From the distance The Independence kept above Cheitov, the main form of attack it had available were high powered beam weapons or anything that created a large explosion. Accuracy was an issue for anything with travel time even if the individual weapon operators did their best to redirect the attacks along the way. Physical projectiles were basically useless unless enemy ships came for them- and weren’t intercepted by the rest of the fleet. There was one form of physical attack that was extremely useful, at least against stationary targets… like barriers.

One of a small number of the necessary pieces of ammunition was removed from its extradimensional storage and aimed down at the barrier protected warehouse district in synchronous orbit below. There was little special about the ammunition itself- it was basically an oversized dart of metal. It didn’t even have enchantments, due to the particular alloy being energy-resistant. It was also particularly dense, which meant its only other use was special plating on particular sections of The Independence or some mid-sized battleships. Here, it was used to form a ten meter long spike, which was then propelled downward.

Once released, it followed its intended trajectory with no additional maneuvering, picking up speed as it was affected by Cheitov’s gravity. A cone of flames formed around it as it began to heat up from entering the atmosphere, igniting the area around it with friction. Despite its speed, the attack was not considered quick by cultivator standards, though it reached speeds much faster than anyone could react by the time it arrived at the barrier. But anyone could have dodged an attack that took over a minute to arrive with no maneuvering involved, and it was quite obvious.

The cowardly or clever cultivators beneath the barrier had taken that time to remove themselves from the general area of its arrival. Those who were confident or incautious trusted in their barrier to protect them. The attack was obvious, and so too was the fact that it carried with it no natural energy to speak of. Cultivators had been conditioned to disregard attacks not imbued with natural energy, consciously or subconsciously.

It was to the credit of whoever was controlling that particular barrier that it was rapidly adjusted before the attack hit. That meant when the attack hit and the kinetic energy was bludgeoned into it that it was able to disperse it over the whole formation, leaving it cracked instead of the projectile piercing through and wrecking everything inside the barrier. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done about other coordinated attacks that arrived nearly at the same time. Anton’s arrows pierced small holes in the barrier that prevented it from taking the few necessary moments to stabilize, followed up by fire attributed Spirit Arrows.

Secondary barriers protected the warehouses, but they were meant more to deal with casual vandalism or street brawls, their effectiveness being nothing compared to the overarching barrier. Anton’s arrows found their way into warehouses stocked with wood, igniting them with supernatural flame. Some were treated to improve their durability, but not all parts of the enchanting process took place on Cheitov itself. They burned, and burned well. That was just one location- ships from the trifold alliance were already on their way to the surface, other cultivators launching their own attacks. They beat down the barrier as it tried to reform, some targeting the formations and others targeting the power sources, and with the defenses broken open it was inevitable that a superior force could keep the barrier down.

Perhaps the trifold alliance could have caused more widespread destruction if they split up- they had the potential power for that- but they wanted to not just cause damage but put on a show of invincibility. Hard fought victories would remind the Sylanis Cluster that the enemy could be beaten.

Troops marched on the starport next to the warehouses, commandeering or destroying the vessels there. The larger shipping vessels did not have interstellar drives and would not be able to keep up with the fleet, so they were the easiest targets for destruction. There were some examples of the more typical Sylanis starships they’d seen on the offensive, and nothing stopped them from taking them under their control- except those which were launched when the battle began. Most of those had been shot down, but the remaining vessels were perfectly usable by foreign cultivators.

There were sometimes ‘keys’ necessary for a vessel to operate, a formation core of some sort or at least a device that communicated with a formation whether it should be allowed to activate, though such measures made the overall formations more complicated and weren’t universal. Either way, the trifold alliance had captured enough of the vessels that they had ways to overcome the security measures given a bit of time or costly devices.

Everheart implied he had made one that could activate any of their ships, and Anton had no reason to doubt him. Even so, the man had merely watched the work of the trifold alliance as they put their heads together to come up with the solutions they had. That was good, since overly relying on Everheart was both lazy and dangerous. They needed more competent formation masters, not a bunch of minions who could only follow directions.

The local cultivators hadn’t been completely ready for the attack. Either they hadn’t heard about the attacks on Atania, which would be a massive failure in communications, or they hadn’t believed that the fleet could reach them so quickly. Or perhaps they’d just assumed that the fleet would leave after one success or pick a different target, but both of those seemed careless. Better to assume the alliance had been underestimated than to think their enemy completely stupid.

As the battle was settling down, Anton moved to the command deck of The Independence. He was there not because he was a part of the crew, but for ease of communication. General Nicodemo grinned at Anton. “They finally let a general like me step away from the gilded palace of home.”

“Shouldn’t you be called a fleet admiral or grand general or something?”

“Fleet general, maybe. We don’t really bother with old military ranks that split categories of officers by location. Too much confusion. Land forces have to go with the space fleets now and our terrestrial navy is only a backup for the orbital defense platforms.” Nicodemo shrugged, “But about our next target. Our scanners picked up a few different potential locations. To the southeast there’s a tempting target, but the energy readings are… significant.”

“Aridasa should be there,” Anton said. “He’s the local Worldbinding cultivator, and is no doubt fortifying the area as their most important facility.” As they were already above the main atmosphere, Anton’s senses were able to easily expand in the direction indicated to pick up necessary information. Barriers might conceal some things, but a Worldbinding cultivator would usually be obvious. There were exceptions, and Anton planned to steer well clear of anywhere they thought the few assassin-like entities would be. “If we’re serious about this, that should be our target. Especially while we’re still relatively fresh.”

Anton took a deep breath, drawing from one of the two stars in the system. Both, technically, but the second star was teetering on the outside of his range. Though that was already an improvement, since they were at the far edge of the system to begin with, dealing with planets in the outer ring. Anton would never get his maximum powers anywhere but actually next to one of his Assimilated stars, but he was learning to reduce the drop off. In their elements people like Carlitos and Aridasa would be stronger than him alone, but that was why he’d avoided engaging Worldbinding cultivators on his scouting run.

“That’s what I was thinking as well,” Nicodemo nodded. He pressed a button on his communications console that was very specifically marked. “Ty! Get back here.” Anton didn’t bother to pry into what the response was in Nicodemo’s earpiece, he could basically guess what it was going to be anyway. “I don’t care if they flew away with piles of wood or piles of gold! Finish catching up to the next one and then return to the fleet, we need you for the next offensive. You’re too far out, I’ll send you coordinates. Don’t get shot down.” Nicodemo sighed, “Honestly, that kid. Independent action is one thing, but he could at least stick to basic tactics.”

“If he did that, the enemy would be able to predict him,” Anton grinned.

“Oh, don’t you give me that. Or pretend that it would matter which thing he took apart. At least he’s recovering well. Would be nice for photos if he cared about his physical appearance, though. Still looks like an old man.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Anton raised an eyebrow.

“We already have you,” Nicodemo countered. “Having our scrappy young local hero look young would be better. But maybe it’s not just a complete lack of vanity that has him refuse to spend the effort there. He’s in the ‘scars are a reminder of when you failed to duck’ camp. Except it was an undodgeable pulse of energy.”

“I’ll bet you in a decade or two he can cut apart widespread energy pulses,” Anton commented.

“... No bet,” Nicodemo said. “Now then, we have to get in the stragglers.”

-----

Anton couldn’t see Aridasa, and his energy senses were only precise enough to pick out the important things at such a distance. Locations of limbs and the movement of the body. It didn’t matter if someone had a mole or a pimple or a scar as long as it wasn’t doing anything. Even so, Anton got the impression of the weight of age, partly from the man’s stance and partly from his aura.

The battle began with waves of attacks from both sides, with Aridasa making up a majority of the attacks coming from Cheitov’s surface. A great wave of thorns that filled the sky, far more than any ship they had encountered yet but still within expected tolerances for the man’s power. With all of those attacks being more or less the same, the stolen adaptive barrier technology minimized the damage to the trifold alliance’s losses. If the man wanted to take down their ships he would have to focus on a small number at a time.

As the thorns continued, they began to angle towards Anton. Given that he was just next to The Independence there was some chance that it was also a target, but many small attacks was the least dangerous option for the massive battleship. Anton considered what to do. He could pull back, as he was likely faster than the attacks. That would be fine, but it would slightly slow his own responses and allow the man to concentrate on others.

Instead, Anton charged forward, diving lower into the atmosphere towards the wide wall of thorns. They curved to meet him, but Anton found the weakest area and countered with dozens of his own arrows, blasting apart the largest of the spikes that were like small spears. Anton surrounded himself with fire, not willing to underestimate even the tiniest projectiles, not with a Worldbinding cultivator controlling them. They all burned up as he pushed through, and he had the feeling he’d made the right choice.

The Independence targeted the largest trees in the area, as they were the origin of the thorns. Attacking them would either require a defensive response or destroy them thus limiting the Aridasa’s ammo and perhaps the energy he could draw upon. The smaller ships, meanwhile, focused on either landing or supporting the Independence in the destruction of the trees.

Devon was keeping his presence to a minimum as he moved towards the ground, trying to appear weaker than he was. No doubt Aridasa could cause him great trouble if he focused on him, but then he would be leaving Anton free to cause what trouble he pleased. Finally, the Great Queen was… somewhere. Presumably being effective, but Anton didn’t have the luxury to pick out the points of nothing that could be anywhere within the airspace they were fighting over. Instead, he had to focus on the thousands or tens of thousands of thorns coming for him in a swarm.