Deal a death blow

“Snrrrrrl…”

“H-heeeey, Time…”

Ah. Right. I hadn’t thought this through.

“Toki says you apologised…”

“Yep! We’re all buddy-buddy again, right Toki? Old friend? Old partner? Old bottom?”

“You didn’t need that last part. But yes, Time, we’re on better terms. And I’d appreciate it if you’d at least give Fuji one mission to prove her value. You think you could hold off the hostilities just this one time? For me?”

Time let out a low growl and kept up her defensive posturing, but after a moment’s silence she breathed out and relaxed.

“...one chance. That’s all she gets.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. If Time and Fuji ended up at each other’s throats it would put me in one hell of a tough spot.

“If your personal drama has come to a close, might we refocus on the mission at hand? Which, as I’m sure you’ll all recall, is the reason I called this meeting in the first place?” Ryou more or less already looked sick of our shit. Not that I could blame her.

“Sorry, Ryou. Wanna give us the debrief so we’re all on the same page?” I said.

“If I am allowed to get a word in edgeways, yes, that would be grand.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. Calm down, bitch, everyone’s already paying attention to you. “I’ll keep this brief. Since the opera house massacre, Kurogaisha has been attempting to recoup their losses. To do so, they’ve been wringing out every yen from the poor and needy that they can, knowing they are powerless to fight back. Our aim is to… ‘repossess’ the wealth they have stolen. And, if opportunity arises, to deal a death blow to Kurogaisha.”

Ryou then placed a laptop on the sorry excuse for a kitchen counter and pulled up an image of a map. I recognised it as an area in Shibuya’s commercial district. There were three locations highlighted with red crosses.

“Kurogaisha HQ… What are the other two?” I asked, studying the map closely. One seemed to be in the middle of the road.

“These are our three targets. As you correctly identified, the first is the primary headquarters of the Kurogaisha Zaibatsu. One of the three of us will secure an infiltration route inside. The other two will join them after completing their own tasks. Since this is a covert operation, I will be nominatin-”

“Ooh! Ooh! Can I do it?!” Interrupted Fujiko loudly.

“Are you utterly daft, girl?” spat Ryou. “This is a stealth operation. Each step you take sounds like a vigorously shaken coin purse. In fact, are you even aware of the meaning of stealth?”

“It’s when you leave no witnesses, right?”

“...I am nominating Tokiko for this particular task.”

“Awww.” Fujiko pouted like a grumpy child. Grow up, woman. You’re 23.

“Worry not, dear girl. I’ve another task in mind that I believe is simply perfect for the Priestess of Property Damage.”

“It’s Princess of Electric Power! And I don’t just want whatever extra job you got lyin’ aroun-”

“It’s a demolition job. In an electric power plant.”

“...I think I’m in love with you.”

“I’m charmed.” Ryou ignored Fujiko’s enamoured gaze (which I was definitely not jealous of) and traced one of the red crosses with her finger. “This here is the natural gas plant used by Kurogaisha to power their nearby factories. It’s known to pump waste into the atmosphere and surroundings, and provides little to no benefit to anyone but the zaibatsu themselves. It is, however, incredibly valuable. And a priority site for defence. If Ms Denka were to attack the power plant, Kurogaisha’s nearby MPs would rush over en masse. This would leave the headquarters near-undefended, allowing our dear Tokiko a far easier infiltration.”

“Wait, if this is a stealth mission, why am I doing the infiltrating and not you?”

“Because I will instead be here, at our third target.” She traced the third cross - the one sat in the middle of the road - with her finger. “A Kurogaisha convoy is moving from their headquarters in Minato to the equivalent in Shibuya. I have it on good authority that this convoy will contain spoils far exceeding the value of the stolen wealth we seek to reclaim. Cybernetic parts, firearms, state-of-the-art quantum computer components for artificial intelligence training. Things that could make quite the pretty penny to the right buyer. But robbing a convoy will require speed, both in operation and in exit. Fast though you are, this is a front in which I am specialised.”

“Only because you cheat with teleportation…” I grumbled. Though, I couldn’t say I was too upset with my task. The Shibuya HQ is where the big wigs, and most importantly the CEO, were set to convene. If I played my role right, we could end what Kageno started and finish off Kurogaisha here and now.

“My ladies, I’m sure I needn’t tell you this, but as you will all be operating alone for this mission, there is great risk to each and every one of you,” said Higgs, pacing on the counter next to the laptop. “You must practice constant vigilance. Any slip in concentration may yet spell your death. Are each of you clear on this fact?”

“Ah, don’t worry about us, pretty kitty. We ain’t pushovers. We can handle ourselves against some two-bit MPs, can’t we?” said Fujiko, flexing her bicep as if she was planning to punch an entire PMC to death. A feat that I quite honestly would not put past her.

“While I certainly don’t doubt the self-defence capabilities of the famed Countess of Calamity-”

“Princess of Electric Power!”

“-I must remind you that your foes may not be limited to just military police. With three rogue magical girls making the news, plus the mysterious foes we encountered at the opera causing havoc, it would be no surprise at all for Kurogaisha to find it a necessary expense to hire their own magical girls, don’t you think?”

It was an unfortunately very valid point. I would honestly be surprised if there wasn’t at least one cyber-samurai on their payroll. As to whether we’d run into one? Who could say. But the possibility alone was reason enough to exercise caution.

“Hostile magical girls or no, the opportunity is too great to be passed up,” said Ryou, her assertive voice overpowering the conversation. “Prepare however you must. The operation will begin tomorrow at sundown. This will be our first opportunity to provoke serious change. We cannot fail.”

The six of us present fell into silent agreement. No matter the danger, this was what we signed up for. It was time to bury Kurogaisha.