The Cairo Saga, Book 2: The Solaris Irregulars

by JA Baker

The Word of Blake Jihad has begun, and Steven Cairo must form a band of MechWarrior dedicated to stopping the deadly fanatics. But, in a universe full of plots and intrigue, who can you really trust?

49. Bugging out

The Cairo Saga, Book 2: The Solaris Irregulars
Part 49: Bugging Out

Europe planes
Callisto V
Lyran Alliance

Cairo hit the battalion-wide channel on the radio, "Irregulars, fall back to the DropShip: we're getting out of here!" He bellowed as the fighters came round again, cutting down several light Mech's. The M.F.B's started to make their way to the now landed DropShip, and the surviving Irregulars did the same. He saw several high-speed ground-cars dart around, picking up down pilots and injured Elementals.

The battle raged on, and Cairo's sensors told him that only 20 of his Mech's were still operational: if they didn't get under the protection of the DropShip's guns, they would be lost. Another beam of light shot down through the clouds and ripped into the Word of Blake lines, smashing Mech's apart. Cairo smiled as the other shoe dropped: there were Warships in orbit, training their capital lasers at the ground in an attempt to aid their escape.

The M.F.B's made their way up the cargo ramp and into the waiting DropShip, followed closely by the rest of the support vehicles. The ring around of defending Mech's grew smaller as the few surviving light-Mech's also made their way up the ramp. Cairo was worried when he didn't see Rebecca's Goshawk, but he suddenly had more to worry about: A Word of Blake FNR-5 Fafnir Assault-Mech lumbered forward, the capacitors coils for its twin Heavy Gauss Rifles glowing blue.

Cairo brought his Heavy Laser up and around, and his quick reflexes spoiled the other pilots aim: the two huge metal spheres missed their intended target and bueried themselves in the ground beneath the DropShip. The huge Mech turned its attention to the old Orion, it's Medium Pulse Laser sending a series of emerald bolts along the lighter Mech's torso, digging into the damage done by other Mech's.

The capacitors flared again, and a second pair of gauss-slugs rocketed out of the Fafnir, one striking Cairo's already damaged right torso, smashing the LB 10-X Autocannon beyond all recognition, the other just missing. The Orion shook as the gauss-round ricocheted around its innards, snapping internal supports and smashing components. Cairo jettisoned the last of his ATM rounds just moments before the slug came to rest in the magazine.

Reacting slowly as the heat from the damaged reactor overwhelmed the remaining heat sinks, Cairo brought his Heavy Laser up and round, and at point-blank range, fired it down the barrel of the Fafnir right Heavy Gauss Rifle. The high-capacity magnets melted under the hellish beam, discharging their stored electrical energy into the Assault Mech. The other capacitor overloaded and sorted out, blasting the entire torso away. The Mech went down

Cairo had no time to celebrate his victory: the use of such a heat-intensive weapon when most of his heat sinks had been destroyed, added to the damage to his reactor-housing, send the old Vlar 300 engine into overload.

"Warning: critical reactor damage! Warning: critical reactor damage!" The computer screamed warnings at Cairo as the safety system failed. He reached down between his legs and pulled the red handle that activated the ejector seat mechanism, and ducked his head down as the cockpit roof blow clear away.

He felt his spine compress as the rockets fired, and his world went dark as the command-couch was blown clear of the doomed Mech with just seconds to spare.

To Be Continued…