Excess Cargo

Site D - Balanced Scenario

Mission Briefing

Daryādār Esfir Kadivar,
Coalition 3rd Fleet

Commander, we have a unique opportunity to foil the plans of our alien adversary.

ALEPH has analyzed the recent string of Combined Army assaults, most of which which have focused on corporate research labs in remote locations. As you have likely been briefed, the operators of these installations have turned out to be in possession of alien contraband obtained through some unknown means-- plasma weaponry, genetic treatments, and even a few live Exrah. These corporations vary wildly in nationality and specialization, but when ALEPH looked into their tax records, it found a common thread-- each one registered transactions around fourteen months ago with something called the Sage Group. They're a trading company registered on Bourak, licensed to move cargo to Paradiso.

That license, incidentally, was used exactly once, fourteen months ago, to move one ship's worth of material to a cargo yard in low orbit over the planet. After that, nothing-- they filed no taxes this year, and intelligence officers sent to their registered headquarters found an empty farmhouse.

Why do I mention all of this?

Because that orbital cargo yard is still there, and our pings to the yard's automated inventory system have turned up container registries that match some of the cargo Sage droppped off there a year ago.

Still not interested?

A nearby sensor buoy picked up what we're pretty sure was a cloaked alien probe doing a flyby past the yard an hour ago.

Everyone the Sage Group traded with has been cleaned out. The cargo in this yard is the last trace we have of their activity, and the enemy now know that as well. They could be by to claim it any minute now.

Make sure they go home disappointed, Commander.

Mission Briefing

Luminous Purveyor
of Dependable Appurtenances

Genuine profession of remorse, Commander! This one is most euphoric to be granted once again the honour of your partnership once again, however it most regretfully lacks the time for the execution of formal greeting customs. It humbly petitions that you will reserve harsh judgments for its inexcusable dereliction of respectful observance in light of the urgency of the undertaking that lies before us!

This one's predecessors among the baleful and pernicious Concordat sullied the good name of the Exrah through subversive and deceitful contravention of the trust placed in them by the benevolent Ur. Long will the stain of their unpardonable transgression mar this one's kind! This one is gravely saddened that the disharmonious actions of so few must scar an entire civilization that has otherwise carried itself to a standard of loyalty and forthrightness in all of its dealings, but accepts that the task of reconstructing the reputation of its brethren can only occur through a renewed campaign of service and fealty.

It is in this spirit that the modest vassals of the Commissariat have laboured faithfully to unravel the knotted entanglement of illicit dealings woven by its unscrupulous forebears. Ennobled bureaucrats of the dutiful Commissariat have uncovered the unworthy human recipients of the Ur's wondrous machines, which have permitted the recent campaign of righteous reclamation perpetuated by the relentless agents of the indomitable Ur. Still other records dated subsequently to the discovery of their betrayal turned up arrangements for pusillanimous Corcordat executives to be harbored within human domiciles; this shameful compromise, too, did the intractable agents of the Ur discontinue with due haste.

The Commissariat's audit of the marauders' misdeeds is nearly complete; the last of the unduly bartered wares is being recovered or rendered inoperable as we converse. However, one allotment of commodities has newly been exposed, which had hitherto gone unnoticed due to the detail that it had been misappropriated but never, in truth, transferred to any buyer. The actuary responsible for this revelation is due much distinguishment and acclaim for its meticulous scrutiny!

These unclaimed goods represent the final unaccounted embezzlements that vexed the Commissariat's search. Scans performed by this vessel's exploratory probes indicate that the materials remain in holding within the labyrinthine rows of a human orbital freight repository. If they can be restituted to the custody of their rightful proprietors, this one can joyfully mark the judicature of this entire sordid proceeding!

The repository is situated behind the human military encirclement, and they will assumably have resolved the intendment of our probe. Their militant operatives are apt to have responded swiftly to this harbinger of our incursion, which is thus the root of this one's insistence on the brevity of our conference and the immediate instigation of operations for the retrieval of the holdings of the perspicacious Ur!

This affair is short the requisite laxitude for your suspension of action, Commander! This one must insist that you initiate the congregation of your contingent before the human defensive cordon can bar our ingress!

Instigate, commander! Our condition affords no postponement!

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Mission Objectives

  • 2 For each Suspect Cargo you control at the end of the game.
  • 2 Extract one or more Suspect Cargo.
  • 2 Your Spec-Ops either damages an enemy model, or succeeds on a roll that completes an objective.

Terrain

  • An unattended cargo yard in low orbit over Paradiso. Operatives should prepare for Zero-G operations.
  • Outer Space: The entire game board is considered a Zero-G zone. All models are assumed to be equipped with sealed suits and basic propulsion units, and thus any model may move through the Zero-G zone.

    • All models gain Super Jump while within the Zero-G zone. Models without Zero-G terrain training are reduced to 4-2 movement speed (unless already slower than this); models with Zero-G terrain training increase their speed to 6-4 (unless already faster than this).

Deployment & Setup

  • Before the Initiative Roll is made, after both players have chosen their Army Lists, place the following as indicated on the map above:
    • Three Suspect Cargo (SC)
  • Both players will deploy on opposite corners of the table, in a 16" deployment "bubble".

Special Rules & Objectives

  • Suspect Cargo: Each Suspect Cargo is docked to a cargo rig and must first be detached before it can be claimed. To detach a Suspect Cargo, a specialist model in base contact with the Cargo must succeed on a normal WIP-3 roll as a short skill (models with the Engineer special skill gain a +3 bonus on this roll). On a failure, this roll may be reattempted as many times as necessary, spending the corresponding short skill each time.

    • Once detached, any model may pick up Suspect Cargo from the ground or take it from a friendly, unconscious, or immobilized model by spending a short skill while in base contact with the Suspect Cargo.

    Suspect Cargo containers are enormous and difficult to move; a model carrying Suspect Cargo has its MOV value reduced to 2-2. However, the container blocks LoF to models behind it (even while being moved). The bulk of the Suspect Cargo also makes it slow to swing around in space; any model that moves while carrying Suspect Cargo can rotate the cargo a maximum of 45 degrees around itself during any given Order.

  • Extract Cargo: At the end of the game, you may Extract any Suspect Cargo that is:
    1. Controlled by you
    2. Completely within your deployment zone

      3. and

    3. Completely outside the ZoC of enemy models

    • Each player who Extracts one or more Suspect Cargo will secure the Excess Cargo Battle Prep for his team during the Week 5 Mega-Battle.

Battle Prep: Excess Cargo

Battle Prep rewards apply a bonus to all friendly players during the Week 5 mega-battle.

Benefit: During Week 5, at the start of the game, each allied player gains an additional command token.