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Dead Oceans: A Kantai Collection Quest

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[X] Draw it away from the village; you're not that far from the edge, and if you can keep it's attention on you, you ought to be able to lead it away from the village; an abyssal like this is many things, but smart is not one of them.
 
[X] Charge right at it; all you want is to buy time for people to get away, and this is the best way of doing it; with how wounded it is, there's a spot in between the heads where it can't actually get there- wedge yourself there, and you've got all the time you need.

TIME TO BE A FUCKING LEGEND.
 
[X] Draw it away from the village; you're not that far from the edge, and if you can keep it's attention on you, you ought to be able to lead it away from the village; an abyssal like this is many things, but smart is not one of them.
 
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Prologue 004- Saviour
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    • -Draw it away from the village; you're not that far from the edge, and if you can keep it's attention on you, you ought to be able to lead it away from the village; an abyssal like this is many things, but smart is not one of them.

    "I'm leading it away! As soon as it's clear, FIRE!" You yell into the radio before stuffing it into your pocket, ignoring the shouts of protest coming from the other end. Can't be distracted now.

    Slowly, carefully, you start backing away from the abyssal; it's not got any eyes, but it's still watching you. Dead flesh moves, and it starts dragging itself towards you, slowly and painstakingly. Everything seems so quiet now, as you focus on keeping away from it; the only sound you hear is the scrape of its body dragging across the ground, the low groaning coming from within. It moves forwards, you glance back, and step away yourself. Step by step, scrape by scrape, you move towards the edge of the village; you've cleared the field of rubble it had been buried in, and now you just need to lead it through this alleyway and you'll be out, and then you call in the strike and run. Everything's going according to plan. Behind it, rubble shifts, falling from where it lay. Something moves.

    Which is exactly when the abyssal stops short of the alleys mouth, claws digging into the dirt as it starts to turn itself around. You can't let it go back to the village, it'd be carnage. You've got to keep it's attention on you. Which is why you do something very stupid. Glancing around the alley, you see a pitchfork, left scattered among other tools. Feet braced, you hold the fork knuckles white with your grip. There- there's a wound on it's back. You're not going to harm it, but sticking it there'll at least get its attention. You charge forwards, and bring the fork down in an arc, stabbing it into the open wound on the abyssals back. You back away as the abyssal wrenches itself back to face you before charging towards you, far faster than you thought it could move like this. That's more than I'd have expected anyone in your position to do. You pass.

    Smashing into the alley mouth, the abyssal rages, forcing it's way through the too-small gap towards you, bricks tumbling to the ground as it smashes its way through the houses. As it slams itself further into the gap, one of the house walls gives way, and you cover your head to shield yourself from the falling rubble. But that took time, and the abyssals right on top of you.

    With a deafening roar, fire blooms, with the blast sending you sprawling backwards. Your head ringing from the noise, you blink away the glare, and pick yourself up from the floor; the abyssals sprawled on the ground, one arm blown clean off. A figure stands beyond it, long brown hair curving away from their face in an M-shape, wearing a dull orange dress trimmed in white, with long black gloves on her arms, while you see the gleam of metal coming from some blocky parts on her clothing; there's what looks like a crane on her shoulder, old-fashioned turrets on her gloves, and torpedo tubes? on her hips, all in miniature.

    She steps forwards, and pulls the pitchfork out of the abyssals back, before driving it down through one of the abyssals head's, the wooden haft shattering as the fork pierces through the abyssals armour, pinning the head's jaws together. It collapses, black blood pouring out of the wound as it struggles to stand on it's remaining leg, then it falls to the ground and goes still.

    As the girl steps towards you, you can see that whoever this person is... she's young. Maybe in her early 20s? There's an awkwardness to her walk, and you can see blood running down her leg and dripping from her gloves. Red blood. She glances over you, eyes falling on your shoulders. She snaps a salute, a proper navy one, wincing just a little. "Lieutenant-Commander. Reporting that all enemy forces have been eliminated!" She declares in... really quite formal sounding Japanese. There's fire in this girl. She made us all proud. Take care of her, and she'll serve you well.

    The girl drops the salute, holding the arm to her side. "At least... I think that's what I'm supposed to say?" she mutters, giving her head a quick shake, her voice much softer than it was moments ago.

    [] You're hurt
    [] You think? Is something wrong?
    [] Who are you?
    [] Thank you
     
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    • [X] You're hurt.
    - [X] Who are you?

    Will post the horas a bit later... unless someone else gets to it first.

    EDIT: Horas~

    Everything's going according to plan. Behind it, rubble shifts, falling from where it lay. Something moves.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    You back away as the abyssal wrenches itself back to face you before charging towards you, far faster than you thought it could move like this. That's more than I'd have expected anyone in your position to do. You pass.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    She declares in... really quite formal sounding Japanese. There's fire in this girl. She made us all proud. Take care of her, and she'll serve you well.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    In any case, long hair with M-shaped bangs sounds like Jintsuu...
     
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    Prologue 005- Jintsuu
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    • -You're hurt.
    --Who are you?
    Holy shit... What the hell is she?

    There's a lot you could say right now. There's a lot you could ask, a lot that you could do. A lot you want, need to find out. But not right now. Because right now, what you're seeing is someone who's hurt and confused.

    "Hey, are you okay?" you ask, squatting slightly to match her height. "You're hurt. Come on, let's get you to the medics."

    "Lieutenant-Commander, surely you have more important things to be d-" she says, her voice back to the much more formal tone she'd used at the start. You interrupt her protest, offering her your hand to shake. "It's Asuka. You just saved my life, you don't need to be formal. What's your name?"

    She takes it, and seems to take a moment to think your question over. "Jintsuu. Just Jintsuu. That's who I am. I know that much. Even if..."
    Jintsuu trails off, her fingers fidgeting as she mutters inaudibly to herself.

    "Jintsuu, look at me- I might not know exactly what's happening here, but I can tell you're confused about something. The least I can do to help pay you back for saving me is to help you out. Let's find somewhere to sit down, and we can talk things through, see if that gets you a better handle on what's bothering you. But first, let's get you patched up so you aren't bleeding everywhere. Okay?" And it'll help me figure out what's going on here as well.

    "I... I suppose it cannot hurt. I think I will take you up on that offer, Lieu- Asuka."

    With that settled, you start leading Jintsuu down towards the medics, giving Akemi a call to get there ahead of you and start setting things up there. She's quiet on the walk, taking in the sight of the devastated village. After a bit, you make it to where the medics are, and you see a fenced off section, white tarpaulin hung over the bars to block the view from outside. Entering the not-quite-a-tent, Akemi turns around from the table where he'd been sorting through some medical equipment. "So, what's with the secrecy? It's not like you to be so vague- you found it?"

    As Jintsuu enters behind you, you shake your head. "I found her. Akemi, meet Jintsuu. Don't worry, he's my second. You can trust him." Jintsuu gives him a salute as well, once again wincing as she brings her arm up.

    "Jintsuu is it? Hmm, a nice name. Not that common, but I think I've heard it before." Motioning for Jintsuu to take a seat, Akemi gives her a look over. "Okay, let's start from the top; doesn't look like it, but you've not had anything hit your head?"
    "No."
    "I don't see any blood here, so no chest injuries?"
    "Two glancing hits from enemy fire. No damage sustained."

    "Wait- what do you mean 'two glancing hits? An abyssal shot you?" Akemi looks at you quizzically.
    "When engaging the unknown forces, I sustained two hits from enemy fire to my... torso?" Jintsuu pauses, seeming to consider the word for a moment. "Yes, my torso. However, I did not sustain any serious damage."

    "She hasn't given me any reason to doubt anything she's said; if she hadn't killed that cruiser, we wouldn't be here." You explain, giving Akemi a brief rundown of how you met Jintsuu.

    "Okay then." Akemi pauses for a second, staring into space. "In that case Jintsuu, where else did you get hurt? As you seem to have that down."
    She nods. "In addition to the glancing hits, I was bitten once on my right... shoulder, and I took a direct hit from enemy fire to my left leg."
    "I'll start with that then. Jintsuu, can you take these things off?" Akemi asks, indicating the torpedo-launcher replicas mounted on her hips. "I can't get a good look with these things in the way."

    She nods, and does... something. One second the launchers are there, and then they seem to twist away, vanishing into somewhere. You freeze, trying to avoid letting the shock show on your face.

    "What the fuck- Asuka, you saw that too right? I haven't just been around the fumes for too long." Meanwhile, Akemi has no problems with making his surprise known, waving his hands through the space where the torpedoes were. You cough once, before trying to make sure no sign of concern is in your voice. "Jintsuu, how did you just do that?"

    "I-I don't know? I just wanted them to not be there and they were not. Can you not do that?" Jintsuu fidgets, looking down at her hands as the crane and guns on her arms vanish in the same twisting manner. "Is it not normal? I don't know what is..."

    You put your hand on Jintsuu's shoulder, sitting down next to her. "Maybe not for us. But it definitely is for you. But at the very least, Akemi can get you patched up now. Shall we just start talking through things now? Stuff like this goes by faster when you've got something to help distract you."
    "I'm with Asuka in that whatever you did has to be normal for you- you didn't seem to have to think about it at all, it's just like breathing for you... Aha!" Akemi pipes up, giving his thoughts on Jintsuus disappearing armaments as he kneels beside her, readying his tools. "That's why your name sounded familiar- It's a warship name, I remember that from history. You're named after it?"

    "Warship. Warship." Jintsuu rolls the word around her mouth, giving it a lot of thought.
    "No, not after." She says, a note of confidence creeping into her voice. "I am Jintsuu. Of the Sendai class light cruisers. There is much I do not know about why I am here and now. But I know who I am, and I know that I am a warship."
    What do you ask Jintsuu? (Pick 2)

    [] What do you mean, you are a warship? How's that possible?
    [] Let's start from the beginning; how did you get here?
    [] Why were you fighting the abyssals?
    [] How much do you know? What do you remember?
    [] Ask another question (Write-in)
     
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    • [x] Let's start from the beginning; how did you get here?
    [x] How much do you know? What do you remember?
     
    [x] Let's start from the beginning; how did you get here?
    [x] How much do you know? What do you remember?
     
    Prologue 006- Offer
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    • -Let's start from the beginning; how did you get here?
    -How much do you know? What do you remember?
    Of all the things you were expecting to hear, hearing Jintsuu declare that she is the warship she's named after wasn't one of them. It's just such an absurd premise. Any yet... she was able to kill that abyssal by herself, there's certainly a nautical theme to how she dresses. She doesn't seem like she's much of a liar either, and now you think about it, a lot of her confusion's all been around well, human things. But then, there's still got to be some other explanation. Surely. You're just not sure what it might be right now.

    "Okay, let's cover that bit later. I'm thinking that for now, we start at the beginning. How did you actually get here, Jintsuu?" You ask, as Akemi rolls down her stocking, examining the bloody wound on her leg. It looks just like a particularly nasty gunshot wound, but she's barely reacting to it. Wincing at the sight, Akemi begins peering through a magnifying glass at the wound, tweezers at the ready.

    "I... woke up here. The first thing I saw was smoke rising from the sky. I was lying on the ocean, some miles from the shore here. I sailed here, and I saw those black monsters, these abyssals, attacking the village. It is strange; I had never seen them before. It was not even an hour since I had first opened my eyes. Yet I felt... I knew that they were my enemy. I fought them. I killed them. And then I met you. And that is how I have spent the scant hours that have passed in this life." Jintsuu explains, hissing with pain partway through her story as Akemi pulls a piece of shrapnel out from the wound in her leg. She seems a little more confident in her speaking now, although her language is still somewhat old-fashioned, and she still hesitates when talking about emotions.

    "You've really only been alive for hours? But, you know that you are Jintsuu, and that you are a warship?" You ask, leaning in towards Jintsuu. "Do you remember anything? How much do you just know like that?"

    "I... was different, once. I know that this body is not the one I used to have. And yet, it is not unfamiliar to me. I know my name. I know how to move. I can speak. Beyond that... I have nothing but scraps of memory; flashes of light, thunder and smoke."

    "Why did you go towards the smoke when you woke up? You say you sailed here, surely you could have gone anywhere?"

    "Yes, I could have. But, I do not know anywhere I could go. The smoke, this village, was something different. And... as I opened my eyes, I... it felt like someone was crying for help. I could not just sail off into the ocean."

    It's... almost charming, as stories go. She's woken up for the first time, and despite not having much idea about anything at all, she went somewhere because she thought someone needed help. As Akemi disinfects the gunshot in Jintsuus leg and begins to bandage it up, seeing the look on Jintsuus face... she looks lost. When all she was doing was fighting something she knew to be an enemy, everything would have been easy. But now? Now she's not got anything like that, she's just got to be human. And she's got no-one to help.

    You stand up from the seat you'd taken. Jintsuu looks up at you as you face her and offer your hand.
    Pick one
    [] We need your help
    [] Come with us
    [] I'll help you be human
     
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    • [X] Come with us.

    Debated a bit on precisely which option to take, but this seems like the best for now. A way of both asking and offering help.
     
    Though I have this worry that this is the least nice option, I'm actually really attracted to "we need your help". This is Asuka looking at someone who is showing more capacity to actually fight their ultimate enemy than she has ever known, something that has dropped into her lap by nothing less than divine providence. She has to be starting to internalize how important this is. So this is a really honest answer reaching out to someone who both can make a difference and seems to want to. Because that's where this is going to end up when we bring her in regardless.

    But I do worry that this is the not nice option that will be expressed more harshly and make us seem overly demanding. Sooooo, I'm still unsure.
     
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