You’re seated at a table in one of the briefing rooms at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, watching the recorded video feed from your AR goggles (you don’t have any actual cybernetics besides a basic CODEC implant, so you have to make do with substitutes) projected on the big screen. On your right is Jim Hunter, your handler. He’s American, nonspecifically Caucasian, middle-aged with greying hair. Kind of bland-looking, all told, which is probably part of the point. He’s apparently ex-special forces of some kind but you’re not sure exactly what kind of unit he was in.

To your left is Karen Hernandez, the commanding officer for Apollo-Matrix’s Afghanistan operations (and therefore your boss). Also sitting in the room are the COs from a couple other PMCs, as well as the American and British base commanders.

There’s also someone else in the room, though nobody else besides you is aware of him: a white-furred, vaguely feline creature with long ears and big red eyes is sitting in the center of the table, watching the video intently as his tail swishes back and forth.

Though everyone is quiet during the video, quite a few of them are looking between the screen and you with raised eyebrows. Since it’s a your-eye-view of the battle, a lot of the flashier stuff stays offscreen (like your outfit, which you’ve since de-summoned in favor of the same multicam combat uniforms that both Jim and Karen are wearing), but enough is there for them to get the point. You’re no ordinary cyborg.

When the video gets to your impromptu hack of the RAY’s control system (hahaha, ‘hack’), an officer from one of the other PMCs--Beacon, you’re pretty sure it was--finally speaks up. “Okay, how the fuck is she doing that?”

>Do you respond? How?

>[] “Nanomachines.”
>[] “Magic.”
>[] Let Karen or Jim answer for you.
>[] Write-in

>>29815776
>[] “Nanomachines.”

SON.

>>29815776
>[x] "Magic nanomachines."

>>29815776
[X] "Magic"
[X] "No, really."
[X] "Okay it's actually nanomachines"
[X] "Secret government project, etc, etc. Pretty delicate, and run out of juice quickly. Not exactly for regular use."

>writing, unless more votes come in

>>29815961
This. We magic, nigga.

>>29815776
>[x] "Magic nanomachines."

twitter where

>>29815776
Magic
Sufficiently advanced technology etc etc

OP is kill.

>>29817177
OP takes 2 hours to write updates.

>>29815776
>[x] “NANOMACHINES, SON!"

>>29817177
>>29817186
OP is sorry...

>>29816026
>>29815961
>>29815892

You look him straight in the eye and smirk. “Magic,” you say, perfectly deadpan.

Karen sighs, and Jim buries his face in his palm. The bunnycat turns toward you and cocks his head. He was probably expecting you to just lie outright, as you usually do; you know from experience he has even more trouble comprehending sarcasm than he does lying. Or, well, truth-disguised-as-sarcasm in this case.

The PMC officer who spoke up gives you an incredulous look. “The hell did you just say?”

“No, seriously. I’m a wizard, and I used magic,” you say, nodding as if that explains everything. You let the stunned silence linger for a moment before chuckling. “Sorry, just love to use that line. It’s experimental nanotech. Very expensive, drains my batteries in a big hurry, builds up a ton of heat, but the results are pretty damn impressive, dontcha think?”

Karen nods as you say this. “It’s part of a project to make ordinary humans relevant in combat again, without the issues associated with full cybernetic conversion. Elena here is one of our first big successes, and...well, she’s certainly turned out to be a good investment so far.”

“That’s all very well and good, but it’s not really relevant to the matter at hand,” the British commander, Group Captain Hammond, says. “What is relevant is that we now have solid intelligence confirming that the insurgency is being assisted by a foreign PMC.”

[1/2]

>>29817949

“Not just any PMC,” his American counterpart--Colonel Ramires, by his insignia (you’ve never met him before)--responds. “Zeta’s a nasty bunch. Any of you familiar with them?”

A couple of people respond in the affirmative. “Apollo-Matrix has had a few run-ins with them,” Karen says. “Brutal fucks.”

“No kidding.” Ramires nods. “For those not familiar, Zeta Private Security started out as a Mexican drug cartel. Made a shitload of money off of running heroin and cocaine, enough that they could start hiring some real expensive security. Mexican and American soldiers, sometimes even Special Forces; lots of surplus equipment, both local and from Russia. They already had a big chunk of the Mexican government in their pockets when the PMC restrictions got lifted, and it’s only gotten worse since then; by now they just about ARE the Mexican military.”

“Then what the hell are they doing out here?” One of the PMC guys speaks up. “The insurgents aren’t exactly drowning in spare change these days.”

>You got a good look at some of the soldiers in the camp--the non-cyborg ones, anyway--and not many of them looked local. There were some women in uniform, too; you’re pretty sure the insurgents aren’t too big on that. Do you have any ideas? (Write-in)

I don't think these are the same insurgents anymore. It might have started out that Zeta was merely backing them but now Zeta has taken over. We might be looking at an invasion instead of terrorists.

>>29817970
"I think they may have their own interests here. Most of the guys I saw in the camp, they didn't look local. Could be the Zetas killed 'em all and took over the camp. Maybe trying to stoke the flames of war higher, create demand for their services?"

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>>29817970
>Colonel Ramires
Looks like he went places.
>I'd say Zeta found something interesting, possibly a source of drugs, maybe just for the hell of it, but in any case, the're moving in.

>>29817970
"Well..." Try to act pensive while throwing out hypothesis on the fly. I had two ideas that came to mind, maybe anon will like one or the other.

-"...They could be up to their old tricks - Middle East seems like it'd be untapped territory for the drug business..."

-"We're assuming the insurgents bought Zeta's services...what if it's the other way around? What if Zeta is paying the terrorists to experiment in their backyard?"

Dunno if either makes sense, but that's what I have.

>>29818175
>the biggest producer of opiates and pot in the world
>untapped drug market
wat

>>29818242
Alright then, maybe they're looking to expand their portfolio? Eliminate the competition and use the insurgents' presence to keep it hush hush. Coulda worked really well if not for us catching them in the act.

>>29818305
Given this is metal gear this is probably their response to the US government supporting the Sinaloa cartel over them. the insurgents simply hired them with pooled cash in addition to better deal for high grade poppy

will we ever get to know what our wish is?

>>29818053
>>29818092
>>29818150
>>29818305

“...You know,” you speak up, “not a lot of the soldiers in the camp looked local. I mean, yeah, some of them were cyborgs, but the ones who weren’t...definitely not Afghan. I think the whole assumption might be the wrong way around.”

“How do you mean?” Hammond asks.

“I mean, that didn’t look like an insurgent camp with some Zeta equipment and soldiers, that looked like a Zeta camp, period. I don’t think Zeta’s here to support the insurgents. Or, I dunno, maybe that’s the pretense, maybe they’re doing the job on the cheap, but I think they’re setting up to move in here permanently.” You look over at Karen, hoping she’ll back you up; intel analysis isn’t exactly your strong suit.

Karen nods approvingly. “This area is one of the biggest sources of opium in the world. Maybe Zeta’s trying to corner the market.”

Hammond nods. “A reasonable conclusion. Opium is already where most of the insurgents’ income comes from, and they would be able to offer routes for Zeta to move equipment into the country undetected.”

“Okay, so we know why they’re here,” the Beacon officer says. “Seems like a hell of a risk, though, supporting someone the US is directly at war with.”

“Zeta’s been spitting in America’s eye for years now, and they’ve only gotten bigger, meaner, and tougher to extricate from the Mexican bureaucracy,” says another PMC officer, a woman from Templar Securities. “This isn’t much bigger of a reach for them.”

Having lost all pretense of being a debriefing for you, the meeting continues in that vein for a while. Apparently the creature on the table notices your eyes glazing over, because it’s not long before you hear his high-pitched, childlike voice in your head.

<You wasted a great deal of power in that battle, Elena. It will take you a long time to make up the deficit.>

>>29819143
>How do you respond?
>[]<Not like I had much of a choice.>
>[]<Go away, Kyubey.>
>[]<Aw, I didn’t know you cared.>
>[]Write-in

>>29819165
>[]<You know me, hardon for punishment.>

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>>29819143
>[X]<Go away, Kyubey.>

>>29819165
>[x]<Not like I had much of a choice.>

>Also, I've unfortunately got to call it a night, but I should be up early enough tomorrow to keep this going in the same thread, if it's still alive by then. See you then!

>>29819165
[X]<Aw, I didn’t know you cared.>

>>29819165
>[]<Aw, I didn’t know you cared.>

>>29819165
[]<Aw, I didn’t know you cared.>

Psykic Guess for this thread
>Qt girl protag
>Adventure
>Look another qt gurl
>lesbian adventurers
repeat for 90 threads

>>29819355
>wrong on all counts

Good psychic. Way to go.

I digged last OP more
Both girl's visuals and embers
Now it looks like PGQ OP

File: 1390828806050.jpg-(243 KB, 1280x720, BAKA WAKABA.jpg)

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BAKA BUMP

>>29824310
This looks like a great design
Different color and weaoon and it'd be perfect
Where did you get it?

>>29824448
Internet. It's from Vividred Operation.
Go watch it. The butts are wonderful.

>>29819165
>>[x]<Not like I had much of a choice.>

I can't be helped

Good morning!
>writing

>>29820708
Yeah, on further thought I'm not totally satisfied with it either. Doesn't look meguca enough.

>>29819281
>>29819324
>>29819345

<Aw, I didn’t know you cared>, you pulse back, grinning at the little bunnycat.

He blinks a couple times at this. <Sarcasm, correct?>

You just keep right on grinning.

<I just don’t understand why you use your magic to fight humans. It’s inefficient. Wasteful,> he says, leaping down to the floor at your side.

<Well, it’d be a waste if I didn’t, right? I mean, that was kind of the whole point of my wish.>

<A valid point. Still, against opposition that heavy, it may well have been a better option to run. Or at least fight more conservatively.>

<Man, you weren’t there, Coobs. I wasn’t getting out of there without a fight. Seriously, though, what’s with the sudden concern?>

He’s unfazed by the question. <You’re one of the most powerful magical girls alive right now, Elena. It would be a shame to lose you to mere negligence.>

<I know how the deal works. You don’t have to babysit me.>

<Very well.> Kyubey walks off, leaving the room to go...wherever he goes when he’s not around. You’re not actually sure about that.

You return your attention to the meeting. Karen’s speaking right now. “So we have to meet force with force here. Give me a couple hours and I can have a revised budget for you to sign off on. Then I’ll send up a request to A-M Logistics, see if we can get some extra armor and heavy UGs shipped in. I can probably sweet-talk a RAY or two out of them as well.”

“Way to show off,” the Beacon guy mumbles.

Ramires sighs. “And how much larger is this ‘revised’ budget going to be?”

Karen gestures around the room. “I’m sure you’ll understand if I say I’d rather negotiate privately on that.”

...Yep, still not a lot more interesting.

>[] Try and keep paying attention.
>[] Space out, think about how you got here.

>[] Space out, think about how you got here.
More background info is always good to have. We can ask for a recap later.

>>29827842
>[] Space out, think about how you got here.
This is a story all about how
my life got flipped-turned upside-down
And I'd like to take a minute, just take a seat
and remember getting hired into PMC

>>29828273
Optionally notice that the chair we're sitting on is now spinning in the air
>"Wizardry, son."

Hey Shockz.

>>29819165
>>29827842

Aw, I would have gone with "But it was a *Metal Gear*! You can't just expect me to NOT fight it!" or something equally cocky.

>>29827842
>[X] Space out, think about how you got here.

>>29827842

>[x] Space out, think about how you got here.

>writing. Gonna try some ideas for reducing time between updates.

To pass time whilst OP is writing:

Worth asking for some big guns? Or will handlers not permit this?

>>29829324
Why would we need one?

>>29829324

It would be unusual--Elena usually doesn't carry more than a sidearm and a few C4 packs in term of non-meguca weaponry--but certainly permissible.

>>29829362
Magical energy is getting low.

Back-up weapons are always useful

>>29829370

Hm. We could ask for something like a tranquilizer or something?

Something to stealthily and non-lethaly take people down.

>>29829434
Oh, sure
I wonder if we can combine wraith hunting and regular missions to restore our energy

>>29829452
We should get a banana

>>29829496
Do we know of any non-magic weapon or object that has any effect on wraiths?

>>29829516
I don't know it, but I bet not

>>29829516

Mundane weaponry works perfectly well on wraiths just like it did on Witches. The part that requires magic is finding and seeing them, as well as getting into their "miasma" (the mechanics of which I'll get into later).

>>29829536
damn

There goes the exploit of gathering magical energy without expending it.

>>29829597
Ha!

I spoke too soon.

We need guns, lots of guns.

>>29829636
>>29829599
I think our sword is adequate
Also you can't Zandatsu with guns

>>29829753
I'm not saying abandon sword, I'm saying lets have another option in a fight.

>>29829777
Well we don't really -need- another option. An anti-air rocket launcher and an all-purpose set of grenades is all that's needed

>>29827963
>>29828273
>>29828814
>>29829093

You do your best to look extremely interested in the logistics discussion. You’ve had to pick up a lot of the way PMCs work from scratch since you started working at Apollo-Matrix; unlike most of their armed employees (and certainly unlike most of the elite operatives like you), you’re not ex-military.

It would be kind of weird if you were; after all, you’re only 15.

Oh, you look older than that, certainly. Your birth certificate and every other document you know of says you’re a few months past 18, too, the alterations so perfect that it’s like that’s what they said all along. Even your own mother thinks you’re three years older than you are. It all came as part of the package.

See, you’re not the first person in your family to work for Apollo-Matrix. Your father was with them for almost five years, deployed out here in Afghanistan. You didn’t see much of him, but you knew he was taking care of his family the best he could; enough money came home to make sure you, your older sister Barbara, and your mother had everything you needed, and quite a bit of what you wanted. Enough so that you had a nice house in a nice neighborhood; enough that Barbara could go to Stanford without a cent of student debt.

And then he died.

He was on guard duty at one of the smaller American camps; a suicide bomber who’d somehow gotten a hold of some optic camo blew a hole in the fence right by his station. He only had bare-minimum cybernetics, not nearly enough to survive a blast like that. Supposedly it was quick, at least.

As it turned out, while Apollo-Matrix’s pay was excellent, their death benefits package was...less so. Your savings couldn’t last forever, especially with Barbara still in college. So when Kyubey came to you and explained the whole magical-girl deal…

>[1/2]

>>29830065
Well, the first thing you did was laugh at him and ask where the camera was. He was obviously some sort of artificial pet.

Eventually, though, he did convince you, and by then your wish seemed obvious. You wished you could take your father’s place and provide for your family.

In retrospect, of course, you probably should have just wished for a bank account with a few million dollars in it. But to be honest, you’re fine with how things have turned out. You’ve seen more, learned more about the world in the past year than you have in all your years of school. You’ve met some damn good people--Karen’s just about the most awesome CO you could possibly imagine, and Jim…well, Jim’s kind of an asshole but he’s dedicated as hell to keeping you alive. You’re in better shape...hell, you’re better-looking than you’ve ever been, and you got to skip over a lot of teenage bullshit. And Apollo-Matrix, for all of its monolithic corporateness, generally has its moral compass more or less in the right direction, so often as not you’re using your newfound power to do some real good for the world. It’s been a good deal all around. And for all that you’re sure your mother’s worrying, your powers mean that it’s rare as hell for you to be in any kind of serious danger.

Well, it’s been rare, anyway. If fights like yesterday start becoming more the rule than the exception, you’re going to have to be a lot more careful from now on…

>[2/2]

>And calling it for today; there's some work I need to get done. Thanks for playing!

>>29830109
Thanks for running!

>>29830109
>And calling it for today
Next game when?

>>29830210

Can't guarantee a schedule. No later than Saturday, though.

>>29830238
Thank you

>>29829753
>>29829777
She should be getting a HF blade for when she needs to conserve magic, unless keeping the sparklysword out is free, in which case HF that thing and just treat it like a regular sword. Pretty much every heavy combat cyborg has one and she'll need one to cut up heavier-duty enemies anyways.

And maybe a couple throwing knifes, if guns aren't practical.