Event KaQs of the Wall Part 3 [Team-selfmod-Aria]

[Kaen]

Easily pointed out of a crowd, he stuck out like a sore thumb. The vibrancy and shade of his hair gave him away. There were more than a handful of individuals with unique characteristics, a multitude of hair colors, body shapes, heck even the very composition of their bodies varied. Granted those were the ones that stood out the most, set above the rest it almost seemed. The natural Sunans were not as distinctive possessing a slightly more tan skin and usually a dark hue of brown or similar. Perhaps this was the reason he was chosen to lead this party.

What party? Oh, there was a small handful of low ranking Jounin that Kaen had been placed in charge of. Many of them seemed dismissive of their impromptu leadership choice, but who were they to refuse an order from up above? Unknown to them, Kaen's status as a member of the Anbu put him above these regular types. It was simply the natural order, who better to lead them into the fray then someone whos every day was a matter of life, death, sabotage, intel, etc. His repertoire preceded himself, but only to those who were on a need to know basis.

He counted nine in all, there was one missing. In fact, not all of these party members were even of Sunan origin. Admittedly Kaen himself was not born and raised, but we were talking less foreign, so to speak. You may have guessed right, a few of these participants were of the refugees that Sunagakure had been welcoming into their safe and tall walls. It was no issue that this one was late, all of this was happening so sudden. The growing masses of Unbent were everywhere. Kaen's team was not the only one heading out, in fact, some have already headed out into the great wide beyond in search of their own Swarms of glory. Other teams were also awaiting members to arrive, so Kaen would continue to wait for the last arrival. As mentioned before, it would be easy to spot the commander of this team. He would stand stoically slightly apart from the rest of his team who were gathered in a small semi-circle behind Kaen himself who was facing opposite of them. They would be talking amongst themselves, discussing various strategies and the like. The time grew near, the time for these men and women to prove there worth. Soon the last member of his team would arrive...

 

[Kazumi]

"We are short handed," he had said, "go and offer your support to our forces in culling the assailents out in the desert. We will speak of your meeting with the Kage upon your return." There were a few more words that went along with this order, but Aria knew them for what they were. To his credit, he made little attempt to veil the whole 'prove your worth to us' command. This was nothing new, something she had heard dozens of times and had went through nearly as many. She had heard worse after all, and if this was the quickest way to ingratiate herself with her new hosts, so be it.

She was not familiar with the layout of the area, but given that she was kept within earshot of the village's front gate, it was hard not to spot the massive structure from her temporary quarters less than a mile from it. Preparation only took a few minutes as she fitted the armor to her skin, making sure the lightweight plates were firmly affixed and the joints were in proper working order. It was not the heaviest of armor she had worn before, but some measure of protection was always valuable to have. Her luck, as she often told others, sometimes ran out, and it was never good to rely on it entirely.

Tossing the loose fitting white layers of cloth over her, she made her way out, her body and head wrapped up in the loose flowing cloth that almost seemed to glow in the reflected sun overhead. Twenty minutes of walking later she caught sight of a conspicuous crowd, one of which matching the loose description of her generous escort. "I take it you're the Joe Ninja that I'm to trek out into the desert with?" She stepped up a few paces from him, looking as ready for combat as some of the poor souls begging on the streets not a hundred paces away; times were tough. "Kain, yeah?" She had a slight foreign accent that didn't fully agree with the local names or words for things. but otherwise spoke rather crisply.

For someone being sent right back out into the desert, having only a single night to clean and rest up, out to fight a fight that wasn't her own with no promise of payment aside from a favor owed, she seemed downright pleasant. "Whole group of you?" Her attention quickly shifted towards the loose circle, some of which had glanced over towards the sound to see who their group's leader was speaking to. "Well, I guess that's alright. Less work all around then. What's the plan Mister Kain?"

 

[Kaen]

"I take it you're the Joe Ninja that I'm to trek out into the desert with?" Kaen was anything but an 'average joe', by a long shot. But he would let the inconsequential remark slide as he was meant to be an example, in regards to a Sunan shinobi. Kaen would turn at the sound of the new voice, it was feminine and mature... perhaps that was the wrong word? He felt it, a sort of experience that aired about this woman. To his surprise, his gaze would meet a mirror-like visage. "Kain, yeah?" He would smirk and nod his head. This was 100% a refugee, so to speak. Her accent gave it away instantly, but it was endearing in a non-creepy sort of way. It was pleasant to the ears to hear something apart from the regular speech he's grown accustomed to here in Sunagakure. He himself was not born and raised here, but that was a tale for another time.

"Yeah, that's me. You must be the one we've been waiting for. Any questions?"He would listen and nod. "Correct, I'll be commanding this small platoon." The unnamed individual turned to take a look at what she was working with. "Well, I guess that's alright. Less work all around then. What's the plan Mister Kain?" The plan, yes. How exactly was this all going to play out? The problem was the enemy in which they were facing. He would need to go over what little he actually knew. "Listen up team!" Kaen would call the attention of his small group of ninja and misfits. "I know most of you already know what's up, but we'll go over it again for the sake of... I'm sorry, what was your name?" Somehow he knew that she would say Aria, call it an otherworldy intuition~

"Aria, perfect. Also, just so I don't end up getting confused out there on the field, it's Kaen. Or you may defer to squad leader or commander. Either of those will do." His gaze would return to a general forward expression, serious with doom and gloom overtones. "Some of you already have had your fair share of personal run-ins with these... creatures. They are known as the Unbent, or the Swarm. They are numerous beyond count, their origin or exact capabilities on how to manufacture such an army is unknown to us. The important thing is; do not be fooled by their weakness. What they lack in power they more than makeup for in numbers. Do NOT get surrounded, you will die." He was overexaggerating a bit, any actual shinobi worth their weight would find a way out of a sticky situation like that. But these were not all that sort, the cut above the rest sorts. The status of Jounin was a loose term for most of these.

"It should also be noted that they do not seem to tire and when one goes down, two more seem to take its place. They are attracted to bright lights and sound. I believe it would be in our best interest to conserve our strength. Most of these things are near-mindless monsters that are predictable to a degree. I've divided you all into teams of three, squads 1 through 3, you know who you are." Knowing full well the math did not add up, he would turn to Aria. "You will be with me in the rear guard providing support when ordered. On the way there you can give me a quick once over of your abilities so I know how best to use you." Why was she singled out to stay with him? Who could say? Perhaps he was asked to supervise, gather intel, perhaps it was a mere coincidence. Now was not the time to ask such things, now was the time for action.

Turning back to the rest of his crew he would continue uninterrupted. "Squad 1, I want you to lead one and a half klicks in the vanguard. Squad 2 and 3, you will take respective positions half a klick behind squad one, but each half a klick from the center, one east, one west. When either squad spots a group they will inform me immediately to be given orders. Everyone understand?" Despite what was mentioned earlier about their disposition as Kaen as leader, they would all respond in tandem. "YES SIR!" Kaen was quick to respond in kind. "Move out!" In an instant they were off their feet and quickly on their way towards their destination into the great expanse of sand. "Try to keep up..." And then Kaen too took off leaving a plume of dust in his wake.

 

[Kazumi]

"Aria," she responded when prompted, sound casual and perhaps curious as to how this all would go down. As he proceeded to correct him she tried to roll his name quietly over her tongue, seeming to have a bit of difficulty with the subtle inflection from vowel to vowel. She either gave up, or decided to work on it later as Kaen started the briefing. This was something she was actually looking forward to, as little as she cared to rank and file military-like procedure. She knew they were feral and human-like; not exactly mindless, but something closer to a human starved from food and sleep and drugged out of their minds.

So far it all seemed standard information she had heard from her escorts or had figured out herself. It was strange they didn't even know the source of these things. She thought shinobi were supposed to be the masters of intelligence gathering; spying on other countries and collecting dirty secrets like a young girl in a spring meadow collects flowers. Either this Swarm, as he called them, was as enigmatic as he implied, or the grandiose claims about the shinobi were exaggerated. Then again, what would one expect for a people living in such a remote and inhospitable region?

After a moment he turned back to her and informed her of her position in the grand scheme, at least so far as it pertained to her current job. Finally, ass he began to give out orders, her mind began to shuffle through the vast stores of useless knowledge it has gathered up over the years. It took a few seconds, but she thought she knew what a klick was, not that she was sure how one had an accurate measure of that in the vast rolling desert. Before she had time to commit to the thought, the commander had dismissed his troops who had proceeded to dash off with great haste out of the massive gate.

Without even giving her a moment to respond, he gave his halfhearted recommendation and bolted off after them, leaving her standing there like a rock in the sand. "Try to keep up he says, kid thinks I'm some sort of danged flunkie or something? Bah!" She was not a shinobi, that much was certain, but she dug her feet into the earth and broke into a sprint after him. She was not trained to move in the desert, but she knew how to run through snow, which was infinitely more pleasant to be around than this grimy muck. All said, she still was no match for keeping up with Kaen if he insisted on blazing ahead at his top speed, but for a civilian and a foreigner she didn't make terrible time either.

Even with the extra baggage slowing Kaen down, they made decent time as they traveled northwest into the desert expanse. The pace, the uneven terrain and the lack of shinobi magical training left Aria working for each breath she took and fighting for purchase with every step. After a while of this, she had to pause a moment to catch her breath; running across ground that sank with every step took a lot more out of her than she remembered it did. "So, Commander," she pronounced the title more accurately than she had his name, but the last few letters sounded closer to 'due' than 'der'. "What we out here to do anyway? If there are as many as you say there are," she lifted her head and took a slow deep breath, revitalizing herself as quickly as she was able. "What are we out here to do? You can't be afraid that some drugged up zombies are going to scale that beautiful wall of yours, are ya?"

As she waited how more explanation, she reached within the folds of her fluttering white outfit and pulled out a basic canteen that the village had provided her the day prior. They had been traveling for less than half an hour, but she already felt as if she were starting to shrivel up into a dried fruit with the pace they were trying to make. "How you all able to run so well out here anyway? You're barely even leaving footprints." She gestured towards his feet, which were likely not sinking into the sand anywhere near as much as her own were. "Fancy shoes? Some of that ninja magic I heard all those rumors about?"

 

[Kaen]

She was faster than he anticipated, this bode well for her. But it was clear she was not formally trained in the shinobi arts. But he could be empathetic about that as he himself was not raised with this lifestyle, rather adopting things here and there that he felt suited him and his style. Here in Suna things were a little more loose, at least for him. While he could have burst away, that would be il advised as they would all need their stamina for the action to come. "So, Commander," Kaen would fall back a few paces and keep his stride going beside Aria. "What we out here to do anyway? If there are as many as you say there are, " Again the telltale sign of a lack of proper training bubbled the surface. Kaen wondered if she would be able to hold her own when the time came. "What are we out here to do? You can't be afraid that some drugged up zombies are going to scale that beautiful wall of yours, are ya?" Kaen would give an order through his headset to his squad members to halt, and then Kaen himself stopped. Aria would most likely stop running as well. He was not normally so caring, usually he would say fuck it and go with his typical survival of the fittest attitude. But things were quickly growing out of control and it wasn't just a few lives that would be lost if they were to fail. No, thousands upon thousands of defenseless people, innocent people would die. So while his true purpose was to talk at her, it was twofold in that it allowed her to catch her breath and take a drink from her canteen.

"Yes..." His face would turn dark and serious. That's exactly what I'm worried about. If we don't cull their numbers now then we will be overrun. That's a hard truth, no matter how much anyone doesn't want to accept it. We are shinobi, powerful and nearly unmatched. But most of us are mortal and will not be able to keep up with this seemingly endless onslaught of Unbent. Try to keep that in mind." Kaen would not give her much time to soak it all in before he gave another order for them to continue on.

The group was on their way again, Kaen would respond to her earlier question. "As for the game plan, it's simple. There's no way we would be able to fight them like we normally would, there are just too many and to far spread apart. Our forces would run themselves ragged before they won. So I think it would be best if we were to draw them into a single, massive group and rain hell down upon them. A thousand birds, one stone type of thing." It was most unfortunate that this Aria was having such difficulty adapting to the arid heat. If she noticed she would see that Kaen was unaffected in any way. The blistering heat was nothing to him, but that's just the way it was for a Flame Court Hybrid.

"How you all able to run so well out here anyway? You're barely even leaving footprints." She gestured towards his feet, which were likely not sinking into the sand anywhere near as much as her own were. "Fancy shoes? Some of that ninja magic I heard all those rumors about?" Kaen would glance down and immediately would spot the issue. He himself struggled with this for many years in his youth. He was more of a direct approach type of thing so subtle usages of his chakra system was not something that came easy to him all those years ago. "How do we move so easily? It's really no different than running on water, I find it easier honestly. How small is each water drop? unperceivable to the naked eye, but sand, on the other hand, you can hold a handful of grains and count them should you have the time. Water is less stable as well, instantly sinking as soon as you set foot on it. It takes practice, but you need to channel your chakra into the soles of your feet, using the repellent force created to push yourself away. I know it sounds a little confusing, but it just takes a bit of practice." He would pause a moment to size Aria up. You seem capable enough, there's a strength within you, I can sme... Feel it." Oops, that was close. That would be a weird thing to say that he could smell her power. But it was different than a regular scent, it was the essence of her soul. He was naturally attuned to such things given his nature and the common source of sustenance that a true Ancient would live on.

Suddenly Sqaud one would speak up through their headsets. "A group of 30 or so straight ahead, orders sir?" Kaen would waste no time in issuing out his plan of attack. "Squad two and three, do you spot anything? Squad one, hold your position for now." Kaen would continue his movements forward but at a slower pace. He did not want to get too close to the vanguard. As they kept going he would speak to Aria. "Your abilities, tell me now. If I don't know what you can do I won't be using you. I won't risk losing lives for anything." The other squads would chime in on time. "Squad two reporting in, no sight of the Swarm." "Squad three reporting in, we see a small gathering up ahead, there are no more than 10, but it's hard to tell for sure as they are roaming through an abandoned outpost, cannot confirm total count, sir." Kaen would not respond, it was not necessary. But he would be waiting for Aria to inform him of how she would be best used.

 

[Kazumi]

It might have been the stress of the threat that they were hunting down, and that was probably all there was to it, but Aria got a weird feeling he had something against her. Aria didn't have a knack for people, they were too flippant and fleeting, at least for her. Working with minerals and materials both exotic and mundane was both an art and a science, but people was just a roll of the dice for her. It didn't help that her gifts only had a marginal affect on people directly, on a few occasions it had remedied a catastrophic few words she had said, but in others it did little or made things even worse. The unreliability of it frustrated her.

His opinion on her didn't matter much at the moment; later on when he decided to sacrifice her for the 'greater good' it would, but for now it was just another annoying variable. Their conversation went on for about a minute as she caught her breath, still trying to sort out fact from fiction in regards to these shinobi. She was skeptical about them actually running on water, but the rumors did suggest it and she was seeing first hand how sand didn't give him any issue.

Their brief respite was, of course, interrupted as the radio in her ear clicked to life. The first high-pitched sound of the signal flaring to life caused her to wince. It was a necessity, she knew, and it was extremely beneficial, but she still didn't care for these technological wonders. Whatever happened to just yelling really loudly? It wasn't like they were trying to be stealthy after all. When Kaen's attention momentarily shifted to her, her attention perked up as she pondered his question. "I hit things," she made a small swinging gesture with her hand. It was quick, simple and to the point, but it really left a lot to be desired. It would likely frustrate or annoy him a little, but if he already disliked her, what harm could it do?

"Didn't you say it was a bad idea to get surrounded? Wouldn't it be better to just pick them off one by one then? Unless you got some explosives buried under the sands here somewhere." It was a possibility, but anything was a possibility for the moment. She saw the two shinobi that had escorted her fight, but they were in such battered condition that they barely did anything bit stab with their kunai and a few exploding pieces of paper. Surely a group of ten or so fresh-faced ones could do better.

 

[Kaen]

"I hit things," His face remained calm, though a single brow would rise slowly as he watched her swipe at the air. On the outside, he was composed, but inside he kinda wanted to laugh a little. It was so off the wall and unexpected it almost caught him off guard. Kaen would clear his throat before speaking,; "Fair enough, I hit things too, but from a distance. This I can work with." Aria would continue; "Didn't you say it was a bad idea to get surrounded? Wouldn't it be better to just pick them off one by one then? Unless you got some explosives buried under the sands here somewhere." He would nod, she was correct. But Kaen was already taking that fact into consideration for his plan of attack.

"Correct, which is why you will be watching my six. And no, as I said before there are far too many to be fighting them on a one on one basis like that. You would tire long before their numbers ceased to keep coming. Trust me, I have a plan. All I need is for everyone to follow orders and everything will work out just fine. I've dealt with these things before, they are easily manipulated. Or at least the vast majority is. In the off chance there is one of a higher caliber, that's where you and I will come in. We are providing direct support to the three squads. You watching the back, as I believe their sense of smell is high and seem to be drawn by that as well, never know if we were followed by a random passing horde."

Phew, it felt like a speech almost, but it was important. In this time of war, hard decisions had to be made. He knew of the orders, the Journeymen were more than capable workers and a single outpost would not be missed. "Sir, another group to the west is heading this way, it's too far to tell just how many." "Squad two can confirm, they seem to be following an unusual looking Unbent. It's hard to describe, but I think it's leading them." Kaen would look to Aria. "Case in point, there have been rumors of a certain hierarchy being established. Though it's perfectly acceptable to consider these regular fodder as probes, testing our resolve and ability. No dobut the true fight is yet to come."

"Squad three, status report?"

"A few have started filtering their way out of the outpost, only a few seem to be holding back."

"Copy, I want you to move in. Find a central location, a higher vantage point is preferred. Place explosive notes on every weak point along the way. Fire a flare and set off the chain explosion. Find appropriate cover and conceal yourselves until given further orders."

"Understood."

Kaen would turn back to Aria. "Do you have any further questions? There's a chance we won't get much time to chat once that flare goes off."


[Word count 2,679/7,500]

 

[Kazumi]

Aria listened as he did his best to explain their plan of action. The feeling if animosity she sensed earlier seemed to be draining down, but it still lingered at the edge of her senses. "So, make sure they don't jump up from behind you and catch you by surprise while you're making them explode." Explosions was the only way she could think of that they could clear a large number of them at once, and she had seen the shinobi use them before. They didn't seem to be too much of a threat before, so this would probably turn out to be one of the easiest proving job she had done in quite sometime.

Things never turned out to be just that simple.

Aria raised her free hand to cover the earpiece as she listened to the radio, trying to hear it a little more clearly without blowing out her ear. It appeared that she was right, though she wasn't sure how effective a flare was going to be in the middle of the day, with the sun lingering over head as bright as it was. Perhaps the Unbent were smart enough to distinguish between a flare and the sun? Regardless, if the mission failed spectacularly, the worst scenario would be they only drew a few in for this trap and not a whole swarm of them. From her point of view, not exactly a losing situation.

As the feed clicked off, she returned her attention to Kaen and thought for a moment, "don't think so. It all sounds pretty simple. Keep you from getting munched on, keep them from getting munched on, stand back and enjoy the warm breeze. All pretty simple stuff." She was sure she could run circles around him in basic tactics, but she wasn't the leader of the mission and she didn't really know what he and the other were capable of; both of which would have made it a poor idea to chime up and start acting like she was the big cheese around these parts. She did need to earn Kaen's favor after all.

Aria stashed her water beneath the folds of her loose fluttering garb and the pair would make their way towards the frontlines, the foreigner keeping up with minimal effort. After a few minutes more, they came to a halt, keeping themselves between where the three squads were deployed. Aria presumed this was to allow them to quickly reinforce whichever group called out for help, or at least that would have been her suggestion.
The next few minutes seemed to stretch on, the headset clicking on and off on occasional intervals for check-ins, status reports and sitreps. It was actually somewhat peaceful, or as close as one could get while straddling the line between calm and chaos. The calm did not last forever.

A sudden explosion sounded off to the north towards the outpost, the coms clicking to life a few seconds later, "Shiro is down, they are swarming out of the main building. I don't know if they were waiting, but there were a dozen that swarmed out on him before he blew the entrance around him." The man's voice was not calm or collected, but seeing a man be ripped at by abominations before blowing himself up would do that to any man.

"I think that got their attention, the bigger one looks to have changed direction towards the sound and the others are following close behind. There's..." The com cut out for a second before it came back, the shinobi sounding shaken, "there's gotta be a hundred of them." The forces were not sure how many of these things to expect, a few dozen perhaps, but seeing that many of the abberations all in once place was taking its toll on morale. "Maybe more, the big one is picking up speed towards Squad Three and the Swarm is going with it." There was another moment before the voice came back, sounding more composed than a moment ago, "orders?"

 

[Kaen]

The camera would slowly pan over the smoldering, demolished building. Another scene-switch and you would have a closer view of the carnage. A mass of disembodied pieces of Unbent were poking out here and there. In the center a single un-tainted arm would be sticking out. RiP Shiro...

"Shiro is down, they are swarming out of the main building. I don't know if they were waiting, but there were a dozen that swarmed out on him before he blew the entrance around him." It was clear they were panicking, their voice was completely un-composed. There was nothing that could be done at this point, there was little chance that anyone would have survived something like that. As tragic as it was the mission must go on. One death could not hinder the progress as a whole. It was a sad thing to hear, but that was the life of a shinobi.

"Understood, continue as planned. Find cover, do not engage." It almost sounded like Kaen was using them as bait, and in a way he was. But he could not afford to let them fall back lest they start fighting on two fronts. Suddenly Squad two came over the radio. "I think that got their attention, the bigger one looks to have changed direction towards the sound and the others are following close behind. There's..." The com cut out for a second before it came back, the shinobi sounding shaken, "there's gotta be a hundred of them." Now... most would start getting overwhelmed, perhaps even feeling unsettled and flustered. But not Kaen, in fact a small smile spread across his face. Was it appropriate give the situation, perhaps not. But that's just the way he was built. He enjoyed a challenge, defeating over a hundred of these things would be a good test of not only his own skills, but his ability to lead.

"Orders?!"

Things were not going exactly as planned. He was not anticipating losing anyone so soon. Kaen would pause a moment as he thought over his strategy. "Sir?" Kaen would key his mic and issue out his next string of commands. "Squad two, do not engage. Lay low and use the dunes to hide yourselves until swarm has completely passed. You will remain on standby until further notice." "Understood..." It was masked well, but Kaen could still feel the uncertainty in his voice. They were skeptical of his leadership, more so after the loss of Shiro. Not all hope was lost, things could still go as planned.

"Squad one leader, Omai, I need you to press forward and scout out further ahead to ensure there is not another horde also moving this way. The remainder of your unit is to fall back to my position." There was a small chance that this outpost was meant to be a rendezvous location for a larger battalion unit or similar. It would be a wasted effort should their plan be set fully into motion only for another large Swarm to appear. Omai was an exceptional scout, his speed was a great boon and would need to be utilized.

Re-focusing his attentions towards Aria he would go over his next action plan. "Aria. Change of plans. When the remainder of squad one arrives you will be assuming leadership of that squad. I want you to take them towards the outpost. Stay out of sight using the sand dunes, approach from the rear if you can. If you encounter any stragglers along the way do your best to take them down silently, using as little chakra as you can." To be honest Kaen was not sure if they could sense power, at this point he didn't want to rule anything out. If Aria specialized in taijutsu like it appeared to be, it should not be an issue taking them down quietly.

Kaen would then pull out a notepad with some scrawled notes on a few pages. Flipping a few back he would then tear out a page and hand it to Aria. On it would be semi-detailed notes regarding squad one's makeup. "Hashigawa, Hashi for short, seems to be skilled in support based jutsu. Light medical knowledge, prefers barriers and seals. Tansho will be your cover if need be. She's of true Sunan origin and her skills with Sand ninjutsu are good. I trust your best judgment as to how to utilize them." He felt like he covered everything, but should she have further questions he would of course reply. Regardless of her foreign origins he would need to rely on each of them by the end of the day. This was after all a group effort. Once her members arrived he would explain and expect them to move out at once.


[OOC WC 3,470/7,500]

 

[Kazumi]

A hundred or more of the creatures was a order of magnitude larger than she had signed up for. Her luck had always dulled any real fear of death, but ten to one, or more, did not make her feel comfortable with the situation. As Kaen distributed orders to the squad she began to run some numbers in her head, trying to compare how the dozen they had faced with the caravan would compare to eight times as many. Two enemies were more than twice as deadly as one, since dividing one's attention made things exponentially more difficult. There was the distinct possibility that she could dispatch one while another leapt up over its brethren's corpse at her, and with these numbers, that was closer to an assurance than a chance.

As Kaen disengaged his com, she looked over to him, relaying the results as simply: bad. Her frustrated expression shifted to one of confusion and disbelief. As he pulled out the notepad she stirred herself to speaking, talking as if she were speaking to some loon rather than her commander. "You got a screw loose? I know you must be stressed an' all, but I ain't no shinobi. No way in the hells they'd listen to me, hell they sound as if they might be barely listening to you at this point." It was a sour remark and a poor one to make, but it wasn't exactly untrue. She didn't know how military rank worked with these shinobi, but there seemed to be some resentment of his position over the other squads.

Kaen proceeded to rip off the page and hand it to Aria, who took it hesitantly and looked over it as he passed along a little more information about the group. Before she had a chance to voice any more of her concerns, a bit of sand stirred next to the pair as the remained of the first squad arrived. Hashi looked more like a bookworm than she was expecting from a shinobi, with thick glasses resting just below the village symbol engraved on the metal plate atop his forehead. Tansho other the other hand looked tanned and confident, she wasn't exactly muscular but she had a strength about her that spoke of power and the skill to use it. It was Tansho that spoke first, giving Kaen a salute, "what are the orders?"

Aria spoke up first, glancing up from the small page in her hand. "Apparently we're going to the outpost." She sounded as confused as Tansho and Hashi looked as Aria spoke up.

The pair of them looked from Aria to Kaen, Hashi gave a small, if hesitant nod, but Tansho spoke up without delay, her voice firm and the traces of respect beginning to fray at the edges. "We?"

"I don't know what he's going to be doing, but congratulations, I'm your boss now." Aria gave her a smirk that almost begged a reproachful outburst, but she continued before the headstrong kunoichi could interject. "We're to go to the outpost, quick and quiet." Tansho began to speak, a defiant look sparking between Kaen and Aria as she did, but Aria continued one louder. "I don't like it either, but I figure he has some reason to be doing what he's doing." Most people would have stayed quiet and let Kaen explain himself, let him transfer authority to her himself, but even as little as Aria knew about people, she knew that would have been the wrong action.

"Complain to your higher-ups after we make it back to your village, I don't really care. If it goes to hell, we'll salvage what we can and get out of here and you can yell and scream and shout at me and your commander all you want then. So either shut your mouth and follow, or mutiny or whatever it is you shinobi do whenever you get stupid and go get yourself killed." She gave Tansho a firm look, sparing a moment of the stare for the medic, "so, we gonna have a problem?"

Tansho gritted her teeth, but it was clear she wasn't about to embarass herself by speaking further. It seemed she was as prideful as Aria had guessed. True Sunan indeed. "Glad to hear it, now let's move. You see one, you take it out quiet. We want to get to the outpost without being noticed if we can, last thing we want is all of them stuck to us instead of going into the trap, yeah?" She gave the pair a smirk, and, much to her surprise, Tansho actually joined her, if only a little. Without further word, she gestured for them both to follow as she ran off in the direction of the outpost, trying to stay behind the larger dunes to shield their approach, not bothering to worry about her shinobi companions. If the rumors about shinobi said anything, it was that they were masters of stealth. If nothing else, surely that one had to be true.

 

[Kaen]

Kaen remained silent during the quick impromptu deliberation given by Aria. Kaen did not know these ninja personally and could only hope for the best when it was all said and done. Hashi was cool and collected, he knew that things changed and that as a shinobi sometimes you just gotta deal with it and make the best of whatever you're given. Tansho on the other hand did not give in as easily and did not like the idea of this random woman giving her orders. But in the end it was Kaen's orders, which in turn was his superior's orders. Thus she really had no choice, aside from mutiny. But that was a ridiculous notion given the state of affairs in Wind Country at this time.

The pair of shinobi would tail Aria as she headed towards the outpost. Both keeping themselves a few strides behind their unexpected leader. As they passed an overly large mound of sand that cut the line of sight that any might have on their way there, Tansho would raise a single hand and use a jutsu. In this moment a gritty veil of grainy dust would rise up and surround the trio. [Sandstorm Veil]

While one may assume that this was an ill-advised tactic due to it clogging up your own field of view, it would appear that Tansho was far more gifted with her chakra control, as well as her manipulation of sand. She was able to bore a small tunnel, so to speak, of clear space so that they might see straight ahead without issue. For now it seemed they might arrive unscathed.

Meanwhile back where they left Kaen...

Strands of dark lines and symbols emanated outwards from Kaen's palm as he slammed it down into the sand. An plume of white smoke exuded from the immediate area. Tuffs of brown fur began to show through the slowly dissipating veil of smoke giving way to a primate of sorts. It became clear that this must be a personal contract summon of his, Kaen's that is. "It's been quite some time, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me. That clunky piece of metal seems to hold most of your attention." The summon was referencing towards Kaen's other contract summon. With a smirk Kaen would respond. "Yes well... When you learn to heal and throw up some barriers I'll start calling on you more."" It was a love hate relationship I suppose. "But it is nice to see you again, Daiken-Zaru." The fur covered being would scowl with a huff. "For the last time, Zaru will do just fine. Only my mother calls me that..." "Ohh, oh, yes of course..." Kaen enjoyed poking fun when he could, Zaru was always a good sport and would usually reciprocate the affection. But now was not the time for these pleasantries.

"I see this is no ordinary day of mischief you've drug me into..." Zaru sniffed the air, almost tasting the foreboding nature of what was to come, what was approaching the outpost. "You're correct, let me spell it out for you." And so Kaen would explain the situation as best he could, pertaining to this situation and a little about what he knew regarding the Unbent. "I see... Well, wish me luck!" Kaen would nod and give a two-finger salute as he saw Zaru off. "Good luck, and break a leg. Or a few hundred." And with that Zaru would disappear leaving only a small little cloud of sand in his wake. Kaen himself would then create a small platoon of clones, three to be exact. Them being him, they already knew the game plan. Leaving them in his place Kaen would start towards the direction of squad two.


[OOC WC 4,091/7,500]

 

[Kazumi]

Caught off guard by the suden swirl of sand around them, Aria stopped and looked around like a confused child. It only took a sidelong look from the Sandbender to her side to confirm Aria's suspicions about the nature of their sudden storm. She wasn't sure how useful having a large swirl of sand around them was. It would make them harder to pick off with ranged weaponry from a distance of course, but these creatures didn't seem to possess anything of the sort. On the other hand, they also didn't seem exactly intelligent, and perhaps the veil might mask their immediate presence some. In either regard, she gestured for them to continue onward; she expected them to trust her temporary leadership and so she had to trust their knowledge of their own abilities.

The pace was reasonable for the foreigner to keep with, even as her feet sank an inch or two into the sand with every step. As expected, there were more stragglers outside of the outpost proper, it seemed that mostly those who were part of the larger swarm were drawn in by the explosion. Perhaps they were individually not drawn to sound, but were driven there by the alpha unit? Aria logged the thought away as just another tidbit of information that might become relevant in the future.

As they reached the peak of a sweeping dune, she slowed to a crawl and made her way up to the ridge, peering over it as the veil around them dimmed to a slow scattering of sand. "Four ahead, don't seem to have noticed us," Aria quietly informed the pair that crouched behind them. "You may know, but in case you don't. They don't react much to pain, and will keep moving from anything but a killing blow. Head works best, chest is second. Removing a limb doesn't do a ton, but a leg leaves them vulnerable. Don't expect them to flinch from a nearly-mortal wound, guy lost his hand doing that."

The pair nodded, one with more reserved frustration than the other. "One on the left is the farthest. Sand, take that one out, use your discretion but keep it quiet as you can. Little blood as possible. Glasses, you take the one on the far right, it is more isolated. Do what you need. There are two close to one another in the center. I'll get them, but once you knock yours check the rest out, never know if something went south." Both of them seemed somewhat taken off-guard by the nicknames, but they both nodded acknowledgement. "Quick and quiet, if it goes south regroup back here. On three." She reached into her loose white layered outfit and pulled out a long mace, a thing metal shaft connecting a fist sized hammerhead at the end.

"One, two, three." In unison the three bolted over the edge. Tansho was the quickest to take her target out. With a bit of chakra and a gesture of her hand, the ground around one of the unbent swirled up around him and enclosed around his entire body. A second later it collapsed inward, trapping the now struggling creature beneath a thick layer of sand before it was sucked down into the ground without a trace, crushed under two feet of sand without a sound.

Tansho was second, a pair of kunai shot out from his hands, cutting the tendons of the shambler's legs with little effort. Only a surprise grunt called out before the medic was atop it, stabbing another kunai deep into its chest, piercing the aberration's heart with medical proficiency. It flailed and grabbed at him, but within moments all movement ceased and it's arms fell limp to the ground beside it.

Aria was the slowest of the trio, and by the time she reached the first of the two it had already turned towards her. A swift flick of her wrist arced the hammer through the air and cracked into the side of its head, crunching it in with a series of bone-cracking snaps. It spun sideways and collapsed onto the ground, its head caved in and its body limp. The second, just a few feet away, leaped into an attack, heedlessly grasping for Aria as it leapt into the air in a feral pounce.

With another quick motion, she flung the hammer head over head towards it, the hammer connecting squarely in its chest. More bones snapped as it lost its momentum and nearly stopped in the air outright, tumbling backwards as it impacted the sand. It quickly began to pick itself up, its chest and ribs cracked and broken but its will to feed burning ever brighter. Not bothering with the show, if only for the moment, she grabbed at the air above her as she swung her empty arms down at the prone creature. A moment before impact a much larger hammer, quite nearly a maul, suddenly sat between her hands as she smashed it hard into its head, instantly pulverizing the unbent's skull into the sand.

She released her grip on the giant hammer and it faded from sight, as if it were never there to begin with. She gave off a small curse as blood flowed freely through the pulverized head. "Sand, take it down," she ordered with a loud whisper, having noticed what the sandbender had done with her own target. Aria had wanted to take them both out without either bleeding, but she didn't expect the second one to be as quick as it was. Aria had no idea how the creatures worked, but some other living things followed scents from their own kind. For all she knew one of their dead would draw others like flies to a bloated corpse.

To her credit, Hashi complied instantly, another gesture had a hand of sand manifest around the bleeding creature as it was dragged under the ground without a trace. "Alright, good job." She continued to loudly whisper as she gestured for them both to fall back into position. "I don't see anymore from here to this side of the outpost, but same rules apply. Quick, quiet and keep doing that hand thing. Don't know if their blood draws them, but I'll leave figuring that out to... someone else." She was about to say eggheads or something akin to it, but Glasses might have taken offence and she didn't need anything like that right now.

[OOC WC 4,208/7,000]

 

[Kaen]

Thankfully it would appear that these common rabble types were not so perceptive so as to pick up on the scent of their own kind. Perhaps it was because they were so near death themselves the 'life-blood' so to speak was not present within them, thus leaving nothing to be sought after. The trio were safe for the time being and would not be bothered again, at least from any direction but where the outpost was.

Additionally, that little stunt Aria pulled off seemed to impress her counterparts a bit, they had not seen a technique where you can materialize weapons out of thin air. While one might have just assumed she possessed super human speeds, these shinobi were skilled enough to know better, and see better for that matter. They did not know how, but they knew it happened. Tansho would comply with the order and soon enough she would pull all of the deceased Unbent down into the sands below.

Suddenly the sound of Kaen's voice crackled over the radio. "Squad one, status report?" Things were in motion, nothing could be left to chance. Communication was key. Hashi would be quick to respond over the radio. "Positive encounter with a few targets, each was disposed of efficiently. No injuries to report. Proceeding towards destination momentarily" With a shrug and a smile he would hope Aria did not mind him interceding. "Perfect, report back when you reach sed destination." Where were they going again? Ah, yes, just outside the outpost. Did Kaen say not to enter? He just said to head that way, perhaps it would be best if they did not go inside those walls yet.


Meanwhile...

"Squad leader one checking in, still no sign of any other approaching Unbent from this direction, shall I continue onward?" "Negative. Utilize clones and have them scout in each direction, afterwards retreat back towards our location until you spot the horde and hold position." "Copy." "Squad two, status report?" "The tail end is approaching, approximate total is 107 in total. No sign of additional targets approaching." "Copy that, same orders apply to you Squad leader two, send out a pair of scouts out in each direction after the remainder of the horde passes. Have each clone ensure that no other Unbent are in the immediate area. Dissipate when they rendezvous with Squad leader one's clone and one of my own from the south." While these were not exact directional cues, the general'ness would do just fine in a wide open space such as the desert. It was easy to spot someone coming if you knew to look for them.

"You gotta hand it to that guy, he's smarter than he looks." One of the remaining members who had previously spoken over the radio perked up. "How do you mean?" The first glanced over with one of those 'u stupid or sumthin' looks. "Were you not even paying attention? Essentially he's creating a dummy perimeter using clones." "So what? That's just wasting energy if anything." The first shook his head in disappointment. "You don't get it. These bastards are drawn towards any sort of huge noise or sound. He wants to make sure there are no other large groups around before the big shi-bang. Efficient if you ask me..." The second scoffed. "I don't even care man, just shutup before any more of those things find us. I don't know how much longer we can hide in here. I'm still pissed off that Shiro's dead. All I want is to make it home alive, so good for Kaen or whatever. As long as I make it home he can do what he wants..." The first would roll his eyes and cease talking. The would continue to bide their time until given further orders.

Back to the future Aria!

By now the trio would be in sight of the outpost, smoke still rising from the previously demolished building was a ill-timed reminder of their lost comrade. As instructed they were to check back in with Kaen when they arrived, but before anyone could make the call a familiar voice would possibly startle them. Hashi for sure jumped, Tansho was not surprised in the slightest. These types of things were common practice for someone of her caliber and she instantly picked up on the same thing Squad leader three did. She anticipated the arrival of a clone. It only made sense for him to cover their own tracks as well.

"All's well from there to here. Good thinking burying them by the way. I can't stay and chat, mini-missions and all. You should probably radio in anyways, he won't know until I'm gone and I still have a bit to go." He would turn to leave but would pause and turn back around. "Just so you know, something is going to happen. Prepare for a big distraction. At that time it will be your priority to locate and aid Squad three's escape from the outpost. You won't want to be there when the shit hits the fan." And with that the Kaen clone would take off regardless if they tried asking him anything. He had a perimeter to secure!


[OOC WC 5,065/7... 7,500 or 7,000? Not sure, should ask maybe]

 

[Kaen]

The scene cuts to Zaru, Kaen's simian counterpart...

A group of hairy beasts smashed through a group of Unbent [Dance of the waxing moon] and with each strike a bolt of lightning jumped from the Zaru's fists creating a chain reaction of lightning. As the clones poofed so to did the Unbent meet their end. "Holy shit these things are ridiculous..." Blood dripped from an open wound upon his left shoulder. It was just a flesh wound, but the fresh scent of blood and iron hung heavy in the air. This would draw out more Unbent from their hidey placed among the outpost. But this was exactly what he wanted.

"Yeah that's right you undead meat-bags, let's play follow the leader." In an instant his stance changed ever so slightly taking a more defensive approach. [Lightning style] With a quick dash Zaru would flash in and out of sight, to the untrained eye anyway, seemingly warping from each target to the next. [Roaring combination] With enough built of static power he would then close the distance against an Unbent in the direction he was intending on going. The strike would land true and hard, center mass, but it did not stop the monster. Zaru accounted for this and quickly jumped over it and out of range of a counter attack. The swarm, as predicted, turned to chase after Zaru.

To Aria...

After whatever deliberation that may have taken place, it was time at last for the show to get started. It was unknown what was taking place with the other squads, aside from the radio transmissions, but rest assured plans were in motion. The board was set, the pieces are moving. Those keen enough to sense chakra would immediately feel a large sensation of chakra quickly and suddenly amassing power. The sky above suddenly started to form wisps of white which then quickly grew and twisted among themselves as they darkened. A single bolt of lightning came streaking down into the center of the outpost which resounded a mighty burst of thunder echoing across the sand-scape. A towering visage of primal power emerged from amongst the rubble. Zaru had arrived. [Cursed Seal]

A mighty, guttural war cry escaped the massive maw of the newly formed Zaru. The massive great ape started its rampage, creating as much ruckus at he could muster. But this was no mindless being smashing about, no. He was among the elite even among his own kind and could feel the squad that was hiding somewhere within the facility. If there was ever a moment for someone to act, now was the time. Perhaps a bit of search and rescue was in order?

[OOC WC: 6,506/7,500]

 

[Kazumi]

The radio call for squad one didn't grab Aria's attention until she heard the voice from nearby echo into her ear. She looked over towards Hashi who met her glace as he finished the report. The man offered her a smile and a shrug, which she returned with an amused shake of her head. She was getting vague flashbacks of her first attempt at leading troops, though in that case with was something closer to a peasant militia. There was something nonchalant about the look he gave her that reminded her of one of the kids she remembered from back then, and that pinched at a nerve somewhere deep in her head.

Hearing Kaen's voice forced her to push the thought aside and focus on the mission. That kid was long long dead, not that he had survived that uprising anyway. A few moments of peaceful silence passed before the radio clicked on and off, squads reporting in one after the other. As useful as it was, she could barely rub two thoughts together without someone else's voice reverberating throughout her head. A part of her was tempted to take the thing out and toss it; let Glasses handle all of this communication stuff. She let the thought pass as she raised her hand and gestured for her companions to follow.


The next few minutes were quiet, at least from one of her ears. Seriously, how were you supposed to listen for sound whenever the other ear is a non-stop cacophony of chatter? Again she heard Kaen's voice just moments as they arrived at the edge of one of the perimeter buildings, but it sounded a little different than it had. Seeing Hashi jump up a couple inches drew her attention back, only to see Kaen standing just a few feet away. Her heart bounced off her throat as she pressed it back down into place. This was exactly why she hated these damn things!


"Big distraction. Search and rescue. Got it, got it." She replied to the man, a little bit of her irritation wringing its way into her glare and tone. Again he turned and ran off elsewhere, and she couldn't keep herself from turning to her audience and commenting, "if he was just going to come over here anyway, why in the world didn't he just lead this group himself?" This was partly just foolishly venting her own frustration, which did help, but also helped redirect some of their frustration off from her and onto him. If she actually cared about the longevity of the cohesion of this group, it would be in poor taste to undermine their commanding officer, but she didn't and so who cared.


The moment of levity between them was cut short as the sky overhead began to shift. The sky grew momentarily dark before a bolt of lighting arced through the sky, a resounding crash of thunder causing Aria's ears to ring in pain as she quickly clasped her hands over them. As the reverberation subsided, Aria peeked around the edge of the building, only to behold a massive ape, the creature letting out a heart-clenching cry of power. She quickly ducked back behind the wall, dust and rubble blasting past the wall from the creature's sudden rampage. "Uhh, is that thing friendly?" The others had done likewise, peering around to see the source of the commotion.

It was Tansho who seemed unnerved than her partner and it was the other that spoke first. "I can't say for sure, but I believe that is with Kaen. At least it isn't one of the unbent."


Aria took another careful glance around the edge, just in time to see the massive ape smash its foot down atop one of the unbent that were swarming out of the buildings. She watched as more of them began to flood out, like ants from a disturbed nest. She didn't know how expansive the outpost was, or if it had underground components, but she was beginning to think they may have bitten off more than they could chew. Aria didn't expect to see a Spirit Beast all the way out here, much less on their side. No one told her such, but there was no natural way for an ape to be out in the middle of the desert, of that massive size, and sending arcs of lighting from its giant furry fists.


Rumors of the spirit beasts were commonplace across the continent, just as they were with the shinobi themselves. Some of the rumors said the two worked side by side, but others said they were mortal enemies. It was said that these creatures were just as smart as people, able to talk and act like them. Like the tales about the shinobi, Aria was skeptical, but she had seen a Spirit Beast in the shape of a snake crush an entire horse to death. That one didn't have lightning flashing from its eyeballs.


"Okay okay, just give me a moment," she took a deep breath as she hid back behind the building with her back pressed tight against the warm stone. "That must be the distraction Kaen spoke of, unless we really are so far over our heads that we are drowning and don't even know it." Another deep breath followed as she continued to think aloud, "there are two of squad... whatever in there. Some explosives. A giant rampaging ape shotting lighting from its face. Who knows how many swarms of those husky things. Great... Alright!" She reached up and smacked her cheeks, turning to the two, one of which looked eager and impatient and the other a little worried to hear what she might say.


She pressed the button on her earpiece and quickly spoke, "squad... whichever is in the outpost, regroup on the.." she looked around for the sun, quickly determining they were on the south side of the outpost. "south side towards the," she paused once again and looked towards her companions. "Can you make some sort of sign in the air? A giant waving hand of sand or something?" Tansho looked confused, but she was quick to comply. She gestured towards the ground and a pillar of sand got up into the air, growing higher and higher until it stood at a perilous three stories high in the air. "Tall pillar of sand," she suddenly cut back into the radio.


A second later one of the squad members chimed in with affirmation. A few long seconds passed with no word from the second. "Great, okay. Glasses, Sand. You two stay here and rendezvous with whomever makes it here. If the both make it out, call it in on the comm. Maybe one of theirs got damaged or they're too hurt or dead. So I'mma go in there, not get eaten, not get crushed, not get exploded and hopefully get out." She looked to the pair and gave them a grinning thumbs up, "should be fun." Neither of them protested her plan, either because they didn't care if she got herself killed or if they actually thought it was a good plan. Hesitating only a few moments longer, she peeked around the corner and hurried her way into the maelstrom of chaos that used to be a shinobi outpost.

The Lightning Ape seemed to have his paws, Aria paused for a moment behind the relative safety of a building's edge as she thought about it. Did ape or giant monkeys have paws or hands? This thought continued on for too long as rubble flow and thunder crashed a dozen yards distant. Finally she snapped her fingers with excitement, "Monkey's paw. Yeah, that's right." She nodded and set back off again, going from building to building as she looked for the unaccounted for shinobi. Every half-minute she would steal a glance at the fight going on, the ape grabbing and crushing the husks in hand or tossing them like dolls into the ground. But for every two it crushed, three more swarmed out from of the buildings or the rubble. It really was beginning to look like they were truly sitting atop of an anthill.


There was not going to be a way that she had time to search all of these buildings. She doubted that they would detonate the explosives while she was in here, or while the ape was rampaging around, she hoped, but even she couldn't get out of that with only a few second's warning. She was, as she told people, very lucky, but not that lucky. She didn't know whomever was still in here, nor did she even know if they were still alive, but if there was a chance she could do something about it, she was willing to roll that dice.

[OOC WC 5,673/7,000]

 

[Kaen]

As Aria began her search the giant monkey continued it's rampage, slowly but surely making it's way towards the opposite end of the complex from where Aria and her group had been. By this time the large army of over a hundred Unbent had reached the front gates of the outpost.

"URRRAAAAH!"

The unusual being that led the pack screamed a mighty command which the Unbent responded to by tripling their pace to a full on run towards the mighty beast of thunder and lightning. By now the ant's nest, so to speak, had been nearly emptied, all Unbent had been stirred from their hidey places in pursuit of the biggest loudest thing there was. To them life was life, and they seemed bent on decimating it where they could. Poor Zaru, though, was the one unfortunate to step into this metaphorical nest. The Unbent were now swarming him quite literally, crawling up his legs and back, biting and tearing where they could. But Zaru was tough and knew that he would not have to endure it for long. And so he kept fighting, kept up the distraction.

Had Aria been searching long? There was no way to know for sure, at least now. But in time she would hear a sound that was not the horrible cries of Unbent, but that of normal humans. "Hey! Over here, gimme a hand." It was the lost squad, minus one. The man had the other's arm over his shoulders as he was helping him limp towards safety. "His leg is fractured, he can't walk on his own. Do you know any medical jutsu?" They were not fully aware of how foreign Aria was and were unaware of her lack of understanding in the shinobi ways. Even if she did not herself, she knew someone who did.

It was at this point that the large-ish army of Unbent had nearly completely filtered their way into the facility, only a small handful plus their leader remained just outside the gates. Suddenly the ground shook with a force that nearly knocked Zaru on his feet. This would not cause any more structural issues as the seismic activity was localized near the front of the complex. A massive wall of sand rose in a half circle around the front of the gate closing off any sort of escape route. But sand was weak and would not easily contain the humanoid beasts. The leader turned in surprise and commanded what little Unbent he had left not attending to Zaru to turn and plow through the feeble barrier. As the Unbent began clawing and digging their way through the air became super heated as a stream of scorching fire lit the place up, Unbent began burning alive, undead? Anyway, the wall of sand now have been exposed to a fire stronger than most would begin to harden and crystallize entrapping Unbent inside the melting sand.

Attempting to tear themselves away, arms and legs trapped inside the wall, with no mind at all they would pull away and simply rip their limbs off to get free. But it would not matter because a group of five individuals stood atop the newly hardened wall. Between himself and his clones, Kaen had gathered the other remaining members of their group and flanked the Swarm, trapping them inside the outpost. In tandem the group would fire off their own brilliant display of elemental prowess, crushing, burning, drowning their forces outside the gate. Kaen, keen and aware as the leader of this expedition quickly spotted Aria who was helping the other squad escape. Seeing that she needed more time he would give an order to the four ninja beside him and they would quickly jump away from the wall and run along the perimeter of the outpost, taking any Unbent out along the way to ensure that none escaped. In time they would meet Aria on the other side, two from each direction. All the while Kaen would be battling it out against the leader of the Unbent.

Once Aria and the others had made it to safety one of the ninja would radio to Kaen; "All clear, let'r go!" It would be at this time that the same ninja would turn to everyone; "Everyone who can, throw up a barrier and take cover!" Those who could not perform such jutsu would be accounted for by others, a team effort would ensure the safety of those outside the outpost.

Suddenly a brilliant orb of intense fiery energy began to form above the outpost. As it began to fall, picking up speed and size as it descended down towards the outpost, ripples of energy and gusts of wind picked up pushing everything outwards. A massive sandstorm began to rage in response, but it would not last long. Just before the orb made impact the massive monkey would suddenly vanish, only a cloud of... well clouds remained. Zaru had done his job and was reverse-summoned leaving the Unbent to fall away to the ground below. The would not have a understanding of threat to life and would not try to flee, they simply awaited orders from their commander. But he was made no more, Kaen saw to that. And then silence...

Well... relative silence. The explosion would dull all other sounds to the point of being deafening. The deed was done, and the outpost was destroyed. Kaen would have questions to answer to be sure, but this was not his first rodeo and felt he could justify the sacrifice. He knew the capabilites of the Sunan people and the might of their journeyman. Much would need to be rebuilt and repaired by the time these Unbent were dealt with in entirety. But what of Kaen, he remained while the others fled to safety!

The barriers would fall as the scene settled enough to allow it. The desert winds would sweep away the dust and ash that had previously been swirling about. As the group with Aria would crest over a newly formed sand dune they would bear witness to the absolute void that was left of the outpost. Melted sand and burning rubble only remained, except for one figure, slowly approaching in a totally badass manner. As he grew nearer, eyesight allowing to fully make out his form they would notice that it was no Unbent, in case anyone was worried about it. It was Kaen! He would be carrying a body, that of the lost squad member. Somehow during the chaos he had located the body and protected it from the fires that destroyed everything else around him. Though his clothes were charred, he would in fact be intact and relatively unscathed aside from a few cuts and bruises that had been acquired during his roll with the Unbent commander. The surrounding members would began to cheer, despite their earlier thoughts and feelings regarding his leadership. Though the method was crude, it was a surprising success. The family of the deceased shinobi would at least have closure knowing that he did his duty well, and that there was a body at all to bury.

A weary and tired Kaen would eventually find himself amongst the group of others. Though he would attempt to hide it, those who were keen enough would know he was fatigued and hurting. It took a toll, as one would expect, to take the full brunt force of one's own jutsu. More so considering the power behind it. He would not speak, yet. He would gently place the body on the sand and sit down beside it and place his head into a resting position in his hands. The surrounding members would have already starting talking amongst themselves describing the events that had taken place for each of them, sharing their story and whatever else one might talk about after a mission. They would be relieved, for the most part. But the loss of a fellow ninja was always a heavy thing, but their spirits would be relatively elevated knowing they had succeeded in their mission and would get to go home.


[OOC WC met/exceeded - still in topic though]

 

[Kazumi]

Compared to that of the rampaging primate, there was little concern that Aria herself would gather much of the unbent's attention, but that didn't keep the foreigner from exercising due caution. Ducking under awnings, in the doorways of buildings and a few swift executions later, she finally heard something other than chaos and mass destruction from ahead of her. She vaguely recognize them from the initial gathering of Kaen's team, one of the men looked to be barely conscious as he was half-draped over the other shinobi's shoulders.

"Medical what?" With everything going on, it was not immediately clear as to what he was referring to, but she still had enough sense to put things together. "My team has a medic, but we need to get out of here real quick. Here, help him onto my back." She rushed over, keeping a wary eye out as she turned her back to the pair, urging the shinobi to put the man onto her back. She pulled off part of her white flowing outfit, revealing sparse but carefully crafted plates of armor strapped to finely stitched leather armor. Once he hefted the man onto her back, she draped it over her once more, using it as a rope to secure the man's body to her back.

With a grunt, she pushed herself fully to her feet, feeling her muscles strain as adrenaline began to pump more vigorously through her system. "Alright, lets go. Tower is..." she looked around, catching sight of their beacon a moment later. "Over here, come on!" She gripped the man's knees tighter and broke into a hurried run, she couldn't go full speed, but it was still faster than she had made it through the desert before, and it would have to be enough. It would turn out time was even more precious of a resource than she knew.

Turning a corner, she came face to face with another small band of the unbent, their maws gaping as they began to rush forward towards her. Occupied as she was, she didn't have any real option of fighting back, not carrying such a heavy load on her back. The thought of dropping the man and fleeing crossed her mind, but her arms refused to release their grip on him. Indecision and foolhardy courage was not to be the end of her this day, as a supernatural creature of water soared past her and bit down on the leading unbent. The watery shark smashed into the rest of them, sending the group scattering as the technique dispersed. Unwisely, she looked behind her, seeing one of the shinobi standing atop the buildings nearby, readying another technique to cover her escape. Their hasty protection was likely more due to her dead weight more than herself, but she gave him silent thanks none-the-less.

As she rounded one more building, she heard the call to take cover. Ahead, as if pulled by the allure of a life-giving oasis, burst into as fast of a run as he legs could manage. The True Sunan was gesturing to her wildly as the an ominous shadow began to form ahead of her, her outline dark compared to the ball of fiery energy that was crashing towards the ground behind her. With only a moment to spare, she and the other lost squadmade made it to the pair as the other pressed his hands to a seal he had etched onto the ground. A barrier of ethereal energy formed around the group just as the orb impacted the center of the outpost.

Even dulled through the magical barrier, the ground shook beneath her and her ears quaked from the deafening rumble of annihilation only a few dozen yards behind her. Long seconds passed as the rumble faded to silence, and only then did Aria lower the injured shinobi to the ground. It took no orders for Glasses to begin to stabilize the man, and Aria took the time to look behind her. The sand around the group had hardened to something skin to glas, and all that was left of the outpost was scorched rubble and smoldering husks. The smell was intense, but not altogether unpleasant. She doubted she would want to eat one of those husks, but at least it did not wrench her gut into a knot.

The debris wasn't actually the only sight she saw, against the hard glare of the sun inching towards the far horizon she made out the silhouette of one figure carrying another. As Aria tried to focus on what it was, the man's features came into focus. She had no idea how, but it was their commander, carrying another shinobi across his shoulders. Even with a lack of medical expertise, she could tell the man was not among the living, with bloodied wounds that likely claimed him not long after they were inflicted. Shiro, she presumed, but how Kaen found the body and kept it from joining the charred masses, she could not say.

Aria herself had sustained only a few injuries, which was surprising given the strength of the masses. A sprained wrist from her final collapse under the barrier and a few cuts and bites from those husks. Despite the odds, the mission had been a success, and she hoped that would be the last of those creatures that she would be seeing. She had no idea how far the threat stretched, but having seen firsthand what these shinobi were capable of, she didn't worry that they couldn't handle themselves. Now the question was if this meager gesture of goodwill would be enough to satisfy the requirements of the village guardians to let her within earshot of their vaunted leader. This was certainly the riskiest thing she had done within the past decade, probably the past few, but given how the shinobi around her were acting, this might have been just another day in their life.

Not devoid of most of the loose white clothes, she looked both more and less prepared than she had when Aria first arrived to the group. She had a distinct lack of weaponry of any sort on her person. Her outfit, on the other hand, spoke of someone ready to take a few scrapes, though its design was completely foreign to traditional protective fare. There looked to be a mixture of cloth, leather, metal and bone affixed to various spots on her outfit. The cloth and leather looked well maintained, with the former covering all of the most vital of sections, with the latter serving to protect the former from the elements and with what looked to be a distinct tribal flare to it. The bones looked to be mostly decorative, a mixture of fangs and claws, both large and small stitched into the fabric without any sort of practical rhyme or reason.

The metal plating, however, looked to be meticulously cared for. Each individual piece of metal was small, narrow and thing, no wider than two inches across and no longer than five. They all seemed to be made of the same white metal that appeared to faintly distort the light that reflected off from it. At first glance, the pieces almost seemed to be made of ceramic, but their sheen didn't look quite right. Overall it was a peculiar mixture of materials and designs that had hints of primitively rustic weave mixed with practical and skilled metalworking interlaced together.

As Kaen grew nearer and the cheers and shouts grew louder and more enthusiastic, Aria stopped to take another look at the remains that the man carried. She had seen so many dead bodies in her lifetime, that another one was inconsequential. Every single person here, even in this vilalge would life, grow old and die and very little of it even mattered. She would be here for a time, and then she would move on. It was foolish to feel anything close to remorse for the fleeting life lost from someone she never knew, but even with years of experience and the truths of life grinding her down to a smooth finish, even now she could not but feel a tug of remorse at the man's passing.

Some ephemeral force tugged at her from behind, and she peered towards the medic that had his hands places upon the bloodied man's arm, and a smile came unbidden to her lips. She really needed to stop risking her own neck for people she didn't know, but old habits seemed to die hand. Besides, maybe his life would make a difference in someone else's one day. As fleeting and pointless and stupid as it felt to her, she couldn't seem to wipe the smile from her face. This was, she supposed, one of the reasons she had to keep living.

[[OOC: S-Rank Mission Word Count exceeded. Exiting Mission unless stopped.]]

 

[Kaen]

Sometime in the future...

As Kaen drew closer to finishing his field report, he would pause a moment to reflect on everything that had happened during that mission. It had been a day already since they returned, his superiors were kind enough to allow him a time of reprieve to gather his thoughts and rest. Given the dire situation, these Unbent presented they would prefer to have every account documented appropriately. Having some semblance of understanding what it meant to be a foreigner himself, fully aware of the obstacles and hoops one must jump through to achieve a place among these Sunans, he would gladly give supportive input towards this Aria. He would smile as he continued to jot down his recount of the mission, in the end, he would include his full assessment of the foreigner for the Kazekage's, after all, he was going to eventually read this.

Near the end of his detailed report he would include, on a separate page, his personal assessment of Aria. Having some understanding of her being a foreigner and how difficult it can be to be accepted into a village, it was the least he could do. It would read as followed;

Spoiler: Aria's Report Card

To whom it may concern,

After accumulating and examining the reports from the various squad leaders of this mission it should be noted that, in particular, this 'Aria' showed little understanding of the ninjutsu arts, but her prowess with Taijutsu seemed to excel. Even demonstrating a most unusual technique that even the skilled shinobi involved could not fully understand. Her ability to lead, more specifically without notice, was above average. But this rating is based on the scale of a shinobi with understanding of the shinobi arts. Aria is not, so I would go as far to say it was exceptional for as little experience that she portrayed previously. While it is recommended she is given a crash course in various trainings, I will give her this personal recommendation towards citizenship, or at the very least a working visa. Her skills would be of great use for the village, and against the looming threat of the Unbent.

- Shinku, Kaen

[OOC mission completed, topic left]