Zeke walked over and swept Mai and Mattias into a hug, "Thank you for keeping this a secret. I'm happy I was placed in a squad with you two."

Mai squirmed out of his grasp and looked at him awkwardly, "Alright alright! It's so weird seeing you like this! Go back to being the sarcastic bastard I knew. All the hugging and feels... blech."

Mattias burst out laughing and pointed at Mai, "Look at you blushing! Mai and Zeke, sitting in a tre-" he was quickly cut off by a swift kick to the shin from Mai.

"Don't you start that shit, Matt! What are we? Kids?" Mai said in an embarrassed tone.

Before anyone could continue the elementary school-grade chat, their bio-scanner started going off like crazy. The three immediately dropped the friendly and childish atmosphere, expressions turning cold. They pulled up the map on their ocular interfaces, blanching at the number of enemies incoming.

"There's more than a hundred on the way... The five turrets we spun up aren't capable of handling that mess. They are a few miles out but they are coming in fast. Since there's so many heading for us out of nowhere, we can assume that a Warlord noticed our battle and commanded them to attack us." Mai said as she scanned the tactical map.

She took a deep breath and centered herself before barking out orders, "Mattias! I want you on top of the pod. Fab up a small railgun and pick off a couple in the meantime."

Mattias nodded and leaped back atop the pod, a small swarm of nanites creating a shoulder-mounted monstrosity of a railgun.

Mai looked at Zeke with an expression betraying a bit of her worry. "Zeke, I have to ask... Can you do more of the magic sword shit? And if so, how many can you take on, and at what ranges?"

"Indeed, I can continue to fight with my blade for quite some time. As for the numbers I could fight like that? I'm only an acolyte presently, the weakest of the clergy. I could fight, at most, three at once if I was willing to risk my life. As for the range? I can use the Redeemer's gift to accelerate my body to quite the speed, so anything within around a hundred feet is melee range. Other than that, my only ranged attack is the one you saw me use earlier. It's little more than a distraction."

Mai looked somewhat disappointed but cataloged his abilities in her mind and factored in his skills. "Alright... I'll have you shooting with us up top until they get close, and for now, go fab a railgun and assist Mattias. I'll fab up some more turrets in the meantime, but any that get through the net... Well, Matt and I will leave our backs to you."

He smiled a bright smile at Mai and said, "Thank you... For your trust in me, despite my previous deception. I will be sure to protect your back."

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Mai smiled back and started fabbing the bases for the new turrets. Once Zeke had made it to the top of the pod, she frowned heavily. 'If there's a Warlord that's interested in us becoming lunch... I need to get reinforcements, but If I do, Zeke might end up getting exposed... I'll have to figure something out...'

A few minutes later, she had the frames of three massive turrets. Dozens of holes lined the flat surface of the face of the turrets. "Mattias, Zeke, Missile swarms are almost ready. Got enough nearby debris stocked up to keep ammo in good supply as well. Firing will commence in thirty."

"The squids aren't gonna wait that long, Mai! We are gonna be off by a few seconds!" Mattias said as he sent another forearm-sized slug at mach 12 into an Azarians face.

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, danger close! Be ready to duck your head once the fireworks start. It's either that or we get to be Azarian food."

Mattias grumbled as he tossed the railgun to the side. "Have to use the damn service rifle instead of my baby because these stupid squids decided to swarm us..."

Mai hopped on top of the pod and they each readied their service rifles, firing as soon as the Azarians were in range. Each shot landing in the center of the fleshy creatures with precision before they detonate into a shower of gore. Despite every shot resulting in a kill, the gun only held a few rounds per mag. The Azarian swarm got closer and closer with each passing second.

Zeke tossed his weapon to the side and reached into his pouch. The hilt of Azarian fangs quickly turning into a fully-fledged sword as the nanites swarm around it. He gave the two a smile and said, "Looks like it's my time to shine. I'll buy a few seconds, but you need to look the other way." before leaping off the pod and placing himself before the horde.

"Oh, great one, hear my prayer. Grant me the strength to defend my brother and sister... Grant me the strength to turn the gaze of evil from their pure souls."

His blade began to glow emerald green and he uttered ancient words as he raised the blade above his head.

"Basillius, haksha demo feldent! Haksha demos talo luxus!"

The emerald green glow turned into a bright flash of green that was so large it could be seen from orbit. The Azarians screeched in pain as they slammed their dozens of eyes shut before they crashed into the earth, digging deep furrows wherever they landed.

Zeke leaped back to the pod, landing gracefully beside the two. Immediately he saw Mattias squirming on the ground, rubbing his eyes as he muttered, "Fucking fuck... Why?! Why was it so bright? Fucking magic flashbang..."

Mai shook her head at him and turned her gaze back to the horde that was already collecting itself and taking to the skies once more. "Thanks, Zeke. You bought enough time. DANGER CLOSE! GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD BEHIND THE POD'S STEEL!" As she said that, the three massive 40-foot-tall turrets launched their payload of missiles, with one or two per Azarian raining down into their still disoriented swarm.

Almost an entire mile of land was engulfed in an explosion. Some of the missiles were landing close enough to rock the trio with the shockwaves and heat, even though the Basillian steel wall of the pod. Dust and rubble rained down on the trio, and they finally popped their heads up over the wall to peer around the battlefield.

Dozens of craters and sizzling carcasses dotted the landscape. Zeke readied his blade and leapt down to the scorched ground. "I'll go finish off any that managed to survive. Cover me from there, please."

Mai nodded at him and readied her rifle while Mattias rubbed his eyes as he squinted downrange.