“Retreat! Everyone, retreat!!”
“What the hell is that thing!”
“HQ, p-PLEASE! We need immediate evac! We’re bei- a-aAHRHUGH! AAHNGH!”
The coms are filled with several sergeants barking orders, soldiers screaming for medics or immediate dustoff, the constant barks of rifles in full automatic, or like the last transmission, the agonized yells followed by the tearing of flesh and snapping and crackling of bones. Aurora Olonnais stands tight-lipped, right behind the comms officer, who, like many of the bridge crew, are staring at the view screens with gaping mouths. The tactical cameras worn by the squad leaders offer a view of the beautiful, picturesque forest around the battle group:  trees with yellowing leaves, colorful fauna in full bloom -- all splattered with the blood of dying and dead men. The bridge crew collectively draw in a breath as one of the squad leaders apparently trips over a downed soldier, and is frantically scrambling backwards as a hulking, orange figure appears at the edge of the viewscreen. Aurora’s eyes harden as they flicker over to the same screen, the Staff Sergeant pulling out a pistol-sized scattershot, screaming incoherently as he pumps round after round into the quadruped figure tearing across the ground. The tac-cam goes flying as the unknown assailant collides with the downed body. The camera is now showing half of the forest floor, as it appears a root or a leaf is covering half of the lens. The roaring of the beast and the challenging cry of the sergeant is clear as the sky, as is the strange, delayed ripping sound of flesh parting flesh, and the cry is abruptly cut short with a loud, gurgling noise. Only a few moments later, the decapitated head of the ursine thumps right in front of the camera, causing two of the bridge crew to sway and another one to spew his rations across the deck, the repulsive image of the head, with it’s jittering jaw, eyes rolled up, and still pumping blood out of the severed arteries stays on-screen for several more seconds before the viewscreen cuts to black