As the planet transitioned to night they were forced to switch to their night vision. He could see the lights of the buildings in the distance. They could also see the heat from the burning chopper crashes as they got closer to the islands.
They stepped onto the first island an hour after night arrived. The islands were sandy with sparse patches of grass. This first island had a wooden bridge leading to the next island. While on the other side was the burning crash of one of the choppers.
"This is nice. Have either of you ever been to a surfing competition? Those are fun. This place looks like it would be fun if we could go surfing." Parrot mentioned as they walked past the crashed Chopper.
"You grew up on a tropical planet?" Tako asked as they were moving toward the wooden bridge.
"Yeah, surfing was a lot of fun. Especially when it got your blood flowing." Parrot answered. "Are we going to take a break? Or find a place for the night?"
"The next island. There is a large rock and a bundle of trees. We will take turns for night watch for a few hours. I will sleep first while Tako gives you a check up. Then he will be on first watch. Next I will be taking the night watch for the rest of the night." Jace informed them as they started crossing the bridge. It was a bunch of wooden beams.
As far as he could tell it was not that far above the water which worked because there were no tides since there was not a moon that was rotating around the planet. Istead the disturbances and waves in the water were likely coming from underwater creatures. Which is the reason it was not constantly still.
"How bad do you think we will have it in the morning?" Parrot asked as they crossed the bridge.
"Horribly. I am sure that we will actually get attacked sometime during the night." Jace explained as they walked towards the large rock. They would set up right next to it.
"Well that's-" Tako stopped mid sentence when there was a splash of water and they both spun around.
Jace did not get a chance to as something grabbed his leg and he was pulled up into the air. He was forced to drop the Dragon's Breath heavy machine gun while he let the rest of the gear and equipment fall into the ground as he was pulled several feet into the air.
Like the other creatures he had seen on this planet this one had fish scales for skin. But this one had a long neck that was pulling him into the air. Its body was large and had several bite marks and scars. While it had six limbs not including its finned tail. It had two front flippers, two middle body flippers, then near the back of its body had two leg-like limbs. He could make it out even in the dark.
"Well this is bad." Jace pointed out as his body was thrown in the air. He was slipping around in the air as the other two aimed their weapons and began firing their weapons. The flashes of their muzzles coincided with the bangs.
"RAAARR!" The creature screamed while it squirmed. It turned its attention to the other two as Jace fell down towards its head. Jace pulled out his knife as he landed on its head. He stabbed the knife through its skull and then slid down the head and then neck as he cut through it like a knife through butter.
A liquid began covering Jace as he slid down. He landed on the ground with a grunt as the neck and head fell on the ground with a loud thump. Jace sighed and walked toward his dropped weapons and gear. He could see the others were confused as he grabbed the gear and equipment.
"That thing is huge!" Tako pointed out as Jace walked past them and set down his gear next to the rock.
"Yes, but there is a chance more of them will appear, especially since we just spilled blood. I suggest aiming not for the body but the crucial points along the limbs or the head." Jace told them as he sat down and rested his back against the rock.
He had a long day and it was still only the first day of the invasion. He had been separated from the rest of the invasion force and landed somewhere behind enemy lines. From what he could tell it was an area with less of an impact on whatever research that Lord Hoodwink had been doing on this planet.
So there was only a single outpost out here. Chances are they destroyed the only two forms of transportation that the outpost had. So how were they going to get back. There was likely another form of transportation. Even if there was not, the outpost would still be of use.
He needed materials to create the high frequency communication equipment. His drop pod actually had some equipment like that but he had destroyed his drop pod before the jamming signal had gone up.
The outpost would be a good place to set up. As he was about to go to sleep he picked up a new strange sound. Jace opened his eyes to find Parrot's helmet had been removed and Tako was looking her over.
Jace stood up and quietly moved to the side of the rock. He looked over the side of the rock and frowned. He could just barely make out the sight of a vehicle moving in their direction.
"We have a… boat moving towards us. But it has a very shallow wake." Jace informed them and they immediately began putting their armor together as it began getting closer.
The vehicle was moving slowly but it was also oddly shaped. It had a square-like body with a round thing on the back of the boat. It would be more accurate to call it a hovercraft. The Vexical Empire had a few designs but they were rarely used since they only had one or two planets that had a swamp based environment. Neither of which were heavily populated, they were considered frontier planets where rare crops and minerals were obtained.
"Should I kill the pilot again. It looks like it is the same type of pilot?" Parrot asked as she peaked around the rock with her sniper.
"No, we need transportation. Give me a moment." Jace told them. He then walked to the edge of the island and dove into the water. He swam underwater toward where there was a disturbance on the top of the water.
His suit gave him a private air supply so he did not need to come up for air. The hovercraft was staying clear of the island. So as he was closing in on its location he was surprised when he saw flashes of blue light coming from the hovercraft. They were trying to pick off Parrot and Tako from a distance. But that also meant they did not realize he dove into the water.
They have night vision that is likely a lot more limited in capacity compared to his own. So as he swam up to the bottom of the boat he moved to the backside and slowly lifted himself out of the water. Drawing his knife as the two biomechanical creatures were working a turret that was firing blue lasers. While the third was sitting at the front in a driver seat.
Jace moved to the driver and slid his knife in a gap between the metal plates where he would typically call it a person's neck. As the driver went limp he picked up the body and tossed it over the other two. Causing a large splash and for them to be confused for a moment.
A moment that Jace took advantage of as he slid his knife across one of their necks before moving to the other one where he did a similar motion but he rushed the second one so its entire head came off before its body fell in the water.
Jace kicked the last one's body into the water before tossing the decapitated head into the water as well. Then he moved to the front and moved the hovercraft over to the island. Tako and Parrot peaked out from behind the rock.
Jace was glad he got a chance to clean his armor in the water. Before it was covered in mud and strange water creature blood. But now he strangely felt clean from the swim. He stopped the hovercraft on the beach of the island and then turned it off before walking back to his spot by the rock and sitting down.
He closed his eyes as he drifted back to sleep and his thoughts drifting over to Salem and how her chaotic investigation was unfolding. He would have to ask later when he got the chance.