Asteroid Blues

Jass'kealdin stepped into the role of lieutenant for the first time. Under the tutelage of Djakor, an umbra legate, he was given command of the best the Onyx Contact Force had to offer in the hopes that he could rely on their experience and expertise to compensate for his leadership shortcomings. With the majority of them being veterans, the inexperienced Urkherite looked to the troops currently under his command and quickly understood.

This is not his show. It's theirs.

6 Morats stood before him. 4 of them Rodoks who had formed a fire team with Djakor, and 2 Suryats. Beside them, an obsidon mechanoid maintained a Q-drone, and all around everyone the silence maintained the ominous atmosphere.

Djakor was sent on this mission to evaluate Jass'kealdin's ability to lead such hard headed warriors. Certain in his tormented and malevolent methods of instruction, the legate whispered into the ear of Jass'kealdin. “I can hear your heart beating Urkherite. I’ve been methodical and extreme in my training with you. If you can survive me, you can survive this. Show some confidence. Do not mis-step. Do not hesitate. Do not misplace and order. Even in a small skirmish, it only takes one mistake to hand your enemy a victory.”

2 Suryats surveyed the terrain. The armory stationed near the Xārạksʹ̄̒ may have seemed like an iron fortress, but to them the world was paper. They could tear through anything. Their nostrils expanded as they took the dank humid air into their lungs, and could literally smell subterfuge. The gaze of the suryats pierced through Jass'kealdin. Their expressions stoic. The level of apathy the suryats felt towards the orders and life of the inexperienced nexus op was obvious. While Morat society maintains a war-ready culture of discipline, in the eyes of the suryats Jass'kealdin may as well not have existed. “Some Haqq troops are advancing on the armory. They think themselves as ze rat, but Gor’durak and I have already noticed the infiltrated units attempting to position themselves. I’m sure they’re aware we are here. I’d rather not waste time forming a plan and get to the fun.” The Suryats voice was like a blunt cement mixer. Gravely, and direct.

Jass'kealdin cleared his throat. Ready to take command. He stood straight, eyed the morats, and with a tone which demanded respect asserted himself. "Alright, I know these things are not popular, but briefings are mandatory. It’s strange to see Haqq here as our intel suggests the Xaraks battery is with the 0-12 and Ariadna forces. The politics of humans is a mess and that may change our objective. Securing the armory and cutting off the munitions supply to Bangkok’s defense systems isn’t going to happen today. Our cultural analysis of Novvy bangkok reports that this entire rock is a crime-ridden lawless space dump, and it's doubtful these Haqq troops are any different. We can’t break their morale and force them into a retreat. Every human here is involved crime, death, and extortion. We can not show them a horror they haven't already shown themselves. Here is what we’re going to do. The mechanoid is going to take a few photographs. Instead of destroying the armories ourselves we are going to stir the pot between the Haqq, O-12, and Ariadna. Shasvastii can infiltrate and manipulate the skirmishes from the oncoming political storm.
Observe, and retreat. Shasvastii would be better to deal with this situation.”

The morats let his words hang in the air. Their faces still and stoic for a few moments before the suryat Gor’durak lost his composure. “Ha! Retreat? What’s the matter LT? Scared of some Dats with pea shooters?” The suryats beat their chests in unison and let out a warcry as they barreled towards the armory like Bi-pedal tanks. As the intrepid suryats stormed forwards the rodoks looked to Djakor with concern. “Hairless or not, monkeys will get us killed.” As the sounds escaped the umbras throat, they seemed to be more of an omen than expression.

As both forces took up positions near the armory, Jass'kealdin cursed the Suryats for their insubordination. He studied the culture of countless species including the Morats and understood the morats loyalty to the EI, which is fostered through their principle of authority. Jass’kealdin pondered if the Suryats took his role seriously, or if him being in command is a disservice to their experience. Either way, he knew he was in deep. A shadow began to move in their back line and Jass'kealdin noticed they actually had been infiltrated.

Cursing the suryats once again sent the Q drone skittering along the flank of the armory, and fired at the ambusher along its route. Its quadrapredic mechanical legs peirced the ground and kicked up dust and debris as it rapidly skirted along the terrain like some sort of hydraulic spider. The weaponry it possessed rotated on a swivel, and fired a hail of bullets. It’s target threw down smoke to block the line of fire. Safe, for now. The death machine kept advancing and cleared a path, finding itself near the back line of the enemy, positioned to react and fire upon anything that moved. Taking advantage of this the suryats advanced, taking cover beside a shipping crate, and the obsidon mechanoid kept eyes on the smoke.

The rodoks were able to deploy closer to the armory, but encountered an obstacle within the building adjacent. The rodok carrying the HMG burst through the door and was greeted by what seemed to be a combined army civilian. Thankfully, the other rodok successfully saw through the ruse and tested the integrity of this disguise with 2 light shotguns. It was not a durable disguise.

It seemed clear that the upper hand was theirs. They prevented multiple ambushes, broke their line and positioned a Q-drone in their flank ready to react to anything, removed the impersonator and were about to position themselves within the armory with anti-personnel mines. Djakor approached the armory doors and began hacking through its security. The doors shot open, and from the other end of the armory a blinding flash burst forwards. The legate hesitated, and failing to dodge the explosion, he ate the words he spoke to the young nexus operative moments before. All hell broke loose.

Though the Q drone had the advantage, a missile slipped through its storm of bullets and converted the four legged war machine into shrapnel. Mutts poured through smoke and towards the open doors, before (ironically to their nice names) gunning the rodoks down like dogs with chain rifles. In the blink of an eye, like a fickle toddler, destiny changed who had all the favor. All that was left was the suryats, the mechanoid, and the nexus operative. The mechanoid managed to dispose of the trooper who had ambushed them initially, but that was not the end to the Haqq trickery. Hidden, disguised, and combat dropped soldiers began appearing as the suryats engaged in firefight after firefight.

They were the last stand, and It’s clear what made them warriors. As they stood their ground against so many adversaries their morat hearts beat with excitement. They understood this mission was to be covert, but what morat worth his salt could leave all this glory just sitting on the table? The very moment they defeated all opponents they could see from their position, they stormed the armory. They were on a roll, and the only way to secure a victory from here was a hail-mary for this room.

Jass'kealdin could only see glimpses of the action through the armory doors. The flashes from their weapon muzzles illuminated the room like rapid still-lifes of violence. Absolute silence followed immediately. There was no tapering off, no slowing down of bullets to suggest cover was sought, or clashing of metal to suggest they found themselves in melee. Just extreme violence, followed by extreme silence. Quickly Jass'kealdin collected the video recordings from the mechanoid and retreated back to cover. He needed something to report, or more accurately, something to show the EI this colossal mess was not his fault.

As a fireteam of Haqq soldiers began advancing towards the armory, Jass'kealdin retreated down a narrow passageway of dark tunnels nearby. Quickly, he checked the display of a device used to monitor the vitals of his troops. Besides the bio-organic vitals of the mechanoid, he only saw his own. He was alone in the chimneys.