[dcs_p]With that thought, she went ahead with her attack plan. Using her Battle Cobra’s
jump jets, she bounded as gently as possible towards the first ledge on the left
incline. True to her piloting skills, she landed without any trouble on the lowest
rocky outcropping.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]The next step would be even harder. Dark green foliage from some kind of
native scrub bush concealed much of the next ledge’s layout. Sasha could guess
the shape of the ledge by how the flora had grown, but she had no idea as to
how stable a platform it would provide. Instead she opted to skip the ledge
entirely, making an even wider jump to a ledge further up to increasingly steeper
cliff.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]As her jump jets fired, the Battle Cobra rocketed off from its current position.
Sasha used her jump jets sparingly, hoping to avoid reaching an elevation that
would reveal her location to her enemy. With her practiced sense of balance and
a bit of luck, she came down softly on the rocky portion with no ill effects.
Looking to her sensors, she realized this would have to do.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]The enemy was coming into line of sight. She would have to now turn the Battle
Cobra to face it and be prepared to jump down to a safer location if needed.
Before she could finish her extremely dangerous 180 degree maneuver, the
enemy Mech came into view on her HUD. Sasha checked her weapons quickly
and lined up her first shot even as the Battle Cobra came to a rest to face the
White Flame.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]As the White Flame came around the rock’s edge, it had slowed to know doubt check its sensors. Sasha knew its pilot must be aware by now of her coming attack, but the pilot either lacked cuation or was somehow overconfident in facing her Mech. She did a quick gut check herself. Had she missed something.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Let us see how this fits. With the press of her trigger, Sasha sent a series of beams thumping into the White Flame, each causing damage in nearly the same part of the Mech`s left shoulder assembly.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Elsewhere, Nova Cat Star Commander Hamner was having doubts of his own. He’d just missed wide for the third time in a row while attempting to target a Blakist Red Shift. It now looked like his Mech’s left arm lasers might have been misaligned after the crushing fall he’d taken just an hour before.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]The nasty bump had come shortly after Hamner and his star had pinpointed their target – an enemy group believed to include the base’s leader. Desperate to cut off the commander from support but also very short on firepower, Hamner had personally opted to press the Blakist commander’s Legacy by assaulting it physically. The move, which was always a gamble when confronting a larger opponent, had backfired and left Hamner pinned in a difficult situation. Luckily his starmates had finished the job by decapitating the 80-ton threat with a fortunate head shot.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Hamner’s next problems came with arrival of a Blakist Level 2. The Level 2 was merely a group of scouts, but they only added to the problem of the four remaining Mechs by adding their own six to the mix. The star of Clan scouts now faced ten enemies to their five. Hamner had made the only logical move – retreat and try taking out some of the scouts along the way.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Recollecting his thoughts with another pull on his weapons trigger, Hamner hit the Red Shift with all of his left arm’s lasers. The blast melted more metal off the Red Shift’s leg than it had armor, punching through and deep into its myomer musculature. The Red Shift fell apart just as Hamner’s right arm lasers completed their cycle. It was time for a new target.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Aisling’s suden press on her weapons trigger was not something to take lightly, for the small action caused a terrific amount of damage to the machine in front of her. In fact, it nearly ceased to exist.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]”Surat! That was my kill, Aisling!”[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Sasha’s voice was shrill with fury and furthermore distorted into static feedback in the cockpits of her starmates. She braced herself as the enemy commander’s Legacy again opened up with twin AC-10s. Sasha’s Mech shuddered under the large bore autocannons’ assault, prompting her to take evasive maneuvers that jeopardized her already-damaged Mech’s faulty sense of balance.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Sasha tipped the Mech into a backward cant, eventually pivoting to roll with the damage. Though she briefly exposed the machine’s fragile back armor to her opponent, she knew it had already spent the worst of its assault at her better-armored front. Besides, the move saved her weaker rear from a blistering array of pulse lasers that now stitched fresh holes in her Mech.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]”Backstabbing surats!” she called out to her opponents, though it was unclear if they could hear her. They would pay dearly for such dishonorable tactics. Sasha fired back with her primary heavy lasers, answering the Blakist Beowulf in kind. The powerful Clan lasers cored double hits on the scout, ripping its myomer musculature from within.[/dcs_p]