Serah was breathing heavily inside the cockpit of AA-XOTRY, staring at the two lifeless Cruxi corpses in front of her. The plasma on the framewerk's blade was slowly starting to form again, wobbling as it filled up inside the casing. The girl felt a trickle of cold run down the side of her head, lifting up her right hand from the controls to touch it. Even through the gloves she could feel it was wet, mainly due to how it splashed open against her cheek. [color=00aeef][i]"I'm... sweating?"[/i][/color] Serah thought to herself, then pulled the hand she touched her cheek with away to look at it. It was clearly shaking. No, not only her hand was shaking. Serah could feel her entire body start to shake. [color=00aeef]"W-Why am I... shaking?"[/color] Serah softly murmured, slowly but surely coming back to her senses. The world flashed by her when she rushed forward to engage the two cruxi, somehow managing to cut them both down. The small girl felt... scared. She was shaking because she was afraid. She'd just finished charging head first into the fray, cutting down not only a tentacle beast but also the squad behind her. [color=00aeef]"Am I... afraid to die?"[/color] Serah asked herself. She was convincing herself only just a moment ago that it'd be best if she died. A martyr to the cause, fading away in history. 

But she didn't want to die. She didn't want to part with the squad she had been training alongside these past months. She didn't want to be separated from everyone again. Maybe that's why she was so reckless. Maybe that's why she took control. Serah just wanted to protect her squad and at the end of the mission, return with them. [color=00aeef]"...Mission?"[/color] Serah mumbled, before it all hit her. Right, she was still on the battlefield! It was no time to drift away into fantasy now, there's still enemies left to neutralize! The girl quickly assessed the situation, swiftly concluding Atty was in even worse shape compared to before. The overcharged sickle took a huge chunk out of its energy reserve and seems to have wrecked the blade as it struggled to keep the plasma contained within its barriers. It didn't look like it had another minute to live. Serah looked at her camera feed and saw a solitary CWM in the distance, with another full squad a little bit away. Serah steeled herself and tried to say [color=00aeef]"I'll just slice it in half before my weapon shuts off,"[/color] but interrupted herself in the middle of it. 

No, she couldn't do that. Atty was breaking down and Serah knew it. She was already reckless enough in thinking she could take on an entire squad of Cruxi by herself, which got the machine in this state to begin with. If she charged forward, all it would do is leave her as a sitting duck to be killed off by a rain of plasma bolts, which would shred AA-XOTRY's frail armor. [color=00aeef]"...I'd be no use."[/color] Serah concluded, closing her eyes and balling up her hand into a fist. She felt frustrated, frustrated at the fact that she managed to effectively put herself in a situation where she was of no more use to her squad. She screwed up, again. She failed, again. This time something warm started to trickle down Serah's cheek, splashing open on the steel right in front of Serah's seat. Tears were streaming down the girl's face. [color=00aeef][i]"I'm useless... I can't do anything right!"[/i][/color] Depressive thoughts started to rage inside the girl's mind, consuming her entire consciousness for a few moments. 

[color=0076a3][b]"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."[/b][/color]

A voice penetrated Serah's communications, snapping her out of the depressive bout. She came back to her senses, a quick [color=00aeef]"Pull yourself together!"[/color] being all the motivation she needed. If Serah got too upset at herself, Atty wouldn't like it. Plus, they were still in a battlefield. The girl couldn't afford this. [color=00aeef]"...Roger, X-7. Thanks for the backup."[/color] Serah replied back, deciding to take matters in her own hands again. [color=00aeef]"Magus, Yeager, give us a report of the situation. Eiswolf is closer by you, they can cover if you're in a pinch. Eiswolf... no, Sigma. Try to help them, but don't put yourself in a situation to get yourself killed. As for me... I can't continue fighting. I'm pushing Atty to the limit here, anything I'd do now would be more of a burden than a help. I'm going to have to pull back."[/color] Serah broadcast to every other Framewerk in the region, then sighed shortly after. She really wasn't the officer type... yet look at her here, pretending to be one. [color=00aeef]"Diabolus, I don't know who you are, but... stay alive."[/color] With that final message, Serah looked over to her cameras. To her left and front were safe spaces she could hide in, away from the crossfire. As much as the girl loathed to retreat, anything she'd do now would hinder her squad. The plasma blade powered down to conserve energy right before jamming, with AA-XOTRY's thrusters flaring up to propel the framewerk away from the battle.