Characters

"Do the math, fledge."

An officer in the Hexarchate's army. Cheris joined up to flee a history of insurrection in her family, only to find that it follows her. She's a math genius in a regime whose technomagic runs on math-based ritual. She has resting "what the fuck did you do now, Jedao?!" face. Loyal, hard-working, and abysmal at politics, always a winning combination.

"I'm your gun."

The Ninefox General. The Hexarchate's most brilliant tactician until he snapped and massacred two armies, one of them his own. No one knows why. The Hexarchate retains him as their undead slave/advisor for the wars no one else can win. In four centuries he has never been defeated. Also he never shuts up, which is a different problem. His emblem is the Ninefox.

"Who's the fuel now, bitch?"

Cheris's long-lost cousin. She carries grudges and believes in killing it with fire, not necessarily in that order. It's all commutative, right?

“Life is too short for something as weaksauce as tea. The tears of my enemies or hard liquor, your pick.”

The only high general operating in the field, and the Hexarchate’s best living strategist. They cross-stitch to relax, although no one has ever known them to cough up a completed piece.

"Physics is for the weak."

Allegedly the oldest man in the Hexarchate, the only one with the secret of immortality. A mathematician and psych surgeon with fashion sense, appetites, and a sideline in refrigerator repair. Also the last person in the Hexarchate who wears glasses and is salty about it. He could get his eyesight fixed, but doesn't because Reasons.

(The author wears glasses and is salty about it, but knows nothing about the Carnot cycle.)

"I was bored, so I took up bureaucracy. You're welcome."

Claimed the seat at twenty-five, becoming the youngest Shuos hexarch in three centuries. Notorious for assassinating some of his own cadets the year after. Four decades later, he's still in power. People are confused by his addiction to sweets and the pet green onion.

Prefers knitting to crochet despite his assistant's attempts to show him the error of his ways. Has never assassinated anyone with a knitting needle, and will lecture you endlessly on the greater efficacy of a well-paid sniper with a high-powered rifle if you bring it up.