"This is it, then," Ritsu commented as she and Lorenze entered NOAH's bridge, and took a look at the galactic map. "Our first operation." Lorenzo's eyes seemed unfocused as he glanced at the map, and then went to his seat at the corner of the wide room. "Let's hope it's not our last." Like angels of death, once the Framewerks took their place in NOAH with grace and nobility, akin to statues adorning a divine temple. 

The vessel then blared alarms, and took to hyperspace, drifting light years in a blink of the eye, drilling through the very essence of the cosmos itself. The forces involved caused the stomachs of pilots inexperienced with spatial distortion to churn and twist, and Elora even vomited from the sheer intensity. She then realized her radio was still on, and Ritsu immediately demanded a status update. "I-I'm fine, I'll manage," Elora said, lying about her condition; she didn't want to let the others down, especially Katya, whom she adored like a wide-eyed little sister.

However, unlike Elora, another pilot took the experience harshly; not only did Lora, the pilot of Dynasty, vomit, but she vomited blood; her body functions seemed to harshly reject the spatial distortion, to the point it caused her to develop a stomach ulcer. She managed to open up communications for one last groan before she passed out, and Ritsu immediately called for a medic. After Lora was taken to the med-bay, Lorenzo cursed in the command channel. "Well, now that Shinkai proved herself unable to handle basic ship sickness, we are in for a field promotion. Cadet Romanovna, congratulations; you're hereby promoted to junior officer, and you'll take charge of Team Bravo. Dismissed."

NOAH then jumped out of hyperspace, and arrived on Leviticus IX. It was an industrial planet, it's surface having the record number of human-built structures built on the orange-tinted rock, and skies choked by black smoke emitted by countless factories and assemblies that concentrated on various colonies on the planet. While still in orbit, NOAH first flew above Joppa, the second most populated settlement on the planet. After Team Bravo performed an orbital drop, and landed on the colony, NOAH traversed the globe and then landed on the biggest colony, Troas. 

The pilots on Troas saw that the entire colony had managed to secure defenses ahead of time alongside Joppa; the streets were filled with rows upon rows of infantry, troop vehicles and tanks, while the skies had fighter jets and bigger aircraft zooming back and forth. It was a massive entrenchment of military force on both sides of the planet. Yet, there was a lingering sense of dread in the ranks; some soldiers tried to distract themselves by playing cards or sleeping, while others simply stared at the sky with open eyes, waiting in anticipation for what was most likely to be their doom. 

Ritsu began talking in comms. "Invasion's ETA is 2-20 hours. Take up defensive positions in the colonies, and prepare for attack. May your souls be as strong as steel. That is all." After her speech, Elora then spoke: "Umm, according to my calculations, M-Mist's radius will cover half of Troas, and 7/10 of Joppa. W-What should we do?"
Elora was especially nervous after hearing news of Lora. It felt like a bad omen, and for some reason Elora sensed that the omen was targeted at her in particular. But she quickly dismissed the thought; she decided that was her cowardice talking, and quickly took a bit of a braver stance in her seat. "What are your orders, sir?"