3263/Get Out Alive

Get Out Alive
Date of Scene:	24 October 2015
Location:	Asian Plains
Synopsis:	The Ayame Clan of ninja spring their trap on one Yari Takane. The mercenaries sent after her have her cornered in a small town in the Asian Plains, but the intervention of her hornsister Mantigora turns the trap into a bloodbath for the sleepy town.
Cast of Characters:	583, 691

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Yari Takane (691) has posed:
It should be an easy mission. A small town in the Asian Plains, well used to the Multiverse, and distinctly japanese in styling. It's almost familiar to Yari, dressed as she is in a dark blue and white kimono, rain pouring down. She huddles underneath her umbrella from the rain, just as she runs into the local tavern.

It's a two story building, all wood and bamboo siding like you'd see in so many other early-era Japanese-like towns. There's the laughter of drunken men and women, as serving girls give food and drink. One such young woman helpfully offers the partially soaked Yari a towel. The lizard-woman takes it, and declines her umbrella being taken. One quick food order, and she's over to a seat, sipping sake and nibbling on kabobs.

In one corner of the tavern, a distinctly fat merchant laughs.

"...And then we'll stash the goods in the mountains north of here. They'll never know we even stole them! Heh! 'Superfaction'!"

Yari listens. With him spilling information, this job should be simple.

Not five minutes later, there's a group of ten men that walk into the tavern. All dressed in typical era clothing, but tattoos are common on them, and the swords they have are prominent.

The poor serving girl is thrown aside by a bald headed number of the group.

"All of you! Outta here!" Swords are drawn, there's a panick, and people begin to run out the door. Even the merchant scrambles away. Yari moves to make her way out as well, but then the men form a wall between her and the exit, letting just about everyone else go if they don't draw weapons.

"Not you, 'Yari Takane'! The Ayame Clan says hello!" The big, bald man laughs, before a trio of his lackies charge. Yari leaps away, parries one man's blow with a chair to send him to the ground, and then takes a glancing blow as two more try to hem her in. She leaps up to the ceiling, hanging there with one hand. She's under-equipped, and by now, the men have fanned out to cover the exits. She can't do this alone. She calls out on the radio.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
In all honesty, if they knew Yari and her 'connections' they really shouldn't of expected her to be alone.

Well okay, technically she was alone, as far as coming to the tavern. But she had friends that had been through this sort of mission enough times to know the assorted ways it could go wrong. And while respectful enough of her colleague to not butt into her affair, she made sure to keep close enough to the location just in case... in case something precisely like this happened, really.

Which would be why 'covering an exit' for one of the mercenaries turns out to be a bum deal as seemingly out of thin air a pair of blades sinks into his side, followed by a boot to the back to dislodge him from the blades and the doorway. He's just lucky enough that she doesn't have the time to waste making sure he's actually dead before stepping into the tavern.

Armored longcoat swishes around her legs, and a malicious fangy grin on the Draken bounty huntresses face, even though her eyes are shielded currently by a futuristic visor interfaced with her cyberware. "Aw, you started the party without me?" Mantigora gave her arm an idle flick, splattering some fo the fresh blood from the blades across the floor. "Don't you know that's rude?"

And Skuzzler... was suppose to come through one of the windows. Except the window was higher than the Chua was tall, and instead of a dramatic leap he's still outside, clinging to the frame and kicking his stubby legs trying to get up while two of his Bots are failing and giving him a boost.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The man, stabbed and booted, falls. He quivers, sword dropped, and the leader of the group and several members turn around.

"Wh...who are you!? She was supposed to be alone!"

There's a mixture of elation, calming worry, and pure bloodlust coming from Yari as she notes Mantigora so swiftly coming to her aide. Truly, her hornsister is as reliable as ever.

"It looks like luck is on my side. When did you get here, hornsister? Forgive me, I would have invited you if I thought it might have a chance of becoming entertaining!" Mantigora might now how much easier smiling comes to Yari these days. With the rumors of her adopting a child floating about, it's not hard to put two and two together.

To their credit, the men get themselves back into discipline quickly for a group of thugs and mercenaries. The two downed men shake off their daze, and pull out crossbows, firing at Yari. The ninja manages to twist aside to dodge one, then is forced to return to the ground from the second shot. Another thug greets her with a knife, the flexible Au'Ra bending her back and throwing up her arm to knock the blade from his hand. She pushes off with her foot, catches the knife as it falls, and slices the mercenary's throat before using her tail to backflip towards an unguarded corner of the room. A purely defensive, and risky position, but now she has an ally here. The eight remaining men form into two groups, four apiece, the big, bald leader facing the more scaley one as he draws a pair of katana. He's easily six foot five, and his men crowd around him.

"Run along if you value your life! You're good, I'll admit it! We'll even pay you some of the reward if you help us kill the ninja bitch!"

Yari, meanwhile, dances with her opponents, using her stolen knife to parry, dodge, and duck the four men. They're all very good, at least for mercenaries like these. In their numbers, and the particularly strong leader, they could be a problem for the duo in such tight confines.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
"What can I say?" Mantigora replies to Yari in a manner that's so casual it's almost a bit frightening in its own right. "I have knack for being where needed." The leader draws his blades as his other men gather near him, to which the Draken leans her head a little to one side as she looks them over behind her visor. "Yes, gather your odds... you're going to need them... A Draken's honor is not something so easily bought off."

In a fluster Skuzzler drops back to the ground outside. "Fine! Try it she-Draken's way, not working." He pulls out his oversized launcher rifle and loads a volatility canister into it. "Now we do it Chua way!"

Cue explosion knocking a good chunk of the wall right next to the window out. "Knock knock!" Imagine an Evil Moustached three foot hamster in heavy space armor flanked by a pair of battle bots and you've got a pretty good image of what stands in the newly made opening.

And the resulting ruckus is just the oppritunity for Mantigora to leap into action, lunging into the group of men in a dervish of bladed flurry. Yet it was not brash furry, she's tactically going for the additional mean, trying to cut down some of the excess in numbers before the leader can be aptly handled.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
They're all lean, hungry looking men, the exact kind of scum that would be drawn to a big, brawny mercenary leader with just enough guts, talent, and intelligence to browbeat them into shape. Thugs all, but good ones.

Yari, flicking her hair with her tail, just chuckles as relief finally washes over her. Her stance is easy, losing much of the tense worry in it.

"Let's destroy this garbage, hornsister. But leave..."

She looks to the youngest looking member, his morale nearly broken already after Mantigora's statement.

"That one alive. I want a message delivered back to their employers."

The youth screams, and starts to run, only for the sudden actions of Skuzzler taking out an entire wall, landing the poor youth unconscious. The entire group is silent, stunned, all turned to Skuzzler and his battlebots.

Yari and Mantigora both don't waste time, two honed killing machines acting in concert. Mantigora's powerful blades lash out, cutting into her opponents. One loses an arm and falls, only for Yari to chuck a kunai into the back of his neck. Another artful blow from Mantigora cuts a man nearly in half as Yari leaps upon a falling support beam thanks to the blast, kicking off and sending it flying to crush one man while another is cut across throat, chest, and legs, spewing out blood violently. Shuriken fly and blades dance, until the tavern is pooled with the blood of their enemies. Yari ends up landing after their combined strikes, right atop the bar, one of the few places not soaked in gore or crimson. Only the leader and a trio of the toughest men remain aside from the youth who tumbled outside. The two men charge for Skuzzler and his doombots!

The leader curses.

"Not bad, killing them all! But they can be replaced! The Red Scarf Mercenary leader will kill you all!" Comes the man, charging for Mantigora! He's large, but fast, and twin swords lash out hard enough to cut into the ground. He howls, and fire lances across both swords! He's a magic user!

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Two men charge at the Chua, but one gets intercepted by the aptly named Bruiser Bot suddenly hurtling towards him with it's Blitz maneuver and plow it's metallic form into his midsection, sending both crashing through tables and chairs. He's probably going to have the wrestle that spider-legged bot off of himself before he can do much else to their enemies. As for the other, Skuzzler cackles a bit. "Look like we have first volunteer. EXPERIMENT TIME!" A bolt of electricity flies from his weapon, sending several arc sparks towards the mercenary, though it may not be enough to actually slow him down, it's certainly got to be a rather re-volt-ing experience!

The short but vicious bloodbath is the sort of thing Draken live for, and while she may be a little more, ah, composed than some of her kin Mantigora certainly doesn't enjoy it any less. "Oh, go ahead, replace them. Wiping them out is much more convenient when they come to us~"

The first sword slams into her shoulder, leaving a wake of fire in the air as she's spun from the strike. But the whirling motion is as much her own advantage as she uses it to spin around in time to parry the second sword strike with her own blades. Sparks of fire and energy alike fly as the two counter each other blow for blow, blade for blade, though the man's surprising speed makes it hard for Mantigora to just duck out of the way, instead having to focus on her defensive parries.

But she's not the only one here to fight the man. Just forcing him to keep as much attention on her as she is on defending against his swings.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The man struggles and loses his sword as the bruiser bot sends him flying! This man is burlier than any except the leader, and it's a tough struggle, but soon there's the sound of bone snapping as his flesh gives out! He drops back, head down, and likely to drown in the growing pool of blood unless the bot releases him!

The other, far leaner mercenary is met with a horrible shock! He twitches and convulses, falling backwards, unconscious from the horrid shock! A perfect living specimen for experimentations indeed! Just strong and healthy enough, but otherwise useless and no one will be missing him!

The battle rages. Every strong, fiery blow is met with a quick parry. The big, speedy man is sweating, putting his all into taking down the scaled beauty of blade and power that is Mantigora. Fire ignites the nearby tables, and the blood in the area already beginning to boil as the man puts more and more power into his ability! But Mantigora has him at a stalemate.

And throughout it all, the sharp-eyed Au'Ra watches. With the other men handled, she lets the battle rage, her armlet analyzing his magic, eyes watching the speed of his blows. To less experienced fighters, she might have been sitting there in indecision. But the ninja is too calm for that.

The centering, utter alertness that Kagenashi showed to her and she's been honing ever since pays off, as just as Mantigora's blades parry both of the big man's back, Yari seems to flicker away in an aether-hastened work of agility.

An afterimage lands upon the table for a moment, and snatches something from her long-abandoned umbrella. Then she's on the ceiling as the man stands tall. It's a risky move, but he holds both blades up, flames billowing to the roof.

Yari is behind him just as he slams down both arms towars Mantigora. One of the man's arms erupts in a shower of blood and arm-bits, utterly cut apart from the hidden blade she'd kept, before aligning her sword's tip to the man's back, right at the heart. A nod to Mantigora.

She only has to deal with the faltering, screaming bandit leader now, it seems, as that last arm swings down at her with that pillar of fire.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Skuzzler glances off to one side. Then the other. Then towards the fight, but both Mantigora and Yari are too busy to really pay attention to him. Excellent. He motions as the electricuted man and the other robot floats over, grabbing him with it's clamp-like appendages, and dragging the fellow out through the hole in the wall. The Brusier Bot clatters after, leaving the bloodied corpse of the other man behind... and bumps into the wall next to the hole. Repeatedly. Hard to tell if it got roughed up in the fight, or if it's just one of those annoying pathing issues. Finally Skuzzler just groans and hisses some obscenities under his breath as he desummons it, since the Diminisher already has his new test subject in tow.

By the end of the night the man is probably going to wish he had died in the fight like the others...

A double overheaded blow like that would of been hard for even the skilled Stalker to contend with, but at just the right moment Yari removes one of his arms from the equation. This gives the quick Draken just enough of an opening to duck and roll to the side as the other flaming sword slams into the floor, igniting the blood and ichor already smeared across it.

Only for her just as quickly to lunge back towards him, using her nano-augmented strength and speed alike to aim one of her Concussive Kicks at the side of the man's head to daze him.

Then twist midair off that kick to aim the second kick at his upper body, to shove him back against Yari's waiting blade.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The poor man is too unconscious to protest. He'll beg, many times, but never shall relief find him until his final moments in Skuzzler's grasp!

The strength and speed of Mantigora proves too much for the wounded man, and smashing into him with her Concussive Kicks, his head reels. The stun is more than enough to ring his clock, and bone and tendon audibly snaps. She's caught him at the perfect, near-lethal angle to no doubt paralyze his body.

Yari, for all her faults, has some portion of mercy in her blood. She could let the matter drop, and let him drown in his own blood or simply bleed out. But she's a professional as well. That last, monstrous kick sends the man flying backwards, and Yari leaps back, hesitating at just the right moment.

Her umbrella-sword pierces straight through the heart, splattering the floor with blood, and as the man's body tumbles backwards, her feet contact his large back. She leaps up, pulling her blade out, richochets off the ceiling, and lands just in that hole in the wall in an instant. Good thinking on Skuzzler's part.

She casually flicks away the blood off of her blade, before stowing it behind herself with her kimono's sash.

A deep sigh.

"...What a mess. Look at it all. I'm supposed to be a professional." A shake of the head, and then she offers a salute to her hornsister.

"You were just in time, as always. I...don't think we'll have time to clean up. Meet back up at the Citadel for drinks?" She offers, before her foot finds the unconscious young man.

Yari leans down, and slaps him awake. He shudders in her grasp, screaming as he sees his fellows all dead.

She curls her tail around his mouth to silence him.

"...You were pressured into this, weren't you? I don't feel any killing intent, even now, from you. So then. You will live, if you do me one kindness."

"Deliver this message to the Ayame Clan. 'I'm coming to end this. Don't involve anyone else.' Do you understand?" The youth howls, and nods, then she roughly shoves him to his feet and kicks him off to the back alleyways running.

She then turns to Mantigora once more as the local watch's whistle blows.

"Let's flee before the town watch arrives. Dinner on me." A flash of a smile, a salute, and then she too dissappears into the night.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora turns her head a bit to glance over her shoulder at the ... mess is literally putting it lightly, at this point. "Sometimes professionalism doesn't survive contact with the enemy." She's got a few bruises beneath her armor-padded attire and as equally covered in the enemies' blood... but for her, this is another day at the non-existant office.

She does smirk a little when Yari leaves the one survivor to deliever a 'message' to her enemies, though. She would of done the same thing.

"Enemies hiring assassins after you... I would almost take that as a compliment! They must hate you very much for what you did... But that sort of animosity is what make spirit strong."

She returns the salute, but takes her time to amble out of the building. Mostly to pass by the bar, and toss a credit chip to the innkeeper hiding behind it. "That should cover part of damages. Not your fault bunch of madmen tried to turn place into bloodbath."

Well it -is- a bloodbath, but not in the way intended.

Afterwards she strolls out, hops on her hoverboard and speeds off to meet her fellow dragon-girl for those drinks.