The Broodmother, however, proved to be faster. With a few flicks of her elongated body, she made it down the hill and into the ranks of the screaming humans. The monster’s tail flailed, smashing and hurling dozens to their death. The few remaining traps sprang all around her body, but their deadly payload was like a shower of soft pebbles against the Warped queen’s immense bulk.

The remaining fighters backed away from the raging fire, the hail of bullets not stopping for a second. They took cover behind raised walls and hurriedly built fortification, fighting and bleeding the Warped for every centimeter they gave way. For a glorious moment, it looked like the human fighters could pull it off, finishing the deadly queen on their own.

That moment passed all too quickly.

The Broodmother reared up her ugly head and let loose another deadly breath. Jagged blades flew in a wide cone, mowing them down like a scythe mowing wheat.

“Nori, we have to do something!” Lana shirked.

Nori clenched her teeth. “If I ram into her now, we’ll kill a lot of our own and there’s no guarantee it will be enough to end her.” She pulled up, leaving the giant serpent to its killing spree. At least a hundred people had lost their lives in that quick attack, and more were falling by the second. At least it looked like they’d managed to take out most of the smaller Warped along with them.

The remaining defenders continued bombarding the colossal raging creature, while small teams of specialists laid more traps around her, often at the cost of their lives. The traps sprung, some even spearing and tearing the giant’s flesh. The small group of elite guards lay in wait and sprang to attack the creature’s flank. The surprise attack actually managed to blast a section of the tail off. They continued shooting like crazy, trying to enlarge the wound.

It was still not enough.

Aside from the elites’ Warped Buster rounds, the other fighters’ smaller bullets mostly ricocheted off the creature’s thick metal plates and the damage they did cause was far from life-threatening. Even the large holes inflicted by the asteroid cannon were already closing.

The situation quickly deteriorated as the Broodmother reared again and started tearing into the defenders with renewed vigor.

“Nori!” Martin’s voice bellowed through the comms.

“Do something, kid!” Diamond’s voice shouted as well.

The Navigator froze. She didn’t know what to do. She looked around her, desperately searching for an answer.

And one was given to her.

Nathan’s capsule melted away from him, and he walked, approaching the front viewscreen. He took in the death and mayhem below then glanced at the Gunner’s still smoking body. He held up his arms and with a calm clarity he hadn’t felt since the Calamity, said: “No more.”