Titus's fleet dropped out of warp. They were twelve ships in number, scattered in a loose formation around the Tovil-Toba. The Raven was the largest, with two drake-class battlecruisers, five caracal-class cruisers, three cormorant-class destroyers, and a merlin-class frigate. They were greeted by a larger force of at least twenty-five ships. Four feroxes, three caracals, and the remainder were all frigates of various classes. The two fleets sat still for a few moments, each taking the pause to take a deep breath before the plunge. The Guristas couldn't see the look in Titus's eyes, but Ryven could, and he felt a preternatural chill at the base of his spine. The glow from the bowl of Titus's pipe cast his face in a chilling visage of rage and sharp shadow. He blew bluish smoke from the corner of his mouth before opening comms with the fleet.
"All units engage. Primary is target alpha one, Ferox. Fire at will."
The space around the deadspace compound exploded into fierce combat, missiles streaking toward the targetted ferox, exploding brightly upon impact. Both fleets began maneuvering in the elaborate dance of interstellar combat. The feroxes returned fire, but lacked the discipline to primary just one ship, and Titus's fleet began taking sporadic damage. The Tovil-Toba was rocked by repeated hits. It was taking the brunt of the Guristas' volleys.
The first ferox and then another went down, but so did two of Titus's drakes. The cormorants began to engage the frigates and they began popping as well. The battle raged on for a hellacious ten minutes before tragedy struck.
The last ferox was not going down fast enough, and the Tovil-Toba's shields were depleted. The Raven and Ferox traded blows, but the Tovil-Toba's armor was quickly destroyed. The ferox was already in structure. One more volley would destroy it completely. The cruise missiles fired and streaked their way toward the ferox. Just before impact,the ferox's turrets flashed. The ferox exploded into bluish-white brilliance, but it's final volley breached the Tovil-Toba's hull.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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