If there was one thing Cornelia disliked about wearing helmets was that her hair would always end up a mess no matter the bun or cap she would wear to protect it. That, along with the fact that she must make sure that none of the strands would peek out of the bun or she would have one less strand once she removed the protective headpiece. The shoulder-length flow of reddish blonde was the most visible reminder of her femininity. Cutting it would be more practical, but then Cornelia would love going out in a dress once in a while.

Those thoughts would have to wait for a while to be realized.

Her face was now behind a layer of sleek metal with square slits for eyes and mouth. It was a new sensation; she doubted how a layer of silken cloth can help in reducing the cramped effect of the armor suit but the whole gear felt that she had her everyday clothes on. It was light, too light that Cornelia felt she was not wearing something made of metal plates. The suit made her resemble a more fearsome version of a mannequin with a metal-plated skirt. The armorers felt no need to follow the traditional design of the knight's battle dress since after all; the customer was not considered a knight by standards. She was given a choice of three swords: one with a pointing tip, another with a slashing edge, and the traditional broadsword. Cornelia took the third mainly to look good with the armor. She turned around in front of a life-sized mirror and was satisfied with how the scabbard hung onto her waist. She opened the way out of the armory and found a familiar stern-faced man in front of her only this time, a narrow-brimmed hat rested above his head.

"It is time, Cornelia." Gerhard was using his no-nonsense tone. He handed a thin strip of soft leather with a green crystal hexagon at the center. "The Gray Fox wants you to wear this. Make sure that the stone is aligned above your left or right temple."

"You do realize how hard it is for me to put a helmet on don't you?" Cornelia's hands wiggled the helmet loose and wore the piece as instructed. She put her netting cap back on, followed by the metal headpiece, and said, "Okay. Worn as told, Gerhard."

"Good."

"I hope this leather headband thing does something..."

"It is beginning to do something now actually, madam." A ringing voice talked inside her head. Cornelia looked at the man in front.

"That. Voice. Gerhard?"

"Yes. This is the effect of the leather headband thing I asked you to wear."

"What...!? I'm not getting it. Now shoo! Get off my head you maniac!"

"This is one of the Master's innovations. The crystal has a magic charge that converts our thoughts into words and acts as a sending and receiving channel for 'messages'. Only people wearing the device can hear these messages or send theirs."

"You are an odd bunch here for thinking of crazy things like this." Cornelia stopped walking and looked at her companion. "Does this mean I can read your dirty little thoughts as long as I wear mine and you wear yours?"

"The crystal only picks up the thoughts we 'say the loudest'. The Master has an explanation for this, but I decided not to absorb it anyway. We talking this way are a clear sign that the devices are working."

"You know what, you should have at least prepared me for this, not just hand over the thing and surprise me with it."

"It lessens the fun if I do that madam."

Gerhard and Cornelia stopped by another room filled with eight men strapping guns, ammunition, and knives. In one corner stood what seemed at first to be twelve armored men. The swordswoman approached the first metal humanoid and only then she realized that these were not humans in armor, but a dozen constructs wielding a gun arm on the right and a claw arm on the left.

"When the Boss Fox told us that we will have twelve machines, I was thinking of cannons on carriages. Is this what I think this is? A construct?"

"You are right. These are the artisans' creations. Three of us are in charge of commanding these machines from a distance. We are going to lead the attack and withdraw once we finish the task."

"I got that part way before. But are we supposed to be walking out of here with these twelve metal monsters parading behind us? Won't we welcome guns other than those of the Dragon's Claw?"

"Why walk, Miss Cornelia, if we can appear right in front of them?"

"Huh? Not getting you Gerhard."

"You'll see."

Their conversation was cut when an announcement from one of the speakers broke the silence.

"All systems ready. Please proceed to the nearest cylinder."

Cornelia stepped inside a large glass container as Gerhard and the rest of the men did. A curved door closed from behind; what the mercenary saw next was a bluish light taking over the vessel's entire volume. She felt a shaking sensation that traveled all over her body as the luminance swallowed her.

The experience was similar to a bottle shot from a downward-pointing gun, only that the fragments were spat from the barrel and were restored to the original, unified form when they touched the ground. Cornelia knelt after feeling that she was broken to nonentity from the bottom-up. Gerhard stood in front of her with his hand stretched out.

"I see that it will take quite a while for you to get used to the sensation."

"Thanks." Cornelia took his hand and stood up. "You know, this 'silent talking' isn't my thing. I still prefer using my lips anytime."

She saw ten floating gears that revolved slowly; one of them shot a blue beam that materialized one of the constructs. The machines were moving; green ovoid eyes scanned the surroundings. It was only then she looked around and found out that they were standing in front of a compound of warehouses.

"Wait... don't tell me your weird flying contraption brought us here." Cornelia held on to the hilt of her sword; her head swung from left to right staring at the arched roofs of the storage facilities. She forgot to keep her mouth shut and use the telepathy device.

"Precisely. It has something to do with shifting a phase of matter from one form, to a temporary state, and back to its original form."

"I think I'll skip the science lesson for now. There's work to do and we got company. Looks like they don't want any visitors tonight..."

Cornelia drew her blade and ran towards the first line of men; the swift and keen whooshes of flying metal were following her. Most of the bullets punched holes on the floor, with some narrowly missing the woman. She was about to turn and give the alerted guards the business end of her weapon when three bolts of flame slammed and threw the men off their feet.

She looked back to see the source. The man with the goofy hat was more than just a deep-talker after all.

"Now I know why the Boss Fox assigned you to lead this. Now, if you can teach me those crazy flame spells."

Gerhard said nothing. He raised a palm in midair and made a slow turning gesture; hot gas and charged air converged above him and were converted into an electric ball. The crackling orb was thrown at the first warehouse door. Bits of charred wood and melted metal flew out of the structure, revealing surprised men armed with rifles and swords.

It was the constructs' turn to act, marching to the front with their weapon arms aimed at the confused ranks of the Dragon's Claw. They moved in four abreast, fanning out in three directions with guns spitting out two bullets with every step. Four other men ran with Cornelia in targeting the warehouses at the rear end of the compound.

They were dealing with enemies whose shots were not led and were mostly aimed at the automatons; bullets bounced off the chests of the battle machines, with each bullet they return hitting or killing their targets. Wounded men threw their weapons and fled the firefight; those who were not fast enough to lose sight of the advancing constructs slumped to the ground with blood oozing out of their backs.

Gerhard reduced the first warehouse to a burning wreck and moved far behind the lines with three others guarding him. The flaming warehouse he made allowed him to exploit the air to create more firebolts to fling at either members of the opposing syndicate or the doors of the other warehouses in front of them. There was no reason for him to move closer to the battle zones; the confusion created by the Gray Fox's murderous constructs was enough to throw the enemy ranks into disarray.

A few stragglers saw his group and took aim. He waved his hand in front of them and created a screen of charged air that detonated the bullets before reaching him. His response was quick and final; a small ball of lightning obliterated the gunmen in a way that not even their screams escaped from their mouths. The smell of charred flesh was carried by the wind; all Guildenstern did was rub his nose and continued to view the progress of the attack from his post.

"Hey, magic man. Care to lend me a hand here?"

Cornelia parried two blows from a pair of opposing swordsmen whose hideout she just broke in. She kicked one in the stomach strong enough for the man to break through the warehouse's wall and slashed the chest of her other opponent. She went on to face the others who lunged at her with sabers and daggers.

Her response was done in a way her body was left to do the thinking: parry, stab, parry, kick, block and slash. Bodies fell to the ground one by one; their shot eyes and gaping mouths were what their brains last registered before Cornelia's blade cast its judgment. There was one man left in the building. He stood in place; a pair of curved swords he wielded shone in the dim light. The swordswoman swung her broadsword downward and pointed the tip at the lone opponent.

"I'm giving you one chance." Cornelia's voice broke into a hollow echo when it passed by the helm's slits. "Look, I don't have to use this on you if you come with us."

"You dare speak to me like that after you killed all my men?" There was no fear or doubt in his voice; his determination to avenge the corpses around him excised his will to run away. "I shall sever your head and honor their sacrifices. Prepare to die, monster."

He screamed in rage before charging at her with both blades out to gore Cornelia. The woman managed to break his stance with an upward strike of the broadsword. She could not poise herself to riposte, for both her arms were occupied managing her weapon to fend off two strikes at a time. She found herself stepping farther away from the corpse-littered room while watching out blows from above and below.

The man's strikes were more forceful as the duel went beyond the warehouse. Cornelia could feel rage guiding every hammering blow of his swords. She would have to keep on the defensive with every parry and block her broadsword could muster; his strength is bound to wear off if he continued pounding at her like this.

An opening was presented when both of the opponent's swords were poised laterally to cut her from both sides. The man mustered his strength with a shout and swiped the blades to meet Cornelia's waist. She slid down and focused all her weight on her leg to deliver a kick that threw the swordsman off-balance. Her opponent was on his back as she edged the blade to his neck; her left hand delivered a blow to the cheek that shut all his senses.

Cornelia's four companions approached her with their guns aimed at the unconscious man. She returned her sword to the scabbard and said:

"Take him with us. This is one of the best men in the Claw I know of."

One of the funny-looking discs flew overhead and homed in on the sprawled body. The blue beam was fired and the defeated warrior was taken out of the battlefield. Cornelia watched the first three warehouses burning from a distance; a whiff of air brought a sickly stench of burning wood, metal, and flesh.

"How's everything there Cornelia?"

"Everything is good... perfectly fine. You know what, you could have helped end this battle faster if you didn't stay behind and bring more of your fireballs on the blokes."

"We ran into a few constables at the gates. We had to stall them a bit. I couldn't talk to you any longer. More would be coming our way."

"They had to be around after we lit up three warehouses and started shooting at people."

"We're retreating anyway. We have gathered enough men and a little of their weapons."

"The Boss' metal freaks sure had them running. The poor fools didn't know what hit them."

"Not quite. We lost four of the constructs."

"How did that happen? I saw bullets bounce off the things."

"Our controller said that a lone man engaged a team and destroyed all the units. A second team got the better of the attacker but something else happened."

"Really now?" Cornelia's sword was sheathed. There was no need of its services now that the Dragon's Claw has ceased to exist. "I didn't know that these dumb metal monsters could do exciting things."

"It's not the 'metal monsters'. A second person came in. I couldn't quote him exactly, but he told me that those two turned into specks of light and vanished. Only someone of extensive magical affinity can pull off such a feat."

"Hey, another magician huh?" One of the discs hovered above Cornelia's head; a strong bluish glow began to run around its undersides. "I didn't know that more... odd people like you exist. Also, doesn't it sound disturbing if the Dragon's Claw did not use more of its advanced toys against our walking tin cans? Even I am surprised to know that they have something that can wreck the Boss' machines."

"Perhaps we caught them off-guard, or whoever those two were only had a single device and decided to run away with it rather than face us." Gerhard shrugged his shoulders and stared at the sky. "I am quite bothered by the magician though."

"Powerful or no, he'll be more than sane enough not to seek us out after we've burned down his turf and his cohorts. We'll talk about this with the Boss later." Cornelia waited for that beam of light to dissolve her out of the place. The blue ring descended into a solid cylinder. "At last, I can finally get rid of this device and talk like normal people do."

"You'll get used to it someday, whether you like it or not." Gerhard's laughter echoed in her head.

"Right..."

Everyone was whisked away by the flying devices before they disappeared into the night sky. Men of blue and rose uniforms surrounded the area. Bells and alarms continued to wail as great black smog rose from the burning warehouses. Steel helms of the Empire ran about inside the place only to find corpses revealed by the blazing buildings. Constables and soldiers stood guard and surveyed the whole town in search of the people behind the slaughter.

Cornelia looked at her swordarm being reduced to luminous dots. Of course, they were fighters – people who took up arms and knew that death from another fighter, whether it would be from a rival syndicate or from the Empire, was an inescapable probability. She shook her head after thinking that the people she struck down were those she used to work with, or at least was paid to do so. The feeling was almost heavy as if she was again brought back to the time when she first killed on an assignment.

"Sleep is going to be hard to catch tonight..." Cornelia's tone lost its usual enthusiasm, as if she did not want anyone else to hear it from her.

"Were you saying something, Miss Cornelia?"

"It's nothing." She stared back at the magician. "Just thinking aloud. Don't mind me."

"You must be tired. Take a good rest after this."

"Easy for you to say." Cornelia's arms clasped below her chest; she looked at the ground that was becoming a bright blue spot. "And do me a favor. Could you... not 'talk' to me? Even for a moment."

Gerhard nodded and looked away. Wrenching metal and crumbling stone moaned as one of the warehouses collapsed into a pile of infernal rubble. Cornelia did not know what kind of fate awaited the surviving members of the group they just destroyed. She fought off her eyes' desire to shed tears for the defeated men. This feeling would go away, she hoped. Everything that happened here was, after all, part of the job.