Lightning courses through my veins.

I've studied geography before, but never could I have imagined so intimately knowing all the landscapes framing the portals. My eyes can see the projection down to a minute level, like I've acquired hawk vision, and my mind pulses with ideas. Several crystals, dangling about my neck, buzz with communication feeds. The Obsidian one emits a steady static. Never once has communication between dimensions worked- it is a reminder of what we stand to lose. One day, hopefully soon, it will ring with voices again.

One day.

How long could I go like this?

There are dozens of other strategists, and it's not as if I can micromanage down to the second, but I've learned more than I thought possible by observing the battle movements of the Obsidians. I know how they swarm, several of the near-infinite shapeshifting combinations that lend the Obsidians to such valuable teamwork, and an old script has given me a fatal weakness as well- the larger their forms are, the thinner the layer of obsidian is, and the more easily they can be punctured. I found the statement in an old story, one of our oldest, years ago... from Natrina herself, when she fought in the first war against these beasts. It was an off-world war, settled in the dead of space, but my extensive research on it provides me with a plethora of strategy. I watch for hours, like a predator in wait, providing quick comments where I can.

I feel the cold tap of metal against my back and swivel around.

"Are you alright?" asks a familiar Canira, behind me.

I can only imagine that I must look depraved at this point, but the me reflected back in the eyes of the tawny, metal-covered Canira's goggles is frightening for other reasons. Her eyes pulse with energy and her fur has a sheen to it like what slick surfaces acquire in rain. I look like myself, at the height of the Dog Days- no. I've never managed much of anything on the Dog Days. This is something different.

I attempt to look him in the eyes. "Well as I can manage. What's the matter?"

"You're Avery, right? You ran the first sims with the heated grates over the portals." He looks me over, head askew. "HQ's worried about you. It's been eighteen hours since you last stepped away."

"Icarus." I respond, head skewed. I remember him from the halls and from seeing him, once or twice, in the simulation banks. "Aren't you a Defender?"

"Last second reassignment." He waves this away. "They need a few fliers around the castle, in case things go south. You're not trained in aerial combat, are you?"

"They won't get here." I grit my teeth.

He nods. "Anyways, might have failed to mention this, but I'm a bit of a fan. Ran a bunch of shield sims over the grate sims, to ensure Defenders in the front lines wouldn't get pierced by shards. Luckily, there were some Roda whose shield generation was perfect for the job."

"I didn't even think we had Roda in the Defenders." I say, dizzy. I'd never put them on any of my work. How many small, niche species am I missing? How many potential strategies have I squandered?

"We've got twenty registered as Defenders, but many of them live in the deserts of Opphemria, close to the portal there, and they're risking their lives to assist. We're winning in that area, at least- got Defenders holding down the portal, even going through to help those inside the Factory. I wanted to bring you news from the inside- they've found Vivian. The Vivian."

My eyes widen. "She's alive?"

"And fighting. Our main group is far enough inside that they're no longer sustaining contact with the portals, so that may be the last news we'll get."

I nod. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as a dark swarm infests the map, beginning to spread, and my heart seizes up with dread. "They need me back. Thank you for the update."

"Be careful. You've been going for a long time- if you don't rest, you won't be able to think straight." Icarus warns.

I've never had such clear reasoning in my life.

I nod to him anyways and return to the fray, yelling orders to the northern Opphemrian front- "Cut them off! All avian units, we need you on stragglers. Our priority here is ensuring minimal collateral damage and holding them off long enough for the in-Factory squadron to take out Nethera. Is that clear?"

The commander, Echo, barks back, "I can only relay this to them so fast. There's chaos on the ground, and the battle stretches on across the whole forest. Many of the creatures they're shifting into have physical capabilities we don't."

"They can't replicate powers, especially any kind of generation." I yell. "Don't be afraid of getting right up into what would be their range of fire. It's their physical forms you need to watch out for- but at high velocities, they'd be vulnerable. If you can pierce them-"

"Got it." Echo says. "That's a dangerous way to attack, ad those shards provide high risk to anyone who would want to try such a strategy. It'd be suicide."

"Do you have any geokinetic Canira? There were a good number of earth-based sent everywhere." I bark back, and Echo's connection flicker. I hear the groan of a tree halfway across the continent and the distant noise of explosions. "Echo? Echo, can you hear me?"

Thousands of dark dots spill across the table around the heart of Opphemria, like a plague of insects.

Several fall out of range and disappear at the edges of the battle zones. The Obsidians are concentrating all their power on a singular location- the one closest to us. For a species whose reportedly never visited the world, outside of a few stray, unconfirmed abductions, they know our geography by heart. Nothing good can come of this.

"It's picking up," I tell the others. "They're focusing their fire- we need to relocate a good number of our troops to the center, ensuring we keep an adequate number for defense on the outside. Do we have anyone who can make those portals, stat?"

"Sure do. We're on it." Ascella confirms.

The room buzzes with noise as the patterns on the map begin to shift. Some dots do not reappear, or blink out fast as they can get over. The move is risky, and drawing the Obsidians away from the portal moreso, but the alternative is being overrun. I grit my teeth and bark out orders to troops and strategists alike, anxiety racing through my veins like ice water, and everyone responds to my commands in seamless order. We are no hivemind, but we work like one being. I can feel the room breathe, in/out harmony binding us to our mission, and when we catch on the exhale, we do so together.

There is no time for sorrow now. More of our number, those who have been resting, file in through the doors, all of them alarmed. Soon we have dozens of strategists working together, and I find myself at the helm, beside a half-asleep Plumeria, her red eyes glowing with the reflection of the map below. Her jaw hangs half open, her face skew, and I move in to cover her stations, speaking right into her crystals as they activate. My wings flare upwards. I could cover half the table. I could fix everything-

Sweep's voice rings through one of the crystals closest to my heart. "Aves?"

Everything stops. "Yes?"

"Commander Avery. Marie and our pack are going into the heart of it. We're awaiting confirmation and further instruction- not much time." The static on the other side confirms this- the magic in the air is palpable.

I look at the impending doom and my mouth opens, hanging wide for a moment. Time rushes by around me, so that I feel as if I am falling with my wings locked. An image of a distant future, of the two of them locked in each other or laughing as they run these hallways, flashes in front of my eyes.

"...be careful," I tell them.

"Aves." Sweep says, "We love you." She sounds brave. I can almost imagine here now, standing with Marie, their heads leaning against each other just so that long-ago wound is covered by Marie's other ear.

"I love you too." I choke on the words. Her crystal fades out, and sure enough, my improved vision shows the few hundred Canira stalking onto the middle Opphemrian battleground. They rush the Obsidian stragglers attempting to cut over, under, and around our forces. The entire battlefield is a mess, several Sentients are dying beneath overturned mountains of sand, and I can say with full certainty that this is the end of our world. Their forces never abate, never let up, and fight all the way until their death. When an Obsidian goes down, often a Defender goes down with them. The earth-based Canira and other, rarer geokinetics can't cover it all.

"I'm going to kill them, aren't I?" I whisper. "Verhamera's tails, everyone is out there. I-"

Plumeria shores herself up by my side. "Don't give in. Don't let go." she says. "Everyone out there is someone's kin."

I look at the bleary-eyed Canis's expression, her hung head, and as my gaze sweeps the group I realize many of our strategists are fading fast. "Stick to your shifts." I say, my voice like thunder. Several of them look up. My heart pulses- there's no time for speeches. There's no time for anything. "I don't know what's up with me right now, but barring any major magical augmentation, you guys are going to need rest. Deny that and you deny them a wakeful strategist, a perfect reaction. We are all going to do this together or not at all."

"Who do you think you are, the Auspicia?" asks one, slurring their words.

"The Auspicia... can't be here all the time. She's holding all the portals open right now, that's all she can handle. We can't wait for her to handle all of our problems. You're smart enough to know all this. Stick to the shifts."

"And you?" asks Plumeria.

"I don't know what I'm doing, but I intend to keep doing it."

They're right. I don't go out for days.

(A/N: A bunch of chapters were out of order or missing. I believe it's fixed now?)