One mile left. No Mares. Jones was more on edge that Theo had ever seen her, she was stopping every five strides now. This was greatly slowing the mission down. Half a mile to go. Jones stopped again and lowered herself as she usually did when she was listening for an enemy. 'crack' came a log falling from a tree somewhere close by. The whole platoon jumped, raising their weapons in the direction of the noise. The wrong way. Once the fallen tree log had stopped making its noise, Theo's hairs stood on the back on his neck. He could hear the not too distant growling of a creature. A soft, yet sharp growling, as if the creature was trying to remain quiet, but was overcome with excitement of the clueless pray that had walked straight into a trap. Jack heard it too, turning in the direction of the noise, Jones was next, but all she had time to do was turn. Her harshly aged eyes saw only a flash of red as a Mare drove straight through the group, knocking soldiers under the thick sea of high grass, screams could be heard as somebody was dragged off, their weapon firing wildly, followed by a high wailing scream. "Form a defence circle!" cried Jones as she unloaded her weapon into the moving walls of bushes that flanked both sides of the group. Three more Mares advanced through the greenery, roaring as they charged, falling as they died. Another charged, catching Butch Moon by the waist with its muzzle and flung him over the bush wall, they quickly lost sight of him as he fell over the top. The Mare was put down in the centre of the group. The bushes and trees had stopped violently moving now. "Butch!" called Jones, "Who else was taken?" asked a soldier from the rear, before a head count could be done, the sound of something advancing through the bush wall made the group form the circle again. "Butch, here!" called a man before he came any further. "Butch! Get over here!" called Jones as he emerged from the bush, his armour had blood soaking in to his back. The medic ran feverishly to his side, to find he only suffered from minor cuts to his face and neck. "The blood isn't mine. Private Kien is dead, I landed on top of her... she's torn apart. Here." he said sadly as he handed Lieutenant Jones a chain with a dog-tag hanging from it, reading Olive Kien, Private, Blood A+, 7th Company, Second Platoon, 4th Squad. Jones took the dog-tags solemnly and attached it to an empty keychain, taking a silent moment to recall all the dog-tags that have hung from that chain. Hoping she would never fill it again.
The Nest resembled more of a cave entrance, no more than an opening of rocks on a cliff face. Mares waddled lazily in and out of the entrance, carrying corpses of animals from hunts and long blades of grass and shrubbery for bedding. Remains of devoured prey lay upon the grass, rotting in the sun. "Helmets on, safeties off." whispered Jones over the radio, she also gave the order for the group to attach suppressors to the barrels of their assault rifles. Spreading her soldiers out in a long line, as silently as possible across the threshold of the tree line, they slowly advanced. "Fire" came Jone's old and sharp voice over the radio's no more than a whisper, followed by the subtle hiss of the weapons firing. Slight groans came from the creatures as well placed shots felled them instantly. As the last fell, as clueless as before the shots, the soldiers moved towards the entrance, covering all directions with their rifles. The nest entrance stank of unkept animals, the natural light would only go so far. Theo could see about ten meters into the cave before it plunged into darkness. "Sector Zero One, we have located and secured the entrance to the nest... affirmative... Advance." ordered Jones, and Theo was the first in.
Commander Broom sat in his office at the highest point of the command structure, the walls mainly glass, featuring some metal lines that were used as briefing screens, the screens came from two L shaped metal objects that mostly resembled brackets, only two feet in length, they projected an interactive screen between the two brackets and disappeared when not used. A stairs shaft stood at one side of the room that also supported the ventilation system to keep the room cool from the ever-blazing sun. The roof was glass too, up until the stairs entrance where it changed to boring metal work. Pouring over reports of accidents, fights, supplies, all the usual mind numbing things that made him regret ever accepting command, he found himself nodding his head as his eyes fell heavier and heavier, it was only when the warning klaxon fired up, and the Door sprung to life, that was sealing out the staircase, spitting out his secretary. A broad masculinely dressed woman who had a shaven head, came in, "Sir, we have an approaching fleet, they have fired upon the Gryph space station, our fleet is moving into defensive positions. What are your orders?" she fired out quickly.
The Vengeful and The Iron Fist retreated to Merridien IV's orbital pull with the remaining six Gryph ships. The Judgement was still in low orbit, it was going to be another hour before they could get into the formation, Winslow's excuse was "I have to make sure my ship is battle ready before I commit." his fear had clearly taken control, he had no intention of fighting. He wanted to sit in safety and let other people die for him and win him the battles. "Arrogant Stupid bloody coward!" roared Commanding Captain Bush of The Vengeful. "Okay, comms, contact the Gryph command ship, ask when their main fleet will arrive, see if -" he was cut short by a tactical officer, "Sir! We have more incoming! Reading fifteen more signals!" Adrian Bush tensed in his chair. Fifteen more ships. Ten had already entered the area and destroyed the command station easily, along with most of the Gryph ships. Twenty five ships, against eight. They had no chance without the Gryph Main Fleet. "Julie, what's your status?" asked Bush tapping into the communications to The Iron Fist, "Adrian, we are ready to rumble, screw Winslow, let's kick these guys off our lawn, then we can stick our boots up Winslow's arse!" came the voice of The Commanding Captain of The Iron Fist.