Asteroid Blues

Incursion report from action at cross docking and storage area from Shasvastii infiltration detachment
from Lieutenant Sheskin, Cadmus operative:
Commander,
Our recent probe into the enemy facility was a success but I am not pleased with our level of
preparation or execution in the field. I regret to inform you that I write this only after having respawned
from the embryonic state. It is fortunate that our adversary was ignorant of our ability to survive and
recover from wounds sustained as I was not the only member of our team who fell in yesterday’s action.
After inflicting heavy casualties in their ranks from multiple ambushes they fled the area and we
recovered both our consciousness and the intel you requested. Our Liaison officer, the Shrouded
operative Skurgetz not only observed the critical features of the station we were seeking but also
assumed command after my incapacitation and salvaged the situation with distinction. I recommend
Him for promotion. Together with His account this is my full report of the skirmish:
In our haste to arrive first at the site ahead of the unsuspecting Nomad fools who were en route
to protect the station we did not resupply with the additional heavy weaponry or engineering
equipment that was offered, as this would have delayed our own infiltration. There would be no means
to repair our Ichadrons and our lone Noctifer’s missile launcher would have to suffice. As you will soon
note, they later served the greater aims of the EI with their sacrifice. We assessed the terrain and
deployed as follows:
Our Speculo killers took up positions in two towers on either flank to “welcome” our unwitting
prey and covered the approaches to their nests with mines. Our Shrouded Liaison officer was positioned
on a roof in the center right and the Shrouded killer hacker likewise on the left. The 2 Malignos killer
hackers preferred the ground level so they had more freedom of movement, trusting their thermo optic
concealment to make the most of their opportunities to ambush the enemy in the rear or lay mines and
dazers as needed. They deployed center and center right. Our Noctifer overlooked a likely approach to
my position in the left rear where one of the Ichadrons also awaited orders, and the second bot guarded
the left rear flank. Our numbers were few but we were supremely confident in the ambush we had set.
Perhaps too confident.
When the red clad humans arrived they approached with caution, wary of our tactics but
determined to engage us. A support group of engineer and TR bot took up positions on our right flank.
Just to their right was a group of their police force, the Alguiciles, led by a woman I had heard of. Lupe
Balboa positioned her troops dangerously close to the Speculo’s well placed mine but was shrewd
enough not to activate it. That dirty job was left to one of the crazy bald and tattooed men who
accompanied another even more infamous figure, a Senor Massacre. There are a few humans I have
longed to engage in close combat to see if they were truly skilled, to kill with my bare hands and see
how they tasted, and he was among them. I determined that his exploits were going to end today. He
advanced with His Jaguars directly up the center, avoiding the Speculos altogether. Apparently he was
not so great a fool, but this made me long to flay him alive even more so. No shrewd human should be
tolerated to live. I ordered the Noctifer to destroy all three when they came in view.
Massacre covered their vector with the pitch black smoke from what they call eclipse grenades.
Not even our Haiduks can see through this obnoxious ink, though none of these snipers were in our
detachment in any case. The Jaguars lacked this tool but even their ordinary smoke would obscure their
advance from us, and in the next alleyway they attempted to utilize it. Since Balboas team had failed to
discover the exact location of the mine menacing them, a Jaguar was ordered to run wildly towards it
and set it off. We Shasvastii are too few in number to afford such a luxury of suicide runs, but the
humans seem to have no qualms about sending former prisoners to their doom to gain a slight tactical
advantage. The mad man even seemed eager to detonate it to try and see if he could dodge the molten
shrapnel. But before he was able to execute this wasteful plan the Noctifer opened up with the Missile
launcher. Hoping to hit Massacre and the other Jaguar in the blast, he revealed his position. The wild
skirmisher had slightly misplaced his smoke grenade and a small gap of visibility remained between the
cover of the building and the safety of the smoke. Unfortunately, the shot went wide and the Jaguar
survived the ambush, though neither he nor his fellow x convict nor Massacre dared to move across that
deadly space now, as they all knew the Noctifer was reloading while cursing his poor aim. Their
lieutenant must have realized they could not cheat death a second time so the motley crew of space
refuse sprung one of their own traps. Another Jaguar from out of sight tossed smoke to the corner of a
building directly across from the Noctifer and a shadowy figure moved into the plume. An intruder
belched forth with his heavy machine gun, his visor enabling him to disregard both the smoke and the
blurry outline of the Noctifer who desperately attempted to dodge prone behind cover. He was struck
once by the hailstorm of metal before he could, and in that moment he decided to force the enemy to
remove him rather than pick a new target of opportunity. Rather than staunch the wound by receding
into his embryonic form he doggedly stayed upright behind the parapet. The Nomad replaced his
magazine and saw the hooded figure remaining there defiantly, preventing the Nomad Harris team from
executing their orders. Massacre and his band and were pinned down and the main force couldn’t safely
advance past the mine. Time was wasting. Our counterattack was coming, so the Intruder racked the
bolt again and ended the stalemate.
Free to move, the Jaguar continued his mad dash up and over a barricade within the trigger
radius of the mine that was menacing Balboa and her Alguaciles. It detonated, spraying shrapnel in his
direction but somehow he was unscathed. “What?!? First he survived the missile and then a mine, but
he will not survive me” I determined icily. The smoke around the intruder was fading and the veteran
troop knew he was vulnerable even though the Noctifer was dead. Rather than face my red hot fury he
wisely ducked behind the ledge to reload again. “My turn you ugly bags of mostly water!”, and I came
pounding around the building, my nano screen swarming about as I ordered the Ichadrons to surge
forward with me. The seemingly charmed Jaguar was helpless against the oncoming violence of
projectiles shredding him, and died instantly. I continued uncontested up the flank, angling towards the
corner of the building that Masacre and his remaining Jaguar were behind. I knew I could catch him in
the rear if I pressed the attack. My weapon began to glow white hot at the tip as I laid down a
suppressive fire, and it may have been the high pitched whine of my weapon that made it difficult to
hear the landing rockets of the Hellcat. In my wrath I had advanced too far but it was too late now.
When I felt the impact on the ground behind me I instinctively spun and unleashed my pulsar, but his
suit shielded him from the corrosive spray and I felt the airburst of his weapon strike me. He was too
close for my automatic weapon to be effective, the nano screen was futile against the shotgun and I was
in real trouble. I would not repeat the mistake with the pulzar but as I unholstered my pistol to dispatch
him the second burst struck and I collapsed. I was informed after emerging from my cocoon that the
battle proceeded as follows:
Members of the team tried to contact me in vain, and when my commands and the screech of
my weapon were replaced by static a panic ensued. The Shrouded on the left hand roof broke cover, as
did the 2 Malignos on the ground. Each was out of any line of sight for now but our greatest advantage
had been forfeit. Gratefully our liaison officer kept his composure, and by the communications chatter
began piecing together a plan in his head, but not before the others had rashly acted on their own. The
other shrouded stood and began laying down suppressive fire to deter any more offensive after the
Ichadron who had advanced with me was torn apart by an Alguacile armed with a heavy machine gun
had rounded the corner they had been crouching behind. They were a serious threat now that they
were freed from the mine and might climb up to high ground and start rooting out our remaining troops
above. The speculos may be masters of deception and assassination, but they are admittedly fragile
when discovered, and our Liaison simply had to survive. Unfortunately, one of those accursed war bands
of theirs threw another smoke grenade on the Intruder’s position and he stood up again to destroy the
Shrouded who was firing wildly as fast as possible. As the roar of the enemy HMG began anew to
destroy the seemingly doomed hacker, a lucky shot in the vicinity of the enemy muzzle flashes silenced
the Intruders gun, and an unexpected groan and thud inside the smoke cloud confirmed our good
fortune. But before the smoke dissipated, their doctor scrambled to the rooftop and revived the
menace. Their most potent threat remained, but before he stood again to finish off the Shrouded, one
of those infernal Jaguars charged through the combi fire and unleashed his chain rifles upward. The
insane man managed somehow to avoid all harm while the our Shrouded caught the blasts full on and
fell where he had stood. Another allied trooper put down. Another seed embryo generated. This was
growing worse by the second. Their TR bot was locking down our right flank and had to be dispatched so
the Malignos could deal with their main group and prevent it from rolling across us. It was at this point
that the remaining Shrouded took command of the situation.
He ordered the Speculo above their fireteam to crawl towards the edge of her perch and
place a mine that was within range of both the Alguciles below and the TR bot to their left. Then
Skurgetz ordered the remaining baggage bot to dash across the open ground and try to blind the
reaction bot, knowing that when it responded it would set off the mine. Now 2 more bots littered the
battlefield, ours torn apart by the reflexive fire of their bot, and their bot shredded by the mine. Now
the Malignos was directed to move to the near corner of the building the Alguciles had been behind the
entire engagement and lay a mine that could hit both Lupe and one of those maddening Jaguars who
was facing away and hadn’t detected the stealthy approach. The Malignos was now revealed, but it
made little difference, for when he emptied his clip into the hated member of their warband the human
instinctively tried to dodge away, and the mine was triggered. Both he and Lupe Balboa were destroyed
by the blast. Her teammates yelled out a warning but she was unable to effectively dodge the unseen
doom that erupted from behind the Jaguar. She tried. Good riddance. Now to cut off the other head of
the snake and break their spirits. Skurgatz personally crept to an opening on his rooftop to see Masacre
and from under his camouflage filled the masked Spaniard with more combi rounds than he could
regenerate from.
At this point the tide had turned. The Humans must have lost heart when their leaders were
killed and their mechanical guardian was obliterated. They still possessed some heavy weaponry and
one was in the hands of a resuscitated and efficient killer we had no way to counter, but with the
sudden appearance of our Malignos and an unknown number of assasins in their midst they decided to
cut their losses, removing the cubes from their valuable casualties and evacuating before it became a
rout. If I had been their commander we would have pressed our advantage and hunted our remaining
forces ruthlessly until we were utterly decimated. But they are not us, and our tactics unnerved them in
spite of their superior firepower. Unfortunately Skurgatz was unable to gather the intel he would have
had he not been forced to assume command, but this minor loss of information was worth the price as
his initiative won the engagement in my absence. Meanwhile, the other Speculo, who was never under
any threat, aided in gathering intel to undermine the enemy facility’s future security. I cannot overstress
the importance of these elite killers who add so much value to our operations.
In summary, we did manage to gather some critical intel. All embryos, including mine, were
recovered, and only the Ichadrons were damaged. We were able to transport them back on our stealth
ship which interdicted the team, and the Obsidon Medchanoid at our forward base was able to repair
the bots. In the end we effectively suffered no casualties. The enemy was repulsed and demoralized.
Fear and doubt were sown. Our resources were preserved, though errors were committed. I will not
repeat them commander. I await your next assignment and will execute them with precision, showing
no mercy. Agent Sheskin, signing off
Score totals:
Shasvastii 9, Corregidor 5. Middle and far zones dominated by Shasvastii with our Liaison officer in the
center zone but no extra point from the liaison. One classified objective scored by Shasvastii with
Corregidor using their classified to apply additional points to a zone for scoring, winning the zone closest
to the Shasvastii deployment zone. Also, one point from the Liaison was scored by Corregidor