[quote=@KzkSkippy]
Tam slid into cover behind a downed tree. Judging by the distinct lack of bullets chasing her, she assumed she hadn't been seen. However, whoever was after them had apparently found one of her teammates.

The actual LASER beams should not have been visible on their own. One of the advantages to a laser was that it was pretty quiet (until it hit something) and you couldn't trace the beam back to the shooter. However, the dense smoke surrounding the ship was refracting the beams, allowing them to show up quite clearly from over a hundred yards away. Whoever it was, they were on the other side of the ship, so she did have to deal with direct fire, yet. But what she wouldn't give for a grenade launcher. 

Whoever they were shooting at, though, couldn't say the same. Hopefully, the fire would be attenuated by the smoke (one of the main disadvantages of LASER weapons was they treat cover and concealment the same). She risked a call over Iron Talon encrypted channels. "Whoever's engaged on the ships port side, try to disengage to the left, I can provide limited cover from the treeline."

As she set up her position, she spotted another figure sprinting from the ship. She reflexively tracked the figure with her pistol for a moment before she recognized her. "Hey, Rook. On your right, fifteen meters. Get in cover."
[/quote]

Atara nodded even though she wasn't facing Tam and talking to her; it was a habit from training days, where you didn't speak unless you were told to speak, even if it was just an affirmative or a negative. "Roger that. Good to know somebody else's lived through this," she responded quickly. Since there weren't really bullets in this area, she took a few moments to actually properly look for good cover. Atara knew how to climb trees, but she also knew her armor would slow her down to the point of making it not worth it. She spotted a place seven meters away, about halfway to Tam's general location, where there were some bushes next to a tree and a dip in the ground behind it where the earth had been washed away and the roots had sunk. Atara made her way to the location and hunkered down in the dip in the ground, looking over her shoulder to make sure the bushes were thick enough for proper cover. "Clear," she said at last, much more quietly. "About seven or eight meters from your approximate location," she added, still quiet in case enemies were near.