Dan Forester hadn't found many people willing to help.
Only two answered his call.
One of them was a Black woman from the future. She had worked with Dan to replicate the toxin capable of killing the White Spikes, producing multiple vials. She also brought with her a stash of heavy weaponry and explosives.
The other was Dan's estranged father.
An aging pilot, the old man still owned a vintage transport aircraft. He volunteered to fly them straight into the White Spikes' territory at the North Pole. He also had specialized equipment that could scan beneath the ice.
Originally, Dan had wanted to recruit a few of his old comrades from the war in the future, but Vincent Fox had firmly stopped him.
Not only would it waste time, but what was the point of taking so many people?
All Vincent needed was someone to lead the way.
The White Spikes were his prey. He didn't need help.
Still, by the time they were ready to depart, another day had gone by.
In the suburbs of Macon, Georgia...
A loud hum filled the air.
A battered old transport plane roared to life, its engines kicking in as it launched into the sky, heading north.
Vincent sat in the cabin. Across from him, the woman from the future had been watching him the entire time.
"Is there something on my face?" Vincent asked lazily.
The woman didn't answer. She turned to Dan instead.
"Only four of us for a mission like this? Isn't that a bit too few?" she asked skeptically.
Dan scratched his head. "It's Vincent's call. He insisted that we shouldn't risk more people than necessary."
"Why?" she asked, turning her sharp gaze toward Vincent, her tone laced with suspicion.
Vincent couldn't be bothered to explain. He closed his eyes and leaned back. "I'll tell you once we find the White Spikes."
With that, he dozed off.
The flight from Macon to the Arctic would take over ten hours. Staying awake the whole time would be unbearable.
The woman frowned. Something about Vincent felt unreliable.
Her instincts as a soldier screamed that this operation was far from simple.
She leaned closer to Dan and whispered, "Where did you find this guy?"
"He's the one who found me," Dan replied. "This whole mission was his idea."
By the time the plane touched down on the icy outskirts of the Arctic, it was already the next morning.
Vincent's mission timer now showed four days remaining.
"This is what we'll rely on next," the old man said, gesturing at four snowmobiles lined up before them.
Dan looked hesitant, as though he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to.
Vincent knew the backstory Dan's relationship with his father was strained at best.
At this moment, Dan noticed the old man's declining condition. He wanted to ask him to stay behind, but his pride wouldn't let him.
So Vincent stepped in with a smile. "You should stay behind. Someone needs to guard the plane."
"What, you think I'm too old for this?" the old man huffed. "Listen, son, I may be old, but I'm still a soldier."
Vincent shrugged. "Suit yourself."
He'd done what he could. If the old man refused to listen, that was on him.
Dan looked like he wanted to speak, but in the end, he said nothing.
The four of them mounted the snowmobiles, bringing along scanners and explosives, and ventured into the endless snowfields in search of the alien ship.
Snow and wind raged around them.
Visibility was terrible.
Every gust kicked up a thick cloud of fog, obscuring their vision.
In conditions like this, it would be easy to get lost and freeze to death.
Thankfully, their gear was top-notch. With the help of the instruments, they managed to press on through the blizzard.
Vincent followed closely behind the true protagonist Dan Forester.
This man had absurd plot armor. If anyone could find the target, it'd be him.
Sure enough, by midday, they got a breakthrough.
The scanners on each snowmobile began to glitch, flicker, and lose signal.
Vincent's lips curled into a smile.
They were close.
"Everyone, stop!" Dan shouted from the front.
He raised his hand, halting the group. Holding up his scanner, he turned and asked, "Are your devices acting up too?"
"Yes!" both the old man and the woman responded.
Dan nodded. "It must be nearby. Let's start searching carefully."
Everyone dismounted and began combing through the area.
It didn't take long.
"Over here, quick!" Dan shouted from a distance.
The others hurried to his side.
Right before them lay a massive snow-covered sinkhole.
In a glacier, such a formation was highly abnormal.
Their instruments confirmed it the magnetic field here was completely distorted.
Clearly, something was interfering from beneath the ice.
"This must be it," the old man muttered, face serious.
Dan didn't waste time. "Prep for demolition."
A thick layer of ice and snow blanketed the crater. They'd need to blast their way through to reach whatever was below.
Everyone got to work planting explosives around the perimeter.
Once the setup was complete, they backed off to a safe distance.
Boom!
The charges detonated, sending chunks of ice flying. A dark, deep cavern was revealed beneath the shattered crust.
Without hesitation, the team armed themselves and entered the tunnel.
The descent was long.
It took them several minutes to reach the bottom.
When they did, Dan, the woman, and the old man were all left speechless by what lay before them.
A massive alien spacecraft, bizarre in design and scale, stood silently in the icy cavern.
Only Vincent remained calm.
He already knew this scene was coming.
"This is their ship... we were right," Dan said, both excited and seething with emotion. His daughter's tragic death flashed through his mind.
"What now?" the woman asked. "If there are that many White Spikes in there, we're not making it out alive."
Dan looked down at the few remaining explosives, steeling himself to go plant them.
But just then, Vincent's voice cut through the tension.
"Your mission is complete. Leave the monsters inside to me."
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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