Raisa was preparing to return to battle as the pain from the damage began to subside when without warning, she and all of the other combatants were given the order to stand down. In response, Raisa blinked in surprise. Within a moment, all sounds of battle had disappeared, leaving only the sounds of the wildlife and the nature around her. The sudden change broke her chain of thought and now she stood there, asking herself silently if this was real or if she had suddenly gone crazy from the aforementioned pain. A message appeared on her HUD, her wide range battle map's target indicators turned green and the waypoints that had been set disappeared from view, replaced with a single waypoint indicating the way to extraction. Bizarrely enough, she didn't hear the sound of her rifle locking and she thus checked it. Apparently, it hadn't yet been deactivated. Raisa guessed it was because the LDF hadn't yet gotten the correct codes for remote deactivation of the new model Avto's, which was usually kept very hush as to keep it from falling into enemy hands. If enemies knew the codes, they could potentially lock any weaponry that opposing Iyuli GEARs were using. A war machine without working weapons was just about useless.

In any case, she still had the possibility of shooting at something, but it was futile. They were simulator bullets to begin with and with the training programs shutting down, they'd only bounce off whatever she shot at harmlessly and it would probably earn her a few problems with the CO to boot, so she refrained from doing anything too radical. Instead, she simply put her rifle back on her back and after regaining herself, the fox began steadily walking down the wooded hill towards the courtyard of the base, where she would then turn away from to head to the extraction area. With her mind now free from thinking of battle, she now took in the sights of the former battlefield. As the "wrecked" machinery and "dead" infantry had already moved away while she had been skulking atop the hill, the landscape had now been freed from war and its machines, save for her own Flanker and a few others that still hadn't moved away. There being no actual damage anywhere due to it being only a training exercise, only a few footsteps and track marks remained on the ground and aside from those, Raisa almost had the impression that no battle, even imaginary, had ever been fought here.

When she reached the middle of the field, she decided to stop walking and after taking a few breaths to regain herself, the pain having drifted away like the dust of battle in the breeze. Looking around, she realized that it would be amazing to get a taste of fresh air after the battle before returning to the landcruiser. She thought it over for a moment before shrugging and removing her helmet. Automatically, her GEAR's controls switched to manual control, with physical controls moving near her seat and the cockpit's walls lit up to show the landscape around her. As expected, the front of the cockpit only showed an error, as the torso cameras had been destroyed during her struggle against the missile attacks. No matter, Raisa would mutter to herself as she calmly gave the command to open the cockpit. After confirming this, the front opened with a smooth motion and Raisa felt a gust of warm wind come into the stagnant and sterile cockpit. For a moment, the girl simply sat and stared in awe at the beauty of the land. In the distance, the sides of the valley went upwards, eventually becoming somewhat rocky looking cliffs, but none of them were high enough to be topped in snow. Lower, there were a few forests and Raisa guessed there may be a body of clear water somewhere in the area.

A few birds flew overhead, mostly small birds such as swallows, making agile and lithe movements through the air. Taking in the air with a breath, Raisa could smell a multitude of smells; the burnt armor of her cockpit, gunpowder and other odors of war, but also the scents of the landscape. The typical smells of grass, dirt, but also a breathtaking scent of flowers wafted over from a nearby meadow. Instantly, Raisa felt all stress from the battle dissolve and it was only when she was hailed by one of her comrades that she continued moving.

"Private Biryukova, you still alive? We don't 've all day here." One of the infantry, probably one in charge of moving the GEARs out of the exercise area, spoke to her over comms and Raisa used the controls to make her GEAR start walking towards the waypoint. She didn't speak in response, but the sight of her GEAR on the battle map would probably be enough of a sign for the infantryman. The warm air kept going inside the cockpit as the GEAR moved in a pre-programmed walking motion and Raisa could easily hear the sounds of the GEAR walking, even with the dampeners on. Though, even with the sounds of machinery, the leisurely jog across the former battlefield was a relaxing experience, to say the least. With a regular walking pace, it felt like a child's rocker and Raisa could almost feel herself drifting off. To keep herself awake as she pressed on the movement control, moving in a straight line towards the waypoint, she returned to the old routine of polishing her helmet.

Eventually, she arrived at the first waypoint towards returning back to the [i]Claw[/i] and Raisa made a wry smile as some of the men looked bewilderingly at the state of her GEAR. Not only was it irregular procedure to have the cockpit open at most times, but the fact that she had actually sustained damage in a training exercise must have been an utter wonder to them. Admittedly, it was a wonder to her too, Raisa remarked as she followed the rest of the group. It was then that she heard the ever charming Private P. Tom speak once again.

"This was without doubt the weirdest exercise I've done since joining the LDF. The scenario was totally off and the ending doesn't make sense. I hope they have something nice and cold to drink standing ready for us when we return." For once, Raisa agreed with him. They had gotten off to a bad start, but it seemed that he could redeem himself yet, especially since they seemed to share the same ideas in terms of opinions on missions.

"Yeah, I'd rather have fought to the last breath-" She stopped herself when she realized how much damage she had taken. Would she have been able to fight the enemy in the state she had been in, especially with the reinforcements they had received? "-actually, no, scratch that." The fox went silent for a moment before speaking again. "I can agree about the drinks though. Care to join me afterward, Private Tom?" She allowed herself to giggle for a moment off comms and let a smile return to her face. It wasn't good to wallow in such trivial things such as the results of exercises. There were better things in life to worry about.

Like if the char marks on the chest of her GEAR could be washed off.