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[h1][color=blueviolet][b][u]Deadeye[/u][/b][/color][/h1]
[url=https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KxguCg_urBo&si=z4MC-AYkn8r1NbBN](Mood Music)[/url]
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Leah was drifting through space while her DCA and distance kept her hidden from most sensors. She was always sure to reposition and drift on different vectors after firing each shot so her rounds couldn't be traced onto to any predictable path. Between the calls for cover from both Rabbit, the newbie, and the dozens of other UEE assets in the immediate battlespace, Leah had her hands full. Of course, she prioritized her team and her mothership, but it never hurt to spend a round to deliver a care package to a colleague in need.

Leah's main focus was on supporting Sabine now that Commie had taken up the rookie's slack. Despite the overextension, he was handling himself decently well. He scored his first kill within minutes of the sortie, which is something not a lot of MAS pilots could say for themselves. Perhaps that was why he was sent straight to the 101st. Leah watched Sabine race ahead to fight the Garmr's head on. Damn she was fast. It made covering her a difficult task with all of the sudden direction changes and rapid variation in target distances as the Coalies tried to keep up. Leah had gotten accustomed to the unique type of overwatch Sabine demanded, making her into something of a snap shot ace within the 7th.

Leah kept the Sparrowhawk in her field of view, but her eyes were moving everywhere the light MAS wasn't. She searched for booster flares, muzzle flashes, sensor feedback, and parallax against the starry void to track the Garmr units. Eventually, Leah's sights fell on one light Coalie MAS who had boosted too far out of Sabine's threat range, opening up a clear shot for Hex to engage without running the risk of the Sparrowhawk winding up back into the LR-90 shot's trajectory. Her FCS immediately calculated a firing solution and Leah wasted no time in angling the Blackout into the right position to fire. Her boosters flared as she pulled the trigger to counteract the heavy recoil of the sniper cannon in zero-G.

[color=blueviolet][b]"Rabbit, Hex. shot out. Wait. Hit."[/b][/color]

The Garmr came apart in two halfs at the waist, causing both halves to spin rapidly in two different directions. The Garmr pilot was impetuous however, and they still tried to use their limited boosters to keep the upper half of the MAS in the fight. It brought its autocannon to bear on Sabine. Leah gritted her teeth and fired another shot, not bothering to report it to Sabine The second round ripped through the elbow joint of the Garmr, severing the limb. Just to make sure the Garmr pilot didn't have any more fight left in them, Leah sent a third round through the core of the MAS. The light armor stood no chance against the LR-90 as the upper half of the MAS seperated at the shoulder and neck joints.

[color=blueviolet][b]"Hex. Splash one Garmr."[/b][/color] she reported, mainly for Sabine's own situational awareness.

Her attention was quickly taken away from Sabine's skirmish when her onboard AI announced the arrival of an elite Coalition unit in the battlespace.

[b][code]"Warning: Elite Fafnir detected. Range. 8 kilometers. Three o'clock high.[/code][/b]

Leah pivoted in her position toward the callout, seeing a bright flash and an incoming plasma beam. [color=blueviolet][b]"Shit![/b][/color] She cursed and quickly overboosted to the right and back. The plasma beam just narrowly whizzed past the Blackout, searing some DCA plating and causing the digital coloration to flicker from the damage.

[color=blueviolet][b]"Damn! That Fafnir got a bead on me. Probably backtraced my shot. Someone get its attention and line it up for me! I ain't about to let that one slide!"[/b][/color] she said over the squadron net.

She didn't have to wait long. Rhino was hard charging the Fafnir, and a MAS the size as his with a signature as hot as a frigate, she'd have no doubt the Fafnir would have no choice but to take its attention away from the Blackout to engage the very loud and very angry problem barrelling in straight at it. Leah's sensors pinpointed the Fafnir. She enhanced her visual on the MAS and watched as it rotated to engage the charging heavy MAS.

[color=blueviolet][b]"Rabbit, Hex. Gotta take my eyes off you for a moment. Don't steal all the glory while gone!"[/b][/color] she said to Sabine before reaching out to Johann, [color=blueviolet][b]"Rhino, I'm your overwatch! Keep it's attention, I'll cover you and keep that Fafnir on the backfoot!"[/b][/color]

Leah's FCS began working out a firing solution as she deploy all eight of her funnel drones from her backpack unit. The funnels seperated from the backof her MAS and fanned out on either side of her. Leah sent four to escort the Rhino to keep missiles and other small munitions off the heavy MAS as it committed to its overt charge. The other four raced ahead toward the Fafnir to harrass and keep the MAS from being able to sit still in relative space to accurately use its oversized plasma cannon.

[b][code]"Fafnir energy spike detected."[/code][/b] her AI said.

[color=blueviolet][b]"It's charging its main gun! Standby, Rhino, it's not going to get a chance to use it again!"[/b][/color]

Leah listened to the tone in her helmet's headset as her FCS continued working out the best opportunity to fire. Her eyes flicked between the aiming pip and the growing energy emissions coming off of the Fafnir. She had seen those types of cannons before and had a rough idea on the output they had before firing. That'd be her metric to gauge how much time she had before it fired. Timing was critical though. As the Fafnir's emissions rose, the easier it was for her FCS to track and get the absolute best firing solution on the slender target that was the plasma cannon.

[color=blueviolet][b]"Come on, Blackout... Give it to me..."[/b][/color] she said under her breath as she micromanaged the funnel drones, her drift vector, and radar.

The tone went solid. [b][code]"Target locked.[/code][/b]

Leah squeezed the trigger, her boosters flaring again as the round was sent out on the long distance shot. [color=blueviolet][b]"Rhino, shot out! Stand by!"[/b][/color]

The energy buildup in the plasma cannon was a visible light now, a flare from the Secutor's perspective. Energy readings spiked, but just before it could fire, a thin line of a glint passed straight through the cannon. The plasma beam came out in a blooming flash as the needle-like barrel broke off and span away into space, the breakpoint glowing and melted into slag. The plasmatic explosion against the Fafnir's shoulder caused it to suddenly jerk and spin momentarily.

[b][code]"Target hit. Weapon disabled."[/code][/b] the AI informed.

Leah let out a sigh of relief, but she couldn't relax just yet. Even without the main gun, that Fafnir was no joke. She had only managed to strip away its threat at long range. Thankfully the rest of the 7th was exceptionally well equipped for a close in brawl.

[color=blueviolet][b]"Rhino, you've got your opening! Get in there and rip that thing a new asshole!"[/b][/color] Leah said as her funnels fell into formation around the Secutor.

Meanwhile, her other four funnels racing toward the Fafnir entered firing range. The drones immediately engaged, firing off volleys of their lasers at the Fafnir. The first four hits connected and forced the Fafnir to evade against the small swarm of drones arriving at its flank.

Leah glanced at her ammo load and saw that the LR-90's current magazine was empty. She took the opportunity to reload, preserving the magazine and slotting in a fresh one. She could hear the mechanisms in her sniper through the vibrations of the Blackout's hull. Leah watched as the ammo indicator for the LR-90 switched to green. [color=blueviolet][b]"I've got the Fafnir pinned down, team. Happy scrapping!"[/b][/color]
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