Eviction Notice

The screaming started as the sun set -- visible only as a light darkening of the jungle, barely present through the smog. Black Formians rose up from the ground of their campsites, having dug far deeper than ever before. An effort that had likely taken weeks, all while they rattled their swords against the inner walls. The losses were terrible.
One out of every four dead in a matter of minutes.
Half of their original number were gone now, the Tribe of the Roaring River all but an echo, a few living ghosts still clinging to the edges. One of those ghosts, Roar in the River, was staring out from the outer walls, her eyes dead of emotion. Both her mother and father had been killed in the ambush. Life of Whispers was beside her, speaking words of comfort, but they fell on deaf ears. Farther in, Clouds and Dances were consoling a family friend, a father who had now lost all seven of his children to the war.
Chess: "There was nothing you could have done. Even I didn't see it."
Flay: "I could have been here."
Chess: "If you were here, you wouldn't have been there... A comforting present at the cost of their future."
Flay let that particular thread die -- she wasn't in the mood for philosophical riddles.
Flay: "The Aga Jain?"
Chess: "They're close. Not yet in the Material Plane. But if we don't start soon..."
Flay: "We start now."
Flay went to the smithy first. Even after the chaos it was easy to find. There was a distinctive ring of steel on steel, and the smell of gunpowder. She took a deep breath as she looked at what they were working on -- when Chess had come to train her, he hadn't come empty handed.
Her armor was positioned up against the wall, with a fresh coat of paint and the latest augmentations. The Chessboard Conclave had taken liberties with her kit, but they were all changes she approved of. Leave it to the mercenaries to pick out the best gear. She didn't say anything. She just walked up to her armor, and the engineers snapped to action, assembling the pieces around her body. It hummed to life as the power was switched on, and Flay felt it vibrate through her warrior's soul. Clouds came then, holding a bundle wrapped in cloth.
It was her grandfather's sword.
The smithy lit up as she pulled the handle, red plasma augmented by White Flame. The black walls surrounding them looked as if they were on fire -- like a whisper of destiny, a promise of things to come. Her intention spread with her emotions, the engineers putting the finishing touches on their work, and sending it out to the soldiers. She waited with Clouds, enjoying her uncle's silent company, leaving only as the last sword met its owner's hand.
Clouds started the battle chant, every other step digging into the earth. With each Ysoki they passed, the chant was taken up, the ground shaking from the earthquake as it built, until the moaning of the wounded was overridden, and the silence of defeat was swallowed whole.
Clouds: "Rain, Wind, Wild, and War!"
The response was defeaning, the energy electric. Flay let it wash over her, making her way to the place where her war party had gathered. Life of Whispers, Dances with Leaves, Roar in the River, Warmth in the Clouds, and Chess -- already in his massive tiger form. As they approached, something lit up in River's eyes, and her arms climbed with silver flame -- the flames of Unari Dama.
Clouds (All): "Rain, Wind, Wild, and War!"
Clouds (All): "Rain, Wind, Wild, and War!"
Clouds (All): "Rain, Wind, Wild, and War!"
Dances blew the war horn, the Formians rallied their defenses, prepared for another ground assault. That they would deliver...
That and so much more.