Snippet #2443326

Inside the watch-tower men and women were scrambling to respond to the situation.

"Sir, they're preparing to fire," Asha called out.

"Get our shields up," an officer hollered.

A dome over the top of the tower slid partially open to a slit that reveal the volarian crystal encased within it. A beam of light emitted from its top as it reacted and a moment later there was a flare of light as a pale dome encased the tower and the surrounding area. The dome flared and grew red with each strike of plasma against it, but the shield seemed to be holding up well enough.

"Concentrate fire on the cliffs!"

The retaliation from the watchtower came in the form of solarcannons that tore through the ranks gathering at the cliffs, and those trying to scale it. Rock was turned molten beneath the heat, and quickly hardened over as the cold water of the sea washed in to cool it once more.

Visibility became all but impossible for the naked eye from the thick plumes of steam that rose up from the evaporating water, but the turrets were unrelenting. With the solarcannons sheering the cliffs and turning the rock molten, even targets with shields capable of withstanding the temperatures of the focused solar beams would quickly become victim of the laws of gravity dragging them loose as rock - solid and molten alike - cascaded downwards to smash them against the rocky shores below.

"Sir, we're picking up a Taiyou signal from nearby - a battleship it looks like," Asha called out.

"Put me through to them," the officer said.

'We're under heavy fire, I repeat we're under heavy fire. Requesting immediate reinforcements.'

"We have a response from the Losenyu," Asha spoke up. "They're sending reinforcements with the Taiyou fleet moored in Losenji. They'll be here in about ten minutes."

"Time to dig in then," the officer growled. "Do we have enough power?"

Asha checked some readings. "Worse case scenario, at this rate we have enough reserve power to keep the crystal running for two and half, maybe three days under heavy fire. Weeks if we don't need to switch to the reserves, fewer if we need to increase the power," she answered before pausing. "Uh... Sir?"

"What is it?"

"We're receiving word from the capital that a Dark Rain vessel is arriving with the Avorians," she explained. "We're being requested to not fire upon it."

"Who the hell are the Dark Rain?" the officer asked. "Ah fuck it. If it can shoot, we can use it. Pass that information through to the Taiyou and the Losenyu."