[h2]Awakening[/h2]
[color=00a651]
"Fucking hell..."[/color] Rachel cursed the moment she woke up, wondering if this was some sort of weird test or initiation. She remembered being given a shot, and feeling drowsy, but this was not her bunk. This was far from the barracks, she could tell that much. Her first instinct was that this was some kind of ship, looking at the interior, but it didn't look like any kind of Navy ship - from any country.

As she got up and sorted herself out, she realised where they were the moment she got a glimpse outside. [color=00a651]"What the actual fresh hell is this..."[/color] She pondered. They couldn't have been- There was no way.

[h2]Our Employer is a What?[/h2]

The South African Colonel explained everything. If "explaining everything" meant flipping everyone's realities upside down and telling them the contract they took on was to fight in some [i]intergalactic[/i] war. She was a fan of sci-fi movies, but even she thought the whole concept of the "Rebel Alliance" being comprised of people just finding out aliens existed - and one of them was hiring them to kill other aliens - was a laughable concept.

This as asymmetrical as warfare could get. Firstly, if the Grathik had the technology to bring humans safely to their planet in the span of time it took them to recover from the drugs, that means that had seriously advanced technology. That meant their enemies would have at least somewhat similar levels of weaponry. So they were quite potentially going up against unknown volume of firepower. 

Secondly, they had no idea of the Slavesh's capabilities. A picture offered some insight (aim for whatever their shells didn't cover) but they had no idea how fast or strong they were in a fight. They had no idea if their training would even work - camouflage and stealth movement worked great against humans, since experienced soldiers knew just how much to expect of their enemy's senses. Did the Slavesh detect body heat? Did they have great hearing, sense of smell? Did their organs grow in the same places? No point aiming for the chest if their hearts were stored between their legs or whatever.

Thirdly, the environment. Humans were adapted for Earth. There was no telling what the planet's gravity would do, or its atmosphere. Rachel knew that she sure as shit wasn't going to drink or eat anything that was certified to human food and water. They were briefed on what to expect on the surface of 'Sauna', and it sounded fun. She was used to tropical climate - she trained in it her entire career. She was used to heat and humidity and jungle terrain. She just wasn't used to doing it with a mask on.

Still, anyone looking at her would have seen a giant shit-eating grin plastered on her face. Was this an absolutely stacked deck against them? Sure, but she was never one to turn down a challenge.

Now, the best part of the whole briefing was the reveal of the Grathik. Seeing an alien in the flesh was pretty persuasive evidence it was not a hoax or trick of some kind. At the same time, Rachel couldn't suppress the joke waiting to happen. [color=00a651]"I wonder if he's seen the things that come out of [i]Japan.[/i]"[/color] She quipped, more for her own benefit than to humor those around her.

[h2]Terra Firma[/h2]

The worst thing about Sauna was the uniforms. She'd worn green all her life, and she seen the Air Force blues and Navy greys. She'd never seen a respectable military [i]wearing pink[/i]. It helped them fit in with the environment, sure, but [i]pink[/i] went on princess dresses and ballet costumes. She'd settle for the "tacticool edgelord" black gear instead of this crap.

That was the only thing she hated about the planet. The exercises were easy enough, she was born and raised in this climate, and the masks seemed to be easy enough to breath in, nothing like the stifling gas masks she had used during biological/chemical defense training. The weapons were a nice upgrade too. She didn't know what the Grathik made these guns out of, but they were lighter and felt easier to use. The drills took a bit of getting used to, unlearning her habits from the Singapore Armed Forces and relearning different signals, unit movements.

At least she was fighting beside other soldiers. She wasn't quite on friendly terms with anyone yet, but they all seemed to know what they were doing and everyone at least accorded everyone else with professional courtesy.

[h2]Calm Before the Storm[/h2]

Rachel was right at home in the jungle. Her training took over with ease, feet sweeping aside vegetation before planting her weight down, minimising the noise she made while moving through the foliage. There wasn't much point in moving into thick vegetation with a group their size, so it was easy to just avoid snapping branches like a movie cliche. Her head kept on a swivel as she watched for any movement.

Her index finger tapped a rhythm against her trigger guard, not making any sound but helping her pass the time by moving to the beat of her favorite song. When they came up the Salvesh, she was quick to take a knee on instinct and finding solid cover behind a thick tree trunk. It took all of 5 seconds for her to get the drone up and circling around to ensure they hadn't missed any of the Salvesh that were hidden from sight, or moving to flank them.

The infrared cameras picked up ten signatures moving, and no signs of any hidden tangos. She nodded and confirmed the assessment with quick hand signals. The Salvesh were carrying firearms, though she couldn't identify what kind of weaponry they were exactly, not with what little they knew of the enemy's equipment. Still, the enemy could shoot back, that's all her team needed to know. She had the drone return and switched her tablet back for her rifle, leaning out the right side of the tree so she could aim and fire without exposing as much of her body.

She observed the movements of the Salvesh, trying to see if she could pick up anything useful in their movement patterns, the way they communicated or interacted. She didn't need to understand language or culture to understand that some things were universal. Influence, respect, authority. In any social setting, it was easy to tell who had the ear of the others in the area just by observing who was the one person everyone seemed to be either defering to or talking with.

[i]Enemy commander, third from the head of the column.[/i] She signaled once she recognized the other nine Salvesh seemed to be moving in pace and taking their directions from that particular figure.