Chapter 40: The River Offensive Part 5

Seacat reached the top of the slope and immediately dropped to the ground, then crawled up the last yard. She could see a dozen skiffs racing across the small plain between two hills and a forest, swivel guns barking as they spread out. Headhunters. And they were chasing three skiffs which were trying to avoid being surrounded and cut off.

Cursing under her breath, she considered the situation. The forces with her had no guns, not even a swivel gun - an oversight, but they were meant to be a landing force to charge enemy positions at the river, not a siege force, so artillery wouldn't have been of much use. And charging on foot against mobile skiffs? That would be a massacre.

On the other hand, if the skiffs set up on top of the slope, they could shoot at the rafts below - and once they set up actual field artillery, things would turn into a massacre as well. So, she couldn't help Adora and the others. She couldn't even signal them - and if she could, odds were that the enemy would spot her waving flags first. Adora might not even notice, what with the Horde skiffs harassing her. That left…

She bared her fangs and yelled down to the beach: "I need oil up here! We need smoke!"

A minute later, the sergeant led five soldiers up the slope carrying casks of oil. The dumbass was among them, alas. "Set the top of the slope on fire!" she snapped. "We need cover for the evacuation!"

She glanced at the river. Three rafts were making their way over to their shore. But they were still several minutes out. Damn.

"Greo! Spread the oil on the eastern side! Lars, western side! The rest, fill the area between! Leave this spot clear!" the sergeant barked before moving to Seacat's side. "What're we going to do?"

"We need to evacuate the princesses," Seacat told her. "And they need to know where we are."

"Ah. Set it on fire!" the woman yelled.

The wind would push the smoke over the river. That was good for hiding them but bad for embarking troops, especially skiffs. "We might have to leave the skiffs," she said.

"If they even make it to us," the sergeant commented as shots struck one of the skiffs - not Adora's - and it veered off, slowing down. Damn.

Two Horde skiffs closed in, but one was driven off - no, toppled - by a hurricane, and the other suddenly veered off, a net entangled around its steering sail. But more Horde skiffs were appearing on the hill to the east, racing towards the battle. And Adora's skiff was turning, as was Lonnie's.

Seacat cursed again. Had they missed the smoke? No, the damaged skiff was slowing down - probably a hit to the hull had damaged it too much. Yes. The two princesses and the pilot were jumping on board Adora's skiff. But six people on a single skiff was too much. Even four was pushing it. They would be too slow, and there were more Horde skiffs closing in… No! She wouldn't…

She would! Adora jumped off and charged the closest skiff!

"That bloody idiot! I'm going to kill her!" Seacat yelled.

At least the two skiffs were now headed towards the river - straight towards them.

But so were half a dozen Horde skiffs.

"Everyone up here!" Seacat yelled. "Be ready along the slope! We need to jump them once they reach the top of the slope!"

The soldiers with her, even dumbass, obeyed. The others down at the shore were slower, but started running up the slope after a moment.

But would they be in time? Three Horde skiffs were moving to intercept the others. One of them was seen off by a well-placed canister shot from Lonnie, but the other two… One fired, a shell, blowing a hole into Lonnie's steering sail, the other… crashed into the first thanks to a net and hurricane combination.

That opened a hole for the two skiffs to drive through and reach the riverbank, but more than a dozen skiffs were in hot pursuit. And Adora was… poised on the wreckage of a skiff, seemingly fending off shells with her sword while several skiffs drove in circles around her and fired their swivel guns. She was tough, but those were guns, and if they used canister…

As the Alliance skiffs drew close, Seacat stood. "Over here!" she yelled.

They changed course and drove towards her.

"Move to the side!" Seacat yelled to the soldiers as she waved the skiffs on.

A moment later, the skiffs cleared the riverbank and drove down towards the shore.

And the shrimp jumped off and landed next to Seacat. "We need to get Adora!"

"How could you let her do this?" Seacat spat. "Go fetch her!"

"She said she'd hold them off until the rest are on the rafts!"

And the idiot would know they weren't ready yet. Seacat cursed once more.

Then the Horde skiffs arrived at the riverbank.

The main part of Seacat's force was still charging up the slope when the first skiff reached the top of it, but Seacat and the vanguard were already in position. She jumped up, pushing her claws into the hull of the skiff, and quickly scrambled up to the deck. A Horde soldier tried to fend her off with a spear, but she dodged to the side, hanging from one hand, then grabbed the shaft right behind its head and pulled.

The Horde soldier was smart enough to let go of the spear instead of letting himself be pulled down, but it didn't help him - she was up on deck in the time he needed to draw his cutlass and rammed the spear into his belly before he could get his guard up.

The gunner at the swivel gun glanced over her shoulder, gasping even as she fired the gun, shooting a load of canister down the slope. Seacat snarled and raked the back of the soldiers' neck with her claws before she could turn to face her. The woman died before she hit the deck.

That left the pilot. Who was trying to turn the skiff around but only succeeded in sliding down the slope towards the river. Seacat charged him across the tilted deck, her claws leaving gouges in the wood. He managed to parry her first blow with her blade but had to release the controls of the skiff for that, and the vehicle took an even sharper turn, almost toppling over.

He lost his balance and when he grabbed for the steering again, he left himself wide open. She lunged, thrusting the blade into his chest - no, into his armour; the sword didn't cut through the chest plate. New design, she realised as she stepped back, avoiding the man's wild swing with his cutlass.

By now, the skiff had almost completed its turn, the bow pointing up the slope. Seacat snarled and rushed the man, batting his blade away with her own, then raked her claws across his faceplate. He fell back and off the skiff, screaming as he reached for his ruined face.

She really needed a better sword when fighting Headhunters.

She grabbed the controls and looked at the top of the slope. Two skiffs were filling the gap in the smoke - with their guns aimed down the slope. Soldiers were trying to board them from the side, but they were firing down - at the rafts. And at the soldiers charging up the slope.

Two more skiffs had broken through the smoke east of them, but the princesses were pushing them back - as Seacat glanced at the Horde vehicles, the gunner of the closer one fell off it with an arrow sticking out of their head, and a hurricane pushed the other skiff into it.

But the ones in the gap… Seacat clenched her teeth and drove her freshly taken skiff up the slope, as fast as the thing would go. The Horde scum at the bows saw her coming and swung the guns towards her, but it was too late - she jumped off before the guns fired, and the double-load of canister hitting the skiff couldn't stop it.

Seacat tumbled down the slope but managed to stop her slide and look back in time to see her skiff ramming the first Horde vehicle from the side, pushing it into the other with enough force to break their hulls. The three skiffs slid to the side, stuck together, and the remaining soldiers scrambled up their hulls before they came to a stop.

By the time Seacat was halfway up the slope, the skiffs had been taken. She saw the mothwoman cheer at the helm of the middle one.

And she saw the dumbass get torn apart by a load of canister from behind - the rest of the Horde skiffs were in range. But that meant… Where was the shrimp, damn it? Where was Adora?

The three rafts were still on the way, but the raft that had transported her force should be able to handle two skiffs. And they could take the other rafts to evacuate the shore.

"Get the two skiffs on the raft!" she yelled back at the shore, then sprinted up the slope, running as fast as she could, past torn and bleeding bodies. And trying not to think about the fact that the mud her feet were running through was a little too reddish in places. Too many were dead already - if things continued like this, they wouldn't need more than one raft.

She reached the top of the slope - and saw three more skiffs moving towards them. No, they had stopped and were shooting at them. Covering fire - but that required another force to charge. And where was Adora?

She crawled forward a little, past the wrecked skiffs, until she saw the first skiff they had lost. Adora was still there, hacking at a skiff that had come too close.

Where was the shrimp? She should be teleporting Adora back now!

Seacat glanced around, but she couldn't spot the princess. Had she been wounded? Or killed? On Seacat's watch? No. She would appear in a cloud of sparkles soon enough… Sparkles the Headhunters were trained to spot and fire upon. Damn.

She looked back at Adora. Her lover was jumping on a skiff that had driven too close. A swing of her sword cut both gun and gunner in half, then she threw the loader at the pilot, knocking both off the skiff.

"Come on, Adora! Take the skiff and join us!" Seacat hissed. It would take longer, but…

There was the shrimp! Landing on the skiff's deck! Adora was headed to the controls, but the shrimp reached out to her.

A moment later, both disappeared.

Right before a volley of shells wrecked the skiff. The Horde's field artillery had set up. And they were on target. Bad news!

Seacat hastily crawled back. "Everyone - on the raft now! We've got artillery incoming!" she yelled as she slid rather than ran down the slope.

Spinerella and Netossa took out another skiff that had driven through the smoke - which was thinning, Seacat noticed - but the rest of the force started to head back to the shore. Where they were just loading the second skiff on Seacat's raft.

"No time!" Seacat yelled at the soldiers. "Drop it overboard - we need to evacuate everyone right now!" Before artillery shells killed the entire force.

"But…" one of the soldiers trying to tie the skiff down protested.

"Do it, or I'll throw you overboard!" she screamed at him, slashing the ropes that had already been slung over the stern of the skiff.

"Do it!" Bran yelled.

"But… we need to drive it… and it doesn't work on water!"

But it would work on the raft. Was the idiot afraid of getting wet? Before Seacat could throw him overboard, the skiff lurched - and toppled over, almost capsizing the raft as it slid overboard.

"Hah!" Adora stood there, teeth clenched in a tight smile. She had just pushed the skiff into the river by herself!

Seacat wanted to kiss her right here and now. But they had troops to command - to save. So she flashed her a smile, then yelled. "Everyone on the raft! Now! Move it, you landlubbers!"

Yet, there were still troops fighting on the slope. Familiar soldiers. The sergeant was leading them, she realised. What was the idiot doing? "Sergeant! Fall back!"

The woman didn't react. But she had heard Seacat - Seacat knew how to make her voice carry through a battle at sea or in a storm. Had she been rendered deaf in the fighting?

No.

Yet, the sergeant was charging the closest skiff. And the rest of her men weren't falling back, either.

The damn idiots were holding the Horde back so the rest could evacuate! Even though they couldn't teleport or fight from the shore, like the princesses. They wouldn't escape.

Snarling, Seacat jumped off the raft. Her feet sank into the mud at the shore - the results of dozens of soldiers trampling over the grass and sand - and she cursed. "Fall back!" she yelled, both hands forming a cone around her mouth. "I'll keelhaul you if you don't!"

"Cat-Seacat!"

Adora? She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Adora grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back. On the raft one-handed.

Seacat was about to curse her, but… a shell hit the river, sending up a plume of water and causing the raft to rock slightly. They had no time any more. Clenching her teeth, she yelled: "Cast off - we're leaving!"

She kept looking at the riverbank as the raft drew away, dragged by the current as much or more as the paddles and poles the soldiers used. One soldier was blown apart by canister trying to board a skiff. Another fell, taken from behind by infantry. She couldn't see anyone else still standing except for the sergeant. The woman was on the deck of a skiff, fighting with two Horde soldiers. An arrow from Brain Boy took out one of them, the woman gutted the other…

And the skiff blew up as a shell landed straight on it a moment before the rest of the volley struck the shore.

Seacat closed her eyes and didn't resist when Adora pulled her in for a hug from behind. "Idiots," she mumbled.

Adora didn't contradict her.

Neither said anything until they, trailed by the rafts that Alcy had sent over and which had turned around as well, reached the northern shore.

"Half of our screening force lost, together with two skiffs." The shrimp wasn't happy as she looked up from the map in the command tent and at the rest of them in the tent. "We managed to inflict higher casualties on the Horde troops, but that's pretty much the only good news."

"We also know more about their forces and their rules of engagement," Brain Boy added. "And they did lose at least a dozen skiffs."

"They'll be able to recover most of them," Adora corrected him. "We didn't do too much damage."

That was the problem with fighting on land - skiffs didn't sink like ships. If this had been a battle at sea, the Horde would've lost most of their skiffs. Seacat shook her head. "We also know that they can deploy field artillery very quickly. Any landing operation will have to deal with that."

"Can we?" the shrimp asked. "Can we land our forces in the face of that?"

"Not without a lot of casualties," Seacat told her. "Once they have the range, they'll be able to shell a beachhead. And they'll see us coming."

"And if we rush the artillery, their skiffs will hit us," Adora said.

And delay them until the artillery could target their positions. And if they tried to ignore the skiffs… well, that wouldn't end well.

"Deploying our own artillery will take time, and we won't have spotters on their position, so taking the Horde guns out will be difficult," Adora went on.

"The problem is the rafts," Seacat took over. "They're slow and hard to manoeuvre when crossing the river. The Horde will see them coming and have a lot of time to get ready to receive us."

"Can the Salienans help us out?" Juliet asked. "They have faster boats."

"They don't have too many of them - they need barges for most of their troops. And they're faced with the same problem," Seacat replied.

"So we might need to cross the river at such distances that they cannot react," the shrimp said.

"They have their best troops on skiffs - they can shadow us and react rapidly," Adora corrected her.

"We can hide our movement - we control this side of the river," Brain Boy said. "Leave some decoy force, make it appear that we're still here…"

"That could work," Adora said. "But if they see through our decoy… And even if we establish beachheads further away on both sides of the yards, we won't be able to coordinate with each other. We might do better to just unite all troops and form one force. Land and then move to the yards to encircle them there."

"They'll be prepared for that," Seacat pointed out. "That's the obvious response." And you should never do the obvious, the Captain had taught her that. Unless the enemy expected you not to do the obvious, of course.

"Do you have an alternative?" the shrimp asked.

Seacat didn't. But before she could admit that, the tent flap was pushed back, and a guard peered in. "Commander! The Salineans have arrived! They've sent two officers."

The shrimp all but jumped. "Send them in!"

"See? I told you we were expected!"

Seacat's eyes widened. She knew that voice - the Captain!

And there he was. Sea Hawk stepped into the tent, then held the flap back for Mermista. Both of them were wearing regular Salinean uniforms, not their regular clothes.

"Merm…mghlrm."

Seacat glared at Adora while she strained to keep her lover's mouth shut. "They're in disguise!" she hissed. "Don't blurt their names out!"

Sea Hawk smiled, but Mermista rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Seacat nodded at them. "Good evening."

"Good evening! You're hale and whole, I hope?" the Captain boomed.

"Of course," she replied.

"Really." Mermista somehow didn't seem to believe her.

"She was hurt badly in a battle on the way here," Adora, the traitor, told them as soon as Seacat released her mouth. "I healed her."

"I am hale and whole," Seacat insisted. Now.

"Now." Mermista shook her head. "And you will do your worst to change that, I suppose."

Seacat wasn't going to answer that - she was doing her part in the war, like everyone else. If the princesses could risk their lives, then she couldn't do any less. But a change of subject would be good. "I thought you were staying in Fortress Freedom?" she asked in a low voice.

"Officially, we are!" Sea Hawk said. "To fool the Horde into thinking we were still at the fortress. But when we were informed that the Horde had changed tactics and wrecked a scouting force of our troops, we decided to travel upriver with the Salinean contingent. My dear Mermista, the cunning Entrapta, and my glorious self!"

"You've had trouble as well?" Adora asked.

"Yes. Their Headhunters ambushed our screening force," Mermista said. "Mauled them - few of them got away."

"We faced the same problem. Crossing the river will be a challenge," the shrimp told them.

"Oh, we've got a plan about that." Sea Hawk smiled widely. "It's why we're here."

"Are you sure Mermista can do it?" Adora asked, looking at the river down below.

Seacat rolled her eyes. "She said she could." And Mermista was many things, but not a liar.

"But it's an awfully long distance." Adora was biting her lower lip - Seacat knew it without needing to look at her lover.

"She can do it - she's experienced," Seacat told her. More experienced than Adora by far.

"But we don't exactly know what the riverbed looks like," Adora went on. "Mud and worse…"

"That doesn't matter. Mermista commands the water."

"Yes, but… what if she, uh, gets tired? Exhausted?" Adora looked at her.

"Then we'll still have the structure Entrapta and Perfuma came up with," Seacat retorted.

"Entrapta said she couldn't guarantee that it would hold up under the water's pressure," Adora said.

"She said she couldn't guarantee that it would hold up for longer than a quarter of an hour," Seacat corrected her. That was if Perfuma grew the wood to specs, of course.

"Yes. But the river's quite wide. That's an awfully short time to cross the river on foot. In mud."

"Yes." Seacat shrugged.

"I'm just saying… it'll be dangerous. So much can go wrong, and if it does…"

"It's still not as dangerous as trying to cross the river in the face of enemy artillery," Seacat said. She looked at Adora. Her friend was… still biting her lower lip. "Are you… worried?" she asked. She wouldn't say 'afraid'. She-Ra wasn't afraid - quite the contrary.

"No!" Adora blurted out. A moment later, she sighed. "Yes. We'll be down there. At the front. All of us."

Seacat narrowed her eyes. "We talked about that. Mermista, Entrapta and Perfuma need to be at the front, or the tunnel won't go anywhere."

"Yes." Adora hissed.

"And they need protection to keep the tunnel up until we've established a beachhead and took their artillery positions." At which point they would be able to move barges across the river without trouble. Without much trouble.

"Yes." Adora pouted.

"And the rest of us are the best choice to protect them." And charge ahead once they were on the other shore. They had talked about this at length the day before when hashing out the plan.

"It's just… all of us will be concentrated in one location. If the Horde has hidden a bomb at the riverbank…" Adora trailed off.

"Entrapta has some thingie that can detect the bombs," Seacat reminded her.

"Yes."

Seacat sighed. "Adora… We went over all of this yesterday. What's really bugging you?"

"I…"

"Yes?" She was growing impatient. Everyone was getting into position for the surprise assault. Decoy forces had been sent upriver and downriver so the Horde would assume they were about to cross the river as expected. And here, Adora was...

"I can't protect you from the river!" Adora blurted out. "I can't cut the water down! I can't smash it to pieces before it can hurt you. And if I throw myself in front of you, you'll still drown!"

Oh. That. Seacat considered telling Adora that she could swim, but that would be a lie. Sort of - should the river flood the tunnel, swimming wouldn't save anyone. Not at that depth. Not inside the tunnel. Not with the force of the river and the water pressure bearing down on them. Sure, there was a chance that she could escape the tunnel and reach the river's surface. But the odds were really, really low.

"I wanted to tell Glimmer to get you out, should anything happen…"

"You didn't!" Seacat gasped. That would… No. Just no. To ask the shrimp to save her and let the others die…

"I didn't."

"Good."

"But I wanted to. I could probably survive, but…" Adora took a shivering breath.

Seacat took a step and hugged her. As tightly as she could, given their current size differences.

Neither of them said anything for a while.

When they reached the small cove, hidden from the Horde's view thanks to dense trees, and pushed their way past the assembled volunteer forces to the shore, Entrapta all but jumped on them. "There you are! Everything is ready! We were just waiting for you! This is so exciting! We'll be combining technology and magic! In a new and daring way, I mean! This could revolutionise travel, too! Come, come! You have to see this!" The princess grabbed Seacat's hand and started to pull her towards Emily, which was standing at the shore.

Well, Entrapta wasn't apprehensive in the least. Mermista, though, Seacat saw, was very stern and serious. And holding Sea Hawk's hand as she stared at the water, her trident in her other hand. She looked confident, but Seacat knew her too well to be fooled - the princess was nervous. Nervous but determined, of course - she would see this through.

Perfuma, on the other hand… The princess of Plumeria was obviously nervous. Her smile looked fake, and she was fidgeting. The shrimp and Brain Boy looked similar to Mermista, as did the other two princesses.

If this failed, then the Alliance was done for, Seacat suddenly realised. With the exception of Frosta and Queen Angella, the entire leadership of the Alliance was present.

Damn. But they had to do this. They had to take this fortress and finish the Horde forces in the entire area. Otherwise, the Horde would recover, and any offensive would be even more costly.

"Alright!" Entrapta yelled. "Let's get going! Emily's ready with the scanner and the sealing agent!"

Indeed, the bot had a huge tank with clear liquid in it fixed to its rear.

"Yes, yes, no need to shout," Mermista grumbled, then stepped into the water and raised her trident.

At once, the water retreated in a circle in front of her - forming a tunnel leading into the river.

"Perfuma, now!" Entrapta was smiling widely.

Plants started to shoot out of the ground and into the tunnel, lining the invisible walls and covering them with a thick weave.

"Emily!"

The bot moved forward and started spraying the liquid onto the plants. It quickly hardened, sealing the gaps. In theory, at least - Seacat had no wish to find out how long it would resist the river in practice.

"It's working!" Entrapta cheered, holding what looked like her recorder but was the size of her head in her hair. "Just as designed - the solution is hardening on schedule. Let's go deeper; I need pressure values to estimate! It's too bad Frosta's not here - she could freeze the water for additional stability."

The tunnel quickly lengthened, and Seacat took her first step into it soon after Entrpata led Mermista and Perfuma further down. The mud felt… oddly dry under her feet. Not dry, but more like wet sand than mud. And she could see the waterline - the sealing stuff was transparent enough, and the plants left some gaps. Which meant she knew exactly when she was underwater. Which was a weird feeling.

"Brrr."

She glanced to her side. Adora looked like she had just shivered. Her lover caught her looking at her and flashed a fake smile at her. "Amazing, right?"

Seacat nodded, even though she felt ill at ease herself. "Yes. Amazing." It was, of course - the Horde wouldn't see this coming. Or so they hoped. But walking underwater, the entire river above them, the immense pressure only held back by Mermista's power… She shivered and barely resisted the urge to run her hands over her arms. This might be a little more… challenging than she had expected.

Then she felt a hand grip her own, and Adora smiled at her.

Seacat took a deep breath and kept walking. Forward. And down. A bot was planting sticks with some glowing substance on top that Entrapta had brought every few yards, but the tunnel was still rather dim - for most people; Seacat could see just fine, of course.

But she could also hear the water running over the surface of the tunnel much better than others. Not deafening, but she couldn't ignore it, either - it was too loud. And too dangerous. She hoped the landlubber soldiers wouldn't realise just how dangerous water was. If they panicked in the tunnel, the Horde wouldn't have to lift a finger to defeat them.

She looked up a little when Emily moved to the side to spray the next part. Mermista looked… well, Mermista was tough and liked to act even tougher, but she had some tells, though Seacat didn't think she was about to collapse. On the other hand, they weren't even halfway to the other side.

"Everything's fine!" Entrapta's voice rang in the tunnel. "The pressure is within expected parameters, albeit barely, and we're on course according to my compass!"

Good. Seacat nodded to herself.

Adora looked over her shoulder. Seacat did the same - she couldn't see the exit but she could make out the start of the riverbank.

"No one's following us," Seacat commented. No one should be, of course - the soldiers weren't supposed to enter the tunnel until Seacat and the others had reached the Horde's shore - something about the airflow, Entrapta had said. They needed some wind blowing through the tunnel to keep the air breathable for the army. Another thing to worry about. Or not - their group was small enough to not need more air.

"Shouldn't we start to go up by now?" Adora asked in a low voice.

"Not really," Seacat replied. "They'll have the riverbed dredged in this area for their yards. Gunboats don't have much of a draft, but they'll want some safety margin." She pointed at the ground. "See there? The stone with the scratches? That's from dredging, I think."

"Ah. So we're close?"

"Probably," Seacat replied. She wasn't really certain - it was hard to estimate the distance underwater. But they had to be close. Unless she was completely mistaken.

"So…" Entrapta suddenly said. "This is pretty steep, I think. Rather hard to go up."

Oh. Seacat moved ahead and took a look. Indeed, the riverbank was rising quite steeply here. Too steep for a charge. If the soldiers had to scramble up this slope, they would spend too long in the tunnel. "Go sideways?"

"I guess so," Entrapta said. "But that will affect the airflow."

"I… I can make stairs or a ramp," Perfuma offered. She looked quite tired, though.

But it wasn't as if they had a choice.

"Alright!" Entrapta nodded with a smile. "Then we can go straight, and my calculations will still hold true! Everyone: Back up a little; we'll build a ramp!"

They backed up - well, Adora stated to help move mud around to stabilise the plant ramp. Seacat watched, feeling both guilty for not helping, even though there wasn't enough room anyway, and more and more anxious. Was the air growing stale? Adora would need lots of air to work so hard, and they were basically staying in place…

She took a deep breath to calm down, but the air was smelling stale. And the river's roar was louder here, somehow.

But then they were moving ahead again. And up. And a few minutes later, Seacat could see light - Mermista had broken the surface.

Seacat bared her fangs as she drew her sword.

It was time to charge.

Adora was, as expected, the first out of the tunnel, but Seacat was right behind her - even though she had to jump over the shrimp to keep pace. The tunnel had reached the Horde shore almost on top of the planned spot,- a little beach right outside the first fortifications protecting the yards.

She heard shouting and yelling, followed by sirens as the Horde scum raised the alert, but Adora was already charging the fortress. A running jump carried her to the top of the earthen ramparts, and she started cutting down the troops there while they tried to rally.

Seacat couldn't quite match that, but the earthen walls provided easy hand- and footholds, and she quickly cleared the top as well, intercepting a guard running towards Adora with a quick slash that caught the man in the throat, between helmet and chest plate.

Adora was handling an entire squad on her side, so Seacat cut down another Horde soldier who was too brave for his own good, then rushed towards the gun emplacement at the corner - the crew was moving the gun to aim it at the tunnel, where Entrapta was giving the signal to the troops on the other side.

Two guards with spears were trying to bar her way, but Seacat batted one spear away, jumped over the other, then landed between them. Her left foot lashed out, claws slicing through the man's calf while she swung her blade and slashed the back of the other guard.

Both collapsed, dropping their weapons, and Seacat dashed forward, into the middle of the gun crew. The officer in charge had his blade out and faced her, trying to buy time for his men to fire. He had a solid stance, sabre pointed at her. Quite different from the scum she had fought before.

But Seacat wasn't about to duel the man while she had a gun to destroy. She flashed her fangs at him in a toothy grin, then jumped on the rampart, landing in a crouch.

The Horde scum couldn't help it - they turned to face her, and she launched herself over their heads to land next to the powder bags stacked near the gun. A quick cut with her blade cut three of them open before she was moving again - charging the gunner who was holding the rope match to fire the gun.

The woman dropped the rope and backed off, drawing her cutlass - but once again, Seacat ignored her. She slid under the wild swing of the woman, picked up the rope match and somersaulted back to the powder charges.

She saw the Horde scum pale and gape as she jumped on top of the wall, holding the lit match above the spilt powder, and grinned at them before she dropped it and jumped off.

The explosion a moment later sent stone and body parts over the ramparts - from which she was hanging by her claws. As soon as the powder had gone off, she pulled herself up and on top of the rampart again

The gun had been thrown halfway across the gun pit, and only two Horde soldiers were still alive - and one of them was on the ground, clutching at the broken ramrod stuck in her chest.

Seacat glanced around. Adora had cleared the rampart on her side and was rushing towards the gate tower. Spinnerella and Netossa had dealt with a sally from said gate and were holding it against the soldiers trying to charge them. And the shrimp, Brain Boy and Sea Hawk were guarding the tunnel and the princesses keeping it from collapsing with half the army inside.

And Entrapta was coming towards her - she was climbing the wall as well; her hair tendrils were slung already reaching the top of the ramparts. A moment later, she arrived next to Seacat. "Whoo! Let me check for hidden bombs!" she announced while pointing a gadget at the courtyard below.

Seacat clenched her teeth. This base was manned by Headhunters - they would've mined the yards, at least. Although… was that a catapult in the citadel? Yes, it was. A huge one, too - and placed so you couldn't spot it from the river. Was it true that the Horde was running out of powder?

"Oh… there's no bomb in this part," Entrpata told her. "But there's lots of powder in there!" she pointed at the citadel of the fortress.

"Is it a bomb, or just a magazine?" Seacat asked, moving to block a squad of Horde soldiers rushing up the stairs nearby.

"Magazine. Of course, a magazine is a bomb if you have the means to set it off." Entrapta grinned. "But that's it - all the other stuff is just dispersed powder."

Seacat frowned, but before she could ask another question, the squad reached the top of the ramparts, and she had to fight them. They were good - their leader was a grizzled veteran with long, grey hair and scar crossing her face who really knew how to wield a blade. But they were on the stairs, and they weren't able to gang up on Seacat, who was holding the top of the stairs. And as good as the veteran was, Seacat was better. Faster and stronger - and more skilled. She knew it after a few thrusts and parries.

And so did the Horde soldier - Seacat could see how she set her jaw and fought on despite the odds, wielding her sword expertly - until she misjudged a swing, and Seacat got inside her guard, ramming her blade into the woman's throat, then kicking her corpse into the rest of the squad and sending them tumbling down the stairs.

"No bombs in the yard?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"None!" Entrapta replied, fiddling with her gadget. "Although… there's a crystal engine there, big enough for a frigate. And a few smaller ones according to my sensor arrangement."

Had the Horde been planning to build a frigate here? Seacat shook her head. "We need to get moving!" she snapped. "Before a crossbowman nails us."

The first bolts were hitting the rampart - and coming quite a bit too close to hitting them for Seacat's comfort; the Horde forces were rallying across the courtyard.

They dashed towards the gate, more bolts flying after them, but they reached the shelter of the gate tower - cleared by Adora without getting hit.

"Seacat! It looks like our plan worked - they are understaffed; they must have deployed the bulk of their troops against our decoy landing operations!" Adora told them with a wide smile as she finished off the apparently last defender of the gate.

"Good." Seacat smiled - briefly. Something felt off, though.

Then she heard yelling from outside: "For the Alliance! Bright Moon! Plumeria!"

The vanguard of their army had arrived and was leaving the tunnel, charging towards the fortress. Seacat looked through one of the slits in the walls and saw the first soldiers reach Netossa and Spinnerella, who directed her towards the gate.

Which Adora was opening for them.

The guns disabled, the army storming the gates - all that was left was taking the citadel and the yards.

"Oh. The big engine's moving," Entrapta announced. Slowly, but it's moving.

"They've installed it in a ship?" Seacat dashed to the top of the tower. There hadn't been a ship ready on the slips. She peered at the yards while the soldiers streamed through the open gate, rolling over the Horde troops trying to face them. There was no gunboat moving - and she couldn't see any gunboat in a state ready for an engine, either. So, where was that…

Then she saw Horde troops pushing a huge engine towards the citadel. Why would… She cursed. "Entrapta, is that an enhanced engine? Can it blow up?"

"Uh… my sensors aren't good enough to catch the fluctuating changes that would cause, but… I'll take a look!"

Hair tendrils latched onto the roof's railing, and, a moment later, Entrapta swung up from below and peered through her goggles at the engine moving towards the citadel.

And she gasped. "Uh… yes. There are some modifications on the engine. Not as elegant as mine, but…

The Horde had enhanced engine bombs. That was what they needed the catapults for!

"Adora! That engine is a bomb!" Seacat yelled down.

Adora looked up at her, then turned. "Bow! Nail it down!"

Brain Boy jumped on a low wall, took aim, and an arrow splashed glue all over the crew pushing the engine's cart.

Seacat pulled her telescope out and took a closer look. They were… they were… "Cover! Take cover!" she yelled. "Stop and take cover!"

The soldiers started to react - stopping their charge, then moving towards the ramparts and courtyards of the fortress.

"Adora! Take cover!"

But Seacat's friend wasn't listening - she was charging towards the bomb.

Seacat cursed and jumped over the railing, landing on the ramparts below, then jumped down to the courtyard. "Adora!"

"Cut the rear part! The controls are there!" Entrapta yelled. "It can't explode without the controls!"

Seacat clenched her teeth, running after Adora. But she knew she wouldn't make it.

Then Adora yelled and threw her sword. Seacat saw it flip over while it flew through the air before it hit the engine - right on the controls.

"Charge!" Seacat yelled as she rushed forward. "Charge!"

And the soldiers charged. Adora was the first to reach the bomb, recovering her sword and cutting down the Horde scum around the bomb, but the soldiers quickly passed her, storming the citadel. The first were placing charges on the gate when Seacat reached Adora.

"You…" She shook her head. "That was too close."

Adora smiled grimly. "Yes."

The charges at the gate went off, blowing the entrance open.

"Let's finish them off!" Seacat told her.

"Yes. let's…"

A bright flash, followed by an explosion that sent a smoke cloud so high, it dwarfed the clouds, interrupted her.

"That was…" Adora trailed off.

"...the decoy force to the west," Seacat finished for her.

Another flash, another explosion and more smoke rose into the sky to the east of them.

Seacat couldn't tell, but she was sure that the Salinean decoy force, including the frigate, had just been wiped out.