Star Force: Liberation (SF56) Read Free Page A

wipe them out.
    There were a few other planets that hadn’t fallen, all
minor, with some Bsidd scattering to the unexplored regions of the galaxy to
try and escape, but word was the Cajdital were pursuing at least some of them
though it hardly mattered. They had nowhere to go even if they got away, but
even a small chance of survival was more than the inhabitants of Hassnve had. They were doomed and knew it, with nothing
more than regrets about what could have been had the Nestafar not betrayed the
Alliance.
    None the less the remaining jumpships left to the
Bsidd were loading in low orbit. Where they could go even if they managed to
get past the Cajdital was a curious question, but it didn’t matter for the 56
billion Bsidd on the planet. They couldn’t fit even a small fraction of that
population inside, with those on the surface digging in and preparing to make
their last stand, literally, by carving out subsurface hideaways and tunnels
where they stood a better chance of engaging the Cajdital given their air and
naval support couldn’t get to them.
    Those jumpships, however, held one tiny hope for their
race…almost an afterthought. There were a few surviving Alliance relays still
operational and linked to Bsidd territory and recently they’d received a
message on them, prompting the Bsidd to prepare to evacuate a few key personnel
and equipment on the off chance that the communique had been legit, let alone
feasible.
    The loading was still taking place as the invoker
broke through the middle orbit defensive ring and began trashing the Bsidd
shipyards like a giant, angry energy cloud devouring everything in its path,
with such destruction taking a long time to execute. While that was happening
another group of jumpships emerged at the system’s star and released yet more
warships…but these weren’t Cajdital.
    Before long the ongoing brawl containing Bsidd blue
plasma orbs and Cajdital green added a few white streaks as the Hycre fleet
moved in and engaged, small in number as they were, but used their range
advantage to contribute damage while taking none of their own. They didn’t
touch the invoker or go anywhere close to it, focusing instead on the escort
fleet and trying to help the doomed Bsidd make a few more kills before it was
all over.
    Their numbers were dropping fast, and before long it
was going to turn into a total rout. That little bit of time that remained was
going to be put to use as the remaining Bsidd queens were evacuated up to the
jumpships along with their necessary minions as their troops and civilians
bought them time with their lives. A few Hycre warships flew down and
intercepted the roaming Cajdital vessels looking for targets of opportunity,
with the rest sniping the enemy fleet while the Bsidd continued to get hammered.
    The evacuation didn’t take long, for there weren’t
that many Bsidd jumpships to fill. Nearly all of their previously massive fleet
had been expended in the war and even now the jumpships were being filled up
with transports, leaving the loyal warships behind to die providing them cover.
    When the time came the Hycre redeployed into a
protective wedge and fought the Bsidd clear of the planet, micro-jumping with
them back to the star and leaving the capitol behind to die. They encountered
another enemy reinforcement group coming in, with the Hycre jumping on it
immediately and killing half of their ships, including two jumpships, while the
Bsidd fled on the jumpline the Hycre had given them.
    Once the last of their ships were out, the Hycre
executed a fighting withdrawal back to their own jumpships and followed the
Bsidd out, catching up to them at the next system and providing an escort
across what was now Cajdital-dominated space to the closest intact Hycre world.
There they were safe behind a much larger Hycre fleet, all equipped with
cleansing beams and maulers, for a short stay. Eventually they began to
transition from one Hycre world to another, moving with