The sky above Thaross blazed with hues of crimson and amber as Kirana and Zephyr walked along the cobblestone streets of Rusty Town. The city was a scar carved into the desert, its crooked metal buildings groaned under the wind, carrying dust, rust, and the sharp tang of burning oil.
Kirana tightened her worn coat around her body. Beside her, Zephyr scanned the surroundings, eyes sharp, reading every shadow.
"This city... it's rough," Kirana murmured.
"We've lived through worse," Zephyr replied, a faint grin tugging at his lips. "If we survived Edena, Rusty Town's nothing."
They spent the day drifting from one workshop to another, offering their skills and labor. At a mechanic's outpost, Zephyr dismantled and reassembled a hover engine in minutes. A burly man with a mohawk and a cybernetic arm gave an approving nod.
"You start tomorrow. We need fast hands. A loose bolt can kill a racer."
Meanwhile, Kirana found work at the racing arena, a sprawling complex filled with dust, roaring exhausts, and tattooed racers with feral eyes. She helped the arena master recruit new riders, judging them on agility, speed, and guts.
Their lives began to find rhythm again... until one night, the city alarm wailed like a wounded beast.
Red lights flared from the watchtowers. Zephyr, working late, froze mid-motion. Kirana burst into the workshop, breath ragged.
"What happened?"
"Desert raiders," a mechanic shouted. "They're back, and this time, they've got war rigs!"
Over the dunes, silhouettes emerged, metal beasts roaring across the sand, bristling with spears, flamethrowers, and jagged armor. Some bore skulls on their hoods, wheels spinning like circular saws.
"Rusty crew, to arms!" a captain shouted. "Racers! Prove your courage means more than speed!"
Kirana met Zephyr's gaze. "You ready?"
He grinned beneath his breath. "Always."
Zephyr climbed into his custom-built buggy—heavy, armored, fitted with a light machine gun. Engines roared as racers launched into the desert, their vehicles leaping from sand ramps, spinning midair before crashing down hard.
Gunfire. Explosions. Screams. The desert became chaos.
Kirana rushed to the comms tower, directing defense lines. Zephyr led the left flank, his voice sharp over the radio. "Take the right! Cut off their retreat!"
A massive war truck barreled toward him, cannon aimed. Zephyr swerved, hit a trigger, a grenade launcher fired from his buggy's side, blasting the truck's tire. The vehicle flipped, erupting into flames.
"One down!" he yelled.
Behind him, a scorpion-shaped mech lunged from the dunes, only to be struck by a silver-haired racer on a jet bike, who drove a plasma lance into its core. The explosion lit up the night.
Rusty Town was burning. Raiders pressed harder. Communications failed. One by one, the defenders fell.
Kirana clenched her fists in the tower. If Rusty Town fell, Thaross would be lost. She dashed into the underground armory, rows of old rifles, rusted ammo, and one weapon kept in pristine condition: an ancient bow, beside a crate labeled Explosive Arrows – Pressure-Triggered.
"This will do," she whispered.
When she emerged, the battlefield was ablaze. Zephyr's buggy was nearly scrap, but he fought on, twin plasma blades flashing. "Kirana! This place is collapsing!" he roared.
"Not yet. Not while I'm still breathing!" she replied.
She drew her bow and fired. One arrow, each striking fuel tanks, detonating enemy rigs in a chain of explosions. Fire rained across the dunes.
Zephyr leapt from his burning buggy, cutting through raiders with mechanical precision. They fought back-to-back, blades and arrows slicing through smoke and flame.
"They keep coming!" shouted Kirana.
"And we keep getting angrier," Zephyr replied, tossing a smoke grenade.
Amid the chaos, Kirana fired her last arrow into the enemy command vehicle. The explosion echoed through the desert. The surviving raiders fled into the dunes.
Silence fell.
By dawn, Rusty Town still stood. Smoke drifted across the ruins as cheers broke out among the survivors.
A hulking man approached them, broad shoulders, grey stubble, one eye replaced by a glowing red optic. His voice rumbled like thunder.
"You two fought like devils. Name's Kraken. I run Rusty Town."
Kirana nodded warily. "You said this isn't over?"
Kraken's optic flickered toward the horizon. "Those you killed were just the western wing of the Dune Ryders. Their leader, Slayne, won't forgive this. He'll be here by morning."
Zephyr gripped his blades. "Then we prepare."
Kraken nodded grimly. "We fight to the last. No retreat this time."
That night, an uneasy silence settled over Rusty Town. Cold wind hissed through cracks in the metal walls, carrying the scent of sand and blood.
From the watchtower, Kirana and Zephyr gazed into the horizon, where darkness hinted at war.
"Do you think she's still alive?" Zephyr asked softly.
Kirana's voice trembled with both hope and fear. "Aelina's strong and stubborn. I believe she is. But I fear she might not be... herself anymore."
Zephyr nodded. "Then we'll find her when this is over."
"We will," Kirana said firmly. "But first, we survive tomorrow."
They descended from the tower into the main barracks, where the clang of metal and hiss of torches echoed. Mechanics forged armor. Racers loaded weapons. The entire town was a war machine being rebuilt overnight.
Kraken stood before them, voice booming over the crowd.
"You all know what's coming. The Dune Ryders won't stop until Rusty Town is ashes. But we don't bend, and we don't break!"
The crowd roared.
"Our plan is simple," Kraken continued. "Hit first. Hit hard. Leave nothing standing. This is our home, and we're not giving it up!"
He turned to Kirana and Zephyr. "Fight your way. I won't chain you down. You two have instincts sharper than anyone here."
Zephyr raised a brow. "Why not strike their base instead? End it at the root."
Kraken let out a gravelly chuckle. "Because their base is a fortress, a labyrinth of blood and steel. Going there now would be suicide. We wait for them to come... and send them back in coffins."
*****
The first light crept over the horizon, painting the dunes in pale shades of blue and gray. A low rumble stirred from the distance—an angry growl of engines, the rattle of rusted metal, and the rising roar of bloodthirsty voices.
Zephyr squinted toward the horizon. "They're coming."
Kirana took a slow breath, her voice steady. "Then let's make sure Rusty Town still stands when this is over."
Dust rose like a storm across the Thaross Desert. War was coming.
Hundreds of Dune Ryders emerged from the dunes, their armor cobbled together from scrap comp-core plating, their faces hidden behind cracked visors and scavenged masks. The early sunlight glinted across their jagged silhouettes, turning them into beasts scenting blood. At the front stood their commander, Ragan Dorex, a tall, dark-skinned man wearing a steel skull mask. He raised his rifle high, his voice booming like the echo of hell itself. "Hold until my mark."
Across the battlefield, the rusted gates of Rusty Town creaked open. Dust and heat shimmered as their defenders rolled out: monster trucks bristling with missile racks, dune bikes with serrated plating, and jury-rigged buggies carrying plasma launchers that looked one explosion away from falling apart. Kraken stood atop his armored beast of a vehicle, a massive electromagnet hammer in hand, his single remaining eye locked on the dunes ahead.
Beside him, Zephyr stood with Kirana on a treaded buggy. He flexed his gloved hands, exhaling through his teeth. "You remember Althera Desert?" he muttered.
Kirana's hair whipped in the wind. "How could I forget?"
Zephyr allowed a faint grin. "Back then, I didn't know you'd be the reason I'm still breathing."
Kraken raised his arm. His voice thundered: "Rusty Town... FORWARD!"
Engines roared in unison, a storm of fire and steel surging toward the Dune Ryders. Dust swallowed the morning sun.
Ragan fired into the air. "THEY'RE COMING! SHOW THEM YOUR TEETH!"
The two forces clashed in a tidal wave of fury. Explosions tore across the sands, plasma fire slicing through armor and flesh. Kirana loosed an explosive arrow; it struck a truck dead-on, sending it flipping through the air in a bloom of flame. Zephyr leapt from his buggy, spinning midair before driving his blades into two riders at once, a blur of death moving through chaos.
Kraken slammed his hammer into the ground, unleashing a shockwave that threw enemies like ragdolls. "DON'T LET 'EM IN! BURN 'EM ALL DOWN!"
The Dune Ryders countered viciously. Swarms of drones zipped through the smoke, detonating between Rusty Town's vehicles. But the raiders held fast, spinning and striking with reckless precision. Amid fire and dust, Kirana and Zephyr fought like twin demons, defenders of a doomed home.
Far behind the lines, Ragan watched with a cold smile. "This is only the beginning," he whispered.
The sight of Kirana and Zephyr cutting through the chaos ignited the hearts of Rusty Town's defenders. They screamed, charged, and bled together, their courage stoked by two strangers who had become their symbols of hope.
On a high ridge to the east, Ragan stood atop a colossal assault vehicle. His calm expression hid his cruelty. Behind him, his elite troops readied flamethrowers. "Let's end this," he murmured. With a single nod, his army descended, engines howling like demons.
Zephyr's ears caught the rumble. He turned sharply. "Kraken! They're flanking from the east! We need to pull back, lure them away from the town!"
But Kraken, bleeding and battered, only straightened his back. His voice was calm, proud. "I don't retreat, boy. Rusty Town is my home. If it burns, then I burn with it."
Zephyr clenched his jaw. Kirana glanced between them, her breath trembling, no time for argument.
Kraken lifted his hammer high once more. "RUSTY TOWN! STAND YOUR GROUND! TEAR THEM APART!"
The shout cut through the storm. The defenders rallied, hurling themselves back into the fire.
The sky turned red as flames consumed the desert. Explosions rocked the earth, tearing through walls and vehicles alike. The defense line crumbled, and the Dune Ryders surged forward, relentless.
Kraken limped but refused to fall. Blood streaked down his arm, yet his eyes still blazed with defiance. Kirana fought with a steel spear scavenged from the wreckage, her every move a deadly dance. Zephyr, exhausted and bleeding, still moved with mechanical precision. "Not while I still stand," he hissed.
Kraken's voice rasped through the comms: "Don't give up! Fight to the last breath! Rusty Town is our home!"
Then the gates fell.
The Dune Ryders stormed in, flooding the streets with fire and fury. Hope began to fade, until the heavens roared.
A metallic shriek split the sky. A black aircraft dove out of the clouds, engines screaming. Twin plasma beams ripped through the enemy front lines, scattering men and machines alike. Then, two missiles streaked toward the eastern ridge, the one where Ragan stood.
The explosion swallowed the horizon. Ragan was thrown from his perch, his elites shattered beside him. Chaos erupted through the Dune Ryders' ranks.
Kirana lifted her gaze, tears mingling with the soot on her cheeks. "They found us," she whispered.
Zephyr nodded weakly. "We're not done yet."
Kraken staggered but managed a bloodied grin. "Hah! Rusty Town still stands!"
As the dust settled, the ship descended, its ramp opening with a hiss. A white-haired girl sprinted out first, throwing herself into Kirana's arms.
"I thought I lost you," she sobbed.
Kirana hugged her tightly. "I'm still here, Vega. I'm still here."
Moments later, Velaria and Kaelar emerged, their eyes wide as they took in the ruined town and the wounded survivors still standing. Laughter and tears mixed in the haze of smoke.
Against all odds, Rusty Town had survived, its defenders scarred, its walls broken, but its spirit unburned.