***Tirnanog, Thich Airship***

***Evanne***

Bones split. Flesh ruptured. Blood splattered.

There were bits and pieces of my comrade everywhere once the energy hit her. Ends of bone and cartilage were displayed for all the world to see. Her head was hanging off her torso, only attached by a small amount of skin once the enemy had blurred down the corridor in a flurry of movements so fast, nobody could stop them as they headed for the next gun position even as the airship shook beneath my feet.

I tried to follow the warrior responsible for killing her, the enemy. A suit of armour with four blue glowing eye-slits in its helmet, moving far faster than they had any right to be with such heavy equipment.

If I had been just a bit faster I could have caught up, but they were always one or two steps ahead of me, moving around a corner or bursting through the window of a gun position, then suddenly breaking back in at an entirely different position.

Even the partnered warriors, our best soldiers, had trouble catching this elusive opponent. It was a single person and yet it felt like an entire strike team of juggernauts had boarded the ship.

The ship shook again as we were shot by our own people due to the spreading confusion.

Then the enemy reappeared and I couldn’t catch up, following only in the warrior’s footsteps as they massacred their way through our ranks. There was no finesse in their movements. Only the speed, power, and precision of a seasoned butcher.

Blood was everywhere and there was no mercy.

I almost confronted them as they were backtracking down the corridor, suddenly coming in our direction. Every hair on my neck stood on end at the desired and yet unexpected confrontation. The corridor in front of us lit up with lightning, felling an entire group of pursuers. Goose-flesh erupted over my body all at once as a primeval wave of terror dislodged every rational thought from my mind. All my training suddenly seemed insufficient when it came to facing such a threat.

Why was I running towards certain death instead of away? Just because all the others were fools didn’t mean I had to copy them!

The guard running ahead of me spilt apart as an axe went through his shoulder and down to his hips, flinging both pieces violently apart as the butcher went about his way, coming straight for me. A flashing blur of after-images as they moved down the corridor.

And then it was my turn – and the warrior was gone. Slipped off into a side corridor right in front of me.

My sword slipped from my limp fingers as I rationalized what had just happened. I, we, had trained for years, taken the best mutations known to our teachers. And yet… and yet we were nothing more than obstacles in this person’s path as they mowed us down like blades of grass. They hadn’t even considered me as an opponent to fight! And the warrior running in front of me had delayed them for no more than a second.

Was my power, my potential, really so insignificant as to be ignored? It contradicted everything the preacher had told us about the enemy.

I quickly snapped out of my daydream and reminded myself how dangerous it was to question those in higher positions. Looking around the upper deck, I assured myself that nobody had noticed me drifting off to memory lane. It had been a day since those events.

Even now, we hadn’t been told what was happening. The rumours were wild. Some told of a stunning victory as the enemy fleet was left behind crippled to be taken care of by a night-terror nest. Others only whispered of last night in hushed tones as they spoke of a harrowing defeat.

Looking around and seeing the fleet’s much-reduced numbers, the only thing I was certain of was that we got at least as good as we dealt. And wouldn’t a stunning victory have us advance on the enemy? Not retreat in the direction of our capital?

The memory of airships shooting each other with what must have been years of stockpiled resources in ammunition and bombs was still vivid in my mind. Just because we were on Tirnanog didn’t mean people had forgotten about guns, but gathering the resources for what accounted for black powder wasn’t easy. Guns and cannons were scarce not only because the noise attracted monsters, but because each shot meant more resources wasted than the killed monster would return in most cases.

I shuddered as I heard someone call my name and returned to the airship’s command bridge.

To receive new orders. To see whether there was someone compatible so we could replenish our numbers of paired warriors.

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***Tirnanog, Aerie Flagship***

***Astra***

I surveyed the room.

Elders were managing the airship fleet with Jeng’s people and the Caravaner’s rendering support. The organisation’s men and women were aiding in various capacities. Meanwhile, the assembly was lively discussing the problem.

The only exception was the Matriarch because she usually had something to say about everything. Contrary to that, Vanya was silently staring daggers at Mary. Grandma Mary meanwhile looked like she was intentionally ignoring the Matriarch.

Finally, Mary threw up her hands. “Stop looking at me like that, kid. Ask what you are going to ask.”

“Would you be so kind as to take care of the problem, Ancient Mary?” Vanya asked, going so far as to use Mary’s formal title before she bowed to her.

The people on the bridge stopped talking and turned their attention to the pair.

“If I do this, I will have no juice for another month or two. Which means there will be nobody to bail out your asses if things go wrong at Thich,” Mary pointed out.

Vanya put her hands together, interlocking her fingers. “If you do what I am asking for right now at Thich City, there will be nothing left afterwards. Given the choice between using your abilities against uncaring monsters or humans, I would prefer the first option. People will die either way. Playing this card now saves us time and losses, allowing us to move directly towards our true goal.”

Mary looked at Vanya and grinned before she turned and walked towards the hatch which allowed access to the observation platform. “I hope you won’t want me to cut loose at Thich City later, because I will need at least a month to recuperate.”

On her way, she stopped at Felix Wolf and poked Jeng’s Ancient in the chest. “If either Nisha or Zach show their faces, I expect you to delay them till I am back in the game.”

“What is she doing?” Magnus asked with a slight bit of trepidation in his voice. “Does she intend to take on the nest alone?”

“I am not sure,” I replied uncertainly.

“Let’s go and watch,” my mother suggested and followed Mary. “It’s not every day that I get to see the reason why Earth decided leaving us alone would cause fewer problems than shipping five or seven nukes through their wormholes.”

We scrambled after her, only to get out in time to find Mary stepping off the observation platform’s railing while unfolding her filaments.

Looking over the railing, I found her falling, her filaments causing a trail of sparkling embers – before she ignited, turning into a flaming angel of immolating death.

“How?” Magnus asked, right before Mary dove like a meteor into the night-terror nest.

“She ate a worm,” Teresa said.

“Like one of ‘those’ worms?” Magnus asked, scratching his chest while looking uncomfortable. “The ones which run on nuclear fuel?”

“That’s what I call a hot woman!” Gunnar Elrod exclaimed as a burst of smoke and fire erupted from the night-terror nest as if it had turned into a small volcano.

***Tirnanog, Raider’s Valley***

***Zacharias Regulus***

I watched and nodded as the night-terror nest went up in nuclear fire. One more piece had fallen into place, preventing one of the outcomes which had the potential to end my people.

Then I turned to face the angry ball of emotions which came stumbling down the cliffside towards me. She looked battered but alive, so I tried to ignore the collection of trophies she carried on her belt – one of them looking like an ear which once belonged to one of my clones.

“Hello, Nisha.”