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[color=7e5e7f]"Could, can, and will,"[/color] she confirmed, meeting Chie's look with one of reassurance. Not that she felt Chie specifically needed it; she didn't have any doubts about the other Magi's resolve. The nature of the statement, the choice of 'should', spoke instead to the simple fact that they hadn't worked together as a team yet. Not for real, not when the stakes were genuine. When the only real safety net was that which they could provide each other. The statement was for all of them, herself included; an affirmation that she could watch their backs, and that she [i]would[/i] watch their backs.

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[i]"We've got plenty of time left, so I want to give you some pointers and run you through some exercises. The first, most important thing I need you to hear; fire is energy. Fire is a reaction. Without you to maintain it it'll only burn as long as it has fuel. You'll always burn through magical power faster than your friends, if you try and match their output."

[color=7e5e7f]What, then?[/color]

"Fight smart. Fight creatively. I'm going to show you how much you've limited yourself since your Elementum. But when you get right down to it you need to go into a fight for the long haul—"[/i]

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[i][color=7e5e7f]—or finish it hard and finish it [b]fast.[/b][/color][/i]

Water came down oppressively, less like droplets and more a suffocating blanket that draped itself over everything. Like an ocean had appeared above their heads in an instant. It didn't steam when it struck her skin like it had in the past, there was no time; it grounded away the excess heat as it sluiced off of her to mingle with the water accumulating around her feet. She'd have been more concerned about working with her element if she hadn't felt the air brimming with nox. It was stronger, denser, the closer they grew to the generators. 

She had expected a Void, maybe even a few of them; not whoever— whatever— the woman striding through the carnage was. Her evaluator. her instructor, had tried to warn her of what could happen if an Ars Magi went bad. It seemed an awful lot like they were going to see firsthand. 

[color=7e5e7f]"Eyes up, girls,"[/color] Her rifle broke open and she spun it once, twice, thrice around her finger by the trigger guard, with every rotation imagining the barrels scooping Nox out of the air. Compressing it, denser, denser, and denser. After the third rotation her fingers closed fast around the grip and the barrel snapped back into place; the red inlay of the weapon [i]glowed[/i]. It smoldered in the low light, hot enough to the touch that the rain sputtered when it struck metal. [color=7e5e7f]"She doesn't look friendly. Station is engaged by suspected hostile Ars Magi, Captain."

"Kheper, babes, I'm ready to hit her hard. Selma-Selma, you and Crytal are gonna be our best defense I think. Sound off when you're ready and I'll start the music."[/color]