<strong>~ Pvt. Angelina DeSilva with 1st Squad, battling the seemingly invincible creature in the jungle clearing ~</strong><br/><br/>Narrowing her eyes against the stinging dust and smoke, Angelina’s fingers cramped painfully in her too-tight grip on her rifle. The thunderous cacophony of their weapons discharging in united assault pummeled her ears until Sarge’s command, barely audible over the roar,<strong>"CEASE FIRE!"</strong>As the dust began to settle, she kept her trigger finger curled at the ready as her gaze pored over the clearing and perimeter, her chest rising and falling in panting breaths. But her searching eyes found no sign of the hostile in the vicinity, alive or dead.<em>Had it used the haze as cover for its retreat?</em><br/><br/>As her gaze found the prone form of Senjo, a deep frown creased her forehead.<em>Ah, fuck - what the hell happened to Senjo?</em>Just then Rome moved past her, lobbing one of his signature quasi-offensive yet somehow endearing provocative remarks her way. As she quirked a brow and started to reply, a beeping sound suddenly started up within the clearing, and thoughts of witty banter immediately dissipated. Confused at first, her gaze quickly locked onto the mysterious device as the source of the sound. Keeping her rifle in firing position and eyes alert, she took a cautious step toward the device for a closer look. It suddenly registered in her brain that the beeping sound was speeding up, and she froze in her forward movement at Sgt. O’Shay’s warning command,<strong>"Fall back towards the crash zone! It's a bomb!"</strong><br/><br/>Turning toward Sarge, she saw him sling Senjo’s unmoving body over one broad shoulder and head out at a run.  Frantically, Angelina’s gaze swept over the clearing, desperate to find a way out from the impending catastrophe. She saw the melted pile of guns next to the device, but she saw no sign of burned trees or foliage other than what Zippo had just crispified.<em>Maybe...maybe the blast radius doesn’t reach beyond the perimeter of the clearing?</em>But a maybe sure wasn’t something she was willing to bet her life on.  Hustling to retrieve the satchel and pouches Senjo had been carrying, she glared angrily at the abandoned hulking sentry guns, knowing that no matter how valuable they were to the squad, even bruisers like Sarge and Rome wouldn’t be able to muscle those powerhouses back to the crash site. “Goddamn it!” she spat out in frustration.<br/><br/>Stumbling forward as Rome’s meaty palm shoved her in the back toward the way they had come, she started jogging in retreat as he yelled at her and Yui,<strong>”Move your sorry asses, Marines!”</strong>With the beeping continuing its ever-accelerating pace behind her, she glanced at Yui, again hoping her suit would provide some protection since it would obviously be slowing down her retreat. Maybe Senjo’s heavy and armored body would also provide protection for Sarge. As worry began to form for Rome as he took up the rear position while burdened by his weighty M56, the eerie sound of....laughter? reached her ears. “What the FUCK?”  Her feet stepping sure-footed on the familiar topography, Angelina began to run, worry for her squad being gnawed away by the taunting threat sounding clear in that laughter, as well as the oppressive deja vu overwhelming her. Once again, she was running for her life through the jungle, her heart pounding in her ears.<br/>