Judging purely by casualties per unit of time, the first three days of the Southern Heavenly Gate battle had been even more brutal than the three Battles of Sade.
Around the most magnificent Enlightener creation in the universe, second only to the Ring of Miracles, surging currents of turbid energy wove a hellish path through the void before the stargate. The annihilation that followed each explosion came in an instant, like notes that flared into existence only to vanish just as quickly, forming a terrifying overture on one side of the Southern Heavenly Gate battlefield.
During the first three days of the war, both sides inflicted considerable losses on the other—though that was true in absolute numbers, not in proportion. The Imperial fleet had been inferior to the Outer Ring Fleet in the forces it could initially deploy. In theory, the Terrans could very well have blocked it outside the Southern Heavenly Gate.
At that critical moment, however, the Titan ship Vulcan Aiyan, shielded by the crystalline fragments of the Fortress of Unity, proved decisive. It remained active at the very heart of the fiercest fighting, using its sturdy armor and shields to withstand the Terrans' fire while picking off their high-powered gun emplacements one by one with precise bombardments.
Titan ships were indeed the most expensive technological creations in the history of civilization—strictly speaking, their price tag actually exceeded that of a Colossus, a weapon with a single function. But when it came down to it, they were supposed to serve as tanks.
As the youngest Imperial marshal apart from the members of the royal family, Marshal Farrell had always been renowned for his strategic acumen and his skill in military and political affairs. Now, however, he was showing the mettle of a great general.
This was only to