|Simon Blackmore|
"Move! Plant those hard-light projectors around the wall—quickly!"
Simon barks order after order, watching the androids move as he coordinates the defense. At some point, without him realizing when, Lucy has stepped into the role of his left hand in this war. If the twins serve as his bodyguards, healers, and personal assistants, then Lucy has become his War Advisor.
"Lucy, tell the others to take Hermes and begin hit-and-run bombardment. We need to thin the machines before they reach us."
"Yes, sir!"
She salutes and orders two androids to take Hermes for a pre-emptive strike against the advancing army. Simon opens a feed to Popola through his Omni-Tool.
"How is Ares? Is it ready to fire?"
"Not yet, Simon." She types rapidly, eyes flicking across the data streaming from Ares' core systems. "Another two minutes and we can unleash it at full power."
"Good."
He turns to Devola, currently assembling a Solar Fabricator and several Cold Fusion Reactors to power it. He gave her the blueprint and the parts requiring manual assembly; she took the task without hesitation.
"Devola, how is the situation there?"
The hologram shows Devola installing the last component of a Cold Fusion Reactor.
"It is eighty-two percent complete, Simon. After this, I can connect it to Helios and activate auto-assembly to produce more Builder Drones."
"Perfect. Return here once you're finished."
"Of course, Simon."
Devola is positioned on the far side of the fortress—no one would allow critical infrastructure near the frontline. Simon hums as he looks toward the horizon, where a growing plume of dust and sand signals the incoming army.
Hermes takes off, climbing high to reduce the chance of being hit.
In the distance, beams of light rise to strike Hermes, but the camera feed shows the pilots dodging every attack they can and blocking the rest before unloading Hermes' entire payload.
A hail of explosions rolls across the desert, loud enough to hear from the fortress. On the feed from his Omni-Tool, He can see Hermes raining lasers, plasma, and bolt rounds onto the machines. The android pilots are precise, minimizing damage to Hermes. When it drops below seventy percent integrity, Simon speaks.
"Hermes, this is Simon. Retreat immediately for repair and resupply."
"Hermes 1, loud and clear. Retreating now."
Moments later, Ares begins to move. Its main weapon, the Bane Cannon, tilts upward, priming its shell chamber. When it is ready, it starts to rain down shells on the group of massive Walkers in the distance.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
The thundering sounds shake the entire fortress. Each of the shells the Bane Cannon releases shakes the entire sand dunes. After several barrages, the Hydra battery begins firing missiles. The walkers and the land units reach their firing range of the Hydra.
"Air units incoming!"
Popola's voice echoes across the network. Simon looks up.
"All androids, battle stations!"
The fortress snaps into motion. Units form firing lines, weapons raised toward the sky. It takes only moments for the first wave of flying machines—approximately seven hundred—to arrive. They try to chase after Hermes, which landed two minutes ago.
They cannot chase after it, but they can do damage to the barrier around the fortress.
"Fire!"
Lasers, plasma, bolts, and missiles streak upward in unison. Simon's CSS ensures perfect aim, and he fires rapidly, cutting down machine after machine. Bolts meet against the metal skin of the machines, punching through it like a hot knife through butter. Each of his shots aims at the machine core, located in its chest cavity.
Drones weave through the sky, intercepting aerial units and absorbing energy attacks, protecting the sentry nests. Their numbers thin rapidly—but before they can fall, another wave of drones arrives. His HUD confirms Devola has finished the first batch of Assault and Scavenger Drones.
Ares joins the fray, unleashing secondary weapons at full output. Six heavy bolters roar at terrifying speed, shredding targets instantly. Two laser cannons track larger units, preventing them from breaching the hard-light barrier.
A stray bullet strikes his armor. It barely scratches the surface, but the impact surprises him.
"Sir!"
Lucy moves in front of him defensively.
"Please be careful!"
He allows it and continues firing. Each thunderous burst of his Heavy Bolter takes out another machine. But while they focus on aerial units, the ground forces reach the range of the Tarantula sentries.
He clicks his tongue at the sheer scale of the horde. According to Helios, more than forty thousand machines are marching, with additional forces approaching from the north. They can hold for now, but without reinforcements, defeat is inevitable.
Fortunately, Devola finishes her task and arrives with a massive drone swarm.
Hundreds of assault drones surge forward, firing into the advancing machines. She has even produced older drone models simply because they fabricate faster. Builder drones assemble more sentries atop the wall, and once powered, they begin firing.
"Devola, build more Barrier Projectors. We need backups if the first line falls."
She immediately redirects, directing fabricators through her internal systems while wiring new sentries to the reactors.
More drones enter the fight as one of three fabricators shifts fully to producing assault drones.
"Hup!"
A flying unit slams into Simon. It flares red—just in time, he activates his barrier projector, bracing as it detonates.
"Suicide bombers?!"
He scans the new formation and immediately orders priority extermination. Androids refocus their fire, personal shields straining under the barrage.
"Hermes 1, Hermes 2—return to base. Put Hermes on autopilot above the fortress to intercept bombers."
"Understood. Returning."
Simon orders the second fabricator to begin mass-producing Maintenance Drones and Builder Drones. Maintenance Drones will repair damaged sentries and androids; others will attach to Hermes mid-flight for constant repair. Builder Drones will expand fortification lines.
Devola returns to his side, now resuming her role as bodyguard, though he asks her to continue connecting new sentries while Lucy protects him.
Wave after wave of drones become the core of their army. Assault drones serve as vanguard and strike force; androids hold defensively as machines focus fire on Simon.
"Urgh. Damn it."
He blasts apart the machine that hit him with an energy round. His Heavy Bolter glows red from sustained fire, smoking despite the venting system.
He lets the weapon cool and leaps into melee.
"Hup!"
He dodges aside and delivers a crushing jab to a machine scaling the wall. Ground units have reached melee distance. He leaps across the fortifications, striking and kicking through clusters of machines.
His Jacob's Limb power flares. Because he is fighting something inhumans, his power boosts his physical strength—each blow obliterates metal, each kick punches through the thick metal as if it were made of paper.
He moves like lightning—fast, violent, unstoppable.
"Fuck off!"
While he is fighting all of the machines that manage to reach the wall, he sees Ares start to move. Popola maneuvers Ares to the gate, deploying the massive Vulcan Bolter to thin advancing ground forces. The Vulcan Bolter spins and starts to fire hundreds of bolts every second. Even the machines that specialize in defence cannot handle the weapon for more than a second. The Bane Cannon continues hammering goliaths in the distance.
When his weapon is cool enough, Simon resumes firing, focusing on the machines holding a barrier projector to protect the other machines. However, he stops when he feels something massive coming. He turns around and sees a group of Goliath-Class Walkers slowly getting close to the fortress. The ground trembles with every step. Ares downs several, but more than a dozen Goliath-class machines continue advancing.
He needs heavier firepower.
"Devola! Lucy! Handle the battlefield—I need to build something new!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Yes, Simon!"
He fires one last burst, then jumps from the wall. Sprinting toward Ares, he climbs aboard. Popola continues battlefield coordination, guiding the Bane Cannon's fire, and making sure the other androids do not die by controlling the Maintenance Drones.
Simon rushes to his workshop, takes a steadying breath, and begins work.
He only hopes they can hold long enough.
He needs time to create something powerful enough to break the army.