A gust of wind blew through, swirling up sand that landed with a rustle on the electromagnetic rifle, and the two huge moons of the planet Dosas emitted a cold silver-white light as Edward lay on his back on the dune staring intently at the horizon where black and gold met.
"Where were you?" This time it was Edward's turn to prod Elina.
"I...just got down to...the canyon here...you've...rushed me three times in the last ten minutes!" Elina replied, panting.
"The success of this mission depends on your ability to reach the small fortress before they return." Edward's voice was slightly tense.
"If you're...nervous...go check your weapons and ammo a few more...times." Elina threw back what he had said.
"If you can't...you go...count sand!"
Elina's words amused Edward, "You weren't just counting sand!"
The sound of Elina's breath coming up for air came from the intercom unit.
On the horizon, a yellow dusty mist rose.
"Incoming! 20 kilometers, three flying motorcycles, five targets, you have 13 minutes." Edward analyzed calmly.
"I'm climbing right up!" Elina's voice seemed a little shaky.
"Shit! Are you climbing a rock wall? Don't you know how to go around?" Edward was completely unprepared for Aelina's desperate attempt to make it in time.
"Shut up! One more word of chatter and I'll give you a shot first in a while!"
Edward honestly shut up.
"In position!"
A mechanical sound came from the communicator, and the small-caliber energy cannon on the small fort raised its muzzle and pointed at the 1 o'clock position.
"Don't fire yet, wait for my order, we'll hit the lead vehicle first in a moment." Edward said, calmly waiting for the enemy to enter his pre-calculated dead center.
"Fire!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, three rounds of blue energy projectiles cut through the night sky, these energy projectiles were not very loud, but the momentum was horrifying, you could vaguely see electric arcs flashing on the blue projectiles.
The flying motorcycle in the lead was hit head on and turned into a pile of broken parts.
Seeing this, the remaining two flying motorcycles immediately began tactical evasive maneuvers.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, several more energy projectiles were fired from the small fortress, splashing plasma around the several flying motorcycles and stirring up a shower of sand.
"Single shot, ten second interval, you have four more shells!"
Whoosh! Another energy round exploded next to the flying motorcycle, the Imperial soldier on board flipped over and jumped off the vehicle rolling on the ground a few times to get up and run towards the reverse slope of a dune, the two soldiers on the motorcycle behind them followed suit.
Whoosh! The energy round hit the apex of that dune and burst into a blue arc of electricity.
"They're hiding, I can't see it from my side." Elina's anxious voice came over the intercom.
"Don't worry, they're planning every step of the way, I'm waiting for my chance."
Edward hid on the high ground, taking in every move of the Imperial soldier on the reverse slope.
He saw the soldier take out the portable warp gun from the backpack of his comrade next to him, set it up on the ground, and took the shells handed to him by another comrade about to load it into the warp gun.
"That's the chance!"
Edward decisively pulled the trigger, and the round accurately hit the shell in the soldier's hand.
With a loud boom, there was a violent explosion behind the back of the backslope, followed by the broken limbs and debris thrown up by the blast.
In the large tent of the Resistance, General Barr was fuming at his communicator screen.
"Too slow, Major! Our Silver Wolf Regiment has already detoured to the rear of the enemy War Bear Regiment and is now engaged in a battle with the War Bear Regiment, according to the original plan it should have been you guys holding the front and letting the Silver Wolf Regiment kick the enemy's ass, but it's all reversed."
"General Barr, give us another half hour, our regiment will definitely kick the War Bear Regiment's ass hard!" The leader of the Angry Tiger Regiment gave a military salute.
"Major, I'll only give you 20 minutes, Apeida's maneuvering force coming to the rescue of the War Bear Regiment could appear behind the Silver Wolf Regiment at any time, do you know what that means?
It means that the Silver Wolf Regiment will be eaten, and you, the Angry Tiger Regiment, will be facing a reinforced regiment of the War Bear Regiment plus the maneuvering force that came to support it all by yourself, and that means the defeat of this battle!"
He cut off the communication and picked up the cigarette on the table and smoked it.
"Communication suppressed, no frontline dynamics, no enemy intelligence, after three years of fighting this kind of battle I'm still not used to it." Chief of Staff Brenda's delicate female voice always calmed the General down when he was cranky.
"The starships in synchronized orbit will always lag behind the enemy in our information and intelligence as long as they remain there."
General Barr said pointing upwards.
"Yeah, we've been fighting completely blind since the destruction of the Marnier three years ago." Brenda took the cigarette out of his hand and put it out in the ashtray.
General Barr got up and walked over to the battle map and said, "It would be nice if that Edward kid made a big noise now that would scare the noble lords in Apeida."
Brenda also walked over to the battle map, leaned down and propped her hands on the table, leaking out the deep cleavage on her chest, and said, "It's not much of a problem if he's by himself, but it's hard to say now that Elina is following him."
"Hmph, my daughter she can take care of herself!"
General Barr grunted and put his hands behind his back staring at the battle map for a long time slowly sighing.
In the small fort on the east side, Edward was scrutinizing the comms of the collected Imperial soldiers.
He frowned tightly as he found that there were two records of contacting Apeida's headquarters in the communicator, and based on the distance, the earliest reinforcements would arrive two hours later, he did not expect that what was originally a small guerrilla harassment mission would turn out to be like this now.
Looking back at Elina, she was lying on the console and didn't know what she was busy with, after a while General Barr's face appeared on the communicator screen.
"Elina? Where are you guys? How did you reach headquarters directly?" General Barr was already surprised by the sudden request for Imperial communications, and the appearance of his daughter's face on the comms monitor made him feel both alarmed and frightened.
"We're in a small fort on the east side, I'll go ahead and transmit their battle map." Elina said pressing up on the controller.
"That startled me, I thought you were captured, where's Edward? Edward!" General Barr shouted over the comm when he didn't see him solo.
Edward ran to the screen and recounted the battle he had just fought to the General.
"Now I have two choices, the first choice is to abandon the small fort and move north to fulfill the guerrilla mission you gave me."
"The second choice is to hold the small fort, repel the enemy's upcoming reinforcements, and use the small fort to completely cut off the link between Apeida and the starport."
Edward continued, "We have plenty of ammunition now and the small fort is in a better position, but if you are concerned about your daughter's safety..."
"Go with the second one! As soon as the Silver Wolves finish the battle, I'll have them send a maneuvering force around Apeida to go ahead and reinforce them." The general interrupted him with a wave of his hand and began to give combat orders to the Silver Wolves Regiment.
Alphonse was packing up his things as he prepared to withdraw to the starship early the next morning.
He took a picture frame on his desk in his hand, the framed photo of a curly black haired Dialina was smiling at him, he couldn't help but run his hand up over the photo and muttered to himself, "The war on Dosas is lost, I'll be back by your side soon."
A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts and he placed the picture frame back on the table as Major Yang walked in.
"The War Bears have encountered the Resistance in the e11 area of Cambulde, the enemy has appeared behind the War Bears." Yang tossed him the battle map.
Alphonse stared at the map, his eyes didn't stop at area e11, but at area e13 which showed a red dot.
Yang looked at Alphonse, knowing what he was thinking, and said, "The resistance in e13 has abandoned their camouflage march and is advancing towards sector e11 like crazy, in another thirty minutes, this sharp blade will be against the back of the Battle Bear Regiment."
"Why don't you send the ace maneuver unit reinforcements?" He was practically exploding with anger.
"Our ace maneuver troops are capable of raiding to the back of the resistance forces of area e11 within twenty minutes, then by joining forces with the War Bear Corps army inside and outside, it won't take much time to eat the resistance forces of area e11.
Then the maneuvering forces will outflank the incoming resistance army on each flank, and the battle situation can be reversed ah!"
Alphonse questioned as he tapped his hand on the battle map, as if Yang was the stupid commander.
"We've lost the small fort on the Chells Rift, we've been cut off from the starport, the enemy numbers are unknown, and those noble lords have moved their ace troops over to protect their fragile supply lines."
Jan said, pulling his suitcase out from under the bed and starting to pack as well.
"Pigs, pigs who can only roll around in the pit of hedonistic nuisance!"
Alphonse was so angry that he slapped the battle map on the table, and Dialina's photo was shocked and buckled on the table.