A Sinner's Eden

***Tirnanog, Aerie Flagship***

***Magnus***

“Magnus, repeat after me: We will not stake prisoners of war. Especially not up their posterior or through any other orifice,” Astra scolded. “We leave the choice of whether they will be executed to the people responsible for such decisions.”

“It was just a suggestion.” I looked away and crossed my arms. “Look, I am not keen on torturing people to punish them, but those guys deserve it! Am I the only one who got upset at what we found in that basement!? Besides, is this any better?” I gestured at the row of bound prisoners who were hanging from their feet. The ropes holding them were attached to the airship flying next to ours as the fleet continued on to hit another outpost, aiming to utilize the element of surprise to its fullest.

This time we wouldn’t have the advantage of harnessing the lightning power of a storm, but command had decided that the now rolling counteroffensive would be best utilized by relying on our fleet’s momentum rather than waiting days for another sufficiently strong storm front to form, thereby taking the risk of allowing the enemy to figure out what we did to take one of their most heavily defended outposts within a night.

Thalia cleared her throat. “Look, Magnus. It’s not like we don’t understand. We feel the same way as you do, but believe me if I tell you this is the most effective way of executing our enemies.”

I raised both eyebrows. “By having them dangle from their feet? I would understand if the rope had gone around their neck, but hanging them upside down? I don’t see any other reason to do this than for the dramatic effect. Psychological warfare?”

Thalia let out a frustrated sigh. “Magnus, you just have to think of yourself. What would happen if someone tried to stake, hang, or poison you? And before you answer, let me cut this short. The first one would be very, very hard to do because of your physique. You would likely suffer for days before giving up the ghost. The second and third options simply wouldn’t work. Furthermore, all these people have various mutations which make them very resilient in different ways. So hanging them upside down for a day or two is the most efficient execution method we have.”

“I still don’t get it,” I replied. “Call it a lack of medical knowledge. How is that supposed to kill anyone?”

“The human circulatory system is not supposed to pump blood through an upside-down body. This way, the heart needs more effort to pump the blood and at some point the body simply fails. Normal humans die after a few hours of standing on their heads, in case you didn’t know that. Add on top that mutations to the circulatory system are very rare and Tirnanog’s increased gravity plays its role as an additional stress factor. It’s not a pretty way to die, but it is way better than a failed attempt at being staked, beheaded or whatever other means you might want to employ.”

Still frowning, I shook my head. “I admit this is the first time hearing of death by headstand.”

“Well.” Thalia shrugged. “I suppose having someone die in this manner would be extremely rare if it was not caused intentionally.”

“Why don’t we busy ourselves with more important problems?” Astra asked and linked arms with me, pulling me away from the scene of people dangling off the bow of an airship. The idea was that even should they manage to free themselves, they would fall to their deaths. According to Astra, it was a fairly common method of dealing with enemies who couldn’t be imprisoned indefinitely.

And if they were lucky, some flying critter would snatch them during the night.

Personally, I still thought that if the Aerie had been truly concerned about giving their enemies an easy end, death by decapitation would have been the best solution. This was without doubt psychological warfare combined with quite a bit of malice.

***Tirnanog, Vier Main Battlegroup***

***Nisha Dawson***

“It is better to retreat and preserve our forces for the time being,” Zach-1 said before leaning back in his chair like some great general.

In my mind, Zacharias was having a little bit too much fun with playing his overlord role. Considering what we were facing, I had been forced to give his various clones a bit more power over my troops than I liked. Alas, he was uniquely qualified to command our combined forces.

Which didn’t mean I had to put up with this latest idea of his. I slowly turned and glared at Zach-1 with narrowed eyes. “Are you serious?”

My eyes roamed to the two other clones of the man who I dubbed Zach-2 and Zach-3. All three of Zacharias’ bodies looked the same, but their clothes were different. While Zach-1 was clad in a gaudy suit, Zach-2 was wearing a general’s outfit and Zach-3 was geared and armoured for battle. Zach-2 was currently busy at the planning table with some of our generals and Zach-3 looked very busy discussing something with the captain who commanded the flagship of our combined forces.

Seeing so many Zachs in one spot was highly uncommon. Normally, Zacharias preferred to scatter his various clones to as many places as possible. While he was a powerful fighter, gifted with physical abilities rivalling the powers of the other ancients, his suit of abilities was not geared towards a direct confrontation.

Even if all of his bodies were in one place, he was no match for a powerhouse like Mary who could go nuclear and melt her way through anything in her path. Or Balthasar, who commanded entire landscapes at his fingertips given enough time to spread his roots.

When Gurney designed our powers, he was very careful not to give anyone the ability to overcome everything in their path. While Mary and Balthasar seemed more powerful than the rest of us, they were just that. Balthasar was a fortress without the ability to move. Mary was a battering ram without finesse.

I was the spy and Zacharias was a manager before everything else.

Having the ability to command several bodies at once while possessing only one mind allowed him to be the ultimate coordinator and commander. Be it an army or a nation, Zacharias seemed tailor made to be the one in charge – if it had not been for his personality.

Maybe I should correct myself on that. Zacharias was not intended to be in charge, but to perform as the ultimate relay for someone smarter than himself – Greta.

The Zacharias I knew from the clan wars was a lot less sure of himself, questioning his decisions and allowing advisers to shape his decisions. We ancients had already fallen out with each other by then and had not truly worked together. But the old Zacharias was a lot different from the one I knew right now. Over the decades he had changed.

This new Zacharias was adamant in his conviction to rule over all of Tirnanog – be it for good or ill.

Zach-1 nodded in a bored manner. “I am inclined to allow our enemies to advance to Raider’s valley. Let them deal with the threat there and see whether they give us an opening to make use of.”

Raider’s valley?

I looked at the map for a few seconds, stunned, before I voiced my objections, “And it would also allow them a lot of strategic freedom. While the fleet of airships your people managed to build up in secret is impressive and rivals Aerie’s fleet, you seem to forget that our ships are still much slower than theirs!”

The map showed the current known positions of our opponent’s forces. Raider’s Valley was located roughly between Thich’s and Vier’s central seats of power and a little bit further to the south.

There was no problem with delaying a confrontation as long as we could keep the fleet in a suitable location to intercept Aerie’s airships, but Zach's suggestion was ludicrous! “Where do you intend to position our fleet to lie in wait? Further north towards Vier or further south towards Thich? What if Aerie’s commanders decide to make a run for either city? If they arrive just a little bit earlier than us they could do untold damage before we could stop them.”

There was no way someone like Hochberg’s matriarch wouldn’t immediately recognize the chance if we presented it to her on a platter in such an obvious manner.

Zach and I gathered most of our combat-capable forces within our united fleet, so I wasn’t sure whether my people could put up sufficient resistance if Aerie’s fleet showed up at their door. And I was pretty sure that with as much as Zacharias was fielding in this engagement, it didn’t look any different for the Thich.

Zach-1 shrugged. “A necessary risk. If we face them in an open confrontation as we are, mutual annihilation would be the most likely outcome. I have faith in the power of our people and the superiority of the ideology I have engendered in them over the centuries. But our opponents are strong, both physically and mentally. I am not foolish enough to believe that Aerie and Hochberg are not willing to pay any price in blood at this point if it should be necessary to stop us.”

He shook his head and looked at the ceiling. “Both clans faced their own trials and their societies emerged all the stronger for it. The Hochberg may be brutes as a whole, but their dedication to following their matriarch is admirable. It rankles me that I never found out how Greta managed to groom someone even more capable than herself. However, the ultimate outcome of the disciple replacing the teacher is not desirable from my point of view. And Aerie’s caste system produces far more capable individuals than I like.”

He gestured at the map. “The clan war lies just a few decades behind us and they have rebuilt their fleet to the point at which challenging them is a gamble. Had we given them another two or three decades of peace, they would be in a position to overthrow the great clans on their own. Even if my people stole the glow-moss they are using to lift their ships, we don’t have the cave systems to grow as much of it as it is necessary to keep up with their production.”

“The Aerie aren’t a true caste system,” I pointed out. As far as I knew, anyone could freely switch between stratas as they wished. It was just extremely unlikely for them to do so once they had worked their way up the ranks. Aerie’s stratas were more like monopolizing organisations working towards the survival of the whole.

Zach-1 shrugged. “Close enough. Why be hung up over the details.”

I waited to see whether he was going to say anything else, but it looked like he was trying to avoid the issue. “Zach? We are not going to allow the Aerie an opportunity to make a run for either of our capitals. That’s completely out of the question!”

It took two seconds, but Zach-1 eventually looked at me. “Maybe we should discuss this matter away from prying ears.” He stood up and briskly walked out of the airship’s bridge towards the open observation platform outside.

Grinding my teeth, I followed on his heels, remembering the Aerie’s words during my visit at Balthasar’s. Just to be sure, I checked for the hidden dagger beneath my tunic, though I still couldn’t believe Zacharias would pull something now. We planned this venture together, so both of us had put our desires for the future of this world onto the crucible of our dedication. Whether we liked it or not, we were in the same boat.

Back in the day, we were the only ones among the ancients who advocated for unification after the clan war. To defy Earth’s ambitions on Tirnanog, all of its people had to stand together. But we couldn’t convince the others who were only concerned with putting an end to the fighting. Aerie, Hochberg, and Jeng were too focused on their internal affairs to see that it was only a question of time until Earth’s authorities would try once more to take over.

Zach-1 stepped out onto the observation platform and turned towards me.

I stiffened slightly when he reached into his jacket, but Zacharias only revealed one of the items we had commandeered from one of Earth’s old weapon stashes. Why one of their scientists had revealed its location was still a mystery to me, but it had allowed us to move our timetable much further forward.

Zach activated the sound canceller and threw the two discs against the airship’s hull next to the hatch where they attached themselves magnetically. As soon as they activated my ears popped as the sound of the blowing wind around us was suddenly dampened. It was disorienting, but necessary if Zacharias had to tell me something in secret.

I turned my attention away from the sound cancellers and looked at Zacharias. “So?”

Zach-1 turned his back to me and looked over the observation platform’s railing, studying the ground beneath. “Are you aware that there is a lot more on the line than the fate of the clans? If the Aerie decide to turn their fleet against Vier, we would have to welcome it. It would give us the time we need to accomplish our goal.”

My eyes widened slightly at this outrageous claim. “What the heck are you talking about, Zach!? There’s no way I will allow you to sacrifice my people for whatever plan you cooked up! Explain yourself right now.”

“Too bad.”

Arms closed around me from behind and I realized too late that I had been had. The fucking sound canceller had prevented me from hearing the other Zachs following us onto the platform.

I struggled, but one more Zach grabbed my legs and together they lifted me.

“What the hell! Zach, you are so dead!” I screamed. What was he doing? Was this a coup?

“I doubt that,” Zach-1 commented while two and three carried me over to the railing. He stepped back so his two clones would have an easier time.

“This won’t kill me!” I called out while they tried to force me over. The ground was far beneath us, but I knew I could survive the fall even if I reached terminal velocity. “What do you think you are doing!?”

“Oh, of course, it won’t kill you,” Zach-1 said and shook his head. “We go back way too far for me to kill you over something like this. And you still have a role to play later on. All I need right now is to have you out of the game for an hour or two.”

Then, to my astonishment, Zach-2 and Zach-3 flung themselves over the railing, taking me with them.

“This is going to hurt!” Zach-2 called out.

“Tell me about it!” Zach-3 commented jovially before I managed to wriggle out of his grasp and sink my dagger into his left eye.