Greetings Troopers!
As another unseen member of the local wildlife let out a shrill call from the depths of the branches above, the Rebel Alliance Commando squad leader had to stop himself for a moment and remind himself that despite their lush green sun dappled verdant surroundings, they were here to do a job. He then caught a hand signal from his right hand man. He'd spotted something up ahead. The squad leader relayed the signal to the others and they all lowered to a crouch in the underbrush. Tentatively he raised his head above the fern before him and brought his macrobinoculars up to look in the direction his squad mate was indicating. Two Imperial Scout Troopers were in their path in a clearing ahead tending to their campsite and preparing to leave, a pair of Speederbikes sat on the far side of the clearing from them. They'd have to be eliminated, quickly and quietly. If one of those troopers escaped and raised the alarm it would be all over before it had even begun. The squad leader signaled to another of his men behind him who nodded and headed up to some higher ground pulling a wicked looking disruptor sniper rifle from his shoulder. He got in position and taking aim awaited the order from his superior. the squad leader remained facing forward gazing intently through his binoculars and then performed a sharp short hand signal. Two shots rang out like a clap of thunder through the forest resulting in a full symphony of shrieking animal calls from the branches above.
So with the fourth round of the campaign completed, lets see how things went this week.
This week the conflict shifted from the arid deserts and wastelands of the less hospitable worlds of the Outer Rim to the lush forests of the moon of Endor. Here a top secret Imperial operation found itself under attack by a small Rebel infantry unit intent on disabling the shield generator complex situated there. Caught by surprise the Imperial forces found themselves pushed back out of the forest into one of their outposts, and after putting up a strong defense here, even this ground was lost to superior forces. Finally setting up a perimeter around the bunker entrance to the massive Imperial underground complex they made a final stand. Consolidating their position with good sensor coverage and co-ordination, the Imperial Stormtroopers finally managed to turn it around with a solid defense which vanquished the Rebel invaders.
Rebel forces had decided to strike at a valuable Imperial weapons research facility on the remote ice world of Rhen Var. Detecting the Galofree Transport which deployed the Rebel strike force gave the Imperial troops ample time to set up a secure defensive perimeter directed on the enemy's projected attack vector. Sure enough Rebel forces emerged from the swirling blizzard on foot and swooping in on armoured Speederbikes, but with well placed mines and positions covering the passes they'd be attacking through the Imperial troopers made short work of them. That said, the Rebel troops were resilient and tenacious finally making some ground and capturing a guard tower, but by then it was too little too late, and on moving forward towards the main facility they found themselves running into Imperial reinforcements which finally put an end to the Rebel's assault plans.
Hoping to secure vital resources from the world of Taloraan, two strike groups of Imperial and Rebel cruisers happen upon each other in near orbit and were faced with no choice but to annihilate the other fleet to ensure they get access to the valuable resource. Foolhardily one of the cruisers of the Imperial fleet pushed forward right into the middle of the Rebel ships hoping to punch a hole through the Rebel fleet's lines. This was ill advised as Rebel starfighters being generally heavier in nature than their Imperial counterparts tended to carry heavier weaponry which could very effectively be brought to bear on enemy capital ships as well as in fighter to fighter combat. And sure enough once the Imperial Lancer Frigate got into weapons range the Rebel's heavier fighters such as the lethally heavily armed B-Wing did deal out some serious punishment upon the Imperial capital ship, but not before it had taken out the Rebel's Gallofree Transport, and had softened up the transport's Corellian Corvette escort. At this point the Lancer succumbed to enemy fire, and the battle shifted pace as both Rebel and Imperial starfighters raced to engage the remaining enemy capital ships to finish off the enemy fleet. Imperial TIE Bombers strafed the advancing Rebel Corvette as TIE Interceptors did their job of preventing the dangerous B-Wings from getting within weapons range of their last remaining Bulk Freighter. The tactic paid off and the last Rebel ship burst into a ball of superheated gas as the remainder of the victorious Imperial fleet continued on to Taloraan.
So for the fourth round of battles this campaign we have another clean sweep for the Empire with 30 points for the Imperials and 15 minus 1.5 points for non registered players for the Rebels. That added to the scores so far leaves us with:
Imperials 105
Rebels 69
This leaves the Empire in a very strong position. The Rebels are still suffering a bit from low numbers of registered players turning up, so they really need to turn that around in order to put up a stronger front line to the enemy and stop gaining penalty points each week.
Next week we have some interesting results due to the way the matches turned out this week. It looks like the battle for supremacy of the Galaxy shall remain in the dense forests of the Sanctuary Moon, as both Endor Strike Team and Endor Clearing shall be played, the latter a sector victory deciding map, so make sure you're around for that one. For the last map we've made an executive decision since the result calls for a return to Kessel which we have played twice already. So instead we have chosen Strike at Parmel for next week's space map as that has yet to be played. So the full list of battlefields for next week are as follows:
Endor Strike Team
Endor Clearing
Strike at Parmel
With the Empire starting to stretch away with a strong lead, and the promise of a critical sector victory deciding map next week, it is really vital that all players try and attend as we start to approach the end game. Every point will matter, especially for the Rebels if they hope to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.
If you feel you have the skills to help out either faction in its quest to rule the galaxy, head on over to:
Rebel Defiance Campaign Registration
To register for the campaign and restore order/freedom to the galaxy.
Until next time...
See you on the Battlefield Troopers!
