Star Force: Proving Ground (SF66) Read Online Free PDF Page B

fortunately were more or less flat in
most cases, else they’d been funneling all the wisp remains down to the
streets. The Scionate likewise were alright tucked up alongside the wall and
the three of them continued running back into friendly territory, with the
giant ship above them entirely eclipsing the sky but not firing down on the
remaining fighters.
    For a moment Larissa wondered why, since after the
‘duck and cover’ order had been given there shouldn’t have been anyone in the
streets to get hit by misses, then she saw several squadrons of Star Force
skeets and Valeries making their way overhead and engaging the remaining wisps
directly, along with Kara’s signal that was prominently displayed on the
battlemap so everyone involved would be aware that she was there when often
they couldn’t see her, given her body’s tiny size compared to the fighters.
    That and she was a badass, so she might as well have a
badass marker on the battlemap.
    Larissa likewise had one of her own on the ground,
letting all other nearby units know where she was at a glance rather than
potentially lose her small dot in the mix of others. Right now Morgan’s icon
was half a city away, with the full battlemap returning now that there was a
Star Force command ship and fighters overhead to relay the weaker signals
around the buildings.
    To her relief she saw many active Bsidd units
scattered across the battlefield, but at a glance she knew there was less than
10% of what had originally been here, with the ‘down’ markers covering the city
in large clumps.
    Before she could pull up a count of all markers that
had gone offline, either destroyed or deactivated since the beginning of the
ambush, the command ship began pulling back with large ‘no-go’ boxed popping up
and traveling along with it as large chunks of the ship’s forward end were
falling off and crushing buildings below.
    “Oh shit,” she said, realizing just how much damage it
was taking and stopping in her tracks. The Scionate nearly ran over her, but
skidding to a halt a few meters past as they jumped to her outer flank. “Stay
here and be ready to run, warning or not. Keep your eyes up.”
    Larissa did likewise, watching both the battlemap and
the sky as the sun returned underneath the retreating edge of the ship. Just
then another thick pink beam hit and a chunk over her fell off. The trailblazer
didn’t move, even as the warning box fell on them at the last moment as the
ship’s computer estimated the general area that was vulnerable. It didn’t have
time to calculate individual pieces, for there wasn’t that much distance for them
to fall, so it was giving generous measurements.
    Larissa watched the building-sized chunk detach and
gravity take hold of it. “Stay put,” she said, eyes up as it fell perilously
close, landing on the roof of the building they were hunkered up against and
pancaking the top. She couldn’t see the impact, but a moment later the upper
levels puffed out debris that began to rain down on them, then a waterfall of
material followed it over, soon to add to the wisp debris clogging the street.
    “Follow me!”
    Larissa took off across the street, dodging a big
piece that came down and taking them into a zone between the dusty waterfalls
that followed. A few bits hit her shields and bounced off, with a huge chunk
hitting and half burying itself in the street to their left while a pile of
debris fell and built up on top of it, as well as one to their right.
    The next thing she knew dust from both flowed out like
clouds and covered the area, making it so none of them could see what was
around them.
    Larissa clicked on her Pefbar and mentally linked to
the two Scionate, giving them a bit of her psionic vision as well as the
ability to warn them if any more chunks came down towards them, though she
couldn’t see the top of the building and would only have a split second to
react if something did come within her range. Sending calming