Rat hustled.  While scampering on all fours he was surprisingly quick.  His breath came in gasping pants as he darted over and around Threshers and other creatures burrowing up from beneath them, all the while, the swords that chased him slashed at anything that got too close.  The reinforced steel walls of Shieldtown had begun to crest over the hill.  The thunderous stomps of re-purposed construction Frames resonated through the distance as they swung huge slabs of concrete and steel to funnel the swarm into narrow, reinforced corridors.

A fissure opened up in front of Rat and he skittered to a halt just in time, leaping back and grasping instinctually for purchase he might pull himself up onto.  His spindly fingers grasped something firmly, though rather than pulling him up to safety, he was swung in an arc at the end of a floating sword, cleanly slashing the emerging Thresher in twain.  He stood, dumbfounded as his gaze slowly switched between the weapon and the slain beast.  His eyes became wide as dinner plates as he sucked in a breath.

[b][color=#9e8659]"RAT HAS PROWESS OVER THE BLADE!!!!"[/color][/b] He shrieked triumphantly.

[hr]

[b][color=#7270db]"DEEEEAAAAAN~~!  Vi and Jade are down for the count, along with half the defenders,"[/color][/b] Wolf shouted as she pounded on the door of Alex's home.  The Synthflesh of her cybernetic arm resonated through the reinforced structure.  She sighed, leaning on her rifle as she tried, unsuccessfully, to pull a strand of white hair out of her sweat slicked face.  [b][color=#7270db]"DEAN!  I swear to Gods, if you are not bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth when I break this door down... We're seriously short handed out here!  I need help!"[/color][/b]

Wolf groaned at the notification chirp from her earpiece.  Her left eye flashed red as she flicked through the viewpoints of the drones hovering over the wall.  She took a knee, turning and hefting her enormous rifle up into a firing position.  She closed her right eye.  The HUD flashed orange as it synced to her weapon, displaying the reticle and firing solution.  The weapon rocked against the recoil dampeners in her cybernetic arm as she squeezed the trigger.  A thunderous *BOOM* thudded against the structure as the shockwave from the weapon's discharge showered Dean's entryway with dust and peppered the structure with gravel.

The 20mm canister sailed over the wall, only just clearing the edge as it detonated and showered the swarm in brilliant flashes.  She racked her second shot, adjusting her aim.  A second crash of thunder sent a shell arcing over the wall where it detonated near the side of one of the swarms in a brilliant plume of dust and fire.  The concussion wave hurled a group of stray Threshers that had broken away from the pack towards the the funnel.

[b][color=#7270db]"DEEEEEAAAAN~!  Wake!  Up!"[/color][/b]