Max snuck up on a hapless recruit, still visibly nervous even without reading their mind, and put an Ion blast into their back before moving on.
The elite troops had become harder and harder to find, as they had arrived first, and now all that was left was for the team to clean up the stragglers.
Many of them were completely lost in the woods, not equipped with any sort of navigational aid, only basic powered armour and some secondhand weapons at best.
Many of the ones that he was coming across weren't even in proper armour. They were wearing flak jackets and plate carriers like the worst-equipped Kepler infantry.
The lack of armour and mutations revealed the most shocking moment of his whole trip. Many of them appeared to be human. Appeared was the keyword because when he sampled their blood, they had nothing in common with his species except their appearance.