Description: Southtown's barricaded off from the outside, but an SDF artillery unit is trying to hammer down the walls. Ibuki and Brett happen to be on the seen and lend a helping hand! Guest starring a sniper and a jackass humvee driver.
Honoka's coup has sent the Japanese Self-Defense Forces into complete disarray -- with only one Admiral remaining, the remaining forces are arrayed in a disorganized mess of relatively inexperienced officers. Japan's not truly been at war for quite some time, after all... military exercises are nice for learning form, but actually thinking while under pressure... well. Exercises are exercises, this is the real thing!
And Southtown is the warzone in question. Many officers grew up here, so they know the ins and outs of the landscape well.
This gives the Japanese military one advantage against the people who picked up guns under command of the so-called Empress, and were forced into drills. Like the junior SDF officers, they're inexperienced... but the advantage here is that they have the high ground on the bridge leading out of town.
So here's the situation. The Japanese SDF artillery team is stationed on the far side of the wetlands separating Southtown proper from the rest of Honshu, and the plucky wannabe military are taking potshots at them from behind a raised embankment, and are also able to use the big green 'WELCOME TO SOUTHTOWN' sign as cover. Jerks! There is also a Humvee available -- and right now it's able to clear out anything the artillery can offer, which seems to be the big freaking problem here.
Ibuki has seen and done some pretty crazy things in her short tenure as a ninja. Sure, she's been a ninja her whole life but she's only 18! It's only been a couple of months since she graduated highschool. The ratio of normal to weird is totally out of skew in her life, which is something that has always bothered her. She'd much rather be at home going to hang out in the mall with Sarai or seeing a movie or anything else besides what she's doing right now.
With a sigh, the slender ninja carefully tucks her wistful dreams back into the corner of her mind where she keeps them safe. One day. Right now, however, she's got something of a mess on her hands.
Peering out from behind her concealment, Ibuki takes another quick look around to assess the situation. You never can be too careful about keeping the details straight and that means being thorough. From her position within sparse smattering of trees that lines the outer edge of the city she has a good view of all the forces that the self-proclaimed Empress has brought to bear for this engagement. Other similar fights are going on elsewhere around the edge of the city but this seems to be the largest concentration of forces, likely due to the importance of controlling the bridge that leads into the city proper.
She's no military strategist but she's learned enough from studying the war games that her masters engage in from time to time to know that controlling defensive points and denying supply lines to your enemy is a vital part of a winning strategy. Obviously whoever is passing the orders down to these mercenaries has atleast some idea what they are doing. That is one more piece of information that she didn't have before and she makes a mental note of it. Maybe this unknown strategist is present here.
Her attention is drawn to the far side of the stand off where the SDF is doing their best to deal with heavy equipment that their adversaries have brought to bear. After the disarmament following World War II, Japan's military hasn't really been much to look at and it shows in their lack of heavy firepower and armored vehicles. They're better equipped to deal with that sort of thing that she is, however, so she stays put for the moment, looking for a way to be useful that might not get her filled full of holes.
Of all North American sports, football would be the most like war planning. A great American orator in fact made such a comparison before, noting the similarity in language between the sport and war (amongst the ocassional fart joke, of course). In fact, hockey isn't anywhere near as apt a metaphor for war, considering all things.
So it shouldn't be terribly surprising that one Brett Neuer, a kid who left a near guaranteed position in the NHL to spread the gospel of Ice Hockey to the world, finds himself in alien ground as part of an insurgency, one he really doesn't have a stake in. And yet, one couldn't really call him a mercenary, considering his place here is more of a favor to friends he met in Southtown than anything. He's a bit over his head, mind, but he's not about to back out or back down now.
Clutching a length of bent pipe, he finds himself not too far from the ninja, hardly versed in the ways of ninjitsu, or even stealth. He's more bunched behind lines like a warrior in a trench, hidiing behind cover not far from where the wetlands start. If anything, he's an infantryman, and at this point, he's not going to be much use here...but for now, he's waiting for word back about just what they can actually expect past that Welcome sign, wondering just what he's gotten himself into...
The driver of the Humvee is a freaking MANIAC. It's enough to make the turret operator a bit sick to his stomach -- this is only notable because the Humvee had stopped firing for a moment. Riders in the humvee are all going to be very, very uncomfortable for ALL of the inhabitants in a few minutes...
But, due to the sudden falloff in projectiles hurled over the bridge, the artillery officers on the other side are able to gear up for a quick volley. They don't have enough time to dial in their shot as well as they would have liked, because... well, they had to keep moving the artillery platform...
As luck would have it, the artillery unit lobs a mortar round onto the street a fair distance away from the ninja and the hockey player, causing an explosion loud enough to shake the surrounding buildings and scare off a few birds!
Once those inside the humvee are able to air out the vehicle, they resume fire on the artillery unit.
Meanwhile, the SDF forces have taken further advantage of the lull to send in a lightly armored Jeep, hoping to shake up the defenses a bit more by dropping off some infantry. It seems like it might get through...
Until the tires get shot out by a high-caliber rifle, causing the Jeep to skid to a halt and drive right off the bridge. The shot came from one of the buildings looking over the bridge, but getting there might be difficult, as there's a small crew wearing body armor, that seems to be setting up barricades. Any vehicles that -do- get across the bridge are going to have caltrops and concrete barriers to deal with, if something doesn't happen soon!
Though she keeps her focus loose, allowing her eyes to absorb everything infront of her passively, most of Ibuki's attention is on the large vehicle that is running amok. That appears to be the primary source of trouble that is keeping the SDF's already limited resources from being used to their full potential. If she could just find some way to disable it...
The shrill whistle of the mortar round drilling through the air snaps her attention upwards, her hawk-like vision narrowing in on the small projectile almost instantly. A kunai appears in her hand as she prepares to intercept the wayward munition but such intervention proves to be unnecessary as the bomb sails well past their hiding point to detonate on the street behind the two youths.
Ibuki lets out a soft breath. That could have been bad. Someone might have noticed if she'd been forced to detonate the shot in the air. Atleast the commander of the Japanese forces seems to be pressing their advantage. That jeep looks like it might take some pressure off the artillery unit so they can aim properly.
The shot that rings out sends a wave of goosebumps across her skin and the ninja flattens herself out against the tree once again, peering in the direction of the noise. Stupid! How could she have missed that? She was too focused on the obvious forces. That sniper will have to be dealt with. That's something she can do.
Ducking low, Ibuki dashes across the space between the small grove of trees and her tag-along's hiding place, dropping down into cover beside him with a graceful slide. "Alright, so here's the deal," she says, wasting no time. "There's a lot of guys with guns out there and they look like they brought better toys than the home team. I don't know if you caught that just a moment ago but there's a sniper up on the roof over there that I need to go deal with if the SDF are going to have a shot at making it across the bridge."
She jams a thumb at the bridge behind her, indicating the men attempting to blockade the city side. "Those guys look like they're trying to lock down access to the bridge. You think you can buy some time and keep em busy?"
Eyes widen as Brett hears the whistle of the mortar. It's a good thing he has skates, considering it'd help him if he needed to get out of his cover quick. But even if he doesn't quite has Ibuki's eagle eyes, he's able to see the mortal will fall well behind them. Doesn't exactly make him feel better when the impact explodes behind them, forcing him to brace in the classic 'duck and cover' position until the shockwave passed. Eyes snap up from the ground at the ringing shot, hands still over his head as he tries to keep in hiding. It's good Ibuki arrives when she does, lest he get too tempted to peek out of his cover.
As Ibuki explains the situation, Brett peeks over his cover to take a look at the blockade covering the bridge, frowning. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he nods to Ibuki. "I can try at least," he says. It's a good thing he's bulky, but he's not sure how well he'll be able to handle them, considering he's not exactly a stealth game protagonist with silent kills.
CRACK! One shot rings out, and one of the artillery officers can be heard falling in the distance. CRACK! Another shot echoes amongst the buildings, and the guy who seems to have jumped up to help is nailed a moment later. CRACK! ... No one gets hit by the last shot, but it's a clear and present warning to whoever is paying attention -- the sniper is on the job, even if the crew in the humvee is goofing off.
A team of ten people is able to lift the concrete barrier into position. They'd normally get some sort of vehicular assitance with that, but joyriders. "Hey, you guys knock it off and geddover here!" calls one of the workers into a radio, but they're greeted with the maniacal laughter of those inside.
Followed by screams of "WHOA WHOA WHOOOOA!" And the CRUNCH of the tactical vehicle running smack into a building not far from Ibuki and Brett. All stop! The humvee driver peeks over the hood of the vehicle, sees it largely intact... and then begins laughing maniacally again.
And guns it into reverse, the vehicle careening straight for Ibuki's and Brett's position. So much for stealth!
Despite the constant sound of gunfire and the immenient threat of possibly being on the receiving end of it, Ibuki seems rather calm as she lays out her plan. Her expression is hidden beneath the cloth of her face mask but she doesn't sound panicked or concerned, nor is there a hint of fear in her eyes. Though she may complain constantly about her lot in life as a secret shadow warrior, the truth is, she's good at it and she knows it. As long as she stays focused, she'll come out of this in one piece.
Brett doesn't seem to share her confidence. Seeing his discomfort, her look grows less intense, becoming somewhat more empathetic. "Hey, if you don't think you're up for it, don't push yourself. We don't need any more people in wheelchairs. Just stay here if--get down!"
Ibuki practically forces the student into the dirt as the humvee barrels past them, flattening herself on the ground next to Brett. She watches silently as the driver smashes head-on into the wall but when the armored car starts to fly in their direction she abandons the small ditch, pulling at his collar as she does so.
"Comon, move!"
Ibuki's other hand snaps outwards as she runs and a trio of small silvery shapes dart through the air in the blink of an eye, burrowing into the thick rubber treads of the humvee's tires in rapid succession.
There's a reason behind that lack of confidence, but again, Brett isn't really a soldier, and the most gunfire he's tend to have heard before coming back here belonged to hunting rifles. So he finds himself a little skittish at the repeated reports of the sniper rifle.
Still, this is a fight worth fighting, he knows this well enough. "No, no...I have to do this. I want to do this..." he says...though his voice is raspy enough still that his earnestness doesn't come out too well. And he doesn't get much more of a chance to say much more before the driver starts to back toward them rather suddenly. "H-hey!!" he shouts. He doesn't need much pulling to get himself out, hurridly rolling himself away before the armored truck barrels right into them.
As the dust clears though, he finds himself looking at the ARmored truck...and sighing, gripping his stick. "Go. Cover's kind of blown already, and better just me than both of us?"
The humvee driver sure wasn't -expecting- to find people in his vehicle's reverse trajectory -- but his passengers sure notice the two youths darting out of the way! "Hey, hey... it's--" "They're just kids! Don't--"
That's as coherent as it gets, though, as two of the humvee's tires blow out simultaneously, causing a sudden air rupture on the side, and a really angry grinding sound as the tactical vehicle's wheel rotors start chewing large ruts into the pavement. CR-CR-CR-CRRRRUNCH
"Oh, now you kids did it..." The turret operator had been knocked off his seat when the vehicle canted sharply to the side, but he's back in it now, and taking aim at Brett...
And the heads of the other two inside the vehicle disappear for a moment -- but it's not exactly hiding, as the launch tubes of a tear gas grenade launcher emerges. *PTHOOOMP* A canister flies out of the wide-mouthed tube, heading between Ibuki's and Brett's last known location.
Meanwhile the sniper continues firing, here and there -- though he does seem to be moving around a bit.
"Hey, what the hell are you guys doing in there?"
"Some kids are hasslin' us! Might be the ones we're lookin' for!"
"Roger that..."
Ibuki stops long enough to give her partner a sidelong glance as he shoos her off to deal with the sniper. She doesn't like leaving him alone like this now that things have gone sideways but she's the only one who can get up onto the roofs in a timely fashion. There really isn't much choice left.
"Don't do anything reckless," she says. Coming from her, it's a fairly ironic statement; she practically defines the term.
Kicking into full ninja gear, Ibuki crouches as the gas grenade flies towards them, and with a sharp kick of her legs she too becomes airborne. Leaping much further than any person has the right to be capable of, Ibuki clears the top of the humvee and takes off a dead run, her legs practically blurring as she tears across the road to vanish behind the nearby buildings.
"Now then, I just need to circle around and make sure I don't get spotted."
Sticking to the road for now - the rooftops would be too visible to a well-trained sniper with no cover for her to hide behind - the ninja makes haste through the abandoned city streets. Every now and then she cuts into an alleyway, darting into the shadows of the tall buildings and altering her path on the slim chance that someone might be following her or watching from afar.
Reckless.. but not stupid.
Steeling himself as he makes his decision, Brett grips his pipe, and stares down the humvee driver as they take notice of them. Well, no way to cover Ibuki's trip up completely, but at the very least, he can keep the focus on him instead. Rolling forward as the drivers retract and take up the turret, the hockey kid smacks himself in his head with the pipe...not hard, mind. Just...hard enough.
As the turret swivels and takes aim at him, his expression narrows, his attitude changing from his meeker one before. Sliding back, he gives himself enough room. And then, the canister flies, smoke billowing from it.
Treating it just like a one-timer, Brett reels his stick back. He might not have been known on the rink as a shooter, but he still knows well enough how to smack a puck, and this one is a far larger target, and not coming that much faster than a puck would. Soon as it comes in, he adjusts for its arc, and then the slapshot comes. Cracking into it with his pile, Brett tries to aim his shot straight back at the humvee window. Regardless of whether he hits his target or not, it's going to hopefully leave the gas canister closer to them than him...
The sniper is busy lining up his next shot when a familiar female voice comes crackling over the radio -- angrily -- but in an unfamiliar tongue. A response comes back from a male voice in the same language -- calmer, more measured, but still desperate. A quick rejoinder is snapped back, and an irritable sigh follows -- "Riot ammo only. I want them alive."
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, the sniper takes the moment of lost focus as a sign to squelch the radio so it doesn't disturb him again, and then reload his rifle in relative peace and quiet.
Quiet interrupted by ... something. The alleyway? The sniper pauses a moment to look over the ledge down to the alley below, but sees nothing. Pausing for a just a moment longer on the ledge, he figures it was just his overactive imagination and takes to lining up another shot...
Meanwhile, the humvee occupants are having their own trouble. The turret operator aims the cannon down for Brett, soon realizing the physical limitations of the turret mount. Frustrated, the turret operator jumps out of his seat, hollering, "He's too low!"
Just in time to look out the window and see a smoke canister getting slapshotted right in. CLONK!
The canister hisses dense clouds of tear gas -- and since the turret operator was -already- sick... yeah. "D-Dammit!" spits the grenadier, fumbling with the latch for the door. The riot canister's toxic fumes fill the interior of the cramped tactical vehicle in no time -- and all four occupants soon find themselves outside the vehicle teared up, doubled over and coughing.
The workers, though -- they heard the calls on the radio loud and clear. Two break away from the barrier they were lifting, running to the side -- and hauling out assault rifles. The two take aim at Brett, one of them calling out, "D-don't make us use these! Just lay the p-pipe down and g-get on the g-ground!" One might think they're not exactly used to the firearms they're toting?!
With the super human speed of a ninja at her disposal, Ibuki crosses the city block in record time, slowed only by her thoroughly cautious nature. A trail of scattered caltrops, hastily errected trip snares, and a potted plant she kinda left sitting dangerously close to the edge of a window sill (she's on a time budget, okay?) are left in the girl's wake.
Within a minute or so, Ibuki arrives at her destination. Pausing at the base of the building where the sniper has made their nest, she takes a moment to surveil the surroundings. It won't do her any good to sneak up on the soldier if they have traps set up. Fortunately, they don't seem to have counted on any sort of infiltration, which is one of the reasons she's kept her presence hidden from the Empress until now.
Taking a running leap, Ibuki plants her foot on the wall of the building and uses it for a springboard, bouncing across to the surface on the opposite side. She repeats this manuever over and over, quickly rising up towards the roof. The last dozen or so feet are taken more slowly, however, the ninja dropping into a crouch on the fire escape as she shimmies up the flat metal steps. Her progress is steady but slow, the soft soles of her cloth-wrapped feet making no noise as she draws closer to her target.
The shot hits true, and Brett manages to smoke the humvee passengers out of the truck. It's a shot he might have struggled to make in the heat of a game, but then again, he doesn't have defenders surrounding him to force him to move either. As he watches them climb out, tears from their stinging eyes and coughing, he's tempted to push in on them....but they seem suitably dispatched for now.
And good thing, as Brett soon finds himself beset upon by workers with guns. Looking over toward them, he hears their stuttering, and gets the sense quickly that they're not exactly used to fighting or shooting. That little part in his mind reminds him that they migt not be hardened soldiers either. That part is what keeps him from going completely full bore as he kicks off his skates quickly moves toward one, trying to bring his pipe up and knock the gun out of his hands with a quick, sharp check.
The stammering guy watches Brett, shaking his gun threateningly. Did Brett not SEE the gun in his hand? Why is he throwing his life away so recklessly?! The guy realizes a moment too late that Brett means business -- a shot is fired, but Brett's already let loose with the pipe and knocked the gun aside. Unnerved, he ducks down and puts his hands over his head...
But his companion is a bit more on the ball. He has a gun, Brett doesn't... he takes careful aim and unloads at the hockey player's shoulder. It's a rubber bullet, but it still packs enough of an impact to bruise heavily, possibly even dislocate -- if he's so lucky to actually land a hit.
To say nothing of the other workers, who by this point have grabbed a stop sign which had been knocked over by the humvee driver's earlier shenanigans, and hefting it over one arm, aims to follow up after his shooting compatriot with a stop sign to the back of the head!
Meanwhile, the sniper has steadied himself back on the ledge, not far from Ibuki's fire escape. He lines his shot -- taking his aim right there at the control panel the replacement artillery officer would be using to fire. *CRACK!* goes the shot, then a second later, the satisfying, far-off *ping!* of the sniper's shot hitting its mark. The sudden impact is enough to unnerve the artillery officer, who pulls his hands back with a sting.
Chuckling, he picks up his radio. "Hey, have you dumbasses nabbed those brats yet?"
That's her chance!
A soldier she may not be but Ibuki has spent her whole life learning how to be a ninja and she knows an opening when she hears it. With his hand away from the gun to operate the radio, the sniper won't be able to draw a bead on her fast enough to beat her speed, assuming he even spots her in time. Just to be sure, she palms a kunai as she scampers up the last couple feet to the top of the ledge.
Rolling silently over the lip of the small half-wall that serves as a guard railing, Ibuki drops into a crouch once again. Thanks to her careful positioning the sniper has his back to her. A quick glance around reveals that he's alone; perfect.
Narrowing her eyes on the target, the stealthy assassin inches forward, her feet sliding across the rough concrete as easily as if she were floating on air. It would be easy enough to put the kunai into his neck - all it would take is a flick of her wrist - but lethal takedowns, while often stylish, just aren't her thing. As strange as it might sound to other people, using an art designed to kill without doing so is a lot harder than it sounds. Fortunately, she's gotten pretty good as merely maiming, which is okay in her book since these jerks have probably already killed quite a few of the soldiers themselves.
Now mere inches from the distracted sniper, Ibuki inhales slowly and prepares to strike.
With one gun out of the equation, Brett turns toward the volunteer soldier's friend...just in time for the gun to go off. The rubber bullet manages to catch Brett in the shoulder, causing him to reel back and growl in pain. The boy, however, is good at one thing, and that's absorbing punishment. The rubber bullet will sure leave a bruise, but it doesn't stop the young winger.
However, the friends hefting a stop side, trying to slam it into the back of his head? THAT manages to stop Brett, if only so he can turn and stop the sign with his pipe. Bringing it up in his hands, he manages to stop the shot before it could do something like concuss him. Holding it steady in his guard, he's forced to try and slam himself bodily into his new attacker and try to barrel him into the rest of his friends. Unfortunately, that's going to leave the gunner free to keep taking potshots, but hey, one at a time....
CLANG! The sound of fighting below draws the sniper's attention more than anything else. He'd not heard a response from the radio yet, but... stop signs hitting a metal pipe is a pretty loud and distracting sound, isn't it? But when he turns to the side sharply... he notices a shadow he hadn't seen there before. Acting on sheer reflex alone, he takes the gun in his hand, fully intending to use it as a cudgel against his sneak attacker...
With the sniper having taken a break from harrying the artillery officers, they've gotten the opportunity to line up a much better shot at the bridge defenses. Noting Brett and the workers still bashin' brawlin near the barricades, they instead lay in a second shot not far from their last, taking advantage of their previous measurements. The loud boom of a mortar round echoes from the distance -- but the round itself is here before one even knows it. And the humvee explodes into a massive gout of flames and scrap metal, the tactical vehicle absorbing the vast majority of the kinetic impact. The wreckage skids backwards, threatening to bowl over the four earlier occupants -- well, it would, if they didn't break into a run back to the city center.
The stop-sign-wielder doesn't have much leverage to pull the sign back around for another blow, let alone get out of Brett's way --- and accordingly, he gets knocked down like a tenpin, the stop sign catching two of his closest friends and taking them along for the short trip to concussionville, as they collide head-on with the barricade.
The gunner witnesses all this... shakes his head, and just drops his gun. Discretion being the better part of valor, he cries out, "C'mon, let Rudi get 'em, if he's so damn smart!"
Rudi's probably the guy upstairs. With Ibuki. ... Yeah.
Shit!
Ibuki curses mentally as the fighting below draws the sniper's attention and in turn reveals her presence at the last moment. She aborts her attack, dropping low to avoid having her head taken off by the wild swing and it whistles harmlessly overhead. Unfortunately for the mercenary, he's not going to get a second chance.
Lunging with all of her speed, Ibuki snaps her hand out to catch the man's wrist as the strike goes wide. She says nothing as she pulls his arm upwards, almost casually yanking him off balance to expose his side. The girl's fist digs into his ribcage a moment later, each of her individual knuckles settling into the grooves between the bones underneath his uniform. There is a moment's pause as she gathers her chi, funneling it into her outstretched arm, and then the rooftop seems to simply explode into a blazing ball of blue light.
Brett may not be a football player, but he clearly knows how to push and shove people around, especially when they aren't expecting it. With the people attacking him barareled over like ten-pins, he manages to avoid getting concussed any further that he might have already been before. Good thing too, considering the mortar shell ends up blowing up the Humvee not too far away, sending Brett to the ground from the blast.
Ears ringing a bit, he pushes himself up, groaning lowly and finding his vision a little blurred from that landing. Turning up, he sees...a gun on the ground. Well...at least that takes care of that. Rubbing his face to try and get his blood going again, he looks back up to the building. He realizes he hasn't heard another sniper shot at all....he kind of hopes that's a GOOD thing...
The radio hisses with static for a moment, before the voice of the Empress picks up. "*kzzt* Now, guys. I heard Rudi ask you for your status. ANSWER HIM."
Of course, Honoka is not able to hear the response, considering three factors. One, it's hard to hear a reply if you aren't holding the button down. Two, it's hard to press the button if you're not holding the radio. Three, it's hard to hold the radio if you're having a huge freaking chisplosion go off in your ribcage, feeder bands of energy rapidly erupting outwards at breakneck speed. It's like being punched in the gut like thirty times in the blink of an eye -- suffice to say, the sniper doesn't really feel a need to answer as he flies backwards, landing hard on the rooftop a fair distance away, his prized rifle clattering off to the side.
Besides, it's not like =he= needed to answer anyway -- Honoka was calling out the others, right? The ones ... who fled. The others having been knocked out, it looks like Brett's pretty much taken care of -this- crew.
And the good sign is even better -- with the annoying humvee crew knocked out, the sniper taken down, and the barricade crew currently indisposed, that means the road is clear for another light jeep to come racing up to the barricades. Getting -past- the barricades isn't necessary for their mission -- indeed, the entire point of the jeeps is to dispense a small crew of infantrymen, who spill out of the jeep with a quick salute to Brett. "Thanks for your help, sir!" calls out the driver, before turning the jeep around and heading back across the bridge for more supplies, as the dropped-off infantrymen infiltrate their way into the city proper. What they can manage by themselves is anyone's guess, but now that one supply route is mostly clear? For the moment at least, it gets easier.
"*kzzzt* I -know- you can hear me..."
The surface of the roof comes a little more concave as the maelstrom of energy tears at the unfortunate mercenary. The searing onslaught lasts little more than a second or two but it's enough to rob someone untrained in the ways of resisting such things of his consciousness even before the collaspe of the 'bubble' violently expels him to the ground.
Ibuki rises to her feet, watching the fallen soldier for a few moments to make sure he's down for the count. For good measure she moves over to the discarded rifle and raises her foot, bringing it down with a sharp flash of energy that shatters the weapon into a dozen pieces. Finally, she draws a length of cord from within her dogi and binds the man's arms behind his back in a special knot that isn't very likely to come undone until someone comes along to take him captive.
The crackling of a radio draws her attention and she rolls the man over to find the mostly undamaged handset lying beneath his body. Picking it up, she thumbs the switch and clears her throat, speaking in as deep and manly a tone as she can manage.
"... this is Rudi. I totally clobbered one of those dumb kids. Looks like we have the situation all handled, those SDF punks are probably gonna retreat soon. Will contact you again when we're all done here, over."
She drops the radio and steps on it, earning a satisfying crunch. Maybe her ruse worked and that just bought the SDF some time to bring in supplies before the insurgency forces come to check things out. Either way, the rest is up to the military.
Seeing no other opposition or threats around him in the near vicinity, Brett makes his way to the side of the buildling, mostly in case the sniper is still active. He doesn't hear anything still, so it seems like the best idea. Not to mention it helps prop him up a bit so he doesn't go slumping over anywhere. As he looks over toward the blockade, he watches the SDF truck reach right up to it, and let infantry come through.
Eyes track on them as he props himself up on both wall and pipe, a nod to them as they start marching by. He manages a return salute to the driver, trying to stand up as straight as he could...respect for the military, don't ya know. As they pass through, he hears the crackle from the radio...and frowns. That....didn't sound good. Looking up, he tries to find the window (or general area of windows) the sniper was firing from. Wait a second.... "...was that her?" he realizes. Something fishy about that radio....
His question is answered a moment later as Ibuki alights on the ground beside him, her landing making about as much noise as a normal footstep. Despite the claim on the radio, she looks no worse for wear; infact, she appears to be smiling underneath her mask if the energetic glint in her eyes is any indication.
"Took care of things on my end! Maybe bought some time for the good guys. How'd you do?"
Remaining against the wall, Brett waits...until suddenly, Ibuki's kind of there, nearly causing him to jump out of his skates. Looks like he's out of 'game mode', judging by the rather meek reaction. "Oh geez...you really are a ninja," he says...though it's hard to say if it's because of how easily she handled that or how easily she scared him. As she asks how things are going, he points down the street, the infantry moving in and sneaking in through the city limits to set up some kind of point. "I think we did it. Or at least got them a foothold."
Pushing himself off the wall, he shakes his head a little. His head is still ringing from both the mortars as well as the jarring the stopsign managed. Sure, he blocked it, but it still rattled his body from it. Looking over toward the KO'd folks, he hears a crackle. "...hold on..." Moving toward one of the gunners, he finds a radio, still operational apparently considering the occasional burst of static. "...think we could use this?" he asks, picking it up and hefting it up in a padded hand.
Ibuki grins at the startled reaction; she never actually gets tired of that. It's the little things that make all of that training worth it sometimes. "What, did you think I was cosplaying or something?" The question is pushed aside, however, as he motions towards the now clear checkpoint and she nods once.
"That's about all we can hope for. Fighting a war isn't really my specialty, atleast not on the front lines."
Her head tilts curiously as Brett wanders off but his retrieval of the radio causes her to rub the back of her neck sheepishly. "Yeah, well... we might have been able to use it but I kind of burned that bridge already. Even if they bought that phony story about keeping control of this place, they'll figure out the truth soon enough, then they'll probably change all their frequencies and stuff."
Shrugging a bit, Brett looks at the radio as he checks all the dials and settings. "Still something, right? Besides, if they change the frequency, can't we just flip through and change this one as well? I mean...just because someone changes the channel doesn't mean we can't? How many frequencies are there to flip through anyway?" Kind of a naive question, sure, but either way, Brett finds somewhere he can clip the radio onto for now. "We should find the others either way. Hope they're doing alright."
Log created on 19:27:12 09/22/2014 by Honoka, and last modified on 00:49:07 09/23/2014.