Starring:
Date: November 11, 2011
Summary:
In another plane of existence, a group of survivors much like (but not quite the same as) some kunoichi we all know stage a raid on a base controlled by an undead army.
"What If? Dead Rising - Warehouse Raid"
Dead King's Domain [Another World]
A long time ago in a galaxy far — *ERASE*
This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twi — *ERASE*
You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep — *ERASE ERASE ERASE*
Look, the point is, this story is taking place somewhere that's sort of like the world we're all familiar with, but not really. At some point, this world took a different turn, and things that look the same may not be the same. Your worst enemy might be your best friend here, or vice-versa. More importantly, circumstances around here are pretty grim. Most of the world is locked in an eternal winter by a being who calls himself the Dead King. His hordes of not-quite-living minions — many of them appearing alive enough by most standards, but a fair number also quite obviously monsters — control the land within the gradually-creeping circle of Dead Winter. Without enough sunlight to support civilization, most of the living population has simply died off. Even in such a desperately hostile environment, though, life as a whole is a hard thing to kill off entirely.
"Zombehs, dang zombehs aaaryware, zombehs on my lawn, zombehs in da shewls, zombehs on mah leg. OH GAWD DAI ZOMBEH! DAI!"
Raili's eyes snap open, the last memory of Papa Yojimbo. A sad memory, zombie ate his leg off clean before he could finish it off. They were out of medical supplies, he bled out in front of her and left the girl to live on her own in the age of the Dead Winter. It wasn't entirely difficult for a girl like herself, her sanity kept intact by her ability to create, her mind being focused on building a great fortress of a home while also searching for a way to stop the chaos.
Contact with other humans had become scarce as time continued on, she had cats mostly. Just a lot of cats to keep her company outside of when she was building things, it kept her talking and kept her going, though she was at wits end after reliving that memory for the 100th time. The goggle touting scientist needed a proper way to vent as the stress of being alone and failing to find a resolution was beginning to weigh on her. Something had to be done.
The almighty fortress that she worked so hard on would be left behind as she goes out monster hunting for a bit. "AY Y'ALL CAN'T KEEP HIDIN' FEREVER." Her eyes shift left and right behind those goggles, the device peeping as she tracks for movement. "I know yer out there, damn family eatin' zombies." Lab coat wings get pushed aside as she reaches for the… pistol?… handles at her waist, watching and waiting.
Suicidal? Maybe, but it just seemed right.
Bundled up with all manner of fur was a young girl, living out her days in the Dead Winter. She had weapons, all of which were made out of dead animals bones, some of which had been 'augmented; with some iron to make some cudgels and stuff. This isn't unsual for the one known as Amani. She came from conditions that were exactly like these, but she has to admit, that this place is much colder and not in the sense of Winter. This place was /dead/. It was uncomfortable, to say the laest.
But, she managed some kind of way. She honestly isn't certain with how she's managed to get by, but there's the rare few of animals that she's managed to fish out of places or hunt that weren't exactly dead. Though they were highly outnumbered by the rest of the dead things around here. She absolutely hated it, but at least all the killing kept her fit. Sigh.
One of those still clinging resolutely to life within the Dead King's domain is a woman named Maneshi Shemri. She is not so different from the Shemri we've heard other stories about. She is (or was) a ninja of Sunagakure, with a small black cat named Shiikaa, a husband named Fukanzen, and a daughter named Megumi. She has not seen her family for several years; Megumi fell into a coma, and Fukanzen took her to seek help from specialists in distant lands. An ironic stroke of luck, as they were not within the Dead Winter when it struck. Circumstances aside, the main thing that is different about this Shemri is that she is older. About ten years older, although the harsh conditions and horrors of the last few years have wizened her face to look older still.
So what is Shemri doing, that's it's important enough to keep her here instead of fleeing to the remaining sunlit lands? Making sure those lands stay sunlit, of course. >P And the only way to do that is to dispose of the Dead King once and for all. How that's possible, she doesn't yet know, but she does know of a few ways to slow down his progress. To accomplish this goal, she relies on any allies she can…which today includes an eccentric scientist and a young girl with strong survival skills.
Arriving at Raili's fortress, Shemri finds the place empty. "Ah. Aha. This is not good," she mutters. "We do not have much time to spare. Shiikaa, go and find the other one. We shall meet at the edge of the clearing." Shemri and her cat split up, running off into the woods (Did I mention we're in a forest? Big pine forest, evergreens. Gotta be able to survive in winter, after all). Shemri follows Raili's trail, calling out ahead of her. "Hoi, Raili-san! Did you not receive the message?! There are important things to be done tonight!" >.< Meanwhile, Shiikaa sniffs out Amani. Hey, remember me? ^o.o^ Kitty belonging to the lady who gave you that jerky supply? C'mon, it's time to repay the favor!
"COME ON OUT Y-"
Raili halts her yelling in that strange accent, "Huh?" This was new, some heat readings were coming in, she pauses completely and awaits their approach, surprised when Shemri calls out. "Message? What me-" A cat head would pop out of the ground below her feet, hacking a few times before coughing up a message that was nicely tucked away in a small box.
"Nyaaaaao. You've got mail."
The cat's head sinks back in and Raili snatches up the box, not seeming to care about the hair and bodily fluids covering it. "I… reckon this'll be yer message?" Raili's face screws up for a moment, "Excuse my accent, had one of those dreams about my uncle again. I always start doing that afterwards… so! What'd you have in mind. I was gonna light some monsters on fire but, they can never show up when you want them to."
Raili shrugs, adjusting her lab coat to fully cover her up once more so se can put her hands in the pockets, walking towards Shemri with a big grin showing. Seeing another person was great, it took away from that urge to go on a re-killing spree.
Amani was busy tending to a fire when Shiikaa came in. When she saw the cat, her immediate response was to bludgeon it, but then she realized who it belonged to. Besides, what animal would be so bold to walk into her camp and not expect death? Being reminded of the jerky supply was a bit unnerving, but heck, she took it as a gift. Having to repay any favors caused her to stick her tongue out in disagreement, but whatever.
"Alright, alright, give me a few moments so I can get my stuff together…" She first needed to get her food supply together, then medical, water, weapons, clothing, sleeping bag and all those other nice things. Once she was prepared, she snuffed out the fire by tossing snow on it and leaving her camp, following Shiikaa back to the source. "I guess since you came all this way…" She remarked and reached into a satchel to dig up some jerky. She split it in half and tossed a piece to Shiikaa in thanks.
Shemri sighs. "I shall explain once we have met with the other of our group. I assure you, though, you shall have more than your fill of monsters this night." e.e
Shemri leads Raili and Shiikaa leads Amani to the treeline of a clearing wherein is a compound of squat buildings. Workers walk to and fro between the buildings, looking for all the world like ordinary people going about ordinary business. Except, y'know, they're deathly pale and seem oblivious to the cold. "We have learned that an important package is being held here tonight," Shemri says. "It is something which could increase the spread of Dead Winter should it reach its destination. They do not believe a large guard is worth the effort to protect it, because they have few adversaries this deep in their territory and they do not think anyone knows of it. We are most fortunate in that they are wrong."
Shemri points out a warehouse a couple rows into the compound. "That is where it is being held. We must break in, find the package, and take it with us if we can, destroy it if not." Shemri looks at Raili. "You and I shall be decoys. We cannot defeat this entire base, but we should have little trouble dealing with what forces would arrive in about ten minutes." Shemri turns to Amani. "Your task is to slip in and find the package. It should not be greatly difficult, as it glows in the darkness. Shiikaa shall go with you. Once you have found the package, he will alert me, and we shall decide what to do from there." Shemri folds her arms. "Are we prepared?"
"Woo! Monster slayin!" Raili's arms sway around in the air as she does some sort of strange, dance? Well she was wobbling around like a flag or something, she'd eventually recover and follow the woman.
When they get to warehouse, the EGT Goggle's settings would shift to scout out the area, trying to get a feel for what the situation was as it was being explained. "Hrm…" Click, click, click. These monsters don't look all too tough at all, she wanted things dead, not so much a challenge. So a bit of target practice was right up her ally, assuming all they were doing was assaulting this place. "Suhweet…"
Raili would sometimes like to wonder how everyone was always so much informed than her, probably because she stays in her house and talks to cats, half of which were built by her anyway. They only knew as much as she did. So with the debrief given, she gives Shemri a stout nod. "So… then, a decoy again… you know. I only have one real limb left. If I lose another I might have to hurt you." Raili squints at Shemri, Raili's decoy roles never went to well.
"I've got a new gadget or two or… eighteen. I'm sure you'll like. So I'm betting on not losing my arm." Raili kneels next to Shemri and with a handseal she begins to click and whirr herself, EGT Limbs beginning to get to work. "Ready when you are." The goggles settings are shifted to normal mode as she prepares for the storm.
Once the group meets up and heads to the clearing, Amani looks over the compound with disgust. So, there were packages involved with this whole winter thing. She didn't know it was so easy to carry weather around. Fooled her. "I don't like this. Carrying weather around. It's madness!" She whispered harshly. She assumed it was weather. She doesn't exactly know what causes the Dead Winter. On that note, she doesn't even know how she was spared from the damages. "So, I get to retrieve the package. Perfect. I'm guessing I can't destroy it…" She remarked. "Oh, and I'm ready. Yeah." She pulled out another piece of jerky to tear into and chew. "Let's do this." <Insert Leeroy Jenkins he—nah, not really>.
Shemri nods. "Very well. Follow my lead." Shemri waits for the guard patrols to pass by the point she intends to enter by, then darts out across the snow. The group closes in on the compound, and Shemri flicks out an arm in signal. Shiikaa leaps forward and lashes at the air, creating scythes of wind which cut through the chain-link fence which surrounds the facility. Of course, the rattling from this action does not go unnoticed. "We're under attack! They're on the south side!" Shemri vaults up onto a nearby roof to draw the attention of the approaching guards. "Hoi, come if you dare, unwhole ones! I shall return you to where you belong!" >D Shemri jumps back down into the midst of the enemy and commences stabbing with two arms and four sash 'tails'. Plenty of other soldiers approach from the east for Raili to deal with.
Meanwhile, Shiikaa slips off in the shadows to head for the warehouse with Amani. The idea is to break into the warehouse while everybody is hopefully distracted with the other two. It seems to be working for the most part, but a few guards remain near the entrance of the warehouse. Should they try to take them down, or make a new door without alerting them? Hey, that's Amani's call, I'm just a cat. :P
Raili follows along, looking to Shiikaa as she starts attacking the air. Raili's eyebrow perks up, only noticing a moment before the wind connects with the fence on what Shiikaa did. Golf clap. Raili's cats need to learn that. ._.
"Ah yeeee, no sneaking!" She calls out when the guards are put on alert. This could be solved by just nuking the area, something she /really/ wanted to do but, there was merchandise in there and also some of the few remaining humans left. This leaves her to just stick to normal means of combat. Clapping her hands together, a bat appears in her right hand in a puff of smoke and with a one handed seal, wheels pop out of her boots. "Go tiiiime." Raili… was not all too graceful in her next few moments.
The girl just speeds through the zombies, zipping around and flailing the bat around, smacking their mortal enemies left and right, all the while calling out the number she took down and occasionally screaming out some random obscenity. She was having fun :D
Amani took off along with Shiikaa, slipping into the shadows she continued along, hoping that she doesn't draw attention. Admittedly, she's nervous, but her skills kick in easily enough midway through the task. She manages to keep along places that aren't well guarded, especially now that attention is being drawn away from the path she's taking. When she arrives at the warehouse, she hum in disappointment. Guess things can't be easy all the time.
"Well now, let's see here…" She remarked and tried to think of what she could do. Working with her sound abilities, she begins to combine her ability of sound mimicry with voice throwing to project a sound towards the other side of the warehouse of someone in movement. Hopefully, this will work out in her favor. She didn't want this to end in failure.
Shemri and Raili tear through the guards which attempt to swarm them. They're combat-trained, but not nearly shinobi-level. A scratch here and there is all they can manage to inflict on the kunoichi. But, just as Shemri promised, it isn't too long before the real monsters start showing up. Even a small base like this one has a few heavy-hitters to defend it, and these ones take the form of a squad of human-beast chimeras. Turns out it's a lot easier to make body parts from different creatures cooperate when they're not really alive. c.c A pair of eagles with human heads dive-bomb Shemri with shrill screeches. Don't ask how that works with human vocal cords, they just gotta do it. Meanwhile, Raili finds herself faced with a crab the size of a horse (again, don't ask) which sports a head on the underside of its carapace, peering out upside-down from the safety of its position.
Amani's trick seems to work. The guards, aware that they're protecting something of some importance, immediately go tense on hearing what sounds like somebody messing around inside the warehouse. They run inside, leaving the door wide open for Amani and Shiikaa to slip in. Not only that, but they go straight to check on the all-important package, leading our heroes to it. Shiikaa hides amongst the boxes in the warehouse. C'mon kid, we'll just wait for them to give up looking then come out and grab the goods. >3
You put a giant crab with a human head in front of Raili, well she's going to ask, "Why?" This is said as she points her bat at the crab, obviously confused. While she did ask in hopes of on answer, Raili did not expect the crab thing or, Shemri to answer her. "Eh, doesn't matter." Raili takes hold of the bat, disregarding the use of her technology it seems.
"Bring it on Crabsy!" Raili zooms forward on her skates and takes to the air, lunging towards the crab with the bat held high above her head and bringing it down at such a great force that it causes ripples to appear in the snowy ground about them. "Hah." The lab coat touting girl gives a confident grin of victory, only to notice that the grab hadn't even shifted and inch.
"Ah poop."
It was now time for some strategic observastion, it had to have some sort of weak point. So, she begins her search by hopping around the grab and wildly beating on it until it eventually gets too annoyed to let her continue on and just back hands her away with a massive crabhammer of a hand.
This sends Raili flying away, tumbling about like some sort of ragdoll. Swearing, she was glad she could shut off the pain responses in most parts of her body as she gets to her feet. "Stupid, freakin…" She gets up onto her feet, raising her bat high into the air with both hands, pointing to the heavens. "Jokes on you Crab Face" … this crab had a human face but, okay. "I know your weakness. It is obviously incendiary bombs." Confident as ever, she flips her grip on the bat and slams it into the ground, an apparent trigger to what happens next.
Explosives she had managed to slip into the ground through a mixture of scroll mastery and earth ninjutsu would start to erupt all about the crab. The random assaults with the bat not originally intended to do anything, she was just moving around to deply the explosives. The small area goes up in fiery explosions as the crab is engulfed in the almost… unecessary attack. Though, was that really the crab's weakness?
"Aww, come…gah!" Amani remarked in a frustrated manner. "How could…?" She began to talk about how stupid they were until she realized she had an opening to go inside. She calmed down and gathered herself, before running along and going inside of the warehouse. She'd continue to stick to the shadows, but it seems they've lead her right to the package. Sweet! For now, she lies in wait until they finish up looking over the warehouse. Despite wanting to fight, she tries to keep herself under control for the sake of this mission. It isn't about killing things today. It's about this package. It's about the package…
The guards continue to wander around for a bit more, but nothing comes of it. For every move they make, she's making more to try and keep herself out of view. Eventually, they give up and go outside to guard the place once more. Hehehehe. Coming out of the shadows, she goes to the package to look it over, then looks back to Shiikaa to give the signal that it's been secured and ready to go.
Shiikaa flicks his tail, and sends out some chakra emmissions to communicate with Shemri. Package secured, heading out now. >3 'Course, they'll have to deal with those guards somehow, but that shouldn't be so difficult coming from behind, and they can just run for it after busting through. Just need Amani to pry that crate open and —
"SKREEEEE!!!!"
Something small and furry and flashy springs out of the crate. Apparently it's an undead monkey with blades strapped to its limbs, and it wants to play stabby-stab with Amani's face! Shiikaa kicks himself mentally for not sniffing the crate before Amani opened it. ^>.<^; Those undead things can be awfully hard to scent casually, they don't do all those particle-distributing activities like sweating and breathing. :P
Outside, Shemri deals with the harpies after her by loosening her sashes and turning the four meter-length tails into two tails of greater length. As the eagles dive in for another pass, the tails shoot up to meet them, kunai-first. They're accustomed to dodging projectiles, but not guided knives with three-meter reach. As for the crab, incendiary bombs aren't particularly its weakness…but anything that gets underneath that shell and hits the human head hanging around down there is a decent tactic. Scorched by the fire and heaved by the blast, the crab rises into the air a short distance, then falls back down. All the way to the ground. Landing on its head rather than its legs. Yeah, don't think it'll be getting back up.
Shemri waves to Raili. "Hoi, they have found it! We only need to hold out a bit longer and — "
*BZZZZZZT.*
Shemri suddenly feels as though somebody stuck an angry hornet all the way down her ear. o.O; A similar sensation attempts to encroach on Raili's mind at the same time. A slimy, tentacled form creeps around the corner of a nearby building. This one barely has a human face, mostly it's just an octopus. An octopus with a huge, pulsating head that's almost visibly sending out waves of paralyzing chakra. Oh shoot, genjutsu — Shemri's big weak point. x.x The loathsome creature slowly drags itself toward Shemri, a poisonous beak hanging agape in anticipation.
Shielding her eyes from the explosion with her free hand, Raili slowly peeks through the cracks of her fingers and watches the crab fall from above. Landing on its head, which also seemed to be the only part of its body that was charred. The 'Genius' belatedly puts two and two together and grins, "Hah, the human head. Obviously, its why I put the explosives in the ground… such a simple obvious weakness!" >:3
Her arms would cross as she takes a triumphant stance, head bobbing up and down as she agrees with her self proclaimed greatness… and then, the buzzing began not seeming to hit her as hard as it did Shemri.
"Eh?"
Raili sticks a pinky in her ear and wiggles it around for a bit, the buzzing rather light. Where this was Shemri's biggest weakness, this was Raili's strongest point. Of course, hitting things with a bat and blowing them up was much more rewarding. This monster was trying to invade of steel fortress of a mind, protected by a combination of high amounts of Genjutsu training and well, a high dose of arrogant willpower.
The octopus would get a look for a split second before Raili quickly looks away, the crab was gross like most other monsters but this was… different, she'll let Shemri handle that. Shemri?
Raili's eyes dart between the beast and Shemri, watching it inch closer and closer, "Hey Shem!" Raili rolls the bat around in her hand as she starts to skate towards the octopus. "Stop goofing around!"
Raili puts her hand on Shemri's shoulder, dropping the bat to form a seal with the other hand, "Kai!" Hopefully breaking the Genjutsu Raili gives Shemri's shoulder a tight squeeze before putting the older woman between herself and the octopus. "Keeeel it." >_<
"AAAAAHHHH!!!" Amani screamed at the same time when the screeching blur assaulted her. She made quick work of snatching it off her face and slinging it on the ground before she pulled out one of her weapons and attempted to bludgeon it. Though, she was having little success. It was fast and had blades attached to its arms that it was actively trying to use to stab her feet while it was on the ground. This thing was making her dance and a great amount of shame was washing over her.
If she couldn't stop it with brute force, she was going to stop it with jutsu! So, she placed her hands together and sealed, only to thrust them back out to trap the monkey in a sound jutsu and paralyze it. She had every intent to kill it…or something. It's dead already right? Maybe…there's no good way to get out of this. Something that's dead can't be killed. She instead decided to make a break for the crate and snatch the package out. Time to go! "Let's get out of here!" She called to Shiikaa.
Shemri jerks slightly as Raili disrupts the invasive chakra in control of her system. "Many thanks," she sighs. Shemri eyes the still-approaching octopus chimera. "I agree," Shemri states, doing a few handseals. "Kill it with fire." *FWOOOOSH* Shemri spews a ball of flame at the monster, which flops and flails helplessly as it is consumed. Oh yeah, that's another little thing that's different about this Shemri, she's learned to do some fire ninjutsu. Having lived longer probably has something to do with that.
The evil little monkey is having the time of its (un-)life, stabbing indiscriminately at whatever part of Amani happens to be closest. >D Unfortunately for him, this leaves her hands largely unhindered to weave signs. The monkey suddenly finds himself blasted with sound and unable to move. o.O; Shiikaa is reluctant to miss the chance to finish the vile thing off, but he agrees with Amani — they were supposed to be heading out of here fifteen seconds ago. :P Shiikaa bounds ahead of Amani, cutting off to the side and circling around to get a tangent on the warehouse entrance. Sure enough, the guards heard the commotion and are coming back in. "Halt! Who goes — " A sudden downward rush of wind knocks the guards down and holds them to the floor, providing an easy exit for Amani and Shiikaa.
Shemri eyes the grounds of the base, which are starting to swarm with enemies. "We cannot wait much longer," she mutters. "What has happened to — ah! Aha! There they are!" Shemri waves as Amani and Shiikaa rejoin the group. "Well done! Hurry now, we must be gone from this place!" Shemri drops a timed explosive tag to slow down pursuit a bit, then dashes out toward the forest.
Raili's eyes light up in the flame, as the octopus burns Raili was beginning to feel as if she were forgetting something. Right on cue, the gust of wind from Shiikaa's assault come flowing out of a few of the warehouse openings. "Ah, right… They better hurry up."
Raili starts forming a series of handseals before clapping her hands together once more. "This should at least clear a way for us." Just then, smoke billows out of her back, the labcoat tearing away as a large missile launching back attachment appears.
"Wooooohoooo!" A barrage of missiles go flying from her, streams of smoke being left everywhere before organizing into a singular path. The explosions aiming to make a gateway for the horde in front of them while Shemri's explosives will hopefully stop whatever's trailing them for a bit.
"Whoo!" Amani called out as the guards were taken care of. This makes things tons more—Oh wait, no, there's still the compound to actually get through. Aww, darn. She waves her hand to signal to Shemri and Raili, showing that she's okay as well as Shiikaa. Considering how quickly they're barreling through, they're probably ready to get out of here. "I've got the package and I got attacked by a mangy monkey with blades on its arms! Next time, /you're/ getting the package!" She told Shemri. That was going to leave permanent scars on her mind seeing as it already tried to leave those all over her face.
As they escape, she looks back to see the damage that's being done. An explosive tag and tons of missles. She has to admit, that's pretty cool. She hopes that monkey died in all that.
EXPLOSIONS YAY! The small team leaves smouldering wreckage behind them as they flee into the night. Later, Shemri transfers the glowy package to Raili's care. "Please, learn what you may about this. Perhaps it may be of use against the Dead King." Shemri smiles at Amani and presents her with another package of jerky. "Many thanks. I hope that my daughter shall someday be as strong as you." Y'know, assuming she's cured of that coma, and they all live that long. -.- "Farewell." Shemri and Shiikaa head off to a safe place deep in the forest to rest. Tomorrow's another winter-surviving, undead-thrashing day.
