The question of whether or not any of this was truly real was answered by the sound of an autocannon shot echoing throughout the blistering sands. Contact had been made- the enemy had opened fire on them first. One of the rear echelon's recon drones had been turned to slag. Bjornson felt a swelling in his chest. Some concoction of excitement and fear broiled inside of him at that thunderous sound of cannon fire. He held fast to his controls and listened to the orders dished out by Captain Hart. He was a part of the team advancing alongside the Captain, toward the enemy. They were meant to move slowly. Apparently, the drones had spotted out a particularly dangerous mech that would tear them apart in close quarters. It was up to the team's designated marksman to disable or destroy that mech to allow the rest of the team to move into range.

Han didn't like waiting, but he didn't particularly enjoy being blown up either, so he decided to do as he was ordered. He pulled back on his speed, changing the direction of his [i]Wolfhound[/i] to avoid moving too closely. Han kept himself at an angle, slowly inching forward as his sensor array picked up more and more targets within the treeline. The pirates had many among their numbers, it seemed, and they were packing quite a bit of firepower. Most of it [i]appeared[/i] to be close range in nature, however, so Bjornson wasn't too worried about receiving return fire as he moved into range for his ER Large Laser.

His assumption was proved incorrect when PPC fire nearly took Mattlov's head off.

"Shit." The nobleman cursed under his breath, searching for the origin point of the shot. Mattlov and the other Overwatch units had the cover of the mountain to aid them. But Bjornson and the rest of the advancing team were out in the open, and a well placed particle cannon shot could immobilize any one of them. "Anybody have eyes on that PPC shooter?!" Bjornson barked over the comms, his head on a swivel as he tried to identify where it came from- but he couldn't see any mechs with that loadout. He noticed Eichberg had turned on his radio, but all that came out was blabbered nonsense.

[i]'Come on, little one- what did you see?'[/i] Eichberg wasn't like most pilots Bjornson had encountered. He was quiet and reserved, rarely showing confidence outside of direct battle. But he was also damn near a savant when it came to firing those guns of his. If anyone in the lance had seen where the shot originated, it'd be their own sniper.

Han held his breath, watching as Eichberg's comms once more flared to life. This time, though his voice sounded shaky, coordinates followed. Bjornson couldn't help the grin that spread across his lips as he flipped on his own comms. "Excellent work, Eichberg!" Though the boy wasn't Lyran, Han could not deny his usefulness. "A little faster on the draw next time would be appreciated, however." Praise could not come without criticism; for they were still students, and they could not be allowed to rest on their laurels. 

They had identified where the fire was coming from- the [i]river.[/i] A Panther was using jumpjets to fire at them from the safety of the curve in the terrain. Han knew he could take it out, but not with the Thunderbolt and Urbanmech standing within range. He changed his course to move in the direction of the Panther without getting close enough to be engaged by the other two mechs. "Rall," Han briefly considered referring to the rat by something less than savory, but chose not to; in the heat of the moment, he could not afford damaging team cohesion. Even if he did loathe the woman. "On me. We're going to deal with that pest in the river." If he was getting this close, Bjornson needed backup. If he failed to take down the Panther or if one of those Harassers appeared, he'd need the Wolverine to assist. It was up to their rifleman to take down the Urbie. Han could've provided support in dealing with the Thunderbolt, given his own range, however...

[i]'If I fire now, I won't have the heat capacity to engage the Panther with everything I have.'[/i] Han wanted to take the other mech down in short order, if he could; it's weaponry was too deadly for him to allow it to remain in play for long. He had to hope that Eichberg could handle the pressure from those two on his own. [i]'Don't let me down, little one.'[/i] Bjornson prayed.

He watched the exchange on his map. Information poured in through his Neurohelmet on the battle that raged to his rear. Han kept himself moving straight at a little over half speed, his hand ready to twist to the right to make for the river the moment he was clear to engage. Sweat dribbled down his nose. Teeth clenched tight, Han waited with baited breath. 

Then the report came in from Eichberg. He'd damaged the Urbie badly enough to drive it back into the trees. "Wunderbar! Well done." The Urbanmech was no longer in play, at least for the time being. That meant he was clear to advance. Though, the Thunderbolt would be an issue...such a massive mech would shrug off his lasers without much difficulty, and it's own arsenal could tear his own light mech apart. Still, even if it did present a danger, Bjornson couldn't hesitate. He turned his Wolfhound, beginning his approach toward the river as he rapidly increased his vehicle's footspeed.

"I'm moving in to take out that Panther, cover me!" It turned out that Han's request had been superfluous, seeing as how Wulfhart was already pouring fire onto the Thunderbolt. Missiles rained down like divine wrath from heaven, bombarding the heavy mech's position with burning pain. "You have my thanks, Wulf." With the Thunderbolt off balance and the pilot's attention on the Overwatch team, Bjornson was free to enter the riverbed without fear of instant reprisal.

Han felt the ground vanish from underneath him as he guided his Wolfhound to leap down into the slight gulch. It returned a second later as the entire cockpit vibrated violently, Bjornson's stomach turning at the impact. "Really, girl? Now?" He growled. Those shock absorbers were going to get him killed if they didn't pull themselves together. The Wolfhound turned to face down the river, spouting out the little bastard that had opened fire on Mattlov earlier. The Panther had spotted Han on his approach and had prepared by turning to face him.

A critical error that would result in the pilot's demise.

Before Bjornson had fully brought his Wolfhound to bear, a particle projector shot rang out. Echoing like thunder it exploded through the gulch, slamming against the front torso armor. It reverberated through the cockpit as Han clutched his controls until his knuckles were white, his eyes pressed shut as heat rushed into the compartment. 

The particle cannon had hit like a runaway freight train, forcing the Wolfhound off it's center of balance. Han intentionally let the light mech fall down onto a knee to avoid falling over entirely. The earth shook with every movement from the massive mechanical nightmare. The shot had caused his armor to cave inward. Coolant was leaking from a damaged heat sink down the machine's side like vibrantly blue blood. A gargantuan palm pressed against the damaged armor, blocking up the wound to avoid further leakage for a short time.

Han responded by lifting up his Large Laser, turning the massive weapon on his brash foe. He lined the crosshairs over the Panther's right arm. Bjornson kept his breathing steady, his heart practically bursting through his chest as he took careful aim. "To hell with you." Han snarled, squeezing the trigger. A brilliant flash of light at the end of his gun shined as the thick laser cut through the air, the Panther's weapon awash in holy pyre.

Waves of unbearable heat assaulted Bjornson from every angle. His remaining nine single heat sinks worked to keep the mech's interior and exterior as cool as physically possible in the desert heat. Thankfully the river's waters would more than make up for the damaged sink, allowing Han to continue fighting without worrying about passing out in his cockpit just from firing his weapons. 

The Panther wasn't finished. Though it's weapon was suffering from major overheating issues and a damaged barrel, it still pressed forward nonetheless. Han watched, his brow furrowing at the sight. [i]'Damn it, it has SRMs.'[/i] The pirate was looking to close in and let loose a volley of missiles. Bjornson brought up the ranges  on the missiles on his HUD, reading them off quickly as he shifting his mech to stand back up. He had a one hundred meter advantage in range with his three medium lasers, though the Panther would do more damage if it managed to land all of it's rockets.

[i]'Keep out of range, then.'[/i] Han prepped his medium lasers, the Wolfhound finally rising back to it's full, impressive height. The river was too tight for the Panther to perform any significant maneuvers; it was a sitting duck. Bjornson loosed a full volley from all three of his close range weapons, letting the trio of colorful beams slash along the front side of the Panther. It's chest armor glowed a vibrant orange as steel melted underneath the concentrated fire. Han started to back away, his feet stomping through the water as he waited for his weapons to cool down enough to allow a second shot from his Large laser.

"Come on then, you bastard! I know you've got more than [i]that[/i] in you!"