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Chapter 51: In Good Faith
On their way back to the base, Frost and Panda kept entertaining the squad with their story, dramatizing it even more as they repeated it a couple of times. By the end of the first narration, the team gained some interest in Scott, who stayed back as hearing his name in the story embarrassed him slightly. But since Frost and Panda kept gloating for themselves, they retained the squad’s attention while Indie led them back home. Their teammates absolutely loved hearing about their near-death experience, but as they were so intrigued by all the details, they interrupted the story with their questions on multiple occasions. They had to walk for a long time, but with more to talk about, the trip flew by, and before they knew it, they were back in the training grounds by the time everyone in the base was just waking up.
Crisis chatted all the way until they reached the back gate, where they had to wait for the guards to open the entrance. As soon as they returned to the base, they received some strange looks from the soldiers preparing the courtyard for breakfast. Some instinctively greeted the team, but a few realized they had left for a mission and immediately went to tell others. Soon enough, they were surrounded by their friends as they made their way to the central building, but as they had to clean themselves up after the mission, they left the soldiers waiting impatiently to hear about their story.
The group split up to start their day like usual, but with Scott showering by himself, he found himself isolated at the barracks. It was too early for his friends to wake up, and even though he had some explaining to do after his disappearance, he chose to return to his room to rest. His roommates barely noticed him enter the quarter, but since they were only an hour from waking up, they soon found Scott back in his bed like nothing happened. He refused to wake up, and with his roommates not paying much attention to it, he was left to rest for as long as he wanted.
On the other hand, Crisis had stuff to do. Their showers replenished their energy, but while they all had to take care of their gear and weapons, Frost and Indie were heading directly to Snake’s office after she pulled him aside from the group. While he was a little tense to be left alone with her, he didn’t hesitate to follow her, and after being allowed in by the two usual guards at the door, he put on his best attitude to report their successful mission.
Both Frost and Indie entered the office eagerly, where they were surprised to see no one at first. They took a second to notice Snake resting on his desk, getting up shortly after they stood right in front of him. He completely ignored them at first as he rubbed his face and beard to wake himself up, and after a big yawn, he turned to Frost and Indie with slight confusion before remembering the purpose of their meeting.
–So, how did it go?– Snake asked in a drowsy manner, paying more attention to his surroundings as he adjusted his chair, only to realize that Viper wasn’t standing next to him like usual. Frost and Indie waited for him to compose himself, but as he remained indifferent well after getting comfortable, they reported everything they had.
–Flawlessly, sir. We managed to infiltrate the cave and clear all of the antipunks before blowing it up. It must have been their temporal main base, so I would say they won’t scavenge for parts around the region any time soon– Frost replied confidently and firmly, getting a relieved nod from Snake. But as he began bragging, he raised some suspicion that Indie failed to cover as Snake cut her off before she could open her mouth.
–Yea, I was told… But I also heard you almost died in the process…– Snake responded with a skeptical look that immediately erased Frost’s smug grin, although he kept his cool and laughed it off.
–Just a mild inconvenience… We had to make sure we destroyed all of their infrastructure and eliminated every last one of them– Frost explained nonchalantly, still wearing his pride and confidence on his face, even though it was more muted as he noticed Indie giving him the usual disapproving stare. He quickly ignored her, but Snake wouldn’t dismiss him so easily, as he kept a thoughtful silence for a moment before his expression became mixed with doubt.
–So, you went chasing after that Trash gang? Did you at least kill them?– Snake asked curiously but sounded slightly contemptuous as he leaned in to hear Frost’s response, prompting him to think carefully before answering.
–Well…– Frost muttered and began turning nervous as he turned to Indie, asking for her help with his now insecure eyes. She rolled her eyes and shifted her attention to Snake before begrudgingly taking over the conversation to give Frost a chance to get his act together.
–He did have Panda with him to provide support, but apparently, they struggled to get out of the cave once we set off the explosives– Indie stepped in with her natural assertiveness and conviction, though she began speaking against Frost and putting more pressure on him to explain himself, which he certainly didn’t appreciate.
–You risked it all for those rats? Really?– Snake asked judgmentally, staring at Frost critically, almost in disbelief, though not like Indie’s seemingly malicious stare. He stared back at her with a bit of disdain, but as he tried to ignore getting indirectly scolded, Frost faced the commander once again, took a breath, and without much effort, he returned to his cool demeanor.
–Not really… We put ourselves at risk by going deeper, sure, but if we hadn’t, the mission wouldn’t have been as valuable as it was… So, I like to think that I did it in good faith…– Frost replied with resolve, sounding genuine but not hiding his pride to be as transparent as possible. He did manage to deceive Snake into believing his reasoning, but after giving Indie a cheeky smile that intensified her harsh stare, Frost proceeded to elaborate further before Snake got a chance to question him.
–I know what you are going to say, but… I was-… We were actually trying to find the reason why they had set up that mine, so we kept digging deeper until we got what I was looking for– Frost added with more seriousness, toning down his confidence to be more concise, intriguing Snake in the process but annoying Indie at the same time.
–Which was?...– Snake asked curiously, to which Frost teased both him and Indie by taking a brief moment to build some suspense. After seeing them growing impatient, he reached for his back pocket, and instead of pulling out his gun, he withdrew a small rock to reveal his findings.
–Echolite, sir. They were mining for echolite, that’s why they had gone so deep and tried to keep low. They had a vault full of it, but we managed to destroy it alongside all of their equipment…– Frost explained after setting the small ore of echolite on Snake’s desk, who was visibly impressed and immediately began toying with it while Frost smirked.
–Hmm, interesting. That means they were trying to provide resources to someone else, there’s no way they can use that material for themselves– Snake thought out loud as his expression turned pensive. He rubbed his chin and began speculating to the point he dozed off, but as he looked away, Frost and Indie exchanged heckling stares for a moment. Frost held a laugh before turning back to Snake, but he was thrown off his element when Indie began speaking and stole the attention.
–Yes, I thought the same. They must be trying to help our other enemies gain an advantage, maybe another sort of alliance to take over the entire continent this time…– Indie commented with certainty, making Snake ponder for even longer. He leaned back on his chair after he stored the echolite ore in one of the desk’s drawers, but while he began thinking of a way to take action on the matter, Indie didn’t waste time sharing her ideas before Frost got the chance to interfere again.
–I had Tricky gather the coordinates and direct the path to the cave so we could send a unit to inspect the place. I’m sure there must be more down there. We should hurry up and clear the borders of the region to push them back wherever they came from– Indie proposed self-assuredly, and while Frost tried to object, Snake was immediately convinced upon hearing her suggestion.
–Good job, that’s going to be useful. I’ll inform our allies right away. They’ll search the area for more scavengers, and maybe they can give us something else to do in exchange for this intel– Snake disclosed with a pleased expression as he pulled out a notepad and began writing on it. Indie briefly returned the mocking gesture Frost gave him earlier, but instead of arguing, he just scoffed at her and turned his attention to Snake, who stood up to call one of the guards outside.
–You can leave now, Frost. We need to discuss some things in private…– Snake ordered casually, catching Frost by surprise as he had to step back to give Indie room to take a seat. He almost tried to argue with him, but as the guard he called came into the room, he didn’t get to say a word.
–Oh, but make sure to celebrate this victory with the rest of the team, maybe throw a party or something… We don’t know when we are going to get another win like this– Snake added in a more lighthearted manner, although Frost remained adamant to stay with Indie. He hesitated to respond, but since the commander wasn’t even looking at him anymore, Frost accepted his dismissal with disappointment.
–Thank you, sir, we appreciate it…– Frost replied indifferently, trying hard to sound grateful while hiding his discontent under his not-so-subtle scowl. He had no other option than to leave, but before walking out of the office, he turned back to eavesdrop as Indie and Frost continued having a conversation. He tried to get some information, but as Indie glanced back at him, he gave up with an annoyed sigh and logged his way out of the office without being able to be a part of their scheming.