Zack stirred next to him, "haven't heard much from the other groups either, that's certainly a new one."<br/><br/>Dyne rolled his eyes, "well I'm not going to complain about it. The less time we have to worry about a whiny group, or having to worry about a more aggressive one threatening to fight us for the device, the better off we are. One threat and worry is bad enough, especially considering it's size, let's hope they finally got the message."<br/><br/>Zack smirked, "or were destroyed or taken."<br/><br/>Dyne frowned, "let's not go there, some of them are our allies in all of this, and if they were taken, they could very well have information on us that we don't want any enemies to have."<br/><br/>Dyne himself had been wondering the same thing, even before Zack had mentioned it, and even before the conversation had even been thought of being brought up. It had been just around three months since their last communication with any other rebel group scattered across the country, or what had once been a country, now all of Earth was Yeerk country. Still it was highly unusual to not hear a peep from anyone, whether from their whiny and uppity detractors, the neutral ground trading and information groups, and even their allies, along with a few equally aggressive groups who had been known to start small skirmishes with their group. Dyne had quickly brought the council together to work with them, it wasn't that he feared them, but when you had an even bigger threat like the Yeerks running around, you couldn't just waste energy and manpower as well as precious lives on fighting with other humans.<br/><br/>An uneasy truce had been met with all of the groups, and even still, arguments and near fights had nearly erupted. Now there was nothing and no one around, no animals, no Yeerks, no Controllers, no other free humans, and it was beginning to unsettle him despite his outward uncaring demeanor about it. He would bring the matter up with the rest of the council later, or at least part of it, Zack was a good partner for out and out missions, but he didn't need to concern himself with Dyne's thoughts and concerns. Dyne was the only council member who really went out on missions and such like this anyways. Back when the world had been semi-free of the Yeerks, he had always hated the idea of the Generals, Commanders and other higher ups just sitting there and sending men to die, while they did nothing but sit on their asses. He was a man of action, as well as leadership and decision, and so even as part of the council, he was out in the field constantly. The rest of the group, since they were primarily used to the old process, found Dyne a bit odd, but respected him for it, and he was just fine with that.<br/><br/>He kicked at a nearby pile of rocks and revealed a pile of clothes, a black form fitting tee, a black leather jacket (http://www.themenswearsite.com/leather-jackets-c60/superdry-brad-leather-jacket-p50564), a pair of dark blue jeans, socks and finally a pair of scuffed and dirty boots (http://www.boot.com/WescoCombatBootLarge.jpg), all of which he slipped on in a few moments and turned back to Zack. He shrugged, he would make the walk back to the base in his clothes, something he often liked to do. Being an animal was an experience that he wouldn't give up for anything most of the time, but nothing beat being human, no matter what form it was. At least that's how it was in Dyne's mind, the only reason some people in the group even went back to human was so that they wouldn't be stuck in one form and without the ability to change back, because the council had forbid giving such a foolish person the cube one more time.<br/><br/>He swept another rock and picked up a Shredder, a present from a Yeerk bug fighter they had taken down and picked clean. Checked it and moved back to Zack as he heard some rustling, followed by the appearance of a large Grizzly, a falcon of sorts landing on a branch, followed finally by a rust colored coyote. Within seconds they were back to their human forms and staring at Dyne who nodded, "anything to report?"<br/><br/>He listened as they all gave him what he had expected to hear, nothing. He grunted, "alright, find your nearby stashes, get your things if you brought any and we'll head back to put this report in."<br/><br/>They gave a curt nod, some even gave a salute out of reflex which Dyne ignored, though he was amused by the fact that the two saluting members were actually older than him. He stood and waited, pulling a cigarette from the jacket and lighting it without really thinking, where the hell was everything and everyone?