John slammed into his command chair and pulled the interface up over him. Stevens had command of the base’s air forces; he would take the ground forces. “Four minutes and counting!” John yelled over the cacophony that filled the room.

“Two warthogs taking off now,” Stevens said from the other side of the room. “Our five Blackhawks are in the air. Though they’re only at half fuel. We didn’t have time to finish refueling them after they went on patrols.”

“What about the Harriers?” John asked. The Warthogs took off from the small dirt airstrip they had carved out. But the hardy close air-support jets were the only fixed-wing aircraft John wanted to risk putting in the air on the bumpy airstrip until it was properly paved. The single flight of Harriers, however, could take off from the six helipads that the fortress walls sported.

“Fueled and ready for takeoff. I’m keeping them grounded to save on fuel.” It wasn’t the incorrect decision John knew. It just wasn’t the one he would have made. Still, he wouldn’t second guess Stevens unless there was a serious problem. He trusted the man’s judgment. Stevens had plenty of ground pounder experience, but in his recent years, he was usually stationed with the army’s air units helping manage aircraft logistics. Not one of John’s strengths.

John left Stevens and the others to their work as they switched to the heavy armor and tank crews. Sending orders to get them ready for combat. It would only take a few minutes to get the tanks ready for deployment, but moving them out onto the field of battle would be a decision John would wait to do until he saw what the enemy brought with them.

“Section Commanders, this is General John McIntire. We have incoming hostiles through the pillar in T-Minus three minutes. When the timer runs down, artillery stations are green, repeat artillery stations are green to engage. Confirm order over.”

Each of the commanders came back with affirmative answers. “We’ll blow them to hell sir, just call the targets.” Boyed, section 6’s commander, said. He was the youngest and most eager to prove himself. As John closed the communications link to his commanders, the System sent him a prompt.

The Armies of the Dragon Emperor (Star Burners) have purchased an advantage against you. Penalty for your forces received: All automated defenses are shut down for 1 hour. All Weapons of Mass Destruction are neutralized for the duration of 1 hour. All magic users have their current mana pool halved, and regeneration stopped for 1 hour. Good luck human!

Shouts and cries of anger or surprise resounded across the command deck as commanders and leadership from all over the fortress called in to report their remote defenses had been deactivated. Auto turrets, C-WIS defenses, computer operated missile launchers, and most of the systems on vehicles like the M1-Abrams Tank and Blackhawk helicopters all refused to respond. John sighed, “Damn it.”