Sinae had arrived mere minutes after mom and I. Dell and Lokust arrived a minute later.
“Wow, are those two still unconscious?” Lokust quipped as she looked to Simon and Conte still slouched against the far wall, snoring.
“Hmmpf, Men! They think they’re so macho! Eek!”
Lokust’s hands flew to her mouth. “Did that just come out of me?”
Sinae, Dell, and I stared at the girl for at least a minute!
“Before I get this briefing underway, where is this marvelous A.I. I’ve heard so much about?” Mom asked as soon as Dell and Lokust sat down.
“You guys don’t mind if I take these boots off, do you? My ankles are killing me!” Dell asked as she fought to pull off first one of her high-heeled boots then the other.
“That’s strange. Mine feel fine. In fact, I could wear them all day long.” Lokust responded as she lifted her legs and rolled her ankles several times.
“Now I know there is something very wrong with you, Grunfuller!” Dell groaned.
“Your DataTab is right here, Major Summers.” Lokust said as she ignored Dell’s accusation. “I don’t think you’ll get anything out of it since it let the smoke out before we were captured and almost conscripted.”
“You were captured?” Mom gasped in surprise.
“We think that’s what finally put Chance over threshold, ma’am.” Lokust continued.
“Honey?” Mom turned to me in concern. “Could you describe what you felt or experienced when you hit your threshold?” She looked at the inoperative DataTab in her hand.
“At first, when I saw the surge coming with my Current sense, I felt extreme pain- everywhere. Grub and I had taken out a few Hoblins just before and my locket was almost fully colorized.”
“I was thinking that this might be the end, but I would do everything I could to protect you, Grub. When the surge hit, it felt like my body was going to explode violently. Like every nerve in my body suddenly went into overload. Then I heard this…this whistling sound, almost like an antique turbine spooling up to speed. That was when everything exploded into an intense, bluish light and I think I might have passed out. I woke up like this.”
When I finished my recount of the event, I turned to see mom was crying. Lokust too was wiping her eyes. Sinae and Dell sat silent with their mouths partially open.
“Mom? Did something more happen to me than you’ll admit?” I asked with concern.
“No, Honey, that’s how it felt to me too. I was just remembering that day. After all this time, its still very fresh in my mind. A painful reminder of what I lost…and what miracles I gained.”
“So, why won’t this thing turn on?” Mom asked as she waved the DataTab up and down a few times in frustration.
“I told you it let the smoke out, ma’am. My guess is you had a self destruct routine built in.” Lokust explained.
“But I never owned a DataTab, dear. I’ve never carried anything more complex than a smartphone.
“What’s a ‘smart phone’?” All four of us asked in unison.
Mom rolled her eyes.
“Moving on. The three, deluxe-sized, Hobgoblins Chance and I encountered in the Armory, I believe, are what has become of my crewmates. My Coven had many run-ins with them over the years with no joy. They are the strongest, deadliest, creatures I’ve ever encountered.”
“So what can we do against them, sir?”
“We need to come up with a plan, Kitty- something to purify the three twisted souls that have been locked away for centuries because of their greed, arrogance, and brutality. In short, they need redemption. They need judgment.”
“Okaaaay. So if you couldn’t get them, how are we going to do any better, ma’am?”
“We now have the advantage, Lokust. This is the largest Coven of the Witch Corps to date. From my brief observations of each of your talents, the best trained Coven too!”
“Well that’s strange, because, as far as I know, Sinae’s the only one with combat training. Chance and I are just Current Maintenance Specialists, and Dell is a Shipping and Receiving CPO. With all due respect, Maj. Summers.”
“Yet you four are capable of easily dispatching several hundred Hobgoblins each. How would you account for that little detail, my dear?”
“Um…luck?”
“PFFFFT! Luck cannot be a viable factor over a certain number of kills, Lokust! To have racked up such numbers requires more than just luck. No. Deep down, in your very souls, lie the skills and determination needed to hold membership in the Witch Corps, ladies! When I first opened my eyes to see you all above me, I thought I had died and finally met up with my beloved friends- friends I had lost such a long time ago.”
“Kitty, Libra and I became friends from our first meeting and she was the first to my side after my threshold. We stayed friends for many centuries before she finally lost to one of those three we met back in the Armory.”
“Dell, honey, your ancestor and I fought together just a few times and even though she is a Goddess, she too was beaten by one of …those…‘things’ out there. In the short time I knew her, we shared many stories and her companionship and dedication to our cause always seemed to give me strength- strength to do what I had to do; the strength to keep fighting Hobgoblins…or any other entities that covet galactic domination.”
“Lokust? Breeze and I quickly got off to a bad start when we met. She was a very headstrong woman with three kids and a diplomat for a mate and when the Corps arrived to cull the planet’s newly crowned despot, we had differing opinions. She was unaware of his, shall we say, lesser known parameters? We faced off against each other to a draw each time. It wasn’t until the rest of my Coven retrieved the all important, damning evidence that she finally realized her loyalties were misplaced. Breeze joined us on several hundred missions once she joined the Corps.”
“And you, my dear, wonderful… AMAZING, Chance!” Mom wiped her eyes quickly. “You may think I named you wrongly, but I assure you, you ARE well named. You were my last, and only chance to carry on the Summers’ line, honey. Charles and I had been trying for children for centuries. Something about the Current and both of us reaching our thresholds prevented us from conceiving. You WERE my last chance, Chance! I begged and negotiated with my Current, doctors from many worlds did exhaustive banks of tests, and I even went so far as to try draining my reservoir, but my locket never indicated anything but a full reserve!”
“Twenty-seven years ago, I tried one more time to negotiate with my Current; to please allow me to conceive and raise a child to carry on my name. I urged my Current to allow it in case I was defeated in battle- that the legacy had to continue or the Hobgoblins would overrun the galaxy and possibly the universe.”
“You can imagine our elation when all my tests came up positive! So you see, Chance, you were aptly named. You were our last and only ‘chance’ to have a family. And after watching your performance in the Armory earlier, you are a stunning addition to the long line of Summers’ that have served their countries, planets, or even Galaxy with distinction and valor!”
“You all should be proud of your legacies.” Mom concluded.
“That was a wonderfully heartfelt recitation, my dear. There is not a dry eye in the room.”
“Dad?”
“Charles?”
“So…you’ve beaten the odds once more, ay, Hopewell? What is it with you Summers’ and pushing the boundaries?”
“Dad? Is it really you?”
“Sorry, Chance, but I’m just a simulation. A representation of your father that he developed about twelve years ago. Contrary to what your mother believed, I felt our luck was running out and took steps to relate our fantastic story to you and your family. But, by my sensor indications, you are now in the same boat as your mother. Though, I am reading excessively high levels of Current stored within you; levels high and dense enough to indicate something considered impossible- something only theorized by Libra of FeLane and her team of scientists. How are you feeling, Chance?”
“I don’t think overwhelmed really covers it, dad.” I replied as I looked to the DataTab in mom’s quivering hand- at his concerned face on the display. I quickly wiped my cheeks dry.
“So when did you do it? When did you have time to transfer your persona into the tablet, Charles?” Mom demanded.
“As amazing as that would have been, I was never powerful enough to copy myself onto an object for retrieval at a later date, Hope! None of us were ever as powerful as you. It always worried me that I might lose you one day and now it seems I may have been right. I hope you still gain some solace that part of me will always be with you…as long as this thing’s power source lasts, and it isn’t erased by any stray EMP’s, and it doesn’t go careening into somebody’s star, because you got totally frustrated by my continuous blathering and throw…”
“CHARLES, ENOUGH! You never did know when to quit!” Mom screamed in frustration.
“And aren’t you glad for that? Look at how our child has grown and matured. Why, she looks so much like you, Hope! It’s like there is absolutely none of me in there anymore.”
“You know what happened, dad?” I asked, realizing he had said so just a minute ago.
“The sensors in your locket have given me a very detailed image of you, Chance. I must say that you have exceeded all previously defined parameters I had compiled on Witch Corps personnel.”
“So is there a simulation of me in there too, dad? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Aaah so much like your mother!” Dad’s image smiled.
“Wait! So you’re actually a simulation? So, just what was that hologram of you, major?” Lokust demanded in confusion.
“What hologram?” Both my parents, alive or otherwise, asked in surprise. Mom was more demanding though.
“Shouldn’t we continue the briefing on those three monsters you told us about, sir?”
“Right you are, Kitty. Wow, she even sounds like Libra, dear!”
“I’ve already covered that with her, Charles. The topic is what to do with what we used to call Bovidovich, Guan, and Evans. Can you interface to the ship’s sensors and scan for their location by Current strength?”
“It would be nice to know what ship we are currently on, my love.”
“The Mare de Tempest, darling.”
“They’re still using that poor excuse for a scrap heap?”
“Yes, but it was refitted a few centuries ago, dad.” I giggled.
“That’s nice, honey.” The image said in a placating tone. “It should have been decommissioned and dismantled over three hundred years ago! Right after it got hit by that meteo…!”
“Big, hulking, bad-assed Hobgoblins, Charles, remember?” Mom stated impatiently.
“Yes, dear, this unit’s memory circuits haven’t started degrading as of yet. Allow another thirty-one seconds for the interface links to align and handshake.”
Dell tapped my shoulder.
“Is this how they always talked at home?” she whispered.
“Pretty much. Sometimes it got a little more heated.”
“Oh.”
“We just tended to discuss things thoroughly, Artie- and at louder volume levels than would be considered conversational by most. And by now you must have realized that Witch Corps hearing is far more sensitive.”
Dell groaned.
“Connection established. Scanning.”
“So is what your hologram said about your three Astronaut friends true? Did they conspire to corner the market on Current in hopes of becoming rich?” I asked.
“Conspired, stole, and murdered, Chance, yes. And apparently their Current mutinied and transfigured them into those hideous monsters you saw back there. Only they weren’t that big when we last clashed.”
“So they merged with more of our crew. Chance, we have to drain those things and get whomever out of them!” Dell urged.
“You cannot return a conscript to what they once were, Artemis. Once converted to current, there is no longer any physical form.”
“We’ve been doing just that, sir.” Sinae stated confidently.
“Chance has even reassembled a few that had started to degrade, Mr. Summers.” Lokust added excitedly.
“Hey! I never took her mother’s name, Lokust Grunfuller! Wait! What did you two just say?”
“It seems Chance is even more talented than I am, Charles. She has demonstrated recovery AND reassembly of conscripts multiple times in my presence. Our daughter far exceeds any and all theorized parameters. I am hopeful she will instruct me in the new procedures.”
“So, this is going to turn into a friendly mother/daughter competition, Maj. Summers?”
“Charles! You know me better than that!” Mom exclaimed.
“That’s why I asked, Hope. I know you too well.”
“Charles, the Witch Corps is a team and we shall continue working as one unit- just as WE always have since its inception.”
“Well, if you are activating US, I might as well suit up too.” Dad’s handsome image changed to that of a pretty young woman and you could see she wore the trademark witch hat.
“Lady Charli Armstrong reporting for duty, Lady Hope.” A young woman’s voice had replaced my father’s.
“Since I am no longer Corporeal, I will instead keep interface with this ship and stretch out my ‘feelers’. I will act as base command and comm, if that is satisfactory, Lady Hope.”
“Welcome back, Lady Charli. Given the circumstances, your new assignment is acceptable. Carry on.”
“Thank you, M’lady. It is good to be back.”
“Charli? How’s that sensory net going?”
“Still realigning to requested parameters, M’lady. The Mare de Tempest’s sensor grids are slow to respon…M’lady! I have detected taint in the sensor grid’s Current supply. I recommend purification at the earliest opportunity.”
“Intercept vector.” Mom demanded.
“Section 34D, Junction room 34D18A2.”
“Let’s get to work, ladies.” Mom ordered as she led the way out of my quarters.
Mom stopped dead as we all filed out into the passage.
“Um…I…Chance? Maybe you better lead this mission, honey.”
“This way, mom.” I giggled as I motioned everyone to follow me. I took off running and surprised myself by how fast I reached the specified Junction Room.
Asking the hatchway’s lock to open, we entered and I immediately saw the taint running through the Current conduit off to the far right.
 
 

 
 
“Do you see the conduit in question, Lady Kitty?” I asked thinking that our codenames should be used.
“Got it, M’lady. How many do we want to trap at a time?”
“How many do you want to trap?” Mom repeated, confused.
“Let’s try twenty feet. Lady Lokust you ready with your shunt?”
“Ready.” She replied as she took her whip’s handle and gracefully pulled it from her body in one, smooth motion.
Mom gasped! Her eyes were big as deflector dishes.
“What are you going to do with that, M’lady?” She asked, still staring.
“Lady Kitty. As we’ve done before. On your mark.” I said giving her the go ahead.
As earlier, four shurikens shot from Kitty’s pouch and embedded themselves in exactly the right spots along the conduit. After a few warm-up sweeps, Lokust let her whip fly. It effortlessly attached itself to the two outermost throwing stars. The tainted Current trapped between the two innermost stars oscillated back and forth a few times.
Fifty Hoblins in such a small compartment provided almost no sport at all and after only a few minutes, forty, previously conscripted, crewmembers lay scattered about the deck.
“Let’s move them aside for now and repeat.” I suggested.
“Lather, rinse, repeat! I like this process!” Lokust giggled then blushed as she untied one end of her whip and Kitty removed two of her stars. The purified Current went on its way to the sensor equipment. Lokust and Kitty repeated the process on the conduit several times before we had to empty the Junction Room of unconscious, recovered crewmen. Good thing there was a wet closet at the other end of the passage.
“How did you ever come up with that attack strategy, M’ladies?” Mom asked as Lokust closed the wet closet door.
“Lady Lokust and I have worked with Current almost our entire adult life, M’lady. We know these conduits like the back of our hands.”
“You girls are amazing! I would’ve never thought to use…wait, what are those things you girls are using…excuse me. What WERE those things you girls are using?”
Our wands and primary weaponry were Current Rerouters used by Ladies Chance and Lokust in their everyday maintenance duties, sir. Lady Chance suggested we use them since they were already used for Current handling.” Kitty explained.
“All except for my whip, Major. That’s a Current Shunt. I just made it look ‘cool’ and… and stylish.” Lokust smiled brightly.
“M’ladies. You are every bit as ingenious as your predecessors. Forgive me for doubting you.”
“We’re a new team, sir. You had every right for reservation.” Kitty replied in understanding.
Mom smiled at us and nodded.
“Lady Charli, How are those sensors looking?” Mom asked.
“Internal ship sensors are now online and scanning, Lady Hope. I’ll alert the Corps as soon as I find something. Ladies Artemis, Lokust, and Kitty should think about offloading some Current, M’lady.”
“Copy, Hope out.” Mom said as she signed off. “You heard Charli, girls. Time to relieve yourselves. Make it quick. No time to fix your lipstick. We have more work to do.”
“Yes, ma’am! I thought I saw a return conduit over here, Kitty.” Lokust said as she took the tall Lynxin’s hand in hers and led both friends away.
I began giggling.
“What’s so funny, honey?” Mom asked as she stared at me.
“Grub.” I giggled some more. “She’s acting so…so girly! I would have never thought he would accept this so easily.
“She has fallen into the Corps quite nicely, Chance. You’ve made an excellent choice for your ‘Number One’. In fact, you’ve made excellent choices for all your sisters.” Mom smiled brightly.
“My ‘Number One”? What’s that mean, Mom? And…and why did you call my friends, my ‘sisters’?” I questioned.
“We lovingly call our Coven-mates, ‘sisters’, honey; for obvious reasons. The moniker “Number One is a cinematic reference to your Executive Officer, Chance. Lokust is your executive I assume? The one person you would trust to have your back in any situation?”
“Mom, I would trust any of them to have my ‘back’ in any crisis! I trust them all with my life, and I hope they feel the same about me!”
“Chance. You know that we feel that way about you!” Dell…Artemis said as she stepped in front of me and took my hands in hers. “We would give our lives to protect you, Chance Summers! Never forget that! EVER!”
“I too will give my life for you, Chance Summers!” Mom said as she placed her hands on ours.
“Count me in, buddy!” Lokust said as her hands gently joined them.
“It would be an honor, Lady Chance!” Sinae said as she completed the gesture by placing her hands to ours.
“While it’s not the Corps’s signature hexagram, we all stand united, ladies of the Witch Corps.” Mom said before her face went pale.
“Ladies. I hoped I would get the holoprojector in each of your lockets functional before we went to huddle. I am sorry to be late.” ‘Charli’s’ hologram interrupted before we broke, I guess, our ‘huddle’. She placed her virtual hands on top of the pile.
“With everything I am and can be I will protect all of you until my last bit has been disrupted and rewritten!”
“Witch Corps, TRIUMPH! Break!” Mom shouted and we all pulled our hands back in unison. She had tears rolling down her face.
“Mom?” I asked in concern.
“A hexagram, Chance! Charli remembered and completed the hexagram. Six women working as a team can do almost anything, but six ‘Ladies’ of the Witch Corps? It has been said that, as a team, we’re virtually unstoppable and can perform the impossible. Lady Charli? Please update our roster to relate the latest team structure. Lady Charli Armstrong of Earth, Intelligence; Lady Kitty Sinae of FeLane, Demolitions, Close Combat, and Specialty Weapons; Lady Artemis Dell of Olympus, Long-range Weapons and Marksman Sniper; Lady Hope Summers of Earth, Infiltration and Close Combat; Lady Lokust Grunfuller of Remàge, Close Combat and Specialty Weapons. List Lady Lokust as our XO. And finally, List the Corps’s leader as Lady Chance Summers of Gaia Four, Demolitions, Close Combat and Specialty Weapons.”
“Wait! What?” I screeched. ‘You want me to be the Corps’s leader? Why?”
“Well…I’d guess that you seem to know what you’re doing, buddy.” Lokust suggested with a smile. “Ladies? All in favor?”
My friends all raised their hand. Mom’s hand and Dad’s…Charli’s virtual hand rose also.
I gulped audibly.
“Witch Corps roster has been updated and made active, Lady Chance.”
“Um…thanks?” I responded awkwardly.
“Orders, M’lady?” Mom inquired of me with a bright smile.
I gulped again.
“Um, any hits on the sensors, Lady Charli?” I asked uncomfortably.
“Nothing yet…wait! Found them…I think. Section 10A Storage Compartment 10A34S. I’m picking up a huge surge of tainted Current in that area.”
“Let’s go.” I said as I started running. Section 10A was just forward of amidships and we were well astern. “Let us know if it moves, Lady Charli.”
“You got it, M’lady.”
 
 
“How are everyone’s Current reserves?” I asked as we filed into the huge storage compartment and looked around. Everyone had their Current sight enabled.
“Chance. Back there on the left.”Artemis pointed with the tip of her bow
“Wow! Backup on the 403!” Lokust giggled then tilted her head to one side in confusion. “I got no clue what that meant or even why I said it.”
What Lokust was referring to was a check valve in the Current conduit that prevented any backflow in case the section had to be abated to space. For some reason this check valve wasn’t performing properly. I quickly headed to it to investigate.
“Chance? Buddy? Should you be touching tainted Current? Current that might suddenly pop out a hundred or so bad guys?” Lokust cautioned.
“It’s just a check, Lokust. It should pass Current in one direction and not in the other. Why is it stopping the flow in both directions?”
“Maybe it went bad?” She offered.
“Or maybe it went good, Lokust. I’m going to try asking it. Hold on and be prepared.”
Artie immediately drew her bowstring, four arrows waiting to fly. Kitty had six shurikens circling around her head in a constantly moving orbit. Lokust had her wand at the ready with her other hand on her whip handle. Mom had her pistol and wand drawn and was curiously glancing between me and my friends.
Placing my hand on the suspected control device, I asked it if it was okay and if not, did it need help.
I received the shock of my life when it actually answered by saying it was trying to help me purge it’s ‘home’ of the ‘tainted ones’! Accepting its offered help I asked that it dispel the ‘tainted’ ones after I stepped back.
“The valve says it’s ready to release its prisoners.” I said as I hurriedly took several steps back.
Seventy or more Hoblins suddenly appeared. Most were of the ‘merged’ variety. Again we made short work of them and we were only able to restore a small portion of the ‘partials’. Thirty crewmen in total survived. Dell, mom, and Lokust moved them to safety.
I heard something go whizzing past both ears as I barely caught Kitty’s shurikens flying past me. Ducking and turning, I saw a VERY BIG Hoblin directly behind me and instinctively jumped out of the way to avoid its massive arm and fist swinging at me.
Pulling my spare wand, I rolled closer and impaled both wands into the monster’s leg. I had to close my eyes to the blinding blue light this thing was giving off as Kitty and I drained and drained and drained… God! How many Hoblins was this monster made up of?
It was just as the blinding light started to dissipate that I saw Lokust across from me on the thing’s other once massive leg, and nine of Arti’s arrows embedded in its diminishing chest. Mom too, had her wand out and was doing her best to siphon Current!
When the light finally disappeared, only one thing remained.
“Oh, God! Which one?” Mom cried in sudden realization of something.
“Mom? What is it?”
“A NASA Flightsuit.” She said as she hurried closer and started searching the burned, ripped, and tattered remnant of a garment
“Evans. You stupid bastard! Why?”
“One of your crew, mom?” I asked gently.
She nodded sadly still holding the shredded flight suit in her hands.
“Nathaniel Evans. He was the weakest of them.”
“Want me to see if the rest of him is in here somewhere?” I asked motioning to me.
“I have to assume he’s at peace now, honey. No. Let the Current have him.” Mom said as she wiped her tears away. “We’re lucky to have recovered this much, since its been over one thousand years.”
Despite her answer, I asked my current to search for any remains of Nathaniel Evans. After several minutes, I still hadn’t gotten an answer.
“I guess he really is gone.” I said to no one as a tear rolled down my face. I walked over to the nearest Current return conduit and emptied my reservoir, though I didn’t feel I really needed to.
“Lady Charli, what’s the official status of Astronaut Nathaniel Evans?” I asked aloud.
“Evans, Nathaniel K., Lieutenant USAF, Propulsion Specialist. Pegasus: Kuiper Deep Space Mission. Listed as missing in action 23rd, June, 2111.”
“Please list him as ‘Killed in Action’, this date, Charli.” I requested, almost choking on my words.
“I’ll do that and thank you, M’lady.” She replied solemnly.
“Thanks for what? We just destroyed one of your fellow astronauts.”
“Thank you all for giving him his final rest, Chance. Though he and the other two have done hellacious things to many generations in many different systems, the man he was deserves to finally be at peace, so…thank you.”
Walking back over to the innocuous check valve, I placed my hand on the device and thanked it for helping us.
To my surprise, it started working again.
“And just how did you do THAT, buddy?” Lokust demanded in astonishment- her mouth and eyes fully open.
“I just thanked it for helping us.”
“But…” She stammered.
“If the Current is sentient, why wouldn’t the plumbing and control devices?” I reasoned.
“My Ladies! Sensors have picked up another Current surge in Section 12C, Current Circulation Pump room 12C34P18.”
“Another ‘Check Valve’ doing its civic duty, Chance?” Artemis giggled.
I gave her a shrug as I motioned us to go.
“Wait! That’s Conte’s section. The Shipping and Receiving bay is right behind that.” Arti gasped as we neared the section.
“Could the ‘Masterminds’ be retreating to the point of their initial intrusion?” Kitty pondered aloud.
“Those cowards WOULD do something like that!” Mom snarled.
 
 
The place was overrun with Hoblins when we arrived! At least a hundred and fifty in a room no bigger than twenty-five hundred square feet!
Carnage ensued!
With such tight quarters, it took longer to purify the compartment and by the time all was said and done only fifty crewmembers had been recovered.
A shot rang out from my left and I turned to see mom standing over the most grotesque abomination I had ever laid eyes on!
Whoever this had been, it shouldn’t have been alive at all! Minus the fifty cal hole in the thing’s forehead and the associated, much larger, hole in the back of its ‘skull’, nothing looked like it should. Organs and bones splayed out at odd angles and lengths; intestines wrapped around ribs, around the oddly bent, exposed spine, and around the neck a few times. What looked like a human heart pumped maybe a dozen times more before stopping, turning gray, and withering like a prune. Arms and legs were in all the wrong places and continued to twitch spastically.
Mom turned, took a few steps, and wretched. She started sobbing as she held the wall to steady herself. Surely she had seen her share…
“Sonofabitch! That was the worst one to date!”
Maybe not. I know my stomach wasn’t in too good of shape after seeing that!
“Mom? We good?” I asked as I walked over and put a hand on her arm.
“Just when I thought this job couldn’t get any worse, something like that comes along to prove me wrong. I’ll be fine in a moment, honey. We need to get these people to safety or we’ll start seeing a lot more of that.” She motioned back to the still twitching carcass.
“Mom? What do you mean?”
“That’s what happens when someone is reconstituted then transconfigured for a second time. It happened when I either forget to finish them off or they are really ‘lucky’ and live. Either way this poor bastard was unlucky enough to get a ‘two-fer’.”
“Lady Charli. Please scan all wet closets and find out if any have been opened recently, say in the last two hours? Without any of the Corps being in the area at the time.”
“Already on it, M’lady.”
“Let’s get these people into those two wet closets.” I ordered as I pointed the Current free compartments out to the others.
“Lady Chance. I register no wet closets opening while unattended by Corps members. I do, however, see that your quarter’s door was accessed five minutes after all Corps members departed. I suspect one or both of the gentlemen may have awakened and wandered away.”
“SIMON!” We all shouted in horror.
“Mom. You and the rest of the Corps head onto the next section. Huntress can brief you on points of entry. I’m heading back to my quarters. A lot of Current conduits cross through my living room. It’s possible we’ve been compromised.”
“Copy that, M’lady! Make sure my sea chest hasn’t been compromised.” Mom requested as I nodded to her.
 
 
The door to my place was closed and my lock functioned normally. Walking in, I heard a soft moan. Simon was still in the same place we had left him, but CPO Conte was gone.
“Lady Chance, Coven. Simon is still here and starting to come around. Out.” I said quickly.
“Simon. Simon, you hear me? Simon!” I called as I placed a hand on his shoulder and jostled him gently.
“Oooooooooh. What happened?” he moaned.
“Simon? Are you all right? Do you know where you are?”
His eyes squinted open and he looked around.
“This looks like Chance Summer’s place, but who are you and what’s with the party costume?”
“This is far from a ‘party’ costume and this is not a party in any definition of the word, Simon. Are you able to stand?”
“If I’m able to lean against you, I’ll do anything you want, babe.”
Any thoughts of helping him up went out the airlock and I released him mid-rise. My ‘friend’ fell back to the floor and looked stunned I had done something like that.
“’my too heavy for you, babe?”
“Kiss my ass, Redman! I’m not you’re ‘babe’ and I never will be if I can help it! Now can you stand or should I stick a rerouter up your ass and tack you to the nearest conduit?” I growled.
“Who are you? You talk like Summers, but he don’t have a sister.”
“You’re right, I don’t have a sister. Now can you stand or not?”
“Chance? No. That can’t happen! That can’t be you!”
“Guess again…‘babe’.” I said as I took his right forearm and threw him easily onto the couch, ten feet away. His feet never touched the deck.
“And no, you really aren’t that heavy, Simon; even though you are completely full of shit!”
“It is you! What happened to you, Chance? You’re…you’re beautiful!”
“I reached my threshold, and thank you for the compliment, but I’m still pissed at you.”
“So what’s with the costume?”
“It’s not a costume, its…it’s a uniform. A very old and respected uniform.” I told him as I got an idea and walked over to mom’s sea chest.
“A uniform? Old and respected? I’ve never seen any uniform- for any service- that looked like that. Who’s is it?”
“Would you like to put one on and see for yourself? Then Grub would have company.” I asked as I lifted the chest’s lid after saying mom’s incantation. I nodded to myself.
“You want me to put one of those on.” He deadpanned as he pointed to me.
“If you want to know more about us and help repel our uninvited guests.”
“You say Lokust put one on and he was okay with that?”
I nodded.
“Am I still out and dreaming?”
“Nope. You’ve awoken into a downright nightmare, Simon. The only way to make things right is if you want to help, otherwise I’ll have to ask you to get to the nearest wet closet and lock yourself in until we give the all clear.”
His eyes widened as he apparently remembered something.
“Those…things!”
“Hoblins. Short for Hobgoblins, Simon. They want the Mare for something and are transforming the crew into more of ‘them’. We’ve been fighting ‘them’ all day while you’ve been napping.”
“I know what Hoblins are! My homeworld was attacked once when I was young. My parents snatched me up and took the next shuttle out of there. But not before I saw one of them kill six people with one swing of its monstrous arm- my aunt and uncle among them!”
“So you want to help then?”
“Does a Cave Rattler sneeze into a Weevalspider’s web?”
I looked at my friend not comprehending that question.
“That’s a yes, Chance. Gods you really are Chance Summers.”
“Nice of you to finally confirm that. Now get suited up! We’re wasting time.” I said as I quickly handed him the only remaining uniform in mom’s sea chest.
“All of it? Really?”
“Including the panties, stockings, and garterbelt. I’ll help you if you need it, especially with the bustier when you’re ready. Make sure you put that locket on first.”
“In front of you?”
I sighed deeply and turned around.
“Hey! The locket’s hook just disappeared!”
“Yeah, it does that. Remember? Just hurry up, Simon.”
 
 
“Ready, Chance, but I really feel stupid dressed like this. Do I really have to put this…what’d you call it…a bustier, on?”
“Is it going to fracture your delicate male ego beyond all repair if I say yes?”
“Probably, why?”
“Yes, you have to wear the whole uniform. It’s made from the finest Weaver’s silk.”
“Weaver’s silk! How…didn’t they go extinct…?”
“Just shut up and face me. Hold still now. Once I hook it, it automatically tightens.”
“Gods, this is just so embarrassssssssssssssssshhhhrg!” He groaned as his ribcage was compressed.
“Now the hat. Give it a quarter turn to the right. Okay, here comes the magical part, Simon. I have to activate you.” I explained as I took his hands and began concentrating- asking my Current to allow him to help us.
When my eyes opened, I stood looking at the most gorgeous, voluptuous, member of my team I’d ever seen! She was about five and a half feet tall, had the bluest eyes, a cute face, and long, blue hair! Actual blue hair! Oh, and her breasts were overflowing her bustier. From just above the areolas, her huge chest was on display to all, having displaced her silken blouse to each side to make room.
“Wow!” I gasped.
“What did you do to me? I feel…wait that isn’t my voice! Chance? What did you do to me? How did you… You gave me TITS? Holy shit, they’re big! How did you do this?”
“Welcome to the Corps.” I greeted brightly.
“The ‘Corps’? What Corps?”
“The Witch Corps.”
“You…you…you turned me into a…a Witch? Why the hell is that?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Have I got a choice?” She countered.
“You always have a choice, Simone.” I said as I produced two rerouters in my upturned palm.
“How did you do that?” she demanded as her eyes widened.
“Take one and hold it in your dominant hand. Concentrate on asking your Current to turn it into a wand so you can help us…help the Corps.
“You want me to transmute this into a…a wand? Why?”
“Everyone knows that a Witch wouldn’t be caught dead without her pointy hat and her wand, Simone.”
“But you want me to ASK…MY…Current to turn this into a wand…into a Witches wand?”
“Only you can create your own wand, Simone.”
“Why are you calling me ‘Simone’?
“Do you just want me to call you the ‘blue-haired girl with the big top shelf’? That’s a very long name to call out when giving orders.” I giggled.
Simone looked angry and horrified all at the same time.
“So you say I just need to concentrate on MY Current to have it make me a wand?”
“Asking is so much nicer than saying ‘make me a wand’, Simone. Current IS sentient and its been my experience that asking a friend for something is much better than demanding of it. So be nice and ASK your Current to help you change this into a wand.”
“My Current? I didn’t even know I HAD Current.”
“All living things have Current, Simone. How you treat it determines how well you both get along; how it will help you. Now please trust me and ask your Current to turn this into a wand so you can help us free the ship?” I urged.
Simone began to turn red in concentration and after a few minutes she had her wand.
“I trust you realized that it doesn’t take a whole lot of concentration once you find or feel how to do it. Am I right?”
Simone nodded as she stared at the transmuted device in her right hand.
“Now, try to transform this one into a weapon of your choice. Don’t concentrate too hard and just let the Current do what it needs to…what it feels it should do. Okay?”
Simone finally nodded and began to concentrate again.
A big, tube-like weapon appeared and she needed both hands to hold it. She jerked at the sudden weight appearing but seemed to have no problem holding or carrying it. She just stared at the new weapon in her hands.
“It looks like a HB1647 Projectile Launcher, but I’ve never seen one this small before! How am I going to use this, Chance?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, Simone. Can we get going, now? We have to hurry.”
“And how am I to run in these things?” Simone pointed to her five-inch, stiletto heeled, black leather, boots.
“We just do, okay? Less questions and more hurrying!” I ordered as I triggered my door and ran out.
 
 

 
 
Within five minutes, we were back where it all seemed to have begun.
“Welcome back. What took so long?” Artemis asked as she observed Simone stop behind me.
“Who’s the new, blue-haired chick, buddy? Nice rack, by the way.” Lokust asked as she looked to the ‘new’ girl. Simone blushed deeper than I’d ever seen, previous.
“Simone. Meet Lokust, Kitty, Artemis, and my mom, Hope.” I introduced as I pointed to each of them.
“Simon?” Artie and Kitty gasped in amazement.
“No! Way!” Lokust gasped out in complete shock. “Wow! Looks like Chance really put the whammy to you, my man.”
“Grunfuller?” Simone asked, astounded by our friend’s appearance.
“Yeah. Hey, are you happy to see us or are you trying to compensate for something you lost recently, big fella?”
“Huh?” Simone questioned. She had relaxed, letting her weapon drop off her shoulder and now held it by the control stock so that it hung down to the hem of her skirt between her legs.
Kitty elbowed Lokust in the side with a look of disgust on her face.
“You’re a first class Dong, Lokust! I could say the same thing about you and that whip.”
“So…We meet again, Antarran.” Mom regarded our new member critically.
“Umm, Chance? How can your mom be here? Didn’t you say she got you know…”
“Mom is a founding member of the Witch Corps, Simone. I suggest you just accept the unbelievable for right now. And let’s just say that mom has a VERY good relationship with her Current and leave it at that. Status?”
“We were waiting for you, buddy. We figure to each take an entrance, enter at the same time and get the jump on them. There are four entrances so I guess we’ll cover them and you can sit the newbie with the peashooter in Dell’s office as standby.”
“If these two are as bad as mom described, I’m not exactly happy about that plan, but I’ve been busy bringing Simone up to speed and haven’t thought of anything better, so…”
“Lady Chance. I have detected several very large taints heading your way.”
“Thank you, Lady Charli. We’re almost ready.”
“Be careful, M’ladies! By my calculations only a third of the Mare’s crew has been recovered. I can guarantee our foes will use whatever advantage they can. Work as the team you are, but also work smart. Good luck.”
“Lady Charli, keep monitoring us. Alert us if the Hoblins call for more reinforcements.” I advised then paused as I thought about something…something that made me shiver uncontrollably.
“If we- the team- should become compromised, do not, repeat, Do. Not. Hesitate. To space this compartment. If I am right, the Hoblins will pull all assets here, leaving the rest of the ship relatively free.”
“But, Chance…honey…what about the Corps?”
“If compromised there won’t be a ‘Corps’ , dad! Best just to space us and let us float in the solar winds for the rest of eternity. Just us…and them.” I ordered while pointing my thumb at the door.
“What happened to you, buddy?” Lokust asked as she curiously stared at me.
“It’s a last resort. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” I stated with the most serious tone I’d ever used.
“Where did you hear that phrase, honey?”
“I made it up. Just now, mom. Why?”
“It’s not important. Can we get on with the mission, Lady Chance?”
“Of course. Good hunting, ladies.” I said as we moved into our assigned positions. Simone and I cautiously made our way to Dell’s office.
“Chance? What is the story with your mom?” Simone asked as we entered the shipping office and I closed and secured the door.
“Hope Summers has been around since the early days of space exploration…”
“No, I mean…why did she call me an Antarran? I’m originally from Dayson.”
“Maybe it’s the blue hair?” I suggested.
“Blue hair runs on my mother’s side, it’s true, but that doesn’t make me Antarran!” Simone argued.
“Ladies Simone and Chance. In case you didn’t know, blue hair is a trait of Antarran royalty. Lady Hope and I enlisted the help of Juliene Gutteson, Lady-in-wait to Queen Norge of Antarra. She was a very competent member of the Corps for several long-term missions before she decided to muster out.”
“Gutteson? My grandmother’s name was Gutteson, but she didn’t have blue hair, Lady Charli.”
“Lady Hope used her Current to alter Lady Juliene’s appearance- including her hair. It was to protect her identity.”
“Lady Chance, Coven. Signal when in position.”
“Lokust. In position.”
“Huntress in position.”
A minute went by before Kitty reported she was ready.
“Major. In position.”
I looked over the bottom edge of the observation window to see the bay almost filled with Hoblins of various sizes. There had to be thousands of them!
“Looks like the party already started in there, Ladies! Everyone’s there but the DJs. Change of plan. Everyone goes in hot. I’ll try to provide air support. Simone will use her BFG from the office until that position becomes compromised. Get set everyone.” I ordered as I reevaluated our situation.
“Simone, make sure that door is clamped shut. I need to take out this window.”
Simone locked the door from the keypad while I used my wand to trace around the edge of the office window. With a gesture of my hand it tilted into the office silently and hovered over to rest on the floor against the far wall.
“Before you ask, I asked my Current to help me do that. You can do that too. Now, get that peashooter in position and get ready to fire. Pay attention to your locket as we discussed on the way here, and expect to feel strange the first couple times you absorb a Hoblin. It gets easier with practice. Ready?”
Simone nodded nervously.
“Coven, on three. One; I started to hover off the ground and out the removed window; two, I brought both wands to the ready; three!”
The large freight shuttle bay lit up in blue flashes immediately as we stormed it from five different directions.
“I have a feeling this is going to take awhile, buddy. I hope Simone’s in it for the long haul.”
“You worry about your own ass, Grunfuller!” Simone strongly suggested over her comm.
“So put up or shut up, sweetcheeks! Show us what that big bovine prodder can do.” Lokust challenged.
“I’m going to start clearing a hole in the middle- behind their lines. Everyone keep clear.” Simone warned. I looked back to the office window and saw a bright blue energy beam lash out and splash onto the center of the freight hangar’s deck! The beam stayed active for several seconds before extinguishing. In its wake, over five hundred crewmembers lay unconscious.
Many of the ‘partials’ weren’t even worth recovering though.
“Did…ddddddd…did I just do that to all our mates? Did I just kill all of them?” Simone’s horrified voice cried across the comm.
“What the HELL was THAT?” Kitty demanded in surprise. Her question was echoed over the comm by Arti, Lokust, and Hope.
“Impressive! Keep up the artillery fire, Lady Simone, and we may just win the day!” Mom congratulated after a few seconds.
“So, if the locket is almost blinding me, I have to find a pure Current return conduit and drain off my reservoir, right?”
“After one shot you have to drain off Current?” Lokust asked in astonishment. “How many bad guys did she just take out?”
“From up here, I’d say about six or seven hundred.” I said doing a quick recon of the large hangar.
“Wow! Looks like the competition is heating up, Kitty! We better get a move on or the new girl will eclipse us on the next shot.” Lokust challenged.
“Don’t get too confident! The two ‘big baddies still haven’t arrived.” I warned after draining another twenty-four with my wands.
It was a good thing that the freight hangar was five stories high! These things could jump much higher than normal humans, even though their weaker-looking, mangled, and severely distorted limbs seemed to contradict that. I estimated they could make thirty feet if they tried hard enough.
As a matter of fact, several had tried that very thing as they noticed me floating high overhead.
Something grabbed my feet roughly and I felt myself falling quickly. I hit the deck hard enough to almost wind me. Thank goodness for our uniforms, though. It could have been a lot worse! Still, I was surrounded and not by the smaller conscripts, but the bigger baddies- bigger than the Kitty-Dell-Simon-Conte merge.
So they wanted to play rough, huh?
Strange. As I lay there none of them moved. They seemed to be confused by what had just happened.
Not wanting to lose the advantage, I stood and let loose with my wands.
As I hovered back off the ground, I spun myself around, my wands effectively clearing a giant circle around me. Though I was only spending a small amount of time on each target, I was making progress and widening my area.
“Lady Simone, Lady Chance. I’m reloaded and am ready to fire. Could you move to your right about thirty feet, please? You’re blocking my shot.”
Still spinning and about ten feet off the deck, I began to move in the requested direction. Immediately after I cleared the required distance, another brilliant blue beam rushed past me and again splashed across the hangar deck. It dispersed after a few seconds.
“Sorry, Gang. I hafta unload again. I’ll call out the next shot.” Simone announced. She sounded somewhat less conflicted by the result of her action this time. As before, four or five hundred crewmen- or parts thereof- were left in the weapon’s absorptive wake. More and more of them seemed beyond recovery.
“Buddy? Arti’s got a little problem. She’s full up and can’t get clear to relieve herself. I’d help but I have a full dance card.”
I started looking for a quick way over to my huntress.
A wild idea hit me.
“Want me to go help her, Chance?” Mom asked from just above me. She was riding on her straw broom again! Sidesaddle no less!
“Keep an eye on Lady Simone” I ordered as my eyes followed the conduit. It went exactly where I wanted it to go. “She’ll need cover fire to relocate after her next shot. Keep the pressure off Kitty and Lokust. I’ll be helping Arti.”
Lowering myself to the deck I took two steps and lined myself up on the chosen conduit and asked my Current to transport me over to my endangered friend.
 
 
A bright orange light engulfed me, but I felt no pain. Actually I felt almost nothing at all. I did have the slightest feeling of swimming? Like the medium I was now in had density- about the same as water. It was very strange, but interesting all at the same time.
I felt that I wasn’t alone here. There was a feeling of millions of eyes watching- some hungrily, as I made my way through this ‘conduit’. The majority of those ‘eyes’ though, felt upbeat and confident- almost happy that I was here. The feeling of being ‘cheered on’ warmed me. It was as if ‘they’- whoever ‘they’ were- knew who I was- who the good guys were.
On the off chance ‘they’ could understand me, I thanked ‘them’ for ‘their’ confidence in me and asked if ‘they’ could tell me where the lead Hoblins were and how I could catch them. Though they didn’t actually ‘speak’ or answer me, I did ‘feel’ that they would help if they could.
Suddenly, I began to get a very…distressing, very…foreboding, feeling; a feeling that something evil was right behind me. It ‘felt’ like whatever ‘it’ might be was just on the cusp of grabbing me from behind!
I needed to get out!
The bright orange light suddenly dimmed and became the freight hangar. Dell…Huntress was standing off to my left, a little further away than I planned.
“I have this! A Current return conduit is right behind me.” I said taking over the duty of draining every single Hoblin I could to give our Huntress time to drain her reservoir.
“Where did you come from, Chance?” Dell demanded in absolute surprise as she lowered her bow from me.
“Tell you later.” I said as another thirty Hoblins met my wands.
“Did you just do what I think you did, buddy?” Lokust asked on comm in astonishment.
“IIIII, might hav…maybe. Why?”
“Just wondering. Care to relate that one to us after we’re done here?”
“Help clean this mess up and I’ll teach the whole Coven, M’lady.”
“This, I gotta hear!” Kitty added.
“Did you really just travel through that conduit, honey?” Mom asked from directly above me. The surprise in her voice was very, very evident!
“Did I hear Lady Hope right, Buddy?”
“Yes, but I felt something evil coming after me in there. I had to get out faster than I intended.”
“You had to get OUT…? Faster than you intended? From here it looked like you disappeared from one spot and popped up over by Arti in an instant! I thought you teleported. As if that was possible.”
“Let’s just call it magic and get back to clearing this hangar bay, Lady Lokust.”
“Copy that, M’lady.”
“Lady Simone, Coven. Ready to fire. Nobody move.” Simone ordered over the comm.
The bright blue beam hit the deck twenty yards from me, but quickly jerked to the right and fizzled out.
“A little help here, Ladies! I’m taking fire.”
“I have this, Chance. Stay with Arti.” Mom said as I saw her shoot across the bay’s ceiling.
“Thanks, M’lady. I’m ready to re-engag…Chance? We might have a problem.” Dell said as she stiffened, her steeled, serious eyes latching onto something behind me.
I nodded. I could feel it…the evil it gave off…the vengeful hatred radiating towards us…
Towards me!
Dell had sunken ten shafts into it in the blink of an eye and I noticed both my wands were aimed and working on absorbing it as well!
“Chance? I’m filling up pretty fast! I’m not sure how much longer I can stay to drain this thing.”
“Take a step to your right. Place your foot on the return conduit and try to offload on the fly, Arti.” I quickly suggested.
“Will that work, Chance?”
“Don’t know. If not I’ll try to keep it at bay until you relieve yourself. Go!”
“Lady Chance! I’m picking up some very disturbing data from your locket!” Charli interrupted.
“I’m kinda busy, dad.”
“Chance. The Current building up in your reserve has exceeded my previous ‘new’ capacity estimates on you. In fact it has tripled! I am also reading a thermal breakdown in the locket’s purifier. I suggest a tactical retreat before permanent damage can occur.”
“To me or the locket, dad?”
“Both, I’m afraid.”
“Just wonderful! I’m going to try something. It might help.” I said as I asked my current to help reduce my reservoir level.
Moving my backup wand away from my adversary, I pointed it to another return conduit, one away from Dell.
The relief was immediate, though I didn’t expect it to really be enough.
“How, by the Gods, are you doing that, Chance Summers?!” Mom cried over the comm in amazement.
“If I can shunt the Current into the return conduit it may help.” I explained as whistling filled my ears!
“Did Libra’s people ever theorize what might happen if someone were to reach their third threshold?”
“Don’t get your hopes up, M’lady! That was only me.” Kitty advised as I realized those were her shurikens whizzing past me.
“Looks like one of the guests of honor finally arrived, buddy!” Lokust said as she landed gracefully beside me and engaged her wand and whip to our huge opponent.
“RETREAT! WITCH CORPS! RETREAT!” Mom shouted from our comm.
“Chance? Another one just showed up! Um, it’s a little bigger?” Kitty informed as her eyes grew bigger.
“I said WITHDRAW! GIRLS! WITHDRAW! There is no possible way to fight them both! We can’t win this!” Mom shouted hysterically again over our comm.
“Coven! Hold! Your! Ground!” I ordered as I glared to mom circling overhead.
“Lady Simone asking to rejoin the fight, M’lady.” Simone’s voice came over the comm.
I looked up to see her hovering on her own broom a few yards from Mom. She had her weapon at the ready.
I got a crazy idea as I regarded the second, massive, Hoblin. It was just standing there…observing?
“Coven! Concentrate all resources on the current, primary target. Disregard the secondary target! Repeat, disregard the secondary!”
“Chance? What the HELL are you doing, honey?!” Mom asked in shock.
“Keep firing on that Hoblin, Lady Hope!” I ordered as I started to hover into the air. I needed a better perspective of the engagement area. Ah! If I could distract it- get it to move one step to the left- it would be directly over a Main Current Return Conduit…
“Lady Chance, Lady Kitty. I need two shurikens on a target I highlight. On my mark.”
“How am I going to do that, Chance? We’re all slightly busy at the moment.”
“Enable ‘Current’ Guidance. And disable absorption until target contact,” I replied.
“Huh?”
“Ask them to seek out the purest Current they see. I’m going to highlight my target with the cleanest Current I can achieve. Hopefully I can ‘nail’ down the secondary- delay its advance long enough for us to form a hexagram on the primary.”
“A hexagram?” Mom exclaimed in surprise.
“You said it yourself, Lady Hope. Six women working as a team can do amazing things. Six Ladies of the Witch Corps Coven can do the impossible! I’m willing to test that theory now! Are you?”
Disengaging from the primary target, I took aim at the other huge Hobgoblin in the bay as I repositioned myself overhead. As I expected, its hideous eyes followed me and after a long moment took the much-desired step.
Focusing on what I had to do, I enabled my wand and two bright orange beams charged from its point. They appeared as two, brilliant orange, spots- one on each twisted, deformed, and monsterous foot.
The huge grotesque beast began screaming in- I hoped- agony. So…it didn’t like being hit with pure Current.
“Launch shurikens!” I ordered.
Instantly the huge beast started howling madly and pulling at its solidly spiked feet. The howling as well as the stench, quickly threatened to turn my stomach! I hoped that would delay it just long enough for us to concentrate on our primary.
“Form up!” I ordered after hastily landing. Mom and Simone quickly closed the six-woman formation.
“So now what, buddy?” Lokust asked as we all looked to each other.
“A Wican I met once at a lecture in California told me that the Priestess of her Coven would start their meetings off by asking everyone to raise her wand high overhead while individually reciting the Coven’s motto then lower their wands in unison to a centered statue of Mother Earth. With just the three or four of us, I never tried it.” Mom supplied.
“So, what is the Corps’s motto, mom?” I asked.
“Corps veneficae una specie galaxia tueri!”
“Which means?” Dell asked.
“Witch Corps, together to protect the species of the galaxy! It’s Latin…roughly.”
“Okkkkaaaay.” Lokust agreed skeptically.
“Sounds like Ancient Lynxin.” Kitty added.
“Corps veneficae una specie galaxia tueri!” I said as I raised my wand high over my head.
“Corps veneficae una specie galaxia tueri!” Lokust declared, raising her wand also.
“Corps veneficae una specie galaxia tueri!” Dell recited and raised her wand.
“Corps veneficae una specie galaxia tueri!” Sinae growled, raising her wand in turn.
“Corps veneficae una specie galaxia tueri!” Simone repeated as she followed precedent.
“Corps veneficae una specie galaxia tueri!” Mom shouted, raising her wand.
We all brought our wands to bear on our foe.
A light more intense than a blue giant sun blinded us for several seconds!