One-Sided Battle

High above Tiberius the sky was on fire. The CenSec Navy’s entire 3rd fleet had embarked to control points just outside orbit. For several hours they had fired a sustained barrage at the oncoming threat, laser arrays and torpedo drives flickering in the night like distant fireflies. With one return salvo, all the fleet was ablaze. From the hill where Paul stood watching, you could see the CNS Yoshiro, pride of the 3rd fleet, drifting out of alignment like a whale in its death throes, slowly rolling over. Its heat sinks gleamed brightly and fruitlessly – all the crew had long been cooked alive in its metal guts. For a moment the hulk hung in suspense, flanks lit by the jets of flame bursting out of its sister ships, then suddenly its core went nova: a massive white ball of light, bright and close enough to illuminate Paul, the hill, the whole continent for just a second. The burst forced a chain reaction. Soon the entire fleet had flickered out of existence. Where they had been, the sky was eerily black.