Ren channeled the decision he'd made into clear instructions through the bond with the mantis.
The beast responded immediately, understanding without need for extensive elaboration what it needed to do.
The scythes that served as the mantis's primary weapons, those sharpened extensions of its exoskeleton that could cut through defenses that would stop conventional ones, began igniting with brilliant light.
It wasn't simply external illumination but a manifestation of elements integrated directly into the weapons, light flowing through the scythes like energy waiting to be released in a devastating cut.
The intensity increased with each second while the mantis prepared the next exchange, brightness eventually reaching a point where several spectators had to squint to observe without discomfort.
And then the mantis disappeared.
