Thebes jumped back to his feet, shield recharging after that hit from the ballista. “You heard the lady - fold back to the caves. Lets go!” The Sacred Band didn’t need telling twice. They’d done this sort of thing a thousand times before in the simulator, and it showed. Using their innate awareness of each other’s position and sophisticated battle mapping, four of the team gathered just outside the deployable cover, and another two fell back to protect a line heading into the cave system.

Half a dozen of the creatures mounted the ridge, but sustained fire from all angles kept them from advancing too quickly. Some attempted twistering through to the deployable cover, but were quickly picked apart by a laser focused barrage from the entire group.

“Ok, we’re good to go!” Dr Wetherall called, gently nudging past 595 as she fired into the melee to give the bots instructions. They began moving slowly out of the shield bubble and towards the cave system. 595 looked back to check where they were headed and then followed alongside, firing and walking. “Ngata, grab the deployable cover, quickly!” The elderly scientist snapped, clearly stressed. 

Just then, a bloodcurdling roar issued from somewhere close by in the valley. It sounded like metal girders being bent and ripped. It was quickly followed by a sharp *crack* and the ground shifting under their feet. “Everyone move! Double time!” Thebes shouted. He stepped back into the deployable cover and grabbed Dr Ngata as he stooped to deactivate the first module. “Leave it, there’s no time. The whole shelf is going, get into the caves now!”