All right, I made a few changes requested by Maru on this one. Yet
another segment soon to be going to vredit, unless anyone has anything
to say about it. 

	Op: Marraketh - "All Along the Watchtower"

Segment 3 of ?

By Technician Brynhild, VRDET R&D

	We were out on scout duty.

	Red, Captain Delphynes (aka Maruchan, and whom I barely knew, 
since she was in Explorations), several other troopers, and I had been 
sent out to look for any spongin troops that might be on our trail. It 
was to be assumed that the enemy (the Hellwyrm, or the deputy that had 
captured Katze) was well aware of our presence and would respond; ergo, 
someone had to be on the lookout. 

	However, we hadn't found a battalion of spongin; we had found 
something possibly more important, an enemy watchtower. Its lone beacon 
reflected across the growing twilight. *This would have made a beautiful 
scene on one of the distant coasts of Earth*, I thought, *or even here 
if I wasn't so preoccupied.* 

	Red looked just as concerned as I felt. "The guard's out there," he
said. "Wait here. I'll Shadowslip[tm] and try to find a way in."

	"Where are you...?" I cried, but it was too late. He had 
disappeared into the shadows, confusing many of the others and 
causing me to speak to the air. 

	We waited impatiently for a minute or two as he did his silent
scouting. *Sure, having an assassin friend can be useful, but it never
really stops being creepy.* Soon he came back, looking discouraged. He
shrugged. "No go. We'll have to go through the front door."

	Maruchan watched him with what may have been awe or apathy 
(I wasn't particularly sure). *Think he's weird now? He only gets 
weirder as you spend more time around him. Just wait.*

	Red sighed. "There are only two spongin on duty, but they're 
scared of the dark I guess. The place is so lit up there's no chance 
of me Shadowslipping[tm] in there."

	"OK," I said, "I have an idea. You need to climb up and distract 
one of the spongin to get him the window. Use one of those X-Card 
thingies, whatever makes sense to you. Meanwhile, the rest of us can 
waltz in and take the other by surprise."

	"Not great, but it's a start. Give me about 30 second to 
grapple up, k?" He started up the side of the tower, and the rest of 
us left to enter the building on the other side.

	The guard at the front of the tower was ridiculously easy. He 
was an untrained spongie, clutching his B'Hee J'Hay doll in the only 
means of self-defense he knew, and he had probably been shipped out to 
the remote watchtower in hopes that he could stay there until he was 
needed as cannon fodder. Or, in this case, Vibro-Spork[tm WEDJEE] 
fodder. *God, that was much too easy. Sad to say, gratuitous violence 
makes me sick.*

	I heard a loud explosion echo at the top of the tower. Red had
obviously already finished with his guard. He came rushing down the
stairwell, dagger in hand, until he realized we were friendly. 

	"All right, we finished off the guards," commented Maru. "What 
now?"

	"We wait," stated Red. "Wait for the next attack." He sent up 
a magical signal beacon to show the main group that this area had been 
secured.

	"You have a point," I commented. "This was way too easy. If 
they knew we were coming, which they almost certainly do, why would 
they leave such a skeleton crew  of guards? There must be some heavier 
troops coming."

	Red nodded solemnly. "And maybe they did. Let me go scout it 
out." And in a flash, he was gone. When he came back, he looked 
worried. "I think we have company."

	"Dammit! I knew this felt like a trap!" *God, we've been in this
dimension for just a few hours... these idiots move fast.*

	"It's OK. I have a plan. Maru, you go back to camp and tell 
Calculus to prepare for an attack. They're about two miles away, but 
they're moving fast, so tell him to be ready for a fight within the 
hour. Meanwhile, I have some surprises to prepare." And he was gone 
again, vanished into thin air. *That's extra-dimensional magic for you. 
I'll prolly never be able to pull stunts like that. Sigh.*

	She looked at me, confused. "Don't worry about me... I'll just 
hold the fort until Red comes back. Believe me, I have ways of getting 
out of trouble if anyone finds me. Go!" And with that, she was gone. I 
was alone. 

			************************************

	Indeed, the enemy didn't think enough of our scouting party to 
send any reinforcements at all to the watchtower. I wasn't horribly 
surprised. To keep from being completely bored, I pulled another book 
out of my considerably junk-filled backpack (_Penn and Teller's How to 
Play in Traffic_, which had ended up there for reasons I really didn't 
remember) and began reading. 

	Minutes went by, 5, 10, 20. Red was still nowhere to be seen. 
*Come on! How long does it take to plant a surprise for the enemy?* 
After I'd been waiting in the tower for 30 minutes, I had become bored, 
and irritated besides. *All right, Red, I see you've decided to ditch me 
in this watchtower. Forget it. I'll see you back at camp.* I shoved the 
book back into my backpack and began the hike back to base camp.