Asteroid Blues

Myongsun sat next to Zhu Hua who was repeatedly trying to connect to any network he could. Form the outcrop of rock they could see the Jiyuan mine in the distance.
Its lights steady and constant while the flashes of muzzle flare and explosions danced across the asteroids surface between it and them.

It had been almost 8 hours since the ambush of their dropship and the battle that followed.
In 4 hours they would be dead if they were not killed before that one one of the forces that where converging on the Yu-Jing territory.

Below them the last of Myongsuns forces were huddled and watching for any movement in the dark.

After Myongsun, Zhu Hua and the sophotect had fled into the dark, they had been ducking out the way of NA2 forces that were hunting for Yu Jing potrols.

About 3 hours later Myongsun received a communication request form one of the Wu-Ming that he had had to leave at the mercy of the Ariadnian forces. After weighing the risks and the likelihood that the tech inept form dawn would know how to manipulate the Wu-Ming helm Myongsun made contact.

It turned out that 2 of the Wu-Ming had survived and were able to recover enough to move with the limited help their HI armour was able to provide after checking vitals of the other casualties only two more were still alive. The Zhanying handler was one and the other was the Kuang-Shi controller.

However the latter had suffered damage to his suits Oxygen recycling systems and had only 43 minutes of air left. By the time the Wu-Ming had patched up the damaged Ruishi enough to carry the wounded it was clear no rescue would come in time to save the Celestial guard.

One of the wu-Ming put a bullet through his heart and the other removed and stored his cube.

It had taken some time for the two groups to get to each other, while staying hidden, but there was safety in numbers. A fact that had already paid off when a small JSA scouting team had picked up their trail.

It would not be long until their absence was not noticed by other members of their unit but their current position was their best chance to get a signal out to their own side.

“Fuck it,” Myongsun thought, “if we move we will die from suffocation, might as well go out swinging.”

Not long after someone did seem to be heading to their location. Hope was short lived however as it became clear it was a JSA attack force bearing down of them. They looked fresh and with a full array of weapons and equipment.

Myongsun lay prone. Ready to do his best to take out as many as he could before the overran them. He glanced down to see that even the wounded Zhanying, who could not walk without support, had been propped up against a bolder with his combi at the ready.

They all held fingers on triggers waiting for them to come into the sweet spot where they would still be unaware of them but close enough to be easy targets.

“This is Tiger 12. We have your location. Anyone still alive down there?”

Myongsun saw Zhu Hua roll back round the out crop and start giving directions and the status on the ground as the JSA drew near.

Out of nowhere Yu-Jing forces rushed to take position beside them and Myongsuns team was rushed back for evac.

As Zahshii Lt.Zhang Shilong positioned his forces and watched the stranded I.S.S troops board the transport, battlefield drones identified the approach of shikami, A JSA biker and Ruishi racing towards their location.

He commanded most of his forces to stay down while the Su-Jian tried to pinpoint the exact location of the JSA approach. The HI spotted the Rushii Just in time to duck back round a corner as spitfire bullets ate into the stone between then.

The JSA advanced as best they could, but without knowing exactly where their targets where their Banzi charge stalled.

This was the opening Zhang Shilong was hoping for and wasted no time in calling down his units Tiger soldier into the JSA flank on the east side of the battlefield.

Switching to the Tigers cam just in time to see him chunk off Yojimo, Zhang Shilong watched carefully to get as much info on the enemy as he could.

The tiger continued his assault and turned the attention of his MSR to the Ruisii, taking the REM down with a shot in the back.

Shilong gave the Tiger the go to keep pressing the advantage and watched as two Keisotsu went down before they Tiger got a line on a shikami team.

He downed one of them with a single blast but not before the second bounded away.

The Shikami vanished from view in an instant and the Tiger waited for the counter attack.

He spotted the HI shimmer just in time to exchange shots, missing but putting enough pressure on the Shikami to stop it landing a shot.

The fire fight continued but eventually the Tiger was forced to duck down, too wounded to continue but alive.

Shilong now sent in the Su-Jian to try and take down the Shikami. He predicted where the Shikami would make it`s stand and directed the Su Jian to use its Panzerfaust first to force the Shikami to drop any suppression fire it might be lining up.

The prediction as correct and while the shikami recovering from the blast the Su-Jian advanced into spitfire range and finished it off.

On the flanks a loyal Ninja and a Guilang advanced to lock down the area.

The JSA forces were now in disarray and started to fall back.

Shilong started to withdraw his forces back to the extraction point. He had the location of another NA2 squad and planned to keep up the momentum.

Myongsun and his team did not unwind on the flight this time. When the drop ship finally docked at the op center it was almost beyond them to walk off the craft to meet the medics and Myongsun had succumbed to a deep sleep before he even got to the ward.