Four days later, northern Illiguo, Kold Autonomous Region oil field area.
The sky is dim and the visibility is extremely poor.
A rare spring sandstorm is sweeping across the northern Mesopotamian Plain.
Gusts of wind whip up clouds of sand, turning heaven and earth into a turbid shade of orange-brown, with visibility plummeting to less than fifty meters.
The Kurdish sentries in the oil field huddle inside guardhouses and checkpoints, cursing this damn weather.
The beams from the searchlights become blurred and feeble in the sand. In this weather, neither foes nor friends bother to move.
The patrol team returned shortly after setting out, reporting that they couldn't see anything outside.
Little do they know that the Grim Reaper is quietly approaching under the cover of sand.
