?!!
The fight over, you both make your way back to where the vehicle was parked, only to be greeted by a scene of utter violation.
This... this isn't possible. My sensors didn't pick up any Hetero-Creature movement in this direction...
You retrieve the monitoring equipment you had stashed under the seat and begin sifting through the logs.
Could it be a new type of Hetero-Creature? Or...
You circle to the vehicle's rear, your eyes tracing the lines of damage.
The damage is extensive... It looks like the random destruction of a Hetero-Creature or a wild animal.
A web of crisscrossing scratches covers the vehicle, but the deepest gashes converge at the power unit.
Commandant, you mean...?
As you speak, the sun dips behind the mountains, and leaden shadows bleed out from the peaks, swallowing the light.
On these unfamiliar roads, pushing ahead feels like the wrong move.
Most mountains of the mining area stand stark and treeless, their towering shadows stretching in twisted shapes across the land.
Alright.
Liv acknowledges and moves toward you, but for a split second, the shifting light glints strangely in her visual module, making the world around her seem filtered and unreal.
Your face softens into a hazy smudge.
Comman... dant?
Your familiar voice instantly settles Liv's nerves.
...It's nothing. Just a minor glitch in my visual module. It's calibrated now.
The familiar abnormal fluctuation immediately reminds you of the unexpected situation during your recent battle.
It's probably just some desynchronization. My new frame is still in its break-in period.
I will. I promise, Commandant. Don't worry.
