The Colonel's subtle marker of tension was mirrored by the Duchess, who had gripped the haft of her sabre with enough power to leave her hand frozen in that grip for a while once she realized what had happened.  It had been a tense time, between the nukes and the violence committed for no better reason than to dishonor them.  The stress would even get to the greatest and most level-headed of them...let alone Ingrid.

She had barely slept the night over.  The tension that built up just behind her forehead made her walk out and practice her sword technique against posts outside of the base for hours, both to relieve that stress and with knowledge that, as unlikely as it was, she could be called to stab someone in the coming days.  Maybe 70 minutes of passing out was all that she was operating on, boosted by coffee, and several other things that she hadn't taken the time to inspect before downing.

Ingrid's eyebrow twitched.  She'd have to pack some more of those stimulants along for the upcoming excursion - hopefully they won't react badly when stored in the sauna heat of a cockpit.

The assignment was...simple.  Sometimes complexity meant new ways to make errors and botch it all, but this time it just meant that there was less to leverage.  There was no gambit to distract them or have someone act as a harrier for reinforcements or even a retreat planned, just a few seconds of ambush and one way to potentially spite them if everything else goes poorly.

Ingrid relished the opportunity to fight as a Mechwarrior again.  She did not look forward to the losses on their side.

When all was said and done, in lieu of questions, an ultimatum was given.  A terse silence settled among them before Ingrid spoke to the Colonel.

[color=SteelBlue]"...we're to deny them the right to retreat and kill them in their cockpits.  Right, Colonel?"[/color]

You could imagine Ingrid shouting and stamping her foot, her continued chivalric fantasies driving her to openly rebel against this directive.  However, she simply asked with grave seriousness and a composed stare - not "How dare you", but "Do I understand you fully?"