The alert hit Toren just before dawn.
He was mid-step, checking the new sensor pylon grid near the northern grove, when the interface pulsed cold blue in his periphery.
Orbital Disturbance Detected
Source: Artificial Object – Stealthed
Profile: Recon Probe (Cloaked)
Orbit: Polar Drift, Altitude 372 km
Scan Pattern: Active. Low frequency.
Intent: Confirmed search sweep.
"Kora?" he said, already tightening his grip on the sensor panel.
"Confirmed. A Trade Federation recon drone. Model type: VX-99, long-range, cloaked, passive-aggressive. It's searching for the transponder ping we failed to fully scrub."
Toren didn't swear, didn't shout.
He just stood very still.
The jungle around him hadn't changed. Birds still chattered. Wind still rustled the tallgrass. But above it all, somewhere far too high to see, something was looking back.
"How much does it know?" he asked.
"Unclear. Scan resolution is adaptive. The drone is testing low-res sweeps before engaging sharper focus. Likely standard protocol—to avoid overcommitment."
"Timeline?"
"Estimated overpass: 1.2 hours. Margin of error: 6 minutes."
He exhaled slowly. No panic.
Just math.
He opened the system console and issued a priority alert to Mira and Wess. Three taps later, he launched the override for Project Storm Expansion Protocol.
If they were going to be watched, they'd make sure the camera saw exactly what they wanted it to.