Sasha Kierilic watched the Awesome's barrage batter the living hell out of his Pillager, just about helpless. His ears were ringing with a tune from his childhood, his lungs punctured by an especially sharp piece of endo-steel that had pierced therough the cockpit and him in the first close PPC-barrage that he had received. Godot groaned underneath the pressure, it's systems blasted to shreds, the alarms of the core breach only barely registering in the dying MechWarriors fevered mind. He reached out towards the coolant flush, unless he dumped the overboiling load the XL would soon collapse in on itself. He strained, feeling the bar of endo-steel ripping through him as he tried to reach the flush. But just as he was about to push the button he died, his body frozen in position as the XL-engine erupted, obliterating the ancient Star League Legacy in a flash of light and wave of heat. The plume stretched up several hundred meters, diluting into a mushroom form. The three Atlases braced themselves, one of their pilots cursing as the Awesome and King Crab disappeared from view and sensors. A Gauss round and two large laser beams ripped through the smoke in frustration, none which even got close to hitting any of the two Assault 'Mechs. The core explosion would serve as a good cover for now, until the Atlases had found another route.<br/><br/>"Shit! Keep to the coordinates, newcomers, I have someone to rescue!"<br/><br/>The Rommel leaped forward as Walter ordered full speed ahead, the heavy tank being surprisingly speedy. This was probably a terrible idea, but the stubborn commander was not about to lose anymore today. It only took him a moment to burst out of the edge of the forest, severely surprising three buggies that had decided to set an ambush. One was ground into a messy pile of scrap by the 65 ton tank, the other two quickly had their share of machine-guns and medium lasers as the turret spun around in a deadly arc before speeding towards the city. As soft ground gave away to tarmacked road the speed shot up even more and it didn't take long for Walter to finally see the heavily wounded Awesome in his reticle, followed by Alroy's King Crab. A tightbeam connected to the Awesome as the tank slid to a stop.<br/><br/>"Always have to be the goddamn brickwall! Perkins is going to blow a fuse!"<br/><br/>The Gauss zeroed in on a Cataphract that had just stepped out into the street behind the two retreating mechs. As Walter squeezed the trigger the Phract's cockpit erupted in a terrible explosion, toppling over a small building next to it. Walter was not going to let Erich and Alroy fight this on their own, if he so had to snailpace it next to them all the way back to the Bastion.