“Othar’s dust, esse. And I got here on your ship, actually. Qingzhi...” He shook his head. “Well, let’s just say I happened to be visiting on the worst day to take tourist photos. As it turns out, you can’t break the will of a city just by flying a big bomb over it and threatening to pull the trigger. Most people, they just don’t see it that way. Their family is their world, their lives. They aren’t gonna lay down and die because some collective might get hurt.” The metal on her wings fell away with another satisfying thunk. 