The ballad of Ba Fashas, a Durgama Takeover story

 

The Phase Two of Durgama Takeover is still raging but, unfortunately, I won't be able to play in the upcoming days. Therefore, this campaign ends now for me but I can't say it's really over until I stitch together the story I told thorugh my reports and I get to describe how much of a positive experience it has been for me, so here I am.

To be part of an active community playing and telling stories about a shared universe is a privilged experience which I could not have experienced this time, due to seasonal issues, without the help of TTS (TableTop Simulator) and the wonderful addons provided by the online Infinity Community, especially THE main mod, 3D Infinity miniatures project and Badlazzor's Infinity Maps.

I got to play three games: two with Lockdownit_, a great player & fun guy who also recorded one of said matches on Twitch, and one with butchee, my "everyday" opponent.

As the title suggests, I also spent a lot of time telling the story of my Commander - tying togheter the three games. Here, you can read the whole thing with links to my battle reports.

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Until today, Shasvastii Commander Ba Fashas only acted behind the curtains of the Expeditionary Force as a liaison officer. This cunning bootlicker sought in the Durgama Takeover the perfect occasion to make up for missing the Paradiso bandwagon, something continuously reminded by his peers, and to climb the ladder of power at somebody else’s expenses. 

Despite missing the opportunity to join the Submarine Strike Force, his contacts and acquaintances allowed him to be selected for an high visibility and low risk mission: on board of the Fuzzy Dance, a salvaged human cargo ship, he has the objective of going behind the enemy lines and sabotage the humans supply chain. Unfortunately for Ba Fashas, Nomads hackers unveiled the Fuzzy Dance swindle and exposed him to unforseen attention from the enemy… 

- Commander, we are not allowed to follow the refugee ships convoy: Alfutna has denied permission to land. They didn't fell for our distress signal! 

- Curse the humans! What now? 

- We're being targeted by land AtS batteries! 

- Screw it! I can't fail before I even start. Our plans have to change: where is the Raveneye? 

- According to orbital progression, we'll be in the shade of the station within 5 clicks, but it won't shield us fo- 

- Shut up you fool! Activate full thrust and target lock the Raveneye: I don't want to use it as a shield…I want to board it!

LINK TO BATTLE REPORT 01: 150 points Firefight

Ba Fashas looked down on Concilium Prima through the porthole: it was now possible to see the scars of a full scale war on its lush surface.
"Never think about how lucky you are." he repeated himself.
It was a mantra learned years before from his mentor. Assassinating him had been Ba's first step to glory, but he preferred not to remember that part. 

His attendant came rushing with big news: 

 - I finally made contact with the Central Command: they congratulate you on the unexpected result of blowing up this ammo module, but they hurry us to pursue our main mission. 

Ba Fashas smirked. 

- Of course we have to. But now we need a ride to reach the planet…hope the Raveneye won't mind if we take care of one of its corvettes. Put everyone on alert: we'll leave in 70 clicks and- 

A flash of plasma lit up the darkness of space outside the porthole, interrupting him: the rage of the battle was growing second by second.
"Never think about how lucky you are." he repeated himself once again.

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The corvette stolen from the Raveneye by Ba Fashas landed in the steep hills behind Cameliard. Quickly, almost effortlessly, Ba’s team completed its sabotaging task, hacking a lightly guarded PanOceanian repeater and mining a bridge connecting Cameliard to the supply lines. The mission was over and the team started making preparations to reach its extraction point, until… 

- Sir, we have new directives from Central Command. They want us to split: an offensive infiltration unit must reach the outskirts of Darpan as the rest of us is exfiltrated from an updated location: here are the coordinates. 

The attendant handed him a tactical map full of blinking alerts and bombardment notifications. 

- We have to rejoin the Submarine Strike Force through…Alfutna? What for? 

- We'll have to carry out a rescue mission as we exfiltrate sir, our sleeping agents have collected all the relevant data we needed: we have to bring them back home. 

- Unbelievable. Make contact with colonel Graviton, this mission is not on our schedule: I’ll talk him into handing it over to someone else. Also, now that they have split my team in two, I don’t have the resources to accomplish it: they had to think about it earlier. 

- We’ll be joined by the survivors of team Mondrian and by a local asset, an undercover engineer. His code name is Vasco. 

The commander laughed aggressively, dismissing the attendance with a wave of his hand. 

- Whatever, I don’t care about his codename. Make contact with colonel Graviton, quick! 

Imperceptively, the attendance flinched. 

- About that sir…it’s a W tier mission. You were directly appointed for this. I’m afraid we can’t do anything about it. 

Ba Fashas sweared quietly, looking at his troopers buckling up to start the long march.. 

- Ridiculous. Who signed the executive order? 

- It’s...redacted sir. 

A chill went down Ba Fashas’s spine.

LINK TO BATTLE REPORT 02: 150 points Rescue

The sun was setting behind the Alfutna Terraforming Studies Unit. In the thick depths of the surrounding jungle, a badly wounded Ba Fashas was trying to connect with the Central Command. 

 

- Commander Ba Fashas to Central Command, over. Please respond. The humans were better prepared than expect- 

He panted, choking a scream of pain to avoid revealing is position. 

- The Alfutna complex is well guarded with Support Weapons and TAGs. My whole team was killed, except codename Vasco and the civilian he rescued, but I lost them. The mission…is failed. 

No answer from the Command, but Ba was sure they were listening. 

- I…fought to the last bullet and managed to run away, securing vital information for the EI. I barely made it, I am so lucky to be still alive. 

Still no answer, only white noise accompanied by the sounds of Durgama’s crepuscular fauna. 

- Command, please respond. I am Commander Ba Fashas, requesting immedia- 

A voice finally came out of the communicator, but it was a voice Ba hadn’t hear from a long time, and really never expected to hear again. 

- Ba, my boy, what did I used to tell you? Never think about how lucky you are…

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Ba's healing tank was pushed through an automatic door to a disadorn room, with a wide screen showing the evolution of war on Durgama.
In front of the screen the silhouette of Ba Fashas' supposedly long dead mentor: Cai Gavash. 

- Ba Fashas', it's a pleasure to meet you again. Welcome to Minor Cargo Ship 07 or, as I call it, the Nessun Dorma. 

Ba remembered clearly how he backstabbed that same person multiple times in a dark night of many years before but here he was, a ghost in flesh and bone. 

- I am sure you have lots of questions. For the moment, lets put those aside and answer one of mine: what is this war? 

- An opportunity. The Combined Army will ultimately prevail: I was trying to make a name for myself. 

Ba replied, surprised by how his voice was trembling. He blamed the drugs, but knew it was something else.

- Excellent answer, I have to agree with you. Still, I think we reason on different scales. This is not an opportunity only for ourselves, but for every Shasvastii. Do you understand? 

It was a rhetorical question. Cai's answer showed him more than it told: he was up with a top level conjuration, a decades long scheme that crossed the lives and deaths of every Shasvastii in the Human Sphere, if not in the Universe. His whole activity on Durgama must have been carefully masterplanned by Cai Gavash to make him disappear as killed in action. He started wandering if his Raveneye detour was just another product of Cai's schemes. 

- I'll take your silence as a yes. I am so glad to have you joining our little initiative. In fact, I already have the perfect task for you: one of our pivotal assets is prisoner in the Zebu Research Center. 

Cai interrupted his speech, dramatically. Then, looking at the screen, he continued: - If he should be held captive by humans, it would be bad. However, if some parties of our Combined Army were to find him, it would be even worse...

LINK TO BATTLE REPORT 03: 200 points Biotechvore

Night had fallen on Durgama but the Zebu Research Center was light up by fire from the Shasvastii incursion. Emergency sirens and human shouts filled an otherwise silent air. 

Resistance from Tunguska was unpredicted, but Ba Fashas had accomplished his mission regardless. 

The target, handcuffed and escorted by his troopers, trotted before him in the shadows. 

- Special agent Ba Fashas to Central Command, reporting for duty. 

This time, the voice emerging from the comm device was ready, loud and clear. 

- We copy you Ba Fashas. Sending an extraction ship immediately; what’s the status? 

- I have the target: he’s beaten up but he’ll be able to testify against the conjurers. I am now sending you the coordinates for the ship where Cai Gavash is hidden. Over. 

- Thank you Ba Fashas, well done. 

Ba turned to look at the sky. A quick flash appeared above him, like a trembling star: a stealth missile had just hit the Nessun Dorma, ending Cai’s schemes once and for all. 

He didnt’ felt lucky, but relieved. Dying to catch a ghost wasn't a choice, neither a will of destiny: it was just a mission given him by the High Command to hunt for conjurers and rotten apples during the Durgama Takeover. He succeeded but, more importantly, he was alive: nothing else mattered.