Asteroid Blues

Armitage hurried through the crowded spaceport terminal, barging past milling wasters as he pushed his way to the ticket counter. Those Haqq narcos had been too close for comfort, but the sudden appearance of Aleph five-oh had really spooked him. He needed to get off this rock, quick.

"What's the first shuttle outta here?" he demanded of the cashier, "I'll take whatever you got". Luckily, his briefcase still had the funds for the re-up, so money wasn't a problem. Beside, he'd always make more as the Daim connec' on the next 'roid...

Still grumbling over the extortionate fare, Armitage made his way through the gates and onto the abandoned control plaza. Shuttered kiosks scattered around the terminal, and the dark empty hulk of the old saloon, requisitioned by the Haqq forces, loomed over him. In the distance he could hear a couple of other refugees, no doubt waiting for the early shuttle. Finding an empty corner, he tried in vain to snatch a few hours sleep in solitude.

Slammed into wakefulness by the howlings of alarms, Armitage's first fears seemed confirmed at the sight of a hulking Az'rail, looming over the balcony of the ticket office. Scrabbling for cover, it only became apparent that the heavy machinegun was trained elsewhere when the short burst ended. Around him, Armitage could see Haqq soldiers hastily convening around the control tower, in response to some unseen enemy.

Alerted by the automatic sensors of an overwatching remote, as it disarmed a Sogorat clambering on distant roofs Tarik had only enough time to hastily gather two heavy infantry and a handful of nearby specialists; the already stretched Haqq medical teams were busy in the makeshift waqf field hospital, tending to a sudden influx of nomad casualties from massed Morat offensives. Now it seemed their gaze had fallen to the spaceport; Haqq lives would once again be spent saving humanity.

In the gloom before them, ominous clangings announced the arrival of heavy armour; a second Sogorat appeared on the right flank, and a Raicho in the centre. There was nothing the meagre Haqq scouts could do but watch as they approached, waiting for the moment their own heavy troops could open fire. Before the blasted beasts were close enough, a screeching heralded the arrival of a Rasyat behind the waiting Al Fasid, pouncing into combat with him. Meanwhile, a mine landed besides the skulking Druze in the tower, launched from the distant Raicho.

The time bought by the Az'rail's bravery allowed the emergency broadcast to be responded by a nearby Sekban unit, tasked with securing the waqf. One arrived with a heavy rocket launcher, taking down the advancing Sogorat with a hail of fire. The second, targeted by a Hunzacut scout, was disabled by an e/m round from the Druze; the sacrifice of the Hunzacut drawing the mine's indiscriminate ire.

It seemed the Morat advance had been blunted, all that was left to deal with was the Raicho. Breathing a sigh of relief, Tarik started to call his troops back to the defensive perimeter. To their horror both Sogorats rose once more to their feet; one reanimated through necromantic combat drugs, the other through hasty engineering. Worse still, the Raicho now had an open route to the defenceless civilians caught in the spaceport...

Their defence growing ever more desperate, one Djanbazan sprinted through cover of smoke, spraying round after round at the Morat forces, hoping to reach the trapped refugee by the bar.

Cowering in the corner, Armitage kept his head down throughout the sporadic gunfire. The echoes of retorts closed in around him, flashing brighter off the nearby wall. Then, mercifully, silence. Not even the low moans of the dying reached him. Miraculously, he'd survived.

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This mission was based on Boarding Action (from Daedalus Falls), following a secret narrative from Graviton... And, needless to say, was immense fun!