As the briefing was wrapping up, a private came rushing into the tent. He is a junior analyst from the S2, and he looked up at the commander before realizing where he was. Every Senior NCO in the room stared at the private like a bulldog about to attack prized meat while the commander looked at the young man with exasperation on his face. "Well? I assume you have good reason to interrupt this briefing, young man?" The commander says in a steady yet agitated voice. The private seemed to quake in his boots while snickering could be heard from outside the tent. Eric made eye contact with the S2 NCOIC and chuckled inwardly. "Well sir, uh… we… uh…" The commander lost his cool "Out with it man! We have things to do! We are at War with an entire world, and just announced ourselves by kicking down a damn door!" The man says as he looks at the private. "They found the connexes, sir." The private finally responded, still quaking in his boots. Silence invaded the room as the ramifications from that sentence washed over the room. "Of course those infernal things made it." A voice cracked from the back, and the commander just sighed wearily. "S-4, go get accountability of everything." He grumbles, not bothering to issue clear orders.
After the brief, Eric sat down with the Geoint team. He knew he needed to find and make contact with the locals, but so far? They had found nothing. Either the habitants were good at hiding, or "Hood Hill" as the encampment was now called, is isolated from the world. "Alright, if you guy's find anything, come wake me up. I am going to catch some shut eye."
A few hours later, Eric is woken up by his LT. He grumbles as he gets up, looking at the man. "What's up sir?" He asks as he grabs his ACH and hops out of the truck. Both suns had set now, bringing the hot, humid day to a cold wintery like night. Eric slaps some water on his face as he listens to his LT talking to him. "The soldiers found a village about 15 miles away." Eric rubs his face in thought. "Tell them to maintain visual and report to the commander your findings. We will not go out there until the morning. We need to play this safely so as to not repeat the same mistakes that previous army units did when advancing on new terrain."
In the morning, Eric set out towards the village. He looked at the map as they began the 15-mile ruck. A small contingency of Infantry was escorting them in case things went south, but Eric prayed to the Goddess that no one on either side would do something stupid. Coming within view of the village, Eric ordered for his element to halt. He spoke into his radio calmly as he observed movement in the village. He saw two females approaching what looked like a well, and then he saw the ears. His apprehension turned into vexation. "Really?" He groaned. "All personnel hold steady, we will approach slowly." He says as he slung his rifle around his back. He then motioned to his LT and his squad leaders to follow. "The three of us will approach slowly. Do not engage at any point. If they seem hostile, we will retreat and reassess the situation." The soldiers nodded as Eric took point.
"Hmm?" Samara said as she sniffed the air. She looked around as she noticed a strange smell. "What is it Samara?" The other cat girl says to her as she looks at her friend in confusion. "I don't know Lia. It almost smells like the craters created by fire magic mixed with... a storm? Do you smell it too?" Lia then sniffs the air and nods. "Yes. What is th-" Her words are cut off as she looked in the direction the smell originated from. "Samara!" She says as she looks at her friend.
"We need to get the chief! The green men are coming!"
Eric noticed that the women had looked in their direction before running off somewhere. He looked at the men accompanying him and motioned that they needed to approach slowly. If no one came out to meet them, he would sit out here and wave a white flag if he had to. His apprehensions wouldn't come to fruition however, because soon thereafter, an old man slowly approached them. He was tall and sturdy, and two brown ears stood atop his head. He regards the soldiers carefully as if determining whether they are friend or foe. Behind him, children are whisked into houses, doors are slammed on houses, and hushed voices could be heard behind closed doors.
"Frehab multich nezrea hicaus 'Hezel?" The man said to Eric as he approached. He stood roughly 15 feet away from the soldiers, while the soldiers stopped their approach as well. Eric looked at the man as he spoke. "Hezel… I think I recognize that word. Wasn't that one of the words that the POW's kept saying?" Eric thought to himself. He then recalled a report from one of the analysts that had the hypothesis of Hezel being the Enemy brigade commander. After a short pause, Eric shook his head "No." while crossing his arms over his chest to indicate he didn't work for Hezel.
The old man's ears flicked back as he looked between Eric and the village. His eyes narrowed as he speaks again "Csy I trust hsu." Eric's ears perk up as he realized he understood a word with clarity. "trust." He repeats to himself. He had heard that word repeatedly now, the prisoners had said it probably hundreds of times as he interrogated them. "What the-?" He ponders. He then recalls how the man had said "Trust" in his language, and repeated it back. "Trust." Eric says in a gentler tone, putting both hands on his own chest.
The old man had a delighted look on his face, but kept his composure as he looks at Eric and points at a mountain off in the distance. "Hezel." He says, his voice deadly serious and laced with what appeared to be rage. "Hezel gos j is hfej mou" Another word that Eric understood. "is." Eric vaguely guessed that the man was telling him that Hezel ran off towards the mountain. Eric put his hands together and bowed, trying to show he was thankful as he waved, motioning that it was time for him to go. As Eric turned around in order to leave, the old man pointed in the direction of Fort Hill. "Trust." He says with a smile, watching Eric leave.