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The pilot of the Warrior attack helicopter had already begun to suspect something was wrong when his sensors started going fuzzy on approach to Outpost F-10, then cut out. His suspicions were confirmed when he attempted to check in with his wingmen, only to be greeted with harsh electronic static. His instincts told him to pull out, but with no way to relay that message to the other members of the squadron, he'd be sending them to their deaths. Best to stick to the plan: assess the situation, confirm enemy action, then bug out.

The plan, however, quickly fell apart when a burst of autocannon shells ripped through the cockpit of Miaodao Two, followed by a flight of long-range missiles mangling the rotors of Miaodao Three.

On paper, the Warrior H-7's SarLon-2 Autocannon outranged the enemy's weapons, but all the range advantage in the world meant nothing if they couldn't see the enemy coming and coordinate their fire. As it was, they were easy targets in a shooting gallery.

As a second flight of missiles streaked through the sky towards him, Miaodao One spent his last moments of life pulling his helicopter into full reverse, hoping to pull back from the enemy's jamming field, while screaming onto open comms [color=PaleGreen]"ENEMY CONTACT! REPEAT, ENE--"[/color]

He would never know if his calls for help would be answered.

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[color=Aqua]"Uhhh, Colonel?"[/color] Lieutenant Lyons spoke up. [color=Aqua]"The contacts on the seismic sensors? They're....they're gone, sir."[/color]

[color=Olive]"Gone as in they've left the effective operational range?"[/color] Colonel Wayne asked, hopefully.

[color=Aqua]"Negative, Colonel,"[/color] Lyons responded. [color=Aqua]"Gone as in they just...disappeared from the monitor. We're not picking up anything at all in that area."[/color]

[color=Khaki]"So either they came to a complete stop for no apparent reason,"[/color] Higgins began thinking about the possible meaning.

[color=Crimson]"...or the enemy lance has one of their [i]Ravens[/i] with them,"[/color] Windham continued his thought.

[color=Aqua]"...and they've just activated their [i]own[/i] ECM field,"[/color] Lyons completed the train of logic.

[color=Olive]"And now we've got no way to track them without giving away our own position,"[/color] the Colonel added.

A long silence hung in the air for a moment.

[color=Aqua]"Gods of space,"[/color] Lyons said breathlessly.

[color=Khaki]"Blake's Blood,"[/color] Higgins muttered to himself.

[color=Crimson]"Frackencrack,"[/color] Windham added, using an obscure expletive rarely heard outside certain regions of the Draconis Combine.

[color=Olive]"Shit,"[/color] Colonel Wayne summed up everyone's thoughts succinctly. [color=Olive]"Higgins, prepare to send a high-power microwave-burst transmission to the Green Knights. We can't point-to-point them with the ECM field up, so we'll just need to shotgun the message in their general direction."[/color]

[color=Khaki]"Sir, that'll make us stick out like a sore thumb,"[/color] Higgins protested. [color=Khaki]"If the Crimson Fists come after us, we're dead."[/color]

[color=Olive]"My order stands, Cadet,"[/color] Gaius stared him down. If putting himself in the line of fire meant keeping the Green Knights alive, then so be it.

[color=Khaki]"Yes sir,"[/color] Higgins meekly nodded before flipping a few toggles on the comms suite. [color=Khaki]"Antenna is live, sir. We've got enough juice for a five second burst."[/color]

Colonel Wayne nodded, then raised the comms microphone to speak into it.

[color=Olive]"Green Knights, this is Gawain Actual,"[/color] he spoke with a quick but authoritative tone. [color=Olive]"Hostile mechs inbound, rendezvous at nav-point Echo! Repeat, hostile mechs inbou--"[/color]

[color=Khaki]"Five seconds are up, sir,"[/color] Higgins cut him off.

[color=Aqua]"Let's hope the Knights were listening,"[/color] Lyons said, equal parts comment and prayer.

[color=Crimson]"And that the Crimson Fists weren't,"[/color] Windham added.

[color=Olive]"Agreed,"[/color] Gaius nodded, before knocking on the hatch to the driver's cabin. [color=Olive]"You heard my order, Private. Let's get the hell out of here."[/color]

[color=Sienna]"Yes sir,"[/color] came the response, and the Mobile HQ's massive diesel engine roared to life.