The Bastion's arrival, on a plume of raw fusion plasma as the Union-class planted itself roughly in the middle of the eastern airstrip, was a welcome sight, even with the annoying nasal grate of Perkin's voice on open comms. Erich ignored Perkin's comments, the waves of heat pouring off of his 'mech showing that he had been firing constantly at the unknowns, the Assault 'mech's PPC apertures glowing red from the residual heat that had built up due to near-constant volleyfire from the massive sniper, which had prevented any of the assailants from getting into missile or laser range after the initial onslaught.<br/><br/>Several missile volleys had peppered the massive 'mech's broad chest and arms, gouging craters in the Durallex Heavy plating that made up one-fifth of the Awesome's weight, but, honestly, the Assault 'mech had gotten off lightly. Only after the Bastion landed did Erich stop firing, his 'mech immobile from the heat buildup, with his left hand hovering over the emergency button on the left side of the cockpit, which was commonplace in 'mechs of all ages; the Shutdown override in most 'mechs tended to take more abuse than the armour covering the machines.<br/><br/>Seeing the unknowns break off and retreat, Erich finally stopped firing, letting his machine's heat sinks draw the temperature down to something tolerable, the radiators cooling siezed actuators and myomer, unbinding the artificial muscle and heavy hydraulics, which allowed the Awesome to move again. Popping open the faceplate of his Neurohelmet, Erich ran a trembling hand over his face, wiping sweat away from his eyes, before toggling to open comms. "Well, thanks to our ride, and the amount of firepower we've been putting out, whatever just attacked us has bugged out. Puma and I will check on the Highlander, and clear the two closed hangars. Assault lance, set up an outer picket within the turret line; Recon, attach Snake to your lance and patrol just outside the turret line. You have the speed to get behind the big guns in case there's more than those.... whatever they are, out and about."<br/><br/>Toggling his communication suite to the lance command dedicated channel, Erich spoke quietly. "Good work out there, Graff. You kept your head, and did what you needed to do to keep your lance in once piece. If you're going to take a poke at one of those things we took down, bring something more potent than a laser pistol. I'd suggest a gyrojet rifle or a Zeus twelve-seven, but we both saw those things shrug off direct hits from PPCs. Be careful."<br/><br/>Toggling back to his own Lance's channel, he commented again. "You three did damn well. Status reports whenever you're ready; I want Vice near the Bastion, Defiance at the west edge, and Kismet, north side. Fallback point is the Bastion. And, before you guys inundate me with questions, No, I have no idea what we just encountered, No, I have no idea if they're Draconis, or something else, and my battle computer is only saying that they're powered armour of some type. We also saw them laugh off PPCs to the face, so if you get curious, stay in your 'mech when poking at them. Kismet's probably the best infighter we have if they get close; No matter how small and annoying they are, a five-ton axe landing on them from on high will smash them flat. Report if there's anything unusual going on."<br/><br/>Slowly, he began Moving his 'mech out of the slowly-icing over area where his 'mech had stood, the heat wash of his energy weapons and 'sinks having turned a lot of snow into vapour. Toggling his comms once more, he set up a laser link with Miyoko's Shadow Hawk, so the two could speak privately as the two headed towards the Fallen Highlander. "Miyoko. I think I understand why you decided to stand and fight. But, this isn't the Combine Military. None of us demand you to sacrifice yourself against superior, or unknown odds because your commander in the field was taken down with a lucky hit or two. What I ask, is that, when I'm in command, you follow my orders. None of us wants to lose a fellow warrior, and putting yourself at risk when we're already down one 'mech due to a surprise attack worries us. Now, come on. With any luck, Walter's just sleeping off being rattled around like a pea in a tin can. Your 'mech has two hands, so you can get him out of the cockpit better than my 'mech's claw can."