Makita

There's a small fire burning in the middle of the camp and there's the quiet murmuring and soft moaning that Makita finds oddly comforting. It sounds like home, despite the horror of it all. She sleeps, truly sleeps, for the first time since her squad broke up. Peaceful, restful, and ready to come awake in violence at a moment's notice. Miho's lying next to her, a few feet away, although she's not sleeping, she's looking up at the unfamiliar sky, smoking a last cigarette. Those had gotten her a few unfriendly looks, before she'd grinned and tossed packs at the hungriest stares.

She blows a lost plume of blue-ish smoke into the sky before flicking the glowing butt into the small fire, rolling over on her side, and dropping almost instantly into peaceful slumber.

Mishka's squad, like most Gorka squads in Bahamut these days, has been fighting too long with too little rest. It makes for mistakes. Dangerous mistakes. Mistakes such as letting a team of Red Kommandos surround the camp without an alarm being sounded. The arrival of the Reds is announced by a pair of Hailers opening up with their 5mm auto-cannons.

The dying is signaled by cries of pain, and Makita's already rolled over a nearby wall as she sees some trooper who's name she never caught take a fifteen round burst in the chest leaving a wheezing body on the ground. One she knows can't be saved.

Miho's almost as fast, kicking off into a gravity-defying jump that takes her nearly clear over a nearby wall, a scramble taking her to the top where she lies, spread-eagled along the crumbled top, black clothes and hair blending into the shadows. She takes a long moment to survey the field of carnage below her, quickly picking out the men with the big guns as the main threat. She can't take both of them out - but from where she is, one looks like an easier target - there are fewer men covering him - he's an awful lot less mobile, with that much metal to carry - and there's more cover between her current position, and her prey.

From where Makita looks out, the other Hailer looks like a much better target. He's not even looking in her direction. She low crawls through the rubble as fast as she dares. She knows that every second it takes her to kill him could cost a life. As she moves she runs over the battle so far, counting her dead. At least five down for the count, three of the wounded from earlier today. Twelve possible effectives, plus herself and Miho. She grins savagely, the Reds sprung their trap poorly. They don't know the area, and two Hailers isn't enough, really.

And suddenly she's on top of her target. Five meters away, and he doesn't see her. A five round burst just below his visor and he stops firing; dead before he hits the ground.

You would expect that Miho would need to get closer to her man than Makita - but that would be without factoring in the fact that she's still carrying the shuriken. She's thirty meters away when the Hailer drops, twenty when the second man drops and by the time the rest of the men have realised where the whirling blades are coming from, she's on top of them, and before the next grouping have turned to see why the big gun's have stopped firing, she's gone again, out of the attacking circle, ready to strike from behind.

Unfortunately for Miho, and for Makita, and for the remaining Gorkas, these Reds have more than one ace up their sleeves. A clear, crisp soprano voice cuts through the night air. "Range: first increment. Radius: one-zero meters. Protokol: Burst..."

There's a brief pause as Makita yells, "Witch!" It's full of hate, but it's not an insult. There's more than a hint of fear, in fact. "Get under cover!"

"... Kasting."

A tall dark-haired woman's eyes glows deep red as the power gathers around her, and there is a sudden explosion in the center of the encampment. Makita stares in horror, she isn't carrying an Protokol Piercing Rounds. And without them there's no way she's going to get through the sorceress' shields. She's simultaneously plotting a retreat route and trying to find Miho. Because Miho has no idea what they're up against.

Actually, that's not entirely true. Miho might not understand exactly what that woman is, but she knows magic when she sees it, after so long in Milliways, and she knows when her skills won't serve her. It's not in her to retreat - but neither is it in her to fight a battle she cannot win - and she can recognise those battles when she comes up against them. She swears quietly to herself, and circles the camp, outside the circle of light, heading for Makita's last position. Her friend isn't going down alone, if they have to go down.

Miho's path takes her through the darkness and past a raggedly breathing body. It's Mishka. Shrapnel from the explosion has punctured at least one lung, and Miho can recognize the sound of a sucking chest wound. This is the sort of thing that requires a trauma surgeon to fix, and those are in short supply in this war. Eyes wide and bright with shock, Mishka gasps, "Miho, is that you?"

Miho glances quickly around. Safe for a moment, at least. She drops to her knees.

"Yeah, it's me."

Mishka nods, painfully and extends a trembling hand. In it is clutched a pistol. Not the small automatics that Makita carries, but a huge unwieldy hand cannon. "Can you use this?" She doesn't wait for an answer, simply opens her hand for Miho to take the weapon. She coughs wetly, "I'm not going to make it. I... don't want them to have the satisfaction of watching me go," she manages, in a throat that bubbles with fluid.

Miho's nod in response is quick, neat. "They won't," she assures.

Of course they don't, because when, a moment later, Miho continues threading her way through the semi-dark, she leaves a body behind her. Deadly little Miho - they say you won't even feel the blade, unless she wants you to. Of course she didn't use the gun - besides the noise, that's not how a warrior deserves to go - and it was painless, her way. She'll keep the gun, though - last gifts should never be spurned.

Makita was circling back the other way, and she comes upon Miho just as she finishes with Mishka. Makita's eyes shine slightly in the moonlight, "Thanks." She looks back toward the sorceress, who is beginning to Kast again. "You ready to go? We can't get through her shields without some P.P.R. and only squad leaders, snipers, and special weapons carry it. We don't have time to search Mishka for her stash."

Miho looks down at the gun still in her hand, thoughtfully.

"Like this one?" She asks, simply. It does look different to the other guns she'd seen so far in this world.

Makita's eyes widen and she reaches out to take it. Very few people carry 12mm pistols. The round is overkill for most tasks and the recoil can break fingers. But it's also the smallest round that comes in a Protokol Piercing variant. Makita nods as she checks the gun. "One shot." It's got to count. She frowns at Miho, "Are you better with one of these than I am?"

Miho echoes the frown, cocking her head for a moment, before shaking her head at Makita. With an unfamiliar weapon, no, she's definitely not better. Makita's probably the better shot in any case, from what she's seen - Miho likes her weapons to have some kind of life to them, she just flat out doesn't like guns.

"You take it. I'll cover you."

Makita nods and takes the gun. "Let's go." And she's sprinting across the ground trying to bring down the range as the sorceress chants again.

"Range: first increment."

Thirty meters away, and the sorceress spots Makita's rushing form and turns to her.

"Radius: one-zero meters."

Miho swears - she remembers that chant from before. She skids to a halt in front of and to the side of Makita, both blades out, and grins at the woman in front of them. Nothing is getting to Makita before she fires that round - it would have to go through her, first, and that? That isn't happening.

The sudden appearance of a small woman with swords startles the sorceress. She blinks, puzzled, trying to figure out what is going on. And that split-second of hesitation is enough. Makita raises the pistol in a sure, two-handed grip and fires.

As the shot cracks out, the sorceress shakes off her confusion and calls out, "Shields." A complex spinning wall of red energy crackles into place in front of her and she smiles, confident that she's in no danger. Her face briefly holds an expression of surprise as the bullet punches through the shields like they weren't even there and strikes the bridge of her nose. After which she has no expression at all.

Makita lowers the pistol to her side panting, and looks around. Tears flow slowly and silently down her face as she realizes that she's going to have to report Mishka's squad lost to the last man, woman, and child. Miho bites her lip, and slowly puts an arm around Makita's shoulders. She won't have to make that report alone.

The days since the fight have passed mostly in quiet. Makita has shown Miho the lay of the land, and they've swept the entire area twice while Makita waits for new orders from the Elders. No more Red incursions have been detected, so the Elders have them en route to the Perestroika district. It's more ruined than most due to a combination of heavier focus from the Reds during bombardment and the sub-standard materials used in construction.

There's no hurry, the Perestroika district has a number of squads permanently assigned to it so the chances of the Reds sneaking in are small. Makita walks with the alertness that is so much a part of her in a warzone, constantly watching for possible ambushes and for signs of enemies in the area. It's been... easier with someone to watch her back. She's gotten some real sleep and she doesn't feel like her stomach is always tied in knots.

Miho, on the other hand, whether because she has less invested in this world, or because of her basic mind-set, has been having... fun. She's useful, and appreciated, and it's so good to get away from places where something is expected of her - something other than simply being what she is and doing what she's good at. So, whilst she's no less on her guard than Makita, she does walk with a near-constant smile.

Makita has noticed how much fun Miho is having, and the truth is it scares her just a bit. But she shrugs it off, Miho fights well, and besides, Makita's been known to enjoy killing Reds herself. The comlink crackles, "Makita, what's your status?"

"I'm twenty-five minutes out."

"Step it up. Anton's squad is engaged with what looks to be a Red platoon. We've got Mishka's squad coming in from the north, but we need someone to pin them from the east. That's you. Find a place to dig in."

"On the way." Makita considers the area and picks out an ambush site from memory, "I should be in place in seven minutes." She looks to Miho and jerks her head, "C'mon. We've got somewhere to be." She shifts pace into a ground-eating run, sure that Miho can keep up.

Miho nods, and follows her, threading her way easily through the rubble-strewn streets. Seven minutes - that's a little over a mile, at this speed. Their destination is little different from any of the other partially torn-down buildings they've been passing for the last few days - with a few neat little exceptions. Some of the walls have been neatly patched, although from the street side they look as ramshackle as any of the others. There are lumps of masonry that just happen to have ended up in the perfect place to provide cover, and perfect rat-runs from one spot to another, well out of view. It could have been built for ambush.

Miho looks the courtyard over - that's where they are, in what looks like the central well of an old residential building - and gives a slow, approving nod. This'll do.

Makita smiles at the nod and makes a mental note to thank Proto properly. This is one of the better setups he's put together for her. The Reds are strung out, trying to break contact with Anton's squad to the south in order to hole up somewhere. The savage smile on Makita's face is rather similar to the one Miho often wears: a lot of people are about to die.

Makita steps through the door into the only room in the building with four walls still standing. There's a small hole in the floor leading to the old lobby below. In one corner there is a stack of ammo and ration bars.

The room is checked carefully, to make sure that nothing has been disturbed. Satisfied that no one has been in here since she left, Makita turns to see if Miho followed her through. She has, having had no trouble with Bar over the use of someone else's door, and is standing a few feet into the room, looking about curiously. She'd had no idea what to expect, so she is neither relieved nor disappointed by the surroundings. If anything, it reminds her of some of the more run-down parts of Basin City, where the buildings had simply been left to rot.

She stands easily, although alert, waiting for instruction. This is Makita's turf - she's in charge.

Makita nods at Miho and picks up a small communicator from the pile of gear in order to check the time. It's the same time as when she left, which means command will expect her to grab at least a couple hours of sleep. That should give her plenty of time to give Miho a quick briefing.

"We're in Bahamut, capital city of Nogorka. When the Reds invaded, they destroyed all the city's infrastructure, so we don't have water or anything, and we only have power where we can keep generators running. We've been fighting, and dying ever since." She frowns, having no visual aids may make this a bit more difficult. "The standard Red trooper wears light armor and carries a Hook." There's not a good way to describe Hooks, so she'll wait until Miho can see one in action.

"You can engage a Hook at close range without any problems. The ones you'll need to be worried about are the Hailers. They carry 5mm autocannons, the farther away from them you are, the better." A moment of thought and then, "Sometimes the Reds drop Krawls into a combat zone. You'll hear them coming, they're big and armored." She tilts her head, "I don't think anyone will ask about you, though I will need a name if I'm going to tell them we're together." Makita sits back to see if Miho has any questions.

She doesn't, at least, nothing that won't be answered within the first split second of combat. Makita had a question for her, though, and one that really deserved an answer. After all, it would hardly be useful if she failed to respond because she'd forgotten what name she was supposed to be using. There are times when words are still useful, it would seem.

"It's Miho," she says, quietly, voice a little rusty. "Although if that's too. . . anachronistic here, suggest something else."

Makita grins, "'Miho' works.

"I'm currently assigned as an independent operator for the Elders. Mostly I do recon, but I get called in to assist teams that are pinned down or to hit encroaching squads from the side." Makita grins, "I haven't been getting much sleep, but with you around maybe I can afford to sleep some."

Miho nods. Just because she gave her name, doesn't mean she's about to start talking - but perhaps the odd thing might come out. If it's really worth saying. Perhaps. Her eyes flick to the hole in the floor, and she looks back at Makita, lifting an eyebrow. What's the plan?

Makita follows Miho's gaze, and grins. "We've still got a couple of hours before they'll call on me for anything. We're in the middle of the old industrial sector now. It's generally considered to be under our control, so we don't have a lot of forces here, which is why we do routine recon sweeps. C'mon, I'll show you around."

And with that she walks over to the hole, pokes her head through, and then drops through to the floor below. Miho follows, after a moment, dropping neatly and noiselessly onto the ground. Rubber-soled boots and perfect balance make silence easy.

Makita is quiet, but not silent. The lobby they are standing in is covered in snow that has blown in through the holes in the front wall. Makita leads the way across the street to a high-rise with an in-tact fire escape and begins climbing. The view from the top should provide them with a clear idea of what most of the area looks like.

Miho is used to being on the roofs - she prefers it. She likes to take her time, pick her moment - and where better to do that when you're high above the action. Man might be a highly evolved creature, but we have never really come down from the treetops. Danger comes from below, or on the same plane - not from above. Man rarely looks up. So, she has no qualms about following Makita up the fire escape - she's happy to be above the streets.

Once on the roof, Makita begins pointing out areas of interest. The old battery factory, the Protokol shell plant, the park... Makita frowns, there's something about the park. She pulls up a pair of field glasses and scowls, "There's a Red squad setting up in the park. Looks like mortars." She's already planning her route from the roof to the park as she turns to Miho, "You ready for a little mayhem?"

The little samurai nods, grinning. She's always ready for a little fun and games - Makita will get to know this, soon enough. For now, though, she's still following the younger girl's lead. Makita knows what's going on, after all. Makita leads the way down, approaching the park from a direction that'll put a wall between them and the Reds.