The Flag Bearer's vintage dashboard highlighted squadmates' connection status. And soon, Lorenzo and Ritsu chimed in to give the team a quick briefing of the situation. David analyzed what he could in the moment of standby- which wasn't a meaningful amount, as neither his machine nor his body was trained or built for long range scans. The best he got was basic visuals: woodlands. [i][b]'Eh, that's what teammates are for. No one's built as a one man army.'[/b][/i] If there was a proper scanner mounted on someone, then the scouting results would be more promising.

Once the briefing was done, David let out a silent grunt. The situation came with a built in dilemma, as all things did. The artillery would blast them down easily if they were out in the open, but staying in cover had the risk of damaging the local environment, should they be under enemy fire. A too leisurely approach wouldn't be preferred either, as it would end up with the colony destroyed. Without some miracles, there would have to be compromises here and there as they advanced to the point of interest. For a starting test, it was a tough one. [b]"Nothing but the best, huh."[/b] The comms input was off as he muttered under his breath.
He did a quick math in his brain as he waited for questions to pop up- either from his own mind, or his teammates'. The travel was ten minute long at max speed, and the time limit until the shots were fired was thirty. Preparation was leisurely; operations were not.
 he made a question that was, maybe, one of the most crucial things in the given situation.
[b]"Lieutenant, does the countdown start now? Or is this our grace period?"[/b]

Ritsu spoke. [b]"The countdown started the moment I announced the time limit, Cadet. There is no grace period in war."[/b]
Ah, shit.