task:

equipment: Central System, 2 x Energy Pistols, EDI

There is more to war than fighting. It may seem like a self evident statement, but to many, conflict was just a numbers game. ‘An army of twice the size of its rivals will be the clear winner’. While it is hard to argue against such a quote, Rokuju knew very well that this was only a partial picture. There was more to war. There is so much more. To fight a force on the battlefield is to strike where it is strongest. Soldiers are well prepared and equipped, their leaders are well trained and experienced. After all, this was what they had been trained for. But any strategist worth his weight knew that there are weaknesses that can be found on the underbelly. It was these weaknesses that Ro was targeting today.

It was two days after her meeting with the king and preparations were well under way. The Hamiltonian forward force had begun advancing on the capital and had begun securing their supply routes. It was an intelligent decision by the general, she had to admit. By pushing far up with a fraction of their force, they would make sure that their advance would not be impeded. They would be able to have control of the land and not suffer a war in the desert. As the naturally native people, the Alabastians would have the home ground advantage and knew their island well. Danon chose to strip that away from them in a daring move. Going off of what information he had, it was probably the right choice, Ro would have probably done the same thing. Unfortunately for him, he did not have complete information and therefore could not have adjusted for the fact that Ro was acting as a double (or maybe even triple) agent.

Ro had set up EDI again to build a few things she had planned. Currently, she was traveling via flight out across the desert in her logian state. Most people wouldn’t be able to see her but so that she didn’t take any chances, she took a line a few hundred metres around the army. Although it took her mere minutes to cross the desert in her logian state, she was stopping every now and then to have a quick rest and checking on the progress of the marching soldiers. So there she was, stopped behind the ridge of a sand dune, popping a mouthful of water and looking out at the men the size of ants against the rise and fall of golden desert waves. Peering out, she noticed something. A small squad of cavalry was noticeable among the line of foot soldiers. It was definitely a strange sight to see, horses in general did not do well with the uncertain foothold of sand. There were some specially bred horses that people used in the badlands to the southeast, but the earth there was noticeably flatter and firmer, much more like tundra or savannah than desert. This sight triggered Ro to remember something out of the conversation she had had with Danon previously. He had informed her about his fellow general, a man by the name of Joedat. Apparently, he was set on bringing his prize steed wherever he went into battle, regardless of Danon’s advice against the idea. This information had come up naturally in the discussions about the plan of attack, Danon telling her about how the small cavalry unit would be used as more of a strike force rather than a frontline assault. This made sense, because this battle was going to turn into a siege, and a large number of horses would be of little use breaking walls and then getting around in the narrow streets of Alabasta.

So that was General Joedat… Damn, Ro had hoped to divert him from the battlefield with her sabotage but it seemed like he had already crossed the river. He was ahead of her predictions, maybe that was the value of having premium horses as part of your corp. Oh well, she couldn’t expect every little thing to go her way, although it could make the battle a little more interesting. Her plan would not change, and she continued on her way, aiming for the Sandora river. A few minutes of travel later and she had arrived. It was a massive torrent of rushing water as it always was, over three kilometres wide. This river formed a natural roadblock, cutting the island in half. The only access points available to an army of this scale would be the couple of bridges that stretched across the vast body. This was her target today. If she could destroy this bridge, then the army would have to use the northern one. This would take the rest of the army four more days to get to the city of Alabasta. Divide and conquer. That was her game. By severing the force in half, she could take on the first half. Without the much needed support and supplies delivered using this bridge, there was no way the Hamilton army would be able to support a long term siege. Of course, she had to make sure that the forward force did not back off and wait to regroup, so she had to take control of communications while she was at it. Then she would make sure that General Joedat was charging in blind.

A group of tents sat on the side of the river, just beside the end of the bridge. So this, she guessed, was a Hamilton hub. Since all of Hamilton’s advancing force depended on this bridge, the bridge acted much like a central nervous system. All transport, whether it be personnel, supplies or information would pass through here. This of course meant that there needed to be a ‘brain’ somewhere local, that managed this system. If this was the case then she decided that she should probably investigate further. Ro had started becoming more confident in her stealth and espionage repertoire and it looked about time to break it out again. Hugging the light to her skin, she draped herself in photons and sneaked up to the tent, invisible to the naked eye. She quietened her breathing, remembering to account for her footprints in the sand and the tent entrance as she flicked it open.

[1057]

Resources:

Crafting:

Yes.. This looked promising. In the first tent she saw a few reports from lieutenants scattered about the desk. Hearing a squark from out the back, the curious young woman began to slink through the tent. Turning the corner, she was taken by surprise. She felt it before she even realised what had happened. A sharp stinging sensation on her right cheekbone. Her eyes twitched into focus, now seeing the dark black blade that occupied a very dangerously close space to her face. Fight or flight kicked in, and she stumbled backward as fast as her feet could take her. At the same time she tried to transition into her logian form, but finding she was unable to until the blade no longer touched her. The man behind the sword struck out again in a overhead hemispheric arc, slicing clean through the tent fabric, straight at Ro. Ro shot out to the side a couple of metres, out into the open space available to her. What came next was a wild slash from a second blade, cleaving the air where she had been. Finally having a second to process, Ro realised who it was in front of her.

General Danon. The large man stood where she had a few seconds ago, his powerful shoulder muscles holding two swords aloft, their blades glowing with a blackish dark purple, the colour of busoshoku haki. But how had he seen her? No.. That wasn’t right. Looking at him now, his eyes were darting from place to place, and then rested on the imprint on the sand below him. Oh… It dawned on her. He had not seen her at all. She had been careless. Upon stumbling back, she had forgotten to account for the sight of the imprint in the sand in her mirage. He had known someone was there by seeing these prints. But how had he known of her presence in the first place? What had caused him to strike the first time? She was sure she had been masking her footprints up until just now. Whatever the case, Rokuju had underestimated the general, that was for certain. Not only had he gathered enough information from his surroundings to detect an invisible person, but he had acted upon his formed conclusion immediately. Was this guy a monster? Who knew that the man that she had spent such a pleasant encounter with previously, could be this talented? Ro noticed that he had stopped swinging, realising that he needed to be quiet so that he could detect his prey. Ro would have cursed under her breath if she could afforded the luxury.

She watched him closely, nerves from the close encounter tingling her logian body. He focussed on something near the tent entrance, Ro turning to realise that he could fully see the footprints she had made while approaching the tent. She had slipped up. With how well things were going, she had thought she could get away with not flying and conserving stamina. Now Danon could clearly see that the intruder had not left the tent and was still in close proximity. This was turning into a tight situation. “Sir we have-” A pair of soldiers began entering the tent from the opposite side. They wouldn’t get more than three words out before Danon barked at them.
“We have an intruder! Alert the Camp!” This was bad, she could easily get herself trapped in here should knowledge of her presence be spread to the rest of the army. Even if she did get away, her mission here would be compromised. Shocked into action, the pair turned to dash out of the tent, stopping in their tracks only to look down and see their chest had been pierced, as if they had been skewered repeatedly with a fencing sword. Danon growled and his brow furrowed as he watched his two men crumple to the ground, dead. His head snapped back, fixing the space that Ro resided with a cold malice. As if it was a tangible force, Ro got shivers. He shouldn’t have even been able to see her attack. Or maybe he didn’t, but the clues given by the wounds and how the men died gave him enough information for an estimation.

“Show yourself, you coward!” He barked in Ro’s direction and then followed up with a horizontal cleave through the air in front of him, his black blade whistling at high speeds. She was in a tight spot here, he had more or less located her and his swipe was going to take up all the available room. An evasion wasn’t going to cut it here, she had to push back. Bringing power from her core, she pressed out with an expanding sphere of light. This technique, based on the natural instinct of ‘get the hell away from me’ was made to protect and repel enemies. So as it expanded, it came into contact with the black blade, smacking into it like a physical wall. What came next would catch Ro off guard. The blade pierced through the light screen, carving a way to the flesh of her shoulder. The moment that it bit in an inch, the sphere had expanded far enough so that it had come into contact with Danon, lifting his body off his feet and flinging him back through the canvas walls, the attacking sword being dragged back in it’s masters’ grip.

Ro solidified, her weight falling to the floor. A gasp of shock escaped her lips as her hand grabbed her wound. It wasn’t so bad that it would render her right arm useless, but by gosh it hurt. That last ability had been too much strain for her body to handle, the hungry devil of the Pika Pika had begun to devour her stamina. Danon had applied too much pressure for her to get away with anything less than her maximum, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. It looked like she would have to fight this the old fashioned way, eye to eye with the enemy. Tch. This was a soldier's’ job. Getting all bloody and dirty was not her style. Oh the things she did for her family. Ro used the few seconds she had to transform the boxes on her wrists into their energy pistol form and raise them at the general who had been flung back, firing a few rounds at him. In this time, the general seemed to take his time getting to his feet, like he wasn’t in any particular rush. The bullets whistled towards him, but he didn’t bat an eyelash. The black blades fluttered in a dance in front of him, flicking the bullets harmlessly away. First busoshoku, now he showed and expertise in kenbunshoku. The general was on his feet, staring down his foe. Strangely enough, he didn’t seem all that surprised, seeing the woman he had conversed and confided with previously.

“Miss Elena Veil…” His voice trailed, like the consequences of this conclusion was beginning to dawn. He was an intelligent man. He would definitely realise that if she was here, then Hamilton’s whole operation could be compromised. The woman who was supposed to be serving his and his allies cause was caught red handed. “I won’t bother asking you for any details, cause I know you won’t give em to me. You being here… This is really bad right?” Ro eyed him up, not speaking, instead trying to decide what her next approach would be. Now that he had discovered her, she had no choice but to end him. Likewise, it was in the general’s best interest to stop her here before she could finish her objective. They both knew what this meant. A deathmatch. After not getting an answer, it looked like Danon was finally ready to proceed. “Well then.. Shall we begin?” His heels arched, and then he was flying towards her, his twin blades circling around him as he spun like a top. Ro dashed to the side, drawing power from her devil fruit to speed her step. Danon bulldozed the desk and cabinets behind her, turning it into a snowstorm of woodchips. Her pistols were raised, firing both in the direction of the human top. She had readied an energy shot to fire out of her right gun, but the jerking motion had sent a shoot of pain through her arm. The bullet went wide, burying itself in the sand before detonating, clouding the area in granules. Visibility within the tent was lowered to a minimum, and it didn’t seem like her bullets had made any sort of effect on the general.

She could now only see a faint outline of her opponent, the particles in the air began to enter her nose, labouring her breath. Her blue eyes peered into mess, attempting to detect any movement. She perched on the balls of her feet, ready and waiting to react. Then out of the cloud he came, like a stampeding rhino, he held his two blades crossed in front of him like a pair of scissors, attempting to snip her in half. She wouldn’t have time to make a shot, and even if she did, Ro knew that it wouldn’t be able to stop him. This attack was clearly an all in, the speed and strength that Danon had backed behind his blades was tremendous. “Gah!” Ro yelled as she pulled all the power she had from herself, igniting it into a brilliant ball of white light, with Danon inside it. Then she jumped upwards to avoid the sharp blades coated in haki. Danon cried out as the light ate away at his skin. He had deployed haki over his body but still, the intensity of Rokuju’s ‘white dwarf’ was beginning to disintegrate his skin. Ro delicately vaulted over the general like a matador teasing a bull. The blades missed their mark and upon Danon reaching Ro’s previous position, he stopped. Turning to face the Hamiltonian general, Ro was surprised to see him still standing. She could see patches of red flesh where the light’s power had taken away his skin but there he still stood. What terrifying haki and natural durability. He turned to face her as well, hearing her landing, even on the soft sand. His eyes were closed, being temporarily blinded by the light. Surprisingly, Danon began to talk. Ro realised that he was probably just stalling for time, but his line of conversation managed to distract her anyway.

“When I was a boy, I used to hear tales of this one family. My father used to tell me about how they lead an army across the world, laying lands under their rule like some sort of heavenly conquerors.” What the hell was this? What was he saying? “Later on in life, I was being groomed for a military position. During my studies I kept encountering this family and their proficiency with their art. Needless to say, I became a fan.” He half sneered, half smiled. There was no way.. “Your looks, your strategy, your access to such a powerful fruit. Duke Vinsmoke did have a younger daughter, didn’t he.” Ro just stared at him, wide eyed. There were very few people in Paradise that knew of the history of her family. What misfortune she had encountered someone insightful enough to recognise her. “I was getting an inkling when you first came here today, but only now have I managed to put it all together. Your silence confirms my theory.”

And then they clashed once more. There was nothing left to be said. It looked like his sight was coming back from the way he squinted. He charged her, and Ro responded likewise. Thin yellow beams sprouted from her body out towards Danon in all directions, bouncing off the floor and walls, all coming to meet the general’s body. By the time he had come within a metre of Ro, his body had been skewered completely, the lasers penetrating him from every direction. His haki had finally given out. He hadn’t even seen the attack coming, or if he did, he realised he wouldn’t be able to avoid it. Ro began to walk past the dying man, turning back upon hearing him murmur something. “Now that Germa is here… The war is over for us, isn’t it.” His breathing was becoming laboured. She approached, willing to give a few seconds of attention to the dying general. She nodded. He shouldn’t even be conscious, the man still hanging on to life through sheer willpower alone. He coughed up a mouthful of blood before continuing. “I don’t have any right to ask this, but please. Please spare my people.” She knelt before him, looking into his eyes.
“I promise you that I will end this with as little life lost as possible.” It was a genuine promise that Danon seemed to be content with. The soul behind his eyes faded, and he was gone. He really did care for his country and Ro respected that. Though she did not care for causing death, there was no need for superfluous loss of life. She respected the strength that this man had shown, her promise was the honour that man deserved.

Getting up, she had not forgot her mission and time was still of the essence. Ro hurried around the tent, gathering bits and pieces that would be useful to her later on. Once done she readied herself. Having used her powers so much already, she was getting tired. This should be her last act for the day though. Activating her mirage and flight, she sped out of the tent and towards the bridge. She dual wielded her pistols, flying over the length of the bridge. She emptied her energy pistols into the stone bridge, the shots whistling down into the soldiers below, barraging them. The blasts smashed straight through the stone, levelling the bridge below her. The Hamilton forces stationed around the bridge erupted into a cacophony of panic as they watched the stone fall into the rushing water below. The place was a mess, lasting damage had been dealt to the bridge. Having achieved her goal, Ro sped away, still hidden from view. It was almost time for the main event.

Meanwhile, EDI had shipped off the blueprints to Zanji and begun work on other projects.

[2413]

resources:

crafting:

~exit~
Thread Closed

1,200,000 Beli
22,000,000 Bounty
23,000 EP
3 SP

Well done, it was a good read.