The North, East and West Gates had come under assault. The South Gate was all quiet, for now. Joyce wanted to move to the other defences and help them but her job was here. If they needed reinforcements they could rely on the reserve troops that were no doubt on standby. That's what she told herself anyway. It didn’t do anything to help relieve the tension. She could see it on the faces of those around her. Like her, they all knew the truth of the situation. There had never been such a large coordinated attack on the factory before. Whoever was behind this had spent a long time planning and gathering forces. Joyce wasn’t surprised the attack excluded The South Gate, it would be the hardest to assault with the large open parking lot. Anyone attempting to cross would be turned to swiss cheese. They would need to find some kind of armored vehicle to cross it safely. Well, relatively safely. 

Joyce held her position and scanned the buildings on the far side of the parking lot. The only movement she could detect was some old curtains that had not completely burned or rotted away in the years after the bombs fell. She strained her audio sensors, adjusting them to more clearly hear quiet sounds. All she picked up was the shifting of her squad and the distant sounds of battle. Joyce was concerned about whoever was behind this finding an armored vehicle or crudely making one. Fortunately no engines could be heard. She re adjusted her audio sensors to normal operating range. Finally she switched her vision to thermal sensors. She hoped if anyone was moving in the buildings a part of them would be exposed and she could see the temperature difference. They were too far away to see normally. Perhaps she should ask Cas about installing a zoom function. That would make her life easier. 

For a brief moment she saw a temperature spike in one of the bottom floor windows. Best to call it in. There may be an attack coming here after all. The others might be a diversion to direct forces away from The South Gate.

“I’ve detected movement on thermals,” Joyce said over her squad's local coms. “Stay sharp.”

“Good spotting, Joyce.” Captain Keyes said, “I’ll pass that info to the wall team.”

“Not sure I can stay any sharper without decorating myself with knives,” A third voice chimed in.

“I’d advise against that Sabastian,” Joyce said. “We don’t want our medic to impale himself on his own outfit the next time he trips.”

“Yeah, that would be an embarrassing way to go,” Sebastian said.

“I was actually thinking it had too much dignity,” Joyce said playfully. “Surely you’ll find a worse way to go.”

“Nah, I think I’ll try for something cool and heroic.”

“Yeah, and utterly fail in the attempt. We’re on the same page!”

“Quiet in the coms you two!” Captain Keyes chastised, “We need to be prepared for a fight.”

“Sorry Sir, yes Sir,” They both said over coms.

Joyce could hear chuckling from her squad mates. She liked being stationed with Sebastian; He made the shifts go by faster and lighted tense moods. Not to mention when things went poorly he kept a level head. Whether it was a firefight or mending a wound. Not just human injuries but drones injuries too. Joyce had learned to appreciate that over the month they had been stationed together. She shook her head and refocused on the job at hand. They shouldn’t be playing around, people are fighting and dying. Hopefully none on her side for the last part.

“Hostiles on the first floor!” A voice called out.

Seconds later the first lasers and bullets started to fly.

Joyce leaped into action, taking cover behind the defensive barricade. Her first course of action was to find enemy firing positions. That wasn’t difficult considering the flashes of their muzzles gave them away. Not that they were trying to stay hidden. She could feel the rush of adrenaline in her circuitry but didn’t act hastily. She calmly aimed down the sights of her gun. The first hostile was spraying bullets into the fortified positions on the wall. Joyce retaliated with a burst of laser fire. The bullets stopped and the hostile fell over, dead. She continued her volleys of return fire whenever she spotted an enemy. Each one fell to the ground with the lack of dignity death provided. 

Projectiles slammed into Joyce’s barricade and whizzed past her head. Whoever these attackers were they didn’t share the skill with firearms the Security Forces had. She ducked into cover trusting the barricade to hold. Her allies wouldn’t let the suppressing fire last long but she didn’t want to sit and wait. Joyce began to crawl backwards to the concrete wall. Once there she stood and started to fire upon a different building, prioritizing those actively firing in hopes of helping someone else under suppressing fire. 

The battle continued like that for far longer than any other assault had in the past. Usually the raiders would retreat but more just kept popping up. Whoever organized this wasn’t giving up easily. 

So long as nothing changes we’ll hold, Joyce thought.

As if timed to her thoughts, a loud noise erupted from behind her followed by heat. Debire was scattered all around as the gate was blasted outwards toward the defenders. One of the watchtowers completely collapsed while the other barley stood. Members of the Security Force lay dead in the ruble, others freeing themselves from the debris, and some helping the wounded.

Fear burned inside Joyce’s motherboard. Images of her friends, the other colonists, and Cas flashed through her mind. Her jaw clenched and eyebrows furrowed before she turned back to the fight. No orders for retreat had come so she continued to fire.

“Joyce!” Captain Keyes called over coms, “I need you to check on the Security Chief. He’s not answering his coms!”

“Understood Sir!”

Joyce made her way to the half collapsed building ready for a fight.

Based on the way the debris fell, that explosion came from inside the wall, Joyce thought.

She opened the door into the building and raised her voice. “Chief, are you alright? We’re in desperate need of reinforcements!”

Silence was the only reply she got. Joyce made her way over to the office with her laser rifle at the ready. When she rounded the corner, shock flooded her system. The Security Chief was crushed under some debris in the lifeless sprawl of death. He wasn’t alone. Jake LeMieux crouched over his body with the chief’s coms in his hand. He stood as Joyce approached him. She lowered her weapon. 

“Jake, did you call for reinforcements?” Joyce asked, “It's a shit show out there!”

His only reply was a grimm look of satisfaction. He swung his fist at her rifle, knocking it out of her grip. At the same time he dropped the coms and pulled a combat knife from his waist. It only took a moment for Joyce to process what had occurred.

“Traitor!” She yelled, “You set the explosives!”

Her fist flew out in a right hook directed at his temple. Unfortunately he jumped backwards causing Joyce to overcommit on her swing.

“Yes I did,” he said without emotion.

He lunged at her with the knife. Joyce sidestepped and grabbed his arm. She followed up by twisting it until the knife clattered to the floor. Jake retaliated by repeatedly slamming his free fist into her midsection. With a grunt of pain she let go and stepped back. 

“Why?”

“Please, you people built an entire trade network around your food production and think you can just leave the planet?” Jake spat, “Do you know how hard it is to grow anything out in the wastes? You think all the scavenger groups would just sit back and let you leave? Taking your food and its means of production with you!”

They circled each other as they spoke waiting for an opening. 

“People were free to join. They wouldn’t have been left behind.”

“Abandoning Earth to die in the vacuum of space? Assuming you even made it that far. Nah, I’m good. I’d rather try and rebuild this world.”

“What about the friends you're going to kill or get killed? You made some here over the past year!”

Guilt flashed through Jake's eyes for a brief moment. Joyce took that opportunity to step in and deliver a gut punch. He let out a grunt of pain and staggered back. She followed up with a jab to the face but Jake crouched down and lept toward her, taking her to the ground. Joyce’s vision flickered as her head hit the ground hard. Fortunately for her she was only dazed.

“Weren’t you trying to get together with Cas or something? You could have had a life here!” Joyce said in an attempt to distract him while her vision refocused.

Jake's face flashed with anger, “The survivors can have a life here on Earth!”

He reached for the knife that Joyce had failed to notice as next to where they fell. Jake snatched it up uncontested and plunged it down towards Joyce’s face.

She barely had the time to react. Her arm shot up to catch his, just as the knife found her screen. Hot pain shot across her face as half her vision was obscured by cracks or a blade. Coolant spilled from the wound further obstructing her vision. Her left optical sensor would be useless now. 

Before Jake could further capitalize on his position, Joyce swept his leg out from under him causing him to lose balance. She pushed him off of her and to the ground, rolls now reversed. He had let go of the knife leaving it stuck in Joyce’s head. Joyce had no intention of leaving it there. She ripped it out and plunged it into Jake's throat. 

Whatever his last words were Joyce could make them out over the sound of him gargling his own blood. She remained there for a brief moment, coolant spilling from her own face onto his. The sounds of gunfire brought her back to her senses.

“I need the coms,” She muttered to herself. 

Joyce turned her attention to the dead Security Chief. The coms lay beside him as well as an open bag. She hadn’t noticed that before. Glancing inside she clocked the explosive devices. Apparently Jake planned to make more of a mess. Then a thought occurred to her. 

“That just might work,” she said aloud before calling for reinforcements.

—

Joyce busied herself with placing the found explosives around the exterior defensive line. It wasn’t a quick job or an easy one. Both bullets and lasters flew overhead and into the walls she was using as cover. Not to mention the now massive blind spot she had due to the damaged optical sensors. She had to dismiss the normal HUD her operating system displayed so she could see clearer. This meant no notifications and the silhouette of her body that indicated damage was gone. No temperature gauge or battery level. Still she made sure each device was properly hidden and paired to the detonator before moving onto the next.

The sounds of engines growing closer was the only thing that distracted her from her pattern of finding cover, placing bombs, and moving. She looked up to find two trucks that had been retrofitted with thick rusty sheets of metal and large machine guns on the back, and drove down the road. They opened fire on their position.

The walls Joyce was using for cover were torn through like a knife through butter. She dove to the floor in an attempt to dodge the incoming fire. Unfortunately she wasn’t quick enough. Her left thigh erupted with white hot pain. She clenched her jaw as tight as she could, attempting to hold back a scream of pain. It didn’t work as well as she would have hoped. Eventually she pushed back the pain and looked at the wound. A large chunk of her thigh was missing and large amounts of coolant poured from it. The only fortunate thing about this situation was she could still operate the joints. She pushed through the pain.

The Colony needs me to do this! She screamed in her head.

Joyce continued placing explosives until the retreat order came. 

She moved through the debris of the exterior defensive line, attempting to make her way back behind the wall. That is when she spotted Sebatian struggling to move two wounded members of their squad. They struggled as Joyce noted the whirling of her cooling fans and felt the rising temperature of her interiors. She’d lost too much coolant.

I don’t have time for this, she thought as she observed their struggle. Damnit!

Joyce moved as quickly as she could to Sebastian’s position. 

“Need a hand?” Joyce asked while picking up one of her squad mates. 

Sebastian’s expression was full of worry as his gaze moved from the wounded humans to Joyce.

“Not as much as you,” He said. “You need serious medical attention!”

“Talk later,” She grunted through the pain, now amplified by the extra wait of the unconscious body. “We need to move. Now!”

—

The interior defensive line  consisted of three squads and an APC. Shots were exchanged between the Security Forces and raiders as they attempted to take the now abandoned exterior defensive line. The armored trucks and APC exchanged fire in an attempt to render each other inoperable. Unfortunately, the armored trucks had a surprising amount of armor. On the other hand so did the APC. Their advance stalled, but didn’t stop.

Good, Joyce thought as she moved to the barely standing watch tower.

Sebastian delayed her enough by insisting on dressing her wounds. Not that she could get an infection. She could however overheat from the loss of coolant. So it was probably for the best that he helped slow it.

Joyce scaled the precarious watch tower. It felt like it could topple from just a strong breeze. One of the supporting legs had been destroyed while another was critically damaged. A third stuffered from minor damage. It was honestly a miracle that the tower still stood. Fortunately for Joyce the ladder to the top was still intact. 

She found a perch once reaching the top and did her best to remain hidden. This would make a good sniping position but that wasn’t her job right now, perhaps if they didn’t retreat she could make use of the advantage point. 

The raiders' armored trucks moved to the open gates creating a wide zone of cover for their advancing troops. They were right where Joyce hoped they would be. All she needed to do was wait for the raiders to take up their positions. A notification appeared on her HUD, despite her deactivating it. 

Warrining: Dangerously High Temperature. Power off to reduce internal temperature.

She ignored the warning and focused on the job at hand. The raiders were moving into the optimal position for her. The seconds she waited were agonizing. Not just because of her wounds but the anxiety buzzing throughout her core. 

I hope this works, she thought as she clicked the detonator.

A bright light accompanied by the roar of explosives consumed the group of raiders. Followed by screams of agony barely audible though the sound of the explosion. Moments later the first truck detonated followed by the second. The tower lurched followed by the sound of creaking metal and snapping beams. Joyce didn't have the time to acknowledge how well placed her trap was. The watchtower collapsed. She didn't have the strength to hold onto something. Her head was foggy and she felt as if she was on fire. Everything went black as she hit the ground.