Read Online Star Force: Evacuation (SF50) by Aer-ki Jyr - Free Book Online Page B

a few minutes behind the leading warships Paul saw
their sensor data on the battlemap and the Skarron units already in play on the ground.
    Not to mention a huge Nestafar fleet in orbit, with
Skarron ships elsewhere in the system, though primarily holding onto turf
around the other world that now seemed to be mostly under their control based
on orbit and surface readings being fed to them by Star Force scout ships
deployed there to assess ship numbers.
    “Alright, time to get to work,” Paul said, mentally
triggering the TF to being the dislodgement procedure from the Adamant , which Riona was on. As he did
so the warships alongside began disgorging their drones and deploying them into
screens as the Nestafar fleet started to come their way…but like clockwork the
first of the Voku ships entered a slightly higher orbit and kept some of its
forward momentum, blowing by the Star Force ships as the huge chrome bullet
began to disintegrate, with smaller pieces falling off it looking like sand
prior to large chunks breaking off, all of which gave the appearance that it
was dying a quick death at the hands of some invisible Nestafar weapon.
    But each of those chunks didn’t stay rugged. They
morphed into smaller chrome ships of various designs, all with smooth lines and
perfect hulls that shot off deeper towards the planet and engaged the Nestafar
head on, despite their superior numbers.
    They were buying time for the Adamant to drop its invasion troops to a landmass on the edge of
the ocean where the transports would start setting down. They had to secure the
area then hold it for the duration of the evacuation, but to do that they first
had to get down there and there was no time to waste. Give the Skarron ground
forces time to redeploy and you’d be in a world of hurt…something that Kip had
impressed upon Paul prior to their breaking up and heading to different target
worlds.
    Sending a signal to the Admiral and his bridge staff,
Paul ordered the Adamant lower into
the atmosphere and directly into the Nestafar fleet once the TF fully
separated. While the Voku made up the bulk of the firepower in this operation
he wasn’t going to sit back and let them take all the damage, especially
considering that their ships were all manned, tough as they were. To that end
the giant donut-shaped warship slid down into the Nestafar swarm and began
racking up ship kills as another Voku ship entered orbit and began
disintegrating into warship pieces that fell down into the growing melee.
    By the time the 3rd arrived the Nestafar saw that they
were in a world of hurt and pulled back before their numbers could drop below
the 50% mark, for the Voku were tearing them to bits.
    They began fleeing on separate vectors, clearing the
path that Star Force was hacking out down to the surface and moving off to
other orbits and seeing what their new enemy would do. Paul’s ships held
position, as did about two thirds of the Voku, but the rest of them pursued the
Nestafar who regrouped at various locations and continued the fight with better
odds.
    Paul let them go, knowing that he couldn’t take the Adamant after them if they chose to
dance around orbit. Besides, killing the Nestafar wasn’t the point of this
mission…that was just a bonus. Getting the Elarioni out was the reason why they
were here and to do that he had to hang onto orbit and protect the transports
which would start jumping in from the star as soon as he signaled it was fairly
safe. Right now the Voku were guarding them there, and as much as Paul wanted
to head down to the surface and join in the fighting that was sure to come he
knew he had to stay right where he was and oversee the naval situation for the
duration of this operation.
    Sometimes being the ‘Admiral’ was fun, other times it
just plain sucked.

 
    Riona didn’t wait for the TF to land, instead
launching from one of the bays during the decent. Her skeet got bounced around
a lot by the turbulence but eventually