CHAPTER 26

"Maybe you'd like to be the first to try one of these on?" Khap-Ar says, grabbing a visor from inside a box. It looks just like the one you'd seen in the vision, it seems very little updates were made to the helmet's physical design since Jesse last wore it. The actual visor of the helmet is separated from the base and you guess that once it is on is closes tight,

"Sure, lay it on me," you say.

"Lay...? No, it goes on your head," Sen says, a confused look spilling over.

You shake your head, "Sorry, human expression. That's what I meant, let me see it," you say.

Khap-Ar nods and hands over the visor. You hold it in your hands, it's a little heavier than you expected it, but it isn't too bad. "You just press the button in the back there and hold it over your head, parallel to the markings there on your neck," Jesse says.

You do as he says and place the helmet over your head. You see only through the small gap where the visor would slide into place. It is then illuminated, you assume by the markings on your very own neck. The helmet seals tight as it connects to the markings like magnets, the visor slides down and you can see a very dimmed version of the bunker before you. The lights come on and everything is clear, the Heads up Display bringing up all different kinds of information.

"Okay, now that it's on you're going to see a bunch of different blocks of info. Your communications, current life signs, weapon status, and environment information is all located there, I'm sure you can piece out which one is what from that info?"

"I think so, yeah."

You look around in a hurry, your mouth moving faster than your eyes. The communication line is on the upper left hand corner.

"This is your team's information, and where you can access direct communication if vocal isn't a possibility."

"Okay," you say, "and I assume that each team is logged differently from one another? You wouldn't want interference from other's teams lines, right?"

"Correct," Khap-Ar says. "Each communication channel is given a specific frequency, and we'll log in to there and all be on the same line." Next to that in the upper right hand corner is the environment info that he mentioned. "That helmet will also measure the current air levels. They're outfitted with sensors that help detect if sectors become too toxic for certain species to survive in." Khap-Ar explains.

"I see," you say.

Next your eyes move to the bottom left. This must be what keeps track of your personal life signs. "That one," he says, following your eyes, "is your total body health. Again, this is found through the waves in your body and how the suit and helmet sync up to them. If your body is injured or not at peak condition, that number decreases, should it reach zero...well, it should be obvious."

"And the last one here deals with my weapon status?" You ask, looking. It's only reading "UNPAIRED" at the moment.

"Correct. Each WaveBlaster is uniquely tuned to each soldier's waves. They're how we track how many we have out in the field. Also, you would only be able to operate the weapon that is paired with your system," Khap-Ar says.

"What if you get in a situation where you need to use another weapon?" You ask.

"Easy, you don't get in that situation. For the purposes of our army, there is extensive training to cover any emergency situation even if you were to lose your WaveBlaster. For our purposes, this is why we're only using them for protection in a search and rescue, and not full assault." Jesse adds.

"The route we're going to take through Abu Kheppi is one few would take, it's a large desert with frequent dust storms and lightning strikes-nothing our suits can't handle, but it's one that Dromedans don't tend to travel around. Electricity tends to shut them down so they avoid it altogether," Khap-Ar says.

"Why would we go to where there aren't any Dromedans at?" Sen asks.

"Abu Kheppi is not our destination—mainly the safest path to our destination."

"That being?" Jesse asks.

"We're headed out towards Andem."

Andem? The last you heard of that place it was completely decimated after the discovery of Sayar's core.

"You think he's been taken there?" Jesse asks.

"It's a possibility. No one's been around the site since the accident, so we don't know what's around there. We're going in to investigate."

"I understand that we're volunteering because the army cannot be everywhere at once, but why are we the ones headed to ground zero?" You ask.

Khap-Ar looks over to you and his smile fades, "There is a chance that Piscar is not even on Sayar anymore, and a fraction of our force is committed to that very notion. You may have been stuck to Earth back then, but it is much different here. We have dozens of millions of planets around us, plenty enough which have reported sightings of Dromedans."

"Makes you feel pretty small, huh?" Sen says.

"I guess," you say.

"Well, guessing isn't going to get us any farther, so why don't you all grab a visor and let's get going. I'm sure Pamen isn't too keen we've already spent too much time here," Khap-Ar says, tucking one under his arm.

The time it takes for you to get outside again feels almost too long, the air felt stale inside of the bunker. You each received a personalized WaveBlaster, Jesse showed you how to pair it to your system, and even let you test it out on an empty box that lie sitting in the corner of the room.

"There is minimal training required for operation of the WaveBlaster, but don't take that to mean it doesn't take skill. Locked on the wheel there right by the handle are the makeups of various Dromedan units. Being able to switch them on the fly to accommodate for whatever you're shooting at is something you'll get used to, but that's assuming that we dive head first right into a Dromedan war-field."

"I've seen my sister use hers from time to time," Sen says, inspecting hers around all over. "She was in the army directly under Entria Brant, you know."

"That's surprising, considering Entria's not particularly fond of weaponry as it stands," Jesse says.

"Why's that?" You ask.

"She's a big nature freak," Khap-Ar starts. "The existence of something that even has a chance of destroying the environment is a cause of alarm to her."

"She's not dumb, though," Jesse adds. "She understands that they're also our biggest advantage against the Dromedans."

The ability to annihilate our enemy since their waves do not change, as machines they remain the same since the moment they were constructed. If only taking care of Cross were as simple, whatever is allowing him to be alive...whatever intelligence that powers him makes him just as immune to the WaveBlaster as we are.

By the time the sun flashes on your skin again it feels refreshing. You met up with Pamen and like Khap-Ar had predicted, nothing but irritation met your rag-tag group as you filtered out of the bunker. Unlike when you head out towards the other bunker, now you face north. The forest lies in front of you like before, but it soon ends with the trees dotting less and less of the ground around you. It soon begins to crack in the ground and hints of blue begin to speckle the ground. Out in the distance you can see a sprawling desert full of sparkling blue sand in the sunlight. By your feet you see a scurrying armor-plated insect that almost looks like a scorpion on steroids.

"You ready for a practical demonstration of your suit, Alex?" Khap-Ar asks.

You nod your head, and you watch him shift back to the human shape as he presses two of his fingers down to his palm, the trim of his suit highlighting blue with hints of white. "The sand is very deep all around Abu Kheppi, a lot of it is quicksand, Normally Sen and Pamen wouldn't have any trouble for this since they don't have to touch the ground, but for us land-dwellers that means risky business not knowing if our next step will be our last. So, if we increase our speed and combine that with our gravity switch we should be able to avoid falling in."

"Speed and low gravity, got it," you say.

You do as he says and press your ring and middle finger to your palm and you can feel the energy billowing inside of your body as two icons appear on your display, a blue boot and right beside it a white arrow pointing upwards. You look to Pamen, and he sinks into the ground as if he was nothing more than a shadow.

"He'll meet up with us there, the sand doesn't lend too many opportunities for a shadow to cast," Khap-Ar says.

"Come on, if we're going to go we should do it now," Jesse says, putting on his helmet and activating his speed. In an instant the scene from before flashes across your eyes and you see him moments before he's to be crushed. It lasts only a moment and you're back. A remnant thought returns from earlier: "Right near your memory banks, I assume something's missing there, but whatever it is it seems to be an optional piece, considering you're walking and breathing now."

Something's missing. You didn't press it then, but it's been bothering you just so slightly in the back of your mind. Something's missing from your core, and you think that this might be the key to figuring out the rest of your memories. The upgrade must have unlocked something inside of you, and there must be something...else. Maybe once you find Piscar you can figure out the large and the small of it.

You nod your head, and Jesse is the first one to start running, dashing across the ground with each footprint leaving only a slight impression onto the sand. Sen dashes out next, her small body gliding out. You begin running next, the wind braces against your body and the sand feels like clouds underneath your feet. You can see Khap-Ar behind you, and there is a rushing liberation that peaks up through your body as you dash up the crest of a dune in front of you.

You dash to the lead of the pack and use your speed to launch yourself into the air, momentarily forgetting any and all responsibility in the world. Up, up and higher you go, a solid fifty feet in the air sends your insides for a loop. You hang for just a moment until the ground begins to shake. A gigantic claw explodes out of the sand, just perilously missing you and slamming down to the ground below. Sand flies into the air and the others strafe to the left to avoid being squished. You float slower to the ground at the top of the hill, your heart is pumping harder than you would have imagined.

"What the hell was that?" You ask, Jesse catches up to you first. His eyes are wide and it seems that he knows just as much as you.

"I..." he says, out of breath. "What the hell?!"

Sen stops right by you and begins moving again. "Come on, are we going to wait for that thing to come back?"

Khap-Ar doesn't even stop as he dashes right by you. You and Jesse begin running, and there's another, higher dune in front of you. Behind you the claw reemerges, and with it comes a gigantic machine, crablike in form with a snake's end. It slithers to the surface and collides with the ground with a terrible sound. Its only claw is much too heavy for it to raise it for an extended period of time, it throbs as if it were made of flesh.

"What are we going to do?" You hear. You notice it's coming from Sen, but at these speeds it should be impossible for you to hear her, but then you remember your communication systems.

"I don't know, run!" Jesse calls back. "It's much too large to shoot at, we just need to get out of its way."

"Khap-Ar, do you know what that thing is?" You call out.

"No, I've never seen anything like it."

You reach the end of the slack and begin rising up the hill. There's a loud whirring sound behind you as the beast opens its eyes, metal contraptions hung by the wire that reveal piercing green things that begin glowing a blinding white. You turn back around, not wanting it to catch up to you. Jesse reaches the top of the hill-more like a mountain- just after Khap-Ar and Sen. He reaches back around and bends down and ex

The sound behind you increases and you reach your arm up. Your hands connect and instantly you're bathed in light, the crab-beast expels a sort of laser from its eyes that bathe you in brightness. You scream out once and with another second you disappear.

You disappear.