By the time PitRanger's troops have gathered outside of Incandescance's natural, Inca has raised a force of four Zealots. PitRanger's army consists of two goons and four Zealots.
      Junoyusuji the Zealot was tense; his uncanny ability to hear the clunking of a goon was...uncanny. Then, there was movement just beyond the mineral fields; shadows? No; the enemy. The air was split apart by an intense light as the first bursts were fired by the goons, and Junoyusuji led his fellow Zealots into battle, only to be stopped short by the same number of enemy Zealots. There was a piercing cry on both sides, and then Psi Blades began to crash into the flickering lights of psionic defense fields. Goon fire was ripping hard into Junoyusuji's squad, but he rallied them forward, deeper into the battle. One of Junoyusuji's men fell, disintegrated by the intense anti-matter bursts of the goon cannons. Psi Blades continued to tear against weakening Plasma Shields, and the wear on Junoyusuji's troops was beginning to show. They were demoralized, knowing that no matter how hard they fought, the battle was lost. They fought anyway, slowly dying against a numerically superior foe. Junoyusuji, fighting on the right flank, felt the burning thrust of a Psi Blade hit him deep in his chest, piercing his heart. He faltered, fell, died, releasing his psionic essence from his physical body to become one with the presence of the Khalai. Two more Zealots left; they roared their battle cry, and fought on; but as a third Zealot fell, the last began his retreat, all the while taking goon fire as he retreated up Inca's ramp. PitRanger's Zealots clambered up the choke, taking fire from a single goon and running into two Zealots shortly after, quickly reduce to one. Inca ordered the retreat, but one Zealot stayed behind to buy time for Inca's goon. His sacrifice in vain, because as the goon stopped to fire, the Zealots and goons tore it down quickly. Soon, PitRanger's troops were pounding on Inca's Gateways, and goons warping out of them were quickly dispatched. But Inca had no intention of going down quickly; Probes began to appear from the mineral fields, some with chunks of ore and crystal still levitating on magnetic charges. The Probes rushed forward under the covering fire of two of Inca's goons, destroying first one enemy goon, then the other with little loss. The bloody battle had ended.
      But as two more goons warped in from Inca's Gateways, he gathered his troops for a counter-attack, hoping to catch his opponent off-guard.
      Inca's aggressiveness impressed me; he seemed to be sure of himself and his abilities, unlike PitRanger, who was more cautious. Four goons were advancing forward, prepared to engage in whatever battle they found. They entered the 3:00; no expansion. No cannon fire from the cliffs, either. A moment later, the goons were creeping up the ramp, and then tearing across the level ground towards PitRanger's main. Three goons and eight Zealots were waiting for them; for a moment, Inca engaged the goons.
      The odds were against them, but the mechanized warriors were confident in their ability to dance their machines around the Zealots and fire at the enemy goons; but the worst possible event happened. A cannon warped in. In mere seconds, the attack was quickly broken up by Photon Cannon bursts. Two crashed into the easternmost goon, damaging it badly, and the goon fire crippled it as the four-goon contingent retreated from the battle. It was a bad decision on Inca's part, but it displayed a good characteristic; willingness to take risks and attack, instead of sitting back at home waiting for the next assault. I now bestow the title, "Half-a-Rommel" upon Incandescance.
      Shortly after the battle, both players began to rebuild and tech. There had been no serious blow to Inca's army, but he would have to macro pretty hard to catch up to PitRanger in terms of numbers. Inca had six goons in his army, compared to PitRanger's five goons and eight Zealots.
      The tech at this point was very divergent. Brown set up a vortex for a Templar Archives, and blue laid down a second StarGate and Fleet Beacon. What was I expecting? Well, not many toss players lay down dual StarGates against another toss, so I didn't know what to expect. It was easy to see what blue was going for, however; DTs to contain blue, who had no cannons at his ramp and no expansions and no Observers. After that, a tech to High Templar and Storm (which will be a very good choice).
      Blue, however, begins to lay down a screen of cannons at his ramp. He also sets up a few cannon batteries at his minerals to guard against a Reaver Drop.
      While PitRanger is on defense for a bit, however, Inca decides to expand at his natural. A wise choice, because #1) Expanding is good and #2) Expanding is good. Add to that the fact that expanding is good, and you start to realize...expanding is, indeed, good. He also sets up twin Pylons in preparation for...not Cannons, obviously, since Incandescance doesn't have a fux0ring Forge.