Author's Preface
“Invocation—Release: Riding the Wind .”
Catherine struck first. At her invocation, invisible wind spirits gathered around her body, lifting her weight from the earth as though gravity itself had become negotiable. It was not "flying," but "levitating." Each current honed the edges of her bagh nakh. Swipes transformed into a razor carried upon the gale. The feline commander vanished into the wind, reappearing behind Mai'wen, poised to eviscerate.
A fatal strike was unnecessary. Every second Mai'wen remained occupied was another second the A20 combat androids advanced upon the Wisterian line. Time had become her greatest ally.
In Catherine’s eyes, the battle had already been decided.
“...”
Mai'wen never turned nor flinched. Her body moved of its own accord, its instinct, drifting a single step aside. The margin of error was zero. She was neither too far nor too close, but the perfect distance to avoid harm. Her vacant eyes never acknowledged Catherine's existence.
In the same motion, her dao left its scabbard, carving away at space itself. The stroke contained no excess. No will. No ego. No hesitation. It was simply the shortest path to her target's life.
Had Barim not intercepted the blade at the last moment, Catherine's body would have separated cleanly at the mid-section before she realized she had ever been struck.
“Thanks, Barim!”
“Focus,” he said, steel grinding against Mai’wen’s dao. “I cannot take these attacks for long.”
“Right!”
Disregarding the law of inertia, Catherine snapped into a new direction mid-flight. she tore across the battlefield with the fury of a falling comet, every sudden change compounding her speed until the air itself screams under her claws.
Even Mai’wen, for all her physical prowess, could not dodge this strike.
“UAAAAAH!”
With a maddening roar, Catherine struck with the ferocity of a raging tiger, and with it, came the flaying of flesh.
“...!”
Contact. It was undeniable. Whether the strike had been fatal, Catherine could not tell, but she felt it; the familiar sensation of flesh yielding beneath her claws, the sweet satisfaction of freshly maimed prey.
“Hmph!”
Of course, Catherine was not alone on the battlefield. Barim, having spotted an opening, rammed his shoulder into Mai’wen’s side. The weight of his steel armor, coupled with his explosive dash, generated a force capable of knocking her into the nearest building. Once more, a clean hit.
“Don’t let up, big guy! Gotta lay in the pressure!”
“Affirmative.”
The situation was far more favorable than either commander had predicted. Despite her absurd senses, Mai’wen was only human, a plaything for shura such as themselves. With the next strike, she would surely perish!
“Die!”
“Catherine!”
Barim was the first to notice the anomaly. An infinitesimally small moment. Something akin to a singularity had formed, and its gravity would soon crush Catherine into a thin red paste.
Mai’wen’s blade traced a line through the air, her body lacking even the notion of tension or thought. It was simply a natural disaster. A calamity.
She cleaved through the world itself, bringing down nearly a thousand A20 series at once, along with a dozen Naga tanks.
“...Huh?”
Her judgement was but a moment too late. By the time she realized her error, Catherine’s arm had already been severed at the shoulder.
“Kh—!” She spiraled into a nearby building, her balance broken by the sudden attack. The situation was getting out of hand, and fast. She activated her earpiece and spoke. “Fuck! Do you read me, Barim? How much time has elapsed since the advancement began?”
“I read you. Roughly 1 minute and 42 seconds have passed, General Commander Catherine.”
“Seriously? And how are the A20 series doing?”
“They are making decent progress, though decent, in this case, will not suffice. The humans are holding up rather well.”
“Looks like our win-cons are drying up, and those massive sources of energy are coming closer. Human backup ain’t far off!” Even with the most generous of estimates, Ereth and the others would return in just under a minute, and Mai’wen would likely dispatch them in half that time.
“I would suggest pulling back our forces and seceding from the Gaulf strait.”
“Huh? That ain’t gonna happen! If we give this up, then the war will go in their favor. Who knows what punishment the Supreme President will give us?”
“Would you be willing to lay down your life over this?”
“Tch…”
Catherine lowered her head. One arm sat uselessly at her side, blood cascading from the severed shoulder.
“Haha…” A quiet snicker, and then, a violent laugh. “Hahaha!”
Barim watched her, expressionless. “Commander.”
“Yeah?”
“Retreat remains the statistically optimal choice.”
“I know.”
“Our probability of success is dropping.”
“I know.”
“Then why hesitate?”
For the first time since the battle began, Catherine’s grin disappeared.
“Because I’m a General Commander.”
She slowly turned towards the automated soldiers awaiting instruction. Rows upon rows of A20 combat androids stood motionless. They did not fear. They did not question. They did not run. An enviable position.
“Remaining combat-capable units?”
“14,212 A20 series. 187 Naga units.”
“Ha! Good enough!”
Her remaining arm rose high above her head. “Android corps units.”
Thousands of optics illuminated simultaneously. Click. Click. Swivel. Click. A mechanical chorus swept across the valley like locusts across the desert fields.
“Redirect target priority.”
Every mechanical head rotated toward a single point, a soldier by the name of Mai'wen.
Barim looked towards his commander. "This action will result in substantial friendly casualties."
"Yeah? So what?"
"Estimated losses exceed forty percent."
"Good enough."
"Proceed?"
Catherine's mouth contorted into a devil's smile. "If one cannot bleed, then one has no place within the superorganism. Fire."
———
The heavens vanished beneath artillery fire. Entire platoons of androids were torn apart beneath their own bombardment, ignoring friend and foe alike. Steel, flesh, and earth became indistinguishable. Even the advancing formations faltered, sacrificing thousands of their own merely for the possibility of killing a single woman.
Barim did not avert his gaze.
Within the smoke, the inferno, the mayhem, lay a singularity. The eye of the storm. Mai'wen stepped through the bombardment in silence. Not a strand of hair had been disturbed. No scorch marks. No blood. Her dao remained lowered as she cleaved away at the flying artillery.
"...The fuck?" Catherine whispered.
"Commander."
"What is it this time, Barim?!"
"Move."
"Wh—"
His greatsword intercepted Mai'wen's dao, splitting the earth underfoot.
"I can no longer predict her."
Mai'wen walked forward, one step after another. Her pace remained leisurely, almost absentminded, as though she were wandering through a quiet Aspens grove rather than a wasteland trenched in blood.
Barim stood before his enemy, greatsword in hand. The situation was untenable, utterly hopeless, yet he chose to obey his orders dutifully.
“If one cannot bleed…then one has no place within the superorganism.”
Such was the ways of Urr. Sacrificing one’s life in battle was the highest of virtues, a disposition fit for such a noble people. Slowing this woman down by even a second was a worthy reward for his life.
Just moments before his inevitable death, however, a familiar voice connected to his earpiece.
“General Barim.”
“Commander in Chief…?”
“Yes yes, nice to see you, or— hear you. How are things on the Strait?”
“Hopeless.”
“Thought so.” Skadhi remained calm, his voice almost amused. “First they ransack our Holy Land, now they attack the Strait. What are these guys, animals?”
“I am willing to offer my life for the future of Urr, Commander in Chief.”
“Now, now. I didn’t take you for a deserter. I know how far you’re willing to go, but that is exactly why I forbid it.”
“...”
"I don’t mind laziness, but I do hate incompetence."
Barim’s grip loosened.
“Those Mang signatures you’re feeling will arrive in less than 15 seconds. I’ve had a little run in with some of them, and trust me, neither of you are beating them. Take Catherine with you and retreat north.”
“By your leave.”
Skadhi disconnected the line. Barim, with a neutral expression. turned to General Commander Catherine. “We’ve received new orders. Immediate retreat.”
Catherine clicked her tongue. "...Damn. You really are no fun, Barim. Well, no point in denying the Supreme President. Let’s get outta here.”
She raised her arm, issuing her final command. “Android corps units. Redirect target priority. Indiscriminate suppression.”