Rank reparations demanded a count of years. Umber read the literature himself. Repopulation documentation for decimated nations demanded time, though less than he expected, and the Negaverse's loss of ranks required less time to repopulate than standard militaries. Still, they lacked the martial laws that bolstered national armies, and instead relied on normal recruitment procedures and their own drafting methods. Beyond this, they required more energy to regenerate lost youma, more starseeds to replace what was stolen from them, and more obedience from the ranks that so vehemently failed that fateful day.

And even so long afterward, Umber fixated on the blatant failing of the Negaverse to quash the opposition. They lost one General-Queen, very nearly lost the second, and received imported General-Sovereigns rather than promoting from within - and the sole reason Umber could extrapolate from the move was that the Destiny City branch of Negaverse officers proved too uniquely poor in leadership, battle prowess, and tactics.

Umber carried this inner rage as he pilfered streets of their lonely pedestrians, or as he filled draining obligations among small groups. He cared little for the aftermath - only that they died, and that the bodies were relocated to difficult-to-reach spaces. After one such body placement, he paused as he felt the unique auric presence of a star on his level - a knight, he recognized. Night still crowned the sky with its unblinking moon and Umber knew several hours yet remained for tangential conquests like these. After abandoning the body on the opposite side of the HVAC unit on the roof, Umber straightened and darted across the myriad rooftops toward the signature in question.

A series of leaps eft him in spying distance of the knight. Another set would lead him closer, and Umber would not desist until they closed rank enough to see the whites of the knight's eyes.

Skye Starrfyre
lmk if anything needs to change!