Maverick, Striker and Eagle had been stationed to scout out a new planet that seems to have a breathable atmosphere. They were there to see if it was good enough to make a base on, to see if there were any inhabitants that they could maybe make a deal with and trade goods with.
They trekked through the thick vegetation of the large jungle-like terrain. Striker groaned as his boot sunk into a pile of mud he hadn't expected to be there, he wrinkled his nose in disgust, looking at the boot he'd have to clean-up later in order for it to look good-as-new again, "This place smells. We haven't encountered anything here, not anything smart, just a bunch of bugs that shouldn't be too hard to deal with. Lets just radio for a pick-up and tell them that it's safe to build bases here."
Maverick rolled his eyes, looking back at the male with an irritated look, "Listen, Striker, it's our job to see if this place is even safe, first of all, there could be things here and we don't know about them yet cause we haven't walked far enough." he argued, holding his assault rifle close to his form. Striker always was one to complain and try to get out of things easy, he wasn't like his older brother, Eagle.
Eagle was a mysterious man, always wearing a mask that covered his face, eye-holes showing his steel-y blue eyes. Only Striker had ever seen his face, but that was because they had grown up together. Striker wasn't as quiet and smart as his older brother, acting way too immature. If you were to compare them, you wouldn't even think that they were related.
"How about we split up? We'll cover more ground that way..." Eagle finally spoke up in his deep, monotone voice, turning around to face the two that looked ready to fight, his icy gaze challenging them to continue their spat. Maverick nodded, smiling wide.
"Seems like a good idea. Okay..." Maverick pointed at Striker then to the direction he wanted him to go in, doing the same action to Eagle but pointing to a different direction with his fore and middle finger.
"If something happens, we'll rendezvous back at drop point." Eagle mentioned before he began to make his way through the direction given to him. He was an Elite, but he respected Maverick enough that he could trust his judgments and calls. He hadn't gotten them killed yet.
"Fine... See you guys then." Striker shrugged, rolling his eyes as he turned on his heel and began to trudge through the thick brush, vanishing from sight in mere moments. Maverick stood, alone. He sighed before he began making his way through the terrain as well, listening to the sounds of bugs and birds making noises, along with twigs and branches crunching and crumbling into pieces under his weight.
This planet was weird, it was also uncharted and unclaimed. At least that was what he'd been told during the debriefing. It was warm, even when the sun wasn't shining in the sky. The weather seemed different, too, clouds hanging dreadfully in the sky one moment, causing a gust of wind, then, it would clear up, the sun shining in the blue sky once more. Freaky. Earth never did that, not so suddenly any who.
Maverick kept walking, taking notes of everything he saw. The giant foliage, bugs that seemed to be coloured with a variety of spectrum's from the colour wheel, he'd also seen a giant Monarch related butterfly fly past him too, feeling the wind beat off it's delicate, giant orange and black wings. It looked at him for a moment before flying off into the sky, joining a few others of its kind. Amazing.
He was just captivated by everything, the different shapes, species of small birds and bugs he began to see as he continued his walk through the jungle, making sure to watch for anything dangerous. Be it anything ranging from quick-sand, to a giant predatory creature. His hands grew tight on his rifle, just being cautions. He tensed up, hearing the birds stop their calls and the bugs coming to a silence.
He stopped, shutting his eyes as he let his ears pick up any sounds, there was something near, but what was it? He didn't know. Maverick pulled up his gun, beginning to scan the area with keen green eyes, looking for anything he may have needed to shoot if it got too close and dangerous.
He began to feel the ground rumble beneath him, birds beginning to fly off in all directions. A small form ran past him, looking to be some sort of a child, and that was when he spotted gigantic rhino-like beasts, roaring as they ran right towards him. Maverick dropped his gun and began to run, their horns reminded him a great deal of a triceratops, the way two extended from their foreheads menacingly, along with two large horns coming from the ridges of their noses.
They were smashing down everything in their paths, trees tumbling to the ground, large dead trunks being smashed under their mighty powerful feet. They let out the strangest noise as they continued their stampede, he could only relate it to a mix between a elephant and a jaguar. He didn't look back, looking back was never the best thing to do. He kept his eyes straight.
It was then that Maverick noticed the small child-like being that had bounded past him before the giant threats began pounding their way through, showing no sign of stopping. He picked up his pace, picking up the small child that seemed to have troubles trying to run, holding him close before they slipped down a hill, the large beasts stopping in their tracks and letting out a loud howling like cry.
Maverick held the child close to him as they rolled down the steep hill, he felt and heard a lot of his gear coming off of him and possibly breaking, like his walkie-talkie and his radio.
The rolling seemed to never stop, breaking through branches and small bushes that had made their homes in the side of the hill. He was relieved when it finally did stop, rolling onto his back so he wasn't crushing the child. He felt the grip, arms held tight onto his uniform, their face buried in his chest.
"Hey, kiddo, you okay?" Maverick whispered, sitting up. The child looked about three feet tall, give or take a few inches. Not to mention the skin on the kid was... interesting.
Slowly, the child looked up at him, and Maverick almost freaked out. The mandibles, the eyes... It was a Yautja. He'd never seen a child one of them before, but... It looked so innocent, the tiny little tusks that weren't even sharp that sprouted from it's... His little mandibles, the tiny little teeth that looked to only begin to come in that reminded him of baby kitten's.
He was actually kind of cute, totally unlike the ruthless killers he had learned about when he joined the marines.