<div class="floatleft">(http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/wulfjaeger/Ghost_zpsc7908c1a.jpg)</div><br/><em>“Mo... of ...em!  ...be we ....get so...smo....p .....least ....ng enou.... of fire ....ow them.” </em><br/><br/>Allia gritted her teeth hard as she broke through the last bit of treeline only to see the red of an enemy radar contact break through the line to her flank.  The range at which he broke through the trees was close enough he could have reached out and touched her, part of the reason she gritted her teeth; expecting the final shot to tear Gheistwulf's head or legs off.  A split second of nothing surprised Allia as she turned to see the Vulture's PPC tear through the Blackknights arm, severing the heavy metal limb from the shoulder.  Somehow the Falcon hadn't even registered her proximity to him.  She found this odd, but didn't take long to cherish the thought.  At this range she didn't even need to aim.  Lifting her arm and turning her torso, she volleyed off an alpha strike of her PPC and Medium Laser.  The streak of charged electricity and the green beam of death couldn't have missed if had been the side of a barn.  The point that brought a grin wicked grin to Allia's face was the fact that the salvo connected with the Vulture directly behind the armor shielding the rear of the cockpit.  The Falcon pilot had turned slightly to meet the threat of Charybdis and turned directly into the path of Allia's shots.<br/><br/>The more impressive part was that mere seconds after the cockpit of the Vulture exploded in a flash of blue lighting, the whole Mech shuddered and shook as Charybdis unleashed it's heavy artillery.  The mech broke open like and egg and ruptured into a ball of scorching fire.  "YEAH!!!  Take that you fuck!!!!"  Allia found it hard to restrain herself at this point, taking as many of them as possible to match the butcher bill for all of the men and women they had already killed.  She was thankful that the Vulture's explosion had forced any of his mates to retreat away from the now raging forest fire.  Allia continued her turn back towards the entrance to the ridge line.<br/><br/>Running as gingerly as she could to keep Gheistwulf moving while keeping it in one piece, she scrambled across the open zone between the trees and the rock.  As she cleared the edge of the ridge line, she smiled as the Dark Star's signature filled her tactical display.  The open cargo bay doors and the large assortment of defensive cannons on placed along the circular hull brought a sigh of relief to her.<em>They made it</em>She thought to herself, but the nagging question in the back of her mind, was how many had made it.