It had been a day since the debriefing and, true to form, Mei had done little in the way of really resting since. Outside of her usual physical training, she had spent some time drawing up plans for the Siegfried’s customization, and even now, she was in the hanger, assisting with some maintenance on her Kairos. It was much more relaxing to her to do these types of things, to stay busy, than it was to participate in the activities that many others did. Of course, usually, she might have indulged in the consumption of an alcoholic beverage or two, but given the situation, she didn’t want to be caught off guard.<br/><br/>As she was working, the Elysion’s alarms began to blare. “Figures,” she muttered to herself and she worked to finish up what she was doing and then slid herself out from under the fighter, asking the mechanic to finish up while she headed off to suit up. When she returned, she did a quick check to confirm that he had finished and that everything was satisfactory and in working order before she hopped in and prepared for launch.<br/><br/>Once she was ready, she launched, alongside Emile and those others who had not been able to launch immediately. The sky quickly filled her vision, followed swiftly by the signs of battle. She could see nine warships moving towards the city slowly and cautiously, along with their escorts of a variety of Akula, Messiahs, and Kairos. It seemed that even the ships’ turrets were moving slowly, almost lazily, before firing at their targets—the Chaos aligned ships.<br/><br/>She watched as one of the bolts hit one of their ships, going right through the hull, almost seeming to be absorbed altogether, before reappearing a moment later as it came back out the other side and then faded away as quickly as it had come. Rather than grand explosions, the various ships that had been hit seemed to slowly begin to sink towards the ground, as if the systems just suddenly stopped working. She wondered about that, but now was not the time to be letting her curiosity get the better of her.<br/><br/>She turned her attention to the Valkyries that flew in formations ahead of the warships. There was no point to going after the Akulas, as even the modified Kairos were realistically no match for them. It made more sense to go for the others. She wondered, though, even if they were to defeat all the others, would it really make a difference in the end if those fighters remained? She supposed that was a concern to worry about at another time. They certainly stood no chance if they didn’t fight at all, so those thoughts were irrelevant for the moment.<br/><br/>“Let’s go, Emile,” she called to her partner over the comm, indicating that he should follow her. She would start with those that they stood the best chance again and work her way up. Their squadron was now incomplete, but at least she had her wing man, and if any of the others around wished to join them, they could follow them into the battle. If not, that meant more for them.<br/><br/>As soon as they were in range of the closest group, Mei engaged the closest targets, taking out two of them before they even had a chance to react. It was nice to have that small victory, at least, although she knew they wouldn’t all be that easy, so she wouldn’t let it go to her head. Sure enough, as soon as the first two went down, the other fighters turned their attention to her and Emile. Well, it wouldn’t be fun if it wasn’t at least a little challenging.<br/><br/>With that in mind, she went to work battling the remaining seven fighters nearby, alongside Emile. She switched between forms quickly and smoothly as she fought them. Much like before, she displayed heightened battle awareness, allowing her mind to consciousness and unconsciously maintain some awareness of not only herself and the fighters she was actively engaging, but also all those surrounding her, allowing her to cover Emile when needed, react to incoming attacks from other fighters, and maintain some awareness of the positions of the Akula Valkyries while she fought.<br/><br/>The last thing she wanted to do was ignore the Akulas because there was some distance between them and end up paying for it if one of them decided to break away to take care of them. On the battlefield, one had to maintain an awareness of all threats and plan accordingly, otherwise, it just might cost you your life. Of course, that was easier said than done, and it took time and experience to develop the ability to run those kinds of parallel processes with real skill and to use the information gathered effectively.<br/><br/>It was one thing to be aware of what was going on, it was another thing entirely to be able to take that information in, process it, prioritize it, and use it all instantaneously. Some viewed that as an instinct, but if you asked her, she thought that was simply the human simplification of a complex cognitive process that many could not understand. Either way, it was a skill that some had an innate talent for, but that took time to truly hone and master, no matter how gifted you might be. Sometimes you didn’t have a lot of time and it was a trial by fire; you had to learn to be decent at it quickly if you want to stay alive long enough to master it.<br/><br/>“Watch yourself!” she called to Emile as a Messiah fighter suddenly appeared behind him, taking aim. She used her propulsion to jet upwards, out of the line of fire of the fighter she was engaging, fired at the fighter behind him, and then returned her attention to the fighter below, who had just fired missiles of its own her way. She gracefully avoided each of them, appearing almost as though she was dancing, before she rushed forward, catching the fighter off guard. She moved past it and transformed instantly into her guardian form, firing both on this fighter, and an incoming fighter at once before transforming once again and moving on to the next target.<br/><br/>It was frustrating how outnumbered they seemed to be, and more so knowing that even if they managed to take out all of the other fighters, they were still outclassed when it came to the Akulas. Still, they wasn’t much that could be done for the time being. After all, the Siegfrieds had yet to arrive, and even if they had, they wouldn’t be ready for use anyways. She found herself wondering briefly if they would survive long enough for the Siegfrieds to even make a difference.<br/><br/>That was a foolish thought, though. She didn’t fear death, but she had no intention of dying today, or anytime in the near future, nor would she allow Emile to meet such a fate, or their organization to crumble. It didn’t matter if it was hopeless or she was outmatched; that was the way life had always been, wasn’t it? She’d always found a way to not only survive, but to come out on top, no matter the odds. This would be no different. They would find a way, because they had no other choice. The moment they gave up and accepted defeat as their inevitable fate was the moment they died, and with them, all those they were meant to protect. That was an unacceptable outcome.