Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 627: Finish off the Arcladons.

Sunshine did not like being disobeyed, especially in times like this but the squad was testing her patience. She had scenarios like this. Moments when superhumans got cocky because they thought they were more powerful than everything else in the apocalypse.

Their stories rarely had happy endings.

"Ma’am we...." O’toole said.

"I said get inside!" Sunshine roared, her voice cracking against the rumble of the gathering mist above them. "I have planted rod conductors, but they are yet to work. Not one Arcladon has fallen to the ground or spilled blood. This isn’t a spectator sport! If the rods fail to work, those things will come back to annihilate everything in sight, including you. All we have succeeded in doing so far is pissing them off."

Major Elio didn’t move. He adjusted the grip on his glove; his visor smeared with soot and dragon-dust. "With all due respect, ma’am, we aren’t leaving you out here all by yourself. What’s the plan? I am guessing that you have one."

Through the exo suit, she glared at him. But he could not see it. They both knew he knew she was glaring and choosing to ignore it.

"Inside until I say otherwise," Sunshine hissed, her eyes darting toward the charcoal clouds where the Arcladons were regrouping. "I always have a plan and a backup plan. Now go!" She lied, there was no back up in this situation except to may be throw more dust bombs or use Ala’s doom wand and vanish into the space.

If it could not be helped, she would unleash some of Ala’s weapons; the ones she hoped would stay buried because their creation had doomed Boulder Creek and she was not about to doom earth.

"Are you thinking of fighting those things alone?" Hades’ voice was low, vibrating through the comms like a deep cello note.

She thought it was coming from inside the command center until he landed in front of her. The heavy plates of his armor clanked. He didn’t wait for her to answer, the sharp look of disapproval in her fierce eyes told him everything he needed to know.

Hades rolled his shoulders in a slow, circular motion, a gesture of grim readiness. "I’m going nowhere, Suni. If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up so you can fix it."

"Me neither," Elio added, a crooked grin breaking through his weary expression.

One by one, the squad members chimed in over the radio_ Raydon, Gilly, Phillip, and the others. They asserted with a unified, stubborn pride that they were in this together. They weren’t just squad members anymore, they were a family that had survived the impossible, and they weren’t about to break that streak today.

Sunshine scoffed, a wet, tired laugh escaping her throat. "Fine. You’re all incredibly stubborn and statistically insane. I would say stupid as well, but Philip will pout. Alright, let’s do this. Hopefully, we don’t all turn into human charcoal today."

The clouds finally broke. The Arcladons became visible again, but they looked different_ heavier, more dangerous. Thick white steam hissed from their nostrils, and their violet veins were pulsing so brightly they were almost blinding. They began their descent in a terrifying, synchronized dive, their maws unhinging to release the final, killing blow.

"Brace yourselves!" Sunshine screamed.

The creatures opened their mouths, and the sky turned white. Pure, jagged spears of lightning erupted from their throats, screaming toward the squads standing outside the bubble. But just as the bolts were about to vaporize them, the air warped. The grounding rods planted by the superhumans let out a high-pitched whine, acting like massive magnets for the electricity.

The lightning bent in mid-air. It curved away from the squads, snaking toward the conducting rods buried in the earth outside the walls. The ground shook as the soil absorbed millions of volts.

The Arcladons looked genuinely confused. They banked and dived again, spewing even more current, but it was useless. Every bolt was snatched by the rods. The squad members watched in awe, some even laughing as the deadly light danced inches away from them without touching a single hair on their heads.

"Let them empty the tanks!" Sunshine shouted, a surge of triumph in her voice. "Let them waste every bit of energy they’ve got!"

The Arcladons grew desperate. They stayed in the air, pouring out every ounce of their internal power until the blue glow in their veins began to fade. Their massive wings began to falter. They struggled to even float, their bodies becoming heavy and sluggish. One by one, they began to fall, crashing onto the surface of the bubble with wet, heavy thuds.

[Host, they are depleted,] the System chimed in her head, its voice sounding almost satisfied. [They are vulnerable, blast away.]

Sunshine didn’t hesitate. She lunged toward a massive Arcladon that had collapsed onto the shield near her, its chest heaving as it fought for breath. She slammed her frost-covered palms onto its obsidian hide. The cold traveled through its weakened body instantly, turning the Arcladon into a statue of brittle ice. With a sharp kick, she shattered it into a million glittering shards.

"Get them!" Elio roared. "Use the dragonoids, swords...everything works now."

The gates were opened and superhumans and human soldiers in exo suits poured out, screaming like the noise was also a weapon.

Some used their swords to stab and behead; others used their gloves and the energy stored in their new staffs to turn the fallen beasts into harmless dust. Sunshine captured three, put them in pods and sent them into her space. The pods put them in a temporary state of sleep.

Then, she joined everyone in ripping the creatures apart. It was a systematic, frantic cleanup. They fought until the very last beast was gone, dissolved into the wind.

When the last wail faded the sun was setting and a heavy silence fell over Fortress Four.

Phillip suddenly let out a loud, victorious scream from the top of the Westbrook wall. It turned into a sob, tears forming in his eyes. He collapsed to his knees, his hands shaking.

This had been the hardest battle they had ever faced. The bubble was scarred, riddled with thin spots and holes where the lightning had stressed the energy grid to its limit. They had won, but the fortress looked like it had been through a lot.

"We did it," Gilly whispered, looking at her gloves. "We killed dragons!"

More people celebrated as the Watchers retreated. Shameless as the birds were, they relaxed on the bubble or so people assumed. What they were doing was studying the damage the Arcladons had done.

Sunshine’s legs finally gave out. The adrenaline that had been propping her up evaporated, leaving her hollow and cold. Before she could hit the ground, Hades caught her. He didn’t say a word; he just scooped her up into his massive arms, cradling her against his chest.

"I am okay," Sunshine murmured, her head resting against his shoulder as he began to walk toward the airlock. "We still have to repair the shield, count our dead, treat the injured... the walls need repairing."

"Not right now," Hades said, his voice unusually soft. "Right now, you need some rest."

As they retreated back inside the bubble, the people of the fortress began to emerge from their homes, looking up at a sky that was finally, blessedly empty. They realized how lucky they were to live under fortress four’s protection.

But they also knew, if Moon Raine’s predictions were right, they were not even halfway to safety.