The alpha cromechs discharged the supplicant betas and directed their attention toward Eve and the newborn swoons.

They made their move. En masse, the ‘mechs charged from all directions. High pitched hissing and clicking rang out as they swarmed over every surface of the plateau and blocked any means of escape.  The swoons retreated behind Eve, trembling.

Terrified, Eve was nonetheless consumed by a process that rose from deep within. Amidst the thousands pulses and synapse that jolted her nexus, one thing was clear. She was a maker, and as a maker she knew she must create a defense. Or perish.

Twirling in place, she waved the staff of the Phylores and created a shell around herself and the swoons.

First she formed a bulbous base, followed by rows of energy that solidified into an impenetrable shield, rising upward, culminating in a narrow neck at the top. With a final flash of her magical wand Eve formed a cap at the peak that could only be opened from the inside. The bulb, now complete, they were safe inside.

Murmur whispered, “well done.”

The mech horde was stunned for a nano by the sudden appearance of the massive bulb, but screamed in unison as they resumed their attack.

The horrid pinging of metallic bodies slamming against the shield rang out as they struck the bulb over and over. A relentless torrent of cromechs flung themselves against it in a furious desire for conquest.

Thousands tried and thousands failed.  The plateau became carpeted with mortally damaged mechs twisting in agony.

The battle seemed over until one single mutant mech found a tiny fissure in the bulb’s shield. Others once again joined in, snapping and hissing as they pried back that portion of the bulb’s outer layer.

Spent by her effort, Eve collapsed by the swoons. If the bulb failed to hold it would mean the end of her Turn and the extinguishing of her soft and penetrable life force.

Murmur gasped as metallic claws suddenly punctured a small opening in the bulb itself.