Chapter 9: Ashes in the Sand

Location: North Africa – GOC Sahara Bio-Zone, Sector 23-A

The dropship hummed as it cut across the golden dunes.

Inside, the mood was anything but serious.

🛩️ Opening: Banter at 10,000 Feet

Nick (lounging with a sand hat on):

"Yo, you think I can tame one of those desert neuro-beasts? Make it my mount? I'll name it DuneDaddy."

Emma (without looking up):

"If it doesn't eat you first, I'll kill you for naming it that."

Lucas (meditating):

"Focus. We're not here to make pets."

Nick (grinning):

"Spoiler alert, Mr. Monk: I was focusing—on greatness."

Emma (mock serious):

"You mean focusing on your death scene?"

Nick:

"Wow. You two are like DLC packs I didn't ask for."

Lucas (dry):

"And yet here we are. One squad. One lunatic."

📍 Scene: The Wrecked Bio-Zone

The dropship descended into a decimated GOC outpost. Buildings half-buried in sand. Charred metal bones poking out like fossils. The air shimmered with heat.

GOC Officer (over comms):

"We lost the site two days ago. A swarm of Type 1 Sand Striders overran our units. They're burrowers—move fast, hit faster. But… there's a Type 2 commanding them. Big one. Thinks he's king of the dunes."

Emma:

"What's its designation?"

Officer:

"Goes by the codename: Kelgar. Adaptive. Uses seismic pulses. Brutal."

Nick (cocky):

"Great. King of the sand lizards. Let's dethrone his scaly butt."

⚔️ Phase One: Strike in the Dust

Black Echo entered the wreckage. Silence… then:

Rrrrrk! Fsshhk!

The sand exploded. Three Sand Striders burst out—hyena-like, armored, with shifting skin camo.

Emma (activating Assassin):

"Invisible. Predictable pattern. 5-meter attack range."

She vanished, reappeared above one, and kicked it into another, slicing them mid-air. A third lunged at Nick—

Nick (grabbing it by the jaw):

"Bad dog!"

He suplexed it into the sand, then stomped the ground.

Lucas (analyzing patterns):

"They burrow using vibration tracking… Nick, give them something to hear."

Nick (grinning):

"You want a concert? I'll go full drum and rage!"

He slammed the ground repeatedly while roaring—taunting the creatures.

Lucas quickly forged reflective plates into noise decoys, burying them in a triangle pattern.

💥 Phase Two: Strategy Unleashed

Emma:

"Wait… you're making a trap arena?"

Lucas:

"Exactly. Lure them here. Then collapse the vibration points. It'll force Kelgar up."

Nick (still stomping):

"CALL THIS THE RAGE CAGE!"

When enough striders rushed in, Lucas triggered the trap—metal plates clapped together underground, amplifying sound, disorienting the beasts.

The sand cracked.

From beneath, the massive Kelgar burst out—10 feet tall, plated like obsidian, six eyes glowing yellow.

Kelgar (roaring):

"You… brought the storm."

💀 Phase Three: Boss Battle

Kelgar launched a seismic wave, sending sand into the air like knives. Emma barely dodged, her invisibility flickering.

Emma:

"I've got one shot. Someone get me a distraction."

Lucas (activating Forge):

"Cover her."

He slammed his hand into the wreckage and forged a massive crescent-bladed boomerang, hurling it in a wide arc. It ricocheted across debris—catching Kelgar's attention.

Nick (charging in):

"Hey, desert Godzilla! You forgot your sunscreen!"

He rammed Kelgar with his shoulder, absorbing a seismic punch to the ribs.

Nick (gritting teeth):

"Lucas, now would be a good time to yell at me!"

Lucas (calmly):

"Emma. Strike."

She appeared behind Kelgar, whispering—

Emma:

"Royalty revoked."

She stabbed twin plasma blades into his exposed back spine—his plates failed to regenerate in time. He screamed, staggered, and Lucas threw his forged boomerang again—

WHHRRRSHH!

The blade carved clean through Kelgar's neck.

Sand settled.

🎉 Aftermath: Victorious Chaos

Nick (falling backward into the sand):

"Can I get a throne now? Or a sand smoothie?"

Emma:

"I vote we bury you. In that throne."

Lucas (smirking faintly):

"You distracted him well."

Nick:

"You sound like that's a compliment."

Lucas:

"It was."

Nick (mock gasping):

"Mark the calendar! Lucas Millar said something almost nice."

🧩 Ending Scene: A Buried Relic

As they searched the crater Kelgar emerged from, Emma spotted something shimmering in the sand:

A golden tablet, humming faintly with Neuroxin script… and Lucas's last name etched beneath it.

Emma (softly):

"Lucas…?"

Lucas (quiet):

"Let's report to HQ."

He pocketed the tablet without another word.