"JD!", Reyna shouted across the village. "Protect the door!"

With his head pulled in, he jumped behind a barrier and threw a grenade into the wave of DeeBee's that came raining down the sky.

"Jinn really isn't subtle!", Del screamed through the sound of shots chasing through the air and passed him a full magazine.

Reyna screamed.

"Neither am I!", she growled and cut one of the robots down. "Make sure that nobody gets to the hall!"

JD sighed.

"I'm on it! But a helping hand with the fabricator wouldn't hurt!"

Kait rushed to his side. She fired a few shots, taking down two enemies before three new landed.

"Didn't you say someone would come by?!", she asked and pulled her head in to avoid a bullet. "Your scientist friend would really come in handy right now!"

But JD pulled a face, something between blank horror and worry.

"Not much of a fighter!", he shouted back. "Not at all, to be exact."

She shrugged.

"But does know how to handle a fabricator?"

"Probably! (Y/N) is a genius. Knows everything!"

"Then why are we on our own?!"

JD jumped to the side, gracefully landed on his back and shot two DeeBee's before grabbing and new magazine. While doing so he briefly turned around, only to be hit by a bullet. It didn't hit him directly, but scratched across his arm deep enough to leave a long scar.

"JD!", Kait wanted to rush to his side, but was held back by the shockwave of an explosion. "We need that scientist. Now!"

"We can handle this!", he ensured and rushed around a corner to side with Del. "Back me up."

Del frowned.

"Are you sure?", he asked and tried aiming over the barrier. "We appreciate your passion for this village, but this seems a bit extreme to do alone."

JD grinned.

"That's why I have you!", he hit his friends shoulder. "I need to get a moment with the fabricator."

Del snorted.

"Want to make love to it so it will do what you want?"

"Maybe. Now help me get up to the hall again!"

"Right behind you!"

Together they turned on their heels and rushed back up the stairs.

JD held his riffle high, taking two DeeBee's down in one shot. He wanted to run on but Del grabbed him by the shoulder, pulled him back and shot the round, crablike robot that was crawling over the ground.

With a loud screech, it exploded, ripping a hole into the wooden stairs.

"Watch your steps!", JD called to the others. "They use moving bombs!"

With a scream, Reyna stabbed some before turning to him.

"You don't say!", she pointed at Kait, who was defending a corner on her own. "Del, help Kait! JD, you can do this alone!"

"Yes ma'am!", they shouted and rushed away into opposite directions.

While Del rushed to Kait's aid, JD managed to reach the fabricator. Gasping, he tapped the terminal, praying that he still remembered some of the things you had told him about COG technology.

A hologram lit up, offering him options of codes that he wasn't able to read. Sweat dripped down his forehead. His eyes jumped across the numbers, looking for something that seemed familiar to him.

If he remember the things you had told him correctly, the fabricator was supposed to fabricate different defence supplies in less than a minute.

"Okay... Alright, we got this...", he mumbled to himself and selected an option that seemed to make the most sense to him.

Immediately, the fabricator started working. Sparks filled the air and for a moment his hair started to buzz. But the moment passed and the shell opened with a hiss, revealing an automatic machine gun.

"Bingo!", relieved, he grabbed the thing and placed it at one of the stairs that led to the community hall before rushing back and producing another.

The second one was placed at the other stairs.

As it unfolded, the machine gun started shooting without warning.

Struck by surprise, JD pulled his head in.

"Everyone, stay down!", he advised and skipped through the options. "I'll set it on mechanical targets!"

Kait jumped behind a box. One second later and she would have been Swiss cheese.

"What the fuck, JD?!", she asked and squeezed her eyes shut.

"All set now! We're good to go!"

"Produce some more!", Del screamed and tossed him a DeeBee power core. "Try this! If I'm thinking the right way, it should be able to boost the quantity."

Frowning, JD placed it in a free slot for the power.

"Are you sure?", he asked.

Del shrugged while dodging a rain of bullets.

"I'm pretty sure!"

"How sure?"

"Like, 80 percent sure!"

"Holy shit...", with his eyes squeezed shut tightly, JD pressed another code.

And indeed, Del's idea worked.

Instead of one protector shield, two appeared.

He grabbed them to pass both his friends one each.

"Good job!", Kait laughed and beheaded one robot that came awfully close with her chainsaw gun. "Now get your ass down to help us!"

"Do I look like I'm chilling?!", he jumped down to prevent an enemy to tear her back apart. "I'm doing my best."

She pressed her back against his and kept on shooting.

"Your friend should have helped us out with the fabricator.", she gasped, already sweating.

The village was on fire. Explosions made the ground shake while metal parts were lying around everywhere.

"I told you (Y/N) is a scientist!", he hissed and kicked another crab robot away. "And I won't let my childhood best friend die in a fight that we caused."

She laughed.

"We?"

He turned around to secure the front with her.

"Yes, we. As in, we stole the fabricator together. Remember?"

She smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Keep on being salty."

"I'm not! This is fun! Just not for my lover!"

"We get it, you're dating a glass staue now. Stop talking and keep shooting those fucking things!"

Del joined them. With his head pulled in he rushed behind a barrier and checked his ammo.

"Could you two lovebirds stop fighting?", he asked, gasping. "Fucking shit, how many are there?!"

"Hold your portions!", Reyna shouted across the village. "We almost made it!"

"Yes, ma'am!"