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Chapter 4
The door of Forward Post-131 opened. The walls of the circular structure had no corners but it was big enough to house the modular radio and monitoring equipment inside. There were fifteen Protectorates from the Sons of Trident assigned to the post, but half of the detachment were missing.
Keron was greeted by a fellow Tier-4 Sergeant-Commissar, whom he also knew personally. She stepped aside to allow the Patrol Team to enter."Where's the rest?" Keron asked."Responded to an alert." She replied with thick Tritonite accent of the Isle-Dwellers. "But that was three hours ago.""Still no word?""That's why we called you in." She replied.Keron and his team stepped inside. His gaze went around the interior before settling it at his fellow Sergeant-Commissar, who approached the monitors at the farthest back of the room. They followed her."What's going on, Toran?" Keron asked. "I've never seen you so quiet before."Toran grunted at the concerned response."Our brothers have deployed north-west from the Forward Post three hours earlier." She ignored his question. "At first, they were frequently checking in but when they have made contact with the anomaly, they went silent." She faced him. "I couldn't leave this place because no one would oversee my men and sending one of them out in the sands would be foolish and dangerous.""It's been months, none of them were accustomed to V'rounian technology yet?""Damned if I know." Toran replied. "ADFs were good at manipulating these equipment. I do not know why we have to use these.""But it seems like you have a good understanding of the equipment, just like Commander Farion." Razion interjected."That may be true, but I'd rather resort to our spirit-runes or living fires. We'd have a good chance of operating in full effectivity with that.""Yeah," Keron laughed. "So I guess that's why you've called us?""Yes," Toran replied. "We need to find out what happened to them. Damned if I know, maybe they got swallowed by the shit pit."Keron and Razion laughed. Vieron and Aran remained stoic, just like the rest of the Protectorates present."Always the filthy mouthed one." Keron said to Razion through private comms. "Anyway," he spoke, switching back to external speakers. "We're moving out to meet them. Where exactly are they?""Beacon F-89 was located at the north-western heading of the Forward Post. The beacon's signal would appear on your TacBracer," she pointed at the small screen embedded on Keron's right forearm. "It would be easy to locate."Keron nodded as he pressed a button on the left side of his helmet, opening up a private channel with Toran."Test, test." He spoke. "Do you hear me clearly, brother?""Crystal clear, like the oceans of Triton, brother."He switched back to external speakers."Alright, I'll keep in touch." He pulled the Type-3 Blast Rifle attached on his back. "Let's move out, brothers."They turned towards the door and walked out one by one.Related chapters
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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
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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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Keron deactivated his headgear and spat aside. The signage above him lit up in purple. The night drew closer; the skies were now dark blue and the granules of sand around him became green. Keron laughed as a tear escaped from his eye. He looked at the signage and remembered the television set he had in his quarters inside their ship, and in the barracks beyond the Walls. He remembered the arcade as well as the drinks they ingested. Human sensations, coupled that with their interesting technology. He always looked at them with innocence.His gaze went to the stars and the sand. Nothing can beat the Father when it comes with creations. Nature never failed to awe him, especially if the view was panoramically breathtaking. He marveled at the nature's duality. While still bearing beauty, it also provides life to its inhabitants, as well as death. It just confirmed the fact that God was both the Lord over Life and Death.He wanted to continue living so that he could
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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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