Explosions flashed among the stars. Under the endless firepower of both sides, the skies above Macragge became a blazing meteor shower, tearing the darkness of its orbit into countless fragments.
The two fleets tore into one another in this narrow stretch of space, successive flashes of gunfire illuminating the outlines of continent-sized hulls.
Now and then, terrifying gravity weapons hurled up a fragment of warship the size of an entire continent. Before that irresistible force, metal structures twisted and tore like paper, tumbling down into the chaotic battlefield.
Flames rolled across the fragments, painting broken keels and twisted decks a horrific orange-red.
Amid the mingled screams of crewmen and roars of weapons, the entire orbital space became an immense graveyard.
Ships shattered in collisions, engines died in secondary explosions, and countless souls were swept into vacuum and fire in the same instant.
The communications channel was filled with hoarse roars, unintelligible prayers, and fragments of last words cut short by explosions.
Half a second later, those voices fell abruptly silent.
Countless brave souls perished in the defense of Macragge.
Countless warships shattered among the stars, becoming vast wrecks drifting above a planet on the verge of falling.
They no longer had names, numbers, or the imposing silhouettes that had once belched gunfire.
All that remained was silent metal and endless stillness.
Gage had committed all several hundred capital ships to this battle.
Warships that had once patrolled the star clusters of Ultramar, protecting countless worlds, were now fed into a meat grinder called war, sacrificing themselves to slow the enemy's advance.
And the enemy they faced consisted of millions of Iron Hands Legion warships.
Those vessels filled the entire orbital space like a swarm of ants, stretching without end and blotting out the starlight.
This was not an evenly matched