First Battle of the Old Colony Base

The First Battle of the Old Colony Base was one of the main precursor battles leading up to the Colony War. It was one of the final battles in the Cold War period between the Colonist Survivors (CSS) and the Drone Reactionary Force (DRF), in which the CSS launched a raid to retake their old colony base on an unnamed Earth-like planet which the DRF had taken over several weeks prior and turned into a production yard for drones. Unfortunately, all of the Colonists' vehicles were destroyed during the first attack, but with the timely arrival of Typhun and the CSS Dawn, the CSS forces led by ex-RWI Captain Jack Roberts were able to deal heavy damage to the DRF facilities and escaped the destruction to their space station, Watchtower Station, which would be attacked in retaliation soon after.

Prelude
The Colonists initially lost possession of their ground base when the DRF attacked with a large force, overwhelming their defenses and forcing the CSS personnel to evacuate in their rocket, leaving the base to be seized by the DRF leader, Arron. Once in space, the CSS began constructing a space station which they called the Watchtower. They also modified their rocket for combat, recovered a derelict corvette called the Vanguard, and acquired laser cannon technology, which they outfitted onto the Watchtower. Meanwhile, the DRF rebuilt the ruined base and built multiple construction facilities for more drones, as well as multiple towers surrounding the base and a large spire with an unknown function. After a few weeks in space, the CSS set out in the Rocket and the Vanguard, as well as a small, heavily-armed ship built by crew member T-Man, to retake the base from the drones.

Losing the Vanguard
Unfortunately, the atmospheric thruster modifications made to the Vanguard to enable it to fly in gravity were not strong enough, and upon entering the atmosphere, the Vanguard crash-landed into a mountain near the landing zone. Former RCSP (Royal Coalition of Spatial Protection) Commander Venom and the other crewmen were able to venture over to the landing zone, where the Rocket and T-Man's ship landed unscathed. The crew gathered supplies from the small outpost constructed at the LZ by Captain Roberts before the evacuation of the base and readied their Marauder-class Rover for a scouting mission. The Vanguard 's remains were also partially salvaged.

The Attack
Since the Vanguard was the main combat ship (the Rocket was barely armed before its heavy modification), Captain Roberts and his XO, former CNL Commander Craz, set out in the Marauder to scout the base before attacking. They were soon chased back to their camp by a drone rover brandishing grinders and multiple squadrons of A-Bot drones, which they held off into the evening. Then, the CSS launched the Rocket and T-Man's Battle Box and attacked the base from the skies. However, the DRF leader Arron positioned a large warship that acted as a "shotgun" by firing dozens of high-explosive cannon rounds at once, but the Rocket's long-range 300mm Battlecannons were able to disable it from afar before moving in. Out of nowhere a second, more powerful "shotgun" ship appeared and blasted the Rocket to pieces, forcing Roberts and the crew to abandon ship. T-Man's ship was also annihilated and the crew retreated to the outpost. Only minor damage had been caused to the base, namely to the spire.

The Ground Attack
With options running low, Roberts ordered the crew to set out on foot. When they reached the outskirts of the base, they managed to cause the central spire to collapse, destroying the drones that were docked on it. Upon reaching one of the surrounding towers, the crew tunnelled into the caverns under the base and infiltrated the base's underground production lines, which used to be the Colonists' underground hangar. They dealt with the defending rover drones and sabotaged a large reactor and a number of computers before being located by more security drones, which began firing at them.

Fortunately, help arrived in the form of Typhun, a friend of Roberts who had received the distress call sent before the attack. Typhun maneuvered his ship, the Dawn, an SS-1 Serenity-class Freighter modified for combat, above the base and rained fire into the production facilities, destroying them. He then destroyed the external defense turrets and set down outside the perimeter, allowing the CSS crew to board. Just as the Dawn lifted off again, several large cruise missiles sent from the DRF Hive in orbit rained down upon the base, destroying the perimeter towers and much of the other evidence the DRF had been there.

Aftermath
Although the Colonists managed to escape the base, they lost the majority of their ships and weaponry, except for the Watchtower, which they returned to promptly. However, Arron retaliated with a massive attack, forcing the Dawn and the Watchtower to both emergecny hyperspace jump into close vicinity with the DRF Hive HQ, which launched even more forces. With time running out, Roberts sent half the crew to sneak aboard the Hive and destroy it while he, Craz, Typhun, Venom, and Finn tried to escape aboard the Dawn, which was damaged and crash-landed back on the planet. This sparked the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the Colony War.

Behind-the-Scenes
The First Battle of the Old Colony Base takes place over 'Space Engineers: Colony Survival' Episodes 49-51. It is the first time Arron is canonically seen on-screen in the Colony Universe.