Rhodoreef

43. The Amphibious Carrier

The united front of humans and merpeople broke into motion. The thunderous clamor swelled, drowning out the pattering feet and rolling wheels. Dea gritted her teeth and fixed her stare on the sliver of freeway directly ahead. The mini map on her viewport displayed total chaos—massive forces clashing in the Square and spilling out onto Marine Drive.

A bright light ascended to the sky and exploded with an incoming projectile. The blinding flash lit up the clouds, and a shower of sparks rained down. The shockwave rocked her to the bone.

"What the heck was that?" someone cried.

"Antiballistic missile," Ravi panted as he sprinted right in front of Dea.

"Ravi's right," Nadie bellowed over the noise. "Several Callian AFVs come equipped with SAM."

They burst out into the open. The battlefield sprang into view.

Dea's head swiveled, eyes darting, as sensory overload hit her like a tsunami.

Charred tanks and AFVs littered the dual carriageways. They extended into the distance, where the Square erupted in a vortex of ferocity. Through the fog, blazing lights streaked and criss-crossed in a dizzying firework display.

"C'mon, people, move!" Nadie roared. "Head for the Callians on the beach!"

The beach was just beyond the guard rail, but the drop was too high. They had no choice but to advance along the freeway, past wreckage and human barricades.

Dea powered on with the rest. Her heart pounded as loud as the booms, which rattled her from skull to tail. As they zigzagged past the destruction, the battlefield gained definition. Infantry fired from behind barricades while vehicles blasted projectiles and particle beams. Rocket artillery had decimated the surrounding structures, though the stately building she thought was the secretariat stood above the rubble.

Suddenly, the human units attacked.

Dea flinched as fire flashed in her retina, and a carapace segment screeched past the viewport. Grenades flew at them.

"Duck!" Nadie yelled.

They scattered, but the explosions sent a Cypod flying. Her heart screamed.

Unfazed, the team retaliated, shooting down the enemy. The viewport blinked red as targets popped up. A merman fired a railgun and blew up the barricade—which combusted in flames and smoke. A black cloud blotted out the scene.

"Go, go!" Muda's voice shouted.

They advanced, driving back the humans. Vibrations pulsed up the Flamingo, and a stray missile glanced off the side. It would've blown off a carapace—she mentally thanked Anuk. Ahead of her, a tank loomed up, mounted with machine guns.

"Dea, take it out!"

As Endera humans and merpeople maintained their rapid-fire assault, Dea powered up the railgun. Each passing millisecond might as well have been an eternity.

Then it fired. She scored a critical strike.

In the blink of an eye, the tank's gun turret blew clean off. Fragments shot out from the mini explosion.

Without warning, a swarm of scud bots descended, twinkling like sparks of bioluminescence. They attacked the human infantry. Mora knows we're here!

The humans fired EMP cannons, the splash damage causing the nearby Cypods to crackle and freeze in their tracks.

"Dea, move!" Nadie propped her gun on a vehicle, flashes dancing on her helmet. "We'll hold them off."