"Time already," Taylor hummed, she snapped her book shut and picked up her belongings, returning to her CVF. Climbing up the thigh of her frame and into the cockpit of her frame. The torso of the frame was so narrow that the traditional seat of most CVFs just wouldn't fit in the design, she instead had to strap herself into a vertical harness. With the harness secure, she locked the canopy shut and started the frame, the machine letting out a metallic groan as it lumbered into an upright position. Taylor moved the Jackal into formation with the rest of her team.

---

By the time the group had arrived, it appeared that they had been mere moments too late. The enemy frames had already reached the bait.

"Damn, they already got through," Taylor radioed back, "We still have the element of surprise on our side. At the very least we need to get clear of the pass ourselves, this isn't an ideal place to start the fight."

With the enemy just ahead, Taylor tapped on the console to arm her weapon's railcannon. The screen suddenly presented a password prompt. Taylor typed out on a keyboard tucked into the console to her right, entering: [i]VELOCITAS_ERADICO[/i].

The HUD immediately responded, text scrolling over the screen.

[i]PASSWORD ACCEPTED
RAILCANNON SAFETY DISENGAGED
POWER SUPPLY CONFIRMED
PLASMA ARMATURE ACTIVE
ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONAL
CAUTION - WEAPON IS LIVE

LOADING BALLISTIC CONFIGURATION...

CONFIG FILE LOADED
PROJECTILE TYPE: TUNGSTEN PENETRATOR
PROJECTILE MASS: 15 KG
MUZZLE VELOCITY: 1700 M/S[/i]

The railcannon mounted on the Jackal-5's back suddenly shifted downwards, unlocking from the backpack. The frame reached down and behind itself to grasp the weapon's carry handle, maneuvering the hefty weapon in front of the frame. The long barrel folded out from under the receiver, locking firmly against the reveiver with a dull [i]clack[/i]. Finally, the frame reached behind itself to draw a single, tungsten slug from the magazine attached to the backpack. Racking the weapon's large, sturdy bolt backwards, the Jackal slid the slug into the weapon's chamber, locking the bolt shut after.