Operation Golden Ratio: episode 03

In previous episodes, Nomads from Tunguska have been fighting against Aleph's OSS over a PanOceanian research facility on Space Station Donacimiento. Fights stormed both the station and the Nomads' hideout, while Aleph tries to get control over its mysterious assets on the Station but a distress signal is sent from the station to call for PanOceanian reinforcements....

The Varuna Immediate Reaction Division was established to be the first to face any threat against the Hyperpower or its interests and a distress signal sent to Neoterra by space station Donacimiento was no exception. 

Minutes before docking, J. "Wimpy" Wellington briefed his soldiers: 

"They will let us in but it doesn't mean they'll avoid confrontation, aknowleding our authority. In fact, by entering the station, we're walking right into Aleph's trap. They'll try to crush us with everything they have and blame Nomads or what else for it. They have the station and they control the narrative, so we need to find what they're looking for before they do." 

He had already visited the station, six months before, escorting an S-tier classified sample to the attention of professor Anastacio Esguerra, lead research of project Laocoön. As he recalled the eerie sensations felt at the time, sitting next to the frozen tech-coffin, a bad feeling dawned on him: could it all be due to that sample?

300 points of masterfully painted Varuna 

This 300 point mission was Acquisition, from ITS season 12 supplement. 

OSS starts first and immediately tries to break Varuna's defensive stance by sending a Garuda tacbot behind enemy lines. The landing fails and the Garuda has to go back to table edge with the only positive effect, for both players, of revealing an hidden deployed Croc Man. 

Look at that spaceship!

On the other side of the table, MK2 proxy shoots the Orc, forcing him to duck down. Now, with only the Kamau sniper still standing, it is Marut's duty to move away from the center to PanO's left flank and shoot him. With the last orders, the Shukra consultant moves up on the right flank and completes the classified objective. 

Varuna starts its first turn by moving forward the haris fireteam on the left. The link is supported by the Bulleteer, which goes on a rampage over the Dakini link exploiting the assisted fire support program provided by the Mulebot. The haris team hacks and controls the left antenna, also completing the classified objective. Meanwhile, at the center of the table, the Orc and the Marut start exchanging shots, wounding the TAG. 

On turn two, Aleph secures the right antenna with the proxy MK1 hacker and shoots down a Fugazi dronbot with the Shukra consultant in an attempt to thin down PanO's order pool. Trying to take down the central Orc, the Marut is heavily damaged and has to be repaired, consuming important orders that would have been useful to neutralize the incoming Bulleteer. 

Varuna has the upper hand on turn two: the central Orc finally takes down both the Marut and the Shukra consultant, forcing OSS to play turn three in loss of lieutenant. The Deva hacker is also wiped out by the Bulleteer, leaving the table without having spent an order. With only two command tokens and five irregular orders it looks like things cannot be recovered by Aleph. 

Left: MK2 sniper controls the alley between the tech-coffin and left antenna.
Right: Marut is about to go down despite being in suppressive fire (don't mind the wrong token).

Turn three starts with Parvati: using her own order, she superjumps onto the center platform next to the tech-coffin. As a result, the camo marker is revealed to be a Zulu-cobra trooper who tries to take down the doc/eng with his jammer, but fails. With the last two orders provided by the netrods, the Zulu-cobra is shot down and the tech-coffin is controlled. The rest of OSS can do little if not bracing for Varuna's turn three. 

The Bulleteer uses all the orders from its group to take down Parvati but to no avail. The haris group tries to reach the tech-coffin from the left flank but is pinned down by the proxy MK2 sniper and the need to control the left antenna. Leaving its position, the Orc reaches the tech-coffin but its put to unconscious state by a lucky submachine gun shot. With the last two orders, the Fusilier lieutenant reaches the area but to no avail. The match, dominated by PanO firepower, ends with an unexpected 7-4 victory for Aleph.

What next?

Before retreating from the docking bay, J.W. looked at the tech-coffin one last time: the refrigerator module had been shut down and the frost on the front panel had started to vanish. Pressed against the glass, as crying for help or cursing its enemy, was a mysterious burned hand... 

Fake news!

Breaking news: In a dramatic turn of events, following a biotechvore hazard incident and rumors of an attack from Nomads terrorist, Space Station Donacimiento is once again in the eye of the storm. 

According to Alisaa Mudlock, Aleph's aspect now in charge of the station, terrorists have hacked the station to send a false distress signal promptly picked up by Varuna separatists who tried to seize the station. The attack was foiled by the OSS but the terrorists have taken control of one a station's modules and managed to compromise its orbit. 

The Varunan High Command still haven't made comments on the matter but a statement is expected by the end of today.