Ahji Lotz

The trees blur as I speed up and away from the ground and break through the atmosphere. From the Earth humans' airships come smaller, sleeker fighters, gunfire already spraying from their cannons. My force shoots back in response.

"Destroy the rockets!" I order over the commlink.

Like we had practiced in training, the force splits into three, each forming a multi-level arrowhead shape that plows through the enemy ranks. Red, orange, and gold explosions light up the darkness of space as ships and pilots fall, the wreckage being blasted across our aerial battlefield. I go into a barrel roll to avoid a spray of gunfire from one of the Earth fighters. I fire back and the ship explodes as I come out of the roll. I fly through the broken pieces of the ship as the fire disperses, snuffed out in the vacuum of space. Shouts echo over the commlink as pilots shout for backup, and screams that are abruptly cut off as the pilot's airship is blasted apart.

More ships charge me, and I fire over and over, airships exploding before me, but as our force slowly depletes, Earth's only seems to grow. Every time one or two ships are destroyed, more fly from the bellies of their enormous carriers. Multiple explosions rocks one of the silver-plated, rocket-launching ships as the right flank blows it up, but rockets still fire from the others. The center ship fires another rocket. I swerve to avoid it and shoot at the cannon. My blasts fly down the cannon and blinding explosions rock the left side of the center airship. It lists dangerously to the side, and a few more shots from the pilots in the right flank finish it off.

A few whoops echo through the commlink as the entire ship becomes a ball of fire.

"Don't celebrate yet," I warn. "There's more coming."

The new ships target the left flank and several of our ships explode in balls of fire.

"Hold the left flank!" I shout into the microphone on my headset. "Close the gaps!" the phalanx tries to cover the holes, but our forces continue to deplete in fiery explosions.