Vittinghus sprinted through the forested area ahead of the rest of his men. He vaulted over fallen trees and ducked under swooping branches, foliage whipping at his bare arms as he did so. All he knew was what he had been told by his superiors; a report suggesting a crash had occurred nearby and that Vittinghus was to take his squad to investigate and, if necessary, subdue any hostiles. Not that he needed any such report to tell him so. Vittinghus wasn't stupid, and he had heard the explosion and smelt the smoke from over a klick anyway. Inferetes was an extremely isolated world, and any alien landings would be treated with absolute caution. His sword rattled against his side whilst his slugthrower was cradled in a vice-like grip in his arms, his body almost a blur as threw himself through the dense foliage of the planets environs. His squad of five men were shortly behind him; Vittinghus could hear the cracking of twigs and rustling of leaves as they ran equally fast as their commander, well at home in the terrain of their homeworld.
They had been running for almost fifteen minutes straight. He made sure his men were as fit as he was, spending hours each day enduring physical fitness and military training to ensure his men were some of the best. Within minutes of this rough time estimate, Vittinghus and his squad had reached the crash site. By this time, smoke from the wreckage was pluming both above the thick treelines and coagulating on the ground level. The smell of crisp wreckage made Vittinghus' nostrils wrinkles as he brought up his hand, indicating his squad behind him to stop. He brought himself to a rapid halt and crouched down on one knee, breathing heavily, but quietly. His men copied his actions and slowly made their way towards their commander, brandishing their varying weapons; some from Infereti spears to others long-range slugthrower rifles. Vittinghus squinted his eyes and glanced through the trees at the crashed ship, making a quick analogy of the damage and its geographical position in relation to the outlying area. Within seconds, he had made a decision.
Craning his neck to face the rest of his men, he nodded thrice at three of the five. "You, you, and you," he whispered. "Secure the perimeter and remain in cover: find a place to provide suppressive fire should we need it." He wrinkled his nose once more at the smell of molten metal in the air before finishing the order. "You and you." he instructed the remaining two. "With me. We will examine the vessel." He waited for them each to acknowledge his orders with nods of their own before a firm smile spread across his face. "Let's do it!" he said, rising onto his feet and suddenly running out of the tree-line towards the crash site. In less than a second, the two others were behind him, revealing themselves out of the dense foliage surrounding the crash, which had created a small clearing in the otherwise relatively undisturbed forestation, brandishing their weapons ahead of them. The ship loomed into view as the three approached. Vittinghus craned his neck, watching the other three fan out in the treeline, dropping into cover and disappearing from view as quickly as they had exposed themselves to visuals from the ship. As he approached the ship, he examined the structural damage of the vessel from a closer view as he closed on the space he though the cockpit would be located. He and his men had to be ready for anything.
@[member="Eldoc Quasat"]
