Izzy had slipped out of the jet before our approach with the idea that she could watch the process with her sonar. As we watched the guards retreat, she said, "I think they're giving up on the roof. They're locking doors behind them and arming defenses as they leave. I should go in first."

Haley frowned, speaking through the comms. "Wait for a second. You've got the best view of anyone for now. We'll need you in the air. Everyone else? It's time to get down there. Don't enter until we're all down."

I took advantage of the moment to release observation bots and spybots from the jet. They flew away in a prearranged pattern, the observation bots spreading out to give us a full view of the island from the air. The spybots would be used by Hal to get a better view of objects of interest.

Also, I could send in spybots first. They're expendable.

Haley added, "Make sure your suits are set for this mission. We want to keep on adding to the confusion."

For this mission, everyone (except Brooke and Amy) would be wearing my version of the Heroes' League suits. That meant that we'd be able to turn invisible, wear unidentifiable costumes, or misidentified costumes at our convenience.

They'd figure out it was us eventually, but we wanted to prolong their confusion as long as possible.

The door opened, and we all headed out the hatch. We, in this case, meant Daniel, Haley, Marcus, Vaughn, Jaclyn, Rachel, Cassie, Amy, Tara, Tiger, and I.

All of our costumes were set to camouflage.

Hal took control of the jet as we stepped out, and it floated upward, allowing the two podjets to land. Alex had requisitioned a second when he realized how many people we were bringing.

The first podjet landed, and Alex's team "Three" stepped out. Jenny, alias "Flame Legion," stepped out after Alex, splitting into three the moment she stepped on the ground. Brooke, alias Portal, followed her out wearing the silver Xiniti armor that Guardian, her father, had given her through his connection to the Xiniti. That might have been inconvenient, but it appeared to be just as capable of changing colors as ours.

They weren't the only ones to step out. Rod, alias Troll, but not currently in troll form, walked out after them, accompanied by Samita, alias Red Hex. Though she normally wore a red costume reminiscent of traditional, northern Indian clothes and carried a staff, she wore a Heroes' League suit today and didn't seem to be carrying a staff. She probably had it somewhere invisible or in an enchanted pocket connected to an extra-dimensional space.

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The next podjet contained Sean and Dayton and the rest of what had been Justice Fist: Camille, alias Gravity Star (Sean's half-sister), Sydney, alias Railgun (Sean's sister), and Julie, alias Voice, whose sonic amplifier registered on her costume.

It felt a little weird not to see Jody with them, but I could have said the same thing about Shannon (alias Shadow, who controlled darkness), Julie's cousin. She'd been in Justice Fist too, but after Stapledon, she'd joined the Rocky Mountain States Defenders unit (Denver), and we hadn't seen her in an age.

On the other hand, we already had a crap ton of people. Keeping track of this many was enough. It might not be enough to fight the Nine plus remnants of the Cabal.

The implants made it easy, though. When you considered that they'd been created or altered to be useful to a species that excelled in warfare, it made sense. We'd used them before, but mostly while reacting to other people's plans. Here, where we'd made a plan, they shone.

Creating channels for each sub-team and a task list for each group and individual, they had absorbed the map Hal had pieced together of the building from combining footage from my spybots and Izzy's sonar.

My own started with "contact Dr. Transylvania" and added half a dozen others that I'd considered while making the plan and hadn't written down. It was easy to see how the Xiniti could miss so few details even in combat.

I couldn't deny that it needed to be done, so as everyone else divided into their teams and sub-teams, aided by their implants, I used my comm to call Dr. Transylvania.

He showed up seconds later, forming out of mist next to the door we'd agreed on. I could only guess how his black, powered armor had turned into mist, but I supposed it wasn't any less impossible than the rest of him—magic.

"I believe the plan included making yourselves visible now," he said.

"Just me for the moment," I said, and Dr. Transylvania nodded.

Ape Nasty crawled over the wall, joined by the Atoner in his red and white costume. He'd jumped over.

I switched my costume out of camouflage to our agreed-upon disguise—the glossy black armor that Syndicate L's combat teams used.

Ape Nasty doubled over with laughter. "That's nice. Love the look."

Over the comm, I said, "It's not much of a disguise if they see your reaction."

"Too true," Dr. Transylvania said over his comm. "Treat him as you would if we were cooperating with Syndicate L."

The giant ape grunted, "You bet, boss."

Then he tapped his headset, adding (in a much quieter voice) over the comm, "Still love it. This will fuck with their heads. They've got a 20-year-old truce with Syndicate L."

The Atoner held a finger to his lips while Dr. Transylvania waved a wand over the door we'd chosen. Glowing magical symbols appeared, floating over the steel door and the roof around it wherever Dr. Transylvania pointed the wand.

Over the comm, Samita muttered, "That will be a problem."

"Indeed," Dr. Transylvania said, looking up from the roof. "It will be. They've warded the building against the undead. I heard they were doing it a few years ago. While I managed to get the Wizard's Council involved and prevent the ah… rogue member from finishing the rest of the island, I've never been able to inspect the work. It's very good. It will take me a minimum of 30 minutes to break it, and it might take hours. You don't have that time. We'll occupy the outside forces and any new arrivals. You'll have to take the building yourselves."

It didn't surprise me, and I was about to say as much, but then Dr. Transylvania pointed at my waist and asked, "Did you notice that your pouch is glowing?"

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