Summer Camp IV Mahk had drilled his people and sat them down and taught them everything he could remember about the Americans. He still wasn't sure how much of it they'd believed, even with Pelleas and Tishka (the only one of his squad who'd made it back with him from that disastrous second trip) backing him up. And then the mages finished their spells and a hole opened in the courtyard air in front of them. Lady Vanya brought her arm down the moment it had stabilized, and he barked, "Go, go, go!" They jogged through in pairs, one peeling off to each side and lining up facing outward, half armed with crossbows and the other half with spears. His squad leaders went through last of all, taking positions behind their lines, and then he was through and off to the left side while Pelleas took the right and the second pair of squads began pouring through, heading for the door to the barracks where the golem stayed. * * * * * A dozen emergency messages went out as the probe from Orterra strengthened and solidified into a true Gate. In Colmaton, it was only ten p.m. Nightblade blinked as Kami interrupted her study of 'local' interdimensional geography. Vortex got jolted out of a sound sleep in a visitor's bedroom at Colmaton Base. Morningstar looked up from an interrupted meditation, Ranger frowned and turned back from her patrol route, and Power Pig muttered as a text message started scrolling across the main monitor screen. "And Techrat's off at summer camp. Maybe Computer Mouse can fix this durn thing..." A moment later he hit the alert buzzer as the message registered. Incoming cross-dimensional portal. Origin: Orterra-92. Destination: Halifax Academy. In St. Louis, it was just passing midnight. Endopossum and Dark Starr scrambled to disentangle themselves from each other. "Of all the times for that stupid thing to go off..." She frowned at the scrolling message. "Right. That's another one I owe that necromancer." Her husband grumbled. "How d'you think -I- feel about it?" "About the same way I do. Okay, it's another one -we- owe him." She waddled over to her closet. "I suppose we should get dressed and head in to Base. I don't think they'll be bothering us, but in my condition, I'm not going to take chances." On the East Coast, it was one in the morning. In an alleyway in Manhattan, Exit flinched as her communicator went off. She dropped the mugger she was holding up against a shuttered storefront and read the incoming message. "Well, punk, it's your lucky day. You get a chance to clean up your act and go straight. If I catch you doing this a second time, though..." She vanished into the night with the roar of a motorcycle engine, leaving a battered young wolf contemplating where he'd gone wrong with his life choices. In the control room of Capital Center, the usual contingent of nursing mother rats and an elderly three-legged one looked up at the incoming alert. "So." "They try again?" "Ferric." "Yes." Two of them scampered over to where Coriolis was punching Disruptor's code into the communicator. When the pronghorn picked up, they immediately started talking. "Happening." "At Halifax." "As predicted." Disruptor's voice rapidly shook off drowsiness. "Check. I'll head down for the clean-up. If Morningstar calls, tell her I'll call her back as soon as I'm on the road." The remaining four were all at the Academy itself. In the girl's dorm, Ferric's went off, waking all four of the girl campers (and Artemis, who'd been scheduled as their adult supervision for that night) in the suite's lounge where they'd decided to stay for the duration of the emergency. Two buildings over, Techrat's did the same thing, waking him and Adrian. A moment later, he'd sent Adrian to wake Chromatic while he rousted Pooka. In the upper level of the main administration building, an elderly otter glanced up from her knitting as the alarms went off and muttered to herself. "So the little fascist wants to play, does he? Let's see what's happening." She brought up the infrared cameras. A circular patch was obvious in the courtyard, dark and cold against the summer night. She activated the P.A. system. "Incoming bandits, portal in front of the girl's dorm. This is not a drill." And in her quarters a few doors down, Indigo nodded as the retired heroine's announcement backed up the warning from the Paratemporal agent. * * * * * The first two pairs of the second squad slammed into the doors at a full run, intending to break through. They weren't expecting steel fire doors opening outwards, and merely bounced off. Mahk resisted the urge to facepalm. "Turn the handle and pull, you idiots!" The third pair, reminded of their training, followed instructions and got through. "It's not even locked..." The hallway beyond was lit by dim glows, with two doors on either side and one at the end. They had much better luck shouldering the first pair open, breaking into empty bedrooms. The next pair of soldiers broke open the second pair of doors, with the same results."Do we have the right place?" The fifth pair made it to the door at the end of the hall. The one on the left paused. "Karsh, do you hear running water?" "Inside a building? Must be that river that was on the map--" He was interrupted by the doors opening from the other side. * * * * * The girl's lounge was a flurry of activity as Ferric read her message and the public address system came up with the retired Molly Pitcher's announcement. "Bad guys incoming. Let's do it like we planned." She grabbed her quarterstaff and slapped it against her palm with a grin. Artemis smiled to herself as Phenomenon jumped into action, opening all the taps in the adjacent washroom and propping the door open at super-speed. Merrow had filled all the basins earlier, and the young rabbit was already gathering the water together as the attackers thumped against the front door and then figured out how to open it. She strung her bow and took her spot beside Merrow as Phenomenon and Wireless stood by the double doors. Crashes indicated forced entrance to the dorm rooms along the hallway, and then Ferric snickered at the voices outside the door. She nodded to the mouse and the dog. "Now!" They yanked the doors open, revealing a pair of hyenas dressed in chainmail shirts and bronze leg and arm pieces. Both hyenas paused, surprised, even stunned, by the bright lights from inside the room, and then both were swept off their feet as Merrow blasted them with a bathtub's worth of water at fire hose speed. They tumbled back into the pair behind them, and all four went down in a tangle. The four in the dorm rooms had that moment's warning not to come out and stayed out of the water blast. When it subsided, the first one out earned an arrow in the stomach courtesy of the ancient archer-goddess. The others scrambled back into the dorm rooms to get out of the line of fire, followed by the four who'd been knocked down by the water blast. Karsh had the presence of mind to yell, "She's in there, all right!" as an arrow thunked into the doorpost behind him. Ferric grumbled. "So much for fooling them. Should've turned on my holo-image." Wireless shook her head. "They knew where you were, it wouldn't have fooled them for long. What the hey--?" Something flew down the hall towards them, spinning flames that shrieked like a fireworks rocket. Merrow doused it, and it went up in a burst of steam and sputtering fire. "So, take the fight to them, or wait for the others?" Artemis growled. "We stay put, for now. We're forted up, not much they can do without coming into our field of fire as long as you can keep them from burning the place down." Ferric shook her head. "Pretty sure they can do more than fire and lightning, Artemis. Sooner or later they'll figure out something that works." * * * * * Vanya came through the portal to find her mages stacked up in the protected zone. "Pelleas!" The minotaur saluted. "Sorry, milady. Somehow there was no surprise at all. They seem to have known that we were coming, if not the exact time. The golem's holed up in there with at least four others, and one of them is a water elemental. We can't get a clear shot through to them." "So drive them out. Set the building on fire." "We tried that. The exterior is all brick and some weird kind of stone, and... well, the roof isn't slate, but it might as well be. And we can't get the interior to catch with that water elemental in there. Keeps getting put out." "Right. GARRETT!" The badger hustled over. "Milady?" "Change of plans. Call up your elemental, have him take down that building. Don't worry about squashing any of them." "Right away!" The badger began his summoning spell. "Bernadette?" "Here, milady!" "As soon as it comes down, or when they stop his elemental, do your insect plague. We probably won't have much time, but as long as they aren't overwhelming us, we'll keep working." * * * * * The Bureau communicator phones were set on conference mode now that the battle had started. "Talk to us, Molly. What are the monitors showing?" The otter sounded like the sweet old grandmother she was, but she still remembered her days as a heroine. "Two dozen mooks, in four squads. Two of them are on the flanks, the other two went into the girl's dorm and half of 'em got their butts kicked right back out. There've been attacks going back and forth, I'm assuming that the ones still in the building are either down or hiding. There's another dozen who look a lot more dangerous, though." Phenomenon joined in. "They've got a grab bag of powers, maybe magic spells considering what Ferric told us about the place. I'm still trying to sort out what all they have." Pooka grabbed his phone. "Spells? How does that work, Ferric? Do they need stuff to do it with? Components, like all the games say?" "Some of them do, yeah. Why?" "If they need items to do the spells, what happens if they don't have 'em? I've got an idea... Keep 'em looking up for a bit, okay?" * * * * * " ...lapis, et iussu meo."  The summoning rumbled deep underground in the thick soil of the river floodplain, and it took the elemental a longer time than usual to reach the surface, but the underlying rock was strong, and Garrett smiled at his creation when it emerged into the night air, a rumbling and vaguely furr-shaped mass of granite. He nodded to it and pointed to the dorm. "Destroy." Eyespots glowed in what might have been a head, and it hastened to obey, its first strike knocking the entrance doors from their hinges and taking part of the framing with them. Ferric frowned as the mass of rock bashed its way into the building. "Right. This one's my job. Watch my back." She charged forward, challenging the rock-monster. "No fancy moves for you. You just get full power." Her first swing was nearly unchallenged as it ripped at the walls in obedience to its orders. It belatedly tried to block when its rudimentary mind noticed the incoming attack, but the raccoon's first roundhouse swing knocked it back and focused its attention. Its counterchallenge was a sound of rock against rock, the roar of a minor avalanche. The squad hyenas scrambled out of the way through the splintered walls, desperate to get away before the building came down on their heads. * * * * * "Hooolllyyy mackerel!" Molly's voice showed her astonishment. "Badger-boy just summoned up some kinda rock monster. It's trying to go after the gals, or maybe bring the dorm down on their heads --" It suddenly re-emerged from the building, staggering back on what weren't really heels, before roaring and heading back in. "Heh. Looks like Ferric's dealing with it, though. The rest of you nearly ready?" "I'm here." Techrat's jets shrieked as he braked to a stop over the Orterran's heads, and he strafed the hyena flankers with stunner beams. "Okay, the vixen near the portal? She was at the Smithsonian, and did that fear spell that sent us all running. Target her first." He focused more closely, his optical systems zooming in at his unspoken command. "And do it quick, she's starting to reach for something!" Pooka was listening to the circuit, but not replying. He'd gone invisible before leaving the boy's dorm, and dodged the enemy soldiers as he infiltrated their group. He grinned to himself as Techrat pointed out the vixen and moved up next to her just as she shoved her fingers into a belt-pouch. He grabbed the belt of her robe and ghosted with it as hard as he could. He faded into view as he shifted into intangibility, and dived into the ground with her equipment. He was already gone before she realized something was wrong, and then the reason she couldn't find her amber wand - or her belt pouch - sank in. Her shriek of mixed outrage and humiliation rivaled the noise of Techrat's jets. Molly's laughter was hysterical. "Pooka, did you -plan- that? You didn't just get her gear, you got practically her whole outfit! She's just got her skivvies and some jewelry left." She giggled again, and then got herself under control. Her next comment was more analytical. "Girl needs a Wonderbra, she does." Indigo's voice was exasperated. "We don't need a fashion critique, Molly. What are the rest of them doing?"   "Looks like they're trying very hard not to notice their boss-lady's been stripped nearly to her fur. Techrat, a couple of 'em look like they're lining up on you, a couple of 'em are trying to figure out where Pooka went, and the mooks are just looking nervous." * * * * * Mahk was trying very hard to forget what he'd just seen. The rabbit had just appeared, presumably out of some sort of invisibility spell, grabbed hold of Lady Vanya's belt, and then sank into the ground, her robe and gear passing through her body before vanishing with him. Fortunately, by the time she'd regained enough composure to look in his direction, he had his eyes firmly fixed on the pair approaching them. "Sergeant? Report." "The last two of the youths are approaching, milady. No sign of their mentors as of yet." Overhead, the shrieking noise of the flying armor waxed and waned as the rat dodged spells and crossbow quarrels. Three of his people and one of the clerics were down, hit by the weird levinbolts the suit produced. "Request permission to engage." "Granted. Xavier! You've got your ghostblade with you?" The bear grunted an affirmative. "Find that damned rabbit and end him! Orianne...!" Mahk tuned her out now that he had orders. "First squad! Fire at the ground targets! Second squad, make ready to advance!" The thrumm of crossbows firing at the pair was a short-lived hope, unfortunately. The moment his archers took aim, the chipmunk pulled the goat-child in close and a blue glow surrounded them both. The quarrels bounced off the glow without even slowing them down. "First squad, return to firing at the flying knight! Second squad, advance, swords!" * * * * * Adrian stuck close to Chromatic as they headed for the interlopers. "What are we gonna do?" The chipmunk gave him a smirk. "We're going to sneak up on 'em and take 'em by surprise." "But they can see us!" "But they can't see what we can do. That'll be the surprise." He raised his shield as the crossbows aimed at them in apparent response to something the big hyena behind them had yelled, and quarrels skipped off the force dome. He stopped as the swordsmen advanced. "Now, be ready to change when I drop the shield." "Do I -have- to? That hurts. A lot." "Ferric and the rest of the girls are counting on us, Adrian. You're not gonna let them down, are you?" "Nooo..." The swordsmen had reached the edge of Chromatic's shield and were pounding on it. "I'm gonna drop the shield on the count of three. Get ready... One... Two... " * * * * * Ferric grunted as the rock creature charged back in and fell back a few paces as she absorbed its momentum. She pounded on it, breaking chunks of rock loose, but the shards flowed back into it. "It's regenerating, blast it! I'm hurting it, but I'm not making enough headway!" She raked her claws across it, sending chips and spalls flying. Wireless yelled back. "Working on it! When I give the word, drop flat!" "What?!?" "Trust me!" The chakk-thunk of disarming safeties and initial charging echoed in the hallway, and Ferric's ears perked up. "NOW!" Ferric dove for the floor, and the elemental raised its fists to slam down on her. It never got the chance to complete the move as a five-second burst of minigun fire ripped through it, shattering stone and scattering pieces of it in all directions. It shuddered to a halt as it tried to process what had happened, and then a second burst shattered it completely. Ferric rolled back to her feet and gave Wireless a thumbs-up gesture. "Toldja that might come in handy!" Artemis shook her head to try to clear the ringing in her ears. "We should leave by the back way." "What back way?" Artemis grinned. "I'm sure Ferric can make one." "Wouldn't count on it. I think she's waving us to move forward." * * * * * "Three!" The blue glow of the shield faded and shifted to yellow, and Chromatic zipped off at super-speed. Four hyenas flailed wildly as they tried to keep the rapidly moving blur away from buckles and laces and scabbards, while the one closest to Adrian tried to stab him. Her jaw dropped in shock as the little goat caught the blade in his hand. Adrian couldn't access his full power in his normal form, but he was still far stronger and faster than anyone would expect from an apparent six year old. He looked up at the hyena and shook his head. "That wasn't nice." The hyena squalled in panic as he started expanding into the monstrous form of Cursed. She tugged on her sword as hoof-tipped fingers expanded into vicious claws and the little gray-furred kid enlarged into a hulking brute with moving, glowing glyphs on its hide, the little bracelet-shackle on his arm growing and lengthening into a chain flail at the same time. She shrieked and let go, fleeing back toward the mages as it growled at her. "Naahht. Niice." * * * * * Mahk swore as the chipmunk blurred. "We need a haste spell over here!" One of the mages obliged, and the world slowed down around him. He moved up to intercept the boy before he could steal everything his squad had. "Stop that!" The chipmunk paused, registering that this hyena was now also moving at superspeed. He was still a bit faster, but not enough to risk getting in range. He took off in a straight line, angling toward the robed figures being guarded by the hyenas. He zoomed through the middle of the enemy furs, snatching the sticks that two of them were holding on his way past. The hyena trailed behind him, shouting something or other. It sounded like profanities... * * * * * Mahk's squad found themselves facing Cursed with missing bits of armor, secondary weapons, and in one case unlaced boots. The behemoth was roaring at them in some unintelligible speech, and lashing out with the chain-flail attached to his wrist. They spread out in a semi-circle just out of reach of it. "Tishka, where's your sword?" "He grabbed it by the blade when I tried to stab him. And that was when he was still tiny! Let's try surrounding him, harry him from behind." The semi-circle spread into a circle, and Cursed warily watched. One of them moved towards him, and he lashed out with the chain, only to have the fellow dance back out of range and another move in behind him. He found himself spinning back and forth, trying to swat one or another of them as they feinted.   * * * * * "FERRIC! Get back in here and break us open an escape route!" Artemis bellowed. "But--" "But nothing! It's -your- butt they're after, remember? You stick your nose out there and you'll get hit with everything that stack of wizards is packing. Right now they're saving it up so they can hit you with it! Do NOT give them that chance!" The big raccoon froze in place for a moment, then grudgingly retreated. "Yes, ma'am. It just doesn't seem right to let everyone else fight for me..." "I know. But sometimes that's what you have to do. Buck and the others are just about ready. Remember that recording Indigo had you make?" Ferric nodded. "We're about to use it." * * * * * Molly chuckled. "Looks like you're all in place, Indigo. Give the word and I'll light 'em up." "The word is given, Molly. Do it." The old otter hit two switches, and the quadrangle between the buildings lit up. Searchlights flared into life from the tops of the boy's dorm, the cafeteria, the admin building, and the gym, pinning the invaders in near daylight and half-blinding them from the sudden and unexpected shift. The golem's voice rumbled, thunderously loud, using the Common Speech. "Attention. You are trespassing on the lands protected by the Council of Paladins. You are now surrounded and will be placed under arrest. Lay down your weapons and surrender." Vanya screeched, furious. "Under arrest? Under arrest?!? You... you presumptuous construct! Do you know who I am?!?" Ferric snorted. "She just pulled the 'do you know who I am' malarkey." She held a hand out to Wireless. "Loudspeaker, please?" The mouse grinned and handed her one. "I want a translation, y'know... oh, wait just a sec!" She plucked another device out of the ether. "Gotta love science fiction shows with Universal Translators. Go ahead." Ferric grinned and thumbed the switch. "Why yes, we do know who you are. Vanya the Dark, minion of the Necromancer who styles himself Master of the Northlands. You are wanted here in the United States of America for theft, vandalism, trespassing on Federal property, illegal entry across our borders, trespassing on restricted property, assault, attempted murder, and at the moment, indecent exposure. So, are you going to surrender?" The only reply was incoherent screaming. "Right. I'll take that as a no." Artemis shook her head. "I see why Morningstar keeps asking your mother to ground you." "It's a gift. Looks like we'll have to fight it out, after all." Indigo's voice came over the radio. "If I had thought there was any chance she might have surrendered, I'd ground you myself, Ferric." "Aye, but she still has a line of retreat. Make her mad enough, and maybe she won't use it." ".... You've always got an answer, don't you, young one?" "I try." "You certainly do." * * * * * The four stood at the rear entrance to the staff building: Buck Rocket, his wife Black Valkyrie, Indigo, and Sergeant Smash. "We'll go with Plan B. The kids are holding their own, there's no need to go lethal at this point." Valkyrie grumbled. "If you zay zo. From vhat I haff been told, zey more zan deserve it." Buck chuckled and gave his wife a quick kiss. "Look at it this way, dear. They'll be more upset at being treated like criminals. And it's not as if they deserve to go to Valhalla, anyway." She cheered up at that thought. "True, true, liebchen. Let us get started, ya?" Buck Rocket took off, leaving the other three to move in on the ground. He was not currently in need of his eponymous flight booster, and so was able to hover silently in the night, waiting for them to catch up so their attacks would be coordinated. A few seconds later, the squad trying to attack Cursed noticed their approach, and he nosed down, accelerating to make a high-speed pass through the Orterrans, knocking several of them off their feet as he went through their line. A wild shot came from behind as he banked around for another run. The streak of arcane light came nowhere close to him. A moment later, Chromatic joined him in flight and they held formation for a second pass. * * * * * Pooka come up through the floor of the girl's dorm, still carrying the vixen's gear. He boggled as he cleared the tile and saw what he'd grabbed hold of. "Phenom, I've got their leader's carry packs. Can you use her spells with what's... in... oh, jeez... " Phenomenon pounced on it and started rummaging. "Should be able to. You didn't know what you did?" The rabbit was blushing. "I grabbed the -belt-. I didn't know I got her -clothing-." Ferric grinned. "Well, you did. And I've learned a whole new set of cuss-words in Gemynse." Phenomenon held up a wand made of polished flint. "Ah-hah. I think I can use this one. It's the one that throws fire." She pointed it down the hallway, then lowered it. "Wait. Ferric, what's Mince-pie for fire?" "Could be a couple things. Fira, Brennig, Flamma. Assuming you don't mean it as in 'ready, aim'." The Pomeranian nodded. "That second one feels right." She pointed the wand down the trashed corridor. "Brennig!" The wand spat out a hissing pellet of fire that shot down the hallway and clipped the edge of the door frame, which set it off. Flame shot in all directions, including back down the corridor at them. Merrow barely got a water shield up in time and Ferric found herself engulfed in steam for a moment before it subsided. She coughed as flames crackled along the remnants of the doorway. "Let's not do that again."    Artemis nodded. "The rest are in position. I'll take point. Ferric, you back me up, the rest of you stay behind us. Pooka? Make sure you stay out of the way, they're gonna be a free fire zone in a moment." * * * * * Mahk saw them first, a desert cat in a fancy uniform, a reindeer in black leather, and a stone-coated wolverine jogging forward to assist the goat-demon his squad was harrying. The two femmes were carrying swords, while the wolverine had one of the thunder-weapons with a spear blade. "Squad One, return to formation, on the double!! Pelleas, we've got a problem!" The minotaur took one look and ordered the survivors of the dormitory assault over to assist before returning to the argument he was having with his superior. "Lady Vanya, we have to retreat! This assault was intended to be a surprise, and it is anything but. They were prepared. They had a weapon that destroyed our earth elemental in mere moments!" "Not until we find that rabbit!" Her eyes narrowed at the sound of Techrat's jets. "Orianne? That one is susceptible to mind magic. Hit him with a fear spell or something!" "I've been -trying-, milady! He's not staying in range long enough!" As if to punctuate the young mare's complaint, he shot past overhead again, strafing them with stunner beams. Another pair of soldiers fell. A moment later, a fireball blossomed at the entrance to the dormitory. Vanya stared in shock. "That's my wand! How...?!" Pelleas ducked a pass by the flying deer, pulling Vanya down with him a moment before she would have been knocked out. "I don't -know-, milady! I just know we need to get out of here!" * * * * * Mahk was almost thankful for the three new opponents. At least they were not flying, and were using weapons that his people knew how to counter. He gave orders as the enemy approached, setting them into a skirmish line. The demon-thing howled and lashed out with his chain, and a crackling bolt of pure magical energy continued through Tishka and on into the mages they were guarding. One of them turned and fired off a counterspell, and the hyenas cheered as it wrapped around the thing. It howled, this time more in anguish than anger, and  shrank back into the form of the goat-boy. Mahk nearly cheered himself, but kept his head. "It's not done yet! Charge!" * * * * * Black Valkyrie actually felt sympathetic to the hyena soldiers, in spite of what she'd told her husband. She'd been loyal to her nation in her younger days in spite of misgivings about the government, until their own excesses had driven her away - and many had not had the opportunity to flee as she had. She focused on the sword. The ancient sword acknowledged her order, then flicked up to block an incoming bolt of magic. Young Adrian's sudden scream and reversion to his normal form took her by surprise, but she recovered quickly. "Behind us, Adrian! Schnell!" Her companions were already shifting to cover the gap as the hyenas surged forward. * * * * * Pelleas had found himself unexpectedly, if unofficially, in charge of the rapidly deteriorating situation when Lady Vanya lost her composure. She'd have managed to lose sight of the original mission by now, if the golem hadn't mocked her; as it was, her orders were incoherent and contradictory. He'd reinforced the left flank of their position to block the reinforcements as best as he could, at the expense of the right flank, where so far he only had to worry about the three flyers swooping back and forth. His crossbows, and a few of the mages as well, were attempting to shoot them down, but so far they'd had little luck. He -still- had no idea what had happened to Garrett's earth elemental, but he'd gathered from the badger's panicked shouting that it had been destroyed by whatever had made that horrendous noise. So far they had not turned that weapon on the raiding party, which he hoped meant that it only worked against summonings. The building their target was in was badly damaged, and had finally caught fire. He had no idea how they were going to complete the original mission, though, since every attempt to go in had been repulsed easily. * * * * * "And... now!" Artemis led the way down the wreckage of the hallway while the raiders were distracted by another pass from their aerial contingent. Techrat, Buck, and Chromatic had settled into a wedge formation, Buck low and using his fists, Techrat remaining high and using his stunner beams, and Chromatic weaving around at super-speed to grab wands and crossbows and generally interfere with enemy activities. The cadets backing her up were astounded when she went into full action for the first time. Three millennia and more of honing her skills at archery had truly made her into a goddess, and she moved in a martial dance. Every time her foot touched the ground, an arrow flew, only armor and defensive magic kept any of them out of their targets, and only the fact that she was using mercy weapons kept any of them alive. Ferric stopped just past the doorway, astounded at what she was seeing, for just long enough to be noticed by the Orterran raiders. The ones who were not already down remembered their mission orders and the raccoon was suddenly the target for a half-dozen spells, from as many different disciplines. Fire and ice, mind control and dark energy, sound and raw magic, all landed on her in as many seconds, and she crashed to the ground. Vanya was ecstatic. "Yeesss! It -can- be defeated!" Her joy was short-lived, as Artemis sent her next half-dozen shots in the vixen's direction. Pooka's accidental disrobing had deprived her of a good chunk of her defenses, and she went down, unconscious and bleeding. Pelleas shouted "RETREAT!" the moment she hit the ground. He had trained the military contingent, and trained them well. "Squad Four, rearguard! The rest of you, rescue detail! " The soldiers exchanging blows with the swordswomen started giving ground, while behind their screen the others hauled their unconscious fellows toward the gate, tossing them through and either going back for another rescue or joining the rearguard themselves. Pelleas heaved Vanya to his shoulder and did the same. He and Mahk were the last ones through, Mahk actually falling through when Sergeant Smash punched him in the chest. When it closed behind them, they had only left four hyenas and two of their mages behind on the field of battle. * * * * * "Stand down, stand down. Hostiles have retreated, repeat, hostiles have retreated. We have six prisoners." Indigo was on the radio with Morningstar. "Buck's getting them collared right now. We could definitely use someone to put up those wards, though." She shook her head at the state of the girl's dorm. Merrow was busily dowsing the last of the fires, but it was going to need quite a bit of repair. She headed over to where Ferric was lying on the ground. Night Doctor was fussing, looking more and more concerned. "Indigo, I'm not getting a heartbeat or respiration. I'd think she was dead, but..." She gestured to the raccoon's face. "She's still blinking, just very, very slowly." She held up a finger in the 'wait for it' gesture. "There she goes." The caracal watched in fascination as Ferric closed and reopened her eyes over the course of a quarter-minute. "It would seem that we have confirmation of what will happen to her if her powers are suppressed. If her heartbeat and breathing are equally slowed down, it is hardly a surprise that you cannot hear them." She turned back to the others. "Buck! We need you to take Ferric to the infirmary!" * * * * * Medic Mouse and Bloodwitch had been sent through to the Academy as soon as Vortex was sufficiently awake to do the job, and the pair had joined Night Doctor in her attempt to figure out what was wrong. "She blinked several times, early on, but her eyes are firmly shut now. Her expression's been changing, too." Medic shook her head. "She's a bit battered, but nothing serious. There's no -physical- cause I can find for this." Night Doctor nodded. "I couldn't either." She turned to Bloodwitch. "According to the briefing we got, this group of enemies has access to a lot of magic. Is this some kind of spell?" The hyena nodded. "Aye, it is. One of the few magicks I sense she is susceptible to. It slowed her down, and because it directly attacked her nature, it was far more effective than it should have been. It will wear off reasonably soon, though, so you need not worry." The mouse and the bear both looked relieved at that. "Thank God. If she was -stuck- like this..." Phenomenon stuck her head in. "Did you say she'll be all right?" Bloodwitch nodded. "Aye, she'll be fine." She twitched an eyebrow at the youngster. "What do your powers tell you right now?" Phenomenon came in and stood by the bed. "It's like her power is asleep. It's still there, but it's turned off." The hyena nodded. "Best to let this run its course, then. And while it does, I shall set the wards that Morningstar has requested." * * * * * "I gather that the raid did not go as planned, Battle-priest?" The white mouse's tone was dust dry and more than a little sarcastic. "Errr... No, Master." The minotaur shook his head. "I believe that we somehow did not have the element of surprise, after all." "And did Sergeant Mahk make it back with you?" "Yes, sir. He's seeing to the wounded at the moment." "Fetch him, and attend me in my office." "At once, Master!" The hyena and the minotaur arrived at a run a few minutes later, almost beating their liege lord to the meeting. They were sent in immediately by his secretary, and came to attention as the mouse got out a quill and ink. "Two dozen warriors, eight mages, and four spell-priests, against a third of their number, and more than half of them apprentices. I could see, but not hear. What happened?" "They must have known we were coming, sir, somehow. You saw how quickly the lights appeared?" "Yes. Magic, or more of their mechanic arts?" "Mechanic arts I believe, Master, but one of the mages would be more likely to know for certain. There was a demand for surrender made when they came on, by the golem." "And they obviously weren't bluffing. When did Lady Vanya lose control?" "Master...?" "Why do you think I called you in here without her? I want your true thoughts, not ones concerned with her reaction." Mahk cleared his throat. "She was angry, but still under control when the rabbit stripped her of her gear, Master. When the lights came up and they demanded our surrender, she was furious. But she didn't truly lose control until the golem taunted her with a list of her supposed crimes." The mouse nodded. "And she refused to retreat?" Pelleas sighed. "Yes, Master. I told her we needed to, and she refused to consider it. I called for withdrawal when she finally went down and command passed to me." "And you had obviously planned for it. Why?" "We have faced these people thrice before, Master. And only once of those three times did we even achieve a draw." The minotaur shrugged. "It seemed prudent." "Some people would call that defeatism." The mouse let them squirm for a moment. "But I am not one of those idiots. Your people did well; only half were still conscious and yet you got most of them out in the face of a losing battle." Both soldiers straightened to full attention. "Thank you, Master." "And this is why I assigned you both to this. You knew what you would be facing. And while it was a tactical loss, we did gain more information. I'm not sure if you saw, but that last flurry of spells did take down the golem, and we know more about their capabilities than we did." He raised his voice. "Jacques?" The secretary appeared beside Mahk almost immediately. "Master?" "Take a message to General Gustav. Promotions, Pelleas to Lieutenant, and Mahk to Battle-Sergeant, both to be assigned to my personal guard." The vole bowed. "At once, sir." He scurried off again. "As for you two, I will of course expect full reports on this. Everything you can remember. Lady Vanya won't be seeing them, so don't worry about her reaction. Dismissed." The pair saluted, and hurried off. * * * * * "She's starting to move, I think... whoa!" Night Doctor dodged out of the way as Ferric suddenly threw herself off the examination table and landed in a cacophony of breaking glass and overturned furniture. "What the hey?" The raccoon got halfway to her feet and fell over again. "Right. Gonna lie here and wait for my head to stop spinning. Please tell me we won." Night Doctor smiled. "Nearly an hour ago, dear.  Buck brought you here when we discovered you weren't moving." "An hour? Felt like thirty seconds, tops. I remember getting targeted by all those spells, and then my eyes were burning and I actually -felt- like I weighed a ton. A lot of flashing lights and I was here. Just trying to sit up before I hurled and then all of a sudden, everything went back to normal and I was pushing as hard as I could and... WHAM." Medic Mouse helped her sit up. "Are you still nauseous?" "Just dizzy, Doc. And that's passing. What happened?" "Bloodwitch says you got hit by a spell which was designed to slow you down. And it apparently worked much too effectively on you. Phenomenon was right about your powers, it seems." Night Doctor nodded. "It was probably why you felt heavy. You were slowed down, and fighting gravity that was still operating normally. And when you sped up again..." "And your eyes were probably drying out because you couldn't blink at normal speed." Ferric snapped her fingers with a gunshot crack. "Of course! That's why. That's a relief, I was afraid something might be seriously wrong." Medic Mouse smiled. "Not the way I had hoped to find out, but at least we know what happens when you're suppressed." Indigo stuck her head in. "Ferric? Now that you're awake, could you come translate for the prisoners?" Ferric grinned. "Sare tak, mistrae Indigo!" She started to get up, but Medic waved her over to the examining table. Night Doctor, meanwhile, chased Indigo back out the door. "Not until we've checked her out! They've waited an hour already, they can wait two." * * * * * "Ryushi-sama? Incoming message from Orterra-92." "From Station Chief Farouk?" "That is correct." "Play it, Kami." The smiling fox greeted her from the hologram. "Greetings, Chief Murasaki! I hope this finds you well. I thank you for the update on the events of the latest incursion. The video of Lady Vanya and the young rabbit... Pooka, I believe you called him? Hilarious! And it explains the current shake-up in the Necromancer's command structure. She's lost face, and he doesn't approve of bad decisions made for emotional reasons. It should be a while before they have the urge to attempt another raid - and when they do, she won't be in charge of it. He's made Battle-priest Pelleas - the minotaur who was along on the first expedtion, you remember him? He's an officer now, so he might just be placed in command next time." He glanced down at his notes before continuing. "I gather that your Bureau still has the Orb locked safely away somewhere? Let me know if you find out where it is, so we can -both- monitor it for scrying attempts. Neither of us would like it if he managed to get hold of the damned thing again." He smiled. "And as one station chief to another, my congratulations on a successful conclusion to your first crisis. I've taken the opportunity to send along a few messages as attachments; one from Archon Meredith to Morningstar; two actual letters for young Ferric, one from Mother Rylla and one from Baron Sand Hills; a request for another half-dozen pairs of binoculars for Exit from Captain Sir Gerard; and one from the Steelsmith's Guild for Endopossum. Something about case hardening steel tools, I gather. Fare well, and I look forward to hearing from you again." Ryushi nodded to herself as the message ended. "Arrange for delivery of the messages, Kami. Send the written ones to Ferric in care of the Colmaton Bureau headquarters. Let's not rub their noses in the fact that we could drop them on Ferric's bunk at Halifax." The AI actually chuckled at that. "A very good idea, Ryushi-sama. I will see to it." * * * * * The camp was winding down in the last couple days of the session. Chromatic had celebrated his sixteenth birthday just a few days after the attempted raid; Ferric was now celebrating the same milestone on the second-last day of camp. Vortex had brought Nandi along for the party, along with presents and the two letters that had appeared in the mail with Orterran script on them. "Kinda figured these had to be for you, Ferric. Not sure why you got actual parchment instead of recordings, but here you go." "Well, that is my name on them. So, let's find out." She opened the first one. "Ah-hah. That's why it's parchment. It's official stuff. I'm now of age under Hesperian law. Gotta sign some paperwork, and get back there for the appropriate investiture ceremonies as soon as I can. Did I mention that part in the briefing?" Techrat raised an eyebrow in the raccoon's direction. "Investiture? As in, you're nobility?" Ferric shrugged. "Borderline. Very lowest tier, I think it would translate to Knight-Baronet from our history." Chromatic snorted. "Still puts you above ninety-nine point nine percent of them, right? Don't go getting a swelled head." "They knighted Exit and Endopossum, too. Services rendered and all that. Plus, I think they wanted to give us a reason to come back. Even if some of our technology doesn't work there, we know things they can use. S'why I'm going to study engineering when I go to college." She grinned. "Besides, ulterior motives work both ways. The more we can get them powered up to deal with the Necromancer on their side, the less likely he is to come bothering -us- again." "Dunno about that." Phenomenon looked skeptical about the idea. "Might just make him more desperate to get his toy back." "True... but if so he'll be less able to do a good job of it." She shrugged. "Just gotta see what happens." Wireless grinned. "And whatever happens, we're going to face it together, right? Someone's gotta be the next generation of leaders." Merrow's grin matched the mouse's. "Hear, hear. And if the twins get powers, we're going to need to stick together just to keep them from wrecking headquarters. But... it's been a lot of fun, guys. We're going to keep in touch, right?" "We'd better. Like Wireless said, we're going to be colleagues for a long time, like it or not. Might as well be friends." Pooka nodded to both Wireless and Phenomenon. "No matter what happens." The serious moment was interrupted by the camp cook. "Look at you, all gloomy already. Let's have cake and ice cream!" Adrian cheered at this announcement. "Chocolate ice cream?" "Sorry. Carrot cake and vanilla ice cream. One for Ferric, and one for the rest of you." Ferric grinned at the looks she got for that. "Hey, I can eat ten helpings of dinner, I earn ten helpings of dessert. If you don't think it's fair, -you- eat ten helpings of dinner." Nandi chuckled. "She's got a point. So let's sing Happy Birthday and get to the cake, already." THE END Colmaton Universe is the intellectual property of Train. Bureau of Superheroes, Morningstar, Techrat/Jacob Randall, Vortex, Medic Mouse, Nandi, Ranger, Preceptor, Power Pig are the intellectual property of Mojorover Cursed/Adrian Tolkaz and Nibble are the intellectual property of Ariaz Chromatic/Jeremy Michaels is the intellectual property of JRCarter Phenomenon/Sarah Mickser is the intellectual property of ChronoC Wireless Mouse is the joint property of BossHoss and Arvanas_sorrat Artemis, the Halifax Academy and staff, Indigo/Amity Bennett, Molly Pitcher (ret), and Endopossum are the property of Arvanas_sorrat Buck Rocket and Dark Starr are the property of BossHoss Sergeant Smash is the property of Wolfrider MinuteVixen is the property of samgodwsc Brittania is the property of Leoni2 Other major characters are the property of the writer.