Max waited patiently as the research team picked their five member team to go on the mission, both for development and backup purposes, in case the enemy had something that could affect their computers.
If there was any species well suited to stopping a cyberattack, it was the Innu, and along with the two humans in the group who both had hacking related System Skills, they would be a formidable team of experts if the enemy tried to gain control of their Androids.
Nico was the last one into the ship after she verified that everything was taken care of in her absence, and they were off to the Anomaly, leaving through a portal opened immediately outside the cargo bay of Absolution.
Under a minute later, they were through the Anomaly, with the blessings of the defenders, and the Warp Speed journey to the location where the Arisen found signs of the Greater Energy Being was underway.
They still had hours to go before they would arrive, but the signs were obvious to their sensors even from the Anomaly. The layers were unstable, and the enemy was forcing them to part, but having a difficult time of it.
Why they had chosen that spot, despite the difficulties associated with it, was a mystery, as was the reason that they hadn't stopped when they realized what had happened. There had to be more to the situation than he was understanding because from his point of view, it made no sense for them to try attacking here.
It wasn't a strategic location, they had already alerted the defenders, and there were numerous other similar regions without the same issues if they just travelled a while.
But perhaps that was an issue with the layer they were in. They might not be able to travel large distances, so they might have been forced to exit at this particular spot simply because that was the equivalent to where they were.
That thought sent Max on a tangent, and he sent a warning to all the Android operated ships to keep searching for similar events elsewhere in the region. If the layer that they were in didn't allow for fast movement, or could only exit at certain points, it was possible that the Great Enemy would start appearing where they were not expected to be, and where it made no sense for them to be.
Most of the defensive plans centred around them attacking the most logical of targets, as the Myceloids had done, but if not all the enemy forces were operating the same way or from the same layer of space, then the whole strategy might be a mistake.
The Androids were excellent at calculations, and they would be able to work out a proper distribution of troops very quickly after another attempt to enter this layer was detected, but the other species would take more time.
The faster that someone came up with a response plan and acted on it, the faster the bureaucrats would decide. Some of the species had already turned their military responses over to the military commanders to accelerate the process, but most of them felt that would give them too much power over society. It wasn't easy to change a whole culture in a month, so Max knew they would just have to take what they could get.
The signs of instability were getting stronger as they approached the marked coordinates, and Nico brought the ship to a halt. When the portal opened, they could be there in ten minutes or less. That was close enough for a proper response, while still being far enough away that they wouldn't have to worry about being caught up in the instability.
The last thing they needed was to miscalculate and end up with the Greater Energy Being appearing right on top of them before they could respond.
"Let's get into the Mecha, the calculations say we've got two hours left, but I don't want to be caught off guard." Max informed Nico, who was currently mixing various samples of Cyborg Nutrient Drinks to create a new flavour of cocktail.
"I can finish this in the Mecha." Nico agreed as she packed up the bottles she had been mixing and rose to her feet.
"Be safe out there. We will be here waiting, and in battle positions, until you return." The head of the hastily assembled research team agreed, while the others giggled at her enthusiasm.
The leader of an expedition of researchers was the one whose idea it was, or if they were recruited from a larger group, the first one picked was the leader. But because they picked with a game, the first one to win a spot was the leader, and that was completely up to luck, unless they cheated somehow.
Their method of picking a leader frustrated most species to no end, but it never made for a boring trip.
They managed to sit in the Mecha for three whole minutes before Nico was bored and mixing drinks again, and fifteen minutes before there was any change in the surrounding situation.
[Commander, we have signs of the beginnings of a Portal.] The head of the team informed them.
[Perfect, Just wait here, and we will make our move the moment that the enemy begins to move between layers.] Max replied.
A familiar sense of being watched, but not with the same cunning and brutal feeling of the Myceloids God, entered Max's mind as the first flickering micro portals began to form as the destabilization reached a critical point.
[We're being observed. The enemy knows we're here, so stay sharp. We have no way of knowing how much they can tell about our technology.] Max informed the others.
[Oh, good point. Let's get more gear. If they can bring lesser energy beings here, they might appear in the ship, like what happened to that species in sector 1874C.] The team leader announced, and Max chuckled quietly to himself as the researchers equipped themselves with mobile suits and heavy weapons, and activated the automated defences inside the ship.
Not much would get by that.
