Back in the past, the team was eagerly following the footprints, hoping to find the animal they were after. Caution was still applied, though - there was no telling what kind of predators they would encounter here. Though Tyrannosaurus had yet to stalk these plains, smaller tyrannosaurs, such as Teratophoneus, were still a danger.
"So, you think these tracks will lead us to our centrosaur?" Wondered Elise.
"Doubtful," replied Sean. "Ceratopsians are usually rather social animals, but there is only a single set of tracks here. And the footprints aren't quite like the ones Theo and his kin leave in the mud at the park, so this probably isn't a lone bull. Odds are, it's probably an ankylosaur. Best guess is Aletopelta, since that one lived in California around this time."
"Good to know," intoned Marcus. He had joined the rest of Tristan's friends in a discussion over how many animals the park could hold - it seemed practically infinite. The younger Saurus siblings had also joined the discussion, effectively putting the entire team into one discussion or another.
The entire team...but for one.
Tristan was the oddity here - he was the only one not locked in conversation with his friends and siblings. Rather, he was lost in thought over the current rescue. This was his chance to prove himself as a leader, so he needed to make sure things went...well, perfect was probably impossible, but very well was more reasonable, and his goal. Which meant that he needed to be sure that no one suffered major injuries or sickness, none of the rescues got too banged up, and in general, nothing went horribly wrong.
That wouldn't be easy, no doubt, but how hard could that be?
A sudden bellow brought everyone's focus back to the footprints, which came to a halt up ahead - and not because they had been washed away. No, they halted because approximately fifty meters ahead of the team, an ankylosaur was burying its head in the ground and slurping something up.
Wordlessly, the team began to circle around the herbivore, and found that it was standing on the edge of a small pond - one that had evidently been drying out for some time. Now, it was barely enough for just one of the humans to fully submerge themselves in, though still enough for the club tail to sate its thirst. Nearby, more of its kind rested in the foraged on some bushes, where they were joined by a group of nodosaurs, creatures that were now growing rare in the Americas. These ones, however, seemed to be doing perfectly fine.
Tai looked at the blade tailed ankylosaurs for a moment, before turning to his brother. "Invictarx?"
Tristan merely nodded in agreement.
For a moment, the team did nothing. Then, cautiously, Alice began to remove her pack and started pulling out fresh leafy greens - the right bait would make this rescue all the easier.
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Back at the park, Michelle was on the outskirts of the Dryptosaurus enclosure. Nearby, her attempt at taking was staring her down, wondering just what the human was going to do now.
Michelle responded by pulling the goat out of the jeep and offering it to the tyrannosaur. Carefully, she began to push it through the fence posts, hoping the meal would soften the tyrannosaur's opinion toward her.
Before she could finish, though, a high pitched squeal filled the air. And in the time it took Michelle to process what had made that sound, a wild boar had burst from the underbrush of the Dryptosaur exhibit, slammed its tusks into the female's right foot, and snatched up the goat. It did not get to enjoy its success, though, for the tyrant dinosaur's left arm managed to hook the would-be kleptoparasite, tipping it over. Before it could recover, the female predator grab the mammal's snout in her jaws and twisted. A snapping noise followed, and the herbivore went limp. The tyrant let out a victory growl, before limping over to Michelle to attempt another threat display.
The limp made said display less effective than required.
After getting over the shock, Michelle let out a sigh, before preparing to call up Suzanne. Just how many boars lived on this island?
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Some distance away, Nigel was examining another of the park's residents. THese ones looked quite a bit like hippos, and were in fact sharing the same range as the park's hippos, but they were a different breed of herbivores entirely.
"These are anthracotheres," noted Nigel, who was positively giddy as one of the beasts quite literally ate out of his hand. "They first appeared in the Eocene Asia, before spreading to Africa and North America. I really wasn't expecting to see these creatures when we went back into the Miocene, but I'm not complaining - they were pretty much on the verge of extinction when we rescued them, and they've made excellent additions to the park.
Nearby, a trailer was being hauled toward the holding pens, with Michelle riding shotgun on the car pulling it. Suzanne had not needed long to treat the injury, but to avoid leaving her a target, the head vet had requested the female tyrannosaur stay in a holding pen for at least a few hours to get used to her cast.
A herd of Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus briefly observed this, before returning to feeding. One of them, in particular, was enjoying the seeds Bob was offering.
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Back in the past, the team had hit a road block.
"Come here, you giant organic tanks," cooed Lucas (somehow) ," we've got fresh food!"
The armored dinosaurs looked at the plants in his hands for a moment, but did not budge.
"We have squash!" offered Alice, holding one such fruit in her hands.
The ankylosaurs stared for a moment, before turning back to the dry plants.
"How about asparagus?" questioned Marcus, a tinge of desperation in his voice.
One of the ankylosaurs looked at the group, then turned and defecated.
"Ouch, rude," deadpanned Tristan, more than a little miffed.
"Seriously?" questioned Sean, "they won't even take fresh plants. What gives?"
"Maybe they think its poisonous?" offered Sean.
"You think a predator is gonna show up to share them inside?" questioned Elise.
"I think they're already here," was Aiden's response, alongside a raised and pointed finger.
Confused, the team followed his finger, and found a octet of tyrannosaurs walking up to the pond. To the humans' surprise, though, the predators did not provoke a fear response in any of the armored herbivores - the ankylosaurs merely moved slightly so that carnivores could have part of the shore to themselves.
These predators were another relic of an earlier time - they were Dynamoterror, contemporaries of the Invictarx. IT was five million years since their rule had begun, and now, only a scant few hundred individuals remained. This motley group wasn't even a pack - just a mob forced together by thirst. Right now, water was on their minds - they had recently eaten from the corpse of an Alamosaurus, and had no interest in glutting themselves. The fact they hadn't even touched the remains of a crocodile some distance away was proof of that.
Tristan stared at the predators for a moment, left eye twitching, before calming himself. Then, he reached into his pack and pulled out a tranquilizer gun.
"Um, you sure that's the best idea?" questioned a familiar voice. Turing, the team found Michelle behind them, with a portal open behind her. Somehow, it had opened without any of the team or the natives noticing.
"No, but I need to relieve some stress."
Turing back around, Tristan loaded the gun, but before he could fire, a trio consisting of one of each of the various species the group was looking at brushed right passed him and rapidly ambled through the portal, soon to be followed by the rest of their kind. It only took a minute for the pond to be abandoned. The team could only stare in confusion, wondering what could have scared off the living tanks and tank busters.
The answer came in the form of a chorus of bellows, the source of which revealed itself as a herd of ceratopsians - the exact ones the team was looking for. With speed that would surprise those who had only seen dinosaurs in movies, the herd made their way to the pond and started drinking. With their numbers, it only took a few minutes to empty the pond. If the hot heads cared, they didn't show it - they merely started marching perpendicular to their point of entry.
At first, the team was unable to do anything besides stare in shock. Yet the team had grown accustomed to such shocks, and it only took a moment for the surprise to wear off. Hastily, the portal was closed, and the humans on the rails of the herbivores, tranq gums at the ready. Any predators that tried to get an easy meal were in for a rude surprise.
Some distance away, a group of albertosaurs felt fear for reasons they could not comprehend.
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!
