Talk:P.A.N.Z.E.R./@comment-24142455-20161020014101/@comment-11135771-20161030194726

Earth

A series of flashes rippled through space as an EAF fleet composed of 12 Ashfalls, 20 Mantis IIs, and 38 Goshawk IIs dropped out of warp in wide formation at around 16,500 km/s relative to Earth, on a flyby trajectory which would take them past the planet with a minimum approach distance of just over 50,000 km.

Using telemetry fed to them via FTL comms from cloaked relaysats in orbit, the ships exited warp with weapons already trained on their desired targets. A wave of electrolaser fire lanced out from the bows of the Ashfall-class battlecruisers, targeting the largest of the Prometheus and Scarlet Republic vessels engaged in the battle over Europe with the intent of disabling the enemy’s most powerful assets immediately. Particle beams and pulse lasers from the rest of the Enceladus fleet followed, their trajectories plotted to strike the engines of a number of Prometheus warships engaging the AIF high in the atmosphere.

Then came the antimatter beams – the most lethal weaponry the EAF ships carried. Aimed primarily at the mid-sized vessels in the PC and SR fleets, the beams were capable of destroying most of their targets outright. Fighter squadrons defending the enemy ships fared nearly as badly – as the antimatter beams annihilated the air itself in their paths, they wreaked havoc on the atmospheric pressure. The combination of shockwaves and the creation and subsequent collapse of vacuum pockets caused by this was enough to literally tear the wings off aircraft in the general vicinity of the beams, while those farther away were knocked out of control.

Three of the antimatter beams (of 84 total fired) were targeted elsewhere. Two of the beams streaked toward the battle over Wales to strike the pair of Leviathan-class super dreadnoughts – the heaviest warships brought in by the PCCU. The last beam fell directly in the centre of the Prometheus surface fleet. As the beam made contact with the water, the shockwave from the annihilation reaction violently forced the sea away from the point of impact, tossing ships away. This effect was only worsened by the quantity of water which was flash-boiled into steam, creating a secondary blast.

In the instant before the entire barrage impacted near-simultaneously, a transmission was broadcast from one of the relaysats:

“In accordance with our membership in the UNSC, this is a formal declaration of war by the Sovereign State of Enceladus against the combined nations of the CCCP.”

And then the volley struck.

Just before the horizon obstructed line of sight between them and Eurasia, the Enceladus ships fired off one more barrage of particle beam and laser fire, this time targeting the CCCP and Prometheus ground forces in Italy and Wales.

Within mere seconds of exiting warp, the EAF fleet had completely passed by the Earth and was speeding outward past the Moon.