Literally Pirateninja (shadowcat) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-07-24 22:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, azula, kitty pryde (shadowcat), mai, obi-wan kenobi, zuko |
“God, I hate flying,”
Who: Obi-wan, Zuko, Azula, Kitty and Mai
What: Rescue Part One! Rescue part 2 discussion here!
When: Tuesday
Where: Out at sea
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13 for violence and torpedoes!
They were already enroute on a private jet, having made terse introductions before boarding, along with a display of fire from Azula.
The plan was simple, suicidal and probably a little stupid, but involved bringing the plane in at about a thousand feet and jumping out. Azula and Zuko could use their powers to slow their descent.
Zuko mused wryly that Azula was stronger than he was. But that was always the case. She'd be able to continue even after using that much energy. Him? Well he was packing a gun just in case.
He hoped Obi knew how to use a parachute.
Obi-Wan had never used one before, but he would probably strap up anyway, powers or none. He hadn’t tested his ability to land safely above a couple hundred feet. (And he knew for a fact that when he’d plunged through the towering levels of Coruscant, he’d been preparing for a splattery death slightly more than banking on Anakin saving him at the last minute.)
As for displays of his own powers, they seemed impressed enough to allow him on the plane. At present, his lightsaber was resting on his lap. He stared out the window, eyes narrow and sparking with nervous energy. He was no Jedi yet, but he was a man with a few tricks up his sleeve. Hopefully, that would be enough.
In that case the parachute should serve to get him close enough to force jump the rest of the way!
The whole thing was dangerous, there was no getting around that, but Zuko didn't think there was much choice. And Azula was going along with it, which meant she didn't see another choice either - she was always the conniving one, even if she was younger. The deadly descent had been her idea. He wondered what dreams she'd had to give her the ability.
Azula glanced over at Obi-wan, studying his face. Clearly this was personal to him, and while she'd been her usual mocking self, it had lacked bite. They were in this together.
The plane landed in Hawaii to refuel, and then continued on its way. They probably didn't need to refuel but without knowing exactly where the ship was, Zuko thought it best.
It was probably not normal that Obi appreciated Azula’s wit to the extent that he did, given the circumstances. Then again, that was his own defence when things got too serious. Though when the pendulum swung too wide, even he fell silent, and it suited him less here than it did his dreams. But the woman could make enough comments for the both of them. He smiled at her.
“How much longer do you think till we have the ship in our crosshairs?” Obi asked.
"It was 800 miles southwest of San Francisco when a distress call went out, and that was two and a half days ago. It's probably gone another two thousand miles since, probably more," Zuko replied. "We just need to figure out if they swung close to Hawaii or veered north."
Azula peered out the window, "We need to lower our altitude, we'll never see a tiny ship from here."
They were close though. The cargo ship couldn't be much farther past the state unless it was moving faster than they thought. They just had to find it in thousands of square miles of ocean.
Obi-Wan gripped the bottom of his seat as the plane began to drop. It was no airliner, and every screw seemed precariously loose. The whole thing was rattling. His skin was more than a bit pale.
“God, I hate flying,” he growled through clenched teeth. It was a control thing. The idea of jumping out of the the plane somehow frightened him less.
Zuko chuckled, "As opposed to jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft?"
Somewhere out there, Mai was sick and waiting for them. Azula looked through the window as if she could some how see a ship amidst all that sea.
Even an aircraft carrier looks like a postage stamp when you're coming in for a landing. A cargo ship is much smaller!
The lightning couldn't come. She didn't have the piece of mind. But there would be fire. Azula sparked a small blue flame, then snuffed it out. She would see the ship burn if she had to.
“Yes,” he replied dryly. Obi watched the fire appear and then vanish, grateful for the distraction from the descending plane. There was pressure building up in his ears. He turned his attention to Zuko. They hadn’t really discussed whatever it was he could do, his powers, as it were, but he imagined they were similar.
“What’s the immediate plan,” he asked. In another life, he was a general, and a well-communicated plan sometimes meant the difference between life and death. Then again, this wasn’t that other life. “Or is there a plan at all?”
"There's more than just Mai and Kitty at risk," Zuko said quietly, "There are cargo containers full of women. They'll probably be the most vulnerable during this. Shields, or worse. I just don't know how many there are."
Obi nodded soberly. He’d already picked up on that tragic element during his “conversation” with Kitty. But how many people could the three of them really protect? Weren’t Mai and Kitty the most precious cargo?
No, he couldn’t allow himself to think that way. He couldn’t put more value on any life over another, no matter how personal this had become. Perhaps he was turning into Jedi after all. He still wasn’t positive he liked it at times.
“I can give us safe passage. That’s where my strengths really lie,” Obi said.
"Safe passage?" Zuko raised an eyebrow, as he checked his clips and made sure his guns were clear. For the tenth time, really, "Are you volunteering to get cover on the girls?"
What would they find? They didn't know how many people they faced, who would be armed, how quickly they would move to dump the 'cargo' once they realized they were under attack.
It could be just a matter of minutes, or less.
Obi-Wan nodded. It was a quick motion. He lifted the lightsaber. With it, he could create a blue flame of his own.
"There," Azula said, her eyes narrowing sharply. "I think that's the ship."
The jet circled around. The pilot would return to Hawaii once they were gone.
Zuko opened the door as they drifted lower, and Azula lept out. She spun in the air and then blue jets of flame shot from her hands and feet. She didn't have the control or sheer power to truly fly yet, but she didn't need that.
She hit the deck, and rolled, sending a blast of flame at a very surprised looking man with a fire tattoo covering most of his face. It sent him spiralling off the ship, to splash into the water below.
Nearly missing the ship, Zuko grasped onto the railing and hauled himself on board. He pistol whipped a crewman and looked around for the ship.
"We have the right ship," Azula announced. "I just took out Ashiro."
Obi had indeed strapped up and he lingered by the jet door, watching Azula and Zuko land safely--or at least relatively safely, considering Zuko’s near miss--before leaping himself. Because if anything immediately went wrong with them, his role in this mission was instantly superfluous.
For some reason, he made the sign of the cross before jumping. He thought about Dani and Loras, just in case it was his last chance to think of them.
The Force did come in handy on the landing, and Obi hit the deck in a low crouch, not rolling. He stood up and removed what remained of the parachute from his shoulders.
Gunfire erupted as soon as the men on deck realized what was going on. Azula shot herself up onto the superstructure, and sent a dazzling stream of fire down onto their attackers. She was somewhat disappointed that the streams weren't bigger or hotter. They should have been.
Zuko, meanwhile, dove for cover. He twisted around and fired at another man who was coming up behind his sister.
It was the gunfire that woke Kitty from a dazed slumber. She was bundled up with Mai in thermal blankets, hoping to break Mai's fever, and frankly because she herself was freezing. Downside to hiding so close to the hull.
She shook Mai, "Something's up."
Mai grunted, “Lots of things are up, like the deck, the stars...”
On deck, the lightsaber cut a blue glow into the air, even in the daylight. Sparks flew as bullets exploded on contact. Some men fell, struck unwittingly by their own fire. Obi couldn’t deny that his heart was pounding, but the weapon felt like an extension of his own hand. Freeing the other, he Force pushed back a man making a dive for Zuko.
He’d worry about the ethics of all this once it was over.
"Someone's boarded the ship! We gotta get back to the cargo containers! They'll kill those girls for sure, rather than be caught red handed!" Kitty got to her feet, quickly retying her shoes, "I'll get you some place where you won't be stuck without me to phase you, but you need to stay there." There was a tone in her voice, like she wasn't going to back down.
It was like they'd been on the ship too long now to even hope that whoever had boarded the ship was a rescuer trying to help them.
Mai wrapped the blanket around her and pulled her shoes on. She knew that tone, and it struck immediate obedience in her, "Yes mom. Do you want my pointy metal bits to stab things with?"
“No. You’ll need ‘em more.” Kitty gave Mai a kiss on the cheek before guiding her to a spot where she’d be safe, and able to escape if she had to. Then she disappeared into the ship.
Zuko nodded at Obi, "We need to hurry. There isn't much time. I don't even know if my intel is right on them sinking this ship but I'd rather not take any chances. We need control." Then he could radio his father to call off whatever was planned.
"They'll dump the girls in the water," Azula commented, sending a wave of fire along the deck towards some crew members. It almost sounded like she didn't care. Almost. "With or without bullets in them."
Obi turned to face the cargo hold. The bay doors loomed before them. "I can probably open that," he said, giving his lightsaber a vertical swing, like he was spinning a gun ‘round his finger. He was feeling confident, though not exactly casual.
All it took was a slice, like cutting through butter. The doors parted, and Obi shouldered one open, and prepared himself for the horrors that awaited them inside.
A hail of bullets met them. Inside were about six large containers, presumably where the women were being kept. They were guarded by about eight men.
A girl suddenly ghosted up from below, promptly kicking a man in the back of the head and disappearing back into the deck. Two of the gunmen turned, looking around wildly for the assailant.
As one, Zuko and Azula performed their choreographed dance, sending jets of flame into the hold.
Several men made a run for the cargo containers.
Obi tried not to lose his focus as Kitty appeared and then vanished again. He did, however, narrowly miss a bullet zooming past his head--but missed was the key word. “Did you see that!”
He braced his stance and Force pushed with all his might against the men Azula and Zuko had already sent into the shadows. He pressed them against the wall. He pulled the guns from their hands. “Alright, move in!”
One man suddenly disappeared through the floor, letting out a scream.
Azula ran inside, shouting for Mai. A bullet struck her in the shoulder and she whirled, nearly taking the man's head off with her fire.
"Zula!" Zuko's voice stopped her from killing him.
She turned to him, "Find Mai. I still have stamina. You're out."
One of the containers opened, and a man thumbed the safety off on his gun.
Obi-Wan whirled into action. In the darkened bay, the blue blade shimmered like something as beautiful as it was deadly. The man with his finger on the trigger fell. In two separate pieces.
His first official kill.
Zuko darted down, past the cargo hold and into a hallway, then down some stairs. Find Mai. If her friend was free, she had to be, too.
Azula stared at Obi, impressed, then ran towards another container. By her count there was no one left defending, but she had to check the containers for Mai.
Kitty emerged from the floor again, pulling Kouta with her. She tossed him onto the deck. She was sweaty, and pale, and really could have used a long nap right about now. She spotted Obi, and the man sawed in half, but said nothing. Her eyes looked sad.
The lightsaber blade retracted with a hiss. Obi had moved to crouch beside Azula and examine her wound, when Kitty appeared. He lifted his head. If he could have smiled, he would have, but there were no smiles in him by this point. And the body she’d carried with her at least seemed lifeless. He slowly rose to his feet.
Deep in the hold, Mai looked around from where she’d been safely stowed away. She could only hear gunshots and footsteps and something had for a second sounded like something... electric? She wasn’t really sure.
Either way, she was staying put. Her legs didn’t want to work, but she’d make them if she had to. She didn’t have to just yet, and was conserving her energy.
Fortunately, the old man was still alive, though a heart attack wasn't out of the question. She'd wanted him alive, if they could help it. The other man she'd pulled down hadn't been so lucky, but she'd deal with that later. She walked over to Obi, and put a hand on his shoulder. He seemed deep in thought, and was quiet. She let go, and went to help Azula get the girls out of the containers and up onto deck.
Zuko nearly ran into Mai, "Mai! Oh thank god."
Mai nearly fell over, even from her sitting position, just from the shock of seeing Zuko there, of all people. She blinked up at him, like maybe she'd been more sick than Kitty kept telling her and was actually hallucinating him.
"Zuko? ... if that's really you ... you are such an idiot."
“Yeah, an idiot for you.” He replied, wrapping her in his arms, “Azula’s here too. And a friend of Kitty’s.”
He pulled his head back and looked her over. She didn’t look that good, and when he picked her up she was very very light.
"... so stupid... could've gotten all these women killed..." Mai's protests were half whispered, and didn't seem to have conviction behind them. It was simply impossible to say the words that she wanted to. Those ones were stuck in the back of her throat.
She curled in against him and closed her eyes.
"If we don't get you out of here, it won't matter," Zuko said. There was a double meaning to that. One personal, one not.
Up on deck, the women were gathering into small groups for comfort.
The ship appeared to be on fire. Not an inferno, but there were flames here and there, and smoke rising from the cargo hold. It had come to a dead stop, and on closer inspection there was evidence of a battle.
Kitty was tying up the last of the crew, including the businessman who'd tried to negotiate for their virtue. Azula stood off to the side, pressing her hand to her shoulder and Obi was lost in thought. It seemed like the Avengers might have missed all the action.
Zuko carried Mai onto deck, glancing at his sister. Azula came over to check on Mai.
Suddenly; torpedoes!
Two sets of two torpedoes sped forward just under the surface of the water. The two nearest the ship weren't apparent until they were within a few yards.
They struck midship, sending fire and water far into the sky, causing the ship to roll harshly to port, before listing starboard as water poured in.
A hundred yards out, twin trails surged towards the ship to finish the job.