"Unless you have no other choice, shoot to disable," Gai reminded her over her comm-set as Kazahana worked through a quick checklist for her borrowed and heavily modified M2 Astray.

"Got it, Gai," she replied as she flipped the last two switches before starting on a full launch sequence. This was far from her debut, but she still wasn't entirely used to the M2. But until Erica, in her literal spare time, had a chance to work with Lowe-- and Gai --to design something to replace Blue Frame, she wasn't about to get the hand-me-down of her dreams, either. That meant she had to get used to the M2 and make it her own--

She was the last one to launch, behind Gai and Elijah, but that didn't bother her. She had the M2's rifle on-line immediately and began to scan the area. This was definitely the place, now they just needed to goad the pirates out of their den, disable their weapons, and see what sorts of goods had been captured and hoarded. That was what they'd been hired for. The pirates probably didn't even know what sorts of weapons they really had... But Kazahana knew. Serpent Tail knew.

Suddenly a cluster of red dots appeared on the M2's radar. Neither Gai nor Elijah said anything, but Kazahana knew it was time. She hung back just enough to guard the rear, until it became clear that the rear didn't need guarding and everybody had their sights on Blue Frame.

Then she just started aiming and shooting. One shot missed, but Kazahana knew it was harder to shoot to disable than to kill. There were only certain spots safe to hit and... she couldn't dwell on it. Not when the pirates weren't shooting to disable.

She didn't have the choice.