Frozen dreams in the cold below (fan fiction)

[Finkelfantomen]

Chapter 1: Two friends and a grenade.

If this had been a photograph it would have looked something like this: It was a ragged storage area in an even more ragged Grineer base on the plains of Eidolon . To call it dusty would be an insult to dust. Behind some stained crates two young men crouched down. They looked like they were friends. On the other side of the crates, and a bit further away, a platoon of Grineer soldiers was pointing their Grataka rifles at them. If this indeed was a photo, then this one would have been called “The calm before the storm”. But now it wasn’t, and instead of stillness all hell broke loose.

*Zwiiiii*

A bullet grazed the top of the head, but didn’t come close enough to draw blood. Just a bruise and some lost hair. The owner of the head instinctively ducked back into cover, breathing heavily. A second later he spoke with an adrenaline-filled voice. “Why the hell do we keep ending up in this kind of situations?” The man who spoke was named Maximus Repono, a former Corpus employee, now a free man, trying to make a fortune on his own (but with his best friend).

The man beside him, also crouching but strangely enough also smiling at a time when multiple bullets were fired in their general direction, responded with “Well we once again… and… duck please!” He threw an incendiary charged grenade over the top of their cover and crouched down a split second later. The grenade throwers name was Gesturum Pontius, he also a former storage officer for the Corpus.

Three seconds and a *Boink boink boinkboinkboink* later a loud *BLAM!* followed. A heartbeat later accompanied by a chorus of Grineer screams.

The two friends popped out of cover and fired their Karak rifles.

*Ka-dak-dak-dak*

*Ka-dak*

The Karak rifles the two men used were specifically modified to fit human users, along with some modifications from Corpus technology such as scopes, laser dot pointers and ammo counters on the magazines. Once, they had belonged to Grineer soldiers on the plains of Eidolon. But, finders’ keepers, eh? And as a sting of irony, they were at least now returning some of the ammunition to their previous owners.

Half a dozen of Grineer soldiers fell to the ground after their bullets hit them hard, but way more was waiting behind to fill up the ranks.

The two men ducked back into cover while also trying to regain their breath. Though they started their career working in the storage and supplies business they were now no strangers to war. Surviving more than an hour in the plains would harden anyone, and they had both been successful at surviving… and killing… for months. For them, this was just another Tuesday.

 

 

Chapter two: Before the grenade,

Just one week earlier they had both been providing their services for the Perrin sequence. Something that felt like home for the former Corpus personnel, but where no one tried to kill them. And that was a nice change for once.

They were good at their job there too. Shipping and storage costs had dropped by five percent just from them organising the data sheets more efficiently. When they were working everyone else around them made money. They had value! So other people generally smiled when they met them in the corridors and storage lockers.

A mere year before that they had been loyal corpus troops, working in the storage and shipping department. But a chance for quick profit had put them on a new path, a path of dreams and personal profit. Then a brief stay at Deimos had made them realise that a loss of credits was better than a gain of tentacles. And a short stop at the Orb Valis had taught them that a quick profit could be vanished just as quickly (and to never trust Venti-kids). After that two tours at the plains of Eidolon (one involuntarily, the other at the request of an old friend) had taught them how to wage war (at the cost of two lost fingers and some scars here and there). Battle hardened as they now where it still was a nice that no one was trying to kill them, for now.

On the bright side they had also gained a new family member, in the form Hoq, a small bird like creature called a Fufu.  Fufus had a strange glow to their short fur. Some say it comes from Toroid radiation as the creatures seems to build nests near those resources. She also had a keen sense that could pick up danger approaching. And although she could not speak (only chirp) she could speak to their hearts. When they learned about war, she reminded them of compassion. In the world of credits and bullets she was the moral compass.

But then yesterday, a man came in at the Perrin sequence and gave them both an offer they could not refuse.

The blood red robe and mask should have made them check of some boxes on their “this will mean danger” list. But the man was quick enough to present his offering that any doubt would be choked in its initial breath.

“I have been told that you are men with skills that I need. I will pay you two million credits to fetch me a Zenith Granum coin.”

The two friends had looked at each other. Then Gesturum was the first one to speak. “Those are deeply guarded within the Corpus prime ships. And if you, and an army (or a Tenno) could get into that ship, you would still have to break into the “Granum void” and survive an army of spectres trying to cut off your limbs as if they were rent not paid in due time. This is not a two men job.”

“Aye”, Maximus continued, “Two men assaulting a Corpus ship is suicide. And the remaining dust of those two men, if they miraculously made it to the void, would be instantly burned to smithereens by the spectres. Parvos power is great within the new Corpus.”

The man in the red mask nodded and replied, “Yes, a full frontal attack on a Corpus prime vessel would require a force equal to what was guarding it. But my sources say that a Zenith coin has been taken as a spoil of war from a recent confrontation between the Corpus and the Grineer, and is about to be transported to a Grineer base on the plains of Eidolon. From what I have heard this would be a familiar battleground for you two gentlemen?

 

 

Chapter three: Back to the mayhem.

It had seemed so easy. Grab a box and get credits enough to be set for life. A simple in and out mission.

But now, taking cover behind boxes in a dirty Grineer camp while taking fire from all sides, it didn’t seem so easy anymore.

*Ziiing* *Peng*

Bullets getting closer was a stark reminder of the danger they were in.

They had taken down the first wave, but the sound of bullets hitting objects around them told the story of a second (and probably third) wave approaching. Apparently, clones could be cloned, and their clones could be… well you get the point.

“Sooo… Im sitting with a box containing the Zenit Granum coin we just stole from the Grineer vault.  Were inside a small storage room and now we have the whole camp raining down fire on us.  Any bright ideas?” Maximus said. “I mean, we are not at the top of their ‘Buy ice cream if you see these fellas’-list. Not since we both defied Vay Hek and humiliated commander Kayesh. I heard Kayesh is still looking for his lost wardrobe.”

*Chirp* Hoq chirped, relatively safely tucked away in a backpack.

“Yes.” Gesturum replied with a smile. “They are coming at us from the east side, close to the lake. And night is approaching fast. We just need to hold out for a few more minutes. If we can hold out that long, we can give them another thing to remember about us.”

“Good”, Maximus whispered back, “Because we only got a few more bullets! I got one more mag, and that’s it.”

They managed their ammunition well, only firing when they had a clear shot.

*Ka-dak dak*

Then nightfall came. And something rose!

Out of the lake by the camp side a huge Eidolon walker ascended. Its presence was majestic, but also terrifying to the Grineer soldiers who instinctively opened fire upon it, drawing its attention. These soldiers were fresh from the clonelab and didn’t know better. Their more seasoned commander, who knew a thing or two about angering walkers, slowly started to back out of the camp.

 The slow-moving giant recognized the ants chipping at its heel and put it down on them. A handful of soldiers were instantly mashed to… well… a mash.

“Let’s go!” Gesturum shouted.

The two friends ran for safety as the sentient monstrosity started to blast the rest of the Grineer platoon into oblivion.  Except from Grineer being smashed, stomped and disintegrated to the sound of “for the quee..aaargh”, the night was silent.

 

 

Almost chapter five: A peekaboo at Commander Kayesh.

In the command room of a remote Grineer camp the now recently re-promoted to commander Kayesh sat deeply in his commanding chair.

A door in front of him slide open and a skinny Grineer entered. “Excuse me sir. I am Doval 228, the new storage supervisor. You sent for me?”

*PEW*

Kayesh Seer handgun had hit the poor supervisor straight in the head. He fell to the ground with a muffled *thud*.

Ever since the humiliation that the Plainwalkers had brought unto him (that would be Maximus and Gesturum) he was sure to clone the former quartermaster of the raided camp every day just so he could keep killing him for ruining his day. Blaming someone else made the suffering slightly easier to bear, if just for a moment.

Kayesh pushed a button on the intercom and yelled “PREPARE THE CLONING OF DOVAL 229. RUSH IT!”

As most days lately this one hadn’t started out good. When the news of the newly raided camp would finally reach him bad would turn to worse. And the staff responsible for cloning the Dovals didn’t know it yet, but they had some night shifts to put in soon.

 

 

Chapter five: An interesting destination.

A while later they were back on their landing craft. The ship had been given to them by the Ostrons as a gift of respect for their previous help on the plains. But the Ostrons were not ship builders, so this was a captured vessel. Still, it could fly and even travel to space. It even had a nice look to it!

They had named it “The Hopeful bear.” It had felt like an appropriate name, even though none of them could really explain why.  It had something to do with what a distant relative once told them. (See the first story (pre-story) for context.) But if something felt right, then facts was secondary.

“Vay Hek is amassing an army to take us down! And after this raid commander Kayesh will probably not love us more than before. We need to go somewhere we can lay low, quickly, before we return our bounty to our buyer. “ Maximus said, while looking visibly worried.

“I have a plan.” Gesturum responded. “I know one place where Vay Hek, and whoever of his little minions, will never look for us! Not even the Corpus military police will think of us there.”

“Then punch it!” Maximus screamed while pointing at the ship’s navigational computer.  

Gesturum entered in the coordinates into the nav computer. Then he turned slowly towards Maximus and took a deep breath, intended for a dramatic pause, and then added. “I have a plan that cannot go wrong. We will hide where no one will think we would go, and if they did anyway there would be too much chaos around for them to notice us.”

“You gonna drop us on the plains again?” Maximus said, slightly worried.

“No, even better. We’re traveling to the Zariman. The Grineer and Corpus are waging a war of control there and are busy shooting at each other to notice anyone else. And in the middle, there’s a large group of Tenno killing them both.”

“WHAT?” was Maximus reply.

“You wanted to go somewhere safe from Kayesh and the rest. I promise he will not set an inch of his mutated twelve toed clone foot there. Total chaos is what we need.” Gesturum said.

“You think we will be safe in a place where everyone is trying to kill us???” Maximus yelled.

“No…” Gesturum said with a smirk, “I think we will be safe in a place where everyone is trying to kill everyone else.”

 

 

Chapter six:  Playing with ghosts.

Hours later they landed in an obscure dock at the Zariman.

As they left the ship Maximus spoke. “I still don’t get it. How can we expect not to get killed here? This is a war zone!!!”

Gesturum once again smirked and answered his friend. “As I said Grineer and Corpus are at war here. They have no time looking for people from other factions as they are occupied with killing each other. Looking the other way is a good way to let a bullet greet you on the way back.”

“But what about the Tenno?” Maximus said.

Gesturum replied. “Well, were kind of friends of their friends, so they will probably, and I say probably, tolerate us. As long as we pose no danger to them, they will just see us as ants and hopefully try to avoid stepping on us.”

“Ok…” Maximus said with a slight tone of not believing his friend entirely. “Let’s camouflage our ship with trash and make this place a home for a few days.”

After some careful scouting they deemed the abandoned landing bay to be a suitable place to hang out at for a few days. The heavy fighting was about 10 to 15 levels above them. Nothing of value seemed to be located down here, which suited them well.

Gesturum whispered. “Ok base set. You go scan for supplies and I will secure the perimeter. You know the drill. Shiny wire, pants on fire. So tread carefully by the main doors on your way back and don’t pull any of the cluster mines.”

Maximus nodded in response and then put down Hoq inside the ship, tossed her some snacks and whispered, “Be safe little friend.”

A few hours later he returned, without tripping anything dangerous.

Gesturum greeted him on his return. “The perimeter is empty. We are safe here”

Maximus looked somewhat baffled. “Good, good… ehrm the strangest thing just happened to me.”

He paused to reflect on it all and then continued. “I met a little girl running around here. The little brat started to steal stuff from me and then run around laughing about it.”

“Oh” Gesturum said, “That must be that Skittergirl apparition I’ve heard about. Apparently, that’s some sort of void ghost that messes with your head.”

“Well the little brat messed with my stuff.” Maximus said. “She just ran around and tossed what she stole everywhere. As I started to look around while following her this seemed to be common practice. There were random bits and pieces of plunder lying around everywhere.”

“Did you hear me saying she’s a ghost?” Gesturum repeated. “And she messes around with your head, making your emotions go mad.”

“Well, she made my emotions cook all right, so I chased her down and gave her what for!” Maximus said with a stern voice.

“Did you hurt her?” Gesturum asked.

“Hurt? No. I forced her to stay put and then I used our holocaster to give her a lecture in tidy and organised storage 101. She didn’t hurt my feelings, but her lack of organizing skills could make a Tusk Thumper cry.” Maximus stated with a serious voice.

“You taught a thieving ghost how to organize her loot???” Gesturum exclaimed as loud as he dared.

“Being dead doesn’t give you the right to be messy.” Maximus said. “Now it’s all nice and tagged as it should be.”

“Ok…” Gesturum said while also realising that some people are born for a life in storage and supplies. “I also encountered something weird while scouting the perimeter.”

He slowly removed and opened his backpack and then, just for the dramatic effect, stared at his friend before he pulled out something slightly pointy and purple. Strange purple smoke was dancing around it.  “It looks valuable, right?”.

Maximus stared at it for a while before he spoke. “Yeah… I have no idea what it is, but if it’s a real Zariman artefact then it’s sure to be valuable.”

The two friends stared at it for a while. It was almost hypnotic.

Hoq came hopping up to greet the returned Maximus. She too stopped to watch the mysterious voidplume. Then she ran up to Maxims and chirped happily. For the friends that meant that the strange artefact at least didn’t mean any immediate danger.

 

 

Chapter seven: The birth of something unique.

A few days later the friends decided things had calmed down enough to make a move and return to a place with a better living standard.

They cleared the trash cammo from the Hopeful bear, got onboard and then initiated its starting sequence and safety checks.

As silently as possible for a ship capable of traveling through space they left the Zariman behind them. Their newfound artefact decorating the instrument panel.

After a few minutes of travel Maximus broke the silence. “So were should we put the Zariman artefact? If it’s really valuable, we need some safe storage. Even if it’s pretty keeping it out in the open might be dangerous.”

“Let’s put it in the Granum coin box then. It’s a safe box safe as any.” Gesturum said and then grabbed the artefact and put it in the coinbox and closed the lid.

 *BA-ZOINGGGGGG GG GG GGGGGGG NG*

A strange sound emanated from the box now containing two curiosities.

A few seconds later the box was still giving of a humming sound, although not as loud or intense.

The two friends stared at each other for a few seconds and then, carefully, opened the box.

The two items inside had merged to become one.

It looked like the coin had been encased in a pointy purple hat with a small mouth in it’s top.

To their horror the thing spoke. “I am valuable, and therefore I am.”

They closed the lid and once again stared at each other.

“What the hell just happened???” Gesturum shouted.

“I think our coin just became sentient…” Maximus replied.

“How the hell is that even possible?” Gesturum shouted again.

Maximus pondered the question for a while before responding. “Weeell… according to void theory two realities can exist at the same time. So, if something isn’t possible it should also be possible.”

“I don’t think you understand how void theory works” Gesturum said, now with a bit lowered voice.

“Perhaps not.” Maximus said. “But in that case then my lack of understanding is still an explanation. And an explanation is better than no explanation.  Perfectly fine within void theory.”

 The two friends opened the box again.

The coin smiled at them. A small eye had opened at it’s centre. It spoke in a pitched voice. “I know I am of great value, but you too are not exactly in mint condition.”

They stared at the abomination before Maximus broke the silence. “We should call him Dave.” ¨

“What??” Gesturum said, now with his voice level escalating again.

“I have a distant uncle called Dave. He was a greedy bastard and he only talked about his own worth and profits at the family reunions.” Maximus said.

“Back then everyone, including us, was all in for profit and understood that the shiny was the important thing in one’s life.” Gesturum said with a sigh.

“Yes, but he was being a bastard about it.” Maximus said with a sour tone.

Gesturum pondering the naming suggestion before he presented his alternative. “Dave is too common. This thing is probably unique. I think we should call him... er… it… Coinicus.”

Maximus smiled. “That’s even better! Coinicus it is!”

“I am Coinicus! Bow down to my value!” The thing in the box was both a fast learner and a cocky little bastard.

 

Chapter eight: A cunning plan and a daring raid.

A few hours later a blip on the radar screen alerted the two friends.

“Looks like a Grineer freight vessel. Unusual to see them without escort, and it’s a smaller one. Perhaps a smugglers vessel?” Maximus said.

”If so then they might be a bit on their toes. And we are running low on credits. How about pulling that Vor-heist we talked about while surviving on the plains of Eidolon?” Gesturum said.

“That was just a dream to keep us motivated to stay alive.” Maximus said.

“Yes,” Gesturum replied, ”And now we need money and have a chance to make dreams come true.” Then, with a menacing grin, he went into the ship’s pantry and then maintenance locker to prepare the key to unlock the Grineer vessel.

 

Still chapter eight.

A few minutes later a comm signal vas broadcasted from the Hopeful bear to the Grineer vessel.

On the Grineer ship a computer screen accepted the signal and a highly distorted video image apperared.

“THerr Shignall Weeakh Captn… Imaghe blurrd.” Said the voice of the Griner comms officer.

And indeed, the video was shaky and distorted almost to nothing. But the ship’s captain still recognised the contours of their commander. Captain Vor himself was transmitting to them! He spoke to them in his raspy voice. “I… Vor… command you to open the storage bay doors so we… can dock… with you. Special mission for the Grineer. Brothers… open… now!”

The Grineer captain felt panic rising. If he hadn’t been smuggling contraband than the part of his brain that performed critical thinking probably would have worked better. But they were about to illegally sneak and sell stuff that could get you instantly un-cloned if found out. And at the same time they could not refuse the boarding of such a high ranking officer. He punched the buttons to open the cargo bay doors while trying to think of a way out of this mess.

 

 

Chapter eight, part three.

On the Hopeful bear Maximus giggled behind the camera. “I think they fell for it.”.

In front of the lense Gesturum hid behind a fake Captain Vor head made of an over ripe melon, two old boot soles, a potato nose, and a red lightbulb.   “I told you they wouldn’t have the nerves to think this couldn’t be real. Let’s put on the space suits and head out quickly.”

A few minutes later they exited their docking chamber and into the storage room.

“Hurry up. It won’t take long for them to calm down and decide to send a security team down here.” Gesturum said on the space suit intercom.

“We just ned to find… ah there it is.” Maximus said and pointed at the Atlas III ship storage computer in the far corner. They quickly headed over to it and Maximus started to push buttons.

A few seconds later he stopped, smiled behind his vizier, and said “That should do it. Panic of confusion. Take your pick, but one or both should happen at the command bridge as we speak.”

Up on the command bridge the small security team were almost in their pressure suits when the main screen started to flash. It vectored up a new travel route and uncountable mission dots.

Confusion and Panic followed when everyone realised their one-week smuggling mission now had been turned into an overwatched lifetime-and-beyond run around the galaxy. Request calls were already coming in from a dozen nearby planets.

 

 “So did you do it as we planned?” Gesturum asked.

“Sure did!” Maximus said with a gleeful voice. “I reprogrammed the ship inventory, travel route and downloaded a comm order from the main server. This vessel is now flagged on the Grineer main grid as a postal vessel with a mission to pick up about 2 billion packages around the galaxy. All to be delivered to commander Kayesh. Trying to reverse this from the command bridge and return to being under the radar will keep them occupied for hours, maybe days. We have performed a bloodless raid my friend. So now let’s go inspect crate no.537 and 538. They were undocumented and therefore probably valuable. Let’s grab them to our ship and head out to safety.”

About an hour later they had put enough distance between them and the Grineer to feel safe. They put the Hopeful bear on autopilot and went to check the loot.

The two containers contained Kuva. A lot of Kuva.

On the black market this was worth millions of credits.

The two friends looked at each other.

“This is it!” Maximus said with an exalted voice. “We’re set for life with this. Were rich!”

“Holy fufu!” Gesturum agreed. “Now we just need somewhere safe to store this while looking for a buyer. Even though it’s contraband they might have tracking devices on the cases. Wee need to go somewhere remote and uninteresting. Might as well store Coinicus there too until we can find a buyer with enough money.”

“Ehum…” a squeaky voice said from the box of Coinicus. “While you were gone, I made friends with your ship and also, it’s nav systems. I like safety just as much as anyone in case you wondered. About three jumps from here there is an abandoned ice mine. It was abandoned when the Narmer attacks occurred (Ok, I also accessed the ships historical database.), and the nearby battle made it shift its trajectory so it’s now in a decently remote zone without anything of value.”

The coin wasn’t just sentient but also learning…

“Well let’s trust the void and their self-preservation and head there then.” Gesturum said with a shrug.

Maximus stared sceptically at Coinicus for a second before he gave in. “Ok. Let’s hope we can value its suggestion.”

Coinicus gave them an innocent smile. “I am always of value.” it said.

 

Chapter nine: At the cold below.

Some time later they arrived at the abandoned ice mine.

It was a huge rock of frozen water floating free in space like it had nothing better to do.

“This will be perfect” Gesturum said as he slowed down the Hopeful bear to gently dock by the entrance to the mine.

They loaded up the two Kuva containers and the box with Coinicus in it on a gravlift and ventured into the depth of the mine. The gravlift made a tiny humming sound as it brought them onwards.

After a few minutes they reached the core of the mine and unloaded the boxes.

“That’s it then.” Maximus said. “Now we just gotta ride of into the sunset and find someone who are interested in buying Kuva and perhaps a unique Zariman artefact.”

“Yeah.” Gesturum responded. “Hey Coinicus. You don’t need to eat or drink or anything do you? You gonna be cool, hehe, here by yourself for a while?”

Hoq chirped in Maximus backpack. “Hush Hoq. We are in the middle of nowhere. There are no threats here.”

Now it was the coin that paused for dramatic effect. “Oh yes… I intend to be here for a long time. And you gentlemen, and I say that with a tiny bit of sarcasm, better leave my fortress within five minutes.”

 “Whatwhat?” Maximus and Gesturum said in stereo.

Conicus continued to speak with a malicious voice. “You see. Spending time in this box has let me reflect on things. I am a coin, so I understand value. I am also of the void so I understand existence and un-existence. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that I exist because I am valuable, and I am valuable because I exist. If you buffoons start handing me around, I will be tarnished and no longer in mint condition, and I cannot have that. I exist because I am value, and if I lose value, I am not existing.”

“Whatwhat” the two friends said again.

It had no body language to show it but still the coin sighed with every atom of its physical Prescence. “Let me say in a simple way for simple minds. I will stay here in my fortress of ice and protect my value. Oh and I will keep your Kuva too. Just you buffoons being in my presence make me feel tarnished, so I will take this value from you as a compensation. You now got four minutes to get off my fortress.”

“Or else?” Gesturum said and took a firm pose to show that he couldn’t be intimidated by a mere coin.

The coin said. “Or else you will be stuck here in the ice with me forever. In three minutes and thirty seconds the mine shaft will remember what it was like being ice and it will no longer be a shaft. I am of the void and I can make it so.”

“But others will come. If there is a tracker in the Kuva containers the Grineer will come with drills, or the Corpus will remember the value of water in space and come with their plasma diggers. You will be found again.” Maximus said.

“Let them come!” Coinicus exclaimed triumphantly. “This fortress is eternal ice. If they try to make their way into it, they will find that no matter how much they drill then the ice will still be ice. When they melt, it will remember to freeze! When they drill, it will solidify! Meanwhile I will exist down here where the ice will remember not to be ice. The more effort they put into making a hole, the more Ice they will find! The void can be two things at once, and I am of the void! But you can be sure to be one thing, ice, in two minutes.”.

The two friends looked at each other and then spoke in unison. “Listen here you little shi…”

“One minute and thirty seconds.” Coinicus said and then gave out the most evil cackle any newborn ever had done. “Bwahahahahaa!!! I am value eternal!”

The two friends decied to make a hasty retreat to their ship. As they ran the squeaky voice of the sentient coin echoed between the walls. “Ha ha haaaa! I am eternal value!  

As the Hopeful bear started to back away from the mine, they saw the entrance suddenly fill up and become ice again.

“So…” Maximus started to say.

“Don’t say it!” Gesturum said.

Maximus looked at his friend and continued anyway. “It seems like we, once again, have lost all our fortune and are back to square one, looking for where to find it.”

Gesturum made some disgruntled noises.

 “At least there is still free coffee for employees of the Perrin sequence.” Maximus said.

Gesturum sighed. “Yeah. And our vacation is ending tomorrow anyway. Cannot let those slackers mess up the storage lockers again.”

They entered the coordinates for the Strata relay and went home to their comfort zone. Organizing things that came and went.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And that’s it for now for Gesturum and Maximus.

If you have missed the previous stories they are here to find in the forum.

If you have any feedback it would be appreciated.

If you like it, please tell me so I get motivated to write more.

/Me