Starring:
Jon, Maia, Takeda, Reza, Masahiro
Date: April 22nd, 2010
Summary:
The invasion begins! A strategic strike by Kumogakure ninja to establish a beachhead in the Land of Waves against the forces of Kirigakure.
"Land of Waves Beachhead"
Land of Waves. North Shore.
It's cold out on the ocean at night. Good thing it's not still winter. A small force of Kumogakure ninja paddle quietly toward shore on the northern side of the Land of Waves. Their mission: establish a foothold through which other forces can make landing, and prevent Kirigakure from discovering this move for as long as possible.
Fortunately, getting ashore undetected shouldn't be too much of a problem. There's way too much shoreline for the Kiri nin to keep a close watch on all of it. But, if they want to remain undetected for any useful length of time, they'll need to do something about the patrols. Seems Kiri has set up outposts along the shore from which ninja go out on regular sweeps of the coast. Any suspicious activity is noted and reported, and if patrollers go missing, the outpost they were supposed to arrive at will know something's up. So, in order to maximize the time before an alarm reaches Kiri command, the Kumo invaders need to seize one of these outposts. That way, nobody in the outposts on either side will suspect anything for nearly two full patrols.
Of course, taking the outpost isn't going to be a cakewalk. It's fulla ninja, after all! But if the invaders can make good use of the element of surprise, it should be feasible. And so, the plan is to attack from two sides…
It's a good thing Maia got back to Kumo when she did. With one of her impromptu team down, she was grabbed for this little mission. She lays in wait on the ship, scrunching up her nose as she takes a deep breath and purses her lips for a few moments. As they head closer, she closer her eyes and takes in a deep breath before opening her out, mouthing out a subvocal wave of sound directed towards the outpost. It was a means of seeing just how many people were there, and she needed to fucs on the sonic input she was going to receive, hence her eyes were closed.
She formed the seal as she waits for the signal to ping back.
A different sorta mission for Takeda. Its no surprise he has been on more than a few, the rather reclusive shinobi, keeps his own counsel, as he strives to become one of the most dangerous to walk the paths of Kumogakure.. Still that is a ways off.. so the masked genin of Kumo, lays with others, who are prepared to go to war, and tries to peek from a pushup position.
Sticking low in the boat Reza would be wrapping a special seal onto various ninja tools. "Hmm…can't use my specialty…too damaging, and too bright. Lightning…still easily seen.." Reza said to himself. "Water techniques it is." As they approached their destination he'd begin placing his explosives into various pockets and pouches in preparation. Reza would draw up his hood and mask as they drew closer before taking the time to stretch his fingers.
Leading the group, legendary swordsman Saito Masahiro steps onto a secluded area of the beach which scouts reported as a possible blind spot. As soon as the old Saito exits the boat, he is moving towards the outpost while crouching low to the ground. The blade of his sword is partially drawn, a three inch gap of steel which would allow a quick-draw swing. "Move low, move quietly. Silent kills." His voice is but a whisper, and his foot-steps remain totally silent. With a quick glance to the rest of the party, he points to Maia and quirks his head in a, 'come with me' fashion. With two fingers he motions towards Reza and Takeda to take the other side.
Well, all's quiet for the moment. The outpost appears to be made of wood, with lots of sand packed around the base to provide stability. A lone guard stands on top of the battlements, slowly scanning the area. Down below, firelight glows from between the cracks in the walls. Evidently the little fort wasn't built for great comfort or durability, but what can you say? They had to make a bunch of them in a hurry. Openings on either side of the outpost yawn invitingly to the invaders…
'Seeing' things as a bat is weird at times. Still, she scrunches up her nose as the senior most member of the group speaks up. It's then that her brain has finally finished processing the information before she whispers softly. "There's about eight people at this fort. That's what I could tell anyway." she whispers softly. Still, they have to remain silent and stealthy. This does not bode well for the young Yamayuki. Her skills are based on sound after all. Looks like she'll have to keep her voice in the range that people can't hear. Poor dogs and cats for miles around will hate her so much though.
Still, Maia nods at the order as she crouches low, swallowing a bit nervously. She still didn't have much confidence in her own abilities, and so stayng with the swordsman made her feel a bit better about the whole thing. "Good luck." she whispers towards the others before she splits off from the rest of the group with Masahiro.
Moving as ordered.. young Takeda, body-flickers over, like a moving shadow, the young genin is neither heard or seen.. Its good, and stays to the immediate right of Reza.. A glance around, as he scans the surrounding area, making sure to remain in the shadows..
Reza would stay low and flicker into a dark position. Spotting the lone guard he'd quickly scan the area near him before forming a couple of seals before extending his hand forward and launching a small glinting needle of dim light towards the neck of the guard with enough force to strike through his jugular and angled to come through the vocal cords. Drawing his kunai he'd prepare for any chance of him missing this initial strike.
"Eight?" That is all that is whispered as Masahiro's sword is fully drawn from it's sheath with a faint *shink*. For such an old man, he moves gracefully across the sand, no energy wasted as he closes the distance between him and outpost.
With a keen eye, Masahiro notices the needle strike it's mark. Not the type to wait to see if the look-out were downed, the shadow of a man leaps into the air with his large shinobi-gatana aimed to remove the enemies neck. It's an impressive attack to say the least, the speed and power which he executes his technique is meticulous.
On the inside, a group of Kiri ninseven of them, which adding the guy up top makes the eight Maia detectedsit around a fire, munching rations, talking casually, and a few of them playing a card game. Yup, looks like they're not particularly on-guard. That is, until Reza takes a shot at the guy up top. It strikes home all right, but it doesn't /quite/ disable his voice. He gurgles hoarsely as he drops to his knees, spraying blood over the battlements just before Masahiro arrives to finish him off. A couple of the guys sitting around the fire look up, and start climbing the ladder to see what's up with their buddy. So much for catching all of them in one fell swoop. Needless to say, the guys heading topside are going to be greeted by a pretty gruesome sight and they're not likely to stay quiet about it.
Ewww. Was she ready for this? She hadn't ever really killed before. She usually just incapacitated, one of the reasons why she prefers teaching academy students back in Kumogakure. Maia winces at the sight of blood and gore and covers her mouth as if she's about to gag, but stops herself. This is something she's going to get to used to if she's going to go on missions like this. So for now, she looks around for any place that can provide her cover. If she's going to take one down, she might as well as do it stealthily.
The groups being spread out, Takeda, attempts to remain in the darkness.. A slight shake of his head.. as he hopes to surprise one of the Kiri-nin, and take them out silently. A blur of a movement, and that's what he does, making sure to remain Reza's wingman..
Reza frowns as his accuracy was just a tiny bit off the vocal cord. As sees the higher ranking ensure the kill he'd continue forward undoubtedly there would be some to check on the racket. This would be prime time to make their move as the unintentional distraction spread them a bit more. Sticking towards the dark he'd keep an eye for Takeda to ensure things went well.
As the blade strikes through the neck of the already dying opponent, Masahiro hits the ground in a roll, his sword being held to his side as to not decapitate himself. Rolling into a shadow, the elderly shinobi waits perfectly still mere feet from the ladder, plotting, calculating his attack with his gatana ready. Being a critical moment in the infiltration, Masahiro waits, a drop of sweat forming above his brow from the humidity. As soon as they plateau the side of the lookout Masahiro is making his move, his sword a surgical tool of devastation.
As the blade strikes through the neck of the already dying opponent, Masahiro hits the ground in a roll, his sword being held to his side as to not decapitate himself. Rolling into a shadow, the elderly shinobi waits perfectly still mere feet from the ladder, plotting, calculating his attack with his gatana ready. Being a critical moment in the infiltration, Masahiro waits, a drop of sweat forming above his brow from the humidity. As soon as they plateau the side of the lookout Masahiro is making his move, his sword a surgical tool of devastation.
"AAIIIIEEEE—" *SPLURT, SPLORT* The pair who came up to check on the lookout manage to raise the alarm right before they're sent falling back down, dead before they hit the floor. The remaining ninja (now numbering five) jump to their feet and grope for their weapons.
Squick. Maia winces once more at the gore in front of her. She quickly does a few handseals. Roar of the tiger. Cry of the bird. At that last seal, she opens her mouth towards one of the newly arriving enemy nin. There's a slight sound sounding like that of a hawk or another raptor's cry before a sharp beam of force escapes from her lips towards her intended target. Whether it hits or not, any nearby dogs and cats will certainly be very upset.
It would seem playtime is over, and so having remained stealthed, Takeda emerges, and strikes one of the Kiri-nin from behind, though this strike is silent, yet deadly. The open-palmed strike to the other nin's lung section, which stuns and hurts, cutting off breathing.. and such..
Reza in his jouniness aims to do a bit more. Throwing forward several shuriken aimed for a single person. Kunai drawn he'd leap forward aiming to shank a nearby ninja in the side. "If possible leave at least one alive, we could use the information." He'd say as unaffected by the slaying.
Masahiro's sword slashes through the upper cranium of the second guy up the ladder, sending a shot of blood ten feet into the air, the first guy is then sliced diagonally through the chest. Maia may have been new to killing, but that's all Masahiro knew. He doesn't spare a wink before stepping off the side of the building. Being the most battle hardened, he throws himself into the thick of the battle, making small slashes at just about all of them.
Ohhhh carnage. These guys really aren't your top-of-the-line Kiri ninja, they can't afford to send their best out for coast guard duty. Four more of them go down in the chaos of the attack. The last, who appears to be the leader, manages to avoid the immediate onslaught by jumping up and sticking to the ceiling, still holding his hand of cards. "Damn, and I had a royal flush too—see!?" The ninja flings the cards in a spread at Takeda. Shuriken playing cards. Of course. Hoping to create an opening with that attack, the enemy leaps in Takeda's direction, though he's really going for the door.
Oh noes! Maia isn't fast enough to reach Takeda. They are on opposite sides once more and so she scrunches up her nose and just glares at the man angrily. Once more, the same seals are repeated. She knows her own abilities aren't intended to kill. She hasn't killed with the Resounding Songbird's Cry afte rall, so she goes for said Kiri-nin with intent to… knock out.
Spotting the attack of cards, Takeda does a clap of his hands, thats an area of effect, towards the Kiri-nin on the ceiling, to knock him back and the shuriken cards.. calling out in a whisper "Sonic Boom"
Spotting the attack of cards, Takeda does a clap of his hands, nothing happens, which means, that all he can do is attack the Kiri-nin coming at him, with a basic attack, to stop him and try to knock him back, Reza said keep one alive..So this will be the unfortunate informant.
Reza would watch as the leader moved towards Takeda. In a rush he'd move to quickly grab the leader by the arm and subdue him after Maia's and Takeda's attacks take their effect should he need to. He'd do this by quickly working to try to pin his arm on his back and grabbing his collarbone.
