The desert stretched endlessly beh the pale light of Kynara's twin moons, its shifting dunes casting eerie shadows in the faint glow. Ethan's rented hover truck hummed quietly as it crested a dus sensors locked on a oving several clicks ahead. The Syndicate's voy was a vital lead, a ce to uhe mole's role in the distribution of mind-trol alloy ons.

  Ethan's grip tightened on the trols as Iris's voice broke the silence. "voy detected. Three armored vehicles with heavy escort. Minimal heat signatures suggest alloy tai in reinforced cargo."

  "Perfect," Ethan muttered. His link buzzed to life as Eliara and Thalor checked in from their own hover vehicles trailing behind.

  "We've got visual," Eliara firmed, her tone sharp. "They've got drones cirg for overwatch. This won't be easy."

  Thalor's deep voice came . "Simple. Disable the drones, breach the vehicles, eliminate resistance. I'll hahe messy part."

  Ethan smirked at the Velkran's bluntness. "Let's not get overfident. This ight be a decoy. Stay sharp."

  The pursuit began in ear as the Syndicate voy sped up, their drivers likely alerted by the faint pings of reaissance drohe Syndicate's vehicles, low and rugged, carved paths through the dunes with practiced ease, their turrets sing for attackers.

  Ethan adjusted the hover truck's trajectory, staying out of their direct line of sight. "Iris, scramble their unications."

  " disruption initiated," Iris replied, her tone calm as always.

  The voy responded quickly. Syndicate drones darted into the air, releasing fshes of tracer rounds toward Ethan's hover truck. He swerved sharply, avoiding the barrage, while Eliara's truck surged ahead, her psma rifle mounted and ready.

  "Taking the lead," Eliara called out. Her psma rifle discharged, a sharp beam of energy slig through one of the cirg drones.

  Thalor's hover truck roared past Ethan's, the Velkran standing atop the vehicle's roof, steady despite the uerrain. "I'll clear the way," he said, leaping from his truto the rear vehicle of the voy with an effortless grace.

  Thalor's psma bdes ignited with a hiss as he carved through the vehicle's turret, disarming it before tearing open its reinforced doors. Syndicate soldiers inside scrambled to respond, but Thalor's brute strength and precisiohem no ce.

  The voy's front vehicles broke formation, accelerating toward a nearby yon. "They're trying to lose us in the maze," Ethan said, steering toward them.

  The voy disappeared into the narrow walls of a yon carved by turies of desert winds. The air grew deh dust a, and the hum of Syndicate engines echoed off the jagged rocks.

  Ethan followed close behind, his truck's sensors sing for hidden threats. "Iris, any signs of traps?"

  "Deteg anomalies in the yon walls. Likely explosives rigged to colpse the passage," Iris warned.

  "Eliara, take the left fnk," Ethan ordered. "Thalor, you're with me. We'll force them to split."

  The team executed the maneuver, boxing the voy in as Syndicate soldiers unleashed a barrage of fire from their vehicles. Psma bolts ricocheted off Ethan's truck as he swerved to avoid a direct hit.

  Thalor leaped from his position, nding on the lead vehicle with a deafening g. His psma bdes cut through the driver's , causing the vehicle to careen into the yon wall and explode in a burst of alloy-infused fmes.

  Ethahe chaos to close in on the sed vehicle, disabling its engines with a well-pced shot from his psma pistol. The truck ground to a halt, and Syndicate enforcers poured out, ons bzing.

  Ethan and Eliara ehe soldiers in a brutal firefight, using the rocky terrain for cover. "Thalor, clear out the remaining guards!" Ethan shouted.

  The Velkran tore through the Syndicate enforcers with brutal efficy, his dual psma bdes leaving a trail of scorched armor and severed ons. "This is too easy," Thalrunted, sing the battlefield for more targets.

  Ethan's focus shifted to the st vehicle, which had stopped deeper in the yon. He approached cautiously, his pistol drawn. The door burst open, and a lone Syndicate operative stumbled out, clutg a datapad.

  "Don't move!" Ethan barked. The operative hesitated, his face pale and eyes darting toward the yon walls.

  Eliara emerged behihan, her psma rifle trained on the man. "We need him alive," she said.

  Ethan nodded and holstered his pistol, grabbing the operative by his colr. "Yoing to tell me everything you know," he said coldly.

  Back at their temporary outpost, the Syndicate operative was bound to a chair, his datapad fiscated. Eliara leaned against the wall, her rifle slung over her shoulder, while Thalor stood nearby, his imposing presence keeping the prisoner on edge.

  "Start talking," Ethan demanded, his voice low but firm. "Who's been helping you move alloy ons through Valeris?"

  The operative's lips quivered, but he stayed silent. Eliara stepped forward, her tone icy. "We do this the easy way or the hard way. Trust me, you don't want the hard way."

  The operative finally broke uhe pressure, spilling fragmented details about the Syndicate's operations. "There's... there's someone in Valeris. High up. They make sure the shipments get through. I don't know their name, but they're Federation. They oversee the routes personally."

  Ethan's jaw tightehe firmation of a mole within the Federation guards sent a wave of ahrough him. "What else?"

  "They... they're pnning something big. A on, I think. That's all I know, I swear!"

  Ethan exged a gh Eliara, who nodded. "We'll verify it," she said, seg the datapad for analysis.

  Before leaving the yohan's team discovered the hidden distribution hub where the voy had been heading. The facility was filled with alloy ons and mind-trol devices ready for transport.

  "We 't let this pce stand," Ethan said, pnting charges oructural points.

  As the charges detohe facility colpsed in on itself, sending a plume of dust and fire into the night sky. The Syndicate's operation in the area was crippled, but the fight was far from over.

  As the team returo Valeris, Ethan's thoughts lingered on the mole within the Federation. The implications were staggering, but he pushed his doubts aside, fog on the step.

  "We've hit them where it hurts," Eliara said, her voice cutting through the silence. "But this is just the beginning."

  Ethan nodded, his resolve firm. "Then we'll just keep pushing and searg until we find what we are looking for. We will drag out this rat ahis, one way or another."