Spoiler (click to show/hide):
Tweaked the distance from above from 200 to 20 miles. Considerably more reasonable I think. Also, one of the ways that the Brights got to be in charge is this stunt, on a smaller scale. And Theresa's basically chucking nickle iron darts at about mach 10 into the noses of the enemy ships, not something they're really able to deal with. While it's more explicit now, one of the reasons the Eclan kingdom was able to build itself into the powerhouse it is was to use the Brights themselves once they got the Bow as a local defense and invest more heavily into economic growth, which gave them a leg up.
The power around Theresa becomes so dense that you can't hear anything else she might say, before she gestures with the Bow, a monstrous solid metal arbalest arrow, as thick as your thigh and almost as long as you are tall lifts off of a rack, slipping into the position for the kinetic strike. The main thing is the fact that she's got to be holding that thing almost flat with numerous lights flaring around it for Theresa to target with, rather than a normal arc, and you can't resist the urge to glance back a few times, although you do see your dragon bolt crumple the face of one of the ships. Shields go up at that point, nothing that impressive for you've seen, but you don't recall the locals having that particular set of spells. The occasional glance back shows the occasional bolt of lightning from the intense glowing form that is Theresa before you realize she's done charging and dart to one side, well away from her firing path. Barely two minutes into your flight, Theresa demonstrates why the Brights were unassailable before, even if none of your ancestors had the raw magical muscle Theresa did.
A bolt of solid lightning reaches out, smaller bolts branching off as the air is left burnt and scorched from the absurd speed ripping everything in front of it apart. One of the forward cruisers, a large beautiful ship marred by the well displayed colors of the Imperials flying it, has its shield reduced to splinters, the nose is smashed inward, before what has to be the arrow erupts two thirds of the way through the ship at an angle, large chunks of the ships armor coming with it. Flames burst out of almost every gap in the ships armor, and one of the massive lifting crystals ruptures, throwing lightning and wind out, the entire ship starting to drift downward, the rear engines the only things still laboring to keep the ship in the air. Loren has no experience with what you're seeing, but you can guess. The impact of that arrow must have gone through one of the main lift fuel tanks, spiking the pressure, rupturing every valve and safety attached to the lift fuel tank, resulting in high pressure fuel spraying into the surrounding areas, mixing with air, and igniting. The ship rains armored plates and structural chunks before you see the rear lifting drives wink out, whatever fuel they had expended already and the ship begins to fall.
You've seen a downed ship before, several of them. When the ship loses the ability to float properly, it begins to sink, either running out of power or losing too much fuel, it's still got enough lift to hit the ground slowly. The brutal impact of the absurd projectile Theresa fired on it stripped it of almost all of its fuel at once, so the thing no longer has lift gas at all. The ship... plummets to the ocean, less than a minute of air time all it gets without the enormous amount of fuel it took to keep it in the air. You watch the shockwave spread, the massive wave signalling the start of your chance as you study the battle group.
The central ship is the massive heavy ship, rigged with numerous support systems to keep all the other ships up and running, a common setup for most battle groups. Around it are five... well, four with a missing corner of a pentagon, around it of heavily armed and armored battle cruisers, built for slugging it out in sustained battles. One of these is the most likely tactical command, assuming it's not currently sinking into the ocean. Around it are a mix of pocket carriers and destroyers: lighter ships designed for speed and attacking other airborne ships, these are the most likely threats to yourself, as while the Hornet's lightning bolts are annoying, these are capable of similar lightning bolts, and getting hit with one of those would be... unpleasant. Trailing that are 'beaching' cruisers, most heavily armored on the bottom with large cargo bays full of troops, and... ah, there's what Theresa was worried about. More than a dozen ships drift lazily back there, all flying Eclan colors. They favor the hammerhead shape of the battle destroyers, ships that outgun battle cruisers, but with the speed and maneuverability of a destroyer, but sacrifice almost their entire storage space requirements, carrying no food, no sleeping quarters, and barely any spare fuel and armaments, so its deployment time is measured in hours instead of months. Those are the ships favored for home defense of the various islands, as their comparatively low cost and high performance means you can usually trade one for one against the much larger and more expensive battle cruiser.
Glancing over the ships, you notice something odd. The large ship, the one carrying all of the hornets ready to go, has a figure standing atop it, which you can almost make out through the haze of an incredibly thick shield. The nasty taste of Void magic is coming from there, but you also detect... ah, it's some kind of interdiction field to prevent anyone else from teleporting in. You could smash your way through the shield, it can't be that tough, although the last time you fought the Void Weaver, it was difficult, and if it's standing on top of a platform like Theresa, where it can just lean on the ships power supply, it's a much greater force to be reckoned with. There's also the trailing ships, the Void Weaver has to be controlling them somehow, and a sudden group of attack ships from behind would be a nice present.