2300 AD: Tanstaafl Nights - Mission 2, Day 2 and 3 - Resolution

This is the record of Kingston Kinetics scouting mission beyond Mt. Westlich Feuer and the final resolution of the "Battle of Caldera". 

Day 2 of Mission 2: The team started planning their next steps after recuperation. While in their impromptu TOC, communications with the rest of Tanstaafl suddenly failed. They quickly determined that something had happened to the local relay tower, which sat near the summit of Mt. Wesley. The team boarded the LOACH and took off. 

On the way to the top, the LOACH barely avoided a Kafer SAM, which they later determined was fired remotely from a sort of SAM mine placed randomly along the mountainside. Upon arrival at the tower, they discovered a single Kafer "Crawler"  APC and dismount squad installing Kafer-designed comms and sensors at the top, having already destroyed the human equipment. After the successful ambush of the dismounts, the combat turned into vicious, desperate fighting against the APC. Despite lacking anti-armor weapons, the team used accurate rifle fire and grenades against weak points. In the process, Emile Bensalem, the team machine gunner, was run over by the APC. Only the soft gravel and his heavy, rigid armor saved him from death, though he was badly injured. 

The Kafer APC was severely damaged and partially blinded, and its infantry support had been wiped out; bad situation for a light AFV surrounded by elite forces. It retreated downslope to the west and escaped to warn its allies. Later, the team would realize that whoever was driving the APC had a lot more tactical sense than most Kafer so that it might have been an officer or veteran. Most would stay and fight, but this one retreated to report what had happened. 

The team moved upslope and looked to the west. With a 120km horizon, they could barely detect the lights of a Kafer force about 35km to the west, deep in the Doomlands. They also took fire from the ground, meaning that other Kafer bands were out on the mountain, and they had been lucky to leave when they did. The team realized the following facts after reporting and doing an AAR on the fight. 

1) The Kafer comm equipment would have allowed the Kafer force to communicate with their space forces, coordinate with Kafer forces in the north, and monitor TFL movements in the eastern plains near Tanstaafl City. This is now temporarily impossible for them. 

2) By wiping out the comms and disrupting the suspected Kafer timetable, the team bought as much as a day for the civilians to flee southeast away from the fighting that would soon come to Caldera. They likely saved hundreds of lives inadvertently. 

3) The Caldera militia, those who will stay and fight with the team, is now down to maybe 40-50 people. They are primarily single people without families, some town law enforcement, a group of miners, and the mine corporate security. Also, the "Dirty Shaft" would make a surprisingly effective and durable fighting position. 

4) Knowing the Kafer force is large enough to have at least 2-3 armored vehicles and dismounts as an advance force,  it is likely to be powerful enough that holding and saving the town of Caldera is probably impossible. Making the Kafer pay dearly for taking the town is possible. 

Day 3 of Mission 2: After a few hours of rest and recuperation, the local techs had restored the LOACH to a reasonable level of functioning. The team lifted off to go scout the suspected landing sight deep in the "Doomlands". On the way in, the vehicle was hit yet again, and only luck kept the LOACH from being blown out of the air by Kafer automated SAM systems. Despite this setback, the team was able to approach to within 4km of the landing zone. Through their scopes, the team observed a company-sized Kafer unit constructing a FOB (forward operating base) on a large hill, with a landing beacon marked by a powerful UV-rich blue light. The base was guarded by a single Deathsled parked in a revetment by the main ramp. After a couple of hours of observation, a single large lander arrived, disgorging two more APC's and at least a hundred more Kafer troops. After discharging its cargo, the lander departed. It can be surmised that a limited number of dropships are available to the Kafer in orbit, because only one was observed. 

Frustrated by their inability to destroy the Kafers outright, both Mr. Gray and Emile opted to make nigh-impossible 4km shots with their weapons, made possible only through the use of top-end SmartGun technology, good spotters (Jaq D and Osman), and their extremely high skill. The distance and energy loss was partially negated through the use of explosive ammunition, and both shooters were able to inflict casualties at a frankly absurd range. They then wisely got the hell off the ridgeline and retreated to the LOACH, which Moses Chau and Chloe had been repairing. 

By the time the team returned to Caldera, the attack all had feared was already underway. A Crawler, three Bug Buses, and at least a hundred Kafer troops had attacked from the southeast. The town was already on fire, and Human resistance was scattered and uncoordinated. A quick survey convinced the team that they could do nothing for the defenders. Instead, they radioed the nearby town of Plains with a message to alert the TFL. That concluded, the team turned the LOACH to the northeast. Moses determined they had just enough fuel to make it to the distant town of Plateau, where they knew a large TFL force had gathered to stop the expected Kafer advance from the north. With this, the session concluded.