Risking It All

Catherine greatly disliked the current situation.

Flying grit got into every nook and cranny. Servo Motors malfunctioned constantly, and she could even feel the bearings catching as they turned. She disliked the encroaching firestorms even more. Even with the temperature-control systems running at full capacity, everyone in armor was drenched in sweat. But without those firestorms, the density of parasites they faced would multiply several times over, and more integrated tentacles would break through the force-field wall. While loudly ordering the heavy weapons teams to make up for the firepower that the assault squads' Assault Rifles and Chainsaw Swords could not provide, Catherine led the assault squads in a desperate slaughter.

"When are you going to get that damned thing working?!" Catherine shouted. She chopped off a tentacle that had just wrapped around an assault trooper's arm guard, then fired another shot, letting specialized explosive ammunition finish the job. "Can't you be faster?"

"I don't have the Sovereign's magical knowledge! I need some time!" Praetorian Guard Zero lay prone on the ground, using his combat dagger to draw symbols in the sand. This was an order from the Sovereign. Praetorian Guard Zero had to reproduce a spell from memory. This was not an impossible demand; Zero's curriculum included magic, and the task Salomon had assigned was definitely within the difficulty range of Zero's lessons. After a while, Zero excitedly drove his dagger into the ground and began muttering an incantation Salomon had once recited at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. Yet from his mouth, the incantation was far less fluid than when Salomon had spoken it himself.

"I did it!"

"Sisters!" Catherine waved her Chainsaw Sword and shouted at a combat squad that had just been teleported inside the force-field wall. "Shoot, swing your swords—we need every bit of strength we can