Free Star Force 82 Hradeiti (SF82) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-ki Jyr

targets.”
           “You feel the navy is sufficient?” a Protovic asked.
           “Our coordination is adequate. I still worry about the jamming of our drones, but given the hybrid structure we’ve developed I believe that we would still be capable of fighting. It wouldn’t doom us, and we still have the laser backups. Short range line of sight would enable us to instruct the drones to attack specific targets. Our efficiency would take a hit not being able to selectively choose, but such jamming would not be a deathblow. We’ve simmed several such scenarios.”
           “I was speaking more to the size of the fleet.”
           “I can always use more ships, but right now I’ve got enough if we pull back our mercenary teams. I do not suggest we do that, but it is time we start looking for a suitable target.”
           “You’re that confident?” another Critel asked.
           “Yes. But it has more to do with configuring our forces for a specific target rather than us being ready to go right now. We might be able to take a number of worlds right now, but I need to know which one in order to specialize future ship acquisitions and ground attack equipment. If we keep building in general fashion it will take us longer to get to what I consider sufficient strength to overwhelm. Right now it’d be a fair fight, and we can’t let it be a fair fight or we’ll lose most of our forces in the effort. We not only have to take a world, we have to have the forces to defend it and move on to the next. We will not sacrifice what we’ve built to attain a target knowingly, but once we engage we will go for broke.”
           “I understand the distinction,” the Calavari councilor noted. “What kind of specializations are you referring to?”
           “Specifically what type of orbital defenses the lizards have. How much orbital bombardment will be necessary. I do not want to use the cleansing beams, or rather I do not want to rely on them. I intend to use mass weapons to take down surface shields in a region.”
           “Railguns?”
           “More like throwing an asteroid field at the surface. We cannot afford to waste ships slugging it out with anti-orbital batteries. Star Force has more options than us in that regard. I need to know how many anti-orbital batteries we need to take out to secure a surface site and how strong their shield strength is in order to determine how many asteroids we need to collect or construct. We have a few launchers already, but if we need to build more I need to know how many more to order constructed. Too few or too many will waste our resources and precious time. The lizards are growing stronger and we need to take at least one world to secure our future in this endeavor. The longer we delay the more difficult it will become, and you all know that the lizards’ growth rate is exponential.”
           “Your timing is impeccable,” a Gardeen said, tilting its head fin forward in a deferential gesture. “I’ve just secured confirmation from Star Force that the Mevis System is a legitimate target.”
           Bra’shom’s eyes narrowed. “Why am I not familiar with that system?”
           “Because sometime in the past 3 years the lizards decided to start a new colony on it.”
           The Scionate gestured to the councilor on his left and the Critel brought up a starmap. The whole of the lizard boarder along the ADZ came into view in the center of the V and Bra’shom stepped back as the pinprick of stars surrounded him. Ninja Monkey territory shown as a tiny swath across the center of the border, but a single dot highlighted far from there and much further down the galactic plane.
           “We got a scouting update passed on from an independent trader going off the main route from Shirpon to Velcor,” the Gardeen explained, referring to a Calavari commerce system and one of the few races