A Day in the Life of a La Junta: Naginata
The morning bugle sounded as the few soldiers of the La Junta that were asleep woke up. One of them was Naginata, the Junta's ditzy inventor. The brunette stretched as she climbed out of her bunk-bed which she shared with Winifred, another girl in the La junta.
"Morning." Naginata said to Winifred as she got dressed, putting on her uniform and goggles.
"Good morning." Winifred smiled as she brushed her long red hair in front of a small hand held mirror. The residential tents of the La Junta failed in the aspect of vanities. "How do I look today?" She asked.
"Like you're still begging for that promotion." Naginata answered as she strapped a tool belt and a weird gizmo that looked like a screwdriver melted with a set of keys. "You know I highly doubt General will ever give you a higher rank just because you look good as a poster girl." She added.
Winifred shrugged and continued grooming before getting in uniform and leaving a few of the top buttons undone. "One can hope." She said before the two left for the mess hall.
Meals in the La Junta were trials. And with Molly at the stove, it was no wonder. "Today's special," Her crackly voice came over an intercom. "Is fried fried beans, bottom belly meat, sheet bread, and salty eyes." She muttered before going back to ladling the troop's trays with the stomach-wrenching food. "C'mon, keep up the pace! Take too long I'm giving you more, it's obvious you are not well enough to eat."
Naginata hardly cringed at the food, she was already used to the look and smell, so forcing it down was the only ordeal. Naginata and Winifred got their food and went down the lines of tables to look for a good spot, mostly away from those who cannot hold their breakfast. A male soldier waved to them. His name was Myke and also at the table was his sister Tank.
"Hey Myke." Naginata smiled as she and Winifred sat down. "How's your schedule look today?" She asked as she squashed her eyeballs onto her stale, flat bread to try and get rid of two food items at once.
"Patrol of the skies and maybe a raid on a Montana building. New intelligence got in that they're doing some business deal and we aim to do a little entry-and-exit." Myke answered. "haven't gotten the details on how we're going to get in, I expect through windows."
"No it won't be through those." Everyone at the table jumped as they quickly looked two seats down from Tank. There sat a balding man with mustache, eating his bread in seemingly an ordinary fashion and just looking completely ordinary.
"Mitch! Goodness, don't scare us like that. Give a little warning, a little hello!" Winifred frowned.
Mitch furrowed his mustache as he took another bite of bread. "I was the one who got the intelligence for the mission. They're doing it in what seems to be a fortified building so a little extra force is necessary. Tank perhaps." He suggested. "But I'm not the one planning the entire attack."
"I'M COMING AROUND! WE HAVE EXTRA EYEBALLS FOR EVERYONE! GET YOUR FILL, THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU!" Molly yelled as she moved out towards the tables, a pot of sloshing eyes in a questionable liquid under her arm. Naginata and the others quickly shoved all their food down and left. Only Mitch was left at the table sipping a cup of plain coffee from a plain, markless white mug. Molly walked right by him. No one even remembered his plate even being there.
Now that breakfast was over, it was time to get to actual work. The small group split up and Naginata went to her workshop that neighbored the La Junta's armory. She opened the door to what used to be a garage and gazed at her creations. Piles upon piles of confiscated electronics, appliances, and vehicles lined the front of the workshop. These were Naginata's raw materials, which she disassembled and reassembled into new weapons for the La Junta, half of which only she knew how to use. The piles of stuff in the back were an array of finished and unfinished projects, including the spring bomb, the jet sled, the microwave rocket launcher, and the magnetized spoon minesweeper. There were around three desks where she could actually work and all three were always occupied by at least one project. Naginata strode to the far one and looked at what she was still working on: a sledge tool comprised of an air pump, a vacuum, and a frying pan. Naginata had it mostly working, except it had the habit of punching its wielder back as well as the wall it was supposed to be hammering. Naginata picked up her large wrench and got to work.
Minutes pasted. Then a few hours. Naginata went through two computers, a lawn mower, and a car suspension and finally picked up the Pan-handle-jacker. She would ask someone like Chiro or Leo to test it out later. Next project: a grenade launcher that worked through a blender and many many rubber bands.
Later on in the day, Naginata went to one of the other garages where the vehicles were maintained to help Tank with her…well tank. Also in the garage was Masamu, an aged mechanic who works on power armor, Burger, a strongly-built man currently defusing several bombs, and Wardog, a big apeman who was just standing to the side waiting for instructions.
Naginata took a quick look at Tank's tank. "Everything seems in order, what's the problem?" She asked Tank, who was leaning on the tank while enjoying a cigarette.
"Not heavily equipped enough." She muttered. "I'm participating in the raid that Myke mentioned this morning and I want more firepower." She said as she put the cigarette out on the tank's metal exterior. "You got anything we can put on it? Give it a little extra power? Or am I stuck with a fricken artillery piece?" She asked.
Naginata was busy inside the tank as she checked everything else and then searched through all her current projects through her head. "…got it! Wardog!" She shouted to the large bulky apeman. "Come with me to my workshop."
With the help of the large man, Naginata brought in a large contraption consisting of large containers connected to a cannon barrel. "ok, help me install this." She smiled to Tank as Wardog helped set it on the tank. After they were done, Naginata stood on top of the tank as she explained what the new contraption did. "This is my new patented, well soon to be patented, nitroglycerin air gun!" She pointed to the four large containers. "Two of these contain the nitroglycerin and two contain the air. The air is used to propel the nitroglycerin through the air and on impact…BOOM!" Naginata laughed a bit at the notion of stuff blowing up. "And this stuff is really potent! Why? I asked Emeth to mix pillz into the nitro glycerin, making it even more explosive." She smiled as she got down. "Just be careful with it, it's still nitroglycerin and-"
"Explodes when shook. Yeah, good thing we already tuned the suspension then, thanks." Tank said as she patted Naginata on the back before leaving to inform the General she was ready for sortie. Naginata meanwhile thanked Wardog for his help and apologized she couldn't stay as she went back to her workshop to do some daily maintenance on some of the more normal guns.
It was late when Naginata finished her daily work. A few more projects done, many of the jammed or broken equipment fixed, and everything ready for the raid on Montana. Naginata didn't have a part in the attack so she was free for dinner. She didn't feel like going through Molly's cooking again though, so she decided to go to the city for dinner. She borrowed one of the La Junta's jeeps and she, Winifred, and Trish, a girl who worked in the interrogation department of La Junta, went out to Clint City. Winifred gave direction since she knew a pretty good diner that was cozy enough and had pretty good food. As the three girls parked and then walked down the streets, they heard the sound of an explosion. It occurred from quite a distance away, but the sound was loud enough. Naginata couldn't help but smile to herself. She then took a look at where Winifred was leading them.
"Gyro's joint huh?" She asked as she looked at the sign which displayed a spinning gyro meat.
"It's good food, pretty good atmosphere, and less chances of flying knives than the Piranha's diner." Winifred said as they entered. Gyro's Joint certainly wasn't a bad place to dine. The interior was decorated with the normal bangers scene: music disks, basketball jerseys, and enjoyable music over the speakers (so think Chile's or TGI's). The three girls sat over at the bar and immediately as Trish sat down, everyone nearby scooted down a few chairs.
Trish looked to the now vacant seats beside her and then back to Naginata and Winifred. "Goodness, it's not like I'm here for them, I'm here for the food." She giggled they looked through the menu. The bartender came over and asked them for their order then.
"Yeah, I'll have the meat kabob platter and a beer." Naginata said, feeling pretty hungry.
"Chicken ceaser salad and a beer." Winifred smiled sweetly. "I'm trying to watch my calories."
"I'll have the wine pot roast and a coke." Trish said. She then looked over to her two comrades who had incredulous looks. "….oh! And a beer." She added, giggling a bit.
"So any fun interrogations today Trish?" Naginata asked as their food arrived and they dug in. La Junta's weren't too keen on table etiquette.
"Not really, I only got to break one finger.." Trish muttered as she took a big bite of her meat. "They don't make GHIEST agents like they used to. I mean have you seen them without their weapons? They're more weak and scared than-" Just then Winifred's cell phone went off.
Winifred put it on speaker and the three girls gathered around it. It was Tank. "Winifred! We need help! The Montanas are packing more heat than we thought, Myke and the other troops that went in with him are pinned down. You girls are the closest, go assist, I'm going back to the base for some more backup."
The three girls looked at each other and to the bartender, all simultaneously shouting. "Take out please!" they then grabbed the rest of the food and left, Winifred already taking command.
"Trish take the wheel, Naginata and I brought our guns." She said as they got back in the jeep and Trish sped off towards where the attack had happened as Winifred got out her handgun and Naginata drew out her plasma-cukoo-clock-pistols. It wasn't hard to locate where the La Juntas had crashed in on Montanas, the building still had a large gapping hole from Tank's initial bombardment. Gunshots and stray bullets were coming out of the hole as Trish sped towards the building.
Naginata looked ahead and spotted two Montana thugs coming out of the building's first floor door and firing on them with automatic guns. Trish served the vehicle to avoid the fire as Winifred opened the door on her side and leaned out and began firing back at the Montanas. Most of her shots missed, but a few managed to find their way into the Montanas' legs. Naginata herself set her cukoo clocks and pulled the triggers on them, releasing small bursts of plasma energy at the thugs who stopped firing to duck the questionable ordinance. It was about now that Winifred and Naginata noticed Trish wasn't slowing the jeep down and they were still headed straight for the building. The two quickly dove and rolled out of the car, followed soon by Trish who had cuffed the steering wheel in place so it stayed on course as it sped and crashed into the building, causing some of the bricks to fly out and bury the thugs in rubble.
Naginata got up and dusted herself off. "You're paying for the jeep." She said to Trish as they three rushed over to the wreckage. Naginata climbed over what was left of the jeep and kicked the door in as Trish uncovered just enough of the thugs to find their guns, taking one for herself and throwing the other to Winifred. She then got extra ammo from the bodies and reloaded the gun. The two rejoined Naginata on the inside as they began making their way to the stairs, the sounds of the firefight upstairs still continuing, so at least they knew their comrades were still alive. Naginata began approaching the stairs, but jumped back as a jet of flame shot down at her.
"Heh heh. Well where are you pretties going?" A greasy looking man with a flamethrower strapped to him came down the stairs. This was Fabio, one of the Montanas.
"Hmph, don't you know it's bad house manners to throw flames indoors?" Naginata said as she pointed her cukoo pistols at him.
"Eh, fire alarm's broken anyway." Fabio laughed as he let loose his flamethrower again as the girls ran back. The girls ducked into a room and tried to quickly think of a plan.
"Ok I got it," Winifred said. "Trish, get your gun ready, I'm going to go to the room across the hall and then we can flank-" Then Naginata held up her hand to stop her. She reached for her belt and took out the gadget that looked like a screwdriver with several long keys melted into the handle.
"Relax, I got this." Naginata grinned as she twisted the screwdriver handle. The thing started to tick as it slowly rotated. Naginata ducked into the hall and threw the screwdriver.
Fabio watched as it flew over his head and just lay there on the ground behind him against the wall. He burst out laughing. "What was that?" He laughed. "I mean come on! The La Junta have poor aim!" The screwdriver finished ticking. Then the handle exploded, not enough to even barely harm Fabio, but the keys flew out as they became embedded into the ceiling, walls, and then Fabio's fuel tank. "Ah! What what's going on!?" Fabio exclaimed as he looked back and noticed his fuel tank leaking. Winifred fired her handgun causing the puddle of fuel to catch fire and set Fabio's fueltanks on fire in the process. Fabio screamed as he ran around, dancing underneath a sprinkler and then remembered the fire alarm was broken. He ran down the hall and then ran into another room. From the sounds that came out, he was getting a shower to try and put out the flames.
Trish giggled as she ran over to the door and motioned to Naginata. "Hey, want to be a bit more cruel?" She giggled as she whispered something into Naginata's ear. Naginata went to the door and fired her plasma cukoos at the doorknob, making a hole in the door. Trish then went and poked her gun's barrel in the hole and began firing around, jostling the gun so it sprayed bullets everywhere inside. Fabio just continued screaming. Trish giggled as she slapped high fives with Naginata. "Cruelty to people is funny." The three then hurried up the now clear stairs to the third floor where the firefight was going on.
The fight was going on in a conference room on the third floor. Normally it was two main rooms, an atrium with a greeter's desk and such and the actual conference room with the big table and chairs. Thanks to Tank's blast, half the wall that would separate the rooms was gone. The Montanas were stationed around the atrium side of the wall around the hole and the door that was now blown down, firing upon the La Junta trapped in the conference room hiding behind a barricade of tables and chairs which were holding up pretty well as they were fortified for the Montanas to use in case of an attack. However, the La junta's were still in trouble and only about three were left, Myke and two others (Let's go with Biggs and Wedge). Naginata and the others looked into the room from the hall and immediately ducked as Giovanni, one of the Montanas in the room, turned and shot at them with one of his handguns. Naginata and Trish went ahead and tried to fire around the corner, first shooting the guys at the other door to the conference room because at that angle the Montanas could've shot the girls, and then went to trying to get a few of the ones firing on the trapped La juntas.
Winifred meanwhile was calling Tank to ask when she would arrive, because although the three of them were helping to get the Montanas off of Myke's back, they still couldn't get Myke and the other La Juntas out. There were still about seven or so Montanas in the atrium, all pretty well armed, and Myke and the other two La Juntas were too low on ammo to be much help, so it was left to the three girls or any backup that came later. "Tank, we're at the attack site, but we still need more-AHH!" Winifred cried as a knife went by and nearly nicked her. "Is Spiagi in there or something!? Tank! Where are you!?"
"Coming!" Tank hissed on her side. "A few other members will be there soon, maybe they'll leave before I even get there!"
"Who's going to make 7 Montanas run when they've got our guys trapped!?" There was suddenly another loud explosion and Naginata tackled Winifred out of the way of falling debris.
"Uxoh and Burger?" Tank answered in a voice that suggested she was smirking on her end. Trish peered into the room and noticed no one shot at her and then it became clear why. The detonations done by the bomb brothers had caused the general area around the Montanas to collapse and they had fallen to the first floor. Trish couldn't see them, it looked like that was enough to send them running.
Naginata went into the next room to get Myke and the others. Now that there weren't any Montanas in the way, Naginata could see the full situation. Bodies of Montanas and La junta soldiers lay motionless in various parts of the room. The table and chairs that made up the barricade had bullet holes all over and in some cases the holes went all the way through. Naginata made her way around the bodies to Myke and the others to check on them. Myke looked up at her from his sitting position, holding his shoulder where he had been shot. He was alright then, just a bit tired from surviving. The other two weren't seriously injured either and were just stressed from how close the situation was. Winifred called Rescue hospital to get them out of here and see if any of the other La Juntas, and maybe Montanas, could be saved.
"Rescue's on the way." Winifred said to the others. She looked over to Naginata. "Come on, command wants us to file a report."
"Wait!" Myke said as they turned to face him. He grinned and held up a briefcase laying beside him. "Don't forget the spoils." Naginata nearly patted him on the back, but caught herself before slapping his wound and took the briefcase.
Naginata and Winifred walked out of the General's tent late that night and made their way back to their tent, ready to turn in. "So," Winifred said as she got into her bunk. "Good day, operation was successful."
"Yeah.." Naginata shrugged as she sat on her bed, pushing a key into a thick sticky substance attached to a screwdriver. "Thank goodness for Rescue, we only lost three men."
"Mm…hey Naginata." Winifred reached under her bunk and took out two beers. She tossed one up to Naginata's bunk. "Cheers." She said opening her can.
Naginata opened hers and then lay down. "Cheers."
Fin~
//Yay! Well thanks for reading my fanfic if you made it this far. If you skipped down here, go back up and start again! Anyway, look forward to more fics from me, I'm in an Urban Rivals mood so I'll try and write a few more….maybe.
Writer's Notes:
Winifred: For those wondering why I have her as a girl trying to win her way into a promotion, look at the progression of her card. The first three are typical military girl and her last one suddenly has her as this big hair, unbuttoned shirt poster girl. This seems like it needed an explanation…
Mitch: I like his official description as ordinary and I thought making that a good joke would be funny. Hope it works well.
Fabio: I hate Montana, both their premise and the cards. This is kinda my shot at beating them down for being used so many times as what people consider cheap. Fabio isn't really one I get annoyed at most, but he was the easiest to set up for the whole setting flame to and shooting him while he was trying to put himself out.
Deaths: I don't think I could kill any of the UR characters without getting a bunch of flame responses, so most of the time deaths are going to consist of generic people belonging to each clan. In this fic, the generics are mob thugs for the Montanas and foot soldiers for the La Junta. Oh, and if you're worrying about Fabio, it's just a flesh wound.
Biggs & Wedge: Two names that interesting enough aren't in UR yet. Decided to take the names for two soldiers here.