Description: Attempting to make amends for her last mission failure, Hotaru finds herself engaged in a fight against a reluctant Doctor Tran. Has his raw vehemence for schoolgirls burned itself out!?
This is, for Hotaru, a mission of penance. A mission she takes personally. Mostly because she owes it to the two young men she failed to protect in her previous mission. She had come to Thailand to offer aid and assistance in the search for the people that had gone missing of late, most notably Sakura Kasugano - a friend and inspiration for Hotaru. But after learning of Sakura's fate from a violent encounter with Kurow, the young fighter ended up falling in with the resistance movement. Lacking any experience with war tactics, covert operations, or real combat training, the best she can do is offer her abilities as a fighter with some ability.
It had taken a bit for her to convince the local resistance leaders that she could help, but in the end she was sent along with two young men to capture a radio tower. It was supposed to be an easy job, but due to the unexpected interference of Naerose, the mission went south fast, resulting in the two young men being captured and Hotaru having to flee the guards after fighting the red witch to a stand still.
Returning to the resistance camp in shame, the girl has been offered a chance to make up for her initial failure by helping rescue not only the two young men, but some other guerilla fighters at a nearby Shadaloo detention camp. The camp isn't anything like a full fledged prison. It's mostly just some barb wire fencing surrounding fenced in enclosures where the prisoners are held, each in their own 'cage.'
The number of guards is difficult to discern at a glance, as some are inside the two small buildings located within the enclosure, but there's at least a dozon or more. On her last mission, the plan had been to operate covertly. This time though? All pretenses of making this a quiet operation have been tossed out all together.
"HAAA!" the Kenpo artist shouted as she lept over the outermost fence to land between the two guards at the entrance. With a flurry of kicks and punches, both of the guards are dropped to the ground without too much effort from the kid. Stealing the keys from one of them, Hotaru begins to fiddle with the gate lock in order to let the two camo-clad young men waiting on the otherside in - her backup for this prison break attempt.
It's been an interesting couple of days. Love. Loss. Betrayal. Hidden treasure! Death traps! Yet on the job, there is no rest for Dr. Tran. Well, sort of. This is a pretty out of the way 'camp', so really, who would bother with it? It's like a mini-vacation, which is to say that the doctor is taking the time to study. A large, illustrated book of anatomy is just the thing, and when that's too much of a chore, a heavy bass guitar. Tran can barely play it, but he's learning!
And, of course, when both of these options just suck, there's napping in one of the shacks. Which Tran was doing quite happily, until a certain someone had to come along shouting. Blearily, the doctor gets up, and after seeing the intruder waves down the rest of the troops, who are naturally getting all ready to go out there guns a blazin'. "Hold up, guys, I'll handle this. You're probably completely boned if I can't, anyway." Grabbing his guitar, Tran heads out and clears his throat, trying to get Hotaru's attention. "Tell me, little lady, what are the odds you'll just give it up, get out of here, and let me go back to bed?"
"See? I told you that professional fighting stuff wasn't all just staged, now pay up." one of the young guerrilla fighters asserts as Hotaru finally gets the gate open for the two.
"Psh, okay, fine," mutters the other, slipping a cigarette from his front shirt pocket and slapping it into the waiting hand of the winner of their little wager.
Hotaru pays the exchange little mind. She has a lot of proving to do, still, and they're certainly not done with the hard part of this rescue operation /anyway/. Blue eyes scan the camp as it rapidly shifts from a hot, lazy afternoon into a scene of excitement and agitation. A guard makes the mistake of rounding the corner of the building right next to Hotaru, attempting to bring his gun to bear on the intruders, only to find himself kicked, thrown, and stomped in rapid succession. The young fighter is pulling no punches here. All that matters is rescuing the prisoners so she can get their fate off her conscious.
At the sound of Tran, the two men with Hotaru turn around, raising their weapons at the ready toward him, only to pause, "Awh, what do we have here? Looks like one of their labrats got a little far from base. Just get along now, we're not going to hurt a non-combatant." The other looks to have a less merciful disposition though, taking steady steps toward Tran with his gun leveled at the man's chest. "Just hang on a moment, I've heard about what goes on in Shadaloo laboratories... if he's one of their scientists, he deserves what what I got in mind for him."
Turning around to see what is going on with her backup, Hotaru freezes, eyes widening slightly. "Wait, don't get close-" she warns the strong looking resistance fighter approaching Tran, but he doesn't look inclined to take orders or advice from a kid and just keeps on moving closer.
Well, it's good that Hotaru sees it coming, even if the hapless soldier doesn't. Some people just need to learn their lessons the hard way, it seems. Tran sighs. This is all kind of unneccesary, but he's being roped into it anyway. Duty and all that, even if the chain of loyalty is a little convoluted. Today, at least, it leads to Lord Vega, supreme overlord of Thailand, blah blah blah blah blah.
"I'm not a scientist." In a sudden blur of movement, Tran brings his guitar up and around, smashing it into the young soldier's gun, knocking it out of the way. Spinning around, Tran seems like he's going for a beheading - but the guitar stops, coming to a rest on the man's shoulder, an inch from the neck.
Tran's coat billows behind him for a moment from the burst of action, before settling down again. "I'm a doctor. Don't move, now, adults are talking."
Turning his head back toward Hotaru, Tran notes briefly, "So. I think my question still stands. I'll even let the fact that you've beat the shit out of a couple of my men slide, too. I'm just not in the mood, see."
That's the problem with this war. It seems often the most innocuous of individuals are the ones you really need to worry about the most. Having misjudged the lab-coat wearing young man as a harmless bookworm in over his head, the resistance fighter finds himself disarmed and just about nearly guitar'd viciously for his careless assumption. Then again, looking at the invading trio, one would probably not pick out the lithe girl with pigtails as the 'muscle' of the group either. Mistakes happen.
All the flurry of activity that had begun with Hotaru's initial leap into the compound has come to a sudden standstill. Hotaru and the still armed 'operative' are certainly outnumbered and have lost the element of surprise. On the other hand, she knows that if she can get past Tran, mopping up the rest of this mess isn't beyond reasonable hope.
"I have to do this," the girl replies, her own foot still on the chest of the guard she had dropped a moment ago. "Two of the prisoners here were captured when I was supposed to be protecting them. It's impossible for me to leave without trying to save them." Besides, she really can't bear the thought of going back to the resistance leaders with another failure in a row. With that kind of record, she's probably doing more harm than good!
"Now, see, we have a bit of a problem there." Tran starts speaking, taking his guitar off of the nameless soldier's shoulder and shoving him lightly in the chest with it, forcefully backing him off. "Because while I'm here, I can't willingly let prisoners just up and escape. It's...it's a violation of trust." And make no mistake, Tran's worked hard for that trust - he's not about to just give it up.
He sighs again. This is exactly the problem with having authority, responsibility. It makes things so damnably difficult. Whirling his guitar around, Tran lets it rest on his shoulder, and shoves his other hand in his pocket. "Let me put it like this, though. Do you even know what kind of position you're in, at this very moment? I'll be frank. You're probably more than a match for me, one on one. The thing is, we're not one on one. I probably wouldn't even bother calling for backup, if that's how it were, but the troops here, they know to respond to this sort of thing. They're trained to deal with fighters by calling for backup."
Sweeping his guitar off his shoulder, Tran points it at Hotaru. "If you want to rescue anybody and make a clean getaway, you can't just bring me down. You have to bring me down fast, and every second that goes by just makes it even harder. Unless you WANT to get nabbed by Gorgs again, you know what your best option is? Just go, while you can."
Closing his eyes, Tran takes a step back, the expression on his face resigned. "You probably think you can pull it off, though, or at least you'll give it your one-hundred percent, right?" Somehow, Tran doesn't seem to be giving the impression that he thinks too highly of this.
That she hasn't just out and out charged him already is probably an indication that Hotaru already knows a lot of what he's saying to be true. She really needs to get more backup on these endeavors. Her plus a few men is plenty to take on the average soldiers entrenched at most locations. But time and time again, there's backup from those who are hardly 'average' which keeps throwing plans for a loop.
Lips pressed into a tight, thin line, the girl's mouth twitches slightly as she weighs the unpleasant options she has for another second. She really doesn't want to chance getting caught again. Even her last scrape with Naerose was a really close call. But there's the issue of /her/ duty here, too. Which just so happens to collide unpleasantly with Tran's duty.
"You're right," the pig-tailed girl finally replies, leaning forward into a rapid sprint from a standstill, "The clock's ticking!" Bearing in on Tran rapidly, she attempts to fix a tight hold of his guitar weilding arm to hold it in place long enough for her to launch a barrage of kicks to his shin, knee, stomach, chest, and chin before pulling him forward over her knee to drop him to the ground. Engaging Tran will at least likely keep the guards from shooting for a moment - it's unlikely they want to take shots when the two fighters are right next to each other. It might buy precious time to come up with a plan B, the girl figures.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tran
COMBATSYS: Tran blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Tran
"Try to do someone a favor..." It seems that Hotaru just doesn't get it. Charging ahead recklessly in a normal, random fight is one thing, but make no mistake, this is war. Trying to force your way through, without regard for consequences, is a dangerous thing.
A more immediate dangerous thing is Hotaru, and Tran's hard-pressed to keep up with her assault. She grabs onto his arm, although he manages to deflect the majority of the following kicks, finally getting thrown about. The doctor lands in an awkward roll, quickly and relatively steadliy coming to his feet.
"You just don't get it, do you? Consider this a free lesson." He has been studying, after all. Gotta share the knowledge. Rushing forward, Tran slings his fist at Hotaru, twisting his body violently, as though his entire body is snapping at the last moment to give the strike an extra bit of oomph.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Hotaru with Quick Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Tran
The accuracy with which Tran is able to defend against the kicks that were intended to wear him down quickly leaves Hotaru a bit off balance. She had already risked overextending herself to land the attack in the first place and his quick recovery only ended up putting her in a worse spot.
That isn't to say that she doesn't get a chance to try and defend herself, as there is ample time with the windup the labcoat wearing man comes bearing in on her with as retaliation. Swinging her arm out to try and brush his punch aside, she underestimated how much effort he had put into and ends up getting smacked hard in the middle of her breastbone. Eyes widening, the girl's feet actually slide back through the dirt a yard.
She risks a glance at the two men she's with and can see the uncertainty in both their eyes. Seeing the 'labrat' actually in action, first with the disarming, and now with the way he seems to be handling himself with all the ability of a veteran fighter, their confidence in the situation is certainly waning.
No time to think about that, the girl chides herself, focusing once again on Tran, putting the shock of his first hit out of her mind as best she can. "Why are you even helping them anyway? I used to think you were an okay guy. Kinda Weird... Strange... Unpredictable. But I never figured you for..." She shakes her head, gritting her teeth as she tries to cover the distance between them with a leap into the air, bearing down on Tran with a knee aimed for his shoulder. If she can connect, she'll swing her other leg around to kick him in the head, then push off with both her feet to backflip through the air.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Tran with Rengeki Shuu.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Tran
Hotaru's not the only one overextending herself - Dr. Tran is a man with something to prove, here, although only he can be sure what, exactly, that is, and he's going to go all out to do it. Attempting to twist away from Hotaru, Tran nonetheless fails to escape her diving wrath, ending up on the receiving end of a nasty combo of kicks. The final push-off sends him staggering backward, although he fails to fall.
"Don't give me that, girl. Things are never as simple as we like to think they are, even here, even now." Taking a step or two back, Tran seems content to keep talking for the moment, although with a hand gesture he keeps the troops on alert. They're holding back, but they're not idle, instead seeking fortified positions nearby where they can keep a clear watch on Hotaru and her two allies.
Reaching into his shirt with one hand, Dr. Tran's magic fingers start to go to work, seeking out and soothing bruised, damaged flesh. "You don't know enough, which is the problem. If you had just run at first, and used your brain, you could have come back later, brought some friends, or attacked after I'd moved on. Instead...we've got this."
Landing on her feet again, Hotaru braces herself, preparing for a counter attack that doesn't come just yet. "I don't understand how you could possibly see two equal sides here. With a war like this, someone has to be wrong. I prefer to think that it's the one rolling out tanks to suppress harmless villagers and abducting people to force them into doing things they would never do of their own free will."
He is right about one thing though. She hasn't really thought this through too well. She isn't a tactition by any means. All she knows how to do is fight when pointed in the right direction and, at times, do her schoolwork passably well. Which is why when Tran elucidates her as to the rather hopelessness situation she's getting herself into, Hotaru balks momentarily.
Another glance is made toward the men she's with. What do they want to do? They've got combat training, after all! But they don't really seem to have any ideas for the girl themselves and Hotaru is left with the unpleasant choice of having to press on.
Turning back toward Tran, she charges him as he begins to mend himself. Not that she's really sure that's what he's doing. From her perspective it looks like he felt the need to give himself a massage all the sudden. Once close, she swings her foot out with a quick snap kick toward his chest, maybe landing that foot atop his healing hand if he's not quick enough.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Tran with Dr. Tran - Hot Lovin.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Tran
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Tran with Light Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Tran
"Eh? Oh, I see, you mean..." Tran's massage, and moment of revelation, are both cut short by Hotaru's kick, eliciting a grunt from him as he's driven back painfully. Grimacing, he finally turns to the guitar, whirling it in a wide circle over his head as he slowly advances.
"I can't really say I agree with what Vega's doing here, but it doesn't matter. Like I just said, nothing's simple, and I don't feel like explaining everything to you while trying to beat you off."
He pauses his advance for a moment, musing, "Hell, I don't even feel like trying to beat you off, at all." Despite these words, Tran leaps forward, swinging wide at Hotaru, the guitar tracing a long, deep arc.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Hotaru with Random Weapon.
Glancing Blow
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Tran
Oh no, here it comes. Hotaru finds the infernal guitar of Elle's vexing enough as it is. To see Tran coming at her with one of his own in kind of sets the girl into an unexpected panic that wouldn't make sense to anyone that didn't know her history with the instruments.
This time, miracles of miracles, she manages to move aside, but for her arm that was still extended. Getting cracked hard, her limb swings out to the side, spinning the girl halfway around as she stumbles sideways into the wall of the small building with a grunt.
"I don't see what's so complicated about it," she replies, her unhit arm reaching over to clamp against her elbow, perhaps testing to see if the blinding pain she's feeling is from it getting knocked out of joint or something. "There's only so many reasons you could be doing this. Maybe it's money. Or maybe they told you you can get your own little city when it's over." That's what keeps Kurow going at least, it seems.
Pushing off the wall, the girl runs in again. It looks like she's trying to just run right by Tran - but in passing, she'll reach out for his guitar weilding arm arm and try to twist it up behind his back while kicking his legs out from under him. The move isn't entirely just to try and faceplant him. She's also trying to disarm him of that GUITAR.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Tran with Quick Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Tran
Can you say 'rousing success'? Good, because that's exactly what Hotaru's attack turns out to be! When she grabs his arm, Tran tries to resist, but the effort only throws him off-balance without breaking her grip. The end result is a mouthful of dirt, a lost guitar, and a hell of a pain in the wrist.
Pushing himself up with the hand that doesn't hurt, Tran spits and turns to Hotaru. "Not for money, not for power, not because I'm some kind of zealot for guys with big chins. Just like I said. Complicated." Taking a step or two back, Tran rubs at his wrist - there's no steam this time, though, it's more of an absent-minded effort as the doctor stares Hotaru down. "Feel free to throw out some more theories, though. I'd love to hear them."
COMBATSYS: Tran focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Tran
As Tran backs off, Hotaru pauses again, slowing her assault for a moment. The girl watches him, her brow furrowed as he dismisses all of the usual reasons why people do 'bad things' that she can think of. If not for greed or lust for power... if not for blind devotion to the Shadaloo cause...
The self-proclaimed doctor is an enigma to the girl. Out of the trio of people that have routinely made life difficult for her in the past, Tran defies explanation. Marise is easy to understand. Elle... Elle was hard to understand, but after their little 'heart to heart', Hotaru could at least define what it was the rockster faction leader /considered/ to be her reasons for doing things. Tran though? He just is. And there's no explaining it. "I... I don't really know." she finally admits. Hotaru's world is kind of a simple world. Complicated motivations are a difficult thing for her to wrap her mind around.
Rolling her arm behind her, Hotaru's forearm glows with a blue aura, a small concentration of energy forming in her palm. After seconds, she swings her arm forward, launching a shimmering projectile of pure force directly for Tran. Though the build up was obvious, when she actually throw it it moves along at a pretty good clip. "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Tran reflects Hakki Shou from Hotaru with Operation - Dr. Tran.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Tran
It's all in the buildup, though. The subtle motion of body and spirit, the flow of chi through another...Plenty of people know it better than Tran, but today, his knowledge is enough. Bringing his energy into being, a wide, flat disc grey disc, about the size of a basketball, Tran interposes it in the path of Hotaru's blast. With a flash of light, they collide, and then Hotaru's attack is flying right back at her.
Taking another step back afterward, Tran agrees, "You don't know. You're too young to be involved in this mess. These men you're with, at least, know why they're fighting, and I don't doubt they understand the risks they're taking. You, though...You run ahead blindly, and if I, if all people, can stall you this long...you're not going to be helping anyone. Worst case, you'll be turned against them." He turns his back and shakes his head. "Go home. Take your friends and run, and don't come back until you've grown up."
COMBATSYS: Hotaru reflects Reflected Hakki Shou from Tran with Kobi Kyaku EX.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Tran
As the chiball leaves her fingers, Hotaru winces a little, bringing her other hand over to clamp down over her forearm, still bathed in a blue aura. Hissing a little, as if experiencing a burning pain, Hotaru watches her projectile fly onward while the blue aura on her arm melts away.
When Tran forms the reflective surface and sends her attack back, Hotaru's eyes widen. She hears his words, but there's no time to speak. Kicking her leg out into a reverse roundhouse, the girl creates a swath of blue energy that trails behind her foot. "KYA!" Just before her own little forceball comes back to strike her, the energy wake shimmers, becoming for a split seconda as solid as still.
Obeying some level of physics that you could dare any scientist to try and explain, the poor Hakki Shou gets reflected right back at Tran!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Tran with Reflected Hakki Shou.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\======-\1 Tran
As it turns out, as cool as turning your back in the middle of a fight is, it's not all that practical. Tran has next to no time to react to Hotaru's bouncing ball of chi, getting struck squarely in the back. He staggers a step forward, away from the girl, and then slowly straightens. "It's like that, huh? Guess there's no helping it, at this point."
Whirling about, Tran lets his arm slice around in a half-arc, chi trailing and forming a wide blade that shoots forward. "This is it, kiddo."
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Hotaru with American Hero Cutter.
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Hotaru 1/---====/=======|=======\======-\1 Tran
Lowering her leg, Hotaru has a second to catch her breath as her chiball finally crashes into /someone/. The spherical projectile splashes as if made of some form of liquid, but then dissipates into the air without a trace.
While she may have successfully returned the attack back on Tran, it's his words that are starting to wear the girl's resolve out. She had come here determined to make amends for her last failure, and stubborn pride made her press an attack that she just really is unable to think out too clearly. The thought of ending up like Sakura and other girls makes her scared sick. It's something she had tried to keep out of her mind ever since fighting Kurow days ago, but Tran has brought the hidden fear back to the surface with his words.
Another glance is cast at the two resistance fighters, this time clearly pleading for them to give her some kind of lead. She's not the one in charge here. She's just supposed to do the hard hitting, ironically! But the two men look torn. Their determination to rescue their allies is strong, but Hotaru's ability to deal with the primary roadblack has been very up and down so far. If she can take out Tran, then their odds will improve, even if still outgunned. If she loses to Tran, then this has been worse than for nothing, if they all end up joining their comrades in cages.
Her gaze strays too long though, and Tran's retaliation strikes the girl, causing her to slide several feet back - swaying a little like she might just fall over. But she keeps her footing. Feeling like she's stuck making the tie breaker vote here, she finally relents, panting a little form the effort this fight has taken her so far. "Let's get out of here." Her eyes are fixated on Tran's now, watching his every move. "Try to keep me between you and their guns," she instructs. Intending to deflect bullets? Compared to the game of energy-volleyball she just played with Tran, it doesn't seem too hard. Whether there will be the chance to even attempt this change from offense to retreat remains to be seen.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru gains composure.
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|=======\======-\1 Tran
It's not like Tran was just telling Hotaru to run for nothing. It's a little irritating that she's taken this long to actually do it, but...at least it's done.
"Hold your fire. Let them go." Tran raises a hand, palm open, to emphasize. Staying where he is, he watches Hotaru and the two guerillas leave. He can't help but add one last comment, however. "Try to remember what I've told you, kid. Work on it, and you might actually become a force to be reckoned with, someday." Certainly more threatening that Blackjack's current general assessment of 'strong, but kinda dumb'.
Turning around again, not interested in seeing Hotaru leave, Dr. Tran begins to march back to the shack he was in before this whole mess started. He's got to think on this one for a while.
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|=======\======-\1 Tran
In spite her request, the two men will hear nothing of it. Both of them insist on staying between Hotaru and the armed guards. While they expected the kid to be able to deliver some fight to the enemy, they certainly are men enough to not have the girl take their bullets for them too.
She's still looking at Tran from behind the two guerillas that intend to be her shields on the way back out, blue eyes fixated on the lab-coated man that continues to confound her with his actions and his words. He's made a very compelling case as to why she needs to rethink her role here. She never came to Thailand to fight someone's war in the first place... She just wanted to help find a few missing girls and return them to their families. Subterfuge, sabotage, covert ops. She wasn't cut out for any of this.
In the end? All she can do is murmur a silent 'Thanks', her mouth forming the word even if she doesn't enunciate it vocally. Thanks for giving her this chance to walk away, at least. It might not make him popular with the Shadaloo men. This retreat means another failed mission, though without the loss of additional men this time. But by now Hotaru is beginning to think that not being entrusted with any more 'missions' is for the best anyway.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has left the fight here.
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Tran 1/=======/=======|
Log created on 13:43:46 06/17/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 00:46:56 06/18/2007.