The four members of the Eagle 1 squad were positioned on top of a dune, perpendicular to a narrow canyon hundreds of meters away.
The incorporation of villium ore as crystal armor on their metallic frames proved extremely useful this time. It not only absorbed the energy radiated by Planet Origin's star, but it also gave them the ability to be invisible to the outside world, except for their weapons.
"Eagle 1-1, where's the target?" Eagle 1-2 asked. Its blue digital eyes were aligned to the magnification scope mounted on top of the 0.75 CLkV laser rifle.
"Northwest, below the fissure." Eagle 1-1 responded, holding a spotting scope and laying it over the entire canyon.
Several scorpions crawled on the irregular ground, trying to find a good shade under the intense heat. Most of them were black, while the remaining few were golden.
"Recording encounter." Eagle 1-3 held another spotting scope, crouching beside Eagle 1-4. "Eagle 1-4, focus on the golden scorpions."
Eagle 1-4 slightly adjusted its position and increased the magnification of its scope. "The scorpions are collecting some sort of resource. Should we engage?"
"Negative, Eagle 1-4." Eagle 1-3 rejected. "Unless necessary, direct engagement is discouraged. Continue monitoring, I have signaled Fox 1-1 about our discovery."
Eagle 1-1's eyes turned golden. "Warning: I am detecting a surge of radioactivity in the area. Source: cavern to the right."
A similarly sized golden scorpion came out of the cavern situated deep in the canyon.
"Warning: Energy and radiation sensors are receiving a spike. Source: golden scorpion."
The presence of the golden scorpion intimidated the black ones. A black scorpion wriggled its tail, emitting hissing sounds to this newcomer.
The golden scorpion stares down at it and rapidly thrusts its swinger straight into the black scorpion's eyes. The black scorpion retaliated, thrusting its swinger as well.
The impact produced clanking sounds that resonated throughout the canyon.
"This is becoming interesting, Eagle 1-1." Eagle 1-2 joked about, still aiming at the golden scorpion.
"Keep your focus, Eagle 1-2. We do not want to be on the receiving end of that scorpion." Eagle 1-1 reprimanded, readjusting its spotting scope to the commotion happening below.
The two scorpions, one black and the other, golden, exchanged several strikes against one another. Their quick clashes produced horrific shockwaves that shook the entire canyon.
The black scorpion swung its swinger, attempting to divert the golden scorpion's attention. The latter deflected the black scorpion's attack and even cut it into two.
The black scorpion hissed in pain but the golden scorpion didn't stop, piercing it straight from its abdomen.
Blood spurted out, drenching the canyon in blue.
The black scorpion died after a while and was feasted upon the rest of the scorpions.
The Eagle squad remained unperturbed about the matter. For them, the time would come until these scorpions died under their hands.
"Battle recorded. Should we retreat now, Eagle 1-1?" Eagle 1-3 asked.
"Negative, Eagle 1-3. I am detecting a straggler from the scorpion nest. Distance from the nest: at least 500 meters. Direction: South-southwest, nearing our position."
"Woah, that's very close to us, Eagle 1-1. You should have reported that earlier." Eagle 1-3 was surprised.
Eagle 1-1 ignored Eagle 1-3's beratement. "Target is going further away from the west. Engagement may be possible."
"I thought that engagement was prohibited, Eagle 1-1." Eagle 1-2 was confused.
"This is a necessary engagement, Eagle 1-2." Eagle 1-1 argued, switching from his spotting scope to a 10mm sniper rifle. "The successor has given us the order to capture or gather creature carcasses. This is an opportune time."
Eagle 1-1 adjusted the sniper rifle in its hands. "The plan is to execute the straggling black scorpion before the entire nest is alerted. Move."
The entire Eagle squad relocated, inching closer to the black scorpion who was now a kilometer away from the nest. It seemed to have found something as it frantically waved its pincers and stinger around while pausing at random intervals.
This continued for one and a half kilometers before it fully stopped. It circled the sands below an encircling dune with its pincers clinking in excitement.
When it found a good spot, it stopped moving and began striking the sand with its pincers and stinger. There was a loud thud beneath, revealing a dense block of earth rather than sand.
"What do you think this black scorpion found out?" Eagle 1-2 teased. "Do you want to bet on it?"
"Focus on the objective, Eagle 1-2." Eagle 1-3 pleaded. This guy was so talkative that it almost fried Eagle 1-3's hardware.
The Eagle Squad kept its crosshairs on the oblivious black scorpion, waiting for the right moment to strike.
After several minutes of blandly waiting in the dunes, the scorpion finally stopped striking as all of its strength was drained.
"What a stupid scorpion. Let's kill it, Eagle 1-1." Eagle 1-2 was slowly becoming impatient.
"Eagle 1-3 and I will attack its stinger and legs. Eagle 1-2 and 1-4, use the laser rifle to blast through its abdomen." Eagle 1-1 commanded.
"Acknowledged, Eagle 1-1." The rest of the Eagle squad affirmed.
"Do it."
The four Eagle automatons spread like the diagonals of a parallelogram simultaneously striking the black scorpion from all sides.
The black scorpion suddenly found itself in the middle of a kill zone, confused about what to do. It hissed out to the skies to no avail, ultimately losing its stinger when Eagle 1-3's 10mm bullet hit it right in the middle.
Its carapace in the abdomen started to melt down as well under Eagle 1-2 and 1-4's continuous barrage.
Despite the low rate of fire, their arsenal proved to be deadly for the naive and alone black scorpion.
It lay dead in the sand, its stinger severed and its abdomen's carapace crushed to the extreme. The scuffle didn't have to last for more than a minute.
"Eagle squad, grab its carcass quickly. Our short altercation may have attracted the nest's attention." Eagle 1-1 advised.
A loud hiss suddenly shot to the skies, making the sand, ground, and air tremble uncontrollably.
"Do it, quick!" Eagle 1-1 strapped the sniper rifle around its body and hastily grabbed the upper stinger severed from the black scorpion. "Eagle 1-3, take point!"
Eagle 1-4 and 1-2 looked after the carapace, dragging the large carcass in the sand while Eagle 1-3 ran in front, providing overwatch and a path to return to the Federation outpost.
As they escaped from a dangerous situation, the area where the black scorpion had been was now overrun with scorpions, both black and golden.
A golden scorpion, larger than the previous ones seen by the Eagle 1 squad, walked atop the dune, inspecting the body parts of one of its kind.
It abruptly raised its head, its stinger fully extended straight to the skies, emitting another loud hiss.
Sensing the anger from kilometers away, the Eagle 1 squad safely made it back to the outpost in single pieces, and another scorpion in two.
Julian, who had just arrived with the PMS-MD-103, was surprised about this 'gift'. "What's this, Eagle Squad?"
Eagle 1-3 stepped forward, kneeling in front of Julian. "Our offering, successor. We believe that the successor has plans for expanding later on so we took the initiative to-!"
"Shut up, Eagle 1-3. Do not make it very dramatic." Eagle 1-1 interjected, bowing deeply to Julian. "As Eagle 1-3 has said, successor, we have successfully hunted one of the native inhabitants nearby. We have also found a nest filled with scorpions similar to this. We will share our findings with you now."
"Is that so?" Julian rubbed his chin. "Take it back to Hesab. We'll have him analyze these scorpions in the meantime. Don't forget the recordings. Tiger 1, escort them back."
The two squads left in that instant, leaving Julian to tend to this distraught Federation outpost. "Now, what do we have here, Fox 1 and 2?"
Julian exited the PMS and had Avina pilot it around. He proceeded straight into the HQ building to look for anything that could be used.
Fox 2-1 handed him a functioning PDA he found inside Captain Rooks' office.
"What's this? A PDA?" Julian swiftly opened the communications tab and found something interesting. "Eh? A call from an unknown number and some attachments in it?"
The call was not recorded to his disappointment and could only open the attachments included in it.
"A document about Doctor Steve Baker?"
Its content piqued Julian's interest. He had barely known this doctor yet the doctor had known most about him.
Doctor Steve Baker, one of the Federation's top scientists. Little was known before he became one of the founders of the Sentinel Program along with four more.
His research was always centered around a precursor civilization known as the Ancien Regime using their technological superiority as the foundation of the Sentinel Program.
"I have found it strange, successor." Fox 2-1 walked to his side. "Doctor Steve Baker is a famous scientist but is escorted with little to no bodyguards. May I know why is that so?"
"Sentinels." Julian scrolled down, trying to find additional information. "The Authority would never abandon him easily like that. However..."
His eyes trailed off to Tasha's document, prompting him to open it.
"A Lone Star from Penumbra? That makes sense. She has unbelievable skills and possibly a high amount of power as well. "The Sentinel must have changed his mind after tracking Tasha's movement and chose to chase her instead. The didn't end up well for him, and for Doctor Steve as well."
"Lone Star? Penumbra?" Fox 2-1 asked again. All these terms and civilizations were very new to him.
"Scions of Penumbra. A congregation of psionics in this supercluster." Julian scrolled down further but found nothing else useful for him to see. "They're not a civilization but their power and authority far exceeds that of the Federation. A Lone Star of Penumbra is considered to be an unparalleled genius of sorts, with strange abilities never seen before."
"But let's not talk about that now." Julian waved his hands, dismissing the topic. "These guys are too high to be even discussed. How about the science hub? Did you find anything useful?"
"There were data found in the hidden computers, successor. Will you look at them now? Fox 1 Squad is there to accompany you."
Julian shook his head. "No need. Bring them to Intellus, and everything else you think is valuable. He will do the analysis himself."
"Then the successor may follow me to the conference room. Fox 2-2 has found another piece of information that may prove valuable for the successor."
Julian exited the office and followed right after Fox 2-1. 'Strange. Captain Rooks had no motive to kill Doctor Steve. The Authority would never forgive him regardless of his reasons. Or was he simply crazy?'
There was a note at the end of the attachment concerning Doctor Steve, implying that he must not be executed unless it was ordered to, or under the Sentinel's hand.
But judging from the wrecks recovered near where Tasha and the sentinel fought, Sentinel B-Y21 did not have the opportunity to personally persecute Doctor Steve and the rest.
Julian scratched his head in annoyance. "This is becoming very strange and complicated. I don't want to think about it any further."
Fox 2-1 found his muttering and behavior confusing but left it at that. "The conference room has a digital map, successor. Please see to it."
He opened the door and gestured for Julian to enter.
"Oh? A map visualizer?!"
Julian controlled the visualizer with his fingers, tapping on the objects he found in it. When he saw the information presented by each flag, a wide grin appeared on his face.
"Uranium, huh?" Julian contemplated on the flag 5 kilometers northwest of their position. A huge amount of uranium was detected in that area. "Good thing. I'm almost running low on my uranium fuel."
He said while looking at the 9 remaining U-Rods in the PMS-MD-103...
