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[h1][color=blueviolet][b][u]Homecoming[/u][/b][/color][/h1]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3otKIBNqciw](Mood Music)[/url]
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One of the Skollrs raised its heavy shotgun at the Blackout, but the elite MAS was already out of the way as the canister round opened up and sliced apart a tree line. It lined up another shot, but before it could fire, a line of plasma beamed through the barrel of the shotgun, slagging the end and causing the shot to blast apart the weapon. The second shot from the plasma punched a hole right through the upper arm of the Skollr, causing the weight of the outstretched arm to collapse at the breach. Leah looked traced the path of the plasma beams, spotting the Sparrowhawk in a supporting position and the Venator in the same direction, albeit much closer. She was glad that the team was quick to react to the Skollr's. Leah would've given her thanks had her comms not be dead, but she did say it out loud to herself in the cockpit!

The Blackout skated laterally to the right for just a moment, firing more ineffective pistol rounds at the head of the Skollr before it suddenly changed its direction of travel to close in. There was a bright engine plume that flashed out the back of the Blackout, the resulting boom of her afterburners engaging flipping a nearby car behind the MAS and shattering glass. It got in close, the Blackout's pilot skillfully mimicking the range of motion of a human being. The Blackout bent on one knee, lowing its profile and extending left to skate below the shield arm of the Skollr as it tried swinging the bladed edge of the heavy shield in a violent arch. The knife in the Blackout's other hand came up, stabbing between the armor plates of the Skollr's shield arm and twisting. The Blackout wrench the knife from the breach, pivoted to face its back to the Skollr, and wrapped its arms over the damage heavy unit's arm. Rolling the upper body of the MAS, the Blackout bent the Skollr's arm module backward, well beyond its range of travel, and ripped it from its joint. The shield's blade bit into the ground and left heavy metal slab standing long after it had been parted from the arm module's hand.

Leah was grinning from ear to ear in her cockpit. She may have been a sniper, but she was still a grunt to the core. Her mandate in the infantry was always to close in and destroy the enemy, and she was frighteningly good at doing just that. MAS combat in space was a relatively new concept to Leah, one that she grew into quickly thanks to her natural aptitude. But on the ground, brawling with clumsy, slow units, Leah was right at home. Keeping the Skollr arm in hand, the Blackout boosted away, pivoted, and swung it back with both arms to club the literally disarmed Skollr and throw it off balance. She would have dismantled the poor, armless machine further had it not been for an alert on her damaged, blinded flank. Leah pivoted the Blackout again to get her still working optics on the threat. A hail of gatling fire had already opened up, a few of the rounds connecting in a line along the Blackout's torso armor plating. Leah's cockpit vibrated heavily, and the overpressure from the impacts caused her ears to muffle out briefly. There was some spalling in her cockpit that sent small metal shards through the cockpit. One caused a crack in Hex's visor, and another tore a thin line across her right arm. That got a hiss from her, but her adrenaline was flowing, and she was very much still in the fight.

The Blackout side boosted right, then immediately juked left to break from the barrage and get to cover. She lowered the MAS down behind a building as her LR-90 thunked into place over the Blackout's shoulder. The Blackout grabbed the cannon and rolled it over the shoulder into its hands. Leah spoke to the onboard, [color=blueviolet][b]"Reconfigure range parameters! Close combat, sub-one-hundred meters."[/b][/color]

[code]--Range parameters altered...
--Warning: The LR-90 is not suited for close range engagements...
--Hostiles within FCS minimum engagement distance...
--Advisory: Switch to sidearm...[/code]

[color=blueviolet][b]"Switch to manual!"[/b][/color]

[code]--Manual override confirmed...[/code]

[color=blueviolet][b]"Give me a status update on the comms!"[/b][/color]

[code]--Diagnosis complete...
--Main transmission sub-module disabled...
--Troubleshooting failed...
--Substantial damage to comms package detected...[/code]

[color=blueviolet][b]"Drones?"[/b][/color] Leah followed up.

[code]--All funnel drones are in standby mode...
--Legion module is undamaged...
--Advisory: Legion module can provide limited backup comms if code is rewritten and the main system is rebooted...
--Warning: System reboot will temporarily disable the MAS...
--Warning: Legion module cannot broadcast on wideband milnet. Tightbeam communications only...[/code]

Leah flipped some switches in her cockpit and flipped open a switch deliberately covered by a red switch guard. [color=blueviolet][b]"Do it, and reprogram the Legion's frequencies to broadcast on the same frequencies as the stilletos!"[/b][/color] With that, she flicked the switch, and all of the screens inside her MAS went dark.

It was the longest five seconds of her life. She could hear the thundering of gunfire reverberating through her hull, a lot of it nearby. She was sure it was her teammates in the 7th. She had intercepted the Skollr's merely a hundred meters from their position, and it's hard to miss two heavy MAS units suddenly appearing on top of you. Once the screens flashed back to life, Leah could see the Venator engaging and covering her. She was relieved that the kid was so switched on. Though she was sure her next move was going to trip him up a little bit. She radar locked onto the Venator to many protests from her onboard AI about locking weapons onto a friendly IFF. [color=blueviolet][b]"Sorry, kid."[/b][/color] she said in the silence of her own cockpit as she pulled the trigger.

A stilleto micromissile launched from the Blackout and zipped through the air at a blinding speed. It rivetted itself into the armor of the Venator with a high pitched metallic piercing sound, but there was no explosion or impact even if the Venator's systems registered the friendly fire. Leah saw one of her displays light up as the stilleto immediately went to work breaking through the Venator's firewalls and inserting its own malicious code into the MAS through the breach. It'd likely show up as some of his displays going on the fritz for a few moments while Hex's onboard AI rewrote a few things, namely his comms suite to recognize the Legion module's broadcast frequencies.

[color=blueviolet][b]R̴̪͚͇̙̈́͑̊͒̓̄͂̀̈́̍̉̅̓̕͘ö̸͕̬̭̗͈͇̾̆͒͌̐̂͊͌̊̉̅̓͌͆͊̈̒̉͜͠͝͠ō̸̧̢̬̣̯̘̣̑̑̓̈́̆͐͐̃͛̽̈̌͜͝͝k̶͎͍̼͉̀̋̉͊̂̀̀̈̕͝͝,̴̢̢̼̪͎͕͕̙̪̙͎̩̤̫̬͕̃͂̇͋́͛͑͘͝ ̷͇̲̬̞̹̥͇̞͓̟͚̐̃̍̿̿́̿͋͠ͅḯ̶̧̧̛̗͔͇̩̘͔͙͋̍̆̑̍̂͋͘̕͠t̷̨̛͙̠͉̞̠̦̾͒̅̄͗'̷̹̞̖̎̿̄̀̏̈̆͌̊͊̚͠ͅś̸̛͎̫̻͖̮̮͚̱̭̜̹͍̱̲̽̋̽͂̈́̒̊̿̋͋̚͜ ̸̧̠̥̻͔͍̽̂̓͋̏̉̇̅͛͐̈̏̀́̽͘̕̚H̴̛̪̼̝̮̹͉̿͛̾́͛͆͒͑e̵̼͈̥̱̅̽̋̄́̒ͅx̸̢̫͔͈̰̹̱̺̠̣̱̯̲̟̲͕͙̺̠̔̇͐̃̆̌͑̑͐̐́͒̎̅́͘͜͠͠!̴̢̤̦͍̜̫̠̟͉͎̩̙͖̹̏̅̎͂̈́̌̓̂̃̓͗̅̋̿͋͒͐͗̕͜͝, I̷̛͈͍̿̏ ̵̠͉̙̲̼̐̚s̶̹̞͇͓̥̽̕a̶̩͖̙͕̙̼͒̀̾͠y̵̧͖̠̞̓̌͜ ̷̛̝̗̭͎ā̷̙̲̣̖̘͙g̸̖̣̹̿͆̀̆̾ä̷̲̅̾̈́ȉ̴͙̬͕̱̓n̴͚̰͆̈̍̊,̴̣̇̾͝, t̵̫͆h̴̡͒̓i̸̘͐s̸̭̥̊͝ ̶̪̆̏͜í̵̢͓͒s̸̖̾̐ Hex! Can you hear m̷̰̑e̴̦͒ ̷̪͋o̶̜͑ń̵̝ ̷̳̔ẗ̵̩ḧ̶̟ḯ̵̼s̸̲͑ ̷̯͝f̸͇̀ṙ̸̰ē̸̖q̸͎̒ǔ̶̧é̵͓ň̷̮c̶̖͛y̵̲͛?̵̭̀"[/b][/color]

She didn't have to for a verification on his end, Hex continued to speak, [color=blueviolet][b]"These things are s̶̮̑l̵̮̓o̸̜̒w̶̻̿.̸̠̕ ̸̩̇T̸̞͛h̶̭̅e̸̡̎y̷̝̓ ̵͕͐ḏ̸͂o̶͙̓n̶̨̎'̷̩̃t̸͖̆ turn well at all! K̵͍̓e̴̺͆e̸̱͌p̶͕̏ ̸̱̐n̸̙̚ì̷̼m̶̫̃b̴̳͊l̷͎̽e̵̺͘.̵̢̅ We'll o̴v̷e̴r̴w̷h̷e̸l̴m̶ ̸t̴h̴e̸m̸ one at a time together!"[/b][/color]
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