The night, as it turns out, was anything but uneventful. Where did it start going wrong? Sowhere after I laid down for the night, and then paranoia kept from falling asleep amongst a bunch of strangers. Sure, Athena had been very clear she wanted back in one piece, but logic didn’t always defeat instinct.
I decided to stay up a bit later, deliberating on the choice between instinct, which could be wrong, and logic which could be misinford. It was a hard choice, though in the end instinct won out anyway since I stayed up too late working on ideas.
In this case, instinct proved to be the correct choice. Just not how I thought it’d be. A few hours after the entire camp had settled down, in which I’d been doodling away potential ideas in my sketchbook to clear my mind, I heard movent close.
I grabbed my gun on reflex, though I relaxed my grip slightly as logic won once more. I still kept the pistol close to hand as I stepped out of the tent and out onto the shifting rocky outcropping we were camped out on.
Sergeant Hampton lay on a towel in the middle of Red-Six’s area, staring up at the sky as he blew smoke from his mouth. Renold leaned against the nearby prowler, lighting his own with his fancy lighter thumb. I guess if you smoke a lot, such an augnt would be a good idea. Also though, keeping flammable liquid in your thumb might not be the best considering our line of work.
”Can’t sleep either?” Sergeant Hampton propped himself up on an elbow and looked over. His cigarette dropped out of his hands, extinguishing itself in the sand. “Damnit.”
”Sothing like that.” I flicked on Hidden Hands and discreetly put away my gun. Should I share my bad feeling? They were my guards for the duration of the mission, so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea. “Just a bad feeling tonight.”
“I know what you an.” Hampton nodded his head a few tis before laying back and propping his head up with his hands.
Renold blew a ring, staring at it for a mont before shaking his head. “You lot are too superstitious if you ask .”
Hampton coughed lightly. ”That’s what you said the last ti. And if you really believed that, you wouldn’t be out here with .”
The driver fell silent as he took another drag of his smoldering cigarette. The wind shifted, bringing hot air as the smoke hit in the face. My nose scrunched up automatically at the scent of cheap cigarettes.
I sat around for a few minutes as we silently stared up at the night sky. Then all the smoke got to and I retreated into my tent.
An hour later, as I finished working on my newest gadget that'd join my roster as soon as I got back to the city, a sandstorm blew in. It started slow, just a few pieces of sand flying here and there. Then it picked up to a full-fledged one as sand started pounding the side of my tent.
The storm wasn’t rough enough to get through the tent that’d been provided to , but it was a near thing. The sand pounded at the tough material, creating a constant scratching like claws on a chalkboard. It was terribly annoying, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to listen to so music. Paranoia that I'd miss sothing important, I guess.
Just as I was starting to feel tired, having recently swapped my canteen from water production to XtraEnergy Quantum for a little boost, a screeching howl ca just over the sandstorm. It had a haunting quality to it, seeming to scratch at the innermost sections of my brain as if to evoke primal fear.
Imdiately, I was on my feet- er, knees. The tent was small. I threw on my breathing mask and goggles. Thankfully, I’d planned for a sandstorm this ti, especially considering we were headed pretty far inland. I packed up my stuff in the Drop Chute bag, grabbed my weapons, and unzipped the tent. Sand billowed in, covering my sleeping area entirely. That was a problem for future Shiro though. I had bigger worries.
About half of the Crimson Caravan was on their feet, spilling out of their tents in various states of awareness. Hampton and Renold were already up, guns drawn as they looked around. Lia and Yonrow were a few steps behind, though they quickly joined us.
Light had been cut down to a dim pitch, barely enough to light the way thanks to the captain’s desire to stay mostly hidden. It wasn’t a problem for seeing as my vision had significantly improved from where it’d been a few months ago, but it was a problem for several others. Especially when combined with the already lacking visibility thanks to the sandstorm.
At least- until lights all over flashed on, blinding as my eyes failed to adjust quickly to the sudden intrusions. With the inclusion of bright lights into the mix, the rest of the camp jostled awake.
“What was that?” I couldn’t tell who asked amongst the murmurs of hot camp, but the question broke through, seemingly spreading like an infection.
Soon, Lia was the one asking the questions through a deep yawn. “What was what? What’re they talkin’ ‘bout?”
Hampton imdiately started laying down orders as he put on a mask to protect against the sandstorm, muffling his voice slightly. “Mask up. Lia, summon your sprite. Renold and Yonrow, go get the Prowler started. Zuku, stay close to .”
Easy enough. I checked my weapons. Coming out here I packed fairly light. I activated the shock gauntlets, made sure my KS Squire-14 was loaded, and shifted to feel the reassuring weight of my pistols. This ti around I’d brought my Sidewinder and the Knight Security Saber-19, the one I’d gotten from the Blue Crusade. It was far more powerful, and I’d already had a bunch of silver bullets from it.
There hadn’t been a call to arms quite yet, but I had a bad feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Had one ever since we got out here, really. Almost like a low buzz of coldness that could’ve been Insight trying to warn or could’ve just been indigestion from the MRE slop they served for dinner.
I was leaning toward the forr though. My own instincts, outside of Insight, were screaming sothing was wrong. Maybe it was thanks to the similarities from the last ti I was in the Outlands while tracking the Leper-Khans? I wasn't sure, but I was deeply unsettled by sothing.
The sands around us intensified, making it difficult to see without protection of so sort. The rest of Red-Six followed the Sergeant’s orders, though Lia stalled slightly with a happy look on her face. “Are we expecting a fight?”
“I’m not sure.” He looked around everywhere, his head constantly twisting and turning as if to catch even the slightest of hints. Outside of the ruckus in the camp and the howling sandstorm, the world outside of the camp had been dead silent. There wasn’t a repeated noise like what first got everyone moving.
Lia frowned, her hand slowly caressing the ring. “Silver might not want to co back later if I call him now…”
”That’s fine. Call its brother then?” Hampton asked, but it was more of a command.
“Not how it works…” She sighed and started mumbling to herself as she stroked her ring. A mont later, the air crackled with power. The Aether split open, revealing-
A tiny wolf pup. It had super adorable eyes staring up at the world around it in wonder. A little yip sounded out, having an ethereal tinge to it making the sound almost ghostly. I doubt she’d materialize this particular sprite. If it were here physically it’d be picked up and carried away by the wind. Probably just planned to use it as a conduit to cast magic.
My eyes snagged on the sandstorm as sand wiped my exposed forehead. I pulled the hood lower down, blocking as much of the stinging substance as I could. With Aetherial Perception active, the entire thing looked different than how it had with mortal eyes. This thing wasn’t natural. There was an almost heavy feeling to it, and the entire storm seed to thrum as if following the beat of a dark heart.
Hampton’s radio crackled to life… then continued crackling. I could hear Captain Roger’s irritated voice from elsewhere in the camp. “Red-One, co in.”
”Tchhhhhhh-“ Sothing ca across, though it was too garbled to make anything out of. The sandstorm must be causing so interference. Or sothing else. This sandstorm wasn’t naturally made afterall. Ambush?
”Hey, sothing about this sandstorm doesn’t feel right.” It was the most I could say without exposing deeper capabilities. I’d rather the outside world consider entirely tech-focused without a hint of magical awareness.
Hampton looked at as if I were a kindred soul before slowly nodding. “You feel it too?”
”Red-One.” A call ca again.
“Tchhhhhh- elp! Massive- tchhhhhhh-“
Gunfire erupted from just outside of the camp, sending everyone into overdrive. Visibility dropped again, turning everything not imdiately around into a shadow even with the lights.
A shout ca from the center of the camp, carrying over the billowing winds. “Get the guns up! Red-Two! Red-Three! Go find Red-One and offer fire support! The rest of you, circle up and get ready for a fight!”
Movent erupted from all over the camp as Red-Two and Red-Three rolled out in their prowlers. In the distance, the barely audible firefight intensified. Uncertain looks passed around our temporary camp, but these guys were professionals. There was a shift as everyone locked in and psyched themselves up.
”Let’s move.” Sergeant Hampton called to our group as everyone got ready. I followed their lead as we headed back for the Prowler. It was a good decision in my opinion. At least we could flee this way without too many issues.
The gunfire in the distance intensified, briefly having a lull before several more guns joined up. The other two groups must’ve found the first one. Whatever they were fighting must’ve been quite the opponent considering the fight had gone so long. Was it those Thermoguants Lia ntioned? Then what was up with the storm?
”Lia, can you get us so vision?” Hampton called as everyone got into position. Renolds turned the engine a few tis before the Prowler roared into action. We weren’t the only ones as the camp all prepared themselves, sliding the HMGs on the smaller vehicles in between the gaps in the Mice.
”Not this ti. I summoned a pup.” Lia, who was carrying said pup in her arms, looked a little distraught. It was a massive change from the giant silver wolf she summoned the last ti. "It'll take forever to get over there."
Yonrow pulled down the console to control the turret, putting even more on edge. These guys didn’t even have an issue with a Nomad ambush, but now? Yonrow asked, “Do we know what we’re fighting yet?”
”No.” Renold replied. The sandstorm seed to pick up, pelting the windshield so much that he had to switch on the wipers just for us to look through. Not that it mattered. Visibility dropped to an all-ti low as if we were separated into our own world. Only the dim glow of lights in the distance told us we were still with the group.
Hampton looked back toward us, a frown on his face. “Go ahead and swap to silver.”
”You sure?” Yonrow asked though he was already following the command. He ssed around on the console. A whirring sound echoed through the ceiling as the mag feeds disengaged and swapped over.
”I’ll take the bla if I’m wrong.” Hampton shrugged. “Guess no beer after the gig then.”
Lia laughed as if trying to lighten the overcast mood. “Nova. Maybe linda won’t complain about your belly this ti around.”
It didn’t work. The cabin went silent- well, as silent as it could with sand constantly pelting the body of the vehicle. I followed Renold’s lead and swapped mags over to silver.
Dune Walkers. It must be what Hampton suspected if he had us change ammo types. No other point in using silver bullets- at least, not common ones around here. I’d never run into them myself seeing as I'd rarely left the city. Even then, it was on the edges of the Eternal Sandstorm, so they didn't co over often. I’d heard horror stories though.
The central section of the continent, dividing the landmass into two, was entirely covered in the impenetrable Eternal Sandstorm and all the disasters that lurked within its ever-shifting sands. Dune Walkers were one such disaster, and the farthest reaching ones.
I’d heard the few city-states that remained around the central sections of the continent were constantly under attack and had massive walls built up to protect against the onslaught. Said cities were also the number one employers of rcs on this side of the pond. I can’t even imagine living there in constant fear of sothing breaking through the walls.
The gunshots in the distance died out entirely as the sandstorm seed to freeze. The ferocious winds halted as an unnatural stillness seed to co over the entire camp. Sand drifted down like yellow snow as so visibility returned. It felt almost like the entire world had slowed down.
I knew though. Insight’s warning was far stronger this ti. This was only the calm before the storm.
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