—The archangel Misery Nomaki catapults toward hir target—

—Light bleeds from Sailor, erupting into solar blaze as its borders shred—

—Laser batteries rake the archangel Misery Nomaki, but energy is matter and matter is energy, and the stone that comprises hir body is more than mere matter, existing on more planes than the physical—

—The free seraph peels away from Sailor’s explosion and surges left, toward Xito Green-2—

—Held down by Xito Green-2, Tinker struggles for purchase as the free seraph comes barreling toward it—

—The archangel Misery Nomaki evades the Heretic ship’s defenses and lands on its obsidian skin—

—Aegis-yellow blooms from the Heretic ship, hot and desperate, and the archangel Misery Nomaki lets it slide past and over hir like a soap bubble—

—The free seraph, power-drunk, takes off Tinker’s head and slices both blades lengthwise—

—The archangel Misery Nomaki turns one arm into a shear of pure energy and plunges it into the black skin of the Heretic ship—

—Beggar, the last enemy seraph, comes loose from Jota Red-4 and hurtles toward the free seraph, incorrectly identifying it as the biggest threat on the battlefield.

This is it. This is how it should be. This is how it was always going to go.

Beggar and the free seraph tangle. Blades spark in combat, close to overload. With both units unfettered, their true potential unlocked, they should be equals, but one of them is soft, too used to drones with limited movesets, while the other is a born fighter, hungry with ambition and the desire to prove itself. The Heretics doomed themselves witsh their complacency. Limb pushes against limb, blade catches against blade.

Then, a slip, and Beggar breaks loose a blade arm to hew into the front leg of its enemy. The free seraph recoils, woundstruck, and Beggar has an opening to deal a finishing blow. But fresh arms seize its limbs: the other units from Ono Red-2, on standby, under their captain’s watchful eye. The free seraph does not hesitate. It sends its blade directly into Beggar’s heart.

Perched on the Heretic destroyer, the archangel Misery Nomaki pushes its arm-blade deeper into the coated skin. But zie’s not carving through it. Zie’s decided on something better. This blade is a conduit.