Asteroid Blues

RTF versus Caledonia. Mission: Frostbyte.

CHA takes deployment, chooses RTF to set up first. RTF takes 1st turn. All left/right viewpoints from RTF.

RTF deploys flash bot on left, Mukhtar duo in centre left, Ghulam behind Mukhtar, TR bot on centre building, Najjarun in centre building, ‘core’ of 2 Hortlaks and Leila on right flank.
CHA forces outnumber RTF, many Volunteers, Highlanders, Wallace, multiple Greys and Mormaers appearing in the distance. Tracked remote support noted.
RTF deploys newly commissioned Maghariba Guard to even the odds.

“Did they really assign the new Maghariba Guard to Koray – didn’t he fail all his self control and depth perception tests?”

Maggie charged out from behind the comm tower in the centre to take a dominating position, scanning for hostiles with suppression protocols. The perfect spot on top of the transport truck appeared to cover all sectors. The Mukhtar moved up, the doctor overriding the left flank console and providing much needed heating for his forces. Enemy skirmishers were spotted on right flank however they moved with deceptive speed behind cover despite the heavy firepower.

“How far away are they…?”

A crudely – but effectively – armoured soldier emerged, and (from 24.5” away) unleashes a fusillade of firepower into Maggie, the reactive armour holding for the moment. The TAG pilot realised his mistake and switched to explosive ammunition manages to land a hit on the Mormaer who (mostly) shrugs it off like a pistol round. The firepower trading continues but the Maggie eventually goes down. Wallace and co advance to the left. Crude artillery fire pounds the Mukhtar but no damage is caused.

“Are they even aiming?”
“Quiet… we are fortunate they are not better shots”

The Mukhtar move to engage Mormaer, but one ducks under the fire and grapples with Mukhtar, pinning her in place. The Hortlaks & Leila move to engage another skirmisher but fail to kill, copping a wound on the smg in the process. They decide to set up fire lanes against the skirmishers along with the Greys/Volunteers covering the right hand console.

“Did you hear that? Sound kind of animal scream?”

Wallace hurtles into the lines, hacking the Mukhtar in half. Meanwhile the Highlander kills the SMG Hortlak while taking a knife in the neck in the process. The Greys now feeling confident emerge and mow down the Hortlak sniper. They move with the Volunteers and activate the centre console.

“This is not going well… is command going to issue the retreat?”

Forces low, TR bot moves but initially fails to kill the paramedic with HMG fire in the open. Repeated attempts lead to success but expend many resources. The Najjarun heads for a last gamble for the cause, taking out several Volunteers and a Grey but running out of steam before he can get his D charges on the heating unit.

“All Ramah forces evacuate! Scuttle the TAG, retrieve all wounded friendlies!”