Chapter 2 Part 4 of 4 (Patreon)

“All ships, fire one salvo missiles on my mark.” Dujardin’s voice rolled across the bridge.

Here we go. Erik’s stomach dropped as calmness spread, it was time to roll the dice.

“Mark.”

Hatches along the underside of the wings and on the back of the main fuselage opened with the flare of formation-enhanced rockets, covering the warships in plumes of smoke, leaving streaks across the sky as each warship created a swarm of missiles along their target path.

“All ships fire missiles as you finish loading. Captains, you have fire control. Dujardin out.”

“Weapons, time to reload?”

“Two minutes till complete.”

“Good work, Weapons. Fire once we’re fully reloaded.” Erik watched the streaking lines across the map, racing between fleets, crossing the nearly two hundred kilometers in between. The minutes slid by.

“We’re connected to an observation orb!” Sensors said.

Every eye snapped to the close-up view of the Caldera. Warships were in various states of powering up and rising from the lake and island below.

The ships with faster reload times released their second salvo, the Cruisers were nearly last.

“Second salvo away! Thirty seconds for first salvo impact,” Weapons said.

It took every ounce of self control to not learn forward and bounce his knee before lights bloomed on the screen.

“Impacts!”

Missiles dipped into the caldera, rushing to meet the Black Phoenix Warships. A corvette circling the Caldera was turned into a spray of metal and wood. Other missiles sought out the larger warships, hitting a Destroyer and taking out a part of its bow before barriers were interposed, their spherical shapes lighting up with impacts.

Attack spells shot out to meet the missiles, destroying some as barriers began to fail, secondaries taking over on the larger ships. Corvettes without backup barriers were torn apart by missile after missile tearing into them.

There you go, you bastards. Erik worked his jaw as ships reloaded and fired, offsetting their missile to create a constant screen arriving at the Caldera.

Corvettes used their speed to get away from the attacks while the larger ships tried to coordinate their fire as their barriers buckled and weakened.

A frigate’s final barrier popped and collapsed. Missiles hit the ship and it dipped under the attacks, pushed back in the air. It stabilized before a new flight of missiles arrived. They must have struck a mana magazine as the ship went up in a cascade of explosions, chunks of the ship raining down into the waters below.

“Bring turrets to bear onto target. Let me know once we’re in range.”

“Aye aye sir.” Weapons said.

The Super-Heavy turrets rotated onto target, gaining elevation.

“We’re in range, Captain!”

“Thank you, Weapons. Rolling barrage from the forward turret. Fire!”

Eagle shuddered, her decking rumbled as her spine and belly’s forward turrets fired, the formations lighting up her barrel. A light stain burned into his retina, formations and rocket engines fired in concert, arresting the recoil of the cannons and keeping the warship stable.

Erik’s body cultivation kept him standing from the forces imparted through the ship.

Heart pounding in his ears and through his chest like a wild stallion, the side-by-side dual three-rail cannon turrets fired, riding the wave of force the formations and rockets kicked in to cancel them out again, jostling the crew as if on a subway train coming into the station.

Smoke flew over the warship, blown clear as the first turret’s barrels were lowered and began the process of reloading.

“One minute to splash.”

“Well hell, weapons, I’m excited to see what kind of impression you make on our recipients.”

“Me too, sir, me too.” The weapons officer laughed out loud. A few others choked down their own laughter.

He heard the Reliant’s guns firing even entombed inside several reinforced decks.

Guns and missile tubes were reloaded, firing in controlled concert. Erik caught Harrod frowning, pursing his lips at the images on the main screen. He seemed distracted.

Erik moved closer lowering his voice. “Something wrong?”

“No sir, its just… odd. Whenever we fought the Black Phoenix Clan we were always been able to see them, using different spells and spyglasses, but they could see us too. It’s always been close quarters and a terrifying battle. Now, I can see them through this orb but we’re tens of kilometers away, and it’s taking minutes for our attacks to land instead of seeing it in seconds.”

“Modern warfare just means we can hit them from further away. Though they’re getting smart to us already.”

The BPC ships were throwing out massive spells and working together to cover one another from the salvos.

The Cruiser’s shells smashed through the Black Phoenix barriers like they were soap bubbles. A Destroyer staggered under three shell hits, breaking the ship into two sections. It crashed against the side of the caldera and rolled into the waters below.

An Unlucky corvette met one of the Cruiser’s shells and was thrown through the air, crashing into the waters below.

It would have been beautiful if not for the deadliness of it all. The flash of spells and mana cannons meeting shells and missiles, the forces throwing the water into chaos, coloring shields and smashing into ships.

Wood and stone, mana cannons, entire sections of warship crashed into the waters that filled the Cladera, sending up white plumes. Ships, unable to remain aloft plunged into the blue depths.

“BPC Fleet One is all airborne. They’re accelerating away from the Caldera.”

“Thank you, Sensors. I expect the Admiral will have a course adjust for us shortly. Harrod, do you have an update for me?”

Harrod cleared his throat. “Enemy ships have taken significant damage, except for their Corvettes, of which they have only lost five. All others are fully operational. Scratch two Frigates and three destroyers, their Cruiser has taken several hits, but it is still operational.”

“Understood.”

“Captain, communication from the Admiral, he wishes for the fleet to intercept with BPC One.”

“Thank you, Comms. Helm, make it so.”

Erik watched the observation orb feed as several ships salvos hit the running fleet. This was where they would end the fight with the Black Phoenix Clan, and in such a way that they would never again be a threat to Alva.

“Forward Corvette and fighter screen has made contact with BPC One. We have a visual.”

The observation orb screen changed to a vantage point over the Eagle.

Smoke puffed around the Alvan Corvettes, firing their smaller turrets and missiles, in short range, the BPC ships had little room or time to dodge.

“BPC One’s Corvettes are breaking away from the fleet to attack our forward force.”

The Corvettes and air wings broke apart and dove, the enemy ships attacking where they had been moments before, fighting to try and bring them back onto target.

The Sparrows came down nearly vertically with the sun above them, blinding BPC mages trying to hit them. The Sparrows sliced through the barriers, releasing their bombs.

Corvettes bloomed as the Sparrow’s bombs struck, tearing apart decking, staggering and breaking corvettes, sending them tumbling below.

Sparrows leveled off, their speed carrying them out of battle as they circled around.

The Alvan Corvettes left the remains of the BPC corvettes little room to recover, coming in on a gliding path past the formation. Their underside cannons peppered the enemy ships, tearing through barriers and holing hulls.

Missiles impacted, breaking the back of the BPC screen as corvettes followed their fellows to the ground below.

Few of the Alvan corvettes showed signs of damage, blackened marks on their hull, a breach in various places. The dungeon core would repair it. It was as one-sided of a fight as Erik had ever seen. He watched, hollow and detached from the destruction. Destroying the Black Phoenix Clan didn’t give him satisfaction, it was something that had to be done.

“Alright I think that they should be able to see the futility of fighting on.” Erik let out a breath through his nose and raised his voice. “Comms, put me on broadcast.”

“Yes, Captain, you are live.” The bridge grew silent.

“This is Emperor Erik West, of the Alvan Empire.” God that still feels weird. “Power down your cannons, drive formations, and lower your mana barriers. There is no need to die today. One way or another, our fight will end this day. Surrender and you will be reunited with the others of your clan that we have captured already. Do not, and we will be forced to destroy your remaining ships and hunt you down.”

He pressed the transmit button, cutting him off.

Several of the Black Phoenix ships opened, revealing the Phoenix breath cannons that ran the length of their ships.

They fired, Corvettes scrambled, evading the worst hits, barriers coloring as they moved too fast for the BPC ships to follow.

Erik sighed. “Very well. Weapons, target that Cruiser.”

Phoenix Cannons fired on the Eagle, causing it to shudder under the impacts, that traced lines along their barriers as Helm brought them out of the Phoenix Cannons’ sights.

“Good work, on those evasive maneuvers, Helm, saving me a few mana stones.”

“We’re here to save, sir.”

Erik barely held back his grin as a few snorts broke free. The helmsman stiffened in realization.

“Steadying!” Helm said in his most professional voice.

“Firing!” Weapons called out. Eagle’s turrets returned fire. Its barriers started to crumble, two shells punching into the ship’s skin, causing it to lurch.

“Good hits on the BPC Cruiser! Mages are attacking.” Weapons called out.

Spell formations spread across the forward section of Eagle as other Alvan turrets punched holes in the Cruiser.

His earpiece chirped. “All Captains, slow to glide speed.” Dujardin orders.

The spell formations across Eagle discharged, chaotic lances of light twisted through the sky, drilling and tearing apart the Cruiser’s outer skin, warping it and diving deep inside as explosions rippled through the ship.

Reliant’s turrets punched holes through the ship.

“Sweet hell,” Harrod said.

Sky was visible through the Cruiser. Formations shuddered barely keeping the ship airborne.

“Full salvo.” Weapons said.

Every gun on the Eagle fired as one, making Erik sway.

The shells tore the Cruiser, into several sections. Explosions rippling through different parts as they crashed into the mountains below.

“Changing targets,” Weapons called out.

The Destroyer and Frigate Screen that had been bitterly fighting it out with the BPC ships, three with barriers down and minor hull damage, paused as a silence fell over the battle-space.

“They’re surrendering!” Sensors about near jumped from his seat. “They’re powering down and landing!”

BPC ships barriers flickered out of existence as the ships descended for the mountain range. They’d barely got out of the Caldera.