As the quartet of Red Scarves get near the front, the cacophony of battle hits the ears of the felid and the canid first, but it's not long before the mustelid and the erinaceid hear the same. The group halts a quarter mile from the front to plan their insertion.
"I thought I'd be ready for this," Sally admits. "I've had military training. But I'm not ready. Not even slightly."
"You're not the only one," Danny admits in return. "If only Rob was with us: he's the only one of us with any experience."
"What about when we helped get Shang Mu and Shang Tu into Shuigang during the Brevon Crisis?" Maria asks.
"We helped breach the walls," Danny reminds. "That's not quite the same thing."
"So, we all volunteered to drive out an army, and none of us have experience," Sally summarises.
"Yep," Danny confirms.
"Stick with me, Sally," Xander suggests. "Hopefully, the Water Crystal will shield us both," he adds, earning a nod of approval from Danny.
"And me and Maria will take point," Danny decides.
"W‑We will?" Maria stammers.
"We have the Crystals protecting us," Danny assures. "In fact, it's already detected your fear, and given you armour."
Maria looks down at herself to see she's now dressed in flexible yet tough wooden armour. "Ooh! I look like a tree again! Still no pretty leaves though."
"We have more important things to worry about," Danny reminds. "Now, let's get moving."
Danny and Maria lead Xander and Sally to the front, leaving their vehicles safely hidden in a convenient alleyway just a few hundred yards behind. As they work through the defensive line, Danny and Maria gather intelligence about the enemy deployment. By the time the enemy is in view, Danny has formulated a plan.
Before entering the fight, Danny and Maria halt in cover.
"We need to disable the vehicles," Danny informs. "The more of them we disable, the more the advance slows, and if we disable enough, the Yamakasai army can make a counter‑push and drive them out."
"How are we going to do that?" Maria asks. "With these headbands, we can only do so much."
"And we're not taking them off," Danny confirms. "But we don't have to attack with brute force," he adds.
Maria's eyes light up. "I know what to do," she smiles in anticipation. "We go after the engines and drivetrains."
"Exactly," Danny agrees. "We flood intakes, plug exhausts, and break differentials."
"This is gonna be fun!" Maria chimes.
"Don't get too excited," Danny cautions. "We may be protected, but we're not invincible."
Maria takes a moment to cap her excitement. "I'll be careful."
Danny taps into the Earth Crystal, and in less than a second, he's protected by flexible slate armour. "Two troop transports approaching," he reports, peeking around the corner. "I'll take the closest one, you hit the other."
On Danny's signal, he and Maria sprint out of cover and towards the transports. Almost immediately they are fired upon by the soldiers manning the pintle‑mounted machine guns. However, the soldiers are slow to react, and trail the two armoured Scarves.
Danny is the first to reach his target. Firing a dense stream of gravel at the windscreen, he sprints directly at the vehicle. The driver accelerates, aiming to run Danny down, but the badger has a plan. At the last moment, Danny drops to the ground, sliding on his back under the troop transport. Despite the high ground clearance, the chassis only just passes over him, the Earth Crystal rearranging the armour to thicken the front. As the transport passes overhead, Danny raises his feet, forming solid rock around his lower legs. Bracing for impact, his feet connect with the rear axle.
The impact sends a painful shockwave through Danny's body, but the Crystal's power holds. The rear axle is torn from the transport, taking the differential with it, and shattering the rear suspension on both sides. The driveshaft bounces harmlessly off Danny's head, the Crystal quickly forming a protective full‑face helmet.
Danny slides from under the transport just in time: the rear suspension collapses completely, the rear wheels break away, and the tail of the transport slams into the ground just a few inches from his head. Danny recovers onto his feet as the transport slides to a halt. Before the troops on board can dismount, Danny raises a three‑foot barrier behind, blocking the rear door shut. I told Maria to be careful, then I did that. That was stupidly dangerous.
Sally watches Danny engage from cover. "What is he doing‽" she exclaims as she watches her boyfriend slide under the transport.
"Something stupid," Xander opines.
"Is it bad I'm both appalled and impressed at the same time?" Sally asks.
Xander simply smiles.
A few moments after Danny engages his target, Maria gets in range of hers. However, her strategy is very different from Danny's: instead of attacking the drivetrain, she uses her feline agility to scale the side of the vehicle, using super‑hard wooden spikes from her hands and feet to get grip. Once on top, Maria shoots a vine at the pintle gunner, binding him immobile to the gun.
Having bought herself a few brief moments, Maria locates the exhaust pipes. However, before she can plug them, the driver swerves, tipping her off‑balance. Losing her footing, Maria slides to the edge of the transport, where she just manages to grab hold of a rail. The driver swerves back the other way, slamming Maria hard into the side of the transport, smashing the breath from her body. However, the Wood Crystal keeps her grip true, and she remains hanging onto the rail.
With considerable effort, Maria hauls herself back on top of the transport. Panting heavily, she finally gets the chance to block the exhausts, sending thick vines down the length, into the manifold, and breaking the exhaust valves. With shrapnel in the cylinders, the engine seizes, locking the wheels. As the transport slides to an abrupt halt, momentum propels Maria off the roof. Just before she lands, the Wood Crystal forms a protective tumbleweed around her, and she rolls away harmlessly from the transport. Troops spill from the transport, but before they can charge Maria, they're intercepted and routed by two Yamakasai squads.
Maria rolls to a halt a few hundred yards down the road, hanging upside‑down in her protective cocoon. She waits a moment, but the cocoon doesn't disappear. "Again?" she asks the Crystal. "Can't you tell I'm not in‑"
The cocoon disappears suddenly, dumping Maria to the ground.
"Ow," Maria mumbles as she picks herself up, rubbing her head as she retreats to safety.
"You OK?" Xander asks as Maria rejoins her friends.
"Yeah," Maria assures. "Only fell a couple inches."
"I did say to be careful," Danny reminds.
"That's rich, coming from someone who almost dropped a whole transport on his head," Sally chides.
"You saw that?" Danny asks meekly.
"What were you trying to do exactly?" Sally demands.
"Well, I‑" Danny begins.
"You were trying to impress me, weren't you?"
Danny tries, but he cannot resist Sally's piercing erect‑spine‑framed stare of disapproval. "Yes," he admits.
Sally slaps Danny hard across the cheek, the Earth Crystal offering zero protection. "You idiot."
"Point taken," Danny replies, rubbing his cheek.
"Was kinda impressive though," Sally admits quietly, laying her spines flat again.
Danny wisely elects to remain silent, simply nodding an acknowledgement.
"Looks like the situation here is under control," Sally observes, noting the invaders are retreating. "On to the next place."
Twenty minutes later, the quartet arrives at the scene of another vehicular charge. Once in position, Danny surveys the scene.
"Three vehicles this time, all tanks," Danny reports. "No wonder the troops here are struggling."
"This is gonna be tricky," Maria realises.
"We can do it," Danny assures.
"You're right," Sally agrees. "They can."
Maria and Xander waste no time charging from cover and assaulting the transports.
"I should be out there too," Danny insists.
"I know," Sally agrees. "I just… I don't want to see you hurt."
"I'm protected," Danny assures, tapping the Earth Crystal.
"Yeah, but you remember the Shang Tu Palace," Sally reminds. "You nearly died."
"I've survived worse," Danny informs. "I was crushed in the Kyuden, remember."
"Yeah, but‑"
Danny holds Sally to comfort her. "If I died, how could I come back to you?"
Sally is about to answer, but the sudden sound of a tank detonating causes her to jump, stumble, and fall, pulling Danny down with her. They land heavily on the ground, the impact knocking the wind out of the hedgehog.
"That one's… on me," Sally grimaces, trying hard to get her breath back.
"I'd roll off, but you're holding me too tightly," Danny informs.
"Sorry," Sally apologises, but doesn't release her grip.
A few minutes and two detonations later, Maria and Xander reunite with Danny and Sally.
"Enjoying yourselves?" Maria giggles, temporarily forgetting that her fur is soaked in oil and caked with dust.
"In a way," Sally answers, having got her breath back. "What happened to you?" she asks as she and Danny get to their feet.
"I uh… slipped and fell," Maria blushes, though it's hard to see her reddening cheeks under the oil and dust. "And now I'm all icky sticky."
"I'm surprised the Wood Crystal didn't prevent that," Danny observes.
"Me too," Maria sighs.
"Where to next?" Xander asks.
"Follow me," Sally instructs.
The four friends retreat from the front, and a few minutes later, are riding to the next location.
