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En Perpetua: The Ziegfried Saga
The Flowing Blade and Falling Blooms

The Flowing Blade and Falling Blooms

Katsi dove under and around debris as it slowly melted, trying to follow the small channels of nanites. She imagined that's where she would be pulling her resources. If she could get there then her plan would work at its best. Sliding under some low rubble and leaping back to her feet, she blocked out the scrapes and friction burns. She didn't appreciate how harsh Sai's training had been, but it was perfect for this kind of stuff. She never would have been able to haul ass like this before. She needed her van to do anything with great speed and now after getting ass handed to her for a few months and taking her lessons seriously, she was outpacing even her old high school track team. Then again... She looked the device on her wrist, making sure that the modifications she had made were functioning. She couldn't be sure it would work, but when was she ever sure? The first casualty is always the plan after all. But that's okay. Her sister needs her and she can't die here before she tells Dean. She needs to tell him everything she has done and learned. They might even trade notes...

As the three clones chased her, she realized their attacks and interceptions were not intended to harm her, but to herd her. Guide her. Like she was being hunted by wolves or like a mouse in a maze. She knew how those kinds of stories ended, but that wasn't the worst possibility. As she ran, she tried to get a better look at the behavior of the nanites. It flowed like sentient water in little currents, melting down what it could and reproducing to melt it down faster. Odds are, that meant that they were either built from the restructured mass or were storing portions of itself in their structure, perhaps even in the gaps between the machines. She leapt between the currents, trying to avoid getting more exposure than necessary. She tapped her tablet a few times with her thumb as she ran, hoping that Tai would show back up, but either the battery had died or he was occupied elsewhere. Either way, she was on her own. As the now four clones were chasing her and cutting her off left and right, she began to see a few large beams firing a few hundred yards past her location. She smiled and started to run towards them, trusting that it would work like covering fire for what came next.

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Tak'Nasi laughed as she directed the nano machines to form combat droids for her. Due to their durability and versatility, there wasn't any reason for her to leave her bunker. She wasn't expecting one of the numbered ones to be wielding a relic, but the nano machines in her control were without limit and they could be far more durable than she was currently letting them be. This was for data. For whimsy. When they were tired and worn, it would be time to consume them and find out how to assimilate these resistant forms. If she could subsume all life into Tak'Nasi then she could take her experiment to the next level. Only a mind as powerful as her own could handle all this information. She watched as the platinum haired swordswoman confronted these combat drones, her bladework faster than mortal eyes could follow. Making goggles for herself that doubled as high speed cameras, she watched the blade and form. Feeding it back into the wave after wave of combat drones, she found herself becoming highly engrossed. The movements were so smooth, full of such subtle adjustments along every inch of the swing. It was still much faster than her tech could capture perfectly, but it was a start. Enough for the combat droids to begin their adjustments.

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Tak'Nasi had countless lifetimes of experience and yet this blade was moving in ways she had never seen before. Unfortunately, the nano machines were rather resistant to such cuts. Whether it was dividing around the swing or simply resisting the cut, the small robots were utterly unaffected by such paltry cuts. It was as she was studying these moves for her own records that a large boom distracted her. She had forgotten that high speed camera meant that she had fallen behind on observing her subjects. Even with many eyes, the flow of information was too rich. There wasn't enough processing power. She needed more powerful minds for her collection.

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Zwei could feel the chill of the full moon in the sky as she wielded the lunar blade, Sabre. She could feel the influence of countless before her who had held its hilt. Every blade it had vanquished leading to this moment and its hunger for a worthy foe. She faced the incoming combat drones who seemed to be copying the movements of Zora. Rolling, diving and flipping as they closed the distance. Needless flair for a blade as swift as her own. She could see the blood moon even now. Preparing her blade by tracing the edge of it with the tip of her blade, she began her deadly dance. Her blades were swift and decisive, even as the drones twisted or molded themselves around her strikes, she still found her movements to be as swift and easy as water... Until the glowing petals left by Narine's shield. As she ran her blade along them, she found herself needing to adjust, their petals heating the edge of her blade and blocking her follow up slices. As they became more numerous she began finding herself having to further adjust her movement to compensate, preventing her the freedom she needed to stay ahead of these foes. Worse yet, they seemed to be adjusting to her style. She shouted, "Narine, your petals need to go."

Narine sighed, "They are supposed to operate as a form of chaff, but if they are truly in your way, stand over here." Zwei retreated nearly mechanically. Narine held up the blossom as a dome of petals formed. Moments later, the petals scattered to the wind began to shine... and then their light engulfed the battlefield.