Along the way, it was decided that we would stop off at the nearby allied base and pick up some important supplies before we set off again. Most noteworthy of deployment was the large AMS units, or "Advanced Mobile Stations", which are essentially mobile respawn points that, once deployed, allow soldiers to quickly drop in and re-equip their inventory, then get right back into the battle. Obviously it's always a good idea to deploy one near the enemy base when preparing for an assault. Eager to try out the vehicles in action, I grabbed a Harasser of my own, waited for a fellow squad member to jump in. We escorted the AMS as we charged out to go kick some arse. Once we crested the ridge to Voltar and made sure the AMS deployed in one piece (it cloaks once it's set up to keep the enemy from easily finding it), I bravely gunned the engine and roared off for the base, ready to thoroughly crush any fool stupid enough to stand in front of my bumper. Ouch.

Several respawns later we found our forces scattered as we repeatedly tried to assault the base, and failed. Several units had penetrated deep into the facility and had reached as far as the control room, which was essentially the nerve center to the entire base and was the key to capturing it, but lacked the ability to hack the system to turn it to our control. The Terran Republic forces that had reached the base first were simply dug in too well for anyone else to get through. Desperate for some kind of edge, I led a small strike force into the nearby gun tower facility (each base usually has a number of these small outposts) to capture it and cut off enemy reinforcements from that angle. We managed to succeed after a few attempts, but the base still held off our fierce attack. The battle went on for a good hour at least, but the evil Terran Republic always managed to keep the upper hand. We tried flanking maneuvers, air strikes, stealth infiltrations… hell, I even grabbed the largest vehicle I could find on occasion and just zipped around trying to run over as many people as possible before I died. No luck. Eventually, the deadline for the facility's capture drew near (whoever held the facility by the time the beta session ended would be declared the victor), so we all rallied up in a number of vehicles for one final push. It was a daring run, and we might've actually made it if we tried hard enough, but luck simply wasn't on our side. Finally, the limit was reached, and the admins dedicated the victory to the Terrain Republic.

Of course, the battle wasn't over for us yet. Since the server seemed like it would be staying up for some additional time at least, we decided to rally up once more and make a hard push for the facility. Some brutal fighting later finally allowed us to capture it, but not without the Terran Republic noticing. Instantly we changed tactics, fortifying our position and setting up any defenses we could. The TR's retribution came fast and swift, but we held them off remarkably well, despite their seemingly overwhelming numbers. Of particular note was their favorable deployment of MAX infantry units. A player equipped with "MAX" armor essentially becomes a hulking battle machine of death and misery. MAX units have an insane amount of resilience to enemy fire, can move annoyingly fast under certain circumstances, and wield some incredibly strong firepower. Any poor bastard caught out in the open when these guys march is doomed to be eviscerated, as I learned many times over. Eventually I got sick of being used for target practice and scaled the wall of our recently acquired base to take control of one of the mounted gun turrets. The turret in question lacked anything larger than a simple chain gun, but its armor was strong and the bullets it fired made excellent suppressive fire. I held the line at my post for a good five minutes at least before a Galaxy was sighted overhead. In an astoundingly impressive piece of tactical thinking, the Terran Republic had decided that the frontal assault tactic wasn't working and instead resorted to something else – airdrops. I watched in horror as an entire group of MAX units fell from the high-altitude drop ship into the middle of our base and started wreaking havoc. I lay down as much fire as I could to help out, but three of them eventually noticed me and ran up the stairs onto the wall. Since getting out of my comfy turret would've been suicide, I simply laid down as much fire as possible before they filled me full of holes. I think I managed to bag at least one before going down, but the fight was effectively over after that. Soon after, the admins announced that the server was going down, and the day's testing period was finished.