The dark of the massive cavern was broken by large lighting systems used to flood the underground facilities with an artificial day. Where the lights did not reach, Conner Sinclair relied on the Orion’s thermal imaging. He noticed as the half-track driver bailed out and ran for the protection of a jumble of rocks piled against the cavern wall and let him go. A Clan laborer-caste worker, he was no threat to the mission.

The Puma and the Shadow Cat twin to Dominic’s own OmniMech, however, were.

“Gamma Base, what is your situation?” Ratache Osis again, his voice identifiable even through the breakup caused by intercepted transmission and the meters of rock currently above their heads. Osis was becoming a fixed personality in Clan comms traffic. “Star Commander Isaark, respond! Gamma Base, respond now!”

“The Star Commander is dead. We are heavily engaged, Star Colonel.”

Sinclair swung the Orion around to face the large quarry that the Smoke Jaguars had hollowed into the floor of the massive cavern. The heavy-class ’Mech had been repaired and pressed back into service as his personal ’Mech. It was far better armored and had a working autocannon, which made for a nice change of pace. The Puma ducked behind a set of wood-built barracks which overlooked the quarried basin, likely waiting for his heat levels to drop -- the PPC-equipped ’Mech had been glowing a reddish-orange on thermal scanners.

But that left the Clan-piloted Shadow Cat to face both Dominic and Sinclair. Where a Clan warrior might never interfere in a duel, the Inner Sphere officer knew that such “ideal warfare” had no place on a 31st century battlefield. He added a flurry of autocannon fire and twin medium lasers to Dominic’s gauss rifle, the combined barrage savaging the front armor of the Clan Omni and driving it back against the barracks. One wall was staved in by the Shadow Cat’s shoulder, but it helped the warrior keep to his feet where otherwise he would have fallen.

A burst of static in his ear warned Sinclair of a new Smoke Jaguar transmission. “Delta Point, stay hidden. Wait for it.”

Sounded like more Elementals, the powered-armor infantry troops the Clans had devised. So far the Damocles Commando had run into them just once. An annoyance when alone or in pairs, the battle-armor infantry could be devastating in numbers. “Keep your eye open, Dominic. Watch for Elementals.”

The caution came a second too late. Dominic had walked his Shadow Cat forward to finish off his opponent, stepping within 10 meters of the quarried depression. Rising up from camouflaged holes and mounds of hastily piled ore, they came. Two points -- 10 soldiers wearing their power-assisted armored suits. Half of them launched a coordinated missile salvo at the Orion, which weathered the storm but not without sacrificing more of its precious armor. The rest swarmed Dominic’s Omni, tearing into its armor with their claws and thrusting small lasers into the rents to burn at the internal structure. One fell under the Shadow Cat’s feet and was crushed. The MechWarrior wisely chose to distance himself from the trap before more Elementals fastened to him and dodged aside. The Clan Shadow Cat pursued.

“Enemy has advanced to barracks area,” a Clan warrior warned. The voice tickled at the back of Connor’s memory. The Puma’s pilot! The lieutenant had almost forgotten about the deadly light design in the face of the Elemental swarm. It had backed in behind the barracks building and in a few seconds would be in perfect position to strike out at an unsuspecting Dominic Paine.

Throttling into a fast walk, Connor ignored the Elementals and aimed the massive Orion at the barracks. Wood and iron nails, no matter how well constructed, could never hold up against a determined BattleMech. Especially one with 75 tons to throw around. The wood splintered with rifle-shot echoes that Connor could hear even buttoned up in his cockpit. He kicked and shoved his way through, bulldozing the two-story building, and then stepped out into the blind alley right behind the Puma.

The emerald pulses of his two medium lasers flayed at the weak rear armor of the stoop-shouldered light ’Mech. The short-range missile pack riding his left shoulder hammered three of its charges home, expanding the destruction and leaving the Puma bare to his autocannon. Sinclair toggled for clustering ammunition. The Kali Yama LB 10-X selected its alternate feed system, loading and firing special rounds that fragmented to shower the Puma with hundreds of smaller submunitions. Many of these found the gaps already melted and blasted into the armor, striking deeper to chip away at critical equipment. A grayish-green cloud erupted out the back of the Puma as a heat sink shattered and spewed its precious coolant. Then the Omni shook violently as its gyro was assaulted by the shrapnel, losing its balance and dropping to the ground as if Sinclair had reached in and snapped its spine.

Outside the short alley, two Shadow Cats lurched by, one still bearing three Elementals but both trading vicious punches with their left-arm gauss rifles. The Clan warrior could not have missed the loss of her companion.

She didn’t. “Enemy is advancing. MechWarrior^® Travis lost. Star Colonel Osis, please advise!”

Although Sinclair couldn’t see what Ratache Osis could hope to accomplish, over comms with one ’Mech and a double-handful of Elementals to work with, he couldn’t help the sinking sensation that suddenly clawed at his stomach. Something he was missing. A strategy he hadn’t considered.

The desperation that might be driving Ratache Osis.

“All units fall back to the chemical plant. Go!” No doubts colored the star colonel’s order. “Target the storage tanks and flood the chamber with the corrosive waste. No more failures. No more excuses."