<strong>~ Pvt. Angelina DeSilva - 1st Squad - Approaching jungle clearing to discover unidentifiable device...and more ~</strong><br/><br/>With Rome taking position at the point, all five members of 1st squad marched single file through the dense jungle, eyes and ears focused in search of any sign of the enemy that had blasted their ship out of the sky.  Humping out all the salvaged gear along with them in case they weren’t returning to the downed ship, they each trudged with their extra burdens south for 2 km, with no idea what to expect as they approached their commanded destination.<br/><br/>Angelina’s body was a tightly coiled spring of tense nerves and apprehension, her hands aching with her white-knuckled grip on her pulse rifle. The eerie familiarity of this foreign jungle was definitely messing with her state of mind. The claustrophobic denseness of the foliage, the oppressively heavy wet heat, the musty organic smell of naturally composting plants - it was all conspiring to overwhelm her senses with the haunted spectre of her past, breathing life once again into her Columbian nightmares.<br/><br/>As the team suddenly breached the unrelenting denseness of the jungle upon reaching what could only be a man-made clearing, Angelina strategically fanned out, keeping close to the perimeter so as not to expose herself as an easy target in the open clearing.  Watchful eyes full of questions took in the hulking shape of an unidentified device squatting menacingly in the center of the clearing. Angelina peered uncomprehendingly at the pile of weapons twisted into useless melted heaps beside the device, eyes searching the clearing for any sign of movement.<br/><br/>As her seeking gaze moved over the expanse of clearing and around the perimeter, an almost imperceptible movement to her left out of the corner of her eye brought her focus to the small, dark stain that had suddenly appeared on Yui’s shoulder.<em>What the fuck?</em>Trying to catch the flamethrower’s eye, her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of the appearance of what looked like....<em>ah shit.</em>Slowly, with dread heavy in her gut, Angelina raised her eyes over Yui’s head, lifting her gaze higher toward the jungle canopy, where her eyes widened in horrified shock at the gruesome visage dangling high above their heads. “Oh, fuck!! What the<strong>FUCK!!</strong>she shouted in sickened alarm.<br/><br/>Before she could really register the significance of the macabre discovery, there was a sudden explosion of the report of a pulse rifle firing on uninterrupted auto, the noise bursting from within the jungle on their right flank. Terror unmistakable in his voice, a man could be heard shouting over the continuous report of his rifle.<strong>"Die you mother fucker!!  Just fucking die!!"</strong>As the shots grew louder in approach of the clearing, Angelina subconsciously registered the sound of Yui’s motion detector mechanically confirming the movement of the approaching shooter. Her heart pounded wildly as an unidentifiable sound preceded the abrupt cessation of the report of the pulse rifle, and a split second later a man in what looked like some type of hazmat suit plunged into the clearing. A hole punched through his chest, the unidentified shooter remained motionless where he fell. The heavy thud that sounded like something had fallen into the clearing behind the prone shooter preceded the deafening silence broken only by the menacing clicks of the squad members’ motion detectors, issuing warning that contrary to lack of visual confirmation,<em>something</em>was moving, and it was within the clearing perimeter.<br/><br/><strong>"Zippo! Hose the blip area! DeSilva! Watch her back! the rest of you watch each other's backs! It's one of those hunter things!"</strong>Master Sergeant O’Shay’s urgent whisper propelled Angelina from her momentary frozen stance to move to take up defensive position behind Yui, as she waited for the flamethrower to unleash the cleansing fire of hell onto whatever the fuck was out there.<em>One of those “hunter things”? Had 1st squad encountered this enemy before?</em>Somehow the thought that it was just herself that had no fucking clue what the hell was out there, and that the rest of her squad might have experience with this particular enemy gave her a little comfort. A very little comfort.<br/>