Mei chuckled lightly at the pilot’s response. “True enough,” she replied just before he soared over her head. She chuckled again at his next comment and watched as he flew off before she spoke to herself more than anyone else. “My, my. You sure are a confident one, aren’t you?” she smirked lightly. “Be my guest,” she waved a hand, and shrugged, deciding she should probably stop talking to herself.<br/><br/>Deciding not to waste time, she headed off towards the fighters that had launched from the enemy ships. She fired on the first squadron she came upon, taking out one of the four before diving into their formation and switching to guardian mode, firing on two with her guns and firing several missiles at the fourth, taking them all out before switching back to her fighter mode and moving on to the next group. As she flew towards the next squadron, she glanced over at the explosions coming from some of the ships destroyed by the Starwolf leader.<br/><br/>“Show off,” she said to herself, although she spoke in a good-natured tone, much like the way one might affectionately tease someone, rather than in a scolding or irritated manner. She couldn’t really complain. After all, she wanted their side to win this battle, and the war, with as few casualties as possible.<br/><br/>If he or his people were the ones who made that possible, then so be it. Did she wish that she, too, had a fighter with that sort of destructive power? Of course.  Did she wish that she could do more than what she was doing now? Absolutely. But for the time being, this was the situation they were in. At least these guys were now their allies instead of their enemies.<br/><br/>Shaking her head to free herself of these thoughts, she continued diving into battle after battle, taking out as many squadrons of fighters as she could. She might not be able to wreak the kind of havoc he could with this Kairos, but she would be damned if she didn’t destroy as many of these bastards as she could. No way in hell was she going to just stand by and watch, feeling sorry for herself or lamenting the difference in strength.<br/><br/>She stayed focused on the battle ahead of her after that, taking note of the Starwolf Valkyries when they joined the fight, but never breaking her attention from her goal. She couldn’t help but shift her attention slightly when the new Valkyrie suddenly joined the fray again, apparently finished with the assault carriers. “Well, well, look who decided to join the rest of us,” she said lightly to herself, rather than over the comms. She smirked lightly, mumbling what was probably, “show off,” to herself again as he dove into the fight, before she turned her attention back to the squadrons in front of her, jumping back into the fray herself.<br/><br/>Mei had just taken out another squadron when she caught a glimpse of the Skylar’s fighter taking hits from a burst of cannon fire. A few moments later, she heard the transmission he relayed as he turned towards the Elysion, followed by a confirmation from the Elysion. It seemed that he had taken damage. That wasn’t good. Worse, though, was that he’d been hit by a Chaos fighter, not an enemy fighter.<br/><br/>“Watch where you’re firing, soldier!” she scolded the pilot responsible over the comms. “But ma’am, he…” the man’s voice came back over the comm. “I don’t need excuses. I need you to be more aware of the battlefield, not just the enemy in your sights,” she shot back. “Yes ma’am,” she heard the soldier reply.<br/><br/>Frowning slightly, she dropped the conversation. It was the soldier’s fault for not being more aware, but he was not the only one at fault, so she couldn’t press him too hard. Her only goal was to make sure he recognized his own mistake and learned from it. They all made mistakes, but some mistakes were more costly than others, so excusing them or ignoring them was a disservice to all involved, as well as to all who might suffer in the future if those mistakes were repeated.<br/><br/>As she was speaking to the pilot, she had moved to intercept an enemy squadron that had broken off and headed his way, apparently intent on taking out what they saw as the biggest threat while his craft was damaged. “Did you think it’d be that easy?” she wondered, smirking a little. “I’ll be your opponent now,” she said as she placed herself between them and their target, switching into guardian mode and firing on them.<br/><br/>The first went down during the first volley before she switched to her fighter mode, flying into the formation of the remaining three, firing as she did. She rolled, dodged, and weaved her way through their fire, taking out another of them before she reached the remaining two and fired on them. She hit the third, but not before they fired off a few missiles of their own. As she was evading these missiles, the fourth nearly managed to slip by.<br/><br/>She cursed to herself, not wanting to let one get past her<span style="font-style: italic">again</span>. Shifting her course, she flew towards the remaining fighter, closing the distance within seconds before she switched to her guardian mode just in time to grab onto their fighter and alter their course enough to prevent them from being able to fire on him. It was clear enough that his Valkyrie didn’t have the best defense at the moment, so it wouldn’t do to let him take more fire.<br/><br/>Her actions were not without consequences, though, as she ended up taking some of the fire herself before she blasted backwards and fired on the fighter, shooting it down. “Damn it,” she muttered as she checked over her own damage and clicked her tongue. “How annoying,” she sighed as she took note of the damage that had been done. It was still worth it, so she didn’t regret her choice, but it was annoying, nonetheless.<br/><br/>“This is Omega Zero One, I’m hit and heading back to the Elysion for repairs,” she relayed before turning to head back towards the Elysion. She hated to head back now, but it was better to go while she had the chance than to try to work around the damage and end up dead. As she’d said many times before, sometimes the greatest skill a warrior could develop was learning their limits and knowing when to withdraw.