Alexei had just smiled at Zahra's comments on the 'defeatist' nature of his caution.
[B][Color=ed1c24]"We have to be prepared for anything, madame. Nobody likes the idea of being prepared to cut off their arm if a wound becomes infected, but sometimes that's just the reality."[/color][/B] Alexei remarked. At that moment, another had come into their midst announcing herself rambunctiously as Marianne Trudeau, or 'maman'-- Mother. Playing mother to the squad wasn't something Alexei could accomplish, but from his minute of experiencing this lady, he was sure she might at least make a name for herself. 

[B][I][Color=ed1c24]And that name would be 'battle mom', probably.[/color][/i][/b]

Alexei finished his mocha and snacked on a biscuit bar he had been saving. At that moment, Joey looked at his watch and announced for them to be ready. Soon after, the General Commander sounded off on their communication devices, and Alexei checked his comms as he stood up and put his helmet under his arm. He slipped through the coffeehouse and out into the corridors, heading on his way to the hangar while listening to Narra's briefing. He also announced that Zahra would be squad leader, and Alexei smirked. Watch over us.

Alexei got to the hangar, which was bustling with mechanics. The chief mechanic popped up on comms to tell them their mechs were ready, and Narra commented on this being done during their socialising. Alexei smiled, happy to know Vectis was plenty combat-ready. He finally donned his helmet, clipping it to his suit and then jumped onto the pilot bar that retracted, lifting him up to Vectis' cockpit. As the hatch sealed shut behind him and Alexei fell into his seat, his neural network interfaced with Vectis'. In his head, Alexei recited the mantra of d'Vexille in their mother tongue. 

[B][I][Color=ed1c24]For the honour of all who came before us...[/Color][/I][/B]

[Center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DzlYVFU8Oo[/youtube][/Center]

Vectis' systems began to light up, interfaces and visuals coming online. He then motioned Vectis to move, following Zahra's lead. The squad assembled at their assigned positions, and there from their vantage they watched the kinetic barriers in the distance. Alexei readied Vectis and Impetus on primary fire, and as the initial assault braced the kinetic shields, he opened fire alongside his comrades on the intruders. Lining up each shot in succession and pulling the trigger. One by one, Vectis shot gunship after gunship down. He was thankful that Narra said nothing of conventional forces. He continued his marksman rhythm, following the cue of Vectis each time Impetus charged up to full power for each shot. When the 2nd wave started to breach, he took to the streets with Vectis toward the front lines. 

As Vectis then stepped out into the street, Alexei knelt down behind his shield as an explosive tank shell blasted against him, pushing him back several metres. He grunted, just at the force alone, but Vectis was unharmed. 
[B][Color=ed1c24]"Contact! Vectis, engaging hostiles at Charlie!"[/Color][/B] He announced on comms, and returned fire with Impetus' secondary mode at the Red Star forces. They were conventional tanks and transport vehicles, scrambling to engage the NC properly with anti-armour weaponry amidst explosive suppressing fire. Alexei then leapt with boosted thrusters, rifle and shield holstered onto his NC as it transformed quickly into quadrupedal form. 

Vectis bounded from the street and then off a building, strafing the slow-reloading tank shots with ease. [B][I][Color=ed1c24]After all, how could turtles hope to outplay the wolf?[/color][/I][/B] Vectis closed the distance with only its next leap, thrusters letting it drift as its wing blades powered up and assault guns fired. The tanks had no good options. They were either blasted away by the assault guns, or sliced in half by sheer heat. The small battalion lost their armour and their transport, and were reduced to fighting on foot. But Alexei considered them crippled enough to leave alone. 

Even though ground troops could certainly use anti-NC weaponry to hurt him, Alexei had calibrated Vectis well enough to strafe even swarms of missiles, and then let the point defense deal with the rest, or at least the most dangerous projectiles. He would rather the threat of damage than vaporising foot soldiers. It never sat right with him.

Zahra then announced the presence of a cloaker when the 3rd wave breached the barriers, and Alexei followed her cue. He input values for Vectis' to output to the feet thrusters a small amount of power to propel dirt into the air with. Isaac came up on comms soon after as one of the machines-- Sahaquiel, engaged the enemy forces ahead of Alexei. He asked for real-time linking of the squads mapping systems, and Alexei was more than happy to oblige.
[B][Color=ed1c24]"I'm counting on you, monsieur LaBelle! Show the enemy some of that precision marksmanship that only brave lions of France would know!"[/Color][/B] Alexei positively reinforced on comms, his voice warm with comradery. He then continued his way deep into the battlefield near the shields. 

Alexei pressed on well past Charlie, disabling tanks and transports as he came upon them. At one point on the prowl, a gunship squadron engaged him, so Alexei kicked up a smokescreen of dust as he transformed Vectis back into bipedal form, and took aim into the sky. As the gunships fired aimlessly into the dust, a stray shot or two clipping Vectis' armour and sending stings of pain through Alexei, which he ignored to focus on his shots. Before long, the gunships were spiralling out of the air and colliding with the buildings.

When he was satisfied there were no other outlines in the cloud, Alexei breathed a sigh of relief for the moment of respite. Then there was an odd occurrence on the comms. He heard the familiar voice of monsieur LaBelle, and immediately Alexei feared for the worst. 
[B][I][Color=ed1c24]That's not good... He's supposed to be our long ranged support.[/color][/I][/B] Alexei thought, immediately thinking of how he expected to be taken over but had forgotten about it in the midst of combat. He didn't realise Akiyama's reach extended so far. With nothing else to do but take LaBelle's advice, Alexei became wary of the coordinated linking and desynced the intel feed toward LaBelle, hoping it would work. He then continued as one of the other pilots spoke on comms about training his weapons on LaBelle. Alexei gritted his teeth and cursed silently, as keeping close to cover just made Vectis less manoeuvrable.