“Damn it. Hold on,” shouted Kurt over the comms.

Thom had believed he was the kind of man who would face his death with open eyes. He usually told himself this while laying battered and bruised in his rusted cot. Trying to convince himself that he was tough enough not to shy away from the fear. But he was wrong. In that moment, the fear shut his eyes from the barrel of the rifle. 

And he found whispers of shame and self hate in the darkness of his eyelids. He waited for the hot shells and crumpling shards of metal to erase him. 

..."Familiar Two, brace yourself," Fox warned. 

Not a moment too late, dense rounds flushed the space between them. Loud pieces bounced against his Graze-Z, echoing the pelting into clear noise. The flashes of hot orange blinded him a moment before he instinctively boosted away from the action. Once clear, he watched with hard eyes as Fox twisted the veteran Graze into submission. A cool one-liner tossed in for good measure.

After spotting his missing arm and shield floating slowing between ship plating wreckage, Thom dared to thank Fox and Kurt but Holly's voice came over the line first. Thom spoke up, [color=tan][b]"Yeah, thanks to Fox. It pays to be crazy sometimes."[/b][/color]

Her next response furrowed his brows. [color=tan][b]"Copy, Familiar One. I'll come back you up... not much else to do here."[/b][/color] 

Thom pulled on his controls, following Holly's Ahad-Wave. 

He found her bulky "Big Boi" nestled on the ship, his own mangled Graze-Z landing next to her Man Rodi. He noticed that her cockpit was empty and relayed that info to the others. [color=tan][b]"Holly's not in Big Boi... I'm getting out to check the hull. Those new signals got me worried."[/b][/color] 

Thom unlatched himself from his harness and felt the pressure-release of his AV system. He slid his console into its rest position and opened his own cockpit. An electric glow lit the rented hull, that was suspicious. Then he thought seriously of Holly and knew it was just enticing enough to pique her curiosity. He pushed off the metal with tense legs, floating through the hull, and knew his eyes had went wide with shock.

"Stolas..." was blasted from the cockpit of one of mobile suits. 

Thom floated on quietly, eyes baring down on a red infernal mobile suit. [color=tan][b]"Holly that you?"[/b][/color] he asked aloud, feeling stupid but close enough to the empty suit to defend himself if needed.