The Ballad of Cairo

Part Two: An Eye For an Eye

Assault orbit,

Talon,

The Periphery,

Spinward of the Federated Commonwealth

The revenge raid by the Los Alamos Defence Force was carried out a month later. A friendly merchant had learned that the neighbouring planet of Talon had ordered the raid. The 1st company of the LADF was going to hit the Talon Mech brigade HQ in an attempt to kill or capture the warrior responsible for the attack on the town of Cairo.

Lt. Steve Clark sat at the controls of his new Mech, a battered CN9-A Centurion that had seen better days. The full Tech support unit from his old lance had spent days going over the Mech with a fine-toothed comb, cleaning every component and testing it to the point where it was probably the best Mech in the assault force, although not the biggest.

The DropShip shuddered as it landed. Several minutes later, the loading bay hatch in front of Clark opened up and dawn light flooded in. The Major leading the expedition gave the order, and Clark took point as the rag-tag company of Mechs moved out.

The dusty savannah spread from horizon to horizon, giving a clear route of advance to the enemy HQ. Clark pushed the throttle of his Mech all the way forward, sending the old Centurion to its top speed of 64.8 km/h. The rest of the LADF Mechs kept station as best they could. The two assault Mechs, the Major's old AS7-D Atlas and the second in command's STK-3F Stalker, found the going slower and most of the raiders slowed so as to keep the unit's formation intact.

Not Clark: his Mech continued to race forward at full speed, meaning he was the first to encounter the defenders. A UM-R60 UrbanMech was foolish enough to try and stop Clark, receiving as punishment the full force of the Centurion's armament. The LRM-10 launcher sent missiles walking up the lighter Mech, tearing at the legs and centre torso. One impacted against the cockpit, shaking up the pilot. The Luxor D-Series AC-10 sent rounds into the Urbie's right torso, followed by the forward -arc medium laser. The light Mech blew apart as the ammo for it's own AC-10 cooked off under the heat from the laser.

Clark continued past the lighter Mech like it was part of the scenery, his eyes locked on the next Mech, an ON1-K Orion. The enemy Mech fired its LRM-15 launcher at Clark, shredding armour from the left arm and torso of his Centurion. Medium lasers started to work their way through the armour on his right leg. AC-10 rounds tore at his centre torso, just missing his medium laser.

Clark was calm, un-afraid of death. His life had only one meaning: revenge. The Orion before him was the largest Mech in the Talon arsenal, meaning it was probably the unit commander's Mech and thus the pilot was the one responsible for the destruction of his hometown. A thin smile played on Clark's lips as he targeted the Orion.

By the time the rest of the LADF Company found Clark, he had chased the Orion into a blind alley and was repeatedly firing his forward medium laser into its burning cockpit. His Centurion was out of LRM's and autocannon rounds and its left arm missing – left behind somewhere on the battlefield. The Major had to step in-between Clark and the Orion to get him to stop.

As the Techs started to salvage what they could from the battle, the Major took Clark aside for a brief talk that would change the younger man's life.

"Look Clark, it's obvious that you're not going to let go of this until you find the pirate that attacked Cairo. It seems someone high up in the planetary council wants revenge too. We've got orders to seek out the pilot and bring them back…alive if possible. The records we've pulled from the brigade HQ's computers point to the Champion being a mercenary from the Inner Sphere. The Techs say we can salvage the Orion you took down, so I'm giving it to you and sending you to Outreach. An agent from the intelligence directorate will accompany you, as will a small team of Techs to keep the Mech running."

The Major handed over a thick folder to Clark. "This is every C-Bill and IS-bond that the planetary council could get its hands on, plus some scraped together from the survivors of Cairo, among others. A merchant DropShip can take you as far as the Outworlds Alliance… from there you're going to have to find your own way to Outreach. Good luck Clark."

Clark looked at the Major, the flame of vengeance burning in his eyes "No…not Clark…not any more. Call me Cairo…Mr Cairo".

To Be Continued…