For Jake, it was a long silence. He tried yet again his comm lines to his team but there was no response.

With Ritsu demanding a report, he gave the best response before but now, he needed answers. Even if it mean't he had to bust down the door that had sealed the room.

But he doubt whatever ammo he has remaining will work. From the last 8 shot bullets he had to the last laser shot clip. He even bet that door was heavily reinforced to make sure to keep others out. This was the Cruxi after all. There were a few that planned ahead like this as he read in some official reports over his career as a recon expert.

He had to do SOMETHING though.

"...Anyone...please respond...", Jake said slowly.

To his surprise, he heard a somewhat familiar voice though it sounded different based on his hearing perception.

"White Knight...this is Neo Angel."

"Thank god! Mai, what the hell's happening in there?!", Jake asked in a firm tone of voice.

"Nothing good. This whole thing was a set up. They...rigged both Elora and her framework, Logic Gate with their technology and turned both her and her machine against us. Our very minds were attacked by the Cruxi Elite in here", came the response.

"...sit rep then. How...bad is it?", Jake asked slowly.

He then heard Mai grunt and assumed she was trying to stand up based on that one grunt.

"...Serah took it the worst...her framework, if I'm not mistaken, went "CULLING" or beserk on everything in here though it stopped currently."

"...jesus...", Jake said.

"...Katya is down but ok. Neo Angel got ran through but I'm still standing...and...Elora...I think...she's K.I.A..."

That made Jake's heart sink. Yet another victim of the Cruxi used as a weapon then discarded. Even he had read some classified reports on this garbage they pulled.

But it was all the emotion that he was getting from Mai that also brought him back to attention.

"...Jake...you have to get word out to retreat. This whole thing was a setup. You have to cut losses-"

"BULL****! I ain't leaving you! Or any of you! Stand by! I'm going to blast this door down. Cruxi steel be damned!"

"Jake. This Cruxi attacks the mind. There aren't many pilots who can resist that level of mental warefare. Besides...I...have a personal score with this now..."

"...wait what?", Jake said.

"...I think Elora may have done it but I saw it...a vision of this thing killing mom during a duel...and now, it killed Elora...I...haven't felt like this in a long time..."

"...Mai...what's gotten int-"

"Jake. I'm no longer Mai...It's Maria."

That's when Jake heard the dramatic statement that even made him confused.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Listen up Cruxi! My name is Maria Twilight. Callsign Angel! And if you want to finish what you started with her that time long ago, COME AND GET WRECKED!"

The Neo Angel, now at perfect 100% sync rate, quickly picked up the Cruxi's sword Katya's framework drones pulled out of both her and Logic Gate in it's left hand. The right hand grabbed one of the two beam sabers from it's hip and it lit up.

But it was the glow that coated the Neo Angel indicating a strong barrier was up. The glow disappeared but the barrier was still there due to the telekenetic system feeding off of the 80% plus sync rate.

It then charged right at the Cruxi Elite, quickly dodged to the left, then attempted to do a thrust at the Cruxi with it's own sword.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Base. White Knight. Ritsu! I'm going to attempt to shoot this door down since it seems I've cleared the CWM's in here for now! I'm going to experiment with single laser fire shots to see what kind of reaction I get! But if the Cruxi did plan this out that far, I don't think even my Neo Rifle's going to penetrate!"

Turning around and getting back into a prone position again, Jake took aim at the door but adjusted his aim in a way that he was aiming upwards at the top of the door to avoid accidently hitting a friendly on the other side.

He then fired.