Eric Drake still couldn't believe it. Just a week ago he was a normal rescue pilot out on a mission to prevent a potential forest fire when he got involved with that spaceship and was shot down. He spent days in the forest evading the aliens before he managed to make his way back to civilization Then shortly after telling his story to his superior who of course didn't believe it he was contacted by someone claiming to be from the government.

Now he was in some kind of top secret base being questioned about his encounter and being shown pictures of aliens. "Now Mr Drake are you sure you didn't see any of these beings?" "I keep telling you, the ones I saw all looked the same. Luckily they weren't too smart either or they would have caught me for sure.

Ivor Knight was in his camo standing at the back of the room. He was a tall deep tan young man, with a black hair curvy french crop haircut. His eyes were constantly shifting and darting around the room as if inspecting something to come out of the corners at any moment. He held his cover (military hat), over his mouth to hide his expression as the investigation went on.

He was there to monitor, for anything that seemed suspicious about Drake's tale, or perhaps if one of thse aliens came out of the woodwork. There was also some, small fears that the aliens could possibly replace or bodysnatch people though that was more out of fear of the unkown than any evidence thus far.
He still couldn't fully believe that aliens were real, and had land on earth. It seemed serious enough that someone from a higher agency had to step in, a tactical group of the CIA & Airforce from what he could tell from the rapid deployment.

The massive forest fire & the reports of weird combatants had summoned the national guard to clear out the original encounter.
It seemed the investigator was repeating themselves over the looks of those things though.
Those things, aliens, what have you did look mostly identical and weren't very well equipped, despite their unnatural durability.
The 'Greys' was the closests category, it almost looked they were formed from the ground with occasional mud or clay like splotches. Humanoid monsters with faces that Ivor couldn't even define in his report.

Ivor would lean toward the investigator and whisper:


It was better not to overstep a superior officer of any rank.
Especially not now with hell about to break loose.

As annoyed as Eric was at having to repeat himself, at least everyone here seemed to take his story seriously and he could understand them wanting to be sure about the details. Part of him was tempted to change things and make him seem more badass but he knew that would just be stupid and would get him in trouble. He could always exaggerate when his story wasn't being documented. "I didn't really fight any of them, so I can't confirm how tough they were but they didn't seem to be armed." After Eric said that the soldier or guard in the room, whatever his job was he was clearly there in case Eric started trouble for some reason, whispered something to his questioner.

Eric couldn't hear what he said but the government agent seemed to agree and changed subjects. "Now, can you tell us more about the spaceships?" "I saw only one ship and even then I didn't get a good look before I was hit by something, I think it was some kind of laser or something, Either way one hit was enough to take my plane down." He did his best to remember as many details as he could, since there was no way of telling what was important and what not. "I don't think I need to tell it was much bigger than my plane but it was able to hover in place like a helicopter. Let's see what else? Oh yeah it was blocky and I think mostly gray" Try as he might that is all Eric could remember about the ship.

"I see. Any idea of how those aliens were sent to Earth and back?" Now this was a much easier question."Actually, yes I saw it a couple of times. Now I'm not exactly sure of course but I think they used some kind of teleporters, meaning the ship had to have been able to track them somehow. "

Ivor would do his best to stick to hovering behind the investigator. It seemed the questions were about to head somewhere, instead of moving through the circles. He tried to slip back into standing tall, and looking in control once more but his poker face was slipping. Especially as he recalled trying to fight those things. It was hardly a fight, at most, the troops were able to suppress and slow them down. It didn't look like those things wore armor, but it nearly took a clip of regular ammunition to keep them from moving again. At least knocking them down was fairly easy.
But with standard weaponry, he doubted they could handle more than a small skirmish with them.
It was a good thing his job had mostly been to help evacuate the area and help firemen put out what flames they could.

Ivor's face only darkened and drooped as Eric had continued their descriptions of the ships.
Lasers? Teleporters? Blocky and hovering in the air without mentioned rotors? This was definitely some horror out of a science fiction radio play. He couldn't scramble his brain for how any of those would work, and if these things could teleport.. Where else could they end up? Just how fast?
Would the higher ups even be able to scramble troops fast enough to slow them down?

A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his head as he thought about the possible implications.

"Did, the laser damage the bird or did it shut it down? And was there anything out there that they were searching around, or were near in those woods? Anything that you might've seen on the ground?"
Ivor spoke out, before wincing and pressing his back against the wall.
He, wasn't supposed to talk much on this investigation, at least not yet.
The worry starting to crawl across him was cracking through, though he'd do his best to hide it back behind his cover.

Eric wasn't sure but it seemed that the story about what happened to his plane had both the investigator and soldier way more nervous. Unlike them he hadn't really considered all the implications of the alien tech, even though he knew it was more advanced than what humanity had. The next question caught him of guard both because it came from the soldier and because he figured they would already have the answer.

He was getting more and more annoyed explaining stuff they should know already, so he took a deep breath to calm down before answering "I thought you had studied my plane already but the laser did both. It blew a small hole in the side of the plane but also disabled the engine. Oddly I was able to crash relatively safely without them attacking again."
When he was done talking he realized something and quickly added it. "Of course I'm no expert so they could have hit a fuel line or something which would have stopped the engine."

He then focused on the next two questions Ivor had asked. At first he wanted to say he hadn't noticed anything but that wasn't entirely true. "I think I saw some of them collecting samples of plants or mushrooms but I didn't pay much attention to that so they could just have eaten anything they picked up. Are we final.." Eric stopped himself, being unnecessarily impolite might only make things for himself after all. " I mean do you have any more questions?"

Ivor would bite down his lower lip as he processed the matter. He was at least relieved, that there wasn't any immediate hostility from talking over the investigator. He had heard the general tale of what happened before, though he was trying to mentally narrow down the possibilities. He wasn't quite a grease monkey, or a researcher (especially on aircraft) but he could put together some ideas.
He [hoped, that the resounding attack had simply damaged an important valve, or piston from the engines. A sizeable hole on the side of craft would probably do it.

Ruling out the possibility of EMP & damage dealing strike from the same blast was the thing on mind.
Hearing Eric's further explanation on hitting a fuel line eased Ivor's nerves slightly, since it would decrease the odds of an even worse possibility. Running out of fuel, or proper oil to the engine flooding out could cause everything to go to a halt as well.

These aliens were collecting plants?
Now that was something weird and interesting.
Ivor had been far more worried that they had been searching for something, or someone. Maybe even unearthing, or mining. But he couldn't quite put together why they'd need plants. Luckily, that would be some other researcher's or astro-biologists job. He was just happy there wasn't a report of an abduction at the scene.

Ivor would look to the investigator, and shake his head 'no'.
As he couldn't think of further questions, and it was clear that Eric was being frustrated from the situation.
Didn't sound like they would get much more value from pressing further, unless there some key details that they hadn't already gone over.

"Sir!"
A researcher would come pounding at the door.

"We have another reported encounter a handful of miles due east from the base. Most of our troops are, tied up. But...may we (research team) borrow, your detainee?"
The researcher called out.

Eric noticed the soldier look nervous when he talked about the laser and could understand why. As he continued and explained that he thought the attack from the alien ship simply damaged something and didn't disable his plane he really hoped his theory was right and was trying to convince him as much as the other two. He really wasn't in the mood to talk about his ordeal any further so when he saw the soldier shake his head after he asked if there were any more questions he sighed in relief. The sooner he could go the sooner he could try to calm himself down with a stiff drink or two.

He was pretty sure he was finally done but he didn't want to upset the government so he waited until he was told he could leave. Unfortunately before that could happen someone yelled through the door about another encounter asking to borrow him. Realizing his plans for the day were most likely ruined Eric sighed again, in defeat this time. Still he wouldn't have become a rescue pilot if he wasn't willing to help if needed. He looked at this two interrogators, not even trying to hide how annoyed he was with everything. "Well, can they?"

The researcher was glad that the investigator would release Eric into her custody. The short brunette seemed to almost beam a growing excitement across her face. Her goggles had an oily iridescent refraction of light, making it hard to see the color of her sharp eyes. In one hand she held a radio, and in the other a clip-board with various notes that read as chicken scratch to anyone else. She would adjust her rubber gloves and hold out a hand toward Eric.

"You can call me, Citri."
She would try to lightly shake Eric's hand.
An extremely gentle one, as if she was afraid that the hand may dissolve if jostled too much.

"You two, get to see something really cool. Well, maybe not aliens, cool. But still pretty cool."
Citri emphasized and would be quick to start walking down the halls. This building was mostly offices, and a couple of interrogation rooms. Citri walked her way to exit the building, and head to a hangar next door. It was clear she expected the two to follow after her, and the occasional blip of radio chatter going off.



"It seems, they can."
Ivor, the soldier had yet to introduce himself yet.
He looked, awkward at this time. His eyes swept down the hallways, and then up above as if to inspect the area for any changes.

"Watch your step, the door is low."
Probably influenced by Citri, the soldier would half-cock their hand out for a handshake as well.
Only to play it off as a different gesture in uncertainty.

Eric accepted the handshake offered by Citri. He didn't like how weak it was but didn't say anything, instead just introducing himself to her though he was pretty sure she already knew his name. "Eric. Eric Drake."

As Citri guided them through the halls Eric wondered what she wanted to show them, he had had his fill of aliens for the rest of his life and wouldn't call seeing them cool. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he was about to ask where she was taking them when they reached the hangar. Before he could though the soldier decided to introduce himself as Ivor.

It looked like Ivor wanted to offer a handshake as well but stopped before Eric could be certain. Eric wasn't sure how to react so he decided to ignore it and by pretending he didn't notice the hand. Instead he focused on the warning about the low door. "Thanks."

The first thing Eric noticed about the hangar was that was full of computers and machines he had never seen before, as well as several people walking around and working on things. "Is this alien tech or just standard lab equipment?"

Ivor had let out a quiet sigh of relief. He wasn't fully sure if it was because they were getting move on, or because he slipped out of the introductions for the moment. There had been too many things on his mind lately. Too many things to be worried and look out for, especially when aliens had become involved. Who knew the capabilities that were at play. All of that, and socializing was a partially struggle in its own right.

The chatter on Citri's radio would increase as group left toward the hangar. It grew increasingly frequent as they had all approached.



"Well..."
Citri would pause and squint up into the corner of the hangar after Eric asked their question. She needed to really think on that one.

"I wouldn't call it, 'standard'. But most of it isn't alien tech. Wouldn't keep those devices exposed as much on the surface, though we would always love to get more samples of it. Speaking of which, we do have a bit of an exception for you two."
Citri would gesture to a random researcher that had been wandering around.
Soon after a cart would be wheeled out from further back.

The cart had a pair of small terraniums with various small odd looking plant & fungal life growing within. Odder still, would be a wristband with glowing crystal in the center of each. The plant & fungal life seemed to sprout outward from the crystal itself. The light of the crystal seemed to be, pulsing, and alluring in some odd way. At first the crystal seemed a clear color, but would shift hues when approached (up to you, which color).

"Think, this is probably the alien tech. Is it, is it messing with your head too? Is it, supposed to?"
Ivor would ask, and took a step closer toward the terranium on the left.
He would look over to Eric to check if they were also feeling or acting odd.

"Don't worry, it hasn't caused any harmful effects. In fact, maybe you should try grabbing one of them."
Citri would slowly slide back to watch.

Honestly Citri's answer made sense once Eric thought about it, there was no way they would show any alien tech to a civilian without some serious precautions though her pause was a little odd. At least that is what he thought until she mentioned the exception. Since he was curious and figured there was little danger if they were willing to show it that easily he wasn't gonna object.

Eric didn't know what he expecting but a bunch of plants and fungi surrounding wristbands with color changing crystals. For some reason he was completely fixated on one of them, which turned from clear to green. He only realized how focused he was on it when Ivor asked if it was messing with his head as well. "Now that you mention it. Not in like a bad way though, just..."

He didn't finish his sentence and barely even registered Citri telling them to try taking one before he reflexively raised his arm to do just that. The closer Eric came to touching the wristband the more the crystal changed color. By the time his hand was only inches away it had fully turned green.

The second Eric actually made contact both the crystal and the plants and fungi glowed brighter than ever and in an instant all the green light traveled up his body, before fading away. It felt like an electric shock but non-painful. It still caused his arm to jerk up out of the terrarium, without Eric realizing he was still holding the wristband. "I..I feel amazing, like I could run a marathon or something." In fact he practically had to force himself not to start running in place or something to burn off energy.

"Fascinating." Citri had been watching both Eric and Ivor from the second the cart was brought in to see their reaction and they didn't disappoint.

Ivor waited for Citri's guarantee before trying on the wristband himself. Once the wristband was placed on his right wrist, the crystal would change to a bright pink. His head would snap up, his entire body jolting as the energy spiked through him. The soldier would would let out a grunt, of surprise as it pumped into his muscles. His eyes would shoot wide open. It was definitely stronger than the high caffeine coffee back at the base.

He would pat on the side of his head, and stared at the plants intensely. His focus showing in a growing squint. Only for him to let out a sigh.

"I can still... feel something with my head. I might just be, being more awake & aware. No voices or other weird, mind invasions."
Ivor would turn to inspect over the wristband. He'd reach out his hand vaguely feeling some, sensation he couldn't explain. Maybe just a slight instinct, he'd point out his thumb and index finger into the form of a gun. Just, an odd feeling to perform the act, maybe it was just part of his background to experiment with it. Unfortunately, nothing had happened but there was odd sensation too it.

"Maybe, feel like I should get a rifle back in my hands to see if it controls any different."
Ivor pondered aloud.

"Well, if you want to marathon and maybe firing off a few shots. We could send a small contingent of body guards to slow down or scout some of the invading ETs at east."
Citri grinned.

"With you science types, they're probably their to collect more samples. We'd be better of taking the Jolt-Vee. We can't let them get to the base out here before backup anyways."
Ivor would start to pat himself down, only to hear a honk just outside the hangar.
An armored tactical truck would park just outside the hangar. It seemed one of the guards had brought it over.

"That, and we have a running theory that being around some of the ET's own tech, or their vibrational bio-waves that Project R1 & R2, may react."
A stray researcher would expound.

Eric put "his" wristband on at the same time as Ivor, having simply held it the entire time. When the soldier mentioned feeling more aware he was confused as that didn't apply to him. "That is weird, I just feel very hyper."

"Hmm looks like they aren't affected the exact same way. Could be due to differences in the crystals or themselves." One of the scientists noted as he wrote something down.

It took Eric a few seconds to realize that Citri and Ivor were talking about fighting the aliens, and oddly enough he wasn't as opposed to the idea as he thought he would be. "That might be a good way to burn off some energy."

When the truck honked Eric was about to head straight outside but stopped himself. "I've never used a gun."

A female guard sighed. "I'll explain the most important stuff on the way there."

"I really hope it isn't doing something to my head. At least nothing dangerous."
Ivor would add grimace, the whole situation was weird. Eric highlighted that there was slight strange differences between the wristbands. The soldier hadn't put much thought into why he picked the wristband he did. It, called too him in a way, but why this one over the other. That and also why this shade of pink. There was little time to be embarrassed over it now.

"Stay to the back, seems you're getting a crash course in firearms. But don't fire unless you've got a clear open shot on an ET, or they're too close for you to miss."
Ivor would pat at Eric's back, before climbing into the truck's backseats.
A guard would pass over a military backpack, and a combination gun case across Ivor's lap.

"I'll let her do most of the instructing while I piece my equipment together here. We're going to mostly slow these things down and collect some notes for our science types. IF you're scared, you hide. If you're chased, you hunker behind or in the Jolt-Vee until someone gets you."
Ivor would advise, as his rifle case would pop open. Inside was a partially dissembled M16 rifle with a modified marksman barrel, and a bayonet knife. He would offer bayonet knife still in its sheathe over to Eric, something easier to grip on before a gun immediately. He would then focus on reassembling the rifle steadily in the background after making sure no ammunition was in it (there wasn't but it was best practice to always check).

As Ivor said the female guard went over some simple basic instructions for Eric while he put his equipment together. "First never aim at something you don't want to hit, even if the safety is on. Second shoot for center of mass." "But wouldn't headshots be more effective?" Eric figured that with how tough the aliens apparently were, putting a bullet through their brains was more likely to take them down. He looked over the bayonet Ivor had given him and was about to ask something when the guard spoke up again.

"Not necessarily, we don't know their anatomy and besides without training you're unlikely to hit anything as small as a head reliably, unless they're close enough for melee combat." When she was done with her explanation she handed a gun to Eric, having already checked for ammo.

Eric without thinking held it by the holster and tried to affix the bayonet, aiming the barrel to his face to better see what he was doing. "Please tell me you know what you're doing wrong there. Please." "Huh? Oh." Eric moved the gun so he wasn't aiming it anyone anymore. "Ugh civilians, you're lucky it was unloaded."

Ivor would be relatively quiet as the female guard went over some basic firearm instruction. He didn't want to interrupt, might make things take even longer or even more awkward. He did struggle to hold back a smile at the mention of going for head shots. Newer trainees, or first time firing ranger shooters always ask something similar.
He would only shake his head.

"Huh, guess we really don't know their insides do we. They look humanoid enough but, doesn't mean their heart is in the same place either."
Ivor realized, holding onto a rifle magazine. He'd double checked that his safety was on, before clicking the magazine in place.

"You don't want to be surrounded in close combat with these things. But we'll probably need to take at least one of them down, get something from them. Maybe see if we can capture one incapacitated I'd imagine."

Ivor would swallow down another chuckle with a grunt. He watched Eric get reprimanded for pointing the barrel directly at their own face. It was a bit funnier since it had been against the first thing Eric was told.

"Essentially anything on the pointing end of that barrel, is something that can get killed. Don't let it be you. Especially with this attachment I gave you."
Ivor would reach over to help adjust the bayonet onto Eric's rifle. He'd make sure the case of the bayonet still covered the blade, it could be removed with a strap once they actually stopped in the vehicle.

"If one of those things get too close, poke 'em when they're charging at you. Hopefully that'll give you a window to back out of their or help push them away."
"Oh, and keep your finger off the trigger until you want to fire a shot. Think we'll show you the safety once we've stopped, best to keep that on."
He'd pat at Eric's shoulder.

Depending on how fast the truck was driving it probably wouldn't take long to spot the enemy ET's that were just a handful of miles away. The odd humanoid creatures were roaming the hillside further to the east. Eight were about searching the area in widening circles, seeming to scan the ground with sort of odd light.

These ET's had the vague human frame, but their bodies had a differing makeup. Their form seemed to be earthy, or almost rock like in texture. Their bodies ranged from dark browns, to stone grey but non-uniform in color with various splotches of differing shades throughout.
All of them had a singular circular 'eye' on the front-side of the body, but not particularly in the same-spot as the others (face, chest, etc.). The eye was a large red dot that had been emitting the odd light scanning the ground and nearby areas for something.

Eric nodded when Ivor basically restated the reason why going for a headshot was a bad idea and decided to do his best to keep it in mind. His face was bright red after the bayonet incident but asides from a few chuckles no one said anything about it, he wasn't the first person to make that mistake and wouldn't be the last after all.

Still he was grateful when Ivor took the rifle over to attach the blade for him and thanked both him and the female guard for their help. "Thanks for helping me out." After getting the rifle back he made sure to both keep his fingers away from the trigger and to keep the barrel aiming away from anyone, showing he did learn from what just happened.

He listened as Ivor explained how to use the bayonet and decided he would try to mainly focus on the stabbing, just so that there was less chance of him hurting the wrong person. Of course if necessary he would shoot it. "Yeah, that makes sense. Seems easier than shooting too."

Eventually the group arrived at the aliens' location and Eric was reminded of how weird they looked, especially with how their "eye" was in different spots. He watched as the soldiers got out of the truck and quickly took their positions but decided to stick close to Ivor since he was the familiar with him. "So about the safety?"

In the meantime the aliens seemed to be too preoccupied scanning the ground to attack the soldiers, though that changed after one got shot. The bullet was less effective than it would be against a hum but still clearly hurt. The shot alien turned toward to the soldier that attacked it and fired a beam form the "eye" on its chest. This attack wasn't instantly fatal either but it did leave some nasty burn wounds on the soldier's hands and caused him to drop his rifle.

"Welcome."
Ivor would nod, and take a good glance over Eric's firearm. He was a bit proud that Eric developing their gun etiquette fairly quickly. Most, would forget or accidentally place their hands wrong upon the weapon even after first instruction. An awkward muscle memory or reaction during some basic training, he supposed.

"A little bit. Basic knives & Sharp-sticks are way more useful than people give them credit for. At least for survival and general use. Just cutting ropes or other things down comes rather handy."
Ivor would elaborate with a bit of a grin. He was recalling a couple of times he had to use knives to help cut people out of dangerous, or unfortunate situations.

Ivor, pouted that the group was already engaging the enemy this close to the vehicle. He was used to driving armored trucks, they could take a beating.... but he wasn't a fan of it. Seeing as Eric was following the soldier, he'd gesture to stay to the side and slightly behind the vehicle. Wanting to keep Eric further from direct fire.

"Safety is on the left side of the rifle, below the barrel and a bit above the trigger. Pull it back to the center and it'll be in standard fire. Pull it all the way back, it'll be in semi-auto. Only use the other one when they're closer."
Ivor would turn his rifle to the side, showing the switch and placing the gun on 'standard' fire. The gun would fire once per squeeze, instead of continuous fire. As he tutored, he lowered himself to the ground and prepared to fire. Aiming down his scope.

"Focusing fire! Shooting that last hostile."
Ivor called out. Before firing off a round toward the shot alien.
The bullet would go flying toward the ET's chest, close to thee 'eye' but likely off by a few inches.

"Eric, see if you grab the burned and patch him up. Should be a kit under any of the seats. Stay low, and I'll keep 'em off you best I can."

More of ETs were noticing the attacks and turning away from scanning the ground.

It took Eric a few seconds to figure out what Ivor's gestures meant but eventually he took cover behind the truck. He didn't think about gun etiquette as he headed for cover and ended up pointing his weapon at one soldier, luckily nothing else went wrong.

During another lesson on gun use this time about the safety and the different modes of fire Ivor joined the fight by firing at one of the aliens, just barely missing its "eye". Eric wanted to compliment him for his aim but was instead told to help an injured soldier. "On it!"

Trusting Ivor to keep his word and cover him Eric, doing his best to stay low, made his way to the injured soldier. This time due to going slow he did remember not to point his gun at any humans, though he did have to move it around a few times to accomplish that. Eventually he reached his destination, and nearly got hit by one of the ETs himself, though by sheer luck the laser missed his hand. He wondered if he should return fire or focus on helping out the soldier but decided to trust Ivor to take of the threat. He grabbed the soldier by the arm to help him up and guided him back to the armored truck.

Once they got back Eric looked under the seats until he found the medkit and began applying both burn ointment and bandages to the soldier's hands. Due to his lack of training he didn't do the best job though. "This'll have to do." "Thanks for the help."

Ivor typically kept his rifle on standard-fire, focusing on accuracy versus fire-rate. The initial distance of the ETs, made it important for the first few shots. He knew these things could take a beating from standard gunfire. He had been betting on the 'eye' being a clear spot to target, until they could find another weak-spot.

A quick glance at the armband showed it faintly glowing in the combat engagement, but it hadn't particularly done anything yet.

The soldier believed in the rescue's pilot ability to patch people up. Plus it was a relief to get a relatively green combatant in a safer spot. It made it easier to keep firing without looking over his shoulder as much.
He'd adjust the rifle to take a cover shot back at one of the firing ETs. Needing to get its focus away from the rescuer treating one of the guards behind the truck. Ivor's defending cover fire would fly true, pin-pointed to the attacking ET's "eye". Should be lucky enough to at least stun the monster for a minute, unless something else blocked it.

Ivor was only lucky enough to get the shot since ET's were moving closer to the group.
Starting to charge toward their ragtag attackers. It didn't seem like they coordinated among themselves, versus simply running straight toward Eric & the others. It would be a couple minutes until these ETs would be upon them.

"They're running at us head-on. Closing in from being spread out."
Ivor would call out, before getting ready to place his next shot.
Before spitting out something between gibberish, and swear as one of the ET's shots hit the truck door behind him.
The metal of the truck's door glowing with orange heat.