So there we were, Blitz and I, on Mos Entha this last evening.  Our squad had been battling it out for the better part of the game, moving from flag to flag as one constant mass.  We'd taken the lower left flag and had moved back north to resecure the Corvette crash site.  The imps we'd encountered thus far seemed mostly scattered and moving only in groups of 2 or 3.

Capturing the corvette didn't prove much of a challenge and we quickly turned our attention back to taking the flags on the right side of the map.  As we headed out into the ruined city between the ship and the main road I happened to some movement to the south, near the ship's engines.  A small group of stormtroopers were moving back to capture the flags we had just come from.  In an effort to stop them going any further I opened fire with my medic carbine, wounding one and overheating it in the process.  As they spun to face me and seek shelter I tossed a couple of sonic grenades their direction.

This caught the attention of the rest of our squad and they quickly took up positions in the ruins to open fire.  As I grabbed my carbine once more and came over the top of a small mound I was hiding behind I saw that it wasn't just 3 stormtroopers meandering about, but a squad of 6 plus at least one or two more all moving to the south of us.  They had medics, heavy support, and troopers all moving together and now they were all coming straight at us.  This wasn't just a couple stragglers looking for an easy capture; this was the bulk of their entire team moving right by us.  Blaster fire instantly started streaming overhead and kicking dirt up off the mound and into my face.  I quickly fired off a burst, taking out an advancing medic but overheating once again.  As I pulled back to let my gun cool I saw a stormtrooper make a sudden burst from behind some rubble.  It was Omen, and he was coming straight at me.

As I stood there helpless he leaped onto the mound in front of me, dropping a shield right on our line to stop our firing at the enemy.  Unfortunately for him, just as he pulled out his rifle to fire and came through the shield my gun became active once again and I pumped a handful of blaster bolts into his armour, dropping him in front of me.  He wasn't alone though, as 2 more stormtroopers rushed our lines right behind him, their weapons blazing.  I wounded one in the knees then dove for cover as my gun clicked out of ammo.  They didn't stop though and quickly lept over the mound and through the shield that Omen had provided them cover with..  Our squad though had now fully set up in defensive positions and as I crouched, waiting for the shot to finish me blaster fire erupted on all sides, cutting both of the stormtroopers down within feet of where I stood.

With half their number now decimated, and no casulties of our own, they seemed to break.  Blitz was the first to seize the initiative, and with his CR1 blasting away he lept through the force shield and started taking out the remaining few.  I followed quickly behind him, stealing a T21 that was laying on the ground and taking out their mortar support guy and their last remaining medic.  The rest of our squad then followed us up and we hit the last couple which were fleeing for the far left flag.  All that secure, and with no dead on our side we swept the area then turned our attentions back to capturing the far flags.

In all my time playing this I have never seen such an encounter as this.  Two full squads with well rounded kits in both catching each other almost totally unawares.  We had medics tossing kits, troopers finding firing positions in cover, heavy blasters laying down fire, a couple mortars trading shots back and forth, assaulters charging the lines.  It was an intense 30 seconds that quite literally felt like an eternity to play through.  That we managed to not only live through such an initial assault but also lead a daring counterattack that succeeded was quite amazing.  And, if the games yesterday have proven, it's not like Omen's squad is usually beat out in such an event.  He is one tough cookie for sure.

Fear the Woodzilla