Saddam and Knossos, who were either side of Rareth, turned and opened fire on her. The team’s second in command tried edging closer, but razor sharp appendages jabbed back and forth in all directions, clashing with his shields. “Fall back from the ridge! We’ve kicked the hornet’s nest.” Thebes hollered, grabbing Athena and hauling her to a standing position right after she took one last shot at another newly formed ballista. “We have to move; how long until we’re mobile?”

“Nearly done here! Ready to move in sixty seconds!” Dr Wetherall gasped, desperately collapsing the transit station down with the help of the two other civilians. The transit station was now packed and hitched to one of the cargo bots. Thebes detected another bolt on the Sacred Band’s sensory net and pushed Athena out of the way. It hit him square in the chest and sent him flying backwards. Another creature exploded over the top of the ridge and vortexed toward Athena. She fired her railgun through it at point blank range, evaporating most of its body and spraying her with black ichor.

595 was staring into space. Despite the dust and low light, she could feel the beating heart of this valley wake from its slumber, emerge from the nest and tear across the marshy plains toward them. The agent was disturbed from her reverie when Carthage palm-tapped her on the back of her helmet. “Wakey wakey! Fire your weapon!” 595 blinked, the sounds of the battlefield draining away from her. She raised her weapon, although it felt like it weighed a thousand tonnes, and sent a solid laser beam blasting into the net of tendrils emerging over the ridge in front of Memnon. 

“Take this trolley to the cargo bots, I’ll cover you!” Carthage shouted from over her shoulder, her voice echoing as if she were down a well. 595 nodded dumbly, getting up, turning and nearly stumbling straight into the mobile armoury behind her.