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

Raven snorted in amusement. Suddenly the man who rarely spoke a word to acknowledge the existence of the Knights had something to say about everything. Part of it he could understand. The dam was AVC property and as the Colonel had described, its protection was Jon’s mission, but the way he just sashayed his way into “command” at the critical moment was more than a little uncouth. However, the real sting of it was how the others just went along with it, and further, given the conditions, how it was a pretty decent plan on the fly. Jon knew what he was doing and a part of Raven lamented that he hadn’t spent more time rebuilding lost faith in some of the others, but he stored that thought away quickly. He had to think maturely, as commander of the lance, not as a competitor for the best idea. Discretion was the better part of valor as the old cliche went. Maybe Jon was expecting a protest out of him, maybe not, but debate at this stage of the battle would be suicidal. He glanced at Marit, she was at least still able to fight and in a good position. After doing as much damage as they could, hopefully without blowing up what was left of the river valley, they could work on getting her unstuck as quickly as possible. Full day would break soon and he didn’t want the Knights out in the open for more scout helicopters to spot them like they had at the raid.

“[color=silver]Sounds like a plan.[/color]” Raven replied calmly, almost authoritative in his response like he was channeling the Colonel and as if it was his approval that made Jon’s plan actionable. His eyes shifted from Marit momentarily to his ammo count and then out ahead where the land train was approaching. He shook his head a little at the thick brush fires being whipped up by Steel Rain’s “smoke screen” and hoped that the homes they’d just helped defend didn’t get caught up in a wind shift that carried the flames away from the river. Before switching his sensors over to thermal, he trotted by Marit to make sure she wasn’t sinking any further as well as to get an idea how hard it would be to get her mech free. He opened a direct line to her: “[color=silver]Try to lean your balance forward, like you’re standing in the sand at the beach and the tide is pulling you out.[/color]” He said, seeing her somewhat awkward list and the high weight of her deadly missile racks making things even more precarious. They needed to make sure she could keep all her lasers on target. The arms would be fine, but her torso mounts would walk dangerously if she lost her footing in the persistent current. Thanks to Reya’s work on the beams, they’d get in a few more volleys than stock and hopefully give Sgt Dalton as much time as possible to get onboard. Every shot was truly about to count, just like the Colonel had said.  

“[color=silver]Try to follow my shots,[/color]” Raven said. There was a firmness and confidence in his voice and he took up a position near her, crouching the Shadow Hawk in a classic shooting stance so they could fire together and he could help guide her aim. “[color=silver]Stay cool. We’re gonna get you out of there.[/color]” He said, switching his sensors over to thermal and watching the colors of the battlefield, quickly filling smoke, flash away into a piercing white and black contrast. He wasn’t equipped for sharpshooting like Jon. If anything, his AC5 had probably shifted some in its mount after all the jumping, but he had fired it enough times to know when it was true. He took a steadying breath and aimed down the side of the behemoth’s massive tracks, still glowing from where Jon’s shots had struck. There was no decision left to make but to shoot and hope for the best.