Easing himself back down into the seat, Kaite watched as the shuttle took off with the added escort of Cassie. What came next all seemed to happen in a flash. A sweep of the monstrous bird's neck and a concussive reverb picking up on the scanners as a sonic blast tore through the fighter, and a wall of notifications lit up.
'Cerebral contusion' was soon followed by an oxygen-level warning, and a 'fire hazard' blinked onto the HUD for the briefest moments before the monitor in Landslide offlined. 

It hadn't been his choice, but Kaite still accepted the mission he was acquired for, including all of its risks. However, some misguided optimism never imagined being faced with the reality of their sentence. While he expected danger, a dull gray x'd out circle over the obscured source of a trail of smoke rising from the forest was all that was left of Cassandra O'Hare. The unceremonious silencing of the woman made him tremble, ears folding back and going to work priming three of the main cannon's chambers before the order even came in.

[color=gray][sub]"-You know...[i]Kite[/i]. Like, head in the clouds while we pull ya along. Oh lighten up, it's a joke."[/sub]

My hands felt heavy, even as I armed the volly. The targeting reticle snapped from Lady O'Hare's grave to the looming bird and the resounding thumps of artillery echoed throughout the ship. Without a second of hesitation, I opened comms to simply respond [color=8882be]"Engaging"[/color], though the words came as a choked whisper. Teeth already grit, I removed my eyepatch as the hud was becoming blurry from silent tears.[/color]

The burst roared past the shuttle in the distance as they punched through atmosphere on a semi-guided descent towards the reacquired target. Three percussion shells for good measure, it was clear the intent was past the point of being nice about the creature's fate.
Impacts from the glorified flack sent clouds of dust and hunks of crystal skyward, the beast roaring as it struggled to keep from buckling to the ground from the force. Harried from the assault, the third strike toppled the beast into the forest, below.
As the dust settled, a rustle of trees with a slight trail of blood painted a picture of a result. It would live, albeit with a limp and a grip of scars to show as a reminder of their dealings with the marauders. 

Kaite fought to keep a track on the bird whose anatomy blended into the various shadowed rock faces, but he broke lock after the readings came in of the survivors' shuttle exiting gravity. Visuals still localized, his eyes discerned the parting of trees as the creature moved to inspect its kill and presumably left soon after finding only flames and steel...consumable remains likely atomized on impact.
The thought made him sick to his stomach, shutting off the feed at his terminal and standing. That was about as far as his plan went as he lingered before wiping his eyes in the scarf and making to leave. Coincidence would have him approaching the door from the bridge as they parted to reveal the captain. [color=8882be]"S-sir Raymond!"[/color] Kaite stammered as he stood to the side at attention and let him pass, quickly wiping his face with sleeves. [color=8882be]"Target successfully suppressed"[/color] they continued, trying to remain professionally subjective for the captain who he assumed didn't need to be exposed to his mood which he tried to hide by looking forward and therefore away from the man. The motions didn't stop the slight watering in the corner of his eyes and the slight tremor in his stance.