“What to do when things go to shit you ask? Just do whatever you can and pray for the best.” - Scipius Cornelius Barca, Famed general and strategist of the Democratic Republic of Caroma, circa 62 FP.

What should have been an easy operation - just to get in, grab some kids, and get out - instantly turned into a mess beyond what Edwin had predicted. Sure, all they had to deal with were a bunch of children, that part was true. The problem was that he very quickly realized that those children were not playing soldiers, but had sincerely trained much like how one would.

The “sticks” he saw from afar and had thought they were playing with were lightweight, sure, but made of hardwood nevertheless. While getting struck by it would only leave a bruise at worst, many of the sticks had their ends tapered down to a blunt, but still narrow end. A jab from one of those, even in the hands of a child, to a soft area like the abdomen, would still have sent an adult reeling, and could easily bruise something inside.

Not to mention that some of the demi-human kids had actual claws and fangs, and from the scratches that built up on Jacob’s arms, were not in the least shy to use them on others, despite how their scouts never mentioned it. None of the kidnappers had really fathomed that the kids had been disciplined not to use their fangs and claws unless it was an emergency situation, much less than they knew exactly what they had to do with them.

For a moment, things looked up once more as Nebula just barreled through the group of older kids that used their sticks like spears to keep them at bay, shouldering and tossing around some of them aside in her charge. The brawny, chubby woman cursed from the pain when several of the sticks prodded her particularly hard, and doubly so when one of the kids had the smarts to have braced the stick they held against the ground for her to run into. That stick had actually pierced through her belly and out her back, but she called on her innate magic to help her ignore it as she shoulder-checked the kid aside.

Xevra and Vincenzo, as well as Edwin himself had followed the path created in her wake as they headed towards the girl with feline features and white, spotted fur, their primary target, when they were halted in their path by the arrival of four other kids from the other side of that hill. Probably it was a misnomer to have called those newcomers “kids”, however, as three of them were easily larger than even Nebula, and the last one, while shorter by a good bit, was half again as broad at the shoulder as the brawny woman.

Two of those newcomers, both demi-human children with beastial features that recalled that of a great bear, though only about as large as an adult human in size or so, tackled the brawny woman bodily, and to Edwin’s surprise, halted her in place. He had personally seen Nebula plow through four to five adult guards in the past, so how two immature children could hold against her, he had no idea, but he already knew they were in trouble, especially with how those two beastly things locked one of Nebula’s arms with one of theirs and flicked out wicked claws with their free paw-like hands and went to town on the woman.

Another kid that looked similar to the two that stopped Nebula, but even larger in build, had simply barreled over Vincenzo and pinned him to the ground even as the mustachioed man desperately struggled to keep the wide open, fanged maw of the kid away from his face using his hands, a struggle he was clearly losing.

The last of the four kids from the back of the hill had approached them with a weird, loping gait, as he used one of his long, grossly oversized arms almost like another leg, while he held a tree branch as thick around as a human leg with his other hand. The way the short youngster looked like a bearded monkey somewhat disturbed Edwin as well, with how used he was to just dealing with humans all his life.

Xevra tried to intercept the weird, bearded, monkey-like kid, but quickly found herself troubled when he swung the thick wooden branch like a cudgel at her. His swings were wide, almost haphazard and full of openings in fact, but the speed and force with which he swung forced the woman to keep her distance cautiously, all too aware that a direct hit might well shatter bones or worse.

When Edwin looked back, he couldn’t help but to frown in dismay at the rest of his group’s performance. Ace was useless in a fight, as he needed to focus to maintain the silencing barrier around them. He had said that he would silence the vicinity of the entire hill, but they had not accounted for there to be other, bigger kids right on the other side of the hill itself.

Katja was paralyzed with indecision. Whereas the former assassin killed guards and others that had run afoul of them many times in the past, she had always been insistent on not harming young children. In fact, whenever the group happened to kidnap a young child, Katja would then take good care of the child personally while they waited for the eventual ransom.

In just about every case, the child would end up attached to her to the point that sometimes they were reluctant to part with her. Edwin had expected her to be about useless for fighting unless they ran into the adults, but had not expected this sort of scenario in his plans.

On the other hand, Jacob was being beaten up by around ten children with their staffs and spears - he could no longer see those as mere sticks anymore - though he at least kept their attention on him even as he yelped in pain as the blows rained down on his chubby form.

That left Edwin as the only one free to take action of his group, and his mind spun to seek a solution where he could somehow salvage the current situation his group had fallen into. It would have been both hilarious and humiliating for his group of kidnappers to end up getting caught and rounded up by kids of all things.

Immediately, his eyes locked at the slender demi-human girl with white, spotted fur, who had withdrawn a bit to the back as she stood protectively in front of the dozen or so younger children. Edwin pounced at the girl, since he thought that if he could get her, their primary target, and maybe a couple of the younger ones, it would at least give him something to demand ransom and maybe the release of his people with, since chances were they would have to leave some of their own behind.