The battle for Refuge begins...

The Britannian army prepares for the final assault on the entrance to the T.L.A.'s underground tunnel complex.

Bob the Unbuilder and his cabinet lead the T.L.A. forces out of the concealed exit to confront the Britannians.

As the two armies prepare for battle, a single shuttlecraft roars out of the entrance at high speed, with a mysterious helmeted figure at the controls...

...then pitches up into a vertical climb and quickly rises out of view.

For a moment the battlefield is silent, and then Bob gives the order the T.L.A. was waiting for:
"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"

The B.A.L.L.S. fires two rockets from each of its launchers.

They decimate the Britannian ranks. Two gunners, two infantrymen, and an officer are killed. The flak gun and field gun are destroyed, allowing T.L.A. tanks and aircraft to advance without fear of response fire.

The B.A.L.L.S. also fires its railgun at the Challenger-class landship, but misses.

The S.H.I.T.'s pilot performs some fancy maneuvers, allowing him to deploy his squad directly atop the watchtower. They fan out and prepare for the inevitable wave of incoming troops.

The S.P.L.A.T. fires its plasma gun at the Challenger, but an Armoured hull and a pathetic damage roll protect it from harm.

The F.L.A.S.H. attacks the Britannians' Mosquito fighter-bomber head on, firing two missiles.

With lethal results.

The other T.L.A. aircraft lack the F.L.A.S.H.'s long-range weapons, and advance more cautiously.

Captain Harris spurs his horse towards the guard tower and makes a heroic leap onto the platform. Thanks to a critical success, he decapitates the T.L.A. gauss gunner and kills an officer with a burst from his rotary musket.

His subordinates don't fare nearly as well: neither of them hit their targets, and one of them is killed by response fire.

The land frigate moves up to provide support.

...oops. The gunner's incompetence causes Captain Harris to lose a wound.

Fortunately, the blast also destroys the S.H.I.T..

The Conqueror-class land battleship moves up and launches its spotter plane. The spotter plane makes an attack on the Hr-37, but misses. The battleship lines up a barrage on the B.A.L.L.S....

...and brings it down.

The Challenger fires its heavy steam gatling at the S.T.Ü.D.G.O.D., but doesn't pierce its armor.

The Vulcan bomber opens up with a flak barrage (that doesn't do enough damage) and a pair of Skyflash missiles (that miss harmlessly).

The Spitfire needs to pull off some fancy maneuvering to avoid rear-ending the Blenheim spotter plane, but ends up attacking the F.L.A.S.H. at point blank range... and somehow managing to miss.
To be continued...