TA-3 Research Drilling Station: Shower and Sanitation Facility

A short, stubby tail gave a faint, irritated twitch. Attached to the tail, a stocky behind, hind legs, and arctic boots completed the view.

General Marvin Huxley was down on all fours, gently tapping his way along a frost-covered pipe with a hammer, his remaining tools laid out in a neat, deliberate line beside him.

Tap, tap… crack! A lump of ice and biomass gave way somewhere inside the pipe.

Huxley muttered in quiet satisfaction.

Thermal Array – 3: Research Drilling Station, High Arctic

The drill core bit cleanly through the ice, the permafrost, and the rock below.

A low, steady vibration ran up through the frame as Matthias leaned into the rig, boots braced, gloved paws firm on the controls. The sound was constant, controlled—a deep mechanical hum cutting into the frozen ground beneath them.