At last, Brant and the bloodthirsty insurgents came to a stop several dozen feet before the mass of Alcontean soldiers. Each side stared the other down, the mutual hostility tangible in the air between them. 

The Alcontean general stepped out from the midst of his men with two soldiers flanking either side. He approached Brant with a hard stare that the brawny warrior unabashedly returned. 

"I guess I don't have to speak long with you, Nayan." the general muttered, "You know exactly what you're up against, but your folly keeps you here." He cleared his throat, and in a louder voice, he declared, "You are all citizens of the Alcontean Empire, and your treason is not kindly looked upon. Quite the contrary! I demand you immediately cease and desist, if you value your own lives or the welfare of your brethren." 

Wendy crossed her arms. "We didn't trek the whole bloody way up here just to give up now." 

The general shrugged. "Your loss." 

He spun on his heel to rejoin his men. While he crossed the distance between the opposing sides, Wendy leaned over to Brant. 

"You don't have a bloody intricate plan for this too, do you?" 

"I do, actually." Brant replied with a smirk, "Cave some skulls." 

"You don't have to ask me twice." 

"I wasn't planning on it." 

With that, Wendy shot into the sky, with long and narrow plumes of flame and smoke trailing behind her. When the Alcontean general barked out the order to fire, many soldiers in the front lines fired at the insurgents on the ground, while those farther back focused their shots on the flying Danlashian. She darted and dodged to evade most of their bullets, but those that did hit their mark bounced away, having made no mark but shallow dents here and there. 

When shots flew Brant's way, he created a shield in his free hand. He dashed forward with his axe poised to deal devastating blows. His first swing removed an Alcontean's hand, and the return strike beheaded him. 

The axe transformed into another shield when soldiers on either side of Brant opened fire on him with machine guns. He held still for a moment and guarded himself from their barrage. Then he bolted forward and used the twin shields to disperse concussions and bruises aplenty. He glanced back and saw a comrade's bullet fly off course from its intended target. With a smirk, he moved the edge of his shield into the projectile's path, causing it to ricochet into the head of the initial target. 

Wendy rained arrows on the soldiers from above, scarcely missing a single shot. Then she pressed a button on her metal bow, and a cloud of green gas spread out from the last five shafts she'd fired. She returned her bow to the clip on her back and dove into the midst of the coughing horde. 

Wendy landed a kick on a bald soldier as she landed, causing the pinkness of his scalp to turn violet. Then she gave the surrounding men a savage beatdown as they choked on the gas and clawed for air. Few found themselves capable of attempting a proper fight. When a grenade rolled to her feet, she rocketed into the sky again. 

One grinning insurgent swept a gatling gun over the Alcontean ranks, chuckling to himself as they fell by the dozens. Then he grunted as their general called the shieldmen to the front of the line. They only carried pistols, but the full-body shields in their right hands rendered his heavy firepower irrelevant. He growled and pulled the pin from a grenade. 

Brant's eye caught a grenade roll in from behind. It stopped at his feet. With a sigh, he picked it up and rolled it again, this time into a gap between two shieldmen. 

One of the Alconteans spotted the explosive device and widened his eyes. He hurled the concave side of his shield over it and threw his full weight down. He jolted as it exploded underneath him. 

Brant stabbed the man with a spear before he could pick up his shield again. As he withdrew the bloodied point, he gasped. A trio of shieldmen surrounded him, bullying him around with powerful shoves and strategic shots of their pistols to discourage him from rising. 

Brant sighed and created two crowbars. He hooked them underneath the men's shields and snatched them away before dispatching each with a blade specially made to plunge through their respective builds. The last man fired a few shots, but a crowbar returned to one of Brant's hands, and he yanked the man's leg forward. Once on his back, the man lay helpless. 

After dispatching the man, Brant glanced up and sighed. The remaining line of shieldmen had tightened their formation, and they also had just finished driving the protective plates into the ground, freeing their hands to mount gatling guns of their own atop the wall. Brant made a sprinting retreat as the river of bullets poured his way. 

"Wendy!" he shouted into his earpiece, "We need those shieldmen taken out from behind, ASAP!" 

Wendy grunted from where she twirled in the sky, surrounded by battle drones. "In a bit of a sticky wicket right now!" 

Brant sighed. "Well hurry up and get out of it, you violent lass." he grumbled to himself, "I know you've got it in you." 

******************** 

Drones fired sparking balls of electricity at Wendy, too fast to evade. Her metallic suit magnified the shocks and carried them right to her skin. She grunted and swooped out of the drones' formation, but by the time she righted herself and aimed, they surrounded her again. She lined up a perfect shot to jam up two drones' propellers, but another shock hit her. Her muscles twitched, and she released the arrow in a completely different direction. 

Wendy gasped when one drone's electro-cannon retracted and a five-bladed claw extended in its place. It sped forward and gripped at her chest, leaving visible scratches on the breastplate. She punched at it, but the propellor hurtled her hand away. A chunk of armor broke off the gauntlet, and the Danlashian widened her eyes at the sight of her exposed hand underneath. 

The drone's clawing at her breastplate continued, and the scratches deepened. Meanwhile, the others continued shocking Wendy, rendering her twitching muscles useless. She cried out when one sparking projectile hit her exposed hand directly. 

In an instant, the clawing drone fell to the ground, its propellor following close behind it. Wendy frowned and glanced around. A narrow trail of smoke led back to a tree in group A's direction. 

"Thanks a bloody ton, Keira." Wendy said as she sped away, the drones in hot pursuit. 

"Don't mention it." Keira's voice replied through the helmet's speaker. 

"Wendy, fly up. Far up." Brant ordered. 

Wendy frowned. "Okay...why?" 

"The signal between operator and drone is strong, but it can't be infinite. If you go high enough, they'll lose signal, and you can take them out from above. They have some auto-defense capabilities, but can't automatically aim upwards." 

Wendy's gauntlet met her helmet in an approximation of a face-palm. "I'm daft. How did I not think of that?" 

"You're welcome." 

She swooped up and flew higher and higher, eventually disappearing into the clouds. Wendy glanced down constantly to check if the drones still followed. When they finally stopped in place, she unclipped her bow again and fired arrows into the propellers, jamming them up and causing them to plummet to the ground below. Once the last had been destroyed, she flew a victory loop and dove back down. 

******************** 

With Wendy's assistance, the insurgents finally mowed down the line of Alcontean shieldmen. The odds had been evened once more. Brant dashed through the midst of the Alcontean horde and slashed as he went. Wendy continued to exploit her aerial advantage, and the other insurgents contributed substantial firepower as well. 

Brant finally chopped the last man down and glanced up as the general hopped through a hatch into a tank. In all the commotion, the quartet of tanks had been mostly forgotten as they slowly but steadily crept closer to the metal dome. The closest of the armored vehicles fired its first shot at the structure. The projectile fell just short of hitting its target, but a little more distance, and it would be in range. 

"Aaron," Brant spoke into his earpiece, "we've got tanks rolling in close, and we don't have adequate means out here to stop them." 

"I'm on it." Aaron replied on the other end of the line. 

Brant sighed and dashed forward. He leapt atop the tank's treads and ran against the rotation until he reached a point to clamber onto the vehicle's top. He grabbed the hatch's handles and strained to break it open. Instead, the handles broke off and left him nothing more to grab onto. He lunged off the vehicle when the tank behind fired right at him. After tumbling to the ground, he hurried out of another tank's path. 

Once Brant regained his footing, he peered into the distance and rolled his eyes. He dialed his earpiece to speak with all the soldiers in his division. "Another contingent coming in, guys! Let's give them hell." 

After hurrying around the tanks, the soldiers rallied behind Brant and followed him as he charged forward to meet the incoming batch of new foes.

******************** 

A/N: Now that was hectic, guys! And we ain't done yet, either. Far from it. 

If you enjoyed the chaos, don't forget to vote and comment. Thanks! 

To be honest, it was pretty sweet writing some of the Brant/Wendy interactions in this one. They've come so far individually and together, and it's so beautiful! 😆 

Beyond that, I haven't got much this morning, so it's time for a random question! (These are getting hard to come up with, by the way, lol.) If the current time where you're at was your IQ, how much of a genius would you be? 

(I'd be 617, holy cow! I mean, I knew I was a genius, but dang. 😂) 

That'll be it for me this morning! Have an awesome day, and I hope to see you in the next update.