Free Star Force Perseverance (SF81) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-ki Jyr Page B

the
    background and spun it in place for several seconds, with a text prompt appearing
    below it that told him to report to hangar bay 8 in 2 hours and 43 minutes with
    his duffle of personal belongings packed and ready to head to another star
    system.
    Po stood up, nodded to Archon Terry, and took his
    leave as several other rangers had already done. Apparently there was no
    additional fanfare, and he appreciated that. This was all business, and the
    importance of the moment wasn’t lost on Po. He was transitioning into a whole
    new realm within Star Force and he was eager to get at it, with the quick
    departure being a good thing. He didn’t want to linger here any longer now that
    he had a course charted for him. He wanted to get to the Fiora System and Clan
    Noisy Cricket’s capitol of Blade Waltz that it shared with six other Clans, not
    knowing exactly what awaited him but eager to find out.
     
     

 
     
    August 1, 3106
    Menchet System
    (lizard core)
    Tess
     
    A Falcon-class
    dropship flew across the gap between the troop jumpship that had brought it
    here along with another contingent of reinforcements, coming in to a captured
    hangar bay on the lizard ring that Star Force had been making use of for more
    than a year now. So far they’d managed to take control of a little less than a
    third of the massive shipyard that encircled the entire planet, including
    seizing and blocking off 139 of the 487 columns that connected down to the
    surface.
    Those were no longer sending troops up to fight them,
    meaning the controlled areas of the ring were safely Star Force territory now,
    and with a sizeable warfleet outside guarding the ring from naval attack the
    only way the lizards could hit them was sending ground troops up the remaining columns
    they controlled, for the ground-based anti-orbital weapons couldn’t reach the
    ring itself, and to date they hadn’t fired on any of the connecting columns.
    That meant the ground war that was grinding on inside
    the ring would continue, for Star Force wasn’t going to destroy it either, and
    if the lizards should start shooting out the supporting columns the gravity
    drives on the ring itself would be more than enough to keep them aloft in its
    nearly geosynchronous orbit. The lizards apparently understood this to be true
    as well, for they were continually spamming millions of troops up the columns
    they controlled and sending them in massive waves against the Star Force
    lines…both of them, for the controlled segment had two ends that were miles
    wide and high, making for ample locations to hit and get hit at.
    Those two front ‘lines’ were constantly moving forward
    with hunter teams moving out beyond them and taking down lizards, then the
    fortified positions would surge forward here and there, sometimes no more than
    a few dozen meters, and resettle to survive the next surge of troops. As it
    was, clearing out the dead lizard bodies was becoming a chore, with Star Force
    having brought in incinerator factories and set them up inside the ring in
    order to dispose of them all…with Archons checking to make sure the bodies were
    actually dead before they got reduced to ash.
    It was necessary to do that in order to keep the
    corridors and chambers mostly clear, for the lizards kept pouring
    reinforcements at them in suicidal fashion, hoping to wear them down or,
    perhaps, just to stall their advance. Regardless, Star Force had a huge ground
    war on its hands that was painstakingly making progress. More troops were being
    brought in from the ADZ, some to replace others rotating out, but a lot were
    here to increase the number of combat troops to facilitate a quicker rate of
    progress.
    Along with those Regulars came this one dropship
    carrying a special assault team. When it landed on the hangar deck there was
    already a circus of activity, with Bsidd unloading by the hundreds and filing
    off to receive orders and placements without everyone bunching up into