A large (tall as a human and significantly longer) region of intense darkness emerges from the side of the road. You would have little chance of seeing it at all if not for the relatively bright road behind it. Without a sound it crossess toward the ball that rolled out earlier.

Adreneline pumping, senses amped, Bearclaw watches the.....something move across the road. His range finder is computing the correct trajectory for his first grenade when he subvocalizes "hey, do you see this? What's the call 6?"

J: To all, "Take them out."

Behind both 'things' on the road I place a tiger that growls a challenge and prepares to pounce.

"Are you sure, it doesn't seem to be threatining, I think it's playing with that ball..."

J: "Take them out, that's an order."

Are they going to question everything I say? *sigh* At least this time I have a good reason to order a strike.

Bearclaw swallows his misgivings, slowly lets his breath out and applies steady, even pressure to the trigger of the grenade launcher. As it should be, the loud "pop" is a slight surprise. Without waiting for the results, he switches targets and sends a three round burst into the center of the "ball".

The grenade flies straight to the shadowy object. Bearclaw's attention has shifted as he unleashes the burst at the round object. With a splatter, the round object unfurls and now lies across a portion of the road.

What about the grenade? You heard no boom. You didn't even hear a thud of impact. You saw no flash. The only clear sign of the grenade's flight is that the shadowy form is moving rather quickly back into the forest.

J: "Good shooting, let's move on before it comes back." I better phrase this just right, "we don't want to mess with those shadows, we got lucky this time."

Hopefully they bought it. I probably don't know anymore than they do. But then again, most things in the jungle are not friendly. I walk over to the ball creature, prod it with my foot, and wait for any movement (expecting none).

The object that used to be a ball looks a bit different now. It is about 2 meters long, hard outer shell, and generally rodent-looking face. Oh, it's an armadillo. An oversized armadillo.

J: I listen for any movement in the brush for about a minute and then continue along the road.

As I walk on down the road I think, 'left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot...' where the heck did that come from, oh well, at least it is keeping boredom away.

'left foot, right foot...'

Trogdor finishes casting his armor spell and sustains it as he searches his memory for information about big armadillos.

Lifter follows J down the road. Eyes peeled for any possible signs of ambush.

The walk is long. You reach the river and, glancing in, are suddenly glad there is a bridge. The water is fast and something other than water is shimmering in the moonlight.

The last stretch to the truck goes more swiftly. Despite the occasional snapped twig and other unwanted noises, nothing else gets in your way.

You now see the truck. It is sitting in the middle of the road, windshield intact, doors long removed, the bed filled with crates.

Lifter crouches down next to the bridge, using the frame as cover. He pulls out a set of thermal binocs from there padded carrying case secured to his LBE vest. He scans the truck, and the immediate area looking for signs of trouble.

J: "Two, can you check the truck for any 'surprises' that might have been left, and then inventory the boxes. Five, when he is done see if the vehicle will start and move. Both of you come up with the best plan to destroy the truck, dump it in the river, just blow it up here, whatever. One and Three spread out and scout the area. Four and I will cover the this position."

I set up just off the road, north of the truck and watch for problems.

(The bridge doesn't have clear sight to the truck, but there is plenty of suitable cover around.)

Lifter's scan of the truck shows that the engine heat is almost completely faded with respect to the surroundings. Small sources of heat, possibly animals, are huddled under the truck. Nothing else stands out.

"Looks clear," Lifter signals over the radio. He slides the binocs back into there pouch and seals the velcro. Lifting the LMG he makes his way to the bridge, and then slowly across it, checking for surprises along the way.

J: Not entirely sure what to do about the truck, guess I'll go have a look-see. I check the back of the truck, looking for any open crates or a crowbar to use. Looking inside a couple crates if I get them open.

All the visible crates are unopened. Prying the lid off one near the back shows a few assault rifles sticking out the top of some tightly packed straw.

Chesterfield's search discovers a few non-agressive rodents and a roughly shaped chunk of plasticrete. If not for the sharp unsmoothed surfaces, you would have missed it as another rock.

"So," Lifter says over the com. "Are we taking it or blowing it up?" He is careful to stay in at least partil cover, sweeping the area with his gaze, and his LMG.

J: Speaking to Lifter only, "can you drive it?" Open comm, "I say we drive it to the river, grab the guns, stash them, and push the truck into the river. Demolitions are too noticable." I glance up at the stars, looking to their infinite beauty for wisdom.

"I don't think I would fit in teh cab, we can throw it in neutral and push it in though. Where do you want to stash the guns?"

Bearclaw, peaking his nose into the back of the truck, says "Let's just crack the crates open, check for any especially good goodies, and then dump them all in the river. El Capitan didn't seem interested in their payload, just wanted to make sure it didn't get delivered."

"Ye gads," mutters Douglas," I'd better report this."

He speaks in a hushed yet strong voice," O Cap-a-tain, I've discovered something a wee out of place. Elements are beinging to suggest the is a man made structure hiding in these trees, namely, I've struck plasticrete, old girl. Instructions, please."

"Pushing it sounds like a good idea, but how do we make sure that no onesees the tracks from here to the river?"

"That's easy," Lifter says over the comm. "Bear, can you set a charge to detonate the truck after it is in the river?"

J: OLD GIRL!!!! Damn english butchering our language. "One, let's go see what DC's found, we may need your scouting abilities." I make my way to where three is waiting.

Old girl, I'll bet she liked that. Chesterfield chuckles.

"Well, no sense waiting around down here," he states as he leaps to the tree tops to search for his incoming conrade.

Bearclaw moves 10 to 15 meters to J's left/rear and follows her into the woods, senses ever alert for the slightest change in his environment.

Lifter watches them heading into the jungle, "hey people, we have a mission here, you think we can deal with this first before playing archeologist. Bearclaw, can you help me push this thing into the river, then I'll hit with a maw. The water should cover up the explosion. Then we can erase the tire tracks pretty easy." Amateurs.

Bearclaw subvocalizes into his throat mike, "5 this is 1, I am accompanying 6 on a patrol. Secure the perimeter and continue with the inventory".

"Roger," is Lifter's flat response. He crouches down below the truck and scan the jungle and the road for just a moment. I guess are mission has changed. Confident that he isn't being watched he climbs his bulky form into the back of the truck and start inventorying the contents, storing the record on his PDA, snapping pictures into the devices memory as necessary. He secures his LMG via sling to his back while he works.

J: If that S.O.B. doesn't show up soon, there will be hell to pay. "One, you see him?" What could be so important as to draw us out here. I swear if this guy is some freak who wants to get me alone, I will slaughter him and sacrifice his body to my Queen.

Slinking his way down the canopy's mighty supports, Chesterfield speaks into the comm.

"Right behind you, Gov," he says with a grin. Douglas has always taken a childish glee in his ability to frustrate people by eluding detection, a delight which will either keep his life for a long time, or considerablely shortern it. "But over there is what has me worried." He stretches his fingers and gestures to the location of the plasticrete.

J: I walk to where DC points and survey the situation by 'feeling around' for magical energies or other abnormalities.

J: To all, "We have a possible explanation for why the truck is abandoned. However, we take care of the mission and dump the exploding truck into the river. Then, any volunteers who want to go with me will investigate the area in question. There may be a mission bonus for any information we find, but it is up to you." As I speak I start walking back towards the truck.

A vioce from the trees says," As much fun as it is to watch you exhurt your barbarian strength and move the truck by yourself, I'll give you a hand".

Douglas climbs down and gives aid to his team mate, but only because he wants to get out of the jungle.

J's thought process: Where did he come from? He seems to be quite adept at moving through the trees quietly. I wonder if the truck would start? That would definitely make it easier on us. Wait, what am I thinking, they would have already checked that. Glad I didn't make a fool of myself.
I slip my whip off and take up a rearguard position in the procession.

Seeing that the rear is covered, Bearclaw slings his AK-98 across his back and comes in beside Lifter to help push. "Never let it be said that THIS elf is too good to get muddy."

Early in the process of truck-pushing, a few small animals scurry out from underneath and into the woods west of your position. The road is fairly level, so you reach the river swiftly.
The sky to the east begins to glow orange as you make your final push against the truck down into the river. The truck rolls down the embankment, stops about a meter short of the water, and then slowly starts rolling back up,

J: I circle around towards the bridge seeking an explanation for the odd movement of the truck.

Gravity defying trucks, another item in the long list of things from which to hide.

Once postioned snugly in the lower conopy, Douglas produces his fire arm. Yes, his tiny silenced pistol, I'm sure this will save me from the truck lifting monster.

"Well, that isn't somethin you see every day?" The big troll uttered. Lifter took a few steps back and unslung his LMG. His smartlink engaged telling him the ammo was seated properly, and that the barrels temperture was within acceptable limits. He moved to the left, and toward the river, trying to get an angle on the front of the truck.

Damn, that thing is huge! Trogdor thinks to himself when he sees the croc.

The troll mage drops his sustained armor spell and prepares to cast flamethrower. Sure the thing is covered in water but maybe a big old gout of flame will scare it away.

J: I remember the crock from my astral flight and figure it could cause some trouble. I don't want to hurt it, but if it attacks I better be ready for anything.

The hair on his neck standing on end, Bearclaw unslings his AK98. The grip fits into his hand like a security blanket, taking away all fear and indecision. He moves to the right of the truck, trying to get a good angle without putting Lifter in the line of fire.
Giant mutant crocodiles coming out of nowhere to mess with his plans arouse his suspicion that maybe some one is interfering. "6, is that thing being controlled? And while we're at it, WTF is it? And will a 40mm high explosive grenade kill it?"

J: Well, my sentiments be damned, we've got a job to do. Subvocal to all, "I do not see any other option than killing it. Take your best shots before it notices us. Three, cover our backs." Hell, if we kill it I can get some good material samples to for experimenting.

"Roger" is all Bearclaw says. He thinks "Holy crap, this lady is a little trigger happy. I hope I can hurt it."
making sure his team mates are more than 10 meters from the croc, Bearclaw triggers two frag grenades.

Lifter sighs inwardly, so much for stealth. He watches the ark of the grenades as they fall lazily toward the crock. For now he continues to aim his weapon without firing. If the crock lunges up at them he will open up with two 3 round bursts.