Asteroid Blues

The task force stood guard outside the bar, Specialists sent by the state empire comb over the interior of the bar, where almost a fortnight ago, the Shasvastii presence on Novvy Bangkok was revealed. The squad waited impatiently for the experts inside to finish their work, A large contingent of Yu Jing troops were currently enjoying some recreation time in the various establishments that line the main strip, and the Elite troops of Thylacine task force were keen to join them. Captain Wu, a Hsien of distinguished service, watched with amusement as a Fusileer pushed a Gulam through a window on a second story building. The Haqqislam line trooper hit the ground with a wet thud, however the captain’s smile vanished rapidly as he saw the sleek, dark shape of a dropship skirt in low over the rooftop of the building he was just watching. The dropship landed and quickly emptied its complement of raiders before rising and slinking off as silently as it had arrived, It’s coal black fuselage emblazoned with the orange ring and three pointed star of Tunguska. The Task Force had company, and the Nomads were sending their best.

The Nomads were unaware that they had already been spotted, Captain Wu had the initiative and used it to organise his squad for a brutal surprise offensive, It didn’t matter that the opponent had the opportunity to select the angle of approach to the bar, or positioned themselves knowing where Wu’s forces were approximately located, Captain Wu had the element of speed and surprise on his side.

Both teams loosely fanned out, Captain Wu and his Imperial Agent escorts took up position on the top of the garage building adjacent to the Bar, his Visor allowing him to see through the large holo billboard that obscured his form from all but the most observant eyes. The celestial guard detachment, took up positions behind the bar, with their sniper taking up position on top of the bar’s roof, supported by another Celestial guard lying prone next to him, helping to supply him with ammunition for a protracted engagement. On the right flank, the mechanised forms of two Su Jian units could be seen hiding by the electrical generators, brought along to pursue any Shazvastii that might still be in the area.

The nomads split their forces into two halves, planning to encircle the bar. on the left flank, opposite where Captain Wu and his team had deployed, a fireteam of Hollow Men started to form up, the terrifying presence of a Missile Launcher on the field, backed by a hacker and a Stempler zond, whilst two more hollow men, armed with multi-rifles and pitchers brought the assault team to a menacing 5 men strong. On the right flank, an interventor and Heckler, both with fastpandas sat prone on rooftops, waiting for their mechanised opponents to strike. Also hidden on the flank was a Spektr. He had hidden in a building close to the Su Jian’s, keen to put his cybermines to good use. The Tunguska line was anchored in the middle by a Grenzer Sniper and a boarding shotgun Grenzer, who took up positions in the centre of the field, the sniper taking the high ground providing overwatch over the door leading into the bar, whilst the other Grenzer waited patiently to protect his comrade on the roof from any enemy that ventured too close.

Without warning, the start of the battle was made clear by a loud hiss followed by an ever expanding column of smoke rising in front of the bar. Just as planned, the celestial guard had laid down smoke for concealment and after briefly calibrating his visor to get a clear picture, Captain Wu cut down the Grenzer sniper in a single, efficient burst of HMG fire. The body of the Grenzer had not even hit the ground yet, having fallen from the balcony he was manning, before the Su Jian team located on the right flank sprinted forward, their cat like form almost a blur as they rocketed up the right hand side of the board. The electronic countermeasures that make up the BioTechnical Shield of the lead Su Jian unit briefly flashed a warning as they ran past the hiding place of the Spektr that was in waiting, but the operators back at base breathed a sigh of relief, Only a killer hacker device they realised. With the Spektr unable to stop their advance, they began to cautiously slink from shadow to shadow, avoiding the vigilant overwatch of the Hollowman team. They knew their prey was just ahead, however they were careful to stay out of the hacking area, Interventors were feared for their skills. One of the Su Jian sprang forwards, climbing up the side of the building and blasting the interventor twice with a heavy shotgun. The Hacker was too fast, and managed to throw off the operators aim as he successfully breached the Su Jian’s software protections, only the well calibrated biotechnical shield of the unit prevented both the hacking attack, and a nearby jammer from shutting the unit down. There was no time to lose, the Su Jian leaped, transforming into its combat form mid air, before blasting the interventor with the shotgun again. This time, the shot connected and the interventor was killed. The units biotechnical shield flared up but was overcome by the Jammer of a nearby heckler. It’s connection to HQ severed, the unit was reduced to its base programming. A devastating first attack having slain the Tunguskan Lieutenant, the infantry on the garage and the bar shuffled to get better firing positions, waiting for the enemies counter attack. As they finished, they intercepted radio chatter from the Tunguskan units, the Spektr had assumed command.

Captain Wu had to give them credit, it didn’t take them long to strike back hard, The assault team on the left flank came running forward, engaging the celestial guard sniper in a protracted gun fight. The celestial guard did not have time to line up his shot before he was forced to dive into cover as a missile launched over his head, the leader shot again, this time it’s aim was thrown off by a heavy calibre sniper round that slammed into its shoulder, staggering it. The Sniper cheered thinking he had scored a kill on the Tunguskan heavy infantry, however it got back up and the impetuous young guard realised with horror that there was nothing he could do, the Hollowman with the Missile launcher leaving only a red mist where the Celestial Guard once stood. The Spektr laid a cybermine to help protect it from the marauding Su Jian units. The Heckler activated and stood up to get a better shot on the isolated Su Jian unit, however despite having its connection to HQ disabled, its base instinct kicked in and it cremated the Heckler, whilst combi rifle rounds bounced harmlessly off of its armour. The hollow man team were not impressed and fired a pitcher near the Su Jian, the Assault hacker immobilising it, before the Missile launcher dismantled the mechanical beast.

Seeing the carnage unfolding on the right flank, Captain Wu ordered the remaining Su Jian to disengage and head towards the Spektr that was now leading the enemy force, It bounded up to a wall, firing its Panzerfaust at the remaining Grenzer, catching it unaware and killing it before it could even react. The Su Jian then maneuvered carefully through the street, cautiously avoiding retaliation from the Hollowman team. It got to the base of the building the Spektr was hiding in and climbed up the wall, belching a plume of fire onto the enemy Lieutenant. The biotechnical shield of the Su Jian, expertly calibrated by the empire’s technicians shrugged off the cybermine, whilst the Spektr unsuccessfully attempted to dodge. The attack wasn’t fatal, and still smoldering, the Spektr staggered inside a doorway. It’s camouflage burnt, the Spektr quickly fell to the Su Jian, which moved down the stairs to provide crossfire over the door to the bar.

Down to only 5 men, their raid being a costly disaster, the Hollowman team decided that they desperately needed to attack now and break the Imperial defences, otherwise they would soon be overwhelmed. They charged forward, weaving in and out of cover crossing most of the battlefield. The whole team sprung through the air, landing in defensive positions. The missile launcher obliterated one of Captain Wu’s escorts with little resistance. The Missile Launcher then turned its attention on the remaining Su Jian, leaping through the air and into a pit on the side of the road, firing in mid air before disappearing into the void out of sight. The Su Jian managed to desperately dodge the warhead, but refused to yield its position on the corner of the building.

Captain Wu had grown tired of the Nomad’s persistence and barked for more smoke cover from the celestial guards. Once again, they placed the smoke exactly where he needed it as he reached out and cut the Hollow Man team down one by one. First the Stempler fell, it was an easy shot and without its help, the Hollowmen could no longer track the rounds coming at them through the smoke. It did not take long before there was only a single Hollowman remaining. Eager to kill the trooper that had murdered the members of his fireteam, Captain Wu ran quietly forward, moving silently and staying out of sight. Wu climbed down the ladder and snuck up on the remaining Hollowman. He swung at the construct as it spun around and attempted to dodge, his armour piercing blade burying deep into the enemies shoulder, He pulled his blade free and swung again, but this time the blow glanced off of a sloped part of the Hollow Man’s armour.

The Hollowman, realising that he was no match for the Hsien in close combat lept backwards and fired his missile launcher back at his attacker, The Hsien’s blade made heavy contact with his leg as he lept away, causing the missile to veer off course. The blow was a savage one, however it didn’t make it through the constructs armour.

Both combatants stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the next move when they both noticed a dull rumbling followed by the march of feet. A concerned voice echoed through Wu’s helmet. The 0-12 were here. Similar information had been relayed to the Hollowman, who jumped out of the pit and stood at attention. The grizzled veteran climbed out of the pit using a ladder and took off his helmet, using to to hide the nanopulser on his hip. The Su Jian sneakily kicked its discarded flamethrower tank into a nearby gutter whilst the Celestial guard on the rooftop threw a discarded tarp over the body of his fallen comrade. The soldiers of the task force waved and smiled for the cameras of the war correspondents as the 0-12 peacekeeping forces eyed them suspiciously. The hollow man used this opportunity to walk alongside the convoy, escaping back in the direction it came.

Their timing was unfortunate, Captain Wu would have loved to have finished off the last soldier from the Tunguskan raiding force, however it was important that Humanity presented a united front in the face of the alien threat.

The convoy disappeared from view as another dark dropship circled in the distance. This fight wasn’t over, but Thylacine taskforce was done for the day, the experts inside the bar came outside and indicated they had finished their work. The team escorted the scientists out, the upcoming scrap would be left to the Yu Jing forces still in the strip.