Carry

Wave 35. The “Incoming swarm” warning flashes red across your screen and the bass drop hits your headphones. You check the minimap expecting to see coverage on both lanes. Instead, your stomach drops. Your team has placed three Cameramen in the same lane — two base units and one upgraded — all beaming the same chokepoint while the other lane sits completely empty, a wide-open highway straight to your base. Your Upgraded Speakerman is fighting adds alone on the far side because nobody else bothered to cover it. One teammate is spam-pinging a spot behind your front line while their own Titans are bleeding out to a mob they ignored. Another is standing still at the Cen shop, presumably reading upgrade descriptions in the middle of combat. You are sprinting between both lanes, lungs burning, trying to collect enough Cen to place a fourth unit, knowing in your gut you will not make it in time. You pause for half a second to ping the empty lane one more time. Nobody moves. The swarm hits. The empty lane leaks within 8 seconds. The boss walks through your undefended flank. The base explodes. You lose. Not because you played badly. Because you trusted four strangers to do their job — and they did what strangers always do. ...