November 23rd, 2064
En route to LZ
Hawk Dropship
1600 Hours
"We are approaching the designated LZ. Ready up Marines!" Commander Jason shouted over the sound of the dropship's engines, their roaring drowning out all sounds apart from his voice.
"Oohrah!" The Marines exclaimed as they readied their weapons and stood up, using the handrails located on the ceiling of the drop ship to keep them from falling. The turbulence shaking the dropship would easily throw them into a wall if they didn't.
The ship started to shift its engines downward as it began circling the LZ, the rear door opening and giving the Marines a clear view of the vast plain with an outcrop of a forest a hundred meters away.
"Our objective is to clear the surrounding area so that the space boys up there can setup an FOB in this area. If you encounter any hostile wildlife you are clear to engage, understood?!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"At ease, now move out!" Jason tapped the side of his helmet, causing the visor to drop down and bring up the heads-up display as the dropship moved downward into a hover above the plain, letting the marines drop down to the grassy floor below.
As soon as the last of them dropped to the ground the ship’s engines shifted back into their original position and propelled it forward, sending it upwards and back to Fortress.
The Marines scanned the area for any hostile life forms; once it was confirmed that no hostiles were within the LZ, they prepared to give an all clear for the FOB. Murphy's law had other things planned it seemed.
"Sir, we have movement on the treeline!" Lieutenant Luna said over the comms as she crouched down and raised her weapon, directing it towards the trees in the distance.
"Roger that, Lieutenant. We see it." Replied Jason as the rest of the squad moved up behind him.
"Fortress, this is Alpha Actual. We have movement near the treeline; please advise."
"Roger that Alpha Actual, approach with caution and engage if hostile. Don't take any chances. We don't know what the indigenous lifeforms on this planet are like."
"Affirmative, Fortress, approaching the tree line now." Jason cut the comms as he cautiously moved up to the wooded outcrop, his rifle tracking the movement still present behind the vegetation.
"Contact right! Coming right at us!" Sergeant Jane yelled over the coms as she pointed her AR-34 at the incoming target.
"Shit, Alpha, light it up!" Jason yelled as he turned to face the creature with the rest of the squad. He took the first shot and fired at what he assumed to be its head, followed by the rest of Alpha.
Jason had never seen anything like it. It looked like a lion, a bat, and a Scorpion was jammed into a blender, and that thing is what came out. It had large, bat-like wings and a long, menacing-looking scorpion tail in place of where the regular one should be.
The creature had run out of the forest and was now coming at them quickly, gunfire doing little to slow it down as it closed in with more speed than something that large should ever move.
"Fuck, Jason, use your goddamn boomstick to blow that motherfucker up! I’m not going to become its damn meal!" Luna yelled as she emptied her entire magazine into the beast.
Jason responded with a nod as he threw his rifle to the ground. He then reached around his back with lightning speed and grabbed his Y23B, aiming it at the incoming monster as the rest of Alpha dropped down.
"Boom, motherfucker," Jason muttered as he lined up the shot and pulled the trigger, sending a deadly G21-F rocket straight into its face.
The rocket connected with the thing’s face a second later. Needless to say, it wasn't a very pretty sight. It penetrated it were eye socket and went straight through the back of its head, exploding inside of it and sending chunks of gore and blood in every direction, showering Alpha in a wave of viscera.
"Ugh... fucking gross," Jane muttered as she stood up and tried to wipe the blood from her armor, failing miserably at it.
"Agreed," Luna replied as she brushed pieces of gore off of her shoulder, clearly disgusted.
Jason stored the Y23B securely on his back and walked over to his assault rifle, casually picking it up and wiping off the blood that splattered it’s side.
"What the flying fuck was that thing? It took those bullets like they were water droplets!" Michael said as he picked himself off the ground and looked himself over.
"I don't know, but Fortress needs to know what kind of fucked up shit is going on down here."
November 23rd, 2064
Equestrian orbit
ULC Nightmare
1700 Hours
"Can you explain this to me one more time, Adan? I'm not sure I'm hearing this right." Captain Vergil said as he leaned back in his chair and took a sip of coffee.
"Well, sir, Alpha team seems to have encountered an indigenous life form that proceeded to attack them shortly after. Their description of the creature appears to match that of a 'Manticore': a mythological creature from ancient Greek mythology. The drones we sent down have also detected numerous life forms. Some of them we recognize, such as rabbits, deer, snakes, zebras, and three different variations of miniature ponies. Other unknown species have also been discovered that match no known records. Further analysis is required, sir."
"I could understand the unknown species with this being an entirely unknown planet and all, but animals from ancient Greece? I find that hard to believe." Vergil replied as he looked down at his coffee and gently swirled its contents around, mixing them.
"Has this information been presented to the Admiral, Aden?"
"Affirmative, sir, he has already been briefed on the situation."
"Good, is Alpha 01 reporting any more hostiles?"
"Negative, sir, they're reporting an all-clear."
"Acknowledged, we have a green light for the FOB."
"Affirmative, sir, relaying the all-clear to the Phantoms for immediate deployment."