Asteroid Blues

Private Miller turned to his colleague, Private McDowell, with a big grin on his face. His checks and nose were rosy and his eyes slightly glazed. “Iona, it’s about time we had something to sing and dance about!”, he exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table and shaking plates of half eaten food, and cans of IRN-BRU.
Miller was not wrong about that. He and McDowell, had barely escaped the horrors of The Strip. The combined Ariadnan task force they had been apart of had had a rough time of it. Privates Miller and McDowell, alongside Specialist Operative Burbitov and a Chasseur had stumbled back to the Xaracks module from Harrys Bar. Others who were wounded in the strip had also made it back in bandages and sutures, but many had not.
Upon their return to Xaracks, the two privates had been shaken to see how bad things had been for the Ariadnans. While at the Strip they had been unaware of the extent of the Haqislam attacks on the Ariadnan territory. It seemed that old ties between the two nations had been set aside for short-term gain. Miller and McDowell had heard whispers that Shasvastii infiltrators were to blame for turning former allies into foes. Shasvastii or no, the pair were interested in one thing: getting even.
So it was that the Grizzled Kazak Colonel commanding the Ariadnan division on Novy Bangkok had sanctioned vengeance, and authorised all Caledonian troops to conduct themselves in war in a manner they were most accustomed to: up close and personal, underhanded where necessary, and with no little to no regard to physical safety. It was a style of combat that Miller and Iona could get behind.

“Aye, Miller, I’ll give you that. Today wa’ something tae relish and enjoy.” She raised her canteen to her lips, the cheap blended whisky burned as it went down her throat, but at this moment of victory it may have been the finest single malt produced in the distilleries of Skyr. McDowell relished the taste.
And it had been. Miller and McDowell had found themselves assigned to a CHA team led by the legend William Wallace. The team had successfully infiltrated Pagngein NBIS, and surprised a group of Qapu Khalqi employed to guard a part of the station.

Wallace had told them what he had expected from them: kidnap the HVT, sabotage a key piece of infrastructure, kill at least two of the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, undermine their communications net {and something else that I forgot]. The team had not disappointed him.

“Those fookin’ Caterans eh? They were proper bad today. I hadnae seen shooting like that in some time.” Miller gushed. It was true. The Caterans had been responsible for sweeping aside the majority of the overwatching Qapu Khalqi forces. Their T2 sniper rounds had destroyed a TR bot, and a Djanbazani with rifle in the battle’s opening moments. The Caterans had proved equally lethal in overwatch themselves, destroying a Janissary with Missile launcher and Leila Sharif, and pinning in place the Haqqislamite forces.

“Aye, Miller, they pretty much won the day for us. We really owe them a drink, even if they’re dishonourable brigands who you wouldnae trust around the family sheep!”, McDowell said. “But, don’t forget, Sargent Ewart, God rest her soul, helped us no end.”
“Aye, she did.” Miller said, dropping his gaze in a mark of respect. “Without her, we couldnae have done what we did.” Sargent Ewart of the Highlander Grays had removed a Djanbazan sniper in the opening exchange of the skirmish, and, most importantly, had ensured the supersoldier stayed down for the count. This simple act had helped to enable the CHA to begin manoeuvring, and the fireteam that Miller, McDowell, and Ewart were part of to move out towards the enemy HVT and the supplies they were to sabotage. Ewart had nearly managed to put down the dangerous Janissary with missile launcher, after wounding it with HMG fire. She sadly exploded in return fire from the Janissary. Her sacrifice had not been in vain. It enabled the Caterans to kill the Janissary and the fireteam to reform around the leadership of Isobel MacGregor, who sabotaged a set of crates carrying important parts for the space station and had “convinced” the enemy HVT to come with her –“’for your own safety.’— McDowell chuckled—‘that MacGregor has some lip!”

“She sure does.” Miller agreed, bursting into laughter–“And did you hear what Wally had those Galwegians do?”
“I heard it was butchery.” McDowell said. “I would nae have wanted tae be on the receiving end of their claymores.” She said, suddenly seriously. “I heard that one of those crazy bastards was responsible for cutting a man in two, ‘Just to see whether or not he was Shasvastii’ was what his pal said. He even managed to survive a shotgun close range—well for long enough to behead one of the Sultan’s ‘virgins’.”, she chuckled.
“He certainly died a warrior’s death. To the everlasting memory of the 45ers!”, Miller said, raising his own canteen to his lips.
“Aye, and Scotland Forever!”, McDowell joined in the toasts.

“Look at those two NEDs”, Lance Corporal Clark of the Volunteers said to Isobel MacGregor, gesturing in the direction of the Privates—“they can barely sit up, let alone stand!”, he chuckled. Clark had spent most of the battle covering Isobel’s back with his chain rifle and was somewhat in awe of the intelligence operative’s ability to execute mission objectives—that and her ability to shoot straight!
“Clarky, pull ya fookin’ head in! It’s victory day, man—something we’ve nae seen too much of recently!” Isobel scolded. “Here, have some of this.”, Isobel offered her own canteen to the Lance Corporal. He laughed as he took a sip of whisky.
The pair walked over to the two Privates, who struggled to stand to attention. Drunken salutes were exchanged. Formalities over, the four soldiers sat down at the table and continued celebrating, grateful to having restored some honour to the Ariadnan Expeditionary Corps.

*******

This was a brutal one-sided game. My dice ran pretty hot, especially in ARO, and my opponent really struggled to get out of her deployment zone with two caterans and a scots guard missile launcher to contend with. She tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Wallace with a Yuan Yuan in her first turn, and by the end of her second turn I had 3 classifieds to her zero and so we decided to end it there.

Final score 7-0