I mean in that it's possible to leave someone with only light injury in setting, you don't actually have to make your attacks lethal. Also, the attack didn't cripple her linker core, it left her crippled and needing physical therapy and time to recover to get back to normal. Since her linker core is pretty clearly working at 100% in StrikerS. ^^;

In any case, I mean this as the sort of thing that comes up in a lot of anime or manga with some sort of magitech system. It doesn't have to be lethal, but it completely can be.