The order had barely left Voren's mouth before the chamber exploded into motion.
Nine of the thirteen came at the family in a ragged rush, still Skyward-1, still outmatched by anyone who had bled through the crystal hall to get here. The other four, the second-thousand fighters, spread wide to try to flank.
None of it worked the way Voren wanted.
Kenshin met the rush head-on and simply did not move, the Ground That Holds turning his patch of stone into a wall no charge could budge. Rin's drum tapped once, and the family's tempo rose together, and she waded into the nine with her opening strike caving in the first chest she reached.
"Two years," Lyra said, low and hungry, claws crackling red as she rounded on her own former squadmates without a flicker of hesitation. "Two years I fought beside you, and you all just stood there and let him look at us like that."
