((OOC:  See you back soon, Baz!))<br/><br/>Merelli grinned as Iln tore into the cultists.  Despite himself, he found his mind wandering back to days past.  He had seen her at her best and worst many times, long ago.  The Grand Range was not like these parts.  Dragons and drakes, feared and hated by many of the local furs, came under frequent attack.  Merelli knew what damage Iln and her kind could wreak if pressed.  Unlike Chiro, she was a full-blood.  He was just impressive.  She was awe-inspiring.<br/><br/>She flew over to a hill in the park, not far from where he was.  The Cult was surging up those slopes, trying to retake the high ground, but the Resistance forces were heading them off.  Who was that boy she was embracing?  Merelli didn't recognize him.  If he'd had the time, he would have gone over to inquire.<br/><br/>Time was short, however.  There was a sudden roar.  Merelli's eyes flicked to look at the center of his line.  The cultists had breached it and were rushing through in droves, moving to attack the reserves and widen the gap.  His eyes widened.  He fired his pistol in the air and screamed to Iln in their native tongue, hoping her enhanced hearing would pick him up.<span style="font-style: italic">~Iln, my wise friend, I ask for your help!~</span><br/><br/>He took some men nearby and led them forward.  His sidearm's clip was empty in seconds.  The men with him surged ahead as he reloaded.  An arrow grazed his arm and he turned it away, shooting out the brains of the one who'd fired it.  The Resistance troops molded into a U-shape around the incoming enemy, trying to squeeze them back out of the breach.  A man running past Merelli was snared by a harpoon and dragged into the seething mass, vanishing.<br/><br/><br/>Janus took the syringe from Heretic, his eyes wide with apprehension.  As the blood-crazed anthro-fox darted away down the corridor, another cultist dropped from the ceiling.  A shot to the gut sent the anthro-gazelle staggering backwards.  Janus, unthinking, jabbed the needle into his vein and squeezed the liquid in.  He didn't feel anything for the moment.  Unsure, he prayed it would work and ran to follow Heretic.<br/><br/><br/>The other man's jab scored and the bulldog roared in anguish, his socket dribbling dark fluid down his cheek.  There was a blast of high-pitched noise from a few floors above.  Jenten?  The First Sergeant's feet started working, trying to push him backwards and away.  Then there was a sudden thud and the bulldog jerked and groaned.  A thick wet noise came and flashes of cold silver flew out from behind him, trailing gouts of blood.  The First Sergeant yelped as the bulldog roared and fell forward, right onto him.  In a panic he struggled out from beneath, scrabbling to his feet and breathing quickly, leaning on his pole.  He looked down at the corpse, seeing the gashes, then saw Marice's bloody blades.  He swallowed and nodded at her.  "Thanks.  Fun?"<br/><br/>Emiko and Jenten were still in trouble.  He rushed up the stairs, screaming behind him, "Block the door!"  But when he emerged onto the roof, he didn't see an enemy.  Jenten was unconscious on his back.  There was blood sinking into the roof's gravel surface.  He saw its source.  Emiko was stuffing something into her pack with the hand she had left.  He felt sick, and could only stammer, "Gods.  Emiko?"<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The Sludge Freak's howls diminished, receding into a sickly gurgle as Faust weakened.  The tentacles kept tightening, lacerating his flesh as they tried to thoroughly immobilize him.  At the same time, they drew him closer, the rotten stink of the monster growing with the lessening distance.  New tentacles wrapped around, replacing wounded or severed ones.  A new noise, like a low, throbbing beat, joined the gurgle and the sandpaper-like shuffle of its limbs.  Faust was lowered to the sewer floor and dragged closer, mere inches from the dribble of glowing blood.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Halvorson reached forward and snatched the crossbow from the strange man's arm, though he tried to take care as he passed it to the medic, who looped its strap onto his own arm.  He left the quiver on the floor for the moment.  He took a moment to think of how to play this.  This guy seemed to be telling the truth, but the Commander hadn't told them about other missions in the area.  This guy wasn't a Shadow either.  Still, it was possible he'd wandered a ways away in his panic, and didn't even know where he was.<br/><br/>Best to go with the facts he could verify.  "What's your name, fella?  What unit are you from?"<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Feldana hugged Sherra, thankful for the kiss.  She felt the car start moving, and heard the strange human's words.  She didn't want to think of her Auntie Maeve getting hurt.  She was always safe.  Her house was a wonderful place to stay, eat, sleep, and be safe.  Feldana was frightened.<br/><br/>"I wanna see Auntie Maeve," she quietly moaned, her lip quivering.<br/><br/>The grain on either side of the road changed abruptly.  A sign on the side of the road read, "Borough of Kine - Pop. 13,270."  Beneath it, a newer sign hung from its bottom edge on hooks, reading, "Lady Maeve Blotar, Administrator."  It was only a few more miles to Sombquist.    A gas station the wagon passed was ablaze, the heat flashing into the wagon briefly.  The plumes of smoke loomed ahead, menacing.