Kou Operations Ambushed [Job/Solo]

Garret awoke, head slightly throbbing, as his body jostled to and fro on a wooden floor. Groaning, he opened his eyes and looked around. He tried his best to recollect the events prior to his current predicament, but could not quite grasp the situation. He heard a familiar voice speaking in a hushed tone not too far from where he was. "...wake. See if he's okay."

Garret groaned and sat up, taking a look at his surroundings. "Mr. Takegawa. It's me, Lu Feng." The young man in front of Garret waved his hand in front of his face, and Garret brushed it away. He began to stand up, but nausea overtook him. Sitting back down, Garret took a better look around him. The wagon was a simple one; seats to the left and right, with a canvas cover over the top and several wood planks that supported that canvas cover. There were various bags underneath the seats making clinking noises, and a few chests that were at the head and feat of where he was sleeping, which was the very back of the wagon. He looked at the two who were in the wagon with him. Lu Feng and Tseng Qiang.

Confused, Garret felt like he was on the verge of remembering what was going on. "What are you two doing here..? Water." He felt the answer to that question would give him the context clue he needed in order to straighten everything out, but also felt a great need for something to drink. Garret rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand, looking to the two expectantly.

Tseng Qiang spoke up, explaining to Garret the current situation. "You and Mr. Nerva had taken out a stronghold two nights ago. We came yesterday morning, on your orders, with the plan in mind to confiscate the man's funds." Tseng Qiang summed up the job that he and some of the other recruits were partaking in, and it all came back to Garret. Slowly, the headache cleared away, and he looked out the back of the wagon only to see that Xin Qiaolian was driving the one behind them.

Garret rubbed his forehead again and checked his body for his stuff. When he couldn't find his wand or dagger, he looked up sharply to the two. "Did either of you two see my gear?" Garret, for a brief moment, was worried that it was left behind when he had passed out after fighting that Fanalis. The Fanalis himself wasn't terribly difficult to handle, but Garret had ended up doing more damage to himself than the Fanalis had managed to deal to him. That was a problem in and of itself, however.

Lu Feng produced a box from the top of one of the benches inside the wagon, and presented it to Garret. Upon opening the box, he found his equipment within. He went equip the Prismatic Dagger and Kuroi Shimo, but upon looking for the normal fixtures that they belonged to he noted that his clothing had been changed. Grunting, Garret looked up. "Gear?" Tseng Qiang pointed to one of the chests, which Garret opened to find his clothing within. He began taking of his clothes, putting his operative gear back on. There was no wear or tear on it.

As Garret was putting his shirt on, Tseng Qiang explained why his clothing was changed. "Mr. Nerva wasn't sure if you had been wounded or not. After checking you for external wounds, it looked like he knew what was happening and had some sort of medicine..." Garret kept that in mind. He didn't know if it was a simple healing medicine that worked on anything, or if it was specifically for cases like his. Which would mean that the man knew about the type of technique he had used.

Garret nodded back to the wagon behind them. "Xin Qiaolian is driving the other wagon. I assume Zheng Longwei is riding in there as well?" It was at this point that the two became red in the face and looked at each other briefly. It was highly suspicious, and Garret began to wonder what had happened that had made them so hesitant to answer.

"...Yes." Was the answer from Tseng Qiang, but it seemed as if Lu Feng couldn't hold it in and burst. "But Yang Jianjun and Tian Zedong sneaked out and followed us, so they're in there as well." Tseng Qiang didn't quite want to look at Garret when the news was brought to his attention.

Whether it was Azix's influence slowly changing how Garret view things, or a culmination of all of his experiences, Garret laughed at the information. That those two would be able to sneak from the villa and follow them is impressive. They must be doing well under Hui He Zhu. Even though it was a breach against his orders, Garret couldn't help but think it was amusing. It was, however, still a breach of orders. "Well, what's done is done. They'll receive punishment for defying orders at a later point in time. For now, let's just enjoy the added security their presence supplies." Garret had finished putting his gear together, his belt bandolier and his shoulder-to-hip bandolier firmly in place with his weapon, the Prismatic Dagger, and magic conduit, Kuroi Shimo, tucked away in their respective spots.

They were, at this point, passing through a forest when their carriage came to a sudden stop. Frowning, Garret wondered why they were stopping. Perhaps to rest the animals, or get something to eat and drink? A commotion was heard outside, and Garret looked to the two recruits. "Enemy ambush. Jump out on three."  While Garret didn't know who was affiliated with the ambush, anyone who approached and forced their caravan to a stop was an enemy that had to be dealt with. "One..." He whispered his commands while signaling to Xin Qiaolian the same commands. She nodded slightly. "Two..." The woman cracked her head left and right, a signal to those within her wagon. Garret saw a group of ten bandits or so approaching, and knew that the bandits coming towards them were likely in a similar layout. "Three!" At the same time he shouted and signaled the word, Xin Qiaolian said "NOW!"

The result was an immediate flurry of activity as the recruits flew out of each of the wagons, weapons drawn, with Garret having jumped out first to take stock of the situation. This action didn't seem to shock the bandits at all, and they immediately broke out into a run to meet the people who had appeared. Garret, Kuroi Shimo drawn out in his left hand, assessed the situation.  He did a fast headcount and noted that there were over twenty opponents.

Immediately he burst down the two closest ones with the assistance of his Jet Stream spell. The four, 1 meter diameter blasts of highly pressurized water slammed against the bandits and took them out of combat as the resulting fall caused their heads to land on a log. The recruits were ready to fight, almost eager, and immediately engaged in combat. Garret bent his knees and gathered strength as he used River Styx Style: Water Falls in Reverse in order to jump on top of one of the wagons, landing on the planks that supported the wagon's canvas cover. He assessed the situation before him.

Yang Jianjun, a man who came from a family of soldiers, was fighting alongside Tian Zedong, a martial artist. The two of them seemed familiar with teamwork, and covered each other whenever the situation deemed it necessary. Zheng Longwei was covering the opposite side of the wagon they had come out of. At first, Garret was concerned that he would not be able to hold his own against a large force, but his concerns were quickly squelched. The man fought ferociously. His footwork in concert with his blade-work was to be commended as he tore through the flesh of the bandits. Garret wondered if they would have even needed any of the other recruits to handle this level of opponent, had he simply had Zheng Longwei. Xin Qiaolian was taking on any enemy forces that managed to get through, keeping them from the horses. Garret approved of her forethought; the last thing they needed was to be down a wagon.

His eyes moved over to the left of the wagon he was standing on, and lay across the last two recruits, Lu Feng and Tseng Qiang. Garret was impressed with what he saw; the two's teamwork was flawless. Where Yang Jianjun and Tian Zedong worked together, they did so using trained methodology. Lu Feng and Tseng Qiang moved in concert, flowing as one, and fighting cautiously, only choosing to commit when they knew they would defeat an opponent. It was good that they understood this as a training lesson, but Garret was concerned that they would have been overwhelmed had the others not also come with them.

And then, there was the front. Marinus Nerva was moving his hands, flicking his fingers. Garret didn't know what was happening, as he sensed no magoi or Rukh, but as the man did whatever it was he was doing, bandits fell to the ground dead. It was at that point that a man, that looked like their leader, came rushing forward. It was obvious that he understood what was going on, as when Marinus moved his fingers the man dodged and continued moving to the Troubleshooter.

Garret noticed a movement on the right side of the wagon, and he quickly checked what was occurring there. Where it was devoid of activity before, Garret turned in time to spot a man attempting to sneak up on him. It seemed as if one of the other bandits noticed him, and called out to him. "BELCOON! HELP!" The man looked back up at Garret and cursed. As he was about to move to help out his underlings, Garret jumped down with the help of River Styx Style: Water Falls in Reverse, shouting "Leave a few alive!" He wanted to know who was behind this attack.

He had successfully cut the man off from helping the others, but the man seemed pleased that Garret had jumped down. Attempting to pass through Garret, and kill him at the same time it seemed, the man attacked the Magician with a Blade Rush. Having just landed in front of him, and not yet quite on his feet, Garret wasn't prepared for the blade that slammed against his Borg. The man was, however, strangely prepared for Garret's Borg to activate, as instead of being thrown off balance, then man used the bounce of the blade to bring about a Quick Strike as well, striking Garret's Borg before he could recover from the surprise.

That, however, was where the man's luck stopped. As he attempted to Sword Thrust Garret, his thrust was met with the moving force of a crescent motion of Garret's forearm as he performed a River Styx Style: Tranquil Parry to stop the technique by diverting the course it was taking to the right of Garret, outside Belcoon's targeted location. Using that same right arm, Garret attempted a River Styx Style: Tranquil Strike in order to strike the man's kidney.

The man, however, seemed prepared for that as well. It was strange, and felt that the man had somehow rehearsed for this fight. Frowning, Garret put that thought partially away for later. There were a couple things he wanted to confirm, however. With the force of his will and in a practiced manner, Garret enveloped his right arm in Magoi through Magoi Manipulation. He watched his opponent's face closely as his hand shot forward, him performing River Styx Style: Ikken Hissatsu: Deep Sea Harpoon. The man's face flashed with panic even as he brought his blade forward using Weapon Finessed Parry. The defensive technique was not enough to stop Garret's hand from piercing the man's gut, though it was enough to deflect his hand from Belcoon's heart.

Belcoon stared first down to his gut, and then to Garret. Pure disbelief etched his face. "Im..possible." He coughed up some blood, and Garret grunted, pulling his hand out of the man's chest. The quick use of Water Manipulation Technique and Pressure Crusher efficiently ended the man's life as Garret's spell crushed the man's last hold on life.

He looked around and noted that the others were just finishing up with their opponents. Wondering how Marinus had done, Garret turned in an effort to move around the wagon and see for himself. Marinus, however, was watching him from the driver's seat, waiting for everyone to finish. That certainly answered Garret's question.

The rest of the bandits, having seen that they were routed, ran off. Garret walked around, assessing the damage to the various individuals. Zheng Longwei succeeded in killing the most opponents, though he had suffered from various cuts and wounds. At the very least, nothing too serious that couldn't be treated with easy first aid measures. Xin Qiaolian seemed to be fine, but the least amount of action had even gotten to her. Yang Jianjun and Tian Zedong had killed all of their opponents but one, who they managed to capture as his bandit friends ran for their lives.

Lu Feng and Tseng Qiang hadn't killed many, and one would have though that they were faced with just a few more opponents than Xin Qiaolian just by body count. They had, however, managed to capture three of them alive.

Tying up their prisoners, Garret and company made their way back to the villa. He had learned two important pieces of information from this; Deep Sea Harpoon only caused internal damage when already exhausted. And somebody knew how he fought and had told the bandits, if that was what they truly were, as Belcoon was far too prepared.


OOC:
Word Count: 2355/1500
130/300 Magoi/Stamina
Takes place before Azix enters The Daily Humdrum of a Spymaster.

Abilities Used: