Operation : Soundwave

The Queen had thought earlier about how all she would have to do was hit the kaiju hard and fast to beat it but in actuality things weren’t quite that simple.  The beast was simply too large for random attacks to have much effect on it.    It would be like an ant trying to attack an elephant, any damage she would inflict that way would be negligible.   She’d just be wasting her energy and not get anywhere.    

Instead she was making her way around the creature trying to analyze it for potential weak points while mercilessly cutting down any puppet or Xenobeast that happened to stray into her path.    They might have spelled trouble for your more average ninja but were nothing but mere cannon fodder to an X-ranked Kage like herself.   Still even she couldn’t keep this up forever, for everyone one she cut down another was spawned froth from the kaiju like a never ending tide.    It was quite clear that the only way to stop this was to cut them off at the source.

“Hmm that spot looks partly melted but I don’t think I can break through.” she muttered to herself as she moved on from the building she was standing on to the next.  So far the most promising spot she’d noted was the glowing red device located at the back of the beast.   The only problem was that it was suspiciously easy to spot.  Would the designer really openly broadcast such an obvious chink in the armor?

Either they were just that arrogant or she was seriously overthinking things.  It smelled like a trap to her, one she might have no choice but to spring if she didn’t find another opening soon.    Perhaps making it look like a trap was on purpose, a sort of physiological warfare to make people hesitate to strike it like she herself was currently doing.   In any case she wasn’t quite that desperate to take the bait just yet.

“Now that on the other hand looks a lot more promising.” Ryuko said with a grin to herself as she observed the two antlers jutting out above the creature's head.  She wasn’t an engineer herself but she’d spent plenty of time around Natsuru and Damian to know what a broadcast receiver device might look like.    

She didn’t know what these particular devices were used to transmit.   They looked vaguely similar to the tops of the radio tower she’d seen construed but much more futuristic.  They must have been important given they were heavily shielded from attack.  If  things weren't so dire she’d love to leave such technology intact to analyze after the battle was complete  but she didn’t have that kind of leeway at the moment.  

The longer she took to bring down the beast the bigger the risk it would complete whatever it’s task was at the Emporium and move on to attacking one of the major villages.  Someone might say she should let it get away since it might attack one of her former enemies but the chance it might go after her kingdom instead was too high to accept a roll of that particular dice.

“That shielding looks tough but nothing I can’t handle.  That said, even if I piece the field I doubt I’d do much more than scratch the antlers themselves…” She muttered again.  It was like how she could pierce a hole in a building with a punch but wouldn’t be able to knock it over.  She needed something more if she wanted to disable those sensors or better yet disrupt them.   “I bet broadcasting a powerful enough signal could do the trick.” She thought to herself. It was similar to using one radio frequency to disrupt another, hit it with a powerful enough sound based attack and it’s sensors would go wild.  

The only problem with that idea was that despite the fact that Ryuko was the Raikage and the name of her kingdom she was more focused on lightning then thunder.  Sound based attacks weren’t part of her usual repertoire.    What was a girl to do?  Turning her focus off the Kaiju for the moment she began to search the battlefield looking either for someone she knew could be of assistance to ask for help or failing that a new potential to emerge.

[1]

Analysis on Indaina Kujira 1/2

Spoiler:

The good doctor soared beneath the massive beast that appeared outside of the Emporium. It made sense that there were no obvious soft spots down here for a beast of this type and size. Insects typically had sturdy carapaces, and there was no way something this massive would have a glaring weakness that hadn't already been exploited. Ananta was making her way through this maze with the aid of a painted owl that repeatedly would scratch at the surface, but failing to leave a mark. She stood atop the owl's back one arm crossed in front of her as she scratched her chin pensively. A bigger view of the battlefield was necessary.

She'd fly for a couple of moments before she'd notice a the Queen, Lady Raikage. Vaguely following her eye line it looked like she was approaching a strange, scientific structure. The owl would fold its wings and dive down in an attempt to catch up with the Raikage. Ananta would kneel and take a three point stance, remaining easily visible, but increasing her points of SPW contact. Ananta was dressed in all black from head to toe, wearing a white lab coat, wearing ankle bangles, and barefoot as she approached the Kage from above in the sea of chaos.

She’d angle herself to lock eyes with the queen. ”Lady Raikage, would you like a lift?” Ananta was a little more lost than she’d like to admit. Everything that was happening hear was orders of magnitude more intense than she’d ever witnessed or expected. That’s why without question this time she’d move at the Kage’s discretion approaching, changing location, or keeping her distance if instructed. If she got with normal talking range she’d ask, ”What is the situation? Have you found any weaknesses on this beast?”

Bookkeeping:

It didn’t take a genius to tell that the search for assistance was not going particularly well for the young queen.  She’d spotted several ninja she knew either helping with the evacuation or fighting against the mysterious xenobeasts but none of them had the particular skills to help her with the problem she was facing.

Luckily after she’d slain a couple of the beasts the rest had steered well clear of her, as if they could sense the stench of death on her and knew the danger she represented.   Sadly some of the highered mercenaries weren’t quite so intelligent.  Every so often a couple of them would try and impede her progress.  Normally  Ryukou would be a bit more patient and merciful but right now she didn’t have time for their antics and so quickly reduced them to a spray of viscera and blood with one swipe of her legendary spear with all the causality of someone throwing out a piece of trash.

Perhaps it was a sign of her skill that despite the carnage she was inflicting her head to toe white plate armour was as pristine and shining as the day it was first forged.  Perhaps that was why the stranger approaching her had been able to recognize her on sight.  She was quite famous after all and wearing the same armor she had been for her coronation with the addition of a new helmet she had added after the fact.

Taking off her helmet Ryuko with one hand flashed a warm smile at the young person addressing her.  Based on the sound of the voice  she assumed that she was speaking with a girl but it was somewhat hard to tell for sure thanks to the lab coat they were wearing.    In any case it was obvious from the way that she was being addressed that this was one of her men or perhaps women.

Ryuko felt a flash of annoyance at not knowing the name of the person she was speaking to.  She knew it was unrealistic to expect her to know the name and face of every soldier under her command but when she considered how she was responsible for sending them into battle where their lives were on the line she  felt like she was doing them a disservice.    One thing was for sure, she was going to make sure she got to know the name of her plucky new friend, anyone brave enough to be of use in this kind of situation deserved a reward.

“Yes please.”  She replied gratefully as she moved to join her new comrad on the owls back.  A strange creature that one, perhaps a type of summon of some sort given its size.   Perhaps she would enquire more about it once this chaos was over.    It wasn’t like she didn’t have ways to get around herself but she appreciated a chance to catch her breath after all the running around she’d been doing.    If nothing else it would save her from having to burn away at her own soul in order to fly up to the horns.  

“Those antlers seem to be acting as a proxy for the creature's ears.”  Explained Ryuko using an analogy since using more technical terms would be harder for most people to understand.  “If we can hit them with a powerful enough sound based attack we should be able to disorientate the beast.   I don’t suppose you can perform such a feat?” she asked, sounding hopeful.  

The best that Ryuko could manage on her own was a flute based genjutsu but for all the small armory she carried on her a musical instrument was not among her many tools.  Honestly given that the creature was as mechanically as it was biological she wasn’t sure such illusions would have much effect on it to begin with.  The fact she had to stay still to use it was a non-starter since she was too powerful an asset to sit around in one spot when there were other weak points to assault.  

Some might think it odd to run into the exact type of person they needed just when they needed them most.  They might even be suspicious that was the moment a helping hand was extended to them.   Ryuko for her part was used to strange twists of fate like that.  If you lived long enough as a ninja you’d run into all sorts of people.      It was simply Hakkin’s will for the two of them to meet like this so they could overcome this challenge together.  

[2]

Analysis on Naganori 1/2
Analysis on Indaina Kujira 2/2

“Yes please.” The woman would almost bubble over as the woman addressed her with a soft, familiar, warm Please to her, Ryuko's inferior by every metric, as a delightful shiver ran down her spine. She'd only let the slightest of smile's escape. Ananta had only assumed, from the bloodshed that was happening all around the Raikage, that she'd have received some kind of order or cold quip.

The Great Owl was avoiding flying within range of the the weird beasts, in order to avoid any chaotic or sudden attacks on their part. There was little that she thought she could do in this affair, this beast was just so overwhelmingly large with no apparent weak spots, but she was more than willing to escort her kage around, which she showed by extending a hand to her in case she was off balance standing on this strange, flying beast for the first time. If the kage took her hand, it was probably warmer than she expected, and it would be paired with a brief but welcoming smile.

Having returned to standing at her full height, in case she needed to help Ryuko balance, the woman in front of the angelically regaled Raikage stood at about six feet and was very notably unarmed. She had golden hair and eyes further reinforcing her probable status as a Cloud-nin. She would nod lightly in affirmation and tap her thumb on lips as she processed the information being given to her. For a few moments after her kage finished talking, she'd take into account her potential chakra output, and do some calculations before she'd speak. "Seems easy enough. That is, if you truly think you can get us past both of the shields, Lady Raikage."

Naturally, though this wasn't a lie, it also wasn't the whole truth. A producing a decently powerful Sound based attack 'seems easy', but nothing about this situation 'was easy' for a genin tier ninja. Doing that that attack twice, without proper preparation, and while also maintaining the Great Owl, that was going to take a lot out of her. That being said, Ananta was equipped to handle the situation if her kage could do most of the heavy lifting. Indaina Kujira at the moment didn't seem to be acting erratically, but that didn't mean the two of them had all the time in the world.

As she finished planning out her next few minutes of crucial actions, she'd instruct the Great Owl to fly them closer to the first antler. While, it's true, she was moving with purpose to the left antler, she would give a single questioning look to Ryuko to make sure she didn't prefer the other. Barring any objections the Great Owl would fly at top speed until it got to the barrier that so eagerly waited to be pierced. Calmly Ananta would say, "I'm ready on your mark, Lady Raikage."

Thankfully Ryuko didn’t seem to have upset her new friend much with her appearance. She knew from experience how intimidating she could seem despite her small stature. She carried herself with a confidence and swagger that befitted the X-rank ninja that she was and it didn’t take a sensor type to feel the ungodly amount of energy that was contained within her when she was standing this close to someone.

It was part of her very nature as a priestess to a god of war and as the Raikage. She was like a fierce demon to her enemies but a gentle angel to her comrades. For all of her ability to inflict carnage and bloodshed unflinchingly she never enjoyed it though that didn’t mean she felt all that guilty about it either, to her it was simply a necessary evil.

It was a shame those mercenaries she had killed had to die rather than be captured but as powerful and skilled as she was even she still had limitations. In an emergency such as this she had no choice but to prioritize. It was cruel but taking the time to spare them would have meant endangering countless civilians. Every second wasted on them was a second she could be using trying to stop this massive beast before it wrecked destruction upon the world.

While she had a lot of chakra between her own pool and Rafaela’s it wasn’t unlimited nor could she freely access all of it. She was usually pretty good at capturing her target alive but she knew precisely how much harder that was then simply snuffing them out. She cursed herself for not being more capable. If only she had been able to complete her trial and unlock her full potential she might have had the leeway that she wouldn’t have had to take the easy way out.

Shaking off those gloomy thoughts Ryuko took the hand that was offered to her. With her high coordination there was hardly any need for help maintaining her balance but it would have been rude to refuse the assistance especially when she considered how nerve wracking it must have been for this woman to offer it in the first place.

Her new companion was taller than her and unarmed but Ryuko knew better than most that not having any weapons on hand didn’t necessarily make you any less dangerous. Her own greatest weapon wasn’t one of her numerous tools but her mind and body. That said there were times like this when said tools came in very handy.

“Come now, who do you think I am?” Replied the Queen with a light chuckle. Taking what looked like a small rod off her belt she gave it a light twirl causing it to extend and transform into a 7' long 6" thick spear. “This Shikenri was forged to fell a god. Dealing with those shields will be but a trifle.” she exclaimed not so much as a boast but as a statement of fact. With her analysis of the Indaina Kujira complete she could tell with near absolute certainty that though the shields were tough she could break them with what amounted to a trivial amount of effort on her part, no special techniques or finishing moves required.

As they moved towards the left antler the other woman turned to give her a look as if to ensure she was heading towards the correct target out of the two. Ryuko replied with a silent nod of reassurance. Left or right side didn’t really matter much here so whichever one they went at first was as arbitrary as flipping a coin. Either way as long as she was in range she was planning to strike both if not simultaneously then in quick succession.

“Just be careful not to overdo yourself. I don’t want you dying of chakra exhaustion on me.” warned Ryuko. She had been analyzing the other girl as well and as such had seen through the woman's words of the feat she was going to perform as being easy. She could perform the trick no doubt about that but doing so would likely cost her the bulk of her energy.

While the Queen wanted to defeat the beast and quickly she wasn’t eager to have a martyr on her hands either. The only victory she could accept was one where they could celibate over a class of cold beer together.

“If we are going to fight together, brave one at least tell me your name.” asked Ryuko as she prepared to strike with her spear. Why waste time pulling up to the barrier so that she could pierce it when she could throw better then any olympic Javelin champion? Normally one would think tossing a legendary class weapon like this was unthinkable since there was a chance it would fall to the ground and be lost but that happening was impossible with the enchantment that had been on it.

“EAT THIS” cried out the warrior Queen as she hurled her weapon like Zeus might a lightning bolt sending it spinning rather than in a straight line so that first it would strike the antler furthest away from her before arching back and hitting the nearer one on it’s return trip to her hand. This was being done thought the use of what the Queen considered to be a fairly basic jutsu the Advanced Boomerang throw technique which basically did exactly what it’s name suggested, allowing the user to throw any medium sized object such as a fuma shuriken or in this case a spear as if it was a boomerang and have it return to the users hand.

Sometimes as her master Nariko had often suggested, the most basic of techniques could often be the most useful. You didn’t always need big and flashy things when quiet and simple would do. As a Bukijutsu master the amount of energy Ryuko had expended with this jutsu was truly trivial to her while the actual effects cause would be anything but as her spear would rip through the barriers around both the antlers like they were nothing but wet tissue paper. A Trifle indeed.

“Now’s your chance….” Ryuko said, speaking the name of her new friend now if it had been given to her earlier. “.... Get him.” she proclaimed. Today it wasn’t her that would be the hero and finish the job but this brave young champion who had raised to the challenge.

[3]

Analysis on Naganori 2/2
Advanced Boomerang Throw -1 cp
319/320 remaining

She was so aesthetic. As her kage responded in kind to the quip she'd made Ananta tried and failed to fight back a smile. Effortlessly wielding a spear that was meant to slay gods, She'd calmly and cool-headedly assessed the situation, found the tools for the job, and found use for Ananta. The good doctor couldn't help but be extremely pleased that she'd be able to be of use. She was sure her plan would be easily doable by someone as cool headed and analytical as her kage appeared, and was honored to be of use on the battlefield. In fact she was chomping at the bit to lay her fangs into a real mission for the first time since she returned home.

She could feel the beast boiling over in her gut. The task before her was going to be knocked down like every other obstacle she'd faced. Her eyes slowly curled and almost seemed a little more serpentine as her smile began to curl up. Do your job. Do it fast. Do it efficiently, and do it at whatever necessary costs. It was the mantra that had been instilled in him. It was the beast that let his focus never waver.

Ananta Miura stood before her star pupil, Naganori, that she'd been raising to be a perfect Black Ops nin under her thumb. Though the boy was young he showed exceptional promise. His coordination with others, mastery of his hiden tech, his obedience they were exceptional of all the orphans she'd collected for this position. The naga wrapped her arm around the boy, whispering in his ear, "Now snakelet." The boy stood motionless as the her grip wrapped around him. "It's time to show me at whatever costs necessary." She sent the boy in alone with no armor, no weapons, and no support. The ninja she was going in to have him finish, though exhausted, was still a B-Rank criminal. When he saw the kid come in he'd cringe, but he'd quickly steel himself and pick up the sword they returned to him. "Sorry kid, but they said, if I kill whatever comes through the door next, they'd let me go free." He'd take a stance. "No hard feelings, right?"

That was the ninja world though. Naganori didn't know why he felt so distracted because this was his chance to prove himself to be an asset. He was an adult now. So many years had passed since then. He was free from those old bonds. It was time to forge new bonds, and he would do that the only way he knew h- “Just be careful not to overdo yourself. I don’t want you dying of chakra exhaustion on me.” The words shook him more than they had any right to- That's right, he was Ananta right now- The words shook her more than they had any right to. Ananta wouldn't respond to the comment made by her kage, but her demeanor would calm down slightly. She was still eager, but in a much more refined careful way. Her posture seemed less like a beast waiting to pounce and more like a doctor preparing to cut as she steadied her thoughts. How aesthetic. Maybe there is a better way.

"Dr. Ananta Miura." She decided that since there were many more layers to the truth, she should unravel a few more. She could always unravel all of them later if the warrior queen saw fit to find out. "I am registered in Kumogakure as a genin." Though what she said was true, it wasn't the whole truth. She couldn't find it in herself to do much more than that though. The very thought filled her with a distracting amount of anxiety.

It was really but a mere flick of her arm. This technique she knew, or at least ones like it. She'd seen one or two very green weapons specialists fling their weapons around like this. This was different though. Skilled. Refined. Artful. The doctor's turn was coming up. She'd summon two clones at her side, enveloping her in a cloak of clouds. As they billowed around her and dispersed, she'd have two Resonant Echo Speakers, one on each arm. She tap them to test the quality. They'll do fine.

She was ready from the word go. As her kage sicked her onto the beast an echo of the wild smile would return and Naganori would leap from the painted bird to the beast's antler, she'd move through the hole in the shield that spread like an infection. As she landed, she would make the seals tiger -> snake -> tiger -> snake. Before slamming her hands onto the first Satellite. "Did you know," she would start amplifying her voice through the creature's network. "That even though sound may seem like an unstoppable intangible force," At first the two sounds would only be hitting the creature with B-Rank power separately as she searched for a specific pitch.

"It can actually interact with itself cancelling out noise through interference." With a twist of her hands, for a fraction of a second, the two jutsu would cancel each other out leaving Ananta in a bubble of silence.  All of the chaos from the battle would fade away for a moment. A stray question bloomed in her mind about how she'd spend her life with her newly found freedom. She'd dispel it leaving her in silence again. Then, just a whisper, "Or also through interference," Then she'd swing again finding the satellite's resonance frequency "it can dramatically increase that power." A sharp shrill would sound out into the second satellite.

Ananta would leap into the air again flipping and letting the talon of the great beast grab her as it passed back around and took her to the hole in the other shield this time letting it throw her into the hole. Now that she knew the necessary frequency, there was no reason to fill time. She'd redirect the jutsu, now focusing it on the second satellite. This one too would would be disabled by the jutsu. Ananta was at the limit of her endurance and breathing heavily when the owl swooped down. In a poof of smoke, she'd leap up with the owl landing beneath her. Between those heavy breaths she'd lower to one knee beside her kage. It was something she'd seen some ANBU do once that she'd been wanting to try. She'd inhale to speak before choosing otherwise.

She had fulfilled her orders. Hit them with a powerful enough sound attack to disorient the beast, and do so without getting charkra exhaustion.

Ryuko gave a slight nod of satisfaction as her words of advice seemed to sink in. She was used to dealing with students and could relate to being excited over your first real mission and as such knew when to reign them in before they went overboard. A mistake here or there was fine as long as they made it back alive.

While completing missions was important it usually wasn’t to the point where it was worth throwing away their lives over it. People like Ananta weren't just bodies to be thrown into the meat grinder for her, no they were most valuable treasures. Some just required a bit more polishing than others.

As she suspected the girl was a kumo ninja after all though the fact she was only ranked as a gennin came as a bit of surprise. Most gennin would have stuck to helping with the evacuation rather than risk setting foot on the main battle field. With guts like that Ryuko suspected it wouldn’t be long before the good doctor made Chunnin.

Thankfully Ananta didn’t seem to mind how direct she was being at the moment. There were times since Ryuko had become an adult that people had accused her of being cold or overly logical simply because she didn’t tend to wear her heart on her sleeve all the time the way she had as a gennin. With age usually comes maturity and temperance.

Honestly after all the insane stuff she had experienced over the years dealing with foes like Honiko that might as well be demigods it would be stranger for her to panic now. For her a Kijuu attack might as well have been just another Tuesday. That said it wasn’t exactly something she was hoping became part of her regular routine. She longed for the days of peace and quiet where she didn’t have to deal with these kinds of shenanigans around practically every turn.

She smirked in satisfaction as she watched Ananta. go to work, listening to the doctor's words even as the other girl unleashed a devastating sound attack on the Indaina Kujira. Ananta was skillfully directing the soundwaves so that they would only hit the satellites and not affect the surrounding area around her.

Not bad, not bad at all. That would be a handy attack to have in her own arsenal. Perhaps she could ask Ananta to show her how it was done after this was all over and she had some time to spare. Ryuko wasn’t so proud that she was afraid to learn from others. The first thing about being wise was knowing when to admit that you didn’t know something.

Today was certainly proving to be educational. Not only was she going to need to acquire a flute of some kind (preferably a weaponized one like a dagger) but some echo speakers as well. The only question was who was going to make those for her. With Damian dead and Shimiko retiring she couldn’t go to her usual weapons manufacturers anymore.

“Yes. I happen to be fortunate enough to be blessed with a fairly intimate knowledge of the properties of sound.” Ryuko replied. She was among other things a fairly skilled musician though she hadn’t had much opportunity to make use of that ability as of late. Her favourite instrument was the mandolin which wasn’t the most suited for taking into battle. At most you could hope to smash it over someone’s head but then it was by-by guitar.

The idea that sound was unstoppable was laughable considering it needed a material medium for its propagation. Nor was it intangible, at least it a physical sense if not a philosophical one about culture. At its core sound was vibration, and vibration is tactile meaning that you can feel sound by touch. People usually just didn’t think about it since they wouldn’t notice going about their day to day lives since the volumes wouldn’t be loud enough to notice unless you went to a particularly loud concert.

“Excellent work Dr. Ananta.” complimented the Queen as the girl knelt before her following standard Anbu protocol better then some actual anbu sometimes did. Naturally she threw in the girl's designation as a doctor when she addressed her. In her mind if you’ve earned the degree you deserved to be acknowledged as such. The only reason Ryuko didn’t ask others to do the same with her was that it would make addressing her full title in a formal setting even more aggravating than it was already.

You are now addressing her Royal Majesty the Queen, Doctor Ryuko Shizu Von Rose, the Yondaime Raikage. Talk about a mouthful. It was hard enough getting people to be casual as it was without deliberately trying to make herself sound even more important than she really was.

“You’ve done well for yourself today. Please come see me after this is all over as I wish to reward you for your efforts. For now get yourself clear and get some rest. Remember the mission’s not over until you return home safe and sound.” With those parting words and a friendly wave goodbye Ryuko jumped off the owl and onto a nearby tower and began searching for her next target.

Together the two of them had successfully disornated the beast but their was still much work to be done before it could be brought down. The queen had barely used much chakra and thus had plenty of stamina to keep going but she couldn’t take the nearly exhausted girl with her without endangering her life unnecessarily. She was trusting the capable Gennin to to take care of herself and not doing anything stupid in her absence.

---

[4]
[Flashpoint Complete]
[Attempted Exit]

With a satisfied smile Ananta would drop off the Kage and just keep an eye on things from afar. The Great Owl required relatively little chakra. As a sealer and an occasional combatant who focused on CQC and control, Ananta wasn't used to spending such large amounts of chakra in such a short period. She would take a breather on the owl's back keeping track of anyone from kumo that might need saving, occasionally swooping down and grabbing noncombatants on the fringes of the battle that got mixed in to the fray. The name of the game was energy conservation though, so anyone who couldn't get themselves in a position to be saved received Ananta's sympathy and nothing more.

This beast put Ananta on edge, so she watched it with a keen eye as she maintained a distance of one hundred meters while she wasn't actively at it's surface. The Great Owl spent most of this time hiding among the floating rubble as Ananta would check out the various angles, pull out some sealing tags, and plan possible actions in case the beast re focused its attention more actively on the shinobi in the area as opposed to whatever it was doing right now.

[Attempted Exit - 4 Posts]