MISSION: SALT THE EARTH

[initiatesnpc]

Date & Time: October 17 - October 23
Location: Southwest Russia, 1223 CE
Characters: ALL; tag yourselves in
Summary: The Initiative sends all of the Transports on a mission to fight troops of the Golden Horde.
Warnings: war, violence, npc death (notify a mod if there's cause to add a particular warning!)

It is a warm day when the Transports arrive, a breeze blowing and sparse clouds in the sky. Before them is an expanse of flat land interspersed with some short, rolling hills. There are sparse trees, but for the most part it is grassland. It would be ideal for farming, but has not been utilized as such yet. Several miles in the distance is a small town, and the troops of the Golden Horde have made their camp just outside of it. There are about a thousand soldiers present, and the mission is simple: send a message that this land cannot be claimed. They will do this by defeating these warriors who are feared throughout the medieval world. They will then punctuate this statement by ensuring that this land cannot be farmed for centuries.

It is a small expanse of land that the Initiative has their eyes on, no more than ten miles in diameter. But for some reason, they have deemed it to be of a deep strategic importance.

The Transports arrive in the early morning, escorted by several Initiative officers, whose presence is meant primarily to keep things organized while the actual battle is to be left to the Transports. Under the guidance of these Initiative officers, the first order of business for the Transports is to set up a camp of their own. The battle will commence in the late afternoon, six hours after their initial arrival.

The battle will take place halfway between each side's respective camps. Many of the Mongolians will fall in combat. On the fifth day, the remaining soldiers will retreat, surrendering the area. Once the region has been secured, the second portion of the mission will commense, in which the Initiative will oversee the dispersement of a chemical agent over the land to ensure that no crops may be grown there. It will be harmless to all humans and animal life, and some weeds may even be able to take root, but the grain farming that would have otherwise taken place on this land will not be able to be undertaken. The land outside of this ten mile radius will be unharmed, but this small region will be barren, seen as cursed when the legend of the defeat of the soldiers of the Golden Horde is passed on.

A week after the mission's commencement, the Transports will be sent back to Exsilium. Their mission will have been a success. But the fallout of it will remain to be seen...

Comments

[onemoredeath]

"A shinigami has no need to kill them; we are more than capable of killing each other off and leave the rest for those that care for such things."

So. That was what he was. Takegami had heard of the concept and knew that there were several variants on the theme but the main thing had always been a shinigami was a creature of spirits and death and the final mortal breath. The name he had chosen for himself had ties into that world and meanings, even if he was so painful human.

"I do hope that you are not bored by all this."

[mentore]

[A soldier comes charging in from behind Gamora, sword on the ready. Ezio wastes no time in rushing in and slashing the man apart. The corpse falls to the ground unceremoniously and the Assassin pulls himself onto the horse with the distinct ease of a seasoned veteran.

Wheeling the horse around, he offers a hand to Gamora.]

We're wasting time on these men. There are others to find.

[onemoredeath]

Healing? [ He looked down at his hands. Like all other times before, the rings cut into his skin while in their arming form, leaving blood drip from the coils. Takegami knew by now that the cuts were only on the surface, thin like paper cuts and not dangerous save for how much the cuts sting. ]

Only if you wish; your strength should be saved for someone who has worse wounds than these.

[mentore]

[Ezio chuckles.]

Not this time. We are too far for that.

[ex_symbioses706]

[ And he can get a smile back. ]

Thank you for listening.

[ex_symbioses706]

Do you really think so?

[ huh. she cocks her head ]

[hornedomen]

[He looked disconcerted. He was not sure if she did not care for the horse, or did not know anything about caring for it.]

Will you take it into battle again?

[toldyouso]

[Pete makes an inarticulate sound that's probably best translated as "my collar is choking me" when the horse stops short and he doesn't--until the handful of his shirt Gamora's holding catches him like a makeshift seatbelt.]

Gamora, you could kill an army with a toothpick.

[He is not discussing the Cube right now, because he doesn't like it any more than Gamora does.]

The thing that gets me is that they're not promising to send us home once the smoke clears. That means they either don't think they can, or want us to feel invested in this dump. Maybe some of both.

[Pete only acts like a barfight-starting goofball. Behind the irreverence, he never stops thinking, and all the thinking he's done about their situation has not made him happy.]

[treasurehunter]

[Drake can appreciate a clear night. It's one of the things he liked about being out in a place where not even the map knows it exists: it's totally untouched. Sure, there's a thrill in the untamed, but the stars way out there? Nothing can really compete with it.

He has no armor to speak of, obviously, but when he's just a little ways away, he notices someone in strange-looking armor.]

Nice night, huh?

[treasurehunter]

Oh, hey.

[Yeah, he recognizes the kid as his roommate since he's always in the unit. Not that he's ever really talked to him because he's usually just not there...]

You lost?

[shoesfitperfectly]

There are very few beings who can make the Doctor feel young and indecisive. She can probably see it in his eyes--let alone his mind--the many things he wants to say that he's sure he oughtn't say because they're cliched or simply too forward to say to someone he's only recently met.

He wants to say that, out of everything here, beyond medicine or bardic song or knowledge, she symbolises hope the most. He beauty and power and the fact that she's chosen to use them for the benefit of others when they could be so easily used for the benefit of herself is something that strikes a very deep, instinctive chord in all beings, and they know that there's someone there who will shield and protect them and turn a terrible power against those who'd seek to harm them. Hope is something there can never be too much of at times like this.

The funny thing is... the same things have been said about him, though he usually refuses to believe it.

[shoesfitperfectly]

A smile crosses the Doctor's face, like the kind you'd find on a pleased child. Happy and with no motive whatsoever beyond that.

"Thank you. It's all any of us can do, but it means a lot."

[a_million_blossoms]

"How humans choose to end their lives is none of my concern."

Shinigami only appeared afterwards, and only if there was trouble, to boot.

"Bored is not the word I would have chosen to describe my state of mind, no. I'd be hard-pressed to choose one, really."

Although if anyone who was even a little responsible for the mess should show up, homicidal would probably become a good guess.

[speakveryclearly]

[Salute.]

It'd be kind of paradoxical to thank you for protecting my life considering I'm undead, so...

[Backing away n o w...]

[raisedbybirds]

[It was very good to have a mission to focus on, but yes horses weren't ever involved in any of hers. Give her a vehicle or a machine and she'd figure it out in just a few seconds. Even comparable equine-like creatures weren't very common nor practical modes of transportation where she was from. She might have brazenly attempted to tame Dachora in her younger days but a two-legged flightless green space chocobo bird was far different from a horse.]

It's not that heavy.

[Truth; Not even two hundred pounds collectively. Figuring out a horse couldn't be that difficult, right?

She noted it seemed to be calmed by Fox's petting. After giving a few moments of observation, she decides to try and mount it, jumping up in the air and swinging one leg over the saddle and gripping the reins.

The horse shifts and under the sudden weight, jerking its head uneasily and trotting in place as if it might try to either rear up or buck its legs. Samus quickly shifts back on the saddle, which the horse seems to begrudgingly appreciate with a snort.]

Maybe you should... [control? steer? uh] ...drive.

[Yes. Get up here and drive the horse, Fox.]

[inwhichwar]

Ach, well, god knows that will profit them well, with the weaponry they have versus what is at our disposal.

[inwhichwar]

In my experience, it's days of violence that are more in need of luck than any others. Other days take care of themselves, mostly.

[strategic_guile]

[He recognizes her from the kitchen; the adorable girl most likely to set everything on fire by accidentally dropping a pot. Someone else had always been there to catch it though, so he hadn't met her yet. Teasing.] You're much better at singing than cooking.

[ex_symbioses706]

Oh - !

[ Her shoulders go up at that, but then she laughs a little as she relaxes. ]

Mm, that's true, huh?

[ex_symbioses706]

[ she nods too. she can understand that - she may not know much of either of them but it's good that they'll be keeping each other safe. it's unfair, but she asks: ]

Promise?

[healplz]

[ Before anything else, having definitely not missed that shiver, he shrugs off his robe and holds it out by the shoulders for her. They shouldn't be out here long, but she apparently needs it more than he does. ]

[strategic_guile]

Do you sing at home? Professionally, that is. [If she didn't accidentally break her own neck she would probably do well enough. He liked her voice, in any case.]

[inafadingcrown]

She hasn't felt very much like the symbol of hope lately. In all honesty, she's spent most of her time in Exsilium angry, frustrated, and worried- heartsick over what she sees here and what she has left behind.

That's why that look means more than she can possibly explain right now; it's a reminder of who she is and, perhaps more importantly, why she is who she is. She stands a little straighter and offers him a soft smile, both of acknowledgement and thanks.

owo

[ex_bandai157]

[ Regardless of any impression he's allowing people to have and what he's been told, he hasn't killed anyone either (though he's failed to keep people from being killed, and by some standards that's no better.)

He glances over when he hears Adam's voice, and while he doesn't shrug there's a similar sentiment. ]

After everything's over?

[moralperil]

It's never a waste of time. Souls are precious, and while you might never undo whatever bad you've done, you still have a chance to turn it around. If you help save a life, you've started to work against the bad! [Simple as that, at least in Mahdi's mind.]