Serah's face went pale as she saw the tentacle beast lunge at her, knowing full well she might be straight-up dead. For some reason, however, the girl wasn't afraid. It felt oddly calming, even if the blood was drained from her head. Serah was about to close her eyes and accept her fat before noticing a rapidly moving dot on her radar. Not a split second after, Yeager dashed up and shielded her by filling the tentacle beast full of lead. The girl was speechless for a moment, stunned by the incredible display. "Roger, you-? Aaaah!" Serah wanted to say something in her amazement, but shrieked as her right barrier wing got blown to bits. She felt the shaking of AA-XOTRY as its systems overloaded for a moment, needing a moment of her own to regain composure. Serah looked back at her cameras to see an entire Cruxi squad behind her, with a tentacle beast scarily rapidly approaching.

"This isn't time for idling around," rang through Serah's head in a moment of clarity. Her face twisted into a frown, looking at her screens again to notice Magus is still alive. They needed to move, fast. A cruxi squad was coming in from the north, and Eiswolf was barely covered. "Yeager! Protect Eiswolf from the north! Eiswolf, cover for Magus or Yeager! I'll take the south!" Serah shouted with determination, swallowing the saliva that had amassed in her mouth. Serah knew very well how suicidal that plan was, at least for her. 'She didn't know anything better in the moment' is what Serah tried to convince herself, but deep down she knew that wasn't true. The girl was throwing her own life away to protect that of her comrades... Anyone else would feel fearful of something like that, but the girl almost had to laugh. A soft chuckle more than anything else, really. She had nothing coming into this. Her future's been taken, her past has been ruined and her present is war. Any normal girl would cry, but she wasn't normal.

She was going to protect her squad, even if it took her life. Because her life wasn't worth anything anymore anyway.

AA-XOTRY moved swiftly, turning with the aid of its thrusters and aiming its sword right at the Tentacle Beast. Serah was hoping to slash clean through the thing in one go, but who knows how her damned plan would go? The framewerk looked like it braced itself before charging forward, holding the blade in one hand. The other hand grabbed onto the barrier wing in front of it of it like it was a shield, making the thing look like a knight. The blade had its edge sharpened by taking out more energy from the core and sliced downwards as it approached, trying to cut the beast clean in half. If it succeeded, Serah would be staring down an entire Cruxi War Squad on her own. She wasn't the taunting type, so she simply had AA-XOTRY hold up the shield to brace itself from the incoming fire. The framewerk's back was to Eiswolf, shielding them with its body. "You've already taken enough lives... If you want some more, then come and get me...!" Serah growled softly, intending to take the full blast with everything she's got.

---

As Xane sat in the pilots seat of Jetto Chosa he would write a few things down on a pen and paper. While doing so he would press a few buttons from one area, and then would move to press a few more buttons in another. Some of the buttons would pop up lists on the main screen, but some would not.

"Voltage, check." Writing the results on the notepad Xane would continue on. "Temperature, check." Again he would write the results on a notepad, and then look back up to the screen. "Pressure," Looking back down to his notepad he would see if the numbers were either the same, or similar. "Check." Looking to the left of him at a button that seemed to not be off Xane reached over to turn it off. "RPM's are normal." In a way he was talking to himself, but in another he was talking to Celeste who was on the other side of the comm. "So far so good here Cel," Xane would scribble down a few more things. "Just wanted to make sure everything was fine in case something were to happen."

Celeste hummed softly to herself, a tune that sound both hopeful and a little sad at the same time. Her mother used to sing it to her and the twins when they had nightmares or couldn't sleep. Celeste finds it comforting and generally hums it to calm herself and relax. She sat up a little straighter in her seat, glancing down at the notepad resting on her lap. Looks like all systems were functioning correctly and ready to go in case things went south. She slid the clipboard back into a satchel attached the the side of the cockpit of Wächter and glanced to the side. Pinned to the wall next to her were two pictures. One was a family photo, her parents smiling from behind all of their children. The twins had been only toddlers when the picture was taken and Orion was holding Mary and Celeste was holding little William. The picture below that had been taken after their parents death. The twins were making silly faces and Orion had his arms resting around both of them.

What a happy life they had had. And now here she was, fighting for the revenge of their parents. She had left so abruptly, what could Orion be thinking? She hasn't had contact with them since she had left for training. As she sat there reminiscing, Xane's voice sounded out through the comms. She smiled and pressed a button to answer him. "Same here. It's better to be safe than sorry. How are you holding up Xaney?" The girl asked.

"Cute. You two have pet names for each other! I'll be sure to remember that, Xaney." Jason teased over the intercoms as Ribasu took a few steps forward and seemed to look around for a second. "Move to city outskirts. I'd rather keep the Cruxi out of city proper as much as possible. Alright?" the boy said before moving forward once more, until he stood along the outskirts of the city. Upon his arrival, the boy let out a small sigh and sat back in his seat. Wondering what exactly it would be like to fight against the Cruxi for real. Would he be able to handle it and not let his squad down? Or would they all fall prey to incompetence on his end.

"I won't fail them, they're all I've got left in this world." he muttered softly, not realizing he left the comms open. So his squadmates would certainly be hearing what he had said loud and clear.

Listening in on what Jason had said Xane would close the notebook, and would slide it behind his seat. Before he was to respond to Jason Xane set Jetto Chosa's course for the outskirts of the city. The simulations they had done back on their training base was similar to the environment they had now, but actually being on the field of possible battle was different. Xane wanted to make sure that there was no chance for anything unexpected to cross their paths, so he would press 2 buttons to the right of him that would display 2 of Jetto Chosa's on-hand cameras. One was a thermal camera, and another was a black and white camera along with the usual front faced camera with the set course displayed to the side of it.

"Of course we do Jasey, wouldn't be a squad without pet names now would we." Xane pressed the comm button twice to keep it on as he would need his hands for the steering of Jetto Chosa. "Don't forget that you have one as well. Now focus, or else you will fail not only them but us as well." Xane said the last part with a sincere tone. "I'm holding up nice Cel." Xane smiled as if Celeste could see him. "Everything is ready, and steady to go. Though, are you doing alright? Is Ribasu closer than he needs to be to Wächter?" The last comment could have been seen as a joke, but Xane knew that Jason had a knack for being Jason. And therefore he was dead serious about questioning the wherabouts of Jason's mec.

Barry leaned back and smiled, listening to the others talk. "Pet names? Why not, I guess. What was it, Cel, Xaney, and Jasey?" He chuckled slightly, "Why not stick to the theme of the ending ee sound and have Celeste's be Celly or something?" He tilted his head slightly, looking up as he tried to think about the possibility. "Oh, of course, we should get ready." He smiled more widely now as he began tapping away at buttons.

Barry began moving his frame towards the outskirts, like Jasey had said, only to accidentally tap an incorrect button "Shutdown process, initiated" "Oh, no no no!" He quickly tapped again, cancelling the shutdown. He breathed out a sigh of relief, hoping he wouldn't be making any mistakes like that again. He started smiling again, "Uhh, sorry, Marshall wanted a nap." He said, double-checking that his comms were still up after the mistake a second before. "Hey Jasey, any chance you can charge that thing up before-hand, maybe store a bit of charge as a starting point to work with? It might be that little edge we need if everything starts going wrong or something." He continued his smile, knowing the others couldn't particularly see him, but smiling anyway for himself.

Great, now they were all creating nicknames for each other. Hmmm, well. Barry’s name already ended in an ‘ee’ sound so that pattern was out the window. Of course we want to be ready Bar-Bar.” Celeste said with a smile. It would be unfair to leave Barry out of the nicknaming party that had popped up now wouldn’t it? Jason’s voice cut through their banter however, ordering them to move towards the outskirts of town. She reached up and flipped a switch to keep the comms on as she settled back into her seat and pressed a few buttons. ”Aye aye, sir.” She said to Jason. If he could see her, she would have saluted him. She grabbed her controls and began making her way along with the others. Once she reached a good point, she settled back into her seat to wait for further orders. ”No, Xaney, Ribasu is perfectly fine where Jason has him. And you okay there Bar-Bar? Little too early for a nap, don’t you think?”

The boy allowed a small smile to grow on his features as he sat there silently before beginning to speak up once more. "Alright, Barry, before things get started out here... Your orders will be simple. Since both you and Jetto don't have long range systems, you two are buddied up. Whatever enemy Jetto is assigned to, you will assist in taking that down or whatever the need is. Sound good?"

Barry smirked. "Oh, no more ee sound? Alright then Cel." He sat back a bit, listening to people talking before hearing Jason give some orders. He nodded, sat straight, and gave a salute, despite not being visible "Got it, boss." He began moving Marshall towards Jetto, hoping to be prepared for the onslaught that could come any moment.

Flipping a few switches, Jason got ready to start charging up his railgun, taking a moment to speak to his squad. "Everybody gets one now? Though I don't think I'm rolling with Ja-" The boy said before being cut off by a violent screeching from the comm link as they were jammed. Not long after which the boy saw the Cruxi assualt beginning. Hitting a rapid chain of commands, Jason cut out the static before switching on the comms between Frames to bark out orders.





Celeste smiled slightly as her team swapped banter back and forth. She felt glad that her team got along so well. She didn't know what would happen if they argued back and forth constantly. They were even on the level of friendship to start giving each other nicknames. She didn't expect that when she left her family for training that she would gain a new one. But she has. These three boys have become her family and she was going to do everything in her power to protect them. She refused to lose anymore people she cares about. She was jolted from her thoughts however upon hearing an awful screeching sound over the comms. She resisted the urge to cover her ears from the grating sound and before she could ask her team what just happened, she heard Jason firing off orders to them. She straightened in her seat rather quickly upon hearing that there were enemies inbound.

”Roger." Celeste reached over with her left hand and flipped a few switches and pressed a button. The screen before her lit up, displaying her given target. She had briefly seen the beast charging Xane and as much as she wanted to help her friend, she knew Jason would be able to handle it. Now she needed to do her part in this battle. Gripping her controls, she swung her gun up and held it steady, locking onto the War Machine. She knew these shots needed to count and she needed to disable to alien quickly before it could do any damage. That being said, she aimed for the joint on the arm the held the plasma canon and fired off a round. She then swung her gun and aimed at the other War Machine with the intention of returning fire should it shoot at her allies.

Barry was listening to Jasey start to refute his new nickname that would be used until the end of time, only for the screeching to start. He kept up his smile, though fairly obviously forced temporarily as he turned off the screeching. "Oo, looks like the fun part is starting." His smile returned to its natural state, and he started utilizing the controls to the best of his ability. "Looks like that one wants to have a bit of fun." He made sure Marshall was approximately side-by-side with Jetto, only for the tentacled monstrosity that was charging them to suddenly get blasted. "Oh, good, he didn't look very fun to fight anyway." He began tapping away at controls to start moving towards the war machine that Jason had told Jetto to head towards. "On my way to see what I can do!" He prepared to dodge as well, in case any fire would come his way, by building a bit of pressure into the leg joints.

Xane's eyes shot wide at the screeching sound the comms had made. As they continued to make the sound he rapidly glanced at the few cameras that he had set up just in case something like this were to happen. The thermal camera displayed the enemies that were approaching them, and for a second or so Xane froze. Suddenly he remembered when the ship he was on had gotten hit, and while escaping in a pod he caught a glimpse of one. Even before the cruisor Xane's mind shifted to another memory that was a bit more hazy. However, he could still remember seeing one of these monsters. These things that...for some reason existed, and caused so much havoc. So much more chaos, and so much loss...

"Move..." he whispered to himself. While training he thought when finally being close to a cruxi that he would feel nothing more than wanting to get rid of it. Nothing more than to kill the very thing that brings meaning to what hell could be like. But, for some reason he could not move. For some reason he could not process Jason telling him to transform Jetto Chosa into the jet. He couldn't process anything. His hands were shaking, and his heart was racing. Gripping the steers harder Xane tried to get a grip, and make the necesary moves he needed, but somehow couldn't. The memories were beginning to be too much, and Jetto Chosa began to react to Xane by displaying the oxygen, and heart rate levels along with the blood pressure. Xane couldn't move even if he wanted to.

Abruptly, Jason's railgun went off and the thunderous roar snapped Xane back into reality. Blinking a few times Xane shook his head after, and tried to remember what was going on. "Ryoukai." He said with a shakey voice as he remembered that Jason said something about transforming Jetto Chosa. Taking a few deep breathes Xane addressed Barry. "Cover me." he said in a soft tone as he was rushing to get back into gear. It took no less than a few seconds to transform Jetto Chosa, but in battle - like in the simulations - even a few seconds mattered. Pressing a few buttons to turn off most of the cameras to let them tuck into their slot on Jetto Xane then flipped a few switches above him, "Ready to transform in 3...2...1." and then flipped the main switch. The last switch however he would need to hold as Jetto began transforming. "Transition complete in 8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1."

Quickly letting go of the main switch Xane pressed some buttons in front of him, and even moved some frames around on the screen in front of him as the camera's were about ready to do their job. "Alright, I'm sky high. Cover me Barry, and good luck down there everyone." Xane added as he took another deep breathe.

Well it was pretty obvious in Roger's mind that fate was not going to let him help out his comrades so easily. For just as Yeager started to really pick up speed, it had to trip on a building into free fall. Luckily, he had a pretty good plan for these situations. He'd tripped and crashed so many times in the VR sessions that he had developed and honed a recovery technique that would allow him to keep going with minimal speed loss. This was his first time trying it in the cockpit for real, let alone a combat situation, but that wasn't anything worthy of thinking about right now.

Roger turned off the thrusters once he registered that he had tripped, the continued acceleration would only cause him to crash into the ground "face" first. Then he pulled in the head of the machine and its upper torso tightly, a maneuver that was orders of magnitude easier at a Sync Rate of ~70% compared to 30%. Its momentum allowed it to flip right back up to where it should be, and Roger turned back on the thrusters to regain speed and avoid falling directly into a bunch of buildings. It was probably a good thing that he had gotten this maneuver on the first try, because Serah was about to get eaten by a mass of metal and tentacles, and he wouldn't have been able to reach her if he had fucked up the save.

Roger aimed the barrel of the gun at the beast and pulled the trigger. Despite the fact that there were lasers commonly available, superweapons that could liquefy living things and all sorts of other shenanigans, being able to launch bits of matter at ridiculously high speeds never stopped being useful. Bullets embedded themselves into the beast like it was that first scene from Robocop and Roger didn't let go until he was sure that thing was completely dead.

Just then, Serah started barking out orders on what to do next. Well one part of him said to ignore her, because she was still in fact a child and then the other part told him that her idea wasn't bad. After all, sticking here to be surrounded and fucked up the ass by like 20 Cruxi wasn't a plan he could get behind. To the north her spotted the squad of Cruxi soldiers that where range of his machinegun. He opened fire into the squad while he still had the chance to aim well (standing still) before activating the Overboosters to clear some space from the rest of the squad. Perhaps he would be able to attract their attentions away from Serah and Sigma

Things weren't looking good for Mai. With her in the south, it mean't that to the west of her, there was a sniper furthest west, the tentacled Cruxi and the Squad of Cruxi all ready to attack her in one fell swoop if they desired. She was down one Magnum Pistol and she had taken damage. Pierced even by the sniper indicating that her T system with it's current sync rate will not block it completely.

And the next shot that hits would most likely push her down below 60 percent sync, completely nullifying whatever defense she could muster.

But odds like this...was nothing new. If you feel fear and freeze up in moments like these, you might as well put a gun to your head and pull the trigger...

"Ariin I want you on those snipers. Eliminate them quickly as you can start with prick in D2. Zero if you still able to fight I want you on the CWMs in G2. Mai I want to engage the tentacle beast F7, avoid the CMWs, do not engage them on your own. I'm going to try and help Elora."

Orders were orders...but...Mai felt it was time to speak up some about her status.

"Orders received. Be advised. Lost one of two magnum pistols, taken damage to mid-section and sync down to sixty-two percent", Mai droned.

Holding her position at H7, Mai aimed her remaining Magnum Pistol at the tentacled Cruxi at position F7. She had 7 shots left in the magnum but 2 clips on the Neo Angel's hips if she needed to reload. She wasn't sure how many shots she'd get off before the enemy made a retaliation on her but she'd try to fire as many at her target as she could.

Then, she'd active her mini-thrusters to increase her chances at "evading" the next set of attacks if any. She knew that now, defense wasn't going to stop whatever the sniper hit her with nor did she want to chance now whatever the tentacle and squad Cruxi had up their sleeves in terms of weaponry. She'll take as many shots as possible then focus on evasion with her mini-thrusters on her wings.

---

It wasn't looking good. An enemy south, within sniper range, and within range of two cruxi squads. Magus crouched among the buildings at the edge of the battlefield, Daniel trying to take stock of their situation. Even as he saw his allies bursting into action, he still remained, useless. It was probable that he could escape action by fleeing to sector A1, but that was just delaying his demise. He wasn't capable of outdistancing any of the nearest Cruxi, and if they ignored him they would just target the main group to the south. He would stay.

Magus crept along the edge of buildings, Daniel's fingers dancing across the console, looking for a spark of power. Maybe if he held still just long enough, he could reengage the electrical field. On the nav, he could see the others making their moves- and they horrified him. There was nothing to do but wait, and hope. He just had to keep out of sight of the sniper, avoid being gunned down by one, or both of the cruxi squads, and not be shredded by the tentacle beast that no doubt would be hunting him. Unfortunately, hide-and-go-seek was never his favorite VR scenario to train in. The sound of gunfire was tapping away a sector away, and Daniel couldn't decide what would be worse- being torn apart by a tentacle monster, or willingly watching the same happen to someone else. Carefully, he brought Magus upright, one hand one the toggle for the electrical field, splitting glances between his display and the capacitor monitoring system. Give me juice- come on. He had Magus pick up an evacuated civilian vehicle with its one good arm and lobbed it towards sector C2. Give me something.

Ariin mentally smacked himself for not being more careful of his allies. "Alright re-targeting, but I really don't want to be be here when the Mist goes off." He said locking on to the sniper in D-2 giving the offending party a piece of his mind. "The mount Vesuvius special." He yelled firing at the sniper, he knew his shield was powerful and could take a beating. Yet still he had a bad feeling, they were getting boxed in he smiled a little remembering an old phrase his mother had once taught him. 'The cornered rat bites the cat.' If they were going to be corner, he figured he might as bites down hard draw a little blood before he went.

He opened comms to Katya. "You know I can't make it out of here, Paladins to slow to make a run for it. I'll pick off what I can see if I can keep it's attention." He told her knowing how stupid and full of bravado he must have sounded to her. "You were the right pick for leader, y'know figured you should hear that at least I know I thought I was the right choice for awhile. You were the better pick." He smiled at that checking all of Paladins systems as he turned off his transmitter for now he spoke to the machine.

"Hey buddy, you know we've done a lot things together, training, simulations runs, I even learned the basics of how to fix parts of you." He ran a hand over the dash keeping an eye on his guns heat waiting for his next chance to fire. "But I do remember promising you we were gonna protect people, so lets make sure we fulfill that if their's gonna be causalities their going to be you and me." The street urchin turned soldier readied himself. "Come on you bastards, if you want to send me to hell I demand some company." He said, looking over targets try to figure out how he could do the most damage.

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.

---

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.

---

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."

Mai just stared into space after her crash landing back onto the ground. Thankfully, she had landed on a road inbetween buildings so collateral was minimum on her part.

The damage to herself, however, was a completely different story. Her framework's legs broken, wings damaged, a greenish fire creeping up her framework from the legs and her sync rate now down from sixty-two percent to fifty-six percent.

Needless to say, the phrase that she once heard "Your screwed" applied here. While she still had her main thruster, her broken framework legs prevented much self-righting.

"...Neo Angel status update. Framework damage extensive. Greenish fire slowly enveloping framework. Damage to mid-section, legs and wings extensive. Sync rate down to fifty-six perfect...", Mai droned on the open line.

Mai knew things were dire for her but she didn't let it affect her. Again, her training...from the days on her first division...the other "numbers"...the hell they were taught about what exactly happens when a fight with the Cruxi erupts...the fact that the seven of them were ready and accepted the responsibility of being soldiers and pilots...

Then...something happened to Mai...something that she thought would never happened to her.

...I'm angry...I'm actually...angry..., Mai thought to herself.

Even during her time in this division, she had several times spoken to Lorenzo and Ritsu on several occassions about herself in private. The goal was to help her speak her mind about herself a bit more with her superiors as well as expressing herself. One of the topic's was about the first division she was trained in before it was disbanded.

Despite the seven of them doing exceptional work and even coming back alive, it did anger her that the "training method's" were inhumane to the point of higher ups disbanding the framework division. Even more so considering the focus on "cloning" similar to Sigma and Iota could be deemed in the same light but never has.

Despite the responses she was given from both Lorenzo and Ritsu, it was never good enough for her. Very deep down inside her...the "human" side of her she always kept buried and locked away...it still ate at her.

Then it started rearing it's ugly head when her framework, Setsuka, was taken from her by orders from the top brass and then assigned the Neo Angel despite her sync rate in the Setsuka being over eighty percent. Then finding out it was given to an inexperience "clone" pilot who didn't even have the knowledge or "self-awareness" to harness it's T System and then sent to die in a live training exercise. Then...the transfer's from division to division...it was almost as if...as if...she was being told the following:

"Sorry 'Seven'...but we perfer 'quantity' over 'quality'. Your not needed."

That's when Mai made a decision right then and there.

Somehow, despite the pain shooting though her own body in her legs, her gut and her shoulders from the damaged wings, Mai actuaully made the Neo Angel stand upright. As stated before, it no longer looked liked an angel covered in the gore of Cruxi. If anything, it was starting to look like a fallen or demonic angel now with the greenish fire creeping up from the bottom.

Then, "Seven" spoke into the open comm link.

"Attention. This is Seven. Damage too extensive...commencing final order on Cruxi Squad...Code: Ash to Ash. All frendly forces in current area, evac immedately."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN00p8MNajg

That's when Seven grabbed what looked like a detonator attached by a wire to the framework system itself in a hidden compartment.

Then, on the open line, the PDF forces heard this.

"Wait what? What's that mean?", one soldier said.

"Idiot! That's code for self-detonate!", another said in a fit of rage.

Seven then prepared to activate her main thruster to perhaps lanuch herself over the nearby buildings and drop right in the middle of the three just south of her position.

But before she could do so...

---

The moment her shot connected with beast holding Elora, Katya couldn't help but feel very pleased with herself especially as the beast that was holding Elora let go of her. However that feeling quickly faded as the other tentacle beast caught up with her grabbing hold of Caretaker before Katya had a chance to point her rife at it. Katya grunting as the beast grabbed hold of Caretaker it tentacles starting to wrap around limbs, setting of alarms. As the work became immobile, Caretaker lacking the raw strength to force its way free Katya instinctively activating 2 drones rigged to blow with 2 more in dismantle mode. However before the drones could deploy Elora attacked the beast from behind causing it to let go and seemingly stunned the beast, it letting go of Caretaker.

Ordering Caretaker to take several steps back. Aiming Marker Light at the beast as she did. Firing the moment it was in her sights. Not bothering to aim knowing at this range she wouldn't have the time and doubted she could miss at point blank range. Firing as many time as she could until the beast recovered and attacked her or it died. Katya hoping she could kill this beast quickly glance at her map she could see Mai about to deal with Cruxi squad all on her own and from the update Mai had given she wasn't going to be able to hold them off on her own.
"Hang in there comrade we're coming." she thought as fired her rifle looking at the tentacle beast for a moment before stealing another glance at her map getting an idea to help Mai and hopefully Ariin.

Even though it was an idea Katya wanted to think about it a little more, however she lack the time to think and plan like she had before. Now she has to make a snap choice one that could might end up saving one of her comrades or do nothing. Seeing her idea as better then nothing decided to run with her idea.
"Ariin move to H4 and back Mai up, pound the CWMs back into the stone age. Then deal the last sniper." she said quickly finding it hard to issue orders and fight at the same time. Her brain going into overdrive as she tried to divide her attention to her map, any info on her squads status, what happening around her and across the battlefield, listening to her comm system and on top of that operating her building sized war machine, that needed more attention now due to her being in combat. It was proving to be very taxing as to top of all of that she still had to try and keep planing and thinking of orders for her squad in an effort to stay ahead of the Cruxi. At that moment she her respect for those in command sky rocketed, no wonder some officers where such arseholes.

Stealing more glaces at her map, Katya watched as the CWMs Zero had been sent after faded of the map, wanting to waste no time she already knew what she wanted him to do next
"Zero attack Cruxi in F2." she quickly stated watching the tentacle beast she was busy with. She just needed another moment to issue orders to Elora then she could for the moment focus on the fighting.
"Elora scan the MIST. I want anything you can give me on it. Also go distract that last sniper. Someone will back you up when someone if free." Katya said dreading the idea of sending Elora to fight given what had just happened however against a sniper Katya was positive Elora was the best choice. So had to trust that this time she'd learn form her mistake and not get caught out again.

It was then Katya heard Mai say how bad her werk was damaged and she was going to her werk to take out the squad. The news leaving Katya conflicted wanting to scream at her to stop or stay quite. Knowing she'd do the same in a heart beat if placed in the same situation she decided to remain silent. It however didn't make Katya like the choice Mai had made any better.
"Crap! Dam it Mai! Why do you have go playing hero on my first command? I can't handle losing a comrade right now." she thought hoping Ariin would have heard Mai's intent and pushed his werk to get into position faster or at least fired form his current location. Either way in her mind there was nothing more that could be done to help Mai, everyone else was out of range and she doubted even at full speed couldn't reach Mai in time. So it was all down to Ariin and his Paladin. Katya only hoped it would be enough besides that she had her own worries to deal with. Worries that were right in front of her, that may very well kill her.

Zim was impressed by the effectiveness of that maneuver. Taking the adrenaline of the success, Zim pushed past the pain of the continued damage, and relied even more heavily on his experience to continuing his fight. Blackstar was still in fighting condition, but Mai's framework was was worse for wear, and so was Mai. The confirmation of Zim's fears came when her voice changed and she addressed everyone as Seven, announcing the Ash to Ash protocol.

Katya Gave Orders, it was what Zim would have done. He started Blackstar on the path to the Tentacle Beast in F2, he searched on his way for something to throw, the tentacle beast had the obvious advantage in melee combat with its long reaching grappling tentacles. He would need to do something to keep those busy, and throwing something seemed like the best solution. While he searched, he talked on the open comm.

"Seven, stand down on Ash to Ash. You still have ammo left, right? You don't get to give up until you've run out of ammo. Put the trigger down and pick up your guns and fight! Paladin is going to give you support, after that we'll work on getting you fixed up. I know that Mai doesn't want to die, and neither do you. I could care less about your frame, when you run out of ammo, you take up your sabers, and when all else fails, that is when you can get out of that frame and push the button. You get out and you link up with the PDF and keep fighting."

By now Zim would hopefully have found a car or truck or something similar to throw at the tentacle beast and start speeding up his pace towards his target.

"We aren't here for glory. We aren't really even here for revenge. We are here to protect the innocent people of this planet, no matter the cost! But you don't get to sell yourself short, there are still people to protect, and there are still ways for you to fight. So fight on soldier!"

By now Zim should be in range of the Tentacle Beast. First he would switch his scythe into spear mode and then he would lob the car at the tentacle beast and push his thrusters to launch Blackstar forward with as much speed as he could. He would thrust his spear out hoping to pierce through the center of the tentacle beast, if successful he would draw the spear back out and revert it back to scythe and start hacking away at what ever left of the tentacle beast, start first with the tentacles, and then moving on to its head. If the tentacle beast wasn't distracted by the car, then he would use the spear to parry as many of the tentacles as possible as he attempted to avoid getting grappled.

Back in Troas, Serah was drawing some heavy breaths inside of Atty as she felt the plasma of those Cruxi War Machines pounding against the barrier wing, even feeling the heat on her right arm. "I know you're suffering... I'm sorry!" Serah mentally scolded herself for getting AA-XOTRY into this situation in the first place, with barely any grasp on the situation. The firing calmed down after a little while, presumably for the reload. Still, there was a Tentacle Beast coming at her from the left, with some frightening speed behind it. Serah had a few seconds to assess the situation. Atty was completely in the yellow by this point, and in case of the barrier wings, a frightening orange. Her core was rapidly running out of energy to feed the plasma blade and her armor was starting to melt away, alongside her blade's overcharge slowly breaking that down as well. Her cameras were staticky but functional, though Yaeger and Magus were out of a clear point of view. "Augh, you two...! Please be safe..." The girl was starting to worry for her comrades, but she had a... situation of her own to deal with.

Eiswolf was still behind Atty, which was good. Serah was going to need Sigma for this one. "I'm sorry to ask so much of you, but please cover my side and run!" The blue haired girl wasn't even dishing out orders at this point, it sounded more like a plea for help. She came up with a split-second plan, and it was quite the doozy. Serah tried her best to evade fire from the Cruxi as she rushed forward to them, dashing up behind the building they were hiding behind. "...Are there civilians in there...? I really hope not..." Some doubt started to creep up in the girl's mind, but she couldn't give it any more thought right now. If she got distracted now, she was as good as dead. Once Serah got next to one of the Cruxi she took a split second to scan for the other one. Fortunately, it was withing line of sight. The plasma blade Atty wielded was still dangerously overcharges and on the verge of melting, but Serah had a plan for it. Or she hoped she did anyway. With one mighty swing of the blade, Serah attempted to both slice through the Cruxi War Machine and then send an overcharged sickle of plasma in the direction of the other one, within the same swing. The problem was that she would be left without any charge on her plasma blade and it'd take another good chunk out of her energy reserves, so this was definitely risky... but necessary. If all else failed, she still had her busted up Barrier wing as a last resort. It wouldn't hold out much, but it should buy her enough time for the blade to recharge.

As Xane watched the battle go on below him he would glance up from the screen every few seconds. The skies were no an exception when it came to battle, but he knew that even if he had nothing to attack with he still had Jetto Chosa's speed. That alone was good enough, but was it really? Glancing back up at the skies he thought if what they were doing was actually going to bring some change. If they were ever gonna find an end to these vicious monsters, these beings who had no remorse when it came to their enemy. Looking back to the screen Xane adjusted his course to make a swift u-turn as the team was doing a pretty good job of killing these barbarians.

His team, but not him.

He had Jetto Chosa's speed, but was that really good enough? His team seemed to be killing the Cruxi off by themselves, so in actual reality what was he needed for? Back when he was training most of the other teams would tell him to stay in the skies while they handled the threat. He would watch as his teammates would congradulate each other, would get upset at each other, and would progress together. He always believed that what Jetto Chosa had was important, but it always seemed to not be the case when it came to others. Glancing back to briefly survey the skies Xane looked back down at the screen to see Celeste attack a Cruxi. He looked to the other framewerks to see who would finish it off, but gritted his teeth when he remembered that Jason nor Barry would be able to finish the job.

Making a split-second decision he would tell the others that he was going back to the ground, and prepared Jetto Chosa for transofrmation. Flipping the switches he would hold the last switch, and would count down as Jetto began to lower itself onto the ground. "3...2...1." Xane finished, and let go of the switch. Rapidly pressing a menu on the screen he would slam down on two of the button on each side of the screen which unsheathed the daggers from the arm guards, and dashed to the Cruxi that Celeste had wounded. The Cruxi, who was wounded heard Xane as he activated the beams, but was too late in reacting as Jetto Chosa shoved one if the beams dead and center through the back of the Cruxi. The enemy, though wounded still tried to wiggle itself away to fight him, but using the other beam to once again stab the Cruxi Jetto Chosa then used both sabers to slice it in half. Blood splattered on Jetto, but Xane stood there as he saw on the screen the Cruxi falling to the ground. The remains twitching, but eventually dying off. Unable to say anything a carrier ship appeared over them, and Xane stayed silent as their new orders were comming in.

Roger was actually somewhat surprised that he was able to kill one of the Cruxi troops so easily. It wasn't the kind of surprised that you got when you open the front door to your home and find out that your sister threw you a birthday party that 30 people actually bothered coming to, but the surprise of finding $20 in between your couch cushions while trying to find your phone because you're pretty sure your dad's having a heart attack and you need to get an ambulance over quickly. Still, he managed to do exactly what he was attempting to do, get their attention. And now that he had it, it was time to skedaddle.

They only got to fire a couple times before Roger and Yeager were long gone, but the burning sensation on his elbow told him that they had gotten in at least one hit on him. He stopped and turned back around to face the squad again. He wasn't exactly in a "flanking position," but he was still within firing range, and he had allies on their opposite side, so tactically speaking, he did have the edge here. Another thing he noticed was that Magus was still kicking, even if punching was more or less out of the question. He had been pretty sure it was shot down. Perhaps a regroup with him would help the situation a bit more. Roger aimed his machinegun at the Tentacle Beast (hey, it worked before, might as well keep doing it.) and opened fire on it before moving forward to meet up with Daniel.

"I've got your back as well," he told him, opening up a private chat there, unsure if his communications were still working.

---

---

ATTACK C2, MOVE C1

---

The force of the passing bullet whistling past rocked Magus slightly, obliterating a smaller building just past him. In a way the scale was funny, what seemed to be a fifty cal to Magus was far more devistating than a tank shell to his surroundings. In another way, that was terrifying. The car blew up just a few blocks away like a firecracker, and he could hear the beasts rampage halt for just a few seconds.

On his console, two capacitors suddenly lit up. Movement. Daniel's eyes widened as he realized what had happened. The power originally used for movement the last few minutes had gone straight into the capacitors when he had slowed down. "Hell yeah!" A tap connected one capacitor to the LEL in an instant, and Magus peaked out from cover at an angle towards the distracted CMW's in B3. From here, hopefully his position wouldn't be visible to the Cruxi in C3. It took but a second to line up the targeter- and the streak of blinding white light leapt across the distance far faster than any bullet could hope to achieve, supersonic or not. Almost as if behind it, a roar of sound rumbled across the field, hopefully announcing death. The mech immediately ducked back without even taking the time to confirm the hit. Hit or not, if Cruxi could feel emotions, surely that would inspire some fear.

He wasn't going anywhere though. They probably would think him vulnerable up close, but they would be oh so wrong. One finger constantly rested on the activator switch for the electrical field generator. One flick and those tentacles would be calamari. He couldn't possibly take all of them down, but they would suffer... hopefully.

Magus shifted slightly, Daniel trying to figure out roughly the sniper's line of sight based on his current 'successful' cover. From the south, the sound of gunfire and destruction came closer as the enemy Cruxi laid waste to the city. It was clear that they planned to flush him out with literal scorched earth tactics. And then came a hail of bullets- For a moment, he couldn't figure out if he had been attacked or not, until a sonic shriek heralded the arrival of Yeager. The sound of another human's voice over coms was a blessing in itself. "Damn good to see you." It occurred to him late- possibly too late- Magus spun and raked his one good hand across the top of the building nearest him, throwing up a hail of debris and smoke into the air. "Sniper! Head down!"

Ariin heard his orders heard his orders then heard Mai planning to detonate her Frame, Sorus might not have known the girl well but he knew what she was thinking day to save lives or kill Cruxi. Ariin flipped his comms on as he lined up a shot. "Mai, get yourself together. I've got your back." He told her taking his first shot and the sniper over in C7 before swinging the gun around to line up on the squad by Mai. "Firing Pompey." He said cracking off a second shot at the squad by the angle was good should impact near the squad and toast them. Probably wouldn't toast Mai at all.

Ariin had taken two shots, he wasn't sure if he had time to get clear but he started to move even if he had to throw the Goliath off the roof and hope he made out of range. He opened his comms. "Hey you guys stay safe." Ariin laughed with a tongue in cheek attitude. He really didn't care if he could make it clear, he bought them time and that was what mattered.

Jason "Phoenix" Diabolus | Doom Squad Officer | Nazareth

---

Watching as the beast he had targeted somehow survived the attack, but was subsequently blown to bits by his missile salvo, the boy was pleased with the opening attack. Followed seconds later by a loud explosion as it seemed that Wätcher had found its target and delivered a fatal blow. As the chaos rained down, the boy focused in on an odd aspect in front of him, Marshall was down and it seemed dented from his missile attack. A quick swear escaped the boy as he was about to check on his teammate but was interrupted by two things. The first being Jetto's rush towards the remaining Cruxi, and the second being the new orders from JONAH. It seemed they were to split up now, and the boy allowed a small sigh of frustration to escape his lips. Though his synch rate seemed to remain steady despite the frustration. "Redeploy orders received, JONAH. Prepare for two inbound." he said after punching a few commands in to start prepping for meeting up with JONAH. Then he kept a close eye on the battle with Xane and the Cruxi. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to focus on intervening. It seemed both Joppa and Troas were in need of desperate help.

Thinking for a moment, he figured out the squads. Wätcher and Jetto would deploy to Joppa. Seeing as Jetto with his jet form, and Wätcher with the booster could both get there faster than he or Marshall. Not to mention, the combo of a scout who can mark targets for Wätcher to pick off with her rifle was certainly a good combo.

In the few seconds it took the boy to formulate his plan, he had switched over to team comms and gotten ready to address the Doom Squad. "Alright. We've been ordered to split up. Wätcher and Jetto will first clean up this bastard then redeploy to Joppa. Wätcher has tactical command until you fall under allied supervision. Marshall, get your ass up. We have to meet with JONAH and head out to Troas." He said as he flicked a switch and fired his thrusters, usually used for orbital ascent. However, he only used to enough to quickly get up to JONAH and begin the boarding process. "If either of you die today, I will personally drag you back to life and kill you myself. Good Luck. Show these bastards what we're made of." the boy said to his teammates on the ground. Then waited for Marshall to join him aboard JONAH. In the mean time, he began running a short systems diagnostics to see how everything was running on board X-7. Quietly talking to the machine without any comms active. [color=0076a3][b]"How you doing, buddy?"[/color] the boy asked and pat his console, looking at the diagnostics.

---

---

Info
- Orders Issued
- Docked with Jonah
- Running quick diagnostic (seeing if any damage was taken or if Synch rate changed)

"Seven, stand down on Ash to Ash. You still have ammo left, right? You don't get to give up until you've run out of ammo. Put the trigger down and pick up your guns and fight! Paladin is going to give you support, after that we'll work on getting you fixed up. I know that Mai doesn't want to die, and neither do you. I could care less about your frame, when you run out of ammo, you take up your sabers, and when all else fails, that is when you can get out of that frame and push the button. You get out and you link up with the PDF and keep fighting."

"Seven", inside her frameworkcockpit, was holding the detonator when she heard Cadet Zim's comment on the line.

"We aren't here for glory. We aren't really even here for revenge. We are here to protect the innocent people of this planet, no matter the cost! But you don't get to sell yourself short, there are still people to protect, and there are still ways for you to fight. So fight on soldier!"

"Seven" listend to that for awhile...then hear that Paladin was making south towards her.

"Mai, get yourself together. I've got your back."

"...Roger", Mai said over the comm link.

Reloading the Magnum she emptied into the Tentacled Cruxi before, Mai was about to make her move when she heard it and saw it...Mist was active.

The noises...nothing like she ever heard...even the noises you hear depending on your sync rate was nothing compared to what she was hearing. Then, seeing the light, Mai realized it might be ready to attack.

Looking at the radar though, something was troubling her. Granted, a few allies were within it's range but only on it's border. They could have easily pulled out of the way...then, she noted that only one side of Mist was glowing.

Mai then got a horrible "hunch" about something. Mai then spoke into an open comm channel to talk to everyone.

"This is Neo Angel. To all friendly forces. Evasive manuvers. I repeat, evasive manuvers! This is just a hunch but I think Mist is preping some other attack than it's standard Area of Effect attack!", Mai said, actually showing some emotion for perhaps the first time in a long while.

Then, Mai got a look at the light and it wasn't facing her and saw what general direction it was "facing" of sorts.

"...PALADIN! P.D.F. forces! EVADE EVADE!"

And Mai was now that once "helpless child"...as she watched "her" go off to fight for everyone instead of just her...

She dove north to H6 and got down behind the buildings.

Note: Sync rate - 56%. Ammo - Magnum (8/8), (7/8). One additional clip remaining. Damanged legs, wings and midsection. Slow "green" fire damage.

Gritted teeth. Tensed muscles. The comm long since muted. An ear splitting scream, as a fourteen year old, who was not a fourteen year old, but an echo of a living scion mankind. Sigma was Irina. And yet it was not. For Irina still existed as herself, and like the copy unto the template, Sigma was just following the steps others had set.

Yet, none of this ever mattered. She screamed in top of her lungs. Roused by violence and blood. "RAAAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed. And then a communication. The screaming ceased. A plea for help. An apology. The screaming stopped. The calm settled in. The fingers deftly flickered the intercom. Her messy silver hair was wild, and it curtained the expression of her eyes. A teeth clenched smile, one full of cynicism, violence and sadness had crept up in Sigma's face.

Some smiles just show teeth after all.

"Roger that, Idiot" She said. "Don't plea. This is what I was born for." She quiped back, in her grave impersonation of Irina. "SMILE FOR THE CAMERA, PHALLIC IMAGERY FUCKTARD!" She added as she set her crosshairs into the gross beast, her rifle set to pierce the main's beasts core. Without hesitation, she fired.

She then, with a sharp move, retreated her sniper rifle, and turned her boosters on.

"Still too. damn. many. Cockroaches." She cursed as she retreated further in distance after covering Serah.

---

Sigma

Attack>C6

Move From B5 to A5 (Would move more but we're running out of map).

Katya squeezed the trigger and shot off a volley of point-blank shots at the Beast without caring to aim, focusing on lasering it as much as possible. Turns out it was just the right maneuver, as the beast was subdued, turned into a burning corpse that Caretaker smashed aside. Similarly, Zim was on the offensive as well, using a similar tactic his comrade performed on the other side of the planet by snatching a civilian vehicle off the street and throwing it. The explosion dismayed the beast just long enough for Black Star to get in close and impale the monster with the metal-cutting temperature of the Thermal Scythe's spear mode. The monster coughed out green juices all over the Framewerk, and haphazardly slapped away with its tentacles, only for them to be swiftly cut down along with the monster.

Sigma, after a moment of falling to a drone-like behavior of shooting targets down with no thought, came to her senses and landed a shot on the flanking Tentacle Beast, popping it's head off in a fine green mist.
Meanwhile, Serah was in a bind, with her defenses destroyed and Cruxi going weapons hot. However, she fought off the despair of her situation, and charged forth in a heroic maneuver, pushing Atty's weapon past the melting point in temperature as she delivered a mighty blow that also projected an energy projectile, cleaving the first CWM instantly in two, while the other fell down on a bridge from the impact of the second one, with a cannon arm separated from it's shoulder. At this point Atty's sword arm was starting to melt from the volcanic temperature, and she only had one more chance at an attack before it would malfunction.

Magus took aim at the duo of Cruxi, and one of them was vaporized by the sheer destructive power of the Lightning ElectroLaser, scattering alien parts in a wide radius by the literal energy spike, and it resulted in the other Cruxi ducking for cover as if they were hit by an artillery strike. The Cruxi then shot back at Magus, but only managed to destroy the building the Frame was hiding behind. However, it was just the opportunity the Cruxi sniper needed in order to land it's shot, and it pierced Magus right in it's core. There was a dangerous crackling of electricity as Synchro levels went down 4%. The capacitors were also damaged, resulting in Magus being unable to recharge. The Cruxi squad behind the beast also advanced, spreading plasma fire around them and prepared to shoot them in the event they kill off the Beast.

While Magus was keeping the Cruxi off Rooney's back, Yeager was keeping a Tentacle Beast off Magus by peppering it with machinegun fire. However, most of it turned out to miss due to Yeager's frantic motion and the elbow damage the Frame has sustained, but it was enough to draw the monster's angry attention after it was wounded. So when the swift Frame landed right nearby Magus, the aberration soon jumped in spraying green blood, binding Yeager with crushing tendrils while also catching Magus by the foot, causing it to fall down front first as it was taken by surprise. Neo Angel reloaded, and managed to quell the green flames when it ducked for cover, the dust cloud quickly suffocating the burning plasma. For the moment Mai managed to defend herself from further attacks, though the Cruxi pursuing her destroyed the building she was hiding behind, leaving her in open ground.

Paladin shot off a couple of hasty shots at an incredibly long range, and they didn't manage to hit the Sniper Cruxi. However, if Ariin's objective was in intimidation, he succeeded at it; the enemy unit fled from the destructive blasts, leaving the rest of his squad safe for the moment. And as soon as he was done, the Paladin jumped as high as it's stubby legs could manage, and flattened two blocks worth of buildings into rubble as it rolled, barely escaping the attack that ensued; Mist charged up, and released it's wave of invisible radiation. Millions of screams erupted in the colony as their bodies melted away, leaving only puddles of organic material. Ariin himself could feel his own body tingle painfully, his every cell struggling to keep themselves whole.

Elora was not as fortunate, and though she was in the lethal zone, she felt an excruciating pain that enveloped her whole being, up to her very core. She felt the moisture in her eyes evaporating, resulting in her being blinded, and she screamed her lungs out. It seemed to be so much that she would break from the pressure, but in actuality, the opposite happened; Elora's pain opened up a gateway in her soul, and her synchronization levels were off the charts, counting at 200% and building up.

"I won't let you hurt anyone!" She shouted, and as if by some force it was amplified so it came out from the Framewerk itself, reverberating in a digitized voice across the entire colony. It was followed up by a mechanical roar, and Logic Gate extended it's short arms out towards Mist. In that moment, Elora felt like she was dreaming. She dreamed that she willed the Mist away, and that it would be thrown up to orbit, where it would only cause suffering in the empty vacuum of space. Then, as if the universe agreed with her, the super weapon was yanked upwards from it's floating position, and then ejected upwards like a baseball, shrinking from view until it disappeared into infinity. Suddenly the Mist of Joppa was no more. At that moment, the young pilot realized she has evolved.

---

In Nazareth, Xane foolishly thought he would be finishing off the wounded Tentacle Beast, not even considering the fact it had already recovered and shot Jetto Chosa point blank with twin Plasma Cannons, tearng the Frame's head from it's shoulders. Jason on the other hand managed to board JONAH. In a stroke of good luck, it turned out be just in time, as well; as the carrier sped away from Nazareth, the pilot of X-7 saw that the Cruxi shot an orbital bombardment at the farming colony, turning it into a green sea of fire and destroying everything in it in an earthquake-causing, cataclysmic event. As the vessel arrived at Troas, Jason had to face the reality that he was now the only survivor of Doom Squad if he wanted to rebuild his fighting spirit and take to the fight once more.

Jason "Phoenix" Diabolus | Doom Squad Officer | Above Troas

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"Xane disengage! Dammit soldier! Disen-" The boy barked, but his orders fell on deaf ears and he was helpless to do nothing except watch as hell descended once more. Xane, his best friend for years; the kid he had stood up for in training. The same little runt who Jason had gotten in many a fight to defend, was dead. As Jetto's lifeless corpse slammed into the ground, Jason choked and slammed a fist down on the console in front of him. "The rest of you, get the hell out! Move it! Haul your asses soldiers!" the boy yelled into the comms as the ship began to move. Almost immediately Jason's whole view screen turned a bright, blinding green. Accompanied by an ear-shattering roar, JONAH and the boy's frame shook as the city of Nazareth was reduced to nothing but a burning green sea of flame. His squad nothing more than memories, ashes left behind yet unlike his; no phoenix would rise once more. Tears filled the boy's eyes as JONAH flew towards the new destination, overcome by emotion; Jason locked the comms in his unit and just screamed. The sound of pain, fear, anger, loneliness that he had once felt re-emerged once more. After a long few minutes of flight over to Troas, Jason was finally able to open his comms again; having swallowed his emotions once more. A skill the boy had learned after watching his planet burn all those years ago. When he had lost everything dear to him back then.

Over Troas, the boy prepared to drop into combat once more; a sniper below him that seemed to have the defenders pinned down. "JONAH, X-7 un-docking and deploying to battlefield. Stay safe." The boy said before starting the disengagement procedure. Once un-docked, he immediately began charging the railgun for a heavy shot as he rapidly approached the ground. Picking a landing spot nearby the sniper, the boy broadcast on an open channel to the others as he came in, reverse thrusters fired to slow his fall. "Defenders of Troas, this is Pilot Diabolus of Frame X-7, dropping into Troas as reinforcements. I got the sniper. Channel is open, tell me where you need me next, over." The said as the massive frame hit the ground in a cloud of dust and with a slight shaking of the ground. The boy aimed the railgun directly for the Cruxi sniper's center of mass, finger on the trigger so he could send a heavy-armor piercing round directly through the metal monster should it begin to move at all. "This is for my friends, you son of a bitch." he growled in a low tone, eyes narrowed on the view screen.

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* X-7 Deployed to square J1
* X-7 Railgun charged for Heavy Armor Piercing shot and aimed at the sniper's center of mass
* X-7 ready for a reaction shot should the sniper move