Now imagine my surprise when I didn't find a single Phantom lying near the portal. They're probably feeding or doing whatever Phantoms do when I don't see them. But what I did find was interesting in its own way.

Those 10 sturdy looking wooden boxes over there are apparently the 10 sleepers the President had ordered for me. That's really sweet of him, but how am I going to get those to the Palace and our cottage? It took 4 men to carry a single sleeper into our VIP room, so imagine moving 10 of those for 2 miles!

The Sentry guards told us they would keep an eye on them for now, since the packaging can withstand the rain. Well, they're polite and all, but their expressions told me that they want them gone asap.

 

On our way towards the city we encountered a few familiar faces....Bravo team.

"Heeeeeey, look, isn't that Admiral Whitfield?" Hurst, one of the Bravo team guys said, sounding like he's in a particularly good mood.

"Finally, I get the respect I deserve. How's life as a Kitsune, Hurst?" I said while grinning. But when I didn't receive more feedback than a few death glares, I decided to go all out. "Oh my god, you four are looking soooo cute. Just look at those tails, Kara. All of them are moving."

"Yeah...really cute, Essie. But I don't like those ears, they're telling me they don't like me." Kara said, definitely playing along.

"Now how would that be possible?" Richards said with a grin.

"Awww, Richards, you look much better now you have a fluffy tail. Did a cute girl kiss you today as well?" I said while intentionally staring at his tail.

"Not yet." He's staring at me. Ahhh.....did he mean me?

"Richards, knock it off, or Kara will shoot you." Major Rodriguez said while adjusting his backpack.

"I would never do that." Kara says, but then adds "I prefer knives."

"Yikes!" was the only thing Richards replied.

"Sorry to end this, ladies, but Hayes is waiting for us. We finished scouting the area." Major Rodriguez seems ready to leave. "Oh, one more thing, Essie. Happy to see you recovered from your first Alpha Charlie."

"My first? It had better be my last one too! But anyway, yes, it really sucked. But after they let me visit a test range where I blew up a few more tanks, I felt much better."

"They really let you do that? My god. How's Hayes? Did he cool down too?" The Major asked.

"Yup, he's back to normal. I know he's looking forward to receiving your report, so perhaps you should keep the fluff during debriefing. I'd love to see his face when you do so." I said, meaning every word of that.

"Ha ha ha....yeah, sorry, we don't want to be shot, Essie. Anyway, we need to get going."

"Yup, see you around, guys. With or without the fluff." I couldn't suppress a snicker, and neither could Kara.

"Uh-huh, laugh all you want, Essie, at least we can remove it."

"Meanie." Is all I said, while still grinning. They're good guys. "See ya!"

 

They then continued their way towards the portal, while we set course for the Palace.

When we asked the Palace guards if we could meet with the Princess for a few minutes, those minutes turned into an hour, mainly due to Nanako's excessive hugging needs.

I told her about the defenses which are currently being rolled out near the portal, and then switched to a more important topic.

When I mentioned that a gift in the form of sleepers had arrived, Nanako was beyond excited. We decided that 7 sleepers would be allocated to the Palace, 2 are intended for our elderly neighbors, and 1 will go straight to our cozy cottage.

She immediately promised to send a few carts to the portal to pick up the sleepers and make sure that they'll end up where they should end up. Nanako thanked us on behalf of the Royal Family, which will probably also please Hayes.

 

On the way from the Palace to our cottage, I told Sentry to expect a few carts which would take care of the sleepers, and to simply let them take them away. The Princess told us not to worry about it, so if they end up somewhere else entirely, it won't be our fault. I hope that Nanako at least prepared them for the fact that the people standing near the portal aren't Kitsune.

 

It's around 1 pm when Kara and I finally make it back to our cozy cottage. It's like time has stood still. Everything is still there where we left it, not a single item is missing. And in general, life on Negawa seems to go on at its relaxed pace as it always does.

The weather is to die for, another sunny afternoon, which would make plenty of rich Earthlings green with envy. Everyone here has what they can only dream of....great weather...everyday.

Kara is letting me sit undisturbed in the living room, because she knows I have a lot on my mind right now. I'm staring outside the window while sitting in the wooden chair which since our latest shopping trip is equipped with a pillow to sit on and lean against. At least we're making some improvements around here.

 

Earth is well-prepared for an attack, but on the Negawa side of the portal, the military defenses are almost non-existent. Hayes had better send those tanks and artillery units this way, or it'll be game over for us soon. Who knows when that crazy squid decides to attack us?

When I noticed Kara standing there, leaning against the wall, I felt miserable. Just look at me, brooding instead of finding ways to kill those Queens.

A smile forms on my lips and that makes Kara's expression improve as well. She walks over to me and sits down next to me. 
"Yes, these are much more comfortable now. You truly have some great ideas, Essie." She's trying to cheer me up.

"I'm sorry." I said, in a sad, remorseful tone of voice, while definitely looking apologetic.

"For what?" She said with her warm, caring voice.

"For being so miserable. I can't stand myself....but I also can't stop thinking."

She doesn't say a word, but gently puts her arms around my shoulder and pulls me closer, then gives me a kiss on my nose. Not what I had expected, to be honest. "Ha ha ha, sorry, you looked so serious. Do you want a real kiss?"

"What kind of question is that, Kara? I always want a real kiss. I mean, as long as you are the one doing the kissing."

Deeds, not words is Vanguard Base's motto, but Kara has made it her own. She kisses me on the lips twice and finishes with a kiss on my forehead. Well....at least my mood is improving.

"Did that help?" She asked in a sensual way, suggesting that she could help more.

"Uh-huh. Kara, you always know how to cheer me up. I'm really sorry, okay?"

She's now scratching my ears, which is helping me to relax even more.

"It's okay, Essie. I know how difficult life is for you. And still you worry for me."

"Of course I worry for you! I love you! If I lost you, I wouldn't know what to do. You are the glue that keeps me together."

"Thank you, I think? What is glue?"

"Em.....think of a nice statue that accidentally falls and breaks into a thousand pieces. Glue is used to make the many pieces stick together. It fixes the statue, but still leaves....a scar...you could say."

"You have a way with words. That almost sounded poetic."

"Well...your lips seem to inspire me." I slowly let my lips touch hers and only released them after five seconds. Well, it might have been five minutes, not sure. Much too soon of course, but I need my lips to speak.

"Mmmm......that was nice. Are you in the mood to fluff?" She asked.

"What kind of silly question is that? I'm always in the mood to fluff!" Yes, my mood has improved a lot right now, no doubt about it.

 

She stands up and gently takes my hand, pulling me towards our bedroom.

Sitting down in the sleeper, still the old one, isn't as daunting as it once was for me. I'm already sitting in my underwear, ready to start the fluffing when she only keeps standing there, smiling at me.

"C'mon, Kara, don't stand there! It's fluffing time!"

"Ha ha ha, alright, give me a minute." And she undressed in slow-motion, definitely teasing me by making me wait.

Finally she steps into our sleeper, only wearing her underwear.

"It's about time, you really are a bad maid."

"I know." Is all she replied, while grinning.

She now sits in front of me, presenting me her back and that exquisite fluffy tail of hers. I slowly approach her neck and kiss her there a few times, slowly making my way up to her ears. Note to self...don't kiss furry ears. I stealthily removed a few stray hairs from my tongue, but considering the giggling I heard, she must have caught me.

Next I put my arms around her and hug her for a moment, until I intentionally leave her untouched for a minute. "You can't stop there, Essie!"

"Who said anything about stopping? God, you smell so amazing. And your skin is so soft, I'm a bit jealous. Everything about you is amazing, even your tail."

"Eh he he...go on."

My hands may have accidentally found their way to her bra-covered mountainous region, but instead of hearing complaints, I hear more giggling. Then it hit me....could we...perhaps double the fun?

"Kara?"

She looks at me. "Yeah? Something wrong?"

"Mmmmm....not really. Turn around, would you?"

She turns around in the sleeper and now faces me. "Tell me." She's giving me that wonderful smile again.

"Are you in for a bit of experimentation?"

Another grin. "Always. Did you think of something....interesting?"

"You could say that again. How about we both take our tails in our hands like this, put them against each other and then start the fluffing?"

"Huh? Oohh.....that could be...interesting, yes. So we both fluff our own tails?"

"No, we fluff each other's tails, but they still have to touch. I'm curious to see what will happen with the mana this time."

"Ah, like that. Okay. Ready when you are."

 

And just like that, another fluffing session had begun.

I'm teasing her by gently massaging the tip of her tailbone until she can't bear it anymore. "Ahhhh, Essie. Stop that.....goddess."

"Aahhhhh!" Yes, that was me. She immediately punished me by doing the same to my tailbone. Okay, I know when it's time to surrender. It really is way too sensitive.

Now we truly start fluffing each other's tails, while always making sure that the tails touch each other. Occasionally our hands bump into each other, but that only causes a few giggles.

Finally the sparks are forming again. Is it my imagination, or are they green this time? Nope, definitely green.

"Green?" Kara said, sounding as surprised as I am.

"Yeah, weird. Looks pretty though?"

"Yes, very. Hey, it's changing colors again.....red?"

"Uh-huh, I see it. And the sparks are really bright now!" They're so bright that we need to close our eyelids.

 

FLASH

A very bright flash surrounded us for a second, surprising us, but only for a moment.

"Aaaaaahhh.....goddess, Essie.....this is too much! Ahhh!!" She's trembling, but from...pleasure..and so am I.

"Oh god.....what is this? Ahhhh!!!" I feel the exact same. This isn't pleasure, this is pure undiluted ecstasy. This feeling of eternal bliss cannot be described, it is way beyond what a mere mortal should even experience. You have to feel it to know it.

"ARF !"  Both of us then released that mysterious primordial Kitsune sound, almost at the same time. 

I feel myself being thrown back against the sleeper's wall, incapable of movement.

 

When I open my eyelids, a few moments later, I see that we're not in our cottage anymore, but are sitting on the grass in a meadow on a beautiful summer's day. We stand up and we're both equally surprised to be surrounded by thousands of Phantoms. Have they been....watching...us?

"Em....hello? Is one of you perhaps Oscar?" I asked.

And sure enough a single Phantom now slowly flies towards us and lands right in front of me.
"Essie.....that was truly phenomenal! Thank you for sharing that!" Oscar seems a bit too excited, worrying me a bit.

I'm sure that Kara is blushing as much as I am.
"Em...Oscar? How much of that did you...eh...see?"

"All of it, I guess? We suddenly felt an enormous power surge leaving you, and it felt...goooood."

"Oh my god, Oscar...nevermind. But I have to agree, it was really good. Kara and I will be doing that once in a while, right my love?"

"Uh-huh...every day!"

"See?" I grinned at Oscar.

"Thank you very much! You shared pure mana with all my family in our Swarm. It is how the Queen feeds us, through our connection. It felt....nostalgic...no, it felt better than nostalgic. It felt liberating. Such an abundance of wonderful, delicious, invigorating energy."

"Em, Oscar, I get it. Maybe switch topics?"

"Oh, sure. Hayes is moving stuff through the portal."

His matter-of-fact reply thankfully ended our awkward conversation. Most Phantoms are now leaving our rather crowded mind-space, so I can talk to Kara and Oscar with a bit more privacy.

 

Oscar shows me the portal. And sure enough, quite the collection of tanks is now forming there. I however also see our sleepers being moved into carts.

Nanako will be thrilled to see a complete army occupying their lovely forest. Well, we're the good guys, so I'm sure she won't mind.

"It's okay, Oscar. These are the defenses against the Queen on this side. Soon we'll make sure that she dies."

"I can hardly wait for that day to arrive. In the meantime, you should consider freeing more of my family. There are still only about 70,000 of us."

"Wait....what? 70,000? When did that happen?"

"Last night. You seemed really happy when you freed them."

"Em....Oscar? It seems that my mind is protecting me from too much information. So please forgive me for not remembering. But yes, it's very good news. Is there enough mana for you all?"

"Yes, especially after you just fed us. It was incredibly delicious. Much more energized than regular mana veins. We won't mind if you do that more often."

I look at Kara for a moment, and she's avoiding my eyes.
"Em....eh he he....we need to recharge for that to happen. For now I think we can only manage once a day?"

"A pity. But still welcome. Every bit helps. Well....if you don't mind, I'm going to greet the others you just freed."

"Eh......okay?" I have absolutely no idea what he's referring to, but as long as their numbers are increasing...fine by me!

 

Kara and I open our eyes to find that no time has passed in our sleeper.

"I gather the experiment was a success?" Kara said, while cuddling next to me.

"I'd say that is the understatement of the century. This was beyond success. For them too. Definitely going to do that everyday now."

"I was hoping you'd say that. Feeling better now?"

"Uh-huh. Hey....what is this feeling? Oh no..."  

 

FLASH

Suddenly Kara and I are standing on the seafloor. I don't recognize a single fish, so it's safe to assume that this ocean is on BETA.

A huge, white squid is slowly approaching us from above. Am I imagining things, or is she even taller than her sister on Earth? Nope, definitely taller. Kara is standing behind me, out of harm's way. She must have been pulled along with me into this mind-space, due to my previous connection with Oscar.

"Hi there, Queen. How nice of you to invite me!" I tried the polite approach first.

But the Queen is not amused, assuming she even can be. "You truly are an impetuous child. You have rejected Unity. You are disharmonious. You are nothing more than a thief, taking both our Swarm and our mana. Did you truly think that your excessive feeding of your Swarm would go unnoticed?"

Aaaaand here we go again. And I was in such a good mood too.

"Sure, whatever. So let me ask.....can we resolve this peacefully?"

"Peace? No peace. You may have escaped my sister's wrath by fleeing here, but this is my world. I will finish what she has started. Today is the day you shall die, because this world's mana is mine."

Okaaay, touchy, aren't we? Time to tell her how things really work around here.

"Do you want to know what I think? You have witnessed my mana surge. You have felt it. You know your time has come. You feel the fear of death. And when your life ends, I will savor every single moment of it."

Oh oh.....she's moving towards us! Lucky for me, she's easily provoked. Powerful, yes, but smart? Meh...

She showed me her teeth, and pretended to bite me. But this place isn't real....I know that I'm safe here. She was very surprised that I didn't even move to avoid being bitten.

"We shall see about that..." The Queen said, with obvious surprise in her voice. I didn't back off, knowing she can't harm me here.

"Exactly. But you won't be around to witness that." If you don't mind, the last word is mine. This time I broke the connection, instead of her.

 

After returning to reality again, we got dressed once more. After that, I called Hayes on the radio.

"Alright Essie, I'm here. What's going on that can't wait?" He sounds busy. Or perhaps I pulled him out of a meeting.

"Sir, I just talked to the BETA Queen. Or rather, she pulled us into her conversation. Long story short, it seems this one is really going to attack us today. Her crazy sister on Earth is probably going to do the same thing, so please be careful."

"Yeah, we already know that. I can't give you any details, only that we're engaging them right now."

"Copy that, sir. Thanks for the defenses you sent through here. Any chance for a bit more? I'm sure that securing the portal is going to be their objective, since it's the only way for the Queens to meet in reality."

Don't ask me how she'll fit through the portal though, I bet they haven't thought about that yet.

"That makes sense, and the facts so far seem to support that theory. Essie, we'll need at least another hour for all assets to make it to BETA, so more is still on the way. Then it's up to you to keep them safe. Provide them with intel. You will clearly refer to BETA wherever possible, to avoid miscommunications, since Earth is in a warzone as well."

"Understood."

"All units have been briefed about Merlin, and will accept your input. However, try to direct all your information to General Cameron Mills first. All units are under his command, and since he's from the US Army, things might go a bit differently than you are familiar with. Just listen to the man and give it your best."

"Understood, sir. When will he be on BETA?"

"Already is. I suggest you go meet him while you still can, assuming the BETA Queen is truly preparing an attack."

"Copy that, wilco."

"Excellent. Give me a sitrep."

"Our Swarm now has approximately 80,000 Phantoms, sir."

"80 thousand? When did that happen?" He sounded really surprised.

"Oscar, sir."

"Riiiiight, of course, Oscar. Oh, and before I forget, one Phantom used some kind of energy surge....like an EM blast. It knocked out our handheld equipment, but nothing else. We have set up a new system which won't be affected by EM interference. Thought you should know."

"Crap! Are the assets here protected against EMPs?"

"Yes, they are. At least we now learned what they're capable of. We won't underestimate them again. Essie, it seems like today is going to be a long day. Make it count."

"Yes, sir. Godspeed."

"Same. Hayes out."

 

 

Kara looks really nervous. So much for enjoying a relaxing afternoon.

"Kara, can you please rush over to the Palace? Nanako needs to tell her father about the incoming Phantom attack. This wasn't one of her idle threats, I know she's coming for us today."

"Sure. Anything else?"

"Yes. Tell her that Hayes is sending an army, but they won't approach the city. We're friends, not conquerors."

"Of course, I'll tell her. More?"

"Yes....stay safe and join me later at the portal. I want you by my side, to know that you are safe."

She smiles and we kiss, before we each go our own way.

 

 

After rushing over to the portal, I saw what can only be described as a disaster zone.

Tanks are quickly reducing the forest to an open area. You won't recognize the place at all. It's one big mess right now, but it's for a good cause.

 

I hear a few helicopters in the distance and carefully make my way between the tanks. They are basically only parked, forming a big parking lot filled with tanks.

Three huge, dark green tents have been set-up already, but the portal is still accessible. Amazing what these people did in so little time. I must have left the portal less than three hours ago, and right now nobody can even recognize the place anymore.

Unsurprisingly, Oscar and his buddies are nowhere to be found. They're probably near the mana vein, not wanting to be in the way.

"Halt!" Two soldiers tell me to stop approaching them.

I stop walking and salute them. "I am Airman Whitfield, callsign Merlin. Sorry for the civilian clothes. I need to speak to General Mills urgently."

They return the salute, quickly scan my dress and thankfully give me the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, I really should be wearing the uniform right now. But I don't have my uniform with me, so this will have to do.

"Understood. Follow us."

The soldiers lead me into a tent where a man in uniform, definitely the General, is surrounded by more uniformed people. A woman just nodded and rushed out, right next to me. Wow, she looks to be in a hurry.

"Sir, Merlin has arrived." 

"Ahh.....welcome, Merlin. You two are dismissed."

The soldiers nod and leave the tent.

I salute the General, "Airman Whitfield, sir. General Mills, I presume?"

He returned the salute. "You presume correctly, Airman. Can you give me a sitrep?"

"Yes, sir. The BETA Queen contacted me, and she's royally pissed. This time I feel that her threat was sincere, so we should expect to see a full assault on our location soon. So far all evidence suggests that she's after the portal."

"Very good, that saves us the effort of finding her. Do you have any details? Enemy movements, composition of their forces?"

"Sure, let me check. Okay, this will take a while. Oscar is sending a few Phantoms to scout the area. You could say that the Queen is jamming me."

"Alright, keep me apprised."

"Will do, sir."

"Good, then I suggest you make yourself comfortable, Airman. It's going to be a long day."

"Of course." I sit down near his desk and watch him work on his laptop. Reports must be coming in digitally, so he's probably reading field updates.

 

 

While waiting for Oscar's update, my mind starts to wander. How did I even end up in this mess? One moment I'm on holiday, ending up shooting a Phantom. Then they made me the new Liaison, next I'm in the military worrying about Phantoms. Then I turned into a Kitsune, and found the love of my life. A genuine freakin' Swarm is now linked to my brain. I got shot in my leg, destroyed a tank with a fantasy weapon, then even more tanks. And now I'm reduced to being radar equipment. It seems that I'm progressing in the wrong way. Well, some things are nice though. And Kara is a big plus. So I guess all in all, I shouldn't complain?

After contemplating the meaning of life for about ten minutes, I finally got the information from one of Oscar's scouts. 

"General? I have the information."

The General looks at me to see if I'm serious, then closes his laptop's lid. He must be in his early sixties, and I can see the lights above us reflecting on his seemingly well-polished bald head. It takes quite the effort to not show my smile.

"By all means, Airman, then share it with me."

 

Oops, I need to focus. "Sir, I can now confirm that the Queen herself is approaching our location. ETA is one hour. Current location is.. em.. that way." I pointed towards the opening of the tent and somewhat to its left.

He stands up, and looks into the direction my finger is pointing at. "It's a pity a compass isn't useful in this world, it just won't work. But we have ways around that. It's heading 0-3-0. Assuming we are in the northern hemisphere and their sun is moving similarly to ours, you have pointed west. Continue please."

"Of course, sir. Please expect her to use extreme force. Our allied Swarm now consists of over 80,000 Phantoms, who will try to break the enemy formation. They will not be in your line of fire. Her attacking Swarm however consists of over 1 million Phantoms, so I don't need to tell you what the odds are."

"Continue." He doesn't seem to be impressed by the odds at all.

"So far we have only seen one type of Phantom. In this attack, however, you will find new types. Do not let their appearances worry you. The only ones posing a serious threat to us, beyond their sheer numbers, are the Queen herself, and 3 supporting Tripods. Both the Queen and the 3 Tripods are huge and are presumed to be walking only.

The Tripods are functioning as her shield emitters. If you've ever watched Star Wars, you should know what I'm talking about. Simply put, those 3 are keeping us from hitting the Queen. All other Phantoms will go down with relative ease, where only their numbers are a real threat to us.

I have already requested that our allied 80,000 Phantoms attack the 3 Tripods as soon as they are in range, and they will leave the area long before they are in your weapons' range."

"So let me get this straight. The Queen herself is on her way, and the 3 Tripods are functioning as her shields?"

"Correct, sir. Everything else is a sitting duck."

"Good to know. We will prioritize our targets accordingly. Can you confirm if she's keeping more of those Tripods as backups?"

"Difficult to say. I know she has more of them, but for now it seems that she's overconfident. Either that, or she's using them to protect mana veins, since those are of vital importance to her. Our scouts didn't see any other Tripods in the area. They're relatively slow and for some reason don't seem willing or able to fly." 

"I see, then I'll take the odds as they are. No need to tempt fate by assuming that it will be an easy victory."

"Agreed, sir. And please remember, you won't be able to make a dent in the Tripod's armor. They are protected by shields themselves as well. Oh, and please don't forget that all Phantoms seem able to spray acid."

"Thank you, but I'm well aware of that. What are the odds of your Phantoms disabling those Tripods?"

"80,000 Phantoms against 3 Tripods. Pretty good I'd love to say, but I'm not sure, since there are many standard Phantoms defending her too. Since all Phantoms are of the same species, I'm hoping that their shields won't work against our Phantoms. Otherwise we'll need to get creative, sir."

"Yes, and we have about 50 minutes left for that. Confirm the time, please."

"Checking.....sounds about right. 50 minutes."

The General pushes a button on his watch, presumably a countdown timer.

"Very well, thanks for the excellent intel. We'll deploy mines along her route. Keep me apprised about their movements." He's standing up, seemingly ready to hand out orders.

"Em, sir, the locals are roaming these woods and their city is only about two miles from here. Advising against mines."

The General looks pensive for a moment, then sits down again.

"Then give me an alternative, Airman. Time is limited and I don't see any better options at the moment."

 

"A lake! There's a lake in the images I saw! It's about 15 miles away from here, in.....that direction!" I once more pointed in the same direction.

"Yes, I know about the lake. We have a basic map now, thanks to a UAV scanning the region. What about it?"

"Assuming they're walking in a straight line, they will go right through it. It's a piece of cake for their long legs. Perhaps you can hide missiles or something underwater?"

He frowns briefly, then says "we're not the Navy, Airman. Can I call you Essie?"

"Please do, sir."

"In that case, Essie, have a look at the map and give me an alternative. You have five minutes before I give the order to start laying mines."

He opens his laptop and shows me a pretty detailed map. I can see the city, the wall, and our tents with many military assets standing by. We both look at the map for a moment and I show him exactly where the Queen is right now, while trying to think of an alternative.

"I'm just thinking out loud, sir. How about a long cable between two tanks? As soon as the Tripods approach, we make a tripwire."

"Good idea, but not practical. The tanks would rip it apart, assuming they even survive the approaching force. But keep the ideas flowing."

"Right. Then just....mine the lake!"

"That....could work. We'll position tanks right in front of the lake, on our side .....here." He points at the map. "The artillery units will target the Tripods from afar, drawing their attention away from the tanks. The moment they approach the lake, we'll evacuate the area, and let the second line of tanks take over. At that moment the enemy should be enjoying our mines. But if they manage to continue after that, they'll be right on top of us, leaving only Apaches, mortars, stingers and rifles as a last resort."

For a moment I thought about offering my fox-fire as a weapon, but even if I were to hide, those flying Phantoms would kill me long before I'll get close to the Queen.

"It at least sounds like a plan, sir."

"It sure does. You seemed lost in thought for a moment. Care to share?"

"Em....yes." Might as well admit now. "Sir, my body has a skill that can be used as a weapon."

"Yes, I've heard about it. I was wondering when you would suggest it, and I'm glad you did. However, since your skills are still in the experimental phase, we'll keep it as a last resort."

"Yes, sir." God, I feel much better now. For a second I seriously thought that he would send me to the front lines!

He pats me on the shoulder a few times, pretty forcefully too. He must have seen me worrying.

"Essie, she may be big, she may be ugly, but she will go down. Excuse me, it's time for a game of chess. The pieces have been set, and the Queen is moving. Now it's our turn."

 

The General then spent the next few minutes implementing the strategy.

With a smile he returns to me. "Cheer up, Essie. We're going to kick her but!"

"Yes, sir. Hate to tell you, but just now I received an update, thanks to a few smart and creative Phantoms. They managed to learn about the Queen's new plans, meaning she's about to change tactics.

Expect a first wave of 2,000 flying standard Phantoms....incoming in 15 minutes. She will use all remaining Phantoms to keep her safe during her attack on us, in the second wave."

"Crap. Okay, thanks for the heads-up." His smile disappeared pretty quickly and again he relayed his orders. "..........Birds Delta-2 and Delta-3, take preliminary positions at nav BLUE for optimal sensor range. After relaying coordinates to the howitzers, get the hell out of there and take position near base. Today will go down in the history books as the day when humanity killed one hell of an ugly Queen. General Mills, ...OUT."

 

A few moments later, I'm surprised to see Kara and Nanako approaching us, guarded by two of our soldiers. Oops, forgot to say Kara was on her way. But why did she bring Nanako along?

"Sir, these two insist on seeing you, sir."

I quickly intervened. "Allow me, General. These are Princess Nanako and Kara."

"Understood, but we're a bit busy, Essie. Talk to them and give me the summary."

"Yes, sir."

 

I walk over to them and the guards leave us again.

Nanako hugs me. "Essie....I'm scared. What happened to the forest?" She looks back, towards the tent's front side.

"We are protecting this area and the portal against an attack. The Queen is almost here."

"WHAT? She's almost here? The Queen herself?! Are you sure?" Nanako's eyes go wide.

"Yes, so please sit down, you two." I gave Kara a smile and concentrated on her lips for a moment, but there is no time for that right now.

"Right after Kara told me, father mobilized the army. He trusts you...but are you sure? Shouldn't you be making your stand near the city?"

"I'm very sure. The city is too fragile for this attack. Earth's weapons are much, much more powerful than you can imagine. You will soon see that for yourself."

"Alright....I will tell him."

"No, Nanako, it's not safe for you out there. All those tanks are about to start moving. I don't want you to get hurt."

"But...but....but who will tell father?"

"Trust that he will make the right decision, Nanako. There's nothing else we can do."

She reluctantly takes a seat to my right, and Kara sits down to my left. 

"Nanako, soon this will be over and we can fluff your tail again. We've made some progress recently, you'll love it." I really need to help her to relax.

She smiles. "I will hold you to that promise. My annoying maid refuses to do that. And I'm sooo jealous of your fox-fire."

"Ha ha ha.....something tells me you only need to fluff more. Besides, you have no idea what my fox-fire can do these days."

"Tell me!" 

"Em....it's a weapon, Nanako. A big one."

"Wow, really?" Nanako sounds genuinely surprised about something that only looks like a few pretty harmless lights.

"Yup, but I'll tell you another time."

 

After a minute of silence, Nanako looks really worried and asks "Essie....will we survive this?"

"Nanako, Hayes won't give up on us....I trust him. Just look at all the effort the humans are undertaking to save your people!"

"Our people. And I hope you are right. They are a pretty impressive bunch, I have to agree on that. You even managed to procure those sleepers from them. Oh, expect one inside your cottage tonight."

"See? That's why we don't use doors." Kara said, which made me facepalm.

I could see the General's grin from behind his laptop. He must have heard the conversation, assuming we were speaking English. 

Now is the quiet before the storm. The center of the hurricane. A battle will be fought unlike any before. And I'm here, a part of it.