This made the arks practically invincible as the two groups of destroyers and arks made their way around the Jukal emperor’s residence, arks stopping across from one another along the way.
Frank’s eyes flickered to the main screens, where another station was knocked out of its orbit and sent spiraling down toward the Jukal home world, burning up in the atmosphere.
They had defeated a total of fifteen stations already. Each of them was a hard-won battle, speaking to the abilities of the stations. It looked like a good start but there were still more orbiting the planet and the home world’s Jukal fleet was just arriving.
Dozens of portal relays now dotted the skies above the Jukal home world.
“Fire as you have targets! Cover the fighters as they move in,” Adams said.
As the Jukal fleet appeared, the combined Emerilian fleets unleashed all that they had at them, with the Jukal replying in kind.
The fighters, using the covering fire of the combined fleet, moved in to engage the Jukal. Meeting the drones, they split apart into smaller groups, killing drones as they could and getting among the Jukal home world fleet, laying fire into the ships and forcing them to divert some of their firepower to try to deal with the fighters.
The drones were practically sentient and they were on par with the human pilots, who were using mostly AI-controlled ships. Fierce fighting broke out among the Jukal home world fleet as they pounded on the combined fleet. Their speed was extremely slow as they were fighting their way out of a gravity well while the combined fleet were looking down upon it.
As the Jukal rushed to engage them, their bows were pointed at the combined fleet’s broadsides; the Jukal unleashed salvo after salvo of missiles into the fleet.
The fighting was chaotic but the combined fleet systematically defeated ship after ship, tearing them apart until there was nothing left but debris.
It left them open to attack from the other ships, but every ship they targeted fell.
They went for the weakest ships first. With the portal relays, their power was impressive, capable of taking only a few minutes of concentrated fire to take down the smaller ships.
The Jukal focused their attacks on the older bastion, pouring everything into it. More of its portals shot out beams of power, reinforcing its Mana barrier.
Still, it wasn’t able to hold up to that sort of punishment for so long. The Mana barriers started to wilt and fail as the fourth ships from the Jukal home world fleet was left broken and useless.
As the Mana barrier of the bastion failed, it started to rotate, bringing fresh portals to bear as well as spreading the damage onto the fresh Mana barriers on the opposite side.
It was not quick at moving and its thick armored hull made of compressed materials was left pitted and marred by the Jukal attacks. A number of the onos were destroyed, further reducing the bastion’s abilities. However, as soon as these onos were out of the line of fire, they started to repair themselves at a rate visible to the naked eye. It was as if time moved backward as they continued to reform.
The BloodHawk rocked with explosions as more of the stations moved into view, adding in their attacks.
Frank had no time to curse as he checked for damage. They were locked in combat and there was little that they could do but hope that their firepower was stronger than the enemy’s.
“Fleet One, prepare to jump. We’re going to assist the fighters. Be prepared for close combat. Navigation, bring some of those formed portal relays with us,” Xiao said, having just received his orders from Admiral Forsyth.
“Yes, sir!” Navigation called out as communications passed on the orders to the rest of Pandora Fleet One.
The portal relays were powerful, but when they were simply facing an enemy, they could only fire so many surfaces at them. If they were in the middle of them, they could unleash attacks in every direction.
“Ready all weapons for close-range combat! I say again, close-range combat. We are teleporting into the enemy’s formation!” Frank barked his orders down to the rest of the fleet and his own weapons techs.
“Navigation, waypoint sent. Teleportation spell activating!” the navigation officer said.
Three of the Pandora fleets started to show signs of a spell formation appearing around them. Within their fleets, there were multiple deployed portal relays.
In a flash of light, the teleportation spell was activated. The runes became solid as they left the combined fleet.
Frank sent commands into all of the weapons systems. The BloodHawk led the way. Both of their broadsides roared to life, the power from the Mana discharge making the massive battleship rock from the shots. All missile ports were open and firing. From the spines and bow, the portals ignited with power and missiles surged out into the void, hungry wolves searching for the Jukal.
The missile boats were covered in swarms of missiles. Their runes glowed through the void above the planet as spell formations and arcane fire covered the ships in sharp light.
Destroyers followed the BloodHawk’s example, holding nothing back. Spell formations appeared around the Jukal ships; powerful spells shot down on them as Frank selected two targets on either side of Pandora Fleet One.
All of the weapons in the fleet operated as one, locking onto the targeted carriers and unleashing all they had. The portal relays were fountains of fire, being left in the wake of Pandora Fleet One. They were as powerful as the BloodHawk in terms of how much firepower they could lay down.
Pandora Fleet Two and Three raced alongside Pandora Fleet One. The three forces gritted their teeth, charging right through the enemy. This was the power of the Pandora fleet! Their actions could only be called unwavering!
The Jukal were thrown off by the sudden attack but quickly started to fire back as the ships were not just rocked by their own weapons and attacks, but the impacts of the Jukal fleet ships’ weaponry.
They might be the Pandora fleet but they were in the middle of the Jukal home world fleet. Their ranks were filled with true fighters, leaving little time between them seeing the Pandora fleets to their gunners opening fire.
A savage fight illuminated the void. Each side poured in as much fire as possible, their people pushed to their limits. These were not just ships and crew anymore; these were one creation, people and ships working together, pushing the limits of what the other was capable of and pulling out all potential left in them.
“Come on!” Frank said. A battery was hit with incoming fire; it was blown out, reducing the fire support on his right side.
The hull started to pull itself together as wounded were evacuated and those who were still able to got back to work. Weapon parts were pulled out and inserted into their positions. The soul gem-constructed walls quickly repaired the ship, using the parts as a framework to rebuild the batteries.
Grand working lines jammed and people bashed them into working order as missile tubes were hit. People used their Dark magic to reform the hulls as techs reformed the runic lines.
Frank felt pride from them all, moving from one screen to the next, never stopping as the carrier to the right shuddered. Under the combined fire of the Pandora fleet, its shields started to collapse; a lucky missile made it into an open hangar.
It appeared to be a two-stage as it opened up multiple decks of the ship with a light penetrator grand working, quickly following it up with a black cursing spell formation. The ship started to contort and decay, as the spell was rapidly shooting through the interior of the carrier.
Grand working rounds hit the hull of the carrier, igniting into plasma and destroying entire armored sections. Like a wounded beast in the last throes of its life, the carrier continued to hurl out more drones and fire its few remaining guns against the onslaught of missiles and weapons fire.
“Change targets!” Frank said, no mercy in his voice as he picked a Jukal destroyer that had been showing its crew to be much better at fire control and managing their shields than Frank liked.
The entire cru
shing firepower of the right broadsides of the Pandora fleet inundated the destroyer’s defenses, leaving it no way to escape the oncoming fire.
“New target!” Frank said for the left-hand side as their carrier started to break apart. A pillar of light ten meters wide cut through the bow of the ship, through its center line. Explosions rippled out from it as it started to float away, unable to move under its own power.
The weapons on the left-hand side acted as those on the right side had, working in concert to bring the new target that Frank had selected under fire.
“Destroyer three is heavily damaged!” Communications called out.
“Any ships that are about to lose their shields are to regroup at rally point three,” Xiao said.
Frank spared a glance for Pandora Fleet Two and Three. They had jumped into the midst of the Jukal home world fleet and were wreaking havoc on the Jukal.
“We’ve got incoming drones!” an officer manning the readings from the sensor spells barked. “Fighters are coming in from the other direction!”
After their first clash, the drones had sped off in one direction, having to turn around and fight the inertia they had built up in order to get back to the fleet. The same went for the attacking fighters of the combined fleet.
“Support them as we can.” Xiao’s calm voice carried through the ship as another explosion rocked the BloodHawk.
“Mana barrier is at seventy-three percent,” the shield and barrier mage said from their station.
The destroyer under the concentrated fire of the left-hand side of Pandora Fleet One was broken as grand working shells made their way into the hull, hitting something important and causing it to explode.
“They’re focusing fire!” Sensors called out.
“Have all ships ready to teleport the moment their Mana barriers reach ten percent,” Xiao said.
The hulls of the Pandora ships were tough, but the spell formations that were used within the light cannons the Jukal used were incredibly powerful. Powerful enough that they could cut through the ship’s hulls in just a few seconds of exposure.
For any ship, whether they were part of the combined fleet or the Jukal fleet, if they didn’t have a Mana barrier up, they would incur serious damage or be wiped out. The power of the spells could only be stopped by the Mana barriers. Anything else was sure to suffer a bad fate.
Frank continued to pull out everything possible from his weapons crews, the sides of the battleships covered in the Mana ejecta of the grand working cannons and lit with the light of the Jukal’s weapons fire and arcane flight spells of the missiles.
“Fleet Two is teleporting out!” Communications stated.
“We’ll fight till the end,” Xiao said, unperturbed by Pandora Fleet Two’s retreat. There was no support coming; it was only Pandora Fleet One and Three, in the midst of the Jukal fleet, fighting for their lives as they passed through the enemy formation.
***
Dave didn’t have time to look to the sky as blood covered his clothes and stained the path that he had walked through the slaves.
Roars reached to the heavens as Dave looked to see mounted slaves now coming from the holes in the ground. They moved in packs, their animals staring at the Emerilians with a cold light in their eyes. Each and every one of them were predators, and even accepting the slaves as their masters, their bloodlust had not been diminished in the slightest. In fact, it had only been increased and built upon, used to wage constant wars.
“Earth mages!” Dave yelled out over the command channel, putting a waypoint on the oncoming creatures. Massive spell formations appeared on the ground that started to shake. The mounted beasts ran into quagmires before the ground solidified, leaving them buried underneath the ground. Slit trenches appeared right ahead of the creatures; pained howls could be heard as their legs dropped into the trench, breaking as their riders were tossed off.
Dark mages, working closely with the Earth mages, raised their hands. Spikes rose from the ground; the moving creatures impaled themselves on the spikes as cursed ground appeared.
Dave dodged to the side as the grass under his feet shot up at him, as hard as steel and capable of shredding flesh and bone.
Gravity pushed down on the grass, giving time for Dave to escape it. He threw out his conjuration rod and turned in mid-air. It formed into a spear that shot through the heavens. A gravity spell formation appeared above it, making it pierce through the air before impaling the Earth mage from the slave army. There was a blank look on their face as they looked at the massive hole in their chest. Dave waved his hand; the spear dissolved and the conjuration rod shot toward Dave.
With his Touch of the Land spell, he saw all of Party Zero and the fights going on around him. He kept constant updates on the party, appearing behind any enemy that they were having trouble with and supporting them.
Dave wasn’t as powerful in upfront fights, but splitting the enemies’ concentration made it much easier for his allies to finish them off.
Wind blades tore through the air. Dave had no time to break their spell formation. Bolstering his shields, he raised his conjuration rod, forming it into a dwarven shield that covered his body. His other conjuration rod appeared in his hand.
The impact smashed against Dave’s shield. Still in mid-air, he was tossed backward. He grunted with the power smashing against him.
From his hand holding the conjuration rod, small needles appeared, shooting out at the wind. The attacker’s wind blades easily destroyed the needles he had fired out.
The attacker’s attacks only became more frantic and powerful as they unleashed more Air blades and Air Affinity attacks at Dave. She had seized the momentum, forcing Dave to defend, unable to retaliate.
An arrow shot out of nowhere, leaving a blazing trail behind it. The wind mage let out an angered roar as she twirled her hand; a vortex rushed out to meet the arrow.
The arrow broke the vortex but its power was reduced to just twenty percent of its initial power.
Dave teleported, his shield turning into a dagger.
The wind mage’s Mana barriers took the impact of the arrow, changing colors with the impact.
A dagger appeared in the direction that they had been pushed in. The dagger emitted a gray smoke and had a terrifying energy pouring off the runic lines that ran down the blade.
It pierced through the Mana barrier. The wind mage’s eyes went wide as she felt the blade pierce through her neck. Her eyes rolled back as her energy quickly left her body and she dropped toward the ground. The enchantments and runes that had been placed on Dave’s armor went to work, absorbing the power of the wind mage’s Mana pool as well as any other power left in their body.
Dave looked to Deia, nodding to her. She was already firing arrows out to assist others.
There was no time for words as he once again disappeared, continuing on his path of destruction.
***
“Portal relays are online! Flying Citadel Groups One, Two, and Three are moving in to support.” Suzy was assisting from the rear with her creations. Lu Lu unleashed lightning at the slaves. A number of protectors were around her as she acted as the link between many of the commanders on the ground and the forces in the air and those fighting in the space around Emerilia.
“Good! Get them to start breaking through the surface! Let’s break into whatever the hell is hiding underneath us!” Gurren said.
Dave opened a private chat to Gurren.
“Make sure that we don’t hit Party One,” Dave said.
“Good point,” Gurren replied.
The portal relays took off and started to climb into the sky. A Mana barrier appeared in the direction of the slave army and the Jukal defenses; the other portals started to open up with cannon fire. The destruction reaped could hardly be believed as whatever lay in front of the portal relays was ground into nothing, leaving deep lines of craters where they passed. Missiles shot out from behind the portal relays before coming around. Grand working warheads w
ent off, changing the sky and earth as they unleashed spells.
The flying citadels extended across the advancing lines, moving above the fighting forces, aiding them in their advance and dropping fire on the slaves and trying to defeat the Jukal defenses.
People dropped from above, using the portals within the flying citadels to get to the drop runes and teleport down to the planet’s surface.
Aleph manned the aerial batteries, cutting down those fighting in the air. The aerial forces moved to the towers, charging their armor, resupplying with Mana bombs and ranged weaponry or downing recovery potions.
“Floating defenses!” someone called out as the floating defenses could finally be seen in the sky.
The flying citadels reacted as if they had met their nemesis, as if only one of them could remain in the sky. Their weapons all tracked onto the floating defenses, swarming them with fire. In front of the citadels, layered spell formations appeared. The runic lines all glowed, seemingly pouring power into the powerful rune sets.
One of them ignited. A lance of Mana charged across the sky, smashing apart everything in its path and turning night into arcane blue day. The beam howled through the air before striking one of the floating defensive structures.
The shield shook but it stayed aloft. Another beam hit it a split second later; then another and another. They timed their fire so that as the first one fired, the second one was only a fraction of a second behind. When the last of the flying citadels finished firing, the first flying citadel was once again ready to fire.
The first floating defensive installation was overwhelmed and it dropped out of the sky, blown to pieces as it was struck by even more damaging spells. Yet another beam hit it, boring into and through it as it crumbled. With its power failing and flight systems destroyed, the installation smashed into the ground. The impact was so immense that it made the ground shake. The flying citadels focused their fire on another defensive installation that was firing out light cannons and missiles into the troops.
Emerilia Series Box Set 5 Page 60
