Here's an Omake I've been thinking about. Hope it's not too intolerable.
Omake: Eye of the Reaper
For the most part, the Company sought to spread its veterans around, since there were relatively few of them. This was generally a good strategy: it meant that newer Magical Girls could learn the ropes from experienced warriors, which had dramatically improved life expectancy from the old "join whatever squad's nearest too you, good luck" or worse "you're on your own." Some squads had become well-oiled, Wraith-killing machines, while others, through poor leadership, bad luck, or both, had tended to have their new recruits die almost as soon as they made their wish. This new way, there was almost always someone skilled to lead a squad.
However, there were some things that the fungs* just weren't ready for, even under the direction of veterans. It was all well and good to kill the average Wraith, but there were many more powerful members of their kind, and Witches were on a level all their own.
For those threats, there were the groups commonly called Commando Squads.
Made up entirely of particularly talented veterans, often ones that could have retired ages ago but chose to keep fighting the good fight, Commandos were the crème de la crème of the Company's forces. They were extremely rare, but when the Company absolutely, positively
had to win, no substitute was acceptable.
And of the Commandos, Reaper Squad was near the top. And tonight, they had prey worth their time.
"Alright, ladies, listen up," their leader, Captain Adriana "Death's Angel" Cary said, getting the other seven's attention. Adriana liked to joke that her parents had had a flash of irony when they'd given her a name meaning "dark:" her hair was a flowing gold that reached the small of her back, her eyes were a vivid, emerald green, and when she wore it her smile was bright enough to light up anyone's day. Her tone, however, was cool and collected: Reaper Squad was on the clock, and she'd made it clear that, while she didn't really care what her girls got up to in their off time (within reason), when they had a mission they would damn well act like it. "Agents think they've tracked another of those bitches that hit Fractal's girls to her lair, and it seems it's our job to go dig her out."
"Finally," Clara "Blood Fury" Erikson, whispered. She was Adriana's opposite in all ways: short, slight, with scraggly black hair than she kept ruthlessly short. She was also headstrong and impulsive, and had a special hatred for Witches of any kind: she'd lost her twin sister to one, and from that day it had become something of a chore to get her to hunt the Wraiths she needed to keep her Fallout down.
That chore usually fell to the girl next to her: Alexis "Grim Resolve" Morgan. She also held the position of leader of Scythe Team and Adriana's second in command. She reached out and put a hand on Clara's shoulder, her dark skin blending with the black cloths that the younger girl always wore. "Easy there, tiger," she said, her tone an almost motherly mix of firmness and gentleness. "You'll get your hunt soon enough, but you'll do it right, you hear me." Clara nodded sullenly: but Adriana wasn't too worried: for all her rage, she was a veteran; she knew what she was doing, and she had absolute faith that Alexis would keep her in check, as would Lara "Final Mercy" Fox, the third member of Scythe Team, who had put her hand on Clara's other shoulder and squeezed.
Sitting on the other side of the table were two members of Adriana's Sickle Team: Olivia "Eternal Night" Reid and Emma "Silent Hunt" Walker. While Scythe Team were the armored, heavy-weapon fist of Reaper Squad, Sickle Team were the stealthy infiltrators: wearing magical camo cloaks that had many times allowed them to all but tap the Wraith they were hunting on the shoulder before it realized they were there. The pair looked like they could be sisters, even though there was no relation: both had brown, braided hair, though Olivia's was a bit longer and darker. Of Reaper Squad, they'd been together the longest, having been the last survivors of two separate squads. Though she never voiced it, Adriana was pretty sure there was something going on between the pair, she'd never seen them apart, but so long as they didn't let it interfere with the mission, she let them have whatever happiness they could give each other. Lord knows they deserved it, after all the shit they'd been through.
There were two girls that were actually sisters: Reaper Squad's sharpshooters Leena "White Death" Korhonen and Ansa "Black Death" Korhonen. The children of Finnish immigrants, Leena had taken great pride in living up to the title of her personal hero: the legendary sniper Simo Häyhä, and Ansa was an excellent spotter. Adriana wouldn't have felt half as confident as she did if these two weren't constantly on overwatch, reaching out to erase any threat.
Bringing herself back to the matter at hand, Adriana nodded to her Familiar: Dalbey, who started projecting a picture of the suspected witch lair: an apartment building downtown. "If our info's right, one Ada Schmidt lives on the south side of floor 32 of this apartment. We don't know how she pays for it, and quite frankly I don't give a damn. All that's important is that nobody else lives with her, so we won't have to worry about any civilians getting in the way. Leena, you and Ansa'll find a sniper perch over here, but don't take the shot until we're in position: the Witch's had enough time to recover from the beating that Ebon guy gave her."
Dalbey switched the image to the lobby. "Once you're in position, Sickle Team will cloak up and infiltrate the site, bypassing whatever sentries our Witch might have in place. We'll make our way to her location and confirm that she is, in fact, present. No sense in taking risks if the grand prize isn't even around. Once we're in place, I'll cell Alexis to begin Phase 2: Scythe Team will then engage the Witch's constructs while Dalbey disrupts any attempts to call for help. That leaves her with two options: engage, or flee. If she engages, she'll walk right into Sickle Team's kill zone, and if she flees Leena can hurt her enough for the rest of us to catch up and punch her ticket to Hell." Adriana looked around. "Any questions?"
There was a long silence before Lara raised a hand. She was the youngest of the Reapers, and though she was a veteran and a ruthless killing machine in battle she still showed her youth at times. Adriana had been to her house once, and the girl still slept with stuffed animals. "Not exactly on topic, but have you heard anything about who this Ebon is and what he wants."
Adriana rolled her eyes, she should have seen that one coming. Ever since news of this shadowy newcomer and his powers had surfaced, the Company had been talking about little else. For the moment, Command had ordered that only those who had already been approached interact with him, but that was as good as shaking a bottle of soda: it just built the curiosity up. It was only a matter of time before someone, probably a fung, did something stupid.
But it would not be tonight, and it would not be one of
her girls. "Any questions about the
mission, Mercy," she snapped, causing the younger girl to blush and put her hand down. "No? Then let's roll out. We've got some vengeance to deliver."
As Reaper Squad rose and headed for the door, Adriana allowed herself to think a bit about Lara's question. She'd gone over the AARs from Fractal's squad, and she had to admit she was curious about what Ebon's strengths and weaknesses were, enough that she'd put a line in to Command requesting any info that came up about him.
After all, if he turned out to be a threat, it would probably fall to the Reapers to deal with him.
*A derogatory term for new Magical Girls, based off the acronym FNG: Fuckn' New Girl.
EDIT: I wasn't really happy with the original battle plan, so I went back and changed it to something more nuanced that "kick down door, shoot, go home."
