[color=gray][color=cadetblue][i]"The drop is going smoothly, the 7th have penetrated the atmosphere and are proceeding with the operation."[/i][/color] one crewman said.

[color=cadetblue][i]"Sergeant Hark reports all cannons are operational and hot, captain."[/i][/color] said another.

[color=white][i]"The discovered munitions from the moon have been loaded aboard, ma'am. Crews are moving the supplies to their necessary points now."[/i][/color] Aston advised.

Admiral Ardin flanked Alexis' other side, [color=gold][i]"The men and women under your command seem quite a lot more competent now, captain."[/i][/color]

Captain Marquis didn't take her eyes from the holopad in her hands. She was reading over every report that was verbally spoken to her to double check everything. [color=white][b]"They were always competent, your highness. No crew could ever perform so well after being pulled from hyperspace so suddenly. When this is over, I'll be sure to congratulate them on their success. Until then, we're still in a battlespace and we need our heads on a swivel."[/b][/color]

The bridge was filled with a cacophony of monotoned, informative voices as they relayed information across the ship and to the two teams: the marines on the moon and the elite MAS unit on Jehan. That moment on the bridge was almost peaceful, Alexis relaxed her shoulders a bit and took a breath to relax. She ran a hand through her hair and felt the dried blood from when he hit her head at the beginning of the engagement. She realized just then how much her head had hurt from that fall. With the stress of combat temporarily alleviated, Alexis became more conscious of her own body. The head wound, the purpling bruises on her forearm from when she dueled with her cousin, and the scrapes of false skin on her left knuckles when her punch grazed along the serviceman's armor.

[color=gold][i]"How did you lose it?"[/i][/color] Ardin suddenly spoke, his voice completely lacking that rigid military overtone.

Alexis looked over to him, only to see him gesturing to the scrapes on her knuckles. Alexis looked back at her hand, [color=white][b]"When I was the team leader for the 101st's 3rd MAS unit. We were attached to the Lincoln like the 7th is now. We had received a strange signal from a planetoid nestled deep within an asteroid belt. While we were investigating, a coalition patrol fleet entered the AO."[/b][/color]
[color=lime][b][center]_________[/center][/b][/color]

[color=firebrick][i]"Fox, this is crazy."[/i][/color]

[color=coral][i]"Oh come on. This isn't as crazy as some of the other things our last leader put us through."[/i][/color]

[color=firebrick][i]"I'm going to argue that because our last leader didn't volunteer us for a suicide run on a Coalition battleship. I'm mean seriously, look at that thing."[/i][/color]

[color=coral][i]"Well if everything goes according to plan, that battleship will have no idea we're about to make fireworks out of it."[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"Cut the chatter, you two."[/b][/color] Fox commanded quietly, [color=white][b]"Vector, Titan, are you two in position yet?"[/b][/color]

[color=tan][i]"We are. Not that we want to be, I was nearly clipped by a small asteroid floatin' around down here."[/i][/color] Vector groaned.

[color=white][b]"Deal with it and stay powered down. Once that planetoid pulses again and shuts down their fleet, we strike,"[/b][/color] replied the young team leader.

In the deep craters of a large asteroid, the 3rd team of the 101st waited. They were hidden in the shadows and given a prime view of the larger than normal Coalition patrol fleet. A battleship, three cruisers, two destroyers, and eight frigates. If they had that many ships on their side, it'd be a easy fight. But since it was just the Lincoln and her MAS compliment, the word 'easy' may as well had been a myth. It was a miracle that the patrol fleet hadn't detected the Lincoln even though the carrier was running on emergency power; perhaps the anomalous signal from the nearby planetoid overshadowed the Lincoln's own.

[color=sienna][i]"3rd team, the energy from the planetoid is building, prepare to commence the attack. Once their fleet is shut down, head straight for that battleship and deliver the payload."[/i][/color] the captain of the Lincoln advised.

[color=white][b]"Understood, captain,"[/b][/color] Fox said, [color=white][b]"Team, lock it up, vent your atmo."[/b][/color]

[color=aquamarine][i]"What?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"[/i][/color] Titan yelled over the comm.

[color=white][b]"I'm not, lieutenant. If that battleship detects us and opens up with point defense, I'd rather have the cabin of my MAS already depressurized in the event of a shot passing through. SF pilots always report their wingmen being sucked into vacuum through a tiny hole in their pressurized cockpits."[/b][/color] Fox put her helmet on and took in a deep breath before she completely vented the oxygen inside her MAS. There was a distinct hiss as the O2 was sucked out into space.

It seemed her horror story of being sucked through a hole worked as she saw oxygen venting from the other MAS units. Just on time too, the planetoid in the distance began to seemingly glow. The thin atmosphere began to arc with lightning just before a large EMP blast pulsed through the asteroid belt. The entire Coalition fleet shut down, their engines failing to relight as they began to turn and drift. The Lincoln and every UEE MAS in the battlespace was already powered down, so the EMP did little to nothing to their systems. The comms traffic between the MAS team fell to static for a brief moment but quickly came back. [color=white][b]"3rd team, deploy!"[/b][/color] Fox commanded.

([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBfic1Xj07k]Mood Music[/url])

In the crater, small lights began to shine as the thrusters of multiple MAS units ignited. Shielded span up and created invisible protective domes around the MAS units as they launched from the crater at high speeds. Ten UEE Sentinels outfitted for rapid assault. The ten units were dwarfed as they passed by a crippled cruiser. They moved as quickly as they could toward the battleship at the heart of the Coalition formation. Between the 3rd and the battleship were two frigates. They were on a drifting course into one another, there's no way the crews of both frigates would be able to power up in time to stop the collision. [color=coral][i]"We've got to go around!"[/i][/color] Prowler spoke to the rest of the team.

[color=white][b]"Negative! We're going through it! Time is of the essence!"[/b][/color] said the red haired fox.

[color=aquamarine][i]"Shit, shit, shit, shit!"[/i][/color] Titan repeated as the two Coalition frigates collided violently into one another. There was an explosion and debris shot out in every direction.

The skilled pilots of the 101st maneuvered through the expanding field of debris and squeezed through a shrinking hole between the two frigates. [color=white][b]"We're clear?"[/b][/color] Fox inquired.

[color=tan][i]"Vector clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=aquamarine][i]"Titan clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=coral][i]"Prowler clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=firebrick][i]"Bloodhound clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=darkslategray][i]"Leopard clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=mediumslateblue][i]"Jovian is barely clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=yellowgreen][i]"Pinnacle clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=darkmagenta][i]"Apex clear!"[/i][/color]
[color=peachpuff][i]"Trinity clear, all units clear!"[/i][/color]

Fox grinned, that was the first time she had gotten a perfect roll call from her new team. Her first combat operation with them was going smoother than she expected. They were given a clear view of the mammoth ship ahead, the Coalition battleship. Lights were flickering all along its hull as systems began to power back up. They didn't have long before the shield spooled up and protected it from the 3rd's deadly package. Suddenly, indicators and lights went red within Fox's MAS.

[color=red]--Warning: Radar lock--[/color]
[color=red]--Warning: Incoming missile--[/color]

[color=white][b]"They're onto us! Pinnacle, Jovian, cover our backs! Apex, Trinity, charge the lances!"[/b][/color] Fox was flipping switches within the cockpit while she gave her orders. Flares shot out in both directions from her Sentinel's legs, sending the missile along with them. She looked at the battleship and saw the shield flickered but failed to spool.

[color=coral][i]"They're trying to stop us! We're not going to make it through the shield in time!"[/i][/color] Prowler said.

Three large explosions lit up along the prow of the battleship. Fox traced the explosions and saw that the Lincoln had fully powered up and began firing on nearly every ship in the Coalition fleet. Telltale blue streams of SF fighters came from the Lincoln's two floored hangar, they were buying the 3rd team time and withering it with fire to stop the shields from completely charging. [color=sienna][i]"3rd team, you have your window! Hurry it up!"[/i][/color] the captain said, the background was filled with the droning voices of the ship's combat operators.

[color=white][b]"Fire the lances! Now!"[/b][/color] Fox said. On cue, the two MAS units armed with plasma lances fired in complete synchronicity, streaming down toward the battleship and converging on the exact same point. The two beams struck an airlock and completely exposed the corridor, forming a large hole as well. Anybody who had been on the other side of that airlock were most likely vaporized by the plasma. [color=white][b]"I'm moving in to deliver!"[/b][/color] Fox said and hit the afterburners on her MAS.

Fox accelerated past the rest of her team and took a hold of the powerful nuclear anti-capital charge held on the MAS' back. Four point defense turrets rotated and were about to fire up at Fox, but the tight drill of the 3rd didn't allow the turrets any time to acquire their target. A rain of shells took care of them quickly. Fox burned forward and landed heavily on the hull. She quickly set the charge and threw it into the hull breach her team had created. [color=white][b]"Charge is planted, all units get to a safe distance!"[/b][/color] Fox took off from the hull.

[color=white][b]"Lincoln, this is Commander Marquis. The package has been delivered and we are RTB."[/b][/color] Fox said over the comm.

[color=darkkhaki][i]"Negative, Fox. Assume a defensive position around the Lincoln. We've detected three fast movers en route from the planetoid. It could be more Coalition moving to flank us."[/i][/color] said one of the combat operators from the bridge.

The team maneuvered past a large detonation as a shot from the Lincoln hit a destroyer's ammo store. [color=firebrick][i]"Shit! That was too close!"[/i][/color] Bloodhound exclaimed.

[color=darkslategray][i]"Now this is what I call danger clo- wait..."[/i][/color] Leopard paused, [color=darkslategray][i]"Fox, one of those fast moving signatures from the planetoid just vanished. Was it kil- Fox behind you!"[/i][/color]

The signature appeared just behind Alexis. Before she had time to react, indicators and alarms were blaring as her MAS jutted. She rotated around to see her MAS grabbed by the leg by another MAS. The unit wasn't Coalition nor UEE. It was sleek and looked as though veins of energy coursed underneath the armor plating of the stark white machine. Alexis detached the assault cannon from her MAS's leg and fired it point blank into the strange MAS. The rounds seemed to disintegrate as they passed through the shield, only particles bounced harmlessly off of the MAS. Alexis swung her MAS' free foot to try and kick at the head of her unknown enemy. The machine simply ceased to exist, reality distorted for the brief second before it vanished. Then it was behind her again. Sensors indicated a large energy spike from the sleek white MAS.

[color=peachpuff][i]"Fox!"[/i][/color] Trinity yelled just as the blade of plasma pierced through the back of Fox's MAS and out the chest. Trinity fired a beam from her plasma lance at the new enemy, but it blinked away before the shot could connect. It appeared in front of Trinity and literally punched Trinity's MAS away, sending it spinning out of control.

The advanced MAS appeared in front of Alexis's MAS now, plasma blade already raised above its head as it intended to finish the job. Alexis opened her eyes slightly to see the MAS, not with any camera, but with her own eyes through the cleft in the cockpit. Blood drifted about in the cockpit and spattered over the visor of her helmet. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. The battleship detonated in a brilliant flash of white, sending the superior MAS straight into Fox's. The two interlocked MAS units careened into a nearby asteroid while the Coalition fleet was peppered and bombarded with wreckage from the battleship and the firepower of the Lincoln.

Alexis' memory was a haze after that. She remembered seeing the enemy MAS climbing from their crater and blinking away. Next was a spotlight from Trinity's MAS as it closed in on her. After that, she saw that she was being towed toward the Lincoln. She remembered watching the WMG fire on the planetoid; the crust of the small world melted to the sheer power of the plasma cannon and it broke up into gigantic fragments of lava and granite. Alexis remembered a buzzing in her helmet, the captain's voice as he addressed the other pilots of the 3rd team, [color=sienna][i]"This encounter is classified. You are not to talk of this operation to anybody."[/i][/color]

When Alexis came to, she found herself laying on a bed in the Lincoln's medical bay. The soft beeping of the heart monitor roused her into consciousness. Her head rolled to the right, she saw an x-ray of herself on the monitors. The left arm was missing from the images but she could still feel her arm and something stinging into it; the image must have cut off. She lulled her head to the left to look, she didn't see her arm. Instead, she saw a cybernetic prosthesis. Multiple needles were threading in and out of the arm as they crafted synthetic skin onto the cybernetic arm.

To her right was a small table with a small stack of papers on it. She took a hold of it and lifted it to eye level. The first paper was a medical report, her prosthetic and its specifications, the amount of radiation from open exposure to space that had to be removed through blood transfusions, the surgery to stop multiple points of internal bleeding, and the burn treatments from the plasma sword that had felled her and her machine.

The second page was a document stamped with 'Classified: Level 10' and a sticky note with Alexis' name on it. She opened the folder and saw that it was a combat report. Everything except for the encounter with the advanced MAS units and the destruction of the planetoid was there. Those specifics were marked out with black ink. Alexis got the idea and set the papers back down, staring up at the roof in silence.
[color=lime][b][center]_________[/center][/b][/color]

[color=gold]"Well?"[/color] Ardin asked.

Alexis glanced back at the admiral, [color=white][b]"It was a slip up in combat, it's part of the reason why I'm here and not in the cockpit of a MAS."[/b][/color]

Ardin raised a brow, he was curious about the story that Alexis seemed to want to avoid. He glanced over toward Aston who nodded in confirmation to him. A slip up. Of course, Aston was still the executive officer during that incident. Alexis knew he was bound to the same secrecy that she was on the matter. Ardin shrugged, [color=gold][i]"Perhaps some war stories are more mundane than whats in the propaganda. It's a shame, I'd very much like to hear about your endeavors in the 101st some time, captain."[/i][/color][/color]