Witnessing a crater of his own making, Jason was visited by a memory from the past, fleeting yet powerful, of his family. The vision abruptly ended by the loud sounds of war and a feeling of uneasiness and nausea emanating from the site of the destruction, and the pilot moved on. Another target came to his sights, a horrible mix of flesh and metal rebelling against the throes of death, using it's remaining appendages to crawl on top of the leaking water tower, attempting a roar at X-7 despite it's jaws filled with metal it has bitten into. As it turned it's back to Yeager, the broken Frame shot it in the back with a full volley, causing it to stagger and spurt blood before it fell from the structure, dead.

When Serah activated the command to open the cockpit, she felt some kind of presence. And when she was uplifted by the hand of an angel, she realized that presence came deep inside, from Atty. That presence was warm and soothing, as if there were no regrets from the Framewerk, and that the Frame would be happy to sacrifice herself to protect Serah one last time. And when the Frame's core was violently ripped out of it's chassis by Eiswolf, it was still beating, like the heart of a living being.

Sigma felt her mental capacity strained by a foreign entity when Serah dropped in, as if the Framewerk had a biological reaction to a virus, trying to purge it out of its systems. But this quickly changed when Eiswolf assaulted the corpse of one of it's own; Instead of a hostile feeling, Sigma felt something melancholic emanating from deep inside Eiswolf, and she felt like tears rained down her body.
The pulsating core lashed out in arcs of wild, untamed energy around it, charring Eiswolf's hand, but despite the pain she placed it on the barrel of her trusted weapon, serving as ammunition for her last shot, deciding life or death. 

Against odds as insurmountable, it was a kind of burden no pilot as young as Sigma or Serah should have to bear. But they were not alone. Not only did they have each other, but they also had Eiswolf's tears calming their hearts and Atty's warmth cheering them on. When their hands joined intimately together and the fateful shot was made, a new form of energy was born inside both cores from the deep connection of their hearts; Unionization. Eiswolf's synchronization levels spiked, and went off the charts, and any observer would have seen the Framewerk coated in a translucent shimmer. The core glowed like a brilliant sun as it was ejected at incredible velocity, aiming right at the corpse of the once noble Rostosov, now shadowed by a massive entity anathema to all life. 

The core was subject to a reaction not unlike a miniature supernova. Together with Rostosov's warheads setting off, it was a blast that blinded all in the colony with it's light. Eiswolf's systems fried, unable to handle the energy output, and the Frame fell inelegantly over like a puppet with it's strings cut, the two girls inside hugging each other as they were knocked out. Strange sounds resembling deteriorated screeching also happened, and when the dust settled there was only a puddle of strange matter left of Mist; the invincible Goliath felled by two small Davids.
[hr]
When Zim spoke of his one last attempt to take out the sniper to Black Star, he felt a gloomy, hateful atmosphere in the cockpit. Maybe it was just the cold sweat, or maybe it was something else, but Zim felt how Black Star's crippled grip on the Thermal Scythe turned tighter, if only a bit. When it was time for action and Zim used the carcass as a distraction, it didn't work out as intended; the sniper's aim visibly shook, but the enemy clearly could think, and expected another unconventional use of the only tool left to Zim. The sniper took deadly aim as Black Star rushed, as fast as it's abused body could. The shot landed right on the neck joint, decapitating Black Star. However, in that moment of immense pain, right before he was knocked unconscious, Zim saw from his interface that the Wave Surger was activated, without any input of his own. In the end, both combatants fell in battle, the sniper obliterated by the energy weapon launched as a final revenge.

Caretaker's drones buzzed and crawled over Neo Angel even as the building the frame took cover was annihilated by plasma fire from a pair of CWM's, and to Caretaker's credit they managed to restore thruster functionality.
The Frame's Synchronization Rate has dropped by 20% from the physical and mental damage, nearing critical levels.
The aliens barged in, expecting an easy kill, guns blazing. In that moment, the Frame was saved by an unlikely source; a lone drone leaped at the plasma cannon blast and intercepted it, buying just enough time for Mai; she emptied her clip at the first Cruxi, and landed a lucky shot in the head, succeeding in felling it. 

But the other performed a flanking maneuver, and even though the other drone also sacrificed itself, it wasn't enough. A shot was made, steering towards Neo Angel like a comet of doom, and time seemed to slow for Mai.
She then felt a great pain in her head, as if a metal claw was dragged screeching through a chalk board.
In that moment, the Frame's thrusters activated with no outside input, sending the Frame flying at the Cruxi. The impact of the shot severed the Frame top body from the bottom, but the torso continued flying, and met the opposing mech with a piercing beam saber. Mai sensed a violent presence that lashed out in hate for suffering, and she felt responsible. The saber was thrust again and again into the Cruxi, tearing it apart and using all of the energy the Frame had in it, until the bisected, bloodied angel sent a shrill screech right through Mai's consciousness. Fortunately, she survived, falling into a coma.

Katya attempted to use the Frame's built-in scanners to identify the unknown opponent, but the rudimentary device only managed to reveal one thing; that the elite Cruxi had a Synchronization Rate that went off the charts. Caretaker utilized the communication systems built into the Frame, and after a brief crackle of static, she heard the surprised gasp of a man in the comms. "We have contact, Lieutenant!" The man announced, and after some sounds of shuffling, a familiar voice came in: Ritsu's. "Report, Cadet! What the hell's happening there!"
After she heard the report, she immediately responded: "Request granted. Sending Orbital Blast to F3-3x3, clear the block. We're sending in reinforcements, so hold the line!"

Caretaker's shots had no difficulty hitting the blue CWM flanking the elite Cruxi. In fact, the enemy seemed to move toward the laser shots. The enemy wavered from the impact of the lasers, but it was the unexpected shot of a sniper rifle that caused the enemy mech to fall over. 
"That's right, I'm hel-*hic*-ing!" Iota dropped down from the sky piloting a mass production model of Eiswolf, but she failed her orbital landing and crashed in the worst way possible, bending the Frame's legs at awkward angles.

Nonetheless, the enemy mech's apparently suicidal move's motivation became apparent when Paladin delivered a heavy barrage of Pompey shots aimed directly at the elite Cruxi. The tall mech completely ignored the attack, and it turned out it didn't need to; the other blue CWM immediately intercepted the shots with its own body, and was completely destroyed as a result, leaving the elite Cruxi unscathed. The attack's accuracy due to connecting his brain directly with the Framewerk's targeting systems came at the cost of Ariin's mental health, and he suffered a 20% loss in Synchro.

However, the multiple attacks from different directions did seem to distract the elite Cruxi for a fleeting moment, and it was exactly then that Logic Gate suddenly leaped towards the fearsome enemy, tackling it. Joppa team then heard a message from Elora, in her normal voice:

"Everyone...Thank you for being friends..."

"Initiating Orbital Blast in T-20 seconds." Katya heard a countdown from the command channel: "10, 9, 8, 7..." Elora was now also at F3, holding the elite Cruxi still. Somehow, she had learned of NOAH's support despite the jamming, and consciously chose to sacrifice herself. Soon, a blinding pillar of light descended down from space, like the Wrath of God striking down upon the sinful earth. For the terrified casual observer, it seemed to be the end of the story. But the most sharp-eyed of Framewerk pilots in Joppa realized the truth of what happened in that fateful moment...
[hr]
The Cruxi invasion of Leviticus IX ended in a failure; with both Mist-weapons eliminated and the war machines destroyed from the main colonies, the infantry was soon overwhelmed by the remaining Frames, and the ships containing the jamming devices were quickly disposed of, causing the human forces to counter-attack. Many cruisers of the Cruxi fleet were brought down before the rest managed to flee into some kind of dimensional pocket. The Framewerks, and humanity at large, earned a victory against the Cruxi; the crowds celebrated in the streets of Troas, laughing and crying tears of joy for living another day in peace. But that peace was bought with a terrible price, as there were no festivities in Joppa, only despair.

Soon after the jamming was disabled, and the invading force was routed, Ritsu ordered squad Sigma to regroup at Troas, sending aircraft to retrieve those who were unable to. The unconscious or otherwise injured pilots were taken to a local hospital, while the rest reported in to Ritsu; it now became apparent to everyone involved that when the Orbital Blast was launched at the elite Cruxi in Joppa, it grabbed Logic Gate and teleported the both of them just in the nick of time. Elora Liu'un, the young and troubled pilot surrounded by strange events, was now gone.

"I see..." Ritsu responded, sorrow painted on her eyes despite her attempt at seeming otherwise. "There will be formal events, including a mourning ceremony and an award ceremony, coming up after we have sorted things around here. But for now, you may use any facilities located here in Troas. Rest up, Cadets. You've earned it. Carry on," she said with a salute, and briskly walked away, wiping something from her face with her sleeve. Now, the pilots could visit their fellow comrades in the hospital and see if they have recovered, or they could visit any of the local recreational facilities such as bars and casinos, or just rest up at camp. But anywhere they looked, they saw destruction that made the aftermath of Solaire Ruins Arena look like a slightly disrupted sandbox, and were reminded of what they had to do, and what they were unable to do, in their own effort to save Leviticus IX.