The island wasn't in as bad of shape as most people thought it was. Contrary to popular belief, the security measures that the park had invested in were among the best in the world. They'd had to be in order to last as long as they had.
Things were designed for safety, both for humans and the assets. It was only when those idiots created the Indominous Rex and put it in that stupidly small paddock with too many cut corners, and no idea what they'd actually put in the cage that everything went to hell.
Aside from Paddock 11 and the Aviary, all the other enclosures were structurally sound. And with the exceptions of Paddock 9, which Claire had released the T-Rex from, and the raptor enclosure, which was empty, all the other enclosures were locked down. The problem now, was that many of the dinosaurs in their locked down habitats would be starving to death.
Some of them would be ok indefinitely, like the full grown herbivores, who were in sprawling, fenced off areas. Not permanently mind, since they ate so much, so quickly, that their habitat couldn't sustain them full time, and their diets were supplemented by hay and other vegetable matter, but at least they would be ok for awhile.
Other dinos, like the meat eating dilophosaurs, or the babies at the Gentle Giants petting zoo, who had an indoor facility, would be starving to death.
So, after signing twenty-seven forms waiving any rights to sue the Masrani Corp or Ingen for any future damage or injuries inflicted between now and whenever they got their shit together and started cleaning up their mess, Owen and fifty-six other Jurassic World employees were returning to Isla Nublar to save as many dinosaurs as they could.
Claire had not been happy to see him go. Her nephews, if possible, were even unhappier. But they all knew why it had to be done. Owen was going back for Blue. He was the one with the best chance of bringing her home to the raptor enclosure safely.
Originally, there were only twenty-two people signed on to go, and most of them employees at Gentle Giants who loved their babies and would do anything to save them. After word got around that The Owen Grady, badass extraordinaire was returning, the number of people going more than doubled. Owen's story was making its rounds, and inspired a lot of confidence in his coworkers. Lowery had spread around to everyone how Owen had called just about everything that was going to happen during the whole mess, and how him getting Cassandra Truthed repeatedly was the reason why everything had gone to hell in a hand basket.
That was how Owen found himself suddenly heading the Reclamation Team, as they'd started calling themselves. It was suddenly up to him to develop all the plans for taking back the island, which the Masrani Corporation should have been doing, but were too busy twiddling their thumbs with their lawyers to do.
And to be honest, Owen didn't mind in the least that this was falling down to him. At least this way he could make sure it was done right.
First order of business, he decided, was to retake the park's control room in the operations building. That way they would have access to all the park's security and surveillance systems, including cameras and electric implant tracking. The easiest way to do that, would be to take a small team in via helicopter and land at the operations building itself. Power would still be running since as much as possible they'd used eco friendly options like solar panels and geothermal energy. After they used their tracking systems to see where the T-Rex and Blue were, they could move about more easily, just taking care to avoid the areas where the loose raptor and rex were, while keeping an eye on the sky for any opportunistic dimorphodons and pterosaurs.
For that first small team, Owen selected those with experience with firearms. Other ex-military like himself, or men and women who were both physically fit and knew how to handle a gun. And Lowery. Because he was the only one who knew how to operate all the systems who was in the Reclamation Team, but honestly, if Owen had his first choice of anyone in the world for the job, Lowery would have been it. He knew his stuff and he'd been the last to leave when the park was being evacuated, staying behind to help Claire and Owen. You couldn't buy loyalty like that.
"We'll be using live ammo for the flyers," Owen said when he briefed his team, and quickly held up a hand to forestall any protests. "The temporary measures that they set up for all the pterosaurs and dimorphodons we managed to sedate during the outbreak will be stretched to the limit by now, and if we try to add anymore of them into those cages without knocking out everything that's already in them, we'll have another disaster on our hands. And we don't have the means or time to contain any new ones."
"We could just fire knockout darts at them and leaves them to wake up again, then knock them out again next time we see them," someone suggested. Owen took note of their face and resolved to make sure that person didn't make it to the island until the last group was brought over. He preferred to have everything under control before letting the idiots back into the park.
"We do that and they'll learn to stay outside our shooting range, and we'll never get them all rounded up," Owen said. "The island can't be considered secure until every last one of the flyers is accounted for, and we can't afford to waste time. Not when our supply lines are so uncertain."
"But," someone else tried to interrupt.
"If you have a problem with that decision, you don't need to come," Owen said. "We can't save everything. If we try, we'll end up losing a lot more. Better to put down a couple dozen confirmed killers than to let every damn dinosaur on the island starve to death, which might very well happen if our team fails."
And so it was with live ammo in their guns that the first team went in.
Their luck was a mixed bag. For the most part things went smoothly. The first team landed down at the operations building without incident. There had been no sign of the T-rex or Blue, and while they'd seen a few pterosaurs, they'd been out of range. The team got inside the cover of the building, but kept their guns at the ready just in case there were any unpleasant surprises lurking inside. But no raptor or pack of rabid compys popped up to wreak havoc on them like a bad B movie.
Lowery booted up the system while Barry and two others kept watch at the door, guns always at the ready.
"Alright, we are go. Let's see, according to the tracking implants the Rex has made her way to the old park in the restricted area. So for now, she's safely out of our way. There are sixteen pterosaurs and twenty-two dimorphodons out of containment. Actually, make that fifteen pterosaurs and twenty dimorphodons. Computer's showing three of their implants grouped together in the mosasaurus tank, so the smart money is, they got eaten. And as for Blue . . ."
That's where their luck wavered.
"Shit."
"What?" Owen asked.
"No reading from her implant. It must have gotten shorted out during the fight with the Indominous," Lowery said. "That can happen when a dino suffers some kind of trauma or impact. Happens to the pachys on a semi-regular basis."
"Damn," Owen said. "This just got a lot more dangerous."
"Well we can try to limit the danger," Lowery said. "I can pull up security footage from all over the park. It will probably take awhile but I'll see if I can find her on any of the feeds."
"Focus on the cameras between us and Gentle Giants," Owen ordered. "That's where we're headed first."
Lowery and several of the others who would be staying in the control room scoured the footage but weren't able to find Blue on any camera showing the path between them and the Gentle Giants petting zoo.
"Keep going over it. And keep an eye on the rex's implant too, make sure she doesn't come stomping back this way," Owen said, then ordered the other team to move out.
They made it to the petting zoo without incident, and once they were in, were greeted by dozens of hungry babies. They had their work cut out for them, getting all the babies fed, and then they were off to the next closest exhibit. Lowery and the others back at operations were constantly checking the cameras, looking for any sign of Blue on them as Owen's team made their way from one enclosure to the next, but the raptor proved elusive. Owen was mostly glad about that. Though he was anxious about his raptor's safety, he didn't relish the thought of having to deal with her in front of a group. Most likely he knew he'd have to, because there was no chance that his co-workers were going to let him face a raptor alone, but he'd still prefer to deal with her himself. Or with just him and Barry, since Barry knew how to conduct himself around the raptors. But Owen had learned a long time ago that more often than not, you didn't get what you wanted.