StarChaser: Another (18+)

Siria finished casting her Sylvant Obfuscation Spell, so long as the party remained fifty feet of the spell’s radius, anyone looking their way would only see little birds or forest animals, which from this distance up on the cliffs rendered them practically invisible. Their sounds too would be replaced with animal noises, the sounds of twittering birds up a cliff would attract no undue attention, especially not in the morning when every bird was loudly trumpeting to all that where they nested was their sacred territory.

It wasn’t a perfect disguise however, but the considering everyone had sent good ex-soldiers up the forest to keep watch and that most of the bandits were up by the river gathered around and catching up, the sight of a motley crew of forest animals peering over some rocks if they saw them at all, with the bright morning sun shining in their eyes was too hard to notice even if someone had been forewarned.

Ingrid took note of the town. Like Selfir it had a few two-storey structures though most of the roofs were made of ceramic tile instead of thatch. Irons before it was taken over by bandits lived off the river teeming with fish as well as from the forests and valleys adjacent hunting for game. The rich soil, while not having enough room for farming provided excellent clay and iron ore to get their kilns and forges running, which in turn changed to gold as traveling merchants came and went.

She looked over to her right where the incline leading down sloped off to the right-hand side of the town’s rear. A few small huts were gathered by the base, sending forth smoke that probably ensconced fresh game brought from the depths of the forest. To the left side of her vantage point was a pig pen and a few chicken-like birds, the only animals that could do without fodder, living off the scraps of everyone’s table. She was tempted to take them to Autumnhollow but that was one of the many things that needed to wait.

Ahead lay the town proper. More like a little hamlet, the roads were mostly scattered loose gravel and sand on bare dirt for traction. Tall wood fences bordered each territory, no doubt those who settled here came for the privacy of being in such an out-of-the-way location, and thus having to live with others meant putting up fences where the boards had no space in between. It was topped with a decorative lining that reminded her of a viking aesthetic.

Not all such houses had these however, with Ingrid noting some had had theirs torn or taken down, probably by the bandits, either during their attack on the town or afterwards, perhaps to serve as some kind of cluster for other things such as an impromptu smith while the others around it were converted to storehouses. One such house on the left-hand side had way too many chimneys which marked it to her as either it being converted into an impromptu bar or a workman’s shop.

Farther ahead, she could see the town had no organization when it was built, no doubt from people coming over and taking whatever area they fancied. This worked to her team’s advantage as it meant there weren’t long stretches of road that people could peek through.

 

“Strategy time!” Ingrid called, indicating for everyone to gather around.

“We’ll take the right-hand side of the town first. Overwatch team will be Philia, Siria, Arthur, Sully, Neith and Nod. Philia, you take command.” she said.

“Got it.” Philia replied.

“Clearing team will be me and Iroquois, we will clear out all nearby hostiles to make rescuing prisoners much easier. “ Ingrid continued. Then, she pointed at Kvaris.

“You’ll lead the Rescue Team. Take Kinu, Sammy, and Iohann along. Once you free prisoners, direct them but not escort them to the Overwatch team, their job will be to take out anyone trying to intercept the prisoners. I need you four to work together because some prisoners might be heavily guarded. Nod said some of them are kept for ransom, which means they command a pretty high price, therefore well-guarded.”

As everyone chorused their acknowledgments, Ingrid continued. “Cecil and I will clear out the houses near the area Nod marks as a possible holding site. The reason I want you four to work together is because you’ve all mentioned you’re not that well-versed in stealth. Therefore, your larger numbers and overwhelming force will play really well when it comes to quickly silencing enemies. Iohann is also a healer, so she’ll be needed to administer first-aid to those who cannot walk. Any questions?”

There were none, Siria then had cast a Chromal Dampening spell on the Rescue Team, which caused their colors to become faded and not stand out too much against the rocks and moss as they quickly jogged down the slope. The spell lasted only a short time but it was enough for them to reach the bottom before it wore off.

Ingrid on the other hand, needed no such spell. Upon signaling for the operation to begin, she leapt down and Cecil dove after her, his portal pointing straight down. He wasn’t falling however and despite the disorienting sight of the ground coming up to meet them, the gravity of Cecil’s room ruled with impunity.

The mice were a little taken back by this but Cecil, who was used to playing video games had no such disorientation. After all, in between missions as a Starchaser familiar, he was a well-known V-tuber known as Slimeboi 238 and the world simply thought he was just an elaborate, realistic 3D model.

As Iroquois descended quickly he quietly called out to the team to fire at the guards below. Their silent pellet guns quickly took out the twelve bandits lounging beneath the cliff. Ten more were caught off guard as their comrades were suddenly riddled with holes and hammers turning their heads to jelly but had no time to even shout or draw their swords.

Ingrid had quickly landed, or rather used a forcefield to jettison herself towards one thief, then another, and another, all in quick succession, either punching a hole through them, tearing through the other with a flying kick, a flying backhand decapitating another followed by the next aura trampoline having Ingrid unleash an aerial spin kick that sliced through three of them.

The last bandit was able to let out the first part of his shout, which considering their banter a few seconds ago, had attracted no attention. Ingrid grabbed his face and levered him downwards, cracking his head on the hard ground below. The sound alone told her to not bother checking if he was still alive. Meanwhile, Cecil opened fire at another bandit coming out, drunkenly shouting for everyone to keep quiet as he had a headache. A pellet smashed into his side and before it exited the other side of his body, a big warhammer materialized and brutally smashed the back of his head, preventing him from even crying out.

Brody, sitting on Cecil’s right, took aim and fired a burst at another bandit walking from around a corner. The pellets tore through his body, knocking the wind out of him such that the hammers that ended his life weren’t even necessary as he couldn’t even shout out an alarm. The sounds of the pigs and chickens in their enclosure helped further muffle the sound.

___

The incline gently curved inwards, which would have left the Rescue Team visible as they climbed down. Ingrid and Cecil’s surprise attack from above prevented those guards near the pigpens from ewarning their distant comrades. As the Rescue Team heard one of the bandit’s cry out, they leapt the remaining thirty feet down and right onto the group of guards they were sneaking on.

The Enthana Sisters’ corseca’s, Sammy’s Silent Storm halberd, and Iohann’s Talon Pillar staff each took out a guard on the way down. As Kvaris was the nearest to her next opponent, she cut him down with a quick drawcut from her Blood Reaver scimitar. It drew not only blood but also the enemy’s mana, empowering her speed and reflexes, allowing her to close in to the next thief, and then the other, clearing out her sector and finishing with a kick to her Grand Caltrop, it’s unexpected nature caused her opponent to fail to see the high-velocity heavyweight spike ball rise up from a steep angle and catch him in the face.

Kvaris quickly turned her kick to a quick step forward and swung her Meteor Axe down once, then twice, cutting down three opponents in the process thanks to the axe’s huge heavy blade. Dashing forward, she zeroed in on a thief that had managed to avoid Sammy’s greatsword and impaled him with her Tempest Lancer sans the wind enchantment.

 

Around the time Kvaris began slicing away with her scimitar, Kinu brought down her Meteor Axe on her still unaware next opponent, his failure to know how the axe worked resulted in him being cut in two from left shoulder to right hip anyway. The aftermath of her striking posture put her into an optimal stance to charge forward, corseca in hand. Her chosen target managed to bring up a shield but the orihalcum blade punched through, the combination of her strength and the prongs providing extra push, caused the man’s arm to give and press the blade home, drawing his mana and allowing the blast of energy to blow a hole through him and his friend behind. Pressing forward, Kinu swung her flail, knocking off the heads of three opponents as well as their weapons and shields as they tried to bring them up.

A fourth rushed in really quick, hoping his quick dash would allow him to capitalize on Kinu’s long weapon, only for the flail and her shield to disappear. In their place was a sickle-like pick on each hand that allowed her to hook the opponent’s short sword away with one blade and slit his throat with the other.

From the periphery of her vision, an opponent was breaking off from his fight with Iohann and was trying to capitalize on blindsiding Kvaris. As her sister passed her she already saw the unspoken message and kept going anyway. Quickly, Kinu turned and kicked a Grand Caltrop, smashing into his side and allowing Iohann to quickly step in obliterate his head with her smoking end of her two-handed thurible flail.

 

Sammy leapt forward and smashed her Cataclysm Hammer onto her next opponent with such extreme downward force at the earthlings had they seen it expected the opponent to be cartoonishly compacted to just a head and two feet and comically shuffling around. Of course, that didn’t happen, long before organs were ruptured and broken bones punctured his insides with such agonizing pain the fatal head injury had long thrust him into blissful darkness.

This was followed by a lunge while Sammy swung the hammer horizontally and taking out her next target by hitting their head and chest. The Nightmane Orc warrior continued her spin, unsummoning her hammer and slicing away with her great sword on the next swing, this one came up low then angled upwards as she had already seen how her opponent was going to try to counter her next but her expertise in fencing followed by her inertial-backed speed rendered the riposte impotent.

Three more were rushing in, with the one in middle pushed back by the now-dead man, temporarily saving his neck as Sammy’s Guardian Swords then materialized and sliced in the same direction but from different angles, catching the two off-guard as they struck from unexpected venues.

The last in her way were five more opponents and the sight of her guardian swords forced them to hesitate, putting them into a lethal dose of hesitation that allowed Sammy’s halberd to cut through three of them and the Guardian swords take down the other two by slashing from opposite ends. The opponent that got knocked down earlier had gotten up quickly and that was when Kvaris ran him through with her Tempest lance. Sammy didn’t need to pay him any attention, she had another concern. In one smooth motion and finishing off her spin she turned and threw her spear, catching the unsuspecting bandit trying to attack Iohann from behind right in the neck.

 

Iohann was the last to attack of the four. Summoning her Blessed Thurible flail, her first swing was out of range but it didn’t matter. Holy fire lit up the sacred incense creating a smoke screen that allowed her to close the distance and bash away with two brutal swings as she masterfully swung her long two-handed flail in a circle twice. Continuing to close the distance she switched to Talon Pillar and rained a series of one-two blows.

She didn’t need to strike that hard, a combination of the electric shock administered by the staff’s gilded ends and the spectral tiger claw that struck in the opposite direction was all it needed to bring the sinner’s souls before the judgment of the Gods. The smoke filled their lungs rendering those who fended off the worst of Iohann’s flail strikes powerless.

One managed to get away but Iohann rushed towards another sinner who had escaped his chance of absolution from Sammy’s Sword. She saw Kinu kicking out her Grand Caltrop but not taking a chance in case she missed, she lunged forward and took his head, using her Blessed Thurible’s range to hit him before he could try anything clever on Kvaris. From the corner of her eye she saw the one thief who got away get skewered by Sammy’s spear. She nodded to the Orc in thanks, secretly keeping the fact hidden that even if he succeeded, he would suffer divine wrath from the Penitence Armor she kept active.

 

___

“Get that body right now.” HTX, Neith’s companion bot in Cecil’s room said urgently. The portal hurried over and Cecil reached out with a tendril to drag the body away from sight.

“This is Overlord, Sector Clear.” Cecil said quickly, scanning the portal from side to side.

“Starchaser Actual to rescue team, you are clear to move into the town. Over.” Ingrid said as she and Cecil found no more bandits lurking around the cliff-side area of the town called Irons.

“Nothing in these hunter huts but smoked meat. Wanna take them?” Kvaris said, Cecil could see her quickly peeking in.

“We’ll take those later on the way back.” Cecil said, adding as a joke “They need to cook for a little bit.”

“These are good spices, Overlord.” Kvaris said, sniffing inside “these folks are getting good products somewhere. These aren’t things you can get from here, that’s for sure.”

“Noted Anubis.” Philia replied. “Looks like our friends have better connections than we thought.”

“Overlord, we go house-to-house, take adjacent homes at the right side. Over.” Ingrid called. “Rescue team, stack up around the corner of that house near the huts.”

“Rog.” Cecil replied. He saw Ingrid point to one house and he hurried over to another next to it.

“Standby…” Ingrid said quietly, listening in. “No sound in my sector.”

“Multiple voices in mine.” Cecil said “Deploying jars.”

“Breach now.” Ingrid said.

As Cecil opened the door and chucked one of Cataline’s chloroform jars inside, Ingrid quietly opened the door to her house and quickly entered. She quickly looked around for anything of note, or any stray prisoners but found none.

“Empty, proceeding to next.” Ingrid said, entering the next house through the nearby window.

 

___
“All clear.” Cecil reported. As he threw the jar of gas down, he quickly entered and he and the team opened fire on the inhabitants. The portal to Cecil’s room was under his control and nothing without his permission could enter it, and that included knockout gas. Those that tried to shout ended up inhaling the gas and were left coughing before getting into the throes of losing consciousness. Brody summoned his glaive to slit their throats.

“Proceeding to next house.” Cecil said quietly. It was a two story house this time and Cecil flew into the open window of the second story. It seemed to be some kind of barracks judging from all the mats laying around and it was empty. Cecil heard footsteps approaching and he quickly pressed himself against the ceiling close to the door, the portal now pointing downwards, still causing the mice to subconsciously lean backwards but the outside world’s gravity had no sway over Cecil’s room.

A thief swaggered in, and it looked like he was either coming to retrieve some of his belongings or steal from one of his own. Cecil quickly grabbed him with a tendril, pulling half his body into his room. His heavy machinegun was off the side as they needed to be silent for now and his graft was absorbed back into his body.

As Cecil engulfed the bandit’s head and held him down, Eli and Brody stabbed him with their knives. Cecil then let him go, letting the gravity that still affected the lower half of his body drag him down.

Heading to the door, Cecil, poked a tendril out like a periscope, seeing if there were more coming. Voices of people talking were heard but nobody seemed to have any intention of coming up. He took another jar of chloroform and tossed it downstairs, saying in an innocent voice. “Oops! My bad, sorry guys!”

“Jared! You clumsy idiot! You-” And then the voices started coughing. Cecil quickly flew down and he and the mice opened fire on the five of them talking in the kitchen. Despite the gash obstructing the view, the mice’s vision was sharp enough to pick out the silhouettes of their targets and each fire a burst to the center of mass, letting the summoned hammers deal the fatal blow. The gas was starting to spread and he hurried across the ground floor, looking around for any other stragglers.

“Clear.” Cecil reported.

“Cecil get over here now!” Ingrid hissed urgently at the radio.

 

___

Earlier:

As Ingrid quickly entered through the other house’s window she heard the sound of squeaking mice and thought that Iroquios was in trouble. It wasn’t the case. There were six calico-furred Tixi Mice indignantly trying to bash their way through a metal cage.

“Shhhh…” Ingrid said, trying to calm the mice. One mouse, seeing Ingrid as a potential rescuer, quickly pawed at the latch of the cage’s door when a voice boomed around the corner.

“Oh shut up, you damned noisy-” A big burly man said, entering the room in annoyance. Ingrid then quickly grabbed him by the neck and smashed his face against the corner of the metal cage, causing him to crumble and groan in agony. His snout and some teeth was broken and blood was quickly pooling on the floor.

Angrily, Ingrid tore open the cage’s door, letting the mice out. She sat on her haunches and shushed the mice, trying to get them to calm down.
“Easy, easy, I got food for you guys, you been eating well?” Ingrid said, taking out all her garlic bread she got from the bandits earlier.

The man stirred and Ingrid pulled him and slammed his head against the floor, broken snout first.

“You be quiet now.” Ingrid said to the man as the calico mice ravenously ate to restore their strength. They looked a little thin but not malnourished. The man quietly whimpered in agony.
Ingrid quickly took out from her traveler’s valise more rations to feed the mice. As the rodents ate she put her finger to her lips. “Shhhh...don’t let them hear you.”

Thankfully, the mice understood her and stopped their squeaking.

“Cecil, get over here now!” she hissed down the line. One of the mice came over and sniffed her. Ingrid slowly held out her hand and the mice held it in his paws and licked her.

“Awww...thanks for trusting me…. You shut up!” Ingrid turned and with her other hand, bashed the man’s head against the floor as he tried to get up.

 

“What is it...ooooh…Iroquois out!” Cecil said as he hovered in from the window. Eli, Brody, and Ralph hopped out and the mice sniffed each other, excitedly socializing. They curiously fidgeted with the Iroquois armor and guns, somehow they understood not to undo them. Quickly the calico mice all swarmed Ingrid and Cecil with excited squeaks and hugs. Ingrid channeled her Mana into the mice, using her Chiron aura to restore some of their mana which in turn helped accelerate their body’s healing factor.

“I-ingrid!” Cecil said… “They’re bonding with us!”

“G-guys… if you’re coming with us, you may need to fight…” Ingrid said, giggling at the ticklish sensation as the mice nuzzled her affectionately.

The calicos jumped up and down chirping and squeaking, then they all took turns putting their paws around Eli, Brody, and Ralph. As they did so, Ingrid felt a small surge of power.

“Eli… did they just join the swarm?”

In response the mice summoned glaives.

Ingrid sighed.

“This is Starchaser Actual to team, we have recruited more mice. Callsign Calico…”

As Ingrid explained the situation, the Iroquois mice hurriedly pushed their newfound friends into the portal of Cecil’s room, breaking out more rations and water for the mice to refresh themselves. As the mice passed throught the portal, clumps of dust, dirt, and filth collided with the portal’s barrier and dropped to the floor, scraping the mice clean.

 

___

Meanwhile:

After their surprise attack, The Rescue Team made their way near the corner of the designated house, with Kinu leading the way with her sense of smell. They saw a pretty large gathering of bandits drinking but their movement and fluent speech told them not to assume they were too buzzed to fight properly.

“Sector clear, Rescue Team, you are clear to attack when ready.” Ingrid said on the radio.

“Hold it! Rescue Team has sighted a pretty large group drinking out, do you have a visual, Overwatch?” Zefir said.

“Rescue Team, hold position.” Philia said, “let us get a visual of your enemies.”

“Holding, King Fish.” Kinu said, motioning for everyone to wait a bit.

Neith spoke up next, it took her only a few seconds to calculate their position. “King Fish and 189, set your sights on the target house’s north-east by the corner. The one by the red fence.”

The mice squeaked and Philia then told the team over the radio “Rescue team attack in three…two…one!”

 

Kinu, Sammy, and Kvaris’ Grand Caltrops sailed into the air at high speeds and embedded itself onto the heads of the drinking thieves looking away, those who managed to turn around in time were put down with a combination of the Enthana Sister’s multiplying throwing axes and Sammy’s spear.

It was then that the rest of the partygoers suddenly were riddled with holes as Philia, Arthur, and Sully opened fire.

“Clear.” Kinu said. “Breaching house now.”

The door to the storehouse which contained some prisoners quickly opened, wondering if the guys outside were infighting again. The lookout however, found himself quickly speared in the chest with Kinu’s corseca, an enchanted war hammer turning his head into a bloody stump and preventing him from even crying out. Kvaris and Sammy rounded into the room and used their polearms to make a series of rapid-fire strikes, taking out the six guards loitering inside.

Iohann hurried to the middle, her Talon Pillar staff cracking her target’s head in one strike, and the ensuing spectral tiger claws striking this throat next. The man behind him had his head caved in as Iohann’s two-handed flail bore down on his skull. Their coordinated attack was over in a few seconds and Sammy was looking at a motley group of people in simple clothes, no doubt their original apparel long been snatched away or have fallen into disuse. Fortunately, apart from being a little under-fed they weren’t sustaining any bad injuries.

“Anubis to Overwatch, we’ve found some prisoners. We’re sending them up the cliff-side.” Kvaris said quietly. Kinu stood watch outdoors as the rest helped the others up.

“Acknowledged, Anubis.” Philia replied. “Tell them to hug the cliff-side so we can see them.”

 

___

“This is No- I mean Watchtower, your next area is that big mansion with the green roof up ahead, I know they keep prisoners there.” Nod said over the radio. He wondered what kind of team had Siria Bluethorne threw in her lot with. They all operated with the efficiency of assassins thanks to their ability to shoot from extreme distances and communicate with everyone to coordinate their actions. He then realized that perhaps Philia was in fact a member of the Order of Baal; Elion-Nosco’s assassin’s guild considering her brutal but effective way of extracting information, and as a rogue he knew as well as any mage or general that information was worth a thousand swords.

 

___

“Rescue team, take that house west of the store house.” Ingrid said. “Overlord, secure the house beside it, I’ll take the house behind.”

“Roger” Kvaris and Cecil chorused. The Rescue team stacked up by the backdoor of the house and heard voices.

“I’ll take the front door and pose as one of them.” Kvaris said. “Back me up Kinu. Sammy and Iohann take the backdoor and start swinging.”

“Got it.” Sammy tapped Iohann’s shoulder and they pressed themselves along the wall.

Kinu kicked the door open, annoyedly asking “Hey! Where’s my ale!? Boss said it was placed here, where is it?” she said in mock-anger.

“These idiots are hiding, sis!” Kinu barged in angrily.

“What ale, and who ar-” once said, rising from his table when suddenly Kvaris pointed at the man leaning furthest from the wall.”

“Yeah, it’s him! That’s the little fucker who took the ale!” Kvaris said, letting Kinu know she was going to kick her Grand Caltrop to him.

“Nah, it was that guy!” Kinu yelled, indicating her target, “I saw him last night!”

Before anyone could protest the sisters simultaneously kicked their Grand Caltrop towards their target, the lightweight ball sailed ahead at great speed before turning into a heavy spiked ball, with it’s speed and it’s weight it struck their targets hard on the head, creating an open fracture at the front and back for Kvaris’ target and left and right for Kinu’s.

Well before the Grand Caltrops hit, Kvaris raised her hand and brought down her Meteor Axe, the height of the ceiling allowed her to bring it to play and her quick step forward was all it needed to slice the man in two from left shoulder to right hip. Meanwhile, Kinu summoned her corseca and impaled her target, the resulting mana-fueled energy spike erupting from the blade took out another bandit behind him before the original target’s head was caved it with her Companion Rogue Shillelagh’s Warhammer enchantment.

As the Grand Caltrops embedded both men’s heads to the wall, the rest of the thieves had their hands barely halfway reaching for their swords when the sisters swapped weapons. This time it was Kvaris spearing a thief in the throat when she summoned a corseca from thin air, the angle of her strike pierced through the head of the man behind her target. At the same time, Kinu’s Meteor axe caught her target’s left shoulder and sliced all the way down. She then turned to the side and kicked out another Grand Caltrop, breaking through a thief’s sword just as he drew it, the metal shards getting into his eyes before the heavy steel spike ball obliterated his head.

As she kicked out her metal ball a thief was about to swing his sword at her but she didn’t need to do anything as her sister’s multiplying throwing axe embedded itself deep into his head while one of its facsimiles sliced his sword arm off. This in turn let Kinu leap forward with her shield out,blocking the remaining trio’s sword strikes before retaliating with a vicious swing of her flail.

 

____

As Sammy heard the fight commence, she and Iohann sprung into action. Opening the door, she brought her great sword out and skewered through two of them, the immense pain in their impaled guts knocked the wind out of them rendering them unable to cry out in agony. Continuing to run until her victims were pinned to the wall, and two thieves in the way were cut down as Sammy’s Guardian Swords materialized and struck as Sammy closed the distance.

As she her two impaled targets to the wall, this brought her close to another thief who attempted to stab her with a dagger, but Sammy unsummoned her weapon and parried his forearm with one hand, and with the other, punched him in the gut, deploying her war gauntlet’s hidden blade in the process, her hands moved so fast that he only felt a crack in his forearm as Sammy broke it with her sheer strength while knocking his arm and and then his vision quickly turned dark as a hot searing pain shot through his abdomen and quickly spread throughout his body. By the time his head hit the floor he was already out from the shock.

Wasting to time, Sammy turned to Iohann’s direction and threw a spear at one thief attempting to blindside her, and a Grand Caltrop sailed through the air to fatally fracture another’s skull, causing the big bullywug bandit to totter about with blood spraying from his head, his mind already long gone.

 

Around the time Sammy rushed in, Iohann turned around to the side and swung her two-handed flail sideways, splattering two thieves’ heads against the wall. Her third target off to the center of the room was hit in the gut with her Talon Pillar staff, causing a spectral tiger claw to rake his back. It hit his spine, causing the thief to collapse to the floor, fatally bleeding out as he was paralyzed. With the other end of her staff she did the same for the other thief behind the two who’s head now splattered the walls. The ensuing tiger claw strike didn’t sever his spinal cord but the agony allowed Iohan to follow up with a strike to his ribs, with the followup claw strike tearing a hole open to the opposite side.

The five thieves on the opposite end of the room rushed the two angrily.

“You goddamn filthy-” The bandit’s tirade was cut short when Iohann’s two-handed flail appeared out of nowhere as she brought her arms up and smashed him in the head from above. Two of them were then caught off-guard when Sammy’s projectiles blindsided them, leaving Iohann to deal with the remaining two.

It was then that Sammy saw Iohann’s talent with the quarterstaff as she effortlessly fended off the rest; a quick strike as the felmoon cleric alternated between one end of the staff with another broke their forearms or wrists and the ensuing tiger claw severed it off allowing Iohann to finish off both with a swing of her mace.

As Iohann made a quiet prayer for the fallen, the door leading to the room where the Enthana sisters were fighting burst open as Kinu’s flail knocked the dying thief into the room. Iohann laid her hand on his forehead. A section of his chest was gouged out and he knew he was done for.

“P-please sister…” the dying thief said, recognizing her as a cleric. “plead m-my mercy t-to the G-Gods…”

Iohann nodded her head and looked up at Sammy who stepped over him holding up her greatsword.

“You lived a thief, now die a warrior. By the Valiant God, die by the sword.”

Sammy plunged her blade into his heart and Iohann closed his eyes as the man gurgled and coughed. It was over quickly. Kinu pressed on her earpiece. “House clear.”

“Clear too.” Ingrid said. “Sent up an unexpected prisoner in this house.”

“Overlord here, all clear too.” Cecil said. “The Calico mice are looking at the guns funny, I think they like M-14’s.”

“What’s so good about them?” Siria asked.

“Aren’t those the ancient guns you mentioned that were quite accurate?” Sammy asked.

“That’s correct. In my world some have been modified for designated marksmen.” Cecil replied.

“I’m liking what I hear,” Kvaris said, taking the thieves' belongings. “Overlord we are dumping the thieves’ loot by this house’s first room. Pick them up when ready.”

“I’m quite tempted to see Arthur, Sully, and Philia shoot with such guns but that will attract too much attention, nobody’s expecting a dead man in a party after all…” Zefir said.

“Can’t… unless a fight breaks about among them.” Philia said. “Right now we can only shoot those near the cliff sides since they won’t be seen.”

 

___

“Rescue Team, Overlord, head to my location, I found something…” Ingrid said, “I can’t seem to make heads or tails out of this but it definitely sounds enchanted… let me send a video to Overwatch.”

There was a pause while Phiila and Siria had a look.

“Ingrid, take those.” Siria said quickly. “That totem will look good in Cecil’s Room.”

“What’s in it?” Ingrid asked, hearing the sound of her team climbing down the hidden trapdoor she left open for them to find. She waved at them, and gestured for everyone to have a look around the hidden storeroom in the otherwise humble-looking cottage.

“We jokingly call those Invasion Totems.” Siria said “It modifies the spells that deal with spatial magic. If you put those in Cecil’s room, it may enhance the portals.”

“I can give it a try…” Cecil said as he moved the Dialogue Window portal to the designated Enchantment Shelf. Ingrid then hefted the heavy totem onto the shelf. It had a rather baroque-looking design for it’s base; so richly decorated it seemed to be overcompensating for the simple looking cellar this miserable little cottage had. The inlays however all had the same theme, depicting armies marching through a portal. Atop the base was a round frame that Siria explained was pure orihalcum inlaid with various runes and something like multicolored tree sap poured over it. Just by looking at the orihalcum circle and strangely enough, the colorful tree sap she could feel it radiating magic.

“Gate Totems, unsurprisingly enough.” Philia said. “The technology so to speak, to manipulate portal and teleportation magic isn’t quite there yet Ingrid. No fast travel for us, that’s for sure, but it likely works by shrinking a portal and redistributing that portal ‘mass’ into separate ones.”

Cecil paused. “I can expand my portal size that’s for sure… so you’re saying I can use these to open up new ones?”

“Hopefully it does. Channel your mana into it then place it into your room, it should react with your portal and allow you to open up some new windows.” Philia said. “Judging from the design that looks like ancient Elion-Nosco made, all that overdecoration to mask how small the craftsman’s penis is.” she added with a chuckle and was joined by everyone else.

“You mean like how some people make their car mufflers extra noisy just to sound cooler?” Zefir chortled.

“People think a noisier engine makes you impressive?” Kvaris said incredulously. “I can’t imagine the ATV…oh I get it now, you make your vehicle sound noisier to make others think your vehicle’s magic core is stronger than it looks?”

“Exactly!” Ingrid giggled. She channeled some of her mana through and true enough she started feeling a resonance from the orihalcum ring mounted on the base.

“You might need to give it a little more juice, Ingrid, you’ll know it’s activated when you actually see a mini portal open from it.” Philia said. “Hopefully it opens up to my old man’s treasury…” she muttered.

“No pain, no gain.” Ingrid sighed and gently eased in mana into the orihalcum. She could feel something responding to the influx of mana.

“Why would they still have this?” Sammy said “This should have been sold for hundreds of gold already.”

“It’s Elion-Nosco, Sammy.” Philia said. “If someone from there finds it sitting in some Velesian noble’s display cabinet that noble’s gonna be found with his throat slit the next night and the totem missing. If we ask around in Elion-Nosco if anyone’s missing a totem they’ll arrest and torture us trying thinking we’re the thieves and just want to ransom it.”

“So they’re probably looking for a go-between.” Cecil said as Ingrid had finished powering up the totem. A small portal appeared. It however didn’t show anything on the other side, except for a shimmering water-like dimension. As she placed the totem down, Cecil and the mice suddenly felt a surge of power envelop them.

“See if you can do something with your portals Cecil, try opening up new ones.” Siria suggested.

“Give me a bit to figure this out…” Cecil replied.

As the Starchaser’s familiar tried to work out his new powers, Iohann picked up something, it was a blue orb in latticework of decorative metal. A couple of straps hung from it and Iohann fastened it to her belt.

“What’s that?” Ingrid asked.

“It’s a summoning orb, and from the looks of it, it’s a Nyx Fish” she said. “It doesn’t seem like its been assigned a master but I can do it.” she added confidently.

“Don’t you need to like, socialize with the fish or something?” Ingrid asked.

“This is different,” she said quickly “These creatures have intelligence like people, probably higher. If an individual didn’t want to be summoned it wouldn’t appear in this orb in the first place. As a matter of fact, Nyx Fish are the creators of these orbs, you could say they do this for sport. They make these and throw them to the surface for us air-breathers to find.”

“What’s stopping them from turning on their summoners or friends?” Cecil asked, still figuring out his newfound magic.

“Iohann said they’re smart, so they’re not going to bite the hand that feeds them.” Ingrid guessed. “Though I have no idea if they want anything else in return while we’re not out fighting.”

“We don’t need to feed them, though it does appreciate food not found in their ocean.” Iohann said “Many people are still hesitant to use these which is why it’s found here and not used by the bandits. I just blessed mine as a sort of setting our bonafides.”

 

“Alright, that’s settled then.” Ingrid remarked, seeing no harm in calling on some fantasy shark or whatever it was… she could only see a faint outline of the long bodied-fish with multiple fins along it’s body. “Anything else that looks interesting here that we could use immediately?”

Kvaris shook her head. “These are mostly tools or ingredients for making them. Cataline, Siria, and Philia could make use of these.” she replied, shovelling them into Cecil’s room.

“Except for these, but this is more for Iohann actually.” Kinu held up some charms, “Monk Raptor greaves.”

“Not really…” Iohann said “Those require the wearer to register kicking techniques which I’m not proficient with.”

“Kicking techniques?” Ingrid asked.

“They summon a simulacrum which performs any registered kicking technique.” Kvaris replied, her tone indicating she didn’t find this useful either. Sammy shook her head as well.

“What if I do them, would Iohann inherit the attacks I use?” Ingrid asked.

“If you mean your ability to generate cutting shockwaves, no.” Philia said, apparently being familiar with the magic artifact. “But if you just mean techniques then it won’t be an issue.”

“Huh…” Ingrid said “Then why are these collecting dust? Sounds like perfectly good tools to use.”

“A couple of reasons…” Philia responded, “Most people don’t have your spammy Tae-Kwon-Do antics,” she said jokingly, referring to Ingrid’s best character in a certain 3D fighting game.

“Cope.” Cecil snickered, in his eyes, Ingrid was good enough to play competitive.

“I’ll warp in a Cope Button tomorrow, along with the Nut button.” Philia said with a hint of amusement. “...second they don’t have your monstrous constitution which is drawn from the user and second they scale off strength, it’s best to get it from a monk who’s actually registered techniques, good luck trying to steal that off of a monk though. Which means the only way these ended up in bandit hands was because they were fresh from the production line, so to speak.”

“So what happens if I put these on and do a couple of git gud moves and let Prophet wear it?” Ingrid asked.

“Since it’s scaling off of your stamina, it won’t feel as strenuous to her body. Second, while it’ll scale off of her strength, considering it’s using yours as a base, it'll probably strike with unrestricted force, you know, the adrenaline-filled strength that could shatter her own bones. All-in-all, considering she hits hard enough, her simulacrum’s kicks at 125% power will be just as good too.”

“Sounds bad though if it’s that kind of break-your-own-bones strength…” Ingrid remarked.

“No, that kind of backlash won’t happen to her, the only thing it takes out of her is the relative amount of vitality needed to perform those techniques, since you’ll be doing them, it’s probably no more strenuous to her than taking a few steps.” Philia explained.

“Want it, Iohann? Won’t take me long to register a couple of moves now.” Ingrid proposed.

“Very well Ingrid,” Iohann took the proffered charms and tied them around Ingrid’s shins. She then stepped back for room as Ingrid did a quick warm up on her legs.

“A couple of things to keep in mind, Starchaser Actual.” Philia said “The summoned simulacrum has a minimum range of one pace around Prophet and a maximum of eight, so plan your attacks accordingly. Next, you need to channel your mana while thinking of registering the technique and finally you need to name the technique.”

“Osu!” Ingrid said, crossing her fists to her chest and sharply bringing them to either side of her hips.

 

As Ingrid performed a sudden double sweep kick, Philia noticed another artifact that made her eyes widen.

“Anubis, take that one!” She said excitedly “That’s an Amulet of Designation.”

“Sounds familiar…” Kvaris said, picking up the amulet. “What are you planning?”

“Baseplate wears it, and then assigns it to some other party member, like Kitty-Five. It temporarily transfers his ability to summon his table box.” she explained.

“Very well,” She said, scanning around. “What’s with this dressform?” she asked, wondering why this mannequin of a body wasn’t adorned with anything.

“That’s…” Philia had a giggle “S-sorry, it’s just that it’s such a situational magic tool but with the table box, it no longer is.”

“Why is that?” Kvaris queried.

“That’s an Rhokalian invention though it was quickly phased out due to it being impractical, you put armor around it and it lets the people who are registered to it inherit the armor’s protection, like what some of you have.” she replied “There’s two reasons it never caught on. First, the range is ridiculously short, and it interfered with such armor that already did the same thing. It was meant for people to keep in their room…”

“Put it on Iroquois Room, problem solved.” Ingrid said as she quickly stepped forward and spun around, bringing up her leg lashing downwards with a sudden vicious axe kick.

“Right, but I still need to improve that one’s range. The second problem is that people who wear similar armor like our Enthana girls and Sammy interfere with it’s effectiveness. Back in Elion-Nosco I had been trying to get it compatible since I’m using the same kind of protection as they are.”

“How has that been going?” Kinu was now interested.

“So-and-so, I’ll probably need a few days to get back to it. It was the last thing I was working on when I left the country, my focus had been to give the worn armor precedence, after all, that is the more important protection. Another thing is that it’s quite allergic to enchanted armor and metal. But it worked properly even though I layered a lot of gambesons around it.” Philia replied.

“Might I interest you with some Miqoan vests?” Arek spoke. “They’re natural plant fiber with comparable toughness to carbon fiber.”

“You’d do that, Arek?” Cecil asked incredulously, it sounded quite expensive.

“Better there than here, Overlord.” Arek’s mandible bristled against each other in his analogue for a sigh. “I’m going to run out of mothballs because these babies smell like a barbecue to them and nobody here on Earth wants to buy these. Probably because it’s extremely flammable, so Kingfish, what happens if the wearer is subjected to heat?”

“Heat or any elemental effects are irrelevant, Arek, as the only force that gets transferred is physical impact. At least for this dressform’s magic.“ Philia replied.

“Cool, I’ll send these over. I blame you guys for having me paint a pentagram in my basement.” Arek’s mandibles rapidly clicked around in a gulan’s way of expressing amusement.

“Thanks, Arek!” Ingrid replied as she quickly dashed low along the ground then delivered a fast, full-length upward back kick, choosing this move as it would sucker punch (or kick) an unsuspecting opponent thinking the simulacrum would hit high.

“Alright, I think that’s enough special moves for now.” Ingrid said “oh and here’s one for the road, Muay Thai’s killer tool… Teep!” She then performed a front kick which was more of a pushing than snapping or thrusting motion.

“An excellent push back tool to keep your opponent in the optimal distance.” Ingrid explained. “Alright, let’s-” Ingrid suddenly broke into giggles as one of the calico mice opened a portal near her and nuzzled her ear. “Q-quit that!” she said, reaching in and loving giving the mouse a scratch behind the ears. The other Calicos crowded her hand and rubbed their heads on it.

“Figured it out.” Cecil said belatedly, "I got four additional portals open by now and it looks like I can give that ability to the mice… as you’ve noticed, that wasn’t me opening up that portal.” As he spoke the Iroquois mice pulled the Calicos away and started showing them the guns, possibly to teach them.

“Looks like our mice are showing the newbies how to shoot.” Ingrid remarked.

“Overlord, get them to use the pellet guns first.” Philia said.

“We got two more of the MP5’s” Cecil replied, glancing at the gun rack. “Unless you got more back at Autum- I mean Hotel Bravo…”

“Check those PPSH submachine guns.” Philia said. “They should be pellet guns too.”

“They are?” Cecil said incredulously, he snatched one with a tendril and true enough, it wasn’t a real gun.

“Nice!” He said, “and now our Calico friends are armed!.”

Ingrid, who had been thinking, suddenly said “Charles, Aiden, Lester, Ian, Chris, and Oscar.”

“That’s their names?” Kvaris said. “Well, I’ll remember them soon enough, let’s get them further equipped back at Selfir later.”

“Have Calico man the four new portals you made.” Ingrid said. “The other two can sit with Ralph at the coffee table.”

 

Back out of the cellar, the team carefully peeked out of the cottage’s window. Across the street was the big mansion that held prisoners. As they moved about they quickly learned that the Calico portals were tethered to a short distance around Cecil’s but apart from that, could move and turn freely around.

“Baseplate, get Oberon at the indicated house, over.” Ingrid said, tapping the laser pointer button on her tac-cam. It was the largest house in the village. “Rescue Team, standby we will take this house together.”

“Roger, Starchaser.” Kvaris replied. Ingrid saw her and her team sneak by the ally perpendicular to her position.

“Oberon has eyes on your house, procceed.” Zefir replied. Ingrid looked up and saw the drone hovering above it.

“Overlord, take the second floor.” Ingrid instructed. “Rescue team, find a backdoor to get into.”

“And where will you be?” Kvaris asked.

“I’ll take a leaf out of your page and take the front door.” she said. “189, two tangos by the front door, kill them.”

The two burly minotaurs that stood by the door suddenly crumpled as Arthur and Sully’s hyperaccelerated bullets erased their heads.

“Goddamn.” Zefir said over the radio. “They’re great shots!”

“And one hell of a spell from Siria.” Ingrid said, “we heard nothing.” quickly, she dashed in and threw the minotaurs into some nearby bushes. The Rescue Team took the alley, cutting across the street quickly into an alley that led to the back of the mansion.

“Patrol coming in, Starchaser, get in now!” Zefir said. Soundlessly, Ingrid slipped inside just in time to see three guards walking over to see what it was that flew by their window. Ingrid dashed in and swung a haymaker full-on at the nearest guard, obliterating his body from the shoulders up, the first spray of blood barely reached the next guard as Ingrid dashed in did a lariat that took his head clean off and the third barely had enough time to breath in and shout an alarm when Ingrid slid low across the ground and took his head off with a single uppercut.

 

Meanwhile, Cecil threw in another chloroform jar down the window as he flew in, ignoring the occupants who coughed and wheezed, as he flew in, Ralph, Brody, and Eli fired off at coughing occupants, silencing them permanently. The Calico’s aim were less accurate but apparently their seniors had given instructions to simply fire at the center of mass and let the summoned warhammers do the job.

“Overlord to Starchaser and Rescue Team, do not climb up, second floor has been gassed.” Cecil said, ambushing another curious guard that entered the room by pulling him up to his room for Brody to stab in the heart. Cecil let him go and the guard dropped to the floor with a thud. Peeking quickly through the door with a tendril, he hugged the ceiling while pointing the portal downwards, letting the guards that come through suffer the effects of the gas before adjusting the portal so it was right-side up and his team opened fire on them from behind.

“This is Overlord, one bedroom clear, proceeding across the mezzanine to master bedroom now.” Cecil said as he flew across the second-floor’s landing. Poking a tendril through he could see an annoyed man writing on his desk and a few bodyguards sitting restlessly as they start to catch onto some quiet, low-key commotion happening around them.

“Possible high value target writing on his desk.” Cecil said, quickly drawing his tendril back.

“Bag him.” Philia said. “This group does have more chapters.”

“I’ll take anyone going up the stairs, proceed Overlord.” Ingrid said over the sounds of fists smashing against bodies.

Cecil quickly and quietly turned the knob to find it locked. It wouldn’t stop him however. As a slime, his ability to squeeze parts of himself into small spaces was child’s play. A tender slithered into the keyhole and soon enough the latch slid back. Simultaneously, he opened the door while flying in.

Cecil and the mice fired off in quick succession turning the bodyguards into a red mist of gore and bloodied bone fragments. With multiple gunners the bodyguards were no match and caught off-guard. As Cecil flew in, one guard who was hiding lunged forward, but Cecil’s caddy-mounted camera caught sight of him. Without bothering to turn his way, Cecil said “Calico” and one of the satellite portals wheeled around and shot the would-be backstabber.

“Hands up where we can see them, or we will shoot.” Cecil said. “This is your only warning.”

“HTX to Team, Overlord has apprehended HVT” Neith said via the radio, but not through her companion drone’s speakers so as not to talk over Cecil.

“Standby Overlord…” Philia replied, she had glanced at her tablet to see Cecil’s feed.

“He’s healthy, tranq him.” Philia replied. At once, Ralph picked up his designated tranquilizer rifle and shot the HVT.

“Should I take any documents?” Cecil asked.

“Only the ones on the table. Do not open any drawers.” Philia said. “I’ve booby trapped mine back in Elion-Nosco and some involve magic.”

“Yeesh.” Cecil replied. “Right, I don’t want that to get into my room.” He then quickly swiped the contents of the desk into his room. The calico mice industriously brought them further into the roofdeck without any instruction.

 

___

Kinu put her hand on the knob and then nodded to Iohann, Sammy and Kvaris, who signaled her to open it. Quickly, she pulled it open, stepping back to let the three of them in. They were in some kitchen where a frightened slave stepped back. Sammy quickly grabbed her arm and put a finger to her own lips.

“Head to the cliff up there. Hurry now!” Sammy said firmly. The goat-like slave quickly and quietly scuttled away. “Rescue Team to Overwatch, one slave heading up.”

“Acknowledged, Rescue Team.” Philia replied.

“Hey Arlo! When are you going to get me my lu-” The big beefy orc couldn’t finish his sentence as Kvaris, who waited perpendicular to the door waited for the orc to stride in before summoning her Meteor Axe to cleanly cut him in two. It made a thudding sound as the axe smashed into the floor. Then, she and Kinu used their Thri-Kreen claws into one half of his body and drag him away.

Sammy went over to one door and heard Ingrid quickly taking out guards, she pointed to the Rescue Team to take another door, they stacked up first as Ingrid instructed them to, then quickly went inside.

“Team, we are heading down to a cellar now.” Kinu advised the others as they quickly and quietly went down the stairs with Kvaris leading the group as she had both a shield and a defensive forcefield around her that transferred all damage to her armor first. Sammy had one too but the Enthana Sisters had an extra layer thanks to their round shields. The cellar below was well stocked with barrels of wine. One door along the wall led to a storage of meat and nothing else of interest.

“Overlord.” Kvaris said “You may want to check out the cellar, lots of nice things to take here.”

“We’re thieves now. Anubis.” Cecil chuckled “making my way downstairs now.”

“Team, one door with voices, about to breach soon.” Sammy said quietly as one ear listened in. She withdrew from the door and motioned for everyone to stack up. Then, she rapped sharply on the door.

“Open up! The boss wants some of that fresh meat up!” Sammy called through the heavy wooden door to the cellar. The door opened a crack and it was all Sammy needed to wrench the door open. As she did so, Kvaris thrust out her corseca, the energy spike coming out of the blade shooting out and impaling the man behind him. At the same time, the Companion Rogue Shillelagh’s charm summoned a war hammer and just like the one around Ralph’s MP5, it pulped the man’s head.

Charging forward the Enthana sisters ran in seemingly unarmed except for shields and closing the distance. As the guards tried to strike them down the girls suddenly had scimitars in their hands, their razor-sharp orihalcum blades cutting through their armor.

After that first strike it became a blur as the sisters quickly closed the distance performing a hypnotic series of flowing drawcuts, getting faster and faster as they did. In ten seconds the guards lay dead and the prisoners inside finally could draw a scream of terror.

Meanwhile, as the Enthana sisters rushed in, Sammy and Iohann pressed in from the sides. Sammy’s ability to switch from her halberd and greatsword prevented the guard’s from being able to parry, all it did was reposition Sammy’s arms to a favorable striking stance and make the killing blow. Of the eight she fought, only two managed to knock her halberd and sword away which in turn left them open to an ironic riposte.

Likewise, Iohann’s two-handed flail was a weapon that required specialized armor to withstand, which the guards had none of, these heavy swings of her flail were mixed with lightning quick strikes of her Talon Pillar staff as she pushed onwards to get in range of her mace. Not that she ever got to use it as they all fell victim to the other two.

“It’s time for all of you to stand free once again.” Sammy called to the prisoners. Iohann hurried over to someone who was bleeding badly. This man looked like he had been badly beaten up.

 

“Baseplate to Starchaser we have one injured prisoner, Iohann’s healing him. Over.” Zefir said, looking through Kvaris’ tac-cam.

“Roger, Baseplate.” Ingrid replied. She peeked out of the window and saw some bandits looking in from the bars of the gate.

“Two tangos looking in from the gate, I think the absence of the guards has tipped them off to something weird.” she said quietly. “Can you shoot?”

“Standby.” Philia replied. “They’re in view of six…now eight tangos chatting up a storm on the other end of the street. Advise you jump out of the door and pick a fight with them. 189 and I will snipe.”

“10-4” Ingrid acknowledged. In mock-anger she threw open the door yelling “Hey! You! And you! Snooping around here, you’re pissing off the boss upstairs! What’s wrong with you?” she strode in quickly giving them no time to mentally process what was going on. She wrenched open the gate and shoved one in the chest, ”I see your face again, I’m gonna cave it in!”

The two bandits must have been the town’s inhabitants as they resisted. They clearly didn’t recognize her and are still trying to figure out who this random girl was.

“H-hey!” One said, “What are YOU doing here, miss? That’s-”

 

___

As she went on with her fake tirade, Arthur, Sully, and Philia took aim with their guns, peering down the sights. The mice snapped in the second of their hybrid sights, the tube-like magnifying lens now looking right through the other.

The party didn’t know it but Tixi Mice were born hunters. Tool use via their intelligence drove them to befriend and copy other more sapient entities and learn from them. Granted their weapons were not used for hunting but killing, their brains made the connection between a ‘pointless inedible kill’ with more food later down the line. Besides, it was a weapon they could use to defend themselves. In their little minds, their “pack” was hunting, possibly raiding this hive cluster of valuable materials.

They saw the minotaur being senselessly mauled and smelled the anger that their pack felt. Infighting between swarms wasn’t unknown but Tixi Mice usually settled conflicts without such serious injuries and mostly through displays of threats. This unnecessary, uncalled for violence had apparently outraged their pack as well and were either trying to drive them away or hurt them in retaliation. Which of the two it was, mattered little to them. What they did know was that some of the pack were now sneaking into this hive and they were there to protect them.

At Philia’s signal, the mice went for the men by the edge of the group while Philia took center, the sound of gunshots was converted to the sounds of tree branches breaking or rocks falls, but nobody was nearby to hear it except for the slaves of the mansion running up the incline. The mice’s animal instincts honed in the wild combined with the technology of civilization produced a deadly accuracy. Sharp eyes trained to look for high-speed flying raptors or prey animals in hiding made aiming and predicting the direction of moving targets far away an easy task. Muscles used to keep still whether to avoid spooking prey or avoiding predators made adjusting their aim child’s play.

“Ho-lee shit.” Zefir said. “Starchaser, you need to give the mice a treat. They’re aimbots!”

“Agreed, these two need some big delicious steak.” Philia said, keeping her eye on the sights as she plugged the remaining three bandits with her FN FAL rifle. It’s high caliber and long barrel gave it the same capability for the 189’s newer SCAR-FN rifles.

“You should have seen Iroquois shut off targets in a room full of green smoke.” Cecil said. “I ended up breaking a few glass windows and pottery but these bad boys saw through it like it was light steam-Awww… thanks guys.” Cecil’s voice melted as the mice gave him loving pats with their soft plushy paws.

 

___

“Everyone gets a treat.” Ingrid said, she was holding the two errand boys, as she learned what they are, firmly by the shoulder.

The two bandits looked at each other wide-eyed wondering who she was talking to. It looked like some invisible servant was whispering news to her ear, but now her eyes were right on both of them.

“D-don’t hurt us please!” one squeaked. “We’re just-”

“Drop your weapons and go up that cliff side and behave.” Ingrid said. Her voice was gentle but firm.”If you don’t…” Ingrid turned her head and winked and suddenly a section of the wall burst, peppering the two errand boys with shattered bits of debris, causing them to cry out in fear.

“If you don’t…the forest spirits will make you their lunch.”

The two gulped and then hastily ran up the incline, throwing away their knives from their sheaths.

“Rescue Team to Starchaser, we’re coming up.” Sammy said “Overlord is still packing away the pantry in his room, and I’m taking this Eich-”

“HVT” Cecil said.

“Right. Rescue Team fall back as a group. Overlord and I will take the left-hand side now.”

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S02E05 Glossary

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INDEX: The Whales' Party Sheet