The dusty grounds of the base was hit by a heavy storm the night before, of course there were no casualties due to it since they had reinforced the spots that caused leaking the storm before hand.
The Rise couldn't send teams out for a day due to the storm and the potential it could have caused with the aliens having the advantage. But today was a different story.

A radio call was captured by the Rise, and they decided to investigate as the call was something they had never heard before. The scientists recorded it and duplicated it, giving one to the current general of the reckon group, Marcus Holland; while they kept the original for themselves in order to try and decode what the sounds they heard were.
Of course most of it was screaming from both human and Alien, some gunshots and humans whimpering. But what came after was confusing, the Aliens often spoke in clicks and hisses, but this seemed to be a... proper language? Whispers from multiple beings about something, before the line went quiet.

---

The reckon team was a smaller team at this time, numbers were getting low. Unluckily for Marcus, he was tasked with dealing with a couple of new recruits, Max and Eli; both talented shooters and spotters, but rather childish and immature.

Max seemed to shift in his seat after the briefing, looking at his feet before he looked out the window of the land cruiser as they drove along.
"Do..." He started, looking over to Marcus, "Do you reckon the aliens will still be there?" He asked, his voice failed to hide the amount of fear as his body seemed to tremble as he spoke.
"I'm sure they'd have some sort of things guarding the area." Eli added quietly, he had his headphones in, one earphone out so he could hear the conversations going as he tried to listen to the recording. "I'm not getting any proper words from this, even from the human side..." He grumbled slightly.

"Knowing them, who knows? Best we keep on our toes in case we need to get back out there."

Marcus exclaimed to Max as he lit up a Cigar to pass the time. He always enjoyed one of those every so often, of course he rationed the ones he had due to limited supply income due to the Aliens practically owning everything. He willingly took the recruits Max and Eli in knowing full well of their attitudes and personalities. He figured his team needed some diversity to make light of the situation. When Eli pitched in his comments, Marcus retorted.

"If only we had someone who could translate... So far, no one seems to have a clue. We can't go back to where we originally came from however, they'll surely be looking for us."

That was when he turned to Max with a smile on his face.

"You're an excellent shooter, Max. But don't let your fear of the aliens affect ya. You know as well as I do that fearing them is worse than facing them. As for you, Eli. Keep working on it, will ya? The sooner we crack that call, the sooner we'll figure out what they're after."

Eli only nodded to Marcus as he spoke, moving to put the other earbud in his ear as he focused. He turned the volume up and played with some of the pitch and bass sliders. His expression didn't change from seeming disgruntled, he leaned back and closed his eyes.
Max watched his friend as he seemed to relax, how could he do that? They were about to go into a-

Marcus' compliment caught him off guard, his face deepened in red colouration. "O..Oh!" He started with a small smile, "T...Thank you sir, that means a great amount coming from you!" His smile grew a little bit. "What... DO you think will be there?" He asked, thinking to himself.
"The others suspect some sort of artifact? Or even some hidden... breeding ground." Max shuddered as he glanced to Eli, who seemed to make a disgusted face as if he could hear what Max was saying before his expression twisted to mild confusion, his hand moving to turn the recording back a few seconds, pausing it before he started to shift the pitch and sound.

"Whispering." Eli only said, his eyes still closed. He fell silent again after that as he moved to rewind the entire recording to listen to it again, as he had seemed to figure out the pitch to get a better sound.
Max looked to Eli as he mentioned whispering, he shivered a bit more before he looked back to Marcus. "What... What do we do if we find... Humans used as..." He trailed off, he couldn't think of a way to describe what the Aliens did to the humans they captured and figured out how to 'use' them in peculiar ways; unluckily for the Rise, no human had ever made it back to the base to get tested on.

The terrain suddenly became bumpy as the Vehicle got closer to its' destination, the drivers voice came through the radio above them.
"Nearing the spot now boss, will stop a few miles away as to not cause any attention. Keep communications open in case we find trouble and need back up."

"Personally? I'm expecting all sorts of twisted things. Torture and interrogation chambers, breeding grounds, all sorts. They sure as hell didn't hesitate to kill us on sight when they showed up. Kinda tosses out the "visitors will be friendly" theory right out the window. But if we're lucky, maybe some new tech couldn't hurt, give us an edge."

Marcus stated as he continued smoking his cigar and looking at some files. Seemed to be that Eli was hard at work deciphering the alien call while Max was being frightful, again. He didn't seem to catch a break, even after the compliments, and continued horrifying himself.

"Whatever we'll find, I'll protect you. I won't let them aliens take my squad."

That was when the terrain got bumpy, the vehicle must be getting closer to the destination. When the message came through on the radio mentioning that they're close, Marcus grabbed his radio.

"Understood. Keep us as far but as close as you can, and maintain radio silence until you need us. Marcus out."

Max shivered at Marcus' words, He looked down at his guncase on the ground with a furrowed brow.
"Theres' no possibility of Mutation to us, is there?" He asked, looking up after a while, "The Water supply is still medicated right? There hasn't been any shortage of the medical supplies? I heard something about being low on bandages and needing to head to the next city for more-"
Eli lifted his hand over Max's mouth, causing the shorter man to squeak in fear.
"We'll be fine." Eli said as he looked over with one eye, before closing it and lowering his hand again with a mumble under his breathe.

The vehicle started to slow, the tires making a small screech as they finally hit a stop.
The doors unlocked themselves as a small 'ding' came through the speakers.
Eli paused his recording and grabbed his bag as he pulled his headphones from his ears. "Aight." He grumbled, moving to open the door, "After you boss."

The vehicle has stopped in what seemed to be a dusty desert area, dunes could be seen in the background, but just north of them was a large, fallen alien drop ship. It's hull had crumbled from presumably an explosion, the metal twisted beyond repair. There were no signs of life straight away, but these Aliens were sneaky- you could never take them so lightly.

The wind picked up, bringing the smell of decay and death towards the Vehicle. A small trail of fog seemed to pour from part of the ship, although it was long since abandoned. The smoke however, was blue, from an Officer of the Rise, although it was unknown if they were alive still.

"If there was, they'd of probably just done that instead. But if they wanted us dead, they wouldn't go through the effort to convert us. Now let's stop thinking about that, and focus on our task."

Marcus iterated as when Eli covered Max's mouth, he smiled a little. Seemed that he wanted the same thing. Talking about the horrors of the aliens wasn't exactly the best motivator to fight them. When the vehicle stopped and Eli motioned for him to move first, Marcus jumped out the vehicle with his weapon ready on his back. Marcus's weapon of choice was the SA80 Infantry Rifle, a British-produced rifle with a rate of fire of 610-775 RPM as a thirty-round magazine. On the stock was an engraving of "M A R C U S" on top of a faintly printed United Kingdom flag. It was his personal weapon and he wouldn't replace it. He also carried with him a Royal Navy Bayonet which could be attached to his rifle should he need it.

"Hmm... Wasn't expecting a downed ship. Maybe we managed to actually punch through a couple of them. Wait..."

Marcus raised his arm upwards with a clenched fist while grabbing his rifle with the other, now holding it as he spotted blue smoke coming from the ship. He recognised it as an Officer of The Rise, maybe a survivor? Clenching his weapon, he slowly walked forward.

"On me, and stay close. Check your corners, and keep your hands on your weapons. We move in slowly but expecting trouble."

Continuing to walk slowly forward, he went to investigate the source of the smoke.

Maxs' eyes widened at the mention of the aliens just ending up killing them instead of attempting mutation. When Marcus hopped out, he and Eli followed suit. Max moved and grabbed his sniper from his case, moving to clip it onto his back as he looked to Eli. Eli quickly loaded his double glocks before he looked to Marcus.

Eli nodded at the orders, following behind Marcus with Max tailing behind as he kept an eye out.
As they moved, a few alien bugs scuttled across in front of the Humans. They were harmless, tiny crawler bugs; often used by the aliens as spies for their small size, but without someone controlling them, they were just mindlessly wandering around.

The ship loomed over them, the air around it was thick. The ship gave a slow groan when the three men entered; their feet clanging against the metal flooring, the clangs echoed through the entire ship.

An echoing sound of clattering and tapping footsteps echoed from the way where the smoke was coming from.
Max hesitated, unclipping his gun as he held it in his hands and looked into the darkness of the shadows. Another echoing chatter came from deeper in the ship, bouncing around the walls.
Eli lifted his guns up as he narrowed his eyes. He didn't like this place, it felt off, it felt wrong. He felt like he was walking right into a trap of some sort.

"Got to hand it to the aliens, they sure do make intimidating looking ships. Alright everyone, move in slowly and carefully. Guards up at all times, got it? Max, stay behind me and Eli."

Marcus ordered as he proceeded to continue slowly further into the alien craft. He heard the chatter in the walls, and the echoing of footsteps; both their own and whatever was in there. Keeping his weapon loaded, he took a few seconds to attach his knife to the barrel of the rifle, allowing him to perform better in close-quarters situations. Normally in a recon situation, he would call out for anyone around to show themselves, but given that their target is within an alien ship, that'd only draw them to their position in droves.

Max nodded and stayed behind them both. His fear was bubbling over, but somehow he managed to keep himself quiet; feeling his will to help whoever they were here for. He looked towards Eli, who had glanced towards him before they all moved along.

The sound of scratching echoed through the area for a moment before it suddenly stopped as the men moved. More sounds of scuttling echoed from deeper in the ship. Eli lifted up his guns and narrowed his eyes, "Right." He agreed before he kept his attention up.

Deeper in the ship, a few of the alien drones clambered around almost awkwardly; they both looked at each other and gave a small trill of clicks and whistles before looking towards the figure against the wall. They were breathing at least, much to the drones relief.
"Should we bring her to the queen yet?" The smaller one started, the taller one shook its' head.
"If she sees we bring what she would think to be human she would kill her and us." It responded, "We need to wait."
"How long would it take?" The smaller one started as they stepped towards the figure again, moving a spindly arm to lift the young womans' head up. The other one stayed silent, their three pairs of eyes focused on the darkness of the hallway.
"Humans."
The smaller Drone let the womans' head drop down softly before they moved to grab their own guns that were leanign against the walls as they seemed to have been relaxed.

Moving through the ship, Marcus kept his rifle clutched tightly. Ensuring that Eli and Max were behind him, he continued further onward. This didn't seem right. Sure, it was a crashed alien ship, but surely there'd be people in here, why else would that smoke flare be used? Unless of course it was a trap. That much was very considered as a possibility. Wondering further in, he could hear the very faint sound of clicking.

"Stay quiet. I think we have company."

Holding his arm up, he moved slowly forward and knocked on the side of a wall, hoping to garner the alien's attention.

"Ready your weapons, boys. This is tight quarters, so be careful with that Sniper."

The tho drones looked at each other, both of them nudging the other forward to attempt to coax the other into going out.
Max nodded at Marcus' words, lifting his sniper as he moved into a safe position to shoot over or under his two team mates as Eli moved to press up against the wall and readied himself, both younger boys narrowing their eyes in the darkness.

The shorter Alien finally lost the battle for going first, and he slowly stepped out with a low hiss. He kept to the shadows, knowing that light would dance across his shiny carapaces.
"Can we hellllp you humanz?" He spoke in broken English, his mandibles clicking together angrily. "You are intrudingz on our landz." His tiny wings buzzed, his eyes focused in on Marcus with another click of his mandibles.

Eli moved to point both of his guns towards the Alien, staring him down angrily as a red dot appeared on the Aliens' chest from Max's gun. The Alien didn't try to make any sharp movements, attempting to do what he wasn't very good at. Talking.

The Taller alien scuttled along to close the space between him and the woman they held captive. He moved to wrap both of his arms around her as his wings buzzed as well. The humans were blocking the only safe exit, and despite the drones having wings, they were virtually useless.

"Well you aren't exactly being nice intruding on our planet. You know anything about that little blue smoke you set off here?"

Marcus stated before peering behind the alien and noticing a fraction of another human, as well as another alien among them. Looks like that smoke wasn't exactly a trap, but it wasn't without aliens. Readying his weapon, he signalled Max and Eli.

"Hey, is that another human over there? Hand her over, and we might consider sparing you."

The smaller drone watched the humans carefully as he watched them, especially as Max and Eli honed in more on him.
"Why should we give youz the human? We are under direkt orderz from the queen to take her to the hivez." He said as he moved to try and cover his other companion.

The Taller alien gave a long chain of angry clicks and whistles, stomping his feet in a sign of anger. He tried to moved out of sight, but there was nowhere to really head to. "Thiz human belong to uz! We found her!" The taller one spoke angrily, feeling the woman start to move in his arms. "Juzt let uz go. We need to get bak to the hivez!"

Eli lifted his gun slightly, "That human belongs to no one." He said angrily, clicking his gun before narrowing his eyes.
Max kept his sight on the front Alien, ready to fire if needed. His red-dot staying almost fully still over the chest of the Alien, he waited for a sign from Marcus or any aggressive movement from the Aliens to shoot.

"A queen, huh? And a hive?"

Marcus asked rhetorically as he pondered his thoughts for a moment. That human that was behind them was to be taken to a hive to have all sorts done to her. That did not float Marcus's boat, not one bit.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to say no. The human's coming with us. Blast them!"

Marcus ordered as he loaded his rifle and proceeded to unleash a magazine on the two aliens, ensuring his shots wouldn't hit the human behind them.

Eli and Max both nodded, quickly starting to shoot both of the aliens. Both of them moved to shoot back, but they were easily over powered.
The shorter one dropped to the ground with a hiss as the final breathe left its body, the taller one collapsed onto its' knees, hanging on for a bit longer to utter something in its' native language before it collapsed down.

Max lifted his gun before he started his way to the woman. "Is she okay?" He asked more to himself, glancing back to Marcus and Eli. "She looks okay, no visible wounds or anything. She's breathing," He moved to lift her up into his arms. "Do we think there are others?"

"Considering they only mentioned one, and they were here before us? Safe to say she's the only one."

Marcus stated as he approached Eli and the woman, planting a hand onto her head to check her temperature.

"She seems to be alright. No unusual temperature or anything wrong with her at first glance. Alright, back to the vehicles. We're taking her home. Maybe when she wakes up, she can tell us why she was here, and why the aliens want her in the first place."

Max and Eli both nodded at Marcus' words before they started to head out of the ship.
Eli taking it slowly as he carried the woman along. Max hesitated as he past the now dead Aliens, moving down to grab the small translator box from around its' neck.

"This should be useful." He said as he looked to his squad mate and leader, smiling as he held it up. Eli nodded once as he started to walk out again. "It might help find out what they were talking about?" Max asked as he moved to pocket it.

"Good thinking, Max. Just be careful it doesn't have a way for them to track us."

Marcus stated as he spotted Max find a translator of some sorts. Hopefully it'll better decipher what Eli was working on. He continued moving alongside Eli with his rifle cocked and ready, ensuring both he and the woman was protected from ambush. Once they got out of the ship and onto the trucks, he signalled the drivers.

"Alright lads, back to base. We've got what we came for, let's roll before the aliens realize they're missing some peons."

Max nodded as he tinkered with it as they waited for the trucks to start up.
Eli on the other hand focused his energy on strapping the woman in carefully and taking a better look at her body for injuries or signs of infection.

"She'll have to get a bioscan won't she?" Eli asked as he glanced to Marcus, putting his guns back in his case as he started to sit back down beside Max. Max handed Eli the translator before he also looked towards Marcus, waiting for the mans response.
The woman seemed to move her head slightly, coming to consciousness very slowly before dipping back into unconsciousness.

"Most likely. Wouldn't hurt to give the lady a look-over properly."

Marcus responded to Eli's question as the vehicles continued moving back to base. When the woman moved her head then dipped back into unconsciousness, Marcus looked down a little.

"Poor thing. No one has to go through this. Unfortunate lady fate hasn't been playing her cards in our favor lately. Eli, Max, good shooting today. We were lucky to find her when we did, and there could of been more of them. Thankfully we only came across some lower ranked but still, good job today. I'll be sure to treat ya when we get back home."