Without their previous numbers, the Coalition mobile force was considerably less potent- A quartet of 101st pilots were more than a match for six Coalition units. However, unlike previous engagements, the 101st had no Capital ships to support their assault. As a result, the 101st had to contend with the full attention of three Coalition warships. As a result, McKnight found himself on more of a defensive, as he had to focus more on dodging brackets of AA fire instead of shooting down enemy suits. Luckily, with Williams locking down the Ferir III, the remaining pilots would have enough time to mop of most of the remaining II's before the III could become a real threat.

[color=lightblue]"Mind your power level, Williams. Don't waste all your energy before we hit the planet. And take care not to get hit, we'll need every bit of shield power for out entry procedure."[/color] Eric said over the comms, as he weaved through a gap in the lines of enemy AA fire, gunning down a Ferir II with a generous burst of his autocannon, marking his second kill that engagement, as one of the Ferir's had been unable to dodge his missiles. Luckily for them, Eric's opening salvo, while wasting a rather large amount of ordnance destroyed one II, and crippled another one, leaving only 2 left alongside the Ferir III for them to handle. Normally Eric would have swapped to his beam saber, which would allow him to stay mobile with sweeping strikes as he flew by instead of needing to take aim with his cannon. However, he did not have that luxury as he needed to be able to enter atmosphere at a moments notice. 

Instead, he hung back, allowing Astelion and Sokolov to take the brunt of the assault, which was still difficult, as they were forced to dodge copious amounts of AA fire instead of firing back.

[color=firebrick]"Damned destroyers. Maybe this will get their attention!"[/color] Sokolov growled as he peeled off and launched a pair of heavy missiles at a destroyer, following it up with several heavy artillery rounds. This act lightened up the AA fire considerably, as the Coalition ship point defense weapons shifted from shooting down MAS's to shooting down ordnance. This opening allowed Astelion to secure a kill on another Ferir II before the AA fire opened up again.

[color=tan]"This is Sergeant Tawes!"[/color] called a voice over the comms, [color=tan]"We've started out entry procedure!"[/color]

[color=lightblue]"That's our cue Williams!"[/color] McKnight called over the squad comms as he began falling back towards the planet. 

[color=darkorange]"Go! We've got the rest of this covered![/color] Astelion barked as his Sentinel loosed a long burst of autocannon rounds to suppress the Ferir III.

As Gallant began his entry procedures, he began reducing power from his other systems- such as his tesla boosters and missile weapons to power up his energy shields- which also doubled as the MAS's heat shield. His viewscreens dyed the inside of his cockpit and all of his vision an orange-red as his MAS was pulled into the planet's gravity well and began entering the planet's atmosphere, his breaking thrusters occasionally boosting to correct his path and control his speed. While MAS were capable of entering atmosphere, they were almost certainly not designed to, at least not without specialized drop pods, and alarms blared in his cockpit as his MAS warned him about the increasing heat and the fact that he had been trapped in a gravity well. With all the alarm noise, he almost didn't notice that one of the alarms going off was a proximity alarm. Turning his camera at the last moment, McKnight saw that an enemy Ferir had broken past Astelion and Sokolov and had begun charging him.

The Ferir II that he had crippled charged recklessly at him- one arm missing and knife drawn- apparently having resigned himself to death in the skies. Hunkering behind his shield, Gallant halted the charge of the oncoming Ferir II, a flick of the Shrike's arm and a large boost from his thrusters hurling the Ferir away. He followed the toss with a pair of shots from his autocannon striking the Ferir in the back and destroying its thrusters, sending it into an uncontrolled spiral towards the planet's surface.

[color=lightblue]"The alarms are deafening but otherwise I'm good to go, how're you holding up Williams?"[/color]