I was already shielding my eyes.

Her power produced a three-stage effect. The third one was more of a problem for us than for the Titans. Anyone who didn’t shield their eyes would be blind for twenty seconds to two minutes.

I would have told her to fuck off, personally, but the people in charge seemed to think she was having enough of an impact that the hazard was worth it. If Gundeck weren’t here, someone who worked with her and managed her, then I might have questioned if they realized it.

Gundeck hefted two guns very much like what I’d envisioned getting when I’d asked for weapons. Each looked like it could be mounted on a tank or boat, barrels telescoping out to a full ten feet in length, with gaps for venting along the sides.

Each fired one shot, a single armor-piercing shell. The kind, I imagined, that would put a hole through an aircraft carrier. It put a hole in Skadi.

Tinkertech reloaded his weapons as he let mechanical arms pull them back, and he let one beefy, armored mechanical arm hand him a shorter firearm. He had enhanced strength, but not enhanced durability, so he leveraged most of that strength carrying his military-inspired tinker weapons. The mover that was helping him get around the battlefield perched nearby, looking nervous.

“If I’d left earlier…”

I looked down at Foil.

She was fixated on the line Oberon had trampled.

“I had no crossbow, no darts. If you hadn’t kept me in the fight, I would have been down there.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I settled for, “No way of telling.”

It didn’t make sense as a response, but my focus was elsewhere. I couldn’t afford to make mistakes like the Flower of the Hecatomb had. I had people to keep track of.

Damsel might have been down there too. Her blast was short ranged, and it was only her unwillingness to be beholden to another person that kept her here and active.

Sveta was sticking by Damsel and Solarstare now. Solarstare used her power again, aiming for where Gundeck’s bullets had punched into Skadi, while Skadi was fighting her way through Titan Eve’s clouds.

I’d have to protect my eyes in a few seconds.

Others—

“Victoria!” Foil called out. “Opposite direction! Fly!”

I reversed course, then checked why I was reversing course.

A vague black-brown headless bird shape was soaring our way.

“Let me off! Onto its back!” Foil shouted.

A Parian creation.

I didn’t ‘let her off’, but I did lower her to where her feet were on the thing, then made sure she was secure on its back.

“I’m good to let go?” I asked, over the rush of the wind.

Foil nodded. “Don’t go too far!”