As Ari took a final, calming breath, she suddenly heard the sound of McKnight's voice on the COM, a private line based on the transmission icon on her display. He warned her to stay close, and not fly off, and Ari nodded, and was about to give a prompt reply. However, the words of the Captain floated through her mind 

"[i][color=0072bc]Fight fire with fire she said. We're about to go into combat, this isn't a situation for ceremony. C'mon Ari, don't be so darn uptight![/color][/i]" She nodded, shook her head, and keyed the COM, saying "[color=0072bc]Got it, McKnight. I'll stay on your six and keep my own firmly attached to my body.[/color]" She smiled at this, pleased that she'd managed an informal, if not overly friendly, exchange.

Then, however, the set-up for the catapult launch from the Lincoln began. Ari had done the sims countless times, she knew how it felt, as the sims were exceptionally realistic. This, combined with her high-g force training, meant she was more than prepared for the stress of a launch. As the Astelion stepped into place, she made sure to remind herself"[i][color=0072bc]It's your MAS Ari. It's yours now, and the one who used to fly her wouldn't want you to be so awkward, surely.[/color][/i]"

As this thought occurred to her, she watched the display before her flick on the countdown. Calmly getting a firm, but relaxed, grip on the sticks, and leaning her head back, Ari waited. When the display flashed a big, blue one, she felt herself being rocketed forward. In the back of her mind, she was aware she was being separated from the cables that kept the MAS on "ship power", and would be on combat supply the moment she was outside. However, most of her was too busy reveling in the pure thrill of her first launch. She couldn't help the adrenaline-caused grin that lit her face as the MAS rocketed out into the endless dark.

Immediately, Ari felt training kick in, and she set about righting the MAS. Thruster pumps to get her upright, movement to center her, all of it was part of training. While Ari had, at one point, been very disoriented by the sensation of space in the sims, she'd gotten over it. This wasn't too different, after all the only thing, she was told, that the sims couldn't accurately portray was true combat. That couldn't be so, though, could it? The sims were so difficult, so real looking, surely real combat couldn't be that different. Some part of her mind reminded her not to get cocky, that if the instructors said sims didn't equal out to real combat then they didn't, and she did listen to this rational part of her mind. Even as this small interior banter went on in her mind, Ari had righted herself and gathered her bearings, and was now scanning the battlefield.

All around the field, she watched aerospace fighters and MAS suits fighting, munitions streaking across the eternal night of space. As the bright flashes filled the space with colors, it was almost mesmerizing in a way. Intoxicatingly beautiful in a dark, strangely poetic way, as she watched the flash of guns. However, her stress levels spiked as she quickly realized that not all of these were just munitions detonations. She watched as an aerospace fighter, containing a pilot just like her father, was slammed into by a Coalition MAS. The fighter went spiraling away, engines flaring to regain itself, when an auto cannon shell cored it. The fighter exploded in a bright red, the same flashes she'd been watching mere moments before.

Suddenly, Ari wasn't so sure if she could do this. People were dying, all around her, all the time. She began to hyperventilate, panic coursing through her veins. So much death, so much destruction, of experienced pilots! What made her think she could survive this, with no battle experience to her name? Maybe she didn't belong here, maybe she should've stayed in the engineering program! Her head grew light and dizzy as air continued to come in rapid, ragged gasps.

"[color=0072bc][i]Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh, Idon'twannadie Idon'twannadie, [b]I DON'T WANNA DIE![/b][/i][/color]" The panicked thoughts filled her mind, overtaking all others. It took every ounce of training she had just to stop her from turning the Astelion around and fleeing at top speed, to get away from this killing field. She was beginning to grow feint however, and soon she'd pass out. Not that she cared, with the blind panic filling her, she couldn't care about anything but raw survival. She didn't want to die! She had so much of her life ahead of her! Why was she stupid enough to sign up with these adrenaline jockies and go fight?!


[quote=Sterling McKngiht]
[color=lightblue]"You ready rookie?"[/color] McKnight called through his and Ariana's comm channel. [color=lightblue]"Keep it tight, and play it safe."[/color]
[/quote]


AS these words filtered through her COM, she could hear another voice as well, in her mind alone. "[color=f7976a][i]Ari, when you first get into combat, it'll be scary. You'll be completely terrified, you won't know what to do. It's of the utmost importance that you keep a cool head on your shoulders though. Don't let that fear rule you, for yourself and your comrades. You need to be dependable, you need to be able to fight without letting the fear stop you. I know you can do it, you're a Williams family pilot, and you'll do us proud. Just remember, calm is your friend, and panic kills more than any enemy gun.[/i][/color]"

This COM message, and the memory of her father's words, began to soothe Ari. Her breathing returned to normal, her head slowly cleared, and her confidence slowly began to filter back in. Her breakdown over, Ari released a deep, calming breath, allowing her recovery to slowly complete. She had to keep her cool, like her dad said, or else she could get them all killed. The very thought of that made her threaten to descend back into a panic, and perhaps fill the interior of her MAS with vomit, but it was again controlled with a deep breath. She knew she could do this, she'd been trained to do this, all she had to do was keep her cool. Her panic again subsiding into her chest, she gently reached over and keyed her COM again to answer Sterling, hoping he didn't notice the delay between him talking and her responding.

"[color=0072bc]I'm alright, green to go McKnight. I'll....I'll stay close, I promise.[/color]" That done, she released the COM and watched the enemy MAS suits moving forward. As their guns slowly began to fire, and the bullets and shots raced around nearby, her panic began to grow again. This panic spiked when a shot winged her, thankfully the shot was small enough even the Astelion's limited shields protected her. However, this caused her instincts from the old sims to kick in. She wasn't in a Heavy, or even Medium, MAS, she was in a light unit. She couldn't stand there and take it, she had to dodge. However, her body refused to respond to her commands, paralyzed in fear.

"[i][color=0072bc]C'mon Ari, you've got to dodge. If you don't, you'll die and let them all down. You have to move, MOVE, [b]MOVE![/b][/color][/i]" With this firm, loud mental command, she snapped into action, firing the Astelion's thrusters and dodging the next volley. The Astelion's acceleration was incredible. That, combined with its speed, and sensors, made it perfect for dodging the enemy fire. She sent it through graceful maneuver after maneuver, enemy fire whizzing harmlessly into space. To all looking on, it'd seem the Astelion danced again, perhaps not as well as when its original pilot flew her, but certainly much differently. Complex patterns wove around missiles and lasers, while sudden bursts of movement sent autocannon shells flying off into the darkness of space. Ari, on the interior, was adjusting the sticks, and adjusting herself to the flight of this unit. She could slowly feel herself internalizing, coming to terms, with what was around her. She had to live, no matter what, that was what kept her going. She just thanked the lord she was a MAS pilot, not an infantrywoman, as it'd be much harder to come to terms with all this death if she could see the people.

With this done, however, she watched a Coalition MAS targeting her in particular. It seemed to be a medium unit, wielding an auto cannon, likely a Ferir MK.II based on its appearance. Back in training, they'd been taught that these units lacked shields, and so were especially vulnerable to things like the heavy plasma cannons on Ari's shoulders. However, it seemed it realized its own vulnerability as well, as Hammer missiles raced out towards her. While slower than most missiles, they were heavy, and Ari couldn't afford to be hit by one, she flew up, watching the missiles trace her, and a minimal grin lit her face as a course of action came to mind. Firing off her countermeasures, she gunned it down at the same time, and hoped. Sure enough, she watched as the confused missiles kept following the flares, having lost Ari's MAS. With a sigh of relief, she turned her attention to the enemy MAS. The X-50 cannons flipped into a ready state, and Ari's own math skills quickly combined with the MAS to create, and check, a firing solution. Of course, Ari's own contribution was limited, just a quick check of the solution the computer presented. With a soft sigh, she finalized the lock...and fired. She watched as the balls of energy that had been building fired out, racing towards the enemy MAS. It went to dodge, and indeed almost did, but the blast still slammed into it's right side, sending it spiraling, as the right half of the suit turned to slag.

Ari had to make sure, to make sure she was safe. A second solution, a second shot, two "seconds" became her first kill, and then Ari again shut down. She'd just....killed a man. All he was, all he'd been, all he'd ever be, brought to an end by her with a few pushes of a button. He'd been shooting at her...she had to do it, she knew that. But she'd still killed a man, she'd ended his life with precision and efficiency. She forcibly shook her head, growling to herself 

"[color=0072bc]Keep it cool Ari! It's fine, it's all okay! You had to, you know that, so it's fine! This is war, you signed up for this! It's ALRIGHT![/color]" With her own self given pep-talk, she realized she wasn't sure if she'd remembered to turn off the COM. She sighed minutely at this and, this time making sure to key it, said into the COM

"[color=0072bc]T-this is Williams, one enemy d-down. R-returning to standard formation.[/color]"