Alyssa's scarred face twisted into a scowl as she surveyed her camp. Three thousand two hundred bandits, all under her command. Not bad for a girl who'd started with nothing but a rusty knife and a chip on her shoulder. The camp buzzed with activity, tents sprawling across the clearing like a patchwork quilt of leather and canvas.

"You call that a patrol formation?" she barked at a group of scouts returning from their rounds. "My grandmother could sneak past you lot, and she's been dead for twenty years!"

The scouts flinched, mumbling apologies. Alyssa spat on the ground, disgusted. "Do it again. And this time, try not to embarrass yourselves."

As they scurried off, Alyssa felt a familiar presence at her side. "Bit harsh, don't you think?" Jonny, her right-hand man, asked with a lazy grin. He was a lanky guy with quick hands and an even quicker mouth.

Alyssa shot him a glare that could've curdled milk. "You want to coddle them? Be my guest. Just don't come crying to me when we're overrun because our scouts were too busy holding hands and singing kumbaya."

Jonny held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. No need to bite my head off. Just saying, might catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

"I'm not interested in catching flies," Alyssa growled. "I'm interested in staying alive in this godforsaken wilderness."

And what a wilderness it was. They'd pushed far beyond the edges of any known maps, into territory that was as beautiful as it was deadly. Alyssa had led her growing band of misfits and cutthroats deeper into the unknown, driven by a mix of ambition and necessity. The lands they'd left behind were getting too hot, too crowded with rival gangs and nosy authorities.

Out here, though? Out here, they could build something.

Their banter was interrupted by a commotion at the camp's edge. Alyssa's hand instinctively went to the hilt of her sword as she made her way toward the noise, Jonny close behind.

A crowd had gathered around... was that a naked man? Alyssa pushed her way through, her irritation growing with each step. The man was indeed naked, and he was screaming his head off like he'd just seen the ghost of his great-aunt Mildred.

"What in the seven hells is going on here?" Alyssa demanded, her voice cutting through the chatter like a knife.

The moment she spoke, the man fell silent. His wild eyes locked onto hers, and a smile spread across his face that made Alyssa's skin crawl. Without warning, he turned and bolted.

"After him!" Alyssa barked, and several of her men took off in pursuit.

They'd barely made it ten paces when all hell broke loose. A massive object came hurtling out of nowhere, catching the lead pursuer square in the chest. There was a sickening crunch, and suddenly the air was filled with gore. Brain matter splattered across the ground, and Alyssa watched with horrified fascination as an eyeball, torn from its socket, rolled to a stop at her feet.

Standing over the mangled corpse was a mountain of a man, wielding what looked like a horse-killer on steroids. His grin was just as unsettling as the naked man's had been.

Finn, who was on the hill, had a weird look on his face.

"This is a very weird plan Drew has come up with, Gloria," Finn said while staring at Drew.

"Indeed, my lord, but that was Drew's intentions," Gloria plainly said.

Alyssa's face contorted with rage. "To arms!" she roared, her voice carrying across the camp. "We're under attack!"

The camp erupted into chaos. Bandits scrambled for weapons, shouting and cursing as they tried to form some semblance of a defense. Alyssa's mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. Who were these people? Where had they come from?

Drew fixed his gaze on her. "You are a very bad leader," he said, his voice oddly calm given the circumstances. "You didn't even send that many scouts to see if there was any attacks playing out to you."

Alyssa's blood ran cold. How long had they been watched? How had they missed this?

Drew's grin widened, and to Alyssa's horror, she saw the same manic expression mirrored on the faces of dozens – no, thousands – of figures emerging from the treeline. They moved with an eerie synchronicity, splitting into two formations that angled to attack from both sides.

"Shit," Alyssa muttered. They were on a hill, she realized. The attackers had the high ground, and they were using it to their advantage. Her mind raced, trying to formulate a plan. They were caught with their pants down, but they weren't beat yet. Not by a long shot.

As the invaders charged, Alyssa noticed something odd. They weren't pacing themselves, weren't preserving stamina. They ran full tilt, moving faster than any normal human should be able to.

"Charge!" Alyssa ordered, but she knew it was too late. The attackers crashed into the camp like a tidal wave, their movements perfectly coordinated.

But her people weren't going down without a fight. A grizzled man with a sword as long as he was tall waded into the fray, his eyes glowing red with the telltale sign of a baneskill. He laughed as he cut through the invaders, his blade a blur of motion.

"That's it, Gus!" Alyssa shouted encouragement. "Show these bastards what happens when they mess with us!"

All around the camp, Alyssa's bandits were fighting back with everything they had. A woman with hands wreathed in flame hurled fireballs at the attackers, setting tents ablaze and filling the air with acrid smoke. A man seemed to melt into the shadows, reappearing behind his enemies to strike with deadly precision. Another bandit's skin hardened into stone as he grappled with three invaders at once, their weapons clanging harmlessly off his rocky hide.

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From his vantage point atop the hill, Finn watched the battle unfold with a mix of awe and horror. "Are those all baneskills?" he asked Gloria, gesturing to the displays of supernatural power below.

Gloria shook her head. "Some, perhaps. But others seem... different. Not quite fitting the description of Calamitas."

Finn frowned, his eyes tracking a bandit who seemed to be controlling plants, vines whipping out to ensnare his creations. "Yeah, that doesn't look very destructive or chaotic. What the hell is going on down there?"

Down in the thick of the battle, Drew frowned. This wasn't going according to plan. The enemy's special abilities were wreaking havoc on his formations. He'd told the creations to fight dirty – to trip, bite, kick, and climb their way to victory – and it was working against the weaker opponents. But against these powered-up bandits? They needed a new strategy.

He watched as one of his creations managed to trip up a bandit, only for the man to turn into a swarm of insects, reforming a few feet away. Another creation tried to tackle a woman, but she turned intangible, the attacker passing right through her.

"Adapt!" Drew bellowed to his forces. "Work together! Overwhelm them!"

The creations responded instantly, shifting their tactics. They began to swarm the powered bandits, using their numbers to their advantage. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective. Slowly, painfully, they began to gain ground.

Alyssa, meanwhile, was starting to piece things together. She'd been in enough scraps to know when something was off, and this? This was way off.

"I couldn't sense you," she called out, her voice carrying over the din of battle. "You have no connection to the Astral Tapestry. No wonder." A cruel smile spread across her face. "If that's the case, you just killed yourself."

She locked eyes with Jonny and nodded. "Already on it," he grinned, and then he was gone, moving faster than the eye could follow.

One moment, Drew was surveying the battlefield. The next, Jonny was in front of him, longsword flashing in the fading light. Drew managed to block the attack, but the force of it sent him sliding backwards, leaving furrows in the dirt.

Drew didn't hesitate. He charged at Jonny, catching the speedster off guard. Jonny's eyes flashed red as he activated his baneskill. "[Bane of Rampart]!" he shouted, and an invisible barrier sprang up between them.

The barrier held against Drew's first strike, but the second caught Jonny on his right side, shattering his defense. Jonny recovered quickly, stabbing at Drew's leg. The blade found its mark, but Drew didn't even flinch. Instead, he used the opening to bring his massive weapon down on Jonny's head.

The impact was... messy. Jonny's skull caved in like an overripe melon, brain matter and bone fragments spraying in a gruesome arc. His body twitched once, twice, then went still.

Drew stood over Jonny's broken form, a satisfied smile on his face. He turned towards Alyssa, his eyes gleaming with an almost feral light.

"Middle army," he called out, his voice carrying across the battlefield. "Charge."

And with that, the tide of battle shifted once again. The middle army, which had been held in reserve, surged forward like a tidal wave of flesh and crude weapons. They crashed into the disorganized bandits, exploiting the chaos and confusion.

Alyssa watched in horror as her forces began to crumble. These... things, whatever they were, fought with a ruthless efficiency she'd never seen before. They didn't tire, didn't hesitate, didn't show fear. It was like fighting against a swarm of locusts, each one individually weak, but overwhelming in their sheer numbers and coordination.

"Fall back!" she shouted, her voice hoarse. "Regroup at the center! Powered fighters, cover our retreat!"

Her bandits began to pull back, but it was a messy, chaotic withdrawal. For every step they took, Drew's forces seemed to push forward two. The air was thick with screams, the clash of weapons, and the sickening sound of flesh being rent.

Finn watched from his vantage point, his stomach churning. This wasn't like the strategy games he used to play, where units were just numbers and pixels. This was visceral and horrifying. He could smell the blood and smoke from here, could hear the screams of the dying.

"Gloria," he said, his voice shaky. "I... I didn't think it would be like this."

Gloria looked at him, her expression unreadable. "This is war, my lord. It's rarely clean or easy."

Down in the thick of battle, Drew was in his element. He moved through the chaos like a force of nature, his massive weapon clearing swaths through the enemy ranks. But even as he fought, his mind was working, analyzing, strategizing.

The bandits were falling back, but it wasn't a rout. Not yet. They were regrouping, their powered fighters forming a defensive line. If he wasn't careful, this could turn into a costly war of attrition, which wouldn't work anyway, he just wanted the battle to be over as soon as possible for his lord.

"Flank them!" he roared to the other commanders. "Don't let them consolidate!"

His creations responded with machine-like efficiency, splitting off into smaller units to encircle the retreating bandits. It was like watching a pack of wolves take down larger prey, nipping at the heels, looking for weakness.

Alyssa gritted her teeth as she fought her way to the center of the camp. Her sword was slick with blood, her arms aching from the constant combat. But she couldn't stop, couldn't falter. The moment she showed weakness, it would all be over.

"Gus!" she called out, spotting the grizzled swordsman. "How are we looking?"

Gus grunted, cleaving an attacker in two with a single swing. "Not good, boss. We're outnumbered, and these bastards just keep coming."

Alyssa nodded grimly. She'd feared as much. "Alright, new plan. We break out, head for the forest. Hit-and-run tactics from there."

It wasn't ideal, but it was better than being slaughtered here. They'd regroup, lick their wounds, and come back stronger. She'd faced setbacks before. This was just another obstacle to overcome.

As she opened her mouth to give the order, a scream cut through the air. Alyssa turned just in time to see one of her powered fighters, a woman who could control earth, crumple to the ground. Standing over her was Drew, his weapon dripping with fresh blood.

Their eyes met across the battlefield, and Alyssa felt a chill run down her spine. There was something... wrong about him. Something inhuman.

"What are you?" she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

But there was no time for questions. The enemy was closing in, and she had people to save. Alyssa raised her sword high, her voice ringing out over the chaos.

"To me!" she shouted. "We're breaking out! Forest fighters, clear us a path!"

The response was immediate. Several of her bandits with nature-based abilities surged forward, vines erupting from the ground to entangle the enemy, trees bending and swaying to block their advance. It was a impressive display of power, but Alyssa knew it wouldn't hold for long.

"Move, move, move!" she urged, leading the charge towards the treeline.

Drew watched them go, a frown creasing his brow. They were escaping, slipping through his fingers like sand. He could pursue, but in the dense forest, much of his tactical advantage would be lost.

He turned, catching sight of Finn on the hilltop. Bandits were best at escaping, he was going into their nest.

"Secure the camp," he ordered his forces. "Gather any intelligence you can find. We'll deal with the stragglers later."

As the sounds of battle began to die down, replaced by the moans of the wounded and the crackle of burning tents, Drew made his way up the hill. He had a report to make, and decisions to be made.

The first major battle was over. They had taken the camp.

But Drew had a feeling the war was just beginning.