The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 14

Prelude to the Big Battle
Five minutes to prepare for battle did not seem long at all but it was more than enough time for the defenders of the Sterling Agricultural Colony. In the past, Erik Finn and his bandits had always approached the colony from the north, so this was where the defenders anticipated this new raid would come from. They were right. Lookouts had reported that the raiders were approaching from the north in five armoured trucks.

The defenders were stretched out in a long line at the northern end of the village, hiding behind barricades or the rooftops of the two buildings there.

On the defenders' right flank to the north-east were Celeste, the android assassin, and four colonists behind a makeshift barricade. Up on the roof of the apartment building that had been assigned to the crew of The Ace of Spades were Jeanette Grey, the gunnery officer and five more colonists, including Yuri Katona, who had proved efficient enough with a laser rifle that he was issued one of the group's five laser sniper rifles. The blonde-haired colonist stood next to Jeanette.

On the floor directly below them were the three best friends of Kyran, Kimberley and Gwendoline. They had been given strict instructions from Celeste and Julia to stay indoors and keep under cover at all costs. Even though Kimberley was the captain of The Ace of Spades she was more than willing to accept the advice of her two combat veterans.

Holding the centre ground were research scientist Lynda Pelligrosso, cat burglar Rebecca Ellington, Mearc Sterling, son of the colony's founder, Alfred Sterling, his good friend, Sheas Danelish and eight colonists. Mearc and Sheas had also been issued with laser sniper rifles. The other colonists were armed with standard laser pistols and laser rifles. All of the colonists wore Kevlar Vests. The crew of The Ace of Spades were armed with a variety of weapons, although phaser pistols were the most common firearm, and they wore various items of light armour.

On the left flank of the colony in a two-storey building used as a barn were four colonists on the ground floor roof. On the roof of the upper floor were bounty hunter Julia Frostorm along with colonists Royce Tavahi and Blayne Culver, both of whom were armed with laser sniper rifles after proving to Julia just how good at marksmanship they were.

That just left the two scouts from The Ace of Spades, Danica and Katja Sondquist. They were hunkered down in a small grove of trees just north of the barn on the left flank. Their mission was to stay hidden until the raiders passed them by and then hit them in the rear using hit and run tactics.

No sooner had the defenders taken up their defensive positions when Erik Finn and his mercenaries arrived in five armoured trucks. All of the trucks were six-wheeled with over-sized tyres designed for off-road driving. They had elevated cabs for increased visibility and could seat four, usually a driver, navigator and two observers. The three leading trucks were passenger carrying vehicles with seating for eight people in the rear. Bringing up the rear were two variant trucks. One had a flatbed behind the cab, which mounted a 40mm cannon, operated by two gunners. The second variant was the command truck from where Erik Finn could direct operations.

Truck One was commanded by Sergeant Mitch Zegers, seated behind the driver and navigator in the front cab. His orders were to take out the defenders on the right flank. The driver parked behind a hedge just in front of the barricade where Celeste was. All of the mercenaries were armed with 9mm Harrison and Krupp HK18 military assault rifles and combat knives. The officers also carried laser pistols. They all wore mesh-lined armoured body suits.

The artillery truck spun round so that the 40mm cannon was facing the colony. It stayed well back whilst the three passenger trucks advanced. This was the first time that Erik had brought this truck into play. After the slaughter of his men guarding the hostages he was in a foul mood and was determined to show the colonists just who was in charge. The 40mm cannon was to cause indiscriminate damage to the colony, targetting people and buildings. This was the time to bring out the big guns, Finn reckoned, and to make the colonists pay dearly for wiping out ten good men.

Finn himself was seated in the back of the command truck, which was parked alongside the artillery truck. With him was a young communications technician called Timo Olmstead, who right now would rather have been anywhere else but here. He had never seen combat before and given Finn's dark mood he was scared stiff of making a mistake.

Truck two headed straight for the central barricade. In command of this squad of mercenaries was Lieutenant Pierre Lascelles, a veteran of many a fight and Finn's right hand man. He was looking forward to the fight, especially as Finn had given him free rein to quell the colonists however he saw fit. It was about time the colonists suffered serious casualties, he thought cruelly.

Truck three screeched to a halt alongside a hedge in front of the barn. Leading this squad was Corporal Demer Millius. He wasn't as experienced as Lieutenant Lascelles or Sergeant Zegers, but he was determined to show that he had what it takes in a fight. He wouldn't shirk from his duty in killing as many defenders as he could.
In a few seconds time all hell would break loose. The odds had to favour the attackers. There were forty battle-hardened mercenaries against twenty-five colonists who had never fought before, plus ten crew members of The Ace of Spades, whose combat experience was mixed from killer elite to pacifist. The weapons and armour of the defenders were only marginally better than those of the mercenaries but the colonists were much less skilled in combat. The mercenaries also had a 40mm cannon, which could prove decisive. However, the greatest assets the defenders had were Celeste, Julia, Danica and Katja - the most experienced killers on the battlefield. Plus, Kimberley, Jeanette and Rebecca were all crack-shots with good combat experience. Would that be enough to counter the threat posed by the mercenary force?
(Note that the colonists' laser rifles could do 2d6+3 Heat damage and had a range increment of 20. The raiders' HK18 assault rifles could do 2d6+2 Ballistic damage and also had a range increment of 20. The laser sniper rifles did 3d6 Heat damage and had a range increment of 40. The 40mm cannon could do 5d6 Heat damage and had a range increment of 30 with a minimum range of 10. The Kevlar Vests worn by the colonists had SOAK:5 but was ineffective against Piercing damage. The raiders' Mesh Lined Armour had SOAK:4 but was ineffective against Blunt damage.)