"It is nice to meet you all. My name is Keith Lun, the leader of this team." Said the male Cheetah.
With introductions out of the way, Judy radioed in Chief Bogo. "Chief, we're at the site. Want some of us to set a perimeter?"
Bogo was out in the streets of downtown Zootopia, arresting a shop lifter as he spoke back to his radio. "Yes. Your team can set the perimeter while the rest go with Norse's team."
"Copy that." Judy turned to her team. "You heard the chief. Patrol around the crater."
While everyone else went with Keith's survey team, Judy's team stayed behind. Each member station themselves at a different part of the crater's rim.
"See anything, guys?" Judy asked in her suit's radio. She was pretty far south from the crater, but looking through the scope of a sniper rifle, she is able to see her team mates and the hill behind the crater.
Jake sat on a flat rock at the hill, giving him had a good overview of the site. "Nothing but steam."
Nick could be seen walking around the left side of the crater as he spoke. "Same here, Carrots."
"How about you, Francine?" Judy focused her sight on her elephant friend, who was patrolling the right side of the crater.
"My suit isn't detecting any kind of movement on my end." Francine said.
"Hm?" A sudden flash of light caught Judy's attention. The light came from the very top of the hill. She aimed the sniper rifle to the top of the hill. "What is that?" She asked herself while seeing some sort of black figure. "Jake, there is something at the top of the hill. Go see what it is and go incognito." She said.
"Will do, Judy. CPU, incognito mode." Jake got up from the rock and crawled on the ground slowly. His suit soon changing colors, matching the color scheme of his surroundings.
Judy kept her focus on the black figure. "Record." The sniper began to record what she was seeing through the scope. The figure didn't seem to have the shape of any animal she known about. "Jake, be very careful. The animal cant see you but you're about 25 feet under it."
Jake could slightly see the head of the figure. The nose of it was abnormally long and flat. On the top of the head seem to be two orb like objects.
"Uh... I am not sure what I am seeing here, Judy." Jake said quietly.
Judy saw the light coming from the creature again and it was aimed towards Jake. Out of instinct, she fired a high-end tranquilizer dart towards the figure. The dart hit it's mark, making the unknown being not only flee but drop what seemed to be old fashion binoculars towards Jake.
Everyone heard the shot in the site and started to scramble for cover.
"What is going on?!" Norse asked in his radio.
"Shot one of the animals, sir. There might be more somewhere. J-Team, high alert. Jake, are you okay?" Judy quickly laid onto her stomach, scanning the hill top.
The horse slowly picked up the binoculars. "Yes, ma'am. It dropped its binoculars and there is some blood on it."
"Stay low, Jake. We don't know if it's going to bring reinforcements." Judy could see a small cloud of dirt being kicked up to the air before subsiding at the back of the hill.
"Norse, we found something at the south-west side of the crater." Keith said over the radio.
"What did you find?" Norse asked.
Keith slowly moved closer to what seemed to be a cave. "Some sort of cave and.. there are lights inside. There's also a... elevator from what I can see. It's pretty far deep in there so I can't really tell."
Norse went silent as he started to think. "Okay, everyone come back to me except J-Team. We will wait till Chief Bogo gives me the word that Zootopia is under control. We're going to need more officers here. Jake, come to me with the binoculars."
Judy radioed Bogo. "Did you get all that Chief?"
"Yes. I will send 50 officers over there. Time of arrival will be thirty minutes." Bogo said.
"Copy." Judy said.
Judy's team kept watch of the site while Jake made his way to Norse, handing the Zebra the broke binoculars.
"We can find out at least one of the animals who's been here." Norse grabbed a q-tip and placed the cotton end to the blood. The cotton soaks some of the blood and he then placed it on a scanning flat computer.
The computer screen on the side was scanning though hundreds of photos of different animals in the search engine. After ten seconds, a red box on the computer popped up saying 'Animal category: Unknown. Blood type: Unknown. No match can be made'.
"..What?" Norse looked at the computer and pressed the search button again. The computer popped the same red box.
Nico and Keith slowly looked at each other.
Jamie soon asked. "Does that mean the blood got contaminated or something?
Norse leaned to his chair. "Well... I am hoping that is the case."
Alex crossed his arms. "You're hoping? That sounds like you already know something that we don't."
Norse went up the computer screen and turn the microscope on the blood sample. The blood cells looked normal but in the detail chart, it showed higher levels of some unknown element in the blood This frustrated Norse more as he sighed.
Alex went up behind Norse. "Talk. What do you know?"
"Well I can't tell anyone anything because I need to do more tests. I have to make sure that what I am thinking... I am hoping what I am thinking is wrong." Norse turned his chair to look up at Alex.
"What are you thinking it could be, professor?" Lur asked.
Norse bit his bottom lip slightly as he looked to the side. "Well... I am thinking it could be a new animal species."
Everyone went silent at the site.
Norse turned his chair around, breaking the silence. "But I have to keep doing more tests. I can't say that I am right on that assumption."
Jake started to think about what he saw on the hill. How the figure's head shape seemed very strange. "Norse, I got to tell you something."
Jake explained what he saw on the hill, which baffled Norse.
"Are you willing to make a report on your sighting?" Norse asked Jake.
Jake nodded. "Yes, I am. Judy also saw the creature to."
Norse went up to his radio. "Officer Hopps. Tell me what you saw on the hill."
"Well I couldn't see any kind of facial features but the shape of the animal wasn't normal. A weird shape head and slim body. That's all I remember." Judy said in the suit's radio. "The more I start to think about it, the more it could be possible we're dealing with a new animal species. I mean, we don't know everything there is to in our world." Judy said to herself.
"Copy." Norse placed the radio down and continued to research the blood.
Sometime later, Bella and Alex went to the edge of the site, waiting for their back up to arrive.
"They should be here any minute." Bella said to Alex.
The Siberian tiger nodded and kept his arms crossed. "Do you think this is a new animal species we're dealing with?"
Bella thought for a second before saying. "I don't know. To be honest, I hope it is. Be something new to deal with."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Alex asked.
Bella slightly smirked. "Just getting a little tired of dealing with the same criminals and crimes. I want more action."
"That's why I respect you the most Bella. You have the same drive that I have. The drive to have more action in the job." Alex smiled a bit.
The squirrel saw silhouettes of the 50 ZPD officers off to the distance and they somehow manage to get one of the custom built ZPD SUV cruiser through.
"Everyone, back up is here." Bella said over the radio.
While the 50 officers were stationed at different areas of the site, the special task force went along with Norse to the entrance of the cave. Joe was driving the ZPD SUV behind the group.
"Bogo, are the officers in the meeting room? If so, we are entering the cave. Turn the smart TV on in the meeting room." Norse said over the radio.
Bogo turned the TV on as he sat a chair. "It is on now."
"Everyone, say 'CPU, sim link and record'." Said Norse as he examined the huge entrance of the cave.
"CPU, sim link and record." Said the ZPD officers.
Norse than asked on the radio. "What do you see?"
Bogo and the other officers could see all 79 member's point of view on the huge TV. "We see what you guys see."
"Excellent. Tell them what they should do." Norse placed his hoof onto the wet wall beside him.
"All team leaders, take the lead. Joe keep the SUV behind the group. The rest stay near Norse." Bogo command.
All five team leaders went ahead and turned their built-in flash lights on.
Judy took the full point and aimed her sniper rifle forward. Bella pulled out the duel wield daze pistols while giving Nico the stun gun. Alex and Lur were the only ones without weapons.
The group made it to the industrial size elevator.
"CPU, radar on." Judy said. Soon the radar appeared out of my suit. It showed no red dots. "All clear, everyone move up."
"Looks like e-everyone can fit in, including the SUV." Nico said.
Everyone got into the elevator with the SUV in the middle. Nick pressed a red button and the elevator started to go down.
"Hey Boss, I've been thinking that the name you give the group 'Task Force' doesn't really have much spice to it." Lur said.
Bogo's right eye brow went up. "What do you mean?"
"Okay check it. Task force is used in so many other police departments. I figure we be called somethin' different, y'know?" Lur smirked.
"Like what?" Bogo asked as he continued to watch the TV screen.
"The Z-Squad. The Z stays for Zootopia. We'll have our own unique team name, yo. Different from everyone else." Lur smiled slowly.
Bogo thought about it and nodded. "Okay fine. Collectively, you officers will be called the Z-Squad for now on."
The elevator soon got to the bottom level.
The rest of the officers turned their suit's flash lights on.
"How far down are we, sir?" Judy asked.
Norse took a look at Judy's radar. "About 300 feet."
The mine shaft was very humid and wet, but surprisingly cool due to an air current expelling hot air to the top. The team leaders slowly walked forward. Everyone else followed right behind.
Something was catching Nick's eyes. The light coming from Judy's flash light reflected off the walls in tiny amounts.
"Wait, guys, there is something in the walls." Nick said as he went up to the left side of the cave. He could see small white spheres embedded in the rock walls.
Everyone stopped as Norse went up to one of the orbs.
"What do you think it is?" Nick asked Norse.
Norse couldn't give a good answer. "Could be pearls or some sort of rock. Either way, these are animal made. Someone had to craft these."
"Radiation levels increase. MSv/Rad levels at: 5." Said Judy's suit computer.
"Are we in danger?" Jamie asked.
Nico shook his head. "No, w-we are not. This is the t-typical level of radiation found for miners down here. W-We can stay here for about two days."
Everyone started to walk forward after Norse collected some of the tiny white spheres.
Out of nowhere, a girl tone laughter echoed in the cave. This sudden noise instantly put everyone on high alert. They aimed their weapons in different directions.
Bogo stood up from his chair. His eyes looking through each screen, trying to figure out where the laughter came from.
"T-The heck was that?!" Nick said as he aimed a custom built Carbine daze assault rifle forward.
Judy was huffing slightly and her nose started to twitch. She then checks her radar. However, the radar screen and most senors went offline. "Norse, my radar is gone."
"CPU override, a status of all communication functions to all officer's suits." Norse said on an intercom.
Judy's computer said. "External and exo-Radar link: offline. Internal radio link to the outside world: very limited. Internal radio link to Z-suit officers: online. A/C and heater: offline. Out world functions: very limited. Internet: offline."
"Must be the radiation messing up the suit's functions. No one is going to have Radar." Norse said.
Another, much higher pitch laughter, echoed in the cave. This time how ever, the group knew it came from deeper inside the cave so they aimed their weapons forward at once.
"Judy, say 'CPU, Sonar pulse'." Norse said nervously.
"CPU, Sonar pulse." Judy got onto her left knee, still aiming the sniper rifle forward.
The suit sent out a single pulse of infra-sound. Going at the speed of sound, it took no time for the pulse to come right back. The suit vibrated multiple times.
"Pulse completed. Travel time to 120 objects detected: 4 minutes." Said Judy's computer.
"120 objects..." Norse got a cold chill down his spine.
"Does... Does that mean there are 120 animals waiting for us down there?" Nick asked in a shaky voice.
"It's a possibility." Norse got tense.
Bella pulled out her police radio from her back pocket."Chief, what should we do?"
The group only heard static on the radio.
"Chief, check radio status. I'm only hearing static, over." Bella said.
More static was heard. At this point, the whole group was on edge.
The elevator behind them started to go up on its own.
"Hey!" The beaver from Lur's team, name Lois mout, went around the SUV, trying to get to the button, but it was too late. The elevator kept going up, leaving the entire group.
In the meeting room, the huge TV showed 'Signal lost'.
"Norse's Geo team. I have lost signal to my team that went into the mine shaft. Tell me what is going on over there." Bogo said on a different radio.
He to only heard static on the radio. With that, he decided to go to the site himself since all other officers were taking care of Zootopia.
"Clawhauser, I am going to the site. Lost contact with everyone over there. Keep watch of Zootopia." Bogo grabbed his coat in the lobby.
"Will do, sir!" The round Cheetah saluted the Chief before he left.
"Night vision." Judy said. The scope she was looking through now had a shade of green, allowing her to see in the dark. Even though she and the others could see in the dark pretty well, it was getting pitch black the further they went. The darkness seemed to be eating the light. Then something caught her attention, so she raised her left hand up, signaling for everyone to stop.
"What do you see?" Bella whispered to Judyt.
"I see... very dim white lights. Sixteen in total and in pairs. They're eyes I believe. Or it could be those spheres." Judy whispered back to the whole group.
Another loud laughter came out of nowhere. The laughter sounded so close that everyone got spooked out. Judy was more than scared at this point, she was terrified for her life. She fired the sniper rifle in a blind panic. Her shot missed and the white lights went to the side, disappearing from her sights.
"They're gone.." Judy couldn't stop panting. "I never felt this way in my life. I don't even know what the heck I just saw or heard!" Judy said to herself.
Nick went up to Judy and started to rub her back. "You okay? Want me to take lead while you go to the middle of the pack?"
"Thank goodness you're here with me Nick.. Or I would have broken down in front of my squad." Judy said to herself while she shook her head to his question. "No, that is okay. Just.. stay right beside me okay?"
Nick nodded and pointed his weapon forward. Judy moved her left hand forward, signaling the group walk forward.
