Tukayyid City Spaceport,

Tukayyid,

Free Rasalhague Republic.

The air was filed with sound as a wall of weapons fire rolled across the low roofs like a tsunami: Laser and PPC bolts, Autocannon and Gauss rounds, LRM's and ATM's alike turned the air into a howling maelstrom of death. The Jaguars tried to dodge, but there was nowhere to go: a Mercury scout Mech vanished as the weapons fire reached the outer defences. Several shot's reached the 2 remaining DropShip's, denting and scaring their armour, but nothing more.

Star Colonel Wade Showers surveyed what remained of his forces: 4 Mech's where down, destroyed or disabled, while the others where all damaged in some way. His own Black Knight, an Inner Sphere Mech taken as isorla and retrofitted with Clan weaponry, was showing red along it's left arm and leg where it had taken hits from a Gauss Rifle and ER-PPC. His roar of anger echoed around his cockpit, "Bravo star will advance down the center, Alfa and Charlie Star will advance along the flanks. We will deal with this Stravag scum that dares to stand in our way, then link up with Star Captain Reznor and his forces, and then we will crush the remaining Inner Sphere forces on this world. I swear to you, that before this day is done, Clan Smoke Jaguar will be avenged!" The other warriors of the Trinary responded immediately, "Seyla!"

Cairo gritted his teeth as the Jaguars poured down the road, "Hold!"

His HUD counted down this distance:

500-meters "Hold!"

400-meters "Hold!"

300-meters "Hold!"

The indicated light on his threat assessment computer started flashing a bright red; indicating multiple targeting locks from hostile units, "Hold!"

The HUD read 200-meters, "FIRE!"

Again the Irregulars fired, this time adding their short-range weapons to the onslaught: a second Shadow Hawk IIC fell, almost melting as it was hit again and again, armour and internal structure flowing in rivers of molten metal. Cairo trained his crosshairs over a Lancelot and fired everything me had, drilling into it with a hellish onslaught of Laser, PPC and LBX weapons fire.

Robert Dancer's Thunder Hawk staggered back, a point of Elementals leaping onto the 100-tone Mech, ripping at its armour, trying to find a week spot. Cairo twisted his Templar's torso to the side, and fired his Medium Pulse Lasers, knocking one of the genetically engineered infantry warriors off of its perch on the other Mech's shoulder. It landed on it's back on the hard FerroCrete below. It struggled to rise, but Dance shifted his Mech slightly, bring it's right leg down onto of the prone figure. Cairo didn't bother to see what was left: he turned his attention back to the battle.

The Smoke Jaguars had managed to push back the Irregulars, forcing them to fold their left flank, inadvertently moving the fight away from the downed Centurion and the on-going rescue mission. Cairo glanced at the timer in the corner of his HUD: 3-muinets still remained until the Natures Wrath was in position. Unless the Irregulars held their line and pushed the Clanners back to a safe distance, it would make no difference: the WarShip would be ordered to fire, and both sides would be wiped out in the blink of the eye.

4 new contacts appeared on Cairo's radar screen, but through the combination of ECM's and metallic debris, he could only identify one of them: a Wolfhound with a ComsGuards IFF transponder. Remembering the confusion earlier when prisoner had escaped and taken control of ComStar Mech's, he prepared for them to be either friendly or hostile, positioning his Mech in the middle of the crossroads, one arm pointing north, and the other south.

TBC