Five power armor suits charged through the sandstorm Eris had summoned to cover their operation. Behind them came a group of players riding scarabs, including Old Qin and Lord Ma. They were wrapped up so tightly that only their eyes showed, and they had all put on engineering goggles.
Dressed like standard desert wanderers, they raced toward the place where the Origin Vanguard had crashed.
With Madam Liji's help, the ship had at least avoided the tragedy of a second crash. But even bringing a spaceship pulled down by demigod power to a smooth landing in a sea of sand was no easy feat. So when the group reached the crash site twenty minutes later, they found a vast crater beneath the dunes.
The colossal vessel's fall had been like a giant's iron fist slamming down, sinking even the quicksand beneath it. The battered Origin Vanguard lay in the pit, belching black smoke and looking ready to explode at any moment. But Lord Ma wasn't worried about a second blast. He had seen just how absurdly sturdy Creator-grade creations were. Given how durable the solar engine on the sunship was, even the ship breaking apart wouldn't cause an even more terrifying explosion.
By then, General Bhopal and his surviving soldiers had already evacuated the ship. As native Sanghaans, they naturally knew how to deal with sandstorms. They had set up military tents in a safe area, while the accompanying priests of the Sun had raised a protective barrier to shelter everyone from the blowing sand.
When the five power armor suits charged over the dunes, the battered Sanghaans immediately perked up.
They had assumed the Empire had mastered the repair technology and sent the Desert Sea Guard to support them. But when General Bhopal saw the Transians following behind, he