high_seas | PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

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PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

December 9th finds some new arrivals to this world, the same curious phenomenon that's been occurring for the past few months.

This time, however, the Navy is prepared -- or so they think.

They've got troops stationed around the island, and ships on the water to stop any arrogant, foolhardy pirates and would-be sailors from trying to make port.

So hit them with all you've got, but they're not going down easily...

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For him? Sasuke had never expected to place any trust in the power that had supposedly brought them here, but the knowledge that the military fully assumed that they were serving as lackeys to piece together something this Davy Jones was unable to do himself only confirmed it. He met Itachi's look with a frown -- for all that it was obvious, there was little they could do other than search for it.

Unless they'd simply captured too low-ranking an officer in the confusion? But the overall goal of the military seemed to be to get rid of them more than anything else, which meant if they had anything to send them back it would likely have been used long ago.

"You just say that," the officer was saying, still shaking, but voice growing angry. "As if you haven't heard from him how powerful it is -- a power like that needs to be controlled!

"But you won't get it," he said, fear and pride seeming to overcome his judgment. "We've figured it out -- how to stop you freaks from using your magic --"

"Those cuffs," Sasuke said, grip tightening on the man's jaw. It clicked shut, sudden awareness in his expression that he'd said too much. "How do they work?"

Cuffs. Itachi didn't know much about them either, and he had no further questions to add on top of Sasuke's own. Not yet. If his brother couldn't get anything more out of him then he would push the genjutsu further, but not yet. The other ninja had a good enough handle on things.

Their abilities were already weakened here - that much was apparent, especially in how much they were tired out after enough use of them. That there was a way of sealing them off further shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was still important to have it confirmed. Anything they could learn about it and how to keep it from being used against them would be helpful. Of course, given the competence this man had shown so far, who could say if he really had much else worth adding. Those who knew what they needed were most likely not even placed on the field.

"It doesn't matter how they work, they'll take you down just fine --" the man started, but flinched when Sasuke let his eyes shift, the darker pattern of the Mangekyou an ominous threat alongside the rustling feathers of the Sharingan-eyed crows still lining the rafters. Panicking, he babbled, "I don't know, some scientists came up with them, I don't know how they work!"

It looked increasingly likely that he was being honest, and Sasuke tossed him back into the chair with a disgusted noise. "They sent their lowest-level idiots to deal with us here. As if any cuffs could hold us for long."

He'd seen them only in passing when they'd rushed through the town, but even that quick glance had made it clear that whatever they were doing to suppress powers, they didn't look sturdy enough to withstand any determined assault. He was halfway ready to call the questioning done, assume they'd gotten most of what they could get from this fool, but pride apparently felt the need to assert itself in the officer: straining forward against the ropes, he worked his mouth for a furious moment and proceeded to spit at Sasuke.

The angle was nowhere near good enough for him to strike Sasuke's face, where he was clearly aiming, but the action was so unexpected that Sasuke's instinctive reflex to defend only meant that it struck him in the sleeve instead, the man snarling:

"They'll hold you and sap any of your magic, and we're making more of them! Soon we'll all have them and you freaks won't stand a chance!"

A bit of spit wasn't much of a threat to his brother, but Itachi's reaction was immediate. As the man continued to speak, dark hands clawed their way out of the illusion and wrapped themselves around his neck, sealing off his air supply. He wouldn't kill him, that wasn't their purpose here, but as long as he was in this situation such 'attacks' against his brother wouldn't be tolerated.

He knew Sasuke didn't need his protection, but it wouldn't do to have this soldier think he could get away with his bravado either.

"The problem with your strategy is that they have to be able to get them on us first." He didn't like it, but as long as they remained in groups their chances of being caught would be slim. There always needed to be someone to be able to help a 'pirate' who might have allowed themself to be shackled. How they dealt with the issue would depend on how the navy planned to attach them on their victims.

His hold on the man's neck lasted only a short time, as there was still the possibility that he might spill further parts of their grand scheme.

"Doesn't matter, every ship and every one of us will -- you'll just be a weak kid and we'll take you down like the filthy scum you are -- " but the man's voice choked off in the next second, taken over by a strained whimper of fear as the shadowy hands sealed around his neck -- and as Sasuke yanked him up by the collar of his uniform at the same time, chair lifting off its back legs. Sharingan spinning, he snarled, low with threat:

"You don't threaten my brother." Drawing him closer, Mangekyou reddening his vision and chakra gathering, "You're worthless. You know nothing --"

"It doesn't matter what I know, the Admiral will get you," the officer hissed, gasping through the release of the illusion's hands. "Alexander Hawkins won't let us down --"

"And where --" Sasuke started, only to be interrupted by a tremendous crash through the next room that shook the entire house, accompanied by a distant shout that sounded strangely like Bring the sixteen-pounder 'round! He glanced at Itachi, mouth twisting in impatient displeasure: had the navy men come after their officer after all?

At the sound, Itachi strode over to a nearby cabinet. He'd been considering uses for this since he'd spotted it earlier and now was their chance. Picking up a half-empty liquor bottle, he joined his brother at the man's side. The illusion ended completely, but his eyes remained red. He wasn't done with the Sharingan yet.

"Forget all this." It was spoken lowly, a command, and with it he hit their captive's mind hard enough to stun, erasing from it any memories of their interrogation. This wasn't a ninja, but a soldier without chakra control. He had no desire to harm his mind too deeply, enemy or no.

Once he had done this, he poured some of the bottle into the man's slack jaw so that some went in and the rest dribbled down the front of his shirt. "We should untie him and go."

The information they'd gotten was lacking, but still helpful. For now it looked to be the best they would get. Spending any more time with him would get them nowhere.

Sasuke moved at the same time Itachi did, dropping the officer carelessly from his grip and flicking out one of the few kunai he'd retrieved from his arrival. The chair legs hit the floor with a thud and the man startled into a backwards scramble, shoes scuffing even more frantically in the carpet as Itachi approached. His mouth opened, a garbled protest escaping before he succumbed to the jutsu and went slack, body straining the ropes.

They'd gotten scant information for the risk they'd taken, a name and the knowledge that the navy would be working on creating more of whatever they'd found could suppress their powers -- as if that was something that couldn't be assumed on its own.

"We should leave him as a warning," he said, mouth still twisted in contempt even as another crash sounded from the next room. "Let the navy know they're fucking with the wrong people."

"No." The word was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He wanted to let Sasuke take charge, show that he had faith in him, but this was an instance where some of his most basic beliefs came into play. Shisui's recent death, recent from his perspective at least, was still at the corner of his mind, and with it the words that had become so important to his way of thinking.

"It will be better for them not to know what they're dealing with. It will leave them less prepared in the future." A ninja did not seek to have his exploits known. They worked from the shadows, keeping their secrets and their protectorates safely guarded. Now was the time to disappear without a trace. "Let's leave him. They need never know who was here."

If Sasuke decided to go against this, he wasn't going to push the matter further. He had said what he'd wanted to say.

"I said --" He started, and then paused. It had been long enough since someone he'd chosen to work with him had contradicted him in the middle of action that the disagreement made him halt his turn away from the bound officer, blinking in surprise. Hawk had been contradictory, but it wasn't quite the same thing. Then again, he probably should have expected it from someone who had been ANBU captain at thirteen.

More than that, the way Itachi operated was fundamentally different from how Sasuke had lived, notoriety more a background fact of life than a choice. He was accustomed to a shinobi world that already knew the legends of the Sharingan, strangers who had expectations around the sound of his name. The parts of the shinobi manual about operating from the shadows had never really applied to him.

It was weird to have to recall them now; but this man could take back a tale of sorcerers with magic eyes, or he could be laughed out of his position for a drunk. Itachi had pointed out before that they were already at a disadvantage for information, however confused and terrified their rank-and-file and civilians seemed.

"Fine," he said finally, practically winning out over the habit of leaving his bloodline behind him as a threatening calling card. "Untie him and let's go."

He moved as he spoke, striding to a back window and glancing out of it before pushing up the sash, preparing to slip out unnoticed by whoever was attacking the front now.

Wordlessly, Itachi moved to untie the bound man. He left him in the chair, but removed the bindings completely and tucked them away so that there would be no evidence that the officer had ever been tied up in the first place. The more they thought had happened to him, the more they would press him to reveal.

Not that there should be anything left in the man's memory about his capture, but in the very small off-chance that they had someone among them who could pull those memories out again, he wanted them to have as little reason to try as possible.

Sasuke might have almost started to argue with him, but he hadn't. Itachi knew what it was like to work alone and to be used to giving out the orders. It pleased him that, despite that, his brother had decided to listen to him anyway. He understood his reasoning enough to allow them to proceed as he suggested, and that was all he could ask for.

He just needed to make sure he didn't boss the other around too often.

Once finished, he was quick to follow Sasuke toward their exit. He would use another genjutsu if necessary, but they would likely be able to sneak away undetected without it.

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PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

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