Match of the Millennium

Description: Rust manages to call out Rolento after his madman's ploy to destroy the city; left with no recourse but a desperate negotiation, can they manage to get him to change his mind? What is the difference between extremism and insanity? Why did Yuri show up for one pose that Rolento was too lazy to remove? So many questions lack a concrete answer... but all they are left with is a wispy hint of hope.

Honoka says, "Considering 9/11, coverage would be round the clock."

Honoka says, "psekjslakja"

It all comes crashing down fast. The assassination of the Empress. Remembering that Yuri had gone back to Southtown to presumably join in protesting motions and thinking about going back to help bring her back up towards the city of Ise with whomever else may have already gathered to brainstorm and figure out what the hell to do with the vortex.
That all goes out the window right quick with the announcement of a nuclear launch against Southtown by Rolento, and Howard Rust, well... all said and done...
He had to hurry.
Time has been a blur since he came back into Southtown city limits. He's not sure how long it took him to get there, but he at least has the presence of mind to carry a loudspeaker whose batteries have been freshly exchanged. For... a given value of 'presence.'
There is also a very questionable value that can be assigned to 'mine' for the complex slurry of emotions, urgency, guilt, and out-and-out fear that sees him touring the Southtown countryside with the clock ticking ever lower and lower yet. His entire body aches - his lungs, especially are in a constant gasp for air that is not currently spent.
Case in point, probably the single word in his vocabulary in-between frantically explaining in half-sentences and incomplete thoughts what he's trying to do to anyone else who may have already been of similar mind.
"ROLENTO!" He shouts over megaphone every so often along the coasts, as though expecting Rolento would magically be present and in earshot of this shouting to be found, the feedback from the megaphone probably much more audible than the actual word in question. When you are less than 24 hours away from the complete annihilation of the city you call home even when you are currently in the country illegally thanks to certain important things being burned away, well...
Time passes, frantic off-road driving continues that would have seen him arrested and taken off the street were it not for the utter state of emergency, and Howard hasn't even looked up at the sky to really get a sense for what time it is or how long it's been.
He pants, wheezes, and fights to have the proper oxygen intake for that next, big, great, desperate, loud...
"ROLENTO!!"

The chaos of the situation certainly hasn't gone any better for those at Honoka's press conference at the Taiyo Dome. Mere minutes after the Empress's assassination and being slammed into the stadium's astroturf during the assassin's escape, Hinata is out in the streets doing everything she possibly can to either locate the bomb... which under the circumstance seems to involve a lot of yelling at the top of her lungs.

As hours tick by, the cries of "ROLENTO!" fail to slow down. They slowly get joined by angrier, frustrated cries.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"YOU COWARD, COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF!"

"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!"

The sunshine girl certainly seems to have become quite cloudy during these last few hours since everything began to fall to pieces. She keeps falling in and out of bouts of tears as the clock continues counting down to the destruction of her home.

...Then the sound of similar cries hits her ears. It's not much at first, just a weird, indistinguishable screeching in the distance. After a few minutes it gets clearly, she can make out the name. Her body starts to move with pure instinct, picking back up some energy as the girl's legs begin pounding as she rushes toward the source of the cries. She's almost there as she runs...

...Right out in front of a pair of headlights.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. With everyone else in a panic and a highly vested interest in staying alive, Brett Neuer had the bright idea of asking the reporters at the scene to elaborate on the video. With some tete-a-tete with their specific HQs, they tried to piece together some kind of semblance of a location where that video could have been made. It took a while before one of the outlets finally got some kind of idea, and with enough collaboration, an address was produced, one that Brett ran with as he skated out of the dome.

It took him at least an hour of looking, unassisted by his ignorance of Japanese street address conventions. It took him another hour to figure out that the building had been cleared out. Sure, it looked familiar compared to the small phone-sized video he managed to get off one of the guard's phone. But it's also clear that whatever might have been there isn't there now.

With that idea exhausted for naught, Brett was left scrambling. Evacuation wasn't really an option at this point. Skating madly and having to detour around mad crowds rushing for some kind of sancturary, he tried to find someone, anyone who he could help or who could help him, because if he couldn't...well....

It wasn't the time for that kind of dark thought. Even with lungs burning both from ash and from his constant skating around, it'd just be one more burden. At the least, he can hear someone shouting for Rolento. Two persons, in fact. Of course, with the voices mixing together from this distance, he's not sure who or what they are...but it's a start, right?

Suddenly, there's the immense roar of an engine. If it can be called that; the roaring, demonic bellow of the Gods, as suddenly a brick wall detonates outwards, sending bricks spilling into the streets about thirty meters ahead of Rust's location. The sleek Cadloy steel vehicle is a tank -- well, a light tank, Stingray II to be exact, a failed American export that fell into the black market to recoup some losses. Still, staring down a 105mm barrel that swivels to point at Rusts' vehicle is probably more than a little intimidating, to say the least... although it might not be the first time he's stared down such an entity.
The hatch flicks open... and upwards comes a beret-clad individual, familiar scarred face that of Rolento Schugerg. "The majority of sane civilians have already left the area, Howard Rust. What benality has you set to find me? Do you think this is a matter that can be resolved by fists? Nonsense. I have no intention of fighting you." Hinata is given a glance, although at the present Brett is unknown; likely drawn to the noise, but not in immediate sight.
"If it brings you consolation, despite my strict warnings, special operatives have attempted to find my missile to no avail." Slipping up, a throat-slit commando in black is drawn out of the cupola and hurled aside, rolling slickly down the upper glacis of the Stingray and then thumping upon the ground.
"So 'Empress Honoka' is dead. With that, Japan is set to once more place the tinfoil crown upon another dictator to oppress the people. I told her it was folly. Yet she bared her throat again and again, genuinely wishing for a better land. ...But if you build a land on blood, you will die in blood. Such is what I learned in the brutal lands I was born in."
He settles then atop the turret, leaning against the gunner sight. "I have not come here to deliberate. I have come here to ask you to evacuate. In thirteen hours, the capital of Japan shall be no more. It shall prove that world governments are fallible. Perhaps those who next come into power will see their mortality... and as long as I retain my nuclear submarine, they may be more even handed with those blind civilian backs they stand upon."
"Do you believe them...? That I am a terrorist? A tyrant? A murderer?" It seems to be a genuine question, if one without anything but conversational neutrality.

The form of a small girl runs along the way into the car as its driver relents from shouting to catch his breath, just in time - or maybe almost too late - to look back upon the road and--
"Ah shit, shit shit shit shit shit," his voice too hoarse to work up a strong of shouted swears as he slams the breaks to a horrible screeching noise. He slams those breaks so hard that this vehicle he's managed to get his hands on may now have a number of mechanical damages under the hood thanks to how suddenly some parts are just yanked so sharply from the strength of the slammed brakes.
Those brakes may not even ever work again until it sees a mechanic, but, those brakes are a secondary concern to an impending nuclear disaster poised to destroy all of Southtown in a great huge ball of fire. Either way, for the moment, Hinata is unlikely to meet a sudden, horrible, violent end.
Howard peers out the side of the car window to see if he actually hit the brakes in time or not, and that is when bricks start to fly (and maybe come out of certain openings, but, more on that later). When the dust approaches the concept of being 'clear,' Howard instinctively knows what he's staring down the barrel of.
A tank. Maybe not specifically identifying the tank, but after those land wars in Asia... he tenses on the spot, left fist already balled up as he winces, only flicking a glance every so often to see if he did or didn't just accidentally run over a kid. (Or if there even was one.)
Just because he could probably survive a hit from something like that doesn't mean he is particularly eager to repeat any such feats of incredibly frightening durability, fumbling to open the door when the hatch opens to reveal...
Rolento. He mouths the name, and coughs again. It is the only interruption to his opening statements, waving a hand to the sound of a stiff elbow to clear the dust away from his face. With the request to leave, there is a query asked. A query he seems ready to answer...
Unfortunately, he is denied the ability to have the first word to Rolento's questions among those interested parties that may or may not have gathered around his person. The combination of the leftover volcanic ash that was dumped upon Southtown, the fact he's spent so long shouting... and several regrettable life decisions about toughing out long work hours among substances now known to cause problems for one's lungs works against him for giving anything resembling a timely answer as he wheezes to regain some level of composure after hours of panic, chaos, and frantic searching.

As soon as she spots the car coming straight for her, Hinata starts trying to leap out of the way, but in the moment she finds the fine gravel under her feet is enough to cause her to slip and fall onto her backside... which puts her at head level right as the car's brakes screech like demons releases from the bonds of hell, grinding to a stop mere inches from her face.

She just sits there in a moment of pure shock, trying to pull together all of what just happened. It takes a few ragged breaths, but she manages to put one hand on the bumper and starts lifting herself up off the ground...

...And then there's bricks everywhere, one narrowly missing clipping the top of her head by literal a literal hair's breadth. And a there's a tank. And perhaps the most infamous man in all of Japan at the moment. Certainly the most wanted in Southtown.

All of this takes quite awhile to process through her currently stunned mind, but unlike Rust she's still got the never-ending energy and resiliency of youth, coated in a fine layer of outrage. She pulls herself up to her full height (not very impressive in the best of circumstances, but certainly not in the presence of an actual tank) and locks eyes on Rolento, staring daggers.

"What do you call someone who killed hundred of innocent people if not a murderer?!"

Sometimes, being late to the party has its advantages. If you call 'a near fatal automobile accident' and 'a black market tank bursting through a building' a party. As Brett traced the voices, he came upon a sight for sore eyes in Hinata...just as the tank Rolento was in possession of made its appearance.

Falling down and scrambling to the nearest cover, the hockey kid watched carefully, eyebrows furrowed in worry and anxiety, and the more he hears, the more his mouth turns down in a scowl. The more he hears, the more he hears Rolento's clear lack of remorse and cavalier attitude toward the blood on his hands. The more he hears, the more he realizes what kind of monster the mercenary is.

Not to mention the more he realizes he's a bit under the radar here. Even if he's not the stealthiest snake in the jungle, it'd be remiss to not try to make use of it. Eyes scan, trying to see if there was a way around. He wasn't naive enough to think he'd be any match for Rolento if things came to blows, even with the assistance of Hinata and the older unknown...wait. Rust? Well...that's another name way above Brett's league, that's a start. At least that gives him the confidence to make his way around and find a way to flank Rolento....somehow. Hopefully he's not close enough that his skates could give him away.... "...what am I doing..." He mutters to himself, reflecting on how absurd this all is, somehow even more absurd than fighting someone for a mystical sphere of depression.

"You call them Empress Honoka. Indeed, she is the one who slew the Diet." Rolento states, matter of factly. "She rigged the charges and executed them. Why? Did she say otherwise?" There's a sort of humorless air to this entire charade. "Do note that she was the one who instigated this entire affair. She was even the one who personally contacted me due to my expertise in dealing with countries. I advised her on the appropriate measures to take. She did. I had intended to play the villain to consolidate her position. Good cop, bad cop, as you might say. I would threaten the city with a nuclear missile. Honoka would manage to talk me down and spare the city. She would then seem to be the only one capable of preventing me from annihilating countless lives."
"...And then I find... she's dead. Dead! Laughable. I knew it a fool's errand to trust a child in such matters. She was a grand idealist, but when the actual pieces were placed on the board, she failed. No matter. My principal goal... was acquiring a nuclear arsenal. She was an excellent distraction, as was my name. But unlike Metro City, this is not a funding operation. This is me sending a message. I have the capacity to destroy capital cities without warning. But if I was such a monster, would I be giving civilians 24 hours to leave? Would I have done so much work evacuating Metro City? Tch. What does a child know of how this world really works. A simple-minded fool who believes what the media whispers, yet another puppet of world decadence and ignorance. As I stated... evacuate the city. This is a pointless encounter. The missile will detonate automatically. If you engage me, I will flee. None of you can hope to capture me in such a case... if you could even prevail in combat!!"
Likely true; the only weapons possible here are words. But whether they might have enough weight or not is the question. If Rolento leaves again, he's not liable to reveal himself a second time... and with Interpol and other government squads combing Southtown without success, the chances of a rag-tag group of youths and a man in a toupee managing yet again is small to none!

Rolento's on the loose, causing trouble again. And Yuri's not liking it one bit. She'd been out and about looking for someone or something, when this whole thing went down. And when Yuri arrives at the scene of everything, she's not happy to see who's behind it, as well as who nearly died. When her own classmate and buddy is nearly killed, Yuri really gets mad!

As a young female voice retorts, Howard... well, he's not relieved any because of the circumstance, but it doesn't ramp up the blood pressure or adrenaline all that much. It is impossible to achieve any sort of perfect calm within a minute of finding exactly what he was looking for (...except the tank).
The discussion about the late Empress' fullest involvement makes him frown. He... wasn't wrong for speaking to her firmly about where he stood on the matter, although her (timely?) passing brings him absolutely zero relief given the circumstances. Japan-Ezo-Whatever no longer has a central government authority.
Rolento speaks his stance all too clearly, and the aging man lowers his head at mention of Metro City. When he allowed him to take the money, if mostly for the sake of saving Frank and Smalls from being annihilated - and as he'd soon find out, to not disrupt the actual rescue work his highly trained unit has put together. Would he have allowed this to happen if he knew this was where it was going to go?
He undoes his seatbelt to pull himself out of the car, nodding to himsel-- wait, when did this brick get in his lap? Did it just fly into his body and he simply didn't notice? He picks it up, studies it for all of two seconds, and dumps it out the window with little more fanfare than the clatter of cracked clay against ash-covered asphalt. Maybe that explains why he was having trouble gathering breath to even speak at all...
At last opening the car door, Howard steps outside of it, leaving the megaphone in the driver's seat as he steps ahead of Hinata, facing Rolento.
He holds his right arm out horizontally in front of Hinata to signal for her to stay back and calm down. Visibly, there is no motion being made to draw the rusted length of pipe - his right arm being used to keep the young girl from saying or doing much else should be evidence enough of no desire for immediate hostility, given that is his primary hand.
"Rolento," Howard speaks up, fighting the grime and dust in his throat to maintain a coherent, audible statement in spite of himself, facing up to him from where he stands, "who... who're you really hurtin' with this?"
Is he making Rolento repeat himself, or is there a reason for asking this..? He isn't aware of the approach of anyone else behind him, for the moment.

And now Rolento can't even take responsibility for what he's been involved in? Hinata never had a very good opinion of the man, but the ease with which he passes the buck sets something burning off inside her that nearly comes exploding right out of her... and if not for Rust suddenly stepping forward and imposing himself between the two, Hinata's outburst could have led to more than one explosion...

Quite honestly, she doesn't know Rust especially well. He was a teacher at her school, but she'd never had classes with him. What she did know of him was mostly second hand, and aside from jokes about his hair actually being a slightly mutated rat, most of it had been rather positive.

And so Hinata takes a cautious step back, taking in a deep breath as she tries to settle herself. Right now Rolento has all the cards, and worrying about punishing the man is going to do no good for the city. And Southtown's safety is her primary goal, so she does something unusual for the energetic girl... she just stands quietly and listens.

Brett only knew Rust from what fights he had on TV before, which was enough to give him some ease of mind, and he trusted Hinata enough. It was just thinking about....well, what would the hockey fighter even do if he managed to actually sneak up on the mercenary?

It was those thoughts that kept him from rushing too much to approach, but he still tried, dammit. At the very least, he could close off some avenue of escape maybe....mind, he already had the tank. So...yeah, the more Brett goes through with this stealthy act, trying to approach some kind of avenue behind Rolento, the more he realizes how ill-thought this all was.

That doesn't keep him from trying, mind, trying to find a way behind still. But at this point, it's more about listening in than trying to find a moment of weakness. He doesn't even have his stick or a length of pipe to use right now, for pete's sake. HOwever, the more he listens, the more ill he feels. This guy really IS crazy.

Silently settled upon the hood of the Stingray light tank, Rolento lightly taps his baton into an open palm. Rust appears to be the primary focus of him; he'd certainly not have come out of his hiding hole for the likes of Hinata and Yuri. He respects the older man, obviously. The fact that respect means putting himself at risk at least hints towards a less monstrous side than the media would portray. He's supposed to be the stuff dynamite into babies and huck them at people sort of terrorist, after all. And the fact he's already demonstrated having live nukes, lacking a loss of life or not, is causing the civilized governments of the world no small amount of stress.
"I am hurting the government." Rolento states without hesitation. "They are my enemy. They always have been. Japan, more than any other, forces their working class into suicide and depression. There is no free will here. Of all the world powers, I can think of no worse figurehead for every ideal I stand against. 24 hours is sufficient for every last person to leave with no risk of fallout exposure. ...Which only leaves the idealists such as yourselves, risking their lives. For what? Do you plan to sway me with empty sentiment? Can you weigh the worth of these buildings and memories with the tyrant's fist of a world power finally brought to it's knees, and the message I can send to all those watching with held breath, when they see what I am willing and capable of doing?!"
If Brett's presence is acknowledged or not, there's no sign from Rolento. Then again, what does the lion care for hyenas skulking around? Even if one were brave enough to attack, the result is clear as day. "Southtown shall fall. What of it? If I am properly heeded, not a single life will be lost. Even if you find the bomb, do you think that would stop me? I can launch a third from the coast. My war is with the remaining world powers. And that is why I am here... to underline the fruitless endeavour you are risking your lives for!!"

Howard was a teacher at Pacific, but even back in those days he was... well, not terribly respected by his co-workers, but his skill in multiple trades and crafts was as worth a mention as was that horrible combover that has now been supplanted by... whatever that dumb thing on his head is. Who did he ever think he was fooling? Now wouldn't be the time to split hairs over the past or his psychological neuroses, as he holds strong in front of Hinata.
What the two men see between one another would be a subject worthy of a biography. One of the world's greatest mercenaries, one of the world's unlikely heroes. The number of times they've met could be counted on one hand, and yet, the various complexities put forth by one another could scarcely be appreciated outside of the both of them. Now, here they stand...
He takes a moment to give Hinata an aside to speak to her, keeping his focus on everything Rolento says while being about as clear as he can considering he is prone to mumbling, stuttering, and otherwise being occasionally difficult to understand.
"D-Don't raise your fists at him," he says - no, warns, with the assumption that Hinata is a fighter because he has come to accept the possibility of a school-aged child being an accomplished fighter in Southtown is improbably high, speaking statistically. Writing statistically.
"He doesn't play chicken." Beat. "He... doesn't... play at all."
He turns back in full to Rolento proper, waiting for him to finish speaking. He starts to open his mouth as Rolento segues into Southtown being guaranteed to fall, a grimace as he shows a hesitation to interrupt Rolento at least. No matter what, he's the one with the nukes, he's the one that really has the call as to who lives and... who probably still lives but will have their homes glassed and irradiated.
As a man who has suffered greatly for pushing himself to work hours far too long - it shows, blatantly - it's hard to argue against Rolento's grudge against how the working class is treated. Especially in a society where the ability to achieve higher education is competed for... and the suicide rates of those who don't make it. He remembers having to intervene in at least one or two such attempts with natives who went to Pacific that almost jumped to their deaths.
Hell, even he kind of gets pushed around a little at the Kyokugen Dojo as a free plumber/mechanic/technician without much added compensation (if any). It wasn't a pretty picture, but yet... is there something worth preserving?
"Y-You launch that nuke," Howard speaks up... and coughs. "Sorry, 'scuse me, friggin'... ash," he pats his chest. He should've asked for a gas mask from the military guys around the vortex, but he wasn't quite thinking things through when the alert went out. He speaks up again.
"You... you launch that nuke," he restarts, "it's... it's not that simple that, that it's gonna change all that." Howard breaks eye contact to look about the outskirts in which he'd been driving around like a maniac shouting Rolento's name for the past... time. He probably hasn't even slept, given Rolento gave the remaining time left.
"You're takin' the homes of people I've lived alongside for... for the better part of, uh, seven years now," has it been seven long years? "It ain't enough to... to do 'em good by telling them to just, just pack it all up and go!"
He inwardly hopes that the first time he said 'you launch that nuke' wasn't consent and instead the proper header to a counterargument but hopefully it's not too late!
"You, you get all of Southtown's people out... then what? Wh-where do they go?" He gestures incorrectly towards the sea. "Back to, to the rest of the nation? Do they, do they got space for all them? Or... or overseas,"
He gestures incorrectly towards the rest of the Japanese mainland, "like if they go to... to South Korea, or... or China, do I, do I need to go into detail 'bout the, the bad blood they'd... they'd take out on the, the refugees, or..."
Or...? There's a long enough pause for someone or something to snap the metaphorical center floor away from Rust.

Fighting can solve a lot of problems... as head of the Resistance against Empress Honoka, Hinata began to see just how often fighting won't really make a difference. As the old man leans and starts to give her advice, as clumsy and uncomfortable as he may be, the sunshine girl gives him a quick response. "...It's just talking. I want make this a fight."

And then Rust starts to pour out everything. The words aren't exactly pretty, they aren't especially charismatic and it's not a speech that anyone would want to put down in the history books, but right now it means a lot to Hinata. The young fighter, dealing with an incredible amount of emotion in the last 24 hours, has to wipe a few tears away from her cheek.

"...And it's not just that."

Having recomposed herself, Hinata takes a step forward. Her tone isn't confrontational, it's not pleading, it's as serious as a girl her size and age can manage.

"I know I'm not that old... I've got a lot to learn, but I've still seen a lot, and I've paid attention in my classes." She, perhaps somewhat inadvisably, waves her hand up for emphasis. "When you blow up the city, nobody is going to see that as the government failing, especially not right now. People will be scared... terrified."

With a bit of thought, Hinata lowers her hand again, her efforts not to be overly dramatic making the energetic girl bounce a bit on her heels. "When people don't feel safe, they're going to look for someone strong to protect them. They're not going to overthrow their leaders. All this is going to do is let another tyrant step in; somebody who will be allowed to take as much as they want as long as they can promise to keep people safe."

She huffs up, doing her best to look confident and a bit authoritative, but she's got a lot stacked against her. "All you have to do is read history books... either some bigger fish comes in and conquers the country or they get some new dictator."

"Don't you think this is fruitless too?" Brett finally speaks up, coming from the other side of the wall that the Stingray had barreled through, stepping carefully over a few bricks that had fallen back from the unstable breach. "You understand what's going on anywhere else? Thailand's frozen over to the floor. The States are getting hammered by God's Wrath itself, we're all sifting through God know's what right now. Something is happening, and it's bigger than any of us right now."

And then an edge cuts through Brett's tone. It's rare the boy gets angry. Not like in a game, where it's just a tapped-into aggression driven by a will to win and be of use. This comes off as simple contempt. "I touched part of it. I touched part of what's making the world go all crazy, that....THING that froze the sea solid. I saw things, felt things no one should ever feel. A feeling like everything's coming apart. And honestly, it feels like this..." He waves his hand around at the ash still falling around, and in the general direction of Fuji. "...it feels like the exact same thing. Unnatural.'

"And all you care about is sending a message. You think you're some kind of hero fighting a big bully that's keeping people down, and taking it down, but you're even worse. Threatening people, dusting your hands saying 'I gave them their chance' and saying it's for the greater good. You're just throwing your weight around trying to be a big man." Brett sighs, his anger giving way to some kind of weariness, his voice taking on a pleading tone. "All this is bigger than any of us. And if everything goes to pot, you think people are going to care if you want to make some kind of ideal place of your own? Or you think people will look at you and think you're just another bully, taking advantage of everything and not caring how it hurts actual people?"

"You are a sensible realist as always, Howard Rust. Too many see this world through rose-tinted glasses. I'm afraid that the sheer scope of this incident, along with the death of the central figures of Japan's government, are both intended to change that."
Rolento slowly stands, looking down at Rust. His eyes are hard then, and slowly he twists the baton to thump heavily into his palm. "Yes. So many people will love their lives. Is it a tragedy? A great, terrible event that one would do anything to avoid? THEN LOOK AT THE WORLD. The rape, death, pillaging, and destructions of MILLIONS. The third world nations are blotted out by the very media that demonizes me. I am doing to Japan what has been done, continues to be done, and continues to be IGNORED. I take these concrete buildings. And what? Insurance pays. People move on. Lives are recovered. It is a MINOR INCONVENIENCE. What of those starving people who cannot afford to buy MUD, who lose their hovels to armed militia, their young children ripped away to be brainwashed and left to die? Where do they go? Have you seen a refugee camp? I wager not. No. You are a hero... a hero to the modern age."
"Vietnam was not what made me a monster. It was the world I fled to. The world of tyrants, dictators, and worse. Seeing how things truly are. Honoka dying is irrelevant. This shall wake up the world. To the plight of war. War that cannot be looked away from. What happened here happens a dozen times a day, in small villages and cities. Only I gave far, far more mercy than those who truly suffer...!!"
"It is good..." A baton points at Hinata. "That you see the world for what it is. What you describe is accurate. In the long run I change nothing. I called this a message. Not a revolution. Heh... there was no hope of permanent change from the onset. The only thing keeping the world in check is mutually assured destruction. A gambit I plan to keep myself, when I found my own nation for the outcast. This is a beacon. A beacon for those in the world who will see what I really am. A man willing to fight those who DESERVE to be fought. And having the capability to do such without wholesale slaughter of the sheep. It will be your responsibility that whatever is left of Japan comes out superior to what I tore down."
But Brett finally causes Rolento to shift his attention. No surprise. Of course. His idea of stealth is a child's idea of hide and seek, settled behind a curtain with his feet sticking out, to someone with four decades of commando experience.
"Is the world ending? I do not know. Perhaps this time, heroes will not prevail. And what better time than that to pursue my own dream without regret? If I can found a land, settle my army, and raise my flag proud, then if I die in whatever oblivion may come a second later, my life to that point will be complete. Call me a bully. Call me a terrorist. But pacifism and words do nothing. Even the true, genuine belief to change and help does nothing. If you disbelieve me..."
"Look upon the corpse of your Empress Honoka, who confided in me her true desire to make Ezo a land to allow society to prosper in peace and cooperation. Cut down by an assassin, in the midst of her peace and negotiations. I stand on the opposite side of the fence. And which of us truly holds power, and which of us is alive?"

Sensible, up until the point in a fit of disgruntlement he decided to storm the barricades in Ise over in the Mie prefecture and spent the better part of the last eleven hours screaming Rolento's name while driving around the countryside without any semblance of sleep. (He sure did get here pretty quick, come to think of it...!)
The last few days have not been particularly a high note for the aging American man as a voice of reason or stability. After all, he has basically come back screaming into an entire city marked to be destroyed... and maybe even a fair chunk of the nearby geography, though this is selling Rolento's known precision about the logistics of this sort of thing incredibly short. He has no doubt accounted for the potential environmental issues that surround Southtown as well in his decisions.
Where Rolento speaks from the position of confidence, Howard's holding about as strong as he really can in terms of posture, firmness in his conviction... he knows he's staring at the precipice of unmitigated disaster, where his hope - everyone's hopes - lie on the three of them convincing Rolento get the bomb turned off.
Howard coughs again as the ash that still shuffles about in the air from the movement of those present (and those who moved through here rather hastily on their way out), a moment of seeming weakness compared to the more composed manner in which Hinata frames her arguments.
Rolento speaks his retort, and what he says is true - Howard Rust might be a hero of the modern age, even with curious decisions such as fighting to stop Shadaloo from taking North Korea given it is North Korea, but he never suffered Vietnam. The horrors that Rolento has seen are horrors that should not be downplayed. He was there, in far less civilized times... he can see it in Rolento's eyes. He is not going to debate what he saw, for Rolento was there.
He casts a look to that guy who just spoke especially - given he didn't know he was there! - about having touched part of the world going crazy. That means... he takes a step towards where he hears Brett, but thinks better about it considering that the focal issue isn't what Brett's seen and done - it's still Rolento.
It's here Rust finally speaks up, for a given value of speaking up, for it's Howard Rust, and his lungs are not terribly cooperative. This volcanic ash has been murder on him and he's going to have to ask Hinata and this other guy how they've managed to even breathe this crap.
"Yeah, I... I haven't seen the things like... like you have," he does not go into a comparison match with Rolento. Witnessing atrocity in part is still atrocity. There is no contest over it, or a prize for seeing the worst of the worst. Who saw the worst is not the point, to him. He has seen some very nasty things.
"You, you might show the world," that you have nuclear weapons and are willing to use them, he stops himself from saying (actually his lungs do, give them credit, sometimes his lungs get it right), "but... but what're they gonna look at? I mean, uh, maybe I'm kinda goin' into what... that guy said," he gestures vaguely to Brett, wanting to speak up in defense of the fact that the world is falling apart but knowing Rolento is not interested in that, "look, y-you've shown me, twice. You're," he dares say this in front of two people with very different opinions of this man, "you're... one of the, the most compassionate," he went there, "for the little guy, I, I've seen that, when you... when you pulled me outta Pacific durin'... '09, or, over in Metro not long ago. 'm not gonna... gonna debate what you mean, what you're goin' for. You've, you've thought that out." He nods his head. Rolento has a head for that sort of thing. He's been in this mess far longer than any of them.
"What... what comes next? Y-you say, mutually assured des-destruction, right," he coughs again, waving his hand in front of the dusty air, god damn it ash, making him see crimson, "I, I see the ends you're going for, but... but the people you're after, the ones you wanna take the fight to."

"You're, you're givin' us a chance to get out," and that's a mercy he's even risking his neck, as Howard finally gets over his lung problems enough to look Rolento back up in the face, "so, when, when the fight starts with these... these powers that you want to fight, what... what guarantee do you got that, that they won't use their nukes, without... without the same consideration?"
Howard thinks about it. He's already talked about how global media has put the blindfold on the general public about horrible things in less-developed countries. He got to see a bit of it through the Asian land war - and sometimes even traveling just to get a scheduled fight in.
"You, you already said yourself, 's all... all the ugly stuff tends to, to get... covered up. Is this... is this really gonna open eyes the way you want 'em to? Even if, if it's all... transient, new jobs, new homes elsewhere," dread's in his voice, considering this is the absolute end of his livelihood he is facing down, but he grasps at it mentally to stay firm, "is it, is it really just gonna between you and the world powers? Is it going to, to stay that way? What, what will they call, ah, acceptable losses," he cringes mentally at saying this, "to, to come back at you?"

There's something about being congratulated on her world view by Rolento that makes Hinata's skin crawl. The man quiet clearly has strong ideas about the world and a moral system in which he truly is doing all of this to the greater good... and somehow this would all be easier if Rolento was the sort of madman who viewed everyone else as unimportant. A megalomaniacal monster that wished to sit upon the throne that rules the world.

No, instead he's a man that cares for the people, but is utterly blind to the world in his anger at those in power... at least from Hinata's point of view. And from the point of view of a high school girl who knows with certainty that any problem can be overcome by working together with friends and allies, who knows that those who dare to think themselves better all others can be overthrown in their hubris, it's an impossible point of view to place herself into.

"If it doesn't actually change anything... if in the long run you do nothing, and even in the short run don't hurt anybody but the people, then what's the point?" It's tearing Hinata apart to not be able to do anything; to be unable to get through to the man holding her home at ransom.

The high school girl motions over toward Brett, "And... if there is a new power that is stronger than your nuclear missiles..." She starts, then pauses, picking up from a different angle. "A nuclear bomb, you can destroy one city... maybe not even the whole city, but most of it. If there's a weapon that could cover the sea in ice, make volcanos explode, and also make a city cease to exist, then doesn't your plan stop working?"

Hinata pulls in a deep breath, the last day has been utterly exhausting, and doing everything she can to restrain herself and try to think enough like Rolento that she might be able to sway him is draining, even for a girl known for her seemingly boundless energy.

"I'm not as smart as some of the other students at Taiyo; Kyosuke would probably understand you a lot better than I ever will. But even I know that mutually assured destruction works because your enemies are afraid of what you can do to them if they attack you."

This is quite a lot for Hinata, her brow knits intensely, she's actually pacing slightly, kicking rubble about with her oversized athletic shoes as tries to calm herself with movement, any movement. "But these new things are way more poweful than a nuclear bomb, so... maybe all you're doing is painting a big target on yourself if you use your weapons. There's something here in Japan, and with all the pain that still lingers over the previous nuclear attacks on Japan, it's not unlikely that they'll want to seek revenge on you."

She pauses, rolling her lips between her teeth for a moment as her voice lowers, "...I'd be a liar if I said that I wouldn't be tempted to wipe you off the face of the Earth for this."

Brett's worldview isn't any more nuanced or mature than Hinata's. He wasn't a model student in school either, even if he's not exactly dumb either. And yet, Rolento's worldview remains so terribly alien to him. He's not a callous murderous monster, sure, but...he finds himself not convinced there's much difference between him and the monsters he stands against. Much the same as Honoka, they just seem like the other side of the same coin as those they stood pat against.

"No one said the world was perfect or even good. But you think a nuke will convince people? Especially since...yeah, what Hinata said, this is possibly the last country that'd look kind on a nuke hitting them again. And you just said yourseif, you're doing, or trying to do exactly what you say keeps being done. And then...what? You're fighting for people, yet you don't seem to care much for what happens to people who might even agree with you if you weren't holding a knife to their throat.

Slumping down a bit, Brett just feels...tired. Even if he's not about to get swallowed up by his own despondence, he still feels the weight knowing even just a fraction of what's happening in the world right now. "What you're doing is just...you don't sound like a beacon. You sound like someone who's just given up and want to play the same game your enemies are. And..." He rubs his head, finding a throbbing in the side of his temple. "And if you want to be a beacon, like someone who fights for who deserves to be fought, why can't you aim high and try and stop...THIS." He waves his hands back toward the direction of Fuji. "The world doesn't have to end, at least try to stop that, because if the world ends, then what's the point of fighting for your dream when the same people who want to stand for are going to be the first to get pulled under? How many people are dead or dying because the sea froze over in Thailand? The.....things causing this to happen are out there, and...."

He frowns. He's not sure he wants to reveal this since even he's not sure if he's right about the relevance...but considering a city is at stake.... "...those things didn't cause the sea to freeze on purpose, and if it's all connected, I'm not sure the storms or volcanos are on purpose either. It's like...side effects because of who has them. If people who're right can get them, maybe they can stop all of...this. And maybe, you know...you can be a beacon that way. Fight for those who need to be fought for THAT way."

"Tell me this." Rolento states simply towards Rust. "What drives the herd of sheep? Governments. However, they have their limitations. Whatever they do that the public can see must be justifiable. One thing that has been proven, even with absolute power and attempted suppression, the people's revolt cannot be contained forever. The world powers are not like Germany and Russia in the war. They are not conditioned cogs in a machine that questions nothing. I depend upon the free will that has blossomed, the free will I am attempting to keep alive... that if they destroyed countless innocent lives to stop someone like me, that people would take to the streets, and tear them down. The puppet masters have adapted to this new era of unseen manipulation... and it is that restriction I plan to take advantage of."
"...War always requires sacrifice. Of life and liberty. I have made decisions that have cost the lives of the innocent to the point I have grown numb. An innocent is a variable. An existence that can be given tangible value in my decisions. Without such detachment and resolve, I would not be able to stand here today. But... I know the difference. Between war between countries, and war AGAINST countries!! The Japanese civilians are not my enemy, as the Vietnamese were, who hid insurgents, fed them, betrayed our attempts at liberation. And they were right to betray us. That, more than anything, is what drives me to this. All of the black ops, the assassinations, the genocide, ordered by America... was sheer politics and nothing more. And I was made a scapegoat for their war crimes. I am not as insane as you may believe. Japan's succeeding government, as stated, will be little better. But if the destruction of a city will temper things, make the governments falter, and benefit the country in the long run... does your home really matter?!"
Although Brett appears to get under his skin instead, tension running through the tank-mounted figure. "I am a beacon for people who understand me. Would I have an army otherwise? The ignorant bliss of civilians such as yourself cannot be overcome. I am a terrorist. An individual might be convinced otherwise, but the world will not. I have no hope of leading this world as a war hero. But I do have hope to change the world as a villain. And unless my role is convincing... unless everyone believes me to be as unstable, dangerous, and crazy as I am portrayed... then even my nuclear options are nothing."
Rolento stands then, spreading his arms to those present. "So behold. Behold, what happens when a discarded rat is forced against the wall. When this is his only option to fight back. Southtown shall become a sacrifice, to prove I am willing and able to wipe out even cities. If I had any other choice... I would take it!!"
"And if this world is truly ending... then I consider it a mercy for the majority. The starving, the oppressed, the pained. You three, who have known only the lap of civilized living, will never understand. You could... every resource possible is available to look upon what goes on, in the Middle East, in Africa... and you choose not to. How dare you question me, when you would rather practice your martial arts upon petty villains, than feed the starving, then free people from rapist warlords, then to stop despots who rule with five year old boys clutching AK-47s. THOSE are the wrongs I shall right. And if that means the death of this city..."
"Then so be it. Perhaps you will understand a fraction of the true world's agony when you lose your petty material possessions to the whims of forces you can do nothing to stop or control...!!"

The vilification of the American soldiers who came home from the Vietnamese is nothing to disregard or laugh at - that Howard's own dad did not serve in the armed forces due to being disabled may well have robbed him of the ability to appreciate the horror that Rolento describes about the evils of world governments of a time where they chose to use people as tools of destruction and evil, and disavowed them to save face.
More intimately, the seeming ignorance of many established martial artists from single-handedly going over to suffering places in the world and fixing things. Even during the Asian land war, when Rust defeated occupation forces in North Korea... regardless of his intents that required expedience to get somewhere, he fought to stop Vega's forces rather than let them take root and elicit change in the improverished nation. (To say nothing about the "Hero of Nepal" title, and the human rights violations stemmed by continued adherence to certain beliefs regarding women over there... of course, would Vega have truly done any better?)
Not to mention how frustrated he felt when he wasn't able to spend enough time helping those who might have been willing to fight but lacked the talent or spark, to be told in almost no uncertain other terms by a young girl that there wasn't much he could do for them.
Even as the things Rolento says sink into Howard Rust, he is being addressed, and his face is tense as Rolento maneuvers through his thoughts on the matter - how Rolento is absolutely certain of the result. History has really only had one (well, two, as of the land wars in Asia) incident of how much a nuclear strike changed things once they hit. Who could say otherwise to tell that Rolento's plans would not have the intended effect? Who would really, truly and honestly, know for sure?
"That's... that's what you really want, isn't it," Howard meekly murmurs as he coughs again, waving a hand along to further coax away the swirling dust that is disturbed just by everyone here being present, the quiet tone of voice hiding an underlying panic - an underlying panic that sinks gradually, though it is hard to say if anything is rising to take its place other than the numbness of apathy or surrender towards the seemingly inevitable.
He exhales loudly once he has an oxygen intake with an acceptable ratio of air versus particle matter, looking off to the side to where Brett stands in relation to him, over to Hinata very close by and behind.

"You, you want people to care 'bout that than... than they do," Howard speaks up a bit more, "y'know, I... I kinda wish people did, too," that he were truly able to just walk out and fix everything with his own two hands, when he can barely seem to ever keep anything together for long in a world that seems just as ready to break what he fixes for them as readily as call him to do it. The talk about what people would rather do than this appears to strike a chord.
He puts his left hand to his chin as he faces away, staring off into more or less nothing, "it, it really does seem like, sometimes, people, ah... people... really only care if... if you see the name, like... Vega, or," he goes down the list, "uh, he's... he's pro'ly the most public one," he lets his voice trail off. It's rare to see anyone pay visit to a more improverished country outside of immediate pressing business like, say, a Saturday Night Fight. He even - admittedly - ended up dragging his feet over when Vega reappeared to cause problems in sieging Metro City itself, and that... isn't exactly what one would consider improverished in comparison to what Rolento has seen.
Howard casts another glance elsewhere, but it's not clear to who or what - it seems a bit downward, but he turns to face Rolento again at last after a pause.
"You don't... you don't even need to, to go this far, if... if you want people to, to rise up against... against that." Does he actually have confidence in what he's saying, or is he stalling for time by just fishing for words to sidestep Rolento's retort? Clearing his throat once more, he shakes his head slightly and speaks up again, keeping eyes squarely on the man of war before the lot of them, deciding not to trivialize what he says as 'that,' as though it were a foreign concept to never be dwelt upon by the overly fortunate.
"Against... against regimes that, that enlist children to fight, or... or force people to put bombs 'round themselves... or traffic women, destroy... entire families of, of people who dare speak out against 'em," the governments that allow this sort of evil to happen as a matter of their continued business - if that is Rolento's enemy...!
"This, this world... really... kinda is obsessed with, uh... celebrity," that's putting it lightly, "look, you, you fire off that nuke at... at Southtown, or, or anywhere with people, that target's... that one's gonna go right on your back. Y-Yeah, that... that'd let you be a villain, that'd... that'd get people on you," among other things he fears that he's sure might happen but it's only a guess, but even as his voice shakes from the continued war of ash and dust against his lungs, he holds his posture and resolve about as well as he can communicate through them.
"Is there... is there no other way to, to... put that, that target on their back? To pull... to pull people with the power on 'em? Without... without everyone, caught in the center... havin' to wonder what city has to get blown up next to... to make a point?"

Hinata listens. She really listens as words go flying about around her. She's started pacing a bit, behind Rust, knocking a bit of rubble with her shoes as she does her absolute best to consider the situation. She even tries to give consideration to Rolento's point of view; he has, at some core, good motivations, but his arguments...

"None of this makes any sense if your goal is to try to improve impoverished countries. If nobody cares about those countries, then you could simply go in and fix the problems there yourself already. If you make yourself the villain, then anything you try to do to fix those problems is just complicated by larger powers trying to catch you."

She looks up at Rolento, brow knit in a frown. "If you go into countries that nobody cares about, then won't those larger powers chase after you and in the process just repeat what happened in countries like Vietnam? Do you even know what war you're actually fighting?"

She takes another step forward, knocking aside half a brick with her oversized sneakers. "So, you want to blow up a city to punish people for not living like those less fortunate? That doesn't help those people; it means more money and attention will be pulled away from those already suffering to help those who are hurt and in the public eye. People pay attention to the places where there's a big disaster. People want to hunt down the big villain, and in the process they don't care about the people they already can't see, right?"

She brings her arms up with frustrated emphasis. "I'm just a high school student who you says doesn't care about these people or want to help them, and I'm already able to point out all the ways your plan just makes things worse! The world's obsessed with celebrity more than the little people? Then why don't you kill some celebrity instead?"

She steps forward again, looking Rolento in the eye, "Want to make people hate you? Kill a hero. I was on the news standing up to Honoka. People will know I'm out here trying to stop us... why don't you kill a high school girl who was standing up against evil? You can parade my body around in the streets. Killed a teenage girl trying to stand up for what's right... that's what people would see as a remorseless villain."

She points toward the city, "We stop your nuke, big heroes. You've got more, people know you're willing to use it. You kill the girl trying to stop you; you're a monsterous villain like you want."

She crosses her arms over her chest, "Your plan's still stupid and won't help you, but at least this way the attention is on you, not divided with a missing city and millions of refugees."

The Neuer family isn't a stranger to war. One of Brett's uncles (actually a granduncle, but calling him 'Uncle' is easier) was a vet in Vietnam, and a cousin who had been in the Middle East before. The uncle was one who he frequently had to subdue after a few too many drunken rages, and not many in his family really held it against him knowing what happened, of course. But Brett himself doesn't know the horrors of war, this being as close to it as he's hopefully ever going to get.

So Brett Neuer doesn't have the personal experience or insight to butt back against him. But like Rust and like Hinata, he comes to a certain conclusion. "I'm not going to act like I'm worldly or anything. Traveling like this shows me how much I don't know, living between home and Canada. But from what I'm hearing, what you're saying, it's still going to be all about you, whether you like it or not." He gestures to Rust and Hinata. "Like they said, something like this? It just means you become the focus, and as much of a distraction to actually making changes, the good changes, as whatever else government does, except now they have a scapegoat. All this does is make you a boogeyman to fight, rather than making anyone rethink what they know about the world, except make people terrified. And scared people are just going to ask for what makes htem feel safer even if it's bad or even worse in the long."

He rubs his head, as if trying to talk this much just frustrates him. "And pete's sake...we're fighters. We fight, we punch people, we get punched, for...whatever reason. We have pet causes, but you think we can fix everything? There's a reason why we have things like Red Cross and all that. A person can do only so much, especially if they know only so much. MOney is money, but what do you do if you don't have anyone that knows how to treat a disease, or make someplace farmable? That's...the reason we got groups like that. And you act like we're part of an army ourselves trying to say we should be fighting warlords or something. You're the one with the tanks, the weapons, wanting to fight the world...why aren't you fighting those despots, since you know what has to be done?"

He then goes eyes wide at Hinata's offer, jumping up to his feet and shaking his hands. "W-what are you doing?!"

"Do I want to destroy a civilian hub? Negative!" Rolento growls towards Rust. "I already stated that I would have done an alternative if presented." He simply broods there, powerful engine idling before the group. "I know of multiple world threats. They are what most governments would become if they had no people to rule. Sheer military states, with tyrants at the head. How many independents are there of any true worth? One...! Ikari. Heidern is the only unaffiliated faction, and even he cannot fight on par with the true monsters in the world. Even Interpol must dance to the strings of politics, ultimately. And like me... he is a former soldier. Only he became a war hero, while I became a war criminal. Hrmph. Laughable."
When Hinata interjects, there's a sort of dull exasperation that seems less directed at her than perhaps the crisis at hand. "It is not so easy. I will be targeted, no matter where I go or what I do, unless I am feared. I must instill that fear, so that even the black operatives will not hound me. Only then can I truly form a base, and be able to instigate change. After a decade on the run, I have done almost nothing!! This is my chance... to gain the breathing room required!!"
"Indeed. It is as the boogieman that I can do the greatest good. Make sense of that or not. I cannot change my global image, as I have stated. Only change minds who can help my goals, one by one. I will not deny that charity is an asset, but it is clearly not enough. The only way to clean up the third world is to be judge, jury and executioner. For the same restraints that keep a country from nuking me are the same that keep them from destroying leaders who truly deserve it, without long, devastating political repercussions that can last countless years. I can do such efficiently, with no fear of politics. Perhaps my enemies will stand back at that, when I solve many problems they cannot deal with directly."
As for Hinata, he seems in no rush to respond. "So you would be a martyr for this city, to save it? Does it really hold such value that you would give your life? Nonsense." It doesn't seem he has any interest in killing her, although now his mind is thoughtful.
"Very well. I will propose one alternative. The nuke must detonate. However, the nuke does not need to detonate within Southtown." Sweeping into his pocket, Rolento comes out with a detailed map of Japan, before slamming it down and scribbling. "Here." He's marked a spot some distance away. "This is the other place it could detonate. Wind and fallout would not reach Southtown as a result. A happy ending will not suffice here. No. People must realize how close they came to obliteration. If the only reason they survive, barely, is due to my mercy, then that means were I to truly wish a city destroyed, I would manage it easily. The net effect is the same."
He tosses the map down to thump upon the ground, silent for long moments. "However. This orchestration must seem real. That means the bomb must be found and then carted out at the last possible moment. If this is not a near miss, then I am not interested. ...So I will provide you with the bomb's location, thirty minutes before it will detonate. Find it, dig it up, load it... and you might reach the destination in time, via truck. A helicopter would suffice better, but I doubt any of you know how to pilot one, and I refuse to let in a third party who will not play the game properly."
Rolento slides out a radio, one obscenely bulky. "However, this is a one way trip. It is your responsibility in the following hours to decide who will transport the bomb. If none of you desire to be a hero, then simply abdicate the city, and let it fall. The choice is yours. Southtown is destroyed, or barely survives due to the heroic efforts of another, an event that would be considered a miracle. Both will achieve my goals."
He then taps the hood of the Scorpion II, and the vehicle begins to thrum backwards. The radio is hurled towards Rust. "Think hard. Personally, I would let the city fall. It is not worth a life that could do further good in this world. But that decision will not be mine to make."

Howard is so taken off-guard by Hinata's offer to sacrifice herself (who wouldn't? Why does this sentence even need to be written, when a tiny young girl is offering to die?) that by the time Rolento drops an alternative to see the nuclear bomb detonated significantly more safely, it's somewhat comical how the hurled radio bounces off his chest to be fumbled between his hands until he catches them between them, holding the thing in front of him with his arms slightly raised as though anticipating it to magically slide out from between his hands if he's not careful - this is the only real humor one might find, unless the bleak idea of a tiny girl giving her life to stop a nuke is inherently humorous to someone.
Wordlessly, he says nothing to Rolento - he's heard everything. The terms, how it will go down if they are to save the city from destruction... and with it, his livelihood, his home of seven years that had seen him go through so much from a dumpy, over-the-hill man to... well, still a dumpy, over-the-hill man who has somehow survived and triumphed against evil and adversity with might to match, but there is no hiding the cover that contains the pages of his book.
He looks more dumpy than ever with the sullen reminder of what this means if things do work out - whoever transports the bomb away will... no longer be. To not do this, either Southtown falls... or Rolento could come back with another nuke if things fall completely apart and some late disarmament or other circumstance. The bomb needs to go off, some way, some how, to perhaps put this level of escalation the three - and so many others - may fear at bay.
For a man who has shown to be capable of shrugging off more than a few well-trained soldiers and modern weaponry, he doesn't need to look Brett or Hinata in the eyes for them to know what he's thinking, as his left hand tenses into a balled-up fist... and the rest of him locks up where he stands, almost like a statue.
It pains his neck to even crane it to finally look towards Brett, his joints all loudly popping just so his shoulders can droop. He raises his right hand to look at the bulky radio again, considering what will happen in hours to come. They have hours, but once the call comes in, someone is likely to have to make a choice... who would truly and willingly give themselves to save Southtown from this nuclear threat?
He closes his eyes, putting thought into how things led up to where they are now - especially, his overall part in what would become where they're standing right now, and says nothing else.

As Rolento makes his announcement and departs, Hinata doesn't even seem to care to entertain his talks of purpose and overall goal. He can take whatever noble purpose he claims to have and leave with it. She's made her decision of what to think of the man and his personal war, and now that the negotiations have reached an end, she has the liberty to ignore trying to view the world from his point of view for the rest of her life... however long it is.

Once the tank has made its way far enough out of sight, she turns to look to Rust, now holding the walkie talkie in his hands, waiting for a brief while as if to give him an opportunity to think. He's proven that, if not especially well-spoken, he at least cares a great deal. Enough to be out here looking for Rolento. Enough to fight as hard as she and Brett had to convince Rolento to change his plans. He was the adult here, and it seemed fair to give him the opportunity to talk first...

...And when that wasn't forthcoming, she finally broke the awkward silence. "...We're probably going to need a lot of tools and a truck if we're going to get the bomb out of here. We're also going to need to make certain that everyone gets out of town... just in case Rolento is still lying."

With a frown on her face, she toughtfully rubs her chin. "It would help if he at least told us in general where it would be, so we could get there quicker. Do you think we could get some other radios and put them on the same frequency? That way we could spread out in the city and make certain we're near where the bomb is."

Apparently that's all it takes for Hinata to have made a decision. An opportunity has been opened up to save the city, and she wouldn't dream of letting it slip.

Stumbling out of the way as the tank lumbers backward and starts to move away, Brett finds himself lost, the ultimatum that Rolento leaves, after all they've tried to do to convince him, simply leaves him...numb. "...he can't be serious." He's still not sure what to think of it...it's a thing to save the city, but it means someone has to die to transport the nuke somewhere safe? Sure, Southtown will remain, but it's still a sacrifice that shouldn't have to be made.

And yet...that's where things are now. And looking between Hinata and Rust, he finds himself struggling to find something to say, mouth opening, then closing again, as the words fail him. Falling back down, his hand comes to his head again. "Are we really going to have to do this? Choose someone to drive the bomb out? That's....crazy." He looks up, looking at each of them, seeing the resolution to actually sacrifice themselves. And him...he's so unsure.

"He's not lying." Howard speaks up, free of the wheezing of lungs ravaged by everything ever, eyes still closed. He doesn't turn to face Hinata in the least as he says this. "He's... he's not that type, with... with things like this," and back to the stutters and mumbling. Maybe he was trying to shout those first words, but didn't quite have it in him in the wake of all this.
"There's... right now there's, there's nothing we can do 'bout... the sub, or the other nukes, and, well, if... if this one doesn't go off," he doesn't really need to go into further detail, or he's just feeding into that usual habit of not really finishing his sentences before trailing off into complete and utter unintelligibility.
The rest of his body fights to move, every joint resisting, every point of articulation wanting to stay in place with the weight of what's being asked.
"He's... he's entirely serious, never been... anything but," Howard says to Brett without looking him in the eye as he starts to walk aimlessly in a direction, shuffling bricks away from his feet as he encounters them, "and... someone, someone needs to play ball, no... no tricks, no... traps 'bout it."
He doesn't know any of them well, except they're both clearly far younger than himself, and... looking at it, for everything that led up to this point, for where he was present, by the circumstances he ended up being present for them...
Howard just shakes his head. The moment he says it is probably the moment they will all unanimously agree is a proper scapegoat, a proper, fitting way for it all to be dealt with, if there is no one else who can do this knowing full well that death in a terrible, horrible flash of light is inevitable.
"If... if I even tried to stop him, back at... back at Metro," he speaks up, not looking at either of them but into the sky, "...I, I probably wouldn't have, uh... gotten the, the bombs off, or... or he might've come back and... and take it all anyway, but... after, after a friend got... beaten, all but blown up, I stood down. Let him take... take the money."
"He, he turns around, and," even with the declaration that the murders of the previous Japanese government were Honoka's doing, the fact he now has access to a submarine and a nuclear arsenal, it's hard to think of himself as being anything other than culpable for the events of Ezo.
"'s... pro'lly how that, that Ezo thing came to be."

It's a dour situation, and if there's one thing that Hinata is typically known for, it's being able to cheer people up. To get in there and revive a downed spirit. Under the circumstances, however, there isn't much of a silver lining to point out. There's no magical cure to the situation that being optimistic can fix... but that doesn't mean she just lets it lay as low as it can.

"How he got the nukes... how Ezo started... none of that's really the point right now." Her voice is surprisingly calm, as if she's got everything sorted out and she doesn't need to worry about all the little details anymore. One of the benefits of youth, most likely.

She walks up to Rust and claps a hand on his back with enough energy that it probably stings a bit. "The point is, we've got our chance now to save Southtown. If the city was destroyed... well, all the money and effort that goes into handling the crisis, you can bet that a lot of people would die in all that mess, even if they weren't in the city. Now we've got the opportunity to prevent it... mostly.'

She reaches into her bag and pulls out her cellphone, checking the time. "We've got a few hours to get ready... like I said, we need to find some tools and some sort of truck if we're going to get it out of here. They should already be evacuating the city, so at least that's covered, right?"

Hinata turns and gets thoughtful again, resting her chin on her fingers. "How heavy do you think a bomb is? It's going to take a lot of work to load it onto a truck..."

Feeling the knot in the pit of his stomach just grow tighter, Brett finds himself unsure if his brain is just shutting down or being overloaded with what they need to do, need to consider. "This is insane..." he mutters again, no matter how useless repeating that might be. Unlike the terrifyingly calm Hinata and the resigned Rust, the Minnesotan simply finds himself unable to process that this is actually happening. "I can't....this is...."

He looks back up to the two, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I....a bomb big enough to wreck an entire city this big has to be at least several hundred pounds, if not several thousand...just...where would we get something to move all that?" he asks, both hands atop his head. "And that's even...." He looks back across the empty streets, swallowing again. "...are we sure we'll even get it out in time if we get it loaded up?"

Howard throws his right hand up - his shoulder lifting with it - with a ferocity that far extends beyond Hinata's ability to cheer, to encourage. If there were a brick in the air now - anything solid - it would probably be turned to dust under just how quick his arm thrusts into the air. Whatever feelings run deep in him are clear to be seen, this one physical gesture perhaps a far greater communicator than anything that might come out of his mouth.
"Someone has to!" Howard shouts, his words and voice strained. "H-He's pretty sure we can do it, I, I don't have any reason to think, to think... I, I can't fucking think!"
Throwing his arm down, his toolbelt jostles violently as he leans forward, shoulders slumped. He has hours to come to terms with the reality of the situation and what absolutely must be done in order to save the city. It violently shakes further with just how fast he brings his head to that open palm. A few small screws and a set of pliers fall out, noisily clattering against the asphalt.
A single, shiny, silver chain bracelet that bears the sign of the short-lived Republic of Ezo, which gleams brightly against the dreary landscape caked and smothered in volcanic ash, dust, fragments of brick, and a near-emergent singularity of mid-life crisis.

Without any hesitation, Hinata motions back toward the center of Southtown. "There's tons of stuff back in the city. People can't have bothered trying to take out all of the construction equipment. ...And if Rolento is expecting us to be able to dig it up and move it in a relatively short amount of time, that means its probably in a construction site."

She points over to Rust's car, not exactly in the best of shape. "Is that still working? Could we drive back into town and start looking for the stuff we'll need? Once we're ready, we can worry about other stuff, but we can't let ourselves be all unprepared."

Without waiting for a response, Hinata is already moving to the vehicle that came mere centimeters from hitting her.

It's hard for Brett to feel anything at this point, the sheer weight of what's going on turning him numb. Or perhaps he was already numb after the entire confrontation with Rolento, who knows. It's still just so...it's still something he simply can't grasp. He doesn't have the stake either of them have in this city either, he was just trying to do the right thing, and yet...

Swallowing another lump in his throat, he pushes himself back up to his feet, lumbering after HInata as he tries his best to comprehend the magnitude of what they have to do. "I...might be able to help with some of it...if it's anything like the mining stuff my grandpa showed me..." He says, panic fading from his face into something simply....blank.

Howard turns his head at the sound of his things dropping as Hinata and Kazuki speculate over what they can possibly do, step by step.
"I, I don't know, I, I really hit the brakes hard," he stammers in a panic thinking about the new issue of TRANSPORT. God damn, he curses to himself under his breath, now they might not have a truck available and it might take them a long time to find a usable construction vehicle /on foot/ and he's had no sleep the entire time and, and, and...
As he goes to pick up the pliers he dropped, his knee cracking loudly as he bends, his thumb goes over the chain as he picks it up. The symbol of Ezo. He holds it up as though this tiny trinket of a government formed and immediately destroyed through its new head of state were worth anything, as though it had magical powers of insight or contemplation...
Howard stares at it blankly for a bit, as it swings a bit in a breeze that passes through the three of them...
"Wait." He mumbles.
"Wait!" He speaks up, coughing once. "Wait. 'scuse me, wait."
Howard looks to the others as he holds up the chain a little more. "L-Look... the, the late Empress, I, I gotta say, for... for getting in as she did, the... the barricades that, that I moved past, they... they were still, ah, pretty... organized, I mean, she... she seemed like she, she had... a lot under... under wraps..."
Everything has quickly fell apart in the panic, but given how well things seemed to be goign with how quickly they appeared to be set up, at least to the eyes of the general public (such as himself), he takes in another breath as he tries to gather himself to make sure this is a coherent thought and not some desperate bid for... oh, of course it's a desperate bid.
"The... the late Empress, she, she gave this to me as, uh, something of... of a free pass for... for whatever I, I needed for-- look, that's, that's not important," he shakes his head, waving the hand with the radio in it.
"Y-You don't think... they... they might have, uh... some... some people that... that might listen 'n... play ball, do you," why is he asking a small girl and some guy who came out of nowhere that he'll remember he needs to talk to before/if one/all of them blow up in a mushroom cloud of agony and radiation, "we, we might have... have a helicopter after all... if, ah, if..."

Hinata's reached the car and is looking into the door that's been open this entire time as Rust starts to get his brain moving again. By the time he's had his revelation, she's already sitting down on the seat, and giving a few experimental pumps of the brake pedal. Would the brakes feel any different if they were broken if the car wasn't moving?

She really doesn't have a whole lot of opportunity to explore that thought, as Rust starts to rather quickly (too quickly for his mouth to keep up) get into a new plan. A whole lot about Honoka and Ezo that takes quite awhile to get anywhere.

And then it gets somewhere. Hinata frowns a bit. The Republic of Ezo had been a mess, but after Honoka's assassination, she'd gotten the feeling that they were all being used to some degree. She'd also figured that Honoka really did have good intentions, but a terrible sense of judgement.

"...Well, how do we get in touch with them?" Hinata finally asks. "If they can help, and aren't going to do anything that would make Rolento think we're breaking the deal..." She reaches into her bag again and pulls her cell phone out. It's Taiyo blue and has some sort of dog mascot with a chef hat dangling as a charm. "You can use my phone if you've got their number."

Howard takes the cellphone with a renewed vigor and purpose (or maybe he still is shaky and desperate) as his posture grows less uncertain, less dejected, and more... well, cautiously optimistic. His breathing evens out, problematic as his lungs might have been the last couple of days (he just can't seem to find anywhere he can breathe clean, fresh air and the vortex's atmosphere simply crushes him if he's there for too long), closing his eyes and moving his hands around in an odd circling gesture.
Hinata might recognize this as the traditional arm patterns a Kyokugen fighter uses to gather in great amounts of energy to draw in the strength to throw the mighty Haoh Sho Ko Ken. For Howard Rust, it's a quick meditative gesture.
Radio clutched tightly against his chest, he holds Hinata's girly, overly decorated cellphone without a second thought for how ridiculous it looks. He nods once, vigorously, a crick in his neck for the sudden motion...
Then he hands it back to her.
"M-My thumb's tooo, uh, too big for that," which is true of almost all cellphones, really, their buttons are too small for him and his proportionally larger than average hands (not to mention he's wearing gloves).
"I-I'm gonna tell you the, the number, and... and then you hand it to me, they... they're gonna listen," he says, holding up the bangle, "'cause of... 'cause of this, there's... there's still some, some order there, they... they can still... organize, a bit, j-just enough for..."
Well, this is more optimism that they will listen to him, that they will follow absolutely everything he has to say, down to the letter - the bomb has to go off, it absolutely has to, at a specified location, and they will know where the bomb is within thirty minutes of detonation.
Rolento will still have a sub with his nukes. The world at large will quake in the wake of this other great temporal disaster - he still wants to fight mind, body, and soul for an 'after,' for a 'tomorrow' even after all the horrible circumstances and changes to the world everyone would have to live in...
But Southtown, as is the hope among not just this three, but everyone they call friends and family here, should still stand if all goes according to plan... as he relates the number to Hinata.

Log created on 17:34:01 10/02/2014 by Rolento, and last modified on 23:46:12 10/07/2014.