Mei used her remaining armaments wisely and ended up managing to make it through the battle without having to return to the Elysion as most of the others had. She let out a heavy sigh when the skies were finally clear and the battle over. She felt some exhaustion, but more than that, she felt exhilarated. That was an interesting and challenging battle, to be sure. They had casualties, but they’d suffered far fewer losses than she would have expected when the battle had first begun.<br/><br/>She didn’t immediately return to the flight deck, even once the battle was over, as if she were waiting, to make sure it was truly over, that there wouldn’t be some random new enemies who showed up at the last minute. When she was satisfied, she headed back and landed on the flight deck. She didn’t remain in the fighter long after landing, instead quickly and smoothly hopping out, landing gracefully next to the fighter and then taking a look around at the others on deck.<br/><br/>Her eyes were soon drawn to the Akula flown by the leader of the Starwolves as it hovered next to the flight deck, eventually producing the pilot, who climbed out and onto the flight deck. She tilted her head a little in curiosity as she watched him. Her gaze scanned the others on deck, noting the myriad of emotions on their faces, before falling on Emile, who she could tell was barely holding himself together, barely managing not to act out of anger. But barely or not, at least he was managing to control himself.<br/><br/>She, on the other hand, couldn’t hold back her own curiosity. She walked past Emile, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder for only a moment before she continued, heading for the pilot who now sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the flight deck. She stopped once she stood next to him, a couple feet to his right. She was quiet at first, not speaking initially, just staring off into the sky with an unreadable expression on her face.<br/><br/>“Thanks for the save,” she finally said with a cool and casual voice, her usual amiable smile belying the mixed feelings beneath. It wasn’t as though she thought he, or any of them, for that matter, had actually helped them out of the goodness of their hearts, or for their own benefit. They had come here with every intention of destroying them, just as they had done to their comrades before. Even so, whatever their motives were, if not for their decision to switch sides, it was unlikely that most of them would be standing here right now.<br/><br/>She may not particularly like them, nor did she trust them, but she would give thanks where it was due. At any rate, the way some of the other pilots were eyeing him, she worried that some of them might try what Emile was barely managing to resist and end up making them enemies again. At least this way, that was a lower risk. Of course, now that she was here, she really didn’t have much else to say at this very moment. There was plenty more she could say, and many questions she wanted to ask, but this wasn’t the time for any of those things, so she didn’t even entertain those thoughts as she continued to stare off towards the distant horizon.