Lagrange Skies

Prologue

"Status Report!"

"Rodi 1 through 4 are too damaged to continue fighting, 2nd platoon is also out of commission"

Shit, we can't fight this thing in proximity of the colonies

"I'll grab its attention, head for the rendezvous point at L3, inform rear admiral Marshall of that thing's capabilities. Rearm and resupply"

*A moment of Hesitation from the remaining 2 platoons, the last of their company*

"Yessir"

The Beam rifles and cannons did nothing, even in close range

How the hell are we gonna get through all that armor?

A beeping noise in the cockpit

Shit, propellant tanks are almost out, I'm running on fumes

The thrusters cut out periodically, sending the MS into an uncontrolled spin

"Al, I need an impromptu code modification for the thruster control, set it to concentrated burst instead of steady burn, cut the fuel supply to the RCS thrusters and allocate them to the main tanks, have the reaction wheels take over orientation and set the inertial dampers to minimal compensation"

But sir, the human body is not designed to handle that many Gs

"It's fine, when fighting something like that: the hell with biology"

We don't have much in the propellant tanks for now, so we have to use well placed bursts.

Sir I-

"Can you do that"

A beep on the Heads Up Display confirms the change in operation

The cockpit rattles at the inertial dampers essentially turned off, the control panel bending at the vibrations as natural space debris continue to bombard the surface of the MS. 

A large asteroid appears in the view, and Alejandro shoots the surface, kicking up smoke and other asteroid chunks and obscuring the Mobile Armor's view of the MS. The rangefinder locked onto the asteroid reads, moving steadily:
2 km, 1.5 km, 1 km, 500meters
PURGE THE ARMOR AND THE LEFT ARM COMPLETELY

But sir this is not in protocol The AI replies

JUST DO IT!

The armor plates detach from the inner frame, along with the entire left arm. All of it slamming into the asteroid, but not before the MS burns prograde and changes its trajectory, avoiding the impact all together.

Hopefully the inertia of the armor plating is enough to make it look like a serious collision. There is no air resistance in the vacuum of space, so even if I alter my course to avoid the collision, the pieces won't. Hopefully the arm components get damaged enough to look like they'd been destroyed, but not too much as that would mean it wouldn't be recognizable.

The mobile armor inspects the collision site, releasing several pluma to inspect the impact point and debri field.

They find the arm.

Convinced that the MS was destroyed, it leaves. Heading for the nearest concentration of humans: Lagrange 3.

"AI, set the guidance system to rendezvous with the 3rd fleet, cut all external lights and divert power to the essential hardware only. Prioritize Life support and Navigation, communication third. I want all collected data on the machine to be sent out every 30 minutes to the open channel; images, dimensions, observed weaponry, tendencies and if any, observed idiosyncrasies "

Yes sir

As the cold vacuum of space leaves Captain Alejandro to the sound of the Ahab reactor in the suit's core behind him, he finds himself exhausted yet oddly satisfied. He has never had a fight like that before, nothing in the simulations had prepared him for his first encounter with a Mobile Armor.