The sun started to set in the Mehar Desert and the jeep was finally equipped with the proper equipment. Sen volunteered to drive despite the tiredness he felt from the refitting. His improved constitution will eventually kick in and helped cope with his tiredness. In addition, he was the only one who can see the tracking spell via the system's mini map.
The tracking signals that were beeping from the minimap showed the distances away for Ken, the bandaged exile, and the twins. Sen looked a little desperate upon looking at the signals. The problem was the signals coming from twins were separate from Ken.
The twins' signal came from at least a thousand kilometres away while Ken was about hundreds of kilometres away. Ken's distance was acceptable considering the trio took some time to re-equipped the jeep. Running at top speeds will yield that amount of distance away from the site of kidnapping.
Nes deduced that the twins could be of such a high priority, they were teleported via portal magic or through fixed magical gates.
The jeep roared into life as Raizan inserted and amplified his magic into the new improved lightning engine and they wasted no time moving. The travel was smooth and the speed that they were going was at least three times faster than the jeep was initially moving. Raizan and Feng subsequently fell asleep from the steady driving of Sen's.
There were some red dots indicated in the mini map as Sen was driving and Sen was careful to avoid them as much as possible. He rather take a longer way at times to avoid combat if possible.
The horrid experience of the Giant Dune Worm was still fresh in his mind. If he had used the mini map properly during the ambush, the twins could have still be with them.
Sen gritted his teeth and push the acceleration pedal harder and continued forth.
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The overarching clouds covered the stars in the night sky and droplets of water started to fall. Captain Haben was looking at the updated intelligence his scouts reported in a makeshift camp approximately five kilometres away from Hongshan Village. He heard the sound of rain from the top of his tent. Haben went out to look at the weather and smiled. Perhaps the gods are indeed smiling at him, urging him to take the revenge for the near annihilation of the Black Mantis by the Red Sun troops. "Jackal Alpha, Jackal Beta, Jackal Charlie get to position in twenty minutes. Let us use the rain to our advantage and we will commence Operation Snare the Fox." Captain Haben radioed to each of his leaders.
"Sir, your names for operations are ever so cheesy." Jackal Alpha Leader remarked.
"Oh please, at least they are just cheesy, the names you created for our training Op was worse. Also remember our bet Alpha." Jackal Charlie Leader commented back.
"I do not have a peabrain like yours Charlie. You know what, lets up the bet. Whoever can get that crafty Fox Bao for two months worth of wine." Jackal Alpha was slightly annoyed.
"Hah!, You are that confident? I will up it to three months worth!" Jackal Beta Lead sneered back in his comms.
"Leads, less chatter in the radio." Captain Haben shaked his head a little. If they were not competent military leaders that gave him results, he would have scolded them and punished them for such little radio discipline.
"Rain." Colonel Bao's eyebrows plunged into a frown. He had a very bad premonition, tonight could really be the night that the enemy attack. If the rain turned into a thunderstorm, the forest outside of Hongshan Village will be the best place for the enemy to hide. The Hongshan Village will be a sitting duck for the enemies to put their fangs into it.
Bao quickly radioed in to his groups. "Change of defence plans. Fox Five, equip your mobile walkers with napalm bombs immediately. Fire them whenever ready towards the forest. Third Gate Mages of Fire and Wind from Fox Four, Fox Three and Fox One, reinforced the Fox Five napalm attacks. Fourth Gate Mages of Water from Fox Three, manipulate the rain towards the mountains. Fox Two, retreat further east and whenever needed if the wall of fire spreads too much."
The Fox Leads acknowledged and immediately got into action. The mobile walkers in the Sun Foxes were specially customised two legged mecharoid called the X-Fox aka Foxy. Their walkers are more durable than standard ones and their wide variety of armament boosts Foxy further for their speed and firepower. Fox Five got their Foxys up and operational and coordinated their strikes simultaneously. With one word from Colonel Bao. the blasts from the Foxys could be heard from miles away. The forest cries for help from the pain inflicted by the napalm but were drowned by the upcoming fire.
The fire in the forest were supplemented by the Third Gate fire mages of the Sun Fox with spells of Fire Storm and Higher Inferno. The Third Gate wind mages propagated the winds so that the rising wall of fire spread towards the north where the enemies were likely to be. As instructed, the Fourth Gate water mages managed to direct the rain towards the mountainous area which was beside the forest.
"Fuck! Retreat!" Jackal Alpha Lead suddenly saw the surroundings around them exploded with fire. Some of his soldiers were burned immediately alive and the Black Monarch's Mobile Tank Walker Strider that was in his platoon was crashed by a falling tree from the bomb strikes.
Jackal Alpha Lead reversed the medium armoured tank that he was in and kept relaying the retreat. Jackal Beta was also caught in the blast radius of the napalm but a majority was able to survive from the attack.
Captain Haben saw the fiery wall which the rain was unable to cool down. "The Sun Foxes are indeed not to be underestimated." He turned back to his comms personnel and requested to relay a message to Black Lynx.
"Plan A failed, the enemy was decisive upon seeing the changes in weather."
"Roger, Black Jackal, regroup and await our command. We will start the preliminary strike." Major Felix replied back. Felix placed the combat radio down and sigh. "Bao, Bao, Bao. That attack was last in the list of 'Predictable Moves Bao can Do'. Show me something new, Bao. I am sure you can entertain me again as you have entertained me in the past" Felix grinned while lighting a cigar up.
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"Hmm? A grey signal?" Sen was thorough in looking through the updated minimap and saw a grey signal with various red signals surrounding it. "Whats a grey signal?" Sen asked the System.
"A neutral party. Possibility of it being an ally is high." System replied.
"Is it me or System, are you really helping me?" Sen smiled a little. He knew that the system had a motive for saying such a statement. The System went silent for a moment before it answers Sen with a single word. "Yes."
"Then help we shall." Sen drove into the direction of the grey signal since the distance he covered was approximately 75% of Ken's distance travelled. He was sure he was able to catch up with Ken and the Bison Mages in no time even with a little detour.
"Guys, wake up. We might have some business in our hands." Feng who snored with his drool spread all around his shirt was forcefully awakened by Sen's shout. Raizan shook his head a little and wore his spectacles.
"The Bison Mages? We caught up to them?" Raizan asked. Sen shook his head and pushed the jeep up a dune slope. The jeep flew up into the air from all the acceleration and gave a cushioned landing from the suspension system they created.
Slowly but surely, at the edge of the desert revealed five large sand scorpions fighting against a human being under the bright moonlight. Sen pointed out in that direction and all three of them ready their weapons and magic.