As they drew close to where he thought Tonkin and Tanya were concealed, he waved and signalled the withdrawal. Using the radio didn't seem like a great idea at the moment - he'd heard signals could be traced in a matter of moments and bombs fired at the source just seconds later. He didn't know if the Labs could do that in the middle of a battle, but judged it not worth the risk to their lives.
Provided they weren't intercepted their next stop would be where the quads were hidden where he intended to quickly discuss their next move.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 99):

You meet a few Labrysians on the way back to the Quads, but most do not seem to be able to communicate. Fortunately, they also seem to regard you as friendly.

As you reach the quad bikes, one does approach you.

In reply to Fate (msg # 100):

His English is poor.

"You new? I not see you with others at briefs."

Diving to cover, Meir aimed his rifle at the filthy Lab soldier, his finger caressing the trigger.
"Who the hell are you and why shouldn't I blow your murderous head off!!?? "

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 102):

"I rebel commander Gork. We on same side!" He was rather alarmed at your response, and several of his men suddenly adopt defensive positions with plasma guns.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 102):

He pushes the rifle out of alignment with his leg... We New from Space Ship... he motions toward the sky.

In reply to Sergent Thornhammer (msg # 104):

He smirks, as other relax a bit at Thornhammers actions.

"We know space ships better than English. Why you friend hostility?"

His Family, His friends, Village and many other villages all killed by Government on their planet ... he has deep hate for Labrysians, as he still thinks all are the same. So far, talking has only eased it a little.

In reply to Sergent Thornhammer (msg # 106):

It takes a few moments for the translation to register.

"Yes, I guess if the only Labrysians I met were Government troops, I would want to kill them all on sight too. Most of us here have lost families and even villages, and we have been mode fugatives from our home planet to boot.  He wont find any love for government troops here."

Yes, But he needs to understand that they have done it to heir own as well .... Not all are bad.

In reply to Sergent Thornhammer (msg # 108):

"Right. You help with assault too?"
This message was last updated by the player at 06:57, Sun 30 July 2017.

"Yeah, sure. Not all bad."

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 110):

"No. Just Government bad."

Clearly unimpressed, Meir did nevertheless lower his weapon and demanded, "Where are the humans?"

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 112):

"Most coming up Cannon. We taking Cannon shoulders."

"We'll wait for them then."
So this "commander" had put the humans into the thickest fighting had they? Obviously these "rebels" were just as callous as the other labs when it came to other species, or they'd have put their own troops in the centre and the humans on the somewhat safer flank.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 114):

Seeing Meir s concern, he adds.

"Our best in Cannon with them. Humans only take outside base, then we go in. Explosive fighting in cave, not suitable for soft skinned humans."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."
Probably used them to soak up the worst of the incoming fire and expected they wouldn't be able to continue into the caves.

In reply to Meir Galinski (msg # 116):

As more Labrysian troops move up to the lip of the canyon, it becomes clear that the firefight below is coming to an end. At least for now, it is becoming safe to move around again.

The sergeant gathers the group up and establishes contact with the Shuttle, which has them move away a bit for pick up. Meir and Thornhammer get redirect to the Yuri, Tanya and Iliam with the shuttle rejoin DASTAVKA

In reply to Sergent Thornhammer (msg # 118):

Once back aboard the Yuri, Meir and the others are debriefed, with what information gathered passed on to command.

The situation has been summarized as follows:

The initial attack landed on planets near Hibernia as a distraction. 100 SR Missile Fighters  and 10 Star Fighters from Miratovetz combined with 30 Missile Fighters from the Yuri to overwhelm the small defences on all the other planets in the system, but in it's primary task of distracting the forces at Hibernia, it failed. As the two vessels moved towards the planet, scans of large wreckage fields near the planet revealed why. Not only did they find the wreckage of the Midway and numerous destroyed fighters and Labrysian Destroyers and fighters, but they also discovered the remains of a massive warship, clearly destroyed by the remaining fighters. With the defences so badly damaged, the Labrysian fleet currently drawn into a tight formation around the formidable starbase became understandable.

Regardless, the Yuri ordered a full strike by the fighters, as she herself approached the enemy fleet. The Labrysians responded by launching about 350 fighters, causing the Yuri to quickly double back at full speed! The speed of the warship clearly caught the Labrysians by surprise, and the fighters were able to destroy all of them, but needed to return to rearm.

The second wave then saw Yuri moving with the fighters, but the Labrysians this time did not break formation, reducing the missiles swarms effectiveness. Still, there was only a Destroyer and two massive cruisers left, and they soon fell to the missile swarms. The next missile swarm attack on the base itself included a nuke from Yuri, hidden amoung the swarm. The Base did not pick it up in time, with guns only focussing on the nuke seconds before it detonated right beside the base.

With the skies now ours, the Yuri followed up with a second Nuke strike on the main garrison, again combining with a missile swarm. The massive command tank, apparently as big as a Hero class starship, was destroyed, along with a number of heavy tanks. A following missile storm managed to destroy most of the medium tanks garrisoned there as a number of APCs as they attempted to escape.

Fighting was detected at another location by the Miratovetz initially. It was the battle survivors of the Midway and your own men were involved in. It is understood that the site of this battle is a major research facility, and the battle in continuing into the cave system in which the facility is built. There are known to be five other garrisons bunkered underground still to be neutralized, and while the Yuri is utilizing her heavy cannon for bombardment, this is on little use underground.

At this point, the Jeremiah Jones, the small picket ship that had followed to observe, keeping well away from the fighting, was sent back to Aegir to ask for more missiles to be sent. Dastavka was first contacted at this point as well, and has now, as you know, been sent for Labrysian troops.

Each remaining Labrysian government garrison has approximately 16 scout tanks and 256 troops (16 squads of 16), while there are barely 500 rebels remaining from the 1000 that were there prior to the Midways destruction. Many have dies trying to help the survivors of the Midway stay out of the hands of the Government troops, who were know to conduct cruel experiments on them in the research base now under attack. The good news is that  the remaining rebels are now reasonably well armed, and since the Government troops have lost a number of tanks, the rebels are slowly managing to get many of them operational again. It is believed that they have 11 scout tanks and a medium tank now in operational condition, though they are not so useful in the caverns where tight corridors can often block them and render them very vulnerable to mines.

Since you were actually on the ground, you are asked what your assessment is of what is needed.

Thornhammer shrugs and points at Meir.

In reply to Sergent Thornhammer (msg # 120):

"Thornhammer, Galansky has little military training, whilst you were trained by Vilani to fight Aliens, so I would also appreciate your input."

[OOC:Kat, were you making up a character?]
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:54, Sat 12 Aug 2017.

Well sir, I'm not sure that my limited exposure is of much value. I note that the Government forces fight to the death, so they truly believe in what they do. They seem to rely on armored vehicles, even where they aren't the most useful, and push  them forward, where leading with infantry supported by tanks would seem a better tactic. They defend to the death, but don't seem to be quick or creative with counter-attacks.
They will  lose unless they change, but the fight will not be easy.

In reply to Sergent Thornhammer (msg # 122):

"Yes, that is what we have heard. Their culture emphasizes that size and strength are related, so bigger is seen as better.

What are your ideas on what to hit next?"