The sheer number of orcs looked overwhelming. Alex wasn’t certain if the mech riders were going to be able to make it to the spiders without being ripped out of their mechs. They would need backup. “Boundless, we’re backing up the mechs. Squad A, try to keep the orcs off of us, but don’t get too close to the spiders. Stay as far back as you can. We don’t know the range of those rods.”
Gill, Brath, and Jollies flew closer to Alex, and they pushed forward, Chine and Furi lit the sky with their fire as Alex hacked at any orc foolish enough to get close to her.
Roy dropped on the closest spider creature, floating in front of its grotesque face. He opened fire with everything that he had, unloading his machine gun and missiles onto the black rod.
The spider creature screeched in pain as it reared up on its hind legs. A shock wave erupted from the black rod.
Alex could see the energy signature of the shockwave. She pulled up on the anchor, avoiding the wave. “Chine, you can see that, right?”
The dragon banked to the right to avoid an orc, blasting it with a flame attack. “Yes, but I’m not sure the rest of the dragons can see the same frequencies we can.”
“Link up with them telepathically. Watch the shockwaves and let them know when they’re coming. I’ll take care of any orcs that get too close. We’re gonna keep moving forward.”
“Understood.”
Alex drove Chine toward the closest spider creature. Jim had joined Roy, and they were working on destroying the black rods. They had the firepower, but it was slow work, almost like mining an ore deposit. Alex wondered how her weapons were going to fare against the rods.
Brath flew to Alex’s side, and the two of them headed for the same creature as orcs flew past them, Alex cutting down anything that got too close to her. They made it to the spider and flew past it, firing their flame attacks at the rod.
The heat from the flames cracked the rod. It didn’t fall or shatter, but it was damaged. Then it began to hum and vibrate loudly. “Pull back!” Alex shouted as she yanked up on her dragon anchor.
Chine and Furi soared upward, away from the erupting shockwave. Alex watched it spread toward the dragonriders dealing with the bulk of the winged orcs. The rods had an extremely long range, apparently, and the shockwave was going to hit them. “Roy, the wave is coming for our riders!” Alex shouted over the comm.
Roy and Jim disengaged from the creature they were fighting and headed back toward the others as Jim shouted, “We’re on it!”
Alex and Brath flew back down toward the rod, firing everything they had at the head of the spider creature. It reeled back in pain, a muffled scream ushering from its mouth.
Chine fired another flame attack at the rod as Brath guided Furi around, flying a good distance away and then charging full force at the black rod, tackling it with all the force the red dragon could muster.
The rod split down the middle, separating from the spider creature’s mouth. It fell and crushed one of the slugs making its way toward the Nest.
Alex flew in closer to the slug’s head and slammed her scythe down in between its eyes. The creature screeched in pain and threw back its head, toppling into the spider creature at its side. Both of them crashing to the ground in a heap of thin, kicking legs.
Alex shouted, “Squad A, how are you holding up?”
One of the squad members replied, “We’re holding our own. The orcs are vicious, but they seem to mostly be a distraction. The slugs on the ground have all the firepower, but we can’t get to them with the rods still active.”
“I want you to divert your attention to the slugs. Ignore the orcs as best as you can. We need to take care of their artillery.”
“Roger!”
Alex banked left, flying back toward the remaining spider creatures. “Boundless, the priority is the rods. Anything you can do to bring them down, do it!”
Out of the corner of Alex’s eye, she could see Jollies charging forward, electricity sparking off Amber as they headed for the nearest spider. Gill was right behind her, Timber firing plasma missiles from his shoulders.
The plasma cannons connected with the rod hanging from the creature’s mouth and Jollies flew around it. Lightning jumped from Amber’s scales, sending a chain-lightning attack up the creature’s body.
Alex and Chine headed for the same spider creature, the dragon shooting ether flames at the rod and Alex swinging her scythe with all the force of her robotic arm as they flew by.
The black rod cracked and Brath repeated his earlier strategy and slammed into it, cracking it even farther down the middle.
The spider creature shrieked in pain as it stumbled back, but before the crystal broke away, a shockwave erupted from it.
Alex was able to dodge the shockwave, as was Brath. The wave hit Jollies and Gill.
Jollies detached from Amber, but the two were so small that Jollies managed to grab her dragon before they got too far apart, holding tightly to his horns to keep from falling off.
Gill, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The wave hit him and Timber hard, sending the drow flying through the air as a swarm of orcs headed for him.
Alex sent Chine rocketing toward him. They cut through the orcs who were fighting to get to Gill. Alex reached out, trying to grasp Gill’s hand.
An orc sideswiped Alex from the left, hitting her with its wings, and cutting her across the chest with enough force to detach her from Chine. She went flying through the air, reaching for the dragon’s wings but narrowly missing them. She plummeted toward the earth.
Both Alex and Gill were in freefall. Gill pulled his plasma pistol from his holster, firing at every orc that flew at him with
