‘Who the frell takes a super capital ship into an atmosphere? Shliznat!’, he commented in his head. ‘
The Aschen do.’, answered EGO as if it were an actual question. ‘That was rhetorical EGO.’, he answered back in thought. ‘Tell me the corvettes still have a firing solution.’, he thought and EGO answered. ‘The pilots are reporting that they still have a firing solution but it will be danger close on the Reverence.’
‘Corvette pilots load your crystals and target lock. Set the guns to discharge at .1 kalvo and cycle to provide a steady barrage and allow for cooling. Allow for aerial units in vicinity of area. Weapons free.’, he thought and nearly instantly that thought was transmitted to the other pilots. In unison eight Varden corvettes, kilometer tall ships deployed their guns. Weapon doors opened so that the armored turrets could set up and transverse to aim at the planet below. Mechanisms clamped the doors back down to provide added shielding for the guns as the loading systems for the hybrid munitions were backed away from the weapons’ loading apparatuses. Cyclotrons were switched off and lenses slid into breech and bore.
When the first corvette cycled its guns the display in orbit was wholly unimpressive. No massive beams of colored energy escaped from each of the thirty two paired four-hundred and six millimeter bores. On the ground it was a completely different affair as the atmosphere ionized above the city and the intense red beams buzzed the Reverence to hit the mass of evil below. Chaotic imps, demons, devils, and the nightmarish mishmash of chaos infused fleshy tendrils melted, turned to ash, and dispersed on thermal currents. Blood burned away, infusing the air with a stink. Larger tendrils and beasts were simply cut in twain, their wounds cauterizing instantly to prevent their bodies from rejoining the mass or regenerating. It was all to give the Terran line some breathing room. They would have it if only they could defeat those that they were already engaged in melee with.
The ground liquefied into a meter deep pool below the target area, turning into a mixture of molten metal, asphalt, liquid glass, and magma. The weapons were set to be just powerful enough to be effective in their current application. It was a precision strike and though the nearby buildings were exposed to terrible heat and electromagnetic pulses, they would receive more damage from the chaos that was already ensuing on the ground than from the orbital strike if nothing had been done.
Apis was watching the scene from above as the first corvette cycled its guns off to cool and the second started to fire immediately. The pilots were on point. Not a single shot missed the target area and no friendlies were hit, not even a unit in flight. Of course the term was used loosely when referring to the Aschen. Certainly the Aschen would complain. He expected it. ‘Perhaps next time they won’t get in front of my guns.’, he thought. 'Shift fire in source direction and cease on my command.', EGO transmitted for him.
The second corvette ceased firing only ten seconds in and the third did not begin. A transmission came across. It was one of the corvette pilots. 'The Reverence is now blocking our line of fire. The buildings are too tall to fire in at another angle. We have no firing solution. Target lost.', thought the corvette pilot on the closed communication network. Apis cursed. ‘Frelling Aschen! How long till the MCC and MBCs get on location?’, he queried. ‘ETA on MCC, MBCs, APDs, and SDs is forty microt. First Thon unit will be on site in twenty microt.’, EGO answered. ‘Relay to the MBCs to prepare to deploy their point defense turrets to the marked location. Relay to marker and Terran forces that defensive positions, and reinforcements are inbound but our big guns are blocked by the Reverence.’, he thought.
“We read you Invictus. Our orbital strike support capability is now blocked by the Aschen Reverence. Incoming defensive positions, reinforcement, and close air support. ETA is twenty microt, twenty-six seconds.”, EGO communicated.
'Rodger.', thought Kristen and adjusted her aim further forward and away from the Terran forces.
Shliznat - Combination that means shit head or stupid fuck.
Frell - fuck; sometimes a combination of "fuck" and "hell".
Kalvo - A Solari unit of energy.
Microt - A length of time equivalent to 1 and 1/3 Earth seconds.