Mei had been rather enjoying this battle, pushing herself hard as she threw herself into one, skirmish after another. By the time their reinforcements arrived, though, even she was beginning to feel the wear of the constant battle with the seemingly never-ending stream of enemy reinforcements. She was grateful for at least a little reprieve when their own reinforcements arrived. She didn’t allow herself to relax, though, as the battle was far from over, and she still had that same feeling as if something was coming, which kept her even more alert and vigilant than usual.<br/><br/>Her vigilance paid off when her screens suddenly lit up with incoming missile alerts. She reacted immediately, getting her fighter and herself out of the paths of the missiles. What came next could only be described as chaos, and realistically, a slaughter. A good portion of their new reinforcements, as well as about a third of the enemy’s fighters were destroyed, and those that survived were immediately thrown into the chaos of a battle they were ill-equipped to win.<br/><br/>It wasn’t long before their comms came back on as the transmitter was destroyed by one of the new hostile fighters. Soon enough, the order to retreat was issued. It hadn’t come soon enough, though, as the apparent leader of this new group of fighters made quick work of Alpha squadron and one of the other two set its sights on Micheal and Ashley.<br/><br/>Maybe she should have tried to help, but she knew it wouldn’t have mattered, and she had no intention of dying alongside them. As far as she was concerned, dying a pointless death wasn’t noble, it was stupid, no matter what the reason was. A noble death was just a term people used to try to find some meaning in death, but as far as she could see, there was no meaning in death, and certainly not if that death accomplished nothing.<br/><br/>Unlike Alpha and Gamma squadrons, who surged forward to try to take on the new fighters, Mei had no intention of trying to fight these guys. It didn’t matter how skilled she was or how good her instincts might be. The plain and simple fact was that they were outgunned, and their Valkyries were outclassed. The pilot made a difference, but there were some hurdles even the best pilot couldn’t overcome. Besides, as far as she was concerned, sometimes the greatest skill one could acquire in a battle was knowing their own limitations, knowing which battles they could win and which they needn’t fight.<br/><br/>This was not a battle she could win, so it was not a battle she intended to fight. “Let’s go, Emile!” she ordered their comrades fighters fell from the sky and Alpha and Gamma flights charged forwards at the enemy. She glanced back as they retreated, watching as the enemy leader reared his plane up, almost like a cobra ready to strike. She memorized what that looked like, what they all looked like, as she got the feeling that they would meet again one day.<br/><br/>At least perhaps the deaths of the pilots of Alpha and Gamma flights were useful in some way, after all, in that they provided a cover under which the rest of them could escape. They were not the trio’s true targets—an easy enough conclusion to reach, she thought—so as she expected, those that retreated were not pursued. She couldn’t help but wonder what exactly their objective was.<br/><br/>It seemed to have more to do with the location than either the occupying force or their own. Was the factory the target of their strike? If so, what would their next move be? There was no way they came all the way here for one factory. She didn’t like any of the conclusions that this information seemed to lead to.<br/><br/>For now, though, she would worry about making sure they all go back safe and sound. It seemed that the enemy had no intention of pursuing them, but that didn’t mean she would let her guard down. Even when they reached the relative safety of the base, would she be able to let her guard down? Somehow, she doubted that.<br/><br/>She kept herself alert, preparing to react to any attacks that might come and cover the other’s escape, should it be necessary. Thankfully, the flight was relatively uneventful, and it wasn’t long before they reached the base. She landed along with the others, and as soon as she could, she was climbing out of the plane and setting her feet squarely on the ground. She could hear a variety of curse words coming from around the hanger as the other pilots exited their planes.<br/><br/>Her token smile was nowhere to be found, in its place was an uncharacteristically serious, almost somber expression. Her eyes shifted over to Emile, who looked like he was about to breakdown at any moment. Some part of her wanted to tell him to pull it together, but that just seemed too cruel. At any rate, she couldn’t blame any of them for their reactions. She was probably the odd one for being so calm when they had just lost nearly two-thirds of their deployed forces.<br/><br/>She sighed to herself and closed the distance between herself and Emile, placing a hand on his shoulder. She wasn’t the maternal or nurturing type, so comforting people wasn’t her forte. In truth, it felt odd and awkward to her. Still, she could tell that he was barely holding it together, so she felt sort of obligated to do something. Besides, after what just happened, she had a feeling that the commander would likely be coming to them for the debriefing, so there was probably no need for her to rush off to report in, anyways.