Eric called Milano once the defenses were set up around the village. AT-4 teams were conducting checks of rocket counts, while Tanks and bradley teams cleared out areas near their vehicles. No one joked or smiled. Eric would catch soldiers occasionally looking north. The purple and green lights were getting closer to Esponia, and the soldiers were waiting with bated breath to see what would be coming from beyond the other side.

"Sir, defenses are set up. We are holding a perimeter outside and around the village. As was discussed earlier, we are approximately fifteen miles from Killeen. I have ISR in the air so we can get clear visual of what happens in the city."

Eric heard Milano sigh.

"Good job Master Sergeant. You kill that thing there. Throw everything we have at it. I don’t think I have to tell you what happens if you fail."

"Roger sir."

Milano hung up the phone, and Eric turned around to find Michael. A Staff Sergeant walked by. "Hey, have you seen Captain Stryer?" Eric said, still scanning for Michael.

"Roger. He should be in the West sector. There was some disconnect between a tank platoon and the paladins, and he went over to sort it out."

Eric blinked. "You’re kidding me, right?"

"Negative, Master Sergeant."

Eric sighed and dismissed the Staff Sergeant. He stood there, looking out at the horizon. It was now purple. It brought him back to a time he was in Alaska.

"Eric was a young Private First Class at the time. He had been sent to Fort Wainwright to support the unit with HUMINT operations. One night in the field, he was observing the sky and saw long trickles of light in the sky. Some were Green, some were purple. Others were a mix of the two. Curious, Eric did a google search on what the lights were. "Aurora Borealis." He murmured as he scrolled through the phone.

"Purple lights in a blue sky.... wait. Purple lights in a blue sky."

He then thought back to reports he had been receiving about how ISR and air assets would have their electronics impaired when near the Ark. One of the news crews from yesterday had been affected to the point they had to turn back to Austin.

Eric facepalmed. "Electro magnetic disturbances."

He grabbed the radio. "Command, this is Chaos actual."

Milano responded almost instantly. "Go ahead Chaos actual."

"Sir, I think the Ark operates partially off of Electro magnetic pulses and mana. I am sure you can see the alternating Purple and green lights. If we have a way to jam that, we may be able to bypass its mana shields."

There was no response from Milano for a few moments. Eric watched the lights get closer, a slow crawl of power pushing for Esponia.

Finally, the radio cackled to life.

"Chaos actual. We do not have enough information to verify your analysis. Proceed with current plan."

Eric sighed, looking up. "Roger."

A few hours later, the radio cackled again. "All units, be advised, the Ark has entered Riemskin territoy. I repeat, the Ark has entered Riemskin territory. Proceeding with Strike package 1Delta."

Eric referred to his notes. 1Delta was the preliminary B-2 strike. Milano had ordered the strike in the meeting the day before. They were hoping to see if they could break the shield or destroy the Ark completely with the B-2. The Ark moved slow enough that it was a legitimate target.

Eric watched on an ISR feed. The picture wad grainy, and the feed flickered as the drone got closer to the Ark. He held his breath as he counted down...

A black dot flew by at the top of the screen, smaller than the tip of a pencil on the feed he was watching. Other small dots fell from the sky, aimed directly at the massive Ark. Eric held his hands together in prayer as he kept his eyes peeled on the super structure. "Please work." He murmured.

The screen froze.

And he heard it.

Off in the distance, a sound similar to a roaring dragon reverbrated off the forest. A massive microburst of air followed the initial blast, and plumes of mana erupted everywhere. The screen came back online, and his radio cackled again.

"B-2 strike failed." The call came. "The Ark still stands."

Eric narrowed his eyes and looked for any damage on the Ark. The Spires were intact, and all the main weapons of the Ark seemed to be in working condition. But then... 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Interesting."

There was some debris in the back of the Ark. Crews began scurrying on the deck, scrambling towards the back of it to check on the damage. Eric leaned back in the seat on his truck.

"So it can be damaged by us." He murmured as he looked out towards the horizon. He fidgeted with his keys, twirling them in his hands as Michael walked up. Michael looked crestfallen. His face was darkened with doubt and worry as he joined Eric in the truck.

"The soldiers are worried. We are doing all we can do to keep morale up, but fights are breaking out, and everyone is at wits end. That last radio call out is not helping." Michael murmured as he unbuckled his ACH and took a sip of water from his camelpack. "Tell me you have good news."

Eric smirked. "I do. While it it true the Ark still stands and it tanked the hit, we did damage it. Naturally, it took an entire strike package, but things look a little better now. The plan hasn’t changed. We hit it with everything we have."

For the first time since they arrived at the village, Michael smiled. He exhaled sharply as he looked off in the distance. "Go ahead and destroy an empty city." The captain growled. "We will shoot that thing out of the sky and show you that we won’t just take your shit laying down like a bunch of obedient puppies." He growled.