Description: Desperate times, desperate measures. The Suiryuu is under siege, but the best defense is a strong offense ... isn't it? At least that seems to be the logic. That'd be the reason why Agents of Jinchuu have gathered to counterattack the Black Noah. To take the invasion back to the enemy. But to attack the Black Noah, they first have to /reach/ it. It would appear Hiretsu...predicted the need for transportation. Of course, his solution to the problem might not be a comfortable one...
They have been gathered at night, in the aforementioned hellish din--the sound of fire and cannon, explosives and energy. The sky splits with thunder, not natural. Purely man made.
That part of the deck has had most of its lights knocked out, bathing the open-ended 'cargo bay' in only the distant light of the moon, and the flashes from the Suiryuu's guns, a diligent hound against the pack of rabid dogs forming the Blacknoah's artillery battery, now visible in the open end of the bay. A bay that is completely cylindrical. It's odd.
That light, and the dim light from a paper lantern, marked with the Ryouhara clan sigil that seems so prevalent over all of the ship. The insignia of Jinchuu marks the cap of the man who bears the lantern. The Operations Director of Jinchuu and the greater arena yacht Suiryuu. Hiretsu.
"Is this who we have..?" the sharp old man asks, lifting the lantern's light high while leaning on his everpresent cane, a small handset held in two fingers from that same hand. "This much should be enough..." he mutters. Then he calls.
"All agents of Jinchuu. Stand at attention and prepare for launch. I do hope..at least, for your sakes.. that everyone is ready."
He has handpicked several of this number today.
.. Some of them by force, if necessary. His crew is rather on edge after the invasion. Sadly.
No rest for the wicked, right? Tenma Kiryuu did his damndest to take out the net around the ship, before he ended up in the infirmary courtesy of one of his numerous arch-rivals, but it seems like that effort wasn't enough. The summons, when it comes, draws him out of said infirmary to go down to some godforsaken bay on this even more godforsaken ship, but Tenma's not going to go alone, oh no. He's bringing Kenji with him, whether he likes it or not.
So with the battle still raging around them, Tenma slants his bokken, currently just plain - if blessed - hardwood against his shoulder, and here they are in some cylindrical room, being spoken to by a crazy old man.
Tenma looks over at his fellow Gedo High student, the student council secretary no less, and he wonders: "Ready for /what/?" The young swordsman has... A bad feeling about this.
Readiness is one thing a Shotokan Karate mistress must always have around her no matter where she is or what she's doing. Hence the reason that Katelynn is one of the first to show up on deck, ready for whatever it is that's going to be happening. She may not know what specifically it is that's happening, but that's all the more fun, since surprises are a great way to keep one on edge and help prepare for anything. So Katelynn's got that feeling of eagerness and excitement within her as she stands ready for her instructions.
Aranha barely had time to change out of his wet clothes before he's told to come to the cargo bay. After taking time to replenish his supplies of various stuff he gets moving. It seems like everything is familiar when realization he recognizes this place. It was the same damn cannon he was fired out of during his match with Tran and Himeko.
Aranha goes through a number of emotions when realization sets in. First there's anger at the fact that he's going to be fired back on to the Black Noah again. Then disbelief that he was chosen for this mission(probably because he knew exactly what to expect). Then glee at the fact that he's going to get a chance to get that blonde bastard to pay for destroying his Oakley Thumps.
After being told to stand at attention and asked about his readiness, he nods. He mutters, "God damn ninja..." He then turns to Tenma and gives it to him straight. "To be a human cannon ball. I hate these ninja the only reason I'm agreeing to this is that I just hate those bastards just a bit more than you." Is Aranha taking being fired onto the Black Noah personally? Perhaps just a touch.
The time spent in the ship's infirmary is time that Kenji Ashima used to be the quietest he's probably ever been since coming into association with the Guardian Kings. After a rather humiliating loss and the proverbial kick to the nuts for his pride, he took to trying to rest and relax and actually -calm down-.
Dragged outside by the swordsman, the young Gedo student rubs the welt on his face, the harsh, sharply-curved purple mark on the bridge of his nose and under his eye where the bokken's end had struck him. Wearing the pale yellow colors of Gedo as his fight was one of SCHOOL PRIDE, the young man finishes pulling the jacket to his uniform back on and crams his hands in his pockets, expression a little grim.
Of course, he'd rather be back at the pool with Kasugano. Or giving Himeko a stern lecture about what it means to break a man's arm in the name of a silly tournament. Mostly the pool thing.
The energy begins to pulse underneath one's feet. It's a tangible feeling, moreso than any sun on the skin or water on the face. It cannot be seen, heard, tasted, or smelled. .. But it can be felt, in the spirit. A touch that cannot be replicated by any other force on earth. A cold thing, perhaps taking the taste and flavor of the Director's eye, dagger sharp as he peers through only one open eye at Aranha.
Subtly ignoring Tenma's question and answering it at once, he smiles faintly. It's not a pleasant expression. "To be quite to the point about matters in the interests of time.. simply put, our only lifeboat was dropped for one of our matches. As no other real method of boarding and disabling the Blacknoah quickly avails itself.." Hiretsu pauses, and adds as an aside, "Unless you can hold your breath for some time.."
He trails off, with a shrug.
Well, many of us would rather be in the pool with Kasugano. But we take what we've been dealt, ne? "In this case, many of you have been selected for your particular traits." To the Gedo team, he allows, "Bravery," to Katelynn, "Strength," and finally, as expected, he confirms it to Aranha. "Experience." As if to punctuate, he tosses the capoeirista the handset. The cane, despite his underhand throw, never actually moves from the plate beneath his feet.
"Unfortunately, I cannot attend--there are matters to be looked after here. However, several of you /have/ been covertly bugged to the extent where I will be able to manage the team's progress. With the net taken care of, I'll be able to direct you past the main line of defense from our Security Center." When was that done, now? What? Wait--what? "You'll want to fight carefully. Don't jeopardize yourself in pointless skirmishes, if you can disable rather than defeat, do so..the goal will be to develop a defensive beachhead on the opposing ship from where we can engage in the next segment of the operation. You may find some allies there amenable to your cause.. We'll be launching in about thirty seconds. Please fasten your.."
Hiretsu looks around at the distinct lack of safety harness. "Hm. Nevermind!" he retracts cheerfully.
Three seconds later, he is gone, leapt out of the mouth of the cannon before more uncomfortable questions can be asked, but the light from his lantern is replaced by the glow of sealwork all around the inner walls of the barrel. Yes, it is a barrel. And remember the chill feeling in your spirit? It gets worse. Only it isn't just in your spirit now. Or at the very least, in about 16 seconds it won't be.
'boom.'
Human /what/? "What is this, a circus?" Tenma wonders rather dubiously, looking over at Aranha with one dark blue eye. Yeah, there's a lot of places he'd rather be than in the middle of some war between two equally mysterious - and possibly equally malignant - groups, but hey. At least things haven't been dull since they set foot on this rickety old ghost ship. That tang of fear and excitement though is shot through with the spiritual chill all around them. Still, Tenma listens to Hiretsu's words, even though he looks like he'd probably rather not, and it's not clear whether the boy likes what he hears or not - flattering his ego /does/ go a long way to making him amenable to the whole 'storming the enemy boat' thing. With sixteen seconds to go, Tenma glances down the opposite way from the opening, frowns, and looks at Kenji.
"...Whoa, I think he was serious," the leader of the Guardian Kings says, horrible realisation creeping over his face. "Son of a bi-" And then, well, boom!
While it's nice that Katelynn is being acknowledged by Hiretsu for what he views as strength, there's more to it than just that. But those details aren't very important right now. What's important is getting onto that ship. Even if it means getting into that cannon and being shot out of it. Now is not the time for cowardice, now is the time for Katelynn to prove that she's truly worthy of being on this assignment, which is why she's got no qualms about getting in there. She closes her eyes and clears her mind, awaiting the inevitable.
And then it happens. To paraphrase a certain Marvin the Martian, an ear-splitting kaboom! (OK, not that loud but you get the idea.)
Aranha catches the hand set and slips it into his pouch with a slightly raised eyebrow. Needless to say he quietly takes in all of what Hiretsu has to say. Of course the orders Hiretsu give aren't too distant from how he'd handle things had he been operating on his own.
Aranha already has an idea of the possible allies but there's a lot Aranha could've missed between getting fired off the first time and his swim back to the Suiryuu. The Dancing Spider isn't given too much time to think about it though because the cannon fires and the fighters are sent airborn and the first words out of his mouth are. "I F***IN TOLD YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
Bravery...?
And what about the ground below them? That weird feeling in Kenji's feet, the one that drives the young man to actually go as far as lifting his foot from the deck in the midst of his speech, in the midst of the warning, and in the midst of Tenma speaking to him. Rubbing the sides of his foot, though clad in sneakers, he tries to work that funny feeling out--
The funny feeling that leads to the 'BOOM' and group blasted into the air and left to the whims of both velocity and gravity-- and god knows what's going to be where they land. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU TENMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!!"
The fighters are blown from the mouth of the massive Shijou Pachinko Taihou with the earsplitting crack of chi. No comedic catapult is this--the fighters are shot from the mouth of a very sophisticated dragon and towards the Blacknoah. Luckily, this time it's Hiretsu himself who has set the aim. They will land, unerringly, exactly where he's planned. Right on the deck.
.. Unfortunately, that's also within the crossing point of several of the faster security responses measured on the ship's deck.
All part of the plan.
Log created on 21:16:24 10/17/2007 by Hiretsu, and last modified on 08:12:13 10/21/2007.