@ Jake Harris: thanks for the offer, but you do realise that this story is going to be bigger and longer than 'Ballad' and 'Irregulars' put together?

ComStar barracks,

Tukayyid,

Free Rasalhague Republic

Cairo left most of the preparations to Clearwater, wanting to have as little to do with the complex job of organising, out fitting and manning an entire regiment as possible, and to make the ROM agent's life as complicated as possible. He looked down from the gantry as the vast stores of supplies where loaded onto the transports taking it all to the waiting DropShip's.

The shear size of the task staggered him: 125 BattleMech's, 122 Aerospace Fighters, 112 Infantry troops, 14 DropShip's, 3 JumpShip's and 6 WarShip's made up the mission to reinforce Tharkad. All he had to do was find a way to get them all past the Word of Blake blockade. His new uniform felt stiff and uncomfortable, the Colonels insignia weighed heavily on his shoulders, and his mind.

Jack Cameron walked up, his own shoulders now showing his elevated rank of Major, "They're all here sir." Cairo nodded, following the former mercenary into the small briefing room at the end of the corridor. Most, the one's who didn't know him, stood sharply to attention, earning grins from one who knew better. Cairo bad them all to sit before standing at the end of the table, looking at them: he'd once prided himself on being able to remember the names and faces of everyone under his command, but now it was a struggle to remember just the Company and Battalion commanders.

Cairo placed his hands on the table, palm flat, "First of all, I want to say that you are all idiots for taking this assignment: the Irregulars are going to be frown into the meat grinder head first, and yet everyone in this command volunteered for the job." He sat in his chair, his eyes moving from person to person, "As you are all aware, the situation on Tharkad is getting worse: Word of Blake has effectively blockaded the planet, taking both regular jump points. We will have to enter the system by a pirate point, and then get past the forces in orbit, and then land at what we hope will be the main stronghold of the forces commanded by Field Marshall Kell. Once down, we help however we can. I doubt one more regiment will make the difference, but we have to try."

He stood and started to walk down the table, stopping behind the first chair, "For those of you who don't know, this is my wife Sinead: she is also my executive officer." The next chair held the officer who had been in his hospital room when he had awoken after his fight with Star Colonel Showers, "This is Maj. Patrick Clearwater, son of our esteemed benefactor, and commander of First Battalion. His company commanders are Captains Robert Dancer, Alex Larsen, and Tai-I Élan Stark."

Cairo walked farther on, reaching the far end of the table, "You all now Jack Cameron. Well, he's got Second Battalion, with Nicolas Trent, Ian Sharp and Henry McAllister as his company commanders." He stoped next to the imposing form of Jake Kabrinski, "Our newly appointed Star Colonel here has Third Battalion, with Star Captain's Montague and Rafe." He reached the last seat, "Star-Commodore Ivan Leroux commands our Naval assets, everything from fighters to WarShips."

Tai-I Stark raised her hand, "Sir, what WarShip's will we have with us?" Cairo smiled, "Star-Commodore, if you'd be so kind." Leroux stood, "Along with my own command, the Fredasa class Spirit Sight and Star Captain Jo Carns' Lola III Nature's Wrath, we will travelling with a relief fleet containing the Whirlwind class Destroyer Drake, the York class Destroyer/Carrier Corvidae, and the Bug-Eye class Surveillance Ship Vigilant, provided by Clan Snow Raven. We will also have the Kyushu Class Frigate Draconis Rift, newly placed under ComStar command by the Draconis Combine."

Cairo patted the Clan Naval officer on the back; "I think we can all agree that that is a whole lot of firepower. But remember this: our job is to distract and pester the Word of Blake forces, not face them in a head-on fight." The Clan officers started to protest, and Cairo was forced to call for silence, "I know, I know: it's dishonourable. I don't like it any more than you do. Try and remember this: every time a unit has tried to face Word of Blake on equal terms, they have been the victims of attack by weapons of mass destruction."

The room fell silent. Cairo looked at the suddenly still faces, "Those of you who where on Callisto V will know what I mean." He took a deep breath, "To this end, we have be assigned a number of 5-megaton nuclear devices." Every face turned to look at him, their expressions the same. Cairo nodded, "I feel the same about these weapons as the rest of you, but there may come a time when they are all that stand between our lives and destruction. I am one of only three people with the authorisation to order they deployment, and I will not do so unless there is no other choice. The DropShips launch in two hours, so if you want out, this is your last chance. Dismissed."

To Be Continued