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--donation bonus week (day 2/5, post 1/5)--
They’d only sent three servants to retrieve her? If it came to a fight on her own land, three random Vanguardian lackeys did not concern her very much. As she cut through the Main House toward the courtyard, she couldn’t help feeling a little underwhelmed.

‘Oh, I sense two more,’ Shenado added. ‘One each for the east and west wings. I don’t recognize them, either.’

Mariana was now sufficiently whelmed. She slowed her pace to look at her cellphone. There was certainly no chance of help arriving before the fighting broke out, but she wasn’t above asking. The first Rainlord in her contact list was Joana Cortes--formerly Joana Elroy. A bit obnoxious, perhaps, but still a good woman, in addition to being Zeff’s sister.

‘Charlie and Jonathan are returning now, too. Front entrance like before.’

Okay. Seven opponents was quite enough for her. Thankfully, Joana picked up after the second ring.

<“Mary! Hey!”>

“Joana, shut up and listen. My house is under attack. There are seven servants here. Charlie Day and Jonathan Flint are two of them. I am not joking. I need assistance right now. Do you understand?”

There was no reply.

“Hello? Joana?” The call had dropped, she realized. She growled and tried the number again, but it wasn’t even ringing this time. There was no telling how much Joana had heard. Mariana was kicking herself for not making the call sooner. If she’d known that she really was under assault and not just being extra paranoid, she definitely would have.

‘No good?’ said Shenado.

“It’s being jammed.”

‘They’ve probably already cut the landline, then. Ah--no time to check. They are getting very close now. Dead ahead.’

Mariana pocketed her phone, exchanging it for one of the small remotes she’d taken from her weapons cache. Its two red buttons were unlit. She pressed the left one, then right one, then both together, then right, then left, then left again. The arming sequence. Both buttons lit up now.

She stopped at the door to the rainy courtyard and looked through. She pressed the right button and was pleased to see four automated turrets pop out of the stony half-pillars around the center pool. As she’d hoped, whatever was jamming her phone didn’t have the right frequency for this.