Despite the insulating layer of his flight suit, Roland was starting to feel cold. This time it actually was caused by the low temperature inside the cockpit, not his nerves. He could solve the problem by turning up the heating, but in this case it would result in him risking giving away his position. The order was to turn off everything that could be turned off and keep on the lowest power settings everything that could not. Vindicators were not equipped with a Mirage Colloid stealth system so they had to improvise by going in a low power mode. It wasn't a perfect solution, even in low power mode it was possible to detect a Mobile Suit at short range. Then again, ranges in space were huge, so there was a fair chance to avoid notice.

Roland wiggled his fingers and tapped his feet against the cockpit floor to increase the blood circulation. At the same time he cast a wishful glance at the comms display, hoping for the order to break stealth, but no such order came. He hadn't heard anything since his lance went silent and began drifting towards ambush positions, moving on momentum alone. It had been a frightening experience, considering that his trip had ended by intentionally slamming his Mobile Suit into an asteroid. A brief burst from the auxiliary thrusters had slightly softened the impact, but it had been far from comfortable, they were not designed to rapidly counter the Mobile Suit's momentum on short distances.

Rebecca, Azhar and Anthony had done the same thing and were waiting in their own ambush positions. Roland had no idea where or how far they were and it would stay that way until the moment they went back to full power. Until then, he was completely alone. A shiver ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the temperature. He was alone, practically blind and deaf, and vulnerable to the extreme. If the Retributors had an Oculus or a Chiron in the area, he'd be dead before…

Roland shook his head to banish what he recognized as the first signs of anxiety setting in. "Stop that. Control your imagination and think rationally." Roland took a couple of breaths, filling his lungs with cold air. Putting his thoughts into words was a good way to give them extra weight and reassuring himself. "This is supposed to be a supply run. No need to send an Oculus. Chiron is a support unit. It is meant to support a battle, not wander through the asteroid belt, looking for enemies. Enemies come to it, not the other way around. If there were enemies in the area you would already know." Or you'd be dead before you knew it. Roland's traitorous mind tried to sabotage his confidence boost. Fortunately, he found the errant thought more annoying than intimidating.

The encouragement would not last long, however. Roland knew that eventually it would fade and anxiety or fear would fill in the void. That, or he would have to risk breaking stealth by turning on the life support to warm up the cockpit and recycle the air. Roland didn't mind colder temperatures, but there was a limit to how much he could endure. Oxygen would also soon become an issue. Technically, his flight suit had a life support feature, but it was meant to be used only in an emergency. Things like a breached cockpit or damage to the Mobile Suit's life support system, not sitting in an ambush.

Roland's train of thought ground to a halt when a flicker of movement on the main display caught his attention. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowed, as he tried to pinpoint the exact location of whatever he had spotted. There were plenty of asteroids out there, a lot of them moving in some way or form, but Roland ignored them. It had been something else. Something smaller. A dark shape moving against a black background. A shape that looked like a…

Before Roland could finish the thought, he saw it. A Mobile Suit came to a halt next to an asteroid some distance away. A burst from its thrusters gave away its position. Roland zoomed in on the Mobile Suit, but it was too far away for him to identify the model. One thing was clear, that was not a Vindicator and in the Belt, that meant only one thing - Retributors. Another Mobile Suit came to a halt next to it a moment later. After what Roland assumed was a brief conversation, the two Mobile Suits began moving in a trajectory that would take them past his location. They weren't heading towards him directly, but they would pass uncomfortably close.

Dozens of potential actions sprung up in Roland's mind along with adrenaline flooding his body. He had to make a decision. Now. He could do nothing and hope that the two Mobile Suits would not notice him. It was a tempting idea, but one that would most likely fail. There weren't that many asteroids in the area and if the two moved from cover to cover, then his hiding spot would be an excellent stop.

The idea of running away briefly crossed his mind and was instantly discarded. Not only Roland found it personally distasteful, but it would only surrender the initiative to the enemy and end up with him getting shot in the back. Roland wasn't fully sure about what to do, but he knew what he was not going to do. He would not run.

Since hiding was doomed to fail and running away was not an option, Roland realized there was only one thing left. He had to fight. Immediately, a number of issues presented themselves. He was outnumbered and though he had the element of surprise on his side, the advantage was not as great as it seemed. It would take several seconds for the Vindicator's systems to go to full combat readiness, during which Roland would be nearly defenseless. The Phase Shift would be active instantly, but it offered no protection against energy weapons. Technically the citadel shield layer on his tower shield turned on just as fast, but it would take a few precious seconds until it was strong enough for Roland to use it against incoming fire. Granted, his Vindicator, as per the new standard operating procedure, now sported some additional armor. The Assault Shroud was a set of heavy armor plates that covered the vital parts of the Mobile Suit, giving the pilot a chance to survive a direct hit. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Roland would just have to trust in his armor and hope that the enemies were lousy shots.

Instead of bringing his systems to full power instantly, Roland decided to wait a little. If they continued on the same path, there would be a moment where a small asteroid would hide him for a brief moment. Enough to buy a second or two. In the mean time Roland covered his Vindicator with its inactive shield and pointed the supercharged beam rifle in the general direction of the two Retributors. He also used the opportunity to study their Mobile Suits in closer detail.

As the two moved closer, Roland could discern more details. Both Mobile Suits shared the same bulky design, with minor differences in armaments. A quick glance at both heads, revealed that they sported the mono-eye camera design, a feature only found in ZAFT Mobile Suits. The distinctive shoulder mounted blast shields told Roland all he needed to know. He was facing a pair of Primals, the mainstay ZAFT Mobile Suits. Although Primals were not new designs and still relied on batteries, they were nothing to sneeze at. Especially since they were built in accordance of the old-school doctrine and, regardless of the Aspect pack, each carried enough firepower to rival an entire Solar Knight lance.

One of them was the standard version, the Primal Void. What Roland could recall from his training, this was an all-purpose version. Its 125mm supercharged beam rifle was the same model the Solar Knight Vindicators were equipped with, though it lacked the under-barrel rocket grenade. It also carried a twin-barrel machine gun in its left hand and there was a powerful hyper-impulse cannon in its chest. For defense the Primal Void had a citadel shield on one of its arms, Roland could not remember which one, and a pair of large, shoulder mounted Blast Shields. For melee, the Mobile Suit had a single beam sword, which was a lot more flexible than the fixed beam blade Roland's Vindicator had on the right forearm.

The second Primal was equipped with the Inferno Aspect pack, which gave it the name Primal Inferno. Designed for high speed melee combat, the Primal Inferno carried extra armor in the form of an Assault Shroud. Though similar to the one he had, it was much better against beam weapons. Though designed for close combat, the Primal retained the rifle and the chest mounted cannon. The machine gun in its left hand was replaced with an anti-armor shotgun, while a pair of multi tube rocket launchers were located on the shoulders. Once it got close, things became worse thanks to a flamethrower projector in each palm and plenty of grenades on its hips. Cherry on top, the Primal Inferno had two beam blades, not one.

Roland sighed in frustration as he wished to get his hands on whoever allowed the Retributors to get their hands on such advanced Mobile Suits. According to Angela's briefing, the Retributors had pretty much every Mobile Suit model ever designed. The only thing they didn't have were the Excaliburs and even then Roland was not fully sure about that. Truth be told, he would not be surprised if the Retributors managed to field a warship or two. All sorts of things tended to go missing in the chaos following the Eden Disaster.

His situation became even more chaotic when Samuel's voice came through the comms. "All units, go! Spring the ambush and proceed with the plan. The transport ship has entered the target area. We're taking it out!" Roland pursed his lips when he heard the command. In accordance of the plan, he was supposed to go active and move to assist the rest of his lance in attacking the target from several directions at once. Unfortunately he was stuck with a pair of enemies for company.

The presence of the two Retributors made him wonder about the overall situation. No way these two were here by accident. This was not a random patrol, it was something deliberate. Perhaps the Primals were the ones who were supposed to meet the transport ship. Or maybe, there was something more sinister going on. Regardless, Roland was certain that allowing them to continue on their path would not be beneficial for his fellow Solar Knights. He had to fight.

Just before the two Primals got out of his sight, Roland brought the Vindicator's systems to full power. The previously gunmetal grey hull turned black, white and gold as the Phase Shift armor came online. Streams of data came pouring from the sensor displays as they took in new information and relayed it to him. The first thing he was informed of, was an obvious one. There were two hostile Mobile Suits nearby.

The faint hope that his opponents were incompetent died when a hyper-impulse blast blasted apart the tiny asteroid between Roland and the two Retributors. In little more than a second or two, at least one of the enemy pilots had noticed his presence and had reacted to it with a devastating potshot in his direction. The only good thing about the situation was that the destruction of the asteroid gave him the precious seconds he needed.

A series crimson beams followed the initial shot as the two Primals opened up with their rifles. Some of the beams struck the remains of the asteroid, but more than half of them made it through. Chunks of rock were blasted out of the asteroid Roland was resting against, pelting his Vindicator with half molten fragments. Some beams impacted the shield, fraction of a second after it reached full strength. Two beams passed so close to the Vindicator's right leg, they nearly blew it off.

More fire was directed at his position. A hyper impulse-shot and 55mm machine gun fire was added to the mix from the Void, while the Inferno contributed with a salvo of unguided rockets. However, this time Roland was good to go. With a flash of thruster fire, he abandoned his position just as it was bombarded with long range fire. He might have been able to take the attack on the shield without problem, but he did not want to risk it.

Taking cover behind his shield, Roland opened up with his own beam rifle, forcing the Inferno to dodge, while the Void used its citadel shield, letting his attack to splatter harmlessly against the energy field. Despite not landing a damaging shot, Roland kept firing. At the very least, his attacks made it more difficult for his enemies to attack him. Furthermore, unlike the Primals, he didn't have to worry about running out of power.

With neither side landing a decisive hit at the start of the battle, there was a brief lull in the fighting as combatants tried to figure out what to do next. Roland used the opportunity to inform the rest of his lance about the situation. "I am unable to join the attack. Enemy presence confirmed. Engaging a pair of Primals." A moment Anthony tried to reply, but the Lance-Knight was unable to say anything other than a single curse before abruptly being cut off, followed by concerned shouts from Azhar and Rebecca. Before Roland could make sense of their words, all communication was pushed aside by a more immediate threat.

The Inferno unleashed another salvo of rockets and followed up by a charge towards him. At the same time, the Void went to the side in an attempt to flank him, while firing with both hand held weapons in order to suppress him. There was an urge to back away in an attempt to keep the Inferno at bay, but Roland knew it to be a wasted effort. The Inferno was faster than a Vindicator and would catch up no matter what he did. Instead, he once again took cover behind the shield to defend against the Void and opened fire at the Inferno, hoping to take it out before it was on top of him. His attack didn't work, the Inferno turned sideways and took all the beam blasts on its Blast Shield as it continued its charge.

The charge was interrupted when Roland fired the underbarrel rocket grenade and struck the Inferno's shield. Though capable of resisting heavy impacts, the Blast Shield's primary purpose was to defend against energy based attacks. It even featured a layer of beam absorbing mesh that, when struck by energy based attacks, converted it into extra power for the batteries. As a result, the impact and following blast of the 350mm grenade was more than it could withstand. The Inferno's forward momentum was disrupted as the explosion ripped the shield off its left shoulder. Whoever was piloting the Inferno, recovered almost instantly and fell upon Roland's Vindicator, both beam blades glowing with crimson fury.

As far as piloting a Mobile Suit in actual combat, Roland did not have a lot of experience. Not counting training, mock battles and simulator fights, he had only one actual battle under his belt. There was still plenty of room to grow before he considered himself an experienced Mobile Suit pilot. However, melee combat was the one field Roland in which had confidence about his skills. His family's martial history and his obsession with knightly warfare had provided him with plenty of opportunities to develop his close combat skills. Although the conventional Mobile Suit control system prevented Roland from using everything he knew, there were plenty of concepts and tricks he could apply.

Holstering the beam rifle on the Vindicator's thigh, Roland activated his own supercharged beam blade and moved to engage the Inferno. The size of his shield allowed him to fully negate one of the Inferno's beam blades. It's short length and fixed position did not provide enough reach and flexibility to stab around the shield. The second one was soon involved in a game of thrust and parry as both pilots tried to find an opening in their opponent's defenses.

Roland's confidence grew as he moved the Vindicator's head out of the way of a beheading slash and retaliated by nearly impaling the Inferno in the armpit. The Retributor managed to avoid it by twisting away from him, now sporting a nasty scar under the arm. Roland used the opportunity to move to his right, putting the Inferno between him and the Void, thus reducing the number of threats. He also made sure to keep the pressure on the Inferno by pushing forward and not giving it an opportunity to disengage safely.

It became increasingly obvious that he held the upper hand. The Inferno's moves became more defensive in nature, more focused on parrying rather than attacking as its pilot surrendered the initiative. Roland feigned a thrust to the head and changed it at the last moment, taking out the rocket launcher on the left shoulder. The Inferno tried to swat his blade away, but by then Roland had withdrawn the blade and followed up with a low thrust to the Inferno's left thigh, almost severing the leg. Roland continued the offensive by punching the enemy with the edge of the shield. Though the blow did not do any damage, it temporarily disoriented the Inferno and Roland followed it up by a burst from the CIWS.

The small beam blasts peppered the Inferno's upper torso, leaving shallow burn marks in the areas not covered by the Assault Shroud. The overall damage was light as even Phase Shift armor could stop some of the CIWS fire, but that was not the purpose of the attack. The main reason was to add one more thing for the Retributor to worry about, further knocking them off balance. It worked perfectly. Roland easily avoided a pair of panicked slashes and prepared to move in for the kill. The Vindicator's beam blade arm cocked back and ready for the final thrust.

A burst of machine gun fire impacted his Vindicator as well as the Inferno. The gunfire did no damage, other than denting few panels of the Assault Shroud on both Mobile Suits. However, it did cause Roland to hesitate for a moment as he reprimanded himself for forgetting about the Primal Void. A moment later he was forced on the defensive as the Primal Void attacked him with beam sword in one hand and the twin machine gun in its other.

The pilot of the Void, though motivated, was not as capable in close combat as the Inferno's. Its sword swings were mostly fueled by raw emotion than skill and the fact that the pilot was using the machine gun, instead of the beam rifle, was a clear indicator that the pilot had not thought things through. Despite that, Roland was forced to give some ground in order to adapt to the new situation. Once he got some measure of the foe Roland could start working on countering the foe, at the same time he reminded himself to keep an eye on the Inferno. He did not need more surprises.

With his shield raised, Roland warded off several sword strikes, which only seemed to infuriate his foe. The Void let off a burst from its machine gun, which Roland did not defend against. The beam sword was the main threat. He lost a few Assault Shroud armor plates on the Vindicator's right thigh and torso, but it didn't matter as the Phase Shift armor underneath was more than enough to stop the shells. He retaliated with a quick slash with his beam blade and cut off the machinegun's barrels before the Void's pilot could react.

The Void discarded the useless weapon and nearly rammed the Vindicator in an attempt to stab him from above over his shield. Roland countered the attack by blocking the arm with the shield's edge before the pilot could lower it. At the same time, he made an attack of his own, but this time it was blocked by the Void's citadel shield on the forearm of the now empty left arm.

Thrusters flared as both Mobile Suits pushed against each other in an attempt to gain the advantage. With shields practically pressed against the opponent's Mobile Suit, there was little room to work with their melee weapons. Roland was confident he could find a spot through which he could sneak his beam blade before his opponent managed to do the same. However, a glance at the approaching Inferno told him that he did not have the time for it. Something had to be done. He was not sure about his chances against two enemies at once.

Inspiration struck when the Void slammed its sword into his shield, as if trying to cut it in half and continued to pour power into its thrusters in order to push him back. Roland maintained the struggle and pushed back, while keeping an eye on the Inferno. He was glad to see that the Inferno's pilot had decided to use its melee weapons, it made his plan easier. A few panicked thrusts with the blade and keeping his shield close to the Vindicator's body, further emboldened the Void's pilot. It made him look intimidated. An easy prey for two Primals to take out. Then, once the Inferno was close enough and the Void prepared for another sword strike, Roland acted.

A swing of the shield arm, coupled with Roland triggering the shield release, resulted in the metal slab crashing into the Void and buying him a moment or two. Roland used that moment, to charge at the Inferno. He also opened fire with both the CIWS and shoulder mounted LAWs. As before, the attack did little, if any, damage, but it did cause the Inferno to hesitate. That was all he needed to get in range. Moving past the Inferno, not at it, Roland lashed out with the beam blade in an attempt to cut the Mobile Suit in half. His plan succeeded only partially. Despite being caught off guard, the Inferno's pilot managed to partially move the Mobile Suit out of the way. Instead of being cut in half, the Inferno lost the left arm, the left HiMAT wing and suffered serious damage to its upper torso and head.

Roland turned the Vindicator around so he was moving backwards, away from the Retributor Mobile Suits, and opened fire with his beam rifle. He targeted the damaged Inferno, intent on making sure the threat was gone. This time the ranged attack worked. Crimson supercharged beams struck the Inferno in the back. The Assault Shroud negated several shots, but there was a limit to what it could take. Large chunks were blasted off the Inferno as the armor inevitably failed. The impacts propelled the Mobile Suits forward and it slammed into the Void, just as it had tossed the Vindicator's shield aside. By the time Roland stopped firing and had retreated to a safe distance, the Inferno was missing all of its limbs. What little remained of the torso was not even remotely a threat to anyone.

After shifting the beam rifle to the left hand, Roland prepared himself to deal with the Void. Strangely, no attack came. No beam or hyper-impulse blasts, no charging Mobile Suits, nothing. The Primal Void floated in space, holding the remains of the Inferno. Roland frowned in confusion. The Void seemed to be undamaged. Could it be that he had managed to take out both of them? He couldn't tell. Roland was about to open fire in order to take out the Void, when he received a comm from Rebecca.

"Roland, where the fuck are you? We need help over here!" The young woman was almost screaming, her voice full of fear. It wasn't panic, but she was on the edge.

"I got into a fight with a pair of Retributors. I intercepted them… Never mind. What's going on? What happened to Anthony?" Still keeping an eye on the motionless Void, Roland started edging his way towards the location he should have been at a long time ago. Once he was moving at full speed, Roland dismissed the motionless Mobile Suit. Unlike the Inferno, the Void was too slow to catch him.

It took a while for Rebecca to reply, which told Roland that she had plenty of other things to worry about. "Anthony is fine. His Vindicator got damaged, so he can't do long… Wait." There was a brief pause. "His long range comms are down. I'll patch him through."

There was a series of clicks, followed by Anthony's voice. "Knight, I need you to get here as soon as possible. We are being pinned by the enemy and cannot reinforce the Knight-Lieutenant."

"On my way." Roland adjusted the course to the new destination. "What's the enemy force? What do you need me to do?"

"We're facing a pair of Punishers. You do not have to do much, just disrupt them. Chances are, your arrival alone will be enough to break the stalemate. Once you are here, we will push towards them. Understood, yes?"

"Roger that. I'll be there in a minute and a half." Roland replied and pushed his Vindicator to full speed. At least he tried before he realized that he was already going at maximum speed. He then did a quick status check of his Mobile Suit. The biggest issue was the missing shield. Without it, the only defense he had against energy weapons was mobility. Roland made a mental note to stay at long range if possible, in order to have more time to dodge. The Assault Shroud was mostly fine, though he was missing a few panels here and there. For offense, he still had the supercharged beam rifle and the beam blade. The twin LAWs had plenty of ammo, but their effectiveness against Phase Shift armor was limited. His CIWS might work, but only at short range and prolonged fire.

Roland sighed heavily as he tried to come up with a plan. Order to disrupt the enemy, he had to go in loud and flashy. At least that was the only option his weapons could provide. He briefly considered to try and take one of the enemies out with a melee strike. A high speed charge was an ideal opportunity for such an attempt. Unfortunately, that would require him to approach the enemy and with dodging as his only defense against energy weapons, Roland did not feel like tempting fate.

The time for planning was over when the sensors picked up several contacts. Three friendly, and two hostile. The three Vindicators were clustered together, while the Punishers were trying to move to their flanks. With both sides shooting at each other from long range and the area being clear of any asteroids, everyone had plenty of room to maneuver. The battle was at a stalemate. It was precisely the sort of a situation, a new variable could swing either way. Dutifully playing his role as the said variable, Roland decided to open with a quick pass on both Punishers, then circle around and work from there. If he was lucky, that would be enough to take out both enemies. If not, then things would get complicated.

As soon as he was in range, Roland opened fire with all the weapons he had. Beam blasts, linear slugs and even CIWS fire was sent at the closest Punisher. As expected, the Punisher was ready for him. Both forearms were up, with citadel shields glowing, ready to absorb his attack. The Punisher's pilot even managed to snap off a pair of hyper-impulse blasts. Fortunately, the poorly aimed, red-blue beams missed by such a wide margin that Roland didn't even have to dodge. Before the Retributor could correct the aim, the Punisher came under attack from behind as Azhar, Anthony and Rebecca went on the offensive.

Roland shifted fire to the second Punisher, but the gangly Mobile Suit paid little attention to him. Instead, it tried to prevent the three Vindicators from closing in. A single citadel shield was enough to deflect the few shots Roland managed to land. Seeing that the second Punisher was not as disrupted as he would have liked, Roland changed tactics. He changed course to a more direct route towards the second Punisher and lit up the supercharged beam blade, making his intentions obvious.

That worked. The Punisher stopped pestering Azhar and turned its attention towards him. The grey Mobile Suit started backing up, trying to buy more time before Roland got close and opened up with its weapons. Fortunately for Roland, the Punisher had already expended its VTP launchers and he manged to dodge the hyper-impulse blast. However, in doing so, he ended up getting shot by the Punisher's primary ranged weapons.

In each hand, the Punisher carried an edged munitions catapult. Often called EMC's, the weapons used linear acceleration to fire mono-edged discs with an explosive charge. The Phase Shift armor held strong against the projectiles, but the Assault Shroud armor was blasted off in large pieces. In addition, the explosions rattled the Vindicator so hard Roland nearly lost his grip on the controls. He gunned the thrusters and, by pure luck, managed to move out of the way just moments before a hyper-impulse beam took off the top half of his Mobile Suit. Instead, the beam clipped the left shoulder and disabled one of the LAWs.

With damage report blaring in his face and still not fully recovered from the impacts, Roland opened fire with his rifle and continued to pour power into the thrusters in an attempt to get some breathing room and find his bearings. None of his ill-aimed shots came anywhere close to hitting the Punisher. However, despite the opportunity, the Retributor Mobile Suit did not fire at him. It had bigger problems to worry about.

An intense, bright blue laser beam swept through space and would have cut the Punisher in half, if it hadn't used its citadel shields to defend itself. The FRALA beam was so powerful, it actually pierced one of the energy shields. The Punisher survived only because its pilot had placed them one in front of the other. Once the beam faded out, the Punisher dropped its shields and returned fire. The pilot hadn't forgotten about Roland, though. One of the EMCs spat out a volley of discs at his Vindicator, while the second one, combined with a blast from the hyper-impulse canon, was aimed at Azhar, who had tried to capitalize on the Punisher's previous focus on Roland. This time, Roland was ready for the attack and the few projectiles he could not dodge failed to disorient him.

Soon, the Punisher found itself under attack from two sides. Azhar's Mobile Suit was too far away for the Retributor to land a hit with its energy weapon, whereas Roland could not be discouraged with a single EMC. Turning away from Azhar, to use the hyper-impulse canon on Roland was not an option. The FRALA was too much of a threat to demand anything less than full attention. On the other hand, it was only a matter of time until Roland landed a shot. Constant movement only went so far, the crimson beams were missing by increasingly smaller margins.

At the same time, the second Punisher was doing its best to ward off Rebecca with its heat sword. Sometimes, when put in a high stress situation, the usually cautious girl could respond with extreme aggression. Focusing her anger on the Punisher that had nearly killed her more than once, Rebecca slashed with her supercharged beam blade again and again, forcing her opponent ever backwards. A constant stream of linear slugs from the LAWs was constantly rattling the grey Mobile Suit. Anthony had also switched to the supercharged beam blade, but displayed none of the aggression that had consumed Rebecca. His headless Mobile Suit maintained a constant threat by remaining nearby and struck whenever the Punisher was too busy to defend. His attacks did little damage, but they added up. A shallow thrust here, a short cut there, each strike left a mark and brought the fight closer to its inevitable conclusion.

"YOU! YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED HER!" The voice of a young woman, screaming on an open channel, brought a momentary pause to the fighting. The sheer agony in her voice was enough to make everyone wince as they tried to make sense of what was going on. They didn't have to wait long. Entering the battlefield from the same direction as Roland had, a Primal Void made a beeline for Roland's Vindicator, ignoring everything else. "YOU KILLED HER! I WILL DESTROY YOU! DIE, YOU BASTARD! DIE! DIE!" The pilot screamed at the top of her lungs and opened fire.

In its hands, the Primal Void held a pair of supercharged beam rifles which the pilot fired at wild abandon. A second later, she followed it up with the chest mounted hyper-impulse cannon. Fortunately for Roland, the pilot's mental state was not beneficial for accurate fire. Plenty of shots were off target. On the other hand, there were so many of them that Roland was pushed to the absolute limit, trying to stay alive. Weaving between and around the blood red beams was a difficult task. One he was successful at for a while. But as the Primal Void closed in, the fire became more accurate and no one could dodge forever.

Damage reports went off when the hyper-impulse beam sliced off the left leg below the knee. Two crimson beam passed the sides of the torso so close they actually melted the surface of the armor. The right leg was nearly severed when the Vindicator took a blast to the hip. Roland tried to retaliate with his own rifle, but the Void easily took his shots on the Blast Shields and snapped off four shots in rapid succession. Acting on instinct Roland raised his shield arm in order to protect the cockpit. By the time he realized he had a beam rifle in the hand, not a shield, it was too late to dodge. The first shot struck the weapon and blew it apart. The second shot hit the already damaged left shoulder, resulting in the loss of the arm. Fortunately, for Roland, the last two shots struck the already severed limb and destroyed it entirely.

While Roland's Vindicator was undergoing a violent and involuntary disassembly, other combatants had not been idle. In fact, several things followed each other in rapid succession. Azhar, being the furthest away from the fighting, thus having a commanding view of the battle, was quick to act. He shifted his aim towards the easiest target he could see and cut through the vacuum with a bright blue beam. The Void's pilot was caught completely by surprise when a laser beam destroyed the supercharged beam rifle in the Mobile Suit's right hand, cut off the left hand, and the bottom third of the Blast Shield on the same side. Moments later, the Void spiraled out of control as it was cut in half at the waist, below the cockpit.

Though Azhar's decision had saved Roland's life, it meant that one Punisher had been given relative freedom. The pilot of said Punisher acted almost instantly. The heavy launcher on the Mobile Suit's left shoulder erupted in thick smoke as it loosed a salvo of six VTP missiles. Roland, Rebecca and Anthony each got one, while Azhar had to deal with three. Afterwards, it quickly rushed to the aid of the disabled Primal Void. The Punisher grabbed the Moble Suit and began withdrawing from the battlefield, one of its citadel shields protecting the damaged machine.

Anthony and Rebecca noticed the missiles at the same time, but Anthony was the only one who actually did something about it. He disengaged from the melee and equipped the 120mm gatling cannon. The stream of orange tracers looked like a FRALA beam as he took out one of the heavily armored missiles and then the one aimed at Rebecca. Despite relying on backup cameras, Anthony was able to spot and deal with last of the missile trio fired at Azhar.

With Anthony gone, Rebecca was left alone in her duel against the Punisher. Her temper, combined with the Punisher's surface damage, lent her a degree of confidence she rarely felt. The young pilot pressed her attacks, convinced that she was on the brink of victory. She cheered when, after knocking aside the heat sword, she carved a deep scar from the Punisher's right hip all the way across its torso to its left shoulder. The cheer ended with an undignified squawk, when the Punisher retaliated by ramming its heat sword in the exposed shoulder joint. The sword failed to cut off the right arm and got trapped, leaving the Vindicator's right arm sticking out at a weird angle.

To add insult to injury, the Punisher kicked Rebecca's Vindicator in the cockpit region, using the momentum to retreat away from the duel. The impact did no damage, but it severely rattled Rebecca in her seat, briefly preventing her from doing anything productive. In order to buy more time, the Punisher's pilot also triggered a salvo of VTP missiles. However, unlike before, the missiles came in two salvos of three, all aimed at Rebecca and Anthony. Despite the more skilled release, the results were far from effective. Missiles of the first salvo crashed into Rebecca's Vindicator before they could arm. The second salvo was taken out by skilled shooting on Anthony's part who added LAW and CIWS fire to the mix.

Once the missiles had been taken care of, Anthony turned his attention to the retreating Punisher and hosed it down with cannon fire. Though fierce, the shooting was mostly a formality. The last word in a fight that was all but over. Rebecca prepared to pursue the enemy, but was prevented from doing so by Anthony moving his Vindicator in front of hers. She tried to circle around, but Anthony reached out with the shield and physically stopped her from continuing.

Rebecca was not the only person who wasn't done fighting. Even though the Mobile Suit was too damaged to fight, the radio of the Primal Void still worked. Roland, and everyone else could hear the young woman's voice. "No, let me go. I have to kill him. He is still alive. We can't leave." The radio was still on an open channel. Either the pilot didn't know or didn't care. "Please … He killed her. He killed Amy..." Her pleas eventually turned into sobs and incoherent muttering.

"Turn it off." Anthony ordered his lance to regroup after a while. They had plenty of things to take care of without having to listen to a crying pilot. First thing to consider was the state of his lance. He cast a critical eye at Roland's Vindicator. The Mobile Suit was in no condition to fight. The left leg and the left arm were gone. The right leg was holding on by a prayer and there were several burns on the torso. Unacceptable. Rebecca, currently being helped by Azhar pulling the heat sword out of the shoulder joint, was in a better shape. Better, but not good enough for sustained combat.

His own Vindicator was missing a head, which meant that long range battle and comms were out. Not great, but not terrible either. Azhar's Mobile Suit was the only one without any damage. Good. He could send him to aid the Knight-Lieutenant. Unfortunately, doing so would leave the lance vulnerable in case there were more Retributors nearby. Unlikely, but not impossible. In the end, he realized that this was most likely all the fighting his lance would do today. All that remained was to notify his commanding officer. "Knight Azhar. Patch me through to the Knight-Lieutenant." He waited until the connection was established. "Sir. This is Lance-Knight Tarleton. My lance has sustained damage. Requesting permission to withdraw."

For a moment, there was frustrated silence on the other end. "Withdraw? Oh, for… fine. Permission granted. Withdraw to the agreed upon location and hold position there. We'll rendezvous with you there as soon as we can. Looks like they'll get to keep some of the ship."

"Understood. Withdrawing. Will hold position until your arrival." Anthony replied and relayed the information to his lance. They followed his order without question. A quick sensor sweep of the area revealed no further threats, so the group was able to leave without any trouble. While the trip to the target location was a quiet one, Anthony knew the silence was there for all the wrong reasons. No doubt their thoughts were focused on the words of the Primal Void's pilot. Taunting the enemy through open comms was one thing. It was an entirely different matter to hear just how much suffering a battle could bring. Not just that, but being called out specifically, to be pointed out as the cause of a person's suffering. That was an unenviable position to be in.

Anthony checked his cameras for Roland's Vindicator. If the Retributor pilot's claims were true, then Roland had just made his first kill. A first kill with unpleasant consequences. Not a good combination and definitely something to keep an eye on. Hopefully, whatever closure there was, would not come with too high a price.