True Am I To My Country [Mission Thread]

[Takaki Saeko]

Unknown Location within the People's Republic of Marsh
Approximately 200km inside the border
...0700 hours

They saw the rays of sunlight from a far distance off before they ever emerged from the mouth of the tunnel, so large was its entrance. Marsh engineers had intended for it to be one of many quick invasion routes into Lightning, and for this to happen it needed to be able to accommodate at least two full-sized, armored War-Wagons abreast of each other at any given point, plus columns of infantry and all of the carts and wagons for supplies. War against Lightning would be a blitzkrieg-style assault, with Marsh troops spilling like a geyser into the streets of Lightning's major cities and military bases. A tunnel was even intended to burrow right under where Kumogakure was thought to be located, and be lined with enough explosives to ensure that the village would collapse entirely in the resulting implosion. Clad in their workers' garb, Zaku, Haru, and Junko plodded toward the entrance in an admirable mimicry of a downtrodden peasant crushed under the boot of the juche philosophy, and emerged into a completely alien land.

At first glance, they might have thought that they were in a quarry of some sort, for as soon as their eyes adjusted to the blinding rays of sunlight, they were able to see that they faced an impossibly huge, open pit of stone with scaffolding and digging equipment lining its terraced interior. Looking back at the tunnel entrance, they saw that it bore a large sign over its inlet, marked with the peculiar-looking characters of the native language of Marsh and Bear, followed by a number: "19". Tunnel 19 was apparently one of many, and around them and across the pit there were many more similarly-sized tunnel entrances that disappeared into the earth, leading Raiden-knew-where. Gigantic, garishly-colored posters of what could only be propaganda were hung from scaffolding, most of them emblazoned with slogans in both Common Tongue as well as Hangul. "Work Hard For The Glory Of Our Nation!"; "Crush The Imperialist Pigs!"; "Only In Death Does Duty End"; these were some of the legible ones that Zaku could make out, at least. Overhead, they could make out the silhouettes of airships patrolling the skies, some of them dragging along their own propaganda posters for those on the ground to read.

The rest of the digging-site was teeming with activity, unlike the desolation of their own tunnel. They could make out teams of workers scurrying to and fro carrying heavy equipment, as well as a fair number of Liberation Army soldiers, all of them heavily-armed with machine-bolters and covered in heavy plate with gas-masks. Whether they were there to protect the workers or to intimidate them, was hard to say. They did not have much time to react, however, before two soldiers and a dusty-appearing mining foreman now approached, a frown on his deeply-lined face.

"Dangsin ibwa , dangsin yeogiseo mwohaneun geoya?!" demanded the foreman. "Dangsin-eundaleun hyeonjang eiss-eul geo ya!!" he continued, gesticulating at them in annoyance. "Jigeum idong haseyo!"

What would the team do now? To attempt to flee or fight in the open might cause every soldier in the quarry to descend upon them. Did any of their number actually speak any hangul?

 

[Tsuyoshi Junko]

Junko walked through the tunnel without uttering a word, what could be said when you're on a dangerous mission and heading towards a place you know nothing about. "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel." Junko thought smirking, he realized he had thought of that classic phrase and he wasn't about to die. Leaving the tunnel, they had finally arrived. Junko walked squinting as his eyes were still adapting to the light. 

Junko thought, "Damn this place is weird." as he looked around a little, but not too much. Junko didn't want to seem like he was an odd ball and increase the teams chances of getting their cover blown. Junko was Sweating a little from the hot tunnel, it would surely seem as if he was doing a little work of some kind, which is what he wanted. After all, he was transformed as a worker. 

Entrances of tunnels seemed to be labeled, which was one thing Junko took note of. Within moments, the team had been approached by three men speaking some bullshit which Junko couldn't even begin too understand, but Junko easily read body language.

"Dangsin ibwa , dangsin yeogiseo mwohaneun geoya?!" demanded the foreman. "Dangsin-eundaleun hyeonjang eiss-eul geo ya!!" he continued, gesticulating at them in annoyance."Jigeum idong haseyo!"

Giving only a few moments Junko quickly analyzed the situation. "Alright, for a fact he's giving commands. I can tell  just by his tone and body language, especially his facial expression. He looks pretty annoyed, so depending on Zakus or Harus understanding of this language,  determines my actions." with that small thought, Junko would see how his teammates would react and follow their lead. If they didn't have any plan or idea, then Junko would close his eyes, lightly face-palm to make it seem as if he forgot something with a overall look that would be apologetic. A slight shrug of the shoulders would top it all off as if he was informed and puzzled.

 

[Ren]

Haru wasn’t sure if they were ever going to reach the surface on the other side and into Marsh. Finally he had some hope as a light approached them out of the darkness. When the three finally ascended from the tunnel they all squinted, adjusting to the sunlight. The city wasn’t something they were expecting. Propaganda posters hung everywhere encouraging the populations to hate the Imperialist’s. Propaganda posters were even hanging from planes so that everyone would be able to see them constantly. Haru noticed that their tunnel was numbered, and so were others meaning Marsh was getting serious about tunneling under for a surprise attack.

A Foreman walked up to the trio accompanied by two soldiers, nothing that three Shinobi couldn’t deal with. Then he barked orders at them in what sounded like gibberish to Haru. Shit, this had to have been in that intel packet somewhere. Haru immediately dropped his gaze and stared at his feet. I’m dressed as a solder, I can convince these three that I don’t speak that language, that I’m illiterate. Haru decided quickly. It was obvious Junko didn’t know the language but maybe Zaku did. Either way the group was in trouble. Should we try to take them out, no there are way to many witnesses, shit.

 

[Morishige]

The exit into the main concourse revealed that this was just one of many tunnels, and that we weren't through the thick of it yet. There were people all around us that seemed to be busy with work, not all of them miners. It was hard to tell how many levels were above us that we needed to bypass to see just where we were in the empire. The posters around me held the tell-tale words of an oppressive government, from what I could read at least; half of it was in a language unknown to me. How could the people just accept this as their life? Why didn't anyone do anything to help them? I sighed for a moment before looking forward to see three individuals approaching me. Now was the moment of truth, and his words brought my expectations of a long life lower and lower. How was I supposed to know what he was saying? The fight in me had already dictated that it would be easier to just take the three of them, pull them into the tunnel and execute them to take on their identities. But doing so would leave luck to be the deciding factor as to whether they were seen doing this or not. I could only play dumb. Shaking my head, I shrugged my shoulders. "I can hardly understand sir, I assumed we were supposed to go into 19, but when we found no one we came back out. We are just as confused... sorry sir." I said in a very meek tone. It was impossible to know just what the life was like here. It wasn't like those from lightning frequented this place.

 

[Takaki Saeko]

Sacrificing their pride for a moment was better than sacrificing their lives or the success of the mission forever, decided the three infiltrators in that moment. It was against Zaku and Haru's hotheaded natures to do so (Junko seemed to have an easier time putting up a facade), but in the end, feigning meekness was the best solution.

"I can hardly understand sir, I assumed we were supposed to go into 19, but when we found no one we came back out. We are just as confused... sorry sir," apologized Zaku in the only language he knew, to which the foreman snorted in disgust.

"You shitty freeloaders should learn to speak Hangul if you want to live in our country. That's what juche is all about," said the foreman, switching to heavily-accented Kaminari (the common tongue of Lightning, Fire, and Water countries). As luck would have it, there were a number of refugees and displaced people within the borders of Marsh as well as Bear who only spoke Kaminari, and they were usually relegated to menial tasks and grinding poverty, even within a supposed Socialist Paradise like Marsh. "Go to the Equitable Redistribution Center at the top. They need to clean out the sewers in Capital. If you miss the train, I'll beat you bloody. Now ga-seyo! That means, 'go do it now,' you damned wetbacks!" finally said the foreman, pointing to a small concrete building at the top of the pit, and giving Zaku and Junko a desultory kick in the rear to get them moving.

After a long climb up, they three found themselves at their destination, which was as drab inside as it was outside, and looked more like the interior of a prison than a construction site. Chain-link partitions separated columns of workers from each other, with signs above each queue in Hangul as well as hand-painted markings in Kaminari. One of them read "Yangnyeoum," which was the capital city of Marsh, and ended at what appeared to be a train platform. The three slipped quietly into the line, sandwiched in between other tired, dusty workers clad in the obligatory shades of communist-issue gray. No one commented on Haru's military-issue coat, probably because it was quite dusty and dirty from having been in the pits and the earth, and also because since every citizen of Marsh was also a soldier serving the Dear Leader it was a common sight to see workers wearing parts of their BDUs. Clothing was hard to come by in Heaven-on-Earth, it seemed.

The rumbling of a train shook the building and rattled teeth, and it was not long before a slow procession of boxcars lurched by and rumbled to a stop amidst smoke and dust. Soldiers with bolters slid open wooden doors, letting a stream of workers out from inside the cramped confines of the cars. When the last workers had exited, the gates of the shinobis' queue were opened, and they marched onto the train, filling the boxcars. Soon, the train began to move, pulling them toward their destination.

The train they had ridden from Kumo to Gunma was a paragon of luxury compared to the dark, smelly inside of the boxcar they rode, and the only available toilet seemed to be a metal trench on one end of the car that simply emptied to the track below via a drainpipe that was clogged far too often. Hanging on the wall nearby was a cord-wrapped piece of iron rebar that one of the workers would often use to clear the jam, so to speak. Sitting in the odoriferous dankess, they fought to urge to retch as their ride continued for another two hours.

Through the many holes in the worn sides of the railcar, the three stole glances of the rolling countryside as their train lumbered by. At first glance, it seemed like any other pastoral countryside, with fields stretching by for miles, except up-close, the signs of wear and poverty were nigh apparent. Roads had been washed away by rain, and the fields themselves were more barren than fertile. Most of the buildings were fallen apart, held together by mud and scrap wood. Toward the east, smoke trails rose into the sky, the signs of war.

Later​

Haru was the first to notice the tenement blocks of the approaching Capital City, and quickly the train was almost swallowed by a mass of gray brick and faded propaganda. The eerie thing about the Capital was that for all of the massive urban development that seemed to have been attempted recently, there was a definite dearth of people. The streets and plazas of Raiden’s Eye, Port Cirrus, and even Kumogakure were usually congested, noisy, and smelly – signs of the daily life of busy citizens. However, the streets of Yangnyeoum were virtual sepulchers, so silent that the noise of the train echoing back to the shinobis’ ears was the loudest sound out there. If there were people present, they were akin to shadows or mice, flitting along the periphery and trying not to be noticed. Occasionally, they would see what must have been traffic cops standing on their designated concrete platforms in the middle of an empty intersection doing their jobs, their movements precise and well-timed, even without any hint of wagons or pedestrians.

Eventually, the train stopped at a cavernous central station where the workers on board were let out and given their first opportunity to stretch their aching legs and cramped backs. Remembering that they were supposed to be on sewer duty, they spied out a sign with some Kaminari written on it, reading “Honorable Sanitation Detail.” Unlike in the city streets, this station was well-occupied by armed guards, who watched over the mass of workers with boredom. It would be easy to slip out, but would any of the three have the courage to make it? Would they find better luck in the underground sewer network? The possibilities for getting to the meeting place with the Marquess were endless, but required some thought.

 

[Ren]

"You shitty freeloaders should learn to speak Hangul if you want to live in our country. That's what juche is all about," Haru could barely make out the man’s words; his thick accent was hard to understand. The three shuffled into line and waited to get on the train like they were instructed by what seemed to be a boss or someone ranked a little higher up. Once packed on the train Haru impatiently tapped his foot. For the first time so far Haru was nervous. He had no idea where they were going, 2 hours later his question was finally answered.

The train approached the capital city, it has been massively urbanized by it was seemingly empty, any people were hiding in the shadows or just not outside at all. There were propaganda posters everywhere reminding everyone who they were fighting and why they were the greatest. The train creaked so a slow stop and the trio shuffled out finally stretching their legs, with the workers. Haru remembered they were supposed to be on sewer duty, he spotted a sign that included Kaminari writing he understood, it read “Honorable Sanitation Detail” that was the place they were headed. Haru took a glance in the building, it unlike the streets was full of people, all of whom happened to be armed guards. Making the quick decision not to try to escape yet Haru reached the door of the building and shuffled in with a large group of people, he couldn’t directly see the other two, but he had hoped they had the same plan he did; wait until they were in the sewers to make an escape.

[WC:266 MFT]

 

[Morishige]

I had to hold in my sigh of relief when the foreman's anger came towards me. He believed we were of the ignorant many who ran rampant across his 'noble' country. I held my face low to show submission, hoping that the others did something similar while he gave use our new orders. Sanitary duty... I grumbled as I was kicked in the ass. Thankfully I was a shinobi and would be able to get out of such duties unless the security and mere peons was to be a problem.

A long climb topside left me checking my surroundings just to see what this desolate country was like. Granted we weren't in the capitol city, but you figure such a proud nations citizen would be happy. These workers seemed depressed in all definitions of the word. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Perhaps there would be one day that the Shogun of lightning would respond to such inhumane conditions. What was I thinking? I am but a soldier who shouldn't be having such thoughts.

--

One horrible train ride later, we began our descent into the belly of the beast and it wasn't as expected. It was basically devoid of people, something you didn't expect from a trip to the capitol of some country. This immediately posed an issue, and a benefit. If anything happened to take use to the streets, catching sight of someone who shouldn't be present was going to be easy. But should we need to escape... well that would be a problem. Not that it mattered, I had no doubt the military would gun down citizens to get us anyway.

Nevertheless, I too saw the sign of where we were 'supposed' to go. But before I could even make a decision to try and slip out, Haru was off into the sewers. "Guess that makes the decision easy for me..." I said under my breath and gave chase after the short young man. Who knows what was waiting for us in the sewers, but hopefully a map of the system would assist us in finding out way.

 

[Takaki Saeko]

The sewers of Yangnyeoum city were predictably dark, smelly, and dank – proof that even in socialist paradise, shit still stank to high heaven. Regardless, it had been a good way to evade notice from the guards at the train station and slip into the city proper undetected. Occasionally, through the gratings overhead, they could hear the footfalls of soldiers on patrol and the idle chatter of various complaints voiced in both Hangul as well as Kaminari.

Based on the available intel held by Zaku, they were going in the general direction of the city center, and before long, they were able to determine that they now stood right in the center of the capital’s largest landmark: the Choe Il-Jong Square.

The main thoroughfare through the square was a wide-based tiled path intended for armies to march on, and from glimpses of the world above, it seemed that they were right under the square’s central feature, the Arch of Triumph. Built after the Bear-Marsh war to celebrate “victory over the Imperialist oppressors,” it was an imposing, ostentatiously appointed marble structure emblazoned with sculptures depicting battles during the war, with the image of Dear Leader Choe Il-Jong riding his horse and cutting down badly-caricatured Cloud shinobi. As seemed normal in this city, there was barely any activity present in the square, even though in the distance, loudspeaker blared out patriotic anthems interspersed with slogans in Hangul.

“…Are you sure we won’t be observed?” sounded a female voice nearby, from above where the shinobi hid. This attracted Zaku’s attention immediately, and he carefully lifted himself up to peer at the square through the slits in a nearby manhole cover.

“Of course I am. This is the center of the capital of Marsh Country. Agents from Bear or my own country would have a very hard time getting within a hundred kilometers of where we are. At least, not without a titanic fight,” sounded a male’s voice.

“Have you heard the news? Haninozuka Ekaterina plans to travel to Raiden’s Eye to seek an alliance with your Shogun? That would be disastrous for us,” sounded a second female voice.

“Rest assured, General, I have taken steps to make sure that such an event never happens. Not only is my daughter the official betrothed of Shiranai, but there also happens to be this hilarious little wench from Kumogakure who has designs on the Shogun’s loins as well,” said the male, chuckling.

“Your laws allow the Shogun to take multiple wives, Daimyo,” said the second female, the ‘General.’ “I am not satisfied with your so-called measures.”

“How about your group, Risei? Can you do anything about this?” asked the male, the ‘Daimyo.’

“Enishi-sama cares about equality for all humanity, not who the hell the Shogun sticks it into,” said the first female, identified as ‘Risei.’

“Look – Enishi needs to get his head out of his ass and realize that a Lightning-Bear alliance is a bad thing. You’ve already taken care of the King, so why not just take out the Queen?” asked the Daimyo, irritated.

“These things take time and preparation. They are also extremely expensive to pull off. We need more support, Daimyo,” said Risei in return.

“I have a suggestion, then,” said the General. “I will dispatch a SpecOps team to Lightning to take care of the problem of the Queen, and if necessary, the Shogun. All they will need from you, Daimyo, is a way in.”

“Too risky for me,” growled the Daimyo. “What if they’re captured? What if they talk? As much as I’d love to see Shiranai dead and Tachibana disgraced, I cannot risk being outed as a traitor.”

“Our men know that there is a far worse fate for them than torture or death if they talk,” said the General, darkly. “No one will implicate you. That is my policy, and these are my own handpicked disciples.”

“Very well, I’ll see what I can do. The other issue is this: that meddling pansy of a Raikage, Hayata Shin, is calling for a peace conference to end the current war. It’s being supported by the Pontiff of Tenouza. If that conference happens and this all stops, then we’ve lost our opportunity as well,” said the Daimyo.

“Oh, we knew about that well in advance,” said Risei, chuckling. “Enishi-sama has been planning on that happening ever since we placed the geas on Captain Takayama in the first place. That will be his crowning glory, and the final nail in the coffin of the Lightning bakufuu as well as Kumogakure. That conference must happen for our agenda to succeed.”

“And I plan to make any agreements signed during any peace conference irrelevant. My scientists have been working on a new weapon of war which will change everything. They’re calling it ‘atomics’. A silly name, but they assure me that the results will be outstanding,” said the General.

“It seems that our issues are resolved, then. Very well, I must return to Lightning,” said the Daimyo. Murmurs of assent echoed from the other females, and soon, departing footfalls were all that were left.

Frustratingly, Zaku had not been able to clearly see the faces of the three – all he had were their titles, and his suspicions. It was time to head back to Cloud.

[Mission ended, make your exit posts and return to the village for payment, please.]

 

[Morishige]

The smell: awful. The sights: awful. The guards: no where to be seen. Still a horrible trade in my opinion, but I had to do what needed doing. With little time, I had navigated us toward the center of the city. And by the time I got there, my nose hairs had burned off and I knew I would need to spend a week in the bathroom just scrubbing away before I would smell good once again. But! We did arrive, under some landmark no doubt; Marsh seemed to have quite a few of those wastes of money. But that was just my opinion. The one about Kumo nin being cut down was nice and probably inaccurate. Nevertheless I was somewhat disappointed with how empty it seemed.

That was...until her voice chimed. From the get-go, it seemed suspicious and I quickly started recording with Snapshot. Shortly after a male assured her paranoia which I had to smile at, cause I was right under them 'observing'. But my happy thoughts were cut off by a third voice, another female speaking of Haninozuka Ekaterina seeking an alliance. I smirked, wishing I could get a better view.

But thanks to the man, I now knew the second female was a general of some kind. And he also revealed that his daughter was officially promised to the newest leader of lightning; along with a note that someone from Kumo wished to have his hand in marriage as well. "Perhaps I should pay attention to the news. Ah well, Takaki-sama should know." I thought and continued to listen in.

Now I learned of the man, one of the many Daimyo of lightning country it seems. His words seemed to have angered the general. But I was more focused on learning whom the first female was. Speak of the devil, I got a name! Two names in fact, automatically linking this Risei to the king slayers because she mentioned Enishi as part of her group. But what was more alarming was mention of a invasion into lightning to kill the 'queen'? Was she referring to the Daimyo's own daughter? No it must be the other person mentioned who wishes their hand in marriage. Not only that, but this meant they planned to invade Kumogakure. Impossible... But this was far above my pay grade. Masao would be able to decipher this.

But they changed subjects after the man agreed to get them into lightning. Hayata Shin was mentioned by name and my hand slowly clenched into a fist. Were they planning an assassination? It seemed my question was not far off, as they planned to do 'something' at the peace conference that was being called by the Raikage. But no, this couldn't happen. It was what the king slayers needed, which meant it couldn't happen. But if it didn't happen, this war would rage on.... A predicament indeed. And then something called atomics, a new weapon that was cause for concern. But as soon as that concluded, I was left in the sewers with more questions that a three year old asking why.

I turned towards the sewer. "There must be an outflow somewhere in here..."

[Topic Left]

 

[Ren]

When Haru got into the sewers he flinched as the awful smell hit him like a punch in the face. Eventually the trio managed to get back together and Zaku was back in charge. He led the group down the sewers and seemed to know where he was going. Not even bothering to question him Haru’s focus was on the stench. Unfortunately there was no possible way to keep the awful scent out of his nose. A conversation was going on above them and Zaku began to snapshoot it. There was talk of nearly all of Haru’s higher ups. This was something worth noting, as Zaku already had been. As the conversation ended Zaku turned around and informed the group they needed to find a exit. There mission just got cut short, this information needs to be seen to Masao and the Raikage.

[Topic Left]