[color=gray]Alexis stepped out of her quarters wearing her uniform. Two members of the crew walked past with a salute and went about their business. She unclipped her holopad from her belt and began to look it over as she headed toward the bridge. It was quiet during hyperspace, mostly people getting some R&R. The halls were empty, more so now that a small portion of the crew had been lost back at Cerol, and Alexis could actually hear her own thoughts. As she walked down the hall, she heard a small thud that would have gone completely unnoticed if the ship was bustling  with activity. It made her stop for a moment.

Suddenly, the entire ship jutted and it threw Alexis off of her feet, she hit her head against the wall. Alexis fell to the floor, her hands holding onto her head tightly as her ears rang. Pulses of pain flew through her as she clenched her teeth and gripped hard. The alarms went off and people began piling out of their small barracks. One of the crew saw Alexis on the floor and ran to her, [color=white][i]"Captain! Captain are you alright?"[/i][/color]

Alexis shut her eyes tight for a moment before nodding to the crew. Her ears will still ringing and she could feel something warm seeping between her fingers and down her cheek. It took a few seconds before she got to her feet and looked to the crewman who had come to see if she was alright, [color=white][b]"Get to your station! Go!"[/b][/color]

The man ran off down the hallway and Alexis did the same to get to the bridge. [color=white][b]"Aston you better have a damn good explanation for me..."[/b][/color] she muttered as she trekked down the steel halls. Her ears were still ringing and the head wound was hurting like a son of a bitch.

When she got into the bridge, everybody was in a hurry to figure out what the hell was going on. [color=white][b]"Somebody give me a report!"[/b][/color] she barked, wiping some blood from her face as she did.

Aston and Ardin came up to her, her XO spoke first, [color=white][i]"Captain, I don't how they managed it. But the Coalition just pulled us out a hyperspace. Port-side engineering has taken heavy damage, bulkheads have secured the venting. We have multiple hostiles inbound."[/i][/color]

As Aston was giving his report, Alexis was watching the holo-display, particularly at the new unit headed their way. She pointed at it, [color=white][b]"Zoom in on that. What the hell is that?"[/b][/color] she gritted her teeth as she already knew the answer to her question, a new model and it looked liked a very advanced piece of tech.

Ardin added his own input, [color=gold][i]"Turns out we're under attack by a lot of 'what the hell are those' machines."[/i][/color] he pointed at the cruiser that had launched the attack, [color=gold][i]"Seems we were pulled right into Coalition research space. Perfect."[/i][/color]

Alexis stepped onto the CIC platform and looked back at Ardin, [color=white][b]"Perfect?! This is far from perfect, admiral!"[/b][/color]

Ardin shook his head, [color=gold][i]"No, it really is perfect. If this sector is used for R&D, then we have a lead on finding the Coalition superweapon."[/i][/color]

Alexis thought on it and he was right, this was in all honesty a lucky break despite the circumstances. She needed to work with him on this. [color=white][b]"We need to know more about this new MAS."[/b][/color]

The AI chimed in, [color=royalblue][i]"I have already begun an in depth analysis of the new frame, captain."[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"Good. Direct all cyber-warfare on the new MAS, keep it in the fog. We're going to capture it and study the tech."[/b] [/color]Alexis then patched through to Delacroix, [color=white][b]"Guillotine, I need you to apprehend the new MAS. Don't take any chances, make sure it can't fight back before you move in. Calamity, cover Guillotine."[/b][/color] she looks at the display and shook her head, [color=white][b]"Just one surprise attack after the other... We don't have enough MAS units for this. Admiral Ardin, I need your servicemen in the fight to support the 7th."[/b][/color]

Ardin looked to his men in black for a moment, [color=gold][i]"I can spare you two men, captain. But the third is staying with me."[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"Four men is better than nothing. They launch as soon they're ready."[/b][/color] she then stared at the new cruiser on the display. [color=white][b]"This thing looks mean. Helmsman, take us to stand-off range! 7th team, you're clear to launch, keep your team in a defensive stance until we can find a weakspot in our shiny new friends."[/b][/color]

Aston looked at the cruiser and then to Alexis, [color=white][i]"Those bays on the front of the ship look like troop compartments. We should consider the possibility of a boarding action."[/i][/color]

Alexis nodded, [color=white][b]"Get the Sigi and Ragnar ready."[/b][/color]

Aston turned to face the wall behind the CIC where a small keypad sat alone. He punched in a six digit code and the wall started lowering. Behind it was a small armory for the bridge crew as well as the commanding officer's and the executive officer's ultra-light MAS suits. There were weapons lockers with shotguns and assault rifles as well as emergency medical supplies and rations behind it as well. Additional power supply units were stored so the ultra-lights could run over an expended duration in the event of a prolonged boarding action. Aston stepped up to his ultra-light, it was a sleek white exo-skeleton with reinforced steel plating covering the most exposed parts of the body. Small little arms wrapped and clenched onto Aston's arms, legs and waist before the armor plated folded around him and encased him. Alexis could hear the suit powering up. When it was ready for use, Aston stepped off the small outfitting platform the ultra-light was housed on and grabbed a heavy machine gun from the wall. [color=white][i]"Sigi is good to go, captain."[/i][/color] he said through a speaker in his ultra-light's helmet.

Aston took Alexis's spot on the CIC platform as she went to her own ultra-light to get suited up. Her MAS was the same model as Astons but it featured more command modules like a long range radio and a scanner suite. It was linked to the Lincoln's own systems so she got all of the tactical readouts in her HUD. She could effectively run the ship from her armor. The suit was stark white like Aston's, but there was a yellow stripe on each of the shoulder plates that ran down to both of her hands. Since commanding often required a lot of hand work, Alexis's weapon was attached to her MAS's shoulder, if she needed to fight, she could fire it mounted or detach it and wield it as a rifle.

The suit's operating system, Sigi, began to boot up. [color=lime][i]"Identity confirmed: Captain Alexis Marquis, activating MAS. Weapons active. Stabilizers and gyros online. Neural interface connected. All systems green. Locks disengaged. Performing pilot health check. Caution, cranial damage sustained. Recommend avoiding strenuous action."[/i][/color] Alexis took a step forward in the ultra-light, the foot landed heavily with a metal on metal thud.

[color=white][b]"Aston, stay on the CIC. I'll use the MAS's systems. Two minds are better than one."[/b][/color] Alexis ordered while she ran a quick manual systems check, Sigi was rarely used so it was a good idea to always make sure it was still up to snuff.

[color=white][i]"Yes ma'am."[/i][/color] Aston replied.

Alexis stepped to the side of the holo display and looked it over, [color=white][b]"Hark, are your marines ready?"[/b][/color]

A distorted reply came back, [color=firebrick][i]"Locked and loaded, captain. I'm making my way to you now."[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"Don't bother, Sigi has me covered."[/b][/color] she explained, getting an impressed whistle through the radio.

[color=firebrick][i]"You never pull that machine out from the wall. Expecting a mean fire fight."[/i][/color] Hark stated rather than questioned.

[color=white][b]"I am. I'm worried about our guests boarding through the hangar, get the heavy team to lock it down. Have a squad ready at the hull breach in Port Engineering. Split the rest of your men into fire teams at all stations. If we get boarded I want it handled quickly so we can launch a counter-offensive."[/b][/color]

[color=firebrick][i]"Understood, captain. Relaying your orders now. Out."[/i][/color] Hark cut off communication and got to doing his job.

Ardin stepped next to Alexis and studied the new MAS, [color=gold][i]"You sure two of your pilots will be enough for it?"[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"Admiral if there's one thing that's true about the 101st, is that every pilot is worth ten of the Coalition's. They may get over-glorified but their skill got them there in the first place. They'll handle it."[/b][/color][/color]