[center][b][h2][color=Silver]Raven Rivers[/color][/h2][/b][/center]

“[color=silver]Roger that, Giggles.[/color]” Raven answered. The swift stride of the [i]ShadowHawk[/i] beneath him was so familiar from years behind the controls that the feeling of momentum it carried in the throttle was fifty-five tons of second nature and having to keep their pace low for Sgt Dalton’s APCs and Aroxy in the Von Luckner made it nearly an afterthought. He eased back on the speed even more, bringing the machine to a slow trot as they neared the waypoint the Colonel had issued to link up with Jon. He scanned the world around him that was exploded in the grainy green of his mech’s night-vision sensors. Nothing on scope other than the Knights and only the dam in the distance, glowing white as the sensors magnified the structure’s lighting. “[color=silver]Boats don’t really seem like their style.[/color]” He said. The newsfeeds from Yuzhny Portveyn that the Knights had picked up played in his mind. The Heavenly Sword literally drove a truck to the front door of the stadium and exploded themselves. As functional and correct Marit’s proposition was, it seemed like it lacked the same bravado. “[color=silver]Watch your footing on the way up, probably best to stay off the structure itself though, we don’t know what it’s rated to hold.[/color]” He cautioned.

As they approached he could see the roads connecting over the top of the dam the same way the Colonel had described in the briefing. It would take Marit a few minutes to get into position. He checked the sensors again, probing the terrain with a careful sweep, [i]nothing[/i]. His lips twisted a bit. He knew Jon was here. The man didn’t seem like the type that was late and had nearly a day’s head start on them. Something about him felt off to Raven, after their initial meeting. He’d seemed distant, nonchalant even, like he didn’t really care if the Knights were wiped out- well except for one: He noticed the way Jon glanced at Marit first whenever he spoke, little that it was. The others may have thought he’d lost sense of himself in the combat that followed the raid and they were right, but Raven knew his fatherly instinct was unquestionably intact. He raised a son, haughty and stubborn as he might have been, but he still felt he owed a measure of protection towards the younger women of the Knights: Marit, Reya, Lt. Lyons and some of the others. There were too many unknowns about this [i]mercenary[/i]. Raven pegged the man for a mechwarrior, but it didn’t really matter, he would keep his eyes peeled. His gut warned that if Miss Jeong ordered him to shoot them all in the back he’d do it. 

Raven shook his head and reeled the thought back in. Perhaps that was too dark. He let out a sigh, thinking about Andrew and Katrina and glanced briefly at a worn photograph of the two of them tucked into the frame of the Hawk’s canopy armor. The Knights were a family, not just another sell-sword mercenary crew. Something he knew the Crimson Fists and maybe even their supposed new allies had any concept of. They were different. When he led his lance, they were under his care and direction, not just employees collecting a paycheck, at least not him. Maybe it was the reason for his breakdown before, the way he cared. His resolve hardened at the thought and again he was starting to feel like his old self. He keyed the comm to report back to the Colonel that they arrived as scheduled: “[color=silver]Knights in position, Gringolet. We’ll fan out and lay low. Giggles is posting up near the structure. No sign of our associate... Standing by.[/color]”  

[@Starlance]
[@Bork Lazer]