ISLA NUBLAR
120 MILES OFF THE COAST OF COSTA RICA
11:35pm
"Green light on Operation Egg Thief. I repeat, Egg Thief is a go."
A mile off the coast of Isla Nublar, a platoon of small ships drifted on the choppy waters, the men on board nervously waiting with baited breath. No lights marked them from the skies above, and the thick fog and cloud cover meant that the darkened boats were all but invisible. When the call came through, sonar and infra-red devices were powered up, armoured trucks and all-terrain Jeeps moved towards ramps, rifles and steel-wire nets underwent final checks, and the ships' engines cycled towards cruising speed, carving through the waves towards Isla Nublar.
Operation Egg Thief had been in the pipes for years, and had been the brain baby of BioSyn Director Eric Van Pelt. It would be the second attempt to seize InGen's research on Dinosaur DNA and Breeding, the first being the catastrophic failure undertaken by Lewis Dodgson and Dennis Nedry, which resulted in the Isla Nublar Incident in late 1993. The idea, while being well thought out and cunningly hatched, had failed to factor in the immense storm which hit the Island shortly after Nedry disabled the security fences. Not to mention the hunger of a crafty Dilophosaurus. But now, the time was ripe for a second try, and BioSyn had, in the words of former InGen CEO John Hammond, "spared no expense".
If any were on the shores and docks of Isla Nublar that night, they would have thought a small-scale military operation was underway. The boats hit the shoreline, ramps were lowered, and vehicles moved out onto the grainy sands with military precision. Guided by infra-red technology and sonar alone, the teams of mercenaries were able to land on the island without throwing up red flags to the men and women of the Coast Guard whose duty it was to ensure that no trespassers arrived.
Two low-flying light helicopters almost skimmed the tops of the trees as they moved towards the island's heart, headed for the long abandoned Visitor's Centre, laden with a group of men and women, intent upon breaking into the laboratory and obtaining InGen's priceless research files. Of course, after 19 years, the Visitor's Centre was little more than a dilapidated shack, surrounded by the rusting corpses of various vehicles and empty cages. The choppers descended rapidly, the dust and debris surrounding the impromptu LZ billowing into the fog, and 10 rifle-toting figures leaped from the doorway, moving in formation towards the building.
As the helicopter moved away, the team ascended the steps, the sounds of the sauropod herds drifting through the mist as the whirring blades of the chopper receded into silence. The once beautifully designed building was now a sodden and broken down wreck, and they entered through the near collapsed doorway and into the dusty darkness.
While the infiltration team stormed the labs, skilled mercenaries went about caging and tagging several live specimens. Using highly concentrated and juiced up elephant tranquilisers, the poachers nabbed a pair of hulking Stegosaurus, a family of Parasaurolophus, a mighty Brachiosaurus, and many others. The dinosaurs were loaded into immense cages, and dragged away to the docks for shipping.
It wasn't all smooth sailing in calm waters, though. As the infiltration team reached the labs, the island began to fight back. A clan of cunning Velociraptors had made the Centre their home, and didn't take too kindly to gun-toting bipeds entering their domain. The rear-guard of the team was the first victim, taken out as he passed an open doorway, dragged into the darkness when one of the Raptors seized him by the throat and crushed his neck with it's powerful jaws. Before long, the team realised they were down a man, and doubled back. They walked straight into a trap.
Entering the former cafeteria, they spied the silhouette of one of the Raptors behind a dusty partition, and they raised their weapons, moving towards it. A ravenous shriek boomed through the room, and the rest of the family leaped from the shadows, tearing at the mercenaries with savage talons and claws. Taken by complete surprise, two of the soldiers were torn to ribbons at once, their screams echoing throughout the Centre while their flesh was still being torn from their bones. As the man fell to the ground, his body went into nervous convulsions, and his fingers tightened around the trigger. Two small darts zipped through the air, driving into the thick scaly skin of the Raptor, flooding it's bloodstream with tranquiliser poison, and the reptile staggered into the partition, slipping into unconsciousness. The remaining carnivores rallied, using their incredible strength and speed to rip apart another of the mercenaries, the man's arm being torn from the socket, his eyes gouged out by the scythe-like claws of the Raptors. Yet, despite the cunningly hatched ambush, the 10 on 4 numbers gave the soldiers the advantage, and, armed with their powerful sedatives, were able to bring down the remaining monsters in a short but bloody fight.
The now 4-strong team reached the labs, and after locating the back up generator, began compiling what they could of InGen's research. It was tedious work, as the 19 year old computers were mostly too damaged to operate properly, and those that did were frustratingly slow. The cryo-labs were largely untouched, yet while none of the samples of Dinosaur DNA would be much use in creating the creatures, they would prove invaluable to speeding up the process. Taking everything they could find, the teams moved out of the labs and back into the open air, signalling to the helicopters for an evac.
While all this was going on, secondary teams invaded Isla Sorna, the infamous "Site B", where the San Diego Incident began. As with Isla Nublar, they were there to capture as many live specimens as they could, as well as dig up any and all research from the InGen facilities scattered across the island. In the early hours of the morning, shortly before sunrise, the last of the transports were loaded onto the ships, the teams (those who hadn't been eaten or crushed by stampeding herds) were evacuated, and a course was set for the temporary HQ, located on an island a further 30 miles out to sea from the Las Sinco Muertes. But, they never made it that far.
As the first grey light of dawn filtered over the horizon, a temporary power shortage disabled the locking mechanisms on the gates of the cages. The slowly waking Raptors were the first to break free, cautiously nudging the steel doors open and skulking out in search of food. Craftily, the intelligent bird-like reptiles swept through the ship, taking down any unwary mercenaries in their path, their throaty calls piping through the corridors. By the time the power outage was noticed, it was too late.
With a deafening roar, the colossal Tyrannosaurus Rex burst free from it's holdings, inciting a miniature stampede from the herbivorous reptiles who wished to not become a meal for the Rex. The resulting chaos ripped through the vessel, and the entire crew were either devoured or crushed by the frenzied dinosaurs.
With no one at the helm, the ship continued plowing through the waves, veering off course. The confused helmsman of another ship in the small fleet scooped up his radio transmitter, furrowing his brow as he tried to raise the crew from the neighbouring boat. When no answer came, he feared the worst.
Without realising it, the ship was sailing steadily for a nearby island. One that was populated, and a regular vacation spot. Being so close to Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar, numerous peoples came every year, hoping to catch a glimpse of a Pterodactyl circling over the neighbouring islands, or perhaps find some form of wreckage washed up from the incidences in the early 90's and 2001. Little did they know, that the visitors to Isla Bosque were about to get right up close and personal with the residents of Jurassic Park.
BioSyn HQ
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA
10:10am
The lavish BioSyn Boardroom was packed to the rafters. The handsome oak-panelled room had a sense of quiet excitement about it, and the Board of Directors (along with the Major Shareholders and sponsors) waited for Eric Van Pelt to begin his presentation.
Van Pelt was in his early 50's, dressed in an impeccable grey suit, his salt and pepper hair combed to perfection as always. He stood to one side of the room, lightly polishing his black square-frame spectacles, mentally preparing himself for the speech he was about to present. He'd had a late night, listening to the reports from Operation Egg Thief, and when his head finally hit the pillow at 2am, he'd gone to sleep believing that all was well.
Clearing his throat, he stepped up to the head of the room, a section of wall behind him sliding away to reveal a large screen, the BioSyn logo rotating slowly on it. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board. Shareholders." he began, pulling a small remote from his pocket. "I've called you all here today so that I may unveil a new project, which will take BioSyn back to the top of the Genetics World.
"As you all know, rival company InGen took the world by storm 19 years ago when they successfully recreated the Dinosaurs." Van Pelt clicked the remote, and the slideshow began, starting with an image of the towering Jurassic Park gates. "Of course, John Hammond's dream was too grand, and after the Isla Nublar disaster, InGen ceased their study of Dinosaur Genetics." More images flicked across the screen as he spoke; A landscape view of the Nublar Laboratory, aerial shots of Dinosaur herds on Isla Sorna. "We believe, however, that the time is ripe for a second try. Technological advances mean that such an undertaking has a far greater chance of success than it did in the late 1980's, and, if we learn from the mistakes of John Hammond and InGen, we can make this project a complete success."
A woman near the front of the room raised a hand tentatively. "I believe the San Diego incident speaks loudly enough." She said, casting an eye across the rest of the room. "Trying to breed these things is playing with fire. I think the best course of action is to put this idea behind us, and leave the Dinosaurs where they belong; In the history books."
A small murmur of assent rippled around the room at this, but Van Pelt didn't miss a step. "You make an excellent point. But, even compared to 10 years ago, when the San Diego incident occurred, we are far higher up the technology tree than before. We have the potential to install more safeguards than InGen did when they first sat down at the drawing board. We have live specimens on Isla Sorna waiting to be examined. We have better facilities and security measures. We..."
At that moment, the door to the boardroom was flung open, and a suited man strode up to Van Pelt, muttering something into his ear. The Director visibly blanched, his eyebrows contracting, eyes narrowing, as he seemed to whisper a question back. The messenger simply shook his head.
"I'm terribly sorry, Ladies and Gentlemen." Van Pelt turned back to the gathered members in the Boardroom, taking in their confused and expectant faces. He turned the news over in his mind, feeling as though a block of ice had slipped down into his stomach. "There's something I need to take care of."
ISLA BOSQUE
70 MILES NORTH OF ISLA SORNA
12:45pm
The response to the grounding of the Container ship "Paramount" was timely and efficient. Eric Van Pelt got straight on the line to the Coast Guard, giving them an anonymous tip off that a ship had washed ashore on Isla Bosque, and that it seemed to have come from Las Sinco Muertes. He looked back on his decision to remove BioSyn's insignia from the vehicles and crews with considerable chagrin; With any luck, they could seal off the area and pass off the whole ordeal as poachers and smugglers with no ties to BioSyn. Van Pelt was an expert at covering his tracks.
Within 4 hours of the Paramount running aground, the Coast Guard had liaised with the Costa Rican and US Governments, and the island was quarantined until teams could move in and assess the situation. This meant that the holiday-goers and regular habitants of Isla Bosque (and it's central township of San Cristóbal) would need to wait until the collective governments gave the all clear to bring the boats in from the mainland.
Luckily, San Cristóbal was the only permanent settlement on the island, and the Paramount had hit the shoreline some 10-15 miles away on the other side. The centre of Isla Bosque was a rugged, mountainous forest, which meant that the visitors rarely ventured far from San Cristóbal and it's beaches. Because of this, most of the tourists were reached shortly after lunch time and informed to remain in the town itself. Of course, not everyone had been there. A handful of the more eager tourists had gone hiking into the mountains earlier that morning, and therefore had no idea of the perils that lay ahead.
By 1:00 in the afternoon, the US Army arrived on the beach beside the stricken ship, and a sizable hole had been torn through its starboard side. A multitude of tracks swarmed the sands, leading away from the Paramount and towards the forest, but no other sign of the escaped Dinosaurs remained.
The man leading the operation was Sgt. Vince Ryan, a 12 year veteran in the Military. Standing at the edge of the forest, the short, broadset man removed his cap, running a calloused hand across his closely cropped hair. If he'd taken on any mission more bizarre than this one, he couldn't remember it. He was used to war zones, with human enemies. Not long extinct lizards, existing in a world that had all but forgotten them. Replacing his cap, he unclipped a 2-way radio from his belt, took a breath, and pressed the send button. "Bravo, this is Ryan. I want everyone working double time, get a temp HQ set up. Hourly fly overs. Sentry posts every 300 feet." he ordered briskly in his deep, gravelly tones.
"Copy, Sergeant." came the reply. "Landing teams are already putting camp together. Secondary crews are inbound. Anything else, sir?"
"Yeah." Ryan hocked and spat to the side, casting one final glance through the trees. "I need the satellite phones hooked up. Get me on the line to InGen." Without waiting for acknowledgement, Ryan turned on his heel, marching back towards the arriving teams. "Fuckin' dinosaurs." he growled in annoyance. "I'm too old for this shit."