Artemis followed Houou's lead into the room. She looked around, expecting to see something that just shouted, 'I'm a top secret document!' at her. "Find anything good?" She asked Atsuko, who seemed to be on the same task. She shuffled through items on desks, looking for equations or mission statements. She approached one of the vats, pressing a hand softly against it. She wanted to cast a sensory jutsu, but a voice in the back of her head warned her against these experiments.
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 11:31 am
Houou's quick thinking spared the group a tunnel collapse and it seemed that whoever had been coming down the tunnel was now very reluctant to head through both the smokescreen and potentially explosions and a tunnel collapse. Their footsteps receded for now and they started yelling at other people at the far end of the shaft. The researchers were immediately and readily compliant to Houou's orders, but didn't seem eager to set foot outside. A few of them were wearing metal collars and bracelets, which they scratched at worriedly while looking everywhere but at the group.
The dark room at the other end of the research area lit up thanks to the glowing fungi, but details were still hard to make out. The walls were white, but that much was only occasionally visible under a brownish-black substance that someone--or something--had painted the walls and floor with. Suspended about ten feet up in the middle of the room glinted the bars of a cage, though it was empty. There didn't immediately seem to be anything of worth in that room outside its implications for the sorts of research being conducted.
Taketori would find that most of the mechanisms on the armor sets looked to have been tacked on at the last minute. They were also weirdly melted and would slide off of the armor if he messed with them; clearly they were no longer functional, either through design or accident. The gloves and masks were very well-made and bore the insignia of the Shinjiro Factory. The masks also looked to have breath filters built into them. Underneath all the armor and clothing--if Taketori deigned to dig down that far--each guard wore a necklace with a tiny metal plate on it carrying the symbol of a minor village.
The vast majority of the documents the group found were written in code, especially among those on the desks. There were books stuffed with notes and notepads stuffed into drawers. Atsuko would spot a dog-eared notebook tucked in the pocket of a lab coat that had been tossed over a chair and a small silver key that had fallen under a desk. Artemis would come across a hefty tome filled with coded notes and anatomical diagrams of the creatures in the tanks, among others. She'd also come across a locked drawer; either forcing it open or finding the appropriate key would yield a bundle of envelopes containing seemingly innocuous letters and mentions of payments, a marked-up map of Takumi, and a bottle of blue liquid.
Releasing his hand seal, Houou immediately took notice of the researchers body language and hesitance to move beyond their desks, they hadn’t even looked him in the eyes yet. Suddenly houou would take notice of something that would completely change his tune.
“Who put those collars on you!”
Houou roared, not intending to startle the guards. Resisting the urge to have his roots rip the collars and chains of of them all, houou quickly collected his thoughts and returned to a rational tone. Realizing that the UHV could have rigged the collars with trackers or worse explosives, houou had to rethink his approach. Houou was growing more and more concerned with how nervous the scientists seemed. As their eyes darted around the room, houou took notice of a cage hanging from the ceiling... there was a reason Magnus wanted this operation destroyed in the end.
“Quickly, do you know if those guards had the keys to your chains? Can you tell us why they have you locked away here? We will gladly provide you with an escort to the surface.”
Houou was too distracted by the researchers, momentarily dropping his guard. For a moment he relied fully on the assistance of his comrade to watch the surroundings.
[Techniques Used]
Chakra +15
Odoeb
Time and Timor
Pad Chief
ZephyrsBlade
Ergo War
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 1:14 am
Atsuko would make sure to put away the notes into his bag as best he could, trying to pick out what he found important. When he noticed the dog eared note book it peaked his interest. He knew they were on short time but as of now they still had control so he would open it to scan through it quickly, also pocketing the small key. Perhaps this was the key to those collars, a thought drove through his head as he read the note book.
● Sharingan 3 Tomoe - Active ● Dragons Greed - 1.5x Ryo rewards from missions or jobs; With a love for wealth instilled by his chosen animal Saiji is particularly good and negotiating higher sums for missions or jobs. ● Targeted Immunization (Fear) ● ●
◆￤ Inventory
● Pain-Murderer [x10] - An extra-strength painkiller. Take one to abolish all pain in the body. ● Field Medic's Kit - Includes several types of hypodermic needles, precession scalpels, sanitation kits, adrenalin boosters, and even cauterizing tools. ● Focus Pad [x5] - A soft cotton pad that focuses Eiseijutsu onto the areas covered by it. This drastically reduces recovery time after being treated with Eiseijutsu. ● Kumo Pass Seal ● Communicator ● Base Key ● Dragon Mask ● Lost Robes - (Rasengan Stored) - -
Artemis snatched a heavy tome filled with coded notes and sketches of the tank creature's biology, though she didn't have enough time to skim it fully. She stuffed it into her knapsack where the rest of her supplies were and carried on, coming across a drawer that would not budge under her ministrations. She didn't want to walk away relatively empty-handed when everyone else was making quick work of the room, hostages, or guards' equipment; the most pragmatic course of action, in her opinion, was to generate chakra at her fist and punch the front of the drawer, which knocked the foundation of the desk enough to force the drawer to hang on its hinges.
She put her hands out in front of the drawer to catch the sliding contents. A bundle of letters plopped into her hands, which she tossed onto the counter so she could continue catching the drawer's insides. A map slipped out, which she also tossed up, and then a bottle of blue liquid. She rubbed her thumb across the bottle as the rest of her hand cradled it; what could be inside? She was careful not to jostle it further as she lightly rested it on the top of the counter. Taking the rest of the stuff on the counter into her knapsack, she slipped her arms through the loops and let the bag rest on her back once more. She then picked up the bottle carefully and turned to show the rest of the group.
"Got a bottle of blue stuff. Dare me to drink it?" She asked in a clearly teasing manner. They didn't possess a lab to test it, but that could be added to their base at a later time if Atsuko liked the idea. "Y'all know what this is?" She asked the bewildered scientists after Houou's own questions.
USED: Oukashou [ Cherry Blossom Collision ] Rank: C Official Description: Oukashou is a Taijutsu technique used by Haruno Sakura. Using the skills passed down by her teacher Tsunade, Sakura is able to utilize powerful strikes. Sakura will first build up a high amount of chakra to her fist and then release it in an instant. Guild Description Is a complex technique, requiring half chakra-half stamina. Can be sustained for half-cost and made passive after the first post's usage. Is usable with non-Formless Style Taijutsu.
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:49 pm
The scientists' responses were slow and extremely hesitant, but through all that the truth would eventually come out: they were prisoners of war (more or less) who had scientific backgrounds. The UHV had offered them freedom and handsome compensation if their work bore fruit, but wanted to make sure they stayed on the job. Through a lack of any reasonable way to blackmail or bribe them into staying--as was the case with some of the others--they'd been given special cuffs and collars to make them stand out in a crowd. On top of that, it was implied that the collars might have some sort of kill switch in them to silence any escapees, though no one stated that outright. They did seem awfully hesitant to leave the room though.
One of the researchers--a scrawny boy barely in his twenties--answered Artemis' question: it was something they were to put on their wounds if they ever got attacked by the creatures in the vats, sort of like a disinfectant and a plaster to keep them from bleeding out. He didn't elaborate much further, but he did suggest that he wouldn't drink it if he was her.
Atsuko would find little in the notebook that wasn't in code, but there was a section in the middle that had a bunch of dates down one side. The key didn't look like it went to any of the collars or even to the drawers on the desks. Perhaps it was a useless key of some sort, or perhaps its purpose hadn't been made clear yet.
That section, if you want to have fun with some easy codebreaking
The sound of another explosion rocked through the mine, this time much louder than before. All present would be able to feel the soundwave as it passed through them. In the moments following the explosion, someone elsewhere in the mine would shout: "Enough already! Get out of here, we've got an emergency situation!"
Metallic footsteps echoed through the purple mist.
Taketori donned the breathing mask out of necessity though he kept the gauntlets and the necklaces he found on each of the bodies with him. The symbols they had on it would be telling and while he did not have time to investigate them right now, they were both a potential lead in this investigation and a trophy won after a battle. He said a quick prayer for the guards, even though they were mortal enemies, he had come up victorious. The animosities held in life mattered not once one was dead, after all.
Walking into the room, the sense that most assailed him was the smell. While his wasn't significantly enhanced, the sharp contrast from a natural environment to this decidedly unnatural one was an assault on him. While the others looked through the complicated looking papers, Taketori was more drawn to the door in the back, as well as the vats containing the strange creatures. The smell around the vats felt more natural to him and he could not say he did not feel many levels of disgust. Disgust at the creatures, disgust at their entrapment in this place, and then further disgust at the scientists, plus disgust at the fact that the scientists were also trapped here. The guards outside were warriors to be certain, they had fought with loyalty towards something greater. These were mere slaves.
Yet Taketori could not help the humans, at least not now with the shouts and sounds of foot steps coming through. His strong gaze drilled the scrawny researcher, the one who had begun talking to Artemis, and then demanded, "Write to us where we may locate you, after this. Live." Taking a more conciliatory tone, he continued, "The guards outside tried to collapse the cave. You would be as trapped as these creatures."
His next gambit was to buy time. He signaled the group towards the door in the back, which he would try to open. He followed up with some more hand signs so that the guards who were coming or the scientists would not understand: they would pass through the door if it was safe inside and he would break open the vats, either releasing the reportedly violent creatures or perhaps ending their misery. The door appeared to lock from the outside, suggesting that there was something the researchers wanted to keep in. As he opened the door, he would carefully glance towards the faces of the nearby scientists to gauge their reaction, ready to slam it shut again if needed.
Then, he yelled loudly directed at whomever was approaching through the purple smoke. "BEWARE. THE TUNNEL WILL COLLAPSE." Hopefully the breathing filter around his mouth and the ongoing evacuation would hide that his voice was different. At the very least he sought to delay their approach enough to see what was through these much heavier doors.
First Class: Bloodline ____Discipline → Thoroughbred: Your maximum chakra pool and maximum stamina pool are both increased by {10} points, and you receive an additional {05} points to each pool whenever you rank up. Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used. ( If chakra was used, you recover chakra; if stamina was used, you recover stamina; if both were used, you recover both. ) Second Class: Taijutsu ____Discipline → Berserker: Your external training and devotion to taijutsu has allowed you to have moderately increased Strength and Fortitude, making attacks overwhelm physical taijutsu techniques of the same rank or lower. Additionally, your hardened body allows you to utilize your physical taijutsu techniques to negate ninjutsu techniques of the same rank or below.
---- Sustained Activation [2/6] --- Deactivated Invigorating Armor Rank: B :: Armor Description: An advanced Armor technique that was actually developed by a struggling young practitioner of The Kaiser Fist. This technique, like Stimulating Armor, allowed him to maintain his peak physical potential; While active, this armor generates a thin aura of Chakra and prevents the user's strength and fortitude from being reduced below normal levels, while also granting a mild increase to both as well. Lasts for six posts. ---- ---- ----
The moment Taketori moved to investigate the door houou began to hear the sound of a small group of men heading toward them. If the guards they had just defeated were willing to throw their lives away to hide what these scientists were working on, then it was clear that these men were important to the UHV. The scientist avoided Houous questions about their collars and continued to look around nervously. Houou suspected they were bound to this room somehow, but how could he free them if they wouldn’t even acknowledge he collars. Glancing to the back of the room houou would hope that there was something beyond that door that could help them out in this pinch.
“who is the head scientist here?”
Houou questioned politely as he corralled all the scientists to the side of the room toward the center where he would have optimal distance from both doors. Houou motioned for them to get down, awaiting for the head scientist to speak up.
Artemis frowned at the scrawny kid's interpretation of the liquid. She placed it gently into her bag regardless. She walked over the Atsuko and looked over his shoulder, at the notebook. The nonsense written on one page caught her eye. She hummed thoughtfully, replacing the seemingly random letters with the opposite alphabet letter.
"Shipping Manifest ... Beware Alexei and Sacnite," Artemis translated. The whole middle part would likely take a separate piece of paper. She licked her lips as she thought about what the UHV could mean by all of that. "Alexei... Sacnite... you think those are among the hostages in front of us? Or some vigilantes? Maybe reading those names triggered a genjutsu." The last one she uttered under her breath purely out of the slight paranoia she was beginning to feel all the time. Atsuko's doujutsu be damned, she was sure that the UHV had ample tricks up their sleeves with how long they'd been in power.
Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 11:55 pm
OOC: forgot to edit my chakra for the rest replenishment. Will post proper chakra on next round.
Might Senju Flowers
Badgeless Loiterer
Offline
Pad Chief
Winner
Offline
Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 10:48 am
"Do not worry friends. I will find us a way out. Does anyone have any sort of map of the area?" He announced to the scientists. Perhaps they would have better luck fleeing into the mines if they were mapped and then leaving using Shalamoana's senses.
However he intended to find another way out. Likely the case was that the corridor was the only way out Shalamoana gave into his birdlike senses for a moment sensing the exact direction of magnetic north. Prior to this he had simply been bumbling around not really paying much attention just fooling around with Shazwanga. Tasting the air he began to feel the air current to see if there was any stray air current.
Meanwhile Shazwanga began observing the scientists. Perhaps there was a chance one of them might not have a collar. Obviously one without a collar was more likely to be in charge. He began hopping around poking at the scientists searching for anything useful and observing their clothes and manacles.
Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:09 pm
The crowd shifted uncomfortably when Taketori mentioned the attempted tunnel collapse. The scrawny researcher looked down at the floor.
"Could you get these restraints off, please? I don't... think I can leave with them on," he mumbled, sounding conflicted. Elsewhere in the crowd, an exceedingly tall man with a bent back grunted noisily and tossed a keyring on the floor. Notably, he was one of a few who did not have a collar on.
"Garbage, this whole situation's garbage. I didn't sign up to die in the damn sewers like a rat," he spat, eying one of the vats with some animosity. "Guess I'm the head scientist. Whaddaya want? No maps in here, but I doubt you'll get lost since one end's a dead end."
When Taketori shouted that the tunnel was going to collapse, the footsteps slowed to a stop and there were panicked whispers. Almost instinctively, the herd of researchers headed to the back of the room, but they were hesitant to pass through the second door. Beyond it was a large tiled room several stories deep with a cage suspended in the middle. The walls and floor were coated in a flaky, dark brown substance and the whole thing smelled like a barrel of disinfectant had been spilled in it a week ago and never cleaned up. A small drain in the floor all the way at the bottom of the room looked to be clogged with hair. Aside from a medical cart just inside the door, the area appeared to be empty. The cart, aside from the various pieces of equipment on it, had a clipboard and notepad hanging from the side.
The glass of the vats was thick enough that it would not shatter from a simple blow, though it would make a deep ringing sound if struck that would make the creatures trapped inside twitch.
Shalamoana would quickly ascertain that magnetic north lie in the direction of the corner to the left of where they'd come in, facing the door from inside the room. The air was moving, but it started and ended in tiny vents and seemed to be artificially induced rather than indicative of an alternative exit. There was not any air current coming through the door, strange as that might have seemed. Shazwanga would find a few scientists didn't have collars, but there wasn't any apparent physical factor that would serve as a marker for who did and didn't get the collars. There was very little in the average researcher's pockets other than things to write with and the occasional piece of paper or jewelry. A few of them froze in place when they were being checked over, though it seemed to be more a nervous reaction than anything else.
"STATE YOUR I.D. NUMBER," someone hollered from within the purple mist. The order was accompanied by a sound like stakes being driven into the dirt and a mechanical clicking sound. The mist started to flow en masse out of the passageway.
Atsuko started to crack the code that was in the book when noises rung out in multiple directions. It seemed they were discovered, luckily they still had a bit of fortune left. Well his team figured out where they were going next he knew that they couldn't exactly just walk back out, which likely meant it was time for a bit of a fight.
Asumo on his shoulder inhaled air as Atsuko made his way to the front, ensuring that no one would be in the cross fire. Instead of a vocal reply the reply the people would get would start with a small gust of wind that would eventually roar into a tornado, trapping and damaging those within as well as the smoke. An even more adverse effect of it was there would be a slight amnesia like effect to the victims trapped within.Ranmyaku Setsu [ Chaos Theory ] A Rank Used
● Sharingan 3 Tomoe - Active ● Dragons Greed - 1.5x Ryo rewards from missions or jobs; With a love for wealth instilled by his chosen animal Saiji is particularly good and negotiating higher sums for missions or jobs. ● Targeted Immunization (Fear) ● ●
◆￤ Inventory
● Pain-Murderer [x10] - An extra-strength painkiller. Take one to abolish all pain in the body. ● Field Medic's Kit - Includes several types of hypodermic needles, precession scalpels, sanitation kits, adrenalin boosters, and even cauterizing tools. ● Focus Pad [x5] - A soft cotton pad that focuses Eiseijutsu onto the areas covered by it. This drastically reduces recovery time after being treated with Eiseijutsu. ● Kumo Pass Seal ● Communicator ● Base Key ● Dragon Mask ● Lost Robes - (Rasengan Stored) - -
Before the Key’s had time to even bounce on the floor a second time, houou had them in his clutches. He didn’t hesitate to start releasing all of the guards that were bound by chains.
“Thank you sir, we will do our best to make sure you don’t die like a rat.”
Houou spoke to the lead scientist in such a casual manner in hopes to keep them calm and responsive. As houou got to the young scientists and locked eyes with him. This kid was around Houous age just a little older and he was still a slave to the UHV. The only thing that ran through Houou’s head was “that could still be me”. With the guards freed, houou noticed the opening of the back door and dashed over to cover Taketori in case some of those experimental beasts were being held there.
The moment he entered the room houou took immediate notice of the medical supplies beside the door he picked up the clipboard and notepad l, glancing them over in disgust. This surprise, the room descended several stories down. However, Houous attention would quickly be captivated by the cafe hanging in the middle of the room. After realizing what was going one here he clenched his fists. The UHV has been forcing these researchers to experiments on these poor creatures, toying with lives as they please. And being a medic, houou knew that the sign of those medical supplies was a bad omen. Slamming his hands together houou formed the snake seal and commanded all of the vines in the room behind him to stretch forwarand grasp the cage that was suspended. The roots wrapped gently around the cage but began gripping tightly onto the chain it was suspended from. Once he had a firm grip houou then pulled the cage free of the chain. Placing it in the doorway, Houous vines began wrapping themselves around the bars of the door, bending them until there was enough room for two people to easily walk in. Houou took note of the scientists hesitance to whatever was in the room and kept his hands together and his vines densely packed around the cage. All while glancing over his shoulder to witness Atsukos attack. there where too many scientists to cover, for houou to assist the team, he had to think of something fast.
[Techniques Used]
Moku Soujuu [ Wood Manipulation ] Ability This control allows the Senju to bonsai existing vegetation as though it were rapidly growing. Not only can it take any form the user desires, but it can also be shifted around as if it were free from the ground. It should be noted that one can also manipulate wood they themselves have made, and it must be done while holding a double hand seal. Additionally, any wood that is being freely manipulated is not very solid, and can be broken or shattered as if it were completely natural, making it a poor choice for attacking or defending with. Should be noted that techniques can be made smaller while retaining their rank. ___ Rank E: Very small vegetation. ( Single leaves, petals, bits of bark, etc ) ___ Rank D: Small vegetation. ( Flowers, young growth, small trees, etc ) ___ Rank C: Medium vegetation. ( Bushes, patches of tall grass, etc ) ___ Rank B: Large vegetation. ( Medium trees, clearings, etc ) ___ Rank A: Enormous vegetation. ( Tall trees, fields, etc ) ___ Rank S: Massive vegetation. ( Elder, ancient trees, groves, etc ) • Requires [5] posts to learn, and must learn in order. • Freely manipulated wood has no chakra or stamina bearings in versus situations.
Taketori motioned for the scrawny researcher to pick up the keys the self-proclaimed head scientist had tossed and begin using them. The room, being a dead end, had little inherent interest to him. Instead, with Atsuko initiating combat with the second wave of guards, the berserker's blood called to him again. He bared his teeth instinctively as he made his way back towards the initial entrance with Atsuko.
"You. Tell me about the creatures in the vat. And the vat, is it movable?" Taketori demanded of a nearby researcher as his [ Invigorating Armor ] flared back to life around him, the chakra enhancing his abilities.
Raising both hands, he pointed them over Atsuko's shoulders and began focusing both chakra and stamina into his finger tips, growing the tips of his finger bones larger with a different shape, not dissimilar to an armor-piercing shell. There had been stories of a Kaguya who was able to pierce steel armor with his finger bullets. Taketori had come to rely on this technique for his ranged combat that he had evolved it and hoped it would be able to shred armor as well. He launched the first ten rounds down the tunnel with enough force to actually create some recoil. And then he'd do it again, quickly regrowing and modifying his finger bones for a second barrage. Because even if the volley wasn't as armor piercing as he hoped, there was great enough force behind them to still do damage.
[OOC]: Ergo I'm not sure if my Finger Bullets will get a rank increase in strength since I'm getting 3.5 passive DR (complex Taijutsu) + 2 active DR (from Armor) for 5.5 DR
First Class: Bloodline ____Discipline → Thoroughbred: Your maximum chakra pool and maximum stamina pool are both increased by {10} points, and you receive an additional {05} points to each pool whenever you rank up. Additionally, when you perform bloodline techniques above Rank D, you are refunded {05} chakra or {05} stamina, depending on which energy was used. ( If chakra was used, you recover chakra; if stamina was used, you recover stamina; if both were used, you recover both. ) Second Class: Taijutsu ____Discipline → Berserker: Your external training and devotion to taijutsu has allowed you to have moderately increased Strength and Fortitude, making attacks overwhelm physical taijutsu techniques of the same rank or lower. Additionally, your hardened body allows you to utilize your physical taijutsu techniques to negate ninjutsu techniques of the same rank or below.
---- Supplementary Activation [3/6] --- Invigorating Armor Rank: B :: Armor Description: An advanced Armor technique that was actually developed by a struggling young practitioner of The Kaiser Fist. This technique, like Stimulating Armor, allowed him to maintain his peak physical potential; While active, this armor generates a thin aura of Chakra and prevents the user's strength and fortitude from being reduced below normal levels, while also granting a mild increase to both as well. Lasts for six posts.
---- Tenshi Sendan x2 at B-rank [A-rank damage (I think? 3.5 passive DR + 2 active DR for 5.5, round up?), B-rank speed] Teshi Sendan [ Ten Finger Drilling Bullets ] •Rank: D (Complex) <--- Made Rank: X with Variable Technique • Hardened bones from the fingertips are shot at the enemy, with a spinning motion added to the skeletal bullets. A direct hit will excavate skin, flesh, and bone. Since the bones of the user can be regenerated, the rate of fire from the user's arsenal is limitless. This technique is essential to Kimimaro for his long distance attacks. In the anime, these attacks were shown strong enough to easily pierce through the steel armor worn by the samurai. ----
