Erich smirked slightly at the concern shown the condition of his 'mech as he let his communication system pick up the open channels. At the appearance of the Raven nearby, he reflexively raised his 'Mech's left arm, the PPC mounted underneath the blood-stained fist of the 'mech centred on the light 'mech's beaklike profile before his targeting computer painted the Raven as a neutral unit. Toggling his comms as the Raven's pilot expressed disbelief that the Awesome was still standing, Erich tried to keep the pain from his voice as he spoke. "Determination, mostly. A few wishes. Divine intervention, too, possibly."<br/><br/>The Awesome lurched heavily with each step, the damaged Gyroscope made maintaining a straight line an excercise in futility, and the shattered actuators in the right leg had hobbled the war machine, its leg dragging in a limp, preventing the 80-ton 'mech from moving faster than walking pace for most Assault 'mechs. Even with half of its firepower damaged beyond use and pretty much all of its armour blasted away, Erich still kept a sharp eye on the sensor map, almost concerned about the mass of recon buggies that were moving to intercept the last few non-hostile 'mechs leaving the city. "Kismet; Vice; flank and rearguard. Try to deter instead of aiming for kills; we're just aiming to get off this rock with what's left of our hides intact, now that we have our objectives secured."<br/><br/>Flicking a switch, he set a tightbeam comm to Walt's tank, smiling faintly as his 'Mech staggered slowly, teetering like an about-to-collapse tree, even as he compensated for the movement with a hopping lurch, sending up sparks as the crippled leg dragged across the ferrocrete instead of lifting properly. Securing the line to prevent anyone from listening in, he spoke quietly. "Bad shape, Walt. Engine's hit, Gyro's hit, six 'sinks blown, two PPC's redlined, and I have a chunk of metal sticking out of my side; coolant poisoning isn't helping any."<br/><br/>He winced, then looked down at himself for a moment, not surprised to see blood running down his side from the wound, pooling in his boot as he forced the 'mech to stay upright. "Losing blood fast, too."