The Ballad of Cairo
Part Eleven: We Happy Few
Harlech,
Outreach,
The Chaos March.
Cairo looked up at the side of the Leopard class DropShip before him. It had the name Wataru painted on its side. He turned to Jackson the intelligence officer, who was smiling as he looked at the ship. "Okay, how did you get the Wolf Dragoons to part with a nearly-new DropShip at a price we could afford?"
The smile on Jackson's face grew wider. "It was Captain Cameron who talked General Wolf into letting us have it in exchange for the salvage money we would have got from the four Mechs you helped take down on Arboris. He's still a bit upset that you turned down the chance to form a second Dog Soldiers company. I don't think anyone has ever turned down a command with the Dragoons."
Cairo looked back to the DropShip. "I told him, I still have a mission to carry out. He hates pirates too and ought to understand. Still, Cameron did well to talk his boss into all but giving us the ship."
Tech Sergeant McCoy walked over to where Cairo and Jackson where standing. "Okay, your Mech is back in one piece. The Dragoons replaced all the weapons and rebuilt the chassis with endo-steel. She's secured in the cargo-bay". He turned to Jackson, "Are you sure you can fly this?"
Jackson laughed at the tech, "I grew up on DropShips remember? I commanded a Leopard-CV for three years. If it's got a fusion-drive, I can fly it".
A fourth figure walked over to where the three of them where standing. Sergeant Sinead O'Brien carried a large rucksack over one shoulder and had a kit bag in her other hand. Cairo turned to look at her. She was definitely attractive: tall, not too thin and powerfully built, her muscles showing under her coveralls. "You don't have to do this you know. Cameron said he'd take you back if you want to stay", he said.
"You're an interesting person to be around. You're driven by duty and even when you're offered the chance to command a company of elite warriors, your sense of honour prevents you accepting. I think I'll tag along for now", she replied with a smile. "Anyway, I've got my own Mech. A Panther my not be as big or powerful as your Orion or my old Bushwacker, but it's a good Mech".
Cairo decided not to argue. "Okay, welcome aboard". He extended his hand and O'Brien shook it strongly. The four of them, followed by the rest of McCoy's techs, walked up the ramp into their new home.
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Captain Jack Cameron looked at the receding DropShip as it climbed up through the clouded sky. "You think we did the right thing, sending O'Brien off with them like that?"
Next to him, General Maeve Wolf smiled, "It was the Commander's idea. We've been trying to pin something on Cain for ten years, but the murdering scumbag has been able to keep just clean enough to get away with out being charged with piracy. Cairo hates him and will stop at nothing to kill him."
A figure stepped from the shadows. "That's the plan", smiled Jaime Wolf.
To Be Continued…