One of the Remnant soldiers, who was a woman, frowned at Theory but kept riding.

***

Ten-Shots, a square tower of a man, ushered the thralls to the barn. Qunith kept looking over their shoulder, at the fire-fight at the gatehouse, to see if they could make out any sign of the attackers- but to no avail.

"Hurry on up, Sudea!" Ten-Shots called to the two. He had long, brown mutton chops braided to his nips and a large, brown overcould. He held the barn door open as long as he could as the thralls and the remaining children entered.

Qunith and Talideth entered to find in the centre of the barn a good ten or so of the fort's inhabitants- mainly the children, the teens, and the red-haired Mrs. Mason.

"Right," Ten-Shots grunted, turning to a frail woman beside him. Her name was Lorfyn, Qunith had overheard whilst in the field. They kissed. "Keep 'em safe, my dear," Ten-Shots nodded to the woman. Lorfyn, a dark skinned beauty with a large rifle, nodded fiercely. Ten-Shots gave one more glance at the gathered innocents before exiting.

Qunith frowned at the scene and then turned to Talideth. "Her right leg is injured," Qunith commented, nodding to Lorfyn who stood at the entranceway watchfully. "Would be an easy thing to snap."

"Watch out!" The children screamed. They leapt out of the way of the fountain as suddenly Leander splashed into the water. The bards paused and the crowd began to laugh. "You watch yourself M'kama!" Leander screamed, spitting a fish out of his mouth. "The Horenor can be a bad place for Rockians who don't know their lane!"

The group laughed as they ate their balls. "M'kama," Lucky said. "I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

From behind her Cannonade immediately put a gloved hand on Sheri's head. "She's deeply stupid your honour and doesn't know what she's talking about. George is our representative. And we aren't saying another word until we have our lawyers," Cannonade spoke up, not releasing the bushel of Sheri's hair they'd grabbed. Cannonade barely knew who Sheri was, the red-head having only said a few words during Agent Moore's interrogation, but right now they knew they were all in this together- and their best chance of getting out of SINS grasp was together as well.

"George won't hurt us, we're his investment after all..." Cannonade winked at Richard before sipping a cup of unknown fluid. "I forgot you're new to all this, but trust me: the superhero world is run by men like him. Old. White. Rich." Cannonade flashed a smile. "And as long as you don't cost them money you'll be okay. No, the real worry here is... the rest of the team. What was the screening process exactly- that they were there at the beach? That they can kick someones head in?"

Cannonade's eyes shifted between Richard and Klaus. "Your manager just wants your money, its your teammates that want your neck..."

"Mmmm..." Cannonade ripped a cheesy slice of pizza out of their maw, a long string of gooey cheese trailing behind it. They licked the melted dairy up before moaning. "God, this shit is good." Cannonade's eyelids flickered open at Klaus and Richard standing over them. "I've been craving bad pizza. Like just... grease and fat. You want some?" Their eyes were red as hell. They'd been absent from the group the last few days, mainly spending time in bed self-medicating.

The bath-robed Cannonade spun the pizza around the table, offering the two other supers a slice. "Klaus," Cannonade said, aiming a finger at Klaus. They glanced to Richard. "...Albert?" They had given their best guess.

Cannonade ripped into the crust of their slice. "How am I... that's an interesting fucking question considering I singlehandedly stopped the worst disaster the east coast has ever faced." Cannonade chewed with an open mouth. "In the old days I'd get a bonus, now I've been shanghaied into a... what did George call us? A super hero response team?"

Cannonade sniffled and glancing down. "They want me to go to the memorial. I saved the day so it makes sense, I suppose."