Chapter 3
The Chill

Yukio decided he'd had enough of the oppressive silence, and turned to the rabbits, silently looking them up and down. They didn't look like the natives of this land; they were borderline human, granted, but they were so very different from everyone else. They were very tan in comparison to the natives, who were deathly pale, and a select few were borderline albinos. Not to mention the vibrant hairstyles that the natives had and the rabbits lacked.

Another interesting note was that none of the rabbits had the eyes the natives did; none of them had seen the hardships that the people here had. They had likely seen hardship, but it wasn't the same hardship. They hadn't been in the same situations, been as desperate, seen as much. It had honestly been a jarring experience; it was like what he imagined looking into the eyes of a soldier during world war two would be like, possibly worse, and everyone had it.

And yet… they didn't look the least bit bothered by it. He remembered seeing the children playing in the snow during one of his visits; making forts and having snowball fights, building snowmen and tearing them down soon after, even making snow castles; he imagined it was the equivalent to making sand castles, only they didn't have any sand. They were genuinely having fun during an ice-age; not only that, but outright flourishing despite it.

He shook off his thoughts, and refocused himself. These rabbits hadn't been in whatever circumstances lead to these people learning how to over-engineer a house enough to be boiling inside, and freezing outside with minimal heat loss. That meant they probably weren't natives.

He cleared his throat to get their attention, hoping they would answer his questions. "Would you mind if I asked how you got here?"

Ranna was the one to respond, as usual. "We came with the legion that was sent to invade these lands; as I'm sure you can imagine; it didn't end well."

"Legion?" Grey asked, looking confused. "All we found out there was you three. There wasn't even hide nor hair of a dozen people, let alone a hundred thousand." Yukio was silently cheering that he no longer had glares boring holes into his skull.

"There was… a storm." She confessed, looking uncomfortable. "I can only assume it was a relatively minor one, but it wiped out half our forces within an hour, and then half of what was left an hour later. It only lasted about four hours total, but it wasted away the legion to stragglers that fought each other for whatever resources remained. We left while we could, in order to avoid the infighting."

Grey decided not to comment further, but was shocked that what was probably a professional military would just send an entire legion into the thick of things. It was so reckless and idiotic that he wondered what allowed that many men to just accept such ineptitude. They had to have known it would take years to traverse the landscape of the frozen wastes with such a large number of people, and that would spell doom for anyone who attempted it. Then again, he could just be thinking that because he was so used to the terrain of the wasteland he lived in.

Just who were the morons that thought invading the wastes was a good idea?

…

"Just who were the asshats that thought this was a good idea?" Shinzo asked, aggravated.

"The UN, sir. They have announced that they believe we, Japan that is, have handled the situation poorly; and thus, have decided they will seize the Gate by any means necessary." Reiko stated, setting the appropriate folders on the Prime Minister's desk.

"That doesn't bode well." He mumbled, looking the pages over.

"They have, however, congratulated and praised our ability to act as quickly as we did, despite the circumstances, and announced they will be allowing our current forces to remain on the other side."

"That's something, at least."

"They only ask that the forces they send be informed of the situation, as well as any missions our own are currently, have been, and are planning to commence."

He sighed heavily, placing his forehead in his palm. "And there it is." He set the folder back down on his desk, reaching over to the glass of ice water he had resting on a side table. "Do we have details of the meeting yet?"

"At present, we have confirmation that the major powers almost unanimously agree that we lost our chance; however most minor powers wanted nothing to do with the situation, and those that were left tended to vote against the action to seize the Gate."

"Who came up with the idea in the first place?"

"That would be President Dirrel, sir."

"And the international zone?"

"President Zyuganov."

"Of course." He sighed again, rubbing his temples. After taking a sip from his glass, he continued. "What other countries of note voted in favor?"

"France, China, India, Australia, Germany, Spain, Canada, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Romania, Mexico, and the UK."

"The North Americans have been getting awfully friendly lately." He muttered, eyes narrowed. "Anyone of note that opposed the idea?"

"Only South Africa and Vietnam, sir. More than likely more to spite the US than actual political opinion, though."

The man sighed in resignation, rubbing his temples. "Tell them we'll hand over control, but we expect them to be respectful of the area they occupy."

"Yessir." She responded, bowing. She rose, and left his office to do exactly that.

…

As the enormous train sped along the frozen tracks, Yukio looked out the window, and watched the storm that easily dwarfed any he'd seen back home. It almost looked like a wall of clouds and snow was approaching them. A shiver ran down his spine as he kept an eye on the monstrous cold front.

Smoke had a resigned look on his face as he stared out over the landscape, like someone who was prepared to perish in the coming events. It was… haunting to watch as the others in Frost's group gained the same look, and it made Yukio all the more anxious. The only people who didn't have the same look on the train were his own men, and the rabbits, who wore strange looks that lie somewhere between horror and acceptance.

The electricity that ran through the storm looked to be a cold blue, a color he was quickly coming to dislike.

He glanced back at the rabbits, unable to sate his curiosity. They didn't talk much, but he had been assured that they could speak English well enough that they could communicate. "Excuse me." He called, focusing on them.

Ranna was the one to respond, like always. "Yes?"

"How did you get here before us, if you don't mind me asking? I was under the impression that the people here didn't have things like rabbit-folk, and the only evidence we've found of people being here before we started setting up was the frozen imperial camp that we found."

"That… was the camp of the legion we were sent with. We were their scout force." At the look he gave her, she continued. "Were." She repeated. "We aren't any more, the legion is likely lost anyway." She shrugged. "We weren't treated like scouts anyway, so I'm just glad that we're not in their clutches anymore." She looked down, seeming somewhat solemn. "That being said, we have lost some of our number, so we weren't spared from the storm either."

"You know," Smoke started, getting everyone's attention. "I can probably convince either Ice or Frost to send a couple scouting parties in that direction, see what we can find. If not whatever remains of the legion, then perhaps their bodies."

Yukio stared at him for a long moment, with a pensive gaze. Ranna was staring too, but there was a tiny glimmer of hope in her eyes. "If you could, that would put all of us at ease." She responded, glancing back to the others among her party.

A/N:

*Sigh*

I've been stuck on this scene for far too long with minimal gains, and my inspiration for this fic has been exactly zero for months now. All I can say is that I apologize greatly, because I promised to finish this fic; see it through to the end.

I failed.

I can't express just how disappointed I am in myself; I had big plans for this going forward, and couldn't even get passed chapter three.

I'm incredibly sorry, as I've personally reassured several of those who've read this fic personally.

I do not take my failure lightly, and cannot express my frustration to its fullest.

Therefore, I'll explain what I had in mind since day one here.

1) The group would come to a halt in the furthest end of the storm; the cold having frozen the hydraulics the engine used. They would swap stories as they awaited the storm's passing, and come to a better understanding of each other.

2) They would pick up the foreign dignitaries due to troubles with their own engines.

3) Frost and her brother would explain the situation to the Frozen Council, and allow both Yukio and Ranna to explain their ends of the story, ignorant to the international situation from the JSDF's Earth.

4) The storm would pass over the Canyon, freezing the JSDF camp entirely, and forcing the survivors to find shelter, some through the gate, some in the canyon, and others finding the last of the legion.

5) The Frozen Council would give Frost the job of diplomat to the JSDF and their allies, leading to a meeting between her and Itami just as he and the rest of 3rd recon return with Pina. Rory would take note of just how hardened those from the Frozen Earth were, but ultimately disregard them in favor of the UN forces.

6) The dignitaries from the JSDF Earth find it in their best interest to allow Frost and her escorts to accompany them to a meeting at the UN headquarters, with her providing a speech about the Frozen Earth and the events leading up to its current state. Not long afterword, she would have a moment to herself on one of the beaches of New England, marveling at the Ocean and the warm breeze it gave off.

7) The UN begins demanding regular intervals of time in which they would send supplies and scientists to the Frozen Earth, much to the confused amusement of the Frozen Council, as by this point in time, radio transceivers had been installed across all the major cities in the Frozen Earth.

8) The Legion's remnants are found, and brought back through the Gate, along with the remaining survivors from the JSDF camp. The Legion's remnants are then escorted back to Sadera on board airships from Solace.

9) The attack on Sadera catches the Solacian airships off guard, leading to them being shot down by UN forces, who saw legionnaires on board. This would sour relations between the Frozen Council and the UN.

10) British scientists are sent to New London, and given free reign of the city's notes and studies on the global events that had been taking place. This would be a side-story that would take place during the main story.

11) As talks between the UN and the FC continued to dissolve, Frost would remove herself from what she would see as hostile territory.

12) An old expeditionary team from Solace returns, bringing news of a 'tropical' region near the Equator that had liquid water and advanced civilization, leading to Yellowstone loaning the FC a Dreadnought equipped with a radio transceiver in order to properly contact the nation.

13) The British scientists discover that the Frozen Earth was slowly warming; over the course of several decades, it would return to its original state, though perhaps a bit warmer than before.

14) Several exiled scientists smuggle themselves onto the last shipment of supplies to the Frozen Earth.

15) The FC gets increasingly friendly with the Empire, and begins a military, scientific, and magical exchange program.

That's as far as I got, but there you go.

Final announcement!

This story is now up for adoption! I hope that someone can take bits and pieces of what I have here and run with it.

Once more; I am sorry I couldn't follow through with my promise of finalizing this work.

For likely the last time in the history of this fic, I thank you all for reading.