Northern Illiguo, approximately sixty kilometers north of Tetric City, on a vast and desolate stretch of the Gobi Desert.
The scorching daytime temperatures of forty or fifty degrees had already quickly dissipated, replaced by the bone-chilling cold of the desert night, enough to freeze the marrow.
A large convoy composed of hundreds of various types of vehicles now lay dormant like a horde of steel beasts in the dark, quietly stationed in a natural depression that offered slight protection against the wind and sand.
The entire convoy strictly adhered to battlefield lighting control regulations; all the headlights, taillights, and even the interior lights of the cabs were turned off, only a few red safety lights adjusted to their lowest power glowed faintly like dying fireflies, emitting extremely weak light at the rear of the vehicles.
