Over the smooth sounds of the warp engines humming through The Evergreen, Kyril came back onto the bridge, his face looking older with every decision, his hair more grey. Lowering himself into his command chair, Solomon remained in his own leather chair, sipping his coffee, ignoring Kyril. Solomon knew that Kyril's hands were tied, but he couldn't help feel a little resentment towards him. The room was how Solomon liked it, not humid, not hot, not cold, just right. The bald helmsmen was taking a break as his skinnier counterpart, the training helmsman checked the auto pilot diagnostics, quietly muttering to himself what he was reading, the thin glasses perched upon his skinny nose kept sliding down due the slimness of his nose and ill fitting glasses. "Captain, we will be arriving shortly. Five minutes, Sir." he said abruptly, causing the balding Helmsman to jump into action at his helm, "Jesus, Tommy! I've told you before, give us more warning!" Scolded The Bald Helmsman "Captain, begin procedures." Kyril had barely noticed the young trainee, lazily he pressed his chair console and began ordering the crew into their positions. His voice carried little emotion, he was growing tired.
The engines began to slow, and the stars became more stable. Merriden IV was within sight.
The remaining five ships eased out of warp travel, Merriden could be seen in the distance, thousands and thousands of kilometers away, An emerald fleet of ten ships sat, waiting, in close proximity to their meeting point, Kyril's radio crackled as the command emerald ship connected. "Greetings, Humans. We are the Gryph. I am Governor Arden, with all of the generosity of my people, we welcome you, to one of our homes" came a strangely robotic voice over the radio.
The Bridge had suddenly fallen tense with the sudden entrance of the voice and equally sudden exit. "He seemed to speak English well." said Kyril in a matter of fact tone as he rubbed his tired eyes. Looking around the room, the bright standard travelling lights always strained Kyrils eyes for the first few minutes, Kyril saw the tense faces of his crew, Solomon's jaw had begun twitching as he read the reports crawling across his screen. Kyril looked more drained than usual, he lifted his heavy body from his chair and slowly walked towards his conference room, softly talking to Eve before the doors sealed. Solomon blinked, "I guess I have the bridge then..."
The Gryph emerald ships stood proud and intimidating, their destructive weapons, almost hidden within their smooth armoured hulls. They elegantly led the five ships towards the small defence station with a transparent ceiling and hull, the internals are brightly lit and the many rows of equipment with bodies sat at them working away. Ardens voice came through the crackle once more, sounding more human. "This is primary defence hub. Dock please, safely." and like before, he was quickly gone.
It had taken the human convoy of ships over three hours to successfully find the docking ports that could house their ship size and lock in. Solomon was ready for a shot of a strong drink. It took until the next morning for their ships and personnel to be cleared for Merriden IV. The Grpyh wanted to search every room, every person and check every weapon aboard "Why are we being treated as a recent enemy?" quizzed Kyril in a stern, commanding voice, the security Gryph merely shrugged his pale shoulders and answered "Orders. Next." in a bored monotone as he waved Kyril passed.
The landing craft was cramped, half full of people, half full of provisioned to begin the first camp. The inside was brightly lit, Solomon was wearing his full armour along with the two squads, just in case. Two hours it took for the craft to get through all the Gryph stops during the decent, 'security barriers' they kept calling them, Kyril had a better word. 'Pain in the arse' it had lightened the tense anxious mood of the shuttle with a snigger, of that Solomon was pleased. Before she boarded the ship, Sandra had held a briefing on the animals that live in the area of the chosen landing zone.
"Basically, think about our dinosaurs, some eat meat, some eat leaf, some are just greedy. Some will simply run, some will only hurt you if you pose a threat. Some, however, will tear you up, just because it's a Monday morning."
Dinosaurs. Solomon had to laugh, surely the planet the Gryph had colonised wouldn't sustain such life? Solomon had no idea how wrong he was. Little did he know, the mockery of the creatures would cost him and his men dearly.
"Thirty Seconds!" shouted the pilot over the headsets worn by everyone as the transport slowed. Solomon felt the shudder as the vessel was lowered by the trained pilot to rest on the alien floor of Merriden IV. The hissing of the exit ramp forced the adrenaline in Solomon's veins to double its efforts. The ramp opened. "Team One, on me!" shouted Solomon as he moved forwards and into the blinding light of the alien sun, the five men of the first team moved forward in their line formation once more to kneel at the base of the ramp, followed by the second team. Solomon had a quick sweep with his rifle raised at the surroundings. Palm trees scattered amongst the rolling hills with vast thick green leafed foliage. The sun was clear in the cloudless sky, not at full hight yet. No Gryph ships could be seen in the clear sky. Solomon knew by the height of the sun that is was still the early morning of this world. Glancing at his wrist console, the temperature was relatively cool, much to his relief, a warm day in his armour is always a long rough one. "Teams one through four, advance and form a perimeter." ordered Solomon through the headset of his helmet, "Engineers, begin bringing out the equipment."