Voltana couldn't sit in one place. She didn't worry about her own safety though. From a very young age, Grem'No are taught one important thing: Their species is making cool stuff and everyone wants it. Including the bad guys. So building your own cadre of defensive robots was a must in every school. And this gremlin girl was no different in that regard.

"Nick... where are you?.." no, her main concern was the best friend she ever had. Her drones reached his parlor but didn't find him there. Judging by the lack of laser burns, overall property damage, and the invader's corpse in the man's room, she concluded that he managed to escape.

But to where? Did he make it to safety? Or did the enemy capture him and dragged into some awful place? She tried her best not to imagine her loved one being brutally tortured or just plain executed. The very image of him covered in blood and not moving was enough to make her heart skip several beats.

"No, I must keep looking!" Voltana slapped herself, jumping onto the task with new fervor. "I will protect my friend!!!"

Armed with exoskeletons, heavy armor, energy shields, and powerful weaponry, the servants of the sole member of the Redwood family (currently present on the Cornucopia) were scouring street after street. Any resistance from the invading forces was mercilessly squashed without ceremonies. Their brutalized bodies marked the way the group moved through.

"Stupid, stubborn, inconsiderate fool..." Sequoia was pissed. Really pissed. There were several reasons for her incredibly foul mood. Firstly, these morons thought that was a good idea to raid her mansion. Whatever afterlife they believed in, Plantis's servants sent them there in many mangled pieces. Secondly, she was still angry at Nick. Sequoia just couldn't understand it: She is beautiful, super rich, and open to relationships. Many alien men would kiss the ground she walked on. And this damn human man had the gall to say no to her over some little cunt?! But she had to admit that a very annoying part of her mind admired Nick's iron will and ability to reasonably compromise. And thirdly, the very same morons attacked the station her beloved "fool" was on. She was the only one who could touch her masseur. Period.

"Root Sequoia, ready to report." one of the vanguard teams contacted her.

"Did you find him?"

"No, the parlor is empty. No signs of a serious fight. Found a body of the invaders. Killed by a pulse pistol. Must've been Mr. Bourbon. No signs of his blood, struggle, or a dragged corpse."

"Keep searching."

"At once."

"Don't even think of dying, Nick Bourbon!" she bit her lip while caressing a scary-looking pistol lying on her lap. She was in her limo, which followed the main group of her fighters. "I will make you mine eventually!!!"

The synths are very orderly creatures, even when doing some harmless mischief. So when chaos has entered their workspace... well, it won't stay chaotic for long. Despite choosing the path of peace after the devastating War of the Glitch, sentient AIs never stopped researching weapons and defenses. One very important human saying was deeply engraved into their digital minds: "Si vis pacem para bellum". Even during times of the most stable peace, war is always lurking in the shadows. You must always be prepared for it.

"Seek the Utilitator Bourbon. Protect him at all costs. This is the will of the Cores."

Despite the fact that the concentration of the terrorists near the military district was the thickest, they couldn't hold them for long. Invaders held their positions fanatically, even when superior firepower and numbers began mowing them down very efficiently. The stormtroopers were on the frontlines, tearing their adversaries like wet tissues, allowing the mid and rear to annihilate the rest.

Girls of the 13th Detachment were a walking nightmare. Being the most troublesome battlegroup on Cornucopia came together with incredibly tight teamwork, bestial ferocity, and steadfast determination. And the fact that they were led by The Wandering Creator left the opponent only one option.

"This is our station!!!" several assailants were pushed and then impaled by Crustia pincers.

"No one invited you, bastards!!!" two incredibly fast beast kin flanked the enemy, before blasting him to pieces with heavy shotguns.

"You will beg for mercy once I am done with your friends!!!" an incredibly sadistic silicoid grabbed an entire quartet of terrorists and gruesomely crushed them with rocky hands.

"I will fry your ugly minds!!!" fueled by battle lust, Anima looked like a banshee, and every single of her screams resulted in a dozen of exploding hostile heads.

"You. Are. Finished." unable to see or hit the stone cold Sangui, entire swats of invaders found themselves sliced into thousand pieces, which then fell to the floor like bloodied bacon.

"I sense the lovable child in danger. Protect him." Infinita walked in the very front, completely unfazed by laser fire and grenades. She only mildly helped her underlings by occasionally creating solid covers or healing the injured. She didn't want them all to depend on her godly powers. "Such talent should not be snuffed out."

"Come on... we are almost there..." while Aqua covered them with a riot shield and her MP, Nick helped several injured civilians to get to the shelter. They were already doing it for some time and the human masseur started to feel pretty winded. "Hah... when will it end..."

Many of the lawmen that were caught outside of their stations were scattered or killed off. Several survivors managed to band up together, helping the civilians to reach a relative safety of shelters. One such vault Nick found together with Aqua.

"This is the last of them." the human man leaned to the wall, feeling very tired. Both mentally and physically. The adrenaline rush was already taking its toll on his juiced-up body. He just wanted the massacre to end.

"Enemy is approaching!" the remaining policemen reloaded their weaponry, ready to fend off the aggressor. There were so few of them, but they took their oath very seriously. Even if it will end in their demise. "HQ, requesting reinforcements!!!"

"Citizen Nick, please, proceed inside the shelter!" pleaded the Ocea officer, but the man already got the adrenaline injector out of the first aid kit and gave himself a shot.

"No, I am staying with you. If you fall - they will massacre the innocent inside." there was no point in saying that a single item he was carrying was the reason for all of this. There was no point in hiding or running away - he won't survive on his own. Here, in a reinforced position, the human masseur and his allies had a small, but chance. "You'll need every available gun here."

"But..."

"Let him stay." intervened another lawman, older wolf kin with several light wounds. "He is a human and these guys are natural survivors. And he won't shoot himself accidentally, I am sure."

Nick gratefully nodded to him and reloaded his gun. This is going to be a brutal fight.

Hails of laser volleys fell onto the cover like hammers. The smell of burned metal and plastic started to become unbearable. The enemy has encircled them and now slowly approached the battered position.

"Guhhhhh..." another policeman fell down with a blown-off head, covering the floor in blood, bones, and flesh. Where first stood ten, the eight has already met their maker, dead in the line of duty.

"Please... hah... go to safety..."Nick did his best to patch up the wounded Aqua, who relied too much on her shield. The poor thing was now laying on the floor, barely breathing with lots of laser burns. "Protect... and... Serve..."

"Shut it!!!" he screamed at her, quickly grabbing his pulse pistol and blindly sending a salvo of weak fire at the encroaching enemy. His position was immediately thrashed by the return fire, with one laser shot leaving a grazing wound on the man's hand. "I won't leave you here!!!"

"I won't... find peace... in the great depth... if you..." she winced from intense pain, unable to move or talk much.

"Damn it..." it was the last clip. Now assailants were in few yards from them, heavily armed and ready to kill. They are doomed.

But suddenly, Nick's gaze stopped at the very thing that these bastards were seeking. The vial with Vitae inside. He quickly examined the vessel and realized it could be easily penetrated by something very sharp from the bottom. A mad idea just formed in the angry, human mind. He grabbed the used syringe and used it on a vial.

"Yippee ki yay..." he grinned like a crazed beast in the faces of the looming invaders while stabbing the needle full of shimmering golden liquid right into his neck. "...MOTHERFUCKERS!!!"