Act 10 — Desert Operation
Era: Beauty of Annihilation (Era 2)
Previous: Act 9 — Rainfall Execution
Overview
Act 10 follows a Hell Hosts operation on a remote desert world after intelligence points toward an abandoned settlement containing information connected to the Farlands.
A small Hell Host force led by Champion is deployed to investigate the site, accompanied by soldiers including Marksman and Hitman 0-7.
Unknown to Hell Hosts, the Angel Swords are also operating within the region.
The mission quickly escalates when the Hell Host team encounters Phantom inside the abandoned settlement. Both factions realise they are searching for information connected to the Farlands and the anomalous power found there.
What begins as an intelligence operation develops into a battle for control of the site.
Most of the Hell Host team eventually extracts while Hitman 0-7 remains behind with several Eradication Division robots to delay advancing Angel Sword forces.
The operation provides Hell Hosts with an important lead toward the Farlands and brings their growing interest in the region into direct conflict with the Angel Swords.
Desert Operation marks the end of Beauty of Annihilation.
Story
The Lead
Hell Host intelligence discovers evidence pointing toward an abandoned facility or settlement located on a remote desert world.
The site is believed to contain information connected to the Farlands and potentially Element 95.
The exact nature of the information remains unclear.
Following the discovery, Hell Hosts deploy a small force to investigate.
Champion leads the operation alongside several Doom Corps soldiers.
Marksman and Ryan Taylor also participate in the mission.
The team travels through the planet’s desert environment toward the abandoned settlement while a severe sandstorm reduces visibility across the region.
What initially appears to be a relatively isolated intelligence operation soon becomes significantly more dangerous.
Hell Hosts are not alone on the planet.
Contact
The Hell Host team enters the abandoned settlement and begins searching for the information that brought them there.
During the operation, they encounter Kaito Aikawa, an Angel Sword Marine operating within the region.
The encounter quickly becomes hostile.
Phantom engages the Hell Host personnel using his weapons and anomalous abilities, including his ability to phase through solid matter.
Fighting spreads through the structures of the abandoned settlement as both sides attempt to maintain control of the site.
The confrontation reveals that the Angel Swords have also discovered information concerning the location.
Their presence is not accidental.
The Angel Swords have already begun searching for ancient weapons, artifacts, technologies, and knowledge associated with the Farlands as part of their attempts to understand and eventually control the power of Element 95.
Both factions are therefore searching for the same thing.
The mission becomes a race to secure the Farlands lead before the opposing faction can take it.
The Desert Battle
Phantom alerts nearby Angel Sword forces to the Hell Host presence.
The Angel Swords maintain an outpost within the wider region and begin sending additional personnel toward the settlement.
The isolated confrontation rapidly escalates.
Hell Hosts request extraction as Angel Sword forces advance through the desert and worsening sandstorm.
Additional fighting breaks out around the abandoned structures.
Champion and the remaining Hell Host personnel attempt to complete their objective while simultaneously preparing to withdraw.
Hell Host aircraft eventually reach the area.
With increasing numbers of Angel Sword personnel approaching the settlement, Champion orders the majority of the team to extract.
Champion, Marksman, and the surviving Hell Host personnel board the extraction craft.
Hitman 0-7 remains behind.
Scorched Earth
Before the main Hell Host force leaves the area, several Eradication Division robots are deployed into the abandoned settlement.
Hitman positions the machines throughout the structures.
Rather than attempting to hold the settlement conventionally, the remaining Hell Host forces prepare the area for the approaching Angel Swords.
The sandstorm and abandoned buildings provide concealment while Hitman establishes firing positions throughout the settlement.
Angel Sword forces eventually enter the area.
The hidden Eradication Division units open fire.
The abandoned settlement becomes a battlefield as Hitman and the machines engage the advancing Angel Sword personnel from prepared positions.
The action delays the Angel Sword advance and prevents them from immediately pursuing the withdrawing Hell Host force.
Hitman eventually withdraws from the settlement after completing his objective.
The Farlands Lead
Despite the unexpected Angel Sword presence and the battle that follows, the operation provides Hell Hosts with information pointing toward the Farlands.
The precise nature of the information recovered during Desert Operation remains undocumented.
Its implications are considerably clearer.
Hell Hosts now know that something within the Farlands is worth pursuing.
They also know that the Angel Swords are already searching for it.
The operation becomes another early step toward the galaxy’s growing interest in the anomalous regions beyond conventional civilisation.
For Hell Hosts, the Farlands are no longer simply a distant and poorly understood region of space.
There is something there.
And eventually, they will go looking for it.
Characters
Hell Hosts
- Champion
- Marksman
- Hitman 0-7
- Doom Corps personnel
- Eradication Division units
Angel Swords
- Phantom
- Angel Sword personnel stationed within the region
Factions
Locations
Desert World
Desert Operation takes place on a remote desert world dominated by dunes, severe sandstorms, and limited visibility.
The exact identity of the planet remains undocumented.
Abandoned Settlement
An abandoned settlement or facility serves as the primary location of the operation.
The site contains information connected to the Farlands and becomes contested by both Hell Hosts and Angel Sword forces.
Angel Sword Outpost
The Angel Swords maintain an outpost somewhere within the wider region.
Personnel from the outpost respond after Phantom encounters the Hell Host team.
Major Events
- Discovery of information connected to the Farlands
- Deployment of Champion’s Hell Host team
- Exploration of the abandoned desert settlement
- Encounter between Hell Hosts and Phantom
- Discovery of Angel Sword activity in the region
- Battle within the settlement
- Arrival of additional Angel Sword forces
- Hell Host extraction
- Deployment of Eradication Division robots
- Hitman 0-7’s delaying action
- Recovery of a lead pointing toward the Farlands
Deaths and Casualties
Hell Host and Angel Sword personnel are killed or wounded during fighting around the abandoned settlement.
Exact casualty numbers remain undocumented.
No major named character is confirmed to have been killed during the operation.
Lore Introduced
Hell Host Interest in the Farlands
Desert Operation becomes an important early development in Hell Hosts’ growing awareness of the Farlands.
While the faction already possesses limited knowledge of anomalous regions within the galaxy, the information discovered during the operation gives Hell Hosts a tangible reason to investigate the Farlands further.
This interest would eventually contribute to later Hell Host expeditions into the region.
Competition for Element 95
The operation reveals that Hell Hosts and Angel Swords are independently investigating information connected to the Farlands.
The Angel Swords already understand that Element 95 possesses extraordinary power.
They worship the material and seek weapons, artifacts, technologies, and knowledge capable of allowing them to harness its properties.
However, they do not yet understand how to control it.
The encounter on the desert world demonstrates that the search for the Farlands and its secrets is no longer occurring without competition.
Eradication Division
The operation demonstrates the use of Eradication Division robots as autonomous combat assets capable of being deployed into extremely dangerous positions.
Several units remain behind with Hitman 0-7 after the primary Hell Host force extracts, allowing Hell Hosts to continue resisting the Angel Sword advance without committing additional humanoid personnel.
Consequences
Hell Hosts leave the operation with information pointing toward the Farlands.
The Angel Swords become aware that Hell Hosts are now pursuing similar information.
The confrontation further contributes to hostility between the two factions and expands their rivalry beyond conventional military conflict.
Both factions now possess reasons to investigate the Farlands and the anomalous power associated with Element 95.
The wider significance of the region remains unknown.
Desert Operation concludes the events of Beauty of Annihilation (Era 2).
The conflicts of the era have transformed the political and military landscape of the Omicron Galaxy.
The Angel Swords have emerged as a major power.
The War Between Hell Hosts and Free World has ended in Hell Host victory.
The Free World Order has survived despite its defeat.
And the attention of major galactic powers has begun shifting toward forces and regions far beyond conventional warfare.
The search for greater power has begun.