Despite his close call with the new machine, McKnight had little time to ponder the potential loss of his life, as the rest of the Coalition forces were upon them, and McKnight had to maneuver to face them. He watched as Williams and Maki began engaging enemy Ferir's and moved in to assist. Noticing his approach, a Mk III and a Mk II broke off to engage. McKnight breathed out deeply and leveled his EKP cannon at the oncoming enemies. As the two approached them, McKnight began firing his weapon. Instinctively, he triggered his boosters and strafed to his left.

As soon as his thrusters flared up, his weapon ceased firing. It took McKnight a split second to realize what was happening, and in those moments, the two enemy units took the initiative. Splitting up and encircling him, McKnight suddenly faced by an opponent on either side, unable to engage one without turning his back on the other- an elementary but incredibly effective team maneuver that McKnight should've anticipated. The 101st was too used to fighting by themselves or in small teams, as their squad was in general, relatively small when compared to the standard Coalition MAS squadron. To make matters worse, due to the unfinished repairs to his machine, McKnight could not effectively defend himself and maneuver at the same time. McKnight blocked a plasma bolt from the Mk III with his alloy shield and returned fire with his EKP cannon, only to be battered in the back by a burst of autocannon rounds from the Ferir behind him. 

>> Shields: 40%

Against his better judgement, McKnight boosted directly upwards, his high mobility unit easily outpacing the heavier, slower Coalition units. As he did, he watched his shields drained rapidly, alarms blaring red in his cockpit as the shield capacitors hit 0. A clear layer over McKnight's unit fizzled blue and dissipated as his unit lost shielding. His tesla boosters also cut off at the same time- his unit needed a few moments to restore his shield capacitors- which were linked to his boosters due to their exorbitant power usage. Spinning around 180 degrees to face his foes, McKnight was relieved that his standard thrusters were still working. Turtling behind his shield as a flurry of Autocannon rounds flew past his unit's shielded body, McKnight quickly loosed a quartet of missiles at the oncoming foes. 

The Ferir Mk II exploded in a blaze as he dodged one missile, only to be struck by the second. The Mk III was considerably more tenacious- strafing in circles as it shot aimed bolts of plasma at the missiles turning away as it destroyed the oncoming explosives. Charging back towards the Shrike, McKnight wondered if the Mk III pilot was surprised to see that he had so suddenly closed the distance between them, as he lunged with his plasma saber. Flying away from the incapacitated Mk III, McKnight took a moment to lick his wounds- watching his drained shield unit slowly recharge as he observed the battlefield. 

It was a fairly desperate battle- while the 101st typically had no trouble dealing with a few Coalition units, their units were still damaged from their previous engagement, and the new White machine was having its way with them. McKnight grimaced as he watched the White machine hold back both Delacroix as well as Yuyami. Out of the corner of his eye, McKnight saw the Astelion flying towards the edge of the battlescape, X-50s primed. The twin plasma bolts fly fast, but only grazed the White MAS, its shields glowing as heat washed over them. But was successful in stopping its advance on the Lincoln. 

[color=lightblue]"Stay back Williams."[/color] McKnight called over the comms. [color=lightblue]"You're not ready for this one, let the big kids handle this one."[/color]

[color=lightblue]"Command be advised, we are in no condition to necessitate the capture of this machine as well as protect the Lincoln."[/color]

[hr]

Alarms blared in the cockpit of Maki's machine as the tell-tale sign of a missile lock came from behind her. The only issue was, the oncoming missile appeared to be more akin to a plasma bolt than a conventional missile. At the same time, the remaining Mk III along with a trio of Ferir Mk II's converged on Maki as well as Alice, capitalizing on the vulnerable Hellcat as it was stuck helping the crashing sentry.