The blustery winds of Tessa swayed the smoke of the destroyed base, covering a section of the planet in ash darkness. Athena breathed slowly. The toxicating smell of the smoke did not affect her. Her right rested on her weapon that was securely attached to the back of her belt. Her eyes stared into the dark ash cloud in front of her. Slowly, her vision focused on a figure.

The figure walked closer…and closer…and closer before halting directly in front of her. So close yet so far. 

The stance of the figure provoked Athena to prepare herself. She took a right step forward, going to an offensive stance before her pupils glowed golden blue. It immediately made the figure pull out his weapon.

The sharp end of the Atomik Kontorola sliced through the harsh wind, creating a monstrous sound that clashed with the creak of the figure’s pauldron. When he had successfully unsheathed his weapon from his back, his visor glowed purple.

Athena pulled out her hilt. Her blade extends itself as it prepares for a duel.

“How dramatic. You choose to die where you were born.” Monarch commented.

“You know nothing of me.”

“Oh, but I do. Saved by a Head Operator. Trained by him. Left the Allegiance to prove that you can be stronger, yet here you are. Shattered to the core.”

“I wonder if you are in the same predicament.” Athena replied gently. It caught the Supreme Leader off-guard.

Monarch then jolted his blade forward, pointing the curved end towards her. 

Alas, Athena charged forward and the two brawled.

Both showed immense strength. Monarch showed his strength through pure power and brute force. His attacks are devastating and his defenses impenetrable. However, Athena was calculative. Her defenses and attacks were swift and agile. She knew when to dodge and manoeuvre past Monarch’s powerful strikes. The perfect symphony of balance. 

After the bombardment of attacks from both duelists, they halted at a clash of their blades as they both took a moment to catch their breaths.

“So. It is true. You sought help after the fall.” Monarch commented with his calm demeanour.

“You think I need help to stop you?” Athena replied, her sentence ruptured from her loud panting whilst trying to catch her breath.

“Such arrogance. No wonder the Allegiance fell so easily.” Athena twirled the clash away right after Monarch’s statement. Both of them stood at a distance as they stared down at each other.

“All your life, you were broken. Your wounds never healed properly. Yet you limp your way to save others. Perhaps that is why everything you touch leads to damnation.” 

Athena dived forward, her blade swung down on the Supreme Leader. However, he caught it in time and swung her aside. She was unarmed when she landed on the ash floors of the burnt fortress.

“The Allegiance.”

Monarch walked closer, penetrating both his sword and Athena’s double blade down into the ground.

“The Firekeep.”

Monarch pulled Athena up from the ground. She tried to push him away but to no avail. Monarch’s right fist charged up with a purple aura. 

“Earth.”

He punched her down. The impact immediately slammed her down. The blast pushed her no more than a foot into the ground. 

“The poor colonies that suffered under the Allegiance.”

He then forced his shin onto her abdomen as he went close to her. He then started bombarding her face with punches charged with his energy aura. 

Athena was left battered. Her left eye was swollen and her nose was broken. Her resistivity to energy punches was stronger than regular beings but it still felt brutal. Slowly, Monarch rose up.

“Orion Hubolt.”

The name made Athena furious. Her fists glowed in the colour of her blue aura. She raised her right hand as her blade flew to her, glowing in the same aura. She tried to reach for it but Monarch caught her blade just as it went close to them. Before she could even react, the blade penetrated her. The cold steel mixed with her aura severely damaged her, but yet she still clinged on to life.

“Your pitiful devotion to protection caused you the people you love…and your strength.” Monarch slowly raised his grip to the center of the hilt, snapping her double bladed sword in two with ease. It was clear that Monarch had already won before the duel even started. He was simply toying with her. 

“Your blade will not take your life, neither will it let you live it. You are imprisoned by your own blade. Unable to call for help or end your own torture. You will remain in the ash clouds of your destroyed fortress knowing that I will reign over the stars and hunt the remains of the Allegiance.”

Athena looked up to him with tears of pain and blood oozing from her mouth. Perhaps the last person she will see is him.

“You’ve lost, again.” Monarch commented. He pivoted to where his blade was and began walking.

Slowly, Monarch drifted further from her. He looked up to the sky and witnessed the Ordinance growing closer to the planet, ready to pick him up, though unusually close.

“And I’ll keep losing…” Athena mumbled. The muffled words caught the Supreme Leader’s attention. He immediately turned back to her, knowing something was off. Steadily, he marched towards her as he loomed over her once again.

“I don’t have to kill you.” She could barely speak clearly.

Monarch tilted his head, oddly worried about what could happen next.

“Sometimes, you must lose so that others can win.”

Before Monarch could even speak, his comms would come in.

He raised his comms up.

“Sir, we are in dire need of-

It would be cut off. The tension left Monarch speechless. However, it was humorous to Athena. She chuckled as she witnessed the confused Supreme Leader. Monarch looked back up to the Ordinance from where he stood. The ash cloud covered his view for a moment before slowly fading away.

The front end of the ship was up in smoke and countless deployment ships were falling out of its hangar.

The fortress in the sky…up in smoke.