Blacksite.
One of the marines stopped typing and looked side-eyed at Magician. There was a lot that went unsaid with the look the junior officer gave him but for the most part remained
unsaid.
"Diet seems to be mostly herbivoric in nature." He began, a nasaly voice undercutting the serious military vibe the junior officer gave. "We had it's stomach pumped; Mostly some kind of fruit and carbon-based lax not dissimilar to some types of cereal grain. But it's teeth elude to a mainly carnivorous diet. Muscle and fat masses conclude this as well that the pale has a cyclic feeding cycle."
He began to explain the very dry nuance that would be lost on anyone save a professional analyst like himself or someone with a nearly computer-like brain like the augurs. The xenos that the marines had nicknamed the
pale one was a clearly predator-species in mid-evolution of some kind to supplement it's species diet with fruits and grains to store fat and carbs. They hypothesised it primarily fed on meat and showed a dental scan of two rows on an X-ray of shallow-rooted single rows of twenty teeth each one a sharp spike with a small flute-like shape that once clamped down on something tough like meat would come loose if the xenos thrashed and leave hypo-like flutes that much like a needle allowed blood to flow out of but where surprisingly smooth and would be hard to pull out making a prey animal bleed rather fast.
"But clearly they have evolved past the hunting stage of their species and have prepared or readily made foodstuffs hence the change in diet; They've evolved to eat more frequently and diversify their diet but cant eat like a hunter without losing all their teeth before they grow back." He continued for some time, reaching over to the table and pulling a small clear evidence bag with three inch-long cone and flute-shaped teeth in them with the small red-brown discoloration of blood on the root where they had been pulled.
While this went on the screen changed as a recording was put up. Showing the same room the alien was in but backdated several hours. From the perspective it showed the back of a marine if the uniform was any indication, and the profile of the very same Analyst talking to Magician as he moved out of frame and they got their first look at the pale.
It was certainly humanoid. Just under six foot tall and broad of shoulder it had pale white-gray skin almost like an albino with matching mud-stained white-gray hair that almost looked green at the roots that was long to the shoulders and braided slightly on one side with small beads and white chips woven into it.
Two hands were attached to a loop in a table, with six fingers on each pale gray-pink hands with small black spots and nails long and either broken or filed sharp.
It...
His body was arranged in a type of black fabric vest and trousers, his bare hairless chest over a set of gill-like slits on the ribs and spiraling, tribal like faded black tattoos obscured over the chest which were helpfully put up without being covered on a side screen. If his body was humanoid his face diverged to look clearly more alien; A slit nose and sunken, beady eyes, sharp cheekbones and leathery skin made it look human but clearly
not and uncanny to look at almost like trying to make out an imposter.
It appraised the analyst with uncanny and jerky movements like a predator though the marine still sat across from it clearly unphased.
"We're going to try this again." He stated, placing a piece of some kind of lead stick on the table and paper and sliding it over where the pale grabbed it and studied it and the paper; The intelligence in his eyes clearly understanding instantly as he tapped the end of the safe writing implement to the paper and drew a line to test it somehow.
"Correct." The lieutenant intoned without praise or displeasure. He then took a piece of paper for himself and wrote a series of words in large letters.
"Lieutenant Niles." He read off what he wrote, pointing to himself and then the name on the paper several times to enunciate before putting it back down and then sliding the paper over where the pale began to appraise it.
"Gn-ames." The pale tried, the marines name clearly unfamiliar as it screwed up it's face. The way it pursed it's lips showing the full array of sharpened teeth as it practically hissed the name.
"Niles. Let the record show that the subject has differentiated my name from rank." he spoke out loud.
"Nilesss." The pale tried a second time, much more on point as with a concerning fluid grace copied the Lieutenants name almost perfectly on the same sheet of paper, then began writing underneath it in small, photographic language of sharp pointed lines and strata as he put down close to forty
characters on the paper before running out of room.
"What does this mean?" The lieutenant asked, leaning over before pulling back deftly as the pale lurched forwards against his restrainted, snapping his teeth violently in front of the mans face as two marines in heavy OST armor stormed in and manhandled the xenos to the ground thrashing.
"Fifth attempt concluded the same as the last. We will try again in thirty minutes..."
The video cut off to show still frames of the alien and recordings of their conversations, the alien never seeming to speak except to imitate and only in a few unreliable occasions using a foreign word.
"The written part should be easy with this much." La'gran mused, looking over copies of it's writing before frowning.
"But we're going to have to get it to speak at length to get anywhere concrete." She looked up as the screen changed back to a live feed, the pale stirring under it's blanket.
Interrogation Room
Escorted briefly into the rain and into an adjacent building, Katherine, The other lieutenant Harper, La'gran, Emperor, and those others who chose to join entered and were briefly greeted by an OST armored marine in full armor on the inside of the door. Inside was a room much like the one they had left save for the only furnishings being a small table that was loaded entirely with marine equipment, a couple seats that clearly couldn't bear the weight of armor that required an exoskeleton just to move the weight of, and two other marines in various states of armoring up as they entered.
"Trooper Katherine, Special Projects Group." Katherine greeted them warmly and the one marine without his helmet on reciprocated.
"Cata Strophes, Corporal, Second shock." He pumped Katherines hand and gestured towards a clear but sturdy wall that showed the entirety of the interogation room that was clearly a two-way mirror and a sturdy looking metal door.
"Your turn?" He asked as they suited up clearly ready for trouble.
"Yeah, any SOP?"
"No weapons or loose objects it can grab. Dont get close enough for it to grab you; Fucker is like a chimp it's hella strong."
With that, Cata strophes and the two other marines entered, one blocking the door while the two others approached the bed. As soon as they got close the blanket launched upwards and a pale form darted between the two slow marines and was briefly out of sight as it clearly went for the lone marine at the closed door. There was a scuffle as the two others caught up with it and within a minute after bear-hugging the xenos they were able to wrestle it into the metal chair bolted to the ground and it's hands into a pair of tight leather straps connected to a loop on the table.
"Alright!" One of the marines shouted, clearly out of breath as his voice played through some speaker in the room and the door was opened and the group was allowed in. Harper took the other seat across from the pale, a marine on either side behind the xenos.
"You remember me?" Harper asked, the Xenos fuming and hyperventilating as it slowly controlled its breathing and hissed out the name
'hopper'.
"Very good." Harper monotoned before looking over his shoulder at the Augurs and Katherine.
"It can tell if you are talking to me or it. Try not to confuse it. If you have something you want to say or ask and think it will answer tell me and I will try to communicate. If you have to speak to it directly do so one at a time not all at once."
