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How [color=8407c2][i]tasteless[/i][/color].

The indignant thought penetrated the haze in her head, all the more surreal for how normal it was. How utterly atonal. They [i]fucked[/i] with her [i]ears[/i] she thought angrily as the ringing registered, scowling around the copper taste in her mouth. One second she was walking along, carrying her bags through the dark station and ignoring the way the shadows seemed to surround them. She kept the anxiety at bay by running through a selection in her head, humming into the void around them. The next she was face down on the tile, her luggage was arrayed in front of her... And so was their escort. 

[i]That[/i] finally broke the haze if not the tinnitus. 

The detonation had disoriented her but the shock was probably the only thing that kept the fear at bay. The anger, too, however irrational. She clung to them both for support and pushed herself on her elbows, casting her eyes around in the dark. The flash had disrupted her night vision but her eyes had had longer to recover than her brain, and she remembered where her escorts had been. Spread out to safeguard the group from most directions, Selma had been on her left, so the nearest guard was... Her hand hit uniform and she grabbed the sling she knew to be around his torso. The soldier was unresponsive, so was Captain Wei; by all standards they should have recovered [i]faster[/i]. Occam's razor said whatever they were hit with, the four magical girls to be were more resistant to. Which to Rivka's mind said magic. [i]That[/i] was a thought she shied away from, the ramifications more frightening than anything she'd already seen. That was a threat to the adrenaline fueled serenity she drew tightly around her like armor, and so for now it was discarded. She could think it through later.

Right now she hit the quick release on the sling and drew the rifle close, hands taking their placed on the grips fore and aft while she rolled to her right. Her thumb flicked off the safety and she felt the rewarding thrum of the rifle's power flowing. The ritualistic movements, familiar and safe, cleared her head enough to take action. Selma was stirring, but she wasn't up yet. The other two had been grabbed, one- Chie- yelling for help. Crystal had freed herself already, but in the dark there could have been more than those four. 

[color=8407c2]"Eyes behind us, [i]devushka[/i],"[/color] She hissed, almost in Selma's ear, and jabbed the bigger girl slightly in the ribs to hurry her along. Their assailants, whoever they were, were hostile. Their escort was down, one of their number was still captive, and they could be surrounded. An authorization for lethal force if she ever heard one. Their white mask gleamed in the little light available, and one of Baeterrae's best youth marksmen sighted on the helpful target. Dragging his (her?) target kept his captive too low to block the shot. She'd only get one without endangering Chie, as soon as she fired they'd know. [color=8407c2]"We could be surrounded."[/color]

But that first shot would be perfect.

She pulled the trigger from a kneeling position with form her judges would have praised, surveying the scene in front of her for her next target and trusting her new tree friend to have her back. If they could group up they could protect each other, alone they were dead. Or worse. 

Rivka released the trigger and whistled in the dark, hoping against hope their escorts could recover. Two and a half to three semi-trained teenagers and one untrained did [i]not[/i] a spec ops team make.