Star Darlings; the Other 12

Bravo 6, Going- IS THAT A HAWK!?!?

"GUYS!!! WE OVERSLEPT!!!" Phil's voice boomed across the campsite. "IT'S 12!!!"

"What?" Clover mumbled, unzipping her tent.

"We're gonna be late!" Cassie yelled, running out of her tent.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Scarlet said, yawning.

Everyone stepped out of their tents, yawning, rubbing their eyes, and generally acts like me at 6 am on weekdays (Wait...).

"Are we actually late?" Nicholas asked, rubbing his eyes.

"No," Phil said. "It's 7 am. I just wanted an early start from all of us." he smiled before making a break for the trees.

"PHIL!!!" Everyone yelled, running after him.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!!" Phil yelled as Colin magically appeared out of nowhere and snatched Phil by the shirt. "Got him!"

"PHIL!!!!!!!" Everyone yelled.

"That was a prank idea Scott gave me!" Phil raised his hands in defence. "I swear!"

"SCOTT!!!" everyone yelled.

"Well... we can talk about this riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight?" Scott asked, twiddling his thumb. "We don't have to..."

"SCOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Everyone yelled.

After some indescribable punishments, they calmed down and let Phil off the hook. Scott though... yeah he's not getting any waffles. I feel bad now.

"So, waking up at 7 am," Sage said, glaring at Scott. "What should we do to pass the time we could be sleeping?"

"Dunno," Nico said.

"Maybe just explore around for a while?" Colin asked. "We'll have to head back at about 10, which means we have 3 hours of free time."

"So... where do we go?" Vega asked. "The Heart is too big; we can't explore much of it in 3 hours."

"Maybe a trip to the lake?" Peter asked. "It has a good view, and it's not too far from here."

"Hmm..." Hector thought. "It's a good idea actually..."

"So, it's settled?" Tessa asked. "The Lake?"

"Yeah, why not?" Piper said. "It's in the direction of where we need to go anyways. We'll be closer to the place where they'd pick us up."

"Cool," Colin said. "Pack the things! We're going to the Lake!!!"

"After I finish this waffle," Scott said. "I'm starving!"

After Scott wolfed down the last few waffles they had (I guess he was really hungry?), they started packing their things.

Colin finished packing his things, tents and backpacks. "I have to go to the bathroom guys," Colin said. "Be back."

He disappeared into the woods where instead of doing what he said he'll do, he took something out of his hoodie pocket. He pressed a small button on the small square.

"UAV Bravo, activate," Colin said into the device. It reformed itself into a small drone, one small enough to fit through tight spaces and be stealthy while also sporting a small camera to see through and tasers. "Spy mode."

Its propellers sputtered to life as it flew up, not making any sounds whatsoever. Colin fished out a small panel, which displayed what the UAV saw, the manual taser option, different camera options such as thermal and night vision. It's basically what every little kid would want for Christmas.

It flew through the trees, avoiding the leaves and the branches. Colin set who it'll follow, how far away, and what to do when found.

Now... if there's any funny business in the group, I'll see it via the controller when I look at the recording.

He went back to the group, slipping the controller into his pocket. They'd already gathered all the tents while he was gone, and was waiting for him.

"I'm back guys," Colin said, picking up his bags. "Let's go."

They again walked back to the lake, using the path they used yesterday. No need for Colin as the guide, he stuck to the back of the group, surveying everything from the drone.

Let's see... Sage and Nico are in the front... Libby and Ganymede... hmmm...

The drone flew a bit higher, where it had a perfect view of everything. He saw Nicholas and Piper near the end of the line and decided to look at them for a bit. They seemed close, like one of those young couples that fell head over heels over one another, which seems to encourage his theory of Piper being the carrier.

Keep an eye on them... maybe we can catch the carrier on the act...

Stealing a glance at the others to make sure they're not aware of the drone, and flew it closer. Hmmmmm.................

"Guys look!" Orrin called. "Is that a hawk?" Colin glanced up, following Orrin's gaze. A brown-coloured bird of prey with bright streaks going from its head to back made it stand out in the green forage. It dove from the branch, through the leaves and they could hear a small crack a moment later.

"Hmm..." Vega said. "We just heard a hawk kill another small bird I think..."

"Oof," Colin said, turning back to the panel after they continued. Instead of seeing the group from above, the camera was facing... IS THAT THE HAWK!!!?!?!?! Are you KIDDING ME!!?!??!?! It destroyed my drone!?!? That's the 6th one I lost! He sighed silently. Karl and the rest of the engineers are gonna be so mad... now what? I guess I can't use the drone... f in the chat for UAV Bravo, I guess.

He looked up from the controller, closing the screen and cutting contact from the drone after pressing the self-destruct button. It's not an explosion! It's a shock that fries all the circuits and deletes all the footage and info. In short, it is a controlled explosion. It didn't hurt the hawk... hopefully...

He slipped the controller into his backpack and followed the rest of the group.

Great... I got no drones... and I can't just deploy another robot right now... Colin sighed. I guess I'll have to wait.