Animation Source Forums

I to assist the mapper and modeler we have recived by nothing short of maricle, I have begun writing the plot in fanfic form since my writing is better than my explanations. I figured i may as well post it here. Please to give me feedback, this will be the plot of the mod.

Warning: this will spoil the plot of the mod. Read at your own risk.

-Mapload text: "awakening"-
Balto began to feel pinpricks of warmth penetrating his frozen hide. The sensation made him yelp at first. More asleep then awake, Balto strained to open his eyes. He shut them again quickly, with another yelp of pain. The resaulting influx of light had been nothing short of blinding. Balto knew something wasn't right. It was more of a gut feeling, an instinct, then anything else. He tried to settle back into the position in which he was lying.
As Balto regained conciousness, the sense that something was amiss grew, to even a physical sensation of tingling and nausia. He knew there was something that worried him more, an instinctive fear, but he couldn't place it. He began so assess his surroundings, in hopes that he might discover what it was and satisfy his worry. Balto felt he was lying on a thinly padded table. He could smell antiseptic, not unlike the smell under the hospital in Nome...
Balto's ears shot erect. Nome. Where was he? Where was his family? Where had he been before he awoke? At the thought of his family he identified his worry. Concern for his family. Balto opened his eyes and tried to lift himself, but even the smallest of motions was met with excrutiating pain, pain he had never known, pain beyond belief. He fell back to the table where he lay. He knew he had to find them, but he hadnt the first idea where he was himself.
The world began to return to focus, to form. The blinding light faded, and objects took shape. Balto looked to his left; there was a window set in the wall, just at the hight of the table. Looking outside, he found it to be night, probably around eleven o'clock by his estimation. The moon seemed close, its bright rays it eminated were cast through the glass of the window, bathing the room in a dim, ghostly white light.
Balto shifted his weight to see the rest of the room. He felt a tug at the fur on his torso. He noticed a slender, dangling wire running from under his fur to a strange machine. It ticked softly as it tirelessly printed a line in blue ink. He watched the line. It jupped intermittantly. He found it to be a regular interval, in line with the pulses of pain he felt. The paper the machine spat out rolled lasily into a small trash bin that sat beneath it. Balto gingerly removed the wire, with a yelp. He began to stand up, he was relived to find that he could.
With renewed confidence, Balto looked around himself. The room was coated with old, peeling wallpaper. A clipboard lay on a table beside the machine. Notes were written on it, in a crooked, hurried scrawl. Balto could not read them, but felt they had something to do with him. Balto remembered his motivation for standing, his family. He had to find them.
Apprehensivly Balto jumped from the table. He met the lynolyium floor with a loud yelp and colapsed. With effort beyond what he thought he was capable of, he dragged himslef back to his feat. Pain surged freely through his body. He leaned against a wall and waited for it to subside. During this time he tried to regroup his memories.
He had been far from Nome, running aimlessly with his family. Just to get out of town for a change, away from the populous. They had been running for several days, and stopped. Jenna had looked to the sky, and noticed a coming storm. The wind was picking up, kicking snow into drifts. Balto knew they couldn't stay out in the open much longer, but they were tired, and took shelter behind a snow drift, in the shadow of Mt. McKinley. Balto had awoken in a blinding whiteout. He looked for the others and found them sleeping comfortably under thin layers of snow, in which they had been buried by the storm. Jets of steam from their breaths rose through small holes in their shealters. Balto had settled down and let the snow cover him. Suddenly he had heard a defining roar, but he never got to break free of the snow.
Balto faintly remembered falling into a distorted dreamscape. He convesed with his long dead mother, and other realitives. He did not know how long it lasted, but he knew it ended with his mother kindly telling him something, he must rise, as the world needed him once more.




more to follow at later time. thanks. Links to the moddb profile and baltosource thread.
Moddb: http://www.moddb.com/mods/pearce-pachuta
Baltosource: balto-half-life-2-mod-t24433-30.html

-update- (looks as though ill be double posting )

Now that the worst of the pain subsided, Balto looked around himself once more. There was a long hall leading out of the room in which he now stood. He knew not where it led, but any place other then where he was could be considered progress, perhaps bringing him closer to his family. If not, at least occupying his mind with a task, so he began to limp down the corridor. A crumpled map hung from the wall. The words "Elmendorf Airforce base, Anchorage" were printed across the top. This puzzled Balto, he could not think of a reason for a facility of the size to launch planes, and why Alaska, where they could barely fly, and what did the military want with them? World War I had ended years before. Balto decided it was more or less unimportant, but it caused a new thought to arise: When was he?
The coridoor opened into a wide hallway. Balto glanced backwards. Above the corridor he had pased through was a sign reading: "Surgery, Emergancy Servaces". It made no sense, nothing familiar, nothing to relate it to the hospital in Nome, nothing to identify.
At the end of the In the hallway the faded wallpaper gave way to steel plates. Shelves containing strage weapons lined the wall on the left. Pistols without drums, rifles without breaches or levers. All of it added to the confusion and growing paranoya Balto now expirenced. He cept glancing over his shoulder in the dim light, half expecting to see shadows of his old enemies slithering behind him. He continued, trembling slightly, partly from cold, partly from his growing fear, even terror.
Balto passed a wide window, which illuminated a wide portion of the hallway. The snow was still falling gently and presistantly through the pines outside. The scene would have been pleasent, even relaxing, but the view was corrupted by two giant metal hulks. Machines of war bristling with guns, similar to those he had seen in black and white WWI footage, but sleeker, and menacing instead of clumsy. By the war footage he had seen, Balto knew them to be tanks.
He eyed them down, in sheer terror, remembering the greusome footage he had seen of such machines. Despite the vehicles obviously being out of service, Balto fled in terror. He tore down the hallway, not stopping until he tripped and slid to the end of the hallway a few meters ahead. Finally fealing out of danger, as the tanks had not opened fire on him, Balto tried to regain his bearings. He found a door exiting the hallway just to his left. A sign posted above it read: "Engineering". Balto quickly entered, glad to put a thick metal wall between he and the tanks.
Balto found himself in a wide room, its walls lined with computers and messes of wires. Beyond them, at the far end of the room, was another door. The sign above it read: "labritory". Bright, artificial light shone from inside. Balto entered in hopes of finding life, any life, to calm his nerves and tell him he was not alone.

Here's some more for you. Sorry its a bit of a thead bump

Balto continued into the room. Inside were banks of computers, humming gently. Music played softly, a quiet, instrumental, tune. Balto heard soft mumbling. He identified it to be human. His Spirits lifted. Approaching the source, Balto found a lone scientist, the last one awake, slaving over a computer. The scientist sensed Balto's approach and turned. With pleasant surprise, he said, "Well now, Balto, good to see you've finally awoken after all these years..."

#explanation

Balto was taken aback by the scientists words, he was unable to grasp quite what he had been told. "Years". His thought of "when was he" returned to his mind. Not thinking, he spoke.
"Years?"
"Yes, years"
"When does that make now?"
"2020"
"one hundred and five years?"
"yes"
Balto tried to comprehend what he had heard. It was then that it occurred to him that when he answered the Scientist, he had understood. A look of unexplained astonishment shot into Balto's eyes. He was too shocked to speak.
Reading Balto's eyes, the scientist spoke once more.
"Oh yes, that, I'm sorry I didn’t mention it earlier."
"What?"
"Since your time, Balto, much has occurred, more than could be explained in a time frame short of months. However, one of our more recent accomplishments is how I understand you."
"So, what is it?"
"Several months ago, while you were still out, we implanted a silicon chip within your neck. It is actively translating your language."
"We?"
"The research wing of the United States Military."
Balto, again trying to comprehend what he was being told, sat back.
"But why? Why were you interested in me?"
"Balto, there is another disease, but its....uh...different this time. There is no cure. We need you to destroy the source disease itself"
"But why me?"
"Because you, Balto, were gifted with human intelligence levels. Something altogether unseen in your kind, except you, and your family."
"What about them? Where are they? Are they alive?"
"They are. You are the last to awaken. They were very worried, and will be glad to know you pulled through. Also, recall your friend Tina?"
"Of course"
"She has worked for us ever since she got back"
"But she said..." Balto's voice trailed off thinking of the abuse Tina received in a military organization"
"That was not the United States Military." "It was a private company, long since exposed and destroyed, on American soil anyway"
"So they are still here?"
"That company has joined the forces of our enemy, a terrorist group in a distant desert nation, far east of here, in a region called the 'Middle East'
"So they are irrelevant?"
"Sadly far from it, Balto. They work for our enemy, are our enemy. They are using a disease as their terror weapon"
"Diptheria?"
"No, diptheria is mild, cured and irradiated years ago" "The disease is Anthrax. It is extremely potent, it spreads and kills quickly"
"So, why do you need us?"
"You can infiltrate the area. Only you can get through, because dogs, don't catch anthrax, and you are the only dogs with the intelligence to pull it off."
"So you want us to fight?"
"Well, yes"
"But how?"
"We've made… modifications. Do you agree?"
"I saved America once before..."
"That’s what I like to hear. Now follow me, you must be reunited with your family."
"Where are they?"
"Another wing of research. I will take you there. You shall join them tomarrow."

-Mapload text: "Reunion"-



Balto, still in shock, fallowed the engineer autonimously. His mind was elsewhere. He could not recover from what had happened, and could not fathom how. But that was irrelivant. All that mattered now was that he be reunited.
Balto emerged from his thoughts. He was being led down a long corridor, walled with windows. Outide snow dirfted gently and noiselessly. Soft light gave way to a bright sunrise of early morning beyond the trees that boardered the small clearing in which the cooridor resided. He remained silent, not wanting to desturb the peace which allowed him to think introspectively.
Balto was awakened from his trance by a sharp hiss of rushing air. A sliding door shot open, revealing large room, also heavily windowed, and bathed in vibrant orange light. The label over the doorway read: "dormitory". Balto proceeded after the engineer. He felt an inexplicable trust toward him. Perhaps it was that Balto subconciously credited the scientist with his survival.
Balto suddenly realized he was ravonously hungry. He was overtaken by disabling hunger pains. He sank to the floor. The scientist, again reading the pain in Balto's eyes, commented cheerfully, "Well it appears your digestion is back. You'll be making a full recovery. Now, your family is right through here."
The scientist motioned toward another sliding door. Balto pulled himself to his feet dragged himself through. He fell heavily next to his mate, Jenna, who was still asleep. The scientist disappeared. He returned several minutes later with a plate, which he offered to Balto. On It was a microwaved double layer hamburger.
"Welcome to the twenty first century!" the scientist added, to clarify that what he had given balto was infact meat. By the time he had finished, Balto had long since swallowed it whole.
"thank you... for everything." Balto whispered it was all he could manage.
The scientist, seeing balto content, left.The introduction of food shocked Balto's digestion. Blood was rapidly rerouted to where it was needed more. Balto blacked out, and fell into a deep sleep beside Jenna.
Balto was awakened by a sharp roar, like nothing he had heard in the past. Before he could begin to make sense of it, it was followed by a solid concussive explosion with a visable shockwave. Balto gazed skyword, and saw a silver dart streak by. Water vapor streamed from its wingtips. Balto concluded that it was infact an airplane, but one far beyond what balto thought they could have evolved to in one hundred years time. The silver bird droped into a sharp vertical manuver. Water vapor streamed from its body as it tore the the atmposphere at mach three.
Balto pulled himself to his feet, and watched the spectical mesmorized.
"Its about time one of those woke you."
Balto whirled around.
"Jenna!"
"I missed you, I was so worried..."
Balto leaned against Jenna. The pair noislesly watched the dance above.
"Where are the others?" Balto inquired
"Watching the same thing we are, the test flight."
"What is it exactly? Its no steerma-"
"Its an I-34 Duskey intercepter, Borialis aerospace." Tina cut into Balto's conversation.
"Tina!" Balto was pleasently supprised to see her,he had not expected her to be able to peal herself away from such a spectical.
"Welcome back to the ranks of the living, Balto. How do you feel?"
"Not as bad as I was when I dragged myself in here..."
Balto looked around himself. He was at last reunited. His family had settled into the accomidation given to them, obviously intended to accomidate VIP's. The room in which Balto was lying was floored with a soft, white carpet. The wall facing the runway was entirely glass. He had not yet ventured from it. Balto watched as another Duskey streaked by, followed by a pressure wave and roar. Its path was traced by the water vapor it left in its wake. Balto was gifted with human intelligance and an anylitical mind. He assumed that this phenomenon was the resault of the emense pressure that must have been applied to the airframe... Balto began to drift back into his thoughts, waiting for the return of the others.
By now the sun was shinning brilliantly over the horizon, cutting into the permafrost below. Tina pushed open the door, followed by the rest of Balto's rather makeshift family.
"Its time to begin training" Tina declared.




-Mapload text: "Orientation"-

"I will guide you through your training, and accompany you in combat.", Tina continued, "We shall begin with familiarizing you with your air support.
Balto followed Tina down a shallow ramp from the dormitory. It had a light coating of ice, causing to to glint in the sun. Exiting the building, Balto found himself within a gigantic aircraft hanger, large enough to support an airship. Tina gestured towards a Duskey.
"This is the I-28 Duskey you watched before. It is a single seat intercepter, designed to approch bombers at five times the speed of sound, and shred them with three nose mounted, fully automatic 10mm grenade launchers. The Duskey's stubby wings are ideal for intecept, but prevent it from providing close air support, it cannot fly that slowly that long, however it can eliminate specific targets in seconds.
"Well thats comforting, we wont be alone."Balto replied.
"No, but you will be seeing more of the V-70 Beluga. Follow me.
Balto followed Tina, wondering at how far technology had come so quickly. It was simply beyond belief.
"This is a V-70 Beluga", Tina explained, gesturing toward a large, blue hulk. It will serve as our primary transport VTOL and heavy support aircraft. It is armed with two miniguns, and four missile pods. It can carry a ten ton payload with ease. The V-70 will take you in and out of combat as well as provide close air support, but is not safe from intercepter aircraft, as it is slow moving and an easy target. To protect it, we imploy the F-57 Spinner.Balto gazed apon the spinner in shear wonder. It looked menacing, yet somehow friendly. It looked as if it was ready to tear anything that dared to harm an ally to shreads, and it was. For the first time since his arival, Balto truly felt safe.



--------------------Well, I dont intend on quadruple posting, so I'll edit-------------------------------------------




Tina continued with technical details, but Balto was paying little attention by then. He couldn't shake the uneasy fealing he had, altough It was certainly warented given his sudden circumstances, it gave him pause anyway. Balto simply could not make sense of what had happened, and it frusterated him deeply. Then, Balto had a sudden thought: "This is real." He wasn't dreaming, he wasn't still asleep in Nome, this was real. Reality struck Balto suddenly, but he did not panic, in fact, he took comfort in it, as the realization allowed him to finally make sense of his circumstances, and how he came to be in them.
"Now", Tina declared, "You must be familiarized with your weapons. None of you have ever fired a gun, for obvious reasons. The weapons we are being issued have been modified for our use."
Another reality struck Balto. He was going to war. Balto became apprihensive, then afraid. He wouldn't be able to do this...
Then Balto felt something he had never felt before: Patriotism. He could not allow innocent people to die everyday when he could have prevented it. He could not back down. Thousands of lives relyed apon him. He would not let them down.
The training range was just outside the Aircraft hanger, and covered in a thin layer of permafost. It extended five hundred yards from where Balto stood.
With renewed confidence, Balto approched Tina, who handed him a strangely shaped olive drab rifle.
"Balto, this is your primary assault rifle, the Steyr Aug A1 military. It fires 7.62/36 ammunition, and you will find it to have quite a kick."

Gingerly, Balto lifted his rifle. It was heavier then he thought it would be, and felt makshift and unatural resting apon his shoulder and being supported by his right foreleg. Balto was not used to using only three legs, but managed a wobbly stance in front of his target.

"Now, aim down the scope of your AUG, you will find your target clearer and magnified." Tina instructed.

"I see it..." Balto confirmed.

"Now, brace yourself for the recoil, but do not alter your aim. Then, gently squease the trigger."

The shock of the shot supprised Balto, even though he was ready for it. Once he had regained his blance, he glanced downrage. A hole was punced clean through the center of the target. Balto coudn't help but be pround of himself.

"Good work!" Tina confirmed.
"Why thank you Tina."
"Now, Balto, this is your sidearm. It is a .50 caliber Desert Eagle. You will find it also kicks wildly. Try not to let it hit you in the face"
"Well thats real confidence instilling Tina."

Balto raised the Desert Eagle with his front right paw. Again he found balance on three legs. He was getting used to the stance. Taking careful aim at the head of the silloute target, Balto prepared for the recoil, not in a hurry to be hit in the face by the hunk of steel he held. Slowly, Balto squeezed the trigger. Again, the shock of the blast nearly caused him to loose his footing. The resulting hit was a little low, but certainly would have proved a killshot.

"Well, you overcompensated a little for the recoil, but you will get used to it. You did a lot better then most who first fire the Desert Eagle. You hit the target, and your face is unscathed. Usually its one, the other, or both." Tina laughed.

"Have a lot of fun watching others get smacked with it do ya?" Balto inquired, jokingly.
"Never gets old!" Tina responded.

"Alright Jenna, your turn. Good luck." Balto reitterated Tina's message to his mate.

Balto watched as Tina handed Jenna her weapons.

"This is your primarly weapon. It is an M4 carbine, firing 5.56 ammunition." Tina declared, handing the rifle to Jenna.
"Why thank you." Jenna answered, while finding her balance on three legs.
"Now aim at the target's center, then squease and hold the trigger. The rifle will automatically fire as long as the trigger is depressed. However, the recoil will quickly become too much to handle. Balto's AUG has this ability as well, but is harder to control, due to its large caliber." Tina instructed.

Jenna aimed carefully. She was apprehensive about firing fully automatic, and gave the trigger a quick squeeze. The recoil proved not to be as bad as she had expected, and Jenna mananged not to loose her footing. The shot landed a little to the left, but again, certainly a killshot.

"Now, try automatic" Tina instructed.

Jenna, more confidently, squeezed the trigger. Five rounds landed in the chest of the silloute in rapid succession. Jenna, to, could not hide her satisfaction. She set down her rifle, and Tina handed her a revolver.

"This is a Smith and Wesson .44 magnum. It will kick quite hard, like Balto's Desert Eagle. Watch your face!"

Jenna squeezed the trigger, and, as Tina had predicted, the gun recoiled and hit her square in the eye.

"Now what did I tell ya!" Tina laughed. handing Jenna a towel to whipe the blood from her eye.
Jenna looked at Tina challangingly, then took another shot, hitting the target square in the center, and leaving her eye intact. Jenna looked back to Tina, grinning with defiance.

"I win." she said simply.

Tina grinned back, then beckoned for Kodiack, Balto and Jenna's son, to step forward. Kodi joined Jenna, and Tina handed him his primary weapon.

"This is the AWP cold weather sniper rifle. It is designed to function flawlessly in extreme conditions and maintain its ability to hit targets well over a mile away."

"Over a mile away..." Kodi marvled.
"I suggest you start at one hundred yards, if you intend to hit anything."

Kodi, in no hurry to make a fool of himself, followed Tina's advice. He took aim at a silloute target one hundred yards away.

"I can't see anything through this... Everything is a blur." Kodi muttered, finding 15x magnification to sensitive to steady.

"Lay down, It will make things a whole lot easier" Tina instructed.

Kodi lied down and took aim again. Finding his view much steadier, he fired. His shot landed high and left.

"Try another, You jerked the barrel at the last second."

Kodi pulled the bolt, ejecting the empty cartrige which rolled lazily away from him. Relocking the bolt, Kodi took aim once more, and fired. The shot landed dead center. Kodi grinned.

"Thanks, Tina."

"Glad I could help, but just aiming properly wont help you at a mile away. Bullets have no airfoils, a bullet fired will hit the ground at nearly the same time as one dropped from the same altitude, Gravity effects fired bullets every bit as much as it effects rocks. At long range, you will have to significantly compensate for the altitude the bullet will loose, and the time it will take to reach its destination, However, you shouldn't have to worry about excessivly vast distances most of the time."

"Now, here is your sidearm. It is a fully automatic glock 18, designed to compensate for your lack of an assault weapon in close combat. It has a rather low kick, but you will find it has a very high rate of fire, and will be difficult to control. Now, I want you to fire a clip into the target ten yards away."

Kodi squeezed and held the trigger. The handgun went fully automatic, and Kodi found it was indeed difficult if not impossible to control. After the clip had run dry, Kodi sat back panting, and looked at up at his target. It was peppered thoroughly.

"You see how its rate of fire makes up for how difficult it is to control..."
"Oh it does more then make up for it..." Kodi answered excitedly, as his target fell to the ground, torn in two.

"Come on Aleu it isnt that bad..." Kodi beckoned to his sister.

"Oh really?"

Aleu reluctantly approchaed Tina.

"This is your primary assault rifle, a M14 augmented with an ACOG scope. It fres 7.62/36 caliber round, like Balto's AUG, but the stock is very well padded, I promise It wont hurt you."

Aleu was not in the least bit reassured, but took her position in front of the target and found her balance. Gingerly, she squeezed the trigger. She yelped in suprise, but maintained her aqward grip on the rifle. The shot had landed above center, and after recovering from the first shot, Aleu brought the stock back to her shoulder and fired again. She was prepared this time, and the shot landed squarely in the center. Even she was proud.







-Mapload text: "A dog cannot make this journey alone"-

Suddenly, Balto spotted an officer rapidly approching in quick, short steps. He had panic in his eyes, Balto knew that the news he brought could not be good. When he arrived, he saluted Tina, then adressed her.
"I am afraid I come with terrible news, they have attacked Nome city."
"What!?, that can't be true..."
"Its under heavy attack right now..."
"No! This can't be... Balto, Jenna, Aleu Kodi, Boris, its time. You will not have time to complete training, I will guide you to the best of my ability in combat. Were moving out!"
Quickly, Tina threw Boris an AK-47 and Spas 12 shotgun.
"Not a whole lot of training is nessesary for those, were in a hurry!" Tina exclaimed, panic obvious in her voice.
Tina gestured toward a waiting beluga.
"Lets move! They will attack here shortly!"
The group, now as panic stricken as Tina, sprinted to the Beluga.
As soon as the group reached the Beluga, Tina started barking orders.

"Jenna, I want you to take the left minigun. It will spray its target with an unrealenting stream of 7.62/36 caliber rounds. It should have no trouble easily demolishing any target."

Balto looked into Jenna's eyes. He could see how she felt: afraid, angry, desperate...

"If it wasn't Nome I couldn't do it." she sighed, sensing that Balto shared her feelings.
"I can't let them do that to innocent people... the children..." Jenna shook her head, looking at the floor.
"I can't allow them to murder. This time, its an entire populous in danger, this is no disease epademic. If these people aim to murder, I am willing to do whatever it takes to stop them."

Then Balto knew what motivated them all, his whole family, Tina, the military.
Tina continued Barking orders:
"Kodi, I want you to take the right minigun."
"Kaltag, lets get this bird in the air!"

Balto's ears shot erect. "Kaltag? No, it couldn't be..."

Balto swiftly opened the door linking the cockpit to the cabin.

"Kaltag?"

"Balto! You did recover! Welcome back."

"How did you-"

"I was first to come around. I had been cought in the same avalanche, but woke two years before you did. They used me as a testbed for their speech- chip thing. Then, once they got all the bugs worked out, they decided to see if dogs could make good soldiers. They made me a flyboy. I have flown all of the aircraft you were introduced to, and will provide close air support for you."

"We can catch up later. Perhaps when this is all over we'll have some war stories to tell. Now, the fighting has already started." We must leave now! Good luck on the ground!"

"Good luck in the air..."

Then Balto heard a roar and felt himself flying. There was no turning back. He turned and strode back to the cabin, fighting the vibrations and tilting of the Beluga, and leaned against a wall to maintain his balance. Balto glanced toward Jenna, she sighed.
Kaltag dropped altitude into a wide, frost coated canyon, then followed its curves, staying below radar. The plan was to infultrate a small town in the base of the canyon where citizens had been taken hostage. Intelligance suggested light resistance, but Balto was scared. He could feel that Jenna was too. Everyone was. Even Boris remained silent, tense.
Just then, Balto was violently thrown to the ground, his ears ringing. As his hearing cleared he heard Tina screem, "RPG!" Balto could already hear Jenna and Kodi's miniguns spooling then roaring to life.
Slowly, Balto picked himself up, only to be thrown back down by another blast. He saw Tina fall too, in a daze. Before Balto could even begin to recover, a third defaning explosion racked the aircraft. He felt himself tilting at an extreme angle, and knew the Beluga was on its last legs. He heard the engines roar, and flail about, off the guided rails on which they pivited. Kaltag gunned the engines one final time, dragging the cippled Beluga, trying to escape. At last, the final rpg whizzed past. Still, the Beluga bucked violently, flame streaming from its jets.
Balto heard Kaltag's voice over the intercom, "There's no way we'll make it back. Im going to try to set her down in the forested area ahead. Find secure holds and prepare for a crash landing!'
Even as Kaltag finished, an engine nacelle tore free from its bindings, throwing the Beluga into a tromendous roll. Balto was thrown by another explosion. When he opened his eyes, the world was still and silent. Then he heard something, a low whisper. He immidiately identified it as Jenna's.

"Balto..."
"Balto, please...", Jenna pleaded.
"Jenna?", Balto whispered.
"Oh Balto thank god! I was afraid we had lost you"
"What about the others?", Balto questioned, alarmed.
"They are fine, a little beat up, but you were worst off."
"I wish I could give you good news, but I am afraid I can't." Jenna continued
"They can't get us out of here." Tina introjected
"Not unless we take the town were were out after so they can land a vtol."
"But, how can we without the Bleuga? Balto asked, fearfully"
"We can. Somehow..." Tina trailed off.
"Can you make it?"
"Yeah. I think I'll be alright, amazing we all managed to make it out alive."
"Now is the time to attack." Tina said slowly, "They think we're dead"
"Do you think you are ready for combat?"

The group nodded slowly, hesitantly. They knew they weren't ready, and were racked with fear, but knew the fight would be inevitable. Slowly, Balto pulled the bolt on his AUG, and watched the cartridge slide neatly into the barrel. This was it. The others began to fallow suit, apprehensively, Balto heard Kodi's bolt lock closed, then Jenna's snapped. Boris fallowed with the metallic clank of his AK-47's bolt, then that of his SPAS 12 pump. Finally, Balto heard Aleu's bolt slip into place. It was time.
Tina expertly shifted her P90 out of its akward grip, grabbed i t again in her mouth, then broke into a dead sprint. Balto followed first, the others taking after him reluctantly, while all their senses and expirience told them to run the other direction.
They continued towards the several-building town they were attacked from through dense wood, which began to thin when they entered the canyon's primary branch, then abruptly halted around the boarder of the tiny settlement. RPG trails still wafted over the roofs of the small, wooden buildings.
From where he was, Balto glimpsed movement on a nearby roof that the others had not noticed. He crained his head to look. He made out the dim figure of a militant leaning on an RPG tube. Without thinking, he raised his AUG to his shoulder and fired a quick burst. Balto heard the hollow thud of his target hitting the floor. Balto was visually suprised, but had no time to think.
The thud was followed immidiately by yelling, then the sound of windows banging open and rifles exploding to life. The group dropped to the ground in terror. Tina crawled behind a short, steep snowbank, and motioned for the others to follow. As she did she was struck in the shoulder. She yelped in pain and fell. The fist by her side was Jenna.

"Tina!" Jenna yelled over the gunfire, "Tina, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think I'll make it... It should've missed... anything vital." Tina whispered through clenched teeth.
Jenna tried to comfort Tina while applying pressure to her wound. Despite her courage, Jenna could see fear in her eyes.

"I know its a lot to ask, but we need this town in our hads now!", Jenna yelled over her shoulder,"We've got to get Tina out of here."

Balto glanced at Jenna. Her eyes were pleading. Then he looked at the others. His unspoken question was met with a slow nod, even from Aleu. Then, mustering far more courage then he thought he had, broke free of the ice and charged, trying to stay low. He wasn't about to let Tina die. He knew the others wouldn't either. Kodi sprinted up to Balto and crouched by his side. Aleu followed shortly thereafter.
The group reached the wall of the building that had opened fire on them and pressed against it. They were ajacent to the door. Balto started hesitantly:
"3..."
"2..
"NOW!"
Balto threw himself against the door. It gave way in a shower of wood splinters. Still ina a bit of a daze, Balto found himself on the wrong end of an ak-47. Acting instinctivly, he ducked the barrel, dropped his AUG, and pulled his Desert Eagle from where it was harnessed to his flank. He fired three shots in rapid succession into his target. Balto's assailant stumbled once, and fell.
Standing back up, Balto grabbed his AUG. This was nowhere near over. He was in a short entry hall, which turned sharply then opened into a living area. As Balto entered the living area, he looked about frantically, searching for movement. As Balto began to proceed, a terrorist dropped down a flight of stairs at the far end of the room and opened fire. Balto dropped behind a couch. He knew it wouldn't help much, but it was better then nothing. The firing did not so much as pause. Feathers from the couch stuffing flew. Then, Balto felt a sharp pain in his flank. He knew he had been hit, but not how badly.
Kodi heard Balto's yelp, and growled softly. "He's mine."
In a daze, Balto heard Kodi's glock 18c buzz to life. There was a thud. Kodi was panting heavily.
"I got 'em."
Balto glimpsed Boris slidding in from a sperate hallway, his shotgun smoking.
"Balto, your hit... Can you walk?", Boris asked, his voice panic ridden.
"I...I dont know" Balto managed back.
"Well come on." Boris commanded softly, "We've got to get to the roof."
The stairwell opened onto a large balcony. As the group reached it, they were attacked from behind by a terrorist who had been lying in wait. They had no time to react. The terrorist oppened fire. Kodi yelped and fell, but as he did, Aleu whirled around in terror, and shot their attacker. He fell.
"Kodi!" Balto yelled, struggling to Kodi's side despite his own condition.
"Kodi! Are you ok?"
"Yeah... I think so..." Kodi whimpered,struggling to his feet.
"We've got 'em!" Balto yelled to the enbankment behind which Jenna and Tina were, trying to hide the pain in his voice.
"The town is ours again!"
The four made their way out of the building and back to the enbankment.
"Its alright" Balto reported to Jenna. "You can call the Beluga now."
Jenna picked the pain out of Balto's voice.
"Balto, are you okay?"
"Kodi and I were hit..." Balto whimpered. "I...I dont think critically, but... the pain is unimaginable."
"Balto, Kodi, lay down. Try to minimize the bloodflow."Jenna commanded.
"Oh, Balto! How did you make it out here?" Jenna exlaimed, examining his wound.
"I...-"
"Its ok Balto. Don't worry. The Beluga is on its way. You, Kodi, and Tina will be fine." Jenna assured.

Even as Jenna began to apply field bandages to Balto's wound, there was a loud roar, followed by the giant blue hulk of a Beluga. Jenna finally relaxed a little, and sighed with relief. They would be ok. The Beluga landed in a clearing just behind the enbankment. Its doors were flung open and another medic rushed over to help Jenna as she moved on to Kodi and Tina's wounds.
Kaltag, who had stuck to the rear with Jenna due to his lack of combat training, strode up to the Beluga and hopped into the pilot's seat. An officer stepped from the Beluga and approched the group.

" I wish I could tell you it was all over..." he said hesitantly, " But its only just begun."
"Aboard the Beluga, we will tend to your wounds. However, we must...