"...No."

She has not moved. Does not move. Barely breathes. Mirror continues to watch through one eye, half hunched in her chair, face crushed into her palm. She squeezes. Her eye shudders under the pressure she's putting on her own skull.

Do not. Do not. Do not. Do. Not. Join. The. Fight.

"We do not bury what may yet burn, Maelia Dala. It is not our way. This fight. This fight is..."

She fights for a breath, for a long draw against her palm that makes too much noise for her microphone. It's even louder coming back out of her nose. Her grip releases. Her fingers tug at the sheets of snowy hair atop her head, instead. She winces, but holds her eyes open. Always watching the space just to the right of the singularity.

"Are you? Familiar? With the Terenian word, 'technology'? It is my favorite word. In their language. One of few I find. As dense as our own. Smokeless Jade Fires has... Revealed to us the technology of Jacinta Niares. Now she will. Show us her own. Not something built into her frame but. An idea. 

What good is deciphering this weapon if we do not observe how it can be defeated? This is not finished. There is. One more move left to make. If she sees it. If Dala Hunters trusts her own strength. It will cost her. Tremendous damage. Cockpit risk. But..."

She can't help it any longer. Something has to release. She crunches down on a second claw. Winces. Spits fiercely.

"[The Fortress Built in the Serpent's Jaw]. Show me. Smokeless Jade Fires. Show me. Dala Hunters. Show me the power of love."