Tukayyid City Spaceport,
Tukayyid,
Free Rasalhague Republic.
The rain-stung Cairo's face, the heavy weight of Showers body pinning him to the back on his Mech, his depleted strength nowhere near enough to move it. A fierce burning sensation tore across his chest as the chemicals from his cooling vest leaked-out, mixing with his blood.
Voices, seemingly distant, clambered for his attention, shadows moving across his field of vision, his eyes refusing to focus.
"For god's sake, someone call an ambulance!"
"Is he alive?"
"For now. Give me some cover here. You, bring that flashlight!"
A flash of light.
"He's not responding! Where the hell is that ambulance? Medic!"
"What of the Star Colonel?"
"He's dead pal, you lost."
"Christ, he's crashing!"
The dark border to the world started to creep slowly inwards.
Tukayyid City Hospital,
Tukayyid,
Free Rasalhague Republic.
Pain was something Cairo was becoming overly use to.
It could be said that this is a good thing for a soldier, as it enables them to work through it, but it can also become addictive. He hadn't gotten that far yet, but he was getting dangerously close.
Cairo guessed that he was in hospital from the fact that he wasn't dead. His mind felt like it was full of cottonwood, and his hearing sounded like he was underwater. His eyes slowly opened, the bright light emanating from over his head almost blinding him. A figure in a grey uniform sat in a chair across the room, his eyes fixed on Cairo. The man reached for a radio, "He's wake. Ok."
The stranger moved his chair so it was next to Cairo's bed, "Major, can you hear me?" Cairo nodded, his throat to dry to speak. The man smiled, "You gave us quite a scare for a while: you suffered a slight case of coolant poisoning when Showers slashed you across the chest. Apart from that, you have a concussion, a broken arm, dehydration, and you managed re-brake four ribs that you damaged on Callisto V." Cairo nodded; "Sinead?" his voice was horse, barley above a whisper. The other man smiled, "She's fine, so is the baby. She banged her had badly, lost a bit of blood, that's what made her sound so weak over the radio. She's a few rooms along; the nurses will bring her to see you later."
Cairo nodded, relieved, "Jaguars?" The stranger scratched his head, "That's still a bit hazy: Star Captain Montague, Showers' second in command, surrendered the remaining members of his Trinary after you killed the Star Colonel. They're claiming the right to be taken as your bondsmen. We're holding them at the stockade until things calm down a little. As for the original raiders, we don't have a clue. The storm, mixed with the damage done to the command center, has knocked out long-range communications, so we don't know what's going on. Captain Peacemaker had what remained of your unit re-arm and set out to try and link up with the rest of Shadow Company, but we've not heard anything for the last half hour."
"Una Salus Victus…" Cairo muttered as he drifted off to sleep.
To Be Continued