Chapter 8:
Sundered
(cont...)

Scattered remains of an enemy Shadow Cat and an Annihilator littered the ground, some smoking pieces still hot enough to register red on thermal imaging. The Mad Cat, all that remained of the first unit, struggled with a gimped leg. Still unstable on its feet following the ammunition explosion that had ripped one side off the 75 ton OmniMech, the Mad Cat withdrew to temporary safety behind the fortified outpost, seeking a brief respite and leaving the Damocles Commando to contend with the trap sprung by the advancing team of four fresh Smoke Jaguar OmniMechs.

Another Mad Cat led forward a Shadow Cat, Thor and Vulture. This second unit had moved down from the northwest to bottle the commando on the coastal plains, pushing the Inner Sphere force back into an area framed by mountains on two sides and ocean on the third. Behind them the ground opened up, except that Sorenson had already registered an intermittent contact which was likely a new ’Mech moving in to close off any easy escape. The corporal held their Mobile Field Base vehicles a quarter-kilometer back, crawling forward slowly and delaying their arrival. With the addition of Epona Rhi’s single surviving MFB, the commando fielded a trio of the crucially important vehicles again -- a number that would diminish quickly if the Omnis turned any weapons their way.

Sinclair had already exchanged long-range fire with the lead Mad Cat, his salvaged Thor coming off the worse end: able to match a single large laser only against a devastating combination of heavy missile flights and laser fire. The lieutenant’s ears still rang with the explosions that had rocked the side of the cockpit from the pair of missiles slamming into the Thor’s head. The matchup appeared hopeless, unless the enemy closed for hard-hitting combat where Sinclair might hope to bring his left-arm autocannon into play. The heavy caliber weapon had a limited range, but would rip into the toughest ’Mech with ferocious results. In a series of single combats, with his lancemates holding back the flanking units, the commando might hope to blast through and escape.

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