<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/13/Ha_Otoko_color.jpg)</div><br/><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Dark Star Dropship - Hangar Bay</strong><br/><br/>Damian knew they were finished. Maybe it was cynicism and the doom of the moment that was clouding his vision with negativity, but in his eyes, there was no coming back from that defeat. The Jade Falcon had torn apart most of their 'Mechs, severely damaged their dropship, and cost the lives of nearly all of their warriors. What few were left were rookies, new sign-ons that were barely proven. The veterans, barring Kari, Allia and himself, were all burning out in the fields that he could still regard as the hangar bay door slowly slipped shut and the massive vessel took flight. They were leaving everything and everyone behind, but he highly doubted there was anyone left to save. There had only been an advancing wall of Jade Falcon behind them. Anyone caught behind that line, was not going to make it. As much as he had advised Kari to shut the door, take off and not slow down until they left the battlefield far behind them, it still did not sit well with him. While sorrow filled Allia's mind, he only felt anger, and he knew exactly who to blame for the fiasco, and who to take it out on. Finally, he brought his Ha Otoko back to motion, and about-faced to almost limp his way towards his station, where the valuable 'Mech could be properly secured for transit, but also cooldown. While all of his ammo had been spent, there was still more than enough gear strapped on and installed in the machine to blow up the hangar bay if heat levels continued to rise.<br/><br/>The moment the cockpit opened up, Damian pushed the engineer aside, almost causing the man to fall from the rickety scaffolding they were surrounding the battered Battlemech with. From there, he slipped down the ladder that extended from the floor of the bay to the cockpit height. Two thuds of his boots told him he had hit solid ground and immediately, his eyes began to search the surrounding chaos and commotion for a familiar face that had a lot to answer for. They had had a liaison with the local employer, the one that had been feeding them the intel gathered. It wasn't the man's fault, what had happened out there, for he was just the messenger. But, for once, Damian was all impulse, and he needed a scapegoat to ground himself again. Rage colored his expression, and everyone he passed by gave him the space he needed. A pissed-off clanner was not someone you generally wanted to get in front of and tell to calm down.<br/><br/><strong>"What of the main army? Has anyone heard of them? Please, I've got to get down there,"</strong> the young man had been trying to get answers, floaying from one person to the next, hoping someone from down below had returned alive. Instead of answers, he found himself face-to-face with a man whose palms began to squeeze his throat shut. He cried out in pain as he was lifted up and violently pressed down onto the nearest worktop, where he was held down and struggled for air.<br/><strong>"You incompetent bastards! I will make you pay for this!"</strong> the former Sea Fox warrior-merchant shouted with a roar from the top of his lungs. It wasn't until two of the engineers wrapped their arms around his that they were able to rip him away from the liaison and attempt to calm him down. The young man gasped for breath as he had been moments away from asphyxiation. He found no support among the others of the company however.<br/><br/>When he heard his commanding officer's daughter call out to him, though, Damian remembered his position. He was an officer, he of all people should be keeping a level head. A shrug of his shoulders and a long exhale was enough for him to be released.<br/><strong>"Get that useless waste of space out of my sight. If I see him again, I am tossing him out the nearest airlock. Kick him off the ship the moment we land or dock -anywhere-!"</strong> he ordered, his voice cold enough to freeze hell and containing more than enough authority to have the terrified informant dragged out of the bay.<br/><br/>He knew what he had to do now though, but the hangar bay was not the place to do it. He didn't know if Kari would be able to keep her composure and in front of all the people populating the bay, it would only hurt morale more to have her break down.<br/>Like the rest of them, he looked a complete mess. Despite the heat, he was still donning his jacket. Sweat coated his face, leaving his hair to clump together in untidy locks, which in turn clung to his forehead unappealingly. Fatigue, hurt and anger reigned across his visage, with those wrinkles on his brow indicating its furrowed nature as they often did. There was some compassion in his normally steely expression. His clothes were not doing much better, as some internal damage in the cockpit had seared parts of his pants, and his neurohelmet, which still rested in his seat in Charybdis' cockpit, was in need of repair. One bare hand motioned in the direction of one of the exits of the bay. <strong>"Come with me, ma'am..."</strong> he urged, his voice a softer tone that would already more than imply what kind of news he was preparing her for. He wasn't good at this kind of thing. He was going to be too blunt; too direct. Or maybe that was how it should be done. Her father was dead. Probably bled dry in his cockpit. A painful, lonely, slow death. Not at all how it was supposed to be.</div>