Viridian Dreams Forum

It has been several days since the Eshimo mission when the team receives their next assignment. The mission is assigned with little fanfare or ceremony; there is simply a young ninja waiting at the training ground when the four meet that morning. She hands Tatsumaru a scroll, bows quickly, and dashes away to make her next delivery.

According to the scroll, an unusually large group of bandits have been making a nuisance of themselves at road crossings, robbing travelers. The mission is to recover a particular necklace that was stolen, and if possible, to... correct... the problem.

Tatsumaru reads over the scroll. Carefully noting the information they have.
*This could prove...interesting*

"Alright team the powers that be have once again decided to send us up against bandits. Apparently our little stunt up near Eshimo didn't deter them. They've banded together . As we know the area we're being sent in to clear them up and keep that trade route open. They're apparently camped near the crossroads by Yanagisawa . About a day south of Eshimo as a ninja travels. Questions?"

Toshizo, sitting cross legged on top of a boulder, scratches his chin. "That's quite a ways for civilians. It's possible it could be a different group of bandits. What's our intel on them?"

"Intel is a bit on the slim side. Far as we know they've just sort of formed a large group, for bandits; we're looking at around a hundred people. Most are armed with whatever they can find but some managed to get better weapons than your normal bandit. From what the report says they're living off the caravans going through the crossroads." Tatsumaru answers.

Taru, now back in his proper form, and standing on the underside of a large branch in a nearby tree,, shakes his head, short blond hair hanging.

"I hate it when intel is incomplete. We have any descriptions? Attire, habits, temperament?"

His control slips and the branch craters, forcing him to somersault off of it to the ground below, rolling to his feet and brushing off grass and dust.

"Crap. And what exactly does "Better than your average bandit" mean?"

"No descriptions of the leaders or anything like that. Seem to hit the caravans fairly regularly though. Most are equipped according to this with leather armor, clubs, and some rusted swords and spears. The usual bandit equipment. Still some somehow managed to get their hands on chain mail and fresh new swords. Probably lifted them off a caravan."

Tatsumaru flips through the report.

"Seems like the survivors say that the bandits tend to swarm them. Using their numbers to overwhelm. Doesn't say how the bandits got close though...yeah not happy about this. But ours is not to reason why. Unless anyone has something else. Meet me in an hour at the gate. Bring everything you think you need for a heavy assault."

Taru nods, and starts tapping a finger against his chin thoughtfully.

"I'm good."

After a moment of thinking, a grin spreads across his face.

"Heavy Assault you say? I can handle that."

50 Minutes Later

Miyu arrives at the gate shortly before the appointed time and awaits her teammates' arrival, mentally quadruple-checking that she has everything.
Did I remember the-? Yes. And the-? Yes, those too...

Tatsumaru arrives wearing heavier arm guards then usually does.

"Miyu-san."

Toshizo walks up to the gate with a full pack and double kunai pouches. He nods happily. "Yasuragi-san. Tatsumaru-san."

Miyu breaks off her compulsive mental rechecking to incline her head in greeting to each new arrival in turn.
"Tatsumaru-san. Yamanaka-san."

Taru is the last to arrive, his quiver sporting more than its normal amount of arrows, most with black fletching, but approximately a quarter of them have red. His tanto is in its sheath on the quiver and an extra hip pouch rounds out his equipment. Otherwise he is dressed in his normal fashion, flak jacket on, gloves and arm guards in place, smiling slightly.

"Alright, here I am, ready and loaded for bear. What say we do this thing?"

"Yes. I think we'll use the same formation we used last time. Taru-san in front, Miyu-san and Toshizo-san on the sides and I'll play rear guard. We'll make for Eshimo first then head south."


The team moves out. Swiftly and silently as ninja through the forests. Eventually they stop a short way away from the supposed bandit camp three days later.

"Alright people we'll rest here for a while and plan our attack." Tatsumaru says after they stop.

Toshizo gratefully sets his pack down on the ground, grabs out a notebook and a pen and sits down against a tree, looking thoughtfully at the paper and occasionally writing something down. After a little while, he takes a portion of his ponytail and starts chewing on it pensively.

Tatsumaru stretches out.

"Alright given the numbers and our lack of a combat clone monster. I'm thinking that a frontal assault might not be the best way. So we're going to have to chip away at them. Tonight we'll eliminate their sentries and scout the camp. After that we'll plan out a proper take down." he says.

Toshizo looks up. "Isn't it a bad idea to alert them like that?"

Taru shakes his head as he sits across from Toshizo, idly watching him as he reaches into a pocket and produces, of all things, a stick of pocky and sticks it in his mouth, with the sweet treat hanging from his lips like a piece of straw. He reaches over a shoulder and removes one of the red fletched arrows from his quiver and beings examining it.

It has a strange,enlarged shaped metal head, covered in seal work, and what appears to be several explosive tags wrapped tightly around the shaft near the head. He adds in his thoughts without looking up.

"Messing with the sentries like that will only put them on their guard. Wouldn't it be a better idea to scout and leave the sentries alone till we are ready to move for real?"

Tatsumaru shrugs

"We do it right and they never find the bodies. Their sentries just 'disappear ' Maybe they wandered off decided to try their luck or something. Besides something about this doesn't sit right with me. The less bandits we have to fight in open combat the better. Still stealth recon is your thing Taru-san. Assuming that they have genin level capabilities could you stealth and scout a camp that size?"

Taru nods, still examining the arrow and chewing on his pocky.

"Shouldn't be a problem. Stealth I can handle."

Tatsumaru frowns.

"Alright I still don't like this. So you won't be on your own for this one Taru-san. Miyu-san go with him and back him up. Toshizo-san and I will be near by. If you get detected set off a signal and retreat. Toshizo-san an I will provide a distraction for you."

Looking around Tatsumaru considers their stopping point.
"We'll move out at midnight. In the mean time we'll set up camp and get some rest." He says.

Camp is set up, rest is gotten, and all too soon, midnight comes.

The bandit camp is located in the forest by the road, buried far enough in that it is not immediately visible. As Taru approaches, with Miyu following silently, he can hear the crackle of campfires... and, faintly, the murmur of voices.

Tatsumaru waits in the darkness with Toshizo beside him. This is the worst part of any mission. The waiting. Taru and Miyu should be in by now. Still Tatsumaru can't help but feel that something is going to go wrong.

Toshizo sits calmly and quietly at Tatsumaru's side. This was his favorite part of any mission. The balance of relaxation and alertness really brought out the best in his thought processes, and he found that almost any problem started to unravel before him. Granted, he didn't really have any problems on hand, so he decided to go back and work on less urgent problems

Taru stretches out with his senses, moving as cautiously and stealthily toward the camp as he possibly can. Even if they are only bandits, best not to get sloppy after all. A few minutes or so of quick observation should be enough to get a estimate of man power, the camp layout, and any other important information they could need.

Taru and Miyu continue their approach. The bandits have sentries posted, and fairly attentive ones at that, but stealth keeps the ninja from notice.
The camp is laid out between the trees, a tent pitched here, another there. A few campfires are being kept burning in a larger clear area. An oddly large number of men are sitting around them, talking in low voices. Thirty to forty wakeful, at a quick glance, and about half again that many asleep, judging by the number of tents. The wakeful are armed in patchy and ragtag fashion, most with rough weapons and armor in such poor repair as to barely deserve the name, but many with arms of somewhat higher quality.
The air is heavy with anticipation. They are waiting for something.