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For what it was worth, Ahkari and Odessa’s strategy had worked well. The patrol they encountered was surely magnitudes smaller than what they would have faced otherwise, though Selene found herself worried for whoever it was on the receiving end of the Aberrant horde. Whatever composed their ranks, the creatures always found a way to compensate for their shortcomings with bestial rage. 

For now, however, it would do to focus on the task at hand. The patrol’s vanguard reached them quickly, swarming like locusts around the Pilots and infantry. She moved instinctively towards the latter as the wave of Pawns grew closer and more ravenous, but Ahkari’s orders stayed her feet. Bishop Spearmen. Selene’s eyes darted across the battlefield, searching out the beasts as they began to scale the surrounding buildings. Those who could avoid the commander did so, scattering out with clear intent: devastate the fragile backline of foot soldiers and damaged mechs. 

Smart. Rude, but smart. 

She looked for the closest one, but found herself distracted by the sonic [i]crack[/i] of a spear embedding itself into the road. The Constellation who had deflected it scrambled to recompose herself, shivering like a leaf even with her sword in hand. Selene searched but could not find her name, so she was likely a lower rank, which meant that even disarmed the Bishop had better odds than her—and the Pilot. 

Selene was moving before she made the decision, already dashing down the street towards the charging creature. It was, predictably, much faster than she was, and for as much training as she did, no amount of time on the treadmill would make her close distances so quickly without a little assistance. So, she would be assisted. 

One hand clutched Pleiades’ hilt, the other extended out towards the stuck spear. Air twisted around the invisible force of her Anomaly as it shot out and took hold of the weapon; she could not feel the coldness of its alien metal, but she could feel the pressure of the grasp as if she were holding it in her own two hands. Another ghostly limb took hold of the haft, then another, and another, and she could feel in the muscles of her soul how they held taut. Selene braced, and some otherworldly force within her flexed. 

Nebulae pulled, [i]hard[/i], and wrenched her forward off her feet with the force of an Aberrant-scale line drive that sent her rocketing down the street. Briefly, she did not know where she was. The drab Aloran ruins whipped by her in a meld of gray and brown and pallid blue and at some point in the extended moment of her leap she saw color in her periphery. The angry reds and yellows and oranges of fire, the chromatic splashes of Aberrant blood, the suffocating, brimstone whorl of a dying sky. Althea’s crumbled skyline morphed, she saw spires ablaze and writhing, as if alive, falling into the lake of fire the earth had become. It was easy to become disoriented, but Selene knew these feelings, these visions, and focused on only herself and the Bishop. 

They collided, and Alora snapped back into focus around her. Nebulae cushioned the impact, and Selene crouched parallel to the ground with her feet planted on the Aberrant’s invisible barrier. Pleiades’s half-broken blade burst with ethereal AB energy as she drew it, simultaneously slashing and kicking herself away. The barrier fizzled into reality, straining against the blow and force combined. Nebulae pried the spear free as she sailed backwards; Selene clenched her fist, and as she landed she threw her arm forward in a pitching motion. The spear hurtled past her in a near-imperceptible blur and slammed into the Aberrant’s weakened barrier, shattering it like glass. The creature flew onto its back several feet away, skewered through the shoulder. As it scrambled back to its feet, Selene glanced at the Proto Constellation.

“[color=8882be]Hello! That was a wonderful save, well done![/color]” She smiled, resisting the urge to ask for her name. She could grab it and the Pilot’s later. “[color=8882be]Would you go assist the infantry, please? I think they would appreciate it very much.[/color]”

And with that she returned her attention to the enemy. The Bishop pulled its spear free with a furious hiss, but Selene didn’t give it time to regain its composure. She was on it, feigning action that made the creature panic, and swing its spear like a club to try and swat her away. Nebulae caught it, but did not halt or slow its momentum at all. It pushed Selene along the arc, and when the apex of its swing tilted up, the ghostly arms brought her with it and sent her flying high overhead. The world spun and twisted and for a blink everything was fire once more. Nebulae gripped the ground on either side of the Aberrant, and she righted herself in the air, poised above the bewildered spearman like a storm cloud welling with lightning. 

[color=gray]███, ████████, ███, █████, █████, ████, ██[/color]

Nebulae pulled Selene down with blinding speed and surgical precision, carrying her right past the Bishop’s neck. She slashed out with Pleiades, and her anomalous limbs helped her land with a soft roll back to her feet. 

Alora. This was Alora.

The Bishop's head fell away from its body, and it collapsed in a heap. 

Selene regarded her surroundings again, as if to reassure herself. Panicked calls for aid still rung through the comms, and with the threat partly reduced, she surveyed the battlefield for anyone else who might need a helping hand. With how small their group was, they couldn’t afford to leave people to fend for themselves. Everyone from the infantry to commander Ahkari counted. Everyone.