Tson
Antares tries his best to follow the signal without alerting anyone... but ultimately he could not catch up. The signal is just moving away too fast... perhaps whoever had captured Centauri had loaded him onto a transport... Had he come to support the scouts quicker...
No time to dwell on better simulations, Rhick needs to return to base and inform the rest of the squad.
Capella is slightly taken aback by the lack of significant reaction. Nevertheless, being a scout, he scans the two creatures. Something that he's surprised the other two did not do beforehand. Arcturus watches on for a moment, then looks away, preoccupied with forming a blueprint for a temporary refuge meant for creatures of this... form? Stature? He's probably going to have to wait on whatever results that Capella--
...Hey, the squad link Antares usually has up is actually not up - I can't detect a thing Capella is thinking about.
Duro gets up and walks towards the turret, soon he waits for Antares' return.
DC Androids of the 4th generation usually have quicker recovery times than of their predecessors. The mental signals to regain consciousness surface, but Osiron's Cortex is still somewhat overheated, and the process is aborted for safety reasons. The android body itself attempts to restart using a backup, standard AI - but it must have been damaged during combat with the wolves because no return signals were recorded. The body quickly shuts down again, the dire situation unchanging with no further information gained, as both mind and body were unable to start back up.
Antares returns to see Arcturus waiting by the defensive turret he had set up.
"You're supposed to be watching the--"
"Capella is watching them now. Where's Centauri?"
"He was taken. Centauri should have woken up by now and told me what's going on... I don't like this."
"You don't appear to like anything."
"OF COURSE NOT, Osiron Centauri was told not to over-exert himself for the sake of stealth and safety, and he directly disobeyed that. Now he is significantly damaged and somebody else has found him, threatening to reveal our entire operation and dooming the mission!"
"Bull... er, Zapshit! A bunch of wolves native to this planet would not--"
"Whoever took Centauri started moving far too fast for me to catch up on foot - that means he was loaded onto a transport. It was something - rather, someone - who is far more developed than just mere wolves."
"...We definitely were dealt the worst starting hand here... Well, what are your orders?"
"We're mounting a rescue mission. Make sure there is enough matter in the Armory microprinter to stock up our remaining units. As for the other creatures, we have to destroy them."
Duro near-instantly shifted to interject but Rhick raised a hand to stop him.
"I don't need the squad-link to know you object to this, but those things know what and where we are, and knowing that there are possible psychic entities stronger than even Centauri out there, that information is too valuable to be put into the wrong hands."
"Well then, we just hold them--"
"We need all units for the rescue mission - including even you. I cannot trust them to be left on their own."
"I don't need to be on this rescue attempt, dammit!"
"Without you it's basically me and Capella versus what can very well be an army. And if we fail to rescue Centauri, you and this outpost will be targeted next, and the mission will be lost."
"I can set up a cage for them. There, problem solved!"
"And what if the Outpost is attacked while we are away?"
"WE HAVE GODDAMN AUTO-TURRETS, ANTARES!!"
Antares and Arcturus continue to argue, while Capella tries still to gather information on these truly unknown creatures.
