1900 hours,

Private Airport, Brazil

As the plane made it's descent, Erynn looked over at Katie who merely nodded in response before she flipped a switch letting the rest of the passengers know to buckle up and prepare for landing. A warning which everyone on the plane was quick to listen to. Though the Rangers were already in their seats having completed their checks, cleaning, and studying the maps and their routes. So once the plane glided onto the tarmac, a small shake alerted everyone that the wheels had touched down and they were now in Brazil.

Each of the former rangers sat in complete silence, a nervous air about them all as they waited for the word to disembark. Though the silence was broken by their ride coming to a halt, letting them all know it was time to get going.

“Fffuuucckkk~ I’m nervous man.” Dylan said while he stood up and grabbing his gear.

Andre looked over at him, “Think we’ll run into any hostiles?”

Everyone paused, a serious look on their faces.

“Yeah… Spiders. Fucking big…ass…spiders.” Dylan replied, looking down at the ground as if he was lost in thought.

“Wait… what? Spiders? That’s what you’re worried about?” Andre questioned a little surprised.

Suddenly they all broke out into laughter before moving on, gathering their belongings as they made their way to regroup with the others. “So long as you have that hat on your head, we’ll be fine.” William said, trying to reassure their mechanic before they all walked out of the plane.

Once they were outside, the setting sun coloring the skies a beautiful red. A good first sight to see in their first ever visit to Brazil. Though surprisingly, the former Rangers were the only ones taking in the sight of the sun shining through the surrounding jungle.

“Enjoy the flight?” Katie asked, giving them a wave as they regrouped with the others.

Lucas was first to wave back, “Wasn’t bad, though have to admit, spending seven hours studying a map isn’t really my ideal flight.”

“Mhm, I can imagine so.” She replied quickly before turning her attention towards Erynn who had just finished speaking to a few people the guys assumed were employees of OGL.

“Evening gentlemen, I trust you enjoyed the flight?” Erynn greeted in her usual neutral tone.

“The lovely pilot over here already asked us, but yeah, it wasn’t bad.” Andre replied this time, his arms crossed over his chest.

William looked over at Erynn for a moment, “So, any chance we can get more details as to where we’re actually going? The contract said we’re to guard you all while you look at some ruins, but you never really stated what was at said ruins nor why you needed us decked out in full combat gear.”

Erynn glanced over at him, raising a brow. “For now you have all you need to know. Just do what we’re paying you for, and keep our people safe.” Her reply came out cold before looking at the others, “Understood?”

Dylan raised a finger about to make a rebuttal but was stopped by Evan who shook his head.

The rangers all replied with a slow, “Yes, ma’am.”

Erynn gave them a small nod before turning around, holding her hands behind her back as she made her way to the researchers.

“She seemed nicer back in the States.” Dylan said sarcastically.

Suddenly, as the group all gathered together the sound of vehicles driving up could be heard. Immediately the former rangers slung their Mk’s up, ensuring they were ready for whatever or whoever was coming their way. But before they did anything else, Katie waved them down.

“Relax man, everyone and everything within ten miles of this place are friendly.” She reasurred the Scout, a thin slash of a smile across her face.

Dylan was the first to lower his guard a bit as he noticed the silhouette of a small convoy of vehicles come into view. “Well shit…”

As the vehicles came drew closer, the group was now able to clearly see they were Jeeps, though only Bull was able to tell just what type of jeep these four vehicles were. Four 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee’s. Whistling in surprise, the mechanic approached the first of the jeeps to stop, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“I know they’ve more than likely been check and shit, but until I do my own check I can’t trust them.” Dylan said as he began to inspect the first jeep.

Andre smiled and shook his head as he noticed the thin slash of a grin across his friend's lips. They all knew how much Dylan loved anything with wheels, more so when they were something completely new. So not wanting to disturb him, Richardson was the first to find a place to chill out until their team mechanic was done with his check.

William, however just watched from his current place. He didn’t trust ANY vehicle that wasn’t first inspected by his team, given all that could go wrong if a stranger didn’t take into account every possibility. So he just stood there, resting the weight of his arms onto his Mk18’s strap.

Evan and Lucas though were watching the drivers who climbed out of the jeeps. Despite having been told that they were friendlies, they still didn’t feel up to trusting anyone they didn’t know the names of… more so after Afghanistan. They kept their weapons down, but otherwise, their guard was up and they were ready for whatever outcome presented itself.

As Bull began his check, he began to tap on the hood of the lead vehicle. “W-what? Why is this…” Eyes wide, he turned to William who raised a brow, “This is level four bulletproof plating. And judging by how thick the glass is here, I’d say the windows are level three. Why the hell are we driving heavily armored cars for a simple archeological dig?”

William turned to look at Erynn, expecting some answer, but all he got was a cold glare. “Best… to just continue with your check Bull.” He replied, his eyes glued to Erynn’s before she turned away.

Dylan couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as he returned to his check. Everything seemed off to him, as so far all he was seeing from this jeep was insane. A 5.0 cummings turbo engine, 18” mud tires, bulletproof shell and glass, and the one piece that surprised him the most being an air ride selection suspension; very much like the ones Humvee’s used. Overall, what he was seeing saw to his grin quickly turning into a concerned look. As he began to think on it, suddenly he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, which brought him back to reality for a moment. Turning around he noticed Andre.

“What’s up Shorty? What did you find?” Andre asked.

Dylan shot him a look of concern before peering over at their employer then back to Andre, “Like our gear, our rides are decked out and ready for a war zone. Somethings off man… everything here is sending warning signs.”

Andre frowned before looking over to William who shrugged, he didn’t know anything either. No one in their group did, and for all, they knew the only one who did was their boss who was currently talking with the drivers.

“I don’t like this Will. Dylan just told me the specs. Those jeeps are equipped to drive into a war zone.” Andre stated as he came to stand beside his friend.

“I know… I don’t either. I started to get warning signs the moment we got our gear. NVG’s, military grade equipment and supplies? It’s like we’re taking part in an operation rather than guarding an archaeological site.” As William made his reply signaled the others to regroup.

Quickly the five rangers formed a small huddle. “Alright bro’s, everything about this job is fucked. We’re not going to a dig site here… we’re going into a war zone. Keep your guard up and trust NO one other than each other. Right now… all we have is each other.” William said, his tone sounding as if he was giving a briefing for a deadly mission.

The rangers all looked at each other for a moment, the look of determination quickly replacing their fear. “Rangers lead the way.” William said a grin replacing the previously stern look.

“Always.” Came the others who quickly returned to the group.

“Alright then. Everyone, Smith’s finished his inspection, meaning I want all of you to load up your gear and any other vital tools up. We’ll head out the moment you’re loaded in your assigned vehicle!” Lucas announced as the others began to help load the gear into the cargo carriers located on the top of the jeeps.

--

The thought to drive in the late evening was one more or less thought up by Lucas who believed that the faster they were on the road the better. Plus the idea of driving in the dark seemed like an ironic one given the current state of knowledge the group was currently in, as they were basically in the dark intel wise. But they didn’t bother to bring it up anymore given how their employer had continually shut them down at the airstrip a few hours earlier.

“I don’t like this man…” William said, his eyes focusing on the dark jungle.

“I told you, man, we’ll get to checkpoint alpha if we-”

“No, not that, I’m talking about the situation Scout…”

Lucas nodded slowly, “Oooooh. Whoops, my bad. But yeah, I see what you mean man. The whole thing’s fucked. Worse yet was the route they had originally planned.”

Raising a brow, William looked over at Lucas, “What you mean?”

“Well, think about it. All the roads were going through are the most backwater locations possible, which would’ve taken our trip at least five extra days just to arrive on site.” As he replied he reached over and opened the glove compartment before pointing to the map. “Check it out. I marked our new route down in red, original was in black.”

The former officer quickly grabbed the map, before pulling out his flashlight to examine it more closely. As he did, he quickly noticed the odd and pointlessly long detours they were originally to make.

Not looking up from the map, he keyed his comms, which were connected to the others. “Hey Bull, you see the map?”

Dylan in the Jeep behind them heard the question. Turning back to see if anyone was listening, he noticed all the researchers in their jeep were dead asleep.

Tapping the side of his earpiece he whispered softly, “I didn’t, but judging by the question I take it that it has something to do with our current state?”

Evan, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to Dylan kept his eyes on the researchers behind them, just in case one of them woke up in the middle of their conversation. Giving Dylan the time enough to discuss what was happening.

“Yeah… I didn’t get much time with the map originally, so I didn’t really take into account the detours.” Pausing, William looked over at Lucas whose own eyes were focused solely on the dirt road. “But judging by what I’m seeing now that I have the time to look it over, I’d say they were trying to avoid all the main routes into the jungle, even going so far as to have us go through some rivers apparently.” Looking outside the passenger window, he peered out into the dark forest below. “For what reason, I can only guess at.

“Danger…” Andre added quickly, his voice low since he was in the third jeep in the convoy which had both the old man and their field doctor.

“Yeah… only thing that comes to mind.”

Dylan frowned slightly, “I’m telling you, man, this whole thing is fucked. And it’s made even worse since our lovely employer is in the fourth vehicle behind us… Had no interest in taking any of the others… almost as if she was expecting something.”

Evan quickly patted his friend's shoulder, reassuring him in a way while also letting him know to chill out.

“Thanks, man… though that little act of kindness isn’t getting you out of this shit. You’re the one that got us into this mess bro.”

“Fuck off.” Evan replied with a grin.

The group smiled at the little mock argument before William cut the silence short, “Either way, like I said before back at the airstrip, keep your guard up, and be ready for anything.” As he finished making his warning he quickly turned his flashlight off before closing his eyes for a moment of rest.

“Way to listen to your own advice bro…” Lucas said.

William waved his hand as if shooing away the insult. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

With a shake of his head, Lucas dismissed the quote. Though William wasn’t the only one to take a small nap, as the man in the passenger seats were the ones who got to sleep for a bit before they’d make a stop to switch drivers so that everyone on the team was rested and in top form. And thankfully their convoy ran into nothing save the odd wild animal or monkey who came across the less traveled roads, so overall the nervous aura seemed to leave the former Rangers, more so as they continued to draw closer towards their destination.

“Hey, wake up.” The former officer tapped the Scout’s shoulder, gently nudging his friend awake. “Get up bro. We’re drawing closer to the site.”

Lucas popped up in his seat, blinking the sleep from his eyes as the slowly rising sun assaulted his eyes. “Shit… really?”

“Yeah, been driving a good two hours without having run into anything out of the ordinary.”

The Cav Scout scanned his surroundings before he rested his finger on his earpiece, “Alright sleeping beauties, time to get ready.”

Despite his ‘kind’ attempt to wake his friends, he was sadly a few minutes too late. “Only sleeping beauty we were all waiting on was you,” Andre replied.

“Not sure HOW you were able to sleep with all the bumps we keep hitting,” Dylan said as he joined in their unique check in. “By the way, Evan’s up too, just dropped his earpiece under the seat.” He added quickly before Evan hit him over the head.

“Bro.”

“What? It’s true!” Dylan brought his left hand up to block the attack, while his left gripped the steering wheel.

“Alright, alright you love birds, save the marital fight for later.” As William joked warmly, a cheeky grin on his face. “… instead, use the time you have to prep. We’re coming up to the site.” However, despite having given the order, the four friends were already getting ready, or at least the ones not driving.

Within 30 minutes the group pulled up into the site. William and Lucas were first to climb out, their MK-18’s strapped around their shoulders. Looking around, the two scanned the area, their eyes looking for anything out of the ordinary. Though so far all they could see was just ruins, jungle, and dirt.

“AO is clear,” Lucas reported before he began his patrol of the area.

William turned and waved over towards Dylan and Andre who were next to climb out of their vehicles. “Let’s start by helping the researchers unload. Once their gear is out and setup we’ll start regular patrols around the site.”

Both men nodded, Andre, however, paused a moment longer watching as the researchers who were in his vehicle piled out, each quickly beginning to look at the ruins with both awe and surprise. “Alright, alright. You can look at the awesome ruin after we’ve managed to unload all the gear.” He said, before pushing the closest researcher towards the Jeep. “Let’s go let’s go!”

Dylan grinned shaking his head. “You would’ve made a good drill sergeant Tyrone.”

“Yeah, yeah. You too Shorty. Get over here and help us unload."

Both men laughed as they began to help the researchers unload the equipment and gear that was loaded in each of the Jeeps. Evan, on the other hand, did much the same thing as Lucas. Grabbing his M110, he checked it over once more before loading a full clip into the weapon.

Pausing a moment to look over at William he pointed over towards a nearby hill that would provide a good position for him to provide overwatch from. “I’m head up there to get eyes on.”

His brother looked at him for a moment before peering over towards Lucas who was just making his way back having forgotten his water bottle in the Jeep. “Hey, Lucas, any chance I could get you to join Evan and provide overwatch for us? At least until we’ve finished setting things up here.”

“Suurrrree~ Should also give me time to survey the AO while I’m up there.” He replied quickly as he grabbed his water bottle. “Come on bro, best not waste any more daylight while we still have it.” Patting Evan on the shoulder as he walked past him, the team marksman just grinned and shook his head.

Within a few minutes, the two rangers were hidden behind the dense rainforest, leaving the other three to begin setting things up. And setting things up was not as easy as the three friends had thought as they found themselves having to often run around helping the different archeologists with setting things up, and or helping to clear out certain spots in order to properly establish a good base of operations. But thankfully, after a few hours, the base camp was up and the academics quickly went about their way, each beginning to prep for their archeological work, ensuring the sites they were to look at remained safe from anything that might otherwise harm them.

“Well… settle in bro’s, we’re going to be here awhile.” Andre announced with a grin as he and Dylan began to organize the teams own little area in the base camp.

Evan sighed lightly as he rested the butt of his rifle against his shoulder, "Yeah, and no signs of this turning into a war zone yet."

At least for the time being, a thought that seemed to be shared by all five as they went about their duties.