Chapter 21
Sometime ago...
This could be considered a reenactment of D-Day if there was a few dozen more of ships and hundreds to thousands of people storming the beach.
But instead, it was more like being dumped on a remote beach. Except it was exactly that.
Isla Pena was a bit different compared to Sorna and Nublar; the beaches were a bit shorter but less rocky in comparison and had a massive clearing of grass that circle the entire south side of the island for 3 miles in land before hitting dense forest. The group was lucky to land here. It was about 20 feet above sea level up a hill, the ground was mostly dry with a few swamp and sand spots. The camp itself was a hundred yards away and was set up as a semicircle with 3 yards. The main storage and supply tents were the the first line that was surrounded by all the vehicles. The second layer housed everyone with some of the tents housing up to 5 people. And then the last row held all their weapon, since their was practically no dinosaurs on the island all that was here was just basic animals on the 3 islands Ingen didn't own at first, the medical tents and a much larger tent for equipment repairs
All in all, to Owen it looked a lot like a slapped together military training camp. Minus a few important things to make it more accurate but nevertheless, a military camp.
But what had driven him to the point of screwing all the planning and going to Nublar himself was some important matters; first on getting there. The main ship would stay beached until everything was situated in Jurassic World before it got moved to the port. There was helicopters, only because of the Coast Guard frequently checking up on them from another ship. The boats they had were like any tactical craft a military would. Mostly black with enough space for roughly 10 or more people. He couldn't take his bike over or under water, he had brought it when he could get the chance to explore the island again. He had no idea what the condition of his bungalow was in right now and he prayed that or was okay. And with that the chance to find Blue. Just being over a hour distance away was chewing at him to reach and search for her.
But Lieutenant Coriss had explained, numerous times in fact, to Mr. Grady that they will soon. But that they have to make sure that everything and everyone is ready. Saying that they were refining the plan to be as flawless as possible. This further made him frustrated. He felt that Coriss was honestly getting ready to stage an invasion as if it was a war against everything on Nublar.
In the command tent, Coriss was finalizing the plan with the 6 others that will lead groups, "So, let's go over it again, just to make sure everyone has it hard wired into their minds." Taking out a marker he started making a small line of where the groups would be coming from.
"We'll let Mark and his group circle the coast around the main fairy and docking area." he drew a line straight up the buildings and made a semi circle around the area. "Jackson will follow behind and dock to clear out any possible threats and secure any assets wondering the perimeter of the main building."
He then drew another line that completely bypassed the docks, moving further up the east side of the island."Bruce, you, Johnson and Stan will take the river cutting through the edge of the herbivore padlock and make your way up to the command center. Radio in if you have gotten an asset, tag it and move on. Check in once you reach there. "
"Me and Peter will follow behind Mark and Jackson with the Striker and we'll make our way up through the resort. Now go inform your groups." With a salute the 6 filed out of the tent to notify their respective people. Owen on the other hand, who had been standing outside listening in, decided now was the time to move in. Walking around the corner just as the others were leaving he slipped in front of the door flap.
"Lieutenant?"
The man looked up to see him standing at the door. "Mr. Grady."
He frowned a little, "Just Owen please. Why does everyone not get that-" "What do you need Mr. Grady?"
Owen could feel that Coriss was on the same, if not climbing up to, the same level that the higher ups were who put Hoskins onto his project. "I'm just curious as to how we plan on dealing with any assets we get. Not all of them can fit on the boat."
"Any young we get will go first. They're a higher priority than the much older. Once we communications on the island back up to a decent level we'll contact the main land and bring in a bigger cargo ship."
Owen nodded with a 'huh'. Just feeling in the back of his head that something wasn't as it seemed. If he knew anything Ingen had done, from opening the park in the first place to creating that hybrid, it was that they always had another agenda to focus on.
That Night… (it's the same where we last saw Blue and Alex)
This was it, the operation was to go into full swing. And on the third boat of the River Squad, Owen sat up against the side of the craft as he both watch Isla Pena shrink and Isla Nublar grow. The boat he was in had at least 11 other armed men with on standing at the head of the boat hanging onto a MG-M1N machine gun. All the boats had them just incase they ran into anything that a plethora of AR 15 A2 assault rifle couldn't handle. Owen had to say, he was impressed that Ingen would be going in with this level of force to collect assets safely back.
But from what he remembered years ago, it was a vast improvement over what the ACU were using, even the M134 Minigun that Simon Masrani tried using against the Indominus was what he thought would of been the only practical gun they had at the time to deal with this kind of situation.
Glancing at his watch, he could see that time was just 20 after 1. It took them nearly an hour itself to cross the gap between islands. Once they reached the waters around Nublar, they started splitting up in their groups. Traveling up the tour boat river at night was to say, unsettling, as even after the years he spent here, being in the jungle at night would always make someone's nerves be put on high alert that in the next second they were about to become a meal.
Breaking the silence of nature and the motor running, "Squad One to Squad Four, how you holding up?" Bruce reached up to his shoulder cupping the radio, "Squad Four, we're about 2 miles of target location,over."
"Copy that. We are nearing the ports now. Maintain silence until the objective is secured."
"Roger aye,sir."
On instinct Owen's eyes rolled in their sockets. But as he focused back to the river before him, them coming into a steady bend, something caught his, and just about everyone else's attention in rapid succession.
"Is that smoke?" One guy asked incase he was seeing things.
It would be hard to see smoke at night, but with it so clear with the stars out and the moonlight it wasn't hard to see the dark cloud rising from the trees. Every man on the boats all turned to their comrades in thinking what the source was. There wouldn't be anymore left on the island; not after the whole place was evacuated. Anyone who must've been shipwrecked here had a chance to survive due to civilization being present but decaying. Or one of the buildings had electricity still running through it and the aged wires finally broke. Thought the last option seemed unlikely since by now nature would've destroyed the power station.
Continuing through the bend the groups all watched the pillar of smoke; noticing how close it will come to their position they might be capable of getting a better idea of what it is. But before they could get closer, the boat suddenly jerked to the left as the shore came closer.
"What's going on?" One guy asked looking back at Bruce.
"We're gonna take a look. There might be people stranded here."
Pulling up to the shore he made sure to avoid any large rock that could punch a hole through the boat. Drifting up a small beach that had the ground just barely slope into the water. Once the rough shaking of hitting ground was felt by all, they all swiftly started to stand and jump out. Grabbing their gear each of the 11 men quickly held up their rifles and scanned the tree line. Dropping their night vision and thermal goggles from their hats as the vegetation changed to either a night green or a mix of blues, yellows, reds, and white.
Owen followed closely behind chambering a round into his rifle. He didn't have anything like the others, just his rifle, a belt with a hand cannon, two pouches of ammo and a 7 inch long blade to defend himself with. He wasn't playing on staying with the others. His first idea was to get to his bungalow and set up there. He had tools, maybe some food, his bike and a few other things that would help him track down Blue. But first things first, he had to get away from the group as possible.
Just as Bruce's boots hit the ground, the others all lowered their weapons. "Stay within arms length of each other. Keep someone within eyesight any maintain silence." With a round of yes sirs, the group marched forward into the bush. Careful to stay within line of pairs and maintain silence. As to hopefully not cause anything to realize they were there.
Slowing his pace just enough so that he still stayed with the formation, Owen, despite the dark, began looking around for anything that he could use as a distraction. Careful to avoid anyone that might take a glance behind them. Searching the small length of dirt they took as a measly pathway to the fire, Owen was glancing at the trees just within arms length when he felt his boot suddenly sink into the ground and wedge up against something. With a 'omf' he quickly corrected himself before having his face planted into the dirt.
"You alright back there?" Bruce called but not turning back nor stopping.
Unhooking his foot from the hole, Owen took a look over the peice of wood before him. "Yeah, I'm good."
Taking the stick he quickly turned towards the forest and with all his might and skill, through the large branch at the treeline. At first it was a bit higher than he wanted it to be. But after hitting passed a few small branches it made a strong hit with a much bigger but dead limb.
CRACK!
"To the right!" someone half whispered/shouted. Quickly everyone took aim in the direction the loud crash had come from. Taking what could be his only chance, Owen quickly spun on his heel and dashed into the dense jungle. Making sure to avoid making any unneeded noise and to avoid the tracking equipment. Keeping his rifle tightly in hand as he quickly leaped across a fallen log. Nearly falling over into the dirt as he corrected himself. He figured he should investigate the park, seeing if there was any sign of literally anything; he had to stay out of sight of anyone until he could reach his house before planning his next move.
Back with the group the 11 men had dismissed the loud noise as just old branches falling off of trees. The trek to the apparent fire was quickly becoming short yet exhausting. They had only gotten 500 yards in around 20 minutes. Many of the men voiced outwardly about having to be dropped off so far away when the river would take them closer. Bruce's answer, they had the potential of tagging any assets they came across to be tracked and later taken back to the resort.
After taking another glance at the sky, they assumed they were at least a hundred yards away from the source of the fire. They had pulled back again towards the river but continued to stay in the brush. Man Number 3 was looking all around the place looking for anything his thermal might catch on. Once they hit a thick shrub line that acted as a wall between the river's edge and the forest, his attention was caught ahead of him when a small hot mass started to show briefly through the plant life. It wasn't the fire, too small and not hot enough.
"Sir!" One many called out a bit louder than a whisper. "I have a heat sig, near the river bank." He pointed forward to the brush wall. The others quickly focusing in the same direction as they raised their weapons.
"What do you see?" Another called out.
"It looks like… a man laying on the ground." His voice was filled with disbelief. Some men muttered to themselves how it was possible someone can still be here.
"Is he alive?" Bruce asked. Prepared to go into rescue mode if a civilian was still trapped here.
"I… can't tell, sir. Their heat is showing up normal. It's more like he's just laying there like on would on a hill."
This greatly confused everyone. Not that there was a man on the island, only that he seemed alive and was relaxing by the river in the middle of the night.
Then the rustling of bushes made them all flinch back and raise their weapons. The sound of twigs breaking and branches being whacked all told them something was coming. Around 30 yards away from the group, those with thermal could see what it was.
"Sir, I think it's one of the assets."
"How can you tell?"
"Switch to thermal." Doing as said all of them switched their modes. Each display giving them a clear view of what it was. The long tail and neck with a long snout, short claws at its chest, thick thighs that narrowed down to sharp claws. It's stance st how it was peering through the bushes.
They knew what it was, a velociraptor. A big one.
They knew there was a raptor program in the park. Owen even kept saying about how he hoped that his girl Blue was still alive. But they couldn't tell if it was Grady's raptor. Thermal only gave the temperature that was in front of the sensor.
Turning to the raptor expert himself, Bruce whispered out. "Grady, are you able to see what it is?"
There was no response, "Grady?"
Looking around Bruce tried to find the caretaker, only that their group of 12 was now down to 11. He knew what Owen had did, he heard him say it several times about going to find his raptor alone. He didn't know how Grady was able to move so fast without even being seen. He was in front of Bruce and at least 5 others when marching through the forest.
He made a side note to punish the man later. His focus and everyone else's was now onto the raptor that had broken through the shrub and headed straight towards the man. "Switch to lethals. The moment you have the civilian away from the asset, take the shot."
High on top of the command center overlooking the resort, 3 figures stood tall in the moon like that perfectly reflected off the ocean waves.
Rexy stood with a blank and yet focused face. Her aged eyes aimed in the same direction as Isla Pena was. For the days if their sighting she got daily reports from Flyers willing to investigate on the mass of humans coming close to their island. At first she had hoped that it was just another vessel sailing by to avoid the dangers this land held. But from the night reports of the ship stationed on the third island with humans setting up camp had confirmed a growing fear in her.
To her left was Track's, in his hand was a hot wired radio with a RC car battery tied to the back with balloon and fishing string with a broken metal hanger bent down into the battery port. He too had his fear confirmed that the humans were gonna come here. And because of the looming danger decided to act the Shadow Hunt. It involved all young and elderly to take supplies with them into the thicker parts of the forest while anyone capable of fighting hid amongst the areas surrounding the park in their natural form. The evacuation of the part was already in full swing, as a small line of Chinese style lanterns were carried at the end of sticks, pipes or even in the grasp of tails to light the way. Tracks had been keeping a heavy eye from his point, radioing in for progress at both ends of the path.
The third figure that stood with them was a three horn in her human form. Her hide was a almost deep purplish green color with lines of lighter gray traveling up her legs/arms, tail and around her frill. Her one horn, her nose horn, as the other two were both missing and heavily cracked to the point that half broke off, was big enough to make males of her species look at theirs and think how they could get that big. But unlike the other two, she was dressed in a ACU uniform with chest padding that was bending from her bust and armour covering her upper arms and thighs.
This beautiful and yet deadly three horn was known as Athena. Named after the greek god of war that she felt was the perfect fit for her. She was the head of the guard force that made up of the strongest that walked the island to protect it. Similar to a royal guard. She had proven her colors in practice under the watch of both Rexy and Alex, and was now putting them to work.
"Is everyone ready?" the anthro Trex asked glancing over her shoulder.
Athena nodded, "Those who are more skilled in stalking out are being armed with any weapons humans left her. And we've tested the idea that Tracks had about the body armour on Naturals."
Tracks himself looked up at the mention of his idea, "And how did it go?"
"I don't know what you did. But the armour now covers most of their necks, bodies, and about half their legs and tails. So it should work as long as they're not shot constantly in the same spot."
Silently smiling at the idea of a massive 60 foot tall person just standing still while the humans wasted their ammo, only to be wiped away by their tail, it was a sight she couldn't help but grin at the idea of the invaders thinking they were just brainless animals this time.
"What about the Indominus?"
A sigh escaped through her nostrils, "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean having Indy sent out first," Athena continued, "From what happened two years ago, nothing the humans had could even stop. The sight of her alone should scare them dead."
Rexy nodded, "Be as that might, Alex had told me that the way humans operate would go of two ways; they repeatedly come here, increasing their number and strength. Or as he called it 'the big guns' they would bring everything at once to get it done faster. From what the reports have said it is the former right now. Boomer said when he saw the shipped they were heavily armed with a new vehicle with a large gun sticking out. From what Alex told me it is referred to as a 'Tank'. Indy will be our last resort when the time comes."
"But what about Alex?" Tracks asked with concern of his friend, "If the humans find him there is no telling what they'll do."
"And that is why I have assigned the 4 fastest beings on this spit of rock to protect him. Indy further adds a new level in protection."
Tracks hesitated to speak after. She was right, The Girls were already highly protective of Alex there's no way they would allow harm to be brought down upon him. And Indy, well it was just common sense that she could destroy anything in her path.
"I only hope that they and trouble don't meet each other."
The Plot Thickens
Sorry about the wait, this last month has been a drag in trying to get inspiration to write. With school starting in less than a week things are bound to be chaotic.
