The fall of Sydney Superior struck every Brighter's heart. A catastrophe of this scale could not be hidden from anyone!

Now that a critical star system had fallen into the hands of the sandmen, the star systems in the interior of the Bright Republic became exposed! The sandmen managed to crack open a hole in the wall, causing numerous battle-hardened fleets to attack the star systems that had never faced as much pressure as before!

The overstretched Starfighter Corps tried its best to supplement the nearby garrisons, but they simply weren't fast enough!

At one star system in the vicinity of Sydney Superior, a small force of Desolate Soldiers fought desperately against an approaching swarm of sandman drones!

Due to severe logistical constraints, the starfighter groups that should have reinforced the Trivian System had not arrived as expected!

Only less than a hundred starfighters remained to cover the two-hundred or so mechs that consisted of the main force!

Even so, the mech and starfighter pilots did not shirk their duty.

The Novabreakers piloted by the 4th Agon Chevaliers of the 7th Bentheim division courageously fought in the vanguard.

Ordinarily, the starfighters should have flown in front to attract enemy laser fire, but there were simply too few left! The defenders of Trivian simply couldn't afford to lose more starfighters and deprive themselves of additional guns.

Every machine mattered, no matter if it was an expensive premium mech or an ultracheap starfighter!

Propping up the morale of the stressed and exhausted pilots, the gold-coated Desolate Soldiers tried their best to cover each and every part of the formation with their encouraging glows.

The duty embodied by these iconic machines barely managed to keep everyone in line.

This was especially remarkable when most of the mechs belonged to mercenary corps or other private outfits!

With the Stripes of Humanity trailing raggedly through space, the undisciplined formation of mechs and starfighters tried their best to defeat the swarm.

The problem was that few pilots saw the point of doing so! Why should they fight over a rural star system whose tiny population at the only terraformed planet had already been evacuated?

As the swarm of sandman drones continued to advance regardless of the opposition they faced, a volley of fast-firing laser beams randomly struck one of the Desolate Soldiers!

"Harvey!" Melkor Larkinson shouted. "Eject! Your machine is a goner!"

"It's too late, commander!" The voice of a middle-aged mech pilot sounded over the communication channel. "The damned sandmen managed to penetrate the armor and damage the cockpit of my mech!"

Melkor cursed and requested assistance from a nearby mercenary corps he managed to befriend.

"Just pull out the cockpit and bring it away if you can! Maybe it can still fly away under its own force!"

"We'll do our best, but we can't divert too much attention to your man! Sorry."

Over the course of the Sand War, many outfits assigned to defend the less important star systems learned how to cooperate with each other. The only way to survive longer than a month was to ensure that they managed to cultivate allies among the disparate outfits they fought alongside!

Melkor had learned many lessons during his deployment at the front.

This was already the fourth star system that he and his detachment of Avatars had been assigned to defend. The other three star systems fell when the sandmen proved too much to stop!

"Hold formation!" The commanding officer yelled over the comm. "We have to hold as long as possible to buy time for our reinforcements to arrive! We can't give up Trivian too soon!"

The battle against the swarm continued apace as Melkor shot his Sandbreaker rifle at a steady cadence.

His marksmanship, which he used to be proud of, proved to be highly inadequate against the agile sandman drones.

At this distance, he merely managed to hit thirty percent of his shots, which was respectable compared to mercenaries but inadequate compared to elites.

He regretted spending too much time on administration and not enough time on polishing his own piloting skills. Ever since he finished his Larkinson training and graduated from the mech academy, he reduced his training intensity to shape the Avatars into an elite mech force.

"Goddammit." He cursed as his visor blocked his frustrated eyes. "I'm wasting too many rounds."

He tried his best to cover for the disabled Avatar mech piloted by Harvey, one of his older subordinates.

Harvey was like a rock within the Avatars! Aside from the Larkinsons, his veterancy status was vital in stabilizing the ranks of his unit. Melkor couldn't afford to lose him at this juncture! The Avatars already suffered several tragic losses.

Unfortunately, the pair of mercenary mechs that flew to the rescue to the drifting Avatar mech came under fire themselves!

When their own lives were under threat, the mercenaries completely forgot about their earlier orders and did their best to merge back into formation so that they would not attract as much attention from the sandmen!

Melkor cursed again! He couldn't fault the mercenary pilots for seeking safety in numbers.

The problem was that Harvey's mech, having lost all propulsion, was drifting further and further away from rescue!

He desperately asked for help from other mercenary corps but received a unanimous denial.

Every other outfit had their hands full protecting their own comrades!

Melkor deeply wanted to dispatch his own Avatars to rescue Harvey, but his latest superior already gave strict instructions that their Desolate Soldiers should maintain position in the formation.

Even if the outfits already brought enough Desolate Soldiers to cover the entire formation several times over, the commander from the Agon Chevaliers wanted the glows to overlap as optimally as possible to keep everyone spirited!

As the window of opportunity was running out, Melkor had to decide whether he should disobey the orders of his superior on the faint chance of saving one of his precious Avatars.

In the end, before he came to a decision, one of his subordinates already left formation and flew to the drifting mech!

"Silent William! What are you doing?!"

No answer came from the comm. William never spoke. However, that was no excuse for remaining silent!

A mech's communication systems facilitated various means of verbal and non-verbal communication methods. A simple mental command was enough to compose a short message or transmit a predetermined code!

"Silent William, return to your post!" Melkor admonished. "You're disobeying orders!"

Even as Melkor rebuked the disobedient mech pilot, he secretly hoped his words fell on deaf ears.

He really wanted Harvey to get rescued, and so far only Silent William had the guts to leave formation. How could Melkor not be pleased?

The only disappointment was that Silent William wasn't really his own man. Ves made it clear that this odd mech pilot was only here to reforge himself in battle.

Nonetheless, Silent William had gained every Avatar's acceptance for his bravery and silent support.

Melkor looked on with hope even as he pretended to rebuke Silent William.

The foreign mech pilot, who showed no signs of acknowledging the instructions from Melkor and the commander of the Agon Chevaliers, finally reached Harvey's mech before it had drifted too far away.

Even though numerous sandmen took potshots at both Desolate Soldiers, somehow Silent William managed to cope with the damage. His Desolate Soldier spun around at various angles in order to spread out the laser fire over the entire frame.

Once his mech reached the disabled mech, the former first stopped the latter's spin.

Then, Silent William's mech temporarily put aside its Sandbreaker rifle in order to sink its hands into the damaged rear of Harvey's mech.

Since time was short, Silent William couldn't afford to be delicate. The hands of his own mech started to incur damage as he put them under a considerable amount of stress.

The hands of a melee mech weren't designed to exert so much force!

Fortunately, the Desolate Soldiers weren't very tough to begin with, and its rear armor happened to be the thinnest. It did not take much effort to pry off the flight system and armor panels that should have blasted away in order to make room for the cockpit's ejection.

While Melkor still tried his best to provide cover fire for the rescue attempt, he switched half his internal vision to a feed of Silent William's mech.

He watched carefully and studied the damaged exterior of the cockpit.

"Silent William! The damage to Harvey's cockpit is too severe! You'll have to pry it out of the torso of the mech and carry it back to the Greenfeather. Can you do that?!"

Though Silent William did not transmit any acknowledgement, his mech already started to pry the cockpit out, managing to succeed as not all of the systems of the cockpit had failed.

"Success! Bring him back!"

The Desolate Soldier piloted by the guest among the Avatars flew back with certainty while cradling the cockpit like a piece of furniture.

Though several sandman drones fired at the vulnerable rear and flight system of the retreating mech, Melkor and the Avatars instantly targeted the offenders and sprayed them with Sandbreaker rounds.

Eventually, Silent William's mech managed to make it back to the light carrier of the Avatars!

Melkor silently smiled while quickly turning back to the battle.

By now, the swarm had been reduced by a third. The threat they posed against the defenders had lightened considerably, which meant that there was less chance that other Avatars would suffer the same fate.

"My Avatars are too precious to die here." He muttered to himself. "I have to make sure everyone gets back alive!"

He knew that this went against the intentions of Ves, but right now he simply couldn't care about his instructions.

His Avatars were his comrades. They fought side by side and supported each other without fail.

Even Silent William, who wasn't technically an Avatar, did not hesitate to put himself at risk to rescue Harvey's life!

Fortunately for Melkor, the battle ended without any suspense. With the military's Novabreakers soaking up the bulk of the damage at the front, the rest of the mechs and starfighters endured considerably less damage.

The modest sandman swarm hadn't managed to pierce past the thick, compressed armor of the latest military mech model that spread among the mech regiments!

As the mechs flew back to their carriers once they made sure to kill every lingering sandman drone, Melkor briefly glanced at one of the Novabreakers returning to its mothership.

The entire surface of the mech looked scorched and deformed as a hundred or so light laser beams had tried to fell the machine.

Though it appeared that the Novabreaker suffered moderate internal damage, clearly that wasn't enough to cripple the tough and durable mech.

For a moment, Melkor felt jealous. Why weren't the Avatars allowed to pilot a Dawnbreaker or better mech? Why did the Avatars lose several comrades over the course of their deployment at the front due to the lack of defenses of the Desolate Soldier model?

"It's because Ves is in charge." He answered his own questions with a sigh. "As long as he calls the shots, he is in control of our lives."

With a heavy heart, Melkor's Desolate Soldier returned to the Greenfeather's hangar bay.

Once he emerged from his mech, he lowered himself to the deck and walked towards a small procession of happy mech pilots.

"Hooray for Silent William!"

"Thank you for saving my butt!" Harvey thanked the silent foreigner. "I owe you one!"

Once Melkor arrived, the Avatars shut up and turned to their commanding officer.

"Silent William." He began. "You disobeyed orders."

William Urbesh met Melkor's shielded gaze without any hesitation or remorse. In fact, he didn't communicate any message at all!

Melkor held out his hand. "For what it's worth, I support you."

Silent William shoved aside Harvey and moved past Melkor without accepting the offered handshake.

The foreigner from a different star sector left the hangar bay, leaving the rest of the Avatars perplexed.

"He's a weirdo."

"At least he's our weirdo."

Though Silent William never socialized with others, none of the Melkor took offense at his antisocial behavior.

That was because his battlefield performance was enough to win the Avatars over!

As Melkor lowered his arm and watched Silent William leave, he frowned for a moment.

"Why is he so strange?"

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