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Shep gives Hatch a thumbs up, then takes to the air. His plan is to fly above and slightly behind them so he can keep them in sight at all times. He stays high enough to get a good view of the terrain ahead, but low enough to avoid drawing more attention than necessary.

The group immediately speed into the woods rapidly gliding along a logging trail and occasionally and skillfully dodging random branches and leaning trees. Shep keeps above the tree line as the thought may occur to him that one slip up would result in a fatality, even in their body armor. He keeps an eye out for places an ambush could form and remains ready to dart ahead and stop the hovercycles if he spots any danger. Every so often, he flips to thermal imaging, scanning for anything out of the ordinary: large heat signatures, clustered movement, or anything else that looks like a threat.

After a few hours of traversing through woods and eventually steep mountains and paths, Carl pipes up, "What's the purpose of this mission?"

"Supply run and a little R and R for the loggers. We're providing extra security and a show of force in case anything decides to make trouble along the way. Once we get to Silvereno, I'll see about getting the radio fixed and picking up more ammo," Shep replies, staying alert as he flies. He's rapidly getting the impression that loggers might have a bit more of a death wish than he thought, considering the speed they're making through the forest.

"Supply run and a little R and R for the loggers. We're providing extra security and a show of force in case anything decides to make trouble along the way. Once we get to Silvereno, I'll see about getting the radio fixed and picking up more ammo," Shep replies, staying alert as he flies. He's rapidly getting the impression that loggers might have a bit more of a death wish than he thought, considering the speed they're making through the forest.

"That'd be nice! It's been a hot few centuries without one." Which bodes the question, why was his radio not working?

Toward the top of one of the mountain peeks, Shep swears that he sees movement from something large, yet, his thermo-imagers don't reach that far. Even Carl, didn't notice it.

Shep follows up on the radio issue. "When I first reactivated the armor, I assumed the radio had been disabled so it couldn't be tracked by the CS, or anyone else who might go looking for it. Was there more to it than that?"

As Carl responds and Shep's attention shifts to the mountaintop, he switches from thermal to telescopic imaging to get a better look at whatever might be moving around up there.

Shep follows up on the radio issue. "When I first reactivated the armor, I assumed the radio had been disabled so it couldn't be tracked by the CS, or anyone else who might go looking for it. Was there more to it than that?"

"Yeah, Carl Wilson didn't want people locating it via triangulation using spectrographic RF analysis equipment. Sometimes radar can pick up radio transmissions as well. With the suit being powered down, we weren't too worried, but then he thought about if someone had somehow gotten into the suit and flipped the radio on, then it could be located. So he didn't want to take the risk of me falling into the wrong hands."

As Carl responds and Shep's attention shifts to the mountaintop, he switches from thermal to telescopic imaging to get a better look at whatever might be moving around up there.

"Back then, there were plenty of rogue soldiers and fly boys taking matters into their own hands, usually for their own personal gain. We couldn't let people have that much power."

Shep zeroes in on the peak, the movement is gone. Whatever it was, it's hiding.

Shep eyeballs the distance to the mountain and does some quick calculations of how much risk there would be in going for a closer look.

OOC: It's roughly 1.5 miles away. Would be a matter of a minute or two there and back. Although, you'd have to stop the group to check it out or risk losing track of them.

Shep decides that anything able to cover that much ground that quickly will likely show itself again unless it can turn invisible. For now, he judges the risk as low enough not to break off and investigate, though he keeps that stretch of mountain in mind as he watches for threats. He briefly flips through the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums to see if either picks up anything.

Shep decides that anything able to cover that much ground that quickly will likely show itself again unless it can turn invisible. For now, he judges the risk as low enough not to break off and investigate, though he keeps that stretch of mountain in mind as he watches for threats. He briefly flips through the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum to see if either picks up anything.

Within seconds, something massive emerges over the peak of the mountain, then dips back down. Whatever it is, it's not human and as big as a house. Carl notices as well, "Shep, that thing could be a dimensional being or a dimensional anomaly. Either way, we steering clear? Would take a squad of silver eagles to even stand a chance."

Down below, Orin and Herman almost collide as they try to avoid the same two trees squeezing in on the ever narrowing trail. Hatch seems to signal to them as they start moving along the bottom of the valley near a large stream, mostly to avoid smacking into trees.

Shep lets the radio issue drop for now. There are more immediate problems, and whatever that thing is takes priority. He surges ahead of the hovercycles, then drops below the tree line and settles in front of them as soon as he has room to do it safely.

As he maneuvers, he asks Carl, "Any chance you can identify what that thing was?"

Remembering the story about the last pilot getting himself turned into slurry, Shep keeps the helmet sealed and uses the external speakers to fill the rest of them in. "Tell me our route doesn't go anywhere near that thing. Odds are it could wipe us out and still have enough appetite left for a CS squad."