"I'll gladly lend you my datapad, as soon as we get the wounded out of this tincan."
"As far as that goes, I do not know. Ask your superiors." Morrison said with a grin. "Last time I went out, we went got tasked with a rapid assault, it was a weapon-and prisoner raid. Didn't really get any prisoners, or weapons, for that matter. And I've heard from the other guys that the op before that was a rescue mission, something to do with biohazardous material, I beleive. So the answer to your question would probably be 'yes'."Morrison cleared out from the APC as soon as the wounded had been moved. He then turned to Vaughan again, spitting dip on the hangar's deck. "Seems like the 'Easy Eights' are the rapid assault and rescue unit of the colonial marines, don't you think?"
"Fair enough, Corporal... not complaining, just want to make sure I wasn't bringing this on you all. Seems more likely we're just plain made for each other... lucky us", Dar grinned at Morrison.
Second mission, my first one with this unit, we had to storm a cult building, first squad went in from the front - second dropped in on the roof...took 2 bullets - made me appreciate USCM armour a lot more I can tell you." Jacob grinned half-heartedly at his joke "we were told to eliminate with 'extreme prejudice' which wasn't so odd I guess, for a mission, but we were told to recover all Weyland Yutani biohazard crates, empty or full, and to recover a live 'facehugger' they called it...that didn't settle well with me - why would they want empty crates? and what the fuck IS a facehugger anyway? But hey, I'm just a grunt, what right do I have to know?"
Dar listened intently... learning more about this new crew he had been assigned to. His mind was racing with all forms of paranoid thoughts... but it was damn nice to know he wasn't the only one... and that it wasn't likely about him, but rather just his luck once again...
"Mission just gone...the only things I didn't like the sound of was 'hostile xenomorphic presence' - something we clearly encountered...and 'biohazardous material inside of them' well...like Morrisson said - the person with the exploded chest, maybe...just maybe?"
"Definitely makes sense... sounds to me like someone somewhere knows one hell of a lot more than they're gonna tell us. On the upside... we survived... most of us... and I think we're gonna be one *hell* of a lot more prepared for whatever comes next. I have a feeling that we're best off keeping this among ourselves... if we start asking too many questions... well...", Dar let the thought trail off.
"Nick, that thing that attacked you...it did so by fastening onto your face...hugging it would you say? What are the odds that that was a facehugger, what we were meant to find at the cult HQ?"
Dar hadn't seen the creature in question, but his mind was racing as well. "Why the face? This thing offended by good looking Marines?" Coming from Dar, as scarred and lopsided as his face looked, the humor wasn't lost on the squad...
"Marines! Listen up! Get your gear cleaned and taken care of! Inspection will begin in exactly two hours!" hearing the dissapointed grunts and complaints from the men, Morrison simply smiled, and shouted: "Life in the corps is like life on the farm- every meal a banquet, every paycheck a fortune, every formation a parade! I love the corps! Now get moving!"
"Corporal... standard decon procedures?", Dar queried. Given the nature of what they just came through, he figured he'd ask while reminding of SOP.