Asteroid Blues

Setting: The Novyy Bangkok International Space Port, which has been experiencing severe climatic conditions hazardous to life.

Private Miller was huddled next to the warmth of the heating unit with the remainder of his squad, safe from the Ice-cold temperature that threatened to kill them. He was suitably impressed with himself. He had once again fought and won on Novyy Bangkok, and more importantly had lived to tell the tale. His role in this battle had been to support his fireteam with chain rifle and shotgun fire where necessary to allow the paramedics to access the consoles to turn on the heating unit, but on the left flank of the squad it had not been needed. He had escaped the skirmish without so much as a scratch.
The same could not be said for Private McDowell, who lay next to him, heavily bandaged on her left side, which had been peppered with shotgun pellets. She was slowly coming to after being heavily sedated by one of the team’s medics. Almost too heavily sedated for her liking.

“Ach, Miller, ye look like a right nonce!”, she laughed—and then winced with the pain of her wounds. “Did you manage tae shoot anyone, or were that just me!” She chided, knowing that the Haqqislamite engineer who had shot her had gone down himself to her return chain rifle fire.

“Yeah, yeah, McDowell, you know that I had tae help the medic stich you up. Jaysus half ya bloody lung wae ripped tae shreds! Ye, and Sargant Roberts would’hae been done fae if it weren’t fae me and the medic, ye ken. Ye owe me one.” Miller, responded quickly, furtively looking away from his wounded comrade and blushing.
“Oh really, Miller? If I hadnae—bravely—stood in the way a that madman with the shotgun, ya’d been done fir. S’nae many who can say they put their lives on the line fir their country, who stare death in the face and live. We’re a unique breed. Ye ken Miller?” By the look on Private Miller’s face, McDowell saw that he kenned well. “Now, hand me tha canteen, Miller!” she commanded, a pained smile breaking out on her face. The warmth of the medical whiskey as it hit her throat combined with warm embrace of the heating unit. In a few minutes the combat engineers would arrive to secure a medivac through the icey vastness of this section of the spaceport. Miller would live.

Lord MacDougall trudged through the ice settling on the spaceport’s hangar bay. His heavily armoured tessium plate armour had heat conductors that rendered the hulking man immune from the affects of the killer cold. In any case, no cold would stop him walking to where his son lay motionless beside his APHMG.
“Angus?” He whispered, crouching down beside the man. “Do ya here me, boy?” Angus’s eyes flickered open. Blood bubbled on the sides of his lips. The boy’s stomach armour had been torn open by an explosive HMG round. Lord MacDougall could see that his son was heavily bleeding. There was not long left.
“Da, did we win?”
“Aye laddie, we did. All thanks to you. You fought well today, son.” MacDougall turned away from him son to look at the ice-flecked ruin of the Maghariba Guard, which was perched haphazardly on the top of a truck. His son had destroyed the walking tank. He had taken the full force of a round that would have turned an unarmoured man into a fine mist. And he had kept fighting until the loss of blood became acute. A tear flowed down Lord MacDougall’s cheek. “I will remember you to your mother.”

“He fought like the warriors of old, Lord MacDougall. Like he was with me at Bannockburn. He died a hero of Caledonia. You and your son have done us proud. Dileas Gu Bas.” MacDougall felt the hand of Wallace touch his armoured shoulder. MacDougall rose.
“Och aye, loyal until death, he was. You’re too kind with your words, Sir William. To the boy, the glory. I am merely an old man who has seen too much for this lifetime.”
“Aye, but an old man who still knows how tae move and take the fight to the gutter when its needed. Without your intervention, we may have lost the day.”

“It was my pleasure to fight in hand to hand combat with you, my Lord.”, MacDougall said, remembering how his early days on terraces supporting the {team] had tought him how to get the upperhand in a streetfight. As the Muhktar had rounded the corner, opening fire with her redfury, the wily old man had realised she was too close to him to fire effectively and he elegantly pushed aside the redfury, grabbing the woman’s collar and giving her the [name] kiss. The augmented strength of his armour had been enough to hold the Muhktar still long enough for Wallace to run in with his sword, disembowel and split the woman in twain. The one-two act had secured the Caledonian right flank and following Sargent Roberts’ removal of the Muhktar’s colleague, had enabled Wallace to claim the exclusion zone with no further molestation.

Wallace clasped MacDougall’s forearm. “A fine fight it was. We’ve put these Haq criminals on notice now. Col. Cabaray informs me that they lost a great many of their people and equipment today and they’re now on the back foot. Our combat engineers are arriving to stablise the area in order for us to withdraw and regroup. Let us gather the men and equipment. I’ll let you bring the body of your son. We’ll say farewell to him in a manner befitting his death.”

“Aye, Sir William. It will be done.” MacDougall turned on his comms link. “Private Miller. Under the powers vested in me by law and custom, I hereby promote you to the rank of Sargent in the 5th Corps of Caledonian Volunteers. You and your men are to prepare the wounded for embarkation and after the engineers get here scrub what you can of the area. We don’t want anything left on the field that would confirm our presence here.”

“Sargent, fookin’ Miller. I cannae fookin’ believe it! Ye, a Sargent? Ye cannae even shoot straight!” McDowell laughed, the whiskey dulling the pain enough for her to laugh freely. “Congratulations, Sir”, she added, with a mock salute.
“Yeah, yeah, McDowell, shut it, will ye?” Miller, laughed. Pride swelled in the young Sargent’s chest as began his work. It was laborious and dirty work, but work the Caledonia Volunteers were used to doing.

A pretty brutal fight, which Caledonia came out on top of winning 9-1. I had 171 victory points to my opponent's 40.