Asteroid Blues

The Japanese didn't bother with subtlety as they stormed the Liberty Cargo storage. Intel suggested they were after the stolen biological samples, but unknownst to the Japanese the Ariadnan raid that wiped out most of the Task Force Storm Wind took those. As Lieutenant Delgado was lost in action, command fell to his 2nd, Father-Knight Cristoph Colloredo, who laid out an ambush for the brash attackers.

The first wave went for high ground, but Sgt. Henry Thiauld of the ORC Regiment was waiting for them to appear. His Feuerbach banged once, twice - the Japanese heads disappeared as fast as they were appearing, but then the second wave pushed on and he was forced to fall back after taking several hits from return fire. This ambush stalled the charge, however, and only a lone Shikami managed to penetrate the crossfire.

Meanwhile, the Japanese revealed their trump card, a Ninja that had managed to penetrate ahead of the loud Heavy Infantry. Father Colloredo had planned for this possibility, and asked Brother Sergeant Franz Zimmermann to bring his flamer bot forward. The Ninja survived the inferno, but his camouflage suite was toasted and Fusilier Silva had no trouble drilling him full of holes with his Combi Rifle.

The Shikami flashed a superior grin as he saw the Croc Man Devon Mitchell in the path of his charge, a lowly specialist. Mitchell managed a quick burst from his rifle that staggered the samurai enough for his flashing blade to miss. He shouted out for backup, but Father Colloredo was pinned down behind the building by the heavies that managed to overpower Sgt. Thiauld earlier. Colloredo called up Zimmermann once again, whose bot had been shot by the charging Shikami. The Order Sergeant was not out of tricks, however, and let loose a rocket salvo on the position where the Japanese were laying down the suppressive fire. Out of the three, two never rose back up, and the third one was distracted enough for Colloredo to charge in support of Mitchell.

Despite the Shikami's clearly superior training, the two Panoceanians held their own. Father Colloredo took the attention of the samurai, while Sergeant Mitchell kept him off balance by knife-cuts in armour joints. The Japanese was forced back, and when he rebounded and jumped Colloredo again, Mitchell was ready with his knife and plunged it hilt-deep into the soft armpit joint of the enemy's armour. With this, the battle was practically over - but the opponent hadn't given up yet.

On the other front, all had been quiet. Led by Black Friar Esteban Ferrera, the other side's plan had been to flank the Japanese main charge, but there had been little need for it since the main defence had been so effective. Apart from a few shots of suppressing fire, Ferrera's team was still fresh and untested. After the gunfire had died down on the other side, he paused to listen. A second later, the intel divison confirmed his hunch as they painted another target in his side, closing fast. He laid his Multi Rifle out at the direction, and let out a continuous burst until the target went down, but not before it had peppered Chain Rifle fire on the rest of his team. As the Hospitaller Knight was nearby, the fallen troopers were quickly treated, and the battle was finally done.