Seeing the familiar face of the now Colonel Bakerson, John dropped the needle. Before he could say anything the technician approached and injected him with the strange vial. Clenching his teeth he stifled back the pain that was emitting from the formula. After it had ran its course he grabbed the sides of his head as the headache began to throb. "You would scream too if your last memory was being crumbled against a wall by a massive explosion." He didn't bother to look at the tech as he continued his work.

Finally he turned to the Colonel, "Staff Serge- I mean Colonel Bakerson, permission to speak Sir?" He did his best to stand at attention while squinting from the massive migraine throbbing in his skull.

Ferdinand clenched his teeth and suppressed a scream as the strange liquid made it's way through his body and generally valuing him great amounts of discomfort. "I'd appreciate some clothing as well unless nudity is preferred in whatever future you decided to wake us up in." His words were nonchalant but also respectful since he was in the presents of a now higher ranking Bakerson. Of course he had a million questions the first one being did they win and second why were they put to sleep. But he held them back thinking that's exactly what he will tell them when they get out of this room.

With a grim look, Errmanno dropped the needle and submitted to the shot of whatever. Even though naked he was standing at near attention. His face expressed his feeling even if the rest of his posture didn't. "Sir, I know time is short but a debrief would allow us a better understanding of our objectives. And when did you switch officer?" Without his weapons he felt more naked than the actual nudity, that he felt a little loss without his rifle which he had been calibrating to his own self for years.

"I'm afraid the situation at hand cannot warrant a better explanation or allow me to answer most of your questions. Now that this unpleasantness is out of the way we can get you all set up."

Turning around and motioning for everyone to follow him down the maze of corridors. He continued to speak loud enough to be heard as they briskly advanced deeper into the facility.

"You've all been on ice for nearly three years. You probably don't remember much but during the siege of Fort Isabella and the City of Isallia, the Empire launched a new weapon of mass destruction. It annihilated nearly 200 kilometers of the land by collapsing it into the sea followed by unparalleled environmental shock. We've been sent into a miniature ice-age ever since. During the evacuation, most of the soldiers were frozen but you all had been set up in life support so your bodies managed to barely survive when the scouts came in afterwards."

Pushing open a pair of double barricaded doors, cold, brisk air swept in followed by flurries of sharp snow which twinkled in the moon lit sky above which happened to appear out of the roofs skeletal frame which had long been burnt away. Up ahead, a drum fire was lit and several soldiers were gathered around for warmth.

"Perking! Get some clothes for these men here and see that you find them something hot to drink! Now then, ah yes. Another side effect was that the parasite that lives within each of us was killed during the extreme cold. It's probably what ultimately saved your lives. Normally, those who lose their symbiote die shortly afterwards and trying to transplant a new one requires a live conscience which is what you just experienced not to long ago. You should already be feeling some of your strength returning by now. Granted there's been some modifications to it, military technology always has its boons. Now that we're all done here we're getting ready to move."

Running towards them, a young boy who barely looked sixteen approached with an armful of mixed clothing, heavy furs, scarves, and gloves. Additionally, a couple pairs of boots hung over his shoulder by the strings and he smiled earnestly as if it was the most important job in the world and he was proud to have accomplished it. The innocence of youth. Turning towards the young trooper and patting his head with a chuckle, Colonel Bakerson made his leave and began to marshal the troops.

Soldiers groaned and shuffled in place in an attempt to keep warm even as fires were doused. The cold, oppressing atmosphere seemed to push in from every direction sapping the heat out of a persons limbs. It was as if the very world itself was trying to leech life out of anything that dared crawl across the planets surface. There was a distinct absence of wild life, even birds and as the group moved out to the waiting cluster of transports it was apparent that the city they were in was but a massive grave yard.

Sandbags and burnt out wreckage littered the roads marred with razor-wire embankments and tank obstacles. Frozen corpses in various states of panic, death, and fear were everywhere. Apparently they were somewhere within the original blast zone or the Empire had dropped multiple bombs. Up ahead at a nearby intersection, a woman with her arm raised above and using her body to shield a child lay frozen solid into the ground, snow banks covering most of the body by now so that only the general form could be seen. Structures were in different forms of burnt out, completely destroyed or frozen over. Windows were rare having shattered long ago from the blasts, razor storms that now blew across the continent, or intense pressure of the cold.

It was a dismal sight but at least they were alive, nearby two men were busy dragging a body between them which was covered. Underneath the shrouds it tossed and turned drunkenly and the movement caused the sheet to reveal a face briefly. Recognizing the features as belonging to Emile. His features were ashen white from the cold and he appeared unconscious. Loading him into one of the rear transports, the two soldiers jumped on while the last thumped the door hard twice and the engine revved up as the driver throttled the gas.

Ahead, several transports were already leaving and a few tanks along with escorting scout cars began to lead the way. It had only been a few hours but already the world they had inhabited had been flipped upside down, swirled in a blender, and then vomited back out into an ice cube tray to be turned into something remotely recognizable. Well at least they were still alive and with that, the final transport beckoned them into its embrace as the driver honked the horn annoyed at having to wait.

Everything was fuzzy and cold and he was so dead-gods damn hungry . He looked up and saw a medical technician with two guards "Sacre bleu anyone got a damn rations ? Doctor ? Please ?!" He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around he looked at the guards " mon ami , is it winter ? And can a man get a pair of pants around here ? " Emile was a only a bit really pissed off , it was cold, his head hurt, and he could eat a horse. " where are we going doc ?" Their was a slight forceful tone to Emile's voice as he asked infuriated with the situation

Rushing to put the clothes that were offered on, John tried to ask a question but it was already to late. The clothes were not exactly the right size but anything was better than nothing. And he quickly made his way to the transport. There was no way they were the only ones that were recovered, there had to be others. And how much of the memory was real and how much was false still haunted him. 3 years! How could that be possible? He had mulled over these thoughts until he climbed into the transport, temporarily forgetting everything else.

Reality quickly set in as himself and what remained of his squad was crammed in with 4 other Soldiers to the final transport. "I'm Kroll can you tell me what's going on? Where are we going to now?" He absentmindedly reached for a weapon that wasn't there out of shear habit. He wished he knew what had happened. The thoughts of what seemed like yesterday blurred and distorted in his mind. He tried to focus on the here and now.

'Heilige Scheiße three years!?' Ferdinand thought to himself as he slipped on the clothes the soldiers brought them. He then climbed onto the truck and sat down letting Kroll do the talking as quite frankly he was too mindfucked to really come up with any comprehensive questions for normal foot soldiers.

He looked at the four other Soldiers a moment before asking his next question. Their equipment was foreign to him and caused his mind to race on how much time had passed. "How many others did you get, besides us? And what's the status of the war?" He had more questions but he couldn't ask these Soldiers, they more than likely didn't have the answers anyways.

Noble slipped into the clothes but mostly just stayed quiet. " My only questions are where is my rifle and who needs to be dead to end this war?"

@bossaroo

The medic looked up with a slight quizzical expression before rummaging through a side storage unit on the vehicles bed to pull out a sealed ration unit, standard issue self heating pull tabs, the ones that no body liked because they had shit contents but relied upon because they worked regardless of the combat theater. Tossing it unto Emile's lap the man spoke.

"Good luck trying to keep that garbage down but it's the only thing the bastards gave us when we resupplied. You've been out for about an hour and you're probably suffering from dehydration as well. Here, have some water from my canteen. Try to drink it slowly, your body is not used to solid food or unfiltered water yet so you might suffer some nausea. If you feel dizzy or like you're about to vomit try to focus on something and stop all other activities until it passes...or at least aim the vomit towards James over there."

"I heard that you asshat. Leave me out of your jokes, they're not funny at all."

Leaving it at that, the medic and the soldier continued to bicker back and forth ignoring Emile for now. Outside the single viewing pane on the rear hatch of the transport, snow continued to fall in heavy concentrations but it had been generations since the last snowfall in the Principality let alone the CAS unless they had advanced far into the Empires mountainous regions which still received small amounts of snow fall each year.

On the opposite side of the transport, a second row of benches were arrayed with various crates filled with medical supplies. On top of the closest one was a pair of winter pattern fatigues and a helmet. There was no weapon but at least it meant something warm. Additionally, a size too large pair of boots and a wool scarf were arrayed as well, most likely scavenged from the reserve units supply as by the look of the other twos garbs was to go by, there wasn't much to use anyway meaning they must be far from home.

@Everyone Else
Looking up as the question was asked, a soldier with his entire face hidden underneath heavy glare goggles and a face mask wrapped with surgical bandages and daubed with camouflage spoke.

"There's no one else. This are was supposed to be abandoned except for the research lab which was already evacuate. You were the last ones in. Presumably all the other patients died or were already transported before we arrived...I think six weeks ago. There wasn't even a single doctor in the compound but they left a lot of supplies behind at least."

Taking out a ration bar and moving a bandage out of the way to reveal a femininely shaped mouth before taking a bite of something unrecognizable but by the way it looked and by the sound of the woman's munching, was probably as tasteless as it appeared.

"Who are you anyway. The Colonel was surprised when they were going through the medical records but we weren't expecting any survivors. If it wasn't for him, you probably would of still been locked away in there and died...maybe you should have. It also means you probably are ignorant to what has all happened. We've basically lost the war, retreating from battle to battle. The homeland was destroyed long ago and if it wasn't for the Federations intervention we probably would of surrendered long ago."

Pausing as the faces of every other soldier began to show different emotions of regret, heartfelt loss, and anger. One of them even was glaring at them as if they were personally responsible but was most likely remembering something bitter from their past.

"The Empire seemed to anticipate the after effects of their bombs and were prepared. Granted even they didn't expect the oceans to freeze over or the skies to become so hostile that planes couldn't fly anymore...or the dead to return to feat on the living. Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore. We're alive still that's all that matters. You'll see soon enough how pear shaped everything's become and probably wish you had never woken up at all."

Finishing the ration bar and hiding her lower face again, the rest of the ride was ridden with silence and empty stares. Looks like no one else wanted to talk about events and the atmosphere was openly hostile towards the three survivors who had been spared the three long years of events. It was as if they were in boot camp all over again and they were simply taking up spaces where a friend had been before. An insult to someone who had fought and died with more honour and courage than those that not took their place. It probably wasn't personal, just a soldiers grudge that would fade like most wounds in time...



15 Hours Later - Western Theater Operations Headquarters
Fort Longshire, Somewhere in South-East Neustria

The transports bumped over the pock marked road littered with artillery shells and entered under the cover of darkness through sagging gates which had been worn thin by the constant blizzard storms and ice shard rich winds. They passed by ancient wrecks of aircraft and vehicles which had heralded long past battles as the front lines had shifted in the early stages of the war. Up ahead, the road dipped under ground into a floodlight rich alcove highlighting two heavily entrenched bunkers and a blast door.

The American Federations flag hung limply on one side with a worn and slightly burnt Confederation flag on the other. Soldiers in mixed attire but all wrapped in thick great coats and hostile environment masks waved them through as the blast doors began to open. A screeching siren barked out in warning as it slowly limbered open to allow the convoy through.

As the vehicles passed underneath into the fortified underground enclosure, warm air greeted them after hours of freezing their balls off, not literally, in the backs of trucks whose vents had coughed out nothing but slightly less freezing air as if the heat had been leeched out from the engine before it could even enter the pipes. Sodium light bulbs glared overhead from deep armored pits in the ceiling and a hoist crane lumbered above transporting a large tank even as maintenance crew hung from the thick chains holding on as they exchanged jokes and glances below them.

The vehicles lumbered onwards as doors opened and flaps were put up as they were waved deeper into the compound. They passed by large vehicle bays where row after row of tanks were parked, their crews modifying or repairing damage, putting on fresh coats of paint, resupplying their ammunition, or playing cards on the ground as they waited for orders. Patrols of infantry in full kit marched by, their forces a wide array of the three allied nations and not a single one the same.

Here a patch showed the old Albany Flag which had been eradicated from the face of the earth a year before. There a twin crossed saber marked a cavalryman from the 107th American Armored and another had the parachute emblem of a paratrooper. Each worked in unison and paid no attention to different countries of origin or allegiance...it spoke ill of the current state of the war that not even old political differences were shown, everyone was focused towards holding the lines.

Turning a corner and finally reaching the designated garage, the first trucks lumbered into position and began to offload their contents. Soldiers eagerly hopped off unlimbering themselves of their winter gear as their now sweating bodies were encased in the comforting heat of the facilities vast space. Crew members stretched from the long journey and several began walking off towards an unseen destination, most likely the barracks or messhall, probably both. The group found themselves walking around aimlessly unsure if they should follow the rest until an unfamiliar officer with a face so red with anger it might as well have not had skin on it.

"You daft bastards!? Didn't you hear the assembly call? Get moving to your zones instead of slacking off or so help me you'll wish the Empire was the least of your problems!"

Not even stopping to hear a reply, the officer stormed off shouting at other groups of lolly gagging troops inherently set on just being an annoying prick. No one, not even the Colonel showed up to give them directions so it was left to them to explore. Up ahead lay a large bulkhead with a sign overhead that was listed as "Barracks 3" with arrows pointing to the left and right towards "Engineering, Barracks 4-10, Mess, Infirmary" and "Barracks 1-2, Entrance, Assembly, CIC" respectively.