Chapter 5

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 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.