The shutters opened, and every single robot he had built swarmed out into the parking lot, followed by the Greenclaws.

The Vertibird was now circling the factory, and while it hadn’t opened fire, Drew knew they couldn’t allow it to report back to base.

“Veronica, Gemma,” Drew said.

They both nodded as they raised their weapons. They still weren’t properly calibrated, but they would have to do.

“Take that thing down,” he said.

The moment the words left his mouth, the side door of the Vertibird slid open, revealing a power-armored trooper aiming down at them with a turreted minigun. Drew opened fire first, though his aim was wide, as he struggled to lead the target. The trooper returned fire, and a hail of bullets rained down on them.

To his surprise, Charlotte shielded them with her body, taking the brunt.

“This shit stings!” she hissed.

Not a moment later, every bot they had opened fire. The Vertibird lasted all but five seconds before it erupted in the air in a fiery explosion, the debris crashing down on the far side of the parking lot and the hillside.

“Is that it?” Gemma asked.

Drew didn’t respond. He kept his eyes on the treeline for any signs of movement. When he didn’t see anything, he looked up at Charlotte.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “I think so.”

“Turn around, show us your back.”

She did so, and he stared at the red marks on her back. He already terrified him, but knowing she could take the brunt of a minigun and potentially only get bruises made him feel even more unsettled.

He had to wonder if she was invincible. While he doubted it, it was clear that it would take a lot to take her down.

Movement caught Drew’s eye. He looked to see what could only be described as an army of robots and power-armored troops rushing out from the treeline.

“More incoming!” Charan uttered before Drew could say anything.

Charlotte stared at them before glancing back over her shoulder, which was starting to come out in dark purple bruises. “We should split into two groups. Half defend the rear parking lot, half defend the front.”

Drew nodded and wasted no time making it a reality. He decided to take the front, taking half the robots with him. As they set forth, the energy fire from the approaching troops began. Their own robots returned fire in kind, but not before the enemy had lobbed E.M.P. grenades at them. Thankfully, they had little effect, which was good because it would have been a short fight if all his bots were easily disabled.

As he moved around the front, he noticed that there was little movement. He quickly opened the shutter on the front side, letting Kiki out.

“Keek,” Drew began. “Keep an eye out on this side. You see anyone in power armor then shout us.”

“I can do that.”

“I’ll leave you a handful of robots.”

With that, he led the rest back around to the rear to help Charlotte’s group. As he rounded the corner, he saw Bek dart forward through the laser fire and slam her fist hard into the helmet of an assaulting trooper, sending him crashing down to the ground. Overhead, bolts of laser fire slammed into the enemy from the turrets on the roof.

It was utter madness, yet it was also sobering. Watching Charlotte and the other Greenclaws in action showed Drew just how dangerous they truly were. In a way, he was glad he had told Amy and Jack to look after their guests and weren’t out here because even he was unsettled by their sheer speed and ferocity.

All that paled when Charlotte picked up a truck trailer in both hands and tossed it, crushing several soldiers and robots under it. Then, not a moment later, she picked up a car and lobbed it, throwing it towards an enemy Sentry bot, destroying it in a fiery explosion.

Gemma and Veronica were also doing a good job. The weapons they were holding were devastating, blasting holes in the enemy robots in a barrage of near-constant heavy laser fire.

Of course, Drew didn’t stand there and gawk. After getting in cover behind a low wall, he opened fire, but between his robots and the enemy troops and their robots, it was difficult to distinguish anything in what was starting to look like a singular writhing mass.

Drew saw Bek go down as three bolts of laser fire struck her in the side. She staggered before being struck by a barrage of laser fire from an enemy Sentry bot, shortly before it was crushed flat by a flying truck cab tossed by Charlotte.

Drew broke cover and darted across the battlefield. She grabbed Bek by the shoulders, and, much to his own surprise, was able to drag her back, only stopping when a bolt of laser fire struck him in the chest and knocked him on his ass.

Gemma bowled over several of them as she rushed to cover him, her heavy weapon blasting through an enemy Gutsy like it was nothing. Quickly, Drew clambered back onto his feet and continued to drag Bek into cover behind the low wall near the main building.

“You okay?” he asked.

She looked at him. “Uh… Yeah. Thanks,” she said through gritted teeth.

Bek went to sit up, but he placed his hand on her chest, keeping her down.

“You’re injured,” he said.

“Yeah, I know,” she said, pain etched on her face.

Drew took his hand off her chest, trying to ignore that he was mere inches from feeling her up and peeked out over his cover. Between his robots and the Greenclaws, the enemy was being pushed back.

Then he saw Amy rushing out of the warehouse, firing her laser rifle.

“Amy!” he shouted. “I told you to stay inside!”

She glanced over at them before rushing over, squatting down. “You hurt?” she asked him.

“No, but Bek is.”

“Shame,” Amy said, her tone oozing sarcasm.

Drew peeked back over the wall and took a look around the battlefield that had been a desolate parking lot not ten minutes earlier. He felt so overwhelmed that he wasn’t even sure what to shoot at.

“Holy shit, look at Charlotte go,” Amy said from next to him. “She’s gonna get herself killed!”

He looked at the huge Greenclaw as she stood in the middle of the attackers, stomping them into the ground. It was clear that the attackers were not going to win. Not without an ace up their sleeve.

That’s when he saw Axa fall. He wasn’t sure what had hit her, but in the mass of combatants, he saw her buckle over and collapse as though she had been struck with something.

“Amy, look after Bek for a moment.”

He didn’t wait for a response as he darted out of cover and bolted towards her, only for a bolt of laser fire to find his knee. He stumbled and then tripped, his laser rifle skittering from his grip as he hit the ground. He clamored forward, reaching out for it, only pausing as he saw Charlotte’s massive form stagger. She took a few steps back and almost fell before she threw herself forward, collapsing on top of several power armored troops. Not only did she crush them flat, but the ground quaked with such ferocity that several others were knocked clean off their feet.

He grabbed his fallen laser rifle and pushed himself back to his feet, shooting off two blasts at a nearby enemy before sliding behind a burned-out car as laser bolts zipped past his head.

As he peered out with his weapon raised, a bolt found his arm, and he almost dropped his weapon for a second time before he ducked back behind his cover. Things were quickly starting to take a turn for the worse. The thought was only affirmed as he saw Veronica collapse to the ground, her weapon glowing at the end from overheating.

“Shit!” he hissed as he rushed out of cover towards her, shooting his rifle wildly at the enemy as he watched more bolts strike her fallen form.

Then a shadow fell over him. It took a moment to realize it was a truck trailer and he watched as it crushed a load of enemy soldiers who weren’t able to move clear in time. For a moment, Drew wondered where it had come to, since Charlotte was still not on her feet, but that question was answered moments later as Kiki ran past him, the ground quaking under her heavy footfalls. He stared for a moment as she picked up a car and began using it as a club before he pushed on, squatting down next to Veronica.

“Are you okay!?” he asked.

“This shit is painful,” she wheezed.

He glanced up as Charlotte somehow got back onto her feet with a roar so loud and ferocious he almost ran away.

The tide quickly swung back in their favor as the two colossal claw women began to pulverize the quickly shrinking enemy forces. Those that were left turned tail and ran while the Greenclaws focused on finishing off the robots.

“Well shit,” Veronica said as she forced herself back onto her feet only to stumble and fall back down. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be okay,” she said, her eyes clenched shut in clear pain.

Drew patted her on the shoulder before his eyes fell back onto Axa’s fallen form. He rushed over and squatted down next to her before reaching for her neck. He felt no pulse, but it was difficult to tell through her thick skin. As he rolled her onto her back, he gasped.

There was a huge hole in her chest, seared shut by the heat from the laser beams that had struck her.

Drew’s legs went from under him, and he found himself collapsing onto his hands and knees.

Axa, who he had been told over and over again was the heart and soul of the Greenclaws was dead, and he felt responsible. He should have been ready. He should have been more prepared. But he wasn’t, and a friend had paid with her life.

He sat down next to her, and his gaze fell on Amy as she stood up from behind cover, followed by Bek, who slouched against the wall. The rest of the Greenclaws all slowly gathered around, and Drew averted his gaze and stared down at the concrete.

They should have planned for this. They should have been more ready. Taking a quick glance around, a lot of his robots had survived, thankfully, but they were all damaged, broken. It would take a lot to repair them, and at that moment, he didn’t know if he had it in him to even try. He felt weak, tired, and worn down.

“Is she dead?” Sekka asked.

Drew slowly nodded while Charlotte answered. “She isn’t breathing, and she has a large hole in her chest. She’s dead.”

“Fuck you!” Gemma seethed. “She isn’t some stranger we found out in the wastes. She’s a friend!”

“I know,” Charlotte said. “And they will pay for this. Every last one of them.”

“It will have to wait,” Drew said as he pushed himself up to his feet. “We’re all injured, and the robots are busted. We’re in no position to do much of anything.”

“Neither are they, I bet,” Charan said. “They wanted to kill us, and they failed.”

“Not entirely,” Drew said, looking down at Axa. “But their plan did fail. They’ll know they can’t take this place, so if and when they next attack it won’t be to capture but destroy.”

“What do you think their goal was?” Gemma asked.

“As I said: to take this place for themselves. That’s why they refrained from using Fatman’s.”

“Yeah, but do you think they intended to drive us away like last time?”

“I don’t know,” Drew answered. “Likely they thought they’d disable our robots then take us out with little issue.”

“What do we do now?” Veronica asked while clutching her injured side.

Charlotte was the one who answered. “I’ll tell you what we do. We check the enemy bodies. If any are still alive, we kill them.”

“Leave one alive,” Drew said. “I want to ask them some questions.”

Charlotte smiled sadistically. “Oh, I know how to get information out of someone. Leave that to me.”

Drew nodded glumly, knowing what she likely meant, as he stood up and made his way over to Amy and Bek. Amy adjusted her grip on her rifle while Bek lay there with labored breath.

“Someone needs to help Bek inside,” Drew said, turning around. “She needs to see Sarah.”

“I’ll take her,” Veronica said, putting her weapon down on the ground. “I think I need to see her, too. Feeling really beat up.”

“Amy, can you go with them?”

Sure,” she said.

Drew nodded as he turned to face the mass of death and destruction before them. While he knew it could have been a lot worse, it didn’t hurt any less. He couldn’t allow it to affect him, though. He needed to repair his robots, the Greenclaws needed protection, and they needed weapons. When the time came for them to assault the stronghold of their enemy, they needed to be ready.