Titan Revealed [Private]

[Junan]

Calling upon Kitsune, Akira had to wonder how many pies the woman seemed to have her fingers in.

This time he was calling on her to talk about Titan. He had received a warning about the company. Previous to the warning he had been fairly cautious about them anyway, he'd heard about them in the mainland amongst the populous. Though he'd hoped that what they were doing was beneficial, he'd never thought them a possible threat to Kumogakure.

With this warning he needed to take them more seriously. Looking back on the files he'd found a mission sent by Shin, and it had been Kitsune who had gone on it.

Reading the mission report was one thing, but he wanted to see if there were things which might not have been noted, things which might have seemed irrelevant at the time but with the knowledge that they were a potential enemy that perhaps there was more to it.

The door would be opened by Akuhei, the man had taken it upon himself to be the Raikage guard... he was someone Akira could count on, he was also one of the few shinobi in Cloud he had always wondered about who would win if they fought. A strong guard to have.

One Kitsune here for a meeting. He would announce her arrival letting her into the room.

Hello again Kitsune. Please take a seat.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

The day had so far been uneventful for Kitsune. She had been tinkering with her latest project, creating the machinery necessary to facilitate the experiments into forcibly bonding a weapon to a user’s spirit. The theory behind it was based upon how Tsukomogamis seemed to have a spiritual connection to their weapon, that it seemed to be alive and a functioning extension of the wielder. Kitsune wanted to forge the connection artificially, rather than naturally, allowing for much faster creation of a Tsukomogami, if the need should arise. Like in a war. For now, however, her concentration had been broken by a summons from the Raikage himself, and she decided to leave Hisako at the lab, then warped from her lab to her home to change her clothes to a more suitable attire, before warping to the Torre Celeste itself.

Arriving on the same floor as the Kage office, she’d walk to the door guarded by Akuhei, followed by him announcing her arrival, without any form of honorifics much to Kitsunes annoyance, and her entry to the room. ”Good afternoon Akira-san.” she said as she sat down in one of the chairs opposite Akiras desk. ”Your summons didn’t include a note about what it was about, so… What do you need me for, Akira-san?” she would ask him, curious of nature. I wonder if this is about the request I had last we met. Or, by the looks of it, probably not…

 

[Junan]

He gave a small smile to her as she asked about what his summons was about.

I'm sorry for the lack of information. At this time I'm keeping my cards fairly close to my chest as I'm not sure what to think about the topic, but what can you tell me about Titan?

It was a very simple question, but one which could have many implications. Kitsune wouldn't know whether Akira was thinking of them as a potential ally, or threat, what kind of information he wanted or did he simply want all of it. He was keeping his cards close to his chest and he would continue to ask other questions as he began to understand more about what he should be thinking about this group... what he was going to do about them... that he wasn't sure of. Yet.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune ran a hand through her bright red mane of hair and then began “Well. I know they operate off of their floating island not too far from my province. When it was first raised out of the earth, it caused a massive earthquake felt even here. Hayata-sama sent me on a mission to find out what the cause was, which I’m sure you already knew from the mission logs, turns out they had raised their entire island from the ground into the air. I’m not entirely sure how they’re keeping it up there, but I couldn’t get close enough to determine it. There were guards all over the place, and they were doing some kind of mining operation in the resulting crater.” she explained.

“Since then, however, I’ve been to the island. It was mainly out of plain curiosity due to all the flyers they had been putting up all over the place. On my way up there, I saw airships, as in, ships that could fly from their docking platform, and up to the island. I saw mechanized guards, not with people inside, but fully mechanical. When I got up to the island, I went straight to their Science Guild, and got a meeting with Tomikan Taro, the creator of the mechanized guards. Apparently they’re running off an inferior copy of Deta. They’re basically self-puppeteering puppets.”

She paused a bit and went over what had happened during her visit “Oh right. I tried to obtain a copy of the technology powering the machines, but the price was one I wasn’t willing to pay. They wanted me to sign over my province in exchange for an unlocked chakra core.” she said, grumbling a bit “Eventually, I didn’t end up getting what I wanted, but I did obtain enough ideas to work off of. At the end of the meeting with Taro, we ended up agreeing to collaborate on some battery technology. He sent me some mineral samples after that, and I used my metallurgic knowledge to turn it into an incredible alloy with storage capacity far above the norm. It even generates chakra once initialized.”

Realizing that she was getting off topic, she stopped and cleared her throat. “Erh. Sorry.” she said and resumed her talking about Titan. “And only a week ago, I had a meeting with Azuma Masahiro, the boss of Titan itself. He claimed he was there to offer solace for how I had been, and I quote, ‘rudely ousted from power by the usurper, Saito Akira’. He also expressed how he felt it was peculiar that the only one punished was me, while the rest involved didn’t get punished. I countered with the argument that I was fairly sure you were working on that particular thing. Long story short, he isn’t impressed with how you did things, but he frankly doesn’t care for the politics of the world beneath him. Finally, he offered me a position with them. I have yet to decide regarding that.” she finished and adjusted her position in the chair.

[MFT; WC: 509]

 

[Junan]

Akira nodded... for the first part of what Kitsune had to say he was wondering about what her opinion on them were. He certainly seemed to hear notes of curiosity and keen interest in what they were doing there. Little of it seemed anything that warranted huge amounts of caution. With exception of their ability to raise a massive portion of earth into the sky that is. That in itself could be used as a weapon, raising the village up into the sky and then releasing it to fall back to earth would kill thousands of Kumogakure citizens and what remained would possibly be killed or scattered.

It was however the latter part of Kitsune's information that concerned him however. He had been kind to Kitsune with his judgement. If it had been anyone else she might not be living, or be permanently imprisoned for what she did. That it had been Akira's best friend who had died had certainly made those options more interesting to him. However Shin had been a very forgiving person, and despite Kitsune's faults Akira knew that she had done the thing that she honestly felt to be the best. Some would argue that if she'd fought then perhaps the tide could have turned into Shin's favour, but there was no guarantee in that.

The concern in what she was saying however was how much they were aware of. How much they were appealing to Kitsune's ego, their degradation of Akira himself, and that they were offering her a position.

At this time what feeling do you get from them and their purpose? He asked, his eye was keener than it had been, he didn't like to be thought of in that way, but especially when it was clearly being used in an attempt to turn a shinobi against him, and at this stage that meant the village.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune scratched her head “Well. I get the feeling that they think they’re doing what’s best for people. Personally I’m not so sure. No company does something grandiose like that without getting something in return. As for their words regarding our village, and you, I don’t care for them. My personal opinion is that they’re a threat to the stability of the country, as well as the village, and something has to be done about it.” she said, hoping that explained her position on them. “However, any action taken is of course entirely up to you, Saito-san.” she finished.

Her immediate choice regarding the job was to decline it. However, with how things were turning out, maybe it’d be best if she accepted it so she could get the inside scoop on what went on up on the island. “So, what do you think Saito-san?” she asked him, folding her arms, waiting on his opinion on the entire thing.

 

[Junan]

It was a tough one.

He obviously didn't like how they were going about their actions. They clearly were approaching shinobi they thought may not hold loyal to the village, which meant that Akira had no clue as to how many others had been approached by the group.

Perhaps that in itself was all he needed to act.

But they felt they were doing well by the people. People Akira had lived alongside for most of a decade. He was aware of their activity down there but had thought little of it. They had provided the people with a self-belief, a strength of will which meant that they didn't simply bow to the strength of shinobi. And that was good... to a point.

Akira wasn't one to believe like others that shinobi should rule. He understood that they had a place. They were strong, and they were there to protect the weak, to make sure that there was a balance between the nations. Cloud was steadily growing stronger once more, and at the rate they were going he wondered whether they may grow too strong. In which case was there a need for a group like Titan?

Unfortunately for Titan that was a train of thought he couldn't allow himself.

I think we need to learn more and be prepared for the worst. A war is something that should be avoided, but if they move against Kumogakure I want to be able to end it before it begins. An island in the sky, no matter how they were keeping it up there, that was a weakness just as big as a strength. Especially if that was their headquarters.

Accept their offer and learn more about them. If you feel they need to be dealt with then send me a letter updating me on how much you've been able to achieve with them. By the time the letter reaches me should give you enough time to get off of the island safely.

He would have other operations take place which would ensure that the whole place would simply explode. Yes it might cause the death of many, but his priority were the people of Kumogakure. This was the kind of call he needed to make as the Raikage, and he'd never shied away from killing before.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune nodded. ”Understood.” she said ”I’ll be sending it to my estate, who’ll then bring it to you. It’ll be encrypted, so it can’t be read by Titan.” she continued and handed him the cipher to decrypt the messages. ”Don’t lose that, it’s the only way to decrypt the message.” She got out of the chair and gave a light bow ”I’ll go contact them and accept the position. Oh, and, on an entirely separate matter. How’s the sword coming along?” she added with a wink, referring to the katana she inquired about during their last meeting. Of course she didn’t expect it to be done, but any progress was good progress, right?

 

[Junan]

Only encrypt it if you need to send me some kind of information. If I receive a letter from you at all, encrypted or otherwise I will take that to mean that I need to act against them. If you believe that their intentions are good, and that those intentions are matched by their actions, then we will leave them alone until that changes.

He stood as she did, then she asked about the sword she had commissioned.

Smiling and nodding, he knew he had taken some time.

Yes. Sorry about the delay with that. I have built myself a new forge in my old training location, Shinbatsu's dojo. I have only had time to work on the item I created for the Raiden Festival so far, in a way it was a test item, each forge is different, reaching different heats at different times with different fuel. I believe I understand it well enough to be able to create the weapon you requested now however, so the next chance I get I will get to work on it.

Unfortunately that was the best he could promise. Life as a Raikage was busy, he was often traveling around Lightning Country carrying out various missions which required him to effectively act subservient to the other lords. He didn't carry that last part out very well he felt, the other lords always seemed to be a little overwhelmed by his presence, and most had heard his reputation, and those who hadn't knew of his masters.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune nodded. “I’ll be your eyes and ears on the island then.” she said before listening to the explanation about getting a new forge and so on. “Well. If you need an interesting metal to work with, I’ve got quite the rarity at my mansion. It’s from a meteorite, different from any type of steel alloy I’ve seen. I think an artist such as yourself would enjoy working with it. I’ve instructed my staff to give it to you if you were to ask for it.” she said with a smile. And with a light bow, she’d be off to do her assigned task.

[Topic Left]

 

[Junan]

Nodding his head in reply to her bow he didn't answer her suggestion. Yes, he enjoyed working with new metals, but they weren't something which was simply added into anything. Some had properties which were very disadvantageous and thus would make creating a weapon from them as a first time use... useless. He would simply make the weapon from a combination of metals that he frequently uses himself, and then use other metals to embellish it. In the end, this would result in a good quality weapon, one which wouldn't break at the first exchange, or get dull easily.

She left, and Akira moved from where he'd been sitting to the window to look out to the village.

The door closed, but it was a few moments too late for it to have been her closing the door.

Akuhei, I have a mission for you.

Go on.

The man was stealthy, as hard hitting as any shinobi Akira had ever fought, but more loyal than he knew. Akira was aware of his excentricities, and they had been friends since joining the ANBU together, if only aware of each other during the academy.

The island in the sky. I need a fail safe in case Titan are revealed to be the enemy.

You want me to destroy the island?

No. I want you to place explosive notes throughout the inside of the island. The explosion will cause more damage from the inside out, I want to be able to form a single symbol and destroy the entire thing should I need to.

There might be nearby towns and farms adversely affected should we perform such an act.

I'm... aware. He took a breath before turning around. This wasn't the kind of action he wanted to take. He hoped he was wrong, but if he wasn't then he didn't want to find out what else the village might have been completely unaware of Titan creating.

In the end a drawn out battle between Titan and Shinobi would have worse consequences for the same groups of people. I think this would be the best solution for everyone, and we can lend them aid if need be afterwards.

Akuhei bowed and then left. The door closing behind him showed him gesturing for Koumyou to follow. They would be off to perform their mission. Looking to his desk he looked at the message he'd received, a curled up piece of paper with a warning on it. He hoped the message was wrong.

[topic left]