Dea ascended the slope. The Flamingo's metallic feet thudded on the ground, sending pebbles rolling down in her wake. The section of freeway was now largely empty as the Callian forces resumed their bombardment, driving back the human army.

The light abruptly dipped. She glanced up in time to witness three large planes that were obviously bombers. They flew towards the submarines.

Merman AFVs and rocket infantry fired their loads. The missiles whooshed after their targets. Every time they hit, a light show bloomed in the sky—hot, radiant and deafening. One bomber tilted and sputtered out a cascade of sparks. The pilot ejected, unfurling a parachute, while the plane crashed to the beach. Another bomber fell into the ocean with a colossal splash.

The final reached its mark.

In a moment of terror, Dea watched shell-shocked as it dropped its payload. Giant columns of water exploded skyward. Two submarines sank.

She tore away her eyes and powered on across Marine Drive.

As the Flamingo marched over the hellish landscape, her vision bounced to its rhythm. She peered into the gloom through a viewport webbed with scratches.

In the distance, the lattice of streaking lights showed no sign of ceasing. The sky exploded in fireworks as Callian SAM intercepted human missiles. Flaming remnants showered down like shooting stars. On the ground, beams jetted out and blasted a human soldier while others took cover. Pressure built in her chest, and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

Suddenly, gunfire struck her at close quarters, sending sparks flying. The viewport rattled, and a leg stepped back to stabilize the cockpit. Bullets ricocheted off metal, which dented under the barrage.

As she pressed on through the smoke and cacophony, she wondered how long her machine would hold. Dea blindly swung the robotic arm and swatted away a human. Then she spun around and hit whale's-eye on two more targets.

Within minutes, she found herself back in the narrow street, now deserted. A smoking vehicle blocked the way. She fired the railgun.

Fragments twanged against the Flamingo. She imagined a red halo from the searing heat while the weapon entered cool-down mode. Dea reverted the mechwalker to its Cypod form and zoomed down the street.

Back in the labyrinth of Seren City's road network, high-rises soon rose on either side. The mini map highlighted the route, and markers popped up on the viewport, glitching due to damage.

"Nadie!" she yelled over the comms link, but it didn't connect.

There was no time for diagnostics—she could only hope it would get back online. Panic fueled her lone dash to the prime minister's compound. Nadie, please tell me you got there. Please.

She turned a bend and pushed through a screen of smoke. Two bodies sprawled on the ground—what she thought could be the result of a soporific gas. Endera must've passed through.

Through the foggy view ahead, a mansion stood over sprawling lawns. Trees lined the roads around the property, outspread boughs providing ample shade. Marking the perimeter were decorative iron railings interspersed with stone columns.

The route on the mini map led her to the breach in the railings. The iron was cut and warped just enough for a Cypod to squeeze through.

She eased in and jumped forward with a spurt of acceleration. Patches of blackened grass flew in a blur. In her peripheral vision, she spied humans flocking by the far gates—including the van she saw previously. She wondered if a secret informant had tipped off the human press about the Goonewardanes hiding out in the bunker.

Dea rushed towards the eastern side of the building. Massive marble columns loomed up, hiding the gates from view. A section of window wall on the ground floor was blasted clean off, and dirt tracks showed her where Nadie's team had gone. As she advanced, glass tinged and crunched under the wheels.

When she burst into a hallway, the sound of heavy fire bombarded her eardrums. Nadie's voice crackled over the comms link, but it was impossible to make out words. Rapid breaths puffed out, and adrenaline surged in her veins.

Dea's momentum propelled her onward, past portraits and ornate vases. As she came upon the foyer, a pot exploded to her right. She swerved behind a pillar.

Multiple groups clashed violently. Glass shattered, shouts rent the air and debris flew in all directions. Dea's racing mind struggled to assess the situation. The prime minister's guard was fighting Massa's merpeople, and joining the fray was Endera.

"Dea!" Nadie's voice blared in her ear. "Massa! Elevators!"

She whirled around the pillar. On the opposite side, three merpeople in Cypods bolted towards a bank of elevators.

There was no way she could cross the entire breadth of the foyer without sustaining heavy damage. She didn't know how much more the Flamingo could take. Her attention flitted to the wide staircase not far from her location. She made a snap decision and jabbed the pink button.

"I'm going up the staircase," Dea yelled, desperately hoping the team could hear. "Cover me!"

Nadie's answer fired out, "We got you!"

The battle temporarily halted as the Flamingo emerged into plain view, metal feet clacking on tile. It towered over the scene—a giant among a raft of puffins. Dea guided it towards the staircase, striding over a fallen form.

All at once, bullets bounced off the back.

It was akin to a battering ram pounding her head. Each impact rattled her to the bone. The barrage ceased only when Endera amped up their attack. Dea forced the machine up the stairs. It lurched on, claw-like robotic feet struggling for a stable grip. Steps groaned and screeched under friction.

Eons passed—or so it felt.

She finally reached the upper landing. The Flamingo reverted to its Cypod form while she locked onto the red dots on the sonar feed.

There were too many—she couldn't decide which was Massa's team. Her head whirled, eyes darting over the targets. She traced the movements, patchy due to poor transmission. They were getting farther from her, heading to a different wing of the house. The PM might be heading to a helipad! Maybe there's another air transport on the way now that Mora's holding back.

Dea leaped to action, hurtling down a hallway at frightening speed. Her panicked heart hammered faster and faster. The immediate objective now was to ensure that the human prime minister escaped. She picked the nearest route to the other wing, which passed through what appeared to be an interior courtyard. In her state of desperation, she didn't stop to think she might encounter opposition.

Red dots converged at the courtyard ahead. They must be trying to rendezvous with the PM! Or is it Massa's reinforcements? Dea had no time to turn back. She ploughed on—straight through an open sliding door.

It was a pebbled space with ornamental trees. A swimming pool sparkled on one side, its organic shape curving around huge potted plants. The doorway to the other wing lay directly ahead.

As expected, enemy units rushed in from a side door—three humans covered in helmets and bulletproof vests. They cocked their weapons, barrels trained on her. Bringing in the rear was none other than Dilip Goonewardane.

A beast awakened in Dea, and boiling rage jetted to the surface. Her hand tightened on the joystick, itching to fire up the railgun.

"This is unexpected to say the least," Dilip growled, his tone deadly. "You think you're winning? We will hunt you down and wipe out—"

"Get out of my way, you freak," Dea roared. "Or your dad will die along with every other human on the planet!"

"Cocky, are we?" he sneered, though hesitation flickered over his face, and turned to the guards. "Shoot."

There was no time and nowhere to hide. That left only one avenue.

Dea charged.

The robotic arm unfolded to shield her as a volley of shots blasted the Flamingo—thunderous and blinding. The railgun separated with a screech of metal. The viewport creaked, and a long scratch turned into a crack. The crack elongated and branched out into a compound eye of pieces.

She barreled into the soldiers just when the viewport blew out in a glittering explosion of glass.

Dea had a vague notion of humans yelling and scattering, but she rammed the one to the left. The robotic arm swung and struck the others. One splashed into the pool, and guns skidded along the floor.

Dilip made to run, but she cut him off. He aimed his gun and fired. The bullet whizzed past her shoulder, missing by mere inches. The next one grazed her upper arm.

Unfazed, Dea lashed out with the robotic arm. The weapon flew off his hand.

In her peripheral vision, she glimpsed a human scrambling to his feet. In a lightning fast move, she smacked open the Flamingo's emergency compartment. Within seconds, she grabbed the lighter and a tear gas canister. She ignited the latter and flung it down.

Smoke billowed out.

Dea held her breath and propelled herself at Dilip, who tried to retrieve the gun. The robotic arm shot out and pushed him up against the wall. He let out an expletive and fought back, but she tightened the hold, effectively pinning him.

The beast within went berserk, and all she wanted was to squeeze the air out of his lungs—make him hurt and beg. His eyes bulged.

That instant, the lighter slipped from her hand and hit the floor, emitting a loud clink—much like a coin. A small voice solidified in her mind. There's a freak in you too—just a flip of a coin away. A spasm convulsed her entire form, and her grip slackened.

Dilip coughed and spit out, "I know where your city is. I should've known when I found the seagrass meadow—that coral atoll. We will nuke you to hell."

Dea froze. "That's not possible..."

"No one cares about a nuke exploding in the ocean. We won't even need to pretend it's weapons testing, because you just gave us a reason to—"

"No, you a-hole," she shouted. "That's not possible, 'cause the world will know what you are. The rebels you hate are releasing all of your files to the press. You're ruined."

His expression contorted from shock to fury. Then coughs racked his form.

Dea gritted her teeth as her own eyes burned. "And it's not possible, 'cause I won't let you."

She pulled back her arm and lunged forward. Dilip flinched on reflex.

"This is for the merpeople you hurt," she screamed, swinging her fist. "And for screwing up my home!"

Her knuckles connected with his nose, and the force of the blow snapped his head to the side—just as the robotic arm relinquished its hold. He stumbled to his feet and backed away, clutching his face. His eyes dripped venom.

"And this is for my cow!" Dea jump-started the Flamingo and rammed him.

He went flying into the pool.

The splash filled her ears, but the smoke was too thick to see. Dea coughed and rubbed her stinging eyes. Then she wheeled around and fled.

She zipped out of the courtyard in pursuit of the red dots on the ogi's sonar feed. Massa's merpeople were forced to use the elevators, but they were closing in on the humans at the lead. It dawned on her that they were indeed heading to the rooftop.

Another realization hit her with the force of a particle beam.

She had no armor, no weapons and no means of stopping Massa—assuming that she could reach the rooftop in time. Nadie's team was now gaining on her, but they were nowhere near to be of any help. Her whole being threatened to implode.

Dea zoomed towards the one available elevator that materialized ahead. She smacked the button while her wild-eyed stare landed on the panel adjacent. The blinking digits showed her that Massa's team had just reached the rooftop. Her stomach somersaulted.

The ride up was the longest in her life.

An agonizing second elapsed.

Her frenetic mind jumped to Endera and the merpeople, fists pumping in the air on the rocking ship.

Another second slipped by.

She swiped her burning eyes as the scene shifted to a Callian crowd breaking into applause in a packed atrium—then human children laughing in a pastel-yellow room.

Two more seconds ticked away.

Red-hot pain erupted in her arm like a delayed blast effect, and the blood that soaked her sleeve dredged up the pulsing beat of the ocean and its creatures.

The final seconds evaporated.

A montage of images flashed by—Gramma's vacant eyes as she gazed at the photo of her son, the queen whose courage flowed in her veins, Hima and Oomie whizzing down a slide and Anuk smiling as his gentle fingers caressed her hair.

Sobs pummeled her form.

The elevator chimed open into an airy lounge. Beyond the glass sliding door, a rooftop garden sprawled out under the leaden sky.

Dea sped out and veered along the curving path. The wind stole her irregular breaths. Then she jerked to a stop.

Motion appeared to suspend in one harrowing moment.

Two merpeople in Cypods faced a human man. The aftermath of a gunfight glared from the floor—bodies sprawled motionless amidst dirt and splinters. A helipad sat empty in the backdrop while an aircraft carrier approached—a mere splotch in the far smog.

The human standing was the prime minister of Serendiva.

He dived behind a half wall—all that separated him from the shot that would end his life. The frail form of Prof. Sevaler held onto a metal canister that looked too innocuous to be a weapon of mass destruction. Hal Moray Massa faltered on his glide towards his quarry, cold eyes flicking to Dea in one sharp glance.

As she sat in the Flamingo, a dozen meters away, she knew one thing with absolute certainty.

It was impossible to stop what was about to unfold.

Massa hefted the gun and accelerated towards the wall, angling his body to get a clear shot of the human.

The dead weight of despair pressed in on her. There was no choice but to surrender to the apocalypse that awaited them—no choice but to dash the hopes that rode on her. The humans would nuke them and perish in a pandemic. This was the end.

Yet, a memory sputtered in the blackness of her mind—that of a human who jumped to sacrifice his life for her. His voice echoed in her head like a phantom from the deep. There's always a choice.

An unfailing prick of luminescence sparked. She remembered.

"Prohibere!"

The roar ripped from her throat and rippled out across the rooftop.

The Cypod stopped dead.

Massa jolted and snapped his head around. His stare shifted from Dea to the scientist, who visibly panicked.

"Release the virus," Massa barked, eyes murderous.

Sevaler stammered, "The authorization! Only your fingerprint can—"

Nadie's team arrived, guns blazing. Dea's breath hitched, eyes darting from Ravi to Muda.

"Drop your weapons!" Nadie hoisted her gun, leveling it at Massa's head. "Now."

The professor stiffened, fist tightening on the canister. An impassive mask veiled the former Regent's face, but his hand betrayed a tremor.

"I said," the Endera captain bellowed, finger hovering on the trigger, "drop your weapons."

A translation wasn't needed. The canister clattered to the floor. Massa's firearm followed.

Humans and merpeople streamed past Dea to apprehend Massa and Sevaler. The aircraft carrier hovered closer, its drone mingling with raised voices.

Dea just watched, her vision blurring. A strange calm descended on her. The wind eased the pain that smoldered away in her arm, and someone stopped to bandage it. All it took was one fleeting moment to change the tide of the future and avert a global catastrophe. Her eyes panned up to the skies, now largely still.

The lightning and thunder of battle had ceased. The grey clouds parted ever so slightly, allowing a lone sunbeam to streak through.

The aircraft finally touched down and the noise receded, except for a distant clamor that rose from the ground far below. Dea switched on the Flamingo and rolled it forward. She glided past the flurry of activity and came upon the balustrade.

A roiling sea of humans smothered the lawn—armored soldiers and civilians with cameras.

Dea gripped her ogi. She activated translation and pushed the loudspeaker to maximum volume.

"Humans of Serendiva," she said, her amplified voice carrying in the air, "your prime minister is safe, and this war is hereby over."

Slowly, multiple faces turned up, fingers pointing. Cameras swiveled in her direction.

"Let me start from the beginning." Dea hoisted herself up, tail unsheathed. "I am Dea Rhodoreef, the queen of Calliathron."

Animal: Dugong

https://youtu.be/DvHbGloMQrc