As planned, they separated. Graydon circled to the right; Kira to the left.
She didn't have to go far before she spotted a reaper. As dumb as they were big, reapers were typically used as shock troops. The first choice when the Tsavitee had a difficult target they wanted to obtain and expected heavy casualties.
Humans liked to refer to them as demons, due to how closely they resembled illustrations in old religious texts.
This reaper stomped the ground, pawing at it like an angry bull.
Kira followed its line of sight, noting the flash of muzzle fire from a mound of dirt a hundred yards away as a human laid down suppressive fire. There was movement next to the human as someone popped up to lob a pulse grenade at the clump of Tsavitee who were trying to get close.
Odin's escorts, Kira was guessing.
If they were there, Odin was too. Probably crouched out of sight while they tried to hold out.
Having ascertained the situation, Kira snapped the akieri into its sword form. Then she waited for the signal she and Graydon had agreed on.
She didn't wait long. A wail of pain came from the forest to her right. It was followed by a loud crack and then the sound of trees falling.
Kira slipped from her hiding spot, staying low as she crept closer.
Those firing on Odin and the rest paused, turning to see what happened.
The reaper was no different.
Taking advantage of Graydon's distraction, Kira sliced the tendons in the reaper's ankles. He fell forward, crying out in pain. Before he could figure out what had happened, Kira was there. Her sword cutting across his throat, leaving him to choke on his own blood.
"Hello, there," Kira crooned with a smile when the Tsavitee glanced at her.
She was moving before they could recover, slaughtering them before they could bring their weapons to bear.
A shot sounded, a second before the last Tsavitee could be dealt with.
It dropped to the ground, dead.
Kira nudged it. That was a pretty decent shot. Unnecessary but appreciated nonetheless.
She waved in Brie's direction as a thank you, knowing the other woman probably still had her scope trained on her.
Graydon glided out of the trees, sending her a nod. "That's all of them."
A shot impacted the tree next to Graydon. He stopped, glancing from the hole to Odin's companions.
"I suggest they don't do that again," Graydon warned.
Hearing the unspoken threat in his voice, Kira hurried to stop the humans from doing anything stupid. "Hey, Odin. It's me. I saw you were in a spot of trouble and figured you could use the assist."
"Kira?”
There was a commotion on Odin's side.
"Wait," a human snapped. "Don't go out there. It could be a trap."
"The moment the Tsavitee are able to reliably impersonate the Phoenix is the day you can kiss the future of your race goodbye," Odin said, slapping the person's hand away.
Sensing the danger had passed, Kira stepped out of the cover of the trees.
"About time you showed up," Odin growled.
Before either of the humans could stop him, the Sye strode toward Kira. To her relief, he was carrying the J1N.
