Chapter 1

The humid wind blew across the sandy fields of V'rounsthan; grains of dust slammed against the surface of his Aquarius-Class Battle Gear but the sound never bothered him. It was, to his ears, alien just like the environment around him. In their homeworld of Triton, they lived in islets surrounded by a vast dark blue ocean that were occasionally disturbed by the storm that came from the grey cloudy skies.

Here, however, was a desert that changes color depending on where the sun would stop at a given time. In the horizon, it would be purple. If the sun was at zenith point, it was light tan but when the sun sets and paved way for the moon to shine, it was green.

The Solar ADF had grown on calling it 'Neon Desert', for some reason.

Heaven's forces have landed in the heart of New V'roun City. The Human Monarchs of the planet had requested aid against the green-skinned race that were classified in the government's records simply as the 'Dusk Riders', mainly because of the spiked motorbikes that they rode with quadruple spoilers and red-tinted sound blasters attached on either side of their exotic vehicles, as well as their preferred time to attack.

It had been months since Keron and the others were deployed outside of the city gates and in those months, they have already met the Dusk Riders at the opposite side of the no-man's land. The engagement were seldom but it was pretty violent to say the least. They had to evacuate two Gemminite ADF Divisions after numerous skirmishes. Keron had seen the infamous bikes rode by these aliens more than once. He had destroyed and was harmed by a handful.

His experiences as a Protektovare of the Sons of the Trident had enabled him to fight them off in situations where he found himself outnumbered.

The original number of brothers deployed with him from their Regiment when they first set a foot on V'rounsthan were still alive but the ADFs were another story. Some of them are already expended in the battle while the other few were exhausted. They were just mere mortals whose physiology were not forged to withstand an extended attrition.

Keron wondered why the Protectorates aren't deployed in full. Perhaps the V'rounian monarchy are downgrading the threat that the Dusk Riders had posed.

There were rumors spreading of the Dusk Riders making pacts with V'rounian deities, but these weren't confirmed. If it was true, then they must destroy the Dusk Riders immediately otherwise, all of Hell would arrive in full force and damn them all.

The cyan-clad Protectorate marched under the sun. His white tabard fluttered in the wind as it blew; the golden crucifix affixed on his right shoulder and the large rosary around his waist already told a bystander of what he is. The eye lenses of his faceplate illuminated in deep blue, behind each were inquisitive eyes scanning from left to right.

Nothing but sea of dust, dust and dust.

His subordinates that comprised of three followed shortly. They dreaded the thought of a reconnaissance mission but there was nothing else to do in the forward base outpost. Everyone, from Solar ADF to the Gemminite ADF, has something to do and it was mostly cleaning, be their boots, equipment or their armored vehicles. They felt ashamed; they were angelic humans and should be models of virtues, most especially diligence. Their idleness would have encourage sloth and laziness instead.

So Keron volunteered for a reconnaissance mission to the Tribune-Commander. Long boring walks are much more preferrable than nothing at all. And who knows, they might encounter a small band of Dusk Riders--nothing they couldn't handle.

From ahead, a slope rose and on the farther left, a monolith. Keron held a fist upward and all of the Protectorates halted in their tracks. The geographical formations were very common across V'rounsthan but it gave the combatants of this conflict opportunities to ambush a wary patrol group.

"Keep your eyes peeled, brothers." Keron ordered before treading further.

They climbed the slope and descended at the other side shortly with careful strides. The sun was now setting at the other side. Keron's eyes went to the chronometer and noticed the hour. V'rounsthan had only ten hours in a day, unlike Triton which had almost thirty depending on the seasons. Triton, the thought of it made him miss his homeworld.

He missed watching the mortals in the surface of the planet from their Pantheon. Beneath the oceans stood domed cities enclosed in transparent steel. The most important of cities were usually found there. If the islets were rural provinces then the domed cities were the highly urbanized areas.

For more than once, Keron had been in operations where they 'popped' domed cities occasionally if they became tainted with Lucifer's touch. The process was intricate but it was quick. One moment, a pressurized populace was existing, the next, it was gone.

It may be cruel but Keron never felt remorse nor did he developed hatred at the 'Dome-Dwellers' due to their susceptibility to temptation than those who lived in the islets. He could not blame them for they are just Humans. But there are orders to be followed, and all of them came from God.

He shook off the thought. Better to die that way than to be snatched by demonic Aerial Octopi, which were mostly the common cause of death for the Isle-Dwellers.

He pointed his index and middle finger at the direction of the monolith on the north-west before returning his hand below the barrel of the Type-3 Blast Rifle he was equipped with. They moved tightly in an arc, all weapons were trained at the monolith. As soon as they were close enough, two of them raised their aim on the top while the other two at the base. They moved with haste and purpose until they secured the small monolith and found no threat.

"Perimeter secured. Moving on." Keron said before continuing across.

The desert sand was becoming red as the sun neared the horizon behind them. Keron let out a sigh, the vaporized exhalation was ejected by his faceplate's elongated detachable filters. He placed his left foot on the top of a mound and glanced behind at the city darkened by shadows casted by its conical skyscrapers. Even from afar, he could already taste the life of the city as bright neon lights began to flicker in activation. Keron smiled; his team had formed up around him, covering all corners to see if there are Dusk Riders hiding in wait.

"I guess we have arrived at the farthest reaches of our territory." His second-in-command, Tier-3 Bladebearer Razion, said without looking. "Do we go back now?"

"Not now, brother." Keron said as he exhaled deeply. Another streak of geyser emanated from his filters. "Do you not feel that?"

"What do you mean, brother?"

"Look around you." Keron quietly said. "It's beautiful."

Razion looked around and was instantly mesmerized by the beauty of the world. The sun had already buried half of itself beneath the city, its dying rays painted the world in dark indigo and the sand, purple. Even their brothers paused to regard the view.

"I see..." he let out a deep sigh, geysers were issued from Razion's breathing filter as a tear escaped from his eye. "I see the Father in His creations. Never have I saw something like this."

"Me neither," Keron replied. For the whole minute, they stood there in silence before the thought of leaving finally entered his mind. "It's getting late, let's move."

Keron was the first to turn back to the city, followed by Vieron and Aran. Razion was about to tail them when he noticed something shining in the distance.

"Brothers, halt." Razion said. "I think I see something."

Keron froze and turned. His attention was immediately caught by the light in the distance. At first, it appeared as if someone was simply trying to catch their attention by reflecting light at their eyes when a couple more appeared in clusters. It was soon followed by a low hum, like a droning sound that gradually ascends in volume.

Keron swallowed. He knew who they are.

"Damned devils, it's the Dusk Riders!" Keron exclaimed as he hefted his weapon. "All of you, get down!"