Phase 3: Mission 153

[soul_mods]

Characters: Grand Canyon mission goers, victims, medics
Location: Grand Canyon
Rating: R
Time: Feb 5, 2009, mission starts at dawn
Description: Event links list.


The scouts had done their jobs well and the mirror deposits its travelers just at the end of the area Shibusen has closed off as their mission target. It's still dawn, the sun barely visible over the horizon. The witches hasn't noticed them there yet, the scouts say, so it's still possible to take them by surprise.

This is what the agents are told: In the rock face of the Grand Canyon is a cavern system made up of many small caves and three large ones. The large caves contain a kishin egg pit, the kidnapped agents and civilians, and what appears to be a machine at one end. There are about five dozen zombies crawling the area, and an equal number of ants, spiders, and ravens on top of it.

Worst of all, the scouts report that they had sighted a few of the agents patrolling for the Witches. The scouts hadn't been certain if these ones had soul perception or other abilities, and had given the area as much space as they could in order to avoid an early confrontation. Still, it's bad news and it looks like a fight with some of the kidnappees themselves is inevitable.

Not much time is given to the agents after the briefing before they're being ushered into place. A few scouts are going to be causing a commotion some distance away to distract the familiars and zombies, clearing a path for the agents. After that, it's all up to them.


[ooc: Just put up your own threads with the subject line [Characters][Feeding Cave/MMM Cave/Kishin Egg Pit/Elsewhere][Open/Close]
Kidnappees can go thread in the caves while waiting for the rescuers, too.
For those who want to thread with a witch, please add it in the subject line so we know where to go!
This day change will be one week irl.
The mirror will stay open for anyone who needs to be rushed back to the medics.
For those handwaving, please put your summaries here for the meister points and soul tally record.]

Comments

[sharingan]

It was, of course, the madness they'd expected. They had known coming into this they would fight their own. Sasuke couldn't speak for anyone else, but he could only acknowledge quietly that this wouldn't be easy for him. To go against both Naruto and his brother- he could only hope they didn't find them at the same time. Sasuke knew how lethal they were as a partnered pair, how dangerous they were on their own, and with what had happened now...

But these were thoughts he kept to himself, shared only with Kurapika for the sake of their resonation, should it become necessary. But he had the feeling, at least until they found Naruto, it might be wiser to be a two man cell.

And he was sure he was right, when he spotted both Itachi and Neji standing guard.

Sasuke drops into position from higher ground, and draws his katana from where it rests on his back. His gaze goes to Neji, and then with a weight like a touch, falls on his brother.

[ih8spiders]

This was kind of a bad idea. Scratch that, this was a really bad idea. Being the force launching an offensive against a well-defended stronghold was bad enough, now they would have to face their brainwashed allies and carry out their original objectives--rescue them without hurting them, now... Kurapika was starting to regret making Prussia promise to stay in the city. And not for the first time he cursed Kuroro's disappearance.

The fading effects of the black blood in his body scratched at the back of his mind, muttering insidious--encouragements, surprisingly, reminding him that he needn't worry, he didn't need a meister, despite all reason telling him that he had no idea how well Neji could fight.

Sasuke was eyeballing his brother, so that left the second of the pair to him, right? He followed the other weapon, lightly landing on his feet. The pair of kan he'd borrowed and strapped to the back of his waist was an unfamiliar weight, but he didn't draw them yet, and chose to wait for his opponent to approach. Sasuke had told them that they should try to have Lain talk to her partner, but--he wasn't quite willing to let the girl step out in front, not while they didn't know just how bad the brainwashing had been.

[wiredgod]

It feels like a coil around her heart is constricting, making it difficult to breath the moment she hears Neji speak. She only saw Itachi once or twice in passing--mostly through her connection with Naruto and otherwise had given the man no further thought. But her thoughts couldn't be on Naruto right now--she would have to trust him to Sasuke and the others later; for now she had to be concentrating fully on Neji.

Her hand curled around the hilt of the sword at her hip--despite not having much knowledge on how to use the blade, she figured she could provide some kind of help if it was needed (Bold in the back of her mind hoped it wouldn't be).

"Neji..." A murmur of his name from her relatively safe space behind the others, her eyes never wavering from her meister's face. It was hard to believe that this was the same man she'd come to love and trust so much, not with that expression on his face, not facing against him like this.

sorry for the late, orz

[heavenly_earth]

It was hard to miss Lain, even standing behind a man whose name Neji didn't recall, nor cared to remember. He smiled with a few too many teeth and acknowledged Kurapika's silent challenge by settling into his clan's trademark stance. Against Kishin, he might have been worried using solely taijutsu, but against regular people, it was easily a preferred method, however modified.

Three Weapons against a potential pair.. and Lain's abilities would be ultimately ineffective in front of his eyes.

"I'm sure the Witches would enjoy having another Hexed to examine."