Star Force: Evacuation (SF50) (7 page)

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 she got it righted and pointed down,
lining up the streamlined hull with the oncoming air and pulling out away from
the huge distortion ripples coming off the 2 mile wide ship with more fighters
following her out. They immediately had their hands full as Skarron fighters
moved to intercept the TF and met them literally half a minute after exit.

Riona ducked her skeet down through a long, hard
braking loop to level off and begin chasing them through the dogfight that was
forming as they tried to throw plasma into the side of the TF. At first the
atmospheric turbulence shielded it for the most part, but when the tiny white
plasma orbs began hitting the shields the anti-air fire started coming back
too, with the enemy fighters quickly learning that this wasn’t an undefended
target.

That left them to contend with the Star Force skeets
that were easily outnumbered. Riona and the others kept it together though and
started racking up kills while going evasive far more than they liked until the
Voku fighters came down from orbit, dropping like rocks that then split up into
fragments that began chasing after the Skarron fighters. The smallest of the
Voku ‘pieces’ was more than twice the size of a skeet and outmassed it by a
factor of 6. That said, the craft were still nimble, nearly the match of the
skeets in agility alone, and armed with directed energy orbs.

They weren’t plasma, but a form of energy that Star
Force hadn’t gotten around to creating yet, even in engineer play, which saw
the Star Force techs building all manner of things from the database that would
never be put into practical use, just so they could say they did and learn from
the experience. These weapons were known as Dwio, and had an active guiding
mechanism in the fighters to steer them into targets like a guided missile.

Riona could see multiple colors that she didn’t
understand the significance of, but she did see that their shots rarely missed.
Even when the Skarrons evaded a lined up shot, the orbs steered themselves into
a correction…and passed right through the enemy shields.

The Skarron fighters had the same armor on them that
their walkers did, though in significantly lesser amounts, allowing themselves
a bit of longevity against the Voku orbs but it wasn’t nearly enough, with two
or three shots bringing one down and there being plenty of Voku fighters to get
the job done, in addition to the skeets were which holding their own.

Riona was glad for the help and by the time the TF
finally set down and began unloading mechs and other ground vehicles they had
the immediate airspace secured and
were
working on
pushing the perimeter out and hitting the few surface targets that were of
note, some Skarron and a lot Nestafar. Nothing civilian, but a few weapons
emplacements that were throwing up anti-air and larger plasma weaponsfire at
the fighters, though some tried to play dead and hide, but eventually Riona and
the others cleaned out the surrounding area in preparation for the battles yet
to come.

And they were coming alright. Skarron walkers were
redeploying on the south and west while Nestafar ground troops were massing on
the north, with the ocean and the Elarioni to the east. Within a few hours,
maybe a day tops, there was going to be a showdown, with both sides looking
like they weren’t going to tolerate anyone on their turf, making Riona wonder
who would be shooting who if the Nestafar and Skarrons got to each other. Three
way battles were extremely rare, but this looked like it might just be one in
the making.

7

Ker-shat stood shoulder to shoulder with the other
Voku troops inside the transport as it traveled down to the surface of the
planet under assault, waiting patiently until the doors underneath his feet
eventually opened, leaving him and the others standing on small squares with
nothing but an energy shield separating them from the quickly moving ground
beneath. As the transport slowed those behind him were released, with him
waiting a few moments longer before his shield disappeared and he dropped
through the square and into freefall.

The 8 foot tall Voku cushioned the drop using his
flight harness, coming down onto the dirt and rock-strewn ground in a crouch as
two others fell beside him. One was a skirmisher like himself, while the other
was wearing the exoskeletal heavy weapons they were meant to escort to the
target…which in this case was an enemy walker with infantry support that was
pushing towards one of the Human positions where their infantry was guarding
the coastline.

The Star Force mechs were elsewhere, dealing with
larger threats and the Nestafar were trying to slip one of their own through a
weak spot in the perimeter, yet it was far enough away from their massive
dropship to be out of its weapon range. Those closer positions were reserved
for the dozens of transports coming down and parking near the water’s edge and
extending pylons out into the depths to facilitate the transfer of evacuees…and
this walker was heading for the nearest of them.

The Voku transport had put them down behind the enemy
grouping, with the leading elements already engaging the Humans and the
four-legged machine blanketing the area ahead with plasma that the Humans were
having
to evade while effectively chewing up the enemy infantry.
As soon as Ker-shat
 
got to his feet he
and the other two Voku began to run, then they leapt forward and flew some 80
meters before landing again and running some more. They repeated this process
three times before coming up on the rearmost infantry, with the Voku leaping up
again and grabbing one of the flying Nestafar by the neck from behind.

He dragged it to the ground with him, placing a
killing shot to the back of its neck from the blaster gauntlet that he wore
attached to his forearm then discarding the body as he landed and ran forward.
Meanwhile his double did likewise, rising up as he fell as both of the
skirmishers paved the way for the slightly slower moving teammate coming up
from behind as he refrained from firing so as to give the skirmishers more of a
surprise factor…though his sights were set dead center on the walker ahead.

Ker-shat was wearing very little, as was Voku custom.
His black body was covered by an equally black and flexible skin-tight sheath
that provided a bit of armor value against abrasions and weaponsfire, but in
order to preserve his agility the bulk of his defense came in the form of a
pair of shield generators housed in solid strips along the outside of each hip.
One was an energy shield, in that it repelled all energy while making
an exclusion
for his own weapons. It operated like a bubble
surrounding him and anyone he kept close, with him able to adjust the size with
a simple touch to the control interface he was wearing.

The second shield was the more complex, for it was
anti-ballistic and also encompassed him in a sphere of protection. The delicate
nature of the construction only blocked fast moving objects, allowing Ker-shat
to interact with his environment as if the shield was not even there…but it
was, with a matrix structured in a way not to oppose normal movements. Or
rather, technically it opposed everything, just at such a low level that it
wasn’t detectable. When sufficient momentum hit the shield matrix it caught and
caused a chain reaction that intensified the resistance, much like trying to
walk through water.

Move slowly and you have little trouble, try and go
fast and you essentially run into a brick wall. It was a crude metaphor but
essentially correct, though the seamless integration with Ker-
shat’s
combat made it appear almost magical. The only other
things he wore were the gauntlets on his forearms, both weapons and comm gear
integrated into a single unit. Other than that it was just his muscle and skill
guiding him into combat with a fluid grace.

His flight harness was part of the shield struts
attached to his legs and allowed him brief moments of ability, while needing to
recharge in between. The anti-
grav
tech gave the Voku
incredible speed across ground in addition to their own running speed, essentially
able to jump ahead and close with enemies incredibly fast, as well as to
augment jumping.

That was how Ker-shat approached his second target,
running a few steps then dashing ahead, almost dragging his feet on the ground
as he shot across 30 meters and punched a Nestafar in the head while kicking
another two nearby before delivering the killing energy blasts. The rainbow
glob of light seemed to defy description or shape, passing as a blur between
his forearm and the targets as the rest of the nearby Nestafar began to realize
they were being attacked from the rear.

That was when the heavy weapons ‘hammer’ opened fire.
He wore the same equipment as the skirmishers plus an exoskeleton that
contained a number of extra weapons, the most prominent of which was a tiny
Dwio. He didn’t use it at first, intent on clearing out some of the infantry
nearby as he closed distance with the walker, sizing up its weak spot. He knew
he had to get within one jump from it first, and to do that they had to get
through the infantry that was beginning to make hits on the trio’s shields with
their red plasma pistols and rifles.

It was an inferior weapon, but damaging enough in
large numbers. Ker-shat knew they could take a great many hits before they were
in jeopardy, but not from the walker which stopped in its tracks and began to
turn around, bringing its primary weapon to bear on them.

Both skirmishers went wide right, hoping to draw its
attention and simultaneously diving into a thicker infantry cloud that saw
about 2/3rds of the enemy shooting at them from the air rather than from the
ground. Keeping on the move they avoided one large plasma blast that actually
hit and killed a pair of Nestafar, with the gunner seeming not to care as it
continued tracking the two as they got a bit closer to the machine.

Meanwhile the hammer was slowly approaching from the
flank, fighting his way through the infantry without carrying much how many of
them he got. They were for the skirmishers, his task was the walker and he
cagily began to circle around behind it, eyeing the distance he needed and not
wanting to dart ahead too quickly and draw attention.

Ker-shat dashed to the right, catching a small bit of
the plasma orb as it hit the ground beside him and seeing his shield strength
diminish considerably. He still had plenty to fight with, but too many near
misses and he’d become exposed. Prompting himself to be more evasive than
hunter, he took out three more enemy infantry and kept away from the plasma
blasts until he saw the hammer shoot through a nearly horizontal jump and up
onto the walker’s back, coming down behind the neck and firing his Dwio
directly into the topside armor, vaporizing the defense turret there as it came
around to shoot him off.

Ker-shat figured he had it dead to rights, but as long
as it was still operational the main cannon at the top of the long neck was
still a threat so he kept dancing around and killing infantry where he could
until the hammer finally dropped the big machine, with it crumpling to the
ground as its legs bent up to form a shallow cage around the Voku as the
infantry swarmed toward him and tried to shoot him off…but it was too late.

Now no longer having to be excessively evasive, the
two skirmishers went aggressive and started leaping towards whatever enemies
were nearby as the distant plasma fire ahead continued without interference as
the forward end of the Nestafar advance was still fighting it out with Star
Force, apparently unaware that their walker was now down. It wasn’t long until
a couple of silver armored Humans jumped out from behind their barricades and
rushed the Nestafar while their support snipers continued laying down fire.

The Nestafar instinctively pulled back and up into the
air, their natural defensive move, Ker-shat was discovering, with the Voku now
making use of it and taking out two or three per leap as the Nestafar were
clustering together into firing groups to try and get through the Humans’ thick
armor. There were so many that the three Voku had their fill of targets, slowly
wearing down their numbers with the Humans making the most kills by far, but
eventually the Nestafar figured they’d lost and all of them took flight,
pulling back across the dead walker and retreating towards the distant LZ that
they’d come from.

Ker-shat and other Voku went after them, leaving the
Humans behind and leaping forward to catch the fleeing flyers
who
were decently fast through the air once they got up to
speed. He killed six more before an enemy fighter swooped in and landed a hit
on his shield that blew away nearly a quarter of the defensive barrier’s
strength. When it came around for a second pass he held up, staring it down and
ready to make a defensive dash in whatever direction needing as the hammer
landed a Dwio on the craft, damaging it.

The fighter pulled off and fled, with the Nestafar
infantry now too far ahead to pursue.

Ker-shat activated his comm and reported their
success, then waited with the others for pickup, with a troop transport flying
in overhead within a few minutes. The trio jumped up to the underside and
grabbed hold of the square rims, pulling themselves inside so they could be
moved to another combat zone…and would continue doing so until all threats were
eliminated.

Kali-1388 fired off a salvo of missiles from her madcat,
with the tiny little guided projectiles swarming towards a Skarron Type-5
walker as it was escorting a Type-4 that was engaging a trio of Nestafar spider
walkers and getting the armor chewed off it. Infantry from both sides were
around, but otherwise staying out of the way of the big machines as there were
groups of combatants everywhere.

Kali damaged the Skarron walker further with some
lachar blasts but was still outside mauler range. Gauging the damage to both
sides, she twisted her mech’s torso around and leveled the right arm at one of
the spiders in the distance, then fired a rail gun slug at it. The metallic
round shot across the distance and clipped off one of the legs with the impact,
missing the central hull but none the less twisting it around on collision.

As she walked her mech forward she continued to dish
out damage to both sides, not in a hurry to get in close, though that’s where
her mauler would come into play. Just before she reached the enemy’s plasma
range she got a waypoint ping on her battlemap and quickly turned her madcat to
the left, accelerating up to full speed and sprinting the machine across the
rocky ground, hoping the computer wouldn’t get overwhelmed by all the small
bumps and trip on the rocks.

In the distance she could see a pair of voltrons and a
slew of escort mechs tangling with a Type-2 and a pair of super dragons…which
at the moment were both attacking the Star Force mechs. Ignoring the craziness
of it all she targeted the damaged super dragon and launched all her remaining
missiles, knowing she needed to do the most damage as she could, otherwise the
weapons on the enemy walkers would do a lot more in return.

It took some 18 seconds for her two missile boxes
riding above the ‘shoulders’ on her mech to fully unload, with a long plume of
exhaust marking their path towards the walker as she continued to run
forward…with other Star Force mechs nearby turning to coalesce around the
battlemap beacon. When dealing with super-heavy opponents you had to
gank
them quickly or they’d wear down your side so much
that they could turn the tide in any battle…which is probably what the enemies
were thinking about the voltrons, prompting them to shoot at the big mechs
rather than each other at the moment.

Knowing better than to try and fire the rail gun while
running, she held off and tried to do some extra damage with her lachars…then
readjusted her aim to a giraffe with a hole blown in its side that was still
firing off plasma blasts at her team and pretty much being ignored in favor of
larger targets. Taking manual control she lined up the shot then peppered the
walker with lachar blasts rather than the continuous version she also had the
opportunity to use. This way she could keep firing in a chain gun-like manner
continuously rather than having to take a recharge break.

A lot of her shots missed, but she kept it up from
range and even though her aim running was shaky she delivered enough hits to
the damaged section to see the walker collapse on its own legs and power down,
no longer throwing plasma at her friends.

Just then a huge explosion ripped apart the Type-1,
with Kali not knowing where it came from. She hadn’t seen anything hit it, then
as it twisted and fell over she saw a big chrome suit of armor riding it
down…no, not one, but three of the things larger than her madcat with their
arms dug into the side as it crashed.

But with all Type-1s that wasn’t the end of it, for it
simply jettisoned the damaged segment and kept on fighting, with the three Voku
mech/suits running away quickly as they got pummeled with plasma. Two of them
made it, but the third went down hard, its shields no longer protecting it and
the Skarrons exacting their revenge for the lost segment until a giant physical
shield dropped over top and blocked the incoming fire as one of the voltrons
moved forward to cover it.