Page 14 of Fate of Draga

It took all his skill to land the fighter without crashing, but Asher managed it, silently thanking his warriors for their loyalty. It could easily have been his end out there. Now he had to get back into a working fighter so he could return the favor.

The landing sent sparks through the hangar but the fighter crew didn’t shy away. They were there putting out the fire instantly, pulling off panels for repair while one helped him out, silently directing him to another fully functioning ship.

Asher gave them a nod in thanks. There was no time to waste on pleasantries.

Hopping into the cockpit he flipped on the displays, pleased to see the engines were already on and merely waited his direction. A single alert rang through the hangar and Asher took off – flying through at a speed he would normally punish someone for.

But this was combat. Combat takeoffs and landings held their own rules.

TheRosaneralet him through – the shield allowing him to pass into outer space while keeping the precious oxygen inside. “Veri report,” Asher demanded with one eye on his dash and the other on the ships in the battlefield.

He spun to avoid some debris and fired, taking out two Neprijat and then two more as he looped around to where Veri’s signal was.

“Asher we are closing in. The worldbreakers from each warship are locked and ready at your command. We have them mostly contained, but they are trying to retreat.”

Grinning, Asher could taste their desperate victory on his tongue like a fine wine. The Neprijat were trying to run and they were about to realize there was no such chance for them.

“Brogna?” he asked, praying once more to Katsia Goddess of War.

More Neprijat fighters exploded under his fire as he waited for the answer—wasting no opportunity to rid their system of the monsters where he could.

“We’re behind the Neprijat lines, ready when you are,” whoever led the Brogna forces stated.

Then the confirmations of each warship carrying worldbreakers sounded down the line, including Sirus at the head of the Scyrian Army.

“Fire.”

Asher watched as those deadly worldbreakers arrowed through space as Delphine had through the Neprijat lines before disappearing as he’d told her to. It didn’t matter how many times he’d seen it now…each time was just as harrowing as the first.

When the weapons met with the targets the enemy tried to scramble away—but Draga fighters kept them from escaping…

There was a moment of silence where it felt like the very universe held its breath.

Then a percussive wave exploded outward.

Crumbling warships took out others. Some took out his own forces and Asher remembered each name that went dark on his console as they refused to let those Neprijat through the line so they could escape.

The explosions went on for what felt like forever and Asher watched the destruction with grim determination. Thousands of ships broke apart. Bodies were sucked into the vacuum of space. Fires burst and then were instantly put out when the oxygen was burned up in the vast dark nothingness.

The victory left a bad taste in his mouth.

Asher followed his fighters into the fray along the edges and took out the remaining smaller ships. Reports came in of the warships destroyed and the ones still holding on to life for as long as possible.

Giving the order to wipe them all out was the hardest one Asher had ever had to give in his life.

Knowing the Neprijat preferred death over capture was a small comfort.

The fleet-cast went silent as Brogna held that line. Then Scyria came through the battlefield that stretched as far as the eye could see. Sirus gave no quarter as he destroyed every single Neprijat vessel still limping along. He was Death incarnate.

Asher circled the battlefield again and counted the number of forces they had left.

Nearly half.Halfof their fighters and warships had been decimated.

Adelina would not be pleased, even if they had taken out a quarter of the Neprijat’s forces.

Too many. There were too many of those monsters. They would not win this war with numbers. They had to find another way – a smarter way. Asher mulled it over as he gave the order to reform the lines, take care of the wounded, repair what damage they could, and then resupply before advancing on the border.

“Veri, to me.” Asher was not looking forward to the conversation he would have to have with the queen.

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