Description: After some time in the care of the Ikari Warriors, Rust and Munin find themselves still too hurt to really put up a fight against invading forces. With no choice but to flee south, the two try to talk out what the hell they're going to even do about Vega, the apparent loss of Chun-Li, and other miscellaneous things while staring out into the Bay of Bengal.
Thanks to the Ikari Warrior troop movement rescuing them from a place they don't remember actually being put, both Rust and Munin are more or less all right... which is, actually, about the very best anyone can say about the current situation.
By the time violence came to Myanmar, they didn't have the strength to fight back and thus quickly had to make their way out... but from where, to where? They were landlocked by known hostile activity as communicated to them. The only way they could escape would be to hang out towards the southern end of the country, possibly get a boat out of here.
And so, here they are in Kawthaung, formerly Victoria Point at some point in the early-mid 18th century when the British had the run of the place before some docks. China is very quickly occupying the nation top to bottom. The warm and dry air gives a paradoxically chilling sense of standing almost before the gates of Hell themselves - or perhaps the hellhounds nipping at their heels.
"Cripes," says one Howard Rust as he has to stop to take a breath. Sure, doing a lot of laps (no, more like a ton), thousands of sit-ups, or what have you is the typical Kyokugen exercise routine - a martial art that emphasizes extreme physical fitness almost above everything.
Between recovering from Vega's strength and having to more or less run for his life, he's looking ready to be spent as he leans his right hand up against a raised muddy wall near the docks, looking back over to his shoulder to Munin... wherever she is.
"Well... here we are," he says, unenthusiastically.
His travelling companion comes up somewhat slowly. While her injured ribs and lung are healed now, a lot of walking and exertion still make them ache a bit, and docs tell her they will for another week or so. Still, it could have been a lot worse. Some have already endured such.
Her thoughts drift as she walks, first to the guilt about Chun-Lis loss. Is she still alive? Munin can only wonder..... the tactical choice she made still feels right, but even still. The loss of someone that skilled will be harsh if true. This flows into a second matter plagueing her: The card in her pocket. It wasn't there prior to the battle with Vega. She has neglected to tell anyone of it yet.
As Rust announces their arrival to the docks, she looks around slowly. "So far, so good..... I hope they all get away safely". She looks back over her shoulder. She doesn't THINK anyone followed them.
There's been a lot of silent thinking about Chun-Li, how she has almost certainly lost her life in - by some means - contributing to seeing these two still live. The two of them that, combined, do not quite match her legendary strength. (Considering Howard there walked through a fair number of rockets back in Nepal, this says a lot.)
"They're... they're a tough bunch," he mutters as he coughs once, patting his chest with his free hand. "They do that, y'know, that kinda thing for a living... mercenary stuff." That's about as reassuring a note as they can give Munin there. He is really thankful for all the help they gave without any real strings attached, although a part of him does feel guilt he wasn't quite strong enough to stand up and assist in their defense. He doesn't quite know how it turned out, but it was always a safe assumption that they needed to get somewhere safe regardless.
"Well," he looks to Munin, voice deep and tired as always, "here we are... so, uh, what're... what're ya gonna do?"
Munin slowly walks to the waters edge, looking out over the oceans waves. As she steps, the shadows around her seem to thicken a little, something that has seemed to happen occasionally lately when in thought, her chi fluctuating strangely. Thought is all it is, however, and the disturbance is gone again as fast as it occured, potentially even unseen by anyone not paying attention.
After a moment, she looks back at Rust sideways, violet eyes hard, despite the fear that is visible beneath them "I'm involved in this now. I'm going to see it through" (i'm too close to give up now...). She sits down, legs dangling over the pier as the water churns below with the tide "How about yourself?". May as well enjoy this moment to rest while it lasts.
The fact she says that with such a straight face is incredibly disarming. The way she just seems like she bounces back up in words, even though her eyes communicate such fear! Howard frowns deeply as she takes her seat at the pier.
"After... after we got nearly... disintegrated." The man clears his throat and starts to speak up as he ambles from the wall he was using as support. "I saw... I saw that guy go through a tree, that tree wasn't... there any more moments, y'know, before..."
It really hurts to think about it, because on some level it goes beyond what he can truly comprehend. The way Vega's energy expresses itself, the way it felt when he got hit by it! His voice trails off as he decides to jump onto a different sentence entirely, rubbing the side of his head while his elbow crackles loudly.
"Can you really... I mean, really... just, say that with... a straight face?"
Turns from where she's sitting, glaring at him over her shoulder "What do you want me to say? I saw it too! The doctors told me if that hit was any harder my entire ribcage would have collapsed entirely! It would have been a death strike had it been any normal person!". She turns to look back at the water again, anger just as suddenly replaced by a streak of sadness, and a small crack at the beginning of her tone, which is covered quickly "Like all those soldiers, even if they died willingly. On BOTH sides....".
She sniffs and rubs her eyes, glaring back over her shoulder at him "I can't let that stop me now. Besides, it clearly won't stop Vega, and sooner or later everyone not involved will no longer have a choice anyway".
What does he want her to say?! He grumbles wordlessly as she yells at him about it - what even really /is/ normal in life any more, these days? He got off significantly lighter than her in terms of total injury... but they're talking physical. The feeling that went through him when Vega slapped him with his power is something that'll be haunting him for weeks.
The way she goes from being so angry, to sad, and then trying to speak about it all logically gets his head drooping.
"You sound like, like... one of the kids back when I taught at, at Pacific." Ah, he remembers her well. Her love of fighting, and the odd way of talking that made her sound like she really had everything in life figured out compared to /himself/. It's kind of an odd sensation, being older than most of the people he's around but feeling like he has the least amount of answers for anyone involved.
"Well... I, I gotta riddle you this, what the hell is gonna stop someone like... like that?" He grouses as he rubs the side of his head. "Now, I've... I've seen a fair share of stuff, I'm talkin'... some crazy guy with long hair, head of that..." Shit, he forgot their name, probably started with the letter M? N? Single syllable.
"Got caught inside one of their, uh, bases in Southtown," holy shit he's still not entirely sure what happened to everyone involved from there.
"Stood up to, to some kinda... fiery monster thing, whacked out... cult, makin' people go nuts... I, I don't know how to describe to you what I saw there." It was a miracle, for sure, a wholly wonderful miracle.
The older man doesn't go to sit down in front of the water - no, he's wound up enough he'd rather stay standing up even if his knees would really appreciate a rest as he starts pacing. "I, I believe in miracles, all right, I saw 'em, I took part in 'em, but... but... not even we were able to, to... stop him there."
Munins awareness of the southtown events is very minor, and she makes little sense of the misadventure he describes. She waits for him to finish before saying anything.
Rust says what she always feels: Ever the kid. Ever the child. In some ways, he's right. She still is. Not only in her age compard to his, but in experiences. "I've... i've seen death before, Rust. Just.... just not on that large a scale". She looks back at the water so he doesn't see her tear up again at the memory of all the death and havoc. So far she feels like a baby in a sandbox full of giants.
Her voice is quivery when next she speaks "Vega's power scares the hell out of me. This whole situation scares the hell out of me. I haven't decided which actually scares me more. I've almost died twice now, and this time someone of major importance is likely dead. Maybe this time...... " her emotions threaten to overwhelm her again "...dammit!".
Sniffing and wiping her eyes, she composes herself a moment "Things are just heating up. If Vega gets too much momentum, he WON'T be stoppable. This has to be contained long enough for fighters to arrive to outnumber Vega. He IS human, even if he's powerful beyond belief. Throw enough people of chun-lis skill and power at him, and he definately won't be laughing long. If we lose, we likely die. If we don't at least try.... we almost definately die. At least one has SOME chance of success".
In comparison to her, he certainly has seen death - but this is a grander scale than just a number of cartel soldiers being slain by Rolento and his backup right on the lawn of Pacific High. Come to think of it, he never really thought to ask how they got rid of the bodies by the time he was able to get back there...
...It's probably best he never knows or thinks about it again.
Her feeling of being a baby in a sandbox full of giants isn't entirely beyond him - he's been there once. He can't quite call himself a giant. Stronger, sure. A better person for that strength, yeah... maybe.
"Okay, okay. Okay." He tries to speak up as she starts talking about having everyone throw their lives into the grinder to have a fraction of a chance of stopping his onslaught, to reach out and try and place a hand on her shoulder. "Just, just... calm down. All right, calm... down." He clears his throat as he looks back out to that wide, really foreboding ocean of which no real safety is even guaranteed.
"Vega... y'know... lots of things really... really kinda scare me." Which shouldn't come as a surprise. Howard is a strong man, but he is still that - a man, who faced nearly certain death more than a few times and still hasn't quite been desensitized to horror and danger. "Y'know what, what really scares me? How... how so many kids're just, just throwin' their lives away, like... like everything'll be okay, that there's... uh, no real danger 'bout any of it."
He withdraws his hand from her shoulder as he starts to roll out some stiffness in said shoulder. "One thing... one thing I'm gonna agree on, we... we ought to get everyone together. I... I barely got an idea what's goin' on all 'round us."
Finally thinking to take a seat down next to Munin, he leans forward to stare out at the ocean that they may or may not be escaping into from here. "Don't even know 'bout... 'bout how or where Quon might be," he's probably not staying put in Southtown, "or how... Sagat's holding up."
Yes, he drops a name there. Sagat, Emperor of Muay Thai who may not have the formal title in competition now but is unquestionably among the greatest practicioners in its history - if not /the/ greatest.
Sitting beside her, he can see the tears easily, though she's seemingly keeping it controlled for the moment. "A few years ago i saw someone killed because of me, and i couldn't stop it because i was too hurt". She looks sideways at him, the calculating mask she lives behind trying to take hold in her features, though it can't quite reach her eyes fully. She doesn't sound angry, just a bit bitter and sad at the same time "Funny how history repeats itself.....".
She shakes her head, sighing "We have another potential ally here you should know about....". She pulls out the card. It's a strange playing card with a picture of a grinning cheshire cat. One one side is written the message 'You Owe Me'. She offers it to Rust to look at. "I know who saved us, though i'm not sure if he'll help further. We should track him down".
She thinks a moment as Rust gives the card a look "May Lee is still here somewhere, i believe. The question is, how many OTHER allies are here?". She eyes him at mention of Sagat "If we can get HIM on board, that would be immense". She looks back over the water "Guess the big question is, do we stick around and keep helping here, or try to go find people and bring as many as we can in one fell swoop?".
Someone killed because of her? That is pretty heavy - granted, it seems a lot of people have something heavy weighing them. In Howard's case, he's probably a lot better off than most people there. Nothing too heavy beyond having his dreams being crushed and then getting a job in education that didn't really last for all that many years, which... is probably heavy, on a different level.
He raises an eyebrow at mention of another ally, the card raising immediate alarm as he points a finger at it. "The... the hell didn't you say anything 'bout that," he says incredulously, though the tiredness of his voice takes a bit of edge off of it. (That, or his English voiceactor underacted this line. You make the call.)
He thinks out of nowhere to dig around his toolbelt pockets, thinking as she mentions May Lee and whoever else might be allies... do I still have my passport, he thinks to himself, please tell me I still have my passport, we're going to have problems if we do--
In one of them is a quasi-familiar piece of fabric that he pulls out. The scarf that May Lee gave him back in Nepal, which he took off because it made his skin itch (and also so he wouldn't get it scuffed or anything of the sort next time he headed into danger). Munin's query about May Lee couldn't have been more well-timed.
Where is she?
While he muses on that, he lets Munin's query about their strategy linger a bit too long before he thinks to answer, as he sets the scarf down on his lap.
"I... I think we gotta keep movin', for now," he says to Munin, "but... I can't find my friggin' passport."
This should be a red alarm. It's outright war and they're going to be stopped and refused at pretty much any border, meaning things are going to be incredibly tricky from here for movement - be it a China-owned territory or not.
"No, no matter how you look at it, pretty sure they're all," he gestures uselessly with his right hand, "uh, spread out, and... the like. But... but we gotta find a way to, to get everyone together."
Together at once to throw themselves at Vega and become hamburger meat, or possibly a bunch of loose atoms if that disintegrated tree were any indication?!
Munin shrugs "I found it in my pocket after Faolan found us. I've been mulling over what to do about it. Seems he's following me, which seems to have saved our asses, at least this time.... willing to bet he's watching us right now, too". She slowly looks off to the side, but sees nothing.
She reaches into a pocket and pulls out her wallet, still amazingly intact. She checks inside, and nods "Mine is still intact..... " she closes her eyes and thinks a moment "I can go back to japan and elsewhere, get people, and bring them here. Meanwhile, since you have lost yours, find Sagat, May Lee, and anyone else you can, and keep a resistance going. May Lee mentioned something Ken Masters was doing, so i'll see what i can dig up about that, too".
She returns her wallet and passport to their pockets "Anyone else i find, i can try to send with all speed". She eyes him inquisitively, to see his response.
The more he thinks about it, the more he thinks he may have accidentally left his back in Nepal, back when they were all going to go to India to try and intercept /that/ troop movement. Which is, in the big picture, a god damn stupid move.
This also means escape by ocean is not going to be a good idea. They'll probably have patrols going, and frankly he doesn't want to have to deal with border issues while out at sea. For /him/, it'd be a waste of time to try.
He's stuck on land, in the thick of danger. It's not an ideal situation.
With Munin's offer about going back to Japan, he turns his head to her, holding up a finger out of habit.
"You gotta remember, it's... it's really dangerous. I... I dunno if they're even gonna have airports, y'know, flying people here." Guess what, he has no passport on hand, so he couldn't go that way across international lines either. When you're, on some level, still a part of the world of the mundane and ordinary, it's the little things like this that really start to stack up on you even in an extraordinary situation like this.
"A-Anyway," he grumbles as he clears his throat once again, "'scuse me, anyway... if you're, if you're gonna try to get back to Japan," he says as he starts to stand up, "get back to Southtown, and... and believe me, you're gonna find people, strong people... who're gonna be all, all... 'I'll wait until it comes here.'" The more he thinks about it, if he didn't end up going to Nepal in the first place, he'd have ended up becoming one of those people who would've thought to wait and see.
"You gotta tell them, that... that by the time they do, it, it might be too late, all right? And... and, uh, shit, I dunno who we'd tell 'em to, y'know... contact, for... for gettin' this all together."
He leans forward and palms his forehead, of which the horrid toupee shifts slightly. "Cripes. Kinda... kinda wish I thought this, thought all this shit out before we left Nepal."
Munin eyes Rust, curious "I don't think there would have been much to think through. There was no way to know Vega would have been there personally like that". She sighs, deflating a bit. Chun-Li was quite a loss. "What do YOU think we should do? Your honest opinion".
It's always the little things, even well before the whole untimely encounter with Shadaloo's supreme overlord himself. Howard doesn't give Munin any real eye contact for a while when she asks him, personally, what /they/ should do. As though there were some master plan they could follow, some grand idea beyond 'get swept up in battles as they happen, cross fingers you can repel them, pray you don't meet Vega again.'
"I... I really don't... know," he regretfully says. "But, if you're gonna, gonna go back to Japan, you better do it... somewhere 'round now."
He's not sure what he can really tell her, at this point. "I know that, that I thought up the whole phone thing, but, y'know, we're... kinda in deep shit if they break." Somehow, his cellphone managed to survive being Vega'd. He's not sure why either, but he's not going to count on his luck with it to keep going eternal.
As he goes quiet for a while, he reflects a bit on the whole picture, until... there's one detail, right now, he might be able to help, as he turns to Munin at last.
"Uh, hey, just to ask real quick... how're you feelin', I mean, right now, your... ribs, and, and all them."
Munin gives a quick nod, thinking to herself "Then i better get going, i guess. The sooner word from someone who's actually BEEN here gets out, the better. Maybe it will make them hear me.....". She checks her phone. Hers, too, managed to survive by luck "Lets just hope the towers still work when we're planning to coordinate things, should it be needed".
A breeze comes in from the sea, blowing her hair rather dramaticly "The doctors said i would be pain free in another week, but the bones themselves have healed pretty well. How'r your injuries? Can't imagine anything keeping you down and lasting long with your resiliance". A boat docks, and begins to load cargo in the meantime.
"Stiff.... sore." This is generally how he feels on a daily basis, as the pop in one of his elbows should attest to. The generic nature of this commentary should not be taken as 'I'm okay.' He should really say stiff, sore, and very shaken. The injuries healed themselves all right enough, for the time being. His neck's still feeling a bit off. That said, the Ikari's particular brand of care was a huge help.
Standing up to full again with a little bit of effort, he stretches out one of his legs to get something out from one of his knees, looking behind himself as a boat docks. This... might be Munin's only chance to escape southward. Let's hope Indonesia or Malaysia are safe for now and that she'll be able to get back to Japan from there, if she's going to!
"If, if you're gonna go," he says as he points a thumb towards the ship, "might be your only shot." He's not even sure what he's going to do, but he knows he can't stand there and stare at the ocean. He might have to chance a border hop anyway. Maybe... Thailand hasn't yet fallen, maybe he'll be able to get some things going from there-- oh man, how many bad judgment calls can a man internally make about the situation?
"Wh-whatever you do," he clears his throat, "just... just be careful, all right, and... uh, one last thing, one last thing," he repeats it because of his trailing off voice. He is pretty tired. He puts a hand on Munin's shoulder one last time.
"I'm, I'm not gonna hold what you did against you, all right? 'Bout Chun-Li." He clarifies. "Just... gotta make sure that, that what she did ain't in... in vain, or what have you."
For all they know, Chun-Li is most likely dead and can only really find some way to pick up the pieces without her great might backing them up. The world is full of heroes - they might not be the greatest themselves, but there has to be some way to make this all come together.
The question is, can Vega truly be stopped...?
Log created on 01:19:18 02/19/2012 by Rust, and last modified on 04:40:39 02/19/2012.