Oh, my brothers. These Necasian fools believe that just because they have numbers and fancy weaponry they will defeat our cause. We will show them just why they should be scared of the dark.
—Fayyad Ghazi
The Skirmish on Xandore was a engagement of the Cruentusian War. It occurred shortly after the fanatical militant group known as the Death's Tongue Militia created an elite team of warriors known as the Death's Knock Assassins, comprised of what the DTM's leaders considered to be their most skilled followers. Intent on testing their prowess, DTM commander Quia Xoan sent them to the world of Xandore, occupied by the Necasian Military, to weaken the forces there in preparation for a DTM raid. The DKA infiltrated a hydroelectic dam complex and destroyed it, and the resulting flood swamped a nearby Necasian base and its constituent forces. Weakened and disorientated, Necasian forces struggled to co-ordinate as DTM forces moved in and the DKA pulled out. The Necasians managed to claim victory by napalming the area from orbit, but at heavy cost. In any cost, the DTM was more than satisfied with the DKA's performance.
Prelude[]
These Necasians will have no clue that we were even on this planet, let alone in this sector...
—Nimr Raji to the DKA abord their ship known as the Silver Hawk.
After the Raid of Benmossia, the DTM retreated to the Inner Rim. There they recuperated on the small planet of Manwess III. Many militants were angry that the DTM commanders sent inexperienced soldiers to do highly difficult jobs. The DTM leader, Sabsa Junn, decided with various DTM commanders to create a DTM elite team called the Death's Knock Assassins. They would be responsible to take care of any highly important job. The team consisted of 10 elite soldiers. Sabsa decided that Fayyad Ghazi was the team leader.
To field test the DKA's capabilities and to deal another blow to the Necasian Military, Sabsa decided to send them on a mission to the Necasian-occupied world of Xandore. He told them that the Necasians had built a base and defence array in front of a hydroelectric dam for power and practicality purposes, and that they were to infiltrate the dam and destroy it, flooding the base and allowing the DTM to attack the world proper. Fayyad assured him that he would not fail.
The skirmish[]
Infiltrating the dam[]
Using stealth-equipped FireWing-class interceptors that the DTM had recently stolen from a Savi Alliance weapons compound, the DKA landed in different points near the dam. The Necasians had set up motion sensors in the vicinity, but as a result of their movement and speed the DKA members were assumed to be wild animals by the sensors. Yaza Zayn, with help from Shahin Tayyib, took out a power generator supplying electricity to sentry guns, motion sensors and spotlights around the dam, and carefully made it look like a local animal was responsible. The Necasians were slightly alarmed, but the local security chief decided that it was nothing and sent an engineering crew to repair the generator. However, Haydar Ilias locked several doors in the complex, hindering the engineers. Meanwhile, Fayyid set up explosives along the dam while the others silently took out guards.
By now the Necasian security chief had realised that something was wrong, with many guards failing to perform their reports, and ordered ARAVs and more security onto the dam. However, with the charges set, the DKA quickly made their way out of the dam complex and back to their landing zones. One Necasian soldier discovered one of the charges and began work on defusing it. However, this merely triggered all the charges to detonate, destroying the dam. Thousands of gallons of water were released, flooding the valley in front of the dam and most of the Necasian base with it. As the DKA made their escape, a stolen SkyBull-class transport that had been hiding behind an orbiting asteroid entered the atmosphere.
Sneak attack[]
Landing near the flooded valley, the transport deposited a division of DTM militants and vehicles, who promptly began attacking confused and disorientated Necasian survivors in the nearby hills. DTM Hopper craft, some equipped with microwave emitters and others with missile launchers, fried troops and took out light vehicles. Necasian Toronian tanks managed to hold back the DTM in some places, but were insufficient in number to force them into a retreat.
However, a Necasian soldier managed to reach a communications array and called for help. Seconds after he made the call, an RPG fired from a DR12-equipped DTM militant took him out, but the call had already been heard by Necasian ships in the vicinity.
Regardless, the DTM forces continued their rampage, attacking a nearby town where some Necasians had holed up. Eborax-tipped rockets and RPGs took out groups of troops hiding in buildings, but some Necasians equipped with sniper rifles managed to hold back DTM militants from entering the town. Toronian tanks also blocked off entry points, dealing several blows to the DTM vehicles. However, the DTM had superior numbers for once, and the Necasians were rapidly running out of ammunition, as well as morale. Using mortars to take out tanks and hiding snipers, the DTM began to push into the town, killing civilians who got in their way.
Cleansing fire[]
However, two Necasian Elthior frigates had arrived and were in orbit. Viewing the situation with orbital scans, the captain came to the conclusion that the situation was hopeless, and ordered a saturation napalm bombardment. The Elthiors began napalming bombing from high altitude, destroying the town and the area around were the dam was. Most of the DTM and Necasian forces were destroyed by the bombardment, and the resulting firestorms would continue to burn for days. Nonetheless, the planet had now more or less lost its strategic value, and Sabsa was more than pleased with the DKA performance.
Aftermath[]
Following the battle, the DKA were paraded as heroes in DTM propaganda feeds. Meanwhile, Askar Invado was starting to decided that the DTM was not as crushed as he had thought it was.