Discovering the Sein'Hae [IC - Open]

They'd be able to secure a landing zone on one of the planet's flat plateaus, not too far from the source of the transmission. They'd have to travel into deep jungle to reach the transmission, and as such their progress was likely to be slow and difficult, the very ground they're travelling on seemingly doing its best to impede them.

Furhermore, hidden from the landing team, something had begun stalking them through the jungle at a distance.

Ancient Crash Site

By now, the Skullhorns had triumphed in their hunt, and were scavenging what they could from the remains of the ship, and the nest that had been built into it. Several hunters had taken to the treetops, watching the perimeter for any beasts that were looking to feed off the carrion left behind with steadfast vigilance; it was unlikely that the marines would spot the hunters before the hunters spotted them.

A large ship deploying troops onto the planets did not go unnoticed, and as it began unloading its soldiers an extremely large reptilian beast, 4 times the length of a man, made an approach toward the ship from a nest nearby. It's skin matched the colours of the jungle, and despite its size it was amazingly nimble and quiet. It's scaled, quadrupedal form pierced the foliage stealthily before making a charge for the nearest Invader, roaring loudly as it attempted to start trampling it's newfound prey to dust.

This was not the only denizen of the planet to have noticed, too; many other beasts were closing in on the ship, attracted by the unusual sound and the potential for food.

Finally, a Sein'Hae hunting party was closing in too, travelling from treetop to treetop with finesse and grace. They were armed with weapons ranging from spears and bows to a number of conventional firearms of varying calibers. Each hunter bore the hide of some form of bird, the beak formed into a helmet, and wings formed into crude gliderpacks for primitive flight. These were the Bloodbeaks, some of the bravest and most reckless hunters around, and they were going to secure the ship and its inhabitants and keep them alive. This was the day the prophecy spoke of, they weren't going to let the beasts of the jungle ruin this for them.

The Invader Base could detect an object nearing it at alarming speeds. There was seemingly no identification, but as it got closer, the realization would settle in. A shield-piercing ion torpedo, hurtling directly at the side of the base, likely where most of the turrets were located. Should it detonate, most of the bases defenses would be knocked out of commission for a short while, though the shields may remain intact, depending on how close the torpedo detonated.

Regardless of whether the shot met its mark or not, three Drathian ships entered the system. Save for the lead, which was a serpentine Drathian Murderer Class, the other two ships seemed much more traditional in build, with metal hulls and an actual ship shaped body. However, they were distinguished from the crowd by the occasional purple vine that crept along the ship's surfaces, each of which pulsed with a steady glowing light. These were Drathian Iron IIs, while not as advanced as their organic counterparts, they were much cheaper to produce, and in much greater supply. All of the ships locked their systems onto the Invader vessel, the purple vines on the Iron II's began to pulse faster, signifying that their weapons had begun to charge up.

On board the ship, Captain Xikcha 'Snake-Tongue' stared ahead at the enemy vessel. He was not particularly tall, nor muscular, but certainly intimidating. His missing bottom lip displayed fully his array of sharp teeth, some of which had been replaced by cruel metallic spikes. Seemingly, he was inspired by the former Grand General Serratus. His left eye was covered by a black patch, decorated with a skull insignia. His eye twitched down to his crew, all of whom wore the same insignia as he somewhere on their uniforms. They were not any sort of special rank, rather, it was a symbol declaring their Thrill-Kill Tribe heritage. Heritage that, again, was shared with the turncoat Serratus.

"Focus all fire on that base, do not let survive under any circumstances, do you hear?" Xikcha snarled, his crew gave a murmer of understanding. He hated working for the Fylkirate, but the moment he had detected the Invader signature while on his way to deliver supplies to the base at Dratheim, he had come to the conclusion that he hated them more. For this once, he would gladly fire his weapon in the name of the Fylkja. "Prepare landing pods, I want a planet front as soon as possible."

From the bottom of the second Iron II, ten fleshy pods with glowing green sacs on their sides launched down from the ship. Each was filled with ten Drathian soldiers, not many, but enough to establish a base long enough to get into contact with the natives. It was funny, at least to Xikcha. The Drathians were now in the same position as the Colonials were when the Keltakens invaded Drathia. Only this time the natives were not Drathians, and the attackers were not Keltakens, but the damned Abyssal scum.

"Fire." He hissed.

"Ah, a Native." Klaudius said as they heard the tapping. Waving at the girl, Klaudius chuckled at her attire. "What do you know, shorter is always better, no?"

The girl herself was short, almost a head shorter than the average Jupiterran. "Ah, a Native." Klaudius said as they heard the tapping. Waving at the girl, Klaudius chuckled at her attire. "What do you know, shorter is always better, no?"



Klaudius himself moved to the girl, who was wielding her spear. Approaching her cautiously, Klaudius held both of his arms by the side, wearing a smile all the time.

"Hi there, how do you do?"

---

The Jupiterran Typhoons joined the fight against the Invader base, providing spotting for the Akatsuki's howitzers to bombard the ship. It was a tough nut, and did not look like it was about to die anytime soon. The Typhoons were not armed with Shatterers, they were scheduled to, but have not received them.

"Ah.." Klaudius muttered as the rest of the squad looked around awkwardly. "It seems like we're some esteemed guests... better to be safe than sorry, although I'm sure they mean no harm..."

Walking up to the girl, Klaudius got down to a knee as he offered a hand.

"Be at ease, natives of this planet, we come in peace, not seeking war, nor seeking destruction. Do be at ease."

"Village? How about that ship? It is what we are looking for. A few of us can follow you to the village... the rest of us must search the wreck." Klaudius said, as he looked at his team of troops.

"Rafael!" A young man with brown hair came over. "Handle these negotiations, you're the good one at it. I'll continue with the search. Bring Team Charlie with you."

Nodding, the young man looked at the girl, who remained at her kneel. "Come on, dont be scared, we'll follow you." Rafael said as he slowly guided the girl up. She looked human, young, and Rafael was around a head taller than her. As three more marines gathered, Rafael nodded to them as they prepared to follow the girl and her people.