/vt/ - Virtual Youtubers

"Well, what about Command?" Eight mutters, checking his magazine in another fit of paranoia. Looking back over your shoulder, you can still see the odd green rounds loaded into it; something the boys in R&D created using a mix of tech and magic from another world, a bonus to working with so many...entities, you guess. Tranquilizer rounds. "They just left us."
"Command didn't leave us, calm down," You sigh, trudging over the dense forest floor. Dead leaves crunch under foot. You check the map on the strange PDA given to you for your task; another five miles before you reach the active zone. "They're at camp, waiting for us to bring back Wildcat."
"...Somebody said they saw bears around here..." Fourteen mutters, glancing around idly. Eight straightens up. "Better sweep your sectors."

Flanked by the two men on your left and right, you continue the hike into the woods. It's your third day out here, now. You're a member of Cover's Black Ops team. The Black Division. You and your squad mates, who anxiously follow behind you, were sent out on a special assignment to get one of Cover's talents back under control and in containment. Shishiro Botan - Wildcat - had relapsed. It was a severe issue with the beast women; without proper maintenance and restraint, their bestial instincts could take over, causing them to go feral. It was treatable, of course...but only if you got them back, first. For some, it was simple; Shorthair was found in her room, munching on rice balls after getting into catnip. Spaniel was caught menacing a mailman. Even Mutton didn't wander too far, content to graze on grass rather than potato chips. The issue was with predators like Botan. Their instincts to hunt were far, far stronger. They themselves were more deadly as a result. You'd only heard tales of the other talents going feral. Jaws nearly took a group of swimmers out, Grizzly took three teams to fully tranquilize after severely wounding at least three people...and now they're sending the three of you in to take out a lion. You feel shafted.

"So we're sure she's up ahead?" Fourteen asks, stifling a cough. "Fucking nature. It looks the same in every direction..."
"She's been tagged, but something's distorting the signal," You reply, tapping the side of the PDA. It's an interesting little device. If you could get rid of the strange notification to 'KILL STRELOK', you'd like it more. "There's a three mile wide dead zone up ahead. Wildcat's signal keeps popping up and vanishing all around that area. Higher ups think there's a damn good chance she's operating within that area. Must be a cave or something she's sleeping in."
"Caves, now...? Ergh," Eight groans. "At least we've got lights, but..."
"We'll need to stack up. It'll be hard to spread. Diamond formation, maybe."
"Wouldn't we be a triangle?" Fourteen asks. The question comes out with a joking cadence, and you grin.
"Whatever you wanna call it. As long as we don't get caught with our boners in hand."
"If you're planning on whipping that thing out, let me know so I can let you take point," Eight chuckles. The three of you share a laugh as you move deeper inwards. +1 morale.

As you approach the active zone, night begins to fall - quite quickly, based on the rate of which you lose daylight. Getting inside the dead zone properly, you switch your lights on. Botan's somewhere in the area.

"Alright guys," You mumble, unslinging your rifle. Low ready. "Weapons free. Look out for anything that could point us in the right direction."
"Animal carcasses and sneaker prints," Eight huffs. You hear his safety click off. "Got it."

You move slowly as you scour the area, looking for anything that could give away Botan's movements through the location as you do so. The night is silent, save for the three of you crunching along the forest floor and the wind whipping by. Dark clouds and tree tops obscure your view of the sky save for a few open spots. The trees aren't incredibly densely clustered, at least. Means chopper exfiltration is an option. As you walk, however, Fourteen suddenly stops, shining his light at something. Something large on the ground.