Whoami

Falling Skies

Patient-Doctor Priviledges Null and Void

Leah was swiftly moved to the Roanoke's medical bay, which was deliberately placed not far from the hangar for just such an occassion. Hypoxia was a common injury in theater among pilots and crew where everything needed life support and pressurized environments. The medical staff were quite experienced at treating it, and thanks to medical advances pressured into existence by a storied history of life support failures, new oxidizer drugs were developed to rapidly bounce crew back from a lack of oxygen to the brain.

As soon as she was placed on one of the bed, the medical staff went to work hooking her up to an IV and injecting her with a HyperOx pen to quickly level her out. She still had the mask placed over her mouth and nostrils to control her breathing.

Leah was out for roughly forty minutes. She stirred before she opened her eyes, her brows furrowing as she languidly brought an arm up to pinch the of her nose, only to find that plastic mask over her face. Leah opened her eyes slowly as regretted it as the sterile white lights of the medbay flooded her vision, making her quickly squeeze them shut again. Leah took a moment, slowly removing the mask herself while she kept her eyes shut. When she started opening them again, Leah was face to face with someone hovering mere inches away from her. Her vision was blurry, but the first thing she picked out was the pink hair silhouetting the figure's head. As her vision focused more, she saw that it was Sabine looming over her, staring her dead in the eyes with a creepy, studious expression while she held a cheeky grin.

"Oh, you're still alive. Dang." Sabine said playfully.

Leah let her eyes close again as she exhaled slowly. "Glad to see you too, Sabine." she said groggily.

"Well great, now I gotta call off Rhino from plundering your contraband locker."

Leah let out a puff of air through her nostrils at that comment. "You guys aren't getting access to my treasure trove that easily."

Leah shifted some more and sat herself up, needing to squint her eyes again as the bright lights elsewhere in the medbay. One of the nurses spotted that Leah was conscious and made her way over to the pilot. The nurse glanced at Sabine for a moment, but before she could speak, Leah waved her hand dismissively, "Screw confidentiality. Sabine would probably be a gremlin until she found out what my status is anyways."

The nurse blinked and nodded pensively, "Oh. Okay... In that case..."

The nurse held reached into the drawer next to Leah's bed and pulled out two bottles of pills, as well as a paper slip. "You sustained a combat injury during your last sortie. Hypoxia, due to your life support module being breached and subsequently drained into hard vacuum. We administered a moderate dose of HyperOx to combat the effects." The nurse leaned over the bed and began examining Leah's eyes, noticing their dilation. "You will be a experiencing mild sensitivity to bright lights for the next seventy-two hours. Take two of these every three hours," she held out one of the pill bottles, "And two more before a sortie to combat the sensitivity."

The nurse then held out the other bottle, "These are, essentially, concentrated sugar pills meant to increase your heart rate and heighten your breathing. Take one every twelve hours to ensure the HyperOx is running its course in your body. Take a dosage of both pills now."

Leah took the bottles and did as she was told, starting with the ones that quelled her light sensitivity. It'd take a moment for them to kick in. After Leah swallowed the last pill, the nurse was holding an Oxypen out to her. "This is an emergency HyperOx pen. You've been cleared for combat operations. If you are unable to stick to your prescription on operation, this pen will be good for four doses. Each should last you roughly eight hours."

Leah took the pen and checked it out as two slips of paper were stuck in her face by the apathetic nurse. "Your medical chit clearing you for PT at your own pace in non-combat activities. And your flight clearance. Bring both to your commanding officer."

The nurse turned to make head to another patient, leaving Leah sitting in the bed with a small pile of items on her lap. But before she truly left, she stopped and pivoted on her heel to look back to Leah. "I nearly forgot. Your lead mechanic told the medical staff to relay a message to you for when you woke." she cleared her throat and put on a gruffier voice to imitate Leah's crew chief, "The Blackout isn't meant to be piloted by a barbarian. Stick to sniper things next time, dumbass." she cleared her throat again and went back to speaking normally, "That is all. Good hunting, Hex."

The nurse left, and Leah slowly glanced over to Sabine who was trying to be discrete about her chuckle-snorting to the crew chief's message, and failing. Leah tried jabbing Sabine's side with an elbow, "Hush you. Those fenrir's were going to flank you if I didn't do something about it."

Sabine continued to chuckling more openly now as she started making her way to the door. "Sure! Sure! I'll go let the Commander know that Grognar is ready to keep on clubbing people with her cannon!" she took a wider stance as she cartoonishly stomped out of the medbay, imitating 'Barbarian Hex' with a deep caveman voice, "Hex see badguy! Hex no like puny boolet! Hex smash!"

"You son of a- Hey!" Leah said as she threw herself from the bed, stumbling a bit but able to keep on her feet. Sabine hurried away down the corridor, her laugh echoing back into Leah's ear tauntingly. Leah grabbed her prescriptions and ran after her, "Get back here, you little goblin!

"Ohh Hex angry! Too bad Hex can't catch sneaky little Rabbit!" she said in her Barbarian Hex voice as Leah chased after her.

Falling Skies

Hard Landing

(Mood Music)

Leah flew along an unsteady line on approach to the Roanoke. She took slow deep breaths as the malfunctioning booster fired on occasion and threw her violently off her course. It took a lot of focus and fast reflexes to keep the Blackout going relatively straight as the g-forces from the random impulses slowly wore at Leah. Red lights blinked in her cockpit, and a small repeating chime in her helmet alerted her of a handful of system malfunctions and errors. Her eyes drifted over to the hole in her cockpit where she could see open space through. Small fragments of debris and sparks drifted in her cockpit. She stared for a touch too long at the void beyond, her mind recalling a similar moment when she was a street punk on Cerol.

She was in the backseat of a speeding car bleeding from a grazing bullet wound to the neck. One of her friends was trying to stifle the bleeding while another raced the car. "Keep your eyes open, Jaina! Focus on me! Fuck sakes, Marco can't you drive this thing any faster?!"

"You wanna drive, Joshua? No? Didn't fuckin' think so!" the driver said as he turned his head and looked over his shoulder to see how Jaina was doing.

Jaina looked him in the eyes while blood poured from her neck. She watched as a bullet ripped through the back window of the car and embedded itself in Joshua's forehead. He went limp, and the car's RPMs climbed dangerously high. The wheel listed, and before Marco could react, the car clipped another, then another, and then veer off into a barricade. Jaina was thrown against the backs of the front seats, and Marco was ejected through the windshield. Everything had gone to shit in an instant, and now it was all over because Joshua had turned his head at the most inopportune moment to check on his girl.

Leah kept staring at the hull breach, thinking about how she could have suffered the same fate. She was lost in thought long enough to not hear Roanoke's flight tower trying to reach her. "The round she took to the hull ripped through her O2 tank. She was flying on a leak for nearly ten minutes... Yes, sir... I'm not sure about the corpsmen clearing her out yet, but I'll have the team work overtime on getting the Blackout combat ready before the next sortie. No, sir... It shouldn't be a hassle. Understood, sir."

Leah's eyes went back to the Blackout, notably at the breach where the Fenrir's cannon ripped through. As the MAS was lifted with grav-pads and moved, it looked uncannily alike the way it had looked when Leah's predecessor had died at the Cerol spaceport. The breach was merely eight inches away from shot that had turned that pilot into mist.

Perhaps, the Blackout may be cursed.

Falling Skies

Good Hunting

(Mood Music)

Leah watched as the Secutor closed the distance on the Fafnir thanks to her cover fire and funnel support. But as always, Hex was a busy bee in the squadron. She always had wingmen to cover, targets of opportunity to eliminate, and positions to shift. Anyone who said a sniper's job in a battle was to just sit back and take it easy in the backline had clearly never had to do the job. With Rabbit and Vulture moving to take out some more major Coalition fleet assets, Rhino dismantling the Fafnir, and Commie and Braid assisting other elements in the fleet, Hex had a moment for herself. She enjoyed her friendly competition with Sabine, and she most certainly wasn't about to let her come back to the Roanoke with a boast.

Leah scanned the debris field that bisected the battlelines. The Blackout detected several drive plumes in the field and booster flares matching Fenrir sigs as they moved navigated the debris to close back in on their fleet. If they weren't taken care of, they'd wind up behind the much faster Sparrowhawk and Watchdog picking apart the Coalition battlegroup. Plus everyone else had their hands tied. She brought her sniper cannon to bear, but with the density of the fenrir's local debris, coupled with her new distance and drift vector, the odds of landing a successful shot on any more than one of them were too low to justify using the ammo. Leah smirked and fired her main boosters, "7th, this is Hex. I'm moving into the debris field to intercept the remainders of the fenrir squadron that are withdrawing. Rabbit, Vulture, that'll give you two the breathing room to get the big ticket items."

The fenrirs were doing the right thing: moving in teams while others remained in somewhat defensible positions in the debris to cover the hard burn away from the UEE. Hex reactivated the DCA on her MAS and cut her main boosters when she reached the debris field. The ambient reflections off the debris would make radar a living hell for most MAS units, and the DCA would serve to just make it all the more difficult. Hex was on the hunt here, and she didn't need to move as erratically or hastily as the fenrirs did to get back to their fleet and support them. She had the advantage while the fenrirs took turns hard burning, their backs and main booster flares giving off all the emissions the Blackout needed to see through the noise of the debris field. While she couldn't keep a constant eye of their movements, Leah was able to deduce which positions the fenrirs would move to and from just by the pings on her passive sensors.

The Blackout landed on a slowly rotating piece of debris, the feet locking on its surface as it positioned the LR-90 down a sight tunnel through the debris field. Hex kept quiet and focused, waiting for the moment when a fenrir would move along the most obvious path through the tunnel to get the next, most optimal position for a withdrawal. Her trigger finger was itchy. Then she saw it, the distinct humanoid silhouette of the fenrir, backlit by its orange booster flares as it rocketed directly into her field of view. Leah didn't waste time getting a firing solution. At this range, manual was good enough for her. She squeezed the trigger, the LR-90's recoil going into the Blackout and altering the spin on the debris it had been anchored to. The round pierced straight through the core of the MAS, a cockpit kill. It immediately stopped burning its boosters and careened hard into a large piece of wrecked station, a fireball erupting as the hull of MAS' reactor went critical from a shell breach.

"Target destroyed."

"Hex, one down." she reported her progress.

Hex immediately disengaged her maglocks and kicked off from the debris, maneuvering only with her RCS thrusters to keep a low sig. That ambush would slow the fenrirs down now that they were aware they weren't the only ones using it for cover. She drifted slowly, firing her RCS thrusters only if she saw she was on a collision course with some debris. "Scan for radio frequencies reflecting off the debris. Isolate and lock."

"Scanning... Three radio sources detected within one kilometer... For your consideration: Without Coalition encryption, intercepting their communications is pointless."

"We're not listening. Arm Stilletos. Fire volleys of six at each source, saturation, spread fifty." Hex said. She could immediately hear the mechanical whir of her machine as her missile pod shifted into a firing position over her MAS' shoulder.

The sound of rapid metallic clicking could be hear as eighteen slender stilleto missiles launched in rapid succession from her missile pod. The missiles zipped out in front of her, their only giveaway to Leah's naked eye being the local star glinting off of their thin white surface. In the debris field, they would just be seen to sensors as more random pieces of metal broken off from the station. The micro missiles were nimble, able to corner with much higher accuracy than any standard seeking missile. Their pointed, armor piercing tip could easily punch through unarmored debris at their velocities, making this environment ideal for them to root out targets. It didn't take long before she received two positive returns of hit targets.

It seemed one of her volleys hit nothing. But it didn't matter. She could work with two. "Crack their comms and tag their locations. I want eyes on them. And flag me as friendly in their systems. I want to get in close."

A screen in Leah's right hand field of view began streaming data to her, raw code as her onboard AI went to work infiltrating the two Fenrirs' firewalls and systems through the stilleto dataspikes. It didn't take long for Leah to be hearing the coalition comms.

<<Shit! Whoever got Jackie tagged me with something! All systems green but I don't have a good feeling!>>

<<Take it easy, ensign. Remember to breathe. We've only got one more kilometer of debris to clear and we'll be under the fleet's coverage. We'll remember Jackie once this is over. Gabriel, the ensign and I are moving in one minute. Cover us.>>

<<Sir!>>

Hex watched her radar and saw it ping with the locations of the two tagged fenrirs. She fired her RCS boosters again and kicked off some more debris to change course without causing a booster flare. Keeping her sig down got her in line of sight of the two MAS units. No wonder the team lead wanted cover, their position was the only piece of debris in a huge open gap in the field. That must've meant the unit covering was already clear of the gap and watching from a relatively dug in position, likely maglocked to debris to reduce their own emissions. The Blackout was drifting slowly in the shadow of a large chunk of station at the edge of the gap in the debris. She traced along the debris field with her naked eyes. "If I needed a covering position in this... I'd want to be... Riiiight... There."

Leah tightened her passive sensors' area to focus a shadowed nook that was likely a shuttle hangar before the station broke apart. It was held in place by a large strut and not spinning fast enough to be useless as a position of overwatch. She grinned when her sensors detected the third MAS set up with a heavy machine gun inside the hangar. She fired her RCS thrusters again, drifting along the length of her debris until she could get in close to hangar. She readied her LR-90 and fired her main booster, cruising straight for the hangar. Landing on top of it, still outside of the covering fenrir's line of fire, she quickly maglocked to the surface and laid her MAS down along its surface. Leah fired the afterburners on her MAS, a large drive plume blazing out behind her MAS. The hangar quickly began to spin, to the point where the fenrir inside lost line of sight on his two other wingmen.

<<What the hell?! Shit! I think a fuel cell just blew out on this hunk of junk! I need to shift!>>

Leah saw the two fenrirs burning to their next position hard. She locked her LR-90 to one, and fired, the round ripping through the main boosters of one and causing it to spin violently. The centrifugal force inside of the cockpit easily pushing past nine G's as the MAS's boosters fired uncontrollably. There was no way any pilot could keep conscious in those conditions.

"Target disabled."

"Two down."

<<Gabriel?! What the hell are you doing?! You just shot the chief! Friendly! We're friendly!>>

<<That wasn't me!>>

The stilletos were doing the trick, and Hex's IFF was showing up as blue for the two tag fenrirs. Unfortunately for the overwatch, having such a well concealed position and no more line of sight to the rest of his squadron, his IFF was obscured. As far as the coalie rookie was concerned, there was only one IFF marker present on the overwatch's position. And it was blue. Unfortunately for the rookie, that blue coalition IFF marker was bringing a UEE sniper cannon to bear on him next. But before Leah could pull the trigger, a series of heavy rounds ripped through the debris just in front of the Blackout. Leah cursed under her breath and unlocked her MAS' feet from the debris, firing the fore boosters to pivot the Blackout out of its prone position and skate backward along the hangar's exterior surface as a torrent of cannon rounds traced a line in the Blackout's wake. Leah kicked off from the hangar and shouldered the LR-90, opting for her Kruger heavy pistol and combat knife as the spinning hangar module span below the Blackout to the point where its opening was in line with her.

Hex pivoted and hard burned forward into the hangar. The fenrir pointed its HMG at the Blackout as it entered the hangar and began skating along its deck. It fired off a non-stop burst at the Blackout. Hex skated forward and to the side aggressively, evading the first handful of rounds before one round ripped a shoulder plate clean off the Blackout and another ricocheted off her core, leaving a long line in her DCA plates. She raised her 40mm pistol at the fenrir and firing four heavy airburst rounds at the fenrir to destabilize it. The force of the explosions and recoil of the HMG caused some shots to veer upward and into the torn apart ceiling, giving the Blackout room to boost in the opposite direction and close more of the gap. With a main overboost, the Blackout got in close. The fenrir tried to smash the muzzle end of its HMG against the Blackout. Hex raised an arm, easily deflecting the blow of the unwieldy MAS weapon which wasn't designed for close combat. Leah's combat instinct as an infanteer was kicking in. She may have been in a multi-million credit MAS, but the fact that everything was humanoid shaped really eased her into translating certain hand-to-hand techniques into MAS close combat. She kept her titanium knife low, stabbing it upward into the core of the fenrir. She pulled the blade back, causing sparks to fly and mechanical fluids to spill out into the vacuum. The fenrir did what it could to fight back, driving a steel fist along the Blackout's core. DCA armor sparked and fragmented but held together from the pilot's feeble attempt. He clearly had never expected thing to get this up close and personal.

Leah jostled in her seat from the fenrir's punch, but that didn't dissuade her. Withdrawing the knife from the fenrir's core, Hex raised the blade up, flipping the grip and dropping the blade down right over the cockpit hatch. The blade sunk it. The Blackout brought a foot up, maglocking itself to the Fenrir while the other maglocked to the hangar deck, keeping it place against the back wall of the hangar. Leah pried with the combat knife, ripping the front armor and glacis plate completely from the MAS. The coalition pilot stared out directly into the vacuum of space at the Blackout as sparks flew about him. Display flickered, and it seemed the first stab had destroyed part of the pilot's controls. His leg was severed and floating elsewhere in the cockpit. Despite that, the pilot fought on by drawing his service pistol and firing harmlessly at the UEE MAS. Leah could hear the small pings of the nine millimeter contacting her hull. Leah had to give props to the pilot, but it wasn't about to change the outcome. Leah embedded the knife in the fenrir's leg, just so she had a place to keep it so she could free up a hand. The Blackout grabbed the pilot and yanked him from his cockpit, throwing him out of the hangar where he could spend his last moments witnessing the chaos of war with his own eyes rather than through a screen. Something not a lot of pilots actually ever saw.

Leah pulled the knife out of the fenrir's leg and locked it back to the Blackout's thigh as the MAS' AI reported, "Target disabled."

"This is Hex. That's three." she said coldly to the team.

A sudden shot connected with the Blackout's drone backpack, causing a series of alarms to go off in the cockpit. Leah grunted and, out of reflex, overboosted right. She span her MAS, sparks flying from the Blackout's feet as it skated in a pirouette on the hangar deck to change face to the threat. At the hangar mouth was the rookie MAS firing his rifle one handed at the Blackout while holding the dead pilot in the older. <<You monster! You killed them! You'll paaaay! AAAAHHH!>>

Another round hit the Blackout, punching a hole through the core armor. The round passed through Leah's cockpit and just narrowly missed her head, a flare of sparks showering her as she maneuvered again to get out of the line of fire. But the hangar was a barrel, and she was the fish. She had to get out. Firing her mains directly upward, the Blackout jumped and forced itself through the shot-to-hell ceiling. Debris scattered in every direction as more of the rookie fenrir's rifle rounds followed behind her. It didn't need to be stated how dangerous it was for a MAS to force its way out of hull, let alone how damaging to a MAS' peripheral equipment it could be. The LR-90's barrel was bent, and the stilleto pod was forced back down its track with a burst hydraulic pistol. DCA plates fragmented off of the Blackout's hull, spinning away with the rest of the hangar module's debris. But it beat getting shot to hell in the hangar like a cornered animal. The Blackout flipped and burned to break line of sight while the fenrir tried to follow and keep up. Leah was the better pilot, managing to keep maneuvering one step ahead of him and keep out of line of sight while she evaluated her options.

She clenched her jaw, fighting the G-forces of her evasive maneuvers. Sparks in the cockpit showered her from time to time and blaring alarms in her ears forced her to take just a second to suppress them so she could focus. Leah ran a weapon systems diagnoses as she burned erratically in every direction. Another rifle round hit her, but the armor held. She jostled in her seat again and grunted.

"LR-90... Damaged...
MT-SmM 10DS... Damaged...
DCCM-8... Damaged...
HP-40... Lost..."

Leah cursed under her breath. But she did see a way out of it. She flipped her MAS and burned hard for the open space in the debris field. No cover. Nowhere to hide.
__________

Captain Torres stood on the bridge of the destroyer EENS Anvil. He was looking over the holoscape as his sister ship, the Hammer, burned up and fell victim to a series of secondary explosions from the Fafnir's plasma cannon attack. Torres shook his head, "Give me a sitrep on the search and rescue efforts! And someone work out a firing solution on those damn cruisers already! We're sitting ducks and I haven't heard any of our railguns fire in the past four minutes!"

"Aye aye, sir. Coalition Cruiser Scarlet Horizon locked and- what the..." the gunnery chief paused.

Torres glared at him, "What's wrong, lieutenant? Don't tell me someone failed to load the gun."

The gunnery chief shook his head, "Er- No sir, it's just... We're receiving a weapon systems override. Authority: Obsidian? Sir, I've lost control of railgun two, controls are slaved to another unit!"

Captain Torres raised a brow, "Obsidian?! Ahh shit..." he said as he pulled a credit from his pocket and dropped it in a glass jar sitting near his command chair labelled as the 'swear jar'.

"Sir?" the gunnery chief was confused.

Torres sat back in his seat and placed his head in his hand as he watched the Anvil's firing lane shift several degrees off the coalition cruiser to a single Coalition MAS in the station's debris field. "Here's a good lesson for you to learn quick, lieutenant. Obsidian authority sucks ass." he said, placing another credit in his jar, "There's one operator in our flotilla that has that clearance... Lo and behold it's one of those cowboys from the 7th- cowgirl, rather. And she's about to use it overkill some poor soul who probably looked at her the wrong way."
__________

<<You're running?! That's all you do after wiping out my team?! I'm not letting you escape! I have you! You're going down!>>

The fenrir burned after the damaged Blackout, following it out into the open gap in the debris field. It fired more rifle rounds at the Blackout, one scoring a hit on a booster. The Blackout's trajectory suddenly changed, causing Leah to gasp at the sudden shift in G's. She clenched her jaw and corrected, putting more juice in another booster and angling her MAS to rectify her vector. She kept her eyes on a monitor, watching as a line of fire slewed over her local space and begin tracking the berzerking fenrir. She listened to the tone as it picked up in frequency, right up until the tone went solid and her onboard AI said, "Fleet Command and Control Uplink established. EENS Anvil overridden. Target locked."

Leah squeezed the trigger and remained evasive while she listened to the fenrir's comms. <<Nowhere to hide now, you bastard! You lead yourself right out into the open! You're dead!>>

Leah overboosted left and rolled her MAS to face the fenrir. Then she switched her comms channel to the fenrir's to speak to him directly. "Guess again."

Right after she sent her transmission to her opponent, the heavy rail passed through the fenrir. There was a flash as the round blinked past, then a stream of sparks that stretched out several hundreds of meters, and a blooming cloud of glowing hot metal slag where a MAS used to be. Leah dropped her head back against her seat and took a moment to breathe deep and come down from the strain of high G-forces.

"Target destroyed."

Leah panted quietly and looked around her mess of a cockpit. Her self status monitor was flickering on and off, but she could make out the status of her machine. It was compromised in several areas. That rookie almost had her. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before going onto the 7th's net, "This is Hex... Coalition MAS squadron confirmed KIA..." she took another moment to breathe before continuing her report, "My machine took some hits. I'm okay though. I'm RTB for repairs."

Falling Skies

Deadeye

(Mood Music)

Leah was drifting through space while her DCA and distance kept her hidden from most sensors. She was always sure to reposition and drift on different vectors after firing each shot so her rounds couldn't be traced onto to any predictable path. Between the calls for cover from both Rabbit, the newbie, and the dozens of other UEE assets in the immediate battlespace, Leah had her hands full. Of course, she prioritized her team and her mothership, but it never hurt to spend a round to deliver a care package to a colleague in need.

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

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

"Rabbit, Hex. shot out. Wait. Hit."

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

"Hex. Splash one Garmr." she reported, mainly for Sabine's own situational awareness.

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

"Warning: Elite Fafnir detected. Range. 8 kilometers. Three o'clock high.

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

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

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

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

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

"Fafnir energy spike detected." her AI said.

"It's charging its main gun! Standby, Rhino, it's not going to get a chance to use it again!"

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

"Come on, Blackout... Give it to me..." she said under her breath as she micromanaged the funnel drones, her drift vector, and radar.

The tone went solid. "Target locked.

Leah squeezed the trigger, her boosters flaring again as the round was sent out on the long distance shot. "Rhino, shot out! Stand by!"

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

"Target hit. Weapon disabled." the AI informed.

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

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

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

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

Falling Skies

First Blood

(Mood Music)

Leah was positioning her MAS alongside Sabine's when the rookie sounded off on the net, making her wince a bit and pull her head to the side as if that'd distance herself from the speakers inside her helmet. She was about to comment on his enthusiasm, but once again, Sabine had beaten her to it. She smirked, finding it funny how there always seemed to be one person Leah always shared brain cells with. Perhaps that's why they made such good partners in action, and why they were always trying to outdo each other in wilder and wilder competitions. Sabine launched first, followed shortly after by Leah since they were the first two on the line. The launch sucked Leah back into her seat, making her grip her controls tight before the inertial dampeners in her MAS kicked in. She let out a breath and immediately sucked it back in when she saw what Sabine was dodging right out of the launch bay. Leah pulled a stick hard, kicked in on one pedal, and yanked her other stick back, causing boosters to fire on three axis to spin and burn out of the incoming cannon shot's path. She rolled inward where Sabine went outward. Her MAS flipping sideways over the top of the Roanoke's hull.

She quickly levelled out with the Roanoke's plane and brought her MAS' feet down onto the hull of the ship to arrest her moment, causing a rumble throughout the ship and surely making a few of the crew think they had just taken a hit to the hull. Sparks flew as the Blackout scraped a few dozen meters along the surface of the Roanoke's outer armor. She fired her boosters and skated along the surface, leaving two wonderful streaks along the ship's paint as she boost-skated along the length of the ship. Her onboard AI quickly back traced the source of the cannon shots she and Sabine were forced to dodged, her sensors quickly picking up on the Coalition frigates and their MAS escorts. She saw more incoming cannon rounds heading for her wingman, and the ever present humor that usually followed from such intense brushes with death. "Stay evasive, Rabbit! I'll return some of that hate back to sender."

The Blackout's retro thrusters fired as its feet scraped along the Roanoke, bringing the MAS to a complete halt neat the prow of the carrier. Stabilizers lowered down from the calves of the MAS, flattening against the hull and engaging their magnetic locks to keep the Blackout in position. Raising the LR-90, Hex scanned the debris field for targets, spotting a Fenrir aggressively burning through the debris to try to get through it as quickly as possible. The pilot was bloodthirsty, and no doubt inexperienced. Its position was ahead of the rest of its squadron, and its aggressive maneuvering past the debris made it very easy to predict where it was going to be. Hex's visor changed into a targeting HUD, reticle sights projecting over the visor directly in front of her eyes. "Target: Fenrir II on my LOS."

"Target acquired. Fenrir II, distance: 6 kilometers and closing. Relative speed: +345 meters per second."

"Switch aim pip to lag, compensate for drift."

Leah watched as the Fenrir became highlighted on her HUD, and a small dot with a line tracing the LR-90's boresight zipped around her field of view. She nudged her controls, making adjustments in the Blackout's arms while the FCS did most of the legwork to track the Fenrir.

"Warning: Significant debris may interfere with maintaining a target lock. Recommendation: Hold fire."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Switch to manual."

She could immediately feel the controls become more touchy as the Blackout ceded control directly to its pilot. Leah squinted as her focus intensified. The display on her cockpit magnified with a picture-on-picture window showing a much more high definition view of the Fenrir. Her targeting pip overlayed on the Fenrir's body. She breathed deep, keeping her hands steady as she continued to track the Fenrir's evasive maneuvers through the debris field. "Come on... Just show me that pretty waistline of yours..." she said out loud as she aimed.

The Fenrir flipped sideways to dodge a solar panel, then it boosted down hard to avoid wrecked hull. Seeing that there was only more wreckage below, the Fenrir flipped back, firing its main booster to slow itself fast before making impact. Leah's sensors pinged as they detected the spike in thermal emissions from the over boost. She watched the drive plume blast out the Fenrir's back. The unit bled speed fast to avoid a reckless collision. It was a well executed maneuver, but unfortunately for the rookie pilot, it left them completely defenseless. Speed was everything, and now they were a sitting duck and totally exposed to Blackout. The line between her boresight and lagging pip closed to nothing, and Leah pulled the trigger.

The LR-90 fired, the mag-stabilized legs keeping the MAS in place as the recoil was absorbed in the MAS' knees. In atmosphere, a sabot round would've shot a flat trajectory for several kilometers. In space, the tungsten dart may as well have been sent by a railgun. It covered the distance fast. Faster than one could react without realized they were being targeted. The sabot round connecting with the upper right quadrant of the Fenrir's torso, ricocheting up and to the right before punching into and out through the back of the Fenrir's shoulder joint with a line of sparks and debris. The impact sent the Fenrir into a spin as the shoulder was torn about by the sudden centrifugal force. The Fenrir's arm came off, spinning away with its heavy rifle still hand.

"Target hit."

"But not dead. Keep tracking."

The large bolt on the LR-90 drew back on its own and fed another round into the chamber. Leah could hear the hiss of pistons through the vibrations in her MAS as the bolt went forward and locked back into place. The Blackout corrected itself and kept the LR-90 on the spinning MAS. Its boosters were firing wildly and only contributing to its loss of control. The shot had disabled some of the boosters, making the confusion more intense for the Coalition as they tried to figure out how to regain control of their MAS. Leah remained calm in her seat and kept her hands on the controls, continuing to make her adjustments while manually aiming the sniper cannon. She was tuned in, listening to the rhythm of beeps and tones in her ears that assisted her with aiming while her eyes worked with her hands to close the line for another shot.

The line closed, and Leah heard the flat tone in her ear. She squeezed the trigger again, the round quickly travelling the meager six kilometer distance and connecting with the underside of the Fenrir's back plating. The round went in, severing the main booster from the Fenrir and punching out through the neck. The head of the Fenrir detached and span away as the Fenrir's thruster plume went from a vibrant blue to a dark, rusty orange. Smoke billowed out, leaving an inky black trail of wisps in the hard vacuum of space that cocooned around the spinning, dying MAS. The spin only intensified, causing the centrifugal force to increase even more. The pilot inside would have likely blacked out from the spin if not from suffocating in smoke inside the cockpit. As the spin increased, more parts and debris broke off from the MAS, until eventually the booster pack exploded and broke the MAS apart in the flash of an orange fireball.

"Target destroyed." the AI announced, even though it was obvious.

Leah tracked her optics right, sighting in the other Coalie MAS units in the debris field as they scattered and slowed to take cover from the precise cannon fire. Leah chimed in over the net, "Hex," Leah started, "One escort Fenrir destroyed. The others are going to ground in the debris. You've got your window to advance, Rabbit. Get in close and-"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Missile. Missile. Missile."

Leah clenched her jaw and cursed under her breath. They back traced her shots already? Impressive, but that also meant she had to move right now! Leah fired her retro boosters to max and disengaged her maglocks to detach from the Roanoke. She boosted backward, skimming along the carrier again and likely causing more flight violations in the process. But it wasn't without a reason! As the missiles screamed toward the Blackout, they flew into the Roanoke's defense umbrella. Several point defense turrets locked and tracked the missiles as they approached, opening up with a brrrrt! brrrt! brrrrrrrrt! that vibrated through the hull of the ship. One by the one, the saturation of proximity bursting rounds intercepted the incoming missiles until none were left to harass Leah and the Blackout.

As she backboosted, Leah found herself headed straight into the launch path of the rest of the 7th. She twisted her stick and overboosted laterally, causing her to spiral around the hull of the Roanoke and pass along the edge of the launch window. It was a close shave, and one that'd certainly make the next pilot out have a minor heart attack. As she passed, she faced the Blackout toward the outgoing MAS and did a cheeky salute with the Blackout. She noticed it was the shiny new MAS that had just recently transferred to the Roanoke. As the Blackout sailed past into open space, Leah spoke over the net, "Welcome to the 7th, Rook. Get used to the chaos. It's all we ever do here."

Her comms then pinged from an incoming transmission from the Roanoke's flight control, "Hex. Tower. How many times do we need to tell you that the Roanoke is not a jungle gym?"

"My bad, tower. But in my defense, I had to evade somewhere!"

"Do it again and I'll let the captain know you volunteered to repaint the hull instead of the EVA crews, Hex. Tower out."

Hex clicked her tongue as she took the scolding from flight ops for the umpteenth time. That was one thing she missed in the infantry, the distinct lack safety officers in the heat of combat. But the Roanoke was used to the antics the hot-shots of the 7th got themselves into. It certainly wouldn't be the last time one of the pilots did something wild and mostly got away with it. At least this time wasn't just for theatrics... like every other time...

Blackout fired her main booster again and headed toward the newly discovered squadron of Garmr units set on flanking the Roanoke. She could see the drive signature of the Sparrowhawk in flight mode speeding to intercept them. "Rabbit. Hex. I'm overwatch. Set 'em up and I'll knock 'em down!"

She levelled her LR-90 on the garmr units as slowed her MAS into a slight drift. Her armor darkened in color to match the void of space. "DCA activated. Reducing emissions."

Falling Skies

General Quarters

(Mood Music)

Leah took a lot of lessons over from the infantry. 'Invest in your comfort'. Never just settle with the issued kit, because frankly, it sucks. It sucks ass. It's the cheapest, easiest to produce garbage that was bought at the lowest price and a pilot's pay can absolutely pay for the best, most preem kit for sale. Leah was laying on her bed in her quarters, enjoying the fact that she had bought an absolutely twin-XL size mattress topper than turned her shitty crew cabin bed into something fit for UEE royalty. Just... Maybe a quarter of the size...

She had an arm draped over her face, and her mouth was hung open as she was in a deep. Deeeep sleep. It's a term the infantry used called being 'zonked out'. That's exactly what she was. Zonked out. Gone. Leading into the second crucial infantry lesson. 'Get your winks in when you can. Never turn down an opportunity to get zonked'. She was half in her flight suit and half on her fancier-than-the-rest best, and her fancier-than-the-rest mattress topper was half on the shitty normal bed because there's no way in hell that topper was designed to set on the shitty plastic surface of the shitty military mattress. But Leah didn't mind. The upper half of her body was more comfortable than everyone else asleep on the ship, she could guarantee that.

On the front line, in the midst of a fresh offensive, it's amazing that anyone could get any sleep. One would think that sleeping on the front was some sort of military misdemeanor. But that was the thing about the infantry... There was a third lesson. Arguably the most important one at that...

"General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands to battle stations. I repeat: General Quarters. General Quarters..."

Leah shot up like a spring chicken, whilst snorting to life like a surprised pig as she threw herself out of her bed!

'Be ready to rock and roll in a heartbeat.'

Before the call for general quarters was even finished, Leah had her flight suit zipped up and she was half way out of the 7th's lounge. She ran quickly, practically bowling over a few crewmen as they were rushing to their own stations. Leah checked her watch as she ran, once again nearly taking a crewman out the moment she didn't look forward for a second. Leah burst into the hangar, seeing Sabine practically parkouring her way around crates and equipment to race to her MAS. Leah was taller though, with a longer stride and a soldier's pace. She was closing the gap to Blackout. She whistled ahead of her to get the attention of the MAS tech nearest to her helmet sitting on a table. "Helmet! Toss it!"

The tech grabbed the helmet and pitched it at her, which she quickly swiped from the air and shoved over her head. The helmet sealed to her suit just a second before she was ascending to get into her own MAS cockpit. Leah even pressed the button to close the cockpit before she was even fully seated! That's a big safety no-no for those by-the-book types. With both hands, Leah was flipping switches and engaging systems. It might have been the fastest pre-flight someone had ever done... Ahh probably not, but it sure felt like it!

> Confirming Pilot Assignment: LT LEAH VESS_
> ...Pilot Confirmed
> Initializing systems...

"Come on come on..."

> Reactor: Online_
> Life Support: Online_
> D.C.A: Online_
> Weapon Systems: Online_

"Comeoncomeoncomeon!"

> All Calibrations Complete
> Fleet Control Uplink: Synchronized_
> All Systems Nominal
> Standby for Launch

"YES! SCREW YOU SABI-" She looked up from her instruments to see the Sparrowhawk taking its first step. Leah blinked and looked back to her watch.

91 seconds.

"DAMMIT!"

The wind had been thoroughly taken from her sails as she took her first lazy steps forward out of her MAS bay. Listening to Sabine rub her victory in. "You were waiting for the general quarters! I was busy being absolutely zonked okay!" Leah wasn't sure if her infantry lingo translated well into the oh-so-civilized, pinkies-out, posh high society that was the Navy. So that probably sounded way worse to the several crewmen on the flight deck than it actually was. "Ah nevermind..." She said over her MAS' megaphone before switching to internal comms.

In the laziest, most deflated voice ever, Leah reported to flight control. "Tower, this is Hex... All systems green. Proceeding to launch... Over..."

Falling Skies

Pilot Dossier: Vess, Leah

Leah 'Hex' Vess

D O S S I E R : I D #63806247

---

Name: Vess, Leah
Callsign: Hex
Rank: O-2
Kills: 40

Gender: Female
Age: 29
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 126 lbs

S E R V I C E R E C O R D

---

Psychological Analysis:
Leah is a tough girl. It takes a lot to set her off, and she generally meets most hardship with an unbothered attitude. Her time as infanteer and a criminal agent before that has jaded her to the dark side of life, which makes her the perfect type of person to have on high stress, high risk missions. Her calm and cool demeanor makes her easy to be around, since if she isn't freaking out, then there probably isn't a reason for anyone else to freak out either. Leah tends to not talk much about her past before the military, preferring to keep her criminal history a secret save for those she really trusts. Her infantry training has built a firm base for teamwork and comradery, which makes her easy to get along with as long as people don't probe too much into her past. She very much lives in the moment, apparently lacking any grand ambition to climb the ranks or to retire and start a family. Leah seems content with her lot in life, especially if it means she remains on the move. Whenever police are around, Leah instinctively becomes more alert and aware of their presence, something that has been noted by a few her longer running team mates.

Personal Record:
Prior to j̵o̸i̴n̵i̸n̵g̵ the UEE Army, records on J̷͔̾͌à̸̦ị̷̂n̵͉͓͝a̷̫͗̓ ̶̡͉̊͛G̷̰̺̏r̶̹̍e̸̗̰͂n̴͕͔̐̀z̶̦̄̽ are strangely l̷̥̑͂ȉ̶͇m̸͓̎i̷̹͒̆t̵͉̱̎̈́e̶͓̿̉d̶̯̉͝...

-- Warning: DATABASE ERROR...
-- Rebooting database...
-- Database retrieved...
-- Open record: Lt. Vess, Leah, #63806247?
-- [Y/N]

L̷e̶a̴h̸ ̶V̶e̷s̵s̷, born to a m̷i̶d̸d̷l̵e̶ ̸c̸l̸a̸s̸s̶ family on Cerol, enlisted in the UEE Army in 2715. She showed aptitude in technical fields and was offered a position in Cerol's intel division, but she declined the offer and requested to be placed in a unit that deployed frequently. When questioned for her reasoning to turn down such an offer, Vess answered patriotically, citing that she wanted to serve her planet and her empire on the ground, and not in an office. Her request sounded strangely desperate, instigating a thorough investigation into her background before admittance into the military. The investigation yielded n̵o̶ ̶i̵n̸d̷i̶c̴a̴t̸i̴o̵n̶s̷ ̸o̸f̴ ̶w̸r̴o̵n̵g̴d̸o̷i̵n̶g̷ ̷o̵r̷ ̶f̵o̴u̶l̷ ̷p̴l̷a̷y̷, and she was promptly admitted into the infantry corps and shipped off for training.

Leah was a promising candidate all through her training. She had charisma that was welcomed among her peers, and a calm attitude that stayed focused on the tasks at hand. She seemed happy in her new environment, relieved even. Her technical aptitude was noted several times, but she repeatedly insisted that it must have just been natural talent. Leah was recognized again for her marksmanship, a something that even she seemed rather surprised about initially. Her newfound skill at handling a rifle was taken to heart, and she quickly took to reinforcing her shooting skills. By the end of her training, Leah was among the top shots of her training platoon, which quickly reached the regiment she would ultimately be posted to, the 88th Cerol Mounted Rifles (more commonly known as 88CMR), a hybridized regiment of mechanized infantry and a ground based MAS squadron. Within 88CMR, Leah was posted to the mechanized reconnaissance company as a designated marksman. The recce company was responsible for close reconnaissance and long distance patrols, and was notable for their self-sufficiency in the field when far away from the rest of the regiment. It was in the recce company where Leah developed her skills as a quiet hunter and scout. Her consistent sharpshooting and subsequent training on recce courses quickly led to her getting a slot in 88CMR's sniper course.

Leah's steady rise in the regiment put her up for promotion after promotion, and eventually she was nominated for selection in 88CMR's vaunted MAS squadron. Leah passed, and she soon found herself on the three year long training program to become a dedicated MAS pilot. In 2720, Leah's course was cut short when the Coalition launched a large scale surprise attack on Cerol. All courses were suspended, and Leah was ordered to return to her company when the first Coalition dropships made planetfall. Her company had already deployed to the field before Leah could board her transport, so she quickly attached herself to 88CMR's 1st battalion tasked with protecting the Cerol's main spaceport. The spaceport was by far the most valuable strategic location on the surface, and the Coalition knew it. In the opening days of the siege, the spaceport saw some of the heaviest fighting. Their saving grace was that the Coalition wanted to maintain the infrastructure, and so the use of orbital weapons and field artillery were prohibited, leaving the battle to the infantry and MAS squadrons.

An order was given to Leah's platoon to escort a group of HVTs to an evacuation shuttle. The HVTs turned out to be none other than the Cerol governor's family, which quickly caught the attention of the Coalition forces. Before reaching the shuttle, Leah's platoon was cut off by a Coalition MAS squadron. They were pinned down, and two of the HVTs had already died in the engagement, with the other three at risk. The 7th MAS squadron of the 101st Special Operations Group arrived to relieve the beleaguered infantry platoon, taking the Coalition firepower off of them long enough to regroup. But not long into the engagement, one of the 101st MAS units took a penetrating shot straight through the cockpit, killing the pilot outright. Overhearing a report from her lieutenant's radio, Leah learned that a second Coalition MAS squadron was on the way to engage the 101st. They were going to be outnumbered. Without thinking, Leah ran for the downed 101st MAS and climbed into the cockpit, finding that its controls were still intact, and that the round had taken the pilot's head clean off and continued out through the back of the MAS.

Leah was immediately met with a systems lockout, a standard security measure in UEE MAS units following the death of a pilot in order to prevent a commandeering. With her incomplete MAS training, and her extensive technical knowledge, Leah was able to break past the lockout and reactivate the MAS. The Coalition MAS units weren't expecting the dead MAS behind them to come back from the dead, giving her an opportunity to catch them by surprise. The surprise worked, and the 101st was able to capitalize on the confusion and finish the remaining Coalition MAS units before reinforcements could arrive. Her platoon gained their footing and continued to evacuate the HVTs. But before Leah could rejoin them, she was hailed by the 7th's team leader, and told to stay in the MAS. Citing that one MAS on the field is more valuable than a single rifleman, and that if she could pilot the MAS, they could make use of her.

Leah became an impromptu member of the team for the remainder of the battle, learning everything she could about the MAS unit under her control as she went. With the entirety of the 7th on the field and reinforcements arriving, the Coalition was forced to retreat. The siege lifted. Leah had found herself planetside in a MAS hangar, staring at the SOP-404 Cavalier MAS with the hole punched in its chest while the cockpit was being hosed out. While there, she was approached by the 7th's team leader and an administrative clerk. Leah was then formally offered a permanent position in the 7th, inheriting the seat and MAS of the fallen pilot. She was transferred from the UEE Army to the Navy and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant to officially become a member of the 101st SOG. Leah has kept that seat since then, and she has become something a staple of the unit, bringing her marksmanship and technical expertise to the field in a much upgraded Cavalier MAS, which has since been redesignated as the SOC-404EW/CC Blackout.

Personal Skills:

• Infantry Training: - Starting her military career in the UEE Army Infantry, Leah is just as deadly on foot as she is in a MAS. During her time in the infantry, Leah had worn many different hats. She was a rifleman in her regiment's scout company at first, who later went on to become a designated marksman, and then a full time sniper.
• Technical Expertise: - Before Leah joined the UEE Army, she was a Spider for a local mafia on Cerol. Spiders are a type of hacker dedicated to lingering on the net and ensnaring probing users in elaborate coding traps. While specialized in locating and tracing data breaches (and breachers), all Spiders need to have a comprehensive understanding on infowar in the first place.
• Underworld Knowledge: - Her history in the criminal underworld is a closely guarded secret, but that doesn't stop her from applying that experience and knowledge when it benefits the team on a mission. Whenever asked how she knows these things, Leah is generally dismissive and simply says things like 'It just makes sense that it'd be this way.' or 'I grew up around knowing people.' Regardless, if someone looking for connections or protocols related to criminal activity, Leah can provide.

SOC-404EW/CC Blackout

M O B I L E A R M O R S U I T

---

S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

---

Designation: 404EW/CC, Blackout, SOC
Role: E-War, Battlespace Control, Long Range Support
Weight Class: Medium
Description:
The Blackout is a custom variant of the SOP-404 Cavalier. Like its progenitor, the Blackout is a slimmed down medium MAS designed specifically for mothership based operations where it can be carried great distances and inserted easily behind enemy lines. The Blackout has seen a number of enhancements over the original model however, with upgraded sensors and comms suites, as well as overhauled armor plating to better fit the Blackout's role as an E-war and long range support MAS. The legs needed an upgrade to improve the load bearing limit for both the sniper cannon and the DCCM-8 backpack module, and the head unit was swapped out with enhanced long range sensors, radar, and FCS. The usual color of the Blackout is, as its name suggests, black. But the dynamic camouflage armor plating will frequently mean that its color and pattern is changing all the time to best fit the environment it is in. Cavaliers are known to be used a test bed for experimental technology since their slimmed down bodies on a medium chassis allow for ample room for modification, which lends to the Blackout being very easy to be re-equipped to best suit the needs of the mission and the team.

A R M A M E N T

---

• LR-90. 90mm Sniper Cannon. (Primary): - Standard 90mm rifled sniper cannon fitted with a flash suppressor, recoil dampeners, and bipod. Fed by five round magazines with auto-loading bolt assembly. Weapon optics linked directly to MAS FCS via data cord plugged into the MAS unit's shoulder piece. Can fire a variety of rounds, including but not limited to APFSDS, High Explosive, Canisters, and Netspike Repeater Rounds. APSFDS rounds fire at the highest velocity and have the flattest trajectory at range, and they are meant to engage armored targets where armor penetration is required. High explosive rounds are slower, heavier, and have a more pronounced parabolic firing arc. Used in shorter range engagement against lighter armor targets and clusters of entrenched infantry. HE rounds are almost most effective against structures. Canister rounds are effectively shotgun rounds, firing dozens of steel ball bearings for close quarters engagements. Best used for speculative fire, but can punch a hole through most things at close range. Netspike Repeaters are a bespoke round for E-War MAS units. They are not meant to be used directly on a target, though they can be used as such in a pinch. They are meant to be embedded into surfaces, be it the ground, on ships, or on buildings, where they then extend the area of wireless influence that Blackout has for hacking and electronic warfare when other methods of electronic infiltration aren't possible.
• MT-SmM 10DS 'Stilleto'. Micro Missile Launcer. (Primary): - Mounted on the right shoulder, this pod of micro missiles is the gift that keeps on giving. Able to be used in all environments against any target, these little devils have garnered a fierce reputation. The Stilleto micro missile is a high speed armor piercing dart with high agility to track with frightening accuracy. They are not explosive, as the DS variant of the MT-SmM 10 is fitted with small data spikes with autorunning malware. Once a Stilleto has made impact with its target, the data spike begins infiltrating the target's electronics and computer systems to upload what pilot's have affectionately come to call gremlins. Once the gremlins have been installed into the victim, the Stilleto's user can begin interfering with the target's systems. This can lead to things like the target's IFF systems flipping, or twitchy controls that lead to premature firing or ammunition ejections from weapons, all the way to shutting down comms and sensors or overheating on board electronics. Additionally, Stilletos are fitted with tracking beacons, enabling the user and their allied forces to track and monitor the position and status of the infected target, thus aiding in battlespace intelligence and command and control. The missile pod carries up to 100 micro missiles. They are usually fired in volleys of up to ten, as not all missiles reach their targets, penetrate armor effectively, or successfully infiltrate systems. However, their small size, high speed, and alarming agility make them very difficult to be detected or intercepted by point defense systems. Stilletos have been reportedly used on infantry as well, though the strike from the micro missile usually kills them outright. Infantry say that the sound of a Stilleto approaching or passing overhead is like a high pitched whistle. Stilletos track electromagnetic emissions and cross reference those emissions with IFF tags. IFF safeties can be toggled off by the pilot in the event of a rogue unit.
• DCCM-8 'Legion' Backpack. (Heavy): - Mounted on the back of the MAS. The Legion backpack is a new device making its way out to UEE MAS squadrons, beginning with the armament of special forces MAS units before eventually rolling out to regular units. Affectionately referred to as 'Funnel Drones', these wedge shaped drones are slaved to the pilot's controls, and they are supplemented by a limited AI housed in the backpack unit to offload the parallel processes needed to operate the drones. The backpack carries 8 drones, though the module has room for an additional 8 before data processing and parallel control becomes overwhelming. Each funnel has an operating range of eight kilometers (in an open, unobstructed environment) from the parent MAS. They are all fitted with small laser cannons, similar in size and power to a MAS laser pistol. Each funnel can fire twelve shots before needing to return to the backpack for recharging. The funnels are at their deadliest when operating simultaneously against single targets, employing swarm tactics where their limited firepower can be joined to overwhelm defenses and limit the target's maneuverability options. It synergizes well with long ranged MAS units (like the Blackout), where enemies can be led into poor positions to be exploited by sniper fire and ambushes. When deployed, a funnel drone can remain operational for up to thirty minutes before the power draw begins to reduce the amount of shots it can make with its laser. Using the funnel drone's simple sensors, the Legion's onboard AI can locate and paint targets near the drone, and feed that information back to the parent MAS and its unit for increased battlespace awareness.
• HP-40 'Kruger' Heavy Pistol. (Secondary): - A 40mm heavy MAS pistol designed for close range encounters. The pistol is fed by way of magazine, with each mag carrying seven rounds. The long barrel of the pistol, couples with the MAS' complex FCS, enables it to be an adequate mid range weapon, but it truly excels at close range where the LR-90 might be too unwieldy. The Kruger can load two types of rounds: 40mm slugs high penetration and impact, and 40mm airburst for soft or entrenched targets at the cost of armor penetration. The pistol is semi-automatic and can be fired as fast as its trigger can be pulled, but the high recoil of the weapon can start to throw off the MAS' arm unit if fired too quickly, making the weapon very rewarding for patient and accurate shooters.
• SFCC FleetCom Uplink. (Utility): - This is more than a simple long range comms unit. The SFCC (Special Forces Communications and Control) Uplink features with limited access and authority to override and task ships in orbit for fire missions on demand. Given the strategic importance and tactical threats involved in special forces MAS operations, prudent and direct support often takes high priority for mission success. The override can be further overridden by a fleet officer of sufficient rank (Commodore and above) when they deem their situation in orbit is of higher importance than that of the ground team's. If an uplink has successfully been established with a ship in orbit, the MAS pilot can slave the ship's weaponry to the MAS unit's FCS, and strike targets with weaponry that the MAS, or its team, might not have on hand. Ship captains tend to have a strong dislike for SFCC Uplinks, as they do not enjoy control of their ship being superseded by some hoity-toity grunt on the ground, but alas, their hands are usually tied. Many MAS pilots with an SFCC uplink have a general understanding of this, and thus they try to foster good working relationships with the bridge officers of the fleet. If they can't do that, then they often make mental notes to return the favor.
• Dynamic Camouflage Armor. (Utility): - The DCA is the happy compromise between the Stealth Drive and the Active Camouflage system. While not excelling at either function, the DCA allows for tactical flexibility by muffling emissions from the MAS, lowing their signature to scanners, while utilizing an imperfect active camouflage to break up and distort the MAS unit's silhouette. The DCA's active camouflage leaves behind a sort of shimmer that traces along the hard lines of the MAS' armor. So while it will obscure the MAS from being detected by an unwary victim, anyone visually scanning for a MAS might not have too many issues spotting the distinct shimmer of DCA. The final result is a cloaking system that is by no means perfect, but effective enough to hide among a sea of more pronounced signatures, or to enable a first strike against someone who isn't expecting to get hit. There is a tradeoff for this hybrid stealth system however. As it is the armor plating, and not some additional device, there needed to be room for the tech which resulted in a reduction in overall ballistic protection. The armor class of DCA on medium MAS is proportional to that of a light MAS. The Blackout's pilot acknowledges the overall disadvantages brought by DCA. She believes that if things are being done right, she should be a distance where the camouflage and emissions masking is effective enough to not be detected, and the where the armor shouldn't be put to the test.

Falling Skies (Mecha, Military, Space Opera)

Made a slight tweak to the CS. I raised Leah's killcount to 39 from 18. She's been in the 7th for a few years by this point, and snipers generally have a disproportionate amount of confirmed kills over their peers.

Also switched out the Kruger's ammo types from 40mm Slug and 40mm Canister to 40mm Slug and 40mm Airburst.

Falling Skies (Mecha, Military, Space Opera)

Posting this here to give others a clearer picture of the potential roster so they can design in other areas. It is mostly complete, but will likely be tweaked as details get hashed out.

Pilot Dossier: Vess, Leah

Leah 'Hex' Vess

D O S S I E R : I D #63806247

---

Name: Vess, Leah
Callsign: Hex
Rank: O-2
Kills: 39

Gender: Female
Age: 29
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 126 lbs

S E R V I C E R E C O R D

---

Psychological Analysis:
Leah is a tough girl. It takes a lot to set her off, and she generally meets most hardship with an unbothered attitude. Her time as infanteer and a criminal agent before that has jaded her to the dark side of life, which makes her the perfect type of person to have on high stress, high risk missions. Her calm and cool demeanor makes her easy to be around, since if she isn't freaking out, then there probably isn't a reason for anyone else to freak out either. Leah tends to not talk much about her past before the military, preferring to keep her criminal history a secret save for those she really trusts. Her infantry training has built a firm base for teamwork and comradery, which makes her easy to get along with as long as people don't probe too much into her past. She very much lives in the moment, apparently lacking any grand ambition to climb the ranks or to retire and start a family. Leah seems content with her lot in life, especially if it means she remains on the move. Whenever police are around, Leah instinctively becomes more alert and aware of their presence, something that has been noted by a few her longer running team mates.

Personal Record:
Prior to j̵o̸i̴n̵i̸n̵g̵ the UEE Army, records on J̷͔̾͌à̸̦ị̷̂n̵͉͓͝a̷̫͗̓ ̶̡͉̊͛G̷̰̺̏r̶̹̍e̸̗̰͂n̴͕͔̐̀z̶̦̄̽ are strangely l̷̥̑͂ȉ̶͇m̸͓̎i̷̹͒̆t̵͉̱̎̈́e̶͓̿̉d̶̯̉͝...

-- Warning: DATABASE ERROR...
-- Rebooting database...
-- Database retrieved...
-- Open record: Lt. Vess, Leah, #63806247?
-- [Y/N]

L̷e̶a̴h̸ ̶V̶e̷s̵s̷, born to a m̷i̶d̸d̷l̵e̶ ̸c̸l̸a̸s̸s̶ family on Cerol, enlisted in the UEE Army in 2715. She showed aptitude in technical fields and was offered a position in Cerol's intel division, but she declined the offer and requested to be placed in a unit that deployed frequently. When questioned for her reasoning to turn down such an offer, Vess answered patriotically, citing that she wanted to serve her planet and her empire on the ground, and not in an office. Her request sounded strangely desperate, instigating a thorough investigation into her background before admittance into the military. The investigation yielded n̵o̶ ̶i̵n̸d̷i̶c̴a̴t̸i̴o̵n̶s̷ ̸o̸f̴ ̶w̸r̴o̵n̵g̴d̸o̷i̵n̶g̷ ̷o̵r̷ ̶f̵o̴u̶l̷ ̷p̴l̷a̷y̷, and she was promptly admitted into the infantry corps and shipped off for training.

Leah was a promising candidate all through her training. She had charisma that was welcomed among her peers, and a calm attitude that stayed focused on the tasks at hand. She seemed happy in her new environment, relieved even. Her technical aptitude was noted several times, but she repeatedly insisted that it must have just been natural talent. Leah was recognized again for her marksmanship, a something that even she seemed rather surprised about initially. Her newfound skill at handling a rifle was taken to heart, and she quickly took to reinforcing her shooting skills. By the end of her training, Leah was among the top shots of her training platoon, which quickly reached the regiment she would ultimately be posted to, the 88th Cerol Mounted Rifles (more commonly known as 88CMR), a hybridized regiment of mechanized infantry and a ground based MAS squadron. Within 88CMR, Leah was posted to the mechanized reconnaissance company as a designated marksman. The recce company was responsible for close reconnaissance and long distance patrols, and was notable for their self-sufficiency in the field when far away from the rest of the regiment. It was in the recce company where Leah developed her skills as a quiet hunter and scout. Her consistent sharpshooting and subsequent training on recce courses quickly led to her getting a slot in 88CMR's sniper course.

Leah's steady rise in the regiment put her up for promotion after promotion, and eventually she was nominated for selection in 88CMR's vaunted MAS squadron. Leah passed, and she soon found herself on the three year long training program to become a dedicated MAS pilot. In 2720, Leah's course was cut short when the Coalition launched a large scale surprise attack on Cerol. All courses were suspended, and Leah was ordered to return to her company when the first Coalition dropships made planetfall. Her company had already deployed to the field before Leah could board her transport, so she quickly attached herself to 88CMR's 1st battalion tasked with protecting the Cerol's main spaceport. The spaceport was by far the most valuable strategic location on the surface, and the Coalition knew it. In the opening days of the siege, the spaceport saw some of the heaviest fighting. Their saving grace was that the Coalition wanted to maintain the infrastructure, and so the use of orbital weapons and field artillery were prohibited, leaving the battle to the infantry and MAS squadrons.

An order was given to Leah's platoon to escort a group of HVTs to an evacuation shuttle. The HVTs turned out to be none other than the Cerol governor's family, which quickly caught the attention of the Coalition forces. Before reaching the shuttle, Leah's platoon was cut off by a Coalition MAS squadron. They were pinned down, and two of the HVTs had already died in the engagement, with the other three at risk. The 7th MAS squadron of the 101st Special Operations Group arrived to relieve the beleaguered infantry platoon, taking the Coalition firepower off of them long enough to regroup. But not long into the engagement, one of the 101st MAS units took a penetrating shot straight through the cockpit, killing the pilot outright. Overhearing a report from her lieutenant's radio, Leah learned that a second Coalition MAS squadron was on the way to engage the 101st. They were going to be outnumbered. Without thinking, Leah ran for the downed 101st MAS and climbed into the cockpit, finding that its controls were still intact, and that the round had taken the pilot's head clean off and continued out through the back of the MAS.

Leah was immediately met with a systems lockout, a standard security measure in UEE MAS units following the death of a pilot in order to prevent a commandeering. With her incomplete MAS training, and her extensive technical knowledge, Leah was able to break past the lockout and reactivate the MAS. The Coalition MAS units weren't expecting the dead MAS behind them to come back from the dead, giving her an opportunity to catch them by surprise. The surprise worked, and the 101st was able to capitalize on the confusion and finish the remaining Coalition MAS units before reinforcements could arrive. Her platoon gained their footing and continued to evacuate the HVTs. But before Leah could rejoin them, she was hailed by the 7th's team leader, and told to stay in the MAS. Citing that one MAS on the field is more valuable than a single rifleman, and that if she could pilot the MAS, they could make use of her.

Leah became an impromptu member of the team for the remainder of the battle, learning everything she could about the MAS unit under her control as she went. With the entirety of the 7th on the field and reinforcements arriving, the Coalition was forced to retreat. The siege lifted. Leah had found herself planetside in a MAS hangar, staring at the SOP-404 Cavalier MAS with the hole punched in its chest while the cockpit was being hosed out. While there, she was approached by the 7th's team leader and an administrative clerk. Leah was then formally offered a permanent position in the 7th, inheriting the seat and MAS of the fallen pilot. She was transferred from the UEE Army to the Navy and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant to officially become a member of the 101st SOG. Leah has kept that seat since then, and she has become something a staple of the unit, bringing her marksmanship and technical expertise to the field in a much upgraded Cavalier MAS, which has since been redesignated as the SOC-404EW/CC Blackout.

Personal Skills:

• Infantry Training: - Starting her military career in the UEE Army Infantry, Leah is just as deadly on foot as she is in a MAS. During her time in the infantry, Leah had worn many different hats. She was a rifleman in her regiment's scout company at first, who later went on to become a designated marksman, and then a full time sniper.
• Technical Expertise: - Before Leah joined the UEE Army, she was a Spider for a local mafia on Cerol. Spiders are a type of hacker dedicated to lingering on the net and ensnaring probing users in elaborate coding traps. While specialized in locating and tracing data breaches (and breachers), all Spiders need to have a comprehensive understanding on infowar in the first place.
• Underworld Knowledge: - Her history in the criminal underworld is a closely guarded secret, but that doesn't stop her from applying that experience and knowledge when it benefits the team on a mission. Whenever asked how she knows these things, Leah is generally dismissive and simply says things like 'It just makes sense that it'd be this way.' or 'I grew up around knowing people.' Regardless, if someone looking for connections or protocols related to criminal activity, Leah can provide.

SOC-404EW/CC Blackout

M O B I L E A R M O R S U I T

---

S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

---

Designation: 404EW/CC, Blackout, SOC
Role: E-War, Battlespace Control, Long Range Support
Weight Class: Medium
Description:
The Blackout is a custom variant of the SOP-404 Cavalier. Like its progenitor, the Blackout is a slimmed down medium MAS designed specifically for mothership based operations where it can be carried great distances and inserted easily behind enemy lines. The Blackout has seen a number of enhancements over the original model however, with upgraded sensors and comms suites, as well as overhauled armor plating to better fit the Blackout's role as an E-war and long range support MAS. The legs needed an upgrade to improve the load bearing limit for both the sniper cannon and the DCCM-8 backpack module, and the head unit was swapped out with enhanced long range sensors, radar, and FCS. The usual color of the Blackout is, as its name suggests, black. But the dynamic camouflage armor plating will frequently mean that its color and pattern is changing all the time to best fit the environment it is in. Cavaliers are known to be used a test bed for experimental technology since their slimmed down bodies on a medium chassis allow for ample room for modification, which lends to the Blackout being very easy to be re-equipped to best suit the needs of the mission and the team.

A R M A M E N T

---

• LR-90. 90mm Sniper Cannon. (Primary): - Standard 90mm rifled sniper cannon fitted with a flash suppressor, recoil dampeners, and bipod. Fed by five round magazines with auto-loading bolt assembly. Weapon optics linked directly to MAS FCS via data cord plugged into the MAS unit's shoulder piece. Can fire a variety of rounds, including but not limited to APFSDS, High Explosive, Canisters, and Netspike Repeater Rounds. APSFDS rounds fire at the highest velocity and have the flattest trajectory at range, and they are meant to engage armored targets where armor penetration is required. High explosive rounds are slower, heavier, and have a more pronounced parabolic firing arc. Used in shorter range engagement against lighter armor targets and clusters of entrenched infantry. HE rounds are almost most effective against structures. Canister rounds are effectively shotgun rounds, firing dozens of steel ball bearings for close quarters engagements. Best used for speculative fire, but can punch a hole through most things at close range. Netspike Repeaters are a bespoke round for E-War MAS units. They are not meant to be used directly on a target, though they can be used as such in a pinch. They are meant to be embedded into surfaces, be it the ground, on ships, or on buildings, where they then extend the area of wireless influence that Blackout has for hacking and electronic warfare when other methods of electronic infiltration aren't possible.
• MT-SmM 10DS 'Stilleto'. Micro Missile Launcer. (Primary): - Mounted on the right shoulder, this pod of micro missiles is the gift that keeps on giving. Able to be used in all environments against any target, these little devils have garnered a fierce reputation. The Stilleto micro missile is a high speed armor piercing dart with high agility to track with frightening accuracy. They are not explosive, as the DS variant of the MT-SmM 10 is fitted with small data spikes with autorunning malware. Once a Stilleto has made impact with its target, the data spike begins infiltrating the target's electronics and computer systems to upload what pilot's have affectionately come to call gremlins. Once the gremlins have been installed into the victim, the Stilleto's user can begin interfering with the target's systems. This can lead to things like the target's IFF systems flipping, or twitchy controls that lead to premature firing or ammunition ejections from weapons, all the way to shutting down comms and sensors or overheating on board electronics. Additionally, Stilletos are fitted with tracking beacons, enabling the user and their allied forces to track and monitor the position and status of the infected target, thus aiding in battlespace intelligence and command and control. The missile pod carries up to 100 micro missiles. They are usually fired in volleys of up to ten, as not all missiles reach their targets, penetrate armor effectively, or successfully infiltrate systems. However, their small size, high speed, and alarming agility make them very difficult to be detected or intercepted by point defense systems. Stilletos have been reportedly used on infantry as well, though the strike from the micro missile usually kills them outright. Infantry say that the sound of a Stilleto approaching or passing overhead is like a high pitched whistle. Stilletos track electromagnetic emissions and cross reference those emissions with IFF tags. IFF safeties can be toggled off by the pilot in the event of a rogue unit.
• DCCM-8 'Legion' Backpack. (Heavy): - Mounted on the back of the MAS. The Legion backpack is a new device making its way out to UEE MAS squadrons, beginning with the armament of special forces MAS units before eventually rolling out to regular units. Affectionately referred to as 'Funnel Drones', these wedge shaped drones are slaved to the pilot's controls, and they are supplemented by a limited AI housed in the backpack unit to offload the parallel processes needed to operate the drones. The backpack carries 8 drones, though the module has room for an additional 8 before data processing and parallel control becomes overwhelming. Each funnel has an operating range of eight kilometers (in an open, unobstructed environment) from the parent MAS. They are all fitted with small laser cannons, similar in size and power to a MAS laser pistol. Each funnel can fire twelve shots before needing to return to the backpack for recharging. The funnels are at their deadliest when operating simultaneously against single targets, employing swarm tactics where their limited firepower can be joined to overwhelm defenses and limit the target's maneuverability options. It synergizes well with long ranged MAS units (like the Blackout), where enemies can be led into poor positions to be exploited by sniper fire and ambushes. When deployed, a funnel drone can remain operational for up to thirty minutes before the power draw begins to reduce the amount of shots it can make with its laser. Using the funnel drone's simple sensors, the Legion's onboard AI can locate and paint targets near the drone, and feed that information back to the parent MAS and its unit for increased battlespace awareness.
• HP-40 'Kruger' Heavy Pistol. (Secondary): - A 40mm heavy MAS pistol designed for close range encounters. The pistol is fed by way of magazine, with each mag carrying seven rounds. The long barrel of the pistol, couples with the MAS' complex FCS, enables it to be an adequate mid range weapon, but it truly excels at close range where the LR-90 might be too unwieldy. The Kruger can load two types of rounds: 40mm slugs high penetration and impact, and 40mm airburst for soft or entrenched targets at the cost of armor penetration. The pistol is semi-automatic and can be fired as fast as its trigger can be pulled, but the high recoil of the weapon can start to throw off the MAS' arm unit if fired too quickly, making the weapon very rewarding for patient and accurate shooters.
• SFCC FleetCom Uplink. (Utility): - This is more than a simple long range comms unit. The SFCC (Special Forces Communications and Control) Uplink features with limited access and authority to override and task ships in orbit for fire missions on demand. Given the strategic importance and tactical threats involved in special forces MAS operations, prudent and direct support often takes high priority for mission success. The override can be further overridden by a fleet officer of sufficient rank (Commodore and above) when they deem their situation in orbit is of higher importance than that of the ground team's. If an uplink has successfully been established with a ship in orbit, the MAS pilot can slave the ship's weaponry to the MAS unit's FCS, and strike targets with weaponry that the MAS, or its team, might not have on hand. Ship captains tend to have a strong dislike for SFCC Uplinks, as they do not enjoy control of their ship being superseded by some hoity-toity grunt on the ground, but alas, their hands are usually tied. Many MAS pilots with an SFCC uplink have a general understanding of this, and thus they try to foster good working relationships with the bridge officers of the fleet. If they can't do that, then they often make mental notes to return the favor.
• Dynamic Camouflage Armor. (Utility): - The DCA is the happy compromise between the Stealth Drive and the Active Camouflage system. While not excelling at either function, the DCA allows for tactical flexibility by muffling emissions from the MAS, lowing their signature to scanners, while utilizing an imperfect active camouflage to break up and distort the MAS unit's silhouette. The DCA's active camouflage leaves behind a sort of shimmer that traces along the hard lines of the MAS' armor. So while it will obscure the MAS from being detected by an unwary victim, anyone visually scanning for a MAS might not have too many issues spotting the distinct shimmer of DCA. The final result is a cloaking system that is by no means perfect, but effective enough to hide among a sea of more pronounced signatures, or to enable a first strike against someone who isn't expecting to get hit. There is a tradeoff for this hybrid stealth system however. As it is the armor plating, and not some additional device, there needed to be room for the tech which resulted in a reduction in overall ballistic protection. The armor class of DCA on medium MAS is proportional to that of a light MAS. The Blackout's pilot acknowledges the overall disadvantages brought by DCA. She believes that if things are being done right, she should be a distance where the camouflage and emissions masking is effective enough to not be detected, and the where the armor shouldn't be put to the test.

Falling Skies (Mecha, Military, Space Opera)

I hear the summons, and I answer.