Trying to survive in a city turned warzone isn't pleasant. You have to avoid gunfire, explosions, and enemy forces, as well as structures collapsing around you. The fact that my forces were mostly sitting ducks to the Drengin didn't make things any better. Quite the opposite, actually. Most annoying of all, though, was the fact that I was forced to put my safety in the hands of Melissa and her forces, and was utterly powerless to stop the carnage around me. I'll admit Melissa wasn't really a bad person, but still, it felt annoying to be dependent on a ROB for protection.

I was rather surprised when she decided to let a family of innocents travel with us, though. While I knew she had ample reason to ensure my safety and, from what I had seen, a generally nice person besides, I doubted that she would extend the protection her forces offered to others in need during this moment. Then again, she had admitted to disliking slavery, something the Dread Lords would likely force upon the citizens of this world should they take it.

Slowly, we slogged through the city, watching carefully for signs of danger. Whenever those appeared, myself, Melissa, and our three unarmed companions took shelter, while my robotic guards and Melissa's organic ones dealt with the threats with surgical precision. I'd given my forces orders to assist any Illuminate ones they encountered, and while that only applied to the units currently within my vastly reduced control range, once a unit received those orders, it would continue to follow them even once it left my 'command sphere', as I'd taken to calling it. This helped bolster the defenders in their struggles, but this fight was still going to be a great slog - the Drengin had pulled in a very large force to deal with me an Melissa, apparently not wanting to leave anything to chance.

Eventually, we were forced to come to a halt by a most peculiar sight - a group of civilians marching toward a Drengin transport, guarded by a squad of Drengin soldiers. It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on - these people were probably destined to be sent back to the Drengin Empire in chains, so that they may be sold into slavery. The Drengin were always in need of more slaves, so they would likely send in far more ships to this city once they had annihilated all resistance.

There was no way in hell that I would let that happen. Already, my robots were lining up shots to kill off the Drengin and free their prisoners.

Melissa beat me to that, though. Her guards, with a few synchronized shots of their organic rifle...things, killed off all of the Drengin and destroyed their ship. For a moment, the prisoners - men, woman, and children from a variety of races, among them Thalans, Humans, Altarians, and Krynn - stared on for a moment before trying to run, though Melissa's guards swiftly put a stop to that. Quickly, she asked them if anyone knew where the nearest shelter or evacuation sight was, and eventually, someone provided her with one. A new course set in mind, we advanced toward our new destination - a park that would double as an evacuation site.

Hopefully, we would get to it in time.

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As their group marched on, Sophia wondered what would happen next. They had grown form a little over thirty to well over a hundred with the rescue of the trapped civilians, and now they had a place they could go to for safety. Once they arrived at the park, they could board a transport and get away form the fighting. Assuming, of course, that they didn't die on the way...or get shot down as they were leaving...or a hundred other bad things.

One thing that did catch her off guard, though, was how kind the white clade woman was. As the group headed toward the evacuation site, the woman took the time to try and ease the tensions of the somewhat panicked crowd, telling them everything would be all right. When she noticed one person shaking with fear, she held their hand until they grew still. When someone lost track of their family in the disorganized group, she helped the lost person find them again. She even went as far as to carry people when it became clear they were getting too tired to walk. She seemed particularly fond of carrying a young Torian, who appeared to have a limp in his left leg, as well as a bruised forehead. He'd been hit by one of the Drengin soliders after hit accidentally fell out of line, if she remembered right. The man in the black suite who had been travelling with her seemed to be just as surprised with this as Sophia was. He did stare at her a lot. And Sophia was pretty sure he was staring at her whole body, and not anywhere in particular...

God, what was she thinking? She could wonder whether people were interested in each other later, right now she needed to focus on staying alive.

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Dragoon-17 fired at the advancing Drengin armor, taking out two AFVs and one APC. Their tanks fell back behind cover, not that it would save them from death. A single shot from a Dragoon hovertank could pierce through the rubble these tanks were using as cover and still have enough power to lay waste to the tank behind it. All they were doing now was prolonging the inevitable.

Seventeen had managed to reach the range necessary to begin receiving orders from the Commander again and, being one of the few units available, had been issued new orders to head for a nearby park, where civilians were being evacuated. From there, it could pick up the commander and take him to safety, after which point it could deal with the remainder of the invaders' armor.

A sudden roaring alerted the Dragoon to the arrival of a trio of Drengin gunships. While the gunships were hardly a threat on their own, they could potentially blind it to other threats, which was why Seventeen immediately opened fire on them. It managed to obliterate one and down another, but the third advanced past him, heading South East.

Worryingly, this was where the evacuation site was.

With the safety of the Commander now in jeopardy, Seventeen charged after the craft, pancaking a Drengin squad in the process.

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Slowly, Traza opened his eyes.

He wondered how long he had been asleep. How long since he had needed help...

A wincing pain in his left leg pulled him fully out of his grogginess. Just moving it brought him pain.

As he felt the pain is his leg, Traza remembered how he had gotten it. He had been running from the Drengin only to slip on a sidewalk and fall on his leg. That fall had cost him precious time, and it was unsurprising the Drengin had caught him and his family. He'd been forced to march toward one of their transports, destined to be sent back to one of their worlds, where, if he was lucky, he'd be killed and his corpse made into a meal for some slavering Drengin. HIs limp had caused him to stumble briefly, earning him a rifle butt to the head from one of the Drengin soldiers.

Then things had happened fast: an unknown group had killed the Dread Lords in seconds, destroyed their transport a moment later, then asked them where the nearest evacuation site was. Eventually, a Krynn had told them where to go, leading them to where they were right now.

Speaking of which...

Traza looked down. It was just as he ha remembered it - he was on the shoulders of a human woman clade in all white, who seemed to be the leader of the group who had saved them. Noticing he was awake, she smiled at him and asked him if he wanted to stay on her shoulders just a little longer.

He did, but reluctantly declined her offer - he needed to start walking. He could see the evacuation zone in site.

Understand of his refusal, the woman gently set him down and helped him find his parents. A brief family hug followed, before the group continued their march onwards. Turning around, Traza tried to find the woman, but she had disappeared into the crowd.

If he could find her, he wanted to thank her. The woman had helped him so much, and it felt rude not to apologize.

...why did he feel worried all of a sudden.

It took a roughly half an hour, but at last, we reached the evacuation site.

The site that greeted me was far more organized than expected. The Altarian soldiers had set up a field hospital, and were carefully making sure that every injured person was cared for. Evacuation craft were being carefully filled with Passengers, and once a craft was full, and the airspace was safe, it would take off, taking its passengers out of the fighting. Only three craft were left, and based off how full they were, it wasn't likely we'd be able to fit all of our charges into the rest before they had to take off.

Melissa, though, seemed to be fine with that. As long as she was able to get some people to safety, that was a win.

I'll admit, she had surprised me today. I had expected her to be kind to me, but the amount of courtesy and compassion she had shown to our temporary companions had been completely unexpected. I really hadn't expect her to carry a tired, limping, bruised child on her shoulders. Maybe she was nicer than I gave her credit for?

Or she could just be trying to trick me for later. That was always a possibility.

The sound of a distant explosion pulled my focus back onto the immediate situation. We were in battle, we needed to get to safety. The nearby wreck of a Drengin gunship only added to the need to get out fast.

As expected, the transports were too full to take everyone. Indeed, only a handful of people from our group made it on. Among them was the injured alien boy that Melissa had carried. The child said something to her, presumably a thank you, before urging him to join his parents onboard the ship. Obliging, he bid her farewell, while she wished him luck and good health.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Melissa actually looked kind a cute when she said that. Well, I assume that she said something along those lines.

...why did I have a really bad feeling...

Suddenly, I realized I could hear something...odd. It sounded like a firework, and it was faint at first, but it was gradually getting louder...

Oh crap.

What happened next seemed to almost take place in slow motion: a missile streaked in from the East and slammed right into the transport the boy had entered, which burst into flames before slamming into the ground with a colossal explosion. A moment later, two more missiles slammed into the remaining transports, which swiftly joined their fallen brother.

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AN: According to the Galacitic Civilizations website, the Drengin really do farm the Torians for meat. At least, they do in Gal Civ 3, after conquering Toria again.

So, Read and Review! Seriously, I want your reactions to this chapter!

This is Flameal15k, signing off!