Asteroid Blues

Hafza Operations Officer, Yarbay (LTCOL) [Redacted], codenamed TRA852 received the urgent request for further reinforcements to be sent to the Xaraks Battery field. Naval Task Force Z-21 was still deploying at the space port so he needed another solution. The Qapu Khalqi has deep pockets, so he had access to a considerable source of funds. Therefore he simply hired some affiliated mercenaries to provide immediate assistance until more regular troops were available. Sabine Raider group was a loose collection of professionals under a capable Nomad commander, Jacinta Gomez. TRA852 had no qualms about sending them to do Haqqislam's bidding.

It was a straightforward mission; insert into the battery field area and capture the fire control facilities controlling the battery. Resistance wasn't expected to be too strong; but then the Tohaa showed up unexpectedly and things turned nasty.

Mission: Acquisition
Tohaa won initiative and decided to choose ends and let QK set up first.
QK chose to go first
Classifieds: QK - HVT Espionage; Tohaa - Nano-espionage
Data Trackers: QK - Scarface; Tohaa - Neema
Liaison Officer: QK - Alguacil FO; Tohaa - NA (no FO unit)

QK: Tohaa use CT to strip 2 orders from Druze combat group - that'll slow them up.
The Druze fire-team advances to the high wall and their HMG gunner peers round to engage the Chaksa HMG up on the hill. Scores a critical hit to render it UNC.
Druze then manoeuvre slightly before speculatively firing an EM grenade at Neema - this misses.
Scarface sneaks down the left flank to get behind the stacked containers. Then leans out slightly to shoot the Kriigel SMG, rendering him KIA. He then moves out a little further to shoot the Reex K-1 Rifle, blasting him UNC.
The Fanous REM also moves forward to the stacked containers to bring the area of the left antenna in hacking range.
Mobile Brigada (MB) crawls slightly to improve LOS while avoiding being seen by the Sukeul twins.
The Alguacil FO plants a repeater beside himself.
Scarface TAG, Alguacil FO & MB all go on SF (combined order)
That finishes a pretty good turn one for QK.

Tohaa: start 3 orders down in their second group (3 remaining). 1st group still has 7 orders.
Neema's link, with Makaul leading, attempt to advance past the low bunker and access the nearby antenna and Tech-coffin. The batch of eclipse grenades must have been faulty, as it took the Makaul three tries to lay the smoke. The Kosul then moved up to the antenna but needs two tries to activate it. meanwhile, the Makaul has moved to flank the Druze fire-team while remaining in the smoke. During this time the Alguacil Hacker made a couple of hacking attacks (Spotlight & Gotcha') on the triad but these all failed.
The Reex with BSG moves up to the stacked containers and peeks round to have a shot at Scarface (who's on SF). Unfortunately he gets blasted UNC for his trouble.
Neema's Makaul now intuitive fires on the Druze link, covering all of them with his HFT. Unbelievably, four out of five Druze dodge this and the other makes their armour save.
With the last order, Neema's triad pulls back to cover to avoid retaliatory action. The Alguacil Hacker fails another "Gotcha" attempt on Neema.
Not a good turn for the Tohaal

End of turn 1: QK are untouched. Tohaa have lost 4 casualties (1 KIA) but have gained one antenna.

QK: Actually start this turn with more orders than the last one.
Fanous REM slides left a bit to bring the suspicious civilian (Tohaa HVT) into hacking range.
Alguacil Hacker then completes two Spotlight attempts to achieve the QK Classified task. He then fails two attempts to Spotlight Neema and her Kosul triad mate.
Druze fire-team lob several speculative EM grenades at Neema's triad but only succeed in isolating the Kosul, everybody else passes BTS.
The Druze HMG then leans around the tall wall to fire on Neema, who dodges everything adroitly.
This ends the QK turn with only their Classified objective to show for it.

Tohaa: Use 2 x CT to consolidate into one combat group with 8 regular orders & 1 irregular order (isolated Kosul)
Kosul uses his own irregular order to repair himself and succeeds. Tohaa spend a CT to reform him into Neema's triad.
The Kumotail crawls up behind the tall bunker then on to the right flank antenna, which she successfully activates. She then crawls back into cover behind a rock.
Neema's link use eclipse smoke to cover their movement and close up on the low bunker and the Tech-coffin. The Alguacil hacker succeeds in Spotlighting the Makaul during this movement.
The Makaul peeks around the edge of the high wall and uses his HFT on the Druze HMG on the other side and the Alguacil FO up in the rocks. The Druze fails his dodge but tanks the hit. The Alguacil FO (on SF) fires back, knocking the Makaul UNC. This breaks the triad. To rub salt into the wound, he also passes his armour save against the HFT.
Meanwhile, Neema is at the Tech-coffin and uses her DT order to go on SF.
The Kosul has tucked himself in at the corner of the high wall and the bunker so he can support Neema.
Another poor turn for the Tohaa; but they do have 2 antenna and their DT controlling the Tech-coffin.

End of turn 2: QK are still untouched and have achieved their Classified objective. Tohaa have lost another casualty (total 5 now) but are leading 7 - 1 in OP.

QK: Still at full strength but only through a miracle (or several), the team have to find a way to control the Tech-coffin and capture the antenna. Going head to head with Neema on SF is not a pleasant prospect, even in a link.
First up, Cordelia is able to sneak her way over to the left flank antenna without being seen and activate it for QK.
The Alguacil FO is able to sneak down to the low wall and then crawl to the right flank antenna without entering LOS of any Tohaa. He then activates this antenna for QK before crawling back to take a covering position at the edge of the low wall.
As a final coordinated order, Cordelia and the FO go on SF.
That's the easy stuff but it took all the orders from group 1.
The Druze advise they are not keen on charging around the high wall and facing off with Neema on SF. Seems like a good way to loose troops and the mission.
Scarface solves the impasse by using his DT and TAG order to move up past the stacked containers and engage Neema from the flank and behind her field of fire. This unopposed attack on Neema destroys her symbiont armour but the Tohaa warrior bravely stands her ground.
The Sukeul triad was able to see Scarface as he attacked, and both the ML and HMG unload on the TAG. This causes 2 ML hits and one HMG hit. Scarface manages to make all bar 3 of these (7) saves and so has to vacate his TAG.
With only the Druze group left with orders, the LGL operator peeks around the high wall and fires on Neema with his combi-rifle. He knocks her down with a critical hit and 3 more hits.
The LGL operator then climbs around a bit further to fire on the Kosul in the corner. He succeeds in blasting the Kosul UNC.
The Druze team then uses its remaining orders to move up and control the Tech-coffin.

Tohaa: Now in loss of Lieutenant, the Tohaa have only 6 irregular orders to recapture the Tech-coffin and at least one antenna. They decide to recover their casualties and withdraw.

The Alguacil FO (Liaison Officer) succeeds in his only WIP roll to gain 1 OP.

Epilogue: Jacinta Gomez swaggered up to the Hafza officer and smugly declared, "mission accomplished." Then she held out her hand for the money, which the Hafza officer duly transferred to her account. To be honest, he was quite stunned that it had been completed at such little cost; although judging from what he could hear of Cordelia's language to her brother, not everything had come through unscathed. Still bemused, he wondered idly if he should put this team on retainer.

Result: QK Win 8-0
QK: Activated both antenna = 2 OP, Controlled one antenna = 1 OP, Achieved Classified Objective = 1 OP, Controlled Tech-coffin = 3 OP, Liaison Officer success = 1 OP Total: 8 OP
Tohaa: achieved no objectives = Total 0 OP

Comments: I commiserated with my opponent after the game. He did nothing wrong and employed good tactics; the dice just didn't want to reward him. Failing a bunch of good odds smoke and activation rolls (16 for smoke twice and 17 for activation once) in turn 1 left him unable to effectively attack me or set himself up well for the next turn. Having all my Druze dodge or tank his HFT attack was harsh. When this happened again in turn 2 it was cruel. Despite this, at the end of turn 2, he had put himself in a winning position and given me a hard nut to crack. Only by sacrificing Scarface (or at least his TAG) was I able to secure the needed objectives. Losing his LT at that stage meant he did not have the means to effectively counter-attack in his third turn. At all times though he displayed exemplary sportsmanship and struggled on. A hard fought and close game even though the score does not seem to indicate that.