Asteroid Blues

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me... I don't like being shamed!

The section of Harry's Bar assigned to the Dashat Commander, known as Lazarus56 had been lost in a previous action. Now, the young Zuyong Lieutenant assigned to it's defence, was sent back in to recapture it.

Sushi the Rui Shi buzzed excitedly as it advanced up the left flank of the battlezone, seemingly eager to regain it's feared notoriety by filling some bodybags. The fire team of Bounty Hunters attached to support it, followed close behind sweeping the area with their assortment of heavily modified weapons as they went. Valerya Gromoz, also accompanying the Rui Shi remote, upgraded it's firing ability as they moved. "Nearing the site now, Gromoz" came a voice over the group chat, one of the new Bounty Hunters assigned to the force. "Sushi, do your thing" replied Gromoz". Sushi whirred up it's twin-barreled Spitfire as it skidded round the corner of one of the centrally located buildings. It's target, a Yan Huo, was critically hit, forcing it to take a knee. As Sushi prepared to take the killing shot, everything froze. A hidden Zhencha Hacker had struck. Gromoz worked quickly, targetting the hacker with an offensive hack, causing the Zhencha's nose to erupt and coating his helmet lense with a thin covering of blood. Before Gromoz could unfreeze Sushi, it was shredded by Heavy Machine Gun fire from a nearby Husong remote. "Lieutenant, our attack has been stalled, Sushi is down" yelled Gromoz over the group chat.

"McMurrough, get in there and do some work!" yelled Lieutenant Aakif over the group chat. McMurrough hated taking orders from someone so young and green, but he did love a good brawl. He launched himself forward, following a Kum Rider as it whizzed along the narrow zig-zagging streets that made up the area surrounding Harry's Bar. The Kum Rider exploded in a shower of flame, it had been struck by missile fire from its right. "Oi, Bashi Bazouk guy, what's going on over there, you have our right?" growled McMurrough. No reply came, the Bashi had been taken out by an elite team of Zuyong. McMurrough dived into cover and unpinning a few grenades he lobbed them over the turbine he had taken cover behind.

More missile fire, streaked across the narrow road. They were using guided weaponry to target Gromoz and her team. "Take that missile bot out" yelled Gromoz. McMurrough took out his last grenade and with a grin tossed it over the generator, the grenade found its target, disabling the remote.... but only temporarily.

Everything was going wrong for the young Lieutenant Aakif. Both his left and right strike teams were being put on the defensive. What should he do? Options ran through his head, send the Libertos Freedom Fighters in to do what they do best, blow things up? Tell Gromoz to take her team and push on despite the enemy fire? He couldn't make a decision as his team fell apart around him. Before he knew it a short-range round impacted his skull, killing him instantly.

"Should we bring him back Commander?" said a figure hunching over the prone body of Lieutenant Aakif. Hours had passed and the mission had been a complete fail. The man known as Commander Lazarus56 answered, firing a high explosive round into the remains of Lieutenant Aakif. "And what about the footage, said the first figure". "The WarCor shows promise, we have clear proof of a murder of an unarmed civilian by Yu Jing forces, send it to our relevant media contacts". Allowing a brief smile to himself, Lazarus56 turned and walked away.