Pandemonium erupted as everyone moved at once. The sewer troopers, already tense and aiming at the steps, opened fire, sending streams of bullets everywhere. The team scattered at the same time, pulling their own guns out of satchels and wallets, rolling and taking shots while shooting back.

With eight guns returning fire, the twelve troopers faltered, giving Twig and Chance the opportunity to light some dynamite.

Twig managed to bring down two in his first explosion. Chance’s stick flew too far and the force only toppled over one trooper.

Dar Caul stood on the highest step and shot down into the team, aiming at heads. He got Rip’s hip instead as the sergeant rolled backwards down the steps while trying to shoot back.

Blair finally got a solid line on Dar Caul and she emptied her drum, the Tommy gun burping long and hard. He ducked, tucking his face under his arm and protecting his eyes while scrambling up a few more steps.

The vampires misted and rushed down to attack the troopers. Hilda materialized near one and pulled the broomhandle submachine gun from his grasp, tossing it to the side.

He screamed in horror and pulled out the large silver disc around his neck, shoving it in her face. She jumped back screeching and pulled out a pistol, shooting a hole in the middle of the circle.

Liza misted too, and surrounded the face of another trooper. But the round medallion strapped around his neck proved too big. The darkness faded quickly when she tried to wrap around him and touched the silver. She reappeared behind the man, winded, the black marks on her face looking worse than before.

In frustration she kicked the man’s knee and he stumbled to the floor. When he turned to look up at her, she shot him in the eye.

Bixby turned and fired up at Caul, also aiming for the eyes. But the man held his hands up, and the bullets bounced off the open palms.

The colonel’s face dropped.

“Impetuous!”

Rip recovered at the bottom of the stairs. He scrambled to his feet and slugged the closest trooper in the jaw, knocking him down. The man’s gun flew out of his grasp, sliding across the floor.

Rip stared up at the gunfight between Bixby and Caul. He pulled out both Webleys and aimed for the man’s head.

Caul moved before the enhanced bullets struck. One nicked his neck, drawing blood. The other popped into his collarbone.

He froze, apparently unaccustomed to feeling pain from gunshots, and snarled down at Rip.

The sergeant kept his guns aimed upstairs while he thumbed back the hammers on both.

Before he could shoot again, the man he slugged jumped up and tackled him. Rip fired, but both shots flew high as he and the trooper fell down in a tangle.

Caul moved toward them, taking two steps at a time.

He passed Twig, who pulled out a stick of dynamite and bit the fuse short. Twig struck a match off the nearest step and lit it, then tossed the explosive at the Dar.

Caul turned and caught the stick out of the air with lightning quick reflexes, locking eyes with Twig. He tossed the stick underhanded, making it sail high overhead. The dynamite exploded above everyone on the stairs, knocking them all down.

He found Rip on the floor, too, holding his ears.

“Congratulations, Sergeant. You have succeeded in accelerating my plans.”

Dar Caul raced across the vast metal floor, weaving in and out of robots, leaving the stairs far behind.

Groaning, Rip struggled to his feet. He looked down at the trooper who had knocked him over, also dazed by the blast. As the man struggled to stand, Rip slugged him again and knocked him back down.

He turned his attention to the others. The colonels stood up. So did the infiltrators. Rip lent a hand to Blair, helping her to her feet.

“You okay?”

“There’s that word again. I’m fine, yes.”

Twig and Chance moved down the stairs to strip the fallen troopers. They removed the silver circles first, then checked the men’s pockets. Finally, they stripped the bodies of guns and ammunition. They left the gasmasks, though.

About six troopers remained alive and mobile. They scattered. Most hid behind the large robots, peeking around metal legs and keeping their broomhandles aimed at the team. But at that distance, bullets remained unlikely to hurt anyone enhanced. Both the troopers and the Venture Society members knew it, so they were ignored.

“Girls,” Sharp said, sipping lightly on a health potion. “Follow Caul. Find out what he’s up to.”

Hilda frowned at him and said, “There is silver on every metal guardian, Colonel.”

“I understand. Try to stay in the middle of the rows.”

“We need to feed,” Liza said, her voice taking on a harsher tone than her sister’s.

“Quite right. Do so now, the lads have stripped these of their silver.”

Sharp looked at Bixby and the others and added, “Perhaps it’s best if we turn the other way, and give the girls some privacy.”

Blair raised her eyebrows with an expression on her face indicating that she strongly agreed. She did not want to see them feed.

Chance and Twig said nothing. They simply turned around and stared upstairs silently.

Rip kind of wanted to watch, out of morbid curiosity. But he went along with the others and turned his back on the bodies. He could hear everything just fine, though, with glomps and gulps and sucking sounds.

Perhaps it really is better not to look.

He found himself staring up at Lady Finley’s slain body, and he found the sight depressing.

It’s almost worth watching the girls to avoid having to look at her.

Sharp moved up closer to Finley as the vampires continued consuming blood. He took her satchel off and opened it, then reached down and pulled her body inside. Finally he put her satchel over his other shoulder, across from his. He patted it lightly, and walked back down the steps, keeping his face down to avoid the feeding frenzy.

At last the gruesome sounds faded, and the girls cleaned themselves up.

“We are finished here,” Liza said.

Everyone turned around and walked down the steps to join them.

The girls looked refreshed, now. Rip noticed all the black marks from silver exposure were gone, and they seemed back in peak form.

“Very good,” Sharp said. “Please find out what the Dar is up to.”

They nodded and blurred away, using [Vampiric Speed] to race down the aisles between the robots.

The surviving troopers kept guns trained on the main group. But bereft of leadership, no one dared to reignite the firefight. Nor did anyone try to follow the vampires.

“What are we going to do now, Colonel Bixby, sir?” Chance said.

“We’re going to have to report this. There’s no two ways about it. We need to go back upstairs, make our way out, and call in to RVS headquarters. The king himself will need to know about it. They have an army of enhanced metal men down here. And that, obviously, cannot be good.”

They heard a thunking sound, like a switch was tripped.

Bixby said, “What was that?”

The sound repeated itself. Rip watched as the nearest two robots’ heads lifted up, eyes glowing.

The sound repeated a hundred times over, echoing throughout the chamber.

All around them, robots everywhere woke up.