Talk:AIF/@comment-32153776-20160606022309/@comment-10905876-20160703223401

As the additional Protoss ships exit warp, many of the ships hit by the ion barrage from earlier are beginning to restore their power systems. Blown fuzes are replaced, breakers are reset, and damage control crews wire in bypasses to burned out systems. One by one, the ships' weapons become operational again, allowing them to return fire. The newly arrived Colonial Fleet continues to fight the original fleet, though the two Chimaeras unleash a devastating broadside of Comet missiles at close range from their reloaded tubes.

The AIF ships however are not the only thing in orbit however. 60 Terran Type 1 orbital defense platforms, placed in geosync orbit above the Home Islands during the Sith War, decloak after being warmed up from minimum power. Six Protoss capital ships are targeted by the platforms, and their MK 6 MACs fire their massive slugs into the target ships. (your choice as to which ships zumwalt, but know that they'll be heavily damaged, from the barrage) The platforms then refocus their attention on other targets, launching 2,400 Comet missiles at targets of opportunity and peppering lighter ships with 53cm lasers.

Another force of cruisers, equal in size to the first group, warps in amongst the newly arrived Protoss fleet. Taking advantage of the fact that the Protoss have focused their heavy weaponry on the AIF battleships, the small warships take them by surprise. They unleash their missiles and guns at close range, targeting sensors and weapons while charging through their formation at high speed. Using tractor beams in addition to their thrusters, they slingshot off of Protoss capital ships, escaping on unpredictable vectors and causing small perturbations to the Protoss formation. Before the Protoss can return too much fire however, the cruisers and frigates blink away to regroup.

With the Protoss fleet already in orbit, and with many of the compromised bunkers already having been shut down due to collateral damage, the AIF troops begin to withdraw from them. soldiers abandon the lower levels, setting up barricades around access stairways and flooding the compromised levels with methane gas...

On the battlefield above, tank crews work to restart their vehicles, after the ion barrage. Meanwhile, fresh marine battalions from the advancing Battle Herd hit the Protoss ground forces from behind, while the walkers themselves continue to lay waste to the Protoss tanks, many of which are also affected by the ion bombardment from their fleet above. Meanwhile, the IKAF fighters continue to bring down the attacking starfighters, continuing to exploit their disadvantages from their large size and poor aerodynamics.