Exodus: Beyond Eden Chapter 1: Into the unknown [IC]

[Ragnar]

Is this what safe looks to you!? Kenshin thought to himself as Jack answered the man.

"He and Quiet got separated" Kenshin bluntly interrupted, "south of west, when we last saw him.." he looks at the GPS as he sees two indicators of exo suit signals emitting from that direction.

[Sutoratosu]

As the conversation continued, the Team began to hear the sounds of a Troop Transport drawing closer and closer. Soon the lights of the craft came into view off in the distance, the vehicle hovering out of the forest and setting down to land not far from the group. A single individual hopped off the ride, walking over to the group in a Monochromatic Exo Suit just like Jace's, carrying a curved blade in one of his hands. Off in the distance, something else emerged from the shadows of the forest as well... two silhouettes that looked to be about people height, their outlines vaguely resembling Exo suits...

"There's going to be some serious explaining when we get back to base camp," Commander stone said into the comms. "Especially from you, Bane. The Capital has been asking a lot of questions as to what the fuck happened to it's main investigation force."

"Indeed there will be, Commander Stone," Jace concurred. "But I think my team will be doing most of it, rather than myself..."

Stone took his attention away from the two silhouettes, looking at the squadron again. "All of you, get yourselves on that transport, now." his voice was cold and commanding as steel, his tone suggesting that any protest would not be tolerated...

[Aurorix]

Zero made his way into the ship with his arms resting on his blades like they always are. He just cassually walked into the ship not really wanting to walk anymore and seeing as how there's a ride right there, opportunity taken.

[Flux]

Garen walked silently towards the transport, angry with both himself and the misunderstanding they were dealing with. No doubt Major Bane would place a lot of blame for the mishap on Garen, and it would take a lot of explaining from the entire team to set things right.

[Felicity]

Whit examined each of the members as they boarded the transport. Evidently, shit had hit the fan, beating at least two of them into silence. He simply nodded at each of them as they boarded.

[Chevaleresse]

Kyahnna rolled her eyes as she walked toward the transport and climbed into it. "Don't listen to the explanation, or anything," she mumbled under her breath.

[Sutoratosu]

"Oh, I'll be listening, Soldier," Stone's voice crackled in Kyahnna's Comm link, having heard that little remark over his own. "But out here there's all manners of animals that are more than capable of tearing us all apart. It's night fall, and the nastiest things in this forest are nocturnal. now, if you want to stay here and start explaining, all the while exposing every last one of us to more and more danger as the hour drags on, then be my guest, but if you want to be smart and run a lesser risk of dying, then keep it closed and save it for when we arrive back at base camp." with that said, the comm shut off.

[Snap Crackle Pop]

Katsumi entered the transporter, noticeably disgruntled with what had happened, but she wasn't about to say anything. She had been pretty useless the entire trip, which had frustrated her, not to mention the fact that they as a group had screwed up pretty bad and they hadn't even seen Eden... But at the very least, it would probably be difficult to have the team replaced at this point in time, right?

[Notus]

Big opened yet another smile at the sight of the transporter, and walked in relieved not having to walk all that way back. Of course he noticed the tense situation, but he was confident that the higher ups would understand them - and most of all, glad that everyone was all right.

[Ragnar]

Explanation? more like throwing blame on each one of us. Kenshin thought to himself and heavily sighed. The engineer pack up his equipment and embark on the steps, He took a brief glance and paused at the man with the sniper riffle at entrance with his usual bored expression.The engineer nodded at the marksman and went inside the carrier.

[K_H]

Jack decided to say nothing, simply going into the Carrier.

[Sutoratosu]

((It's time we get moving))

Later, back at Base Camp...

The group stood at attention inside the large canvas tent serving as the Operations Command Center, Commander Bane beside them and Commander Stone giving each of them a harsh stare befitting of a merciless Task Master, the gloves of his Exo-Suit covered in a slick red reminiscent of blood. A Technician, noticeably battered and bloodied, as if beaten, clacked away pausing at a nearby computer terminal. He looked up a few times, casting fearful glances at the Samurai, only to be met with a withering glare that sent him right back to his work. after entering in a few commands, he brought his finger on the Enter key, and up on the display popped a topographical map of the surrounding area, a blue triangle in the center representing the base camp, the boundaries of the terrain stretching out for fifty miles in every direction, forming a circle.

"You're not done yet...." Stone snarled upon seeing the map. Obviously he had some reason to regard the poor IT with such malice. The Man said nothing, merely typed in another command to the terminal and hit enter again. Ten red dots appeared on the screen, representing the squadron's position several hours ago. Another series of Clacking. The Dots began to gradually move from the area a mile south of the Base Camp, the drop off point, and heading east then turning north, completely bypassing the encampment and continuing in the direction. Another Clacking. The Dots' Movements began to play in a loop now, marching to their final position ten miles north, then automatically resetting back at the Drop Off Point, only to repeat their trek all over again. A time stamp played along with the Map Movements, showing where the team had been at Each hour, each minute, each second, of the day.

"Commander Bane," Stone said, turning his attention back to his technically Superior Officer. He tapped his finger to one of the Dots early on in the day's time stamp, two of them disappearing not long after the Drop Off zone. "Care to explain?"

"Shortly after Making Land fall at the Drop Zone," Bane began, not missing a beat. "We were ambushed by a pack of Monochromes who had crossed our path while hunting. We dispatched the majority of them, but the Alpha Male threatened to take us all out. Ergo, I ordered my team to leave my behind to deal with it and continue heading towards Base Camp to report to you."

"And where were you during the hours and hours your Squad spent walking past this place?"

"Immediately following Myself and The soldier known as Lance Quiet eliminating the Alpha Male, a hunting party of Mossers arrived at the scene and began feeding on the carcass of the fresh kill. We lay in concealment for approximately an hour and a half until they finally moved on back to their den and took whatever was left with them. Following this, Quiet and Myself proceeded in the direction which our radars last detected the other's electronic signatures. We soon lost their signal's without explanation, however, and I was forced to resort to more primitive means of tracking them by their boot prints and signs of human disturbance in the brush. During this long period of tracking them, we ourselves issued several hails to Garren, whom I had delegated Command to for the time being, all of which went unanswered. We ended up bypassing the Encampment just as they had, and after approximately three hours... we encountered a group of Talkers."

"Talkers?" Stone's eyebrows were raised.

"Hominoid Animals similar to Chimpanzees," Bane Explained. "Their Vocal cords and throat are developed in such a way that they can immitate and recreate virtually any sound they here, including human speech. They are more commonly seen in the Colt River Valley far to the east of Esperanza, saw them all the time back during a few of my missions concerning the area."

Stone nodded. "Go on."

"These Talkers were different than anything I had ever seen, usually they're more or less harmless unless you happen to have food or somehow get near their young... but these ones... let's just leave it at they seriously hindered the Travel of Quiet and Myself for a considerable amount of time."

"And after this...hinderance passed?"

"We continued north following Chimera 1's tracks. By night fall we had finally managed to pick their signatures back up and issue a hail to them, this one actually being answered by the Commander Pro Temporis: Garren."

"And what did he report to you as having caused this...fuck up?"

Jace said nothing, looking at Garren with an unreadable expression, then back to Stone. "From his report, they were attacked by the Species Denoted as a 'Gold Streak', a large, Avian Beast with several Reptilian Features, sporting bone plate armor over the majority portions of the body and capable of emitting and absorbing electricity and electromagnetic fields... an ability which I believe is the sole cause for this team having bypassed the camp entirely. The frequencies and fields the Sky Streak had likely emitted was probably intended to damage or disengage all communication and navigation systems the team used... in other words, they were all being stalked for every single hour after I delegated command."

Stone stood silent for a moment. "Sky Streak? that thing that assaulted the Transport... the Sniper..." "How exactly do you know any of this, Major?" he demanded suspiciously.

"Because," Bane said simply. "I've personally had to kill at least three of them over the years during my previous operations in the field. And theres a whole documentation of them being occasionally encountered in certain areas by Expedition teams dating back to even forty years ago."

Stone's next question was addressed to Garren. "What attacked you tonight, soldier? describe it from beginning to end exactly as it occurred."

"What, you think I'm pulling this out of my ass, Soldier?" Jace demanded, a bit outraged the junior officer had the gaul to disregard his mission statement like that. "Is my standing in the eyes of the Ministry Council after so many years of loyal service the Esperanza and her people so damaged and warped that they and those under them now feel as though not even a simple Report from my mouth is trustworthy? Because if it is, then I'll happily hang up my guns after this whole mess with the outbreak is over and take my abilities elsewhere..."

Another series of clacking came from the IT guy at the terminal. an audible click was heard right after Jace had begun talking. Stone looked at him seriously.

"I believe you." the Samurai stated. "But this whole conversation is being listened in on by the capitol and the Ministry Council...except for this part we're having right now, starting from when you went and pretty much bashed the government in it's entirety-"

"Last I checked, the Constituion provided so that the Ministry Council in and of itself was not the whole government."

"Besides the point," Stone continued. "Put your strife with them aside for now, Major. They're pissed with this situation as it is; don't go starting a fire storm with them." he then turned to Garren again. "You were the Commanding Officer of the Unit during the events in question, Garren. Ergo, it is crucial that the Council hears the situation report from your own lips, not that of your CO... and especially not that of anyone with the Surname of 'Bane'. Do you understand, Soldier?"

[Flux]

Garren nodded.

"Yes sir." He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath as he readied himself to explain the event.

"After we were separated from Major Bane, we continued north as we had been instructed, following the navigation systems of our suits. After we had been doing this for some time -- LIkely a few hours, and far longer than it should have taken to walk a mile -- I began to have my doubts as to the integrity of the technology of the suits. Others on the team agreed that something was wrong with either Major Bane's directions or the technology of our suits -- I personally suspected the latter. We lost all communication via our helmets shortly afterward -- at least, that's when we noticed it. We may have been without it long before then. Around the same time, we were ambushed by some sort of large bird. I wasn't able to get a close look at it, but I can say that it absorbed the electricity from Kenshin's arc blaster with seemingly no injuries, which is something I wouldn't expect normal wildlife to be able to do. We engaged in combat with the beast for a time, before it eventually flew away. Around that time, power returned to our helmet and I received word from Major Bane. We were then picked up by the transport, and you know the rest."

[Sutoratosu]

There was silence in the place for several seconds after Garren gave his situation report. No sound at all from anyone, not Bane, not Stone, not the Technician, no one. The only thing to break the drought of wordlessness was the soft, continuous hum of the multiple computer consoles set up in the tent. Things had gotten so awkward that Quiet went so far as to lean forward a bit, looking down the line at everyone else, unsure as to whether or not they had been turned to stone or something.

Bane coughed... but it was obviously a fake one. The moment he brought up his arm to cover it, He moved his fingers with impressive fluidity in Sign Language, gesturing a quick message to Commander Stone.

"Are the bastards gone yet?"

Stone himself coughed somewhat expectantly, bringing his hand up in a fist to cover it... and signing in lightning quick sign language to respond.

"I don't know..." He turned the gestures to the Technician. "Well...are they?"

"Five...four...three... now," the Techy signed back immediately, though his movements were far more sloppy than either of the two ESFAs. "They just turned it off on their end. We're good." he said verbally. "and I just locked them out from tuning back to us."

"Then maybe I'll let you live for that ridiculous bout of Incompetence earlier on," Stone said, cold as his namesake. "Now get out of my sight and return to your duties." A moment later, the tent was short one occupant, the flaps flapping behind him as he hurried off. Stone looked back to the Soldiers, scrutnizing each of them one by one.

"How many bullets did you fire in total due to the... series of incidents today?" he demanded vaguely.

[Flux]

"I myself fired three shots from my pistol," Garen started. "That was during the battle with the bird."

He wasn't sure if that would be interpreted well by the Commander or not, but he figured it was best to be honest. He could always give an explanation if asked.

[Sutoratosu]

"What about everyone else?" stone demanded next, his face unreadable.

[Ragnar]

"My drone got totaled by these man wolves. it seems i underestimated them." Kenshin started. "as for the bird incident, like acting-leader Garren already stated, i did the only logical thing to that dire situation, that is: to shoot my only form of weaponry at the bird, seeing it's trying to kill us. unfortunately the result is not what i expected. it feeds off the beam of energy that i fired from arc caster rather than vaporizing it to a crisp."

[Felicity]

"I fired one rifle shot, taking out the bird." Whit said. He didn't think any more elaboration was needed, and he didn't want to gloat.

[Notus]

"Uhmn, let me see... Yep, I fired around twenty from my MG in the fight against the Mosses, and 3 from the AR in the bird incident." Big said.

[Chevaleresse]

"I shot a few from my laser rifle, let me think. Around five, I would say?" Kyahnna hadn't really been counting her shots.

[K_H]

Jack spoke up.

"I fired off six Tranquilizer Darts and twelve Pistol Shots, both in the Monochrome Encounter. the Mossers were Negotiated with, and the Bird Encounter happened too fast for me to get a shot in."

[Snap Crackle Pop]

"Five bullets were used against the monochromes and three shots from my laser, again, against the monochromes," Katsumi reported, unsure if she had mixed the numbers up for a moment, but remembered she was right.

[Sutoratosu]

"Go reload and resupply," Stone finally sighed, getting tired of the short (and rather guesstimated in some cases) answers he was receiving. "Get some rest and then Report back here at 05:00 hours for final Debriefing on your mission. We will be entering Eden at dawn. A map of this Base camp and it's facilities should already be loaded onto your HUDs, check around for them. Dismissed, Soldiers." With that he turned his back to them and walked off out of the tent, leaving Bane and his team alone among the humming computer consoles and tables filled with holo-map displays and various data spreads and countless other pieces of Mission intel.

[Flux]

After Commander Stone had left, Garen turned to face Major Bane.

"Major..." he began with a little hesitation. "...sorry. I should have relied on my own navigation skills rather than those of our suits. As a result of that failure, I cost us time and included us in a conflict that would not have been necessary otherwise." His eyes turned down to the floor.

"Again, I apologize to both you and the team for the unnecessary risk."

[Sutoratosu]

"Don't." Bane said simply. "It honestly was out of your direct control in the end. When ever a Skystreak is involved, electronic systems are always going to start going haywire and malfunctioning long before someone would even notice. The birds are smart, they won't interfere with the data displayed, but they'll keep it frozen, locked in so that their targets don't know anything's wrong until it's almost too late."