EXT. WARRING COUNTRIES - TRENCHES - DAYRain pours down, mixing with the ash-choked mud of the battlefield. The massive civil war rages heavily around them. HIRIA stands behind a reinforced barrier, his face a calm, frozen mask. Surrounding him are SELENA, NUMBER 5, CAIN, VICTORIA, and HAGGAI.Crouched in the dirt beside them, hyperventilating and pulling frantically at his own hair, is RAJI. He is chewing on his fingernails, his eyes wide with absolute, neurotic terror.RAJI(Whining, his voice cracking)Oh my god, oh my god, we're all gonna die! Look at the size of that army! Why am I here?! Hiria, please, I have a sensitive stomach! I shouldn't be in a dual-country apocalyptic civil war! I'm going to pass out, I swear to god I'm going to pass out!NUMBER 5(Irritated, his hands sparking with flame)Shut up, Raji! You've been crying for three miles! Just point your eyes at the bad guys and do the thing!HIRIA(Without looking back, his tone deadpan and icy)Calm down, Raji. Your screaming is vibrating the ice. Just focus on the vanguard.RAJI(Rocking back and forth, completely annoying)Focus?! How can I focus when my heart is beating at twelve thousand miles an hour?! What if my mind misses?! What if I accidentally implode a squirrel instead of a soldier?! Oh god, the pressure!Suddenly, a sickening, buzzing noise echoes through the trenches.The mud bursts open as XENIA steps out—Judas's top female servant, a grotesque, chitinous nightmare who carries herself exactly like D'Vorah from Mortal Kombat. Swarms of flesh-eating locusts and toxic wasps erupt from the gaping, pulsing hives embedded in her back and shoulders. She clicks her mandibles, laughing as her extra insectoid appendages twitch out from her spine.XENIA(In a dual, buzzing voice)The Hive smells fresh meat. Judas commands your expiration, little pests. This one will lay her eggs inside your freezing corpses!Xenia lunges forward with blinding speed, her razor-sharp ovipositors thrusting straight for Selena.SELENA(Deflecting the strike with her dual blades, sparks flying)Not today, bug!The team instantly coordinates a massive, high-speed anime-style assault. Victoria slides underneath Xenia, slashing at her armored legs, while Cain delivers a heavy, concussive energy strike to her chest, cracking her exoskeleton.Xenia screams, unleashing a massive, blinding cloud of toxic, flesh-melting locusts that swarms the entire trench, threatening to consume them all.NUMBER 5(Stepping forward, burning with white-hot plasma)I'll torch the swarm! Hiria, pin her down!Number 5 unleashes a massive wave of superheated fire, vaporizing the locust swarm in mid-air. Simultaneously, Hiria raises his hand, and massive, absolute-zero ice spires erupt from the mud, impaling Xenia's insect legs and freezing her to the spot.Xenia writhes, her extra appendages thrashing violently as she spits a stream of corrosive acid toward them.HIRIA(Calmly turning his head slightly)Raji. Now. Stop crying and look at her.RAJI(Screaming, tears streaming down his face)I CAN'T! SHE'S GROSS! SHE'S SO GROSS! WHY DOES SHE HAVE SO MANY LEGS?! OKAY, FINE! JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME!Raji stops biting his nails for a fraction of a second. He squeezes his eyes shut, grips his own head with his hands, and forces his mind to lock onto Xenia's signature.A high-pitched, deafening psychic hum rings out across the battlefield. Xenia's eyes suddenly widen in pure, unadulterated terror. Her insectoid clicking stops completely. Her entire body freezes—not from Hiria's ice, but from an invisible, absolute mental execution.CRACK.Without Raji even touching her, Xenia's brain instantly implodes inside her skull. The terrifying warlord servant drops instantly to the mud, completely dead, her shadow swarm dispersing into nothingness.Raji immediately falls over onto his back, panting frantically, clutching his chest.RAJI (CONT'D)(Whimpering)Did I do it? Is she dead? Oh god, I think I'm having a heart attack. Someone check my pulse. Hiria, my chest hurts!Hiria doesn't give him a second glance. He turns his icy gaze toward the horizon, where Judas's main fortress-caravan is visible in the distance. The real war is just beginning, and his father is still trapped deep within it.HIRIAGood job, Raji. Get up. We have a warlord to execute.[SCENE END]
