[Just so it's clear, if you find that Maria's internal narration style has changed compared to her initial few posts, it's because she's in one of her trance states at the moment. Each trance changes her personality somewhat, with a corresponding shift in narration style.]

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[h1]Hanazawa Maria[/h1]

[i]Sorry, my partner is busy at the moment,[/i] I telepathically reply to the person. [i]But it's alright, I should be able to handle these other people![/i]

Okay... Disguising myself as an angel to try to gain my allies' trust turned out to be both unnecessary and counterproductive. Maybe I should have stayed hidden instead... No, it's okay, my old body is still lying there on the ground, and for now they seem to think that it's nothing more than just a dead body. So I can still look for an opportunity, and suddenly spring a trap from there...

Not bothering to stay hidden anymore, I sweep out with a full telepathic scan, though still careful to only use as much power as necessary; I don't want the Protectorate to gain more information about my magical capabilities than I can avoid. With this amount of power, seeing through the sensory-disruptive black fog is still not easy... But I still manage to quickly find the location of the gunner. This time, a powerful beam of green energy comes from him, but I dodge away enough in time that it only singes the upper part of my left wing. Ow... What a caustic power. Even though my wings are made of pure mana, it still kind of hurts. I quickly repair the wing, and turn into white energy, rapidly phasing through walls to arrive at where the gunner is.

When he comes into view, I'm surprised to find that the gunner... isn't really human. Yes, his aura feels just barely human enough, but... his body appears entirely mechanical, made of some bronze-colored metal, with rough circuit lines of acidic green running through it. The middle of his body appears melted with acid, but clearly in the process of fusing back together, where the other person's bullet had torn him in half earlier. Instead of a left hand, he has an arm cannon, with tubes extending out of it and connected to something like a small mechanical backpack; that's where I sense his spirit partner is. And... I don't feel there is actually a human soul in this mechanical shell? Is it just a remotely-controlled drone? Is that why it survived being torn in half?

My eyes lock with the gunner's visor for a moment, purple staring into toxic green.

"...is there any way we can resolve this peacefully?" I begin. "I'm sure I can-"

"You're sure you can sway me from my purpose that easily?" The Protectorate gunner's voice is cold. "Don't make me laugh."

Multiple openings on his chest suddenly form. Each releases a jet of sizzling green fire, blasting him backwards away from me, and the exhaust leaves a thick cloud of acidic smoke. Through the cloud, I can barely see his right arm whirl into the shape of something with multiple barrels, before he lets loose a barrage of bronze bullets. As the bullets travel through the cloud, they evidently become coated in acid, which painfully burn my flesh and magic circuits as they tear into me. Agh, that's not nice...

"I gave you a chance..." I call out, dejected that this one too refuses to compromise, just like almost every other member of the Protectorate... "I'm sorry." The holes torn into my body quickly heal, and orbs of soft, dreamy white light materialize around me, as I prepare to take him down as painlessly as possible.