Author's Note: I own NEITHER Starcraft II, nor Claymore.

Author's Note II: I played Starcraft II with the Battle of Pieta in the background and my annoying army friend over my shoulder making inane comments. And yep, my Microsoft Word started itself up on its own accord and typed this out. I really shouldn't pretend Starcraft is Claymore and send the Terran Thors in shouting: "You killed my Marines, you killed my Hellions. I won't forgive you! Awaken!" And promptly unleash my cannons on that one Drone.

In the Distant Past…

Battle of Pieta

The camera pans in on a bird's eye view of the town, as the symbols of twenty-four Claymore warriors blink to life, like a surreal overview from a strategy game.

Ophelia: "Hi, and welcome to Claymore Battle Review. My name is Ophelia, deceased Number Four warrior and the lead commentator for this battle."

Rosemary: "And I'm Rosemary, deceased former Number One Claymore of my time."

Ophelia: "That's right, and we are have a great battle here for you today, as we cover what looks like a major conflict between the Claymore Organization and a group of Awakened Beings."

Overlay of two faces, one male and the other female, flash side by side as icons.

Ophelia: "On the left there, we have Claymore No. 6 Miria taking command of the White Claymores versus Rigardo in charge of the Black Awakened Beings."

Rosemary: "They are going to be duking it out on the Pieta town map. The name may sound familiar; yes, it is the Town of the North, the most far-flung base of civilization closest to the northern wastelands. As you can see, the skirmish has started, with Miria grouping her Claymores together in groups of four to five warriors."

Ophelia: "Exactly, that is a very effective tactic. Note the way she evens out the ranks of the Claymores, dividing them into different battlegroups and evenly splitting the difference in power."

Rosemary: "You are correct, Ophelia. Remember that Claymores are generally weaker than Awakened Beings on a one-to-one basis, but that their synergy in teamwork grants them a boost to fighting potential."

Ophelia: "Not to mention that each team is led by a powerful warrior. I'm seeing Miria herself in charge of one team- Whoa, look at those stats! Looks like she has been through some tough experiences."

Rosemary: "That's right, Miria's earlier battles have greatly boosted her stats in this battle. You can clearly see that her speed and her attack strength have increased exponentially, compared to the last Awakened battle we covered."

Ophelia: "And that could spell trouble for Rigardo's forces. Miria could use that high speed of hers to just dance around the slower Awakened units, and most likely wear them down."

Rosemary: "Not to mention Flora there as the second-in-command. Flora's Windcutter ability is simply powerful, and I hope we get to see it in play later."

Ophelia: "That's right, Flora is a very competent Claymore, very balanced stats with a great boost to attack speed, and as we can see, her team is nicely filled out with five Claymores."

Rosemary: "Yes, and here at the edge of town, we see Rigardo's forces making a slight probe, trying to see into Miria's base of operations and hopefully get a good idea of what she's doing."

Ophelia: "Of course, unless they aren't spotted by the longer-ranged detector Claymores, they… Yes, they are in view of the base now, the seven Awakened Ones moving in to try and scout out her forces."

Rosemary: "He should have learnt from his last lesson. Two days ago, we saw a scout force try to probe the base, then suddenly move in and attempt to destroy it themselves…"

Ophelia: "Big mistake, that one. Rigardo lost some units in that rush attack, and gave valuable experience to his opponent. Even to the Awakened, three AB lost is a huge blow to his forces. He wouldn't be making that move again."

Rosemary: "Yes, but as you can see, the seven Awakened aren't stopping. They're simply moving steadily towards the Claymore forces. This must be another all-out assault."

Ophelia: "Rigardo isn't taking things very seriously. The Claymores have spotted his troops now- Yes, Miria is giving orders, the squads are on the move and-"

Rosemary: "Oh, the Awakeneds just transformed into their monster forms. Look at the size of those things!"

Ophelia: "Exactly, Rosemary. The Awakening also increases their baseline stats exponentially, especially with the yoki upgrades, Miria is going to face some trouble with those seven."

The Claymore battlegroups close ranged with the Awakened Beings, with Miria, Flora, Undine, Veronica and Jean in the lead. Ranged combat tentacles fly from the Awakened side.

Ophelia: "Ohh, that is the base ranged attack from Awakened Beings. Those aren't really strong, but they do deal some harassing damage to the Claymores and look, two Claymores are injured in the opening volley. Miria is down two warriors already, wounded but not out of the fight."

Rosemary: "Yes, but the Claymores are closing in, and yes, that's Helen there with her extended arm attack. That's a powerful ranged attack similar to that of the Awakened Beings', but she holds her sword so there's a superb amount of damage behind that one attack and…"

Ophelia: "She's hit one Awakened in the leg, cut the whole limb off. That Awakened is losing balance, toppling over…"

Rosemary: "And Flora is exploiting that. You can see her force moving on the rooftops, flanking the Awakened units and closing in on that injured monster and…"

Flora's Windcutter flashes, Clare's Quicksword whirs, and the Awakened Being is chopped into dozens of tiny pieces.

Ophelia (Gasping): "Oh, terrible, terrible damage to that Awakened unit! You can see a combination attack from both Flora and Clare, both quick slicing attacks that simply do a ridiculous amount of damage to that monster. It's destroyed now, and Rigardo's small forces has lost some of its firepower…"

Rosemary: "Exactly, Miria is exploiting Rigardo's split force strategy, and is concentrating the bulk of her firepower on one small force at a time to try and crush it."

Ophelia pans the camera to the left to show another group of Awakened Beings closing in on the Claymores' left flank.

Ophelia: "And here we see another group of Awakened beings coming around from the left flank. The Claymores don't have line of sight yet, but Miria may be suspecting something. As you can see, she's pulled Jean's – That's Claymore number nine's- force all the way back to where Rigardo's units cannot see them."

Rosemary: "But with that task force of Awakened Beings threatening her left flank, there's not much a single squad can do against all these. And here the Awakened Beings attack…"

Tentacles fly, spikes shoot out from behind buildings, and Claymores collapse as the ambush barrage tears into the unprotected left flank.

Ophelia: "Oh, brilliant ambush execution done here. Miria didn't spot the ambush until it was too late, and that is.. Count 'em- One, two, three Claymores dead. That was a good role reversal on Rigardo's part, and now he has complete control as the Claymores' left flank breaks."

Rosemary: "Exactly, and with her flank routing, Miria is forced to surrender control of the center to Rigardo. We can see the Claymores falling back, splitting up and-"

Ophelia: "A third force attacks from behind them, right into their retreat path! That's one more Claymore from Flora's group dead from the ambush. Rigardo is playing his cards really, really well here, and we can see the powerful Awakened Beings just… tearing into Miria's lines."

Rosemary: "And here come the Awakened force, pushing in, looking for some revenge and yet another force breaks through from the ground, right in the middle of the Claymore units."

Ophelia: "Not looking good for Miria. Some great placements on those burrowed forces on Rigardo's part. He really used that advantage to- to overwhelm Miria's army. He has the perfect counter to any sort of Claymore task force arrayed against him."

Rosemary: "Those ambushes really turn the tide of battle, and he split his forces into enough smaller groups that he can simply ambush again and again."

Ophelia: "And there's the Awakened charge. It's looking really really great now for Rigardo. He has a huge advantage, a massive, massive amount of board control, a much larger army, and they're moving all across the town. Miria, of course, has got to have some kind of response here…"

Rosemary: "And it looks like the Awakened are moving down to attack Flora's team. You can see them just tearing the group up and the Claymores, meanwhile, are trying to split away and dodge and meanwhile-"

Screen shows a small, unscathed battlegroup emerging from behind the Awakened force.

Rosemary: "-Undine's force moves up right behind this force and oh, more Claymores move in as Miria and Rigardo duke it out over Flora's team."

Ophelia: "Oh, and it's not looking good for Rigardo. His force has been sandwiched between Flora's team and the remaining Claymores and he's almost about to kill another Claymore but no, oh, the Claymore survives, dodges away with two of her comrades healing her- just barely lives."

Rosemary: "Unbelievable. Huge amounts of damage to that trapped Awakened force across the board, none dead yet but severe injuries to Rigardo's army. He loses a ton of units there and the advantage goes to Miria. She's severely damaged the whole lot of Awakened Beings there, put them out of battle for a while with those sneaky shenanigans."

Ophelia: "Meanwhile, Jean's drill sword is being charged, Miria has two Claymores over there blocking the attacks and ohhh, the drill technique is executed, drilling through that hardened armour, damaging that Awakened, not quite killing it but Miria's own team rolls in right after that, and just thrashes that Awakened Being."

Rosemary: "Jean just barely gets away, luckily those two teammates were there to take the blows for her and there, we can see Clare using her quick sword to deal absolutely massive damage to two Awakened Beings and just beside her, we see a trio of ABs tearing into that one low-ranked Claymore there, doing a significant amount of damage to that lone warrior and oh, she goes down, she's dead…"

Ophelia: "Oh, and another drill sword, tearing through that heavily-armoured Awakened Being, doing terrible, terrible damage to that monster and look at that, ANOTHER drill sword ripping apart what's left of that, that's the third Awakened to bite the dust so far."

Rosemary: "Miria's doing what she absolutely needs to be doing at this point of the battle. She needs to keep the pressure up on Rigardo, maybe cut down another two more units. And there on the other side of town we see…"

Ophelia and Rosemary: "AND ANOTHER DRILL SWORD!"

Ophelia: "And this time, Rigardo has had enough. He's rushing two more Awakened over, but it seems like Jean's forces are holding them off long enough. Oh, one more Claymore goes down, but can Rigardo stop Jean's close-ranged strike? Here it comes…"

Rosemary: "Ooh, that really hit the spot. Remember now that Jean's Drill Sword does extra damage against Armoured targets, and Awakened Beings are not only massive targets, but slow ones, and very heavily armoured at that."

Ophelia: "Unbelievable. Still, it's just horrendous how much damage Jean's Drill Sword inflicts. She just… murders anything within its reach."

Rosemary: "And that's the third Awakened Being confirmed destroyed. The Claymore forces have taken five confirmed casualties so far. Can Miria snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?"

A massive red blip appears on the overlay, and a red crosshair highlights a newcomer to the battlefield.

Ophelia: "And this is Rigardo's last-ditch attempt to turn the tide. He's down three units, with a dozen more heavily damaged. He has to buy time for the damaged units to recover."

Rosemary: "And he is on the move- Look at that speed. He's closing in fast, but ignoring the lower levels…"

Ophelia: "Rigardo's playing smart. He realizes he has to take out the squad leaders, like Undine and Jean and the rest."

Rosemary: "Yes, exactly. The five leaders are a major obstacles to his control of the board. He has to take them out if he… Oh, and there goes Veronica! One hit kill!"

Ophelia: "That was some major damage he did in a single hit. Rigardo sure has some crazy stats and oooh, there goes another! Terrible, terrible damage to Undine! That's two leaders down so far!"

Rosemary: "Next he would most likely neutralize the heaviest enemy hitter- that would be Jean. He's clashing with her, that's some sparks flying, and…"

Ophelia: "Jean's down! That is sickeningly fast! Rigardo's… Addiction to terrible, terrible damage has really paid off. He has just one-hit-killed three of the major opponents facing his troops, and look, there's Clare trying to attack him, and he just pushes her aside like a fly-"

Rosemary: "FOUR! He's just torn through Flora as if she wasn't there! Rigardo is just on a roll. That's sixty percent of Miria's overall firepower destroyed. She had to regain some measure of control if she wants to, you know, rally her surviving units."

Ophelia: "And here goes Rigardo, headed straight for Miria. Major battle, right here in the middle of town. We see Miria using her phantom mirage skill against Rigardo, but it seems as if Rigardo is matching her pace for pace."

Rosemary: "That's right, Rigardo's baseline stats are the highest in this battlefield, and it looks as though he might actually be able to take out Miria herself and end this battle in one fell swoop. There, we have some interfering attacks from Clare, Deneve and Helen, but Rigardo simply brushes them off. They can't do much damage against him."

Ophelia: "Rigardo simply has too much evasion, and his defence is beyond anything we've seen so far. That's a one-man rampage he's on, that speed is just off the charts!"

Rosemary: "And Miria evades that last attack, brilliant micro-ing by Miria, using mirages to confuse Rigardo, but Rigardo doesn't seem to be playing along. She's behind him now, ready to make the final stroke and-"

Ophelia: "Rigardo has skewered her! Unbelievable! Those claws of his can extend and even bend to track her movements. Now that Miria is heavily wounded and immobilized, she doesn't stand a chance against him."

Rosemary: "Yoki flare, minor one. Looks like Clare's gonna try and go over her limit, but it's highly impossible that she can even change the battle now. Rigardo looks to be able to kill Miria in a follow-up sweep and end this battle fast."

Ophelia: "Not really, look at those stats grow! Her speed has simply shot up. And Clare moves- Oh my God, insane movement speed! She just-"

Rosemary: "Managed to save Miria from the final blow, and hack off Rigardo's arm in the process. That is incredible, simply incredible."

Ophelia: "And there's Clare again, looks like her legs have Awakened. That special researched ability enables her to increase her movement speed exponentially-"

Rosemary: "Ophelia, that is an Awakening, not a research. This is a Claymore battle report, not a Starcraft II commentary."

Ophelia: "I'm sorry, I got lost for an instant, but there, Clare is making yet another pass and Rigardo simply steps aside, letting her smash into some buildings. Looks like Clare cannot control her speed just yet."

Rosemary: "But the strain is showing on Rigardo. With only one arm left, his striking power is halved. He needs to get his other arm reattached. There he goes, disengaging and returning for his arm…"

Ophelia: "But Helen stabs it from long range and drags it back. That's denial back there, preventing Rigardo from reattaching what would otherwise be a powerful asset in the battle. Good micro-ing there, even injured, Miria is able to command her units with such precise micromanagement, sending her Hellions into Rigardo's base and simply tearing apart his SCVs…"

Rosemary: "Erm, Ophelia?"

Ophelia: "Yeah?"

Rosemary: "SCVs?"

Ophelia: "SCVs? Oh."

Rosemary: "…"

Ophelia: "…"

Rosemary: "Uhhhh…"

Ophelia: "Too much diamond league Season 2 last night. Anyway, we see Helen trying to nail Rigardo with a ranged attack. Fails, of course, the sad fool, and he goes straight for her. Clare tries to intervene at the last second but whoa, Rigardo stops, and Clare goes sailing harmlessly by…"

Rosemary: "Not exactly, she's managed to brake in time, and ohh, that's a close call for Rigardo. Clare's really pushing the limit now, running Rigardo to the ground and-"

Ophelia: "That's her left arm Awakening, and see that crazy amount of attack speed added! Rigardo is simply helpless before this storm, he can only hope to defend and hopefully make some good tactical choices that might get him back on track, maybe call in some reinforcements…"

Rosemary: "Doesn't look like it's happening anytime soon. Clare's other arm Awakens, and it's probably all over for Rigardo now…"

Ophelia: "And yep, there's the 'Superb' from Rigardo. Looks like Clare's final attack is going to finish him off. Very good fight he put up there, but in the end it seems Clare was the one whom cut him down and yes, he's down, chopped up into little tiny bits. That's it, that's the end for Rigardo…"

Rosemary: "But look, there's still more Awakened Beings closing in, and with the death of three captains, as well as Miria and Jean heavily injured, the Claymores are in a desperate situation…"

Ophelia: "Rosemary darling, it's over. Rigardo's dead. He even left the game."

Rosemary: "But the battle…"

Ophelia: "Anyone knows that when your enemy player leaves the game, you've won."

Rosemary: "But this is…"

Ophelia: "Aww, to hell with what it is. It's over and that's what counts!"

Rosemary: "…"

Ophelia: "…Right, so that was a great match between Rigardo and Miria, and we'll have another review coming up for you after the break. See you then!"

Rosemary: "Ophelia…"

Ophelia: "Now, let's have some fun, my darling~"

Rosemary: "Ophelia? No, wait, wait! The camera's still rolling, I cannot…"

*Glomps*

* Transmission Terminated *