[hr] [color=7e5e7f]<>[/color] Eyes flicked over the display Starlight had displayed as soon as she said the word contact, flashing a countdown timer in decreasing rapidly. [color=7e5e7f]<> “Sustained power to the Lance, 80% of nominal. Two second duration from mark.”[/color] She continued, the parameters passed into the Voyager and parsed into real preparations by her diligent digital assistant. All aspects she could have handled manually, but the Voyager had been built to run without her input while she was asleep. A combat scenario was a different beast, but those same preparations were more than enough to run power allocation on voice command. She was thinking about technical details to avoid considering the implications of her situation, she knew. Avoiding the thought of firing her first shot in anger. Avoiding the consideration that two of her allies were going to be awful close when she did. [color=darkgoldenrod]”Standing by G-Lancier, Arty.”[/color] But there wasn’t any time for that. The shoulder verniers fired as one, brutally slashing her pace and whipping her torso up to face Bandit One at a forty five degree angle half a second before the lower verniers kicked in to steady her position. At the moment the angle was right her finger slammed the trigger home and the computer fired exactly as programmed. Power gathered at the crystalline emitter on its chest and for a second it glowed like a red sun. A beam as wide as the Voyager’s torso issues forth making its frame thrum with sheer power, striking from above like an avenging angel into the Bandit’s head and beyond into the ground. It was obscured by light, light that sparked and crackled across the shields put forth by Aurora and the Casket to shield them from the elemental fury unleashed upon an alien foe. The air rippled and shimmered with heat, the sand below its form turned to glass. Elation overcame her concern for a moment, as the beam simply ceased, and- Sickly gold struck, and she snapped the G-Aegis up barely in time. The light washed along its crimson surface, crackling violently and leeching color from the defense where it touched. Bandit One remained, worse for wear.... But angry. Much of its gleam had been scorched away, its head deformed, the spines upon its back glowing red-hot but the intelligence in its gleaming optics remained and it had already struck back. The G-Aegis defended against energy, but such a consistent attack took power to stop. If she couldn’t make it lighten up… Fox, thankfully, solved that problem for her. His darts burrowed, more deeply than the bullets had, into the monster’s surface and when they detonated the beam stopped. One of its spines bent at an unnatural angle, the material at its base clearly compromised. Its tail lashed the sand in aggravation, the rumbling growing louder and more violent still. It lifted Aurora effortlessly and slammed the Orbital to the ground, releasing its grip but stomping on the shielded machine with a large, clawed foot. And it remained there, pinning Volana’s machine and trying to grind it into the crystallized soil beneath its feet. Its tail whipped around, seeking to wrap around the Casket’s leg where it would surely throw the other Orbital around with similar ease. As for Fox its remaining spine glowed and fired, lacerating the soil where he had been mere moments before. Artemie flicked a glance over her power reserves, unhappy at the drain it had taken to block the shot. She’d have to be more conscientious of her power use. It didn’t look like her best gun had done as much damage as she wanted, either, and that was [i]worrying[/i]. But she needed to help Volana get free if they were going to get anywhere. … [color=7e5e7f]Ah, hell. <>[/color] Voyager dropped like a stone, and then fired its thrusters again just barely off of the ground. From its right forearm the gatling deployed, and even as the Voyager’s powerful shoulders slammed into the creature’s midsection with as much force as she could manage she jammed the gun into its side and depressed the trigger. She hoped- she prayed- that the impact, and whatever force Aurora could add to it from below, could unbalance the beast. Maybe if they could get it on the ground they could overwhelm it. Bandit Two was more frustrated, if it could feel such a thing. The comparatively diminutive Orbital still survived within its reach, stopping with speed and skills what it could never have stopped by force alone. The Bedwyr was beyond reach, and though the others were not beyond its [i]reach[/i] they were clearly further from [i]danger[/i]. It roared as bullets and rockets connected, bellowing its displeasure into the alien atmosphere, but when the Keraunos struck it truly faltered. Less at the impact, though it wasn’t without effect. The slug pierced deeply into the region abraded by Bedwyr and Odysseus’ explosive fire, force driving the dense round through armor and into its target. For its penetration, however, nothing seemed to [i]break[/i]; until the EMI hit as well. Bandit Two rocked with the impact like a reeling fighter, but it didn’t correct itself. No, it couldn’t; something in its eyes was amiss, and as its balance slipped past the point of no return it fell. It caught itself on a clawed hand, but sluggishly. It moved almost as though concussed though whatever was wrong was correctly itself. The spines on its back glowed again, this time targeting Ajax alone with a torrent of energy that did not cease its assault. Holden’s blow had made him a threat, a threat that the alien would not stop until it had removed. Not unless it was stopped before it could recover or before it succeeded. [hr] Far above the AO another team sortied from the hangar. A unit of Hawks, called ‘Tiger’ by long tradition for any squadron consisting solely of the venerable X Corp Orbital, carried out a combat launch. Minimal spacing, rapid timing control; vastly more room for error, but fast enough to put six aircraft and their six artillery compatriots, secured to the Hawks by magnetic clamps, into space in just over two minutes. The Hawks and their passengers swarmed into space, four pairs to meet the Starstrike and its protectee as they cleared they atmosphere and two moving ahead of the [i]Pandora[/i] to sweep space for the source of the unknown transmission. “Sir!” One of the officers whirled, yanking a headset off of their ears with a wince just as his entire console disappeared into a rapidly changing array of symbols. The moment the reactors went to full power the comms array cut out entirely, filled with a piercing static that blocked any other signal from getting through. A second later the communications station became unresponsive, followed by the sensors, the tactical controls, and a myriad of other, more minor systems. Helm remained intact, weapons control remained intact, but the ship was deaf, blind, and mute. “It’s…” The officer at the Electronic Warfare station began, and gathered her thoughts before continuing. “Something is writing to our computers at an incredible rate. Their processors are working flat out and still heating up. It’s coming in from the comm array and accessing our databanks directly, and that shouldn’t be [i]possible[/i]. The systems aren’t networked any more than they have to be. It’s passing through all sorts of intermediate systems just to [i]get[/i] there, sir.” “We had multiple point sources appearing up ahead before our sensors cut out, the COO is directing [i]Starstrike[/i] to join Tigers Five and Six ahead in determining what we’re dealing with. The short range transmitters down in the hangar are still working, but I don’t know how long we’re going to be out of commission, sir.”