Description: Agents have met. Battles have been fought. Alliances made, and...transgressions too. The assault on the Suiryuu, orchestrated by Blackjack and Mad Gear. And the emergence of a ninja from the past, one with knowledge of the clan called Ryouhara. Many things have come to pass. And now, deep within the great ship, the Director of Operations, the man known only as 'Hiretsu', encounters the Chief Engineer - one Riko Koganei. Words are exchanged. Plans set in motion.
"Huh.."
Hiretsu frowns. It is a distinct effect, mostly because of the fact Hiretsu /never/ frowned. It's a luxury his persona didn't oft allow for, save in the most dire of circumstances. Today, he has a reason. Largely, it's because he'd just got done inspecting damage the fight in the library caused to the inner hinges of the dojo entry mechanism. And taking a second inventory.
"Did those thugs really think they were just going to get in and ransack the ship.." Hiretsu wonders openly and to no one in particular. His voice has a particular edge to it. There's a distinct bemusement in his voice, but it is not at all a pleasant, or particularly humorous thing.
Dry, cold, detached.
The question might well have been rhethorical. It probably was. Yet someone answers anyway, in an equally matter-of-fact voice. A soft whisper, one that would be barely audible to most people. But a voice that the speaker knows will be heard, all the same.
"Well," Riko says, "yes."
She makes a quiet sound that could possibly be a laugh. A sound that carries from the opposite end of the dojo chamber, away from the entrance leading to the hidden space. The girl stands just beyond the far wall, her back to the myriad weapons hung upon the vertical surface. She wasn't there a moment ago. Now she is.
Riko glides forward, the wheels of her skates soundless over the tatami mats covering the floor. She looks at Hiretsu, her eyes half-lidded, hands clapsed together in front of her. Her movement is slow, precise - for she seems tired, her face pale and drawn, sleepless.
Her voice, though, still carries a measure of energy, especially when she speaks again.
"You're /surprised/?"
"Ah. The Princess of Jinchuu reveals herself."
Hiretsu must not have been here quite as long.. but at once, he seems entirely unsurprised at the appearance of Riko, not even bothering to turn and face the young lady, his hands crossed and folded over the ball of his cane momentarily, but only just long enough for the man to reach up and pull down the bill of his cap to a more naval slant.
"Of course, I suppose I shouldn't be," Hiretsu suggests, just as openly.
When he does turn, he faces Riko with all the humility that he is known for, a faint smile tugging the corner of his lip, as a somewhat drastic change from his demeanor only a scant few seconds ago.
"People will be people," Hiretsu reasons. "They do not do as they will, but as they're directed," he concludes, in that same idealized tone of goodwill.
He steps forward. Slowly, but steadily on his cane, taking only the barest of glances towards Riko's skates. "You'll ruin the mats with those," he notes dryly.
A change of subject.
"What of your preparations? Are you ready?"
Riko comes to a halt, lifting one foot in a careful application of brakes. The friction does indeed, very minutely, scuff the tatami mat - but then, she also used more force than necessary. She closes one eye, lifting her finger to the other...and sticks her tongue out at Hiretsu.
She holds the pose for a moment, before dropping her arm. She opens her hand, palm and fingers spread. Her expression grows, if not serious, then at least...focused, intent.
She locks eyes with Hiretsu, or at least as much as can be managed. His gaze is hard to meet, after all, his eyes hidden by the brim of his hat, and the wrinkles around them. She stares.
"Of course," Riko answers, after a moment.
Then she yawns, languidly, breaking the glare. She lifts a hand, lazily fanning herself.
"I don't understand," she murmurs, "how Seishirou-sama does it."
She glances, significantly, at Hiretsu.
"The drain, the amount of power..."
She pouts.
"After that, I'm exhausted. But /he's/ still going strong."
Lips beneath a sharp nose--the only immediately visible characteristics of the Director's face--give a faint, but perceptible grin, an expression tilted just so that fangs reveal themselves each in turn. A thin, wane thing. But clear and visible, even at the furthest distance, though steadily closing.
When the director stops, it is a scant two mats away.
He tilts to his right, indicating the shift to leaning on his cane with one hand. Unlike Riko's noticeable fatigue, his reliance seems a concession only to the meaningful conservation of energy, as opposed to a perceptible disability.
"Ah," Hiretsu allows. "Don't discount the value of a short break." His free hand lifts, at the elbow and close to the body, gloved hand open. "... And prior practice," he does admit, after a moment.
He gestures, that same hand closing in a single 'come hither' motion.
"I never did manage to find that Todoh, though I did clear the airship off the deck.. Still. For you, some exercise, after all that effort. Loosening the blood will quicken your recovery. Fighting a Devil is not quite enough, you know.."
He's still grinning.
COMBATSYS: Hiretsu has started a fight here.
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Hiretsu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Riko has joined the fight here.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
The girl matches his grin. Measure for measure.
"Mm," Riko answers, insolently, "don't blame me for your...inadequacies in handling her, /Hiretsu-sama/."
She draws out the name, spilling it from her tongue, twisting it into a parody of its nature. As she speaks, Riko moves her shoulders, rotating her arms. She rolls her neck, arches her spine, stretching in a distinctly catlike fashion. Complete with an exceedingly feline gaze, slitted eyes directed at the other figure in the dojo.
"She's /your/ old acquaintence...after all, and she might not be here...if it wasn't for your 'appearance' in this tournament. Hm?"
Riko smiles.
"Unforseen circumstances. Always the unseen. Are -you- ready, Hiretsu...sama?"
Riko's skate boots slide across the tatami mat, as she adopts an approximation of a ready stance. If her arms tremble as they rise, if her footing is not as steady as it should be...she gives no indication of it, on her face, just daring Hiretsu to say something.
COMBATSYS: Riko takes no action.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
"Within and without," Hiretsu warns. "As they are, always. I can't say I'm entirely surprised to see Marise show herself. Of any shinobi, I would expect one of her caliber to .. persist on into the new age. Not to my dissent. Though /we/.. could not have foreseen the appearance," Hiretsu minds, a cold edge creeping into his voice, "..There is regardless a certain taste for history that I prefer. You'll admit.. of any stage, our great fighting ship is the best place for her reappearance. And in this fashion.. we learn much."
The Director glances up, sharply. A thin line and a glimpse of an ice cold brown eye can be seen, only for an instant.
"..You should know." He's always ready.
He moves. Like a swift wind, as is his way.
He offers little quarter, but what he does is clearly visible. His shoes rotate across the tatami as he turns to face Riko back-on. A hammer fist delivered straight in, rotating out from a wide reverse stance taken at Riko's shoulder. His cane is used to reinforce that stance in a kind of three-point iron horse.
"Still, her connections.." Soemthing he's still trying to figure out. "..that group aboard Suiryuu /is/ beginning to cause quite the stir!"
COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Hiretsu's Fierce Strike.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
"Mmmm," Riko murmurs, in a way that's almost - almost - introspective. It's the sound of someone musing out loud, a thoughtful sort of noise. Not what one would expect, at all, from a girl with a rigid fist racing towards her torso.
Of course, that fist never lands. She leans to the side, a mere fraction of an inch. But enough, just enough, for Hiretsu's hand to slide past her body, the skin of his knuckles brushing over the fabric of Riko's top. That, though, is as close as they get.
"But a stir..."
She lifts a leg, then, bringing it up in one sudden movement. A rising kick, unheralded by any shift in her stance and weight. Moving without moving, a kick devoid even of a bending knee, any sort of chambering. Just... one moment there, the next, heel speeding vertical.
"...is what we /need/."
COMBATSYS: Hiretsu blocks Riko's Light Kick.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
"Mmm," the Director vocalizes, a sound low in his throat, more a vauge murmur of a sound than anything else. His hammer fist goes wide for want of a body to discharge force into, and for the most part, Hiretsu follows the motion, lifting cane and turning with it. The lightning bolt of a kick that follows impacts the dense hardwoods of that cane, raised and turned horizontal with the motion of turning. The crawling pattern on the implement's shaft is left relatively unmarred by the force of the impact.
"Chaos can be used," Hiretsu reasons, following that line of thought. "Much can be accomplished in such a climate. But .. more care will need to be taken with what is under scrutiny. Still. Right now.."
The cane is braced, the director taking up one end in one hand and the other. In that same motion, his reinforced crew shoe snaps forward, aiming to break Riko's balance and stance with a snap kick aimed at the weak point of her instep.
"...From my information, no one really suspects anything important..."
Judging from his tone and the tilt of his brow, the Director seems a little annoyed with the notion.
COMBATSYS: Riko dodges Hiretsu's Light Kick.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
Riko laughs, lightly, a musical sound.
"Lead a horse to water..."
Even as she speaks, though, she also /moves/. Another sound echoes through the dojo, an explosive hiss. The sound of pressure releasing, the sound of a line reeling through the air - and something hard making contact with a solid surface.
The sole of Hiretsu's shoe finds empty space, for Riko isn't there. She's flying upwards, speeding towards the ceiling. A grappling hook lodged in the top of the chamber, pronged metal attached to a light fixture at the very top of the dojo chamber. The other end resting in the girl's palm, a hard plastic launch device with a pistol trigger...and a little yellow Batman sticker pasted on the barrel.
"Arika Fade," Riko replies, "Eva Manzetti, think we're some kinda cult."
Riko dangles upside down. She sounds vaguely bemused as she reports this, her inverted smile growing broader.
"Which is, y'know, accurate. It is! From a small-minded point of view."
She swings back and forth.
"Keith "Aranha" Mason, his own inquiries. Not bad, I suppose, for a criminal, but still. Then there's Kyle Travers. Could be trouble...but then...he ain't done much. Likewise Alan R.B."
Riko nods, sagely, swaying from her line like a human pendulum.
"Annnd Soma Travedi...has...but well, all down to crisis management, innit?"
COMBATSYS: Riko takes no action.
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Riko 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
"Soma's useful to our purpose," the director replies blandly, but just on the heels of Riko's last words. Partially why Hiretsu sent the invitation personally. "As our final mission for the Leaf, we will need to make sure that every element of the operation is as well equipped as possible...too many factors too account for using conventional means," he does admit.
"But, via the alternative large-scale directives... As expected, our command crew have been instrumental in directing the flow of the operation. I'll have to thank Miss Kasugano at some point," Hiretsu decides. His chill tone doesn't indicate appreciation in the slightest.
The director whirls as Riko dangles, throwing his cane into the wall point-onwards. Despite having a relatively blunt end, the weapon stands straight horizontal on the wall, positioned in the midst of a number of daggers of different types hung there on the boards.
A telltale circle forms around the array.
"She has been /most/ helpful," Hiretsu emphasizes, walking towards the cane.
An instant later, there is an audible series of explosions on that wall there, sending an array of kris, misericord, rondel, stiletto and even the old fashioned kunai flying with almost unnerving accuracy at Riko's perch in a dense spray.
COMBATSYS: Hiretsu successfully hits Riko with Thrown Object EX.
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Riko 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
A sharp cry - cut off abruptly, as the bladed projectiles strike home. Riko is completely engulfed by the hail of razor metal, hidden in the crash of lethal steel. But hidden, as well, by the sudden billowing cloud of white smoke that erupts from her position, a rolling cloud that obscures the entire ceiling from view.
When it finally fades, evaporating into thin tendrils of mist, the grappling hook and line Riko was dangling from lies empty, swaying gently back and forth. At the very end, at the launch mechanism and pistol-grip, is hooked something else - an aerosol can, pierced with one of those stray flying daggers. A few final hisses of gas emerge from the punctured canister.
"She has."
Riko's voice echoes through the dojo chamber.
"I think, in fact we need to tell her more. Certainly about the...safety contingencies," she continues, choosing her words carefully, "in the, ah, event of a shipboard evacuation, ne?"
The girl perches atop one of the dojo walls. On the same wall, in fact, that Hiretsu's walking stick is embedded in. She peers at the cane, stuck perfectly at a ninety-degree angle to the vertical surface. She arches an eyebrow in appreciation - before reaching down, and pulling a stick of her own from one of the many weapon racks. A long Chinese spear, with a flexible shaft. This she grips by the extreme end, whipping its length at Hiretsu - the wood bending before snapping forward in a bladed thrust.
"Never know."
COMBATSYS: Hiretsu dodges Riko's Quick Strike.
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Riko 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
"I've already given Futaba one of our pendants. For her service," Hiretsu explains, apparently to the open air. The encroaching smoke does little to unnerve the ninja director, whom takes a moment to straighten his cap while waiting, and listening. "There are others who assisted in the invasion. Though I am not sure Fade /or/ Manzetti would be quite as enthused to receive such a gift... There /is/ the beast. Wasn't he deputized? ... In a fashion?"
Hiretsu samples the air methodically, as if to consider its taste.
Inform her? "I suppose we should," comes eventual--and grudging--agreement.
Those thin, knife-like eyes dart up when Riko's position at once becomes known. His hand blurs. As it does, the cane falls off the wall immediately, leaving Hiretsu to tilt to one side, just narrowly missing the spear's point, to the end of having the familiar red tuft glance off his collar. He leaps back, twirling the cane in his free hand, before it drops to the tatami once again.
"Our operations manual," -- Written by Hiretsu himself, no less -- "Is probably not the best literature for her to discern such secrets from. At least, not in an emergency."
COMBATSYS: Hiretsu takes no action.
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Riko 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Hiretsu
"No," Riko agrees, "I was thinking a personal briefing."
She hops down from the wall, landing upon the floor. She winces as her legs flex, absorbing the impact. As she stands, she drops a hand to rib her right thigh, fingers kneading the muscles. Meanwhile, she clutches the spear in her left hand...grounding the iron-clad pommel into the tatami mats, using it to keep herself upright much like Hiretsu's walking stick.
"After all," Riko continues, "we don't want her to know /everything/."
Riko shrugs her shoulders, ever-so-slightly.
"That said, a clear explanation is necessary. There's things she -would- need to know."
Riko meets Hiretsu's eyes, staring at his subtly wrinkled visage.
"For...anticipated accidents."
She grins.
"And there's always things we -really- don't expect," she adds.
The butt of the spear digs into the tatami mat, gains purchase. And Riko YANKS, pulling the entire thing backwards, hauling the flooring out from under Hiretsu's feet.
"/Old man/."
COMBATSYS: Hiretsu endures Riko's Sudden Fling!!
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Riko 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Hiretsu
"Like in all things. Presentation is key," Hiretsu agrees. "The manual would achieve the opposite effect. As it was intended." After all, clear instructions would present too much of a security risk, even in the hands of their Security Chief.
Hiretsu raises an eyebrow as Riko binds her spear into the weaving of the tatami. He goes down,his uniform crumpling from its usual immaculate state as he slams into the hardwood floor with a faint 'UMPH' of the impact. THe wind is surely knocked out of him. And.. in that condition, he might be a moment or two before getting up.
"A pity. The Captain should have taught you to mind your elders," the Director comments, ironically.
One might notice he is no longer holding his cane. That is because he released it when he fell. STanding straight up as it does, it slid right along with the mat as if Hiretsu never released it. Unfortunately, theres is a small winding noise within of some internal gearwork within the harder reinforced ball of the cane. From that cap, small ports open on one particularly loud click. A thin aerosol sprays into the air at about midsection level for Riko for a period no more than two seconds.
Then cardinal shinobi seals light up around the cap's circumference.
The resultant explosion is highly focused--at that level, everything is neutralized, but even so much as a few inches above or below the cane's ball, there is relatively no coverage. This allows the walking stick to absorb most of the blast on that reinforced steel cap, leaving delicate woodwork more or less intact.
COMBATSYS: Riko blocks Hiretsu's Large Thrown Object.
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Riko 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Hiretsu
Riko's eyes widen. Not by much, but enough to register surprise and alarm. Again, here is an object lesson in expecting the unexpected. She suspected something like this would occur, but not /exactly/ what. A self-propelled walking stick, an explosive head... no, she did not predict that. She didn't know Hiretsu had that capability.
But then, from him, it is to be expected.
An object lesson, then.
She reacts, though. Rapidly. The end-cap of the spear is still grounded in the tatami mat, still entwined with the fibers. She did that to knock Hiretsu off his feet. Now she grips the spear with both hands...and hauls on the mat /again/, ripping it completely off the floor. Riko spins the spear, bringing the mat across and in front of her as an impromptu shield - catching the brunt of the blast.
An explosion like that should reduce any normal mat to cinders.
But this is no ordinary dojo.
"Maybe he should have," Riko says, simply, as she gives the spear a flick, dislodging the mat. She pauses for a moment, breathing heavily, eyes closed, before replacing the spear on the wall rack. Her movements now are once again slow, the speed she had to use in the last exchange...an immense drain on her weakened body. Sweat beads her skin as she looks back at Hiretsu.
She inclines her head once, in acknowledgement.
Point.
COMBATSYS: Riko has left the fight here.
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Hiretsu 0/-------/-----==|
As expected, coming to his feet is a difficult, laborious process. It is helped by the stick's twirling across the floor, as a result of its explosion and the mat being ripped up to block it. With this, he can come to his feet quickly, but only just so, and he takes great care to mind the cap, favoring it with his leather half-hand gloves, as oppsoed to his fingertips. After all, it is still smouldering.
Of course, his sanctioned cap /was/ knocked off in the exchange.
His dark, silver-streaked hair falling with some familiarity over his slit eyes, it takes the director a moment to smooth it back, and slip the logo-emblazoned headwear back on his crown.
"I'll have to take it up with him," Hiretsu manages, finally.
Log created on 18:46:36 09/18/2007 by Riko, and last modified on 13:17:43 09/19/2007.