Cecilia steered her Kirin around a corner, leading with the barrel of her autocannon. The FRAME was no longer a pristine, blue-grey, but a dusty brown, dotted with metallic specks where the finish was chipped. The Panthers decal on its right shoulder was barely visible beneath the muck. At the height of her career, Cecilia would never have let her machine down the ramp in such a state; but nowadays, apathy had become standard operating procedure in the unit.

After failing to secure the HFI, Cradle let the Panthers go. That was a big hit to the unit's income. Before long, news circulated quickly that they'd botched the operation. Underground circles made it a point to avoid contracting the Panthers, and the jobs that did come were far beneath the unit's caliber. As if that weren't enough, many pilots and personnel aboard the Samigina moved on or passed, manpower slowly declining to a minimum. Cecilia had seen comrades come and go, and although Bentz managed to retain most of his original staff, she knew they were loosing their touch.

This street was clear, save for a stray dog and lines of clothes that danced in the breeze. The Kirin rolled past neglected storefronts before coming to a halt at the next intersection. Maybe if she'd done things differently, the Panthers would be serving multinational corporations again; rolling in paychecks. Maybe if she'd been a better leader-

A fast blur across her monitor tore Cecila from her thoughts. Just a startled flock of pigeons. Cool it, Cecilia. An op's an op. Even if you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Then, she'd noticed more flocks of birds, taking flight a few streets away. Something had evidently startled them.

"Heads on a swivel, Panthers. I don't think we're alone here."

The Panther's suspicions were conformed when a blip snapped onto her sensors - big enough for the system to suspect a threat. Cecilia slid her optics around the corner of the intersection, trying to get her eyes further down the road.

Movement. Not much, but something caught her eye through the other side of an open window a few blocks over. She waited, the tension creeping to her fingers, as it always did before an engagement. And then, the silhouette of a re-purposed utility FRAME emerged, brandishing a cannon.

"Contact! 500 meters, northeast. One... no, three... six, now. Six civvie FRAMEs with military-grade arms." Cecilia watched the patrol linger, before continuing on its way. It was flanked by a truck; the contents of which Cecilia could only speculate were small arms, or drugs, or both. Cecilia plotted the coordinates of the gangers on her GPS and shot them to the rest of the unit.

"Easy pickings. Time to earn our keep, folks." It was also a waste of time, but she kept that thought to herself. Cecilia exhaled a deep breath from her lungs to clear her head, lined up her weapon, and fired off the first round of the day.

Oliver saw the FRAMEs before he saw them. The civilian models that their enemy were using were clunky and loud. It made the enemy appear amateur, but, amateur or not, they had big guns. Really big guns. Oliver had to remind himself that he also had sizeable guns. It was easy to forget that you were piloting a massive war machine, especially when driving one came so naturally to him.

Oliver held his breath until Cecilia gave them the order to attack. His Zaruga, once a pristine green and black, was now covered with so many scratches that the bare silver color under the paint could be considered the third color in the design scheme. The FRAME moved towards the frame at the edge of the group. The enemy’s FRAME was a simple machine, and smaller than his Zaruga. The Enemy raised his autorifle in response to his advance, but Oliver had expected that.

As Oliver’s FRAME padded loudly along the stone towards the civvie FRAME, he began to take aim. Unfortunately for Oliver, he wasn’t a great shot, and rockets were expensive. It was going to take a moment to aim perfectly, he didn’t want to waste munitions. As Oliver drew within twenty meters of the enemy, he loosed a single rocket. At the same time, the enemy fired a burst from his autorifle, hitting the Zaruga in it’s right shoulder joint. The FRAME’s reactive armor plating on that section detonated outwards, doing no physical damage to the Zaruga’s body. The burst did shift the FRAME to the side slightly, throwing off Oliver’s aim. The rocket struck the enemy frame in the “knee”. It fell down face first and Oliver turned to face the other enemy FRAMEs, hoping that his teammies had his back. He was in the thick of enemy ranks, slightly damaged and in no position to take on five FRAMEs on his own. He wished that he would’ve thought his plan of attack through before executing it, especially since the other FRAMEs had turned to face his.

“A little help here, guys?” He said sheepishly while readying another rocket.

There weren't many ways to get Maxwell to call someone an idiot, but it took a measure of will for the old cop to not snap something angry at the boy.

Maxwell Silver had been on the far right side of the group when Cecilia - Maxwell sorely wanted to call her "Lieutenant" - started transmitting coordinates. Maxwell didn't need orders to know what his job was: "Flanking right." He heard those first few air-splitting autocannon shots go off - Lang's, Maxwell knew - and the sound of some return fire. A quick glance at the radar confirmed Lang's count: six enemy FRAMEs. They seemed to be focused on the tangling with the boys and girls in the center, so if Maxwell could just utilize the nearby buildings for cover, he could -

No, the old cop thought as he saw a green arrow on the radar start moving toward the red ones. God, no.

That was Oliver's FRAME. He knew that all too well. The boy was throwing himself right into the middle of the enemy! Do you WANT to die? Maxwell wondered to himself, turning his FRAME earlier than he'd hope, cutting a hard left and putting the warmachine into a huge sprint.

There weren't many options. Maxwell could continue as he had been and get a more perfect flank, forcing the enemy into an exposed position while he fired safely from behind cover... but letting Oliver take fire from a number of military grade weapons. Maxwell's second option was to go in hot and do exactly what Oliver did in order to save the damned kid.

"A little help here, guys?" asked Oliver nervously.

"Acknowledged," answered Maxwell calmly. "Engaging."

Max burst out from a dirty street, his armed-to-the-teeth Dreq looking more like a riot FRAME than a weapon of war. He fired 21 milimeter rounds from behind his FRAME's shield as he closed in, taking fire from one of the civvie FRAMEs as he barreled on forward. A few rounds struck his exposed arm, but most slammed against his shield. The reactive armor snapped on off the shield as the first rounds hit, and a couple more shots found holes in the defenses and tore through the shield and into the Dreq's torso armor. More reactive bits sparked and flew off.

But Max wasn't in the habit of losing his cool after getting shot. He kept the attention of the first enemy FRAME, then found himself getting shot at by a second one. They tried moving on back to withdraw to more defensive ground - smart - but the old pilot finally got within fifty meters of his first opponent. The civilian units, already pounded by a spray of Max's bullets, now got a fair helping of fire. It belched forth from his flamethrower.

Truthfully, the fire wasn't particularly devastating on its own. Maxwell knew that. Oh, it could take a FRAME out as readily as any weapon once it was in range, perhaps a little better - but that took time. No, old Silver was doing something else.

"Targets blinded," Maxwell said as he transmitted data on exactly which FRAMEs had received that punishment. He moved into cover as quick as he could before he could be made a pincushion, hoping the boy had the sense to do the same. There were still a Hell of a lot of weapons that could fire their way.

Sarah was more than happy to be back in the field. She rarely distinguished between honourable and dishonourable jobs, it was just so much fun either way. Especially now that they didn't have a reputation to keep up with, she was much more free to do things as she wished. Of course within the bounds of what Cecilia could mentally handle/not physically obliterate Sarah for. Unlike most of the team Mr.B was spotless, she had bought her own supplies in that regard, nothing was too much for him. As far as she was concerned he was more important than ensuring she actually ate, or had a roof, or anything for that matter. "Mr. Bubbles how are we doing this afternoon?", The machine, whilst no longer him in physical form was certainly their in his programming. She had modified him to work in the new frame she had needed. Operating efficiency is 93.23% I'm feeling good Her smile widened before she dismounted.

"ACKNOWLEDGED, Moving to flanking position", she stated over the radio with an enthusiasm which would be more than unsettling for anyone whom remembered her newest modification to Mr.B. She skated through the thin winding streets to get around them and settled up in a position at a juncture. "KILL THE NOISE!", she shouted almost foaming at the mouth. Within a second her targeting array calculated the pattens necessary to move and cut the mono directional speaker system. Sarah had gotten the intel the moment that Miss Lang had visual comformation. They were Civilian frames. Meaning that they certainty did not have noise shielding, the soft targets on the ground, if their were any would be most likely finding it very hard to hold anything but their ears. She was unsure if their was an effect on the frames however. Her shoulder was exposed from her cover to allow the system to function. It was fairly autonomous in regards to preventing "friendly fire", but it wouldn't be long before Maxwell heard the next song in her playlist. Maxwells sliver hammer It was something she hadn't quite been able to resist. Considering...

"Targets deafened too Mam", she had used that commotion to allow her to get into position for that manoevere. She hoped that it would be effective enough, for long enough that it might allow Ms. Lang to make a move, she always had something up her sleeve. It was actually quite brilliant. She pulled out from cover long enough to get a direct hit to square in her mechanoids face. Two shots was all she managed to pop off in their direction before it happened. Her eye twitched, one of her primary cameras destroyed and the other barely functional. She pulled back into her cover and began to frantically work on bringing up a secondary.Managing to get one of the infrared cameras to function for the left hemisphere, she breathed and brought her shoulder back out to provide herself cover with the LRAD. Then moved out to fire at the frame that had managed to clock her. Sarah might be a bit of an idiot, but she was at least useful. Taking a mech or two away from firing at her team, in a game of pacman after all you needed to use corners "Marlene!, please tell me you are somewhere useful, if you need anything just ask, kay? As I'm having fun, you should too", she chuckled.

Sitting somewhere in the distance behind the others a frustrated Kat screams at her botchy makeshift cockpit window while slamming the non responsive throttle back and forth. She raises a knee to deliver a heavy kick, stomping down hard on a pedal as she yanks against a power lever.

A grinding clanking hum slowly jerks to life and ascends into a bumpy purr. The sound brings an ache to Kat's heart every time, opening the memories scar of what was and how it left. She closes her eyes and steadies her thoughts.

This FRAME is far from the leopard it once was. It moves awkwardly, it's uncomfortable, nothing in its hub is of standard issue and it leaves a bulky awkward claustrophobic feeling.
Like Kat's face it still carried the reminding marks and scars of the steel shrapnel of an exploding FRAME.
They would never be the same.

"Come on kitty."

She begs the machine, tapping on a screen to get a clear reading.
"There you are!" She lets out an excited exclamation as her fellow FRAME's appear on screen. After a quick diagnostics check, Kat asses the map and layout of her comrades to calculate the enemies position before engaging her cloaking device. Stealthily she nears the enemy from the left, favouring heavy cover.

The sound of battle had adrenalin pumping heavy through her heart.
Despite all her inner rage, Snow leopard was reacting too slow to jump straight into gunfights. Kat knew her role and got into position.

Flicking through switches, twisting dials and running results Kat soon had her ECM ready to interrupt the enemy com's. Next she took a firm grip on a sturdy handle and fought against the machine to move it.
A loud grinding shook the FRAME as her prized specially named FSU bazooka 'Buster' slid into place over Snow Leopards shoulder.

"C'mon boy"

Having to put her entire shoulder and arm into moving the heavy gun Kat finally flicks on her own com's to share her news.

"In place boss, wanna eaves-drop or shut down the party? 'N' busters ready and waiting, just give him a scent."

Kat was anything but military, there were some compromises slowly growing but the professional army lingo wasn't one of them.

"Waste them," was Cecilia's curt reply to Kat. She adjusted her head, bringing the helmet-slaved reticule to bear on target. The targeting computer did the rest, plotting a firing angle and compensating for any wind, movement and elevation, refreshing this data 30 times per second. Cecilia squeezed the trigger and a pair of HEAT rounds burst free from the autocannon's muzzle. A flash of tracers and a cloud of smoke told her that she'd hit her mark, and the FRAME reeled to the ground. It was evident in their movement and (dis)organization that the mooks were simple thugs. After seeing one of their own go down, the remainder scurried, firing back wildly.

Cecilia would've been content to sit back and pick them off - had Oliver not scrambled right into the thick of things. Sonofabitch. His rocket had disabled another gangbanger, but at 20 meters there was no way it'd be safe to loose another. "There's cover everywhere - use it!" she barked. She was right; there were plenty of dilapidated structures to hide behind. Most lanes of fire went down whole alleys and streets, making the engagement into a sordid game of Pac-Man with guns. It would have been easy enough to wait in ambush for the mooks to turn a wrong corner and lay into them.

Maxwell had been into position to relieve some of the attention on Oliver. Cecilia saw a spectacular ray of flame on her monitor; no doubt riling up the gangsters. She spun from her corner and zipped down the next street, following the diagonal path to what should be the thugs' blind spot. They were occupied with emptying their weapons at the more immediate threats - Oliver and Maxwell's FRAMEs, to be exact. She reached the corner of the street where the action was centered, but was cut off by one of the thugs as he made a hasty getaway. The construction FRAME whizzed mere feet away, down the intersection and to Cecilia's left. Startled, the pilot fumbled with his control yoke, sending a hail of bullets Cecilia's way. She immediately pulled back on her throttle, wheels churning her machine backwards and behind an abandoned hotel.

"We've got a runner," she groaned. "Kat, looks like you're in a position to intercept." Cecilia looked at her C3 monitor, judging the intersection between the mook's path and Kat's line of sight. She traced a finger on the touchscreen and shot Kat the data. "If you fire now, you can hit him as he crosses the open!"

Turning back to the commotion on her right, Cecilia used Maxwell's distraction to pop another shot at a thug from behind. The round hit the FRAME square in the back, sending it careening into the side of a complex. The metal spalls and shrapnel had no doubt done their grisly work inside the cockpit.

Marlene's old Handou was still keeping-up with the group, helped in no small part by how Cecilia performed the advance to contact so much by the numbers that a person could have probably walked to the objective on foot faster than they had.

Lack of sophisticated comms meant she had to 'escort' one of the more advanced Zarugas, which was performing at a bit of a limp after large chunks of shrapnel had torn through it on that first mission she was with the panthers for. With little more than an unseen nod, Marlene activated her own visual camo short after Kat, and picked-out a good kneeling position stacked-up against a wall to put her 30mm cannon to use, her leg-mounted mortar loaded with smoke and flares just in case audio-only distractions weren't enough.

Marlene shook her head a bit at the boisterous and unprofessional lingo her assigned 'battle-buddy' was using. Everyone knew she was a decent shot and knew how to work a FRAME... but sometimes she just felt like muting her comms so she wouldn't have to hear her bastardize another 9-line call for a fire-mission. Due to the short distances involved this time, her eyes quickly went back to Mr B; if something bad happened, she was going to act before they called for her aid.

As if on cue, she glimpsed a large spark and a shower of metal come off of B's 'face' as a mook managed to get a good fix on her. At that, she unleashed a small torrent of 30mm shells to keep them from swarming Sarah's cover like they did to Kat last time... followed by a quick volley of flares and smoke to help break contact long enough for her to rush over to Sarah's position and give her frame a physical reference to go by in the event her mech just went blind.

Stacked-up behind Bubbles, Yassir put an hand on the shoulder of Sarah's frame as she did a quick visual diagnostic to make sure she wasn't leaking anything vital and that the inevitable "I'm okay" she'd get from Sarah wasn't a dirty lie, just like it was last time.

Kat might have physically recovered from her last ordeal, but the mental wounds hadn't even began to scar yet. Marlene was her crutch, a comfort leg to lean on, even if she didn't know it.

This was to be an easy reintroduction into the field, out of main line of fire, not to mention in camo, positioned purely for support and back up, and the opposition were merely rookies.

All the more reason Kat lost her shit when 'B' took a sudden and unexpected round right to the face.
They shouldn't have been located here!
The screeching of the metal, the bright flash of sparks and thunder of return fire. It was just too much.

Cecilia's command was but white noise lost to the back of Kat's mind as she watched Marlene's old Handou, her support line, disappear.
The flashing bleeping of her cracked screen finally caught her attention, 'a runner' Cecilia's words emerged from the back of her mind.

Kat takes a short sharp breath and tries her hardest to feign the old excitement she felt in situations like this. "Ok baby lets line buster up."
Her words were forced and full of uncertain fear. Her hand nervously hovered over her ECM switch, ready to shut down the enemies communication channel prior to firing a devastating 106mm HEAT warhead at the deserter.

Timing was right, the enemy was on target, reaching the spot, at location, moving on, passing by, escaping freely. Kat's hand trembled more then she knew possible. Her gut was twisting in knots as her lungs frantically pulled in erratic short sharp breaths. Everything spun snd her world became a blur.
... don't give away your position ...

She ducked and spun Snow Leopard around, sliding her back to the wall and falling hard to the ground. Quickly Kat powered her down, bypassing all correct safe operating procedures. It was only when the glow of the cockpit faded out did her breaths begin to normalise.

She looks at her hands still shaking, she could feel the tears trickling into the fresh lined skin of the white scars on her face as they made their way from her eyes to her chin.

The panic of her anxiety attack slowly gave way to realisation and ration, Kat was suddenly swept up in a whirlwind of furious hatred and self loathing for her failings. She let the team down... Again.

She screams! Not a scream of words, just a primal scream. She screams and screams until her lungs give up and her throat is aching sore, her hands ache and bleed from beating on the control board.
She screams until she can scream no more.

She tries to start the Snow Leopard back up. She can't.
Her body goes limp and she slumps into her seat, eyes glazed and empty she stares at nothing while trying to ignore the sounds of combat around her and the images in her head of everyone slowly dying, one at a time, because of her failings...

"Kat?" Cecilia paused to glance at her radar. The runaway was... getting away. Kat had either missed the window, or... "Kat?!" Then, Snow Leopard's signal on the C3 disappeared as it shut down. Realizing what must have happened, Cecilia's knuckles turned white as she strangled her control yokes. It's been a whole fucking year. Zipping her Kirin into a 180, Cecilia left the last thug in the immediate engagement to the others and sped off to chase the blip on her radar.

"I'm leaving the last one here to you; I'm playing tag with 'speedy,'" Cecilia radioed to nobody in specific. She was furious - not at Kat herself, but at the state she was in and her inability to cope with the past. If an easy errand like this set her off, what would they do when they faced a real enemy again? She hated to admit it, but the girl was becoming a liability. As far as she knew, Kat didn't belong in a FRAME until she got herself sorted out.

"Cecilia?" Bentz's voice asked over the radio. "Sorry to interrupt."

"Director. We need to talk about Kat-"

"I know. I was monitoring your op. I'm afraid I can't put her in a cockpit in her current state. She needs therapy, Cecilia."

"Does that mean you'll let her go?" Cecilia knew it'd be for the best, but that also meant another Panther lost. In recent times, they were short on staff as it was, and every dip in manpower could be felt throughout the unit.

"I don't know just yet. It might be the safest option, but I'll take an alternative. In other news, I just met with a client. This opportunity is big, Cecilia. We haven't had a break like this in a long time."

"Big as in...?"

"Pre-Cradle big. Like the old days. It sounds too good to be true, and I know it'll seem crazy, but when you're done there, I want everyone to report to the command deck immediately. We have a lot to discuss, and there's someone I'd like you to meet."

"...Yes, Director. Out."

Cecilia cut the transmission, eyed peeled on the escapee. She was gaining ground quickly; she just needed a clear lane to get a shot. Just one, good shot. Lucky for her, desperation mixed with a wrong turn put the ganger on a straight bridge. Nowhere to turn, plenty of straightaway.

End of the road. Cecilia's reticule snapped to target and her muzzle flashed. The next instant, a smoldering wreck fell into the river. The Panther turned around to regroup with her companions.

"Marathon's over; nobody qualified. Let's drop the last one and be done with it. Director's got a big surprise waiting for us," Cecilia radioed the others. She then opened a private transmission to Kat's FRAME. She knew the power was down, but, by any chance she left the radio on, she could get to her.

"Kat? It's me. This channel is encrypted. It's over."

Sabrina had hung back for most of the fight. She watched on to observe how her comrades fought, but it wasn't like she didn't do anything. The rear guard position fit a rifleman like her, and though it wasn't a glamorous job, it was necessary. She had their backs against flanking enemies and the like. It was leftover from her days in the military. Standard Operating Procedure. SOP was everything. It was how you went in. How you fought. And if you went home after it was over. While she didn't expect any of the other gangers to try to pull a fast one over on them, she was there just in case. Her lack of various weapon systems were made up for by the different types of ammunition she carried for them. Tungsten carbide APFSDS, HEDP, HEIT, and the Raufoss rounds for her 50 cal. With her 35mm Large Caliber Automatic Rifle, there wasn't much she couldn't face down.

"I didn't see anyone come around our six o' clock. Looks like this went quick." She commented, still scanning and keeping her guard up.

Sarahs machine purred away as if nothing was wrong. However it was quite the strange feeling to be piloting a mech virtually blind. Asking quite disturbingly calmly what Mr.B could bring back online. I can get one of the left hemispheres cameras up, forty percent functional, right hemisphere main cameras are completely down. I can use the infrared camera as a replacement. She gave a soft giggle as she heard that. It was more than a boost to her. “Good boy”, she said softly as she felt the heavy hand of Yassir on her shoulder, “Thanks Marlene....I...um”, she didn’t really have something facetious to say this time. She had seen on her radar that she had made her way over. In the near minute it took her to get some basic visuals back she was a sitting duck. “I’ve got some basic visuals, and I haven’t got a hole in me this time”, she said letting out a loud chuckle. “I think it would be wise for me to take a back seat for the rest of the mission. I’m not that crazy”, she turned to face the old Handou. “How do I look? Pretty right?”, The machines face looked like an elephant had stood on it. The sole functioning main camera swung a little with each movement. “Cecilia, what is the status on the enemy?”, she asked for clarification before hearing that they only had one more to take down. It was a bit of a relief on seeing that last red blip vanish from her radar.

She sighed softly and stroked the console before her. On hearing Ms. Langs com she smiled, “Yes mam!, I love surprises!”, Mr. B jumped from side to side like an excited four year old as she moved to regroup. She did however notice that one blue dot didn’t move with the rest of them. She sighed again and shook her head softly. Hoping that Kat was okay, after all not everyone was able to simply break their conscious into pieces and tape it back together with a load of glue and string and move on like nothing had happened. She would be sure to have a word with her, maybe she might be able to convince her that what happened was a good thing. Then again not everyone has such a severe case of thanatosis as she did, a death wish. There was however always a way to get a soldiers death drive back. The OSU always knew how to shunt that into its soldiers. Her excited dancing ceased as a loud fizzle then snap occurred on her frames face. “Shit....”, sparks began flying out of it as the last shred of connectivity of visuals popped.

She was sitting there in the dim glow of her illuminated keyboard. How she made it back was something she was definitely not proud of.... When they did however, she burst forth from the cockpit and immediately bolted her way back to the Samiginas war room. They had a new job! It had to be the surprise. Maybe they’d gotten back on good terms with Cradle? Who knew? She ran through the door to see Richard on the lower level. Continuing to run she grabbed the rail of the upper level and flipped over. Her eyes as usual gave that eerie artificial glow they always did, but were much brighter than they usual were. She was so excited; Richards Panthers must be back on track. They had to be....They’d lost so much...Any news is good news. "TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!"

Maxwell didn't have to wait long in cover for the team to mop up the rest of the hostiles. For a bunch of guns-for-hire, the Panthers seemed to do a good job, even if these opponents were in civilian frames. The action was fast and ruthless, executed with a sort of zeal Silver had to respect. For a moment, he forgot why it was he normally didn't think of his teammates as professionals.

That was when one of them started screaming at the top of her lungs.

Right, Max remembered with a rumble in his throat. That's why.

Maxwell smacked a button in his cockpit to turn off Kat's screams, then came out from the cover of the building he'd chosen to hide behind. He spotted one last enemy FRAME firing off a few desperate shots at whoever it could, and he noticed it had taken some damage to its right leg already. Maxwell marched on forward with his shield ready and fired several rounds into the opponent's leg. Given the close quarters combat, it didn't take much for him to get his FRAME's autcannon shoved into the hole he made, blast a few more into the leg, then swept the opponent to the ground with a satisfying crunch. The leg came off, and the enemy FRAME would not be getting back, even though it was mostly functional.

The enemy ejected, but not soon enough. The cockpit came out flying straight toward a building and crashed spectacularly into a heap of rusty metal. The cockpit must not have been made of sturdy stuff, though, because when Maxwell peered over to see the cockpit, he found it was utterly crushed, and there was definitely blood in that wreck. He grimaced.

"This is Preacher," he said over the communicator. "Last hostile neutralized."

Maxwell gave a silent prayer for the dead, then moved to regroup with the rest of the Panthers. He hoped that this "big surprise" involved a suitcase full of money. He also hoped very dearly that he'd live long enough to earn that money...

Either way, it was time to get back to the Samigina.

Cecilia stood erect to Richard's left, straining to resist the temptation of leaning on the diagnostics panel just next to her. Richard had sent their client a notification of the Panthers' success moments after the last civvie FRAME hit the ground, and to his relief, the client was not late with their payment. The other pilots were gathered about the holo-table at the center of the command deck, FRAMEs docked in the hangar. Some returned in better condition than others. Not every seat in the room was filled. With the loss in personnel, there were stations in the room that now demanded the attention of multiple crewmen.

The one person in the room who Cecilia didn't recognize was the tall, oriental man on the other side of the Director. He was solid, clad in an XCD dress uniform bedecked with rows of candy-colored bars and medals. The man's otherwise handsome face was marred by a single, crooked scar that careened down his left ear to his chin. He held a leather-bound datapad case in the crook of his arm and met the Panthers with a nod as they entered. His eyes lingered on Cecilia for a moment longer; a fellow countryman.

Richard broke the silence with, "Another drop in the bucket. Good work, Panthers." He turned a hand over to bring the attention to the officer beside him.

"Let me introduce Colonel Leung Guoliang, of the XCD Army. Colonel Leung has come here as a representative of XCD Army Special Operations Command. He and I have been discussing a very critical development for the Panthers; this opportunity comes from the brass of the XCD. I'll turn the floor over to him."

The Xiang officer stepped forward, activating the holo-display of the table at the room's center. An image of the Samigina, as well as the Panthers' FRAMEs danced above the surface.

"The XCD ASOC has been monitoring the Preying Panthers since the incident at Cradle Headquarters." He paused, treading carefully around the scars of the unit's memory. "It is our understanding that the unit has... fallen on hard times. However, review of your combat data pre-Cradle reveals highly-acclaimed performance. Your unit has proven itself on many occasions to be effective and decisive, despite a moderate turnover rate. As a gesture of goodwill, the XCD wishes to extend its hand to the Panthers and rekindle the performance your unit has been known for."

The images of the holo-table gave way to a logo of the XCD ASOC, and what appeared to be a table of organization. Colonel Leung indicated the display with his hand, explaining, "As part of this contract, the Panthers will be assigned to a division of ASOC. The XCD will refurbish the depletion in the unit's manpower and supplies, offer logistical and mechanical support and conduct joint-training exercises with the Panthers."

Bentz was right; this did sound too good to be true. Material support from the XCD and training with the elite of the Army? That was a big step up from their current state. Cecilia had to wonder why the XCD was willing to invest so much in the Panthers. They were, after all, a huge risk, given their record over the past year. Richard must have seen the disbelief in her face, as he spoke up next,

"With the XCD's support, I have full confidence that we will regain our footing as a solid fighting force. I'm sure that this news comes as a shock to you, but I am assured by Colonel Leung and his colleagues in the ASOC that opportunity is nothing but genuine. With that, the floor is open to questions."

"You look f-" Marlene's answer to how Sarah's FRAME appeared to be holding-up was cut-off when Cecelia called for them to withdraw for debriefing, which led to Mr Bubbles making a far less than graceful series of bounding-moves down the street as Marlene saw what was left of her lens fall-off and crash into the pavement from all the jiggling, likely rendering her to pilot it completely blind.

Now, as a very rude word regarding the new status of Mr Bubbles came to mind; Sarah had two options, really. She could've popped the hatch like a normal person, or remained buttoned-up and rely on one of her team-mates to make sure she was pointed in the right direction with a series of commands and in some cases, shunting Mr Bubbles with a well-timed shoulder-bump.

...

After what seemed to remove a fair amount of paint off Yassir's shoulders, Mr bubbles came to a halt in Samigina's cargo-bay, allowing Marlene to get out and probably not have to worry about anything large and expensive getting broken... for awhile. As she saw Sarah run-off like a squirrel on a caffeine-high, she was thankful that she was the ship's problem for right now as she made sure both FRAMEs were secured in their bays before catching-up with their hyperactive-mascot.

The briefing around the holo-table, put lightly, was highly skeptical of Colonel Guoliang's motives; at least from Marlene's perspective as she looked over at Bentz.

She strummed the table a few times at the end of the spiele as she quietly debated whether or not to voice her opinion on the matter of being a non-national unit being aligned with the commands of a black-ops unit with likely a checkered history of its own. Sounded like a scapegoat-for-hire offer.

-----------------

'It's over' Cecilia's words echoed around Kat's head for some time before slowly forming meaning.
"It's over." She softly repeats with a distant sense of melancholy.
A hand drags across her face as she tries to wipe away the tears and her mood.
"It's over." She repeats once again to herself as she straightens up and starts restoring partial life to her FRAME allowing it to warm up.
With a deep breath and some thought she access Cecilia's encrypted link and replies in her bravest voice.

"Sorry m'am, snow leopard fell asleep. Jus' went dark on me all of a sudden! Thinking there's some sort of failure in the heat dissipation or distribution. Probably a faulty power coupling or two, gonna shut of auxiliary and redirect focus to mobility. Just give me ten to salvage some parts from the wrecks.
Could damn use it."

Kat doesn't wait for a reply, she completely disengages all unnecessary tech, the scanners, jammers and radios, all of it. In truth Snow Leopard was hard to start, but on the fourth go she woke up.
To Kat the FRAME felt hungry, she could feel Snow's belly rumble. Just another one let down by Kat today.

As much as she could use some more tech or parts to work with, it wasn't the real reason for her gradual approach to the fallen enemies. Kat didn't understand it herself but she just had to see them, to see the carnage and destruction of their encounter. The jagged torn steal, the lifeless frames, the pools of leaking fluids - human and machine - the strewn bodies... Or what was left of.

The first civvie FRAME Kat came upon was still kicking. It lay like a helpless injured animal still twitching, sparks flying from a large hole in its chest and the open shoulder joint where the arm had once been.
The man inside the cockpit was in much the same condition. Pinned down by a large bar protruding from his chest, he cried, wriggled and sputtered. Kat couldn't bring herself to help him, or end him either, so she just watched.

When it was over and he stopped moving, Kat exited her FRAME. Keeping true to her word she went searching the civvie vehicle for parts useful for Snow Leopard. Instead she came back with a small case found just outside the mans desperate reach.

It was a personal drug stash, half full of stimulants and illegal enhancers.
Finding a secure spot in her own cockpit pit she hid it well, keeping a small select few on herself.

------- Back at base -------

"Fuck that!" Kat yells out disapprovingly from the back corner of the Command room, having opted not to sit closely around the holo table with the others. In fact since arrival Kat had been very cautious to steer clear of most people after her earlier blunder.

"It will become all 'yes sir, no sir!' And we will be fighting some fat asshole politicians personal feuds for him in no time!"
Kat's arms spoke as much as her mouth as they flailed about enacting her speech with passion.

"I signed up to the panthers! Not the friggin military!"

There was an unusual hint of aggression and/or frustration in Kat's demeanour that was out of character for her.

"And there may not be a future for the panthers if this job isn't taken. It may be too good to be true, but it's also too good to pass up. If there's one thing you learn in the military, it's how to adapt to the situation. And so, that's what we must do here."

Sabrina understood the reason the girl spoke up, but her usual military experience made her check her in her mind. Back in the military, speaking up without permission was grounds for extra PT, depending on if you were wasting your team leader's time with whatever you wanted to say. Still, she had to remind herself that this was a PMC and they conducted themselves differently. She didn't want to come off as high and mighty, but she still conducted herself as if she was still a soldier. For now, she hoped the others would understand the situation a little better. She stood at parade rest and looked to the Director.

"Sir?"

"Fuck that!" The shrill of Kat's voice startled everyone in the room, not least of all Cecilia, who's face immediately twisted into a cherry-colored knot.

"It will become all 'yes sir, no sir!' And we will be fighting some fat asshole politician's personal feuds for him in no time! I signed up to the Panthers! Not the friggin' military!"

"If you don't LIKE it, you don't have to STAY!" Cecilia snarled. Richard gave Colonel Leung an uneasy tilt of his eyebrows, mouthing "I'm sorry." The officer, clearly dumbfounded by the sudden hostile environment, nodded and shifted his gaze anywhere but forward.

"I've had it with this display of yours since Cradle," the adjutant continued. "I thought you could take care of yourself, but after today's stunt in the slums, I've half a mind to terminate your contract right here and now! What's the matter with you?! You'd better cut the bullshit and start acting like the Panther you so want to be; I have no problem with replacing you with someone who can handle the work, because evidently, you CAN'T."

No sooner had the words left Cecilia's mouth than she'd realized the gravity of what she'd just said. She took a step back from the table, eyes shifting uncomfortably away from contact with the other Panthers until they settled to the floor.

"Oh gods," she muttered in a barely-audible whisper. "Kat, I'm so sorry..."

Cecilia took a deep breath, turning to the XCD Colonel. "<Colonel; you have my most sincere apologies. I'm sorry you had to see us this way,>" she said in fluent Xiangese. "<As field commander of the Preying Panthers, I appreciate the generosity of the XCD in this endeavor.>"

Lang's body tingled with embarrassment. Her fury might've been just as unprofessional and misplaced as Kat's, and in front of a representative of her country, even... that's not how she wanted the Panthers to be seen.

"<Think nothing of it, Ms. Lang,>" Colonel Leung responded. "<Every unit has its quirks. I, for one, am impressed with your record; having disciplined these laowai all these years. Allow me to be the first to welcome you home.>"

Cecilia stammered, deciding on a polite bow instead of an audible thanks. When she returned to full height, her eyes met Richard's, which were none too happy, but neither were they accusatory.

"Now, then. Any further constructive discussion?" Bentz asked, doing his best to reset the mood.

Kat stared daggers at Sabrina before rolling her eyes in exaggeration. She was just about to spitefully mock the girl when Cecilia interjected with her own sharp harsh reply. Caught off guard Kat just stood there dumbfounded in disbelief. Her face was strewn with shock, but her eyes, in her eyes shone the hurt.

"So it's like that hey?" She stammered, ignoring the apologies. Her voice quite as she struggled to argue, let alone push the words from her lungs.

After a short silence to process Kat spoke again.
"You know I actually once believed that the panthers stood for something more then just money. Clearly I was wrong!" Disappointment dripped from each stern word.

Her eyes trailed the room, she didn't know where to look. Everyone else was eating this up. Everyone else was giving her that disapproving glare.

With a bit of a forced manic laugh she continues.

"Well were all gonna die someday anyway right, might as well be fodder for this asshat's people or plan." Her sudden enthusiasm was oozing with sarcasm.
Kat gestured to the guest while speaking before swiping up her few possessions from the table and flicking her hair over her shoulder, stormed towards the near exit.

"Go out nameless and without reason, for people who couldn't give a shit, can't think of a better way! but hey, at least we can die in a shiny can."

It was directed at no one but loud enough for everyone. Her disgruntle thoughts shared with the room.

She stopped at the doorway to glare at Cecilia, raising her hand to her head in a mockery salute. "Jus as long as we get the pay-check on the way, right? Ma'm!"
She punches out the words in a sharp military style yell before huffing out a cynical laugh and disappearing behind the door.

------

Outside the room and out of sight Kat's lungs are suddenly filled with a big wave of shaky air as she tilts her head up to fight off the tears welling in her eyes. She lets out that breath as she wipes her forearm across her face and storms off in the direction of the Hanger.

As was typical of her decisions. She took the option of being led by her team mate. It must have been quite the sight actually, it was kind of testament to the cooperation that the team had. Caffeine was probably a much lighter term then most would use, crystal meth, would probably be more descriptive of her behavior. Sarah had been dancing in excitement since she had stormed into the room. XCD...AWESOME! She was more than excited to work with the people that had turned Cecilia into what she was. It might actually help her out with....Problems. Marlene as usual, was a god damned angel. There was multiple times that she had saved her ass without her even realizing it. When Marlene strolled into the room a massive grin was on her face. Quite tweeked as usual, her soul seeming to itch for the news. Why would a Colonel be here if it wasn't for something big! She was just about to voice an ecstatic desperate approval before she heard the most outstanding Fuck you she'd ever heard. If it weren't for the fact even she recognised that she would be an asshole for stating it; she would. "As long as you repair Mr. Bubbles I'll do whatever you please", she brimmed. Her eyes looking like they were defocusing. The shade of red turning to a soft blue as she switched to a different 'sight' mode. "I am totally in for it, it will be fun right? Better missions? Beefy targets? Soft targets?....", she said the last one with a bit of a higher inflection. Sarah was quite sadistic when it came to ethically right missions. Those drug traffickers? Now that was fun to watch, at least until her visuals were destroyed.

She was well used to the idea of disavowed ops, betrayals and generally being used as a means for an ends. So the suspicions that were about the Panthers were more of a homely feeling to her. She gave a bright grin that made the fractal patterns that graced her cheeks sparkle softly. "Colonel Guoliang, might I ask if we will be operating in less than legal parameters? I know it's a bit of a cheeky question, It's just nice to know how much red tape we have to dance around, rules of engagement are awful fun.", she winked. Even as she tried to make the mood that little bit more facetious she attempted to send a pulse to Kat. A soft worded message she used her internals to send, Sarah was indeed an awfully manipulative person. However it could not be said that she used it to harm, or even try and achieve an ends.

-Kathrine. How about you look at it from a different frame of mind? I know what was said hurt, but you have to remember that Cecilia’s number one priority has been the safety and wellbeing of us. She might just feel like she has failed in that endeavour, don’t take what she said personally. We’ve all been stressed... LONG LIVE THE CHAIRMAN, LONG LIVE THE UNION!-

With a soft giggle she lay back into an empty chair on the bridge. “Besides, I might just find out who made these...”, she said blinking the light shielding of her eyes into place and back for effect. “I dunno, but if we are being democratic with this, my vote is a fifty fifty split, Marlene has half, Richard the other, I just enjoy the ride along after all, It’s not like anything else interesting is happening recently, Then again I’m just hedging bets. Mr. B will enjoy being all shiny and new, Hence Richard, Marlene won’t let us die in Agonizing pain. It’s all good”, she flicked her hair around. As usual her contribution was less than strategic, but it reaffirmed her point of view, it was completely irrelevant who they were fighting and who for, just so long as everyone was fighting with her she couldn’t care much less, which was yet another major malfunction of the young osbanian. As usual however, Sabrina stood out as a voice of reason. She wasn’t much good at that. So she trusted the others to make the decision.

Alyssa had stood quietly away from the main group as they'd gathered around on the bridge. She'd missed out on the last mission due to a last-minute issue with the FRAME preventing her from launching; yet another symptom of the difficulties the panthers were facing, in her opinion. The left knee actuator on her machine had finally shaken itself apart, after being rebuilt so many times and barely hanging on by a thread each time.
As the purple-haired pilot listened, she tilted her head attentively as the offer was explained. The lure of full mechanical support and the other perks were good, but she'd heard of other units working with the military incurring massive expenses and ending up indentured to military forces or nations, and becoming all but military units in name as a result. The possibility made her uncomfortable, but before she could voice her concerns, the altercation broke out between Kat and Cecilia.
"Oh goodness," she said softly, covering her mouth with one hand before Bentz thankfully broke the uncomfortable tension, and the conversation continued. Seeing her own moment, the recon pilot spoke up from her position near the back of the room.
"Well, to add my own words to the discussion, I'd have to say that I have some reservations of my own, but I think that the benefits are too great to ignore in our current situation. We need the supplies and support, I think".