Chapter two

The two sat in a small cabin of a basic civilian transport vessel modified to withstand extended periods of time out of atmosphere. The ship wasn't equipped with any form of weaponry, which was good sign, Wherever they were headed, it wouldn't be a hot drop. Alice was just finishing up with a basic systems check for armor and weaponry, whereas Hatter was attempting to convince the pilot to give him a discount on the flight for a few repairs he'd do around the ship, he wasn't very successful in his bargaining. Alice looked over at the door separating her room from the cockpit, "You mind telling me where we're going?" A few moments passed before the door slid open to show Hatter loading the last few shells into his shotgun, "Take a look." The metal window shudders were lowered revealing one small city placed in the middle of a frozen tundra. "Europa? Why would he have us come here?" "Probably a simple point A, point B data recovery, but he didn't say." The pilot landed just outside the city limits by a small camp built by Rabbit and his mercs. It was pretty basic, almost bare minimum for recon missions this far from the city. When the cabin doors opened, Rabbit was there to greet the pair with open arms. "Velcome my friends, I hope ze commune vasn't too much of a hassle!" Alice had forgotten how strong his accent was. "Not at all, in fact I was able to squeeze a conversation or two out of Hatter." "Wunderbar! Now I'm sure you're going to vant somesing to drink. Come! Come! I'm sure I have a little vine left, or maybe some Guinness?" "Guinness should be fine, thank you." The two followed Rabbit into the largest of the three pods strewn about the ice plane, which was assumed to be the barracks. When they had passed the terraforming station, their suspicions were confirmed. This was obviously where the mercs slept, and although it didn't look it from the outside, it was surprisingly luxurious, for a barracks at least. It was apparent that Rabbit had fear, be it subconscious or not, that the mercs he had hired would turn on him for whatever reason. And he decided to confront this problem by providing a comfortable living quarters for his 'employees'. Which could be justifiable, after all, the men he hired were not FOTC. Rabbit led the two past the bunks and into the mess hall, "So," Said Hatter, "what are we doing out here?" Rabbit had a bit of a puzzled look on his face, "Did zey not brief you on ze situation?" Hatter and Alice sat down while Rabbit prepared a few drinks. "No. Were we not meant to know?" "Nien, you vere to be told. Ze sing is, zis vasn't meant to be a 'public' operation. So I vould assume zey don't vant zis to be released for ze rest of ze city to hear. Ich mein, zey didn't even supply infantry. You sink I vanted to hire all zese söldner?" Rabbit walked over to where the others were sitting while Alice chimed in, "I was a little curious why you hadn't any guardians with you, but are you sure you can trust these mercs?" Rabbit looked over his shoulder to be sure no one was close enough to hear, then leaned closer and spoke in a hushed tone, "Zere have been vispers around ze barracks, and ven I enter ze room conversations end. Und I sink I know vy. I keep a single room sealed wisout allowing anyvon but myself in zere. I cannot tell zem vat is behind zat door under strict orders, but I am sure zey sink I'm hiding somesing valuable. If I don't find a vay to solve zis issue soon, zese tiere vill rip me into a sousand stücke." "Hey boss," all three heads spun simultaneously to the source of the voice, "the sparrows are are ready." "Ah, ja sank you Jacobson. Ve vill be zere in a moment." Rabbit didn't speak until he was sure the man had left the quarters. "Anyvay, ze mission: ze commander has agreed to allow to come to zis city to search for an artifact crucial for the study of ze traveler to continue. However, he has refused to fund ze operation, or deploy any troops in fear of ze enemy to be informed of ze fact zat zere is somesing on zis moon zat can be used to help us due to a leak of information or papervork." "Do we have any information leading to the position of the artifact?" Asked Hatter. "Ja, ze traveler sent images to ze minds of my researches, images of a small varehouse in ze center of ze city. Ven ve searched for ze devise ve only found a map vis a relative location, a place called Europa archaeology. Ze problem is, ze building is almost fifteen stories high, und fifty eight square feet per floor, so far ve have scoured ze first couple floors, vich took approximately tventy four hours each. I have had my men prepare sparrow class infantry transportation for our convenience, ve have some area to cover. Get your rest tonight, ve leave for ze site in ze morning." Wow, Rabbit had a lot more dialogue than I had planned, and I kinda regret doing the whole Vs for Ws, and Zs for THs. Next time, just read his lines as if he had an accent, because I feel like this really butchered the story. But anyway, comments and criticism are appreciated, it only helps me become a better writer. Please be gentle, writing isn't a career for me, it's just for fun.