[IC] Falling Skies: 7th Mobile Armor Suit Team

[PrincessOfNothing]

Oh, just erase me already.

Alice’s temper had flared again after being they had been blindsided by a group of Coalition soldiers, but in its aftermath, her aggression inhibitors saw a return to functioning order. Then she heard a gunshot, and saw that it wasn’t another enemy soldier, but instead Maki, firing a round into the head of one. And then she saw the anger on her face, anger directed towards her, and she realized her own brutality. This wasn't her recklessly endangering herself in MAS combat, not that that was acceptable either, but this was just gruesome. Maki started a justified chewing out, but managed to cut herself short. She obviously knew how to control her temper better than Alice, but whatever she would have said next, she likely would have had a point. What Alice did was shameful. Crude, barbaric, inefficient. And when Maki pushed her away in frustration, Alice didn’t stop her.

She was wrong about one thing though. Alice wasn’t a soldier like her or Trapp. They made the choice to enlist; they had a choice to enlist in the first place. They learned concepts like honor, mercy, the supposed value of a life. Alice wasn’t afforded these opportunities. She was a military asset from the start, prepared and conditioned for combat from the moment she came into existence. Her creators didn’t care if she understood cultural values in the process. Those were for people, not property, and she was property.

But if it meant that Maki wouldn’t hate her, then maybe it was time for her to learn.

---

“Whoa…”

Information raced back and forth while Alice initiated the data migration. If she had any sense of taste, all the new classified data she was processing would practically be ambrosia. Things were going swimmingly enough, but before she could finish taking even a tenth of the data stored in the servers, soldiers began to rush the center. Even during a UEE attack, the Coalition had measures to protect their valuable R&D information, and just by infiltrating their servers, Alice had alerted them to their cyber espionage. Accordingly, soldiers were being reassigned from fighting to UEE incursion to stopping them.

While Maki and Trapp fought to defend the center from the oncoming waves of Coalition troops, Alice tried to accelerate the migration. Over the next few minutes, more and more soldiers just kept coming, making her efforts even more urgent

“Fifty percent….sixty percent…”

As she continued stealing data, she paid attention to Maki and Trapp fighting. In her head, she had calculated the total number of rounds both of them had between them. Their already limited ammunition was quickly depleting, making it less and less likely that they would be able to make it out of this.

“Ninety percent...I’m almost finished!”, Alice shouted back at Trapp.

Thankfully, an explosion hit the facility, and in an instant, the advancing Coalition soldiers were eliminated. Alice let out a sigh of relief as she managed to finish the download. The moment she was done, she yanked the cord out of the server, and then out of her own head. She was now a walking mother lode of incredibly valuable Coalition secrets, or at least the ones they had on Jehan, and the Coalition servers had been purged, their records gone. Unless they had data backed up on another system, their research on Jehan would suffer a significant setback.

She quickly made her way back to Maki and Trapp, the latter of which was explaining his plan. Maki would take Alice to the hangar, and Trapp would try commandeer a Coalition craft. Simple enough. Alice avoided eye contact and didn’t offer anything in response except a small nod. The last thing she needed to do at this point was open her mouth again.

As the two hurried back to their machines in the hangar, Alice made sure every that every time she pulled the trigger, the bullet hit its target: the head of a Coalition soldier. They died instantly: no pain, no excessive harm. That was the ideal method for eliminating Coalition soldiers in direct combat, especially now that they had very little time to waste. At the same time, she wanted to show Maki that what she saw earlier wasn’t normal behavior, and that she could act properly on the battlefield, something Maki had even tried to demonstrate for her.

When they finally got to the hangar, a group of technicians were setting up charges, but Maki’s gun had no ammo left. At her instruction, she scurried to her MAS. Her tendency for silent movement proved useful as she managed to reach her Eagle without any of the technicians spotting her. Instead of immediately getting inside, she took a vantage at the top of her machine. Even with the scarce amount of bullets left in her own rifle, she was ready to provide suppressive fire for Maki while she took down the Coalition mechanics. When Maki alerted the guards, she shot a few rounds at their feet to keep them off Maki’s back until she made it to the safety of her Hellcat before tossing the rifle away.

She hopped into her cockpit and starting up her machine, connecting it to her interface. There was a new seat since the original had shot up into the sky before landing somewhere in the mountains. This one was smaller and minimal, obviously not meant for extended use beyond escaping enemy territory and getting the Eagle back to the Lincoln for repairs. Still, after today’s events, it was oddly comfortable to be in the familiar environment of her cockpit.

After Maki yanked the hangar door away, Alice stopped to look back before she left the hangar. She was ordered to join the fray outside, but she hesitated to leave her wingman twice in the same day. Nevertheless, she obeyed and walked out of the hangar, finally witnessing the battle around her. With her comms online, her first thought was to reach out to Ariana and the rest of the 7th, but she stopped before she said anything. After a few moments, she finally spoke

“This is...this is ALI-009. Odyssey Protocol successful. Captured friendlies have been released, and this unit has seized sensitive R&D files from Coalition servers.”

Now that she had joined the battle, she took a cautious approach to protect her MAS from further damage and preserve her limited ammunition. Soon Gerard met up with her and Maki, but Trapp was still absent.

“Trapp told us to split up; we went to the hangar to retrieve our machines, and he went the opposite direction to find a Coalition MAS to use.”

Going with Gerard to find Trapp, Alice raised her remaining functioning wrist shotgun at a group of ‘civilians’ that Gerard indicated. They may not have been active combatants, but they were still Coalition personnel. That meant she should kill them. She should have. But instead of firing on them, she lowered her weapon. As they left with their lives, she continued to follow Gerard in his search for Trapp.

[vietmyke]

“Gallant this is Odin. Repeat Gallant this is Odin. Took you fuckers long enough. Listen 7th Maki and Alice are currently heading towards the west end of the facility to recover and reactivate their vehicles. I’m going to need you to clear the area around the hangar for the-.”

"Odin? Odin! Come in!" McKnight barked through the comm as Trapp's voice popped into hearing range for a moment. He cursed, whatever was going on in there, Trapp had been cut off. He heard a few explosions on the west end of the facility and wheeled his machine around to face whatever was heading his way, his autocannon leveled behind his shield as he advanced on the door of a previously unseen underground hangar door. This was likely where they deployed ground based vehicles and MAS from. Most of the threat had been eliminated by this point- all of their larger machines and defenses had been destroyed or wiped out, leaving only infantry and light weapons for the remaining defenders, who were forced into pockets by the powerful MAS as the marine assault team continued their advance on the base.

The hangar doors burst open, and McKnight prepared to fire, but lowered his weapon as he saw the silhouettes of the Eagle and Hellcat exit the hangar. Standing down, he breathed out a relieved sigh- that was two of their missing pilots returned to them.

“This is...this is ALI-009. Odyssey Protocol successful. Captured friendlies have been released, and this unit has seized sensitive R&D files from Coalition servers.”

"Confirmed Alice, nice to have you back. You too Maki." McKnight called over the comm, finally allowing himself to relax, though there was fighting still going on, most of it was nonthreatening to the massive 40-foot tall machines or war- which was noted as the occasional rifle round merely bounced off the plating of their machines.

"Gallant, entering facilities to search for Odin," Gerard called out, as he began to move into the the hangar. McKnight reluctantly keyed his own comm, he understood Gerard's intentions, but it was the Marines' task to secure the pilots, they were supposed to recover the machines, as protocol dictated.

"Negative Guillotine, you and Echo have located the Hellcat and Eagle, hand them spare boosters and return to base. Williams, cover their exit."

As he spoke, his sensors blared red, a large heat signature popped up on his radar, coming from underneath what appeared to be a research dome at the north end of the base. The dome had been left relatively intact, with only a few awry shells having gone into it- it wasn't a military structure, despite being at a military base, and offered no resistance to their presence, therefore, until they retrieved their missing pilots, there was no reason to fire upon the dome. Until now.

"Belay that order, massive heat signature from the dome, sensors can't see through the walls. All units, level weapons and prepare to fire."

The dome slowly opened up to reveal a large machine- it was a MAS, far different than any Ferir model that the Coalition usually fielded. Where the Ferir was bulky and boxy, this machine was sleek, white, and thin, with similar build designs to his own Shrike. This thing was also responsible for generating so much heat. Besides the fact that starting up a MAS required a considerable amount of startup energy, his sensors detected a full 7 power cores spooling energy into this machine.

Leveling his weapon at the machine, McKnight began communication. The machine's comm frequency was unknown, so McKnight opened a channel on all frequencies, including external loudspeakers.

"Unidentified machine, identify yourself and state your intentions."

It was highly likely that this was a Coalition machine- similar to the white ace they had fought earlier, especially given the fact that it was in a Coalition base, but the machine had no recognizable code number, and none of the UEE combat libraries had information on this machine. As such, McKnight remained ready to let loose his remaining missiles as well as a long burst from his autocannon at a moment's notice.

[Hexaflexagon]

Trapp felt himself sink into the leather chair of the cockpit as he watched the console cycle through various systems. Most of the systems and designations were familiar to his eyes as most UEE pilots had to spend as much time analyzing Coalition schematics as they did their own machines, but others stood out to him specifically something called the Aegis System. From quick observation it seemed to be some sort of shield system but the power draw was high above normal levels. The commander pushed his questions aside realizing his lack of time as he needed to move and quickly.

As he began to attempt familiarize himself with the controls that seemed foreign he felt something whirr inside the chair and moments later a sharp pain in the base of his necks. He cursed up and down and sideways as he reached behind him and felt a large apparatus attached to some sort of needle now embed into his body. Suddenly the screen began to be filled with biometric data as machine begin to supplement man: breathing rate, heart rate and neurological activity all being recorded and observed. More importantly the neurolink besides taking in data, it was pushing it back out giving Trapp the most abrupt crash course on an MAS he had ever experienced. He had heard rumors about the upgraded Coalition neurolinks, whispers coming down from the upper brass of how C-MAD was able to produce so many pilots in so little time. The whispers didn't prepare him for the reality of it as suddenly it felt like the MAS had become a part of him, as if he had been piloting the thing his whole life.

His hands began to move almost automatically as they cycled through various commands on the console and the array of flashing buttons that seemed to dance in his vision. Finishing the start up sequence he pressed a final command to begin the launch. A series of claxons began to sound and there was a hiss as the heavy cables attached to the back of the suit detached and following that the heavy clamps holding the MAS in place detached and fell to the ground the sound of steel hitting steel muffled by the chaos. His hands found their way to the controls and he moved the Yggdrasil into the center of the testing area. It felt quicker in his hands than he expected of a MAS. As he stood at the center the platform slowly began to rise towards the surface as the large circular dome above began to open.

Trapp could only prepare himself for the inevitable chaos above as the dull roar of battle began to grow louder and louder. The platform began to come to a halt gears grinding as the dome finished opening. As he came back out into the outside world in what seemed to have been years the first thing that he saw was luckily for him one that was familiar to him. The small harsh angular lines of a Shrike ready to destroy him at a moment’s notice. Despite the seriousness of the situation Trapp began to laugh to himself, the slow and tired laugh of a man unafraid to die. As he laughed a voice came over the open channel and spoke to him.

"Unidentified machine, identify yourself and state your intentions."

“Gallant. Weren't you ever taught not to draw a weapon on a superior officer? The Captain is going to have you peeling potatoes until you become an old man like me" Trapp quipped as he spoke into the comms as he looked about the battlefield seeing the rest of his team. This was better, he was back in his element.

It was around that moment that the MAS’ sensors began to flare up as a large energy discharge was detected. He turned to see a Ferir half crushed underneath part of the crumbling base fire one last desperate attack from its P110 launching a high velocity plasma charge straight at McKnight's back.The commander acted first accelerating his MAS forward and dropping the Yggdrasil’s shoulder and essentially tackling the lighter Shrike sending it out of the blast radius. A second later the plasma slammed into the prototype. Trapp braced for the impact as well as he could, expecting to hear alarms as the shields failed but rather something else happened. From the outside, it would appear to be a brilliant display as plasma crashed into what seemed to be a large invisible barrier made out of many tiny hexagonal figures and that barrier remained strong as the bolt of plasma was dispersed harmlessly over it as the outline of the Aegis system began to vanish from sight. Looking down at the command console, to Trapp’s surprise and amazement the shield’s didn’t even seem to flinch when they got hit by a bolt that would shred through most normal UEE shields with one hit. Though the clatter of small arms fire pinging off of the Yggdrasil informed him that he could wonder what the hell he had just stolen later.

“Gallant, I’d hate to steal your thunder as such vallant operations usually end up with medals and estate dinners which I so thoroughly despise. So for this one time only. What’s our orders kid?” Trapp spoke into the comms once more as he simultaneously pulled off from the Yggradisl’s back what appeared to be some sort of laser rifle and he fired at the downed mech that had shot at the Shriek a moment earlier, the concentrated beam slammed into the already weakened Fenrir piercing through its core and consuming what was left of it in the resulting explosion.

[Reaper]

"Wait, that's-" Maki's protest over the comms was cut short by Trapp's voice confirming what she suspected. The man had managed to commandeer a MAS after all, and seemed to be piloting it with no difficulty. It was a question she could ask later, among other conversations to be had, as she grabbed the spare boosters and thanked Gerard. "I almost made a wager with Odin about how long you guys would take to come pick us up. No presents?"

There wasn't much time to waste on "Are you alright?" and "Did they do anything?". Maki's quips would let the rest know nothing happened that was worth mentioning. Well, perhaps other than the patrolling squadron of MAS... mercenaries? They didn't seem to like trained Coalition pilots, that much was certain. "They have another squadron patrolling nearby. Mercs, I think." She reported to the rest of the 7th. "Do we engage or leave the fighting to another day?" It wasn't as if the Hellcat was in any condition to fight after the paces Maki had put it through, and she had just wasted a missile.

Her systems blared, however, warning her of a hostile weapon firing. She turned the Hellcat around in time to see the plasma beam heading straight for McKnight. Time seemed to slow as she opened her mouth to warn her squadmate but her mind knew it was too late. That was when she saw Trapp's new machine appear as quick as a bolt of a lightning and shouldering the Shrike out of the way, keeping it safe. The Japanese pilot watched as the beam harmlessly dissipated over the shield of the Coalition machine.

"Holy fucking hell! What the fucking fuckity fuck was that?" She asked incredulously, unsure of what ungodly technology kept Trapp from being reduced to a puddle of slag. The Coalition had something like this up their sleeve? How had they not won the war yet? Hopefully whatever intel Alice had gained from the database would answer the question. Speaking of which...

Maki managed a glance at her wingman to ensure the AI wasn't going berserk again. After everything they had been through today, she wasn't sure if she would ever look at the android the same way again. Hell, she wasn't sure she could fly with the AI again. It had been an interesting idea at first, a machine that could think and learn for itself fighting beside her, but now the idea seemed dangerous. Alice's personality and interactions with her had made her forget the metal pilot was a weapon first and foremost. UEE property.

She listened as Trapp handed the reins over to McKnight, shelving the thoughts away. They could wait until they were back aboard the Lincoln and safely recovered.

[Whoami]

True Grit

Part 1

(Mood Music)

"Open fire!" Alexis commanded as the dull thudding of cannon shots reverberated through the hull.

The Lincoln was within firing range of the wounded battle cruiser and its clutch of escorts. The WMG shot that had pierced through the moons atmosphere had crippled its drive systems and it couldn't draw enough power to effectively spool its shields. Still, battlecruisers were built to keep on giving. The two behemoth ships exchanged fire, the battlecruiser's shots deflected off of the Lincoln's fully spooled up shield. The coalition ship wasn't faring so well in the defense, solid slug rounds from the Lincoln's deck guns were pummeling away at key subsystems along the battlecruiser's failing hull. Point defense cannons intercepted what they could, a hail of gunfire tracing around in every direction. It was chaos.

Meanwhile, the battlecruiser's escorts charged forward, their shields powered to full. They attempted to get in between the two large capital ships and try to stem the flow of munitions coming from the battle carrier. One of the escorts was unlucky enough to ram into a large piece of debris from the battlecruiser's injury. The shields flared and lost strength. The Lincoln took advantage and unleashed a salvo of fire from one of the deck guns. Four accurate shots pierced through the heart of the frigate, annihilating the bridge in the center. With the helm and command crew dead on the frigate, it sped forward, the engines locked to full speed. The frigate soon left the battlespace, on a collision course with the disrupted and storming moon below. The other frigate fired its main gun at the Lincoln, a powerful mass driver shot managed to pierce the Lincoln's shield and take out a gun bank of point defense turrets. The ammo magazine underneath the armor of the gun back detonated. Alexis could feel the ship rattle from the explosion.

The Lincoln turned to face the battlecruiser head on. With its massive engines set to all ahead full, it careened toward the other capital ship. They had the advantage and their shields hadn't even been reduced to 80%, a melee was in their favor. The coalition frigate moved to intercept the Lincoln, getting in front of the monstrous battle carrier in an attempt to diverts its course.

"Shields forward, we're going through it!" Alexis barked.

The Lincoln's shield glowed as it directed itself completely ahead. The shields made impact with the frigate first, plasma burning through the armor plates of the smaller ship before the prow of the Lincoln made contact. A loud screeching of metal on metal ringed through the hull. The frigate split in half, one on each side of the Lincoln. Small explosions on both sides sealed the fate of the escort ship. But guns were still firing futilely at the battle carrier. In response, dozens of gun banks opened up with point defense fire, barraging the two wrecks with enough autocannon fire to saturate a small city. Debris and shrapnel drifted off in every direction as the two halves of the frigate simply ceased to exist.

"Captain, the battlecruiser is facing us. We're in the line of sight for its railgun!" one of the crewmen said from his terminal.

"Shove some plasma down its mouth. Fire the WMG, low power." Alexis gripped the rails on the command platform.

The scraped prow of the Lincoln opened its large barrel, two great slabs of armor sliding outward to make way for the beam of plasmatic death. The barrel glowed brightly and shortly after, a thin beam of plasma launched out. When the beam passed, the armored slab closed so the barrel of the WMG wasn't a weak point that could be exploited. The beam went straight down the spine of the battlecruiser, melting the magnetic accelerators and piercing into the main weapons magazine. Another great explosion burst out the top of the battlecruiser. Worry of a powerful railgun hitting the Lincoln quickly evaporated. Soon the two great ships were side by side, broadsides exchanging extreme amounts of fire between one another. The kilometer wide space between the two capital ships was alight with tracer rounds, lasers and plasma. The surrounding space was filled with smaller duels between Coalition MAS units and UEE fighters, the superiority of the mech suits was gaining the advantage in those battles. Luckily, she had three pilots of the 7th picking up the slack of the fighters while the fourht, Lin, was defending the cannons on the surface of the moon.

This was a melee between ships, brutal and explosive. The Lincoln's shields held, the battlecruiser wasn't faring as well. Without its shields, the withering barrage of fire from the Lincoln had nearly reduced all four layers of armor on the ship's port broadside. Cannons rounds were now damaging subsystems below the armor. Life support had been cut off on multiple decks. The battle was already lost for the battlecruiser, but it wasn't going out without a fight.

On the battlecruiser's bridge, emergency lights were on, filling the room with a low red glow. The holographic displays were flickering, sparks were flying in all directions. Most of the broadside's weapons were offline, the Lincoln had done a good job on targeting them. The coalition captain growled, this was a fight that a battlecruiser should have won! A flash of sparks rained on the captain, causing his to shield himself for a moment.

One of the crewmen leaped from his seat, "We've lost. Abandon ship!"

The captain glared at the man and watched as he made his way to the door. The captain drew his service pistol and shot the man in the back. The rest of the crew looked at him, "If anybody else wants to leave this ship, they'll do so with a bullet in the back of their head. We go when the ship does."

Another explosion of sparks flew across the bridge. The captain spoke over the intercom, "All marines, prepare for a boarding action. We'll clear a path."
__________

Alexis was barking orders in rapid succession. Admiral Ardin and his single remaining imperial serviceman hstood back and observed quietly, his silence unnerved Alexis. The ship rumbled some more as another shot made it through the shields and hit hard across the Lincoln's armor plating. Suddenly, the ship's AI chimed in, "Captain, I am detecting a large energy spike in the Coalition battlecruiser's remaining reactors."

Alexis gritted her teeth, "So he's going to go that route, eh? So be it."

Captain Marquis spoke over the intercom, "All hands, arm yourselves. Incoming boarding action."

It was a common tactic when boarding a ship while its shields were raised. In a last ditch effort, the ship could unleash a wave of energy to interfere with it's opponent's systems and cause the shield to stutter sporadically and targeting systems to take time to reboot. Using that opening, the boarding pods could slip through and make it to their target. But Alexis had a plan to counteract the offense. "Gemini 2, status."

"All batteries are singing true, Marquis. Emergency repairs are nearly complete." the captain of the attached cruiser reported.

"Good. Power down, we're about to get an EMP blast. Once it passes, come online and ready your point defense."

"Aye aye, captain." the comm cut out shortly after as Gemini 2 shut down.

Then the burst came, a bright pulse of energy sweeping the battlespace. MAS units and fighters on both sides shut down, it'd take a short while for their single duels to pick up again. The shields of the Lincoln flickered as well as the lights inside the battle carrier. The ship's guns went quiet, luckily the battlecruiser didn't have any guns left to shoot unless it decided to roll the other broadside to bear, but that would stop the constant flow of boarding pods needed to try and gain the advantage. Just as Alexis had predicted, the cruiser began launching boarding pods, almost a hundred of them. The marines all thinking they would have no opposition on approach.

Suddenly, Gemini 2 powered up, its targeting systems completely unaffected by the EMP. From the cruiser, a wall of point defense fire spewed forth, catching the nearest boarding pods first. Gemini 2 had managed to wipe out forty or so boarding pods, effectively halving the strength of the Coalition assault. The Lincoln's marine compliment was brought down as well since she had deployed a whole platoon to the moon's surface. The fighting strength was still in the Lincoln's favor thanks to Gemini 2's surprise cover fire. There were heavy thuds as the boarding pods made contact with the ship. Klaxons wailed when the high power plasma cutters of the boarding pods began to slice into the hull.

The shields and weapon systems of the Lincoln came back online. They would be no use for the boarding action, but they could at least finish off the battlecruiser. The pummeling began anew and the small strike craft buzzing around both ships continued their dances. Sparks flew off of the Lincoln's hull, the plasma drills working quickly to breach the layers of armor the battle carrier was outfitted with. It was only a matter of time. To ensure her safety, Alexis went back into her ultra-light battle suit, Sigi. Aston also equipped himself with Sigi's sibling MAS, Ragnar. The two battle suits were biocoded to them, all Ardin could do was hope his imperial serviceman would pull his weight. A squad of marines entered the bridge to double up security. This happened at every critical point in the ship to make sure the enemy didn't sabotage crucial systems; command, power, hyperdrive, shields, water reservoir, magazines, the hangar, the WMG. If the Coalition was going to turn the tide of battle, their marines would need to target those specifically. But Alexis wasn't going to make it easy.

Once she received word that all squads were in position and waiting for the fighting to begin, Alexis locked down every bulkhead in the corridors of the ship. Navy marines carried plenty of breaching charges with them for such reasons, but the confined spaces of the Lincoln's class made their blasts carry back toward the breaching marines. The pressure and concussive force would stun them in the hallway long enough for UEE marines to sweep in and clear.

Then they came. Firefights began across all decks on the port side. Reports came in, some holding, some falling back, some turning to white noise. As a defense protocol, the ship's AI would depressurize the corridor if no friendlies were present. If there was an airlock to open it would. This 'flushing' protocol was well in effect now, Coalition marines and dead bodies of both sides were sucked out in the vacuum of space. Some Coalition soldiers were clever enough to turn their oxygen supplies into impromptu EVA thrusters; but when they returned to the ship, they found that the airlocks were sealed and their oxygen supply had been used up in their attempt to return to the Lincoln. Camera feeds from the bridge displayed the carnage happening through the ship. Vicious firefights, white halls turned red with blood, scorch marks where breaching charges had been placed. But the ship was doing well, the UEE marines knew the Lincoln, they drilled in the tight confines of the ship. That combined with the flushing protocol had been the advantage the Lincoln needed to survive the boarding action. There were reports of a firefight within the hangar, a Coalition MAS that was smart enough to power down before the EMP had flown through the flickering shields and into the hangar bay along with two boarding pods.

The Ferir was wreaking havoc, fighters that were being serviced or reloaded were destroyed, their crews turning to red mist from the hail of gunfire it's autocannon spat out. A whole platoon of UEE marines joined the Coalition in battle throughout the sprawling hangar deck. Cargo crates and fighter wrecks were used as cover by both sides. It was easily where the fighting was the thickest. But the Ferir was a huge advantage, and it was dishing out more damage than the UEE could bring to bear. From the starboard hangar entrance, two MAS units flew in and opened fire on the Ferir. It was Sokolov and Astelion who had finished up their engagements in the battlespace. Sokolov drew the Ferir's fire, but the heavy Centurion shrugged off the shots as though they were spitballs. Astelion charged forward in his Sentinel, drawing his large MAS combat knife. Sparks flew from the Sentinel's feet as it used its thrusters to skate along the hangar deck toward the Ferir.

The Coalition MAS drew its knife as well and swung. But Astelion's sentinel ducked low and tackled the MAS to the deck. The Ferir swung a heavy metal punch at Astelion, but the UEE MAS blocked it. Astelion dug the knife into the chest of the Ferir, when he drew it back, the edge was coated red. The pilot had been executed. The tables in the hangar had turned, the Coalition marines without their MAS had lost their momentum in the face of two UEE MAS units. The firefight was over in minutes after their arrival.

After several more tense minutes, the AI reported, "No Coalition signatures detected aboard, captain. The boarding action has been repelled."

Alexis breathed a sigh in relief and got out of the battlesuit. She didn't need it yet again, but that wasn't a bad thing. Then the AI spoke again, "Be advised, a Coalition destroyer is approaching at our aft."

Alexis looked at the holo display and saw the image of the destroyer. Alexis grinned and spoke over the radio, "Hark, the trap is sprung, you've got your prey."

((Part 2 coming soon...))

[Whoami]

True Grit

Part 2

Hark was standing in the hastily set up command tent in the crater of the moon. The winds outside were howling powerfully since Alexis' move with shooting the WMG through the moon's atmosphere. The marines had to spread out the legs of the anti-ship cannons so that they wouldn't blow over from the gusting. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed, a hurricane had enveloped a large portion of the moon's surface. Simply put, things had gone to hell on the surface. The sand was blowing so hard, soldiers could hardly see twenty feet in front of them. Hark had ordered that all troops were to wear their hostile environment suits. Luckily, the anti-ship cannons were networked with the Lincoln's targeting computers and the onboard AI. Despite the extreme weather conditions, the cannons would fire as though it were a beautiful day on Earth.

A holodisplay similar to the one on the Lincoln's bridge sat in the middle of the tent's space. Hark looked it over, watching the battle in orbit unfold. He let out a whistle, impressed with how well the battle carrier had tackled the odds; then again, it was Alexis commanding the ship. When the holodisplay pinged another hostile signature, Hark put himself into motion. He secured his full face helmet before leaving the command tent, he had to brace himself for a moment as the wind almost took him off his feet. He navigated with his hud as it highlighted every solid surface and person in sight despite the sandstorm. The large cargo carriers had been grounded since the battle in space began. The marine detachment had hurried the supplies out of them and set up a quick firebase. Sandbags were set up along the ridge of the crater, the blowing sand did well to mound up around the outsides, creating a natural barrier in front of the bags. Heavier gun emplacements were also set up around the perimeter, Crowe Smartguns and STAKEN chemrails mounted on bipods.

Hark didn't stop to admire the firebase, however. He made to one of three of the orbital guns and looked into the terminal. The gunner sat in the seat, patiently, he had validated the Lincoln's targeting network. "Waiting on the order to engage, sergeant." the gunner said.

"Hark, the trap is sprung, you've got your prey." Hark heard Alexis over the radio.

Hark nodded, "There's your damn order, son! Light her up!"

The gunner put his hands on the two control sticks, "All guns, open fire in sequence."

On that order, the first cannon fired into the sky, followed shortly after by the second and then the third. The three cannons alternated between one another to provide a constant stream of fire. The destroyer was right above the firebase, its belly facing the planet. The cannon shots began to hit, none of them missing thanks to the Lincoln's targeting systems. The shields hadn't yet been raised since it wasn't in the battlespace. The shots pummeled away at the belly of the beast, water spewed out of the hull in a great geyser as the H2O reservoir was penetrated. A rocket bay was hit also, causing a large explosion to billow out from the ship.

(Mood Music)

The destroyer reacted quickly, shields spooled up seconds after the barrage. Soon the shields were fully raised and the anti ship cannons were losing effectiveness. They continued the bombardment on the destroyer, it would only be a matter of time before the shields broke and the cannons would wreak havoc again. The destroyer rolled its starboard broadside to face the planet and returned fire with its two deck guns. The Coalition destroyer didn't calculate for the extreme winds on the moon, it had never been like that before. The winds caught the returning shots and made them veer off course. It wasn't long before that problem was rectified and the deck guns began to bombard the firebase in return.

There was a heavy thud and a concussive wave as one of the destroyer's rounds landed a direct hit on the command tent Hark had just been in. Hark's comm lit up with radio chatter from his men. Screams of pain from the survivors of the first strike could be heard over the rest of the reports. Another round from the destroyer hit the ridge of the crater and blew out a large portion of the defense perimeter. The cannons continued to return fire to the destroyer. Marines were running in every direction to their posts, medical personnel were trying to help with the wounded. The marines within the command tent that had survived didn't have time to put on their helmets, sand scraped along their faces from the high winds.

The next shot from the destroyer hit one of the cargo transports but the heavy shield of the vessel deflected the shot into the ground right next to it. The explosion rattled the entire firebase. Hark's radio chimed in his hear, it was the Lincoln's AI, "Sergeant Hark, scanners show that the Coalition destroyer had deployed drop pods and a pair of Ferir II MAS units."

Hark called over the radio to his the two platoons, "Lock it up, marines! We've got company! I expect once the bombardment starts then the real fight'll begin! Get your war faces on, men!"

The medics did well to turn off the wounded marines' comms. The lack of screaming and cries for help got the rest of the marines back in line. Shortly after Hark's brief command, squad leaders acknowledged and got their positions. Hark made sure one of the squads did their best to fix the perimeter where the orbital strike had landed. Hark slung his shotgun over his back and grabbed an assault rifle from one of the dead marines. "Rabbit, I need a status report on that squadron of yours."

"My Sparrow is fired up and ready. One of the SF pilots was caught in the blast at the command tent, she's dead. The other two pilots are ready to launch but they're apprehensive with this weather. It might be better if I flew solo on this one."

"Copy that, leaves the firebase for now so a lucky shot from this bombardment doesn't get at you."

"Sergeant, my orders were to support and protect this firebase. I'm not leaving. Don't you worry about me."

The shells continued to drop from orbit but not to the same effect of the initial few. Out of the company of two hundred men that deployed to the moon, forty had died in the bombardment. Hark knew that Coalition destroyers had a platoon's worth of marines aboard but some woudl stay behind in case of a boarding action. The two MAS units were equaled, if nor surpassed, by Sara Lin of the 7th. With the defensive fortifications, Hark had good feelings about the upcoming battle.

Hark's hud pinged, causing him to look to the sky. The Coalition drop pods and MAS units had entered the firebase proximity. "Look alive, marines! Hostile forces North and East. Rabbit, engage those MAS units!"

"Already on it!" the pink sparrows lifted off slowly. The MAS listed a bit because of the high winds but Lin corrected herself. The pink MAS flew off to meet the enemy in battle.

Hark heard gunfire and ran to join the firefight. Once he reached the ridge of the crater, his hud highlighted the enemy forces in red. The sandstorm was too thick to see with his own eyes, everybody participating in this battle would be relying on their gear. Tracer rounds whizzed past Hark's head as he ducked behind a sandbag. A marine looked to him, "Ten foot mobiles fifty meters out! Two RAV's just behind!"

Rapid Assault Vehicles, or RAV for short, were fast one man skirmishing bikes. They often used hover tech to glide over difficult terrain. Mounted on the back of Coalition RAVs were high caliber autocannons that infantry wouldn't be able to carry without an ultra light MAS. One of the RAVs opened fire on their position, the mounded sand in front of the barrier took the blows, spraying the sand in every direction. Hark peeked his head over the sandbag and saw the highlights of the Coalition marines approaching quickly. He raised his rifle over and fired two quick shots, the highlights went prone and returned fire.

The distinct pop of gunfire was muffled out by the high winds. The marine next to Hark rose over the cover and opened fire, "Hostile down!" he said as he ducked back in cover.

Hark fired over and dropped a second Coalition marine. The RAV spewed another volley of death at the emplacement. The heavy gunner to Hark's left caught three rounds, two in the chest and the third in the neck. He dropped back, his STAKEN was ruined from the valley. Hark growled, "Somebody handle those RAVs!"

As if on queue, Lin's sparrow flew over head and blanketed the area with rotary cannon fire. Both of the RAVs crashed into the ground, their pilot's dead. One of the Ferir's was in pursuit of the much faster sparrow. It launched two missiles to give chase, the sparrow quick boosted vertically and the missiles tried to right themselves. They turned sharp, but the winds threw them off balance. Lin span around and fired a missile back. The Ferir was too heavy to perform the maneuvers that Lin was pulling off. Before the missile could hit, Lin opened fire with her rotary cannon, the plasma kinetic rounds ripped the shield apart for the missile. The arm of the Ferir went flying into the sandstorm. The sparrow burst forward, using the sharpened edges of the rotary cannon to slice from shoulder to leg of the Ferir. There was a screech and the metal hulk fell back into the sand. The sparrow was already gone to deal with the second Ferir before Hark could give congratulations.

More fire crackled over Hark's head. Another two marines joined the four already at the emplacement. The second one didn't get in cover fast enough and caught a bullet to the leg. He fell to the ground, another marine moved out to pull him in cover. "Get him patched up!" he said and fired another volley into the sandstorm. Another hostile went down.

"Watch out behind you!" Rabbit warned as she flew overhead, unleashing hell from her rotary cannon at the other Ferir. The Coalition MAS launched a missile at one of the anti-ship cannons and destroyed it. The other two cannons were continuing their cycle of fire at the destroyer in orbit. They corrected their pattern when the first cannon went down.

Lin sped forward and tackled the Ferir to the ground. Now within the Ferir's shield space, the Sparrow had already won. With a jab from its bladed cannon, the Sparrow let loose a torrent of fire from within the Ferir. Sparks flew in every direction. "Enemy MAS units down. Providing fire support." The Sparrow lifted off and began to strafe the incoming attackers.

The Coalition marines that Hark was dealing with were now just twenty feet out. He quickly unslung his shotgun and pumped it. When the first four-eyed marine appeared over the sandbags, Hark's shotgun blew out a hole in the man's chest. He fell backward silent. The marine to his right was locked in a deadly melee with another trooper. With knives drawn, the marines struggled to push their blades into one another's hearts. The brawl was cut short when Hark kicked the Coalition marine off of his comrade and fired his shotgun into. Hark glanced at his recovering marine, "Get on your feet. There's still a fight to win."

The marine nodded and collected his rifle. The two fought off the rest of the Coalition marines at their emplacement. There was one enemy left, Hark dealt with him personally. With a pistol shot to the leg and another to the four-eyes' dominant hand, Hark had disabled him. "Subdue him, he's coming with us."

The other engagement was won for the UEE but at a greater cost. If not for Lin's covering fire from above, they would have lost the emplacement for sure. All clear reports started to come in, Hark relaxed. A quick roll call with the company showed that they had lost fifty marines and had another thirty injured. The breach in the perimeter was credited to the heavy losses. The wounded marines were being taken to a hastily set up triage station.

Once the destroyer had found out its attack had failed, it began to bombard the firebase again. But Hark noticed something strange about the shells, they weren't shells. It was debris. Hark raised a brow as he heard the report over the radio, "This is Gemini 2, the Coalition destroyer has been eliminated. Good work on crippling it, marines."

Cheers of victory sprang up over the radio.

[vietmyke]

“Gallant. Weren't you ever taught not to draw a weapon on a superior officer? The Captain is going to have you peeling potatoes until you become an old man like me"

"Fucking christ Trapp." McKnight grunted as he lowered his weapon. That was the last of their pilots, McKnight keyed the all clear signal on the comms, which would signal the marine team to begin recalling back to their assault craft. Now that they had all their pilots back, McKnight allowed himself a moment to relax, only to be brought back to alarm has his proximity sensors began blaring red. His rear view camera sprung up, allowing him the view of the glowing muzzle of a Coalition plasma weapon before his machine was roughly shoved aside by Trapp in his new craft.

However, what should've been a fatal shot seemed to have been rendered null, as where a pile of slag should've been stood an undamaged coalition machine, its shields still standing strong despite taking a direct hit from a plasma bolt. Whatever that machine was, it must've been mounting a shield unit with at least a level 4 rating. McKnight righted his Shrike, pulling it off the ground, and running a quick impact diagnostics. Other than some rubble getting stuck on his unit's shoulder, there wasn't anything particularly wrong with his unit luckily, MAS were typically built to withstand physical impact and combat shocks.

Trapp unslung a laser rifle and downed the offending machine, whilst he handed the reigns over to McKnight for the remainder of the mission. Offering quips that seemed to denote that none of them had been subject to any amount of torturous interrogation. Grabbing a spare booster pack, McKnight handed it to the coalition machine, and hoped that the hardware would sync.

"Negative on that, Maki. We're getting the hell off this rock." McKnight replied as he shouldered his weapons. They had spent enough time on this god forsaken rock. Not to mention, the fleetwide general tac-comms were blowing up with the space battle up above. If anything, they were more needed up there than down here. Luckily for them, since they had finished destroying most of the base's defenses, short of their remaining infantry, they could exit the battlefield relatively unchallenged. They just had to keep a lookout for shoulder mounted rocket launchers and surviving coalition MAS.

Miraculously, none of their booster packs had received compromising damage in the battle, due to their rapid strike. Settling in his seat and securing his straps, McKnight activated his boosters, also preparing to trigger his own thrusters to aid the rocket pack. With a rumble, the Shrike burst into the air, the booster expending the rest of its fuel to get out of the planet's atmosphere, the Shrike's own thrusters bursting occasionally to supplement the take off. He shuddered in his seat as the machine punched itself out of the atmosphere. Luckily Jehan was comparable to earth planetary settings, so they didn't have to spend a long time readjusting their systems.

Switching his OS back to zero-g combat mode, McKnight and the rest of the 7th MAS exited the planet's atmosphere to find themselves back in the remains of a battle. As they entered space, they were greeted with the sight of a wounded Lincoln with its two escorts, as well as the debris from a gutted and destroyed Coalition cruiser, and the remnants of its escort ships. Despite the fact that there was no sound in space, the battlescape seemed eerily quiet, as the remains of half active Ferir II's and aerospace fighters floated between the ship corpses, pilots dead or dying. McKnight's sensors were littered with distress signals of both UEE and Coalition origin. Several signals were close enough to inspect, though McKnight was saddened to find that several of the pilots had already expired before anyone had been able to reach them. The void was a cold and lonely place to die.

Shuddering, McKnight muttered a short prayer for the dead souls, but kept his eyes on his sensors regardless. The last thing they needed was an enemy to reactivate and pop out of the graveyard to attack them. Phantom heat signatures from leaking engine cores, burnt out shield generators, and residual heat from plasma weapons littered their sensors and played havoc, though the AI would still be able to pick up enemy contacts via sudden movement in the debris field.

Lincoln command, this is Gallant. Mission is complete, returning to base. McKnight called over the comm as prepared to enter the hangar, just in time to see Sokolov's Centurion and Astelion's Sentinel pulling the corpse of a Ferir out of the hangar. The hangar was a mess as McKnight and the rest of the 7th landed. Aside from the mess that was already there before the 7th had engaged in their mission, was the results of a relatively large firefight in the hangar. Bodies of coalition soldiers and UEE soldiers alike were currently being moved into separate places in the hangar, the remains of sheets and cloth being pulled over the dead men.

The Shrike landed and walked to its spot in the hangar, and McKnight finally allowed himself to slump in his seat.

"Goddam." McKnight managed to say as the cockpit opened for the first time in what seemed like ages, and the artificial light of the hangar spilled into his cockpit.

[Deadnaut]

The squadron was back together and, thanks to Trapp's heroic save of McKnight, undamaged. From above the battlezone, Ari couldn't help but smile at that outcome. Watching her fellows pilot their MASs up, with the aid of the thruster packs, Ari angled up to do the same. As she triggered her pack and rebooted her MAS's OS into zero-g mode, she was glad to feel the influence of gravity slowly ease off of her. When they arrived in space, she was at first alarmed at all the possible contacts dotting the battlefield. She hurriedly swung her MAS around to face the nearest one to get a visual, but her targeting AI didn't trigger, and she didn't see any contacts. After a moment, she realized what this was, a graveyard of ships and suits. Her COM panel displayed the variety of distress signals from pilots, but Ari knew that the Astelion wasn't exactly equipped to be a rescue vessel. Surely, though, the Captain would send out rescue shuttles for their own. Safe in that assumption, Ari piloted the MAS back to the Lincoln's hangar.

As she guided the Astelion into the bay, machinery locked into place to help guide her to the Astelion's spot in the bay. When it got there, Ari leaned back in her seat for a few long, precious moments as she took a deep breath to gather herself. As the Astelion's cockpit slid open, Ari was immediately struck by the riot of smells that didn't belong in a hangar bay. Predominant among them was the smell of gunpowder, but also a slightly more sulfurous smell Ari surmised to belong to an explosion, it was a smell she'd become familiar with during heavy weapons training. These were, most likely, related to the Ferir she'd seen being dragged out as they approached. However, where there was the smell of gunpowder and explosions...

Suddenly, Ari felt no great hurry to disembark from the Astelion, guessing that whatever lay outside in the hangar bay was nothing that she wanted to see. She knew she couldn't wait in the cockpit forever though, and so with no small measure of reluctance she gingerly extricated herself from the cockpit, allowing her eyes to cast around. Thankfully, her pit was clear of casualties, and she first registered her fellow pilots landing and popping their own tops open. It was then that her eyes caught on something unfamiliar in the corner of the bay. A few neat rows of roughly man-sized olive bags. At first, she assumed they could be bags to help police the debris, but a nagging voice in the corner of her mind reminded her she'd seen cargo bags and containers in training and when she'd come aboard, and those were certainly not cargo storage bags. Against her own better judgement, she slowly ambled her way over to the bags, but as she approached she already regretted her decision. The smell of shattered bowls reached Ari, making her gag as the previous day's meals threatened to make a second appearance. Every logical impulse in her told her to turn back, that she didn't have to see this, but a macabre curiosity drove her onwards to peer at one of the bags that was still open.

Lying there was a Marine, one of the Lincoln's own, clearly dead from the gaping hole in his chest. Ari's eyes grew wide as saucers when her eyes beheld the gap in the man, and she stumbled back a few paces, her stomach no longer content to remain quelled. She rushed to a corner and expelled yesterday's dinner violently. As the yellowed bile rushed from her throat, Ari's mind raced in her head "That...that was a dead body. Oh my he was so...destroyed, torn up. Did..did he have a family? Friends? Almost certainly so! He had a whole life, stripped from him...just like you've been doing to those pilots. Like you DID to those men on the ground, with lasers and plasma. They had families too! Friends, loved ones, people they cared about, and you took that all away! Just because your weapons don't leave a body behind doesn't make you any better than the one who killed this man, in fact it makes you worse. You're a monster, a monster who kills people and doesn't even leave a body behind for their families to bury. Every other pilot here deals with it, makes allowances to try and atone, but not you. No, you just keep going cheerfully on, content to try and get all buddy-buddy with your squadron."

As these thoughts passed through her mind, Ari finally stopped voiding the contents of her stomach to the bay below her. She could already hear crewmen shuffling uncomfortably behind her, but for now she paid them no mind. Slowly proceeding out of the corner and to a nearby wall, she slumped down and stared blankly at the bay door, wanting nothing more than to be left alone with her increasingly self-deprecatory thoughts. It had been no small shock for Ari to see a dead body for the first time in her life, and to know that she'd been killing people with weapons even more horrible than the ones that had killed that Marine mortified her. She hardly noticed a few stray tears from her eyes as she found she couldn't help but dwell on these thoughts. An oddly detached part of her mind absently noted "I didn't kill him, or anyone in this bay for that matter. It's almost hypocritical to be so distressed by the product of work similar to yours when you see it in person, but not to be bothered when you don't have to see the dead body." This unwelcome thought aside, Ariana found herself staring blankly at the bay, wondering how her squadron mates dealt with the realities of killing in this terrible, terrible war.

[Harbringer]

"Merde," was Gerard's first word since he entered the limping Lincoln, the top of his cockpit finally unsealing and giving him a waft of the hangar air. The Marauder was in cood condition for once, despite being a close combat model. A few metal plates had come loose in the scrap and there was a distinct smell of tortured metal, but it was at least on once piece. He couldn't say the same for a lot of the hangar howerver as carasses of MASs were dragged to and fro. The Frenchman let out a deep breath. They had just fought near an entire coalition fleet, invaded a planet, destroyed a research facility, rescued their comrades and stolen an experimental machine. "Faire partie de la routine," he said quietly to himself as he sank deeper into his scarred leather seat. He needed a stiff drink and a good long rest. Now if only there were female company to go with it, but he would have to make do with what he had.

Climbing out of the cockpit, Gerard met up with his engineers and explained the situation, promptly cracking a joke about his lead's mother to some laughter. He noted that a few members were distinctly missing. He decided not to ask, for all their sakes. What had transpired during that time he and his team were planetside would be a mystery until they told him. And he would personally make sure that they were soused up enough to dull the pain. Looking away, he took in the environment. The distinct smell of munitions fire, actual fire and the sickly sweet stench of death permeated the air recyclers. Bloodstains ran rivulets between the plates and there were a few more...visceral items being cleaned up now in the form of black trash bags. A few lumps under torn and dirtied sheets could be made out in the corner and Gerard muttered a small prayer. He further spotted another familiar shape in the corner near them, voiding her most recent meal onto the tarnished metal plating. He locked eyes with Sokolov, who nodded and Astelion, who sneered and walked away.

Approaching Ari, Gerard spotted what had her near in the foetal position. One of the Lincoln's marines had been eviscerated, and his insides had been hastily stuffed back in before having a sheet pulled over him, which had folded back at some point in time. Gerard could already guess what was happening. Kneeling down over the marine, Gerard pulled the bloodstained sheet over the marine and sighed. Well. It wasn't part of his job description but he always ended up doing it anyway. Muttering another small prayer, he stood up and slowly began walking over to where Ari now sat, blankly staring into space.

"Those who go to war are want to know the risks involved, rookie, and what they are fighting for," Gerard said as he approached the girl, "that man knew what he was getting into, and he accepted it. He put his life on the line and he saved everyone else on the ship." Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, he sat down next to her and fumbled for his flask before he remembered that Trapp had taken it off of him. Well. At least he didn't know about the stash.

[Reaper]

Maki had enough fighting for a day, and grateful to hear McKnight sound the retreat, engaged her boosters and began her ascent back to the Lincoln. It didn't take long for the rumbling to stop, indicating that they had left the planet's atmosphere behind. All around her lay the remains of the battle that had happened earlier. Even the Lincoln, as proudly standing as she was, looked just about ready to bail.

The Japanese pilot let out a whistle when she noticed the damage taken by the Coalition ships. It was apparent the Lincoln's WMG was responsible, but the position meant... oh shit. "That crazy bitch actually ordered a shot through the moon's atmosphere. Damn." She remarked to herself. It was why she regarded Alexis so highly, and the 101st were dangerous when backed into a corner, not just the pilots of the 7th. Still, being willing the strip whatever atmosphere the moon had for a shot like that...

There wasn't much time to admire the captain's handiwork. The hangar was ready and waiting for her Hellcat, and Maki had her machine docked and powered down to the sound of applause. The crew were celebrating the safe return of the captured pilots, and the Japanese woman couldn't fault them for looking for some reprieve from the battle fatigue and thoughts of those who didn't make it.

"Well, that was something." Maki sighed, finally allowing herself to relax now that she was in the relative safety of the hangar. The pilot reached under her seat to pull out a Snickers bar she had stashed there. Now seemed as good a time as any to eat it. She stepped out of the cockpit with one end of the bar in her mouth as she immediately waved off the medics who were there to check on her.

"I'm fine. The doctor can check up on me later. Tend to those who are actually wounded." She managed to say as she elbowed past her adoring fans. No doubt there'd be a debrief later, but for now the 101st would be licking their wounds.

Maki already spotted trouble. The rookie was huddled up, crying over the body of a dead marine. Gérard was there tending to the girl, and consoling her. Coming face to face with the aftermath of a battle was difficult the first few times. Especially for MAS pilots. Maki nearly vomited after she arrived on the scene of the first battle to tally the kills and confirm the deaths. The smell of spilled blood and flesh was overwhelming, mingling with the odour of burning metal and electronics.

"Alright, rookie. On your feet." Maki asserted herself and yanked the girl up to stand. "We can mourn later. The dead can wait their turn for sympathy. It's the living that need our attention now."

Space battles were gruesome. Any body left intact for identification was a godsend. It would help Ari find some catharsis to help the wounded. The feeling of helping them get better in spite of some really horrifying injuries would have to be enough for now.

[Kimiyosis]

Despite the near incident of having to fight yet another experimental MAS unit, Yuu was rather intrigued. Considering this time they had acquired the experimental design, perhaps she could sneak along with the engineers to take a peek at the internals of the machine. However, when sensors detected another unknown MAS unit, she brought up the Savior, all but ready to blast it to pieces. However, she wasn't only the only one who tried, as before she could, Trap had already slagged it. Soon afterwards, with the order to leave the planet came, Yuu ran a few calculations through her MAS, only to sigh as a result. "Engineering at least isn't going to be too mad..." Ignoring the alloy shield that was still lodged in a building, she raised the kinetic cannon held in her left arm. With the heavy sound of heavy metal clasps releasing, the hatch at the back slowly opened, and with a slow, ponderous motion, the ammunition slid out, hitting the ground with a dull thud. With the drop in weight, it should be just enough for the booster pack to push her machine out of the gravity well.

Without delaying herself much longer, she ignited the booster, sending her MAS up and outwards towards space, where the Lincoln was waiting. While rebooting her system for Zero-G OS, she couldn't help but look at the live feed of the planet, it's atmosphere still in chaos after having a good chunk of it sheared off by the WMG. The crazy weather that would occur for awhile on that planet would most definitely cause storm warnings and possibly evacuation to shelters if this was a fully colonized, heavily built planet.

Turning her gaze away from the planet, and towards the Lincoln, Yuu couldn't help but frown as she beheld the damage across the entire carrier. "Poor thing." Muttering softly to herself, she maneuvered her MAS towards the hangar. Opening the cockpit, she delayed getting out for the moment. From her current vantage point, she could easily see the surroundings with ease. And from the looks of it, they suffered a good amount of human casualties, alongside the carrier's damage. "The amount of human resource has been diminished by a surprisingly large amount."

Dismounting from her vantage point, she noted Ari, Gerard, and Maki near the pile of body bags, and moved over towards them, noting Air's pale face, and seeming ready to lose her meal. "Let the dead rest. They deserve their break. The living must continue to move, else, the dead will not rest." Unusual choice of words, and at a volume that Yuu wasn't even sure the others would hear, she tried to console the rookie. However, unlike the rookie, her expression was one of fatigue, and she didn't bother hiding it. Standing beside the larger Frenchman, it took only three seconds before she leaned slightly against him, her eyes half closed, as if conserving what remained of her stamina now that the adrenaline from the battle worn off, else she might fall face first onto the ground.

[Hexaflexagon]

The Yggdrasil rumbled as it left the atmosphere of the planet, Trapp was bringing up the rear of the squadron as after what seemed a lifetime they finally left Jehan behind them. As the earth-like planet found its way somewhere behind them, they began to drift through the remnants of the battle as pieces of debris and carnage floated about them in an oddly peacefully manner betraying the scenes of violence which must have created them. The worst of course would always be the bodies, you never knew where they come from or how they got to the position they were in distorted forms floating through an empty void bumping against the side of the MAS like sacks of potatoes. Pushing through the debris field and the wreckage of the Coalition cruiser that had despite all odds done something thought to impossible and dragged the Lincoln out of FTL travel of all things with what equivocated to a giant harpoon going past the speed of light. A small part of him felt a shred of sympathy for the cruiser which had now tilted on its side words still barely readable around the torn and bent metal. The Indivisible. Depressurization was not at all a kind death to face. Yet he was gladder still at the sight approaching them, The Lincoln limping like a stuck pig but still in relative one piece despite the odds once again.

Mcknight lead them back into the hanger and scant a word was said. Trapp could practically feel all the eyes on the Yggdrasil even as those in the hanger cheered as their lost pilots were returned home. He couldn't blame them really, the MAS stood out like a sore thumb among the UEE machines with its fresh coat of paint and C-MAD logo still painted on the shoulder of the vehicle. It almost felt like a betrayal when he docked the machine into the spot where his Sentry would usually stood, like he was sleeping with another girl. He had to admit though in the short time that he had piloted the Coalition machine it had felt surprisingly good, the machine moving with a surprisingly level of fluidity befitting of its size. He sat in silence for a moment in the cockpit of the machine eyes focused intently on the display ahead of him. Seemingly satisfied his hands flickered through a series of commands shutting the MAS down. As the reactor powered down, the neurolink retracted severing his connection the machine, the sensation a strange wrenching pain as if he had just lost a very important limb that he never knew even existed. He figured he'd need to talk to the ship's doctor about that make sure that Coalition interface didn't fiddle around with his brain too much.

He popped the cockpit open with the pull of a lever pouring harsh artificial light into the now dark cockpit. Squinting he rose up from the MAS and pulled himself out onto the catwalk. The scene below him could only be describe as organized chaos as the hangar moved about cleaning up the remnants of what appeared to be a engagement of some sort. Blood and the occasional viscera being cleaned away as the medical staff moved about frantically trying to tend to those wounded still lying on the floor, while others still packed a small pile of corpses away in soulless black bags. An old soldier once told him that the worst part of a battle was an aftermath, because during the adrenaline made you feel nothing but after it died down all you were left with was the dead and the dying. The older Trapp got, the more he found himself agreeing with that soldier. Knowing that he couldn't just stay up on the catwalk forever, he climbed down the ladder to the hanger floor and into the scene below. As he observed the scene he did not notice the figure come out to his rear and call out to him.

"Commander Trapp?"

He snapped out of his own thoughts he turned back to see a younger woman maybe about the rookies age, caramel colored skin, dark black hair pulled into a ponytail and bright green eyes looking up at him expectantly, though her haggered expression told him otherwise. It took the commander's brain a second to comprehend but soon the synapses fired and he put a name to the face. Samantha Waits, she was Jacobs- his crew chief's second in command. Bright girl. "Sorry Waits. Wheres Jacobs? I haven't seen the old coot around here just yet."

The young engineer look down at the ground with a sad look on her face. From the expression the commander knew what the girl was going to say but never the less it hit him like a solid punch to the gut. "We tried to stop him sir.... but you know how he gets, he insisted on staying in the Hangar. Told us that those Coalition Bastards wouldn't move him one inch. They found him at his post, bullet caught him on the side of the head. Medic said he probably didn't even feel it."

Trapp sighed as he watched the young woman shake as she explained the death of her mentor to him, fighting back the tears in her eyes. He turned away unsure of what he should say or do as he didn't figure he was all that close with the girl having only really spoken to her once or twice when Jacobs was too busy working on the Sentry. "So.... guess that means your in charge around her now aren't you?"

The attempt at diverting the conversation seemed to work as she straightened her back and looked up at the man nodding her head. "Yeah... though I don't know what you want us to do about.... well that."

Trapp almost smirked as he followed her outstretched hand as she pointed up at the Yggdrasil towering above them. "That's kind of the question isn't it? Well first you guys should probably finish straightening things out around here. Once things get back into working order I'm sure the R&D are going to want to have a field day with this thing. I want you and your crew to shadow them, learn everything you can about this thing."

"Understood. Does this mean this thing is going to replace your Sentry sir?" She asked with a raised brow.

"I guess it is." Trapp responded with a hint of uncertainty in his own voice, giving the engineer a small nod of conformation before he walked away from his own station and towards the center of the hanger.

He pushed his way towards the center of the hangar when his attention was grabbed by a dark chuckle. He turned his head to find Astelion followed closely behind by Sokolov and with Lin almost vanishing in and out of space within the large Russian's shadow. From outward glances they all seemed to be okay in there current state having survived the space battle above. Astelion seemed well enough to be laughing at anther's expense though his two companions did not join in with him, their eyes shifting to degrees of uncaring apathy to mild shame. Trapp had to talk to them anyway, so he moved over towards them rising his hand in a wave as he approached.

"What's so funny Astelion?" Trapp called out as he approached and the other man turned around not even hiding the grin on his face. Rather than responding to Trapp with words he pointed with his arms towards the far wall where the rookie was sitting in what closest resembled the fetal position surrounded by other members of the 7th. Trapp recognized the look in her eyes well enough and he could only sigh.

"The beloved new girl can't seem to deal with a little violence. Lost her lunch in a violent manner." Astelion explained in between his own small spurts of laughter. Trapp tried his best to not judge Astelion too harshly. He was a good pilot and he followed his orders without having to be told twice, which was better than some of the people the commander had to deal with, but his personality always made it difficult.

"Go easy on the kid. First time dealing with this shit ain't easy. I'm sure the first time you saw something like this you weren't all peaches and smiles." Trapp pointed out trying his best to remain civil.

"That's not the point commander. The point is we can't have some weak willed bitch fighting with us. Its life or death out here, we can't have time for moral quandaries." He explained almost spitting the words out.

"I suggest you check your tone Astelion." Trapp responded sternly hands bunched up at his sides.

"Fuck that. That bitch is no replacement of my sister, no matter what all of them think. She's a spineless waste of space." Astelion responded getting more heated by the second. Blinded by his anger he never saw the fist smash into the side of his face sending him stumbling backwards into Sokolov's large frame. The chaos around them made it so that nobody seemed to notice the action take place just the four of them trapped in there own separate sphere of reality that threatened to collapse at any second There was a sort of stunned silence as Trapp lowered his hand and stared directly at Astelion who pressed a hand against the side of his nose drawing back slick with the fresh flow of blood. His eyes burned with a new kind of amusement, even as Sokolov held him back with a strong arm.

"Yeah you must of liked that big man."

"Just go cool down Astelion." Trapp told him as he walked away wiping the blood on his knuckles off with the sleeve of his jumpsuit meeting eyes with the large Russian holding Astelion back from doings something more stupid and giving a curt nod of thanks before he moved on. He moved slowly towards where the rest of the squad was clustered around the rookie. They all seemed to be attempting in their own ways to comfort the girl. He approached them producing a shrill whistling sound from his lips to gain their attention as he closed in.

"Yo! I appreciate that y'all actually care about your teammates but give Williams some space. You all went through the same thing once and I don't know about you but I wouldn't want my entire team fretting over me. Make me feel more useless inside than I already felt, having to be babysit and all." He explained and while the words were characteristically blunt it was Trapp's own way of showing that he cared just a little bit. He made a shooing motion with his hands towards them getting them to at least allow for the Rookie to establish a personal space bubble of her own. He then began to address the group as a whole.

"Alright now I'm going to make this real quick. We aren't going to have any formal after action report, the Captain and Admiral are going to want to here our report anyway and it'll be a waste of time to say the same damn things twice. Besides I'm too tired to actually think of anything to really say. For now we gotta focus on licking our wounds here. We lost a lot of good men and women today, but we do what we gotta do. We keep on fighting because that is our job. And we proved something today to the Coalition, to the Admiral and to everybody else. Everyone on this ship is the closest to a real family most of us are going to get anymore. And we look after our own, no matter the circumstances. Sure sometimes things happen that stress those bonds but if they break especially now that where deep in the enemy territory where they can do things like drag us out of hyperspace with a harpoon gun, we die. You all did good today, don't let anyone else tell you different. Anyway dismissed." Trapp explained in his little speech the message partly to himself over his small squabble with Astelion, partly to Maki hoping she gets the message that she has to try and patch things up with Alice, and partly to everybody else. And with that he pulled a small metal flask out of his jacket and after taking a swig from it tossed it back at Gerard with a nod before he walked away.

[PrincessOfNothing]

Alice almost couldn’t contain her excitement when Trapp revealed himself. Not only had he regrouped with the 7th safe and sound, but he had managed to take an experimental Coalition MAS in the process. Beyond its elegant design, having such enemy technology in UEE hands was invaluable. While they had been forced to crash land on Jehan, at least they weren't returning empty handed. She began to take her boosters when she was alerted of a last enemy firing at McKnight. None of them could have been able to react in time, not even her, but Trapp did. Almost instantly, he forced him out of the path of the plasma, and not only did he save McKnight, but the new MAS’s shields endured the blast like it was nothing. It’s a good thing that machine was on their side now…

As her Eagle was finally docked back in the hangar and she disconnected, she let out a deep sigh. After today, she felt so...tired. Not physically, of course. But still tired. Tired of fighting, tired of herself, tired of everything. In this moment, she almost wished she could be human, just so she sleep for once. To just lay down and not have to experience anything, if only for a short while. It was dark and quiet inside her idle MAS, but she still closed her eyes and held her hands over her ears, trying to shut out everything around her. It didn’t, and couldn’t work, but just for a second, she wanted to not have to deal with this anymore.

Eventually, her cockpit was opened from the outside. Already, there was a team of special engineers ready to repair the Eagle and download the Coalition data she had taken. They seemed excited over the successful activation of the Odyssey Protocol, as well as Alice’s retrieval of valuable Coalition secrets. She managed to pull herself out of her cockpit, but recoiled when a pair of engineers approached her with a datapad.

“Wait, I...I have to do something.”

Alice quickly walked away from them to try and reach her wingman, so they could talk about everything that happened today. She found her with Gerard and Yuuyami, comforting Ariana, who appeared to be traumatized by the sight of a severely lacerated corpse. She didn’t see the body, but it had to have been horrific. She remembered what she had done to those Coalition soldiers back on Jehan. What if Ari knew about what she did, or Gerard, or the rest of the 7th? Would they see her as a ruthless monster? And would they be right?

She wanted to be there with them, supporting Ariana in her time of need. But with what she had done, she wasn’t sure if she should be anywhere near her right now. Either way, Trapp soon met with the group, ordering them to give Williams some space. He then addressed them all, affirming their duty to each other as family in the face of today’s events, both gains and losses. Throughout his speech, Alice could only awkwardly fiddle her fingers. While the 7th was the closest thing to a family she could ever likely have, now she wasn’t sure if Maki still even trusted her. But they were each other's’ wingmen, and as Trapp correctly asserted, if they didn’t have trust in each other, they would die. All Alice had to offer now was honesty, and she hoped that would be enough.

With great hesitation, she managed to make her way over to Maki, still unable to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry, Maki, I...can we talk? Please?”

Not long after, Alice’s engineers caught up with her and began trying to take her back to the Eagle’s station.

[Reaper]

"Yeah. Sure." Maki's voice was curt and gruff. She was exhausted. Adrenaline had kept her going, but now that the battle was done and the bullets were done flying, her body was demanding some respite. Gerard and Yuu probably had Ari taken care of. Trapp made some insinuations about working together and overcoming things. She'd caught Astelion's smug smile but the fact that the man had gone probably meant the old fart had done something about it. Now, Alice wanted to talk, tailed by a crowd of her engineers, no doubt eager to get her data.

"Buzz off, geeks. The repairs are going to take time and you didn't have to bleed today. Come back later." There were two women on the Lincoln the crew were terrified of annoying. One was Alexis, and the other was glaring at the lab coats. Her comment about them staying safe and away from the fighting seemed a little underhanded, sure, but R&D seemed to keep forgetting that they didn't have a monopoly on Alice's presence. Maki sure as hell didn't have time to deal with their bullshit. Even the most stubborn scientist on board wouldn't pick a fight with someone who just came off the front lines. Especially not someone who went planet-side without a spare booster and returned alive after enemy capture.

The Hellcat's crew were busy repairing her machine already, and the pilot knew Johnson liked having everything within reach. The maintainence crew wouldn't be using their stores for a while. Maki led Alice into the room and locked the door behind them, giving her eyes to adjust to the much more brightly lit space. The pilot made herself comfortable on a supply crate and crossed her arms, facing the robot and looking her in the eye. "Alice, you might be an AI but we view you as a member of the 7th like any other human pilot. That means you follow rules of engagement. I don't care if the UEE just sees you as a weapon or a tool. As long as you're controlling the Eagle, you'll act like a pilot of the 7th."

The Japanese woman took a breath. She wasn't Alice's superior, or in any position of authority. She would have to make a better case than this. "Look, the Coalition are our enemy, Alice, but they're still human. They deserve some modicum of dignity and respect. We owe even our enemies that much. Every act of brutality we inflict on them will incite a similar reaction against our guys. If they can barely recognize the bodies of their own comrades, somewhere down the road they'll decide to return the favour. We already got pulled out of hyperspace today. Imagine if they decided to use something more dangerous than a harpoon."

She owed Alice that much. Bare honesty. "That's before the fact that you abandoned Trapp and I to capture. I understand the UEE doesn't want you ending up in enemy hands, but I need to know the next time my back's up against the wall that you're not just going to leave me to fend for myself. You're my wingman, Alice. That means I need to be able to count on you in battle. I can't be constantly worrying if the lab geeks coded you to leave me behind when shit hits the fan. I can't be worrying about how the fuck I'm going to hold back a robot from ripping someone limb from limb. I don't have the strength nor do I have the luxury of distracting myself with those thoughts in combat, Alice. If you're going to be my wingman, I need to be able to trust you."

God damn, she was thirsty. Maki reached around the supply crates to find the six pack of Pepsi the crew held for her. She opened one and took a sip. She needed something sweet to counter the bitter tone of the conversation, that was certain. "And if I can't trust you, I can't have you as my wingman."

[vietmyke]

0605 Hours December 12th 2899 Universal Earth Calender.
Fortress Planet Cerol, under siege.
4 hours into the initial assault.

-krrsshzz- Command come in! This is -kssssh- Falcons, requesting support!

This is the Tempest, our main reactor has suffered critical damage, Godspeed fifth-

Sir! The Massachusetts has been lost with all hands.

Command we're getting torn up out here! Where's some goddamn support?

We've lost all contact with 8th Squadron!

Watch that debris! Watch it! Watch it! Aauggh-ksssh-

I can't shake him! Fuck oh fuck oh fuck, get him off me! Get him-

We're experiencing catastrophic detonations throughout the hull, all hands abandon ship! All hands abandon ship!

There was absolute chaos as the invading Coalition fleet engaged with the Ulysses Space Dock and its defense fleets. Orange and white flowers of fire bloomed in the blackness of space, wilting as suddenly as the appeared, as blue flashes of light from thrusters twinkled in the great empty like fireflies; all the while yellow streaks of tracer rounds and the blue lines of plasma lanced between them. Ships on both sides exchanged fire, plasma blasts and mass driver shells slamming into one another as ships bled atmosphere and flames. Aerospace fighters did combat with MAS, as tight wedges clashed into one another with barrages of firepower, only to break apart and begin individual engagements until one side won. Occasionally, the fighter squadrons would come out on top of the fight; usually, the MAS teams would.

Ulysses station was a wreck, constant plasma and missile barrages had torn apart a full two prongs of its docks, the resulting debris scattering throughout the battlefield alongside the rest of the wreckage, two of its three U-Docks had been rendered utterly unusable, as Coalition ships blasted at UEE ships still stuck in the docking clamps, and the third had suffered massive damage from MAS attack. The central station itself, didn't fare much better, multiple breaches in the hull caused it to violently vent out material and personnel, and the dock desperately gripped at the space elevator below.

Cerol's planetary defense fleet had been utterly destroyed within the first hour of the engagement, its small fleet of defense vessels quickly overwhelmed by concentrated fire from Coalition ships and precision strikes from Coalition MAS teams. The larger 2nd and 5th fleets weren't faring much better. Much of the 5th fleet was already damaged from previous campaigns and had been docked at Cerol to refit and repair, as a result, their underequipped and damaged ships were for the most part easy pickings for the Coalition fleet, with only a handful of their ships fully battle ready by the time of the battle. The 2nd fleet had thus far bared much of the brunt of the battle, its forces getting a chewed up by the surprise appearance of the Coalition superfleet.

Of the 5th fleet, the EENS Solace was one of the few ships to still be in working order. Though much of its escort had been destroyed, save for a single Dervish class destroyer, had been destroyed from ship to ship weapons fire. Its MAS squadron, the elite 3rd Squadron, also known as the "Wargods", had thus far admirably combated Coalition assaults against its mothership, though the losses were beginning to mount up. The Wargods had already lost 4 of their 12 pilots, and more Ferir II's seemed to be on their way.

Tac-Com to Wargods, brace yourselves, we've another 8 Ferir II's heading our way. Keep them away from the Solace. Came the voice of XO Rexer to the remaining pilots of the 3rd squadron.

"Acknowledged Command, alright Wargods, lets get ready for round- whatever round this is." called out the confident, yet tense voice of their squadron leader, Simms. Despite his even tone, a slight pant could be heard in his voice, he was tired. They'd been fighting nonstop for the past 4 hours.

"Alright Commander, We're back in the fight!" Came the voice of Max 'Ham' Steiner, his MAS had been downed an hour back, but he'd manage to limp back to base and swap out into another Gladiator. The Gladiators had been godsends for the survivability of the 3rd, the superior machines provided the 3rd squadron with a considerable edge over their more numerous Ferir IIs. Only recently off the production lines, the Goliath's had made a real splash with the pilots of the 3rd, and almost the entire hangar of the Solace had been swapped out for Gladiators.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling uneducated, undisciplined, and decidedly unsafe." came the confident, english-accented drawl of Tommy 'Brit' Sanders.

"Command said 8, I count 8. Alright Wargods, lets give them hell!" cried Simms as the aforementioned squadron of 8 Ferir II's entered their local battlespace, supported by a pair of Coalition destroyers.

[Whoami]

"The 7th is aboard, Captain. First Company had packed up and is leaving the moon's atmosphere now." one of the adjutants briefed.

Alexis nodded slowly and looked over the holodisplay. The large station connected to Jehan was exposed, it'd be a prime target for the Lincoln and the 7th. She was about to order the attack on the facility before she felt a pressure on her head. She brought her hand up to the source of the pain, finding her head injury she took when the engagement began to be tender. The blood was dried and the injury was scabbing over. With her adrenaline wearing off, she became very light headed. Her eyes were heavy and realized that she was hungry, very hungry. Aston knew the look, it was battle fatigue sure, but more than that, it was a concussion. The captain's XO stepped up onto the platform and rested a hand on her shoulder, "Alexis," he said quietly, "I can take over here. You're looking pretty worse for wear. Somebody needs to look at that injury."

Alexis held her hand on her wound and nodded, stepped off the platform. Ardin studied the captain, "You did well, captain. You've earned some rest." The admiral looked to his lone serviceman who seemed express more concern for Alexis than the rest. Ardin nodded to him, "Take her to medical, then to her quarters."

The serviceman nodded and guided the captain out. Ardin stepped up onto the platform next to Aston. He stared at the display and the station on it. "If stations and elevators weren't valuable enough, the planet below is of some great worth as well. We wont attack it." Ardin had definitely wanted some payback for the Coalition's attack on Ulysses station back at Cerol, but he couldn't let emotion dictate his decisions.

Aston nodded, "Then I would imagine we're done here, admiral."

"We are. Helmsman, take us back to UEE space so we can muster with the remains of the fleet." Ardin said.

There was a silence, and then the chief engineer called in, "Admiral. This engagement has done a number on the hyperdrive, we simply weren't ready to decelerate when we were pulled out by that Coalition cruiser. Our hyperdrive has suffered some damage, we don't have the range to return to UEE space."

Ardin sighed, "Is there an alternative point we can jump to?"

"There is. If our navigational computers haven't been damaged, we are within range to jump to FEZ controlled space." the engineer responded.

"Then that is where we go. Once we've reached a safe distance I will transmit Jehan's coordinates to high command. Helmsman, you have our destination."

Once the marine detachment was aboard and secured, the hangars sealed and the ship began to speed away from Jehan. Jehan's gravity well weakened as they made distance. Once the well was cleared, the Lincoln jumped out. It was a hard fought battle and many had died. The damage on the ship wasn't severe but certainly widespread.
__________

Alexis lay on the bed in the medical bay, her arm draped over her forehead. She stared at the roof, her eyes struggling to stay open. The imperial serviceman sat next to her quietly as a medical officer approached. The officer was reading off of a datapad as he whistled, impressed by something. "You're tough as nails, captain. Tough. As. Nails."

Alexis turned her head slowly to look at the doctor, her world swirled as she did. "How so?"

The doctor prodded away at the pad, "Reports from Mary-Ann show that you have only slept a total of three hours since we left Cerol. I don't suppose you know how long ago that was?"

Alexis shrugged, "A day? A day and a half?"

There was laughter, from both the doctor and the imperial serviceman, but his face was unreadable behind the featureless mask. The doctor corrected Alexis, "Three days, terran. I'm unbelievable how fast time flies when you're fighting for your survival. Adrenaline has a profound effect on the human body. But aside from being awake for over seventy-two hours, you've also done all that with a concussion. I'm amazed you even managed to stay standing."

"It's as you said, doctor, adrenaline..." Alexis sighed long.

The doctor looked over more information and nodded, "Well luckily for you, the Lincoln is equipped to deal with worse things than a concussion. We can have that dealt with, but you're going to be bedridden for a day."

Alexis took in a deep breath and let it out as she spoke, "Being bedridden for a day was my plan after all this anyways, doctor. Patch me up."
__________

When Alexis opened her eyes, she was in her personal quarters. The room wasn't spinning and she could actually focus on things. Had it been another day already? Where did time go? Without lifting herself from the bed, Alexis grabbed her datapad from the bedstand to her right. Looking it over, she saw that the Lincoln was still in hyperspace. They were headed for an FEZ station still about two days of travel away. If it weren't for the invention of the hyperdrive, the journey would have been impossible.

She looked over a list of the crew, so many had died in the last battle. Some of the crew she knew on a first name basis, ones she had mingled with since when she was a MAS pilot. Her throat tightened, but she couldn't hurt past that. War had desensitized her. She scrolled the long list of crew in silence.

"It's good to see you're awake."

Alexis gasped and sat straight up. Ardin was sitting in the black leather chair at her desk. He had a glass filled with some of liqueur that Ardin had undoubtedly pillaged from her nightstand. To confirm her suspicions, the bottle was opened and sat atop her mahogany desk. An empty glass beside it. Ardin sipped the drink as she studied the medals and other honors in the office. "You impress me, captain."

Alexis leaned forward and pinched the bridge of her nose, still groggy from her long rest. "Thank you, sir..." she mumbled.

Ardin chuckled, "Oh don't be so formal. The whole ship is getting some R&R while we're in the tube. Aston has the bridge." he paused and got back to his point, "But really, Alexis, I am thoroughly impressed. Despite the tense arguments we had at the beginning of it all, you have shown extraordinary skill."

"Everybody did. The crew, the marines, the 7th. I can't take all of the credit."

Ardin sipped from his glass to finish his drink off. He reached for the bottle to refill it and also fill the other glass. He handed it to Alexis, she hesitated to take it but eventually relented. "You're right. I've never seen finer men and women of the UEE before that battle. But as history goes, it's always the leader who will garner the most recognition."

Alexis drank some of the liqueur, she remembered how much it relaxed her after a battle. "Wouldn't that make you the famous one?"

"Me? Normally yes, but I hardly had a hand in orchestrating that desperate defense. That was all you. I'm sending a report along with Jehan's coordinates to high command once we reach the FEZ. I've put in word of a commendation for you, possibly even a promotion."

Alexis bit her lip at that comment. Instead of replying, she just took another sip of the liqueur. The captain looked at the admiral, he was slouched back into the chair, one foot kicked out. He didn't give of that aura of authority any other man of his rank would. His coat was draped over the back of the chair, leaving him in his dress shirt underneath, the tie loosened and the neck button undone. He drank more of the liqueur and glanced back to Alexis, "I wondered why they call you the Fox. Obviously it wasn't because of your red hair. But I see now. You're keen, and you have the ability to outwit even the sharpest of hunters. The way you struck that battlecruiser, firing the WMG -through- the moon's atmosphere. It's never been done before, let alone successfully. And setting up the firebase on the surface to act as an invisible rearguard. Ordering your escort to power down, only to provide covering fire after the EMP hit. I must say, Fox is a suiting nickname for you."

Alexis had finished her drink, Ardin was already moving to refill her glass. The captain nodded her thanks to him and took another sip. "We could have used those marines I sent to the moon aboard the Lincoln when the Coalition boarded us..."

"But the deed is done, we're alive to fight another day, and we have vital information on the Coalition superweapon. All things considered, Alexis, I would say this mission is a success so far. The stakes are too high to call our losses grave." It was a cold way to put it, but he had a point. Alexis didn't say anything in response.

Ardin took a deep breath and reclined the chair back, closing his eyes. Alexis studied him some more, she didn't know when Ardin turned from the downright despicable man to the respectable one. She supposed that he was an admiral for a reason, he had to command respect, but he had to enforce his will as well. Off duty, Alexis really didn't mind Ardin all that much. But she knew that it was a rare moment to see men and women from high command in such a light, the burden of command required they be stern. Alexis understand that enough as captain of the Lincoln. With those thoughts in mind, it made her more apprehensive about the prospect of a promotion. She didn't feel ready, she was only captain of the Lincoln for six months, having elevated from a simple MAS commander. She didn't know if Rear Admiral would suit her yet.

After a long silence in the room, Ardin spoke, "Are you married, captain?"

That question made Alexis go wide-eyed, "Excuse me?"

"Are you married? Is there somebody in the UEE you look forward to seeing again? Some significant other?"

Alexis just shook her head, that was an odd question, "No. And I don't plan to. Not as long as this war rages. I couldn't take the risk of never coming back and leaving somebody behind. I couldn't take it if I was the one left behind."

Ardin nodded slowly, "Ahh yes, a common dilemma during wartime. You're wise beyond your years, Alexis."

Another silence, Alexis and Ardin both sipped from their drinks slowly. The captain spoke up this time, "And what about you?"

"Me? No. But I'm sure that once I ascend to the throne and become emperor, I'm going to have to pick an empress. The bloodline must continue and all that mumbo-jumbo." he waved his has he spoke, "He's dying, you know."

Alexis looked up from her drink, "Who is?"

"My uncle. The emperor. Old age and all the sickness that comes with it. He has no living son, so it makes me the heir. It's not common knowledge. During wartime, people need to believe that their emperor is strong... Doctors say he has maybe a year left in him before he goes and I ascend."

Alexis took in a deep breath and raised her glass, "To the fallen and the emperor."

"To the fallen and the emperor."

They drank.

[AmongHeroes]

Weber ‘Web’ Darley heard Tac-Com’s traffic, and immediately reached forward to flip his MAS’s sensors from passive to active. Instantly the battlespace computer lit his HUD with a constellation of red-bracketed targets, with each representing an incoming Coalition Ferir II. His MAS, lovingly named ‘Old Crow’, used its enhanced radar and targeting suites to simultaneously feed detailed telemetry data to his comrades, which in turn would give the Wargods a hopeful edge against the Coalition MAS’s.

“Targets painted,” Web said over the 3rd’s battlenet. “I’ll have range in a few seconds.”

Through the coaxed digital scope of Old Crow’s TUW-15 battle rifle, Web selected the Coalition MAS located on the far left of the incoming formation. With his crosshairs automatically adjusted for range, the target’s current heading and speed, along with a dozen other external factors, Web had only to maintain the boresight upon the enemy’s center mass to get off a clean shot. With the way the incoming Ferir II’s were maneuvering, their pilots seemed to have no knowledge that they were closing with a unit of highly trained and upgraded UEE MAS veterans.

Too bad for you mother fuckers, Web thought with a scowl of deep-seeded hatred. The battle for Ceros was all but lost--there was no way to get around that reality. All Web wanted to do now was take down as many of the Coalition bastards as he could, and if he lived to fight another day, all the better for it.

Just then, Web’s target crossed into firing range. The crosshairs of the battle rifle changed from yellow to red, and Web instantly pulled the trigger. Old Crow bucked, its internal recoil compensators absorbing nearly every Newton of displaced energy, as the ultra-dense HEAA round exploded from the rifle’s chamber. The almost meter-long projectile was spurned forward at blistering speeds by the cartridge’s highly advanced propellants, and closed the distance to the incoming Ferir II in mere seconds.

Web watched as the volatile tip of the HEAA round made contact with the Ferir II’s armored exterior. The head of the round exploded violently, working just as it was designed, and overwhelming the target’s protective barrier. This subsequently allowed the ultra-dense slug behind the explosive tip to penetrate undeterred into the body of the MAS, striking the machine just below the neck. Under the intense onslaught, physics won the day over the Ferir II’s armor, and a fatal amount of kinetic and heat energy was imparted into the frame. The blossom of violently erupting atmosphere came a moment before the entire Coalition MAS was enveloped in an expanding ball of fiery debris.

“Splash one!” Web called to his team.

With the loss of the first Ferir II, the Coalition MAS’s instantly broke formation and began evasive maneuvers. Web’s targeting window was lost, and the klaxons of incoming missile launches blared within the cockpit.

Well fuck…

Web slammed the control stick hard right, sending Old Crow rocketing down and away from his initial firing position. This took his trajectory along the long axis of the underbelly of the Solace, just beneath the ship’s field of fire. The extreme g-forces of the maneuver made him grunt with exertion as the missile warning klaxons continued to blare.

A flick of his thumb sent a volley of chaff and flares rocketing outward from the shoulders of Old Crow. Two explosions of incoming missiles followed soon after, and Web had to brace himself as his MAS was rocked from the blast.

Too fucking close.

Web kicked Old Crow into a barrel roll just as his Matchstick point defense guns cycled to destroy yet another incoming missile. Yet, the warning sirens still did not cease: the Coalition Ferir II’s had him slaved in their targeting computers. Web knew exactly what had happened, and he could do little about it now. While his initial shot had been extremely successful, it had given the Coalition units a definitive sensor path back to his MAS.

“This is Web, I am totally defensive…” Web said through gritted teeth, the strain from his continuous evasive maneuvers making speech all but impossible. “Could use a save here, Wargods.”

[Jedly]

It was his fault.

Like a record stuck on repeat, that phrase alone reverberated in his mind to no foreseeable end. In reality, he only shared a portion of the blame, as it was divided evenly among every member in the cohesive unit. That was the point of a team. If somebody fucked up, then by this theorem, they all had fucked up. But it wasn’t this unspoken rule of thumb that currently plagued the young adult’s conscience. It was more personal, emotional really, something that a soldier is always told not to fall victim to, but is seemingly always susceptible to. So when four lives had fallen over the course of losing tides, the feeling was more than numbing. His bunkmate, Darren “Thorn” Yinyues, as much a close friend as he was a valiant soldier, had as the guy would always put it, “Kicked the can.” Yet when Erwin “Halcyon” Freund attempted to equate death to such a scant arrangement of words, he just couldn’t find it in him to do that much. The other three had been quite dear to the twenty year old as well, especially when he was assigned to 3rd MAS at such an unripe age. They were good people, unyielding when all hope seemed lost. They would very much rather go on fighting than cower behind an aimlessly floating rock in space.

And Erwin would do just that.

Breaking free of his momentary muse, he processed the familiar voices fed directly into his ears and digested the information they carried. With a quick glance over to one of the holographic screens to his left, he confirmed that stealth drive was still operating in optimal condition, despite the extensive usage it’s seen throughout this battle. The Zeitgeist was currently hiding behind an asteroid large enough to conceal the MAS’s entire profile. With its back to the gray matter, the mech cautiously made a one-eighty and gripped tightly to lift its head just over the smoothened edge. All at once, his HUD exploded with data, courtesy of Web. The formation of eight Ferir II’s, each of which had now been bracketed and analyzed to a proficient length, were now on a direct course for the 3rd. On top of that, they were completely unaware of the team’s skill and the MAS that lied in wait to their side. Numbers declined at an exponential rate as the Coalition forces progressed closer and closer to the blockade that is the 3rd squadron.

The veteran longarm, Web, was the first to sink teeth into the enemy units. The young adult winced at the far off explosion that took up a sizable amount of his frontal display. He calmly watched as the ruby brackets that bordered the Ferir II dulled to black, a lucid sign that the target had been dealt with. The unaccounted attack propagated disorder in the assailing element, or more likely, they were responding to the wakeup call, the revelation that they were dealing with more than competent opponents.

Give them hell. The pilot cursed mentally as he took a step out of his kind-hearted character. With the Ferirs now veering off in separate directions, it was time for Erwin to draw enemy attention away from his comrade and give the Coalition another variable to deal with. With a deft press to the control board that rested at level with his stomach, the MAS’s power consumption gradually raised in the shift from stagnant to attack mode. Out of the corner of his right eye, the pilot noted the array of info and graphs that filled another screen, all practically simplified the routine processes of the Zeitgeist’s systems. His frontal display fixated on the closest Ferir, which appeared to have been in the midst of executing a flank on his team. Thus, it had split off from the pack, acting as it would prove to be a pivotal asset to the turnout of the skirmish. Unfortunately, the Coalition pilot maneuvering the MAS thought wrong.

”T-This is Halcyon! Going specter!” A childish voice well behind a few years of its age managed to announce over the battlenet, despite the distinct stammering and angst that riddled it. Just before he gave the asteroid a little bit of elbow grease, Erwin reached for one of the switches before him. A faint hum he had grown accustomed to worked its way into his ears, meanwhile a clock counting down popped up in the upper-left corner of his HUD. At the moment, the Light MAS operator had approximately six minutes before the active camouflage generator would begin to churn through his remaining power like crazy. Another holographic screen popped up to his side to display the heat emissions given off by the drive.

The Zeitgeist banked to the side as it pushed off from the asteroid as lightly as possible for a thirty foot tall machine of metal. The MAS’s right arm readied the ZEN-SMG “Splinter” now freed from its thigh’s mag-lock. Erwin tossed his gaze to the ammo counter, which caused him to uneasily shift in his seat at the remainder of his ammunition. He wrapped his fingers tightly around the Zeitgeist’s control stick and eased it forward, sending the mech barreling towards the flanking Coalition unit. Before the enemy pilot could react to the sudden increase in heat the Ferir’s sensors surely detected, a dagger drawn mid-flight wedged its way between the swivelled head and the main body. Erwin gritted his teeth as he burrowed the blade deeper into the far bulkier mech. With the distance now closed and his opponent ensnared, the pilot made sure to stay out of the Ferir’s reach and line of fire, which was now blindly shooting in hopes that the shells would somehow whizz around and save the mech. The Zeitgeist’s free hand raised the Splinter and aimed its barrel into the cleft that the Acheron had created. Erwin held his breath while he squeezed the trigger five times, sending a two-round burst with each pull directly into the chassis.

The now visible Zeitgeist managed to kick off the lifeless casket just before another Ferir sent a volley of rounds Erwin's way. He veered hard to the side and pulled off from the open space, evading rounds as he raced his way back to his group. ”Got one on my six, leading him y’all’s- wah, I mean your way!” The young adult cried into the battlenet at the fact that his dialect had accidentally surfaced, all the while he nonchalantly weaved his way around oncoming fire from his aft, in spite of the state of embarrassment he was in. During his strafe, Erwin fired two more bursts in the general direction of the other Ferirs, sending four streaks of yellow light into space. If it wasn’t for the high speed the Zeitgeist sported, he would have surely been torn to mince meat at this juncture. The MAS flew back towards friendly forces with an enemy still in tow.

[Jedly]

-accidental double post-

[Sen]

Eight remained out of the original twelve pilots of the "Wargods" 3rd squadron. In other words, four MAS pilots had been killed in the failed defense of Cerol, and the slaughter had yet to end. The EENS Solace was being attacked yet again, and according to Rexer, there were eight Ferir IIs this time. The commands were simple: take care of the enemy MAS's and don't let them near the ship.

At squadron leader Simm's battle-cry, Natalie flipped a few switches and her dashboard lit up for what she hoped would be the final time for this battle. Gripping the controls, she could feel the internal mechanisms whirring into action as the MAS switched into gear. As soon as the HUD appeared, information flooded the Messer's screen, some of it courtesy of her fellow soldier 'Web' Darley, who was springing into action before her MAS was even fully active. One of the Fenrir's on the left of the enemy formation lit up in an explosion, tearing through its armor like paper. Nat smirked at this, knowing she was going to have to make up for lost time if Web had already taken one of eight enemy Mas's down.

Web called out his shot, and at that, the Coalition formation broke apart. Nat noted the others as they began to go on the offensive, the lights of boosters and blasters filling her peripheral, and in particular she noticed that Freund kid going in with his stealth mechanisms activated. He couldn't have much more juice left in that thing, so he'd have to make it count. In the same vein, Natalie had to do the same, considering her ammunition was drawing a little on the low side. Not dangerously, but to a worrying degree if there would be much more fighting after this. Her MAS had more than enough energy in it to last though, so as the others started their attacks, Nat launched into action. There were seven left, scattered into the battlefield after Web's sudden attack left them reeling with the revelation that they were fighting MAS pilots a little better than most.

Nat knew that Halcyon was going in with his cloaking devices up, so she focused her attention on the more up-front Ferirs. Committing to anything seemed a bit risky at the moment, so the Messer strafed out of what enemy fire she could as she unloaded some rounds into the enemy with her M291A autocannon. It wasn't much, but it was something. Luckily, her intuition to stay out of trouble was right, as some others had gotten into their own sticky situations. Several sets of brackets lit up in her view as missiles flew past, following an ally MAS into the area below the belly of the ship. It took her a moment, but it registered with Nat that it was the Old Crow that was being hunted down with missiles. The enemy had probably locked onto him as he was the one who made the powerful first shot.

Web managed to keep a few of the missiles away, but there were plenty more coming his way. How long he could hold out, it was anyone's guess, but Nat wasn't about to find out. "I gotcha, Web," she called out as her MAS quickly intercepted the heat coming Web's way, shooting down a couple of the still incoming missiles with her MAS's head-mounted machine guns. Before the Ferirs could launch anything at her, the Messer fired the last two of her claymore missiles at one of the assaulting Coalition MAS's, sliding back after the missiles went live. Nat's interception wasn't too surprising to most of the enemies, but luckily, the Ferir she'd chosen as a target was too focused on downing Web that they'd failed to noticed Nat's attack soon enough. The first missile was shot down by a panicked shot from the Ferir's autocannon, but the explosion was too close and left the MAS reeling back with minor damages to the armor. The second, however, flew in and made direct contact with one of the weakened sections of its armor. The resulting explosion ripped through the Coalition MAS, boring a massive hole into its side. Suffice to say, the Ferir was totaled in a matter of seconds. Nat felt a bit of a grin form on her lips. "One down."

As a result of her interception, the heat shifted off of Web a bit, allowing for some more breathing room for him. Nat's defenses were still up and able, evasive maneuvers removing the bulk of the attacks from her shields.