**Captain Nolan's Log, Supplemental**
**Discovery, Bridge recording**
**37 days after Rothgard's Fall**
The sky holds its breath.
On the bridge, the final seconds stretched into eternity. Every station was locked in focused silence, the only sounds the murmur of status reports and the soft chime of the countdown timer.
00:00:09
00:00:08
Nolan stood perfectly still, eyes fixed on the main display. Commander Voss stood beside him, tablet lowered. Princess Jasmine remained at the holo-table, her face pale in the blue light. Below on the launch deck, Raptor Squadron's twelve Switchblades sat poised in their cradles. Magnetic clamps gripped the specialized landing gear, holding the fighters in perfect tension as their engines idled with a low, hungry growl.
"Raptor Squadron reports final green across the board."
"High-altitude strike package standing by."
"All ground teams confirmed clear of primary target zones."
00:00:03
Nolan drew in a slow breath.
00:00:00
"Launch!"
The order rang across the bridge. On the deck below, the magnetic clamps released as one. Twelve Switchblades surged forward, engines flaring as they shot down the launch rails and into the void. They immediately split into three four-ship formations, burning hard toward the planet.
"Mark, coordinated missile strike T-plus ten minutes," A.L.I. announced for the record as Nolan watched the command table display, watching Raptor Squadron split and move to their first targets.
---
+00:09:40
On the rocky outcropping east of Rothguard, Garrick Thorne's group stood in tense silence. Lirien shifted nervously beside them, still confused by everything that had happened since the tannery. Mira Calder stood slightly forward, watching the distant city through a compact optic while quietly counting down.
"Ten… nine… eight…"
---
At high altitude, Valkyrie, Blackjack, Kaze, and Dragon held perfect formation over Rothguard. Their bomb bay doors and lateral launchers opened in synchronized silence.
"Raptor Lead. Doors open. All birds live."
"Blackjack standing by."
"Kaze has tone."
"Dragon ready."
T+00:09:57
"Ripple fire. Mark."
Dozens of hypersonic missiles rippled from the open bays and side launchers. Their motors ignited in brilliant white streaks, accelerating instantly as they plunged toward the city far below.
---
Garrick kept his eyes on the dark shape of the military dock and the warehouses beyond it. Darius and Elara stood ready, while Rylan's ears twitched at every distant sound. Tobin remained unusually still.
"Three… two… one…"
Mira lowered the optic.
"Zero."
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then the night sky tore open. Dozens of brilliant white streaks tore down from the upper atmosphere, moving so fast they left glowing trails across the darkness. They struck with terrifying precision. The first wave slammed into the Mana crystal storage nodes clustered behind the military district. The crystals detonated in a chain of violent, blue-white secondary explosions that lit up the entire western quarter of the city. The blast wave ripped through adjacent military facilities and smithies, reducing forges, armories, and supply warehouses to burning rubble in seconds. The second wave followed immediately, hammering the reinforced dry-docks and repair yards. Then the missiles found the harbor itself.
A massive capital ship still moored at the new berths took a direct hit. Its magazine exploded in a catastrophic detonation that split the vessel in half. Burning debris and twisted steel rained across the water as more missiles struck the empty troop carriers and supply ships waiting in their berths. One after another, the great vessels broke apart and began to sink, their shattered hulls and fallen masts choking the harbor entrance.
Within moments, the southwest quadrant of Rothguard had become a raging inferno. The military dock, once the pride of the Imperia's western supply line, was now a useless quagmire of burning wreckage, sunken hulls, and boiling water. No ship could enter or leave. The harbor was dead. Lirien stared, mouth open, eyes wide with disbelief as the military heart of the occupation was torn apart in seconds.
Garrick watched the destruction for a long moment, the orange glow of burning ships reflecting in his eyes. Then he turned, walked over to the stunned elf, and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. Lirien jumped. Garrick gave him a small, almost cheeky smile. "So," he said calmly as another massive explosion lit up the harbor behind him, "you still want us to meet the resistance?" Lirien could only stare at him, then back at the burning city, utterly speechless.