Captain Miles has his own handpicked officers, so I need one more. We don't have much time, and ask for someone to do crowd control: the eithyr from before, who's mostly coral and rippling seafoam green, raises her hand. Cora Philomena, she calls herself, with promises to do her best.

"How are you building?" Hikaru asks her.

"Uh, I was just following your guide, so mostly Vigor and Mind?" she says. "Blast folks away with TK Wave when they need to be gone, and otherwise just alternate Healing Kythe and Ravaging Kythe to keep myself from bleeding too much health from healing. - God, this is weird, is that your pride or mine?"

Hikaru blinked, swaying back.

"Trust me this is even weirder for me," she blurts out. "God, I never considered what telempathy feels like on this side. I thought AV feedback gave me a headache," she says, and laughs, more to vent than anything. "If I could turn it off I would."

"Is it better or worse than wearing this stupid metal thong?" Ace asks, flat-eared. "At least I have the padding now."

"Please don't make me find out firsthand," Cora says. "Turns out being Psychic sucks."

Ace smiled. "How long have you been playing, anyway?"

"One of my friends bought me a sub last week," Cora said, shrugging. "It's a lot to take in."

Ace clapped her on the back. "Look on the bright side: at least you were trying to make a character that works."

For the moment, at least, I had found our sixth.

I relay the plan to the others. Alesha and Hikaru don't see obvious holes in it, from a strategic level; Ace has a million questions, but then she would. It involves splitting into teams of six, each slowing down and softening up the enemy for the teams of common soldiers with pikes.

"Defense in depth," Hikaru calls it. "Break the wave against many walls."

Something tickles the back of my mind the moment we see the pirates in the distance, at the front of the fort. This is almost certainly a smaller group sent as a diversion and recon-in-force; our party and Captain Miles are both sure that more are looping around the back looking for stray farmers to carry off and take as slaves.

...from a sugar plantation. That's weird, right? I definitely met the people who actually plant the cane to explain the plan and they're definitely in it for the money, but it's kind of a No Longer In Oakland, Toto situation for me.

I'm woolgathering. There are a core of elites and a bunch of weaker press-ganged soldiers; I set eyes on one pirate lieutenant in wizardly robes and start running a second before Sekhmet and Ace move. Then I'm up in the air with the greatest of ease, at the top of my arc, shifting into what's swiftly becoming my opening move.

I laugh, then just to shake them, call out what I and doubtless belt-collector Hikaru been calling this in our heads:

"KAISER KICK!"

The one with a shield is too busy getting double-teamed by a cat with two shanks and a very angry fox girl with an axe to stop me from flipping behind him and kicking the wizard right into Alesha's shield, and from there to his back.

But the enemy tank does have time to mouth seriously? at me, and that's when the braintickle gets a voice.

Since when do the locals watch Kikaiser?

I haven't got time to talk about it now, but I need to tell the others - 

- once my side stops exploding in pain after that deafening crash. Did someone get me with a thunderbolt?

I look down. Oh. 

No, that was just a bullet from a flintlock pistol.

I wobble a bit.

Then I feel a wave of confidence overwrite the pain, as the bullet floats out of my side and my flesh knits. Cora Philomena's eyes are closed and yet, somehow, she's still looking right at me; the bullet moves with her gestures. Her eyes open, and lock with a man with a pistol and cutlass already turning around.

Cora gestures, stamping the bullet 'return to sender' with a whipcrack noise. The mook falls.

My thanks is to shout "look out!" as the wizard on the ground before Alesha raises her hands and screams.

I sweep away the lightning, grounding it in my aura; Alesha grunts as it catches her square in the chest, her armor useless against lightning. Cora has already stepped forward, out of the line of fire - and out of position, dancing and whirling to parry the cutlass and hook hand of another pirate lieutenant.

Which is when that pirate is pinned in place by a spear of ice, freezing him to the ground.

"I am so glad I picked up range for that,' Hikaru mutters, gesturing to the ground at his and Cora's feet. "Stand in the circle, please; you'll know why when you feel it." And with that, a magic circle springs to glowing life around them, centered exactly between the two and with Alesha in it; a pentagram described in a circle, with Greek lettering and more glyphs around that, bound by another.

I'm pretty sure if I knew Greek, I could read it and it would mean something. But I don't.

I whip my head around; Sekhmet and Ace are mowing down lesser guards, Sekhmet blurring with the Zephyr's Grace I put on her while Ace stays closer to 'the front line.' Arrows from the guardhouse are starting to fall past our party into the waiting enemy backline, so I think it's safe to fall back into the circle myself.

Oh. I feel stronger, my Breath more charged.

"Thanks," I say to Hikaru.

"Of course," he says.

I drop my healing in the circle and offer my hand to Alesha, who smiles, takes it, and lets me hoist her up. I take a deep breath and look away, back to the battle; make my double palm gesture and send a Gale Cutter into the tank.

The battle takes a little longer, a little more blood and sweat for us to win, but not by much before the pirates decide this wasn't as easy as they were promised and turn to run.

I sigh and fall to my knees, and there's a friendly hand on each shoulder when I do; Alesha and Hikaru, both. 

I'm too tired for useless bisexual flailing about it right now, but the night is young.

I breathe in. I breathe out.

I loop around to see how the rest of the battle is going, and can't shake that feeling like something is out of place out of my head.