Nell had supposed at first that these columns might be Fist reinforcements 
converging on this building, which was clearly intended to be the headquarters 
of their final assault on the Coastal Republic. But it soon became evident that 
these newcomers had arrived for other purposes. After a few minutes of 
unbearable tension had gone by in nearly perfect silence, the columns suddenly, 
on the same unheard signal, erupted into the plaza. As they 
debouched from the narrow streets, they spread out into many-pronged 
formations, arranging themselves with the precision of a professional drill 
team, and then charged forward into the suddenly panicked and disorganized 
Fists, throwing up a tremendous battle-cry. When that sound echoed up two 
hundred stories to Nell's ears, she felt her hair standing on end, because it 
was not the deep lusty roar of grown men but the fierce thrill of thousands of 
young girls, sharp and penetrating as the skirl of massed bagpipes.