(Photo by Kourtney Gundersen)

Blinding light flashed and the ground shook with every shot fired by the anti-orbital array. Fas’ soldiers had made good time in getting it up and operational. The array required several hundred people all working together to keep it running. The instant Fas knew they’d be able to keep it firing and still have soldiers left over, she sent one squad back to the field to search for survivors and then sent the remaining squads out in search for other anti-orbital arrays that might still be functional.

With the neural network still jammed, Fas enlisted the Ka’Rak Kindling as runners to check on the squads she’d sent out as well as to relay any messages. Ka’Raks were generally a hardy species and didn’t tire easily. Never before had Fas been happier about that fact than now since she kept the Ka’Raks running almost constantly. From her place in the command room, Fas could see all the system updates for the array, as well as any new orbital tracking data. Under normal circumstances, she’d use the neural network to coordinate the various teams within the array to maximize their fire output. In their current situation, the Ka’Raks were the only means she had of delivering that information. As a result, the array was significantly less effective.

“It’s a good thing this array is designed to cut through Ka’Rak ships,” Fas said to Li’Ko and the other Ka’Raks around her. She wasn’t sure if they believed her, or even if the belief of so few Ka’Raks would be enough to have an impact on the belief of those in the ships.

An alert on one of the displays indicated that a second anti-orbital array had begun firing. It was close to the one Fas was in and she felt a measure of pride when a Ka’Rak returned and confirmed that it was indeed her soldiers who had found it. There ought to be enough soldiers to run it, but its output barely reached half of that of the one Fas was overseeing. She wasn’t sure if it was damaged or if the soldiers operating it were lacking in skill. Either way, it needed to increase its rate of fire as well as accuracy if it was going to be of any substantial use.

“Igniter Skith,” Fas said and Skith, who had been overseeing the energy distribution for the array, turned to face her. “Go and take command of the other anti-orbital array. I want you to keep an eye on wherever I have this array firing and fire on the same target.”

Skith Saluted and Fas tapped his hands to send him on his way.

“Take a squad of Ka’Raks with you as well to use as runners. They’re also excellent engineers if anything needs repairing.”

Skith nodded and left, a squad of ten Ka’Raks following behind. Looking back up to the display screens, Fas could see how little of an impact they were having on the invading force. Already the majority of the planetary defense satellites had been destroyed and only one of the Ka’Rak ships had been disabled. Soon the ships would be able to begin concentrating their fire on the planetary shields. If Fas and the others on the ground failed to disable at least half of the Ka’Rak ships before the shields went down, the resulting ground invasion would be too large to repel.

Skith had only been gone a few minutes when Fas noticed the second array changing targets and began to mirror wherever Fas had her array targeting.

It would take far more time and firepower than they had to get through the shielding surrounding the main power generators on the Ka’Rak ships so instead Fas began focus firing on specific systems. One by one, Fas had her spotters target the main weapons systems on each Ka’Rak ship in turn. Between her and Skith’s combined firepower, they began to weaken the Ka’Rak offensive. Soon, a third and fourth anti-orbital array came online and Fas sent a runner to each one to coordinate their efforts. She didn’t have the authority to command anyone in those other arrays but she could at least share with them her plan. Fortunately, the other arrays did in fact follow her lead and soon they were knocking out the Ka’Rak weapons at a significant rate.

“The last satellite’s down,” a soldier reported. “Ka’Rak forces are now firing on the planetary shields.”

Outside, the sky began to burn as the combined energy beams started cutting into the shield.

“Report on the state of the Ka’Rak fleet?” Fas asked.

“Six are still operating at or near full strength,” replied the soldier. “Another three are firing intermittently. One ship is completely disabled while the last two have no functioning weapons but are otherwise getting into position to deploy their ground troops.”

“Spotters,” Fas called out, “shift targeting to the rear quadrant of the ship with the lowest orbit.”

A handful of runners sped off to relay instructions to other parts of the array while the spotters calculated angles and energy outputs needed.

“Conflagrator Fas, report.”

Fas turned and found Immolator Gres standing in the doorway to the command room. She did not salute, seeing as she was not within Immolator Gres’ command but explained the state of the Ka’Rak ships, nonetheless.

“And why have you shifted away from targeting the weapons?”

“We won’t be able to stop them getting through the planetary shield,” Fas stated. “But Ka’Rak warships release their ground troops through drop chutes located in their rear quadrant and by limiting their ability to cut through the shield, we now have more time to target and disable those drop chutes. If we destroy enough of them, they’ll no longer be able to deploy their ground troops effectively.”

Immolator Gres turned to look at the displays, studying the progress of the Ka’Raks as well as the damage the arrays were affecting on the ships.

“How confident are you in this plan?” she asked at last.

Fas glanced around at the soldiers nearby, disliking having this sort of conversation around her troops.

“I am moderately hopeful,” Fas replied. “The Ka’Raks will get through the shields, and they will make landfall, but if we can trap them within their own ships they will be easy targets for mortar teams and airstrikes. Ka’Rak ships have few weapons suitable for combat once they’ve landed,” Fas added as a final note.

“They’re concentrating their attack on this part of the planet,” Immolator Gres said. “Any ideas why?” She shot a glance towards Li’Ko and the handful of Ka’Rak Kindling that were still in the room.

“At this point in time,” Fas said, growing frustrated with Immolator Gres, “I don’t have any information as to why they’re here other than the fact that we’re at war with them.”

Immolator Gres was quiet for a time, content, it seemed, to watch the progress of the battle. Between the efforts of the four anti-orbital arrays, they were doing significant damage to the Ka’Rak ships. Fas counted down the minutes, giving each ship several dozen strikes before moving on to the next ship.

“How do you know when you’ve disabled the drop chutes?” Immolator Gres asked after Fas ordered the spotters to shift their target for the fifth time since they began the assault on the drop chutes.

Fas did not even attempt to conceal her dislike of that sort of question when she turned to face Immolator Gres.

“Based off my experience with the Ka’Raks,” Fas began, “as well as my knowledge regarding the strength of these arrays, I am making calculated decisions to maximize our efficiency in disabling the Ka’Raks from being able to mount an effective ground assault.”

It was as convoluted and wordy an answer she could muster in the present situation and she hoped it would be enough to conceal from her soldiers the fact that she was just guessing. Immolator Gres obviously wasn’t confused by Fas’ reply but at least had the decency not to press the point any further.

Fas strode over to Immolator Gres, who had remained in the doorway ever since her arrival, and spoke more quietly to her so the rest of the soldiers wouldn’t overhear.

“I’m doing everything in my power to save this planet,” Fas hissed. “With all due respect, I do not need you coming here and questioning my decision in front of my soldiers.”

“You forget your place, Conflagrator!” Immolator Gres hissed right back. “This is my planet, my defenses –

“I’m not within your chain of command,” Fas interrupted. “The moment you gave me permission to take command of this array, as well as any other that my soldiers could locate, you relinquished your authority over them until I choose to return them to your command.”

“Then what about the other arrays?” Immolator Gres demanded. “Those two don’t have your soldiers running them and yet you’ve ordered them to follow you.”

“I never gave them any orders,” Fas stated. “I shared with them my plan and they chose of their own accord to follow my lead. If you disagree with their actions then you are free to give them other orders as you see fit.”

Immolator Gres looked to be about ready to respond when a thunderous roar burst above them and the sky flashed iridescent hues of all shades. Such displays were beautiful, Fas admitted, but still terrible to witness.

“Planetary shield is almost breached,” a soldier reported.

“Target the next ship,” Fas ordered.

When she looked back to the doorway, Immolator Gres was gone. Frustrated and confused by Immolator Gres’ continued antagonizing, Fas returned to her place in the room. They didn’t have much time before the shields would fail. Fas hoped her plan would work and that the ships would be too damaged to deploy their troops. Even if they did manage to hinder the Ka’Rak’s ground assault, her single battalion wouldn’t be enough to hold back a large-scale attack without reinforcements. Immolator Gres had made it sound as though the Ka’Raks had wiped out all but Fas’ soldiers, but even twelve warships wouldn’t be enough to clear the entire planet’s ground forces in so short a time. It could have only been those in the immediate vicinity who had been targeted. Fas only hoped that Immolator Gres had already sent orders for troops to be transported to this sector. With the neural network down, any orders would have to be hand delivered but even that shouldn’t take more than an hour to be delivered and the reinforcements sent. At the very least the other sectors would have seen the Ka’Raks and should be sending troops even if Immolator Gres hadn’t sent them any orders.

Fas wondered how long it had been since the invasion had begun. Time always moved strangely during a battle. You could be fighting for an instant and it would feel like an eternity, or else you might feel as though you’d been fighting for a few hours only to discover later that days had passed.

“Set a timer,” Fas instructed. “I want to change targets every five minutes. If we get through them all then go back to the first. Just keep firing until they’re either destroyed or on the ground.”

She didn’t trust her own sense of time and thought it better to make sure each ship was given their share of attention. It was all any of them could do for now, anyway.