“They split their forces to attack both shelters at once,” Bulco exclaimed, banging his fist over his armrests. “We have to do something! The people down there don’t stand a chance.”

The outer edges of both tendrils had almost reached their destination, and yellow pixels started surrounding the two shelters.

“We’re too late,” Nori said with a pale face. “We have to get down there, but who do we help first?”

“Martin!” Lana cried. “They are already surrounded.”

“Diamond!” Bulco counteracted. “Martin’s got thicker walls and better weapons, they can hold on longer.”

“Shit.” Nori cursed. “We don’t have time for debate. Lana, Bulco’s right, Martin has a better chance of holding out.”

“I’m going to kill that blue freak when I see him next,” Bulco seethed. “If he hadn’t delayed us, we could have been there by now.”

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Nori said, guiding the freighter dangerously close to the ground. “Touchdown in thirty seconds!”

The ground zoomed past them and they soon saw the large mall in the distance. At least a hundred Warped were storming toward the building. A dozen were already there, pounding on the walls, some even clawing their ways upward.

The ship sped on, not slowing even when they got closer.

“What are you doing?” Lana cried. “We’ll crash.”

Nori clenched her jaws, struggling to maintain control. “I’m going to put us right at the front gate. Unity will block the entrance while we unpack the ammo crates. How’s that cannon’s doing?”

Lana glanced on the secondary monitor.

Asteroid Cannon upgrade: 32%

“It’s not going to be ready in time,” she said.

“Brace yourself!” Nori yelled.

The freighter flew straight at the tall walls. Lana closed her eyes, expecting to crash into them. At the last possible second, Nori threw her hands backward and a deep shudder ran through the ship as she made a 180-degree turn on the spot. Their momentum carried them the last hundred meters, then the ship’s thrusters re-engaged.

Another deep shudder ensued, followed by a sudden jolt and the ship came to a complete stop.

“Killing the engines!” Nori shouted. “Done. Pull out your weapons. Go, go, go!”

Lana drew her Zapper and ran after Bulco toward the cargo hold. The Engineer’s huge revolver was already out, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Nori hurried after them.

The large door was already descending when they reached it. Despite Nori’s superb flying skills, she had miscalculated slightly. The back of the ship had rammed into the reinforced metal gate of the shelter, denting it out of shape. The cargo door lowered halfway then stopped with a metallic screech. A tear in the shelter’s gate, about two meters wide, appeared revealing the anxious faces of the guards beyond it.

“Thank god it’s you,” one of them blurted out. “I thought the Warped had managed to burst through.”