Mahou Madness!

Soon enough something seemed to happen and the distraction force opened fire, pretty quickly drawing the attention of the security forces as the camp seemed to collapse into chaos, the attackers had the element of surprise and were making good use of it as they slowly pulled away, attempting to lead the security forces away from the target.


After a few more minutes Dulce transformed.
"Okay! Go go! Let's get in, find whatever looks like a prototype and get it loaded up, information says it it should be in one of the big three tents and looks kinda like an ipad with a physical keypad!"
Dulce shouted as she charged, Sara interestingly didn't transform, though something changed about her energy and she seemed to become tougher.
 
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Namiko waited along with her companions, observing the growing battle as dispassionately as one might a fine day. They were slightly outnumbered, it seemed, in terms of troops, but their people seemed more skilled, easily leading the others along. It was a good sign, one that meant almost nothing in the grand scheme of things.

When her companions burst into action she was there too, brown dress chafing in the Brazilian heat. The sudden change in energy from Sara despite seemingly not transforming was interesting, but it wasn't the time to ask. They ran their way down plateaus of dirt. "Which one do we attack first?" she asked. "Or do we want to split up?"
 
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Luca's own more skimpy outfit was much better suited for the heat it seemed, and she was seeming to be partially enhanced on top of being transformed, it was a costly technique that she had likely done by accident, but was a decent strategy for a quick hit and run like this where power reserves didn't need to be stretched for as long.

"Split up! Sara with me! You two head over there! If there's no luck head to the third together!"
Dulce shouted as she and Sara peeled off to head towards a tent with a few soldiers around it, ones that had not left the base alone, they fired ineffectually at the magical girls but Dulce and Sara moved out of sight before Namiko could see what they did.
 
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Namiko responded with a curt nod, and, Luca in tow, ran off towards the leftmost tent. "Luca, you get in front when we attack," she said as they rushed off. "I won't be as effective in such close quarters." She pulled out her small and bulldoggish sub-machine gun as if to prove her point. The air, rife with silt, didn't help matters much either. She could only hope the "reliability" she'd seen in ads for this particular sub-machine gun was actually there.

Oh, if only they didn't have to secure an item. Then she could just fire an RPG right into the tent and watch the polyester dissolve into flames. The thought nearly made her shudder. Effective but cold.

"Hopefully we don't run into Anna so soon..." she muttered as they ran.
 
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"Okay! I'll keep any other girls away from Namiko!"
Luca promised, stepping in front as they approached the tent, which turned out to be a good idea as someone stepped out of the tent to face them...
This must have been some sort of sick joke... Her hair was shorter and she was in brawler mode... But the girl who faced them, looking surprised to see them, was Blair! Namiko had seen the leader before and this girl was identical, what's more, she raised her fists and charged after a moment's hesitation, throwing a punch that Luca blocked with her sword, being pushed back a little by the force of the hit.

"Whoa! She can hit really hard!"
Luca shouted, preparing to counter attack.
If this was Blair, the battle was already over, leader of Orphan and most powerful magical girl, not someone to be trifled with.
 
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As they reached the tent and were greeted by a short-haired girl, Namiko saw her wish resolved in a pyrrhic victory. The good news was that they did not, in fact, run into Anna, and they seemed to have only one opponent. The bad news was that their opponent happened - inexplicably - to be Blair, leader of Orphan and her boss. She also happened to be extremely powerful, more powerful than both of them combined. Before Namiko could process the shock of seeing her here, Blair burst forward and struck Luca's sword, pushing her back from the force. Namiko jumped back as well, though much farther, and pulled out her AR-15, brain still trying to reconcile the strange image before her. It was like seeing the president trying to assassinate the leader of the Supreme Court. "Yeah," she shouted, "she should! Because she's our boss!"

Nevertheless, an enemy was an enemy. Namiko tried to stay as far away as she could while still firing in small bursts, looking for openings. As far as she was concerned, if she got within two or three meters of her it could be game over. She remained, however, conscientious of Luca's health, and so continued to circle semi-frantically around, looking for openings.
 
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Surprisingly the girl didn't seem to want to instantly annihilate them, and wasn't even using the sword that could wreak so much destruction on people dumb enough to stand against her in a fight, and even more shockingly, Luca was holding her ground, though clearly confused at this apparently being their leader, she was sometimes going on the offensive, though not hitting as the opponent seemed very skilled in CQC!
"Hahh! She's... Not that tough!"
Luca declared as she blocked another hit.

As Namiko looked for an opening she would be caught off guard as a kick slammed into her from behind, causing her to twist in a way that gave her a glimpse of the opponent, it was another Blair! Something fishy was going on, and the two girls seemed identical in every way including fighting style.
 
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Namiko was so focused on her pursuit that she failed to notice the kick swinging towards her back. She gasped as it connected, causing her to spin around and catch a glimpse of...Blair?

Huh?

Namiko quickly glanced towards the other Blair, who was, incidentally, still there, and doing quite badly for someone of her stature. And here was another.

Oh. Perhaps she should have known something was fishy.

Anyways, it seemed like Luca had things relatively down, so she switched her focus to her new challenger, getting quickly back onto her feet and pulling a short-barreled pump action shotgun out and firing two shots into center mass. She then ran away, adjacent to Luca (in order to hopefully get a shot into the other Blair if possible), as if teasing her to come after her.
 
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"Hahh?! Are they twins?!"
Luca asked, her opponent taking advantage of the momentary distraction to land a gut punch that staggered the poor girl, though didn't put her out, it seemed whoever these impostors were, they were far from powerhouses, with even Luca managing to keep up and give as good as she got, in fact, if not for their clearly advanced combat training they would be incredibly easy to defeat... There was also the fact that they didn't give off signs of transformation!

The surprise on the girl's face was almost comical as the pumps hit her dead on, staggering the girl and knocking the breath from her lungs.
She did in fact come right after her, ducking and weaving to make targeting more difficult and clearly using enhanced speed, she had her arms raised in a defensive posture as she charged.
"Surrender, reinforcements will capture you shortly".
The impostor
declared, she even SOUNDED like Blair!
 
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As Namiko passed by Luca, seeing her take a hit to the chest, she took the butt of her shotgun and launched a quick haymaker at the face of Blair #1. It wasn't strong, but hopefully it would give Luca a little opening. Not waiting to see the results, she continued to run, taking advantage of her superior intuition with terrain to compensate for her lack of speed. Nonetheless, Blair #2 would be sure to catch up with her soon; and so she'd need to do more than just shoot and run, especially since she was moving much to fast to really be an easy target.

There were several things that she could've done, with some plausibility. She chose the explosive option. She waited for the Blair clone to get relatively close, and, before she could react, pulled a grenade launcher out and jumped high into the air and fired right under her.

Blair: ~19km/h. Namiko: ~4m away @ time of jump. Fired approx. 0.8secs later. Shot landing near enough to rip the air near Blair with shrapnel.*

*I'm too lazy to do math right now, so this may or may not be accurate. Probably not.
 
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The haymaker made contact despite the enemy's attempt to dodge out of the way, in fact their mistimed dodge just made her even more unstable, allowing Luca to bring down a heavy slash, the air singing as the blade came down... Biting deep into Blair's flesh! Luca let out a horrified gasp as blood sprayed out, covering her chest and leaving Luca stunned fortunately though Luca's opponent was out of the fight, dropping to the ground with a pained grunt.

The second Blair took a moment to look over at her fallen ally, which proved her undoing as she didn't see the shot coming and was rained with shrapnel, multiple wounds opening up on her body.... And only then did it make sense, the Blair impostors... They weren't even transformed! These girls were fighting with nothing but enhancement and skill!

It seemed they had done their job though as another magical girl approached, seeming only a little nervous and backed up by Anna.
"Uhh... Oh gods... 28! Grab 35 and fall back! We'll hold the line!"
She declared, summoning a gun from the air...
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Namiko dusted herself off as she landed on the ground, looking back at her Blair, now kneeling on the ground and bleeding out of a thousand little new orifices. She could see Luca's Blair not far away in quite a similar condition. Well, that was easy, she thought.

It wouldn't stay that way for long, however, because two magical girls quickly rushed in after their injured comrades. One of them was Anna; the other she didn't recognize. She barked some orders she didn't quite understand and pulled out a gun. Not waiting to talk, Namiko fired a shot directly at them to get them to scatter and scampered off to Luca to get some support. "Luca! Look sharp!" she shouted as she rushed away.
 
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The two dodged away from her shot, Anna moving to engage Luca while the new girl quickly drew a bead on Namiko, snapping to position and firing a quick burst from her rifle with clearly trained precision, the rounds were not very powerful, likely more to test her reflexes and defense rather than intended to do any serious damage, though a normal human would still undoubtedly be killed by them.

"Whoah! You two found Anna I guess!"
Dulce declared as she ran over, scythe crackling with energy as she prepared to join in the fight, trying to determine who needed her help more at that moment, as well as looking for an opening.
Meanwhile the Blair impostors were limping away from the fight, supporting each other as they went.
 
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Namiko fell back at the peal of shots, each one barely whizzing by her as she did. Her aim was quite good, she thought. At least it would be a suitable challenge for a gunner like her. A small twinge pricked her heart but she suppressed it.

Her head swiveled quickly to Dulce. Apparently she'd taken care of the other tent, or otherwise left it to Sara - and, considering the lack of items in her hands, they did not get ahold of the thing. "Yep!" she said. "Go help Luca! I've got her!" As if to prove her point she whipped Roanoke out in a second and fired two powerful shots whilst on her stomach.
 
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"Heh, good luck!"
Dulce replied, running over to deflect a kick intended for Luca, actually struggling noticeably as it made contact with her scythe... She wasn't exactly a powerhouse from the looks of things, but she was certainly stronger than those fake Blairs from earlier, the ones who apparently had numbers for names.

The two shots left Namiko's opponent visibly surprised, it seemed she had pinned Namiko as some other class, and though she managed to stumble out of the way of the first shot, the second made contact, drawing a pained yelp and nearly knocking the girl flat on her ass from the force of the hit.
She didn't falter for more than a moment though, and instead allowed her rifle to fade away, a rather ornate handgun replacing it.
"Sortitus Ledo!"
A named attack! Most magical girls had at least a few of those, usually the veterans... But this one radiated with power as she unloaded the full clip, all fourteen rounds glowed with magic as they twisted and danced through the air, seeming to move towards Namiko as if they were some sort of heat seeking missile.
 
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Namiko watched one of her shots connect with her opponent, causing her (the opponent) to stumble wildly. The fight was far from over, however; she quickly regained her bearing and, pulling out a famcy handgun, chanted a certain phrase and sent fourteen homing shots rushing towards her. Namiko was somewhat caught off guard, and considering she was on her stomach, she had little time to react. She rushed to her feet and dodged and weaved as best she could. The first few shots missed, but the rest of them grazed her on every part of her body, drawing blood; and two of them struck her directly, one in the shoulder and one on her leg, causing her to fall over, right back where she was (on her stomach). Of course, Namiko was no stranger to pain, so she immediately sent another two shots from Roanoke - meant only as suppression - and pulled out a certain gun. "Two can play it that game," she muttered.

Some explanation is due. Though a gunner, Namiko has little in the way of homing moves. Her fighting style is each shot on target, one shot at a time (unless not). This is something that works best with larger-bore rifles.

This is why she pulled out a .700 Nitro Express double-barreled rifle, the kind of cartridge that puts the shooter themself at risk. Luckily Namiko was a magical girl and could handle it (though her shoulders would ache after using it, which, along with its cumbersome nature, is probably why it's so seldom used). Without pausing even a second she let off two booming shots, each one zooming right towards her opponent's chest.
 
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Her opponent was already prepping an assault rifle as soon as the shots had all either landed or missed, it seemed she had been unable to break concentration while the bullets were flying, perhaps she had to control them?
Her summoning was a little slower than Namiko's as well, with her seeming to summon each component separately, though at an incredibly rapid pace, forming the whole gun in a matter of seconds, yet still slower than Namiko.

She raised to fire as Namiko aimed, though only managed a single quick burst of lower power rounds before the shots hit, both colliding with a faint tinkling like broken glass as they encountered, and shattered the magical barrier protecting her vitals, quickly followed by a much more gruesome sound of tearing flesh as she was physically sent flying back and onto her back, amazingly she didn't seem to be dead, but was certainly out of the fight.
"Oh... I see how it is... Three on one?"
Anna commented, looking at the way the tide had turned against her, yet she seemed mostly unafraid as she pulled a glass syringe from a pocket, a green liquid with little red crystals suspended within.
That was booster! And not the weaker, safe version used by modern Orphan, that was the mark one, the stuff that while more powerful, had dozens of side effects.

"This is one of the last of my supply... I am glad I got in the habit of carrying it around though, as it has proved to be quite useful".
Anna commented as she casually injected it, the effect was instant, Anna's magical core began to fluctuate wildly as her powers heightened, Namiko would know how that felt, the warm, somehow pleasant pain.
"Now... Who's first?"
 
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The combination of pain from firing the rifle and the disgusting crack of bone that emitted from Ms. Other Girl made Namiko wince. She quickly stored the gun and stretched her arms a bit. Her other shoulder was starting to heal, as was her leg, though she'd still be limping slightly for a minute or two. "Well," she said, "at least it worked..." She turned to face her new opponent. A cinch, she thought. Three vs. one. Anna even said it herself.

Namiko's hopes were dashed, however, when she pulled out a booster - Namiko recognized it - and injected it into her. She paled, not only because of what this would bode for all three of them, but because those boosters were highly dangerous. She was possibly trading her well being to give her a chance. Something about this came off as strangely poignant to Namiko, despite the imminent danger. She slowly backed up a few steps, making sure to put some distance between them.
 
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After taking a deep breath to steady herself and allow the last of the booster to circulate fully, Anna sized up her enemy, she seemed to dismiss Dulce pretty quickly, knowing her limits it seemed, and then decided to focus on Luca, the most unknown element, this seemed obvious to Luca who did a quick double take and raised her sword just in time to block a kick from Anna, her sword visibly cracking as she was pushed back nearly a meter by the hit, Anna didn't follow up though, instead moving to target Namiko, though she was restrained by a sudden cage of electricity forming around her.
"Hah! Writing me off as a non threat so quickly Anna?!"
Dulce taunted, though was struggling visibly as Anna attempted to escape.

"Hey Luca! Go find Sera! I'm sure me and Namiko here can hold this beast off, but we will need her help to counter that booster!"
She ordered, and to her credit Luca only hesitated for a moment before running off towards the tent Sera had been searching, apparently responding to authority as an instinct.
"Now... I do hope YOU have some sorta plan cause this is about all I..."
Dulce was cut off as the barrier broke and a still calm Anna burst out, ready to kick Namiko.
 
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Namiko was somewhat wary of Anna attacking, and unfortunately her hunch turned out to be right when she rushed towards Luca, landing an enormous blow on her sword. She would've done the same to Namiko just then—likely with much more disastrous results—if Dulce hadn't intervened, trapping Anna in a cage and sending Luca away to help Sera. "Good luck!" she yelled after her.

Unfortunately, it seemed almost as soon as she was out of sight Anna burst out, her feet primed to strike. Sighing to herself, Namiko chucked a grenade almost comically at Anna's face and quickly jumped over to Dulce. "How often can you do those barriers?" she asked as she landed next to her, relatively calm. "We may have a problem otherwise."
 
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