Zan and allies entered the field right away. Whiskey called for her horse while Zan and Jiehong unlatched their bikes, moving the pieces into position. Click. Conk. Their bikes were ready to ride. Both boys used a minute amount of magic to increase their speed quickly. Gradually building their speed until they were plowing through the enemy, that was when Jiehong unleashed a flurry of grenades. Blast. Boom! Explosions devastated the tightly packed automotron ranks. Fire claimed even more victims.

Stretching his vision over the battlefield, Zan witnessed confused splotches of burning. Golems in the distance still yet unaware of this part of the camp's problems while on the other side of the villa, another segment of the besiegers were storming the villa itself: the unexpected arrival of a quick attack force did not help their affairs, of course. Especially not an assault force as overpowered as Zan and Jiehong backed by Whiskey's talent. Zan would admit to seeing battle now almost like an exaggerated child's play, for it remained easy to burn a golem.

"Enough!" Zan panted into the earpiece. Every word was labored. "Jiehong. We need to conserve our grenades for the rest of the battle. Now we hold until the loyalist muster. I am sure they are on the way!"

On their way Winters and his men were. Though a late start had been given, due to an automotron raiding party. A party backed by several big-cannon-bearing troop transports. Winters would later say of the event, "Shamefully. A man was lost. But for his quick thinking, a walker was brought down."

Now, however, Winters and the local militias sprang into action. With the walker dealt with, there was no more impediment to aiding Zan and his friends on the field. While riding toward Zan, however, and as he would later mention to the young man, it was irresponsible for Zan and Company to rush off on their own action before being ordered to do so by their commanding officer. Being his first offense as a mercy force, however, Winters would let it slide.

Zan saw, then, the arrival of Winters as a wave of riders smashing into an entire section of the enemy camp, flaying alive the automotrons as raiders made passes alongside Zan and Company, who settled into an advisory role as they caught up with Winters.

"Zan!" Winters called out. Zan came to his position quickly with his bike. "You and your team rushed out without hesitation."

"Yes, sir!" Zan said, oblivious to his actions. "In the future, please keep in mind our shared war objectives. Because you left the camp, we were shorthanded when a walker raiding party snuck up on us. I will forgive this instance, however. But in the future, please wait on my orders before engaging the enemy."

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Zan said he would. "Apologies. I only wanted to make sure the enemy was confronted. We should focus on the engagement. My actions are already done. Now, we must finish the battle."

"Right. Okay. Looks like we have made a good dent in the enemy ranks," Winter said, observing the battlefield.

"Yes. My team and I take our conduct in the field seriously."

"I can see that. Locally, it looks as though our objectives are only partially met. We have secured this side of the enemy camp before the lord's villa, but there is no way inside from this wall, so we charged the camp at the worst possible place. Another reason to consult with your commanding officer, Zan. But we cannot fix that. As you said, boy, we must focus on what we can control. Let's stick to the original battleplan. Take your force and assist loyalist forces as they fight their way through the besiegers camp. If you see a way into the villa, take it. We need an emergency force inside."

Zan told Winters he understood. He instructed his allies to gather and together they broke away from Winters and his posse. They rode to a nearby group of Winters men who were mustering for a charge against the enemy as they swept through this side of the villa. Another System notification: [Energy Levels Low: Food Intake Needed].

Although it was the most realistic of things to happen -- becoming hungry from participating in a heavy string of physical action for the last action-packed hour or more -- it still annoyed Zan. He couldn't eat now! He had an enemy force to wipe out before they kidnapped members of the royal family!

Discarding the notification, Zan focused to his friends. He need not introduce himself to the men, who already knew who they were.

Saying to the local commander, "We will support your flanks!" Zan had he and Whiskey and Jiehong ride ahead of the loyalist force ready to charge.

"We're acting as their auxiliary support. See an enemy, take them out. Punch holes. Just as we've been doing," Zan said through the eco-speak beetle.

Neither Whiskey nor Jiehong had a problem with their roles. Given the chaos of the situation, it seemed like the best route to take.

Zan and Company made contact with the next segment of the besieging force. Riding ahead of the rest, Zan crashed his bike with magic-assisted power. It was a sight to see as even Gold-painted golems withered under the relentless barrage; he pulled back hard on the bike before he slammed into a golem, so the golem found itself withered under the churning assault of bike wheels turned deadly weapon as magic caused the wheels to spin into overdrive and shred the golems it encountered. Zan hardly knew what he was doing with his bike and the golems while it happened. He was running on instinct. It felt like the right thing to do -- pull back on his bike, but the magic in the wheel thing? He had never done that before. Maybe it was him becoming more familiar with his bike? He had been using it nonstop since getting it.

Of course, Zan and Company did not linger.

Once contact was made with the enemy, Zan withdrew. His team obeyed his edict on not wasting grenades on the enemy. Not right now. They had dozens of men at their backs. Zan knew he had to think as a team.

Yet as Zan and his team doubled toward the next enemy group, close to the front of the villa, he saw to his right exactly what he and his team had been ordered to look for -- a way into the villa.