Forbidden City, Sian
September 19th, 3070
Today would be the final stand. The fighting had begun less than a week before, but the ferocity of the Blakist invasion made it seem like months. Commander Lisa Jimenez felt the beads of sweat trickle down the tracks of salt and grime across her temple down to her cheek. She eased her Marshal through the embattled urban streets dusted with powderized gray ferrocrete. The sky burned a hazy orange polluted by the smoking debris of the shattered city.
Jimenez and other elements of the 3rd Canopian picked their way carefully to meet a mixed column of Blakists and Dragon's Breath Mercs. Jimenez herself had been in Beilin a week prior tangling with the mercenaries. It was a diversion while they combat dropped more troops right on top of the Red Lancers.
Although a few in the 3rd questioned whether they should be dying for their Capellan allies, every last one of them was ready to die for their Lady, Colonel Naomi Centralla. Lady Centralla's own Cataphract made its way through the streets with all the grace that the Centrallas were known by.
Jimenez turned her Marshal down a broad boulevard leading to the outskirts of the Forbidden City and made out the shapes of approaching warmachines. All Capellan and Canopian units had fallen back to the interior of the city, so these weren't friendlies.
"Contact!" said Jimenez. "Visual contact with enemy 'mechs due North by North-West."
Over the comm, Naomi's voice came clear and strong. "Sanchez, get your Jinggau on top of the Central Finance Building. Parker, on me. Everyone else, fan out. We hold the line here!"
A few hundred meters behind her, Jimenez heard the roar of fusion jets pushing 65 tons of metal vertically up nearly 30 meters. Ahead of her, a mercenary Griffin crossed within weapons range. She glided the targeting reticle over its form, squeezed the firing stud softly, and the air sizzled with lasers that melted armor from its humanoid form. Jenkins' Hunchback to the left joined in with the bark of its Class 20 Autocannon. And with that, the urban streets echoed with the chorus of weapon fire.
"Sanchez!" shouted someone over the com. "You're too close to the edge, fall back!"
It was too late, Blakist and Dragon's Breath weapons tore at the Financial Building's facade just below the Jinggau's feet. A support beam or pylon finally gave way and Sanchez's 65 ton 'mech crashed through several stories completely obliterating one side of the building.
"Sanchez? Sanchez!" it was Naomi's voice. Mainly the voice of a colonel, but a little maternal as well.
No answer came.
Jimenez turned her attention back to advancing enemy and heard the sickening crunch of metal being crushed to right of her. Glancing in that direction, she saw a Night Sky standing on a knoll extricating its foot from the head of a lifeless Hunchback where Jenkins had been.*******************************************************************************
Track 2: Final Stand
Track Cost: 1000Objectives:
1.
Headhunting! Destroy opposing Commander
(800)2.
Forced March: Player Commander exits opposing edge
(400)Optional Bonus:
+300 Elite Commander (Naomi Centrella deployed in customized Cataphract)
Turn 1: Both sides advance trading ineffective long range fire. The Capellan/Canopian Commander is Naomi Centrella in the red Cataphract. The Dragon's Breath/WoB Commander is the Nightsky marked with the "C" for ease of reference.
Turn 2: Naomi Centrella moves to the West to cover that flank, the Jinggau covers the battlefield with its guass and Capellan brawlers (the Marshal and the Hunchback) move down the center. The combined WoB and Dragon's Breath forces advance cautiously.
Turn 3: 
Capellan reinforcements arrive in the form of a lone Death Commando!
The Canopian Jinggau crashes four levels down through a weakened building now unable
to bear its weight!
The Death Commando destroys the already weakened Blakist Gurkha!
Turn 4:
The Death Commando uses its special unit ability,
overrun to attack the Night Sky next to the Hunchback.
Hunchback in a precarious position....
Canopian Stinger blocks deadly weapon fire meant for Naomi!
![](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8468/8126310005_a882dd0ae8.jpg")
Canopian Hunchback dies from a savage TSM'd kick to the head!
Turn 5:
Kick a Wolverine while it's down!
During the physical attack phase, the Nightsky commander next to the Marshal gives
it a vicious kick, shattering the Marshal's leg and knocking it down.
Turn 6:
The two downed 'mechs slug it out in a cripple fight!
AFTERMATH:Causing heavy damage to the Canopian forces, WoB and the Dragon's Breath fail to achieve either objective.
*********************************************************************************
The 3rd Canopian Fusiliers had held the line. Balboa's Grasshopper used its hand actuators to help Jimenez's one-legged Marshal up. Jimenez had descended upon a fallen and crippled Blakist Wolverine only to have her 'mech's leg kicked out from under her by another Night Sky. The two prone 'mechs engaged in a debilitated slugging match while crawling and rolling around to avoid each others' fire. Eventually two of the Wolverine's comrades grabbed its legs with their hand actuators and actually dragged the crippled 'mech away.
This was after a lone Death Commando had arrived to relieve the beleagured 3rd. At first groans had come that it was only one 'mech, but it destroyed one Blakist 'mech and hammered at the rest. Despite their best efforts, they could not subdue this lone warrior.
Parker ended up crippling her own 'mech by putting in the way of fire meant for Lady Centrella's Cataphract.
Although knocked out from the fall, Sanchez eventually came to. Her Jinggau emerged from the rubble to shatter the ax arm of one of the Night Skys.
Finally cheers rang out when the news came over the com that the Word of Blake advance had stalled, and they'd been ordered to retreat. Warrior House Imarra overran the Dragon's Breath HQ and captured their dropships.
Yet cynism darkened Lisa Jimenez's humor, for what had Jenkins died for? And how long will this victory last until the next time Blake attacks?
