Cardinal Ishtar looked troubled, but waited patiently until Alicia, Serenity and Aurelio were seated before she began speaking.

“The incident at Bolorton…I would like to hear a full report of what exactly happened,” she asked, sounding deathly serious.

Stepping into the meeting room, Alicia bowed to the Cardinal as the debriefing began. As the leader of the mission, it was only reasonable that she be the one to speak first.
 
[color=aba000]"Our arrival in Bolorton was accelerated by the assistance of the girl known as Magical Dream Princess. Upon arrival we found the city under attack by mechanized and magical forces. At that point the troops had not yet entered the city proper, as a coalition of other girls from Penrose had arrived to fend them off. We made our way to the evacuation site, but before we could arrive we encountered an illusion of Beacon member Suwako. It attempted to incite us to attack Wonderland. However I was able to determine that it was an illusion and we ignored it.
 
We then arrived at the evacuation center and set up the teleporter. With the assistance of the magical girls already on the scene we were able to remove the residents from danger. However Wonderland was able to breach the defenses of the city and advanced upon the evacuation site. Their troops attempted to disable the teleporter, and we were forced to fight back. When the evacuation was completed we exited the scene."[/color]
 
That seemed to about summarize it, though if the others had something to add she wouldn't object. 

[color=fff79a]“On the illusion,”[/color] Aurelio would chime in, having followed Alicia’s example and having given a small bow when he entered. [color=fff79a]“I sent a clone to try and get a better idea of what their plan was, but my clone expired before it could return to me. That said, I know that it got close to the outer edge of the engagement. Where I could feel two potent sources of anger that seemed to be fighting each other.”[/color]

[color=fff79a]“In addition, from what clones I had that I got back, I can tell that the mechanized forces didn’t see fit to bother with us or the others helping us evacuate. And were focused solely on attacking Wonderland, whereas Wonderland saw both us and the mechanized force as equal opportunity targets.”[/color]

Serenity nodded in assent with what Aurelio had said, before picking up where he’d left off. Her distance from the two agents of a certain Horror was more of a comfort now, but the sinking feeling she’d have to say something about it all was also there. Not that she wanted to hide it, really, but it was also…somewhat uncomfortable as well. Brought back similar feelings to what she’d felt back there in Bolorton. Even so-

[color=6A5ACD]“The soldiers were disposable, which from what little I know from, er, ‘before’ about them seems to fit the bill of how they operate. Despite this, they wielded stronger magical weaponry of a sort, examples of which I got a glimpse of in the possession of…a Horror-serving monster girl and her potential ally who were both among the defenders there as well.”[/color]

A small shudder ran down the magical maid’s back visibly at that mention of the two, though she at least attempted to hide it.

[color=6A5ACD]“However, I believe we didn’t get to see everything Wonderland likely had there at Bolorton either. Though to go in with that much force and using so many soldiers in a small place like Bolorton is…concerning as well, opposing magical girls being there aside. 

Like they’re trying to secure a perimeter or something.”[/color]

Ishtar pondered on the reports given by the three, and sighed. "Wonderland had already contacted us and claimed they were attacked by Beacon forces first. Of course, we couldn't detect lies in that statement; must have been a third-party speaker who was simply told what to say, or worse, manipulated. Of course, Lux is handling the realpolitik side, but in turn has given us more pressure."

Rachel spoke up.
"According to on-site reports confirmed by our intelligence operative, Wonderland broke the truce agreement and initiated hostilities without provocation. It seems they are no longer concerned with the possibility of retaliation. But why now?"

Elora typed away on her laptop, and produced a hologram of Suwako. "Suwako is confirmed to continue operating on the West Coast. The imposter must have been aware of her absence when they attempted their scheme."

Ishtar spoke again.
"These mechanized forces…They must belong to a separate faction. Elora, run a search based on the data." Elora nodded, and began typing away, her fingers so fast they almost seemed like a blur.
"Aurelio, please assist her with any characteristics or traits that you might remember."

Rachel checked her device.
"According to the reports they use mana gem infusion with their weapons. We might be able to salvage something useful out of that were we to get our hands on a sample or two."

"That is true," Ishtar replied. "It seems that Wonderland utilized some experimental monsters as part of their forces as well."
Tsuki nodded. "Yes, the monsters were identified to emulate the cast of a children's story known as the Wizard of Oz. But how were they deployed? Did they teleport in the same way as the others?"

Alicia nodded along with the observations from the various Ascendancy members. [color=aba000]“It sounds like we have a lot of questions and not many answers. We’re going to have some things to look into before Wonderland makes their next move.”[/color]

[color=fff79a]"We would need to ask those that were there before us"[/color] Aurelio would say, [color=fff79a]"Unfortunately it seemed like whoever chose to take the fight out to the forces of Wonderland had their own way out as none of them evacuated with us."[/color]

[color=6A5ACD]“Actually, someone who was out there might have been evacuated by us…I think.”[/color]

A small chill visibly ran down Serenity’s back as she spoke, her words trailing off with a certain sense of distinct unpleasantness about the topic tinting her tone of voice. 

"Yes, we have identified the Mahou who were evacuated," Violette agreed.
"We could have someone follow up on more information with them."

"More importantly, we need to follow up on the rest of Penrose," Ishtar retorted. "Clearly Wonderland's objectives are of a malicious intent that will threaten more than just the city. Otherwise they wouldn't have pushed this aggressively to secure a foothold." She sighed in frustration. "I'll try to convince Lux to send more troops here, but what we really need is the support of the local defense, everything we can get a hold of."

Rachel looked grim. "There is always the ultimate solution…"
 
The rest of the Ascendant tensed up, realising what she meant. Ishtar glared at the Inquisitor. "Absolutely not. Lux has forbidden the use of the Reckoning, as you should know."

Rachel adjusted her glasses. "The Ecclesiarch left in the exception for an Aleph-class crisis. If this is as dire of a situation as you imply…” She adjusted her glasses, causing them to briefly flash from the ceiling light. ”We can't ignore the possibility."

A moment of awkward silence fell in the room, finally broken by Sally. "We just have to make sure it doesn't become a crisis that bad!" She exclaimed boisterously. "Anyway, what's our orders?"

"Co-ordinate defensive efforts with the Penrose Mahou," Ishtar answered. "Continue patrols and hunts as usual, but also conduct scouting missions around the area and in the direction of Bolorton, as well as research into enemy tactics and resources. We'll be keeping you posted. Most importantly, each and every one of us need to seize initiative and act independently to the best of our abilities, without letting protocol get in the way. That is all."

Rachel scoffed, but even she had to agree to the terms the Cardinal had presented. "This city is going to be the death of me, I swear…"

Alicia frowned as she listened to the conversation, especially as it turned to matters of large scale destruction. [color=aba000]“I’m not ready to give up just yet,”[/color] she agreed, adding her voice to Sally’s. Ishtar then provided them with her directions as they prepared to face the oncoming crisis. 

[color=aba000]“Yes ma’am,”[/color] she agreed with a nod. Even if they lost, she did not intend to let them take her home here without a fight.