you're in the jungle, baby / you gonna die

[lucetimods]

Who: All draftees
What: Fighting the Third Party... and perhaps the wildlife.
When: June 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. (Characters will be pulled out at 11:59 of the 6th.)
Where: An as-yet unmapped by the Malnosso tropical rainforest.
Summary: Here are your details. Try to stay alive, won't you?
Rating: Anywhere from PG to R.

No cut for you. Most of you will know how this works by now; if you don't, follow the lead of the others, or perhaps look to the last draft's fighting post for ideas. Don't forget to use your handy dandy character tags. Go forth and conquer thine enemies!

Comments

[simplestgift]

What...what makes it do that?

[endgames]

One of two things, usually. Dead battery... [He turns to look at the trees over his shoulder - but no, it'd be unlikely they'd gotten that far past them.] Or a Shifter.

[simplestgift]

[Archie immediately straightens and scans the area, listening, hand over his pistol.] That sounds as good as any warning. And it's going to rain, damn it all.

[The cannons people just got used to will be rendered useless.]

[endgames]

We can still fight in the rain.

[Hi, we have no such thing as gunpowder in the Naruto universe, all of our explosions are with magic.]

[simplestgift]

Not with cannons, and wet powder.

[It would be a different thing on a ship.]

[endgames]

[The hell? That seems so inefficient.]

...so you're saying these things are going to be useless soon as the rain hits?

[simplestgift]

No. I'm saying they'll be useless if the powder gets wet. If it's monsoon season here, with no real shelter or anything else to keep the powder dry, it's inevitable. Not to mention there has to be a spark to set off the powder, and if the flint...damn them to hell.

1/2

[endgames]

[...and suddenly, it all clicks into place - why the houses in the trees they found earlier would be abandoned like they were, even though the Third Party would logically want to cover as much ground as possible. Not the best of shelters, when a monsoon hits.]

Shit. I'm gonna make a guess that is. We'll just have to make use of them while we can.

[He takes his eyes off of the trees to Archie, a dozen plans running through his head. He needs more information before he makes the best one though.]

[endgames]

[He forcibly relaxes his shoulders and adopts a more laid-back grin. He's still dead serious when he speaks, however.]

First things first though. Fast as they are, the Third Party should've been on us now. That they aren't means there's more of them, and that they're just waiting until everyone is in place and the offensive task-forces are farther away. There's a good chance this is an ambush then, which would mean they're hoping to catch us off guard.

Act casual - they'll put things in motion ahead of schedule if they realize we're on to them, and if they're coming from that direction we're gonna be two of the first people they'll see. So we're just two guys goofing off, yeah?

[simplestgift]

...Remaining here alone sounds a bit like a death sentence. It takes several men at once to keep a single cannon in action.

[endgames]

[Work with him, Archie.]

We're not going to for long - just until I get a plan. Is there anything we can do with these cannons that doesn't require several people?

[He can send Archie to get those people if he has to, but he doesn't want to waste time if he doesn't.]

[simplestgift]

[Okay, fine. He stares at the cannons, the powder, the shot, the trees, and...

...all that shrapnel...

...damn.]

Blow them up.

[It's a tough admission--Kennedy tends to sort of bond with his guns. But they're going home soon, and this is the best use the guns can be put to before the rain starts.]

[endgames]

[Shikamaru discreetly raps his knuckles against one side of the cannon, trying to get an idea for how thick it is.]

Yeah - with a good explosion, that should do nicely. [Back to Archie.] I have some explosives myself, but I've never worked with these before. What would we need to do to make sure they go off?

[simplestgift]

Double-shot. Pile the remaining powder around, and set a fuse. The powder will explode first. When the flame reaches the cannons, they'll overheat and explode. It'll take a little time, but it'll mean two explosions.

[endgames]

Doable. They might notice if we set a fuse, though, since we'll want to be helluva ways off when it goes off. [He's seen the fuses for these things, at least, so he knows he'd be all over that if he were the enemy and didn't want to get blown to pieces.

He takes an exploding tag out of his flak jacket.] These might work better. This one is like a bomb and a fuse combined. I could put several of these on the cannon, and then we'd just have to make sure to hit it with something from the outside. One goes off, and they all will.

[simplestgift]

[He nods softly.] We'll need to stop up the ends of the guns. We can make it look like we're cleaning them. Between the heat weakening the metal and the pressure from the inside, it'll make a pretty pop.

[There's something that's beginning to appeal to him about this plan, the more he considers it. There's something about explosions, and having the breath knocked out of you by the edge of the shockwave...]

[endgames]

[What? No there isn't. That's nuts.

...okay, maybe there is something appealing about that. Just a little though. He grins.]

It'll be better if we draw them out. After we're done setting it up, I can seal a cannon into a scroll and act like I'm moving it for you. They're probably right around the edge of the camp now - if we take it closer to where they are, it'll rattle them. I can dump the cannon - you set it off while I get out of the way?

[simplestgift]

It would make them cautious about approaching the real trap, if they saw one gun used this way.

[He reaches into a barrel and pulls out a cloth-covered shell--a little larger than a softball, and it has a fuse attached.] This will do the same, in miniature.

[endgames]

Even better. Wrap it in one of these anyways, though, just in case the fuse stops. [He hands him the paper tag.] Extra precaution. If one doesn't go off, the other will make sure it will.

[This plan, brought to you by the Rule of Cool, No Kill Like Overkill, and Stuff That Blows Up, is falling into place now.] Let's start 'cleaning' then, huh?

[simplestgift]

[And "clean" they do, stuffing double shot and powder into each cannon and sealing them as tightly as possible. The remaining powder cartridges are stacked around, along with the remaining shot and shells in their barrels.

Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay are nowhere in sight.]

[endgames]

[It's just a matter of planting these three extra shells then, and drawing the Third Party out.]

Tch. These are heavier than I thought they'd be. [Whine and complain here. But he's good to go.] You remember what to do?

[Making sure we're all clear here before we start.]

[simplestgift]

Aye-aye, sir.

[endgames]

Give me two minutes tops then.

[And with that, he makes a hand seal and disappears seemingly into thin air, nothing but a stirring of leaves left in his place. Shunshin is such a useful jutsu sometimes.

Out of sight now, Shikamaru sneaks ahead through the trees, planting the three shells he'd taken with him. One to the left, one to the center, one to the right; it should be enough to draw the Third Party out and get them to attack. And hopefully walk right into their trap.]

[simplestgift]

[By the time Shikamaru returns, Kennedy has made last-minute cleanups to make the trap look like as normal as possible rather than a massive bomb. Two minutes are up; he draws his pistol, sticks a small paper cartridge of black powder between his teeth, and waits for the signal.]

[endgames]

[ BOOM.

And that would be the signal there, the first shell going off, and Third Party soldiers come flying out of their hiding spots.

Cover literally - and purposefully - blown, Shikamaru throws a kunai towards the location of the one he set off to the right (up in a tree, so they can't just fly away from it). A few moments later, it goes off too.]