Saying that the return flight was stressful would have been nothing short of an understatement. After escaping from the area of operations and the waning storm the Osprey banked hard and made its way to Hawaii where it was listed to refuel for the full trip back to Alaska. The refuel was of course scheduled thanks to Minerva Force’s connections in the US military and after refilling the tanks the craft was off the ground and back in the air in a crisp amount of time - no one even had to step off the bird. Though regardless of the handling of matters from “those upstairs” everyone aboard the Osprey was sitting on pins and needles during the entire time at the base in Hawaii and [i]all[/i] the way back across the ocean. 

Falsifying an unscheduled refueling at an official US military base for a nonexistent multinational shadow units’ aircraft was nerve wracking enough, never mind the risk of possibly having been tracked from the incident out in the Pacific. Though in time there was a slight gradual sense of relief - at least between the two pilots - the clearer it became they were not being tailed there was still the matter of processing the events just hours before, and taking in the reality of the three dead alien bodies that lay sprawled out on the metal floor in the midst of the Minerva Force operatives.

Nothing really was said as the Osprey roared over the dark night sky and the rolling ocean below, the muffled engines outside and the occasional shuddering of the bird the only noises. The aliens corpses did not take long to start to smell, their quickly stiffening forms emitting a pungent odor that was a combination of the metallic smell of blood and a stronger almost ammonia-like stench that filled the rear interior of the aircraft making everyone’s stomachs churn. The pilots kept tossing looks around the corner of the cabin doorway down at the fallen extraterrestrials all heaped together like the remains of slaughtered livestock, their three-fingered hands gnarled chillingly and their torsos and legs twisted at undesirable angles. It was a rather contradictory image given their very unique, advanced looking body armor and unearthly weapons compared to the mere humans crammed together around them that had gunned them down in a systemic fashion. No one was really sure wether to be afraid or relieved at the outcome of the mission. Six elite operatives from across the globe had exposed and killed three alien invaders in a high-risk situation and were now hauling their carcasses off like hunting trophies - three alien invaders that had a hand in the bizarre disappearance of an entire merchant vessels’ crew with no trace and their brethren unlikely to forget their deaths at the hands of humanity. [i]Definitely afraid.[/i] the copilot thought to himself as he tried his best to ignore the pong that had drifted its way into the cockpit. It was like Masher had remarked earlier, first blood had been drawn by both sides and now it would stand to be seen who made the next move.

[hr]

[b]MAY 2, 0730, 2016
ALASKA, ALPHA SENTINEL
POST MISSION[/b]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/TqhZRXs.jpg[/img][/center]

Commander Damirón strolled out of the lift into the wide open vast of Alpha Sentinel’s grandiose hangar. Feeling a sharp breeze he pulled at the collar of his officers jacket securing it as best he could around his neck. He could see the large doors were standing open, and just inside them was the grounded Osprey of Nemesis Team, the engines still live as the propellers buzzed like angry hornets over the [url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TH-1dCivTVI]bustle of the hangar.[/url] When Damirón was informed that the team were just five minutes out he had ordered a security team to the hangar along with containment units as well before polishing off the last of his humble breakfast.

The Commander could see that the security team had arrived ahead of him, [url=https://i.imgur.com/2ErjPnJ.jpg]fully armed and equipped[/url] and ready to receive the package brought back by Nemesis Team. The pilot killed the engines, Damirón making a wide berth around the right wing as he circled around to the back of the Osprey. By the time he had come around the ramp was down and Nemesis Team disembarked. The six security personnel brushed past the team, weapons half-raised as they drug behind them three gurneys and over their shoulders they carried body bags. 

Commander Damirón clasped his hands behind his back as he stopped before Nemesis Team, looking them up and down. Their wares and certain items of their gear he could see were still most from being in the heavy downpour so long and they all looked tired, at least to him.

“Damn fine work, Nemesis Team.” Damirón saluted them unwaveringly, “That was a hell of a situation to be in, never mind-…” Damirón stopped short as the sound of wheels and rattling metal started down from the rear of the Osprey. The security team rolled down the gurneys, the alien corpses zipped up inside the body bags and strapped to them. Damirón watched as the bodies were rolled by and across the hangar towards the far lift, as did many other staff passing by or standing near. The specimens were being taken down to the labs and the scientists would straight away begin their study of them.

The Commander cleared his throat and looked back to his elite team. “Doctor Handrich and his team will get to work on the specimens immediately, hopefully within a handful of days they will have a fair amount to tell us. Meanwhile we will be closely monitoring the skies and all other channels we have access to. The… aliens sunk the ship and the Navy are running a full investigation in that whole area. I took a look at the news and no official statements or speculations have been released as of just yet.”

“Again, damn fine work. Go hit the showers and get some R-and-R. Report for duty at fourteen hundred hours.”

Commander Damirón saluted the team a second time, dismissing them. Needless to say he was impressed. They had lived up to their expectations and the mission was a success, even with the loss of the ship and the crew. Not only did Minerva Force have footage of both alien lifeforms and their “flying saucer” but now they had three new specimens to properly study as well as one of the alien weapons that had been secured.

As he approached the lift the Commander’s impression and eagerness were immediately flushed away by angst. He had read the files on what happened at Macquarie Island, the fact that the aliens had either mass abducted or exterminated the crew of an American cargo ship was not a surprise in itself but it certainly warranted extreme levels of worry needless to say. Unidentified flying object sightings had increased in the last few years alone and now there were alien incursions happening on Earth with people dying and being abducted alike. And why a random cargo ship in the midst of the ocean? A probing attack? Testing the humans’ response to such an action? Was it just seen as an easy target? Some other reason? None of it was certain and it was perhaps that uncertainty that was truly sending chilled rivets down Reynaldo Damirón’s spine. He remembered as a kid when farmers and fishermen yelling about flying disks in the clouds was front page news, and now here he was part of a clandestine multinational black operation that now had four dead alien beings in cold storage. As the lift carried him to Central Command the usual thoughts raced through his mind, “if the world knew…”, “just what do [i]they[/i] have planned for us?”, “we can’t keep this all a secret forever”. If  Reynaldo was a drinking man he would be drunk right now, but he had quit hitting the bottle hard years ago.

[i]Maybe now is the time to start back.[/i]

[hr]