Location: Appalachian Mountain Ridge, Former State of Virginia
Jackson woke with a start, he groaned. He must have fallen asleep, even with the fast speed of the helicopters, the trip was still a few hours long, speaking of which.
"How far are we away from 492?" Jackson said groggily, it would take him a minute or two to fully wake up.
"Estimated five minutes, we are going to land a mile away from the site, we do not wish to alert any bugs to it" A soldier said in a professional tone.
"Damn it" Jackson whispered to himself. He understood the necessity of not luring bugs to the site as they explored it, but the prospect of hiking a mile wasn't that appealing. He was old for fucks sake.
"We have brought you a powered exoskeleton to assist you in the journey" Another soldier said, likely hearing Jackson's whisper.
"Good, that's.. good"Jackson said, still waking himself up.
The five minutes came and went, the pilot voiced over the intercom that she was looking for a suitable landing place. The aircraft went on for a few minutes more, then Jackson could hear the sound of the landing gears extending, and a thump as the craft touched the ground.
The expedition members got up from their seats, two of the regulars retrieving the exoskeleton for Jackson. Jackson had to be helped into it, the regulars strapped his limbs and torso to it.
Jackson gave the exoskeleton a few test movements, like a step to and the right and left, and rolling his arms in circles. Satisfied with it, Jackson and ten regulars stepped out of the monarch, the regulars were vigilant for whatever bug thing might try to sneak up on them.
This part of the mountain range was still forested, the mountains keeping the ravages of the bombings at bay. It was rather beautiful, certainly much more pleasant to look at than the grey wasteland that lay outside their bunker. The awoken regulars regularly patrolled the surface of their Bunker, making sure that no threats coming from above would go unnoticed. However it took a toll on them. Seeing it everyday gave them a constant reminder of the war, and it contrasted greatly from the greenery of their earlier life. In war, you at least knew that it would end one way or another eventually, but this may very well last them their life times.
So, the Virginian mountain forestry really did perk up the four regulars that were pulled from their surface patrol for the expedition. However the comparatively idyllic scenery was hampered by the fact that a hostile bug could be hiding behind any of the bushes. The expedition team could not afford to appreciate the scenery, not when it may be hiding those that would wish them harm.
Four regulars were left to guard the helicopter, the other six would accompany Jackson to the Black Site. The four regulars assigned to guard made a perimeter around the monarch, cursing that their thermal sights wouldn't be able to pick up on any cold blooded bugs.
Jackson and his six guards hiked down the range on their way to Black Site 492. Jackson marveled at how much easier the exoskeleton made hiking, he had never worn one before, he wasn't a soldier.
While the regulars were not able to fully appreciate the scenery, Jackson was. It was a nice change of pace from being cooped up in his lab all day. Though, considering how well preserved this place is, Jackson wondered why a Bunker was never built here. He came to the conclusion that the government didn't want to compromise the location of 492, which, to be fair, there were plenty of other places to build bunkers on the Appalachian Mountain Range.
Suddenly, bugs of varying sizes jumped out of the trees and bushes, carrying bolas and nets. They charged the group as fast as their legs could carry them, unfortunately for them, the regulars were ready. Pieces of metal going at mach 9 pierced the bugs shell, and any bug that was unfortunate enough to be behind them. The regulars' superhuman agility and reaction speeds, along with their helmet's targeting system allowed them to make short work of the attackers.
All that was left of them were piles of steaming mush, aling with bits and pieces scattered every which way around the site of conflict. Impact craters from the faster than sound projectiles littered the area, along with a few trees with chunks taken out of them from grazing hits.
"Sir, look at their weapons," one of the soldiers said.
Jackson noticed that they were all using weapons made to capture and subdue. They were trying to capture them.
"Why were they trying to capture us?" Jackson thought allowed.
"I do not know sir" The soldier responded.
"How many were there?"
The regulars talked among themselves for a moment, "at least 17, sir"
Jackson was a bit shaken up by the incident, but not by much. The regulars handled themselves as well as he expected them to. However he couldn't shake the feeling that every tree might be holding another group of bugs. He wasn't afraid, not after how badly they failed against the regulars, he just felt a bit… uneasy.
A figure clad in white robes, and a mostly featureless mask, save for the eye holes looked down into the valley below her. "That's odd" she thought to herself, she was going on one of her daily hikes, and she did not expect to see some jet black contract. It was not there yesterday, there were four black clad figures standing around it. She couldn't get a good look at them from this distance, and her curiosity got the better of her as usual.
She tapped into her magic to float her way down, into the valley, robes flapping majestically as she did so. Never losing sight of the black construct and those standing around it.
The regulars guarded the monarch helicopter dutifully. Their heads swiveling up, down, left, and right like they were security cameras. Bordly, one of them flicked on their thermal sights, just to see if she could catch anything. To her surprise, she did.
"Somethings approaching us" The regular announced.
"From where?" One of her compatriotes asked.
"Look over there, and flick on your thermal sights"
Sure enough, there was a heat signature approaching them. They readed themselves for possible confrontation.
They did not expect a young woman to appear out of the trees, her hair was white as snow, and her robes matched. On her face was an expressionless mask.
"Halt!" One of the regulars yelled.
The women stopped abruptly.
"That is no way to talk to the nobility of Whitenest, you uncivilized humans" The women said condescendingly. She could tell they were human at this distance, though their features were hidden by their strange outfits. There were very few bugs that got even close to that height, and none of them had feet.
"Whitenest?" The regulars asked.
"The most wondrous domain of our most dignified White Queen" The woman said, in a prideful tone.
"Humans are but servants of the higher beings, you entering her lands, mean you pledge to serve her"
The regulars looked at each other, then back at the woman.
"Ma'am, you hold no authority over us"
"Hmm, for uncivilized humans, you are strangely articulate" The woman said, this fact caused her to ponder for a moment. Between the matching uniforms, articulation, and construct they were apparently guarding, perhaps these humans were already in the service of some other higher being?
"Hmm, tell me, who do you serve?" The woman asked.
"That's classified" The regulars responded in a monotone voice.
"What self respecting higher being sends four of its humans into another's lands, and doesn't even have the respect to let those lands know who sent you? What's that construct behind you, some kind of blasphemous shrine?!" The woman said, anger bubbling in her voice, maybe this higher being wouldn't mind her most dignified queen…. Repatriating these humans if they were so thoughtless with them.
"Ma'am, this is not a shrine, please back away from this area"
"I will not be bullied by some heathen-" The woman was cut off by a warning shot flying over her head.
"Back. Off. Now." The regulars demanded, the woman took a step back, and then another.
She was unsure if she could fight these uncivilized humans and win. It was clear they were not civilized, they did not speak of a monarch at all, much less with reverence. They were just strangely well organized, and strangely tall, even by human standards.
She contemplated incapacitating them with her magic, but decided against it. One wrong step, and she would be dead by whatever they just threatened her with, no, no she needed reinforcements.
The woman ran back into the forest, she had something she needed to tell her most dignified queen.