9th Turn [Semi-accidental Video/Action]

[redjacketthief]

[His head hurt.

It was the first problem that Lupin noticed when he awoke in the woods that afternoon, clad only in the pale New Feather garb that all Lucetian’s are granted upon arrival. The sun was too bright and his head hurt, but it was nothing like all of those jobs where he faced everything from bullets to nuclear materials in crystalline form. Simple pain like this was something to be dealt with at a later time, when there was a moment to think and breathe. He had something more important to check on.

Or a group of someones. The thief sat up with the limber energy of a gymnast—and regretted it. The world seemed to shift without his consent and refused to stabilize despite his willing it to do so. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself up; it was just vertigo, probably from being still for too long…

Dealing with a little light headedness was nothing like his stint Cagliostro, both the first and the second time. At least he didn’t need to worry about Fujiko laughing at him. He took one step, two, digging his fingers into the rough bark of the trees for support as he fought against his vision hazing in and out with the vertigo. It was just from being out for too long. A few more steps and he’d--

--

--collapse into the earth’s embrace.

Lupin stared dumbfounded at the canopy for a breath. He burst into laughter when everything clicked into place.]

That’s right. I died.

[In the facility, with the others. Pops and Fujiko and Adele all told him that this could happen. Hell, he knew it from the outset during that midnight meeting in what should have been the Alps. It was a risk he willingly took, along with the moral implications and responsibilities. No regrets.

It just made life a great deal more complicated.

Death was cheap, however. He didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a satin-lined hardwood casket with white lilies piled on top for posterity. A little dizziness was an excellent trade off. Still choking back childish giggles at the absurdity of the situation, Lupin forces himself to sit up again and fight the rolling haze long enough to locate his journal. He gratefully collapsed back into the dirt once he had it in hand, and was doubly grateful when the realization struck that he was fine if he just stayed still. Any little motion sent his mind spinning, but he could think straight if he just stayed and stared up at the canopy.] 

[The feed was thrown on without a glance, suddenly treating the residents of the enclosure to a blindingly bright view of the forest from below. The thief himself was not aware if the feed was audio or video—nor did he care. No filters were added, lest he risk another wave of vertigo with just the act of sitting up. It was too much of a bother, especially when the sky was so blue.

Let other people worry about that for now.]

Hey, Lu-ce-ti~ [His tone was oddly humorous and light, with his suppressed laughter hiding just behind his words.] I’m back. [And alive.]

Can anyone around here spare a smoke? Not menthol and filtered, that’s all I want. Oh, and a light.

…who wants to go fishing?

((ooc: Nothing on this post is filtered and nothing will be filtered unless other characters put them up. Work under the assumption that everything said in this post via the journals is fully readable to everyone unless it is filtered, and threadjack away if you wish.

The actual act of picking Lupin up from the woods is locked to Luke Skywalker, though further action may take place around Community House 5 or the Battle Dome. For those with the lie-detect ability or something similar, you are thus warned that most things Lupin will say on non-filtered conversations is a complete lie.

With that noted, have at.))

Comments

[endgames]

I can respect that.

[It's the kind of response he'd expect from a shinobi, so.

But he still won't forget so easily. He swore to never let that happen as a leader again. If this had been anywhere else, he'd be dead for good.]

[redjacketthief]

[Lupin smiled. That was good enough.]

...What all happened back there afterword? I thought they were gonna take out all of us, but that obviously didn't happen.

[endgames]

[He holds up a finger, the classic "wait" gesture.] Before we skip ahead to that - you were at the door longer than us. What else did you hear?

[redjacketthief]

[He laughs.] Should have known you'd go straight for business! [It was only momentary. Lupin takes a deep breath and drops the jokes.]

...The niece told them everything that they wanted to know,and the 'Luceti Operation' hasn't been a complete waste. They're transferring her out of the city, Shikamaru.

No names were given, but I think we can take a few guesses.

[endgames]

[It only takes him a moment to make the connections. The "neice" could be any woman, but in relation to Luceti. In relation to Bil...]

Molly.

[redjacketthief]

Probably. [He considered that possibility himself.] It's just speculation at this point, though. Damn good speculation, but still speculation.

[endgames]

If this is the rogue faction, I'd be willing to bet on it.

[But she was taken months ago... if it's her, did she really take so long to crack?

If it was her, she was there. He wishes they'd found her.]

[redjacketthief]

And it's a good bet.

[Even though there was no way to differentiate between the factions during regular contacts that he was aware of. They were there, and they didn't intend them any kindness.

That was all he needed to know.]

...there's really nothing we can do from this side right now, unfortunately. We can't get out, and if we did? We have no idea where that city even is.

[endgames]

The crux of it is that to take her to another, their faction is not limited to a small group. This is the second such base we've heard of, but that statement indicates there is at least a third.

[redjacketthief]

At least. There's probably a few other cities too, and none of us have a clear idea of what all is on this planet. We know there's other enclosures, so their faction likely has a wider presence than we realize.

[endgames]

That's what I'm thinking. How they've kept it hidden for so long right under their nose...

[He sighs.] Well, that's another question for another time. You wanted to know what happened after that guard.

[redjacketthief]

Yeah. They also gave the order to kill us in the facility, so I was concerned. Law helped on that end..

But what all happened? I was told that the Shifts on the buildings are offline.

[endgames]

I've noticed things starting to repair themselves earlier, but yeah. They were out for the week.

Might've been our fault. After you went down we had to act fast, so we made our way to the basement to shut off the power and take the droids offline. I hear that's the same time things stopping repairing here, so I suspect it was connected.

[redjacketthief]

Yeah, that sounds like it's connected. At least it's back.

...how did shutting off the power affect those things? They're...[He pauses, remembering the glimpse of the lab that they caught. Twisted comes to mind, along with unethical and inhumane...]

...they're disturbing.

[endgames]

It didn't. [He folds his arms.] The power outage took out the older model, but the new droids could still function. They caught us eventually.

[redjacketthief]

[That...

He didn't want to hear that.

His teeth clench around his cigarette as he mulled over this new information, and what it meant for the village in case of future attack. They were more powerful than the older model, could mimic any powers that the residents had, and now couldn't be shut down.]

Well. It sounds like we're screwed.

[endgames]

Bullshit. We just don't have a plan yet.

[redjacketthief]

[He starts for a moment at the display of brazen determination before chuckling in embarrassment at his own gut reaction.]

Probably~ [heh.]




Maybe I am going soft.

[endgames]

[Happens when you hang out with Naruto, man. Silly shonen worlds.]

Nah. Just getting a little used to this place, I'd say. It sucks so often, it's not hard to get resigned.

[redjacketthief]

[Pity he's from a seinen-verse. What are these shonen ideals you speak of?]

Probably. I can see why one of my friends from home was about flipping out by the time I arrived.

...we'll think of a plan. The right information is all we need.

[endgames]

I'll come up with something, one way or another.

[He hasn't yet. But he will, he will, he will.]

Thank you for the information. I know it came at cost to you.

[redjacketthief]

[Lupin believed Shikamaru, and will trust him in this like he did before. It was, again, the young ninja's experience that he was banking on. Though smart himself, Lupin did not have the right info.

With nothing but time on his hands for the foreseeable future, he would make a point of fixing that.]

It'll just be an annoyance for a while, Shika-chan. It's no biggie. Actually, I should be thanking you. You did a damn fine job back there, even with the circumstances.

If there's anything I can do to help you in the future, feel free to ask. Any time.

[endgames]

...you'd still want to, after all that?

[He really doesn't want to turn this into a introspection on himself, but it baffles him. The mission objective was achieved, but large parts of the execution failed.]

[redjacketthief]

I would.

[Without a doubt. Lupin himself was made for smaller scale actions, and learned the benefits of having a good leader (or not, depending on location and circumstances) the hard way during his mission on board the Tyr's Revenge.]

A lot of things went wrong, but you had an idea of what you were doing and you kept your cool. It's an admirable skill.

[endgames]

Mm. Still a partial failure.

[But he'll leave it at that.]

I'll cut you a deal. If I could use your help, I'll ask, but if you need any help with that penalty they slapped you with, you let me know.