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Chapter 5
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2020-11-26 19:26:27Dawn slowly breaks in the horizon as the first rays of the sun peeked from behind the mountains beyond. Keron watched the thermometer gauge of his display link to see the gradually increasing temperature. If he was a mortal with no protective suit, he would have fell sick because of the chilly wind that blew in the air.
A portion of the green desert now became purple as the sun rose in the horizon. Pillars of sand flew as the passing wind carried them up. The grains battered against the plates of their armor while they walked. Aran momentarily looked behind to see the long trails they have left.Keron kept his gaze ahead, looking occasionally from left to right to check for immediate threats. He glanced at the screen of his TacBracer to see how close they are to the beacon. Seeing no difference in the grid, they continued.It was until they rose at the peak of a slope when they heard a noise in the distance. Keron held a fist up and crouched as he searched for the source of the noise. A cylindrical device could be seen far ahead, half buried in the sand. It doesn't need a magnifying instrument to see the damage done to the object."I see something." Keron reported as he stood up. "Razion, Vieron, watch my back. Aran, with me."Aran moved from the rear of the ranks and halted beside her superior. Together, they descended the slope with careful steps. As soon as they arrived at the base of the slope, they advanced towards the broken object. The sun had risen above the mountain, painting the sky in blue and the sands, red. Keron fought the urge to stop and savor the surrealistic view. They were nearing the device. Perhaps all of the answers to their questions could be found there.Aran moved a few steps ahead of Keron and watched the space beyond with vigilant eyes. Keron knelt beside the device and examined it with his gaze before reaching out to raise it. The device was a vertical cylindrical rod with a textured body. The word 'F-89' was stencilled on its body vertically in gold faded paint. He could see three prongs at the base of the device that previously emitted energy to allow it to levitate but currently, it was simply spitting out sparks and occasional static. The head of the device was supposed to possess a transparent casing for the red light bulb inside. However, it was smashed broken and the bulb was missing."The beacon's broken." Keron said as he tossed the beacon elsewhere. He pressed the side of his helmet and contacted Toran. "Brother, the beacon's broken.""Yes, it was broken thirty minutes before you arrive there." Toran replied."We heard a noise before we got here but I assure you that was like fifteen seconds ago.""What does it sounded like?""Incessant beeps." Keron replied."That was the beacon dying. The ADFs engineered it that way to allow any nearby combat engineers to easily locate it. But it was of no use to us.""I know." Keron said. "Should we stick around longer?""You do realize that your position was very far from friendly territory, especially if you could see a beacons whose purpose was to act as sentries for those who cannot travel that far.""I am aware," Keron said. "But our brothers--""Your choice, Sergeant-Commissar.""Alright." Keron closed the transmission. He released the grip from his weapon; an orange thread appeared from it and instantly connected itself to his armor to prevent the Blast Rifle from touching the ground. Keron placed both hands at his hips and watched the sun rising at zenith point. He turned behind and gesticulated at Razion and Vieron.The two descended the slope and sped towards him. Keron telepathically lifted his hanging weapon to his hands and tapped Aran in the shoulder."Let's move." He said.Ahead, a monolith to the north-west was seen. Keron's gaze went to it and to his surprise, his display link detected life forms beyond. He gripped his Blast Rifle tight, his subordinates moved in a firing formation. They must have detected it too. They slowly approached the monolith when a figure in cyan revealed himself from view, Blast Rifle also aimed. Another Protectorate."Lower your weapons!" The figure yelled. "It's us, brothers!""Gareon," Keron acknowledged. "What are you--are you the Patrol Team sent by Forward Post-131 earlier?""Yeah," Gareon replied as Keron and his team slowly neared. Behind Gareon, three more tended on a sitting Protectorate with an abdominal wound. "His regeneration tank was busted." He approached the bloodied brother with Keron following closely."What the hell happened?" Keron asked as he watched the wounded Protectorate hovered his hand over the horizontal laceration of his stomach. He watched as a faint glow escaped from the palm of the Protectorate, who attempted to seal it up with little progress."Dusk Riders," Gareon said. "They were chasing us.""I'm afraid but it seems like they had you surrounded now." Razion said as he thrust his thumb behind. "The beacon was broken apart.""Oh, F-89? I'm not sure who did it but I assure you that the perpetrator isn't that many. Our pursuers, on the other hand, was far more superior in quantity.""How many?" Keron asked."I guess around thirty." Gareon said. "But we halved their number." He let out a sigh. "One of them wielded an arcane ability similar to ours.""Elemental?" Keron asked."No, spiritual." Gareon replied. "The projectile was a low-risk Ghost in the form of a spear...it was screaming as it neared Brother Hephaeron and the next thing we know, he was lying with his intestines spilled out.""Glad to see that he was holding up." Keron replied."Barely," Hephaeron said as he let out a gurgling cough but continued healing himself."So, what's the plan?" Aran asked."We're thinking about continuing our assault." Leran replied as she withdrew her head from around the monolith. "Seems like they have taken camp not far from here.""Is that so?" Gareon replied."Let me patch myself up so that I could avenge what the thrice-damned bastard did to me!" Hephaeron said, struggling in each words."Oh for Triton's sake, brother. You can't even stand up." Razion said. "What's the plan now, Keron?""We'll flank them." Keron volunteered. "There was no point in standing idle or retreating back to the friendly zone. If we let the bastards roam a little longer, they might get the opportunity to wreck havoc more.""Alright, that is now agreed." Gareon glanced at Hephaeron then back at Keron."Brothers, fall back and on to me." Keron ordered as they moved around the monolith in the opposite direction.Related chapters
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Once more, they walked across the sands of V'rounsthan. The sun was peeking at zenith point, painting the desert in light tan. The slopes obscured their advance, covering them from the prying eyes of the Dusk Riders who were encamped in the distance. They were half way across when Keron heard the rumbling of engines and the sound of spoilers spewing smogs in loud coughs."They're advancing!" Razion said."And there is nothing to be afraid of." Keron replied as he continued. "We will be able to outflank them definitely.""I hope you are right."They reached the end of a long slope and moved around the corner. Keron strode with confidence before a round was fired and penetrated his right breast. Keron recoiled backwards as he spat blood from the interior of his helmet. The filters ejected the red liquid while his Battle Gear automatically doused the wound with healing fluids that were dispensed from the damaged part of his armor.
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The world streaked past in a blur in his eyes like feverish dreams that he get whenever he was subjected to deep REM sleep after every extended campaigns. He finally familiarized himself with the manipulation of the alien vehicle but the fear of making a mistake was still there. After all, it was just his first time to control such vehicle since things like these never existed on Triton. He does see some ADFs from various star systems use motorbikes but he never cared to learn how to use them.Beyond, Keron could see Forward Post-131. The walls were perforated with dime-sized bullet holes while the front door was left open, allowing grains of sand to flood through. Keron halted before the lone structure, his eyes never leaving the open doorway. He pulled his Blast Rifle out as soon as he disembarked from his bike and approached."Cover my back, brothers." Keron ordered as he neared the doorway.He could see fragments of glass beyond. Keron guessed th
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In the distance, Keron and the Patrol Team arrived in the littered battle zone. He never had the time to react to his surroundings because his attention was caught by the Dusk Riders congregating in the middle, firing their twin pistols at the Protectorates.In an attempt to evade it while keeping his bike steady, Keron leaned to the left. The fender and the dashboard of his bike exploded in pulverized metal and plastic. His front tire was punctured, sending him off the path. His bike ran over a mound of dust while going out of control. He was sent in the air, his bike splitting in half before he hit the ground with a bone breaking impact.He found himself staring at the purple skies, his vision was blurry but gradually gaining clarity. He saw spheres of plasma streaking past above him. The environment was chaotic but he could not hear anything but a loud ringing, which only lasted a few minutes."Brother, get up!" Razion appeared from the corner of his vi
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Keron led the team ahead, his Blast Rifle sweeping the view from left to right. He continued a few steps further when he detected no immediate threats and entered the city's border underneath the archway of concrete.Beyond, the streets were asphalted in grey. The structures that flanked it were small business establishments with dead neon signages. Perhaps the conflict had the owners running elsewhere, leaving this street in gloom. He could see shards of glass and broken furniture in front, tell tale signs of conflict. Keron eased his trigger finger but kept it inside as they moved further. As the Tritonite saying goes, he does not trust the air."Me neither, brother." Razion replied out loud after hearing his leaking thoughts. Keron reminded himself to teach Razion a lesson later in the sparring mat after they are off-world for intrusion, if they ever make it out."Keep your eyes peeled." Keron simply replied, redoubling his mental defense as they travel
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At once, they stopped. Vieron, Aran and Razion glanced around as if they, too, had noticed something change in their surroundings. Keron tightened his grip at his rifle, his eyes searched for the source of the energy but he couldn't find it. He raised his aim at the corners of the street out of caution."You will not find a god there." A voice called.All Protectorates whirled at the direction of the alley to the right and there, they saw an entity cloaked in rags. Its eyes glowed within its hood. The entity snatched the rag and threw it aside. A man, he was very human-like, with light tan skin, long albino hair and red eyes. A pair of fangs could be seen from the corners of his mouth. He was armored in black and does not looked like a Dusk Rider at all.But the aura, the dark radiance that his body emitted, reeked of pure power. The entity approached and impressed his psychic strength at the Protectorates, who remained idle. Keron felt something scratchin
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At once, they stopped. Vieron, Aran and Razion glanced around as if they, too, had noticed something change in their surroundings. Keron tightened his grip at his rifle, his eyes searched for the source of the energy but he couldn't find it. He raised his aim at the corners of the street out of caution."You will not find a god there." A voice called.All Protectorates whirled at the direction of the alley to the right and there, they saw an entity cloaked in rags. Its eyes glowed within its hood. The entity snatched the rag and threw it aside. A man, he was very human-like, with light tan skin, long albino hair and red eyes. A pair of fangs could be seen from the corners of his mouth. He was armored in black and does not looked like a Dusk Rider at all.But the aura, the dark radiance that his body emitted, reeked of pure power. The entity approached and impressed his psychic strength at the Protectorates, who remained idle. Keron felt something scratchin
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In the distance, Keron and the Patrol Team arrived in the littered battle zone. He never had the time to react to his surroundings because his attention was caught by the Dusk Riders congregating in the middle, firing their twin pistols at the Protectorates.In an attempt to evade it while keeping his bike steady, Keron leaned to the left. The fender and the dashboard of his bike exploded in pulverized metal and plastic. His front tire was punctured, sending him off the path. His bike ran over a mound of dust while going out of control. He was sent in the air, his bike splitting in half before he hit the ground with a bone breaking impact.He found himself staring at the purple skies, his vision was blurry but gradually gaining clarity. He saw spheres of plasma streaking past above him. The environment was chaotic but he could not hear anything but a loud ringing, which only lasted a few minutes."Brother, get up!" Razion appeared from the corner of his vi
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The city was surrounded by large concrete barriers simply known as the Wall both to its citizenry and defenders. It measured far taller than the mundane corporate buildings inside the city borders but its height were equal to the tallest skyscraper there is. It was the last line of defense for the inhabitants of V'rounsthan and the Dusk Riders, unaided, would never be able to penetrate it...yet.Outside the Walls stood a column of armored artillery, each bearing the colors of their respective ADFs. The Solar ADF M1 Abrams and Cromwell tanks being black and blue while the futuristic armored beam tanks of the Gemminite being bright blue and gold. In the opened cupola of the Gemminite vehicles stood bright blue droids with golden skull face plates. Red lights emanated from its empty eye sockets. Green lensed monofocals were attached on their left eyes, displaying yellow corsairs at the advancing Dusk Riders.Beside them, the Divisions of the Black Squadron SAS, 666th
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The world streaked past in a blur in his eyes like feverish dreams that he get whenever he was subjected to deep REM sleep after every extended campaigns. He finally familiarized himself with the manipulation of the alien vehicle but the fear of making a mistake was still there. After all, it was just his first time to control such vehicle since things like these never existed on Triton. He does see some ADFs from various star systems use motorbikes but he never cared to learn how to use them.Beyond, Keron could see Forward Post-131. The walls were perforated with dime-sized bullet holes while the front door was left open, allowing grains of sand to flood through. Keron halted before the lone structure, his eyes never leaving the open doorway. He pulled his Blast Rifle out as soon as he disembarked from his bike and approached."Cover my back, brothers." Keron ordered as he neared the doorway.He could see fragments of glass beyond. Keron guessed th
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Once more, they walked across the sands of V'rounsthan. The sun was peeking at zenith point, painting the desert in light tan. The slopes obscured their advance, covering them from the prying eyes of the Dusk Riders who were encamped in the distance. They were half way across when Keron heard the rumbling of engines and the sound of spoilers spewing smogs in loud coughs."They're advancing!" Razion said."And there is nothing to be afraid of." Keron replied as he continued. "We will be able to outflank them definitely.""I hope you are right."They reached the end of a long slope and moved around the corner. Keron strode with confidence before a round was fired and penetrated his right breast. Keron recoiled backwards as he spat blood from the interior of his helmet. The filters ejected the red liquid while his Battle Gear automatically doused the wound with healing fluids that were dispensed from the damaged part of his armor.
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Dawn slowly breaks in the horizon as the first rays of the sun peeked from behind the mountains beyond. Keron watched the thermometer gauge of his display link to see the gradually increasing temperature. If he was a mortal with no protective suit, he would have fell sick because of the chilly wind that blew in the air.A portion of the green desert now became purple as the sun rose in the horizon. Pillars of sand flew as the passing wind carried them up. The grains battered against the plates of their armor while they walked. Aran momentarily looked behind to see the long trails they have left.Keron kept his gaze ahead, looking occasionally from left to right to check for immediate threats. He glanced at the screen of his TacBracer to see how close they are to the beacon. Seeing no difference in the grid, they continued.It was until they rose at the peak of a slope when they heard a noise in the distance. Keron held a fist up and crouched as he searched for t
