Levi recognized the shape of the arrow, the curve of its flight, and shouted a warning. He’d worked with enough Rangers over the years to recognize an augmented attack when he saw one.

Diego spun toward the new threat. Skarm hurled himself away from the attack, though the evasion put him in reach of two of the sword-wielding Fighters.

The bolt swerved in its path, guided unerringly toward Skarm. Then Diego landed on the ranger, the combined weight of him and Levi throwing the man to the floor. Its master’s concentration broken, the bolt slammed instead against the back of one of the defenders.

The attack was so strong it burned through the man’s armor and knocked him down, where Skarm was quick to capitalize on the momentary advantage, driving his horn into the man’s back.

But there were too many. Levi saw no way to win against these odds.

With a rending shriek of metal, Snap tore a chunk of the roof free from the building and hurled it at the enemy.

Time for plan B.

Snap’s attack was less effective than it would have been against a crowd of unAwakened, but it still knocked them flying in all directions and bought Levi a momentary reprieve.

He took full advantage of the disruption, pressing his attack and slashing his way through the group with reckless abandon. The more damage he could do now, the more easily they could escape when the time to retreat arrived.

Half the group turned to fire their ranged weapons at the lobsteroc overhead, the other half quickly regrouping and forming up to counter Levi.

He glanced up in time to see Irene drop from Snap's back as he circled above the building, her fall slowed by the many Crackles secreted about her person. Levi hadn't even noticed when they left him to take up their new charge, but he knew they would do their job faithfully. The telltale shimmer of not-quite-right light showing Tink was doing his job of hiding her from unfriendly eyes.

Snap covered for her by tearing free another chunk of roof, and the resulting flurry of attacks and pre-emptive diving for cover ensured everyone was paying far more attention to the minions than the healer.

Levi desperately wanted to be in there with her, but their resources were stretched thin enough as it was. If this were any less important, he’d have ordered a retreat, but Irene’s sister wasn't someone they could leave behind. There was no choice. Waiting would only make things harder. If they learned the full extent of Levi's forces they'd be better able to counter him later on.

This had to work.

Levi's own health began to fall as he and Diego sprinted around, the rangers targeting him as they recognized the controller. The five remaining sword-wielders had Skarm penned in, engaging in a tight exchange of blows as the gremlin tried to get clear and they tried to cut him down in place.

The ranged support made it more difficult, since Levi couldn't take advantage of the vulnerability of the focused fighters without exposing himself, leading to an uneasy semi-standoff in which attrition was firmly fixed against him.

Everyone else would regain their stats faster than him, everyone else had more to burn than him. He was the low-level in this fight.

Snap dove at the rangers from above, but they were evenly split between tracking the lobsteroc and firing at Levi.

There would be no repeat of the attack from behind. They were on guard, and more were emerging to join them by the minute.

“Retreat!” he shouted, snagging Lash by the tendrils as they ran past, tugging the slower minion along with them.

Skarm jumped aboard, though he took several hits before he could get clear. If he’d failed to evade that first bolt he would have been dead now.

Levi and Diego ran toward the outer fence.

Snap swooped by overhead, ignoring the bolts and arrows that peppered his wings despite his health dropping steadily. He snatched for the fence where they'd entered, tearing the gate up out of the ground and crushing the surrounding wire with his huge lobster claws, dragging the twisted mass of metal out of place and making a large opening for Levi and his team to exit through.

Levi wasted no time in urging Diego out through the gap and away.

He heard shouting from behind, but whether the group would form up to attack them or reinforce their own perimeter, he'd done as much as he could.

It was up to the girls now.

* * *

Irene dropped into the hallway lightly, her fall cushioned by the flying scarabs who grouped together to slow her descent. She nodded a quick thanks as the six Crackles spread out, searching down the hall in both directions. She cast out a weak Mana Ping, but she wasn't as experienced with the spell as her husband. She could feel several mana presences nearby, but couldn't distinguish between them. Any one of them could be her sister, or could be an enemy to be avoided at all costs.

She moved to the nearest door behind which she sensed no one, and her personal Crackle quickly melted through the bolt to let her in. She slipped inside and pushed the door closed again, hoping it would be enough to hide her presence from anyone who happened to wander by.

Given the chaos out front, they would probably have better things to do than check a random office for an infiltrator, but they'd not exactly been subtle in tearing a hole in the ceiling.

She checked her Connection screen, but it was currently greyed out. Peter was too far out of range, and she hadn't figured out how to repeat her radar-like link with anyone else.

Force activation. Force activation. She mentally fought with the system, straining to get it to yield to her desires, but whatever trick had allowed her to surpass her usual limits evaded her today.

Still, it helped to pass the time while waiting for Crackle to report back, rather than pacing and worrying uselessly. If she could activate her trace mode, all the better, but it wasn't necessary for this operation.

Crackle buzzed excitedly against her shoulder, tugging to the left, so she exited the room and started down the hall, sending out another ping to be sure they weren't about to be walked in on.

It took only a few minutes for her to isolate the mana presence they were heading toward. Now she knew what to look for, it did seem weaker than the others, but the difference was so minute she couldn't be sure if she was imagining it.

They didn't find her in a cell, but a classic interrogation room with two-way glass and table and chairs. Whoever was supposed to be interrogating her was nowhere to be seen.

Very lax operational security, Irene couldn't help thinking. If one little frontal attack could get everyone to leave their posts, this was clearly less of a professional operation than she'd been imagining.

Cas stared at Irene without comprehension, a dazed sort of look in her dull eyes. She blinked uncertainly.

"Got to get you out of here," Irene whispered. "Come on, up."

Cas complied, stumbling unsteadily. Crackle had already begun melting off her handcuffs, so by the time Irene had her up and an arm around her to steady her, there was nothing preventing them from leaving.

Whoever had been guarding this area hadn't returned.

"Find the fastest way to an outer wall," Irene told Crackle.

The scarabs in front of her buzzed unhappily, four of them forming up to imitate a stairway.

"Even if you could carry me, she's in no condition to be climbing stairs."

Crackle bobbed in understanding, then dispersed again.

Irene helped Cas out into the hall, muttering small soft reassurances, but her heart was pounding in complete terror. Every sound made her tense, clutching her sister tight, eyes darting around for any sign of movement. They were deep in an enemy base, with only a handful of scarabs and a nearly-unconscious mirror sprite as resources.

Tink could potentially mask their presence for a few seconds in a pinch, but he'd run through the last of his mana getting them inside without being seen. Anything more would be unreliable until he could recover longer.

Crackle hummed and led the way, other copies rejoining them as they moved. They returned to the initial hallway and continued straight, then entered one final room that Crackle had already melted open.

There was no window, only a wall, but the remaining Crackles were all biting at that wall, small corroded holes showing daylight beyond.

"Time to see if this thing works as advertised," Irene murmured, pulling out her manablade.