Yuriko’s Anima had expanded by nearly ten inches. She didn’t even notice until a while ago when they prepared themselves to defend the camp. The caravan of fifty troop transports along with six of the eight carriers and haulers were lined up towards the southern gate. The carriers were roughly twice the length of a troop transport and were slightly wider. One of the Colossi Carriers and the last cargo hauler was pulled up next to the keep. The second Colossus squad, the one that had brought back the elk carcasses, would stay with the rearguard along with Yuriko and Marron.

Veran Jake’s Chainbreaker Century would also join the rearguard. The red-haired Centurion paced across the keep’s entrance, anxiety clear across his countenance. Yuriko had an excellent view of the camp from her perch on the keep’s rooftop. The Dome flickered to life as it blocked off a couple of boulders.

The walls looked bare without the Plasma Carronades, but without the connection to the Animus engine, the siege weapons didn’t have enough juice to fire off more than a dozen basic shots anyway. They lay tucked into two carriers.

The courtyard only had room for a dozen transports and the carriers. The rest of the large landcrafters were still underground, but it would only take a few minutes to exit up the ramp and through the gates.

The southern field had to be cleared of swarmlings though, and that was the job of the other legion Centuries.

The gates swung open and Yuriko excitedly watched the warriors rush out. The Knights and the legionnaires fell into the surprised horde light an avalanche, sweeping the smaller swarmlings and trampling them down into mush. The first carrier, the one with three Plasma Carronades, followed behind the legionnaires, with several squads of nervous militia walking on either side of it. Fort Commander Perry stood on the carrier’s cabin roof, a beacon for the rest of the Camp. She stood with her arms crossed under her expansive bosom and with a crimson scarf fluttering behind her. She certainly made for a picturesque scene.

Gwendith, Desire, the rescued women, and the irregular scouts were in the first troop transport that followed behind the lead carrier. The women were sequestered inside the cabin while the others walked. Saki was hidden in the nearby shadows as she always had been.

The caravan pushed towards the southwest, pausing at the edge of the clearing to gather the rest of the transports. The rest walked in groups of a hundred on either side of the line. As they reached the edge, the Builder Corps mustered their Animus and worked their techniques. The snow was pushed to a side creating a wide trench. Trees and other vegetation were either moved sideways or trampled down. It was slow going and the Colossi, the two with plasma projectors and slug throwers kept their weapons pointed to the north.

The bombardment continued, but it only fell on the Dome. Thankfully, either the behemoths didn’t know that they were evacuating, or they couldn’t throw much farther than a couple of leagues…

Whoosh!

A sharp boulder bypassed the entirety of the camp and fell to the south. The trajectory was off by a couple of degrees and it landed in the forest due east rather than on the caravan.

A wave of tension washed through the crowd.

Yuriko could see Commander Perry gesticulating wildly. Then, nearly a cohort of warriors with Plasma Casters turned their weapons to the north and blasted a combined burst of superheated plasma at another boulder.

The bolts didn’t so much as deflect the boulder as melt enough of its sides to destabilize its flight path. Still, it was a close call. And by the time the next boulder came along, it was Marron who responded.

Her elder brother stood next to her and aimed with his weapon, then he let loose nearly a dozen bolts, which quickly combined into a singular, crescent-shaped blast. When it reached the boulder, it cut it in half, and the sides flew away from each other and slammed into the dome rather than beyond.

“Wow!” Yuriko exclaimed and Marron gave her a self-satisfied smirk. “Can you keep it up?”

“For a while,” he harrumphed.

Even though he said that, the next couple of boulders crashed down on the walls. The Dome flickered, and Yuriko assumed its reserves were running dry. A couple of minutes later and the Dome flickered out.

“That’s it. They’re dismantling the equipment,” Marron said.

Only about half of the caravan had left the clearing. Yuriko clicked her tongue. The Colossi with them and Marron could deflect the boulders, but she couldn’t. Rather, she hadn’t figured out how to yet. She could, maybe jump up and slam them aside? Throw a pebble? No, wait! Throw a pebble invested with the Adamant Guardian Seal!

Her kinesis handed her one and she wasted no time impressing the technique into the stone. It was simple enough to etch the proper runescript sigils, but what she didn’t know was how much Animus it would take to stop the boulder in midair. She channelled fifty lumens worth and the pebble practically turned gold with Radiant light.

“Yuri, what are you doing?” Marron asked, concern thick in his voice.

“Blocking a boulder,” she said shortly, the focus and concentration it took to hold the technique in place was greater than she anticipated. As soon as she saw a boulder, she flung the pebble using her kinesis, since her throwing arm wasn’t as accurate and she didn’t want to waste the lumen, even if it would only have taken her a few minutes to regain it.

The pebble left contrails of steam and light as it shot to the sky. As soon as it collided with the boulder, a shockwave erupted along a perpendicular axis and the boulder stopped dead in the air. Then it fell straight down with a loud thud.

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“Wow,” Marron said with a flat voice.

“Took fifty lumens,” Yuriko said ruefully. “And a couple of minutes to set up.”

Her brother shook his head and chuckled. “You don’t need to arrest all of the momentum. Even slowing it by a fraction would be enough to prevent it from hitting us. Try ten lumens?”

“Alright.”

Unfortunately, Adamant Seal wouldn’t work with that little Animus. Twenty was the minimum, apparently, and even though it didn’t block the boulders completely, it did deflect them. It still took a minute to charge up still.

Marron, Yuriko, and some of the Colossi took turns defending the base while the Runeers worked. An hour later, the bombardment inexplicably stopped.

The Runeers continued their work, having dismantled only half of the gear. The Protective Dome Projector comprised of silvery metal coils and yellow crystals, along with copious amounts of wires and other connectors, all packed into crates that were a pace along one side. They loaded the gear into the carrier and Yuriko wondered what good they would do while they travelled. The Dome wouldn’t be usable without spending at least the same amount of time assembling it.

Still, she knew that the animatech couldn’t be left behind. Why, the runescript lines along the barracks and the other buildings had been scrubbed clear. Runeers and their assistants used a tool to scrape off the lines from the walls, floors, and ceilings. Well, the more sensitive ones anyway. The heating and lights just had a deep line carved into the middle, essentially making it useless. Someone determined enough could make out the base runescript lines though.

Another hour later and they finally finished. The Colossi loaded themselves into their own carrier while the Runeers clambered around the other carrier. Yuriko and Marron settled on the cargo cabin’s roof. They trundled out of the fortress in short order and followed the path left behind.

As soon as they got into the tree line, parts of the Builder Corp who’d waited for them collapsed the road by squishing the earth back together. While it didn’t leave a pristine patch of vegetation, it still obscured their trail. By a little bit.

Only by the time the pine trees concealed them from view did Yuriko begin to relax. Even if the barbarians and their Chaos Lord masters attacked, it would not be through bombardment. They would come up close and she would have the chance to fight back. She honestly felt a bit of regret at not being able to finish things with the barbarians, but she also didn’t want to put her loved ones at risk just because she wanted a challenge.

She could also come back up here and fight to her heart’s content once the others were back in Imperial territory. Although she was sure Marron wouldn’t let her go alone.

“You seem deep in thought?” Her brother patted her shoulder and asked. He had a jade cartridge in hand, having depleted several during the last couple of hours. Hmm, for that matter…

“You need help with those?”

“If you please. Don’t spend too much Animus… oh what am I thinking, you’ve got a lot to spare.” He snorted as he took one of the depleted cartridges from his belt and handed it to her.

Yuriko spent a moment to look for the aperture, then she pressed her fingertips against it and pulled Animus from her outer reserves and channelled it into the device. She had to make sure the threads went into the small openings, otherwise, she’d waste the lumens.

“I’ve unfinished business with the barbarian leadership.” She admitted.

“This is war, little sis. There's no sense in taking things personally.”

Yuriko glared up at Marron who recoiled at her gaze. “They hurt my friend. Abused her, and the other women. Worse, they do the same thing to their own women and they’re kept down and unable to improve themselves.” She hissed.

Marron grunted, then shook his head, “I know. Or at least, I know some of the details. Still, you can’t let hotheadedness dictate your actions. That’ll only make you predictable. And that means you’ll be made to dance to the enemies’ tune. Keep a cool head, little sis.”

Yuriko sniffed. As if it was that easy!

Marron chuckled darkly, “I know how you feel. I… we thought that you had been captured a couple of years ago too. And, well, the thought of you in their hands was unbearable. But did I rush straight into their lair? No! That would have just killed me and left you without hope of rescue.”

“And if you actually did something you would have saved more people,” Yuriko muttered rebelliously.

Marron averted his gaze and sighed, “I know my limits, Yuri. I couldn’t have survived a direct assault. We couldn’t have. Even with Duchess Kinnock in the field, none of us dared enter their labyrinthian trap. We would only have lost people in a futile assault.”

“The thing with limits is that they only exist when you acknowledge them,” Yuriko said at the same time Damien did the same. She froze right afterwards.

Marron burst out into laughter. “Yeah, I suppose that’s right. But I’m not using an ancient system that makes me more powerful than my peers.” He reached up and ruffled her hair while she protested at his treatment.

Truth be told, she enjoyed how he treated her right now, even if half the time he couldn’t decide if she was his kid sister or a fellow Knight. After his hand left her hair, it settled back easily, as if he hadn’t tried his best to get them tangled up.

“I’ve always found it unbelievable how, well, how manageable your hair is,” Marron said. “Niamh was jealous when I mentioned that you didn’t do anything to keep it as perfect as it is.”

“Mum called it my Tell,” Yuriko mumbled, “and she didn’t really explain.”

“Ah, yes. Mum’s always been mysterious. You know, she visited me during the last weeks of last year? She told me that you hadn’t been captured by the barbarians and was actually in a different plane?”

“How did she…ah, it must be…”

The Fateweaver Loom. Her thoughts skittered away from the subject and she felt a powerful compulsion to forget. But…she noticed it. She could see the golden threads trying to subvert her thoughts.

With a frown, she gathered Radiant energy into her mind and the threads ceased their pressure. “The Fateweaver Loom,” Yuriko said.

When Marron didn’t say anything, she looked over and saw that he was keeping a lookout. But it was impossible that he didn't hear her. “Marron.”

“Huh, what? Oh, how did Mum know? I don’t know what Sorcerous spells she’s mastered. Probably one of them told her that you weren’t here.”

Swallowing her fears, Yuriko just smiled. The golden threads…the Threads of Fate may not influence her as much as they used to, but every one of her friends and family was still under its mercy.

Perhaps if she taught her brothers to walk the Ancient’s Way?

Difficult. Truly difficult.

Then…perhaps if she grew strong enough.

Yuriko shook her head and returned her attention to the jade cartridge she was charging. Animus spilled out of the apertures and she realised that she had been pouring more lumens into a container that was already full. She retracted her Animus threads and returned the cartridge to Marron, receiving another empty one in turn.

It didn’t take much longer for them to catch up to the rest of the caravan, what with how slow they were going.

“I’ve volunteered to scout ahead.” Marron said, “You coming or would you like to check in on your friends first?”

Yuriko gave him a side-eye. “Shouldn’t you go see Niamh first?”

“Oh, ehehe, yeah. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind though.”

It turned out that Niamh did mind that her boyfriend had been about to run off without even telling her. She left her brother and girlfriend alone while she went looking for Gwendith and Desire.