Poke Them With A Stick

The mages weren't giving up as easily as Karl had expected. 

They had built a barrier around the portal that was withstanding the artillery barrage, and while Karl and Ophelia terrified them, the mages were not hesitating to engage with the monsters of the Newbon Army.

More of them were pouring through the portal by the second to establish the beach head outside the city.

[Thor, how are things going there? The faster the kids get finished, the faster they can be relocated to somewhere safe.] Karl asked.

[Most are inside right now. Tessa has the others calm, and they're waiting for the last few soldiers to come out.]

That was as good as they could hope for. 

As long as the defenders could keep the invading force away from the orb until the kids could finish and be extracted from the combat zone, it should all be fine.