All three began sending powerful beams of white light toward the units, each easily over ten feet in diameter. At first Alkon worried that they were damaging the equipment and even killing his men, but no harm was coming to either. The Daijuar were holding to their code, for now. But even if they did not kill any soldiers, by helping a city face up against an army, they were essentially letting one side gain more kills. Through their defence, they were condoning murder. Alkon spat at the hypocrisy.
‘They appear to be moving our tanks backward,’ said Liet.
‘I see that,’ said Alkon. ‘That is a feat that requires a lot of power, is it not?’
‘One would assume so,’ Liet agreed, equally as confused.
‘And what good can come of moving our vehicles back so little? Are they simply demonstrating their power as a warning?’
‘I do not know,’ said Liet.
‘Then let us return their gesture. Bring the cannon forward,’ Alkon ordered, and from his right came the Equan device, moved on the back of a small truck that Ethan had designed to accompany Alkon in this battle.
The truck sped toward them on the fringe of the wheat field, and then made its way right up to where Alkon was standing. One of Ethan’s scientists jumped out of the vehicle and immediately began to prepare the Equan Plasma Cannon to fire. It was the largest pulse unit Alkon had seen yet, and he became anxious to see how the Daijuar would fare against it. He had heard the sniggers and doubt behind creating such a weapon by the few that had learned of it, but he wondered what their faces looked like now that they were right in front of three Daijuarn sentinels. Even he had loosely believed that the Daijuar were no longer a threat. It was a surprise to him to see them. Thankfully he had chosen to take all possibilities into account and was prepared, even here in a battle he had not planned to fight.
Within less than a minute, the cannon was ready, and Alkon gave the command to fire.
The cannon’s coils and tubes lit up as its laser was aimed at the dark-haired Daijuarn woman in the centre. She seemed to become aware of the disturbance, as she no longer directed an energy beam at the tanks, but ignited a dull shield around herself. The cannon then fired with a blinding flash, a purple and orange bolt being sent at her, and her shield became almost solid white so that she could not be seen behind it. Alkon and Liet both used binoculars to watch, amazed by how far Ethan had managed to get the pulse to fire with a sustained burst. They then saw that the shield was weakening as it became slightly clear again, but she was also managing to hold the force of the cannon back with a concentrated beam of her own energy.
Alkon looked at the power monitor on the cannon. It had been firing for thirty seconds and was still above half full. He grinned, as he believed the Daijuarn woman would fail long before the cannon had lost its charge.
But just as the woman’s shield was weakening to nothing, a second shield became apparent, and the two Daijuar that had flanked her were now racing to her aid. For a moment it seemed they would help her as well as the one now standing behind her, but instead they used their powerful beams to push back the two tanks on either side of Alkon and the cannon. There was a low groaning heard under the fiery bursts of the cannon, and then all went quiet, the cannon losing its charge earlier than expected, and the tank engines that had been started in anticipation of battle also going silent.
‘What happened?’ asked Alkon, ignoring the Daijuar now carrying the collapsed woman back into the city walls.
Liet tried to find out via his communicator, but found it was no longer functioning.
Kobin Guyde appeared at their sides, having seen the Daijuarn display.
‘They have technology you do not,’ he said. ‘They moved your vehicles for a reason. I suggest you look in front of each. I would suspect that whatever was underneath them is the reason any electronic equipment has now been made redundant. Your tanks are no exception, it seems. It would be wise to retreat.’
Alkon and Liet glanced at one another, and then Alkon raced back into the bands of units until he was able to find working equipment. He grabbed a communicator from the closest soldier and then issued his commands.
‘Mission confirmed, proceed as planned. Attack sequence two-one, seven-six. Launchers, destroy the wall. Command post four, advance for post three protection. All units remain spaced, further disabling attacks must be avoided. Air units, you are clear to attack primary targets. Attack now!’
Soldiers ran forward past the vehicles in the disabled zones, while the still-functioning tanks and vehicles went with them. Fifty missiles were sent racing through the air over their heads, reaching the wall seconds later where massive deafening explosions blocked sight of the wall with smoke and debris. The smoke cleared revealing little damage to the wall, and it was clear that many of the missiles had missed their targets.