6 hours prior to the species meeting...
On route to Dodge City...
{Nobody's POV}
Along the dirt path, with trees on the sides arching inward, a pair of armored, military vehicles head south to find somewhere more secure to try and get their bearings in order. The driver of the Humvee tried informing the Captain that this road look as if it was used often. What puzzled them was the tire marks in the road were thin like wagon wheels. The Captain assured the men that they would be fine and to just keep watching their flanks. This did little to ease their concerns, but as soon as they found a turn off that went further into the forest, they took it.
They drove for an estimate 30 minutes before reaching a small clearing. The clearing had a path leading to it, so it would not be a safe to camp here, so they would only be taking a rest to let the engines cool. The Soldiers exited the vehicles and started scanning the tree line for movement. The perimeter was secured, and they could rest for a short time.
"What time is it?" Captain Maore asked, not to anyone in particular.
"0130, Sir", replied 1st Lt. Luciano, as he lifted the hood of the Truck.
"Lets send a team out to try and find out where we are." advised LCpL. Ebert, making his way over to the Captain.
"Great idea. And since you proposed the idea, you will lead the team. Pick two men and get out of here." The Captain said, not wanting to lead or conduct anymore scouting missions for awhile.
LCpL. Ebert, along with PFC. Norten and PFC. Alvarado, set off eastward. Given orders to travel no further then 1 mile and report back as soon as possible. After they left, the remaining troops waited anxiously for them to return with any kind of news. Sgt. Jennings and Pvt. Cormick gathered all the weapons in camp to distribute the remaining ammo evenly among the men. Pvt. Alvarez and PFC. Corbin both lie sleeping beside the Humvee. Sgt. Ozzemin has climbed into the Humvee and is scanning the treeline with the 50.cal. Captain Maore and Lt. Luciano went to the back of the truck to see what exactly they were meant to transporting that would be worth their lives.
The bed of the truck was filled with old Soviet crates, military storage cases, and some spare parts for the truck, such as tires, a door, lights, ect. The Soviet Crates were filled with captured weaponry, uniforms, medical supplies, ammunition, ect. The Storage cases were pad-locked. The two picked up some of the captured gear and checked to see if it was useful. The weapons were in working order and ammo box seemed to have never been open. The uniforms were well stitched and look as if they were never worn. They could be useful for warmth and fire. The lieutenant put his hand on the Captain's shoulder.
"Sir, we need to move soon. This place is too weird and dangerous."
"I know that. I saw the same shit you did." the Captain said with a seemingly distant tone, dropping the ammo box he was inspecting back into a crate. "But where do you expect us to go. This terrain is not supposed to be in the Middle East and creatures like the ones we saw should not exist."
"Well sitting around isn't gonna help. They may not have been human what we saw, but they seemed to be civilized enough. I don't think we are in Kansas Toto, so lets try and get help from the Munchkins."
"As far as I can tell you are right. We are no longer in the Middle East, hell not even on Earth anymore. If that is the case, how well do you think the locals will react to a group of armed aliens coming in on loud metal wagons?"
"Well, would you rather we just sit here?! Or hide in the woods for the rest of our lives?!"
"Lieutenant! You will not raise your voice when addressing the CO again. As for what we do next, we will think of something after the scouts get back."
As if on cue, Norten came jogging out of the treeline into the clearing, spooking Ozzemin, who had the 50.cal on him until it registered who she was aiming at. Norten continued jogging until he reached the Captain. Norten informed the captain of how they went for about half a mile until they found a hill overlooking a small town of the horse creatures they saw the other day. The Captain and half the camp took their weapons and 3 mags each before following Norten to the location of this town. They walked up a light incline before grouping up with LCpL. Ebert's scout party. The Men took cover in the foliage, using whatever they had on them, from scopes to old Soviet binoculars, the men watched over the town. After getting a more clear look, they noticed the town was surrounded by a large fence, with barbed wire that sloped inward. The town resembled a prison, and when the men spotted what appeared to be armored figures roaming around the town with spears, they marked of the town as such.
They traveled back to base about an hour later. The Marines were divided up. PFC Corbin, Sgt. Jennings, Sgt. Ozzemin stayed back to keep the engines running and the 50 maned. The rest of the Marines made there way back to the vantage point. Upon reaching the hill top, the Captain debriefed the Marines on the plan.
"Stay in pairs. Move down the right and left sides, but stay in the foliage. Do not be seen. Take note of whatever you see of importance and report back here in thirty minutes. Its 0330 hours, so we will head back at 0400. If you are spotted, retreat back into the forest."
Thirty minutes later, they regrouped and went over the information they were able to gather. Guard locations, patrol routes, CO's office, compromises in defenses and darkest routes around the nearly dark prison. The men confirmed each others information and decided to try and get into the prison the next night. As they were getting ready to leave, they spotted movement at the fence. A tall and thin figure was squeezing through the fence with a shorter, thinner figure already through. The first conclusion they reached was prison convicts on the run, and an opportunity to pickup a source of information.
The marines trailed them in silence for nearly 2 hours before they heard alarms go off. The escapees quickened their pace, so the
Marines did as well. Before they knew it, they were 5 miles south of the prison, and still going. Had it not been for LCpL. Ebert deciding to head back to the Vehicles, they would have to travel 5 miles with 2 natives after they captured them. The marines stopped when they saw the two not far ahead of them. They seemed to be talking in a hushed tone, but from the actions that followed, they came to the realization that the creature was gonna lead the pursuing law enforcement away from the smaller one. The soldiers opted to trail the smaller of the two, but had to match the smaller one's pace, rather then move slower to keep distance.
Not long after the two split, the smaller one stopped in a small clearing and seemed distressed, that distressed quickly turned to horror as he was stopped by a cliff wall. Only...it was not that. The cliff wall seemed to vanish with a wavy effect, revealing another creature of the species. This one was larger, bigger build, but not a masculine one. It had what could only be described as a boarding school uniform. It's hair and body are different shades of purple, with the latter being lighter toned, and a strip of pink hair (I didn't go to art school, don't judge my description, I ain't filing a report to anyone). A few words were spoken, but from our distance we cannot make out what it is saying. Two more appeared from the sides of the small one, a white one with purple well kept hair, mini skirt and dress with a similar build to the purple one, along with a yellow one with pink hair and green dress and a larger bust. Two more appeared from behind the small one, they appeared to be in armored, obviously they are law enforcement of some kind, though they wield spears and what looks like short swords at their waists.
They are boxing him (the physical differences of the new comers make it obvious they are female, so the small one must be male) in and are slowly advancing on him. To my surprise, he picked up a stone and is holding it ready to throw. A few words were uttered by the guards and that earned them a displeasing look from the purple one, she must be an officer or hold some authority over the locals. The male then turned to his right, a group of soldiers and more civilians came out of the treeline to the clearing, dragging to other male from before. No point waiting to jump them, they were gonna take them for sure, so we need to make a move on them now. The men seemed to have the same idea as myself and advance through onto the potential hostels position. I strolled into the clearing with my sidearm trained on the purple one.
Click-click
"Drop your weapons and back away."