Battle for Xilos

The technicians called it intercepting communications but Freeborn Captain Petra of Vardos Cadix knew better; it was eavesdropping. That said, it mattered not how it was obtained knowledge has value. The concord imtel was buzzing with chatter of an item of value amidst a clearing in the Southern jungle of Xilos and if it was valuable to the Concord it was desirable to Vardos Cadix. She ordered her troops westward through the jungles and rocky ridges. Her Domari formed the centre of the vanguard, with her command squad and the forward most Mhagris feral unit on the right and left of this respectively. In hindsight she mistimed the order to run (caution or inexperience who knows) and the Concord strike teams were already well into the clearing as her troops worked their way forward to the edge of the treeline.

Rather than rue events Petra chose to see the current situation as an opportunity: a command squad and two Concord strike teams out in the open was a gift she could not ignore. She encouraged urgency from the rearmost two teams as she ordered her forward troops to form a firing line around the clearing. Ferals entered the clearing near the north east edge concentrating their firepower on the closest squad. The Concord unit struggled to react efficiently and they received a number of casualties. Petra and her bodyguards fired in from the southeast primarily pinning their targets. She ordered the domari unit to press through the dense flora on the immediate east of the clearing but they struggled to penetrate through the undergrowth. A second squad of ferals arrived at the run and lined up behind the first. The narrow jungle paths made it difficult to press ahead so they hung back behind their peers. The more skilled Vardanari arrived and took a wider path around the northeastern outcroppings, aiming to support the ferals’ flank.

However, neither of the newer units could add their firepower to the growing conflict. The concord squads advanced closer to a polished stone of great size which Petra assumed was the goal. They fired at the encroaching Freeborn as they did so. A newly arrived pair of combat drones hovered into view and the smell of cooked Mhagris flesh assaulted Petras nose. She ordered the second feral squad to replace the first in the firing line. As their fire told on the central Concord units, she stepped forward into the clearing her batter drone offering her cover as she did. The Domari having failed to push through the bush scurried round it and down the path behind her. The Vardanari fired in at the Concord command squad from the north and the C3 commander was left alone but unshaken. The feral squad shot at the strike team which had earlier struggled to react to their predecessors and reducing their numbers too. So far so good for Vardos Cadix

However, the Concord forces resurged: A flanking squad emerged from a stone tunnel dominating the southern clearing edge; Captain Petra was gunned down despite the batter drone and the two remaining troopers in the southern most squad lifted the prize and ran back north across their clearing. They passed the prize off to the squadleader with the poor reactions. Undeterred by the threat, the ferals advanced into point blank of the two PLS gun drones firing past them at the infantry. Three mag guns were levelled at the squad that had first lifted the prize and the micro x-launcher separately shot the squad leader who was now carrying the stone. However, the squad-leader’s armour held and he ran out of the clearing but remained just in view. Petra ‘s bodyguard and her Domari joined in the attempt but the C3 commander was hugging the floor and their fire proved ineffectual.

The battle was in the balance and all now hinged on who would react first: the lone C3 squad-leader carrying the builder artefact or the ferals now deep in the clearing hungry to chase him down.

With a howl of despair the eager ferals watched the squad-leader vanish into the brush bearing the prize back to the Concord lines.

Victory to C3 – well done Lea

My Tactical errors:
Not running in the first turn effectively giving Concord a head-start.
Jungle is harder to walk through than I thought.
Cluttered firing lines that stopped me pouring maximum firepower on the opponent.
Perhaps not being bold enough and holding back firing rather than pushing for the objective.

Please note, the photos are Baldlea’s not mine