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| - He was losing. The defending Karn Troopers were putting up a bitter resistance. Time was running out. Soon, Imperial Cruisers would arrive and he would be forced to order the fleet to disengage. Yet without re-supply they could not flee for long. The battle had to be won and soon. The Admiral looked up, his face lit from below by the bluescreen "O.K. Lieutenant summon Bressov" The Kinsmen commander strode into the command room. His hair was closely shaved, his eyes blue and alert. Everything about him spoke order. He was a professional soldier, hard and confident. The Admiral studied the screen again. "Where do you want you and your men dropped?" Bressov pointed to the screen "Here!" "But that's right on top of the enemy position, you'll be cut to pieces" interjected the Lieutenant. "Be quiet, Lieutenant! Commander Bressov is well aware of the risks" snapped the Admiral " Very well Bressov,prepare your men. I'm sending you in, You realise if Karn ships arrive in force, I'll be forced to leave?" Bressov nodded, "I need fifteen minutes." As he turned and walked to the door, he had already begun to issue commands via his Battle-Com. The situation was getting worse. The Nexus troopers were stationary, the assault had lost it's momentum and had been halted. The Admiral cursed, without the pressure of the Troopers assault, the Karn Troopers could divert all of their fire on Bressov and his men. Even now he could see the Kinsmen's dropships moving towards the centre of the enemy line. "Lieutenant, abort the mission, we're leaving!" The Lieutenant punched the command in. The Admiral looked to the screen as the Troopers began falling back to the drop zone. "Has Bressov acknowledged,Lieutenant?" The Admiral stared at the drop ships which still made their way to the heart of the enemy position. "There's no response, I can't raise him on any channel" The Admiral watched in horror as one of the ships disappeared from the screen. "They're under fire" The remaining ships continued onwards then stopped......The Kinsmen spread out forming a tight all round defence formation. The Karn closed in on all sides.... The image became confusing. "Give me maximum magnification now Lieutenant!" The view expanded, nothing could be seen but a mass of red. Thousands of Karn Troopers converged onto where the Kinsmen had been. "It's all over, they were totally overrun, massacred." The Admiral moved away from the screen. The Lieutenant stared in stunned disbelief. Stepping closer he saw first one, then two green dots amidst the mass of red. "Admiral look!!" The centre of the red mass was opening, more and more green Kinsmen could be seen. Within seconds the scene had changed. The Karn were falling back in all directions as the Kinsmen expanded to form a hollow ring. On the far side of the command centre the intercom crackled. "Bressov here,we have a secure perimeter. Casualties 60 percent. Send down the Cargo Loaders!" ..........................FILE ENDS.
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