Chapter 41: The River Offensive Part 6

Seacat stared, frozen, at the smoke cloud rising over the river in the east. The frigate would be gone as well as anyone in the decoy landing force. So many dead in a moment… And if not for Adora, they would've shared their fate here.

"Keep going!" Adora yelled. "Secure the citadel and the yards! And secure any and all skiffs - and gather them at the gate! Move it!"

The soldiers, who had faltered, charged again.

Seacat shook her head. She couldn't… she had to do something. Think! "We'll need to have bigger screening forces - so we can detect and intercept any catapults before they are in range," she muttered.

"Yes," Adora agreed. "That's why we need every skiff we can get. If they manage to throw such a bomb at the yards while we're here…"

Almost the entire leadership of the Alliance would be gone. And their best troops. Seacat gasped. "We need to warn Fortress Freedom - the river's probably too wide for a catapult there, but if they manage to lure the frigates in port closer…"

"Yes." Adora nodded. "Let's meet the others. We need to act swiftly."

"Yes." Seacat pressed her lips together. If they were caught by surprise again, they would be lost.

They quickly returned to the gate. Netossa and Spinnerella were there but looked shocked still - the two princesses were glancing around as if they were expecting assassins to drop down on them. "What was that?" Netossa asked as soon as she spotted Adora and Seacat.

"Planning meeting," Adora snapped instead of answering. "Inside the gate tower." She marched towards the stairs leading up, Seacat on her heels.

As the soldiers before, the two princesses straightened and nodded and quickly followed them.

Inside the gate turret, Entrapta was mumbling and tapping on her device. "...frigate scale engines… crystal density… area of effect… boosting effect… delayed acceleration…"

"Entrapta!" Seacat spoke up.

She looked up, blinking. "Oh. I was just… calculating the bomb blast. I don't have it precisely down, so I need more calculations to get a good average range…"

Seacat sighed. "Just take the worst estimate."

"But…"

"Entrapta, we need to plan how to react to this," Adora told her. "Where's Glimmer? Glimmer!"

"Probably still at the tunnel, keeping guard - soldiers are still travelling through it," Netossa said.

"Ah, right." Adora nodded. "But we can't wait for too long. Alright." She nodded again. "Send out scouts with any skiffs they can get ahold of, downriver and upriver - we need to know as soon as the Horde tries to get close enough so they can use their catapults. What's the range?" she asked, looking at Entrapta.

"Uh…" Entrapta bit her lower lip. "I need to look at the catapult and the bomb."

"Do that," Adora told her. "Netossa, Spinnerella - help to secure the skiffs. Seacat…"

Seacat nodded. "We'll need to get the boats here, so we can move the soldiers back to our shore." She doubted that Mermista and Perfuma would be able to hold the tunnel together long enough to evacuate everyone back to the northern shore. Or construct another tunnel.

"Exactly." Adora flashed her a weary smile. "We can't keep them concentrated here; it's too dangerous."

Seacat nodded again, then cursed. "Even if we evacuate everyone back over the river, we'll have to keep a close watch on the entire river to know as soon as the Horde tries to cross." Hell, with those bombs, the Horde finally had something that didn't take a huge army to move and could still do as much or more damage as a princess or two. And if they used it against Bright Moon or Plumeria… or in a battle at sea… "A smuggler could get such an engine into any port, leave the ship and have it blow up, wrecking the entire harbour. We need to spread the word about this!"

"Go and signal to Alcy and the others to start taking the soldiers back!"

"Aye aye!"

Seacat dashed to the top of the tower. The Horde would… there! Signal flags!

She checked with her telescope that the signal ensign on the other shore was watching, then started signalling to transmit Adora's orders. It still took two tries - the ensign must be shaken by the bombs. She should've had Alcy do this part, but then things would've fallen apart as soon as the woman left with the rafts.

Then she peered down at the end of the tunnel. The last soldiers seemed to have left. Mermista, Sea Hawk and Perfuma, were looking into it, then hurriedly moved to the side.

A moment later, water shot out of the tunnel and almost reached the top of the riverbank. Seacat could also see some perturbance in the river - the tunnel must have collapsed and was now being torn apart by the current.

So much for the tunnel lasting long enough to reach the exit even after Mermista stopped - or failed - to control the water.

Seacat could also see that Mermista and Perfuma were close to collapsing as well - Sea Hawk was all but carrying Mermista to the gate, and Perfuma was propped up by Brain Boy. Damn.

She looked at the rest of the fortress. Someone had set the gunboat on the slip in the yard on fire. Probably another Horde scum trying to deny them their prize. Not that it mattered much - right now, the skiffs were far more important. They needed to get screening forces out. And that looked good - she could see Alliance soldiers in the skiff park, going over the dozen vehicles there. And the Horde banner on top of the citadel was getting torn down - the fortress had fallen.

She climbed down into the main room of the tower again, just in time to see the rest arrive.

"This is horrible… so many dead," Perfuma muttered as she all but collapsed in a seat.

Mermista held up better, though she was clenching her teeth when Sea Hawk helped her sit down. "We're buggered, aren't we?" she spat.

Despite the situation, Seacat almost laughed at the profanity - of course the Princess of Salineas would have picked up cursing from her sailors.

"I wouldn't say that," Adora replied, all tense and serious. "We're sending out screening forces so we have advance warning once the remaining Horde forces move toward us. But we need to move the soldiers - most of them - back over the river so they'll be safe for the time being. Any concentration of force in range of the Horde catapults will be inviting one of the enhanced bombs."

"We need to take out their catapults," the shrimp cut in. "They can't bomb us without them."

"How mobile are they?" Brain Boy asked.

"Oh." Entrapta blinked. "The one in the fortress isn't very mobile. They are too big to be moved easily - since they need to launch frigate-sized engines. Engines sized for frigates."

"They can't use smaller engines?" Adora asked, staring at the princess.

"Welllll…" Entrapta pouted. "I haven't personally checked, but… if they had been able to use smaller engines to induce an enhanced explosion, they probably would've used the gunboat-rated engines in the yards." She perked up, even smiled at them. "So… they need a big catapult, which will be structurally unsound to move quickly or far. Probably has to be moved disassembled and reassembled in place - that's how siege catapults were used before siege guns were developed, you know?"

"Some good news, at least," the shrimp muttered.

"More like: not quite as bad as it could've been," Seacat corrected her. "They managed to build the catapults in time to attack our decoy landings, so they must have been able to put them up quite quickly."

Mermista shook her head, then groaned. "No. We weren't pushing the landings in order to draw more Horde forces. They would've had enough time."

"More not so bad news, then." Adora nodded. "That means we're safe enough for now - but we need to verify this."

"And we need to plan for suicide attacks with such a bomb on a ship," Seacat added. "It's too heavy for a skiff, at least."

Everyone winced at that thought. Then Entrapta nodded. "Oh, yes. I could build an enhanced bomb that is small enough to be carried with a skiff - actually, I have such a prototype at the fortress - but the Horde probably isn't there yet."

'Yet'. Seacat muttered a curse.

"We still need to evacuate the bulk of our army and hold the fortress - but be ready to destroy it," Adora said. "And we need to make contact with the decoy forces and find out what happened - and how many survived."

"We'll be sending boats upriver and downriver," Sea Hawk said. "The surviving soldiers should also be sending couriers to us already - though they'll be heading to the camp across the river, I suppose."

"Alright. Let's comb the yards for holdouts and start securing the engines and whatever else we can use," the shrimp said. "And get ready to take out the catapults. If they are not very mobile, taking them out will be easier."

"The Horde probably has an enhanced bomb ready to be detonated as soon as we break through to the catapult," Brain Boy pointed out.

"Or as soon as you're sighted, depending on the blast radius," Seacat added.

The shrimp didn't like that. "But we need to take the catapults out."

"Then we need a plan," Adora said. "But first, we need more information. And rest," she added with a glance at Perfuma and Mermista.

Word from the Salineans arrived at the same time Alcy started moving soldiers back across the river - Seacat saw the longboat approach the fortress from the east while she was overseeing the collection of the gunboat engines.

"Pack them up and lash them down on the raft," she yelled at the soldiers working at the pier. "And don't mess up! If those engines end up in the water, I'll send you after them, and you'll get them back or drown!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the sergeant in charge of the squad told her.

She glared at them for a moment, just to impress the importance of this, then went to see Adora and the others.

The mood of the soldiers in the fortress was pretty bad, she noted as she walked to the citadel, where the shrimp had relocated the command room to. None of the bragging and cheering soldiers would do after a victory, even or especially if it had been a bloody affair. They weren't even looting as much as they could.

She couldn't blame them, of course. Not after the shock of seeing those explosions.

The guards at the citadel were alert, at least, glaring at everyone and everything as Seacat entered. Adora and the others would be in the main building, but Entrapta was studying the catapult in the courtyard, so she took a slight detour. "Hey!"

The princess looked up, then smiled. "Oh, hi! Did you load up the engines?"

"They were tying them down on the rafts when I left. Courier arrived," she replied. Nodding at the catapult, she added: "Did you find anything?"

"It's a standard siege catapult with a counterweight," she told Seacat. "According to a captured soldier who helped build it, they used old blueprints. For the mobile ones, too." She smiled. "That means we know the capabilities of the catapults as soon as we get those blueprints!"

That was good news. Seacat smiled back at the princess.

"Although the range is a little bit longer than I expected given the weight of the engines," Entrapta added.

And that wasn't good news. "Bigger than a standard Horde field gun?"

"Almost but not quite. But the arc's much better."

Field guns could set up faster than a catapult. That meant if you saw the horde coming, you could shell them before they were ready. As long as the Horde guns didn't shell you first. But since the catapult threw its load in a higher arc, they could hide behind field fortifications and weather a bombardment. "We'll need bigger guns," she said.

Entrapta tensed. "I can modify the engines we recovered."

"But they would be too big for your gun project?"

"Yes."

"We'll have to discuss this with the others." Seacat nodded towards the main building. "Let's go."

"Alright!"

"...and the frigate was… sunk in the explosion. The blast destroyed or capsized all the barges on the river, too. Many drowned." The courier's voice wavered a little as she gave her report.

Seacat pressed her lips together. She could imagine it. The blast's shockwave knocking people out, the waves tossing barges around, people ending in the river, hurt or unconscious, panicking marines struggling for anything that was afloat…

Mermista looked even worse. "How many survived?"

"One in ten," the courier said, "from the forces on the river."

Seacat closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. She had expected that, but she had hoped...

Mermista looked like her face was made of stone. "And the forces on the shore? How many are left in total?"

"About two in ten," the man replied.

"I see." Mermista didn't show any emotion, but when Sea Hawk wrapped his arm around her shoulders, she didn't push him away or frown at that breach of decorum or something in a planning session.

And that made Seacat want to go over and hug her as well.

"Any word from the western forces?" Adora asked.

The shrimp shook her head. "They might not have a raft ready to travel downstream," she said. "We're sending a skiff upriver as soon as we can spare one."

Which wouldn't be any time soon, Seacat knew.

But the princess took a deep breath and went on: "This is a heavy blow, but we've weathered worse. We still have the bulk of our forces, and in a few hours, they'll be safe from another such attack."

"But this is a threat to all our bases - and harbours," Seacat pointed out. "One small ship carrying such a bomb is enough to wipe out a port."

"I'm aware of that," the princess retorted. "Defensive measures will be taken. However, we'll need enhanced bombs of our own. Direly." She looked at Entrapta.

"I can modify the engines we took here in a day or so," the princess replied. "But I'll have to head back to Fortress Freedom to make more - and to work on a delivery system."

"What about a catapult?" Brain Boy asked.

"That's slow to set up," Adora said. "They could swarm it with skiffs and guns."

"Exactly! We need a gun that shoots enhanced engine bombs!" Entrapta nodded. "Or, we need an alternative propelling system that is faster to set up than a catapult. And I have something in mind!"

"An alternative propelling system?" Seacat asked.

"Yes! Guns put too much stress on an enhanced engine bomb - the pressure from the propellant is too big, the acceleration too much for the mechanism. Catapults do better - no pressure - but they, too, have trouble with the acceleration, if not as much as a cannon. Both limit the range of such bombs. So, I'm thinking: rockets!" Entrapta beamed at them.

"Rockets?" Adora asked.

"Yes! Steady acceleration - more or less, actually - and controlled flight. The ideal propulsion system for enhanced engine bombs."

"And how long will it take you to develop and build such a rocket?" Brain Boy asked. "And how many can you build?"

"Uh…" Entrapta bit her lower lip. "Maybe… Err… It depends on how many resources I have. If working in the fortress, probably… a month? And I think I can build… Uh… about one per day, once I have bots set up, though that will take a while as well, and I also would need to build the bombs..."

"In a month, the Horde will be in Bright Moon," Mermista said.

"Bright Moon is protected by a magical barrier!" the shrimp replied.

"Against enhanced engine bombs?" Mermista snorted. "They can lob a lot of them at the barrier. Salinas' Sea Gate was almost destroyed, remember?"

"But it had decayed - Bright Moon's protections are constantly maintained," the shrimp retorted.

"If they attempt to set up catapults near Bright Moon - or anywhere - we can hit them before they're ready," Adora said. "As long as we can detect them soon enough."

"Which would be a problem on the sea," Mermista said. "They can set up a catapult on a ship and have it ready to bombard a port - they don't need to be very precise with such bombs."

"But they still need to get in range," Sea Hawk pointed out. "And it's far more difficult to hide a ship at sea than a force on land."

"Unless they have some fishpeople tow the bomb underwater," Seacat said. "Or they attack at night."

No one said anything for a few seconds, though the shrimp muttered some curses under her breath.

"We'll need to extend the patrol routes of our own fishfolk," Sea Hawk said.

"Perhaps we'll have to abandon some of the lesser-used ports," Mermista added. "But even so… they can simply detonate such a bomb near the port, wipe out the patrols, possible damage the port already, and come back later…"

"I can build a detection system for the bombs," Entrapta said. "Like mine, here." She held up her device.

"That'll have to be your priority," Adora said. "We need a way to detect such bombs from as far away as possible."

"But we also need bombs of our own to strike back," the shrimp cut in. "We can't face their armies in the field until we do."

"Even after we have such bombs, any army is a target," Brain Boy pointed out. "And every princess," he added with a grim expression.

Everyone in the room tensed.

"We need to ensure that the Horde can't make more of those bombs," Seacat said. "Guard the crystal mines at any cost - and be ready to destroy them." That would hamper their navy, but there was no other way.

"Yes." Adora nodded. "How many such bombs can they make? And how fast?"

"That depends on how much fuel crystals and other materials they had stockpiled," Entrapta replied.

"We've taken a lot of their resources, and we secured more in the yards here," Brain Boy said. "But the fact that they left the gunboat engines here means the Horde wasn't too pressed for more bomb material."

"Or they messed up," Adora said. "The Horde's logistics aren't perfect."

"I'd rather not assume they made a mistake," Seacat said. "But we control the fuel crystals at least."

"Yes." The Shrimp nodded, then growled slightly through clenched teeth. "We need to withdraw and disperse our troops until we've got those detectors. We can't risk losing more people to those bombs."

"If we withdraw the soldiers, the Horde will go after villages and towns," Adora countered. "And we can't let the Horde forces trapped in the north escape."

"We might not have a choice," Sea Hawk pointed out. "Until we know how many bombs the Horde has, any concentration of force is at risk."

"If we can't face them at all, we lose the war," Adora told him.

"Alright, then let's find out if the two Horde forces to the east and west have more bombs - and how many," Seacat said. "Entrapta? I'm going to need your detector."

"Oh. I'll have to teach you how to use it, then."

"You want to spy on them?" Adora said. "They'll blow you up!"

"Only if they spot me," Seacat replied. "And I'm no princess; I doubt that they would waste a bomb on me." She smiled at Adora to take the sting out of her next words. "And unlike everyone else here, I'm not a leader needed to keep the army together."

Adora glared at her.

"Alright," Seacat said as the skiff approached the forest ahead of them. "Drop me off there, then continue the patrol."

"Shouldn't we wait to pick you up?" the Bright Moon soldier manning the swivel gun on the skiff asked.

She almost groaned at the question. "No, that would tell the Horde that I'm in the forest." And she hadn't spent the entire trip hiding in a fake ammunition crate only to have the soldiers tip off the Horde by not continuing their patrol.

"Ah." At least the soldier had the grace to sound embarrassed. "Sorry."

"No worry. Drive close to the forest's edge. I'll drop off there." She peered through the slits in the crate. She couldn't see much - she had to trust that the soldiers' ability to spot hidden Horde scouts was better than their ability to think things through - but she could see the trees growing larger.

Then they reached the edge of the forest. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and flipped the latch on the side.

A moment later, the crate's side fell open, and she rolled off the skiff, twisting in mid-air to land on her feet in a crouch and dash into the closest bush. If anyone had spotted her…

She held her breath and listened as the engine noise of the skiff started to fade. Nothing. Then again, no scout worth their salt - and the Headhunters would have such scouts - would reveal their presence by moving around if they knew that an enemy was nearby. Or they'd move too silently even for her ears to pick up.

Which she needed to do. She couldn't just stay here and wait. She crawled forward, peeking through the foliage, checking the area around her. It looked clear. But this was an obvious place for the Horde to place scouts. So, where would they be? At the corners where they would have the best field of view? No, that was too obvious, and the patrols flew too close. They would be further inside the forest - and above ground. She should've waited until nightfall - she could see in the dark, and most Horde soldiers couldn't. Then again, they would use those who could as scouts and guards at night.

She crawled further ahead, looking around - and up - as she moved. Still no sign of a Horde lookout. But there had to be one. Perhaps she should get up in a tree herself. The big one ahead seemed to… Oh. She looked up. Squinted. The foliage was moving, but only in a certain spot. Not the wind. Perhaps an animal.

But she wouldn't bet on that.

Grinning, she crawled through the underbrush until she reached the tree in question, where she listened again, holding her breath.

The creaking of wood. Some scratching noise. And a muttered curse.

There they were! She grinned, baring her fangs, as she peered up the tree. If the Horde scout was on that branch, then they wouldn't be able to see the back of the trunk right… there!

Seacat quickly crawled around the tree, checked for anyone nearby, then scaled up the trunk. Halfway to her goal, she heard cursing - the Horde soldier must have heard her claws ripping into the tree's bark. Snarling, she sped up, climbing around the tree trunk, then pushing off as soon as she caught a glimpse of a Horde uniform.

A crossbow bolt slammed into the tree a moment later, missing her by inches. "You're done for!" she snapped as she grabbed the branch with both hands, claws out, swung around it and landed on top of it.

The Horde soldier dropped his crossbow, but he wasn't quick enough to draw his short sword before she was on him. She raked one set of her claws across his sword arm and drove her other into his belly, below his chest plate - and twisted.

He stared at her with his open, then started choking, blood running from his lips. She ripped his throat out before his sword hit the bottom, then grabbed his twitching body and jumped down. Once more, she twisted in mid-air, landing with both feet on his chest as they hit the ground.

He was dead before he could say or do anything.

She dragged him under a dense bush nearby - nothing to be done about the blood - and continued westwards, upriver, towards the Horde forces that had wrecked the Bright Moon's decoy forces - when their courier had finally arrived, the numbers had been better than feared, but still gruesome. All the rafts were destroyed and most of the force gone.

She pushed the thought away as she reached the edge of the forest. She hadn't spotted any more Horde scouts, but there had to be… Oh.

This wasn't a force on the move - they were fortifying their camp. She could see a huge catapult - not as big as the one in the yards, but bigger than expected. Couldn't be very mobile. Now where were the bombs? She pulled Entrapta's 'scanner' out of her backpack and pushed the button to activate it.

The thing blinked and she saw the symbols of a bomb light up. Only one - but that was still more than enough to wreck an attack. And it meant that the Horde had some reserves.

Damn.

She pulled out her telescope and studied the Horde camp - or growing base. Where was the bomb? It would have to be close to the catapult, to be used at a moment's notice. There were several tents nearby, but only one was guarded. And surrounded by earthen walls. Those wouldn't stop an enhanced engine bomb, of course, but that was standard procedure for Horde powder magazines in the field. And Seacat would bet that the Horde would store their enhanced bombs the same.

So… she had accomplished her mission and confirmed the likely location of a bomb. She could already withdraw, but if she was here, she might as well gather more information. The camp was quite large and quite well-organised. She quickly counted the troop tents, then the officer tents. Then she made a quick calculation. The number she came up with would fit, mostly, with what they knew about the Horde strength in the area. Not quite up to Alliance numbers, even after the losses they had taken. But with a single bomb, that could change.

Her eyes widened. Indeed, a single bomb could change the equations - both ways. If they sneaked into the camp and set the bomb off… or teleported into the magazine, set a timer and ported out… She slowly smirked. Hoisted by their own petard, as the Captain would say.

On the other hand… the Headhunters would expect that. They knew about the shrimp's powers - Lonnie had told them about the Horde training. Only an idiot would miss the obvious threat of the princess teleporting into a camp and setting off an enhanced engine bomb. So, this was a trap. Damn. If only the shrimp could teleport a bomb… Although… Seacat cocked her head and looked at the camp, then up. Well, that might be a way to deal with it.

She studied the defences, especially the guards and patrols, then stashed her detector and telescope and started to crawl back into the forest until she was out of sight.

Then she stood and quickly made her way to the riverbank. The Horde would have posted another guard here to give advance warning should the Alliance push upriver. Now where… there!

A silent crawl, a quick jump and another Horde soldier bled out from a slashed throat. Seacat dragged the body to the shore, then dropped it and pulled out the snorkel Entrapta had built for her. Insisted to build it, actually - Seacat could've fabricated one herself, if not quite as elegant.

But whatever worked. She bit down on the mouthpiece, tasting rubber, then grabbed the dead guard and slid into the water. The river's current would drag her back to the yards more safely than making the trip on foot would be. Faster too, overall.

And the Horde wouldn't find the body as quickly as the other guard's.

"So… this is likely a trap." Adora nodded, looking at the map Seacat had drawn. "You think that they'll be ready for us to try and grab the bomb."

Seacat shrugged. "It's the obvious thing to do - for them and for us."

"Exactly! Blowing the Horde up with their own weapons would be poetic justice! Hoisted by their own petard! Or Petards," Sea Hawk exclaimed.

"Which is why the Horde is ready for such an attack," Mermista said with a snort - she was looking better after her rest, Seacat noticed.

"And they are digging in," Brain Boy added. "The other camp is the same - one bomb left, and they're fortifying like crazy."

Well, he would know - the boy had scouted the eastern force.

"Quite. And we can't let them. We need to take them out - or, at least, drive them off," the shrimp said. "They can't be allowed to threaten the crystal mines."

"And how do we do that?" Mermista asked.

"I've got a plan," Seacat told them. Adora wouldn't like it, of course.

"I don't like this plan," Adora said a little later, after the group had taken a break to grab something to eat.

"I know," Seacat told her, grabbing a second grilled fish. And ignoring the frowns from the soldiers at the chow line. She hadn't had decent fish in a while. And, she added after taking a bite on the way back to the command tent, she wouldn't have any today. Damn. How could you mess up grilled fish?

"It's dangerous." Adora, of course, hadn't taken a bite from her own food - she was far too fussy about things. And rules.

"More dangerous than charging the camp?" Seacat asked. "Or staying near Horde forces with enhanced engine bombs?" She smirked at the glare Adora aimed at her. That was Adora's own fault - who would think about trying to bait the Horde into using their remaining bomb by showing herself, and hoping the shrimp could get them away after the bomb was launched? The Horde had taken their best gunners for this; they wouldn't use a bomb if they thought the princesses could escape. Not when they could send Headhunters after them.

But then Adora looked down at the ground, crestfallen, and Seacat felt guilt filling her. "Sorry…" She whispered.

"It's not your fault. It's the Horde's."

And wasn't that the truth?

"Alright. Everybody knows the plan?" Adora asked.

"Yes," Seacat replied, nodding emphatically. It was her plan, after all.

Adora narrowed her eyes at her. Maybe Seacat had overdone it a little. But this was the third time her lover had asked the same question.

"Yes," the shrimp replied. She looked determined and firm - though Seacat could tell that she was a little nervous since she was fidgeting a little when she thought no one was looking. And glancing to Brain Boy.

Brain Boy himself nodded as well. He didn't look happy, but he wouldn't say anything. The boy was smart, after all. Though it probably helped that he was part of the plan as well. Unlike Adora, who would have to watch from the rear.

"Good." Adora nodded. She took a deep breath, then looked south-east, towards the location of the Horde camp across the river. "And be careful," she added in a low voice.

Seacat nodded. She knew as well as her lover that this was dangerous. She would've preferred to do it at night, but the princess couldn't see in the dark - not as well as Seacat could. Not even with the moonlight helping. So, it had to be daylight. Or close to.

She turned her head. The sun was starting to rise. Just a little longer...

She crossed her arms and leaned against the skiff that had brought the four of them here. A few yards away, the shrimp was looking over Brain Boy's shoulders as he fiddled with their cargo. "Just hold and kiss him," she muttered, shaking her head. Stupid princesses!

Adora walked over and joined her with a sigh. "I still don't like the plan," she said.

"I know. But we don't have a better one," Seacat replied. "Besides - this way, we don't risk the troops."

She could see Adora clenching her teeth - her jaw muscles twitched - just so she wouldn't say that she'd rather risk troops than Seacat. And yet, the idiot would happily risk herself rather than anyone else. "Turnabout is fair play," she said.

"Fairness has no place in war," Adora replied with a quote from one of their old instructors - Seacat couldn't actually remember who,

"I don't think they meant our situation," she told Adora.

Adora huffed, and Seacat pushed off the skiff's hull and moved to hug her. And kiss her.

Once the sun was almost up, they moved to the shore. Adora handled the cargo by herself and set it down at the riverbank. While Seacat and the shrimp stripped to their underwear and Adora looked for enemies - though this far upriver, the Horde didn't have any sentries - Brain Boy conducted a last inspection.

"It's fine," he said after a minute.

"Good. Let's get going," the shrimp said, then stepped into the water. And shivered at the cold.

Seacat joined her a moment later, carrying the small raft they had constructed. She held it steady while Adora and Brain Boy lowered the bomb into the hole in the middle of it, then pushed it a little to check that it wouldn't move too much. "Alright."

"Alright."

She looked at Adora, then turned and grabbed the handles mounted on one side, together with the shrimp. Together, they started pushing the raft towards the middle of the river while the current dragged them eastward. Towards the Horde camp.

For the first minute, neither of them said anything as they kicked their legs to propel the raft - styled to look like a piece of driftwood from one side - onward.

"I really hope this works," the shrimp whispered when they were dragged around the last turn of the river before the Horde camp.

"It will." Seacat didn't tell her that it all rested on her magic. The princess was under enough pressure already. Well, so was Seacat - she had no doubt that Queen Angella wouldn't be pleased at all if Seacat's plan got her daughter hurt or killed. Well, any wounds, Adora could heal, but still…

"What if I miss?"

"You won't."

They were now almost at the camp - or, rather, at the part of the shore closest to the camp; the camp hadn't been built directly at the river, but so far away that the Horde soldiers would be able to use an enhanced bomb without endangering themselves.

"Alright," Seacat said. "Ready?"

"Yes." The shrimp took a deep breath and pulled herself on to the raft, on top of the bomb. A moment later, she and the bomb vanished in a sparkling cloud.

Seacat immediately looked up in the sky. The princess should appear… there! She caught the flash of sparkles and saw a figure appear in mid-air, starting to fall - and disappear a moment later, to reappear nearby.

Then she saw the figure split - and half of it vanish again while the other half kept falling.

She whirled, scanning the river. Where…

A splash sounded to her right. She caught the water sprout collapsing - the shrimp had landed in the river, as planned. Now they just had to…

Behind her, the bomb went off. Seacat turned to look in the direction of the camp. That hadn't been…

Then she heard another, louder explosion, and a cloud of smoke appeared above the riverbank, followed by more explosions.

The princess had dropped the bomb on the Horde's powder magazine. As planned. "Great work!" she muttered, turning to look for the shrimp. If the impact had knocked her out...

Just in time for the princess to resurface, spluttering and gasping, about twenty yards off. Seacat grinned, relieved, and started to pull the now empty raft towards the princess.

"This was…" The princess shook her head as she managed to grab the handles of the raft again.

"...great?" Seacat asked.

"Terrifying!" The princess took a deep breath. "I had to adjust my position, and I was falling the whole time…"

"But you did it," Seacat told her as the river dragged them around another bend. "The Horde's camp is wrecked."

"Yes." Glimmer smiled, showing her teeth. "And now we can mop up the remains."

Seacat grinned in return. "One down, one to go."