Divinity form and Divinity died, reformed, died again. Reformed again. A God could die, a Goddess may perish, but they would come back. young yet old, evolved yet unchanged, new homes built on ancient foundations. Some creatures though refused to pass on, whether due to themselves or because of bindings. Neneria’s Legion was one. There were others.

And in the middle of Arika’s Jungle, lifeless apart from itself, in a pit surrounded by teeth, one chipped. A lion roared, a snake slithered on the ground, a vulture spread its wings. A crocodile crawled out of the water. Small still, but they had plenty to grow on.

After all, a Divine could bring solace and silence, could put hearts at rest, could stop an imminent danger. But nothing could defeat humanity’s strongest instinct from outside. Terror within could only be defeated by oneself.

Kassandora stood, arms crossed, Joyeuse on her back, suit and coat and ash-caked boots on her, as the behemoth of a tank underneath slowly trundled through the streets of Nanbasa. Sokolowski would take the southern half of the ring-city, Zalewski the northern parts. Both men would then push east, towards the docks as they secured the most important buildings. Her own section, composed of the First and Second Armoured, was on the western part.

So they drove through the tall buildings of Nanbasa’s governmental section. In the very western part of the ring, furthest from the ocean, overlooking the rest of the city. A steel snake, each of its scale a heavily armoured tank as they drove side by side and filled the whole four-lane highway. They had seen a few battles near the end of the war, but the war was over by then. Kassandora had read Zalewski’s report on them, the man had little to complain about, but he himself admitted that there was little practical testing that he could have done with so few engagements.

Range was good, both for the gun and for fuel. Armour was fine, but they came across no mages. Firepower was acceptable, but all that was left to shoot at had been reserve squads of Paladins that were covering Maisara’s retreat. But they were larger than Binturongs, sleeker, more angular, the turret not situated at the back but in the centre. With a cannon made direct fire rather than artillery support and a machine gun next to it to not waste shells on men, a predator built for precision. Kassandora had little to comment on them, apart from the name. The stupid animal scheme had stuck, this model was called the Lynx.

She stood on that turret of the Lynx as police in front of her pushed men away. Crowds had formed, although that was only natural. This was the first public trial of a Divine... well, ever. Even the White Pantheon would handle its disputes internally. It would be a spectacle too monumental to miss. Only a human could think up of such stupidity as to put a Divine on trial, and the Goddess of War at that. At least against some minor invention, they’d have a chance. The crowds swelled around her, they had been already waiting by the time she crossed the horizon. Now that she was here, only more showed up. And it wasn’t for the parade she had brought, it was for her.

The line of police officers, all suited up in riot gear, slowly worked pushed the people back. It was why she stood atop the Lynx, to make sure that everyone could get a good few of Kirinyaa’s hero. Kassandora was already late for her own court, but did that matter? What could they even do at this point? She had twenty thousand men in the city now. The Sun was rising ahead of her, the end of the highway was marked with a grand pillar to represent the unmoving will of the Kirinyaan people against the Jungle. It had only been erected two months ago.

And behind it lay Kirinyaa’s grand court. The highest judicial institution in the country, a sorry lot who did little but squabble between themselves and turn their nose up at politics. One provision of Pantheon Peace was to not even mention war, so there were no regulations or laws regarding how men could be conscripted, about the limitations of an army, about anything regarding Kassandora. With nothing to bind her, there was nothing to worry about. The Pantheon’s invasion had put any attempts at limiting the military on hold, and Helenna had done a good job at killing any bill that could even hint at imposing barriers on them.

Even now, Kassandora wasn’t worried. She felt the eyes of the crowd on her and eyed them in return. To say she could find a man without a green armband on their sleeve would be a lie. The only people without them were the police and that was because they had it forbidden from them. And even with a show of allegiance forbidden, it was obvious that they shared the crowd’s mindset. They pushed lethargically, as if they were pushing their own families. Someone started chanting her name, the crowd soon caught on.

And the drums in her mind started to play to the beat with a steady beat. Kassandora knew it well already, it always played when history started to march onwards. They beat as the masses slowly parted, her own soldiers moved to fill in the sides and keep Nanbasa’s highway to the west clear. They beat as police slowly pushed that flood of people back. The asphalt of the road, the heavy tiles of the pavement weren’t even visible through that mass, every junction, every break in the buildings revealed more people. They watched from the ground, they watched from balconies, from windows, from rooftops of homes and skyscrapers. Helicopters flew overheard, as did KAF planes higher still, they slowly circled Nanbasa, tracing its ring in the air above them. The former to make her a spectacle, the latter to cast shadows that from above as a reminder.

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Kassandora said nothing. She did not deign to wave. Would not lower herself to acknowledge the chant. The military had been instituted as an apolitical entity. That would remain true, the military was loyal to Kirinyaa, until it became Kirinyaa. Her eyes scanned the side streets for signs of counter-protest, it was honestly disappointing no one showed up. Arascus had told her Mwai’s popularity was crumbling, that she was only soaring with the continued success of the Reclamation War. That even he had been struggling to find people to put brave faces and decry her. But she still read his articles and watched Mwai’s speeches. Cameras really could change reality like that.

Her troops must have noticed it too. The journey here had been dour and silent, with barely a word exchanged. Men had ridden slumped over in the backs of trucks, their heads low, a few had even cried. No one reprimanded them for it. It wasn’t just the rank and file either, one team of officers had even come to Kassandora and told her the situation flat out: they did not care if she was guilty. They would draw weapons if she told them to.

But no weapons needed to be drawn. Men were walking straight-backed with the confidence only a pleasant surprise could give. The drums started to play louder as Kassandora’s Lynx neared the steps of the grand court. The police had already formed a line two men thick at the base of those steps, although the flood of masses around them was orderly. They simply stood, stood and chanted.

The troops who were clearing a path for Kassandora pushed onwards as Kassandora’s Lynx stopped before the central square. That huge pillar cast its shadow straight at them. Kassandora merely stood on it, hers arms dropped to her side, the chanting died down. Maybe they thought she was going to give a speech. Give them the command to seize power. She looked over at the people again.

Frankly, there was no need to bring troops. She had done it because it was her. Because she always prepared for the worst case scenario. The plan was going to work even if the entire city had to be razed to the ground. Yet now she looked at those sorry eyes.

And she watched them retreat. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t devotion. It wasn’t awe or love or lust or anything else she would have expected. It was shame. And Kassandora stood there as the crowd gave way. Police moved to clear the entire plaza. Bouquets of flowers were left behind as if they were some apology. Some attempt at forgiveness from her, that even though she had made the country stand once against the dreaded Jungle, stand again against the Pantheon, and stand a third time with her victory, this is how the situation was ending.

Kassandora stood there, on top of that Lynx, and contained her smile. There was nothing to smile about in a situation like this of course. She was going to be tried as a traitor against the nation she was serving. But the smile was a battering trying to breach her defences. These people were already an excellent fighting force. Kassandora’s success guaranteed their loyalty. But now their shame, her seeming acceptance of that shame. The judgement, the trial that everyone knew was only Mwai’s attempt at her removal, was simply a terrible move. Too early, the high of victory had not worn off yet, nor were victories in this land so plentiful that men could build up disciplined tolerance.

That shame was fuel to add to the fires of loyalty. The cure to it, their redemption in her eyes, would turn it into a bonfire that blazed with the infernos of fanaticism. Arascus had played the entire nation like a damn fiddle. And it sang an ever so beautifully whimsical tune. A melody that played over the orchestra in her head. It didn’t promise a renewal, no, that was too little. This wasn’t merely replacing the furniture, replacing the cracked windows or giving the home a new layer of paint. The entire building would be torn down, the foundations themselves would be rebuilt. And the Divines in Kirinyaa would make sure those foundations would be used to sure up a fortress.

Kassandora added more reinforcements to the gate as she took a step off the Lynx’s turret and onto its chassis. More barriers were added to that defence as she touched the ground. She took the first step. Helenna’s team was ready, they would be waiting inside. Kassandora wished the proceedings could start without her frankly. She would do it of course, she did everything. She managed logistics, she made the strategies, she worked with politicians, she taught men. And when the time called for it, she played the fool.

Kassandora walked out of that shadow as the Sun above made it ways way over the grand court. She sometimes grew paranoid thoughts that Alkom could see through the Sun. That wasn’t true of course, the fear had been tested several times already. He could not. But today, just once, she wished he could watch. That he could stand next to Fortia and Maisara and Zerus and Sceo and tell them all. Tell them of her victory, how final, how overpowering, how annihilating it was. She slowly crossed the plaza as people watched.

One step. Two. Ten. All one hundred steps exactly. This building had been designed by Maisara no doubt, only she would be so fickle as to make the number so specific. Kassandora killed her smile again. She should give a speech, shouldn’t she? Arascus said not to, that rallying the population for her could and would only give credence to Mwai’s entire scheme. She stopped, looked up at the building, and turned around one last time.

Arascus was correct, but it was simply a matter of personal pride. Before the Pantheon Invasion, she could have done it, but not now. During the Great War, when Legions were sent off on suicidal orders, they all received a speech too. And she wouldn’t take long. Arascus was correct, she shouldn’t give them a speech, but she simply could not leave them in silence. “Whatever happens.” Kassandora cried out. “Know that I have served Kirinyaa to the best of my ability. I hope you will let me serve you until the future.” She pulled a salute.

Her army saluted with her. The entire army did, the men in the green who had just come from the west, the riot police, those in the clothing of civilians, they all pulled a clean salute. Kassandora turned and looked up at that scorching Sun as it crawled over the roof of the grand court. It better be looking down on her, because be carving this day into its memory. Battles were won or lost before they were started and now, as she could practically feel the adoration flood over her. The whole world better remember this day.

Because when it woke up tomorrow, Kirinyaa would not be here.