General Roy Hsu opened his eyes and took in everything beneath him. Right now he was 100 femtoparsecs above the ocean according to his plating interface and the chaos of the battle below was mesmerizing. Hundreds of high speed collisions and beams of light brightened the night and illuminated the waters below. Gauging the distances between the dozens of enemies flying in tight formations below, Hsu tightened the straps connecting his uniform to his thruster packs. The many accolades and medals that he had accumulated over the years as a General twinkled, reflecting both the moonlight and the battle below. This was the first battle between the two world powers of Vjr and Av in over two months, and both nations thirst for victory.
Just 9 femtoparsecs from the battle, a rift had opened. These rifts, caused by an astrochemical reaction between the gasses released from the planet’s core, the ocean, and specific alignments of the stars above, were the reason the the nations of Vjr and Av warred. To put it simply they are a torrent of magical power and can be harvested from the air. After 36 hours, the rift dissipates into the the upper atmosphere where it will escape into the vastness of space. A magical power, measured in thaums, can only be collected from rifts while they linger above the ocean; because of this, rifts are highly contested. However, on this planet, there are only two nations that are advanced enough to utilize the power of the rift: Vjr and Av, named after the continents they each occupy. The continents of Vjr and Av are the only two on the planet, and vast oceans separate the two from each other. Smaller independant nations exist on various islands scattered across the oceans, but these nations lack both the military power and technology to contest Vjr and Av.
Hsu cupped his left hand and poured magical power into it. His plating recognized the command and mentally connected him to his team flying just above him. “Sora. Berwi. Keep the zoners off me. I’m going to dive.”
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“Sure thing General.” “On your mark.” Sora and Berwi each replied in turn.
Hsu now closed his left hand into a fist and as a result, power from his thrusters sharply cut off, dropping Hsu into the chaos below head first. Almost immediately, his plate interface lit up with multiple warnings of enemy fire on a collision course with him. Grinning, Hsu ignored them completely. Rapidly gaining speed, Hsu plunged like a bullet downward. Flashes of light surrounded him, each missing contact by mere attoparsecs. Sora and Berwi were “Catchers”, and their job was to divert zoner fire from Hsu. “Zoners” have the ability to draw upon magical energy from within themselves and project it into a laser beam. By doing so, they ‘zone’ their enemy, keeping them at a distance while picking them off. Unfortunately, catchers have no internal storage for magical energy. Instead, they can only manipulate energy around them by pushing or pulling on it. As such, a catcher can repel the zoner fire.
Hsu’s uniform pressed tightly against his body as he accelerated down. Closing in fast on the enemy, Hsu twisted his left hand and poured large amounts of magic into his right hand. His right thruster burst out with tremendous power, perpendicular with his body, causing him to spin clockwise with incredible speed.
The enemy formations shifted in preparation for Hsu’s onslaught. The blue armor plating of the Av military locked together, forming a tight wall of bruisers. These “Bruisers” are unlike both catchers and zoners, because bruisers have the ability to infuse objects with magical power, and therefore, considered the strongest of all three magic user types. A bruiser can infuse magical power into their bodies and weapons, which grants them unmatched speed, reflexes, and raw power.
As the distance between the enemy wall and Hsu closed, Hsu’s right hand exploded in a tempest of light. Still spinning head first, Hsu’s impromptu sword tore through the night.