Asteroid Blues

Who let the dogs out?!

(This is the otherside of Husker’s report “Training Ariadna”. This was my first game of Infinity and this is also the first battle report I’ve ever written. Thanks Husker for the great game and introduction to the wonderful world of Infinity. You and all the guys at the club have been really welcoming.)

Newly minted Lt. Heim of the USARF 13th Seattle Rangers had been cooling his heels for 2 weeks since arriving on Novyy Bangkok. Being the most junior officer in the Lucky 13 he has had the honor of securing the latrines, patrolling the waste processing fields and on one special occasion, clearing an infestation of trash pandas (a mutation of an old earth animal once referred to as a raccoon but is now the size of a bear) from the sewers under the restaurant district. When word came down that he had would be joining the exercise organized with a detachment from the Ramah Taskforce he was more than ready to see some real action.

The two forces met with a representative of O-12, Commander Therin. The Commander laid out the mission objectives, rules of engagement and spent an inordinate amount of time going over the Concilium Convention. Just when Heim thought the old blow hard had finally run out of air he came out with “remember Lt., use of your dogs will be prohibited for now..”

Heim’s take away from the briefing was that they didn’t want him to use any weapons that were too effective and too keep his most effective warband out of the action. As they were filing out of the briefing room Heim muttered under his breath “if Therin can take that Convention and shove it up his..” He broke off that thought when he caught the eye of the Ramah Lt…. Darli was it? She had a cold look in her eye and he wondered if she was as annoyed with O-12 as he was.

The two forces set up on opposite sides of the main strip. Heim addressed his squad “Listen up! Today we are going to see how tough the famed Ramah Taskforce really is. Our mission is to secure the supplies in the middle of this area before they do. Look sharp men, if we do well today we stand a better chance of seeing some real action! One last thing, John” Heim said turning to the newest grunt in his squad, “we are supposed to keep the Devil Dogs out of this fight. Keep them calm and well back so we don’t have any issues.”

With that final instruction Heim began deploying his forces to counter the Ramah forces he could already see setting up across the field.

On the right, he positioned his Maverick so she could rush the enemy line under cover of some shipping containers. In the center, he had his Marauder set up in a forward position under cover of some rocks and his 3 grunts took cover behind a building. On the left had his Foxtrot set up in camo on top of a gate, providing a good vantage point to observe the battlefield. Unbeknownst to everyone John failed to lock the gate and the Devil Dog team snuck onto the field.

Just as Heim’s last ranger was getting into position he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, Ramah had already started to advance!

Without warning a rocket raced across the field and exploded beside the forward Grunt. His armor saved him from burning to death but he was knocked unconscious by the blast. 

Through the dust and ash floating in the air the Marauder saw a form dash from cover and try to grab the supply crate. He laid down a burst from his rifle but the lithe figure dodged away. The figure tried again and this time the Marauder clipped him with his shot, but it was stopped by his armor. The figure made one last attempt and this time the Marauder’s shot went wide and the Ramah was able to grab the supplies and get to cover.

With adrenaline pumping Heim signaled his Maverick to make her attack run. She zipped forward and tried to launch a smoke grenade to cover her advance. Unfortunately, it struck the corner of a crate and deflected harmlessly out of the area of operation. Before she could continue her run, they were all surprised by the howling devil dog team charging up the field!

Joe Scapula had been a Foxtrot for 3 years now. He’d seen his fair share of action in the antipode wars and lately fending off raiding parties from PanO and YuJing. He’d been assigned to Heim’s command to provide the junior officer with some much needed experience. This experience was now paying off as he peered over the top of the railing he was positioned behind and looked down onto the Khawarij with the rocket launcher. He carefully lined his shot up and put a full burst into the fellow. The Khawarij dropped below the parapet and out of his sight. Joe wasn’t sure if he had killed him but at that moment a blinding light went off pulling his attention to the roof of another building. 

As luck would have it, Joe is an ancient history aficionado and particularly fond of the 1980s. Inspired by one of the greatest songs from that era, Joe always wears his sunglasses, even at night. The light from the flash pulse was harmlessly reflected off the mirror shades leaving the Warcor with nothing but a photo of his cocky grin.

The Marauder bunkered down in saw the Naffatun flinch and look up at the top of the gate when Joe opened up on the Khawarij. Taking advantage of the man’s distraction he snapped a burst with his rifle into him. The Naffatun was hit and as he fell over he dropped the supplies. The Marauder then rolled around the corner of his cover and put another burst into the Warcor. (In the after action debrief USARF Command determined that this was an accidental shooting and not a deliberate attempt to kill a journalist.)

While the left and central positions were focusing on the mission, the right hand flank was breaking down into chaos. The Devil dog team, consisting of Grey and his Antipode Loki, had already overtaken the Maverick in their charge up the field when Loki pulled up short at the edge of a shipping container. 

While no one would accuse an Antipode of being smart, they are very clever and cunning. Loki taking after the god he is named for is especially so. Catching a whiff of something on the air he lets out a ferocious howl. The intensity is such that is caused the Tuareg hiding behind the container to stumble and reveal himself.

Grey, not wishing to be slowed down in his charge to the back lines took a gamble. He jumped up over the container and shot the Tuareg with his chain rifle. The Taureg was caught by surprise and his armor was no match for the power of the Grey’s rifle. Leaving the would be ambushed bleeding on the ground the Devil dogs sprinted across the open ground and vaulted into the Ramah Command compound. 

The panicked Lt and Khawarij inside attempted to shoot the Dogs as they came over the wall. The Lt.’s shot hit Grey in the shoulder, this did little more than enrage the beast and put power behind his knife attack when he landed. The Khawarij wasn’t so lucky, in his haste his shot went wide and then he was bulled over by 500lbs of enraged Antipode.

After the ferocity of the Devil Dogs’ attack, the remaining Ramah forces fled the battlefield in a most undignified manner.

At the debriefing later that day USARF High Command had Lt Heim in the hot seat. “Lt., care to explain what happened out there?” 

“Sir, we routed the enemy sir!”

“What was the objective of the mission Lt.”

“Sir, to secure the crates sir.”

“Why did you fail to complete the objective Lt.?”

“Sir, may I speak frankly?”

“Go ahead.”

“We were awestruck by the Devil Dog’s charge Sir. We’d never seen them cut loose before.”

“You’re lucky it was just a training exercise Lt. What have you learned from this incident?”

“Sir, as much fun as it is to watch the dogs destroy our foes, I need to keep my eye on the objective.”

“Excellent! Dismissed Lt. Take your men for a drink at Harry’s Bar. They’ve earned it.”