Shattergrounds

A Ju Jac had dug in at Antenna A, with a Line trooper covering its rear. Pushing through that point was no walk in the park, but I assigned the task to Squad Alpha, and they didn't flinch. The Lobo charged straight at the target, while the Diablo executed a flawless flank maneuver around the building to the right.

Amidst a relentless hail of gunfire, the Lobo pressed on, bullets bouncing off his shield as he managed to graze the Ju Jac before taking a hit to the gut, dropping to the ground. The Taskmaster seized the opportunity and charged in, eliminating the Ju Jac and sending the Yu Jing soldiers at the rear scrambling for cover. In the end, we took Antenna A, and we did it the hard way.

A damn sniper posted up covering both Antenna B and C was throwing a major wrench into Bravo Squad's plans. We couldn't afford to tiptoe around this one. One trooper had already paid the price for a tentative approach, now bleeding against a wall with a nasty neck wound. Using this unfortunate cover, the enemy commander was shifting more of his team into positions to guard Antenna B and secure his own console.

This was shaping up to be one hell of a firefight, and we couldn't afford to give an inch.

Thank the stars, Alpha Squad came through when we needed them most. The Diablo charged forward with sheer aggression, seizing Antenna B and securing it for our team. But his triumph was short-lived; as he dashed for cover, that damned sniper got a piece of him, and he went down. His life sign marker blinked out, marking our first real casualty on this mission.

It was do or die time, and we had lost the Lobo, the Diablo, and an Alguacil. The losses fueled the Taskmaster's determination as he pushed all the way up the left flank. He took out two enemy soldiers providing top cover from a nearby building and circled around to the rear of the enemy's console. He caught a few hits along the way, but his armor held strong, absorbing the worst of it.

That day, we reaffirmed some truths we already knew: Yu Jing were slippery as eels, staying in the open was a death wish, and Taskmaster armor was tough as nails. But we also learned something new the hard way—Taskmasters don't fit through your run-of-the-mill civilian staircase. He tried to scale the side of the building, but before he could, the command came down from above. The mission was a success, and it was time to evac, regrouping to assault key positions at some fancy yacht club.