The impact with the water jostled Maki around in her seat, causing her to curse quite audibly as the whiplash caused her helmet to impact the headrest of the seat. Her vision swimming for a moment, Maki quickly did a quick scan of the Hellcat's systems and assessed the damage she received from the fall. Her shields were down. Great. It wasn't like the only machine with any protection among them was down for the count.

Alice's words got her moving quickly. While the Hellcat wasn't exactly designed for underwater movement, she didn't have far to move. Trying to look at where the water was leaking into the Sentry's cockpit, Maki tried to use the Hellcat's arm to cover where the worst of it seemed to be happening. The other arm secured around Odin's back, the Japanese pilot put the Hellcat in full thrust upwards, trying to get the both of them above the surface before they drowned.

"Alice, can you get a read on Odin's vitals?" Maki asked, more worried about saving her squadmate in the machine rather than the suit itself. Machines could be replaced, but a member of the 7th wasn't. "This bastard's more trouble than he's worth." She cursed the man again as she tried to save him.

She had six Rapiers left and was down to half ammo. If they were attacked again in force, she wasn't sure she had enough to fight back effectively. The Hellcat's point defense systems had more than enough to ensure that any ground forces not supported by MAS would be cut down before they were even close enough for their weapons to be dangerous to her. What she was worried about was more experimental machines or improved Coalition Ferirs attacking. The 7th had been getting their asses handed to them by the white MAS, she wasn't sure two of them alone at less than peak condition would be able to hold out long against more of the same.

"Alice, I don't want to risk tipping the enemy off to our positions by activating the distress beacon, do you think you can report our position discreetly back to the Lincoln?" If the Lincoln's still there.

The phrase Hell in a Hand Basket came to mind.

What had happened to them? Once upon a time they were the feared 7th MAS Squad. Elite, exceptional, a fighting force to be reckoned with, and not this—poor decision after poor decision. Squad members out of position, emotional-fueled suicide runs by their commanding officer, a two-unit rescue operation resulting in re-entry and ground combat on an enemy occupied planet? Crazy. Not the good, adrenaline junkie, might-kill-yourself kind of crazy either. The kind that got everyone killed, the kind that wiped out a squad. What was everyone thinking?
Would he have done differently?

The thought caught him off-guard, came out of left field. Of course he would have—what they were doing wasn’t brave, it was stupid. It was short-sighted. It would lose them this battle. But there it was, that hitch in his stomach when he thought of leaving Trapp to his fate. The thought of letting Maki get nailed by that Mk. II. The thought of leaving Gerard to the white MAS unit. Of course, he kept thinking, he’d have left them to die. That was the correct answer, the right one.

Right?

“Head in the game, Wizard.” He caught himself muttering, eyes flicking back to the scanners. “This is what I get for chatting up rookies.”
Damage control. There was the call to fall back, to regroup, the only call they could make at this point, but there was no way they could facilitate it with Guillotine and Gallant out there engaged by an enemy so much faster than they were. That was suicide, not retreat. At least McKnight still had a head on his shoulders, it would seem—he and Trent came to the same conclusion.
Time for some fire support.

To be honest, Trent had been phoning it in for a good while now. Not that he didn’t trust his teammates, and not that he needed to showboat, but the Coalition wasn’t used to dealing with an MAS with damage potential and range like the Mosquito. He’d mostly been on damage control while the team was in the thick of things, picking off individual units when they neared the Lincoln, but most of those he’d managed with more manual targeting. His Oracle system was busy churning away at the fancy new white MAS unit, analyzing thruster patterns, burst radius, acceleration/deceleration gradients…

“Sorry cogboys…” He found himself muttering with a slight smile as the little red triangulation lines flicked about his HUD, trying to keep up with the white prototype. It wasn’t easy but there were patterns there—if a machine might have run completely random movements with a machine like that, a pilot was smart. They knew what worked and what didn’t, what they needed to do and when…which meant they could be predicted. Priming the gun, he focused on the enemy units main thrusters, the humming suite that had it leaping forward at such a prodigious rate. It was even faster than the Mosquito, in all likelihood…

Best case scenario, it punched through the units shield but lost enough energy to slag the cockpit proper. Worse case scenario, it punched clean through and he got chewed out for cocking up strategic resources. Worst case scenario, it did absolutely nothing thanks to some dirty-little-bitchium they’d hid in whatever the thing must have been running and he’d have a fancy fist-fight on his hands in about two and a half seconds.

Actually, he kinda liked that last one.

“I got your fire support hanging, McKnight…” He heard himself muttering, waiting until his system screamed as the juke-thrusters cut out, the moment of inertia before a momentum could be negated and reversed—
He fired.

Two points linked up in an instant, the targeting solution through rather than on to get around target lock sensors. If nothing else, he’d get its damn attention as a line of green lightning shot screamed through space at the speed of electricity. Flicking open his comm and broadcasting to the unit, he could feel his lips pull back in a familiar smile.

“Tag, wonderbread. You’re it.”

Double post. Ignore.

“His vitals seem stable, but we still need to get him to the surface, quick. Wait...I don’t think we’re alone...”

Thanks to Nishizumi’s help, Trapp began to reach the surface, until out of nowhere, Alice suddenly noticed the presence of other machines in the area. She could only recognize two of them as obviously Coalition MASs, but the implication was still clear: They had been trapped. After a few moments, the trio were receiving a transmission that presumably came from their captors. Alice tried in vain to pinpoint exactly where the message was being sent, remaining silent as the grave throughout it’s duration. Their message was plain and simple: Surrender and be captured, or be taken by force. In an instant, Alice knew what this meant for her, and what she had to do now. Odin was down for the count, and Maki may be able to fight, but most likely not for long. If Alice fought with her, she would undoubtedly bring harm to her teammates. And under no circumstances could she surrender and allow herself or her Eagle to be captured by Coalition forces. The UEE had prepared for a situation like this, and deep within the code of Alice’s being, a program had been triggered.

“I can do something, Ms. Nishizumi, but you’re not going to like it...I’m sorry, I don't have a choice...”

Alice’s disconnected her interface with her MAS, and without it, the Eagle went limp, letting go of Trapp’s Sentry as it sunk to the bottom of the lake in its stead. With a deep sigh, Alice let herself go as well, allowing the protocol to take over her functions. Opening up a secret comm channel on a frequency exclusively known to the UEE, she started sending a distress signal to a certain few, including Captain Alexis Marquis, Sterling McKnight, who had now assumed command of the 7th in Trapp’s absence, Dr. Santoro, and Dr. Beil. Nobody aligned with the Coalition in any way would even be aware that she was sending this message. In an automated, monotone voice, Alice spoke:

“This is an emergency transmission from ALI-009 to all personnel of the EENS Abraham Lincoln authorized to receive it."

"All criteria indicate a Polyphemus contingency: Surrounded by hostile units in Coalition territory. Hostiles demand surrender and threaten kill event. Retaliation is impossible without breaching primary functions. I repeat, a Polyphemus contingency is in progress."

"Capture event is imminent. Capture of unit ALI-009 and SOL-110-EX Eagle by Coalition compromises security of the development of ALI series droids and complementary SOL series Mobile Armor Suits."

"Initiating Odyssey Protocol: Prevent capture event by launch of alternative escape capsule. Upon launch, Eagle will activate private tracking beacon to confirm location to Command."

"Stand by for further action to assist detained friendlies. Requesting Command to prepare a recovery of this unit and friendlies from Coalition territory upon escape.”

With that, the cockpit began transforming, shifting closer to the back of the MAS as it became something of an escape pod. In an instant, it shot off and blasted up out of the lake. Before their captors could even react, the pod soared into the sky towards the west. It flew a small arch in the air, eventually falling towards the mountains and disappearing behind the summits. Alice closed her eyes and tightly clenched her fists with the knowledge that right now, her friends were being taken by the Coalition. Her pod soon crashed somewhere beyond the mountains, and almost instantly, Alice released her piloting harness and kicked off the door with enough force to propel it several feet away. As she stepped out of the pod, she sensed the beacon in her Eagle that turned on after her escape pod was launched. Wherever it went, Nishizumi and Trapp likely went with it, and wherever they were going, that's where she was headed now.

"Alice, what the hell are you doing?!" Maki cried out as the Eagle lost power and she saw the AI abandon the cockpit and head off elsewhere, leaving Trapp and her alone against the Coalition machines. It wasn't as if they hadn't trained for scenarios like this: Pilots from the 101st were more valuable than the machines they controlled. Finding someone with the experience and skill necessary for their missions was difficult, so the UEE would spare no expense to retrieve them. It was probably why the Coalition was even considering forcing their surrender instead of just dropping charges into the lake and killing them immediately.

She considered her options. She could make a fight of it and probably sustain some damage but still win the engagement. The problem was she wouldn't have anything left against the reinforcements, if the Hellcat even made it out still able to fight. Not to mention she had to consider Trapp getting caught in the crossfire. She had no options left. With Alice, they might have had a shot of at least abandoning their machines on lockdown and losing themselves in the forest, but there was no way she was going to be able to evade capture dragging Trapp on her own through unfamiliar terrain infested with Coalition forces. She had to play the hand she was dealt. This hand contained only 2 cards - fight and die, or surrender and wait for the cavalry and hope the Coalition's interrogators on Jehan sucked at their job.

"This is lieutenant Nishizumi with the 101st Airborne. Powering down weapons systems and formally sending surrender codes." Maki made an open broadcast to the Lincoln and the Coalition, choosing to save her squadmate rather than her pride. "I have a squadmate who's going to drown if I don't drag his machine out. At least let me get him to shore."

A brief acknowledgement of her surrender and request was all the reply she got. At least there were no threats or slurs being thrown her way. Most soldiers respected each other even on opposite sides of the conflict, but the type who were guarding top secret research facilities tended to be a little less honorable. Well, this bunch were hardly representative of their entire base, she supposed. Not that she had much of an opinion on that subject after being left behind by her wingman. She understood that Alice was cutting edge technology that could not fall into Coalition hands, but at the same time she also knew a human pilot would never have abandoned her to capture alone.

She quietly activated the distress beacon in her MAS that would hopefully tell the rescue team where to find them. At the same time, she sent an encrypted message back to Alexis in case the worst came to pass. The Captain knew what to do with the contents of the message, to be sent to her mother in case she ever found herself in a situation where she might never get home. Though she added a few more colourful expressions of what she would do to her favourite redheaded captain if a tin can was rescued before her cutest pilot.

After powering down the Hellcat, scrambling the frequencies and encryption codes on the consoles to make it impossible to access any of the Hellcat's weapons systems or even physically remove them without great risk, Maki climbed out of the cockpit and waited to be picked up, watching the enemy move in to make the arrest. "The other pilot needs medical attention. Please." She pleaded quietly, respectfully to their captors, and all she seemed to get was a nod as she watched them pry open the Sentry's cockpit to retrieve Trapp.

"We picked up three machines falling into the lake. Where is the third?"

"Not breathing." Well, Alice didn't need to breathe. It wasn't technically a lie. Besides, Maki would hardly consider a machine alive. Or a person. People did not leave their friends alone in underwater steel coffins. If they made it out of this alive, Maki was going to put in a request for a new wingman. If her weapons worked underwater she would have blown up the Eagle just out of spite. If the Coalition forces hadn't confiscated her side arm, the first she would have done when she got free was put a bullet in Alice. Friendly fire didn't count when it was a machine, not a soldier.

For the first time, Yuuyami hesitated upon hearing to return back to the hangar. Three of her team-mates were planetside, and the rest were scattered about with varying ranges of damage. All sensible reasoning screamed at her to retreat into the safety of the Lincoln. However, she didn't move. The memory of Tori's death flashed through her mind quickly, the sight that filled her with the first taste of actual dread and loss. Right now, she felt and echo of that feeling resound within her. "Emotions are useless in battle. They merely obstruct one from thinking clearly." But, despite repeating those lines inwardly, her hands didn't move an inch.

"...Captain." Probably, for the first time in the longest while, Yuu actually spoke through the intercoms deliberately. "The Sovereign's damage is minimal...use me." Pausing for a moment, she opened up the holoscreen with the condition of her MAS visualized, alongside several graphs. Excluding the purged shield, she still had the full use of her MAS. Mostly. The left arm was damaged, utilizing it to wield the other primary would not bode well. The kinetic would damage it further with the recoil, and the laser has no area of effect, therefore requiring proper aim, something which she believed that the arm wasn't capable of doing. That being said, having another gun out firing in the general direction of a target would cause for unpredictable patterns.

The Sovereign is still capable of combat. Finally managing to contain herself, she quickly sent the text-based transmission to Alexis, while almost hoping to be told to sortie. However, that all depended on the response she would receive from higher up. She just hoped that this wouldn't come back to haunt her as a punishment of the sort. "Humans or machines, in the end we are all tools." Almost ridiculing herself, she waited for the response.

Ackerman sighed at the standard response from this so called elite squad. The two Ferirs winched a couple of mechs out of the water, one of them empty. Ackerman wondered if they were just that stupid, or feigning ignorance about the rather obvious launch a few seconds ago. Even so, it was not Ackerman's problem. Whatever that flying chunk of metal was, the rest of the Coalition could deal with it in due time.

The radio signal going out from the mech of the only active pilot was a bigger problem. Ackerman grabbed the safety rail in the ceiling of his cockpit and leaned out to meet Ghost's knowing stare. Of course she noticed it. He gave a curt nod to the woman and watched her vanish into her machine. Ackerman took a deep breath and popped back into his machine. His machine roared to life, screens flashing as the cockpit door closed. His thoughts collected, he pushed the radio button and broadcast on an encrypted frequency:

"Bould, target the empty suit with EMP. We don't need radio comms to their command." Moments later, the sound and heat signature of Bould's Breacher machine come to life. One heavy shot later, a metal canister impacted Maki's machine, followed by a surge of electrical energy in the mech's circuits, overloading and shutting them down, but leaving the machine and its pilot otherwise unharmed. When the two Ferirs pulled out the other two machines from the lake and extracted the pilot, two more such canisters struck those machines, taking them out of commission.

The massive, modified Hardballer lumbered into view of the UEE pilots, its shields set to protect the rear end of the mech, visible to the trained eye by a slight flicker at the back of the mech. Its plasma cannons were trained on the sole pilot outside of her or his mech. It speakers roared to life, broadcasting in a computerized voice:
"Do not attempt anything stupid. We are transferring you to a safe location." The two Ferir's struggled with hoisting and mounting two of the mechs onto an improvised 'sled', an old tracked trailer meant for transport of large goods. The pilots of the UEE were escorted or carried into an open truck, taking care to not stand close to any of the pilots and making sure they had no weapons of any sort in their possession.

Two more standard issue Ferir's approached, having had the foresight to stay concealed before, to lift the last empty mech and carry it between them.

The procession started off, to be joined by yet another curious machine. carrying an unusual large shield, its image distorted by powerful shielding. Ackerman snickered as he watched the camouflaged Guardian join the convoy, its massive shield and generators covering the truck to protect its passengers from harm, but its machinegun was still trained on the truck it was protecting, in case any of their new captives tried to escape. Sharp crackling alerted Maki to a Stealh Drive system being employed to conceal the truck and its guardian.

A minute later, four more mechs moved in the nearby forests, shadowing the convoy at a respectable distance to go unnoticed. One of them vanished a moment later.
The Coalition base was an hour away, and the Jackals were ready for combat.

The pain on the side of his flared as dripping blood mixed with falling water and sweat but he had a few precious moments to make what little time he did have matter. Luckily do to the crash and the water the Sentry’s computer system had been thoroughly destroyed, meaning he did not have to worry about running a wipe of those systems. What he did have to worry about was the data chip. Stored in the center console beneath some metal plating and inside a small flame retardant box it could basically live through anything, so getting to it was going to require some work and he did not have a lot of time. He felt the protrusion underneath the main consol in the dark having to go by memory alone as the darkness of the MAS did not provide much in terms of light even with Maki dragging it to the surface.

Luckily for him the metal panel keeping the circuitry from being exposed had been beaten pretty heavily during the impact, losing its hold on the console. Now that he thought about it, it was probably what his knee had crashed into when his safety strap had broken. Feeling his way around the edges, he could find no firm hand holds on the casing and so went on to plan B. He pushed himself back up as far as he could into his chair to allow his leg adequate room and pulled back slamming his boot into the metal. He bit his lip to prevent himself from crying out but heard the weakened metal groan. He repeated the process five more times and on the sixth hit, the metal sheet came off of it post and collapsed to the ground. His foot was now throbbing along with his head but he had access to where he needed.

He leaned down, wiping an arm across his face gingerly as he began to get to work. He felt his ears pop as the sentry was dragged further and further off of the lake bed and towards the surface. He searched around in the now dead wires haphazardly and he found something towards the back of the innards of consol a small metal box which after forcing it with a grunt pulled it out from its position. Sealed there was no easy way to open it, but then again the Commander was never the one to go the easy way. He began smashing it against the console, again and again feeling the light metal bend under the repeated blows finally there was a crack and prying it open inside covered by an array of circuity was a small chip no bigger than a fingernail. Taking it from the case, he dropped it into the water slowly pooling in the bottom of the cockpit



Well things were not going exactly as planned that was for sure. Instead of only having to deal with one potential casualty they were now dealing with three and to make matters worse Alice had just shot herself off to God knows where likely do to some UEE failsafe because the cost of technology is more important than keeping a team together and having the highest chances of survival. In their current state they had one MAS that was most likely damaged from the impact. They would have no ground or fire support for the foreseeable future or ever if things got that bad, deep in Coalition Space with nowhere to go and stuck on a Coalition occupied world. Trapp did not like the odds of the situation one bit... it reminded him too much of Lhant.

Lhant even though it was only months ago it felt like it had been years. A class 3 agricultural planet on the edge of UEE space comparatively a dustbunny behind a coach in its scale of importance of things. The rebels had started popping up six months prior to his deployment, they started out as simple protesters everyone had heard the same old song and dance stating the government didn't listen to their plights and paid no heed to any planets beyond the Earth Bound routes. Every colony has them and most pay little heed to them checking them off as nothing more than another group of angry people in a very angry universe. That was until things became violent, it started with a riot and ended with the UEE colonial headquarters under siege by a horde of angry civilians, the UEE soldiers had to open fire to push them back. These deaths would serve as the catalyst the really pushed everything forward.

Still even as tensions rose and conflicts between UEE colonial forces and the rebels began to escalate deceive measure by the UEE was not deemed necessary. They were used to the occasional revolt, it would end as all the others ended as their disorganized command structure fell apart and the resolve of the militias would fall under trained military might. Farmers couldn't win a war like this. And yet a war that was supposed to last three weeks was extended to a month, and then two months and so on. As the battles dragged on and the death tolls mounted it drove the populace even further to ally with the rebels against UEE forces that were bombing towns and holding summary executions in the streets.

Officially at the outbreak of the revolt, the Coalition stated that it held no hands in the manners - not that any UEE official with a half brain would believe it for a second. There was continued sightings of unmarked transport ships breaking through the UEE orbital blockades ferrying what seemed to weapons and ammunition to rebel bases and the arrival of several squads worth of “war profiteers” that came in drew suspicion suspecting Coalition involvement as the rebel forces only continually got more well armed and better trained using military tactics and hitting exactly where it hurt the UEE the most. Communication posts were attacked by IED carrying vehicles and supply lines were continually harassed with a clockwork efficiency.

The UEE tried to keep what was going on out of the eyes of the public but several journalists managed to break through UEE censors and posted their stories illegally cover the horror stories of the conflict, the brutality that the UEE colonial forces were using and the fact that the UEE seemed to be somehow losing against a bunch of farmers. When the news was read at home and the government was a made a laughing stock in front of its own people, it was decided that decisive action was needed. The UEE was about to drop the hammer down and crush the rebels once and for all.

Trapp and the 2nd Mobile Armored Strike Team had just returned from suppressing a wouldbe fleet of pirates when he got the call that they were going to be sent to Lhant. MAS’s had not been deployed to the planet as the severity did not seem necessary but now it was time for a brutal efficiency. When they arrived at their home base with the next wave to replenish the beaten Colonial Defense Force they found the soldiers in shambles and the camp barely operational. The UEE military soon got hard to work getting the camp back into working order, establishing supply lines and getting vital goods out to where they were needed. Under this new direction the UEE came roaring back at the rebels and for the first time in months started pushing them back and taking ground. The 2nd was instrumentality in these battles taking out fortified rebel positions, smashing through their lines and all around winning out of the virtue of superior fire power. Due to their reputation and the chaos that they were causing the 2nd was put on the rebele bounty list along with many of the UEE military commanders overlooking this new offensive. They were a priority one target to be destroyed at all costs.

They were out on a standard night op when it happened. They were to under the cover of darkness move towards a heavily defended rebel town and destroy the munitions factory located within. But about halfway between their FOB and the town they were ambushed. Somebody had sold them out, the plan was top secret and on a need to know basis but the rebels knew and they were prepared. Armed with heavy anti-vehicle weaponry, littering the path with landmines and improvised explosives and even having a few civilian MAS units equipped with Coalition Plasma weaponry. They fell right into the jaws of dragon. They fought long and hard trying to rally but the 2nd was outgunned and outmanned and one by one they were all taking down. Trapp watched his friends, his family die around him as he could do nothing to stop it. Eventually though his own sentry fell to the hail of fire and he had to bail out. The ejector misfired upon launch sending him craning to the left and into the dirt. By the time he woke up he was in the back of an old Jeep being ushered off to parts unknown

He spent the next series of days in the “care” of the rebel forces. Understandably they were angry at him, the 2nd had killed their friends and burned down their homes all without reservation or regret and Trapp was the one commanding it all for the sake of the conflict. So began the interrogations and the torture they used everything from electric shock, to hot metal, starvation, sleep deprivation and of course good old fashion physical bludgeonings. They ripped off his fingernails and most off his teeth which were now replaced with biosynthetic replacements. When he was not being “questioned” he spent his time in a ten foot hole in the ground barely wide enough to fit a man within, surrounded by his own defecation, the smell of the rotting meat and fruit that they fed him and the bugs constantly circling about him. He would remain a captive for almost all of the remaining time of the conflict. In truth it was a span of a couple of months but he felt like he had lived and died over and over again every day. The UEE assumed that he had died with the rest of the 2nd, and they were very surprised when they learned of the contrary.

His rescue came in the form of a detachment from the 101st Legionaries 3rd Company 1st Armored Platoon lead by Ashe Cambell daughter of Rear Admiral Ulysses John Cambell. They didn’t even know that Trapp was there they were on a mission to destroy the UEE command post that he was being held at to collapse this section of the enemy front. Much to their surprise in the midst of the carnage and the death they found Trapp in a hole in the ground. He barely looked like a human being half starved to death, beaten and bruised flesh ridden with disease and death. He didn't remember the extraction all too well but he did remember the feeling of all the weight coming off of him when he heard the sounds of a UEE dropship coming inbound. Trapp after being stabilized was shipped off of Lhant to go recover for three months before he would be sent back out again with the 7th with the UEE top brass needed pilots and needing them know. Lhant itself was recaptured a month after his rescue, though the conflict had left the planet scarred and the civilian population at basically zero but it was still counted as a victory in the UEE books.

That’s how it goes.



And here he was again about to be captured by Coalition forces. He expected to be afraid or something but he felt nothing as the wreck of the sentry was dragged out of the water and brought to the shore. There was no fear, there was no dread but there was no optimism or hope either it was just a void permeated by the throbbing of his skull. There was sounds of movement outside of his cockpit and moments later a spark was seen above him as the coalition forces being cutting through his broken metal coffin. His service pistol was still attached to his seat but their was really no point in the matter. If he fired he would only get himself and Maki killed for nothing. They had to maintain faith that the Coalition forces would be more friendly than the rebels of Lhant and that the rest of the 7th would be on their way soon enough.

Finally a hole was cut big enough to fit a body through as the metal was peeled away letting sunlight into the dark cockpit making Trapp squint as he looked up at his “saviors”. Two Coalition soldiers with emotionless gasmasks upon their faces looking down at him. One still held the portable plasma cutter in his hand and the other had a rifle trained down at him. To them he most of been quite the sight, blood staining a good portion of his face, sitting knee deep in murky lake water with a somewhat vacant look upon his eyes as he looked at them. The one with the plasma cutter but his device away and reached a hand down. There was a moment of silence as nothing happened but soon Trapp’s hand reached up and grasped it and the soldier help hoist him out of the cockpit. The Sentry was laying belly up on the shore of the lake, the Hellcat close by as Maki was being escorted of it. They were directing the pair to a truck of sorts no doubt their transport to wherever they were going. Trapp walked a few paces before stumbling and crashing to the ground, he pushed himself back up only to fall back down and repeat the process another three or four times before the Coalition soldiers wanted to get a move on more or less picked him up and dragged him the rest of the way into the truck. With their captives in and their MAS some whose designs and equipment seemed very strange to Trapp they were on their way.

Trapp looked up from the floor at Maki across from him and managed to give a weak smile through the dirt and the blood. “So you think they are taking us to the welcoming party?”

The White machine continued pursuing Gallant and Guillotine, right up until a flash of light flared by, a solid, luminescent stream of plasma. Noticing it at the last moment- a near superhuman feat- The White machine added an extra kick to its engine as it jerked to the side. The tight line of plasma pierced the back of the mysterious machine and exited where the equivalent of the human armpit would be. The resulting explosion sent the White machine spinning, but it quickly regained control of itself and began to fly back towards its own mothership- its EKP cannon sending a burst of fire in Wizard's direction. A trio of the remaining Ferir's moved in front of the White MAS, their bodies overlapping one another as to block their commander from the Mosquito's line of sight- they too sent autocannon rounds in his direction in attempt to suppress the light sniper.

"Thanks Wiz." McKnight called through the comm. "Follow us back to the barn, we're pretty fucked right now."

As the damaged Marauder and Shrike careened into the refit bays, a set of tension cables caught the machines and slowed them down, eventually releasing and allowing the damaged machines to drop onto the refit floors. Already, maintenance crews had cleared some of the floors and were bringing in replacement parts to fix up the machines. Looking over to his right, McKnight saw Astelion and Sokolov landing as well. They two were being fitted with replacement parts. Powering down his machine and opening his cockpit, Mcknight slumped in his seat, pulling off his helmet, to wipe the sweat off of his brow. From his seat, he could clearly hear the voice of Astelion complaining.

"Where were all these replacement parts when we started the fight? huh?" yelled a moody Astelion.

"Well we weren't expecting to get our asses pulled out of fracking warp space, now were we?" countered an equally moody technician, "we were under the impression that we had enough time to repair your reckless damages instead of completely replacing parts. Because news flash micro-brain, these parts aren't cheap!"

McKnight shifted in his seat slightly as his machine was jostled by a pair of Ultra-Light maintenance MAS's, lifting his machine up so they could begin replacing the destroyed parts on his machine. Taking this as his cue to climb out of his machine, he landed on the metal floors with a light clank, and made his way over to his diagnostic stations, where he could start looking over damages.

---

"Williams, head back to the barn" came a soft, feminine voice over the comms. Williams would notice a pink Sparrow approaching the fire base, a quartet of Naginata Aerospace fighters drifting slowly behind her. "Me and the flyboys will watch over the base for a little while."

---

Roughly half an hour later.

"Alright team, check in, gather round," McKnight called, motioning to gather the remaining members of the 7th team. "We're in deep right now. We're three pilots down, one of our destroyers is crippled, and the Lincoln isn't doing so hot either. Normally, we'd cut our losses and pull out- typical protocol. But even if we wanted to, one of our AI units decided to get itself trapped down there. High Command has dictated that we cannot allow AI units to fall into the hands of the enemy- the information the AI holds is too critical to let them just take.

Now typically, AI are designed to wipe themselves in the event of imminent capture, but for some reason, Alice has failed to do that. So, good idea or not, we're going to have to go down there and reclaim Alice before she falls into enemy hands. While we're at it, we might as well see if we can find out what happened to Maki and Trapp."

"Briefing in 20 minutes. Go. Eat, drink, smoke. Do whatever." McKnight waved them off.

---

On Jehan.

At one point or another, sacks had been thrown over Maki and Trapp's heads. At another point in time, they had been forced to stand and moved around. Next thing they knew, the sacks were pulled off their heads, their hands were unbound, and the two were shoved into a cell- a thick shield of glass slamming shut behind them. Further inspection of the glass would reveal that it was coated by a small shield. The cell itself was fairly expansive, and held the basic necessities, a single bunk, and a toilet. Aside from the white metal floor and the wall that the bed and toilet were attached to, all other surfaces around them were the same, energy covered glass. Looking through the glass, they couldn't tell where they were- but they saw no natural lights. There were a few other similar cells across the hall as well, as well as individuals inside of them.

So many things could go wrong with piloting an MAS. It's why the UEE insists that their pilots spend years training how to be a pilot after they're done training to be soldiers. They spent a lot of time ensuring that the very expensive training wouldn't go to waste on someone who didn't know what to do if their suit lost power, or to make judgment calls on the fly about how far they could push both their body and the machine. That was just regular MAS pilot training. When one got recruited into an esteemed unit like the 101st, they also made sure those pilots knew not just how to kill, but how to stay alive.

There were things training didn't prepare pilots for, however. Maki's time with the Raiders proved that. She had at first thought their eccentric behavior were just "privileged" soldiers make use of their prestige, but in time learned that those bastards spent so much time behind enemy lines they pretty much came up with their own manual for surviving hostile territory and capture. One of those tricks was to mentally count every step and turn they made so they could recreate from memory a pretty accurate map of the area. A trick they made sure Maki learnt quickly by blindfolding her, dropping her in the middle of nowhere and forcing her to retrace the route back to camp. Each of them would drop a light stick on the way and if she didn't collect all of them, they'd make her do it again.

The Coalition soldiers had only put a sack over her head and made her walk around randomly before directing her to the cell, but the Japanese woman had a pretty good picture of the rough layout of their path through the camp from the moment they got off the transport. There had been an elevator at some point, so she wasn't sure what floor they were on exactly, but that really didn't matter as long as she knew the path back to it. The entrance would be on the ground floor, after all.

When the sack finally came off and she was shown into her cell, Maki smiled. A windowless room with lights and a glass wall? They were making this easy. Even with the shields in place, Maki was certain she could fight her way out if she needed to. She scanned the room for cameras. Didn't seem like there were any. Good. It meant they relied on the guards to visually check the cells and patrol the halls. That meant a pattern, or at least some time to ensure privacy.

Unzipping the her flight suit, Maki let the top half of it fall around her waist before wrapping the sleeves together in a knot. Her standard issue UEE vest and slacks were underneath, but she figured that with three of their best pilots down here, the Lincoln would be sending a party to the surface soon. That meant she needed to be ready to jump back into action at anytime, so she opted to keep her attire on her as much as possible. It didn't mean she wasn't going to play mind games with the guards though. Maki intentionally lowered the waistband of her slacks to give them a peek at the black panties she was wearing. Her vest she removed, showing off her torso and sports bra underneath wrapped bandages.

Please let one of them be dumb enough to try and make a move. She hoped silently.

History was full of prisoners who turned into McGyvers during their incarceration, including a German man who somehow build a working shotgun using only what he was given access to. These stories had inspired some of the female pilots in the Raiders to get creative as well. Knowing that most soldiers were looking for obvious weapons like knives and guns, they took to keeping materials that could be fashioned into weapons if needed but also easily missed in a pat down or body search. That meant the age old hiding spot for women that most people tended to overlook - their boobs.

Undoing the first layer of wrappings revealed a two inch long razor blade hidden inside the bandages, along with a metal wire. Since the man who had run the metal detector over her body had no clue how female apparel worked, she had managed to convince him she was simply wearing a bra wih an underwire. The metal wire she bent and twisted together until it was firm enough to form the skeleton of the blade handle. The rest was simply a matter of wrapping the bandages around until she had a makeshift dagger easily concealed on her person. While not a weapon that would be able to handle much abuse, Maki could use it to kill a guard or two if she had to. Besides, it was more for her own defense than offense.

Trapp had a good view of all this, since they had been placed in opposite cells. No doubt the Coalition intended to interrogate them and use this to their advantage. Make one watch the condition of the other deteriorate with multiple beatings, and hope the other one cracks to save their comrade. Though all it did now was inform the man that he happened to be trapped with the craziest bitch in the 101st. Maki winked at Trapp and started talking, even though she was certain he couldn't hear her. He could read her lips, at least.

"Care to wager how long it takes for those sorry asses to come get us?"

UEE protocol would call on Alexis to cut her losses and retreat, declare the mission a failure. Ardin might make a fuss but ultimately decide to save his own sorry hide and blaming the Captain for her ineptitude. Alice being down here changed things, but Maki knew that the captain wouldn't rush the mission, even if her favourite supermodel Japanese pilot risked having her pretty face ruined.

She was sure the Hellcat had managed to at least broadcast her "death letter" and last known position to the Lincoln, but it would take them time to use that location to pinpoint where the pilots were being held. Take too long, and the Coalition might decide that two hostages were plenty useful bargaining chips. Assuming they wouldn't be moved to throw off the scent or killed outright, there was still plenty of time for things to go wrong.

Hopefully the soldiers stationed here would be too busy trying to find Alice to respond effectively. A rapid orbital descent would make it to the surface long before infantry could in this terrain. The only real threat would come from other MAS or anti-air defenses, and even the only for the heavier machines. Some of the lights would simply evaporate the defenses before then.

From the trees, Alice watched the Coalition base where her teammates had been taken. After some time of traversing the mountains, she had finally reached the base, and now surveyed the area, memorizing the layout and taking note of guard patrolling patterns. She needed to figure out a way to infiltrate the compound, find her friends and their machines, and get the hell out of there. She could still feel the signal from her Eagle, so she at least knew where their MASs were. And if she could sense it, the Lincoln could too. Looking up at the sky, she wondered what plan the rest of the 7th had to rescue them, and could only hope they would arrive in time for her to escape with Trapp and Nishizumi. Looking back to the base, she observed numerous Coalition personnel roaming the base like ants, realizing at least one of them should have a similar enough build to her that she could take their uniform and pass herself off as one of them. From there, she could find her way into the base and find her way to where they kept their prisoners of war.

Quietly and quickly, she snuck into the base. Slithering from shadow to shadow, she gauged the measurements of each mook she passed by, suppressing the urge to snap the neck of each one as her primary function demanded. But this was now a stealth mission, and she couldn't leave behind a trail of bodies. Soon, she noticed a patrolling guard whose uniform would more or less fit her, and waited for them to wander too close to her hiding spot before pulling them in with her. With one hand she ripped their handgun out of it's holster and pressed it against their forehead, and with the other she grabbed their collar, effortlessly lifting them up into the air.

"Today two captured UEE pilots were brought here; tell me where they are. You say anything else, and I pull the trigger."

Spluttering and floundering in frantic surprise, the guard choked out a response. "What?! I who?!" he blustered, as he fumbled for words, his feet desperately flailing at the ground that eluded him. "I-I don't know where they keep the POWs! Probably in the secure lock-up underground! Please! Don't kill me!"

Alice stared at the guard, thinking to herself. So the facility incorporated an underground detention center; that would be likely be suitable for detaining prisoners of war. But that wasn't enough information. The itch in her head bugged her, urging her to pull the trigger. The guard begged for his life, something entirely irrelevant to her altogether, let alone her query. She should kill him, but at least not until she learned everything she could.

"August Johannes Trapp and Maki Nishizumi. Now tell me more. How do I get into this lock-up? Do you know any essential passwords? You say anything else, and I will pull the trigger."

"W-Who? I-I don't know who those people are!" the soldier blurted out, his voice growing increasingly shrill, as he struggled against Alice's grip. His facemask had gotten wrapped around Alice's hand, and as he wiggled, it fell off to reveal a young looking man, probably no older than 19. "T-The lock-up's on sub-level 10! I've never been down there before- I- I'm just a cadet!"

As his voice began to grow in volume, Alice could hear a second voice in the distance, young, feminine. "Roger? Is that you? Where are you?"

For a short moment, Alice glanced in the direction the voice was coming from, before turning back to Roger. Frustrated, she let out a soft growl, affected by her characteristic digital distortion. She hadn't learned much from the cadet, but she gotten by on even less information on other occasions. Now what really mattered was how she was going to deal with Roger. She couldn't shoot him now, because the noise would certainly alarm the other guard. She could certainly break his neck; it would be quick, efficient, and quiet. That is probably what she should do, what her functions demanded of her.

With a sigh, she brought the butt of the pistol down on his head. It was more or less a light tap, but from her, it was enough to knock him out cold. Now that he was unconscious, she quickly stripped his fatigues and put them on herself. With his facemask, she was completely indistinguishable from any other Coalition soldier. She took extra care to bind and gag him with straps repurposed from her flight suit, before hiding him in the nearest empty store room.

Now disguised as the cadet Roger, Alice walked out into the open, holding up a hand towards the other cadet to indicate her presence. For the time being, she would try to refrain from speaking. The facemask could muffle her speech, and she could also attempt to mimic Roger's voice, but she didn't hear his normal tone much less than whiny, high-pitched pleas for his life. For now, she'd consider this a test of her disguise, to try to see how far it could go with the cadet before having to open her mouth.

The cadet in question, stood a short distance away. Her blonde hair was clearly longer than regular military regulations, and collected in a long ponytail spilling out of the back of a patrol cap. Like Roger, she wore a soft mesh mask, which at the moment hung around her neck, though unlike her friend, she lacked the hard-mask and visored helmet that obscured Alice. She smiled broadly at Alice, the curves of her body still visible despite the unflattering military uniform and body armor.

"What were you doing back there, silly? Sgt. Moran is gonna have your head if you've been sneaking off and sleeping on the job again." She turned away, pausing only to look back at Alice, in a somewhat flirtatious manner. "Speaking of sneaking off, you're coming with us tonight right?"

Alice’s eyes almost instantly started widening behind her mask and for a second or two, she was pretty sure her mind froze. Her body felt like it was welded in place. Was this enemy soldier...flirting with her? Well, technically, she was flirting with Roger, but she still didn’t know how to react. She had seen flirting between UEE personnel on rare occasions, even some members of the 7th themselves did it, but it had never been directed towards her. She legitimately had no idea what to do.

Wait, why was she becoming so flustered? She was a droid, and one designed for war no less. Her body wasn’t made with any primary sexual characteristics; she had no reason, nor should she have any desire for procreation or love. But...she could not deny her bond with the 7th. Throughout their time together, she had developed an attachment towards them most analogous to something like storge, the love shared between family members. So the programs that functioned as her neurotransmitters and hormones, the ones that enabled emotions, they seemed to be capable of at least platonic love. But romantic? No, she had never felt anything like that. Except for maybe…

No, nevermind. This person worked for the Coalition, so that qualified her for immediate termination in Alice’s book. Except she couldn’t kill anyone right now, or she would alert the base before she could rescue her teammates. She would just have to play along with... whatever this messed-up situation was. Eventually she settled for a silent nod and a tentative thumbs up.

The girl blinked at Alice-Roger- it was obvious she was expecting a more enthusiastic response. She appeared upset enough to say something, but before she could open her mouth, a small jeep with a group of soldiers drove by. They must've been important because the girl immediately straightened up and snapped a sharp salute. As the vehicle drove by, the cadet shot Alice-Roger an obviously upset look before turning on her heel and walking promptly off.

Crap, wrong answer. Alice quickly mimicked the girl, saluting the passing jeep before turning back to her. She frowned underneath the facemask at her expression and let out a quiet sigh before realizing that now she was free to find the lock-up and her friends. As the cadet walked away, Alice's eyes lingered on her curves for a few seconds, but a few seconds more than they ever should have. She soon pulled herself away and started navigating the base to get to the lock-up on sub-level 10. At one point, she found a room that appeared to be something of a data center, most likely holding invaluable secrets on Coalition activities, and made a mental note to try and return after freeing Trapp and Nishizumi.

After a short while, Alice finally found this lock-up. Another guard was there, patrolling the halls, but as soon as she showed up, they immediately left, apparently eager to end their shift. With a smirk under her mask, she quickly started searching the cellblock for the ones holding her friends. She soon found Nishizumi in one of them, and then Trapp in the opposite cell, sitting up against the back wall. She couldn't help but let out a quiet sqeal to herself. Tapping the glass walls to their cells, she raised up the mask over her face, flashing them the biggest smile they had likely ever seen on her.

Worry was the first emotion that hit the Japanese pilot as she watched the cell of her fellow pilot go dark. The old man seemed like a doctor type from the brief glance Maki caught of him, but it wouldn't be the first time interrogators had a medically trained surgeon on stand by to ensure the subject stayed conscious and alive or even inflict pain without crippling injury. Intelligence was only valuable while the subjects were alive to give it, after all.

Still, she could do little sitting in a cell. This was perhaps the part in the movies where the protagonist pounded against the glass and yelled obscenities, but Maki was a professional. She would conserve her strength. Their captors wouldn't hear her threats anyway, and the woman believed strongly that threats were better acted on than delivered.

It didn't take long for Trapp to be visible again, and his wounds had been dressed in the meantime. He didn't seem in pain, so she didn't bother trying to ask if he was alright. "Anything useful?" She mouthed, hoping he had at least learned something.

Mixed feelings surged through Maki as Alice appeared before her and Trapp, disguised as a Coalition soldier. It was a relief to see that a rescue attempt arrived well before any intterogation attempts were made, but she was far from forgiving Alice for abandoning them in the first place.

"Ah, look, Trapp! The Coalition has a cosplaying robot. The UEE should get one of these and help us pilot the MAS's!" Maki snarked to Trapp, ignoring the smiling piece of junk in front of her cell. Her sarcasm was the best case scenario Alice could hope for while they made their escape. The female pilot decided anger was best channeled towards getting out of their predicament, and the glass wall of the cell was keeping her from doing anything else. Grudges and revenge could be reserved for when they actually got back to the ship. "Hey there, Miss Bucket of Bolts, mind letting us out? We are not the pilots you're looking for."

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, gather around." McKnight called out, gathering the rest of the remaining pilots in the hangar, where the mechanics and technicians were finishing replacing parts for their machines. The noise of welding gears, heavy lifting machines, and moving ammunition was almost deafening- shuttles moving in and out of the hangar ferrying in supplies from a cache the marines on the moon had found. Still, McKnight's voice managed to cut through the din.

"We've just received the distress signal from Maki's machine. That, combined with intermittent blips from Alice's built in transponder has given us enough information to set up an op."

"Now, we don't have the resources or manpower to stay here for much longer, so getting in and out of Jehan is going to have to go fast."

McKnight pointed at Gerard and Yuuyami, "Delacroix, Yuu, you two are going to go retrieve the Hellcat and Eagle from their lock-up," he continued, as a set of coordinates appeared on their datapads. "Some of Hark's marines will be flying down in an assault shuttle to locate and rescue our pilots and AI."

"Williams, you and I will provide cover for this op." He finished, nodding to the young lieutenant. It only made sense that they'd be the ones to fly cover- while in atmosphere, only the Astelion and Shrike were capable of maintaining flight. Especially with the rest of the team stuck in space to protect the Lincoln from any further attacks.

"All of our units are being retrofitted with disposable thrust packs- they're annoying and they get in the way, I know. But they're our ticket off planet, unless you feel like hijacking a Coalition military base's space elevator as well. That being said- make sure they don't get shot up too badly."

"Alright 7th team, suit up and prepare to launch!"

Quickly trotting over to his MAS's hangar bay, McKnight only offered his machine a fleeting glance before he threw himself into the cockpit. The Shrike's destoyed leg had been hastily removed and a replacement one had been quickly socketed into place, the remains of the old leg still laying nearby in the hangar- the technicians hadn't had enough time to move all the damaged parts, they were still trying to deal with the remaining rubble strewn about the hangar. Flipping the switches to start his machine, he listened to it splutter a bit, the new wiring in the recently replaced core systems taking a while to take hold. Eventually however, McKnight's machine was up and running and he was stepping into one of the remaining launch ramps. His missiles had been replenished, and his primary cannons restocked and reloaded. The additional set of thrusters on the Shrike disrupted its balance a bit, and he'd have to be more careful not to turn his back to his enemy, but the Shrike was fast, and that would hopefully allow him to keep out of reach of his opponents.

The rest of the team stepped into the launch ramps, and as soon as they were given the green light, 4 MAS, followed by an armored shuttle and a pair of naginata fighters exited the Lincoln and began making its way around the darkside of the moon. Sokolov and Astelion peeled away from the defense picket to follow the rest of the away team- they'd cover their entry to the planet before heading back to the Lincoln. It was too risky to bring the damaged Lincoln and its wounded escorts out from behind the dark side of the moon, but now the 7th team was stuck facing off against the Coalition cruiser and its two escorts on their own.

Seeing the UEE pilots take the field, the Coalition released its remaining clutch of MAS's, a set of 5 Ferir II's and a Ferir III. The White Machine, for better or for worse, was not in play.

"Away team! Make for the planet!" McKnight barked into his comms. "Delacroix, Yuu, your main objective is to get yourselves and the assault shuttle into the atmosphere and onto the planet, nothing else matters. Williams, we're going to be keeping the Coalition off them until they make planetfall, then we'll do the same."

"And we'll cover you the rest of the time!" called Sokolov through the comms, with his thick accent.

Locking each enemy MAS in his sights, McKnight let loose a salvo of 6 missiles from his outer wing mounts, shooting a flurry of EKP rounds in their direction before he tore off in another direction, enemy autocannon and ship-based AA fire turning in his direction. He doubted all of the missiles would down their targets, but it would force them to pull out of the way and maneuver instead of firing at him or the rest of his team.

He never did understand those that were sexually attracted to robots, but at the current moment Trapp could of kissed Alice. As Nishizumi voiced her immediate displeasure obviously still annoyed at the whole Alice ejecting and leaving them to be captured, interrogated and probably summarily executed. But Alice had come back to save them, she could of ran away and did whatever her programming told her to do but instead she came to save them. And that but her in Trapp’s good graces at least at the moment.

“Nishizumi, you and Alice will get as much alone time as you need to settle your differences once we escape. But for now if you could please keep the passive aggressiveness to a minimum that would be great.” Trapp spoke through the glass, something of a smug smile on his face. Though Alice’s appearance did certainly help matters greatly.

Trapp rose to his feet and brushed himself off as he peered through the glass and looked down one direction of the hallway and then peered down the other direction. From what Trapp could figure when they lead them down with the bags on their heads, they were pretty far down probably in a sublevel somewhere. Which meant that they had to find either an elevator or some stairs. Well Alice could probably direct them towards those.

He give a glance towards their robotic companion, she was dressed in coalition combat fatigues apparently belonging to someone named Rogers. He cursed silently to himself, the grunt uniform would of helped getting in but getting out would be another issue. A normal guard wouldn't be escorting two high level prisoners out of a secure secret facility especially after a space battle with UEE forces had just occurred. Meaning that they could either sneak out or fight their way out both of which weren't the simplest orders around since they were heavily outgunned and the base probably had enough security to make things fairly inconvenient for them. It was going to be a tough nut to crack, especially for three pilots who were barely armed.

And then almost as if the heavens had heard Trapp’s lament the speaker on the hallway wall sprung to life. Five shrill robotic tones followed and high above them the sounds of footsteps began to be heard through metal and concrete. Than a voice came over the loudspeakers it was calm feminine voice that spoke in a strict moderated tone.



“Oh look at that, the cavalry decided we were worth the effort. Isn't that nice of them.” Trapp voiced through the glass. Inside though he was jumping for absolute joy, their rescue party had just made things many degrees easier for them. The chaos that would result from the base going into defensive positions could give them just the pocket that they needed.

“Alright new game plan. We get out of here, find your MASs which are probably in a highly secured hanger above us, Alice you're the one with the guns and have actually been through the facility so you’ll take point. We sneak in during the chaos you guys jump in your MASs, I’ll "borrow" a C-MAD vehicle, we escape get back to the Lincoln and get shitfaced.” Trapp explained with a grin on his face as he looked towards his two companions.

“But none of this can happen while we are still stuck inside these glass cages. So Alice if you could be a dear.” Trapp asked with a grin on his face as he gestured towards the console on the wall that he had seen the guards use to open and close the glass doors.

Pulled back from the moon of Jehan by Lin's bright pink Sparrow and several of the Naginata fighters, Ariana had found herself re-docking the Astelion much more quickly than she had originally anticipated. All in all, she supposed, it had gone well considering it was her first time working with the ship's crew aside from her engineering team. Climbing out of the MAS, she leaned against the Astelion's leg and let out a long, wavering breath exit her mouth, shutting her eyes for a moment as she sank to the floor. Some disconnected part of her was aware that the previous combat, and her three team mates going down, was catching up to her. In Planetary Survival training, she'd been taught to recognize such events, and they'd received a nickname amongst her fellow recruits "The Despair Horizon...the part where it finally catches up to me. Fear that I or one of my teammates will die, the pain of not knowing, the anger that the Coalition did this, feelings of inadequacy, all lain out before me. I can identify these feelings...so should't I be able to control them?" She shook her head, a vague feeling of frustration bubbling up since, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't suppress these feelings and simply feel fine.

A few deep breaths came and went, and she allowed the feelings to ebb and flow. For a moment, anger was dominant, and a low growl emanated from her as she slammed her fist into the deck, the pain of the act registering and sending her into the next phase. Her own feelings of inadequacy now took center stage as she gingerly held her still-closed hand, mumbling to herself "I bet if it'd been their last pilot, Astelion's sister, out there fighting with them, Maki, Alice and Trapp would all still be here." She shut her eyes and tried to stop the guilt from overflowing, from letting tears roll out, but she couldn't. At this point, she became dimly aware of the engineering crew moving about around her, no doubt repairing more of the Astelion despite its pilot having a breakdown. She was just glad they were letting her have her space for the moment.

She was scared, so scared, for her team-mates. Maki, Alice, Trapp, they'd all accepted her with open arms in to the 7th. What if they had been tortured? What if they'd already been killed? Could the 7th even handle losing three more pilots? All these thoughts and more swirled around inside her, making her curl in on herself even more, mumbling "Dear God, please don't let them be dead or injured...please." After a few moments of pleading with a god that may or may nor be listening, Ari became dimly aware of someone poking her on the head. Looking up, she found Schwiss standing there, her engineering uniform stained with coolant and a small welder held in hand. The engineer held a gentle smile and jerked her thumb behind her, saying "Seems like the rest of the 7th is gathering together for a briefing. You should head over, don't want to keep the others waitin on you."

The thought of holding up the rest of the squad got Ari to her feet, and she gave a small smile and a thankful nod to the engineer. She was lucky she'd been nestled up to the leg of the Astelion, out of sight to all but the nearby engineers. She didn't need the others thinking she wasn't fit to fly, not with such a big operation now upon them. Gently cleaning up her face, and thanking the lord that she wasn't wearing any makeup, she straightened out her uniform and strode over. When she arrived, she gave a small nod to McKnight and the others before straightening up her posture once more to listen with rapt attention. This was, at least to her an official mission briefing and was to be treated with all the respect due to one. She listened to McKnight as he went along, nervously nodding back when he nodded to her during the briefing. She wasn't so sure if her and McKnight would be able to hold off the entirety of the Coalition's planetside response, or their orbital response for that matter, but the Shrike and Astelion were the only ones light enough to try with the exception of Lin's Sparrow.

Walking off to the Astelion in the aftermath of the briefing, she found the members of the engineering crew hurriedly doing repairs. Whole parts of the Astelion, including many of its redundant systems, were being simply removed and replaced by spares, the others left in piles behind the Astelion for repair when the time came. Schwiss directed one of her engineers to close up a currently open panel and recalled her crew as the other pilots began loading up. Offering Ari a confident smile and a thumbs up, Ari couldn't help but smile in reply as she climbed into the Astelion. Climbing aboard the Astelion, she began to return it to operational readiness, but noticed something with a slight jolt of surprise. It was already beginning to come naturally, even though this was just, technically, her fourth sortie. Was it supposed to feel this natural this fast? She wasn't sure, but oh well. The mag launch came and went, the thrill just as intense but for now she was focused.

With the Astelion righted, Ari glanced at her sensor readings and noted incoming enemies. Releasing a slight cough, she heard McKnight's orders and she intoned in reply "Aye aye Gallant. Unit Astelion locking down that three." Her eyes shifted then to the Ferir Mark III approaching them, and sent the Astelion lurching upwards, its X-50 cannons already charging. Energy was gathering fast, but it seemed the III had noticed she was locked on, as its own guns were already running hot. The blast raced out towards her, forcing Ari to jerk into a sharp right dive as her targeting AI reported a firing solution. Glancing over, her fingers began tapping away at keys to adjust the solution, accounting for enemy movement as best she could. The blasts raced out towards the three, but the enemy pilot dodged the brunt of the attack, his shields sizzling and probably taking some damage from the near miss. Ari didn't have time to stay still though, she kept dancing around, focusing more on occasionally firing a blast in the III's direction to keep it off balance than on really killing it, though she could swear she pegged its shields with one blast. She had to be ready to get planetside and fast, so she couldn't afford to commit to a fight.

"YOU LOST ALL HER WEAPONS!?" his chief engineer shouted as Gerard slumped out of his seat, his heart starting to slow as the adrenaline flowed out of him. The rest of the man's tirade was lost to a near constant buzzing in his ears as the other engineers went to work. The Marauder was in pretty bad shape to say the least, considering the fact that several parts were now either damaged or missing. "Ferme ta gueule," he said as he passed, ever so gently swaying from side to side. The battle with the Rose had left him tired both physically and mentally. Not to mention completely unarmed. To his credit, the head engineer shelved any remaining words and began evaluating the damage even as its French pilot staggered towards the rest of his comrades. Somewhere along the way a steaming hot tin of recaff made it into his hands and he found himself chugging the foul black substance down gratefully, feeling the hot liquid scald its way down his throat. Hearing his name called from the other side of the hangar, Gerard began to shamble his way over, his usually unkempt hair in an even more unreasonable state.

As McKnight began to outline his plan, Gerard kicked an empty crate into position and planted his arse down without ceremony. The recaff grew more bitter the shallower it became but that only served to awaken him further, like an unholy creature was seizing his throat. Looking over at Yuu as their part was explained, he offered her a tired smile and nod before his eyes flicked back to their commander. Of course. His grapple system would allow him some leverage in moving the machines, not to mention Yuu's machine's stupid strength. He tossed the empty recaff tin into the corner where it clattered against a wall. "As a melee unit, I would not mind hijacking the space elevator," he said as he stood up, rolling his shoulder and wincing as he discovered a new bruise, "but I will make do." Those disposable packs gave melee units the worst going as they were often the ones that needed to be the most maneouverable. Then again, being stuck on an enemy planet did not exactly appeal to him either, so he would have to grit his teeth through it.

Taking a deep swig of his flask, it was promptly snatched out of his hands and recapped by his chief engineer. "We've replaced all the major stuff and fitted some plates over the broken armour," he said as he handed the flask back. Looking at his Machine, Gerard was only slightly mortified. Its formerly elegant shape was now marred by gunmetal grey plates riveted on roughly to create an unholy frankenstein of a beast. "We've also rearmed it with stuff from the armoury." He felt a fierce grip on his shoulder. "Don't. Lose. These." Delacroix nedded silently before beginning the climb to the cockpit. As he settled into the seat, the pilor took note of the freshly polished weapons, which broke a stark contrast to the scarred and scorched machine in whose hands they resided. He smiled. You had to take pride in the little things. "Marauder is ready for action," he subvocalised into the comms, "on your mark, McKnight."

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As the Coalition units began to take the field, Delacroix was slightly disappointed that the white and red Rose was nowhere amongst them, although he knew it was for the better. Nevertheless, his fist clenched around his lever. He'd pay her back some day... if not today, then tomorrow. He was snapped out of his reverie by McKnight as he began to bark orders. "Oui, Mon ami," he replied before gunning his thrusters. Significantly faster than both the lumbering Calamity and the cumbersome shuttle, he shot ahead, but turned as he approached the front of the shuttle. Slapping his left hand onto the nose, he felt a small clink as the electromagnet bonded with it nosecone. He smiled. "Hold on marines," he said into comms before turning away, revealing the long line of tough fiber, "You're going for a ride."

Pushing his thrusters to maximum, he began to tow the shuttle along behind him at a speed which it could never have realised alone, although not so much that it was hazardous to human health. It was simply a little boost. He glanced over to the approaching coalition units. They'd make it in time. Probably.