-----------------


'It's over' Cecilia's words echoed around Kat's head for some time before slowly forming meaning.
"It's over." She softly repeats with a distant sense of melancholy.
A hand drags across her face as she tries to wipe away the tears and her mood. 
"It's over." She repeats once again to herself as she straightens up and starts restoring partial life to her FRAME allowing it to warm up.
With a deep breath and some thought she access Cecilia's encrypted link and replies in her bravest voice.

"Sorry m'am, snow leopard fell asleep. Jus' went dark on me all of a sudden! Thinking there's some sort of failure in the heat dissipation or distribution. Probably a faulty power coupling or two, gonna shut of auxiliary and redirect focus to mobility. Just give me ten to salvage some parts from the wrecks. 
Could damn use it."

Kat doesn't wait for a reply, she completely disengages all unnecessary tech, the scanners, jammers and radios, all of it. In truth Snow Leopard was hard to start, but on the fourth go she woke up.
To Kat the FRAME felt hungry, she could feel Snow's belly rumble. Just another one let down by Kat today.

As much as she could use some more tech or parts to work with, it wasn't the real reason for her gradual approach to the fallen enemies. Kat didn't understand it herself but she just had to see them, to see the carnage and destruction of their encounter. The jagged torn steal, the lifeless frames, the pools of leaking fluids - human and machine - the strewn bodies... Or what was left of.

The first civvie FRAME Kat came upon was still kicking. It lay like a helpless injured animal still twitching, sparks flying from a large hole in its chest and the open shoulder joint where the arm had once been.
The man inside the cockpit was in much the same condition. Pinned down by a large bar protruding from his chest, he cried, wriggled and sputtered. Kat couldn't bring herself to help him, or end him either, so she just watched. 

When it was over and he stopped moving, Kat exited her FRAME. Keeping true to her word she went searching the civvie vehicle for parts useful for Snow Leopard. Instead she came back with a small case found just outside the mans desperate reach. 

It was a personal drug stash, half full of stimulants and illegal enhancers. 
Finding a secure spot in her own cockpit pit she hid it well, keeping a small select few on herself.


------- Back at base -------


"[b]Fuck that[/b]!" Kat yells out disapprovingly from the back corner of the Command room, having opted not to sit closely around the holo table with the others. In fact since arrival Kat had been very cautious to steer clear of most people after her earlier blunder.

"It will become all 'yes sir, no sir!' And we will be fighting some fat asshole politicians personal feuds for him in no time!" 
Kat's arms spoke as much as her mouth as they flailed about enacting her speech with passion.

"I signed up to the panthers! Not the friggin military!" 

There was an unusual hint of aggression and/or frustration in Kat's demeanour that was out of character for her.