Asteroid Blues

After intercepting reports implying attempted infiltration by Shasvastii units impersonating Yu Jing soldiers, a liason officer (HVT) with an escort was sent to deliver a request for information from the Aleph forces on the asteroid. After being denied the request and told to await for an official reply, the escort and the HVT came under attack by Aleph units exclaiming “Death to the alien menace!”
The circumstances are still unclear, but a diplomatic delegation should be sent to demand an explanation for the attack on a diplomatic mission in order to acquire a clearer picture of the situation.
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Notes: Sorry for the unpainted models. We also proxied a few models. Proxies are listed below.

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Lists:
OSS
Profile – Name – Model
Achilles (Spitfire Lieutenant) – Achilles – Hector
Atalanta – Atalanta – Naga Sniper
Thrasymedes – Thrasymedes – Deva Spitfire
Thorkites (Forward Observer) – Penelope – Dart
Thorkites (Forward Observer) – Elena – Kappa Pistol
Thorkites (Forward Observer) – Ioanna – Kappa Combi
Machaon – Machaon – Machaon
Myrmidon (Spitfire) – Theseus – Myrmidon Spitfire
Myrmidon (Boarding Shotgun) – Jason – Shukra
Myrmidon (Boarding Shotgun) – Phaedra – Myrmidon Officer Shotgun
HVT – Thamyris – Thamyris

Invincible Army
Profile – Name – Model
Dāoyīng (Lieutenant L2 Hacker) – Zhu li – Dāoyīng Hacker/Camo Marker 3
Hǎidào (Sniper) – Dai Li – Hǎidào Sniper
Zhanshi (Paramedic) – Ma ren – Zhanshi
Zhanshi (Paramedic) – Yang Li – Zhanshi
Zhēnchá (SMG) – Chen Liu – Sun Tze v1/Sil 2 Template
Zhēnchá (SMG) – Míng Jíe – Mech-engineer/Camo Marker 2
Zhēnchá (Boarding Shotgun) – Niàn Zhēn – Zuyong Multirifle/Camo Marker 2
Zhēnchá (Boarding Shotgun) – Wěi qí – Zhanshi Yīshēn/Camo Marker 1
Hac Tao (Missile Launcher) – Yuàn Bó – Wu Ming HRL
HVT – Liaison Officer Shū lán – Free-lance Stringer

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“Surprisingly rude for such a diplomatically capable organization” Shū lán thought. Something did seem… different though. Where they usually acted very professional, it seemed as though they were both very dismissive and stalling for… well, something. Was it suspicion? Surely not. Their refusal to grant the request still seemed odd though. Odder still to ask Shū lán and her escort to await an official response, especially when it had been made clear they were refusing the request. Lieutenant Zhu li, recently recovered from having her body destroyed and consciousness inserted to a new body was certainly on edge and rather grumpy to be sent anywhere near Aleph units after the incident at the bar. She immediately advocated taking up defensive positions, and since the Lieutenant had the final say when it came to Shū lán’s safety, Shū lán could not stop her from taking such excessive measures.

It would soon be proven to have been a wise decision.

“I just saw an Aleph soldier.” Niàn Zhēn said over the comms. “I don’t think he saw me.”. Suddenly, another fellow peeked around the corner. “I think his mate saw me”

Without warning, three rockets were fired at Niàn Zhēn, immediately followed by Chen Liu’s head exploding into a fine red mist and suddenly there was a cacophony of noise over the comms, with Lieutenant Zhu Li shouting for info regarding the enemy positions, and for all people to get to cover immediately! Shū lán did as instructed and felt suddenly nauseous. She wanted to close her eyes and pretend this wasn’t happening, but then again, she was not a soldier.

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“What the actual censored are those binary bastards doing?! This is a diplomatic mission!” ´Lieutenant Zhu Li thought to herself. “Someone get a message back to HQ and let them know, we need someone to clear up this mess.”
“Aleph must have lost their minds to attack a diplomatic mission requesting information that they could simply refuse to accommodate. Why do this?”
Suddenly, Wěi Qí roared with the clear sound of close quarters combat over the comms, followed by a sound that Zhu Li only could imagine was Wěi Qí getting impaled. And then in an instant, it was gone. Clearly, Wěi Qí was already KIA.
“By the Emperor, they brought censored Achilles! He just skewered Wěi Qí!” Míng Jíe proclaimed loudly over the coms. “I think I can get him though, moving in!” Míng Jíe climbed up on the shipping container behind Wěi Qí’s position and opened fire with her SMG’s. It did nothing. Achilles simply dodged it. Achilles moved toward’s Míng Jíe with such speed and then, Míng Jíe too disappeared from comms.

Shū lán had heard Lieutenant Zhu Li shout for someone to contact HQ, yet Shū lán’s own equipment seemed not to function. Then, she noted that she herself was sitting right next to an antenna. Surely, with a bit of elbow grease she would be able to use it to contact HQ?… After a shout from further ahead and Míng Jíe shouting on comms about Achilles, then suddenly going silent, Shū lán increased her efforts. “Damn it, I don’t want to die here, someone please answer! You’re my only hope…” The rest of her pleas to the transmitter remained in her throat, as she noticed Achilles moving in, and in one flowing motion destroy the antenna and strike her down.

Out of censored nowhere, shots rang out from behind Niàn Zhēn and he found himself dodging to the left and getting in cover behind the antenna against Achilles firing wildly like a madman and not hitting squat, when suddenly the piece of shit with the rocket launcher poked out again. “Oh bugger” would end up being Niàn Zhēn’s last words as he was for all intents and purposes atomized by another three rockets.

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“This is going downhill too damn quickly!” Zhu Li thought, considering for a moment whether to simply retreat or to wait for a response from HQ. She decided on the latter. Two were dead, but perhaps there would still be a chance to kick them in family jewels for what they did to her in the bar… She didn’t get to finish her train of thought before she got hit hard from her left flank by shots from Achilles, who apparently had the legs of a cheetah, because “HOW THE HELL DID HE ALREADY GET THERE, WASN’T HE JUST FIGHTING MÍNG JÌE?!”. Zhu Li tried to get to cover, but with her own intestines spilling out and in excruciating pain, the only thing she could do was sit down and hope she didn’t look like enough of a threat.

“Yuàn Bó, we need to retreat” Zhu Li gasped with every utterance juggling some part of her innards that really shouldn’t move like that. “Distract them so the others can fall back. Yang Ren, I need you to either get me moving, or make sure the neural implant is working so I can get brought back.”

Despite the previous failure in the bar and now this, they obeyed. If nothing else this was a blessing she thought, after which it went black.

Yuàn Bó heard the Lieutenant’s orders. He also knew he was likely to die, but dammit someone needed to escape from this atrocity. If nothing else, Yu Jing will know of the perfidious and duplicitous nature of this upscaled piece of garbage called Aleph. Yuàn Bó moved so he could see Achilles. “Well, he leads them and he killed more of my comrades. He both deserves it, and it should be a suitable distraction.” He thought and fired.

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“The missile connected, so that was good.” Yuàn Bó thought. “It also hurt Achilles, so that was also good. What was less ideal was the fact that this absolute censored somehow took a missile to the face and still lived. What the actual hell does Aleph make these bastards from anyway?“ He considered as he fired two more missiles towards the censored that offed Niàn Zhēn.

Yuàn Bó’s contemplations and ruminations got no further, as his torso suddenly had two large holes in it and Yuàn Bó dropped dead to the ground. His last two missiles had not hit, but at least he did distract them.

Yang Ren triple-checked that the neural implant was in fact operational and transmitting before moving carefully along the edge of the building… “The implant better work, because this is too damn risky!” She thought. The procedure she would have to perform was not really meant to be done at ranged and thus carried with it both increased risk as well as less optimal results.
If she failed, the only recourse would be for the implant to do its thing so Lieutenant Zhu Li could be brought back in a different body. Not that she knew how that worked, but better safe than sorry. She took aim and noticed that she was shaking, but could do little about it. So, she fired and was relieved that she actually hit home with the damn thing and immediately turned to watch the lieutenant’s vitals.
She watched in abject horror as the lieutenant’s vital signs dropped and eventually ceased. Now, she and the two other remaining members of the escort could only do as instructed and use the distraction Yuàn Bó created and retreat. Aleph would pay for this. One censored day Aleph would mothercensored pay for this!

Though Yu Jing officially declared that Liaison Officer Shū lán and part of her escort had died in a tragic accident in the Gallery Maze chimneys, diplomatic backchannels were utilized to protest quite thoroughly the blatant disregard of diplomatic procedures, the murder of their diplomat and part of her escort and further.
Still, something at least came out of it. Yu Jing levied the “accident” to try and get more access to the chimneys “to create a safer and securer environment in the area”.

(Sponsored by Palpatine Lobbying Inc. “We’ll make it legal”)