The M7 base's new commander, Logwood, gives Wapp a field commission to lieutenant and assigns him to take charge of the Arctic base while investigating Yugunt and Fuller's deaths. A GPC agent also gives Wapp a mission folder on the Berkhoff team. As the team arrives at the base four days late, another complication arises; the explosion at the PRL tank farm and the mushroom cloud it caused will blot out the atmosphere and create extremely strong cold fronts in addition to temperatures dropping to -185 degrees Celsius...