Discord prevailed in Leviticus IX, beset by the incomprehensible Cruxi and their malevolent machinations. It was at this point that the infrantry forces of the invaders were beginning to take control of the streets of Troas from the local brave soldiers of the PDF, their charred corpses mere stepping stones in their path as they marched in a vile green tide. The other colonies also bared their brunt of the assault as Nazareth and Joppa still managed to resist the emission of emerald energy with grit teeth and bloodied brows.

Serah adapted swiftly to the losses she incurred by taking command of her squad and charged in a chivalrous fashion, the reflector barrier held at the ready and the ethereal instrument of destruction charged with the inner reserves of the Framewerk, causing the blade to emanate a slight smoke from overheating. The tentacle beast responded by lashing out with its writhing appendages, but Atty swiped enough of them away with the shield arm to dismay the monster, resulting in a clean cut from its shoulder all the way to its hind leg. The beast cried out its brutal swan song before its top half slid off in a gruesome fashion, splattering more green juices over the young girl's piloted vehicle. 

Atty then brought up the shield, ready to defend both herself and Eiswolf, who took advantage of the cover, and made an accurate shot on the central mech of the squad in complete silence, blowing its head off and causing it to trip. The remaining two mechs took cover behind buildings and made potshots at Atty's shield. This caused it to billow smoke and glow so hot it started to slowly melt the arm holding it. It was on the brink of overloading, strained by the drop in energy levels due to powering up the blade. Serah could see that the Tentacle Beast near Mist gained ground as it approached with an upsetting agility; the Cruxi also had tactics of their own, as humanity came to realize the hard way.

Magus leaned against a building, using it as cover to hide itself from the Cruxi Sniper in the east that now coiled back into its bipedal form and brandished its unerringly accurate weapon, mere seconds late of taking advantage of the clear line of sight to the one-armed bandit and taking another arm from it as it shot and missed the ducking Frame. The situation was turning tenser for Wilton as enemy units began to converge on his position; in addition to the deadly marksman looming over him, the lone squad of Cruxi War Machines also advanced towards them. They coated the streets in green hell fire, seemingly intent in causing terror as well as death, while a Tentacle Beast bounded towards Daniel. However, he got some reprieve by taking advantage of his surroundings, and threw a car at the monster, causing the metal construct to blow up in a tiny ball of smoke and sharp bits. While it only grazed the beast's exterior, it was enough to cause the beast to become stunned and disoriented, if only for a short moment.

Roger took aim at the western squad of CWM's, and unleashed a hail of bullets with surprising accuracy; the CWM's were aiming for Magus, and thus were taken by surprise resulting in one of them being shot in the back and falling over, seemingly destroyed. The remaining two mechs responded by turning south and shooting back at Yeager, but only landed a couple of shots before the speedy Framewerk dodged out of the way. One hit the elbow, and though it was still fully functional due to the moderate defenses of the Frame, Roger saw that even the one shot blackened the armor plating on its arm, exuding a tiny trail of smoke. The fight in Troas turned more and more desperate, even as the globe at the center of it calmly continued its horrifying existence.
[hr]
Joppa's fight, while better in terms of organization and intelligence, was worse in morale. The PDF troops scattered from the zones surrounding H3, screaming curses at Paladin and calling it a traitor for shooting at an ally in the back. This meant that Katya's request for back-up came to deaf ears in G3. However, the response from the PDF captain in H7 fared better, as she heard in slightly static-filled comms: "We're knee-deep in X-rays, Miss, but we'll do what we can!" Katya's bold gamble in moving up to enemy lines and attempting to release Elora paid off, as the bolts of energy hit their mark and pierced the beast's shoulder and side, causing it to roar loudly as it slumped over and its grip on Logic Gate loosened enough for the Framewerk to escape. Katya then moved to the crater caused by Paladin, and passed by Black Star, earning the respect of her squad by such a bold move.

Elora herself thought she was finished when the tentacles tightened their slimy hold over LG's egg-shaped chassis, but when she got free she cloaked and dashed away with tears in her eyes. "Thank you Katya-I mean Lieutenant-I mean Boss!" She felt terrible having to be rescued like that and being a burden, but that was quickly replaced by panic as she remembered the commands Katya gave, and in seconds her area was surrounded by massive blasts on west and east side of her. "Aaahhhh!" She screamed, and dove south-east, past the Tentacle Beast that reached Caretaker and grabbed her in H3, immobilizing her with grasping tentacles. Elora thankfully recovered quickly, and shot the thing in the back, stunning it and causing it to release it's hold on Katya.

Black Star unleashed the power of the Wave Surger, and a mighty beam erupted from the Framewerk's open arm, flashing through the northern side of Joppa and cutting through the Cruxi warriors like a hot knife through butter, cleaving them in twain as they fell over into scraps. Smoke now poured out of the palm of Black Star's hand; Zim could feel a slight tinge of pain in his own palm from the sheer energy used to activate the weapon, but it turned out to be just as useful as testing assumed. One mech was still left barely standing, leaning on a building as it's legs were cut off, but it still continued to fight, landing a shot that hit Black Star's shoulder, eight where the exposed device enabling Active Cloaking was located, disabling it with a crackle of electricity and a 2% loss of Synchro, before it too was cut down with a mighty swing of the Thermal Scythe.

Mai, despite being overrun with Cruxi forces, decided to stand her ground and fight despite her low chances of survival; whether it was courage or foolishness would be decided by the victors. Having decided to shoot as much as she could, she emptied an entire clip of Magnum bullets into the slobbering Tentacle Beast. Most of the shots missed, but enough of them landed for the brute to fall down and cry in its death throes, filled with holes bleeding green blood that flooded the street. To her surprise, the PDF forces at H7 contacted her, reporting that they found the Magnum pistol she lost in the wreckage, and it was quickly brought to her via a convoy of tanks dragging it with chains. 

Re-equipped with the lost weapon, Neo Angel then set to the sky with the objective of keeping her position despite the incoming rush of Cruxi mechs that began to fill the sky with glowing flames. While most shots were avoided, some inevitably landed, causing a further 6% Synchro loss as Mai managed to barely dodge a sniper shot from blowing her head off, but in turn got shot down by the barrage of Cruxi mechs delivering Plasma Cannon fire, causing Neo Angel's wings to crack and armor to turn black as it hurled back down to earth in a resounding crash like a fallen seraph. With both legs broken and green fires creeping up the Frame's chassis, things were not going well for Mai.

The Cruxi Sniper in D2 took aim, about to deliver a devastating blow to the human side when it's sensors picked up a spike of energy, followed by a loud explosion as the zone was devastated by Paladin and its mighty Pompey.
Like a giant stirring from it's slumber, Mist finally showed signs of life, and patterns of colors began to erratically form on the side facing Paladin and the PDF headquarters, followed by flashing lights and otherworldly sounds that were impossible to describe in written form; whatever was going to happen, it was clear it wasn't good. Critical moments for deciding Joppa's future began to unfold.
[hr]
Nazareth, while suffering a smaller-scale invasion than elsewhere, still had its share of titans vying for supremacy as Doom Squad had their first experience of warfare. X-7 delivered a railgun shot that knocked over the Tentacle Beast, steering it off course as it leaped towards the transforming Jetto Chosa that escaped high into the sky. The beast let out a blood-curdling roar, profusely bleeding from its orifices but still alive as it climbed up and lashed at Barry from behind, causing Marshall to trip and uplifting a cloud of dust. X-7 was ready for the possibility, however, and so opened up a missile salvo on the mound of bloody rage, sending explosions that rent the creature, spraying it's viscera and chunks of gore flying around. Marshall was also in the danger zone, but due to lying prone under the tentacle beast it was spared from most of the missiles excepting a stray shot to its shoulder that blackened and punched a deep dent into it.

Wächter made a tactical shot, and the Cruxi War Machine's weapon-bearing arm was dismembered by the electrically charged bullet hitting the vulnerable joint, resulting in the mech falling down from the impact, streaks of electricity escaping out of it before it exploded in a green cloud. The other Cruxi was about to shoot Marshall, who was prone, but was in turn also shot by a reactive shot from Celeste, who accurately predicted her opponent's moves, causing the machine to stagger and its Plasma Cannon shots to wildly miss their mark.
A shadow formed on the ground, and Doom Squad saw their transport ship JONAH loom over them, followed by a crackling transmission to their comms, barely discernible: "New o-ders from HQ, Cru-i are swar-ing the co-onie-. Spli- your forces, one half -oes to Jopp-, the other -o-rds -ONAH and red-ploys to Tro-s."