Ghost in the machine

(Post order, Myself -> Red -> CSO -> Dogy -> Wolf)

-Among a small established mobile G.U.N based, paced up and down a very anxious being. The anxiety so great that even his hands were trembling, he had every right to feel this way, a great threat was wondering loose among Mobius and despite all the attempts they had made to contain it, all had failed, this might very well be the last ditched effort they may ever get.

A small Mobile Head quarters vehicle had been established with in a fairly secure section. Approximately 5 miles out side of the beautiful city of Spagonia, hidden away from the general public as not to draw to much attention. 

Only a hadfull of G.U.N personal were on site, the reason for such a small force was well in on it self, minimize the chance of detection, for what they were dealing with was a weapon of destruction that if left unchecked could threaten the city it self, burning it to the ground before they even got the chance to attack back. 

This small location was a meeting point for personal who responded to the call for un covert covert team of operatives, who were going to be briefed and tasked with neutralizing this threat. 

The Anxious being was a German Shepard officer. Tho he seemed to hold a rank in on it self it was not that high, tho it did seem he had been the one organizing the meeting point for those who wish to enlist in the team.

A few techs were also there, drawing up information they had on the target they were going to hunt down and destroy. Every bit of intel was being downloaded and prepared for the briefing. He had hoped the personal who signed up for this would be already in the briefing room waiting for him and the other technical adviser. 

"Are you sure it was spotted around here? Yes? Very well, best we get a move on before it decides to relocate again or worse, I'm on my way to the briefing."

-With that said the German Shepard accompanied by the technical adviser, make their way to the large camo tent where the personal he was going to brief would be waiting. He himself had also been informed that a Season G.U.N commander would be taking over the operation once it commenced who would also be present at the briefing. Upon walking in, those who were there would see the the Canine in severe distress and anxiety, fumbling a bit with notes and documents before finally standing before the group.-

"This thing on? Oh wait it is! Ahem...Thank you all for coming in such a timely fashion, my name is Captain Liao of the G.U.N military intelligence. I'v gathered you all here due a incredibly dangerous crisis going on. Operating near the outskirts of this very city is a large bipedal war machine that has gone rogue. The machine is extremely well armed, armored and self aware. In Short it has to be destroyed. I will now hand over the details to my technical adviser about the robot."


"Thank you, the machine at large is a new prototype A.I combat robot called a Cybred, this Cybred is a self aware and adapting computer that can operate independently of any input by living beings at all, It was created in a response to produce machines to fight G.U.N's future conflicts, eliminating the risk of Mobian and human lives, the program was considered a success as the Cybreds were more then capable of dispatching some of the most powerful robots the Empire currently has, unfortunately the Self awareness began to plague problems, Its exposure to the world around had it deciding some times to ignore missions, sneak out and other times violent out lashes. It was then considered too dangerous and thus assigned for shutting down and re-evaluation. However the Cybred in question caught sound of it, and escaped from the hanger of which it was contained in.

There has been several sightings of the machine operating in areas such as. The Great Woods. Northamer and now Spagonia, we had set up sound detection devices to pick up where it may be, 2 days ago we picked up this sound on the outskirts,


https://instaud.io/2khK

 Every attempt to move on the machine alerts it to quickly due to its vast radar detection range and thus it relocates again. This is why a small covert strike team is needed, they will not show up on its radar until you are well with in engagement range. 

Now onto details. Here is a image of the machine, please ensure all of you see it. The Cybred DBL-813 code name Diablo is a large 2 legged robot standing just shy of 9 meters tall and weighing in at just over 200 tons, a top speed of 75 Kph allow it to move fairly quickly when called for. The Cybred is armed with top of the line weapons we produced for it, spouting on the left and right arms is a pair of Laser particle cannons, these weapons generate immense damage output and upon contact will cause a hefty explosion. It's top left and right  rectangular like torsos have packs of long range missiles, the smaller square shapes below are short range missiles.

The Cybred is also has a strong defensive polarize shield protecting it self, this shield can be altered to protect more of its rear or front, the shield itself is extremely durable however sustain damage will drop it allowing you to attack it directly, keep in mind that the armor of this machine is extremely robust as well. 

The most dangerous aspect is it's self aware A.I The cybred is completely self thinking and is not mindless like many other robots that run on a set instruction system, it can learn and adapt over time to threats, so I do advise destroying it as quickly as possible, before it either counters your efforts or realizes it is out matched and flees again. No other cybreds have shown signs of this behavior so we believe this is a once off problem, Back to you Captain."

"Thank you! Now to all of you, you will be following direct commands from your CO who will be non other then Commander Raito Bolt, she will be commanding the covert unit's mission to destroy the machine, keep in mind that "no" heavy support in terms of air power or vehicle power will be allowed, the Cybred would detect it long before they have a chance to engage, so you will be on your own, we do have a stash of Anti Armor weapons that we have brought along if any of you choose to take them,  they may come in handy. We don't have much more time then this we can not afford it to relocate. 

Your orders are simple, find the Cybred..and destroy it..If you have any questions please ask now, after which the operation commences immediately. Commander Raito you now have full command of the operation, we will provide intel when we can."  

As soon as her name was spoken, a young female Arctic Fox, of about 27 years of age, walked in front of the small group of soldiers. She was dressed in the usual black uniform of G.U.N., though she also had a purple scarf wrapped around her neck. 

Her golden eyes scanned the crowd, before she looked to the Captain, nodding towards the German Shepard. “Thank you, Captain Liao. It’s an honour.” 

With that, she turned back to the soldiers, putting her hands behind her back “Right! As you know, this is a covert operation. It was also strictly optional, so, unfortunately, we had to turn to some outside help to fill in the numbers...” she glanced towards a red hedgehog, dressed in similar gear to her, though he looked a tad uncomfortable in the uniform.

“You will all be split up into groups of four, and will remain in contact to notify other troops when the Cybrid is found. If they are found, you will not hesitate to engage them. The safety and comfort of civilians is paramount, so no civilians must know. Am I clear?”
She paced a little, her eyes still scanning. “I’ll pick the groups randomly. Be prepared to work together, or you will die.”
————

The hedgehog felt so out of place. Sure, he was dressed in the same bulletproof gear, but the swords strapped to his sides probably made him stand out just a little. He was called in, mainly because fire deals with metal quite well. His spines were tidely swept back, going down his back, his blue eyes locked to the front.

Raito had been calling him to help with G.U.N. missions so often, lately, he thought. Though it was often for more covert missions. He looked around, trying to see a familiar face beyond the commander’s. Nothing. He felt drops of sweat roll down his forehead.

Sitting at the back of the room before the briefing began, a light grey wolf reclined slightly in the chair he occupied. He had his paws folded behind his head with his face turned upwards and his eyes closed. He ignored the other people there around him who were attending this 'important and classified' briefing.

How important could it be when they'd been left sitting here for so long?

Once the ranking officer finally entered and called the briefing to order, the wolf opened his eyes and looked his way. He began to take in the details of this operation at it was all laid out for them.

*Huh... seek and destroy of a government smart bot. So they actually did make something brighter than they were.* he thinks, *Not much of a feat really. You'd have to be pretty dumb to come up with a thinking tank to do all your fighting. What will it need you for?*

Once the briefing was completed and questions were requested, the wolf chose not to voice the ones he had in mind. If they couldn't handle this situation, it was likely they couldn't answer his questions about it sufficiently. After all, their best idea was to throw this against an enemy, on foot, that they can't figure out how to deal with using their whole arsenal.

With everything but the personnel divisions sorted out, the wolf stood up, stretched slightly and then adjusted the combat gear he'd been given for this task.

*Ballistic protective gear... and we're fighting something that uses energy beams and explosives.* he thinks, *Military genius indeed...*

He then reached down to pick up the one other item he had, a large circular shield a little over two feet in diameter. There were no markings on the front of it. It was just a solid metallic grey colour. With his gear in hand, the wolf now waited to be assigned.

Located within the briefing room was yet another G.U.N uniformed figure, that of a Grey fox. He was sat roughly about the middle, with a simple expression of interest and a look that spoke of irritation.

Apparently, the mission that was to be undertaken was that of a seek and destroy. Find the machine, and destroy it.

Something about an artificial intelligence controlling a mech that conspiring against the military. The military made it, and it made it's own mind about them.

To the Grey fox it was not the first time the G.U.N had screwed up tremendously, and it was not the first time that he was about to be involved in it. 

Even as the officer and technical adviser spoke, he was granted with flashbacks to the same situation that had happened those many months ago. Bad memories of fallen soldiers, Empire forces, and his... Alternative methods. However, He had met one of his greatest companions, and had been able to observe a working Battle-Mech in action.

He was sure that multiple Official members of the hearing could recognise him, and either scrutinised his appearance in the briefing, or were grateful for it. No doubt this operation would be completed without vehicular support, for which the fox would surely be taken advantage of.

The weaponry was offered, and Darken initially rejected the prospect, but after a few side glances from the surrounding G.U.N researchers, he reluctantly accepted them.

The opportunity to make enquiries was put forward, and the fox raised his hand with a sense of displeasure, a little sceptical of the entire 'strike team' idea.

-With the briefing said and done the the Captain would respond to any and all questions, tho it seemed only one wished to ask a question, the Captain recognized him straight away, a ground forces technical personal, non other then Darken.

The Captain had heard of him and was glad the fox responded to the call, his skills would come in handy in combating the machine.-

" Ah good to have you on board Darken I can not expression my regret enough for the failed operation a few months back in the desert good to see you still here with us, what question do you have on your mind ?" 

-Mean while, full command to Raito seemed to be a excellent choice, she made it clear she knew exactly what she was doing. Thus giving G.U.N good hopes the mission would be a success. 

Liao overlooked the Aquatic lady's looks and appearance, mostly because these were desperate times and did not have said time to inspect and find deeper details they assumed she was all for the cause. 

Helping them out in the field G.U.N was able to drop seismic and sound devices around the perimeter of Spagonia, tho the thick vegetation made air recon close to useless, they were going to have to rely no only the sensor readings back the limited intel supplied by G.U.N intelligence. 

They had divided the zones into sectors, 1 through 4 scattered around the outskirts, each team would be assigned a sector for patrol as instructed by Commander Bolt. 

The sizes were small enough should a team come under attack near by teams could move to assist in a timely fashion. Tho it was still unclear about the true extent of the nature of the machine, what its exact motives were at this point.

The weapons granted to them were state of the art Fire and forget shoulder launchers, firing shaped charges loaded with thermite, the mere fact they needed to be thermite gave a indication of the strength of armor they were dealing with the armor issued was remarkably similar, similar in shape and color to a old friend who once wore it built to take a beating this was also purely option should more protection be wanted. 

A technical officer approached Raito with a small tablet like device- 

"Commander Raito our systems are in place, all seismic and sound scanners are operational, we will give you full direct feed at any given time, as soon as we pick up movement and sound we will inform you straight away....command has also allowed the use of small 4 wheelers, we believe the vehicles project a small enough signature the Cybred will not pick it up and or disregard it until close enough, they also may be used to chase after it. However they are purely options. Good luck Commander"

-Inside the mobile HQ 6 personal stationed at computers continue to monitor the area watching for any readings and signs. Every thing seemed clear and quite for now but they all knew very well it was some where here. If the locals figured out there was a 9 meter tall war machine near by, the panic would be through the roof, the nervous agents watching the screens desperately for any signs at all, the tension was real among the ranks and could be felt as if it was physical even the Captain himself was anxious.

Tho they built the machine, armed and so forth they were still dealing with a weapon they didn't know much about in terms of how it was acting, what it was looking for, what it wanted or where it was heading to. That alone made them nervous they could not botch this up.-

Raito's eyes darted between the technical officer, the crowd, and the aquatic newcomer. Were G.U.N truly so strapped for volunteers that some random little girl would put her life in danger? She had no form of armour, and seemed to be wearing nothing more than a headpiece and a thin, albeit beautifully designed, dress. 
"Uh... Yeah! 4 wheelers. We'll take 'em," Raito said, waving away the technical advisor. 

Raito shook her head, before coughing "right. The first group to go forwards would be..." Soon enough, she had listed off all of the soldiers, save for herself, the hedgehog, a fox, a wolf, and the aquatic creature. Raito held out a finger, pointing between them "you, you, you, and Caen. You're all with me for this one."

Caen stood up, raising his eyebrow "but, Rai, that makes five?'
"Yeah? Try splitting 21 into 4. Just 'cause you're a friend doesn't mean you question my orders. Don't do it again." Raito said sternly, as the hedgehog walked closer to her.

"Okay, folks, I'm gonna need your names, if I'm working with you," Raito said, looking to the other three. She had noticed that the aquatic one had still not put on any form of the armour they had available. "Uh... And you probably don't wanna fight like that."

The wolf fastens his shield to a strap running diagonally across his upper body, hooking it onto a clasp, then adjusting the strap so the shield sat comfortably against his back. With that done, he walks over to join his assigned team.

He offers a casual glance around at the rest of their small group before their commanding officer requests their names.

"Name's Richard Lyca." he replies, without offering a greeting or further elaboration.

He crosses his arms over his chest, looking slightly annoyed, as the introductions are carried out.

Cassiopeia watched the other interactions the group was having. Paying close attention to how they speak. She didn't want to mess up and say something that none of them would understand. Perhaps she focused too much as one of the mobians approached her. "You land walkers have a very militaristic resolve to the situation." She mumbled before looking at who was speaking to her. She was surprised for a moment. "Oh... sorry I'm Cassiopeia. I believe I will not need that armor. I'm more safe with these clothes than I am wearing what everyone else is wearing. I have more protection than you think."

The small grey fox nodded in appreciation to the Captain, most of the higher-ranking soldiers had heard of the Shamar 'Incident' as they called it.

"It's interesting that you mention my last operation, I was actually about to ask what we've got this time that we didn't have last time."

After all, Darken was not excited to relive what had happened those months ago, And so far it was sounding a lot like the failed mission. The only exception however, was that no heavy machinery was going to be involved on G.U.N's side this time, and it was instead on the opposition. 

The fox then turned to Commander Raito, and as part of the G.U.N forces, he would need to follow all orders given, "The name's Darken, Commander..." Darken then looked down to his name tag, realising that his name would have been visible from the beggining, "Darken... Millennial." He said, trying to hold back his displeasure of his surname.

-G.U.N would leave Commander Bolt to handle the rest, the personal who were no longer needed left the area immediately,leaving only a skeleton crew manning the mobile HQ vehicle to provide intel. Among the crew was Captain Liao and a hand full of technical officers to monitor the long range scanners. 

While the final of the debriefing was under way, the crew on board the vehicle constantly monitored activity for any signs of the machine and its location.

The atmosphere was tense some times only the pulse signal generate by the device bouncing off the area could all be heard inside the mobile vehicle.-

" Sector one through four give me a status report." -

-The German Shepard said pacing up and down the control room hoping they had news of its location.-

"Sector 1 scanners are reporting in, no signs of activity."

"Sector 2 scanners are clear sir."

"Sector 3 scanners show no signs of movements."

"Sector 4 I think is clear ?" 

"Don't think! Find out...run another pulse sweep in that area." 

-The technical officer did as instructed, this one was a little lazy when it came to the job so as instructed the officer spent off another pulse and waited for the signal to return, every thing seemed quite once more, however when the pulse bounced back there was something.-

"Oh shit! Clear all channels I have contact! Sector 4 strong seismic reading...audio feed back confirmed! Cybred spotted!"

-Captain Liao quickly contacted Bolt about the sudden development- 

"Commander Bolt this is Captain Liao. Sector 4 has picked up mass seismic movement, audio scanners confirm that it is a Cybred in that area, it is operating fairly close to the city tho it seems to be staying at least for now at a respectable distance  it is on the move heading west not sure how much longer we can track it. 


-All crews were now working around the clock to keep the scanner pinpointed on the target as the lumbering machine moved through the dense foliage.-

Raito, with one last scan of Cassiopeia's body, simply shrugged, before saying "don't say I didn't warn ya..." and walking away, outside of the tent. "Darken, Cassio, Risky, follow me."

Caen sighed, following along behind, before looking to Darken, noticing his displeasure at his surname "it's just a name, Darken. Why does it make you look like that?" He asked curiously.

Climbing into the 4-wheel vehicle, Raito reached into the back, pulling out a rifle, and throwing it to Caen. "Rai, you know I can't use this!"
"C'mon, it's not alive, this'll just make the job easier." 
Caen, with another sigh, climbed into the vehicle, dumping the rifle in the footwell "Rai, you know full well that's not the only reason," he said, crossing his arms.

Suddenly, Raito held a hand up to her ear as those left in the tent communicated the Cybrid's position. "West of sector 4! Shit, that is far too close to town for my liking."
She looked towards Cassiopeia and Darken "get in, now!"

Despite not having been addressed by the unit commander to do so, Richard follows her team along to the deployment area. Once there, he could see that everyone was being assigned to vehicles as teams to head out in. At this point, Richard drops back and then breaks off from the group following the commander. When she doesn't bother to call after him, he carries on his way and stops by one of the vehicle requisition officers.

"The CO is sending me out on my own. I require one of these 4-wheelers." he says.

The officer eyes him suspiciously.

"These vehicles are only authorized for team deployment, not for your own joyriding."

"Well, if you would like to take it up with her, by all means. Of course we are on the clock and she does appear to be busy." Richard replies.

He glances over towards Raito as she's barking orders to her team.

"But, if you want to hold her up here because you're worried about me 'joyriding', by all means." he adds as he looks back at the requisition officer, "I'll just sit here and watch as she chews your head off for wasting her time."

Richard leans back a bit, crossing his arms over his chest. The requisition officer eyes Richard with annoyance, but he doesn't seem willing to push the point under the circumstances. He turns and calls over one of the maintenance technicians.

"Pritchly! Take this gentleman over to number six and get him ready to roll."

"Yes sir!" the tech replies.

The officer then turns back to Richard.

"You and I are going to have a discussion about proper protocol when you get back."

Richard rolls his eyes, then offers a salute to the officer in response and heads off after the technician.

Cassiopeia let out a sigh of relief when the other person shrugged her off. She stayed in the tent for a few seconds before realizing Cassio was just a nickname for Cassiopeia. 'Why ask for my name if you're just going to call me something else. The nerve of this land walker.' Cassiopeia huffed to herself. She walked out of the tent to follow Raito. When Raito threw a rifle at Caen, Cassiopeia's eyes widened a bit. She wasn't concerned that it was a weapon. She was worried because it looked like nothing she'd seen before. "What kind of weapon is that?" Cassiopeia asked as she went into the vehicle.

Darken followed the commander, as instructed to do so, and with a sense of Military decorum. "It isn't vital to the mission Commander, I would just appreciate if I could be referred to as Darken unless vitally neccessary."

The grey fox raised the ballistic weaponry above his head, in order to keep it out of the way as he manoeuvred his way onto the small vehicle. "We're a bit tight for space back here, Commander." he said, trying to keep off the other members of the group

-The chase was on now, with the Cybred operating dangerously close to the city limits it was bound to be heard near by the local population, who in it self began to panic a bit, the mechanical strides and thuds from its leg actuators, only further instilled panic. 

The Mobile HQ continued to monitor the signal, if the Cybred were to close quicker on the city the pulse would get larger indicating it was approaching the device, tho it didn't seem to do that. 

The Cybred was completely unaware that a strike force was now on its way to take it on, tho he had always figured it out when G.U.N had attempted several times before, but it always discovered them and simply relocated.

G.U.N was hoping this last ditched attempt would finally catch it off guard, tho finding it would not be a easy task given how quickly it was able to adapt, proof of this was its position, the machine was sticking to the confines of thick woodland terrain, making any attempt to spot it from above useless. 

As feared soon enough it changed direction, the pulse signal getting stronger and stronger until suddenly the device was no longer picking up any sound or seismic reading. 

Sector 4 went quite and this began to concern the G.U.N technical officers a fair bit..did the device suddenly fail ? Nobody knew, tho several attempts were made to fix the issue. Captain Liao had to break the news to the Strike team.- 

"Commander we have a bit of technical problem here, Pulse and sound scanner in Sector 4 have gone offline, last thing it picked up was the Cybred approaching closer to the city, shortly after that the device stopped responding, we trying to fix the issue but for now you will be going in blind, according to its pattern of movement the machine is still unaware of your force.... We may need one of you to repair the device if that is the problem....Good hunting." 

Raito rolled her eyes as Cassiopeia and Darken climbed into the back of the car. Darken complained about the space problem, causing Raito to just glare back at him "it's not that small, have a little discipline."

She then looked to Cassiopeia, who was concerned at the weapons that G.U.N. would use. "It's a standard issue rifle. You haven't seen one before?"

Before Cassiopeia could answer, Raito held her hand to her ear again as another message was patched through. Panic was suddenly painted across her face, and she practically shouted "well you better fix it, and goddamn fast!" 

Finally, Raito pushed her foot down on the pedal, and with a loud screech, the team was headed towards the last known location of the Cybrid

Richard makes his way over to the vehicle he'd been 'assigned' and climbed into the driver's seat. The technician watches him from beside the driver's side door. Richard leans out the window to speak to him.

"This is a standard all terrain vehicle right? No special equipment I need to be aware of on it?" he asks.

"No sir." the technician replies, "It's a standard fast response vehicle. No additional mounts or functions included on it."

"Any personal weapons on board?" Richard asks.

"There's a cache for a team of four in the back. Standard rifles but we've given you rounds that should be effective against this particular target."

"Noted. Well, if that's all, clear out. I've got to go." Richard says.

The technician nods and steps away from the vehicle as others begin to roll out from the staging area. Richard strapped himself in and started up his ride. Once the other teams had moved clear, he grinned slightly as he took off after them, bringing up the rear of the group.

Cassiopeia wasn't surprised that Raito received a message that interrupted their conversation. The aquatic female decided to put her answer on pause until Raito was done responding to the message she obtained. Cassiopeia's face did show some worry with the looks and responses Raito gave. She grabbed her seat when the vehicle increased in speed. Then she continued where the conversation left off after Raito was done talking. "No, I've never seen weapons like that. " Cassiopeia looked to the side. "So... what did you hear that's got you so worried?"

Darken was taken aback a little by Raito's assumption, but decided to stay as quiet as possible. Not knowing the experience of his fellow squad-mates, he didn't want any unnecessary hostilities to be provoked.

The grey fox listened to ending of the increasingly heated conversation between Cassiopeia and the Commander. But it was cut short by a rather urgent sounding message from the receiver.

The vehicle roared into life, and they left the facility. "Dear lord... not again." Darken mumbled, scanning the surfaces of the machine with his eyes, until he caught sight of another, just coming up the rear of them. 

However, concluding that it was part of their team, he did not say anything, instead focusing on not contemplating the hell that would be breaking loose wherever the Cybrid was at that moment.

-Despite numerous attempts to bring the sensor back online, every try failed, either the device short circuited or another issue plagued it, to make matters only worse civilians were now growing every more wary and some were even interested in the sound coming just shy of the city.

Some foolish enough went to actually go investigate it, thinking this would be some kind of mystery or seeked to capture on their mobile phones and upload it later.

As the team would continue to close in on its last location, the feeling of vibrations could be felt, it was closer, close enough that they could feel them through there bodies. 

The sounds of mechanical thuds and articulating machinery was heard in the thick dense undergrowth, it was here but it was unclear if it was aware of them being here or not, it seemed to not realize it at all.

Then it stopped...every thing went quite for what seemed several minutes, echoing out the dense terrain and scream of sheer panic was heard deep inside, seemed like some some else had found the Cybred.

"Commander Raito we have still been unable to fix the sensor, but no signals have been detected in either other sector so we assume its still in sector 4, now..be careful this machine is extremely self aware, it was able to neutralize 5 Empire robots its own size single handed, if possible attack it from the rear, its shields will mostly be directed to the front."

-Suddenly something strange began to happen from the prospective of a radar scanner inside the G.U.N mobile HQ.-

"Sir...Sector three is reporting a seismic reading..."

"No way the Cybred could already been alerted and fled, re calibrate and generate another pulse in that area, make sure its not a glitch."

"Yes sir!" 

-The system was reconfigured and another pulse sweep was sent to the sensor in sector three, this time no feed back came through of a reading, perhaps G.U.N's own equipment was not all that reliable.- 

"Negative on sweep sir."

"Phew, good thought this operation may have already failed, keep trying to get sector 4 back up and running, its bad enough they going in blind almost." 

Caen shrugged his shoulders at Cassiopeia, before saying "they're... Quite common on Mobius, especially among the military. Civilians are more likely to carry your run-of-the-mill handguns, though," he said.

The hedgehog turned to Raito, asking "Rai, what's happened?"
"The bastard's took a sensor down. Last we've seen is right next to the city," she replied, keeping her eyes on the road. She pressed her hand to her ear, again, saying "keep working on getting the damn thing running, I'm not having my men go in blind."

Richard brings up the rear of the vehicle convoy, monitoring the communications from base camp through his radio to keep up to date on the current situation. He wonders if the sudden blackout on the tracking device was related to the target they were after, or if someone else might be involved and causing trouble.

If the Cybred was responsible, there was a good chance that it could already know about their presence and that would make it harder to combat. If someone else was involved, that would mean there is an unknown enemy to deal with now. Either way, it looked like this situation was going to be much less straight forward than he had been led to believe.