Along with her fellow wingmates, Kelly became involved in the ATAF project, being transferred to Xalan to undergo evaluations in the piloting of the starfighter.

After being transferred to Temper she shot down two Darts whilst patrolling the system. The Dart pilots turned out to be civilians who were fleeing their nation's civil war.

During Operation Menelaus, she was involved in a head-on collision with an Imperial Sphinx, whilst piloting one of the ATAF. The Sphinx was destroyed in the collision, and whilst the ATAF itself suffered no damage, Kelly suffered a concussion that knocked her out for several minutes.

Later, in the Phylent system, she came across a freighter which she identified as belonging to Gloucester Enterprises. Its presence was unusual since the Mitikas Empire had never permitted the family business (nor any other Confederate stellar business) to operate within their space. After confessing to her wingmates that she had seen people aboard, she dismissed the sighting as a result of the concussion she suffered earlier.

Kelly was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant following Griffin and Ifrit's successful return to Spirit.

Along with her fellow wingmates, Kelly was en-route to the Solaris system when CSN Ifrit was ambushed in jump by a Pandoran force. After the invaders forced the carrier from jump, the White Knights were evacuated to the surface of Mythos, to the city of New Malaga. Kelly safely made the journey to the surface of Mythos, along with her evac partner, Harris. After ditching in the Tanis Sea, she swam to the shore and met up with Enrique. The group were subsequently attacked by a detachment of Pandoran soldiers who had seen Ifrit and the sleds come down. Leading the attack was Julian Rissard, who took both Kelly and Enrique to a disused mental facility for interrogation.

Kelly was tortured by Rissard, who demanded to know both the location of the ATAFs and the Tachyon Star Bombs, the latter something that Kelly had never heard of. After Enrique betrayed the location of the ATAFs in order to save Kelly's life, both she and Enrique were held in a cell until the ATAFs were located and she was made to pilot them to assist the Mission. During that time, Kelly considered taking her own life, certain that Enrique was going to die from the beating he was given by Julian Rissard and making use of two suicide pills that were secreted within a pendent that her father had given her. She chose not to when she discovered that Enrique was still alive and finally admitted her feelings for the man.

Both she and Enrique were eventually rescued by the Mythos Territorial Guard, who had picked up a weak transmission being broadcast by Kelly's pendent. She volunteered for Operation Sudarberg after learning the truth behind the origin of the Pandorans, the true intentions of the ATAFs, and after Enrique told Dodds that he was assist him in the mission.