[hr][CENTER][h1][u]Elliot Braide //[/u][color=007236][u] ROOK[/u][/color][/h1]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Bsn2Y7i.png [/img][H1][i]Ensign[/i][/h1][/center][hr]

Elliot couldn’t help but admire the way the Blackout moved on the battlefield, the impressiveness of the feat was recognized even by the rookie squad member. As much as Rook wanted to watch Hex’s prowess further that was of course tabled by the ever present threat of death looming overhead, and of course the Skollr that was hungry for a piece of Rook. He would be going hungry today if Rook had anything to say about it. Maul out and at the ready Elliot powered up the boosters and engaged the thrust as he aimed to close the distance and finish the fight in one blow. Already he could taste the victory on his tongue, he could relish in it shortly. Dashing forward dashingly he would sweep forward with his Maul and impale the enemy MAS through its center mass and remove it from the fight in one decisive move. At least that was how things were supposed to play out as far as Elliot was concerned.

Unfortunately a frontal charge was as obvious as the sunrise and it was no meager rookie in the pilot seat of the Skollr before Rook. Anticipating his actions the Skollr had already begun spinning up it’s gatling even as Rook had begun his dash, Rook could only realize all too late his folly as the enemy MAS brought the weapon up and released a stream of fire towards him. Rook did his best to pivot the Venator and attempt to dodge but his moment was already committed to his original direction and refused to be swayed so easily. The resulting maneuver managed to both save and cost him as the Venator slid in the terrain and managed to avoid taking direct fire center mass. Rook was unable to escape unscathed however as a stream of munitions tore apart his shoulder launcher and a few outliers tore apart a bank of optics on his left side. Rook’s teeth were practically on the verge of shattering with how hard he was gritting them as he pushed the Venator to boost sideways as he sought cover to reevaluate. Perhaps rushing in hadn’t been the best idea.

Rook quickly began scanning the battlefield from his place of cover as he tried to locate Hex. He was hoping they’d been spared catching too many of those rounds with Rook there to take most of the Skollr’s attention but when he finally found the Blackout huddled behind cover as well it was easy to tell that they’d suffered a few hits. Fear suddenly took hold of Rook as his imagination ran wild in the absence of any way to confirm Hex’s status, his worries were compounded by the fact that although the Blackout was behind cover it was also unmoving. His first thought was to hail her over comms but he knew that was useless and could only try and formulate a plan or some sort of next step.

And suddenly he was relieved, the Blackout was moving again, Rook gave out a cheer that reverberated around his cockpit before he tamped down his excitement. At least Hex wasn’t out of the fight yet, they still had a chance. But then suddenly Rook’s systems were alerting him to a target lock and panic set in as he initially tried to locate the angle that the Skollr might have gotten on them but nothing obvious stuck out as it appeared they were still under cover. Then it dawned on him that the signature was coming from the IFF’less MAS that he’d previously been certain was the Blackout. For a moment doubt crept in and Rook worried he’d fallen into a trap. Noticeably the feeds from his remaining optics began going haywire for a moment and Rook’s anxiety grew. Every nerve was screaming at him to go on the offensive before it was too late but Rook pushed hard to hold those instincts back as the seconds ticked by.

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

Rooks fear quickly and eagerly gave way as shock and relief took over instead, somehow Hex had managed to figure something out. A nagging thought in the back of his mind demanded that he figure out everything the Blackout was capable of, at least somewhat so surprises like this weren’t likely.

[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]

Rook wasn’t really sure how this worked, if the comms Hex had created were two way or not but the best way to find out was trial and error, [color=007236]”Hex! Good to hear from you! I hope this works both ways, I’m with you! If not, uh, I don’t know. We’ll still figure it out, I think. Whatever, I’m with you let’s go!”[/color]

With that Rook hefted his Maul and prepared for a counterattack.