It take a few rounds for the plane to get the group to the vicinity of the base, and Wren is allowed to fly over the wall. One of the battlesuits greets him and says "Building 5 is medical. Come with me, I'll need to get back to the wall!" Neither the stone guy nor the Mystery Super are there. Optic notices that they are leading the two attack forces that are looping around.
Meanwhile, the battle starts in earnest. Barrington has 18 mechs, 9 smallish hovertanks, and 2 larger armored troop-carriers, and sends them forward across the dessert. The mechs are in front and along the sides in loose formwation, with the tanks a bit back, though they have better range The troop carriers are in the back middle.
The four supers lead the way.
Barrington's forces advance rapidly under fire, supported by artillery from some of the rearmost mechs, guns on the tower, and numerous mortars from inside the shield. The lasers in the base detonate many of them in the air, but many do fall, making it much harder for the defenders to hit back from the perimeter.
The battlesuits and emplaced defenses hit them with a hail of railgun fire and shoulder-mounted anti-tank weapons, while the mechs fire rails and rockets back. The defenders are limited in their ability to shoot back, however, as Mines jump out of the wand and explode. One punctures the underside of a hovertank and explodes, turning the tank into a flaming wreck and sending metal shards flying everywhere. Some autoturrets pop out of the sand as well and begin firing.
A sandstorm appears over the whole battlefield, apparently being produced in different places by the stone guy and the Pharoah. The lack of visibility still helps the attackers on balance, even though it also partially guards against the mortar fire.
Some of the autoturrets begin firing back at the defenders, and many mines trigger before any attackers are enarby. A couple battlesuits in the base suddenly start shooting at their comrades, though they are eventually subdued. It seems that the battlesuits are acting without their wearer's permission.
Some of the mechs also do some funny things, stopping entirely or attacking each other. You notice an errant mecha come back under control, while at the same time one of the battlesuits seems to come back under the control of its wearer.
The battlesuit with Wren tries to lead him to the building, when suddenly the controlled battlesuits return to their wearers' control, and three near Wren, including his guide, suddenly turn on him, and fire balls of force at him from their hands. He dodges or absorbs all of them, however.
Meanwhile, the others manage to get dropped off outside the base. (I'm pausing here to allow you to change or clarify due to extra information)
