Frozen Delivery

I look up at the sky and see one, then two kits being dropped from the zeppelin. Their parachutes open one by one and they fall towards the drop point, a few hundred meters from our location. I watch the billowing sails drifting on the wind and the sealed crates they're carrying. One of them bears the Cornucoopia logo, which means they're food provisions. The emblem on the other one belongs to our Faction, so it probably contains technical gear to replace the equipment we've worn to shreds on our travels. It's not a moment too soon. I hand the binoculars over to Rossum, who also takes a look at them. He had loved walking in the snow for the first few days, until he realized that the moisture was causing little mechanical glitches. Now he spends more time clinging to my vehicle to avoid getting his joints wet.

Well, no point twiddling our thumbs. We should hurry, actually, before the cold seizes up all this brand-new gear. I press the power button on my spider, and it shakes to life. Its legs begin to tremble. With a push, the cockpit rises, and I engage the lever to get us on our way. With each step, the legs test the ground, and only when there's enough resistance do they finally take the full weight of the frame. It's slow and tedious, but tumbling into a crevasse is not something I can really afford to deal with. Further ahead, in the clearing that was chosen as the supply drop, I can already see the metal crates gleaming with a green shimmer. Now that I have eyes on them, I remotely turn off the beacons that help us to easily locate them. So, Rossum, what do you think Santa has sent us this time? His only answer is a shrug.

TREYST