Their goal was simple: retreat to the settlements, and reinforce defensible positions while the citizens evacuated.  From there, they would wait until they got news that Malcolm Corthus had completed his extermination of the colony, or received confirmation that there were no more fungal soldiers attacking the civilians.

There was a nonstop stream of communication through the nav bracelets, with various squad leaders giving updates on their positions.  He even saw Garth send updates a couple of times, which gave Kyle reassurance that they were well.  At this distance, C.H.A.D.D. couldn’t control the chaddlings directly, instead relying on them to continue carrying out their programming.  With their support, Kyle was hopeful the small squad would remain safe, even against the seemingly endless surge of fungal soldiers.

Most of the messages were being left unread, with the group not paying close attention as they ran through the forest.  What ended up alerting Kyle that something had gone wrong was the sudden break in messages.  He looked to his nav bracelet to ensure it was still working, and saw the most recent note.

Attention Corthian Mining forces,

Malcolm Corthus has fallen.  Make a full retreat to the nearest settlements, and evacuate.  On the orders of the Gray Conglomerate, Kertan Six is to be fully evacuated.  The planet is lost.  Malcom’s slayer is unknown, but should be considered extremely dangerous, and still at large.  Teleporters have been calibrated to remain open for any without clear fungal traits, and additional antifungals will be provided at the holding facilities.

Kyle read the message again, then a third time.  From the stunned silence behind him, he knew that Tillienne and Skippy were doing the same.  It was unfathomable that Malcolm Corthus, a C Grade with nearly cataclysmic power was dead, much less that he was slain in conflict with one of the fungal soldiers.  Was it DeRosa?  Kyle wondered, his mind going back to the unusual appearance of Porter Rathman.  The man was surely involved in this, somehow, but the notion that he was powerful enough to fight a C Grade at Malcolm’s level was just too difficult to swallow.

Even though Reynolds was in C Grade, and a fairly powerful variant, Kyle was confident that Malcolm would have dominated the former Central Defense chief with hardly any effort at all.  The gap between early C Grade and middle C Grade was wide, and everything Kyle heard pointed toward Malcolm having been a powerhouse even among those at a similar level.

Was it a bad matchup?  Was he caught by surprise?  The questions came unbidden to Kyle’s mind, even as he shuddered with a chill of fear.  No, any enemy with that level of power was beyond their ability to handle it.  At least, for now.  That also changed the goal.  They didn’t just need to get to the settlement to hold  a line, they needed to get there and join the retreat while they were still able to do so.

“How much further, C.H.A.D.D.?” Kyle called, leaping over a downed tree as the group navigated back toward the settlements.

[I EXPECT YOU WILL ARRIVE WITHIN THIRTY MINUTES, DR. MAYHEW] the drone replied, zooming out on their location to highlight the broader map of the region.

Kyle swore, looking back at Tillienne and Skippy.  None of them were in a great condition to be using their boosting skills at the moment, and their travel speed felt painfully slow.  Kyle was in the best shape of the three, and his mana network still felt very strained after the use of Parasitic Resonance, which was still unable to be used.  In this state, they didn’t have any other options available.

“When we get there, I’ll try to make an opening for us,” Kyle called back over his shoulder.  “With any luck, we’ll be able to take some pressure off of the defenders in the process.  No engaging with the elites unless absolutely necessary, or until we’ve had a chance to recover a bit more.”

“I wish Duroc were here,” Skippy complained.  “He always let me have more fun.”

Kyle glanced back at Tillienne, who shook her head in a clear combination of disbelief and annoyance.  “I understand, Kyle.  And I’ll follow your lead.”

At least I can count on her, Kyle thought, looking back to the skrell.  A quick use of Identify showed him that Skippy was recovering from the overuse of his capstone skill, though the fluctuations in his aura were still plain for Kyle to see.

Seeing a cluster of life signs ahead, Kyle knew that it would soon be time to make their push.  “We’re almost there,” he called back.  “Right now, I can’t do any of my ranged healing or barriers, so be careful, and stay close.”

True to C.H.A.D.D.’s map, a large cluster of the E Grade fungal soldiers were advancing in a loose formation toward the ramp to the nearest settlement.  Auric Perception warned him of several D Grades in their midst, though they were slowly moving toward the sounds of fighting further ahead.

Drawing the forcehammer batons, Kyle charged forward.  He focused a large blast of Repel straight ahead, angled slightly upward to blast the unsuspecting fungal soldiers out of their way.  As he moved, he released balanced blasts from both shoulders, widening the pocket around them as Tillienne and Skippy fell in behind.  Despite the skrell’s protests, Skippy didn’t charge into the mass of enemies, giving Kyle a bit of relief.

Through the throng of fungal soldiers, a D Grade suddenly appeared, rushing at Kyle from his left.  Auric Perception, along with a quick Identify confirmed that this one wasn’t an elite, but before Kyle could strike it with an enhanced contact Repel, a lance caught it in the chest, right before it was bisected by a descending battleaxe.

The pieces wriggled where they landed, but there was no time to stop.  The next two D Grades were sent flying, scorched by swift attacks from Skippy, while the third was destroyed by Kyle directly using Repel.  By now, Kyle’s mana reserves were beginning to get dangerously low.  Without Ignition active to keep him topped off, his liberal use of Repel was starting to take its toll.  One of the downsides to Iron Will was the slight decrease to his natural mana regeneration, which was showing itself now.

“C.H.A.D.D., how dangerous do you think it would be to use Ignition right now?” Kyle asked, blowing away another group of E Grades.

C.H.A.D.D. was silent for a moment, and Kyle felt deep contemplation through Pack Leader’s Instinct.  [YOUR MANA NETWORK IS STILL STRAINED, DR. MAYHEW.  WHILE IT MAY NOT PROVE IMMEDIATELY DANGEROUS, EXTENDED USE WOULD RUN THE RISK OF CAUSING ADDITIONAL DAMAGE THAT WILL TAKE TIME TO HEAL.]

Kyle nodded his acknowledgement, sending gratitude through Pack Leader’s Instinct.  Then, he activated Ignition.  He felt a slight pulling on his mana network, but his reserves were slowly filling.  Powerful blasts of Repel ripped into the already disorganized fungal soldiers, and with Kyle as a spearhead, the group continued to carve a path until they saw their destination at last.

Resting on the ground was a ramp made of white metal leading to a lift that in turn went up to the settlement hovering over one hundred meters above.  On the platform around the lift and on the ramp, a group of E Grade Mages and Rangers peppered the enemy with ranged attacks.  They looked haggard, and with a glance of Identify Kyle could tell that they were running low on mana.

At the foot of the ramp, standing in a chokepoint, was a single swordsman giving off a D Grade aura.  His blade flickered out, slicing through a group of fungal soldiers and giving Kyle a good look at the familiar face.

“Creston!” Kyle called, clearing the path with another blast of Repel.

“Is that you, Mayhew?  And squad leader, too?”  Creston called back, his eyes widening as he saw the diminutive skrell leap out from behind Kyle to pulverize another dozen E Grades in a quick flurry of palm strikes.

“Wait, and who’s this?” He asked in confusion, his eyes flicking to Tillienne and her methodical dance, carving through any of the E Grades or weaker D Grades that got close.

“We’re all friends,” Kyle said, finally making it to the ramp.  He looked over Creston with Identify active, showing him the man’s mana reserves were also running low.  He had a few nasty cuts and puncture wounds, and Kyle rested a hand on his shoulder, pumping a quick Healing Impetus into the man.  The pressure on this entrance had been broken, and they took a moment to gather themselves.

“Thanks,” Creston said with a sigh of relief as his injuries began to close.  “They’re behind on sending reinforcements to us, I thought we were going to have to retreat back up to the settlement.”

“We came from the northern end of the battlefield, how many more are they waiting for?” Kyle asked.  From the few messages they’d seen, the plan was to buy time for evacuees to arrive from the ground, and then remove the ground ramps, keeping the settlements in the air until the teleporters could all be used.

“No idea,” Creston said, then nodded toward Skippy.  “The squad leader sent us back toward the settlements when the D Grades really started to appear, said that we’d only get in his way.”

Kyle shot a look to Skippy, who crossed his arms.  “What?” The skrell buzzed in complaint.  “I wanted to have some fun, and if they stole a great fight from me, that would have been frustrating.”

[MORE OF THE E GRADE FUNGAL SOLDIERS ARE INCOMING, DR. MAYHEW.]

Kyle looked at C.H.A.D.D.’s map, which showed another wave of the enemies arriving.  He turned his attention to Creston and the exhausted E Grades on the ramp, making a decision.

“Creston, take them back topside.  Tillienne, Skippy, you are welcome to go with them if you want.  I’ll hold here for as long as I can, and wait for the signal for takeoff.  Worst case, my pack has some flight capabilities if I need to clear out.”

Tillienne sighed, then took up a position behind Kyle.  “You know I’m not going to leave you to hold this location alone.  The two of us can handle it.”

Skippy also plopped down on the platform, legs crossed.  “You two can take the boring fights.  I call dibs any of the fun ones that show up.”

Kyle wasn’t going to argue with them, and part of him was thankful that they chose to stay.  With a glance back at Creston, who was still standing nearby, he raised an eyebrow.  “Do you have any objections?”

Composing himself, Creston stood at attention.  “No, sir!  I’ll get a report up to whoever needs it, thank you.”

With that, the D Grade excused himself, passing the message along to the relieved expressions of the E Grades.  Kyle sent a message through the Corthian support channels that he, Tillienne, and Skippy were taking over defense at this point, and soon the lift took Creston and the others up toward the settlement proper.

As the lift rose, Kyle turned his attention back to the approaching enemy.  C.H.A.D.D. highlighted three of the weaker D Grades in their midst, with an elite quickly approaching from the rear.  Kyle took a stabilizing breath, and drew his forcehammer batons.  His usual style coupled mobility with striking power, but that wouldn’t be an option for him right now.  He would be the unbreakable wall standing between his people and the oncoming horde.

As the first E grade approached, Kyle struck out with the baton, releasing a blast of force at the exact moment of impact and sending it flying with a crater in its torso.  At the same time, he brought his other baton to bear against one coming in from the flank, smashing it against the ones pressing in behind it.

A sweeping blow from a battleaxe carved a furrow in the masses, and Synaptic Barbs informed him of a lance narrowly missing his right ear as it rapidly pierced the heads of several other soldiers.  The injured E Grades convulsed for a moment before their bodies released fungal lances directly into Kyle, dying in the process.  The moment he saw the first spear, he realized that these were the techniques that left the nasty wounds on Creston.

Kyle didn’t flinch.  The spears weren’t even able to leave a scratch on his skin, despite being struck by over a dozen of them.  He felt a blur of motion behind him as Skippy jumped over his shoulder, leaping into combat with the nearest of the D Grades.  The skrell’s palm strikes pummeled the creature into something unrecognizable, the quickly accumulating damage far more than its regeneration could handle.

As they fought on, a creeping doubt began to worm its way into Kyle’s mind.  What more are they waiting for?  Who else could be coming?

Just then, he heard an ominous groan from above.  He hazarded a glance upward, at the same time C.H.A.D.D. flashed a warning.

To his horror, the glowing ring allowing the settlement to float began to flicker.

[DR. MAYHEW, THE PROPULSION IS FAILING.  RUN!]