Ribasu fired an explosive shell that detonated between two Cruxi towers. They still stood after the blast, but were heavily damaged as their gatling plasmas flickered in their glow, sporadically rotating and moving to try and locate the target. Zim also attacked the turrets, drawing fire from one of them as he got in range. The turret rapidly unleashed a torrent of plasma, but thanks to Ribasu's disabling efforts, their tracking sensor malfunctioned, and Zim managed to twirl through the crossfire despite the damage to his Framewerk. The EMP shot landed on the G1 turret, and the pulse short-circuited the turret, causing it to shut down. The turrets on the other side were destroyed by Paladin's Pompey, blowing up in large explosions, like fireworks to herald the inevitable end to their mission.

There was heavy static coming from Elise's channel when Devors and Roger attempted to contact her, though the latter managed to hear her intense groans of pain as Yeager dashed in, followed shortly by Krista.
"L-Leave me...The mission...comes first..." They heard her force out with a barely comprehensible voice.

With help from Hou-Yi, The two halves of Prometheus were caught, and the two Framewerks carried the pieces quickly back to NOAH, placing the Framewerk's remains on the opened landing pad that soon closed. Once inside, a team of medics immediately jumped in the wreckage, and pulled Elise, bloody and with a massive hole in her helmet, out of it.
Captain Ritsu herself was present as one of the medics reported to her about her status; it was grim, and the stoic military officer had to avert her gaze when she saw what happened to her.
"She has incurred critical injuries, but there's a low chance she will survive." Ritsu nodded, and sent a message to squad Sigma. "Base speaking. Sargeant Steinhart has been recovered. Merge with the infiltration team and pull out, over."
She then lifted a hand to her earpiece as she heard Jake's request.
"Base here, acknowledged. Fire at will." She sighed as she looked through a window and saw the tiny lights in the distance expanding from the station. She had to trust that squad Sigma would succeed, even against an enemy more fearsome than ever before seen in this war.

---

Jake shot at the door with the last of his ammo, and brute forced his way through. What he saw inside...was worse than he could have imagined: a Cruxi-modified Logic Gate was slouched down against a wall at the far back, while Caretaker was pushing against Atty. Katya heard a loud clang and grinding of gears when she spoke to the Framewerk, followed by worrying sounds of electrical sparks: she could guess that the Framewerk somehow heard her, and was pushing itself to the limit, even as it's machinery inside was gradually breaking down from the attacks Atty made on it.

The Cruxi Elite craned its head when it heard Maria speak. In return, the alien made a clicking sound, resembling malicious laughter. But then, as it witnessed Neo Angel pull out his own sword, the clicking turned loud and grinding. It spoke in the nightmarish electronic voice:

"YoU...dEfy uS...yOu...diE!"

The two machines then engaged in a colossal bout, both moving at speeds comparable to trained humans of their size, lacking any of the clumsiness that a man-piloted vehicle had. The Cruxi Elite pulled off punches and kicks
that could even put Irina and her Sword of Terra to shame, and Maria held on by sheer willpower, her resolve keeping the barrier barely up against the onslaught. The Cruxi Elite unleashed it's palm-mounted plasma obliterators, knocking Neo Angel back against a wall as her barrier broke and causing most of the armor on the Frame's body to shatter, exposing circuitry and machinery like wounds and gashes on a gladiator. The Elite charged up his weapon, intending to finish the fight. But then, at the last moment, Caretaker shot at the Elite, and the shot hit the ceiling.

Maria jumped, and struck her sword at the Elite with all of her might, putting her T-system energy to it's max output. She succeeded to pierce it: unlike the regular models, the Elite's mech was lightly armored, and
the blade, made of Cruxi technology, penetrated it's advanced biometals in the torso. The strike caused a strange mixture of electronic scrambling and chitinous mandible abuse to pierce the open comms, until the once mighty foe was bested, and doubled over the sword and stopped moving. Maria's quest to avenge her mother...had been successful.

Caretaker, with the help of the remaining repair drones, forcibly opened up Logic Gate, like a morbid easter egg, and found Elora's unconscious body inside: she was in a strange, tube-shaped clear tank filled with orange liquid, hooked up to an organic rebreather as well as numerous tubes that were attached to her limbs. She was wearing a strange visor over her eyes. She was still wearing her plugsuit, but it was torn, and Katya saw the bruises and scars the pilot had on her body, received while she was a P.O.W. She ripped the glass tube away from the "cockpit", and after the drones opened the tube she was placed inside the extraction sphere, which froze her in stasis; Katya succeeded in rescuing her friend.

---

The trek to Logic Gate to Katya felt like one of the longest moments of her life. Battling what she believed to damaged and stiff controls. She watch the fight the unfolded between the Cruxi Elite and Maria. Partly in awe of how both the Elite and Neo Angel moved. Partly in dread as the fight from her point of view seem mostly one sided. It was a sight would not soon forget, although for a reason she was blissfully unaware. Katya setting Caretaker sensors to the fight saving everything to detachable storage device she kept attached to Caretakers main computer core. So she could look at it in greater detail later.

She watched as Neo Angel was knocked back by a plasma weapon or what she had assumed to be. Katya not have a clear line of sight from her position. She had just reached Logic Gate, setting her drones to dismantle the modded werk, focusing on the access hatch. As she saw the Elite about to charge at Neo Angel. Katya raising Marker Light to take a couple of shots. Hoping to by Maria enough time to recover. But, much to Katya announce her targeting system was malfunctioning. So lining up the shot took longer then she would have liked.

Being given a positive lock she fired, but Caretaker pulled up at the last moment, and the shot missed its mark striking the ceiling. Out of anger, Katya slammed her fist in a control panel.
“Stupid werk.” she muttered, however even if she failed to hit the Elite it seemed by the look of it Maria had enough time to recover. Turning to Logic Gate Katya order Caretaker to set down Marker Light and using the werks hands she started to pull what she could off the werk she thought would get her inside quicker.

To get into Logic Gate was relatively quick process the drones working quickly as they quickly dismantled what was needed to fulfil their command. Once Logic Gate was opened up Katya was greeted to a sickening sight. One that gave her both the feeling of anger towards the Cruxi for doing what looked liked to be a horrific thing to Elora and concern hoping Elora was okay and would recover from her time as a P.O.W. Once she was able, Katya quickly ripped the glass tube away from Logic Gate. Scanning it, she could see what looked like to be the access point. So ordered the drones to dismantle it.

The drone made short work of the tubes access point. What came next was Katya making Caretaker delicately as possible extract Elora and place her inside the extraction sphere, and for a moment Caretaker once again felt like it was a mere extension of her body. Once Elora was secure inside the extraction sphere, she noticed the controls went back to feeling somewhat clunky although not as bad as before and most of her systems had started to function properly in particular her comm system had stopped acting up. A small smile appearing on her face, as she open a line on the command channel hoping the Hyperwave would be able reach the NOAH.
“This is Caretaker to command. Infiltration team as secured the first objective. I repeat Cadet Liu'un is secure.” she spoke into the comm. Ordering Caretaker to pick its rifle back up and look over to Neo Angel and the Elite. Seeing that Elite was no longer alive.
“Second objective as been destroyed. Team will attempt extraction. Any assistance that can be provided would be appreciated. Team, as suffered damage. Atty is nonfunctional. Will attempt to recover werk or extract pilot.” She spoke turning Caretaker towards Atty.

Katya made Caretaker started the trek back to Atty, pushing Caretaker to move quickly as it was able. Meanwhile redeployed the drones on Logic Gate to Neo Angle. While the rest were sent to Atty. To see if the werk could be back online and made to move. If not Katya was more than ready to extract Serah and leave the crippled frame behind. Even if she thought the machines themselves had value and it would be wrong to simply abandon Atty. She couldn’t risk the other life Caretaker was now transporting, in some vain effort to salvage a werk that might be too badly damaged. After redeploying her drones, she opened the comm to both Jake and Maria.
“Sorry for being quiet. I’m going to check if Atty is salvageable if not I’ll get Serah. Then we’ll attempt to withdraw.” She spoke, wanting nothing more than to out of this station.
“Both of you what’s your status?”

"This is Weissritter. I just made it in but my Neo Rifle's out of ammo...jesus..", Jake said as he saw the carnage throughout the room.

"...I'm guessing I missed the party...but then again, CWM's were trying to crash it", Jake than said over the line.

"...this...is...Neo Angel...I guess...I'm just alive."

Then, came some painful grunts from now Maria Twilight aka Angel. And yet, now with 100% sync rate, she felt every bit of pain she had taken from that deadly duel with the Cruxi Ace. The Neo Angel itself was also lying on it's back on the ground, it's damaged wings spread out.

"...Ma-er...I mean it's Maria now right?...did you just take down that Cruxi Elite?", Jake said in awe.

"...no...I got wrecked mostly...Caretaker's shot just gave me the opening and my T-...my defeneses held..."

Jake caught that part but didn't bother thinking about it for the moment. After all, "T" wasn't exactly alot to go on.

But again, it was all the "emotion" that he was hearing in Maria's voice that made Jake wonder if something else had happened to her mentally. Then again, this Cruxi sounded like it was screwing with everyone's minds in here.

"...Jake...I avenged mom...this was the Cruxi that killed her in a duel awhile ago...yet...this won't bring her back...it won't bring anyone...we lost...back..."

Then Jake heard something from Mai now Maria that he NEVER thought he would hear from her.

Maria started crying.

"No, I haven't heard anything ye-" Roger began to say to Krista in response to Krista when she inquired about the state of communications with the major. "Wait, I'm getting something." His face crinkled together as he strained to make out what was being said through all of the static. He unconsciously began to mouth the words being said as he was able to make them out.

"Leave you behind? Don't be a dumbass, Elise. Yeah, I've gotten a spot on her now, Krista. Let's get Prometheus back to base." A blatant sign of disrespect and ignoring a direct command from a superior? Sure, but he wasn't going to let somebody die for a dumb reason like stubbornly focusing on the mission above all else after the combat was over. He'd had enough of squad leaders dying on their first field mission with Sigma with Harold on Troas.

Back on the NOAH, Roger was assaulted with a complicated batch of feelings when he saw the state Elise was in. Part of him was simply astounded that she was even alive given her injuries. A larger, more significant part was a knot of anxiety that she would end up a cadaver. He didn't have a particularly friendly relationship with her or anything, but she'd be the first member of Squad Sigma to die slowly in view of everyone else. With Harold, everything happened so quickly that he didn't really have to come to terms with it until after all the fighting had resolved. Here, he would have to sit through and watch everything as it happened, and he wasn't sure how to handle that knowledge.

But the most powerful emotion he felt was rage towards the Cruxi. He desperately wished for a physical manifestation of the entire race that he could just punch in the face right now. It gave him a raw energy that he tried to keep under wraps by pacing back and forth in the hangar. If he stood still for longer than a minute his entire body would start to tremble, and standing around being a shaky bastard did nobody any good.

"That's it, that's it..." Devors mumbled to himself as he steadily inched closer to the barrier, watching the turrets blow up spectacularly one after the other. Seems like one of them was still alive after all that, but he wasn't going to have to worry about a single turret. Ranius is fast, not the fastest, but faster than mr. green scythe, especially in their current state. Avoiding the turret shot was gonna be a piece of cake, hell he might even make it blast the shield while he's at it. Especially considering that the shield was going to be the hardest part of this; Devors had no clue how tough it was. Not only that, he can't use anything too powerful for fear of blowing the whole damn station up- not that he would mind, but the team's still in there... and he had a gut feeling that some of the guys over on this side would really let him have it.

"Base speaking. Sargeant Steinhart has been recovered. Merge with the infiltration team and pull out, over."

"Tch!"

The man tightened the grip on his controls as he was reminded of Elise, well aware that what happened to her is his fault. He didn't have time for self-loathing though, but it did serve as a reality check that he needs to get serious. Thinking about blowing up the base was a no-go, so what was his next best option? EMP? Plasma? What kind of barrier was it, anyway? He could try to drop multiple bombs, but that runs the risk of expanding the blast radius, making it harder for Ranius to get out and avoid too much collateral...

*THUNK*

"AUCH!" Devors cried out in pain as something fell on his foot. Looking down, it was the bottle of liquid alcohol he still hadn't drained yet. Right, the hell was he doing? Thinking isn't his style. Drinking is, but grabbing the bottle at this point would create a swift and painless crash landing. So instead, all he had to do was trust his gut on this one, like he always did. With a smirk, Devors opened up his comms again.

"Alright ladies, laddies and Zeros! Come and watch the fireworks!"

He flicked open the case of a bright red button, but not the stereotypical 'Doom the world if you press' kind. No, these were just the EMP bombs he'd been saving up. And, to add to that, he wasn't going to quit with just that. He flicked open two more, this time to green and orange buttons housing plasma and more napalm respectively. Why bother having to choose what to make explode when you can have everything explode? It was gonna make for one hell of an escape flight, but Devors could pull it off. Hopefully.

Zim continued his evasive maneuvers around the turret fire as he started to close in on the last turret. His entire focus on simply moving forward without getting shot, but he was distracted for a moment, as was the turret, as Devors made his mad dash at the shield. Taking the opportunity to close in while the turret changed targets, Zim took aim and shot, curling back and away from the target, and avoiding getting any closer to the blast area. When the explosion started Zim stopped evasive maneuvers and focused on speed until he reached the simulated exit ring, at that point he started to circle back, looking for evidence that Devors made it out alive and that he was successful in taking down the shield. If that was the case, he would swap out the Omni-Rifle for the Thermal Scythe and continue the approach to the breach.

With the heavy hitters and Devors staying outside, and Jaeger and Hou-Yi returned with Prometheus, it left Zim and Sigma to go in and help extract the infiltration team. As Zim approached the entrance he activated the shield wall, providing cover as they entered into who knows what, and hoping that Sigma was close behind. The shield was designed in such a way that it would allow friendly fire to pass through the shield, giving the sniper mostly unobstructed cover for the approach. "Come on Black Star, hold it together for a little longer, we are almost through this," Zim said to his companion, he switched to Coms then, "Black Star, entering the station in search of the infiltration team. Sigma, your with me. Katya, Jake, Anybody from the infiltration team, can you hear me?"

He had called out to Katya and Jake hoping that their more sensitive equipment would pick up on the broadcast better, assuming that they were in good enough shape to function.

---

"Good luck, exfil. Paladin and I wouldn't fit, as he pointed out. We'll prepare the nasty little surprise for the Cruxi. Get out people out of there." Jason said before firing up ATS one more time. He then opened up a direct comm with Paladin. "Paladin, this is Ribasu. I'm getting ready to blow their station sky high, but I'm going to need your help to ensure job gets done. Advise you hand over targeting controls, ATS and Ribasu should be able to find a targeting solution to use the planet to slingshot our shots. Blow this base sky high. Over." He said before falling completely silent and awaiting the other pilot's response. As he waited, he watched the display before him as Ribasu tried to calculate a good trajectory for the shot.

Jason's target was simple, he wanted to aim for the center of the station, then try to spread Paladin's shots a bit. With any luck, they might manage to break the station in two, or hit something critical and send it up in flames. He decided to wait on charging his shot until he had control from Paladin, as Ribadu's Railgun could only hold a fully charged shot for so long, and we was fairly certain he didn't want to blow up the station with Serah still onboard. "NOAH, this is Ribasu. How's the sarge holding up? Also, once our people are out of the station, permission to blow that damn thing in two?" He asked as he waited on the targeting solution, as well as Paladin's response.

Ariin nodded. "Sounds like a good plan, I'd suggest a three volley rapid fire to ensure total annihilation. That will however melt the barrel. Two volleys might do it, but I'd overkill it then not accomplish the task, however I would be dead weight to the squad if the barrel melts down I'd have to evac. No point in having me hang around if I can't fight." He said sighing.

Moving the Paladin along slowly he moved to a good targeting point. "Sending targeting control over to you, be careful with the Pompey and remember to adjust for the weight of the shots. These are solid tungsten shells." He added, not wanting to over or undershoot the target. His mech might afforded him plenty of rounds so he need not worry about amount count as heavily but he did hate to miss shots.

With Roger's help, the Hou Yi managed to keep what was left of their commander's frame in as few pieces as possible. The entire time they spent bringing the wreck back to the NOAH was maddeningly quiet. No contacts on the HUD, no murmuring from the Hou Yi, only the seemingly muted instructions from the flight deck crew as they got closer and closer to landing. Every second they spend out there, Krista expected dozens of Cruxi contacts to suddenly light up her screen.

Once they got close enough, the NOAH's own systems took hold of Elise's wreck. Krista couldn't help but notice how similar the procedure was to salvaging operations she'd seen on her home-world. She followed the instructions of the control room to guide herself back into her loading bay, the others conspicuously empty. She had to remind herself that she was returning early, not alone. Once the final power tether locked onto Hou Yi's legs and his motor functions disabled, she slumped in her seat. Letting out a long shuddering breath, she waited for signal that it was safe to leave the cockpit. She watched techs secure the Priwen, ensuring it's integrity. She pressed her hands to her face, tearing up and muttering to herself. "Crap, Ah can't believe ah got through that."

The Hyperwave carried Katya's message clearly to NOAH, and she immediately got a response. "Understood, Caretaker. Black Star and Eiswolf are on their way. Extract the secondary objective and retreat." There was a moment of silence, followed by the channel opening again, and transmitting to the entire squad: "Sargeant Steinhart is heavily wounded but alive for now. Our scanners indicate that a vast number of Cruxi vessels are approaching the station, ETA 10 minutes 55 seconds. The front gate is about to be blown open, so escape through there. Permission to fire granted once the squad has left the station. Over."

The final Cruxi turret took aim at both Black Star and Ranius, but only a short volley of plasma was sprayed before it was destroyed. Devors dropped his combined payload including the EMP, and the electromagnetic effect passed through to the machinery once it was weathered down by the heavy ordnance, causing the barrier to dissipate. Eiswolf was aiming at the final turret, but then lowered the weapon when Zim got haead of her. "Affirmative. Following Black Star," she spoke in a monotone voice, although Zim recognized a bit of resentment in her tone.

The two Framewerks dashed through the front gates. It didn't take them long to find the infiltration team, as the trail was littered with the remains of Cruxi machinery. By this point the drones have made substantial repairs. Sigma gasped from the sight, having forgotten to turn off her comms, and immediately went to Logic Gate, or what was still left of the machine, and placed it over Eiswolf's shoulders. "We need to leave immediately before the station is blown to pieces. Weissritter, help Neo Angel out. Caretaker carries the Elite Cruxi, Black Star on Atty, and I'll bring LG. Move it!" She shouted, which was shocking of the otherwise calm clone.

"Understood," Zim said as he made his way to the collapsed frame on the ground, "Don't forget to put a collar on that thing, we don't want to take any chances!"

The added weight was going to be an issue, especially as Black Star was already working on a damaged leg. He tossed aside the shield projector, the omni-rifle, and the additional thrusters as he made his way over to Atty's broken form. "Let's go, partner, let's get her and everybody else home. Nobody dies this time," He said trying to encourage Black Star to take the extra weight of the fellow Melee Framewerk. Once Zim had Atty his Black Stars arms he tried to open a physical link through to Sarah. "Hey Sarah, you still with us in there? We are getting you out of here! Please respond!"

With his payload in hand Zim urged Black Star to make its escape, he had holstered his scythe but tried to keep the Wave Surger clear so he could discharge its finally re-charged battery if need be. If not, he would save it to hopefully clear away any debris from the space station on their escape if need be, or from when the station blows to try and keep the NOAH from any harm.

"Roger", Jake responded.

"Maria...come on. I'm still going to need you to cooperate with me here...can you stand?", Jake then asked as he manuvered Weissritter to Neo Angel.

"...Jake...thank you...I'm sorry that...your seeing me in such a state of-"

"Don't worry. I get it. Cruxi mind games to the extreme. Yeah I've heard stories that some can screw with your minds but first time I've seen the ugly results of it. Well talk later. Cruxi reinforcements are coming in less than ten minutes", Jake said, cutting off Maria.

"...no time to search for other P.O.W.'s or survivors...go figure...", Maira simply responded.

Jake watched as Neo Angel, somehow, get up to it's feet despite all the clear damage it had taken. He also heard alot of grunting and hissing from Maria.

"...Maria...just put up with it. Lean on Weissritter if you have to..."

It did and with Neo Angel in one arm and his Neo Rifle in the other, Jake then began escorting her out of this place.

"...Base...this is Maria Twilight...request to leave that Cruxi here. That bastard deserves to be incenerated."

Yet again, the emotion...but now he was seeing clear out anger behind that statement.

"Maria. We have our orders-", Jake began but was cut off.

"BULLS***! That..."thing" is not worth the trouble! All were doing is giving it another possibilty to get on our ship and do it's telekinesis on everyone again!"

"...first off, did you even SEE where it got struck? If I'm right, that's a Cruxi blade your holding Maria. And that gash on it...we'd be lucky if there's anything LEFT of that "thing" as you put it..."

As they continued, Maria was silent...but then spoke again along the way.

"...Base...Angel here...Sorry...but years of killing my emotions finally caught up to me...but I guess I should thank Elora for reviving them...even if I am a total mess..."

---

Listening to the communications, then noticing targeting controls had been passed over, Jason nodded towards the screen. Speaking first without activating any comms, he addressed his partner-in-crime. "Here's where we shine best buddy. If you can hear me Ribasu, I really need you to give it your all. Let's give these guys a hell of a sucker punch." He said, closing his eyes and letting out a calming sigh. Hoping to neutralize some emotions and fall deeper in synch with the frame. He began running the calculations for two volleys of the Pompey. Factoring in the mass of the shells, and gravity of the planet they were orbiting. It shouldn't be too long before a targeting solution would be found.

Then opening a comms channel to Paladin, Jason spoke clearly. "We're in space, bud. No weight, calculating for mass and gravity of the planet there instead. Be advised I'm firing two volleys, then I'll compensate by having Ribasu let loose a volley of missiles. Pompey and my missiles will be used to weaken a radius around the center. Then Moonbreaker will fire on a delayed shot, his center. Forces should tear that place clean in half. Then atmo leakage should take care of the rest." He said, flicking a switch and starting a full charge on Ribasu's AP shot. Time to show Sigma exactly where his weapon got the name 'Moonbreaker' from.

As the light from the mech's mighty railgun pulsed as the charge increased, Jason continued to lend Ribasu and the ATS his brainpower. Knowing it might not provide the most assistance, but figured calculations for targeting solutions would be that much easier. As his Moonbreaker's solution clicked in, Jason opened a comm to the whole squad. "Exfil, you got 10. Then I'm firing the volleys. Should provide enough time for the shots to hit the station before reinforcements arrive. NOAH, mind giving us a timer on that?" He said, warning of when they needed to be off of that station by. He let out another sigh then went back to focusing on the task at hand.

These bastards wouldn't know what hit them.

---

Hearing the channel open and a voice from the comm officer aboard the NOAH gave Katya a small sense of relief. They were told to leave and better yet they were getting reinforced. For a moment she the relief was something she was happy to feel. But it was short-lived as the comms opened up again with comm officer telling the team the Sargent had been badly injured and the in just over in 10 minutes the station was going to be surrounded by a Cruxi fleet.

To Katya she took they needed to hurry, or they’d be left behind or destroyed. Ethier fate sounding most unappealing. So she made her drone working on at double their pace focusing on power and life support. If they could though the front entrance she knew their escape route would be much short than the route in. So much so they might make it in time.

Katya had just managed to get her drones to restore power to Atty’s basic systems as Black Star and Eiswolf arrived. Katya pleased to have the back up as it would make escape so much easier. With badly damaged squadmates. Sure was unsure of their chances. There was still a bucket load of Cruxi in between her and the exit point. Cruxi she hoped that had just been cleared.

Katya was about to give out order when Sigma better her too it. The young woman scowling annoyed by how Sigma gave orders like she was in command. However, knew there was no time to make a point and tell her off. She was right, and her order where the identical to the ones she would have issued so let it slide.

So doing as she was told Katya made Caretaker walk over to the dead elite. Looking at it she gave it a cautionary poke with her rifle while scanning it. Just to make sure it was really dead. Not trusting it for a moment. Corps or not she would prefer to simply leave this thing behind. However, she could see the benefits of bringing it back. It would make for quite prize and the secrets it could unveil of Cruxi Technolgy were quite numerous. Part of Katya wishing she’d get spend a little time with remains to strip it and tinker. However knew that would never happen. Still, a girl could dream.

Pretty sure the elite was dead Katya went to grab her collar only to realise it was not where it should have been.
“Crap, no time to look for it. You had better be dead or not start doing weird things.” She muttered holstering her rifle into the mag lock that sat ran along the right side of Caretakers back. Hoping she wouldn’t need to fight given she was out of combat drones. So was defenceless without her rifle.

Making Caretaker squat down she made the werk grab hold of the dead Elite and brought it over Caretaker left shoulder. Using both hand to keep hold of it and keep it stable. With that she brought Caretaker back to full height. Listing to the servo motors in the werks legs whine and groan and Caretaker stood, struggling to get the werk up right with the extra weight. Once upright Katya made Caretaker move as quickly as the machine could manage. Hoping the extra weight would not slow the werk too much. Katya having no wish to die on some station surrounded by Cruxi.


The Drones on Atty kept working away at the battered werk. Katya not bothering to recall them. Having restored power to Atty’s basic systems, the drones had started to follow the basic repair program fixing anything they could find as best they could. One drone following this soon found itself on Black Star detecting the damaged leg. Although unable to properly repair with werk on the move drone started to do what it could.

-Will be replaced by the real post later, whoops-
BAD AIM STRIKES AGAIN

For the first time, Zim heard a strange sound coming from Black Star as it lifted the other Framewerk; like some kind of mechanical groan, barely audible. The damaged leg slipped under him, unable to bear the wight, and the machine dropped to a single knee. However, thanks to a single repair drone that Caretaker had assigned to fixing Black Star's legs, the leg was brought to working condition. Black Star managed to stand, his arms carrying the smaller machine. Atty's fractures were also mended, the repair drones quickly welding the surrounding scrap metal to replace broken servos and armor plates; they were running on overdrive mode, and sparks of electricity could be seen from them as they overclocked themselves nearly to malfunction. But, Atty was restored mostly back to normal.

"Affirmative. Adding countdown, T-minus 10 M." Ritsu spoke in response to Zim's request, and a timer was added to everyone's huds, counting down. With Black Star in the lead, the Framewerks lumbered away with their heavy loads; while slower than was preferable, Sigma believed they woukld make it in time, even as the 10-minute mark grew nearer. Just as time was about to run out, they were ambushed by a a corridor filled with Cruxi mechs that have emerged from other parts of the station, but Zim was ready; he unleashed the Wave Surger, and it filled the corridor with blazing energy that ripped the opposition asunder. The Framewerks outside saw the beam of energy cut a hole through the space station. The Framewerks launched out of the hole, practically throwing themselves into the void of space just as reality around the station seemed to shift.

Countless Cruxi ships and mechs suddenly jumped into existence, and surrounded the space station. They even included a Cruxi Juggernaut, the Cruxi's mightiest class of warship, equipped with orbital cannons that could lay waste to entire colonies with a single blast. The Framewerks fled as fast as they could, aiming to reach NOAH's safety before Operation Slingshot would be commenced. It was then that Elise suddenly groaned, and turned her head, her teeth grit as she endured the immense pain: a single eye forced itself to open and look through her broken, bloody visor at a nearby video feed of the station, determined to see what would happen. "...For...For Papa..."

As the sound of what Zim previously would have assumed was metal fatigue, rattled up through the cockpit of Black Star, Zim started to think about the hard choices he might have to make in order to survive. Thankfully, Katya was one step ahead of him and already had a repair drone working on the Damaged leg. Zim waited patiently for the readings to at least go yellow in order to return the leg back to use. "Thanks, Katya, your drone works wonders, now let's get out of here!" Zim said through the comms.

Getting no response from Serah or Atty, Zim contemplated his options. Ultimately, Zim decided it would be best to at least bring back the frame and the body for closure and proper funeral rites, so he continued on with the load. Just as he decided this the corridor before hi. Filled with Cruxi war machines, unleashing the wave surger, Black Star and the other frames chased the beam of energy out into the permanent night sky of open space.

Black Star's sensors started to fire off in warning of heavy tackion particles and graviton waves. The space around the werk started to visibly warp as empty space was filled with foreign matter. "We gotta go, people!" Zim said as he realized what was happening. Their estimate of incoming Cruxi reinforcement was a bit too optimistic. There was no time for evasive manuvers, especially while loaded down with the weight of a second frame. All that Zim and Black Star could do was push their limits and try to close the gap with NOAH as soon as possible. He was really regretting removing the extra boosters from the assault pack...

---

The universe had seemed to grow still, as if holding its breath. The timer slowly ticked down, and yet nobody emerged from the station. The boy's eyes focused on the red numbers idly ticking away, as the firing solutions for his attacks were locked in. Nobody emerged. Where the hell were they?! Each tick sounding like the strings of fate being cut, just like in those ancient myths he'd loved growing up. Stories of heroes fighting monsters, doing the impossible. Of Gods and Goddesses. Something so different form the world in which he lived, it allowed him to explore something completely alien. It had fascinated him.

Shaking his head, the boy grumbled as he pushed Ribasu to its limits. The timer was running low, and he had to prepare to blow the station to bits. Damn it, where the hell were they? Just as the countdown hit ten, he watched a brilliant light rip through the side of station. Like a thunderbolt from the Gods in the stories of old. The frameworks scrambled out, quickly trying to get away as space bent and suddenly a Cruxi fleet arrived. Looking at the overwhelming force, Jason swallowed for a moment. Doubting if he had what it took to keep the fight going. One of those massive ships was here, the same type he had watched on Tv as it blew his home apart. If the Cruxi could afford to send that among the fleet, could he really even fight back?

Just then, he picked up the transponders of the friendly frames coming in. One in particular stood out, Atty. Reminding him exactly why he had to fight, to protect those he could. Avenge those he couldn't, and prevent a similar fate from falling on anybody else. His eyes narrowed on the massive fleet and the station. Allowing himself to call into an uneasy calm, hoping to deepen his bond with Ribasu, Jason waited until he wasn't at risk of hitting a friendly units. Then the boy pulled the trigger, unleashing a vicious attack.

First firing off Paladin's weapons, two salvos as he had promised before. Aiming to rip around the planet and give a nice spread to weaken the Cruxi station. Soon after, with Ribasu's Moonbreaker glowing brilliantly at full power; Jason fired again. This time it was his own unit's weapon. The whole frame shook and jets fired all along the body to compensate for the recoil as the armor piercing round tore through the void. Following a similar trajectory to the salvo shots, Ribasu's weapon was aimed to land roughly in the center of the impact zone.

Finally, and knowing fully that he might be at his limits, Jaosn set up two salvos of 20 rockets each, for a delayed fire towards the station. Hoping ATS, himself, and Ribasu combined had enough power to squeeze off this final attack in such a short timeframe. Hoping he would utterly destroy the station and the new fleet, and in doing so help protect his allies. But importantly, protect Serah.

---

Katya watched as Black Stars damaged leg gave out. Turning her attention to the drone that started to work on the damaged leg mere seconds later. Katya pleased her Eden where doing their job so admirably. Even if they merely operating automatically, she could not help but feel the smallest amount of satisfaction seeing them work. Even if this was not time or place for such feelings.
As the drone worked on the Black Stars legs, Katya gave it a little extra guidance. Inputting commands to work on particular parts of the leg that she knew vital to its use. Ordering the drone to cannibalise needed components from less vital sections of the leg. Aware it would not function as well, but right now time was of the essence, so long as it worked Katya didn’t care.

Seeing Black Star stand Katya was pleased to hear Zim thank her, well her drone.
“Don’t thank it yet, the leg still could give out again.” she replied as she moved Caretaker to follow Black Star. Trying her best to ignore the sounds of her werks legs servomotors whine and groan form hauling the extra weight. Her HUD telling her the werk was over weight.
“I know your suffering, just hold for 10 more minutes, and I’ll see to it you get nice maintenance overhaul.” Katya spoke to her werk running her hand along the top of control panel. Katya hoping offering the werk a reward would be enough to keep Caretaker going. Long enough to get off the station. Once in space, it was all down to her thrusters. Which she was sure up to the task in the weightlessness of space.

When Ambushed Katya thought for a moment that was the end. Only to see Zim fire Black Stars Waver Surger. Giving them an open path and way off the station. So without any hesitation Katya made Caretaker follow Black Star. Entering the void of space with a leap with perfectly timed activation of Caretakers thrusters. Katya pushing the werks thrusters to full power. Seeing there was little time left before the Cruxi ships arrived.

Although much to her surprise as reality seemed to shift mere seconds after she was off the station. Watching in a mix of horror and surprise as the Cruxi fleet warped in. Multiple alarms blaring as the Cruxi fleet appeared.
“THAT WAS NOT TEN MINUTES!” she shouted as looked at the Cruxi Juggernaut on her screen. Caretakers sensors focusing on it due it being recognised as a high-level threat.
“Ancestors they’re not messing around.” she muttered working the controls to pusher Caretakers thruster beyond safety limits. Aware would damage Caretaker, but to Katya, it was better to damage her werk then face the wrath of the massive Cruxi vessel.

With the sounding of another alarm Katya pushed Caretaker thrusters beyond their saftey limits. The werk accelerating, with Katya hoping her and the rest of the squad would make it back to the NOAH before the Cruxi opened fire.

Both Neo Angel and Weissritter were following with the group as best as possible. Of course, it didn't surprise Jake that there were still Cruxi still around. But he was thankful that Black Star had one ace in the hole left with that incredible attack he saw.

"...keep...moving...", Maria slowly said over the line.

Then, the group finally managed to get into the vaccum of space as they left the station the same way they came in...and were greeted by the Cruxi fleet.

“THAT WAS NOT TEN MINUTES!”

, Katya roared.

"I said "under" ten ma'am!", Jake yelled back.

Then Jake got a warning from one of his two remaining recon drones that were left outside the station.

The plan to destory the station was now commencing.

"Oh sh-EVERYONE! HEAD TOWARDS HOME BASE AND BRACE YOURSELVES!", Jake roared.