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Chapter XII

Insight to the Past: Jun

Jason:

We left his conference room shortly after he laid down the deal, as well as his ashes. I was out quickly because of two reasons: one, I hated the smell of smoke (and cigarettes in general) and two, he scared me. We had our plan, our window inside the base, and we had a goal to achieve all before we had even left. Disappointing this guy was not on my To-Do List so it was best to follow his orders, even if they were pretty tall.

As we left the building, the bright sun that was barely in the sky was now just touching the horizon, leaving the sky in a heap of dark red and orange with purple-ish colored clouds. The sight was pretty and romantic which made me wish I had brought a camera, sadly though this was probably the last time I was going to get to see the sun for a very long time.

Out with the heat, and in with the blistering cold.

Just as I had thought earlier, the clouds over us, not over the sun, looked dark and menacing. Snow was already beginning to fall on us, but not hard thankfully yet it was the cold wind that made me put my goggles on. Boy, was I glad I wore some thick clothes under my robe, but too much so that it was impossible to move. I pulled my hood over my head and followed as Jun and Viktor led us back to the snowmobiles, Jun looking especially jumpy for some odd reason.

"You okay, Jun?" I asked, walking at his side.

He seemed caught off-guard. "Huh? What?" he then looked at me. "Oh, sorry, Jason. Wasn't paying attention."

Viktor seemed to notice his partner's discomfort. "Something the matter, Jun?" the Agumon asked with a tilt of his head.

A few moments passed before he replied. "N-nothing...just the cold is all. Reminds me of home..." he trained off and shook his head. "Come on, let's just get this mission over with."

For some reason he didn't sound very excited about the mission at all which was odd since he was a mission-type person. Viktor sounded more excited than he did and the two were usually in the same mood, and Jun did not really look like he wanted to be here right now. I found it odd since he sounded like he was looking forward to the mission long before we got here, and he was now slumping as he hopped onto the snowmobile and sighed grievingly.

Maybe he would feel better later.

Ryan and I took to our own snowmobiles, turning them on, then watched as Jun followed behind Viktor as they both began to slowly drive out of the back entrance of th compound. We followed closely behind them as we left the base shortly, entering the cold region that was surrounded by mountains and trees of pine.

It wasn't long before we got deep into the white lands, the snow gliding right over the skis of the snowmobiles. Viktor led the way since he knew exactly where we were going, Jun followed closely behind him but still looked down for some odd reason, and we followed behind him. We passed hundreds of trees on our way to the convoy's location but it was better on this than hiking miles on foot. Man that would sure suck, even I didn't have that much energy to hike.

A bump made me snap out of my thoughts, making me jump a little and jerk my snowmobile a little. I heard Ryan shout from behind me but with the sounds of the engines going on, it was hard to know what he said.

It was about an hour later did night hit us, along with the massive blizzard. Snow blanketed our sights while the night covered up our senses. We were forced to go slowly, which was very time consuming and taking so long. If it wasn't for the fact that Viktor knew where we were going, I bet anything that we would be lost beyond all understanding. Yet how he knew exactly where we had to be made me almost question him over the comm, but I stopped myself.

Better not disturb him if he's in the zone or something.

Once he stopped, we all stopped. He hopped off his ride and began to walk ahead, beckoning us to follow him as well. I shrugged, along with Jun and Ryan, as all three of us jumped off our vehicles then followed him on foot.

"How come Viktor seems to always know where he's going?" I asked, walking right beside Jun.

"Viktor has a keen sense to always know which direction is the way to go," Jun explained. "Even if he hasn't been given a direction or location, he can use his heightened senses and look for the best way to go."

"So he can like smell where the truck is?" Ryan asked.

"Not exactly, but when the commander zoomed in on the truck I'm sure Viktor studied over it. He probably got a direction from where he swiped the screen or something. All I know is he always knows where to go. No matter what."

We took his word for it. It was a great skill to have alright and it explained why he knew where he was going. I hoped the snow wasn't messing up his senses or else we were lost out in the frozen land.

We walked through the deep snow, going even slower than we were when we rode on the snowmobiles. The bone-chilling cold seeped through my robe and made me chatter my teeth, I shook violently from the freezing temperatures, trying to find some sort of warmth that could help me. Ryan came up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders, sending jolts of heat through my body. I admit, I gasped a little but felt the heat warming into my skin, but there was no way Ryan was doing this just by himself. I quickly turned my head to see his glove glowing dimly.

"How're you doing that?" I asked, over the howling winds.

"I figured it out some time ago, when I think of fire or heat my mark begins to glow and I get warm," he replied. If he was smiling, I couldn't see it due to the scarf wrapped tightly around his nose and mouth. "Maybe you should try."

He sounded optimistic, like he knew it might work or something. Well, if it meant getting warm and straying farther from the cold, then I was all up for a little trial and error run of this weird ability he and I shared. If it didn't work, then I was going to have to settle with letting Ryan's hands stay on my shoulders just to warm my body from the painful cold air.

I closed my eyes and began to think warm thoughts, mainly of fire. There was a fireplace that radiated heat throughout an entire cabin. There was a bonfire, the ripples of the embers warming the air all around the place as sparks flew in the air and landed on the ground. Hell, I even thought about a massive heater that blew warm air around a room, letting the floor and walls creak a little bit just from the warmth it put out.

Still, there was no change. I didn't feel warmer at all (aside form Ryan's hands) which felt really unfair to me.

"How come you get all the cool, weird abilities?" I asked, grunting a little.

He heard him shrug and sigh. "I dunno...and I really wish I didn't have all of this weird crap." He said truthfully. I knew he must've thought of this weird stuff was a pain in the butt to have all at once. He never acted like a powerhouse, thank God, and mainly tried to hide his special abilities from others.

Well, Piper was the only other person who knew actually.

While I was lost in thought, I ran right into Jun accidentally. He grunted a little and turned his head to look at me. I felt embarrassed and gulped a little.

"Watch it, Jason," he spoke gently, not sounding as annoyed as I thought he would. He sounded calm, not stressed at all. He didn't even sigh.

"Sorry," was my only response.

"Shh," he replied, placing a finger on his lips.

Confused, he gestured ahead of us where Viktor sat crouched with a set of binoculars looking over the landscape. It was a wonder how he was able to see even five feet in front of him, let alone close to 100 yards! Jun was right, his senses were definitely heightened from all the sniper work he had to with Jun. I bet even Jun had some keen eyes, but Viktor probably put him to shame though.

We all followed until we sat crouched by his side. He took his binoculars off and sighed, pointing ahead. The massive blizzard seemed to let up a little weirdly, allowing us to see what he was looking at. About fifty yards ahead of us was a faint yellowish light that looked blurry and fuzzy through the snowstorm, but I could definitely see what he was looking at. It was a set of yellow headlights that cut through the massive onslaught of snow just enough to make out that the lights were connected to the rest of the large truck that was going slow through the snow.

Even I could hear the sound of the squeaking wheels as the truck drove on. In my mind, I reminded myself to never question Viktor again.

Someone tapped against my shoulder, it turned out to be Viktor who pointed ahead. "We need to get out to that truck before we freeze to death out here."

I nodded and stood up. "Will they detect us?"

He shook his head. "I doubt it, the blizzard should mask our approach so we should be able to get in undetected."

Without questioning him, we all nodded and began to trudge as fast as we could through the deep snow. The blizzard beat against our faces as the snow chilled our entire body's down to the core. If we didn't get out of the cold soon, I was sure we were going to freeze to death soon. We neared the truck each second, but still felt far away from it for some reason. It wasn't going very fast since it looked old and the whole thing was having trouble getting through the deep snow as well. Maybe the driver was having trouble seeing through the blizzard as well, but either way it was a good thing for us then since we weren't racing with the thing.

Getting out of this blizzard and getting inside the truck was our priority. The four of us got closer and closer to the vehicle, barely a few yards away from the thing, but somehow it seemed to speed up a little. The speed threw me off just as I reached for the back bumper of the back of the truck, the back of it already opened up, much like our own army truck. I made a grab for it, but it went forward more than I expected and caused me to stumble into the snow tracks. With Ryan's help I was able to get back up quickly to resume chasing after the car.

Jun sprinted all out for the truck, quickly grabbing the bumper as he hauled himself up and into the back of the truck. That was one down, but there were still three of us left. The snow seemed to get easier and easier to run through as I soon realized it wasn't getting as deep as I was getting used to. But there was something else I was noticing as well.

The blizzard was letting up.

The snow wasn't ask deep and was getting lower! That was why the truck was getting faster! Ryan and Viktor seemed to notice it as well since they were in an all-out sprint for the truck just like Jun. Ryan was the next to make it to the truck, missing his first attempt to grab the bumper but a second time proved better as he used his strength, hauled himself up and over, and stood with Jun as they held out their hands for the two of us.

Jun and I nodded to each other as I let him go next ahead. I was easily two yards from the truck but the thing was moving quicker and quicker as I was able to run quicker through the snow. Viktor was huffing and gasping for air by the time he reached the truck, grabbing at Ryan and Jun's hands as they grabbed him and pulled him up along with them. Oh, how I hated being the last one to every party. Grunting, I sprinted as fast as I possibly could, feeling my lungs burning from running so hard, as I neared the rear of the truck. My legs were getting wobbly and sore as I found myself nearly stumbling from trying to grab at Ryan and Jun's hands. The truck was only getting faster and faster with each passing second, making it exceedingly hard for me to keep up.

I grunted once more and used the last of my energy to grab at Ryan's hand one last time, unsure if I was actually going to even get close.

I missed, again.

This time however, I didn't fall on my face like I expected. There was no hard snow ground waiting for me, or for my face.

Ryan was holding onto my wrist as I found out I was being dragged by the truck. Ryan wrapped his other hand around my wrist and began to pull me up, grunting as Jun aided him and helped pull me up. Even Viktor helped out, but it wasn't like his help was needed since I was almost halfway inside the truck by the time they had gotten me up the dang thing.

My body ached from the running, I was panting quickly and sharply like a tired dog, and my arms felt they had been popped out of their sockets. Sure, I may have been in a lot of pain, that I couldn't deny, but at least I was inside the truck and not face down in the snow about to freeze to death.

Thanks a ton, guys.

Once my lungs were no longer on fire and my body was no longer in a heap of pain, finally was I able to take in my surroundings. This truck was pretty large on the inside, filled with wooden crates that seemed to be filled with food apparently. There were a few ammunition crates but the food held the majority. Quickly I analyzed them and found that they were just exotic or non-exotic fruits. Apples, bananas, papayas, coconuts, et cetera.

It at least made the air smell good.

Ryan sat down against a wall of ammunition with his hands clutching his chest. Jun and Viktor were huddled together, not in an affectionate way but in a way that said We're-huddling-together-because-we're-freaking-cold in that type of way. Following their example, I scooted myself closer to Ryan to get warmer since my body was shivering violently and I felt like an ice cube dipped in dry ice. Okay, that might be over-exaggerating the truth since dry ice is seriously deadly to touch, but I was cold so don't even bother hating me because of my comparisons.

My tentacle-like ears were definitely frozen, hence why after I tried to move them I found it they were frozen solid. It hurt until Ryan placed his hand on my head, re-sending heat through my body that made me breathe out slowly. My ears still felt a little numb but for the most part I felt much better than I did before.

Thank the Lord for strange powers!

Viktor breathed out slowly, letting his air be silent but still quick. "Now, all we need to do is wait until we reach the base, then we can ditch the truck." He sighed again and leaned closer to Jun. "Then we're going to have to deal with the guards inside the compound before we can get anything else done."

"Sounds like a plan..." Jun sounded low and unfeeling after his partner spoke.

"Jun," I sighed myself. "What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean, Jason?"

"You've been acting down ever since we touched down in Sweden," I explained. "Either you're just too tired to have much energy or something's bothering you."

Jun looked away from us, even away from Viktor. His partner tilted his head and tapped Jun's shoulder, who didn't seem to notice until his partner shook his shaking body. Jun turned back to each of us, looking way older than he usually looked. It freaked me out until I rubbed my eyes and saw that same fifteen year-old who was best known for his precise shooting.

"You could say...the cold reminds me of my home," he sounded heavily Russian again, which made me lean forward. This was when he got serious.

Ryan leaned forward along with me. "I never asked but if you lived in Russian before, what happened that made you join the G.M.A.F?"

Jun only lifted his face up to the ceiling and leaned against the back of the truck, I saw him close his eyes just as he began to talk.

"I guess now is a good time as ever," he said then looked back at us. "This will take a while but I hope it at least gets us through the trip to the base."

"Go on," Viktor said, closing his eyes.

"It started out when I was ten if I believe so..." he started. "I had lived in my home country, Russia, for my whole life. My place of birth was Moscow, the capitol, as well as the strongest place in the land. It was a refuge for the families and soldiers who were lost and wounded during the war, but the city also had the strongest military, defenses, and morale as that of the Japanese G.M.A.F. I was young at the time and still didn't understand much of what was going on in the world at the time, so sometimes my mother would tell me the stories she heard from the other nations that were combating the Shadows. Did it help me understand anything? Sometimes but most of the time I usually felt completely lost and confused.

"I remember the day clearly but not the date, not that it matters since it's pretty much another statistic. It was a clear day in the city as I remember clearly, regular townspeople were on their ways to the markets, some were walking to their jobs while others were buying goods like these." He gestured to the fruits. "Dozens of soldiers were patrolling the city streets and corners, more on the rooftops of tall and small buildings to give us an edge on the high ground. It was cold, late winter, but the air was perfect and not too hard on the throat, puffy white clouds were placed in the sky and block out the sun at all times in a way.

"It was peaceful, that much I knew. I myself was with my mother walking through the markets of the city, gathering ingredients for supper for tonight. She was holding onto my hand as we walked along through the streets. Off in the distance I could still see the Kremlin in all its glory and power, each and every Kremlin Tower still up and looking strong and tough. My father was a soldier much like a majority of the older men in Russia, but my mother decided that caring for me was better for her than picking up a gun and start shooting.

"She was beautiful, ebony hair, ruby red lipstick, white fair skin, and blue eyes. She wore a tight black dress that day which showed off her body exquisitely. She wasn't frilly and soft in the least, even I had seen her beat up a man who tried to mug her once before. She was excellently trained by my father to fight for her protection and the only gun she ever carried was a stripper-pistol that was inside her purse." He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, getting off track."

"It's okay, keep going," I said, gesturing him on.

"Well, just after she had bought me one of the freshest apples I had ever tasted from the market, just right after I had taken the first bite of the fruit, I knew for a fact that something wasn't right. Even she had felt it. She and I stood there still like statues, our bodies shivering for some odd reason. Immediately following our shivers, I heard a woman scream not far from us, causing the both of us to jerk our heads in her direction to see why she was screaming." Jun shivered as he stopped for a moment. "What I saw next made my heart sink. There was a bright glowing object that shot through the air, leaving a faint trail of gray smoke in the air as I watched as it soared through the air then hit our sacred Kremlin dead on. I could see Ivan the Great's Bell Tower begin to crumble like a cave that had just collapsed in on itself. The sight made me nearly cry, maybe I did but it was hard for me to remember at the time. After the first missile--I guessed missile at the time--had hit the Kremlin, a dozen more followed and hit our great building again and again. People were crying all around us, many women were on the ground were bawling their eyes out as they watched the explosions tear apart our world.

"Well, things didn't stop there, not even close. Someone else gasped and shouted 'Look'. I was scared to even look at what she gasped for but my curiosity got the better of me. High in the sky I could see dark things, black things, begin to sweep over the sky like a tidal wave of black oil. They were jets, Shadow jets, and they only brought me great pain. I watched as they released dozens upon dozens of missiles upon our city, the explosions rattling the ground we stood on, causing some of the people to stumble and fall forward. Some of the explosions were actually close by, destroying the streets in a blister of fire and smoke, craters and rubble everywhere. Car were being shot into the air, some had actually blown up on impact and had caused people to be flung backwards, forwards, and high up into the air, only to get hurt upon impact right as they slammed back against the earth.

Ryan tapped his chin. "This was called...the Cold Russian Stand, wasn't it?" he asked.

Jun nodded. "Yes, it was technically our last stand against the Shadows, and they just put us down just like all the other cities around the world."

I looked down. "What happened next?" I asked, wishing I hadn't.

Jun sighed and folded his arms. "What do you think happened? All hell broke loose. It was mass chaos. Civilians were running around everywhere while the jets rained down gunfire against us, many were shot and killed, others were on the verge of death. My mother had grabbed my wrist and had pulled me along, causing me to drop my apple but I knew it was for a good cause. We passed by many people, my mother shoving some aside as she tugged me along the streets, watching as people lied on the ground either dead or dying. Buildings off in the distance were on fire and crumbling while others were untouched, but not for long sadly. Cars were blazing, some were burned down to the core and even the trams were offline.

"My mom screamed and shouted as we ran down the streets, listening as we began to hear gunfire close by, telling us that the Shadow's soldier's had touched down to kill us all. She cursed and saw a group of G.M.A.F soldiers fighting with some Shadow soldiers, which we were winning against by some odd miracle. Once we had reached the men, she handed me over and whispered the last things I would ever hear her say to me."

_ "Stay strong, my child, we will meet again one day,"_ she had said to me

"Right after she had told me that, the soldier picked me up and began to carry me away into one of their choppers. I shouted for them to take me back to my mother since she was all I had left to live by, but the soldier was more focused on my safety other than my mother's. He strapped me into my seat as I struggled to get free but the copter began to lift into the air, telling me I had no choice but to stay in my seat and be whisked away. We were high in the air, dodging bullets and gunfire as the copter sped away, and I watched as my mom picked up a gun and began to shoot with the remaining soldiers on the ground. That was the last time I saw her."

But the time Jun had finished his story, he was softly sniffling, careful enough to keep the guy driving the truck no signs there was anyone back here. He wiped his eyes and nose with his sleeves (I would've found that gross if the story hadn't made me feel the need to cry as well) then looked back at us with his puffy red eyes.

And I thought Ryan had it bad, Jun had it ten times worse.

"That's...part of the reason why I don't like the cold anymore," he said while sighing.

"Part?" I asked.

He waved his hand aside. "That should be for another time. Right now however..."

The sniper heard the chuckling of men as we passed over what felt like a speed bump. Light hit the roof of the truck immediately as I soon found out that they were watch-lights that could be found inside a base.

A base.

"...I think it's time for us to start this mission," the Russian said as he smiled for the first time since this whole mission began.