait! I can explain!" Adriane looked around for the two people who were the reason for the emergency drive so that they can get him out of the hot water, only to find them hastily going down the ramp.

Along with the rest of the crew.

Leaving him alone with the fuming bomb in front of him.

"Oh we are getting such a rant from Adriane later for leaving him with Marcy." Syndey warned with laughter as they got off.

The duo moved to the hangar controls to close the large opening on the roof of the hangar. The rest of the crew went out back to help unload while Jenny and Russell held a weakened Paul on their shoulders.

"Better him than Marcy." Joked Jackson. "That I can at least stand without cowering in fear."

"Nice to see the Rockwing crew as rowdy as usual."

A voice from in front of them caught their attention. A man with a grey winter coat approached them with quiet, but powerful steps. His brown eyes looked towards them with seriousness, but there was a lax atmosphere seen in his posture.

"Foreman Relic, sir." Both gave a salute to greet their superior before he waved them down in dismissal.

"Runner. McSpring. Good to see you on the ground." He said with a tired but relieved voice. He paused as he heard feminine shouts coming from the Rockwing. His eyes turned to the sound before closing them slowly and giving a sigh.

"Avan is scolding Beaks again, isn't she?" The foreman said as he stressfully pressed his nose bridge.

"He had to set the engines on overdrive to quickly respond to our distress beacon." Syndey explained with a little embarrassment.

"Heh. She'll go easy on him with that reason. Still, she's been attached to that ship ever since she was assigned as a ship engineer, so it might be a long talk for him nonetheless." Foreman Relic remembered with a chuckle, before realizing the full explanation of Syndey. "Wait, why was a distress beacon fired?"

"Syndey and I were under attack from a polar bear. Almost got us good if it wasn't for the others." Jackson answered calmly.

"Any injuries on your part?" Relic asked with concern, adding to the shift from a formal expression to a more critical one.

"Other than a sprained leg, nothing to worry about, sir. Almost like it isn't there anymore." Jackson explained with a slight pat on his injury.

"Still, be sure to check with the infirmary today. Sickness is something we can't afford with our hunters." The Foreman said with a sigh of relief.

Even with his high position, Thomas Relic always had their back. A hunter himself before the barges, he was promoted to foreman of three ship crews, including the Rockwing. He helped plan locations for hunting, kept in check with the scouting corps for new information, and accomplished important paper work that gave his crews a lot of leeway.

"Paul, on the other hand, got pretty-"

"Foreman Relic! Foreman Relic!"

Jackson was interrupted by one of the maintenance workers who ran towards them with urgency. When he got to them, he took a few seconds to catch his breath before giving a closed letter to the foreman. He took it in one hand and scanned the contents of the letter, eyes going wide in alert as he finished

"Call all the personnel of Hangars Two and Six to the courtyard immediately!" He quickly told the worker, who gave a salute in response.

"Yes, sir." The runner said before running out into the compound.

Foreman Relic looked towards the two, who caught wind of the potential urgency of his orders.

"Runner, McSpring, see to it that your crew is assembled in the courtyard! Now!" He firmly ordered before running out of the hangar as well.

"Yes, sir!" They shouted at his retreating figure. The hunter and spotter started moving quickly back to the Rockwing.

"What's going on?" Syndey asked with hard breathing as she moved.

"I'm not sure." Replied Jackson with a similar breath. They ran towards their crewmates, who were starting to unload the contents of their ship.

"Guys! We need to get to the courtyard right now!" Jackson shouted at the crew.

"Why? What's the rush? We still got to unload the hunt." Mac asked as he lowered a seal carcass from the net.

"We don't know! But Foreman relic is calling everyone down right now!" Syndey loudly replied at the whole crew, even catching the attention of Adriane and Marcy who were at the deck of the ship.

Mac, Friedrich, Anna, and Wesley dropped the catches in their hands and also ran towards the hangar door. Adriane and Marcy ran down the ramp to join while Jenny helped Russell in placing a blanketed Paul on his back. As they all exited Hangar Four, hunters, engineers, and support staff were all running to the compound entrance, forming a huge crowd at the rocky yard. Other hunters were helping their injured comrades down from their hangars, even some who were completely bloodied like the crewmen of the Providence.

Confusion was still in the faces of the Rockwing's crew as they walked down. Jackson, who was at the front, took a few more steps forward and called out to the running hunters.

"Hey! What's happening?" He asked one who stopped for a moment to reply.

"The Captain! He's in the airbase!" The hunter replied with surprise, as well as a little confusion. It was as if he didn't known why, which was most likely the case.

Jackson gave a nod and the hunter continued his run again. He looked back at his crewmates who were also shocked by the news.

"The Captain? Here?" Anna asked with curiosity.

"Why would the captain be at the hunting hangars?" Wesley asked out-loud

"Who knows? We better get to the courtyard to find out." Jackson said as he gestured to the group to continue moving towards the gathering of hunters at the yard.

The hunter corps, including the new field of engineers who maintained the barges and the support staff who either were for base maintenance or food processing, were a sizable percentage of the New London population. Almost one-fifth of the citizens were involved with the hunters. With automation becoming useful for preventing frostbite during the final days before the Storm, more and more workers were being dedicated to hunting expeditions to stock up on food.

After the Storm, the vacuum of manpower created by a few automatons that were damaged beyond repair was small compared to the work done by the majority that were still functional, so many workers still retained their jobs as hunters. This huge crowd of more than a hundred people was the source of the loud murmuring and whispering, all asking questions of similar inquiry.

"What's Captain Swordfoot doing here?"

"Is this why the morning assembly is going to start late?"

"What could the captain have to say to us?"

"Maybe there's a criminal in our midst."

"Do not speak such rubbish! Have more faith in your fellow hunters."

A man dressed in a black thick winter coat, darker than the greyish coat of the foremen, stood on an elevated foreman platform in front of the crowd. His persona lantern, attached to the side of his waist as the practice of New Londoners so they are always seen in the snow, was reversed pear-shaped like the one everyone else carried, but also had some sharp edges that formed some sort of triangle, forming a shape similar to the symbol of the Order.

Another difference he possessed, other than the red sash that went diagonally across his chest, was a night stick sheathed on his side. On his hand was a megaphone that he brought up to his face.

"Attention, Everyone! The Captain is here!"

From a group of guards that were just dressed like the man on the stage, minus the red sash, a figure stepped out with a radiance of power and respect. His thick, fur-covered boots gave controlled stomps with each step up metal stairs of the platform. Unlike the other black-clad guards, he wore a brown furred winter coat, with a huge mane around the neck area. The most eye-catching garment that he wore was a deep blue ribbon that went all the way from his back at the nape to the front his chest, pinned by a large, brass V-shaped object that actually was the symbol of the Order.

The red-sashed guard took a step back so that man can stand in the middle of platform. The Captain took a step forward then looked at the people in front of him. The white hair on his head and beard waved slightly in the wind, but his blood crimson eyes remained focused and unmoving. His posture was firm but not menacing, giving off an aura of confidence yet unboastful. Then Captain Steven Swordfoot started speaking with a deep, calm voice.

"At ease, hunters of New London. This is not a formal gathering or one of great priori…"

He stopped after spotting something within the crowd. This something was actually someone, and multiple people at that. Some were struggling to stay up, holding on to their fellow hunters like crutches as they shivered in pain. Some were sitting by the side of the crowd with evidence of bloodied wounds, being nursed by a few crewmen. And he could swear that he saw someone, confined in a small stretcher, who was with a missing leg!

"Why are there injured people within the crowd?" Captain Swordfoot darkly asked the red-sashed guard behind, turning around to reveal a scowl on his face. The guard remained unmoving, but there was a slight shiver in his breath.

"Sir, we called all the hunters to attention as soon as we heard you were coming. We made sure everyone was to get here for your- "

"What I have to say is not worth the delay in their treatments, Lieutenant!" The Captain's loud scolding, though still controlled, revealed angry and disappointed emotions.

He pointed to the guards at the left side in front of the stage. "Guards! Escort all the injured to the nearest infirmary with haste!"

The guard section gave a salute before moving towards the crowd, urging the injured personnel to follow them out of the compound. They helped carry stretchers with injured people on them and guided those being supported on the shoulders. Jackson's attention went to Russell, who was carrying Paul on his back.

"I'll go with them to bring Paul to the doctors. Pass on the news to me about whatever the Cap's got for us." His large crewman declared as he stepped from the crowd to follow the convoy of guards and injured hunters.

"Sure thing." Jackson called out to Russell as he left with the others.

He turned his attention back to the captain, who was watching the departing people with concern. He might not agree with the captain on everything, but he admired how the captain prioritizes the health of his citizens.

Once they left the compound gate, the captain returned his attention to the crowd in front of him.

"As I was saying, this is not a formal gathering or one that may not even seem of great importance. But it is to me." He said as he looked upon the hunters with warth.

"First, I want to thank you all in person for the work you do for our city. At night, you become our providers. We would not have the food or clothing that we would need to survive if it wasn't for your daily sacrifice. At daylight, you act as a reserve for our city, whether for emergencies or construction. The city would not survive without this service, and New London is blessed to have citizens like you." Captain Swordfoot claimed with praise as he took a slight bow towards them.

The hunters were surprised at this, some clapping in applause for the captain while other spoke amongst themselves.

"Who knew the Captain actually appreciated our duty?"

"Finally! Some of the recognition we deserve."

"Oh please. The only thing you caught today was a rabbit."

"God bless the Captain!"

He raised his head from the bow and brought his hands up to signal them to calm down. The voices died out and soon attention was all on the captain once more.

"I know you are tired and still have duties to finish. I will soon leave you to your responsibilities in peace. But before I go, I hope to see you all in the assembly later. Not only will we honor the brave souls who sacrificed their lives for our survival, but I will deliver a great news to London that will either bring great hope or confusion to our people." Captain Swordfoot said with an unusual light and excited tone that Jackson never heard before.

The murmuring once again continued, but this time with confusion and curiosity.

"And in the next few days, I will need your help. I tell you this because I believe it is the workers of the hunting corps that will play a crucial role in the next step of our city. Know that I believe in you and all your work and know that the city shares the same belief. Good day and God bless." He ended with gratitude and another humble bow towards the people.

As he rose from his bow and began his descent down the platform, one hunter raised her arm up high, fist clenched towards the heavens.

"Long live Captain Swordfoot!" She cried out towards the departing party of the captain. Others in the crowds shouted with her, raising their hands and cheering as well.

"Long live Captain Swordfoot!"

While the other hunters cheered and conversed loudly with one another, from either pride of being praised by the captain to gossip of what news it could be, Jackson entered deep thought.

Throughout all this time as a society in New London, this was definitely something new. The Captain never spoke of anything with such high praise or positivism. It was always another disappointment at best, or a complete disaster at worst. The bright tone in his voice was pleasant surprise, but still unexpected.

What news could he possibly give that could bring him such joy?

END

The murmuring of the masses continued to grow stronger with each word the captain was saying. That wasn't the only good news? What more could there be?

The Captain held out a roughened parchment in his hand, holding it out for all of New London to see.

"What I have in my hand is the report of the Northern scouting expedition. In here is a detailed description of their findings as they continue to follow and track the Storm. And it is news that I wish to share with you, for it affects you as much as it affects me or any other citizen!

"We have always wondered if we were truly the last of mankind. We were devastated by the news of Winterhold's destruction. We were disheartened by the ruins of Tesla City. Continuously discouraged by the abandoned observatories and the apocalyptic news they contained. And hope continued to fade time and time again for every failed generator site we stumbled upon."

"But let me tell you this, New London. We are no longer alone. We are not to be the Last City on Earth!"

Author's Notes:

- If you want an idea of what is the outfit of Captain Steven Swordfoot, you can watch the Frostpunk Serenity trailer. It is one of my favorites.

- I was supposed to submit this yesterday, but I had a long week filled with exams every day. I will get back to my regular schedule of uploading at friday night soon.

- This was rushed, so I expect a lot of errors in grammar and spelling. Please forgive me and help me spot them.

- I appreciate the feedback and those who either PM me or post reviews on how I can improve. Once again, thank you.