[M] Fallen Sky
 

Private Role Play for Tiva and Alpha

Wrong place, wrong time all this woman had signed up for was working for a United States Military Recovery program, but fate apparently had other plans since something fell from the sky that night. Now she is on the run trying to save her own skin from the government that she use to work for, a lot easier said than done when you are on Iwo Jima to start with.

Name: Ari Pascal
Age: 27
Appearance: knee length hair, normally in a braid or bun, Silver disc implanted into her back
Backstory: Anthropologist working with the American Recovery project on Iwo Jima. Her home base is in Virginia and she has several crash pads at different colleges across the country.
Weapons: Two 9mm Glocks with 4 spare 20 round magazines
Powers: Wings that appear out of the disc, the ability to heal quickly, can throw fire out of her hands, super fast movement


Name:Artemis
Age: Young
Appearance: about 2 feet long
Backstory: Fell from the sky and hatched when Ari touched the 'egg'. She is emotionally and physically attached to Ari, if Ari dies so does she.
Powers: Can breath fire, moves at supersonic speeds, speak telepathically

Name:Theron Fionn
Age: 26
Appearance:

Backstory:Former U.S. Army Ranger who was recruited by a secret agency after his last tour of duty. He has enjoyed the work so far (especially with the cutting-edge technology and resources at his disposal). Due to the nature of his work, he has no true home and is constantly moving from one safe house to the next as his mission demands.
Weapons:Two Glock G18s with two extra clips (17 rounds), and two others extended magazine (33 rouds); Modified G36C, two spare magazines
Arsenal:Armor deploying from a bracelet (based off of the disc) which grants increased healing, speed, strength, and minor ability to manipulate fire and bolts of electricity; Prototype Energy Rifle with unlimited ammunition, but requires a minor period after overheating; Tech Enhanced Sword which can collapse to just the hilt and can cut through all substances known to man

Pulling up the headphones she silenced the world and took stance, it was a quiet night in the middle of no where land, home base was dead. Not even the crickets, or whatever this place called them, were out on this start night. Releasing the safety she took aim down range and fired a shot waiting to see the flash from the target. When nothing can she fired again and again, still nothing.... this was an exploding target, now where was the explosion?
Taking off her ear covering Ari muttered to herself, "the freaking MP's that are 'protecting' us can't even set up a proper exploding target.... and they are what is suppose to be the first and only defense between us and whatever is out there..." She worked with the recovery project but this island, they hated them, all five of them. Finally getting down range she fiddled with the wiring on the target, the wiring was lose so even if the connector plate hit the flash never came. In the sky a star streaked across heading towards Earth, its trail was low and fast and heading towards some where in the Pacific Ocean.
Standing up Ari shook her head greasy bangs still sticking to her forehead and wishing for a shower, it had been a day or two on site and she couldn't wait to head back to Northern Cali and grab a shower in her friend's apartment and crash. She and the other anthropologist had been island hopping for months every few weeks moving to a different island to go through another pile of unmarked graves to return soldiers home. With every site they switched MP's, no one wanted to be stuck with the two weirdoes for too long.
Leaning against the target facing she looked up noticing the bright light headed towards the island, a fallen star maybe? With in a few seconds she noticed that no it was heading straight towards her, in a ball design with white hot flames licking the sides of it. Sliding her hand back to move away from Ari put pressure on the plate and with a flash of bright light she was knocked back and hit the ground between the force of the explosion and the 'star' hitting the ground not five feet away. With all the white around her her world went black as she passed out.

He mumbled under his breath as he tracked his target through the crowded marketplace, weaving and feigning interest in different goods these small merchants offered. He hated these assignments, even though he had developed patience from his years as a sniper. All of a sudden his target noticed him and stared to walk faster. Theron then cursed under his breath and moved faster to the corner that he had turned around. When he finally rounded it, he noticed that there was no one in sight. Cursing violently, he pulled out one of his G18s and started down the alley. "Damnit, where could this tricky SOB have gone?" Out of nowhere he got this instinct that he was laying down behind a piece of scrap that seemed so low to the ground that there shouldn't be an way he could fit under it.

He pried the piece up and found who he was looking for, and he seemed scared right out of his mind. It was hard to imagine that he would be of any use to the Agency, and it was even harder to picture him being able to make some futuristic piece of tech that had great destructive force. Oh well, it was not his place to question only to follow orders. He pulled the man up and realized how thin he had gotten since he had been on the run, and promptly put some cuffs on him. Finishing this, he held up his wrist to his mouth and opened up a link to Command. "Command, this is Agent X, I need an extraction for myself and Target Theta." He almost chuckled and struggled to keep a straight face; despite his military training, he still laughed at the titles or nicknames they gave our for their agents and for the targets they were to pursue. "When can you grab us, and where do I need to hole up?" "Agent X, standby," Command replied. Static issued in his earpiece for a little while, then out of nowhere, "We are sending an evac for Target Theta, and an additional airship is being sent for you. You have new orders that will be given to you en route." Great....this day was getting better and better by the moment.

After an hour of waiting Theta's evac arrived at the nearest pick up location, and Theron had to wait even longer. Out of nowhere he heard a minor engine noise, and then a dust cloud kicked up. Then a streamlined ship like none other he'd seen appeared from thin air and he was beckoned in. Oh...this was getting even more interesting by the second. He ran towards the ship and got in with the door sealing behind him.

Rubbing her head Ari slowly opened her eyes seeing a pair of eyes staring at her not eve three feet away from her face. With a screech she backed back hands slipping in the mud, elbows catching her before she fell into the divot behind her. It was just a squirrel, or something like that, at least she thought it was... Leaning forward she moved her hands to steady only to slip and fall backwards flailing and hitting a rock square in between her bare shoulders with a fiery pain.
Flipping over she bit into her wrist screaming, it was no use to wake up camp over her stupidity, flicking her eyes over to where she had landed they widen. That wasn't a rock it was that thing that was flying at me. Studying it in more detail she saw seams and a piece that seemed to be broken off, touching her back she felt a piece of something in her back and crawling over she felt the rock... whatever it was was warm and when her hand touched it pulsed with a blue light the seams unfolding and a pair of deep grey eyes blinking at her. Awwwww it is so cute.... wait a what is it doing! The animal swayed shaking out it's wings and tail before looking at her head cocked to the side. Reaching out to touch it the blue thing backed away quickly neck moving into it's shoulders before blasting a spit of blue flames at her face. Ari quickly moved her hands to cover her eyes before the fire hit, rolling around in the mud when she felt it licking her skin and hair.
The little thing, not even a full two feet long walked out to her watching carefully before prodding at her arms with it's snout the fire and stinging pain retreating prompting Ari to look up. "What are you?" the little thing sneezed its wings and tail both flying out a bit before it mewled at her. "A dragon.... but those things don't exist..." She fell backwards yet again eyes rolling back into her head.

Something was shaking her, and God was it early "Mhmmod net me sweep, it is early w'can go dig laters..." The shaking didn't stop but she had woken up enough to hear the words that was being said "Doctor Pascal, are you okay? Doctor Pascal..." Jolting up she almost butted the MP in the head twisting his arm way from her back. She was still at the range, right near the now exploded target, she must have dreamed it all. "No I am not all right.... can none of you properly set an exploding target? I went out here last night to relieve stress and what do I get? The target didn't work and when i went to fix it, the damn thing exploded on me! Burned my bangs! What is wrong with you people!"
Stomping off she went back to her tent and collapsed onto her pallet, the female MP she shared a tent with was already out with Mohammad at the dig site, thankfully. Moving away her hair she felt at her shoulders, hoping to feel nothing only to be disappointed. About two cm out of her back was a disc, warm to the touch but smooth, no seams or latches anywhere to be found. It was like the disc was now part of her back. "It wasn't a dream... then where is?" Not a second latter the dragon peeked out from under her tent mate's blanket giving a cute mewl before Ari gave a scream that brought her MP running to the tent.

He sat in silence, listening to the almost silent thrum of the engines. What the hell is this aircraft? I haven't seen anything like it, even with my time in the Agency. Theron still hated long silences though, and he decided he might as well try to get his next mission from the individual who had beckoned him onto this thing. "So what am I being tasked to do? Another recovery? If so, who is it? Or what am I going after?" The stranger chuckled slightly and leaned forward a bit, revealing some weird kind of armor covering his body where his suit wasn't. "I guess you could call it a recovery, though frankly even with our resources we're not sure who or what you will be going after. We have a general idea though.....we believe it to be an individual working on Iwo Jima as part of the body identification team. Intelligence reports that it is an object that fell there, and it is believed to be of extra-terrestrial origins. It appears to have been recovered by someone on that island, presumably on that team since it was in their area. Beyond that, we are in the dark. We want you to retrieve whatever it was that fell and anyone who came into contact with it."

Theron sat back in his seat, mind reeling from what was just revealed to him. Not only was it a recovery mission, but he didn't even know who and what it was they were wanting him to grab. Gods have mercy, why did I ever leave behind my "normal" job with the Rangers. Hell, I could have even gone into special forces, but no, I had to take the creepy and shadowy offer. "You know, I may be good at my job, but I can't track something with nothing. You may have given me a location, but I work better knowing who or what I am going after." He tapped his foot repetitively, slightly annoyed with this assignment. The stranger then decided to speak, "Well, not nothing. We recorded a slight energy signature as it dropped through the atmosphere. It's not much, but it may give it away when you get within a few feet. It was that slight, and we were lucky to pick it up frankly." Theron laughed, and began to wonder what the hell he had gotten himself into. "Well, how the hell am I going to do that? Hold out a big scanner to every person I happen upon?" A slight silence followed as the armored man dug out what looked like a watch and tossed it to him. Theron caught it, and looked at it incredulously. "That will transmit a minor signal to your earpiece when you that signal gets picked up. Remember though, it has to be within two maybe three feet."

"Mr. Fionn, do think about what this might do to your career. Whether you succeed or fail might make a great difference in your life."

"Doctor Pascal are you okay?" Ari stuck her head out of the tent slightly shaken. "Sorry, I thought I saw a snake.... You know how much they scare me.." Grinning she stuck her head back in as the MP shook his head muttering something about stupid women and how glad he was that they were leaving this station tonight.
Waiting a few more seconds she lifted up the pillow she had thrown at the lizard like thing, it was still their though it didn't look very happy. "Look I am sorry but you scared me as much as I hurt you." Ari sat down on her cot and tried to pick up the dragon, but it only backed away... "Do you want some jerky? What animal doesn't like jerky...." Rummaging through her back she opened up the ziplock and pulled out a few pieces of jerky sticking one in her mouth and chewing before extending her hand at it. It cocked it's head before extending it's wings and neck taking the jerky and devoured it leaving no crumbs before looking up. Ari half grinned as the little dragon licked it lips looking for more. "You got to come over here to get it half pint." Shimmying it's butt and extending it's wings the dragon jumped from one cot straight into her lap grabbing the jerky before curling up and munching on it. "Well that solves that.... now I guess I just need to keep you hidden.. we are going back to the Mainland soon..." Ari petted the slate grey annoyance before picking it up and wrapping it in a towel "Come on.... Rain water shower for you and me, we are nasty."
It kept on squirming as she tried to scrub it clean. "Stop it! I am serious, I will put you in the bucket!" It spit fire at her but she dodged having gotten use to the little dragon's dislike of water. Finally she just tipped the bucket of lukewarm water on it and went to wash out her own hair. "Your own fault... you wouldn't sit still." It continued to whimper and snaked it's way around her legs until she looked down. "I will dry you off once I am done don't worry." She rinsed out her hair as she heard a noise up ahead.. probably their transport but it was a full day early.

They landed just outside the camp, out of the line of sight of the few MP's that were on duty. Damn security is lax here, I could really cause some damage and chaos if I was someone who wanted to mess with them. Unfortunately I have a job to do or I might juts be tempted to show them where they are lacking. The door slid open silently, engines a barely audible thrum as he took a step onto the historic island. "You have your orders Mr. Fionn, and I do remind you that failure is not regarded well." Theron chuckled since he had heard this speech numerous times before, and thought of something before taking the final step out the door. "Do I contact through normal channels once I have acquired the target, or targets as the case may be?" "No Mr. Fionn, you will not utilize the normal channels. You will use the frequency we have programmed into the detector. It will put you in contact with the right recovery transport. Do not contact us unless you have the target or are in mortal peril. Understood?" "Yes sir, understood." Theron took his final step off and looked back only to see a minor dust cloud as the transport presumably lifted off and flew away. Well, better get to it then.

He walked up to the camp and saw that the guard was indeed not as strict as they should be in their attention to the security of this small "installation", albeit it temporary. As he approached the checkpoint, the guard stepped forward and blocked his path. "Identification sir? What is your reason for being here?" He had to resist laughing as he pulled out his adaptive id, deciding upon a high level government contractor working with the DoD for his cover. "Here's my identification soldier. May I inquire as to what the hell you were doing sitting around lounging in the mid-morning sun?" The soldier seem rattled once he realized who it was that he was supposedly talking to. "My apologies sir! There hasn't been much need to be completely attentive due to a lack of activity sir." Theron almost burst out in complete laughter; he had forgotten what it was like being around servicemen and women, especially as their superior. So this is what the officers felt like then...feels kinda good. No sense abusing the lad though, he seems clueless enough. "I'm here to inspect your "facilities" and evaluate the overall efficiency and worth of continuing this project. I need to interview all of the scientists as well as any other MPs assigned to this site." "Right away sir! Is there anything else you need sir?" "Hmm, a roster of all personnel as well as a manifest of supplies and any sites. Oh, and a list of any bits of unusual activity or occurrences within the past week." The MP scrambled off to gather all that Theron had asked.

Not even 15 or 20 minutes later, the MP returned with several binders presumably filled with the information that Theron had asked for. "Now, is there a tent or any kind of workspace that I can use while I am here?" The MP hesitated, thinking for a second. "Well, we could probably put up another tent for you to use. It wouldn't be ideal, but it should be workable. We are due to leave tomorrow though sir." "Very well. Inform me once you have found me some space, but don't bother setting something up if it is to be stripped down tomorrow. In the mean time I will stay here and begin going over what I am able to." "Yes sir!" Once again the MP scrambled off. Theron almost laughed as he took a seat and used the small table the MP had been using as an impromptu desk. He grabbed the small binder which was labeled personnel and started to skim through it, all the while glancing around and noticing that there was at least two females here, and was mildly surprised. He wasn't sure if they were civilians or soldiers, but he figured he would find out once he finished going through the files.

Ari toweled her hair off leaving it down for the while and threw on a pair of gym shorts and a baggy shirt that stated USRP, United States Recovery Project, before stuffing her glock into the back waistband. Wrapping the dragon in the towel she started off for her tent to let the thing go hide in it while she went to find her MP for a camp to site escort, after all it was the last day of work... she couldn't slack off that badly... though she could probably call cramps or shock and get out of work.
Giggling slightly she looked over at the card table that also was used for dinner, someone was sitting looking through the binders of crap that they had her and Mohammed fill out. Who in there right mind needs to know how many 'sexual partners' I had before sending me off to a remote island to do field recovery? Oh wait the US government did....
Closing the door of her tent she let the runt out before shoving her clothes in a wet ruck and grabbing out her last set of black cargo pants, it meant gym shorts tomorrow on the helicopter ride back but these things were durable. Ari threw her gym shorts on the bed and wiggled into the pants before scrounging for sock and putting on her standard issue tan boots (which had been not so standard issue since she had switched them for her broken in pair when they had started this assignment) and hip holster for her allowed Glock. With one last look of 'don't you dare mess anything up or get caught' to the runt she left the door unzipped so it could wiggle out and shouldered her bag before walking over to the table where one of the Johns were.
"Smith 2 don't you ever get tired of trying to figure out if you can get in my pants?" She slapped the shoulder of the brunette man in front of her before realizing that it wasn't the extra MP they had assigned and quickly removed her hand and unholstered the Glock taking stance at the man's head. "Who the hell are you? And why do you have those files?"

He felt the slap on his shoulder, but it didn't quite register what she was saying. Apparently she thought he was one of the MPs assigned to protect them. He turned to face her and noticed the gun now pointed at his head. He chuckled slightly, taking a breath to steady himself. "Ah, you must be Ms., or rather Dr. Ari Pascal. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He smiled, attempting to diffuse the situation and throw her off her guard. As he took a step in to shake her hand, the watch sent a signal to his earpiece, alerting him that this female had come in contact with whatever it was that had fallen to Earth. "If you would please lower the gun, I will introduce myself. My name is Nero Hartan, and I am with the Department of Defense as an evaluator of projects. My I.D. will verify as such." He handed her his I.D., ensuring with a quick glance that it was still set to the appropriate identity and organization. He had done this several dozen times, and frankly found it quite easy to slide from one identity to the next. Well, I've found at least one person who they asked me to, and hopefully she will know where the object is and anyone else who had come in contact with the object. Though what it was was still a mystery to him, and he prayed to the heavens that it would be revealed to him what this blasted object was! He stared at her as she studied his I.D. and sized her up as someone not to be underestimated despite being an anthropologist.

She growled and swiped the ID from him with her free hand the Glock still point solidly at his head. The ID looked real, but those were easily faked.... She poked at the badge and felt the ridge going to lift it up some before dropping it back... real. Hearing a loud thudding up behind her she looked as Smith 1 came running up, flipping the ID closed and tossing it back at this Nero person before lowering her Glock and sliding it back in the holster loosely.
"John 1, why didn't you inform us that we were going to have a visitor? You know I don't take kindly to my personal files being given out to just anyone, bad enough that you know that Mohammad and I slept together one night... it don't need another man knowing." Her sickly sweet tone gave any how pissed she was before he had a chance to respond in his normal smart mouth, some one of importance was present, he had to play nice. "Ma'm we didn't know he was coming and since you had that accident on the range last night, I don't think we would have had the time to inform you this morning.."
Ari's attention wandered as she saw a blur of slate blue moving across the brush, that fucking dragon.... it was chasing after a mouse. The low growl under her throat caught it's attention as it stopped and looked up at her while she cocked her head back towards the tent. The dragon seemed to ignore her for a second before with a blur it grabbed the mouse and pranced back to her tent.

Theron laughed in his head as the two went back and forth. It was a shame Dr. Pascal had to be taken as a target, she seemed like quite the interesting woman. All of a sudden his watch went off again, sending a constant tone into his ear until all of a sudden it stopped. Strange. Does this mean the object itself is mobile? Maybe attached to someone else? Possible superhuman abilities? Who knows, all I know for the time being is that Dr. Pascal has been in contact with the object. "Well, not that this conversation isn't riveting, but I do need to ask. Dr. Pascal, has there been any activities out of the ordinary? Anything interesting appear or was found in your work? The MP here did just mention something about you having an accident on the range. What exactly happened?" He maintained a level but friendly tone, posturing himself so as to appear as non-threatening as possible. If the MP was a bit more seasoned and paying attention he might be able to pick up on what Theron was doing, but as it stood it was obvious this was fairly early in his career and he was quite bored and understandably so. Baby-sitting scientists, how fun could that possibly be? "I guess I should answer your question out of fairness. I am going through the records to ensure that all personnel, both military and civilian, are being utilized to the best of their abilities and skill-sets. In general I am here to evaluate how the Recovery Project is progressing and whether or not more funding is needed. As part of this I will be reviewing records and performing interviews with all those involved directly with the project. Does that answer your question satisfactorily?"

Ari pursed her lips and rolled her eyes before looking at Smith 1. "I guess this means that I won't be working today doesn't it?" He nodded at her "Yes Ma'm, if he needs you here than you won't be allowed on site until you finish it." Seeing that the runt had made it back into the tent just fine she grabbed the chair that didn't wobble and plopped down gesturing for him to get out his little notepad and write down what he pleased.
"I was at the range last night, and since you give us E3 MP's, one of the exploding targets wasn't connected right, I re connected it, right then a star shot by, and I accidentally set of the pressure trigger looking up at it, I got knocked out and spent a good 8 hours out on the ground til Smith 1 here found me. Answer your question? As for interesting things, we have found 15 distinctive bodies, all but 2 are American, along with 5 fragmented piecings. Is that interesting enough for you because it is to me, it is what I came here for."
Crossing her arms she put her legs up on the table leaning back slightly "Can I go work yet Smith? I am bored....." He glared at her flicking the back of her head when he thought Nero couldn't see. "I am going to go pick up Doctor Miles, James is taking apart the range. You should both be safe until I get back." Taking his riffle Smith one got into their one Jeep and glared at her before driving off..... Great alone with the crazy government worker....

It seemed Dr. Pascal wasn't rather fond of the MPs, or of him for that matter. "Wait, you mentioned a shooting star? Any idea where it might have landed? I'm a bit of an amateur astronomer and while I realize it's unlikely for anything to survive entry into Earth's atmosphere, I do always hope." He tried to put as much enthusiasm and eagerness into his voice as possible. He realized he was talking out of his ass, and he was hoping that she wasn't knowledgeable in astronomical phenomenon. It was likely though that this "shooting star" was the object he had been sent here to find. So close, so very very close. Gods, this might be an easier mission than he had thought it was to be. Only and hour or so here and he had already gotten a major lead and was close to retrieving everything. "Dr. Pascal? I also noticed you referred to the MP as Smith 1. Is there any reason for that?" He really didn't give a damn, but had to feign interest since it was one of the details any normal agent tasked for review would be doing. That was one of the downsides to working for who he did, so much damn training, but the majority of it had actually paid off.
He got up to stretch, for he was indeed stiff and wanted to be done with this as quickly as possible, or at least get another lead. "Is there anywhere to grab a drink perhaps? Nothing strong obviously. Hell, even some water would do with this heat."

Ari waved her hands around "We are on an island if it made it close enough to the surface chances are that it is in the middle of the ocean over 100 feet down." She was lying through her teeth but oh well, the less people guessed the better. It seemed like the Nero was lying too though, because the size a star needed to be to get to earth was huge, and for it to be findable after impact was even larger. He was just trying to interest her to loosen her up, and it wasn't working that much..
"John and Jane Doe is what you call unidentified bodies, but if you know their name but can not call them by it is is Smith, they are Smiths. I know their names but I get pass through them every couple of weeks so I don't bother to develop an attachment or call them by name. It is easier this way, since I am digging up their ancestors and years latter someone may be digging them up out of this same ground." She turned and started walking towards their cooler grabbing out two bottles of water. She set them on the table and pulled a tiny bottle out of her pocket squirting it into the water and sealing it before shaking up the water and turning it purple. "Water good enough for you? Because it is basically all we have."
She tilted her head up and looked at the sky noticing a black dot hovering near the site... now that was odd.

"Darn, well, one can always hope." She was dancing around that. The way she made the dismiss of the shooting star set off warning signals in Theron's head. I definitely need to keep an eye on her. "Water will do just fine. Thank you Doctor." He took up the normal bottle of water, checking quickly that the seal was still intact. You could never be too careful when it came to suspects, especially when they were hiding something. He then broke the seal and took a gulp of the water. Nothing to worry about so far, no strong taste. "So, you call them Smiths since you know their names, but are shuffled around so much that it doesn't really matter if you use them. Interesting." He feigned writing down some notes, making sure that it was out of sight, then he noticed Dr. Pascal, or Ari as he had thought of her a few times, staring off into the distance. "Is there something wrong Dr. Pascal?" He turned his head and noticed a black dot hovering there. He assumed that was what she was staring at. Could that be the object that he was after? Or was it one of the Agency's drones keeping an eye on things?

"Too high up to be a heli, to low to be a satellite. Probably some government thing watching us, Japan sent one when we were up in their area. They think that we are stealing their soldiers bodies to desecrate even after all these years." She pulled up her hair playing with the tail and looking at him hooding her eyes, she was still kind of tired.... "So, you are from what contract group? L3, Trinity, Blackhawk? Those are the big ones with contracts in the DOD." She was ignoring most of his statements to just be bullshit, she was getting the feeling that he wasn't what he said and there for what he said was bullshit... no worse than a Smith. Sighing she noticed smoke coming out of her mouth and was quick to shut it. That damn dragon had something to do with this.....

Artemis was curled up on Ari's cot munching on jerky purring, she was content and happy but her master was outside with something... It reeked of death, more so than the other cot's owner... but until she protested Artemis would be a good dragon and eat her rat and steal Ari's jerky.

Damn, don't tell me they are spying on me now. C'mon, after all I've done they are pulling this crap? They could jeopardize it all! "Well, no telling from this distance. Could even be one of our own just doing some area surveying. Who knows?" He would have to bring this up with his superiors, because this was just complete and utter shit.

"Well, I'm with no particular contract group since they have me employed as a government agent. I work directly for the Joint Chiefs of Staff to report on various projects as tasked. In fact, I was just over in Europe with another recovery project not even a week ago. Trying to identify some remains left over from the World Wars, and the week before that over in Korea. It is definitely draining, but as long as I make sure no stone is left unturned in my evaluation of each project's effectiveness and worth I am satisfied." He was surprised at how easily this was coming to him. That time looking over information on the flight here had actually paid off. Hell, he was fairly certain he could list of the heads of each project and the other experts working under them.

As he leaned in to grab the bottle again he noticed what looked like a small puff of smoke coming out of Ari's mouth. Interesting....could this have something to do with the object? "So, where do they have you going after this then Dr. Pascal? Or may I be a little less formal and call you Ari?"

She narrowed her eyes at him "Doctor Pascal is fine, only my coworkers call me Ari. My given name is Ariella, but I had that changed years ago because of the singing mermaid. She ruined the name to be called a Lion of God." Her eyes got a bit more heavy, either the shock was finally setting in or someone had spiked her Mio.... Ari shook her head and tried to stretch a bit wondering where the other Smith was. "If you are done with me... I would like to leave... apparently the shock is setting in.." She went to stand only to not feel her legs, and caught the table with a yelp to stop her imminent fall. Something was wrong. "Are you feeling numb? Because I can't feel my legs... and I got the water from the same pack."

Artemis looked up, mistress had yelped.... this wasn't good. Wiggling out of the bed the young dragon stuck her head out to look at her, she was gripping the table like it was a life line. Oh, no... this wasn't good Momma was hurt.

Something's not right here. I had the suspicion of the water being spiked, but I'm not feeling anything. Oh gods....the bastards sent someone else in as well. At least he hoped that was what it was, because the alternative wasn't nearly as nice. If that wasn't the case then it meant there was some other agency or government with someone out here. Maybe the Japanese? As Ari fell he reached out to catch her and his watch kept sending a signal to his ear mike. He tuned it out, realizing that she had had some exposure to the object. Right now he didn't care. "Are you alright Doctor?" He helped support her and then realized that there was a guard missing. How could he have missed that? "Is there someone or somewhere that would be able to help? A medic, medical doctor, anything?" He could easily do what he could, but it would arouse suspicion and he would rather not do that unless he absolutely had to. It would give him away as more than a government lackey, someone who did little more than paperwork and evaluations.

He continued to look around and saw a medkit inside one of the tents. He set Ari down and sprinted to grab it. He opened it up and decided that he would have to improvise, since Ari seemed to be a bit in shock from whatever had hit her system. He pulled out a syringe of what appeared to be an anti-toxin and decided that if she didn't respond soon he would have to use it along with anything else he could find, especially not knowing what had been put into her drink.

Ari tossed and turned, the feeling was slowly spreading up her legs and the world was going hazy. Her tongue felt like a thousand pounds, and she tried saying something but nothing came out. Where was Smith 2... he was the medic qualified on the team... Her brain just started to haze over, body seizing she tried to turn over but couldn't. Where was that damn ass liar. "Nerr" That was about all that came out before she puked heaving heavily and turning her head to the side so she didn't choke. Seeing nothing but that red water and bile she realized something, Smith 2 had drugged her, that fucking thing of Mio he had given her after she had run out last night. He had probably hoped that she would grab a drink after the range and use her favorite little bottle. That bastard.

Artemis heard her Mistress's thought and growled before stalking out of her tent and went in search of a soon to be dead human, no one hurt her Momma. She went out laying low to the ground away from Ari, the disk would take care of her, flush the toxin out of her system. Sniffing the ground she found the man not far off from the range doing things that he shouldn't be. Spitting a bit of fire she scared him before frying him alive. No one hurt her Momma.

Theron was a bit panicked. Then he thought back and bit. Given the symptoms it wasn't anything serious. In fact, it seemed surprisingly like something he remembered from his sexual harassment training. Something about a "date rape drug" rang a bell and he realized that whoever this "Smith 2" was likely had something to do about it. From Ari's first reaction to his appearance, or rather what she said, he sounded like a bit of a horn-dog who was trying to get in her pants. Bastard, scum, and a lot of other names came to mind for someone like that, especially if they were willing to go this far. He decided to tone down the anti-toxin and mixed up a quick syringe that would flush her system. It wasn't anything a doctor would recommend, but it would flush whatever it was from her system. He was trying to decide whether or not to inject her now or after she finished puking. It was entirely possible the puking would flush enough from her system so his little cocktail wouldn't do much but make her tired from the rapid detox. "Ma'am? Doctor Pascal, are you alright? Can you tell me what is happening to you? Is anything numb? What can you tell me?"

Ari tried to glare at him but the burning pain in her back stopped her. The disk was burning her horribly but she had finished vomiting for the moment. "Fu..ck... you.. men.." She closed her eyes and tried to move her hand, her fingers twitched and her arm protested but it moved to prop her up. "Water, yours not mine, give" She wasn't in the mood for this, it wasn't the first time someone had tried to assault her but it was the first time they had used drugs on her. The burning feeling in her back was still there but it seemed that the disk was calming down the more she pushed out of her system. She still couldn't feel her legs but those had gone first, made since that they would take longer.

Artemis was struggling to pull this man away from were she had killed him, but the 2 foot long dragon wasn't getting much luck. Flapping her wings she took off dragging the shoulder of the charred man away, towards the ocean so no one would find him. Finding a cliff Artemis looked between the water and the charred body, he had tried to hurt Momma. Momma was suppose to protect her until she got big and then she could protect Momma but the rolls seemed very reversed right now. Flapping her wings she dragged the body mostly over before letting it go and watching it fall into the ocean.

He quickly handed Dr. Pascal his water, realizing that he his last conclusion was probably right. Now to find that bastard and teach him a bit of a lesson. He wasn't overly protective of normal people -- particularly civilians -- but he hated seeing scum try something like this. Especially when they were members of the military that were trying this. He would most definitely be having a nice little "chat" with the scum. In the mean time, he had to make sure Ari was alright since so far she was his only lead on whatever it was the Agency was after.

All of a sudden he heard a bit of commotion coming from the direction of the range. It seemed like something was going on over there. Maybe they had found "Smith 2" and were taking it out on him. Wait, no one else knew to suspect him....at least he didn't think they did. Maybe something else? Only way to find out would be to check it out himself. "Are you going to be okay Dr. Pascal?"

Shaking her head she tried to hand up again after chugging the water "No, I am going to be charged with murder." shaking as she stood Ari stumbled moving in the direction of her tent. "You need to stay with me until Smith 1... I mean Kerrin returns. Safety protocol, everyone has to be with someone with a gun. So come on. I am getting back to my tent and changing this shirt." Ari staggered towards her tent, the transport would be at least another 20 minutes and she was tired. All she wanted was to pull off her shirt and put a wet cloth on her back to cool it.

Artemis sat in the brush licking off the smell of ash, they needed to leave this place soon... it was going to be time to open her metaphorical mouth and state it to her.

Theron was a bit ticked that he had to stay with Ari until the MP got back. Unfortunately he needed to maintain his cover and not do anything suspicious. "Very well. Which way to your tent?" He reached out a hand to help her but she had already gotten up and was staggering towards what was presumably her tent. "I'm guessing I will need to stay outside since you will be changing?" Theron had to resist the urge to laugh a bit since he really didn't care. He admitted she was attractive, but since she was a target he couldn't afford to let that get the better of him. He had a job to do, and he was here to do it. He would just have to find out what the commotion had been about later on.

He waited calmly outside of Ari's tent. Wondering how long it could really take to change a damn shirt. She was female after all, and civilian females did typically take a bit longer than was necessary for most task. Be that as it may, Ari had seemed a bit off. Her recovery also seemed a bit too fast even for those whose healing abilities were accelerated like Theron's own. "Dr. Pascal, are you alright in there?"

That damn thing was burning, a lot, not to mention the mess that the dragon had made digging into her jerky... Throwing off her shirt she pulled on a tank top and wiped at her back with a clean part of her own shirt before sitting down and cracking open an bottle of water and covering a rag in it placing on her back behind her hair. "Done, and I am fine... just tired and still dizzy."
She waved him in and started munching on the jerky that was still on her bed. "So lets not tell anyone about this? Because I will deny it passionately and if I get my way you won't ever find Smith 2's body.... He won't even get off the island." She smiled evilly a slight bit of passion showing in her eyes before she moved the rag, a bit of blood had apparently been on her back that she hadn't gotten in her shower. "So for now... got any more questions on things that you obviously don't care about?"

Artemis started crawling back to camp noticing that Momma and the death smelling man were no longer at the table. Sticking her nose in the tent she smelled him... nope not going in there.... Artemis went in the direction of the men's tent. It was nap time.

Theron walked into the tent and noticed that Ari seemed to be quite drained. Whatever Smith 2 had given her -- he still wasn't sure how he had done it, maybe that little bit of additive Ari had put into her water -- seemed to have had a serious impact on her. She would probably only need time in order to recover and be back to what was her normal self. Even now she seemed to still not believe his cover; was he just that rusty or bad at this? "Hmmm, well, I would keep this incident off the record, but this is the sort of thing I need to be documenting and reporting to my superiors. Though if Smith 2 has disappeared, that certainly wouldn't be reflected on any individual here." He was trying to seem realistic in how he was acting. Personally he wanted nothing more than to be right beside Ari as she made him disappear. "As for questions, none at the moment. If there is anything you can think of do share. Anything at all such as people acting strangely or weird objects."

Ari plopped down on her cot taking a closer look at this mister Nero Hartan... he wasn't what he seemed to be, he seemed too shallow. "Well then, can I pose you a question or two? Where did you serve? Because your stance says military but you didn't mention it... No one doesn't mention it here it is an instant in with this crowd. As for your question... I answered it earlier, pay more attention." Her disc was cooling down, that was a relief she had been afraid that she would end up setting her shirt on fire. Being on fire once had been enough for her, she didn't feel like repeating the experience.
Artemis rolled around in one of the men's cot, she was going to be getting comfy for now Momma was safe. She has done a good job at protecting Momma, and even if it wasn't sun bathing Artemis deserved a nap.

"Well ma'am, I think that's hardly any of your concern. Besides, it was a brief tour, just long enough for them to pay off my college loans. I found it all rather...distasteful." He was lying...and it was killing him. He was proud of his service...damn this woman! She was so irritating. She's hiding something...she's entirely too defensive to not be. Perhaps this was just the way she was though...after all, the science-y types often loved to lord their knowledge and superiority over those who they consider their inferiors. The watch was still giving off an annoying persistent beep, but it was faint. It was probably just leftover radiation from when the object had been here. He sighed, "Well, unless you have any further questions, I must be off. Need to inspect everything before you move and ensure all work has been to regulation standard. Good day Dr. Pascal." He turned to walk away, hoping this would all be over soon.

She snorted watching him walk out of her tent, not even bothering to care about the fact that he was suppose to stay with her until the others came back. Ari was tired, and pissed, that man was hiding something.... but it didn't matter to her. "He isn't my damn fucking problem..... he is the MPs. I am done with my tour tomorrow.. then the states." She dreamed of a long hot bath, bubbles & candles, eating good pasta... god her condo in DC was calling to her. Ari sat up in her cot remembering that one little problem... the dragon.... god where in the hell was that little beast? Hartan, or who ever he was, was not going to take kindly to a two foot long mythical reptile jumping out at him from the bushes.
This unfortunately meant that she had three options, hope to god that the hatchling stayed away from where ever Nero was, let it get caught and hope that no one realized the connection to her, or going after that damned beast.... And the last option wasn't really an option with how drained she was currently. She wished that Smith 2, whatever he was doing currently, would feel the fires of rage and burn for all eternity for putting her in this situation. Whistling Ari hoped that the dragon was at least somewhat like a dog and can back when called before collapsing on her cot again trying to figure out how she was going to get a live animal through airport security on her flight from San Fran to DC

He could tell she didn't like him...and unfortunately she had good reason to. She had picked up on it all: on his military past, on the fact that he was here for more than a "routine inspection", and perhaps even more.......How could she be this good? Did she have some sort of military training? I'm guessing so...at least for the fact that she worked enough with them. Oh well...guess I'll have to work a bit harder on this one than I'd hoped.

He walked off while looking around...for a base about to be completely packed up and moved, there doesn't seem to be much activity. Of course it was mostly packed up in terms of their equipment and the tents only had to be stripped down for transport. The MPs certainly seemed to be quite lazy...in fact, even given the lack of threats out here, it made him sick. He saw a pair of them off to the side, lazing around in the hot sun and decided that he would knock some sense into them. "Hey, you two idiots! What the hell do you lugs think you are doing?" They jumped a bit, furious and assuming an aggressive stance before noticing who it was. They just scoffed and blew him off...oh, they had earned this. He walked off and around to where he would come out behind them. As soon as he was, he flipped one of them then wrenched the other's arm behind his back. The first tried to get up, but Theron just placed his foot in the man's back, digging his heel in between the man's shoulder blades.

"Now, you two ladies want to tell me why this happened? Maybe the fact that you two were being lazy and weren't aware of your surroundings? Hm? Oh, what was that princess? Need me to let off your back a little so you can get your face out of the dirt so you can speak?" He laughed...perhaps he was enjoying teaching these two a lesson, but they deserved it.

Ari ignored the noise from outside her tent, they could take care of themselves.... she just needed to wait it out... and create space big enough to hide a dragon in.... God she wished that this night would just end, Mohammed needed to hurry up so this whole camp could pack up and she could get out of here. This place of the dead that use to bring her fulfillment was suffocating her, Nero was suffocating her...

The ATV finally rolled in an hour latter, Mohammed going up to Ari's tent peeking in "Hey Girlie, you feeling okay?" the pile of brown hair and cargo pants grumbled waving at him "I hate MPs... they are fucking dumb asses, one tries to murder me and the other tries to rape me. Neither succeeded, not sure if I want to congratulate them or kill them myself." He chuckled running a hand through his shaved hair "Pascal... Pascal... if you killed them it would be a conflict of interest for me... my oldest friend and drunken one night stand or the law.... I don't know who would identify the bodies...." Looking down at her finished packs he remembered how much he still has strewn around his area "Look are you okay because if so I am going to go pack.. if not, well I guess i will have to carry you over to my tent so I can still pack." She waved him off with a mumble of "Stay away from the govvie, he is weirder than weird."

Artemis's head perked up as she heard the hum of people moving around the camp, it was time to move away from the warm tent and back to Momma's. Slinking out she sniffed the air looking at the man who wasn't quite the same as the others.. off smell. He smelled of heat and death, a dry heat not the wet heat that surrounded the others. Shaking her head she moved off to Momma's tent, this day needed to end, it was all ready dark.

After teaching those MPs a lesson, he had gained a bit of respect from the military personnel here. Thye could tell he wasn't someone to be messed with now. Maybe now they'll cooperate a bit more when it comes to my questioning and investigation. He walked over to where the female MP was posted. Perhaps she can tell me a few things about Dr. Pascal...maybe what her deal is and a bit on her background beyond what her file tells me.

He made sure to make himself heard as he approached her. "Specialist Davis, may I have a word with you? It's part of my evaluation of the activities for this project." She turned around, at which time her weapon became visible in its holster on her right hip. "Yes? Oh, Mr. Hartan, my apologies. You said something about some questions?" He coughed, "Yes, I did. Now, tell me what you know about Dr. Pascal please. She seems to have had some kind of training...perhaps military or a government agency?" All of a sudden, he heard some rustling in the bushes in the direction of the female tent...What in the world is that?

Artemis noticed a bug hopping by the tent, not thinking she chased off after it scales glinting against the firelight. Oh fun.... after all she was still a hatchling.

Ari stood up from her tent moving the flap aside to join the others around the campfire to get food. Looking over the fire she noticed Nero talking to her bunk mate, great hopefully he would leave when they left tomorrow. Sitting over beside Mohammed she spoke with him about where they were transferring the american bodies. Hawaii field base was going to take care of the identifications, but one of the soldiers had been identified all ready, his family was in Colorado and they wanted someone to come take the body to the family personally. "Military copter taking them to the family?" He nodded giving out a few more things about the arrangements. "I will do it, nothing like letting the family know by the person that found him.... Grandson right?"

He walked over the brush, hearing it rustle more and more...like something hopping around or chasing something. After a minute of watching it, he decided it must be nothing more than a local creature doing a bit of hunting. He walked back over to the fire and sat back down. What little he had heard from the Specialist's responses hadn't been anything new to him. What is with this woman? On paper she seems like just another scientist, but in person she seemed like something more. Her stance was more aggressive, and it was familiar to him. He couldn't seem to place it though....of course! He had seen it in individuals trained as Special Forces operators. There was no way she was one...nothing else read military.

"So, when exactly will you be moving out tomorrow? Anything I can do to lend a hand? Oh, and I never did ask...the records concerning what all was found in terms of bodies wasn't given to me prior to my departure." He reached out as some food was handed to him. "Thank you." He started to eat, and couldn't place the taste..."What is this? What kind of meat?"

Ari coughed "It is Tofu, we ran out of meat last week, nothing big enough out here to hunt otherwise we probably would have caught something. I would offer you jerky but I am out." She noticed a glint of silver scales and growled lowly shooing hatchling back to her tent, Davis was stationed for the first shift the dragon would be safe for now. She sighed looking at the paperwork, Captain Laurence was finally going home to meet thee son he never met and the grandson he never thought he had. It was going to be a bitter sweet reunion, but it was part of her job.

Artemis pouted puffing a tiny bit of fire before going back to the tent and curling up on the pillow. She was ready to leave and get to fly around...

"Ah...okay." He chewed slowly...he never had been a fan of tofu. This wasn't too bad though...I guess if it's seasoned right it could be edible. "So, I noticed there was never an answer to my question...what did you all find out here? Any soldiers or other remains?"

His communicator beeped softly in his ear. "Excuse me, I think I shall head off and prepare myself for morning and head off to...well....bed I suppose." As soon as he was out of earshot of the others, he activated his comlink. "Yes? What is it? I haven't made any progress if that's what you are about to ask. Whatever it was that landed is definitely here...my scanner has picked it up intermittently. It is definitely mobile, but I don't know what it looks like."

"Well, just keep with it. We will be keeping tabs on all the members of the research team and the military personnel there as well just in case any of them are connected somehow. Do you have anything at all to report? Surely you must have come across something or had some sort of insight."

"Wait...I do have something. Can you tell me where Dr. Ari Pascal is headed to after leaving the site?"

"Hold on a moment....yes, I have it. Somewhere in Colorado. The travel request was filed for her so that she can escort the body of a dead soldier home to his family."

Interesting...I wouldn't have pegged her as the type to do something so sentimental. "I want an X-9 Transport ready for me tomorrow around noon. Stealth feature as well. I need to get there ahead of time...and I need another identity. One that will help me explain my presence in Colorado...preferably DoD related. Would help with some sympathy for a dead soldier." It pained him to use a fallen brother to this end, but it was for the greater good.

"It will be there waiting for you. Your scanner will guide you to it whenever you are ready."

"Roger. End transmission." He cut off the link and then went off to the tent they had set up an extra cot for him in. It certainly wouldn't be a five star hotel, but it was better than sleeping on the bare ground.

She rolled her eyes at Nero, this was why she disliked the military. Her fiancee had been a solider, they had no respect for her work, it was all dead bodies to them. The fire died down and people started to disappear to go back to their tents. Deciding that she may as well go back Ari picked up some tofu to give to the hatchling and went back into her tent. The dragon was curled up on the pillow and as she poked it a small spit of fire came out before with a sudden clarity the words "Momma brought food?" Went through her mind before the hatchling jumped into her arms eating the tofu. "You can talk? Where in the hell was that all day?" she hissed looking down at the pest who was happily munching on tofu. "Yes I can talk... and I have a name you know it is Artemis... can't not be able to talk to my momma." Artemis nuzzled her waiting for her to sit down. "I am not your momma.... now what is with you?" The dragon tilted her head to the side before starting on a long talk about her origins, how dragons had once roamed the earth bonding with humans and sharing their powers with them as a thanks for protecting them. Some where on Earth there was an egg stash, and it needed to be shown to the world. The night bled away and before long it was dawn, time to finish packing and leave...

Ari stood next to the cargo plane giving Nero an odd look.... "Soooo how are you getting back? This plane is taking us to Hawaii.. then I am leaving for Colorado to deliver some remains. No other plane is scheduled to come here for months.... are you sure you weren't supposed to come with us?" She didn't really want the guy to get on the plane with her and Artemis, as the dragon was so rudely reminding her, but she didn't want to leave another skeleton on the hunk of rock.