Riot scoffed. "Yeah, right. There's nothing here." He grumbled, starting up the vehicle. "Nothing on the scanners except us. Relax, I'm pretty sure no animal can survive an 8.41x63mm round to the face." Hammer Leader noticed that the merc had drawn some sort of power sword, and he rolled his eyes at the sheer ridiculousness of the concept. "Really. You don't have any guys? What kind of retard are you?" 

His taunts were interrupted by Fuse. "Guys, I don't mean to bother you or anything, but I think something's in the bushes." He was staring at the several bushes near the group. He was aiming his shotgun at it, and his HUD was giving him alerts of an unknown lifeform in the area. Impatient, Riot climbed out and slammed the door, drawing his rifle. He switched off the safeties and stalked to the location. "I'm so tired of this bullshit." He grumbled as he and his team slowly walked to the source, weapons drawn and safeties off. 

[center]------------------------------------------[/center]

"Alpha Base, this is Vulture Delta 556. I'm coming in with the cargo." The Vulture pilot informed over his craft's inbuilt radio as he neared the base. Then, he vectored the vehicle's thrust to hover directly overhead, before slowly descending as he deployed its landing gear. He felt the steady decrease of attitude and eventual soft bump as the Vulture touched the ground. That done, he tapped a few buttons on its dashboard, causing the ramp that led to the troop bay to lower. Several researchers rushed in and wheeled out the body of the manticore. 

"I can't believe it! Your men encounter an new alien species, and they [i]crash into it[/i]." Dr. Travesty spoke with contempt in his voice as he stared at the unmoving body. Unbeknownst to Travesty, however, Calhoun was smiling under his helmet. Those were his Marines, all right. "Doctor, I'm sure it was an accident." He walked towards the body. "Not like we can do anything about it." Travesty looked like he was sulking as a few other men in suits took scans. 

Then, all of a sudden, the creature made a sound that was halfway between a pained whimper and a dry cough. The men immediately jumped backwards as the manticore twitched. "That thing's still alive!" Travesty cried. Calhoun stared at it for a second, before pulling out his sidearm and aiming it at the creature. "Not for any more."

However, just before the Colonel could fire, Travesty suddenly shoved his pistol arm away. "No!" In the confusion, Calhoun discharged a shot, but the .62 caliber round had smashed into the ground instead, and the thunderous clap of the round breaking the sound barrier a few times rang out through the land. "What the hell, Doctor?!" Calhoun screamed as he aimed his SHP8 right between the Doctor's eyes.

To his surprise, however, Travesty didn't move or even flinch, and instead defiantly stood there. "I won't let you do this, Colonel. I've dedicated my life to science. But if you kill me, it'll all be for the good of science."

Colonel Calhoun's trigger finger twitched, before he reluctantly holstered his gun. "...Fine. One more time, and I'll shoot you." He finally growled out, storming away. Travesty breathed a sigh of relief as he turned back to the speechless researchers. "Get the specimen to the medlab. Get those wounds patched up, then put it in a containment cell." The men did as told, pushing the stretcher that was suspended a metre off the ground by a small hoverlift. Lifts like those allowed various vehicles to float off the ground, neglecting the need to clear a path. They were also more or less completely silent, with just a very soft hum emitting off the smaller ones. 

[center]------------------------------------------[/center]

"I'm booooooooored." Rook whined as he idly stared out the window of Fireteam Castle's Pitbull. Their convoy was now cruising down a rocky road in a valley, having seen nothing for the past hour but mountains and trees and streams. It was understandable, really. Rook was the youngest and newest member of the team, and he was used to running around while taking shots back in the Outer Colonies, and it was a sudden change from a war-torn environment to an absurdly peaceful and calm place within the span of a few days. 

[color=0054a6]"Shut up, Rook. We're all bored here."[/color] Riff said, staring out the windscreen. [color=0054a6]"Nothing's going on here."[/color] He looked behind him, and saw that Turf was fast asleep and Traction seemed to be lost in thoughts as he fiddled with his rifle. The android sighed, then snapped his fingers. [color=0054a6]"I've got an idea. How about some music?"[/color]

"Oh, no. If it's those ancient tunes again, I'd rather kill myself."

[color=0054a6]"Too late."[/color] Riff's eyes flashed green as he synced with the vehicle, and the sound of [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyXQn9g40I]music[/url] began to fill the interior, replacing the dull drone of tyres kicking up the ground.

[center][i]Walk along the river, sweet lullaby, it just keeps on flowing,
It don't worry 'bout where it's going, no, no.
Don't fly, mister blue bird, I'm just walking down the road,
Early morning sunshine tell me all I need to know[/i][/center]

"Oh, god." Rook groaned as he put his helmet back on in an attempt to block out the music, ignoring the rather trollish grin plastered on his sergeant's face as the android sang along.

[center][i]You're my blue sky, you're my sunny day.
Lord, you know it makes me high when you turn your love my way,
Turn your love my way, yeah.

Good old sunday morning, bells are ringing everywhere.
Goin to Carolina, it won't be long and I'll be there[/i][/center]

Traction didn't seem to mind, in fact, he seemed to enjoy the music while Turf had woken up. He seemed indifferent. [color=0054a6]"Come on. It's not that- oh."[/color] The vehicle came to a stop on top of a hill in between some large rocks. It would have been a nice view, were it not for the clearly [i]human[/i]-made structures at the bottom. [color=0054a6]"What?"[/color] Riff got out, rubbing his photoreceptors to see if they were working correctly. [color=0054a6]"Is that really there?"[/color]

"Yep." Turf confirmed, staring down the scope of his rifle. "There doesn't seem to be- oh, bloody hell." He stared in astonishment as he slowly lowered his rifle.

[color=0054a6]"What?"[/color] Riff asked, intrigued as he zoomed in with his photoreceptors, then noticed why. [color=0054a6]"Oh, fuck." [/color]

There, milling around in the settlemen Strangely enough, they seemed to be running in every direction t, were [i]humans[/i]. And it seemed like they were getting attacked by some bandits, judging the primitive armour and weapons they used. They were getting cut down by the bandits one by one as defences tried to hold them back.