<div class="floatright">(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/jillvader/mw-nmfkmpkarimonero_zps55a1bf27.jpg)</div>The closed door was some sort of finality, a sign that there was nobody out there. And as much as Kari wanted to see more of the Suns make their way to the ship and escape with them, she knew that there would be no more. All she could do was hope that there were others who had made their way back already, one way or another. Or that Allia or Damien had bought more with them…<br/><br/>Allia’s words had already told her that was not the case. She could hear the tears in her words, the anguish of watching the rest of her lance die in front of her. Even if she hadn’t seen their actual deaths, watching the BattleMechs alone fall was painful enough when you knew about the fragile lives inside of them. Kari had seen Muriel’s<em>Hercules</em>torn apart and knew that there had been no chance for her to have survived. Josh Laney’s ‘Mech had been decapitated by a Falcon early in the fight, and she’d lost track of Erik during the retreat to the forest. She’d hoped that he at least had made it back, but that was diminishing.<br/><br/>Technicians quickly secured the battered husk of the<em>Black Knight,</em>powering down the battered ‘Mech and especially it’s damaged and potentially dangerous systems. She could hear warnings of an eminent launch, but as she did, something else caught Kari’s eye. Another ‘Mech in the bay, Damien’s battered<em>Ha Otoko</em>. The ‘Mech had been a part of the command lance, which meant that it had been alongside her father during the battle.<em>Which means-</em><br/><br/>It was a desperate, grasping thought, but one she<strong>needed</strong>to be correct, something that had to be right even if only because the alternative was too horrible to contemplate. All but ripping out her connections and tossing aside the Neurohelmet, Kari clambered out of the cockpit, stumbling down the gantry before running across the bay, her long hair streaming behind her in a tangled mess. She was half-naked, sweaty and worn, but right now she didn’t care. All that mattered was that ‘Mech, and what was in it.<br/><br/>“Damien!” She shouted out at the<em>Ha Otoko’s</em>feet, glaring up at the battered war machine. “Where’s my father?”<br/>