Objective 2 Moncala war game simulation
The LAHT gunship bucked holding altitude at 14KM, turbulence rattling the deck and sending unsecured gear clattering against the bulkheads. Below, the jungle came into view in sharp bursts dense canopy, broken by a river cutting inland and the dark rises of hills pushing through the green. Officially, this was a training exercise. In reality, it had all the hallmarks of a live deployment: real troops, real objectives, and no room for mistakes. Tarians sword flew over head supported by two companies of the Lilaste Order. The Red Lancers were seasoned and familiar with this kind of operation. The Grey Foxes, newer and still untested at this scale. 48 gunships in total and well over 1700 soldiers. three battalions worth.
A forward operating base had already been established near the coast, prefab structures dug in just far enough to keep the jungle from swallowing them whole. Diarchy infantry manned the perimeter . The air around the FOB was thick with humidity, engine exhaust, and the constant background noise of generators and landing traffic.
Laphisto's image cut across every Diarchy channel at once. Command tents, helmet displays, and the central holo at the FOB all picked him up simultaneously. He stood inside the gunship with one hand braced against the overhead rail as the craft shook, helmet tucked under his arm. No ceremony. No theatrics.
"
Alright, listen up," he said, his voice steady and direct. "
Diarchy leadership is moving forward with talks to secure an alliance with the Confederation. This war game is the proof-of-concept." His gaze shifted briefly as the gunship lurched again. "T
his isn't about looking good on a report. It's about showing we can operate together under pressure. I've been given command of this operation. You follow my orders, I'll put you where you're most effective. Check in the moment you hit the ground."
The gunship shuddered again as turbulence rippled through the airframe, forcing Laphisto to brace himself briefly before regaining his footing. He reached forward and keyed the holomap into view, the island snapping into focus as translucent terrain contours and objective markers overlaid the jungle below.
"
We're breaking down into eight operational groups for clarity," he said, voice clipped and professional. "
Each group has a designated leader. You report directly to me. No freelancing, no guesswork." His clawed finger traced across the display. "
My element is Group One."
The map shifted as he highlighted the eastern approaches near Bravo. "
Group Two, you'll advance to the right of Bravo and act as direct support. Your job is to stabilize that flank and keep pressure on anything trying to reinforce forward." He didn't pause. "Tarain's Sword and I will be inserting directly onto the objective via hot drop. Gunships will make a fast pass over the enemy's advance routes to provide cover and disruption. Keep it tight this is about creating an opening, not lingering overhead."
"
Group Three," Laphisto continued, shifting the holomap as Delta flared into focus, its elevation lines and approach corridors clearly marked. "
You hold Delta. Dig in and treat it as a hard defensive position. Set up anti-air coverage, only EMP-based suppression. No live-fire intercepts. Your job is to guard the FOB and deny aerial approaches, nothing more. Remember, this is a simulation. Control the airspace, don't escalate the fight."
The map widened again, his finger sweeping along the western edge of the island where jungle pressed thick against the coastline. "
Groups Four and Five, you'll push along the left side of the island and advance toward Charlie. Use the terrain. Stay under the canopy. Your role is pressure and displacement force their units to commit west and keep them from reinforcing elsewhere. I don't need speed here. I need persistence."
He shifted the display sharply to the opposite flank, highlighting the wide arc around Bravo. "
Group Six, this is your fight," he said flatly. "
You're the main offensive element. Light vehicles only AT-AS MKIIs and ASRB speeder bikes. You'll execute a wide flanking maneuver around Bravo, hit their rear guard hard, and sow as much confusion as possible. Disrupt command, break cohesion, then pull back before they can pin you." His gaze hardened slightly. "
This is not a breakthrough attempt. It's a cycle. Hit, withdraw, reposition, repeat. Keep them reacting. Make sure they can't push from that side of the island without paying for it."
Laphisto brought the holomap inward, collapsing the outer movements until the central jungle corridor dominated the display. Elevation lines tightened, the river and surrounding low ground forming a natural funnel toward Alpha. "
Groups Seven and Eight," he said, voice firm. "Y
ou're the spear point. You push straight down the center toward Alpha." His finger traced the route deliberately. "
This is the decisive axis. I want speed, aggression, and forward momentum. You don't stop to clear every contact. You keep moving."
He shifted the map again, highlighting the flanking routes and pressure arcs already marked. "
Groups One, Two, and Six will draw the heat. Their job is to pull enemy forces off your axis and keep them chasing shadows." He didn't soften the next part. "
That buys you time but don't expect it to be clean. You're going to take contact."
The jungle canopy reappeared as he widened the display, layers of foliage and elevation overlapping the advance route.
"Use the environment. Stay under the trees. Break line of sight. Hit from angles they can't easily reinforce. You push hard, you push fast, and you keep pressure on Alpha until it cracks or until I tell you to break off."
[ map of given orders and routes of movement/ attack]
Objective point B
Important Lilaste order Information
Armor:
LO-58A
Weapons:
LO-20D,
LO-52R ,
LO-22S,
LO-12S,
LO-10M,
Ammo:
LO-EMP-1 [Flash Removed, Green setting]
Utilities:
LO-ADS,
LO-Va'karis Shield,
A.A.S.H
Vehicles:
LAHT,
AT-ASMKII,
ARSB
Allies@Cora
Saul Whesai
Iandre Athlea
Aknoby
Lord Mettallum
Lyssara Thrynn
Opfor:
FN-999 (restored)
Ronhar Tane
Bido Roz’lyn
Rohlan Basra
With a final nod, Laphisto gave a brief salute toward the active comm feed. The channel cut cleanly a moment later, replaced by the muted roar of engines and the rising whine of air rushing along the hull. He immediately switched frequencies, patching into Lialste order comms as the gunships began to level out. "
Alright," his voice came through, steady and unhurried. "
This is our stop. We're executing a high-altitude insertion directly onto Bravo."
Across the formation, side doors slid open in near unison, cold air flooding the troop bays as the jungle far below came into view through breaks in the cloud cover. Warning lights shifted overhead. Laphisto stepped forward first, taloned feet planting near the edge as the slipstream tugged at his armor. He brought his helmet up and locked it into place with a sharp click.
"
When you see the green light, you jump," he continued. "
EMP slugs only. Green mode, minimum output. This is a capture operation, not an extermination." His gaze swept the bay, even though most of his troops could only hear him now. "
Some of you were on Mon Cala when we helped the Empire of the Lost take the planet. Remember that fight. Same discipline. Same precision."
The gunship shuddered as it adjusted course. "
We're denying Bravo to the enemy. They may already be on the ground when we land. Choose your shots carefully. Make them count." The jump light snapped from amber to green. Laphisto didn't hesitate.
He stepped off the edge and vanished into open air, the sudden absence of the deck beneath his feet replaced by violent acceleration as gravity seized him whole. The gunship tore away overhead, its engines howling as it banked hard, leaving only the thin roar of displaced air behind. Wind slammed into his armor in an instant, hammering against plating and joints as he folded his arms and legs tight, streamlining his body into a controlled dive. The sky rushed past in a blur of cloud and thinning blue, the ground still distant but rising fast.
A sharp tone chimed inside his helmet as the LO-ADS system kicked in. Control fins snapped outward along his armor with mechanical precision, biting into the airflow as micro-thrusters made constant, subtle corrections. His descent stabilized immediately, the wild fall narrowing into something deliberate and lethal. Data scrolled across his HUD altitude, velocity, spacing while the jungle canopy below resolved into detail: uneven terrain, breaks in the foliage, the faint outlines of movement near Bravo.
Around him, the drop multiplied. Dark shapes burst from the clouds in staggered intervals as Tthe Order followed him down, squads spreading laterally as trained spacing took over. No shouting. No panic. Just controlled silence and falling steel. From the ground, they would be nearly invisible too fast, too scattered, and already inside the defender's reaction window. The island surged upward to meet them as the spear point of the Lilaste Order plunged straight into the fight
Once each gunship had fully disgorged its payload, the formation broke cleanly. Forty-eight LAHTs rolled nose-down almost in unison, dropping hard toward the jungle in a steep vertical dive. Their silhouettes punched through the thinning cloud layer as targeting systems came alive, rotors screaming under sudden strain.
LO-AVAC cannons spun up across the formation.
The first burst tore through the air with a guttural
BRRRRRT, quickly joined by another then another until the sound multiplied into a sustained roar that echoed across the island. The jungle below vanished as the gunships began releasing their ordnance, streams of 50mm smoke and EMP shells arcing downward in carefully timed patterns. Each round detonated midair, bursting fifty to seventy meters above the canopy, flooding the space between points A and B in rolling clouds of ionized smoke.
The haze spread fast and thick, clinging to the low ground and settling into valleys and treelines. Sensors choked. Visibility collapsed. The ionized compounds interfered with blaster ignition and targeting systems alike, turning clear firing lanes into dead zones almost instantly. Movement beneath the smoke became uncertain shapes reduced to shadows, squads cut off from one another by walls of artificial fog.
Interspersed among the smoke bursts, EMP rounds detonated with sharp, concussive cracks. Electrified rubberized shrapnel scattered outward, designed to stun on impact rather than kill. When it struck armor or flesh, it ruptured in bright orange paint, marking simulated casualties with unmistakable clarity. No ambiguity. No arguments later.
Above it all, the gunships didn't linger. The moment their runs were complete, they pulled up and broke away, leaving behind a battlefield already fractured command and control disrupted, lines of movement severed, and entire sections of the island thrown into controlled chaos before the first boots had even hit the ground.
As the Lilaste Order soldiers tore through the final stretch of open air, the last stages of their armor systems came online in rapid sequence. Repulsor lifts flared beneath boots and greaves, rocket boosters snapping to life in short, controlled bursts that bled off speed with brutal efficiency. What had been a lethal plunge became a hard but manageable descent, each trooper hitting the ground as if stepping down from a raised platform rather than falling from the sky.
Laphisto came in heavier.
His wings flared wide at the last second, arresting his fall just enough to keep him intact as he struck the ground in a deep crouch, dirt and foliage kicking outward on impact. The repulsors cut out immediately. He drove upward in one smooth motion, already bringing the LO-20D rifle to bear as his boots found traction.
Figures were moving near Bravo TIC infantry who had managed to reach the position before the drop completed, still disoriented, still reacting to smoke and chaos overhead. Laphisto didn't hesitate. The rifle snapped up against his shoulder and he opened fire, controlled bursts of EMP slugs streaking through the haze. Shots were deliberate and precise, cutting down movement, marking targets in flashes of orange as simulated casualties fell or staggered out of the fight.
Around him, the rest of the Lialste order hit the ground in staggered waves, squads forming instinctively amid the smoke and broken terrain. The landing zone was already contested but the Lilaste Order had arrived inside the enemy's decision cycle, weapons hot.
A constant roar of slugfire rolled across the jungle as the Lilaste Order brought its full arsenal to bear, every rifle cycling the modified
LO-EMP-1 slug round. The sharp cracks of 30-06 fire mixed with the deeper thunder of .50-caliber slugs as rounds tore through smoke and foliage, snapping past trunks and cutting through the air in dense streams. When return fire finally found its mark, personal shields flared violently against Lilaste armor, brief flashes of energy signaling impacts absorbed rather than stopped.
For those that were within melee range As magazines ran dry, instead of Reloading there current weapon they eother moved for there side arms or even as The moment a weapon clicked empty, the AASH arm snapped it back into place against the soldier's spine, clearing their hands as they surged forward. Melee weapons were drawn in stride. drawing their swords, but scattered among them, a few lightsabers ignited, their presence rare but unmistakable.
Force-users moved seamlessly within the ranks, not separated or elevated above the rest. They advanced shoulder-to-shoulder with conventional troops, reinforcing the push rather than redefining it, as the engagement compressed into close quarters and the fight around Bravo turned into a chaotic mix of slugfire, flashing shields, and steel.
