Millia staggered by XHEAP

Without a Valkyrie holding the hand of a XHEAP missile, it was nothing more than a dumb ballistic projectile with minimum inertial guidance, and one that cost as much as an entire fighter jet squadron.

Sixteen of the powerful missiles screamed into the air at Millia, leaving white hot plasma in their wake as they cut through the air. Emily only had the means to guide four XHEAP missiles at a time, but at a range of just sixty kilometers, even one direct hit would be enough to decide the fight.

Millia spun, pulling into a dodge as fast as she could. She desperately poured out intercepting fire as she strained to dodge out of the maneuver cones of the missiles, cannon rounds and plasma flying thick from her frame. Two missiles were knocked off course by direct cannon round hits and another was struck by a plasma bolt, but shrugged off the strike with its heat shield. However, none of the three disrupted missiles were of the four that were being actively guided.

Nine missiles missed, five by a large margin, three by less a hundred meters.

One missile spiked into the center of Millia's Impeller field and detonated in a flare of multihued light.

"Direct hit! Is the match over?"
"No. Not yet, but it will be soon."

Millia tumbled from the fireball, Impeller barely intact.

Post 19