Ill High Commander Anbey ordered the Dearest Helena forward, over the city's open square. The ghost city was theirs, the incubators shoved that much closer to extinction, and their long sought after goal nearer to completion. Nighttime coiled in like a courtesan's cool touch, the orange glow fading to a dark purple blue. Colonel Akemi hadn't reported in, but Anbey, having a shard of doubt of her subordinate's well-being, put good faith in her completing her mission.
After all, she hadn't failed her thus far.
Everything was going their way. At the start of this war, it seemed daunting.
First step on this planet, Serpents and other monstrosities struck with horrifying efficiency. Whole companies of soldiers died before their first kill. Colonel Akemi, Lieutenant Colonel Tomoe, Major Sakura, 1st Lieutenant Miki, and 2nd Lieutent Kaname had all proved themselves gloriously; especially Colonel Akemi, who lead a flawless retaliation against the Serpents. Their individual worth would be missed if lost, making the fight that much harder.
Second step radiated off poisonous gas. The Incubators, reeling from the unexpected tenacity of the ELA, in organized retreat, poisoned the air with gas. Many choked to death on their tears, throats closed, eyes bulging, but the survivors were hardened to the horror, with their vows stronger.
Third step brought fury - unlike any Anbey had dreamed of - raining down upon Incubator towns and cities, eating away from the infestation with deadly precision. Naught a soul was spared, nor building, their anger held such potent venom.
Now... now they had nearly completed their crusade.
However, there stood a daunting task: Giving a speech to her army. In her own logic, bitches love speeches, thus this would fan the flames of frenzy within everyone; only - ONLY - if she nailed it right.
It was quiet in the bridge, the squeaking electric gerbils the only noticeable noise. In her mind, the voices crowded. Anbey casually leaned in her commander's chair, letting them to duke it out. Her gut, ever unanimous and quiet, told her that High Commander Kyuubey would hail her; it was a foregone conclusion, he would talk before the final hammer strike.
So all Anbey was doing was waiting for it to come all the while Her voices worked away on the speech. The Helena moved gradual enough to allow enough time to this undertaking. All was going according to plan.
Every voice wanted this speech to be perfect, too, to be memorable. It shouldn't be tacky and curt like a 'Get out there and kill them dead!' They deserved more class than that. Nor should it be overly flowery, as if she were waxing poetic about it all. That'd be disrespectful.
They all agreed on this point. It had to be poignant, something that sank into each heart and soul that heard, and held on for dear life. Something that summed everything up correctly, while inspiring them for the final steps.
"Ma'am, hail incoming." The communication officer spoke, a subtle jarring rebellion against the quietude, turning in his chair to stare at his superior.
"My ready room." Anbey replied much too quick, already going to her ready room.
In there, an incubator dressed in an elaborate uniform with a fancy hat decorated the viewscreen. It was very much an incubator, but it lacked the brutal muscles the common footsoldier had. A cold, calculating aura clung to it like the never ending feline smile upon its lips.
"High Commander Kyuubey." Anbey broke the silence, walking in front of the screen, smirking at her foe. She had all right to be smug; she was kicking his ass.
"Ill High Commander Anbey." Kyuubey put emphasis on the first word, sighing about the whole ordeal, as if it was beneath him. "I have contacted you to discuss your terms of surrender."
"Ah, that's a little premature, Kyuubs. You see, I was about to deliver my victory speech before you hailed. You know, we DIIID - just so you know - take over your second to last city. You are but a stone's throw from extinction."
"That is illogi-"
"I suggest you take the last step and off yourself." Anbey interrupted, gloved hands clasping each other in front of her, as if offering the option to Kyuubey like a friend; her eyes pleading.
Kyuubey fell silent, shifting in his chair, weighing his options before committing to any of them.
"Your terms are thus," Kyuubey began, "You are to order your army to throw down their weapons, to stand down, and await to be taken into custody. You are to stop your madness, and willingly submit yourself to rehabilitation for your crimes against our kind, and for your crimes against upholding the integrity of this universe."
A crooked grin blossomed to life in her face. Anbey couldn't help laughing at his terms, filling with mirth with each quiver of a giggle. Her laughter rang in the room, gloved hands holding her sides, tickled immensely by such gall.
Kyuubey tolerated it, waiting for her answer.
Composing herself, she wiped a few tears away from her eyes, giggling like a young child at his face. Still grinning, her eyes shone at him.
"Woo... let me compose myself, please... woo... hehehehahah..." She sniffed, trying to not lose herself to laughter. "Alright, alright... Listen to me, you fuckface. I do not accept your terms of surrender. We will not bend to your demands, for, if you haven't noticed, we're winning. You're in absolutely no position to be demanding these things. No," Anbey shook her head, unable to suppress the slasher's grin. "Your terms, or term, in this case, is this: Extinction. Annihilate yourselves. Eradicate your offspring. Snap the necks of your subordinates. Burn every non-combatant in ditches. Butcher every single Serpent and any other biological weapon in your labs and field. Once all that is done, and you're the last one left, walk - WALK! - to me so I can kill you according to my whim."
By the end of that speech, every voice in her head joined as one, acting as her tinnitus, filling Anbey with a heavy breathing fervor, desiring nothing more than what she made plainly clear to Kyuubey.
A moment passed, the logical, passive Kyuubey registering to the fullest what passed for words from Anbey.
Finally: "You're quite mad, do you know that?"
Anbey giggled exactly like that, her facial expression not helping.
"... So be it. You're acting against your nature, and are broken to the fullest extent of the word. Prepare yourself, ill Incubator, for we're ending this charade of a war."
Commander Kyuubey terminated the connection.
"NOT IF I END YOU FIRST!" Anbey yelled at the darkened screen, a muscle under an eye twitching.
She spent a few minutes to calm down, to reorganize her thoughts and get back to planning the speech. That was the only important matter at hand.
She sat in her commander's chair, staring down at her amassed army in the square below, viewscreen magnified upon them; thoughts churning away with potentialities. The opening was most important. It lead to the middle, which lead to the end. The first words had to be important.
"Initiate the holographic projectors." Anbey ordered, standing in front of her chair. Buttons were pressed, command lines were executed, and in a minute, a holographic projection of Anbey stood in front of the army.
A giant materialized for the crowd below, expertly dressed in her military dress, radiating a blue brilliance that illuminated a portion of the night.
Anbey looked side to side, taking in her followers.
"This is High Commander Anbey addressing you all."
Any murmuring and discussions died away, the army giving their commander their undivided attention.
"The journey to this planet was long, and lonely, frought with disaster and close calls. You trained, honed your skills, learned who stood by you, even grieved when some fell to the dangers of space, but passing by each star, each galaxy, we never forgot our one, simple, important goal: Genocide."
1st Lieutenant of the 117th Musketeers, Miki Sayaka, stood with her company surrounding her. Upon hearing the last word her tightly held fist shook, a tremor of distinguishing past actions. She had gone through a lot, and was battered emotionally. Her jaw was set in steel, her blue eyes dark, a piercing grim mask donned. In her mind repeated two certain scenes, one in which she burst in on Madoka and Homura together... and the other with Sakura Kyoko, hands clasped above the sea of black that was her chest. She scratched at one eye, already seeing red in her fringed vision.
"They unleashed their Serpents on us, devastating biological weapons that were expected to eat us whole... only to be horrified to see we were inedible! When we marched through their nomanslands and ditches, they poisoned us from afar with gasses, and were horrified still to see some of us on our feet.
They mined the fields we marched upon, we moved over them like ghosts, they innovated their war machines, traps, and soldiers, and yet we broke through with greater determination than before. Each mile we took has been soaked in blood and tears. We've seen our share of sickness, misery, struggle, and death. Our friends, those precious to us, those who have fought with us, for us, have been brutally ripped from us before their times."
The new Commander of the 717th Red Lancers, Yuma, stood with the late Major. Ophelia was quiet beneath her feet. She held in her arms an urn; a hand stroking it lovingly, and with tenderness in her young voice, she spoke to it.
"See, onee-chan? Even in death, you will see glory."
"They are dead, and we are alive. In their stead, we should fight, holding their memories tightly to our hearts. Their smiling faces should never fade, their heroic efforts never forgotten. I personally will fight that much harder for them - they died under my orders, no matter how indirect, and for that I will eternally be grateful."
2nd Lieutenant Kaname Madoka sat inside her personal tent, on her stool, eyes glued to the tent flap. She may be there physically, but spiritually, she was out there, in the foreboding darkness, trying to whisk her love back.
And out there, stumbled the Colonel Akemi Homura, face half broken and red with blood, gritting her teeth at each lurch. She tripped over a rock, falling face first into dirt. She laid there, then, with great pain, pushed herself back to her feet. Her body wanted her to stop, allow itself time to repair, but she had someplace to be, and someone to report to. She couldn't dare stop here.
The hologram licked its lips. "With great sacrifice we conquered this city, their second to last. We have done... no," The hologram shook her head, her gaze intensifying upon the crowd. "All of you, every single one of you, have done well."
"And for that, they will hurt you, just like your friends. They will hurt you until you can't stand up, until you couldn't crawl away, until you can't move your pinky in resistance. They smell their deaths coming closer, and like cornered animals will fight more ferociously. Do you want anymore of your friends to die on this ruined planet, without proper burial, by their hands?!"
Images of dear departed flashed in every present mind, beckoning cold embers back to life. Everyone began to scream no, yelling out their defiance. All but Sayaka, who contained her anger and hatred in a fragile bottle by her heart.
"Then," Anbey turned, pointing to the horizon. "Eradicate them all. Stomp them under your boots, stab them with your bayonets, disassemble them with bullets and swords, make the skies rain death, and leave nothing alive and recognizable; for the last city-fortress is that way."
Voices, loud and unified, splashed against Anbey's hologram and the Dearest Helena, the Entropy Liberation Army venting out but a partial slice of their full fury.
High Commander Anbey drank it in, savoring every single voice offered to her like a favored food.
She allowed them to scream til their throats were raw, and when the voices lost their edge, she addressed them, tightening her fists and bringing her right fist over her heart.
"Rest, and bring hell on their heads tomorrow, for we march to the last graveyard of the Incubator."
With that, the hologram vanished, particles blinking out of existence. Commander Anbey stood proud in her bridge, aboard the Dearest Helena, with the eyes of her subordinates on her back and sides. To them, she produced a fearsome profile, holding the last seen posture to those below.
Air swelling her lungs, heart beating mightily, Anbey watched her army disperse. What would come of tomorrow, she had no idea. Victory, she hoped, success in defeating the enemy... and then what? After that, she would be the last incubator left. The last in the whole entropy riddled universe.
She smiled sardonically. If she still had an army by then, she might transport them back to Earth. If they don't survive... she guessed she would blow her brains out. Then her wish would truly be fulfilled.
With the final stage of the war looming ahead of them, the ELA re-cooped their strength, all the while the Incubator race mobilized their last defences to the forefront. The dogged hours woke up, sniffing prey nipping at their paws, finally becoming aware of the wrongness that was running rampant.
The ELA wouldn't see the second dawn.