Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 626: She always has a plan.

Nearby, commander Grayson was barking orders, frantically checking the seals on a fresh line of squad members. They looked terrified, their hands shaking as they prepped their exo suits to head outside.

Sunshine stepped into his path, "Grayson, stop! I know how we can end this."

Commander Grayson stood as stiff as a reinforced steel beam, his hand snapped to his temple in a sharp salute. He smiled through his fear. He had known that she would save them. Sunshine always had a plan. "What do you need, ma’am?"

Sunshine didn’t answer immediately. Her chest heaved, her breath coming in short, jagged bursts as her eyes darted across the areas outside the bubble. She was calculating. Drones would have been the logical choice_ mechanical, replaceable, cold_ but the Arcladons’ electromagnetic pulses were turning high-tech circuitry into expensive paperweights, besides they could not plant the rods.

To ground these beasts, she needed human hands to plant the rods.

"Ma’am?" Grayson prompted, his brow furrowed. "You seem distracted, the squad is getting nervous and those things in the sky are still coming out of sacs."

Sunshine finally locked eyes with him. The weight of what she was about to ask felt like lead in her stomach. If her people were out there planting lightning rods and an Arcladon decided to discharge, the rod wouldn’t just be a conductor_ it would be a death sentence for whoever was holding it.

She shoved a heavy, reinforced satchel into Grayson’s chest. "Change of plans, Grayson. We aren’t going toe-to-toe with their teeth yet. Distribute these dust bombs. They’re filled with a pressurized mixture of crystallized acid and powdered irritants. Think of it as pepper spray on nuclear steroids."

Grayson peeked into the bag. "And we just... throw them?"

"Activate them like an acid grenade," Sunshine ordered. "If they can’t see us, they can’t aim. Blind them, frustrate them, make the air so itchy they’d rather be back in their egg-sacs. And when I give the order, those who are brave enough can go out and behead some of those bastards."

As Grayson sprinted off to rally the demolition squads, Sunshine turned to the base’s open-channel comms. "All Speed-Masters and flying superhumans still on base_ front and center! Meet me Now! I know how we can end this so be fast."

Father Nicodemus was the first to arrive, his weathered face calm despite the literal apocalypse happening outside the bubble. Gilly, Nala, Zed, Leah and a handful of others followed, looking like a ragtag group of superheroes whose capes were a bit frayed at the edges. Only in their cases, it was exo suits.

"Listen up," Sunshine said, her voice dropping to a low, urgent tone. She handed out the grounding rods. "You’re going outside the bubble. Your job is to plant these in the perimeter soil. No fancy patterns, no tactical grids. Choose a place and push this into the ground as hard as you can."

"No coordinates?" Gilly asked, hefting a rod that was nearly as tall as she was. "Like a perfect spot or position."

"Not today," Sunshine said with a grimace. "Just get them in the ground. Anywhere outside the walls. The moment you’re done, you call it in and you get your tails back inside the shield. Do not stay to watch the show. Do you understand?"

"Plant and bolt. Got it," Father Nicodemus nodded, his eyes twinkling with a bit of his old mischievous spirit.

They took off like streaks of light, one moment they were there and gone in the next. They screamed out which direction they were heading to because the plan would not work if they stuck together like a group.

Outside, the battle was shifting. The superhumans were not winning but the lightning was reducing. It started with a series of thumps as Grayson’s squads began shooting the dust bombs into the air with canons embedded in the wall. Clouds of shimmering, violet-gray powder blossomed in the air.

The effect was instantaneous.

The Arcladons, once majestic and terrifying, began to wail. It wasn’t a cry like that of a baby; it was more like the frantic scream of a child when red pepper had contact with their eyes! It was a high-pitched screech of pure annoyance and agony. One Arcladon tried to charge at a squad member, but halfway through, it let out a wet, giant-sized sneeze that sent it spiraling into a clumsy nosedive.

"Did you see that?" Raydon’s voice crackled through his comms, filled with a sudden, hysterical laugh. "That one just did a barrel roll because his nose was tickling!"

The scene in the sky started turning into comedy!

Sunshine went around, delivering more dust bombs to soldiers on the wall. Some bombs were so small that they could be shot through rifles.

The squads started making a sport of it. Every time a dragon poked its snout out of the mist, a soldier would yell, "Catch!" and lob a dust bomb. Even the Watchers weren’t immune.

Three of them tried to swoop down to investigate the new weapon. A well-placed blast caught them square in the face.

They retreated instantly, rubbing their eyes with wings and shrieking out in a language that sounded like a broken violin. One of them, blinded by the itchy dust, flew head-first into a giant, dead oak tree with a resounding thud.

"Score one for the humans!" Siegfried cheered.

Sunshine, meanwhile, had moved back into the space. She watched the icons on the virtual screen turn from red to green as Nicodemus and the others reported their rods planted.

"System," Sunshine whispered. "Activate the rods. Let’s ground these overgrown lizards."

[Rods activated, conductors engaged.] the System replied.

Down in the dirt, the rods began to hum with a low, blue light, creating an invisible web of attraction.

"Alright, everyone! Cease fire on the dust bombs! Back inside the shield! Now!" Sunshine returned to the outside world and commanded sternly.

"Why?" O’Toole complained, his voice sounding disappointed. "We’ve got them on the run, ma’am! They’re practically retreating!"

Sunshine looked up at the grey clouds, she could see strands of lightning here and there. The dragons had stopped sneezing. The wailing had died down. The silence was heavier than the noise had ever been. It was like the battle was over.

But she knew better than to trust the silence. "They aren’t gone," Sunshine said, her voice shaking slightly with the realization. "They’re just waiting. They’re waiting for us to think we won so we’ll drop our guard. Do as I say, and don’t waste time on premature celebrations."