All of the troopers were within the barriers and quickly began moving to their assigned buses. Kyle reached the doors of the first one, just as Douglas and his powerful ork strength pulled the side door open. The ork dashed inside, ducking low under the protection of the panel along the half-steps that led up to the deck of the bus. He glances quickly down the length of the vehicle, and then stood, turned, and fired two quick shots from his combat rifle. Kyle pulled himself up behind the ork trooper just in time to see a man with a twisted dark aura and a gun in his slackening hand begin to fall, a trail of blood arcing through the air from his head. A young girl, barely a teenager, and just second ago the man's hostage, dove forward screaming.

Kyle turned, looking at the occupants of the bus, who ducked and cowered in fear. He did not or could not see Beth or Natalie. He cursed, and vaulted back down the stairs as Keith entered, covering Douglas's move to the front of the bus while shouting for everyone aboard to keep their heads down. Kyle doubted there would be any problem with that.

But he was supposed to be on the last bus, the rear one where he could see the rest and provide them magical aid if needed. He dashed down the line of buses and was about to run through the open doors of the second bus when a flash of light lit the area.

He spun as dozens of bugs threw themselves blindly against the shield, blasting and searing themselves in a maddening effort to breach it. And Kyle could see that the shield was weakening, fading in spots. Ravenheart's voice confirmed it: "Get ready to move! The shield's only got a few seconds!"

Kyle turned back and looked up at the shapes and forms of people he could barely make out in the bus. One of the troopers was moving among them, and he heard the engine of the first bus spring to life.

"Come on!" Vathoss yelled at him from the rear bus.

Kyle glanced over and saw the sergeant hanging out the rear door, waving him forward to the third bus. Beyond him, Seeks-the-Moon stepped out through the wall of the bus and manifested physically. Kyle wanted to catch his eye, to see if Moon had seen Beth or Natalie as he'd manifested in turn in each bus, advising the passengers to stay low as the assault began.

But Seeks-the-Moon was turned away, looking up at the dimming, now almost flickering shield. Kyle saw that and dashed for the third bus. Time was up.

Vathoss leapt inside and into the driver's seat, and Kyle quickly followed him, both men slamming their hands down on the flat yellow button that closed the doors. The key was in place, so Vathoss depressed the ignition switch, and the bus engine surged into life.

Seeks-the-Moon appeared as a blur of motion next to Kyle. "We're out of time!" he said. "The shield is solidifying."

"What?" Kyle yelled, barely able to hear him over the gunning of the bus engine. He wanted to scan the crowd on the bus, look for Beth and Natalie's auras, but Seeks-the-Moon had moved in front of him, blocking his view.

"The shield is nearly complete," the spirit told him.

"It'll fall in a second!" Kyle said, trying to move past him.

"No, not Ravenheart's," said Seeks-the-Moon. "The other shield, the one around the hive, is almost complete."

Kyle stopped and turned, leaning to look out the slightly bubbled front window of the bus. Vathoss wanted to move, to get clear, but Ravenheart's barrier was still up, though flickering dangerously. Beyond it, obvious to his still astral senses, Kyle could see the ward that was being erected around the grounds of the power plant. Seeks-the-Moon was right; the energy lattice was nearly ready, nearly complete.

Kyle keyed his communication link. "Anne!" he shouted unnecessarily. "The hive's ward is nearly completed!"

"I know." Her voice was ragged with stress. "I'm releasing my barrier… now!"

The gray and blue barrier, barely existent and now crawling with bugs powerful enough to resist the burning arcs of power, exploded in a flash and spray of energy. Bugs, dozens of them of all types were tossed aside by the dissolution of the barrier. Immediately, grenades began detonating in the midst of the swarm of insects that had fallen back from the exploding barrier. The grenades did little damage, but it did scatter the creatures. Both Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon threw explosive spells of their own into the chaos.

"Go! Go! Go!" screamed Ravenheart. "We're out of time-I'm sending the drone in!"

Vathoss's body jerked as he heard the words, and he turned to look at Kyle. If Ravenheart had ordered to drone in, they had maybe a minute, maybe slightly more, before it exploded.

The headset in Kyle's helmet crackled. "Negative! Negative!" it was Quess' frantic voice. "My key isn't here and the hot-wire won't jump it!"

Kyle flexed his finger to respond, but Ravenheart's was faster. "No choice!" she yelled. "Run if you have to!"

Ahead of them all, the first bus lurched forward, turning hard to the right. A whirring, keening, skittering mass of bugs rushed it, climbing madly over the front. A barrage of magical darts of power rained down on them from Ravenheart; Kyle was amazed that her position across the street was still safe.

"Rockets!" she yelled over the open channel, and Kyle saw four flashes of light from the darkness beyond the of the plant grounds, followed quickly by three barely visible streaks. The four high-explosive rockets shot through the regrouping mass of bugs, probably a dozen in that area alone, and continued on toward the front of the building.

The rockets struck the large metal doors as Ravenheart's shield was dropped. They detonated in rapid succession, sending Shockwaves through the building and out across the open ground, where it rocked the buses.

Vathoss slammed the transmission of Kyle's bus into motion, jerking forward and crashing into the rear of the second bus. The throttle was wide open, and its tires spun for a second on the concrete, but then it began to push the other bus forward.

The first bus was covered in a wall of bugs; there was no way Douglas could see past them, but he only needed to head toward the outer fence or gate. His helmet system displayed a compass bearing; if necessary he could navigate by that, turning right after he struck the fence. Assuming the bugs didn't tear the bus apart first.

"I will help them," Seeks-the-Moon said, flashing through astral space toward the first bus. The writhing swarm of bugs on the bus was so dense that Kyle wondered if the spirit would be able to find a way through them. Then, Kyle could hear the sound of tearing metal despite the distance and the roaring of the bus engines. The bugs were peeling the heavy plastic and metal sides and top of the bus away.

Another wave of missiles arced in through the now blasted open doorway. This time, their path unimpeded, they exploded deep inside the plant. Kyle saw the flashes in the building's upper windows.

Almost immediately, dozens of the bug spirits began to leap from the first bus and rush toward the building: the queens were under attack, they must be defended. It wouldn't be too long, however, before either the queens themselves or any human insect shamans inside would realize the true nature of the threat and respond accordingly.

Kyle's bus lurched, and window to the rear shattered in a spray of safety glass. He turned as the powerful mandibles of a beetle thrust inside, catching a man who was springing away, tearing his head and shoulder completely off. Kyle called up and released a missile of magic power that struck the bug in the head and made it pull back, squealing. He felt a slight twinge in his neck muscles, his body beginning to protest the strain.

The translucent skylight and emergency exit on top of the bus were torn free, and a pair of ants tried to thrust their way in simultaneously. Their odor was unmistakable, and Kyle unslung the hypervelocity assault rifle he'd been given. He stepped under the skylight as one of the ants finally made room for the other, and fired before the other's head was clear. The weapon fired, spraying twelve quick rounds of exploding ammo at the ant spirits. Most of the shots hit the first, the bug that was trying to push inside, but some also hit the second. Neither was badly hurt, but each was thrown off enough that as the bus lurched again and sent Kyle sprawling, both insects slid from view. Kyle thought he saw their bodies tumble off outside as he fell hard against his shoulder.