The Great Ship Walk - Part Three

The battle is still raging when the first signs of the Pattern are having an effect. Amidst the chaos and strife of battle where lives are being spent, a mirage of rainbow hues is draping over a section of the smoke and sky. The hint of an incomplete soap bubble of visual distortion curls from the sky to wrap a weird choke-hold around a swath of ships. It originates from above Ruby's forward position, and is probably her attempts to drag a portion towards Cibola, Friend and foe. Her Begman communication messages suffer a rapid degradation into unintelligent garble, the system losing its wig over the competing magick-power-ability use. She might have been trying to acknowledge Maggie before her particular transmitter went nuts. Ruby does her best to finesse a quick and rapid shift before the enemy can maneuver beyond her range. What she does wrestle with becomes more insubstantial looking, but it doesn't stop the hostilities.
The efforts to endure, confuse, glitter, carefully manipulate, conjure and corral are quite effectively done by all. Clive's squadron are unleashing a torrent of lightning hell on some sumptuous troop carriers after a gamble of navigation and positioning has paid off handsomely. Wynter's airborne flyboys and flygirls have come out on top of the sky battle, and now greatly outnumber the serpentine drakes, thereby controlling the air unless reinforcements suddenly appear. Lhasa's squadron have sammiched that white ship and blasted the black so good. Squishing and cannonfire raise quite a tally as she goes. Martin's own particular brand of style seems blessed by luck and his flair. There's a whole bunch of little things that add up to a barrel of positives to support his priorities.
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