A dry wind was howling through the red and orange canyons as he looked upon the wasteland trying to see any signs of danger that could harm them during their trip back to the main city of Mato. He had been away for almost a week and it had been quite an exhausting trip because of the stormy weather they had to go through. He put his mask back on as wind grew stronger because he did not want to inhale the dust that was in the air and was carried with the wind.

Keke stepped to him, saluted and signed to him that he had not seen any kind of danger. His blond hair was disheveled through the wind and the grey mask covered half of his face. He knew that he could always count on what Keke saw. He had never worked with a scout that was better than he was. And it wasn't just his beyond average surveillance skills but it was also his good skill in gathering information that made him an indispensable partner for Tats in every of his missions. The rest of the crew consisting of eight more people were new personal that Tats did not know very well and had no interest in getting to know. They were recruited by higher ups and all Tats cared for was that they made their job so that he could come home safely.

"Are you all right, sir?" Keke asked him in sign language. Apparently Tats looked as exhausted as he felt as he saw Keke's steel grey eyes examine him carefully.

"Yes, no need to worry," he signed back. The masks where always making it hard to communicate but leaving them off could lead to pneumoconiosis so taking them of when the wind was as strong as now was not an option. He and Keke had no problem with their communication since Tats had learned sign language for him. All soldiers of Mato had to learn some basic signs to operate outside the city if the wind was too strong and masks had to stay on so Tats hadn't found it difficult to learn it properly. Since Tats had let him work as his scout beside his condition Keke always wanted to return that favor somehow and that was probably the reason that Keke always cared a bit too much despite being a subordinate. Tats let it all slide because Keke was the only one that actually cared if Tats returned from his mission alive and it felt good be taken care of. Tats lead Keke to believe that it was a favor that could be returned even if that wasn't the case. Tats would have recruited Keke despite anything simply because he was the best scout he had ever seen.

"Everybody masks on," Tats signed as he saw some soldiers that were still without their mask but they followed his command as they saw the symbol.

"The wind is coming from the east, that means the possibility is quite high that it gets stronger and we could come into a dust storm," Keke signed him. This is why Tats loved working with Keke he not only scouted the terrain for apparent dangers but also observed his surroundings all the time.

"If we start marching now, how long until we reach Mato?" Tats asked.

"About three hours," he answered.

"What's the condition of the soldiers, can we make it in two and a half," Tats asked him.

"Yes, they are tired but they are young and well trained, they can definitely do it," Keke confirmed.

"Good, then let's get going before we get in a dust storm and have to find shelter. I want this mission to end as quickly as possible," he signed Keke who gave him a questionable look.

"What?" he asked him.

"Sir no offense, but can you make it in less than three hours."

"For someone who doesn't talk you say way too much," he signed and tried to look as displeased as possible. Sure he was sweating a lot and his clothes had begun sticking to his skin but Tata had been in far worse situations and Keke new it because he had been with him since the beginning of his career. He would probably never have made it to his position if it weren't for Keke and for his craving to go to higher positions. If it weren't for Keke's condition Tats was sure he would have climbed the career leader by now quite high, too. Tats decided he was wasting too much time with thinking were he had no time to waste and gave the sign to end their break and start marching again. He had so wished for them to be riding instead but the higher ups had decided it would be good for the young soldiers to get used to long marches, with no exception even for the leader. Keke started so run to be a little ahead of them while Tats was going in a steady but fast paste as they made their way on the uneven ground that would lead them back home. As they walked he noticed that is was getting hotter while the wind was constantly getting stronger. Keke was right, they were walking against time because a dust storm was coming and these storms were unpredictable. He already saw the tall masonry of the outer city with its high towers of glass and stone as they shone in the light form the third moon that was now high up in the west as Tats decided breathing got to hard and he put the filtration system in his mask on full power. He checked the energy level of his mask on his wristband and if he used it in this setup he had enough batteries for two more hours. They had to reach Mato soon, because the masks of his fellow soldiers were of lower quality and could not handle his high dust level for long considering the weather on their mission had been rather bad all the time and the recharge throw solar energy had only been moderate. He looked towards his team and asked them through a sign if their breathing was okay and they all gave him an affirmative sign back. With no time to waste Tats went on even faster. Walking got easier now because the ground got more and more even and soon they reached one of the paths that led them directly to the city. The dust that was in the air made the vision harder and Tats was no one who was gifted with a superior vision to begin with so all he could do now was follow the path they were on and leave the rest to Keke. As the wind grew heavier the dust started to begin to mix himself with sand and each step got harder to take then the previous one and Tats led himself fall behind so he was the last one and could make sure no one was left behind. Keke had switched on  a green light on his jacked as the view got worse and Tats and his men were only following his light that was guiding their way. Relief arose in Tats as he could finally see the gates in front of him. The tall glass doors slide to the side as soon as the first person got near and one after one they went inside. As soon as Tats was inside someone had pressed the button and the gates closed themselves again. They were now in the big white room of the double door system and had to wait until the air was filtered.

“Air clean,” said a loudspeaker announcement and everybody took their masks off and breathed the filtered and clean air. It felt cold since the wind outside had been a lot warmer and Tats just stood there for a moment and just took some deep breaths even if the doors that led inside the city were now open.

“Were inside the city now, you can take your mask off,” he heard someone say. It was a young soldier with short reddish hair standing next to Keke who as just ignoring him and made his way to Tats instead.

“You’re dismissed,” shouted Tats to get them to now that their mission was over.

“Get to your apartments and get some rest. You did well,” he said and the soldiers all turned to him and saluted while Tats wished they would disappear out of his sight already because after being constantly with them for some days he really wanted to have some time alone. He turned to Keke as the soldiers finally made their way into the city.

“You too. I’ll call you sometime later,” Tats told him.

“Okay, rest well,” Keke signed and went away that quickly that it felt Tats wondering how he could still have so much energy left.

As he made his first steps into the city his thoughts already with a long hot shower he saw someone with the official clothes of Mato city making his way toward him her long blond hair contrasting with the dark blue outfit.

“Tats Mato, the governor asks for a one-to-one appointment in her office,” she said in sharp business-like voice.

“Can’t it wait until I took a shower and changed my clothes?” he asked, not even trying to sound friendly.

“Unfortunately the governor has an important meeting this afternoon, so you’ll have to see her now,” the woman told him. Tats hadn’t even expected something else. If the governor asked for something than there was no denying. He followed her as she lead him on the main road toward the big city administration building located exactly in the middle of the city where the glass dome that overlaid the city had his highest point. The spire of the building reached up to the dome and could be seen from every place of the city. Tats was always fond of the architecture of the capital but at the same time the building gave the impression that everything within the city was under its supervision and one could at times feel a bit confined. Tats felt the stares of the people as he made his way through the city with his close full of dirt and dust and his hair uncombed and full of sand. He wished the meeting wouldn’t take long because he really needed a shower and a ton of conditioner right now. As he stepped inside the city administration building his appearance became even more out of place because everybody was wearing either expensive clothes or the official dark blue uniform like the woman who led him here.

As he went inside the office he saw Governor Hyo Mato sitting at her desk a glass of juice that changed his color from light green to yellow with every swirl she made in one hand and a stack of paper in the other. She was dressed all in white her purple hair falling in perfect curls down her shoulder. Tats sometimes wished her personality would be as pretty as her looks but he could not get anything out of her disposition.

“Tats welcome back,” she said trying to sound surprised which could not fool Tats because he knew that she was always informed of every step of his mission.

“What is so urgent that it can’t even wait till I showered?” he asked directly because he really wasn’t in the mood for small-talk and still less with her.

“I have another job for you,” she said.

“I just returned,” Tats interrupted before she could even finish.

“I’m aware of that but this is important. I would give it to someone else if it wasn’t but I need my best men for this,” she went on. Tats was surprised by her choice of words. Both of them knew that Tats was one of the best commanders of Mato city but Hyo was no person to easily admit that and in all the years they knew each other the Governor had not complemented him once.

“In the Western Lands somewhere behind the mountain chain our scientists discovered a soil composition that would be ideal for a natural water reservoir. But it’s only data from air recording and some old plans. Someone has to go there and make some scans,” she told him.

“You do know that the Western Lands are about the dangerous place to be and there is a reason nobody goes there, ever,”

“If these plans are true the water reservoir would be enough to supply the whole city without filtering water ever again. Can you imagine the energy we could save by that? Before I can make any plans who to secure the Western Lands if it’s even possible I need confirmation that the water is actually there so I need you to go there,” she said her voice louder than it had to be since it was not like Tats had a choice here.

“The mission is the most dangerous one I ever got so at least let me make the decisions who is going to come with me. I want my own team on this,” he said.

“Fine you can take three persons of your own choice,”

“I need at least five,”

“Fine. You’ll go in a week,” she said and looked at her papers again.

“A week? I just got back,” Tats opposed but the Governor was only staring at her papers as a sign that the conversation was over. Tats had not expected he would return to work that soon again and now he had to find a team that was good enough to make their way to the Western Lands and he had to find them soon. A week to prepare was not much and there was no time for mistakes. If he could make his own choices besides from Keke who would stay at his side no matter what he wanted someone with experience, someone who he wouldn't have to watch over but that could handle the battle by himself. Working with new people was hard enough but working with soldiers that had never been in a fight was exhausting and this was a mission way too dangerous for this. He would need someone who was good already, what he needed for this mission was a true warrior and he knew exactly who fit this criteria, the question was what would it take to get him to follow his command, what would convince the great Shishi Mato to join this suicide mission considering that the last time they had to work together had been a disaster.

Author’s note: Here is the first chapter for you. I hope you like it. Maybe it’s a bit confusing but I try to explain more about Mato planet as the story goes on. I hope you could follow. It’s my first time writing about something on a different planet so I don’t know if I did well. I just want to remark that in this story Mato city is the capital of Mato planet, I don’t know if I explained it well in the story. I already planed the story line so it’s going to be about 10 chapters long but I can’t tell you when I’ll have enough time to write the next chapter. Thanks for reading.