Chapter 13; Her final address
They had arrived, and the work had begun.
Upon arriving at their destination, Khagaan had discovered the reinforcements from Harvest Base already waiting for them, with the exception of the air units that were not quite ready as of yet. Those too would be deployed to her as soon as possible. She had wasted no time in forming the bulk of the ready reinforcements into a large combat patrol force to protect the rest of her fleet, keeping only a detachment of anti-air units for her own carrier. Replacement crews were distributed between the Ashoka and the available production to be ready to man fleet units as they were produced. As soon as they had arrived Khagaan had committed her salvager units to breaking down and harvesting the artefact wreckage strewn all across the valley while those of her forces capable of unit production were churning out fresh fleet assets as fast as possible. Time was of the essence now. Every minute spent working meant they were that much closer to being ready to leave and regroup with their fellows. Each new ship produced was one more she could commit to the battle should the enemy carriers manage to engage them before they had had time to finish. One of the first things they had managed to accomplish since their arrival was to finish the repairs to their EMP weapon. The weapon was now operational and ready to fire on demand. This already made Khagaan a bit more confident about the battle she was sure was coming. It was good to have a weapon of such potency in their arsenal. It would certainly be needed.
It was around midday, as Khagaan was intently studying their fleet inventory and ship registry, monitoring their progress, that things started happening.
"Lady-Protector, I'm detecting a hostile class two contact at the extremity of our sensor range, north of our current position and approaching. ID systems indicate it's the Sakala." Harkath reported from his station.
"Here they come…" Khagaan said to herself. "And the Kapisi, where is it located?" she asked next.
"Nowhere within our sensor range currently. All I'm getting is the Sakala." Harkath replied.
"Curious… what are they up to?" Khagaan wondered, frowning. She was not exactly a fan of having an entire enemy carrier fleet unaccounted for.
"This might well be the beginnings of a pincer movement." Arraesh offered.
"You could be right." Khagaan agreed. "If so then we can't afford to be caught in between. We have to move forward and engage, drive them off."
Khagaan considered as another possibility occurred to her: "Although, this might as well be some other kind of trick. Our salvage operations aren't complete so we can't take them with us if we engage the Sakala. They could be trying to pull us apart so they can destroy us in manageable sections."
"We'd best leave a strong rearguard to protect our resourcing operation." Arraesh said, nodding thoughtfully. "If the Kapisi presents a threat, they should be able to hold long enough for us to disengage from fighting the Sakala and regroup our assets. It's risky, but I think it's our best option at the moment."
"Good." Khagaan said turning her attention to the list of her available ships, considering which she should take with her and which to leave here.
"Kennae, relay the following to the fleet: Our currently available locally produced units and the anti-air ships from Harvest Base are to follow us out to engage the Sakala fleet. All other units are to remain here and protect our resourcing and construction efforts. Our production cruisers and salvager are to be defended first and foremost, in that order of priority. I want escorts assigned to each individual cruiser and a large security patrol assembled to be ready to counter any enemy offensives. Production cruisers are to continue manufacturing new units as fast as they are able. And if the Kapisi shows up, tell them to yell and we'll come running."
"Understood, relaying orders." Kennae said.
With that the Gaalsien gathered their forces and set off to face their arch-nemesis once again. As soon as they noticed the Gaalsien approach, the Sakala turned around and retreated. With the security situation with their resources attended to, Khagaan felt confident in ordering a pursuit of the enemy. The possibility of the Siidim leading them to an ambush by the Kapisi did cross her mind as they chased their enemy down. "If that is what they plan, then so be it." She thought to herself. "I will deal with that problem when I encounter it. I won't turn away from this fight because of fears of what the enemy might do."
Eventually the Salkala fleet stopped retreating, regrouping into battle formations and turning to face them. Soon combat exploded all over the battlefield the Faagani had chosen. The Siidim commander was good, and he had the advantage of greater numbers and air superiority besides. For all that he was far too obvious and far too inflexible in his tactics. He relied primarily on direct attack waves of battle-, support- and siege cruisers accompanied by small groups of lighter units for tactical flexibility. Khagaan countered those with several small, quick-moving teams of railguns, attacking from multiple directions so as to prevent a concentrated response from the enemy. If the enemy tried to sortie LAV's to destroy the railguns they could easily retreat to defensive position consisting of a mixture of assault ships and skimmers, whilst anti-air units were scattered amongst all assets to pick off enemy air units. Artillery or air units of her own would have been useful support option in a situation such as this, but sadly she was currently lacking both.
When an assault wave failed, the Siidim retaliated with intense air attacks and cruise missile strikes, causing enough disruption for them to regroup and launch a fresh wave against the Gaalsien. Realizing early on that the enemy was intending to claim victory through attrition, Khagaan did what she could to minimize casualties on her side, taking care not to commit her forces to dangerous spots needlessly. Remembering her earlier experience with cruise missiles from Juno base, she kept her carrier moving around as much as possible with as much power shunted to the engines as possible. For that same reason the rest of her fleet was ordered not to approach the Ashoka unless absolutely necessary. No sense in providing easy targets after all. Sadly these precautions meant that the Ashoka was largely unable to participate in the battle directly, forced to rely on their fleet to carry the day. Fortunately it soon became clear the Siidim were tripping on their own arrogance, as ever. They frequently overextended their assaults, pushing into the Gaalsien line because she allowed it, only to then find themselves cut off from their friends, surrounded and promptly annihilated. Fighting this way the Gaalsien were soon on even footing with their enemy on terms of numbers.
As the battle raged, Khagaan's attention was drawn to the enemy resourcing operation located some distance behind the Sakala, working on a particularly large piece of starship wreckage. The tactical value of this operation was significant, seeing as how the Siidim were aggressively processing the wreckage to produce fresh ships for their fleet. With their attention on the main battle, the enemy had left their resourcing operation largely undefended, with only a handful of units stationed nearby for defense. Apparently the enemy was relying on the Sakala to defend their harvesters, as the carrier was lurking near the main approach to the site. In that, however, they had neglected to watch a smaller passage between nearby cliffs of jagged rock, conveniently shielded from visual detection and even short range scanners if one wasn't paying attention…
"Harkath, do you have strike formation 3 on your sensors?" Khagaan asked, referring to the force she had been slowly sneaking into position, taking advantage of the distraction of their enemy, keeping a keen eye out in case the enemy spotted their attempt.
"Yes, Lady-Protector, they seem to be almost in position." Harkath replied.
"Good, they are on schedule." Khagaan said, nodding. To reduce the chance of being detected, strike formation 3 had been given their orders in advance along with a timetable to follow, and sent out with strict orders to maintain radio silence until they attacked. Until then, they were on their own.
"Any sign the enemy is aware of their presence?" Khagaan asked next.
"Negative." Harkath answered.
"Good, very good." Khagaan looked at the time: "And the attack should be beginning right about… Now!
And true enough, her units moved forward, startling the enemy as a mixture of assault railguns and assault ships suddenly descending on them, guns blazing. Khagaan watched the ensuing battle on her display, seeing the red markers representing enemy units begin to disappear in rapid succession. The actual fight was over before it begun, with the few enemy defenders being wiped out in a matter of seconds. The salvagers and the support cruisers tried to flee, but neither of those ship classes had been designed for speed, and soon they too were overtaken and destroyed. The support cruisers were the last to go, finally succumbing to the relentless heavy fire of the assault railgun. In under two minutes it was all over. A large group of enemy vehicles broke away from the main battle, ready to retaliate. The Sakala too moved in, turning its massive bulk around, heading to repel an offensive already concluded. They were all too late as her units turned around and retreated back the way they had come, their mission concluded in resounding success.
Khagaan smirked.
"Tut, tut, tut, you left your salvagers vulnerable. Careless of you. Now it has cost you your production capabilities in their entirety." Khagaan said, mocking her opponent remorselessly.
It seemed that Sajuuk had an incredible sense of ironic timing, for it was in that very same instant that Kennae gave a rather startled report:
"Lady-Protector I have just received an emergency transmission from our resourcing operation. The Kapisi has appeared in their area and engaged with overwhelming force. Our units report heavy casualties and a rapidly deteriorating situation. They request our assistance immediately."
"Damn." Khagaan said, springing to action immediately after: "Jiire, get us back to our salvaging operation on the double! Command to all units, disengage and head back to the resource operation site! Enemy presence has been identified at target location, so all units are to maintain battle-readiness! I repeat, disengage and return to our resourcing site at once!"
"I knew it! I knew they were up to something!" Khagaan cursed as her orders were carried out.
The Gaalsien turned and left with great speed, removing themselves from the clashes they had been fighting only moments ago, firing hasty salvoes at the enemy to dissuade them from following. The enemy nonetheless regrouped and tried to give chase, but the Gaalsien were soon able to outpace them. Treads and wheels were no match to hover technology after all.
"Kennae, we need to keep the enemy from coordinating their response to our redeployment. Is there any way you could disrupt their communications?" Khagaan asked as soon as they were in the clear.
"I could fill the channels we know of with static. It would sever their long range, carrier-to-carrier communications. It won't last and it's unlikely to affect the local channels that operate on separate frequencies, but it's the best I can do." Kennae replied.
"Do it then." Khagaan ordered. "It will buy us more time at least. And keep me updated on the status of our defenders. And contact the interceptors we are supposed to receive, get me an ETA."
"I hope we are not too late to fix this." she added quietly to herself.
Travelling at headlong speed as they were, it did not take them long to reach their original positions. What greeted them there was a grim sight: their entire resourcing operation along with all the defenders committed to them were gone, only wrecks remained. It appeared that not even the considerable forces placed here had not been enough to stop the faagani, not even with the help of the ships they had had time to manufacture. Sitting amidst all this devastation was the huge bulk of the Kapisi and a sizeable Coalition fleet. Additionally the enemy had clearly been busy doing their own resourcing operation, committing further heresies by blasting open sections of artefact wreckage draining many of the remaining useable material in the region. The enemy had massed together and were clearly ready for their arrival. Kennae had apparently been correct in estimating that their attempt to disrupt enemy communications would not be entirely successful. Khagaan could not help but feel a slight sense of dread as she took in the situation.
"Um… Captain-Defender, a tactical recommendation?" she asked Arraesh, talking in a hushed tone so as to not de overheard.
"Is retreat a valid option?" Arraesh asked in reply sounding as concerned as Khagaan was.
"Retreat? To where?" Khagaan asked. "The Sakala can easily move to block our line of retreat now. And even if we got past them, what then? With both our forces depleted the Renza wouldn't fare any better than us, even with our help. And the rest of our forces are not yet in position. We could cause a whole chain of defeats for our side if we flee now."
"What about Harvest base?" Arraesh asked.
"Out of the question." Khagaan said at once. "I won't knowingly subject a base of such importance to the wrath of two large enemy fleets. Not while we have some fight left in us."
Arraesh sighed: "Then it seems we have only one choice. We have to engage and make do with what we have."
Khagaan nodded: "It's not the kind of answer I would have preferred, but it's the only one we can get." "We'll do our best to win this, and if the fighting gets too rough we'll take our chances on the retreat. At the very least we will be able to buy a little more time for our remaining forces to get into position." She decided.
With her mind concluded Khagaan went on to give the commands for the battle: "Command to all units, form up and prepare to engage the enemy. Heavy railgun squads, establish defensive positions on the ridge ahead. Use as many guns as you think you need to lock that approach down. Anti-air squadrons, ensure that the carrier's perimeter is clear of air threats. Any remaining salvage teams, if you can find additional resources, we're going to need every scrap. Everyone else, assemble a heavy strike force and mobilize against the enemy. Move fast and hit hard, unbalance the enemy fleet. Be advised that our reinforcements will be very limited, so avoid unnecessary chances. Our anti-air assets are critical to our defenses and maintaining control of the engagement, so we will be unable to commit them to support your assault. Be on the lookout for enemy air squadrons. Our carrier will serve as your fallback position if necessary."
"Lady-Protector, our air reinforcements just radioed. They estimate that their ETA is ten minutes." Kennae reported.
"Good- Very good." Khagaan said, trying to sound more confident than she was feeling. This was about as bad a situation as a military commander could find herself in. With almost all the resources in the region already collected and only limited materials in their cargo hold, she was essentially left with the forces already on the field. In return the enemy likely had significant resources leaving her badly outnumbered. If that weren't bad enough, there was a second carrier with at least as many ships and resources as the first one. So here she was, leading finite forces against effectively infinite enemies, with nowhere to retreat to. The sheer absurdity of the odds might have struck her as amusing if she hadn't been right at the middle of the said situation. Still, there were still things to be gained and if she played her cards just right her and her crew might still make it out alive. If she could remove even one of the enemy carriers from the fight and then retreat, she could grudgingly call today a victory. It would need some serious risk-taking, but half-measures now would only get them all killed.
"Assault wave formed and ready to deploy." she heard her radio announce.
"Move forward and attack. Make it count." she replied.
It did not take long for her strike force to make contact with the enemy. At first it looked like he forces might just have a chance as they exchanged intense fire with the enemy, downing several opponents. Then the enemy air force arrived. Wave upon wave of fighters arrived, ripping at the Gaalsien force with missile. A pair of bombers also flew over the battlefield, taking out entire squadrons with the bombs they dropped. The intensity of the air assault soon broke the momentum of the Gaalsien offensive, sending them fleeing back towards the carrier, while the Coalition fliers mercilessly hunted down as many of the survivors as they possibly could.
"Anti-air units, move forward and rally with our defensive units, give our retreating forces some cover fire." Khagaan ordered, cursing in her mind the failed offensive. It had been her best chance to turn this around. A few moments later she noticed that the anti-air units were still in their original positons, making no effort to move forward.
"Command to all anti-air call signs, did you receive your orders? Move forward and support our units. Please respond to confirm transmission reception." She asked after she noted the odd behavior of her units, thinking that there had been a failure of communications.
"Anti-air responding. Command, there is a significant risk to the carrier. It's probably best if we stay back and cover the carrier." She heard the reply come in.
"We'll be fine. Now get to work before they destroy the defenses on the ridge." She answered, slightly annoyed that she had to give the same order twice.
"With all due respect, I don't think you appreciate the risk you are taking." The person on the other end of the radio told her, sounding remarkably condescending. "You saw what the enemy air forces were able to do. The carrier cannot be risked against…"
"I decide what the carrier can or cannot risk!" Khagaan interrupted, angry at the other persons tone and unresponsiveness. "And this isn't a discussion! You have been given a direct order and you will carry it out!"
The officer on the other end of the radio practically exploded: "NO! YOU'RE OUT OF CONTROL, GIVING US STUPID ORDERS THAT WILL GET US ALL KILLED! IF WE GO OUT ON THAT RIDGE THEY'LL KILL US TOO, AND YOU SOON AFTER!"
"We'll all die if you don't do your bloody job! For the last time, do as you are told!" Khagaan shouted back. She had heard the tone in the voice that had answered her. She had heard the crippling fear that stood in the way of action, the irrational accusations of a person who had lost control of himself and was looking for scapegoats. It was clear that the squadron commander was panicking, at the worst possible time no less. When she didn't get a reply immediately she decided she had heard enough:
"That's enough, you're relieved! Whoever's second in command there, take charge and execute your orders at once! Do you understand?" She commanded. Instead of a reply she received nothing, not even static. Puzzled, she turned to Kennae for explanation.
"Lady-Protector… they've cut communications." Kennae said in disbelief.
"What the…? The fuck they're playing at!?" Khagaan exclaimed, angry. "Get them back on the line right now! I don't care how you do it." She could not believe what was happening. Sajuuk be her witness, this would be the last time she would ask for help from these Harvest base fools. Such gross incompetence! Why did they have to do this now? Why now, when it mattered most?
Next she contacted her other units: Ridge defenders, fall back to the carrier! There has been a complication, your position is compromised! I repeat, fall back to the carrier!
"It's too late…" Arraesh said quietly, his gaze locked at something outside. Khagaan glanced in the same direction and saw what he meant. The enemy had already noticed the lack of air defenses, and had moved to capitalize on this advantage. On the ridge, a second wave of enemy fliers was attacking her defending units, having already killed many. Those that remained were only now moving to follow her orders, but it was already becoming clear that many of them would not be making it. In moments, the path to attack her carrier was torn wide open.
"Sands…" Khagaan gasped.
"Enemy ground units detected. Enemy assault wave incoming." Harkath reported next.
"Where are my air units?! I need them here yesterday!" Khagaan shouted, anxious.
"According to the last ETA they reported, they should be arriving within our detection range momentarily." Kennae answered.
"Confirmed. Allied air units now entering our sensors range. Vectoring their way towards us." Harkath said.
For the briefest instants Khagaan dared to hope again. With sufficient air assets in her control, she might restore some semblance of control for this situation. Victory no longer seemed likely, but perhaps she might at least arrange a relatively clean getaway for what was left of her fleet. And then Harkath went and snatched that small sliver of hope away:
"Wait a minute… hostile anti-air units on flier approach route! Allied units taking fire, heavy casualties" he shouted his alarm.
"Air squadron! Take evasive action and find alternative route, right now!" Kennae tried to warn them, only to fall deathly silent, apparently because she had received no answer. She tried to ask for a response, sounding more desperate with every word she uttered: "H-hello? Air squadron? Respond, please. Please? Oh no. Oh fuck. I think they're all dead."
"They were waiting for them…" Arraesh said in disbelief. "How could they be waiting for them!? How did they know? How good are those sensors of theirs!?"
Before he could say anything else, Harkath spoke up again: "Enemy ground forces engaging our carrier. Orders?"
"F-fire back! Every damn gun we've got! Engineering, transfer power to weapons and armor!" Khagaan ordered hastily. The Ashoka unleashed the full range of its firepower, missiles flying and guns chattering. But the enemy was simply too numerous to be seriously affected. Gun shells and railgun rounds began impacting on their hull, tearing at the armor. The additional power shunted to the active armor layers was helping, but not nearly enough to survive such a volume of fire. Khagaan found herself wishing she still had the long range missile system available. Such a weapon would be invaluable in a situation like this. Alas, no such luck.
Her anti-air units finally responded to the developments of the battlefield, scrambling in a panicked fashion to counter the enemy ground units with whatever means they had available, only to then be promptly gunned down by the enemy. The remaining combat ships of her fleet were wiped out next, then her salvagers. With the airspace now completely clear for the enemy, the hostile interceptors, using their missiles, cleaned the field of the remaining Gaalsien, then turning to add their firepower to the already hellish barrage thrown against the Ashoka. As her carrier began to disintegrate, Khagaan bit her lip, trying to think of a solution. She needed to work fast now, her life and the lives of her remaining crew were likely measured in seconds. "Fire the EMP." She announced her decision.
R'kath tried to protest: "Lady-Protector there are still some allied units on the field, inside the blast radius. If we fire now…"
"FIRE THE FUCKING EMP! NOW!" Khagaan exploded, now utterly frustrated her orders weren't getting through. That had cost her an entire battle, and she was not about to put up with any more of it today.
R'kath nodded hastily and turned a switch to trigger the weapon. An enormous flash of blue light emanated from the carrier, followed by a shockwave of the same color that shut down every machine in its path save the carrier itself. Being in the clear for the moment, Khagaan reacted almost immediately: "Jiire, move us out, take us to the far side of the battlefield and find me another resource cluster. New orders will be given on arrival. R'kath, begin recharge of the EMP weapon."
"Understood, moving out." Jiire replied, and the carrier lurched into motion once again, swaying and lurching as it went as the hover pods struggled to keep them aloft, many of then having been damaged or destroyed only moments before.
"EMP weapon is now recharging." R'kath announced.
As they moved out Khagaan slumped in her chair, feeling a wave of tiredness and desperation wash over her. They were one unit now, and they were in bad shape. Worst of all she didn't have a plan anymore. When she had promised new orders upon arrival, she had lied. She could not see a way out of this. They could not flee, and they definitely could not fight any longer. She had never felt so disgustingly helpless, so unable to control her own destiny.
"Arraesh, please make sure that all data in our computers that could be of value to the enemy is properly destroyed." Khagaan said, closing her eyes. Arraesh said nothing in response, he simply gave her a grim nod, and set to work immediately. Clearly he too understood the reality of the situation.
They didn't get very far before they discovered the Kapisi waiting for them. The two carriers engaged each other as they passed, filling the space between them with shells and flying missiles. It was an almost surreal sight to see these immense mobile fortresses tearing at each other both doing their utmost to kill the other one. Due to the Ashoka's already damaged condition, the Kapisi more or less emerged victorious from this duel of the colossi. The enemy units affected by the EMP had apparently recovered far faster than Khagaan had hoped, for a number of them appeared in pursuit, ripping apart the rear of her carrier with every gun they could bring to bear. It also appeared that the northerners were not done spamming airstrikes, because a new wave of strike fighters emerged from the bowels of the, throwing yet more missiles against the Gaalsien carrier.
Just as they had managed to get past the Faagani carrier, her chief engineer contacted her: "My lady, our main reactor has sustained critical damage and is destabilizing. The automatic systems are getting overwhelmed and the manual mechanisms are either too damaged or destroyed to be engaged. We cannot contain the reactor any longer. A plasma cascade is imminent. I'm sorry ma'am. The ships dead. She's dead. I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault." Khagaan said calmly, tired admission of defeat in her voice. She turned to her second in command: Arraesh, please sound the general evacuation." Next she turned her radio on one last time: "Command to any units remaining on this frequency, disengage and seek to regroup with other allied formations. Avoid contact with the enemy, do not engage, do not engage. I repeat, disengage and retreat to other allied forces."
As the evacuation alarm began sounding all over the ship Khagaan bowed her head. "You should leave, all of you." She said to the crew on the bridge. "I'll stay and ensure that nothing else goes wrong today."
"With all due respect," Arraesh replied "I believe I speak for all of us when I say we are going nowhere."
Khagaan turned her head to look at him. "There's still a chance of survival for the rest of you. The Coalition…" she began to say before she was interrupted by Arraesh:
"If they catch us they'll interrogate us, and none of us are willing to betray our kiith. Given our likely options at the moment I think we'd rather choose the quicker ending."
Khagaan smiled sadly. "While I'm vexed by this continued insubordination, I applaud the bravery of all of you, as well as your loyalty. You are a credit to our kiith. Nevertheless, should any of you have second thoughts, I won't condemn you for it. Leave or stay at your own judgement."
Not one of her crew left their posts. Khagaan smiled again. She was proud of them in this moment, truly she was. This display of loyalty was more than she had any right to expect.
"Well, since you decided to stay and watch the fireworks, - her joke caused a few nervous laughs on the bridge- Kennae, contact the enemy carrier. There is one last thing I want to say to them." she said, setting her grief aside for a moment, adopting her coldest manner and donning her most official face. Then she went on to give her lass address to the enemy, ignoring the fact that her carrier was falling apart all around her:
"You have proved a worthy opponent, but let your joy be tempered with the knowledge that your death is inevitable." She wanted to impress upon them the gravity of their actions, wanted to show the northerners that they had killed a real person of flesh and blood rather than a faceless foe, and so she lowered her hood and took off her helmet, allowing them to see her face for the first and last time, before she spoke again: "There can be no peace on Kharak, so long as your people pursue a path to the stars." Then there was an explosion on the bridge, and the darkness of unconsciousness swallowed her.
Khagaan woke to an insistent mechanical voice in her ear: "Alert. Plasma cascade in progress. Evacuate immediately."
As her senses returned to her she realized that she was sprawled over her console. From the sounds of it she couldn't have been unconscious for very long. For the moment she was still alive, if you could call this life. Every inch of her was hurting, particularly her left arm, twisted as it was into an impossible angle, something white sticking out near the elbow. The air was unbearably hot and growing hotter, fire and smoke everywhere, and in the corner of her eye she saw that there was a blue glow behind her, growing brighter and brighter with every passing moment. As she picked herself up, she realized that her right hand glove was stuck to the surface of her console. She had to forcibly tear her glove away, leaving behind long strings of melting plastic. She was alone on the bridge, everyone else was dead: Arraesh, Jiire, R'kath, Kennae, Harkath, Ziel and all the rest. She could see their bodies all around her, but she didn't want to look at them. She wanted to remember the as they were alive, not as…
"Alert. Plasma cascade in progress. Evacuate immediately." Her console kept repeating, until the heat began to melt the circuitry, the voice becoming distorted and gaining an eerie note before fading away: "Alert. Plasma cascaaade iiiinnnnprrrrggrrsss…."
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. Sorry for everything." Khagaan said, tears streaming from her face. She wasn't exactly sure who she was apologizing to. There were so many who she had failed in her last moments. Herself, her crew, her father, her kiith, Sajuuk…. Sands take it, in some ways she had betrayed the Faagani too, by allowing them to continue on their path to self-destruction.
"I'm sorry…." she said as the ends of her hair caught fire and rapidly expanding burns formed on her face, before a tongue of blue light reached her, annihilating her. Moments later the Ashoka came apart, exploding in a huge blue mushroom cloud, leaving behind only several large pieces of her hull on the glassing sand.