The streets are quickly becoming more crowded as the autonomous enemy force begins to close in. The drones bob and strut with almost bird-like movements, their strangely jointed legs carrying them ever forward. Most of them are still in formation, a cluster of blinking lights and swiveling weapons seeking out their next target.

One of those targets is Selma Rosemarie, who finds that she has company once she’s finished launching her makeshift projectile into the skies above. Two of the more enthusiastic drones, the front-runners, are approaching with both speed and violent intent. The peppering of magitech gunfire around her position is a brief prelude to the real attack; the first drone to reach her reels back one hefty leg and aims a kick at the verdant-haired Ars Magi, the hunk of metal aiming to knock her from her feet so the second can follow up with a crushing stomp.

Thankfully, the rest of the vanguard doesn’t arrive to press Selma any further. Mostly due to the molten ball of magic from Rivka that rips through the frontrunners of the drone formation, blowing a hole through first one, then two more mechanical adversaries behind. The little nova lights up the street for just a moment, revealing broken windows and ruined asphalt. The after-image of a dozen marching drones are burned into each girls vision for just a moment before the street goes dark again.

Meanwhile, high above, Crystal finds that Selma’s opening gets her a hold on the flying drone that was assailing her. It’s bigger than she might have expected—nearly twice the size of the machines on the street below. There’s a lot of internal circuitry for her magic to freeze, and it takes some time for the frost to spread far enough that the machine begins to sag and struggle to stay airborne. Crystals of cold begin to form along the metal surface, then thorns of frost, and soon Crystal finds that she and her adversary are descending at an alarming rate.

And the flying drone isn’t the only thing threatening to come tumbling down. As Chie gathers and focuses her magic the office building behind Selma begins to creak and groan, the skeletal remains of the structure being pressed upon by a sudden extra weight. 

The cluster of drones are still on approach, about to unleash a new volley of projectiles on the gathered members of Team Kheper.