The surroundings were still thundering from the effect of the nuke as Phoebe let go of me and lowered the dome. She proceeded to get us to our feet before running ahead.

I was still a bit shocked by the crazy situation, but I followed.

Down in the ridge, somehow, some Drakoshi were still alive. None of the armoured Drakoshi were left and the depot was in ruins. But those still alive were not doing well. Missing limbs, serious burns. Some were actively dying while some still had a bit of fight left in them.

It didn’t matter though.

Using the weapon I was handed to me, I aimed as I ran and fired onto the enemy

*THUNK THUNK THUNK*

Grenades began to land amidst the remaining Drakoshi forces. Sending them into a state of confused panic as more began to die by explosives. After firing four to five dozen grenades, I expended the lot and dropped the weapon.

I then summoned Zircon and initiated a charge to one of the silver pauldrons. It was missing an arm and looked a little wobblily, should be easy enough to take down.

However, as I began to close the distance, a blur rushed past me and the next thing I saw was a spear thrust through the Drakoshi’s head.

I barely had a moment to admire Marnes’ kill before he rushed off to kill another enemy.

The Praetorians were a force of nature. Each one of them acting as a small army swept through the lines of the remaining Drakoshi like a hot knife through butter. The only one that lingered behind was Rhapso, who was using her powers to skewer hundreds of Dead Drakoshi through their hearts while they were on the ground. For good measure.

"Raaaaaaggghhhh!"

A roar suddenly swept over the ’battlefield’ turning towards it, out of the cave entrance, a fourteen foot Drakoshi wielding two axes was flanked by a contingent of a hundred other ten feet tall Drakoshi.

"Looks like there were more in the mines than we thought. Is that our target?" Aeteos asked.

"Appears to be. Yes, he is carrying a unique looking skull around his waist." Marnes followed up.

"Return!" Phoebe suddenly yelled and the Praetorians all took a defensive skein formation.

"Apollo, left flank, behind Nerissa." Phoebe commanded from the tip of the Skein and I had no objections.

"Are you using it, Pheebs?" Rhapso asked from the other flank.

"Yes, the target is weaker than assumed. I should have enough juice to kill without tiring myself." Phoebe spoke calmly before raising her own spear in front of her.

The moment she did, my Psionic sense felt a serious danger, the source Phoebe.

The tip of her spear became encased in a blackness that made her weapon appear two dimensional.

The blackness then began to fill up with white specs all over it. Illuminating the previous void.

All the while the Drakoshi resumed their charge. Some had firearms and began to shoot, but the Praetorian armour handled it no problem.

Phoebe continued to charge up this, what I assumed to be an, attack for a few more moments, until the Drakoshi were seconds from melee range then she unleashed.

Silence. Not even a satisfying ’*Buom*’ as the ’laser’ emerged from the tip of her spear as wide as a man and cascaded forward. A hole I could walk through passed cleanly through the leading Drakoshi and several dozen Drakoshi behind it before losing power.

At which point Phoebe had already taken a defensive stance as the Drakoshi entered melee range.

Watching the five Praetorians at work made me feel really incompetent, in a good way.

After the last siege. My ego was a bit up there as I had fought for an entire day as the vanguard force without taking injury.

It was good to be taken down a peg. A good reminder that there are beings stronger than myself.

*Fwoosh!*

I dodged a blow aimed for my neck and kicked out with my leg, flinging the Drakoshi backwards into his own line, disrupting the charge.

Nerissa just ahead of me then stabbed her spear through the throat of a Drakoshi, left it there before materialising her gigantic Psionic axe and with a large cleave, chopped through several of the disrupted Drakoshi before taking her spear back.

With a small window of opportunity thanks to that. I lifted my arm and within half a second, my minigun was now on my forearm. I didn’t require aim, I just fired.

*Brrrrt!*

And I didn’t stop. The skein might have only had six individuals, but the five Praetorians acted like an army on their own, allowing me to pull out of the skein and support the flank, devastating the dwindling Drakoshi numbers.

The fight was over in a matter of minutes. Some Drakoshi tried to run, but Marnes and Aeteos began to chase them down. It was a bloodbath and yet, the tip of the formation, Phoebe. Did not even have a spec of blood on her armour.

It drew a sharp contrast to my blood caked form from the other day. I still had a long way to go in my journey. The thought left a smile on my face.

"Well, they got steamrolled." I spoke out amidst the silence of the battlefield.

Nerissa then turned to me and I could hear her smile in her words. "You did well. I feared you would be able to do little surrounded by this many of us, but you provided more than adequate support. I’m proud."

My arm was then taken from the side. "Yeah, but you should have been on my side Apollo. Pheebs was tactically careless putting you with Nerissa. As the weaker flank, you should have been with me. The two of us. Killing the Drakoshi with mixed tactics... What a sight it would have been..."

I looked to the ’weak’ side of the formation. Spikes, spikes everywhere. Rhapso might not be the most physically powerful, but her Psionics were out right dangerous if. And she could expend so much power without tiring? Formidable.

*SLAP*

Nerissa swatted at Rhapso’s hand and then stood between her and I. "Pay attention. We are still on the mission. Apollo, you and I will scout ahead to make sure no Drakoshi linger in the tunnels. Our combat cohesion is the most intimate out of everyone else here so it makes sense for us to scout."

Nerissa then grabbed my hand and began to pull me away while Rhapso just folded her arms "Fine! I’ll go make sure the dead are dead then!" She yelled and walked in the other direction. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Phoebe watched the interaction unfold, her eyebrows raised beneath her helmet and couldn’t help thinking to herself.

’Intriguing.’

...

Running Zircon through the stomach of a Drakoshi. I charged forward until it hit the wall behind it. I then reached out for its throat above me and applied my Pyrokinesis as I pulled. Moments later, the Drakoshi’s throat was in my hand and I stepped away, watching it choke on its blood for its final moments.

Once it had perished, I removed Zircon from its stomach and commented. "You do look mighty fine in red, but I prefer your blue." She had been feeding like crazy. I doubted it was enough to fully fix her, but I hoped to see a bit more colour then next time I saw her shadow form.

I then put Zircon back into my Mindspace and looked around. There were only a dozen Drakoshi left in the tunnels and I just killed the last one... For now at least. Though from the lack of lights ahead, I doubted very much they were further in.

Nerissa must have read my mind as she appeared behind me, touching my back with her hand. "We should scout ahead. Phoebe and the others will be setting up counter recon equipment."

I shrugged my shoulders. "No arguments here. Oh, do you need a light source? I can see ahead no problem." I commented.

"My armour does have night vision, but I would prefer a source of light." Nerissa declared.

I nodded before forming a fireball in my hand. I then extended my hand towards her. "Do you wanna hold it?"

"I don’t possess Pyrokinesis Apollo. You know this." She said, but I just smirked behind my helmet.

"Just try to take hold of it. Use a small amount of your Psionics as a barrier to your hand."

Nerissa seemed sceptical, but ultimately did as I asked. As she reached her hand out I dropped the fireball from above my hand down towards her. I could see her flinch for a moment to get out of the way, but her hesitation stopped as she realised the ball stopped moving.

Bringing her hand up to her face, she looked at the fireball floating above her hand and whispered to herself. "Intriguing... Apollo, how have you done this? I can feel my own Psionics slightly feeding the flames. Keeping it in place."

"Oh, it’s just been something I have been cooking up when I have free time. My thoughts were along the lines of. Sure, Psionics break reality for giggles, but at the same time can be influenced by the laws of reality. What you have in your hand is just fire. In its truest nature. Thermal energy that requires fuel. It’s not powerful, but I was thinking it would be a good idea in the event I find myself in a situation just like this.

Plus I think kids without Psionics might like the idea of holding a fireball for a party trick as without Psionics like yours keeping it in place, it will still just float there for a few minutes before going out. Pretty neat huh?"

Nerissa looked at the fireball in her hands for a moment. For a long time, Psionics to her has been all about war and destruction. She often forgets that Psionics can be cute and innovative. Made for things like party tricks or minor utility.

Her eyes lingered on the fireball for a moment then at Apollo. The light of the flames highlighted his armour and she felt her heartbeat in her ears for a moment before composing herself by replying.

"Pretty neat"