595 surveyed the valley as the team and cargo fanned out just inside the cave entrance. The good news was that the beacon had grown closer now, perched on the shoulder of a mountain on the opposite side. The bad news was that some kind of forest separated them from their goal. 

From what she could tell in the low-light, the trees in this forest were different from those surrounding the lake earlier. They were much taller, and didn’t seem to glow with any of those eye pods at first inspection. That didn’t stop 595 loathing the thought of a romp through the middle of it.

The Agent stepped slightly out of the cave entrance and looked through the sight of her beam rifle at the cliffs straight above her. She could make out a lot of commotion further up, with some large bodies fidgeting in and among large crevices. She didn’t need Dr Ngata to conclude that the landslide they’d just facilitated may have agitated this group. 

“See a way down?” Thebes asked, watching Rareth closely. Just then, that same alien siren noise erupted in their comms channel. Quieter than before, but still very disruptive. 595 went onto high alert with the others even though, somehow, she had felt it coming moments before. When she refocused her sighting on the cliffs above, the flapping and cawing had stopped. Instead, she could see dozens of heads watching them. [i]“You are closer now. These ones will carry you to me. We must be quick.”[/i] a familiar, andryogenous, synthetic voice returned to their private channel.

With that, the first of the [url=https://i.pinimg.com/564x/28/47/c4/2847c45c80e619f553e679b091c253e7.jpg]winged creatures[/url] took flight, circled round their position before landing on an unoccupied part of the ledge. It was large, and fierce looking, with spines running down it’s back and glinting UV eye parts. The Sacred Band trained their weapons on the beast, while 595 kept her sights locked onto their nest.