As they drive further and further away from Oasis, they pass by the miles of farmland that surround the city. These fields are filled with towering windmills; giant white pillars bearing great turbines high in the sky. The federation was quick to take advantage of the desert's natural breeze. Hundreds more of these windmills spin atop the windward face of a distant great dune—a gargantuan sand dune reaching heights comparable to a mountain. There are several of these great dunes spread throughout the desert. The one that Sebastian is currently admiring is called Delgado. He wishes now, that he had spent more time admiring it while he had the chance.

Every mile they travel, every sign they pass, as the road traffic fades from heavy to sparse, to nothing—for every vestige of familiar civilization that fades away, Sebastian feels himself sinking. Just like the nightmare he had last night, the desert consumes him. The ground beneath him gives way, the dunes pull him downward, dragging him further and further into their depths. The weight of his new reality forms a pit in his stomach. He's going to die out here.

…

After almost two hours of driving, Dusty checks her watch. They’re actually making good time. She exhales. Everything might actually work out. She begins to relax, but she stops herself. Now’s not the time to get comfortable. There’s too much room left for something to go wrong. It’s just her and Sebastian left in the main cabin. June is still in the supply closet, likely using the internet on Sebastian’s phone. It’s probably for the best that she’s left alone.

A Lunar Federation fighter jet flies over the tadpole. The ship’s mirrored body glimmers as it zips away. Two more jets roar overhead, following the first. Dusty wonders where the ships are headed. Then she suddenly understands.

It’s time.

The landing is ahead of schedule.

"Drive faster." She commands.

"What?" Sebastian is shaken out of his highway hypnosis.

"Step on it!" Dusty yells.

Sebastian’s shoulders tense and he presses down on the gas. The tadpole quickly accelerates. It’s a swift vehicle—its speed climbs to one hundred miles an hour within ten seconds. Glass dust swirls all around the tadpole, creating a soft chromatic glow as sunlight passes through.

The closet door opens and June steps out. Her eyes have become daggers again, but this time they point straight towards Dusty.

"I thought we had more time." June’s voice is flat and quiet.

"The cruiser is almost here. We’re going to miss our window if we don’t hurry." Dusty says reassuringly. She’s trying to calm June down.

June sighs. "Alright. Good call." Her voice has returned to normal state; very loud.

A bright flare appears in the sky.

"Oh. You were right," June says. "Go faster, Sebastian!"

Sebastian is confused and completely out of the loop, but the desperate urgency in Dusty and June’s voices speaks volumes. He presses the gas even further. The tadpole’s engine roars loudly as it accelerates more and more.

One thirty. One forty. One fifty.

Suddenly, another sound joins the tadpole’s roar. A deep rumbling hum, followed by a series of thunderous booms. Sebastian is familiar with this sound, but its scale is overwhelming. This is the sound of a ship entering Earth’s atmosphere. He tries to look up to see what’s landing.

Dusty slams her hand on the dashboard to get Sebastian’s attention.

"Eyes ahead!" She shouts.

Then she places a bulky portable radio on top of the dashboard—it’s almost too bulky to fit. She switches it on and several bulbs on the radio light up as Dusty puts on a large pair of headphones. The biggest bulb on the radio glows red. She dials a knob carefully until the light on the bulb glows green, then she sits still as she listens closely. Sebastian can hear garbled bits of the radio chatter that seep through the headphones’ flakey, leather ear cushions.

Dusty suddenly stands to her feet and runs back towards the closet, but she forgets to take her headphones off. The aux plug is violently ripped out of the radio once the headphone cable meets its maximum tension.

"Ah shiiit!" Her voice trails off towards the cabin rear.

The headphones now removed, the feed comes out of the radio’s large speakers. It sounds like these two somehow have access to the Lunar Vanguard’s encrypted communications channel.

"—Zweihänder, Baldr’s Edge, on final approach. Blade in the sand. Vectors locked, comp variable, down to micro decimal. Copy?" A female voice on the radio speaks calmly.

Sebastian can’t believe his ears. A Zweihänder is the largest class of the Lunar Vanguard’s warships. As the vehicle crests a tall dune, Sebastian swears that he can see the Zweihänder’s pommel towering above a distant sandstorm as the ship settles into landing position. He wonders why it’s landing here. Was the attack on Vento that serious? Or is there something else going on?

"Copy, Baldr. Sparrow actual; status of patrol on CAP Alpha? Over." A male voice responds.

"CAP confirmed. Birds en route. Oasis reports Gaia presence at zero-zero. Patrol radius variable on Baldr’s word. Over." Another voice says.

Sebastian drives past a peculiar saguaro cactus with one of its limbs cleanly sliced off. He doesn’t really think much of it until he hears shouting from behind his seat.

"We’re here! Turn off the lane and out into the dunes!" June yells.

Sebastian takes the vehicle off the road. As he does, the daylight suddenly dims and everything around the tadpole becomes dark. Sebastian looks in the rear-view mirror. A massive wall of glass sand dust blocks out the sun—the sandstorm that he had seen beneath the Zweihänder has almost caught up with them. A vibrant chromatic aurora dances along the enormous storm.

"Alright, storm’s incoming!" Dusty yells. "June! Call the crew! Tell them to get Tyrannis off the ground!"

June brings a large weather-proof bag out from the supply closet. In her arms she carries two large caliber rifles. She haphazardly drops the rifles onto the floor, then sets the bag down as she hops into the passenger’s seat. She’s momentarily confused when she can’t find the headset. She looks down and sees it unplugged on the floor.

"Damn it, Dust—" She quickly bends down and plugs the headset back in before turning the radio’s knob again until the indicator light turns yellow.

"Hello? Hello? Yeah! Get the beast off its ass and keep those bay doors open! We’re coming in hot!" June yells.

She gets up and runs away, making the same exact mistake that Dusty did. The unplugged headset clatters onto the floor.

"Ow!" June yells, but she doesn’t stop running.

A voice crackles though loudly on the radio’s speaker:

"We see the dust coming in now! The engine’s still idling fine, but we need to fuel up before we start moving! Ye two better hurry it up!"

"What are you going to do? Leave without us?" Dusty yells.

"The radar’s picking up heavy traffic on every level of the sphere. This sandstorm’s our only shot of getting out of here!" The voice on the radio continues.

June runs back in with a brick of plastic explosives. She tosses it into the bag. The sound of the Zweihänder’s engine becomes overwhelmingly loud.

"We know, Ringo! Get the rotors spinning! We'll be there in five!" June shouts.

The sandstorm catches up with the tadpole. A colorful dance of dust and glass obscures the vehicle’s surroundings.