The sky erupted in a cacophony of thunder and shattering light. Spiritual cannon fire—massive orbs of condensed elemental energy—began to rain down on the Invictus from every direction. The dark fleet of Captain Iron Hand moved with the practiced grace of a wolf pack, circling the wounded titan and striking at its exposed flanks.
"Launch the escorts! Burn them out of the sky!" Elder Xuan Ni roared on the bridge, his face purple with indignation.
The few remaining 500-meter escort ships—less than a dozen in total—swarmed out from the Invictus's docking bays. But they were crippled and outnumbered. The black ships of the pirates focused their fire, their boarding harpoons and spiritual arrays tearing the smaller vessels apart before they could even form a defensive screen. Debris fell into the ocean below like burning stars.
