Two all-volunteer squadrons flew out of the main de Jardin devastator’s hangar bay. Each one held a dozen fighters as well as a dozen mecha. Not only that, but each of them had a 24 drone escort flying alongside.
Each of the pilots triple-checked their instruments and MFDs even as they flew towards their staging area.
“Squadron Karna, ready,” said one of the squadron’s captains.
“Squadron Achilles, ready,” said the other.
“Acknowledged, Achilles. Acknowledged, Karna,” replied an officer over comms. “Your wings have been cleared, and your missions are a go.”
With that, both of the squadrons immediately sped off. Though they didn’t fly straight into the massive s
Matriarch de Jardin exhaled at length as she watched the Imperial devastator collapse in on itself. Its midsection crumpled inward as its demimatter generator burst and pulled everything into itself. Both of its ends were violently pulled inward, which caused its outer chitin to shatter and splinter on impact.Massive cracks spread across the surface, particularly close to the collapsed midsection.Its exoframe bent inward which caused the ship to twist and bend unnaturally, which cemented its demise. More than that, all of its major energy signatures plummeted swiftly before they vanished altogether.Cheers erupted from around the control room, particularly among the analysts. Even Pavir and his officers breathed a sigh of relief.But it was short-lived.
The fighting above the Typhon Planetary Weapons Platform was incredibly harried and vicious. Beams and rockets and slugs and plasma and missiles and mortars flew in every direction. They slammed into all sorts of armor and ripped out huge chunks in their wake.Countless crew from every nation were torn apart or burned or eviscerated or disintegrated. Hundreds of thousands of them lost their lives as their fleets fought for absolute supremacy.Ships of the line on every side exploded and shattered and broke apart as they were chewed up by relentless weapons fire. It didn’t matter if they belonged to the de Jardins or the Discordians or the Empire or the Federation.All suffered tremendous amounts of damage.And all but the Discordian fleet saw more of their de
The ships of the Einherjar charged forward at speed towards the Discordian lines above them. They brought with them the ferocity and tenacity of a well-honed and experienced war fleet. But this time, they were tempered with calm discipline.All understood the stakes. Not just for the galaxy, but for their own souls. Their burdens were heavy enough with the blood they had already spilled and understood when to stay their hands.Thanatos and the other Imperial ships in the Einherjar went down the center line with absolute determination in their hearts. At the same time, the Hegemony ships in the Einherjar veered into the swirling mass to help defend the de Jardins.Although, one of the Hegemony subfleets stayed with Thanatos and the drogar.“Permission to take
While Sin engaged the Discordians on the near right flank, Colviss and Orsethii’s fleets engaged them right down the center. Every Imperial Einherjar drove right into the middle of the Discordians without slowing down even the slightest.Just like Sin, they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. And the only thing they had over the Discordians was technological superiority.All manner of weapon systems were shot at them, of course. Thermal beams and plasma lances and cannons and rail slugs. The works. But they weathered most of the incoming damage from their enemies with grace.The Discordians scratched and scarred and marred and chipped their ships’ robust omnitronium-laced chitin. Although the lances and beams did the least amount, the shells and slugs and missiles certainly did their fair
Freya sat samurai-style in the center of Thanatos’ bridge, as she usually did. Big difference now however was simply that she was no longer accompanied only by Amarok. Surrounding her were her own techs and analysts seated at their terminals in the concentric trenches around her.The ink black lines that ran down her face and skin ebbed and thinned down to tiny strands as she minimized her telepathic connection to her devastator. And in doing so, allowed those around the bridge itself to pilot Thanatos for her.That more or less freed Freya up to analyze the battlefield in front of her. All the incoming data poured straight into her mind, through Thanatos’ intelligences and circuits. And of course, relayed what she determined to the rest of the officers on the Tactical Bridge. She did her best to read the information, and glean potential strategies
Heavy plasma lances from some of the defending de Jardin fleet converged onto one of the last few Imperial battleships left on the field. The powerful arcs of energy ripped through the heavily-damaged chitin and decimated whatever was left.It was surrounded by the debris that used to be the rest of its fleet, while whatever few that were left had turned tail and ran from the fight.Which left only the Federation to continue the assault.High Admiral Tarvanos grimaced heavily at the damage that his fleet had suffered. The reports flashed alarmingly on his main screen, though he quickly moved them aside. He knew just how many casualties he was going to suffer during this attack, long before he even showed up.Instead, he had to focus on why he came in the first plac
Waves of Freya’s shared energies swept through Colviss and Orsethii, both of whom actively felt it happening. They both instinctively realized what Freya was doing, for the most part anyway. And although they didn’t understand how she was accomplishing whatever she was doing, they certainly welcomed her efforts all the same.The two could easily feel themselves get more and more emboldened and empowered as the moments ticked by. In spite of their more aggressive natures, both still felt their apprehension and dread lift away.“We can’t win if we’re on the defensive,” Colviss exclaimed. “Pull in all the debris and initiate advanced repairs!”Waves of red energy swept inwards towards both Colviss’ flagship and Thanatos. And by drawing in their antigrav fields, also
The massive battle over Dendrus IV continued to whirl around like a giant hurricane. While half of the Einherjar fought against Eris above it, the other half became deeply embroiled in the de Jardin’s fight against the Federation.As their capital ships brought the fight straight to the front, the rest of their support ships hung back and helped out with the de Jardin ships.Hundreds of support frigates and cruisers deployed countless remote repair drones and patched up every ship in sight. They were relentless as they went from ship to ship and closed up as many wounds as possible.The faster the combat and capital ships could rejoin the front, the better. For all their sakes.Many officers and crew in the de Jardin fleet were already drained from the intens