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In the middle of the street, two guards are at their post, looking mildly vigilant at best. They have clearly been there for a while and severely lacked action. Still, it is visible they are professionals. Despite these all but thrilling circumstances, they still regularly perform visual sweeps of the area and would spot intruders should they prove too careless. They do, however, seem to be arguing fairly intensely about some problem... what it is though seems fairly uninteresting...

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After landing at the shore of the Rain Country, Hiru lead the squad to the edge of the neighberhood where intelligence had reported the building should have been located. After scouting the area, he identified two guards, clearly giving away that something unusual was nearby, as there was certainly nothing worth guarding in these parts. Silently signaling the squad to group up on him, he explained the possibilities they would have to choose from to get by this first obstacle. "Any suggestions?", he asked.



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Choice 1

Take down the guards swiftly and silently. This would have the benefit of preventing any form of backup inside the area should something go wrong but, should they fail, will trigger an alarm if the targets aren't taken down fast enough.

Sneak Attack DC: 30 (guard 1)
Sneak Attack DC: 35 (guard 2)

or

Sneak Attack DC: 50 (guards 1 and 2)

(All shinobis that choose to sneak attack the opponents indicate which one they are attacking. If roll exceeds 50, they take down both.)

Reward: 100 XP


Choice 2

Sneak by the two guards and keep on moving to the main objective. Easier given the many obstacles to sneak behind, but you maintain the risk of having the patrol come back and find you later in their route. However, if you get caught, you have the risk that they trigger the alarm if you don't take them down fast enough.

Stealth DC: 20 (everyone must pass)

Reward: 50 XP


Optional

Try to figure out what the two guards are talking about. It might be of some relevance later in the mission...

Read Lips DC: 20 (partial information)
Read Lips DC: 25 (full information)

Reward: 25 XP (partial) or 40 XP + 1 Read Lips (full)

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NOTE: Various strategies may influence the DCs and experience gained from succeeding this step, be creative.

Hiru listened to his partner's suggestion. He had seen her use the false surroundings technique in the past and it could certainly prove useful in this situation. "That would be a great idea, it could certainly give us the precious few seconds we need to to surprise them."

Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique) : +8 to Sneak Attack or Stealth roll for all squad members.

Hiru, seeing the appointed leader of the intel division trying to figure out what the guards were discussing, realized it might be a good idea to try a similar attempt. Squinting his little shark eyes, he tried to make out the words the two were using based on the movement of their lips.

d20 [10] + Read Lips [05] + Wis Mod [08] = 23

NOTE: I will use Hiru but will not immediately suggest tactics based on his talents and jutsus unless they are suggested first by someone else (because of the double function as GM). Everyone, especially Kouri since your character is an intel specialist, make sure you read his abilities to use them efficiently!

Shikon knelt beside the others. He kept his voice low as he looked towards the people arguing. "I am fine with whatever you two choose to do. Either way though... I think we should take them out and hide the bodies. The dead are less of a problem to deal with if we can hide them well enough or something. Either way. That was my two cents. I'll follow your orders Leech." His eyes narrowed as his eyes locked on to their lips. He spoke softly and leaned over toward Hiru's ear and began to speak what they were saying. Using a slightly higher pitched voice for the female of the conversation. 'Wow those two guards are in trouble... Too late anyways.' He continued to whisper to Hiru then stopped and pulled back when his interest dropped.


d20 [16] + Read Lips [00] + Wis Mod [10] = 26

Hiru lifted his mask to address his squadmates. "Everyone take good note of this, as usual for my missions there will be no killing unless absolutely necessary, and let me tell you these situations do not come often. The blunt of that katana will knock them out just fine and we'll be in and out before they wake up, otherwise we're screwed anyway."

Hiru had never teamed up with Fenrir in the past, but he had heard more than once that he could be a vicious one in the right circumstances. It wasn't the first time black ops would send that sort of character on his teams to let him know they did not approve of his pacifist attitude. This way, they made sure that the nasty deeds would be done if needed.

Still, he was surprised that of the entire squad, the human shark with heightened senses and the intelligence specialist would not be the ones who would be able to read body language from such a distance. Maybe there was some truth to these rumours that claimed Fenrir was raised by a pack of animals... Hiru quickly briefed Naru on the discussion that Fenrir had reported in detail to him of which he had only understood parts.

"So, Angel, trap them in that genjutsu of yours, it should give us the opportunity we need to strike. I'll close in first and, Dog, you stay just a second behind. I'll swipe that guy since he looks a bit slower and you use my distraction to take the woman out. NO LETHAL FORCE.", he instructed.

Hiru's serious face gave Naru quite a bit of shock despite the fact that it really shouldn't have. She supposed it was probably because he was so smiley normally (off-duty, anyway). She'd been on missions with him before so she knew the way he liked to do things, and that suited her fine since she wasn't really a combat-oriented shinobi to start with. She mulled over the information that Fenrir had managed to extract (putting aside the antique agrarian equipment. She wasn't going to judge their hobby, except she just did). Presence of at least one more guard confirmed on the way to the elevator leading to the lab via the main hall, and there was another route via a side door that had less space to move in. That might not be too good for the two fighters since they would need space to be most effective. But at the same time... Naru considered the possibilities.

"You should try to draw blood," she said in a low voice. "Or a nosebleed, whatever. So if they wake up and catch up with us Leech'll be able to detect them, right? Just a small cut will do."

She nodded at Hiru and Fenrir and made her hand seals, her eye on the guards. To the guards the environment would not have obviously changed but certain things in the background and moving towards the foreground would continue to be.. obscured. To Hiru and Fenrir everything would stay the same.

Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique)
Cp cost: 35 + 8 per turn
Dice Rolls: 3
Damage: N/A
Will Save DC: 12 + int mod [15] + 2 per 10 ranks in Genjutsu [8] = 35

Cp: 380 - 35 = 345

Shikon waited for the signal. He wasn't good at holding back that well. He waited for "Leech" to give the signal.

Once he did, a smile was on his face. He launched out of where they were and ducked to the side. He picked up speed as he was nearly touching the ground on the inside of his turn. As that... Weird sword thing hit the man he took the moment of he delay and went for the woman's spine. It would break it if fully forced and what Hiru told him made him hesitate. Instead he jumped and as he came to the side quickly punched her on the side of the neck with the hilt, knocking her out. He held on to her and looked at Hiru. He whispered softly. "What do we do with the bodies Leech?"

1d20[3]+Sneak attack [30]+Genjutsu bonus [8]=41 (thank you kouri!)

Naru only dropped the genjutsu after she was sure that both guards were incapacitated and joined the others. She had a small smile on her face, though it was hidden by the mask. Hiru's agility in battle was something to behold as usual. Naru couldn't imagine manhandling that huge thing into that maneuver as he just did. She'd probably break her wrist. Fenrir's speed was also impressive. All in all she was glad that their first move had gone so smoothly.

[Do we add the exp now or later?]