The Lieutenant shifted his behind onto his seat as the Warthog he had mounted onto rolled forward. Above and behind him, one of his subordinates manned the fifty-cal gatling gun on the back turret of the Force Application Vehicle, while farther to the rear, travelling in a line with them as they followed the tracks of the Mongoose and lost two-man team, a pair of Troop 'Hogs rolled on.
He hummed, then scanned the plains around them. To their immediate left was the thick forest. To their right and front, open plains that led out into rolling hills in the middle of nowhere, then into mountains. The place was seemingly surrounded by mountains, their tall peaks capped in a white blanket, piercing the few clouds visible in the night sky. One had little time to appreciate the beauty, though, considering this was still a search and rescue operation.
The Lieutenant retrieved his binoculars and looked forward, scanning the horizon for any sign of a light while the driver kept his eye on the IFF locator. They'd gotten a rough topographical map of the area off of the Vladivostok's scanning equipment, too, so they knew that the area was about ninety-five percent flatlands, plus specks of forest scattered neatly around the place.
"Not far now," He looked upon the tracking system and GPS, "Should be a few hundred meters further ahead, right next to the tree line."
The Driver veered to the left, gently bringing them parallel to the tree line. The forward-mounted lights on the Warthog's roll cage and cheeks clipped one of the trees and the faintest motion appeared in the corner of the man's eyes. He hummed, standing up and looking through the trees for any sort of movement. To his joy, he found nothing, relinquishing what he had seen to the background thoughts of 'just a shadow in the night', basically outright ignoring it for now.
Surely, someone else would spot and report it anyhow...
He scoffed, cued his radio and said, "All units, be advised, possible unknowns in the treeline. Spotted single silhouette moving due left, but it's gone now..." well aware that, yes, while his teammates would've reported something if they saw it, he'd rather not risk them being unaware when and if they did spot it. He felt the air grow heavier as the entire convoy tensed, then drew his assault rifle and thumbed the safety off, racking the bolt to feed a round and reset the counter to 32 rounds.
Looking ahead, he saw the two front lights of the Mongoose luminating a small fraction of the tree-line, yet found no sight of the Marines that had gone missing. He cued his mic, "Approaching Mongoose. I want a perimeter set up. Guns pointed in every direction, overlapping arcs of fire. Gun 'Hogs, you're on three-sixty degrees, any time one of us calls out any possible target. Keep your guns spun and heads on a swivel."
"Roger," The entire platoon replied. The transport 'Hogs sat themselves at the front and back of the Mongoose, while the Gun 'Hogs rallied up to the right and left, keeping their guns ready. The soldiers all dismounted and immediately formed a perimeter behind the Warthogs, utilizing the armor of the vehicles as cover while they scanned the areas ahead through the use of flashlights, motion trackers and their own eyes.
Richard and Ikari stepped up to the 'Goose, stopping in front of it. Littered on the floor were cigarette butts from their standard-issue cigarettes, as well as the torn wrappers of energy bars from their MRE packs. On the Mongoose itself, there were no signs of damage, blood or anything of the sorts, just a faint scent of some kind and the tracks that Ikari was standing on. She looked down at them, then said, "Whaddaya think, El-Tee?"
"Don't know. Cig butts aren't old..." he noted, picking one up and looking it over. He hummed, then tossed it aside and looked at the tracks. Taking a knee, he ran a hand over one of them and said, "Looks like they got caught by surprise. Dragged away into the forest," before looking down the tracks and into the shrubs. He hummed, squinting, and turned on the VISR system built into his helmet's orange ballistic goggles.
He scanned the treeline while the gunners on the Warthogs tensed, with Rosie and the others gently waggling their fingers over the fingers of their rifles. Still seeing nothing, the Lieutenant thought it'd be prudent to leave now and come back in the morning with a larger search party. Just as he as about to suggest that, though, a single dot winked onto his motion tracker. A grey dot.
He trained his rifle on the exact tree that he'd deduced that target had moved to, with his Marines tensing up immediately and readying themselves. Richard took cover behind one of the 'hogs, keeping his weapon trained and eyes locked onto the treeline. He turned on the flashlight attached to the bottom of his gun and washed the tree with light, something which seemed to spook whatever was hiding behind it.
A throwing knife flew past the man's ear, surprising him, followed by a battle cry.
Uukhai! Uukhai! Uukhai!
A shrill, female voice cried out, the word ringing out through the forest. As if out of thin air, a dozen figures emerged, blades drawn, from behind the trees. The soldiers' flashlights and VISR systems barely caught glimpses of them as they readied their curved Kukri-style blades and prepared to attack them. He squinted, then went bug-eyed, while Ikari vocalized the sheer surprise that everyone stared at their possible new foe with, "... Are those bunny girls...?"
Indeed, standing before them, many young women clad in tribal outfits, with warpaint on their faces and with the most striking feature of all, long rabbit ears poking out of the tops of their heads, colored the same as their hair. They glared at the Marines with killer intent, weapons glimmering in powerful light of their vehicles and their guns' flashlights.
They outnumbered the Marines, three to one. Each seemed agile, each wore a slightly different outfit.
However, the one that seemed to be their leader was most dumbfounding.
Pure white hair and scarlet eyes looked to the gathering of UNSC Marines, twin sword-sized blades gripped firmly in each hand and a combination of chainmail and leather armor fashioned into an intricate, but tribal design nonetheless. She wore a crown that somewhat obscured her ears, a crown of colored feathers. Even the war paint on her face was far more intricate.
"Quid hic quaeritis, transgressores?" She demanded, her voice melodious, yet pointedly poisonous as she aimed her right blade at them.
"... Boss?" Ivanov started, his finger hovering menacingly over the trigger of his SAW, "... Does anyone speak Bunny Girl?"
"It's not Bunny Girl, dumbass..." Ikari voiced in a deadpan, garnering a glare out of the gunner, then added, "I have the white-haired one in my sights, boss. Just tell me when..."
"We don't even know who they are, Hotshot..." The man replied tersely, then showed her to settle down for a moment with a sideways slash of his open palm, "First Contact protocol still applies. Keep your weapons ready..." and he paused, then started as his single-beam communication system chirped, "Doc! Oh, thank Christ. Listen, we've got a situation here... Wait, you can see it through the Helmet Cams? Hold it, Latin?"
"Yes, Lieutenant... She spoke Latin. Fairly close to what one would call 'dog Latin', but Latin nonetheless." Doctor Halsey explained calmly as the man patched her through on wide-com to the entire tense platoon of Marines, "Put me through the speakers. Perhaps I can talk to them."
"Doc, they look like they're rarin' to sink those blades into us," Noted the man, "And if that's what they did to the two lads we lost here, I'm not sure I want to talk to them..."
"I understand your apprehension on the matter, but look at them. They wield melee weapons only, perhaps bows and arrows. Covenant, they are most certainly not..." Halsey's voice grew stern, "This must be the territory of their tribe... They are quite fascinating beings, I must say, but I would wish to talk to them openly, rather than risk WAR with the first species we've met since the Covenant. Especially if they are as technologically-deaf as they seem to be."
Richard sighed, "I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down, doc... One of the things you oughta ask'em is where our lads are."
"I will, but first I must speak to them... Put me through."
"I don't like this," Rosie voiced, eyeing one of the other Bunnies through her scope. She grit her teeth, watching one of their ears twitch errantly, then sighed, "I really don't fuckin' like this."
The Lieutenant sighed, answering, "Best bet to avoid a shootout, Rosie," and thumbing the radio to synch it to the PA system of one of the Warthogs. He stepped forward, holstering his weapon, then said, "You're clear to talk, Doc... Everyone else, be ready for anything..." as he watched the supposed leader of these Bunny Warriors gauge him and his soldiers.
"Thank you, Lieutenant..." Halsey nodded, then cleared her throat as her hologram appeared in front of the Warthog. She spoke, "Salvete." much to the surprise of the many women around, several of which grew aggressive as they seemed to ready themselves to charge. The woman leading them barked an order in Latin at them, then looked to the Doctor's hologram.
"Quid hoc magia?" She voiced.
Halsey had flipped a switch or something, because the Marines understood that one through a specialized translator. "What Magic was this?" The robotic, dull female voice spoke.
The Doctor spoke and the Machine translated again, "It's not magic. It is centuries technological advancement. If I may inquire, who am I speaking to?"
"... I am Queen Tyuule, leader of the Rabbit Warrior tribes," The woman replied, still a hint dumbfound at what she seemed to be gazing upon. She and the Marines watched Doctor Halsey give a curt, but respectful bow to Tyuule. She bowed back, still keeping her eyes on the Doctor, then asked, "What is your name, then? I wish to know whom I converse with."
"I am Doctor Catherine Halsey, acting commander of an exploration force that has come to your world, your Highness. We apologize for trespassing onto your tribes' territories, but we had no idea there were any beings akin to us here. We also seek two of our lost comrades," The woman spoke as respectfully as she could, then motioned toward the empty Mongoose, "They have gone missing in this area."
Tyuule looked over to a girl with bright ginger hair and azure eyes. She looked like the most dangerous of the warriors' lot, considering the very indicative and intricate face paint she wore, as well as the twin heavy Kukri blades she wielded in a reverse grip. The two spoke for a moment, their voices unheard by both the UNSC and their translation software. Finally, after a moment of discussion, Tyuule turned toward them and spoke, "We know not where your soldiers are... This territory, however, belongs to a more... Rowdy tribe of ours. I shall send for their leader and inquire if they've seen them..."
"We thank you," Doctor Halsey bowed, "We shall depart, then. You can find us in our camp, due South of here when you have news."
"Very well..." Tyuule nodded, then waved her soldiers off. She looked to Halsey and said, "If we find your men. After we find them, in fact, we will want you out of our lands. This is our ancestral territory. Whatever business your 'exploration' force has in this area, it can wait... Should you wish to continue, however, we can meet to discuss matters, or we can meet on the battlefield."
"We understand," Halsey replied, despite some of the Marines growing tense, "Farewell, Queen Tyuule..."
She nodded, then vanished with her entire retinue into the darkness, almost as if they were never there. The Lieutenant hummed, marching up to Halsey's side, then stated, "I don't know what to tell you, doc, but I have a bad feeling. We really gonna give our foothold up that easily?" and got a simple sigh as answer. He shook his head, then scoffed and ordered his team to load up onto the 'Hogs. He'd take the Mongoose back to FOB.
The Marines had taken the short trip home, with the Lieutenant left to chew on his own thoughts as they moved back to the base. He looked over to the right, well aware that the 'Rabbit Warriors' were still watching them from behind the cover of the trees, so motionless that the trackers couldn't pinpoint them. Some minutes later, the forest disappeared from their right and the lights of the Forward Operating Base came into view, the gate opening to allow the recon team back in.
Dismounting, the Lieutenant watched as the doctor approached him. She said, "To answer the question you put out before you and your forces departed from the region, no, we will not be giving up our base here. I will go with an escort of Marines to initiate negotiations with this queen Tyuule and her species as soon as possible, so we may continue our operations. Right now, however, the main matter of concern is recovering those men."
"I agree," He nodded, then smirked, "We can be your backup for the chats, doc."
"I appreciate the offer, Lieutenant. I'll take it under consideration," She stated, then sighed and said, "I've already written up and sent a report to the Fleet so they can send it out to the rest of the UNSC. Command will want to hear about these Bunny Warriors," before thumbing her datapad. The Lieutenant, though slightly confused, hummed and nodded. So, was it 'Bunny' or 'Rabbit'...?
He sighed, departing after snapping a salute to the doctor. After some time, the good man had posted himself up on the walls of the compound, just to hang out with the Privates assigned to guard duty. He had a single item with him beside his rifle, namely a carton of MRE biscuits he'd retrieved from one of the steak and gravy MRE packs in his possession. Stuff was salty as shit, but with the coffee he'd gotten himself off of one of the doc's machines, it'd keep him awake.
He eyed the forest and the many meters of open ground between it and the FOB. The flood-lights sat atop the walls washed much of the surrounding area in a burning white light, which gave them all a pretty clear line of sight to the bottom of the battlements. He hummed, then leaned back into the chair he'd brought up stairs and continued munching on the salty items in his hand.
Above them, he could see the flickering lights of the Battle Group. All six ships sat idly in geosynchronous orbit over the strange planet, ready to deploy and help them at a moment's notice. It was good to know they had the backup in case things went tits-up on the planet, but right now the man still wondered where they'd find their two missing Marines. He hoped they were alright, honestly.
He gazed upon the forest once again, uneasy. He was sure their new neighbors would try something tonight. The Queen, Tyuule, had mentioned something about a rowdier tribe of theirs. Could well have been an excuse by them to hide that they took out the two Marines, or did whatever to them. Something didn't sit right with him at this very moment, about the whole situation.
He looked back at the Privates... Private. Furrowing his brows, the Lieutenant asked, "Uhm. Hendricks? Where's Hsu?"
The confused Marine looked to his CO, then pointed back with his thumb and slowly turned. His eyes grew wide for a moment as he murmured, "Oh, no..." causing the Lieutenant to jump to his feet. Whatever had just occurred told the man that at least part of his suspicions were right as he readied himself, gazing around the place for a moment and trying to find their target.
The man thumbed his radio and said, "Command, be advised, possible infiltrator. Private Tomas Hsu's just disappeared from in front of my eyes and the eyes of his battle buddy. I suggest we enter yellow alert and mobilize perimeter patrols," as he picked up his rifle and looked over the wall, noticing the faintest trace of a figure moving through the darkness. He hefted his Assault Rifle up, caught the figure in a sight picture, but chose not to shoot. He scanned the bottom of the wall again and saw no trace of Hsu. Whatever had just run past them must've taken Hsu.
Good thing he didn't shoot, then, he thought. That would've led to one hell of a Friendly Fire incident. Still, this proved him partially right and he wasn't any more glad about it than he had to be. The alarms in the base started chirping, a shrill, thin noise that permeated the area as yellow warning lights blared from atop the lightning fixtures around the place. Several Marine teams out of the three hundred soldiers also poured out of the buildings, weapons and kit at the ready. The man sighed, then reported over the radio, "Target escaped with Hsu..." all the while now glaring at the forest again.
This wasn't gonna be pretty to write about in any report.