Betrayal!

Having regrouped at Garrison HQ, Corporal Drake’s patrol was sent out into the Alkatine Groves to conduct a sweep of the many small settlements skirting the death zones. What he encountered has far reaching and disturbing consequences for the garrison, and potentially for Imperial rule on the Reach.

Whilst approaching a tumbledown shack known to be occupied by an unstable old squat engineer, Patrol Drake encountered another garrison unit, a patrol under Sergeant Grey of the 9th Iridian Rangers (The Swamp Tigers), another unit of the Jeriko Reach Garrison, that had been billeted in a number of settlements thereabouts.

Before he could approach Grey, Drake’s patrol was fired upon. Clearly, we have lost Grey and his men. The traitors were led by the same leader we have observed in the past, an individual of prodigious psychic potential. It was fortunate then that Drake was accompanied by an Adept of the Telepathica, Gramatrix Apphia, to provide some psionic punch.

Upon contact a firefight soon developed. Drake positioned his missile and grenade launcher along with a sniper and the Gramatrix to his left flank in order to fix the bulk of the enemy, and led a flanking party in a wide sweep to the right. This took him right past the old shack, and the party found itself fired upon by the irascible occupant. Trooper Kleve was winged but not wounded by the shot, and the troopers did very well to restrain themselves and not fire back.

A moment later Swamp Tiger fire set off a pocket of previously undetected Nauka gas, enveloping three of the the traitor troopers in an explosion, though none were injured.

Meanwhile, Trooper Falk’s missile launcher misfired and the sniper, Trooper Zain was wounded, and out of the fight. The Gramatrix inflicted a psionic attack upon a traitor before she herself was put down. Falk later reported that Apphia displayed very poor fieldcraft, and it has been noted that future battlefield attachments from the Psykana must be better trained and prepared.

On the right flank, the flanking party found themselves under sustained psionic attack by the enemy leader, who appeared to be attempting to take control of the minds of Drake’s men. Fortunately he was not successful, though his attacks were a constant drain. Trooper Kleve was once more winged, this time by a poorly, even negligently aimed shot from Trooper Serik, who is on report as we speak. Trooper Tyrik was wounded by Swamp Tiger fire, but was attended by Medic Reko and was soon back in the fight. At the last, Drake’s party assaulted the enemy position from the lee of the shack. The attack descended into a hand-to-hand affair in which Drake was wounded in combat with Sergeant Grey.

After Drake went down, Trooper Kash took control, leading the troopers in a final push which saw off the traitors. Kash has received a field brevet of Lance Corporal for his efforts. After the action, Jawar Rajiv, a native defence volunteer attached to the patrol was found incapacitated. Though he recovered, he appears mentally scarred by some experience he will not, or cannot relate.

It appears an uprising is beginning on Jeriko Reach, and units of the Garrison have turned coat. All units are now on full alert.