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The silhouette of the drones grew on the horizon, fast.
"It's going to be okay, Roxy."
She clutched her rifle, trembling. Stock on the shoulder, hand on the barrel. Squeeze the trigger, don't pull. Get down on one knee for stability if you need to. She could hear the words echo in her mind. Fear was slinking through her veins, a thin sheen of sweat and chill coating her skin.
"Don't worry. I'm going to keep you safe."
With the sun behind the drones, she could only see the shapes growing clearer. Thorned shells. Stories tall. Slits of eyes taking form, glowing through the blackness. Hundreds of them. An endless wave.
"You're going to be fine."
I'm just one girl, she thought. She wanted to cry. She wanted to break down, and run away, she wanted to stay a kid. She didn't want to fight. But she knew she didn't have that option. She was trained for this. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"We can do this. Together."
Her mother had died, decades before. But Roxy knew she was here, holding her, protecting her. She needed her now more than ever, and there she was. A very good mother. She could hear her words in her mind, feel her embrace, see her form standing proud in the face of terror.
"I'm right here with you, Roxy. I'm not going anywhere."
Roxy was a woman of science, and she didn't believe in spirits or the supernatural, unprovable. But right now, she was a girl who needed her mother.
"You are my daughter, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Do you understand?"
Tears streaming from her eyes. The ghost of a hand wiping them away. Yes, mom. I understand.
Her body set into place. She saw, felt her mother raise her wand. She felt Rose Lalonde's strength, and it bolstered the young girl. Her eyes focused. Her jaw set. This was their home. This was family. I am here with my mom, Roxy thought. I am here with my mom and nothing can defeat us.