Alpha Codex 4 walked towards Anji who is busy putting a sling in one massive paw of a K28 crewman. One Blackguard of the remaining four was visible behind her as a deterrent while the other three are... somewhere else.

Anji turned to him with a frown. "You should be resting," She complained, but the walking AI simply ignored her statement.

"Keep this around you as a final form of defense," He said while giving her an elegant glass blade. It shimmered in her hands but she still looks at Codex 4 with disbelief in her face. "A knife? You're giving me a freaking knife? How about one of those cool guns instead. I'll feel much better with a gun."

"It is called a Vibro-blade. Theoretically, it can cut through almost any metal if you have the necessary strength."

"Give me a gun."

"No."

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Because there is a 92 percent probability that you will use it against your enemy despite not being directly targeted. It will only endanger your wellbeing even more if you have one."

Anji just stared at Alpha Codex and before she could respond, the super droid already turned around and walk out, leaving her alone and the knife.

Anji sighed. She looked around, maybe she can browbeat the other Blackguards into giving her a real weapon. She feels naked without one, especially when a fight is imminent. But her gaze ended up to a lone dignified doggie sitting on a nearby crate, her spine ramrod straight and the tears in her big brown eyes are flowing uncheck.

Anji's feet almost brought her to the princess in their own volition, and she rested a shoulder over the princess' broad shoulder.

She was startled by the touch, noticed Anji and smiled gratefully for the company. But then her gaze became far-reaching again. "I understand that everyone hates me, but it's alright. It's better that hate me that they start hating the boy. I know that my boy is... challenge. but I love him and I will do everything for that boy. So I don't mind your hate but please save him. I-

The boy has a good head between his ears and he is a brave one," Anji said cutting her off. "Maybe you should stop cradling the boy and start believing in him instead. We will get him back!"

The lady stared at Anji who stared back at him unafraid. "No one ever talks to me like that before, maid. If we are in the K28 empire, you would have been punished already. But in this situation, I find it understandable... and quite refreshing. Thank you, I deserve that."

"I don't care much what you think about me lady, but thank me when we get your son back."

The lady smiled very briefly. "I agree, and-"

An explosion followed by an even bigger one bloomed in the dark night in the direction of the fences. Anji stood up and stared grimly in that direction.

Near the fence, Commander Burgo slid down to the nearest foxhole and watched the wall of darkness in front of him. "Report!" He barked.

The nearby master sergeant spat at the ground near him. "Someone is fucking with our mines out there!"

"Maybe some animals?" Even as commander Burgo said it, he knew that it was a wishful thinking on his part.

The master sergeant shook his head, forgetting that no one can see him in the dark. "If it's an animal then we would have heard a huge explosion before the small one. No, some fuckers are playing with our mines and got their heads blown up by the grenade we used as booby traps. People are out there."

Burgo nodded but is reluctant to use their limited flairs. "Flashlight!" he shouted and a brave NCO at the next foxhole light up the fence in front of them. Nothing. He quickly scanned it to his right and almost missed a dozen men already inside the fence and the huge cut in the fence behind them where other several dozens are now pushing themselves in the breach.

"Open fire!" Shouted Commander Burgo without any other hesitation. The entire dugout line a hundred meter away from the fence lit up from small arms fire.

Screams of pain and chaos erupted in the dark. The K28 sergeants bark orders while the commander screamed at the nearby radio. Most of his men knew that the Eratix irregulars are out there but could barely see the enemy from the dark.

They were ordered to fire in a designated arc with at least 2 feet parallel to the ground. That way, theoretically, if everyone continues to fire at their designated area, then no Eratix will get away. Besides, the occasional mine explosions as the attackers disturbed the limited mines, gave brief flashes of lights that also help the defenders.

Suddenly, a flare was fired behind them and the entire darkness is irradiated in this gloomy red light and it showed clearly that the fence was breached in at least 6 positions and several hundred Eratix are already crawling barely 70 meters away from the nearest foxhole. More fanatics are entering the hole just behind the fence.

The four heavy plasma mounted gunners started redirecting their fire at the holes themselves but someone at the other side blew shrilly on a whistle and the entire Eratix crawling on the ground, almost 3 hundred or so, charged the doggies position.

For the last 130 years, most empires and nations in the galaxy used beam weapons in their arsenals, but as time goes by, technology is able to catch up with defense and deflective armors and personal shields made beam weapons uneconomical. Gradually the superpowers started returning back to kinetic weapons and the most pinnacle of that weapon's field is the needle guns.

The needle gun, both the sidearm and assault rifle variety, is a wonder weapon in its simplicity. A solid metallic bar the size of a soap serves as the raw material and the gun itself is an actual manufacturing plant in creating this needle-like projectile. The soap bar size metal can produce almost 200 needle projectiles.

The gun then uses a magnetic repulsion system, send the needles 4x the speed of sound and as it traveled through the air, the metallic substance creates friction in the air until it becomes a superheated needle that can penetrate almost all forms of personal shield or armor. But as it penetrates the body, the blood or any other bodily liquid cools the needle instantly and effectively traps it inside since it is not strong enough to penetrate on the other side of the body, Instead it causes it to bounce back and forth inside its victim and slashed through its innards.

It is said that 3-4 needles hitting a man in the chest or stomach are enough to make his inside into a soup of chunk meats. And since the relatively small metallic cartridge is light weight, each soldier can carry almost 5-8000 needles. no muzzle blast, relatively quiet, and no recoil. An effective short range weapon of death.

Unfortunately, the needle gun is the wrong weapon against a fanatic.

The Eratix charged the K28's position and their frontline soldiers received 5-10 needles each. Who then died violently, only to be replaced by the next fanatic behind him who dies in turn, then the next and then the next, all the while they get nearer and nearer, as they push on regardless of their losses.

Commander Burgo fired a burst of needles at the Eratix standing at the top of his foxhole who literally exploded then cursed when the master sergeant next to him fell dead with a bullet in his left eye. Two young Eratix jump inside his foxhole and he smashed the butt of his needle assault gun to the first and blew the chest of the other one with 3 more needles. A scream behind him made him turn and grunt as another Eratix smashed into his flank with a bayonet charge.

He cursed loudly and bit the expose neck of his assailant. He tore his opponent's head off. Luckily, his armor stopped the bayonet from piercing his skin but he can feel that at least one of his rib is broken.

When no one attacked him just then, he gave himself some time to breathe for a second. In his horror, several Eratix simply jumps over their foxholes and run into the interior of the crash site. They are after the lady! He thought.

"Plasma gunners, continue firing at the fences! 2 riflemen in every foxhole will fire behind the line and shoot the men attacking our rear!" He ordered.

"Foxhole 3 need reinforcement! These bastards are in my foxhole and we are outnumbered 4 to 1!"

"Every foxhole are being overwhelmed! We also need help!"

"Fight for your lives, damn it!"Roared Commander Burgo in the net. "Use your teeth if you need too. Tear them apart! For the humans and the empire!"

Two more teen Eratix charged Burgo but he dispatched them with 2 burst of his needle gun but behind them was more of the Eratix.

The attackers wore shirt and jeans and no other uniforms except the white handkerchief they wrapped around their heads. Each attacker was shouting "sham-ah Humani tishada!" at the top of their lungs and they attack with mindless ferocity.

The Commander blew 4 more of them before the next wave jumped into his foxhole. With a direct command from his helmet AI, the assault needle gun whirled and reattached itself behind his armor and with his canine teeth grabbed a Vibro-blade next to his shoulder instead. With a roar, he went crazy with his attackers in the cramped hole.

He slashed the arm of another young Eratix but this time the blade got stuck in a shoulder bone. So he let it go as he jumped over his next victim and this time clamped his teeth into the soft tummy of the alien.

With his powerful neck swinging from side to side, the innards of his enemy flew in every direction. According to the K28 manuals, A civilized dog can only use the Bite attack in 3 formal attacks. One is the ankle to prevent an opponent from retreating, second is the bite to the wrist to disarm your opponent in a timely manner, and last but not the least is the lethal attack by the neck, designed to break it rather than to bleed them to death.

The Commander scoffed as he remembered that, Bastards who wrote those manuals probably never fought a war before or if they did, forgot all about it. You used your bite as a last ditch weapon and so you can use it however you want to inflict fear in the soul of your enemy.

3 more Eratix stood in front of the foxhole just as he collapses to its side. Burgo smiled grimly as he stared back at the hate in their faces. Well, not to this group of youngsters, He thought bitterly.

"Fine," He said in a gravel voice. "Let's end this!"

Just then, huge chunks of meat parts from the youths simply vanished in their bodies even before the shock registered in their minds. Several of the attackers behind them lose heads, arms, a third of their chest or half the stomach as bloody holes were created in their fragile bodies. Any of the booms hit part of the head is enough to disintegrate it.

He turned around behind him and a trail of Eratix bodies and blood made the concrete floor wet in red. In the silhouetted fog, came out three humanoids. The Brykar Codex walked calmly, flanked by two silent Blackguards. All of them, including the Codex who only have one arm, held an oversize gauss gun and they were calmly firing away in front of him.

Twice more, the Eratix smashed into the K28 lines of foxholes and in some places penetrated the defense lines, but the Brykar Blackguards savagely contained the breaches. The line bent a few more times but in the end, the defenders held the line. Eventually, the Eratix attack loses it momentum not because the fanatics broke but because they run out of bodies.

Hundreds of bodies, already patrolled by bloated flies, lay in a mangled heap in front of the fox holes and only then did Commander Burgo is able to give a sighed of relief.

He smiled when the Codex kneeled in front of his foxholes. "Are you still combat effective?" Asked the android.

"Thank you for the assist, we could not have done this without you, I-"

"The Eratix attacked in three prongs. The western defenses and the northern blast walls are both overwhelmed and the Eratix are now slowly moving into the command center. Only your sector held. Now we need to move and counter-attack before they overrun the command."

Commander Burgo was shocked, but understood the tactical picture the Codex was telling him. He sighed and grabbed his needle gun once more. "Give me a minute or two to organized my men and we will flank the attackers."

"You got 30 seconds, commander," The Codex said, before leaving him.