Star Force: Revulsion (SF70) Read Online Free Page B

any
linguistics on them.”
    “I know. We’ll have to
make do when we get there, but once we start shooting the lizards I think our
intentions will be clear enough.”
    Krimja tapped one of
his appendages against a console, giving a familiar signal to his bridge crew
to carry out the order they’d just overheard. On his display screens the
battlecruisers immediately stopped firing and began a slow retreat up to higher
orbit as the lizard planetary defense batteries continued to paint one of their
shields with diffuse beams.
    “Drones are
withdrawing,” he confirmed, turning around fully as he stood up and looked down
at where the Archon was sitting reading through more of the scouting report.
“Are we going in alone or calling for support?”
    “Both. Dispatch a
courier ship with an update and get this data back on the grid. If they want to
send backup they can, but we’re not waiting. We’re heading straight there and
taking pressure off these guy as soon as possible. If we can save lives by
getting there a month sooner, we’re getting there a month sooner. Drop a few
monitoring probes on our way out. I want to see how they respond when we’re
gone. Schedule and log data retrieval before we jump out.”
    “Gladly,” Krimja said
as he walked back to his station and sat down, opening up the orders panel to
craft and file the necessary requests to be sent back onto the Star Force grid
with the courier as Mike continued to study the scouting report with great
interest. Though the circumstances would have changed somewhat since the time
this report data was collected and would change more during their travel time
there he wanted to get well acquainted with the party the lizards were throwing
for the locals before he crashed it.

 
    3

 
 
    February 22, 2826
    Aphat System (Unknown race)
    Inner Zone

 
    The Archer 7 pulled away from its
deceleration point in low orbit around the giant white star follow the pair of
warships that had preceded it as the sensor feeds began to get returns. There
was a small lizard fleet also in orbit around the star but some 36 degrees around
the perimeter. There were many jumpships among them and Mike instantly knew
this was either a troop or supply fleet holding station to resupply the lizard
forces assaulting the system, for they wouldn’t leave empty jumpships just
sitting around for months or years on end. They’d have a flow of supplies
coming in, meaning these were probably at least partially loaded.
    “Admiral, deploy drones
and have the Archer 13 come with us
and do likewise. Primary target is that nearby fleet while the rest of ours covers
the entry point. Bring us with the drones, we’re going to need the heavier
weapons.”
    “Navigator, plot and
execute course correction,” Krimja said as the Archon let him handle the
details while he studied the updating battlemap. “Drones stand by to detach
after we gain momentum. Comm , signal the Archer 13 to do the same and link them
in with our navigational control. I want a simultaneous jump and us riding even
with them. No lagging. The more time we take the greater the chance of those
ships running.”
    As the Bsidd sat down
at his command station the bridge crew got to work carrying out his orders. Two
decks below them there was a huge chamber filled with individual stations that
half of the drone controllers now sat in. The other chamber was located a deck
below and both were safely inside the central mass of the ship and very
difficult for weaponsfire to find. Every station in both chambers was filled
with Bsidd of varying types, all of which were soon to be assigned to some
task.
    Who went where and got
what assignment was the purview of the bridge crew who, as soon as the issue to
deploy came, assigned a pilot to each drone while another began feeding them
navigational coordinates so they could get underway. The ‘coin racks’ in the
back half of the ship began releasing the disc-shaped drones one at a time