Blade's GEAR scooted along beside the all-terrain vehicle. Inside, the fox's expression was one full of cloudy anger and sadness. Aidan's message had come in, and it had cast a bleak outlook over his mood. Even Reeza's familiar voice on the radio did little to perk him up, as did the report in from Christa, the other new member of the team.
"Reeza; I wish it was a better time y'all were joinin' us. Same fer you too Sovereign. But glad yer both here. Proceed as directed, we'll all rendezvous at the mine" [i]and get some payback,[/i] he added to himself.
The waypoint drifted closer on the HUD, and he tried to pull himself away from the looming thoughts of darkness at Arcade's loss, and whatever Kuraiko's state could be. He clenched his hands tighter around the GEARs' controls willing away the trembling in his hands, and the hunger burning in his gut and mind for a drink to take the edge off, to number the insistent thoughts, and instead turned his attention to the C3i readout, hovering the air to one side.
"Coming up on the waypoint," he announced over the commnet. "Nawlin, Keel, we're closing from your six. Utility chopper from the [i]Claw[/i] is en route too to take care of Kuraiko too."
The [I]Harlock[/i] drew up alongside the pair of GEARs, and he acknowledged them with a dip of the machines' head. 
"All right," he affirmed with a strong tone. "Here's how we're going to run this. The GEARs will go in ahead, and take the brunt of the hostile firepower, while eliminating enemy GEARs or other strongpoints for heavy weapons or other equipment. The fireteam will move behind, as well as acting as spotters; mop up any enemy shooters on foot, and designate or call out targets for us to hit. It'll be like we rehearsed and drilled. We work together - smooth and fast, fast and hard. Ken; I reckon once we smash in the front door and hit 'em where they're hiding, there'll be runners. Chase 'em down and stop 'em from getting away. If you can't, at least get a fix on their direction, so we can follow 'em up." He paused for a moment, considering his next words before he spoke. 
"We've lost one man, and we're another down. I dunno about you, but I ain't in much of a mood for lettin' a bunch of bandits think they got one over on us, or that they can beat the LDF and leave us hurtin'. So, we show 'em what skill and smarts are, what our trainin' does fer us, and we smack 'em down hard. Do it like you know how to. Let's go".

The Support helicopter from the [i]Claw[/i] arrived over the horizon almost as soon as he finished talking, with the Skyhawk not far behind. The [I]Claw[/i] itself wasn't far behind, having moved up to a support position. Blade reloaded the rifle on the [i]Harlock[/i], and advanced to the mouth of the mine, the rifle held ready much like one of the infantrymen scaled up to two or three times their original size. 
"Stand ready!" he called, waiting for the others to fall in at the other mineshaft entrances. "Remember, move in an keep pressing them!"
As soon as the team were assembled, Blade moved in. The tunnels were big enough to move two abreast, despite the irregular walls and surface. As soon as the tunnel widened out into a cavern, they came under fire. 
The bandits had gathered their remaining GEARs in the caverns and tunnels, along with other vehicles and numerous armed personnel. The gunfire was defeaning, especially with the heavy weapons of the GEARs. The machines were much like those encountered in the irrigation facility: refitted civilian machines with military-grade weapons and sensors, along with infantry wearing heavy armour and carrying quality weapons. Again, the incongruity of it alarmed him, but that was something to be thought of later. For now, the fight was on.
They were outnumbered; roughly two to one. But their GEARs were higher in quality and sophistication, despite the advantage. They could win it out, if they fought well.
"Esailia," he called over the comm system. "We'll keep you covered! Locate the hostages, and call in if you need fire support from us! Nawlin - move with Esailia and keep her covered. Everyone else, spread out and advance!" 
He rattled off a burst of fire from the autocannon at a GEAR that poked out of cover to fire, following it up with a burst of head-mounted minigun fire at an infantry unit attempting to use the distraction to flank around behind them on a catwalk. The battle was going to turn into a chaotic mess, but they'd opened strong. All they had to do was keep up the momentum.