The Solaris Irregulars
Part 5: First assignment

Mirandagol District
County Shu, Epsilon Eridani
Chaos March

Commander Tybalt Kelly of the County Shu Volunteer Battalion moved his Lineholder back just in time to dodge the Word of Blake Axeman's hatchet. The Word of Blake forces where trying to gain control of the CSVB's Mech depot, and so far Kelly was not doing a good job stopping them. His augmented lance was down two Mechs, and the last three where out-classed by the near company size formation of attackers.

The Axeman raised its hatchet high, getting ready for a killer blow, when it seemed to stiffen, then fell to the ground. The voice of Jorge Jourewicz, JJ to his friends, came over the radio "Kelly, there is a second company of Mech's moving in from the north. I can't make out the marking, but that Axeman was just taken down by a Templar!"

Kelly moved his Mech out onto the parried ground in time to see a Mad Cat OmniMech take down a Word of Blake Catapult with a barrage of 40-LRM's. The fire-support Mech crumpled under the onslaught and fell. A Word of Blake Mauler tried to stand its ground, but received four Gauss slugs for its trouble, thanks to a Thunder Hawk and a Banshee.

The surviving Word of Blake Mech's fled from the battlefield, harried all the time by the mysterious company of Mech. Kelly keyed his radio to an open frequency "This is Commander Tybalt Kelly of the County Shu Volunteer Battalion to un-identified Mech's: identify yourselves." He knew there was little he could do if they where hostile, but he decided to act friendly, at lest to start with.

An Orion steeped forward and raised its right arm slightly. The radio crackled "This is Captain Steven Cairo of the Solaris Irregulars. We've been sent to see how bad the situation is here on Epsilon Eridani, and to see if we can help."

Kelly was puzzled "I can't say I've heard of the 'Solaris Irregulars', but I do recognise your name and Mech Captain Cairo. I saw your battle in the Coliseum on Solaris VII. What are you doing here, and who sent you?"

Cairo laughed, "Let's just say the Word of Blake wouldn't let me go home, so I took a job with ComStar. It's my job to scout out the Chaos March while the ComsGuards and what remains of the SLDF themselves for a counter-attack."

Kelly decided to trust Cairo "How are things out there? Word of Blake shut down the HPG about a week before they attacked."

There was a definite edge on Cairo's voice "Grim, most of the Chaos March is now under WoB control, as is most of the Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation. They've attacked worlds in the Lyran Alliance, Draconis Combine and Federated Commonwealth. Epsilon Eridani is one of the last free planets in this sector, and if you ask me, it's only a matter of time before they get you to. I'm sorry."

Kelly new that Cairo was telling the truth "What can we do to slow them down, buy the rest of the Inner Sphere time?"

Cairo's voice picked up "I have a plan to do just that."

Kelly smiled to himself.

To Be Continued...