With the situation about the assault pack decided Zim was told to get some rest. So he did.

Or at least he tried.

Zim went back to his bunk, saw himself in the mirror for the first time and realized that he was still in his formal uniform. He stripped down to his undergarments and plopped down on the thin mattress, he stared up at the ceiling until his eyes were dry, his body motionless, his face emotionless. However, his mind was running a mile a minute, trying to recall as much about his home planet as possible. It had been a few years sense he left the planet for work, but he still remembered the various landmarks used for navigating the crowded megacities of the capital districts. He pushed past the landmarks, trying not to linger on their histories, and plotted out where he remembered the shelter entrances to be. He would check the mission database while waiting to deploy to see if they had that information already on file. If not, then he would take the time to highlight those areas on the map to hopefully prevent collateral damage in those areas. What else was there? What else could Zim tell them that he hadn't already told them about his home planet that might help them in the mission? There was so much he had never told them, but there was so much that wasn't relevant to the mission that Zim was having a hard time sorting through it all.

His alarm went off, telling Zim to get ready to deploy. He slipped on his athletic gear and he went to the hanger. The skin tight plug suit went on without issue. Zim grabbed his helmet and made his way over to Black Star.

Once on board Zim started the initialization process. His dry eyes straining to focus. Quietly, Zim gripped the controls while he waited for the start up checks to complete, he whispered, "If ever there were a time for you to help me out, it would now, partner. This mission is to save my planet, maybe even my own family... I know that I am not fully in the right state of mind, but I would never be able to forgive myself if I didn't do something. It's thanks to Princess Elizabeth and Katya that I am even able to deploy, let alone be able to use the assault pack. But I can't do anything, not without you."

The system check completed Zim dug into the database to see if they had a complete map of where the shelters were at. If there was already a file on it then Zim would call out on the channel to tell everyone else to load the file in to their nav system. If there wasn't an existing file than Zim would do his best to mark the areas on the map himself.

"Black Star is showing all green," Zim responded to Katya's call for an update. He moved to mount Black Star into one of the Egg Drop Ships, waiting for his opportunity to go out there an hurt some Cruxi. As he sat in the dark space of the egg ship Zim swallowed hard. This mission was harder than anything he had to do before. Besides the technical difficulty of doing and atmospheric drop into a combat zone, this mission actually meant something to Zim. Leviticus was just another planet, the teraformers were making planets like that all the time, so preventing the take over there was a matter of saving a few billion lives. The assault on the station was the first time that the humans had been able to fight back and win on an assault mission. We were able to rescue Elora and capture a high value target. Despite this, it meant little to Zim. Now, however, this was his planet. His family. So if the mission failed, it wasn't just Zim's death, it meant the death of nearly everyone he has ever known- if they weren't already dead. A slight shiver ran down Zim's spine.

Was it a chill or was it nerves?

It was hard to say...

---

Anastasia listened in as everybody checked themselves in after the journey to their operation zone. As she halfway listened, the girl hummed to herself and pulled whatever information she could get access to on the others' werks down to learn about their capabilities. Meanwhile, she shifted in the antigravity field that held her suspended within the Tayna cockpit. She couldn't actually see her comrades out the front of the cockpit, being housed in a separate unit to maintain the Tayna's secrecy for just a little bit longer. Once they arrived, the Tayna was already analyzing the battlefield below, borrowing the NOAH's sensors to pick targets. Identifying a single unit that seemed to be on its own for the moment, and even away from what she could guess to be where friendly units or civilians might be, she started running the calculations. Anastasia attempted to mentally prepare herself for the battle that was no doubt coming, given that it would be her first. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment and let herself merge with the machine she was piloting. Allowing her mind to assist in the calculations as she felt a familiar embrace, almost if from an old friend, all around herself while the procedure continued. A way to calm herself, as the calculations were easy to handle and emotionless. They carried no fear with them, no threat of imminent destruction and an abrupt end to the life she had so recently gotten a taste of for the first time. Something she was not willing to give up.

A small beeping in the back of her mind made the girl suddenly aware of the fact that the calculations had finished, and her path was locked in. A chilled breath left her lips as she could feel goosebumps and something building in her gut. Unease? Something like that. Fear? Most certainly. Before engaging her piloting controls once more, Ana quickly slapped herself hard across the face. Using the pain to focus herself on the task at hand, she couldn't even afford seconds of self-doubt or anything to cloud her mind during the drop. As she shoved her hands forwards into the holographic gauntlets floating in the air, the girl could hear and feel her werk coming to life. Deep within its core, the alien drives that powered the experimental behemoth let out a dull whine before sharply increasing in pitch, then falling silent as they settled into themselves. Lights flickered on within the cockpit, painting it a dull green before they shut back off and various holographic screens appeared around her head. Looking through the status of all parts of the werk she once more nodded then pushed away all screens except those relevant to combat. "воин." She said softly to the werk as the whole cockpit brightly illuminated for but a moment before darkening again in acknowledgment. Her werk online, she let out a sigh as she reached forward and grabbed the antimatter rifle hanging just in front of the Tayna, a signal which caused her little hangar to start decompressing.

Anastasia waited, the decompression finishing just moments before they got the command to drop. Of course, by that time the girl had already loosed her werk and was about to disembark. Opening up the comms channel, Anastasia addressed her squad quickly. "Пусть Бог следит за нами. Tayna, deploying for maximum impact landing." The girl said, as her werk left the ship she added once final comment. "Извините Катя", knowing the member it was aimed towards would understand her words as she left before Katya gave the orders to the squad. Rocketing down through the atmosphere, Anastasia closed her eyes once more to assist in the moment to moment calculations, allowing the raw data to flow before her eyes instead of using the visual method to judge her distance. The Tayna's Anti-Gravity Generators occasionally firing to control the speed and course of the fall. She was coming in fast, but not wanting to go off like a nuclear bomb or lose her life. Instead aiming for a fast landing, with a rather destructive side effect for her chosen victim. Altitude numbers flashed before her eyes as the girl's fall continued and she aimed towards her target. Suddenly the numbers "flashed" within her mind and her eyes flew open. With a few motions of her hands, she activated the powerful phase shift engine within the werk. The very atoms that made up her werk suddenly changed their properties to make the werk able to sustain the impact that would occur in the next few seconds. It was now or never...

---

Jake and Elise

Jake sat inside his framework, Weissritter. His eyes were closed. Thinking. Trying to make sure he did his part to keep his team not only safe but aware of the battle conditions, situation and of course, information.

He may not the strongest of his family, the Armstrongs, but he still had enough of the brains to not do anything stupid. To show good teamwork. Synenergy.

Now, with Elise's help, he was going to show it.

"This is Jake Armstrong in the Weissritter. Ready to deploy. Bridge. Is Elise ready to go?", Jake then asked on the comm line.

Jake heard Elise's voice on the other side. "Affirmative! I'm on the bridge, and deplyoing REC-1," she said, a code phrase coined to describe their plan with using the drones. "Whenever you're ready."

"Roger. Stand by. Looks like we still have to sort out who gets the assault packs here. Not me though. Being the sniper and all..."

Jake did trail off a bit there. He just seemed to think about something.

He then switched to a private line so that only Elise and perhaps others in the bridge area could hear them.

"Elise...were on a private line. I just wanted to ask some stuff before we get rough. For me, such a question is out of the blue but...what did you do to achieve a perfect sync with your framework?", Jake then asked.

Elise was quiet for a moment, and then answered: "...It's because of my father." She seemed somber as she spoke those words. "He was the one who built Prometheus, well, at least the important parts of it. Even after mom died, he continued supporting me. I was proud to be her daughter. He has always been there for me...Even now."

"...I see...the bonds that keep us together...to keep us going...makes sense. It's also one of the reasons why many within the military use terms like "may your souls be as strong as steel" or similar sayings leading to that", Jake responded.

Jake was quiet for a few second before he spoke.

"...Elise...I'm sure you've heard about my military family the Armstrongs. But I'm also sure you've heard rumors about a "black sheep" of the family...it's because I didn't quite live up to the military expectations. Sure, I'm perceptive and smart but with my low sync, I'm not exactly the best in the family. And...unlike you, I've had trouble getting along with my family members...well mostly my mom and dad..."

A pause before Jake spoke again.

"Sadly, I couldn't patch things up with my dad...he was K.I.A...and...my mom suffered a rare sync fault against a Cruxi Ace unit that keeps her sync at zero percent no matter what she did. Still, she was re-assigned to a battleship and is now leading it as it's captain and a team of Frameworks on missions currently...but being in a military family...it's tough holding attachments to anything...but I've managed somewhat..."

Jake let out a sigh before he finished his story.

"...after all...in a war as brutal as this and being in a military family, your life expectancy isn't exactly "great"..."

Elise sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. I bet most people here have sad stories, but yours is one of the worse ones. Yeah, I've heard of the Armstrongs; they're famed for their contributions to the war effort."

"Yep...rain, shine or even blood...we gave it our all for the sake of humanity...though you were wrong when you said that we were nothing more than a stat in general...were actually a stall tatic...from frameworks to cloning like the homonculus...hell, I've even heard a rumor that there are even robots with human feeling being tested in secret...high command is just trying to find something to end this war...but how long before it happens or it ends up biting us in the ass I wonder..."

Taking a deep breath, Jake then said this.

"And not just the Armstrongs...Mai's mother was the one of the few pilots who helped break that mold for a time...and...well you thought my story was bad, Mai's was worse...when her mom was shot down, high command were desperate for someone who had her abilities...they pressured her into framework combat testing...then came the Helldivers...her split personality problem...doing whatever she was told to do...now this..."

Jake then cleared his throat before he said, "The reason I look out for her because she's like family to me. Hell, even her mom was kind to my family members back in the day. But now...she's got all sorts of pressure on her again. A new mind set. A new sync that she's never experienced before...a new outlook on life I suppose..."

Jake was quiet before he then said this.

"Elise. Do me a favor and keep an eye on her for me during this fight. I'm sure you, your busty wingmen and drunk wingmen would even say that just because your perfect sync doesn't mean your invincible. Mai's seen plenty of combat sure but not in this state of mind and not on this sync level."

"Acknowledged," Elise said. "Assuming radio silence. Over."

The moment the fleet dropped their payload of deadly fireworks, Ritsu's voice came on with a scream: "GO GO GO!"
And so, one by one, Framewerks dropped out of NOAH, locked into the Deep Strike pods that descended down from the void of space. The eggs were designed to absorb the intense heat of entering the atmosphere, but even so, the rate of acceleration and inertia of air molecules was too much for mere constructs of metal to handle; the pilots could feel their cockpits turn hot, like a sauna, as the eggs caught on fire. Were it not for great explosions around them, caused by surface-to-air defenses shooting down the mass of explosives that masked their arrival, the Cruxi would have seen them as bright meteors, raining down divine fury.

However, not everything went as planned; some plasma obliterator shots connected to bombs that veered too close to Paladin's pod. Though the pod absorbed the damage, it caused a knockback that sent him veering off course. The pod began spinning vertically, no more optimal in absorbing the impact of hitting the planet's surface. With an earth-splitting crash, Paladin's pod hit the landing zone on it's side, causing Paladin to take the hit straight the Frame's shoulder and hip. When Ariin next came to, the Framewerk was lying sideways, covered by the pod as plasma shots rang around him.

Anaya was the next one to arrive, and used Tayna's Phase Shift to ingenious effect, strengthening the Frame's endurance for the next few seconds, just before impact. She recognized a faint red blip in her sensors, and aimed for that, causing another great quake from the mighty slam. Anaya hardly shook in her seat, the Phase Shift having absorbed the impact force instead of her Frame. She immediately recognized the scattered parts of Cruxi technology that flew into the air around her, having made a crunching sound; she just successfully goomba stomped a Cruxi.

Ariin could immediately tell from the increased difficulty in lifting his Framewerk back up that the planet's gravity was higher than usual; he couldn't help but slouch over at first, his entire body feeling heavier than before. Anaya was mostly unaffected, her metallic body easily able to withstand the effects, but the others also felt it as they climbed out of their Deep Strike pods. "Careful out there!" Ritsu's voice sounded over the comms. "Remember your high-grav training!"

As the Framewerks set up defenses around their landing zone and identified the enemy forces around them, they could tell that the Cruxi had adapted to the atmospheric challenges: there were 6 Cruxi Beasts at the front-lines, just like back in Leviticus, but instead of tentacles they had bulging muscles with orange veins running across them. They resembled gorillas as they dragged their knuckles before them, running at a fearsome speed by using all their limbs to propel themselves forward. There were 10 squads of CWM with three members to each one, some taking cover behind the planet's defensive structures, and others on the move, attempting to flank them. At the far back, there were new Cruxi creatures; a mix of tortoise and turret, they lumbered slowly forwards, carrying giant shells that concealed heavy weaponry such as anti-matter cannons and flux vaporizers. When they reached position, they withdrew their limbs in their shells, and turned their weaponry, bringing them to bear against the squad. "Take out those cannons!" Ritsu screamed in the comms. "But watch your six out there!"

With a thunderous roar Zim returned home. The soft tangerine sky, blotted by the fires of destruction, the calm chaos of the megacities was replaced by the true chaos of combat. Zim felt the familiar embrace of gravity from his home planet, it hit him like a brother, always hitting the same spot, he knew it was coming, but it still hurt just a little bit. "Slow your breathing," Zim said through the coms, "Keep your words to a minimum, until acclimated, save your oxygen." The sweet from the decent dripped from Zim's face inside his helmet. He did a quick scan of the readouts, still green. High Gravity Orbital Drop into a Deep Strike in enemy controlled territory. Checked off the bucket list.

"Take out those canons," Zim heard Ritsu call out to the squad. Zim looked at his screen, he could get to the cannon on the right, but he would have to make it past two combat lines, and it would leave Valeria and Redeemer to hold the line. Not to mention the promise Zim made with Katya. For now he would wait for the ranged support from Paladin and Hou-Yi.

"Looks like it's time," Zim said to his Werk, "Welcome to my home planet, let's get to work."

Zim activated the ATS and braced for the impact of the thrusters.

"You're about to do something stupid, aren't you," Zim heard through the coms. It was Elizabeth, her heavy breathing could be heard through the coms. She targeted Black Star and attached one of her three Orbital Deflectors. "Try not to die."

Zim could see the faint lines of the orbital deflectors as they started spinning around the attached Werk. He hesitated for only a moment, and then the moment to hesitation had passed, the thrusters kicked in moving Zim directly forward to I8, Zim swung the Thermal Scythe at the Brute, aiming to move past the beast with the extreme speed given by the thrusters intended to move long distances and take off the head in a clean jerk of the Scythe, using the longer reach of the Scythe to stay out of the reach of the Gorilla like beasts. If successful, Zim would then turn his attention to the Brutes in H7 and G6, Firing off the first battery reserve of the Tidal Wave Surger (two of three rounds remaining in the quick charge), moving the weaponized hand in a sight arc to catch them while they continued to move forward, hoping to catch all three Brutes on the east wing of the front line. He still had momentum to move if he needed to move back out of range of the line of CWM.

Meanwhile Ojo maneuvered into position to be ready to evade incoming attacks, and prepare the Star Gazer to redirect incoming attacks. She focused her attention on attacks that would be coming from the three Turtle units. If possible she would redirect their attacks back into their own allies. She had already plotted out the preferred trajectories, if the East attacked first, she would try to down the attack in I6, similarly, if the West attacked first then she would try t down the attack in B6. These two seemed the most likely to attack, as her assumption was that the Northern turtle didn't have enough range to reach them in their current set up, plus the center of the squad was still positioned behind Paladin's Shield, or would be once he was ready to deploy it. However, in the event that it did attack, she would similarly try to down it into D6.

TLDR: OJO Equips BLACKSTAR with Orbital Defenders(2/3 remaining), Prepares for Evasive Maneuvers and Deflection of Attacks from Turtles.
BLACKSTAR moves to I8, use Scythe on Beast, uses Tidal Wave Surger (2/3 remaining) on other Beasts in G6 and H7, prepares to Evade.

---

When the order to drop was given, Katya felt her heart start to beat away in her chest. The young pilot taken in deep breaths as she commanded her werk to leap from the ship. Focusing on keeping her werk under control as it plummeted through the atmosphere. Katya mostly enjoying the intense heat inside her cockpit as for a moment it reminded her of her own home.

The werk landed without incident and Katya was quick to make Caretaker climb out of pod. Katya able to feel the extra weight in her arms and chest and feel it in the way Caretaker climbed out of the pod. Katya doing her best to follow the captain's advice and did her best to remember her high-grav training. Not that she had ever used it outside of the simulations before. Making Katya wonder just how well she’d adjust, but quickly pushed the thoughts aside.

As the captain gave the orders to take out the Cruxi heavy weapons, Katya looked at her map trying to work out some sort of game plan. However, for the moment she could not see anything besides engaging the Cruxi line and trust the squad to work together. Confident that they would.
“Your heard the Captain! Everyone work together push forward! Do whatever it takes to kill these Cruxi quickly.” Katya shouted as she moved her werk forward to join up with Paladin. Having seen the werk on its side when she landed but Arinn seemed to have righted the werk.
“ Hey, Ariin you Paladin alright?” she asked concern lining her words.
“When you can I need you to target those heavy Cruxi.” she quickly added without giving him time to respond. Katya moving to take cover expecting the Cruxi beasts to come surging forward. Katya not wanting pit Caretaker against one in hand to hand combat. As they looked like they’d tear Caretaker apart. So she took cover and readied her rifle the moment something came into range she’d open fire or at the very least wait until something moved closer.

---

Waiting for the order to drop filled Valéria with a sense of anticipation. The pilot eager to take fight to the Cruxi. To her it was time to earn a little payback for the loss of her home, arm and the family she had lost when Ageis was taken by the Cruxi. Having not fought the Cruxi since the fall of the station.

When the time came Valéria dropped when it was her turn. Redeemer hitting the ground with deafening crash as the heavy werk landed in the middle of a destroyed building. The werk tearing through rubble like it was paper. Valéria taking a deep breath as she began quickly checking the werk systems over. She had not expected to land in building but was pleased she was on the ground and Redeemer’s checks showed the werk in good shape.
“Now let's see what you can do.” she thought taking her controls firmly commanding the werk forward. Clearing the building, stopping to see. The map showed as Blackstar which Valéria knew was operated by Zim. Had was already engaging with the Cruxi beasts.
“Brother Hero, you fight well. I’ve got your back. Let's drive these Cruxi back.” she spoke bringing Remeemders shields online the air around the werk to shimmer. Valéria feeling wary as she brought the werk laser repeater up ready to engage anything that came near the werk.

---

Her gambit seemed to having paid off, Anastasia began processing the information pouring in from her Tayna's sensors. Directly to her north was a CWM Squad while to the east was a Cruxi beast. Behind her was Neo Angel, the mech of a squad member she wasn't particularly known with but knew the name of the machine from the info-jack at the base of her skull. Of course, there were also the two CWMs to either side of herself. Likely they wouldn't be terribly happy with her entrance and dispatching one of their buddies. Right. Not a problem for the young Android, or so she hoped. All this information processed in mere microseconds, Ana's eyes flashed open, about the same time her mech was recovering from the maneuver she now designated as Titanfall. As her anti-grav drives kicked in, a low and utterly alien rumble echoed across the field of battle. One that had more in common with Cruxi machines than it did with human machines. All around her the rubble from her destroyed opponent seemed to stop falling as multiple spikes that seemed to make wings came up to float behind the machine. Seemingly able to sustain themselves with no control what so ever. In between each of the blades, a white-blue energy glow made another spiked shape and released a low hum at the same frequency as the alien roar from moments ago. The Tayna showing its alien heritage proudly, surely creating an odd scene for the pilots if any noticed the clearly alien machine with a friendly transponder code attached to it instead of one that was usually reserved for the Cruxi units.

Being in a tight spot, Anastasia decided it was best to go on the offense in the hopes of catching the enemy offhand. Floating in her cockpit, Ana looked towards a specific light in the upper right of her cockpit. Immediately the Phase Shift drive kicked into high gear, changing the makeup of the Framewerk to enhance the physical strength and speed of the massive Weapon. Immediately she surged the mech forwards, reaching out with both arms with the simple goal of grabbing the two CWM's near her and hurling them back into the squad to her North. The girl even fired up her anti-grav propulsion to give an extra fire to power her throw. Then she opened comms to Neo Angel. "Neo Angel! Detonate the thrown Cruxi or give me some cover!" The android commanded in an oddly calm tone, aiming to take out two squads for the price of one. She knew that the maneuver might put her Tayna in a vulnerable position for the enemy, so hopefully a bit of shock and awe could keep her opponents off of her long enough to find a better mission. Afterall, she had to live through this coming battle. Otherwise who else would help take care of her silly old dad whenever his old bones were acting up? That, and the girl would be lying if she denied the fact that she was enjoying getting to give the enemy a taste of destruction. They had hurt too many of the silly humans, and even worst they deigned to hurt her father in some way. Which, really, was the drawing point for Anastasia. Hopefully, her second gambit would pay off...

---

> Tayna lands and powers up to show off its alieness
> Ana activates strength and speed enhancing Phase shift
> Ana uses full turn and movement to try to throw the remainder of the cruxi squad into the squad in square A7
> Ana uses Anti-Grav propulsion boost for attempted extra throw power
> Ana tries to get Neo Angel to attack thrown Cruxi, chain reactions OP

Ariin had started the drop in high spirits, it was about twenty seconds in he realized that was a bad sign but there was one bright side as the pod veered wildly, he had skipped breakfast so at least he wasn't going to puke. Slamming down on the ground, he knew how to compensate for the gravity and such but he hadn't expected such a hard landing, he grabbed the small drone in the cockpit just before his head slammed into the hard metal side of the cockpit and he blacked out. With a ringing in his ears, he blinked the world felt heavy, everything blurred and unfocused. Distant noise of someone speaking, as he fought to breathe properly coughing hard. Paladin's drone opened comms as he coughed again.

"Fuck that hurt..." He groaned as touched his forehead, blood soaking his hair it was already red he figured it wouldn't affect the color too much. "Possible broken rib... Maybe a concussion, I'm okay let's get it done." The young cyborg answered as he fought the controls to make Paladin stand up, the armored goliath moved to kneel. He grumbled. "Systems are green, possible stress damage but I should be good for a fight." He gave another hard cough, as usual, he didn't plan on saying how it really hurt.

Paladin's shield folded out as the werk stood up, it was a damn near valiant display considering how badly the landing had gone. The heavily armored work shield deployed ports as the Phalanx system came on, he leveled Pompey at Cruxi Beasts. "Smile you sons of bitches." Letting off a volley at a Cruxi war beast then retarget and taking another shot. Ariin had range on them and more importantly the ability to put a hole in anything that pissed him off, and currently? The pain was great at motivating him to be pissed off at the Cruxi.

---

Paladin got up, deployed shield and fired shots at D6 and C7 Cruxi Beasts. Ariin also bitched about getting hurt again.

Maria

For Maria, even under a new mind set, combat on this level isn't anything new to her. But she also knew something else that she told no one else.

With a new mind set, a new sync and perhaps a new way to look at things, she was about to experience something new.

But if "Seven" and even Elora herself felt that this was for the best for her...

Seeing the fighting start, Maria readied her laser sniper rifle. She was about to take a shot at the turtle Cruxi on her side when she got a call on her comm line.

"Neo Angel! Detonate the thrown Cruxi or give me some cover!"

"...Understood! Be advised! My L.S. Rifle may pack a kick to whatever you have planned!", Maria responded to cadet Anastasia.

Seeing what she was attempting to do, Maria stood by, read to fire either at the group of Cruxi she was trying to cluster up or perhaps targetting anything close to her.

Jake

As Jake landed, he immedately dropped to one knee and started taking aim. He then heard the chatter about Paladin taking a bad landing. Just by the sound of Ariin's voice, Jake knew it wasn't good.

"Elise! Palladin's not a hundred percent! I'm going to provide sniper fire for him! Use Rec-1 to highlight anything that goes after him or if Paladin himself targets an enemy Cruxi and I'll give him a hand!"

Holding his current position, Jake set his rifle to energy shots and took aim.

"Also let me know if you need another drone. I got four more left", Jake added to Elise.

Roger Rooney had spent enough time piloting the Yeager, both in virtually and in reality that he had become as accustomed to the high G forces sustained as one could. That aspect of the trip down was easily managed. More cumbersome was the heat. He had rarely ever maintained his boosters acceleration enough to accrue the friction needed to create and maintain the temperatures in the cockpit. His home planet was not nearly warm enough, let alone humid enough to create this kind of atmosphere. It was like sitting in the machine equivalent of a busy locker room. Were it not for the circumstances, he would have opened up the cockpit to air it out, but he'd have to deal with it for the duration of the mission. At least he had the solace of knowing that he wouldn't have the presence of mind to think about it for long.

With the ground fast approaching, Rooney angled his boosters downward and lightly activated them in quick spurts. Each split second blast enough to slow its descent until it landed about as softly as a giant robot could hope to manage without resorting to gravity manipulation. He knew it could handle a rougher impact, but he was at enough risk of whiplash as it was.

On the ground, Rooney decided it would be better to take stock of the situation before acting. First thing they needed to do was deal with the beasts bum rushing them and then break the line, but an unconcerted effort would see them quickly overwhelmed by superior numbers. The others seemed to be targeting the flanks first, not surprising, but he might as well contribute to the attack before he got targeted, exposed as he was right then. Rooney moved Yeager towards 2 o' clock and opened fire on the Cruxi Beast to his right. If Black Star's gambit worked out, by his estimation his bullets would still find a mark in the War Machines behind the beast, they were still within range, but at the very least, more suppressing fire was never a bad thing.

---

ACTIONS: Move to G8, fire at H7

---

A scar. Hou Yi had a scar. The technicians had repaired Krista's Framewerk in time for this new battle, but the lack of time to paint the newly replaced armor plates made them stand out. Krista herself had spent the time studying what she could of the last fight, quietly trying to figure out what she could've done differently. The answer frustrated her: Don't get shot, idiot.

She pushed the thought to the back of her head during the briefing, quietly absorbing the information on the situation as it was presented. At first she thought the Deep Strike would be doable, she had practiced the maneuver in the simulator dozens of time. However the heat generated during the real deal was suffocating, and she had to strain to focus on the proper landing in her specially designed drop pod. Her werk had to be specially folded up and placed into the pod after she had climbed into the cockpit to ensure that she would land upright. Immediately upon landing she felt the extra gravity, her body heavy in the seat, the climate control working quickly to bring the cockpit back to a more comfortable temperature. And that wasn't even accounting for how much heavier Hou Yi felt. For a moment she worried that she shell wouldn't open but with a series of concussive blasts, the panels fell away to let her stand up.

Immediately she saw several targets within range, all set against the backdrop of a ruined world. Just like her home. She took a deep breath to try and steady her voice and opened the comms channel. "This is the Hou Yi, I landed safely.". Stepping clear of the drop pod, she saw the fight had already started, with Paladin firing upon a pair of Cruxi targets. She decided to assist Paladin, adding her own fire into the mix to help ensure target destruction.

---

Combat Actions:
Firing upon target in C7

Black Star was the first to act, and charged into the frontlines. Plasma worth two entire CWM squads was fired upon him from north and northeast but Ojo's Orbital Deflector scattered the like an umbrella, green lines rapidly spinning around the Framewerk, drawing much attention from the Cruxi Beast down the line. The Thermal Scythe was swung in deadly motion, and pierced the hard shell of the muscled monster. However, Zim had to stop Black Star and reverse his charge; the blade of the scythe had embedded itself in the creature's throat, prevented from cutting through by the beast's arm clutching the shaft of the weapon. It gurgled and vomited orange blood on the scythe's shaft, refusing to let go of the weapon. The other Cruxi Beasts in the east saw this, and began moving in, intelligent enough to recognize Zim's moment of weakness. At that moment, Black Star pressed its palm against the Beast's wound, and unleashed the Wave Surger at point-blank range: the blazing beam punched right through and incinerated the monster from the inside, freeing his Thermal Scythe in the process.

Using Yeager's advanced acceleration systems, Roger was able to slow down the Frame's descent to the point that he only needed to make a single roll to fully recover from the impact, landing at the same relative velocity as a paratrooper. As he turned, he saw how Black Star's Wave Surger missed the second Cruxi Beast, who leaped into the air with bulging, glowing muscles to dodge the sweep. However, this left it easy pickings for Roger, who proceeded to unleash a storm of kinetic bullets into the organic monster's flesh, and it quickly dropped from losing momentum, wounded from numerous holes in it. The Wave Surger then hit the second Beast with a glancing hit sending the monster to fall with an earth-shaking hit before Ojo, causing the Frame to feel the shockwave hitting the Star Gazer's ring and nearly making the Frame fall backwards.

The third Beast lifted it's front arms, and used the heavily shielded appendages to absorb the worst of the blast, causing it to wallowing in pain as it's front was charred black; red veins bulged horribly around the monster, it's face now red as it roared loudly. With a well-aimed shot, Black Star saved itself from being mauled apart. And in turn, he drew the attention of the eastern Cruxi Turtle, who charged a shot, and fired.
Luckily for Zim, he had a guardian angel; Elizabeth was prepared for a possible attack from the cantankerous cannons, and activated Ojo's Star Gazer; a radiant light bloomed from the great circle on Ojo's back like the rising sun, and using its gravitonic power attempted to bend the Flux Vaporizer shot. The deflection was a success; the purple energy arrow was downed at I6, causing an explosion that created a crater on the square. The crater was deep enough for a mech to take cover in by crouching.

Redeemer joined Black Star in the assault at the eastern front, the Haathan shields already shining around the imposing Framewerk. With the Laser Repeater in tow, Valéria prepared for assault, and managed to react in time to a surprise attack; the third Cruxi Beast in the east had pounced with a great cry, careening through the air at fast speeds in an attempt to slam it's over-sized fists on top of Redeemer, using the planet's high gravity to its advantage. However, the pilot's high Synchro Rate allowed her to overcome the gravity, and lift the Repeater; a rain of red beams shot up into the sky to intercept the Beast. It was hit in the center of mass, having left itself open, and the Beast fell down dead, smoke coming out of its blackened chest.

Weissritter took combat position in expert fashion, hunkering down for maximum accuracy with the Neo Rifle steadied and aimed, ready for overwatch. "REC-1 reporting, got it!" Elise's voice sounded in the pilot's comms, and soon a small video feed was added to the HUD's corner; it showed the drone's POV as it flew above the battlefield, zooming towards Paladin and Caretaker. "I'll leave REC-2 with you as a spotter. Sending in location data!" And just as she got the words out, targeting reticules appeared on the display, followed by predicted shot trajectories. Jake saw that a Cruxi Turtle in the west was charging for a shot, and using Elise's assistance, succeeded in taking the shot. It hit the Turtle's energy shield, but due to being an energy shot, it overloaded the shield generator, causing it to create a small explosion on the Turtle's middle, where it's weapon systems were bursting out. As a result, the Turtle missed with it's Flux Vaporizer shot, and hit D8, creating another crater. Some small bio-mechanical appendages sprouted out of it's interior, like tentacles with delicate claws; they extended from below the Turtle's shell, and reached into the middle, doing something to itself. Two CWM squads then retreated, as if attempting to cover the Turtle.

Caretaker maneuvered behind the nearest piece of solid terrain she could find, which turned out to be a warehouse of sorts, granting the Framewerk partial cover; enough to take a few rounds of plasma that may be shot her way, but not much more. Fortunately, she was covered by Paladin, but unfortunately, he had not taken the fall well, and struggled to assume defensive positions. "Ariin!" Both Ariin and Katya could hear Elise's voice in the comms, and a moment later she opened a video feed of herself in a small corner of the HUD; it showed REC-1 floating above the battlefield, providing an eye in the sky. "I know it's a pain, but listen! Set up a wall just north of your position, in these coordinates." She projected an area in the Paladin's HUD with a green highlight, having scouted the perfect spot using her drones. "If you can't get it up in time, that northern cannon's gonna mess you up worse! I'll make a scan of Paladin's status, and relay that to you, Katya, so that Caretaker gets to work faster. Just hang in there!"

With Squad Sigma's intelligence specialist having given the groundwork by sending in data, Paladin got to work; Legion's mighty walls carved into the solid foundation of Fortress' surface, having seemingly blended in as another fortification among countless others. "Beasts on your left!" Elise called out, and added calculations to Paladin's aim matrix. With her aid, Pompey successfully landed on two separate volleys, with great success; Paladin instantly killed one Beast with a solid headshot, cracking the thick skull of the monster like a chestnut. The other one was less fatal, knocking one back with a shot that glanced from its tough shoulder and back, having braced like a rugby player on the move. But then, an emerald blaze pierced the Beast on the uncovered side, and it collapsed on the spot, burning with green fire from the inside. Ariin could thank Krista and her bug-like Hou-Yi, who once again joined Paladin in a deadly duo of demolition.

Unlike the humanoid Framewerks, Hou-Yi was only slightly affected by the increased gravity of Fortress thanks to it's balanced design and horizontally spread mass. As a result, she had no trouble adjusting to the adverse conditions and delivering some pain. Like a team of veterans, Caretaker covered the two heavy-hitters, letting loose with the Marker Light on combat mode, neon blue streaks flying at at an approaching CWM squad; they quickly retreated into cover. They took pot shots at Paladin, causing the plasma to glance off Legion, but in turn making a counterattack less reliable.

Uncharacteristically for the Cruxi, the two Cruxi War Machines on either side of Tayna did not immediately shoot at the Frame the first second it crushed one of their own under it's feet, allowing Anastasia to glow and create a strange scene, if only for a few seconds. It was possible that they were taken by surprise, but common knowledge dictated that Cruxi were difficult to surprise due to their assumed hive-mind. The other possibility, and one that Ritsu had to consider as she saw the footage from Tayna's POV, was that the Cruxi seemed to confuse Tayna with one of their own. "Anastasia...What are you?" She mumbled, a drop of sweat running down her forehead.

Anastasia took her chance while the Cruxi were distracted, and managed to latch on to both mechs with Tayna's powered arms; the Cruxi did not expect this, and they flailed as they were lifted into the air. And then, in a bombastic move, Tayna spun like an Olympic disc thrower, glowing with power, and threw the mechs as hard as she could, sending them flying through the air. The other Cruxi squad attempted to open fire on Tayna, but they also hesitated, their view blocked by allies being sent their way, clearly not understanding the logic behind the move. With that weakness fully taken advantage of, Ana succeeded with her combination attack; the Neo Angel took aim, and with a single shot of the L.S. Rifle, hit both of the flying CWMs. just as they were about to hit the other squad. As they were destroyed, the CWM self-destruct mechanism activated, and with two of them exploding simultaneously, the other squad was blown to pieces, leaving only a single CWM heavily damaged, covered in the rubble of its two other companions.

The CWM at the west had taken major casualties, and retreated back to defend the Turtle. The Cruxi Beast at B8 pounced on Tayna, slamming it's hard fists on top of the Framewerk just as the mech's Phase Shift ended, causing heavy damage to the Frame and cracking it's outer plates. The Beast grappled Tayna's arms, about to crush them-

"Idiot!"

Suddenly, the Beast gurgled, and vomited orange blood over Tayna's chassis, it's grip having loosened. It then dropped off, revealing Sköll behind it; with a calculated stab, it pierced the monster with MORS, and then decapitated the creature, spraying more of the icky orange goop onto itself. It turned out to be Irina's voice that Ana heard in her comms.
"Focus! We got work to do, freak!" Sköll sheathed the blade, and took out GAR, readying it for use.

The eastern front grew bolder with Cruxi Squads coming in and engaging Black Star; while the closer squads had little luck piercing Ojo's drone, the farther ones adding in to the energy managed to overload the drone's generator, causing the field to go online and damaging Black Star in a minor way; it's chest and shoulder wer hit by stray blasts, familiar chars once again forming on the appropriately colored Framewerk. The CWMS relocated to more cover in the vicinity, about to once again fire on what they deemed to be the priority threat.

Suddenly, a loud explosion could be heard in the distance, and squad Sigma saw a Framewerk crashing near one of the Cruxi Turtles on H2; it resembled a ninja, with a red sword attached to it's arm, and blue lines that glowed from the head part. It's pilot, Deitrich 'Deiter' Wagner, had fought with another battalion, but a hard blow from an unknown Cruxi had sent it flying far. As a result of the crash, Krieg had suffered moderate damage to its back, left arm and back of the left foot; they were functioning at 70% of maximum potential. The eastern Cruxi Turtle responded to the sudden proximity of an enemy unit by tucking it's limbs inside it's shell, and activating twin Plasma gatlings.

Dietrich felt something disturbing, as if he was overcome by a feeling of pride. Without him giving the command, Krieg rolled to the side to dodge the plasma, and in a single flowing move, jumped to I2, taking cover behind the Turtle to avoid the fire of nearby CWM squads, who prioritized the Turtle's safety over their own; the squad proceeded to close in on Krieg, turning their backs to Black Star and Redeemer. The two Frames REC-3 zooming out towards the newcomer. "Come in, Framewerk!" Dieter heard a young girl's voice, which had forcibly entered into his comms channel. "I don't know who your commanding officer is, but right now I'm taking over!" A video feed opened in the corner showing what looked like a 10-year-old redhead with an eyepatch and a beret. "Take defensive measures, and try to reach those two units over there!" She added an arrow to the HUD, and highlighted the two Framewerks on the opposite side of the battlefield. "We have an extraction ready in the south, get to it!"

"Oh Shit!" Zim said inside the cockpit as he realized his weapon had been stopped dead in its tracks. At first he thought that the beast's neck was just strong enough to stop it, it took an extra moment to realize that the beast's imposing forearm had reached up, reacting in time to be able to stop the shaft in its flow. These were not the same type of Cruxi that they had fought before. These guys were... smarter, stronger, and apparently faster, too. Zim had to break free, and quick. He raised the Wave Surger and released the charge directly into the chest of the beast. Its dark, beady, alien eyes stared into the optical cameras, and through them, directly into Zim as he stared back through the HUD. They were the last thing to dissolve into the white hot heat of Blackstar's released rage. That, and the hand that had grabbed the shaft of Blackstar's Scythe.

Rage, because as the beast disappeared before him, rage was the only thing left behind of their existence. The cold contempt that the Cruxi held for him was replaced only by the hot heat of Zim's hatred for the Cruxi. Zim turned after the beam was released to see what happened to the other two beasts, he saw as Redeemer joined in the assault and assisted in putting the second beast down, he saw as the third leaped into the air, only to be swatted out of the sky by Jaeger's well timed attack, he still managed to get a hand on Ojo in his decent, but to Zim, it looked like that threat was over. His sensors indicated an incoming attack and he spun his werk to face the threat, saw the glowing orb flying towards him through the air as it suddenly changed directions and slammed into the cityscape. When the glow of the resulting anti-mater explosion faded away Zim saw the huge empty crater.

Zim was reminded of where he was at again, his heart skipped a beat, his pulse quickened. A shot of panicked adrenaline raced its way through Zim's system. He stood there for a moment as the Orbital Deflectors did their job and kept Blackstar in one piece. He scanned the landscape, once again trying to remember where the shelters were at. To Zim, it was as if time slowed down around him as his frantic mind searched for the answers, the battle unrolling slowly around him. If he had the state of mind to notice, he would have seen the second antimatter blast released, he would have seen Kreig entering the fray in an unceremonious flail through the air, but he was too focused on the wrong thing. As the orbital deflectors were overworked and some residual plasma made it through the sensor alert to the damage that the frame had received broke through the panic and brought Zim back into the moment. Zim's focus panned in and brought the focus back to the cockpit of the werk, the background Zooming back into the background, back where it belonged, allowing the foreground to do its job. Blackstar reached forward to removed the dead hand from the shaft of his weapon, allowing it to drop dead to the ground with a surprisingly heavy thud.

The rage fueled adrenaline pushed Zim to ignore the second crater that had opened, his sensors registered the existance of Kreig at the far end of the field, but Zim didn't have time to worry about that. First, there were Cruxi to die. "Engaging Cruxi in J8," Zim said, his voice steely, calm, and focused. Zim pushed blackstar to maneuver around the cover that the Cruxi CWM squads had taken by first moving to J7 before spinning around and coming back down behind the squad in J8. The high gravity and the high speeds caused the thrusters to work harder than normal, Zim's normal suit struggled to maintain comfortable conditions for the pilot as he spun in a tight circle as he turned to face his foes. He and Blackstar unleashed a scream along with the thrusters as Zim pushed his luck and his speed flying directly into the middle of the CWM squad he had targeted. He went after the unit farthest from himself first. A horizontal slash through the mid-section, turning him to face the next Cruxi. He lowered the head of the scythe almost to the ground and jumped towards the next foe, bringing the scythe up in a verticle slash through the middle of the foe. With the scythe in the air, Zim spun in place and faced the third unit and continued the motion of the blade down through the middle of the last CWM.

TLDR: Zim fights through a panic attack and moves on J8 via J7 and takes on all three CWM at once.

Elizabeth let out an uncharacteristic scream inside her cockpit, the entire squad heard it as the channel was live. The veterans of the group who may have forgotten in the midst of the unraveling combat were immediately reminded that the Princess had never seen actual live combat before. She righted Ojo with forced determination, her pale face burning bright red. The beast lay before her, practically at her feet. It wasn't moving, but the sensors seemed to indicate that it was still alive. No time to take chances, she readied the Hoshizori and released one of her EMP rounds into the Cruxi.

"I've hit the beast with an EMP, so it should be out of commission for a little while, but uh, if someone gets a chance to kill it... that would be advisable..." The words were polite, the tone somewhere between embarrassed and demanding. She wondered if she could use the GDA to crush the beast, or at least fling it away from her and the team... an experiment for later, but for now she had more important things to worry about. She navigated to F9 and prepared for the next volley from the turtles.

She kept and eye on both turtles in B and I 3, but both of them were occupied, so she focused her attention primarily on the center turtle. If possible she would drop the round in E/F-5. Elizabeth expected better results, she had already deflected one blast, so now her system would have more data about the munition density and speed, allowing her greater control over it.

TLDR: Shoot the Cruzi with an EMP, move to F9 and ready GDA.

---

In Katya’s mind the battle seemed to be going so far watching her radar as she commanded her werk. Although she knew was far from over and the tides of the battle could quickly change to favour the Cruxi. Knowing she needed to be aware of everything going on across the battlefield so she could bark any needed commands. As she watched battle form her cover, she was surprised to see the power of the Cruxi turtles.
“Ancestors” she muttered seeing crater not too far from her.

When Elise's voice appeared into the comms, Katya was a little surprised but overall was happy to hear her voice and listened carefully. Nodding in agreement thinking it was a good idea. The more solid cover they had against those turtle Cruxi, although she was unsure if they’d be able to move Ariin up given the wall of CWMs Even if Elise’s idea was a good one Katya was unsure with how the squad positioned right not if it was in fact possible.

Katya was about to bark out a set of orders. When she heard Elizabeth say she had hit the beast with an EMP. Katya not liking the idea of leaving a beast behind them that could awake at any moment. To her, that was a recipe for disaster, but she’d address that problem in a moment.
“Alright squad we need to push forward. Advance and engage any Cruxi in range. But if possible engage those turtles they are top priority. As for that beast, I’ll deal with it.” She spoke into the comms.

Sticking to cover Katya moved Caretaker till it was near Yeager. Katya activating her combat drones and ordered them to attack the Beast that had been hit with EMP. Commanding them to latch on to the beast and use their cutting beam on beast’s neck. Katya thing it be the quickest way to kill it. Although she’d watch the drones and if needed merely order them to shot the beast at range. Although she questioned if her drones would be able to put down the beast by firing at it.

---

To say Valéria was caught off guard when beast pounced at her would have been and understated. Not expecting the hulking Cruxi to move so quickly in high gravity. Regardless she did her best to intercept the attack. The woman pleased as the laser repeater was lined up and she pulled the trigger watching as red beams were fired and hit the beast and much to her surprise killing it. Valéria breathing a small sigh of relief. Pleased with her werk. She patted the console in front of her. As scanned the beast wanting to make sure it was truly dead. Having made the mistake of thinking she had killed a Cruxi only to be attacked from behind. Last time it cost her an arm so was unwilling to risk it again.

Knowing the beast was without a doubt dead she turned her work to face the Cruxi at I7 seeing Zim was already on the move to deal with one of two groups of CWMs. Valéria not wanting to get in Zim’s way, she decided to go deal with the squad in I7 the woman confident she could handle the squad. Especially since the CWMs where distracted by something that Valéria could have sworn was werk further up the battlefield.

Whatever it was it mattered little to Valéria as she ordered her werk forward intending to capitalise on the distraction, pretty sure it would not talk Cruxi long to turn their attention back to her and Zim. As Redeemer drew closer to the Cruxi Squads Valéria readied to drop the werks shields at last possible moment. Just in case the Cruxi decided to turn around and open fire. Aware in this gravity, redeemers speed was far from fast compared to much lighter werks, but Valéria was confident was she reached the Cruxi the weight of her werk could be used to her advantage.

Reddmerer moved past the body of the dead beast Valéria picked her target opting for the closest CWM. The woman planning to charge into the CWM before she started swinging her werks mace at whatever happened to be in range or she could get in range with as much might she could get the werk to muster.

Dietrich 'Deiter' Wagner
"Roger that Cyclops, ready fire support- I don't know about this one. Thirty seconds to engage."
"Dedicated fire support on standby for two minutes. Just give the word."
Deitrich took a deep breath, it was always nerve wracking engaging new opponents without data. This one they couldn't even get eyes on, it was hiding in a crater. Across their assigned combat zone, the rest of his squad was working on other various objectives assigned by their squad leader. He sighed, letting out the little tension he did feel before moving- Krieg mirroring him to the point that he sometimes forgot which one of them was really in control. Stepping out of cover he took two steps and jumped, assisting it with the standard boosters- necessary due to the increased gravity- and launched into the crater, sword drawn.

In that moment, his mind sped up, jaw clenched, and a smile spread across his normally calm face. He was already preparing to strike... until he witnessed what was in the crater. A behomoth of a cruxi, which was already swinging a massive limb to meet him- a limb as big as his entire mech.
"FIRE!" His shout was met with a report that he could hear and feel even through the mecha, the shockwave of the following blast completely reversing his trajectory and launching him across the battlezone, and then completely out of it. The mecha was wheeling uncontrollably in the air, trying without success to overcome the mixture of inertia and gravity. As Krieg and Dieter spun in air they regained only a modicum of control and attempted to brace themselves with their left arm to protect their main armament with success.

The impact knocked the wind out of Deiter, disorienting him even as his HUD repopulated rapidly based on the limited information his Mecha currently had based on its localized systems. Data rolled across it, registering massed enemies to the south, southeast, and east. He had landed behind enemy lines. His head turned, noting a massive cruxi artillery unit preparing to unload a rain of death on them- but before he could even think to act a wave of overwhelming confidence, no. A wave of pride- the pride of a warrior- flowed through him as Krieg rolled out of the way of the barrage and smoothly righted itself, jumping to a new sector.
"Come in, Framewerk!" A small girls voice broke through his communications system, along with a video feed that he didn't even glance at. He had bigger problems. "I don't know who your commanding officer is, but right now I'm taking over! Take defensive measures, and try to reach those two units over there!" On his HUD two Framewerks appeared, clearly allies from a different squad. He scanned the enemies currently visible on his HUD and was already in motion as he spoke.
"Roger that squad leader. This is Krieg requesting an import of battlefield data. EF2 has guns trained on me, as well as three combatants in H3. I7 and J8 also have their focus on me." His breath was starting to speed up, and Deiter piloted Krieg around to the east of the closing turtle in I3, taking cover behind it- though it wouldn't last long. He was now in the sights of the enemies to the south. He stared at his HUD, watching the enemies in H3 as they closed in on the turtle. His armor could take some shots, but it wasn't heavy. He was trapped in a way. Even those units would be backed by the turtle in EF2 and likely the squad in G5. His position was nightmarish tactically- even his limited skills in that area made that obvious. He would have to improvise. "Krieg reporting. I am engaging the localized CMW squad in H3. Requesting fire support on EF2. I plan to cover in I6 immediately following the engagement."

Krieg hid behind the turtle, Deitrich taking deep breaths as he watched his GUI, waiting for them to get even closer. Now. He wasn't sure if it was him or the werk that had that thought, but it felt in unison as he let out a breath and jumped, vaulting over the turtle and aiming to come down directly within the squad, already swinging a broad downward strike that could be bounced back to loop over his targets head to strike the other side as he landed- or if completed reversed to strike the other way. He was hoping the proximity to the turtle would forebear any heavy fire being sent his direction, as it seemed that the Cruxi were bent on protecting it.

Krieg
I2->I3-H3 Engaging Cruxi Squad in H3

Maria and Elizabth (Brief collab with Mr Rage)

Maria's shot hit it's mark with Tayna's setup as most of the CWM's were demonished in one shot. She then saw her in trouble but she also saw her quickly dispatch that Cruxi.

"Targets neutralized. Nice one and thanks for that heads up Tayna. Now help me return the favor if your able. I'm going to try sniping that turtle Cruxi north of us. Cover me."

As Maria took aim, she heard a scream briefly from someone she remembered. While she avoided her on the ship, she couldn't ignore her now. Even more so since it was clear that...Princess Elizabeth wasn't used to live combat.

"...hey Princess...you having regrets now?", Maria said, sounding like she was teasing her of all things.

The words "Hey Princess" seemed to echo somewhere in the hallowed halls of her Memory as the voice came through her comms unit. She looked on as Katya deployed attack Drones to take care of the sleeper.

"Oh no, never better," she replied with labored breathing and dripping with sarcasm.

"...take a deep breath...relax...but it's horrible isn't it?...but don't make the same mistakes I did Elizabeth. Don't lose yourself in the heat of the battle. Don't forget who you are...or do you think just being another "number" in the system is the way to go?", Maria then asks as Neo Angel dropped to one knee to take aim.

Maria figured the emphasis she put on the word "number" would make her remember who she was or perhaps who she still was deep down. But they had never met in person so it was doubtful. She had heard her voice over the comms but that's when she was "Seven" and sounding monotone or devoid of any emotion. Just in that one incident that involved her kidnapping once upon a time. Despite the success, both Elizabeth and her family weren't too happy as to how the Helldivers handled that situation nor did they even know about her team back in the day.

High command thought they did good though. But Maria figured after whatever happened between Caulder and those above him broke down, they used that mission as evidence to shut down the Helldivers team.

(Note: Going to do a collab with Ariamis with Jake and Elizabeth. I'll get to him next.)

Jake and Elise (Collab with Ariamis)

Jake watched as his shot hit the mark. But then he noted how the turtle cruxi reacted with tentacles suddenly springing out. Then the two CWM's that suddenly moved in front of it.

"Elise. I hit the target but get a drone on this for the data. That looks like a heal factor it has", Jake said over the comm line.

"I'm trying, but I don't know if I can," Elise responded. "The drone will be shot down before it reaches the target. I need someone to get close so I can pull it off."

"...scratch that then. Just make a mental note of it on the report when this is over", Jake then said.

Jake then took stock of his situation. Because of the two CWM's most likely ready to throw themselves in front of his shot or perhaps some other defensive maneuver, one energy shot probably wouldn't penetrate the line to hit the turtle. Which mean't he'd have to fire rapidly in one go. Course, that mean't burning out his current clip but he still had a few left. He could ask one of the other pilots on the east side to try to charge forward but there were too many at the moment to attempt such a risky maneuver...unless...

"...Elise. I could fire rapidly at the risk of burning out my clip but let me ask you something. Should I ask Black Star to try to stealth it behind the line and get rid of those two CWM's?"

"I'll send him a message about it," Elise answered, and her comm window disappeared.

---

Moments after the girl threw the two Cruxi, she seemed about to turn and attack the pouncing beast. However, the Tayna stayed suddenly still for a few moments as if she had frozen up. Inside the enormous machine, Anastasia had felt something... else deep within the Tayna's machinery. Something that the comforting presence that was normal when she connected to her framewerk found utterly disgusting. The physical disgust and surprise of another entity had caught Anastasia off guard, but also caught the girl's curiosity. Before she could completely call out to the other entity, a crushing pain tore through her body. Anastasia cried out in pain from the surprise attack, unable to even focus past this new feeling to do anything before her display was suddenly covered in orange blood. As it was wiped away, she saw Irina standing over the headless corpse of a fallen Cruxi beast. However, it was the girl's words that haunting the young android's mind. Freak. That was what she called her. Why did humans have to be so damn mean!? For a brief moment, Anastasia wondered if the Cruxi were the evil ones in this war. They at least didn't seem to hate others among their ranks, though she supposed that was difficult with being a hive mind and all of that. Still, Irina's blatant racism towards her was making Anastasia start to understand having such a blind hatred for humanity. Letting out a long sigh, the android knew that she had to focus on the mission or she wouldn't make it back to one of the few humans she felt she could trust unconditionally. With that in mind, Anastasia forced herself to focus as she scanned the HUD before her as she floated in the Tayna's cockpit. "Shut it, bitch." Anastasia growled over the comms that Irina had opened whenever she had slayed the Cruxi beast.

Analyzing the battlefield, the girl realized she was really not in a preferntial position at the moment. "Laying down cover fire. Hit them hard, Neo Angel!" Ana said towards the one who had requested help in return for destroying the cruxi units earlier. "Tayna, charge drives!" Ana said after turning her comms off, wanting to keep the nature of werk's system a secret. Sure, she was about to show the team exactly what the mysterious alien technology was capable of doing, but they wouldn't know why it was quite capable of doing what she was about to do. Firing her antimatter rifle towards the enemy units to draw their attention, there wasn't much attention paid to precision. Instead, Anastasia focused most of her processing power on the charging anti-gravity drives. The intention being once the Cruxi returned fire, to fire the anti-gravity and hurl the werk out of the way of the incoming fire. Hopefully, this plan would allow her to draw enemy attention until Neo Angel was able to fire off the shot on the turtle in the back. With luck they would destroy the damn thing and head home soon enough. She wanted to give Irina a piece of her mind, preferably via a fist to the face. That damn little brat probably knew that Anastasia hated being seen as some freak, yet always felt the need to call her one or act like she was something completely different from everybody else. The android was quickly starting to understand exactly why everybody seemed to have a general dislike of that girl.

---

---

> Tayna charge Anti-Gravity drives for a dodge maneuver to the right once enemy shots are fired.
> Tayna provide covering fire for Neo Angel, aimed at B4.
> Ana wonders wtf she felt in her Werk

---

The flurry of activity quickly devestated the left flank of the Cruxi formation, most of the squad making quick work of the enemy. She couldnt help but feel some satisfaction at helping the Paladin double tap one of them. Still, the battle was moving quickly. She registered Katya's order to move up just as her rangefinder told her that there were no targets in optimal range. "Target down," she said, already moving towards the crater. "Taking cover in that crater" she said over the coms.

Scuttling along like a bug, she was glad that most of the Cruxi on this side of the battlefield had been taken care of in the opening salvos, letting her move in relative safety. She pushed the thought of being hit by the weapoin that made this hole aside. The crater provided a great place for her to take cover, a prospect that seemed almost silly with how big their machines were. With just her turret sticking over the edge, it reduced her already low profile even more, letting have a pick of targets. With a quick snap to the right, she took aim and fired off a shot towards the group at E5.

---

Combat Actions:
Moving to D8, taking cover, and firing on E5