"[color=lightblue]"7th Team! Fall back to the Lincoln![/color]" The words filled Ari's cockpit, but she couldn't believe she was hearing them. "[color=0072bc]What? But Hunter, Odin and Alice are down there! They co-...Acknowledged, Williams returning to Lincoln.[/color]" She sighed and shook her head, her mind quickly processing what the plan was. They could shelter behind the planet or its moon, making it a much closer range gunfight and shielding them from most of the fire of the other vessels. These two factors together made it a much better engagement for the Lincoln and, as much as it pained her, this was the best solution. The Astelion was on its way back to the Lincoln at top speed, X-50s angled back and thrusters straining as she gave it all she had. She was lucky she'd only taken fairly minor hull damage this time around, thanks to Maki...they had to get all three of them back home. The 7th couldn't afford to lose any pilots and, as much as it pained her, from a logical standpoint it was best for them to lose her if anybody.

The ship was closing in rapidly as Ari began to reduce speed, braking thrusters activating as she turned the MAS around. She was decelerating fast enough that the little trick she'd pulled last time, using the X-50s to decelerate, wasn't needed. She raised her arm-mounted auto-cannon at an approaching Ferir II and let loose the last of the magazine, the rounds damaging its hull and convincing it to back down as the 50s charged. As she backed into the hangar, she let the heat drain from the guns and released a sigh of relief at being back in the Lincoln. As horrible as it made her feel, being relieved when 3 of her team-mates were down on the planet with no support, she knew from her survival courses that they could easily hold out for them...wait, Alice may be a problem. Maki and Trapp could leave behind their suits to evade the enemy if need be, but Alice IS the suit. That obviously wasn't an option, and this made Ari nervous all over again. Just as she began to come to peace with it however, she was struck by a wave of emotion. All that fear she'd suppressed during the battle, all the nerves and hesitation rushing out to meet her.

Sealing her cockpit and flipping off the COMs, Ari took the time to curl into a ball, hugging her legs to her chest tightly. Maki, Alice and Trapp all went down, she almost died, and there was a superior enemy force in the area, including that white MAS. She shivered at the thought and whimpered slightly, fear beginning to overtake her. She'd been so close to death out there! She was STILL close to death! The Imperial Service pilots, all no doubt better than her, had died, three of the 7th's best were shot down, and now it was just her and a few more. How long would it be before her turn came. She stayed like this a solid 10 minutes, locked in and cowering, before she finally was able to gather her wits and unlock the cockpit, leaving the Astelion running so it'd be ready to go down. As she stepped out with wobbly legs and an equally wobbly smile, she said to everyone who may be around "[color=0072bc]So..uhh...when do we go after the others?[/color]"