"We have lived amongst the sands for all our lives; it is all we know, our way of life. The dunes are our only friends, and anything else...is an enemy..."
-Anonymous; untraceable wide-band broadcast during the Omega Land War.
-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N-
Click.
The sound of a button being pressed.
The low, quiet sound of a tape recorder whirring.
"Progress Log, Commander Rachel; Chief of Allied Nations Operations, Omega Division."
A soft, feminine voice, dulled from weariness and exhaustion.
"Things are going well over here. Rebuilding is going smoothly and on schedule; sometimes even ahead of schedule, thanks to Colin and Sasha's affinity for money...it's enabled us to increase our manpower by nearly thirty-three percent. Good job, too...much more of Omega Land was ravaged than previous estimations had believed."
A pause. The whirring of the tape continues.
"Lash has recently left the Allied Nations, to rejoin her fellow CO's from the Black Cadre. Lash, Adder, and Flak are now seeking to retake Black Hole from the Bolt Guard – seeing as they were missing after the final battle against Von Bolt, they must still be out there – and turn Black Hole into a better nation. I'm reserving my judgement on that one."
"Hawke…Hawke is still missing. His fate is still the subject of some fierce debate, mostly between Jake…and anyone else who foolishly tries to convince Jake that Hawke is truly gone. I'm astounded by his fervour and determination; maybe he's finally growing up…at least, I hope he is. I still have to tell him several things, but…ah, forget it. This log isn't for me to go on about my own personal feelings, not while I have a job to do."
"Anyway...back to business. In a couple of weeks, the main body of the Allied Nations Army will move into the large Lynx Desert, situated in the south-eastern area of the easternmost island in Omega Land. During the last war, we had passed it by completely; Black Hole didn't seem to have any troops there, and we were possessed by an almost religious zeal to hunt down Black Hole anyway, so it makes sense that we'd leave it. But now…common sense has taken hold, and we've decided to advance into the area to search for any remnants of Black Hole that may have hidden themselves in the desert."
A long pause, punctuated by a soft sigh. Dark brown eyes linger on a window, watching the streaks of orangey-red sunset gradually fade.
"Sonja's intel teams have found strange emissions and radiation, similar to most modern cities…they're hard to find, and nearly impossible to pinpoint exactly. She thinks that something – most probably a Black Hole base – is somehow reducing, or otherwise eliminating, these emissions. It would make sense; they're on the run, trying to hide. What we have detected is minute leakages, random radio waves and such, emanating from the desert in strange directions. They may be trying to contact other remnants through satellites, or something…we'll see."
Silence. A slight squeak of a chair as a body pulls itself upright from a relaxed slouch, and reaches a slender hand towards the 'stop' button.
"We'll see..."
Click.