Part 18: We Interrupt this Transmission to tell you that terrorists have attacked an OCU convoy in the desert.

The journey to Monus was taking us through the eastern deserts. Day after day of shaking scorpions out of your clothes and making sure Natalie wasn't sick over you. And to top it off, we weren't even going to be assured a bed of our own once we got there. Just another forward base.

On the second day, the convoy was forced to stop for some unknown reason, and we had to set up a perimeter while the engineers fixed something. Hans was on patrol, and this happened...





I couldn't believe it. Perfect visibility for ten miles and we were fucking surrounded.

All that remained to ask was where.




They came from underground, the bastards.




Their commander taunted us from his airtight cockpit. He didn't have to worry about dust in the vents or anything.


I immobilised the fucker.





Keith was fighting like a man possessed. He and JJ had taken on three of the enemy and were beating them down. Natalie and Sakata moved west to engage the second lance, while I laid down covering fire on the northern unit. Their missiler, however, did a better job of suppressing me.






They rushed the trucks and took down Natalie to do it. I was under heavy fire and had to flee eastwards. We'd only been able to get five suits online before they hit, and one man down was not good for the odds.





Peewee fled back to the convoy before his truck exploded. The enemy's dust shields were making it hard to find weaknesses in their armour, too. But Sakata's autocannon was tearing plates off them.






We were wearing them down, though. Without supply lines, their missilers were down to desperately firing their machine guns at us while my forces cut them down with cannon and shell.




The rest of the battle boiled down to Sakata and Keith tearing the enemy an new exhaust pipe with their cannons. Three kills each.



Before long, we were at the front again.

I had upgraded the party here, but I'll save that for another update. As it is, this is a dull battle unless you get lazy. Then the enemy will rip you apart. You can only take 5 characters in, and they have nine units with one or two shields and two machine guns each. The missilers have top-line weapons and there is a strong movement penalty for anyone who hasn't got wheels, so it's quite challenging. Add to this a small map and you've got a nasty problem if their commanders get out of hand.

However, Vulcan Cannons are now available at the shop. These have one more shot than normal machine guns and higher damage! To compare, the Indos MG that Keith uses fires four times and has an attack rating of ten, while Natalies' vulcan shoots five times at strength 11! The only weapon comparable is the ArtAssault MG, which shoots 3 times but is very accurate and strength 13. Keith and Sakata were monsters in this mission, too! Keith's "Switch" skill kept triggering, meaning he got two turns instead of one, and Sakata seemed to not die at all!