"Alright ladies and gentlemen, gather around." McKnight called out, gathering the rest of the remaining pilots in the hangar, where the mechanics and technicians were finishing replacing parts for their machines. The noise of welding gears, heavy lifting machines, and moving ammunition was almost deafening- shuttles moving in and out of the hangar ferrying in supplies from a cache the marines on the moon had found. Still, McKnight's voice managed to cut through the din.
"We've just received the distress signal from Maki's machine. That, combined with intermittent blips from Alice's built in transponder has given us enough information to set up an op."
"Now, we don't have the resources or manpower to stay here for much longer, so getting in and out of Jehan is going to have to go fast."
McKnight pointed at Gerard and Yuuyami, "Delacroix, Yuu, you two are going to go retrieve the Hellcat and Eagle from their lock-up," he continued, as a set of coordinates appeared on their datapads. "Some of Hark's marines will be flying down in an assault shuttle to locate and rescue our pilots and AI."
"Williams, you and I will provide cover for this op." He finished, nodding to the young lieutenant. It only made sense that they'd be the ones to fly cover- while in atmosphere, only the Astelion and Shrike were capable of maintaining flight. Especially with the rest of the team stuck in space to protect the Lincoln from any further attacks.
"All of our units are being retrofitted with disposable thrust packs- they're annoying and they get in the way, I know. But they're our ticket off planet, unless you feel like hijacking a Coalition military base's space elevator as well. That being said- make sure they don't get shot up too badly."
"Alright 7th team, suit up and prepare to launch!"
Quickly trotting over to his MAS's hangar bay, McKnight only offered his machine a fleeting glance before he threw himself into the cockpit. The Shrike's destoyed leg had been hastily removed and a replacement one had been quickly socketed into place, the remains of the old leg still laying nearby in the hangar- the technicians hadn't had enough time to move all the damaged parts, they were still trying to deal with the remaining rubble strewn about the hangar. Flipping the switches to start his machine, he listened to it splutter a bit, the new wiring in the recently replaced core systems taking a while to take hold. Eventually however, McKnight's machine was up and running and he was stepping into one of the remaining launch ramps. His missiles had been replenished, and his primary cannons restocked and reloaded. The additional set of thrusters on the Shrike disrupted its balance a bit, and he'd have to be more careful not to turn his back to his enemy, but the Shrike was fast, and that would hopefully allow him to keep out of reach of his opponents.
The rest of the team stepped into the launch ramps, and as soon as they were given the green light, 4 MAS, followed by an armored shuttle and a pair of naginata fighters exited the Lincoln and began making its way around the darkside of the moon. Sokolov and Astelion peeled away from the defense picket to follow the rest of the away team- they'd cover their entry to the planet before heading back to the Lincoln. It was too risky to bring the damaged Lincoln and its wounded escorts out from behind the dark side of the moon, but now the 7th team was stuck facing off against the Coalition cruiser and its two escorts on their own.
Seeing the UEE pilots take the field, the Coalition released its remaining clutch of MAS's, a set of 5 Ferir II's and a Ferir III. The White Machine, for better or for worse, was not in play.
"Away team! Make for the planet!" McKnight barked into his comms. "Delacroix, Yuu, your main objective is to get yourselves and the assault shuttle into the atmosphere and onto the planet, nothing else matters. Williams, we're going to be keeping the Coalition off them until they make planetfall, then we'll do the same."
"And we'll cover you the rest of the time!" called Sokolov through the comms, with his thick accent.
Locking each enemy MAS in his sights, McKnight let loose a salvo of 6 missiles from his outer wing mounts, shooting a flurry of EKP rounds in their direction before he tore off in another direction, enemy autocannon and ship-based AA fire turning in his direction. He doubted all of the missiles would down their targets, but it would force them to pull out of the way and maneuver instead of firing at him or the rest of his team.
RPM,
Guardian Angel Haruki,
Antlers,
Silly,
NovellaAddict,
O O,
Hexaflexagon,
Whoami,
Not a Sayan,
JFK
