Description: The supreme ruler of Shadaloo, Vega, along with Juri's special little brand of 'help' to the extent she ever gives it, has managed to defeat those who foolishly tried to oppose him within India. Of the three who assisted India's defense, two mysteriously show up a ways away from the battlefield. Whether by divine intervention or someone's calculating nature, they are rescued by a passing Ikari troop headed by Faolan Sheehan en route to Myanmar, where notes are compared to the extent the survivors can piece anything together. The fate of the third one - Chun-Li - remains unknown to them... for now.
Vega made his terrible appearance within India. Of the brave (or at least just present) fighters, it seemed their fate was sealed in a fury of overwhelming Psycho Power - the power to express one's own soul as strength itself, a rare quality indeed. Something so brilliant and awe-inspiring to watch, yet so terrible and alienating to the vast majority of those who would never be able to comprehend the very nature of its power.
Or, in the case of Vega, one whose hatred and evil has given him power that appears beyond the reproach of all but the greatest champions and most terrible tyrants to walk the Earth in the modern day. For the inexperienced Munin Arshe and the aging Howard Rust, to say they had no chance against him in the flesh was putting it truly nice - to say nothing of even with the help of the one and only Chun-Li. The Indian battlefield should have been their grave, by all rights.
Yet... fate did not conspire to let things go that way, it would seem.
Two batteried, bloodied bodies lay out barely obscured by a tree in Bangladesh along a major road leading eastward towards Tripura, Mizoram, and the suspected hot zone of Myanmar beyond. Those who might pass by might think... were they already casualties of a Chinese troop movement through these parts? The sun barely peaks over the morning horizon, a foreboding breeze passing by here and there.
What were they doing there? Did someone bring them there? Or were they simply left there? Could they... still be alive, perhaps?
Munin would be happy to be unconscious right now, due to how much pain she would likely be in. Her entire body is covered in bruises and lacerations, and her skin is dangerously pale. A thin trickle of red also seeps down her cheek from her mouth. Her clothes, while mostly intact, are torn in places, revealing to those who investigate just how far the damage goes. What is visible of the front of her torso is a single HUGE bruise covering most of her chest and abdoman. Some dried blood also can be seen from one of her ears.
With war erupting all over the place in Asia it has turned into a rather busy time for not just the militaries of the countries that are being attacked and doing the attacking, but for mercenaries as well. Enter the most famous of those mercenaries, the Ikari Warriors. The calls for their help have been from all over the place as nations try to get help given the military might of China at the moment. It has left the group spread out rather thin and it isn't just Southeast Asia that has been trying to get ahold of them.
Now along the border of a ravaged India and near Myanmar a small group of the mercenaries travel. They have had some heavy losses from the attacks all through India and right now most of those that are still able to be contacted are making a tactical retreat to try and meet up with other forces. This one group is two truckloads of men lead by a jeep. A jeep with a single driver. A driver with perhaps an awesome or horrible taste in music as it blares.
In this case the lyrics of Accept's Balls to the Wall can be heard. And in a distance that driver spots some bodies up ahead. A hand is raised by Faolan to slow down the trucks following him as he too soon rolls to a stop. "Ey, Briggs and Bronski. Get out here." he calls as he grips his bata and approaches. Unlike the other men it seems like he isn't carryiing a gun. The two men that soon follow are carrying medic packs as well.
"Well I'll be...." he says under his breath when he notices one person from his SNF match against El Fuerte not long ago. The other....well he knows at least from seeing on television and such. "Hey, go check on em." he tells the men and approaches. What the heck are people like Munin and Rust doing all the way out here?
It's not just that these two bodies are /here/ - it may be more miraculous, then, that they clearly still have pulses even in their various states of incredible injury. The man does not look much better off than Munin, if at all - the same general bloodiness, the same wince-worthy appearance of what seems like an attempt to stick the man into a blender.
To say nothing of that... dark purple, hairy mass somewhere on his person and that dented, busted, rusted length of pipe that's begging to give someone tetanus.
He remains thoroughly unconscious, but that he has a pulse at all means he's not ready to be filed away as KIA by any stretch.
Okay, seriously. What the hell is that purple thing? Even hardened warriors like Faolan and his fellow Ikari seem a bit apprehensive of getting too close. They manage avoid looking at it enough they can tend to the two fallen fighters. "We are full up in the trucks. Guess I can get em in the jeep. Can you see about waking them up?" he asks and the two apparent medics get to digging out various items. Waking can come in a few moments. Disinfecting wounds and at least putting some sort of bandage on cuts and scrapes is priority.
Both are laid out and worked over for several minutes as the trucks pull about and a few other mercs jump out fully armed. They best remain prepared just in case they come across any hostile forces afterall. Faolan himself returned to the jeep to pull it closer in case the two need to be hefted up onto it. There is no way they can leave the pair laying out here. Just too damn dangerous for that sorta thing.
Once the wounds have been dressed smelling salts are broken out and both Munin and Rust get a whiff in order to get them to try and regain conciousness.
Smelling salts come to the larger man's nostrils - it's time to get that guy awake. There's little time to waste, in the big picture.
Nostrils flare slightly, the breathing inaudible for a few moments. This is a good sign that there's a response, that this man isn't stuck in some sort of comatose state from injury. Yet, in his mind, there is the strong imprint of fear, represented in the color that expresses the terror and fury of Vega's might. It's all his mind sees and comprehends, up until his eyes finally flutter open at around the fifth nostril flare or so. Vague shapes of other colors can be made, but spots in his vision take several moments to clear themselves out in the process of attempting to take in new sensory information that is not 'pain' or 'overbearing strength of Vega.'
The former is, to be fair, normal after this amount of injury, but the latter is hard to read on his blank face. Fearsome memories surface, like that time he suddenly woke up in completely unfamiliar territory to the sound of a very dangerous man.
"Wher-- grk! Gfhgl." A sudden sit-up is intercepted a third of the way, his entire body twitching once before he lies back, his vision still slowly coming back to him. "Tpgjlr... fhglm."
Coherency might take a little while yet.
The salts do their thing, and Munin begins to come to. The medics have managed to deduce several cracked ribs, potential lung damage, and minor head trauma. As they look, the huge bruise covering her torso where Vega hit her is clearly visible. All her other injuries are reletively minor.
The medics get her into a sitting position, as being on her back with a lung injury would be deadly long-term, and administer salts. She groans as her consciousness begins to return, pain beginning to fill her renewed senses. As the darkness recedes, the pain increases, until she's almost shouting. They end up having to give her a light painkiller to keep her coherant, without putting her out again.
Slowly, through bleary eyes her mind begins to take in the surroundings.
The two working on the injured fighters look like big and gruff types, but they seem to know their medicine. Munin is quickly tended to and calmed with a sedative (SEDAGIVE!?). The rest of the guys are cracking jokes and such around the perimeter. They seem to be in good spirits, but just the way they are all standing and readied for battle it can easily be seen they are all on edge. There was word that Vega himself had been around here attacking various forces so they have to be as prepared as they can be.
That just makes the pressure on Faolan even worse. This is his first big operation when he is doing some commanding and not being the subordinate. He has about thirty men to protect as well as himself. The grip on his bata is tighter than ever and he seems to be pacing some even as the two start to come to. He does come to a stop when Rust seems to at least be coming to a bit even if his speaking isn't really something decipherable. "Hey, fellah. You okay?" he asks as he steps over. Probably not the prettiest sight for Rust to see once his vision does come back. Three rather burley men standing all around him and Munin.
"Bmmhtrrgh." So grunts the middle-aged man as his watery, blurry vision clears gradually to the sight of some guys standing around. Burly, dangerous-looking men that don't seem to be in Chinese uniform dress. Details filter back into his mind in half-formed fragments of information vaguely strung together by strong, sharp images of what happened not too long ago. Lots of very dark purple, almost pinkish in places. Two women in military dress alongside a few other men in a truck. A rural landscape. Explosions. Being flung about.
He makes vague gestures with his left hand. Based on the fingers that go up and down he seems to be counting. He grunts as he tries to turn his head and neck to the left, but doesn't quite make it. Vega's neck stomp and twist did something fierce, all right.
To his right, he eyes the sat-up Munin, and one finger goes up. Nervously, he glances around to the extent he can really turn his head, and teeth clench at whatever it is that's stopping him from lifting up another finger.
Finally, he looks back up to Faolan, not quite in the full state to sit up - more like propping himself up by his right elbow more than anything, at which point he coughs once before he mumbles out something that actually resembles the English language.
"Whrr rrh wh." He coughs again. "Wh-where are we? Where's..."
He doesn't finish that sentence.
Munins half-lidded eyes slowly, carefully drift over the assembled group as they can without turning her head more than a few degrees. She too hasn't fully come to, which combined with the sedative means she won't be moving for at least an hour or two of her own power reliably. Her eyes lock on Faolan as he speaks, and her mind begins to do it's thing. Granted, what usually takes only a second or two for her mind, in this state, takes a full ten seconds or so. THEN she recognizes him, the same way he remembers her: the match against El Fuerte.
Her head drifts to one side slowly as she hears Rust asking his question, as they wait for a response, but she is able to guess the answer.
A single tear slides down her cheek, although she doesn't realize it herself, and with a rasping tone, says a single name "Chun... Li". She gives a cough afterwards, which results in a followup wince of pain, and says nothing else for the moment.
Well it looks like they will both be fine. They just need some time to recover fully and try to move. At least the medics are backing away when Faolan motions to them. "Give em some space." he does his best to listen to what is said, but there isn't much. Rust manages to ask at least where they might be which makes the Irishman think that the pair were moved here. But by whom? Must have been some locals maybe? Whoever it was they must not have had any medical supplies because all the wounds were untreated.
"Hey, easy now. Yer near the India and Myanmar border." he says while crouching down so he can hear the two better. A brow does raise at the mention of Chun-Li. He had wondered where she might have been and if she is in India that is something of news to know and relay back to base. There are still some unaccounted for people that might be about in the area such as Dhalsim as well. "What about Chun-Li? Is she okay?" He knows he shouldn't be trying to get them to talk too much in this state, but the mention of the Chinese fighter has sparked curiousity.
The ex-shop teacher and current object of Nepal's admiration chances trying to sit up after taking in a deep breath. It takes the Irishman's recommendations to take it easy to make him lie back down for the moment. He wiggles his toes as if to make sure he's not paralyzed from the waist down. The sensation of movement and feeling suggests that, yes, he's still good. His right hand goes to his forehead as his head throbs from a sudden onset of a migraine.
His body has yet to fully sort out the sensations he felt in that last conscious moment he could recall from then and now. The stress is made worse when he actually catches wind of Munin's rasping voice. Those two syllables. His left hand counts to two, and it's made much more clear what it was he was trying to think of.
"Shit," he curses so clearly to put a fine point on his ability to know something is bad. "Chun-Li, she's..."
She's not here!! This is enough to get him to try and sit up again, propping himself up with his left elbow. To say nothing of the guy who drove them to the battleground - he liked that guy. They had a good conversation about baseball a good few hours before they left for India. It's... safe to say he didn't survive.
"Biso-- no, no," he winces as he corrects himself, why did he mix that name up? "Vega. Vega. He was... j-just, one moment," he coughs as he tries to breathe in and gather his thoughts to a more coherent way to string his thoughts together before he speaks again, a nasty creak in his right shoulder as he turns to try and use his right side to help sit up.
"She... she went with us to India," he says, fighting back the gravelly quality of his voice and complete exhaustion to speak it as clearly as he can, "we... we ran into... y-yeah, it, yeah, it had to be... him. Vega."
He's sure of it. That had to be Vega. The Vega who conquered Thailand for a time, the beyond infamous ruler of Shadaloo, he who commands such amazing power. If this man is speaking the truth about who they encountered...
"Did... did you see her?" He asks. "H-Here, where... uh..."
"She was with us..... in the battle" Munins voice rasps again "We were.... overwhelmed. Fought our best, but that man....." she winces "Too powerful..... ". A few more intermitant tears come from the corners of those violet eyes of hers, though due to pain or sadness cannot be said. She grits her teeth a little and tries to get her breath.
The free hand of Faolan comes to rest on Rust's back and tries to keep him upright and steady as he listens. The mention of Vega makes him frown. So the reports are true. No one that still has radio contact has mentioned running into Vega, but it could also mean those they have lost contact with have run ito the tyrant and have been defeated. Hopefully some have survived and tried to move on. Ikari are tough, but going against a force like Vega is not something they are fully prepared for.
"She wasn't here. Just you two." he says and he soon finds another mercenary come trotting over with a rifle in hand. "Sir! Contact from the scouts says we gotta get moving. There is a rather large force heading our way. Looks like invasion force for Myanmar." he comments. It just makes the Irishman curse under his breath. "Get everyone ready. I need some help getting these two to my jeep." The man nods and he starts to get the troops to file back into the trucks quickly as Faolan himself tries to get rust to his feet and lets the elder fight put his weight against him. Dang this old man is heavy.
"I am sorry to move you like this, but we gotta keep moving." he explains while one of the medics from earlier moves back over to help with Munin. The latter is put into the back of the jeep where she can still lay out, but Rust looks he is going to be helped over ot the passenger side in the front. "Once you both recover more I am going to need all the details. If Chun-Li was defeated this is not good. We haven't been able to contact her for awhile now and I know the boss has wanted to get ahold of her since this whole thing started."
What's really frightening, on top of all this, is that realization that the nation he ended up saving may very well be doomed - sandwiched between China and what may be guaranteed to be an occupied India, their fall could be but a matter of days. The news that Chun-Li wasn't here makes the man's heart sink. A sunken heart may in fact contribute to his added weight in Faolan's (very thankful) attempt to help him up and move him to the jeep, face blank at mention that they have to move.
They can't go back for Chun-Li. To come across a fighting legend as an ally so quick, only to have her disappear before them... did she really save the two of them from certain death? But... no, how did she carry them here, then? It couldn't be her. Then... who?
"Y-Yeah," he says without much real commitment or conviction behind those words, coughing once as he is helped towards the passenger side of the jeep. His one free hand goes to make sure his hair is there. (Why would a man worry about his hair above the rest of himself? Because.)
"L-Listen, thanks," he mumbles out as he gets seated in, "I just... I just got, got one last favor to... ask." He tries to tilt his head a bit to the left again, but is met with physical resistance and a serious wince.
"If, if you can... n-not now, but, if you could just... pop my neck, back over to, to the left, I can't... turn it." Even as his head can't turn to the left, he gets a good view of Munin being helped to the back of the jeep, and frowns. What can he really say to her? He doesn't have much reassuring to say. He is conflicted - he now distinctly remembers her attempting to pull him away. Did Chun-Li disappear because of her... or were they saved by her discretion? The tears speak to her own anguish. The ex-shop teacher decides the only tasteful thing he can do right now is to say nothing to her as he mentally files away the inevitability of another direct conflict with Chinese forces before all's said and done.
Deep violet eyes look at Rusts as he glances her way, awake enough to read the inquisitive nature of his gaze. It is met with one mixed in triplicate with pain, regret, and grim resolve. Those eyes then close as another, more powerful seditive is given to Munin as they move her however, putting her out for the time being, at least until they reach their destination. The bumping of the vehicle would cause too much pain with so many ribs being cracked or broken. They position her sitting up, and otherwise protected until they can give more in-depth medical attention.
It is a rather somber look on the face of Faolan. It isn't often that he is in such a mood. The guy is a fighter and being in the thick of battle is what he lives for. Right now things just look like they are off to a really bad start. Just how strong are the forces coming to Myanmar? Will the Ikari be enough help to keep it from falling? It looks like India is lost along with Russia for now. This is not a good thing at all. Even worse is the fact it is hard to tell if any other people will willingly join up with Vega once they see how things unfold. If alot of places are easily taken over he might have some bandwagon jumpers.
"Huh?" Faolan pipes up and manages to break away from his thoughts when Rust speaks up. "Oh, like this?" he asks and his bata is set down and a large hand grips Rust by the neck and it shifts some until there is a rather loud pop. He's no medic, but it seems like he has had to do the same thing to himself a few times because he knows exactly what to do. "Once we cross the border about fifty miles in we have a camp set up. We can get you both properly treated there and then figure out what is going on. After you both feel like you can move you are free to go. Just uh, find a safter place to be." He is sure the two can handle themselves in alot of situations, but this is far from a normal one.
With that being said the key in the ignition is turned and the jeep roars to life. Forward it rolls as the trucks too start to follow. "Any information you can tell us about your travels would be appreciated too."
The pop is loud and might even get a scout surprised at just how loud a man's neck can sound! The sensation is equal parts relieving and utterly painful - a fair tradeoff for the ability to turn his head to the left again. Air rushes out between Howard's wincing teeth as his head tilts off to the side for several moments.
"Thanks," he mumbles almost inaudibly as he rolls his neck another time. There's a serious muscle cramp in his neck, but, it'll work itself out. One last glance is cast back towards Munin, who seems to have gone quiet. She had her reasons for coming to him to begin with... the worry on his own face is as plain as day as he turns his head back forward to the open road on a candid battleground roadtrip to Faolan's reasonable terms of the trip.
"Y-Yeah, I'll... I'll try 'n, 'n fill you in. All of you," he clarifies with a cough, "'scuse me, dry... throat."
"You... you wouldn't believe wh-what that man's like, i-it's... I could spend the, the whole trip tellin' you and... and not... really fill in the half of it."
Even now, the gnawing throes of fear and unfathomable pain cling to the back of his mind and much of his body. Sometimes his body locks up just thinking about it. Vega is a man who leaves lasting impressions, for those few times those impressions aren't the very last thing someone suffers before the release of death.
Log created on 19:26:34 02/14/2012 by Rust, and last modified on 22:26:56 02/14/2012.