Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet—spears of seven-colored light thrust from the depths of space, piercing through the alloy warships like needles puncturing water skins, setting them ablaze and detonating them. In the vacuum, they burned brilliantly, blossoming into flowers of steel.
The iron rain, shimmering with gold and silver radiance, like teardrops sliding down in a downpour, like hailstones carried by the storm, punctured and tore through rows of fleets, shredding them into iron filings among the stars, turning them into garbage scattered across the sector.
Despite the fact that they had covertly built up their arsenal in deep space by purchasing decommissioned ships from the Citizen Fleet, dodging the armistice, and gaining a slight tactical advantage with unexpected surprise attacks.
