The Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الكبرى‎‎, aṣ-ṣaḥrāʾ al-kubrā , 'the Greatest Desert') is the largest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its area of 9,200,000 square kilometers (3,600,000 sq mi) is comparable to the field of the United States.

The desert comprises much of North Africa, excluding the rich region on the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south, it is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid tropical savanna around the Niger River valley and the Sudan Region of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Sahara can be divided into several regions including Western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains, the Ténéré desert, and the Libyan Desert.

The name 'Sahara' is derived from ṣaḥārā (‏صحارى‎, pronounced /ˈsˤaħaːraː/), the plural of the Arabic word for "desert."

The Sahara covers large parts of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan, and Tunisia. It comprises 9 million square kilometers (3,500,000 sq mi), amounting to 31% of Africa. If all areas with mean annual precipitation of less than 250 mm were included, the Sahara would be 11 million square kilometers (4,200,000 sq mi). It is one of three distinct physiographic provinces of the African massive physiographic division.

Trekking along the Sahara Desert ecoregion by truck, a group of black operatives in training are awaiting their destination. It is their first mission without their respectable teachers and supervision as Rahkaze is their squad leader, overseeing 20 armed men and women.

As they arrived at their destination, the truck stopped. Following the GPS signal that his partner left behind, he made sure that this was the right place. He stepped out of the truck as many of his subordinates armed with machine guns and magic abilities secure the perimeter.

Cautiously, he walked over to the white hooded female with brown skin and brown hair who was standing in front of a pitched tent. With her almond eyes, she scrutinized the armored diara with royal purple and royal blue feathered wings.

As they met face-to-face, Rahkaze asked her a question, “My team sent me here. You got it?”

“Yes, this way,” the woman lured as Rahkaze motioned everybody to standby. Going inside the tent, Rahkaze met up with another armed with a machine gun. The woman walked over to the military-grade chest and opened it.

His partners went on a dispatch mission to secure weapons from the Red Arrow. And to even claim she had an informant working for her. They were rumblings about an ultimate bioweapon Xerxes’ engineers were creating called Silent Fuchsia, a mysterious nerve gas that affects female nephalems.

As Rahkaze looked inside the military-grade chest, he only found rocks. Regular rocks that you can get from anywhere. He immediately realized he has been deceived, but it was too late as the woman drew her machine gun pistol, “forgive me, child.”

Outside was nothing different, members of the Red Arrow rounded up all Rahkaze’s subordinates and the locals. However, they won’t be taking any prisoners with them as they began to gun them down one by one.

Unfortunately, all Rahkaze can do is turn around and watch as his friends and colleagues get killed on his watch, “NO!”

He fights for desperation as he throws knockout gas from his pouch on the ground, blinding and suffocating his traitors. Rahkaze knocks the gun out of the woman’s hand and pulls out his own gun, shooting her in the chest. Wrestling with the remaining traitor, he shoots him in the chest in point-blank range.

Running outside the tent, he fights for survival. He shoots at anybody bearing the Red Arrow emblem. One by one, he takes out many men by disarming them, shooting at them, and even bludgeoning them with their own weapons.

He knew it was futile, but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. This is what he was trained to do, to survive. To leave something to remember them by. As he went to most of his colleagues who are severely injured, it was a lost cause. Many of the members of the Red Arrow were coming in droves from all sides.

Gradually, he was being overwhelmed, but he kept on fighting. It was of no use. He was immediately jumped, being punched and kicked to the ground. With a final blow to the head with the butt of the shotgun, Rahkaze was knocked out cold.

A white flash…

Sudden pain…

Darkness…

“Hey, fairy boy, now we can smile again…”

Then suddenly, Rahkaze regained consciousness again. He wasn’t in that dreadful catacombs inside of the abandoned Temple. He was in his friend’s sublet in Madrid. The whole experience was all in his head. Somewhat. Still, in his tuxedo, it was apparent that Chloe gave him a blanket and a pillow to sleep on while he was passed out on the couch.

A flash of light entered the room as it was only Chloe pulling the curtains, letting the sunshine in. It startled Rahkaze, adjusting his eyes to the sun only to see Chloe in her pajamas, holding a cup of coffee.

“It was just a nightmare, Kaz,” Chloe consoles as she hands him a cup of coffee.

“I wish it was…”

“The same one?” Chloe remembered.

“The only one,” Rahkaze takes a sip of coffee. It was hazelnut. Sweetened with agave. He invited himself to make a big gulp of the semi-warm brew. “I kept playing the same scenario in my head, repeatedly. They shouldn’t have gone out there alone. I should have demanded to bring Alastair’s team along with me. I started to convince myself back then that it was my fault, and I deserve to die.”

“It was a miracle we found you in time in that abandoned temple,” Chloe contraries.

“The damage was already done…” Rahkaze finished his cup of coffee.

Even though it has been five years since his failed first mission, Rahkaze had been an emotional wreck and took it out on a lot of people. After the Oleander Syndicate had burned to the ground, his mother thought it was wise for him to rehabilitate himself, and she would be there along with her family, retiring as Lady Memento. Through time, he regained everything back, but he became bitter towards everyone involved.

He’d never really got over them, throwing him into danger just to prove a point to him that he wasn’t ready. It cost him more than just a shattered ego. Still, to this day, the investigation of Rahkaze’s first mission was never actually finalized and went up in smoke in the fire, leaving nothing resolved.

“Rahkaze, does this mean you’re going back to New York City?” Chloe asked.

“Going to that fucking party was a mistake… But at least I got to hang out with you,” Rahkaze grinned as Chloe hugged him from behind.

“I understand. In a month from now, I have some vacation time. I’ll visit all of you guys in New York. I know Andrea and Mordechai are worried sick about me. I like to see them both as well.”

This put a smile on Rahkaze’s face as he was delighted that he at least accomplished one thing during his trip, “I’m glad you pull through, Chloe.”

“Well, it’s like I said before: it’s not always black and white,” Chloe rebutted. “It took me a long time to get over the deaths of my family. But I know now they are in a better place, and they are with me in spirit. We all must let go and move on to the next page. Hey, before you go, let’s spend the day together in Madrid. I’m meeting a couple of people for drinks.”

Rahkaze smirked at the idea, knowing Chloe wants to spend more time with him, “well, I do have a 36-hour layover. Might as well see the sights and smells of Madrid!”

“Great! You go ahead and get cleaned up, and we will meet at La Ardosa at noon.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rahkaze agreed as he climbs off the couch and stretches a bit.

At least Rahkaze was truthful about one thing, it was nice seeing Chloe again and spending time with her. She has changed so much in the past five years, and just like him, she lost a lot of people that she cared about. It was nice to just hang out and just do absolutely nothing for a change. Doing nothing was pretty much a luxury for both of them. A luxury they would enjoy and savor every bit time off before they go back to work.